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
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.65LIKELY
Sadness
0.51LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.55LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.38UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.8LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.98LIKELY
Extraversion
0.28UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.88LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.73LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
Last week we took a spiritual gifts assessment and for some of you, this was the first time you’ve ever studied what gift the Holy Spirit has given to you!
What were you thoughts at the results of this assessment?
Did anything surprise you?
These types of assessments are helpful tools - but they aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination.
No one has all of the gifts but everyone has at least 1.
The goal of taking this type of test is to help you see where your gift(s) could be and to begin to think about how and where you can use that gift in the local church.
For our purposes, we’re going to spend just a few minutes this evening looking at these gifts and then transition to what our response should be as we step into a new season/year.
Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, shared several helpful points regarding spiritual gifts a couple of years back and this serves as a good conclusion to this portion of our study.
You can find these on your outline
They Are Important And Essential For The Health Of The Bod
The Holy Spirit Is The Source Of All These Gifts
The Gifts Are Not Natural Abilities
There Is Not An Essential Hierarchy In Gifts, But There Is A Functional Distinction In Importance
What does this mean?
No gift is “better” than any other.
They are all different and serve different purposes.
Every gift matters!
Gifts Are No Sign Or Guarantee Of Spirituality
Even carnal/baby Christians have gifts - we can’t say that someone having a gift = they’re a mature believer
When The Gifts Are Used, The Body Profits
See 1 Cor 12:7
You Can Have A Gift And Not Be Using It
This seems to be a temptation as 1 Timothy 4:14 shares.
We must choose to exercise our gift.
Spiritual Grace-Gifts May Come In Combinations
We see Paul, Timothy, Barnabas, and others in the New Testament demonstrate multiple gifts.
Christians today have at least 1 gift and possibly several of them.
We read in Matthew 25 a parable from Jesus Christ to His disciples.
In the middle of this chapter, Jesus gives the parable of the talents.
We could study this parable all night long and glean from its truths, but I want to focus on one part of that story.
Could someone read Matthew 25:14-18?
We know how the rest of the parable goes.
The first two servants are invited to “share the master’s joy” but the 3rd is punished.
Why do you think the 3rd servant decided to hide the master’s money instead of use it in some capacity?
He was scared (v.
24-25) and didn’t want to lose what he had been given.
In the context of spiritual gifts, which are given to us by our “master” if you will, why is there a temptation to be like the 3rd servant in Matthew 25?
It’s easier to go with the flow and stay in our comfort zone than to trust and follow the Lord’s call.
We get comfortable and complacent and it can be so easy to think that someone else will step up and do the job.
It can be so easy to think that our work is done and that we can coast the rest of the way.
The truth of the matter, though, is that God gifts us and He expects us to use what we have been given!
We say this often to children whenever they become a Christian but the same applies here.
Whenever you accept Christ as Lord, you want to tell everyone about what He’s done for you!
The fire has been lit and nothing and no one can put it out!
Whenever you come to discover how the Lord has gifted you, nothing should stop you from using that gift and serving in the church.
The only thing that can stop that from happening is you and I not doing our job and not being responsible to steward what has been entrusted to us.
Pray about how you can use your gift for the Kingdom and how you can serve in the local church in the days to come.
As we move on from our spiritual gifts study, I want to look briefly tonight at how we’re supposed to operate as Christians.
We’ve been saved, we’ve been given a gift, how are we supposed to act day in and day out?
What do we do now?
Paul addresses this question and shares that we must walk by the Spirit in several different places.
Paul talks about the struggle taking place in our heart each day as Christians as we attempt to walk by the Spirit but we struggle with our flesh.
He shares this in Romans 7:18-19
Paul shares that he doesn’t do the good that he wants to do but instead he does the evil that he doesn’t want to do.
Why?
Because of his flesh.
We all have this struggle!
How do we fight against it?
How can you and I grow in our walk and walk in the Spirit?
We find this advice in Ephesians 4 as
Walk in a manner worthy of our calling with humility, gentleness, and patience.
As people who follow Christ and who desire to walk worthy of our calling, we must not listen to our heart but to the Spirit - we must exhibit the fruits of the Spirit.
Could someone read for us out of Galatians 5 for us as we examine what we should do?
This isn’t an exhaustive list of works of the flesh, but this is a good starting list.
As we studied a couple of weeks ago in Romans 5, this is where we all start.
We all start out as sinners as Romans 3:23 tells us.
We must be born again because if we are not, we continue to indulge the desires of the flesh and walk in them.
Paul’s warning here is found in verse 21 as he says, “Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
This is a serious threat!
Yet, so many people in our world seem to not heed it whatsoever.
Why do people continue to live under the rule of their flesh in our world today?
Are there consequences for doing this?
People seem to be confused as to the severity of doing this.
They think that this world is all that there is.
They think that there are no eternal consequences and, as a result, they should do whatever feels right in the moment.
At this point we might arrive at a bit of a conundrum, what saves us?
Paul says that people who practice these things will not inherit the Kingdom.
Is Paul saying that bad works destroy us and good works save us?
Short answer, no.
Good works can’t save us as we are unable to save ourselves regardless of how hard we try!
The only thing that can save is faith in Jesus Christ and Ephesians 2 shares this with us
Our works can’t save us, but truly being saved and born again should lead to some significant changes.
David Platt shares this, “Our good works do not save us, but true salvation leads to fruitfulness and faithfulness.”
We are a new creation and we don’t walk by sight - we walk by faith.
We don’t indulge in the desires of the flesh, we live out the fruit of the Spirit as Paul lays out in the verses to come.
Could someone read verses 22-23?
These are the things that we are encouraged do live out as Christians and we grow in these areas.
You could say that as we abide in Christ (John 15) then all of these fruits get produced over time.
As we use our spiritual gift, as we dive into the Word, as we pray, as we worship, and mature in our walk these fruit will grow and grow.
Some scholars divide them into 3 triads:
Love/Joy/Peace -
Patience/Kindness/Goodness -
Faithfulness/Gentleness/Self-Control -
Think for a moment about each of these qualities.
Are these things natural for us as humans?
Is it natural to love someone who has wronged you?
Is it natural to be full of joy in a difficult time in life?
Is it natural to be kind to someone who is mean?
Is it natural to be gentle to someone who has hurt you before?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9