Sermon Tone Analysis

Ephesians 5:15-20

INTRODUCTION

Kareoke - Everybody is a contender for Australian Idol

Music is powerful and evokes strong connections to a time, place and or feeling

90’s music was my era and I can’t remember imortant things at times, but can almost remember every lyric to 90’s music

Black Sorrows will be playing here at Collie, it has a link to a childhood memory

We sing loud at our favourite Genre of music, or at our favourite sporting event (team song), even the National Anthem if we are patriotic

How about singing worship songs together corporately?

Why don’t we sing as we should, considering it is truth and linked to eternal salvation and memories and considering it is a command.

Points for Today

Living with purpose

Living in the Spirit

V15-17 - Taking everyopportunity to live in Christ’s light (Is.

60:1) and (Eph 5:14) we must remember this letter is to a church on mission, they are keeping themselves pure to advance the kingdom of God, as well as for themselves and God.

Psalm 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”

It isn’t a matter of someone just saying they believe in God, any fool can say that.

Many people in this world we agree that they believe in God.

It is the actions of a person that show if they actually believe in God.

What does your actions say about you?

Is your Years, Month, Week, Day focused on living out a life that is worthy (Eph 4:1)?

Are you reedeming the time as Paul commands here?

You might say, yes I would love to do that but I am struggling with time..

Let us redeem the time, Pauls first audience also had time issues.

We have so many things that are supposed to free up our time that are actually the complete opposite.

Who here has a smart phone?

I am sure it has the function as my Iphone that tells you the screen times that is how long you are on it as an average.

It might shock you, couple that with Facebook, YouTube etc and we are wasting hours upon hours, that can add up to weeks and months and even years worth of loss over our lifetime.

Time away from our priority, which is a church that is on mission, a church that is committed to going out and sharing the gospel so the outsider can become the insider and be saved from judgment and God’s wrath.

We may need to reprioritize our life, readadjust the our aim and trajectory, a recallibrate to drop timewasting gadgets and life pursuits, and look for opportuinites to be on mission again.

So taking opportuniuties would be, serving at Youth Group, or discipleship with a neighbour, or sharing your faith with your hairdresser, or a friend at school.

Redeem the time, be about the Father’s business.

You know what should be happening inside churches, inside our church?

You all should be creating a problem, a good problem.

Every role like audio/visual, maitenance, hospitality, church cleaning, through to Youth Group, Carols, witnessing ministries, bible stuy leaders etc.

The problem is this, we should be so inundated that we have to figure out how to use all of you, the church bank account should be so overflowing that we struggle to find use for it amongst ourselves and the world for the gospels sake.

That is what it looks like to walk out our life and redeem the time.

We are to wake up everyday with optimism becasue every new day is a new opportunity to share Christ to all, becasue there will come a day when Jesus will return and the terrifying wrath of God’s judgement upon the unrepent wicked, namely all those outside the Church.

Be wise and not foolish with your time or acts that will make you stray like getting drunk.

V18 - Alcohol is not forbidden in the bible, infact in some cases it was used to calm stomach’s and to enjoy in small amounts.

Wine was not grape juice as some would say, one big reason is that kids don’t get drunk on ribeana nor do adults get drunk on grape juice.

The bible says not to be a ‘wine bibber’ which means get drunk.

Like other drugs, alcohol affects the way your body works.

It can also be toxic and addictive.

Drinking a small amount of alcohol can make you feel more relaxed or happy, but alcohol is actually a depressant.

This means it: slows down the messages that travel between your brain and your bodyaffects the way you think, feel and behave.

Leading to poor impulse control and desision making.

As we know by getting drunk can lead to sexual acts and other debaucherous ways.

At least half of all acquaintance sexual assaults involve alcohol consumption by the perpetrator, the victim, or most commonly, both.

It also can impair the fight or flight reflex, meaning a victim may miss cues to flee from a potential dangereous encounter.

Alcohol can also lead to detoriated motor skills and cognitive function, and the ability to judge such things as distance.

The toll rate of alcohol death is very high in Australia.

Approximately 5,500 deaths and 157,000 hospital admissions are attributed to alcohol consumption in Australia each year, and alcohol-related harm costs the economy more than $14 billion per annum.

Christian lives can get ruined by alcohol misuse as well, and becasue it is more taboo in Church circles than secular people suffer in silence.

Alot of secret drinking leads to broken relationships, through fighting etc.

There is also a problem among the clergy as well.

I have known a few Pastors who’s life fell apart from drinking to cope with stress, in some cases leading to marriage fall out.

If that plight isn’t enough to show you the troubles that drunkeness brings remember;

Prov 23:29-35 “Who has woe?

Who has sorrow?

Who has strife?

Who has complaints?

Who has needless bruises?

Who has bloodshot eyes?

Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.

Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!

In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.

Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.

“They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt!

They beat me, but I don’t feel it!

When will I wake up so I can find another drink?””

So remember that drink can lead to a problem if not checked, and in some cases it may be a real temptation to stop at one and so in many cases it may be better to have none.

Becasue if you cannot recognise that one to many it is already too late, better to heed Paul’s advice.

Alcohol drunkeness leads to wasting time, money, and abuse of the body which is

V19-20 - Living in the Spirit means I am a worshipper (with my mind, words, body and actions), I am thankful to God (credit him)

You will hear me say alot about making sure we are governed by the bbjective more than the subjective, or in other words engage and listen to the brain more than letting your emotions lead you, for they can lead you astray.

In saying that though, we are emotional beings who feel and have a variety of emotions to express ourselves.

We have been designed that way to experience the glory of God and to feel the gospel very deeply in our souls.

They are there also so that we can enjoy the splendour of creation that has been created for us.

It is also has been wired into us so that we can be passionate about Jesus and of course the highest emotion of true love, this is also, so we can express that to others in relationship and evangelism.

You may have been raised in an over anti-emotion church environment, you need to be careful that you don’t overbalance in that, just as much as a very anti-objective believer.

Yes we need to ensure we are not emotional in the sense that Jesus is our bearded girlfriend or boyfriend.

But we are reminded of Psalm 51:15

Singing passionatley is only reflecting a God who sings passionatley over us his children, he describes himself in Zeph 3:17 as the singing warrior.

Zeph 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.””

Singing is not an optional extra, it is commanded by Paul.

My own testimony should encourage you, I have always been a person who did not sing.

I am an introvert by nature, and a self-confessed bad singer.

I had to sing at school once in Music class and was laughed at by the whole class including the teacher.

So when I became a Christian it surprised me that I lived out Psalm 51:15 and can’t help but sing songs to the Lord in both private and corporate worship.

Worship is not Kareoke!

I had a young suicidal guy at Byford who after some counsel and discipleship decided to come to church, something he sweared and declared he would never do.

When he came in he said to me that “Oh you do Kareoke here” it took me a minute, but when I saw the words on the screen behind me as the Worship team was doing their final practice.

It made sense on what he was saying and I replied ‘Yea, I guess, Christian Kareoke, but it is also very different”.

At the end of Church he came up to me and siad with tears in his heart “that was not Kareoke at all” He met God that morning in the songs, and it wasn’t long after that, that he was saved.

Oh, by the way he was singing along.

So why don’t we all sing at church by and large, or to make it a bit more uncomfortable, whay do some of you find it difficult to sing to the Lord.

We sing the National Anthem no doubt with a bit of gusto, also our favourite song from the 60’s, 70’s or 80’s.