Sermon Tone Analysis

How well do you trust your own judgments?

If you could have anything, what would it be?

A couple of hunters chartered a plane to fly into the Canadian wilderness.

Two weeks later when the pilot came to pick them up, he saw the two animals they had bagged and said, "I told you fellows I could only take you and one moose.

You'll have to leave the other behind."

"But we did it last year in a plane this size," protested one of the hunters, "and the other pilot let us take two moose."

"Well, okay," said the pilot.

"If you did it before I guess we can do it again."

So the two moose and the hunters were loaded in and the plane took off.

Because of the heavy weight, it rose with difficulty and was unable to clear an obstructing hill.

After the crash, the men climbed out and looked around.

One hunter said to the other, "Where are we, anyway?"

His companion surveyed the scene.

"I think we got about half a mile farther than we got last year."

A pastor I know, Stephey Belynskyj, starts each confirmation class with a jar full of beans.

He asks his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a big pad of paper writes down their estimates.

Then, next to those estimates, he helps them make another list: their favorite songs.

When the lists are complete, he reveals the actual number of beans in the jar.

The whole class looks over their guesses, to see which estimate was closest to being right.

Belynskyj then turns to the list of favorite songs.

"And which one of these is closest to being right?" he asks.

The students protest that there is no "right answer"; a person's favorite song is purely a matter of taste.

Belynskyj, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Notre Dame asks, "When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?" Always, Belynskyj says, from old as well as young, he gets the same answer: Choosing one's faith is more like choosing a favorite song.

When Belynskyj told me this, it took my breath away.

"After they say that, do you confirm them?"

I asked him.

"Well," smiled Belynskyj, "First I try to argue them out of it."

All that life has to offer is ultimately vanity.

Privilege...

Starting from yourself

You make yourself the one to figure out the mysteries of the universe

You make yourself foolish ()

You become cynical but not cynical enough or you become enamored but not rewarded enough

You’re no better than anyone else (and no worse off)

Everyone dies the same

Everyone has no legacy the same (eventually)

Everyone can’t control what happens after he dies.

Everyone who works hard leaves what they’ve done to someone who won’t appreciate it.

It’s all sorrow and vexation and to be wise is to increase them.

Finding enjoyment from God is better than ...

Starting from what God reveals lets one enjoy simple pleasures humbly.

God gives wisdom.

God doesn’t reward the sinner.

But this isn’t the point of life.

The resurrection provides an eternal perspective, purpose, and joy.

Romans 8

Romans 8:

Luke 12

You can gain the whole world and lose your soul