Sermon Tone Analysis

When you just can’t decide

We finish this series today a 4 week journey through .

We’ve looked at when you’ve had enough, what do you do, of how do yo live through that, by praying through the pain & of having a perspective of praise & now we finish with WHEN YOU JUST CAN’T DECIDE.

how do we make decisions or do we.

What happens when it comes to making decisions?

does your mind race?

are you overwhelmed?

do you suddenly become uncertain because of the pressure you feel?

does fear rise up in you because you might get it wrong?

What if it’s irreversible?

Maybe you made the wrong decision once, decision making anxiety is one of the biggest forms of anxiety.

To some decision making seems very complicated.

Why is it complicated because we have so many choices & so many choices make us indecisive, unable to make a decision effectively.

Whose ever been to a restaurant, you get the menu.

So now is the time to choose what you are going to eat.

(hold a menu)

Thoughts(i like that, ooh i could have that, what’s he having, ooh that looks good on that table over there, what should i have?

(stress is starting).

I don’t know what to have.

Question “ what are you having” Answer “ the braised beef”.

Thoughts i like what he’s having but i like the look of that as well, but what if i don’t like it.

iv’e done that before, maybe he’ll share)

But he is shaking his head, i could get this wrong, now he’s being impatient, i’m feeling pressured, help me.

Choice anyone had this.

same with anything where there is so much choice.

as a choice Paul wanted to go to Rome but as a preacher not a prisoner.

A couple of things.

we are making so many choices

Ok some stats according to who you read or listen to, the difference in figures is quite mind boggling.

But if we work it on the lowest figures i found for an average person, it’s 27 decisions a day.

It works out to 788,400 choices over an 80 year period.

We are making so many choices.

2) we are afraid of making a costly mistake.

(spiritual terms Missing Gods will)

There is a pressure to get it right, In school, to wear the right shoes, have your hair a particular way, Marry the right one, the right job, the right car. the right Spiritual book, pursue your purpose, live in Gods will, what is his will for me.

What if i miss these?

I don’t want to let people down or let God down.

We pile the pressure up on ourselves & then don’t make a choice, we become indecisive, but indecision is a decision.

What we do is complicate it.

Acts 15:

Acts

It seemed good to not complicate things, to ask God.

What do you do if you don’t know what to do?

What do you do if scripture doesn’t speak directly into the choice you have to make.

We could say then live how you want because scripture isn’t clear.

We could just go by,

The Message puts it this way

There’s a way of life that looks harmless enough;

look again—it leads straight to hell.

Sure, those people appear to be having a good time,

but all that laughter will end in heartbreak.

This is important:

If you are around the wrong people, listening to the wrong voices, living for the wrong values, what seems right, will often be wrong.

If you are in the wrong cloud, listening to the wrong opinions that are different to Gods, basing how you live & what you do on these people, what seems right, will often be wrong.

But surely when we look at that’s what it says, they say it seems good to us.

But lets look again, this isn’t about 1 man but the whole church.

Listen you don’t go to church, the church is the people, it’s not the building, it’s about identity, I am the church, it’s more than this service.

This is a gathering of the church, coming to worship God together, to hear life changing word of God, which is not only good for us but for all those that we come into contact with.

But worship should be an everyday occurrence for us, in our work, in our homes, in our college, in our schools, as we walk down the street, i don’t mean just singing but living a life of worshiping God.

It’s about relationship not Religion, Religion is religious things at religious times on religious days, the rest of the time i do what i want.

When actually we need to be the church, it’s not a place to meet our needs, it’s where we the church meet the needs of others.

Searching his word, seeking after Him, His heart, listening out for his voice on all aspects of life.

Lets just go back over the 3 weeks:

If it’s big enough to worry about, it’s big enough to pray about, what’s anxiety?

It’s a signal telling us to pray.

It’s not about control, but it’s about surrender because of who he is not because of what He has done- Rejoice, have a perspective of praise.

if we are living a prayerful life & have a perspective of praise which are the 2 things spoken of over the last 2 weeks then we will seek God in everything & do what seems right, that’s what they are saying in .

Sometimes we make mistakes, we take the wrong turn, we mess up, we’ve ended up where we didn’t want to be, Paul wanted to be preaching in Rome not a prisoner.

But he was still preaching but to a different audience, the influencers of the city.

God has a way of bringing good things out of wrong turns.

I have made mistakes all along my life, i understand if you have too, but God was still calling me.

God can make a wrong turn into a right turn by using the wrong turn in someone elses life through you.

Hey you have something in your life that causes you anxiety, makes you anxious, maybe it’s a few things, but you have more to praise God for.

What do you focus on, do you focus on the bad or the good.

Don’t complicate your life focus on the good, cast down those thoughts.

With a posture of prayer & a perspective of praise, we will seek God & do what seems right.