Sermon Tone Analysis

A group of professionals were talking at their college reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

“Notice that all of the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While its normal for you to pursue the best for yourselves, is also the source of your stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.

It’s just a more expensive cup...

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups…and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

📷

Now consider this: Life is the coffee.

Your job, your money and wealth and your positions in society are the cups.

Life is the coffee.

Your job, your money and wealth and your positions in society are the cups.

Your job, your money and wealth and your positions in society are the cups.

They are just tools to hold and contain Life.

By concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.

The type of cup one has does not define, nor change the quality of life a person lives.

Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us.

God makes the coffee, we use cups.

The happiest people are not the ones who focus on having the best of everything… Enjoy your coffee!

Enjoy your coffee!

Today part of our time together will involve some discussion at your table - we want you to start thinking about how the teaching relates to you life and how you can begin to live out these principles in your particular situation.

We know that some here might not be very comfortable with this – it might not be something you’re used to – We are just glad you are with us and If you really don’t want to talk you can just tell the people at your table that you just want to listen..

In this series we are looking at what Jesus and his disciples taught about pursuing true success…and investing in our future…

Cups & Coffee:

A group of professionals were talking at their college reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

So they went to his house and during their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress and anxiety in their work and lives.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

“Notice that all of the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While its normal for you to pursue the best for yourselves, is also the source of your stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.

It’s just a more expensive cup...

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you went for the best cups…and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee.

Your job, your money and wealth, your education and positions in society, are the cups.

They are just tools to hold and contain Life.

By concentrating only on the cup, we fail to truly enjoy the good coffee God has provided each of us.

Typically we pursue success by [investing in our cups eh.

By] primarily using our jobs, education, talents and time: to build up our own wealth, to increase our standard of living, to contribute to the comfort and convince of our own families…

As human beings we naturally invest in the things we think will bring us success – we’re just wired that way…

And our hearts always follow our investments – you will love whatever it is you cling to for success…

It is quite typical to pursue success by investing in our cups.

To primarily use our jobs, education, talents and time: to build up our own wealth, to increase our standard of living, to contribute to the comfort, activities, and convinces of our own families…

So this is really important stuff, that impacts our daily lives, how we relate to God and each other, the kind of future we will have, and what we are leaving behind for the next generation!

A successful day for me usually begins with a cup of coffee… I came across this story involving coffee this week...

A group of professionals were talking at their college reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in their work and lives.

A group of professionals were talking at their college reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

“Notice that all of the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While its normal for you to pursue the best for yourselves, is also the source of your stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.

It’s just a more expensive cup...

“Notice that all of the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While its normal for you to pursue the best for yourselves, is also the source of your stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.

It’s just a more expensive cup...

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups…and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups…and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee.

Your job, your money and wealth, your education and positions in society, are the cups.

They are just tools to hold and contain Life.

By concentrating only on the cup, we fail to truly enjoy the good coffee God has provided us.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee.

Your job, your money and wealth, your education and positions in society, are the cups.

They are just tools to hold and contain Life.

By concentrating only on the cup, we fail to truly enjoy the good coffee God has provided us.

Typically we pursue success by [investing in our cups eh.

By] primarily using our jobs, education, talents and time: to build up our own wealth, to increase our standard of living, to contribute to the comfort and convince of our own families…

A group of young professionals were talking at their college reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in their work and lives.

A group of professionals were talking at their college reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups- porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite, telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:

“Notice that all of the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones.

While its normal for you to pursue the best for yourselves, but it is also the source of your stress.

Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee.

It’s just a more expensive cup...

What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups…and then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Typically we pursue success by primarily using our jobs, education, talents and time: to build up our own wealth, to increase our standard of living, to contribute to the comfort and convince of our own families…

Now consider this: Life is the coffee.

Your job, your money and wealth, your education and positions in society, are the cups.

They are just tools to hold and contain Life.

By concentrating only on the cup, we fail to truly enjoy the good coffee God has provided us.

Typically we pursue success by primarily useing our jobs, education, talents and time: is to build up our own wealth, to increase our standard of living, to contribute to the comfort and convince of our own families…

When we think of success and building for the future we typically focus on the cup - using our jobs, education, talents and time: to build up our wealth, to increase our standard of living, to contribute to the comfort and convince of our own families…

But as we have seen already in this series, Jesus and his disciples challenge our typical views of success… Jesus teaches that the way to be truly successful, the way to lay down a truly solid foundation for your future…the way to really LIVE and grab onto LIFE - is to use your wealth: use your time: use your talents to do good.... Which is a really different way of thinking about success.

This is reflected in how most people think about retirement or leaving an inheritance for our children…

Which is a really different way of thinking about success.

But Jesus and his disciples challenge such views of success… calling them foolish…

But Jesus and his disciples challenge such views of success… calling them foolish…

“True success is far deeper and more comprehensive than financial success or enjoyment of this life.