Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction: Marriage and Big Idea
Well good morning, Forest Glen!
My name’s Dan Osborn and I serve as one of the Pastors over at the Near North location.
It’s good to be with you this morning!
If you’ve got a bible, open with me to .
It’s on page 959 in the house bibles.
Dating vs. Married
The first conversation I ever had with the woman who would eventually become my wife was right after I hit her in the face with a Frisbee.
It was the second day of freshmen orientation and a group of us had gone over to Ohio Street Beach—right by Navy Pier—to play Ultimate Frisbee.
And so here I am, trying to show off a little, I make this amazing throw…and it hit her right in the lip.
Within a couple of weeks we were spending quite a bit of time together…walking through the neighborhood, down into the Loop, and around Oak Street beach.
I loved that time with her!
We had some of the best conversations early on and it was fun to experience the city for the first time together.
But we weren’t ‘together’…we weren’t Facebook official or anything yet.
We were just a guy and a girl who really enjoyed spend lots of time together on long walks and having meals together.
I’m not sure how either of us could read into that situation!
And then it happened.
I remember the conversation like it was yesterday.
We were sitting on a couch reading and she asked me a question.
“So where is this going?”
It’s called a DTR…a define the relationship conversation.
I froze.
Now we were young when we got engaged--21--but that engagement felt like an eternity!
I didn't think it would ever come!
And I'll be honest, one of the questions that came up pretty often for me, was something along the lines of, "what's really going to change between right now and a few months down the road?
I mean, really?
I don't think I'm going to love Courtney any more than I do right now--I couldn't image that to be the case.
My feelings towards her aren't really going to change!
Aren't we basically married already?
Some of you know exactly what I'm talking about, right?!
I loved what we had going on at the time!
I knew eventually we’d need to get serious, but in the moment I really enjoyed thing the way they were!
No pressure…Nothing formal…it was nice!
But if we formalize this thing…how will that change things for me?!
And so in that moment, as we’re sitting on the couch…I’m quite…looking back at Courtney…and quickly trying to articulate my thoughts…I froze!
But there was something I missed.
See, marriage is so much more than just the perks of having a spouse…and there really are perks!
It’s the loyalty and commitment of a healthy marriage.
You are actually entering into a covenant before God which is a way of saying, ‘God, I’m asking YOU to hold me accountable to the promises I’m making today.’
And calling the people in attendance to hold you accountable for what is going on!
Why am I bringing this up?
Because I think it illustrates so well the kind of relationship many of us have with the church!
Dating is nice because there’s no pressure…nothing formal…we’re still really in control!
And if we were to have a DTR with the church…we’d freeze too.
Too many of us are stuck in this phase of dating the church—never getting series.
Too many of us remain in this phase of dating the church rather than being married to the church—and even if we’re married, the relationship might be rocky at best.
But in a loving marriage relationship, you are committed to the other person!
You are committed to seeing them grow…to seeing them flourish…to seeing them do well!
In a healthy marriage, you can’t view your spouse’s issues as their own!
They become YOUR issues!
You can’t
When it comes to the church…we have commitment problems.
Well, this morning, buckle up.
We’re going to have that DTR.
How do I connect marriage to membership?
In order for this to illustration to work, I need to make this connection strong.
Part of what I need to do is make sure that people know what I’m talking about in this illustration.
Is there a point when you get stuck in dating?
This morning we’re going to be talking about what it looks to commit to a local church.
The idea is church membership.
And here’s what I want you to walk away with: every follower of Jesus should be a member at a local church.
Now if you’ve been at Park for any amount of time, that sounds like a very strange statement for me to make because we don’t talk about membership at all.
Instead, we use the word partnership—and I’ll explain why in a moment—but it means the same thing.
Sot let me contextualize this idea for us: If you are a follower of Jesus at Park, you should be a partner at Park.
A partner is that person who has made a commitment to join the church.
They are the folks who call Park home!
But as soon as I said that, the first thought some of you had is that you can check-out from the rest of this message.
So let me just say this to those of you who are already Partners at Park.
You need to hear this message as reminder of the covenant you have made with this community!
To be a Partner and then never think about it again would be like getting married and then never going back to think about your marriage!
Others of you are here this morning not sure what you believe about Christianity.
I want you to hang in this morning because it’s my hope that as we talk about the church, you would see the church as the unique community to experience the belonging, love, and care you’re actually looking for!
Really, that is my hope for all of us, that we would leave this place ready to commit and contribute to this unique community of the People God in FOREST-GLEN/EDGEBROOK.
Sot let me contextualize this idea for us: If you are a follower of Jesus at Park, you should be a partner at Park.
A partner is that person who has made a commitment to join the church.
They are the folks who call Park home!
So I want you to stop dating this community and to move into a much deeper, more vibrant and life-giving relationship.
Ultimately what we’ll see this morning is that Partnership is more than just a good thing for us, it is a necessity for us!
Partnership is more than just a good thing for us, it is a necessity for us!
Give a sentence or two casting vision around Partnership.
This will help draw people in to the necessity of answering these questions.
Perhaps something like—no good reason NOT to be a partner.
Partners are the people who are fully committed to the misison and vision of the church…Partners are those who call Park home and can back up that claim by investing in the community!
A Partner is that person who has made a public commitment to join the church.
They are the folks who call Park home, are all in, partnering with us in our mission to know God and make him known.
Partners intentionally and regularly invest in our community.
So I want to spend our time this morning proving that to you.
We’re gonna look at three crucial questions about membership/or partnership.
Here they are
Thi
Is Church Membership/Partnership Biblical?
You know, is this something we actually see taught in the bible or is it really just a modern organizational strategy?
If it’s Biblical, what does a church member/a Partner at Park do?
Really we’re asking what does it look like to be a healthy Partner?
Finally, how do you become a Partner at Park?
Others of you are here this morning not sure what you believe about Christianity.
I want you to hang in this morning because it’s my hope that as we talk about the church this morning, you would see the church as the unique community to experience the belonging you’re actually looking for!
And actually, that is my hope for all of us this morning, that we would leave this place ready to commit and contribute to this unique community of the People God in FOREST-GLEN/EDGEBROOK.
So, if you’re not there yet, open with me to .
Let me pray, and we’ll get started.
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