Sermon Tone Analysis
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Today I am going to read a series of stories from God’s word.
There is a pattern for each of these stories.
I believe that these stories all say something about what it means to be a child of God - a follower of Christ - a man or woman who desires to be in the will of God.
Let’s jump right in and start in Genesis 12. Just before in chapter 11, we read about the generations before Abram.
They had amassed great wealth and security where they were living...
Out next story is in Exodus 3. Moses was living outside of Egypt with his father in law Jethro.
He was married, had a family and was living outside the community of the enslaved Israelites in Egypt.
This was the start of what resulted in the Nation of Israel escaping the grasp of the Egyptian army as they crossed the Red Sea on dry ground just before the water returned and destroyed the entire army.
Our next story is from Joshua 6.
The nation of Israel has entered the promise land after 40 years in the desert.
They come to the first fortified city of Jericho.
This is the first test of the promise that God would give the land to them...
If you were to keep reading, you would read about God doing exactly as He said after God’s people did what he asked of them.
Let’s turn now to 1 Samuel 17:
From here, we hear about how David ended up in camp and then before King Saul.
When before the King, David says this:
If you are not familiar with the story, David kills Goliath with a sling and a few stones.
A very unlikely and unexpected outcome.
Turn to Nehemiah 2. Nehemiah was living the in the king’s household as a cupbearer.
Life was much better for him than many of his fellow Israelites.
He gets the message that Jerusalem is in ruins and is in distress about it...
Nehemiah led the rebuilding of the walls around Jerusalem despite great opposition and doubt about the project.
Last story…Matthew 14.
Jesus had just taught and then fed 5000 people.
All of these stories have a similar pattern.
These aren’t the only ones in God’s word.
Ester, Daniel, Noah, Gideon, Stephen…and many others.
We sometimes read these stories and say something to the effect…”good for them.
I’m glad that wasn’t me.
I could never do such great things.”
I am saying to you this morning that mindset is a lie from the enemy.
He may not call us to slay a giant Philistine or walk on water, but he has called each of us to follow Him in faith where ever He leads.
When he has led me in my life, when He has led in the lives of others, I have heard a similar testimony of how it took place.
Here is what I’ve observed by these stories we’ve read and what I’ve seen in the testimony of others as they’ve done amazing things as they followed the Lord.
Things always start out of a relationship with God.
It is very difficult to hear someone’s voice if we are not in relationship with the one speaking.
When I was in the Navy and out to sea on the sub, my wife got to send me 6 total family grams.
They were short messages that were no more than 50 words and they couldn’t have bad news or cryptic language.
It worked out to be roughly 1 message a week in the form of a sweetly worded paragraph.
Do you think I got a full picture of what my wife was feeling or all that she wanted to tell me?
No.
It is not possible to have a full relationship if it is only based on a once a week interaction.
What God asks doesn’t always make logical sense, but it does make Biblical sense.
God will never ask you to do something contrary to His word, but He might ask you to do something that sounds crazy.
If you are in relationship with Him, it will often be very clear that it is Him speaking.
Even though it is clear, you may still have doubts…like Moses.
Even though you are certain it is God speaking, you may hear other well meaning believers call you out like David’s brothers did.
You may even still have a bit of fear…like Nehemiah, but You have to stay confident in your call and what God is asking of you.
The result will be a greater focus on God and who He is.
Many times people make bold decisions and do things in the name of the Lord, but are only doing so to draw attention to themselves.
This is when you know the focus is in the wrong place.
Sometimes the attention is placed on the individual, but their words and actions place credit and glory on God.
David became king, but he was a man after God’s heart.
Peter led the church, but he preached Jesus and him crucified.
His purpose was in leading others to Christ, not himself.
I want to be a man who is listening for God’s voice and direction.
I hope you want that for your life as well.
I want Crossroads to be a church that is listening for God’s voice and direction.
It takes all of us being in relationship with him first and then with one another.
I hope God asks us to do something that looks a little crazy from a logic perspective.
Even more, I hope that we’ll be a church that will answer the call to where ever He is leading.
There are people all around us who have not heard the name Jesus except as a curse.
There are kids in school who know nothing about what Jesus did.
I think God wants to use us to reach them…the question is how.
When he tells us, will we be willing to step out of the boat onto the water?
Will we ignore the storm and winds of doubt and criticism and keep our eyes on Jesus?
The first step is to be in relationship.
In Esther 4, she is faced with a decision to go and speak out to the king about his right hand man.
Esther knew that if she went before the king without being summoned, she could be killed.
Here is how she went into that meeting:
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