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
0.12UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.52LIKELY
Fear
0.12UNLIKELY
Joy
0.55LIKELY
Sadness
0.57LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.57LIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.64LIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.71LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.57LIKELY
Extraversion
0.14UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.77LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.47UNLIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
I am sure you’ve heard the old saying
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
But I think I might get to see that more vividly than you do.
Part of my ministry involves funerals and part of most funerals is pictures.
It’s kind of standard practice now to play a video montage of the person who passed away during the visitation.
And to you, those are pictures you’ve grown up with.
But can you imagine what those pictures can do to someone who has never seen them.
Sometimes I’ve only seen them old.
And then I see their young pictures, and I go - “Wow - Imagine what their life was like when they looked like that.”
One of our senior church members was told when he was young that his daddy had been killed in the war.
But we have 23 and me and ancestry now - and a DNA test was done.
And our member found out that what he been told all of his life wasn’t true.
His daddy was completely someone else.
The birth family was contacted and a meeting was arranged.
The day came and he walked into the house.
And there on the wall was a picture of him.
Only, it wasn’t really him - it was a picture of his dad.
And he looked just like him.
That would be a kick in the pants, wouldn’t it?
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
Try as we might, we can’t help but look like our parents and act like our parents.
I remember the first time I was scolding one of my children and I heard my dad’s voice come out of my mouth.
I’d said I’d NEVER say that to one of my kids.
And there I was - without effort - saying it.
That’s James’ premise in today’s scripture.
If the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,
If God is our Father, doesn’t it stand to reason that people will see a family resemblance?
Our scripture today is James 1:26-27.
I trust you have your Bible with you so open it up to James 1:26-27.
If you don’t have your Bible with you, you can use one in the pew racks.
And if you don’t own a Bible, please feel free to take one of ours as a gift from us.
If you are watching via live stream or video and you don’t own a Bible, if you will contact us we’ll see what we can do to help you get one.
Hear the Word of the Lord from James 1:26-27
Short and sweet.
This is the Word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
When we started our study of James, we said James was divided into two parts.
Chapter one focuses on us - to help us get the log out of our own eye.
It also sets up the themes for chapters two through five that concentrate on how we relate to everyone else.
But before we relate to everyone else, James gives us a test over what we have learned so far.
In a sense James says, “Ok guys, before we move on to anything else, let’s take a good look at ourselves and answer one question.
Am I real or am I not?
Am I the real deal or am I an imposter.
Or, as we say, do I walk the walk or am I really good at talking the talk?
There are three questions on this test.
Question 1 - Do I talk like my Father?
Question 2 - Do I care for the helpless like my Father?
Question 3 - Do I look like my Father?
James 1:26 “If anyone thinks he is religious...
We need to start with a definition - what does it mean to be religious?
As James uses the word, he means “to be devoted to a proper expression of religious beliefs - ‘devout, pious, religious.’
Its what we believe in our hearts.
What we are convinced is right, that our whole person and personality is built on,
Is it properly expressed in our behavior.
So James is saying, if anyone is convinced that they are properly displaying their Christ-likeness
If anyone is convinced they are following Jesus just like He should be followed, well, then there are three questions everyone should be able to answer.
Do I talk like my Father.
Typically I hear this and I immediately go to gossip and slander.
We must watch our mouths and not tear other folks down.
Some of that is in this.
But there is something that I learned in my literature classes and in my seminary classes that applies here.
Let the text interpret the text.
What have we been studying for the last 4 weeks?
Has James addressed this?
Yes.
Yes, he has.
In verses 2-4, James asks, “Are you speaking well of your Father?”
We all face trials and hardships “of various kinds” all of the time, does our speech say that we truly believe God is in control?
Not that we are spouting Bible verses every three sentences.
But, can people hear that we trust that God is going to provide an acceptable outcome?
And when God does bring the resolution, can they hear that we are content with it?
In verses 5 - 8, James asks, “Are you trying to talk like your Father and the world at the same time?”
If we followed you to work, would we hear one person there and another person at church?
Do you sound like one person at home and another person when you are around church folk?
In verses 9 - 11, James asks, “Are you telling more about how great you are or how great your Father is?
I was at a party a number of years ago.
Everyone there was a well thought of Christian.
But what they talked about.
There was this game of one upmanship was going on.
I love your new shoes.
Really?
I got them from some wealthy store somewhere.
Oh, I used to shop there but I found this adorable new place...
Did you see the pictures from our vacation?
Oh, we did, it looked like you were having so much fun.
Did we tell you about our trip to Mars....
I knew these folks.
I had known them for years but something had happened to them.
They had all run into money and all they could talk about was their money.
But that game is not limited wealthy folk.
Poor people out poor each other.
Sick people out sick each other.
And in all of those competitive conversations, what does any of it say about our Father?
Now I’m not saying we can’t talk about the stuff of life - but why are we talking about it?
What is our motive?
Who are we trying to impress about what?
Can anyone hear any God in our lives, anywhere?
In verses 12 - 13, James asks, “Are you telling people the truth about your Father?”
There were obviously people there saying that, since God was sending them trials, the Father was tempting them to do evil?
We talked about that, remember?
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9