Sermon Tone Analysis

How many of you remember the old hymn “Tell me the story of Jesus”?

The lyrics go like this: “Tell me the story of Jesus // write on my heart every word; Tell me the story most previous // the sweetest that ever was heard.

Tell how the angels in chorus // sang as they welcomed his birth.

Glory to God in the highest // peace and good tidings to earth.”

“Fasting alone in the desert // tell of the days that are past.

How for our sins he was tempted, yet was triumphant at last.

Tell of the years of his labor // tell of the sorrow he bore.

He was despised and afflicted // homeless, rejected and poor.”

“Tell of the cross where they laid Him // writhing in anguish and pain; tell of the grace where they laid him // tell how he liveth again.

Love in that story so tender // clearer than ever I see; stay, let me weep while you whisper, “love paid the ransom for me.”

“Tell me how he’s gone back to heaven // up to the right hand of God; how he is there interceding // while on this earth we must trod.

Tell of the sweet Holy Spirit // He has poured out from above; Tell how He’s coming in glory // for all of the saints of His love.”

Tell me the story of Jesus.

The story of Jesus.

What you’ll notice in that song, is that the story of Jesus is one that begins long ago in the past, and one that if it ever ends, it will end in the glory of heave after all of this has passed away and been made new.

The story of Jesus is the subject of this passage this morning.

The apostle Paul preaches his first recorded sermon here in Acts 13:13-52.

And in this sermon, Paul tells us the story of Jesus.

Will you walk through that story with me?

#1: The Story Of Jesus: preparing the way

Will you look with me in your Bibles at vv. 16-21?

Just read along with me.

And notice with me what Paul does.

Both of these are essential if you’re going to come with me to the end of this sermon and still know what’s going on.

First, look with me at the second half of verse 16, right before verse 17:

To churched & unchurched alike (v.

16b)

“Men of Israel” are ethnic Israelites

= Lifelong churchgoers

“You who fear God” are Gentiles/non-Jews

= Nor Christians yet, but seeking

Notice with me, first, who Paul addresses it to: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God...” Those are Jews who have always been, ethnic Jews.

Men of Israel.

These are those of you in the room this morning who have been Christians so long you don’t ever remember a time when you were not Christians, or a time when you didn’t go to church.

Then there’s a second group: “you who fear God”.

Those are Gentiles.These are seekers.

Are there any seekers here today?

In the room today we have churched and unchurched people.

Now Paul, in order to preach this sermon to churched and unchurched, to Israelite and Gentile, this sermon that’s about the story ofJesus, starts with the nation of Israel coming out of Egyptian slavery.

That’s centuries before Christ came.

What gives?

He keeps doing it, too.

First it’s Israel in Egyptian slavery.

Then it’s 40 years of the wilderness wanderings — the book of Numbers.

Then he has the Israelites finally in the promised land of Canaan, centuries before Christ.

And on and on he goes — from Canaan until Saul and through Saul down to King David.

Why tell us all of that?

The sermons that we read in the Bible — here’s the thing about them: they almost never begin with time present time.

Why is that?

Well, it’s because the story of Jesus is not a fairy tale.

It’s not “Once upon a time, Jesus was born and then He died for our sins and rose again and here we are.”

That’s what a fairy tale would do.

But when Paul wants to tell the story of Jesus, he doesn’t start with Jesus Himself — He goes way back to into the history of Israel and then traces that history all the way up to Jesus.

He does this — are you ready?

He does this in order to fix in our minds that these things really happen.

And all of it has led us to Jesus.

[SLIDE: WHO IS JESUS?]

Who is Jesus?

(vv.

17-23)

The greater and better Joshua

The greater and better Samuel

The greater and better Saul

The greater and better David

We read about Joshua - Jesus is the greater and better Joshua.

We read about Samuel the prophet — Jesus is the true Prophet, the One Samuel pointed to.

Same with Saul.

Same with David.

Jesus is the Greater and Better David.

And here we find the most important verse in this first section of Paul’s sermon, a verse that summarizes everything I’ve been saying the last five minutes, and that’s verse 23: “Of this man” — speaking of David — “of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, as he promised.”

The story of Jesus is the culmination of hundreds and hundreds of years of history in which God was working in and through real people who you can read about in history books, in actual places in the world you could point to on a map, with actual events that you can read about or that archaeology has confirmed for us.

We cannot understand Jesus, who He is, why He came, unless we understand the preparation for His coming.

Next, we cannot understand the story of Jesus without understanding the fact of His coming.

#2: The Story Of Jesus: His coming

I know we say this every year, but this year Christmas has come upon us so fast.

Shannon and I were talking the other day and I asked her, “Does it feel like Christmas and Thanksgiving and cold weather — does it feel like all of that has been imposed upon us before it was time?

And of course the answer is, no, it hasn’t been imposed on us.

It’s just that every year we become busier and busier, and so we feel like time passes so much more quickly every year.

Oh my goodness, Christmas is in three weeks, now it’s in two weeks, now Christmas is ten days away, five days, three days — and then all of a sudden its December 26 and I’m feeling like it never really happened.

But it’s still coming and it’s our job to find a way to be present so that we don’t miss the whole reason why we celebrate it.

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[SLIDE: ADVENT = COMING]

We are people who inhabit time.

To live in this world, is to live within the constraints of time and space.

I cannot walk through the pulpit.

I can’t back time up and go redo something I wish I had done differently.

God exists outside of time and space.

He has none of those limitations.

He is timeless.

And part of the wonder of Christmas is that at Christmas we celebrate the coming of the Timeless One into the world of space and time, and taking on those limitations that we have.

Christmas is the coming of the Timeless God into the world of space and time and living as a human being bound by space and time.

Advent = “Coming”

“The arrival of a notable person, thing, or event.”

Season of Advent: The period of time on the church calendar beginning four Sundays before Christmas

Google: Advent devotional

We actually find that word in verse.

24: “Before His coming, John had proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.”

Did you know the word Advent means “coming”?

The church calendar season of Advent.

Did you know Advent means coming?

]It’s when we pause our busy lives and stop our going and coming so that we can find joy in the One who has come and is coming to us to bring us salvation.