Sermon Tone Analysis

Faith

“Fulfil your vows” (Nahum 1:15).

We’re going to think together about our Church membership vows.

These vows can be summarized in five words: Faith, Worship, Devotions, Giving, Witness.

The first vow is the foundation upon which the others are built.

The other four vows are the practical implications of the first vow: our confession of faith.

The first vow emphasizes that there is a faith to be believed, a faith to be confessed: “I believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and I confess Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord.”

We are called to have faith.

The Bible calls us to have a personal faith.

It is not only the faith of the Church.

It is to be my faith.

It is to be your faith.

Each one of us is to say, “I believe.”

What does it mean to have faith?

It means believing something.

there is something to be believed.

Faith also means trust.

When you and I say, “I believe in one God,” we are saying, “I am trusting God, putting my trust in Him.”

The question is asked, “Do you believe in God?”

The real issue is not so much the existence of God.

The real issue is the importance of God.

Many people claim to believe in God’s existence, but it’s very clear that this belief makes no real difference to the way they live their lives.

Do you believe in God?

How important is He to you?

What difference does He make to your life?

These are the practical questions of faith.

“I believe in God.”

There are many different ideas of God.

What are we to believe concerning Him? Who is the God in whom we are called to put our trust?

We are to believe what the Bible teaches us about Him.

In the Bible, we have God’s self-description.

God tells us what he is like.

He reveals Himself to us.

How does God reveal Himself to us?

What does the Bible teach us concerning Him? God reveals Himself as “Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

The Bible speaks of this way – Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14).

We cannot fully understand this, but we can believe it.

The important question is not so much, “Do we understand it?”

It’s “Do we believe it?”

Many people believe in a God who cannot be described – an “unknown god.”

The Bible speaks to us of a God who has introduced Himself to us, a God who can be known.

At the heart of our faith, there is a Man – “the Man, Christ Jesus.”

He is “the one Mediator between God and man” (1 Timothy 2:5).

How do we know what God is like?

We know Him through Jesus Christ – “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).

How do we get to know God?

We get to know Him through faith in Jesus Christ.

Who is Jesus Christ?

He is our Saviour and Lord.

He is my Saviour because He is my Lord.

Jesus is “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

That’s why He can be my Saviour.

He is my Lord because He is my Saviour.

Those who have trusted Him as Saviour consider it their privilege to submit to Him as their Lord.

At the heart of the Trinity – God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit”, there is the Man, Christ Jesus.

The Father points to Him (Matthew 3:17).

The Holy Spirit leads us to Him (John 16:14).

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Worship

Ps 107, Nah 1:15

"Fulfil your vows" (Nahum 1:15).

Do you promise to worship regularly, with your fellow Christians, on the Lord's Day?

Let us worship God.

we are called to worship Him.

We are to worship Him in "wonder, love and praise."

In our worship, we are to exalt the Lord our God.

we are to glorify Him.

We are to proclaim His greatness in "humble adoration."

In simple and sincere faith, we are to say to him, "Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever."

Our worship is concerned with God.

The "who" of worship is far more important than the "how" of worship.

Who we worship is far more important than how we worship.

Before we ask, "What is worship?", before we ask, "How do we worship?", we must ask the first question, "Who do we worship?"

To understand what worship is, we need to be clear about worship is not.

Worship is not superficial emotionalism.

We need sound teaching from the Word of God.

We need Christ-centred preaching, which strengthens our faith and inspires our worship.

Worship is not barren intellectualism.

We need the moving of God's Spirit in our hearts and lives.

We need the power of God, moving among us.

If our worship is to be whole-hearted, if we are to grow strong in our praying and strong in our caring, we need the presence of the Holy Spirit.

What is worship?

The question, "What is worship?", is directly related to the question, "Who is God?"

We learn, from the Bible, what God is like.

As we learn what God is like, we learn also how we are to worship Him.

The Bible teaches us that God is holy.

The Bible teaches us that God is love.

Our worship should focus our attention on the holiness and love of God.

There should be reverence, as we enter the presence of the holy God.

There should be joy, as we come to the God of love.

(a) We come to the Lord to express our gratitude to Him.

(b) We come to the Lord in fellowship with His people.

(c) We come to the Lord so that we might be changed by Him.

Expressing our gratitude to the Lord

In Psalm 107, the importance of thanksgiving is emphasized five times.

- "O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever" (Psalm 107:1).

- "Let them thank the Lord, for He is steadfast love, for His wonderful works to the sons of men" (Psalm 107:8,15,21,31).

We worship the Lord with joyful thanksgiving.

We worship Him in the fellowship of His people.

Following the last of these calls to give thanks to the Lord, there is, in Psalm 107:32, a call to worship the Lord in the company of His people - "Let them extol Him in the congregation of the people, and praise Him in the assembly of the elders."

What does it mean to worship in the fellowship of His people?