Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Conscientiousness
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Intro:
Good morning.
Welcome everyone!
Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there.
Dads, we celebrate you today!
We have special treats for you after service.
Actually, to kick off this celebration, let’s take a moment to greet one another with a good solid dad-handshake.
If anyone shakes Jonathan’s hand - watch out!
I love being a dad.
I love being a dad to three boys - that’s always exciting… and tiring.
I’m not going to lie.
I wouldn’t mind having a daughter.
Regardless, sons or daughters, I really enjoy being a dad.
The other day, I took my middle son Kade to pool party of basically all boys.
They were being wild, like most 8 year old boys.
Then, something happened that brought me back to my own childhood.
Growing up, I lived across the street from my cousins, who had a pool.
Being it was San Diego, the weather was always great for swimming, so we were always in the pool.
And one pool toy we loved to play with were these...
Now, on the surface, this doesn’t look like much fun, right?
But with a pool full of boys, what do these usually turn into?
Weapons!
Or Swords!
That’s what happened at Kade’s pool party.
A few boys found the pool noodles and war broke out.
As I was watching them fight, I remembered my own childhood pool wars.
Most of you know that I come from a martial arts background.
My Dad is a pretty well known martial artist.
If you google “George Lim,” it’s very likely his name will pop up pretty high in the search (I’m like on page 6).
My brother also has his own training dojo in San Diego.
I grew up practicing it, but ended up stopping.
That being said, for my brother and I, when it came to using pool noodles as swords, that karate background came in handy.
It gave us an edge when it came to weapons, because we had a little more experience.
For example, when I was watching Kade and his friends fight with their pool noodles, I saw this...
Pretty much the same way kids fought back in my day - except for my brother and I.
We fought with pool noodles like THIS...
You see, normally, you swing the pool noodle and there’s a delay and drag in the swing because the material used.
But what the Lim boys figured out is, if you hold the noodle like this, not only is it first a defensive weapon, but it’s also in position to strike with a faster swing.
And so my brother and I loved pool noodle wars, because we would tear people up.
It’s something that, as a good good father, I need to pass onto my sons!
Boys and their swords.
Swords are cool!
Jesus likes swords.
He’s got one.
In fact, as we continue in our series through Revelation titled “Ready,” we find Jesus writing to the church of Pergamum saying...
And Peragmum, being a Roman city would’ve got that.
Rome was the current ruler of the empire.
They were the super-power of the world and the way they established and maintained that rule was through the sword.
When Rome showed up with swords, people paid attention.
Jesus is giving them the same picture here - only to a greater extent.
He’s saying, “I’m the One with world-crushing sword.”
Exegesis:
A sword is symbol of strength, power, and authority.
And as Jesus begins his letter to the church at Pergamum, He says, “Hey man, the One who is writing to you is the One with the big stinkin sword.
Better pay attention.”
That’s what they would’ve heard.
Pergamum, being a Roman city would’ve got that.
Rome was the super-power of the world and the way they established and maintained that rule was through the sword.
When Rome showed up with swords, people paid attention.
Jesus is paints the same picture - only to a greater extent.
He’s saying, “I’m the One with world-crushing sword.
Pay attention to Me.”
Side Note: Just in case you’re a dude who is not into swords.
Or maybe even for some of the ladies (although ladies can like swords too - Rae from the new Star Wars is pretty good with her light saber) - I don’t want to leave you out.
So, I’ll mention this:
Pergamum was about swords, but it was also famous for paper.
In fact, the word, “parchment” came from the type of paper they made there.
It was like the ancient Dunder Mifflin.
Furthermore, with all that paper, it had a library of 200,000 volumes!
Okay --- that’s for all the anti-sword peeps this morning!
Anyways, Jesus had a big sword and this is what Jesus had to say...
Rev 2:
Jesus says, “I see you.”
I know what’s going on in your life.
Like the church Smyrna, who we talked about last week, Pergamum was faithful unto death.
While it is possible that persecution resulting in death had not begun in Smyrna yet, it DEFINITELY had begun in Pergamum.
Jesus even calls out a martyr by name: Antipas, His faithful witness.
Isn’t that cool that Jesus says, “MY faithful witness.”
That Jesus says, “Antipas is mine.
I love Him.”
The Pergamum church was full of Christians like Antipas.
Christians unwilling to deny Jesus even when they, or their friends, were dying for their faith.
And the reason they are dying is because Pergamum was essentially Satan’s hometown.
He went to Pergamum Elementary, Pergamum Middle, and Pergamum High.
And apparently Satan was still living in his hometown - Pergamum was the place where Satan dwelt!
And all this talk about Satan’s throne, and his dwelling place, likely spoke symbolically of the emperor worship happening there.
Last week I mentioned Smyrna was a religious center for emperor worship… well, Pergamum was THE center of emperor worship!
And just like we saw happening to the church in Smyrna, when the faithful church of Pergamum wouldn’t worship the emperor, they faced the consequence of death.
Yet, that didn’t matter.
They remained faithful to the name of Jesus!
And on this Father’s Day, I think this has a special way of connecting with us men.
It connects with all of us (men and women), but like swords, there something God has put deep inside men that responds to a call for courage in battle.
I think about movies...
Braveheart - Not only are there swords (and axes and arrows), but when William Wallace stands up to England, it inspires as men!
Remember the Titans - I love the scene where the Titans are getting beat by the other team (with a little help from the refs)!
Then Coach Yoast, the defensive coordinator, brings the boys together and calls for them to make a stand!
He says, “I don’t want them to gain another yard.
You blitz all night!
If they cross the line of scrimmage I’m taking every last one of you out!
You make sure they remember - FOREVER - the night they played the Titans.”
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