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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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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Which of these houses would you want to move into right now?
The one that hasn’t been remodeled by Chip and Joanna, or the one that has been remodeled by them?
This should be an easy question.
Of course, everybody wants their house done by the Fixer Uppers.
But, what if they had only done the outside of the house.
They changed the exterior of the house and the landscaping, but they didn’t do any work on the inside.
The house still has no kitchen.
Only one working toilet.
Missing several walls.
A whole bunch of trash left by the last people.
Which of these houses do you want to move in to now? Probably neither.
Because no matter how nice you make the outside look, you do all your living on the inside.
A great exterior does not make up for a terrible interior.
ICEBREAKER: What is your least favorite show that your parents always want to watch?
We actually all make decisions like this all the time, though.
Some of you probably made some New Year’s Resolutions earlier this month.
And if you are still keeping them, good job.
You should have created a habit by now.
But how many times do we make resolutions or decisions to change something about the outside of us: our weight, our muscles, our endurance, our style, but we neglect to worry about what is going internally.
What is going on spiritually.
Who cares if you are in great physical shape if you are not living for the Lord?
Who cares if you are the most popular girl in school if your heart is not being conformed to the image of Christ?
Our guy Nehemiah realized and knew this, too.
So if you haven’t been here the past two weeks, let me get you caught up.
We are going through the book of Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
At this time, the Israelites are in exile.
Because of their sin and because they stopped following God and his Law, they were overthrown by the Babylonians.
Then the Babylonians were overthrown by the Persians.
And now King Artaxerxes rules over the Israelites.
Nehemiah, an Israelite, was the King’s cupbearer.
He heard that Jerusalem was in ruins.
All of its walls had been destroyed.
And God sent Nehemiah to rebuild the walls.
In a miracle, the King granted Nehemiah permission, and even helped him, to return the Jerusalem with a group to rebuild the walls.
Last week, we saw the wall go up.
In only 52 days, they completely rebuilt the walls around the city.
Even though they were being physically attacked during the building, God worked a miracle in the building process, as well.
Have a student recap the story of Nehemiah so far.
And so now the walls and gates are rebuilt, but Nehemiah knows something.
He knows that it was never the walls that protected them, but it was God.
And he knows that if the Israelites do not return to following God and his commands and his Law, they will end up back in the same place.
Physical renewal means nothing without spiritual renewal
Nehemiah knew that the Israelites needed a spiritual renewal.
They needed to turn their hearts back to God.
And so Nehemiah called for his friend Ezra.
Nehemiah 8:5
When calling the people back to God, where do they turn?
The Word of God.
Because when you are reading the Bible, it is not Nehemiah or Ezra calling the people back to God, but it is God himself.
It is not Nehemiah or Ezra who do the work of renewal, but it is the work of God.
If we don’t turn to the Bible, but instead just try to change things ourselves, we are just turning into moralists.
How long did the Israelites stand listening to the Word be read?
What is the longest you could imagine listening to the Bible?
Turn to the Word
Here is what we don’t want.
Spiritual renewal is not simply becoming a more moral person.
Or a person who follows the rules better.
Or a person who acts better.
Or a person who gets in trouble less.
Or a person who is less mean.
Rebekah…
Why did Nehemiah have Ezra read the Bible instead of giving a moving speech?
Because, to be honest, it does not take a work of God to make somebody more moral.
It does not take a work of God to make somebody follow the rules better.
That is a outside change.
That is an exterior change.
You can decide that you want a better reputation, and so you are going to change how people perceive you.
You are going to change how you present yourself.
You are going to change what people see.
But that’s all exterior.
I can hold the door open for you while simultaneously hating you.
I can obey my parents while calling them fools.
I can show respect to my teacher while having no actual respect for them.
There is nothing inherently spiritual about becoming more legalistic.
How do we try to change our appearance/exterior without making internal/spiritual changes?
And when we are convinced to make these changes by people, or by ourselves, or from peer pressure, that is all the changes become.
A front.
An exterior.
A mask.
Legalism.
But the house remains disgusting on the inside.
That’s why Nehemiah and Ezra don’t call the people together and give them a great pep talk.
They don’t call the people together to convince them to listen to them.
They don’t call them together to chastise them.
They don’t call them together to listen to their words.
No.
They call them together to listen to the Words of God.
They call them together to be changed by the Word of God.
If you want spiritual renewal in your life, Christian, get into the Word of God.
Let God speak to you.
Don’t rely on me talking to you.
Don’t rely on your Sunday School teacher or your family group leader.
We are here to help, but we aren’t God.
We are not a substitute for hearing God’s Words directly from him.
Directly from what he has spoken through the Bible.
The people wanted spiritual renewal so bad that they stood from the sunrise until noon listening to the Word of God being read.
And they were listening to the part that none of us even like reading.
Leviticus and Numbers and the Law.
But they were so hungry for being changed by God that every single one of them stood for at least 4 hours, maybe longer, to hear from God.
We get upset on Sundays when the sermon goes 5 minutes long.
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