Sermon Tone Analysis

Series Intro

Intro

One of the difficulties of Christianity and our relationship with God is that too often we have a misconception of God as a divine genni in the bottle type person that we summon with pray and we simply make a wish and he must grant it.

Many of us have a twisted view of God that says God is only God when God does what we ask of him and if he doesn’t then we are mad with God and some folks even walk away from the faith because of it.

And truthfully the church is at fault because we’ve convinced people that God is an on demand service that simply responds to our request so much so that we schedule deliverance services, we televise people in healing lines, we “use” to have testimonial services and the only folks who got up were folks who talked about how God did what they asked God to do.

And then you mess around and ask God to do that same thing and he doesn’t … what line do you get in when you’ve prayed a prayer and God doesn’t do what you’ve asked?

What happens to your faith when you hear other folks talk about God healing but he doesn’t heal you?

What happens to your faith when you hear others talk about God fixing their relationship but he doesn’t fix yours?

What happens to your faith when you hear others talk about God making a way but he doesn’t do it for you?

What do you do… when God doesn’t fix it?

This is the Christian maturing sermon.

Toddlers throw a tantrum when they don’t get their way but mature people know how to move forward when something doesn’t go as they expected.

And I’m convinced that the church has developed immature Christians who can’t handle it when God doesn’t fix it.

Our text this morning secures us in our relationship with God when God doesn’t meet our every demand.

Background

I. God’s Love Is Unconditional

There’s this series out on African American Relationships called Black Love, it has people like Rebbeca and Terry Crews, Fonsworth Bentley and his wife.

And one of the couples is this comedian named Kev the goes by Kev on Stage.

He and his wife had a clip and he described a troubling sitution that he was in, where he was about to drop out of school.... she took out a loan and paid his tuition so he could stay in school… and he said he was like “she loves me she really loves me.”

She loved him, she really did.

But listen even if she didn’t take out the loan for him, it didn’t mean that she didn’t love him.

The challenge is that we’ve been condition to think that a person demonstrates their love for us by what they do for us and if they stop doing for us then somehow they love us less.

And too often we bring that concept into our relationship with God.

We watch God do something for someone use and not us and we begin to rationalize why God hasn’t given us what we’ve asked for.

And too often we convince ourselves that it’s because we’ve somehow messed up so bad that God has held back demonstrating His love for us just to show us that we need to not mess up.

Listen to me good, just because God doesn’t do something that we’ve asked God to do doesn’t mean that God loves us any less.

Did you hear that…?

God’s love for you is not conditional.

In Greek there are four words for love:

-Phileo: companion love, is a love that responds to kindness, appreciation, or love.

It involves giving as well as receiving; but when it is greatly strained, it can collapse in a crisis

Storge’: is a natural affection or natural obligation, it’s the kind of love that a kid has for a dog.

Eros: is like romantic love.

But at it’s root it’s love that has self pleasure in mind.

Agape’: is called out of one’s heart by the preciousness of the object loved.

It is a love of esteem, of evaluation.

It has the idea of prizing.

It is the noblest word for love in the Greek language.2

And it’s not caused by the object of love by the the person loving.

God loves because it’s who He is.

This is important because is writing the people who had began to question his apostolic credibility .

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II.

God’s Plan Not Our Plan

In Luke 22:42 Jesus is praying in the garden and says… Father if you are willing let this cup pass from me but if not, let your will be done not mine.

III.

God Has A Purpose

Illustration: Convo with Ryan

If you believe God can change your circumstances but chooses not to, you have the option to receive those circumstances from him as a gift with a purpose and a promise: grace.

Reflection:

1.

Why do you think people assume that faith in God will remove adversity from life?

Have you ever made that assumption?

If so, how did it influence your relationship with God?

2. Is it difficult for you to accept that challenging circumstances can come from the hand of a loving God?

Why or why not?

3. Read 2 Corinthians 12:7–10.

What would it look like for you to “delight in weakness” for the sake of Jesus?

How would it change the way you respond to adversity?