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
0.13UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.06UNLIKELY
Fear
0.48UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.48UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.53LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.89LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.45UNLIKELY
Extraversion
0.34UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.33UNLIKELY
Emotional Range
0.38UNLIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Over these remaining weeks of August, I want us to spend some time considering preparation.
For those who are students or teachers, it is not quite back-to-school time yet, but the preparations are beginning.
Supplies are being gathered, plans are being made, schedules are coming together.
Preparation is good.
So, before our church launches into another fall season of programming ministry opportunities, how about we all spend a little time going through a spiritual tune up.
Like most of you, I have some cars that my family uses for transportation.
And like some of you, my cars tend to be a little older and have some higher mileage.
That means these vehicles need just a little bit more loving attention to keep them tuned up and running smoothly.
Taking the time to keep cars well maintained pays off when it is time to hop in, start the engine, and go driving.
This past spring we had an issue with the Subaru that my kids drive.
All the sudden the power steering quit and the steering wheel was super hard to turn.
At the same time all the warning lights on the dashboard came on that something was wrong with the engine.
The engine was still running—and seemed to be running just fine.
But knowing something was not right, my kid immediately pulled into a parking spot and turned the car off.
When I came to take a look we discovered that the tension belt had fallen off.
The tension belt in this car runs from the engine crankshaft, around the power steering pump, and around the alternator.
Without that belt in place around the correct pulleys, the power steering has no function, and the alternator stops supplying power to the car’s vital electronic components.
One of the pulleys had gone bad.
But as soon as we replaced that, the belt fit right back in place with proper tension for all the pulleys to spin correctly when the engine started.
And just like that, the power steering and electronic functions of the car were right back normal again and the car is running smoothly.
Having an engine belt with just the right amount of tension is necessary for the car to run properly.
There are certain parts of a car that need a certain amount of tension or pressure in order to run correctly.
When installing the new pulley on the engine crankshaft, we had to set a torque wrench to 110 pounds to make sure we tightened the bolt that held it on with just the right amount of pressure—not too tight, and not too loose.
We had to fit the engine belt around the pulleys with just the right amount of tension—not too tight, and not too loose.
Other parts of the car, such as the tires, need to be inflated to just the right amount of pressure—not to firm, but not too soft.
There are parts of a car that need tension and pressure.
our spiritual lives actually run the most smoothly when there is a certain amount of tension and pressure
In this series we are going to spend some time considering how it is that our spiritual lives can have a tune up in order for us to maintain a healthy soul.
Like a car engine, there are some basic habits of maintenance that help keep everything running smoothly.
And to start out today, I want us to consider the possibility that our spiritual lives actually run the most smoothly when there is a certain amount of tension and pressure.
Look at these words Jesus says to his disciples on the night that he goes with them to the garden of Gethsemane, about to be arrested and executed.
John 16:25–33 (NIV)
our best functioning spiritual lives happen when there is tension and pressure helping our faith to move and act as God intends
we often try to avoid tension and pressure
Tension and pressure.
Sure, I explained how tension and pressure are needed for a car engine to run properly.
But does this same thing apply to our spiritual lives?
Could it be that our best functioning spiritual lives happen when there is tension and pressure helping our faith to move and act as God intends?
This might take a little careful thinking.
In fact, if you are at all like me, perhaps you haven’t given this a lot of thought.
I know that studying this passage from the Bible challenged me to think about tension and pressure in ways I never paid much attention to before.
Because here’s the thing, you and I tend to have an autopilot function that naturally and instinctively avoids tension and pressure in certain areas of our lives.
Let’s spend a little time considering how this works.
Then, we can recognize and view this whole issue of tension and pressure in a spiritual frame.
response to tension and pressure can help us rise above our current circumstances and reach for the next level of accomplishment
Consider with me some of the ways in which people tend to embrace tension and pressure.
An ultra-competitive athlete thrives on the pressure of performing at a higher level of skill in whatever sport they happen to be playing.
An actor dreams of the big stage, even though performing in front of large crowds with high expectations can be tense.
There are certain people who go after and embrace certain kinds of tension and pressure.
Those happen to be the kinds of pressures that we may choose to pursue on our own.
We make the intentional choice to go after those achievements.
It is pressure we take on because the reward and payoff for success makes it worth it.
So, it is not as though all forms of tension and pressure are bad.
It is precisely what helps us rise above our current circumstances and reach for the next level of accomplishment.
I think we would agree that this is a good thing.
And it seems that many people in fact seek out and embrace the challenge of engaging this kind of tension and pressure.
situations can be filled with tension that is completely beyond our control | financial pressure, tension of broken relationships
But consider also the kind of pressure that maybe we don’t seek out and we do not choose on our own to embrace.
Sometimes in life, situations can be filled with tension that is completely beyond our control.
And this seems to be the kind of pressure and tension we automatically try to avoid at all costs if we can.
High inflation adds a financial pressure for many households that nobody asked for or welcomes or enjoys.
Nobody says, “I could use more pressure when it comes to being able to pay all my bills on time.”
Nobody looks for the tension of broken relationships.
Nobody embraces the task of wondering which family members should not be invited for the holidays because the tension of having certain people in the same room together is unbearable.
These are situations we do not choose and circumstances we do not control which contain tension and pressure.
Our natural inclination is to avoid that kind of tension.
Often that is the kind of pressure and tension that registers as stress and anxiety.
It seems like that kind of pressure shouldn’t be a part of our spiritual lives.
The Bible talks so much about peace.
Doesn’t it just seem like we should all assume a smooth, well-tuned life of faith would be free from that kind of tension?
It feels like a life that is following Jesus ought to release pressure and loosen tension.
I wonder how many of us automatically assume something like that.
I professed my faith in Jesus, I became a Christian, and I thought all my troubles were supposed to go away.
I thought the tensions were supposed to disappear.
I thought the pressures were supposed to vanish.
I thought the life of peace that Jesus promised would be completely free of tension and pressure.
I must be doing something wrong.
Maybe there is something wrong with my faith.
tensions and pressures that are a necessary part of faith
On the other hand, what if there are some tensions and pressures that are a necessary part of faith?
Like a well-tuned engine, maybe certain features work best when there is a certain amount of pressure and tension.
Are there features of our faith that work best within just the right tension and pressure?
It is worth considering.
Look at what Jesus says about that to his disciples in this passage from John’s gospel.
John 16:32–33 (NIV)
living as an exile in a broken, sinful world
Jesus describes living in a world that is scattered and troubled, yet he gives his peace even in such a world.
One of the themes that carries through so much of the Old Testament and into the New Testament is exile.
Abraham is called to go live in a foreign land.
Joseph is taken to Egypt where the Israelites become a nation of slaves.
The Assyrians and Babylonians conquer and take away the people of Israel into exile.
Even within their own promised land in Canaan the Roman Empire comes in and takes over.
Jesus comes into the world to be with his people who have historically known and felt exile so very often.
And as the apostles carry the gospel message and spread the news of Jesus into the gentile world, they are often met with hostility and persecution.
we ought to feel the tension and pressure of being God’s holy and redeemed people who still live in a world of broken sin
Even as God’s people flourish and thrive, even as the church grows and expands, there is also this sense in which they don’t quite belong or fit in with their surrounding world.
Having been redeemed by God through Jesus, the people of God’s church are now being made holy, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
We live with one foot in a broken and sinful world, and one foot stepping into the redeemed creation to which we are being called.
I think Jesus is telling us here that it is not a bad thing that we in the church feel sort of like exiles in this world.
We ought to feel the tension and pressure of being God’s holy and redeemed people who still live in a world of broken sin.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9