Sermon Tone Analysis

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed preaching these eleven weeks this summer.

Thank you for the opportunity and the encouragement so many of you have reached out to me, sent me messages or posted on FB how God used his Word in your lives.

That was always the most encouraging thing to hear after I preached, that you heard something that will help you move closer to God that week.

Pastor Chris returns this coming Sunday, Aug 20, where we have our huge baptism celebration.

Your handout shows the updated theme.

How should our church live worthy of the gospel?

How should our church live worthy of the gospel?

On the back of your insert this week, you have the theme of all ten of the sermons from ’ve tried to color coordinate each week with the corresponding part of the overall theme.

in one mind and in one spirit, parter side-by-side for the faith of the Gospel.

in one mind and in one spirit, parter {WITH JOY} side-by-side for the faith of the Gospel.

1. Receive: Receive gospel centered grace and peace

We covered basic background of the book, that this is a letter Paul wrote from Prison in Rome to a church in modern Greece that he had visited a few times before with his friend, Timothy.

Each part of the book is a small vignette that points to the central poem.

2. Partner: 1:3-11 Confidently partner together as a church

I showed some doctors to choose from for a heart operation, to help us remember that we have confidence in someone if they have the right credentials, if we trust who they are.

Paul was confident in God because he knew God and trusted him explicitly.

we spent some time on the word Koinonia, which is this partnership, sharing and fellowship with eachother and with Christ.

3. Advance: 1:12-18 Jesus is worthy of all our devotion

I told the story of a few Christians who faced extreme pursecution and even death, but did so willingly because, they said, Jesus is worthy of all our devotion.

4. Share: 1:27-2:4 Gospel living models fearless humble unity.

4. Share: 1:27-2:4 Gospel living models fearless humble unity.

v:1:27 is where we get most of the wording for our theme.

We talked about how acting like a Christian is more than simply dressing up, just like being an good American citizen is more than just dressing up in flags.

It takes fearless and humble men and women to put their differences aside and unite together with and take care of eachother.

Where the wording of our theme comes from, that all Christians should live in a way where we work together with other Christians and look out for eachother.

5. Imitate: 2:5-11 Imitate Jesus to be full

I showed some pictures of some Pintrest fails, where some people made some very sorry imitations, and we looked at Paul’s encouragement to mimic the attitude of Christ.

This is the central poem of the book, describing Christ’s matchless humility and submission to the point of death on a cross, and then to be highly exalted above all things.

His humility is the model for us to find fullness and satisfaction in God.

6. Work Out: 2:12-18 The place that God inhabits SHINES with his glory.

I set a jar with a flashlight here, saying that we are to be like this jar, that when light comes in, we reflect that light to the world around us.

We looked at the command to work out our salvation, and that he works in us to want to and to do what is good.

And when God inhabits us, we reflect his glory through our actions.

7. Honor: Honor by imitating

I asked you who your heros were, batman, wonderwoman, superman, and said, what about these people make them heros, and makes them admirable?

2:19-30 Timothy and Epaphroditus were set up as two examples of honorable Christians who demonstrated a life worthy of the gospel by sacrificing even their lives to spread the gospel of Christ to others.

8. Press on: Press on to Know Christ

I played the Hallelujah chorus and stopped abruptly before the end, to help us remember we’re not finished yet.

We’re a work in progress and need to be anticipating our ending.

Paul encourages us to never give up, no matter what we face, and to focus on the eternal purpose of our life.

Not just to be good people, but to know Christ and live with him forever.

9. Think: Cure Anxiety by Thinking about the strategies of our enemies and the nearness of God

We told the story of Peter walking on water, and how he lost his focus on Christ and began to sink.

When we feel ourselves sinking into anxiety and worry, it is because we’ve lost our focus on Christ.

At the end of each sermon, we reviewed a singular theme.

You remember it.

How can our church live worhty of the Gospel?

In one mind and in one Spirit, partner side-by-side for the faith of the gospel.

But just about anyone who has studied the book of Philippians would be upset with me if I didn’t include a very important idea in this theme.

We’ve had a singular theme throughout our study of Philippians this summer, and for the last week I want to add two words.

It would be a tragedy to go through the book of Philippians without emphasizing something that some even consider the main point of the book.

Infact, it’s used 14 times in the short book: the principle of joy.

It would be a tragedy to go through the book of Philippians without emphasizing what some even consider the primary theme of the book.

Infact, it appears 14 times in this short book: the principle of joy.

So let’s look at the updated theme for this last message on Philippians.

How should our church live worthy of the gospel?

in one mind and in one spirit, parter {WITH JOY} side-by-side for the faith of the Gospel.

How exactly do we go through life with joy and contentment?

What exactly are

Joy is more than a feeling of pleasure, than feeling happy, joy is an activity, hwere we vocalize our inner peace.

a settled state of mind characterized by peace - rooted in faith -

in a keen awareness of and trust in the living Lord of the church

Hawthorne, G. F. (2004).

Philippians (Vol.

43, p. 21).

Dallas: Word, Incorporated.

Joy is an understanding of existence that encompasses both elation and depression, that can accept with submission events that bring delight or dismay, because joy allows one to see beyond any particular event to the sovereign Lord who stands above all events and ultimately has control over them.

Joy, to be sure, “includes within itself readiness for martyrdom” (Lohmeyer, 16), but equally the opportunity to go on living and serving

That brings us to the very end of our series, #10.

Have you ever watched an interview with a celebrity, or a successful person, and they are asked a question like this:

How did you guys pull it off today?

What did you do to get where you are today?

What is the key to your success?

The other is by ten of the top 100 richest people in the world have discovered a formula for making investments that works almost every time.

What is your secret for looking fifteen years younger?

What is your secret for looking fifteen years younger?

Or the barrage of ads that promise to make you happier, healthier, wealthier and sexier if you just buy this...

There is something in us that wants to discover the secret of a better life.

If there was one thing we could do, or buy, or use to make us happy, we would want it.

Paul’s last main section of the book, Paul says he’s learned the secret of a joyful contentment.

To go through your life, with all it’s ups and downs and to be joyfully content.

The secret of joyful contentment is good theology

Do: The secret of joyful contentment is good theology

10.

Do: The secret of joyful contentment is good theology

Just before I read , you may get a little confused in the wording, so let me walk through what Paul is about to say.

I’m joyful that you are so concerned about me, and have been concerned about me even though you weren’t able to express that concern.

Even though now you’ve sent this gift to me, I didn’t truly need it, because I’ve learned the secret that whether I have little or much, I am content.

I am strengthened to endure all things through Christ.

You were the only church in Macedonia that truly partnered with me by supporting me again and again.

I didn’t pursue those gifts, but I am pursuing the spread of the gospel as a result of your gifts.

I have recieved your gifts and have need of nothing.

Your gifts to me were truly an offering to God, and he will always supply your needs according to his eternal riches in heaven.

Now this passage contains one of the most quoted passages in the Bible, you may recognize it as we read v13.

4:10-23

The secret of joyful contentment is good theology, specifically, believing two primary things.

God is sovereign over all things.

God is good.

or God is great and God is good

Remember last week we studied the cure for anxiety, to think about the nearness of God.

This is the otherside of that coin.

If you are not anxious, you are someone who is joyfully facing all the circumstances of your life.