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
0.17UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.57LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.54LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.21UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.64LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.88LIKELY
Extraversion
0.22UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.84LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.62LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
2010-03-21 (am) 1 Thessalonians 5:12-28 Respectful Hope
Today we’re concluding our examination of 1 Thessalonians.
Though we are nearly 2000 years removed from the specific teaching that Paul gave to that church, his instructions are still relevant today.
The difficulties that the Thessalonians faced are not unique to them.
They faced pressure from the Jews and Gentiles alike, to turn back to their old ways.
The Jews wanted them to observe all the Jewish rules and regulations.
The Gentiles wanted them to observe all the Gentile worship ways and practises.
One of the effective ways they tried to accomplish this was by attacking the Christian leadership.
They directly attacked Paul, suggesting that he didn’t really care about them.
That his sudden departure was because he was weak and self-centred.
They questioned his authority and his teaching.
But mostly, they accused him of not loving them.
Earlier in the letter we learned that Paul clearly was concerned for the Thessalonians and that he loved them very, very much.
Now, however, he is encouraging them to remain faithful to his leadership.
He’s telling them to remain true to his teaching, and true to the teaching of those who lead them.
Timothy is serving as their pastor, and by now he’s probably appointed elders and deacons to assist him in the work of ministry.
Paul knows that the attacks he faced will turn against Timothy and the others.
He knows that the Thessalonians will be tempted to listen and potentially be swayed by these evil influences.
The situation the church faces today is not so different.
There are legalists who would rob every Christian of the joy of our freedom in Christ, trying to lay down specific ways and means of attaining salvation.
There are also outside influencers who suggest that being a Christian is being superstitious or silly, or futile.
But worse than that is society’s attitude toward authority.
There is quite a lot of disrespect toward authority.
People don’t think twice about cheating on taxes.
People are always looking for ways to get out of responsibility, especially when they have committed crimes.
The individual rules.
People are very self-centred.
If this isn’t so, then you should join Facebook or Twitter.
Constant updates from individuals, telling the world: I just got back from getting groceries!
I dyed my hair!
We live in a self-centred world, and it is not hard to see that attitude creeping into the church.
There are, perhaps not here, those who do not respect their leaders.
There is a resistance to respect those who admonish.
For one, no one wants or enjoys being admonished, but we are better for it, when it does happen.
Paul called the Thessalonians to hold those in authority in high regard because of their work, not because of who they were, but because they did work—the Lord’s work, among them.
And Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit calls us to hold, in the highest regard, those who do the Lord’s work among us.
The context of this passage clearly indicates that Paul is talking about the church.
But we would be wrong to limit it there.
We know that God has appointed governments to rule over us.
So we need to respect, even hold our government leaders, Edson, Yellowhead county, Alberta, and Canada, all our leaders in high respect, because they are doing God’s work.
We know we must honour and respect our parents, our seniors, anyone with years and wisdom over us.
How do we do this?
We do it by maintaining peace.
What causes strife?
Putting ourselves ahead of others.
Peace breaks down when we look to our own needs and not the needs of others, first.
Selfishness, prevalent in Paul’s time, is no less prevalent now.
We would do well to heed this warning, to constantly consider our own selves.
Am I being realistic here?
Am I putting myself first here?
Am I seeking the needs of others, my spouse, my family, my friends, and my church first?
Paul called on the Thessalonians to warn those who were idle.
He expands on this more in his second letter.
But there were, within the church in Thessalonica, those who were idle.
Though gifted and able to serve their brothers and sisters in the Lord, they refused.
They claimed to be waiting for the Lord’s return.
They were preparing themselves for that great day.
But they were leaving the bulk of the ministry work to others.
They were not pulling their own weight, and they had no excuse.
We too need to be aware of this.
We can claim all kinds of reasons to avoid doing work.
The most used excuse?
I’m too busy.
We are a very busy society.
Do you remember the promises that were made about technology?
That computers and washing machines, and fast cars, and all these other conveniences were going to increase our leisure time?
All it has done is enabled us to do more in less time!
We have less leisure time now than we did even a few years ago!
When I was growing up, not only was the weekend Saturday and Sunday, almost no one worked on either day!
Now, we are so busy, so overworked, that the only people who get weekends are teachers, and they, likely as not, are busy doing grading and lesson planning.
Growing up, I remember having Saturday and Sunday to spend as a family.
Doing yard work and just playing on Saturdays and being together as a family on Sundays, going for bike rides between church services, playing, having fun.
But now, society is pressuring everyone, inside and outside the church.
So that finding time to spend with family is getting harder and harder.
Are we caving into the pressures of the world?
Are we willingly creating crazy busy lives?
We’re doing all these things, so that we have less and less time to spend in God’s service.
Some are idle in the church because we’re so busy elsewhere.
Then there are those who are timid.
Those who don’t have confidence, either in themselves or in Christ.
So, we encourage them, to try.
Say yes.
Do something.
Volunteer if you are not already doing so.
Try something new, you will likely be surprised because Christ will equip you with the ability to do the work he’s called you, and created you to do.
We must help those who struggle in the faith, those who are weak, not just physically, but mentally and spiritually weak.
There’s such a bombardment going on, we are in a battle.
We don’t always see it as such, but we are.
The world hated Christ; it will hate us also.
So we must spend much energy encouraging and helping one another.
We must devote ourselves to one another.
Be committed to the church family, so that we can be of encouragement, through prayer, through singing songs, through a greeting, through an encouraging word spoken.
Because we’re not yet perfect, because we do not always do or say the right thing, we will be hurt.
We must therefore be very careful how we respond to our hurts.
We must not fall into the temptations to pay back wrong with wrong but rather, to be kind always, even to those who have hurt us.
This is by no means easy to do, and we must depend all the more on the Lord to help us with it.
Be joyful always, says Paul.
This is a guy who faced a lot of pressure.
This is a guy who struggled, who was prevented from visiting the Thessalonians by Satan himself.
And he says, be joyful always.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9