Sermon Tone Analysis

Advent Reading

Communion

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.””

Witness…I caught the famous clip from a few good men the other day when tom cruise is questioning Jack Nicholson when he finally says:

“You want answers?”

“I want the Truth!”

“You can’t handle the truth!”

Truth…is a funny thing.

We all believe in telling the truth…but we’re careful about what truths we share, when and with whom.

Jesus tells us we will be his witnesses.

In the power of the Holy Spirit we will tell the truth about what we have seen and experienced because of Jesus.

But we struggle to speak that truth to the world around us…we struggle often to speak that truth to one another.

Communion is a time we intentionally stop and remember Jesus, he tells his disciples to “Do this in remembrance of me”

I want us to do something this next year.

I want us to remember Jesus in our stories.

We practice communion once a month, so I am going to ask for 12 of you to share your stories over the course of 2023.

We will use video and I’ll work with you to help you share just one 4 minute story of Jesus at work in you.

If you are willing to consider it, will you write that down on a connection card or otherwise let me know so I can begin putting together a schedule.

Today, I’ll share one of mine.

I remember Jesus.

About 18 years ago, I had just lost my job and it was my own fault.

Our Son was fresh out of the NICU, our daughter 2.5, and I was devastated.

Monica was gracious, but rightly upset.

I was ashamed and scared.

I went alone to the Wednesday night service at the church we attended at that time.

Hoping I wouldn’t run into anyone we knew, but both knowing I needed Jesus and wondering if he still had any grace left for me.

A couple songs in the band played a super upbeat song.

“I’m trading my sorrows, I’m trading my pain.

I’m laying them down for the joy of the Lord.

I’m trading my sickness, I’m trading my shame, I’m laying them down for the joy of the lord.”

Then came the most profound theological chorus ever written

“I’m saying yes Lord, yes Lord, Yes yes Lord.

Yes Lord yes Lord, Yes Yes Lord, Yes Lord Yes Lord Yes Yes Lord Amen”

The tears started to flow.

Shame?

check.

Sorrow?

check.

Laying them down?

How do I do that?

In that moment it was like I heard Jesus whisper, “I died for all that.”

I bore shame, I bore pain so you could experience life.

“Do you believe in the resurrection?”

-I do.

Then how hard can it be to believe I can give you joy that overcomes shame?

How do I do that?

You say, yes.

About that time the chorus started again and I kinda ugly cried through it, but I said yes. and Jesus was faithful.

I went home with hope, I got to work, and one step at a time God restored us.

Kept our marriage in tact, restored our finances, our kids never went without what they needed.

Today, as we take these elements, this is how I remember Jesus.

I can’t wait to hear how you remember him.

1 corinthians 11:23-26 “For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.

Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

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Luke 10:25-37 “Then an expert in the law stood up to test him, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the law?”

he asked him.

“How do you read it?”

He answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” and “your neighbor as yourself.”

“You’ve answered correctly,” he told him.

“Do this and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus took up the question and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of robbers.

They stripped him, beat him up, and fled, leaving him half dead.

A priest happened to be going down that road.

When he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

In the same way, a Levite, when he arrived at the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

But a Samaritan on his journey came up to him, and when he saw the man, he had compassion.

He went over to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on olive oil and wine.

Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him.

When I come back I’ll reimburse you for whatever extra you spend.’

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” “The one who showed mercy to him,” he said.

Then Jesus told him, “Go and do the same.””

Several threads in this story.

Each one impacting the others.

We have the expert in the law…who wanted to test Jesus, but had his heart put to the test instead

Then there are the characters in Jesus’ story.

A man traveling, robbers, a priest and a Levite, and then a Samaritan.

A nation of half-Jews, despised by and isolated from their Jewish relatives.

All prompted by the question, What must I do to inherit eternal life?

What kind of life pleases God?

As the threads weave in an out of this story, you can imagine the shock of being robbed, then the pain of watching those who know God best moving to the other side of the street.

If God has rejected me…who won’t?

Then the one who had no reason to care, chose to care.

Chose compassion, chose mercy.

Which of these three PROVED to be a neighbor…the one who showed mercy…go and do the same.

Mercy, Compassion.

Not just for those you know and love, but the one before you.

The poor family not sure what to do next