Sermon Tone Analysis

*IT TAKES COURAGE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE *

*Making A Difference in Our World  - Part 4 of 4*

*John 16:33 (NJB)*

!

Rick Warren

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/“In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous…/

/I have conquered the world.”

-- Jesus/   John 16:33 (NJB)

 

 

!

HOW CAN I LIVE COURAGEOUSLY?

*1.

BY OWNING UP _____________________________________________*

 

       /“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”/

John 1:8 (NIV)

 

/“You’ll never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins.”/

Pr.

28:13 (GN)

 

/“Admit your faults to one another and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”/

/ /

/ /

*2.

BY STANDING UP ___________________________________________*

* *

/        “Stand true to what you believe.

Be courageous.

Be strong.”

/1 Cor.

16:13 (NLT)

/ /

“If you don’t speak out to warn the evil person to leave his evil way, he will die in his sin.

But I’ll hold you responsible for his death.”

Ezek.

3:18 (ICB)

 

“Sure, those people appear to be having a good time, but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.”

Pr.

14:13 (Mes)

 

“Let your love, God, shape my life… Then I’ll be able to stand up to mockery because I trust Your Word… as I look for Your truth and Your wisdom, I’ll tell the world what I find, and speak out boldly in public, unembarrassed.”

Ps.

119:41, 45, 46 (Mes)

 

 

*3.

BY SPEAKING UP ___________________________________________*

 

       “God doesn’t want us to be shy with His gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.

So don’t be embarrassed to speak up for our Master.”  2 Tim.

1:7-8 (Mes)

 

“Don’t be ashamed to tell people about our Lord Jesus.”

(NCV)

 

       “Always be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always do it with the utmost courtesy.”  1 Peter 3:15 (Mes)

 

 

 

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! HOW TO BUILD YOUR COURAGE

/ /

/ /

*/       /1.

_________________________  through baptism.*

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       /“Y//our baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start.

It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe – Christ’s life!”/  Gal.

2:27 (Mes)

 

 

 

 

*       2.

*_________________________ *FOR BOLDNESS*

 

       /“Pray and ask God to give me the right words as I boldly tell others about the Lord…”/  Eph.

6:20 (LB)

 

 

 

 

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*       3.

_________________________ GOD TO USE ME.*

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/       “I expect and hope that I will have the courage now, as always, to show the greatness of Christ in my life here on earth.”/

Phil.

1:20 (NCV)

 

       /“Be strong and courageous!

Don’t be afraid or discouraged.

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”/  Josh.

1:9 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

*       4.

_________________________ THE END OF THE STORY*

 

/       “Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.”/

James 5:8

 

       /“You’ll have courage because you will have hope.”/

Job 11:18 (NLT)

 

 

 

 

/“If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory.”/

Lk.

9:26 (NIV)

\\ *IT TAKES COURAGE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE*

*Making A Difference In Our World  - Part 4 of 4*

*John 16:33 (NJB)*

!

Rick Warren

* *

* *

No one ever wants to be called a coward.

It’s one of the most despised of all human qualities.

We will do almost anything to avoid being called a coward.

Remember when you were in school and a kid would dare you to do different things?

You would do dumb things, stupid things, dangerous things, life threatening things, all to avoid that dreaded word – chicken.

You didn’t want to be a chicken.

We love courageous people.

We despise the cowardly.

In every movie, the bad guys are always cowards.

The good guys are always courageous.

In our families, fathers always want their wives and children to see them as being courageous because that’s what heroes are made of.

Usually when we think of courage we think of death defying acts, heroic great sacrifices.

Firemen going into burning buildings and bringing out little children.

We think of soldiers falling on a grenade to save their buddies.

We think of policemen in the line of fire taking a bullet to save somebody else’s life.

We think of astronauts in Apollo 13.

We think of Holocaust survivors, Congressional Medal of Honor winners.

Things like this.

The truth is, it takes an enormous amount, a great deal of courage, just to face the ordinary challenges of daily life.

It takes a lot to live and do the right thing without wimping out.

Everyday you’re making choices.

Everyday those choices reveal you to be either courageous or a coward.

Courageous or a coward.

We’ve been in this series for a number of weeks on “Making a Difference in our World.”

We’ve talked about Passion, we’ve talked about Integrity, we’ve talked about Commitment.

But underlying all of those is this quality of Courage.

Because it takes courage to make a difference in our world.

You can only change the world if you are a changed person.

Changed people change the world.

You can’t change the world by imitating it.

You can’t change the world by blending in.

You never change the world by going along with the flow and swimming downstream.

The bottom line is, if I want to make a difference, I must be willing to be different.

I must be willing to have people say things about me, be criticized, be questioned, be joked about.