Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Joy
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Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Tone of specific sentences
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Proposition
Proposition
The imperative - rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances
Our Failure - emotions tied to the temporal; experiences, circumstances, possessions, fleshly desires, lack of contentment, pride, envy, greed, entitlement
The Cure - Look to the cross - fix your eyes on Jesus
Introduction
On Thursday night we had the pleasure of enjoying a Thanksgiving dinner with some friends of ours.
The family is from the USA, so Thanksgiving dinner is a tradition that they’ve kept every year
They do really cool things like make a tree and the branches have leaves on which they write down the things they are thankful for
It was a privilege to share this tradition with them and spend the evening not just enjoying each other’s company, but reflecting on all that we have to be grateful to God for.
It was a privilege to be
So the irony is not lost on me that one day after thanksgiving and reflecting on all that we are thankful for, almost all the Western World goes on a greed-filled frenzy on Black Friday
I’ve been reflecting on this, and I believe that all of us bear in us a degree of ingratitude - a lack of genuine thankfulness and satisfaction with what God has given us
What would it look like if we were all truly filled with gratitude for what God has done.
So I want us to focus on this short scripture from
Its in a passage where Paul is giving the church some final words of encouragement.
Its not a discourse, but almost like Proverbs; its like what Paul’s Twitter feed might have looked like, with some thoughts for the day to take away with you
Text
entitlement
1 T
lack of contentment
A) Rejoice Always
greed
A) Rejoice Always
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!
But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!”
1 Ch
The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad!
envy
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Rejoice always
Ps 97:1
What is the will of God for your life?
WHo is he saying this to?
It is that you should always be rejoicing
To express joy and elation,
to celebrate,
to be satisfied and happy and to make that happiness known
We rejoice when:
we hear excellent news
or when many years of hard work are rewarded with achievement and recognition
We rejoice when the Springboks win, as they used to do long ago
We saw many Zimbabweans rejoicing this past week when Robert Mugabe, after refusing to resign in his resignation speech, finally resigned
Some of us rejoice over a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak - when we manage to get it just right
Or, when you can go to Hemingways Mall and get a TV for 50% off on Black-Eye Day - sorry, Black Friday
We rejoice when something good has happened - something worth celebrating
I don’t think we have a problem doing that
South Africans especially are quite an expressive nation - we have no problem expressing our satisfaction and happiness when something good has happened.
And we love celebrating with each other
What a joy to hear testimonies of God answering prayers
and to see new converts
and to see people who have been going through adversity
So if Paul had simply said “Rejoice”, this instruction wouldn’t be a problem for any of us.
Except Paul says, “Rejoice ALWAYS”.
That one word makes a big difference.
When the good times roll, rejoice.
When you’re suffering, rejoice.
It seems a bit
Who is Paul addressing when he says “Rejoice Always”?
He is addressing the Christians at Thessalonica
People who were being fiercely persecuted for their faith
Paul had seen it first hand when he and Silas had been preaching in the synagogue there in
This
Some of the Jews believed the gospel and joined the church
But other Jews formed a mob and started a violent protest, and dragged Jason and a few other Christians to the Roman authorities under the accusation that they were worshipping someone other than Caesar as king
Paul makes mention of their persecution by the Jews in chapter 2:13-20
He again mentions in chapter 3:1-5 of having sent Timothy to them to strengthen their faith during their suffering
And in chapter 4:13-18 he addresses questions that they had about where their loved ones were who had already died because of the persecution they were enduring.
It is to these suffering Christians, under very real threat of death because of their faith in Jesus, that Paul says “Rejoice always”.
Rejoice!
Celebrate, Express joy and happiness…
So how are you doing with this command?
But not only was Paul himself very familiar with
Do you rejoice always?
In the middle of all that is going wrong in your life, are you rejoicing?
In the middle of every disaster that has hit you or your family, can you say that you are rejoicing?
Let me ask you this: in gratitude for everything GOOD that is happening, can you even say then, that you are rejoicing always?
B) Pray Without Ceasing
Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice!
Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!
“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;
And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving
Pray without ceasing
pride
Does that mean we should be praying constantly without end, every hour of every day?
It is an expression which means pray at every opportunity
Christians of Thessalonica
Develop a habit of praying
Have an attitude of dependence on God for everything
One guy I read about (his name I can’t remember) said that he developed a habit of praying:
before every meeting,
before beginning every task
He said it totally transformed his life
Imagine if we would seek the Lord in prayer before:
every meeting
speaking with every customer
getting into our car and going into traffic
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