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
0.17UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.1UNLIKELY
Fear
0.13UNLIKELY
Joy
0.59LIKELY
Sadness
0.54LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.79LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.48UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.64LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.82LIKELY
Extraversion
0.22UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.78LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.6LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
\\ *A New Approach To Obedience*
God...is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
\\ - Philippians 2:13 NAS \\ \\ A New Approach To Obedience (1) \\ \\ Paul says, "God...is at work in you, both to will and to work for His \\ good pleasure."
Most of us don't connect obedience with pleasure.
We're \\ used to obeying out of necessity or fear.
Perhaps we had parents who made \\ us obey "just because I said so." Now it's not wrong for parents to \\ expect obedience from children, or bosses to expect cooperation from \\ their employees.
But it's not the best definition or the highest \\ motivation for obedience.
The element that's missing is the "want to" \\ factor that God built into each of us at the point of salvation.
This \\ takes the "ought to, have to, better do it or else God will destroy you" \\ element out of it.
It elevates obeying God to a level of joyful response \\ to all that He's done for you.
Obedience is not something you have to \\ manufacture.
It's something you have to cultivate, then activate, because \\ the desire is already present in you.
This is called "serving the Lord \\ with gladness."
Anything else is merely outward compliance.
\\ \\ It's like the boy who misbehaved and was told by his mother to go and sit \\ in the corner.
After a few minutes she called to him from the other room, \\ "Are you still sitting down?"
He replied, "Yeah, I'm sittin' down on the \\ outside, but I'm standin' up on the inside."
You could call that \\ obedience, but actually it's nothing more than outward compliance without \\ the inward response of eager and joyful obedience.
Biblical obedience is \\ gladly doing on the outside what you really want to do on the inside.God...is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
\\ - Philippians 2:13 NAS \\ \\ A New Approach To Obedience (2) \\ \\ Jesus said, "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and \\ humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
For My yoke is \\ easy and My burden is light" (Mt 11:29-30 NAS).
Some of those who heard \\ these words were farmers who used oxen to plough.
They understood Jesus \\ because they wouldn't dream of putting an ill-fitting harness on their \\ oxen that caused them to chafe.
Nor would God!
And these farmers \\ understood something else: without a harness oxen can't be directed and \\ won't fulfil their highest purpose - to be productive.
\\ \\ "But if I'm supposed to have this desire deep down to obey God, why can't \\ I find it?"
you say.
First, because you still live in a body of flesh.
\\ And until God gives you a new body you'll contend with the lower impulses \\ of your old one.
The second reason many of us don't feel this inbuilt \\ desire to obey is that it's been covered by calluses built up over years \\ of doing things because we had to.
It's like the hard dry skin that \\ builds up on your feet.
That hard layer has to be removed to get to the \\ soft skin underneath.
That's usually the first thing a doctor does when \\ treating your feet.
In the same way, the Holy Spirit has to remove the \\ calluses from our hearts as part of the softening process that makes us \\ receptive to God's will.
And how does He do that?
Through love!
Our love \\ for Christ in response to what He's done for us.God...is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
\\ - Philippians 2:13 NAS \\ \\ A New Approach To Obedience (3) \\ \\ A man trying to win a woman will do anything for her.
She'll call him and \\ say, "I know it's late, you're tired and it's raining, but could you come \\ over and change my flat tyre?" "Sure, I'll be right over," he says.
And \\ over he comes with a smile.
Now, fast forward.
They've been married 10 \\ years; he's in the same house with the same woman he courted and won.
She \\ asks him to get up off the couch and do something for her.
She has to say \\ it three or four times, and you'd think she'd asked him to cut off his \\ leg the way he moans and groans.
Then she gets upset.
What's happening?
\\ What was once a delight has become a drudgery - because the love \\ motivation has cooled off! \\ \\ Our problem isn't really obedience, it's keeping our love for Christ \\ strong, for love makes obedience a joy.
Less obedience is simply less \\ love.
Often we replace grace with law, and love with rules.
But we don't \\ enjoy the rules because we don't exercise the love.
Our new nature \\ functions best when motivated by relationship, not rules.
Rules without \\ love lead to coldness.
Christ said to the Christians at Ephesus: "I have \\ this against you, that you have left your first love" (Rev 2:4 NAS).
In \\ other words, "You don't love Me like you used to."
Then He commanded them \\ to return to the point where they had fallen, which is where they let \\ their love for Him slip.
Is Christ saying the same thing to you today?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9