THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING - Behold the Power of Words

well about 10 years ago DC Comics decided to reboot Superman they wanted to make him attractive to a younger generation and so they switched him up in his origin story they made him unsure about the path he should be on a little bit angsty he wore a hoodie they just wanted to make him edgy for the kids and at one moment he's struggling with what he should be in life and so ma Kent gives him some advice and Moss says to him you know what Superman I don't care what you do she said you can play the banjo it doesn't matter as long as you're happy and I remember reading that and thinking that is the worst advice I could possibly think to give Superman he's Superman has powers far beyond those of mortal men Sophie wants to play the banjo fine and if you play the banjo go for it man be incredible at the banjo but if you can fly and bullets bounce off you don't stop at the banjo you have enormous power and with that comes enormous responsibility and so yes that power can be intimidating and scary but it can be amazing and life-changing so take that power and leverage it for good now I say that because the same is true for you and for me James is gonna tell us today you have enormous power every person in this room whether you feel it or not you have an incredible power right now to shape the perspectives even destinies with people around you you have a power you can choose today to use for evil or choose for good and I want you to leverage that power for good and so James is gonna talk about the power you have and how to wield it well but he's gonna start with a warning and in verse 1 the warning is the guys like you about guys like me it says not many of you should become teachers my brother's not many of you should want to do what I'm doing right now which a question is why and he as for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness the people who do this will face a greater judgment we all get to heaven by the grace of God through faith in Jesus but at the end there will be an evaluation of our life and he says people like me are gonna get evaluated harder and then he says you know this like this is something we all agree on which a natural question would be win why how do we know this and like per usual for James he got this from his brother Jesus in Luke chapter 12 Jesus was talking to his followers and he says when I come back if you're my people you should be doing my kind of work in the world and using illustrations like when a boss comes to the office the employees should be working and if the boss comes in and they're not working they're gonna get in trouble and then the Apostle Peter who was the leader of the Apostles looked at Jesus was like yeah y'all you should be working and he was like Jesus how about us and Jesus like y'all are gonna be in more trouble he said if you're the manager and your people aren't working there's more judgment coming after you and then he says in verse 48 because to whom much has been given much is to be required he says to whom much has been entrusted I'll demand all the more and what does he mean by that when you stand on a raised platform and say to a group of people thus says the Lord that's a lot of influence so I have a lot of people come up to me that they're smart or they're funny or they're a good storyteller they're like I want to be a preacher cuz I got I got this crazy story about a squirrel and you're like hey man that's all great but if you're begging to get into a spotlight man pray God keeps you far from it until you tremble at his word because you don't want to perform and play games with this this is a word of God and he's coming for you right and and the other thing that's scary about it is he says it's not just scary because they'll be more of a judgment of how we handled his word he says it's because when you stand up here you use the most dangerous part of your body that's what his talks going he says in verse 2 for we all stumble in many ways but he's he says but if anyone doesn't stumble in what he says literally in his words he is a perfect man able to bridle his whole body he says the problem with teaching is you stand up here and you get in front of a group of people and you use your mouth which is a dangerous thing to do he's talking about words today and then he makes an assertion this is his thesis and verse two he says we all stumble in many ways which is occurring something to know that nobody's perfect in here so if you're hearing man I'm kind of a mess these are all these bright shiny people no they're a mess too like everyone's a mess right and we all stumble in many ways some of you are really stumbling with lust and that's a problem some of you really stumble over anger some of you it's fear and insecurity we all have things we stumble over but then James says we all stumble in many ways but if you ever meet a guy who can control what he says you've met a perfect human being who can control every other aspect of their life that's James thesis if you can control your mouse you can control the rescue your life if you can get a bridle on your words you'll shape your entire world now where does he get off saying that do you believe that well he's gonna give us two arguments as to why and the first argument is this that the tongue is powerful the tongue is powerful your mouth your words are powerful and he does it with some illustrations he says in verse three if we put bits into the mouths of horses so they obey us we guide their whole body as well and he used the word association if you can bridle your tongue literally put a bridle on it you can guide your whole life and then he says we put bits in the mouths of horses now those of you who grew up in the city let me explain horses are really big and there's this little piece of metal you put in their teeth and if you put that little metal in it and just tie a little leather strap around it and you pull that leather strap that huge horse will go wherever you want it to go and a little couple inch piece of metal will control that big ol horse the little leads the big that's his argument and then he does it again look at the ships also though they are so large and are driven by strong winds they're guided by a very small rudder wherever the will the pilots goes he says big bow rough conditions little bitty rudder and if a pilot can get his hand on that little rudder he can control the whole big ship right the little leads the big that's his argument a little bit leads a big horse little rudder leads a big boat in big waves your little mouth and chose your whole life your words determine your world your communication shapes your direction this is the most powerful part of your body this will determine where you go that's what he says Versailles so also the tongue is a small member and yet it boasts of great things your little words will determine the course of your life your words shape your world think about think about your job how did you get that job say well I knew a guy well I had an education hey people that know guys have education don't have a job so much of your ability to have that job and keep it is what you said in the interview and what you say now you know this right you you are one sentence away from getting fired every day you know what I mean like there are some sentences you could just say don't know your god but your words what you chose to say what you chose not to say how you communicated determine your job and if you make money or not think about the ability to make money if I wrote the sentence man today was awesome but it's also kind of lame too you wouldn't buy that book but if someone wrote it was the best of times it was the worst of times many of you will buy that book right because communication is powerful the selection of words in its timing it is far more significant to say I have a dream that one day on the Red Hills of Georgia former slave owners and former slaves will one day sit around the table of brotherhood that is far more powerful and say wouldn't it be cool if we all got along and stuff the right words in the right moment can shape people's thinking and shape their destinies think about that there have been speeches given that the right selection of words at the right moment changed human history behold the power of words you see that and some of you even if you don't give speeches like that you've seen that a well-placed compliment got you your closest friendship someone's saying the right thing to you at the right time maybe they quoted a movie that you like and suddenly you're best friends because of half of a quote from a movie some of you a whole friendship has unraveled over a sentence you heard them say something and years of friendship crumbled under the weight of a critical word words have power behold the power of the words you see it the little leads the big your words determine your world but not only are your words powerful they are dangerous that's his next statement it is dangerous and he used that in the third illustration behold how great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire the little controls the big but now he's starting to shift and little words can create big problems the little directs the big into disaster the Angora fire in California 2007 burned over 3,100 acres destroyed 242 residences 67 commercial structures damaged 35 of their homes at the peak of the blaze over 2000 firefighters were involved in the fight it cost eleven point seven billion dollars to her million dollars to fight the fire and it did a hundred and forty-one million dollars worth of damage a hundred and fifty million dollars and you know that fire started an illegal campfire some guy struck a match and that match cost a hundred and fifty million dollars right how great a fire can be caused by just a small little spark and we felt that little words can do big damage charles spurgeon when his church was exploding and growing they moved to a bigger venue ten thousand people and while they were in the middle of the venue during the prayer time a man stood up and yelled one word fire and it created panic and a stampede and seven people were dead by the end of that day and charles spurgeon greatest preacher who ever lived almost lost his mind that one word at the wrong time the wrong thing took lives cost people some of you work on campaigns with elected officials and you've sat there in the crowd as they're giving a speech and you've heard them make a comment off hand use the wrong word that they haven't even realized it yet you're like no no no no no because in that moment you think of all the paperwork and press conferences that you're gonna have to do to unwind what they just said that a little word can end a career can do a lot of damage right the little leads the big and words can wound deep they won't just shape your world they can wound think about it this way let's say tomorrow you're walking to work and while you're walking to work someone attractive smiles at you that feels pretty good someone else has hi hey man hey someone else's hey you look great yeah well thank you I just got this right and you're feeling pretty good and then let's say you walk by some junior high kids that are like look at those pants and start laughing at you which one goes with you to the office we hold on to negativity longer there's something about us right think about a friend that criticizes you how much it can hurt your sense of self when someone who knows you really well talks bad about you imagine hearing that even if they apologize later what damage does it do imagine what insecurity can be lodged into the heart of a woman from a critical husband the person who knows you more intimately than all callous and hurtful and harsh words are like a thrust of a sword I've seen it the damage it can do to a sense of self some of you the words that come to mind when you look in a mirror have been entirely shaped by what somebody said about you a sentence by your father a word from your mom a glance from an aunt has completely colored your sense of self in how you make decisions behold the power of words the way we talk to each other shapes society our communication determines our direction James says this is very powerful and this power can be used for a lot of harm it can be difficult that's why we had the rhyme when we were kids sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me why did we sing that rhyme because the words did hurt you don't have a rhyme about sticks but why would you say that rhyme because someone made fun of you and you're like why are you saying that exactly because the words hurt and some of us hurtful words have journeyed with us for decades behold the power of it it's interesting just last week a girl from Boston College was charged with manslaughter because she sent thousands of texts allegedly to her boyfriend telling him to kill himself and then he did it and you may say she should be charged or she should not but as a society were grappling with what underneath that is the power of words to shape somebody's thoughts processes we have a power here when you choose to speak when you walk into a circle you've been given power what you say will determine the course of a conversation so analyze yourself for a minute what do you bring when you enter your circle of friends what are you bringing when you enter your work circle what comes out of your mouth your contribution to our collective society what are you putting out there because your words shape your world your tongue has power and the same second argument is not just our words powerful they are perverse our words determine our world and our words are wicked there's something wrong with us and that's where he turns the corner in verse six and the tongue is a fire a whole 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 what do you really think James he says let me tell you about your tongue your mouth stains and colors your whole existence your tongue is a fire it burns things down and he goes let me point to the source it is lit on fire by hell your tongue is lit by Hellfire man that's tough to say why does he say that well it's interesting the word hell there if I can get nerdy for a second is the Greek word Gehenna which is a combination of two Hebrew words comes from the Old Testament of Valley and Henan this is going someplace so the valley of Henan is outside of Jerusalem and it was famous all of his people would have known about it because Jeremiah and the Old Testament told us that's where people would sacrifice their children to idols and so people who knew God that God is strong and loving they knew God hates that that's evil to try to manipulate the deities by sacrificing your children so that vali was an evil place and so when the people of God in the Old Testament had control of Jerusalem they shut that Valley down and they made it the trash dump and so you would burn trash out there and you would see just smoke rising up from the valley of Han on of burning trash but it had a reputation that's an evil place that out of this noxious place noxious fumes rise and he says there is a dark place and out of it rise out some really dark things and he says this about our mouths and it's hard to control he says it's perverse and part of why it's perverse is look how hard it is to get it to do what's right and then in verse 7 he says for every kind of beast and bird of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed but no human being contained the tongue I love that he was like think about every animal and he doesn't just say animals I think about the reptiles think about the birds think about all of them he says every one of them can be tamed and has been tamed think about how scary a lion was the first time our ancestors ever ran across one how terrifying that would be to be out there and run to a lion now we make them do tricks right stand up on one Paul right think about how scary a charging elephant can be and we put little tutus on them and put them in shows right every animal that we were scared of we've tamed massive animals we make do tricks for us but we can't keep our mouth shut I remember I heard a pastor say this once he said try this he called it the tongue test see if he can give us a shot Steven do this for a week so you can do this next week six things number one do not complain or grumble at all some of you're like I'm out how do you tap out I'm out number two do not boast about anything at all the rest yog just got out yeah number three don't gossip or repeat bad information about somebody number four don't run somebody down even a little bit number five don't defend or excuse yourself no matter what and number six is do always affirm other people don't complain don't boast don't gossip don't run people down don't defend or excuse yourself but always affirm people you think you can do that for a week you think you can do that over brunch some of you are sifting through your conversations in your you just eliminated everything we talked about in my entire life I mean seriously think about that most of your relationships at work are built off negative comments try it tomorrow to say only positive things try it you'll walk into the office some people like miss reason out there and you're like yes but all the mosquitoes are gone hallelujah yes but my warm socks are now out you know when you're they're gonna be like you're a weirdo it's so foreign to us to be positive right why because there's something wrong with us Hellfire right proverbs chapter 10 where there are many words transgression is unavoidable ha ha this is the verse of my life right when people comment on sermons you shouldn't have said that sometimes I'm like well that's unfair you didn't understand what I meant but about half the time I'm like yeah no you're right that was a pretty stupid thing to say offhanded comments man where there are many words which is my job transgression is unavoidable but he who restrains his lips is wise it's hard to do though James says it is a restless evil full of deadly poison and what's he talking about there he's grabbing common imagery in the Bible about snakes and their mouths have poison in it and when their mouth comes out they extract a poison and for some of us we do that with how we talk and so Psalm chapter one forty David prayed deliver me O Lord from evil men and then when he's describing evil men he says they make their tongues sharp as a serpents and under their lips is the venom of ASPs one of the way David defines evil people is they say mean things and talk bad about me I hear them gossiping around corners I hear them whispering about me they just say mean things they complain a lot and it's interesting Paul will grab that in Romans three Paul's argument in Romans three is everybody is evil everybody's wrong everybody is not what we're meant to be under god you're beautiful because you're in the image of God but something's wrong with us something broke in all of us and he grabs that in Romans three he says man that's he quotes that same verse there's something wrong with our tongues were like serpents that the tongue is powerful but it's perverted our words guide our worlds but there's a wickedness in our words and then he gives some examples in verse 9 he says with it we bless our Lord and father and with it we cursed people who are made in the likeness of men this is James again remember the whole book of James is he wants consistency he wants integrity he wants the inside to match the out and so drives James crazy when he sees duplicity that's what he talked about early on he said don't pray and trust God and then doubt him at every step don't say you love Jesus but then don't love his people when they're hurting and so James is always saying I want a consistency on the inside and out he says don't bless the Lord our Father and then curse people who were made in His image says that doesn't make any sense and I've talked about this illustration for me like if you just decided you liked me and just wanted to tell me later like hey Ben I think you're the coolest guy ever I really want to be friends with you I'd be like oh that's great I want to be friends with you too but then if you were like yeah man but I just gotta let you know you're 8 year old can't stand her you got to get her out of here I don't want to look at her stupid stupid face you and I are cool but get her out here like if you said that what do you expect me to do yeah yeah she's got a lame star dude anyway let's go let's get out of here listen there's no separation between me and her there's none to insult her is to come after me cuz that's my daughter and I know she can be difficult at times I know that when we're traveling through this city every face you see is made in the image of God whether they believe what you believe or not whether they agree with you or not in any kind of circle whether they're nice to you or not they're made by your God so even if they're acting crazy for his sake we speak kindness to them he says but if we're in here worshipping him and then trashing his people he says how do you think that makes me feel I remember being in a worship service where I was there as a behind a guy that was going for it in worship which I love we love that here there's some people that they like to worship very contained keep it all inside and that's totally fine if you want to do that too but if you're like this contained inside and you go to a sports game and get up man come on go like wait a second all right so get amped about the Nats you can get amped about God in Acts chapter 2 people were so amped about Jesus the crowd thought they were drunk and they had to say no it's not y in this holy spirit so it's not to talk about that but I'm just letting you know it's okay to get a little excited about a god a moose people from death to life but if you're in here [Applause] and I remember being in a church gathering where this dude was just worshiping he was praised and it was like us where it gets kind of crowded and you don't get your personal space chair you know what you look for on the metro but here we sit someone next to New York oh man and I remember this guy he was worshiping and they brought a woman in with a baby and she was late and she was clearly like man just a lot was going on to get her to church today so she's carrying this kid but Papa and so the ushers of this church lead her past this guy and he and she bumps him and as she bumps him I remember watching him cells right behind him he was worshiping like this and she bumped him here in cat worship and I was like dude do you think God gives a rip about the next word out of your mouth that's his kid that's his kid carrying one of his kids these are people made in the image of God he cares about it is more worshipful to be kind to her than to sing another song your words your communication I'm not just talking about what you say I'm talking about online I'm talking about your communication has power right and he says if you're blessing God and then trashing his kids that's weird that's James statement here that's weird we don't do that and then he says in verse 10 from the same mouth comes blessing and cursing my brothers these things ought not to be so it's it's not supposed to be like that he says man if God has changed your heart we should see a change in your life so when you walk into a circle you have a choice of what to put into the system with your level of influence you got a choice what are you putting out there are you putting blessing out there or cursing out there are you lifting the atmosphere are you bringing it down are you bringing a positivity do it not a fake one but a real deep joy or are you just bringing a negativity and a sadness to it you get that choice there are some who speak rashly like the thrust of a sword but the tongue of the wise brings healing are you winged and a sword around at the office or are you bringing healing into that space that's your choice but James says it doesn't make sense to have two kinds of streams coming from the same fountain that's the rest of his talk does a spring pour pour forth from the same opening fresh and saltwater can a fig tree my brother's bare olives or a grapevine produce figs neither consult water yield fresh water now I love this about James because he doesn't explain any of his illustrations he just drops the mic and walks and I love that about spring for his fresh water and salt water if you find a freshwater spring you build a village around it right if you lived in society they'll just bring around fresh water if you dig a well and it's brackish water you keep moving because that doesn't give us life he says to the stream same stream bring out both no it does not does the fig tree bare olives no and salt brown bean fresh water no mmm any leaks and you're supposed to go what am I supposed to do with it well what's interesting about it and I love this about James if you notice there's no how-to section at the end and not weird exterminate a minute where's the section where you're like okay everybody here's what I want you to do get a jar and call it the swear jar and you put it on your desk and every time you say another word and you put some money in there and then you give it to a charity you hate you know cuz then you're like oh man and like is that what you're supposed to do you know like any gives you a bunch of tips on how to control your mouth he says no because here's the the point James is making your mouths not really the problem your mouth has power but your mouths not the problem he says you got to go back to the source these are the fumes that come from a fire this is the water that comes from a well so he's gonna call you back to the source so he's doing this again cuz his brother did it Matthew chapter 15 Matthew 15 Jesus and His disciples are walking along they're eating and some religious people were like hey how come your disciples don't wash their hands and it's not a sanitary thing like I do with my kids like wash your hands it was a ritualistic purity to show that I'm pure before God and they're saying why aren't you people purifying their hands and Jesus stops him and says hey everything they eat goes through your stomach and passes into the latrine that's a quote that's what Jesus says he says to what you eat does not defile you it doesn't make you religiously unpure he says it's what comes out of the mouth in Matthew 15 what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart and this defiles a person for out of the heart come evil thoughts murder adultery sexual immorality theft false witness slander these are what defile a person to eat with unwashed hands doesn't follow anybody he says earlier in Matthew 7 he says healthy trees bear good fruit diseased trees bear bad fruit a healthy tree can't bear bad fruit nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit here's what he's saying I'm not telling you to tape good fruit on bad trees I'm not telling you to have a broken heart but then just try to adapt your wording he says the problem is something's going on with your heart we need a tree change we need a well change you need a heart change God's got to change this because what comes out of here is what's gonna come out of here you give a time you can adapt your sentences for a week or two or an hour two but what's really in your heart is gonna come out and so God wants to talk about the heart that's what Jesus said in John 4 John Foy says everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again he said my regular water but whoever drinks of the water that I give them will never be thirsty again the water I will give them will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life he says when you come to me I change you on the inside your problem is you're a bad spring but if I can change the spring then the water will flow out different John chapter 7 Jesus stood up and it says on the last day the feast a great day Jesus stood up and cried out if anyone thirsts let him come to me and drink whoever believes in me as the scripture says out of his heart will flow rivers of living water does the imagery James now he said this about the Spirit whom those who believed in him were to receive for as yet the spirit had not been given because Jesus was not yet glorified he says I don't need you to change your sentence I need you to change the source I don't want to just adapt your wording I want to change your heart because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks each change the source not just the sentence if I can change your heart your words will change think about most of the negative things we say where does it come from why do we Dogon people usually it's because we're insecure and so to take them down a peg makes us feel good maybe we're scared if they get past us I'll never achieve what I want to achieve in life most of our negativity isn't even about the people around us it's about what's in us it's what's coming out of you and so James says man I don't need to give you a bunch of tips on how to change the sentence I need to see a change in the source the heart should be different and let me tell you something that's God's business that's God's business you can't do that that's the desperation of us that's why James says no human being can tame the tongue why not cuz the tame the tongue is to change the heart and we can't change us there's something wrong with us were broken we can't fix us but praise God Jesus is in the business of making disease trees into healthy trees Jesus is in the business of making saltwater into freshwater Jesus is in the business of giving us not that which satisfies us but a well that it becomes a well of overwhelming life James says you make the tree good the fruit will be good you let God change the spring and the flow will be good let Jesus get a hold of your heart and your words will change because redeemed people speak redeeming words alive people speak life-giving words children of grace speak gracious words right that's who we are liberated people speak liberating words forgiving people speak forgiveness into other people's life when you know God's love you can speak God's love but it's got to start in a heart and we can't control that Jesus is in the business of changing streams he's in the business of changing hearts and so for many of us you can't do it but that's the good news he can he's in the business of doing that so if I could encourage you it'd be with this let him change your heart what you need today for many of you is not to promise to turn over a new leaf I'm going to lose my temper less I'm gonna freak out less no well you need to do is say God what's in my heart and I bet he'll come to you and say hey man you're beautiful because you're made in the image of God but there's a brokenness to you and we all stumble in many ways for some of you it's lust some of you is anger some of you it's insecurity it breaks out in different ways but it always shows itself through the mouth out of that fire the fumes rise and I don't want noxious fumes I want life-giving streams and so let me change your heart let me put something new in you let me heal the broken part of you and you've seen this with people in your own life if the heart changes the mouth changes so some of you your goal today is not to get a swear jar it's to get a Savior you need King Jesus to change you and for others of us we need him to keep changing us because you know him but you still let the insecure part of you rise up sometimes and grab control of that bridle of your mouth cuz it's hard right I remember from me when I first got out of college I became a youth pastor and for me in college the language of college people was sarcasm when someone's speaking you listen to their words so you can find a way to make fun of them right and particularly in the wittiest way possible and if you did you got him right I win you lose you know sort of you make fun of people but you always say afterwards I'm just kiddin bro right because that's how you talk to each other right now never mind that y'all never open up about deeper things in there hey there you go but that's how we talked as guys who's always made fun of each other so when I became a youth pastor suddenly I was surrounded by junior high kids and it was like shooting fish in a barrel they said the dumbest stuff and they were so easy to make fun of somebody's like making more these little kid like ha ha just kidding man just gettin broke and I'm saying all this stuff to make fun of them but what happened over time is I realized junior high kids don't understand sarcasm so what is funny to them oh my god I was funny no nobody know okay all right and they didn't understand the humor but what they understood was hey the the Jesus guy I think is making fun of me so what'd you do at that point is you you don't share your life and I realize Ben Stuart's goal in life is to know God and make him known but Ben Stuart's mouth is closing doors not opening him and God broke my heart why was I joking like that cuz I was insecure because I thought if I was funny more people would like me we're not supposed to talk like that but that's real and I was like well Lord I don't want my mouth to overflow with insecurity because that's not what these kids need and I had to find my security in the Lord and that well goes deep broken things and childhood insecurities whatever and I had to let God really heal me of Licata when I walk in I don't want to fake like I'm a good happy guy and not be when I want to trust you more I want to love you more I want to believe you have a purpose for my life and as I got into his word and around his people and let him heal my heart out of the overflow of the heart the mouth will speak and I remember the day I walked back into that room and it was a different thing as I entered that room like I want to enter a different person and so I started entering with prayer lord I want you to use me in this room I want you to let me be a blessing in this room and I'm arrests all this kids sitting by himself so I just walked up to him and I was like hey man what's your name you told me his name I said hey what are you into because I was always my lead question because people do a lot of things like what do you mean I was like well just whatever you do and they would say well I'm in sports so I do this I did this and I ran this kid was like man I'm in the band and I was like that's awesome man and I was like what do you love to do and he said well I love the oboe and something about that sentence was very funny to me and so about a million sarcastic comments instantly rose they were there they were loaded they're like they just say oboe go go go and I was like and and I didn't say him but what I did was I pressed forward with a question because that's how you show people you love him you take a genuine interest in your life and I said why I said not in a rude way I said I never grew up playing the instrument that wasn't necessarily a part of our family wasn't encouraged like how does that work like at what point are you like you know what oboe someone give me an oboe like how does that how do you discover that path for your life at this age and remember he said because my dad played in the band I was like that's cool man did your dad show you how to play and he said no my dad's not around and suddenly I was at his heart and I was getting to love this kid and a foolish bin would have made a crack about an oboe but a loving bin got to love a kid even deeper and watch a life change and I want that for you words have power you're gonna lean in with a question are you gonna block with a sarcastic comment are you gonna speak words of life or harsh words that thrust like a sword and say everyone jokes like that that's how we talk here that's not how we talk from the inside out things change we're meant to look different because he made us different you make the tree good and the fruit will be good you change the stream and the fountain changes and what this world needs to see is a different kind of fountain what the world needs to hear is a different kind of sentence what the world needs to hear are different words coming from a different world because Jesus got a hold in my heart and he's changing me and I'm not the same so I want to encourage you today that's my heart for you then I'm gonna lean into him and trust him more with the broken parts of me I'm gonna lean and more in the morning and I'm gonna think about why am i angry why am i tempted to be frustrated what's going on in my heart Lord would you heal me here would you touch my heart here because when the tree gets good the fruit will be good when I let God tend to my heart I'll speak kinder words and let me say something the world needs it and the world will change by that God delights to use people he delights to care about people and he'll use you if you want him to she let him he'll change your heart I believe it I've seen him do it here I've seen him do time and time again he can do it for you today

Channel: Passion City Church DC

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Length: 38min 38sec (2318 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 05 2019