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
0.1UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.11UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.58LIKELY
Sadness
0.53LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.48UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.71LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.78LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.81LIKELY
Extraversion
0.23UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.97LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.72LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Everybody has a story to tell about Jesus
It might be something about your childhood.
It might be that today is the first time you really understood Jesus.
It might be that you credit Jesus for saving your life.
It might be you think Jesus is a good story for Christmas or that he’s a good story for women and children.
Whatever your story is, you have a story.
Everybody that has ever heard of Jesus has a story about Jesus.
Storyworth.com
I’ve talked to you guys about Storyworth before.
In fact, I’ve probably mentioned them enough that you think I get paid to advertise for them.
In a nutshell, when you subscribe to Storyworth, they send you a question in email each week.
Your job is to answer the question and email it back.
It’s really simple if you’ll let it be.
One of the questions I got asked was, “How did you celebrate your 21st birthday?”
I remembered so I answered it.
The two biggest temptations when you do this is either trying to be a Hemingway or being too succinct in your answer.
You simply let your mind wander and remember what you can remember and write it all down.
Now why would you do an exercise such as this?
We’ve had two funerals in the last two weeks.
Mr. Charlie Mayhue and Ms. Dot Bragg.
Both were larger than life characters in their own right.
They can’t tell their stories anymore, can they?
How much of the Mayhue family history and the Bragg family history was lost when Charlie and Ms. Dot went home?
You see everyone has a story to tell.
Everyone.
My daughter Anna signed me up for Storyworth 2 years ago.
For Christmas this year, she gave me the book.
They take all of your answers and publish in a book.
You get one free, but you can buy extras.
My book has 71 chapters - I answered 71 questions over the last two years.
It has 392 pages.
I gotta tell you, I was very impressed.
I would never have done that by sheer will power.
But a week at a time - sometimes more than a week - and now I have a book.
And in my book, in several places, I tell my story of Jesus.
My hope is, somewhere down the road when I am “gathered to my fathers” as the Bible says, some relative.
Or maybe even someone pouring over discarded books at a flea market will pick it up.
And maybe see a little bit of themselves and maybe see Jesus.
We all have a story to tell
Every last one of us.
Everyone’s story is important - that’s my guiding principle in a funeral - everyone’s story ought to be told.
Everyone is an image bearer - created in the image of God.
Everyone has a story to tell and that story will always include Jesus.
The Road to Emmaus
The heading in my Bible says, “On the Road to Emmaus.”
Luke tells this story in chapter 24:13-35 and it follows directly after the resurrection story.
Luke 23 ends with the set up.
Jesus has been crucified and buried.
Then Luke says this: Luke 23:54-56
The way Luke tells the story, they’ve got to go back to Jesus tomb.
All day Saturday - the Jewish Sabbath - they worshipped Yahweh and they mourned over Jesus.
From sundown Friday evening, until sundown Saturday evening.
They waited.
Luke 24 opens on Sunday morning and you know the story.
The women got up early and went to the tomb - and you know, you know from how Luke wrote the story that something isn’t going to be like they expect it.
They get there and the stone that sealed the tomb had been rolled out of the way.
And Jesus’ body was gone.
An angel appeared to them and he uttered the most famous line ever, “He is not here, but has risen.”
But then he told them something very curious - he said, remember what Jesus told you.
That’s going to be a common theme in this story - remember what the Lord has told you.
Remember what you’ve read.
Remember what you’ve studied.
Think when you are confronted with a question.
Remember.
The women rush back and tell the men.
But the men didn’t believe them - except maybe one or two.
Our man Peter.
Peter had a story to tell, didn’t he?
Full of bravado and testosterone, Peter pounded his chest and told Jesus he’d never die, that Peter would die to save his life.
Then Jesus got arrested.
And the crowd got hostile.
Three times Peter told a story that wasn’t true.
Let me get a little too close for comfort.
Have you ever done what Peter did?
We come to church and sing and talk and we’re all brave and stuff here.
But one day, at work - at a family Christmas party - someone said something about Jesus and you knew in your gut you should say something.
But you didn’t.
Remember how you felt on the way home?
That’s where Peter was.
And you know what I think?
I think he ran hoping that tomb was empty because maybe just maybe Jesus would give him a do-over.
Peter’s story had taken an unexpected turn.
It wasn’t the story he was writing - it became something else.
He got to the tomb - and we know from the book of John that John ran with him.
And the tomb was empty.
The stone was rolled away.
He “marveled” Luke said.
He wondered in admiration - that’s what marvel means.
Something happened - something good happened.
If it was 2022, Peter would be saying, “My boy done good.”
But how good - he didn’t know yet.
When you hear about Jesus, it is supposed to make a difference
People expect it to.
That’s why the guys at the Washington County Road Department where I worked for a season quit telling dirty jokes when I came around.
I knew Jesus - they knew that’s supposed to make a difference.
These two guys are walking down a road towards Emmaus on the same day that the empty tomb was discovered.
They had been with the disciples - they were Christ followers themselves.
And they couldn’t make sense out what was going on.
While they were talking and discussing Jesus walked up - but this is one of those times that for some reason, they couldn’t recognize him.
I have no clue how that works - don’t need to - it worked.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9