Sermon Tone Analysis

HAVE YOU MADE A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST?

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SIGNED A CONTRACT?

ANY KIND OF CONTRACT – A MORTGAGE - A CAR LOAN - A NEW JOB - A MARRIAGE LICENSE - A SCHOOL ADMISSIONS AGREEMENT.

NOW CONSIDER THIS - HOW MANY PAGES WAS THE CONTRACT?

MORE IMPORTANTLY, DID YOU MAKE SURE YOU READ EVERY PAGE BEFORE YOU SIGNED IT? WHEN YOU SIGN A CONTRACT....YOU MAKE A COMMITMENT TO UPHOLD YOUR END OF THE DEAL.

EVERY RELATIONSHIP HAS A CONTRACT OF SORTS.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AN EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE - A HUSBAND AND WIFE - EVEN FRIEND TO FRIEND.

WHILE SOME OF THESE RELATIONSHIPS HAVE AGREEMENTS IN THE FORM OF A WRITTEN CONTRACT OR SPOKEN VOWS, AS THE RELATIONSHIP CONTINUES, WE DISCOVER THAT MANY OF THE “TERMS” GO UNWRITTEN AND UNSPOKEN, RELYING –

• LESS ON WORDS AND MORE ON THE WORTH OF THE RELATIONSHIP

• LESS ON TERMS AND MORE ON TRUST

THE ISRAELITES HAD SEEN GOD DISPLAY HIS WORTH AND TRUSTWORTHINESS, NOT ONLY THROUGH THEIR DELIVERANCE FROM SLAVERY, BUT ALSO THROUGH GOD’S PROVIDING FOR THEIR NEEDS ON THEIR JOURNEY TO SINAI.

IT WAS AT SINAI, WITH THOSE EXPERIENCES OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS FRESH IN THEIR MEMORIES, THEY ARE FACED WITH A QUESTION -- WILL THEY MAKE A COMMITMENT TO GOD?

GOD SAID TO THEM

• GOD GAVE THE PEOPLE THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

• THE PEOPLE ALL ANSWERED AS ONE AND SIGNED THE CONTRACT WITH GOD

• WOULD YOU AND I HAVE DONE THE SAME?

IT WAS JOSHUA WHO FACED HIS NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS IN

JOSHUA 24:15

- “AND IF IT SEEM EVIL UNTO YOU TO SERVE THE LORD, CHOOSE YOU THIS DAY WHOM YE WILL SERVE; WHETHER THE GODS WHICH YOUR FATHERS SERVED THAT WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE FLOOD, OR THE GODS OF THE AMORITES, IN WHOSE LAND YE DWELL: BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL SERVE THE LORD.”

• HE SAID YOU CAN CUT UP AND CLOWN IF YOU WANT – BUT FOR ME AND MY HOUSE

• YOU CAN PLAY WITH GOD ALL YOU WANT – BUT FOR ME AND MY HOUSE

• WHAT HE WAS SAYING IS, MAKE YOUR OWN DECISION – BUT FOR ME AND MY HOUSE, WE WILL MAKE A COMMITMENT TO GOD!

NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE IN OUR FAITH JOURNEY, WE ALL ARE FACED WITH THAT REALITY EVERY DAY –

INDEED, EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY.

WHEN WE WOKE UP THIS MORNING -

• HOW MANY OF US KNEW EVERY DETAIL THE DAY WOULD HOLD?

• HOW MANY OF US HAVE EVER WONDERED WHY SOMETHING HAPPENED OR WHAT NEXT STEP WE SHOULD TAKE?

• LIKE ISRAEL, WE AREN’T ALWAYS GIVEN A REASON, BUT WE ARE GIVEN A RELATIONSHIP – A RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR GOD WHO IS FOR US AND WITH US

• WE MIGHT NOT KNOW THE WAY, BUT WE CAN KNOW.... THE WAY

• LIKE ISRAEL, WE, TOO, ARE FACED WITH A QUESTION -- WILL WE TRUST MORE IN WHAT WE KNOW OR WHO WE KNOW?

HAVE YOU MADE A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST?

WE SIGN OUR NAME TO THOUSANDS OF DOCUMENTS IN OUR LIFETIME TO SECURE ANYTHING FROM HOMES TO CELL PHONE AGREEMENTS AND DO IT WITHOUT EVEN READING THE CONTRACTS MOST OF THE TIME.

AS CHRISTIANS, WE ARE ALREADY MEMBERS OF A BODY.....BY HIS GRACE THROUGH FAITH.

JESUS IS OUR HEAD AND WE FIT TOGETHER TO NURTURE AND CARE FOR EACH OTHER.

THIS ALL CAME BY THE GOSPEL’S EFFECT ON OUR LIVES.

WE ARE TRULY MEMBERS WHO CANNOT LOSE OUR MEMBERSHIP BECAUSE THE DUES WERE PAID BY ANOTHER WAY BACK ON CALVARY.

THIS IS WHY WE SHOULD USE THE WORD “PARTNERSHIP” WHEN IT COMES TO BEING A PART OF THE LOCAL CHURCH AND TO FORMALIZE THE REALITY THAT ALREADY EXISTS.

WE KNOW MOST TRADITIONAL CHURCHES REFER TO THIS AS ‘MEMBERSHIP” WHICH IS FINE

TRUTH BE TOLD....I THINK “MEMBERSHIP” IS AN ANTIQUATED TERM FOR US TODAY

I BELIEVE WE SHOULD BE COMING TO THE CHURCH AS A ‘PARTNERSHIP’

I BELIEVE THAT WORD ‘MEMBERSHIP’ IS ALREADY TAKEN BIBLICALLY THROUGH SALVATION

• EVEN JESUS SAID WE ARE CO-LABORERS WITH HIM –

WE ARE LABORERS TOGETHER WITH GOD….

UNDERSTANDING THIS

..... WE DON’T COME TOGETHER IN ‘MEMBERSHIP’ BUT WE COME TOGETHER IN ‘PARTNERSHIP’ EACH BRINGING OUR SPIRITUAL GIFTING TO THE BODY OF CHRIST

JESUS DIDN’T DIE TO CREATE A SERVICE WHERE PEOPLE WENT BASED ON CONVENIENCE, BUT TO CREATE A CHURCH WHERE PEOPLE WERE COMMITTED TO EACH OTHER AND PARTNERED WITH EACH OTHER IN A COVENANT.

FBC....

THE LOCAL CHURCH IS GOD’S INSTRUMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD AND TO NOT PARTNER TO ONE IS TO BE SITTING ON THE BENCH

• HAVE YOU MADE A COMMITMENT TO CHRIST?

IT WAS 34 YEARS AGO I ENLISTED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY AND I MUST TELL YOU THINGS HAVE CHANGED SINCE I WENT IN....

A FEW DAYS AGO, I SAW A POST ON FB ABOUT ALL OF THE BENEFITS AND GREAT INCENTIVES TO JOIN — THE STANDARDS TO GET INTO THE US ARMY HAVE BECOME MINIMAL.....YOU DON’T NEED A HS DIPLOMA OR EVEN A GED TO ENLIST NOW....AND THE ASVAB TEST SCORE IS MINIMAL.... AND IN EXCHANGE......YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR...

• A SIGNING BONUS

• EDUCATION ASSISTANCE

• REPAYMENT OF COLLEGE LOANS

• GUARANTEED SALARY

• PAID VACATIONS

• RETIREMENT BENEFITS

• FREE MEDICAL AND DENTAL

• GUARANTEED HOME LOANS

BUT WITH ALL THESE GREAT BENEFITS..... THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS NEVER MENTIONED.

IT IS ALMOST LIKE THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM.

• THERE MUST BE THE WILLINGNESS FOR THE PERSON WHO MAKES THE COMMITMENT..... TO RISK THEIR LIFE AND EVEN DIE FOR THEIR COUNTRY

• IT IS SIMILAR TO CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP

• IF WE ARE TO TRULY ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, WE NEED TO COUNT THE COST AND MAKE A TOTAL DEDICATION, NOT A HALFHEARTED COMMITMENT

IN OUR SCRIPTURE FOR EXAMINATION, JESUS HAD THREE CONVERSATIONS WITH THOSE WHO WANTED TO FOLLOW HIM.

• TO THE FIRST PERSON HE SAID -- “COUNT THE COST”

• TO THE SECOND, THE MESSAGE WAS -- “LEAVE IT BEHIND”

• TO THE THIRD HE SAID -- “DON’T LOOK BACK”

IT SEEMS THE FIRST PERSON HAD A DESIRE TO FOLLOW JESUS.

I THINK DEEP DOWN, HE WANTED TO BE PART OF THE ADVENTURE OF SEEING THE KINGDOM OF GOD UNFOLD IN PEOPLE’S LIVES, TO ENJOY THE SPECIAL POSITION OF BEING SEEN AS A DISCIPLE.

• IT IS AS THOUGH HE HAD SEEN THE MILITARY TRAVEL POSTERS AND SAID, I’LL SIGN UP

• DID YOU EVER GET CAUGHT UP IN THE EXCITEMENT OF THE MOMENT AND FOUND YOURSELF SIGNING UP FOR SOMETHING?

HUMAN BEINGS CONTINUALLY MAKE DECISIONS, LARGE AND SMALL - AFTERWARDS, THERE ARE CONSEQUENCES.

HAVE YOU EVER -

• BOUGHT A CAR AND LATER THOUGHT YOU HAD BOUGHT THE WRONG CAR

• TAKEN A JOB AND THEN THOUGHT IT WAS THE WRONG JOB

• ORDERED A MEAL AT A RESTAURANT AND THEN REGRETTED YOUR CHOICE?

• SOMETIMES OUR DECISIONS DON’T LEAD TO DESIRABLE OUTCOMES AND WE WISH WE HAD MADE DIFFERENT CHOICES

• WHEN THIS HAPPENS, WE ARE EXPERIENCING WHAT IS TERMED AS BUYER’S REMORSE

GOD HAS DESIGNED THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST, THE BAPTISM OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT, TO BRING ALL OF THESE BASIC HUMAN NEEDS TO YOUR LIFE! HOWEVER, AS CRAZY AS IT SEEMS, A LOT OF PEOPLE CONTINUE TO TRY TO BUY RIGHTNESS - PEACE - JOY - FROM THE ENEMY.

GOD HAS PROMISED YOU ALL OF THESE THINGS BY SIMPLY RECEIVING THE FREE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST!

IT IS AVAILABLE TO YOU IN YOUR OWN “BACK YARD” - YET SO MANY CONTINUE TO PAY A HIGH PRICE FOR TEMPORARY MOMENTS OF JOY - PEACE - “RIGHT”NESS.

FOR JUST A FEW HOURS, UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF A LIE FROM THE ENEMY, YOU HAVE PEACE.

YOU FEEL JOY.

THINGS SEEM RIGHT.

HOWEVER, AS SOON AS THE SUPPLY IS EXHAUSTED YOU FIND YOURSELF GOING BACK TO THE ENEMY OF YOUR SOUL TO PAY THE HIGH PRICE OF WHAT HE PROVIDES, ALL THE WHILE YOU HAVE FREE ACCESS TO THE REAL DEAL! THE ENEMY OF THE SOUL HOLDS YOU HOSTAGE, EXACTING HIGH CHARGES AND PRICES FROM YOU FOR WHAT YOU CAN HAVE FOR FREE.

• IT IS THE GIFT OF GOD

• I KNOW PEOPLE WHO WOULD SEEMINGLY RATHER CONTINUE TO PAY THE ULTIMATE PRICE OF SIN JUST TO HAVE TEMPORARY PEACE AND JOY

• THEY WOULD SEEMINGLY DO ANYTHING BUT RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST AS THE BOOK OF ACTS SAYS THEY SHOULD AND CAN HAVE!

• SIN BRINGS BUYERS REMORSE

• THE EFFECTS ARE NEVER PERMANENT, AND ONLY SATISFY FOR A SHORT TIME

SO, JESUS SAYS IN THIS FIRST CONVERSATION - FOXES HAVE HOLES AND THE BIRDS OF THE AIR HAVE NESTS, BUT THE SON OF MAN HAS NOWHERE TO LAY HIS HEAD.

• IT WAS AS IF JESUS STRIPPED AWAY THE ROMANCE AND EXCITEMENT OF MINISTRY RIGHT BEFORE HIS EYES AND SHOWED THERE WAS A COST TO FOLLOWING THE LORD

• TO LEAVE EVERYTHING BEHIND

• JESUS ALSO SAID, “WHOEVER LOSES HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE SHALL FIND IT”

AS WE CONTINUE TO READ FURTHER IN OUR TEXT, WE SEE IN VS. 59 WHERE JESUS SAID TO ANOTHER - FOLLOW ME.

BUT THE MAN REPLIED, LORD FIRST LET ME GO AND BURY MY FATHER.

JESUS SAID TO HIM, “LET THE DEAD BURY THEIR OWN DEAD, BUT AS FOR YOU, GO AND PROCLAIM THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”

• IN THIS PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE, SOME WOULD SAY THAT JESUS’ RESPONSE WAS HARSH

• HOWEVER, IF THE MAN’S FATHER HAD JUST DIED, THE SON WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THERE