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*“Spiritual Parenting”*
*Ephesians 6:1-4*
* *
I had the privilege recently to spend several hours in the walk-in clinic.
I've got to tell you that it is a great place if you like to observe people.
It's a sociology experiment in progress.
Let me share a few scenarios with you.
There was a woman with her son.
The whole time I was there you could tell that the world revolved around the boy.
At one point the boy relocated the garbage can so that he could discard his orange peels.
That was all well and good up to the point when some of the others were also in need of such garbage can.
However, the boy was unwilling to relinquish it for the sake the others.
He preferred to use it for a leg rest to which his mother conceded.
So everyone else held their garbage in their laps.
Another woman was there with her teenage son.
Her appearance led me to conclude that she was trying desperately to cling to her youth.
She and her son were quite “entertaining” as they fought with one another and as she was sort of the instigator in being a problem for the office.
It seemed to me that she was more of a cool “buddy” than a parent.
Another encounter happened at another time and place that has stuck in my memory.
I recall seeing a mom and young son going into a store.
The interesting thing was that this 3 or 4 year old boy was wearing only underwear.
The woman, upon seeing a friend's inquisitive look, informed the friend that her son did not 'want' to wear clothes that day.
This morning we are going to talk about Parenting and the Family – more specifically *Spiritual Parenting *in the family.
To this point we have seen that God has clear expectations in the way we are to function and relate to one another.
Last week we talked about the biblical roles and function within the marriage.
Today we will focus on the roles and function of parents and their children.
If you are not a parent, I’ll bet you know one, are planning to be one, have been one, or are now a grandparent.
This message is still for you.
This is a continuation of how God desires that we relate to one another in the body of Christ.
You see, the world has a distorted view of relationships.
There is this notion that life is about us and all our actions develop independently of everyone else.
“I have my rights.
I’ll do what I want with my life.
Who are you to tell me what to do?”
But from the very beginning of time, human beings were designed to function in community.
They took on the very image of God – a great part of which is the image of community as expressed in the trinitarian nature of God.
God exists in three persons and is himself in relationship with the three Persons of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Spirit.
Adam and Eve were commanded to reproduce and fill the earth.
They were designed and created to live in community.
And God set apart a nation for himself.
It was his plan and desire that Israel will be a light to the nations to proclaim his name.
In a very real sense, the obedience to the expectations and commands that God gave to Israel affected the nation as a whole.
That is why sin was dealt with so harshly.
Do you remember the sin of Achan?
After one of the Israel’s conquests, Achan held back some of the spoils after God told them explicitly not to do so.
His family was killed along with him.
Sin is serious and has consequences for all that surround the person.
And I believe this individualistic mentality has infiltrated the church.
It is easy for us to believe that they way we live and conduct ourselves have no bearing on other people.
We have a disconnected mindset.
The church, as a community, like the nation of Israel, is set apart to glorify God and to be a light to a dark world.
We are a part of that community.
In the same way, individuals in the church do not act independently of one another.
For our actions affect one another.
The way we function in our families affects the composition of the church body as a whole.
Last week we talked about the relationship between husband and wife.
This week we will discuss how parents and children relate to one another.
Please turn in your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 6. Let’s read verse 1-4.
The first point in the sermon this morning is * \\ Spiritual Obedience.
*
Our text begins with the command to children.
Verse 1 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”
To which you say, “That’s nice.
But isn’t that a command to children?
What are we supposed to do about it?”
You know, I considered having the children sit in for the first part of the service this morning.
And then I decided against it because, like we talked about this week (and will again in a few moments), the parents are the primary teachers of the children.
So, I didn’t want to take away the privilege and responsibility of your conveying this biblical truth to your children.
Regarding the authority of parents, Tedd Tripp writes, As a parent, you have authority because God calls you to be an authority in your child’s life.
You have the authority to act on behalf of God.
As a father or mother, you do not exercise rule over your jurisdiction, but over God’s.
You act at his command.
You discharge a duty that he has given.
You may not try to shape the lives of your children as pleases you, but as pleases him.
All you do in your task as parents must be done from this point of view.
You must undertake all your instruction, your care and nurture, your correction and discipline, because God has called you to.”
We need to recall that this section is also derived from the command to be filled by the Spirit in chapter 5 verse 18.
So as wives are submitting to the headship of the husband, so children are submitting to their parents.
Only in this case, Paul uses a stronger word than “submission.”
He calls children to obey their parents.
So it’s important that we talk a little bit about obedience.
Obedience is an extremely important concept to get through our children for a couple of reasons.
It is important because obedience is what God calls us to in faith.
Faith and obedience are inextricably linked.
There are a plethora of Scriptures that discuss what it means to follow our Lord Jesus.
Jesus himself said in John 14 that “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
And the apostle John wrote “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.”
And obedience and the filling of the Spirit are also linked, because the filling of the Spirit is likened to control.
So when we talk about being filled by the Spirit, we are not talking about how much of the Holy Spirit that we have, but rather how much of us the Holy Spirit has.
So when we are in obedience, we are being controlled by the Holy Spirit.
And we want this for our children.
We want them to be filled by the Spirit as they walk in obedience to God.
And they are in obedient to God insofar as they are being obedient to us.
Now this next point (or points) that I raise can be a little confusing because it is circular.
So I would ask that you pay close attention.
So if you are still confused, I will know it’s my fault.
As we teach our children this concept obedience, I would encourage you to show them the very words from Scripture.
In so doing, you will be teaching them a couple of things.
First, you are teaching them to be obedient to God’s Word by telling them that this is actually a mandate from God and not just something that you fabricated to put them in their place.
You aren’t the authority because you are bigger.
You are the authority because God has said so.
You are showing your children that you are submissive to God and His Word and that you would be disobeying God’s Word by not carrying out the biblical role as parent.
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