Sermon Tone Analysis
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*Sermon Comberton ~/ Toft 11**th** Feb 2007.
Lk8:22-25*
*<<Storms can shape our lives as much as Sunshine>>*
\\ *INTRO*
Whilst Jacqui and I were in NZ… catching up with friends and family.
* photos, what’s been important in our lives
* PHOTOS we take ~/ albums ~/ show
only show one side
think how many wedding photos you have seen
how many funeral photos you’ve seen.
\\ *Jacqui* – She and her mum… flicking through
/*whole year*/ where there didn’t seem to be many photos.
year her sister had been very ill.
difficult time.
\\ /*Don’t worry*/, I’m /*not suggesting*/ we get out our digital cameras…funerals, hospital bedsides
*Our lives are shaped as much by the difficult ~/ painful experiences as the happier ones*.
Not q so quick to forget them.
\\ *2 weeks ago* Mike preached about Simeon and Anna.
Aged, faithful prophets in the temple when Mary and Joseph came for rite.
How their *attitudes* had been *shaped* by their *lives*.
My guess is that *part of that* was *coming thru painful experiences* trusting in God.
\\ ! 2 ENCOUNTERS ON THE LAKE
*Focus* on the Gospel reading – calming of the storm.
*Compare* with Gospel reading we had last week
Simon Peter… miraculous catch of fish
*Similar* setting: boat~/ sea of galilee~/ Jesus, SP, disciples
!! FISH: calm, exciting
STORM: rough, disturbing
\\ Back in ANE….while to go before camera was invented.
!! Simon P flicking thru photo album with mother-in-law
*Which miracle* more likely to show?
I don’t think he would have shown her a photo of him in the storm clinging on to the mast for dear life, face white as a sheet, fear in his eyes.
Much more likely… catch of the fish.
/*I can picture the photograph now:*/
in the *background*, the boat pulled up on the shore, full to overflowing with rainbow coloured fish. in the *foreground*, Peter with his arm round Jesus, smiling.
And underneath a *caption* /“The Day I Decided to Follow Jesus.”/
\\ But of course the *Bible* is not like a family photo album.
difficult ~/ happy
*rough ~/ smooth* – literally
My reading – calming of storm – just as important in the disciples r~/ship with J.
\\ !! In the life of faith…
/*Storms can shape our lives as much as sunshine*/
*WHAT THE CHARACTERS SAY*
Not going to go through the whole story, familiar.
What the characters say to each other.
Clue…
“/*Master, master, we’re going to drown!”*/
* Panic, despairing, helpless.
* That’s how it can feel when we’re hit by a storm.
End of our own resources.
“/*Where is your faith?”*/
* Not accusing them of having no faith
* The faith you showed the other week – where is it today?
Storm showed that their faith fragile, incomplete
didn’t go as deep as they thought.
So true.
“rock the boat” challenge our faith.
\\ Not end of story.
Left with question on their lips:
“/*Who is this man?
He commands even the winds and water and they obey him.”*/
Left with a question.
No answer for it at the time.
That question that later on in the Gospel of Luke deeper faith.
who J really is~/ what that means for them.
\\ Not that *magically* faith is strengthened.
*Seeds*.
\\ Storms can reveal the *frailty* of our faith, but they can lead us to *stronger* faith.
*HOW TO RESPOND*
If it’s true what I’ve said:
Difficult experiences shape our lives as much as happier
Storms ~/ sunshine.
how should we respond when things are difficult?
\\ Things are tough: *one of two ways*
Some: *push them away* from God… bitter.
Others: *grow closer* to God.
Faith emerges stronger, more mature.
Not magically; over time.
Peter, lung cancer, 2 years.
Exuded a radiant faith in God that showed he knew his home in heaven was secure.
\\ As I said at the start, photos we take and show are nearly always of the happy memories: birthdays, graduations, holidays.
But if we are shaped by the storms as much as by the sunshine, then it’s worth *pondering where God was at work* in our struggles.
Moment- picture snapshot of yourself when you were going through a difficult time.
* sitting on the sofa in your living room feeling lonely
* having to say goodbye to someone dear to you
* in the middle of a family row
* struggling to make ends meet financially.
\\ whatever it is – picture how you imagine God was responding to you at that moment.
ask: how is that experience shaping me?
*PRAYER*
Finally a word for those who are going through dark or difficult times at the moment.
Very simply: Pray to Jesus.
*Nearly everyone* – whether believer or not – *prays* at the *most desperate* moments of their lives.
*As Christians – advantage.*
NOT abstract, faceless God
Pray to Jesus – *man who knows what it was like*
* to see his friends terrified in a violent storm.
* to weep at the tomb of a dear friend.
* to be rejected and despised by those around him.
\\ Heb 4:15-16
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