Sermon Tone Analysis
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Welcome
Good Morning!
I’m Pastor Wayne and I’d like to welcome you all to the gathering of Ephesus Baptist Church.
Why did you choose to gather today?
We believe we are a called and forgiven people!
Called to worship and exalt our God among the nations in order that His glory may be spread over all the earth!
If you are visiting with us this morning, we want you to know that ...
We are all one family of faith: “giving our all to love God, love people, proclaim Jesus, and make disciples in our generation.”
We have a connect card in the pew in front of you.
I invite you to take one and fill it out!
If you have prayer needs, you can let us know about those as well.
I promise, our prayer team will lift you up soon.
You can place those cards in the offering plate when it comes around.
Scripture Memory
Opening Scripture Reading
Introduction
As a young boy growing up in the early 1980’s, I was privileged to grow up at a time with some of the greatest all time movies, music, and television shows.
One of my all time favorite television shows was the A-Team.
It was a show that revolved around four main characters,
Colonel John “Hannibal” Smith, a master of disguise and his catchphrase was “I love it when a plan comes together!”
He was the strategist and leader of the A-Team.
Lieutenant Templeton “Faceman” Peck, a master of the persuasive arts.
He was the A-Team’s resource man.
He could get them virtually anything they needed.
He was a bit of a con man with integrity.
One of his teammates once said that “He would rip the shirt off his back for you, and then scam one for himself.”
Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock, an able pilot who could fly virtually any aircraft with considerable skill.
However, due to a helicopter crash in Vietnam, Murdock apparently went insane.
Sergeant First Class Bosco "B.A.", or "Bad Attitude", Baracus.
B.A. was the A-Team’s primary muscle and the team’s mechanic.
He wore about 50 pounds of gold necklaces, rings on every finger, and a weightlifting belt, while sporting one mean Mohawk.
His main weakness was flying, especially with Murdock at the helm.
These four characters made up the A-Team.
The opening monologue of the show went like this!
“In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit.
These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground.
Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune.
If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them....maybe you can hire The A-Team.”
The A-Team was essentially a bunch of do-gooders with guns and strategic know how.
In every episode, Hannibal and crew risked everything to help the downtrodden and the oppressed.
Now, you would thank that a group of men doing what that were doing would be welcomed anywhere as heroes.
But in every episode they were constantly under attack by their enemies or under pursuit by their government.
Every episode they were prepared for that reality.
Every episode they were equipped for the task ahead of them.
Every episode they had confidence in themselves to see the plan come together!
Growing up these guys were my heroes!
They were prepared, equipped, and confident!
Jesus Christ said,
Are you prepared for that?
He also warned His disciples,
Are you equipped for that?
Matthew’s Gospel adds that, “tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word” (Matthew 13:21).
Will confidence comfort you in the midst of that?
Throughout His ministry on earth, our Lord was mocked by the so-called religious.
When Jairus came to Jesus to seek healing for his dying daughter, Scripture says they laughed at Him!
The chief priests mocked Him, Herod mocked Him, and eventually the soldiers at Golgotha mocked Him.
The early Church was ridiculed at Pentecost, and Jerusalem despised the Apostles and accused them by saying, “They are full of sweet wine” (Acts 2:13).
On the very day the Spirit descended, the Apostles were accused of being drunk.
As church history pressed on, Hebrews 11 tells us that many believers endured cruel mocking and even martyrdom.
Are you ready for that?
Paul wrote these words to Timothy,
Later he personally admitted,
Can your faith withstand that?
For one hundred years, the Jews had grown accustomed to broken-down walls.
They had chosen the comfort of mediocrity rather than brave storm of restoration and revitalization.
But now, a man has arrived with a plan of faith.
He has counted the cost and knows exactly what to expect.
He is prepared to turn this rag-tag bunch into a crack commando unit for God’s glory!
Remember that the city of Jerusalem was the seat of God’s glory, it was the center of God’s earthly purpose.
If Nehemiah restores the city it would be a terrible blow to the enemies of God’s purpose and His people.
Likewise, when a church that is in decline and stagnation is revitalized for God’s glory it becomes a terrible blow to the enemy.
It hasn’t taken long since Nehemiah’s arrival in Jerusalem for the wolves of adversity to begin to howl.
A battle is brewing; a war of great measure is about to begin.
Behind every work of God there is opposition and behind that opposition is the chief opponent of God.
The enemy, the reviler, the slanderer, the hater of God has arrived.
Whether or not Nehemiah knew it, the adversary had moved his primary base of operations just outside the city of Jerusalem.
The real theme of Nehemiah 4-6 is spiritual warfare.
Nehemiah’s real opponent, lurking behind his human opponents, was Satan, whose name means adversary.
In describing his conflicts, Nehemiah focuses on three primary enemies: Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem, whom I have affectionately called “the three stooges.”
From his arrival in Jerusalem, these stooges of the evil one have been angered by his presence.
Remember what Nehemiah said about them in 2:10?
When we get to chapter 4, Nehemiah and the Israelites are busy restoring the City of God’s walls.
The people were ready to work hard for God.
Now the devil wants to stop any work for God.
And when God’s people say, “Let us arise and build,” all the hosts of hell say, “Let us arise and stop them.”
One of his chief tools in stopping God’s people is ridicule.
Ridicule is one of the hardest things God’s people will ever face.
1. God’s A-Team will face ridicule.
Adrian Rogers famously asked, “Did you know that there are men who can face a den of lions, who will fall and wither under ridicule?”
I’ve been laughed at, mocked, and ridiculed many times for being a Christian.
When I was in college, I had professors and classmates that thought my faith was ridiculous in the face of science.
They ragged me often about my faith.
That carried over in my early career as a Pharmaceutical Chemist.
Coworkers would openly blaspheme God and say terrible things about the Bible just to get a rise out of me.
All of these things were just ridicule.
I want to tell you something folks: I love the Lord, but it was hard to take, day after day.
What a powerful weapon ridicule is!
And I’m going to tell you something else: Any true Christian is going to face some ridicule.
And if you’re not facing ridicule, don’t get too proud.
The servant’s not better than his master.
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