Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

Intro:

Are You Tired of Praying?

A cartoon pictured a little boy kneeling in prayer.

Obviously disgruntled with God, he was saying, “Aunt Harriet hasn’t gotten married, Uncle Hubert hasn’t any work, and Daddy’s hair is still falling out.…

I’m getting tired of praying for this family without getting any results.”

Jones, G. C. (1986).

1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (p.

293).

Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

A. (1:1-2) For whom he prays - Pastors, deacons, and all Christians

B. (1:3) When he prays - “Every time I think of you”

C. (1:4) How he prays - He prays with a heart filled with joy

D. (1:5, 7-8) Why he prays - The Philippian believers had greatly helped Paul, both in prison and out of prison.

E. (1:6, 9-11) What he prays:

That the Spirit would carry to completion what had been started in every believer until the return of the Lord.

That they might be filled with love.

That they might have the spirit of Discernment

They they be filled with the fruits of righteousness

Isn't it our goal to see God finish what He started in us?

Paul prayed “being confident” that God would do just that.

Philippians 1:

Are You Tired of Praying?

A cartoon pictured a little boy kneeling in prayer.

Obviously disgruntled with God, he was saying, “Aunt Harriet hasn’t gotten married, Uncle Hubert hasn’t any work, and Daddy’s hair is still falling out.…

I’m getting tired of praying for this family without getting any results.”

A cartoon pictured a little boy kneeling in prayer.

Obviously disgruntled with God, he was saying, “Aunt Harriet hasn’t gotten married, Uncle Hubert hasn’t any work, and Daddy’s hair is still falling out.…

I’m getting tired of praying for this family without getting any results.”

Jones, G. C. (1986).

1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (p.

293).

Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

A cartoon pictured a little boy kneeling in prayer.

Obviously disgruntled with God, he was saying, “Aunt Harriet hasn’t gotten married, Uncle Hubert hasn’t any work, and Daddy’s hair is still falling out.…

I’m getting tired of praying for this family without getting any results.”

Jones, G. C. (1986).

1000 illustrations for preaching and teaching (p.

293).

Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Here’s How

Body: Here’s How

1.

That Your Love May Abound

Philippians 1:

A. If you fill a person with love....

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us....”

Here’s the kind of love:

Rk

He didn’t just tell us in His Word that He loved us - He demonstrated it at Calvary!

Here’s the kind of love: (NKJV)

You weren't created just to consume resources - to eat, breathe, and take up space.

God designed you to make a difference with your life.

This is one of God's purposes for your life, and it's called your "ministry" - or service.

He has given us a spirit of Love.

And, that changes our relationships:

1 John 3:10

You can’t give what you aint got!

Now I know that this is an English teachers nightmare, because I know that ain’t ain’t a word!

-9

You weren't created just to consume resources - to eat, breathe, and take up space.

God designed you to make a difference with your life.

This is one of God's purposes for your life, and it's called your "ministry" - or service.

But this is a concept that is pretty easy for us to grasp.

Suppose I was to say to you, “Give me a million dollars!”?

Eph

These "good deeds" are your service to the world.

Whenever you serve others in any way, you are actually serving God and fulfilling one of your purposes.

You were placed on this planet for a special assignment.

The apostle John taught that our loving service to others shows that we are truly saved.

He said, "Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life" (, CEV).

If I have no love for others, no desire to serve others, and I'm only concerned about my needs, I should question whether Christ is really in my life.

A saved heart is one that wants to serve.

Another term for serving God - one that's misunderstood by most people - is the word ministry.

When most people hear "ministry," they think of pastors, priests, and professional clergy, but God says every member of his family is a minister.

In the Bible, the words servant and minister are synonyms, as are service and ministry.

If you are a Christian, you are a minister, and when you're serving, you're ministering.

God has a ministry for you in his church and a mission for you in the world.

Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination.

Most of the time we're more interested in "serve us" than service.

We say, "I'm looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me," not "I'm looking for a place to serve and be a blessing."

We expect others to serve us, not vice versa.

But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service.

The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, "Who's going to meet my needs?" and starts asking, "Whose needs can I meet?"

Do you ever ask that question?

At the end of your life on earth you will stand before God, and he is going to evaluate how well you served others with your life.

Think about the implications of that.

One day God will compare how much time and energy we spent on ourselves compared with what we invested in serving others.

At that point, all our excuses for self-centeredness will sound hollow: "I was too busy" or "I had my own goals" or "I was preoccupied with working, having fun, or preparing for retirement."

To all excuses God will respond, "Sorry, wrong answer.

I created, saved, and called you and commanded you to live a life of service.

What part did you not understand?"

If you're not involved in any service or ministry, what excuse have you been using?

Abraham was old, Jacob was insecure, Leah was unattractive, Joseph was abused, Moses stuttered, Gideon was poor, Samson was codependent, Rahab was immoral, David had an affair and all kinds of family problems, Elijah was suicidal, Jeremiah was depressed, Jonah was reluctant, Naomi was a widow, John the Baptist was eccentric to say the least, Peter was impulsive and hot-tempered, Martha worried a lot, the Samaritan woman had several failed marriages, Zacchaeus was unpopular, Thomas had doubts, Paul had poor health, and Timothy was timid.

That is quite a variety of misfits, but God used each of them in his service.

He will use you, too, if you stop making excuses.

1 Cor 13:1-

2. That you may have the spirit of discernment

Philippians 1:9-

A. If a person is filled with love..... and that person knows what they ought to do.....

Many people are passionate about some cause but know little of what to do about it.

Knowing Where to Tap

A certain town in New England experienced a prolonged electrical failure.

The best engineers at the power plant were unable to restore the power, whereupon one citizen recalled that a former engineer, now in retirement but living only a few miles away, might be consulted.

He was brought in.