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
0.09UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.07UNLIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.64LIKELY
Sadness
0.52LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.61LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.45UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.78LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.78LIKELY
Extraversion
0.51LIKELY
Agreeableness
0.77LIKELY
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
As I was preparing for business meeting and preaching this evening, I was reminded of the unity that exists in the body of Christ and how Scripture talks about this type of unity in multiple places!
Think about unity for a moment.
Lots of people in our world talk about unity and how we need to come together around a specific cause or thing or idea.
There are times where this seems to work.
Every 4 years athletes from countries all around the world gather to compete in something called the Olympics.
We all have our favorite sports to watch in the Olympics: soccer, basketball, baseball, swimming, gymnastics, track, and everything else in between - the Olympics has it all!
As one who ran track and enjoys watching track in the Olympics, I love watching the relay races and the teamwork between the athletes.
Instead of running 100m or 200m for themselves, these world class athletes are working as a unit.
What do these runners in a relay race pass from person to person?
A baton.
In a perfect situation, they run their leg and they have a word to signal their teammate to reach back their hand and the baton gets passed without any complication.
However, we live in a fallen world and sometimes batons get dropped.
In the Olympic games whenever this happens you see the devastation on the faces of these runners as they trained for years and years to get to this point only to drop the baton when the lights were shining the brightest.
Maybe you’ve never ran a race in your life - much less a relay race in track and field, but we all know the feeling of dropping the baton.
We have moments in life where we mess up whenever people are depending upon us.
We have times in life where we fall short of the mark.
We’ve all dropped the baton - thankfully we haven’t had half the world watching us do it on TV!
Think about this team of runners and the unity that they have.
They have a common goal: To win 1st place and get the gold medal.
Consider for a moment the unity that exists within the church: We believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
In track, especially in the Olympics, you want a certain type of person on your relay team.
You might be really funny, nice, kind, smart, or knowledgeable but if you’re not really fast, you’re not going to have a spot on that team!
In the Church, though, things are different.
Some of us are fast, others are slow.
Some of us are old, others are young.
Some are male, others are female.
We are diverse - we are different!
Yet, we are also united by faith in Jesus.
This should bring about a deep unity within our lives and within our congregation.
However, just like the baton can be dropped in track, unity can be broken in the body.
The New Testament speaks to the importance of unity often
In the early church, just as in the church today, there were many reasons to be divided.
The people were diverse, they had different religious backgrounds, socio-economic statuses, cultural practices, and political beliefs.
Yet, we read in the book of Acts that the early church laid aside those differences and put the Gospel above all.
The challenge before us in the 21st century is simply this: Keep our eyes on Jesus!
Let’s read in Acts 4 about how keeping our eyes on Jesus allows us to be unified as a body.
Christians Are United by Faith in Christ (32-33)
Again, we see unity in our world in many different areas.
We see this in relationships, the workplace, families, and nations.
We see corporations talk a good talk about being a cohesive team and being unified behind a common cause.
We see people do the same thing in our nation and rally behind an idea.
How is Christian unity different from other forms of unity?
Look at our opening verse: The entire group of those who believed.
What was the unifying factor in the early church?
All of these people believed in Jesus Christ!
They trusted in Jesus to provide.
They relied on His power.
Whenever you and I place our total trust in Jesus Christ, everything in our life changes.
We know this because the Bible tells us that before Jesus we were walking in darkness as children under wrath.
We thought and acted differently than we do today because we indulged in the desires of our flesh and heart.
What changed?
Jesus changed our lives!
He opened our eyes.
Jesus Christ creates unity.
Isn’t this good news?
You and I don’t make unity - we don’t create it - Jesus does that!
We are simply called to maintain it as we keep our focus and trust in Him.
Aren’t you thankful that Jesus Christ can melt even the hardest and coldest of hearts?
We see this in the early church as they held all things in common with one another.
Think about how rare this would be.
If you have 250 people in a local church, how many hearts and minds will you have?
You’ll have 250.
How many different opinions and hot takes will you have?
You’ll have at least 250!
By the time Acts 4 rolls around, scholars estimate they had roughly 10,000 followers in the church.
That’s a whole lot of different opinions and minds, yet we read that they were of one heart and mind.
This blows our minds because we rarely get 10 people to unanimously agree on something!
Can you imagine getting 10,000 to all agree?
Whenever you love Jesus - you love others, especially His bride, the Church!
Even though we have different ideas and thoughts, our faith in Christ unites us together.
Scripture reminds us of this truth and how love for others must dominate our lives as Christians.
Understand what’s going on in the early church: They believe in Jesus - therefore, they are united with one another because their priorities are in proper order.
Because they are united in Jesus, they hold all things in common.
Does this mean that there aren’t differences of opinion or various backgrounds?
No, there are!
But, because they love Jesus, they share with one another and were able to serve as witnesses for Jesus Christ even though they had differences.
Even the best of friends will disagree.
Even the best of friends won’t share the same mind.
Some of you have great friends who are not Christians.
Some of you have great friends who disagree with you strongly on some things.
Christlike friendship is unique in our world.
It doesn’t mean that you’ll always feel the same way, but through the Holy Spirit, you can be of the same mind as the believers in Acts 4 experienced.
Christian friendship is deeper than earthly friendship.
Christian community is deeper than earthly community.
Christian fellowship is deeper than family fellowship.
How?
Because through Jesus, you have been adopted into an eternal family and you have more in common with your fellow believers than you do friends who reject Christ.
So, are we living together in harmony?
The early church was diverse.
They were composed of Jews from every nation under heaven as Acts 2 shares with us.
They didn’t think, act, look, or smell the same - yet they were united.
There is a temptation for us today to worship with people who do think, act, look, and smell the same as us yet we don’t live in harmony with them.
Why is this a temptation? 3 ideas
We don’t truly have faith in Jesus
There are some who come to church out of a sense of obligation/tradition.
I come because my grandmother/grandfather came and my parents dragged me, therefore I come to church because it’s what my family does.
It’s an hour a week - nothing more.
Friends, that’s not what it looks like to have saving faith in Jesus.
It’s something that changes every cell in our body.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9