Sermon Tone Analysis

OPENING

Anything that is healthy grows naturally

Which human culture is the healthiest in the world?

Which human culture is the healthiest in the world?I guess no one can tell for a certainWhy?

I supposed that whoever is doing the survey will claim that his culture is the healthiestBut seriously, we can hardly tellBecause it’s completely dependent on the metrics you’ll use to ascertain this questionIf you’re going to use longevity as a parameter to the question, then perhaps you’ll say Japan has the healthiest culture in the planet If it’s about friendliness, probably you’ll say Philippines because Filipinos are known for their hospitality and close family tiesIf it’s about financial success, you might say.... Germany because For the third year in a row, Germany is the world's best country to be an entrepreneurIf it’s about emotional stability, you could say..So we could hardly tell whose culture is the healthiestThe same is true with churches, no single church could claim that their culture is the “healthiest”If you would equate health to numbers, then you could say that mega churches are the healthiestIf you would equate health to missions, you could say that missionary-sending churches are the healthiestIf you will equate health to good fellowship, then you could say that small churches with small groups are the healthiestEvery church has their own culture, their own DNA, so to speakBut of course towards the process of maturity, every churchs’ goal is to have Jesus’ CultureI prayed and looked back from the beginning of the year to see how far our conversation for the year has gone so far and I found out thatWe talked more about building up individualsWe talked about surviving our sufferings, values that last, being “balanced”Speaking of balance, we love being “balanced”, or at the very least we are trying to be “balanced” in every aspect of our livesSo even in preaching the great Word of God, I try to balance it through the help and grace of the Holy SpiritPastor Rick Warren said, when we preach, we should remember these few thingsWe need to Build up (Edify)Fire up (Exhort)Cope up (Encourage)So today and the few weeks to come, let me talk to you about “church culture” What is culture?Define -Culture is invisible but determinative You can’t see it, but it defines who you are as a person, as a people and as a churchBad culture will consistently undermine an amazing vision, mission and strategyI was looking at our church constitution, its a bulky stack of paper containing things that matters to us as a churchThings that is perceived to keep us togetherThings that is supposed to differentiate us from the worldAnd as I go through the pages, the values we defined caught my attentionAnd I asked myself, “do we truly embody these values?”And for some in the church, do they even know that we have these defined values?

Do they even know this document exist?And I go.. “Lord, what must I do?”.. clearly, I received it in my heart.. discuss it with the church

I guess no one can tell for a certain.

Why?

I supposed that whoever is doing the survey will claim that his culture is the healthiest

But seriously, we can hardly tell because it’s completely dependent on the metrics you’ll use to ascertain this question

If you’re going to use longevity as a parameter to the question, then perhaps you’ll say Japan has the healthiest culture in the planet

If it’s about friendliness, probably you’ll say Philippines because Filipinos are known for their hospitality and close family ties

If it’s about financial success, you might say.... Germany because For the third year in a row, Germany is the world's best country to be an entrepreneur

So we could hardly tell whose or which culture is the healthiest

BREATHE!

The same is true with churches, no single church could claim that their culture is the “healthiest”

If you would equate health to numbers, then you could say that mega churches are the healthiest

If you would equate health to missions, you could say that missionary-sending churches are the healthiest

If you will equate health to good fellowship, then you could say that small churches with small groups are the healthiest

Every church has their own culture, their own DNA, so to speak

But of course towards the process of maturity, every church’s goal is to have Jesus’ Culture

BREATHE!

I prayed and looked back from the beginning of the year to see how far our conversation for the year has gone so far and I found out that

We talked more about building up individuals

We talked about surviving our sufferings

Values that last

Living a being “balanced” life

Speaking of balance, we love being “balanced”,

or at the very least we are trying to be “balanced” in every aspect of our lives

So even in preaching the great Word of God, I try to balance it through the help and grace of the Holy Spirit

Pastor Rick Warren said, when we preach, we should remember these few things

We need to Build up (Edify)

Fire up (Exhort)

Cope up (Encourage)

BREATHE!

So today and the few weeks to come, let me talk to you about “church culture”

What is culture?

Culture is invisible but determinative

You can’t see it, but it defines who you are as a person, as a people and as a church

Bad culture will consistently undermine an amazing vision, mission and strategy

I was looking at our church constitution, its a bulky stack of paper containing things that matters to us as a church

Things that is perceived to keep us together

Things that is supposed to differentiate us from the world

And as I go through the pages, the values we defined caught my attention

And I asked myself, “do we truly embody these values?”

And for some in the church, do they even know that we have these defined values?

Do they even know this document exist?

And I go.. “Lord, what must I do?”.. clearly, I received it in my heart.. discuss it with the church

BREATHE!

Let me read to you a portion of what is contained in our church constitution

In Article 3, section 3.5 it reads…

Jesus is our only Model of true servanthood.

He came not to be served but to serve.

He said that if we want to be first, we must be the very last and servant of all.

Those who wants to be great must become a servant.

In everything that we do must reflect this attitude.

The world has already discovered the value and power of this, and they called it “customer service”.

Business and corporations became utterly wealthy because of this.

As Christians, we enrich people’s lives and make people spiritually wealthy because of our attitude of servanthood.

People feel big and great because a Christian bends over backwards to help, encourage, edify, and serve.

Let us all make people feeling good by humbly serving them.

And in doing so, you are in fact serving the Lord already!

Jesus is our only Model of true servanthood.

He came not to be served but to serve.

He said that if we want to be first, we must be the very last and servant of all.

He came not to be served but to serve.

He said that if we want to be first, we must be the very last and servant of all.

Those who wants to be great must become a servant.

In everything that we do must reflect this attitude.

The world has already discovered the value and power of this, and they called it “customer service”.

Business and corporations became utterly wealthy because of this.

As Christians, we enrich people’s lives and make people spiritually wealthy because of our attitude of servanthood.

People feel big and great because a Christian bends over backwards to help, encourage, edify, and serve.

Let us all make people feeling good by humbly serving them.

And in doing so, you are in fact serving the Lord already!

Those who wants to be great must become a servant.

In everything that we do must reflect this attitude.

The world has already discovered the value and power of this, and they called it “customer service”.

Business and corporations became utterly wealthy because of this.

As Christians, we enrich people’s lives and make people spiritually wealthy because of our attitude of servanthood.

People feel big and great because a Christian bends over backwards to help, encourage, edify, and serve.

Let us all make people feeling good by humbly serving them.

And in doing so, you are in fact serving the Lord already!

BREATHE!

After John baptized Jesus, he went to the wilderness where He was tempted by satan

At the end of His fasting, Jesus begun to to call His disciples

And as soon as He mobilized His team, the first thing they did was to “serve”

In the New Living Translation of the Bible the word “serve” was used 199 times

And the word service was used 52 times

Open you Bible to Mark 10

TEXT: JESUS TEACHES ABOUT SERVING OTHERS (NLT)

BREATHE!

Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves

A student at a Bible school in the Philippines became disturbed over the condition of the men’s rest rooms, since they always seemed to be neglected in the cleaning routine.

When nothing was done to eliminate the filth, he took matters into his own hands and complained to the principal of the school.

A little while later, the student noticed that the problem was being corrected, but he saw with amazement that the man with the mop and pail in hand was the principal himself!

God has given each one of us our unique SHAPE

To help you evaluate yourselves, use this acrostics SHAPE

Romans

Spiritual Gifts