Sermon Tone Analysis

While some churches are growing, the overall outlook for the church in America is not good.

Congregations are shrinking.

Christians are leaving the church.

Non-Christians want nothing to do with the church or with Christianity.

Pastors are leaving the work of the ministry.

Churches across the United States are closing their doors.

The church in America has become complacent.

We are comfortable in our Sunday worship services.

Yet, we fail to connect the Sunday worship with our lives the rest of the week.

In part, preachers have compromised the gospel message they proclaim.

Some have exchanged the difficult truths of the gospel for a feel-good message.

Others have failed to live the message they proclaim.

And in part, the church has chosen to go its own way.

We want our ears tickled.

We want to feel good about ourselves.

We want the gospel to serve our needs, our wants, our expectations.

The outlook for the church in America is not good because we have forgotten what it means to be disciples of Christ.

We have forgotten what it means to be followers of Jesus.

We have forgotten what it means to be Christian.

And, if we hope to see the church in America turn around, we must rediscover what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

Over the last several weeks, we have been looking at the Book of Hebrews, and how it encourages us to remain faithful as we follow Jesus.

Yet, in the course of examining the Book of Hebrews, along with some recent events, I have come to believe that before we can continue to talk about remaining faithful followers, we need to first understand what it means to be a follower…a believer…a Christian…a disciple.

Now, it doesn’t matter whether you call yourself a Christian, a believer, a follower of Jesus, or a disciple of Christ.

What matters is this: How do you and how do others know you are what you say you are?

What in your life defines you as a Christian or a believer?

What in your life demonstrates that you truly are a follower of Jesus or a disciple of Christ?

We might be tempted to compare ourselves with one another, and say that I’m better off than Sister Sue or Brother Dave.

Sister Sue has a drinking problem, and Brother Dave has anger issues.

We say to ourselves, “I’m a good person.

I don’t always do the right thing, but I’m still better off than the person sitting across from me.

I’m certainly a better Christian.”

But, think about this: someone else may be looking at us, and saying to himself or herself, “I’m better off than Peter, than Kate, than Priscilla, than Jim.”

And, they just might be right.

The truth is that we can turn to nowhere else other than Scripture to understand what it truly means to be Christian.

The Bible tells the story of God’s interaction with his creation.

It tells the story of Jesus.

It tells the story of the church.

It tells the story of the kingdom of God.

And, it tells us how we are to live as members of the kingdom…as Christians…as disciples.

You see, God is not so much concerned about how we die as he is concerned about how we live as members of the kingdom of God.

That was the basic message Jesus proclaimed.

From the beginning of his ministry we hear him proclaiming this message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

He was calling for a change in how we live.

The gospel message is not simply that we die and go to heaven because Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

The gospel message is much, much more.

The gospel message is that the kingdom of God will be established through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The gospel message is that Jesus provided a way for us to live as members of that kingdom.

If this were not true, then we would be caught up to heaven and the moment of salvation.

There would be no purpose for us to continue living on earth.

We know by reading our Bibles that the terms “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” are synonymous.

They mean the same thing.

These terms refer to the rule and reign of God over all of creation.

As the church, we need to understand this.

The kingdom of God is not about the church.

The church is only one part of the kingdom.

Yet, as the church we should be subjecting ourselves to God’s authority as it is revealed in Scripture.

And, the kingdom of God has not totally arrived.

We can look around and see that not all of creation has subjected itself to God’s authority.

So, while we wait for the coming of God’s kingdom in all its fullness, we proclaim the message of the kingdom of God.

We work cooperatively with the Lord in his plan to share the good news of the gospel that through Jesus, God is making all things right in his creation.

Now all of Scripture is intended to teach us how to live as members of the kingdom of God.

And we must approach the Bible with this understanding.

The Bible’s primary purpose is to reveal the Lord’s plan of salvation for his creation and to instruct us how we are to live as God’s people.

In the Old Testament, we find God delivering the people of Israel from the bondage of slavery to Egypt.

At Mt.

Sinai, he provides them with the law so that they know how they are to live as God’s people.

The NT epistles were written to instruct the church how it was to live in the world.

The Book of Acts shows us how the early disciples lived as the gospel was spread throughout the known world.

And the gospels not only tell us about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, they tell us how Jesus instructed his disciples to live.

And we dare not think to ourselves that his instructions were only for the early disciples.

In Mt 28:18-20 we read, Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So, his words are for all Christians throughout the ages.

Now, if we desire to know our state as disciples, there is perhaps no better place to turn than to the first recorded sermon of Jesus found in Matthew 5-7.

You might say the Sermon on the Mount is the Christian’s “looking glass.”

It is the “Disciple’s Mirror.”

When we let the words of Matthew 5-7 examine our hearts and lives, we will know our true condition.

This sermon points out our failures, our sins, our inadequacies, and it drives to God for his grace.

But it also shows us what a true disciple looks like.

It shows us the character of the disciple and the blessings that true disciples will receive.

It shows us how true disciples are to live in the world as his disciples, and it warns us of the consequences if we fail or choose not to listen to his words.

And although it may be uncomfortable to look at ourselves through the Lord’s Looking Glass, it is vitally important that we do so.

It is a matter of life and death.

It is a matter of your life and death.

It is a matter of eternity.

It is a matter of your eternity.

If we confess that we are disciples of Jesus, then we need to take his words seriously.

We need to take this sermon seriously.

We need to allow the Scripture to examine us, and show us our need.

If you doubt the seriousness of what I am saying, you can trust the words of Jesus himself when he says, “Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

This does not mean that we must earn our salvation by what we do.

We cannot earn our salvation.

We cannot work our way into heaven.

But, it does mean that if we claim to be Jesus’ disciples, then our life must reflect that truth.

We cannot live as members of any kingdom, and not obey its laws.

We cannot live in America and break American laws without suffering consequences.

We cannot live in New Hampshire or Massachusetts and break their laws without sufferings consequences.

We cannot claim to be members of the kingdom of God, and live ungodly lives without consequences.

When Jesus prepared to deliver the sermon on the Mount, it occurred within his overarching message: Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.