Sermon Tone Analysis

Sermon Crafted along with the following outline:

Apostolon, Billy.

Preach the Word.

Dollar Sermon Library Series.

Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1966.

Intro

Current New Year Date…

In pre-Christian Rome under the Julian calendar, the day was dedicated to Janus, god of gateways and beginnings, for whom January is also named.

As a date in the Gregorian calendar of Christendom, New Year's Day liturgically marked the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Jesus, which is still observed as such in the Anglican Church and Lutheran Church.

New Year Resolutions… [https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions]

The custom of making New Year’s resolutions has been around for thousands of years, but it hasn’t always looked the way it does today.

The ancient Babylonians are said to have been the first people to make New Year’s resolutions, some 4,000 years ago.

They were also the first to hold recorded celebrations in honor of the new year—though for them the year began not in January but in mid-March, when the crops were planted.

During a massive 12-day religious festival known as Akitu, the Babylonians crowned a new king or reaffirmed their loyalty to the reigning king.

They also made promises to the gods to pay their debts and return any objects they had borrowed.

These promises could be considered the forerunners of our New Year’s resolutions.

If the Babylonians kept to their word, their (pagan) gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year.

If not, they would fall out of the gods’ favor—a place no one wanted to be.

A similar practice occurred in ancient Rome, after the reform-minded emperor Julius Caesar tinkered with the calendar and established January 1 as the beginning of the new year circa 46 B.C. Named for Janus, the two-faced god whose spirit inhabited doorways and arches, January had special significance for the Romans.

Believing that Janus symbolically looked backwards into the previous year and ahead into the future, the Romans offered sacrifices to the deity and made promises of good conduct for the coming year.

For early Christians, the first day of the new year became the traditional occasion for thinking about one’s past mistakes and resolving to do and be better in the future.

In 1740, the English clergyman John Wesley, founder of Methodism, created the Covenant Renewal Service, most commonly held on New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.

Also known as known as watch night services, they included readings from Scriptures and hymn singing, and served as a spiritual alternative to the raucous celebrations normally held to celebrate the coming of the new year.

Now popular within evangelical Protestant churches, especially African-American denominations and congregations, watch night services held on New Year’s Eve are often spent praying and making resolutions for the coming year.

Despite the tradition’s religious roots, New Year’s resolutions today are a mostly secular practice.

Instead of making promises to the gods, most people make resolutions only to themselves, and focus purely on self-improvement (which may explain why such resolutions seem so hard to follow through on).

According to recent research, while as many as 45 percent of Americans say they usually make New Year’s resolutions, only 8 percent are successful in achieving their goals.

But that dismal record probably won’t stop people from making resolutions anytime soon

Resolution = Resolute...

admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering.

Latin = [Resolutus] = loosened, released, paid

2 Cor 5.17 = New Creation = 5 aspects of New Life

Pray

… x …

Sermon

5 aspects of New Life in Christ

New Position

New Practice

New Purpose

New Power

New Promise

New Position

[Position of Child]

Previously we were children of the Devil and enemies with God...

1.

A position of stability; Ps. 40:2.

are you wishy washy like Charlie Brown?

Are your feet sticky, slick, and slow?

Then walk His path child as ye go!

He is the rock upon which we stand / He makes ones steps clear

a place to fight from...

2. A position of acceptance; Eph.

1:5

Adoption - ownership - acceptance

Family

3. A position of no condemnation; Rom.

8:1.

Physical standing

Emotional standing

Spiritual standing

That beloved is our New Position in Christ

Next, however is our…

New Practice

New Practice

[Faith]

Previously we were faithless…

1.

A faith centered in Christ; Heb.

12:2.

not faith in faith

not faith in self / works

not faith in religion

FAITH IN HIM!!

2. A faith that works for Christ; James 2:17.

not saved by = saved to!!

working for self / working because of HIM!

you must pursue this faith

3. A faith to lives to Christ; Heb.

10:38.

not faith that is momentary

not faith that is transitory

not faith that is illusionary

LIVING FAITH = alive - powerful - active - growing!!

So far we have covered...

1.

New Position

2. New Practice

Thirdly let me point your attention to our…

New Purpose

New Purpose

[Service]

Previously we were serving no-one but ourselves...

1.

A self denying life

2.

A cross-bearing life; Matt 16.24; Luke 14:27.

self serving - spiritual servants

not always easy

not always fun

not negotiable

3. A Christ-following life; Mark 8:34.

would you follow Jesus?

to pray more

to read more

to give more

to go somewhere

to leave something

what does it mean for you to deny yourself and follow Christ?

would you?