Sermon Tone Analysis

*Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript*

*Robert L. Hutcherson, Jr.*

*Quinn** Chapel A.M.E.

Church*

*                                        Sermon Preparation~/Delivery*

*Luke 7:11-17*

*/ /*

*/“The Power Of Love”/*

*The Rev. Karla J. Cooper, **Pastor*

* June 10, 2007*

\\                                                        *Proper 5 (10)*

\\ Sermon Worksheet & Manuscript

*TEXT*

/Luke 7:11-17/

/ /

/Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd.

And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow.

And a large crowd from the city was with her.

When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, "Do not weep."

Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still.

And He said, "Young man, I say to you, arise."

So he who was dead sat up and began to speak.

And He presented him to his mother.

Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, "A great prophet has risen up among us"; and, "God has visited His people."

And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region.

/

/NKJV/

*BODY*

* *

*When someone is critically ill or near death, we might describe the hopelessness of the situation by saying, "He doesn't have a prayer."

The widow in today's Gospel was in such a situation.

Her son had died, and she was marching along with his body into confusion and uncertainty.

She "didn't have a prayer."

Her situation seemed hopeless.

But Jesus saw her and helped her anyway.*

* *

*The widow "didn't have a prayer".

The death of her son meant the loss of her family, as the son was of course required to carry on the family name, and receive any inheritance that there might have been, and continue the claim on the family land in Israel.

Not only did the death mean the loss of the family, but it also meant the loss of her livelihood.

In those days, elderly parents, especially widows, were cared for by their children.

This is what grieved Jesus so much as He hung on the cross to save us from our sins, seeing His mother there, and why He then commends her into the care of His disciple John.

Jesus was, even in His agony, taking care of His responsibility to His mother as her firstborn son.

This widow hadn't been so lucky.

Her son was dead, and she had nowhere to go.

Today, we'd say, she "didn't have a prayer."*

* *

* *

*There are many times in life we feel that we are "without a prayer".

We all face times in our lives when it seems that nothing will help.

In such times, it is so wonderful to remember that God took the initiative and sent His only Son Jesus Christ into this world to give us life, even without our prayer.

Jesus came into this world, and just like He involved Himself in the story to stop the funeral procession, He also involved Himself in our humanity to take our sin, our death on Himself and there die on the cross for it.

Just like Jesus restored life to the boy being buried in our text, Jesus gives us life, life with Him on this earth through faith, and gives us the promise of life with Him in eternity.

Just as Jesus restored the relationship of this widow and her son by raising him back to life, Jesus restores our relationship with God and gives us the model and the power to renew and restore broken relationships in our own lives.

Without Jesus, we are dead in our transgressions and sins.

We haven't got a prayer.

Because of Jesus, we are made alive.

Jesus gives us a prayer!

He teaches us to call on the Father any time we are in need.

*

* *

* *

*This is the reason that the people there said, "God has come to His people."

The whole purpose of Christmas was for God to be WITH His people.

That has now happened in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God being WITH His people.

In foretelling the coming of Jesus, the Prophet Isaiah said that His name would be Immanuel, "God with us."

God being present with His people is the goal of everything that He did in the Old Testament to bring about the coming of Jesus.

God with us means God is "up close and personal" to touch us in a most wonderful way.

When it seemed that the widow, whose only son was dead, was "without a prayer", God in Jesus Christ touched her son's coffin and stopped what looked to be inevitable .

Hardship... suffering, death.

And God in Jesus Christ was with the widow as He spoke the life-creating, life-sustaining, life-restoring word to her son, bringing him back to life.

What a comfort to know that in Jesus, God has rescued us from eternal death even before we could utter any prayer, and now He also responds to our formal, articulated prayers and our "groans that words cannot express" (Romans 8:26).

In confidence we call on the God Who has rescued us from an eternal death sentence!

We express our faith by pleading with God and believing His Word.

We respond like the witnesses of this miracle by exclaiming, "Our God has come to help!" Indeed He has! *

* *

*The Power of Life.

an amazing truth, Jesus didn't hold funeral services!

Whenever Jesus came into contact with those who were dead He gave them life!

The Bible records that Jesus raised three people from the dead: Lazarus, Jairus' daughter, and the widow's son.

I want us to consider this particular event this morning.

In this account we find several great powers that are present.

These same powers are present today!

*

* *

*The Power of Death.

It is a universal power.

Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment."

Death is no respector of persons.

High or low, rich or poor, young or old ... death comes to all.

It is a power against which we are helpless.

This young man lived in Nain, and that name means "pleasant or lovely".

But though he was young and lived in a lovely place, he had no power over death.

We pile up things on this earth to keep us young and happy, we invent things to prolong life, but when the hour of death comes these things are helpless to sustain life.

People flee to the best doctors, to the best hospitals, and seek the best treatments; but there comes a time when they say "there is no hope" and we must stand by helpless before the power of death.

It is a mysterious power.

It strikes when and where we least expect it.

I have sat in the waiting rooms when the doctors have told friends that death was imminent, only to see that individual raised up and sent home.

While I have also seen those whose loved ones have been taken suddenly in death leaving everyone amazed.

The widow was feeling that she didn't have a prayer because of her loss.

Loss does that to people.

Perhaps you've experienced that.

Perhaps you have experience in what its like to "not have a prayer", to lose someone.

When you lose that person, relationships die.

We are left hanging, with nowhere to turn.

Studies indicate that people go through similar stages of grief, whether their loss is a death, a divorce, or another significant loss.

When loss happens, when death comes, relationships die, dreams die.

For a long time we may be in denial, reluctant to admit that what we hope for probably will not come to pass.

When people die, we feel that we don't have a prayer.*

* *

*We must recognize the power of death and prepare for it!

We do this by recognizing other powers.*

* *

*The Power of Love.

Love is the greatest power on earth.