Sermon Tone Analysis

KJV 1900

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: And I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Review of weeks 1 and 2

Week 1: 5 Total Trust Statements

5 Total Trust statements

​I am totally reliant upon him.

To call him my shepherd, I must confess that I am a sheep.

I lack the ability to provide for myself, I have a terrible sense of direction and I cannot defend myself

He knows what is best for me.

He makes me lie down.

When my instinct tells me the best solution is do more, try harder, reach further…He makes me take rest.

He knows better than I do what I have need of.

My direction is clearer when He is closer.

He leadeth into green pastures and beside still waters.

I don’t need to know how to get to the pasture nor to the still waters…I simply need to stay close to the shepherd…he will lead me where I need to go.

His strength and might bring comfort to my life.

The rod and the staff were the same instrument that served two purposes…as a rod it was used to drive away and even destroy predators.

As a staff it was used to lift sheep out of precarious places and to nudge them back onto the right path.

When I don’t trust the shepherd, I can live like it is a rod to condemn me and even aid my adversaries in my defeat.

When he is at the center, my darkest hour and lowest point, strengthen my faith.

It was in the dark valley of the shadow of death that the 23rd Psalm from a third person poem about God to first person narrative too God.

When the I am is at the center of our lives, our darkest storms draw us closer to the Good Shepherd.

Week 2: 5 complete contentment confessions

I have everything that I need

I am whole

I am whole

I am secure

I am secure

I am favored

I am favored

I am home

I am home

This week

As stated at the onset of this series…this is an extreme Trust series.

As the physical workout series P90X promises a transformation of the physical body.

The creators of the workout program are certain, IF you follow the daily workouts that are provided and you eat the daily portions that are suggested, that you will see a transformation from out-of-shape to tip-top-shape that…so convinced are they, that you will love the results, they even offer a money back guarantee.

Likewise, I am equally convinced of the undeniable transformation those that put their trust in the Lord will experience in their faith.

I am absolutely convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that when you fully place your trust in the Lord your faith will go from busted to positioned to be blessed.

The Prophet Jeremiah declared in

and confidently proclaims

I am certain that when you learn to mind your own manna…and not compare the state that you are in, with others around you…but you can say, I have everything that I need…you will have aligned your faith for the windows of heaven to be opened upon your life…and for God to trust you as a conduit of blessings rather than jut a container.

What can you pour more into?

A conduit or a container?

AND SO…as the Psalmist Declares his trust in the great shepherd and emphatically denounces want and discontentment, he comes toward the conclusion of this beloved passage and makes on summarizing statement that I want to use to preach for a few minutes this morning.

It is this final phrase that is the litmus that reveals if the Lord is truly our shepherd or just a figure standing in the pasture we occasionally graze in.

It is our application of this final phrase that will reveal if we are truly content in whatever state we are in, or if we willing participants in the cultural rat-race for More!

More! More!

It is easy to SAY, the Lord is my Shepherd!

And it is easy to declare, I shall not want!

but it is here in this closing statement that David reveal’s the final exercise of a strong and enduring faith, when he declares....My cup runneth over!

and for a few minutes today I want to preach on this final point that will transform your faith and tone your trust in the Lord...

Generous Giving

Last week we looked at the Old Testament example of the children of Israel who were hangry…irrational angry because of their hunger.

Having been delivered from slavery and bondage in Egypt and now, just a few days removed from being delivered and watching their enemies be destroyed…because of hunger, they are wishing to return to the bondage of Egypt.

The Lord sees their hunger and provides them with manna and gives them just one stipulation…take as much as you can eat…just no leftovers.

Yet some of them decided to take more than what they needed, and the result was that it stank and was infested with maggots.

You see our result when we don’t trust the Lord as our Shepherd and when we aren’t truly content…when our lives begin to be blessed to the point that our cup runs over…We are inclined to go get a bigger cup!

If God is blessing my life…then I need to go get a bigger container so that I can gather all of the blessings that are coming my way...

But David’s declaration is that “my cup runneth over”.

Can I tell you today that God is NOT a distracted distributor…he isn’t still pouring because he lost track of how full your cup was…he is still pouring because he wan’t to transform you from a container to a conduit!

Thats how the kingdom of God expands…when those that trust him and are content allow the blessings of the Lord to breach the brim of their borders and begin to flow into the lives of those around them.

My cup runneth over!

This is a statement that you will never hear those that do not trust the Lord make…they gather and store the surplus for tomorrow…just in case the shepherd forgets how to supply.

My cup runneth over is a statement the discontented will never make because no matter where they are or what they have, it is never enough!

But those that trust in the Lord and those that have learned to be content, their lives become a fountain of blessing that flows over its banks and brings life to everything around it.

For just a moment, let’s Contrast the passages in and

My Cup runneth over:

The fact is, until we learn to trust God and learn to be content in what he has blessed us with, our cups Never will run over.

We will always find some place for the excess to go.

No way am I going let that spill over…now I can afford to

Yesterday Bro.

Wilson, Bro.

Johnson and I were talking about the state of pro sports…in 2018 the average NBA player is making $6.2 million dollars a season!

46 NBA players will make over $20 million dollars this year.

How many of you think that you could make $6 million dollars and be ok for the rest of your life?

While the obvious answer is “YES”!! Or “I sure would love to try”!! in reality, the odds are that you would not be able to.

In spite of the average NBA player making $6 million dollars per season…60% of the players are bankrupt within 5 years of retiring from the league!

In the NFL, the average salary is a much more respective $2 million per year…again…who thinks they could make it if they spent a few years making $2 million per season?

Yet the facts are that 78% of NFL players are bankrupt within 5 years of retiring from the league.

Why is this?

Because we simply expand our cup to match the outpour…we find ways to spend it!

If we go from making $15 an hour to making $150,000 a year, we don’t usually gain more peace…we don’t generally become more generous…it usually reflects in bigger houses, nicer cars, a more dapper wardrobe....we find ways to soak up the overflow!

What I am not saying is that having nice things are wrong or a sin.

The fact is, until we learn to trust God and learn to be content in what he has blessed us with, our cups Never will run over.

The fact is, until we learn to trust God and learn to be content in what he has blessed us with, our cups Never will run over.

We will always find some place for the excess to go.

No way am I going let that spill over…now I can afford to

Do I trust God enough to allow my cup to run over?

Am I content enough to all0ow my cup to run over?

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

I am just going to mention areas that we need to trust God, be content with the state that we are in.

There are three areas of our lives that God desires our lives to be conduits and not containers:

I am just going to mention areas that we need to trust God, be content with the state that we are in.

Our Time