Sermon Tone Analysis

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*“WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE?”*

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I was blessed as I listened to the tape of Ms. Helen’s message to you from earlier this year.

She encouraged you to “Stand still while you’re waiting on God”, to wait on and upon the Lord.

To reflect.

To gather your bearings and to listen to the instructions of the Lord.

Then, I was present to receive from Evangelist DeEtta West, as she shared a time of trial in her life and in the life of her daughter.

She reminded us of how Great our God is, and how he can and will deliver His children from the grasp of the enemy.

But she had to be still long enough to wait on the instructions from the Lord.

With just those two messages behind you, now that you have learned to be still, to wait on the Lord, to seek His guidance, and how to call on Him in the time of troubles, there is a word from heaven tonight, and it comes in the form of a question.

\\ Some of you have been around God’s table for a long time.

Some of you were just born into the family a short time ago.

Some of you have learned to take big strides along the path of life, but many others are still crawling or just beginning to stand freestyle.

Some of you have

become good at trusting in the Lord, and still others are looking before they leap.

You see, that’s what the world teaches and what many of us have taught our children over the years, to “look before you leap.”

However, with God’s program, if you look too much it just shows a lack of faith in Him.

It shows that you are trying to look up the answer or the observable assurances yourself, before you give it to Him. 

\\ Whether you are new to the family of God or you’ve lived in the house for a long time.

Whether you are gumming down your food or eating chunks of meat, still sucking on  chicken bones, or still digesting  pablum.

Whether you know who you are, or if you are not sure who you are or who you know.

Whether you are a foot soldier, marching into war, or a frightened soldier, retreating at the first sign of resistance.

Whether you’re up today and down tomorrow, or down today with no expectation for tomorrow.

If you think you’re doing everything right, or you know that you’re doing everything wrong.

If you’re experiencing God, or trying to make God experience you.

If you’re high profile, or still in your gopher’s hole.

Whether you’ve got it going on, or it just keeps on going .

Whether you’re all of that, or you’re hoping that that isn’t all.

*If *you are in the family of God, at this time and in this place, I have a question for you.

I want to know if you know, “WHERE DO YOU GO FROM HERE?”

Often, we get caught down in a rut.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in many ruts in my life.

You know.

You just realize one day that every day seems like a replay of the day before.

If memory serves me well, it’s like having your spouse to make love to you while the most enjoyment for you is trying to watch T.V. over his shoulders.

I mean a rut, ladies.

Something is wrong.

When it’s definitely time to make some changes.

A time when getting out of bed holds no great expectations.

A time when even the word “routine”, has lost its meaning.

A time when you move, not instinctively, but habitually.

You get the idea, don’t you?

A rut.

A boring, unproductive, unfulfilled, less than satisfying time in life.

\\ I’ve experienced those kinds of times in my life.

In my physical, day to day life as Barbara.

Of course, there were times when life was even worse, but those were unique times.

I am not talking about unique times in you life.

I mean times when the meaning, expectation, striving, longing, experiences, and distinctiveness of a day are lost.

I’ve had those kinds of times in my life.

In my physical life.

There have been times when going to work became just a means to an end.

A time, when taking care of my family was a chore.

Necessary, but without fulfillment.

A time when going to church was just part of the routine.

I don’t mean a depression.

I mean a rut.

It’s just like the soap operas.

The reason that I stopped watching the soaps many years ago was that for a time, about six months, I was unable to watch them due to a new job.

When I did have opportunity to tune in one day, they were still dealing with the same issues as the last time I had watched.

They were in a rut.

They are always in a rut and they’ll keep you in a rut, too.

\\ Well, sometimes, just like our physical lives get into ruts, we can get into Spiritual ruts.

Sometimes, we come to places in our Spiritual lives where we seem just to move along from habit.

We do all of the things that we are supposed to do.

You support the Pastor.

You do don’t you?

You make all of the so-called, right meetings.

You participate and interact with the other women.

You give your money.

You join and sign up to participate in special functions.

You listen to the right music.

You talk the right talk at church, at home and at work.

You involve your children, in an effort to bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

You attend the special days and listen attentively to the speakers.

In short, you just go along with the same tenacity and spunkiness in your spiritual lives, day after day.

Some of you are in self-proclaimed ruts.

You are not going to do anything more because you believe that you are blessed just to be a member of God’s family.

Some of you are so hung up on your pasts that you have identified your self-rated physical worth with your spiritual worth.

Some of you think that you have no skills to offer to God’s work.

Some of you have allowed yourselves to be intimidated by the stature of others.

Then some of you just haven’t realized that there is more to the Spiritual life.

Such as knowing the difference between living the life of a Christian and living the Christian life.

\\ If any of these things resemble you, you are in a spiritual rut.

I have come to remind you that it’s time to take a breath and to get your second wind.

It’ time to decide “Where you go from here” and it’s time to chart your way.

It’s time to begin living the Christian life.

\\ Most of the examples that I have given to you describe a person living the life of a Christian, and anyone can do that.

Yes, I mean anyone.

There are many persons in church every Sunday, in prayer meeting every Wednesday, and at a Bible class during the week that have learned to live the life of a Christian.

People who can deliver eloquent words, quote much scripture, and sing Zion songs.

People who can deliver such spiritual sounding prayers that you just know that Jesus is all ears.

People that are going to go straight to hell.

That should be no surprise, for Jesus told us in the Word that there would be wheat and tares growing together, and that He would separate them in His time.

I once heard a minister say that he could put a child of God to work the day of his birth, for that person could testify about his salvation to other lost people, or work on the usher board, or join and sing in the choir.

That always bothered me, a little, but I never knew why until lately.

New born saints could possibly do all of those things, and they could call those things works.

It’s easy to learn to imitate the Life of a Christian.

Listen, last November I wanted to sing with the Women’s Day choir as I had each year since I’ve been at Friendship.

I am in school on Mondays, which was the day of choir rehearsals.

Because I am in an accelerated program, I can miss no more that one session a term.