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
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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Emotion
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Anger
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The Narrow Way
Start the sermon with an easy vs hard game to engage the people.
Certainly it was easier with option B vs Option A.
Trivia time the highest batting average of all time?
TY Cobb’s career ended in 1928 and he batted .366
over 22 seasons.
The best batting average of all time failed .634
times and he holds the record for the best batting average of all time.
He failed .634
times.
The batting average for baseball is between .250 and .275
and if a batter hits over .300
they are considered to be among the best.
That still means they fail 7 out of 10 times.
What if all careers allowed this rate?
What if Doctors failed at surgery 7 out of 10 times.
Hey 3 patients made it through but the other 7 did not survive.
Not good right.
What if pastors only needed good sermons 3 out of 10 times.
What if they failed 7 out of 10 messages?
Not good right.
It is interesting that over and over you see Jesus teaching throughout scripture and you see people leaving because of his teaching.
In John 6 Jesus is teaching that he his the bread of life and watch what happens after the teaching.
In this passage after Jesus teaching about being the Bread of Life it says some of His who left him?
His disciples no longer accompanied Him!
Also in Luke 4 Jesus proclaims that He is the Messiah and the response to the crowd is
Seems like a typical response right?!? Jesus tells them that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah 61:1-2 and then their response to his message is to drive him out of town and attempt to throw him off a cliff.
Imagine what would be going through a pastor’s head on Monday morning if that was the response to his message of Sunday.
Calls his buddy and he says how did it go yesterday.
You know it wasn’t that bad they just drove me out of town and to a cliff and they tried to hurl me off the cliff but they didn’t get it done so now I am preparing for what’s next.
So I make light of this but over and over throughout scripture we see Jesus being rejected after he teaches.
We read this in scripture but then when we may not be tearing it up or knocking it out of the park we start to think what is wrong with me.
Yet, Jesus constantly was rejected and he taught on this in Matthew 7 during the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus says Enter through the narrow gate.
So this gate is not wide.
Jesus says to enter through this gate that is not wide but this gate that he calls us to enter through is a narrow gate.
The gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who go through it.
This other gate that Jesus speaks of is a wide gate and a broad road.
The word
Wide: Vast opening from one side to the other
wide here is a vast opening from one side to the other.
The word
Broad: Having ample space or roomy
broad here is having ample space or roomy as Jesus describes the road that leads to destruction.
He also says there are many who go through it.
Later in verse 14, he says the gate is narrow and few find it that leads to life.
The broad way many go through it.
It is easier to fit through a wide gate or to drive on a broad way.
The way that leads to destruction is much easier than the way that leads to life.
Perhaps this road that leads to destruction is paved, does not have many bumps or curves on it.
This road many will go down.
The Gate and Road that Leads to Life
Narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life.
Again the narrow gate is once again repeated from verse 13.
The word narrow meaning not wide or small passage way.
Difficult: crowd against, press upon ; cause trouble to ; suffer hardship, feel persecution
The road that leads to life has trouble, hardship, and persecution.
In contrast to the road that leads to destruction, scripture says this road or gate that is narrow and difficult that few will find it.
Destruction = Many will find it
Life = Few will find it
This road or gate to life is narrow and difficult.
This road is full of bumps it may be a dirt road, with curves, hills and potholes.
The road that leads to life requires crucifying our flesh
When we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, we die to ourselves and it is no longer our desires in our lives but Christ who lives in me.
We die to our pleasures, we die to the desires of this life, we die to our wants, we die to the next high, we die to the next escape.
We live to Christ.
We seek his pleasures, we seek His desires, We seek His wants, We deny ourselves take up our cross and follow him.
We live by faith
We no longer rest in how to make our life secure for our sake.
We learn to live by faith.
Jesus says we now live by faith and no longer worry about daily needs but begin to live by faith.
We face trials
The narrow path leads us to trials that we are to consider them great joy whenever we face them.
It is these trials that test our faith and produce endurance.
The broad way that leads to destruction may not have any trials on it that produce faith and endurance.
We live a lifestyle separate from the world
The narrow path leads us to change our focus.
Our focus shifts from ourself to the widows and orphans in distress.
Our bodies become a living sacrifice, holy, and pleasing to God.
We deny our bodies the “pleasures of the world” because they are now living sacrifices to God.
The sin you once allowed your body to engage in you now deny that sin because your body has become a living sacrifice to Jesus.
The narrow gate leads you to a mind that is being transformed.
This mind is changed and no longer thinks about the things of the past but now focuses on what is good and pleasing and the perfect will of God.
The broad road or the gate that is wide that leads to destruction still focuses on pleasing yourself.
It does not deny the body anything and lets you find the next high, the next sexually immoral relationship, and that which pleases you.
This road leads to destruction.
This road does not have bumps and difficulties.
The gate and road that leads to life is narrow and difficult and few will find it.
There is only one way to this road that leads to life.
The road to destruction is wide and many will find it.
Satan has paved the highway to hell with fleshly temptations, worldly attractions, and moral compromises.
Most people allow their passions and desires to dictate the course of their lives.
They choose temporary, earthly pleasure over the self-sacrifice required in following Jesus.
The narrow gate is ignored.
Most people would rather create their own religions and design their own gods.
-GotQuestions.org-
The Christian life should cost you everything.
You no longer live for yourself but you now deny self and live to Christ.
This is the narrow gate that leads to life.
Final observation from this passage.
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