Sermon Tone Analysis

Announcements:

Good morning.

Welcome to TRC.

Got a few announcements to share this morning.

River Kids - you are dismissed to go to class.

If you are new this morning, a Connect Card is a get way to let us know that.

If you fill out one of these (with as much info as you’re comfortable with), and put it in the white box in the back, we got a cool gift for you.

Connect cards are also a great way to let us know about any prayer requests.

We’d love to pray for you.

And to our “online church...” if you would like to get connected, send us a message or leave a comment.

We’d love to hear from you.

And, if it’s your first time watching, let us know.

We’d like to send you a small gift to thank you for watching.

And if you’re watching online

Also, if you’d like to take some next steps in your faith (like get baptized, join a life group, or maybe start using your talents to help out around here), this is a great way to let us know that so we can get you connected.

And if you’re wondering, don’t do anything weird with your information.

It just allows me to send you a handwritten note, thank you for visiting.

And, we will also add you to our weekly church email, which lets you know what’s going on here at TRC.

Speaking of things going on here at TRC, a lot of that is listed on the bulletin and on our website, under the events page.

If you have any questions about those things, please feel free to grab me (or any person with a green lanyard).

We’d love to help you.

Or, you can also email us at info@theriverchurchct.com

One thing I’d like to point out is next week is a special service for us!

You don’t want to miss it.

Not only are we finishing up Revelation, but we are celebrating our 3rd anniversary!

We started The River Church October 15,2016 and God has been good to us for 3 years.

We want to celebrate that together next week.

Be sure to be here.

If I can run a marathon the day before… and I’ll be here… you can be here too.

Before we gets started, Tim McKnight, who is taking over our setup/breakdown ministry, would like to say a few things...

Thank you Tim

Finally, we don’t take a tithe or offering during service, but if you’d like to give, you can put that in the white box in the back, or give online at our give page.

With that, let’s pray for the offering and this morning’s sermon.

What’s the Big Idea?

Your vision of the future impacts your decisions today.

Intro:

If you have your Bible/app, turn to .

If you need a Bible, raise you hand and we will bring one to you.

And if you don’t own Bible, please feel free to keep that as our gift to you.

If you prefer reading digitally, we recommend the YouVersion Bible App, which is free app available for most operating systems.

There will also be the verses on the screen behind me as well.

I’d like to start this morning with two situations for us to think about.

Picture yourselves in each of these circumstances...

The cell phone accident (picture yourself…):

You’re driving around town.

Your phone goes off.

You got a message.

We all know we aren’t supposed to use our phones while driving, but most of us do anyway.

Heck, you’re a pro at texting and driving.

You’ve done it a million times.

But this time is different.

As you grab your phone and look down, someone abruptly pulls out and you slam into them.

It’s bad - really bad.

You’re going to be prosecuted and go before the judge.

Even worse, you know you’re guilty.

Soon after, you find out your court date - if you will, you’re “invited” to court.

You are NOT looking forward to this future judgment … but honestly, you know you deserve it.

The wedding invitation:

Situation number 2: It’s 3:30 in the afternoon.

You’re headed out to wait for your kids at the bus stop.

You might as well stop at the mailbox.

When you open it up, there is a strangely official-looking envelope in it.

You open up and almost fall over in disbelief… it’s an invitation to the Royal Wedding.

This has to be fake.

But you contact the powers-that-be and it’s totally legit.

The Royal Family has “invited” you to their wedding.

You don’t know why.

You don’t deserve it.

But you’re going to the most extravagant wedding in the world!

All expenses paid!

You can’t wait.

It’s like Christmas morning.

You can’t wait.

You even go to sleep so time will pass faster.

These two chapters use 3 events to distinguish two groups:

Okay, which story do you want to be a part of? 1 or 2?

These two stories describe events that solicit two extremely different reactions.

One invites you into misery; the other in excitement beyond belief.

As you envision the future of one, dread overwhelms you.

The vision of the other gives you joy.

In & 20, the apostle John is shown 5 future events.

We can break these into 3 comparisons.

Each compares an event of judgment and an event of joy.

And each comparison distinguishes two different groups from one another:

Those who follow Jesus into eternal joy.

Those who follow the devil into eternal judgment.

And the intention is for us to understand this: Your vision of the future impacts your decisions for today.

When you see where you are going, you make better decisions about where you are walking.

God’s purpose is for these visions of the future to impact our decisions for today.

So, let’s jump into the text and see what God has for us today.

Heavenly transition scene: Song of Judgment vs Wedding Song: Marriage of the Lamb.

Armageddon vs Millenium.

Eternal judgement vs Eternal paradise (more next week).

Two groups:

Followers of Jesus.

Followers of Satan (I don’t need God - that’s the spirit of the devil - he started that thinking).

Exegesis:

Song of Judgment vs Wedding Song: Marriage of the Lamb (vv.

19:1-10):

This is the first half of the first comparison.

And it’s in the form of a song.