Sermon Tone Analysis

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Outline:

Today’s story is about Paul and Barnabas, do you remember them from the last couple weeks?

Paul and Barnabas are still traveling from town to town teaching people about Jesus

When they get to this place called Antioch, they decide to go to the Synagogue and teach the people

When Paul has a chance to speak, he shared the whole gospel with them!

Does anyone know what gospel means?

It means good news!

Specifically, It is the good news about Jesus

Tons of people decided to follow Jesus, and the next day, almost everyone in the city comes to hear about Jesus!

But the Jewish leaders were not happy about this… They disagreed with Paul’s teaching about Jesus

So they started doing bad things to Paul and Barnabas and made them leave the city

But lots of people believed in Jesus and were saved by the gospel!

Today we are going to talk about one of the most foundational, yet under applied aspects of the christian faith.

This story today is powerful, straight forward, and deeply necessary.

This topic is the foundation for every christian endeavor, because it is the lens in which we see the world.

Of course, what I am talking about is the gospel.

Gospel is a term we hear a lot in church settings, and because it is so common it is easy to forget the meaning and relevance.

The word gospel just means, “good news.”

But what “good news” is it referring to in this context?

The Apostle Paul will unpack that for us in today’s text, so we will talk more about that specifically as we go along.

However, the critical piece of this I want you to understand right upfront is that in this world there are many things claiming to be gospel, AKA “good news” The words of Paul we will read in are so crucial for us guarding against the lies and false gospels the world presents to us.

The world is constantly feeding us lies through tv, social media, our friends, our professors, culture in general, our coworkers, and almost every other aspect of society.

We need to constantly be reminding each other of the gospel, because the messages from the world can be very compelling.

Listen to this quote from Bruce Thornton, writing for the Hoover Institution in an article titled “The Religion of Environmentalism.”

“This summer President Obama visited Alaska, where he stood in front of a shrinking glacier and said, “Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now.”

At a conference in Anchorage, he made the apocalyptic prediction that “submerged countries, abandoned cities . . .

entire industries of people who can’t practice their livelihoods, desperate refugees seeking the sanctuary of nations not their own, and political disruptions that could trigger multiple conflicts around the globe” would be the wages of failing to act now to stop global warming.”

Regardless of whether or not you believe these comments from President Obama are realistic, this quote is meant to serves as an illustration for something far bigger than the potential threat of global warming.

The things the president are saying might be true, I am not up here to pass a judgment on that today.

The reason I am showing you this quote is to highlight a critical part of a false gospel narrative.

Here’s what I mean: In the true christian gospel, we see the fall of mankind as rebellion against God.

All people fall short of the glory of God because of sin.

In global warming narrative, the fall of mankind the shrinking glaciers and the warming of the plant over time.

This is one of many parallel that transform the modern view of global warming into more than I potential threat, it becomes a lens in which people see the world.

It can become a religion.

It can become a person’s gospel.

The worldview version of global warming sounds something like this:

The world would be perfect and healthy if it were left alone, this is its original and perfect state (Creation)

But because of carbon omissions and other compounding factors mankind has fallen into disarray and impending doom (Fall)

But we have a way to salvation, if everyone does their part we will be saved!

The fallen world will be redeemed (Redemption)

Then the planet will be saved and mankind will live happily for the rest of time (Restoration)

Does this narrative pattern sound familiar?

It is the story of the christian gospel, repackaged as a worldview that promises salvation that it cannot deliver.

As we will discuss later, the narrative is a mirror image of the Christian Gospel, yet it places the salvation and hope for mankind in a place that offers no hope or salvation.

Today’s message is so relevant for us as we try to navigate the countless claims of good news in the world.

Today’s message will help us apply the true gospel to these worldly claims.

Let’s pray, and ask the Lord to guide us before we approach the text.

Prayer:

Father, please speak to us through Your word.

We are unable to interpret this on our own and truly understand the deepest meaning.

Reveal truth to us, and help us go beyond simple interpretation.

Help us get to the heart, and transform us.

Give me wisdom as I teach, and open the ears of your people to hear.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Turn in your bibles to Acts chapter 13.

I believe it is important for us to read this whole text first, primarily so we can hear Paul’s sermon in its entirety.

Let’s dive right into it starting in Verse 13: {Don’t read the text again}

In the first verse you may notice a shift.

Up to this point it has always said, Barnabas and Saul, now it says “Paul and his companions.”

This is actually intentional.

The first person mentioned represents the leader of the group.

When they started out on this journey Barnabas was the leader, this was his thing.

He went and found Paul and invited him to be a part of it.

John Mark was with them too.

Yet for whatever reason, possibly because they were traveling to Roman territory, but we don’t know for sure, Paul is appointed as the new leader.

John Mark also drops off at this point.

It says pretty plainly that he left them to head back to Jerusalem.

We don’t know why he left, lots of people speculate different things.

But Regardless of the reason, we know this is seen as a little bit of a desertion.

It is an abandonment of some kind, and it is counted as a fault against him.

We know this because when Paul is preparing for another trip he references Mark’s decision to leave in Acts chapter 15.

Paul is dealing with some kind of illness at this point too, and that is actually the reason they head to this region.

This region is know as Galatia, and Paul explains this in his letter to them later on:

Some people speculate this illness was malaria, because it was a common affliction to those in the lower regions.

Whereas it wasn’t so much of a problem at higher altitudes, like in Galatia.

They finally reach their destination, which was Antioch.

I won’t go into more detail on this city, but just know it is not the Antioch they came from when they started this journey.

It is a different city with the same name.

Once they arrive, they follow the same pattern of preaching in the Synagogues.

We covered some of the strategic reasons they might have done this in our message last week, go and check that out if you missed it!

So they are sitting in the Synagog, and after reading from the Law and the prophets, they address Paul and Barnabas and ask them if they have any exhortation for the people.

This might seem kind of weird, but it wasn’t uncommon for a prominent figure to be called on during this part of their routine.

After all, Paul was an educated man.

He was well respected, and he studied under the great Gamaliel.

Paul wouldn’t have been surprised by this invitation, and he takes full advantage of the oportunity to share.

Paul proceeds to share a sermon that can be broken into three parts:

The anticipation and preparation for the coming Messiah

The rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus

The application and appeal

I’ll give you a minute to write those down, then we will pick it back up in verse 16 to cover the first part of his sermon:

This is a masterful explanation of the anticipation of the coming Messiah.

It is very relevant for the Jews and the Gentiles who are present, because both groups in this case would have had a reverence for God and would have been anticipating the Messiah.

When he says “and those who fear God,” he is talking about God fearing Gentiles.

Paul is preaching a sermon that is fully rooted in the scriptures, and diligently explaining from the old testament how Jesus is the fulfillment of it all.

His knowledge of the scriptures and first hand encounter with Jesus allows him to connect all the dots, and he walks through a significant amount of the history leading up to Jesus’ arrival.

He references John the Baptist, a well known figure.

Making the claim that John was preparing the way for Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Paul continues in part two: The rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus

Paul continues his message, deeply rooted in the scripture they know and trust, and points to Jesus as the Messiah.