Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
On July 15, 1986, Roger Clemens, the pitcher for the Boston Red Sox with a sizzling right-handed fastball, started his first All-Star Game.
In the second inning he came to bat, something he hadn’t done in years because of the American League’s designated-hitter rule.
He took a few uncertain practice swings and then looked out at his forbidding opponent, Dwight Gooden, who the previous year had won the Cy Young award.
Gooden wound up and threw a white-hot fastball which zipped right by Clemens into the catcher’s mitt.
With an embarrassed smile on his face, Clemens stepped out of the box and asked catcher Gary Carter, “Is that what my pitches look like?”
“You bet it is!” replied Carter.
Clemens quickly struck out, but apparently he had found a new confidence in his fastball as he went on to pitch three perfect innings and be named the game’s most valuable player.
From that day on, he later said, with a fresh reminder of how overpowering a good fastball is, he pitched with far greater boldness.
Sometimes we Christians forget that we have the Holy Spirit within us and just how powerful our witness can be.
The gospel has supernatural power—when we speak it in confidence.
[based on Larson, C. B. (2002).
750 engaging illustrations for preachers, teachers & writers (p.
144).
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.]
We have been working through a mini-series of sermons titled the Marks of a Faithful Disciple, taken from .
These were the characteristics that we identified:
We have been working through a mini-series of sermons titled the Marks of a Faithful Disciple, taken from .
These were the characteristics that we identified:
The Marks of a Faithful Disciple
Last week we looked at the Marks of a Faithful Disciple, taken from
.
These were the characteristics that we identified:
Faithful Disciples Suffer for Christ -
Faithful Disciples Proclaim the Truth -
Faithful Disciples Fear Only God -
Faithful Disciples Trust in God -
Faithful Disciples Walk the Talk -
Faithful Disciples Deny Themselves -
Faithful Disciples Carry the Cross -
Faithful Disciples Bless Others -
Last week we looked at Suffering for Christ, and this week we will look at verses 26-27, Proclaiming the Truth Without Fear.
[pray]
Father God in Heaven, We praise Your Holy Name.
You are the focus of our worship and our desire.
We lift your Holy Name to the highest heavens.
Father, we ask that You would show us how we can proclaim Your name.
We ask that you would reveal Your will to us that we may do Your work.
Father I ask that you would give me clarity of mind, precision of speech, and a heart for Your people as I bring Your message today.
Amen
I. Don’t Fear Persecution -
Jesus says “Therefore do not fear them...”
Jesus says “Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing to be concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.”
This statement is referring back to Jesus’ previous discussion about persecution from the members of the religious elite.
Jesus is referring
Jesus is referring
Sometimes it is not so much persecution that we might fear as much as being mocked or being rejected.
The use of the word, “therefore” - the summary statement of the entire MIssionary Discourse.
What Jesus is saying here to His disciples (including you) is “Don’t fear those who are persecuting you or could potentially persecute you!”
Often we have the tendency to live our lives in a segmented fashion.
We have our church life over here, our work life over here, and over here we’ll put our home life.
When we do this, we never want to different sections to mix.
We never bring up church and work and—for some of us—we never bring our spouse or kids to work.
We just prefer for things to be segmented.
We think that we cannot proclaim the truth of the Gospel at work because that’s not appropriate.
We get so used to living like this that it never occurs to us that our church life and spiritual beliefs SHOULD impact our work life.
We should bring our righteousness—which we get from God—into our work environment.
Often times our best witness is the way we live out our righteousness in the workplace.
It affects our work ethic and our care for our colleagues.
It impacts our integrity and shines the light of Jesus Christ in the workplace.
We should not let fear of persecution or rejection to limit our impact for the name of Jesus Christ in the workplace, or at school or in our recreation.
II.
Expect the Hidden to be Revealed -
Romans 1:8-
The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were plotting against Him secretly.
He knew that this would continue until He died and even after as they would continue to persecute the disciples after His death.
A. Secret plots will come to light
Jesus was not surprised that he was upsetting the plans of the Jewish authorities.
He was encouraging His followers to carry out His plans for His church without fear for any plotting that might be happening behind closed doors.
His meaning here is that the disciples should be bold with their proclamation of the truth.
He wanted them to preach His message openly before the people.
B. The Gospel hidden within you will come out
I think also that Jesus wanted to encourage His disciples to speak out the Gospel message as we can see in the lives of Peter and Paul, and all the apostles.
The Gospel Message within us should be bursting to come out as we engage in life with others all around us.
Yet, we modern-day disciples, keep our Gospel light hidden in our lives—like hiding a light under a basket...
Jesus is encouraging us to do the exact opposite...
Jesus is en
The real question that we have to ask ourselves is this...
III.
Are You Ashamed of the Gospel?
-
is the core text of Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.
One commentator said “it is not wrong to see [verse 16 & 17] as a summary of Paul’s theology as a whole.”
It is interesting that Paul boldly states that he is “not ashamed of the gospel.”
Nobody could make that claim about Paul.
Paul is so staunchly pro-Gospel that there could never be any doubt about what Paul thinks of it.
However it may be that some in Rome thought the Gospel message to be simplistic.
They certainly wouldn’t be alone.
Paul himself acknowledged this in his letter to the church at Corinth...
We certainly experience this in our culture today.
The world rejects the simplicity of the Gospel, instead choosing to believe that all paths lead to Heaven, or worse, that there is no God at all.
The message of the world says to “live and let live.”
Allow each individual to choose his own truth and follow his own path, as long as it does not tell anybody else what they should believe.
Paul was imprisoned, chased away, smuggled away, and mocked throughout his missionary journeys.
His message was regarded as foolishness by the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews.
Still the Apostle Paul declared openly that he was proud of the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Paul on Shame for the Gospel
If not shame, then what?
Paul suggests a boldness in proclaiming the truth of the Gospel.
In fact he says “join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.” Paul was fully aware of the risk of suffering for Christ.
He counted the opportunity to suffer for Christ a worthy cause.
He counted the risk of being considered foolish for Christ’s sake to be something worthwhile.
Jesus on Shame for the Gospel
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