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.
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Anger
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Analytical
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Anger
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Good morning!
It is good to be back with you guys!
I want to say thank you to Ben and Anna for sharing their story last week.
If you weren’t here, do yourself and your soul a favor and go listen to the podcast.
If you ever needed encouragement or an example of what it means to trust and wait on God, you can find it in their testimony.
The faith, courage, and sacrifice that they have exhibited over the last ten years are extraordinary.
God has shown Himself faithful in their lives and He wants to do the same for you.
You know, it’s not uncommon for God to ask us to do hard or uncomfortable things.
In fact, as we look at examples of abiding found in scripture, we see God using his people in extraordinary ways.
Abiding, if you think about it, is God including us in his supernatural work.
He is using broken, messed up, people to reveal His Glory to the world.
Over the last few weeks, I have shared with some new friends about our journey to this neighborhood.
I, like many of you, wondered how God could use us here.
My life story and your life stories are so vastly different from our neighbors here that I struggled to see what value we could bring.
There is so much about their lives that I don’t understand, but as I spoke with God about it, He kept saying to go.
I would be willing to bet that all of you have had an experience like mine or the McKay’s.
You had a time when God told you to do something that seemed impossible.
Along with that comes feelings of inadequacy.
You look at the task before you and your inventory of skills, talents, and knowledge realizing that you are completely out of your depth.
Les shares a similar story and listen to what his mentor told him.
“You’re right, you don’t have anything of value to share with these folks, but consider this, God has much to say to them through you.”
He related to me with such grace and encouragement.
I’ll never forget it.
I want to be like that.
As I read the Bible, I see that characteristic of grace woven into every activity of Jesus’ life.
As I’ve said each week, I WANT TO LOVE LIKE JESUS AND SO DO YOU.
You may not even be part of a church, but something inside of you gravitates toward having solutions to relationship challenges you face.
We all have them, don’t we?
Our significant others, kids, neighbors, friends, peers, colleagues, or enemies.
Who wouldn’t want to have improved friendships, courtships, partnerships, relationships?
We’re in a series called LOVE LIKE THAT.
Each week I’ve been emphasizing what you already know: none of us have arrived yet.
We are all trying to figure it out, trying to get it right.
Largely because we know the stakes are so high.
All of us intuitively know that our actions, even our intentions can and do have a generational impact.
So, this is something we want to get right.
Our theme passage for the entire series is Ephesians 5:1-2
Love like that.
Don’t you love that phrase?
Today we’re examining the third aspect of what it takes to love like Jesus.
BE GRACE-FULL.
1. HOW GRACE AND JUDGMENT ARE CONNECTED.
Matthew 7:1-2 says,
Judging has a negative connotation, even though it literally means “to form an opinion or conclusion about something.”
That doesn’t sound too bad.
So, what’s the big deal?
Well, how we form our opinions matters.
There seems to be a direct connection between how you form your opinion of others and how God forms an opinion about you.
Matthew 7:3-4 says,
That passage seems to identify a classic definition of a hypocrite: you accurately form an opinion of others but DON'T form an accurate opinion of yourself.
Consider these simple definitions for three key theological terms:
JUSTICE - getting what you deserve.
MERCY - not getting what you do deserve.
GRACE - getting what you could never earn or deserve.
As author Max Lucado puts it, “Mercy gave the prodigal son a second chance.
Grace gave him a feast.”
All of us see a speck in another’s eye while being oblivious to the tree in our own.
We struggle because grace is a gift - unconditional - and it can’t be earned or achieved.
It comes from a heart that requires nothing in return.
2. GRACE IS UNFAIR.
Grace is by definition, unfair.
It doesn’t make sense.
And that’s the point.
If you want to love like Jesus, you can’t limit your love to people who deserve it.
This woman was caught in the act of adultery, not accused, caught in the act… this was a trap.
The Pharisees and religious folk did what they could to get rid of Jesus.
They probably followed this couple around, waited a few minutes, then busted down the door, grabbed her, and left the guy she was with…
not fair.
Then they brought her before Jesus.
The Pharisees start quoting scripture to Jesus (which is never a good idea).
They’re telling Jesus this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
And they are reminding Jesus that it was a crime punishable by death (Leviticus 16).
They are trying to trap Him.
But watch what happens…
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
(John 8:9)
Why did they go home?
They were right.
They had truth on their side, they had a Bible verse to back it up.
Why didn’t they just point to the verse and step into the role of jury, judge, prosecutor, and executioner?
What stopped them?
The answer is truth.
That same truth that brought them to a place where they thought they had the right to attack what others have done wrong in their lives, also stopped them dead in their tracks.
While Jesus acknowledged that what they said is true, He also acknowledges another bigger truth.
He basically communicates… if those are the rules you want to play by, we can play by those rules.
But are you sure you want to do that?
We can use truth to destroy her, but when we’re done with her, you’re next.
That’s truth.
Everyone gets what they deserve.
Anybody want to play by those rules?
Where the whole crowd gets what they deserve?
Nope, I’m out, and the whole crowd dropped their stones and went home.
They wanted to condemn her with truth, but once they realized that truth didn’t just condemn her, it also condemned them, they were out.
Many of us stop reading the story here.
The takeaway is that nobody is perfect, so don’t throw stones.
We all make mistakes so don’t judge.
But Jesus isn’t done yet.
We can’t ignore what Jesus says next.
The crowd is now gone, and it’s just Jesus and the woman standing there.
Look at what He says to her.
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