Video Transcript: Phrase Eight

All right, we're in this mini course, on the Serenity Prayer and you've stuck with  it. Through all these sessions, I hope it's been helpful to you. Remember, we  have ways that the Serenity Prayer can be taken with you through the day. I  especially like this one, it's right there, people can read the words, if you went  into a public place, people right away would would see this, I mean, you can't  miss it. Right? You can see, serenity, in big words are there. And my guess is if  you went somewhere, somebody at your table or at your desk, or wherever you  are, somebody's gonna say something about this. And then you have an  opportunity. And it's interesting if you just hand them the cup. So here, look it  over which phrase here catches your eye. And they will gravitate to the thing  that they're going through. That's, that's a great way to engage in the  conversation. Because you can try to guess, the tack that you would take in  sharing your faith with somebody, or you can let them decide, you know, what,  what, what end of the situation are you and you can decide where we're going to launch into a discussion of God and prayer, trusting, difficulties. coming to faith,  all these things, you decide what you want to talk about. Alright, so we have the  last part of the Serenity Prayer here, phrase, eight, that I that I may be  reasonably happy. So I'm trusting God, and rely on him. I'm accepting the things  that I can't change. I'm doing something about the things that I can. But, but in  the end, this is sort of the conclusion of the matter, that I may be reasonably  happy in this life, and supremely happy with him forever in the next. Amen. I like  that phrase that I may be reasonably happy in this life. One mistake that people  make is thinking that heaven is on earth. They're trying to make heaven on  earth. And you'll always be disappointed because Heaven, Earth is not heaven.  The old song, this place is not our home, we're just passing through. And we get glimpses of heaven, we get glimpses of the eternal joy that, that God has for us.  But this world is, is is like our time to work. That God, you know, God's God sent his Son into the world to die on the cross to pay for sins, to pave a way for  people to, to come back into relationship with God. That's the mission that we're  engaged in right now on the planet. And it's a difficult one, we're in the middle of  a battle of good versus evil, light versus darkness. Now, in the middle of all that  battle, we can be reasonably happy. God still wants joy for us. But that's not the  main event. The happiness part is the heaven part right now, we got to work  hard. But that doesn't mean we can't be reasonably happy. So I like that. You  know, it's not saying that we shouldn't be happy, and we shouldn't pursue  happiness. But there's something deeper okay about this kind of happiness.  Proverbs 5:18, may your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of  your youth. Now, I like this, because, again, it centers on that we can have  happiness, but notice it says the wife of your youth. Now, that doesn't mean that  I'm rejoicing in the wife only when she's young. But, but the reference does  harken back to when things were, I don't know. As I reflect back, maybe they  weren't better. But I think about that, I think, you know, you know, when I was 

first meeting my wife and how much in love we were, and how we wanted to  spend every minute together and, you know, she was at the for most of my  thoughts. Now, is that true today? I mean, yes and no, there's something special about, you know, young love about being young at all. There's something  hopeful about it. Now, my back hurts, you know, I'm older. My eyesight isn't as  good. You know, There's joy still, but But there isn't that joy of was youth. And I  think, again, youth is a picture, what is yet to come, we get a taste of it. But it's  not the whole thing. Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, I know that there's nothing better for  people than to be happy. And to do good while they live that each of them may  eat and drink and find satisfaction and all their toil, this is a gift from God. So  God wants joy for our lives, Ecclesiastes 11:9, you who are young, be happy  while you're young. And let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.  Follow the ways of your heart, and whatever your eyes see. Okay, so this is real  optimistic about when you're young. And you know, when you're young, and  you're trying things, maybe, maybe you're young, and you're taking these  classes, and it's like, you could become anything. Yeah, I just retired from a  church not too long ago. So I'm at the end of that career, but some of you at the  beginning, you have all these possibilities, and you have no idea what God is  going to do with you. What are you going to do? Are you going to plant a  church? Are you going to become a pastor, or you become to become a Bible  Study leader? Are you are you are you gonna get married and have 10 children,  who knows all this stuff in front of you. And you get to try things, but you have  enough time to try this. And maybe that doesn't work out, so you try something  else. I don't have as much life, to try this, to try that, you are young, be happy  while you are young, and let your heart give you the joy in the days of your  youth, follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see. But then this,  but know that for all these things, God will bring you into judgment. Yeah, you  know, youth is a time to try things, experiment with these, but it's not a time to be a sinful, selfish person. If you do that, then you'll reap the rewards of that. I Peter 1:3-9, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His great  mercy has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of  Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil  or fade. So that verse is looking forward to what will one day be. But it's also  saying something about what is the what is can perish, can spoil can fade, now  we have an inheritance that doesn't do any of these things. And that's coming.  But right now, what we experience that those things do fade. So we experience  the goodness of God now, yes. But it's, you know, I like how the Serenity Prayer  puts it, let's go back to that. That I may be reasonably happy in this life. We can  be reasonably happy in this life, you can be. And maybe some of you haven't  experienced that. And that that is the hope of the Christian life, that is the hope  that still in heaven, that you can be reasonably happy in your marriage, that you  can be reasonably happy in the work that you do in the church, that you can be 

reasonably happy as a parent, that you can be reasonably happy in the  friendship circles that you have. But that's not everything. And supremely happy  with him forever in the next some ways, maybe we don't talk about having  enough. You know, we were you know, we live in a world where we're trying to  make heaven on this earth. But But But we'll always be disappointed. But there  is this thing called heaven, there is something ahead of us. Okay, so carrying on  from I Peter. So let me just pick it up where I said, this inheritance is kept in  heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming  of salvation. That is our that is ready to be revealed at the last time in all this you greatly rejoice. You rejoice now that's a happiness that you have now. though  now for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  There's happiness but there's also suffering and trials and difficulties. These  have come so that so that the proven genuine genuineness of your faith. of  greater worth than gold which perishes even though refined by fire may result in  praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. So there is joy now. But  it's done through difficulties. That, and that's, I think, think that's the relevance of  the Serenity Prayer. It's not just pie in the sky, it's not just, you know, everything  is wonderful. No life can be difficult. And that's why I think that it's such a  ministry opportunity, it's an it's an opportunity for you to be reminded that life is  difficult. But even in the difficultness, there's, there's a hope, there's a positive,  there's a joy. But it's also incredibly ministry tool people. People want joy in their  life, they want it now. And they have this sense that there has to be something  even even in your best experiences. The best time you ever had your life, it  could be more and I think people have this sense or this desire, that there's  more to life than what they experience. All that stuff is right here. All that stuff is  ready to be discussed with someone. And people I think people want to discuss  it. They just need an excuse. So the Serenity Prayer can be that excuse. alright,  Though you have not seen him you love him. And even though you do not see  him now you believe in him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy, that you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your soul. So  there's this, this. This verse really reiterates the Serenity Prayer that there is joy  now. In fact, there's inexpressible and glorious joy now, but it's because of what  we have, because of the inheritance that Christ has won for us on the cross.  Well, I hope that you enjoyed this class on the Serenity Prayer written by  Reinhold Niebuhr So many years ago, people in the AA world have used this, it  has blessed so many people. In my church in Vancouver, I had like 50  participants in the AA program coming to my church, and I was invited to many  of their meetings to be a part of that and with witness their testimonies. And it  was always a powerful moment when people stood up. And some of these  people believe in God and some people didn't. But we would pray this serenity  prayer. And it was a powerful thing in their lives. And I think it can be a powerful  thing in your life too not only your life, but in the lives of the people around you. 

Use the Serenity Prayer for your life, but also as a witnessing ministry tool. So  I'm thankful that you can be a part of it. Check out our website to see if there's  any of these serenity products that you'd like to use as a reminder for yourself  and for others and thank you for being a part of this