Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

A few things about myself:

I’ve been married to my wife, Katie Fields, for 7 years.

She’s a stay at home mom who loves coffee, swimming and photography.

I don’t like social media, but I’m on it all the time.

I feel like it is a continual car crash that you can’t shield your eyes from.

We have three children, Noah James (5), he’s 100 mph all the time, loves water and trucks.

Emma Kate (3), she’s a fire ball who is into dance, princesses, and coloring.

And Anna Claire (18 months), she is the adventurous one.

She loves to climb anything.

A few things about myself:

I don’t like social media, but I’m on it all the time.

I feel like it is a continual car crash that you can’t shield your eyes from.

I love reading, mostly Christian stuff, though I do read fiction from time to time.

I love reading, mostly Christian stuff, though I do read fiction from time to time.

Lebron over Jordan

I enjoy a good, black cup of coffee.

I think going to the pool counts as a bath for the day.

Dunkin’ Donuts over Starbucks, for that matter, almost any coffee over Starbucks.

I prefer LOTR over Star Wars, but like a good mole Star Wars is growing on me.

I’m a student pastor of 6 years.

Served at the same church, that I was saved and baptised in.

That’s cool.

Patriots dynasty will be over as soon as Belichick and Brady are gone, but the Cowboys are the closet thing to an eternal dynasty.

Talk radio over music.

Not doing the Keto Diet

I’m a normal guy, for the most part, graduated from TTU and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Transition: now you know more about me than you ever wanted to know and still nothing about our topic.

What is the most daunting thing about reading the Bible?

My hope in our time together is to relieve you of some of these fears about the Bible, give you a biblical base line, and then a couple of tools going forward.

Saint Augustine, the Bishop of Hippo (not the animal, but the city, he was born in 354) once said, “The bible is shallow enough for a child not to drown, yet deep enough for an elephant to swim.”

Isn’t that comforting?

That the design of God, with this book, is that even the most feeble and weak child, can listen to a story, hear a verse () and begin to get a sense of the knowledge of God, if he has the Spirit of God?

People like you and I, normal people, we won’t drown and we don’t need floaties!

And at the same time, guys like Jason Earl & Sammy Lopez, who’ve spent decades in this book, well they’ve yet to touch the bottom.

They are the elephants in this analogy.

Just clearing things up for you.

The Beginning Point of Understanding

As we begin to think about Understanding the Bible there is a beginning point that can’t be missed.

John Calvin once said (paraphrased), when we look around our world, at each other, the tree’s, the rivers, the signs on this campus, we may begin to think that we have great power of sight.

That it’s sharp and acute.

Yet, go out and look toward the sun on a cloudless afternoon.

What you will find is that though you do have sight to see what is around you and near, the greatness and distance of the sun cannot be seen with the naked eye, at least not well.

And our eyesight that we thought once sharp and acute - has little to no power to perceive the sun and stars.

In the same way, the Bible, though we can read the words and understand the meaning of sentences and stories, without the Holy Spirit we will never see the brightness and true beauty of the Bible or experience the great worth of the Bible - that it imparts to us life in Christ - both spiritual birth and nourishment.

Here’s how the Scriptures speak of this:

1 Cor 2:12

So bottom line - it’s the Spirit of God who gives us understanding of the things given us by God, i.e. the Bible.

And the natural person, that is the person without the Spirit of God living within them, the person that is lost, does not accept the things that lie within these pages, Paul said they are foolish to him.

Why are they foolish?

Because a lost person can’t understand them - he does not have the help of God’s Spirit.

So if you want to get this right, primarily, you must see Jesus and love Jesus and know Jesus as your King and Savior.

Those who do have the Spirit, they have eyes to see the sun and stars.

What if you’re not a believer, what should you then do?

Keep reading this book, but do it humbly and with prayer asking God to give you insight and to change your mind about His Son Jesus Christ.

Listen to :

So, if you don’t have Jesus as your savior, keep hearing the truths of this Bible, keep listening to your pastor, keep going to Sunday school, keep opening the Bible and asking God to make His Son wonderful to you, rather than distant and boring.

So -

So, before moving on, what is the beginning point to understanding this book?

Yes, being saved and having the Spirit residing within you.

Is this book to deep for a child?

No.

Is this book to shallow for your pastor?

No. Okay, then let’s move on.

God’s Great Story

Here’s the story of Scripture in 30 minutes:

In the beginning God created () everything.

Like an artists He created the universe, the heavens and the earth, to tell all about His () goodness, and strength, and love, and kingship.

And God made Adam and Eve ( & ).

He wasn’t lonely or in need of company - He simply wanted to share His glory.

So He put them in the garden.

They were happy people who knew their God.

During that state of innocence it was a wonderful time to be God’s children in God’s world.

But that innocence did not keep.

God had an enemy - it seems that Adam and Eve did not know this.

And the aim of the Great Enemy, that lover of evil and suffering, that old Crafty Serpent, was and is to put a stop to God’s plan of spreading His love, fame and joy.

So Adam and Eve met that Tricky Snake in the garden one day and rather than taking God at His Word, they faltered, and they believed a horrible lie, and in rebellion to their good and loving God they took a bite of that fruit and everything changed.

They now knew what life apart from God meant.

Their eyes were open.

It was a great and terrible fall from innocence.

So God cursed them and that Crafty Serpent, but God also made a wonderful promise, a covenant with Adam and Eve and their children.

That they would be at war with the Great Enemy, but one day from Adam and Eve’s children would rise a Victor.

A Victor that though being wounded by the Snake He would land the ruining blow.

But now Adam and Eve and all their children to follow were corrupted.

No longer could God walk with them in the garden.

Sin was a barrier.

No longer could God’s crowning creation stay in His presence.

That curse of death - was certainly physical, but more importantly it was spiritual.

Now all mankind were under a curse of spiritual death.

But, even during this terribly dark day we see God’s mercy and kindness on display.

Adam and Eve naked and ashamed - deserving of the death penalty for their rebellion - are spared and they are covered by the skins of an animal by God.

An animal was sacrificed and blood was shed for mercy and kindness to be given to Adam and Eve.

Isn’t it great that God has always been in the business of giving us what we don’t deserve?

Well, in time Adam and Eve had two boys.

Cain and Abel.

Cain did not trust God, but Abel did.

God rejected Cain’s offering, but accepted Abel’s.

And what followed was the first murder in history.

Things were not looking good.

Sin had taken root in the heart of man.