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
0.1UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.65LIKELY
Sadness
0.56LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.83LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.29UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.94LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.78LIKELY
Extraversion
0.21UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.76LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.67LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
This month’s focus has centered on each person’s JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM.
We have already discovered Mary and Joseph’s journey and the shepherds.
We discovered that Mary and Joseph’s journey began when their wedding plans were interrupted entirely.
Both were visited by angels who revealed God has something far different for their lives.
That revelation changed everything.
It is also a message that launched their relationship into a spotlight that neither intended nor sought.
However, in the end, we find two people who love the Lord and willingly obey Him no matter the cost.
Their journey to Bethlehem was a journey of service to the Lord.
As for the shepherds, their journey was completely different.
It started with an average day of watching sheep.
A profession that was handed down from generation to generation.
The day of Christ’s birth began with the usual schedule.
Eat breakfast, watch sheep, eat lunch, watch sheep, eat dinner, watch sheep, and get some rest so they can watch sheep the next day.
However, that night, God revealed something special to them.
A message proclaimed by thousands of angelic beings filling the night sky.
It was a message that changed their lives forever as well.
In their village, Christ, the Messiah, was born.
As we noted last week, they journeyed back to Bethlehem.
They found the child along with Mary and Joseph.
Everything was just as the angel said.
These lowly shepherds were the first to behold the Lamb of God.
From that moment on, they could not keep silent.
They told everyone they met about this wonderful baby born in a manger.
Our attention this morning now turns to three men who are often forgotten or even overlooked during the Christmas season.
Yet, these three men have an incredible, practical story for us today.
For the wise men, their journey was a journey of finding answers.
A Journey that Began with Questions
Their journey was vastly different than that of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds.
You see, these men were not Jews.
They were Gentiles or heathens.
Here is what we know about them.
They were wise men or magi, as we often hear at Christmas.
The word “magi” comes from the Greek word “magos.”
It means mage.
Unfortunately, the world has it wrong.
We often say they are kings when the truth is they were mages or men of great respect because of their knowledge of astrology, medicine, and dreams.
Each came from a different part of the east.
The east means places like Persia, Arabia, or even Babylon.
What I think is interesting is these men who were educated and studied in their respective fields were filled with questions.
Their study of astrology led them to find an interesting astrological phenomenon.
Scripture is unclear about what made this star different from any other.
It simply states these men were drawn by the star of the King of Jews.
Whatever phenomenon it was, it led them to journey west to Jerusalem.
And, there must have been some sense from God that it was a special star given just for the King of Jews.
How else would they know it was specifically for the King of the Jews?
Note also that they had seen the star and were now come to worship Him.
Thus, as they came to Jerusalem, they sought answers to their question.
Where is this child who is born the literal King of the Jews?
There are still many today who are seeking answers.
The world is full of people who know something is missing in their life.
Thus, they are seeking to find it.
They want significance and have no idea how to find it.
The wise men, most likely, had spent most of their life doing the same.
Most people are driven to science, medicine, and other such endeavors thinking they will find answers.
Unfortunately, they often miss the answer.
Actual science always leads to this one fundamental reality.
There is a Divine Creator Who created all things!
You cannot miss it if you truly study the universe with a genuinely scientific approach.
This is a fact that the Bible clearly teaches.
Even today, the most remote tribes of the earth know and believe that there is a Being more extraordinary than they.
Every tribal religion, along with its mythical stories, reveals this thought.
An accurate study of nature brings many questions.
Who is this Divine Creator?
How can we know Him?
I imagine these wise men, mages, were intrigued by what they saw in the world around them.
It drove them to study it.
The stars especially were of great interest to them.
As they examined the stars, more and more questions arose.
Then, one day, each one of them finds a particular star.
A star that pointed them in direction.
What direction did it point them?
It directed them to Jerusalem and eventually to Bethlehem.
Why there?
What was so special about this star and this place?
As we know, they knew that the King of the Jews, and perhaps, as they understood, the Creator of the Universe, was there.
He had come to them in the flesh.
A fact lost on the Jews.
Even after He became a man, they still rejected Him as the Messiah, as God.
Yet, here are three of the world’s most learned men with one question?
Where is this King of Jews?
We have seen His star, and we are come to worship Him.
As I said, the world is full of questions and no answers.
Many people are looking for fulfillment in their life.
They chase all kinds of things hoping that they are the answer.
Some think they will find answers in a job, a relationship, a possession, entertainment, or education.
They spend their entire life pursuing those things.
Then, when they finally have them in their grasp, they are just as empty as before and still seeking answers.
May I tell you this morning that the answer you are seeking was born in a little town called Bethlehem!
These wise men knew it.
It is the reason they came.
They saw the star.
A star that had all the answers they were seeking.
It led them across mountains, wilderness, and valleys to Bethlehem.
They knew for they were there to worship Him.
The answer to all your questions can be found in Bethlehem.
The child that was born in that manger was no mere child.
He was God.
He was Immanuel which means “God with us.”
He came for one reason alone.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9