Sermon Tone Analysis

Keep Your Head in the Game

Introduction

It is always a joy to go and see our youngest son play ball!

We were able to attend family weekend at Midwestern State the other weekend.

Watching Caleb play is sometimes watching intensity at its highest peak when the game is on the line.

Something can happen that causes Caleb to lose focus, I think, sometimes.

My word to him, if he could hear me, would be…Get Your Head in the Game!

Origin: This is a sports idiom, but of course you can use it outside of sports.

If you are playing a basketball game, don't think about school, or cute girls/boys, or dinner.

If you do, your body is in the game, but your mind (your head) is somewhere else.

I. Don’t Allow Dead Things to Keep You from Living (1-4)

Life can be full of distractions.

We are in a season where we cannot allow nonessential and unimportant things distract us from what God has intended for us.

Things and people can be a distraction to us.

God has a great task for us.

God is holding us responsible to move the church from here to there.

God is holding us responsible to move the church from now to later.

How many of you are willing to used by God to move the church forward!

How many of you are willing to say “If the Lord needs somebody, here am I?” How many of you are willing to say for God I’ll live, and for God I’ll die!

How many of you are willing to say, “I’ll go if I have to go by myself!” “I’ll sing, if I have to sing by myself!” “I’ll pray, if I pray by myself!”

I want to share a few things that will hopefully help you GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME, AND KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME!

I. Don’t Allow Dead Things to Keep You from Living (1-4)

You wouldn’t think that dead stuff would distract you!

I say this because if something is dead, it has no life!

But, the truth of the matter is this…we can give life to dead stuff!

Give attention to the nonessential things in life.

Give credence to the unimportant things in life.

Let’s dive into the text....

v.1 - Moses’ death was an important event in the life of the new nation of Israel.

He is the towering figure who casts his shadow not only across the entire corpus of Exodus-Deuteronomy, but also across the Book of Joshua and later Scriptures.

Deuteronomy ends by affirming,

Moses’ death was an important event in the life of the new nation of Israel.

He is the towering figure who casts his shadow not only across the entire corpus of Exodus-Deuteronomy, but also across the Book of Joshua and later Scriptures.

Deuteronomy ends by affirming,

“Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.

For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel” ().

Moses’ death should not cripple the nation.

v. 2 - “...Moses’ death should not cripple the nation.”

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.

For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel ().1

v. 3-4 - There’s a lot of ground to cover!

There are many blessings in store for you!

But if you stay in one place, you will never experience those blessings.

Don’t allow failure to hinder, nor stop you.

v. 4 - GO GET YOUR BLESSING(S)!!!

Wilderness - Land that is basically wild, nonarable, and sparsely inhabited or unfit for permanent settlement.

It may be desert, mountains, forest, or marsh.

Land that is basically wild, nonarable, and sparsely inhabited or unfit for permanent settlement.

It may be desert, mountains, forest, or marsh.

In the Near East the wilderness is characteristically dry, desolate, and mostly rock and sand.

It is rough, uneven, and interlaced with dry watercourses.

The wilderness is not completely barren but provides seasonal pasture for flocks, depending on the former and latter rains.

Lebanon - Mountains (referred to simply as “[the] Lebanon” or occasionally “Mt.

Lebanon” in the OT []) rise to an elevation of more than 10,000 ft...

Mountains (referred to simply as “[the] Lebanon” or occasionally “Mt.

Lebanon” in the OT []) rise to an elevation of more than 10,000 ft

Euphrates River - Largest river in western Asia

Largest river in western Asia

Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel.

“Euphrates River.”

Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988 : 729.

Print.

Smith, Robert Houston.

“Lebanon.”

Ed.

David Noel Freedman.

The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary 1992 : 269.

Print.

Elwell, Walter A., and Barry J. Beitzel.

“Wilderness.”

Baker encyclopedia of the Bible 1988 : 2141.

Print.

Howard, David M., Jr. Joshua.

Vol. 5. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998.

Print.

The New American Commentary.

II.

God is as Much God Now (in the Present) as He was Then (in the Past) (5)

II.

God is as Much God Now (in the Present) as He was Then (in the Past) (5)

II.

God is as Much God Now (in the Present) as He was Then (in the Past) (5)

v. 5 - “All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you.

In the same way I was with Moses, I’ll be with you.

I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you.”

All your life, no one will be able to hold out against you.

In the same way I was with Moses, I’ll be with you.

I won’t give up on you; I won’t leave you.

Peterson, Eugene H.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language.

Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005.

Print.

God’s promises are true!

HIs protection

His presence

His provision

His patience

God is Immutable (unchanging over time)

III.

The Word of God will Give You the Courage You Need to Win Every Game/Battle (6-9)