Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

[Illus] For most of us humans, it’s hard to point away from ourselves to the greatness of another.

I once heard a best man give a speech at his brother’s wedding that compared the two brothers.

The brother giving the speech grew up thinking that he would one day have to take care of his brother, but he still lived with his parents while the brother getting married hadn’t lived with Mom and Dad for years and was moving to North Carolina, hours away from home.

The brother giving the speech grew up thinking he was smarter than his brother, but he hadn’t done well in school but his brother wrapping up med-school.

It was supposed to be funny but the speech was really about how he grew up thinking he was smarter than his brother, but he hadn’t done well in school while his brother was in med-school.

The brother giving the speech thought he was more handsome than his brother all his life, but alas he was still single while his brother had that day married a beautiful young woman.

The brother giving the speech thought he was more handsome than his brother, but he was still single while his brother was marrying a beautiful girl.

It is indeed hard to point away from ourselves to the greatness of another unless the greatness of that other person is just overwhelming.

That’s how it was for that best man giving the speech at his brothers wedding, and that’s how it was for John the Baptist as he pointed away from himself and pointed to the greatness of Christ.

[CIT] The people in John’s day who were expecting the Christ to appear might have mistook John for the Christ, the promised anointed redeemer and rescuer of God’s people, but John clears up any confusion by describing the Christ as mightier than himself.

The Christ was to be a leader, teacher, and savior of God’s people.

Well, John was leading God’s people to repentance as he taught them about their own sinfulness before God, so they wondered if John, this leader and teacher among them, might also be the Savior?

But John wasn’t confused, and he wasn’t tempted.

He knew from the heart that Christ was greater, and that his ministry was to point to him.

[PROP] In the same way, we should understand from the heart that Christ is greater - that he is mightier than anyone or anything that he could be compared to - and that we must spend out lives pointing others to him!

We do this almost reflexively with most anything else in life except for Christ.

If we think the school our child goes to is great, we point others to it by telling them about how wonderful it is.

If we think the new restaurant down the street is incredible, we point others to it by asking everyone we talk with, “Hey, have you been to that new place down the street?”

If we think the newest movie to come out was incredible, we point others to it by saying, “Oh, you’ve got to see it!”

But while most of us in this room this morning would say that Christ is greater, we would only say it in this room.

We might believe that Christ is greater - that he is mightier than anyone or anything that he could be compared to - but if that’s true, why do we point so few people to Christ outside of church?

Perhaps we don’t really believe that Christ is as great as we claim.

Perhaps we don’t really believe that he is mightier than anyone or anything else.

[INTER] This morning, from this passage of Scripture, we are going to answer this question, “How is Christ greater?” or “How is Christ mightier?”

[AIM] And what I’ve prayed is that we would be so caught up in Christ’s might, in his greatness, that we wouldn’t be able to stop ourselves from pointing others to him!

[TS] So let’s look at a few different WAYS that John the Baptist points to Christ as mightier in Luke 3:15-17...

MAJOR IDEAS

Way #1: John the Baptist described Christ as mightier in his person (v.

16b).

[] John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.