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
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.11UNLIKELY
Joy
0.64LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.53LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.24UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.91LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.84LIKELY
Extraversion
0.19UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.7LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.71LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
The Church at Sardis
Good afternoon!
I hope everyone had a great week.
Our news this last week has yet again been full of grief and agony.
However, there is a story that was hidden amongst all of the evil in our world that I want to address briefly.
And the reason is that it deals directly with our message today.
I am kind of curious if anyone saw the story concerning Nancy Pelosi and the Archbishop of San Francisco?
I am pretty sure that it was drowned out by everything else that was occurring in our nation.
So this is what happened.
The archbishop of San Francisco is a man named Salvadore Cordilione.
And he had attempted for quite some time to meet with Nancy to discuss her position on abortion.
Why was he doing so?
Well the Catholic church has a specific position concerning Abortion and that is that anyone who participates in any way in a purposeful abortion that is not used to preserve the health of the mother is committing murder.
And therefore is in sin.
Well, Mr. Cordilione being a good pastor looks at Nancy Pelosi and sees someone who is attempting to aid women in getting abortions.
In his understanding of Catholic doctrine this puts Pelosi’s soul in jeopardy.
And so he did what he felt was the right thing and tried to speak to her concerning this matter.
She has for sometime now rebuffed his attempts to meet.
And as a result he took the next step in Church discipline and publicly stated that she is no longer eligible to receive communion.
For Catholics this is a big deal.
Because communion is a means by which one receives grace for salvation.
Don’t worry though.
The protestant church that’s essentially us has rejected this idea.
Why?
Because this idea is no where stated within the Bible.
Why do I tell this story?
Because there are many in this world who profess to be Christians but they actually are not.
And unfortunately I know of only one means biblically of determining whether or not someone is a Christian.
And this is it.
When someone says that something that God has determined to be sinful is not.
Here is often the logic that they take.
Surely God has changed with the times.
And in his love he no longer sees X as sin.
This is just not the case.
If it was sinful for someone who bears the image of God 4000 years ago it’s still sinful today.
And there are no if ands or buts concerning this discussion.
Todays letter is about these people.
Those who call themselves Christians but are not.
Much of the mainline protestant church is, I fear, filled with many who are Christian in name only.
But, here is the difficult reality.
Every church in the history of the church is going to have some within it’s congregation who fit this truth.
There are two things that I want to get from todays message.
First, make sure you are not like Nancy Pelosi.
Second, recognize that there are those who will walk in here who are not and never will be believers in Jesus Christ.
We need to guard against their influence within the church.
So, let’s first read through our letter to the Church at Sardis and then we will look more specifically at a couple of these verses.
Revelation 3:1–6 (ESV)
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write: ‘The words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars.
“ ‘I know your works.
You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead.
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.
Remember, then, what you received and heard.
Keep it, and repent.
If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.
I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
So let’s first take a look at our first verse.
Revelation 3:1
So Jesus identifies himself by two phrases.
The first phrase is “him who has the seven spirits of God” We have already determined that this is a reference to the Holy Spirit.
And so Jesus is emphasizing the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.
Next Jesus says that he is the one who has the seven stars.
And again we have identified the seven stars already as the seven churches addressed here.
So what Jesus is saying is that he is always present in the person of the Holy Spirit within His church.
And that the power of the Holy Spirit is always found within His church.
Now Jesus doesn’t waste anytime in getting right to the subject at hand.
He says, “I know your works.
You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”
Oof.
That’s pretty rough.
So, this church is very active amongst it’s member and within the community.
Look they are probably doing a lot of really good service projects, taking each other meals when someone is sick, helping clean up the local park, handing out bottles of water at marathons with the church logo.
This is a church that characterizes a phrase that has done extensive damage to the church.
This is the phrase, “Preach the gospel at all times.
And if necessary use words.”
And the though being this phrase is that the things that you do proclaim the love of Christ.
But the problem is that that is just not true.
We can not preach the gospel without opening our mouths and speaking the name of Jesus.
Period.
But this is exactly the problem that this church has fallen into.
And here’s the struggle they feel really safe and comfortable in doing these good works for the glory of God.
This is a soft and subtle means by which Satan slowly lures us away from the greatest task the church has been given.
The proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And because this church has taken the bait of Satan they are now, we will see, reveling in their sin.
So let’s continue.
Verse two reads,
Jesus tells the to wake up, be on guard is more specifically what the word there means.
He then calls the remnant among the church to strengthen one another for without them and their strength the church will die.
In the next verse Jesus says
So, what he is telling the to do.
Is to return to what the Gopel of Jesus that they had received and heard.
He then tells them to hold fast to that truth and to use that truth to help them to return to God.
If they do not do this he says that he will come like a thief, and will not know at what hour he will come against them.
Now, there are some who see this as a reference to the time that Christ returns or what is called the parousia.
The reason for this is that Jesus typically uses this phrase “I will come like a thief” in reference to his second coming.
However, how does that hold meaning for the church at sardis.
First off we are nearly two thousand years since this letter was written and this specific church is now long gone.
So, most hold to this as a reference that Jesus will come to the church in the present age not physically but that he will by some means cause the church to fail and therefore die.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9