Sermon Tone Analysis

WELCOME:

Thanks for taking the time to be here tonight.

Tonight I want to accomplish a few things in our time together as Easter Sunday approaches:

First, I want to spend a few moments praying for the upcoming weekend.

As I said on Sunday, this weekend is Easter, and with Easter comes an opportunity to reach people who typically don’t go to church throughout the year.

It’s kind of like the Super Bowl for church.

And in the same way the Super Bowl creates an excitement and brings people out to Super Bowl parties who haven’t watched a game all year, or even followed a specific team, Easter has a way of drawing people back to church or to church for the first time.

And to be honest, it would be foolish for us not to take advantage of that.

As a result, I feel there are two priorities we should have in order to capitalize on the opportunity to introduce and lead people to Jesus on Easter.

Number 1, we need to be willing to invite people to church.

I hope you are doing that and taking advantage of the invite cards we’ve provided, and that you are actively seeking opportunity to invite somebody to one of our 3 Easter services.

And part of inviting would involve meeting them here and sitting with them during the service, even if it’s not the service you typically attend.

What an amazing opportunity for you to invite and attend with somebody who needs Jesus.

Number 2, in addition to inviting people, we need to pray.

And there are at least three things I want to pray for tonight:

First, we need to pray for our staff and volunteers, some of which are serving and attending all three services.

We need to pray that God will give them strength.

That God will equip them with His Spirit.

And that God will use them to minister to those who attend.

This includes our paid staff, worship team, kids volunteers, security team, and first impressions volunteers.

Second, we need to pray for the services, for the Good Friday and three Easter services.

Pray that God’s Spirit would be here in a powerful way.

Pray that as people drive on the parking lot, they would sense God’s presence.

Pray that God will use the worship and preaching to lead people to Jesus.

Third, we need to pray for those who attend to have soft and open hearts.

That through the worship and preaching, they would be open to the Spirit.

That they would encounter the risen Jesus.

That they would leave here differently than when they came in.

That Easter won’t just be a once a year event, and that a relationship with Jesus and church attendance will become a regular part of their lives.

So, with that said, here’s what we are going to do.

For the next few moments we’re going to start by praying for each of these, beginning with the staff and volunteers.

And then after a time of individual prayer, I’m going to have Ben Wertenberger come pray corporately for the staff and volunteers.

After that, we’re going to spend a few moments of individual prayer time praying for the Good Friday and Easter services.

And then after a time, I’m going to have Bob Huff come and pray corporately for the services.

And then finally, we are going to spend a few moments of individual prayer time praying for the hearts of those coming.

And after a time, I will come up and lead us in corporate prayer.

So, with that as our prayer foundation, let’s pray together as we lift up our staff and volunteers to the Lord.

PRAYER TIME:

I would just ask that you continue to pray as the weekend approaches.

For the remainder of our time, I’d like to spend a few moments going back to our Sunday focus.

If you weren’t with us Sunday, we talked about the importance of “Proclaiming” our faith.

You may recall, we talked about two primary ways God is going to use us to lead people to Jesus.

The first was through our WORDS.

And as we learned, there are going to be moments of opportunity where we can verbally share the gospel with someone.

And while that can be a scary and intimidating moment, it’s also a moment when Jesus promises He will speak through us.

In Jesus says:

In those moments Jesus says He will give us the Words we need to share our faith.

And please hear me, that doesn’t negate us knowing scripture or being prepared.

What that means is in those moments The Spirit is going to not only supernaturally speak through you, but He’s also going to bring to remembrance scripture you’ve read and knowledge you may have forgotten you have.

Being Spirit led doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be educated or equipped.

So, that’s the first way, through words.

The second is through signs.

As we saw with Moses, God used supernatural signs as a witness to the people of Israel.

As a way to embolden them and strengthen their faith that God was with them.

For example, Moses was able to turn a stick into a snake and then back to a stick.

He was able to pour water from the nile and the ground and it turned to blood.

Supernatural signs that God worked through Him.

And as I said Sunday, I’m not sure what “signs” God will use through you, but what I do know is your personal salvation and life transformation is one of the greatest signs you could ever display for someone.

The Apostle Paul says it like this:

And what a testimony and sign that is for anybody, especially if you’re sharing your faith with somebody who knew the old you.

For them to see that you are no longer the same person.

That something supernatural has taken place in your life.

In fact, it’s something nobody can argue with.

So, those are the primary ways we can proclaim our faith to others.

But their not the only way.

In fact, there are several other practical ways that we proclaim our faith day to day in ways we may not even realize we do, or don’t do.

And so, for the next few moments I want to highlight and challenge you on some additional ways we often proclaim or fail to proclaim our faith.

1.

We proclaim or fail to proclaim through our day to day language.

According to recent studies, it has been determined that the average women speaks 20,000 words a day and the average man speaks around 7000 words a day.

Now, I don’t share that to say that women talk more than men.

I share that simply to show that on a daily basis we use our tongues quite a bit.

And according to the Bible, the tongue is a powerful force.

The Apostle James tells us this about the tongue:

James says the tongue is a powerful force.

So powerful, that in all creation it’s the only thing that cannot be tamed.

James says, it’s easier to tame a wild beast than it is the human tongue.

So, what does this have to do with proclaiming our faith?

Well, more than you might think since, according to James, how we use our tongue is either going to be a blessing or a curse.

That the tongue either builds or destroys.

The writer of Proverbs says:

To be honest, I’m not sure we give as much thought to this as we should.

To think that every word we use has the potential of either brining a blessing or curse into somebody’s life.

That the use of your words either proclaim the love of Christ or the evil of mankind.

I think thats why Paul makes this comment about our words in Ephesians.

In he writes:

Ephesians 4:

Paul says as followers of Christ, there should never be anything corrupt coming out of our mouths.

That in every situation we find ourselves in, we should only use words that fit the occasion, and bring blessing to those who hear us.

That’s a tall order, right?

But how often do you think we consider how what we are saying may affect those who are listening.

That what our mouths we are either proclaiming blessing or cursing those who hear us.

That we are either leading people to a savior or away from a savior.

The writer of Proverbs puts it like this:

The point is, on a daily basis, thousands of words are coming out of our mouths.

The question we have to ask ourselves is, “What are my words proclaiming?

What are they proclaiming about what I believe?

What are they proclaiming about others?

Are my words brining healing or are they like sword thrusts?

When I talk, do I proclaim words that lead people to Jesus or away from Jesus?”

You see, when we speak we proclaim something.