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
0.11UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.59LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.39UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.09UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.86LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.73LIKELY
Extraversion
0.35UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.9LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.64LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Who are we?
A well-known story is told of Margaret Thatcher during the time she was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
She was visiting an old people’s home, going from room to room and meeting senior citizens who had lived there a long time.
One old lady showed no sign of realizing that she was shaking hands with a world-famous politician.
‘Do you know who I am?’ asked Mrs Thatcher.
‘No, dear,’ replied the old lady, ‘but I should ask the nurse if I were you.
She usually knows.’
Last week I asked the question, Who am I.
That question is vitally important because it identifies where we begin.
Paul answered that question in verse 20 of this passage when he wrote:
Gal 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
And the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
That is where it begins for each of us.
That old person, that old Nathan and Dave and Bonnie died.
Paul said “I am crucified with Christ.”
Crucifixion was a well known method of execution in Paul’s day.
Stories from ancient Rome would have been passed.
History tells us that over 6,000 rebels were crucified by the Roman Emperor about 50 years before Christ was born.
People understood what crucifixion meant during Paul’s time.
It meant a death occured.
So Paul is saying that he died with Jesus and that he no longer lives but Jesus lives in him.
He’s not saying that he physically died.
That doesn’t make sense.
He is saying that he died to himself, his wants and wishes.
He goes on in the latter part of that verse to say “the life that I now live in my body, I live by faith.”
He’s saying that physically still living, but he is now living in a new way.
He is living by faith.
Paul says something that in this translation expands on living by faith.
I live by faith, indeed, by the faithfulness of God’s Son, who loved me and gave himself for me
Living by faith possible because of the faithfulness of Jesus.
It isn’t just living by faith, it is living by faith by the faithfulness of Jesus.
The word faithfulness carries the meaning of strengthen, support or hold up.
In other words our faith his strengthened, supported or held up by the faithfulness of Jesus.
So, who are we then?
We are God’s Holy people.
Peter wrote in his first letter
Look again at verse 15
Peter makes clear the answer to the question of Who are we.
We are to be holy in every aspect of our lives just like God.
I know, I hear it all the time, that is impossible.
God is setting us up for failure.
Paul addresses that when he wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonian church
That is what this church teaches and our denomination teaches.
In that Covenant of Christian Conduct that I quoted from last week I pull something else from it.
The Church of the Nazarene purposes to relate timeless biblical principles to contemporary society in such a way that the doctrines and covenants of the church may be known and understood…[1]
God is holy and we are called to be holy just like Him.
That is one of the “timeless biblical principles” that we need to relate to our society.
I joined the Church of the Nazarene at the tail end of the time when our denomination was known more for what we were against than what we were for.
The denomination that I grew up in was also known for what we were against than what we were for.
I have struggled with that perception of the church.
When I look at the life and ministry of Jesus I see him saying to the “religious people” harsh statements in order to point them back to God.
When Jesus was out doing ministry, spending time with the losers, the sinners, the tax collectors, the women with questionable reputations, the lost and the least you didn’t see him telling them what not to do.
He called them to follow Him, to be obedient and faithful to God.
We have one full sermon that Jesus Preached and it is the Sermon on the Mount.
It is found in Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7.
In that sermon we have the Beatitudes and teachings on relationships, worry, anger and other types of issues we might face in life.
His message in so many ways was very positive and offered an alternative to the way that the Jewish religious leaders taught the people.
One of the dangers of the Western Church is how we have capitulated to the culture around us.
We in many ways have surrendered to the culture.
We have talked about what we are against.
We’ve talked about how to live your best life now.
We’ve talked about pop psychology.
We’ve talked about a lot of stuff.
The problem is that in many ways we’ve missed the point.
We need to recapitulate the Gospel.
I like that word recapitulate.
It means to summarize or essentualize or outline.
It means rather than give over to the culture we restate what we believe.
Jesus did talk about how to walk with God.
He said that the road was narrow.
That implies to me that there are things that as a follower of Christ we don’t do.
Jesus said
He doesn’t say it will be easy to follow Him.
He invites us to take up our cross and follow him.
He even went so far as to say that people who claimed to be serving Him will not make it into heaven.
He said in verse 21
Only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter.
Those are Jesus’ words.
In that Covenant that I have been referencing are found these words:
The Church of the Nazarene believes this new and holy way of life involves practices to be avoided and redemptive acts of love to be accomplished for the souls, minds, and bodies of our neighbors.
[1]
Look there at those words that I highlighted and underlined.
How we live is for the sake of our neighbors.
In other words, what we do and say has an impact on those around us, those outside the church.
This statement is about the reconciliation work that God is doing in us and what we are to be doing in the world.
Paul addressed this in his first letter to the Corinthians.
I’d encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.
Let me point out 3 verses.
2 Corinthians 5:17 “17 So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation.
The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived!”
2 Corinthians 5:18 “18 All of these new things are from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and who gave us the ministry of reconciliation.”
2 Corinthians 5:20 “20 So we are ambassadors who represent Christ.
God is negotiating with you through us.
We beg you as Christ’s representatives, “Be reconciled to God!””
So those “practices to be avoided and redemptive acts of love to be accomplished for the souls, minds, and bodies of our neighbors.”
That is that ministry of reconciliation.
Paul said that we are ambassadors who represent Christ.
What we say and do impacts those who Jesus came to save.
Jesus is the one who said John 3:16 “16 God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him won’t perish but will have eternal life.”
We are the ones to carry that message.
One of many things that I’ve learned as a parent is to be careful that you are not giving mixed messages.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9