Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Acts 12:1-
Incredibly difficult time for the church
Herod is the grandson of the Herod we know that tried to kill Jesus.
Isn’t it interesting that this family is so bent on destroying God’s Plan!
But equally is how incredible God is that shows us that we can depend on Him even when things look the darkest.
Verse 1-2 James is killed and it pleased the Jews.
It pleased the Jews because Jesus’ death and resurrection fulfilled the law.
No longer did they have to go through the priests to have their relationships with God.
Jesus was their high priest.
So the Jews were really happy that James was killed.
This emboldens Herod and he goes after Peter thinking he will do the same.
The only snag is that verse 3 says that it was during the days of Unleavened Bread which was Passover week.
They couldn’t execute Peter until that holiday was over.
So Peter, the head of the church has been arrested and it looks bleak.
The guy is sitting on death row awaiting his execution.
If I am standing on the outside looking at these circumstances I am thinking that this is a disaster.
This is the worst possible thing that could happen.
Our guy is about to be executed.
It’s terrible.
And it would be really easy to lose heart.
Wouldn’t it?
Its the everything that can go wrong will go wrong scenario.
But remember that Jesus talked about this.
Jesus said that these kind of things were going to happen.
This is the plan.
There is nothing strange going on here.
Jesus told Peter this kind of stuff would happen and it’s really happening.
This emboldens Herod and goes after Peter thinking he will do the same.
Peter is sleeping (completely confident that he is in God’s will.
Not to be rescued, but is resting in God.
There was no anxiety but complete trust in his Heavenly Father.
Do you sleep well at night?
It might help us as Christians to remember that there is going to be trouble in our lives.
We will suffer.
That IS part of the plan, so please don’t cry to God like something is wrong when we are having hard circumstances.
That is what you signed up for when you gave your life to Jesus.
If you went into the service you would go through boot camp.
Doesn’t everyone know what happens at boot camp?
Their mission is to try to break you.
Their mission is to break you down so that they can build you back up into being a great soldier.
Everybody knows that and so it isn’t strange that boot camp is really hard.
You may complain about it but nobody thinks that something strange is going on.
That is the Christian life too.
Please know that life is supposed to be hard.
It may not be that you are doing anything wrong.
That is what life on earth, especially as a Christian is.
And so Peter is arrested and the church is heartbroken over it.
They just lost James and now Peter too?
Peters situation caused the church to pray.
And when you look at the rest of this story what you see is the example of what God wants from us as believers
We can learn from the church here in Acts.
One we learn that Prayer is a priority..
And we see God move because ...
1. Prayer is a priority.
So quickly, prayer is communication with God.
They aren’t magic words to get God to do what we want to do.
It isn’t about impressing God with just the right words, or just the right cadence or just the right volume.
It is simply talking with God.
Prayer is talking with God.
You can do that and guess what, there is nothing God wants more.
Either way you pray.
Either way, whether you are down and out and need help.
Pray.
When you are happy, praise Him.
That is prayer too.
Realize that for a minute.
Prayer is not just asking God for stuff.
God’s not the drive through at the Dairy Queen.
It is praise too.
Prayer is always appropriate.
Pray while you drive.
When you walk out into the sunshine look for ways to praise Him.
Your attitude will change.
He desires relationship with you and it begins with prayer.
Jesus was the perfect model.
He made prayer a priority.
He didn’t do anything without first going to the Father.
He had a habit of starting his day off with the Father, alone and in prayer.
To contrast this.
(and we can all be guilty of this)
When do we pray?
Usually we finally start to pray when the bottom falls out right?
Sometimes our terrible situations are what bring us to our knees.
But prayer is more than that.
And by God’s Grace He still meets us there.
That is a God worth praising!
That is a God worth praying to.
So this is why we make prayer a priority.
What do we do when we have trouble?
We pray, what do we do when things are great?
We pray, what do we do in normal everyday life?
We pray.
we make it a priority.
This was what the church did when Peter was arrested.
But their prayer had a characteristic that is listed.
We also see God move because ....
2 They Prayed earnestly.
Psalm 29
salm 29
I am afraid that we don’t really know what earnest, fervent prayer might be.
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