The Secret of Life

SERMON STARTER

My siblings and I have been mourning our elderly mother’s passing. She has been a strong believer all her life. She has faced many challenges and taken on many “adventures” for herself and her family. At her almost 87 years of age, she has given up on biological life. She has faced some hard decisions the past eight years and been through some “near-death” experiences. But she is still alive, barely. She eats, sleeps and does the necessary chores of life maintenance, but no longer looks forward to anything. She is listless and lacking in animation. When we talk, her breathing is labored and anxious.

My brother Terry and I emailed a on-going dialogue recently about the meaning of life. My siblings and I are mourning our mother’s passing. We particularly dislike the notion that she no longer wishes to participate in life anymore. That is a luxury we cannot afford.

My sermon this morning is a reaction to my mother’s apathy regarding life, and a bit of a reaction to Oprah’s “religious, philosophical” system of thought she calls, “The Secret.” Jesus, too, advanced His secret to living a meaningful life more than two thousand years ago. It’s hard-to-impossible to beat His way of thinking.

 

Pastor Phil Roland    <><<

 

 

Sheepfold Ministries, August 10, 2008

Pastor Phil Roland

The Secret of Life

1 John 5:11-13 – Matthew 5:25-34

“Human life is transient and impermanent. Cultural values are touted as the goal of life: position, power and prestige. Acquisition and ‘stuff’ is not our goal. Jesus is the goal.”                                                                                                                                                   Pastor Phil

 

“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

 

BIOS = Biological Life

ZOE =  Eternal Life from God

 

I. THREE SECRETS OF BIOLOGICAL LIFE

              A.  Biological Life is Transient

                            1. We live in a “Kinetic Universe”

                                          a. Energy = basis for all life and existence: organic or non

b. All Organic and Non-Organic Matter is in constant change

                            2. Constant Change or Flux

                                          a. Flow of positive to negative

                                          b. Order to Disorder

                            3. Human life is short

                                          a. “Time” Poem

                                          b.  Time Statistics

                                             If a person lives to 70 years, you will spend an  average of:

                                                        23 years  sleeping;

                                                        19 years  working;

                                                        9 years  playing;

                                                        6 years  traveling;

                                                        6 years  eating;

                                                        4 years  sick;

                                                        2 1/2  years  dressing themselves;

                                                        1/2 year in the House of the Lordl

              B. Biological Life’s about the Journey, not the Goal

                            1. Is your Journey one of Growth and Maturity?

                                          a. Some make the journey and never grow

                                          b. Others are constantly derailed from their journey

                            2. Human life isn’t about rushing to your goal

                                          a. Making more money

                                          b. Acquiring Fame and Fortune

                                          c. Making a name for yourself

                            3. Stop the mad pace and use the senses God has given you

                                          a. Enjoy the roses

                                          b. Smell their sweetness           

c. Feel their velvety, moist texture

                            4. Touch the hem of Jesus’ Garment

.             C. Biological Life’s about Living in the Moment

                            1. Live where your shoes are

                            2. Enjoy each breath you take

                            3. Live in the “Golden Now”

                            4. “The Best Time is Now!”

                                          Ephesianis 5:16

                                          "Redeeming....the time, for the days are evil “

                            5. Use your moments of time wisely

                            Supposing I credited to your bank account each morning $86,400,

but with certain conditions. No balance of the money would be

carried over from one day to the next. Whatever cash        was left over

at the end of the day would be canceled out!

What would you do with an arrangement like that?

                            (Ask audience)

                            DRAW OUT EVERY CENT EACH EVENING BEFORE CLOSING?

                    Well, each of you do receive a substantial amount in the “Bank of Life!”

That substantial amount us called, "TIME.” 

                            Every morning Life credits you with 86, 400 SECONDS!

                            Every evening Life debits as lost, what time you failed to invest!

                            There's no going back!

                            There's no drawing against tomorrow! 

                            Make a good investment each day on life's most precious  commodity: T I M E !

II. APOSTLE JOHN’S SECRET OF ETERNAL LIFE - Text

              A. Eternal Life is only in Jesus – v. 12a

              “He who has the Son has life” (Zoe)

                       1. Know Jesus, Know Life / No Jesus, No Life

                            2. Jesus is the Secret

                            3. Not like the world’s secret – Oprah, “The Secret”

                                          a. People must visualize what they want

                                          b. “The Law of Attraction”

                                          c. “Like attracts Like” – Your thoughts are like magnets

                                          d. Positive thoughts attract positive events

                                          e. Negative thoughts attract negative events

            B. No Life without Jesus – v. 12b

              “he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

1.  “Dead Men Walking” – Capital Punishment Convicts

                            2.  “Edicts to Kill” Issued by Muslim Religionists

                                          a. Victims of Fatwa

                                          b. Offended the Muslim Faith

                            3. Revenge / Death, Natural Consequence of human life w/o Jesus

              C. Leaving this Life is Gain because of Jesus – Phil. 1:21

                            “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

 

The Secret of Life, Texts:

1 John 5:11-13

11  And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.

12  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.

13  These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

 

Matthew 6:25-34

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?

26  "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

27  "Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

28  "So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;

29  "and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30  "Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

31  "Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'

32  "For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

33  "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

34  "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

 

“TIME”  POEM

 

I have only just a minute,

Only sixty seconds in it,

Forced upon me-

Can't refuse it;

Didn't seek it

Didn't choose it;

But It's up to me

To use it.

I must suffer if I lose it

Give account if I abuse it.

Just a tiny little minute

But, eternity is in it!