Taming the Tongue: A Matter of the Heart

[00:06:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:06:19] Lift up the name of our God for all he is, for what he has done and continues to do in our life. Let's worship together this morning.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:07:25] he died and he rose. Those giants are dead now. Come on church, let's sing this. Welcome to First

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:10:43] Presbyterian Church of Morrisville. How are you folks doing this morning? Good. Our mission is loving God, loving people, and making disciples. We welcome our special guest, Actionelle, and his wife, and the ministry. And we look forward to hearing a little bit more from you this morning.
[00:11:00] and they'll also be at the chili cook-off tonight as we partner in ministry.
[00:11:06] And so thank you for your kingdom work and being here with us this morning.
[00:11:10] If you're new or visiting for the first time, we hope you feel a warm welcome, feel the love of Christ.
[00:11:16] I have one quick announcement to make before we open in prayer.
[00:11:20] This past week, Laura has been serving several weeks now as our interim music director here in the contemporary service well she applied for the position they offered it to her and Laura said yes so uh and for her I know it's a true sense of calling so we express gratitude for the Lord
[00:11:46] for pulling her this way and her answering that call as we open the service let's join our hearts in prayer Heavenly Father we thank you for the privilege it is to come here in person and worship
[00:12:01] We pray for those on the live stream as well.
[00:12:03] Give them a sense of their belonging here as they seek to worship you this morning.
[00:12:09] We thank you for the beauty of this day.
[00:12:12] We are in awe of your creation.
[00:12:14] Lord, every breath we take depends on you.
[00:12:18] Lord, we thank you for this, your church.
[00:12:20] We worship your son, Jesus, who holds this church together.
[00:12:25] He's our leader.
[00:12:26] And Lord, this morning also give us sensitivity to your Holy Spirit.
[00:12:30] May every aspect of this service be done in a way that brings glory to your name.
[00:12:35] And we pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

[00:17:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:17:20] I just want to recognize that there's no way we can all stumble in church on a Sunday morning, just, you know, praise bubbling out of our hearts.
[00:17:30] But I want to remind us as a church this morning of something that a mentor of mine said to me recently.
[00:17:34] He said, don't let what's wrong with you stop you from what's worshiping what's right with God.
[00:17:41] and I think that you know worship is a weapon when we put these words on our lips and remind ourselves of who our God is man alive I can't think of anything better that we can do with our
[00:17:53] with our lips and with our mouths so we're gonna agree to this morning that yes I will I will lift you up God in my in my highest points in my life and in my lowest points because you are God and

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:18:04] we have a special guest for our minute permission introduce them at this time i'd like to invite

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:22:02] everybody 25 years since i first met them i was involved in a church in south charlotte and at that time correct me if i'm wrong actually now but if we had what two three hundred students
[00:22:31] meeting we helped build a school and now 25 or so years there's four campuses and approximately 2,300 students is what I read so in my opinion that takes a special person I think it's a privilege that he's here to speak to us today so

[00:22:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:22:55] action thank you mark good morning Church my name is action a I am from Haiti. I am here with my wife, Yolande. If you could please stand. Some folks could see you. Thank you so very much.
[00:23:21] And also we have our boss lady here in the U.S., Madam Melissa Huffman. So could you please stand as well? They can see your face.
[00:23:35] Thank you. Thank you so very much. It is a privilege, a great privilege for us to be here with you. This is our first time in this city, I think.
[00:23:48] Let me tell you that we are Haitians. Our native language is not English. It is Creole. The second one is French. So the third one is my broken English.
[00:24:13] So, therefore, in the next four and a half minutes, you will hear Haitians talking very weirdly to your ears.
[00:24:26] Please do not take me wrong for any mistakes that I might make while speaking.
[00:24:33] Mark and I probably, you know, became charter members of South Mecklenburg Presbyterian Church in 1991.
[00:24:44] It seems like we are very old now, but I think we were somehow teenagers when we first met.
[00:24:55] We are here on a mission for the Lord Jesus Christ together.
[00:25:01] You know, sometimes the preachers tend to talk a lot, but I'm going to try to do my best to give you a summary of what I have to say this morning.
[00:25:14] Number one, in the book of Matthew chapter 28, in the last three verses, he talked about Jesus Christ after he rose from the dead, who had to give a speech to those who were around him.
[00:25:35] He said to them, go and make disciples everywhere. Teach them everything that I have commanded you to do. And remember, I am always with you. I will be always, not sometimes, not once in a while, always with you.
[00:25:58] So some years ago I heard a story about a missionary couple that went in Africa. That couple was from North America. They went to Africa to evangelize.
[00:26:18] But at that time, famine or hunger or starvation wasn't very strong there.
[00:26:28] In Haiti, we say, empty bag does not stand.
[00:26:33] That means that when you are hungry, you cannot really hear anything.
[00:26:38] But at that time in Africa, famine, starvation was so deep that nobody would listen to people evangelizing.
[00:26:48] But also, there was a good meat there people could enjoy a lot. It was an elephant, elephant meat. But those villagers had no weapons just to kill the elephant. But those Americans, so they had their own guns with them all the
[00:27:07] time. So they would go to the bush, they would kill an elephant, and then they would blow a trumpet, and whenever the villagers would hear about that trumpet, it is a sign for them to know that there would be meat and they would come with
[00:27:23] their own bowl but those missionaries what they would do they would see the crowd coming they would stand on the elephant they would have breached the gospel and after that would finish preaching the gospel and they would
[00:27:39] start you know cutting that elephant and to give me that to those people they They preached the gospel. They had to stand on 11. In 1993 the ministry started in the mountains of Bionic. The first day we started with 105 students. The second year was 216. But now we got over 2,000 on four different campuses and also four churches.
[00:28:11] Right now we have a medical clinic. What we have been doing there is to have elephants on which we could stand to preach the gospel. So we are in the mountains, we are called the rednecks, but at the same time we believe that the birth of Jesus Christ was shared for everybody.
[00:28:34] We are there not to create religion, but we are there just to talk about the love that Jesus Christ has taught us to teach other people. Not for them to become like we are, but for them to trust in Jesus Christ because he is the life, he is the way.
[00:28:52] Nobody can go to the Father except through him. So this is the ministry to which you have been called just to partner with in the mountains of Bionic.
[00:29:05] So how much you have picked up from this speaking this morning because it is a very weird Haitian accent. May the Lord Jesus Christ guide you, be with you.
[00:29:17] And now let me let you know that doors in Haiti is open to each one of you who would like to go there and see what the Haitians really look like.
[00:29:29] We are ugly, but we do not bite.
[00:29:31] God bless you. Have a happy Sunday. Thank you.

[00:29:41] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:29:41] Church, can you extend a hand toward Pastor Noah?
[00:29:44] And would you mind coming? We'd like to pray for you.
[00:29:50] Heavenly Father, we thank you for your Holy Spirit that rests upon your servants here.
[00:29:56] And not only them, but on all the people serving your name and preaching the gospel to those who are hungry and thirsty in Haiti.
[00:30:05] Heavenly Father, though we look different, though we sound different, though we speak different languages, there is one thing that unites us above everything else, and it is the one to whom all authority in heaven on earth has been given, the name Jesus Christ.
[00:30:19] When we are in heaven, we are worshiping together.
[00:30:21] all nations and tongues bow the knee before Jesus Christ whom loves us and gave himself for us so in the mighty name of Jesus we bless this ministry that 2,000 may grow to 20,000 and 20,000 may grow to 200,000
[00:30:35] that all people would come to see and know the grace and love of Jesus that saves us, that washes us, that restores us and the power of the gospel that people can stand on elephants and reclaim your name
[00:30:48] and they won't eat that meat, they won't eat the bread that comes from heaven that satisfies us unto eternity so bless them with your power bless their family with peace and provision that we can all continually have an excuse to glorify your name we pray all these
[00:31:04] things in the holy name of jesus and we all say amen no great way to transition from that moment so at this time in bliss i'll invite you to come and make some announcements regarding children's

[00:31:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:31:21] ministry i'm not really sure how to follow that up but here we go uh for those that don't know me i'm melissa folk i am the children's ministry director and um quick question for you all i would
[00:31:34] like to know raise your hand if numbers is your favorite book of the bible mine either however we can glean things from our least favorite books of the bible i'm doing a bible study and
[00:31:46] one of the things that was taught this past week was how each tribe of israel is given a job a duty an act of servanthood, and every single element of serving the Lord matters. And in the church,
[00:31:59] it's whomever makes the slides and pushes the slides, to Pastor Dave and Pastor Moses, the people that turn on the lights, the people that stay after church to pick up the trash, it all matters, and it all matters to God, and it's all important. So I'm coming to you this morning with
[00:32:12] a myriad of opportunities to serve in the children's ministry, knowing that not every opportunity is for every person. So first, we have our family Easter celebration. It's going to be on April 4th leading up to that family Easter celebration we need
[00:32:26] volunteers to donate candy and non candy egg fillers we need people to fill the eggs we need people to sort the eggs we need people to help set up for the morning of we need volunteers the day of to run game stations and if managing
[00:32:41] close to 200 children is not your bag of chips it's okay because their parents have to stay with them so they're not actually your response so you can come freely run games and the parents will be in charge of their own children and then
[00:32:54] also one of the requests that parents made was that we do sort of a refreshments station so we're looking for donations for that as well with mini water bottles donut holes mini cupcakes we get them anything keep it small a lot
[00:33:06] of sugar so that is coming up April 4th is the Easter celebration lots of ways to help with that before the day comes and the day of second opportunity we have is summer sunday school teachers in the during the school year from august to may i have
[00:33:22] 46 volunteers that serve in the children's ministry we have currently we have 77 children in the children's ministry and for the summer to keep the summer moving in the fashion in which we've been going i need a minimum of 12 volunteers to help with the children's ministry it's just
[00:33:38] june and july or june or july we're flexible but we do need volunteers to serve and to teach and to help with Sunday school in the summer months.
[00:33:47] And that's to give our regular volunteers some rest and refreshing time so that they can come back with their cup full ready to pour back into the children in the fall again.
[00:33:56] And last but not least, VBS is coming up.
[00:34:00] Our winter theme, our VBS theme is winter.
[00:34:03] We're doing Snowball Mountain Challenge.
[00:34:04] And this year we're doing things a little bit differently.
[00:34:06] In the past, Rachel Van Harn has sort of head up the decorating crew.
[00:34:10] I am not a decorator.
[00:34:13] I was able to make this falling snow.
[00:34:16] It took me like three minutes to make.
[00:34:19] But if we have a whole bunch of these all over the church, it will be very fun for the kids to walk through.
[00:34:23] A little snow.
[00:34:25] In years past, we have had decorating days and times.
[00:34:29] This year, what we're going to do is create an example, give all the supplies, and you can come to the church to work on them or take them home and work on them so that it's at your leisure.
[00:34:39] I am not a crafty person, but I can do this.
[00:34:42] So we need all the help we can get.
[00:34:44] Decorating, it's sort of the, it's not the most important piece of Vacation Bible School, but it does set the tone, and it gets the kids really excited.
[00:34:51] And bringing winter in July is going to be a lot of fun, and we're really looking forward to it.
[00:34:56] So we're hoping for help with that.
[00:34:57] And then volunteer registration for VBS opens March 30th.
[00:35:02] For those of you that are parents, I started volunteering for VBS before my kids were VBS age because I wanted them to be a part of it.
[00:35:10] And so you too can do the same.
[00:35:11] you can come and volunteer we have junior VBS for the children of volunteers that's zero through h3 camping the camper ages is four so if you have children under the age of four and you would like to participate we
[00:35:23] would love to have you and I think that's all I have thank you all so much for your time I appreciate it and come ask me questions anytime

[00:35:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:35:36] that's great thought there again so bringing it back this past Saturday we had a men's fellowship breakfast, and for those of you who came, we can agree we had a great time, great conversation, great fellowship. I think the number was 45. We had 45 men come, and it was just
[00:35:57] wonderful to get to envision and brainstorm together what could God be doing here at First Presbyterian through the men, and how can we connect as not just a community of brothers, but as leaders, as fathers, as brothers and friends, and so that was some great times of brainstorming and
[00:36:13] talks and conversations and if you didn't make it if you didn't didn't know you forgot that's okay we will have one in five years so as long as you're patient no we talked about maybe something
[00:36:25] monthly maybe a larger group every quarter but you will be informed and we will make announcements and but if you're also interested we gather some connection some communications so that i can organize a group on behalf of the church to send out announcements to send out notices and updates
[00:36:42] And so if you are interested in wanting to be part of Men's Fellowship in the group here at this church, reach out to me or reach out to Pastor Dave.
[00:36:49] He'll probably just send you over back to me, and we'll get you connected, and we'll make sure that you are informed as to what is going on here at the church.
[00:36:56] Regarding what's going on here at the church, two things before we pray and move on with our time of worship.
[00:37:02] Our tech team is an amazing team.
[00:37:04] Can we just give them a round of applause?
[00:37:06] Like, our sound and tech, they do a lot of work.
[00:37:11] And we have a small slate of volunteers that are rotating in and out all the time, pushing slides for the music, for the sermons, and running sound.
[00:37:22] Thank you, Jeff.
[00:37:22] We're grateful for you guys and what you all do.
[00:37:24] And so if you are feeling so led, we need some volunteers to help flesh out that slate so that other volunteers can come and sit in worship and receive and be poured into.
[00:37:36] We would be grateful for that.
[00:37:37] And if you don't feel led, but you might be willing, we will take you.
[00:37:41] And there's not much training.
[00:37:44] David Hamilton and the team are well-versed and experienced in the tech in there.
[00:37:49] It's just a willing body to come and to serve and to give up their time to push some slides.
[00:37:53] So if you are interested, you can reach out to either Pastor Dave or I, and we'll get you connected with David Hamilton if you don't know who that is.
[00:37:59] He's our director of music.
[00:38:01] And lastly tonight is the chili cook-off.
[00:38:04] If you don't know what a chili cook-off is, first, they'll be chili.
[00:38:07] and a lot of it and different people are coming in to provide different chilis i myself will be submitting a chili it will be the best i promise you that just keep your expectations low it's
[00:38:17] going to be great michelle drawn it's good it's good to have hope my friend it's good to have hope so we're fundraising it's for the missions and we'll get to see action now and pastor action
[00:38:26] now to come and hear more of the ministry and and as well as supporting missions and so come And especially as a good bullet point, bring cash.
[00:38:36] It is a voting with dollars to help, you know, as we fundraise to vote for your chili.
[00:38:41] So if you bring your credit cards, that's great.
[00:38:44] I'll borrow it for a little while.
[00:38:45] I'll return it with some receipts.
[00:38:47] But I highly encourage you to come.
[00:38:49] It'll be a great time of food and fellowship and community.
[00:38:52] And that'll be at 5 o'clock over in the fellowship hall tonight.
[00:38:56] So with that being said, please join me for a word of prayer.
[00:39:00] Heavenly Father, we thank you for this opportunity and time for us to worship and to gather.
[00:39:04] We thank you for getting to hear from your servants when what is going on over in Bayonets, and we are just grateful that the kingdom continues to expand in all places, and the name of Jesus is becoming known and powerful and transforming lives.
[00:39:21] So Father, today I pray that we may be transformed by your word, by the message that you have placed in Pastor Dave's heart to speak to us.
[00:39:28] May we be moved and convicted so that we look more like Jesus every day.
[00:39:34] Father, open our hearts and our minds to receive all that you have for us, for us to release the burdens from our shoulders and the convictions and shame and guilt in our heart so that we can be restored by your word
[00:39:47] and be reminded of what you have called us to be and how to live.
[00:39:52] We thank you for all these things, Lord.
[00:39:54] We honor you and worship you.
[00:39:56] We pray in the mighty name of Jesus.
[00:39:58] And together, let us pray that prayer he taught us to pray.
[00:40:01] Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
[00:40:05] Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
[00:40:10] Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
[00:40:16] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
[00:40:21] For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.

[00:40:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:40:26] And before diving into God's Word, just want to put before you, let's be praying for Iran.
[00:40:37] We had some sisters this past summer in July that we partner with in ministry, and they have a ministry to Christians in Iran.
[00:40:45] You're very aware, most of you are aware of what's happened there.
[00:40:49] Pray for Israel, pray for our country's involvement, and pray for the Middle East.
[00:40:53] it's just very important that we keep that before you as a congregation as we are very aware of what's taking place in this world. We serve a God that's sovereign and we know that he's in control
[00:41:06] but there are times where just things seem completely chaotic. Also as we dive into this morning's passage I'll remind you we're working through the book of James. The sermon series is entitled Everyday Faith. James, brother of Jesus, gives good practical advice for living out our
[00:41:24] faith. And this morning, we'll look at James chapter 3, verses 1 through 12. Now, as a pastor, I am deeply aware of the delicate nature of words. Yes? And I'm very prayerful about using words
[00:41:41] appropriately. And I can have a situation with two different people, same situation, but I might discern from God's Spirit how to message a little different. Take two people with the same problem, a drug issue. One of the two, they may just use drugs recreationally, and they feel that they're
[00:42:03] in control. And as they view their role, you know, this is the way I let off steam, and I'm good.
[00:42:10] Whereas the other person may feel enslaved and feel a guilt and a shame. And as a pastor, I need to discern that the message I give to someone who feels like I'm in control is hey
[00:42:21] it might be a little bit more tough love the nature of my relationship with that person and and and helping to point to the danger what they're messing with the sin of what the how it affects the lives of those around them whereas if I give that same message
[00:42:36] to someone who already knows that already feels the guilt I need to come at them with more of a comfort. We love you. We're going to be there for you. Help steer them in the right direction.
[00:42:47] Pray for both of them. But there might be a different message, the way you use your tongue.
[00:42:53] Yes? I think relationally, you could have two dads with the same issue, that they're losing a son.
[00:42:59] And the one dad may come from a very grounded family. And you realize, I may need to be a little tougher. And you may have a good relationship with that person. Say, hey, I was at the game on
[00:43:07] Saturday. And gosh, I know Johnny has always been strong-willed, but boy, you come across as tough.
[00:43:14] You need to also express your love and your compassion. You're going to lose Johnny.
[00:43:20] Be careful. Whereas the other dad may have grown up in a broken home and just needs a message of equipping. You know, hey, here's a book. Hey, we're in a men's group. Hey, join me for lunch. And
[00:43:32] what's going on with Johnny? You understand what I'm saying? The power of words. You think of that.
[00:43:40] The choice of words can make or break a person depending on the situation. The big idea I want to get across this morning is this. The tongue is a small, powerful part of your life that must
[00:43:53] be handled with delicate wisdom. Small, powerful part of your life that must be handled with delicate wisdom. Words can be like a surgeon's scalpel. They can heal or they can kill your words, your tongue. So let's submit this to the Lord this morning. As you look into the mirror,
[00:44:16] again, James tells us that the word of God is like looking into a mirror. If the Lord hits you with something this morning, my prayer is that you don't just walk away and forget what you look like.
[00:44:26] James chapter one or chapter three, beginning with verse one. Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers and sisters, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. For all of us make many mistakes. Anyone who makes no mistakes in speaking is
[00:44:45] perfect, able to keep the whole body in check with a bridle. If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies or look at ships. Though they are
[00:44:59] so large that it takes strong winds to drive them, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of
[00:45:12] great exploits. A pit of forest is set ablaze by a small fire, and the tongue is a fire. The tongue is placed among our members as a world of iniquity. It stains the whole body, sets on fire the cycle
[00:45:27] of nature and is itself set on fire by hell for every species of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by human species but no one can tame the tongue
[00:45:42] a restless evil full of deadly poison with it we bless the lord and father and with it we curse those who are made in the likeness of god from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing my
[00:45:55] brothers and sisters, this ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and brackish water? Can a fig tree, my brothers and sisters, yield olives or a grapevine
[00:46:10] figs? No more can salt water yield fresh. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
[00:46:21] The tongue is a small, powerful part of your life, James says, that must be handled with delicate wisdom. First point I want to make is this, and it's a warning. James gives us a firm
[00:46:36] warning about the weighty responsibility of words. And he holds teachers to a higher standard.
[00:46:46] Teachers carry this burden.
[00:46:49] Verse 1, not many of you should become teachers.
[00:46:53] Why?
[00:46:54] What does James tell us?
[00:46:56] For you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
[00:47:02] Now, in biblical times, teachers were held in very high esteem.
[00:47:09] There were those that were ambitious to become teachers because of all the platform connected to it.
[00:47:15] Think about Jesus and the calling of the disciples in that culture.
[00:47:18] What did they call a teacher?
[00:47:21] Rabbi.
[00:47:22] And a rabbi in that culture didn't simply give a lesson up front with a podium and have students in a classroom.
[00:47:28] For a rabbi, if you were a student, you would actually follow them.
[00:47:34] They not only taught, but they modeled.
[00:47:37] It was like an apprenticeship.
[00:47:38] And so there are people that they were prepared to be teachers or rabbis, And it was a very special calling, both when it came to the Jewish faith and then in the early church, the early Christian faith.
[00:47:53] People, again, and James, he's wanting to make it very clear, and he speaks with clarity, with great influence as a teacher comes great responsibility.
[00:48:07] Your words make a big difference.
[00:48:10] They carry weight.
[00:48:12] So he's saying, hey, teachers, you're held to a higher standard.
[00:48:16] Now, Jesus, the teaching of him backs what James is telling us.
[00:48:20] Jesus, Matthew 23.
[00:48:22] Can you remember how he called out the scribes and Pharisees of his day?
[00:48:27] I'm just going to read a little snippet from Matthew 23.
[00:48:29] He's calling them out, and he says, quote, woe to you.
[00:48:34] He's saying those who don't practice what they preach.
[00:48:36] Woe to you.
[00:48:37] And he goes on, and he's calling them out, and then he says, there will be a day of reckoning. Luke 17. Jesus, and this is very memorable. This is a powerful statement from Jesus. He's speaking about the responsibilities of those in positions of
[00:48:57] influence. Teachers would fit with that. He says, quote, better for you to be thrown in the sea with a millstone tied around your neck than to do what? Cause a young person to stumble. So again, with
[00:49:14] When it comes to teaching, it's a sobering warning that we get from James. You're going to be held to a higher standard. It not only applies to ordained pastors. My uncle, John Huffman, in his latter years, he's a Presbyterian pastor, he told me that he often discouraged young
[00:49:35] men or women that were aspiring to go into ministry not to do that. That should be a last resort, especially the young, bright, ambitious ones. He wasn't discouraging a call to ministry.
[00:49:46] What he was discouraging, what he was doing was tempering that call. You know, some people are drawn to the platform. And my uncle would say, hey, you got to be cautious. If this is of God,
[00:49:56] it needs to be a calling. Explore every other attitude. But if it's a calling, then yes, the Lord will eventually draw you in. But it's a calling, not a platform. Everything connected to that. If you're a Sunday school teacher, if you help out with VBS, even some of you parents,
[00:50:17] we as teachers may not always see the heaviness that our words carry. So this is a warning from James. It's a warning, the weighty responsibility. Now, he doesn't let the rest of us off the hook.
[00:50:32] If you're not a teacher, if you're not a parent, he's also saying in verse 2, all believers must be in tune with this power. He says, for many of us make many mistakes. Literally, we all stumble
[00:50:45] in many ways. He says we. James includes himself, and he's emphasizing universal sin. Speech is the driving force, like the steering wheel of our moral failure, and the ability to bridle the tongue is a sign of moral maturity. So there's a warning here, especially to teachers, but it applies to
[00:51:07] all of us. He also, second point I want to make, he gives a caution. James says the tongue has disproportionate power. Think of a human being. You know, how small, how tiny the tongue is
[00:51:24] compared to our bodies. He gives a caution how we use our tongues because of the power. It's disproportionate to our beings. He uses several metaphors. A small word can redirect to life. The first metaphor he uses is like a bit to a horse. Think about the strength of the horse and how
[00:51:45] small the bit is. He says, like a bit to a horse, our small tongue can direct or shape something big. A family, a company, a community, a church. And then think about the next metaphor that he
[00:52:04] gives. Like a rudder to a ship, a tiny tongue can direct movement. Let that sink in. Movement, a protest, a political revolution, a spiritual revival. For better or worse, simple words from our small tongues can incite violence or diffuse it, can build up a person's confidence or completely
[00:52:30] destroy it. It can inspire a lost soul or it can turn off a person from ever wanting to set foot in a church or a sanctuary. The tongue, be cautious, has disproportionate power to your being.
[00:52:48] This past month, we did an exercise with our staff. We had a mini retreat and there are three things I wanted to do on a Tuesday morning. One, I had each staff member on our program staff just
[00:52:59] share, how are you doing in your life, at home, your marriage, family? You know, be as vulnerable as you feel safe being vulnerable. How are you doing? And then also not in your personal life,
[00:53:11] how are you doing at church in your role? So we spent a little time, each staff member logged in, and when an individual would get done logging in, I asked for feedback from the room, and
[00:53:20] other staff people would then relate with something, affirm something. There was a lot of encouragement, a lot of people empathizing, and then we'd pause and pray for that person.
[00:53:33] We did that with each staff person, and it's amazing the power of the tongue, how it can impact you in a positive way. We had laughter. We had tears. We then went out to lunch, and we're
[00:53:44] breaking bread, and you can look at each other in a little different way, and you don't feel alone in your ministry responsibility. You don't feel alone with your struggles in life. The tongue can be used in an amazingly positive way. But also we're cautioned by James how destructive the tongue
[00:54:04] can be. Yes, words are also capable of tremendous destruction. Another metaphor is given. James says in the same way a small spark can burn down a forest, just a little flame, the tongue can destroy
[00:54:20] reputations, relationships, entire communities. It can be like poison to the body. It can, it talks about a whole world. It can burn down someone's world or a community. My wife and I, about two years ago, we got sucked in by a podcast through Christianity Today, and it was entitled
[00:54:44] The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill. I was interested because I knew of Mars Hill. It was a church in Seattle, Washington. And it was planted in the mid-90s. The pastor was about the same age as me.
[00:54:57] I'd heard him in conferences before that church had blown up. They started with 160 people. And by the year 2013, they had 13,000 in weekly attendance. And that covered several campuses.
[00:55:10] They also had a global impact because the sermons that were downloaded, there were millions of hits.
[00:55:18] And the title itself, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, it's considered today by different seminaries a case study in how a teacher's words can shape, distort, and ultimately destroy an entire culture.
[00:55:39] You see their pastor, he was known for colorful rhetoric, charisma, bluntness, humor, a little bit of coarse language.
[00:55:47] He was called the cussing pastor.
[00:55:49] That was his nickname.
[00:55:50] He kind of took that with pride, and he'd be very brunt, but over the two decades where they were building, they were building a certain type of culture, and there was a man's man type place to worship,
[00:56:00] and it began with the evolution of the church.
[00:56:04] It became a little bit toxic, but they would, you know, the pastor would use the pulpit kind of as a bully pulpit, and he'd use sarcasm, and he'd call out people publicly, And when things kind of broke out, when things started to split a little bit,
[00:56:18] there was an advisor that stepped in.
[00:56:20] He's famous.
[00:56:22] Many people know this.
[00:56:23] You might even know this name.
[00:56:25] I'm going to quote him, Paul Tripp.
[00:56:27] He's a psychologist.
[00:56:29] He's a church consultant.
[00:56:31] He had this to say as he peeked into the situation.
[00:56:33] He said, quote, this was the most abusive, coercive ministry culture he had ever encountered.
[00:56:40] 2013, there were 13,000 in attendance weekly.
[00:56:44] 2014, the church didn't exist.
[00:56:51] Can you see how a little flame can burn down a forest?
[00:56:56] And wherever you stand, you might defend the church and the pastor.
[00:56:59] I heard all the interviews with my wife.
[00:57:01] And wherever you stand on the issues, the tongue was being used in very destructive ways within that culture.
[00:57:10] And the tone was set by their leader.
[00:57:13] I'm going to move to a third point.
[00:57:15] James identifies the problem, our inability to tame the tongue.
[00:57:23] That's the problem identified.
[00:57:25] The diagnosis is serious, and I want to be cautious with you here.
[00:57:29] It's not an issue where you and I, do any of you wake up in the morning and just think, okay, I'm just going to use my tongue as a weapon today?
[00:57:39] I mean, I find myself sometimes in the morning or in the evening thinking, why did I say what I said earlier in the day?
[00:57:46] It just came out, yes?
[00:57:47] And that's what's addressed here, our inability to tame the tongue.
[00:57:50] Verses seven and eight, he alludes to the root of our problem and he takes us back to the Garden of Eden.
[00:57:56] He's using some garden language here.
[00:57:59] The fall of humankind with Adam and Eve, where God gave human beings dominion over the animals.
[00:58:05] Yes, sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, responding to the serpent, yes?
[00:58:10] The temptation from Satan, with the fall of humankind we've inherited that sin problem you know i i always say uh you know my pick when my children are upset with me i'm like well you know don't blame me blame grandpa
[00:58:24] and grandma you know i inherited their sin nature and then you just pass it on to the next it's not my fault and you can trace it all the way back to to adam and eve yes and they're this this serpent
[00:58:36] language. Also, catch this. In there, it talks about how we've exercised, you know, we've been given dominion over animals. We still exercise that today. Actionelle mentioned doing evangelism from an elephant. We can control elephants, yes? We're just human beings, but we have that power.
[00:58:58] We have that dominion. We can tame, you know, animals to behave a certain way in the circus, Lions. We can coop up a killer whale. So we still have that dominion. We use animals as resources.
[00:59:15] We tame them. We nurture them. We use them for our benefit. But here's the problem. Although we can tame the most powerful of a species, James connects to the fall this insight that we can't
[00:59:33] control our own tongues. We're powerless. Think of all the destruction that takes place with the use of our tongues. The illness attached to our sinful nature does serious damage. Verses 9 and 10, James is clear. With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father. We worship him. And with the
[00:59:56] same tongue, we curse men made in God's image. And James says, this should not be. On Sunday morning. We're worshiping God and using our tongues to praise him. On Monday, we're already using our tongues in a destructive way at home or in the workplace. Now, the take-home, the last
[01:00:18] point I want to make is the solution. He's named the problem. And with the solution, James, in a sense, he views the tongue as a thermometer because it's not as simple as, well, gosh, I can't control
[01:00:32] the tongue, so I'm going to get a tongue transplant, right? This is just a bad tongue. I've inherited a bad tongue. That's not going to solve it, is it? I can take on someone else from this room just
[01:00:45] like someone else's tongue, and if I have a heart issue, it's still going to show up, no matter how small or large my tongue is. So he's diagnosing that the tongue's like a thermometer. Healing
[01:00:58] does not come through fixing the tongue. Now, I want you to listen to this carefully as I develop kind of a take-home here. When I was in seventh grade, I don't know if you can take yourself back
[01:01:09] to seventh grade. Would any of you like to relive seventh grade? Okay, that was a rough year for me.
[01:01:15] Seventh grade, you may not be able to see that now, but I had curly hair and I was sensitive when people, maybe they're even intending to compliment, but they talk about my curls or a frizz
[01:01:26] and I started slicking down my hair. Well, then people's school started calling me slick.
[01:01:34] I didn't like that either. So I started blow drying my hair and then I got called fluffy.
[01:01:38] You know, it's just like, it's like you can't win, and I was very sensitive to that, and then I also that year grew five inches, so the beginning of the year, I had this adolescent appetite, and I
[01:01:49] started to get a little bigger, and that's normal for a seventh grade boy, but little comments that maybe suggest I might be a little pudgy or a little heavy, that bothered me, but then I grow five
[01:01:59] inches, and my jeans are now on the leg. What do you think people called those kind of pants?
[01:02:06] High waters, yeah.
[01:02:08] And so I didn't like that either.
[01:02:10] I remember one night, I'm a seventh grader, and in my bed, I made a vow to the Lord.
[01:02:19] I said, Lord, if you help me through this year, I promise never to make fun of anyone.
[01:02:26] I totally understood the, now what's the problem?
[01:02:31] Can anyone deliver on that promise?
[01:02:33] We can't tame the tongue, can we?
[01:02:34] eighth grade went a lot better for me I developed a lot more confidence you know adolescents we're like this aren't you know take yourself back to those years so in eighth grade at the end of the
[01:02:45] year we go to camp we're in three different vans we hit the we're driving from Florida to North Carolina we hit this restaurant and and we all eat and then we get back in the van and everyone
[01:02:55] kind of and some people shifted the vans that they're in and and one of my good friends name was Keith. And Keith said something during lunch that was kind of funny. And then I said something
[01:03:06] in the van. It made people laugh. And the laughter fueled me a little bit. So I'm now making fun of Keith. And people are enjoying it. It's feeding my ego. And then a couple of the girls are looking
[01:03:20] at me like, Dave, be quiet. And I'm just on a roll. And they're just like, and then all of a sudden I froze, and I realized, uh-oh, and I peered over the seat, and Keith was laying there on one of the
[01:03:33] seats in the van. I thought he was in the other van, and we caught eyes, and you could see the pain in his eyes, and then I was just devastated, and I say this. I think sometimes by the grace of
[01:03:46] God, he allows us to fail. Would you agree? Because my ego was this big in the moment, and then I shrunk really small very quickly. Now the tongue, as we view it as a thermometer, and we can't really fix
[01:04:00] the tongue, as we go home, you know, I want to really make this very clear. Healing begins through addressing the source. There's some metaphors again here. Springs, trees, vines, verses 11 and 12, and all the point of those three illustrations are to get us, you know, a certain tree doesn't,
[01:04:21] you know, an orange tree doesn't bring, you know, you don't get grapefruits or apples from an orange tree. And James is pushing us to the source of our problem. It's the heart. You know, the tongue is
[01:04:33] like a thermometer letting us know the state of our heart. So as you go home, I want to give you caution. If you've looked in the mirror, right? James says, when we look into God's word, it's
[01:04:46] like looking in a mirror. It's going to tell you something about yourself. If you've been convicted, we're told not to walk away from the mirror and forget what we looked like.
[01:04:54] If it's convicted you, how are you gonna go home if you've been convicted?
[01:04:57] You're gonna say, okay, Lord, I'm gonna try harder this week.
[01:05:01] Can you willpower yourself to better use of the tongue?
[01:05:04] Is that possible?
[01:05:05] That's not the take home.
[01:05:07] Do you say, Lord, I'm gonna vow to never say something.
[01:05:12] I feel horrible about Keith, what I said about Keith or my friend or what I said to my spouse or what I said at work.
[01:05:18] And Lord, I'm just gonna work harder not to do that again.
[01:05:20] is that the take home? That's works-based. He's saying, look in the mirror, address the heart, lean into his grace, right? When you come to faith, we're told we're a new creation. The old nature is replaced by a new nature. You're a new creation. And as we nurture that, you spend time
[01:05:41] in God's word and you have a relationship and you pray. When you make a mistake, when you stumble, James says, we all stumble. Whether you're a teacher or not, when you stumble, first thing you do is go to the Lord, and then maybe there's a person or two that you need to give an apology to.
[01:05:59] You see, we're all a work in progress. Go to the Lord. He'll humble you, and then we lean into His grace, and as we continue to rely on His strength, when you make those mistakes, they may be a little
[01:06:14] less frequent. You may be a little more sensitive. The fact that you feel, if you go home today feeling guilty about something, that means the Holy Spirit's tugging at your heart. That's a good thing. Don't beat yourself up, but address it. Get yourself right with God. If need be, get yourself
[01:06:29] right with that other person. You're a work in progress. He'll work on the heart. It's about his strength, not our own. Through the Holy Spirit, we become better people, and he can help control our tongue for the better rather than for the worse. Let's close this time in prayer.
[01:06:50] heavenly father i recognize in a room this size most everyone if not everyone in this room has experienced the the pain and hurt they've been the recipient of a tongue lashing of some sort that's been painful and lord i pray for healing for that person may they not find their identity
[01:07:16] on what people say about them or how people treat them may they find their identity through your son Jesus Christ. In him, we're a child of God. In Christ, we're a new creation. In Christ,
[01:07:28] we don't need to be like a leaf in the wind. We don't need to be like the adolescent that's constantly up and down based on how the world's treating us. Lord, I pray first and foremost that
[01:07:38] we truly understand what our identity, how that translates to the way we live our lives.
[01:07:45] Lord, I also pray for the person this morning that may feel convicted about their use of language or the tongue, what they say, the power of their speech. Lord, you put this in our face as we
[01:07:57] look in the mirror of your word. You do that because you love us. And Lord, you desire to see us be more Christ-like. So Lord, may we not in a human way try to fix the tongue. Lord, may we lean
[01:08:12] into your grace and be guided by your word and be healed by your spirit and grow through the power of your spirit. As we mature, Lord, in your strength, may we become better people that reflect
[01:08:26] the character of Christ. Lord, as we close out this service, we use our lips and our tongues in a very powerful way to worship you. Lord, please receive it. We come from a place of humility,
[01:08:38] expressing our love for you. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

[01:08:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:08:42] Church, let's stand and respond in worship. And I couldn't help just sitting there thinking that That is probably one of the best things we can do with our tongue, is to put worship on our lips and on our tongue.
[01:08:52] So I hope you find yourself repeating this song over and over.
[01:08:54] This is I Believe.

[01:08:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:08:55] I believe there is one salvation, one doorway that leads to life, one redemption, one confession.
[01:09:24] I believe in the name of Jesus Christ.
[01:09:28] I believe in the crucifixion. By his blood I have been set free. I believe in the resurrection. Hallelujah, his life is destiny. Preparing a place for me.