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
0.11UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.09UNLIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.66LIKELY
Sadness
0.21UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.72LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.09UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.9LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.81LIKELY
Extraversion
0.34UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.68LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.73LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
The book of Ephesians was a circular letter.
It’s a manifesto for the church, which describes the essence and identity.
Who is the church,
how it came about, and
how it must conduct itself as well as
what its mission is
within the larger framework of Christ’s cosmic rule.
We come to chapter 3 which reveals God’s marvelous plan for the Gentiles.
Paul explains God’s plan for the Gentiles with two moves.
First he explains
the mystery of Christ in vv2-6, which focuses on
its revelation (vv3-5) and
content (v6).
Then Paul expands on
his ministry of the gospel (vv7-13),
highlighting the purpose of proclaiming the wisdom of God to the spiritual powers through the church (v10).
highlighting the purpose of proclaiming the wisdom of God to the spiritual powers through the church (v10).
Let’s read .
To put it simply, we need this message because two things are true:
Welcome to the first of thirteen classes on our life together as a church.
In this introductory class, my hope is to give you some idea of why we as Christians need a class like this in the first place.
To put it simply, we need this message because two things are true:
First, God calls Christians to gather together in local churches to worship Him and to reflect His glorious character to the world.
Second, we are still sinners.
Second, we are still sinners.
The million dollar question is, how do these two statements work together?
God calls us to glorify Him by living together in local churches?
How can a still sinful people reflect God?
Unity is Hard
One day, all of God’s people will bow before Him, perfectly righteous because of Christ and perfectly unified in humble worship and praise.
But God still calls us today—the very imperfect people who compose His Church
—to the task of displaying the glory of His perfect character.
The question of how that can happen in the church is the focus of this message.
In particular application, our goal is to understand the opportunities and responsibilities we all have as church members.
How can we, as sinful and selfish people, gather together, not with the forced unity that
denies differences,
not with the forced unity that denies differences, overlooks difficulty, or compromises the message of the gospel, but with unity that preserves the message of the gospel and acts as a compelling testimony to its value?
How can we respond to sin in our midst without descending to gossip and slander?
How can we trust our leaders but still recognize that they are sinners, too?
How can we love people who make us feel uncomfortable because they are so different from us?
How can we honestly critique an imperfect church without grumbling?
overlooks difficulty, or
compromises the message of the gospel,
but with unity that
preserves the message of the gospel and acts as a compelling testimony to its value?
Let’s ask ourselves a couple of difficult questions.
How can we respond to sin in our midst without descending to gossip and slander?
How can we trust our leaders but still recognize that they are sinners, too?
How can we love people who make us feel uncomfortable because they are so different from us?
How can we honestly critique our imperfect church without grumbling?
If you’ve been part of a church for any amount of time, you know that these goals are difficult to achieve.
Churches far too often become places of division, complaints, and unhappy people.
I see some of you could easily lean in this direction.
Division, complaining, and unhappiness.
This will cause us to fail to display to the watching world the power of the gospel that should be at work within us.
Therefore they fail to display to the watching world the power of the gospel that should be at work within them.
And when that happens, we don’t fulfill the purpose of God for the church, He simply comes along and removes that church.
Our goal for this series of messages is to explore a practical blueprint of what makes a church strong.
What makes it a community where sound doctrine expresses itself in love that glorifies God?
My prayer is that you will leave this portion of God’s Word, with a better understanding of
what the Bible says about being a strong church, and
also with some clear ideas of what you can do to help build a strong church.
I. GOD’S GOAL FOR THE CHURCH—UNITY ()
I. GOD’S GOAL FOR THE CHURCH—UNITY ()
Let’s begin by considering a foundational question:
Why is the church important?
More specifically, why is it important to God?
To answer that question, let’s look at and 4, where Paul lays out the importance of the church in God’s plan of redemption.
Let’s run through the whole passage, and then summarize some critical takeaway points.
Unlocking the Mystery of the Gospel
To give you some more context, Paul has spent chapters 1 and 2 describing the power of the gospel—that
though we as Christians were dead in our transgressions,
that though we as Christians were dead in our transgressions,
we are now alive in Christ and reconciled both to God and to each other.
Let’s pick up his train of thought in :
2 "you have heard, haven’t you, about the administration of God’s grace that he gave to me for you? 3 "The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above.
4 "By reading this you are able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.”
()
Surely you have heard about the administration of God’s grace that was given to me for you, that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.
In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ.
(vv.
2–4)
What is this mystery that Paul understands so well?
Skip ahead to verse six:
6 "The Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and partners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
()
This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
You see? Paul is excited about the fact that Christianity has united Jews and Gentiles together into one body.
The hatred and enmity which had existed between them for centuries is overcome in the gospel.
As Paul put it a little earlier in 2:14, Christ has “broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” between Jews and Gentiles.
“coheirs” of the same blessings.
God promised Abraham that he would bless his descendants and that through him all the families of the earth would find blessing ().
Now the divine plan has been revealed that through the gospel all the families of the earth should not only be blessed in Abrahams offspring,
but also be counted among his children.
Each of those marvelous blessings to which you and I are said to participate in, is said to be “in Christ Jesus through the gospel”.
It’s through the gospel.
The basis on which you and I, along with Jews,
become sons and daughters of God, are
made fellow-members of the body of Christ and
receive the promised Holy Spirit is
Christ through the gospel.
It’s in Christ, that is, Israel’s Messiah, and in Him alone, that Gentiles inherit the promises made to Abraham.
All people who hear this message and appropriate it for themselves, are united with the Lord Jesus in His death and resurrection.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9