Sermon Tone Analysis

It Happens In a Blink

Intro - [Talk about losses recently, and the questions that come from that.

Talk about time generally.

]

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Sometimes life can hit us pretty hard, and time seems to stand still.

Even other times, when life is fine we can dream of a different time.

[briefly me and daydreaming]

[talk about usually hiding movie references…move toward the quote: “This one a long time have I watched.

All his life he has looked away…to the future, to the horizon.

Never his mind on where he was…what he was doing.”]

Sometimes, when times seem to be in turmoil, we might grow numb, or silent, hoping to not cause waves.

They say time can heal all wounds, but honestly, time alone, isn’t always enough.

Time alone, with it’s silence and sometimes apathy, can cause that wound to fester.

Pray

It is in these moments that we need to be the most mindful

And that is what this series has been dedicated to, that idea of mindfulness.

Paying attention to the things going on around us, and the things that have lead us up to this point.

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Talk about time

[picture of Yoda?]

[talk about usually hiding movie references…move toward the quote: “This one a long time have I watched.

All his life he has looked away…to the future, to the horizon.

Never his mind on where he was…what he was doing.”]

This series has been dedicated to that idea of mindfulness.

Paying attention to the things going on around us, and the things that have lead us up to this point.

And it is that very theme and thought, that brought me to want to change everything this morning, and just spend some time talking through this.

[pic of ecc text that looks better]

Exegete…use at funerals…move to the question of Theodicy

Theodicy

[define here]

talk about it and move toward the answer through out text AND...

Ecc 3:

...Wickedness, or evil, exists so that we might have a chance to know God and follow Him.

In the place of wiping the whole slate clean, God has offered us an opportunity to, a few moments, to look beyond the evil in this life, and take hold of the life He gave for us in Jesus...

But I think we know that.

And even so, we question God.

Even though we know that God has proven His goodness to us, we doubt.

There’s a time for that.

But understand, the longer we look off into that horizon.

The longer we peer into those questions that can never be answered this side of heaven, the more we miss in this life.

As I get older…[life moving fast]

…Listen our chances are fleeting!

Our moments to show God’s love and live for Him come out of nowhere!

And on top of that you never know the moment when your chances will cease to be!

And if we get too wrapped up in our own doubts and questions, we might miss out on what God has for us.

Church, at the end of the day, our lives are an accumulation of the moments that have been given to us.

Sure we hope for more.

And if we get more, we might even do things differently.

But we aren’t promised another breath!

We have been given the gift of now!

And we have to make the most of it!

Church, all that we are, at the end of the day, is an accumulation of the moments that have been, and the hope of moments to come!

So we must, church, place more value on what we have than what we might get!

[pic of a bird in hand is worth 2 in bush]

We have to use our moments for God’s glory alone.

[pic of violence]

But we seem to be wired wrong.

We seem to place almost infinite value on what we might be able to do, while looking past what we have been asked to do!

We give up the moment for the moments that we hope to have!

But we aren’t there yet!

We aren’t guarenteed those moments!

We need to give our minds and hearts to the moment God has given to us.

On top of the loss this past week locally, there is the seemingly ever present reports of threats, violence, hatred and bigotry.

O as the prophet says, “wickedness.”

Of course most of you know by now that this past weekend, there were torch carrying protesters marching to save a statue…by the way, while it is their right to want to save a statue, I wonder if they would fight so hard to save inner city children who die for lack of medical care, or nutrition.

History tells us no…Eventually the protests and counterprotests lead to violence.

Of course, one side came with armor, shields and weapons, so I suppose they were looking for a fight.

In the course of this, of course, a car drove into the crowd, killing one person.

Wickedness.

And here we are, Christians, followers of the Prince of Peace - the man who said don’t succumb to an eye for an eye, turn the other cheek!

Be persecuted for faith!

Pray for your enemies and love them!

Use your time, whatever He gives us, to love, after all, hate will only bring about our destruction.

[segue to Esther]

[expand on that…boasting/narcicism/detachment from reality/self-indulgence…but even with all of that he was miserable BECAUSE of his hatred.

Blinded by it.

And it led to his eventual demise.]

We don’t have time to hate.

We just don't’ have time for that!

Our moments, as the past 10 months can surely show us, are just a breath!

We have to do our best with the time we are given, because this life happens in a blink!

[it happens in a blink chorus]

And not only does it happen fast, but what we do with our time, especially as Christians, can and will echo down through the ages!

[how we are remembered]

...No, our impact has to be bigger than all of that!

Our lives are filled with opportunities to live as Christ truly wants us to live!

To hold tight to moments, and things, that matter!

Love, joy, heartache; moments when we might doubt or have fear.

All moments that shouldn’t be looked past, because they are the moments that we have been made for!

It is in those moments that we can glorify God and build up His kingdom and people!

There is no stopping time.

We can daydream all we want, but that doesn’t buy us another second.

What we do with right now, matters more than you can ever know.

There is no stopping time.

We can daydream all we want, but that doesn’t buy us another second.

What we do with right now, matters more than you can ever know.

At the end of the day, who is going to remember how much money we make, or how big our house is?

Is that what we are living for?

Will those that matter the most to us remember how great we are at running staff meetings, or how we always made the best snacks on casual friday?

And not only that, but those are moments that will be remembered by everyone we touch!

Our families, our community - everyone God gives us!

Those are moments that will be remembered if only we don’t look past them and instead stare off into the horizon at those moments that don’t matter.