Sermon Tone Analysis

Your Moments Can Be Painful - Stay In the Moment

Intro - Typical stuff

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-DISCLAIMER ABOUT SERMON…TALKING ABOUT SUFFERING, BUT UNDERSTAND THAT SUFFERING FOR A SEASON IS PERFECTLY NORMAL.

GRIEF AND DESPAIR ARE BIGGER ISSUES THAN CAN BE SOLVED IN ONE SERMON.

BUT STILL THERE IS SOMETHING THAT WE CAN LEARN FROM SCRIPTURE ABOUT OUR RESPONSE TO THE NATURAL PROCESSES THAT WE CANNOT NECESSARILY CONTROL.

AND THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO TODAY.

-Talk about hard times

-paraphrase Naomi’s story---lived in time of Judges, unknown when, but give an idea of time period-----Husband-ELIMELEK, died suddenly sometime after they got to Moab (all from Judah).

Has two sons.

Both get married to Moabite women (maybe give snippet of history).

They died after 10 years.

-----Naomi/Orphah/Ruth----Naomi tries to go back home/convince them to leave her.

Orphah leaves, Ruth stays (don’t mention verses though)---

------NAOMI TRIES TO GET THEM TO LEAVE, I THINK, BECAUSE SHE JUST WANTED TO BE ALONE.

------talk about that-----

------AT THE END OF THE DAY THOUGH, SHE PRESSES ON TOWARDS BETHLEHEM, COMPLETELY BLINDED BY HER DESPAIR.

SO BLINDED THAT SHE OVERLOOKS GOD’S PROVISION AND FALLS DEEP INTO SORROW AND PITY.

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Ruth 1:

Pray

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Relate to the scripture for the day.

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Focus on “Went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty----talk about school and music.

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Make previous point relate-able to everyday situations.

Friends/coworkers/family/spouse/church (even had people leave church because of situations)

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FORECASTING---[MUST MAKE THIS POINT]

....I THINK WE FORECAST LIKE THAT BECAUSE SO OFTEN LIFE IS SO GOOD! JUST LIKE FOR NAOMI…FURTHER I THINK THAT WE REACT AS MUCH AS WE DO TO SUFFERING BECAUSE WE ARE SO SURPRISED BY IT! WE LIVE SO MUCH OF OUR LIFE IN THE MIDST OF GOD’S GOODNESS THAT WE FORGET WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE HARD TIMES, AND WHEN WE GET THEM, THEY COME AS A SHOCK TO US!

Talk about that

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Sometimes we just have to come to grips with the fact that hard times, and suffering, are just a part of the bigger picture.

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THOSE HARD TIMES ARE THE VERY THING WE NEED TO BECOME STRONGER AND CLOSER TO GOD!

----BACK TO NAOMI----MOVE TOWARD IDEA OF HER WALLOWING IN PITY----THEN MOVE TOWARD RUTH’S FAMOUS RESPONSE.

Ruth 1:

Talk about that

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CHURCH WE ARE NOT ALONE!----EXPOUND ON THAT...

[in this life you will have suffering - Jesus…use it…move sermon from this to …We are not alone…even in the darkness of our suffering Jesus is there, having suffered for us and with us.

…might need a story in there somewhere…break things up…we are always looking for acceptance and when we don’t find it we are dissapointed, and suffer sometimes…but we are accepted by christ and therefore rejected by the world like him…suffering can be a surprise because we have it so good so much of the time(talk about kids here)…we see god’s goodness in creation, relationships, personal life, and in the little everyday moments we have so when those moments get hard we are shocked by it and feel like God isn’t there…we look past the good and dwell on the bad.]