Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Last week we started talking about what it means to follow Jesus, and we
defined what is meant by the term ‘disciple.’
In a Christian context, it means that
we’re trying to be like Jesus both in thought and in action - we’re trying to imitate
His character, His heart, and His way of life.
And we talked about the
transformation of heart that we need and how the Holy Spirit is the One that gives
it to us as a grace gift if we will choose to continue to press into Jesus and into
relationship with Him.
Remember, heart transformation is a growth process, like a
plant that starts as a small seed and grows into a large, fruitful tree.
And God is less
concerned with where you are spiritually right now as much as He is with where
you are going and who you are becoming in Him.
This is good news, because it allows us room to change.
It makes room for
character change by His grace in our lives for the growth that needs to happen in
each one of us.
God’s grace is what gives us the space to grow without fear that we
won’t be completely loved, accepted, and forgiven.
In other words, we can grow
without being afraid of being punished.
We can move forward because we have a
safe place to fall, to think about how to move forward, and to try again.
We are
totally and completely loved and accepted by Jesus, and that never changes once
we put our faith in Him.
Now of course, love doesn’t mean tolerance of things contrary to God,
acceptance doesn’t mean we become doormats and have no boundaries, and
forgiveness doesn’t necessarily mean we forget.
If someone has a gambling
problem, for example, and you keep loaning them money that they never pay back
because you chose to forget about their issue when you forgave them, it doesn't
work.
And in that example scenario, forgetting is not loving, kind, or truthful
because it doesn’t allow that person to grow through and out of their issue.
Count the Cost | 1
I don’t have time to get into all of the nuances of love, acceptance, and
forgiveness today, but help establish the foundation of following Jesus because
they empower us to “keep going on, grasping ever more firmly that purpose for
which Christ grasped me.”
Philippians 3:14 PHILLIPS.
We are totally loved,
accepted, and forgiven by God Himself if we’ve put our faith and trust in Jesus.
And that positional fact allows us to follow Him and grow in grace to be more like
Him functionally.
So we’re moving from the positional - that means it’s a fact on
paper, so to speak, to the functional, which means it starts affecting our daily,
practical lives.
And again, that’s a process that takes time.
But let’s pray before we start talking through a second aspect of following
Jesus - it’s one aspect of the gospel that often is never talked about, but it tends to
come up pretty quickly after we are drawn to God.
We’ll be talking about
persecution and suffering for Christ today.
Let’s pray.
Father in Heaven, thank you
for blessing us with Jesus, and Jesus, thank You for Your completed work on the
cross and for sending the Holy Spirit to live in us and help us grow in relationship
with You day by day.
I ask You to bless Your word today, and empower us to follow
You; not by might, nor by power, but by Your Holy Spirit.
Help us not to fall prey to
empty religion and constricting rules, but instead to be freed by love to walk in
obedience to Your will.
Bring Your hope, Your healing, Your love, acceptance, and
forgiveness to each one of us today, and open our ears and hearts to hear Your
voice.
We give You all of the praise, honor, and glory, Jesus, and ask You to bless
this time; in Jesus’ Name, amen.
Being persecuted for your faith in Christ is something everyone will
encounter in their christian walk at some point if they choose to put their faith in
Jesus and follow Him fully. 2 Timothy 3:12 NKJV “Yes, and all who desire to live
godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
Count the Cost | 2
Paul says we’re going to be persecuted for our faith - in other words it’s
going to cost us something during our journey in this world if we really want to
follow God.
Notice, Paul says “all who desire.”
Paul isn’t necessarily referring to
people who are actually living godly lives yet - he’s just referring to people who
have a desire to follow Jesus, and says they will suffer persecution.
Remember,
following Jesus starts in the heart, and then, as we learn how God wants us to
follow Him by reading His word, getting time with Him, and imitating the example
of others, He changes our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit.
But it’s important for you to know that if you have even a tiny, little desire to
follow Jesus at all, to be in relationship with God, that you’ll ‘suffer persecution.’
That means you’re going to be attacked for your belief in some way.
You’ll be
resisted as you try to follow Jesus in some way, shape or form.
So Paul is saying that everyone who chooses to try to live a godly life of
pursuing Jesus is going to face persecution.
Persecution is the hatred and affliction
that follow the witness and holy life of God’s people in a hostile world.
The Greek
word actually means to “drive someone away by force.”
The idea is that if you’re
following God, people will try to push you out, push you away, hurt you, or get rid
of you.
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