Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

Yeah a little bit about my wife and I we live in downtown Portland, which we'll get to that in a minute.

But we pastor at a church called Imago Dei Community has been there in the city for about 20 years now and it's really just a joy for us to escape the city to be here in eastern, Oregon.

Wild you guys here in Redmond?

So thank you for for having us to be here.

Well, that was that was the authority of God in the house.

Apparently, let me pray for us and then we can we can jump into the texted is it sound good father?

We thank you that you are good God that you are present with us here this morning.

Holy Spirit, we do ask that is we look at the scriptures as we open up your word God that you would shine a light into our hearts God.

I pray that you would just as we staying in that song Bring conviction God that you would help us to reorient in to realign ourselves to be the people that you called us to be here and Redmond here around this area.

We pray this in the name of Jesus and the church said amen.

Amen.

Like I was saying my wife and I we live in Portland, Oregon and we Pastor I pastored a church called and Mater Dei Community or a service to worship and arts pastor and we are smack dab in the middle of the city in the middle of the chaos in the tension.

And as I'm sure all of us have been watching the news is the past few months.

It's been one bad thing after another and it started back in March when we experience, you know, the pandemic we realized okay.

This thing is sweeping the world This is bad news and all the sudden it even though it hadn't affected it up at any of us and up in a personal way yet, either through illness or death.

We experience throughout the country a massive recession.

We've experienced this moment were I forget what the statistic is like how many people have been laid off or fired for unemployment and it's just been it's been bad news one after the other and then we've also experienced the past few months, even though it may not be present here in Redmond or in the bend area.

Just the mounting death toll like not just across the world in our own nation and you look at this and you're thinking all men.

This is this is this is terrible.

This is this Grieves Us in the capital off.

Most of us, especially in Portland have been stuck at home not allowed to go anywhere not allowed to go out being forced to wear masks.

It's just one bit of bad news after another and we concert Are on our phones addicted to just updates weekly daily almost hourly update just like has something changed something no more bad news, and it feels I think for us for my wife and I felt just like this real heaviness and almost at times just like this depressive state or just like, oh my gosh can it can it get any worse and then a couple weeks ago with the deaths of several black men across our country.

We saw our nation come come once again to a place of civil unrest looking at the nature of racial Injustice in our country and it's and it's Park protest.

It's it's been chaotic and where we live in the middle of downtown Portland.

We have heard almost every single night of the week helicopters.

Flying overhead and it's it's been crazy to the point where even just I think two or three days ago.

We were woken at 5 in the morning 5 in the morning Friday to police alerts asking all the residents in our neighborhood you live in the Pearl and downtown Portland all the residents in our neighborhood to stay in lockdown because of civil unrest in our community come to find out a bunch of people try to barricade the mare into his apartment building who happened to live like 5 blocks away from us and just you just absolute craziness right now, and I think And even if you look at all the snooze and then we think just like oh my gosh, like I don't even know if like the NFL season is going to be on or off this year.

Is it is there any hope for us that was one of my lame jokes about but here's the thing.

We looked at the media.

We look at the news.

I mean, it's no question whether or not the news is biased towards certain either political Sweeney's either to the left or to the right with the ones that we can be sure about is that bad news actually sells men.

How often do you open up your newsfeed and all the sudden?

You see good news.

How often do you open up your your news app on your phone or you turn on the television all the sudden?

You see something say this is great.

And the reason that we never see that is because the good news doesn't get the kind of ratings, which means that news outlets.

Don't get money Monica watts and I were just talking about this last night.

She's like this this system this cycle.

Chili feed this negativity so much so that I don't know if any of you know, who John Krasinski is he plays Jim in the office.

You got some money for that show The Office, it's great.

John Krasinski a couple months ago started his own little News Network called some good news and it blew up overnight and in all the sudden he starts sharing all these stories is the all the good things that are happening across our nation across decided right now in the midst of all the chaos and some bad news with with it.

Was that after he got bored with it a little while he decided to sell it for a couple billion dollars.

And so we just thought I'll grade you know, the one good thing that we had.

so what we have constantly in our world is just the thought the threat the fear is being given to us is being pushed at us in the first century.

When Paul's riding a little church in the city of Corinth.

It wasn't that much different.

The ancient world they experienced famine.

They experienced Wars experience threats of War experience uprisings.

They experienced economic instability.

When we think about what's happening in our world today.

We think this feels like the end of the world at the moment.

I am I the only one who feels that way.

This is the end of the world as we know it but even in the first century When the kingdom of God when the good news of Jesus was being proclaimed amidst the chaos.

Do we still all sorts of chaos going on?

Jesus comes on the scene and Israel proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God that God's Rule and Reign is at hand that there is a hope that there is a trust that we can put in him that he's going to set the world to rights that he is restoring all things the kingdom is now and it is beginning to take root and transform the world as we know it by the power of the spirit.

In Mark chapter 16 before he ascended into heaven he gave this come into his disciples after spending years with them on Earth.

He said that him and Mark 16 chapter start Mark chapter 16 verse 15.

He said to them go into all the world and preach proclaim the gospel the good news to all of creation.

That was the man that was the directive was given to the disciples and everything about that.

We're thinking.

Okay.

So the gospel preachers like you're doing you're sitting on a stage you're teaching your open up.

Yes, but also the fact that each and every single one of us as followers of Jesus are good news people that we may not just preach it with our voices, but we actually preach it with the totality of Our Lives each and every single one of us has a part to play in God's Mission and restoring the cosmos and restoring the world back to himself.

Does We read the scripture today?

I want us to keep this in mind.

So as we open up the 1st Corinthians chapter 9 and plus your bibles are going to read this together.

1st Corinthians chapter 9.

This is Father's Day.

This is this is like a pretty manly chunk of versus right here and you'll see why here in a second.

So 1st Corinthians chapter 9 verse 24.

does this Do you not know that in a race all the runners run but only one gets the prize?

To run in such a way as to get the prize.

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training and they do it to get a crown that will not last but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Therefore.

I do not run like someone running aimlessly.

I don't fight like a boxer beating the air know I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave.

So that after I have preached to others.

I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

What Paul is doing here is in if you've been following the past few weeks with what Brett has been teaching.

He's he's basically talked to the Corinthians about what is their posture in Corinth.

Are they going to use their freedom to serve themselves or are they going to self sacrifice for one another for the sake of the society that there in an in order to do that?

Paul actually gives them an example.

If you look at verses 1 through 23 of this chapter how he laid down all of his rights as an apostle all the things that you deserve to have.

He laid them down for the sake of lifting others up and then he says this is how I accomplished it.

This is how I accomplished it.

I beat my body.

I make it my slave.

I don't just let my body control the condition of how I want to live my life, but actually go into strict training I think about my discipleship as a runner.

I think about following Jesus as actually being in a fight.

It's bloody it's hard.

It's not fun.

The Corinthian context Paul uses these metaphors used to describe the nature of Walking With Jesus the nature of being faithful to Jesus and he uses the isthmian games as an example.

So the isthmian games if you're not familiar with that it was second only to the Olympics that started in Athens a couple centuries prior and every four years just outside of the city of Corinth in games would take place where thousands would gather from across the region and people would compete in competitions like running and fighting.

An easy Victory think this is what it is like to follow Jesus.

Did you think about going to strict training as a runner where you're not just running aimlessly, but you're actually having intentionality.

We are actually having stripped Focus you actually training your physical life to reflect what you know to be true in the gospel.

He describes running think it's like being in a stadium and seeing runners in these guys that would transfer this.

They wouldn't just show up one day and say like I'm on the run has discipline run a marathon or half-marathon before you get that there is strict training your strict discipline that goes into play.

Okay.

I'm going to run five miles today 7 miles and next day and it's not like you can just show up on the race day and think okay.