Sermon Tone Analysis

Yet Adam and Eve didn’t trust God, and they took of the forbidden tree.

And because of their sin, they were cursed, and creation was broken, and they were cast out from the presence of God.

And many generations lived and died, cursed because of the sin of Adam.

Until the day that God called a man named Abram.

With these and many more promises, Abraham was blessed by God.

And he lived a long and rich life, full of God’s bounty.

And all of Abrahams sons and daughters and grandsons and granddaughters remembered God’s word, that one of his sons would bless the world.

And after that day, many generations of Abraham’s offspring lived and died, awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.

So God captured the attention of a shepherd named Moses.

And God saved his people with a mighty hand, and delivered them from slavery.

A pillar of God’s fire led them out of Egypt and through the wilderness toward the land which God promised Abraham, many years ago.

And Moses led the people of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years.

They were a stubborn people, always rebelling against God.

And in his last days, Moses gathered the people and said to them,

But some day,

And after many years leading the people of Israel through the wilderness, Moses died.

Joshua led Israel over the waters of the Jordan, to conquer the promised land, as God had commanded.

And many generations lived and died, awaiting the fulfillment of God’s promised Prophet like Moses, awaiting the offspring of Abraham who would bless the world.

But the people of Israel forgot the LORD their God, and rebelled against his commands.

And many generations lived and died, awaiting the promised Prophet of God, awaiting the offspring of Abraham who would bless the world.

Until one day God visited a woman named Hannah, who was barren.

She wept before God, and asked for a son.

God gave her the son she asked for, and she named him Samuel.

And Hannah gave her firstborn son back to God, when he was only a child.

And he served before the LORD all of his days.

He judged the people of Israel, and in due time, he was sent to anoint God’s chosen King - David, a shepherd boy, the youngest son of Jesse from Bethlehem.

David was a good King, full of faith and hope, and he declared victory over Israel’s enemies by the mighty hand of God, and he led the people of Israel in peace and justice.

And the faithful of Israel wondered whether this David was the promised Prophet of God, the promised offspring of Abraham who would bless the world.

And one day, when David’s kingdom was established, after he had declared victory over all the enemies of God’s people, God sent a prophet to deliver a message.

It was a sweet shadow, but David’s throne crumbled under his own sin.

He was but a man, not fulfillment of ancient promises.

And many generations lived and died, awaiting the promised Prophet, awaiting the offspring of Abraham, and now awaiting the promised Son of David, who would become the true King of Israel.

After David died, his son Solomon reigned.

And Solomon did was evil in the sight of the LORD.

And after Solomon, his son Rehoboam reigned, and Rehoboam did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.

And the kingdom of Israel was divided because of the sin of her kings.

And generation after generation lived and died, awaiting the promised Prophet like Moses, awaiting the offspring of Abraham, awaiting the Son of David.

In time, the people of Israel and Judah turned away from the LORD their God to serve Baal yet again, and every generation of their Kings was more wicked than the last, and they forgot the LORD their God and rebelled against his commands.

And in time, they lost the promised land that God had given them.

And in time, they were cast from their homes and bound in chains, returning to slavery because of their sin.

Yet the LORD was faithful, and sent prophets to every generation.

And even though things were going from bad to worse, God always sent prophets to shout promises.

Even in their darkest moments, the rebel people of Israel heard the shouts of prophetic promises.

With these and many other words, the prophets of God encouraged the faithful remnant to hope in God’s promises.

And many generations lived and died, awaiting the promised Prophet like Moses, awaiting the offspring of Abraham, awaiting the Son of David, the true King of Israel.

Until one day the angel of the LORD was sent to an old priest named Zechariah, whose wife was barren.

He was promised a son, a very special son.

John, the son of Elizabeth and Zechariah, would be a prophet of God, and he would prepare the people for their King - the son of David, the Prophet like Moses, the offspring of Abraham who would bless the world.

You see,