Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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The Lord, My God, My Salvation
WELCOME
Good morning family.
hear the Word of the Lord from Isaiah 12...
Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and He has become my salvation.
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon His name,
make known His deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that His name is exalted.
Two things about salvation—it’s more than an experience, it’s a person.
GOD IS OUR SALVATION.
When you know the Lord, you can’t help but share Him with others—MAKE KNOWN HIS DEEDS AMONG THE PEOPLES.
We gather for worship and we scatter for mission.
In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 5:13.
Turn there now.
While you’re turning, 5 quick announcements:
1) A word about PBC.
We are Servants.
Thank you for service at Trunk or Treat
Gave out 83 New Testaments on Sunday night, in addition to a few dozen copies of other Christian literature like Gentle & Lowly and Your Verdict on the Empty Tomb.
One opportunity for you to serve in the next few weeks is with our Operation Christmas Child ministry
2) Operation Christmas Child
EXPLAIN OCC
PBC is the collection center for the Peninsula (which is why you see all the cartons we’ve already collected so far
Volunteers need for Collection Week on November 15-22 to help receive, process, and pack shoeboxes into cartons and load them into a trailer at the end of the day
Packing Party on November 12 at 7 PM
Please join us if you’re able.
If you’re not, consider donating to help cover the $9 shipping cost per box.
If you’d like more information about this ministry, head to the blue flag after the service
3) No Tabletalk tonight
Attending SBCV Homecoming at Liberty in Hampton featuring Holy Mohly, Dr. Albert Mohler
4) Discover Class
Beginning November 14 at 9:15 am
Get more information or sign up at the blue flag
5) Afghan Workshop
November 20 from 9-12, register online or at blue flag
Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 5:13 as Ramona Rogers comes to read for us.
Scripture Reading (Matthew 5:13-16)
Prayer of Praise (God is Transcendent), Ramona Rogers
Steadfast Love
Christ is Mine Forevermore
Prayer of Confession (Hypocrisy), Jeremy Collins
Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer
NEW CITY CATECHISM #45
PASTORAL PRAYER (Mike Klaassen)
SERMON
Visible boundaries are essential in any kingdom.
Take for example, the commonwealth of Virginia.
Last week citizens of this earthly kingdom had a responsibility to vote for their leaders.
But how do we decide who gets to participate?
Visible boundaries.
Roughly speaking, if you live South of the Potomac River, West of the Atlantic Ocean, and Northeast of Whitetop Mountain you live in Virginia.
But simply residing in a state isn’t enough to make you eligible to vote in an election.
In this area alone we have many military personnel who live here temporarily and maintain legal residency in another state.
So you must register as a voting resident, and get your name put into a system.
And once again, that system of registered voters has visible boundaries.
There’s about 6 million registered voters in this kingdom.
Someone has access to a visible database of names.
Some people’s names are on it, and some people’s names aren’t.
Visible boundaries are essential in any kingdom.
What about the kingdom of heaven?
Jesus shows up in the Gospel of Matthew, inviting people to repent and believe and become citizens of the kingdom of heaven.
But the kingdom of heaven has no earthly boundaries.
We can’t say “as long as you live in this area you’re a citizen of the kingdom of heaven”
For now the kingdom of heaven is an invisible kingdom.
And we can’t access a database of names to determine who is a kingdom citizen and who isn’t.
So how does the world know who is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven?
As we continue in Matthew’s gospel, we’ll learn that Jesus calls His disciples to gather in small groups called churches.
A church is supposed to function like a kingdom outpost, or like an embassy, that shows the world outside what a kingdom citizen is supposed to look like.
Jesus calls His disciples to be the visible manifestation of an invisible kingdom.
Turn to Matthew 5:13
Jesus is preaching a sermon to His disciples about Kingdom Righteousness, how to live righteously as citizens of the Kingdom of heaven.
He begins by describing the character of the Christian...
We recognize our spiritual bankruptcy in a world deceived by self-righteousness and self-esteem
In a world that is proud of its sin, we weep and mourn over ours
We are meek in our interactions with others in a world that prizes arrogance and unchecked anger
The world around us hungers for pleasure, while we hunger for righteousness
We are merciful towards others while the world cancels and shames those who don’t get in line
In a distracted world, our hearts are purely (although imperfectly) focused on following Jesus
In a world overrun with conflict, we strive to make peace
And because of all this we are persecuted by the world in which we live.
Some of us are physically assaulted
All of us are verbally insulted and misunderstood
With treatment like that, why should we care about the world?!?
Because Jesus calls His disciples to be the visible manifestation of an invisible kingdom.
Before we talk about how we’re going to do that, let me tell you a story...
Back in 2019, we took our last mission trip to Mexico before Covid-19 interrupted our plans.
Almost half of our time was spent in a town called Acambay
First night a basketball game was planted (US vs. Mexico)
We assumed it was going to be a pickup game
Showed up to fans in the bleachers, a concessions stand, referees in pinstripes, a legit team (coach and all!) warming up in orange jerseys, a scoreboard and scoreboard operator, and plans for four quarters of basketball
If you know anything about me, you know that athleticism and coordination are not my personal strengths.
I don’t think I’ve never felt more out of place in my life then on that basketball court that night.
I am not a basketball player, and the pressure to try to BE a basketball player was paralyzing
In case you were wondering, I did not rise to the challenge.
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