Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome:

Today we are going to look at the theme of “The Church” and what does it mean?

Opening Prayer:

Jesus said, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”

(Matthew 18:20)

As you promise to be with us Lord Jesus,

We welcome you here today.

Help us Lord to worship you,

To listen to your Word,

And to pray in faith,

That we might grow in our love for you and for one another.

Amen.

Opening Songs:

Come now is the time to Worship

The Church is one foundation

Quiz:

I have a quiz called “What is this?”

I am going to show you some pictures of everyday objects in close up.

See if you can guess what they are.

What is this?

(Show picture 1 in Appendix 2) Any ideas?

(Receive suggestions)

It is actually one of the following: a candle stick, a piece of spaghetti, or lip balm.

Which of those do you think it is?

What is this?

(Show picture 2 in Appendix 2) Any ideas?

(Receive suggestions)

 It is actually one of the following: Carpet, a teabag or cotton wool.

Which of those do you think it is?

What is this?

(Show picture 3 in Appendix 2) Any ideas?

(Receive suggestions) It is actually one of the following: An apple stalk or a cigarette end or a twig.

Which of those do you think it is?

And finally what is this?

(Show picture 4 in Appendix 2) Any ideas?

(Receive suggestions) It is actually one of the following: Bubble wrap, crystal glass or soap foam.

Which of those do you think it is?

Sometimes we think we know what something is but we may get it wrong.

If I asked you today the question, “What is the church?”

I wonder what you

might say.

We may all think we know what the church is, but we may get it wrong, like we did with some of the pictures we have just looked at.

Let’s hear what the Bible says the church is as we have our first reading.

Bible Reading:

The Bible reading is 1 Peter 2:4-5

“As you come to Jesus, the living Stone —rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

Talk1:

For this talk you will need a cross and some willing volunteers!

We are going to build a church now, and then we can see if we all have the right picture of what the church is.

Our reading says that our church begins with Jesus, the living stone, the most important stone of all.

Because we can’t see Jesus, although He is alive, I have brought along a cross which reminds us of Jesus and what He has done for us, as the cross

and resurrection are actually the foundation of the church – the Cornerstone.

(Hold up cross) Let’s put Jesus here.

(Place cross on a table so that it is very visible and where people

can gather around it)

The reading then says that as people come to Jesus, they too become like living stones that God puts together to build His church.

I am going to call out some of your names now.

When I call out your name I would like you to come forward and gather around this cross.

(Call out approximately twelve people ensuring that your volunteers are a mixture of people of different sexes, ages, nationalities etc. Position your people around the cross so that they form a couple of fairly haphazard circles….make

sure that there are gaps in the circles, signifying that there is space for other people to join in.)

Great – we have our church…..a group of people of different ages and backgrounds, With different life experiences and gifts, who have all come to Jesus to receive

forgiveness of their sins and his gift of life.So if I asked you to draw a picture of the church now…..I wonder what you would draw.

Would you draw a building like this, (Show a picture of a church building) or would you draw a group of people like this? (Point at the group of people around the cross)

The church is the people of God isn’t it…..not the building we meet in?

Now if you are observant, you will notice that there are gaps in our circles of people…That is because the church is not a closed group of people, like a club, but it is welcoming to all.

So, if the church is the people of God, what is God’s purpose for us - His church?

To keep it really simple, we can use three short words to describe God’s purpose for us, His church.

Those words are UP, IN and OUT

So the 1st word – UP.

Would you please all make sure you are facing Jesus…..now put up your hands.

What do you think these people are doing?

(Receive answers from the congregation)

That’s right they are worshipping God……

1 Peter 2:9 says this: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who

called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

The 1st purpose of the church is that we WORSHIP GOD….to declare His praises…..to life up His name…..to focus UP, which is what we are going to do

now.

(Send your volunteers back to their seats) Begin the time of worship with Psalm 100, withdifferent sides of the congregation saying different verses as below:

(Service leader) Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

(One side of congregation) Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

(Other side of congregation) Know that the LORD is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his; We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

(One side of congregation) Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; Give thanks to him and praise his name.

(Other side of congregation) For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.

Follow immediately with a song.

THE SPLENDOUR OF THE KING

Talk

The UP purpose is to WORSHIP God.

The IN purpose is GROWING A COMMUNITY on earth that looks rather like the community of God in heaven.

Show the painting called Rublev tried to show us something about what God is like by painting this icon of the Trinity.

(Show picture of Rublev’s icon)

We see God the Father on the left hand side; next to Him is God the Son, and next to Him is God the Holy Spirit.

This picture helps us to see that God himself, the Holy Trinity, is a community of relationships.

For example at Jesus’ baptism, the Holy Spirit was present in the form of the dove, and the Father spoke from heaven.

(Matthew 3:16-17) They were in

relationship with one another.

So what sort of relationship do you think exists within the Godhead?

Well we only have to look at Jesus’ life and his relationship with His Father to see that the relationship in the community of the Godhead is one of love, unity, and self-giving.

The church is to be a community on earth that looks rather like the community of God in heaven.

So it is a community where people love each other, accept one another, serve one another, encourage one another, live in harmony with one another and submit to one another.