Sermon Tone Analysis

Criticism of being Christ-centric, New Testament emphasizing

Hymn: “Just a Closer Walk With Thee”

Just a closer walk with Thee, Grant it, Jesus, is my plea, Daily walking close to Thee, Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

I am weak, but Thou art strong, Jesus, keep me from all wrong, I’ll be satisfied as long As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.

Through this world of toil and snares, If I falter, Lord, who cares?

Who with me my burden shares?

None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.

When my feeble life is o’er, Time for me will be no more, Guide me gently, safely o’er To Thy kingdom's shore, to Thy shore.

I.

The Will to Leave it All Behind (Philip 3:7)

"Take This Job and Shove It" is a 1977 country music song written by David Allan Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck, about the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard with no apparent reward.

The song was first recorded by Paycheck on his album also titled Take This Job and Shove It.

The recording hit number one on the country charts for two weeks, spending 18 weeks on the charts.[1]

It was Paycheck's only #1 hit.

What kind of things brought you joy before Christ?

What thing may keep you from joy in Christ because you are relying upon other temporary joys?

II.

The Reason for the Abandonment (Philip 3:8-9)

What Are You willing to leave behind.

What if we are not just speaking of salvation but the fellowship with God that salvation provides?

Jeremiah 31:31–34 (ESV)

The New Covenant

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

III.

The Greatest thing of All (Philip 3:10-11)

Isn’t it amazing that those who often walk with God so much closer than the general public actually crave to walk even closer with him

This is Paul’s greatest desire in verse 10.

Here he seems to go beyond the closeness of salvation and into the arena of personal fellowship.

Moses