Sermon Tone Analysis

THE STATE OF THE CHURCH \\ A cOVENANT for a New Century

Isaiah 54:2-3

INTRODUCTION

We have entered a brand new year, decade, century, and millennium!

The year 2000 will be filled with opportunities and challenges for PBC.

We cannot re-live any event of 1999, but we can determine much of what will happen in 2000.

The New Year provides a great opportunity to review - what God has done.

The scriptures encourage us to review what the Lord has done, Isaiah 63:7 (NCV) “I will tell about the LORD’S kindness and praise him for everything he has done.

I will praise the LORD for the many good things he has given us.”

The New Year provides a great opportunity to reflect - on what God is doing.

(2 Timothy 2:7 NIV)  "Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this."

The New Year provides a great opportunity to renew - our commitment to follow God.  (Psalms 51:10 NIV)  "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

Proper review, reflection, and renewal come only when we understand what God has called us to do.

God has called us to obey the Great Commandment; Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV) 36“Teacher, which /is/ the great commandment in the law?”  37Jesus said to him, “/‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’/

38This is /the/ first and great commandment.

39And /the/ second /is/ like it: /‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’/

40On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

He as also called us to fulfill the Great Commission; Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) 18And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

19Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, /even/ to the end of the age.”

In these two passages, Jesus sets forth the five tasks that define the purpose of a New Testament church.

(1) We are commanded to “Love the Lord God with all our heart,” we call that worship.

(2) You are to “Love your neighbor as yourself,” we call that ministry.

(3) We are commanded to “Go and make disciples,” that is evangelism and missions.

(4) We are told to “Baptize them,” that involves fellowship and membership.

(5) Finally, we are commanded to  “Teach them to obey,” is so doing we will be involved in Discipleship and growing believers to maturity.

In these two passages, God sets forth why we exist.

PBC exists to…

1A.

CELEBRATE GOD’S PRESENCE (WORSHIP) – “Enlarge the place of your tent”

Our Task: Exalt our Master - “Love the Lord...”

Psalm 122:1 (NKJV) I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”

(Psalms 34:3)  "O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together."

Our Goal: To Magnify the Lord with our lips and our lives!

Review - what God has done.

We have maintained a strong emphasis on praise and worship on Sunday mornings.

We have continued the instrumental ensemble in the absence of a Pastor of Worship.

We presented “Come As You Are” Christmas musical three times, twice at PBC and once at West Lake.

PBC averaged 285 in morning worship during 1999.

Reflect - on what God is doing

So far in 2000, we are averaging 299 in morning worship.

We are beginning a drama ministry.

We are beginning the process of seeking God’s man to lead us in worship.

We are placing a strong emphasis on prayer and plan to move our weekly prayer time to Wednesday evening.

Renew - our commitment to follow God

We need to pray for clear direction as we seek God’s chosen leader for our music ministries.

We need to renew our commitment to Biblical worship.

We must remember that worship is about God, not us.

In order for worship to be Biblical it must involve praise, prayer, and proclamation.

We must remember that God deserves our best in worship; our best in service and sacrifice, our best in attitude and appearance.

We must guard our worship, we must be certain that ever song and sermon is Christ-centered and theologically correct.

It is important how we worship.

Those of us who can lead in worship, whether it is in music, drama, preaching, praying, or serving as an usher need to be serving consistently in these areas.

God has called us to lead His people and we must take very seriously God’s call.

We must seek to be our best and look our best for Him.

Now is not the time to “wait and see,” but it is time to get involved and serve.

We need to invite others to join us in worship, especially on Sunday mornings.

You may not be able to sing or play, but you can attend and invite.

Your faithfulness is very important.

My prayer is that by the end of 2000 we will be averaging over 350 in Sunday morning worship.

2A.

COMMUNICATE GOD’S WORD (EVANGELISM) – “Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, spare not…”

Our Task: Evangelize our Mission Field - “Go and make disciples...”

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) 8But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

(Acts 20:24 NCV) “The most important thing is that I complete my* *mission - the work the Lord gave me to do - to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.”

Our Goal: To share the gospel with our city, country, continent, and world.

Review - what God has done.

In 1999, the Lord allowed PBC to baptize 35 believers.

Several PBC members were trained to share their faith with non-believers that have a Jewish or Catholic background.

We gave over $90, 000.00 to missions through special offerings and the cooperative program.

Reflect - on what God is doing

The Lord is opening doors of ministry and outreach among students and families across Pittsburgh.

Plans are being made for an International mission trip later this year.

The Lord has given us a fresh vision of His love for our city and our responsibility to carry the gospel to every person in Pittsburgh.

Our youth have adopted the theme, “Think Globally, Act Locally, Pray Continually.”

I suggest we join them!

Steps are being taken to seek God’s direction for future growth.

Specifically we will begin the process of seeking God’s direction for a new location that will provide adequate space for our present congregation and future growth.

We must begin now preparing for the day when the Lord will bring us into our Canaan.

We must give and go, we must pray and plan we must sacrifice now so that when we reach the Jordan there will be no hesitation.

Our goal is to follow the Lord and aggressively reach out to Pittsburgh with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We must be committed not to settle for anything less than God’s best!

Renew - our commitment to follow God

Each member of PBC must become involved in the process of sharing the gospel.

You can be either a goer or a sender, but not and observer.

You can be involved by inviting your non-church going friends and family members to worship and Bible study.

You can be involved by being a missionary on your street, in your school, on your job, and in your family.

You can be involved by conducting prayer walks in your neighborhood.

You can be involved by leaving tracts wherever you go.

You can be involved serving as the outreach leader in your Sunday School class.

There is a place and a task for everyone.

Our goal is to emphasis outreach through our Sunday School.

We making plans for ongoing witness training to begin late this year or early in 2001.

3A.

INCORPORATE GOD’S FAMILY (FELLOWSHIP) – “Lengthen your cords…”

Our Task: Encourage our Members - “Baptizing them...”

(Ephesians 4:12b-13 LB)  “You are a member of God’s very own family and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.”

Our Goal: To Incorporate Others into Christ’s Family as Members.

Review - what God has done.

We baptized 35 and had 11 other additions for a total of 46 additions.

That means that 76% of our new member came by baptism!