Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

On mission… That is quite a loaded statement.

Some of our minds go to military combat when we think about that phrase.

Some of you maybe even served in the military or serve in the military.

We are grateful for your service my friends.

Others may hear that phrase and think of the space program.

Mission control.

Or the different space missions that we have attempted over the years.

However, today’s message is about a different kind of being on mission.

It is about being on mission for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I pray that as we learn more about what it means to be on mission for Christ, we are encouraged to stay focused on the mission God has called us to.

Let us pray.

Prayer

I am sure that last week many of you felt a little off balance as I pivoted from Colossians to give a quick one week sermon on Philemon.

I pray that today, it becomes more clear why we did that!

This is an interesting section of Scripture that we are studying today.

Paul gives one of his most lengthy personal messages here despite the letter only being four chapters in modern division.

And he spends 12 verses of the 95 total verses of Colossians giving a greeting and farewell.

Many pastors skip over verses such as these, yet this is unfortunate because there is something for us to glean in all of Scripture.

And today, we will see some wonderful encouragement and admonition from this section of God’s Word.

As I have already mentioned, I have entitled today’s message, “On Mission.”

We are going to see a group of believers in the early church that took their mission seriously.

I pray that as we study these verses, we are encouraged to take our mission seriously as well.

Today we are going to discuss three ways that we are to be on mission.

The first is...

I.

When on Mission, You Should… Deliver the Message (7-9)

We are introduced to the two letter carriers here.

Tychicus and Onesimus.

Last week we spent some time discussing the situation with Onesimus.

He was a runaway slave from Philemon who had come to a saving knowledge of Christ through Paul’s ministry.

We saw that Philemon had come to a saving knowledge of Christ through Paul as well!

Paul sent the letter to Philemon with these two men at the same time as this letter to the Colossians.

The letter of Philemon was one that encouraged forgiveness of Onesimus and reconciliation for these two men so that they could serve the church together.

Knowing this background of Onesimus, it is interesting that although Paul refers to himself and Tychicus as a fellow servant in the Lord, he refrains from calling Onesimus a servant and instead calls him a beloved brother and faithful.

We can learn a lot from Paul’s grace here.

As an old man, he has learned more and more about the grace and love of Jesus Christ.

It is evident in his writings.

It is important to note Paul’s affinity to Onesimus in his letter to Philemon.

He refers to Onesimus as his child in the faith and that by sending him, he is sending his very heart to Philemon (Philemon 10,12).

But who is Tychicus?

His name means fortunate.

He was fortunate enough to hear the words of eternal life from Paul and serve alongside him.

He is actually mentioned 5 times in the Scriptures.

He was so trusted by Paul that he was considered as a temporary replacement for Titus as the pastor of the church in Crete while Titus was absent (Titus 3:12).

2 Timothy 4:12 shows Tychicus’ value to Paul as he is sent to lead the church in Ephesus in Timothy’s absence.

Most theologians think that Tychicus not only carried the letter to Philemon and Colossians, but also carried the letter to the church in Ephesus based on Ephesians 6:21-22:

I mention all of this information about these two men because they were entrusted with carrying the Word of God to the churches.

Tychicus and Onesimus were trusted men in whom Paul was assured that they would deliver the messages he sent.

My friends, are we trustworthy enough to deliver the message we have been given?

What is this message you may object?

The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The message that salvation is free and available to all who would repent of their sins and place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

This Jesus who gave His life for sinners some 2000 years ago on that tree at Calvary - and rose from the dead three days later and now has ascended into heaven and is actively interceding on behalf of those who are His saved children.

Are you delivering this message church?

First and foremost, you can’t deliver what you don’t have.

Do you have this message?

Do you understand the saving power of the Gospel in a personal way?

Have you given your entire life to Christ and not held anything back.

As we have discussed last week, the Gospel demands your life.

All of you.

We are to hold nothing back from our Savior.

I’m going to ask some tough questions for a moment as we consider why we might not deliver the message.

Do you not think the message is worth sharing?

Is the message not life-changing enough for you?

Or, as most believers in our nation probably undoubtedly fall into - Do you value how people like you more than you value their eternal soul?

Repent brothers and sisters.

Repent of your selfishness that desires your own reputation over the soul of another.

Repent for loving yourself more than your God and your neighbor.

And deliver the message my friends.

Deliver it like people’s lives depend on it.

Because they do.

Who has believed who has never heard?

And who can hear unless one preaches it to them!

We must be delivering the message personally and we must be sending out others as we see in Romans 10:15 here.

Today we are going to commission a couple who is preparing to deliver this message of the Gospel.

And they are preparing to deliver it in a likely hostile territory where the Gospel has not yet reached.

We are following through with sending others.

But can we not also do it here?

Can we not share it with our neighbors and friends and family?

We have the greatest message to deliver in the history of the universe.

We have the Gospel.

Friends, be faithful and deliver the message to the masses.

Next we see that...

Scripture References: Philemon 10,12, Titus 3:12, 2 Timothy 4:12, Ephesians 6:21-22, Romans 10:14-15

II.

When on Mission, You Should… Be Devoted to the Work (10-14)

Next we come to another group of believers that are mentioned.

This section has greetings that Paul sends on behalf of his friends and co-laborers in the faith.

This section starts off by mentioning a man named:

Aristarchus - trusted minister of the faith

He was a man from Thessalonica (Acts 27:2) who was of Jewish decent despite his Greek name.

He was a trusted man who was charged to take up a collection for the saints and transfer it to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4).

He was obviously dedicated to the cause of Christ as he became a fellow prisoner with Paul.

He had even suffered by being beaten along with Paul as seen in Acts 19:29.

John Mark (Cousin of Barnabas) - the man with a second chance

John Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Mark, has been widely known as a deserter.

We see in Acts 13 that he accompanied Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s first missionary journey and for some unknown reason left and returned home after they entered Asia.

This led to a sharp disagreement later when Barnabas wanted to take Mark on their second missionary journey and Paul did not.

This sharp disagreement led to the splitting of these two godly men - Paul and Barnabas.