Sermon Tone Analysis

Thank you, God for Jesus!

He is Prophet

The first 4 words of the Bible: IN THE BEGINNING GOD

We cannot know God apart from His proactive expression of Himself to us.

If we truly want to know God and know about God, we look to Christ:

We see Jesus upholding the LAW of God:

He said this right before quoting Deuteronomy 6 about the greatest commandment

We see Jesus showing the mercy and love of God

He is Priest

The Justice of God demanded sacrifice, and we would demand no less in our imperfect courts today

Most all human societies in history have understood and/or sensed a need for sacrifices; grains and crops, animals, even human sacrifices

The idea of the necessity of blood for blood is primitive, barbaric, offensive to our modern sensibilities

Yet Christ willingly took our place, offering Himself

Though His earthly life ended on Calvary, His ministry to us is ongoing

He is King

If there were ever a single time that Jesus was in danger of being unseated from His throne, there would be no hope, no safety, no assurance, no reason for Christian faith.

So, help me believe!

For those yet unbelieving, compel them to come and grant them saving faith.

For those believing, yet help us believe!

Keep us believing, and draw us into a deeper and closer walk of faith with Christ.

Thank you, God for the Church!

The Church is comprised of sinful people

Not even the early churches were protected from error, heresy, or sin

Nor was the Assembly of Israel before them

The preparation is ongoing now (sanctification / discipling) but the perfection is in the age to come

So, without excusing sin, we must recognize that perfection in the lives of believers is NOT promised in this life, and that for a church to be holy, her members must devote themselves to seeking holiness in their own lives and families.

That’s both an individual and a corporate exercise.

The Church is the Bride of Christ

I was once asked if it is sin or hatred toward God to hate the church...

There are 2 things you don’t mess with: someone’s kids or someone’s wife.

When you oppose a church of Jesus, you are opposing the Children of God and the Bride of Christ simultaneously!

Here we see the Lord expressing His heart for His Church in a way we can understand His emphasis and passion.

So, not only did God use a metaphor we could understand, he DESIGNED the marriage relationship IN ORDER to communicate his love and care for us.

It’s never been the case that God loved those who are worthy, but rather that God’s love was set upon us in order to redeem us.

We are and the church is unlovable yet GOD LOVE!

The Church is God’s chosen means

There is no such thing as Christianity on our own terms.

In the Old Testament, the community of faith was to be focused on tribal and national identities while welcoming outsiders in.

In the New Testament, the community of faith is the local church; a family of families living life together under the headship of Jesus Christ, encouraging, supporting, and discipling one another to the Glory of God

If we would take our commitment to the Bible’s instruction and the local church seriously, even Facebook would be a better experience.

- what percentage of your feed is people ranting, criticizing, and being passive aggressive, thus inviting an exponentially increasing amounts of unfiltered drama?

Thank you, God for my life!

It is good and right to give thanks to the one who has given us so much, so today we say: Thank you, God for Jesus.

Thank you, God for Your Church.

Thank you, God for the love and light in our lives.