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
0.14UNLIKELY
Disgust
0.49UNLIKELY
Fear
0.47UNLIKELY
Joy
0.53LIKELY
Sadness
0.55LIKELY
Language Tone
Analytical
0.34UNLIKELY
Confident
0UNLIKELY
Tentative
0.1UNLIKELY
Social Tone
Openness
0.88LIKELY
Conscientiousness
0.55LIKELY
Extraversion
0.31UNLIKELY
Agreeableness
0.51LIKELY
Emotional Range
0.57LIKELY
Tone of specific sentences
Tones
Emotion
Language
Social Tendencies
Anger
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9
ME: Intro
In Acts 1:8, Jesus Christ commissioned the church to be His witnesses in Jerusalem,
Judea and Samaria,
And to the ends of the earth.
Thus far in Acts, the church has been His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.
Last week was a major game changer where God converted Saul,
Who would later be known as the missionary to the Gentiles.
In our passage this morning,
A Gentile named Cornelius is converted,
Which was essentially to the ends of the earth.
Making out passage this morning one of the most significant narratives in Acts,
Because it is a major step forward in the progress of God’s plan,
Beginning the fulfillment of Acts 1:8.
God loves the nations,
Meaning the gospel is for everyone.
God’s saving grace extends to every person who cries out to God in Jesus’ Name,
Regardless of what people group they are from.
Yet, this basic truth has proven to be difficult for Christians to apply because of deeply embedded biases that lurk in our hearts.
Sadly, church history is stained with heartbreaking stories of Christians expressing biases toward certain people groups.
This propensity for biases is a symptom of humanity’s fallen sinful nature.
There are countless reasons for biases:
Age, appearance, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, job, and many other reasons.
It does not take long to scroll a social media feed to find countless examples of these biases,
Spewing hateful words against certain groups.
So, we must come to understand our own evil manifestations of our biases,
Then repent of it,
And keep repenting,
Because this tendency to discriminate based on biases is so deeply ingrained that most of us are unaware of it.
Acts highlights the many obstacles that seek to stand in the way of the gospel going to the ends of the earth.
Our passage this morning reveals that even our own deceitfully wicked hearts can be one of those obstacles.
But because the gospel goes beyond biases,
We must overcome our biases to go and make disciples.
For example, what is your disposition when you see a person covered in tattoos and piercings walk into church?
Or when a same-sex couple moves in next door to you?
Or your server at a restaurant is clearly taking treatments to transition from a female to a male?
How do you speak or act to that family member whose political view is different from yours?
What about when you are sitting next to a Muslim in a waiting room?
Are you unaffected by the elitist, exclusivist, and biased treatments that pervade our society?
Because our passage this morning teaches that no biases should keep Christians from offering the gospel freely and lovingly to everyone.
This passage is a large section,
But it is one long, continuous narrative that affects the rest of the NT.
Because this narrative makes it clear that the Gospel Goes Beyond Biases.
Slide
Our outline for this lengthy lesson is:
The Miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas (Acts 9:32-43)
The Messages for Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10:1-48)
The Movement from Jews to Gentiles.
(Acts 11:1-18)
Because the gospel goes beyond biases, we must overcome our biases to go and make disciples of all people.
WE: The Miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas (9:32-43)
Last week, Pastor Ryan taught on one of the most dramatic passages in Acts,
Where Saul was converted.
Ch. 10 is an equally dramatic passage,
With Peter receiving a vision this time.
Sandwiched between these two dramatic passages are the miracles of Aeneas and Dorcas in 9:32-43.
Slide
Vs. 32 transitions back from Paul to Peter.
He was traveling from place to place visiting believers.
It is safe to assume he would be doing some discipleship training during these visits.
Which is an important thing to keep in mind.
When we talk about our mission as a church.
It can be tempting to focus so much on going, evangelizing, and doing mission work that we do not continue to grow disciples in Christlikeness.
Therefore, Grow and Go are equally vital components to our mission.
That is the example set for us by the early church.
They are going, evangelizing, and planting churches.
But they do not put off growing disciples.
No, they both go and make disciples and they grow disciples in Christ-likeness.
So, while Peter is doing this,
It says his travels eventually lead him to Lydda,
A small village about 25 miles northwest of Jerusalem,
Possibly one of the places Philip proclaimed the good news at when he was on his way to Caesarea at the end of ch. 8.
In Lydda, Peter met a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden for 8 years.
Slide
Similar to Jesus in Luke 5:24, Peter simply commands Aeneas to get up and make his bed.
And the results are immediate.
Peter is the instrument for healing here,
But he credits all miracles to Jesus Christ.
Therefore, vs. 35 says, people in Lydda and Sharon turned in faith to Jesus.
Slide
Vs. 36 transitions the narrative to another miracle in Joppa.
Joppa was a seaport about 30-40 miles northwest of Jerusalem,
Another 10 or so miles past Lydda.
It is the port town from which Jonah sailed out of in the OT,
Likely tying the biases addressed in Jonah’s account to the biases addressed in the next chapter.
But Joppa was one of the oldest inhabited towns in the world.
Occupied as early as 7500 BC by Noah’s son, Japheth after the flood.
Historically, Joppa has been a hot bed of Jewish and Gentile conflict.
Around 168 BC, inhabitants of Joppa were predominately Gentile.
During this time, the Jewish leader, Judas Maccabeus began having military success for the Jewish people.
So, the Gentiles in Joppa drowned 200 Jews.
Judas led a retaliation by setting fire to Joppa’s harbor and all the ships in the harbor.
But it wasn’t until 24 years later, Judas’ son, Simon,
Successfully led a Jewish assault to take control of Joppa from the Gentiles,
Pushing them out of the city and building walls around the city.
But all this conflict amounted to nothing in the end.
Because by 47 BC, Caesar conquered Joppa and gifted it to Herod the Great.
However, Herod was unimpressed,
So, he built the port city of Caesarea for trading and sea travel,
Leading to the decline of Joppa.
Nonetheless, the historical conflict between Jews and Gentiles in Joppa also serves for the Jewish biases against Gentiles addressed in the next chapter.
< .5
.5 - .6
.6 - .7
.7 - .8
.8 - .9
> .9