My Pastor on Sunday preached on confidence in God. He asked the question, "Do we really display full confidence in God?" He gave the passage Isaiah 8:9-9:7. The people mentioned in this chapter did not really trust in God. He talked about the Assyrians bringing fear upon everyone but God is the true light in that darkness. When we go through tough time, we tend to want to fix it ourselves so we forget that God has ultimate control over what happens. We have to realize that whatever happens is God's plan and if we focus on fixing it or controlling it on our own, then we are disrespecting God's sovereignty and will for our lives. We do not do it purposefully, its rather an instinct that we cannot shake, but when you give God ultimate control it gets easier. This is a great point and helps me understand how things will only get better if we display full confidence in God and His righteous plan. Our Pastor emphasized that Isaiah was saying to stop focusing on the current situation but to focus on God's will. Our Pastor is very involved with his messages. He uses a lot of hand gestures to get his point across and makes good, solid points to help us understand what he is trying to say. He also breaks down the passages into sections so he can take the time to thoroughly explain what the passage is communicating. He uses ethos strongly throughout his messages by continuously referring his thoughts and points back to scripture and making sure they tie in with one another. He also uses pathos in a way that makes the audience feel conviction towards what he is preaching so we can apply what he is saying to our lives.
While browsing on Google I found an old advertisement. The ad was for Lustre-Crème Shampoo. It featured Marilyn Monroe, known for her beauteous looks and her parts in different movies. One of her movies was Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Lustre-Crème was attempting to sell their shampoo through the use of fallacies. By saying that Marilyn Monroe that tells you nothing about the actual product: it simply attracts you to the pretty face in the picture. Using this as an argument of why someone should buy your product is quite illogical. Just because Marilyn Monroe uses it doesn’t provide assurance of its abilities. They attempt using snob appeal by trying to make the audience believe that they could be like Marilyn Monroe if they use the same product as her. They use appeal to illegitimate authority by using Marilyn Monroe to promote their product. Although she herself is a customer, this is still rather irrelevant. She herself has no type of expertise in hair products and knows nothing that
I appreciated the fact that you noted your pastor makes sure to refer his points back to Scripture. A message like this one can sometimes sound repetitive and over simplified. Instead of your pastor just saying, "Don't worry now, because God has a plan," he supports this truth and gives it more substance with the Word. This is definitely a necessity when leading and teaching others.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that if we do not allow God to control our lives, than we are disrespecting his authority. I never really thought about it that way. That was a really insightful point to make.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great choice in sermons to write on. This is a subject I believe many people struggle with, and from what I have read here, your pastor presented it well. I love how you were able to tie both pathos and ethos into this post through the sermon. I also like how you brought a key verse into this post in order to give the reader a glimpse of what your sermon was about.
ReplyDeleteI know sometimes, there is point of the life you are down, and say why God put us in this situation. But it is important to have confidence in God. Good job Alaina
ReplyDeleteGood job Alaina. I agree with what you said, whatever happens is just part of God's plan, and nobody can change that.
ReplyDeleteI often struggle remembering that God has a plan for me and will lead me through it. Good post.
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