Wordling the Gospels

Since I'm currently preaching through the book of Matthew, I thought it would be interesting to put the text of the different Gospel accounts through Wordle.

There is an obvious theme to the Wordle results below. See if you can figure out what it is (the answer is located at the end of this post).

Click directly on each image to see a larger view.

Matthew

Mark

Luke

John

The theme is (of course) Jesus.

Sunday Sermon on Wordle - Matthew 6:5-15

Yesterday I preached on Matthew 6:5-15. This is the passage where Jesus deals with authentic worship versus hypocrisy as it relates to prayer. Verses 9-13 are often referred to as The Lord's Prayer.

The sermon Wordled looks like this. Click directly on the image to see the words.

Sunday Sermon on Wordle - Acts 2

This being Pentecost Sunday, I preached on Acts chapter 2. Below is how the sermon looks on Wordle. I'm pleased to see the prominence of the Holy Spirit. Click directly on the image to enlarge it.

Sunday Sermon on Wordle

I've decided to post my Sunday sermons on Wordle. This should show what the primary topics of my messages are.

Today I focused on the ascension of Christ (one sermon in two parts). The focal passages were Luke 24:49-53 and Acts 1:8-11.

Above is what it looks like on Wordle (click on the image to enlarge it). I'm pleased to see that Jesus is the main focus.

A Good Practice: Wordle Your Sermons

I've found it a healthy practice to Wordle my sermons. Wordle is a program that generates word clouds. It is helpful in that it shows what the focus of the sermon is. This practice is beneficial because it can show if the sermon is being faithful to the biblical text.

Last night I preached on Matthew 5:48, which says, "You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (ESV)

My Wordled sermon is below. I have to admit that I wish there was more of Jesus in it. I hope what came out my mouth was more Christ-centered than this Wordle cloud suggests. Click on the image to see in detail.

Text of Baptist Faith & Message 2000 on Wordle

Click on the picture to enlarge. This shows the most prominent words in the BF&M 2000.



To see more on Wordle, click here.