Sermon Tone Analysis

SR

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Third son Nathan was baptized this Sunday.

All my sons have been baptized, so now I can be an elder!

Third son Nathan was baptized this Sunday.

All my sons have been baptized, so now I can be an elder!

“Conversion” in COC often (rightly) has a focus on baptism

Background of baptism in COC.

@ Nathan’s baptism I told him this was the beginning of the journey, not the end.

Next day he told me he wanted an Eminem jacket!

Not talking about the round coated candies.

Repent is “turn around” or “turn your mind” etc.

We rightly tell people that they need to live a different way as a Christian.

We can’t keep living in the old ways (, the old has gone, the new has come)

Paul an example of quick turn around.

he tells the story of the road to Damascus.

He was going there with letters from the Jerusalem authorities to bring people back with him and punish them for being followers of Christ.

“Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?”

He hung out with Ananias a while and then starts preaching Christ.

That change was so sudden, that some were still skeptical.

:

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

20 At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

21 All those who heard him were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?

And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?” 22 Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.

Have you ever wondered: how much repenting do we need to do anyway?

Become perfect so you can be baptized?

Figure everything out and live a perfect life?

Then get baptized?

What if someone still smokes?

Swears?

Drinks?

Those are outward visible things.

What if they still have a dark thought?

Are jealous?

“renewing of your mind”

Don’t conform.

Don’t do what everyone else is doing, but “be transformed” (guess what word we get from this Grk.

word: “metamorphoo”).

Metamorphosis!

From a caterpillar to a butterfly!

It’s a process.

We understand that it is a complete change.

The butterfly doesn’t go back to being a caterpillar, it’s an utter transformation.

has the same word.

When Jesus was “transfigured” in front of the disciples.

His face was like the sun and his clothes were white as light.

Conversion a process, not a goal.

:17-18

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplatea the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Notice here that transformation isn’t something we do like this: (make a strain face).

It is something that is done to us.

“Are being transformed.”

This doesn’t come from our trying, our effort, our good deeds, our “repentance.”

It comes from the Lord who is the spirit.

The unveiled face reference is from Moses who spent time with God on the mountain and had to cover his face when he went down to Israel.

But we’re not like Moses and when we turn to the Lord the veil is removed so we can reflect his glory and be transformed through spending time with him.

Romans says it starts with a “renewing of the mind.”

**Not sure about this section** Your sermons are getting long.

Right after Peter says we’re a “Royal Priesthood” and a “Holy Nation” —that we’ve been called out of darkness into light (our scripture reading), he goes on to say:

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.

12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

We are Royal and Holy and we have work to do.

Sin wages war against us.

There are people living around us that need to see a good life well lived.

They want us to be hypocrites so they can accuse us and blame us for why they’re not living their lives for Christ, “Oh Christians are a bunch of hypocritical religious people.”

But there might be good deeds that they see and give glory to God

Some disciples get called out by Jesus because they “didn’t know” him:

“Do not let your hearts be troubled.

You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father except through me.

7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well.

From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?

Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

Thomas says “how can we know the way”?

Jesus says, “I am the way.”

Meaning you don’t really know me.

Thomas says “how can we know the way”?

Jesus says, “I am the way.”

Meaning you don’t really know me.

Remember Philip telling Nathanael about Jesus?

43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee.

Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida.

45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

46 “Nazareth!

Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked.

“Come and see,” said Philip.

Hey!

We found the right guy!

The one from the Bible!

Moses wrote about him!

And the prophets!

Come check it out!

Jesus: “if you really knew me.”