Sermon Tone Analysis
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TEXT Philippians 4:14-23
OPEN:
IS THIS THE SEASON OF YOUR DISCONTENT?
In light of last week’s text on the secret of contentment...
(Tie back to contentment:)
In 1989, 14 year-old Jason Lehman composed this poem.
It was spring, but it was summer I wanted,
The warm days, and the great outdoors.
It was summer, but it was fall I wanted,
The colorful leaves, and the cool, dry air.
It was fall, but it was winter I wanted,
The beautiful snow, and the joy of the holiday season.
It was winter, but it was spring I wanted,
The warmth and the blossoming of nature.
I was a child, but it was adulthood I wanted,
The freedom and respect.
I was 20, but it was 30 I wanted,
To be mature, and sophisticated.
I was middle-aged, but it was 20 I wanted,
The youth and the free spirit.
I was retired, but it was middle-age I wanted,
The presence of mind without limitations.
My life was over, and I never got what I wanted.
Is this the season of our discontent.
If you find yourself in that mode…I hope that you will talk with me after service…you need to learn the secret of contentment that Pastor Norman preached about last week…You can do all things through Christ!
TRANSITION
If you were going to end on a high note...would you talk about money?...at CHURCH?
INTRODUCTION:
Paul wraps up this incredible joy-laced letter with a modern-day taboo...money.
However, it's clear that you cannot separate worship from community/partnership or sacrificial giving without undermining JOY!
Summary:
V14-16 Our PARTNERSHIP
Even though
suffering is my lot
I know Christ is enough
I can glorify God whether I’m abounding or abased
YOU WERE KIND - YOUR ACT WAS KIND
you shared/partnered with me in my trouble
But you’ve done this since the beginning…for more than 10 years now.
They were expanding the principle in practice that Paul would later help Timothy with in 1 Timothy 5:17–18
Even though Paul wasn’t their preacher/teaching Elder, he had a special place in their heart and life of their ministry as the Apostle who had established the work by the Lord.
This worshiping family of believers…was a partnering family of believers.
You cannot really separate PARTNERSHIP from Giving.
Paul shows us here the inseparable relationship between financial giving and gospel partnership.
If you aren’t giving, you aren’t a partner.
You’re more like a consumer or a customer.
But Paul doesn’t view the Philippians as customers.
He views them as co-laborers.
They put skin in the game.
Even though many of them weren’t wealthy, they earned a reputation for giving sacrificially, generously, and cheerfully to support the mission (2 Cor 8–9).
Merida, Tony.
Exalting Jesus in Philippians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p.
193).
B&H Publishing Group.
Kindle Edition.
v17 - My PERSPECTIVE Not this…but that
This is not about me getting your money/gift.
I love seeing your fruitfulness in God’s work.
Many of us have a strange perspective about money and giving.
It’s possible that someone would enter a regular church gathering where an offering is taken - in a 1 hour service, money would be discussed for 2-3 minutes - that person would then leave the church and say, “they talked so much about money!”
While that seems ridiculous, it tells us more about that individual than it does the church.
Jesus dealt with this in a beautiful way with devastating consequences with the rich young ruler in Luke 18. Jesus hit on the one thing this Moralistic Deist didn’t want him to touch…his wealth.
Over the course of time, as we faithfully preach and teach through the Scriptures, your pastor will come to a passage that seems to zero in on your particular struggle.
It could be the mention of it in passing, the examination of it in the text, or the excavation of it by the Spirit in the moment of the gathering.
Whatever the case, you get to choose how you will respond - will I turn and run, or TRUST AND OBEY - for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.
By the way, note Paul isn’t after the money - he wants to see them grow!
I’m not after your money or your time or your energy as expendable labor in ministry-building efforts!
NO, I love seeing the LORD increase in your lives as we decrease and look less and less like the consumer-driven, greedy hoarders who are absorbed with self.
This partnering family was a GIVING family.
v18 - Your SACRIFICE out of LOVE
I received what you sent - it was more than enough.
Why do I love seeing it?
What you sent glorified God!
Like a fragrant offering
Like an acceptable and pleasing offering
What scents attract you?
I’m attracted to the smell of a grill, French press coffee, and of course the sweet scent of my bride’s perfume!
Sacrificial obedience is a pleasing aroma to God.
Paul drops the financial metaphor and moves to Old Testament imagery.
He uses the language of the sacrifice of worship.
Just as the Old Testament sacrifices made a pleasing aroma that would ascend skyward, Paul says sacrificial giving pleases God.
Indeed, Paul places the highest possible value on giving—a means of worshiping God.
Merida, Tony.
Exalting Jesus in Philippians (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary) (p.
195).
B&H Publishing Group.
Kindle Edition.
NOTE: There is a distinction here between generous giving and sacrificial giving.
Years ago in the late 90s, Joan Kroc - the wife of the late Ray Kroc (of McDonalds) was moved in her benevolence to make an $80million contribution to the Salvation Army to build a community center (which is not something they were in the business of) in a desperately needy community in San Diego.
$80million - what generosity!
While I don’t want to take anything away from that incredible gift…it was reported at the time that her net worth was near $1billion.
The gift is laudably generous, remarkable in its size and measurable in its impact.
But it may not qualify as sacrificial.
Walk with me to the temple as Jesus is ministering in the outer court (Luke 21, and Mark 12:41-44)
v19 - God’s SUPPLY on Display
Your Sacrifice will result in your supply
God will supply your need in ways you cannot imagine when you sacrificially give to His work
His riches in Christ are on display when His people sacrificially give
Paul would instruct the Corinthians in this way regarding their giving:
“A man there was, and they called him mad; the more he gave, the more he had.”
-John Bunyan
The verse does not say, “And my God shall supply ever GREED...”
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