Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
This automated analysis scores the text on the likely presence of emotional, language, and social tones. There are no right or wrong scores; this is just an indication of tones readers or listeners may pick up from the text.
A score of 0.5 or higher indicates the tone is likely present.
Emotion Tone
Anger
0.09UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.09UNLIKELY
Fear
0.15UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.62LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.29UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.77LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.77LIKELY
Extraversion
0.18UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.89LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.52LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Paul and Silas and Timothy—the missionaries who took the gospel to the Thessalonians—consider the Thessalonians as family, because, of course, they are family in Christ.
There’s a shared love for one another and a common longing to be with one another.
Life together is what they long for, what they desire.
Life together is the goal, the hope, the longing of the people of God.
They want to be gathered with the church; that’s a matter of chief importance.
In chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians, Paul is speaking to his church family in Thessalonica and reminding them what Life Together looks like.
We get to read what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians; we get to read what the Holy Spirit inspired and preserved for us here today.
If you have your Bible (and I hope you do) please turn with me to 1 Thessalonians 3. If you are able and willing, please stand with me for the reading of God’s Holy Word.
This is the Word of the LORD!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Motivated by a deep longing to see them again and be with the newly established church in Thessalonica, Paul is writing to encourage them in the midst of their suffering.
Paul’s basic encouragement is that
We Suffer Together
Notice the word “trials” in verse 3 and the word “persecuted” in verse 4.
Trials are the troubles that face believers.
This is the same word used to describe the seed cast upon the rocky soil in the Parable of the Sower.
As the sun scorches the plants and causes them to wither, so the trials/troubles we face beat us down.
The Thessalonians were being persecuted.
They were sure to suffer affliction.
This is the crushing oppression that occurs in the believer’s life when they are faithfully following Christ.
The author of Hebrews speaks of this kind of crushing persecution which some of the faithful experienced.
Hebrews 11:36-38 “Some faced jeers and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.
They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword.
They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted, and mistreated—the world was not worthy of them.”
The Thessalonians are suffering for their faith, suffering as very new believers.
We don’t experience this level of suffering in this part of the world.
In many places round the world, our brothers and sisters in Christ aren’t spared persecution; many of them are risking their earthly lives by believing in and confessing Christ.
Almost immediately upon their reception of the gospel, Jason and some other Christians in Thessalonica are dragged before the local officials, accused of treason, and made to post bond.
You might think these people would say, “Hey, forget this whole Jesus thing!
It’s not worth the trouble.”
It’s the opposite.
The trade-off is so lopsided, it’s not even funny.
The Thessalonians don’t renounce their faith.
They stand firm, as Paul says in verse 8: “For now we really live, since you are standing firm in the Lord.”
Paul and Silas knew the Thessalonians were suffering; they were still in Thessalonica when a mob incited an uproar about these Christian missionaries/troublemakers.
Aware of their suffering, Paul and Silas sent Timothy to help the Thessalonians through their time of suffering.
We Suffer Together.
We are able to strengthen and encourage one another as we suffer—inevitably, unavoidably.
Remember: Paul and Silas are suffering, too.
1 Thess 3:7 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.”
These are serious troubles.
Distress is a “choking” or a “pressing”.
Persecution is the same “crushing trouble” facing the Thessalonians.
Together—distress and persecution, choking and pressing—these combine to emphasize that Paul’s situation was far from a happy one.
It’s not all fairy tales and rainbows and puppy dog kisses for Paul.
So when he receives the good news about the Thessalonians, about their faith and steadfastness in suffering, Paul is encouraged in his suffering.
Paul says he and Silas were comforted.
The good news of the Thessalonians’ faith and love actually helped Paul through his trouble.
Sometimes we need the faith of others to help us along, like the friends of the paralyzed man who carried him to Jesus.
They tore a hole in the roof and lowered him down.
It was their faith that helped their friend (Mark 2:3-5).
1 Thess 3:7 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.”
That’s how it works.
When I see my fellow believers come to worship, making time to gather together, knowing many of you are troubled, struggling, and suffering—it’s a huge dose of encouragement.
Your faith, your steadfast commitment to Christ amid trials/suffering strengthens my faith and the faith of others.
We Suffer Together.
And we remind one another of what’s true.
I want us to think about something for a second.
In verses 3-4, Paul says about the trials and the persecution the Thessalonians were facing: we are destined for them and when we were with you we kept telling you that we would be persecuted.
This— trials and persecution—was part of what Paul taught them in the very short time he was there in Thessalonica.
One of Paul’s first sermon series was on suffering for faith.
He didn’t follow the church-growth, seeker-sensitive model of telling people what they wanted to hear.
Paul spoke the truth about what the Thessalonians would witness and then what they themselves would very quickly experience at the hands of their fellow townspeople.
For the Christian, suffering is simply a guarantee.
Paul says, “We told you we were all destined for this; we kept telling you and telling you.”
Suffering is part of the Christian testimony.
Jesus says so. Paul says so. James says so.
Peter says so.
On the surface, there’s no good news in suffering.
After all, it’s suffering.
It’s miserable, crushing, choking.
But realize: we don’t suffer alone.
The Thessalonians are suffering, but so are Paul and Silas and Timothy.
This is a team sport; we suffer together.
AND, even more reassuring and comforting than that we suffer together, is that our Savior suffered before us, calls us to suffer, and is always present with His people as they suffer.
“Suffering, then, is the badge of true discipleship.
The disciple is not above his Master.
The Church [is] the community of those ‘who are persecuted and martyred for the gospel’s sake.’
Discipleship means allegiance to the suffering Christ, and it is therefore not at all surprising that Christians should be called upon to suffer.” - John R. Stott
We Suffer Together and
We Pray Together
Paul’s love for the believers in Thessalonica, his love for the gathering of people called the Church in Thessalonica is evident in everything he writes to them.
It’s evident in his prayer for them. 1 Thess 3:10 “Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.”
Paul prayed night and day and prayed most earnestly.
The word Paul uses here for pray means “pleading, begging, asking for with urgency.”
Like the widow in Jesus’ parable, Paul prayed persistently.
Paul carried his people on his heart to God.
We will never know from how much sin we have been saved and how much temptation we have conquered all because someone prayed for us.
William Barclay tells a story about a housekeeper who became a member of a church.
She was asked what Christian work she did, and she said that she didn’t have much of an opportunity to do much because her job kept her constantly busy.
But then she said, “When I go to bed, I take the morning newspaper with me.
And I read the notices of the births and I pray for all the little babies.
I read the notices of marriages and I pray for those who just got married.
And I read the announcements of death and I pray that the sorrowing may be comforted.”
Barclay writes, “There is no way to quantify the tides of grace that flowed from that young housekeeper’s tiny attic bedroom.”
Sometimes, like Paul, we are unwillingly separated from those we love—our church, our family and friends.
But we can pray for them.
Some of the dearest saints I have ever met are those who are praying constantly for their church, even though they are limited in what they can do and how often they can gather.
There are people you may never meet who pray for you on a regular basis.
Because they’re family who love you.
In this simple passage, we can easily see where Paul’s mind instinctively goes—to the LORD.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9