Sermon Tone Analysis

PRAYER

The invitation of the Apostle Paul in this text is to be a part of what God is building, and which is build on the person and work of Jesus.

PAUSE

today…if you were to walk out these doors and ask people walking around the lake, getting off the sky-train---and ask them where they find meaning, --- most will not point to God, or the Bible,...

most would say something like, “I make my own meaning”

Or “There is NO meaning.”

And on a larger scale it seems to be the consensus that any claim that their is A meaning for all of life is a kind of bondage!

No one (especially a religious institution) should have any suggestion of what meaning is placed on life.

And the argument goes and this is what I wold like to talk about this morning.

Is the idea that hey......

“You don’t need to believe in God to have a meaningful, purposeful, satisfying life.”

In fact some may say…I don’t even think about those things!

between work, relationships, school, and just functioning in life....I don’t have time to think of those things!!

(whatever you do do all to the glory of god)

And so what we find is a low lying shadow that tells us to keep moving on, trudge through, eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we all may die kind of mindset!

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See because in so many ways we have written God out of His own story!!

We have taken his creation, life,

What sets human beings apart from other living beings is our need to find a reason to live.

In a secular culture, (a worldview that is closed that says all there is is the here and now all there is to create meaning in our lives if the material world).......meaning is created by individuals and circumstance, and if that meaning is taken away by death or circumstances, that person is crushed.

beings is our need to find a reason to live.

In a

secular culture, (a worldview that is closed that says all there is is the here and now all there is to create meaning in our lives if the material world).......meaning is created by

individuals and circumstance, and if that meaning is taken away

by death or circumstances, that person is

crushed.

unshakable through the trials of life.

- because it is based on someone who has shown his power over life and death

“We don’t believe in a meaning we must go

out and discover, but in a Meaning that

came into the world to find us.”

We want something that nothing in this life

can give us.”

(p.

87)

Find CS Lewis quote

“If we find that there is nothing in this world that can satisfy us........”

The problem is not that you love your

family or job too much, but that you love

God too little in relationship to them.”

“Human beings are hope-driven creatures.

Secularism is marked by a optimism about the progress of human civilization, but without God, this optimism is naïve at best.......If there is no ultimate, objective meaning in the universe, it is futile to believe in progress because the world will ultimately come to an end.”

Human beings are hope-driven creatures.

Secularism is marked by an optimism about

the progress of human civilization, but without

God, this optimism is naïve at best.

If there is no ultimate, objective meaning in the

“harm” requires absolute moral values.

Keller

If there is no ultimate, objective meaning in the

shows that true freedom is not the absence of

constraints, but the presence of the right ones

universe¨†it†is†futile†to†believe†in†progress

that lead to human flourishing.

universe, it is futile to believe in progress

The enclosure of a fish bowl exists for the

because†the†world†will†ultimately†come†to†an

because the world will ultimately come to an

flourishing of a goldfish; for a fish to demand

freedom from the fishbowl would be foolish

and harmful.

Similarly, God’s laws are designed

endÆ

end

for our flourishing and joy.

What I want to propose to you this morning is that what you belief about the past and what you believe about the future will shape how you live right now.

shape how you live right now?

If your work, your relationships your education, your eating and exercise, your worship experience on Sundays was taking place in a larger story, a story that started long ago, is leading somewhere; it brings meaning to your present.

Not only does it brings strength in struggle, it makes good times even more joyful.

The secular world has nothing to match it!

In a 2015 article on Buzzfeed the question was posed to atheists to explain how they found meaning in life,

Alom Shaha, author of the Young Atheist’s Handbook, said this..

"Yes, of course I know that life is ultimately without meaning or purpose, but the trick is not to wake up every morning and feel that way.

Cognitive dissonance?

Embrace it.

Create a sense of meaning and purpose by doing something useful with your life (I teach), being creative – I don't mean that in a poncey hipster way, I mean make a curry, build some bookshelves, write a poem.

The follow up question for Alom is obvious… how do you judge something as useful?

And how long does a bowl of curry or some bookshelves satisfy that desire!?

A closed universe does not explain that you seek meaning and purpose in what you do!

A closed universe doesn’t explain why you want to accomplish things before you die.

Why?

If there is the here and now, and everything is headed nowhere, what is the purpose for creating, pursuing?

See there is something in us that refuses to live out a secular worldview even if we proclaim it with our mouths.

PAUSE

How different than the statements of Jesus making promises to satisfy and bring meaning to our lives....

John 8:12

He is saying what?

There some things that curry will not feed, there is a far deeper need crying oiut that writing poetry and building bookshelves will not quiet.

and I will bring you that kind of food and drink.

In the midst of a secular worldview where meaning is created and limited to our own heads, the Good News of Jesus aims to bring us light in a dark universe, meaning and truth, resulting in joy and hope!!

That is not what the Christian faith is calling us to.

That is not how the angels declared the birth of Jesus who would change the very fabric of human history, change the way we bring meaning and purpose and joy and fullness.

They show up in the darkness or night, dirty, separate from their society, and an angel shows up and says...

They were saying EVERYTHING IS ABOUT TO CHANGE!

That your joy may be full!!

Why is the Bible’s teaching on a future

judgment a good thing?

(story about the minks that were all freed and killed in Abbotsford)

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Meaning should be left to the individual.

Interpreted by the individual.

But the question for our age of reason, is this....is that reasonable.

Is it possible to live a life consistant with that belief?