Sermon Tone Analysis
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INTRODUCTION
*Open your Bibles with me to Acts 1
This morning as I stand behind this pulpit, it is hard to believe it will be the last time that I do so as your pastor
I came to Friendship expecting to spend the rest of my ministry career here
I love this church family-you have truly become family to us
I love this community and the things that we have been able to accomplish together
And as I look around, I know that there is still so much more work to be done.
I have enjoyed being your pastor, and I am saddened to be leaving you
And yet, as I look forward towards Idaho, I am excited about tomorrow
I am excited that a people that have yet to know the Gospel of Jesus Christ will hear it
I am excited to see these different pieces of our lives and ministry sewn together by God in a new work
I look forward to build a Kingdom work where no one has built before, where the work and the vision are God-sized
I am overjoyed at the way God has used this to mobilize Suwannee Baptists, opening eyes to God’s call for us to engage in starting new churches.
And all of these feelings coalesce together this morning as I share with you what is my final message here
I never have been good with goodbyes.
As many times as we’ve moved, they only seem to get harder
It is hard to know that the next time I come to visit and to share with you what God is doing that some of you may no longer be with us
It is hard to know that there will be many moments and seasons of joy, sorrow, and life that we will not get to share
I know with all that I am that if God is moving me elsewhere, He is also going to bring someone even better to fill my place here
But it doesn’t make saying goodbye easy by any stretch of the imagination.
As I’ve spent time in prayer and reflection in the weeks leading up to today, the question that constantly came to my mind is what do you say?
From the day that I started at Friendship, God put a vision on my heart that this church needed to Know Jesus and to Make Him known
That vision remains in front of you this morning, and any pastor that follows me here will echo it to you
It may come in a slightly altered form and fashion, but it is the heartbeat of God’s Kingdom
And so, as I looked for the best expression of this to share with you on my final Sunday, the Lord brought my eyes to the ascension of Jesus
After all, Jesus is better at everything than I am, and that includes goodbyes
And in Acts 1, what we find is a plan for success, even when everything is changing
PRAY, INVITE THE CHURCH TO BE SEATED
*LISTENING GUIDES OUT
As this passage opens, Luke is writing to the same man he wrote to in the Gospel of Luke
He is writing to Him and to us
And the first thing that Luke wants His reader to do is remember the Gospel
The Gospel is the very center of our lives in Jesus
everything else comes second to knowing Jesus and making Him known
And what we see in Acts 1 is the beginning of what happens when Christ’s followers make Jesus their purpose in life.
This passage shows us the moment that Jesus says goodbye to His friends
And in His goodbye, there are three key points that will help us to be successful in Knowing Jesus and making Him known
Look at the first three verses:
The first Key to knowing Jesus and making Him known is this:
Live focused on God’s Kingdom, not your own
Isn’t it interesting that in this passage we see Jesus had 40 days after His resurrection with His disciples
These would be the last 40 days they would have with Him directly teaching them on earth
It was a time where He could now frame everything that He had taught them through His death and resurrection
AND what we see is that Jesus focuses their attention on two things
First, He wants them to truly know Him!
To know who He is who He says that He is
To know why He came
To truly understand and believe the purpose in His death and resurrection
To be confident in their relationship with Him
Secondly, He wants them so set their minds on marching orders for the Kingdom of God
He wanted the to be focused on eternal things, not things that fade
He wanted them to understand that their purpose and calling in Him were for building the Kingdom of God, not their earthly Kingdom
Jesus focused on these things because these two things are the only things that truly matter
Remember, you will drive your life towards what you focus on!
If Jesus was set on keeping Knowing Him and making Him know before His followers, as His followers, we must focus on these things ourselves
Focus your eyes on Jesus and on the things that He has called you to.
Doing this will keep you on the right track.
This leads us to the next thing we need to look at.
Look at verse 4 with me:
Now, skip down to verse 8
The second key to knowing Jesus and making Him known is this:
Move in His power and share the Gospel everywhere
Sometimes, when we read verse 4, we see the wrong thing: we focus on the Word wait, not what we are waiting for
It is good to wait upon the Lord and His presence
We need to be sure we are moving in His will before we move
But this verse is telling the disciples to wait because the Holy Spirit had not yet fallen on them
Pentecost had not yet happened
But now, it has
Now, we have marching orders from our Savior!
Now, we have His Spirit to lead us!
If you are a follower of Christ today, you already have the Holy Spirit inside you!
And we need to make good use of this blessing
What you and I should take away from this is that we need to move in His power and not our own
When you do things on your own, this leads to
failure-you can’t do what God can
burnout-You aren’t strong enough to bear the load
or both
When you do things in His power, it leads to
God accomplishing the impossible before you
joy in the midst of the journey
glory to the Kingdom
One way that we ensure that we are moving in His power is that we fix our eyes on sharing the Gospel!
In verse 8, Jesus tells us that what happens when the Spirit comes into His people is that they are empowered for sharing the GOSPEL!
Sharing the Gospel, telling others about Jesus is your primary job assignment!
God calls us to share the Gospel here, there, and everywhere
The task is too big for us, which forces us to lean on Him
Moving in God’s power will always mean doing things you can’t do on your own
Things that will grow believers and bring salvation to those that don’t know Him
Many believers never experience the power of the Living God because they don’t live for His Kingdom purposes.
You have the power of the Living God in you, my friend-won’t you choose to live like it?
Let’s look at the last few verses.
First, Verse 6:
Now, look at verse 9:
The last key to making the most of your time on earth we will look at today, friend is this:
Don’t get distracted from Kingdom work, even with thoughts of Heaven
When we get to verse 6, Jesus had just promised that the Holy Spirit was coming to live in and among them
They were going to be baptized with fire!
They were going to be filled with the power of Heaven!
They were going to have a helper with them as they walked in obedience
And what is their response?
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