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
0.15UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.14UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.54LIKELY
Sadness
0.48UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.42UNLIKELY
Confident
0.79LIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.76LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.91LIKELY
Extraversion
0.18UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.66LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.69LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
!! Running with perseverance
!! Hebrews 12:1-3
Today we want to concentrate on the topic of faith.
Faith is a central part in our spiritual journey.
Sometimes our faith gets tested
and we loose our focus on the finish line
– the glory that awaits us.
In the early church
the faith of new believers
was constantly being tested.
In Hebrews 10:32-37 the writer reminds his readers:
/32//Remember those earlier days /
/after you had received the light, /
/when you stood your ground in a great contest/
/ in the face of suffering./
/ 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed/
/ to insult and persecution; /
/at other times you stood side by side /
/with those who were so treated.
/
/34//You sympathized with those in prison /
/and joyfully accepted /
/the confiscation of your property, /
/because you knew that you yourselves/
/had better and lasting possessions.
/
/35//So do not throw away your confidence;/
/ it will be richly rewarded.
/
/36//You need to persevere /
/so that when you have done the will of God,/
/ you will receive what he has promised./
/ 37For in just a very little while, /
/ "He who is coming will come and will not delay.”
/
The faith of the Hebrew Christians was once
characterized by patience and perseverance
in the midst of persecution.
(We could say the same for the early Anabaptists,
and for our ancestors in Russia).
But something had happened
to dull their devotion and determination.
As the race of their faith went on
they lost their focus and their faith in Jesus Christ.
The promise of Christ’s return had not come to pass.
And the Christians were getting tired
in their pilgrimage of faith.
They were throwing away their confidence
In eternal life.
And so, the writer seeks to renew the faith
of the believers
by encouraging them to stand firm in their faith.
And he compares the race of the Christian Faith
to a marathon.
In Chapter 11 he gives the examples of
Noah, Abraham and Moses.
Noah had patiently prepared the ark believing God.
Abraham had pressed on
looking for the city of God.
Moses had endured in his search for the Promised Land
because he saw Him who is invisible.
And then we have this great exhortation in Heb.
12:1-2
/1//Therefore, since we are surrounded /
/by such a great cloud of witnesses, /
/let us throw off everything that hinders /
/and the sin that so easily entangles, /
/and let us run with perseverance/
/the race marked out for us.
/
/2//Let us fix our eyes on Jesus,/
/ the author and perfecter of our faith,/
/who for the joy set before him endured the cross, /
/scorning its shame, /
/and sat down at the right hand /
/of the throne of God./
With this great cloud of witnesses,
who had persevered,
looking on,
we are encouraged to run with patience.
We are pointed back to those
who have already completed the race
to see that we too can run the race
of the Christian life by faith,
and not give up.
But in order to run the race in the hope of succeding,
we must throw off everything that hinders.
We must travel light
and let go of all the extra weight
that would slow us down.
We must let go of the sin
that so easily entangles us und trips us up.
We must let go our past failures,
and our unfulfilled desires.
Like the early Christians,
our Christian race often gets slowed down
by discouragement and lack of focus
on the finish line.
We sometimes grow weary
when we look at the obstacles ahead of us.
We look at the runnig track
and we see that the race is still far from over.
And we sometimes loose heart
and we give up when the race heats up.
As we continue in the race
we must never lose sight of our goal.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9