Sermon Tone Analysis

One of the things I like about Holidays of Christmas and Easter is that the both have times of observance and celebration before and after the actual day.

Easter has Lent that leads up to Easter and the Season of Easter for several weeks after Easter where we take part in Jesus suffering during lent, Celebrate Ressurection during Easter and contemplate and celebrated how Jesus Ressurection changes Everything.

Christmas has the advent season leading up to Christmas day and after is called Christmastide which is a time leading to epiphany where we contemplate the miracle of God with us Emmanuel.

The seasons of both Holy Days if celebrated and lived in make the difference in our lives in that it helps us develop virtues that will give us the strength to overcome any and all secular challenges both individually but more importantly as the Body of Christ or the Church.

While these times are centered around a day on the calendar they help to reminds us that we are in fact on a Holy Spirit lead Journey together…Learning from each other, caring for each other, and encouraging Each other for what is to come.

Paul was talking about the body of believers in this passage not just the individual pursuit of individuals.

Colossians 3:12–17 (NLT)

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.

Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.

For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.

And always be thankful.

16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.

Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.

17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Paul is saying so much in this passage that to try and cover it all in detail in the time we have would short change us all so I am going to just point out a couple of things Paul is trying to teach us and focus in on just one of them.

Paul points out the importance of doing our best to replace the sin we have left behind with the virtues of God…It is important not only to not sin but to ...clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.

Paul is also promoting the importance of practicing these Virtues in Christian Community…If we can successfully do this in our Churches then it will become second nature in the secular world.

Paul is calling us to do these things so that we can let the peace that comes from Christ rule in our hearts.

Now before we go on I also want to admit that passages like this can be a bit weighty and can unintentionally cause us to buy into a lie that we have to work harder and do better if we want that peace…

However I am not asking you to think about this passage that way…in fact one of the problems I had writing this message was that I could not get past the idea that if I am in constant turmoil about doing better and more to gain God’s peace is it really God’s peace that I am seeking?

This is where I want to camp out for a little bit today…

If the Christian life is not about struggle and striving and overcommitment…what is it really supposed to look like?

We are to be ruled by the peace of Christ

To be committed to the community of Christ where love is the way of life…

Dave and Jara Loved their home church…All their friends and family went there Dave was on the elder board and Jara was very involved…but do to some unforeseen issues Dave just could not attend in good faith…they shared this with me as the contemplated starting to come to my church…they were hurt, they were beat up and felt they were being forced to make this decision even though they really wanted to attend their lifelong church.

They had not experienced love in a long time in fact it was the opposite.

They had given their life to Jesus of-course but they had also given themselves to the Church and when they needed it the most the received hurt and mistreatment.

What will be expected of us if we come to your church?

My answer was that they would be expected to just show up and allow the love of our people to bring them the healing they need to go back to their home church when God leads...

They were shocked but you could see the relief in their eyes as the needed to experience the peace of God not try to make it happen…and yes they did heal enough to go back to their church, full of the love they needed to forgive and even serve those that had hurt them.

I have told many people this over the years and some have stayed at my church and some like Dave and Jara were able to return to their home church because the Church was committed to be a place where Love is a way of life.

When Love is a way of life in a Church all aspects of growth happen at once.

Our Spirits overflow, Our Hearts open to others, We look at life from a Godly perspective, and yes we become a growing body of Love linked people.

I wanted to focus here because I know sometimes in a church our size we tend to really focus on doing instead of being.

I even have to remember that from time to time…I have to tell you I was a mess Christmas Eve…With James out and a few other key volunteers out of town what is one of my most favorite services of the year was particularly stressful for me instead of filling.

I was so worried about all the details and to be honest worried if anyone was going to show up I did not feel much peace…but once I closed my eyes began to sing and participated in communion I was reminded that Jesus did all that was needed for me to be peaceful.

My job is not to create a wonderful worship experience for you…it is to join you on the Journey with Emmanuel God with us.

My Job and your Job is that when we Gather for worship is to make sure that we are committed to Love as a way of Life.

Jesus gives us a tangible expression of this way of life through Sacrament of Holy Communion.

Come and receive the body and blood of Christ.

and go back to your seats and we will partake together.

Benediction.