Sermon Tone Analysis
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Conscientiousness
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Introduction
When I was a young boy my family and I went to a conference or meeting of some kind.
I don’t remember exactly when, or where, or even what most of it was about.
What I will never forget is a message that was shared at the end.
It was called a chalk talk.
In this chalk talk a man drew a picture on a canvas using various pieces of chalk.
He made this beautiful scene as he talked about our lives and how God works in us and through us.
It looked something like this https://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=D7Z7GWNX.
This video is sped up so you don’t get the full impact, but watch the right side of the screen as the picture gets more filled in.
He grabbed a big black piece of chalk and drew three vertical slashes through the beautiful picture.
Everyone was shocked!
He then talked about how God allows things into our lives that seem to mess everything up.
We don’t understand why He would ruin the beautiful picture of our lives.
The artist then proceeded to turn those slashes into trees, making the whole picture have more depth and beauty.
It looked something like this https://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=D7Z7GWNX.
This video is sped up so you don’t get the full impact, but watch the right side of the screen as the picture gets more filled in.
Things come into our lives that seem to mess them all up.
Tragedy strikes and we think there is no possible way to recover.
It is in these moments that we ask the question, “what is God doing?”
That is a very good question to ask.
Get’s our focus right - off of self and onto God.
Off our circumstances and on to the one in control of those circumstances.
Get’s our faith right - God is doing something!
He has a reason, plan, and purpose!
We have been looking at this kind of moment in the life of Paul.
He obeyed God and went to Jerusalem.
He submitted himself to church leadership and went to be cleansed in the temple.
For this faithfulness he was beaten almost to death and then arrested.
After plots to kill him and a two year imprisonment, we find Paul standing before a governor, a king, and a court of nobles giving his testimony.
We finished his account last time, now we come to the reaction.
The reaction seems negative.
What Paul faces here leads us to make two considerations.
In this passage there are two situations in which we all ask “What is God doing?”
Training.
One of the big things about training someone to do a job is teaching them what to do when certain things happen.
What do you do when ______ (fill in the blank).
Our goal this morning is to learn what we do when faced with two specific situations.
OR
In this passage there are two situations in which we all ask “What is God doing?”
Our goal today is to learn what to do in those situations.
Why?
Faithful endurance is only possible when we respond correctly to the circumstances of life.
Two situations.
Situation #1.
What do we do when we have…
Two situations.
situation #1…
What do we do when we have…
1.
A Goal Unreached vv.
24-28
It seems likely that all of us have experienced this at one time or another.
A goal we are working for remains just out of reach.
The reasons this can happen vary.
Sometimes the goal remains unreached because we haven’t fully understood it.
Other times it is out of reach because we have the wrong goal altogether.
When we have a goal unreached there are two actions we need to take.
Action #1…
If the goal seems unreached, maybe we haven’t understood the purpose.
Maybe we have our sights set on the wrong target.
a. Have the right goal vv.
24-25
This is our first step.
We may have missed reaching the goal because we had the wrong goal in the first place!
This is our first step.
We may have missed reaching the goal because we had the wrong goal in the first place!
Over the years I have worked a variety of jobs.
This has meant that I have had the opportunity to train a variety of replacements when I left those jobs.
The first time I trained a replacement I made a big mistake.
I trained them to do everything exactly how I did it.
I made no allowance for them coming up with their own system that worked for them.
I had the wrong goal.
I was trying to make a carbon copy of myself instead of train someone to do the job.
When it comes to the Christian life, we need to have the right goal.
Paul’s interaction here shows us the goal.
READ v. 24
Why would Festus respond this way?
Look at v. 23.
Paul has just finished speaking about the resurrection of the dead.
This is a stumbling block to Festus.
It remains a stumbling block to many today as well.
Later in his ministry Paul wrote this to the Corinthians.
Turn to (p. 1311).
(p.
1311)
For the Messiah to be crucified and raised is a stumbling block to the Jews and it is foolishness to the Gentiles.
To us believers it demonstrates the power and wisdom of God.
This idea that someone could be raised from the dead causes Festus to think Paul is insane.
Beside yourself – μαίνομαι (mainomai) be out of one's mind; rave.
to be insane.
To be afflicted with mental derangement and not behaving responsibly.
Beside yourself – μαίνομαι (mainomai)
This is the professional opinion of Festus.
Paul has driven himself out of his mind with too much learning.
If this was a thing, every student that ever existed would claim it.
“If you make me learn too much, I’ll go crazy!”
What’s interesting here is that Festus chooses a word that is typically used for expertise in the Hebrew Scriptures.
In a way, this is a compliment.
He recognizes that Paul knows Scripture, yet thinks it has driven him mad.
Festus basically tells Paul that his mind is out of order.
It isn’t working properly anymore.
Don’t they tell us these same things today?
They say we don’t believe in real science, that our views of sexuality are antiquated and old fashioned.
They say our view of gender roles, of spiritual gifts, and of church leadership are wrong.
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