SPEAKER_00: We're picking up on today in the sermon today.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna pick up on a thread uh we started last week.
SPEAKER_00: This idea of God healing our land.
SPEAKER_00: Now I'll confess to you, right at the front, um, the candidate I voted for did not get elected a couple weeks ago.
SPEAKER_00: And uh the one who I was campaigning for was Nacho Libre, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And uh so I've lost some sleep, guys, over the last couple weeks.
SPEAKER_00: It's been a rough kind of an emotional roller coaster for me.
SPEAKER_00: Um but seriously though, uh, over the last couple weeks, me like you, uh, we have been in a lot of different conversations.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sure that you have been in a uh a wild amount of conversations trying to pick up from this post-election thing.
SPEAKER_00: And again, um this is kind of the air that we are breathing right now.
SPEAKER_00: And I know all of us are kind of feeling like, can we just stop talking about the elections?
SPEAKER_00: Can we just move on?
SPEAKER_00: I know that's how everybody feels, but the reality is um even after election day, it still left us, it still left in our nation um a giant chasm, um, a divide in our hearts, um brother against brother, sister against sister, and it's kind of uh a reality that we have to continue to talk about in our place within our current day.
SPEAKER_00: It's clear that um it's it's difficult to know how to have certain conversations because of what it brings up.
SPEAKER_00: Even this week, um I talked to somebody uh on the East Coast who uh who said that because of how they voted, they were uh they're they're likely going to have to move out of the house.
SPEAKER_00: It's a young family, they're likely gonna have to move out of the house that they are renting because of the hostility it's created between the landlord and them.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I've talked to somebody else who's already whose family has already disowned them for voting a certain way.
SPEAKER_00: Um and all of you guys have Thanksgiving coming up next week, all right?
SPEAKER_00: And I blessings on you, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Um and you know, and I've talked to several people, even those in this community, who have been hesitant to even be, you know, to know how to show up in a church setting.
SPEAKER_00: And uh for a variety of different reasons.
SPEAKER_00: First of all, there's the question of is this a safe place to share where I'm actually at?
SPEAKER_00: Can I actually share where I'm actually at with all of this without being talked out of it?
SPEAKER_00: And then secondly, how can I fellowship in a room with people that maybe have a completely different view, a world view, of a vision for not only this nation, but a vision of what it means to be Christian in this nation?
SPEAKER_00: Are you guys with me this morning?
SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just acknowledging some things right up front.
SPEAKER_00: Lines have been drawn, sides have been taken, allegiance is solidified, judgments have been made.
SPEAKER_00: And we have to talk about this because this is where we come in.
SPEAKER_00: This is where Jesus enters, this is where we come in.
SPEAKER_00: So if you have your Bibles, let's start with Isaiah 61.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna start there this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 61, it's a good one.
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah 61, the prophet Isaiah is looking forward to the ministry of the Messiah, the coming one, and the mark of the type of work he would be doing in this world.
SPEAKER_00: And what was it going to be like when Jesus came and makes all things right?
SPEAKER_00: It continues beyond that though, because what Isaiah is about to share is not only does not only mark the ministry of Jesus, it marks those who would follow in the ministry of Jesus, those commissioned in his name to be in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Isaiah 61.
SPEAKER_00: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
SPEAKER_00: He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to grant to those who mourn in Zion, to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that he may be glorified.
SPEAKER_00: They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations, they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
SPEAKER_00: God, we thank you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: This promise, this declaration was true of you, it is true of you, and I believe it's true of us as well.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Father, today and in this day, as we receive your word this morning, would you awaken in us the a picture, God, of our place in this world, that this is our inheritance to be ones who proclaim good news and bind up the brokenhearted.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you, Lord God, to raise up devastations and to restore what has been ruined.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, God, this is what you've given us.
SPEAKER_00: God, let it permeate our hearts this morning.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So the truth is this this is the work of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The work of Jesus is the work of healing.
SPEAKER_00: And we said it last week.
SPEAKER_00: There's no politician that can heal us, only Jesus can heal what is deeply broken inside of us.
SPEAKER_00: And then he calls us to do the same.
SPEAKER_00: So we turn to God for healing.
SPEAKER_00: We turn to him alone and his name alone to heal the depths of our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: But then also what happens and what this passage shows us is that we can reclaim our identity to be agents of healing in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody say it with me.
SPEAKER_00: I am an agent of healing.
SPEAKER_00: Say it with, say it like you believe it.
SPEAKER_00: I am an agent of healing.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: And that is, that is part of our identity as sent ones in Jesus to bring healing and to minister to that which is broken.
SPEAKER_00: Last week we talked about what it means to have eyes that heal, face to face.
SPEAKER_00: There's a reality that when we turn to a stranger, when we turn to our neighbor and we actually look and behold each other in the eyes, as God does with us, it actually ministers healing to recover eye to eye, face to face contact.
SPEAKER_00: It actually heals us and shows us at the depths of who we are that we are seen and that we are known.
SPEAKER_00: Today, though, I want to talk a little bit about what it means not just to have eyes that heal, but words that heal.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you know that your words can heal?
SPEAKER_00: So on the morning of January 13th, 2018, some of you guys know this, residents across Hawaii received an alarming emergency alert on their phones.
SPEAKER_00: It read this ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii, seek immediate shelter, this is not a drill.
SPEAKER_00: Do you guys remember this?
SPEAKER_00: Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii, seek immediate shelter, this is not a drill.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you were to get this text message, I just want you to try and for size your emotional state, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Where would that have left you?
SPEAKER_00: No, the truth is this was a complete error.
SPEAKER_00: It was a user error by some whoever was in charge of their text messaging service in Hawaii, God bless their soul, they didn't have a job the next day.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but imagine what it would be like to be on an island to receive this message.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm just gonna tell you, I'm I'm generally I'm I'm a pretty calm, pretty calm in stressful situations.
SPEAKER_00: I'm telling you, if I was on the island in the middle of the Pacific and I got this message, I would not be the kind of person you want to follow.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Um this would not go well for me.
SPEAKER_00: And you can imagine uh what this caused for parents and families across the island to have the threat of missiles all of a sudden heading their way, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, for whatever reason, it took 38 minutes to get the follow-up text message out to say, hey guys, that was an error.
SPEAKER_00: We're sorry about that.
SPEAKER_00: Just kidding.
SPEAKER_00: There's no missiles headed towards Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00: But just imagine that 38 minutes on Hawaii, right?
SPEAKER_00: Just what was going on on that thing?
SPEAKER_00: Because the truth is, even a short text message like that, words carry power, words have weight, words can create calm or chaos, they can create, they can encourage hope or instill fear.
SPEAKER_00: They build trust and they can destroy.
SPEAKER_00: Abraham Joshua Heschel said it like this words create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: Words create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: A simple phrase, even texted, but even more so spoken.
SPEAKER_00: Words can create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: Words were the raw material that the Father used when he wanted to speak the world into existence.
SPEAKER_00: He chose that, he chose to do it through speaking because words have power.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 18 21 reminds us this that death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
SPEAKER_00: And so while this text message in Hawaii was like a literal example of a careless or erroneous uh word that went out to a group of people, I just I think all of you can appreciate living in a time where there's a lot of thoughtless words that are written and spoken that we read and consume and sometimes even speak ourselves on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_00: We are surrounded with words of criticism, words that diminish value, and especially in a political climate.
SPEAKER_00: Words of accusation, blame shifting, speculation, worst-case scenario thinking that spreads fear and uncertainty.
SPEAKER_00: The words that we use can either bring life or can they can they can bring death, but they can also bring life.
SPEAKER_00: They can wreak havoc, yes, but if they can wreak havoc as we've experienced, if you just log into Facebook for five seconds, they can also, the opposite is true, they can also bring healing, they can minister the healing balm of Jesus Christ in the world that we're living in.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 16, 24 also says this gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, and health to the body.
SPEAKER_00: And then again, Proverbs 12, 18.
SPEAKER_00: The words of the reckless pierce like swords, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
SPEAKER_00: The tongue of the wise brings healing.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you heard have heard some reckless words over this last year?
SPEAKER_00: And what happens is that it brings up a craving.
SPEAKER_00: Where are the wise ones?
SPEAKER_00: Where are the ones walking with the heart and the spirit of God who are able to speak in such a way that it gets to the core of who we are and actually ministers the healing ointment of the presence of Christ?
SPEAKER_00: And that's the question that we have to ask is how do we, as if it's true that the Spirit of the Lord is upon us, if it's true that that is a ministry given to us, to preach good news, to proclaim, to use words and actions, but certainly words to affect change, to change an environment.
SPEAKER_00: How do we become the kind of people that bring healing into a deeply wounded world marked by division, despair, and broken and brokenness?
SPEAKER_00: And some of this is accentuated by the problem that that has been only increasing over the last couple decades, that we have become careless as a culture.
SPEAKER_00: We have become careless with the way that we use our words.
SPEAKER_00: We've become flippant, they feel cheap to us, and it feels like we have an unlimited amount of words that we can use.
SPEAKER_00: And we can use them however that we want with zero accountability.
SPEAKER_00: And this wasn't always the case.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's really been accentuated over the last uh uh really three decades, since the early 1990s, uh, a lot of reports have been able to trace the way that language is used, especially in in our culture.
SPEAKER_00: Americans have observed a uh uh a shift towards divisive, accusatory, inflammatory, and judgmental language in every layer and tier of our society.
SPEAKER_00: And it's evident, obviously, in political debates, social media interactions, but everyday conversations.
SPEAKER_00: This is why nobody wants to talk about politics anymore.
SPEAKER_00: Now, a lot of people are like, can we just leave politics out of it?
SPEAKER_00: No, we can't.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: This is actually it's actually natural and good to be able to have civil conversation about politics, and it shouldn't be absent from the church either, just so you guys know.
SPEAKER_00: But we need a safe way to talk about it, where we know what our primary allegiance is still with Jesus, but then we can be safe to hold a space with each other where our primary identities are not at stake.
SPEAKER_00: So spiritual maturity is the ability to hold a space with somebody you fundamentally disagree with without losing your sense of personhood and voice.
SPEAKER_00: This is spiritual maturity.
SPEAKER_00: It's called differentiation in psychological terms.
SPEAKER_00: It's the ability to sit across the table of somebody who shares a different worldview, and for that not to feel threatening to uh to who you are as a person.
SPEAKER_00: You're sharing a space and coming together in the middle.
SPEAKER_00: But oftentimes what happens is we we lose, we we our identity gets so tied up in who am I really?
SPEAKER_00: And what does that mean about my decisions and who I vote for?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean about the other person that we've lost an ability to share a space to talk about hard things?
SPEAKER_00: And so we just stop talking about them altogether.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm just saying, guys, it's not okay.
SPEAKER_00: We have to recover a way of life, especially in the church.
SPEAKER_00: I believe the church is uniquely wired to model to the world how to have mature, honest conversations without the identity of either person being at stake.
SPEAKER_00: That we can still have mature, honest conversations without me looking at you as if you're not a son or a daughter of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's really quiet in here right now.
SPEAKER_00: I think this is an opportunity before us because where else on earth are you going to learn that?
SPEAKER_00: You're not going to learn that anywhere else.
SPEAKER_00: Listen, this is unique to a people whose primary allegiance is in the kingdom of God and citizenship of God.
SPEAKER_00: So we should be able to be safe, to share where we're at, without resulting to uh inflammatory, accusatory, judgmental language in order to prove our point.
SPEAKER_00: Are you guys with me on that?
SPEAKER_00: Words, your words carry life and death.
SPEAKER_00: You don't think they do, they do.
SPEAKER_00: This is why when we do child dedications, the words we speak over our kids, I'm very aware of this with my kids.
SPEAKER_00: And I oftentimes I have to go back to my kids and apologize and say, I'm really sorry.
SPEAKER_00: I you didn't deserve that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'm I'm upset right now for a variety of reasons, but you didn't deserve that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, please forgive me.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, I've heard it before that parenting is uh successful parenting is uh making it sure that your kids have to unlearn as few things as possible when they become adults.
SPEAKER_00: I want my kids to have to unlearn as few things as possible when they become functioning adults, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of that is shaped by the words that I speak.
SPEAKER_00: And I have to own that in my own home, I have to own that in my own marriage, I have to own that in my own life, I have to own that as a teacher of this church.
SPEAKER_00: Words matter.
SPEAKER_00: And um, and I believe, if nothing else, in this kind of season, if we are to be agents of healing, we have to recover, number one, that we are responsible for the words that we speak.
SPEAKER_00: You are responsible.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get to just fire off whatever you want to say, not if you're following Jesus, not if you're filled with the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: You don't just get a free pass to say whatever you want to say.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's authentic.
SPEAKER_00: Well, be authentically a better person.
SPEAKER_00: You're authentically a bad person.
SPEAKER_00: No, you don't just get, we we're accountable to God for what we do with the words that He's given to us.
SPEAKER_00: And not only are we responsible for our words, but the greater call is to walk in the opposite spirit of what is happening in the world.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you guys know that when the world is zigging, the church is zagging, and there's a spirit of this world, and it's a spirit of divisiveness and a spirit of accusation, then the church walks in the opposite spirit.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna walk in a spirit of unity, I'm gonna walk in a spirit of oneness, I'm gonna walk in a spirit of believing the best, I'm gonna walk in the spirit of looking you in the eyes and reminding you of who God has created you to be and how beautiful and beloved and cherished you are in the eyes of God.
SPEAKER_00: It's the opposite spirit.
SPEAKER_00: We always have to know the spirit of our day so we can walk in the opposite spirit.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: That's it requires perception and discernment.
SPEAKER_00: And we know that.
SPEAKER_00: We know what we're walking in by the way that we use our words.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot divorce words from authentically where you are.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so this is how James puts it.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read this passage from James.
SPEAKER_00: If if you want to, if you have your Bible, you can turn to James chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: This is in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: James is the little brother of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And he has some specific things to say about words.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, words, the power of words shows up over and over again in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: They're not just talking about prayer and worship and fasting, and they're not just talking about everything we kind of claim to be the spiritual things.
SPEAKER_00: Peter and James, even Jesus, they all talk about like, listen, you need to pay, you need to, you need to be in check, by the way, that you're speaking.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what James has to say in chapter three, verse five.
SPEAKER_00: He said, So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things.
SPEAKER_00: How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire of uh is a fire, a world of unrighteousness.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed, and has been tamed by mankind, but no human can tame the tongue.
SPEAKER_00: It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.
SPEAKER_00: Chill out, James.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: This is intense language.
SPEAKER_00: Deadly poison.
SPEAKER_00: With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
SPEAKER_00: From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
SPEAKER_00: My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
SPEAKER_00: Does a spring pour forth from the same opening, both fresh and salt water?
SPEAKER_00: Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives or a grapevine produce figs?
SPEAKER_00: Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water.
SPEAKER_00: So this this whole little movement from James, he just wants to make sure that's crystal clear with his readers, with his listeners, like listen, you're playing with fire.
SPEAKER_00: And the the passage before this, he's really talking about teachers in the church.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, Don't you don't want to you don't want to be a teacher in the church because you're gonna be jared, uh, you're gonna be judged with greater strictness.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he says.
SPEAKER_00: If you're teaching people and you're using your words to shape a culture, to shape reality, to lay foundations, you better be very careful.
SPEAKER_00: And and and literally, I mean, this is I I I feel this.
SPEAKER_00: I feel the sober-mindedness of that when I come up here.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing I hate more than when I'm speaking up here, and then I catch myself feeling like, man, my words don't have life right now.
SPEAKER_00: It's like the worst day ever.
SPEAKER_00: But it's one of the best things when I can I can sense, oh, my words are carrying life right now.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I don't want to say something that just is flippant, that misrepresents you, right?
SPEAKER_00: But it goes beyond teachers because it goes into the family of God.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, listen, your your words can taint the entire body.
SPEAKER_00: This entire body can be affected by the words that you speak, whether they're heard or they're not heard.
SPEAKER_00: This entire body can be affected by the words that you speak.
SPEAKER_00: And according to James, and this is consistent with what even Jesus said, according to James, the words are really just an expression, they're a manifestation of something lurking deep with under the surface of our own lives.
SPEAKER_00: It's out of the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm gonna pause just for a moment before I continue.
SPEAKER_00: Right now, I want to create a moment for wherever you are right now.
SPEAKER_00: Just close your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And we're just gonna pray together.
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna ask God to show us one person, just one person.
SPEAKER_00: In your life, who needs to hear words of healing.
SPEAKER_00: One person in your life that needs to hear words of life.
SPEAKER_00: They might not be here, okay?
SPEAKER_00: It may be somebody else in your life.
SPEAKER_00: It may not be someone you would assume needs.
SPEAKER_00: It just, here's what we're gonna do.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just ask the Holy Spirit, bring to mind one person in your life that needs words of healing.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to hold them before you.
SPEAKER_00: It could be somebody in this room that you noticed before you came in.
SPEAKER_00: It could be your neighbor, a coworker.
SPEAKER_00: It could be someone in your family.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe a face comes to mind or a name.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, I don't know if I'm hearing God or not.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just thinking of somebody.
SPEAKER_00: Just go with that.
SPEAKER_00: That's fine.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: You're okay.
SPEAKER_00: You're off the hook.
SPEAKER_00: If you're thinking, just bring to mind someone.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to hold them, hold them before you as I share just a few more things about what does it mean to speak words of life?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to bind up the brokenhearted?
SPEAKER_00: What does it mean to proclaim good news?
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Alright, open your eyes.
SPEAKER_00: Look back at me.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody smile.
SPEAKER_00: There we go.
SPEAKER_00: So a few things to point out.
SPEAKER_00: Words that bring life are oftentimes words of overflow.
SPEAKER_00: The reason why the words of the Father affect change because there's substance behind his words.
SPEAKER_00: It's coming from the well of who he is.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what makes what we're talking about different than just compliments or flattery.
SPEAKER_00: The Father doesn't just compliment you.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, you're looking good today.
SPEAKER_00: The Father, the reason why we are changed by the words of Jesus and the words of the Father is because his words are come from his very substance.
SPEAKER_00: And according to the scriptures, our words do too.
SPEAKER_00: So the substance through which we are transformed on the inside out is what we are able to give away.
SPEAKER_00: You guys know that?
SPEAKER_00: So when we're transformed from the inside out, that is our gift to give away.
SPEAKER_00: So thinking about what you get to give in your words for the people in your life, I just want you to think about this morning: what has God done in you that is now yours that you can give away?
SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's the first time you've ever asked that question.
SPEAKER_00: And the good news is today the Father has all kinds of things he wants to say to you to transform you from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to know that you are his beloved.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to know that you are the center of his affection.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to know that you are a prized son and daughter of God.
SPEAKER_00: That's what he actually says about you in his word, that he has redeemed you, he has paid a price for you.
SPEAKER_00: You are now holy and righteous.
SPEAKER_00: He said he will never leave you or forsake you.
SPEAKER_00: This is what he said about you.
SPEAKER_00: And so what happens is when we receive the words of God into our life, it becomes the fruit out of which we get to give words away.
SPEAKER_00: So that when you are with somebody who needs to hear words of love, you get to speak from a well of what God has already done from you.
SPEAKER_00: You have a reservoir that has been filled up in Christ about everything He has thought and said to you that is now yours to give away.
SPEAKER_00: That's why your words are not just a Hallmark card.
SPEAKER_00: Your words are real.
SPEAKER_00: Like I, you know, I'm a words of affirmation guy.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know, any words of affirmation people in the room.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I just I just like when people say nice things to me.
SPEAKER_00: Um don't, no pressure, but we'll have a line at the end of the service.
SPEAKER_00: I'll be right over here.
SPEAKER_00: No, no, no, no.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a words of affirmation person, a lot of you are too.
SPEAKER_00: All of us to are to a certain degree.
SPEAKER_00: That's why when I when I get cards, I love cards that are handwritten because I want to hear not what comes from Hallmark, I want to hear what comes from the person that I love on the other side.
SPEAKER_00: Words of overflow affect change.
SPEAKER_00: So think about what has God done in you that you can proclaim to others in your life.
SPEAKER_00: It could just be reminding others, hey, listen, God has not forsaken you, and I know that because he hasn't forsaken me either.
SPEAKER_00: God is with you, and you can speak that because in the lonely seasons of your life, he was with you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you can say, hey, listen, God is a healer and he wants to heal you.
SPEAKER_00: Not because it's a good idea, but because he's revealed himself as healer to you, and you've seen places in your life that have been healed, right?
SPEAKER_00: We speak from overflow.
SPEAKER_00: But also we speak from, we speak words of identity.
SPEAKER_00: This is why prophetic words are so powerful in the house of God.
SPEAKER_00: This is why we practice what we call prophetic words as a spiritual gift empowered by the Holy Spirit among the people of God.
SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes it's words of knowledge and sometimes it's words of encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: But prophetic words are words inspired by God to unlock destiny, to unlock life, to unlock identity, to help bring people back, to remind us of who we are and God's purposes.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I know for me, I have been so shaped, profoundly shaped by words spoken in my life.
SPEAKER_00: I've had some destructive words spoken in my life very early on, uh, by friends at school.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but I'm grateful that I had parents that just constantly told me, I love you, I love you, I love you.
SPEAKER_00: They were vocal about that.
SPEAKER_00: But I had, I was part of a, I grew up in a part of a community, even as a young person, and prophetic words spoken into my life.
SPEAKER_00: I remember when I first moved out to Colorado, even when I was part of a ministry training school here.
SPEAKER_00: I remember being with the pastor of the school, her name is Brenda Rogers, and and while we were all together as a group, I was just playing guitar.
SPEAKER_00: I just loved leading worship, and that's really all I had visioned for.
SPEAKER_00: But I had a chance to teach one time.
SPEAKER_00: It was kind of one of my first opportunities to teach and lead a devotional in the school.
SPEAKER_00: I remember after I did that, she came up to me and she said, She said, the teaching gift in you is just as strong as your as your as your gift to lead worship.
SPEAKER_00: She's like, who you are going to become as a teacher is is going to blow your mind.
SPEAKER_00: It's going to be so much further than what you think it is.
SPEAKER_00: And that wasn't even on my radar, but it took somebody who could perceive something inside of me that unlocked it to a new degree that I even wanted it in the first place.
SPEAKER_00: You guys know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: When we use words in the in the household of God and beyond, part of the way we use words of healing and we bring healing with our words is perceiving what God has to say in a situation or about a person and declaring it with authority so that we can help each other see what we are unable to see by ourselves.
SPEAKER_00: This is what it means to walk in the household of God, right?
SPEAKER_00: And it's it's it's why we take it seriously.
SPEAKER_00: We want everybody, that's why Paul says, I eagerly decide that you all prophesy.
SPEAKER_00: Because he wants everybody to be able to tap into the heart of God and to be able to declare it to each other.
SPEAKER_00: Words of identity.
SPEAKER_00: You guys with me?
SPEAKER_00: And the last part here is words of sincerity.
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we have to feel like we have to have something profound to say every time we open our mouth.
SPEAKER_00: It's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Oftentimes the most powerful words that we speak in our lives are not actually complex, they're just spoken with sincerity.
SPEAKER_00: But when you when you come to your kids and you say, I'm proud of you, it's simple, but it goes deep.
SPEAKER_00: When you sit across the table from somebody, even somebody that you disagree with, or even somebody that you maybe aren't everywhere, they're on the same page on every particular thing.
SPEAKER_00: When you sit across the table from somebody and say, hey, listen, I just want you to know I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00: I appreciate, I appreciate what is inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: You're safe here.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm with you.
SPEAKER_00: I'm for you.
SPEAKER_00: When you say words like that, it what it does, it creates a bubble of safety, it creates a bubble of connection when you are brave enough to even say, listen, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_00: I forgive you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
SPEAKER_00: These basic phrases have almost like, we have to almost recover them in our day and age.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, we have to talk about this in church now because just this whole level of living with a sense of decency and encouragement and a sense of uh of life, a bit of a just the bedrock foundation of relationship, we have to recover this because all of this is about being able to remind people that the way that we talk to them is the way that the Father talks to them as well.
SPEAKER_00: People need a picture of what God is like.
SPEAKER_00: And one of the first ways that they're gonna see that and experience that is in the words that are spoken.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Now here's a question: Is it hypocritical to speak words of healing when I don't always feel that way?
SPEAKER_00: And again, the the key, the key thing to know though, healing words don't have to be perfect.
SPEAKER_00: They just need to come from a sincere heart.
SPEAKER_00: A loving, sincere heart.
SPEAKER_00: We're not always gonna know what to say in every particular situation, but we can speak words of kindness even when our hearts are heavy, right?
SPEAKER_00: And and you might say, well, what if they don't like if I've tried that, and they what if they don't receive the words of encouragement?
SPEAKER_00: That's not up to you.
SPEAKER_00: Your responsibility is not to fill up their cup, as Andy Stanley said.
SPEAKER_00: Your responsibility is not to fill up their cup, it's to empty out yours.
SPEAKER_00: It's to make sure that whatever you have, that you're able to give it away.
SPEAKER_00: And it won't always be received, and that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: You have to be true to reflect the heart of God in the way that you speak.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus spoke, it released life, it released healing.
SPEAKER_00: And I just want us today to remember that it's the same as true with us.
SPEAKER_00: May we become a people who take seriously the words that we speak.
SPEAKER_00: May we become a people who look for opportunities to proclaim good news.
SPEAKER_00: May we become a people who are not flippant with the way that we interact and we use our words, but we evoke life, we evoke identity and destiny in the lives of everybody that we are with.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the world needs, guys.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we need.
SPEAKER_00: This is what the world needs.
SPEAKER_00: It starts with us receiving the words of the Father to build up that reservoir from the inside out, that we are recipients of God's loving words of affirmation over our life, and we get to live that out.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so going back to your one person across this room, raise your hand if one person came to mind that needs words of healing in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm gonna let the rest of you uh continue to ponder that, but let's kind of go back and think about it through this lens with that one person.
SPEAKER_00: What would be a word of overflow?
SPEAKER_00: What might be a word of identity?
SPEAKER_00: What might be a word of sincerity that you can speak?
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to think right now.
SPEAKER_00: Ask the Holy Spirit, God, with this person that you brought up in my life right now, what's one thing that you want to speak to them?
SPEAKER_00: And if something comes to mind, or even if it's just a short phrase or a sentence, I just want you to, if you have your phone or something to write down with, just write it down.
SPEAKER_00: Write it down.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to actually do this, by the way.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do this too.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to actually do this.
SPEAKER_00: Here's how this can go.
SPEAKER_00: Even right now, some of you can get your phone out, compose a text message, think about someone you know that you can just send a text to and say, hey, listen, I don't know what's going on in your life today.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thinking about you right now.
SPEAKER_00: I'm praying for you, and I want you to know this.
SPEAKER_00: And share with them what you want them to know.
SPEAKER_00: And it could just be, I appreciate you.
SPEAKER_00: I love you.
SPEAKER_00: You're not alone.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you, text message is not your jam, all right?
SPEAKER_00: You don't, you're not gonna do that.
SPEAKER_00: That's not how the other person's gonna receive love.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you need to make a phone call.
SPEAKER_00: I want to encourage you today, before you get home, make a phone call.
SPEAKER_00: Leave a voicemail, call somebody that needs words of healing and just to say, hey, listen, I was thinking about you.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if this means anything to you today.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to know this and pay attention to what happens in their life, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you you could do you could write a card.
SPEAKER_00: You could literally write out a card if that's if that's your thing, and and you can mail it to somebody across the states, somebody that you could, a handwritten card, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Text message, phone call, cards.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you in this room, right after the service, we're gonna end.
SPEAKER_00: You need to find somebody across the room and ask God to highlight somebody to you and say, Hey, can I pray for you?
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and and speak words of life into their being, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And just encourage them.
SPEAKER_00: Let it come from a sincere heart.
SPEAKER_00: Just tell them, hey, listen, I feel like I just want to speak something into you, your heart.
SPEAKER_00: And if somebody comes up to you that you don't know and they try to do that, um, it doesn't have to be awkward.
SPEAKER_00: Just know that they are trying to move forward with this and they believe their words have life, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Can we all do that together?
SPEAKER_00: All right, can we all do that together?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So today, guys, listen, don't just walk out of the room.
SPEAKER_00: Find somebody who needs words of life.
SPEAKER_00: Send a text message, make a phone call, write a card, find somebody across the room, speak words of life.
SPEAKER_00: And if you have testimonies that come back from that, come share them with me.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, words create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: God creates with the sound of our words.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and I believe that is how we minister his healing in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody stand up.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, come on up, Fiona.
unknown: Here we go.
SPEAKER_01: I just want to share a scripture with you that you all know.
SPEAKER_01: It's Psalm 46, 10, and it says, be still and know that I am God.
SPEAKER_01: And I just want um, if you go to Strong's, that word still is from the root word Rafa.
SPEAKER_01: A lot of you know what I'm about to say.
SPEAKER_01: Rafa means healing, yeah, so be still with what Luke has talked about.
SPEAKER_01: Some of us are not still about what's happening in our lives or the country, whatever.
SPEAKER_01: And that word also to know that I am God, to know, there's a long list of what that is, but in the middle of that is the word kinsfolk and kinsman.
SPEAKER_01: So I want to suggest to you you might think of this scripture as be still, be healed in your heart, be healed in your body, and know my family, my tribe, my kinsfolk, that I, the great I am, I am God, I am God of this land, I am God of your life, I am God of everything that you do.
SPEAKER_01: Yes, I am the great.
SPEAKER_01: I am.
SPEAKER_01: So I bless you all in the name of the Lord, that we can walk in our healing, that we can know we're all family together, regardless of what's happening, and know that he's in control and that he's God.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, it's so good.
SPEAKER_00: Love it.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna invite our ministry team up front, and this is our prayer team.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, after this service, listen, if you need any more prayer for healing, or if you want even a healing word to be spoken over your life, these are people you can trust.
SPEAKER_00: Come forward and uh and receive healing.
SPEAKER_00: But listen, we're going, we're going not empty-handed, we're going in the power of the Spirit of God.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Jesus said, As the Father sent me, so I send you.
SPEAKER_00: So may the Lord bless you and keep you.
SPEAKER_00: May He make his face to shine upon you.
SPEAKER_00: May He be gracious to you and give you rest.
SPEAKER_00: Go in the words of the Father, in the strength of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Love you guys.