Sermon Tone Analysis

From disappointed to dynamic.doc

SD21

May 4, 2008                                                                                                    file: G2

From disappointed to dynamic

 

Acts 2

 

See if you can relate to the following —written by John Ortberg.

"I am disappointed with myself.

I am disappointed not so much with particular things I have done as with aspects of who I have become.

I have a nagging sense that all is not as it should be.

Some of this disappointment is trivial.

I wouldn't have minded getting a more muscular physique.

I can't do home repairs.

So far I haven’t shown much financial wizardry.

Some of this disappointment, I know, is worse than trivial; it is simply the sour fruit of self-absorption.

I attended a high school reunion and can't choke back the desire to stand out by looking more attractive or having achieved more impressive accomplishments than my classmates … I am disappointed in my ordinariness.

But some of this disappointment in myself runs deeper.

When I look in on my children as they sleep at night, I think of the kind of father I want to be.

I want to create moments of magic, I want them to remember laughing until the tears flow … I want to have slow sweet talks with them as they're getting ready to close their eyes … I want to pray for them in a way that makes them feel cherished.

I look on them as they sleep at night, and I remember how the day really went: I remember how they were trapped in a fight over checkers and I walked out of the room because I didn't want to spend the energy needed to teach them how to resolve conflict.

I remember how my daughter spilled cherry punch at dinner and I yelled at her about being careful as if she'd revealed some deep character flaw; I yelled at her even though I spill things all the time and no one yells at me; I yelled at her — to tell the truth — simply because I'm big and she's little and I can get away with it.

I remember how at night I didn't have slow, sweet talks, but merely rushed the children to bed so I could have more time to myself.

I'm disappointed.

And it's not just my life as a father.

I am disappointed also for my life as a husband, friend, neighbor, and human being in general.

I think of the day I was born, when I carried the gift of promise, the gift given to all babies.

I think of that little baby and what might have been: the ways I might have developed mind and body and spirit, the thoughts I might have had, the joy I might have created.

I am disappointed that I still love God so little and sin so much.

I always had the idea as a child that adults were pretty much the people they wanted to be.

Yet the truth is, I am embarrassingly sinful."

[ppg.

13,14 — "The Life You Always Wanted" — John Ortberg]

* Could you relate to John's confession of disappointment with himself?

* Have you ever been disappointed……with…..you?

* Have you ever wanted to be a better person?

A better friend?

A better spouse~/parent?

A better believer in Jesus Christ?

* Have you ever been disappointed because you really wanted to break a destructive habit in your life?

But you couldn't?

* Have you ever been disappointed because you wanted to do great things for God and others?

But you haven't?

– /Haven’t even tried—been afraid to???/

 

If you answered yes to any of those questions … good!

… Because until we are utterly disappointed with our inability we aren't candidates for the ability God has for us through a partnership with the Holy Spirit!

Our senior partner---

 

      (It's been called the — gift of inadequacy)

 

A senior Partner in business is the silent partner behind the scenes who gives direction, and who invests his resources and entrusts them in a junior partner with the goal of achieving success in the venture the have embarked upon…

 

The Holy Spirit is our senior partner

      He provides the resources, the power and the motive to accomplish the work that Jesus has entrusted to us…to go into all the world and make disciples for Him…

 

As the group of disciples left the Mount of Olives after Jesus had given them orders to go to Jerusalem to wait for the Promise of the Father—they were simply acting in obedience with no pre-conceived notion of what to expect.

Certainly filled with questions

      Wonder at what had occurred

            Awed by the experience of the risen Lord

                  Yet still lacking in something…

 

For 10 days they waited

      While the waited the prayed, studied the scriptures and spent time with each other…they must have been working through some issues

      They must have forgiven each other for the ways they had acted…because it wasn’t until they were in one accord that the Holy Spirit showed up…

 

God used three signs for his presence on that specific day…

      Each related to his history of dealings with His people in the past…

 

*WIND*---they heard the sound of a mighty wind blowing

      Wind (/ruach/—in Hebrew, /pneuma/—in Greek) had always been a symbol of His presence…the breath of God!

God spoke

      God breathed

·         The ruach of God or breath of God was what God breathed into Adam that made him a living soul!

·         The ruach of God or breath of God was what Ezekiel was told to prophesy to the valley of dry bones so that they could live!

·         A mighty wind blew and the Red Sea parted

 

The sound of a rushing mighty wind, said this is — God's life-giving presence is here!

/This is the breath of God/

 

Wind is also an element that man cannot control

      From early days we have learned to harness its power

Before power engines we put sails on ships and charted courses through the seas.

Meteorologists have charted the isobars and predict the windy days…

Giant wind-driven turbines now produce electrical power to light our homes

But no one can control the wind

      The tornadoes in the east are apt testimony to our failure to protect ourselves from the fury unleashed by violent winds.

Jesus used the wind to illustrate the work of the Holy Spirit when a person is born again (born from above)—John 3—he spoke to a confused Nicodemus:  /“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.

So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

/

 

This is spirits work when a person is saved—

The Spirit comes in when we receive Christ—a life is revolutionized in a moment’s time—God breathes his spirit into us—an astounding miracle transforms the human spirit

      Yet no eye can see the powerful impact

The ear does not hear the mighty operation of the Spirit when a soul is saved—when man is born again—

      We can see the result—a life changed, perhaps a person bowed at an altar---but unless that altar experience alters the life it is a disappointing experience…

 

Luke uses the wind to describe the Spirits sweep through the upper room as a rushing mighty wind---the Spirits work on Pentecost was open, conspicuous—overpowering…

      A heavenly tornado that continued to blow the disciples around the world with the transforming message of Jesus Christ.

*FIRE—*in the upper room where they were in one accord in one place the observed what appeared to be a ball of fire come down into the room and then separate and rest over the heads of each and every one of them…WOW

Again—it was a symbol known to those present of the activity of God in the history of the Jewish nation…

·         There were the fires upon the altars of acceptable sacrifices

·         The fire that came down on Elijah’s offering up on Mount Carmel

·         On two occasions God showed his approval by sending fire at the dedication of the New Temple

·         There was a pillar of fire that guided the Israelis by night across the desert plains of the Sinai

 

It was as though God were saying — "I accept you as my dwelling place!

As a group and as individuals!"

You are my people!!!!

That's why the apostle Paul would tell the Corinthians — "You are the temple (the house~/dwelling place) of the Holy Spirit!"

 

Fire—it too can be a thing of beauty or destruction

      Fire runs our cars with a little spark of fire in a piston chamber

      Fire warms our homes—with wood stoves and gas heaters…

      Fire gives us romantic moments and exciting fire-works…

            It too can also be destructive – out of control…

 

AND THEN THERE WAS THE SPEECH—speaking in languages not known by the one speaking—tongues.