Sermon Tone Analysis

Don’t You know

Welcome

introduction here

NDCW Update

I want to thank Seth for doing such a good job this morning.

He always does a good job.

This morning, however, I know he did an especially good job because he took about half of my lesson for this evening.

So either great minds think alike or you’re just as crazy as me, take your pick!

I think we will actually compliment each other well.

I’m willing to guess that i’m not the only one who has ever uttered the words, “How many times do I have to tell you?” Anyone else? I’ve said that and I would assume that at least a couple of you have done so as well.

Have you ever gotten an animal and told your kids that they were responsible for feeding it.

Did you have to remind them?

I hope you did because if not, that animal probably died.

Why do we say something like that?

Well, it’s because we have told someone something and they are acting in a way that seems as if they’ve never heard this before.

The Bible does that sometimes as well.

There are some different ways in which we see this.

Sometimes we read “Have you not heard” or “Don’t you know?”

This isn’t talking about something that the reader or listener haven’t ever heard or doesn’t understand, but instead that they aren’t living out.

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This prophecy of Isaiah was written to those in captivity.

Isaiah at the end of chapter 40 tells of the time coming soon when the people of Jerusalem will be taken into captivity and will suffer.

These words are written to those people and we see it come true in the Book of Daniel.

The people of Jerusalem are taken into Babylonian captivity around 600 BC and will be there until the time of Nehemiah.

It would have been very easy for those people to think that God didn’t care for the anymore.

God was foretelling these events 150 years before they would come to pass and even when he is predicting the pain and suffering that is going to be incurred by the Israelites because of their own decisions but also promising he will take care of them.

If we had time to read through the book of Daniel or at least the first few chapters we would see God keeping his promise here.

If we remember the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego being thrown into the furnace in , we know that God spared them because they were so faithful to God that they wouldn’t bow before the king.

King Nebuchadnezzar had a massive statue made to himself and issued a royal decree that everyone would have to worship it (meaning him) as a God.

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused, however.

I can imagine for the people who were in captivity, it would have felt like they were all alone.

Forced out of your own home, taken away from everything you’ve ever known and not allowed to worship God.

Separated from your friends and family and forced to serve a foreign king.

Today, we aren’t facing anywhere close to as extreme situations but I wonder if we remember the words of Isaiah, which are just as true today as they were when they were written some 2,800 years ago.

“The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.”

Do we live as though this is the truth?

You see, we can be a lot like kids and even though we know something we don’t live as if it’s true.

God is everlasting.

He exists outside of time because time is something that he created.

He existed before the earth and he will exist forever after the earth.

He created everything.

The universe is massive, beyond any kind of comprehension.

God made all of it.

We are the most technologically advanced as we have been in history and it would take us 225 trillion years to reach the edge of the known universe from our present location.

God created that!

We cannot even begin to fathom the mind of God.

We could go on and on with the wonder of the world that God has created but what does that mean for us?

It means that even though we may be experiencing difficulties, God is more powerful than any problems we have.

Remember, God is writing this for the people who are going to be held as captives of the Babylonian government.

If God can care for them, he can care for us.

God cares for us when we loser our jobs.

God cares for us when we lose someone we love.

God is in control no matter who the President is or whatever the city council decides.

No matter what situation you can think of, God is in control and we have the promise that he will see us through the end.

God has it under control.

Even if we feel like things are out of control, sometimes we need to be reminded that God can handle whatever issues we face and we have the Bible to remind us.

From David against Goliath, Daniel in the Lion’s den, and Paul and Silas in a Philippi prison, the Bible is full of accounts of God taking care of his people when it seemed like all was lost.

Sometimes we just need to be reminded of this fact.

God really is in control and can help us through any difficulties.

We aren’t alone.

Not only are we not alone, the creator of the entire universe wants to have a relationship with us and care for us through eternity.

Because of this, our lives should be different.

We have a different outlook on every day.

We can easily get into a rut and just continue on with our everyday lives without thinking about anything bigger than what’s right in front of us.

It’s not that we actively seek to ignore God’s word but that we just let other things come up and over time, they take us farther away.

Sometimes we just need to slow down and remember that God is in control.

We need to slow down and remember that the supreme creator of the universe is on our side.

We know it, are we living like it?

That’s not all we need to be reminded of from time to time.

Now, the “Stone” that is talked about here is Jesus.

He is referring to himself.

But to get the larger context, we need to go back a few verses. .

This is often called (and perhaps you have this title in your Bible) the “Parable of the Tenants.”

There are some tenants who are supposed to care for a vineyard while the master is away and then the master is ready to collect his fruit at the end of the season.

Who are the servants here?

They would be the prophets that God sent throughout history all the way up to John the Baptist.

(cf. ) How did they treat the son?

Tomorrow is Memorial Day.

It is a day of remembrance for those who have given their lives in defense of our country.

This morning, Seth give a good overview of Memorial Day.

I especially liked his recounting of Cpl.

Dunham.

I actually lived in his barracks (named after his death) and did the same job as him.

Of course, it is appropriate for us to remember their sacrifice and honor it.

We enjoy many different freedoms today because of their sacrifice.

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Christ came and died for us

If we consider the sacrifice of those who’ve served our nation, it should cause us to reflect on our lives and the way in which we honor that sacrifice.

I mean no dishonor here but truly that sacrifice is not equal to that of Jesus’ on the cross.

The sacrifice of men and women in uniform is incredible and affords us the ability to live the lives we have today.

Christ’s sacrifice gave us the ability to have eternal life.

There are several pieces to unpack here.

First, Jesus gave his life.

It wasn’t taken from him but he willingly gave his life for us.

This is something that comes up several times in John’s gospel.

I think it’s because of what Seth talked about this morning, it was personal to him.

The “apostle whom Jesus loved” thought about Jesus’ sacrifice regularly when he was writing his gospel.