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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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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Introduction
The mission of Christmas: Survival.
Christmas planning, parking, parties.
We near the end of Christmas with less joy, peace, love than when we started.
“12 Pains of Christmas”
12 - Singing Christmas Carols
11 - Stale TV Specials
10 - Batteries not included
9 - Finding parking spaces
8 - “I want Trans-formers”
7 - Salvation Army
6 - Facing my in-laws
5 - Five months of bills
4 - Sending Christmas cards
3 - Hangovers
2 - Rigging up the lights
1 - Finding a Christmas tree
Home Alone — literal survival!
Christmas IS a mission
Christmas is a model for missions.
Missions is a mirror of Christmas.
As I, so you.
— John Piper
(ESV)
18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.
From onward, all of God’s actions in relation to this world have been to reconcile the rebellious — and in so doing, bring him glory.
Everything leads TO Christmas, and everything flows FROM it.
**When we walk with Jesus by faith, we become a part of the mission of Christmas.**
(ESV)
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way.
When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.
It is all about Jesus.
It is all about Jesus.
“birth” = genesis (not usual word for birth) AND Some manuscripts have simply “Christ”
— Matthew is not writing an interesting story about a unique boy.
He’s not giving us a birth account.
(i.e., “Let me tell you about the day my daughter was born. .
.)
— Matthew is giving an account of the beginning of the Messiah‘s break into this world.
— Matthew doesn’t give us the narrative we saw last week of angel coming to Mary.
— Virgin birth is not explained in any detail — it’s simply assumed.
— From the Holy Spirit.
God is all in and unified on this!
—
“Jesus is the reason for the season.”
— Cute, but at best it’s only half-true.
Jesus is the reason for EVERYTHING.
Jesus is not A part
I wonder what he thought
of the Christmas story just like Mary, Joseph, wisemen, shepherds, (Santa, Rudolph, elves, Mr. Narwhal, etc.) Jesus is THE main part of the story.
Illust - kids are notorious for missing the big picture — I tell them a great life story and they ask what my favorite flavor of ice cream was as a kid.
Christmas Eve we are going to unwrap who Jesus is — spend our entire time together on this one point.
Christmas season should be the time to remind ourselves of this, but more often it is the first thing to go in the rush.
If Satan cannot deceive you, he is happy to distract you.
**It’s all about Jesus.
Matthew remembers this and reminds us of this.
19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.
Think about all that was going through Joseph’s mind.
— betrothed, husband - they were essentially married.
Arranged marriage
Parents paid bride price
Wait a year - preparation for the husband and watch the girl to make sure she is pure.
Mary can’t hide it
Can you imagine the conversation Mary had with Joseph?
Mary would tell Joseph to sit down and would say something like ~ “Sweetie, I need to tell you something.
And before you say anything, I need you to hear me out and not jump to conclusions!
I’m pregnant!
But the good news is, it’s by the Holy Spirit!”
In Joseph’s eyes, either Mary was not pregnant, but crazy; or she is pregnant and she’s lying.
Joseph had to decide if he stays with Mary, what will happen to him; and if he divorces her what will happen to him — and to her.
He’s marked for the rest of his life.
If he’s the guy that got her pregnant, or she got pregnant with someone else, then, from that point on, he’s going to find it hard to find a job.
If he divorces her, what other father would want his daughter to marry him.
Because the question is always going to remain . . .
was Joseph the father?
Joseph - just (according to law), merciful.
Joseph settled on divorcing her
Did you ever wonder: Why did God do it this way?
20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
Walking with Jesus requires a fearless faith.
If you haven’t already and if you are attempting to follow Jesus, you will at some point receive criticism, scoffs, or even hurtful things said about you .
- Illust - Are you one of them Jesus-freaks?
There comes a time when your faith will inevitably clash with the world around you, and you will be faced with the options of following Jesus or giving in to the fear of what other people think.
For Joseph - What will people think if I (literally) walk with Jesus?
What will people think if I
What will I need to start doing / stop doing at work to truly follow Jesus?
What will my coworkers think of me?
Jesus - Freak?
To walk fearlessly with Jesus I may need to:
Say I’m sorry and I know I’m going to be heckled.
Take an unpopular stand against abortion or against the sin of homosexuality.
Say something about the person we make jokes about instead of just laughing.
I may need to stop going with the guys or girls because of what happens.
Maybe walking with Jesus fearlessly means you walk with someone regardless of what others think — the loner, the sick, the orphan, the widow.
Joseph had a fear of walking with God whatever it takes.
How do we know?
do not fear to take Mary as your wife,
The angel told him NOT to fear to take Mary as wife,
If you have never experienced a situation where you need to choose between your faith and what others may think of you - then you are either not living your faith publicly or your not living in public.
It is rarely ignorance that keeps someone from walking with Jesus — it is usually fear.
Fear of what would need to change inside.
Fear of what might change outside.
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