Sermon Tone Analysis

I Believe, Help My Unbelief

Mark 9:23–24; James 2:14–24; Luke 7:18-30 ; Luke 12:16–21; John 15:11-17

How Do You Believe?

Your belief System stems from your Faith.

What does Faith mean to you?

If Faith is a desire

then your faith is like recreational gambling - you dream about what you would do if you win the jackpot, and you wager a very small amount of your resources on the off chance you actually do win.

If Faith is an entitlement

then your faith is like a gambling addiction - you are so convinced you will win the jackpot, you are willing to sacrifice everything, despite every evidence to the contrary.

If Faith is a promise

then your faith has nothing to do with what you do, but lays solely in the hands of the one making the promise - if you truly believe, your actions are preparatory, as you invest your time and resources to receive what has been guaranteed.

If Your parents told you they were taking you to Disneyland tomorrow, would you pack tonight?

Faith is not merely hoping something is going to happen, faith requires an action.

How does your faith line up when dealing with God’s promises and desires?

We don’t have a problem with faith when dealing with our own desires…even when they are contrary to God’s Will in our lives.

Who Do You Believe?

And when all the people heard Him, even the tax collectors justified God, having been baptized with the baptism of John.

But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.

(29-30)

Do your actions follow your own desires?

Faith in Man

Do your actions follow God’s Desire for you?

Faith in God

But you say, I need more faith!

” And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”

So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

” (5-6)

Live What You Believe

If we call ourselves Christians, then we must first do what God has asked us to do.

Faith must be lived out in us, in all we say and do.

But what is it we are called to do?

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full… This I command you, that you love one another."

(11, 17)

But what if I mess up?

You are an imperfect and fallen soul in an imperfect and fallen world.

Failing God is our nature.

The very fact you are aware of your failings shows how God is working in you and through you.

Our weaknesses and failings are evidence of how much we need God.

Being aware of our weaknesses and failings should provoke us to seek God more.