Sermon Tone Analysis

Announcements

Does anyone have any announcements?

Saturday, April 16 at 9am Mike Swenson and crew will be grinding the stumps on the side of the church so we can beautify that area.

April 24 is Baptism Sunday.

We have 4, maybe 5 brothers and sisters that have felt the Holy Spirit’s call to be baptized.

After the service we will have an Agape Feast (potluck).

Wednesday April 27 at 6:30pm is the men’s graduation at the Christian Aid Center and our own Mike Swenson will be graduating!

In fact, there are a total of 4 men graduating the Life Transformation program that day!

Introduction

Good morning and welcome to FCC, where we worship God is Spirit and in Truth, one verse at a time, one book at a time.

Thank you for that message of music and for your faithfulness each week!

Thank you to all who serve at various capacities and for the great work you are doing at home, work, and in your communities!

We have come as far as Matthew 4:17, so let us open our Bibles there ad read our text for today.

Read Matthew 4:18-22

Prayer

“Lord, thank you for this time you’ve given us to open your Word and discover who you are and for all the gifts, graces, and blessings you have so freely given.

Thank you that you don’t leave us in the dark about who you are and what you are doing in the world, but that you have revealed yourself and your will through the Word.

Lord, we need wisdom as we study your Word this morning.

In James 1:5, you said that if we ask for wisdom that you would give it, liberally, and without reproach.

So Lord as you have given your church this promise, please give us your wisdom now as we approach your Word.

Help us discern the truth of this text and through your Spirit apply it into our lives.

Help us not rely on our own understanding, but to lean on Yours.

Thank you God for the clarity, encouragement and hope your Word brings.

In Jesus’ Name We Love You, Amen.”

Review

In looking back to the last few weeks we discovered that Jesus was baptized and immediately led into the wilderness to be tempted and tried.

He had an encounter with the Devil.

Then we see Jesus go to the desperate, the downcast, and the broken, the Galilee of the Gentiles.

We also learned that he did not go to the center of religious activity which was Jerusalem, or the rabbinic schools, but rather he went into a dark place where people had need of a Physician and they knew it.

And her in today’s text, we see Jesus call 4 of his disciples.

Jesus was tempted by the devil.

Jesus went to the desperate that were in the dark.

And today, we are going to look at Jesus calling his disciples.

In last weeks study we see the Light of the world step into darkness, and then we pick up here in verse 17.

Jesus went to the dark places church, that other Rabbi’s would not go1

And there are some of us sitting here today that the Lord has called and equipped you to go to some dark places that others will not go.

But there is also some here today, that the Holy Spirit haas been prompting you to go, go, go and you are paralyzed by fear and insecurity.

Today, is the day of salvation church!

Because God’s calling is God’s enabling!!!

If He calls you to go, go, go into some dark place, weather it be local or global, he will equip you to do the work that he has called you to do!

When Jesus began his preaching ministry he did not start by telling everyone he loved them, or that he was going to bless them, even though He did!

He preached, “Repent!”

For the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

The Kingdom has arrived church, but in order to receive it, Jesus says repent, repent, and repent!

Can you imagine, a long awaited Messiah comes and preaches on repentance.

Repentance is something we all need church, each on of us has things in our lives that need to be repented of!

Preach-kēryssō (kay-roos'-so)-to herald and to proclaim always with the suggestion of formality, gravity and an authority which must be listened to and obeyed.

Jesus preached with authority church and the Word of his first sermon sets that tone for his entire earthly ministry.

Jesus’ ministry headquarters was set up in Capernaum and we see that Jesus loved the outdoors because he was walking by the Sea of Galilee.

Geologically, the Sea of Galilee is located below the headwaters of the Jordan, which flows downhill from the Upper Galilee region, empties into the lake, proceeds out the south end, and finally arrives at the Dead Sea.

It is also known in the Bible as:

Lake Tiberias

Sea of Tiberias, John 6:1

Lake of Gennesaret, Luke 5:1

Lake Chinneroth, Numbers 34:11

Kinneret

The Sea is known by many names and is referred to by Israelis as the “Kinneret,” which is Hebrew for “violin,” considered to be the shape resembled by the lake.

It's the largest freshwater lake in Israel — 64 square miles, nearly the size of Washington, D.C.

So as Jesus is walking by The Sea of Galilee he saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew.

Saw-eidō- to perceive with the eyes, to discern, to examine, to pay attention to church.

I think there are a couple things that we could glean from this wonderful text:

Jesus did not go to the local Rabbinic School, to the local Bibel College or Seminary to recruit his disciples, but rather he went to ordinary unlearned men and gathered those who would take the gospel to all the world and turn the world upside down.

Note: When Jesus called His first disciples.

Neither were they in a position of authority or power, nor did they possess wealth or financial security.

They were out in the working world.

This is not to de-emphasize the importance of religion or of learning, but it does teach at least two things:

First, position and power, wealth and security, religion and learning can hurt and keep a person away from God.

Such things can make a person so self-confident and assured that he becomes useless to God.

God is unable to work His power through him.

The man’s own abilities and energy block God’s gifts and power from flowing through him.

Second, God can use and call anyone who is really available, whether religious or nonreligious, learned or unlearned, ordinary or extraordinary.

The main ingredient is to be available and willing to respond.

1.

The first men called .

a. Were brothers who worked together.

b.

Were industrious workers.

c.

Were called to follow Jesus—at once.

d.

Were called to another work.

e. Were responsive and available.

When Jesus showed up church, they did not make excuses about this or that, they jumped into the game from the sidelines...

Before I expound this text, I wanted to share a parable that comes out of an old Presbyterian theological journal church that serves as an illustration to where we are at in the text, but also how the church has evolved and a warning to us as his disciples:

“On a dangerous sea coast where shipwrecks often occur, there was once a crude, little life-saving station.

The building was just a hut, and there as only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch over the sea, and with no thought for themselves, went out day and night tirelessly searching for the lost.

Many lives were saved by this wonderful little life-saving station.

So it became famous.”

“Some of those who were saved and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become associated with the station and give of their time and their money and their effort for the support of its work.

New boats were bought, and new life-saving crews were trained, and the little life-saving station grew.

Some of the members of the life-saving station were unhappy that the building was no crude and poorly equipped.

They felt a more comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved from the sea.

So they replaced the emergency cots and beds and put better furniture in the enlarged building.

Now the life-saving station became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it beautifully, and furnished it exquisitely because they used it as sort of a club.”

“Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on life-saving missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work.

The life-saving motif still prevailed in the club’s decorations, and there was a liturgical lifeboat in the room where the club held its initiations.

About this time, a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews brought in loads of cold, wet, half-drowned people.

They were dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow skin.”

“The beautiful new club was considerably messed up.

So the property committee immediately had a shower house built outside the club where the victims of shipwrecks could be cleaned up before coming inside.

At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership.