Sermon Tone Analysis

We exist to glorify God by making mature those who believe.

Colos

tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

tells us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

To grow in grace is to mature as a Christian.

We are saved by grace through faith (), and we mature and are sanctified by grace alone.

We know that grace is a blessing that we don’t deserve.

It is God’s grace that justifies us, sanctifies us, and eventually glorifies us in heaven.

The sanctification process, becoming more like Christ, is synonymous with growing in grace.

We grow in grace by practicing spiritual disciplines.

Disciplines by themselves don't mature us, but God uses these spiritual disciplines to help us grow.

Therefore, maturing in our Christian life is not about what we do, but about what God does in us, by His grace.

Grace is that attribute of God that enables us to break free of our sinful nature and follow Him.

It gives us strength and protects us.

Without God's grace, His favor, we would be hopelessly lost in this world.

The more grace we have and ask God for, the more mature as Christians we will be.

To grow in grace does not mean gaining more grace from God. God’s grace never increases; it is infinite, it cannot be more, and according to the nature of God, it could never be less.

But to grow in grace is to grow in our understanding of what Jesus did and to grow in our appreciation of the grace we have been given.

The more we learn about Jesus, the more we will appreciate all He has done, and the more we appreciate His love and sacrifice for us, the more we will perceive the never-ending grace of God.

The more grace we see the greater our transformation.

These agents The key to transformation is visualization.

We

The key to transformation is visualization.

Discipline without direction is drudgery.

We must understand what we will become.

We will not ultimately be conformed to the image of his Son until he returns.

We will not ultimately be conformed to the image of his Son until he returns.

Romans 8:28

This yet to be conformity does not mean that we sit idle and do nothing.

This is not saying that those who pursue holiness will go to heaven.

It is teaching that those who are going to heaven will be infused with a hunger for holiness and this will fuel their pursuit.

Spiritual disciplines are not boring practices but bold pleas for more grace.

Spiritual disciplines are not meant to build up pride but a means to place ourselves in the path of Christ.

Spiritual disciplines are not boring practices but bold pleas for more grace.

Spiritual disciplines are not meant to build up pride but a means to place ourselves in the path of Christ.

Spiritual disciplines are a means not the end.

Spiritual growth is not mechanical but organic.

Spiritual growth is like gardening.

You use some mechanical means but growth ultimately occurs organically.

A farmer does everything within his power to place the seed in a place of growth and then actively waits for the increase.

Think of the Spiritual Disciplines as ways by which we can spiritually place ourselves in the path of God’s grace and seek Him, much like Zacchaeus placed himself physically in Jesus’ path and sought Him.

Tom Landry, coach of the Dallas Cowboys football team for most of three decades, said, “The job of a football coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do in order to achieve what they’ve always wanted to be.”

In much the same way, Christians are called to make themselves, by the Spirit’s power, do what they would not naturally do—practice the Spiritual Disciplines—in order to experience what the Spirit gives them a desire to be, that is, to be with Christ and like Christ.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p.

13).

NavPress.

Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p.

13).

NavPress.

Kindle Edition.

Scripture

Scripture

No Spiritual Discipline is more important than the intake of God’s Word.

Hearing

Reading

Studying

As author Jerry Bridges put it, “Reading gives us breadth, but study gives us depth.”

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p.

31).

NavPress.

Kindle Edition.

Invest

Illustration: The Latte Effect

$5 per day for 20 years @ 5% annual return.

Total spent $54,720.00

Forgone Interest earnings $71,183.31

Real Cost of expenditure $126,503.31

$5 per week for 20 years @ 5% annual return.

Total spent $7,800

Forgone interest earnings $10, 232.27

Real Cost of expenditure $18,032.27

Memorization/Meditation

Memorization supplies spiritual power & Matthew 4:1-11

Memorization strengthens your faith

Memorization prepares us for witnessing and counseling.

Memorization provides means for God’s guidance.

Memorization stimulates meditation.

Psalm 119:97

Prayer

A modern British writer, Peter Toon, in his book From Mind to Heart, summarized the teaching of the Puritans on these things:

To read the Bible and not to meditate was seen as an unfruitful exercise: better to read one chapter and meditate afterward than to read several chapters and not to meditate.

Likewise to meditate and not to pray was like preparing to run a race and never leaving the starting line.

The three duties of reading Scripture, meditation, and prayer belonged together, and though each could be done occasionally on its own, as formal duties to God they were best done together.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p.

89).

NavPress.

Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p.

89).

NavPress.

Kindle Edition.

Whitney, Donald S.. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (p.

89).

NavPress.

Kindle Edition.

Live One Another’s

According to a University of Scranton study by Dan Diamond in Forbes not having an accountable partner to help a person accomplish their goal is one reason 92% of people did not accomplish their New Year's resolution

I’m changing the name from accountability partner to L.O.A.D. partner.

Engage for Eternity

Evangelism is not successful when people are saved but when seed is sown.

We should measure evangelism success like that of the postal service.

They measure success by the careful and accurate delivery of the message, not by the response of the recipient.

Today you have been provided the means for spiritual growth.

Will you take these means of grace and use them to place yourself along the path of Jesus so that you might grow in grace and thereby be transformed by it.