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
0.08UNLIKELY
Fear
0.09UNLIKELY
Joy
0.57LIKELY
Sadness
0.18UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.45UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.15UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.81LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.68LIKELY
Extraversion
0.51LIKELY
Agreeableness
0.53LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.77LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Text: 1 Thessalonians 5:20
Theme: The greatest need in the church today is for God’s people to respond to the gospel of Christ.
Date: 05/22/2022 File: Final_Instructions_05.wpd
File #: NT13-05
A couple of years ago the George Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University, listed 12 individuals they named as the most effective preachers in the English-speaking world.
For some unexplained reason I was not on the list.
Who was?
Dr. Alistair Begg is the Senior Pastor at Parkside Church in Cleveland, Ohio.
Dr. Tony Evans pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Joel C. Gregory who holds the George W. Truett Endowed Chair in Preaching and Evangelism at George W. Truett Theological Seminary.
Dr. Timothy Keller recently retired pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, New York.
Dr. Thomas G. Long is Professor Emeritus of Preaching at Emory University.
Dr. Otis Moss III is the pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. John Piper is the chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Dr. Haddon Robinson was the Professor of Preaching at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
Pastor Andy Stanley is the senior pastor of North Point Community Church, Atlanta, GA.
Dr. Charles Swindoll is a pastor, author, educator, and radio preacher.
Dr. Barbara Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, professor, author, and theologian.
Dr. Ralph Douglas West serves as pastor of The Church Without Walls in Houston, Texas.
The vast majority of pastors labor in obscurity — and always have.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that there are 53,180 full-time clergy in America.
That number does not reflect non-ordained lay-pastors, or bi-vocational pastors, and so the actual number of pastors in America is certainly higher.
What do we know about these men?
And yes, most — 87% — are still men.
The average pastor is 57 years old.
Less than 5% are age thirty or younger — which does not bode well for the future of the church, especially smaller rural congregations.
Half of us have a Bachelors degree, and a third of us have a Masters degree.
Most pastors serve in congregations that average 100 members and average 65 in attendance.
The average stay at a church for a senior pastor is about four years.
Unfortunately, this constant leaving makes churches doubt pastors.
Small churches feel like they are stepping stones to larger churches.
Catholic sermons are the shortest, at a median of just 14 minutes (Many priests believe that the homily, shouldn't distract from the Eucharist.),
compared with 25 minutes for mainline Protestant sermons and 39 minutes for evangelical Protestant sermons, according to the study.
Historically black Protestant churches have the longest sermons by far: A median of 54 minutes.
A median sermon in American pulpits runs 37 minutes.
The really good news for pastors is that three quarters of worshipers say sermons are a major factor in why they go to church.
The bad news is that pastors understand that preaching is the most important part of their calling, but perhaps the hardest part of the job.
The demands of preaching have humbled even some of the greatest pastors.
The late Rev. Gardner Taylor, was known as "the dean of American preaching."
He was a Black American Baptist preacher, who was pastor of the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Brooklyn 42 years.
He made the Baylor list in 1996.
Taylor described preaching as "the sweet torture of Sunday morning."
He said "I go through a dreadful time on Sunday mornings getting ready to preach.
Sometimes I pass laborers on my way to church and wish I were doing anything except having to come over here and get into that pulpit again.”
Every pastor knows the elation of when a sermon held the congregation in rapt fascination.
They were with you and you could see it and “feel” it.
On the other hand, every pastor also knows the deflation of when a message falls like a wounded duck tumbling from the sky.
In these final instructions, Paul now tells the believers at Thessalonica “Do not despise prophecies.”
Literally he tells them to stop treating the revealed truth of God in a contemptuous way.
As the Apostle arrives at this particular injunction he chastises those believers who have, for some reason, become contemptuous, not of the preacher, but of the messages delivered by the preacher.
This command gives us an opportunity to look at preaching from both the preacher’s and the congregation’s point of view.
I. WHAT PASTORS OWE THEIR CONGREGATIONS
1. what do pastors preach so that the people of God do not despise the message?
A. 1st, PREACH THE BIBLE
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
(2 Timothy 3:16–17, ESV)
1. the bible's primary purpose is as a book of revelation
a. it is meant to introduce you to God
b. it tells us of our problem with sin and rebellion
c. it tells us of God's wrath against sin, but also of His love for the sinner
d. it tells us of His plan for our life in Christ
2. the pastor owes it to his people to exposit the word of God
a. the Pastor is not a movie critic
1) his text is not to be Paramount, Sony, Universal, Disney or Warner Brothers
2) modern media may serve up memorable illustrations, but should be used only to underscore the truth of Scripture
3) my calling is to preach the Word of the Lord, not to spend thirty minutes describing a movie scene or TV episode and then provide two minutes of nebulous spiritual application
b. the Pastor is not a political pundit
1) the Bible has something to say about every area of life
God has an opinion about government and the politicians who run governments, and how we are to treat them
God has an opinion about economics and trade, and your vocation within the economy
God has an opinion about justice – both social justice and criminal justice
God has an opinion about education
God has an opinion about raising children
God has an opinion about caring for senior citizens
God has an opinion about money and investments and stewardship
God has an opinion about sex and sexuality, and gender
God has an opinion about entertainment, and the arts
God even has an opinion about how to eat, and how to drink, and how to dress
2) the pastor’s job is to give God’s opinion about all these things and not the platform or agenda of any particular political party
c. the Pastor is not a stand up comedian
ILLUS.
Now, I’ll be honest with you; one of the funniest things to watch is a pastor trying to be funny, but who’s not naturally funny, but doesn’t know he’s not funny.
1) used correctly, humor is the perfect ingredient to keep a congregation’s attention while the preacher takes them deeper into the biblical text
2) but being funny for the sake of being funny is not the pastor’s calling
3. the modern pastor is expected to be ...
an ambassador of the church to the community
an administrator and overseer of church business and programs and personnel
a performer of rites of passage such as baptism, weddings, and funerals
a care giver, counselor, and comforter
but first, and foremost, he is to preach and teach the Bible!
B. 2nd, PREACH THE BIBLE IN BALANCE
1. if the Bible is inspired, infallible, and authoritative — and it certainly is — then everything in the Bible is given for our instruction and edification
a. in his 1st letter to the Christians at Corinth, Paul refers back to Israel’s history of disobedience and grumbling during their wilderness wanderings
“We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10 nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.
11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”
(1 Corinthians 10:9–11, ESV)
b. everything in the Bible — from Genesis to the maps in the index — are written down for our instruction
2. one of the best ways to do that is to preach expositionally through books of the Bible
a. in other words, the minister should take a verse or a passage of the Bible, explain it’s meaning, and then provide some application to the Christian’s life
b.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9