Sermon Tone Analysis

Through my eyes \\ Jesus in HD

Intro

·         You may have heard this song play on the radio or saw the video.

What strikes me is the raw desire for belief the artist sings about.

While it may be an upbeat and catchy song, the lyrics are powerful at identifying where a lot of people are at:

The faces all around me they don't smile they just crack \\ Waiting for our ship to come but our ships not coming back \\ We do have time like pennies in a jar \\ What are we saving for

So give me something to believe \\ Cause I am living just to breathe \\ And I need something more \\ To keep on breathing for \\ So give me something to believe

I am hiding from some beast \\ But the beast was always here \\ Watching without eyes \\ Because the beast is just my fear \\ That I am just nothing \\ Now its just what I've become \\ What am I waiting for \\ Its already done

·         The artist longs for something more than what he has experienced.

There’s a touch of despair even that he fears all that has been will be all there is.

·         We want something to believe.

We want something beyond ourselves that is worth living for.

Even a lot of authors will write that there really is no God and that you just have to make the best of this life, a lot of that talk rings hollow because we want something to believe that is more than just living to breath.

·         What if that someTHING, is a someone?

Wouldn’t that be so much better?

It’s not an impersonal belief system.

It’s a relationship with a God who loves you more than you could ever imagine.

·         We’ve been looking in detail at Jesus through the eyes of those He encountered on earth.

Our prayer is that you have seen Jesus as someone who:

o   Is comfortable with our questions and doubt because following Him is about a relationship that grows and doesn’t flat line.

o   Loves those on the outside.

Indeed, wants no one to be an outcast;

o   Wants to be in a relationship with you versus forming a religious system that you practice.

·         The last set of eyes we want to look through is ours.

It’s really about this question:  how do YOU see Jesus?

·         In Matthew 16, one of Jesus disciples was actually confronted with this question:

/When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”/

/14 //They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”/

/15 //“But what about you?” he asked.

“Who do you say I am?”/

/16 //Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ,//// the Son of the living God.”/

 

That’s the question I want you to wrestle with today, “Who do you say Jesus is?”

Because if you can say He is the Son of God, savior of us all, but you have never made a decision to follow Him, we want you to day.

We want you to have that opportunity today.

Every Christ follower at some point has made this decision.

They have made the decision to cross a line of faith and say that Jesus is their savior.

I made that decision when I was young.

But I knew in 4th grade, Jesus was the only one who could save.

Others make that decision later in life.

Two friends stand out.

Both happened to be named Don.

Both made this decision later in life.

One of the Don’s became a running partner for me and after his last child was born he knew it was time because he knew he couldn’t do life on his own any longer.

My other friend went on a mission trip to Louisiana.

After that experience Jesus literally became more real than he had ever experienced.

Literally the last wish of his mom before she died over 20 years ago was that he choose faith in Jesus.

And he did.

It took time.

It took coming up empty in life.

But eventually Jesus became real through the people He met on a mission trip.

1.       Everyone looks for a savior.

a.

We have an insatiable desire for a savior.

b.

All of us reach a point where we can identify that the something or someone we need saving from is ourselves.

We know in our best moments that our good intentions are tainted with selfishness.

We desire to do good, yet something in us gets in the way.

c.

The Bible calls this sin.

And it has lasting consequences beyond this earth.

i.

Just for a moment consider:  If sin, the bad things that humans do has such an awful effect on our life now, doesn’t it make sense that after death it will be worse.

d.

And it’s not that God is sending us anywhere, it’s that if we don’t find a way out of our sin, we accept the consequences of our sin.

And the consequences are hell.

Eternal pain.

Eternal separation from God.

                                                   i.

John 3:17-18 – Our unbelief, our refusal to place our faith in Jesus, means we accept the consequences.

/Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. /

 

                                                 ii.

Kids’ consequences?

1.

As a parent I want my kids to understand the concept of consequences.

When they do something wrong, I want them to see that there are consequences for their actions.

If they disobey there will be discipline so that they will learn to obey.

However, there are some things I would never want them to accept the consequences for.

a.

When they are young, I want them to learn to NOT touch the stove.

I may let them feel how hot it is but I am not going to let them stick their face in the oven and let it burn them just so they experience the consequences.

b.

One time my oldest was swinging a golf club and my daughter was too close and got whacked over the head.

She felt the consequences of his inattention to what was going on around him.

If I could have prevented that consequence, I would have certainly intervened.

iii.

It’s the same with God.

There are consequences to our actions eternally.

And God desperately wants to save us from them.

He has intervened.

He has provided a way out of those consequences eternally.

But we have to be willing to accept His help.

At our core we recognize this need for a savior and we go looking for things to save us, deliver us or rescue us.

Whatever it is we deem as the “worst” for our lives, then we look to something or someone to save us from it.

We look to:

·         Work

·         Spouse

·         Approval of others

·         Money

·         Winning at all costs

·         Alcohol or another substance

·         Anything that lets us escape