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
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Disgust
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Fear
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Joy
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Sadness
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Language Tone
Analytical
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Confident
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Tentative
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Social Tone
Openness
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Conscientiousness
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Extraversion
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Agreeableness
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Emotional Range
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Tone of specific sentences
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Anger
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What?
Activity | The Blob
Select two students to be “it.”
Two students will chase everyone around with the goal of adding as many people as possible to their blobs.
Everyone who is tagged must join arms with the person who tagged them and join the “its” on their quest to add everyone to their blobs.
But just before the final students are tagged, change the rules unexpectedly.
Story | Tell a funny story about a time when you were confused.
What’s something you find confusing?
What’s so hard to understand about it?
Story | Talk about a time when you were confused by a painful time in your life.
Have you ever experienced something that was both painful and confusing?
Maybe a close friend no longer wanted to hang out with you.
Maybe a family member left, or got sick, or hurt you.
or passed away.
Maybe you had to move or change schools.
Maybe you were unfairly accused of something you didn’t do.
Do you think we can always make sense of the difficult or painful things we experience?
Why or why not?
Have you ever struggled to make sense of a painful situation in your life?
Sometimes life doesn’t make sense
Life isn't always going to make sense.
We're going to experience hurt that we didn't expect, and that we can't make sense of.
Sometimes life is going to be painful.
Sometimes we're going to ask questions like, "Why me?
Why is this happening?
What did I do to deserve this?
Where is God?"
I don't know if you've ever felt like life doesn't make sense.
Maybe you have — maybe you're experiencing it right now.
Or maybe you haven't — maybe your life has always been pretty good.
If you're tempted to tune out because you're not sure this conversation applies to you, I promise you that it does.
Even if life has been good to you so far, someday it will get painful and confusing.
This conversation can help prepare you for that.
Even if life is good for you right now, life is probably a challenge for someone you know.
This conversation can help you love and encourage that person in the middle of their hurt.
To help us make sense of life when it doesn't make sense, I want to tell you the story of a guy named Joseph.
So What?
Joseph is an important person in the history of God's people.
He is a descendant of Abraham (who God once made an important promise to) and an ancestor of Jesus.
Through Joseph's family lineage, God came into the world in the form of a man.
But when Joseph was alive, he had no idea how God was going to use him or his story for so many generations to come.
Genesis
Talk about a surprising turn of events!
Can you imagine how painful, frightening, and confusing that must have been for Joseph?
While Joseph was sitting in that cold, dark well, I'm guessing he was asking himself some of the same questions we talked about a moment ago: "Why me?
Why is this happening?
What did I do to deserve this?
Where is God?"
(Sure, Joseph could have had more chill about the dream thing, but being an arrogant brat is not a good reason for your siblings to kidnap you, sell you, and stage your death.)
Joseph's situation was unfair, painful, frightening, and confusing.
Fortunately, Joseph's situation was about to get temporarily better . . .
but then it was going to get even worse.
Genesis 39
Imagine how difficult and confusing this must have been for Joseph.
He had already been treated unfairly and abandoned by his family.
But now, as he's trying so hard to obey God and do what's right, he's unfairly accused and imprisoned.
Imagine you're Joseph, waiting for God to do something, yet again.
You’re thrown into a well and abandoned by your siblings.
God doesn't save you.
Your parents are grieving because they're sure you're dead.
God doesn't fix it.
You're sold into slavery, falsely accused of a crime, and thrown into prison.
God doesn't intervene.
I don't know about you, but if I were Joseph, I would be pretty angry by now.
I'd be angry at my family, at Potipher, at Potipher's wife, at an unjust system of government, and at God.
Joseph didn't deserve the hurt he was experiencing.
It wasn't fair.
It didn't make sense.
But Joseph didn't say those things.
Scripture doesn't tell us what Joseph felt, or thought, or said to God during these painful and confusing moments.
But here's what Scripture does tell us . .
.
In the middle of Joseph's hurt, God was with him.
When everyone else had caused him pain, God showed him kindness.
When life was so difficult it didn't make sense, God redeemed what had gone wrong and used it for Joseph's good.
There is more to Joseph's story that we don't have time to cover today, but you should read it!
Once again, Joseph's story would get worse before it got better, but it is pretty amazing to see the ways God continues to redeem Joseph's pain.
Through Joseph's difficulty, God used Joseph to save countless lives — including the lives of his brothers.
Through Joseph's story, we learn something important about God and about our lives: life is going to hurt sometimes, but when life doesn't make sense, God can be trusted.
What aspects of Joseph’s story could you must relate to and why?
If you were in Joseph’s position, in what ways do you think you would have responded differently?
On a scale of 1-5, how much do you trust God?
Why did you choose that number?
Joseph isn't the only person in Scripture who had to trust God when life didn't make sense.
After Jesus died, rose again, and left earth, Jesus' followers had their faith in God tested in significant ways.
Because the Roman government was threatened by the message of Jesus and the new Kingdom Jesus came to announce, Jesus' followers were being captured, imprisoned, tortured, and killed.
They knew Jesus had called them to share His good news all over the world, but they were being severely punished for it.
God's people were suffering without reason.
They were following Jesus, doing God's will, and spreading Jesus' message of love, redemption, and salvation — so why were they suffering?
It didn't make sense.
But watch what Peter, one of Jesus' disciples, says to his fellow Jesus-followers . . .
Do you hear that?
Yes you’re going to suffer, but Jesus will redeem your hurt.
Through your pain, He’ll make you stronger.
Trust God with your pain because He cares for you.
Now What?
Video | Derek Redmond’s Olympic Story
Derek Redmond was a popular and successful British athlete.
He had broken records, won gold medals, and made history.
In 1992, he was favored to win even more medals and break even more records in that year's Barcelona Summer Olympics.
But watch what happens when, just a few moments into the semi-final, life suddenly gets very difficult.
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