Sermon Tone Analysis

Demanding Duties and Parting Words

:17-25

As all good things must come to an end we are in our last week of the Better Than series which as been so good for us as we have unpacked just how important and how amazing Jesus was and still is and that no matter what you have been trusting in, Jesus is better than that, whatever it is.

So on this last week, we will continue to talk about the duties of the follower of Christ.

What are they supposed to do with their time?

In what areas are they to perform?

Because living the life of a Christian is a demanding life.

It can be a challenge.

Everything that is a challenge for us drives us further along.

I remember when I was in college looking at all the work that I would have to do for a semester and staring at the syllabus was really daunting!

I couldn’t figure out how I was going to keep up.

I wondered how in the world I was going to read all those books and write all those papers and finish all those projects.

Especially with a family and my son on the way, and working.

It was going to be difficult but its funny.

I was able to do it.

Barely, but I was able to do it.

It was really demanding but God gave me the strength to pull it off.

Getting back to the tall order for our lives; because our lives are hectic and even though they are hectic, God still requires the same for all of us.

The Christian has some demands that are placed on them.

And the duties that this last chapter of Hebrews talks about are not requested, they are required.

And even though they may seem daunting, they may seem difficult, God will give you the strength to continue on.

God helps us when we are week.

Let’s go ahead and read our text today:

Hebrews 13:1

He

It is scary to be a leader in the church.

Not just the Pastor, but anyone who God calls to be a leader.

Remember last week we said that leaders don’t have to just be born leaders.

Leaders are made, leaders are cultivated, leaders can be grown.

People really can become leaders.

But it can be scary because leaders have a greater responsibility in the eyes of God.

The one who calls himself or herself a leader needs to be very aware of what they do and what they say and what they teach because leaders will be judged with stricter standards.

So there are strict standards for teachers who are usually also leaders.

And the verses say there that you are to pray for them.

Pray for them.

Pray for your leaders.

The context here is that we pray for leaders within the church.

Yes, we are to pray for our governmental leaders and our bosses and things like that but the context here is that you should pray for your leaders in the church.

Because we are

Conscious of the fact that no-one can work effectively for Christ unaided and unsupported, he asks them to continue to pray on his behalf.

No one can work for Christ alone.

They need prayer.

Pray for me.

I mean it.

I need your prayers.

I specifically need your prayers.

Because I depend on the Holy Spirit to speak to me and to guide me and to help me interpret the Scriptures.

I rely on God to guide this church and it cannot be about me or my wants or my needs but it has to be about what God wants for us, and where God wants us to go with this gathering of people.

Please pray for me, every day I ask.

That may sound a little bit selfish but I am telling you, I need it.

Pray for me, pray for my wife, because she as the wife of a pastor deals with different things than other people do.

Pray for me I need your prayers.

I specifically need your prayers.

The enemy is looking to destroy the church and one of the ways that he wants to do that is through destroying the family.

So pray for Rachel, pray for the kids that they will be kept safe and that they will thrive in the Lord.

We need your prayers.

We really do.

You may say, My family needs prayer too.

It is good that you recognize that because we need to be praying for each other.

Please don’t just dismiss that.

Pray for one another.

Things really happen when you pray.

We need to be praying for each other.

Please don’t just dismiss that.

Pray for one another.

Things really happen when you pray.

We follow the example of Jesus when we pray.

James We follow the example of Jesus when we pray.

Here is what we are called to do.

Confess our sins.

Yeah, that may be embarrassing.

What better way to prevent someone from sinning then knowing that they will have to confess that sin to someone else?

If you make it a habit to confess your sins then maybe you will stop doing the things you aren’t supposed to do.

And look at the last part of that verse.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

I really hope you understand that this morning.

What prayer actually is.

Prayer is us bowing down to God.

Recognizing His Greatness, understanding our position to Him.

When you are in regular prayer you understand better and better the position we hold before our Father.

We understand that He is loving and He is approachable and that he loves you.

Sometimes I think that we forget just how much that God loves us.

Many times we focus on the negative notions that we have about God (which are usually wrong) and we forget His love for us.

We forget the lengths that He went to by sending His Son to be a sacrifice for us.

He loves you so much.

And our answer is to go into prayer and to bring ourselves before Him.

And God wants you to be in prayer with Him.

God wants you to know Him personally.

When we look at prayer we look at Jesus who is our example when it comes to prayer.

How did Jesus pray?

He prayed all the time.

He made prayer a priority.

Before He did anything else, He prayed.

Jesus went out in the early mornings before it was light to a quiet and lonely place so that he would

Not have any distractions.

Distractions are probably the number one reason that people don’t pray, or if they start to pray that they are unsuccessful.

Distractions kill prayer.

I have to tell you that this is one of the most difficult things in the world that we experience today.

Try and find a moment in your life where there are no distractions.

Now you know that I am going to start talking about how all of our devices are evil and are of the devil, but they aren’t.

I love my iphone, my smartphone.