Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome:

Well, good morning, Near North!

My name’s Dan Osborn and I’m one of the Pastors here at Park! It’s good to be with you all again!

Just a quick personal update…it’s been an ‘eventful’ two weeks in the Osborn household.

My wife had our son last week…let me brag for a moment and show you a picture of Malachi!

So we have offically kissed sleep good-bye for the forseeable future…and I’m pretty sure my daughter is still waiting for Malachi to ‘go home’ and come back another time!

As Dave mentioned, this is GLOBAL week for us at Park.

You’ll remember that a third of our vision statement as a church is that we believe the Gospel IMPACTS the WORLD!

And a couple times a year we spend some time to focus in on what this means for us a Followers of Jesus.

So if you have a bible, would you open with me to Revelation chapter 5. It’s all the way at the end of the bible…page 1030 if you have one of the house bibles! .

Introduction:

Last November, I traveled to Turkey with a team from Park.

Most of the time we were teaching English calsses for Iranian refugees in the city and after each class we’d invite everyone to stay after for dinner and a bible study.

And to be honest, I didn’t quite know what to expect when I got there, but was blown away by the hospitality of everyone in the classes!

Within a few hours of being there we’d been invited into peoples homes for meals.

And we had some incredible conversations!

We got to hear their stories of why they left Iran…how they made it to Turkey…what things they left behind back home...

But there was one coverstaion in particular that I’ll never forget.

I was in the home of a family who had left Iran because they had become followers of Jesus.

ANd while it’s not technically illegal to be a Chrstin in Iran, there are VERY strict regularion on what you can and cannot do as a follwer of Jesus.

And so I’m talking with the oldest son and he shared with me how he had been caught with a bible telling people about Jesus at the universtiy he was attending.

And before he got home that day, a friend told him that the police had been to his house looking for him.

And knowing what would happen to him if he was caught, he and his dad decided they needed to leave the city for a few days and waith for things to blow over.

So they quitely packed up a few things and left.

But after a couple days, they heard the police had follwed them to the city and they eventually came to the conclusion that they were going to have to leave the country.

So they fled to Turkey....and they began to tell me how they had different people drive while they hid in the back of the car so they wouldn’t be found…how they made it thorugh military checkpoints…almost miraculously without being seen…and how the eventually made the 3 day journey on foot to cross the border into Turkey.

They talked with me about how they can never go back home…that they can’t even tell friends or family where they are now or even what happened to them…we talked about all of what they had to give up sipmly because thy were followers of Jesus.

And after they went through all these details, I remember finally asking, ‘Was it worth it?’

I mean, to have to leave everything behind…and now live in limbo in a new country—where you don’t even speak the language—was it worth following Jesus even in this?

And I even asked him… ‘Why not just be a quite Christian?

You know…to believe in Jesus, but not really make a big deal about it!

Because was telling people about Jesus really worth all this?

Is Jesus really worth it?

PAUSE

And you know, I think that’s a phenominally important question for us to ask ourselves....Is Jesus…worth it?

Well, good morning South Loop!

My name’s Dan Osborn and I’m the pastor here for the Saturday Night gathering!

It’s good to be with you all again!

As Dave said in the video, we are getting into a new series for the month of May which is Global month at Park.

And we’re taking this next month to remind ourselves of God’s intention for people from ALL nations to hear the Good News of Jesus.

And so over the next three weeks, we are going to be looking at what it means for us a followers of Jesus to be living on mission make Jesus known among the nations.

So if you have a bible, would you open with me to Revelation chapter 5. It’s all the way that end of the bible…page 1030 if you grabbed one of the house bibles.

If you need a bible you can go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll get one to you.

Revelation chapter 5.

Introduction: Is Jesus Worth It? (Daniel’s Story)

Last November, I traveled to central Turkey with a small team from Park on one of our Global trips.

Most of the time we were teaching English classes for Iranian refugees and after each lesson we’d invite everyone to stick around for a bible study in the evening!

And to be honest, I didn’t quite know what to expect when I got there, butI was blown away by was the hospitality of everyone in the classes!

Within a few hours of being there I’d already been invited into peoples homes to have a meal.

But we had incredible conversations!

We got to hear their stories of why and they had left Iran…how they made it to Turkey…what things they left behind back home…

But there was one conversation in particular that I will never forget.

I was in the home of a family who had actually fled Iran because they had become followers of Jesus.

And while it’s technically not illegal to be a Christian…there are strict regulations on what you can and cannot do as a follower of Jesus.

And so I’m talking with the oldest son and he shared with me how he had, for the second time, been caught with a bible telling people about Jesus at the university.

And before he got home, he was told by a friend that the police had been to his house looking for him.

Knowing what would happen to him if he was caught, he and his father decided that they needed leave the city…and just wait for things to cool down a bit.so they jumped in a car and immediately left for another city.

They left everything behind.

But after a couple days, the heard the police were looking for them there too…and so they realized they were gonna have to leave the country.

So again, they got in a car and headed for Turkey…they talked to me about how they had have different people drive while they hid in the back so they wouldn’t get caught…how they made it through military checkpoints…almost miraculously without being seen…and eventually how they made the 3 day journey on foot to cross the board into Turkey.

We talked about how they can never go back home…and how they can’t even tell friends and family where they are now or what happened to them…we talked about all of what they had to give up simply because they were followers of Jesus.

And I remember finally asking after they went through all of these details… “Was it worth it?

I mean, to have to leave everything behind…and now really have to limbo in new country…was it worth following Jesus even in this?”

And I even asked him…why not just be a quiet Christian?

You know…to believe in Jesus, but not really make a big deal about it…you know, why not make his faith private…and just keep it to himself.

Was telling people about Jesus really worth all this?

Is Jesus really worth it?

And you know, I think it is a phenomenally important question for us to ask ourselves…but it’s also a revealing question for us to ask…do we see Jesus as worth it.

What do I mean by that?

See, when we look through the pages of scripture, what we see over and over again is the reminder that Jesus is not our side kick…he’s Jesus our co-pilot…but that he is our leader…he is our King.

And he calls everyone who follows Him to live on mission, making Him known to the people around us and around the world!

To use our resources, our time, and and even our very lives, not for our own fame…but for His.

And so the question again is, is he worth all that?

Is he worth reorienting my life around…is he worth giving up my goals, dreams, and desires for?

Is Jesus worth it?

Friends thats the question we’re looking at tonight.

See, the reality is, all of us live as if something is worth it, right?

All of us have something we give our lives to…we all tell ourselves that something is worth it…the question is, is it worthy?

So if you’re not there yet, would you join me in Revelation 5.

And in this passage, we are reminded that Jesus is worthy…because of who Jesus is and what He’s done…and ultimately, we will will see that He is worthy of worship from all creation!

Jesus is worthy of everything, so He is worth anything!

Let me pray and then we’ll get started!

Pray.

Revelation 5.

The book of Revelation was written by one of Jesus’ closest followers, a man named John—and this is the same John who wrote the Gospel of John…and three other letters in the New Testament—First, Second, and Third John.

And were told that what’s written in Revelation was revealed to John in a vision or a dream…and then he went back and wrote down all all of what he saw.

And so as you read through Revelation, it’s like we’re looking over his shoulder and see what he saw in his vision.

And when we get to chapter 5, John is describing the Throne Room…where God himself is seated on the throne and he’s surrounded by four living creatures…and twenty four elders…and all of them are bowing down in front of the throne of God.

Jesus is worthy to receive worship because of who He is—He is the Triumphant King who was Slain! (Rev.

5:1-8)

In this first section of chapter 5, we are given the first reason for why Jesus is worthy…He is worthy because of who he is.

Look with me starting at v. 1.

It says this, “Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.

Now, we don’t know exactly what the scroll is but when we look at the rest of the book of Revelation, we get an idea of what it is!

See, chapter 5 is a huge turning point in the book…and everything that happens after chapter 5 only happens because the scroll is opened!

The scroll is God’s redemptive plan to make all things new…he is making all things right!

And in v. 4, John is weeping because there is no one who can open the scroll…

But look with me at v. 5.

It says this, “And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”