Sermon Tone Analysis

I Hate Onions.

Picky Eaters Need Encouragement Too!

(ME) INTRODUCTION - I HATE ONIONS and MUSHROOMS

If you ask Andrea, she will tell you I am a picky eater.

I'm so picky, If I don't like something, I'll say "I'm allergic" to it just to justify my hatred for foods I dislike eating.

For instance, I hate onions.

They smell awful.

They make you cry when you chop them.

When they are cooked, they are slimy.

They taste terrible when you try to eat them and make your breath stink.

And they smell up the whole house.

Onions are the grossest food ever created!

I also place mushrooms, liver, hearts, and squash in the grossness category.

If you eat them, we can't be friends!

LOL!

MUSHROOM STORY - Mike

Mike invited us to lunch after church.

As a joke, he put a stuffed toy mushroom on my plate.

He knew how much I despised those things.

They are called Shitake mushrooms for a reason, if you know what I mean.

Since I'm being honest about my dislike for the food, I also think salt is the greatest substance made!

As a matter of fact, the known salt mines in the USA cover thousands of square miles centralized in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Utah, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Salt is so amazing it is used to enhance the flavor of good food, preserve meat and fish, help make ice cream; it promotes good vascular health, balances electrolytes, prevents muscle cramps, supports a healthy nervous system, and improves sleep.

If you have a sore throat, gargle with salt water, which helps eliminate the pain.

Too bad salt can't help me eat onions, mushrooms, liver, heart, and squash.

Those things should be put in the trash!

LOL

(WE) We all have (food) preferences.

However, if you want to go to Heaven, you'll agree with my food choices.

If you want to risk it, eat those nasty things.

I mean, the Bible says, "Each of us will give an account of yourselves to God" (Romans 14:12).

{LAUGH}

Okay, I know it's taken out of context, but I have a point.

Think about this: PEOPLE'S PREFERENCES AREN'T A HEAVEN OF HELL THING.

Let me qualify this statement.

Food preferences are different from lifestyle choices.

Food preferences are not a sin, while some lifestyle choices are sinful and go against God's Word, His commands and laws.

Regarding judgment, we all will stand before God someday to give an account for our choices and decisions outside of God's will!

CHOICES: We have so many choices today.

Go to the grocery store and buy a spaghetti sauce bottle.

There are dozens and dozens of choices.

Some have meat; others don't.

Or they have garlic and herbs, or just plain ole sauce.

Others are sweeter, while some are saltier — choices upon choices.

Honestly, your food choices come down to preferences.

You prefer onion, and I don't.

You prefer liver, and I don't.

Your preferences are based on your likes and dislikes.

They have no moral or ethical ramifications.

And your opinion about what I eat or you eat is truly irrelevant in the scope of eternity.

Let me add some other choices we make based on preferences.

However, our preferences should be honoring to the Lord!

• Music - Do you listen to God-honoring music?

Worship wars (stylistic preferences)

• Dancing - Are you dancing to the Lord with your spouse or to provoke a sexual response?

• Alcohol in moderation isn't a sin.

However, drunkenness is considered a sin.

There are TABOO issues that are not based on choice preference but Biblical and societal norms/ lines you don't cross that are sins.

• Incest

• Abortion

• Gossip

• Slander

• Adultery

• Premarital Sex

• Homosexuality

• Theft/Bribery

• ETC.

However, we must not quarrel over opinions.

(GOD) DO NOT QUARREL OVER OPINIONS

[SLIDE – SCRIPTURE]

Romans 14:1–4 (ESV)

As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions.

One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.

Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him.

Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another?

It is before his own master that he stands or falls.

And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

For thousands of years, the church has fought over unimportant issues such as:

• When Jesus returns a second time,

• What day to observe the sabbath,

• What types of clothing, hair, and make-up to wear, and

• What version of the Bible is the correct translation.

These unimportant issues have kept the church from succeeding at its fundamental mission to "Go and Make Disciples of the nations "(Matt.

28:18-20).

Too often, we have taken the part of the Great Commission out of context that says, "And teach them to obey everything I have commanded you" (verse 20).

We've tried to dictate what to eat, how to prepare it, what to wear, what not to drink, eat or dance, which version of the Bible is correct or what style of music is appropriate for churches to sing.

For the most part, it's a distraction to the furtherance of the Gospel.

Therefore, stop passing judgment...

STOP PASSING JUDGMENT

[SLIDE – SCRIPTURE]

Romans 14:13 (NIV84)

Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another.

Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way.

Passing judgment puts you in that place of authority over a brother or sister in Christ.

Essentially, you've taken the Biblical role of lawgiver that's not your ordained place to be.

Too often in the church, there are more leaders than followers—each person wanting their way to the detriment of the Gospel.

As I teasingly stated earlier but now make a point, "each of us will give an account of himself to God" (Romans 14:12).

[SLIDE – SCRIPTURE]

Romans 14:12 (NIV84)

So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

God will hold us accountable for our actions, attitudes, and words.