Happiness Through - Comfort (Beatitudes) Series

Happiness In An Unsettling World

Steele Creek Church, Eastfield Campus

Dr. Tom Bartlett – September 27, 2020

Matthew 5:4

Comfort

OUTLINE

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (ESV)

Blessed: A happiness that’s a result of God’s favor.

“Mourn” – deeply brokenhearted

“Comforted” – peace in God’s presence (literally to call near)

HOW DO I FIND COMFORT IN MY DISTRESS?

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 (ESV)

“The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” Nahum 1:7 (ESV)

Remember that God’s Word brings comfort

“My soul clings to the dust; give me life according to your word. . . When I think of your rules from of old, I take comfort, O Lord.” Psalm 119:25 (ESV)

Allow others with similar experiences to comfort you

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV)

Tap into the amazing power of God’s Spirit

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13 (ESV)

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16 (ESV)

MANUSCRIPT

Good morning and welcome online and yes, IN PERSON TO!

My name is Tom Bartlett, I serve as the pastor of this campus and as a part of the Steele Creek team.

Over the past couple of years, those within this campus have served together and have grown closer together, but there’s still so much we don’t know about each other. The one thing I can say for sure is that every person in this room, if they opened up, has had a life of ups and downs. No person gets through life without some major hurts.

Whether you’re an elder, or a pastor, or a deacon or member, everyone has a story to tell. And, having seen many of these personal stories up close and personal with many people over the years, I have to say, that these difficult situations shape us and inform us about life, relationships, success, and trust.

Around the age of 30 I found myself in a deteriorating marriage. I couldn’t fix it; I couldn’t do anything to change the situation although I tried. I prayed, I called every prayer-line and person to pray with me, yet nothing was changing, then all of the sudden one day, there seemed to be a break-through. I had a glimmer of hope, yet what I didn’t know was that it was a set up for an even greater personal and emotional blow.

On this particular day, I left for my new position serving in my home church some 60 miles away as we were moving back to my home town. On the way, I cried most of the way and I even considered just ending it all and driving off the bridge on the Courtney Campbell Causeway in Tampa FL. My wipers didn’t work so well, it was raining and I was crying. I could barely see but I kept driving. When these thoughts of personal destruction came over me, I said, “God help me.” I turned on the radio and a song that was ending said, “There’s a reason to live today.” I thought of my little girls at home. The next song by Michael English began and its words were, “I’ll be holding out hope to you.”

I made it to work, I cried through most of the day, then a shimmer of hope came. My wife said that she was making dinner and wanted to know what time I’d be home. This gave me hope. Now, more about that story in a bit, but . . .

I started teaching a few weeks ago on a portion of scripture that is considered the greatest sermon ever preached. I’ll be continuing that teaching by walking through the first statements of that sermon over the next several weeks.

This sermon I’m referring to was delivered by Jesus and dealt with every aspect of life. He begins his message with statements that would have sound like this to the people living in that day;

“Hey, you want to be happy? . . .”

Jesus then spoke about things that were part of the everyday life of those around Him. Of course, He was a master communicator and the people ate up every word.