Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

 

First Sermon, Eph.

2:11-22 > NIGHTMARE > 8 min.

long... or short (about only redeeming factor, maybe)

 

So, I offer you the “New & Improved” version!

When I preached that 1st sermon, during time considering going on to Ph.D., and I swore off preaching > ripped off and threw lapel mic into desk drawer and told Dagny, “That was, without question, the most embarrassing moment of my life, and I intend never to preach again.”

:-)

 

But God grabbed me back from the Ph.D. track two different times to continue in pastoral ministry because I love to hear “new and improved” people tell their stories of God’s redemption in their lives.

You see, the church is unlike any other organization, company, civic group, or association in the world.

We are entrusted with a truly life-giving message.

Life transformation and the eternal destinies of real people depend on the redemptive message entrusted to the local church.

Entrusted to you and me.

Real.

Eternal.

Life change.

So I want, today, to add to your definition of what it means to be a part of the body of Christ.

That you would understand anew the ramifications of being church.

I want you to understand the Big Idea: As God’s new creation, we are citizens of His kingdom, members of His family, and stones in His holy temple.

Read Eph.

2:19-22

 

We are Citizens of God's kingdom.

John the Baptist proclaimed in his day, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2).

The kingdom was coming quickly.

In Jesus, the kingdom appeared on Earth.

In Luke 17:20–21, the Pharisees asked when the kingdom would come.

Jesus replied that "…indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."

Jesus spoke of us when he said to the Jews in Matthew 21:43, "Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits."

That "people" is us, the "new man" mentioned in verse 15 of Eph 2 and the “one body” in verse 16.

This kingdom can be described as the rule and reign of God in our lives.

When you became a believer, you surrendered your rights and submitted yourself to God's rule in your life.

Because of that you are no longer a stranger or a foreigner, but a citizen!

That's the phrase Paul uses in 2:19: we are now "fellow citizens with the saints."

Some versions say “God’s people” instead of “saints.”

Same thing.

Every saved person is a saint, and every saint is a citizen in God's kingdom.

In his kingdom there are no "strangers and foreigners" among his people.

There are no second-class citizens.

As citizens in the kingdom, as those who submit to the rule and reign of God in our lives, we have a common language, the language of love.

We have a common history, the community of faith.

We have a common allegiance, higher than any Earthly loyalty.

We have a common goal, the glory of God.

We have a common destination, heaven.

Phil.

3:20 says, "For our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

There are three benefits to being a citizen of God's kingdom.

First, this citizenship gives us identity.

The word "strangers" comes from a special Greek word that referred to groups of foreigners who settled in the city.

We see that today as small ethnic minorities cluster together.

The citizens often viewed these folks with fear and suspicion.

"Foreigners" meant someone even further down the scale, a person who takes up residence, but never adopts citizenship—aliens and refugees.

On the other hand, citizens were fiercely proud of their cities.

People's names often spoke of their citizenship, such as Saul of Tarsus and Jesus of Nazareth.

As citizens of God's kingdom, we have an eternal identity that is manifested in our fellowship and worldview.

Second, our citizenship gives us the privilege of full access to God.

Roman citizenship was highly prized in the first century.

It "included the right of voting, of being elected to a magistracy of appeal to the people, of contracting a legal marriage, and of holding property in the Roman community."

Paul used his citizenship on several occasions, notably the privilege of appealing his case to Caesar.

As believers, we have the privilege of full access to God.

 

Third, our citizenship gives us security.

We belong.

We have a home in Jesus.

I don’t know if you’ve ever lived for an extended period of time in a foreign city, but I once walked through the streets of Birmingham, England in the evening and saw, through uncurtained windows, families sitting around a table or reclining around a hearth, or open fire.

All this, of course, just made my loneliness even deeper.

We don’t experience this “in Christ” because we belong.

We are on the inside, not the outside.

Practical Question: Is your citizenship in the Kingdom or something else? Sports?

Intelligence?

Beauty?

Money?

Material goods?

Your age?

Your career?

Are you a card-carrying member of the I-go-to-church-but-that’s-it club?

Because there are a lot of people in that club.

“Narrow is the way,” says Jesus.

Because from wherever or from whatever you derive your identity, enjoy your privilege, or gain your security... that is where your citizenship really lies.

See, being here, sitting in a  pew, doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than going to McDonald’s makes you a Chicken McNugget.

But, if you have submitted to the rule and reign of God in your life, you are a citizen in God’s kingdom.

We are members of God's family.

One of the key phrases throughout Ephesians and all the epistles is "in Christ."

This little prepositional phrase describes the full content of our salvation.

We are baptized, by the Holy Spirit, into Christ's body.

Because we are "in Christ", we are also in Christ's family.

We are "members of the household of God" and are given the same inheritance he gives his Son.

Romans 8:17 says we are God's children, "and if children, then heirs; heirs of God and fellow heirs (co-heirs, joint heirs)) with Christ."

Hebrews 2:11 says, "[H]e who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one origin.

That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers.”

Hebrews 3:6 tells us that “Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son.

And we are his house if indeed we hold fast."

To be a citizen is to be a member of the family, too.

These are not distinct roles, but rather different views of the same reality.

The first metaphor says we are "fellow citizens with the saints."

It is a wonderful thing to be a citizen.

However, it is something else to be "members of the household."

To be a member of a family is a much more intimate relationship than to be a citizen of a kingdom.

In Christ, we have great intimacy, not only with God but also with each other, and we relate to one another as a family.

As Christians, we relate to one another as family in a few ways.

First, we live together as a family.

In Ephesians 3:15 we read about the "whole family in heaven and Earth."

We live here below with the part of the family that is on Earth.

Those in heaven dwell together as a family.

One day we will all be together as a "family in heaven."