Sermon Tone Analysis

The Craziness of it all

Angels appearing to shepherds.

A seeming coincidental census to get everyone in the right town.

A star guiding wise men to a single house?

The kicker: A virgin giving birth.

Do you believe in Christmas?

Its not over:

An axe head that floats:

a talking donkey, like in the film shrek.

A guy getting swallowed by a fish and surviving after 3 days - like the girl who got eaten at the start of jaws swings away at the end.

A guy who builds a boat and gets animals to come in 2 by 2, the hardest part of it all is the cats.

The bible is filled with these and many other incredible stories, that we as christians take a as fact, or should take as fact, and they are there for a very specific reason.

These stories acts as types of filters.A filter prevents some things from getting past but allows others to flow through.

These crazy bible stories filer out certain types of people.

These stores are foolish to the worldly wise, they prevent him from entering.

These stories are foolish to the sinful pride, they keep him from entering.

These stories are foolish to arrogant, he will not humble himself and so remains outside.

What you need to pass through these filters is childlike faith.

Children have something that is needed for God’s kingdom.

Its need for Christmas.

In fact if you leave these reason out of christmas then you have just another day, but when you add this something special to the christmas story and any of these stories you get a miracle.

The Empty You.

Empty Bottle

The christmas story empties us of ourselves, the humility of Jesus casts out any feeling of prise or superiority.

God wants to fill us, but you cannot put new wine into old wineskins.

He will not mingle his fulness with sinful residue.

He wants us to come to Him empty of all self righteousness so he can fill us.

If you come like is with sincerity you will be filled.

The Water of the Word.

The word of God fills us, it washed us.

Every time we read, study or meditate on scripture the wisdom, power and Word of God fills our hearts and minds.

We should read and meditate on God’s word regularly.

“Read the Bible, first and foremost, always, every day, and often, with a concordance, until the history and prophecy and wisdom literature of the Old Testament get into our very bones; and until the Gospel and Epistles of the New Testament become the foundation blocks of our thinking and way of Life”

John Higgins

Add Water

The Preaching of the Pastor

Responsibility - feed my sheep.

Young lambs, mature sheep and old cows.....

The pastor, rightly divides the word of truth with much fear and trembling.

He adds seasoning, but only to bring out the flavour, never to add any, or take away any bitterness.

growing sheep

He must some take a 4000 year old book filled with long dead customs and culture and make it understandible, applicable and interesting to a generation living in a vastly different world.

Food colouring

The Anointing of the Holy Spirit

Without the Holy Spirit, we would literally be powerless.

This power enables us to read, understand and apply and remeber all that we have studied and all that our pastors and teachers have spoken to us.

The Holy Spirit lead us, guides us, teaches us.

Ive got some oil here because oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit.

Add OIL

Its good.

But there is something missing.

As wonderful as all this is, this does not guarantee a harvest.

In fact the bible says that you can have good bible study, good preaching and the holy spirit , but if this last thing is not added you will not profit.

What could it be?

What would you need in order to come to pass through those filters of foolish stories?

What would you need to believe that A star led wisemen to Jesus?

What would you need to believe that a virgin had a baby and that baby was God in human form?

What would you need to believe any of the foolish bible stories?

What would you have to add to the story of Christmas that would make it profitable, life changing and wonderful?

The mustard seed of Faith

You cannot celebrate Christmas without faith.

Even more, you cannot please God without faith.

What is faith?

Faith is looking at foolish stories, impossible stories., unbelievable stories and believing anyways simply because God said they are true.

The same way children believe some of the crazy stories many parents tell them.

The children believe the stories simply because you, their parent, told them they were true.

Now many parents tell their children lies, you can decide on whether thats right or not, but God never lies.

When you mix This with mustard seed faith - amazing things happen -

who wants to see?

Add Seed