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
0.11UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.09UNLIKELY
Fear
0.09UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.41UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.48UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.67LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.48UNLIKELY
Extraversion
0.19UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.91LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.63LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
A family in our church trying to take my Christmas crown.
I expect for someone outside of the faith family to try to take me down, but my own church family?
Trying to crush my dreams?
You ever feel like your dreams have been crushed?
Joseph’s story: the people closest to him taking him down, trying to crush his dream by crushing him.
Gen. 37-50 - the story of Joseph, but not just Joseph’s story.
It’s the story of Jacob’s sons - the story of 12 brothers that will ultimately become a great nation.
The story of Joseph and his sons is the longest section of Genesis, and it’s a riveting story with unexpected twists and turns.
Great story for the Christmas season because every page of this story points us to the hope we have in Christ-child born in the manger.
A story that begins with Joseph’s dreams, and by the end of chapter 37, it doesn’t seem like Joseph’s dreams will come true.
His life is thrown into a pit.
Maybe you have or had a dream for your life.
You had ambitions, goals, hopes and dreams.
But, something happened along the way - something unexpected, and it feels like your life has been thrown into the pit.
If you’re in the pit, there’s hope for you.
If you feel like your dreams have been crushed, there’s hope for you.
Four truths from this story that you can cling to when you feel like your life has been thrown into the pit.
Story:
Joseph and his brothers’ story starts in Gen. 15:13 - 400 years of affliction.
Odd promise.
God building a nation but they’ll go through 400 years of affliction?
Joseph = Abraham’s great, great grandson.
In Gen. 37, he’s a teenage shepherd out in the fields with his brothers.
Joseph brings a bad report to his father about his brothers.
A tattle tale?
Maybe, but Moses goes to great lengths in Joseph’s story to show us that he’s different than his brothers and different than Jacob.
Not a self-centered brat but an obedient, faithful son full of integrity.
Joseph isn’t the problem.
Jacob’s the problem.
He favors his son.
Never had the love of his own father, so he lavishes love upon his favorite son.
Joseph the oldest son of Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel.
Rachel’s now dead.
Every time Jacob looked at Joseph he was reminded of his beloved wife.
Jacob gave Joseph a special robe.
Coat of many colors?
Maybe, maybe not.
More likely, a royal garment - other time this phrase - a robe worn by a king’s daughter (2 Sam.
13:18-19).
Joseph set apart from his brothers as significant and special.
Brothers obviously become jealous.
vs. 5-8 - Maybe Jacob thinks that Joseph is the child of promise like he was… Especially when Joseph tells his family about his dream.
A dream given by God - just confirms what Jacob was thinking about Joseph.
What Jacob saw in the dream was similar to what God had told his mom, Rebekah, before Jacob was born.
God said that Jacob’s brother would serve him.
Now, God telling Joseph that his brothers would bow to him.
His brothers hate him even more.
Then another dream (vs.
9) - Sun and moon and eleven stars bow down.
Not only will his brothers bow down before him, so will his mom and dad.
Doesn’t sit well with your dad when you tell your dad that some day he’s going to bow to you.
(vs.
10)
However… Jacob wondered what the dreams meant… Was there something to the dreams?
(vs.
11)
vs. 12 - Brothers tending Jacob’s sheep in Shechem - miles away - several day journey.
Jacob sending Joseph to check on his brothers who hate him.
This is not going to go well.
Doesn’t find his brothers in Shechem.
A man says they had gone to Dothan.
Joseph found them in Dothan, and his brothers saw him coming.
“Here comes that dreamer (vs.
18).
Far from home, a perfect place for a murder.
“We’ll kill him and tell dad a wild animal attacked him and killed him.”
Reuben: “Let’s not kill him, let’s throw him in a cistern...” Reuben, Jacob’s oldest son, planned on being Joseph’s savior.
He was going to come back and get him later and take him home to his father.
Why?
Maybe to repair his relationship with Jacob...
The brothers grab Joseph, rip his robe, and threw him in the cistern.
After their dirty work was done, they sat and ate together.
In the distance they saw Ishmaelite traders.
Judah’s idea was to sell Joseph into slavery.
Might as well profit off of their brother.
Pulled Joseph out of the put and sold him.
With money in hand they watched as Joseph was carried away to Egypt.
Joseph would never return home.
He would live and die far away from home.
When he died, he requested that his bones would someday be carried back home.
Rueben unaware of what happened.
Went to rescue his brother and found an empty pit.
They kill a goat and dip Jospeh’s robe in its blood.
Imagine Jacob’s sorrow when his sons tell him that Joseph was dead.
No one could comfort him.
Yet, Joseph not dead.
Sold to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh.
Joseph had a dream of ruling… This was not his dream.
This was the opposite.
The dreamer was now a slave - far away from the safety and love of his father.
Your life probably hasn’t turned out like you thought it would either.
You’ve found yourself in the pit.
Four truths to remember when you find your life in the pit:
You are not guaranteed a life free from the pit.
Moses presents Joseph as a godly, faithful man of integrity.
He’s not a deceiver like his father.
He’s not vindictive like his brothers.
Instead, throughout his story he honors God.
The result of honoring God: a plot against him by his brothers, slavery and a false accusation of sexual harassment, imprisonment, forgotten by everyone, and left in prison to die.
Supposed to be rewarded for honoring God.
Joel Osteen would tell you that you speak your future into existence.
Speak faith and prosperity over your life, and God will bless you.
Yet, Joseph isn’t blessed - at least not in the way we think about blessing.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9