Sermons on Joy
“Shouts of Joy” (Psalm 126)
Shouts of Joy (Psalm 126) In 2014, hundreds of undergrad students were ushered into a plain room at the University of Virginia. They were asked to put away their cellphones, books, and pens in order to engage in “thinking periods” lasting between six and fifteen minutes. Some were given prompts while others were told to think about whatever came to mind. It was intended to be a pleasant experience, but 50% of the participants didn’t think so. They tried “thinking…
The Gift of Joy (Ecclesiastes 2:12-26)
The Preacher is exploring the meaning of life. He has already experimented with two avenues of discovery: wisdom (Ecc. 1:12-18) and pleasure (Ecc. 2:1-11). After coming to the conclusion that neither offered him a deep fulfilling sense of purpose and satisfaction, the Preacher returns to wisdom for a comparison between wisdom and folly. From there, he will consider the vanity of toil. Then, finally, he will come to the solution at the end of the argument (Ecc. 2:24-26). Ecclesiastes…
The Vanity of Hedonism (Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26)
The Preacher has been making an argument about the vanity of life. When we remove God from the picture and consider life apart from him, everything is meaningless and frustrating. Remember, this entire section from Ecclesiastes 1:12-2:26 is an argument that follows a classic form of speech called “the chase technique.” The Preacher points to several avenues man looks to in search of meaning, and at the very end of his argument he provides the solution. Last week, we zeroed…
Suffering As A Christian (1 Peter 4:12-16)
Introduction Last week we saw the characteristics of the Christian community serve to promote God’s glory and dominion. Peter exhorted his readers to pray soberly, love earnestly, show hospitality, and serve generously. Now he shows them that their obedience will lead to suffering. Read 1 Peter 4:12-16 We automatically assume a defensive/offensive posture when suffering. We fight it or flee it. The point in either response is to end our suffering ASAP. Suffering is bad. But Peter doesn’t see suffering…
