Sermon Tone Analysis

TITLE:  God's Standard for Manliness

TEXT:  Eph 5:25‑33

Objective:  It is God's desire that a man act and live like a man.

God's standard for a man and the World's standard for a man are different.

INTRODUCTION:

1.  What is a man to do?  --Husbands are to love their wives

 

2.

Men are a strange and interesting lot

 

      a.

Man’s croquet

      b.

Shooting guns

      c.

Hunting

      d.

picking their toes

      e.

Watching the wrestling – throwing others around

      f.

Want trucks and motorcycles

      g.

want to please or impress women

      h.

Want to be boss, dictator, inbred

      i.

See something “manly” and say AH AH AH

      j.

Tim the Tool man

      k.

Dirt bikes and motorcycles

      l.

Go into danger-- Fire fighters, policemen,

      m.

Go on and on

n.  Let’s say “I was wrong about something and I was right about something.

You go first.

She says, “I was wrong..”

He says, “You’re right.”

2.

Men must be

Titus 2:2 ESV 2 Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.

Titus 2:6-8 ESV 6 Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled.

7 Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us.

a.

Accountable,  b.

Responsible,  c.

Full of integrity

3.

So what makes a real man?

4.

God's standard for manliness is not obtainable except through Jesus Christ.

5.

It is one of the observations by many that boys and men are really getting short changed in the world today.

Shouldn’t there be a man’s rights march, not just a woman’s right?

I.

God's imperative for manliness

 

Man has a God given desire for respect and admiration.

He drives to achieve.

God sets a different standard for man than the World sets.

A.

Contrast (World's standard vs. God's standard)

 

1.

The Error of Man's standard

 

Proverbs 14:12 ESV There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

a.

A man will usually behave to impress his wife unless he says, “Its not worth it.”

b.

Parents can be a wrong standard

 

1)  Get idea from watching dad

 

2)  Dad is not always right

                              “Father knows best.”

\\ c.  Peers‑‑Acceptance of peers

‑‑Peer pressure is strong

 

 

d.

Media‑‑

1)  Commercials for Toyota Tundra

 

2)   Like a rock

I was strong as I could be.

Like a rock

Nothing ever got to me....

                              --Howie – Chevy that goes longer

 

                        3)  Youth, wealth, leisure

(Mid life crisis)

Reason for Mid life Crisis—*Is this all there is?*

 

e.

Literature

‑‑self‑help books

‑‑All must be examined in light of Scripture

 

f.

Physical strength and appearance

 

g.

Material possessions

 

h.

Dominating others

‑‑Over power peers

‑‑Dominate his wife

 

i.

Sexual exploits

 

2.

Excellence of God's standards

 

a.

Purity of Character instead of physical strength and appearance

 

ISA 53:2. . . .

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

(NIV)

 

 

b.

Giving spirit instead of material possessions