Sermon Tone Analysis

*Peoples** **Church*

*Sunday Morning Sermon*

* *

*Title: My Father the Ballpark Saint*

*Text: Deuteronomy 6:4-15*

 

There is something about going to watch a professional baseball game in person – you know live.

Although you miss out on the instant replay from TV – you get much more of the atmosphere by being at game.

If you go to the ballpark some people try and get seats right on the third base line field level or maybe right behind home plate, however these seats just seem to be missing something.

You’ve got to try the bleachers!

The bleachers are the seats that give you the real feeling of being at the ballpark.

The fans in the bleachers are the best.

You get all kinds of different people in the bleachers, don’t you.

Many of these fans prepare for the game by painting their bodies and faces to support the home team, maybe they rip their shirts off and have big letters on their chest right – T-I-G-E-R-S, others bring signs and some of them bring props to act out skits - these fans are great!

They are enthusiastic and cheer regardless of the score during the good times and the bad.

They give coaching tips from the outfield – I’m pretty sure the coach can hear them.

And they model how true fans should be.

You’ve got to love the bleacher fan.

You know as father’s we could learn a thing or two from the bleacher fan.

You see biblical fatherhood requires preparation, teaching, and modeling.

Moses in the book of Deuteronomy highlights the importance for us as fathers to take this responsibility seriously – to strive to bring up our children in the knowledge of the Word of God through our words and actions.

Prayer

 

Our text this morning is in Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Many of you may be familiar with this portion of Scripture.

In fact, Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6 when he was questioned by the Pharisees regarding which was the greatest commandment in the law.

This passage of Scripture is also one that is at the heart of the Jewish confession and faith – v.4-9 constitute the so called Shema.

A devout Jew will recite these verses along with a couple of other Scriptures twice each day.

We are going to pick it up starting a verse 4 in Chapter 6 –  in the chapter before this Moses has just reviewed the Ten Commandments with the Israelite people.

Moses had instructed them to obey these commandments.

It was vital for them to heed the Word of God.

So in verse 4 to further instruct them he says, ‘4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD /is/ one!

Hear O Israel, Moses is saying to the people listen up – I’ve got something very important to say here.

The Lord our God, the Lord is one or another rendering would be The Lord our God, the Lord alone – he is stating to the people that there is only one God – *monotheism* right.

There are no other Gods, except our God.

Moses knows that the Israelites will enter the Promised Land and they will encounter other pagan false gods, there but they are to remain true to the Lord!

This will come full circle later in our passage.

Verse 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

When Moses says that we ought to love the Lord – he is not talking about the emotional love that we see in the movies of people falling in love but this love speaks of *covenant commitment*.

Like Pastor Kevin spoke on in the marriage series of the husband and wife giving their covenantal vows – they vow to keep their word regardless of how the other person responds – I give my word.

Likewise here, we as believers are to Love the Lord – to give our word.

Now we know that the Lord will never let us down, like we might expect from human relationships, He will always keep his word – but for us we need to make that covenantal commitment to love the Lord!

I give my word to be totally loyal and obedient to Him in every respect.

In the good times and in the tough times, I will love you Lord.

The apostle Paul often called those who truly loved the Lord, meaning those who were believers, who had put their trust in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour – who had repented from their sins and recognized that faith in Christ was the only means to reconciliation (or to be made right) with God – the apostle Paul often called these believers – SAINTS.

So in essence a saint is simply one who truly knows Jesus Christ.

Other beliefs have elevated saints into another category, but that is not biblical.

Sure it might be good to give glory to God and celebrate lives that have been faithful to God, but this aspect of a saint being the superior believer is not found in Scripture.

Paul says that believers are saints, Paul ministered to the saints, he visited the saints, prior to his conversion he put many saints in prison, he addressed many of his letters to the saints….in 1 & 2 Cor, Ephesians, Philippians, & Colossians those who love the Lord are saints!

So if you love the Lord you would be considered a saint.

Now what does the word saint really mean (aside from a believer being one)?

As Paul uses this word it means to be set apart or to be separated.

Not set apart or superior to other believers, but rather this separation or segregation is from the world.

As Christians we are to be set apart from the world and its views and in tune with the Word of God.

We are to use the Word of God as our guide, not popular worldviews or pop culture.

Martyn Lloyd Jones said that as a saint, “you do not belong to the world any longer, you are in it but you are not of it; there is a separation which has taken place in your mind, in your outlook, in your heart, in your conversation, and in your behaviour.

You are essentially a different person; the Christian is not a worldly person, he is not governed by the world and its mind and outlook.”

Set apart in thought, in word and in deed or action.

As we tailor make this Scripture for Fathers today on Father’s Day, here are a few instructions.

*1.

I want to encourage you to Be a Saint!! \\ \\ *

Love the Lord your God.

If you are not a Christian consider making that decision to follow Christ – to become a saint.

If you are a Christian believer then take your relationship with the Lord seriously.

Be set apart for Christ.

5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

In OT physiology the heart (לֵב, לֵבָב; levav, lev) was considered the seat of the mind or intellect, so that one could think with one’s heart.

Like it was mentioned earlier, love was not just an emotional concept of the heart as many of us would think today when we mention ‘the heart’ but a rational one as well.

Also to love the Lord with all our soul – so we are love the Lord with our whole being and to the very core of ourselves we are to be committed to the Lord.

And with all of our strength.

To the best of our ability we are to love the Lord – we are to put our best effort forth and use the power we have to obey the Lord.

We can remember or know those who used their strength to fight physical battles, but we are here to fight and use our strength for truth and for our relationship with God – to protect this love for the Lord.

God doesn’t want us to obey simply because we have to, he desires to have a relationship with us so that we obey out of a genuine love for Him.

Fathers, don’t kid yourselves – children can tell the difference between a father who loves the Lord because he feels he has to (whether that’s for his children’s sake or another reason) and a father who genuinely loves the Lord and longs to grow in that relationship.

A father who takes his children to church, be he only attends once and a while compared to the father who reads the Scriptures in the home every day.

There is a difference.

They can tell a difference.

Use your strength to love the Lord and build your relationship with Him.

\\ \\ As fathers we need to be prepared for each day to continue to love the Lord.

We need to be prepared to be set apart from the world.

This means that we need to be reading the Bible daily, we need to be praying daily and striving to grow in our love for the Lord.

Personally we need to be strong in the Lord so that we can in our homes.

Biblically, the key to the spiritual growth of a family hinges on the personal growth of the husband~/father.

You are to be the spiritual leader of the home.

Your daily bible reading & prayer are essential to set you apart and to impact your family.

The world will give you a different message than the Word of God – so if you are not being fed by the Word of God, then by default you will be fed by the world.

The Apostle Paul gives this instruction to Timothy -  train yourself to be godly.

8For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

Fathers, we do not want to merely appear to others as being godly men~/fathers, but rather we want to truly be living for the Lord not just when others are watching.

John Wooden a famous basketball coach has a saying that I have up in my office that says, “Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation.

Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.”

We can fool others, we can put on a façade but this process of living for the Lord, building our character requires training – it is not the default setting.

Just like a sedentary lifestyle does not make you physically fit.

We are not naturally godly, we have to work at it.

Being godly, is really being obedient conforming your life to the Word of God (the Bible).

If we truly love the Lord we will long and strive and train to be obedient.

Love requires *obedience*.

Jesus said, “21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.

He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

If you truly love the Lord you will desire to obey and honour the Lord.

Saying that you love the Lord, then totally violated Scripture at every turn is merely lip service – there is no true love for the Lord there.

Let your love for the Lord be evident by your decisions and actions.

The beautiful thing about obeying the Lord is that he says that he will continue to reveal himself to us – so we will know him better and more intimately as we obey.

So fathers, consider being set apart, consider your personal walk with the Lord and how that affects others, consider if your obedience is merely lip service or if it actually can be evidenced by your decisions – Be a Saint!