Sermon Tone Analysis

1. Why Should I prepare my Personal Testimony?

it is one of the best ways of sharing your Faith!

it is an encouragement.

(Rev.

12:11)

we are called to proclaim Jesus.

a. Every one has a story, what is the story of how you came to Christ?

b.

Your story does not have to be sensational to be effective.

2. Let us look at the Apostle Paul’s story.

Life before Jesus:

Acts 26:4 “4 “My manner of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the Jews know.”

Acts 26:9-11 “9 “Indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

10 This I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them.

11 And I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly enraged against them, I persecuted them even to foreign cities.”

Paul before Jesus was a pharisee.

(This is how the Apostle Paul viewed the world.

)

the group appears to have become the primary voice of Judaism following the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70.

The Pharisees developed a tradition of strict interpretation of the Mosaic law, developing an extensive set of oral extensions of the law designed to maintain religious identity and purity.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Understanding the Pharisees)

Even though a substantial amount of information about the sect is available from the New Testament and other first- and second-century AD literature, any conclusions reached about the Pharisees are tentative for the following reasons:1.

The nature and value of the early sources concerning the sect are debated.2.

Pharisaism likely consisted of diverse elements of beliefs and practices at any one time, thus confounding a one-dimensional understanding of the group.3.

The sect likely changed in form and function over time; as a result, the immediate historical context of the occasion within which the Pharisees are being viewed must be considered.

what happened ?

Acts 26:12-14 “12 “While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, 13 at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?

It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’”

Acts 26:15-16 “15 So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’

And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.

16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.”

Acts 26:17-18 “17 I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18 to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’”

What is your life like now?