Sermon Tone Analysis

I. THE TESTIMONY OTHERS SEE

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Who are you?

a.

I am not the Christ

b.

I am not the prophet Elijah

c.

I am called

​ NASB95Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

What is your testimony?

How would others see your walk with Jesus?

Is it an act of obedience or relationship?

OT VIEW OF DISCIPLESHIP IS DIFFERENT FROM NT

OT view - teaching with the expectation of obedience

NT view - based on relationship - loving obedience and devotion.

Not the student seeking out the teacher but the teacher seeking out the student

Discipleship - An unbreakable, personal relationship between the teacher and the learner in which the disciple imitates or emulates the teacher

A “disciple” or “Christ follower” is synonomous

Jesus requires us to be committed to Him in a relationship - This is a true disciple

Curious

Convinced

Committed

Jesus requires us to be committed - This is a true disciple

Discipleship requires - A personal allegiance of obedience to follow wherever He leads

A personal bearing of the death-to-self cross

A personal allegiance of obedience to follow wherever He leads

One must submit completely to the will of God

One must submit completely to the will of God

One must set aside his own will and rights to his own life

One must be broken (humble) before God

II.

THE TESTIMONY JESUS SEES

​ NASB95 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

Jesus said we must Deny - disavow, claim no knowledge or relationship to.

The only way to effectively deny is to be broken

This is different from “rededicating” our lives to God again or “turning over a new leaf”

Brokenness - the annihilation of each trait of the self-life

IN THE GOSPELS, THERE IS AT LEAST FOUR TIMES SOMETHING WAS BROKEN

Broken bread & fish - Feeding of 5000 (; ; ; )

Broken bread & fish - Feeding of 5000 (; ; ;

Jesus prayed, broke the bread and fish distributed the loaves and fishes and supplied the needs of over 5000 people and at another time over 4000 men plus women and children

Bread - life and sustenance

Fish (meat) - the call of God, the will of God

Brokenness = Leads to Life and calling

Brokenness = Life and calling

2. Broken bread - Jesus broke bread, and said take eat, this is my body

(; ; Luke 22:17-20)

Broken bread - Jesus broke bread, and said take eat, this is my body - Brokenness = Healing

Brokenness = Leads to Healing (Physical and Spiritual)

3. Broken Grain - (John 12:24)

Jesus requires his disciples to bear fruit

Are you bearing fruit?

(Fruit of the Spirit)

Brokenness = Leads to Fruitfulness

Brokenness = Leads to Fruitfulness

Brokenness = Leads to Fruitfulness

4. Broken Alabaster Jar - ; ;

Mary “broke that jar” and anointed Jesus’ head and feet.

A year’s worth of perfume!

Only when the jar was broken did the perfume bring a sweet aroma to the room

Mary “broke that jar” and anointed Jesus’ feet.

A year’s worth of perfume!

Only when the jar was broken did the perfume bring a sweet aroma to the room

The Alabaster vial was valuable

The alabaster vial was broken

What was inside filled the entire room

Brokenness = Leads to Pleasantness and Joy

Brokenness = Leads to Pleasantness and Joy

III.

THE TESTIMONY YOU SEE

- The cost of Discipleship

- The cost of Discipleship

1.

The domestic cost of discipleship

​ NASB95Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.

2. The personal cost of discipleship

​ NASB95“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

3. Counting the cost of discipleship beforehand

​ NASB95“For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?

“Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

“Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand?

“Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.

“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.

4. The consequences of not counting the cost

​ NASB95“Therefore, salt is good; but if even salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned?

“It is useless either for the soil or for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

So consider your testimony

Sin - Don’t lead others into sin ()

How do others evaluate your testimony?

Forgiveness - Correct those in sin and be quick to forgive ()

How does Jesus evaluate your testimony?

Faith - Proper faith in the context of God’s will can move mountains ()

Duty - No one can look at his woks and demand a reward from God.

We are to be found faithful to God ()

How do you evaluate your testimony?

Do you need to make some changes?

Do you need to be broken?