Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION:

Well I wan’t originally supposed to preach today but here I am.

As I thought about what the Lord would have me to share I was drawn back to this idea that we’re at the beginning of a brand new year.

The first Sunday of a new year is always interesting.

So many people have at least the desire to make this year different.

This year is going to be better.

I’m finally going to lose that extra belly fat.

I’m finally going to start working out.

I’m finally going to start going to church.

I’m finally going to read the Bible through.

I want to make the outrageous claim that the best thing you can do for your spiritual, emotional and even physical health for 2022 is increase your commitment to and engagement with a healthy local church.

Living in our culture, confronting present day challenges, dealing with all of the things that we have to deal with in 2022 is overwhelming.

And it’s not going to get easier.

But Christians have been given a beautiful gift in the local church.

And the more we press into God’s design for the local church the better experience we will have of that gift.

God’s Plan A

The local church is God’s PLAN A for accomplishing his redemptive purposes.

We see it over and over again in the New Testament.

The Lord didn’t create a mission for his church he created a church for his mission.

And not just redemptive purposes “in general.”

I mean his purposes in YOU.

There’s a direct link your involvement in a healthy local church and God’s plans to bring his best in your life and through your life for the rest of the world.

In some ways, our particular church is no more or less important than any other local church.

God chooses to use different churches in different ways and it’s all according to his prerogative.

But the local church is important.

And it’s important that you belong to and engage with your local church.

For that reason, I’d like us to spend the first Sunday of the year reminding ourselves how this particular local church understands the mission we’ve been given and how we envision God making disciples in and through Broadview Baptist Church.

THE VISION FRAME:

I’ve actually explained this dynamic before using a thing called “the Vision Frame.”

The frame is built around four key pillars (renamed): purpose, personality, pathway and proofs.

PURPOSE defines the essence of our MISSION/MANDATE.

It raises and answers the question, "What are we doing?" (why do we exist?)

PERSONALITY defines the essence of our VALUES.

It raises and answers the question "Why do we do it this way?"

PATHWAY defines the essence of our STRATEGY.

It raises and answers the question "How will we reach our goal?"

PROOFS define the essence of how we MEASURE our success.

It raises and answers the question, "When will we know we've reached our goal?"

These are pillars that EVERY organization or business/individual needs to answer.

There’s an insidious tendency for churches and orgs and even people to fall prey to a thing called “mission drift.”

You’ve probably felt it in your own life.

You’re fuzzy on who you are and why you exist and what God has called you to do much less how you’re supposed to do it.

In churches you’ll sometimes have different groups rise up with different agendas on what the church should be and how they should do what the should do.

We don't want that in our church.

We want CLARITY.

Because if we're clear on who we are then it's more likely we'll experience progress in our mission because we're all moving the same direction according to the same goals.

And progress we must make.

We cannot fall to mission drift because the local church has been given the MOST IMPORTANT MISSION IN THE WORLD.

Other organizations do other important things.

We need institutions like government and politics so we can navigate how we do life together on this earth.

We need businesses and industries like the food industry and finance industry and clothing industry and the housing market etc.

We've got to have all of those thing.

But at the end of the day this world is going to pass away.

The things of this world are going to pass away.

But people are going to live forever.

The Word of God will last forever.

That’s why our mission is the most important mission.

Our mission is the most important mission because it was given to us by the most important person who ever live.

It’s the last thing Jesus said to his followers before ascending into heaven.

Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)

18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you.

And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Some people see church as an optional thing.

it's not.

The local church is the hope of the world.

It's God's PLAN A for accomplishing his redemptive plan in the world.

We are preparing people for an eternity with God in heaven and we're partnering with people to bring a little bit of heaven down here on earth.

What we do here on Sundays and Wednesday has eternal significance!

It's hugely important.

We're not just teaching people how to live - we're helping people discover the abundant life ONLY JESUS CAN GIVE.

DISCIPLESHIP PROOFS:

Since our mission is such an important mission, it’s also important we have an effective strategy for accomplishing that mission.

Every mission needs a strategy.

We need to be able to say with clarity and conviction what a disciple of Jesus LOOKS like and how a disciple of Jesus is MADE.

(proofs and pathways)

When people answer this question you get ALL SORTS of different answers.

I remember wrestling with this question early on in ministry.

I read book after book after book after book.

And usually they'd put together various types of lists (usually of behaviors).

And the list of behaviors were pretty helpful for the most part but usually they succumbed to two major problems.

First - the list of behaviors were almost never complete or exhaustive.

Secondly - the list of behaviors focused mostly on the external acts of obedience instead of the internal motivations of the heart.

When Jesus walked with his disciples so much of his teaching on discipleship focused on the heart more than it did anything.

If you do a study on the word "Disciple" in the NT it shows up some 269 times.

11 of those instances are used by Jesus.

If I could summarize all of the instances I'd probably define a disciple as someone who is following Jesus, being changed by Jesus and committed to the mission of Jesus.

(Mat 4:19)

First they follow Jesus.

The word disciple means learner in it's most basic sense.

In order to learn somebody has to teach.

So a disciple is following his teacher.

They're also being changed by Jesus.

Changed into what?

Changed into someone who looks more like the teacher.

Discipleship is fundamentally imitation.

Lastly, a disciple is committed to the mission of Jesus.

Go therefore and MAKE DISCIPLES of all nations - baptizing them... and teaching them to obey (back to imitation) all that I've commanded you.

This is where 6 of the disciple sayings of Jesus become particularly helpful.