Sermon Tone Analysis

BELIEVE AND LIVE

SERMON 12

OFFSPRING AND OCCUPATION

INTRODUCTION:

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THE WORST TROUBLE I CAN REMEMBER EVER GETTING IN HAPPENED IN THE FALL OF 1979…OCTOBER 31ST, 1979, TO BE EXACT.

I DON’T KNOW IF YOU DID THIS WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER, BUT WHEN I WAS A KID, WE HAD A SOUTHERN HALLOWEEN TRADITION THAT WAS KNOWN AS “CHUNKIN’ EGGS.”

DID YOU HAVE THAT SAME THING HERE?

WELL, LEADING UP TO HALLOWEEN, THERE WERE TWO ITEMS THAT WOULD FLY OFF THE STORE SHELVES…TOILET PAPER…AND EGGS…

WE WOULD GATHER OUR EGGS AND PREPARE OURSELVES FOR A NIGHT OF EGGSTAORDINARY WARFARE…

WE WOULD ESTABLISH TEAMS, BASED ON OUR CIRCLE OF FRIENDS…AND THEN WE WOULD PRACTICE GUERILLA TACTICS IN AN EFFORT TO LAUNCH SURPRISE ATTACKS ON THE OTHER GROUPS.

WELL, WHAT I DIDN’T REALIZE IS THAT IT WAS SOMETIMES A BAD IDEA TO HAVE OVER-EXUBERANT FRIENDS ON YOUR “TEAM.”

I HAD ONE SUCH FRIEND ON MY TEAM…HIS NAME WAS DAVID MCDONALD…

AND DAVID MCDONALD THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUN TO CHALLENGE A GROUP OF ABOUT 25 KIDS TO COME TO MY HOUSE, TO HAVE AN EGG WAR AGAINST OUR GROUP OF SIX…

TWO THINGS OF NOTE…

- FIRST, SIX VERSUS TWENTY FIVE IS NEVER A GOOD RATIO…

- SECOND, EGG WARS ARE BEST CARRIED OUT IN WOODED AREAS, NOT AT SOMEONE’S HOUSE…

NEEDLESS TO SAY, WE WERE HOPELESSLY OUTMATCHED, AND FORCED TO RETREAT…INTO MY HOUSE…OPENING THE SIDE DOOR OF THE HOUSE AT INTERVALS TO ALLOW EACH MEMBER OF OUR TEAM ACCESS TO THE SAFETY OF MY HOUSE, ALL THE WHILE OBLIVIOUS TO THE FACT THAT THE WAR RAGED ON, EVEN AS EACH OF US MADE OUR WAY INSIDE THE HOUSE…

THE ONLY REASON WE DIDN’T SUFFER A MORE SEVERE DEFEAT WAS THAT MY MOTHER – WHO HAPPENED TO BE AT THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR – HEARD THE NOISE AND CAME HOME TO INVESTIGATE…

THE RAVAGES OF THE EGG WAR WERE EXTENSIVE…THE ENEMY HELD NOTHING BACK, AND NOTHING WAS OFF LIMITS…

MY CAR WAS COVERED WITH EGGS…MY MOM’S CAR WAS COVERED WITH EGGS…WE WERE COVERED WITH EGGS…MY MOTHER’S DINING ROOM WAS COVERED WITH EGGS…

I WAS IN DEEP TROUBLE…BUT I WASN’T THE ONLY ONE…I GAINED A NEW LEVEL OF RESPECT THAT DAY FOR MY MOTHER, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH I KNEW THAT MY LIFE WAS PROBABLY OVER, I WATCHED AS MY MOTHER ROUNDED UP OVER 30 BOYS AND OVERSAW THE CLEANUP EFFORT…

I KNEW BEFOREHAND THAT EGG WARS WERE OFF LIMITS…MY PARENTS HAD ALREADY INFORMED ME OF THE CONSEQUENCES IF I DECIDED TO TAKE PART IN SUCH AN ACTIVITY…BUT DID I OBEY THEM?

NOPE…

AND THERE WERE CONSEQUENCES…I WAS GROUNDED…ALL MY FRIENDS WERE GROUNDED…THE PAINT ON MY MOM’S CAR WAS NEVER THE SAME…THE PAINT ON MY CAR WASN’T REALLY MUCH DIFFERENT BECAUSE IT WAS ALREADY FADED…THE DINING ROOM HAD A STRANGE ROTTEN-EGG SMELL FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THAT…

BUT I LEARNED FROM THAT EXPERIENCE…I LEARNED THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING TO THIS THING CALLED OBEDIENCE…

NOW, AS A PASTOR, ONE OF THE RESPONSIBILITIES I HAVE IS TO TEACH THE CHURCH I SERVE THE IMPORTANCE OF OBEDIENCE…AND I CAN TELL YOU THIS…IF YOU STRUGGLE WITH OBEDIENCE AS YOUR PARENTS OFFSPRING OR IN YOUR OCCUPATION, YOU WILL STRUGGLE WITH OBEDIENCE TO GOD…

SO LET’S LOOK AT WHAT PAUL HAS TO SAY ABOUT OBEDIENCE IN THESE TWO AREAS…

1. CHILDREN ARE COMMANDED TO OBEY THEIR PARENTS.

a. (ESV) – 1 CHILDREN, OBEY YOUR PARENTS IN THE LORD, FOR THIS IS RIGHT. 2 “HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER” (THIS IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT WITH A PROMISE), 3 “THAT IT MAY GO WELL WITH YOU AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG IN THE LAND.”

i. TWO COMMANDS TO CHILDREN.

1. OBEY YOUR PARENTS.

2. HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.

3. BOTH OF THESE COMMANDS HAVE EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF CHRISTIAN CHILDREN.

b. “OBEY YOUR PARENTS IN THE LORD” DOES NOT MEAN THAT CHILDREN ONLY NEED TO OBEY CHRISTIAN PARENTS.

i. IT MEANS THAT CHILDREN ARE OBEYING THE LORD WHEN THEY OBEY THEIR PARENTS.

ii.

THE ONLY EXCEPTION TO THIS COMMAND WOULD BE WHEN CHILDREN ARE ASKED TO DO SOMETHING UNETHICAL, ILLEGAL, OR IMMORAL, OR WHEN THEY ARE HARMED OR IN DANGER OF BEING HARMED…

iii.