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
0.15UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.13UNLIKELY
Fear
0.14UNLIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.26UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.65LIKELY
Confident
0.3UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.82LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.93LIKELY
Extraversion
0.24UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.55LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.75LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
*Calvinism 6: He Will Do It*
*Perseverance*
051-00764 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
I.
Reaching the pinnacle of Mt.
Everest.
A. Finishing a job better than you began it.
1. Going to the same job day after day, year after year with the same excitement you had the first day.
2. Celebrating your fiftieth wedding anniversary.
3. Receiving a college degree.
4. Driving in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs.
5. Dancing with the Bolshoi Ballet.
6. Singing at the Met.
7. Reaching the 13th week after 12 weeks of chemotherapy.
8. Losing 20 pounds.
9. Working for justice and peace in an oppressive and violent world.
10.
Loving your neighbor whose dog barks all night.
11.
Completing a 30 day retreat of silent prayer and meditation.
12. Maintaining your love for life after a crippling accident.
B. All of these things have one thing in common.
1.
None of them are possible without perseverance.
2. The determination to see things through to the end no matter what.
a) Whether conflict in a relationship or smooth sailing.
Whether feelings are hurt or your heart sings with happiness.
Whether your passion is hot, lukewarm or cold.
b) Whether in pain or prosperity.
Whether alone or supported.
Whether encouraged or discouraged.
As it is said, through thick and thin.
3. Perseverance is a dogged determination to finish, and to finish well.
C.
This does not mean that perseverance always produces a winning outcome.
1.
Yet perseverance itself is winning.
2. Failure is not a matter of reaching a different outcome than you expected.
3. Failure is not following through no matter how hard it is to do.
4. We have all had experiences of quitting when things got too tough or when interests wane.
a) One of my greatest regrets is coming within one merit badge to attain the Boy Scout rank of Eagle and dropping out because it wasn’t much fun anymore.
b) One of my proudest days was when I received my Master’s Degree when I was 39.
The journey to that end had begun 17 years earlier.
There were many paths and side roads along the way, each one making me better equipped for the work that lay ahead.
c) However, none of those detours appeared to be moving me closer to the goal at the time.
D. According to the writings of John Calvin, perseverance in the faith is an essential characteristic of a Christian life.
His followers made perseverance the “P” in TULIP.
1.
Total Depravity; Unconditional Election; Limited Atonement; Irresistible Grace; and Perseverance of the saints.
2. Perseverance is a key theme throughout the Bible.
3. The portion of Scripture we read this morning is just one of the many passages which encourage perseverance.
4. Though the application may change, the principle remains the same.
II.
Paul’s Instructions to the Thessalonian Church.
A. First he tells those in the Church to respect, submit to, and love their pastors.
1. *1 Thessalonians 5:12-13 (NIV*) We ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work.
2. When I say pastors, I mean anyone who is called and ordained to serve Christ as his representatives in leading the Church.
3. Pastor means shepherd.
And all Elders and Deacons are called to shepherd the church.
a) Elders serve by governing the church in Christ's name.
They received this task when Christ entrusted the apostles and their successors with the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matt.
16:19).
Elders are thus responsible for the spiritual well-being of God's people.
They must provide true preaching and teaching, regular celebration of the sacraments, and faithful counsel and discipline while keeping in confidence those matters entrusted to them.
And they must promote fellowship and hospitality among believers, ensure good order in the church, and stimulate witness to all people.
b) Deacons serve by showing mercy to the church and to all people.
They received this task in the early church when the apostles designated special persons for the work of mercy (Acts 6; 2 Cor.8-9).
In Christ's name the deacons relieve victims of injustice.
By this they show that Christians live by the Spirit of the kingdom, fervently desiring to give life the shape of things to come.
Deacons are therefore called to assess needs, promote stewardship and hospitality, collect and disburse resources for benevolence, and develop programs of assistance.
They are also called to speak words of Christian encouragement.
Thus in word as well as deed they demonstrate the care of the Lord himself.
c) These tasks of elders and deacons call for believers who are Christlike, who are mature in the faith, and who exercise their offices with prayer, patience, and humility.
d) Have you heard or read these words before?
They are part of the Form of Ordination in the CRC.
e) Heeding Paul’s words, the same form requires a commitment from the members of the Church: I charge you, people of God, to receive these office bearers as Christ's gift to the church.
Recognize in them the Lord's provision for healthy congregational life.
Hold them in honor; take their counsel seriously; respond to them with obedience and respect; accept their help with thanks.
Sustain them in prayer and encourage them with your support, especially when they feel the burden of their office.
Acknowledge them as the Lord's servants among you.
f) Heavy words when the Council makes a decision with which you disagree.
Or when your Minister of the Word and Sacraments challenges you to greater holiness in a way you do not like.
4.
You may feel that you are more qualified, more intelligent, wiser, or even pious than those who are over you.
a) But each one has been called by God, affirmed by the Church, and ordained to the ministry.
b) You have not.
And in the Christian Reformed Church, those who once served as an Elder or Deacon does not qualify them to remain an Elder or Deacon after their term has expired.
5.
You see, the authority of the office is in the office, not in the individual.
What Paul calls us to is the love, respect, and submission to the office because we believe this is how Christ has chosen to order his Church.
B. Yet he says even more.
“Live in peace with each other.”
1.
Let me remind you that the word “peace” within the Scriptural context does not simply mean “without conflict.”
2. Peace means living in wholeness, trusting that God is sovereign and in control, even when others make decisions you think are wrong.
3. It is faith that what occurs is not in any hands other than Christ’s.
4. This short line works as a hinge between the 1st instruction and the 2nd.
5. Peace requires order.
So submitting to your Council and Pastor is God’s design.
The explanation of the work of God’s chosen is God’s design.
C. *1 Thessalonians 5:14-15 (NIV) *And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
1.
There are three kinds of situations listed with three different kinds of ministry in each one.
2. We should not take these as exhaustive, yet each is significant.
a) Those who are idle are to be warned.
b) Those who are timid are to be encouraged.
c) Those who are weak are to be helped.
3. When the leaders of the Church do things this way, it serves not only to minister but to model for all believers the order of peace.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9