Sermon Tone Analysis

January 28, 2007

*/The Life You’ve Always Wanted/*

*Part 4: A life without regrets: the practice of reflection*

 

/Introduction: /If we don’t learn from our mistakes and sins, we are doomed to repeat them.

Transformation requires reflection.

Psalm 139:1-4, 23-24

           

 

 

1.

___________________________________________________: a daily review.

1 Samuel 12:24, Psalm 119:59, 143:5, Jeremiah 2:23

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

_______________________________________________: for God’s goodness.

Psalm 136, Luke 17:11-19, Philippians 1:3

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.

__________________________________________________: admit your sins.

Psalm 32:1-5, Proverbs 28:13, 2 Corinthians 7:8-11, James 5:16, 1 John 1:9

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.

_____________________: write down what God has said and you have learned.

Exodus 17:14, Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Isaiah 30:8, Jeremiah 30:2

 

 

 

         

January 28, 2007

*/The Life You’ve Always Wanted/*

*Part 4: A life without regrets: the practice of reflection*

 

*/Opening:/*

*ILL**:* How many of you have ever watched the TV series, “The Sopranos”?

Thank you for confessing that—we’ll have prayer for you after the service!

“The Sopranos” is a very popular HBO series about modern day gangsters.

What is the secret of the show’s phenomenal success?

James Gandolfini, who plays New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano, says, "We show people sometimes being at their worst and regretting it.

And people identify with that because we've all had times when we were at our worst."

We’ve all had times when we were at our worst.

That’s true isn’t it?

It’s true for me.

And I have regrets about those times.

I don’t know that it’s possible to live a life with no regrets—that would be a life with no mistakes, never being at your worst.

But I think it’s possible to reduce our regrets by reducing our mistakes, and that happens when we take time to reflect on our life and learn from our mistakes.

That’s what we’re talking about today.

A life without regrets: the practice of reflection.

*/Offering and announcements:/*

          Life Groups

 

*/Introduction:/*/ /

This series, /The Life You’ve Always Wanted/, is about life transformation through spiritual disciplines.

How many of you are perfect?

All the rest of us need to keep growing; we need to be transformed; we need to change.

We change not by trying harder, but by training, by using some time-tested practices that help us connect with God.

And when we connect with God, we change.

So far we’ve talked about the practice of slowing to have an unhurried life, the practice of Scripture to have an equipped life, and the practice of prayer to have a life with God.

Today, the practice of reflection to have a life without regrets.

Have you heard this proverb?

“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to…repeat it.”

That is true personally too.

If we don’t learn from our mistakes and sins we tend to repeat them.

Spiritual growth and change requires reflection: time for self-examination.

Let’s begin with a famous prayer from the Bible /(read together)/.

\\ *Psalm 139:23-24 *Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.

*24 *See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Search me, O God.  That’s a scary prayer!

Have you ever done anything you’d rather hide from God?  Have you thought anything that you’d rather He didn’t know?

Is there anything in your life you’d like to cover up?

Then the “search me” prayer can be a little intimidating…until you realize one important thing.

/God already knows!/

God is not searching you so He can know what’s in you—He’s searching you so /you can know what’s in you and change./

Let’s go back to the start of that psalm.

*Psalm 139:1-4 *O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.

*2 *You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

*3 *You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

*4 *Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.

The psalm ends with the “search me” prayer, but it starts with the truth that God has already searched me and knows me.

He knows everything about me: when I sit down or stand up, when I come and go, every thought I think and every word I say—even before I say it!

God knows me inside and out, better than I know myself! 

*Hebrews 4:13 *Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.

Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Nothing is hidden from God.

He already knows.

So when you pray the “search me” prayer, you are really asking God /to let you know/ what He already knows.

I’m not inviting God to know me (He already does); I’m inviting God /to help me know me/!

So this is our prayer today: search me, O God.  I’m going to give you four ideas about self-examination.

And then, at the end of this talk, we’re going to take a few minutes and do it; I’ll guide you through a time of reflection.

*1.

Reflect: a daily review.*

This is a very simple idea: take some time each day to reflect on your life.

Do a daily review.

This is an ancient tradition known as “the examen of consciousness.”

This involves taking a few moments to reflect on the events of the day, looking at our life through two lenses: what we did and what God did.

First, think of what you did today, activities and interactions with people, and ask God what you need to learn.

Sometimes I simply start at the beginning of the day and do a quick review.

Other times, a particular encounter or event stands out and I’ll think about that.

*ILL**:* For example, we’ve been working with a detective who is investigating my son’s death.

Jeff died from an accidental overdose of a prescription medication…one that he didn’t have a prescription for.

He bought it illegally.

I can’t say much because of the investigation, but these conversations with the detective have stirred all kinds of emotions in me: anger, frustration, a desire for justice, a desire for revenge, discouragement, disappointment, and sadness.

When I take time to pray and reflect, God helps me sort them all out.

As I reflect on courses of action that I could take, I realize that what I want to do and what God wants me to do are often polar opposites.

I was telling Laina that sometimes I want revenge.

However as I prayed and thought about this, I realized God wants forgiveness.

He brought Matthew 5 to my mind: love your enemies, pray for them, do good to them, and bless them.

I’m trying to understand what that looks like for me in this situation.

I’m learning as I reflect, and I’m avoiding some regret.

*Psalm 119:59 *I have considered my ways and have turned my steps to your statutes.

There’s some good advice: consider your ways, reflect on what you’ve done, and then turn your steps to God’s way.

Self-examination will help you learn from your experiences…and change and grow.

Reflection starts with a simple inventory of our day: we look through the lens of what we did, what happened.

But then we go a step deeper and look through the lens of what God did.

*Psalm 143:5 *I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done.

The psalmist says he meditates on God’s works and considers what God has done.

As we reflect on the events of our day, we look for God’s work.

Where has God been working in my life today?