Sermon Central
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That Empty Feeling
Contributed by Paul Decker on Oct 24, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: To be happy, we must be empty.
THAT EMPTY FEELING
S: Holiness
C: Empty before God
Th: Live the Difference
Pr: TO BE HAPPY, WE MUST BE EMPTY.
?: Inductive
KW: Realities
TS: There are realities we must face and endure.
The _____ reality we must face and endure is being…
I. PUNY (3)
II. PAINED (4)
III. PLIABLE (5)
PA: How is the change to be observed?
Version: ESV
RMBC 24 October 04 AM
INTRODUCTION:
There have been some things, when it comes to just living life, that I have been wondering about.
Like…
ILL Notebook: Humor 2 (some questions)
How can there be self-help "groups"?
Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all"?
What’s another word for thesaurus?
If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?
Is it my imagination, or do Buffalo wings taste like chicken?
Well, at times, life can be confusing.
So…
How are you doing when it comes to life?
TRANSITION:
How we live our lives has been our theme for 2004.
For…
1. Our challenge for the year has been to “live the difference.”
We are to live lives that demonstrate our possession of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we are temples, the very residence in which God the Holy Spirit resides.
This means, then, that our lives should be characterized by holiness.
We are to live godly lives that are reflected in the communities in which we live, both inside and outside the church.
People, though, are sometimes mistaken about how a “holy” person is to act.
You see…
2. We are mistaken if we think a pious person is meant to be unhappy.
We somehow have gotten the idea that if you are a truly spiritual person, you are always very serious.
You never crack a smile.
You never tell a joke.
You never are able to laugh.
And so we have come to think that being religious means that you are miserable all the time.
But the fact is…
3. We are on a journey where holiness and joy are meant to be companions.
When we live the point and the processes of salvation and sanctification, happiness and joy are meant to be constant friends along the way.
As we begin our three-part study on what are known as the Beatitudes, we find that Jesus desires us to know His blessing.
The word that is translated “blessed” means “happy.”
It is not God’s desire that we find misery and unhappiness to be our continual companions through life.
No, He wants us to know the bliss of His friendship as we travel along the way.
This state of blessing is not something that is only for the future.
It is for the here and now.
But, let the truth be known that…
4. God’s path to joy features unexpected turns and twists.
The path God takes us on is not the way we would choose to go.
We must understand this.
While we look to do things our way, God consistently has us going the opposite direction.
It seems that His priorities for the world and ourselves is much different than what we think.
While we look for the easy way, God takes us on a path that is harder, full of surprises and the unexpected.
This means that…
5. There are realities we must face and endure.
As believers in the Lord Jesus, we live the opposite of the world’s priorities.
But let us freely admit that this is very difficult for us to get used to.
For when we become Christians, it is as if someone has changed all the price tags.
We know that if we want to succeed in this world, we have to give the impression that we are a winner.
The world only wants success.
And this thinking comes into our churches as well.
We measure success about how many people we have and how much money we have coming in.
But as we walk on the journey, we discover that those things that we thought were useful are not that way at all.
We discover that “happy are the rich” is not so true after all.
Those that are noble, successful, and glamorous do not have it altogether.
Those that are popular, famous, and aggressive are not so glad about where there lives end up.
Before we go on, let’s hear this section in its entirety…
[1] Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. [2 ] And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
[3] "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
[4] "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
[5] "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
