Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO: WE HAD A LOT OF ANNOUNCEMENTS SO LET’S GET RIGHT INTO IT.

WE ARE STARTING ON VERSE 4 TONIGHT!

We have talked about have a works of faith and last week doing the works that we do out of love for God and others.

INTRO:

Sometimes it is hard to know where to start to be a better and more active servant.

Now you will have consistent opportunities to serve in different ways.

PRAYER CHALLENGE: Every week we have been taking up the challenge to do as Paul, Silvanus and Timothy did and pray for our fellow followers of Christ and specifically here in the UCSC.

Q: HOW DID THIS LAST WEEKS CHALLENGE GO? DID YOU ASK THEM FACE TO FACE HOW YOU CAN PRAY FOR THEM?

Q: What impact did it have to know that you were being prayed for?

What about on those praying?

Q: Any stories about how this made a difference?

Q: Any stories about how this made a difference?

(Someone texted me and asked if we could continue to do this prayer things throughout the year, not just this semester because it has been awesome!)

RENEW THE CHALLENGE THIS WEEK: Let’s renew this challenge for this week.

Look round and pick a different person to pray for than last time.

Tell them in person or by message that you are praying for them this week.

(And if you are really bold tell them why you are thankful for them.)

(Got it?)

OPENING ACTIVITY: PICK SOMEONE WHO YOU KNOW WELL HERE AND USE ONE WORD TO DESCRIBE WHO YOU THINK IS PART OF WHO THEY ARE.

BE ENCOURAGING, PLEASE!

That is the point.

(I’ll start to give you a chance to think and to give you an example;)

(I’ll start to give you a chance to think and to give you an example;

THERE ARE A FEW WORDS THAT GOD USES IN VERSE 4 TO DESCRIBE THE THESSALONIANS TO ENCOURAGE THEM! Read verse 4:

OK So let’s move on to verses 4 AND FOLLOWING!

read verse 4.

YOU ARE LOVED AND CHOSEN BY GOD!

Q: DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE LOVED AND CHOSEN BY GOD? IF YOU DO HOW WILL THOSE TRUTH ABOUT YOU CAUSE YOUR LIVE DIFFERENTLY?

(Let’s start with love)

A: If we truly believe that we are loved by God we will understand our worth and live out of that worth.

(Not seeking to establish our worth through other things.)

We will not listen to the messages from the enemy that tell us we are anything different.

We are loved despite our mistakes, flaws, difficulties and relationship statuses.

HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE LOVED BY GOD? (Your daily life.

How God is working in

other your life, blessing your life, listening, helping you, encouraging you…)

Q: WHY DO YOU THINK THE HOLY SPIRIT THROUGH PAUL TOLD THEM THEY WERE “LOVED BY GOD?” Let’s just go ahead and eliminate the obvious that He told them because He loved them.

What other reasons?

(1) Even if they knew it, they needed to hear it!

(We need to hear it as well.)

(2) We can easily forget and need to recognize His love)

(ill: If you struggle with remembering or feeling God’s love for you I want to challenge you to take time at the end of every day to recognize what happened during the day because of a direct result of God’s love.

You were encouraged, had food, had a laugh, etc.)

Trans: now we are also chosen as they were.

If you truly believe you are chosen then how will that affect your life?

A: If we truly believe that we are chosen we can believe what God has chosen us to be and do is who we are to be and His purposes are great and worth living for.

We are chosen for His purposes and plan.

We can look at that briefly...But first we need to understand how?

HOW ARE WE CHOSEN BY GOD?

Let’s

Q: HOW ARE WE CHOSEN BY GOD?

If God has chosen us then does that mean that He did not choose others?

And if God has chosen some and not others, how is He not a God of favoritism?

A: To understand how we are chosen by God we have to look at both the context of the passage that talks about it and the context OF all scripture so that we do not come up with something that is beyond scripture (such as Calvinism).

So verses 4 and 5 together...

Q: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THESE VERSE ABOUT HOW WE ARE CHOSEN BY GOD?

A: notice the word right after “ we know he has chosen you” is “because.”

Because…why?

Because the gospel came to them (1) in word, () (2) in power, (the message of the gospel is powerful to save (), (3) in the Holy Spirit (the Holy Spirit helping the messengers to speak and (4) with full conviction.

(The full conviction of the messengers which lead to the full conviction of those who were saved.)

How God calls us and how He chooses us can be understood (as it is referenced here through the gospel) without getting wrapped up in all the confusion when we look at what scripture says about how God calls us.

For example: Let’s look at

Let’s look at

Verse 13, says they were chose them then verse 14 goes on to say that He not only chose them but called them to what He chose for them (sanctification).

Q: HOW DOES THIS VERSE SAY THEY WERE CALLED?

Through the gospel.

Now that is important because it helps us to understand who God has chosen.

It helps us understand:

(1) How God can chose people and not be a God of favoritism?

(Those who are chosen are the ones who respond to the gospel.)

(2) How God can chose and call people without taking away our free will?

(God calls us through the gospel and we must choose to follow Him.)

God is sovereign but God is also loving a gives us choice.

God chooses that those who respond to the gospel are saved and His people.

Q: WHO ALL DOES GOD WANT THE GOSPEL TO GO TO? Obviously everyone in the world hence the commands we have ( ) and His patience () but what?

Israel was God’s chosen people but it was (1) not because God wanted them to be saved more than others or (2) because they were inherently or intrinsically better.

We know this because:

(1) Israel was supposed to be a light to the nations so that others would come to know God as , , and other verses say.

(Which tells us that God loves and wanted the other nations to be saved as well) Also (2) tells us that God did not choose them because they were more in number or better but because He promised Abraham.

What we should really be concerned with in reference to being chosen is beyond how we are chosen (or elected) (which is through the gospel and our own decision to obey it) but what it means that we are chosen.

(What we are chosen for!)

Q: WHAT SHOULD THAT MEAN TO YOU THAT YOU ARE CHOSEN BY GOD?

A: We should understand that it means that we are chosen to be and to do what God has planned for us.

It is something special that we should take seriously and be thankful for.

Not in a prideful way but in humility giving ourselves over to Him as one of His chosen.

It should mean that God has a purpose for you just as He had for Israel (as His chosen people).

You are a member of His church (God’s chosen people today.)

1 Peter 3

Q: SO WHAT DOES THIS VERSE SAY THAT OUR PURPOSE IS AS GOD’S CHOSEN PEOPLE?

A: That you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness.

(How? through the gospel, just as He calls everyone who hears the gospel, except many to not answer the call.)

So are called and chosen for a very important purpose the most important purposes!

The question is are you living for God’s purposes or the worlds.

That is an important question because if you have given you life to Christ then you should be living for His purposes and everything else in your life be backing up those purposes.

We cannot live for our own first and have his in the background.

SO THIS ONE VERSE (VERSE 4) GIVES A HINT OF ONE ASPECT OF OUR IDENTITY (LOVED BY GOD) AND (CHOSEN) FOR VERY SPECIAL PURPOSES.

Q: WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE CHOSEN FOR A SPECIAL CALLING BY GOD?

PLEASE BELIEVE IN THESE TWO THINGS THAT YOU ARE LOVE BY GOD AND THAT YOU ARE CHOSEN BY GOD TO BE AND DO IMMEASURABLY IMPORTANT THINGS FOR HIM! IF YOU DON’T YOU WILL GO AFTER THE PURPOSES OF THE WORLD…AND GODS PURPOSES WILL GO UNDONE OR BE A SIDE POINT IN YOUR LIFE!

THE PEOPLE IN YOUR LIFE DON’T NEED ANOTHER PERSON WHO IS GOING AFTER THE PURPOSES OF THE WORLD THEY NEED YOU TO BE DIFFERENT!

HOW THE GOSPEL CAME TO THEM SHOWS US HOW WE CAN BRING IT TO OTHERS