Sermon
The Silent Sovereignty of God
By Tim Keller
Talk
Surprised by Joy (2002 Open Forum)
Tim Keller | October 6, 2002
Overview
The subject of this talk is one of those perennial human questions. Joy, happiness–what is it? How do you get it? In these gospel spirituals, we see the celebration of the oldest roots of the African American music, which said the solution to the joy problem is the message of the Christian gospel.
I would suggest to you that there are three themes in the music. The first is that there’s a joy vacuum that’s very deep in the human heart. Secondly, there are joy strategies every human being has. You have some way of trying to fill that joy vacuum. You might have this one or that one. You may change them, but there are joy strategies. And lastly, this music has a solution for the joy vacuum.
Related
This Month's Featured Book
Putting Our Hope in the One True God
In Tim Keller’s book Counterfeit Gods you’ll read how the Bible reveals the truth about idols and how they can take the place of God in our hearts. The book ultimately shows us that only the one true God of the Bible can satisfy our longings and fulfill our hopes.
