Sermon Tone Analysis

ATTENTION

Several men are in the locker room of a private club after exercising.

Suddenly a cell phone on one of the benches rings.

A man picks it up and the following conversation ensues:

"Hello?"

"Honey, It's me."

"Sugar!"

"Are you at the club?"

"Yes."

"Great!

I'm at the mall 2 blocks from where you are.

I saw a beautiful mink coat.

It is absolutely gorgeous!

Can I buy it?"

"What's the price?"

"Only $1,500."

"Well, okay, go ahead and get it, if you like it that much."

"Ahhh, and I also stopped by the Mercedes dealership and saw the 2002 models.

I saw one I really liked.

I spoke with the salesman and he gave me a really good price ... and since we need to exchange the BMW that we bought last year..."

"What price did he quote you?"

"Only $60,000!"

"Okay, but for that price I want it with all the options."

"Great!

Before we hang up, something else..."

"What?"

"It might seem like a lot, but I was reconciling your bank account and...well, I stopped by to see the real estate agent this morning and I saw the house we had looked at last year.

It's on sale!

Remember?

The one with a pool, English garden, acre of park area, beachfront property..."

"How much are they asking?"

"Only $450,000... a magnificent price, and I see that we have that much in the bank to cover..."

"Well, then go ahead and buy it, but just bid $420,000, OK?"

"Okay, sweetie.

Thanks!

I'll see you later!!

I love you!!!"

"Bye."

The man hangs up, closes the phone's flap and asks aloud, "Does anyone know to whom this phone belongs?"

Hey, those cell phones can really get you into trouble, but I guess they’re here to stay.

You noticed how we hate them when others are talking in the middle of a restaurant or are cutting us off in traffic while talking, but when we are doing it, we think nothing of it.

They’re so nice; they’re so convenient.

One thing I really like about them is that they have a feature called “speed dial.”

Once you’ve entered your favorite numbers in the phone, you can assign them to a number, then when you want to dial up that person, all you have to do is touch that number and press “talk.”

For instance, on my cell phone, if I push “2" and “talk”, I call my daughter in Arkansas.

If I push 3 or 4 I can call my wife on her cell or at the house; 5 or 6 will get me mom and dad; 7 dials the church, and so on.

Speed dial is for the people you call most often, and are usually the ones you have the most confidence in and in whom you most rely.

Now, I know this is far-fetched, and would never happen, but, if God had a cell-phone, who do you think He would have on speed dial?

Who does He call when He wants something done?

Who does He call when He wants to reach the town of Wilson, or reach out to Hispanics?

Who does He call when He sees 3year-olds who need a teacher?

Who does He call when He sees new believers who need to be discipled, or seekers who need to hear the Gospel?

Who’s on God’s speed dial?

I believe the answer is very simple: God calls those who have willing hearts.

God calls those who won’t say no, even when they’re tired; God calls those who won’t say no, even when they’re broke; God calls those who won’t say no, even when they’re disappointed, or when they know they’ll be persecuted.

God calls those with willing hearts.

NEED

Now most of you might agree with all this in theory, but, in practice, it is pretty foreign.

Let’s face it: It’s a lot easier to talk about being willing than it is to actually be willing.

I’ve experienced this first hand.

For a number of years, I was not called to preach.

God had to really deal with me to get me to even surrender to be in ministry, but I never under any circumstances wanted to lead a church.

Even after I came here and was in ministry, I still was very resistant to the idea of being the pastor and if you’d have asked me about that, I would have probably told you, “God’s not called me to do that,” and I was being honest when I said that.

I really could not discern any call from God to “preach.”

The thing that I couldn’t see, however, was that I wasn’t being called to preach because I wasn’t willing to preach.

But something started to change.

I began attending seminary in 1997 and in the spring of 1998, I took a class on preaching and God really began to deal with me.

I started to want to do it.

I can’t explain it, my heart just started to change.

But I still had a problem: I still didn’t sense that God was calling me.

All the while, however, my resistance was turning into desire.

I began to wish that God would call me to preach.

Finally, I was attending a music conference in South Carolina.

That night, Jim Cymbala preached and it was really a holy time.

God dealt with me and I went forward during the invitation.

While I was standing there, I still remember that it was as if the Holy Spirit was saying, “This is it.

If you wanted a call, I’m giving it to you.

You know you want to do it.

Now do it.”

Here’s the point: That happened because my heart changed and I became willing to do what God wanted me to do.

And here’s what I’m here to tell you: God calls those whose hearts have become willing to do what He wants them to do!

Only willing hearts are on His Speed Dial.

So if that’s true the question we have to answer is this: How can you and I develop willing heart.

BACKGROUND

Well, the answer to that question can be found in many places in scripture, but I want us to go to a particular story this morning and for the next couple of weeks.

It’s the story of the last judge of Israel: the boy prophet, Samuel.

You find his story in the book that bears his name, 1 Samuel.

In the first three chapters of this book, you can find three principles that will help you cultivate a willing heart.

The first one is this: Your heart can become willing if you

DIV 1: FOLLOW THE RIGHT EXAMPLE

EXPLANATION

It began with Hannah.

She was Samuel’s mother.

She grieved daily because she had no children.

Nothing silenced the cry of her soul.

Her stable home couldn’t do it; her many friends couldn’t do it; even her husband’s love couldn’t do it.

You remember how she went to the temple to ask God to give her a son and she was so distraught that Eli, the priest, thought that she was drunk.

She wasn’t.

She was praying.

You see her prayer in 1 Sam.