Sermon Tone Analysis

Worldviews:

How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture by Francis A. Schaeffer

How Now Shall We Live? by Charles Colson

Going All In for Jesus:

What does that look like for a U.S. Representative?

In particular, I hear Rep. Boebert from CO making interesting statements: show video

How do you feel about what she said?

In an article on RawStory.com:

Christianity 'has devolved into a rabid tribe': Lauren Boebert bashed for praying for Biden's death

"THIS is the self-proclaimed party of Jesus Christ," tweeted political commentator Lindy Li. "This is the self-appointed party of Christianity SHAME ON YOU!

This is why church pews are emptying at a ferocious rate.

Why increasing numbers of Americans now say they are religiously unaffiliated.

Christianity in America has devolved into a rabid tribe of Talibangelicals and gun-totin Y’all Qaeda fanatics."

Others noted that her so-called "sermon" included her promoting her legislation to impeach the president and argued that bringing politics into church pews is a reason that churches should lose their tax-exempt status.

1 Timothy 2:1–8 (LSB) First of all, then, I exhort that petitions and prayers, requests and thanksgivings, be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the full knowledge of the truth.

5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the witness for this proper time.

7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

Do you think Bobert’s prayer is what Paul had in mind?

Would (did?) Jesus have prayed this way?

Psalm 109:1–13 (LSB) O God of my praise, Do not be silent! 2 For they have opened a wicked mouth and a deceitful mouth against me; They have spoken to me with a lying tongue.

3 They have also surrounded me with words of hatred, And fought against me without cause.

4 In return for my love they accuse me; But I am in prayer.

5 Thus they have set upon me evil for good And hatred for my love.

6 Appoint a wicked man over him, And let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him come forth a wicked man, And let his prayer become sin.

8 Let his days be few; Let another take his office.

9 Let his sons be orphans And his wife a widow.

10 Let his sons wander aimlessly and beg; And let them search for food from their ruined homes.

11 Let the creditor seize all that he has, And let strangers plunder the fruit of his labor.

12 Let there be none to extend lovingkindness to him, And let there be none to be gracious to his orphans.

13 Let those who follow him be cut off; In a following generation let their name be blotted out.

One of David’d imprecatory psalms - where he prayed curses on those who persecuted him

Still valid?

Special note: Imprecatory prayer is a common and often-troubling category of prayer in Psalms (e.g., Pss 12; 35; 52; 58; 59; 69; 70; 83; 109; 137; 140).

Many have objected to imprecatory prayers as contrary to the New Testament principle of love and kindness even to one’s enemies (apparently forgetting that these are Old Testament principles as well; see Exod 23:4–5; Job 31:29–30; Prov 25:21).

Some dismiss them as hyperbole.

Others characterize them as outright sin (C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms).

An evaluation of imprecatory prayer needs to consider the following points: (1) Imprecatory prayers are not limited to the Psalms (e.g., Neh 4:4–5; Jer 18:19–23).

(2) Imprecatory prayers are not even limited to the Old Testament (cf. 1 Cor 16:22; Gal 1:8–9; 2 Tim 4:14).

Even godly and glorified martyrs are depicted as praying such prayers (Rev 6:9–10; cf.

Rev 8:3–4).

Therefore, imprecatory prayers do not reflect an Old Testament spirit at odds with a New Testament spirit.

(3) Graphic language may often be metaphorical; for example, prayers for God to “break the teeth of the wicked” (Ps 58:6) may imply “de-fanging” the wicked, debilitating their capacity to do harm.

(4) Imprecatory prayers express (a) a spirit of meekness and deference to God as the ultimate judge (notably true of King David’s imprecations, since he had the ability to level judgment on his own enemies); (b) a God-like, holy hatred of evil; (c) a desire for divine vindication, not personal vindictiveness; and (d) faith and confession that God will certainly judge the resolutely wicked.

Talbert, L. (2018).

Prayer in the Life of the Church.

In M. Ward, J. Parks, B. Ellis, & T. Hains (Eds.),

Lexham Survey of Theology.

Lexham Press.

SESSION 4 ALL IN ALL: BURN THE SHIPS

If we are going to go all in and all out for the All in All, it will mean following God’s Plan A for our life and not resorting or retreating to our Plan B. In a world where quitting and taking the safe route seems to be hitting epidemic levels, we need to burn the ships, press forward, and quit quitting!

Introduction

Options … we love them!

Our culture has become enthralled with safety nets, fallback positions, and keeping our options open.

Talk to college students and many will tell you about their dreams, what they really want to do, what they are passionate about.

But they will also tell you about how they are hedging their bets and making sure they have a fallback position for their vocational future.

Chat with people who have been in the workforce for a couple of decades and they might tell you about their desire to have a solid retirement and a nest egg to make sure their future is secure.

They want to spend their golden years doing some helpful things for others, but they also want to be sure they have enough gold stored up so they don’t face any hardships along the way.

You might have even met people who are planning their wedding but are still holding on to their contact list of past romances just in case things don’t work out.

They are in love and want to be committed to their spouse-to-be, but it seems foolish to burn all their bridges … just in case.

Is this a good idea?

Why or why not?

Some people enter their relationship with Jesus with this same cautious and safety-minded attitude.

They like the idea of grace, a friendship with God, the gift of the cross, and the promise of heaven.

But if things get tough, they still want a fallback position.

They want to keep their options open.

During the aggressive persecution of Christians in the first century, many new believers retreated from their faith.

Some had been Jewish before meeting the Messiah.

Once the heat was turned up, they turned away from Jesus and went back to their Jewish faith.

They chose Plan B and missed God’s best for their life.

Going all out is all about giving it everything you’ve got.

In response to this epidemic of people giving up and giving in, the New Testament book of Hebrews was written to call believers in Jesus to hold on to Plan A, refuse to retreat, and press forward toward God’s will.

These words found in Hebrews 12:1 – 3 capture the epistle’s heartbeat:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles.

And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Talk About It

How does Hebrews 12:1 – 3 call Christians to a higher level of devotion and commitment, even when times get tough?

How does it apply to your life?

It’s God’s job to get us where He wants us to go.

Our job is to make ourselves available anytime, anyplace.

Don’t worry about results.

If it’s the right thing, then the results are God’s responsibility.

Focus on doing the right thing for the right reason.

Discussion

1.

In a culture that values and encourages leaving our options open, how does a “burn the ships” attitude stand out?

Give an example of a time you saw someone burn the ships and slam the door on their options and escape routes.

Nine times out of ten, failure is resorting to Plan B when Plan A gets too risky, too costly, or too difficult.

2. What would it look like, in very practical terms, to burn the ships in one of the following areas of life?

Checkmark the area, and then write your strategy in the space provided.

Burning the ships back to past failures

Burning the ships back to past successes that were part of Plan B

Burning the ships back to a bad habit

Burning the ships back to regret

Burning the ships back to an unhealthy and ungodly relationship

Burning the ships back to crippling guilt

Burning the ships back to an addiction