Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro Story

Good morning!

Hey, I like the way that sounds!

It’s the first time in the history of TRC that I’ve said that.

But welcome everyone.

Glad you could join us this morning.

I’m excited this morning because here at TRC, we’ve been learning how to build goodness, peace, and joy in our homes.

We’re in a series titled, “Home Sweet Home.”

And we’re sharing lessons God’s taught us through His word, His Spirit, and through life experiences, with one another.

Today, we have something a little different, but fun!

Will my wife Janelle come back up here?

This morning, Janelle is going to help me share the lessons God’s taught regarding life decisions and how it’s built goodness, peace, and joy in our homes.

In this series, we’ve been using rooms in a home to correspond with the topic we’re discussing.

So, for our next topic, let’s hop onto the staircase.

Now, a staircase isn’t really a room, but it is an important part of the house that transitions you from one room to another.

Many times, the major life decisions do the same.

Life decisions can transition our home.

They require us to deal with change.

Therefore, it’s crucial to know how to make godly life decisions, so we can move forward and continue building the Kingdom in our homes.

Before we dive in, remember, the intention of this series is not to have experts teach amateurs how to do this.

None of us have this figured out.

Janelle and I definitely are NOT experts in making life decisions.

We’ve made a lot of dumb decisions.

We still do.

But I believe God has also taught us how to make godly decisions that build the Kingdom.

So, we’d like to share some of those with you this morning (I like saying morning!).

So, we’re gonna start with a story that happened right before we moved to Connecticut.

It was a huge season of change and decision-making for us.

God taught us a lot during this season!

It was August 2014 and two years had passed since God initially called us to Connecticut.

We were still in San Diego, I had just graduated with my bachelors.

We were searching for a way to move to New England (strange to most of you).

It was August 2014 and two years had passed since God initially called us to Connecticut.

We were still in San Diego, I had just graduated with my bachelors, and we were searching for a way to move our family to New England (strange to most of you).

I first went back to school at the age of 30 because I believe God told me “education was going to be part of my preparation.”

I never thought I’d finish my bachelors, let alone go farther.

But once I did, I knew my education wasn’t complete yet.

God wanted me to go to Seminary.

I believed God wanted me to continue my preparation through seminary, and we wanted to move to New England, so I applied for Gordon-Conwell in Hamilton, Mass.

When I was accepted, we flew out to visit the campus.

We loved it!

Sure, it wasn’t Connecticut, but our thinking was, “Why not spend a few years preparing for church planting in New England instead of California?”

It made sense to us.

Plus, God hadn’t given us the green light to church plant yet.

We were seeking the Lord in prayer, but there wasn’t a “yes” or “no,” just a silence.

However, after our Gordon-Conwell visit, we made the two-hour drive to CT for a day and, while I don’t think feelings are a great guide when it comes to the Lord’s leading, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace but also a deep burden when we crossed over from Mass to CT.

That sense of burden but excitement only grew as we landed in Glastonbury to spend some time getting coffee, walking around and praying.

There was no doubt we’d one day end up here!

Plus, God hadn’t given us the green light to church plant yet.

We were seeking the Lord in prayer, but there wasn’t a “yes” or “no,” just a silence.

However, after our Gordon-Conwell visit, we made the two-hour drive to CT for a day and, while I dont think feelings are a great guide when it comes to the Lord’s leading, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace but also a deep burden when we crossed over from Mass to CT.

That sense of burden but excitement only grew as we landed in Glastonbury to spend some time getting coffee, walking around and praying.

There was no doubt we’d one day end up here!

When we got back, we were eager to move forward in our move to Gordon-Conwell.

I mean, it was a practical and progressive step from GC to Glastonbury, both in relocating and in education.

We even submitted a deposit for our campus family housing.

Yet, deep down, I didn’t have a peace about it.

I sought counsel from my friends, mentors, and pastors - all who said, “You should go!

It’s an open door.

Sometimes, God gives us a choice.

He’ll bless whatever you choose.”

And while I trusted these people, still, something didn’t sit right.

Then, I was at Rubios Fish Tacos with one of my professors and he told me something different.

He was my favorite professor because he was a straight shooter.

I was talking to him about the decision and about the counsel I was receiving.

I also told him about a verse that was on my heart that was making the decision hard:

You see, as much as we wanted to move to New England (the place we were called to), this verse kept popping up.

Everything was telling us to move, but this verse seemed to be telling us to stay.

At the time, we led this flourishing Life Group (like 50 people) and real community and discipleship was flowing out of it.

And God seemed to be asking us put church planting on the shelf, wait, and do the ministry right in front of us.

This was so hard!

Don’t get me wrong.

We loved our Life Group, but we LONGED to move to New England - to Glastonbury, where our heart was!

But that day, my professor gave me a knock out punch.

He said, “Wait.

On one hand, you have friends telling you to make your “own” choice.

On the other hand, God’s given you His word.

What’s the problem?

Seems like God already told you what to do.”

I didn’t like it.

It bothered me!

But I knew he was right.

Then, God confirmed it.

In my devotional time, I read this verse:

At that moment, I knew what God wanted me to do.

God was making it clear: If you’re going to follow Me, then I get to make the decisions.

So, we listened.

We laid down our desires and dreams.

I turned down my acceptance to Gordon-Conwell.

And we stayed in San Diego.

It was a one of the hardest decisions of our lives.

But it was also in that time that God grew us a lot.

He humbled us.

He strengthened our faith.

He taught us how to disciple people, and how to connect with our neighbors and co-workers.

We learned godly submission.

What was amazing was within this time, we also developed a contentment with where God had us, what He wanted and His timeline.

A huge lesson!

Then, on the last Sunday of May 2015, God took church planting back off the shelf.

At the morning service, God hit me with this verse: