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
0.08UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.05UNLIKELY
Fear
0.07UNLIKELY
Joy
0.72LIKELY
Sadness
0.14UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.64LIKELY
Confident
0.13UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.87LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.75LIKELY
Extraversion
0.16UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.4UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.63LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Welcome/Opening Prayer
Music Ministry
Doxology
Let Us Break Bread Together(1,2,3)
This I Believe
Word of God - 1 John 1:5-7
Message - “The Apostles’ Creed and Communion of Saints”
I, along with many other pastors, often teach that we need to seek unity
In our core text today, 1 John 1:5-7, we just heard about
God being light with total absence of darkness
Believers are supposed to walk in God’s light in fellowship with God
But what does this mean?
and what does it have to do with the Apostle’s Creed?
Stay tuned
In the first verse today, 1 John 1:5
“God is Light”
“light” is a commonly used metaphor in Jewish literature and in the OT
“Light” means perfection or truth
“Darkness” is the opposite, so “darkness” means lies or sin
Believers are called to live in “light” like Jesus says in John 8:12
This is where things get a bit sticky
Jesus was, and is, perfection
We are NOT perfection, so we have some level of darkness
The people around us see our darkness, often easier than we do
Illustration:
One of my pet peeves is people driving without headlights when there is fog.
I’m sure they think that the headlights don’t help THEM see the road or other cars, so why bother turning them on
Headlights in fog are used so OTHERS can see you, not so you can see
Those people THINK they are driving in the light
But truly, they are driving in darkness
It’s the same when we see others living their life in sin
They think they are “spiritual”,
Their god is personal and not described in a book
For that matter, they may be attending church and believe in God with a big “G”
But they criticize others for their beliefs or practices
The form of baptism
The type or volume of music
The selling of a raffle ticket in the church
Whatever the pet peeve
All these are examples of seeds of division that hurt the unity of body of Christ
Which means we are not walking fully in the light of Christ
The Apostle Paul called Believers to unity of the body of Christ
And we continue that call today
I hope you see the significance of the statement in verse 4.
“There is ONE body”
Those who sow seeds of disunity are not really a functional part of the body of Christ
They are working for Satan, not God
We truly must keep ourselves building up the body of Christ
not letting little things separate us
That is the heart of what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:10.
One way we bring the body of Christ together is the Apostels’ Creed
Whenever there is disagreement or division
It is a good idea to start any discussion with where you agree, not disagree
That’s been at the center of our push for “Keep Christ in Christmas”
To get Believers, regardless of denomination or church, to stand together in full unity
To profess that Jesus is the reason we have and celebrate Christmas
To show Christ in action, especially during the celebration of Christ’s birth
Likewise, The Apostles’ Creed clearly states our common ground
First, we’ll talk about what the creed does
• [image]
Takeaways – The Apostles’ Creed
1. Summarizes our faith
It’s a series of “I believe” statements
that have been defined, refined and recited by Believers since the fourth century
In fact, the Creed is a good starting point if anyone asks you about your religious belief - start here
I believe in God
The Father Almighty,
Creator of heaven
and earth;
And in Jesus Christ,
His only Son our Lord;
You could continue with the full Creed, right?
Yes, the Creed summarizes our faith
Our second takeaway is
Takeaways – The Apostles’ Creed
1. Summarizes our faith
2. Defines and facilitates unity in our faith
Indeed, it is considered to be a unifying factor for Christians
Whatever our religious practices
On these things we should agree
Pastor, author, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Al Mohler put it this way
“All Christians believe more than is contained in the Apostles’ Creed, but none can believe less” (-Al Mohler)
We often recite it on Communion Sundays
But, it’s not JUST to be recited
The creed should be much more than proof that we can memorize and recite
In fact, to be of real value the creed needs to be an accurate reflection of what each of us believes
All Christians should be able to be in agreement on the Apostle’s Creed
from this foundation we should be strong and united
·Third Takeaway [image]
Takeaways – The Apostles’ Creed
1. Summarizes our faith
2. Defines and Facilitates unity in our faith
3. Based on Scripture
I am not going to go through each statement in the Creed in detail today
I did that a couple of year ago
For each element, there is a direct connection to the Bible
Each statement rests soundly on the writings of the Apostles
We know each statement to be completely true
Today, though, we focus on a statement near the end
The communion
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9