Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

We are at a good break point in the book of Luke as we are about to start into the Sermon on the mount.

As we are also heading into the holiday season, I feel it is fitting to take a break from Luke for Luke for now and pick back up in the new year.

This week and next we will be gearing towards Thanksgiving, and leading up to Christmas we will be in a series I am going to title Advent for troublesome times.

As I was preparing for this week, and looking towards thanksgiving I read an article titled Think Simple, Think Small.

The article serves to remind us to think of the small things.

The author used and illustration in the article

More than once I’ve heard ex-major leaguer Alex Rodriguez quote his former manager Joe Torre when offering commentary on a baseball game and talking about a batter’s struggles at the plate.

Torre would say, “Think small, and big things will happen.”

By that he meant the way out of a hitting funk was for the batter not to try and do too much.

Instead, the player should concentrate on the little things like hitting behind the runner, hitting to the opposite field, and hitting a fly ball to the outfield if it would bring in a runner from third base with less than two outs.

Paying attention to those small things would lead to big wins.

So it got me thinking, what are some of the small things, specifically church related that I am thankful for.

Examples of church things I am thankful for.

Thankful for church members.

Kid’s club leaders.

Everyone who helps by making snacks for kids club and dinners for youth group.

All of the ladies who help with the kids each Sunday morning.

Brandon swings by and grabs the trash when he heads to the dump.

Red for his plowing and use of his side by side to plow the church.

Everyone who helps take care of the flowerbed out front.

Robin kept the lawn looking wonderful this summer.

Men and women who faithfully attend Bible studies to grow in relationships with each other and with the Lord.

Sheila and Sherry faithfully keeping track of our church finances.

For everyone who has helped with the landscaping project.

For John running the computer.

There are so many more things to be thankful for that I am not mentioning.

This lead me down the path what we are doing here this morning.

Gathered for worship.

I am thankful that we can gather and worship our Lord and savior Jesus Christ together.

I hope through our time together this morning to help us to truly marvel at the fact that we have the privilege of being able to gather and give praise the the almighty creator of the universe.

Our creator!

When we think of worship, so often we relegate worship to the act of singing.

There is a common misconception, and it is propagated through the way we talk, our christianese so to speak, that the music portion of a service is the worship portion.

Which is really a poor way of looking at what we are gathered for.

Worship

A basic definition of worship

worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being

Baker encyclopedia of the Bible defines worship as

Expression of reverence and adoration of God.

When we read in our Bible we see examples of worship throughout.

Early in the Old Testament we see examples of specific worship given through the building of altars, and prayer.

Memorials were set up to remember and commemorate special events, things that happened, or times when God intervened and spoke.

Think of when Abraham passes through the land of Canaan and God made the promise that his descendants would have that land.

He worshipped the Lord and set up an altar in that place.

The 1500 years from the days of Abraham to the time of Ezra (c.

1900–450 BC) saw many great changes in the form of worship in ancient Israel.

In Moses’ time the tabernacle served as a portable sanctuary for the Israelite tribes journeying through the wilderness.

Solomon founded a lavish temple in Jerusalem which lasted more than three centuries until its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 BC.

When the Jews returned from exile they built a new temple which, though less splendid than its predecessor, at least until Herod the Great renovated it, has served as the center of Jewish worship to this day.

Though all the temple buildings were destroyed by the Romans in AD 70, the foundations remained, and by the western (wailing) wall the Jews still pray.

The form of worship has changed throughout time, situations surround worship have changed, but the heart of worship has not.

God revealed himself to Abraham, promising that his children would inherit the land of Canaan.

Abraham demonstrated his faith through prayers and sacrifice.

Throughout the biblical period listening to God’s Word, prayer, and sacrifice constituted the essence of worship.

The promises to Abraham were constantly recalled as the basis of Israel’s existence as a nation and its right to the land of Canaan.

Often today, we tend to restrict worship to what happens in church on Sunday.

Ancient Israel had a much broader concept of worship, offering worship in the home as well as in the temple several times a day,

not merely on the sabbath and at great festivals.

Worship involved both the individual family and the whole nation.

It ought to be the same today,

worship must not be limited to church events or church functions, but it must go home with us as well.

Because in reality, what we do here on Sunday morning, youth group, and kids club can only supplement what is being done and taught at home.

We know this is true because the Bible reminds us so.

Paul in writing to Timothy reminds him of his upbringing.

Parents, especially fathers, are primarily responsible for the spiritual instruction and vitality of our families.

I pray none of us take it lightly.

The task is great, but we must also remember that God’s grace is greater.

It is still no excuse to to neglect our duties.

I fully believe that God designed the church to act as a sort of extended family.

We are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

As such we worship together with our individual families and as an extended family we bring greater glory to God.

Our gathering together in worship is a visible reminder to the world around us that there is a great and awesome God who deserves our praise, time, attention, and affection.

The why i think goes to something a simple, and yet deeper than we normally think about.

One reason that we gather for worship stems from a sense of thankfulness that we have been saved.

While important and truthful, this is something I think we must be careful with also.

While yes, God’s redemptive work is extremely important, and worthy of our thanks and praise, we must keep the idea in check that God’s work in mans’ salvation is the most important thing in scripture.

God’s work in the redemption of fallen, sinful man, is not an end in itself.

It is part of the larger picture of God’s work in eternity, which centers on the display of His glory that goes beyond our understanding.

This is the point that Paul is making at the beginning of the book of Ephesians.

Paul makes the point that God’s work in Jesus, in bringing salvation to fallen, sinful humans, is designed to bring praise to God’s great glory.

God’s work in the lives of His people, Paul argues, centers on the context of the Praise for His glory.

God’s worship is the goal of redemption.

The focus of this passage can get pulled away at times by confusing topics presented.

It must be brought back though to the central issue of praise.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

To bless God is to praise him.

Paul begins and ends this first section with a call to worship God.

Verse 5 shows God’s actions in the believers life and 6 goes to the show the response.

To the praise of his glorious grace.

Verses 7-12 go on to reaffirm that salvation is in Christ alone.

It is of grace.

It is all by God.

Our salvation, as glorious as that is, is not God’s final purpose!

Our salvation is designed to bring more glory to God!

Salvation is not an end in itself.

The praise of God is the highest good.

That is why we truly gather!

We gather to praise!

We gather to give thanks!