Training Your Tongue for Life-Giving Communication

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Training Your Tongue for Life-Giving Communication

Ephesians 4:25-32; James 3:6-12; April 26, 2020; Pastor Don Willeman

April 26, 2020 • Don Willeman • Ephesians 4:25–32

REFLECTION QUOTES

“Speech has power. Words do not fade. What starts out as a sound, ends in a deed.”

~Abraham Joshua Herschel (1907-1972), famed rabbi and theologian

“In the beginning was the Word…”

~The Gospel according to John 1:1

“Talking is the most dangerous thing people do…, and listening is the most infrequent thing people do, especially when they are stressed.”

~Harville Hendrix, couples therapist, on the relational impact of COVID-19

“I do believe that words…go into the body, as effect. So, they cause us to be well and hopeful and high energy and wondrous and funny and cheerful. Or they…get into the body and cause us to be sullen and sour and depressed and, finally sick.”

~ Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet and civil rights activist

“I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.”

~John Calvin (1509-1564), theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva

“Words are not in the power of men; men are in the power of words.”

~Hermann Bahr (1863-1934), Austrian writer, director and critic

“The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, persevering commitment God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination; it is the result of God’s faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous, because God sticks with us.”

~Eugene Peterson (1932-2018), American minister and author

SERMON PASSAGE

Ephesians 4:25-32; James 3:2, 6-12 (ESV)

Ephesians 4

25 Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

James 3

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. 10 From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. 11 Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? 12 Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.

Intimacy with God

June 21, 2020 • Chris Audino • James 1:5–8, James 2:18–23, James 4:4–10, James 5:11–14

REFLECTION QUOTES “No man can hinder our private addresses to God; every man can build a chapel in his breast, himself the priest, his heart the sacrifice, and the earth he treads on, the altar.” ~Jeremy Taylor “To love God with heart and soul and mind and strength… is the first and greatest commandment, so the first and greatest sin is not to love God with heart and soul and mind and strength. For this there is no remedy, save what God himself has provided—in love.” ~D.A. Carson “…a loving soul wants fresh food every day from the table of Christ. And you who have once had the kisses of His mouth, though you remember the past kisses with delight, yet want daily fresh tokens of His love.” ~Charles Spurgeon, sermon on “The Church’s Love To Her Loving Lord” “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” ~Jesus (Jn. 14:23) “When we are securely rooted in personal intimacy with the source of life, it will be possible to remain flexible without being relativistic, convinced without being rigid, willing to confront without being offensive, gentle and forgiving without being soft, and true witnesses without being manipulative.” ~Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian SERMON PASSAGE Selections from James (ESV) James 1 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways… 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 2 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. James 4 4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5 Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”? 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. James 5 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful… 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him…

A Faith that Works in Prayer

June 14, 2020 • Abrm McQuarters • James 5:13–20

REFLECTION QUOTES “Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” ~Bruce Lee (1940-1973), actor, director and martial artist “I think the reason we sometimes have the false sense that God is so far away is because that is where we have put him. We have kept him at a distance, and then when we are in need and call on him in prayer, we wonder where he is. He is exactly where we left him.” ~Ravi Zacharias (1946-2020), author and Christian apologist “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.” ~John Bunyan (1628-1688), preacher and author of Pilgrim’s Progress “Peace in the Bible is not a negative, the absence of hostilities, but rather a positive that includes everything necessary for human flourishing. It is a holistic word. Peace comes when our physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual needs are met.” ~Glenn Sunshine, history professor and author Christ’s love towards us, and not our love towards Christ, is the true ground of expectation, and true foundation of hope. ~J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), Anglican bishop “Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope.” ~C.H. Spurgeon (1834-1892), famed London preacher “Christian hope rests upon the fact not that evil can be ignored, or that it will simply fade away, but that it has been judged at the cross.” ~David F. Wells, theologian, professor and author “[K]now, at the end of the day, following Jesus is not necessarily designed to be safe. Safety is a natural desire but it can keep us from being like Jesus in the midst of an unsafe world.” ~The Art of Neighboring by Jay Pathak and Dave Runyon “…the church is not a human society of people united by their natural affinities but the Body of Christ, in which all members, however different, (and He rejoices in their differences and by no means wishes to iron them out) must share the common life, complementing and helping one another precisely by their differences.” ~C. S. Lewis (1898-1963), writer and Oxford professor SERMON PASSAGE James 5:13-20 (ESV) 13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. 17 Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. 18 Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. 19 My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

A Faith that Works in Hope

June 7, 2020 • Don Willeman • James 5:7–12

REFLECTION QUOTES “I have always found that mercy bears richer fruits than strict justice.” ~Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), lawyer and 16th President of the United States “In the long run, the sharpest weapon of all is a kind and gentle spirit.” ~Anne Frank (1929-1945), German-Dutch diarist and Holocaust victim “Students are hungry for truth, for beauty, for goodness….” “Where are the love warriors? …that teach our young people (no matter what color!): Put love and justice in your struggle; and get that revenge out! But we acknowledge the pain.” ~Cornel West, Harvard, Princeton and Dartmouth (visiting) professor “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” ~Hebrews 11:1 (ESV) “The word hope I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.” ~John Calvin (1509-1564), Swiss theologian, pastor and reformer “Hope can see through the thickest clouds.” ~Thomas Brooks (1608-1680), English pastor and author “Hope is the only tie which keeps the heart from breaking.” ~Thomas Fuller (1608-1661), English pastor and historian “Hope fills the afflicted soul with such inward joy and consolation, that it can laugh while tears are in the eye, sigh and sing all in a breath; it is called “the rejoicing of hope” (Hebrews 3:6).” ~William Gurnall (1616-1679), English pastor and author “There is a difference between tears of hope and tears of hopelessness.” ~Erwin Lutzer, Canadian-American pastor and author “But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), pastor and slain civil rights leader “We’re not defined by…history, but we have to acknowledge it, and…people of faith have a leadership role in causing the rest of the nation to believe that we can get to someplace better. Redemption is still available, but we have to repent, we have to give voice to our failings. Repentance breeds redemption. Collectively, as a Church, we need to do that.” ~Bryan Stevenson, lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative SERMON PASSAGE James 5:7-12 (ESV) James 4 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. James 5 1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. 2 Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. 4 Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. 5 You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. 6 You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you. 7 Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. 9 Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. 10 As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 12 But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.