Sermon Tone Analysis
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The theme of our conference is “Press On”
I hope that yesterday you received fresh vision.
You know where you are going.
Most of all you know who is leading you.
We are not all there yet, but what does our text say?
What are the three questions:
What is the goal that Paul is talking about?
What am I pressing toward?
What is my motivation?
If I am to press on like Paul, why would I do this?
What is compelling me?
What does it mean to press on?
It reminds me of where Paul speaks about running a race.
So how do I run that race well?
Lets see ourselves in this text and answer the questions together.
What is the goal? - fresh vision
What is my motivation? - fresh courage.
How do we run? - fresh ideas.
Today we are going to talk about motivation
Motivation is like gas to a car.
It like fuel to airplane.
Its like food to your body.
You can have a goal but you need a means to get there.
Whether you walk, drive or fly, something is propelling you forward, giving you the energy to reach your goal.
What motivates you?
Why do you do what you do?
What makes you get up every morning?
What thoughts inspire you?
What is your desire?
What do you hope for?
What makes you want to do more?
What can I say that will give you fresh courage in serving the Lord?
I see in this passage, three causes for motivation: the fear of the Lord, the love of Christ and the calling of God.
The fear of the Lord
What des it mean to fear the Lord?
Is it the fear of punishment?
Is it a holy reverence?
Is it the appropriate response to His love and mercy?
Is it all of these things and more?
Notice that when Paul talks about the fear of the Lord, He is also talking about his transparency toward them.
They should have a good conscience about receiving from him because he has been completely transparent with them.
This should tells us something about how Paul understands the fear of the Lord.
If what we are is plain to you because we are transparent and you can know us, then what does this look like from God’s perspective.
What do we look like to God who sees and knows everything?
Are you beginning to have the fear of the Lord?
When I began as a pastor, I also worked in construction.
For about six years I was both a pastor and a construction worker.
I don’t know how construction workers are in India, but in America they can be some rough characters.
So as I am working as a construction worker, I am getting insight into the way the common man thinks and I am praying to understand how to reach them.
If I tell them I am a pastor, I know they will act differently because they think I’m a “holy man.”
But I want to know what they are like so I keep that a secret.
One day I am working with a man who is using foul language.
I mentioned to him that I will not be there the next day because I also have another job.
“What is your other job?” he asks.
“I am a pastor” I tell him.
Then he lets out a burst of foul language and immediately apologizes for doing so.
“I wouldn’t say these things if I knew you were a pastor.”
So I say to him, “Why would you act any different because you know I am a pastor?
Don’t you know that God sees you all the time?
Why should you care more for what I think than what God thinks?”
You see, I just introduced him to the fear of the Lord!
But what about you?
Are you aware of the Lord’s presence at any and every moment?
Are you aware of his presence when no one else is watching?
Are you aware that he knows your thoughts and your intentions?
Are you aware that he knows your secrets?
Are you aware that he knows things about you that are deep and hidden and which you do not even allow yourself to know?
…and He loves you!
Do you want to have wisdom and understanding?
It begins with the fear of the Lord?
Because when you fear the Lord you are done with hiding and pretending.
You will not pretend to be someone that you are not, because while you may fool other people or even yourself, you will never fool God and he is the one you want to please.
You will not hide your sin, your anger, your pride or your insecurity because God knows everything about you and since He accepts you you can admit it to yourself.
You do not have to work to prove yourself to someone who already knows you.
You work to become the person that God tells you that you are.
Real transformation happens because people are confronted with the truth of who God made them to be.
It is from this revelation of truth and transparency that we persuade others to put aside the mask that they are wearing and and face the reality of who they are in light of who God is.
The fear of the Lord should not make us hide; it should make us realize that hiding is of no use.
And when we come out of hiding and into the light, we are transformed into what we behold.
There are two different ways that we can respond to the fear of the Lord.
We can respond with guilt or we can respond with love.
Knowing that God sees us can make us feel ashamed so that we try to hide.
We should know that hiding doesn’t prevent God from seeing, but it may prevent us from facing what we don’t want to see.
And we convince ourselves that the less people know about us, the more they will like us.
Guilt presumes that God is angry and that his intention is to punish us.
But what if God’s anger is really an expression of His love?
What if God’s disapproval is because he sees how sin has twisted our thinking away from his goodness and truth.
What if God is not out to punish us, but really wants to restore us?
Don’t you want to know who is behind all of this?
Our motivation is that we are seekers of truth.
We are driven to know the truth about God, about the world and about ourselves.
We want to know and to be known.
When we fear the Lord; that is when we realize that God already knows and we come out into the open - then we begin to understand the truth.
When you fear God, you don’t need to be afraid.
The love of Christ
If you are not sure if God is love, then just look at Jesus.
Jesus is God.
Jesus came into the world, suffered and died so that we could live.
How can that be anything but love?
What happens inside when you consider the love of Christ?
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