Sermon Tone Analysis

Life in Grace

“Keeping On Keeping On”

“Keep On Keeping On”

(Keeping On Keeping On)

“Keeping On Keeping On”

Answering the Question: “How can I keep alive and vibrant this joy and enthusiasm of living in Christ?”

(At this point in the weekend we are beginning to wonder how we are ever going to maintain, in our daily lives, the awareness of Christ that we are experiencing during these three days.

This talk tells us the answer is found in the practices of our own piety.

The practices themselves are only the means of maintaining a conscious and growing awareness of Christ in our lives.

The purpose of the talk is to explain each one of the practices of piety, study and action, and to show us how to make them a part of our daily spiritual life.

We are invited to set up our own plan for our spiritual life and to promise Christ that we will follow it to insure our perseverance after the weekend.

We are reminded that this is just the beginning.

We will grow and deepen our spiritual lives.

We will get new insights into living the life of Christ.

So our practices of piety will also change and take on new forms, to keep pace with our spiritual growth)

“I have prayed for you, Peter, that you would stay faithful to me no matter what comes.

Remember this: after you have turned back to me and have been restored, make it your life mission to strengthen the faith of your brothers.”

(Luke 22:32)

Don’t be surprised if after reading these letters you become emboldened to persevere, empowered to overcome, and encouraged to remain faithful to Christ.

For the grace that restored Peter after his fall is also on Peter’s letters to restore every believer and impart to them overcoming grace.

This is a letter about God and living for him—no matter what the costs.

Some of the themes of 1 Peter include holiness and being faithful in the midst of persecution.

When others turn away from us, the presence of Christ grows stronger in our lives.

It pushes our souls deeper into God’s overcoming grace.

No matter what you face and no matter what you may be passing through in your life today, there is a power from on high to make you into an overcomer.

Let Peter’s letter show you the way!

(This will be the final Spiritual Directors’ talk of the weekend.)

(This will be the final Spiritual Directors’ talk of the weekend.)

Introduction

Please open your Pilgrim’s Guide to page 42 and pray with me at the top of the page.

Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in us the fire of your love.

Send forth Your Spirit and we shall be created, and You shall renew the face of the earth.

Oh God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant, that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations.

Through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Please close your guides and listen while I continue to pray.

I believe , Lord, that You are here present.

Although my eyes do not see you, my faith senses You.

Take any stray thoughts from my mind.

Make me to understand the truths which You wish to teach me in this meditation.

Let me make up my mind today to put them into practice.

Your servant is listening; speak, Lord, to my soul.

Hello again!

My name is Pastor Chuck Benway, I made Western North Carolina Via De Cristo Mixed # 20 in the Fall of 2004, where I sat with my brothers in Christ at the table of St. Mark.

This time I am blessed to be seated at the Table of...

We have been taking a Grace filled walk with you these three days, have we not!

We have seen that God is a God of Grace and loves us, no matter what.

We have realized that this is not just a neat idea or philosophy, but that God personalizes, actualizes if you will, this grace for us.

We have found that God makes this grace concrete and “incarnational” in and through physical and circumstantial means.

And finally we found that even though there are obstacles to grace in this world, as Pastor Bucky talked about yesterday, even those can be used for our building and, above all, God’s glory, as we read in , “And we know that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

“I have prayed for you, Peter, that you would stay faithful to me no matter what comes.

Remember this: after you have turned back to me and have been restored, make it your life mission to strengthen the faith of your brothers.”

(Luke 22:32)

Don’t be surprised if after reading these letters you become emboldened to persevere, empowered to overcome, and encouraged to remain faithful to Christ.

For the grace that restored Peter after his fall is also on Peter’s letters to restore every believer and impart to them overcoming grace.

This is a letter about God and living for him—no matter what the costs.

Some of the themes of 1 Peter include holiness and being faithful in the midst of persecution.

When others turn away from us, the presence of Christ grows stronger in our lives.

It pushes our souls deeper into God’s overcoming grace.

No matter what you face and no matter what you may be passing through in your life today, there is a power from on high to make you into an overcomer.

Let Peter’s letter show you the way!

(This will be the final Spiritual Directors’ talk of the weekend.)

We have been taking a Grace filled walk with you these three days.

We have seen that God is a God of Grace and loves us, no matter what.

We have realized that this is not just a neat idea or philosophy, but that God personalizes, actualizes if you will, this grace for us.

We have found that God makes this grace concrete and “incarnational” in and through physical and circumstantial means.

And finally we found that even though there are obstacles to grace in this world, as Pastor Bucky expounded upon, even those can be used for our building and, above all, God’s glory, as we read in , “And we know that all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

(Page 56).

(Page 56).

This talk is entitled, Life in Grace.

Please write that down.

This talk will answer the question, “How can I keep alive and vibrant this joy and enthusiasm of living in Christ?”

Some like to call this talk, “How to keep on keeping on.”

Once again there will be some write-downs during this talk.

I will try to emphasize them for you, repeat them and give you time to write them down.

I’ll give you a hint: anytime I enumerate something, such as a Roman numeral, a letter or a number, that’s your cue to start writing!

Now someone has to ask the question and it might as well be me!

“Is this Via de Cristo a sort of temporary insanity?

Have the Chas (angels, servants) been spiking our coffee?

Will we wake up tomorrow morning and find it’s all been a dream?

And, if it has been real here, what’s the real world out there going to do with people like us?

Many of us have felt the Holy Spirit tugging on us deeply this weekend.

The Word of God, the wonderful Communion services, the prayers of people all over the world, love everywhere we turn - all of this and more has made this an intense experience.

And you cannot go through an experience like this and not feel somehow different.

Do you feel different than you did Thursday afternoon?

Now someone has to ask the question and it might as well be me!

“Is this Via de Cristo a sort of temporary insanity?

Have the Chas (angels, servants) been spiking our coffee?

Will we wake up tomorrow morning and find it’s all been a dream?

And, if it has been real here, what’s the real world out there going to do with people like us?

Many of us have felt the Holy Spirit tugging on us deeply this weekend.

The Word of God, the wonderful Communion services, the prayers of people all over the world, love everywhere we turn - all of this and more has made this an intense experience.

And you cannot go through an experience like this and not feel somehow different.

So, now what?

Is it all downhill from here?

In a manner of speaking it is.

This is a mountaintop experience, but the real world, the real work lies ahead of us, down in the valley.

I am reminded of the Transfiguration of our Lord, as we read in , when Peter, overwhelmed by the experience, said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here.

If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

He wanted to stay there and wouldn’t we all!.