Sermon Tone Analysis

\\ "/ Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and //a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick//.

Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.

The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” //He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do//.

Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, //“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish//, but how far will they go among so many?” Jesus said, “//Have the people sit down//.”

There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.

Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.

He did the same with the fish.

When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over.

Let nothing be wasted.”

So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

//Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself//./"

(John 6:1-15, NIV) [1]

Sometimes preachers wrestle with “impossibility thinking even prior to preaching their sermons.

Ultimate Preaching Rules

 

1.

According to your congregation, there are bad sermons and short sermons but there are no bad short sermons.

2.

A life saver mint will last 22 minutes exactly if left laying between the cheek and gum during the normal course of talking.

This is a helpful hint to time your sermon.

Just don't make the mistake of putting a button in your mouth instead of a life saver before you get up to preach.

3.

It never fails that when an "Awesome Sermon" is preached, members of the congregation cannot remember the scripture citations or what the sermon was about when the service is over.

4.

The number of faithful tithers in a congregation, and the amount in the offering plate is in direct inverse proportion to the number of sermons the pastor delivers on stewardship and tithing.

 

5.

The likelihood that someone will walk the isle drops by a value of 10 percent for each minute the sermon goes into overtime.

6.

The louder the congregation sings the longer the preacher should preach.

7.

It is a well kept secret among Music Ministers that the offering total goes up 5 percent each time the third verse of a hymn is skipped (so, that's why they do that).

8.

The purpose of a great sermon is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.

The latter is preferable to the former.

9.

No matter how hard you have studied and prayed, some sermons seem to barely get out of your mouth before they drop on the floor in front of the first pew.

10.

When the congregation starts to lose interest and doze off you can awaken them by saying loudly, "And Finally" or "In Conclusion."

This will only work about four times per sermon.

11.

Murphy must have been a preacher, but at least he was an optimist.

The Christian manner of thinking is a challenge for most of us.

/"Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord— /*/for we walk by faith, not by sight/*/— we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.

Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him. //" (2 Corinthians 5:6-9, NASB95)/ [2]

We like to refer to  ourselves as “faith-walkers”.

We trust God to care for us in the next world – we really have no choice but to trust but trusting Him in this world is another issue by times.

Ø      Ever spent a sleepless night in worry over things that never happened?

Ever spent a sleepless night in worry trading today for tomorrow, regarding things that did happen?

Ø      Ever take revenge on someone because in practical terms you weren’t content with the idea that God will settle the score of injustice in your own life?

Ø      Ever short change God in your giving habits because you cared for your own needs and wants first?

Ø      Ever fail to give a clear witness to a friend?

Ø      Ever fail to extend help to the needy because of far that they might want something more than you had in your mind to give?

 

Ø      Ever modify your behavior based upon your company?

If you have, don’t feel condemned, be challenged to ask yourself whether there is room in your life for God to transform you in this practical area.

Peter was the only disciple to get out of the boat.

He tried and failed but for a moment he knew exactly what it was like to step on the water and feel it hold beneath his feet.

Even though he went for a swim, he was the only human being ever to join Jesus in a stroll on the waters.

John Ortberg has written a wonderful book entitled, “/If You Want To Walk On The Water, You’ve Got To Get Out Of The Boat/,”  It’s simple truth in a profound title.

A person can be content in the boat, an unchallenged “/water-walker/” – we can be walkers or talkers.

I’d rather be a wet walker than a dry talker.

And so I’d like to look into this story with you today, Christ feeding the multitude on the hillside and ask you if you are an “Impossibility Thinker”.

Are you missing opportunities that you may never have again because in the face of God’s

*1.   **The task is to big.

*

Look at Philip’s response:

/7 //Philip answered him, “Eight months’ wages a would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” *[3]*/

Can’t you just hear the “impossible tone” in his response.

We can’t do this!

You want us to put on a dinner for over 5000 people now???

That is the immediate response that many people have to things that they see to be “beyond them”.

We can’t do it so forget it.

And when we get this way we want to beat the retreat back to a manageable place in our lives.

How do we get back to that safe place that we used to know? 

Going back is never an option.

God leads his dear children.

/In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet, \\ God leads His dear children along; \\ Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet, \\ God leads His dear children along.

/

/Some through the waters, some through the flood, \\ Some through the fire, but all through the blood; \\ Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song, \\ In the night season and all the day long.

/

/Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright, \\ God leads His dear children along; \\ Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night, \\ God leads His dear children along.

/

/Though sorrows befall us and evils oppose, \\ God leads His dear children along; \\ Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes, \\ God leads His dear children along.

/

/Away from the mire, and away from the clay, \\ God leads His dear children along; \\ Away up in glory, eternity’s day, \\ God leads His dear children along.//

/

The problem with being overwhelmed is that it stifles creative thought.

That first panicked thought when you are in over your head and you can’t touch the bottom.

Survival is the primary thought that you have and there’s no left over mental energy to do anything else but to keep your head above water.

There is always a way in God’s economy – always – always – always.

In the heart of a God who takes anything and turns it to a profit is there anything that can come to our lives that is too difficult for God?

/"Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, when I am so old?’ “Is anything too difficult for the Lord?

At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

"/ (Genesis 18:12-15, NASB95) [4]

/"‘You have said to me, O Lord God, “Buy for yourself the field with money and call in witnesses”—although the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans.’

” Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?” "/ (Jeremiah 32:25-27, NASB95) [5]

Philip was doing the computations and the answer was undeniable to him – this was an impossible thing to accomplish.

We are like Philip so many times – it doesn’t matter what God wants us to do, we get out the slide rule and determine that it can’t be done.

Ø      I can’t go in the ministry.

I have an established life and a set of obligations to meet.

Ø      I can’t tithe

 

Ø      I shouldn’t have to be the one to take the first step toward reconciliation.

Ø      I’m the wrong personality type to share my faith with others

 

Ø      I could never go on a short-term missions trip

 

Ø      I don’t have time to teach that Sunday School class

 

*2.

**I need something that I don’t have.*

/“*Eight months’ wages* would not *buy* enough bread for each one to have a bite!”/

Philip thought of money.

Jesus asked him where they could buy bread.

Bread was the need that Jesus identified.

Money was the problem that Philip saw.

In order for them to feed the multitude they needed something that they didn’t have or perhaps the price was too high.

The impossibility thinker looks to what he~/she does not have as a measure of the feasibility of the task.

The possibility thinker begins with what he~/she has and offers it to God.