Sermon Tone Analysis

The main thing that God want us to be about it what we call the Vision Statement: “Glorifying God by creating Christ followers who change the world.”

Subject: General

Prop: God desires mankind to be captivated by his glory.

The main thing that God want us to be about it what we call the Vision Statement: “Glorifying God by creating Christ followers who change the world.”

How are we going to make Christ Followers?

We are going to be driven by 3 values:

1) Captivated by God’s Glory through Worship.

This give us the directive of “creating worshippes by leading people to treasure God.”

2) Connected to God’s Family through Discipleship.

This gives us the directive of “fostering community by guiding people inot Christ-Centered fellowship.”

3) Committed to God’s Mission through Ministry.

This gives us the directive of “producing servants by sending people to fulfill the Great Commission.”

This morning I want us to see what God’s word says about our first value, “Captivated by God’s glory through Worship.”

What captivates you?

What catches you eye and causes you not to be able to look away?

What are you drawn to.

Of course, when we think about worship, most people think about a worship service at church.And then, some think that depends on the quality of the sermon or the music to move you.

I’m reminded of the story about Thomas Beecher.

He was the brother of the very famous preacher and eloquent, Henry Ward Beecher at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, New York in the latter half of the 1800’s.

One Sunday, Henry Ward Beecher asked his brother, Thomas, to fill the pulpit while he was out of town.

A lot of the guests that came in expecting to hear Henry Ward Beecher started to leave when they learned that his brother was speaking instead.

When Thomas saw this, he went to the pulpit, raised his hand, to bring silence to the room, and announced, “All those who came here this morning to worship Henry Ward Beech may withdraw from the church; all who came to worship God may remain.

Ultimately, worship is about what you find your greatest value in.

It comes from the word “worthship.”

There’s an aspect of Beauty, Majesty, and Awe to worship?

It’s why people pay big money to go to the mountains, or the beach, or the grand canyon just to take in the view.

What is it that so moves us when we look out on those views?

It’s glory.

What is glory?

The Neilson Bible Dictionary describes glory as beauty, power, or honor; a quality of God’s character that emphasizes His greatness and authority.

When you go to the mountains, beach, or Grand Canyon, we delight in the glory of God displayed in those things.

For life to really make sense you have to understand that the reason anything exists is that God desired to put his glory on display.

God gets great joy when we find delight in his glory.

I want to talk about two ways that God’s glory affects us as we see it in Scripture.

1. God’s glory affects our sense of morality.

God has perfect morality.

God is morally perfect.

And that is beautiful.

He can not lie, steal, cheat, etc.

He is completely just.

He has never treated anyone wrongly.

In every sense he is morally beautiful.

God is morally perfect.

And that is beautiful.

He can not lie, steal, cheat, etc.

He is completely just.

He has never treated anyone wrongly.

In every sense he is morally beautiful.

God is so much different than we are.

When says,

Pslam 113:4-6

This is why says, “4 The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens! 5 Who is like the Lord our God,

who is seated on high, 6 who looks far down

on the heavens and the earth?”

What it means is that mankind has fallen completely short of this moral glory that we were suppose to reflect as the image bearers of God.

So really, the only place that this is in God.

God sets the standard for what truth is.

Why is lying, stealing, and cheating wrong?

Because it transgresses the nature of God.

This is what it means.

Mankind has fallen completely short of this glory.

The only place we can see this glorious glory is in God.

That’s actually one of the proofs for the existence of God.

Imbedded in the heart of every person is some sense of morality.

Where did this come from?

God.

Seeing something of the wonder of God in glory affects us morally.

I ready a story that illustrated that this week.

I was an observer at the launch of Apollo 17 in 1975.

It was a night launch, and there were hundreds of cynical reporters all over the lawn, drinking beer, wisecracking and waiting for this 35-story-high rocket.

The countdown came and then the launch.

The first thing you see is this extraordinary orange light, which is just at the limit of what you can bear to look at.

Everything is illuminated with this light.

Then comes this thing slowly rising up in total silence because it takes a few seconds for the sound to come across.

You hear a “WHOOOOOSH!

HHHHMMMM!”

It enters right into you.

You can practically hear jaws dropping.

The sense of wonder fills everyone in the whole place as this thing goes up and up.

The first stage ignites this beautiful blue flame.