Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: Welcome

Good Morning!

Welcome to City Centre Church.

My name is Adam and I am privileged to share with you while our pastor is away.

My day job is a Chaplain or Campus Pastor at the University of Alberta.

I’m on campus because Jesus continues to transform my life every day.

He changes everything, and I want to see a move of God on campus, so I work toward being able to host it well.

I’m attempting to foster a culture of leadership development and service.

Currently the main vehicle to that end is Red Frogs.

Through Red Frogs we reach out and serve students on campus.

So far this school year we’ve done 30 events.

Students themselves have spoken on our behalf, in a survey done by student group services, Red Frogs was voted as one of the most helpful services to incumbent student execs.

Kevin told me to shamelessly promote myself.

I raise my own support, and I want to let you know that City Centre Church is the highest supporting church I have.

It is because of your dedication to giving, that City Centre is able to support me, and sustain the ministry happening on campus.

I’ve entitled my message this morning Image Bearers....hopefully that hasn’t sold the farm, but I’d like to investigate two questions this morning.

Who Are We & What Are We Supposed to Do?

Who are we and what are we supposed to do?

“

Today I’d like to ask and hopefully provide an answer for two questions.

Who are we and what are we supposed to do?

Who are we?

This first question is the intro, setting up to what I have found to be a more pressing question for believers.

We are all image bearers of God.

There is a difference between being a child of God, reserved for those who have proclaimed allegiance to Christ and being an image bearer because he is our creator and we, the created, bear his is image.

states:

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”

egardless of where one stands in relationship to God, all are image bearers of Christ.

Regardless of where one stands in relationship to God, all are image bearers of Christ.

However, regardless of where one stands in relationship to God, we are still image bearers of Christ.

We were granted free-will, given dominion over the earth, gifted with creativity.

All of us are made for eternity, built for immortality.

God does not make junk.

It is important to note the difference because some who have never in their hearts or minds made a commitment to Christ believe that God is their Father, but they have not been transplanted from darkness into light.

They are misled.

It is usually compounded by the notion that if God was their father, then there shouldn’t be any issues, life should be easy.

Unfortunate circumstances, struggles in life, witnessing a broken world with it’s injustice and cruelty and pride register to them an uncaring God, who is either negligent or cruel.

Disillusioned they end up angry at God.

At bottom, no matter where you stand in relationship to God, you bear his likeness and are loved.

Mankind, we seem to posses a knack for defaulting to broken.

To making mistakes, pursuing through a lust of life and experience our own good.

Balking at justice if it’s inconvenient.

Despising kindness if it is toward an enemy or even if it is someone that will not repay us.

In pride so often we go our own way, not trusting the Lord with our circumstances, or that he has a mind for what is best in our lives.

At bottom, everyone is created in his image and so life has value, enough that God would die.

The gospel - the good news is this.

There is a God.

He loves and desires to be your father.

He is good, revealing his great kindness and love to us through his son Jesus.

In relationship his peace and joy become your strength.

His goodness and patience through his Spirit lift and renews our strength.

We still contend living life in a broken world.

I was going to point to the news and what we see and hear everyday.

But I have another story for you, a story about a man name Adam.

A lawbreaker.

As an illustration of this brokeness in the world, I have a story about a man name Adam.

A lawbreaker.

Lawbreaker

I was going North on the QE2, slightly faster than the flow of traffic.

I was also multi-tasking, on my phone.

I had places to be, people to see.

While I was in the left hand lane passing another vehicle.

A white van flew up behind me.

I shoulder checked and decided to get around the vehicle I was passing, because this other guy was in a real hurry.

After passing I had hung up my phone and was continuing in the right hand lane.

I noticed that the van, instead of just continuing on was keeping pace with me.

So I glanced over and this guy sitting in the van waves a cell phone at me.

In that moment, I was just annoyed.

My thought was, “ok, so what if I was.”

I didn’t make a face or anything, I just slowly turned my face back to the road.

I was just going to ignore him.

Then he flipped on his lights.

My stomach flipped and lurched.

He had me dead to rights.

I had been breaking the law.

I pulled over, and I was really sorry I had been caught.

I was already calculating what it was going to cost me, in a season that I can ill-afford extra expenses.

He pulled in behind me and leaving his lights flashing strolled up to the window.

He bent over looked me in the eye and just asked me a question.

“Whats the rules [sic]?”

I mumbled out my response.

“No cell-phones.”

He shook his head affirmatively and said, “If you need to chat find an offramp, pull over on the shoulder.

It can get real expensive real quick.”

With that, he turned around and went back to his van.

He pulled out into the lane a little with his lights still flashing to give me space to get back on the highway.

He let me go, without a even a written warning.

All I could think about was his question, how much I was an idiot, but how much bigger had been his show of mercy and kindness.

The passage we are going to look at this morning is found in Micah, one of the minor prophets at the end of the Old Testament.

It is hear that we will look to answer the second question.

What are we supposed to do?

Micah 6

Background

Background:

Background:

Micah is in a day where society is falling apart.

Even the family unit is crumbling, there is not trust only division and everyone looking out for their own needs.

He prophesies about the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel.

He is a voice against the false prophets of his day who speak only of success and prosperity, turning a blind eye to the injustice and corruption of a kingdom serving only the ends of a wealthy elite and false religion complicit and lending authenticity to their rule.

He has been regarded as the prophet of the poor, or the people.

In vs 6-7 we see the attitude and heart of the people revealed.