Grace For The Journey

  Many in the church mistakenly think their greatest problem is out there somewhere.  They think it is the environment . . . the culture . . . the government . . . the neighbors . . . the boss at the office . . . the list could go on and on.  I counsel many married men and women who are convinced that their greatest problem is located on the other side of the bed.  But the Bible has something altogether different to say about our enemy, and until we understand what is going on inside of us, there will be no measurable change outside of us.

The Bible says in Galatians 5:17, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

The Bible makes it crystal clear that our enemy is not out there somewhere.  It lies within us, as the old man (the desires of the flesh) wages war with the new man (the desires of the Spirit).  Before Jesus came into our lives, we were content to honor the desires of the flesh, living to satisfy our sin nature.  But after we acknowledged our sin and asked Jesus to forgive us and come into our lives to be our Savior and Lord, the war began between the old nature and the new nature.

The enemy is not “out there.”

It is deep inside of us!

Our Lord warned in Matthew 15:18-20, “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person.  For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.  These are what defile a person.”

Jesus provided a penetrating and profound diagnosis

Of the root problem that lies deep

Within the soul of every one of us.

Years ago, a newspaper article invited readers all over the globe to answer the age-old question: “What’s wrong with the world?”  G.K. Chesterton, the great British writer and thinker responded succinctly, “I AM!”

He got it!

Do we?

It’s important to remember sin’s goal in this battle:

To separate us from God.

The Bible teaches that if we are a blood-bought, born again child of God, we cannot be taken out of His loving hand (John 10:28-30) . . . But we can be tipped over and buried under the weight of our sins.  Satan wants to do to us what he did to Adam and Eve – to make us believe that God cannot be trusted.  The devil brought Adam and Eve to an utterly insane conclusion:

That God – the One who created them . . . sustained them . . .

Gave them everything good . . . walked with them in the cool of the day

. . . Their loving Creator and Sovereign Lord – could not be trusted.

The devil tries to make us believe the same thing every day that we live.  The sad truth is that many Christians and churches are giving in to His subtle attempts.  Many today are surrendering to Satan’s grandest lie, “Has God really said . . .?”

Many . . .

Doubt what God has said,

Deny what He has said,

Disregard what He has said, and

Disobey what He has said in His Word.

This has led to disastrous results.

Every time we sin and give in to the desires of the flesh, we prove we doubt the goodness of our great God.  That is why we need to keep the truths of the Gospel before us moment by moment.  The truths of the Gospel give us the necessary motivation to keep getting up every time we stumble and fall, because we know we are secure in Jesus.

Ultimately the victory has already been won for us on Mount Calvary.  We just need to walk in that victory and go out in His name!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey …

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  Never before in the history of the Christian faith have we seen so many churches working so hard . . .

To fit in with the surrounding culture,

Rather than stand out for Christ.

Not to be outdone by the culture, we’ve entered into competition with it, and by the looks of the scoreboard, we are losing.  The divorce rates are the same both in and out of the church.  Materialism has a choke hold on the Christian as much as it does on the culture.

The culture is changing the church.

We have been entrusted with the eternal

And

We have turned it into entertainment.

Our seeker-sensitive services entertain the senses but do not satisfy the soul.

Preaching to the felt needs of the “customers” we have wooed into the pews, we have watered down the whole counsel of God to the exclusion of sin, judgment, holiness, and the wrath of Almighty God.  More than twenty-five years ago, Francis Schaeffer rightly warned,

“The evangelical church has accommodated itself to the world around it.”

In doing so, we have become more “market-driven” than Master-directed.

The Christian community is being shaped more by Hollywood than by God’s Holy Word.  We hear more and more Christians saying . . .

“God’s desire for me is to be happy,”

Rather than

“God’s desire for me is to be obedient and holy.”

Charles Spurgeon, the great Baptist minister of the Tabernacle Metropolitan Pulpit in London, aptly observed, “He who marries today’s fashion is tomorrow’s widow.”

Today’s church desperately needs countercultural Christians who refuse to be seduced, swerved, and shaped by Hollywood.  Someone has rightly said, “Faithfulness to Christ requires foreignness to the world’s trendy diversions.”  To be sure, there is a lot this world has to offer in the way of diversions – which are some of Satan’s sharpest weapons.

Let me ask you:

Is the character of your life being shaped more by Hollywood or God’s Holy Word?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:12, “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”

We live in this world, but we are not to live like this world

Because we have received the Spirit of Christ.

We are to make an eternal difference in this world

Because we have been made eternally different.

The world doesn’t need more of this world; it needs more of the next!

No one will understand the things freely given us through the “teaching” of Hollywood, but only through the Holy Word of God – both professed and practiced by the people of God.  That is the teaching that will give this world desperately needs.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey

… Rest And Rejoice In The Wonderful Truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

Everyone who has been involved in sports, music, or other fields of interest like these, knows the importance of practice.  Contrary to the old homily, practice never makes perfect, but it certainly helps make progress!  There is an important principle regarding practice which coaches and instructors attempt to instill in the minds of their students:

The way we practice will determine how we perform in the actual contest.

An individual or team who practices in a lackadaisical manner will not suddenly transform into a focused, powerful champion when the actual game or performance begins.

What is true in the practice of sports, music, etc.  is also true in the practice of spirituality – what some have called “practicing the presence of God.”  The way we practice the presence of God will determine how we perform in the life God has called us to live.

Paul made this crystal clear when he wrote in Galatians 6:14, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Practicing the presence of God begins and ends at the cross.

It is at the cross that we find . . .

• The meaning of life.
• The message of life, and
• The Master of life.

And because practice never makes perfect, we must continuously return to the foot of the cross, where grace renews us for practicing the presence of God.

So, what does it really look like when we are practicing the presence of God?  We are to “remind ourselves every day of the Gospel.”  This is the most important discipline in practicing the presence of God.  Sinners are the only ones in need of the Gospel.  So reminding ourselves every day of the Gospel continually reminds us of two incredibly important truths:

1. We are sinners.  Even the good works that we do are so stained by our sin as to be nothing more than “a polluted garment” in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6).
2. Our sins are forgiven.  When you practice the presence of God by reminding yourself daily of the Gospel, you reinforce this glorious truth – that God has removed our sins from us “as far as the east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12).

This gives you both the permission and the power to go on.

Only sinners who know they have been forgiven can continue practicing the presence of God, even in the presence of our own sin.

Practice was never intended to make perfect on

This side of the grave,

Only progress.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey

… Rest And Rejoice In The Wonderful Truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

Today Americans remember and pay tribute to all the men and women who paid the ultimate price to protect and defend our  freedom while in the service of our great nation.  Formerly known as Decoration Day, Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, and was first observed on May 30 of that year, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.  Memorial Day is now celebrated on the last Monday in May as an established time for our nation to honor those who gave their all for all of us.

There was another who gave His all for all of us;

His name is Jesus Christ.

He gave more than anyone could ever give

When He willingly and without reservation

Went to the cross on Mount Calvary

So that men and women would be set free

From sin, Satan, and the judgment to come.

The Bible declares this glorious truth in Romans 5:8-9, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”

Whenever Christians partake of the Lord’s Supper, it is Memorial Day, for our Savior commanded us to “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19).

Yet, every day should be a day of remembering

For all those who were bought with the precious blood of Jesus.

Every day is . . .

• A time to remember the work of Christ, which was nothing less than an all-out assault against sin, Satan, and the judgment to come . . .
• A time to remember the work of Christ for sinners who were desperately in need of rescue and totally incapable of rescuing ourselves . . .
• A time to remember that every aspect of our existence is to be shaped by His claim on our lives.

Remembering what Christ has done for us provides us with the ultimate purpose

To go further up and further into the Gospel of grace.

Every thought, every desire, every word, and every deed is to be shaped by the cross and the empty tomb.  Vertically our lives should be marked by a sold-out love for God and horizontally they are to be marked by a sold-out love for others.

The grace we have received is designed to

Make us communicators and conduits of grace in the lives of others.

Along the way, the King who has sought us and bought us gets all the glory.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey

… Rest And Rejoice In The Wonderful Truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

  I am convinced that there is something we all want more than anything else in this life, and that thing is CONTROL!

• More than power . . .
• More than prestige . . .
• More than position . . .
• More than pleasure . . .
• More than prosperity . . .
• More than anything else, we want control.

The more control we have, the better we feel.

We mistakenly believe that

When we are in control

Our lives will work out better –

With much more order and far less uncertainty.

Webster’s defines a “control freak” as someone whose behavior indicates a powerful need to control people or circumstances in everyday matters.   Because of a lack of trust in others, a control freak moves beyond the borders of what would be considered a normal and rational desire for some measure of control in life.  It gets even worse for the Christian control freak.

Their desire to control life is the clear and present evidence of a lack of trust –

Not only in others, but in God Himself.

This can be seen in a single area of life or in many areas.

Control freaks always know the right way and best way of doing things . . . When you are not doing it their way, they let you know about it!

• They try to criticize you into their control.
• They try to condemn you into their control.
• They try to conform you into their control.

Their right way of doing things becomes the only way of doing things, and when you resist their controlling demands, they judge you for your “controlling” nature.

They see the world as black and white, because without any grey areas they have more control over things.  Their narrow and dogmatic field of vision of the world around them helps them to manage their lives, while at the same time micro-managing the lives of everyone around them.  Someone has said, “Christian control freaks make up formulas and anxiously follow them to control their manufactured lives.”

If any of this is resonating with you like it is with me, I want you to know there is a cure for the Christian control freak in you . . . and . . .

It is only to be found in the powerful grace of the Gospel.

The Bible says in Romans 12:3, “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

Only the powerful grace of the Gospel can free you from the overwhelming need to try and control everything in life.  The powerful grace the apostle Paul had been given through the Gospel allowed him to not think so highly of himself and step down from the throne of his life, allowing Jesus His rightful place.  God’s powerful grace propelled Paul to the periphery of his life, where he could clearly see that the only One who has any control over anything is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The more Paul surrendered control of his life to Christ,

The less controlling he became in the lives of others.

You see, there is a Christian control freak who is truly faithful to the truths of the Gospel:

It is the person who is controlled by the Spirit of Christ in every area of life.

For such a man or woman, their most passionate and profound desire in all-the world is to be under the control of the only One who knows what is best for us in every area of life.

Make no mistake, only the sufficient and powerful grace of the Gospel can free you from the overwhelming need to be controlling . . .

Because Jesus has everything under His control –

From the biggest dream you have in life to the smallest detail.

The DNA of every person who has ever lived all the way back to Adam and Eve in the Garden, is one of control.

And it is only the transforming power of the Gospel

And

The sufficient grace of God it delivers

That can free us from our desire to control life.

God’s sufficient and powerful grace delivers you from the notion that you are not just the smartest person in the room, but the only smart person in the room!

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey

… Rest And Rejoice In The Wonderful Truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  What have you been clinging too lately?  Where in your life are you currently investing your time, talent, and treasure?  What you do with these three “T’s” reveals a great deal about what’s most important to you.  Jonah spoke powerfully to this issue when he says in Jonah 2:8, “Those who regard (cling to) worthless idols forsake (forfeit) the mercy that could be theirs.”

When we cling to anything other than God,

We are clutching what is absolutely worthless in light of eternity.

Sure, the physical things of this life might promise to meet you in your place of need, but in the end, they are never able to deliver on their promises.

• Did that new car really give you more confidence in life?
• Did that bigger house really bring you greater happiness?
• Did that better job really provide you a deeper sense of significance?
• Did cosmetic surgery really manufacture greater self-worth?

I could easily compile a long list of the vacuous promises dangled before us by the world . . . but they cannot and do not deliver, because God never designed the physical world to do for us what only He can do.

That is what Augustine meant when he said, “God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.”

A restless heart will never find contentment in anything other than God.

God, who fashions the hearts of all men (Psalm 33:15),

Made our hearts to be restless and fretful

Until we find our rest in Him.

Nothing in the created world is big enough to satisfy our deepest desires and redeem us from our discontent.  As the wise preacher said in the book of Ecclesiastes, everything under the sun – that is, everything in the created order – is all vanity, a chasing after the wind.  The world offers nothing that truly satisfies; clinging to created things is enslaving.  They capture our attention, rule our hearts, and shape our lives.

What was once a list of wants morphs into a list of insatiable needs

That drive us to make the conclusion that we simply cannot live without them.

And what we believe we cannot live without we will do anything to get.

• We will compromise our values.
• We will cut corners.
• We will shade the truth.
• We will love things and use people.

We become slaves to the stuff of this world, seeking to find life in things that can only deliver death.

So . . . have you been clinging to any “worthless idols” lately?

Clinging to the Creator is freeing.

Knowing Him is the only way

Where we can find what we need

And

Where we actually need what we find.

God is gracious to leave us wanting when we are clinging to created things, because that emptiness will eventually drive us back to the only place where we can find meaning and purpose: in Jesus Christ!  If God allowed the stuff of this world to satisfy us, we would only grow into a fraction of the people He is calling us to be.  But God loves us too much to let anything other than Christ fill the God-sized void that is inside of all of us.

Remember, clinging to the Creator or created things is always a choice, and the choice is always ours.

We can seek after and cling to all the things

We think will make us happy and won’t . . .

Or we can seek after and cling to the only One who will:

The Lord Jesus Christ.

This is God Word … This is Grace for your Journey

… Rest And Rejoice In The Wonderful Truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

 

Grace For The Journey

  The Bible refers to Jesus when it says in Hebrews 10:9, “Then He said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God . . .”

Every day we are faced with two choices: “Your will be done” or “My will be done.”  And the will we choose makes all the difference in the amount of meaning, significance, and purpose we will experience in this life.

So . . . which “will” will it be for you?

Your will or God’s will?

Oh, you may accomplish much in this life apart from the will of God.  Many do.  But it is devoid of real meaning, significance, and purpose, because it is done for the glory of self rather than the glory of the Savior.

It really comes down to which of these

Two words is the mark our lives:

“Me” or “God.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ set the example of living a life according to the will of God.  Even in His moment of greatest despair, during His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the judgment of God looming just before Him, He prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from Me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

Let me give you three keys that unlock the door leading to a life of living for “God’s” will, rather than “My” will:

KEY #1 – God Is In You

The Bible says in 1 John 4:4, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

KEY #2 – God Is For You

The Bible says in Romans 8:31, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

KEY #3 – God is With You

The Bible says in Hebrews 13:8, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”

When we know deep down in our hearts that . . .

God is in us . . .

God is for us . . .

And

God is with us,

We will seek to accomplish His will in our lives

Rather than our own will.

We will be convinced of God’s abiding goodness and take great comfort in knowing that He is always working things out for our ultimate good.

Which will it be for you this day?  If you want to rise above the daily challenges of fear, frustration, and failure, cast yourself upon the Rock of your salvation and seek only one thing:

His will in your life – even when you would rather not!

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

I had an evangelism professor in seminary who told of discussions he had with Muslims – a particular one had to do with their 99 names the Muslims have for God.  They are supposed to continually think about these names as a way to worship and also understand how magnificent God is.  Dr. Fish said he asked the young man to explain some of the names and to tell him which were their favorites.  This opened a door for him to discuss the Bible’s Names for God, and he would talk very specifically about the special Name for God found in Matthew 1:23, “’Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,’ which translated means, ‘God with us.’”

He then asked this follower of Mohammad if “Immanuel” was one of their 99 names or if he had ever heard of this Name.  Dr. Fish reported, “The answer is always negative to both questions,” and then he would go on to say that this would allow him to explain what this name means and why it is so special.

Immanuel – God with us – what an incredible Name!

We often take the incarnation for granted, but what an amazing truth we have in our Christian faith.

A popular idea in our tolerant world in which we live is to conceive of God sitting on top of a mountain for which there are many roads that lead to the top, one for each religion. Bible-believing Christians are quick to respond that there is only one road up the mountain – one way!  But the Name “Immanuel” blows the many road up the mountain analogy away.

God is not sitting on a mountain

Waiting for us to climb up to Him.

He has come to us!

Through the incarnation, Jesus came, and as fully God and fully man, He dwelt with us. My purpose in life is not to climb the mountain as best I can in the hope that I will find God.  I need to recognize Him as having come to us in the person of Jesus Christ and that His death, burial, and resurrection has given me an opportunity to have a relationship with God.

An essential principle in all other religions is that

A person must make a lifetime of continual effort in order to get to God.

These religions may have many different names for God (or many gods), but without exception, the name “Immanuel” will be absent.  What a great tragedy!  How is it that this most special Name for God is unheard of?

Immanuel is a Name that is full of so much

Good News for every person in this world!

Think how this Name even connects all the way back to the Garden of Eden.

The Bible tells us that when Adam and Eve sinned, they hide from God.

But we read that instead of them going to God, He goes to them.

He seeks them out while they are in sinful rebellion.

Sadly, this Name has lost its awe and wonder in the Church where it is heard the most.  We have reduced it to a line in a Christmas carol and then pack it away until next Christmas.

This Name is good news at all times.

Do not ever get over the wonder

That God came to us and,

By the Holy Spirit, continues to be with us!

Do you wonder about how to start a witnessing conversation with people from another religion?

Try asking them about the names of their god and then tell them about Immanuel.

Make it personal by explaining how God with us became God with you.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

  The Bible quotes Jesus as saying, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” (John 13:7)

Jesus uttered these words as He was washing His disciples’ feet on the night He was be betrayed.  When Jesus came to Simon Peter and knelt to wash his feet, Peter was as confused as he was convicted that he was utterly unworthy to have Jesus Christ – the King of kings and Lord of lords – wash his feet.  As Jesus said, Peter did not understand in that moment, but later the lesson was learned:

In order to be a leader you must first be willing to be a servant.

You may remember the story of Job and how everything except his life was taken from him by the evil one.  When Job went before the throne of heaven, heaven was silent for a very long time.  God did not enter into a dialogue with Job for many days, and even then, the Lord offered no explanation for what Job had suffered.

Job had to learn that we are to trust God

Even when we cannot understand what He is doing

 . . . And he had to learn that lesson later.

Take a moment to reflect back on your life and a time when your heart was heavy and heaven was silent.  What did you learn from that season of silence?  To be sure, at the bare minimum, we learn, as Job did, to trust God’s promise that He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.  But often we must learn this truth later. Our human nature wants answers and we want them right now.  But for the disciple of Christ, answers are often exchanged for the Almighty.  Like Job, we remain perplexed, but we are sustained in His presence and we trust that God is working all things for our good and His glory.

Job came to believe, “I know that You can do all things, no plan of Yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).  Job had learned from personal experience the truth that is expressed in the psalms: “The Lord does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths” (Psalm 135:6) – and it pleases God to bless His children, even though that blessing may come to us out of a whirlwind.

The Christian must live life by faith and not sight, and receive the silence of heaven with the trusting heart of a child, knowing that our loving heavenly Father has only good intentions in mind for us.  As the psalmist wrote . . .

“Why are you depressed, O my soul?

Why are you upset?

Wait for God!

For I will again give thanks

to my God for his saving intervention.” (Psalm 42:5)

How many lessons have you learned in life . . . later?  Answers regarding many things in life may not come until we get to the other side.  Some answers do indeed come here and now.  The disciples did understand what Jesus was doing when He washed their feet . . . but not until Pentecost, fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection.  They needed to get to the other side of the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension; when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they learned the lesson.  As the apostle Paul wrote, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Be encouraged today, Christian!  God loves you with an everlasting love; He promises never to leave you nor forsake you.  Keep looking to your Lord, knowing that in His perfect time and in His perfect way, the lesson will come to you, and you will be lifted by what you have learned.  You will know, deep down, that your heavenly Father is speaking glorious truth into your life.

Hold fast to these words of heavenly comfort . . .

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you and watch over you.

The Lord’s unfailing love

surrounds the man who trusts in Him.

Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous;

sing, all you who are upright in heart!” (Psalm 32:8, 10-11)

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Grace For The Journey

I am sure we have all heard these popular quips,

“You are what you own.”

“He who dies with the most toys wins.” “

The only value is market value.”

These pithy slogans, and many more like them, capture the sentiment of many today, especially in America.  Amazon, Walmart, and Apple are the new holy trinity of modern America.  The sporting complex is the new community center.  Social media beckons us too, even in our work, to escape to a virtual world where our sense of worth is shaped by the collective “other” through likes, comments, and pictures of the “best selves” of those enjoying material goods and pleasurable experiences ad infinitum.  Endless (and, all too often, mindless) movies, television, and concerts fill up the periphery of our lives.

We might ask, what is the driving factor behind the above slogans and the relentless pursuit of more stuff and more experiences?

The idea is that somehow things and experiences will make us happy.

They will satisfy. The “good life” consists in the accumulation of stuff and experiences.

The problem with this picture is twofold:

(1) Statistics reveal that while modern Americans have more stuff and more leisure than ever before, we are a profoundly unhappy people  (For a good summary of some of these statistics, see John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle, A Practical Guide to Culture (Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook, 2017), chap. 12).  It simply is not the case that things and experiences make us happy in the long run.

(2) To use an often stated line, “the issue is complex,” and as it turns out, there is truth to be found in the middle of all the excess.  Material things are not, in themselves, bad. Many experiences – including entertainment – are not, in themselves, bad.  The problem begins when we try to squeeze more out of these things and experiences than they were meant to provide.  The problem, then, is one of context.

In his chapter on “hope” in Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis explores the human quest for happiness by describing three kinds of lives.

The fool, according to Lewis, is the person who blames the object or experience itself when he realizes that it was not the thing he really wanted. As Lewis puts it, “He goes on all his life thinking that if only he tried another woman, or went for a more expensive holiday, or whatever, then, this time, he really would catch the mysterious something we are all after.”

The fool, according to Lewis, is the person who continues to think the deeper longings of the human heart can be satisfied by things that have already been tried but found wanting.

The disillusioned “sensible man” is the man who gives up on the search for a deep and abiding happiness.  As Lewis describes this man, “He soon decides that the whole thing is moonshine. ‘Of course,’ he says, ‘one feels like that when one’s young. But by the time you get to my age, you’ve given up chasing the rainbow’s end.’”

If there is nothing more to reality than the physical world, then this is the best we can expect.

So many today are disillusioned.

May we pray to understand and have compassion on those

Who seem to be in constant need to fill their lives

With new things and new experiences.

Many seem to believe that “if this life is all there is, then by all means let’s squeeze as much out of it as we can, even if we have deeper longings – for meaning, purpose, value – that we cannot satisfy.

Lewis, however, asks: “But suppose infinite happiness really is there, waiting for us? Supposing one really can reach the rainbow’s end?”

What then?

If there really is “infinite happiness”

And we miss it, that would be a pity.

This leads to Lewis’ third kind of life, what he calls “The Christian Way.”  Lewis states, “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

Lewis’ point is this: We find some desires – for example, our desires for meaning, purpose, significance, truth, beauty, goodness, unconditional love and more – that ultimately cannot be satisfied in this world (he lumps all of these together as a kind of desire for transcendence, or heaven, or for God).

That these desires for meaning, purpose, and value cannot be satisfied by things in this world does not mean the world is “a fraud;” it just means the things of this world were not meant to completely satisfy, but only (as he says) “to arouse and suggest the real thing.”

The Christian message helps us to see that true happiness is ultimately found in union with God.  This is why the Christian life is to be characterized by hope.  One day, all human desires will be satisfied, and man will truly and fully be happy.

The good news is that genuine happiness is available to all now.

Jesus declared where we can find it in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  Jesus invites us into a relationship with Him and offers us the fullness of life both now and for eternity.

In the Christian message, material possessions and entertainment are not bad in and of themselves.  In fact, when properly situated, they are best understood as gifts, things provided to us for our enjoyment and satisfaction, but also suggestive of something deeper.

How much is too Enough?

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• In what am I finding life?
• Where do I place my hope?
• What is the basis of my identity?

If your answer to any of these questions includes things or entertainment, then it is possible that material possessions and the entertainment complex have become idols in your life.  My encouragement is not to reject material things or entertainment, but to locate them within the Gospel story as gifts.  Then we will not only find pleasure in them, but they will awaken us to the deepest longing of our heart to be united with the Giver of all good things.

This is God’s Word For Today … This Is Grace For The Journey

Rest and Rejoice in this eternal truth!

Pastor Terry

Ephesians 4:7 – “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”

Hebrews 4:16 – “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”