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Recommended: Themes
Philippians 4:1–2
The Big Idea of Philippians 4:1-2 is, in Christ Jesus is where you will find the joy that will last. This is a time when the writer of the text had suffered many adversities himself. Paul, the writer, has been placed in prison for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He wants the church to know that there is joy in Jesus, even in times of suffering.
This reminded me of an incident that I found myself involved. One day my brother and I stop to help some ladies change their flat tire. While changing the tire, police came alone and asked what were we doing. It was explained that we were passing by we saw these ladies trying to change their tire, so we stop to give them some help. He asks for some ID and walks back to his car. In about two minutes four other cars of police came on the seen. We were handcuffed and placed in the back of the car. This was not justified because we did not do anything wrong. This is the place that Paul find himself. He did no wrong, yet he was in prison.
The purpose of a sermon from this passage would be to remind the church that...
Edwards does however lighten the tone at the conclusion of the sermon by explaining how the people c...
1) Jonathan Edwards delivered this sermon during the first Great Awakening, a time of religious revival in Europe and America. During the Great Awakening, Christianity shifted its focus from ceremonies and rituals, and began to realign itself with introspection to foster a deep sense of morality and redemption. Edwards was a key preacher and minister that delivered many sermons preaching about revival and reformed theology. 2) Edwards sermon was directed towards non believers and those who have turned away from the light of God, and in his words “sinners.”
Jonathan Edwards’ sermon was themed for this congregation to repent so they could make an attempt to save their souls, and it also expresses that you are the sinner. Questioning that now, his entire sermon screams at us that it is us that the sinners, ‘you are sinners,’ but it Edwards doesn’t express that it is we that are sinners so it seems that he was excluding himself. His sermon was also spoken in a quiet, leveled and emotionless voice, monotone even, but even through his sermon lacked any sort of emotion or life, it caused the people of the congregation to feel emotional and angry. It might be the fact it was six-hours of the same sayings of being told ‘you are a sinner,’ or it could be how explicit it was because Edwards did not sugarcoat his sermon in the slightest. "The God that holds you over the pit of Hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect, over the fire abhors you..." is a quote by Edwards that portrays the power of God versus how weak and feeble humans are. Edwards portrays God in a menacing and relentless way so his congregation will fear God and the punishments of the sins they commit, which might be his way to help his
“Theology is not superior to the gospel. It exists to aid the preaching of salvation. Its business is to make the essential facts and principles of Christianity so simple and clear…that all who preach or teach the gospel…can draw on its stores and deliver a complete and unclouded Christian message. When the progress of humanity creates new tasks…or new problems…theology must connect these old fundamentals of our faith and make them Christian tasks and problems.” (WR 6)
Lee includes Scripture, Gospel, Hymns, Prayers and concludes the sermon in an “Amen” (37) by switching the posture to the audience. Perelman examined, “Every technique promoting the communion of the speaker with his audience will decrease the opposition between them” (79). Since Lee’s meaningful sermon consisted of the most essential techniques, her audience recognized her authority and capability to preach. She not only knew about the role of a minister, but also knew how to carry out her responsibilities as a minister, which enforced the appeal to ethos from the audience’s point of view. Lee compelled the audience to reconceive their discrimination of women
You need to not preach your personal theology but preach the theology of the church
When looking at the common theme that Barth develops in God Here and Now, it becomes apparent for the need of congregation to justify, ratify, and promote the Bible as the living word of God. When and where the Bible constitutes its own authority and significance, it mediates the very presence of God through the congregation. Encountering this presence in the Church, among those whose lives presume living through the Bible’s power and meaning. Barth states that the Bible must become God's Word and this occurs only when God wills to address us in and through it. The Christ-event is God's definitive self-disclosure, while Scripture and preaching are made to correspond to him as a faithful witness becomes the perfect statement according to Barth (Barth, 2003, p. 61).
In my passage Ephesian 1:15-23, this is Pauls prayer to Jesus of giving thanks, God has given us so much, and when God gives us a lot our perception can be changed based on how much we get from God, but we are blind because we can never be satisfied so we ask for more. We can build a wall of ungratefulness and never see the “light of God”.
An instructive and stirring string of verses, this passage from the Bible holds great relevance not only for the Ancient Israelites to whom it was spoken, but also acts as a herald to Christians today. This passage forms part of Moses great oration; his instructive teaching, advice and counsel narrated to the second generation of Israelites who required redirection before moving forward into what God had for them. Similarly, it is also relevant for all Christians as we remember what our faithful, loving and powerful God has done in the past, and what he requires of us to move forward.
...of defense into a triumphant presentation of gospel in the Letter to the Galatians. The requirement of Galatians to follow the Law of Moses in order to convert to Christianity is proven invalid by Paul, who teaches that faith in Christ and living by the Spirit is essential to the religion—not following gratuitous rules of the flesh. Paul offers guidance for the audience on how to follow the gospel he teaches in contrast to the strict and changeable rules his opposition forces upon the Galatians. By using an appeal to ethos to build his credibility with the audience, an appeal to logos to explain the triviality of the traditional laws of Judaism, and allegories to provide the innovative interpretation of God as a father to his followers, Paul is able to successfully spread his gospel of faith in Christ and living by the Spirit to the Galatians and other audiences.
Churches were packed as people thronged to hear whatever words of consolation and reassurance that their pastors could provide to them. Not infrequently, however, sermons that day were notably short on consolation and reassurance, but long on warning and condemnation of sin.
People who are able find joy in their faith and trust in God are less likely to abandon it in the face of trouble. That is why the overarching tone of the letter is one of encouragement. Thus, in many ways Paul’s message climaxes when he proclaims, “I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me” (Phil 4:13). This verse has become one of the most commonly shared among the modern Christian community, as its message of unwavering trust and an omnipotent God comforts those in times of hardship. At the writing of this letter, Paul is conscious that he appears weak. Yet in this moment of weakness, he becomes fully aware of Christ’s power resting upon him. At Paul’s weakest, he was actually at his strongest due to Christ. Christians in similar situations can look to Paul’s steadfastness in Christ during his time of hardship as an example for their own action. The letter insinuates that God will not give his children more than they can handle. Servants were intended to go through struggles, but they will be rewarded for believing in the strength of the Lord with eternal
Paul summarizes all this preaching in seventeen stanzas by referring to the "Spirit" and the "Flesh." We are first introduced by Paul of these topics/words in his letter to the Galatians. Paul contrasts the two ways of living in a community in chapter five of Galatians. "Spirit" is the caring of others and builds interpersonal relationships within a community. The "Flesh" is a self centeredness and a natural way to live of only caring for oneself. The "works of the flesh" will break apart a community.
He says that living among the believers in Rome are non-believers and that our responsibility as believers is to teach the gospel of God to them. The Jews were special because they had the Law. However, just by knowing the Law does not guarantee eternal life or that you can lead a sinful life. In ordinance with the Law, Jews had to be circumcised. However, if you were still living a sinful life, your circumcision meant nothing. It would be as if you don’t know the Lord our God. There were not only Jews in Rome but Gentiles as well. Even though the Gentiles don’t have the Law, they could be saved though their faith in Jesus Christ. God sent His one and only son to die for our sins, Paul says we need to focus a lot more of our attention on God rather than on
Love Yourself as Hearers. Above all, the preachers should consider first the audience or “hearers” when preparing a sermon. As stated in this book, “we need to learn how to introduce, develop, and conclude our subjects in a way that interests hearers” (Galli and Larson, 1994, p. 16). In other words, we need to learn how to modify our words, sentences, paragraphs, stories and illustrations to deliver the message and impact the lives of our audience.