Sermon Tone Analysis

Bookmarks & Needs:

B:John 1:43-49;

Housekeeping Stuff & Announcements:

Welcome, introduce yourself.

Invite guests to the Parlor following service.

Vacation Bible School starts TOMORROW!

Our theme is “In the Wild,” and all this week from 9:00 to 12:30, we’ll be looking in the Bible for incredible encounters with the Lord as we learn to ZOOM IN and FOCUS ON JESUS.

There’s still time to get registered, or to invite your ONE, kids.

If you’ve just finished Kindergarten through 5th grade, VBS is just for you.

You can use the QR code on the screen or on the poster on the “What’s Happening” wall to register.

It’s going to be a great week!

Along with that, immediately following our services this morning, we are going to take some special time to cover our facilities and the kids and leaders who will be here this week in prayer.

You’ll be able to grab a prayer walk brochure as you go out of the sanctuary at the end of service, and we would really appreciate you taking a few minutes before you head out to lunch to pray for Vacation Bible School.

Due to VBS this week, Silver Seekers will be postponed from this coming Tuesday to next Tuesday, June 11.

Finally, today the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, led by Franklin Graham, has made a call for a special day of prayer for President Trump today.

While I agree that, as believers, we must be in prayer for President Trump… It believe that that perspective is too narrow for today.

Mr. Graham has referenced in his call for this day of prayer, and I agree that it would include the President.

However, the text of that passage reads:

So we’re going to stand and take time to pray for all of our elected representatives this morning:

President Donald Trump

Vice Present Mike Pence

Senate (Mitch McConnell - R, Chuck Schumer - D)

House of Representatives (Speaker Nancy Pelosi - D, Majority leader Steny Hoyer - D, Minority leader - Kevin McCarthy - R)

U.S. Supreme Court Justices

For each of these, we pray for:

correction where they walk in sin,

wisdom as they make decisions that affect all of us,

guidance in knowing an doing the will of God,

holiness in their own personal lives… that those who know Christ would live in such a way that they honor him with their obedience.

That those who do not know Christ would come to a knowledge of the truth through a believing witness, and then walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,

that all of our elected representatives would walk in humility, seeking to place others before themselves,

and that all of our elected representatives would pursue and achieve a spirit of unity and cooperation with each other, that they might be good stewards of the resources, position, time, and money that we have entrusted them with.

Opening

We have a tendency to discount the value of “one.”

I can’t imagine eating only one Oreo, unless it’s the last one.

You can’t even buy a decent cup of coffee for one dollar anymore.

One second, one minute… these things seem insignificant.

But are they really?

Or

While honestly the Oreo might be insignificant, the others are a matter of perspective.

One dollar seems insignificant until you need one.

Think back on your life: how many times has a single second meant a radical change in your life’s direction?

How about one minute?

What can happen in a minute’s time?

What about some other “ones” that have great meaning: one good friend, one child, one spouse, one family… These obviously are not “ones” that we would call insignificant.

There’s great value in each of these.

The Bible speaks of the importance of “one” in many ways: one pearl of great worth, one lost sheep, one lost coin, one wayward son…

We are about halfway through our series that we’re calling “Who’s Your One?” We’re asking this question to give us a focus, a direction as a body toward joining with Christ’s mission in the world.

That we would each prayerfully listen for God to prompt us with the identity of one person in our circle of influence with whom we can share the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ this year.

Our goal is that sharing the Gospel would become a part of who we are, a part of our DNA, and that we would see a great movement of the Kingdom of God in our neighborhoods, in our city, state, nation, and even the world.

But it all starts with “one.”

One neighbor.

One coworker.

One conversation.

One message of hope.

One invitation.

One step of obedience.

Before we look more deeply at our focal passage today, I need to make an opening point.

If we are going to have evangelism become a part of our DNA, we are going to have to make a decision:

1) Commit to being an intentional witness.

If we are going to have evangelism become a part of who we are, a part of our DNA church, then we are going to have to first commit to being intentional about sharing our faith.

I shared this story with our evening crowd back in February, but I wanted to share it here today as well:

Ten years ago, we had a youth ministry praise band that was completely made up of students.

Ryne Swann was the leader of the band, Justin Taylor played electric guitar, Tommy Nutter was on bass, and Bekah Trujillo was the female vocalist.

Her now husband, Adam Boucher, was the drummer.

But here’s what happened: Tommy left (2008), and then in the spring of 2009, Bekah and Adam both graduated from high school.

And of course, we didn’t have them just hang out here and stay in the praise band.

They went off to college and such.

I stepped back into the band by playing the cajon: a box drum that you sit on that basically does the kick and snare sounds.

Wonderfully portable, but not exactly a full drum sound.

Then we had a song that we wanted to do that just didn’t sound right without a full drum kit.

But I didn’t know how to play the actual drums.

I could keep a beat on the cajon, but putting my feet into the mix seemed like too much to ask.

So what were we to do?

Well, I decided that I needed to learn to play the drums.

So I would go up to the youth room during my work day, put on some music to play along with, and start playing the drums.

It took a few weeks, but I learned to keep a simple four-count beat.

Over time, as I kept practicing and playing in the band, I started being able to add cymbal hits and fills and rolls and such to my repertoire.

I’m not a great drummer by any stretch, but I can keep a beat and sort of look like I know what I’m doing, even now (I think…it’s been a while).

How did this happen?

How was I able to learn to play the drums at my age?

Simple: discipline.

I went up and played several times per week.

At first, it was as simple as it could be.

Over time, it got to where playing the drums was just a part of my skill set.

A part of who I am.

I can sit down and play pretty quickly.

Unfortunately, self-discipline is something that many of us aren’t actually all that great at.

But for something to become second nature, such as playing a musical instrument, it requires a great deal of discipline in order to happen.

And spiritual disciplines are no different.

Full disclosure here: this point is one that I haven’t fully gotten a hold of yet.

In the book, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Don Whitney lists several disciplines that growing believers need to pursue in order to continue, well… growing.

Bible intake, prayer, fasting, serving, stewardship, silence & solitude, and worship were most of those disciplines.

We would probably all agree that just about all of these things are important disciplines for the Christian life.

However, he also lists evangelism as a spiritual discipline.

Evangelism as a discipline?

How does that work?

It’s simple.

You do it.

And you do it intentionally.