Sermon Tone Analysis

Overall tone of the sermon

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Anger
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Analytical
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Conscientiousness
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Agreeableness
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Tone of specific sentences

Tones
Emotion
Anger
Disgust
Fear
Joy
Sadness
Language
Analytical
Confident
Tentative
Social Tendencies
Openness
Conscientiousness
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Emotional Range
Anger
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This morning I want to bring up the rather touchy subject of sin.
I read about a young preacher pastoring his first church: a small congregation in a town where everyone worked for the lumber yard.
It so happens this mill was in fierce competition with a mill just upstream.
One day the preacher chanced to see some of the members of his congregation pulling logs branded for the other mill out of the stream, cutting off the branded ends, and running them through their own mill.
They were stealing logs that didn’t belong to them.
That Sunday he got up and preached his sermon entitled "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Property."
After the sermon everyone told him just how much they loved his preaching.
"You really moved me preacher" and "Best sermon I ever heard."
were some of the remarks.
But next Monday morning it was business as usual.
They were still stealing logs.
So the next Sunday the preacher delivered a real "pulpit pounder" called "Thou Shalt Not Steal."
"Fantastic!" the people told him.
"Wonderful!" they cried.
But Monday morning the other company's logs were still being swiped by the town mill.
So next Sunday his message was entitled "Thou Shalt Not Cut the Branded Ends Off Someone Else's Logs!"
They ran that preacher out of town![i]
Sin can be a rather touchy subject when it gets personal.
For instance, it’s hard for a preacher to admit he still has a problem with sin.
But I can’t deny it: I am a recovering sinner.
No, I’m not cheating on my wife, or secretly doing drugs or alcohol, but I’m still far from sinless.
But having said all this, I believe God can use even a recovering sinner like me to call us to confession, repentance, and forgiveness of our sins through Christ.
In fact, the Scripture we’ll be reading from was penned by one of the most notorious sinners in the Bible.
Yet God uses the words to a song he wrote in *Psalm 18* to give us some thing to remember when we sin.
*PRAYER*
            To begin with, I want you to please notice the title of this psalm.
It was written by David, the man after God’s own heart, slayer of giants, greatest King of Israel, great man of God.
The same King David, who coveted another man’s wife, committed adultery with her, had her husband killed, and tried to cover the whole thing up.
David is a man deeply in love with God, and yet David also stands as a guilty sinner before God.
In this psalm, both these truths stand in tension.
Please also notice the title: /To Bring to Remembrance.
/Some scholars say this is the name of the tune for this psalm.
Maybe /Bring to Remembrance /was a Top 40 tune in David’s day.
The tune didn’t survive, but this phrase did, and I don’t believe that’s accidental.
I believe David is telling us he writes the lyrics not only as a song, or even a prayer, but as a reminder of some important truths he didn’t want to forget whenever he sinned.
So what are these things we need to remember when we sin?
First of all, we need to remember */God takes sin seriously.
/*
The late president Calvin Coolidge was known as a man of few words.
It is said he returned home from attending church early one Sunday afternoon.
His wife had been unable to attend, so she asked Calvin what the preacher’s sermon was about.
Coolidge responded, “Sin.”
She pressed him for a few words of explanation—what did the preacher say about sin? Coolidge responded, “He was against it.”
[ii]
I’m not sure all preachers are against sin, but I do know one thing: God is.*/ /*David’s first request in *vs.
1-2* describes God’s reaction to sin with words like .
/…wrath…hot displeasure…/--emotions of outrage, fury, extreme anger.
Don’t try to water down the words.
David’s sin, my sin, your sin, /all/ sin makes God angry.
*Psalm 7:11* /God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day./
/            /Sin puts us at odds with God’s holiness and goodness.
David’s words in *vs.
2* picture God as an Enemy, firing arrows and pressing hard against David.
/When you sin, /David says /you are standing against God as His enemy./
/            /This is why David pleads for God’s mercy.
/Lord, I know I deserve Your punishment.
I know You have a right to be angry.
But please temper Your anger with mercy!
/
*Habakkuk 3:2* /…In wrath remember mercy./
/            //What do you need to remember when you sin?
You need to remember God takes your sin seriously—even when you and I don’t.
/
/We take the sins of other people seriously.
We shake our heads and gossip about unwed teen mothers, and husbands and wives cheating on one another, and businessmen robbing their employees and murderers on death row.
How can they be so evil?
/
/But how seriously do you take your sins?
We have a little problem with our temper, but it’s not really that serious.
I’m not really stubborn or prideful—I’m just certain of my convictions.
So what if we dress up the truth a little now and then, just to stay out of trouble?
I’m  not really gossiping if what I say is true!
God knows how I am, and He makes allowances for me.
Besides, I can always ask for forgiveness.
/
/If we’re honest, we tend to treat our own sins much less serious than everybody else’s.
And why not?
Why should we make a big deal out of our little sins?
/
/Because sin is a big deal with God.
/
/How many of you moms and dads here love your kids?
All of us.
You didn’t know you could love somebody that much until you brought that little bundle of joy home.
You’d do almost anything to provide for and protect them.
/
/But let me also ask you: how many of you have ever gotten angry at your kids?
Ever been tempted to just shake some sense into them?
You don’t get angry at them because you hate them; *you got angry because you love them.
*You want them to make wise choices, to live happy lives, and you know that some of their wrong choices will end up hurting them.
/
/In a far deeper, stronger way, that’s how God loves you.
His love for you means He takes your sin seriously.
Your sin angers Him, because it disrespects Him and alienates you from Him. David’s plea for mercy reminds us that because God takes your sin seriously, you ought to take your sin seriously.
/
/Do you take your sins seriously?
When you sin, it’s no time to play cover-up, no time to ignore the seriousness of what you’ve done.
When we sin, we need to remember it is a serious thing to God, and it ought to be serious to us, too.
/
One reason why sin is so serious is because *your sin always carries a high price tag.
*David never pinpoints precisely /what /his sin is, but he does list some of the consequences of his sin in *vs.
3-20*.
I group these under 3 headings: physical consequences, emotional consequences, and social consequences.
/Your sin will often have physical consequences.
/David paints this hideous picture of the physical effects of his sin.
His body is sick and his bones ache …/because of my sin…/ (*v.
3*).
He is covered with wounds that fester and stink …/because of my foolishness…// /(*v.
4*).
*V.
7* says his …/loins /[side, back, or loins] /are full of inflammation… /[fever?]/ /His heart races, yet his strength ebbs away, and his eyesight is failing (*v.
10*.)
Some have tried to diagnose David’s condition or illness, but David connects all of these symptoms to his sin.
He is reminding himself that sin can have physical consequences.
/Your sin will often have emotional consequences.
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