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
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.62LIKELY
Fear
0.64LIKELY
Joy
0.56LIKELY
Sadness
0.63LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.6LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.32UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.87LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.86LIKELY
Extraversion
0.16UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.8LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.72LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Intro
It is good to come and gather together to pray, and to worship.
Prayer and Worship help us to align our hearts and minds with Him.
We recognize that He is God.
We seek His kingdom and will, and realize that magnifying Him is exactly what we need to get us through this life.
Magnifying Him is what gives us hope and peace in our lives here and now, and for eternity.
It lifts our spirits to know His presence, and His purpose for our lives.
It encourages us.
And the Lord knows we need encouragement.
This is a difficult world, full of trials, isn’t it?
Everyday we experience the trials personally.
And what we don’t experience personally, we see on the news.
We are surrounded by bad news.
What is some bad news you have experienced this week, or heard of this week?
What does bad news do to us?
Bad news is bad because it hurts us.
It shows the pain and suffering of this world.
It shows that we are not in control.
We are helpless.
We are powerless.
It plays into our fears and cripples us.
Why is there so much bad news?
Why so much sickness?
Why is there death?
Root of the gospel - Creation, Fall, Hope
There is bad news because we are in a world full of sinful people, doing evil things.
No law can change that.
No advance in science can change that.
No intervention from other people can stop that.
Why?
Because we are all sinful.
Paul in Ephesians put it this way:
That is the bad news.
The worst news.
Until we understand that bad news, we will not understand the best possible news, which Paul wrote about in the following verses.
We will get to that.
What is the bad news here?
We are deserving wrath.
Wrath is a word that occurs in the passage we are looking at this morning.
Because of our revolt against the Almighty, Holy, Righteous, Loving God, we are now under his wrath.
Wrath is what turns many people off.
They say they would nothing to do with a wrathful God.
They picture God as this big bully that is just overflowing with anger at the least little grievance.
One with a short fuse.
They think they and most people are basically good.
How could God be so wrathful?
And besides, it is wrong to judge!
They fail to understand, as we went through a few weeks ago, that the God of the Bible is not short-fused.
He is patient.
He is slow to anger, abounding in love and kindness.
God in love created this world for us, for mankind.
He in love made it a great place, perfectly suited for life, for wondrous, beautiful life.
And man had the gall to turn their backs on their Creator!
Wrath is not just burning anger or vengeance.
Wrath is not that God is angry, it is desire mixed with grief leading to anger.
The bad news is that we are rebellious, and deserving God’s righteous anger from our sin.
He is grieved by our sin because His desire was for us to be in a loving relationship with Him.
His desire was for our good, and we spurned His love and desire, and rebelled against Him.
We are deserving of his grief and anger, that righteous wrath.
Wrath that will be poured out someday, but for now, he is being patient.
He has appointed a day of judgment which is coming.
That was a big part of John’s message.
The bad news is that we are under a just punishment.
The bad news is that judgment is coming.
John relayed that worst of news, but he also was the bearer of the best possible news.
When faced with bad news himself, John shared the best possible news with his disciples to help them in their perspective of their current trial.
Today, I believe John the Baptist, when faced with some bad news, pointed his disciples to the best possible news.
John’s disciples came to him with bad news.
People aren’t coming to you anymore, they are going to Jesus.
You are no longer a successful prophet.
This did not phase John.
Why?
Because he knew that his meaning, purpose and joy did not come from what this world defines as meaningful, purposeful or bringing joy.
Where this world would say meaning comes from success and position, John knew that meaning came from Magnifying Jesus!
Where this world would say purpose comes from what you achieve, making a name for yourself, or moving up the ladder, John knew that his whole purpose was to Magnify Jesus.
Where this world says joy comes from what you get, John knew joy comes from Magnifying Jesus and fulfilling his role in Jesus’ Kingdom.
John found real life not what he had, what he achieved, or worldly pleasures.
John knew real life was doing what God had him here to do, and Magnifying Jesus!
After explaining that to his disciples, John Magnified Jesus through what he taught next.
Let’s read it together.
John 3:31-36
Prayer
The one from above is above all.
Above.
Over.
Higher.
Greater.
To John’s disciples, Jesus was just another man.
Jesus was a good teacher, and attracted crowds.
But that was it.
Why should people go to Jesus instead of coming to John who baptized Jesus?
John wants his disciples to know Jesus.
He wants them to know the truth.
Jesus is no ordinary man.
Jesus was fully man, being born of Mary.
He had a body.
He ate, drank, walked around, did physical labor, got tired, slept, and started it all over again each day!
He was fully man.
But that is not all Jesus is.
Jesus is not just from here on earth like you and me.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9