Sermon Tone Analysis

*Deuteronomy 30:11-20 \\ **/A call to action!/*

*—Something each of us has in common.

Every single day... every single moment we make choices.*

\\ */—What to eat.

What to wear.

What to say.

What to do.

How to act./*

\\ *—You’ve made a thousand choices before you arrived here this morning!

\\ —A choice to argue with your wife.

A choice to yell at the kids.

A choice to spend some time with the Lord in prayer.*

*Choices.*

\\ \\ */The choices you make today are the ones you’re going to have to live with tomorrow./*

*/An angel appeared at a faculty meeting and told the dean that in return for his unselfish service, he will be rewarded with his choice of wealth, wisdom, or beauty.

Without hesitating, the dean selects wisdom.

"It is done!" the angel said, and then disappeared into a cloud of smoke.

All of the other members of the faculty stared at the dean with amazement.

Finally one of them whispered, "Now that you have infinite wisdom, Dean, say something."

The dean looked them and said, "I should have taken the money."/*

*/An Arab chief tells a story of a spy who was captured and then sentenced to death by a general in the Persian army.

This general had the strange custom of giving condemned criminals a choice between the FIRING SQUAD and the BIG, BLACK DOOR.

As the moment for execution drew near, the spy was brought to the Persian general, who asked the question, “What will it be: the/**/ FIRING SQUAD, or the BIG, BLACK DOOR?”

The spy hesitated /**/for a long time.

It was a difficult decision.

He chose the FIRING SQUAD.

Moments later shots rang out confirming his execution.

The general turned to his aide and said, “They always prefer the known way to the unknown.

It is characteristic of people to be afraid of the unknown.

Yet, we gave him a choice.”

The aide said, “What lies beyond the BIG, BLACK DOOR?” “FREEDOM”, replied the general./*

A.W. Tozier said: \\ */The man or woman who is wholly and joyously surrendered to Christ can’t make a wrong choice – any choice will be the right choice./*

*/ /*

*The Christian life is not difficult*.

*/The same Christ who lived a perfect, obedient, and sinless life stands prepared to live it again through you/*

*/(Gal.

2:20).

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith I the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.”/*

*/ /*

*/God's will is not hard to discern/*.

*/ He has given us the Scriptures, which reveal His will, and He has placed His Holy Spirit within us to guide us to His perfect will in every situation /*

*/ Our greatest challenge will be to wholly commit our lives to follow God's will obediently as He reveals it./*

*/>>Moses gathered the Israelites around Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim before they were to enter the Promised Land.

/*

*/--There, God described what they had to do in order to obey Him.

/*

*/--God gave detailed instructions so there was no mistaking what was expected of them.

/*

*/--Then God asked them to make a choice.

/*

*/ /*

*/--If they chose to disobey His commands, they would face His wrath.

If they chose to obey, they would receive His blessing./*

*11–14.

For this commandment … is not hidden … neither is it far off*—*/They could not plead ignorance of its existence and requirements.

It was not concealed as an impenetrable mystery in heaven, for it had been revealed/*

 

 */The apostle Paul (Ro 10:6–8) has applied this passage to the Gospel, for the law of Christ is substantially the same as that of Moses, only exhibited more clearly in its spiritual nature and extensive application; and, accompanied with the advantages of Gospel grace, it is practicable and easy/*.[1]

*God's Word comes to you in the same way*.

*It is not too complex to understand.*                                     */You don't have to struggle to discern God's will about adultery or forgiveness or honesty./*

*God's Word is perfectly clear.*

*/The question is, how will you respond?/*

*/LIVE/**/: spelled backwards is ’evil’./*

*/Today men and women are living their lives backwards and the result is a society with unspeakable evil.

Something needs to happen to get us turned around and going back into the right direction/*

*/ /*

“Every time you are making a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different than it was before.

And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow creatures, and with itself… Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."

C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 92.

*/./*

Q. */Why is life important?/*

\\ A. */Because it is a gift from the God who loves you.

\\ He has given all human life dignity.

\\ /*Q.

*/Why is life important?/*

\\ A. */Because God has created you - and all others in His image, with an innate value.

Therefore, you \\ must treat others with an appropriate dignity of their creation.

\\ /*Q.

*/Why is life important?/*

\\ A. */Because there is purpose in each life which must be fulfilled.

God created you with talents and \\ abilities that are meant to be shared with the world.

You are not an island, self-sufficient, or independent of others.

Life has meaning, depth, and value when \\ you share, interact, love, and care for others./*

\\ Q. */Why is life important?/*

\\ A. */Life is important because it is a gift from the God who loves you with a deep, caring love.

/*Q.

*/Why is life important?/*

\\ A. */Because God who created you is to be worshiped.

God created you for a purpose: to love and worship God, and love and serve each other./*

\\ Q. */Why is life important?/*

\\ A. */Because life is not an accident: it is a gift \\ from God.

On the Day of Judgment, God will hold you responsible for whether or not you treated your life \\ and the lives of others with dignity./*

v     */The story of Jesus on the cross is a record of the price God paid for our victory, our sin and death.

/*

 

|  Paul spoke of “buffeting his body daily” so he would live a winner for God.

He also saw life as a footrace, where he would “finish the course.”

|

When a true believer is made aware of any area of his life that is not yielded to Christ, he will yield it.

When he is made aware of a Christian principal to be followed, he will follow it whatever the cost.

Joseph Bayly in Psalms of My Life

*/Lord of the compost heap you take garbage and turn it into soil good soil for seeds to root  and grow with wildest increase flowers to bloom  with brilliant beauty.

Take all the garbage of my life  Lord of the compost heap turn it into soil good soil and then plant seeds to bring forth fruit and beauty in profusion./*

*"No good tree bears bad fruit...the good person, out of the treasure of her or his heart, produces good," *

* **   The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

(Luke 6:43-45) *

*/   For no good laundry detergent leaves stains on a shirt collar, nor does an inferior detergent get these stains out; for each product is known by its effectiveness.

For cleanliness is not obtained from dirt, nor is softness obtained from industrial cleansers.

/*

*/   The good man out of a character based in ethical principles produces good, and the evil man out of a character based in unethical principles produces evil; for a man's words and actions reveal his true character.

/*

*   **We all know the saying, **/"The road to hell is paved with good intentions."/*

*Most of us have good intentions about many good things:*

Ø      */We intend/**/ to give up those habits that are destructive in our lives./*

Ø      */We intend/**/ to spend more time learning about how to pray more fruitfully and how to meditate more effectively./*

Ø      */We intend/**/ to be more loving, more sensitive, more compassionate, more present to other persons./*

Ø      */We intend/**/ to reexamine our values and our priorities and our whole way of life./*