insignificance
Audio sermon by Gordon D. Venturella | 20:09 min
TOPIC: Fear, Meaning in Life
REFERENCES: Job 3:3, Job 3:20, Ecclesiastes 1:2, Matthew 23:27, 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, Romans 8:15-17
SERIES: Face Down Your Fears, Part 2
SUMMARY
What if the pilot of an airplane came on the intercom system on the plane on which you were traveling and said this, “Fasten your seat belts, stow your tray tables in their full and upright position, return your seat to its full and upright position...if you want to...because it really doesn’t matter, because we’re not landing, because we haven’t taken off, because we’re not going anywhere, because we’ve not been anywhere.” That’s the position many in our culture today find themselves in. They’re traveling along in this existence not sure where they’ve been, not sure if they’ve even taken off, not sure where they’re going.
What we're talking about here is finding meaning in our existence. How do I know my life is counting for something? This is a pretty heavy question that strikes at the core of our existence. Stated another way, how do you face down the fear of insignificance? Where do I go to find the answers to these questions? Is science the key to unlocking the meaning of the universe? Can I have meaning and significance in my life and still be an atheist or an agnostic? Why is it that as human beings we have the need to feel that we can make a difference? Why is it that we think about significant issues like that?
Everyone is asking and answering the questions in one way or another. Whether they’ve articulated it or not, whether it’s at the conscious level or the subconscious level. These questions are being asked and they’re being answered each and every day. Millions are looking for meaning in their life but they’re not looking to the church anymore. They’re not looking to what we call the bible, or what we know as church. They are looking in other places...
Three places where people are looking for meaning in life are:
1. Medication
2. Education
3. Sophistication
There is one more option in addition to the three listed above. Listen to this short sermon to find out the simple biblical option to finding meaning in life...an option that is quickly being lost in our culture.
"There is something worse then being deprived of life, it’s being deprived of life and not knowing it." —Walker Percy
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REFERENCES: Job 3:3, Job 3:20, Ecclesiastes 1:2, Matthew 23:27, 1 Corinthians 15:17-19, Romans 8:15-17
SERIES: Face Down Your Fears, Part 2
SUMMARY
What if the pilot of an airplane came on the intercom system on the plane on which you were traveling and said this, “Fasten your seat belts, stow your tray tables in their full and upright position, return your seat to its full and upright position...if you want to...because it really doesn’t matter, because we’re not landing, because we haven’t taken off, because we’re not going anywhere, because we’ve not been anywhere.” That’s the position many in our culture today find themselves in. They’re traveling along in this existence not sure where they’ve been, not sure if they’ve even taken off, not sure where they’re going.
What we're talking about here is finding meaning in our existence. How do I know my life is counting for something? This is a pretty heavy question that strikes at the core of our existence. Stated another way, how do you face down the fear of insignificance? Where do I go to find the answers to these questions? Is science the key to unlocking the meaning of the universe? Can I have meaning and significance in my life and still be an atheist or an agnostic? Why is it that as human beings we have the need to feel that we can make a difference? Why is it that we think about significant issues like that?
Everyone is asking and answering the questions in one way or another. Whether they’ve articulated it or not, whether it’s at the conscious level or the subconscious level. These questions are being asked and they’re being answered each and every day. Millions are looking for meaning in their life but they’re not looking to the church anymore. They’re not looking to what we call the bible, or what we know as church. They are looking in other places...
Three places where people are looking for meaning in life are:
1. Medication
2. Education
3. Sophistication
There is one more option in addition to the three listed above. Listen to this short sermon to find out the simple biblical option to finding meaning in life...an option that is quickly being lost in our culture.
"There is something worse then being deprived of life, it’s being deprived of life and not knowing it." —Walker Percy
POST A COMMENT
POST A COMMENT
From this sermon...
"It’s not just the skid row wino, the corner drug pusher, or the college frat drunk that’s medicating their problems regarding the pain of existence, it’s also those who are wealthy and respectable enough to have their physician and friendly neighborhood pharmacist supply them with a little escape from reality in a little legal bottle." -Gordon Venturella“Trying to find meaning and purpose in life merely through the accumulation of facts is a moral treadmill; it doesn’t get you anywhere.” -Gordon Venturella
“Meaning in life comes from a gift that I receive, not a search that I achieve.” -Gordon Venturella
“We’re a society of notoriously unhappy people: lonely, anxious, depressed, destructive, dependent people who are glad when we have killed the time we are trying so hard to save.” -Eric Fromm
Recommended Books
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Languageby Eugene H. Peterson
Helpful Links
biblegateway.comLook up a verse.
