Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Imagine a child facing two choices.
In the first choice his mom tells him that he must clean his room.
It must be spotless.
he will probably have to put hours into his efforts.
Anything less than perfection is not acceptable.
Whether he likes it or not, that room must be cleaner than it has ever been before.
In the second scenario mom tells her son that someone has given him an incredible gift.
It is wrapped and ready to open.
she increases his excitement by letting him know this gift will be one of the greatest he has received or ever will receive.
It will bring him countless hours of joy.
If this boy had to choose one of these two, Which will he choose?
Of course number two!
But every church member faces two distinct scenarios where the choice is just as obvious.
In the first option we approach church membership similar to the country club membership noted in chapter one.
We are joining the church to see what we can get out of it.
The pastor is to feed us through his sermons.
We have specified an acceptable range for the length of his sermon.
The music is to fit our style exactly.
Any deviations are not acceptable.
The programs and ministries are for our benefit.
We will determine what we like and don’t like.
We are members who expect perks, privileges and service.
But there is a second option to church membership.
It’s the biblical option that sees membership as a gift, something to be treasured.
Membership means we have the opportunity to serve and give rather than the legalistic option to do so.
Our entire attitude is different when we approach membership the biblical way.
Church is a gift from God!
There are promises throughout the Bible, and for each promise there is a condition.
Likewise with each gift God gives there is a responsibility...
I. Receive
To receive the gift of church membership, you must have first of all accepted His greatest gift.
The gift of salvation!
A. Gift Only for Sinners
Everyone has sinned and deserves death.
But Jesus took our penalty for us as this verse tells us and gave us the gift of eternal life.
It is a Gift only for sinners, and it is...
B. Gifted Only by Repentance
When we repent of sin and place our faith in Jesus, we receive the gift of Salvation…Redemption.
Over and over redemption is spoken of as a gift from God.
When we receive the gift of salvation we become the body of Christ.
When we are given the gift of redemption we given the gift of salvation,
forgiveness of sins,
adoption into the family of God,
the Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us.
It also includes becoming a part of the body of Christ.
Yes, membership in the body of Christ, the church, is a gift from God.
Not a legalistic obligation, not for country club perks, not for license for entitlements.
It is a gift of God for us to participate together.
Which is our second responsibility...
II.
Join
I know you may argue that the body of Christ refers to the universal church, all believers everywhere for all ages.
You would be right.
But the universal church has not gathered together.
Right now we only have the local church.
The majority of the New Testament books were written about and to local churches.
The book of Acts provides a historical narrative of the Spirits work of the churches.
Acts 2:41-42 tells us that
The word added means to be joined, to be added to.
Acts describes the work of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem, Antioch, Cyprus, Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Pamphylia, Macedonia, Thyatira, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth, Caesarea, Ephesus, Troas, Rome Malta and others.
All local churches.
Look at the books of the Bible, the majority were written to local churches in cities: Corinth, Ephesus, the Region of Galatia, Philippi, Colossi, Thessalonica.
Or they were written to individuals in specific local church contexts: Timothy, Titus, Philemon,etc.
Even the book of Revelation has the context of letters to local churches.
God is interested in what is going on in the local church.
When he gives us the gift of redemption, he gives us the gift of membership…which means we ought to join in!
III.
Pray
The gift of salvation, and the gift of our church gives us the responsibility to pray for our church and each other.
Acts 2:41-42 again says
And in prayers.
This is our last sermon in this series on being connected.
the next two weeks will be dedicated to Palm Sunday and Easter.
After that, I plan to begin a new series on the “One Another’s” in the Bible.
We will talk more about this later, but James 5:16 tells us...
It is our responsibility to be connected together in prayer.
I would like you to turn to Matthew 6:9-13.
In this passage, we see the model prayer that is given when Jesus wanted to teach His disciples how to pray.
I see some shifts that need to happen in our prayers, if we are truly going to be connected in prayer.
A. From “My Father” to “Our Father”
6:9, 11-13
We should see Him as our personal Father, but it is important to understand the connectivity of the words “Our Father.”
We need to get past our hyper individualism and independence.
Realize we are part of a group, and we have a responsibility to pray with your spiritual community.
Personal prayer is important, and Jesus warned of making yourself a public spectacle.
But we need to pray with the spirit of “our father”.
B. From “My Will” to “Thy Will”
verse 10
As we grow in the Lord and delight ourselves int he the Lord, he gives us a promise
But the responsibility is first to delight yourself in the Lord.
This will naturally shift our prayers from my will to His will.
In context it is talking about all our earthly needs will be given to us, if just keep our focus on Him.
Seeking His kingdom is more than just opening our hearts to God.
It involves a change in our volition, our Will.
That is why we pray “Thy will be done.”
Look at your calendar, your schedule, how much of it focuses on “my will” and how much of it focuses on “His will?”
Things like work are His will!
But extra work so we can have more toys is “my will.”
C. From “Personal Gain” to “Daily Bread”
verse 10
Jesus teaches us that it is appropriate to pray for personal needs.
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