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
0.08UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.05UNLIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.68LIKELY
Sadness
0.5LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.69LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.44UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.85LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.88LIKELY
Extraversion
0.14UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.75LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.55LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Fourth Sunday In Advent
Good morning everyone, it is my humbled joy to be able to bring God’s word to you again to day.
For those who are visiting or viewing this online, I am Pastor Ben and we are glad to have you join us today.
As we come to our message for today let us have our minds and hearts brought to attention by looking to our focus verse.
Join with me as we ask God’s blessing on this message.
Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have allowed us to gather together this day.
We ask that your Spirit who is amongst us open our hearts and minds to receive your word this day.
Help us to come to understand more of the height, depth, and width that your love extends for us.
Father we praise your name this day as we come together.
We ask your blessings upon this message that you have for us.
Draw us in nearer to you, oh Lord, that we may come to rest in who you are.
Amen.
Fourth Sunday In Advent
Today we are celebrating the fourth Sunday in advent in which we remember the angels and the message of peace that they proclaimed to the shepherds.
I have to tell you that I find how God operates to be truly amazing.
As we have been working through Gospel Treason in our small groups, God is again showing me the idol that I have set up in my own heart, which is an unrighteous desire for peace.
And while I knew this God in his grace is showing how this desire has shown both in an external and internal fashion.
And what this is causing me to do is contemplate what peace really is.
When we consider the term peace many of us probably run to the idea of quiet.
This would align with how Merriam Webster defines peace for us.
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) (Peace)
1: a state of tranquillity or quiet:
2: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
3: harmony in personal relations
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (Eleventh Edition) (Peace)
Tranquility, quiet, freedom from oppression, harmony.
These are the things we think of and long for when we consider the term peace.
In other words a stillness.
When we consider this word stillness often our minds run towards,
Yet this is not the type of stillness that we are looking at today.
This stillness is a stopping or abandoning an action or direction you are taking.
In our passage today the word we are looking at gets translated as quiet and a couple other passages that can help us understand the meaning of this word is.
and
With this in mind let us now turn to our passage for today.
The title of our message is The Sign of Peace and we will be looking to chapter 7 of Isaiah.
We will start right in verse one.
If you have brought your own Bible and would like to follow along please turn there now.
If you are using the blue pew Bible you can find it on page 636 or you can follow along on the screen.
Let us hear the word of the Lord.
May the Lord bless the reading of his word.
Now I had mentioned that for the advent season we were going to be following the liturgical calendar.
For today’s passage the verses are suppose to be verses 10-16.
Yet to understand better the context verses 1-9 and 17 needed to be added in as well.
As we walk through this passage today there are four biblical truths regarding peace that we will see.
Peace Amidst Fear
Peace amidst fear comes through faith.
As we begin this section we are given a little historical background.
We find that the kingdoms of Syria and the kingdoms of Israel have come up against the kingdom of Judah and are waging war against it.
The reason for this is that Judah is refusing to join arms with the other two in defense against Assyria.
So Syria and Ephraim devise a plan to dethrone Ahaz and to place their own king on Judah’s throne.
But what we find here in Isaiah is that Judah is holding their attackers at Jerusalem.
Yet, look what verse 2 tells us about the situation.
Now what we need to understand is that when we say Syria we are not talking about Assyria.
Syria is another name for Aram of Damascus or the Arameans.
And Ephraim is another name for Israel.
We need to understand that this is not just one nation against another, this is civil war.
Let’s look at a map of the united kingdom.
At is furthest reach under King Solomon this first map shows us all that was the kingdom of Israel, from Saul, through David, and out to its furthest points during Solomon’s reign.
But remember the kingdom became divided after Solomon because Solomon did not continue to follow God as did his father David.
Now let’s look at a map of the divided kingdom.
Syria extends off of this map and then joined together with Israel or Ephraim, they dwarf the kingdom of Judah.
As king Ahaz looked at this he and his people were so filled with fear that they shook like trees in the wind.
In light of this, God sends Isaiah and his son whose name means “a remnant shall return” and he has Isaiah tell Ahaz
and then continues,
Isaiah is sent to Ahaz to tell him not to fear, but instead find peace, find rest.
Yes the opposing force may look large.
Yes their numbers are grander then yours, yet you do not need to fear them.
You do not need to be anxious and worrisome.
For while they may look fierce they are noting.
This is Isaiah’s message to Ahaz.
A message to find hope in what might be a dark hour.
You know there is an interesting aspect of hope that I believe does not get talk about enough.
Hope is a perspective.
We see hope, we feel hope, because our perspective on things tells us we can.
Ahaz did not sense hope.
Ahaz was scared, he was faint of heart.
He and as a result his entire kingdom, shook as trees in the wind.
And why?
Because he had the wrong perspective.
What he saw as this large intimidating army, God saw as nothing more than smoking stubs of logs.
I want you to think about that for a minute.
Picture a fire that is nearly burned out.
You have a couple remnants of logs left puttering out some smoke but that is all.
If the smoke gets in your eyes it is annoying but the real danger of a roaring fire is gone.
These logs are well past being spent that some water on them would finishes them out.
That was God’s perspective.
Ahaz sees a roaring wild fire, while God is looking at some burnt out logs.
Ahaz was sensing no hope because he had the wrong perspective.
How often is it that when we are facing a situation that has us worried, or anxious, those uneasy feelings are actually birthed from our lack of perspective.
Or rather the shortsightedness that we have.
Remember, the Israelites had become known as a people who were blind and deaf.
They had become this way because they had turned from the one true God to idols that they had set up in their hearts that made them blind and deaf.
They were shortsighted because they had turned from God rather than turned towards him.
When those moments hit us when we are feeling distress.
When we are wrestling with anxiousness and worry.
If we feel ourselves slipping into despair, or what was that key word form our small group study?
That’s right devastated.
If we believe we are sensing any of these feelings, we need to stop and ask ourselves what do I currently want and what is my hope in?
Where is my perspective?
Adrian Rodgers says,
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9