Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

JUNIOR CHURCH DISMISSED

Good morning everyone, what an amazing day.

What an amazing day we had yesterday.

Thank you to everyone that came out and helped with the clean up day.

We got so much done.

The playground area looks fantastic and is ready to be used by kids of all ages.

We are going to continue working around there to get new mulch, some structures painted, and maybe replace some items there to make that a place where you can enjoy watching your kids play and even come by during the week if you’d like.

We are in a series titled Authentic, where we are looking at the NT church of the Bible to find what a present day NT church should look like.

We started at the beginning and found the church started with Jesus.

The objective of the church is Jesus and the end of the church will be Jesus.

This morning we are going to look at An Authentic Faith looks like.

The Bible says that it takes faith to please God and that if its not of faith it is sin.

We want to be a people that are living by faith in our personal lives and corporately as a church.

Just as the beginning, objective, and end of the church is Jesus, so is the focus of our faith.

Faith in His bodily resurrection.

Faith in the glories of heaven.

Faith in the promises of God during times of difficulty.

Our focus on His

Our text this morning comes from where the Apostle Peter is writing to the churches of Asia minor.

This is modern day turkey.

This letter was passed around to those churches that were scattered throughout the region.

These churches were not like the ones we think of today.

I doubt these churches had buildings set apart for them to meet in.

There have been findings in caves that indicate Christians were meeting there.

We know from the bible that they met in homes.

It is the testimony of these early Christians that reminds us that the church is not a building.

It is a group of people called out by Jesus and held together by an authentic faith in the truth of Jesus Christ.

False religions and false teachings will provide confusion but an authentic faith provides us with a foundation to live by.

It provides strength and security that is based in Jesus Christ.

Illustration: Do you know what type of answer an agnostic, an atheist, or an a religious person might give if you asked “Do you know there is a God And do you know for sure you are going to Heaven?”

The agnostic would tell you he can’t know, the atheist would tell you he knows there is now God and the religious man would tell you that he’s not sure if he’s going to Heaven or Hell or that the resurrection of Christ was a literal, historical event.

An Authentic Faith in scripture however provies hope, encouragement, and stability.

Authentic faith makes a real difference in your life.

And an authentic church is a group of people gathered around an authentic faith.

Regardless of the trials of life, those with an authentic faith have a reason to celebrate.

Follow along with me as a I read this morning

PRAY

Notice that an Authentic Faith Promises Hope

I. Authentic Faith Promises Hope

Our Hope is based in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Resurection of Christ is the foundation of our faith.

I was discipling a young man the other day and we were talking about Jesus and the resurrection.

Without the resurreciton Christianity is no different than any other religious or faith based system.

Our hope is in the resurrection of Christ.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians

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The resurrection is not a vain hope that was made up.

There are two substantial reasons to hold this hope as the basis of our faith:

A. Based on the witness of the Apostles

There are multiple eyewitness accounts of the resurrection.

Over 500 brethren saw Him after the resurrection.

Many of these were the same ones that saw Him at his crucifixion.

They saw the nails.

They saw the spear.

They saw His limp, lifeless body.

They saw the crown of thorns.

They saw the stripes from the whip.

They saw the lashes on His body where it had been beaten and cut open because the skin had gotten so tender.

They saw the marks from the cat of nine tales that riddles his body.

They saw the patchy beard Jesus had because it had been plucked out in areas.

They saw the disgraced Jesus hanging on the cross for you.

They saw what it took to pay for your sins.

The lamb of God sacrificed for you and for me.

Then they saw Him alive again.

That’s why they gave their lives to tell others of Jesus.

That’s why Christianity exploded under the persecution of the Roman empire.

Christians were martyred and beheaded for their faith.

These 500 or more that saw Him were most likely killed because of their dedication to the Risen Lord.

They had an authentic faith in Jesus that was substantiated by sight.

yet we, are blessed to believe and not see.

The impact of the resurrection on the lives of the apostles and the first century church was real and it made a difference in their lives.

We too have an authentic faith and I pray that we are all impacted as greatly as the Apostle’s were.

This strong testimony of the Apostle’s, the eyewitness accounts of the brethren, and the actions that followed can give us a surer foundation for our hope in the resurrection of Christ.

The other reason for our Hope is based upon the Word of God.

B. Based upon the Word of God

The eyewitnesses may be dead and gone but the Word of God is still here and is an eternal testimony of the hope that we have in Christ.

Peter wrote in his 2nd epistle that the Word of God is more sure than a verbal eyewitness testimony.

The Word of God is incorruptible and because it is never changing we can gather as a church around it with an authentic faith in the literal resurrection of Christ.

False religions cause confusion and stir up doubts.

But an authentic faith promises an authentic hope that binds God’s people together.

But wait, there’s more.

An Authentic faith also promises Heaven itself.

II.

Authentic Faith Promises Heaven

Many religions claim to believe in Heaven but they cannot promise Heaven.

There is no hope in religion.

There is only hope in Jesus Himself.

Look with me at what our text promises regarding Heaven

The first truth we find in this verse about Heaven is that it is a real place.

A. A Real place

Heaven is not a mystical nirvana experience.

It is not where you meet 7 people at a theme park or as I said last week a place where we float on a cloud and play harps.

See with me these three phrases in our text that tell us its a real place.

It’s an inherited property.

It’s an inheritance incorruptable.

That phrase speaks of a tangible property recieved.

Heaven isn’t symbolic it is real.

A real place where real people who have trusted Christ as their savior will live one day.

When Jesus spoke of Heaven, He spoke of it as a real place.

The greatest thing about Heaven isn’t that it will be beautiful.