Sermon Tone Analysis

07-03-18.02

vv                           zz              07-03-25.02

07-03-18.01

07-04-01.01

*Title:           *“Stuffocating…!”

*FCF:            *stuffocation

*D-Theme:   *stuffocating

*M-Thrust:   *We must divorce our STUFF!

*App:*           We must give ourselves wholly to the Lord because we are stuffocating!

*Comment:  *the only comment was Vickey out the door saying that it was a good sermon… no real comments @ Haviland—but there were moments when the sanctuary was very quiet—@ both places

*Subject:     *Weedy Soil

*Date:          *B2B84B6D2C2A4160947C62F77E4F8714

*Text:           *Luke 8:4-15

*Focus:        *Luke 8:14             *Call to Worship: *Mark 10:17-20

 

4And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5“A sower went out to sow his seed.

And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it.

6Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture.

7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it.

8But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.”

When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 9Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest /it is given/ in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, /And hearing they may not understand.’/

11“Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

12Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

13But the ones on the rock /are those/ who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away.

14Now the ones /that/ fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

15But the ones /that/ fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep /it/ and bear fruit with patience.

• Introduction

•   The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.

It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world.

It is not X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night.

For all the ill that Satan can do, when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, or a wife.

The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts.

And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth.

For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.

•   Jesus said some people hear the Word of God and a desire for God is awakened in their hearts.

But then “as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life.”

In another place he said, “The desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”

“The pleasures of this life” and “the desires for other things”—these are not evil in themselves.

These are not vices.

These are gifts of God.

They are your basic meat and potatoes and coffee and gardening and reading and decorating and traveling and investing and TV-watching and Internet-surfing and shopping and exercising and collecting and talking.

And all of them can become deadly substitutes for God.

[1]

•   What happens when we begin to substitute things for God…?

•   stuffocation—we begin stuffocating…

•   No, I’m not Sylvester the cat, unable to pronounce my S’s…

•   That’s not a misspelling in your bulletin (or on the screen)…

•   But the word for the morning is stuffocation ~/ stuffocating…

•   What happens when we to substitute STUFF for God…?

•   …we begin stuffocating…!

•   The life born in us by the seed of the Word of God…

•   Is literally choked out so that it lives no more…

•   Bearing no fruit… which is the point of the parable…!

•   What is the thing which causes this stuffocation…?

•   It is the STUFF of life… the simple pleasures of earth…

•   What is the remedy for stuffolatry—for stuffocation…!

•   We must divorce our STUFF!

•    We must experience a complete and radical severance… [2]

•   …and give ourselves wholly to the Lord

•   I know that many of you have heard of Jeff Foxworthy…

•   The comedian who makes jokes about rednecks…

•   For example…

•   If your house still has the “WIDE LOAD” sign on the back…

•   …you just might be a redneck…

•   If you think Possum is “The Other White Meat…!”

•   …you just might be a redneck…

•   If you carried a fishing pole into Sea World…

•   …you just might be a redneck…

•   The point of all that is…

•   If worries consume you… you just might be stuffocating…

•   If riches overwhelm you… you just might be stuffocating…

•   If pleasures don’t content you… you just might be stuffocating…

• If worries consume you

•   Divorce your STUFF!

•   μέριμνα (/merimna/) *1.* *anxiety*, worry, concern [3]

•   What do you think was the thing that caused anxiety…

•   For the man who came to Jesus and said…

•  “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

•   My guess is he was looking to make a deal…

•   Thinking he was in a position to help this Rabbi…

•   Underwrite his evangelistic campaign

•   Finance his expansion…

•   Perhaps he was thinking of expanding his own influence…

•   And in so doing expanding his power and possessions…

•   After all, it would be good to be associated…

•   With a man who could feed 5,000 from five loaves…

•   What were this young man’s cares…?

Was he paranoid…?

•   Being one who had great possessions…

•   Maybe he thought that folks were out to get him…

•   In order to take his STUFF…

•   To figure out a way to seize his property…

•   Have you ever known folks who were more concerned…

•   About their STUFF than they were people…?

•   Coming unglued if one of their possessions…

•   Were damaged by a little child during horse play…?

•   Who go to great lengths to keep up appearances…

•   Who have to have the latest and greatest gadgets…

•   Who are compulsive about things…

•   …while being complacent about their families…

•   What were this young man’s cares…?

•   Well, clearly he was anxious about the state of his soul…

•   Not living in peace with the assurance of eternal life…

•   He was looking for the angle, the line…

•   On eternal life—what HE had to do to get what he wanted…