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
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.12UNLIKELY
Fear
0.1UNLIKELY
Joy
0.64LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.57LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.82LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.79LIKELY
Extraversion
0.17UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.89LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.6LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
Title: Saying Goodbye
Text:
Intro: Shelby Whitmer died last this past Monday.
He was 87 years old.
He was there at the first church I ever attended, Union Chapel General Baptist Church.
He was a deacon.
When the church song leader, quit, He was there.
He stepped in an became the song leader.
When the teacher of the Sunday school youth class I was attending, lost his temper and quit at the beginning of class, Shelby was there.
He came down to our class and asked if we needed a teacher.
When the church decided to put a basement under the church building, He was there.
He gave, he worked, and he blasted the large rock out from under the church building.
When sin entered that little church, Shelby was there, taking a stand for what was right, believing and trusting in what the Bible said.
Intro: Shelby Whitmer died last this past Monday.
He was 87 years old.
He was there at the first church I ever attended, Union Chapel General Baptist Church.
He was a deacon.
When the church song leader, quit, He was there.
He stepped in an became the song leader.
When the teacher of the Sunday school youth class I was attending, lost his temper and quit at the beginning of class, Shelby was there.
He came down to our class and asked if we needed a teacher.
When the church decided to put a basement under the church building, He was there.
He gave, he worked, and he blasted the large rock out from under the church building.
When sin entered that little church, Shelby was there, taking a stand for what was right, believing and trusting in what the Bible said.
When his son informed me of Shelby's passing, I knew I had to go to the funeral.
When I arrived, the son asked if I wanted to say a few words about Shelby, I knew I had to.
It was my way of saying goodbye to a good friend and true servant of God.
They say we are products of our genes and our past.
I told them at the funeral that I was a better product because Shelby was a part of my past.
Will others be able to say that after you are gone?
How will others remember you?
After the death of Billy Graham, his son, Franklin Graham, was asked, how do you think Billy would want to be remembered?"
His answer, "as a preacher."
He would want to be known simply as a preacher of the Gospel.
How we are remembered depends largely on what kind of influence we had on others during our lifetime.
The legacy we leave behind will either be positive or negative.
The choice is up to us.
If someone had interviewed Paul before his death and asked him how do you want to be remembered.
I think he would have said, "I hope they would say, he was so like Christ."
In our series on the book of Philippians, we now come to the last chapter.
In chapter four, Paul is closing his letter.
He is saying his goodbyes to the church.
In the first 9 verses of this chapter, Paul wants to leave a legacy in the lives of the believers at Philippi.
He wants them pattern their lives after his.
He want them to love like Christ, live like Christ, and think like Christ.
READ TEXT:
The therefore, in verse one, is referring back to chapter three.
We saw last week that Christians have dual citizenship.
We are a citizen of the country we are born in, but we also become a citizen of heaven when we are born again.
Paul is saying to the Christians at Philippi, because you are citizens of heaven, you should therefore, stand firm in the Lord.
The word "firm" comes from a military word.
It means to stand like a soldier does at his post.
It means, at all cost stand firm, don't give way to temptation, don't give way to fear, and don't give ground to the enemy.
Christians are a part of the Lord's army, so we must stand firm.
After all we have a home in heaven waiting for us, so we must stand firm.
Psalm 86:36-37 state, "His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me.
37 Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.”
Selah
James writes, Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him ().
In writing to the young pastor Timothy, Paul says, 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;…" ().
Jesus also said in , and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Paul knew the importance of standing firm in the faith.
He knew the importance of not letting our emotions lead us into sin, not letting temptations lead us into sin, not letting circumstances lead us into sin, and not letting friends or family lead us into sin.
Paul is saying to the church, whatever you must do to stand firm, do it.
Paul's desire for them to stand firm doesn't simply come from a theological understanding about hell, it comes from the heart of a man who loves these Christians with every fiber of his being.
He doesn't view them as a congregation, but rather as his children.
The words he uses in the first verse is used for the pain of separation of a loved one.
In verse eight of chapter one Paul said, 8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.
He loved them and missed them so much, it caused him pain.
Paul loved the deeply and he wanted them to love one another.
He wanted them to love like Christ.
I. Love Like Christ
Paul loved them in the same way that Christ loved them and the whole world.
Christ died for them and Paul was willing to die for them.
In fact, he was in prison with the likelihood of being executed for preaching the gospel.
This is the kind of love that a pastor should have for his congregation.
This is the kind of love a congregation should have for one another.
We should care about the pains of others.
We should weep with them and rejoice with them.
A. Care About Others
To be Christ-like is to care about others more than we care about ourselves.
To be Christ-like is to deny ourselves.
There's no way under heaven that we can love like Christ, live like Christ, or even think like Christ, without deny ourselves.
It all starts with dying to self.
It's all about dying to self.
It begins the day we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior and it must continue throughout our lives.
Every day we must choose to deny self and love God and others.
Every day we must choose to deny our emotions, deny our sinful or hurtful desires, deny our fleshly wants and cravings.
Jesus said, For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” ().
In we read, 24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
This wasn't happening in the church at Philippi and it was breaking Paul's heart.
Instead there was division created by two women who were good faithful workers, but who rubbed each other the wrong way.
To love like Jesus is to seek unity.
B. Seek Unity
Paul entreats or urges Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord.
According to Paul, these two women were both Christians, faithful workers for the Lord, this being the case, their differences should take a backseat to the work of Christ.
When it doesn't, when our hurts or desires hinder our work for Christ or our relationship with other believers, God is in the business of de-thorning us.
He has brought about a person or issue in our lives that force us to see an area in our lives that is not Christ-like.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9