Sermon Tone Analysis

BET THE FARM

To bet the farm means to risk everything one owns on something one is certain of, such as an idea, investment, business venture or bet.

BET THE FARM

The origin of this idiom dates back the 1800’s and the wild west.

In those days you could risk your entire farm/ranch by signing a piece of paper.

In today's parlance this behavior is called going all in.

BET THE FARM

Those who practice such behavior are often called crazy, radical, insane, and other negative psychological terms.

When Jesus called His followers to such an audacious life He was met with the same resistance.

Jesus has from the very beginning demanded 100% allegiance.

The first commandment is a all in commandment.

It was inscribed in Exodus 20 yet it was invoked in Genesis 2 . . .

Living all in is not what Christian’s do it’s who we are!

ONE WAY MISSIONARIES

A century ago, a band of brave souls became known as one-way missionaries.

They purchased single tickets to the mission field without the return half.

And instead of suitcases, they packed their few earthly belongings into coffins.

As they sailed out of port, they waved goodbye to everyone they loved, everything they knew.

They knew they’d never return home.

A.W. MILNE

A .

W . Milne was one of those missionaries.

He set sail for the New Hebrides in the South Pacific, knowing that the headhunters who lived there had martyred every missionary before him.

Milne did not fear for his life because he had already died to himself.

His coffin was packed.

For thirty - five years, he lived among that tribe and loved them.

When he died, tribe members buried him in the middle of their village and inscribed this epitaph on his tombstone:

When he came, there was no light.

When he left, there was no darkness.

PACK YOUR COFFIN

When did we start believing God wants to send us to safe places to do easy things?

That faithfulness is holding the fort?

That playing it safe is safe?

That there is any greater privilege than sacrifice?

That radical, is anything but normal?

Jesus didn’t die to keep us safe.

He died to make us dangerous.

PACK YOUR COFFIN

Faithfulness is not holding the fort.

It’s storming the gates of hell.

The will of God is not an insurance plan.

It’s a daring plan.

The complete surrender of your life to the cause of Christ isn’t radical.

It’s normal.

It’s time to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

It’s time to go all in and all out for the All in All.

Pack your coffin!

YOUR NOT THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

When we are born into this world, the world revolves around us.

We’re spoon-fed on the front end and diaper-changed on the back end.

It’s as if the entire world exists to meet our every need.

And that’s fine if you are a two-month-old baby.

If you’re twenty-two, it’s a problem!

Newsflash: You are not the center of the universe!

Sinfulness is selfishness.

At its core, sinfulness is selfishness.

It’s enthroning yourself — your desires, your needs, your plans — above all else.

You may still seek God, but you don’t seek Him first.

You seek Him second or third, or seventh.

You may sing “ Jesus at the center of it all, ” but what you really want is for people to bow down to you as you bow down to Christ.

It’s less about us serving His purposes and more about Him serving our purposes.

It’s a subtle form of selfishness that masquerades as spirituality, but it’s not Christ-centric.

It’s me-centric.

It’s less about us serving His purposes and more about Him serving our purposes.

They have invited Jesus to follow them.

Most people in most churches think they are following Jesus, but I’m not so sure.

They may think they are following Jesus, but the reality is this: they have invited Jesus to follow them.

They bought in, but they hadn’t sold out.

They call Him Savior , but they’ve never surrendered to Him as Lord.

They bought in, but they hadn’t sold out.

They were half in and half out .More than a hundred years ago, a British revivalist issued a holy dare that would change a life, a city, and a generation.

The world has yet to see what God will do with and for and through and in and by the man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.

You are only one decision away from a totally different life.

All bets are off because all bets are on God.

Of course, it will probably be the toughest decision you’ll ever make.

But if you have the courage to completely surrender yourself to the lordship of Jesus Christ, there is no telling what God will do.

All bets are off because all bets are on God .

Anytime God is about to do something amazing in our lives, He calls us to consecrate ourselves to Him.

That pattern was established right before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River and conquered the Promised Land.

Our fundamental problem.

Here’s our fundamental problem: we try to do God’s job for Him.

We want to do amazing things for God and that seems noble, but we’ve got it backward.

God wants to do amazing things for us.

That’s His job, not ours.

Our job is consecration.

That’s it.

And if we do our job, God will most certainly do His .

What it isn’t.

Before I tell you what consecration is, let me tell you what it isn’t.

It’s not going to church once a week.

It’s not daily devotions, fasting, not keeping the Ten Commandments, sharing your faith with friends, giving God the tithe, volunteering for a ministry, leading a small group, raising your hands in worship, going on a mission trip.

It more than . . .

All of those things are good things, but that isn’t consecration.

It’s more than behavior modification.

It’s more than conformity to a moral code.

It’s more than doing good deeds.

It’s something deeper, something truer.

Consecrate means to set yourself apart.

The word consecrate means to set yourself apart.

Consecration demands full devotion.