Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Intro:
Family with a dark secret.
At church, all looks fine.
At home, it’s a different story.
Verbal, emotional and sometimes physical abuse.
He has uncontrolled episodes of rage followed by seasons of remorse and regret.
She struggles to live what she believes is the role of a good Christian wife but cannot continue to live this way.
Both know the concepts of grace and forgiveness.
She extends grace but leaves herself open to more abuse.
He hopes for grace but can’t understand how to change from his evil behavior.
Their culture pushes and pulls as well.
Her work friends tell her to get out of there and leave them.
Too often, the message from well-meaning Christian folks is simply endure.
Q:
Would a grace-filled God leave us in the condition he finds us?
Would he forgive us, tell us to sin no more without lifting even one finger to empower us over our sin?
Leave us in rage, isolation, depression, addiction, rebellion among so many other sins?
Our struggle is to learn how to understand grace.
To learn that Grace forgives but also guides.
restores and guards.
In this passage, grace appears right next to “self-controlled, upright, godly.”
These are descriptions of how we live.
This is clearly more than simply forgiveness.
We’re familiar with “grace that brings salvation.”
But do we understand what it means that grace teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions?
Here are the four key points that Paul wants us to understand:
Grace Brings Salvation
revealed - shown, appeared, shined upon
grace - goodwill, freely given for the benefit of recipient regardless of benefit for the disseminator.
Kindness, favor
salvation - a state of preservation from danger of judgment.
Grace Instructs Us How To Live
instructed - shaped by training, discipline, knowledge, skill, to become a well-rounded, productive citizen.
turn from - repudiate, disown, renounce, restrain from indulging in some pleasure.
sinful pleasure - worldly, not spiritual, desire, lust, craving.
wisdom - moderation, self-control, sound in mind
righteousness - upright, fairly, justly, correctly
devotion - proper and fitting respect for God, reverence
God doesn’t want us forever trapped in a cycle of sin and forgiveness.
So grace keeps on working for us, teaching us how to resist temptation and ungodliness.
That’s right, we can call on the grace of God before we fall into sin!
There’s more to the Christian life than saying no to sin.
God’s grace is available to replace our sinful habit patterns with self-control, so we can live upright and godly lives.
This is not the result of trusting in our works, but rather allowing grace to teach us.
Grace Gives Us Hope
wonderful day - makarios - blessed, happy, fortunate, highly favored
hope - expectation, confidently anticipated
revealed - deity becoming visible, appearing.
Do you see the connection in these verses?
Life in Christ is not meant to be a desperate fight against sin, nor even a narrow focus on godly living.
In verse 13 we see that it’s God grace that fills us with hope—hope for this life, and the next.
Grace Empowers Us
free - redeem, liberate, ransom
sin - lawlessness, transgression, defiance to law
cleanse - purge of evil, purify
totally commited - zelotes - fervent, even militant proponent, enthusiast
good deeds - praiseworthy work
Too many believers are stuck in an unhealthy pattern.
We choose sin, which is bad enough.
Worse still, afterward, a voice in our head tries to drag us down deeper still.
It’s the voice of the Adversary.
He whispers enticement before our sin and shouts condemnation after.
His is a voice skilled in subtle influence, followed by paralyzing guilt.
It’s a voice filled with accusation.
He is a liar and the Father of Lies; lies are his native tongue.
Sin brings death, it’s true, but God’s grace wipes away the penalty of death and the stain of sin.
Even better, grace does more.
It raises us to life and teaches us a new way to live.
What he asks, he empowers.
Jesus says, “Go, and sin no more.”
He also makes this command possible.
He takes us to the source and gives us hope.
This is a kind of resurrection, a resurrection from a life of sin.
Resurrection isn’t just for Jesus; it’s for us.
It’s not just for the end of days; it’s so we can walk in newness of life.
Sin puts us in the tomb; Jesus rolls away the stone, as often as we need.
Application:
Our application of these verses can be very personal: we can pray, listen, and learn.
Let me explain:
In our daily prayers, we should include prayers like this: “Spirit of God, please open my eyes and heart to recognize your grace-works in my life.”
It’s also a part of God’s grace to answer prayers like this.
Jesus assured us that if we ask him for bread, he will not give us a stone (Matt.
7:7-11).
We can be confident that God will answer prayers like this one.
After our time of prayer, it is our opportunity to learn.
Make a few notes of what came to your mind.
What did you discover about God as you prayed and listened?
What did you discover about yourself?
You can be sure that God will lead you toward a larger understanding of grace.
In the coming week, what might happen if you tried this exercise once a day, each day?
This exercise is not about merely gaining biblical knowledge (as important as that may be).
It’s about opening our eyes, ears, and lives to the deeper grace God has in store.
God’s grace wants to teach us a new way to live!
True, we will still stumble and fall along the way, but there is always grace for forgiveness.
Better still, there’s even more grace available to us for each new day and every new situation.
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