Sermon Tone Analysis

Good morning/afternoon!

Sermon Title : Jesus Can Hold the Peg, So can you

Occasion : English Sanctuary Service

Location : Paya Lebar Methodist Church Sanctuary

Good morning/afternoon!

Let us Pray…

This morning, we are going to start on a new sermon series call “So Can you”

What is that, Pastor?

You know the acronym that was so popular in the 1980s, “WWJD?”

<Slide>

Which is short-form of “What Would Jesus Do” and is actually coined by Charles Sheldon, an evangelical preacher in the 1800s,

who pointed his listeners to the way Jesus lived His life when Jesus walked among us…

encouraging them to model their lives after Jesus…

In a similar manner, we hope that in this sermon series,

As each of the pastors take a look at a particular aspect of the ministry of Jesus we hope to gleam principles from it that we can apply into our lives…

And as to the title of the series,

it is inspired from a popular cooking series in the 1980s which featured Martin Yan

<slide>

Who was able to cook very elaborate dishes but the main point is that he always encouraged the audience and viewer that they can imitate him and cook just as well as he did…

And he did that by closing the shows by saying something like this in his Hong Kong accent…

“As you can see… just a little pepper and salt… fry a little only… and we can create this very delicious dish… it’s so simple… you should definitely try it at home… because if Yan can cook… so can you… Goodnight everybody”

<title slide again>

In the same way, over the next few weeks,

even as we draw inspiration and learn from our great high-priest,

as we look to God to help us be more Christ-like,

remember the words recorded for us in that says

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”[1]

In other words, over the next few weeks,

As we look into the bible and the records of His earthly ministry,

We will gleam from those sources to find out how we can be more Christ-like and if we ever get a sense that we cannot do something…

We will be assured with the words “if Jesus can do it, So can you”

<Pause>

So what are we going to touch on today?

Today, I am going to preach on a difficult topic…

I wish I don’t have to, but I felt that it is necessary, and I hope that you will be able to journey with me as we listen to what I think is important for us to hear today…

And I hope after sharing, you will still be willing to shake my hand at the door later…

I am going to talk about how Jesus was holding on to the peg…

But what does that mean?

I’m not going to tell you yet, but I would like to invite you to sit back and watch this video that our Audio-visual ministry had prepared for us…

<show video>

I hope it’s clear from the video just now that today,

we are going to talk about forgiveness …

then some of you will ask…

so what has this got to do with Jesus holding on to the peg?

You see, the first point that I would like to share with you this morning is that:

1. Jesus held onto the pegs so that we can be forgiven of our sins

And that we know He did that by dying on the cross for us by holding on to the pegs on the cross so that He can pay the ransom for us and purchasing us with His precious blood…

This, we remember every time we come together to celebrate the Holy Communion on the first week of the month…

And more intentionally during the Easter weekend in about a month’s time…

Wait… wait… wait…

Pastor, are you ok or not?

What do you mean by holding on to the pegs on the cross?

Wasn’t he nailed onto the cross?

Wasn’t he held onto the cross by the nails?

Well, yes, technically that is correct….

But in reality, Jesus was able to come down from the cross any point of time…

Listen to his words, recorded for us in that says

“18 No one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.

I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again…”[2]

So when the chief priests and teachers of the law mocked him by saying “He saved others… but he can’t save himself” in , their words were correct but just in a different order… it should be he cannot save himself because he wanted to save others…

In other words, Jesus chose to be on the cross for us, to die for our sins not because He had no choice…

But precisely because He had a choice,

He chose to do whatever it takes to save us,

and that meant hanging onto the pegs on the cross on Calvary so that we can be forgiven…

Ok, pastor… I can buy that…

But why are you talking about that right now?

We are all Christians you know?

Yes, most of us are Christians,

but I thought it would be a good reminder for us every now and then,

that while our salvation may come rather easily for the most of us…

It is by no means without cost… it is just that it had been paid by someone else…

And at a very high cost…

Now, I know there are some whose salvific may be a little more difficult,

Because of situations at home or at work,

But even compared to the things that some of our spiritual siblings have to go through,

Especially those in the Middle East, North Korea for example…

The things we go through are relatively mild…

And because of that, sometimes we forget how privileged we are…

And what it really means to be forgiven…

I thought as well they this is perhaps as good a time as ever,

Why?

Because right now, we are currently in the season of Lent,

Which is the season in our church calendar just before the Easter during which the Christians prepare for the Easter…

Now, the preparation for Easter is not just during the Holy Week,

But traditionally, it is a season that extends 40 days (excluding Sundays, which are seen as mini-celebrations) before Easter,

This season begins on Ash Wednesday, which this year was on the 6th of March,

A little more than a week ago…

Traditionally, some churches commemorate Ash Wednesday by having a service during which members are invited to write on small pieces of cards or paper a sin or something that they want to seek forgiveness for,

Then the card is placed in a grate which is burned with palm branches collected from the Palm Sunday the year ago, [UMBW]

And the ashes are then placed on the foreheads of worshippers,

A process called the imposition of ashes…

And it is traditional to wear ash-coloured clothes just like my shirt and tie…

And the purpose of this is to remind worshippers of the mortality and vulnerability of man to sin, and therefore our need to seek forgiveness from God,

This therefore begins a season of self-denial and fasting for worshippers,

And why is this important?

I believe that the practice of self-denial and fasting is fast becoming forgotten and almost archaic in today’s world whereby the prevailing message of the world is “how can I get the best deal out of this?”

“What is it I can get out of this?

Or how can the church benefit me?”

I suspect… in today’s world, these self-serving and self-gratifying thoughts are so prevalent that it almost become unthinkable for some of us that some people are doing something purely because he or she thinks it is the right thing to do…