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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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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Anger
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Introduction
Imagine sitting in a boat just offshore on a warm, but not hot day, with some shade and being lulled to sleep by the fresh sea air and the gentle rocking of the boat.
Imaging waking up a time later only to realize that your boat has been drifting while you slept and you can no longer see any land.
You are not where you want to be
You don’t know which way to head
You can’t get to where you want to go
There is, or was, one tool that could have prevented you from drifting while you slept: an anchor.
As horrifying as that scenario would be, try imagining that boat was your life: drifting, driven by the winds and currents of life until you find yourself adrift and unsure what comes next.
Transition
An anchor is a vital tool for a boat.
It is no less vital a tool for a life.
We don’t usually think of it until after it is too late, which is why the Apostle Paul highlighted it as he wrote to Hebrew believers about their faith.
Illumination
There is a lot there that we could talk about; and we will over the next several weeks.
But for this morning, I’d like to draw our attention to verse 19.
We have an anchor for our souls—literally for our being—we have an anchor that secures
Why do we need an anchor?
We’ve hinted at it, but want to be clear.
An anchor allows us to intentionally stay where we want to stay
An anchor allows us to intentionally go where we want to go
Without some anchor for our soul, we will drift to a place we may not want to be and lose the knowledge of where to head and the choice of where to go.
It is an important tool for living.
Why do we need hope as an anchor?
There are other ways to stay put in life
Fear will definitely help you never move (anxiety is fear).
In his deep, life defining novel entitle Minecraft: The Island, author Max Brooks made this amazing observation.
“Fear is a real, present, right-in-your-face threat.
Anxiety comes from a potential—or in this case, future—threat.
Fear can be conquered.
Anxiety has to be endured.”
Anger has caused many people to not move
Ignorance has kept whole generations from moving
Indecision will paralyze you into not moving
Tradition has kept multitudes from moving
These are just a few examples, but none of them are positive.
Most of the examples we could think of would fall into this category.
What all of these examples have in common is they all leave us stuck.
There is a huge difference between intentionally staying where you want to be and being stuck.
So, the Apostle recommends a better anchor: hope
What is hope?
Favorable and Confident Expectation
--Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words
Hope is very different from wish.
This definition is very different from how we typically use the word hope: we get the favorable part, but usually not the confident part…or the part about a knowing expectation, which is implied.
What is our hope?
This brings us back to Hebrews.
The question, in this context, is “Is our faith worth our effort?”
And that is a valid question.
To answer the question, Paul writes
He then illustrates and emphasizes his answer with the text we read earlier.
God gave His word to Abraham that He would bless and reward him.
Then God swore an oath to keep it.
And He did.
In the same way, He has given His word to bless and reward us.
And He will.
The two immutable, or unable to be changed things, are God’s Word and God’s Promise.
Add to that God’s nature—He cannot lie—and we have the ability to rest and the favorable and confident expectation of reward.
Our hope is one that encompasses the entirety of our life.
We have a favorable and confident expectation that God will reward our faith and effort.
Conclusion
You may be hearing this here this morning, or watching online, or catching this on demand in the future, and saying to yourself, “I’m not interested in God’s promise”.
Here’s some good news: truth is truth.
As a tool, hope works best when it encompasses all of our life rather than being compartmentalized into segments of our life.
But the principle—the tool—of hope is a tool that will work for anyone in any situation.
If you can identify some reason for a favorable and confident knowing expectation in any area of life, it will allow you to intentionally stay where you want to stay and go where you want to go.
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