Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Have you ever been in a Spiritual Slump?
“Stuck in a rut” activities:
your prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling
bitter with the pastor
go through the motions with your worship
not showing joy at home
fostering hate for other people
Crusty Bread
Psalm 71:12 (NLT) - O God, don’t stay away.
My God, please hurry to help me.
But maybe some of you really feel that you are not up to what the Bible says.
Have you ever felt like that?
Have you ever felt that there are too many demands in the Bible?
Have you ever felt that you have lost your spiritual edge?
Have you ever felt like that the challenges that God has for our church may be too much?
READ 2 Kings 6:1-4 - these guys want to grow!
I believe that now is not the time to coast.
Now is not the time to sit back and say I’ve given too much.
God has put you here in this church for a reason.
God has put this church here in this town for a reason.
God has put you here for this time, this place, and this people so that you can live out the Scriptures and show people Jesus.
But then this guy loses his spiritual edge - READ 2 Kings 6:5
As one of the men were chopping down a tree to expand his church, his ax, his cutting edge, flew off the handle and went into the Jordan River and sunk.
That was a really bad day for this guy for a couple reasons:
1.
In Bible days iron was very rare.
An iron tool was even more rare.
2. It was borrowed.
So he was very upset that he had lost his ax.
He couldn’t return it.
3.
He couldn’t continue his job.
Without such a tool, he’d be stuck in a rut.
So this guy has lost his ax, his edge.
He has lost the very tool that he borrowed to make a difference in this world.
Now here is where a miracle comes.
THREE RESTORATIVE STEPS:
1. ADMIT YOU LOST YOUR CUTTING EDGE.
The very first thing that this man, whose name was not given, does is run to his spiritual leader and tell him that he has lost the very tool that would help him bring glory to God.
This was embarrassing – here he was chopping away (working for God) and his ax goes flying off!
He could have done several things: he could have made excuses, blamed others, or pretended like he still had it.
We do that too, sometimes.
When we lose our spiritual edge, we make excuses, blame others, or worse, pretend like everything is OK.
The way you face music in a thermometer of your edge:
1. Appreciate in joy
2. Bitterness grow
Some of us are kind of prison singers – behind a few bars and never have the right key.
Maybe you’re that way.
Ephesians 5:19 - Speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord.
They’re pretending like they’re close to God when they’re not.
That’s tragic.
In fact, I think the saddest verse in the Bible is the one about Samson where it says, he’d lost all his power but he didn’t know it.
Judges 16:19-20 (NIV) - Samson's strength left him while he slept.
Then Delilah called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”
He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.”
But he did not know that the Lord had left him.
The saddest thing, the most tragic sight is a Christian who’s lost his/her cutting edge and still going through the motions.
They’re pretending like they’re close to God when they’re not.
That is just like this man pretending he still has his cutting edge as he was chopping wood!
That’s tragic.
What do you do when your heart is not in it?
You stop taking risks.
Your vision shrinks.
You stop taking risks.
You start playing the safe side, being predictable, ho-hum, settling for second best, being an also ran.
You’re not stretching, you’re not growing, you’re not reaching out in faith.
No, you just kind of back off and live this comfortable little existence
It is tragic because when you lose your spiritual power several things and keep pretending everything is OK, you start to lose your love for God’s ways.
This was embarrassing – here he was chopping away (working for God) and his ax goes flying off!
He could have done several things:
Excuses
Blamed Others
Pretended like he still had it
This man, however, realizes the dangers of pretending and goes to the very person he trusts.
He tells a person he trusts his exact problem.
Admit it.
That’s the first step.
Find someone you trust that will help you say to God: I’m not as close to You as I used to be.
My heart has grown cold.
Things don’t move me like they used to.
I need You to light the fire again in my hart.
I need the passion back.
I need to feel Your presence in my life.
Admit it.
READ 2 Kings 6:6a
2. ACKNOWLEDGE WHERE YOU LOST YOUR CUTTING EDGE.
When this man admitted to Elisha that he needed help, Elisha forced him to go to the very spot where he lost it.
Elisha asked him, “Where did it fall?” and the man pointed out the exact spot.
He was honest and specific with Elisha.
When we lost our cutting edge, we also need to go to the exact spot we lost it.
We need to be honest and specific with where we lost our spiritual passion.
Maybe there is something that just “hurts too bad!”
Your heart has been broken, a relationship is over, a disease has coursed through your body, or your burdened with too much debt.
That’s where you lost your edge.
Something hurts and your pride says, “I can make it on my own.”
Lost your spiritual edge:
Distractions - forest - squirrel
Dessertion - swamp
Disobedience - boulder
Disconnect - jungle
Disease - swamp
Where ever it is where you lost your spiritual edge, I want you to know that Jesus has been waiting patiently for you right there.
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