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
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Anger
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Welcome
Announcements
Join us on Sunday Mornings at 9:30 am dor Sunday School, Wednesday evenings at 6pm for our Study on Puritan theology.
Join us for lunch in the Parish Hall following communion
Christmas Eve Service will be at 6pm
Prepare for Worship
Call To Worship
224 Joy to the World
Confession
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, we acknowledge and confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed; we have not loved you with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength; we have not loved our neighbor as ourselves.
Deepen within us our sorrow for the wrong we have done, and the good we have left undone.
Lord, you are full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy; there is always forgiveness with you!
Restore to us the joy of your salvation; bind up that which is broken, give light to our minds, strength to our wills, and rest to our souls.
Speak to each of us, and let your word abide with us until it has wrought in us your holy will.
Amen.
Assurance of Faith
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the time had fully come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons and daughters.
And because you are sons and daughters, God has set the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father!’
So through God you are no longer a slave but a son and daughter, and if a son or daughter then an heir.
In Christ, you are forgiven, adopted into God’s family, an heir to the kingdom!
Worship
225 Go Tell It On The Mountain
231 O Come All Ye Faithful
242 O Little Town of Bethlehem
Prayers of the People
Prayer Request
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
The Shepherds Joy
This weeks candle is called the Shepherds Candle, and it represents Joy.
Candle Lighting
The Shepherd
Shepherds of Sheep
Misinformation as to the status of shepherds
Great Shepherds in the OT, Abraham, Moses, David
Thes Shepherds on the night of the birth
Were they despised?
Luke 2:18 could go either way
It doesn’t seem they were run out of the house
Though these men were commoners, they most likely were not as despised as usually indicated
Shepherds of Men
Every true church of God is equipped with a shepherd
Kings throughout history have been called shepherds
The role of Shepherds is important to the management of God’s people throughout the Bible, it is an ongoing theme
God’s people are considered to be sheep.
Surely this is not an offensive reference
The Great Shepherd
It would seem strange that a culture that despised shepherds and thought of them as lowly would refer t their God as Their Shepherd
There are multiple places in the OT that is is indicated that God is unhappy that His people are like sheep without a Shepherd
The Shepherd’s Message
God chooses the shepherds of all people to the bearers of this great news.
He sends angels to announce this thing to them
They are sent into the city to announce it.
That night and surely for many days after.
The Angel Speaks
What an amazing message.
The Christ has been born
And he is laying in a feed trough.
(Expound on mangers)
The message of the birth of a king should have gone to the palace, should have gone out to the nation by proclamation
But Jesus through from royal blood did not come from royal station
therefore it was fitting that the first to hear the good news were of the same station
The Shepherds Respond
They respond with understanding
they were Jews as well, they knew their Scriptures, they knew the angels had pointed to prophecy
Unto “us” a child is Born Isaiah 9:6
the child is born in Bethlehem Micah 5:2
and all of this is happening right then
They respond in faith,
faith that they could find a newborn child in the night, in the bottom of someone’s home
They respond in obedience
They go to find this child that would be laying in a feed trough
They respond in belief
So much so they become the first evangelist in Scripture
The People Believe
Everyone they tell “marvels” at this message they bring
Mary and Joseph believe.
It is a confirmation for them of what the angels said 9 months before to them.
there did not seem to be any other visits from angels
Mary took this message to heart, “treasured up”, “pondered”, they meant much to her
This might explain where this whole narrative comes from.
The Shepherds Joy
The Shepherd’s Rejoice
They understood the significance of the message
They knew that this was the turning point
The point that would change the world
God’s Chosen Shepherd
The shepherds were the first to know of the arrival of the good shepherd
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