Sermon Tone Analysis
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I Believe --- Amen
Matthew 7:24-29 Revelation 3:14-22; 22:20-21
“To the angel of the cvehurch in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation.”
Revelation 3:14
Well, we’ve made it!
We have made it to September, and we have made it to the end of The Apostles’ Creed—I think this was a 12-week series and we still have our finale next week!
The Apostles’ Creed was written around 140 A.D. as a baptismal confession.
(Speaking of baptisms, I received a call this past week from a woman who wants to be baptized with her granddaughter.
This woman wants to stand and proclaim her faith and join the communion of the saints.)
Join with me as we read The Apostles’ Creed.
I would like to do it a little differently today.
I would like to add the word “AMEN” at the end of each line….
The Apostles’ Creed
1.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; --- AMEN!
2. and in Jesus Christ, His only (begotten) Son, our Lord; --- AMEN!
3. who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, --- AMEN!
4. suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead and buried; --- AMEN!
He descended into hell; --- AMEN!
5. the third day he rose again from the dead; --- AMEN!
6.
He ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; --- AMEN!
7. from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
--- AMEN!
8.
I believe in the Holy Ghost, --- AMEN!
9. the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, --- AMEN!
10. the forgiveness of sins, --- AMEN!
11. the resurrection of the body, --- AMEN!
12. and the life everlasting.
Amen --- AMEN!.[i]
So What?
After a dozen weeks, what is it that you believe about God your Father in Heaven?
What is it that you believe about God the Son, your Savior who came from heaven and died for you?
What do you believe about the person and work of the Holy Spirit?
What do you believe about the Holy universal, all-embracing catholic church?
What do you believe about the communion of the saints?
What do you believe about the forgiveness of sins?
Do you know that you are forgiven?
Do you know that we are to forgive just as Christ has forgiven us?
What do you believe about the resurrection of the body?
What do you believe about the life everlasting?
It is my hope that after spending the entire summer, 12 very hot weeks, that your faith has been strengthened and that you know what you believe and why you believe it.
It is my prayer that as we begin to finish the series, that you can, and will, stand and say, “YES and AMEN.”
So What?
What does the word “AMEN” mean?
The word “AMEN” is used by the Jewish people, Christians, and Muslims.
The word “AMEN’ is used in a variety of languages, and it may be the most widely known word in the entire world.
Our next-door neighbors are Korean.
Each morning, I go out early to do my reading and spend time in prayer.
So does my neighbor.
We don’t speak the same language, but I can understand my neighbor.
As he prays, all I hear over and over again is … amen, amen, amen, amen, amen and amen.
Every morning, about 6 am, he prays AMEN for 15 -20 minutes.
Point 1 for today is: “AMEN” is a word that is one of the most widely known words in all the world.
Point 2 is: What does AMEN mean?
In the Hebrew language the word means “so it is” or “let it be,” derived from a verb meaning “to be firm or sure, to be reliable, to believe in or to trust.”
In the thirty times that “AMEN” appears in the Old Testament it precedes a statement and the people are saying that they believe, put their trust, they know what was said is reliable and firm.
The significance of using “AMEN’ was that the people were saying that they had just adopted what was said as their very own.
They are saying, “We can take what was just said to the bank.
What was just said is as solid as rock foundation.
What was just said is reliable and we can trust it with our life.”
AMEN?
After Sunday worship, a young boy who liked a young girl said to her, "That was a good sermon this morning."
Doubting that he had really listened she said, "How would you know?"
The boy replied, "Your grandfather amened the pastor 21 times."
Well, guess what?
This has been a good sermon, too, because you have amened the message 12 times so far.
Our Scripture readings for today come from the Gospel of Matthew and from the last book of the Bible called Revelation.
Before we go to the Words of life, let us come before the giver of life in prayer.
“Lord, God of all creation, we come this morning to say “AMEN’ to your Words of life found here in our scriptures.
May Your Words of life be a solid foundation for us, a firm and reliable foundation that will withstand the storms of life.
Amen and Amen”
Matthew 7:24-29
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.[ii]
The Gospel words we just heard were when Jesus had finished the Sermon on the Mount and had just given His new disciples a detailed “to do” list.
Jesus had just laid down all of His great and vital principles for life (Matthew chapters 5-7) and Jesus is now applying the final word of truth: AMEN.
I would say this section is the “So What” part of Jesus’ message.
Jesus is confronting His followers with the two possibilities they will face in life: Will they be wise or will they be foolish?
Will they build on the solid rock or will they build on sinking sand?
The other day I received an email with instructions for the foolish:
On a Duraflame fireplace log: "Caution—Risk of Fire."
On a Batman costume: "Warning: Cape does not enable user to fly."
On a bottle of hair coloring: "Do not use as an ice cream topping."
On a cardboard sun-shield for a car: "Do not drive with sun shield in place."
On a portable stroller: "Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage."[iii]
Warnings about being wise or foolish are found all over.
The two men in Jesus’ house story have the same desire--they long to build a house.
They each wanted the same thing, they thought about the same thing, and they were interested in the same thing.
There’s really no difference between the two at the beginning of the story.
In 1174 the Italian architect Bonnano Pisano began work on what would become his most famous project: A separately standing bell tower for the Cathedral of the city of Pisa.
The tower was to be eight-stories and 185-feet tall.
There was just one "little" problem: builders quickly discovered that the soil was much softer than they had anticipated, and the foundation was far too shallow to adequately hold the structure!
And sure enough, before long the whole structure began to tilt... and it continued to tilt... until finally the architect and the builders realized that nothing could be done to make the Leaning Tower of Pisa straight again.
It took 176 years to build the Tower of Pisa--during this time many things were done to try to compensate for the "tilt."
The foundation was shored up; the upper levels were built at an angle to make the top of the tower look straight.
Nothing worked.
The tower has stood for over 800 years, but it leans 18 feet away from where it should be.
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