Sermon Tone Analysis
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Intro:
Hi Everyone!
Welcome to Church - thanks for joining us!
… my Church Online family, I gotta take a brief moment to address our Church InPerson family, because they too are watching this video.
I am currently at my son’s final regular season football game.
It might be the last game I get to watch in-person, so our leadership team allowed me to be gone this morning.
But though I’m not there, Jesus is there - and that’s what really matters!
Now, how do I know Jesus is there?
And even with our Church Online family?
Why is okay for you to be watching online instead of being in church?
Because God is omnipresent (He’s everywhere).
He’s at the Riverfront Community Center.
He’s in your homes.
He’s even on the football field.
But also, I know Jesus is there because the Word of God is preached in our church.
And...
Jesus is the Word.
And where the Word is, Jesus is.
…finally, God’s Word tells us that where God’s people are gathered, Jesus is there too.
Jesus said...
So, that’s why I’m confident God is going to move powerfully, even when me (the pastor) is not present.
This is not about me.
This is about Jesus.
And He is there.
And His Word is going to be preached today, amen?
Speaking of His Word, today in our “Finding Life in the Psalms” series, we are going to dive into Psalm 119, which is all about God’s Word.
Now, we won’t be able to go through the entire psalm because, if you didn’t know, Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible - it’s 176 verses.
But we will look at some key verses that’ll help us get the heart of the psalm.
…and a disclaimer before we start.
You are going to be fed today.
You’re going to get a lot of the Word today.
If you will receive it, you will be full by the time you leave.
But I promise you, you won’t just be full, you’ll be satisfied!
The other day, my friend Arthur came over to watch the Cowboys-Giants game.
We won’t discuss the results of that game.
But he had cooked this amazing brisket.
If you’ve been around The River Church long enough, you know how much I love football.
You know how much I love the New York Giants.
This brisket was so good I didn’t even care that the Giants got stomped on.
It was that type of food that once it hit your stomach, you were satisfied.
But not just regular satisfied.
Like that soul-level satisfied.
Like - all is right with the world - satisfied.
You know what I’m talking about?
That’s the kind of satisfaction God offers you today through His word.
Let me also say this… if you know me, not only do you know I love football, but I also love God’s word (not on the same level - the Scriptures win by infinity).
And at this church, we preach and value God’s word.
In fact, one of our Core Values is, “We are committed to being guided by the truth of God’s Word.”
Some of you may be thinking, “Oh great, another sermon on how we need to read the Bible.”
YES, it is!
Why?
Because - as we will discuss - it brings LIFE!
It’s sort like weight loss.
Last week, at the 5th Anniversary, we showed a slideshow of the past 5 years.
In some of those pics, I was a little fluffier.
Someone may ask me, “How did you lose all that weight?”
Guess what… it’s the simple answer that we all know: Diet and exercise.
There’s a simple spiritual answer for how to find LIFE too: Be full of God’s Word!
So, let’s get into it!
1. God’s Word brings blessings.
This principle is confirmed throughout the entirety of the Bible.
Towards the beginning...
Here in the middle - in Psalm 119 - it talks about it.
And at the end, it says...
…which speaks immediately to the words found in Revelation, but is also applicable to the entire Bible.
But as nice as that sounds, what exactly does it mean to be “blessed?”
AW Tozer describes this well in his classic book The Pursuit of God.
If you have not read this, it is a must read for every follower of Jesus.
It’s a small book, but it should not be read quickly.
It deserved to be mentally-chewed on.
But in this book, one thing Tozer writes about is that God’s original intention for us was for us to be blessed.
In chapter 2, which is titled, “The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing,” he writes...
“Before the Lord God made man upon the earth, He first prepared for him a world of useful and pleasant things for his sustenance and delight [a world of blessings].
In the Genesis account of the creation these are simply “things.”
They were made for man’s use, but they were meant always to be external to the man and subservient to him.
In the deep heart of the man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come.
Within him was God; without, a thousand gifts which God had showered upon him.”
What does it mean to be blessed?
It means to find LIFE as God originally intended it to be.
It means to have every good and perfect gift, that exists in God’s created order, poured out upon your life from the Father in heaven.
And it’s not just thrown out without care of where, or whom, it falls on.
No, it’s given with love.
Christmas isn’t too far away.
Don’t worry… I wont talk about it too much because we haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving yet.
But many of us give gifts on Christmas.
And there are times when we give gifts to those we love and have spent a lot of time choosing just the right gift.
We know who they are.
We know what they need.
We know what they like.
And we choose a specific gift that will bless them.
That’s how God pours out gifts too.
He perfectly knows us.
He perfectly loves us.
And He pours out perfectly crafted, perfectly timed gifts.
He blesses us.
That’s what it means to be blessed.
It’s personally experiencing life in the presence and love of God.
That’s what we are created for.
We were created to be blessed!
That’s why the church fathers of old wrote...
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