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
0.06UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.67LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.4UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.61LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.55LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.87LIKELY
Extraversion
0.22UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.99LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.49UNLIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
2009-12-24 (pm) Romans 12:9-21 Hope, Peace, Joy and Love
Christmas Eve! How many give gifts on Christmas Eve? How many have done so already?
So the rest are still waiting.
Still waiting.
Are you wondering how much longer this service will last?
What I was growing up we opened our presents on Christmas morning, sometimes, I’m sure, we got mom and dad up very early Christmas morning.
Of course, we didn’t realise they’d been up late into the night wrapping up all our gifts so that when we woke up, there were tons of presents under the tree!
I remember well that it was agony having to wait.
It seemed like I’d never fall asleep.
Then it seemed like 6:00 would never come.
Is that what’s it’s like for you?
Does it seem like you’re in agony waiting to be able to open your presents?
Are you so excited to go home this evening?
Isn’t the anticipation amazing?
So, children, what are you going to do when you get home?
Are you going to throw your jackets and boots off in a heap and then rush to the tree and start ripping the presents open?
No? Good!
You’ll go home, patiently take your coats off, help your younger siblings if they need it, put your coats and boots away, calmly walk into the house and patiently, silently wait, right?
Does one person hand out your gifts?
When I grew up Dad did it.
Now I get to do it.
It still feels kinda weird, but amazing too.
But you guys know what Christmas is all about, don’t you? Christmas is when we celebrate our Father in heaven handing out the greatest gift of all.
Jesus Christ.
Now, when you open your presents, what do you do with them?
Some people put them back under the tree.
Some people put them in their rooms.
Some, if there is clothing, will get changed right away.
If the presents are toys, what will you do with them?
You’ll play with them?
You’ll use your presents right away?
Well, yes, after first giving thanks to the persons who gave you your gifts.
After you receive a gift, you honour the giver of the gift by wearing their present to you, or playing with it.
But how do we do that with God’s gift to us in Jesus Christ?
Paul identifies four ways our lives are transformed by God’s gift of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, present in us by his Holy Spirit, transforms us into his people when we put our faith and trust in him.
The candles of the advent wreath each represented one of the four ways our lives are transformed, they are the areas of hope, peace, joy and love.
So first, to love.
Love, Paul says, must be sincere, it must be genuine.
If you’ve seen the movie, /Fireproof/, you can tell that the husband’s actions at the beginning of the 40 day challenge are insincere.
He’s trying to show love in order to get love, to get respect, to get what he deserves.
But even before he gets halfway, he realises that love isn’t like that.
Love motivates us to do things for others because they are worthy of love.
All human beings, being created in God’s image, are worthy of love, whether they are good to us, or whether they do evil, love is something Christ empowered people just do.
God demonstrated his own love in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
While we were still enemies with God, Christ demonstrated his love for his Father, his love for us; he did this by dying for us.
Love means doing things for others without expecting anything in return.
Love means going out on a limb.
Sharing and caring, speaking the truth carefully, accepting people no matter what they’ve done in the past.
Love changes our perspective toward other people.
It is not possible to be selfish and to be loving.
A person who loves makes sacrifices.
Jesus who sacrificed his life for us, teaches us how to be sacrificial in loving others.
Instead of thinking, “What can I get out of it?
We think, “What can I give?
What would that attitude look like in our homes?
Husbands who set aside their precious time with the guys, hunting, golfing, whatever to do something special for their wives.
Wives giving up whatever it is wives do for their husbands.
Children offering brand new, right out of the box toys to their siblings saying, “No, you play with it first.”
And what follows, through the blessing of the Holy Spirit is the realisation that it is better to give than to receive.
The joy that wells up inside us when we give of ourselves to others is unsurpassed.
The joy that comes from sacrificial love produces in us real hope.
What is hope?
Is it, “I hope this sermon is almost over so I can find out if I got the gift I hope I got?”
What is hope?
Hope is trust.
Hope is knowing that God’s promises are true.
Hope is knowing that God’s faithfulness in the past means that he will be faithful in the future.
Hope is knowing how much God has transformed me, I know he will transform others around me.
Sometimes it is hard to maintain hope.
Sometimes the stuff of life still comes crowding in, doesn’t it?
There are fears and concerns.
There are loved ones who suffer.
There are difficulties in paying bills, finding work, all kinds of things.
But what helps us keep our hold on hope is prayer.
We must diligently exercise our faith in God through prayer.
In prayer, perhaps praying through the Psalms when coming up with our own words seems too hard; in prayer, we speak the truth of God’s promises.
We remind him of them.
And he sends His Holy Spirit to comfort and encourage us.
Hope isn’t just a nebulous feeling.
It is trusting in God’s promises, knowing that they are as solid as the benches you’re sitting on.
The third way Paul identifies is joy.
Joy exists in this life.
Joy exists even in the face of death—Jesus, for the joy set before him, endured the cross and all its shame.
Joy is a gift from God. Joy is there, it is inside us with the Holy Spirit.
It comes out from time to time, often when we share beautiful moments with friends and family.
We cannot manufacture it; though it is possible to suppress it.
We don’t let it in because we think it is inappropriate.
I remember my dad telling me about going to the visitation at the funeral home when my grandpa died.
The visitation was held on 2 nights.
The first night, the funeral home was quite busy, as there was more than one viewing going on.
The second evening was much quieter.
One of my cousins leaned over to my dad and said, “Boy it sure is dead in here tonight.”
It was funny, because, well it’s a funeral home!
It was joy breaking through, helping loved ones get through a tough time.
But sometimes you think you shouldn’t laugh because of context.
But at other times that’s precisely the thing that is needed at that exact time.
But Christianity isn’t always about putting a brave face on.
It isn’t trying to hide our feelings under a false front.
So while we rejoice with those who rejoice, sometimes we need to mourn with those who mourn.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9