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.
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Good News for Shepherds and Other Sinners
"Let me tell you a bit about shepherds.
They were the last people you’d expect God to take notice of.
First of all, they were religious outcasts.
According to Jewish religious law, these men were unclean.
Their line of work prevented them from participating in the feasts and holy days that made up the Jewish religious calendar.
Why?
Well, somebody had to watch the sheep.
When everyone else was making the trip to Jerusalem to make sacrifices at the temple, or to participate in one of the annual feasts, they were out in the fields, watching over the sheep.
A modern day example might be a trucker or a shift worker, whose job keeps them from regularly attending church.
It wasn’t really their fault.
But they were looked down on, from a religious point of view.
Whatever might have been in their hearts, they weren’t able to participate fully in the religious life of the community.
"Not only that, but shepherds were borderline social outcasts.
Since they were constantly on the move to find new pasture for their flocks, they were looked on with suspicion.
Kind of the way people today might look at gypsies, or carnival workers.
They were often accused of being thieves.
If something came up missing – it must have been those shepherds.
They were not permitted to give testimony in a legal proceeding, because their word wasn’t considered trustworthy.”
Interesting, isn’t it?
It was to these religious and social outcasts that the angels appeared appeared to first with such an awesome message.
Let’s take a look at this cool story.
What do we have in these verses, beside a bunch of awesome angels and a group of smelly shepherds?
Well I think we see some awesome news for these shepherds and for the rest of us.
Some very practical and encouraging news.
Here we go...
The Angel Announced the End of Fear (v.
10)
Now to be contextually correct this pronouncement was given as a direct result of the angel’s awesome and frightening appearance.
“Fear not” are two words spoken during many of the angelic appearances in Scripture.
Now before you say, phhhhhhh, how do you think you’d react to a heavenly being just appearing right in front of you probably lighting everything up around you just like in a sci-fi movie.
Yeah, you’d probably need to hear “fear not” also.
The shepherds were afraid, but this runs deeper.
A. The first evidence of fall was fear: (Gen.
3:6-8)
B. Fear has been stalking mankind through the centuries since
a.
Abraham lying about Sarah because of fear (Gen.
12:11-13)
b.
Jacob afraid of Esau (Gen.
32:6-8)
c.
Moses afraid of Pharoah and of rejection (Ex.
4:1)
d.
Israel afraid to enter the Promised Land (Num.
14)
C. Jesus would move through the area He travelled dispelling fear
a.
The disciples and the storm
b.
Blind Bartimaeus feared he would never see
c.
Ten lepers feared they would never be with their families
d. Mary and Martha feared they would never see Lazarus again
D. There are many fears at Christmas
a. Health
b Family
c. World conditions
d. Finances
e. Life
E. But faith is the opposite of fear: we are saved by faith and live by faith.
Next...
The Angel Announces the Birth of Joy (v.
10)
A. We sing songs of joy at Christmas.
B. Why this joy?
a.
Because the Savior has been born
b.
Because the Scripture has been fulfilled
c.
Because Christ is Lord
We can come to Him and have joy.
Trust Him.
The Angel Announces the Beginning of Evangelism (v.
10)
A. All need this Savior
a.
All are sinners (Rom.
3:23)
b.
Christ died for all (Rom.
5:8)
B. He is available to all people.
How did the shepherds respond?
a.
We are also to be going with the good news
b.
We’re not to sit and soak on the way to heaven
Conclusion:
A. God meets us where we are
B. Come to Jesus with your sins and fears and be saved
C. Tell the Good News to all!
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