Sermon on Life Worth Living | Is Life Worth Living?
Categories: Sermon Outlines, Topical Sermon OutlinesSermon on a Life Worth Living
INTRODUCTION:
A. Is life worth living?
1. This question has been asked by millions through the years, and it is sad that many have answered “no!”
a. In fact, we are told that more than 1,000 persons (world-wide) commit suicide each day, with more than 25,000 Americans killing themselves annually.
b. Others slip into severe depression — isolating themselves from life
c. Millions turn to drugs and alcohol because they think life is not worth living
2. Why? Is it because life is not worth living? NO!
a. It is because many have reached the point where they FEEL that life is not worth living.
b. Therefore, it is important to get our inner self thinking correctly.
B. Solomon was right when he said … Proverbs 23:7
1. Thousands give up on life because they never learned to develop the inner self
2. In this message, it is hoped that all will discover the true worth of life.
DISCUSSION:
A. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING IF WE HELP OTHERS
1. We are truly happy when we are involved in helping others.
a. Too often we live only for ourselves.
b. Then, when bad health or disappointments come into our life — we become unhappy
c. If life is only for our self, then life will let us down
2. In the early history of the human race, Cain asked: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9)
a. The answer is still “yes” !!!
b. We need to bear one another’s burden, and we need to be concerned about one another
c. Galatians 6:2-10
3. Jesus taught the importance of helping others in the Parable of the Good Samaritan … Luke 10:30-37
4. Emily Dickinson wrote:
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin,
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
5. James said … James 1:27
6. Romans 14:7
7. To make life worth living we need to help someone each day of our lives — when we are helping others, we are helping ourselves.
B. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING IF WE LIVE TO BE NEEDED
1. A newspaper article appeared a few years ago reporting of a young boy who killed all his family. When the boy was asked why, his only answer was: “I felt left out.”
a. One of the basic needs of human beings is to belong, to feel needed, and when this is lost, life becomes a vacuum.
b. We must all work to keep this from happening to us
c. When one feels useless, it is not always the fault of those around us.
d. Each of us has the responsibility to find where we are needed and where we can help in this life
e. This is where Christianity in its purity is a great asset!
2. Christianity is a way of life, not just a set of rituals performed occasionally!
a. Christianity is a Christ centered life.
b. Romans 14:8
c. Philippians 1:21
3. Many of us feel left out because we have rejected thousands of opportunities to do good
a. Someone once wrote, “Hell begins on the day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts which we have wasted, of all that we might have done which we did not do…”
b. When opportunity knocks, we had better answer because it may never return again.
4. The rich man of Luke 16:19-31 longed for lost opportunities.
a. When he found that there was no hope for himself, he wanted to warn his brothers, but it was too late.
b. He had neglected his opportunities to be needed of others, he even neglected the opportunity to help the beggar Lazarus, and now everything was lost to him forever.
5. On one of Paul’s missionary journeys, he came across a woman named Dorcas … Acts 9:36b
a. This woman died, and still her reputation for good followed her … Acts 9:39
b. What a joy it must have for Peter to bring her back to life — she was a woman that was needed
6. Too many of want success to be handed to us without any effort on our part, but this can never be!
a. We become needed when we meet each challenge, large or small, with long, hard hours of work.
b. Longfellow must have had this in mind when he wrote:
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night
7. We can all be needed if we will only find our place
a. We must believe in God and ourselves — then find our place in life
b. God provides food for the birds, but He does not throw it in the nest.
C. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING IF WE ARE THANKFUL
1. The only way that we can honor God, allow Him to remove our fears, and to direct our lives, is to be thankful
a. When we get on the Lord’s side and live with gratitude in our hearts, we reduce life to a size that we can handle
b. One man or woman with God represents the majority
c. Those that leave God out of their lives and make an effort to tackle life along the way will have disappointment and fear.
d. Someone once said, “He that loses money loses little, he that loses health loses much, but he that loses courage loses all.”
2. We have so much to be thankful for here in America.
a. Whatever our status in life, we are rich if we live in America
b. Our hearts should ache when we think of the thousands in this nation who are not thankful — who have opportunities for happiness, but close their eyes and reject them
3. However, our gratitude should not begin and end with physical blessings — for our greatest blessings are spiritual ones!
a. Ephesians 1:3
b. Thus, we should … Ephesians 5:20
c. How easy it is to receive the blessings of Christ daily, and never thank God sincerely for them
4. It has been said that the greatest possession for which to be thankful is a thankful heart
D. LIFE IS WORTH LIVING IF WE ARE A NEW TESTAMENT CHRISTIAN
1. All the success and happiness we find on earth will be total failure if we are not right with God
2. Happiness in religion does not come from some watered-down type of religion
3. Be assured that God does have a way — he has a divine plan for man to follow, and He is not pleased with anything less!
Yes, life is worth living if we will put forth the effort