Sermon Tone Analysis

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Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
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Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
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Anger
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*/W/**/HAT /**/M/**/AKES A /**/C/**/HURCH A /**/C/**/HURCH/*
*/Fellowship/*
 
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve been trying to answer the question, “What makes a church a church?”.
Two weeks ago we looked at ministry as an essential element in church life and we talked about how you can determine your own place of ministry within the life of the church.
Last Sunday we looked at worship as a key ingredient.
This morning I want to talk about fellowship and the important role that it plays in the life of a healthy church.
I want to begin by showing a clip from a movie called, /“Tuesdays with Morie”/ which is basically about two men.
The older man is dying with Lou Gehrig’s disease.
He was a college professor who was well loved.
The younger guy is a former student who was very fond of this professor.
The young guy has lost a close relative & been running from close relationships ever since.
What started out as a one time visit to say good bye has turned into a weekly visit on Tuesdays.
This clip is the theme for the movie and it stands at the heart of what we are talking about this morning.
[MOVIE CLIP]
 
Will you please stand for the reading of Scripture this morning.
[SCRIPTURE]
 
/God is the One who made all things, and all things are for his glory.
He wanted to have many children share his glory, …/
-------Hebrews 2:10a [New Century Version]
 
·        God wanted a family
·        That’s why you are here
·        God wanted children
·        And the entire Bible is the story of God building a family
·        God is in the business of building an eternal family
 
/His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.
And this gave him great pleasure./
-------Hebrews 1:5 [New Living Translation]
* It has always been God’s plan to build an eternal family
* God wants a family to live with Him in Heaven & worship Him forever!
 
/Love your spiritual family!/
-------1 Peter 2:17b [The Message]
 
·        God tells us to love that spiritual family right here on earth.
·        Even before we get to Heaven
·        Why
o       Because God is love … so loving people makes us more like God.
o       Because your physical family is going to fall apart & be reshaped … but your spiritual family is going to last forever.
o       Because loving people is good practice for eternity … for being in Heaven
 
That’s what fellowship is all about.
You were formed for God’s spiritual family.
The definition of fellowship is simply *Loving* *God’s* *family*.
/I am writing [so] … you will know how to live in the family of God.
That family is the church of the living God …/
-------1 Timothy 3:14f [New Century Version]
 
·        Circle 2 words --- family & church
o       The church is not a building
o       The church is not an organization
o       The church is not a club
o       The church is a family
o       The church is a family you belong to
o       The Christian life is not just about believing it is about belonging
 
Four Levels of Fellowship:
 
Level One: *Membership* --- Choose a church & then show up.
This is the most basic choice in fellowship.
Finding a church and being committed to show up.
/Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds.
*And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do*, but encourage and warn each other,/
-------Hebrews 10:24f
 
Some people like to say, “Well I’m a Christian but I don’t want to belong to any church.”
·        That just doesn’t make sense
·        It’s like saying, “I’m a football player, but I don’t want to be a part of any team.”
·        It doesn’t work
·        It’s like, “I’m a trombone player, but I don’t want to be a part of an orchestra.”
·        A trombone player without an orchestra is just limited.
·        It’s like saying, “I’m a bee, but I don’t want to be part of a hive.”
·        A soldier without a platoon
·        A Christian without a church family is an orphan
·        God created you to be a part of a spiritual family.
/… in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others./
-------Romans 12:5 [NIV]
 
·        What this verse is saying is that you belong to other Christians!  Think about that.
How does that make you feel?
·        The apostle Paul uses the human body as an example.
·        Now think about this: What if your liver said, “I’d like to belong to several different bodies!”?
 
Today there is a problem in America with the floating Christian … people who just go from church to church to church.
The week that Tony Roma’s opened people had to park in the Home Depot parking lot … but there was lots of room in the Applebee’s parking lot that week.
·        We love to jump from one new thing to another
·        From one hot venue to another
·        Hey … that’s okay when you are talking about a restaurant
·        But that mentality is killing God’s design of community in Christian churches today
·        If you tried to do that with your liver you’d just die
·        You can’t un-attach your liver and reattach with someone else & then do the same thing with someone else next week.
·        God used the illustration of the body to represent the church for a reason … my liver needs to be committed to my body!
We are not the only church in town … there are many good churches … and we are not in competition with those churches …l my goal is to see you become committed to a church in Great Falls where you can build deep lasting committed relationships to the family of God.
Fellowship = Fellows on the same ship.
And if we are all fellows on the same ship … pick a ship.
Jumping from ship to ship doesn’t work … and you just may end up landing in the water.
·        Question: when you fall over board … who is going to know about it?
We’ve had people jump ship for all kinds of reasons …
·        More comfortable seats
·        No parking
·        Announcements weren’t at the end of the service instead of in the middle
·        People have left when I’ve done a stewardship emphasis
·        Here’s my promise (I can put this in writing & sign my name to it): If you stay here long enough … this church family is going to offend you at some point!
It’s a given!
o       But my wife & kids offend me from time to time … I don’t leave them!
o       We are family
 
Look at vs. 2: /“…make my joy complete by being likeminded, having the same love, *being one in spirit and purpose*.”
/
/ /
Look at vss. 3f: /“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility *consider others better than yourselves*.
*Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others*.”/
/“Community is what happens when the person who annoys you the most always shows up.”/
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