Pastor Rick Hudgens | The
Pursuit of Joy: Part 4
Sunday/Sep/2009 13:36
A Russian woman lived with her husband and two children
in a very small hut. Her husband’s parents lost
their home and she had to take them in. Unbearable. In
desperation, she went to the village wise man, whom she
knew had solved many, many problems. "What should I
do?" she begged.
"Do you have a COW?" asked the wise man.
"Yes," she replied.
“Then bring her into the hut too. And come back
and see me in a week," said the wise man.
A week later she was back. "This is utterly unbearable"
she said.
"Do you have any CHICKENS?" asked the wise man.
"Yes," she replied. "What about them?"
‘Bring them into the hut too, and come back and
see me in another week."
"Now you’re utterly out of your mind," she said.
Nevertheless, still awed by his reputation, she did as
he asked. A week later she returned. "This is
absolutely impossible," she said. "Our home is a mess."
"All right," said the wise man, "take out the
chickens." The next week she reported that without the
chickens it was definitely better, but still a
miserable situation.
"All right," said the wise man, "now take out the cow.
That will settle your problem."
And it did. Without the chickens and cow, the woman,
her husband, the children, and his two parents got
along quite peacefully. Everything is relative!
Sometimes we don’t know how well off we really
are!
Surely one of the greatest causes of a believer not
having joy in their lives is a lack of contentment.
Contentment is an illusive commodity today! Tragically,
Christian and Non-Christian alike fall for the
world’s lies about the secret of contentment.
Never, it seems, have so many wanted so much and found
so little contentment once they got it. This is hardly
surprising when we consider that we are bombarded on a
daily basis with advertisements whose sole purpose is
to breed discontent so that we will buy their product.
How tragic it is that we live in one of the most
prosperous nations on the face of the earth and we
still struggle with contentment. We seem to live in a
culture that is not content, ever, with little or with
much. It appears that the more people have the more
discontent they are… Typically the richest
people in the world are the most miserably unhappy.
This is one reason we began our pursuit of joy. In
marked contrast with the widespread discontent of our
world, the Apostle Paul spoke on the subject of
contentment in the last chapter of his letter to the
church at Philippi.
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Pastor Rick Hudgens | The
Pursuit of Joy: Part 3
Sunday/Sep/2009 13:06
Antoine de Saint-Exupery's delightful fantasy about The
Little Prince includes the story of a fox who wishes to
be tamed, thereby becoming unique in all the world in
the sight of the little prince who tames him. At their
departure, the fox gifts the little prince with three
insights that clarify his purpose, including this
simple secret: "It is only with the heart that one can
see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the
eye."
In a different context, the apostle Paul lived out this
truth, because he affirmed that "the things which are
seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen
are eternal" (2 Cor. 4:18). Paul revealed his heart
when he wrote to the saints in Philippi of his longing
for completeness in his relationship to Christ:
"Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold
of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies
behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press
on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of
God in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 3:13-14).
In his single mindedness ("one thing I do"), he
concentrated on the goal of growing conformity to
Christ. The world's agenda burdens us with a
multiplicity of worries and "desires for other things"
(Mark 4:19) that can never satisfy the spiritual hunger
of the human heart. But our calling is higher than
this. Our Lord wants us to lay aside every encumbrance,
and the sin which so easily entangles us, so that we
can run with endurance the race that is set before us
as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector
of faith (Heb. 12:1-2). Paul lets us in on a discipline
that can revolutionize our lives: "one thing I do:
forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to
what lies ahead..."
A. W. Tozer wrote that "we must face today as children
of tomorrow. We must meet the uncertainties of this
world with the certainty of the world to come."
(Source: http://www.kenboa.org/)
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Pastor Rick Hudgens | The
Pursuit of Joy: Part 2
Sunday/Sep/2009 14:18
In our text today, Paul tells us that nothing is to be
done out of “selfish ambition.” This term
is translated a ‘rivalry’ by the NEB and
Phillips and as ‘faction’ by the ASV. The
phrase denotes party squabbles, petty and self-seeking
conceits. One commentator says, “The church at
Philippi has not been affected by heresy. Rather, there
is a threat to the fellowship on account of the
self-preoccupation of certain individuals who have
formed cliques or parties within the church”.
Paul says that if there is to be true joy in the
church, these groups must stop fighting for there own
rights and start looking out for the needs and
interests of the other groups. All of us are willing to
be served, but few of us are willing to serve.
Franklin Roosevelt’s closest adviser during much
of his presidency was a man named Harry Hopkins. During
World War II, when his influence with Roosevelt was at
its peak, Hopkins held no official Cabinet position.
Moreover, Hopkins’s closeness to Roosevelt caused
many to regard him as a shadowy, sinister figure. As a
result he was a major political liability to the
President.
A political foe once asked Roosevelt, “Why do you
keep Hopkins so close to you? You surely realize that
people distrust him and resent his influence.”
Roosevelt replied, “Someday you may well be
sitting here where I am now as President of the United
States. And when you are, you’ll be looking at
that door over there and knowing that practically
everybody who walks through it wants something out of
you. You’ll learn what a lonely job this is, and
you’ll discover the need for somebody like Harry
Hopkins, who asks for nothing except to serve
you.” Winston Churchill rated Hopkins as one of
the half-dozen most powerful men in the world in the
early 1940’s. And the sole source of
Hopkins’ power was his “willingness to
serve.” (Discipleship Journal, Issue 39, 1987, p.
5)
Like Harry Hopkins, our true power for greatness comes
from our willingness to selflessly serve others. As
long as we are seeking our own personal enjoyment, we
will never find joy. But the moment we begin seeking to
bring joy to others rather than ourselves, we will find
it. Years ago, the Salvation Army was holding an
international convention and their founder, General
William Booth, could not attend because of physical
weakness. He sent a message of only one word: OTHERS
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Pastor Rick Hudgens | The
Pursuit of Joy
Sunday/Sep/2009 13:05
For most, life is all about the pursuit of happiness.
We chase after the boy, the girl, the car, the job and
the American Dream only to find that happiness is a
moving target. While happiness is short lived and good
times are in short supply, there is still the pursuit
of something better, something lasting, something
called JOY.
In
this four week study of the book of Philippians, we
will go on a quest to unlock the power of joy in our
lives. For centuries the book of Philippians has been
called the “Epistle of Joy” as it overflows
with joy and thanksgiving. Written by Paul while in
chains and under house arrest in Rome, his writing is
really a love letter to brothers and sisters in Christ
that he deeply loves. You’ll discover the secret
to a happiness that doesn’t change with the stock
market or the weather.
In
addition, we encourage you to join us as we take
“The Philippians Challenge” during this
time by reading through the book of Philippians (about
12-15 minutes) every day during the month of September.
It’s time to begin the pursuit of a lifetime-the
pursuit of joy!
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