Sermon Tone Analysis

Dr. Paul Brand, in his book /“Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”/, tells a story of how, after WW II ended, a group of German students—in a spirit of reconciliation—volunteered to help rebuild an English Cathedral in London.

The church had been severely damaged by bombing during the Blitz.

While digging through rubble of the Cathedral, they found a sculpture that had been shattered into many pieces.

It was a marble statue of Jesus Christ.

The statue depicted Christ in a standing position with His arms outstretched.

The inscription under it read, /“Come unto me,”/ based on Matthew 11:28.

The students were able to find and reconstruct virtually all of the statue—except for the hands.

The hands of Jesus had been completely demolished.

And so, when finished, they had a statue of Jesus with outstretched arms, and no hands.

Someone suggested that they have new hands sculpted, but it was ultimately decided to leave that statue of Jesus handless.

You can go to London today and see that marble statue of Jesus standing there with no hands.

But they did decide to change the inscription.

It now says, /“He has no hands but ours.”/

That is the truth that is being taught by our Scripture passage.

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I. GOD HAS GRACED US WITH NEW LIFE IN JESUS CHRIST!

* /"For from him and through him and to him are all things.

To him be the glory forever!

Amen.”/ (Romans 11:36, NIV)

#. let me tell you some incredible news: You are of infinite worth in God’s eyes

#. we live in a culture that often determines a person’s worth by what we bring to the table of life

#.

our culture tells our little boys that the more points they make or the more rebounds they grab the more valuable they are

#.

our culture tells our girls that their value is directly proportional to their proportions

#. as our children grow up we tell them that their value is based not simply on living up to their potential, but on scoring at least a 26 on their ACTs

#. when we grow up we are told that our value lies in how much we produce, the number of figures in our income, where we live, and what we drive

#.

God loves you with an everlasting love that is not dependent on whether you are a starting player in the eyes of the world

#.

my value is not based on being David Krueger, pastor of the Linn First Baptist Church

#. my value is based on being a blood-bought child of the King of kings and Lord of lords

!! A. OUR VALUE COMES FROM WHOSE WE ARE, NOT WHO WE ARE

#. according to the Apostle Paul, from him and through him we have received grace

#. we are of such value that God gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be our Savior

#.

God has graced us with new life in Jesus Christ

#. that means that our value in God’s Kingdom is set from the very beginning

#. our value does not depend on our position or upon our power or upon our popularity, but upon the person of Jesus Christ

* /“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.

In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”/

(Ephesians 2:19–22, NIV)

#. do you see how God has graced you in this passage?

#. you are a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit

#. the God of Creation, the Lord of the Universe, the King of Glory has chosen to establish a spiritual residence in the lives of His saints

#. we need to see ourselves as God sees us and to measure our value the way God measures our value

#. we are all equal in God’s eyes

#. our value has nothing to do with the role we play in the church

#. our value is set, not by who we are, but by whose we are

!! B. OUR VALUE IS ENHANCED WHEN WE ARE CONSECRATED TO GOD

* /“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”/

(Romans 12:1–2, NIV)

#. let’s be honest, some Christians are of little or no use for Kingdom work because they never grow out of spiritual infant-hood

#. they never discover their spiritual gifts and consequently never develop a ministry

#. like real infants, all they know how to do is whine, eat, and make messes!

* /“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ.

I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.

Indeed, you are still not ready.

You are still worldly.

... ”/ (1 Corinthians 3:1–3, NIV)

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II.

GOD HAS GRAFTED US INTO CHRIST’S BODY

* /“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”/

(1 Corinthians 12:27, NIV)

#. one of the extraordinary truths that we teach as Christians is this: Not only has God graced us with new life in Jesus thus setting our value in God’s kingdom forever, but when we accept that new life in Jesus, we are grafted into Christ’s body, the Church

#. the Church is Christ’s living body and when we accept new life in Jesus, we are grafted into his body

#. just as Jesus was the incarnation of God the Father in his world, so the Church is the incarnation of God the Son, in our world

#. that means we are a part of a living organism—not just a part of a lifeless organization

* ILLUS.

Most fruit trees today are grown from grafts.

That is, branches of a high-yielding variety of, for example, apple tree are grafted onto the rootstock of a particularly hardy variety of apple tree.

They are grafted together, and the branches become a living part of an amazingly hardy tree that produces a higher yield of fruit.

#. when we accept Christ as our savior, God grafts us into his living body, the church

#. we become part of a thriving, hardy, living organism that is designed to produce

!! A. WE ARE ALL ONE BODY IN CHRIST

#. there are three implications to this truth

#. 1st, we are all parts of Christ’s body, and each of us has different work to do

* /"so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."/

(Romans 12:5, ESV)

#. the foot’s job is different than the hand’s, and the hand’s role is different than the ear, and the ear’s role is different than the eye

#. yet all are part of one body

#. each of us is a part of the body of Christ and each of us has a different work to do

#.

some are leaders

#. some are teachers

#. some do administrative work

#. some are good at serving

#. the only way a local New Testament church can be healthy, thriving, and spiritually growing is when each of us accept that we all have a different work to do for Christ

#. but let me make sure we all understand; these different roles do not imply any sort of ranking or importance

#. there is no hierarchy in the local church

#. the foot’s job is different than the hand’s—not superior

#. the hand’s role is different than the ear’s—not superior

#. the ear’s function is different than the eye’s—not superior

#. in the same way, the pastor is no more important than a choir member, and the choir member is not more important than the Sunday School teacher, and the Sunday School teacher is not more important than the set up teams

* ILLUS.

The local church must be like a symphony orchestra.

Each instrument matters, but only if it’s played according to its calling and isn’t fighting another instrument for control.

#. 2nd, we are all parts of Christ’s body, and we belong to each other

* /"so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another."/

(Romans 12:5, ESV)

#. in Jesus Christ we are intimately connected, intimately related

#. when we accept Christ, we become a grafted into his living body—we belong to one another the way the apple belongs to the branch, and the branch belongs to the trunk and the trunk belongs to the root

#. we belong to one another the way brothers and sisters and mothers and fathers belong to one another

#.

we belong to one another the way the hand belongs to the foot, and the foot belongs to the brain, and the brain belongs to the stomach