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
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.14UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.61LIKELY
Sadness
0.51LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.75LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.32UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.77LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.88LIKELY
Extraversion
0.38UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.89LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.75LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
This morning we are picking back up in our study of the book of Acts.
If you’re new to our church, it would be helpful for you to know that here at MCF, we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught be taking books of the Bible, and then breaking them down from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse.
Our goal: To better understand what the Bible says and how it applies to our lives today.
With that said, we are currently doing that through the book of Acts.
A book written for two primary purposes:
First, to give us a history of how the church started.
Second, to show us how God intends for the church to function in order to accomplish the mission of taking the Gospel to the entire world.
So, if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to go online to mcf.life where you can listen to all of the messages leading up to today.
You may recall last week we moved into chapter 8, a chapter that represents a transition in the life of the early church.
A transition that was unfortunately triggered by the martyr of the first Christian, a man named Stephen, who was killed for his faith in Jesus.
A death that resulted in the early church facing its first round of intense persecution.
Luke puts it like this.
In chapter 8:1 he writes:
in the book of Acts as the early church got its first taste of persecution.
A persecution
It all started in chapter 7 as a Christian named Stephen was confronted by a group of religious leaders.
“And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem...” a (ESV)
Luke says on the day Stephen was killed, a great persecution came against the church.
So, a good question might be, “Who was persecuting them and how great was this persecution?”
Luke tells us.
In verse 3 he writes:
“But Saul was ravaging the church...” a (ESV)
First, Luke says the persecution was led by a man named Saul, and that Saul was ravaging the church.
The word translated for ravage here means to tear apart, destroy, and cause great harm.
It’s the imagery of a lion tearing the meat off the bone of its prey.
So, the implication is that Saul is literally trying to tear the church apart.
Luke goes on to tell us:
So
“…and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.”
(ESV)
Acts 8:
Luke says in order to tear the church apart Saul is literally going from house to house and hauling Christians off to prison, and in some cases even killing them.
It would be very similar to what we saw in WW2 as Jews were literally hunted down by the Nazis and hauled off to concentration camps.
That’s how great and intense this persecution was.
So, how did the Christians deal with this?
The good new though is, some of the Christians were able to escape Saul’s grasp.
Luke writes:
“...and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”
(ESV)
Luke says as Paul ravaged the church, some of the church members were able to escape out of the city and were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria where they hid and found places of refuge.
As a result, those who do escape Saul’s grasp are forced to flee the city into the surrounding regions.
Luke says some escaped, and those who did escape were forced to flee the city into the surrounding regions where they began to preach the word.
So, a good question might be, “Why is this happening?”
Well, as we learned last week, it’s happening for a couple of reasons.
First, it’s happening because Jesus said it would.
In Jesus warns his disciples what following Him would entail.
Recording the words of Jesus, Matthew writes:
Jesus warned his disciples that persecution would eventually come that could lead to imprisonment and even death.
And the fact is, we still see that happening in the world today.
Well, primarily it’s happening because God has allowed it.
Which might surprise some of us.
The question then is, “If that’s true, why would God allow this great persecution to happen?”
Simply put, the church had grown comfortable and lost sight of its mission.
You may recall back in , Jesus gave the early church specific instructions concerning the mission and proclamation of the gospel.
In Jesus says:
Jesus’s instructions are clear.
After they are filled with the Holy Spirit, their job is to take the gospel first to Jerusalem, and then to Judea, then to Samaria, and eventually to the rest of the world.
But up to this point, the early church hasn’t done that.
Up to this point, they’ve stayed within the comfortable confounds of Jerusalem.
Because after all, life at First Century Fellowship Church is good.
Listen to how Luke describes their conditions back in chapter 4:
Acts 4:
Acts 4:34
So, why haven’t they expanded beyond Jerusalem?
Well, there could be a number of reasons, but based on what we’ve learned so far, it would seem they’ve not followed through on the mission because they’ve grown comfortable.
We know this based on Luke’s assessment of the church back in chapter 4. Listen to how he describes the Jerusalem church:
Acts 4
You see, the reason the early church hasn’t left Jerusalem is because they’ve grown with their church lifestyle.
Comfortable with the fellowship.
Comfortable with every need being met.
I mean, why would you want to leave a place like that.
Life is good at First Century Fellowship Church.
And please hear me, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with being comfortable.
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with Christian fellowship or having our personal needs met.
But the fact is, Jesus didn’t come so the church could just sit around, hear great worship, and drink coffee together.
Jesus came to build a church that would reach a lost and dying world.
Jesus came to build a church that would be willing to leave comfort in order to go to Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
But the early church had lost sight of that.
The early church had gotten lost in its comfort.
And so, to wake them back up to the mission, God allows them to get uncomfortable.
God allows a man named Saul to light a fire under them.
Because, like many Christians, they’ve grown comfortable where they are at.
up to this point, the early church hasn’t followed through on what Jesus asked them to do.
And the fact of the matter is, sometimes God does that to us as well.
Because as we discussed last week, one of the greatest deterrents to accomplishing God’s plan in our life will be our love of comfort.
And so sometimes, because He loves us, God allows a little discomfort in our lives to get us back on track.
Now, you might be thinking, “I don’t know pastor.
I’m not sure God would do that?”
Well, you can be sure He would, and He did, because Luke confirms it.
And we know it based on two clues Luke gives us:
And we know that based on two clues Luke gives us.
God has allowed it.
And we know that based on two clues Luke gives us.
First, Luke says as the persecution took place they were “scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria”.
As we learned last week, the word translated for scattered here portrays the idea of a farmer scattering and sowing seed in a field.
So, the implication is that through this persecution, the early church was scattered and sown into the surrounding region like a seed is planted in a field.
Second, Luke says as they were scattered and sown outside of Jerusalem, their presence in those regions began to take root.
In verse 4 he writes:
Luke says as the Christians were scattered throughout the region, they began to preach the word.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9