Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction & Background

Good morning CrossPointe

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Announcement: Partnership is this coming Wednesday

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Prayer

Question / Connection

Do you remember a few weeks ago when the entrance to Wetherbee Road was going to be closed?

We were having our potluck and vision lunch that same day and there was great concern.

Would people know?

Would they be prepared?

Would they get lost on their way to church and then just turn around a head home?

Numerous people come up to me expressing the need the communicate this information to everyone.

We thought about different ways we needed to communicate the information so that nobody was left out.

I appreciate this care and concern

It is also my prayer that we show this same care and concern for the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Do people know?

Are they lost, wandering around looking for something but going back to what they already know.

How do we make sure that everyone hears this news?

Jesus shared this same concern and promised the disciples that they would “receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon [them] and they would be witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”

Background

Command: Wait for the Holy Spirit then Proclaim the Gospel to All peoples

Journey: The disciples began in Jersualem and that is where we are in our study through the book of ,000 new followers of Jesus were added after Peter’s first sermon.

Last week:

We learned in Acts chapter 3 how God healed a lame beggar sitting on the steps outside the temple.

This drew a crowd and Peter preached the same sermon basically, “Jesus is the messiah, you killed him, God raised him for the dead to forgive our sins, repent and trust in Jesus.”

Today’s Passage: The proclamation of the gospel is met with resistance by powerful leaders but God emboldens the average disciple to proclaim Jesus as the only hope.

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Prayer

The Question | Connection

Intro

Walk through the passage, understanding the historical context and the original meaning while we see to apply these principles to our lives and situation.

6 Observations for Application:

Historical Context: what these words meant in the cultural context in which they were written.

As we understand what it means, then we can accurately allow it to shape our understanding.

1 | The Hope of the Resurrection is powerful to sustain us in moments of persecution

Modern Application: How do these words help us today.

We share the same mission as the disciples.

Since Jesus has not yet returned in the same way that he ascended to heaven, the church is called to continue the mission of proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all peoples, starting with our neighbors and extending to the nations.

1 | We Know - to Some Degree - What We Are Up Against

Historical Context

“The captain of the temple and the Sadducees”

The Sadducees were the religious aristocrats, and this include the High Priest.

They had great power in Jerusalem and among the Jewish people in general.

They were the ones who guarded the most holy place in Judaism.

The place where God’s presence dwelled.

They oversaw the sacrificial system.

It was this sacrificial system that the whole relationship between God and the Jews was based and the Sadducees oversaw this system.

This gave them power - economically, socially, and politically.

The Roman governor would do his business with the Sadducees.

They had troops and the temple police to ensure that people did what they were suppose to and didn’t do anything wrong.

The Sadducees also do not believe in the resurrection.

They strongly opposed the resurrection as this was seen as radical, dangerous doctrine - it attacked the status quo and threatened existing power structures.

It causes people to think beyond the here and now which leads people to fall in line.

instead, the resurrection causes people to beyond the here and now to something better.

Something more.

Something that makes us willing to sacrifice our immediate comforts because we know that something awaits us after this life.

The Pharisees were also a radical religious populist group at the time and they believed in the resurrection, unlike the Sadducees.

They were more willing to cause trouble for the authorities in the present.

“greatly annoyed because 1) they were teaching people and 2) proclaiming the resurrection in Jesus”

Who are you to be teaching?

This is “our” temple.

You are stepping on our toes by assuming authority to teach these people.

The leaders are simply annoyed because someone else would dare to teach the people.

They were also annoyed because they were teaching things they personally disagree with and something that could undermine their power over the people - the resurrection

Jesus is a threat to their entire identity and purpose

The spirit of God now lives in every follower of Jesus, not just the holy of holiness that they guarded

Jesus was the final sacrifice, paying the penalty for sins, so they sacrificial system they oversaw was now obsolete.

Jesus promised that his followers would rise from the dead in the same way as him, meaning this world does not hold the same value - but we look toward a better country (hebrews).

The resurrection allows and calls us to live sacrificially.

Another 2,000 men trusted in Jesus that day.

It may have felt like a rebellion - loosing control, loosing power, losing authority over the people.

For these thousands it meant freedom, hope, and salvation.

Modern Application

Church Saves vs Jesus Saves

Likewise, in our preaching and teaching, we dare not commend a set of moral rules to make people more acceptable before God.

Rather, we should commend the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who alone makes us acceptable.

He is the hero of the whole Bible and is the One to whom the whole Bible testifies.

He is our message.

He is our theme.

So may we say with Paul, “We proclaim him, warning and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ” ().

Merida, Tony.

Exalting Jesus in Acts (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (Kindle Locations 1586-1590).

B&H Publishing Group.

Kindle Edition.

Moralism (Be Good) vs Resurrection

Rules & Religion do not save.

People use rules seek control and power, even when their conclusion is the absence of rules - or an arguement for freedom toward things the bible defines as sin.

How do we live by faith?

What should motivate us to live sacrificially for others and follow after after Jesus even when it doesn’t make any sense?

We have a line of people that have gone before us who have walked by faith.

They longed for things promised even though they remained for the future.

They lives as strangers and exiles on earth.

People like this are still seeking a homeland, they aren’t living as though they have already arrived.

If you were home then you would just seek comfort and ease.

As it is, we long for a better country, a heavenly one.

This makes us wanders who seek and sojourn this earth is expectation of something different and better.

How would you live differently than you are right now if you truly believe that this earth was not your final home?

If eternity was your true reality and this world is a shadow.

How would you spend your time?