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
0.08UNLIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.62LIKELY
Sadness
0.18UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.7LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.59LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.89LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.93LIKELY
Extraversion
0.35UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.72LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.85LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Title- A Confrontational Christmas
Passage- Matthew 2:1-12
Introduction-
Introduction-
This past October our family went on a two week vacation
There was a lot of preparations for the trip
Food…clothes…bedding....travel routes....places to sleep....finances…and so on
When we go on a trip of any length it is not as easy as just hopping in the car and going
It takes planning and preperation
To take a family of five on a two week vacation it takes the conviction that the trip is necessary and worth it....
Ours was well worth it
There were little conflicts here and there but that is true of any journey…at some level conflict is a part of getting from point A to point B
What is the main driving point (CPS)?
One of the most overlooked aspects of the Christmas message is the conflict within it
The Christmas message is saturated with conflict
All the way from the response of the world to the pregnant virgin Mary
All the way to King Herod’s response to the wise men
Herod’s slaughter of the innocents
And on it goes
Why does the CPS matter, what is the consequence?
Often in our lives conflict comes in hopes of moving us from where we are to somewhere better
This is, in it’s essence, the message of Christmas
There is much conflict to move us from where we are to something better.
Transition
In order to be moved to the better because of this conflict we must go through three stages…all three are seen in this passage with the “Wise Men”
The first stage we come to is...
I.
The Conviction (verse 1 & 2)
Explain
All this verse tells us about these men is that they were “wise men” and that they travel from “the East”
It does not tell us their occupation…their names…not even their exact location.
It is safe, according to the many sources I looked at, to guess that these men most likely had traveled around 400 miles.
That trip would have taken at least 2-3 weeks with camels or about a month by foot.
Since they were guided by the star they would have most likely traveled at night and that could have made the journey take even longer.
Not only do we know that at the end of the journey do they bring to Mary and Joseph some very expensive gifts, it would have cost them a lot of their resources to make the journey.
Another assumption would be that they underwent the journey of their own accord and their own resources.
They do not come in the name of anyone or by the authority of anyone.
They just go to Herod and ask where the new king is....
Not because they were sent but because they saw the star in the sky.
They were convinced that they needed to embark on this journey to meet this new king
Bridge to today
Every journey cost something
When you go on vacation
To the grocery store
When you drive to church
Even if you walk somewhere....
Every journey has a cost.
Every journey begins with giving up something
Time
Money
Adding milage to your vehicle
And we look at the journey presented to us and we count the cost...
Relevance
The Christmas message presents to the listeners a journey
It confronts you with the message that Jesus was born…to live a sinless life…to die and raise again to give to you the righteousness needed to be reconciled to God the Father
But there is a cost to that journey
You need to count the cost
Why does this matter?
The first cost is to be convinced
The first step in the journey of the Christmas message is the conviction that Jesus is who He claimed to be
CS Lewis presents this conflict in his popular statement that Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord.
If He is Lord then you need to have the conviction to take the first step to declare Him as such
Transition
This leads us into the second conflict....
Not only do we need to be convinced that Jesus is the Son of God we secondly need...
II.
The Confession (verse 2)
Explain
They make a simple yet profound statement....
The profoundness comes later…first the simplicity
What do you think they were expecting to find?
The first clue is in where they went
The second clue is found in what they asked
They went to the palace, the place where you expect to find a king
And they ask for the one born the king of the Jews
They are not coming looking for a baby
They are here to meet a man
All they find is an angry king, and not the king they were looking for
Probably an awkward moment
But in verses 10-12
They see the star once again and get excited
They go into the house and who is there?
Jesus..not the grown man but the young Jesus
Here is to me what is profound about their response
The conviction that the King of the Jews was the Child Jesus
Off living in the countryside
Not at all what they expected
But when they see Him what do they do?
They fell down…they worshiped Him…and gave Him gifts
It is interesting the wording
They didn’t give gifts to Mary and Joseph but to HIM!!!
They weren’t turned off by His age
or His location
or His family situation
or His humbleness
They accepted Him and worshipped Him as who they were convinced He was…King of the Jews
Bridge to today
This needs to be our response today as well
The wise men could have had all sorts of reasons to turn their back on Jesus
But they didn’t
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9