Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Why are you here?

Think about that question for just a minute.

Some of you are here at Camp Joy because your parents or grandparents signed you up and told you that you were going to come to Camp Joy this week!

Others of you are here because you wanted to come to Camp and you told your parents that you wanted to be here.

Some of you are here because you’ve come for several years and others of you are here and this is your very first time at Camp! We’re so excited that you all are here this week as we learn more about Jesus and have fun along the way.

We have different reasons for being here at camp this week… But we all have the same reason for being alive tonight.

We are all here because we were created by God.

Think of some of the things that God made - what’s something God made?

Do you know what the Bible says about God’s most special creation?

In Genesis 1:26 we see something really cool!

We as humans are made in God’s own image.

Every single person you know is made in God’s image and we are supposed to treat every human with respect because of that truth.

But why did God create us?

What are we supposed to do with our life?

Jesus gives us some pretty straightforward instructions in the Gospel of Luke.

If you have a Bible the first 2/3 of it are books in the Old Testament, the last 1/3 or so is the New Testament.

Luke is the 3rd book in the New Testament and Luke tells us about the life of Jesus Christ.

Let’s read from Luke chapter 9 verses 18-27.

The Bible says this:

I’m Here to Know Jesus

Jesus liked to ask His audience a lot of questions and He taught in stories called parables a lot of times.

This confused some people.

Whenever Jesus was born, do you know who was in charge in Israel?

(Romans) Do you think this made the Jews happy?

(No) A lot of people alive in Jesus’ day wanted the coming Savior to help them out.

Jesus healed people, He fed people, He did all of these miracles that we read about in the Bible… But people wanted more - they wanted Jesus to kick out the Romans because they thought that the Romans were their biggest problem.

But Jesus didn’t do this and a lot of people are confused about who He is… In Luke 9, Jesus asks Peter who he thinks that he is and Peter says that Jesus is the Messiah.

Do you know what the word messiah means?

Literally it means the anointed one or the chosen one.

In the Old Testament the king was looked at as God’s chosen leader.

David was chosen by God’s prophet Samuel.

We see in the Old Testament several promises (prophecies) that talk about God sending a Savior, a Messiah, to save His people from their sins.

This week we’re going to study a lot about “the truth” about who Jesus is, Why we’re here, Why Jesus came, and what we’re supposed to do now.

We read in the Bible that Jesus is the Savior - what does Jesus save us from?

If all Jesus did was help us out or if all Jesus did was help kick the Romans out, everyone would still be facing this punishment of our sins.

Jesus might help us with one problem, but our bigger problem would still be here.

So instead of just helping us with a little problem, Jesus helps us with our biggest problem which is our sin.

Do you know what sin is? Sin is anything we think, say, do, or don’t do that displeases God.

The Bible tells us that we all have sinned - meaning that we all need Jesus.

The reason that you and I are here - not just tonight but here on planet earth is to know Jesus.

A lot of people know a little bit about Jesus in our world - if you were to ask 100 people at your school about Jesus, how many of them do you think would say that they’ve heard about Jesus before?

Probably a lot.

Any sports fans?

Who is your favorite athlete?

For me growing up it was Albert Pujols and then in high school it was Kevin Durant with the OKC Thunder.

If you have a favorite athlete or celebrity that you look up to, you know a lot about them, don’t you?

For me, I could tell you Albert Pujols’ batting average, home runs, RBI’s, MVP’s, and World Championships - I could tell you all about his stats… But I really don’t know Albert Pujols.

You might love Patrick Mahomes or Steph Curry and you might know all of his stats and records and you might even have his jersey… But you and I don’t really know those guys because we don’t have a relationship with them.

We might know about them, but they don’t know anything about us.

Do you know the really cool thing about Jesus?

You and I are created by Him.

You and I are known by Jesus.

The Bible says that He knows the numbers of hair on our head!

He knows us and He wants us to know Him.

What does Jesus want us to know about Him?

He wants us to know that He is our Savior

We’ll talk about this tomorrow morning a little bit, but think about this for a moment.

How many ways are there to be saved?

The Bible makes it clear that there’s only 1 way - by grace through faith in Christ.

Jesus wants us to know that we all need Him to save us from our sins!

He wants us to know that He loves us

If someone tells you that they love you, how can you know that they really do?

Through actions and words.

My dad knows that I love Krispy Kreme donuts and one day I was working at the church gym in Ozark and he brought me back a donut - why?

Because he loves me and wanted to give me something that he knew that I liked.

Think about God’s love for us.

Do any of you know John 3:16?

What did God do for us?

He loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins.

Romans 5:8 says this Rm 5:8

He wants us to know that He is with us

You and I are here on this earth to know Jesus Christ.

Not just the miracles that we read about in the Bible… But to have a relationship with Him.

The way that this happens is by doing what comes next in Luke 9. Look back at verse 23 - what does Jesus say we have to do?

We have to follow Jesus - this is the 2nd thing that we are here to do

I’m Here to Follow Jesus

How many of you like to follow directions?

How many of you prefer to give directions to someone else?

Sometimes it can be hard to follow directions because we think that we have a better idea.

In Luke 9:23 Jesus says that if we want to follow Him, we have to first deny ourselves, take up his cross daily, and actually follow Him.

Why do we need to follow Jesus?

Jesus is the “light of the world” - think of what light does for us.

Light helps us see in the darkness so we don’t stub our toe.

Light keeps us safe.

Light guides our path.

Light is helpful in so many ways… But light is only helpful if we make smart decisions.

Light shows us the situation and then we are forced to decide how to respond.

In Luke 9:23 Jesus says that before we follow Him we have to deny ourselves and take up our cross.

Why do you think Jesus says that we have to deny ourselves?

Because we normally wouldn’t do this - we’d want to follow ourselves.

Why do you think Jesus says that we have to take up our cross?

Because we have to do something about our sin.

The Bible tells us that we can’t cure our sinfulness by ourselves.

Several of you all wear glasses or take medicine - I have to take something called insulin every time that I eat because my pancreas doesn’t work the way that it should.

This is called Type 1 Diabetes.

The solution to the problem is to take insulin.

If you have eye problems, the solution might be to wear contacts or glasses.

Think about the problem of our sin… What can we do to fix it?

The Bible tells us that we can’t fix it ourselves.