Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction: Review previous message.
It’s All About Our Values
We prove what we value in life based on what we do.
If we choose to flee from temptation, it is because we love and value Christ so much that we wouldn’t dream of disappointing the One who saved us from our sins.
On the other hand, if we choose sin, it is because we are selfish and we value our own temporary pleasures more than the One who came to save us.
In other words, we do what we do because we value what we value.
The bad news for us is that naturally we all value our own selfish temporary pleasures as the supreme treasure.
The good news is that when we choose to place ourselves in Christ old things pass away and all things become new.
When we choose to place ourselves in Christ, He changes our hearts to value Him as the supreme treasure.
Now, once we are in Christ, the Bible introduces us to another character that is vital to our Christian lives.
Jaquelle describes her this way, “She’s not popular or glamorous or even always lovable.
She can be bitter or critical or slothful or self-righteous . . .
but God loves her.
He loves her so much, in fact, that God sent his Son to die for her,” and we, as Christians, are called to never forsake her.
She is vital to our walk with Christ because, although she is not perfect, she is exactly what we need.
You see, she has many members and each member is weak in some areas and strong in others, and it is only when her members serve together under the banner of Christ that she can be successful as a whole.
Who is she?
She is the church.
In opening the chapter about the church, Jaquelle cites the following example of one of her friends.
My friend Manuela wasn’t one much for church.
Her family never attended (besides a stray Easter or Christmas Eve), but she wasn’t too concerned about it.
I met her the summer I was twelve when we were cabin-mates at a Bible camp.
As we walked up to the mess hall together the first day, questions bounced back and forth between us: “Where do you live?” “Is this your first time here?” . . .
But then another question popped into my head.
And from there, it all went downhill.
I asked, “Where do you go to church?”
She shifted awkwardly and paused for an uncomfortable length of time.
I felt like I had said something wrong.
Finally, she replied, “My family doesn’t really go to church.
We just sort of do our own thing.”
I was speechless.
In my naïvety, I had never met anyone who claimed to love Jesus but ignored his church.
Her idea is not unusual, though.
It’s actually pretty popular, especially in recent years . . . .
I don’t remember how I responded to Manuela.
I probably mumbled noncommittally or just replied, “Oh.
I see.”
But I didn’t see, and I still don’t see.
Crowe, Jaquelle.
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years (p.
46).
Crossway.
Kindle Edition.
The Gospel Leads Us To Church
Upon salvation, God places in the hearts of believers a desire to be a part of the community of God’s people.
In Paul gives us an earthly example of how we are united to Christ.
Crowe, Jaquelle.
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years (pp.
45-46).
Crossway.
Kindle Edition.
Example: Saying you love being a Christian but forsaking the church would be like a man saying, “I love marriage but I hate my wife.”
It is impossible to simultaneously love Jesus and hate or ignore His body called the church.
Upon salvation, it is the responsibility to serve the universal body of Christ by joining and serving the local church.
Consider
There is no one in the New Testament who is encouraged to or commended for separating themselves from the local body of believers.
As we just considered in , to be separated or removed from the local body of believers is to fragment the body of Christ.
The acceptance of the gospel and participation in the church is inseparable.
Ephesians tells us that it is the privilege of the believer to glorify God in the church.
Aren’t you thankful that the gospel has not only saved you, but it has also saved others and together we are a community?
The church is a community that cares for on another.
If one member suffers, we mourn together; if one member is honored, we rejoice together.
In fact, togetherness is an idea that the New Testament places before us over and over again.
We worship together.
We learn together.
We fellowship together
We serve one another
We love one another
We share together
We weep and rejoice together
When you join a church, you join a family, and the blood that binds the family of God is everlasting.
The Gospel Shapes the Activities of the Church
A few years ago a USA Today article came out titled, “‘ Forget Pizza Parties,’ Teens Tell Church.”
It quotes Thom Rainer, the then-president of Lifeway Christian Resources: “Sweet 16 is not a sweet spot for churches.
It’s the age teens typically drop out.
A decade ago teens were coming to church youth group to play, coming for the entertainment, coming for the pizza.
They’re not even coming for the pizza anymore.
They say, ‘We don’t see the church as relevant, as meeting our needs or where we need to be today.’”
The gospel shapes the activities of the church in that the role of the church is not to entertain with pizza and parties.
Crowe, Jaquelle.
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years (p.
48).
Crossway.
Kindle Edition.
I came across this article a few months ago written by another teenager named Catherine Forster entitled We Need More Bible in Youth Ministry.
Crowe, Jaquelle.
This Changes Everything: How the Gospel Transforms the Teen Years (p.
48).
Crossway.
Kindle Edition.
I was blessed to have parents who encouraged my brothers and me to get into the [Bible] early, to write things down, to learn for ourselves what it had to teach.
I’m sure I thought it was boring at the time; but now that I’m a teenager, I’m starting to realize this personal discipline is essential to my life and future.
It was through personal, inductive Bible study that I learned to really love God’s word.
But when I look at the church around me, I don’t see much emphasis on Bible study in youth ministries.
We’re encouraged to read our Bible, of course; but what the Christian culture gives us is one lesson after another on “issues,” and very little encouragement to study the Scriptures in depth.
But we teens need Bible study — more than we even realize.
Teens, you need more than entertainment.
You need real in-depth Bible study and you need to be challenged to put that Bible study into practice.
If church becomes about games and parties then what’s the point?
The world offers games and parties.
Do not believe the lie that the church exists only to serve you.
God doesn’t call any of us, regardless of our age, to be spectators of the faith.
How do you know if you have fallen into this trap?
Here are a few identifying questions: How often do you complain that the games aren’t “fun enough”?
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