Sermon Detail

Strength for the Journey A Way of Seeing

December 31, 2023 | Buster Brown

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more. But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all."  Psalm 103:13-19

"And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!'"  Revelation 14:13

"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."  2 Corinthians 5:10

"They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life."  1 Timothy 6:18-19


Various approaches to “seeing” the nature of life:


1. Anger.

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light."
 Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)


2. The way of the disillusioned, “sensible man.”

In this approach, the individual comes to believe that any hope of an eternal reality or eternal life is nonsensical. You give up the quest for having a life that is impactful and settle into a dull routine of a plotting 24-hour, daily existence.


3. Non-gospel nobility.

“I’d rather think what the majority of survivors of concentration camps have been experiencing may be called ‘survivor responsibility.’ What they feel is a deep sense of being responsible regarding the question of how to make the best of each single opportunity that life may offer them”  Viktor Frankl, Facing the Transitoriness of Human Existence


4. Living as called out stewards of the manifold grace of God.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."  1 Peter 2:9-10

“But supposing infinite happiness really is there, waiting for us? Supposing one really can reach the rainbow's end? In that case it would be a pity to find out too late (a moment after death) that by our supposed 'common sense' we had stifled in ourselves the faculty of enjoying it.”  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 136

“I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or to be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, or echo, or mirage. I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.”  C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 137