Andover Christian Church & Dr. Jim Conner

We are so fortunate if we live in the United States. None of us may have everything we want, but we all have so much! Yet all we have may not give us a fulfilling life! In fact some who have the most are also the most empty and broken! So what makes for a fulfilling life? The secret is to be found in how we live - what we do with all that we have.

The cheers of the crowd have always been a powerful narcotic. Now that has become the number of friends we have or how many are following us in social media. This god is called popularity and it is a very popular place to worship. "What will people think" has become our mantra. Yet this god is an empty counterfeit who is never satisfied and can't give true happiness. But God can!

One of the most popular gods of our age is money. The ultra-wealthy are treated as celebrities. We believe that with enough money you can do anything - except be happy! Look at Scrooge! Money is a counterfeit god - it can't make life work for us. But God can, when He gives us a whole new perspective on our money.

This talk is an interview with Roger and Dixie Shewmaker about their decades of mission work in the Philippines.

Success seems to be so wonderful. Most of us spend our likes working hard and making countless sacrifices to achieve success. If we get there, will we be happy? Will is solve all our problems? Maybe not!

When it comes to happiness, love is the key - or at least that's what we want to believe. Our culture is obsessed with romantic love, because we think it is the key that will bring us happiness. Love is great, we're designed by God to have a life-long companion in our spouse. But that doesn't mean love can solve all our problems! It can't!

Idols are more than stars on TV or some stone statue from ancient times. We may be educated and sophisticated, but that doesn't mean we've outgrown the idea of idols. In fact, there are some things today that we can count on for happiness, worth, meaning, even our security. And they're not God! Does that make them an idol?

The Bible his a very HIGH VIEW of we humans! In fact the Bible says that we are patterned after God Himself! That means there is a whole spiritual dimension to each of us - our SOUL! So if we have a soul, and it affects our entire life, how do we keep it healthy?

There's an important part of each of us that we often neglect - we may not even be aware it is there! Yet it makes all the difference in the world for how we live our lives and how meaningful our lives become. It is our SOUL. We'll look at just what the soul is, and why it is so important.

Joseph had every right to take his revenge on his brothers. Instead he chose to forgive them. His act of forgiveness became the greatest gift he could give, not only to his brothers, but to himself, his entire family, the nation of Israel. Could our forgiveness be just as important?

Joseph was finally blessed by God in incredible ways. Then his brothers showed up to get food during the famine. What would you do? Joseph forgave them! Why? Because he knew God had used the bad for Good! And God does that for us as well!

Joseph is now 30 and his life has been mostly problems. Yet God has promised to bless him. When God finally comes through, Joseph is blessed by God beyond his wildest dreams. Could God do that for us??? Yes He can!

Joseph found himself in prison because of his own choices. They were the RIGHT choices, but they landed him in prison because he had integrity. A tough lesson that we still need today!

Joseph's life up to this point had been a series of ups and downs. Yet each down seemed to be longer and deeper. After two years in prison with no hope of release, he must have been discouraged. What do WE do when God seems to be silent, when our prayers seem to be unanswered? We look for hope and how we can have faith in such times in this sermon.

Joseph was sold as a slave in Egypt. While he was away from everyone, he was not alone. God was with him and gave him a good master, Potiphar. Yet even when things were going better, Joseph faced a test. And he passed the test! But passing the test meant he lost everything!

Joseph is one of the great people of the Old Testament. He literally saved his entire nation. But he wasn't perfect, and he didn't come from a perfect family. While he may have been his father's favorite son, his home wasn't always happy and things didn't always go well for him!

We avoid criticism today. We see it as hurtful not helpful. We think encouragement is the only thing needed. Solomon points out that our critic may actually be the best friend we have, because they help us grow!

One of the more "radical" principles Solomon shares is about desires. Today desires are almost automatically accepted and satisfying them is seen as a good thing. Solomon would disagree. His advice is that we need to learn self-control; to filter our desires because some desires will ruin us!

One of the important lessons Solomon identifies is telling the truth. Lying is what a FOOL does. A WISE person always tells the truth. That's an important lesson in our culture where lying has become commonplace.!

We saw last week that we have a choice: be wise or be a fool. It isn't about our circumstances or our past, it is about this basic choice we all must make,. The next step? Find the source of wisdom. This week we will look at the source Solomon says is #1.