Sermon Tone Analysis

Romanst 10:17

NKJV

“So then faith comes by hearing,

and hearing by the word of God.”

The surest path for God’s truth to travel from your head to your heart is through your ears.

The surest path

for God’s

truth

to travel from your head to your heart

is through your ears.

NIV

“The power of life and death is in the tongue…”

TPT

“…be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think.”

you think.”

Three Guiding Truths:

1.

I believe what God says about himself

2. I believe what God says about me

3. I believe what God says about mercy, faith and grace

Spoken truths impact every aspect of our lives.

And so do lies…

Spoken words create!

Things we think and say out loud have the power to change us or keep us in the same spiritual place.

OUT LOUD WORDS about us or God build a foundation that an entire life builds upon.

THESE VERSES FROM THE MESSAGE BIBLE:

Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit – you choose.

You’ll be changed from the inside out.

(Faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the word of GOD)

The point is: Before you trust, you have to listen.

So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed.

They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them.

Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.

1.

I BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT HIMSELF

Abba Father, teach us, show us who you are.

With your help we will allow you to be the ultimate authority on our understanding of your identity.

Who you think, believe and say God is determines the essence of your relationship with him and your relationship with others.

Our heart idea of God is the most powerful concept impacting our lives.

It is shaped by many things, including what we have been taught by others, our relationship with our earthly father (and other people), our misinterpretation of scripture, our misinterpretation of bad circumstances in our lives, and the ideas we ourselves have formed from lies repeated by Satan and ourselves.

You cannot know God just from reading the bible, although it is the only trustworthy place we can start.

Knowing God requires a relationship.

Understanding and believing who God really is allows us to enter into (or deepen) a trusting, growing relationship with him.

Let us now agree to take God at his word, to start believing who HE says he is.

Starting with scripture, we set aside our preconceived ideas and pursue a heart change based on his words and his truths.

By stating what God says about God, out loud and often, we can change how we understand him.

KEY VERSE:

Yahweh!

The LORD!

The God of compassion and mercy!

I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

Are you like me? Creating a God in the image of my experiences and my understanding without input from God himself?

How have your thoughts, feelings and understanding of God NOT lined up with this verse?

Have you judged him to be unmerciful?

Angry?

Distant?

OUT LOUD: Choosing HIS words to change OUR minds.

But You, O LORD, are a God full of compassion and graciousness, longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.

The LORD, your God, is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.

The LORD is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness.

Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

Where can I go from your spirit?

If I go up to the heavens you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory.

Do not fear, for I have ransomed you.

I have called you by name; you are mine.

But even if mothers forget, I’d never forget you – never.

Look, I’ve written your names on the palms of my hands.

He heals up the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

He determines the number of the stars and given to all of them their names.

Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh.

Is anything too hard for me?

Can a woman forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?

But even if that were possible, I would not forget you!

Oh, the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways!

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage?

He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in mercy.

Exercise: Do you spend time in God’s lap?

If not, would you like to? Picture yourself boldly approaching the throne of heaven as a little child, climbing into his lap, placing your head on his chest.

What would He say to you? Ask Holy Spirit to tell you the very words you would hear.

2. I BELIEVE WHAT GOD SAYS ABOUT ME

Father, I need your help to see myself through your eyes and your heart.

Help me to change my reflection to what you see.

Our identity drives everything we believe and everything we do.

If we fail to know who we are, and WHOSE we are, then all facets of our life will be a mess.

Our goal today is to swap out whatever lies we have believed about ourselves for the truths of God.

His truths are based on the fact that we are valuable and loved simply because we were created by him and he treasures us.

The all-powerful and all-knowing God gets to determine our worth, not us and especially, not others.

Others may base our identity on what we do or don’t do.

God bases our identity on our connection to him.

Give your identity over to the one who knows you intimately and loves you beyond human measurement.

Decide today that you will only believe what HE says.

You must make a conscious, bold, sword in the sand decision before the truth will become at home in your heart.