The “Hot Seat” is coming!
Next month’s message series is going to be awkward!
I believe that church spends way too much time answering questions that nobody is asking, so I want to deal head-on with real questions from REAL PEOPLE. This is a GREAT opportunity for YOU to give your skeptical, doubtful friend or co-worker the chance to ask their real questions, and to watch the pastor squirm!
So, have your friends go to hotseat.church, submit their anonymous question, and be present with you on Sundays in July to see how I handle the “Hot Seat!”
Sixteenth-century French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal once said, “All men seek happiness. This is without exception.” Do you think that is true? Why or why not?
What do people in our culture think will bring them happiness?
Share about something you thought would bring you happiness, only to discover it did not. Did you learn anything from that experience?
Why do you think so many of the things we seek in life never truly satisfy us?
Psalm 16:1–6 (NLT)
Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.
I said to the LORD, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.”
The godly people in the land are my true heroes! I take pleasure in them!
Troubles multiply for those who chase after other gods. I will not take part in their sacrifices of blood or even speak the names of their gods.
LORD, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing. You guard all that is mine.
The land you have given me is a pleasant land. What a wonderful inheritance!
What does the Psalmist David observe to be the difference between Godly people and people who “chase after other gods?”
How might desiring other gods cause our troubles to multiply? (Hint: How did this happen to David in his life?)
Despite David’s desire to lead the nation of Israel to follow after and worship God, the nation of Israel was not exactly godly during his reign. Immorality and idolatry began to creep into the nation, and David bears some responsibility for this decline through his adultery with Bathsheba. After David stole Bathsheba from Uriah and then had him killed, we begin to see trouble multiply in David’s family. David’s daughter Tamar is raped by one of his sons by another wife. This leads to Absalom’s rebellion and civil war. The kings who come after David allow idolatry to take deeper and deeper root in Israel, and Israel finds itself more and more in debt to the nations around it.
How has seeking after “happy,” rather than “joy” caused YOU more trouble?
Psalm 16:7–11 (NLT)
I will bless the LORD who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me.
I know the LORD is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.
No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave.
You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.
Why was David so confident that he would not be “shaken?” What did trusting in the Lord (joy) produce in David’s heart?
What did David find in the presence of the Lord?
Philippians 4:4 (NLT)
Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!
Why do you think God’s Word tells us to “be full of joy in the Lord?”
When David says “you will not leave my soul among the dead,” what is he referring to?
Both Peter and Paul saw this passage in Psalms as a reference to the resurrection from the dead. David is looking forward to the messiah who would make us rise again to be with Him forever! How should our joy IN CHRIST be better than David’s joy in Psalms?
What good things in your life tend to be more important to you than Christ? How do your troubles multiply when you prioritize these things over Him?
What keeps you from delighting in the Lord?
Do you serve God more often out of duty, or out of delight? How might meditating on God’s Word help you to delight in Him?