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
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.69LIKELY
Sadness
0.21UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.2UNLIKELY
Confident
0.09UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.75LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.97LIKELY
Extraversion
0.16UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.93LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.66LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Introduction
Providence
Romans 8:28, of course, is one of the famous verses of the Bible [and] rightly so.
Here Paul talks about the providence of the God—that He is constantly working for the good of those who love Him, who have been called by Him.
We do have to be careful we understand just what this promise is here.
It is not a promise that God will always make things right in a worldly sense.
For instance, I’ve heard people say, “Well, Romans 8:28 promises that if you lose this job, God will make sure you get a better one.”
That’s not necessarily so.
The good here has to be defined from the standpoint of God’s kingdom and values—the good of our coming closer to Christ, of knowing Him better, of being more effective servants of His.
Sometimes God uses difficult circumstances in our lives to accomplish that ultimate good.
Having said that though, let’s hang onto this tremendous promise of God’s providence.
In whatever touches our lives, God promises He is working for our ultimate good in conformity to Christ and glory for His name.
Predestination
The third “p” is predestination (verses 29–30).
Paul uses a series of five verbs here to make the point: “God foreknows us, He predestines us, calls us, justifies us, and glorifies us.”
See, again, that “glorify” is at the end of the sequence and is the key point Paul is wanting to make.
But we shouldn’t say just a word about the beginning part of the process because there is a lot of controversy about this verb “foreknow” here.
Whom God foreknew, He predestined.
So everything starts with this foreknowledge.
In a sense Paul just sort of stands back and says, “Look at the awesome things God has done.
Let’s together celebrate what He’s done.”
God is using all things to make us more like Jesus.
Good and bad things aren’t purposeless for a purposeful God.
God is like an artist using a chisel on a slab of marble.
He’s chiseling away things that don’t need to be present in the finished piece.
He’s chiseling away things in our lives that we don’t truly need to hold on to.
Sometimes this is easy and enjoyable but other times it’s painful and difficult.
The promise of Romans 8:28 is simply that God is at work at all times in the lives of Christians and that He is working all things for our ultimate good.
Whenever we rest in this promise we can rejoice even in hard times, just as we’ve seen from Paul in the book of Philippians during our Sunday morning sermon series.
Look at Romans 8 today and be reminded of God’s great love for His children.
If you’re a Christian here are a few promises from this glorious chapter!
There is no condemnation - you’re in Christ
There is no alienation - you’re adopted into God’s family
There is no miscommunication - God hears and see’s it all
There is no humiliation - all things work for your good
There is no separation - God has you in His hand
If you’re a follower of Jesus Christ, Romans 8 shares with you that God loves you and has always loved you and will always love you… Not because of the good stuff that you do but because He simply chose to.
This golden chain of redemption in Romans 8 tells us that our salvation is secure in Christ.
Just as Philippians 1:6 told us a couple weeks ago that God finishes what He starts, Romans 8:28-39 tells us that God has a perfect plan and we are a part of that plan.
God works out His plan and God will complete His plan.
It’s humbling to be a part of God’s eternal plan and that should give us all the assurance in the world, even in difficult days and seasons like the one that we are in today.
It’s not ideal to be in a world where we’re having to change our plans on a regular basis.
We’ve been living this way for 2 years now and we’re still having complications!
Romans 8 and the book of Philippians serve as an oasis of encouragement in a desert of despair.
I encourage you today to take some time to read this entire chapter - all 39 verses!
It will take you a couple of minutes, but I pray that it would provide you with reason to rejoice as a Christian as you remember God’s great love for you, His child.
Although we won’t be physically meeting together tonight, take some time today to read Scripture and lift one another up in prayer.
Reach out if you’re sick and in need of help!
We’re excited to worship with you on Sunday as we study from Philippians 2:12-17 and look at how we as Christians stand out from the world around us.
Love you guys and am praying for you all - stay safe - God bless!
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9