Sermon Tone Analysis

Believe in Jesus

Intro

I remember the first research I had to write.

I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

I was in high school and the teacher told me that I had to write on one historic event that happened in the 20th century.

At the time, I was really into war reenactments.

I would go with my uncle on these WWII reenactments of battles.

So that was fresh on my brain when the teacher set the parameters.

I decided that I was going to write on the United State’s development and use of the Atomic Bomb.

The teacher tried to make the task a little easier for us to accomplish by breaking down how to write a research paper.

One week we would gather our sources.

The next week we would annotate our sources.

And so forth, and so on.

And she would repeatedly tell us the most important part of any paper that is being written is the thesis statement.

This is the part of your paper that is going to guide you into writing a research paper, or any paper well.

The thesis statement lets the reader of your paper know what you are arguing for or against.

It gives them the understanding of what to look for in your paper.

Because the reality is, I could write on the Atomic Bomb and come to a completely different conclusion or a different aspect of development than if you were tasked with writing on the same subject.

Different authors will tell construct their stories in such a way as to get their point across.

Though they may be talking about the same subject matter the way they present it and the objective they wish to accomplish may differ ever so slightly.

Depending on the author’s intent.

And that intent is demonstrated not always in the writing itself, but also in the thesis statement attached to that writing.

Sometimes in Papers and writings the Thesis statement is super clear and easy to find.

Other times it is embedded or not even present at all.

So why am I telling you about research papers and thesis statements?

Why and how is this relevant to this morning's study on the gospel of John?

Have you ever thought about why there are 4 gospels?

Well each author under the inspiration of the HS is writing their gospel for a specific purpose and to a specific audience.

God is gracious that the message and audience of those gospels and in fact all of the Bible is written in such a way that it has meaning, application, and knowledge for all people at all times.

That is why we sit here.

That is why we study.

That is why we read, because God speaks to us through his word.

His Word, what we call the bible, is God’s revelation of himself to his creation.

He used over 40 different authors to compile this revelation.

And he guided them through the HS.

He used their personalities and their circumstances to cater his revelation to the people he spoke to.

That I why the gospels though they are all about Jesus differ in the stories that they tell and the way that they tell them.

If you study the gospels you will see that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are very similar in the way they tell the story of Jesus.

They are called the Synoptic Gospels.

Sure Matthew focuses a lot on prophecies being fulfilled, Luke focused heavily on the outcast and the downtrodden while also paying special attention to the Parables of Jesus, and Mark is all about getting to the crucifixion of Jesus as fast as possible.

But they all have the same basic focus on Jesus’ earthly ministry and they are all more alike than different.

Yet the Gospel of John stands distinctly apart from the synoptics.

He has stories and discourse not mentioned in any of the other gospels.

And he is more focused on who Jesus is rather than what he did.

Not to say that the Synoptic Gospels don’t care about who Jesus is, but they talk alot about his earthly ministry, whereas John is driving hard at the divinity of Jesus in each story he tells about Jesus.

Why is John written so differently from the Synoptic Gospels?

Well he has a different goal in mind.

What is his goal in writing his Gospel?

John tells us and is one of the only gospel’s that give us a clear and concise purpose statement and reason that he is writing this gospel.

And he tells us in John 20:30-31

That You May Believe

So John is concerned with belief in Jesus the Messiah.

And when you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ, then you will have life in his name.

In today’s world, people believe that belief is enough.

That belief in anything is good enough to bring hope.

To bring peace.

Culture tells us that “It doesn’t matter who or what you believe in, but simply that you believe in something.”

One of the key things that we need to do when we have conversations about words that have been thrown around like believe is that we need to define what it means.

Dictionary “Accept something as true”

Trust in Something.

So what do people put their trust in?

False gods and religion.

Money.

People.

Science.

Government.

Political Alliance.

Family.

Relationships.

And probably the most deceptive is when people put their trust in their own abilities.

Again it doesn’t matter what you believe in, just that you believe in something.

Have you ever heard anyone say, “I’m not religious, but I am spiritual.”

This is a form of belief.

And it is especially influencing the younger generation that is disenfranchised with church so they are seeking out a way to be spiritual without the truth of God as he reveals himself in the Bible.

You see there are people all around you that think that they believe in God, but do they actually.

Or do they like the idea of belief in God rather than the concrete belief in who he actually is.

Just like we did earlier when we defined the terms about belief, now when you talk to someone about God and Jesus you need to make sure that you are using the same terms and definitions.

For many people Jesus is a good Moral teacher.

He is an example to look up to.

Much like Gandhi, Buddha, or Mother Theresa.

They want to take the teachings of Jesus and separate them from the person and work of Jesus.

People want to take Jesus and mold him, make him, and shape him into their own image.

Because it’s easier to like Jesus when he looks like you.

Jesus is more appealing when he approves of your lifestyle.

When he is your homeboy instead of Lord of all.

When you can shrink him down to fit into the box you want him in

To our feeble minds Jesus is better when he serves us.

But this flies in the face of the biblical teaching about Jesus.

Flies in the face of what John is revealing in his Gospel account.

Jesus isn’t a mere human.

He is God.

And that is John’s Thesis.

His Argument throughout the Gospel.

Jesus is God.

He is the long Expected one.

He is the Messiah.

So if John’s Thesis and point of the Gospel is to prove that how does he do it?

How does he develop his argument to point to Jesus being who he claims to be?

The gospel of John is broken up into 2 main sections with a prologue and and epilogue.

The Prologue is Chapter 1.