"Simplicity" - Walking the Way
Dave Brown preaches on "Simplicity" for Week 10 of Walking the Way.
MESSAGE NOTES
Walking the Way
"Simplicity" • July 14, 2024
Teacher: Dave Brown
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We must shift America from a needs to a desire culture…People must be trained to desire, to want new things, even before the old have been entirely consumed. We must shape a new mentality. Man’s desires must overshadow his needs. —Paul Mazur
The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. —Edward Bernays
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. — Matthew 6:19-24
Contemporary culture is plagued by the passion to possess. The unreasoned boast abounds that the good life is found in accumulation, that “more is better.” Indeed, we often accept this notion without question, with the result that the lust for affluence in contemporary society has become psychotic: it has completely lost touch with reality…Christian simplicity frees us from this modern mania. It brings sanity to our compulsive extravagance, and peace to our frantic spirit….It allow us to see material things for what they are—goods to enhance life, not to oppress life. People once again become more important than possessions. —Richard Foster
The goal is to live with a high degree of intentionality around what matters most, which, for those of us who apprentice under Jesus, is Jesus himself and his kingdom. —John Mark Comer
- Before you buy something, ask yourself, what is the true cost of this item?
- Never impulse buy.
- When you do buy, buy quality over quantity.
- Start giving things away.
- Live by a budget
- Spend more time in nature
- Learn to enjoy the simple things in life.