The pursuit of happiness
John 15:9-11 (NIV)
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
One of the basic instincts in people is to pursue after happiness. Or a better word would be to look for joy in life. It’s natural. The problem we have is that we look for it in all the wrong places and ultimately never experience the complete joy we can have. Actually what happens most of the time is that we experience incomplete joy and tragedy? The thing we are doing to bring us joy actually turns out to be the thing that hurts us.
Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Pregnancies
* Over eight hundred thousand teens become pregnant each year.
* 10% of women aged 15-19 become pregnant each year.
* 19% of women who are sexually active between the ages of 15 and 19 become pregnant each year.
* 60% of teen pregnancies happen to older teens - 18 and 19 years old.
* 34% of women get pregnant at least once before the age of 20.
* 78% of teen pregnancies are unplanned.
* Teen pregnancies are much higher in the United States than any other developed country - double that of Canada and at least four times France and Germany.
Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Births
* 13% of all U.S. births are to teens.
* 78% of births to teens are to unmarried women.
* 25% of teen moms have another child within two years of their first.
Teen Pregnancy Statistics - Teen Abortion
* Nearly 40% of teen pregnancies end in abortion.
* In 1996 there were approximately 274,000 abortions among teens.
* The abortion rate among teens has been declining since 1980.
We seem to be having a problem. We see babies having babies. Now the babies wont admit they are babies until they end up pregnant. No one admits they are to young to fool around. But the reality is babies are having babies
Now why is this happening, what’s the problem?
* Now there are many causes for this problem.
* There are many social problems that are behind this issue
* Everyone will also have an answer or an opinion on what causes this problem
For example
* Everywhere we look today sex is being sold as a commodity
* Sex is in television shows
* Sex is in the movies
* Sex is in books
* They are teaching sex in school.
o Sex education
o Lets educate them about something they are having a problem with
o But the education they get is misleading and devoid of any spiritual truth thus valueless
* We are being bombarded with sex in everything
* Movies that sell sex in every relationship that is made.
o Boy meets girl
o Have passionate feeling about each other so they have sex
* Television commercials selling jeans have sexual undertones
o Girl getting out of the shower to put on a pair of jeans they are selling
Window: A certain men’s deodorant, it’s put on and the women come running from all over.
It’s no wonder why this happens
Sex sells
* But sex sells
* If it didn’t it wouldn’t be done.
* But why does it sell
* Why is it so attractive?
* Id like to submit to you it’s because inside each individual is this deep passion to pursue happiness.
* We have an inherent desire to be happy, to feel good.
* Lets call it a instinct if you will to experience JOY
So we do everything we can in life to experience it.
* From the cloths we wear
* To the people we hang out with
* To the hobbies we have
* To the food we eat
* Everything we do is based around what makes us feel good.
* What we call our felt needs
* This makes me feel good and we should all feel good so do it
But here lies the problem (momentary satisfaction)
* When ever we pursue joy in anything but in the right areas that actually produce joy we end up more miserable then when we started
* These things such as sex only produce a momentary satisfaction
* Thus leaving you craving for more and at the same time unfulfilled
Window: Television show on overweight people eating themselves to death. Unhappy…food makes them happy but unhappy because they are overweight so the cycle begins
Window: The same with sex. Feel happy for the moment. But then feel down on yourself the next day or sometimes right after.
Some would say then why does the world sell it?
* Because although the world knows everyone is looking for joy
* It doesn’t know how to give it.
* Because it doesn’t know it will direct us towards joy in all the wrong places
It’s only found in Christ
* You see because the only place True complete joy can be found is in Christ
* And this is what the world cant give you
* True lasting joy is only found in Him
* The type of joy that transcends the situations we are in.
* The type of Joy that regardless of the circumstances Joy is still complete
o I don’t mean that we don’t get saddened
o Everyone gets down
o But the joy of God brings hope in all situations
This joy comes from the love of God and the Love of God and Christ to his children.
* God is so in love with his creation
* He so desires it to prosper
* His intentions are unconditional good will towards all of man kind
* He wants the best for all of us.
* To such an extent he willfully laid himself on a cross and gave his life so we can experience this joy
* Every parent worth his salt desires good things for his or her children
o They want their children happy
Example: Jesus tells us a story of a child receiving what he asks for from his father. How much more will God give us good things..
But there is one stipulation
* And this is why the world cant point us towards true joy
* We have to obey Gods commands
John 15:9-11 (NIV)
9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.
* We must remain in His love
* This is why so many believers never experience true joy
* Because we believe but we wont obey
* We seek and do things that God commands us not to
* He commands us not to because they hurt us rather then bring us joy
He tells us to flee from all sexual immorality and fornication
* Why because its not what it was intended for and will ultimately hurt us
* Babies will be having babies
* Sexual diseases will be spread
* Peoples feeling will be hurt
* Girls will be left lonely and depresses
* Babies will be aborted
But when we obey his commands
* We remain in his love
* And His joy will be in us and it will be complete
* Total joy
Window: Dad said he experiences joy….
If you are looking for joy and aren’t experiencing it. The only place to turn is to Jesus
* He wants to give you that joy
* He desires deeply to give it to us
* He died so we can have it
* But there may be some things we need to clean up
* We may not know what they are.
