Sermon Tone Analysis

*/Church Life series - Living Through Calamities /*

Job 1:21

Secular:

*  The question isn’t will we face calamity, tribulation, illness, loss, hurt… pain…

* The question is how will we deal with it WHEN it comes

* There will be mass killings

* There will be hurricanes

* People will continue to get sick and die…

* We live right next to a fault line… it will… in time… give way…

* Are we ready…

* Is it best to take a first aid course… while your child’s face goes from pink, to red, to purple, as they choke helplessly on a small toy…

* Learn CPR while leaning over a lifeless body…

* Head out to the car to go buy a fire extinguisher while your kitchen is consumed in flames?

* It is better to be prepared… our hearts and minds before calamity strikes….

At least before it strikes again.

Listen to Job in the midst of great trial  

* *

Biblical:

Job 1:21 He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there.

The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the LORD."

Personal:

*   I have said before… I have never seen a u-haul trailer behind a hearse

* Eventually all we have WILL be taken away… period… Boats, cars, pets, family…

*  Loved ones die…

* Our  health fails… rapidly in an accident… or prolonged in an illness

* What are we standing on…

* Or do we just cling… another possession…?

Bridge:

* Worry, fear, anxiety are based on our need to have the future unfold our way… Truly God NEVER promises that and that is actually an affront to his sovereign pleasure.

*  Thy will be done…

* We can be compassionate, strategic, concerned without falling  into the trap…

* You see ultimately all things work to the glory of God….

Even the stuff we don’t like or want.

* God sits in sovereign control and not only foreknows the future….

He predestined… foreordained it!

* *STEADFAST IN CHRIST*

* *GIVING GLORY TO THE FATHER*

 

Body:

1. Ask for wisdom… Be a fountain of life!

* Chicken little… pessimist… do they really see the glory of God unfolding?

NAU James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

*  Dependence on the depth of God

*  Right words… spirit enlivened… spirit empowered

* Give the best…

NAU Deuteronomy 32:2 "Let my teaching drop as the rain, My speech distill as the dew, As the droplets on the fresh grass And as the showers on the herb.

* Words are strength, rejuvenating, revitalizing

*  Pure…

NAU Proverbs 13:14 The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, To turn aside from the snares of death.

* Best help and love

*  Value…

*/Ask for wisdom… Be a fountain of life!/*

 

2.

Feel and express empathy… weep with those who weep.

* Listen, absorb… empathize… walk in their shoes… just cause it is foreordained suffering doesn’t diminish its reality

NAU Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is an appointed time for everything.

And there is a time for every event under heaven--

* Be ready… warm heart… sensitive…

* Don’t let society form calluses

NAU Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

* The time WILL come… not if when!

* We need to come alongside… alone is not helpful

* Don’t trivialize…

 

NAU Romans 12:15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

* Close enough to share…

*  Active in lives…

*/Feel and express empathy… weep with those who weep./*

 

3.

Feel and express compassion… loss is personal in its magnitude.

* Compassion is love and grace poured out… even beyond our comprehension of the event.

It is a dislike for human suffering… a passion dislike!

NAU John 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her /also /weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, "Where have you laid him?"

They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept.

* Jesus was going to raise Lazarus… wasn’t about hope it was about compassion…

*  Loss is personal… not just physical impact…

NAU Luke 19:41 When He approached /Jerusalem/, He saw the city and wept over it, 42 saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace!

But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

43 "For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, 44 and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."

* Weep for them… show genuine compassion

* See what has befallen them…

* See how it impacts *them*!

* Care for them as they feel… not just as you would feel…

*/Feel and express compassion… loss is personal in its magnitude./*

4. Take time to touch… minister to the wounded body and soul.

* Love is intimate

NAU Matthew 8:14 When Jesus came into Peter's home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever.

15 He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him.

* Did he have to touch?

* Lots of healing in the touch…

* Be appropriate… but be close…

NAU Mark 1:40 And a leper came to Jesus, beseeching Him and falling on his knees before Him, and saying, "If You are willing, You can make me clean."

41 Moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, "I am willing; be cleansed."

* Touched the untouchable

* Hold… touch…

* It ain’t that scary…but it sure is comforting

* Reach out…

* Research… Untouched babies…had to stop…

* The effect was profound…

* Touching takes time

*/Take time to touch… minister to the wounded body and soul./*

 

5.

Offer God’s promise to heal and sustain… trust in God’s capacity.

* If you don’t believe… you have nothing to offer… “BOB”