Sermon Tone Analysis

Review

Slide 1: (Recap) The Four Secrets to a Thriving Church Family

1. Servant Leadership

2. Passionate and Authentic Spirituality

3. Committed and Active Laity

4. God-exalting Worship

Where we are Today

The Jesus Centered Life (Two weeks ago)

Passion for God’s Presence

What Kind of Church do You Have? (Today)

The Missing Ingredient (Next Week)

Today’s presentation is going to be a combination of what you should have heard two weeks ago and what was due for today.

Kidder tells the story of his first pastoral assignment in a small town church that had dwindled from about 100 members down to “13 faithful souls.”

But when he arrived for his first Sabbath, I didn’t encounter 13 people.

I saw 9. Perhaps you could count 13 if you included me, my wife, my son, and my daughter still inside of her mother!

After several months of of hard work with absolutely no results and no sign of so much as a pulse in the body of the church, in despair he called up a friend.

“This church is incredible,” I told him.

“It’s incredible that 20 years have passed since their last baptism.

It’s incredible that they have not done public evangelism in 26 years.

And it is incredible that every single suggestion I make is resolutely refused.”

I had proposed that we prepare a bulletin, but they protested that there were too few to warrant one.

When I raised the idea of a potluck, they spurned it because they didn’t like each other.

They were too tired to do outreach and rejected the idea of a children’s Sabbath school on the grounds, saying that there were not enough children.

Everything I tried was failing, and I was close to giving up.

“Pray the prayer of John Knox,” my friend said after my frustrated litany of failures.

“He prayed, ‘Lord, give me Scotland, or I die!’”

“But I don’t want to die!”

I protested.

I didn’t think the chances of winning over this little town were very good, especially considering the people in my church.

My friend insisted that I would not, in fact, die.

“Just pray,” he insisted.

The Effect of Prayer

After much agonizing and prayer, something out of this world happended.

Eileen, 80 years old, one of the faithful nine in our congregation happpened.

She She was probably the least likely person to bring renewal to anything—after all, she was 80! Eileen began praying for her neighbor Phoebe, a 25-year-old woman who was an alcoholic, drug abuser, and someone who had a different partner every day.

After more than a year as their pastor, Kidder finally convinced the church to host an evangelistic series by promising them that if it did not work, he would never request them to do anything else ever again.

“Can we get that in writing?” they asked.

They were serious.

Opening night arrived, and so did all nine of the regulars— plus one!

Earlier that week on a hunting trip, disoriented by drugs, Eileen’s neighbor Phoebe had accidentally shot her mother.

Her mother survived, but the incident greatly disturbed the daughter.

Knowing that her neighbor Eileen had been praying for her, Phoebe went to her for comfort.

Eileen comforted her, invited her to stay in her house, and brought her to the first night of the evangelistic series.

It was there that Phoebe first heard the gospel and came forward for the altar call.

The next night the attendance included all nine of the regulars—plus 50 other people!

Energized by the life-changing news about Jesus, Phoebe had phoned all her friends and relatives to attend the series.

At the time of this books writing, there were 137 other people—not including any unborn children this time!

Church renewal comes not by wishing, by hoping, by complaining, or even by working hard.

It results as an answer to prayer.

We have not yet learned this lesson.

While we know that prayer is important, we don’t understand that it is critical.

As much as we talk about our need for prayer, we are still woefully ignorant of its power in our churches and in our lives.

Kidder, S. Joseph.

The Big Four .

Review and Herald 174; Publishing Association.

Kindle Edition.

Three Types of Churches

Prayer may occur in such a church, but it places only casual emphasis on prayer.

The Prayerless Church probably has a weekly prayer meeting and offers prayer at the beginning and end of every program, at the start and close of Sabbath school, and at least an invocation and benediction during the Sabbath morning worship service.

However, such prayers are there because it’s the way things are supposed to be done—it’s listed in the bulletin.

Kidder, S. Joseph.

The Big Four .

Review and Herald® Publishing Association.

Kindle Edition.

Graphic

This church is known as the Prayerless Church

Prayerless Church

[This] has decided that prayer is important enough that it has delegated the prayer ministry to a group of people called prayer warriors.

So prayer emerges as one of the ministries of the church.

Though it emphasizes prayer to some degree, the congregation at large has no sense of urgency about prayer.

Most of the members of a Church With Prayer don’t really do that much praying—they believe that someone else will do it.

Kidder, S. Joseph.

The Big Four .

Review and Herald 174; Publishing Association.

Kindle Edition.

Graphic

Church With Prayer

The third model is the Church of Prayer.

Taking the Holy Spirit and prayer very seriously, it puts them at the center of every activity.

Such congregations not only pray at the beginning and end of every meeting, but make sure that all the activities of the church are bathed with the aroma of prayer and the power of the Holy Spirit.

The atmosphere and culture of the church is all about prayer.

Thus the church becomes a house of prayer.

Such houses of prayer become sanctuaries of connectedness with God.

The board meeting will turn into a prayer meeting, while prayer meeting itself offers a time of commitment and celebration.

The members of the church recognize their need of the Spirit and cry out to God, “We are helpless without You!”

They passionately seek Him.

Kidder, S. Joseph.

The Big Four .

Review and Herald 174; Publishing Association.

Kindle Edition.

graphic

Church of Prayer

Or the praying church.

The church building is not a house of worship, but a house of prayer

The NT church fit that bill.

Which church do you want to be known as Halifax SDA?

How do we become a house of prayer.

Claudine touched on it last week.

It starts with having intimacy with God.

Some might ask, how do I have intimacy with God?