Sermon Tone Analysis

\\ Chapter 2

 

 

*Christmas  2008*

| I.  IntroductionII.

Seven Reasons as to why The Son of God came into the WorldA.

Matt 1:21, to save His people from their sinsB.

Mk 10:45, to give his live as a ransom for manyC.

Lk 5:31-32, call sinners to repentanceD.

Jn 9:39, give sight to the blindE.

Matt 10:34, not come to bring peace, but a swordF.

Jn 3:17-18, to save from divine condemnationG.

Jn 3:16, to give everlasting lifeIII.

Point of Action A.

The Perfect PlanB.

An urgent response  |

 

\\ Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3[1]

 

! I.     [Slide 29] Introduction

In the Gospel of Mark, which most believe to be the first of the gospels written, the Gospel of Hope begins in the wilderness.

There is no Christmas story in Mark.

No wise men, no shepherds and angels, no star of Bethlehem.

Mark’s Gospel is a gospel of action -- fast-breaking action -- packed into sixteen chapters.

\\ . . . it starts from the get-go, with a wild man named john out in the wilderness.

He dresses funny and eats bugs.

At first glance he might seem like a nut case.

His lifestyle is similar to that of Elijah, that Old Testament prophet.

And in many ways John was a new Elijah sent forth as a big "wake-up call" for the Jews.

V1, This is the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.

Mark tells us in v5, that the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to the wilderness to meet this man.

And this was John's message in the wilderness in part:

 

V7, "after me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the holy spirit."

The wilderness . . .

it’s dry, hot, harsh, bleak, like the darkest of times.

The wilderness can take many forms in today's world.

§         there is the wilderness of broken homes and divorce.

§         there is the wilderness of unexplained tragedy, striking almost at random out of the heart of darkness to take away people we care about.

§         there is the wilderness of random violence that gives school children and their parents bad dreams . . .

§         the wilderness of domestic violence that can turn a home into a minefield.

§         there is the wilderness of escape -- of running away from reality at full-speed, whether that means getting loaded on alcohol and smoking weed, or through sexual relationships that are devoid of god's blessing, or simply by nestling into a pile of money and hoping it can insulate us from all the craziness that surrounds us.[2]

It is in the wilderness, in our darkest times,

 

§         where hope can begin to bloom,

§         where we can be delivered from the world of death and move into the world of hope, the world of new life.

Despite all the advances of technology and modern living, we can never seem to escape the wildernesses of life.

Charles Colson, who knows well from personal experience about the pain of being lost in the wilderness, said, "I meet millions who tell me that they feel demoralized by the decay around us.

Where is the hope?"[3]

So John the Baptist comes:

 

. . .

pointing the way to a new hope, and cautioning people not to be confused by the power and authority of his own prophetic word.

there is one who is coming who is far greater than he . . .

one who will baptize with the holy spirit.

In a poem entitled Hope In A Hopeless World

 

Baby born in New York City \\ Wrapped in a blanket all tattered and worn \\ Mama's doin' the best she can \\ It takes hope in a hopeless world

 

Her eldest son, he stayed in school \\ Listened to his mother, he never drank or used \\ But every job he wants he gets refused \\ It takes hope in a hopeless world

 

Looking for hope in a hopeless world \\ Trying to find love in these hateful times \\ Try to stay strong but my mind is weak \\ Looking for hope in a hopeless world

 

Churches are full, but the prayers are not heard \\ Saturday's child don't wanna to go to Sunday school \\ Whatever happened to the golden rule \\ It takes hope in a hopeless world

 

D'you got a quarter for the homeless man \\ Spare some change for the soldiers who fought the war \\ Put a little money in those hats and those tins \\ Give them hope in a hopeless world

 

Looking for hope in a hopeless world \\ Searchin' for love in these hateful times \\ Try to stay strong but my mind is weak \\ Ease my mind, ease my mind

 

And on the corner there stands a young girl \\ The home she left was in the better part of town \\ Daddy did things she never talked about \\ It takes hope in a hopeless world

 

Somebody out there gotta listen[4]

 

I am here today to tell you that ‘somebodies’ listening.

Isaiah puts it this way:

 

“There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me.

Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other” (Isaiah 45:21–22).

2,000 years ago an angel announced to a bunch of shepherds: “Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).

Jesus Christ will showed us the Way, he died for our sins, rose from the grave and poured out the Holy Spirit to establish His church.

Peter stated it this way: 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

[1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV)][5]

 

§         For Isaiah, the only righteous God and a Savior is the rallying cry, challenging us to place all our hope in Him. 

§         For Peter God’s great mercy is the rallying cry, challenging us to place all our hope in Him.

Make Him our priority.

Give Him our loyalty.

Fan the flame of our love for Him.

Live for Him.

Serve Him.

Be faithful to the great God of mercy, to the one and only God.

The great Savior to whom, one day every knee will bow!

\\ \\

!

II.

Seven Things that Hope Ignites:*[6]*

This morning I want to give us seven character traits of living hope.

!! A.  [1] Hope Ignites Faithfulness to His Word

The vision of His mercy ignites our faithfulness to the Word because, increasingly, we will experience its firm stability as everything else in the world around us seems to collapse.

There is

 

§         no other foundation on which to build our lives,

§         no other Rock on which to stand,

§         no other purpose to live for,

§         no other Lord Who is able to rule our lives so that we live victoriously in a world that is increasingly defeated and hopeless—only Jesus!

And He is revealed by God through His Word!

 

Therefore, you can do nothing more important than to make time for the Word every day.

!! \\ B. [2] Hope Ignites Faithfulness in Worship

To worship God literally means to attribute worth to Him.

We attribute worth to God

 

§         by being preoccupied with Him,

§         by making Him our first priority,

§         by focusing on Him,

§         by obeying what He says,

§         by praising Him for who He is and what He has done,

§         by prostrating ourselves at His feet as though dead as John did in the Book of Revelation.

\\ The vision of His great mercy ignites our faithfulness in worship by exalting the uniqueness of Jesus Christ.

No one else, nor anything else, is worthy of our worship.

Only Jesus Christ!