Sermon Tone Analysis

Lay Me Down

WELCOME

Good morning family.

Hear the Word of the Lord from Psalm 33:16-18...

“The king is not saved by his great army; a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.

The war horse is a false hope for salvation, and by its great might it cannot rescue.

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love”

Every day we’re tempted to put our hope in small things...

We gather to remind ourselves to hope in God!

In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 12.

You can find it on PAGE 971 in the black Bibles.

Turn there now.

While you’re turning, 2 quick announcements:

1) A word about PBC.

We are Missionaries.

735 shoeboxes packed last Sunday night

Thankful for our volunteers who have worked hard all week at our collection center

2) Members Meeting, tonight at 5:30 in the chapel

VOTE ON 2023 BUDGET PROPOSAL

INCLUDE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR INCOMING MEMBERS

Sam & Dennie Hamontree

Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 12:15 as Lorin Watkins comes to read for us.

Scripture Reading (Matthew 12:15-21)

Prayer of Praise (God is Glorious), Lorin Watkins

Love Come Down

Anchor of Hope

Prayer of Confession (Complaining), Adam Hess

The Reformation Song

PBC Catechism #47

What is our responsibility as disciples?

With God’s help we pledge to grow in obedience to Christ and His Word, laboring to put our sin to death while abstaining from sexual immorality, drunkenness, substance abuse, gluttony, and other practices which harm the body or jeopardize our own or another’s faith.

We further pledge to help one another as we follow Jesus together.

Pastoral Prayer (Hopson)

Thanksgiving—Sufficiency of Scripture

Prayer for PBC—A Culture of Discipleship

Prayer for sister church—Fox Hill Road Baptist Church (Nathan Cecil)

MM after morning service today

Unity regarding the budget

Wisdom for the elders

Nathan, Jancy, Calvin, Susanna, Bennett, and Jane

Prayer for US—Against homelessness

Prayer for the world—Iceland

Leader—Guðni Jóhannesson [goo-dnee yo-hahn-ah-son]

Protection for the unborn, justice for vulnerable, flourishing for all

Spiritual issue(s)—90% claim to be Christians, but most are not involved in church

Local churches—healthy, holy, faithful

Laborers

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

In a Peanut’s cartoon Lucy and Linus are sitting in front of the television set when Lucy says to Linus, “Go get me a glass of water.”

Linus looks surprised and asks, “Why should I do anything for you?

You never do anything for me...”

Lucy matter-of-factly promises, “On your seventy-fifth birthday, I’ll bake you a cake.”

With a smile on his face, Linus gets up and walks towards the kitchen to get a glass of water for his big sister.

In the final frame of the comic he says “Life is more pleasant when you have something to look forward to.” [1]

Some people think that’s what it looks like for a Christian to believe in Jesus.

It’s a vague, naïve, foolish hope that one day in the future maybe, just maybe, we’ll receive something good from God.

That’s not Christian hope.

Our hope for the future is rooted in what God has already done in the past.

Turn to Matthew 12:15

The Pharisees are conspiring to kill Jesus!

Why?

Because Jesus threatened their religion (Sabbath rules)

While the elite Jews reject Jesus, the lowly Gentiles begin to put their hope in Him...

Matthew 12:15-21—Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there.

And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known.

This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Behold, my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets; a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not quench, until he brings justice to victory; and in his name the Gentiles will hope.”

Notice, the passage ends with the good news that Gentiles will hope in Jesus.

Eight reasons why Gentiles (and everyone else) should hope in Jesus:

1) He Accomplishes the MISSION of God

15a-16—Jesus, aware [that the Pharisees were plotting to kill Him], withdrew from there.

Why did Jesus withdraw?

Fear?

No!

If He was afraid He wouldn’t have confronted the Pharisees, said “haven’t you read,” or healed on the Sabbath in the first place!

Just read how He responds during physical torture later in the Gospel, and you’ll see He’s not afraid!

Why then?

Because He had a mission from God that must be accomplished.

What was His mission?

John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The Father sent His Son on a mission.

But what was Jesus supposed to do?

Matthew 20:28—“...the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Next week: Christmas sermon series called “Born to die”

15b-16—And many followed him, and he healed them all and ordered them not to make him known.

Why did Jesus tell people not to “spill the beans” about who He was?

Some say it’s because He didn’t believe He was God.

Nonsense!

He didn’t want His miracles to distract from His mission!

Jesus has bigger plans than your current sense of wellbeing

Hope in Jesus because He accomplishes the mission of God.

But you should also hope in Him because...

2) He Fulfills the WORD of God

17—This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

What follows is Matthew’s translation of Isaiah 42:1-4, which is the longest quotation of the OT in the Gospels

This is one of hundreds of different OT prophecies fulfilled by Jesus...

He was born in Bethlehem, preceded by a messenger, entered Jerusalem on a donkey, betrayed by a friend for thirty pieces of silver, silent before His accusers, stricken by a rod, mocked by His accusers, hung on a tree, pierced by His enemies, buried in a borrowed tomb, and resurrected on the third day.

Jesus is the seed of the woman who crushes the head of the Serpent