Sermon Tone Analysis

Good moring,

Welcome to New Covenant Fellowship.

For those who do not know me I am Steven White, the lead pastor around here.

Today we continue in our Covenant Membership series we are calling.

THIS IS US.

If you do not mind let’s jump right into it.

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James 1:5-8

Here is my question to you today.

What are your Values?

Here is my question to you today.

What are your Values?

Imagine going on a cruise around the world.

But the thing is, your cruise ship does not have a rudder and therefore, cannot steer.

You are given a brochure as you step on the cruise liner detailing every stop on your journey.

You have a destination, a purpose, a direction.

But there is a big problem – you have no rudder.

A day after pulling out of the docks, the Captain comes over the intercom system.

“Excuse me folks but, I wanted to show you our first destination.

If you will look North about 500 miles you will see Iceland.

Now, we were going to stop there but sense we have no rudder we were unable to turn the boat in the correct direction.”

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Maybe your life has felt like that at times.

You have a destination, a purpose, a direction and yet you seem to never get there.

Maybe you pass by your destination but never get close enough to land.

I have this same issue.

I have goals, a destination, a direction, a purpose but, like the cruise ship I at times find myself passing by too far to even lay my eyes on the destination.

Think of your goals in life as Tropical destinations.

You are the boat and life is the great ocean.

But if your boat has no rudder, how will you land at your goals?

Often, we find ourselves landing on deserted goals, goals we never had.

Because the rudderless boat goes with the wind and the waves.

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Maybe your goal is to be bold in faith.

Yet, when the Holy Spirit tells you to pray for the salvation of a person you love, you put it off and then as the ship of life gets tossed by the circumstances of the day, you pass by that great opportunity and never realize it.

Maybe your goal is to be bold in faith.

Yet, when the Holy Spirit tells you to pray for the salvation of a person you love, you put it off and then as the ship of life gets tossed by the circumstances of the day, you pass by that great opportunity and never realize it.

Maybe your goal is to start everyday off with the Word of God.

Yet you find yourself up late at night and then, you wake late.

Rushing off to work or some other matter of importance, you pass by that goal.

I will get to it later and later never comes.

Maybe your goal is to reproduce your faith in the lives of others.

Day after day you drive by your neighbors.

The Holy Spirit continues to whisper in your heart; “Stop and talk”, “go knock on the door”.

And day by day you drive on by, walk on by, rushing off to something else.

Maybe you are like me and you know what you want but your boat just does not seem to have the ability to turn and allow you to land at these destinations.

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Your rudderless.

I have been rudderless

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The church is no different.

We can have goals, a destination, a purpose, a tropical island to land and explore.

Yet if we as a church do not have a rudder steering this ship, we may by chance hit an island or two but we will never with true propose fulfill our goals for the Kingdom of God.

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Today I want to equip us with a Rudder.

I want to give us all and this church the ability to steer away from the trouble, the wasted time, the meaningless and help us steer to our goals, purpose and those Tropical Islands.

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Last week I spoke to you about our 9 goals.

(Pick them up at the connection table in the back).

Today I want to give you a rudder to steer to them.

But you have other goals in life as well, I believe this message will help you steer in those directions too.

We as a church have goals – We want to reach the next generations with the Good news of Jesus, we want to see lives changed, we want to see young men and women, boys and girls, fall in love with Jesus, set free from a living hell and healed.

We want to see Osage transformed by the love of God, divisions healed, reconciliation, prosperity, hope, Life, Joy and Beauty.

We want to see our Sunday service full of the young worshipping God, side by side with those of you who have been here for years.

We want to see our Life Groups covering every neighborhood in Osage.

We want to see 50 or more little ones running around, reminding us of the Life found in God.

Yet with out a rudder we will never with purpose reach those goals, those destinations.

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So, what is that Rudder?

Values!

And what are Values?

Def: Values are the ideas and beliefs spoken or unspoken that are the most important to you, and therefore; direct unconsciously your daily attitudes, actions, concerns, and decisions.

In other words – What you value the most will unconsciously determine your actions to any given situation.

Values are priorities that tell you how to spend your time, right here, right now.

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There are 2 reason values are important.

1.

Time is our most limited resource; time does not renew itself.

You can repair your bodies, fix broken relationships, but you cannot undo Yesterday.

Values help us determine what our priorities should be at any given time so, we can have the greatest impact and live a life that matches our goals, mission and ethics.

2. The second reason values are important is, that they steer us.

We humans seem to be fairly inconsistent.

One day we workout, the next day we eat for two and never leave the couch.

One day we devote ourselves to the task at hand, the next day we are distracted and never begin to work towards the tasks.

This is obviously not a productive way to live life.

Values, help us steer towards our goals and steer away from distractions.

Values act as a rudder to our ship.

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Let me give you an example of Values.

Let me give you an example of Values.

If the person on the left used their values to direct their lives, what can tell about them?

If the person on the right used their values to steer their lives what can we tell about them?

Example Value List:

· Peace

· Love

· Intimacy

· Security

· Comfort

· Happiness

· Fun