Sermon Tone Analysis
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Our theme for 2022 is “Begin Again”
This series is called, “Believe Again”
You may have already believed the gospel, but it is time to believe again.
We began with “Believe in Jesus”
Then we talked about believing in spiritual reality.
We talked about how an encounter with Jesus leads to transformation, living in both realities.
We talked about life - remember the great circle of life - God’s life in us and flowing through us?
We talked about light and how light displaces darkness and exposes what is hidden.
Last week we about truth and freedom.
- that knowing the truth about God and about yourself sets you free from guilt and condemnation.
Today we are going to be talking about God the Father.
Most Christians today understand the concept of Trinity - that God is three persons who are essentially One.
Father- Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus is God - John tells us that right from the beginning.
But what about God the Father?
If Jesus is God, then God must be like Jesus!
That might seem like an obvious statement, but many people get confused about God and Jesus.
Some people think that the God the Father is harsh in contrast to Jesus who is all love and forgiveness.
One of my professors from seminary, David Lamb, has written a book called “God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist?”
He wrote it to answer skeptics of Christianity who say that the God of the Old Testament is different in character than Jesus.
Much of the reason for this is that we do not understand Old Testament stories in their context.
Often when God’s judgments seem harsh, they are actually very merciful and very necessary if we understand the context.
God the Father and Jesus are One both in essence and in character.
The first thing that we need to believe about God is that God is good.
If you believe that God is good, then you will want to know Him more.
When you believe God and know God, then God can work through you to draw others to Himself.
To help people to know God the Father, Jesus uses a very familiar analogy - He refers to Himself as a good Shepherd.
The patriarchs of Israel were shepherds.
When Jacob blessed His son Joseph, He called God his Shepherd.
The prophet Ezekiel referred to the corrupt leaders of Israel as shepherds, but not good ones.
These are shepherd who neglect the sheep, who fail to feed them but who eat them instead.
It is pretty pathetic when shepherds are so bad that God needs to rescue his people from the ones who are supposed to be caring for them.
Maybe that is why we have such difficulty with God as Father?
Our own fathers were supposed to care for us, but sometimes they were abusive.
Even good fathers have had some bad days.
Maybe you had a Pastor, a teacher or a church leader who was supposed to demonstrate the heart of God
Maybe what they communicated to you was the message of condemnation.
They made you feel worthless.
Or that you will never be good enough.
God wants us to know that he is good, that He loves us and has a plan to redeem us - that is why He sent Jesus - the good shepherd!
Father God is good.
Why is it important to use the door?
H. Clay Trumbull is a biblical scholar who has written extensively about covenant.
In ancient times, and still in some parts of the world today.
The doorway to a house is a family altar.
There will be covenant symbols at the doorway, perhaps even blood stains from the ritual slaughtering of sacrifices at the threshold of the house.
Crossing over that threshold is an act of making covenant with the owner of the house.
Its why first-time guest come in the front door, whereas family friends go round the back.
Or why a groom carries his bride over the threshold.
Coming in by the door is the way of entering into covenant where there is mutual commitment and agreement.
It’s a sign of respect.
Good people respect you.
The basis for any successful relationship is mutual respect.
You don't trust a person who breaks into your house.
You might not trust a person who just barges in and starts eating your food without a proper greeting either.
Relating to a person who doesn’t respect you is just asking for trouble.
Don’t act surprised when the relationship turns abusive.
The first thing you need to know about God, in order to know that He is good, is that He respects you.
Yes, He’s God, but He doesn’t bully you - He respects your choices.
Sure God can just do things sovereignly, but for the most part he doesn’t do anything on earth without some form of human participation.
When you think about Jesus, God became human to reach humanity.
How respectful is that?
God doing human stuff.
God gets down on our level to communicate with us.
God condescended to be like us to reach us.
That’s using the door!
Because God is showing the respect to humanity of becoming one of us, we can know that His intentions toward us are entirely good!
There is an enemy who wants only to use us for his own purpose.
God wants to restore us to the life that he originally created us to live.
Abundant life! - life that is lived in harmony with God and with each other.
It’s that overflowing stream that Jesus talked about which comes from inside of you.
Good people take initiative with you.
How do you know who is the well-intentioned person and who is the thief?
There are people who will treat you respectfully at first, just to gain your trust, but who do not have good intentions.
The good shepherd goes ahead of the sheep and lets them follow.
Good leaders do that - they actually do what they want you to do.
When I was in Israel, we had a tour of the Golan Heights from an army general who described the war of 1967 in detail.
The Syrian army had an artillery on a hill top that could reach targets all over the northern region.
In order to take out the position, a unit had to charge straight up the hill through a ravine.
The last hundred yards they would be subjected to direct gunfire.
It took multiple units, but eventually they were able to take the position.
“What you need to understand about the bravery of these units, is that Israeli commanders always go in front of their units,” He said, “The rank insignia is displayed on the back of the helmet.”
Bad leaders just stand back and bark orders.
They try to tell you what you should do, even though they have never done it.
If you succeed, they take the credit, but if you fail, that’s on you.
One of the best reasons that I can give to trust jesus with you life, is that He has already been there and experienced all that this life may bring.
You can trust His voice, because He knows you by name.
He knows suffering and joy and has walked the path ahead of us.
God is not asking you to do anything that He has not already done.
Good people sacrifice for you.
Most relationships work as long as they are mutually beneficial.
That is to say, people stay in relationship as long as they are getting something out of it.
But the really best relationships are the people who are there for you when you have nothing to offer them.
That’s when you know who your friends really are.
The good shepherd put his own life on the line to protect the sheep.
Sleeping out on the hills at night can be dangerous.
There are predators who are looking for an easy meal.
A good shepherd puts himself between the predator and the most vulnerable of his flock.
The hireling says, “you can pay me for my time, but you can’t pay me enough to risk my life.”
He doesn’t care about the sheep - he cares about his paycheck.
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