Sermon Tone Analysis
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We’ve been looking at the stages of spiritual journeys.
We’ve covered the first four steps:
1. Recognition of God – when we first meet God
2. The Life of Discipleship – when we learn about God in a community of believers
3. The Productive Life – when we work for God
4. The Journey Inward – when we come face to face with God and see both Him and ourselves for who we are.
A time of rediscovery and acceptance of His love for us in spite of our attempts to put Him in a box.
We also looked at an important roadblock in the journey called the *wall*
- the make or break point for many Christians
- the time when the /mature/ Christian finds him or herself making the choice of
o trusting God and going forward,
o trusting in his faith and taking steps back,
o or trusting in himself and giving up the journey altogether.
So what’s on the other side of the wall?
*/ /*
*/Stage 5 – The Journey Outward/*
A total surrender to God’s will so that HE directs our lives.
Sounds a little like we’ve been there before?
But wait, this time our eyes are wide open and we know the consequences of following God, AND we are /not/ afraid.
We know that we have a job to do in the Kingdom.
We’ve come through the crisis at the wall - we have chosen God’s way.
- There’s no turning back.
There’s nothing else.
Let’s look at three Biblical examples, people we’ve looked at in earlier sessions.
In each example I’d like us to identify the wall each of them came through before they decide to follow God no matter what?
1.
Ruth: Ruth 1:16-18
16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you.
Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God.
17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried.
May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”
18 When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.
Wall: death of husband
2.
Elisha: 2 Kings 2: 1-6
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.”
But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “but do not speak of it.”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?”
“Yes, I know,” he replied, “but do not speak of it.”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.”
And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.”
So the two of them walked on.
Wall: knowing that his mentor was about to die (leave him)
3.
Peter: John 6:52-69
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.”
59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching.
Who can accept it?”
61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.
64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.”
For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
65 He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?”
Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go?
You have the words of eternal life.
69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Wall: a teaching from Jesus that ran counter to Peter’s religious belief system – a teaching so radical that many fellow believers left.
In each instance, the motivation of the person was a desire to love honestly and live according to God’s purpose.
There was no self involved.
- Ruth went with Naomi because she loved her.
- Elisha accompanied Elijah because he was a faithful servant.
- Peter stayed because no matter what others thought, he knew Jesus was Messiah and nothing else mattered.
*/How do people enter Stage 5?/*
*/ /*
At stage 4 we take God out of the box we’ve put Him in and in the process see who we really are.
We come through the wall by discovering forgiveness and experiencing healing.
The key word here is *process*.
*Healing is a process.*
In stage 5 we discover that God /truly/ loves us even though we’re not yet perfect, or complete, or whole.
*Wholeness means being aware of our faults and not letting them trip us up.*
- We know who we are with all our faults.
- We God loves us, despite these faults.
- And we recognize that God loves others the same way he loves us.
Entering stage 5 takes us to the place of loving others like God loves us.
And remember the stages are cumulative, stage 5 comes after you have been through the training in stage 2 and service in stage 3.
Your love is expressed through service to others.
- This may be to a group of people – like Mother Theresa who served the sick and poor in India.
- Or Pastor Wanda, who serves the people of this community.
- This can also be one or two individuals – like Brother Charlie who serves Brother Rich.
And because God never sends anyone into service without first equipping them, the fruits of the spirit manifests at this stage in the journey.
Remember back when we were discussing Personality testing, and I shared some examples with you, and got on my soap box about how they can be used to assign people jobs in the church?
In stage 5, *God assigns the job and God directs the way it is to be carried out.*
For many people, the calling is unlike anything we would have chosen for ourselves.
I am sure when Mother Theresa joined the convent at the age of 18, she never imagined that God would redirect her plans of service.
After serving for 17 years as a teacher and high school principle she came across a half-dead woman lying in front of a Calcutta hospital.
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