Sermon Tone Analysis

Pre-Introduction

A man stopped to watch a Little League baseball game.

He asked one of the youngsters what the score was.

The little boy said enthusiastically, “We’re losing 18 to nothing!”

The man was a little puzzled and said, “I must say, you don’t look discouraged at all.”

The little boy responded to him, “Why should we be discouraged?

Just wait, we haven’t come to bat yet.”

Ha-Foke-Ba

Grab your copy of the Scriptures, Hold it high and say it like you mean it:

Ha-foke-bah

Ha-foke-bah

De-Cola-bah

Ha-foke-bah

Ha-foke-bah

Mashiach-bah

Turn-it and turn-it everything you need is in it.

Turn-it and turn-it the Messiah is in it.

Introduction

All throughout this series on Genesis I have been talking to you about how Genesis is about God’s rescue plan to save a rebellious world through Abraham’s family.

Today I want to talk to you about this one thing: it’s not to late for you to change the world.

When Lauren and I moved from Houston in the winter of 2002 we had no idea what we were getting into.

Both of us were Houston natives, we were used to living in the south, used to southern culture and southern hospitality.

Our families and friends back home kept giving us friendly inquiries like, “Are you sure you should go there?

Don’t you think you should just live and work and change the world where you are?”

I was 26 at the time, had a degree and a career in accounting and many people were telling me, “Michael don’t you think it is a little late to start a four year degree in the Bible, start all over in a ministry career.”

Lauren and I knew, God had called us to go so we were going to go but we had no idea what we were getting into.

Suddenly, we thrust ourselves into one of the largest cities in the United States.

We moved right into the heart of the city.

We lived in downtown Chicago right off of Belmont and Addison.

Our apartment was right off the first-base line of Wrigley field.

There were three synagogues in our area two in walking distance.

We were in one of the busiest places in the city of Chicago.

The streets were always buzzing with people, I mean 24 hours a day there was always people out on the streets.

This was one of the hardest areas in Chicago.

The criminals were tuff in our area, crime was horrible and violent.

The police were just as tough.

We had a local police building behind our apartment that had a holding tank, mostly for out-of-control, Chicago cub fans or whoever.

There were times we could hear the criminals screaming, “help, help” from their cells.

It was city where everyone was tough.

This was sin city.

If people in the south know how to take down their liquor, in Chicago they did it even quicker.

The bars in our area never lacked an overflow of customers.

Police officers were often times on dual pay-rolls, the city and the mafia, my wife learned that the hard way one time.

Our apartment was right there at Cubs field and just five blocks or so from Lake Michigan and between us and the lake is one of the larges LGBT communities in the United States.

Very outspoken, very loud, very proud and very willing to make you feel uncomfortable if you were not LGBT.

We were now living in one of the busiest cities in the world, one of the most violent, one of the most liberal cities in the world.

We were all alone in the city and my Jewish family lived a good hour drive in the northern suburbs.

And even they were telling us, “Its not too late to leave, go home and go back to what you know.”

Lauren and I knew God wanted us to go to Chicago, to change the world.

We wanted to make a difference where it would matter the most.

We chose that community, chose that apartment, renewed our lease three times for one reason and one reason only: we believed it was never to late to change the world right there in the Jewish community in downtown Chicago.

People told us we were nuts.

Others told us we were “idealistic.”

Others told us your zeal will run out and you will give up and come running home.

Others told us you will compromise your convictions.

Others told us you are not ready for the trials and the temptations.

Others said we were too inexperienced, to immature.

There was always the voice of the “others” saying it can’t be done, its too late, it won’t be done, just give up, throw in the tow.

We knew our God better than that.

It was not too late, God had us in his will.

People told me, “Michael, it is too late for you to do a degree.

Your a former drugie with a 9th grade education level, there is not way you can handle the rigors of college.

It’s too late for you.”

They were right except they missed the part where God confound the wisdom of the wise by causing even donkeys to preach great sermons and took this former drop-out and caused him to finish a four year program in two-and-a-half years, while working part-time, leading a messianic chavurah, serving in a Sunday church, loving my wife, and graduate at the top-of-my-class and win the Louis Goldberg scholarship in Jewish studies.

It’s never too late for God’s plan.

There was nothing on the outside that looked promising but on the inside our faith and our drive to change the world was making all the difference.We were told it was impossible to reach Jewish people in the inner-city where we lived.

God told us to do it.

So we started with 0 people in our living room the first night we launched our “messianic chavurah.”

We did not give up.

We printed up our own fliers, canvased the area where we lived, Lauren would invite her patients that she was working on in her dental chair as a hygienist – hard to say no when she has the pointy metal thing on your tooth.

We invited total strangers to our home.

We made meals.

Then the next week one person.

The week after that another Jewish person, then another, then another.

Then I was being invited to go to the homes of Jewish professionals to share Messiah, being invited to lead a Seder for a Jewish widow, a Rebbetzin and survivor of the Shoah.

When know one else believed it, when the deck of cards were stacked against us, we refused to back down from this one belief: God wanted to change the world and He had no problem using a young married couple like us, like you to do it.

When know one else believed it, we believed it was possible to change the world.

We had an inner drive, an inner-voice saying to us, “do not quit, do not give in.

You so your part and God does all the rest!”

We knew at a certain point you could not listen to the negative voices saying it is too late because of my past, because of circumstances, because of....

We heard what people said but we chose to believe God anyways.

I have never fully been able to express what this inner-voice, what this inner drive was like until I heard General McRaven, in 2014, addressing the graduating class of UT in 2014.

A class of 8,000 students, I want you to just hear part of what he said thought all of what he said is worth hearing:

Play Video Here (6:00): Transcript Below:

If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day.

It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another.

By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed.

Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter.

If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.

And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made—that you made—and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

To pass SEAL training there are a series of long swims that must be completed.

One—is the night swim.

Before the swim the instructors joyfully brief the trainees on all the species of sharks that inhabit the waters off San Clemente.

They assure you, however, that no student has ever been eaten by a shark—at least not recently.

But, you are also taught that if a shark begins to circle your position—stand your ground.

Do not swim away.

Do not act afraid.

And if the shark, hungry for a midnight snack, darts towards you—then summons up all your strength and punch him in the snout and he will turn and swim away.

There are a lot of sharks in the world.