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
0.57LIKELY
Disgust
0.55LIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.6LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.46UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.55LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.47UNLIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.9LIKELY
Extraversion
0.21UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.77LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.83LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
A Big Comeback
The World Series is on.
I love baseball.
My grandmother let me stay home from school the afternoon there was a game 7 in the series
Red Sox and Cardinals in ‘67
Tigers and Cardinals in ‘68
I played thru college and when I graduated I graduated to slow-pitch softball.
I played on 2 teams, 1 serious and 1 for fun.
The fun team had a game and I was to play 2nd base.
Last minute the shortstop hadn’t shown up so they moved me over.
One problem, I hadn’t warmed up.
Early in the game I fielded a ground ball to my right and had to throw it hard to 1st to get the runner.
I felt something give in my shoulder.
I had messed up by not warming up.
The biceps tendon had partially separated from the bone.
I couldn’t throw w/out pain.
I had it injected then operated on.
If it had torn they could have fixed it.
Doctor told me some day when I’m picking up a heavy box it will separate completely.
We’ll decide then what to do about it.
So, I’m 25, can’t throw w/ any velocity, what do I do?
Sit around a complain?
No.
I picked up golf, and complained.
Golf is a humbling game.
Fast forward, we have 3 kids, and they are all athletic.
Soccer
Basketball
Pool volleyball games
Football
Jason played organized
We had a lot of neighborhood football games and our daughter was always right in the middle of it.
Baseball and softball.
Maybe I encouraged it a little.
But they all loved it.
Alyssa at 3 years old in the basement in Minot hitting wiffleballs back at me.
I coached all of them in baseball and softball.
I’d throw footballs and shoot baskets with them for hours.
I couldn’t throw very hard, but they were kids.
Even when they were teenagers I could throw hard enough.
All consequences of a bad decision I made one evening in 1985 to not warm up my arm before I had to make a hard throw with a softball.
My shoulder healed to the point that I could play w/ my kids.
That was my do-over.
I could have gone into a tailspin, regretting that decision to not warm up that day
It cost me my dream of the major leagues.
Not really.
It cost me my dream of the major leagues.
Not really.
Or, I could be grateful and appreciate that I could function well enough to be involved w/ my kids in their neighborhood games and on their organized teams.
I wish I could have thrown harder.
I could have done more with them.
But I am thankful for what I could do.
When we get do-overs often times there are consequences to the bad decisions we made that led to the do-over.
A failed business and the financial losses led to having to work for someone else the rest of your career.
A failed marriage limiting the possibilities of having companionship as you grow old.
A failed investment reducing your standard of living in retirement.
So, when you get the do-over, are you grateful for the job?
Are you grateful for the relationships you have?
Are you grateful for little house you live in and the money you have in the bank though it might be less than what it could have been.
Are you thankful to God for His gracious provision.
We don’t deserve anything that we have.
We have it b/c He promised to provide for us and protect us.
Or, is your life characterized by regret.
Being unsatisfied w/ what you have b/c you had so much more.
Regret: Not having what you want b/c you got what you wanted.
And, it didn’t work out the way you thought.
Mistakes have consequences.
But, when God gives us a do-over we need t/b grateful for what we have and not regretful for what we don’t even when we used to have more than we do now.
Be grateful, not regretful.
, a group of Israelites from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin have returned from exile and start the work rebuilding the temple.
This is Israel’s great, big do-over.
First Things First
Ezra 3:1-
7 months after they arrived.
It took time to get settled to get moved and get settled.
I hate moving.
So much time and energy to get things packed, unpacked and put away.
They had to eat.
So maybe the had time to harvest a crop or at least find friendly neighbors to buy supplies from.
Festival of Tabernacles was a fall festival; Sept./Oct.
Returned in the spring.
Now it’s fall.
They all gathered in agreement.
It was unanimous what their first big project would be.
Maybe not what anyone expected.
They were legitimately afraid of the surrounding nations.
They did not want the Jews back.
So, if you’re afraid of your neighbors, what’s the first thing you build?
A wall?
An army?
An altar!
Does this make sense?
Absolutely!
It was vital they got back to the Mosaic covenant.
This is what their ancestors abandoned that led to their trouble.
God’s game.
God’s rules.
He said, “If you love me, keep my commands.”
Therefore, if you don’t keep His commands, what does it say about how much you value God?
He laid out this elaborate sacrificial system for them that taught them all about God’s character and their own condition.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9