Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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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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Hook
Have 2-3 kids sit on the couch, and tell the rest to sit on the floor with no cushions.
Now, let’s take a look at what we’ve got here.
There are three of you sitting on the nice, comfortable, cozy couch, and then the rest of you are sitting on the floor.
The people on the couch are the ones that I chose to be the people who have the benefit of sitting there.
The rest of you are outside of this chosen group, therefore, you get the floor.
It’s not about what’s fair or not, but, maybe this is just the way it is.
But, it kinda sucks, doesn’t it?
While they get the comfort of the couch, you guys get the hard, uncomfortable floor.
Being separated in this kind of way is no fun.
In fact, it really sucks.
Have kids sit back down where they were.
As I said, being separated off from a group can really be lame.
I have a friend at school who once told me he was really feeling separated.
He said it never seemed like he got invited out to eat, or to movie nights, or to game nights, and stuff like that.
He was having a really hard time and feeling secluded from pretty much everyone.
He didn’t feel like he had many friends or had much going for him at the time.
He felt like he was an outsider.
I’m sure we’ve all felt this way, where we feel separated and cut off from a group.
Now let me give you an even bigger example.
In the early 1900s, African Americans in the United States were highly separated.
During this time, there were certain laws that made it so African Americans could not use the same bathrooms, public transportation, theatres, parks, and even drinking fountains as white people did.
This must have been awful.
Any African American person was horribly cut off and separated from the rest of American society during that time.
They were completely cut off from the other group and did not have the same benefits.
They were outsider.
Divided People
Here’s my point in bringing all this outsider stuff up.
Last week we learned what?
(…) We learned that everyone at some point is dead.
Well I have another fun fact for you tonight.
Tonight I’m going to tell you that we are all outsiders at some point.
Outsiders from what you might ask?
Well, let’s jump into the book of Ephesians.
Now, what have I been saying the book of Ephesians is about?
(…)
The main point of Ephesians is to find out who we are or who we can be in Christ!
Jesus makes all things new, so when we follow Him, we have a new identity.
Tonight we are going to continue to look at who we can be in Christ.
Here’s what Paul writes first.
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders.
You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
12 In those days you were living apart from Christ.
You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them.
You lived in this world without God and without hope.
History lesson
Okay, before we get too deep into this, we need a quick history lesson to understand what’s going on in this passage.
Paul mentions both Gentiles and Jews, and we need to understand what these two groups are.
A Jew is a part of the group that God had originally chose to be His people.
They were to show God’s love to the rest of the world.
Eventually they became so disobedient that God told them they wouldn’t exclusively be His people anymore.
They were and still are His chosen people that He made promises too, but they lost the right to being the only ones.
A Gentile is anyone who is not a Jew.
So I don’t think any of us are Jewish, so, you and I are all Gentiles.
Being a Gentile simply means you are not a born Israeli, and you do not follow the Jewish religion.
As we read this passage and talk about it, remember that you are a Gentile.
So let’s see what Paul says about Gentiles.
Divided People
As we read this passage and talk about it, remember that you are a Gentile.
So let’s see what Paul says about Gentiles.
Let’s point out some facts of what is significant about Gentiles (you and me).
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders.
You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
12 In those days you were living apart from Christ.
You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them.
You lived in this world without God and without hope.
11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders.
You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
What does Paul says about Gentiles?
First, Gentiles were outsiders.
You and I were outsiders.
This means they were not in the “club” of Israel.
They were separate from this group, and didn’t get the benefits of it.
Second, Gentiles were called “uncircumcised heathens” by Jews.
Basically they were calling Gentiles names.
They thought they were all that, when really, they weren’t acting like God’s people.
Let’s keep going.
12 In those days you were living apart from Christ.
You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them.
You lived in this world without God and without hope.
What does Paul say is true about Gentiles here?
First, he says that Gentiles were living apart from Christ.
They didn’t really know much about Jesus, and were separate from Him.
They weren’t learning about Him, following Him, obeying Him, or anything like that.
Second, Gentiles were excluded from citizenship in Israel.
This means that they were excluded from becoming a part of this nation.
They were out on their own and weren’t able to join Israel.
They could not become citizens of God’s people.
Third, Gentiles didn’t know God’s promises for Israel.
This means that they did not understand them, and were separated from the promises.
They didn’t get the benefit of having amazing promises from God.
Finally, Paul says that Gentiles did not have God, and they did not have hope.
They did not have the benefit of knowing God and His blessings, therefore, they were completely hopeless.
So overall, it sounds pretty bad to be a Gentile.
No God, no hope, separated from Israel, outsiders, all really lame stuff!
It sucks.
And the fact is, we are all Gentiles.
This is the state we are in, and honestly, it seems pretty hopeless.
But wait! Paul doesn’t stop there!
Let’s look at what he says next.
Jesus the Peacemaker
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