Monday, November 24, 2008

IT WILL NEVER CHANGE

Sunday Sermon
November 23, 2008
Rhema Community Church

Sermonic Skeleton

Sermonic Scripture

ESV Isaiah 40:1-8 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. 2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins. 3 A voice cries: "In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken." 6 A voice says, "Cry!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Sermonic Sentence: This pericope teaches us about the transient nature of all flesh and the timeless truth of God’s word.

Sermonic Point: All flesh will be changed by a word that never changes.

Sermonic Context:

NLT 2 Kings 18:13-20 In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah's reign, King Sennacherib of Assyria came to attack the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them. 14 King Hezekiah sent this message to the king of Assyria at Lachish: "I have done wrong. I will pay whatever tribute money you demand if you will only go away." The king of Assyria then demanded a settlement of more than eleven tons of silver and about one ton of gold. 15 To gather this amount, King Hezekiah used all the silver stored in the Temple of the LORD and in the palace treasury. 16 Hezekiah even stripped the gold from the doors of the LORD's Temple and from the doorposts he had overlaid with gold, and he gave it all to the Assyrian king. 17 Nevertheless the king of Assyria sent his commander in chief, his field commander, and his personal representative from Lachish with a huge army to confront King Hezekiah in Jerusalem. The Assyrians stopped beside the aqueduct that feeds water into the upper pool, near the road leading to the field where cloth is bleached. 18 They summoned King Hezekiah, but the king sent these officials to meet with them: Eliakim son of Hilkiah, the palace administrator, Shebna the court secretary, and Joah son of Asaph, the royal historian. 19 Then the Assyrian king's personal representative sent this message to King Hezekiah: "This is what the great king of Assyria says: What are you trusting in that makes you so confident? 20 Do you think that mere words can substitute for military skill and strength? Which of your allies will give you any military backing against Assyria?

NLT 2 Kings 19:20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer about King Sennacherib of Assyria.

NLT Luke 3:1-6 It was now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, the Roman emperor. Pilate was governor over Judea; Herod Antipas was ruler over Galilee; his brother Philip was ruler over Iturea and Traconitis; Lysanias was ruler over Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were the high priests. At this time a message from God came to John son of Zechariah, who was living out in the wilderness. 3 Then John went from place to place on both sides of the Jordan River, preaching that people should be baptized to show that they had turned from their sins and turned to God to be forgiven. 4 Isaiah had spoken of John when he said, "He is a voice shouting in the wilderness: 'Prepare a pathway for the Lord's coming! Make a straight road for him! 5 Fill in the valleys, and level the mountains and hills! Straighten the curves, and smooth out the rough places! 6 And then all people will see the salvation sent from God.' "

Sermonic Structure:

I. GODS WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NATURE OF IT
(Isaiah 40.1-2)

II. GODS WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NEWS CONTAINED WITHIN IT (Isaiah 40.3-5)

III. GODS WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE OF THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO’S LIVES ARE BEING TRANSFORMED BY IT (Isaiah 40.6-8)

5 comments:

Clinton Smith said...

Good outline, Ron!

Fitts said...

Preach preacher... Great outline!

Pastor A. A. McGhee said...

Great outline! You are a beast. Thank God for your ministry.

Keith D. Witherspoon said...

Great Exposition!!!

Pastor Lance A. Mann said...

Outstanding job once again doctor!!!

Lance