Sermon Tone Analysis

\\ " I thank my God every time I remember you.

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.

God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be/ pure and blameless until the day of Christ,// //filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.//" (Philippians 1:3-11, NIV)*[1]*/

 

I walked into the pastoral care office at the Chalmers the other day and saw Chris.

I am not sure what he does but I see him often and we have a relationship of sorts.

There are some relationships that remain at a certain level, simply because it takes time to develop them beyond that “tipping point”.

He asked me how things were going at the church.

That’s one of those questions for which it is difficult for me to give a simple answer.

I could say “Good.”

and feel that I was telling the truth even though we have struggles, conflicts, all the sorts of things that come when human beings come together.

I could say “Good.”

and feel like I was telling the truth even though there are hopes and dreams that I hold for our church that I would like to see realized and some days they seem a long way off – even impossible.

I could say “Good.”

and feel like I was telling the truth even though there are days when I wonder what in the world God was thinking when He called me to be a preacher.

It seems to me that as I develop a greater, sharper vision of who God is and what He truly would like to do, I feel less adequate.

I just know that I am “called”.

I could say “Good.”

and feel like I was telling the truth even though we have people come and go.

Some predate me, some I predate.

I hate it when I am reminded that I am not everyone’s cup of tea or our church is not a “be all end all” as people look for the perfect church.

I could say “Good.”

and feel like I was telling the truth when I sit in midweek prayer meeting and listen to the prayers of those around me who are seeking God almost in desperation that He would be honored in every area of their lives.

I could say “Good.”

and feel like I was telling the truth even though there are days when the sermons seem flat and the music is too loud.

I could say “Good.”

and feel like I was telling the truth even though I am not satisfied, even though I would never trade this place for any other position, even though I am convinced that I am the most blessed pastor in this world.

I think that I married the most beautiful woman in the world and I think that I pastor the greatest church in the world.

I am not deluded or in denial – I am just looking through a different set of eyes than others.

So in response to his question, I simply said, “Good but we have typical struggles and challenges.”

And Chris began to tell me, it sounded almost like a sermon and a well-rehearsed one at that.

He’s not a preacher but he was communicating under an anointing.

It wasn’t that he was saying things that I had never heard before.

Cliché’s are clever phrases repeated often with little thought.

These weren’t cliché’s, . . .

there was an air of freshness about his words and an obvious authority.

I wasn’t expecting that.

Then I realized why these words were falling on me with such impact.

Chris is confined to a wheel chair.

Did you hear that?

He can’t walk.

He’s been that way since the day that I first met him approximately 9 years ago.

I forgot.

Because he doesn’t live confined or defined by his handicap.

He wasn’t in the hospital because he was sick, he was there to minister to other people.

And here I was, “Super-pastor” trying to edit my response to show that I was neither overly optimistic about my church nor discouraged.

Here’s a guy who knows very well that life rarely unfolds according to our design.

He knows that nothing is perfect, that there are always wrinkles, imperfection, handicaps.

Do you know that?

The person that you envy for what you can observe has a set of circumstances that you would never envy them for.

If you knew what those circumstances were, you’d stop envying them and find thankfulness for life as you know it.

I think that there is a life principle here.

The things that are unseen at first glance bring the greatest reality to our lives.

They are not expensive or faddish.

They are deeply embedded and they determine the way that we live, .

.

good or bad.

It is this area of our lives that is foundational to the change that the Spirit brings to us and it is the workshop where God labors to make the substantial difference.

It’s easier for us to simply try to be different on the outside.

But to go to the workshop with Him and to allow Him to engage in the lifetime project that you are is much more difficult.

What God is doing in you is what ultimately will make the greatest difference.

You are a work in process – always as long as you live and breathe.

Is He ever done – no.

Anyone who tries to tell you differently has simply left the workshop to paint the outside.

*/1.

/**/What is on the inside is what really matters/**/.

/*

 

If I am to be able to live well the inner resource must be greater than the outer demand or challenge.

I think that it is human to care more about the “outer” person.

That’s where 1st impressions come from.

It would seem in today’s world that we all are subject to what we see and if we like what we see then that is what we respond to.

Consequently the outside is what gets our attention.

We give ourselves to that part of us which serves to advance our interests more quickly.

And you know what?

It requires more energy to create and sustain a perception than it does to develop the substance.

When you and I work harder at the outside than we do the inside then we are depending on perception, we are relying on a façade to find us favor or advancement.

How hard are you working on the things that people can see compared to the work that you are putting into the things that people don’t see at first glance?

When trouble comes the façade crumbles and the substance or the lack of it is revealed.

If you really want to discover what a person is like watch them in the storms of life – pay attention to the way that they handle conflict or personal failure.

It’s pretty much impossible to fake your way through adversity and failure but totally possible to pretend that everything is peachy and that you are doing fine.

Casual exposure to a person or a church can never show you what is really there.

If you are at heart a consumer, you look for personal benefit.

You choose your friends that way.

You choose  your church that way.

If you are a contributor that’s another thing.

If you mission in life is to make a difference, for you life to enrich people and enhance circumstances then you see life through a far better lens.

You know what else, you’ll enjoy life far more.

There will be fewer frustrations and more opportunities.

It won’t be pain free.

It never is, meaningful living that is.

If you are waiting for life to work itself out perfectly before you begin to live as God would have you to live, to involve yourself in ministry, to give, then you probably never will.

If you just listened to this statement and all you hear is that another pastor is asking you to do something then I have mis-communicated or you have simply made a presumptive leap.

*/2.

/**/What I am trying to suggest is that our greatest joy and in turn our happiness comes from the living out of the passion that God has placed in every human heart./*

/"//What does the worker gain from his toil?// //I have seen the burden God has laid on men.// //He has made everything beautiful in its time.

*He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;* yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.// //I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.//

//That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.// //I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

God does it so that men will revere him.//"

(Ecclesiastes 3:9-14, NIV) *[1]*  /

 

We try to find what God has “set in our heart” – we think that this ache or hunger will be satisfied with something temporary – something that we can set our hands on.

The attempt to satisfy an eternal longing in the here and now is impossible and only leads to disillusionment and destruction.

Only God can meet the need, the longing that he has produced in us.

It comes from the likeness that we bear and is satisfied through an intimate connection with God.