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.
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Anger
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Fear
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Analytical
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Extraversion
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Introduction
Hot topics are really just difficult topics.
Mature believers do not run from difficulty but rather they embrace God’s goodness in the midst of that difficulty and allow the Gospel to speak to that issue or difficulty.
There is nothing in my life or yours that cannot be overcome with the truth that Jesus Christ died on a cross for the sin of the world.
On difficult issues we need a theology on that issue.
A What does God say statement for this issue.
God has lots to say, now let’s hear Him on this.
“Never has so much been crammed into one word.
Depression feels terrifying—your world is dark, heavy, painful.
Some days you think that physical pain might be easier to endure; at least the pain would be localized.
Instead, depression goes to your very soul, corrupting everything in its path.
Dead but walking is one way to describe it.
You feel numb, but you still remember when you actually felt something.
Somehow that makes it harder to bear.”
Welch, Edward T.. Hope for the Depressed: Beyond a "Cheer-Up" Theology .
New Growth Press.
Kindle Edition.
You aren’t alone, of course.
Depression affects as much as 25% of the population.
But statistics offer little comfort.
In fact, a depressive spin on them can make you feel worse: You wonder why so many people are depressed, and you’re afraid that means there is no solution to the problem.
Yet there is another perspective.
God tells us that he cares about one wandering sheep in a hundred () and counts the hairs on individual heads.
If he has this much compassion for a solitary, lost individual, he certainly cares for you and such a large group of suffering people.
You may not understand how he cares for you, but you can be certain that he does.
Welch, Edward T.. Hope for the Depressed: Beyond a "Cheer-Up" Theology .
New Growth Press.
Kindle Edition.
When you are numb
Suffering Makes us Aware of God.
When suffering comes we either embrace God’s presence and rest in it or we shake our fist at God in anger.
Have you ever done both?
“The journey in the wilderness is intended, in part, to reveal what is in our hearts, and to teach us to trust God in both good times and hard times.”
Welch, Edward T.. Hope for the Depressed: Beyond a "Cheer-Up" Theology .
New Growth Press.
Kindle Edition.
“In your depression, let God reveal your heart.
You might find Spiritual issues that contribute to or even cause your depression.”
Welch, Edward T.. Hope for the Depressed: Beyond a "Cheer-Up" Theology .
New Growth Press.
Kindle Edition.
What path will you choose in your suffering?
Isolated Independence or faith???
“On the road of Faith you are seeking and following God.
You are calling out to Him.
You don’t understand what is happening, but you have not lost sight of how the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ assure you that he is good.
You feel like you are walking in the dark, but in your best moments you are putting one foot in front of the other as an expression of your trust in God. .
.On this path, although you are suffering, you are still able to notice and marvel that God’s Spirit is empowering you to trust him through darkness and pain.”
Isolated independence is a path that yo may not even know that you are on.
You may not feel like you are intentionally avoiding God, but you just try to survive.
Here are some signs that you are pushing God away:
You have no hope, not even in God’s Word. .
Life is meaningless, even though you are a servant of the King. .
Do you think God doesn’t care? .
In many areas of your life, you simply do not believe God.
What are your emotions saying?
This is the way it is with all emotions: fear, anger, anticipation, dread, and so on.
They are usually provoked by some circumstance in your life, but they are your responses to those circumstances and your interpretations of them.
In other words, they reveal you.
For example, to get an unexpected bill can provoke financial concerns in almost anyone.
But if you obsess and are chronically fearful about your financial future, that level of fear reveals where you have put your trust: in yourself rather than God.
Your emotions reveal you.
Welch, Edward T. .
Depression: The Way Up When You’re Feeling Down (p.
11).
New Growth Press.
Kindle Edition.
Moses declared this to the Israelites while wondering lost in the desert without purpose.
Fear:
To be exposed, to lose a loved one, to be abandoned, to loses control, to die, to have a disabling disease, to see God, of everything.
I am guilty/ashamed:
My own sin, not measuring up to God’s standards, Not being approved by man, not being able to do enough for God, a conscience that is making judgements on incomplete data (e.g.
I am taking responsibility for other people’s sins).
I lost something:
Job, healthy, money. . .
At the end of the line what you will find you lost the most of was God.
Most likely, the thing lost was like god to you; it was where you placed your hope and trust.
I need something:
Can you tell what happens when your desires become the most important thing?
Your desires transform into needs.
You feel like you must have them in order to live.
This is lust, and lust always wants more.
It is never satisfied.
It is always empty.
James 4:
I am angry:
You have probably heard that depression can be a way of saying, “I am angry.”
Usually, the anger comes because we didn’t get what we wanted from someone else or God himself.
This doesn’t mean that you think murderous thoughts about others and shake your fist at God (although some do).
Look for quieter expressions of anger, such as complaining, grumbling, lack of forgiveness, or self-pity.
If you don’t see them, look again.
Almost always, they are a part of things.
Welch, Edward T. .
Depression: The Way Up When You’re Feeling Down (p.
14).
New Growth Press.
Kindle Edition.
James 3:
James
I Must avoid something, Woe is me, I have no hope:
Romans 2:
“I know my redeemer is with me and I will humbly wait for his deliverance.”
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