INTRODUCTION: A DIFFERENT KIND OF SERMON. 1 The Secret Shame of - - PDF document

INTRODUCTION: A DIFFERENT KIND OF SERMON.

1

“The Secret Shame of Middle Class Americans”

FED: 47% < $400

2 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 1. YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU

the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live

• forever. — 1 John 2:17 (NRSV)

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• 1. YOU CAN’T TAKE IT WITH YOU

“When we stand before Jesus, none of our possessions will accompany us.”

— Mike Slaughter

4 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 2. YOU PROBABL

Y CAN’T KEEP IT WHILE YOUR HERE. House -> Apartment -> Assisted Living -> Care Home

• > Hospital -> Casket

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• 3. WHA

TEVER YOU THINK WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY , WON’T Since 1950 our sense of well being has declined even as we have increased our consumption.

6 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 3. WHA

TEVER YOU THINK WILL MAKE YOU HAPPY , WON’T Consumption is like an addictive drug.

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• 4. AFFLUENZA

affluenza, n. 1. The bloated sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses. (NPR)

8 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 4. AFFLUENZA

affluenza, n. 2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste, and indebtedness caused by the dogged pursuit of the American

• Dream. (NPR)

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• 4. AFFLUENZA

Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of

• possessions. —Luke 12:15 (NRSV)

10 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 5. WE WERE MADE FOR GOD

“You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

— Augustine of Hippo

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• 5. WE WERE MADE FOR GOD

Foxes have holes, and birds

• f the air have nests; but the

Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.

— Matthew 8:20 (NRSV)

12 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 6. ONL

Y GOD GETS TO JUDGE The neighbors don’t get to judge you.

13

• 6. ONL

Y GOD GETS TO JUDGE Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? — Romans 8:33-34

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• 7. YOU DON’T GET TO JUDGE

YOURSELF EITHER Don’t judge yourself in comparison to your neighbors. (Facebook Warning)

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• 7. YOU DON’T GET TO JUDGE

YOURSELF EITHER Above all, don’t judge yourself by your stuff. That’s not the standard God will use.

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• 8. IF YOU’RE HAVING

TROUBLE MAKING ENDS MEET , BRING THE ENDS CLOSER TOGETHER.

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8. for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have

• plenty. …

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8. … In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and

• f being in need. …

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8. … I can do all things through him [God] who strengthens me.

— Philippians 4:11-13

20 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 8. IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE

MAKING ENDS MEET , BRING THE ENDS CLOSER TOGETHER. Paul’s plenty was probably less than our little.

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• 8. IF YOU’RE HAVING TROUBLE

MAKING ENDS MEET , BRING THE ENDS CLOSER TOGETHER. Need Help? Ask a friend … or an enemy.

22 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 9. DO THE MA

TH Remember that the little stuff adds up and there’s a lot of little stuff.

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• 10. WA

TCH YOUR TRAVEL All I can say is … compare what you spend to what you give back to God.

24 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 11. YOU’RE BETTER OFF THAN

1.2 BILLION OTHER PEOPLE According to the UN, 1.2 Billion people live on less than $1.25 a day.

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• 12. AVOID THE SIREN SONG

OF ADVERTISING The pride in riches [possessions] comes not from the Father but from the world. — 1 John 2:16

26 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016

• 13. DECIDE WHO TO SERVE

No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the

• ther, or be devoted to one

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• 13. DECIDE WHO TO SERVE

and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

— Matthew 6:24 (NRSV)

Wealth includes possessions.

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• 14. PRAYER

Pray for what you need, not what you want. Pray for contentment. Pray not to have what you want, but to want what you have.

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• 14. PRAYER

“Lord, help me to be grateful for what I have, to remember that I don’t need most of what I want, and that joy is found in simplicity and generosity.” — Adam Hamilton

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• 14. PRAYER

“Give us this day our daily bread.”

— Jesus Christ

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CONCLUSION:

MAY GOD BLESS YOU WITH CONTENTMENT .

32 Sermon on Contentment — Slides.key - May 9, 2016