Sermon Tone Analysis

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Read on Informational meeting: February 16th at 6:30:

Intro to Series

A New Kingdom

Today we are starting a brand new series through the Bible where we look at the Sermon on the Mount.

This sermon of Jesus has radically changed and challenged me.

In some parts its disturbing.

In some parts its funny...

In some parts its offensive...

For me it is just radically other:

I feel like the world is always pushing us into this mold and the world will always just say that there are only two ways to go

Right or left

Conservative or Liberal

Up or down

Fight or flight

But the Sermon on the mount is truly the third way of Jesus’s kingdom.

Its a way of living outside of the mold that we are getting pushed into.

But what is most key to know is that this sermon blew the lid off of who Jesus was…it astounded people

At the end of the Sermon, Matthew says these two sentences

Matthew 7:28-29

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

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When Matthew is saying that people were amazed the Greek word that is there (ekplecco) means to be beside yourself or completely overwhelmed…This word also means “astonished”

This rings so true to me because the first time I ever read this sermon…I was so astonished that I gave my whole life to Jesus...

So its my prayer today that we would experience the Ekplecco of Jesus...

That we would get a fresh reading of Jesus and that we might come to understand this sermon in a way that is so deep and meaningful for us that it changes everything.

It’s my prayer that I would get out of the way enough for Jesus to speak so clearly that every week you leave here and you find it impossible to stay the same....

But first....We have to start with this question

What is the Gospel?

So in order to fully grasp what we are talking about today…I have to ask the question…what is the Gospel?

Because most of us in 21st century Evangelical Christianity have heard the following

Jesus died for your sins on the cross, so you can have a relationship with God and go to heaven when you die

Now for years the church growth movement kept whittling down the gospel message to these basic elements, Jesus died for your sins so you can go to heaven...

And its true but its also not a full picture of the gospel

When Jesus started his ministry he didn’t say, I am going to die and rise again…and that is the gospel…Although that is indeed, good news!

Jesus actually called something else good news!

In the new Testament Greek the word for Good News is “ Euangelion”

It is translated in your Bibles…Either Gospel or Good News

So let me lead you on a quick Journey of what Jesus called Good news....Well before he ever died and rose again.

Flip with me to Mark 1:14-15

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said.

“The kingdom of God has come near.

Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1 starts with this idea that Jesus went proclaiming the Euangelion of God…That God’s kingdom has come near

Well thats in the beginning of Jesus’ life,…what about the end of Jesus’ life

Matthew 24:14

The New International Version (Chapter 24)

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus fully expected that the message the church spread around the world is about the kingdom of God…In fact jesus says thats when the end will come…when everyone knows about the good news of the kingdom...

Jesus taught the good news of the Kingdom of God

Now the reason why I bring this up is that the good news of the Kingdom is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about!

This is Jesus’ main message through out his entire ministry.

So we have to ask the question:

What is the gospel of the kingdom of God:

As it turns out this is a very significant question.

A Kingdom is characterized by two words: Rule & Reign

When you think about the word kingdom, you have to think about a king

We don’t really live in a world with many monarchies in it, but you get what a king or a queen is.

Someone who has all sovereignty over a particular location.

and they own everything

If you are a farmer, you live on the kings land and farm his fields

That king rules and reigns over everything.

So when we talk about God’s kingdom…we are talking about the rule and reign of God

When we celebrate Christmas we will often read Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9:7

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the LORD Almighty

will accomplish this.

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah was looking forward to the coming messiah and how does he describe the messiah’s coming

A new governance

reigning on David’s throne

Reigning over David’s kingdom

In fact Jesus’ first listeners, the people who were experiencing Jesus one on one, were a people who would have grown up looking for a messiah that was going to establish a kingdom that would last forever

They were looking for a messiah who would build this kingdom...

They would have been praying for this around the synagogues and their dinner tables.

The religious life of the Jews was buzzing with the expectation of a messiah

So for Jesus to be traveling all over Israel talking about God’s kingdom…This was ASTONISHING

THIS was NEW

This was BIG

SO here is what I want you to understand going into the sermon on the mount.

Yes the Gospel is that Jesus died on the cross for your sin, that on the third day he rose again…so that for whomever puts their trust in Him can go to heaven after they die...

Thats true..But that is only a future hope.

The Gospel that Jesus came preaching was the availability of the heavens right now through Jesus

is that God’s rule and reign is available to you right now.

This is the good news!

And this is what Jesus comes proclaiming...

So as we get into the sermon on the mount today, I fear that I have tricked some of you because if you know your Bible, you probably thought that we were going to look at the Beatitudes today But the reality is that in chapter 4 there is this whole prologue that if you don’t get this then you wont understand what the sermon on the mount is all about.