Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Discovery
Mankind has always had a curiosity about things that are “undiscovered”.
Things that they have not yet seen or experienced
Early explorers—felt that there had to be some other lands “out there”
If they sailed far enough they would find distant lands
They had that “restless feeling” that made them think that the lands which they had known all their lives were not the only lands
And so they would go out.
Never quite sure if they would return, but knowing that they had to find out before they died.
In the mid 1800’s space exploration was beginning to expand thanks to better technology.
Newer telescopes were being developed which allowed astronomers to see farther than ever before into the universe.
The most distant planet known to man was Uranus.
Scientists noticed some oddities in the way that this planet orbited, leading them to believe that some gravitational force was acting upon it.
They discovered Neptune
Farther exploration led them to believe that there was something even more distant acting on the Planet Uranus
There was something more “out there”
Around 1930 a man named Clyde Tombaugh, using a series of photographs taken with their most powerful telescopes found another object out there that was moving
And so the planet Pluto was discovered.
Now it isn’t a planet—we won’t get into that.
But it is out there
Did you ever feel the way that these scientists and early explorers felt?
Did you ever feel that other Christians have it all together and seem to have discovered something about the Christian life that you haven’t?
Did you ever feel when you are reading the Bible that there is something more, something you aren’t quite grasping?
Like somehow things just don’t quite tie together somehow?
In your personal life—you feel close to God, but there are things that just don’t make sense
You feel like you have the power and are able to do what “Christians should” but they don’t seem to be connected.
Did you ever feel like you are living in an ocean called “Christianity” and there are all these islands with no apparent connection?
Perhaps you are frustrated with the powerlessness of your Christian experience so far
Trying and failing
Sometimes you’re up sometimes you’re down
Illustration: Armando and his motorbike
He had this great—looking motorbike, but no power.
Maybe you have a nice motorbike but it’s out of gas—never had any gas, and you don’t know where to buy gas or how to put it in the tank
It’s quite possible that you are, or have been, at the place where you are ready to just push your Christianity into the ditch because it seems useless.
Maybe you look with envy or suspicion at people who have had “an experience” with the Holy Spirit and seem so on fire.
You wonder how you can get that.
But you are also afraid because you don’t want to climb the mountain only to come crashing back down.
Read letter (6:15)
Letter comes from “The Power of the Blood Covenant”
One of the most unusual, powerful books that I have read for a long time.
Why?
Because all these questions that I asked you at the beginning are questions I have asked
The letter that I read is a letter that I could have written.
For most of my life I have struggled like this
For most of my life I have struggled with sin, powerlessness, wondering why it just seems like I’m pushing my Christianity along like a motorcycle that’s out of gas
Where in the Gehenna is the power?
This book is beginning to revolutionize my understanding of my Christian life, what Christ did, what my identity is, where the power is, etc
For many years I have heard messages on heaven, hell, the end times, “doctrinal things”
You go to the book store and see books on the same subjects, and you see lots of self-help books,
Books about how to have the best life possible
All good, scriptural,
But I was afraid to admit that I found that these messages weren’t life changing for me
It was almost like there was a bullet lodged inside of me and I was putting a bandage on the entrance wound.
There was still something inside of me that was causing damage
Something that I just wasn’t getting
As I read this book, it was impressed upon me that perhaps I was approaching things wrong.
I knew in my head that the Christian life isn’t about performing
I knew that “Jesus paid it all” And that we are “saved by grace and not by works”
But what does that mean, and how truly is this life changing?
Because even though I knew/know the right answers, my approach to faith was/and still is very “works” based
“It’s up to me to live the right way, do the right things, be the right person.
And if I managed that, then perhaps I can win some measure of God’s approval
Next number of Sundays, I want to go on a journey with you.
This is something that is very much taking root in my heart in a new way
I don’t feel qualified but it’s a message that I believe is crucial for all Believers to hear.
I will be up front and say that I plan to lean heavily on this book by Malcolm Smith as a guide
But I want to assure you that I will be seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit and from God’s Word
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