Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome!

Welcome to New Hope!

We’re so glad you are here this morning.

If this is your first time to New Hope, we’d like to extend a special welcome.

Thanks for being with us.

We understand that strange places + strange people sometimes can equal a strange experience!

That’s certainly not our desire.

Our desire is that you’d feel incredibly welcome, and you’d find these next few moments meaningful & an opportunity to connect with God.

Today is a special day.

We are so excited to be able to celebrate with several families, decisions that have been made for Jesus.

I mean, really, that’s why I’m here.

I hope that’s why you’re here too.

We get a little weird when people make decisions for Jesus, so don’t hold that against us.

So all the baptism candidates who are in this service, please begin making your way backstage through the black curtain.

We’re going to sing a couple songs and then celebrate with baptism.

After that, we will hear from God’s word, and then end our service with communion.

That’s a lot today!

And we’re glad you’re here to share it all with us!

Now if you are able, please stand with us as we sing songs of praise to the One who is worthy of it all!

UP-BEAT PRAYER!

Baptism

Outward expression of an inward work.

The incredible thing is… what you are about to witness is nothing short of a miracle.

It’s God’s handy-work.

The Bible tells us that “He who began a good work in you, will carry it on to completion until Jesus returns.”

This is part of that “good work”, and we get a front row seat.

Message

Intro

We started a new series last week titled - THE ART OF HOLDING THINGS LOOSELY

It’s not an original saying with me, but I heard it a few months back and it stuck with me.

In fact, it was Chuck Swindoll who said, “I'll never forget a conversation I had with the late Corrie ten Boom.

She said to me, in her broken English, "Chuck, I've learned that we must hold everything loosely, because when I grip it tightly, it hurts when the Father pries my fingers loose and takes it from me!”

So last week we launched into this series about the things that we grip tightly - the things that we are not willing to let go of - things that we haven’t learned how to grip loosely

We cannot serve two masters; We cannot love God and be enslaved to money; We cannot love both the world and have God’s love in us at the same time; We’re called to live in the world, but not to be of the world (Not to allow the values, customs, & attitudes of this world to enslave us); For where your treasures are, there your heart will be also.

Today

Today, and for the next few weeks, we get more specific explaining THE ART OF HOLDING THINGS LOOSELY

If you’d like to refer to our scripture texts this morning, please turn in your Bibles to the New Testament book of Galatians - Page 700.

Galatians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to the churches of Galatia.

These early churches were in turmoil.

As you read through this letter, you clearly see the struggle that was going on.

Paul breaks down this struggle between two groups of people;

A group of Jewish Christians (Judaizers) who were teaching that;

People who came to faith in Jesus must become “Jewish”

In order for your faith in Jesus to “count”, you must walk like a duck, talk like a duck, act like a duck (or Jew)

You must follow all the Jewish traditions, rules, rituals, & laws - even the oral ones - beyond the scope of the OT

In fact, there was a conflict between Paul & Peter beginning in .

Peter (who was a Jew) showed up in Antioch and he ate with the Gentile believers who weren’t following the Jewish customs

But later when some of his Jewish buddies showed up, he wouldn’t eat with the Gentiles anymore.

He was afraid of what they might think of him or say about him.

As a result there were other Jews who followed suit & did the same thing Peter did.

So Paul calls him out in front of the crowd - “Dude, what are you doing?

Why was it ok to share with the non-Jewish Christians before your posse showed up, but now it’s not.

What has changed?

There will always be Judaizers around us

There will always be people around us telling us what’s better for us

There will always be people who think they mean well, but may not know God’s best for us

Sometimes there are people who are simply selfish or have their own interest at heart

Doesn’t mean we are rebellious just to be a rebel; but we seek to do what’s right in God’s eyes

Wait a minute… Are you saying that we shouldn’t follow the law?

Are you saying the OT law no longer applies?

Why then was the law ever given?

“Glad you asked!”

The other group was the Gentiles (non-Jewish followers of Jesus)

They were taught, maybe like many of you, that salvation comes through faith in Jesus

That God’s extended His amazing grace through the person of Jesus; that if we would believe in Him we would have everlasting life; Or to say it another way...

We are made new because of Jesus + nothing

Followers of Jesus

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed.

And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

So what does all this mean and how does it apply to “the art of holding things loosely”?

10 Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God.

If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

One of the things we don’t hold loosely is what others think about us.

Who would be honest and confess that they’re people pleasers?

In fact, we can struggle big time with this.

And at first glance it might seem like no big deal.

Our goal cannot be to please God and please people

We cannot share our allegiance; We cannot serve both God and man; We cannot please both God and people

What is our pursuit in pleasing God?