It's a Heart Matter

Sermon Link: Pastor Jeff's Farewell Message

This sermon was preached by Jeff Seavey, former pastor of Living Water Church in Vancouver, Washington. This was his final sermon as the lead pastor of this church. At the time of his preaching, it was a bittersweet time for him and his family because they are leaving the church they've been at for the past 17 years but they are moving to the Los Angeles area to help their son who is in the music industry. They plan to share the gospel with those they meet through their son Daniel.

At the beginning, he speaks of his thought process of creating his sermon. He walks everyone through it. It is his routine for sermon making. I believe this is very strong use of ethos. Not many speakers show the audience what it took to plan the speech or sermon. He allows the audience to see the thought and time it takes and that there is thoughtfulness in his plan. He used the second canon of rhetoric which was organization. He also talked through why he picked to speak of John Newton and not of something else. Pathos was used a little when he shared with the congregation that his mom began to cry because he has been her pastor for 20 years and it will be a difficult transition for her.

Mr. Seavey spoke of John Newton and his life story. John Newton is most famously known for writing the hymn Amazing Grace. What really stuck out to me is when he quoted john Newton saying, ‘All I know is I am a great sinner, and I have a great Savior.” He uses quotes to put emphasis on his points. Pastor Jeff ends this point of his sermon with his hopes for the church and reminds believers they are saved because of their great Savior.

He goes on to talk about the shooting in a church in Texas that happened recently. He states that many people did not attribute the shooting to the killers heart. Many people refused to acknowledge it but instead they acknowledged all the things that happened to him. Pastor Jeff also talks about how many people have come up to him since he’s announced that he and his family are moving to Los Angeles and asked him why he would move there. He states that the people have dead hearts and they just need to be revived. He is brave to move down to a very sinful place in America and spread the gospel especially because it could potentially threaten his faith. This shows ethos because he is brave and prepared for whatever scrutiny may come his way.

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