Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Good Evening and WELCOME TO CAMP!

I cannot believe that we are all finally here!

We’ve done the fundraising, we’ve been on the stinky van.

We’ve survived our first dinner experience here and we are about to go on the ride of our lives as we discover what God has for us this week.

This camp is special to me, because this is the camp where I gave God my future back in 2008.

I said to God that he could have me and use me for whatever He wanted.

Then, a few years go by and I started dating this girl.

Literally as soon as we started “talking” this girl told me that she hated God, and as the good christ follower I was at the time, I said “huh” and kept dating her.

EVERYONE SAY: Bad Idea!

Well at camp THAT year, we were at Carin Uni and I remember God showing me that this Girl and I were not compatible, at all.

So I got on my hands and knees and begged God to show himself to Liz so that she would be able to know HIM.

HE DID!

She started getting closer with the LORD, in a much more storied, and round about way I did as well and then we got Married!

This is my wife LIZ.

Then we had a baby!

That’s my Family, I grew up a missionaries kid in Aus, and I’ve been in youth ministry for 6ish years and I’ve loved it and I can’t believe that I get to do this now.

I get to share with you some of the truth out of Gods word!

Tonight I am going to ask everyone to turn to the book of John chapter 18 verse 37.

If you have an app, it’s easy!

If you have a paper bible, John is in the Gospels, Matthew - Mark - Luke - John Big number 18 little number 37.

Tonight, in keeping with the theme we have for the week we are going to be answering the Question:

How can I find Truth in this world?

You see, finding truth is something that the human civilization has been struggling with for since forever.

All the way back in ancient Greece you had people trying to determine who and what was the truth.

You had people like Socrates, and Plato (Ancient Greece).

You had Confucius, you had Karl Marx plus almost every leader of every country since forever, all in the pursuit of finding Truth and the best possible path forward for humanity.

These people would literally go full Pooh Bear and sit and “ponder ponder ponder” until they thought they had a good idea and then they would try it and it wouldn’t work out so well, or their idea made others angry so they were burned at the stake.

Today, truth finding is still alive and well.

In fact, instead of a few intellectuals having a go, this “Ultimate Truth” finding situation is one that has now been pushed onto the masses.

According to the world, and by that I mean the “powers that be” the influencers of our culture, according to them you are the only person in your life that is capable of finding your truth.

This idea of you finding the truth that works for you is an idea that is both somewhat new, and very confusing.

Who here has heard of the term “Post Modern”?

Post Modern

That was a term used to delineate our current cultural period, and well as a mess of other things like music, thought, architecture and the like.

It’s basically a nerdy term so people can feel like they know what they are talking about.

Well you, Gen Z and depending on who you talk to, we have a few Gen Alpha’s either here or on their way, you are on your way to entering a world that is no longer

We are no longer Post Modern but now:

Post Truth

All through History, human kind has looked to an outside authority to determine what Absolute truth was.

Of course you’d still have a personal truth of “i don’t like fish” or “The color purple isn’t a great color”.

But you would, look to religion, or the Government or a leader of some kind for an Absolute truth that you could tie yourself too.

This truth would be the basis of your identity and all the rest of it.

A really good example is in the 60’s, the culture influencers of the time, said that a

Woman had to be a good house wife

60’s Ad

Which is a mess and I am really excited to talk about that issue specifically on Wednesday night, but ladies from that era built their identity based on this absolute truth… Men did as well because they had a standard to hit… Big house, car, Job....

So, all through history, we’ve always looked OUTSIDE ourselves for truth and purpose.

Now, in a “Post Truth” society we are being encouraged to “look inside” for truth.

Your truth is going to be a bit different to mine.

Theoretically, we could end up with 350+ truths in this room and none of them would match up.

The world is telling you that this is good, and better and necessary for the development of human kind.

But all i’ve seen it do is breed confusion.

All i’ve seen it do is make life harder.

Because instead of relying on something bigger and better than yourself for stability and reasoning, you are looking inside and trying to selfishly figure out how you tick and what your purpose on this earth should be.

Then comes the issue of “What happens if you pick the wrong truth that others don’t like, or it’s just wrong.

What if, your truth doesn’t line up with the ones your friends and family pick?”

This week we are going to be discussing how we can have assurance of Absolute Truth to rest in that we might be able to find our true identity, as well as our purpose in this world.

Tonight we are going to have a look at an interrogation that had the mission to try and locate truth, that took place 2000ish years ago between Jesus and Pilate.

Before I go any further here tonight I want to ask you all a favor.

So everyone look up here just for a moment.

Go out of your way this week to learn everything you can about God, so you can make an informed decision

I’m not going to presume that you all believe or are saved.

In fact, some of you are only in here because your crush was going.

But I need you to at least learn as much as you can, I’d hate for you to not believe because you didn’t have all the facts.

Make an informed decision.

That being said.

Let’s tuck into God’s word this evening.

To set the stage here for a moment.

This scene takes place right before Jesus is Crucified, literally on Good Friday Morning.

Jesus the night before had been arrested becuse Judas betrayed him.

Even though this took place 2000 years ago, the romans actually had a complex system of laws and proceedings in law a lot like we do today.

So when the Jewish Religious leaders of the time took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman leader of the area, they accused him basically of claiming Kingship.

Which would have been treason because there was already a king.

Cesar.

So Pilate’s job is to arraign Jesus to determine the his guilt and wether he is to be punished.

That’s what the conversation that we just read was..

The interrogation between Jesus and Pilate to determine Jesus’ guilt.

The conversation starts with the beginning of V37 “So you are a king?”

You see...

Pilate is searching for THE Truth

Pilate has been hearing about this Jesus.

Everyone had, and Pilate is Roman in charge of this part of the world, so when the religious leaders of the time were getting grumpy about the things that Jesus was teaching, it’s safe to assume that Pilate was starting to hear about it as well.

But now, instead of something to ponder alone, Pilate is face to face with Jesus… Jesus is in his office… and it’s his job to determine what the TRUTH of the matter is in this situation.

So he questions Jesus, and they go back and forth with Pilate trying to determine what Jesus had done, and Jesus trying to tell Pilate that he is simply God’s messenger on this earth, and that he is of no threat to the Roman empire because his mission is not to overthrow....

Because Jesus and Pilate have been exchanging for a moment here, you can almost sense a bit of frustration and lack of patience in Pilate with this prompt “So you are a king?”

In fact, if you read this verse in it’s original language, greek, you can see that Pilate is actually asking this question rhetorically.

Pilate ASSUMES that Jesus is going to just say “yes”.

But Jesus does something so much more than that.

Jesus Points to God’s Truth

If you go back and read V33-35 in your dorms this evening, you’ll see the full exchange, but at this point, Jesus decides to just lay it out as plain as possible.

So Jesus says:

John 18:37 (ESV)

...Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king.

For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth....

Jesus says to Pilate You are saying that I am a king, but my purpose here on this earth is to bear witness to the truth.

Jesus’ time here on earth was one of great purpose.

Because to Bear witness is to tell people of something that is factually true.

Something that is verifiable.

It’s a term that you could use in a trial.