Sermon Tone Analysis

Title: Who Builds this House?

Title: Who Builds this House?

Text:

Series: Christ-Centered Parenting

Introduction:

Read

“Build” - establish, build

“Keep” - watch over, preserve, guard

What is the true source of success in the text here?

LETTING GOD WATCH

Topics: Dependence on God; Experiencing God; Prayer

References: Psalm 127:1–2; Zechariah 4:6; Philippians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:17

The baseball game was tied with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

The batter stepped into the batting box and made the sign of the cross on home plate with his bat.

Yogi Berra, Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees, was behind the plate.

A Catholic as well, Berra wiped off the plate with his glove and said to the pious batter, “Why don’t we let God just watch this game?”

Letting God watch.

That may be OK for a baseball game, but it’s terrible theology when applied to the way we live our lives and carry out the work of the church.

—Ben Patterson in “Why We Don’t Pray,” Prayer Book (March 23, 1997)

Thesis: If your labor will be meaningful and your sleep peaceful, then you must genuinely trust the Lord!

Lesson:

(1) There is an alternative to genuinely trusting in the Lord

(a) The alternative of vain labor

(b) The alternative of an anxious life

WOMEN AND STRESS

Topics: Anxiety; Stress; Women

References: Matthew 6:25–34; Philippians 4:6

Women are stressed; that’s for sure.

Here’s what they say about how often they are stressed:

• all the time: 8 percent

• almost every day: 21 percent

• once/twice a week: 29 percent

• a few times a month: 31 percent

• a few days a year: 11 percent

—USA Today “Snapshots” (March 20, 2000)

(2) There are overlooked enemies which serve to prevent us from genuinely trusting in the Lord

(a) There is the enemy of the “ability to labor”

(b) There is the enemy of the “ability to exert or temporarily satisfy our anxieties”

Illustration of Rose Marie’s story

Trusting In Activity

The essence of legalism is trusting in the religious activity rather than trusting in God.

It is putting our confidence in a practice rather than in a Person.

And without fail this will lead us to love the practice more than the Person.

Jack Deer, Surprised by the Power of the Spirit, p. 151

(3) There is evidence of this genuine trust in the Lord

The evidence of this kind of trust in the Lord is an individual who “peacefully labors.”

3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace,

Whose mind is stayed on thee:

Because he trusteth in thee.

4 Trust ye in the LORD for ever:

For in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength:

3856 Peace, Perfect Peace

One morning in 1875 Canon Gibbon of Harrogate preached from the text: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

The Hebrew is “peace, peace” instead of “perfect peace.”

Bishop Bickersteth wrote the hymn, putting each first line in the form of a question and giving the answer in each second line: “Peace, perfect peace—in this dark world of sin?

The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.”

—A.

Naismith

(4) There is a good cause for this genuine trust in the Lord

The LORD grants what we cannot find in our own strength.

For so he giveth…

The LORD has wellbeloved ones.

You can rest in his love, even when your love fails.

Christalogical fulfillment & application

Lineage preserved -

Entered into his rest - ,

Eternal house established

Entered into his rest - ,

The LORD gives rest.

The LORD gives rest.

Applications Questions:

(1) What religious activity are you trusting in to build and protect your house/heritage?

Why trust in that activity above the Lord?

Turn from this trust in your activity and turn to trust in the Lord.

(2) Have you justified living with anxieties (because of your children)?

Why is this anxiety ok in your mind?

Turn from this sinful anxiousness and turn to trust in the Lord.

(3) Has God set his love on you, in Christ?

Have you tasted and seen that God is good?

If God has given so much for your eternal rest, why would he not desire your temporal rest?

Turn from seeking your rest in your ability to preserve and turn to the Lord who gives rest.

Conclusion:

What are some things we are tempted to trust for success other than the true source of success?

A Christ-centered parent is one who believes Christ to be sufficient for the building and preservation of their family, according to God’s own purposes, and the parent is one who labors while constantly refusing to place faith in his/her labor.

Survey question handout.