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
0.09UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.05UNLIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.68LIKELY
Sadness
0.17UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.46UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.72LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.87LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.93LIKELY
Extraversion
0.36UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.71LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.75LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Our Theme for 2023 is “Life in the Spirit”
It is more than just recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit.
It is understanding that we live in two realities - natural reality and spiritual reality.
We live at the intersection of heaven and earth.
We are an altar where heaven’s business is transacted on earth.
Our vision at SCF is to “Encounter God’s Transforming Love.”
How do we do that?
(Four R’s)
Respond
Restore
Release
Relate
That describes who we are and what we are about.
We are reviewing the 4R’s just as a reminder of what we have committed to do as a church, but we will be doing so in light of our life in the Spirit.
We will be recalling the commitments that we made on our membership form.
If you want to see it, it is back on the information table.
I started the series by saying that we need to respond to God.
God reveals Himself through a divine encounter and we respond, by our worship, our actions, our obedience.
Last week was the second R- Restore.
Restore is represented by the stream that flows from the cross.
There is a prophetic picture in the scripture of a river of life that flows from the Presence of God.
It brings life to dead places - it transforms our inner life and eventually our outer life!
Now we are going to talk about the third R- release.
As the transforming power of God is working its way from our inside out- we can expect that it will continue until it transforms the world around us.
The same power that transforms us will transform the world through us.
Or did you think that the goal of the gospel was only for your benefit?
It’s not about us - that’s what restoration should help to teach us- to look beyond ourselves to the difference that we can make.
What does this have to do with spiritual reality or life in the spirit?
Very much indeed!
Believers who are transformed by the spirit become agents of spiritual transformation.
If we are just worshipping within the four walls of the church and not impacting the world around us then we are missing half of the gospel.
Isn’t that a ‘social gospel’ - which says that our devotion to Christ is measured by what we do for Christ?
Isn’t that works theology?
Yes it is, and there is nothing wrong with it!
Around the turn of the last century when Biblical studies were coming into conflict with other areas of social and scientific study.
Archeologists and textual critics were casting doubt on certain biblical narratives.
The church responded in two very different ways.
Some churches decided that, while they could not defend every doctrine from attack, they would concentrate on the fundamentals, such as the authority of scripture, the virgin birth and the atonement.
They became known as ‘fundamentalist’ who were concerned primarily with ‘orthodoxy’ or right belief.
Other parts of the church, especially the ‘mainline’ or more prominent churches decided that biblical doctrines do not need to be defended, as long as people are inspired to become better people and to do good.
They were concerned primarily with right living or “orthopraxis.”
Which is better, right belief or right living?
Neither is complete without the other.
We have seen that right belief without right living is hypocrisy.
And right living deteriorates into ‘whatever makes you happy’ without right belief.
These two things should have never been separated!
Spiritual reality is that our enemy in the spiritual realm has neutralized the church by turning us against each other.
We have forgotten our assignment and who the real enemy is.
We should be working together to fulfill the great commission.
The Holy Spirit was given to the church to release God’s power and authority into the world.
We do this by teaching - right belief.
And by observing - right living.
And then there is a third thing - He is still with us by his Spirit.
Maybe the reason we get off on right belief vs. right living is because we have turn the great commission into the ‘great omission’ - we are trying to do God’s work without God?
Release means that we understand our objective as being a conduit of God’s supernatural life both in sharing the gospel and in transforming society.
Understanding our objective.
Pass the peace.
When Jesus sent out the disciples, how did he instruct them?
The first thing you need to know as a disciple of Jesus Christ who is send into the world is that you are a carrier of His Presence.
Literally, you have the Holy Spirit in you.
But that just freaks people out - so how should we describe this?
You have a ‘peace’ a calm confidence that comes from knowing who you are in Christ and that He has sent you.
When people sense this ‘peace’ about you, it can hit them in one of two ways.
It either draws them toward you in trust - they see Jesus in you and they want to know more.
Or it repels them - they get all weird and they say its because you’re weird.
(You’re making their demons nervous!)
In older liturgical traditions, they have a practice called ‘passing’ the peace.
In many churches, this is little more than a greeting time during the service.
But it has a rich spiritual heritage in that it recognizes that we are carriers of the Presence of Christ and that we are imparting His Presence to one another.
But what Luke tells us is that this didn’t begin in church, it began with imparting the peace of Christ to strangers.
If they receive it, then you hang out with them and let them soak it in.
If they don’t want your peace, then you move on.
Shaking the dust off is obviously a figure of speech for moving on.
But in light of our theme I want to consider that dust is the stuff of earth.
Our impartation of peace is the stuff of heaven.
Shaking the dust is like saying, “If you don’t want the stuff of heaven then have your stuff of earth back!”
Mixing heaven and earth where it is not wanted amounts to a watering down of heaven.
If impartation doesn’t lead to transformation its a waste of time and energy which are of limited supply here on earth.
The important thing is that you know that you have something to impart.
You are not just releasing ideas, you are releasing faith.
You are not just releasing your service, you are releasing His presence.
You are not just encountering people, they are encountering God through you.
Be filled so you can spill.
In our membership agreement we encourage people to be prepared with something to impart.
Jesus was baptised to show that He was part of the community of faith which God was going to use to restore His Kingdom on earth.
But Jesus baptizes believer in the Holy Spirit - fills us to overflowing with His own divine power and presence.
That is why we are not just baptized in water, but pray also for Jesus to baptize us in the Holy Spirit.
I embrace the baptism and continual filling of the Holy Spirit and His work in my life.
In Pentecostal tradition, the baptism in the Holy Spirit comes after salvation and usually after water baptism.
But there is nothing that say it has to be separate from salvation - In Cornelius’ house in Act 10 the impartation of the Holy Spirit was how they knew they were saved!
I could say a lot about baptism and baptism in the Spirit because it has been one of my primary areas of study.
But for the sake of this message, it is not important when or how you are filled with the Spirit, but that you are filled with the Spirit!
If you are not sure, then pray for more!
You can always pray for more.
With wine, we all have our limit - you can have too much.
But with the Holy Spirit there is no limit - you can’t have too much!
The verb tense is a continuous action.
Keep on being filled with the Spirit - not just once and done.
The use of the imagery of baptism suggests that we should be filled to overflowing.
Be filled enough that you can spill!
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9