Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Essential Jesus
Who is Jesus?
What is the most important Question in all of human history?
Of course everyone is curious about their own existence: Who am I?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
On top of that, many people wonder about the great challenges of our world today: How can we stop war and maintain peace?
How can we cure various diseases?
How can we eliminate poverty?
How can we protect the environment?
There is one question though, that is more important than the rest: Who is Jesus?
Why is that question so important?
Well, Jesus claimed he was God on the earth.
That’s right, He said he was God’s promised messiah, the one and only savior of the world.
And if that is true, then all the other questions about purpose are secondary.
Our world is full of information about Jesus.
The History Channel runs a series about Jesus every Christmas and Easter
Buddhists have beliefs about Jesus.
“He reached a high state or became an enlightened person through buddhism.”
Muslims have beliefs about Jesus
Yes he was holy, and born of a virgin, and performed miracles
They say that he wasn’t divine, and didn’t die for people’s sins
Atheists have beliefs about Jesus
He was a good man, and wanted people to be good people.
Even people who call themselves Christians have differing views.
Think about it.
Our world is full of information about Jesus - movies and plays, television and radio, magazines and books.
Some of it is accurate, some of it isn’t.
But how do we find out who the essential Jesus really is?
The best way to go about it is to go to the most complete source of information we have about Him.
THE BIBLE
Have you ever wondered what Christmas would look like without all the “Christmasy stuff”?
I mean no manger, no stable, no inn, no donkeys, no shepherds, no Mary, or Joseph, or even a baby.
It’s hard to imagine isn’t it.
But what we just read is the story of Christmas, without all of the Christmas type stuff that we normally think of.
The other three gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have a huge focus on the facts surrounding Jesus birth.
But John goes behind the facts and gives us an even bigger picture, a supernatural picture.
John’s Gospel has often been compared to a pool in which a child could wade safely and an elephant could swim.
It is both simple and profound.
It is for the beginner in the faith and for the mature Christian
John here starts by Calling Jesus “the Word”.
This is an interesting term that he uses here.
I believe it is because God wanted to tell people about who He is, and so the sending of The Son is the statement from God to humankind.
You want to know God, look at Jesus.
John 1:1 Tells us the word was God
Jesus isn’t simply a great teacher or healer, or a celebrity, or a leader.
The essential truth about Jesus is that he was God on earth.
That’s a bold claim isn’t it?
But if it is true then it has to make a difference in our lives.
The first think that I want us to take a look at today is the fact that Jesus is a new source of light in the world.
I recently replaced a light in our living room, and in doing so I decided to upgrade to the LED light bulbs.
Because LED’s are more efficient you can put a brighter bulb in.
So my new light had space for three 60 watt bulbs.
Well I look down and see that a 14 watt led bulb puts out the same amount of light as a 100 watt incandescent.
So I go with that one in the daylight color.
I get the light up and bulbs in, and it’s so bright.
It’s practically blinding.
You could stand outside our house and see everything going on in our family room.
I took it back, got the recommended brightness, and I love the light.
It’s amazing what a new light source will do.
I can find things so much quicker when I misplace my keys, which happens several times a day.
John in his Gospel is telling people that...
Jesus is a new source of light in the world.
I’ve seen some photographers get all giddy on like a kid on chrismas day when they get a new light source.
I’m like it’s a lightbulb,
“No Josh, its a Dynalite RK8”
As i was preparing to speak I came across some info about how important the right lighting is.
A good light pushes back the darkness
An artist once drew a picture of a winter twilight—the trees heavily laden with snow, and a dreary, dark house, lonely and desolate in the midst of the storm.
It was a sad picture.
Then, with a quick stroke of yellow crayon, he put a light in one window.
The effect was magical.
The entire scene was transformed into a vision of comfort and cheer.
The birth of Christ was just such a light in the dark world.
Light represents what is good and pure and true.
So when we hear “God is light” it means that he is good and pure and true.
It is only Jesus who can Guide us out of darkness.
When God came to earth, he showed us just how bad the world was.
How off track we were compared to how God originally designed us to be.
Let’s face it, our world is a sinful dark place.
This reminds me of what happens every time I go to the movies.
You spend two hours in the movie and it’s a really dark place, and every time I walk out its so bright.
It’s shocking.
Our eyes adjust to light.
In the dark places our pupils open to allow more light in so that we can see better.
And then when you’re in the light your eyes adjust again.
So many people when they experience Jesus, or hear his teachings they find him blinding.
Because everything about Jesus changes everything.
But what happens for some people is that they enjoy the darkness so much that when they experience the light of Jesus its blinding and they shrink back into the darkness.
But when you experience Jesus and come to know him and believe in Him, at first the light might seem blinding, but the longer you remain in it, the more that you adjust, and you go from blinding to enjoying the warmth.
Another thing that happens when your eyes adjust to the light is that things that are in the dark are difficult to see.
When our eyes are focused in the light, the things in the darkness aren’t as noticeable or as attractive.
Sometimes we as christians get focused on some of the wrong things.
We watch the tv, we read the news, we think about who’s in office or who’s not in office, and we can get so negative.
We get our eyes focused so much trying to see the darkness that we ignore the light.
I can’t imagine anything more miserable than a Christian who chooses to be so negative, when the hope of the world walks with us daily.
God has done so much for me (with a negative face)...
Light also does something else interesting, light can be very useful to a photographer.
If used correctly its can bring out all of the best features of the subject.
Many of us as Christians get worried that when other people see or know the real us that they will reject us.
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