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
0.14UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.13UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.19UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.4UNLIKELY
Confident
0.38UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.67LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.93LIKELY
Extraversion
0.06UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.86LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.71LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
2008-11-23 (am) Psalm 24:1-2, 5-9 Satisfaction
Packed with peanuts, Snickers really satisfy, at least that’s what their commercial claims.
Is that true?
Where do you get satisfaction?
King David, in Psalm 24, wants us to know where our satisfaction comes from.
Most scholars think that David wrote 24 for the celebration of bringing the ark up to Jerusalem.
David used this Psalm to encourage the Israelites to look beyond the pomp and circumstance of the ceremony and to focus instead on God, on Christ.
The ark was a representation of Christ.
So when we read this Psalm we need to know that our focus must be on Christ.
We can get so easily caught up in the pomp and circumstance of our worship services.
We can start to think that certain elements have to be there.
There has to be a call to worship.
There has to be a call to confession, and it must include the Ten Commandments every time.
There has to be this kind of song.
There has to be this or that.
But really, the Bible doesn’t give us a prescribed order of worship.
We have a few guidelines for worship, in that we’re encouraged to get together, to keep meeting, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we’re encouraged to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
We’re to confess to God and to one another, we’re to offer prayers, we’re to give of our gifts and we’re to have God’s word preached.
But the exact order of these things, the frequency of these things, the style of these things is open to great diversity.
Now, let me take a moment to explain again, why I organise our worship service the way I do.
In all things, God acts first.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
God spoke in the beginning, and at the beginning of the worship service, God acts first, He speaks, he calls us to worship Him.
We answer God’s call by worshipping him through a song.
Then, having heard our answer to His call, God greets us.
We respond with a song or two.
As we looked at last week, when we come before God’s presence, we can’t be in the face of His Holiness for long before our sin convicts us to confess.
So we confess our sin, and accept God’s forgiveness again.
We repent from our sin, not merely sorrow, but true repentance, true turning around, true conversion.
Our catechism teaches that conversion isn’t just a onetime deal.
It happens constantly, we sin, we repent, we confess, we convert again to Christ.
Then, God assures that Christ has forgiven us.
His blood has fully paid for all our sin and we’re forever right with God.
God comforts us.
We often respond with a song.
Then, we bring two things before the Lord.
We bring our cares and our concerns and we lay them at His feet.
We cast all our cares, our anxieties upon Him for he cares for us.
In our congregational prayer, the long prayer, the pastor, on behalf of the congregation, prays for the people.
In this prayer we acknowledge God’s sovereignty, and his ongoing care, his providence, his daily bread provision for us.
And, as an expression of gratitude, we give of our gifts.
This too is worship.
It says, “I acknowledge that all I have is yours, I will trust you with this, that though I might be afraid that I cannot afford to give this, you’re my provider.
You will provide.
If we withhold our financial gifts, we’re really depriving ourselves of God’s blessing.
Look at Malachai.
Giving is the one area we’re told we can test God.
We cannot out give God.
Now the deacons have told me that as a congregation we’ve responded to the report card on giving I presented a few weeks ago.
In two weeks we’ve given over $12,000.00.
Unfortunately, not very many of the 24% who so far have given $0.00 gave anything.
What it means is that those who already give a lot, have given even more.
Do not cling to this world.
The world is created.
It is not the source of our satisfaction.
God is the source of our satisfaction, as we shall yet see.
So, if you’re worried about giving.
If you’re one of the 24%, I challenge you to give.
Do this, it really works.
Determine in your mind the amount you’re going to give.
If you’re married, you need to do this together.
I honestly don’t think that the amount budgeted per member is exorbitant.
Start there.
It’s what, $120.00 per member?
That’s what, $30.00 a week.
When you get your paycheque, take out $60.00.
Do it right away.
The Bible calls this giving of your first fruits.
Trust me, at the end of the month, you’ll have more money in your account than if you hadn’t tithed.
Want a bigger challenge.
Give 10% of your income.
Want to push it harder?
Give 10% of your gross income.
Want to see if God can out give you, out provide for you?
Give more than 10%.
Test God in this.
You cannot out give God.
This is an act of worship.
So after the offering, we continue our dialogue.
We ask God to bless the reading and preaching of His Word.
This is crucial.
This is an unbelievably huge task.
What a frightening honour I have, bringing God’s Word to His people.
There is so much potential for me to screw up.
There’s the possibility of false teaching, of error, all kinds of things can go horribly wrong.
By seeing God’s blessing, we’re asking, God, despite Pastor Paul’s numerous shortcomings, bless us, give us the words we need to hear, not his words.
Give us the truth, and erase, or don’t even let falsehood sink in.
Give us the treasure truth.
Then, God speaks to us through His Word, and through the preaching of His Word.
God works in me through his Holy Spirit in the study, as I write my sermon, and He works in me as I preach, even as I am preaching now.
Bringing things to mind, teaching me what to say.
The prayers you pray for me are vital.
Without them, I’d be undone.
I thank you, thank you so much for your prayers.
It is incredibly humbling.
Then, at the conclusion of the sermon, we pray, thanking God for His Word, imporing that it wouldn’t have fallen on deaf ears, that we would have heard it, and that we’d take the next step and applying it to our lives.
We sing, and then God blesses us.
This is so cool.
Imagine it.
We of low estate.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9