Jan 24, 2021 |Knockoff gods

Comfort

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01.24.21 | Knockoff gods

Comfort

James Granger

2 Corinthians 1:3-7

We are so dedicated to comfort that even talking about it is uncomfortable. Do you prioritize your own comfort over God or others? Pastor James Granger reminds us that earthly comfort is temporary, often self-seeking, and pursued through created things. Biblical comfort, in contrast, is eternal, others-oriented, and found through God Himself. True comfort is not found in created things, but is found in the One who created everything.

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They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served what has been created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
Romans 1:25

Comfort: a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint.

“The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house as a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master.” – Khalil Gibran

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings that we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that as you share in the sufferings, so you will also share in the comfort.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7

parakaleo = comfort
para = beside or alongside
kaleo = to call or invite

“Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.” – Billy Graham

My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
1 John 2:1-2

“If you love me, you will keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive him because it doesn’t see him or know him. But you do know him, because he remains with you and will be in you.”
John 14:15-17

If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth.” – C.S. Lewis

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than yourselves. Everyone should look not to his own interests, but rather to the interests of others.

Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
who, existing in the form of God,
did not consider equality with God
as something to be exploited.
Instead he emptied himself
by assuming the form of a servant,
taking on the likeness of humanity.
And when he had come as a man,
he humbled himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—
even to death on a cross.
Philippians 2:3-8

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. I also saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look, God’s dwelling is with humanity, and he will live with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
Revelation 21:1-4

Describe some of your favorite “things of this world.” What are some of the activities, foods, gadgets, movies, etc. that you really enjoy?

What is comfort? Why is comfort such an appealing idol? How can you tell that your own personal comfort has become an idol in your life?

Read II Corinthians 1:3-7, I John 2:1, and John 14:16-17. How is Biblical comfort different from earthly comfort? How specifically does our the “God of all comfort” bring comfort to us in the midst of our affliction and suffering?

Who are some people who have been a comfort in your life? What opportunities have you had to bring comfort to others?

What are specific steps we can take to “kill” the idol of comfort in our lives?
Read Revelation 21:1-4. How will our eternal reality differ from our earthly one?

Take some time as a group to imagine what it will be like to live eternally in God’s presence in a place where there is no sin, suffering, or death.

Youth