Sermon Tone Analysis

What does it take to be a good soldier?

1.

He must be able to */endure hardship/* without turning back.

The first thing that we do to new recruits is to put them through boot camp.

We purposefully push them beyond their limits of endurance.

What keeps people focused during this time?

It is the desire to become a soldier.

On the one hand we recruit them and then we try to disqualify them?

Is that what we are doing?

It would be better never to become a soldier than to become one and to fail the ultimate test.

That would be a person’s willingness to give their very life for the Savior.

If they cannot endure through the course of life then they would never really be called a soldier.

What good is a soldier who will  not give his~/her life?

What good is the person who opts for surrender in order to save their own life while jeopardizing the lives of those who we fight for?

How do we prepare people for hardship without pain or discomfort?

 

- Safety Nets

- Physical Conditioning

- Emotional Conditioning

- Simulation

- Combat Training

- Survival Training

 

There’s never been a soldier in this world who has been comfortable in conflict.

There is always hope in this world as long as there is breath.

There is no more conflict beyond this world.

The pain that you submit yourself to lessens the pain that you have no control over.

There are folks who never submit themselves to anything that exists beyond there comfort zone.

That notion in itself is a nauseating one.

When is the last time that you agreed to do something that took you out of your comfort zone?

Do you think that people who say “Yes” find it easier than you do?

 

 

 

Physical exhaustion

 

Emotional exhaustion

 

Somewhere there has to be a change in thinking.

It has to move away from wanting to escape our current set of circumstances to learning how to use every disadvantage to my advantage.

To ruling your body beyond pain.

You must learn to rule over the physical and the emotional.

To see spiritual reality.

There are so many times when I am tempted to say things that I would live to regret and times when I sacrifice my sense of dignity in order to prevent furhter complicating situations that God will have to handle on his own.

Will my response benefit or hurt other things around me?

 

 

 

2.

He must */want to please/* his commanding officer.

/2Samuel 23:8 These are the names of David's mighty men:/

/ /

/    Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter./

/ /

/9  Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite.

As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle.

Then the men of Israel retreated, [10] but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword.

The LORD brought about a great victory that day.

The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead./

/ /

/11 Next to him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite.

When the Philistines banded together at a place where there was a field full of lentils, Israel's troops fled from them.

[12] But Shammah took his stand in the middle of the field.

He defended it and struck the Philistines down, and the LORD brought about a great victory./

/ /

/13 During harvest time, three of the thirty chief men came down to David at the cave of Adullam, while a band of Philistines was encamped in the Valley of Rephaim.

[14] At that time David was in the stronghold, and the Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem.

[15] David longed for water and said, "Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem!" [16] So the three mighty men broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David.

But he refused to drink it; instead, he poured it out before the LORD.

[17] "Far be it from me, O LORD, to do this!" he said.

"Is it not the blood of men who went at the risk of their lives?"

And David would not drink it./

/ /

/Such were the exploits of the three mighty men./

Have you ever done anything that put yourself at risk just to please the commanding officer.

There are times when we do foolhardy things in our lives just because we want to please God.

They make no sense whatsoever from a lateral perspective.

However, from a vertical perspective they say something loud and clear.

They say “I love you” to God.

 

Do you think every so often that we could stand a little more of this?

I do.

Has God been asking you lately or even hinting about His pleasure?

David just mentioned something that he wanted and that w as all that it took to set the Three off.

o       He has been speaking to you lately about giving.

What will you do this week to make it different than it has been any other time?

Get tithing envelopes.

Cut your spending so that you can give without noticing the difference.

What do you think that you could do without and you’d be better off for it?

How about giving something like that to God.  Say “smoking”?

Suppose you quit again.

Give half of what you would have spent to God and pocket the rest.

It would please God and you’d increase your chances of living longer.

o       Get more involved.

Come to Sunday School if you are busier during the week.

You’re going to be here anyway.

It’s one hour longer.

You’ll get to know some more of our folk and the church will seem friendlier.

You know, we aren’t perfect but we are a great church.

Unless you do something different than you are now doing you’ll get results that are no different.

o       Want to witness to someone – to have the chance to speak to someone of their faith?

Carry this little booklet.

Put it in your shirt pocket or on your desk where people can see it.

Decide the questions that you want to have people ask and then provoke them to ask those questions.

o       Lead a small group – bring the church to you.

Incorporate your normal social life into a small group that meets within your home and provides a place of love and acceptance for others.

Can’t lead a small group – Oh yes you can.

Don’t have all the answers to the imagined questions – no one does.

Try this honest answer “I don’t know.”

3.

He must keep himself from being */involved/* in civilian affairs.

To be woven into the fabric of human affairs.

The concept of “serving God” means to be at his disposal.

To call you to do whatever he pleases.

Is he free today to ask anything of you?  Could you say to him, “Anything you ask Lord?”  How can we expect to find reality in Christian living if reality for us is defined by our circumstances.

For example:  God wants me to leave my vocation and to go into the ministry.

Every soldier of Christ needs to be ready to respond to that call.

Because of our entanglements we are not free to do that.

We have bills to pay, houses to sell, children to raise, property to care for.