Sermon Tone Analysis

Getting Rooted and Grounded In Love

I woke up that first morning in the 4th street Victory Outreach Men’s Home a little apprehensive, not knowing what to expect.

I thought to myself, What did I get myself into?

This is to early in the morning to be getting up?

For what? Prayer!

What is this place, a home for monks?

Then I remembered that I had already made my decision the day before to quit my job and do whatever they asked of me, if that is what I had to do as a Believer.

I just wanted to find Jesus again and be a part of His army, His family.

We gathered in the living room, each man standing in front of the couch or a chair.

The head staff person then read a few verses in the bible and made some comments.

Then he began leading us in songs of praise and worship.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing.

I was in a house surrounded by the kind of people I hated the most in life: cons, gang members and heroin addicts.

They were lifting their hands and boldly singing out loud, unashamed or afraid of what they looked like or what others thought of them.

Later, as time went on, I grew to love their attitude and copied it.

At the end of the last song the head staff person asked for prayer request and each man took turns asking us to join him in praying for the salvation of his families and other specific needs.

Then, on a given signal, they all turned and knelt before the couch or chair and began praying.

There was no loud music playing back then, and only a couple of guys were praying out loud, and not knowing what to do, I just listened and copied what the others were doing.

I heard the kinds of things they prayed about and I noticed that they spoke directly to God, asking Him, sometimes telling Him, to answer their request.

Some of the men were very specific, naming persons, places, and describing things so that God got all the details.

Others, were kind of vague, as if they didn’t want the others to know what they were thinking, and some seem to be taking advantage of the opportunity and were preaching more than praying.

Still others prayed silently or not at all.

I have since learned that every home has men who go through the program just sleeping through prayer time.

That was the beginning and I was determined to do whatever it took to find Jesus again.

I found that pretty soon I wasn’t copying the other men any more, I was praying and talking to God on my own, with my own personal request, and the more I talked to Him the closer I got to Him.

Soon after my first week in the Men’s Home I bought my first Bible (I still have it) and when I started reading the Bible regularly and combined it with my new prayer life my spiritual growth exploded.

But the most powerful tool I learned how to use while in the home was discovered late at night when the lights went out.

You see, as I began growing spiritually I couldn’t get enough of Jesus and His Word.

I wanted more.

Often times we would get home from a church service or a Bible study where God had manifested His presence in a powerful and real way, and I just didn’t want to leave His presence, I wanted more.

Like a little kid clinging to his father I just didn’t want to let go of God.

I had to do something to stay near Him.

Many times you could find me under the blankets with a flashlight trying to read “just one more chapter” or one more story.

Then one day I notice this room next to our room that was used mainly to store things.

It had a window that overlooked downtown Los Angeles and a view of a church that had this neon sign that said, “Jesus Saves.”

To my great delight, it had a small soffit or chase that ran alongside the wall, just wide enough for someone to kneel on.

The room quickly became my private meeting place with God.

Late at night I would meet with God and just talk my head off.

I didn’t just ask God for things there, I shared my deepest and most intimate thoughts, desires, hopes and dreams with Him.

I even would sing and worship Him sharing my full emotions, but the most important thing I learned was to listen to His voice as He shared His thoughts with me.

The more time I spent with God and listening to Him in this place, the more I grew to love Him.

Of all the disciplines we were taught in the Home this is the one that has stuck with me and has carried me throughout my Christian life.

I grew to love my time alone with God and cherish it so much that it is the top priority for me each day.

The first voice, the first opinion, the first thought I want to hear in the morning isn’t the radio or the TV or my roommates…it is the voice of God.

In order to understand how and why this discipline has impacted my life so much let’s take a quick look at the purpose of spiritual disciplines.

Why has God provided us with spiritual disciplines?

The answer is simple when we look at the content of the Bible.

Although it has many letters, stories, poems and wisdom literature, we find that from Genesis to Revelation God is concerned about “relationship,” especially the relationship between Believers and God.

Genesis tells us about a relationship that was lost and Revelation tells us of a relationship that will be fully restored.

All the rest of the Bible reveals who God is and tells us all that God did to establish this relationship.

Did you ever notice what Jesus calls “eternal life” in John 17:3?

He says that eternal life is “knowing the only true God.”

The Greek word ginosko “ginosko,” can also be translated as “to come to know, recognize, perceive or understand.”

So the passage can be written as, “Now this is eternal life: that they may come to know or recognize or perceive you,…” giving the idea of coming to know God on a personal level.

The prophet Jeremiah reveals that coming to know God on a personal level brings Him more delight than anything else in the World.

NIV Jeremiah 9:23 This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, 24 but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

Then, in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus reminds us that the highest calling a man can receive is to know God intimately.

Mark 12:33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices."

Finally, in order to emphasize how important this is to God, the other gospel writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, felt it was necessary to back up Mark’s evaluation of this relationship.

NIV Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

NIV Mark 12:29 "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'

In fact God wanted this relationship so much that He gave His only begotten Son to get it.

NAU John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Aren’t we always telling non-believers that our faith is not a religion but a relationship?

God created us for this relationship but because of the “fall of Mankind” that relationship has been marred.

God is holy and only holy people can have a relationship with God.

NIV Hebrews 12:14 Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

All Believers have heard and believe that God saved them when they heard the gospel and said that little prayer of faith to invite Jesus to be the Lord of their lives.

But how many Believers realize that their salvation is actually three-fold.

God wants their salvation to be complete which includes making them holy so that they can have a relationship with God forever.

So, they were saved at conversion, they are being saved now through sanctification, and they will be saved in their future glorification.

1) Salvation is immediate and instant.

Believers change positions at conversion from “slaves to sin” to “slaves to righteousness.”

2) Salvation is progressive.

Believers are being changed daily through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

God is making them Holy.

3) Salvation is transforming and they will finally be glorified, made completely holy, when they meet Jesus face to face.

The Spiritual Disciplines are given to Believers to make sanctification possible.

This is God’s way of transforming our character.

Sanctification is the process that the Holy Spirit uses to “set us apart and make us holy to God.”

It is a process that takes place all our lives.

The spiritual disciplines allow the Holy Spirit to change our self-centered nature, our character.

No Believer will ever know God intimately if they do not put these Spiritual Disciplines into practice.

NLT Hebrews 12:8 If God doesn't discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all.

To help understand how discipline works keep in mind the principle found in Psalm 127:1, God builds and man labors.

NAU Psalm 127:1 …Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain.

It is like the farmer who cannot grow the grain.

The farmer works to provide the right conditions for the grain to grow, but God grows the grain.

By practicing the Spiritual Disciplines the believer provides the right conditions for spiritual growth.

Like any farmer knows, in order to prepare the ground it better to have the right tool for the job.

God has provided us with the right tool, the Bible.

The Word of God helps us by giving us the instructions on how to live a holy, disciplined life.

When we respond to the instructions in God’s Word we prepare the ground for the Holy Spirit to do His work.

When used properly, the Word of God working through the Spiritual Disciplines will help to change the Believer’s “knowledge about God,” into “knowledge of God.”

That is, they will grow into a deep, intimate, loving, personal relationship with God.

Every Believer should keep in mind that the enemy, the Devil also knows how important spiritual discipline is.

Satan, the Believer’s adversary, and all the spiritual forces of evil do not want anyone to hear or receive anything from God.

They will use all in their power to keep the Believer from hearing, receiving, understanding, or seeking guidance and knowledge from the Lord.

The three major tools of the Devil are “noise,” “hurry,” and “crowds.”