Sermon Tone Analysis

Running head: FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

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! Living All Of Life For The Glory Of God

Eric Meyer

John Brown University

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christian Foundations - BBL 8033B

Dr. Bill Burnett

August 14th

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Living All Of Life For The Glory Of God

Our lives Are so filled with noise; how can the word of God possibly get through to His children?

Once He has our attention, then what are we supposed to do to build the relationship?

Those two questions are very close to the center of the problems that so many Christians experience with their faith.

Even the most faithful still have issues relating with God.

Eugene Peterson who wrote The Message translation of the Bible gives an apt description of the challenges we face, “It was not enough that I announce the Gospel, explain it, or whip up enthusiasm for it.

I wanted it lived – lived in detail, lived on the streets and on the job, lived in bedrooms and kitchens, lived through cancer and divorce, lived with children and in marriage.

Along the way I found out that this meant living it myself, which turned out to be a far more formidable assignment.

I realized that this was going to take some time.

I settled in for the long haul.”

(Peterson, 1980, p. 201)           

This paper is an attempt to describe how I can live my life for the glory of God.

I have no illusions about the challenges ahead, but every race needs a starting line, and this can be the starting line for my marathon race for the glory of God.

I. GOD’S LOVE

There is a wonderful reminder of God’s love written by Paul in his letter to the church in Rome.

In 8:38 he says, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

From this wonderful starting point, I can take comfort in the fact that when I make mistakes, God’s love will still be with me.

There is another verse that brings great comfort.

In John 16:33 Jesus tells us, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace.

In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”

The aspect that brings me comfort is the fact that Jesus tells me I can have peace.

I do not need to fear because Jesus has overcome the tribulations of this world.

Not even death can cause anxiety because Jesus proved to us that death is only the starting point for our eternal life in His kingdom.

The key is that Jesus does not want me to keep this information to myself.

Now that He broke through the noise of my life, got my attention, and dragged me out of the mess of a life I hade created for myself, He insists that I help Him penetrate the noise that keeps His message from reaching others.

One of the ways that I am doing this is through the Steven Ministry program.

I work with a care receiver every week, and receive monthly support and additional training from the other Stephen Ministers in my church.

The real grounding message in our ministry is that God does all of the work.

All I can do is care.

God works the cure.

II.

GRACE

            In Matthew 6, Jesus teaches us how to pray.

I think it is easy to see where Jesus puts the emphasis in this prayer.

He gives us an outline of our entire relationship with God, and then immediately says, “For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.”

I strikes me that forgiveness is the one point that Jesus reemphasis in this prayer.

If grace is so important to God, then it has to be important to me.

In the book /The Reasons For God, /Timothy Keller says, “All life changing love towards people with serious needs is a substitutional sacrifice.

If you become personally involved with them, in some way, their weaknesses flow toward you as your strengths flow towards them.”

(Keller, 2008, p. 194)  Keller tells us that all people are broken, and are going to hurt us.

We need to be the stronger person, and offer forgiveness; in doing so, we strengthen the relationship, and also glorify God.

How challenging this can be, especially in a competitive work environment!

It is even difficult at home.

Last night, my kids overwhelmed me at dinner, and I ended up yelling at them, sending one to her room, and pretty much destroying the nice family dinner I had anticipated.

Apologizing at breakfast this morning was required, but still not that easy to do.

It does feel good though, when we agree to forgive each other.

III.

MERCY

            Easton’s Bible Dictionary defines mercy as compassion for the miserable.

That definition hits home for me because like so many others, I needed to hit emotional bottom before I was ready to listen (desperately by the way) to Jesus.

Space is too limited for my testimony here, but I have written it elsewhere.

I decided to write it down so that I could refine it for use in teaching others about the mercy that God showed to me.

It also serves as a reminder that there can be no limit to the mercy that I extend to others.

Jesus insists I extend the grace.

In Luke 17:3-4, Jesus teaches, “If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.”

IV.  KINDNESS

            In Titus 3:8, Paul tells us that, “those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds.”

I have several friends at church who are the epitome of this verse.

They go out of their way to be kind to everyone who they meet.

One lady named Gerry greets everyone who enters church with a hug.

Visitors get the same greeting, and she memorizes their names immediately.

I can’t describe how that act of kindness touched my wife and I the second week we met Gerry.

The fact that she had taken the time to memorize the names of people who may or may not ever come back to the church is one of the reasons we decided to join this particular church.

Another couple participates in every activity they can as a show of support for the rest of the congregation.

Because these acts of kindness come from the heart, these people are a joy to be around, so they are constantly surrounded by friends.

The opposite attitude is to be filled with anger and hatred.

I have a grandma who is a sad example.

She is just plain nasty to almost everyone, so very few people will spend time with her.

She is immensely lonely, which exacerbates her anger towards the world at large.  2 Sam.

13:1-32 uses the story of Amnon and Tamar to describe how humans naturally end up hating those people they injure.

I want to do everything possible to be surrounded by good friends up until the day I pass from this life.

Having a heart conformed to Christ, allowing me to be naturally kind will help me to achieve that goal.

V.  PATIENCE

                      “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.

Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

(Matt.

6:33-34)  One of my favorite bands is a group named Queen.

They wrote a song that includes the lyrics, “It ain't much I'm asking if you want the truth - Here's to the future, for the dreams of youth - I want it all, I want it all I want it all, and I want \\ it now!”

How that summarizes the thoughts of so many of us!

I want what those around me have, my success in life is determined by my possessions and who I know.

Unfortunately, this desire to possess things breeds nothing but anxiety.

I was on the roller coaster of life that is corporate America for almost 2 decades.

I lived a life driven by Keeping Up With The Jones’, and it lead to severe anxiety issues.

God grabbed me out of that muck, and showed me a much more pleasant way to live.

The workload is not any different, days still start at 5am, and are filled with many activities, but I am doing those activities in conjunction with God.

When I made the decision to leave the secular world to pursue a career in ministry, my Dad was less than pleased.

There was quite a bit of pressure to stay where I was, and build up my nest egg for retirement.

Fortunately, he supports me now, though he still really does not understand what I am doing with my life.

What is funny about the situation is that I learned last week my former employer is probably going to be sold to a competitor, meaning my sales office will be redundant to the new company.

For me this is a perfect example of the Matt.