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Desiring God Study Guide: Finding Complete Satisfaction and Joy in God
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About Desiring God Study Guide: Finding Complete
Product Description THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE IS NOT OPTIONAL. IT IS ESSENTIAL. This study guide companion to the DVD version of Desiring God—the classic explanation of Christian hedonism by John Piper—will help individuals and groups understand that the supreme calling of life is to "glorify God by enjoying Him forever." The DVD and this guide create an ideal package for adult and youth Sunday school classes, small groups, retreats, classrooms, families, as well as for individual study. Topics for this 12-session guided group study include: One Great Mission and Motivation A Summary of Christian Hedonism The Foundation of Christian Hedonism The Essence of Christian Hedonism The Grand Obligation (Part 1): Commanded to Rejoice The Grand Obligation (Part 2): An Essential Element of Faith and Worship The Grand Obligation (Part 3): Holy Hedonism Is Love The Grand Obligation (Part 4): The Strength for Sanctification and Service How Then Shall We Fight for Joy? (Part 1): Know Its Sources and Setbacks How Then Shall We Fight for Joy? (Part 2): Make Use of the Means of Grace Complete with Scripture, key quotations for reflection, penetrating questions, and five daily assignments per week, this study guide will help you understand why God’s pursuit of His glory and your pursuit of joy are not at odds—because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Also includes a 6-session intensive track option. Leader’s Guide Included. About the Author JOHN PIPER is pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis,Minnesota. He is the author of more than forty books, including Future Grace, A Godward Life, The Dangerous Duty of Delight, Don’t Waste Your Life, and The Pleasures of God. John and his wife, Noel, have five children and an increasing number of grandchildren. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Introduction to This Study Guide Living a life of hedonism, in most people’s minds, is the furthest thing from Christian obedience. The idea of seeking maximum pleasure in everything you do sounds like the epitome of selfishness and the absence of all self-control. For many, to live like a hedonist means to become an enemy of love and to set yourself in outright opposition to God. But could this aversion to hedonism be an overreaction? In other words, could it be that we have allowed the concept of pursuing pleasure to be commandeered by the world and thereby lose any healthy sense of the idea for ourselves? After all, was not pleasure God’s intention for man from the very beginning, when he filled Eden with “every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food” (Genesis 2:9) and gave Adam and Eve sexuality without shame (see Genesis 2:25)? It is true. God did make us to enjoy pleasure, and not only in the garden. Throughout the Bible, God is calling his people to pursue pleasure and to pursue it in him. “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” (Isaiah 55:1). “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink” (John 7:37). “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). The tragedy of sin is that it sidetracks and shortchanges us of the real joy of knowing God. Satan offers stolen goods, which are indeed sweet, but the span is short, and the cost far outweighs the benefits. God, on the other hand, extends far sweeter and infinitely longer-lasting pleasures: “In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). True hedonism, Christian hedonism, sees God as the source of the best delights and is unashamed to forsake sin and follow hard after him. The aim of this study guide and its accompanying DVD is to help you see that God-hungry hedonism is biblically acceptable. On top of that, it argues that such hedonism is not merely one more option for how to follow God but must instead be the fuel and fervor that motivates and empo
