Sermon Notes from August 13

Sermon Texts:  Psalm 37:4, Psalm 16:11, Matthew 13:44

On Sunday, we continued in our series over our cultural values as a church.  This week we looked at the value of the enjoyment of God.

The enjoyment of God is one of the primary things God wants for you and me.

A. It is costly -  It requires a sacrifice of the lesser pleasures of the earth that we tend to hold on to so tightly, because Jesus is greater than the things of this world. It costs us to see everything else as being lesser, and not just to see it as lesser but to live as though everything else is lesser.  

B. It is worth it - Because He is the greatest joy. We have found the all-satisfying treasure, so we can lay down everything else, not begrudgingly or out of duty, but out of enjoyment, out of delight. 

“The enjoyment of God is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the ocean.”  Jonathan Edwards

Two points of application:

1. What we give our lives to (aka worship/praise) is how we examine what we enjoy most.

2. Telling others about what we enjoy is the natural outworking of our enjoyment.

We must be aware of that which is dominating our thoughts and words, because that will often tell us what we are giving our lives to and what we enjoy. And if God isn’t daily affecting our hearts and lives in this manner, then we probably aren't finding much enjoyment in Him.  
And this is a point where we need to repent.  It is often true of all us that our hearts are not desiring more of God.  But if we truly believed he was the source of true satisfaction, we would not be worshipping lesser things.  We would be giving our lives to finding more and more satisfaction and enjoyment in God than in anything else.

And we can only enjoy God once we have received His grace.  

It is His grace that so powerfully reveals His love and glory, which causes us to joyfully worship Him, because He has saved us and made us righteous through the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12:2 states, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." 

Four challenges in response:

1. Every time you pray, pray for spiritual breakthrough, that you would enjoy God.

2. Remember the grace of Jesus, which is what allows our enjoyment of Him.

3. Begin praising Him throughout the day for who He is and what He's done.

4. Begin telling others about how great He is.

I believe strongly, that if this culture of enjoyment begins to settle in and become true of us as a church family, then we will experience more of the presence of God than we ever have before and we will be known for our love of God, love of one another, and love of our neighbor.