Sermon Tone Analysis

John 1:4-5 “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

James 1:21 “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

I. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of God's Grace

++A.

Be aware of the trap of pride and guilt.

++B.

Abandon personal performance and embrace God’s grace.

++C.

Continually commit yourself to the foundation of grace (at the start and end of each day)

II.

Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of the Word

++A.

Embrace God’s path of righteousness for yourself.

++B.

Engage the Word of God as the power to stay on the path of righteousness.

++C.

Continually commit to internalizing the Word throughout your day.

III.

Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Prayer

A. Surrender self-sufficiency to God-dependency in every aspect of your life.

B. Know that surrender leads to peace.

C. Continually commit to crowding out the world with spiritual longing to talk with God.

IV.

Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Holiness (Obedience)

++A.

Understand your victory in Christ.

++B.

Identify how personal your sin is to you and to God

++C.

Continually commit to actively putting sin to death

V. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Personal Evangelism

++A.

God has called you to share your faith.

++B.

God will teach you as you share your faith.

++C.

Continually commit to loving others enough to share your faith.

VI.

Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Serving (Spiritual Gifts)

++A.

God fully equips you to fulfill His expectation (call) in you.

++B.

You are the Holy Spirit’s spiritual gift to His church.

++C.

Continually commit to loving God’s church as “it” (they) loves you.

Mark Talbot in writing about suffering’s contribution to spiritual formation said,

“It is through suffering when He [God] prompts me to lift my gaze above the world's distractions to live in conscious dependence on Him.

My suffering focuses me, driving those distractions away.”[1] - Mark Talbot

[1] Larry J. Waters (edited by), Mark Talbot, WHEN SUFFERING IS REDEMPTIVE: Stories of How Anguish and Pain Accomplish.

(Place of publication not identified: LEXHAM PR, 2018), 48.

Talbot went on to say that,

“Physical suffering is a major area of spiritual attack…if Satan cannot solicit through prohibited pleasure…he will solicit through pain…Satan uses pain to drive a child of God into the twisted, confused maze of a life without God and His Word.”[1] - Mark Talbot

In the same book, Dr. Mark McGinniss reminded us that,

“No one gets from the cradle to the grave without shedding tears,”[2] (Job 1; Phil.

1:29).

- Mark McGinniss

[1]Ibid., 15.

[2]Ibid., Mark McGinniss, 63.

However, unavoidable suffering should not be confused with purposeless suffering.

All creation, including our lives, groans in our sin tarnished state of existence.

We struggle to avoid what we should not do, while at the same time often fail to do the things that we should do (Rom.

7).

All of creation and every aspect of our existence is found to be trapped in a state of groaning (Rom. 1 + 8), knowing deep in our heart that our existence was meant to be so much more than what it is.

That state of groaning drives humanity to strive for something better, something more complete, more satisfying.

However, we are so distracted by this life that we often fail to see a life that is better, that is more complete, more content, more at peace with our existence and purpose.

At some point for each one of us, God uses whatever He can to get our attention, to draw our eyes past the distraction of life around us to see the true source of life.

At times God is able to get our attention through simple means like the beauty of creation around us, the testimony of His Word, or the encouragement of other believers.

Other times, we are so distracted in life that the Lord must use more complex, less subtle means to get us to look up, to see Him, to see that we are not the center of life, the center of our own existence, but Jesus Christ is.

In the book, “When Suffering is Redemptive,” Mark McGinniss concludes,

““A ‘good’ theology writes chapters of trust in God even in the deepest pain.”[1] - McGinniss

[1]Ibid., 61.

You see, our suffering is never without purpose.

It takes great force from God to get my attention off of myself long enough for me to see and learn to trust Him and in the scheme of life itself, He has enlisted each believer in Him to help shine the light of His life, His existence, to the world.

Life in Jesus Christ is the only thing that no one can attain on their own, no one can reproduce for themselves or others, no one can match the contentment and purposefulness of.

Satan would like everyone to think that the answers for life and its struggles are found in one’s self or others, but the Bible teaches that it can only be found in Christ.

I. Transformational Dependency on and Discipline of Redemptive Suffering

++A.

God’s grace and love shine brightest in the darkest trials.

++B.

See God’s strengthening work.

++C.

Continually commit to “Who” and “What” instead of “why.”

Main Idea: God’s grace and love shine brightest in the darkest trials.

Life starts with Jesus Christ, not ourselves v. 4a

“In Him was life...”

Life does not naturally belong to or is found naturally in one’s self.

In Science, light is often regarded as the source of energy and life

In Philosophy, light and darkness were epitomized in the gods of the ANE (Persians, Greeks, Egyptians all had gods of darkness and light).

Today, light is the symbol of realization, enlightenment or the raising of awareness

All of these observations believe that the source of such light in found in humanity itself, but our text teaches that life has its source only in Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ own teachings affirms this

You see, the source or resource of life itself is not naturally found in one’s self, one’s own right to exist, it starts with and is only found in Jesus Christ Himself.

“In a rationalistic generation that finds its answers in a closed system of either scientific analysis or the secure logic of verbal formulas, the Johannine message may suggest that we ought to look for ultimate meaning not merely in our systems or in enlightenment but in the ultimate source of the universe—the Life-giver.” [1] - Gerald Borchert

[1]Gerald L. Borchert, John 1–11, vol.

25A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 109.

Life found in Christ shines bright on others v. 4b

“…and the life was the Light of men.”

Only life in Christ can stand in contrast to the things of this world

In the image of God, we participate in purpose, meaning, and behavior that reflect the character of God in ways that no one apart from Christ can

That exercised character of God in the lives of believers in Jesus Christ shines a light on all humanity as a witness and invitation to others to see and come to Christ.

Life is a gift or a power from without the human situation that confronts the world v. 5

Darkness has no power over light