{"id":44581,"date":"2022-10-01T01:16:04","date_gmt":"2022-10-01T06:16:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/sermon-on-count-your-blessings-how-do-you-handle-bad-news-bible-questions\/"},"modified":"2022-10-01T01:16:04","modified_gmt":"2022-10-01T06:16:04","slug":"sermon-on-count-your-blessings-how-do-you-handle-bad-news-bible-questions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/sermon-on-count-your-blessings-how-do-you-handle-bad-news-bible-questions\/","title":{"rendered":"Sermon on Count Your Blessings – How do you handle bad news? – Bible Questions"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n

Sermon on Count Your Blessings<\/strong> – Sermon outline by Kevin Cauley on how the faithful handle adversity. How do you handle bad news?<\/p>\n

Date written: August 19th, 2007
Scripture ref: Genesis 37:31-36<\/p>\n

SUBJECT: Adversity<\/p>\n

TITLE: How do you handle bad news?<\/p>\n

PROPOSITION: To study what the Bible teaches regarding how to handle bad news.<\/p>\n

OBJECTIVE: That each would know these Bible principles so that when bad news come his way that he will be able to manage it.<\/p>\n

INTRODUCTION:<\/p>\n

1. Read: Genesis 37:31-36<\/p>\n

2. About the Text:<\/p>\n

1) Moved by jealousy, Joseph’s brothers sought to destroy him.<\/p>\n

2) They brought him to a remote area and cast him down into a pit.<\/p>\n

3) Their intention was to kill him.<\/p>\n

4) Fortunately one of his brothers, Judah, had better sense than to do this and instead they sold him into slavery.<\/p>\n

5) They dipped Joseph’s coat in blood and brought it back to Jacob.<\/p>\n

6) The told Jacob that Joseph had been killed by wild animals.<\/p>\n

7) So Jacob believed the lie and mourned Joseph for many years.<\/p>\n

3. What do we do when we get bad news?<\/p>\n

1) How do we deal with it?<\/p>\n

2) What tools do we use to manage it?<\/p>\n

3) Some bad news is relatively inconsequential.<\/p>\n

4) Other bad news can be terribly tragic.<\/p>\n

5) How do we handle bad news?<\/p>\n

6) In this regard, the Bible teaches us a remarkable number of things that can help with dealing with bad news.<\/p>\n

7) Let’s notice a few of those things.<\/p>\n

4. Ref. to S, T, P, O, and A.<\/p>\n

DISCUSSION: [beginning of this sermon on count your blessings]<\/h2>\n

I.   Verify<\/p>\n

1. When we get bad news, the first thing we want to do is verify it.<\/p>\n

2. We don’t want to make the same mistake that Jacob made.<\/p>\n

3. Sometimes when we receive bad news we overreact.<\/p>\n

4. We want to believe the worst.<\/p>\n

5. We should take care to verify that bad news is really bad news.<\/p>\n

6. 1 Thessalonians 5:21 “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”<\/p>\n

7. If we fail to verify the bad news, we could make things worse for ourselves as did Jacob.<\/p>\n

II.  Act<\/p>\n

1. Is there anything that I can do to help the situation improve?<\/p>\n

2. What is the bad news that is distressing us?<\/p>\n

3. Is it something that we can do something about?<\/p>\n

4. If so, then instead of sitting around doing nothing, we ought to get busy doing something.<\/p>\n

5. Romans 12:11 says that we are not to be “slothful in business, fervent in spirit serving the Lord.”<\/p>\n

6. Colossians 3:23 “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”<\/p>\n

7. James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”<\/p>\n

8. Doing nothing when we can do something will only make things worse.<\/p>\n

III. Pray<\/p>\n

1. When we have verified the bad news and done something, if there is anything to do, we must turn to God in prayer.<\/p>\n

2. God wants us to pray to Him in difficult times.<\/p>\n

3. Luke 18:1 “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.”<\/p>\n

4. God doesn’t want us to faint, but take courage in Him to do the right thing.<\/p>\n

5. We have to be humble enough to turn to the Lord with problems that are out of our hands.<\/p>\n

6. 1 Peter 5:6-7 “6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.”<\/p>\n

IV.  Think<\/p>\n

1. Part of working through any bad news is thinking about such things.<\/p>\n

2. Our mind tends to replay the bad news over and over again.<\/p>\n

3. It is easy to allow that to happen.<\/p>\n

4. But in order to deal with bad news we’ve got to stop the cycle of negative thinking.<\/p>\n

5. This means that we must focus on good things instead of bad.<\/p>\n

6. The Bible encourages this behavior as well.<\/p>\n

7. Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”<\/p>\n

8. Counting our blessings goes a long way toward dealing with bad news.<\/p>\n

V.   Talk<\/p>\n

1. Talking to others about our bad news also helps us to deal with it.<\/p>\n

2. Talking is therapeutic and helps to alleviate anxiety that we build within ourselves.<\/p>\n

3. This also brings us into deeper relationships with our Christian friends and family.<\/p>\n

4. Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.”<\/p>\n

5. In order to do this with others we need to talk about such things.<\/p>\n

6. 1 Corinthians 12:25-26 “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.”<\/p>\n

VI.  Accept<\/p>\n

1. In order to handle bad news, we’ve got to accept it.<\/p>\n

2. Sometimes it takes a long time for us to do this depending on how bad the news is.<\/p>\n

3. Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”<\/p>\n

4. Regardless how bad a situation may seem to us, God is able to use it for good.<\/p>\n

5. When we recognize this, it will help us toward accepting the bad news that has come into our life.<\/p>\n

6. We will always see bad things that happen as working for good in the Lord’s hands.<\/p>\n

7. For example:<\/p>\n

1) when we look at dirty dishes, do we only see a great mess or do we see that we’ve had food to eat?<\/p>\n

2) When we look at rambunctious children do we only see a constant source of irritation or do we see healthy, active, vibrant youth?<\/p>\n

3) Even when we look at the death of a saint, do we see it as our loss or his gain?<\/p>\n

7. God is able to make all things work for his good.<\/p>\n

8. Knowing this helps us to accept bad news and live with it.<\/p>\n

VII. Rejoice<\/p>\n

1. Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.”<\/p>\n

2. We don’t rejoice without reason, that would be insanity.<\/p>\n

3. We rejoice knowing that God is in control of all things good and bad.<\/p>\n

4. We rejoice knowing the blessings we have as Christians.<\/p>\n

5. We rejoice in the future and hope of all who are children of God.<\/p>\n

6. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Rejoice evermore.”<\/p>\n

CONCLUSION: [end of this sermon on count your blessings]<\/p>\n

1. How do we handle bad news?<\/p>\n

1) Verify<\/p>\n

2) Act<\/p>\n

3) Pray<\/p>\n

4) Think<\/p>\n

5) Talk<\/p>\n

6) Accept<\/p>\n

7) Rejoice<\/p>\n

2. Invitation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon on Count Your Blessings – Sermon outline by Kevin Cauley on how the faithful handle adversity. How do you handle bad news? Date written: August 19th, 2007Scripture ref: Genesis 37:31-36 SUBJECT: Adversity TITLE: How do you handle bad news? PROPOSITION: To study what the Bible teaches regarding how to handle bad news. OBJECTIVE: That … Continue reading “Sermon on Count Your Blessings – How do you handle bad news? – Bible Questions”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44581"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44581\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}