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Caleb: In Any Circumstance

This past Sunday, my pastor spoke about something that to me was very convicting.  Pastor Ryan spoke all about what it truly means to trust in God through any circumstance.  In church we are going through a series discussing waiting for God, and this is appropriate as we have entered into the Christmas season. My pastor told a story about a real group of missionaries in the 1800’s who had traveled for months over seas to get to a group of people they were trying to reach. Records show that everyone in this group of people had died from the cold and starvation. There were no survivors at all.  But years later there was a journal found on this ship.  In it one, of the people who was sailing wrote about how much he believed that through all the trials they were going through; freezing cold, hunger, and loss, God was still right there beside them.  Pastor Ryan elaborated on all this and talked about how this is something we should all be striving for as Christians.

I thought rhetoric was active in this because he was able to make me feel conviction.  Making an audience feel convicted is a great tool to get a point across.  Having said that, my pastor did a good job at effectively using pathos, especially because in doing so, he was not being manipulative.  He spoke truth, as hard as it may have been to really grip.  Not only did he use pathos, but my relationship with my pastor is a good one and that personally helps me be more open to receive counsel, because I know his character. He also established ethos by admitting even he has a very difficult time trusting God when he is in trials.  This made me feel like I could relate with him.  In the church, it is important to use rhetoric to speak truth, rather than to manipulate, and through that we grow.
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Comments

  1. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2017 at 2:24 PM

    Your pastor is correct when you said that we should always have faith in God, but i did also like how he pointed out that we still will have some doubts during tough times.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2017 at 8:13 AM

    That is a very appropriate use of pathos to convey his point and he used ethos well when he admitted when he had challenges because that puts himself on equal footing as the audience.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alaina DudleyFebruary 28, 2017 at 5:36 AM

    This was a great explanation. I definitely agree and enjoy how he includes himself too, showing that he is on an equal level with us which makes me even more eager to listen. Good job pointing out the ethos and pathos, I enjoyed this.

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