Sermon Tone Analysis

Outline

Someone once told me a story of weight loss challenge they had entered of which they had to weigh in every day in order to see the progress.

They weren’t supposed to weigh in for any other reason but to make sure that there was progress in the program.

The lady told me that she lost 5 lbs in the first 7 days of the challenge but after those 7 days she never lost a lbs....

You can’t be limited by past progress

Paul is not talking about how some preachers inaccurately preach this text about forgetting bad things that have happened in the past and moving on… He’s talking about good stuff in your life.

Sure there are some bad things you need to let go of but there are some good things that happen in your life that if you’re not careful they will cripple you to the degree that you become churchy but not fruitful

You’ve got to realize that this day in your lives is a good day but you still have not reached the height or pinnacle of where God wants to take you.

He’s got far more for you!

And there are some of us in church this morning with more degrees than a thermometer and there are others who have no degree and that’s alright - no matter where you fall on the totem pole you’ve got to know that you have not crossed the finish line and until you cross the finish line there is upward progress that God has for you!

I don’t care who you are - God ain’t through with any of us yet.

How can you say that preacher?

Because we all are still here!

Jesus says if any man wishes to come after me he must deny himself… Matthew 16:24 denial doesn’t always mean bad stuff sometimes it means the good stuff because you will wallow in your goodness and make your accomplishments to be a stop sign when God desires for you to keep going.

Graduation then is not just for those who we are celebrating today.

But its for everybody at all ages and stages of life.

God is causing us to a state of perpetual graduation.

But a state of perpetual graduation means that you are constantly passing the test of you.

Will victory defeat you or will victory compel you?

The reality of graduating, doing something great, achieving a major accomplishment and then retiring to do nothing is that becomes your greatest enemy.

Because when its graduation time that’s when the enemy comes looking and for some of us the enemy prohibiting our graduation is complacency where we are.

Matthew Chapter 3 Jesus its baptized by John the Baptist and the Bible says in verse 16 that the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus like a dove.

That’s graduation… but when the Spirit of graduation comes upon Jesus that same Spirit in Matthew 4 leads him to the wilderness to be tempted.

And Jesus demonstrated that you’ve got to learn how to speak the word of God over that which is trying to pull you down, cause you to stay where you are… you’ve got to speak to mountains that stand in your way that tell you have arrived, no need to go any further!

Paul says you’ve got to keep going!

It’s time to live a life of perpetual graduation.

And we can’t let just coming to church be our enemy that prohibits us from graduating.