Sermon Tone Analysis

Dinosaurs a tree without a root.

There's an English proverb that says, he has no fools names or beggars in his family has begun.

Has was be God by a flash of lightning.

over the years, I've had a great opportunity of looking into my personal past and ancestors family and you know I've done a lot of research looking back in and found out actually a lot of information about the clan, the Johnston Clan and actually our clan was was actually Johnstone the begin with and it was Went away.

Are you don't get to see the family crest and all of that?

That's a bummer.

Hopefully that comes back on.

But Johnstone plan is a Scottish Clan and and I thought about wearing the Scottish kilt up here with the Scottish flatten, my Johnston plaid and all of that but I'm going to be killed.

So wish my wife was very grateful for our clan was one of those.

And we were known for being Fierce and ruthless and a very powerful Clan and it's kind of fun to look back in and see where your family has is come from.

And what what was happened and so forth is exciting.

My son Joseph is learning to play the bagpipes and he's actually really good.

It's actually enjoyable but fun as he's done, so he's also looked into more of that that history of our family and it goes way back.

And, you know, we've we've discovered some several things.

Actually discovered our rediscovered, our family motto.

Johnstone, the family motto is never not prepared.

That's a cool model, isn't it?

I I like that model but evidently Living On the Border Lands of Scotland.

That was a model.

They had to live or die by and in.

So that's our family model but it's interesting as I look back throughout our history, I have discovered some some interesting characters.

We'll leave it at that.

Some prominent individuals and you know what else I discovered As I look back, I discovered that I come from a long, long line.

Of dead people.

I do I come from a long line of of dead people.

And the reason for that is because as I look back and in, as we look back in any of our family trees, we discovered that our family trees are rooted.

Incent.

And because our, our family trees, you and I, because we're a rooted in that, that the root of sin, where we discover that death is prominent in our family.

And it goes all the way back.

And we've been looking at at the beginnings of all of this.

Again, looking at them, even though the entry of sin and the consequences of sin.

But it goes all the way back to that first generation, Adam and Eve.

You know as they began their family that that second generation we sin we see send lives out to the fullest scripture record for us, The Narrative of those first two that were born, their names are Cain and Abel.

I'd encourage you.

If you have a copy of God's word with you today to turn to Genesis chapter 4, I'm not going to read the whole chapter but I want to read this narrative for you.

Hopefully you've already read it and this is just a refresher Genesis chapter 4. Beginning of first one says, now the man had relations with his wife and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.

And she said, I have gotten a man child with the help of the Lord.

Again, she gave birth to a son or to his brother Abel and Abel was a keeper of the floss.

But King was a tiller of the ground.

So I came about in the course of time.

The king brought an offering to the lord of the fruits of the Evil on his part.

Also, brought the first name of a flop and of the fat portion and the Lord has regard for Abel and for his offering.

But for me, and for his offering, he had no regard.

So came became very angry and his countenance till then the Lord said to Cain.

Why are you angry?

Why is your countenance Fallen, if you do well, Will not your countenance, be lifted up.

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door and its desire is for you.

But you must Master, it came told Abel, his brother.

And it came about when they were in the field that came rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.

Then the Lord said that Caine.

Where is Abel your brother?

And he said, I do not know, am I? My Brother's Keeper?

He said, what have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood is Crying To Me In from the ground.

Now, you are cursed from the ground, which was opened up its mouth to receive your brother's brother's blood from your hand.

When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you.

You will be a vagrant and a Wanderer on the earth.

Jane said to the Lord, my punishment is too great to Bear.

Behold, you would driven need this day from the face of the ground from your face.

I will be hidden and I will be a vagrant and a Wanderer on the earth and whoever Finds Me will kill me.

So the Lord said to him there, for whoever kills King, Vengeance will be taken on him Sevenfold in the Lord appointed a sign for canes that no one fine.

Would slay him then, came went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the Land of Nod East of Eden.

We look at this, the story of of Two Brothers Cain and Abel.

It is one of those stories that is well known and well spoken of in in churches and even outside of the phrase, am I? My Brother's Keeper is probably been used countless times.

it's speculated among Scholars, they even said that Cain and Abel may have even been when Brothers just in the wording and how it how it comes about regardless, we see here to brothers and I want us to remember, for just a moment, the original audience Think about as as Moses most likely is Penning the words of Genesis that the first audience to read these things, no doubt they were shared verbally.

And so forth through time with the first audience would have been Israel wandering around in the wilderness.

Waiting to go to the promised land.

And as they would read these words, what what would they, what would they see, what would they understand?

Remember Israel, at this time would have just received the law of God.

Do all the things that God has spoken and given to the people would have been fresh on their hearts and their minds.

And they read this narrative.

God is clearly expressed to his people, both then and now

That worship.

Our worship is a matter of the heart.

God looks at the heart when we look at external in an outside circumstances and things, God is looking at the heart.

Remember that, think about that?

And as we look at the story as we look at this narrative, and I want us to think of it more as a narrative than a story sometimes, when we think of story, we think, once upon a time in a land far, far away.

And it ceases to be real.

The events of Cain and Abel are very real and it touches on some very real issues that you and I deal with even today.

But if we look at this, we see that both Cain and Abel are religious Think about that for just a moment.

These men are religious, but we see a stark contrast between the two.

We see a contrast between how they worship in the heart of their worship.

And that that's crucial to didn't know even today.

Because I believe that in in the church today, we we have those who are very religious externally, we will go through the motions of fact, we will probably sometimes go through the motions better than others.

The God is not pleased with all religion.

God is looking for a Heart of Worship.

One of those of the saddest statements in scripture to me is found in Matthew chapter.

7 follow along Matthew chapter 7, beginning and verse 21.

Look at what it says this is Jesus.

Speaking, if you're going through our new testament reading, you'll get to read this chapter tomorrow.

But it says not everyone who says to me, Lord more.

Will enter the kingdom of heaven.

But he who does the will of my father who is in heaven, will enter many will say to me on that day the Lord in your name and your name, cast out demons in your name performed many miracles and then I will declare to them.

I never knew you depart from me.

You who practice?

Lawlessness?

That to me is one of the scariest passages in the entire scriptures.

Because we can deceive ourselves, we can deceive ourselves into thinking that we're going through all the motions and because of that, we're in good standing with God.

It's interesting, as we as we look.

at at this as we look at the sacrifices as we've looked at our sin, you and I rooted in Sin Sin requires A suitable covering.