2023-11-26-2023

I recently read that Joan Beverly Kroc, who the heiress of McDonalds and the wife of the late Ray Kroc, gave $222 million dollars to NPR (National Public Radio) upon her death back in 2003. That single gift pretty much saved NPR in the following years.

I think most of us would consider that gift to be very generous which it certainly was but what if I told you at her death, she was worth over $3 billion, that billion with a ‘B’. What if I told you that she gave $1.6 billion away to the Salvation Army as well as several other charities at her death. In fact, she gave it all away which eventually led to the writing of the book, “Ray & Joan, The Man Who Made the McDonald’s Fortune and The Woman Who Gave It Away”. She gave it all away and it all went to organizations that help other lest fortunate people.

Most of us would consider her incredibly generous at the first $222 million but it is difficult to even understand giving away $3 billion.

Let me see if I can give a little context on how much money that is.

Example: If you were to stack 3 billion $1 bills into a single column, they would measure, 204 miles straight up! 3 billion pennies stacked would be 474 x’s the height of Mount Everest, that is 2,610 miles! Giving away $3 billion dollars at her death seems impossible to comprehend until you stop and think. What was Mrs. Kroc going to do with $1 let alone $3 billion dollars once she died?

I want to share with you this morning something even more difficult to quantify and understand, something even more generous.

John 3:16 (ESV)

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

We/Tension (Connection to a Felt Need):

Anything and everything of this world that we value remains behind when we die. There is only one thing that matters when we leave this world behind. Have we accepted the generous gift of God’s love and his gift of grace through Jesus Christ, his son? For each of us that is all that really matters. God’s word tells us that our lives here on earth are but a whisper, here today and gone tomorrow, but eternity is forever.

Illustration:

1 million seconds from today? December 5, 2023

1 billion seconds from today? September 16, 2054

1 trillion seconds from today – November 21, 33,733 AD

These numbers as difficult as they are to comprehend, are but a whisper of eternity and we will either spend eternity with God in heaven or we will spend it in hell separated from God. The choice is ours.

The second greatest blessing any of us can receive is God’s love, grace, and forgiveness to spend every moment of eternity with him. Wait, then what’s the greatest blessing? (pray)

God/Truth (Scripture):

Background: Beginning in Acts 20:17-31 (ESV), Luke records Paul saying goodbye to the church elders of Ephesus who he had served alongside for more than two years. Paul charges the elders to continue to follow his example as they care for the church. All that he shares with the Elders centers around being strong leaders through serving their church.

Acts 20:32-35 (ESV)

32 And now I commend (paratithemi – to entrust – to put into the care or protection of someone. Paul is leaving the church of Ephesus in care of the Lord) you to God and to the word (logos – word or message – something to be though about or remembered. He leaves them with the Gospel message.) of his grace (good will or favor – unearned, unmerited favor. The Gospel of Jesus is that he came, died and God raised him to life again, not because the church at Ephesus, you or me deserve it. He did for Love, and he gave us something we did not deserve, eternal life. This is grace.), which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Because of God’s grace we are to receive the inheritance of eternal life along with anyone who is sanctified – first you are Justified (explain) through faith at the moment you are saved. Then Holy Spirit begins to Sanctify you (explain) to make you holy as Christ is holy, to make you more like Christ) 33 I coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me. (Paul shows through this statement that he was not interested in material things but only that other came to know Jesus as he knew Jesus. Paul is making it clear the priorities are not the riches of this world. Nothing wrong with wealth or success but those things can never be allowed to replace the Lord.) 35 In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak (we are called to help the those that are weaker than ourselves, but this is not referring to money or material things. Weak – translates to astheneo – to be sick or feeble. Paul is referring to those who have not received God’s grace, those who are unbelievers, they are weak and sick because they do not yet know the grace of God nor the love of Jesus) and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (This is the unspoken beatitude. It does not appear in any of the synoptic Gospels or John’s Gospel (explain), yet Paul uses it here to share that as wonderful as it was the day you met Jesus, a blessing, the greter blessing is to help someone else who is lost or sick spiritually, find Jesus.

Paul’s final charge to the leaders of this church (and his last word the elders would pass onto the church) was as great as it was when you received Jesus, the greatest blessing in the world is to serve another so they can come to know Jesus. The grace you and I receive is our inheritance (v. 32) that we can share with those around us. Be generous with Jesus. You do this by being generous with your money, your time, and your story of Jesus with others.

You/Application (Application):

We celebrated thinksgiving a few days ago and Christmas, the celebration of te birth of Jesus our savior is right around the corner. This is the season to celebrate. You can celebrate all that God has done in your life and you can celebrate that when you leave this world you will be present wth God. If you know Jesus as savior, then you have received the blessing of eternal life. If not I want to give you a chance to receive him today. (Invitation)

If you know Jesus you have been blessed and now it is time to receive an even better blessing. Take someone to heaven with you. How? Tell your story every chance you have to tell it. Take every opportunity to “give” the Gospelmof Hope t those arund you.

We/Inspiration (Inspiration):

The Holy Spirit will give you the moments and the words to share the Gospel of Jesus with other sin your life. All you need to do is be obedient.

Action (Next Step(s)):

Extra Notes from Julie

Questions to ask while preparing the message:

What do I need them to know?

Why do I need them to know it?

What do I need them to do?

Why do I need them to do it?

_______________________________________________

FORMCHECKBOX Step 1: Sermon Prep Prayers:

Ask for clarity on what the text says.

Ask for joy as you prepare and write.

Ask for wisdom as you consider how to connect the text to people's hearts and lives.

FORMCHECKBOX Step 2: Read the main passage and surrounding context.

Read main passage several times.

Read surrounding text (3 chapters before & after or entire book if it is small)

Read the text letting it soak into your soul.

FORMCHECKBOX Step 3: Outline the main passage & identify major themes.

Identify the author’s flow of thought.

Write down some major themes.

Select below how you will preach through the passage.

FORMCHECKBOX I will read the entire passage and work through it.

FORMCHECKBOX I will break it up into Five sections.

FORMCHECKBOX I will summarize parts of the passage, if needed.

FORMCHECKBOX Step: 4 Meditate and reflect on the text

How will I communicate to people what God is saying?

Ask these questions:

What connections are there to this text in life?

What kind of illustrations could I use to bring the text to our contemporary context?

What angles could I approach the passage's theme from?

Ex. Preaching a sermon about the afterlife? You could come at it from the angle of misconceptions people have about Heaven.

FORMCHECKBOX Step 5: Identify the Tension by asking these questions:

What do I or others believe that goes against this text?

What do I or others do that goes against this text?

How might some people interpret this text in a way that justifies them not paying attention to the application of the text?

What problem in life does this text address?

How do people justify that problem in their lives, so they don’t have to deal with it?

FORMCHECKBOX Step 6: Check the Commentaries

What questions do I need answered?

What are specifics in the text we are studying that I am curious about?

What helpful information can I find for exegeting the text?

FORMCHECKBOX Step 7: Craft the bottom-line point of the message

What is the big idea that this text is driving at, both in terms of what is true and how it intersects with life?

Preaching Rocket’s “CREAM” acrostic:

Contrast - Let your weakness propel you toward trusting the all-powerful God.

Rhyme - In the middle of your mess, give God your best.

Echo - You are of infinite worth to the infinite God.

Alliteration - Is this problem more powerful than Jesus?

Metaphor - Make prayer your chorus.

FORMCHECKBOX Step 8: Outline the entire message with the sticky sermon structure:

Engage - Begin your sermon with a story, an interesting fact, a provocative quote.

Tension - Here you bring in the tension you identified earlier. You’re touching on the problem the text addresses in our lives.

Truth - This is the bulk of the message. Walk through the text, teaching what it says and how it intersects with life.

Application - This is where you plug your bottom line in and drill that home with passion, urgency, and specificity.

Inspiration - Here you’re painting the picture of an applied future. Help your people imagine what their lives could be and other’s lives could be if we obeyed God in this way.

Action - Give them a next step. It could be specific or it could be a question for them to reflect on.

FORMCHECKBOX Step 9: Outline the truth section in detail.

Teach - Here we are going to dig into the main passage and teach the thrust of what it says. Bring in the historical context. Express the author’s intended meaning. Help people see what the text means and do so with passion and conviction.

Illustrate - One of the most pastoral things you can do with the text is to help people not just hear it, but to see it. Like Jesus, we can use stories and everyday pictures to help our hearers see the powerful truth of God’s word.

Apply - Here we help people answer, how does this text intersect with my life today? We must embed the truth of the text into life today and consider what people are dealing with and how the text not only relieves the tension we’ve identified, but also how following God would give hope for the future.

Distinguish - Here we bring to light a few things: (1) how we often miss the mark on living the truth out, (2) how we can misapply the biblical text to life, and (3) how the text speaks against our current beliefs and actions. There’s power in specificity.

FORMCHECKBOX Step 10: Write the manuscript.

Now that you have the entire message outlined within the Sticky Sermon Structure… Now that your truth section is outlined even further with how you will teach, illustrate, apply, and distinguish each section of text you’re preaching through, it’s time to put it all together.

I recommend writing the manuscript in one sitting (with a few breaks).

The point is to preach the sermon and the sermon isn’t the manuscript. The sermon is what is proclaimed.

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