Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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More Than Conquerors
WELCOME
Good morning family!
Hear the Word of the Lord...
Romans 8:31-37—“What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect?
It is God who justifies.
Who is to condemn?
Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Jesus died for you, Jesus was raised for you, Jesus IS praying for you right how
In just a moment we’ll hear a reading from the text for today’s sermon in Matthew 6:5-8.
Turn there now.
While you’re turning, 5 quick announcements:
1) A word about PBC.
We are Family.
Fellowship Groups
Sign up online or at the blue flag
2) TableTalk at 5:30 (“One Another”)
Joel Whitcomb will be teaching us about Scripture’s command that Christians “build one another up”
3) NextGen Training, March 27 from 4:30-5:30
In Fellowship Hall
4) Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands
New Sunday School class, beginning April 3 at 9:15
Based on the best-selling book by biblical counselor Paul David Tripp, this class will dig into the nuts and bolts of how God's people help one another change.
5) Baptism in chapel
Now look in your Bibles at Matthew 6:5 as Jonah Boutot comes to read for us.
Scripture Reading (Matthew 6:5-8)
Prayer of Praise (God is holy), Jonah Boutot
He Leadeth Me O Blessed Thought
Mighty to Save
Prayer of Confession (Apathy), Stuart Holdren
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous)
PBC Catechism #12
What do we believe about marriage?
God gave people the mandate to build society through procreation and vocation.
While God calls some to singleness (without loss of personhood, dignity, or contributive capability), heterosexual monogamy is God’s design for men and women in marriage.
We will not participate in and/or recognize marriages that deviate from God’s design.
Pastoral Prayer (Mike Klasseen)
SERMON
Shortly after arriving at PBC, my wife Holly and I were burdened to encourage our children in the discipline of regularly praying for our church family in our home.
To make it user-friendly for our kids, we wrote the names of every member on a Popsicle stick and during our mealtime prayers we would draw a name and pray for that person.
Those of you who were here five-six years ago may remember that a recurring theme one particular summer was a host of members getting knee replacement surgeries.
Have you ever heard that old saying about the storms of life, “you’re either in a storm, just leaving a storm, or about to enter a storm?”
That’s how it was at PBC in those days . . .
but with knee replacements.
You were either having knee replacement surgery, recovering from it, or about to receive it.
And so our kids would draw a name and more often than not they’d end up praying about knees.
But one day our oldest daughter Zoe, who was about 5 or 6 at the time, drew the name Jeremy Collins.
Jeremy was away at college at the time, so Zoe didn’t really know him, but I still remember part of her prayer: “If he’s having surgery, help him to have a great surgery.
And if he’s getting a new knee, help him to love his new knee.”
For that season in our church life, some of our children really thought that praying for the church meant praying for new knees.
Just a side note: I’m grateful that in God’s providence we have regular opportunities to pray for things like new knees, but also things like new babies.
I’m grateful it’s both, and not just one or the other.
Anyways, I told you that story to illustrate that prayer isn’t natural to the sinful human.
Prayer requires training.
And even if, like most pastor’s kids, you’re relatively comfortable with the idea of prayer, putting those ideas into right practice is another story.
In fact, it’s easy for sinful humans to miss the point when it comes to prayer.
In our text today, Jesus introduces us to two groups of people who completely miss the point when it comes to prayer.
But their errors aren’t an understandable six-year-old slip-up about who is or isn’t getting a new knee.
Their errors are rooted in a complete misunderstanding of the why and how we should pray.
King Jesus doesn’t want you to miss the point of prayer, so He kindly exposes these errors so we can pray without missing the point.
Turn in your Bibles to Matthew 6:5
We’re studying what’s called the “Sermon on the Mount”
Jesus preached this sermon to His disciples about how to live righteously as citizens of the kingdom of heaven
If you’re a Christian, this world is not your home.
How do you live for heaven while you live on earth?
That’s what Jesus’ sermon is about.
Last week we looked at the ways we’re tempted to live righteously on earth in order to be seen by others.
But following Jesus is bigger than merely avoiding hypocrisy.
We need to learn to pray.
Because Jesus wants us to pray without missing the point, in His teaching He answers five questions about prayer.
With God’s help, we’ll answer the first four questions today and then the final question over several weeks as we study the Lord’s Prayer together.
My prayer for us as we study prayer together is not that we understand we ought to pray.
Most of us already do.
My desire is that we would want to pray.
Matthew 6:5-8—“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites.
For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others.
Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
If we’re going to pray without missing the point, we need to answer some questions about prayer...
I. WHEN Should We Pray?
I heard a story about a fisherman who was out to sea with some godless companions when a storm arose that threatened to sink the ship.
Some of them knew that this man had once been a churchgoing man, so they said to him “you need to pray!”
The fisherman resisted.
“It’s been too long since I’ve prayed,” he said.
“I can’t possibly go to God now.”
But they continued insisting, so he gave in and prayed like this: “Lord, I haven’t asked you for anything in fifteen years.
If you help us now and bring us to safety I promise I won’t bother you again for another fifteen years.”
Most of us understand our prayer lives shouldn’t be like that.
But when should we pray?
Notice what isn’t here... No command to pray at a certain time, or so many times a day, or for so long, etc.
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