Sermon Tone Analysis

CALL TO WORSHIP SCRIPTURE:

2 Corinthians 3:

SERMON SCRIPTURE:

FAITH LIVING - GRACE GIVING - BIBLE LEARNING - FEARLESS, HUMBLE & JOYFULLY PERSEVERING

FAITH LIVING - GRACE GIVING - BIBLE LEARNING - FEARLESS, HUMBLE & JOYFULLY PERSEVERING

2 CORINTHIANS (55-57AD)

Connections: Throughout his epistles, Paul frequently refers to the Mosaic law, comparing it with the surpassing greatness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and salvation by grace.

In , Paul contrasts the Old Testament law with the new covenant of grace, referring to the law as that which “kills” while the Spirit gives life.

The law is the “ministry of death, written and engraved on stone” (v.

7; ) because it brings only the knowledge of sin and its condemnation.

The glory of the law is that it reflects the glory of God, but the ministry of the Spirit is much more glorious than the ministry of the law, because it reflects His mercy, grace and love in providing Christ as the fulfillment of the law.

Practical Application:

This letter is the most biographical and least doctrinal of Paul's epistles.

It tells us more about Paul as a person and as a minister than any of the others.

That being said, there are a few things we can take from this letter and apply to our lives today.

One thing is stewardship, not only of money, but of time as well.

The Macedonians not only gave generously, but “they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will” ().

In the same way, we should dedicate not only all we have to the Lord, but all that we are.

He really doesn't need our money, God is not building a Kingdom made of mud and bricks, but is building the Kingdom of His Saints and as such He wants and preserves the heart.

Through His instruction and obedience to it sanctification takes place and the production of one that longs to serve and please and love.

Stewardship and giving to God is more than just money.

In the same way, we should dedicate not only all we have to the Lord, but all that we are.

He really doesn't need our money.

He is omnipotent!

He wants the heart, one that longs to serve and please and love.

Stewardship and giving to God is more than just money.

Yes, God does want us to give from our first, and yes God does want us to give from our increase, and our poverty, and yes God does bless us in this.

But also, God wants 100%.

God demands our worship, and as appealed to us, our offering of worship is all of us.

From finance to service.

This means that we are not just speaking monetarily.

Everything we are.

We should spend our lives living to serve our Father.

We should not only give to God from our paycheck, but our very lives should be a reflection of Him.

We should give ourselves first to the Lord, then to the church and the work of the ministry of Jesus Christ.

Some would give financially to free the conscious of having to give elsewhere, where others would give elsewhere to ease the conscience of giving financially.

However both are guilty withholding some portion of themselves from God.

We move freely in grace by faith, giving hilariously, seeking the needs to be met because God is our fountain of endless provision.

GALATIANS (49AD LIKLEY 1ST WRITTEN)

Practical Application:

One of the main themes of the book of Galatians is found in 3:11:

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

This is the most foundational of gospel truths.

Faith, that is trust (in Christ Jesus) being the source of righteousness that leads to life and living proclaims, grace, grace, grace!

Any compromise to add some form of extra security to our complete trust in God, such as, legalism or a mixture of human effort and the grace of God for salvation leads to heresy.

If we could be saved through the keeping of the Law, then Jesus did not need to die ().

Trying to save ourselves nullifies grace.

Trying to save ourselves nullifies grace.

Trying to save ourselves nullifies grace.

Now this verse brings to light that we are not only saved by faith, (; ),

but this verse brings that saving faith to a living faith in that the life that we are saved unto is lived out, fleshed out, worked out by faith.

That is, it is lived by faith.

The life of the believer in Christ—day by day, moment by moment—is lived by and through that faith ().

The faith that we are speaking of is not a faith that is mustard up upon our own strength, but it is the gift of God and not of works.

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It is our responsibility and joy to display or flesh out our faith so that others will see the work of Christ in us and to grow in our faith by the application of spiritual disciplines such as, Bible study, prayer, obedience, faithful fellowship... etc.

Jesus said we would be known or recognized by our fruit.

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Matthew &:16

That is the fruit of our faith which is the fleshing out of our lives.

The fruit which proves out a faithful follower of Christ is not “are they a good person” but, “are they obedient or sincerely trusting in the work and teaching of Christ.

This gives evidence of the faith within us.

All Christians should be diligent in striving to build upon the saving faith within us so that our lives with reflect Christ and cause others to give glory to our Father in Heaven ...

“glorify your Father who is in heaven” (, ).

Now in establishing this foundational truth, let us recognize this:

Just as Christ is the author and perfecter of our faith, so is He also the author and perfecter of our lives, for the righteous shall live by faith.

Have you given Christ your life?

Are you, in your obedience, in your trust, trusting in the life that He has authored for you rather than that which you have authored for yourself?

EPHESIANS (60-63AD)

Practical Application:

Perhaps more than any other book of the Bible, the Book of Ephesians emphasizes the connection between sound doctrine and right practice in the Christian life.

Far too many people ignore "theology" as a fancy term that needs a degree and instead want to only discuss things that are "practical."

Others want to study theology as merely intellectual.

Theology is the study of the divine or the study of God.

The argument raised by Paul in Ephesians is that theology is practical.

In order to live out God's will for us in our lives practically, we must first understand who we are in Christ doctrinally.

Doctrine makes up most of the Book of Ephesians.

Half of the teaching in this epistle relates to our standing in Christ, and the remainder of it affects our condition.

If we are to understand the closing chapter of Ephesians then we need the foundation of all of the previous chapters.

It is the closing chapter that emphasizes the warfare or the struggle of the saints.

However, to benefit fully from the contents of this epistle, one must begin at the beginning of Paul's instruction in this letter.

As followers of Christ, we must fully understand who God declares us to be.

We must be grounded in the knowledge of God's accomplishment for all humanity.

Our present existence and walk must become exercised and strengthened.

This must continue until we no longer totter or stagger back and forth with every spirit of teaching and subtlety of men.

It is these things that prepare us for warfare.

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Here is how the book breaks down:

(1) Chapters one through three introduce principles with respect to God's accomplishment.

(2) Chapters four and five put forth principles regarding our present existence.

(3) Chapter six presents principles concerning our daily struggle.

You will notice that points one and two (chapter one-five) are doctrinal to prepare us for part three (chapter 6) which is applicable.

The proper theology and doctrine in our lives married with a true faith results in godly living (application) and the personal knowing or experiencing of the wonderful grace of God.

PHILIPPIANS (61AD)

Connections:

Coming now to Philippians let us look at where we began with faith.

“The righteous shall live by faith”.

Living by faith does not make one righteous, but rather faith is a description of the life of the righteous.

The righteous are only made righteous by Jesus Christ and this results in a life of faith.

As a matter of fact it is the only thing that results in a life of faith.