Sermon Tone Analysis

· Good morning BCC!!!

I hope you are well and recovered from this crazy weather.

My name is Nathan and I am one of the pastors on staff here at BCC and I want to welcome you.

· As you could see, we are starting a 2-week series called, “Right on the Money” and we are going to talk about our money – our stuff.

· As you could see, we are starting a 2-week series called, “Right on the Money” and we are going to talk about our money – our stuff.

JOhn 3:16

· For those of you who are visiting us for the first time, don’t worry, we aren’t going to take up another offering or pat you down for money or anything crazy like that.

· First-time here.

nothing crazy.

· You may be here trying to understand who this Jesus person is and what His claims were.

· You may be here trying to understand who this Jesus person is and what His claims were.

o Well, you are going to learn some truth about God this morning and what we believe.

o Well, you are going to learn some truth about God this morning and what we believe.

o You are also going to learn some reasons why those of us who claim to be Christ followers sometimes frustrate you with items like jealousy, envy, greed, anxiety and worry just to name a few.

o You are also going to learn some reasons why those of us who claim to be Christ followers sometimes frustrate you with items like jealousy, envy, greed, anxiety and worry just to name a few.

· Now, why am I up here talking about money – why do pastors talk about money?

· Now, why am I up here talking about money – why do pastors talk about money?

o Well, it’s not because we need it – God has blessed BCC and we have many people here in our BCC family who get this concept of giving.

o Well, it’s not because we need it – God has blessed BCC and we have many people here in our BCC family who get this concept of giving.

o But if we are going to be strong followers of Christ, then we have to get this concept and be right on the money about how to deal with our stuff.

o But if we are going to be strong followers of Christ, then we have to get this concept and be right on the money about how to deal with our stuff.

o After all, Jesus Himself talked more about money than He did Heaven or Hell.

So, if we are going to be true Christ followers, then we have to discuss this subject.

o After all, Jesus Himself talked more about money than He did Heaven or Hell.

So, if we are going to be true Christ followers, then we have to discuss this subject.

Now, let me just pause here and ask everyone in the room to go ahead and make this pose: ( ).

· As a pastor, people have asked me so many questions about giving to the church.

o I’m asking you to do that because I know good and well that there will be many here today that although may not actually show the gesture, you will be making that gesture on the inside.

§ I know that because I made that exact same gesture for 15 years in the church.

o What is tithing?

o Are we supposed to give just 10%

§ I attended church regularly and even served / volunteered from time to time.

I even served as a deacon – but I didn’t give like I should and on the few occasions that I did give, I didn’t give with the right attitude – I gave with the thought that I was giving my money as an investment or as dues into to some sort of club.

o There is no mention of an actual amount in the New Testament so do we give at all.

§ Back then, I was the Chief Operating officer and Vice President of Sales for a large company.

I made lots of money.

And I worried about money all the time.

I couldn’t have enough cars, a big enough boat, enough new stuff to satisfy me.

o We are under the new covenant so we don’t really have to give do we?

· And every single time a pastor came up for the morning offering, I did this ( ).

I would constantly say to myself, “That preacher just wants me to give so he can go buy something else and just sit on his rear-end and do nothing…”

· That is seriously what I would say to myself.

I mean here I was with Kelly and at the time only (2) children and making tons of money and had very little to no joy – because I was consumed with making more money and how to prepare for a potential “rainy” day and the future of kids’ education, retirement, etc.

o What is the difference of a tithe and an offering?

o I can’t afford to give anything right now – is that ok?

· You may be sitting there saying, man, that guy was pretty awful!!!

· I was the poster child for “my four and no more”.

In other words, I thought that I truly knew Jesus Christ as the forgiver of my sins and Lord of my life, I knew Kelly was, and so were my oldest (2) kids Matthew and Riley.

o These are all questions that we will tackle over the next couple of weeks.

· So, I figured to myself that since my family was “good to go” I could just show up at church and listen to 15 minutes of music, hear 30 minutes or so of preaching, give every once in a while, and the Byrd family was good to go – “my four and no more.”

o I had these same questions for 15 years in the church.

· And that is exactly what the enemy wanted – Satan loves it when followers of Christ have the “my four and no more” outlook on life.

§ I attended church regularly and even served / volunteered from time to time.

I even served as a deacon – but I didn’t give like I should and on the few occasions that I did give, I didn’t give with the right attitude – I gave with the thought that I was giving my money as an investment or as dues into to some sort of club.

§ Back then, I was the Chief Operating officer and Vice President of Sales for a large company.

I made lots of money.

And I worried about money all the time.

I couldn’t have enough cars, a big enough boat, enough new stuff to satisfy me.

· Now, maybe my outlook was a little rougher than some of yours.

However, statistically, the church in America by in large currently matches my previous outlook on “stuff”.

· And every single time a pastor came to receive the morning offering, I did this ( ).

I would constantly say to myself, “That preacher just wants me to give so he can go buy something else and just sit on his rear-end and do nothing…”

· The average giving from a regular attender in America is around 2%.

It wasn’t until a series of circumstances came my way did I finally understand the TRUE concept of money and how I truly fit in to the real and meaningful act of how “stuff” should be treated.

money and move closer towards a view point that was indeed right on the money.

· That is seriously what I would say to myself.

I mean here I was with Kelly and at the time only (2) children and making tons of money and had very little to no joy – because I was consumed with making more money and how to prepare for a potential “rainy” day and the future of kids’ education, retirement, etc.

· So, Let’s talk about our stuff

· We do some unique things with our stuff.

· You may be sitting there saying, man, that guy was pretty awful!!!

· I was the poster child for “my four and no more”.

In other words, I thought that I truly knew Jesus Christ as the forgiver of my sins and Lord of my life, I knew Kelly was, and so were my oldest (2) kids Matthew and Riley.

o At times, we accumulate so much of it that we pay someone else to actually store it.

There are companies that make quite a bit of money providing buildings for us to store our extra stuff.

o We pay to insure our stuff – We spend money on the stuff that we have already spent money on.

We do all this, then we die, then it goes to someone else and it starts all over again.

· So, I figured to myself that since my family was “good to go” I could just show up at church and listen to 15 minutes of music, hear 30 minutes or so of preaching, give every once in a while, and the Byrd family was good to go – “my four and no more.”

o Many times, someone else owned something that we currently own.

One of the cars we recently purchased had over 180,000 miles.

According to CARFAX, it had 2 previous owners.

· And that is exactly what the enemy wanted – Satan loves it when followers of Christ have the “my four and no more” outlook on life.

· Now, maybe my outlook was a little rougher than some of yours.

However, statistically, the church in America by in large currently matches my previous outlook on “stuff”.

o Knowing that our stuff is going to outlast us, we struggle with giving it away.

· The average giving from a regular attender in America is around 2%.

It wasn’t until a series of circumstances came my way did I finally understand the TRUE concept of money and how I truly fit in to the real and meaningful act of how “stuff” should be treated.

money and move closer towards a view point that was indeed right on the money.

§ The other day, both our youngest kids wanted a piece of cheese.

We gave (2) pieces to our 5-year-old daughter Charlie Ann and told her to give a piece to Samuel.

· So, Let’s talk about our stuff

· You see, we are trying to teach our kids the importance of sharing and they are just “perfect” at it.

· We do some unique things with our stuff.

· So Charlie Ann goes to Samuel and says this, “Hey Samuel, do you want a piece of cheese (say no).”

She is always trying to lead him and boss him around and tell him to say either yes or no.

o At times, we accumulate so much of it that we pay someone else to actually store it.

There are companies that make quite a bit of money providing buildings for us to store our extra stuff.

· Well, we laugh, but don’t we do the same thing with God? Don’t we say, God, I want that new car or that awesome boat or that second home – can you just say YES to it?

o We pay to insure our stuff – We spend money on the stuff that we have already spent money on.

We do all this, then we die, then it goes to someone else and it starts all over again.

· However, the fact is that on day, either our stuff is going to depart from us, or we are going to depart from our stuff – we will give it all away some day.