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
0.5UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.61LIKELY
Fear
0.08UNLIKELY
Joy
0.52LIKELY
Sadness
0.19UNLIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.5UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.54LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.8LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.87LIKELY
Extraversion
0.32UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.65LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.72LIKELY

Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
*Secular:*
I remember the images, I’m not that old, but I remember the images of the cold war.
I remember the images of people, those videos that they used to put on in the school that told you when the siren sounds in town you dive under your desk.
I remember that noisy old siren and wondering how is that going to help if there is a nuclear bomb.
But they tested that thing faithfully twice a year and twice a year we all crawled under our desk.
We were all afraid of a tiny little atom being split in our neighbourhood.
We were building bomb shelters.
We were doing all kinds of crazy things during the cold war.
But this atom is split everyday down in Pickering and up in Kincardine.
And it’s used for good.
Such a tiny powerful thing that can be terrifying and cause great destruction or can turn the lights on and turn the TV on.
I was checking on the news and I saw one of the things they were saying was that the standard mailing envelope has a natural weave where it has pores of a 100 microns-100 microns.
I thought ok well that’s novel.
Where’s the point going?
And then they said that an anthrax spore is 5 microns.
It’s like carrying anthrax in a sieve and what they were saying was this tiny little itty bitty anthrax spore as your letters are munched through the machines and going through sorters blown by fans and read by machines is being jostled about and -- this tiny little spore is reeking havoc throughout the United States.
Powerful but small.
Even look at TNT blowing a stump out of somebody’s yard or making the highway a little wider or packed into a bomb.
These things are so small but yet so powerful.
James wants us to know that our tongue is like an atom are we going to use for good or are we leaving radioactive residue everywhere we go.
Please turn with me to James chapter 3 that’s where I’ll be reading from this morning, beginning at verse 1*.
*
*Biblical:*
*James 3:1 –12.
*
Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.
2 We all stumble in many ways.
If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.
4 Or take ships as an example.
Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.
 5 Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body.
It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,
 8 but no man can tame the tongue.
It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.
10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.
My brothers, this should not be.
11 Can both fresh *water* and salt *water* flow from the same spring?
12 My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?
Neither can salt spring produce fresh *water*
*Personal:*
* *If you’ve ever got up in the night, if you’ve got children especially, but if you’ve ever got up in the night to do that little raid on the fridge, don’t want to turn on the lights, don’t want to alert the wife, you tip toe down the hall and just when you step out into the hallway and you step on a leggo block.
This thing packs a whollap I’m telling you.
Especially in the middle of the night.
Sometimes we’re surprised at how much pain or how much influence on our lives such a small piece has.
Have you ever said something that blew up in your face?
Ever had a conversation the words came out of your mouth and went boom right in front of you.
And oh how dearly you wished to drag them back in before.
Have you ever been on the end of receiving that bomb?
When someone who has your trust or someone you’ve respected has just hammered you out of nowhere with their tongue, speaking untruth, speaking something vile, and just boom.
*Bridge:*
Life tells us that even the smallest things can have the greatest influence and power.
As Christians we need to harness the energy of our tongue.
We need to take that tongue that has the power to direct, the power to destroy, and focus it on a power to delight.
* *
*Intro:*
We’re staying within the theme that Pastor Marshall has laid out.
If you’ve got your collector card series, this is going to be a great reference*.
*Make sure that you keep these on hand and look at the follow up questions and really think about the effect on your life, what it is to walk the talk.
James opens this section with the first two verses.
*James 3:1-2.
*  As Christians we’re to share our faith.
That’s a gimme-the great commission.
We’re all teachers of some sort and we need to know that the primary way we convey our message is through our mouth.
And with that James is saying there’s a sobering responsibility here.
Do you understand what it means to be a teacher?
Do you understand what it means to engage your tongue in this business?
It’s not to steer everyone away from being a teacher, it’s saying, do you understand the responsibility for what comes out of your mouth?
*James 1:19-20.
*We are commanded to share God’s word.
We are commanded to teach, to make disciples.
We’ve got to be careful.
The tongue can lead the whole person.
“ If any man is never at fault in what he says he is a perfect man.”
We need to save this tongue from evil and use it for the purposes of praising, preaching, presenting the gospel.
Use it to accomplish a task.
First thing we’re going to look at is that James says in taming the tongue we require the understanding of it’s power to direct.
! James 3:3-4 – Power to Direct
*James 3:3* I should give this part over to Lindsay (horse trainer in congregation) and you can come up and talk to us about turning those horses around.
But those great majestic animals, a horse, so beautiful and if you’ve ever galloped on a horse, you’ll give up everything else for excitement-almost a motorcycle but the power of a horse, the amazing feeling of galloping on a horse and feeling that push forward.
What an amazing power!
And simply by pulling the rein or against his neck whether your western or eastern, I’ll give you the translation.
But by pulling the bit you can turn that whole beautiful animal, that powerful beast and turn them.
And we can make that horse worthy to accomplish a task.
You can imagine at a horse race if they opened the gate and the horses all went wherever they wanted.
It doesn’t matter how great a horse you’ve got if you can’t follow the path, if you can’t accomplish what needs to be done.
I love this story.
My Dad took us out to Edmonton and decided he was going to take us to this ranch and we were going to go horseback riding.
He never set his stirrups before we left and they were too long.
And we turned the first corner and the guy says, “Let’s go!”  and while the horse already knew the routine-wheeeey….away
we went.
He’s bouncing around in his saddle.
It was horrible.
I tried not to laugh.
But he was out of control.
We got back to the barn and ( my dad’s probably not a great horseman), he can’t hear me so it’s ok I said that; but the horse decided you know it’s kind of hot out here, I’m going into the barn.
And the barn has a door just high enough for me to get in.
So I saw my dad being really affectionate, hugging his horse by the neck going eah…but he couldn’t turn the horse.
He didn’t know how to make that horse turn with the bit.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9