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Introduction:
On the first page of your Bible you are introduced to God.
God is sometimes depicted as being an old white man, in a white robe, sometimes with a staff, but this is far from the truth.
In fact, Genesis 1:26 tells us God is a plurality, what we refer to as the Trinity.
We know Him now as God, the father, Jesus, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.
God is a community.
Another page over we see God creating man, but realizing that His creation was not meant to be alone either.
God is community and in His wisdom He realized that we were never meant to live life alone.
Yet, today in our world we are more alone than ever.
A recent survey done by the insurance company Cigna found that 61% of Americans report that they are lonely.
When asked why they feel lonely.
Here are some responses:
47% feel left out.
46% sometimes or always feel alone.
43% Feel their relationships are not meaningful.
43% Feel isolated from others.
27% Rarely or never feel there are people who really understand them.
20% Rarely or Never feel close to people.
Only 18% Have people they can talk to.
So, in a world where people are more connected than ever, we are also the most loneliest.
Even in the church people are feeling lonely.
I believe this has come about because of another staggering statistic.
56 percent of Christians feel their spiritual life is entirely private.
From <https://www.barna.com/research/discipleship-friendship/>
We have been deceived into believing that our spiritual life is only our business.
What I do with my life is none of your concern.
How I choose to live, you have no right to speak into.
Maybe, you have heard it said, “It’s just me and Jesus?”
This has led us to isolate, especially when our lives do not line up with God’s purpose and plan for our life.
But the reality is different in the New Testament.
In fact, when the word “you” is used to refer to Christians in the New Testament, it is mostly used in the plural.
Like good old southern folks it is best translated as “Y’all” because the God of community never intends for us to live this life alone, but in community.
God’s answer to the loneliness in our world today is a healthy community of believers.
A healthy church...
The Text
So, this morning I want to give you a point, a picture and a push.
So, here’s my point...
The answer for a lonely word is a healthy church.
Everybody is thinking, okay, we agree.
But maybe, if I were to ask you what a healthy church looks like I would probably get a whole lot of different answers.
I want to bring a little unity to our responses by allowing the apostle Paul speak to us this morning about what that church looks like.
Our reading this morning will come out of Ephesians 4:11-16.
What does a healthy church look like?
This morning I want us to see five pieces of guidance Paul gives us to being a healthy, growing community of Jesus followers.
A healthy church looks to Christ for leadership.
Paul says earlier in this letter in Ephesians 1:22-23
A healthy church recognizes that Jesus is its head.
So, in Ephesians 4:15
How to we speak the truth in love?
We look to Jesus for how to do it.
We see how he spoke to people who were seeking a savior.
We look to his example of how to value people and love them the way He loves us.
How do we grow and mature?
we put ourselves behind Christ and let Him lead.
Trusting that He has our best in mind.
We use our gifts.
A healthy church seeks to equip and serve.
Paul is clear here in verse 11, in Romans 12:4-8, and 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 that it is through Jesus that gifts are distributed to His people, through His Spirit.
Here Paul mentions 5 titles of people with gifts.
The apostles, the prophets, the evangelist, the pastors and teachers.
But, we have no reason to believe these are the only gifts that matter.
In fact 1 Corinthians 12:7 tells us
Each gift given to the church by Christ, through The Spirit is for use in building up the church.
Our job as parts of this body is to serve this body in equipping our community to carry out the mission of Jesus and serve as Jesus wants us to serve.
How do we do that?
We figure our how we have been gifted.
How do we do that?
Well you can take a spiritual gifts inventory, there are plenty of those online.
But, I have found an even better way is to think about what things you already like to do and pursue ways here that you can do things?
How does this address loneliness?
Sure, you could serve by yourself, but in the church we serve as a team.
Teams allow us to hang out and get to know each other.
We also mature together.
One way we do that here is in family groups?
In family groups, we get together with other Christians who are wanting to mature in our faith and we do life together.
We share good times and bad, we serve together, we experience life side by side.
That surely is an answer to a world of people who feel like they are alone.
A healthy church finds unity not in how they look or think, but in their shared identity.
Sometimes churches become more exclusive than inclusive.
You find churches that are primarily white or black, rich or poor, Baptist, Catholic, Methodist or church of Christ, the list could go on and on.
But Paul tells us here that unity comes in our shared hope and in our knowledge of Jesus.
Paul has already in chapter 4 shared a set of beliefs that formed the identity of the early church.
They read as follows:
Ephesians 4:3–6 (NIV)
This is how Paul identified those in community with him in Christ .
Does this mean this everything?
No, but it is a place to start.
A community of believers has a shared set of beliefs that identify us as followers of Christ.
Does this mean we cannot have differing opinions?
Not at all, but it means we do not bind those opinions on others.
Thomas Campbell, said it this way “We speak where the Bible speaks, we are silent where the bible is silent.”
These are things we call traditions.
They are shared opinions that a community holds.
For example, I grew up in a church of Christ where the tradition was only acappella music.
Some, made it a mandatory belief to the exclusion of those who would not practice acappella music.
Others grew up in churches who told you who to date.
Some practice advent or lent.
It is not necessarily wrong for a church to decide to practice these traditions, but to bind them on others to the point of exclusion is not what Paul had in mind when he talked about unity.
So, for example, should we be baptized?
Yes.
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