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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Anger
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Intro
Series
Trust - our actions are guided more by who God is than by how we feel.
If the hole world was jumping off a cliff...
Texts
This thing is humungous:
90 feet tall about the size of the Statue of Liberty without her hand sticking up in the air.
This was a thing in the ancient world.
Colossus at Rhodes was just a bit bigger.
Nebuchadnezzar brings all the uppity-ups to the dedication.
This dedication is really about confirming Nebuchadnezzar’s authority.
He wants everyone to know that he, and the the gods he worships, are the greatest and must be honored.
When the worship band starts playing, they were supposed to worship.
If you remember, he took the best of the best from each culture, brainwashed them, and made them officials.
This is how we came to know of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.
Or as Nebuchadnezzar called them, Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
All this happens on the Plain of Dura.
We don’t have any idea where that is.
Daniel is probably back in Babylon.
So we get to zoom in on Rack, Shack.
and Benny.
Evidently, word has gotten around that Rack, Shack, and Benny are skipping worship service.
This is a direct violation of the 1st Commandment.
This couldn’t happen today, could it?
Os Guinness story.
Took the occasion to maliciously accuse?
Took the occasion - taking advantage of the situation...
Maliciously accuse - chewed the pieces of
Mark Ziese
Have you ever been in a situation like that?
People are looking for an occasion to talk trash about you.
You can almost hear it; why should these Jews get the good jobs.
Wasn’t there a good Chaldean kid that could have had that job?
ls it true?
You can almost hear him saying, “After all I’ve done for you?”
Have you ever tried to the do the right thing and then people try to make you feel bad because of it?
Don’t try to romanticize it.
These guys know they’re about to die.
tells about Neb’s propensity to burn people.
He is vicious and he is intimidating.
He says, “I’m bringing the worship band back out, and you’ve got one more chance...”
Worship the god I made!
Who is the god who can rescue you from me?
Personality difference from Daniel?
We don’t need to answer you.
If YHWH exists, he can rescue us...
For Rack, Shack, and Benny, obedience was more important than deliverance.
We tend to look for deliverance and then promise obedience.
God has been working on my heart about this for about two years now...
Rack, Shack, and Benny trusted God enough to know that obedience is more important than deliverance.
Ultimately they trusted God enough to know that his word was more important than the pressure of people.
The right thing to do is the right thing to do, regardless of the cost.
How is it that these guys do this?
Maybe it’s the influence of Daniel
Maybe they had the only God-fearing parents in Israel
Maybe they watched King Josiah when they were children.
We don’t know.
But what I am absolutely confident of is this; you will never make great stand for you faith unless you make a thousand small ones.
You learn to trust God by making the small choices, then you’ll honor him in the big ones.
You learn to trust God by making his word the authority in the small choices:
At work, will you be honest and far?
Primarily because God’s Word says, “the Lord demands fairness in every business deal” ()
In your finances, will you honor God primarily because his word says that we shouldn’t give under compulsion but that God loves a cheerful giver ().
In your entertainment choices, is God honored.
Do we take it seriously when we hear God’s word say, “Whatever you do, do in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col 3:17)
In your choice to walk away when your Christian brother or sister is gossiping.
Primarily because God’s word says, “Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth” (Eph 4:29)
When his word is so prominent and authoritative in our lives we’ll be ready.
Even if he doesn’t...
He is so mad, the executioners aren’t even allowed to strip the prisoners.
For some reason Nebuchadnezzar saw four guys, and one of them had a different look to him.
messenger of God? YHWH had promised to walk with them through difficulty.
I’m confident the Fourth Man is Jesus himself.
It’s the kind of thing Jesus does.
In Mark he walks out on the storm in the fourth watch of the night, after they are battling the storm all night.
He doesn’t typically prevent the storm.
He doesn’t typically prevent the furnace.
You would almost expect Jesus to dramatically put the fires out!
But not if you know him well.
He shows up in the furnace, to protect and be a companion.
Ultimately this is a token, not a blueprint.
God makes no promise to dramatically rescue us every time we get in trouble.
He does say, “I’ll never leave you, or forsake you.”
This is more of a sample of the way Jesus protects and walks with those who trust him.
He still does today.
We find companionship and protection that seems almost divine in
Hospital rooms
Funeral homes
Houses that were once full of laughter, but now are empty.
That’s where Jesus plants his church, that’s where the Holy Spirit ministers.
Close
Do you know this Jesus?
Do you trust this Jesus?
Is it seen in the small choices you make each day?
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