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
0.07UNLIKELY
Disgust
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Fear
0.6LIKELY
Joy
0.57LIKELY
Sadness
0.56LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.71LIKELY
Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
0.81LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.43UNLIKELY
Extraversion
0.07UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
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Message Introduction
Anxiety may foster a heavy heart
Joy promotes healing
Step 1: Understand the Problem – Observation and Identification of the Problem (PROBLEM)
1. Introduction – What is my problem?
What Are Fear, Anxiety, and Worry?
a. Fear - is the emotion of alarm in reaction to a perceived danger or threat
b.
Anxiety - is a more general, long-term feeling of uneasiness, a vague perception of threat that won't go away
c.
Worry - is not an emotion, however.
It is the mental action of bringing up conflicts or fears, mulling over them, and contemplating worst-case scenarios
d.
Tends to include: worrying mindset, physiological response, avoidance behaviors
e. Medical/Psychiatric Definitions of Anxiety Disorders
(1) Phobias
(2) Panic disorders
(3) Obsessive-compulsive disorders
(4) Anxiety due to a medical condition
(5) Post-traumatic stress disorder
(6) Acute stress disorder
(7) Generalized anxiety disorder
(8) Substance-induced anxiety
f.
Fear —> Control —> Anger —> Depression (Despair/Destruction)
Characteristics that Exacerbate Fear, Anxiety and Worry
(1) “What if?” thinking
(2) Excessive need for approval
(3) Intense focus on self (protect and promoting self)
(4) Mishandled guilt intense worry
(5) Perfectionism
(6) Poor communicationof thoughts, desires and feelings
(7) Poor management of conflicts – Desire Demand Judge Punish
(8) Self-medication– alcohol, food and other substances
(9) Tendency to controllingmindset and behaviors
(10) Victim mentality
Message Outline
Problem of a Heavy Heart
Perspective of a Heavy Heart
Promises for a Heavy Heart
Prescription for the Heavy Heart
Message Exposition
Problem of a Heavy Heart
The effects of worry upon the inner man are serious; literally, one can worry himself sick (v.
25).
But your words of encouragement and hope bring joy.
The picture is of one sinking down into the depths; perhaps this is referring to the kind of fatigue that often accompanies those who worry.
Don’t forget to bring in Philippians 4 and Matthew 6 when discussing worry.
Cares or anxieties
Losses
Health
Relationships
Disappointments - dashed expectation - did not turn out like you planned
Bad news
Sin
Specific problems
General circumstances
Perspective of a Heavy Heart
DAMAGING THOUGHT PATTERNS
Black-or-White Thinking
I have the tendency to think in extreme, black-or-white categories.
Shades of gray do not exist; it’s all or nothing.
For example, maybe my sermon goes so badly one Sunday that I conclude, “I was never called to the ministry.”
Or the fleeting thought passes through my mind: God does not exist.
I can’t be a Christian if I ever think that, can I? Whether preaching or praying, the extreme conclusion begins to drag down my mood.
Generalizing
Sometimes, when I experience something horrible, I’m convinced that the same thing will happen to me again and again.
I remember the first time I asked a young lady for a date, only to be rebuffed.
My conclusion?
“Well, there’s no point in ever asking anyone else, is there?
This is always going to happen to me, and I better just get used to the single life.”
Another time I tried to witness to someone, but when the person mocked me, I moped around for days groaning, “I’ll never win a soul for Christ, so I might as well shut up.”
Filtering
I also have an amazing ability to pick out the negative in every situation and think about it to the exclusion of everything else.
I filter out anything positive and find everything is negative.
We’re especially good at this when our kids come home with 90 percent on an exam.
First question?
“What happened to the other 10 percent?”
Or we hear a great sermon, but all we can think about is the pastor’s stupid grammatical mistake that spoiled the whole thing.
Such tunnel vision is not good for the mood or the soul.
Transforming
Ever managed to transform a positive experience into a negative?
Yes, I’m pretty good at that too.
Someone compliments me.
But instead of expressing humble thanks to her and to God, What’s she after? is my suspicious thought.
I read my Bible and find a verse that speaks assurance to my heart.
But instead of thanking God, I think, It’s probably the Devil trying to deceive me.
Mind Reading
Although I do not believe in psychics, I can read your mind.
Yes, I know all your innermost thoughts about me.
When you passed me in the mall without stopping to speak, I immediately knew it was because you hated me.
I heard later that you broke your glasses and were on the way to the optician, but I know better.
Fortune-telling
I not only read minds; I also tell fortunes.
At times I feel in my bones that things are going to turn out really badly, and sure enough it always happens.
Another person I know with that skill convinced himself that his job interview would be a catastrophe.
When the CEO saw him and said, “Cheer up, we’re not the firing squad!” he knew his prophecy was about to be fulfilled.
Funny how what we feel often determines what actually happens.
Telescoping
I’ve found this amazing telescope that helps me find and focus on the sins of the distant past in a way that leads to present feelings of guilt, condemnation, and fear.
Then when it comes to my present blessings and benefits, I turn the telescope the other way around, shrinking the good things until they are nearly invisible.
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