SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lookout Weekly Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Church of the Lookout is in the Old of Colorado, and our vision is Jesus, abiding in his presence, growing in its family, and living on his mission to transform the world with awe-inspiring love.
SPEAKER_00: Visit us online at thelookout.church.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, friends.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, go ahead and find a seat.
SPEAKER_00: So good to have you with us.
SPEAKER_00: So good to see you guys.
SPEAKER_00: I love the summer because you never know who you're gonna get.
SPEAKER_00: It's uh it's a mixed bag.
SPEAKER_00: We got people visiting from out of town.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody uh you know, give it up for our visitors today.
SPEAKER_00: If you're from out of town, come on.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and some of you guys have maybe it's been a while since you've been here.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, we're here.
SPEAKER_00: We made it, we did it.
SPEAKER_00: It's summer.
SPEAKER_00: We're at church, come on.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and so I I'm excited to this morning just open open the word.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you've been with us the last few weeks, we've been in this new teaching series called Ways of the Wise.
SPEAKER_00: And and what we're doing is through the summer we're we're we're taking selections of the proverbs and we're looking at practical wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: How many knows that the proverbs are still good and still wise?
SPEAKER_00: Okay, 3,000 years of wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we haven't outgrown our need for them.
SPEAKER_00: We haven't outgrown our need for wisdom from above.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I'm thankful uh last week.
SPEAKER_00: If you guys, who was here last week, Amy Joyner brought a fantastic message on how to build a healthy household.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, give it up for Amy.
SPEAKER_00: So good.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm I'm so thankful for Amy.
SPEAKER_00: I think I'm thankful for her voice and as part of our teaching team here.
SPEAKER_00: It's good to have multiple different voices over the course of the year.
SPEAKER_00: You need more than my voice, and uh so thankful, thankful that we get to uh have different people speak.
SPEAKER_00: So next week, Mary Jean Powers will be joining us next week, and she's gonna be tackling a great question out of the Proverbs called How do we How do we make good decisions?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you need to be here for that one, all right?
SPEAKER_00: Um But we are but today we're gonna we're gonna dive into the Proverbs and receive again what God has for us today.
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to encourage you, if you have yet to spend any time with the Proverbs in the Scriptures, it's a great book to even include in your daily diet of scripture reading.
SPEAKER_00: One of the easiest hacks, if you want to, or pro tips if you want to put it like that.
SPEAKER_00: If you're reading the Bible, there's about there's 31 Proverbs, and so whatever day of the week it is, so today is July 19th, you open up to Proverbs 19 and read it for the day, and and read it.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what day it is, just pull up that day in the Proverbs, read it for the day, receive the wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: Um and uh and and the Proverbs, the wisdom is still good for us today.
SPEAKER_00: So let's let's take a moment before we just steamroll through this thing.
SPEAKER_00: Let's quiet our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to encourage you.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I don't know if your summer is anything like my summer, but there's a lot happening.
SPEAKER_00: And uh, and sometimes we we don't quite make space to just still our hearts and quiet our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Let's just take a moment together.
SPEAKER_00: Take a deep breath.
SPEAKER_00: Just become aware of the presence of Jesus with you today.
SPEAKER_00: Feel your body, feel the Spirit of God inside of you.
SPEAKER_00: So Jesus, this morning, as we've been praying and as we've been singing already, we thank you for who you are, we thank you for your greatness, we thank you for your body and your blood shed for us, and today we thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: And God, we surrender ourselves to you.
SPEAKER_00: And we ask you, Holy Spirit, to deliver to each of us what we need to hear today, to continue to shape us into Christ's likeness, to form us from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: We receive your word, and it's in Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So Richard Saul Warman observed in 1989 that a single weekday edition of the New York Times contains more information than a person in the 17th century England would encounter in a lifetime.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so that was in 1989 a newspaper, had more information than somebody in the 17th century in England would encounter in a lifetime.
SPEAKER_00: So fast forward to 2026, and you guys know this as well as I do, our days are consumed with words we see, words we read, words we hear from every possible angle, dings, twerps, bells, buzzes.
SPEAKER_00: Like uh likely, even while you're sitting here during the service today, things were happening in your pocket or on your wrists, right?
SPEAKER_00: Things are happening.
SPEAKER_00: You're being notified about something.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody has something urgent to tell you, even if it's not urgent, they think it's urgent.
SPEAKER_00: And they have words for you to read.
SPEAKER_00: So we're singing how great thou art.
SPEAKER_00: And Amazon sends us a message, and they, I don't know, they just want to they want us to know how fast they art at delivering a package to our door, right?
SPEAKER_00: And uh and so when you think about the amount of things that we consume and words that we receive and that shape us over the course of the day, it's it's really astonishing, even in the course of a sermon like this, an average sermon, is about 6,700 words.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, yeah, we know.
SPEAKER_00: We know it's about 6,700 words.
SPEAKER_00: Um and I did the math, so I double checked.
SPEAKER_00: Um, 6,700 words.
SPEAKER_00: And so all these words have an effect on us.
SPEAKER_00: Now, do you guys know this?
SPEAKER_00: Not all words are created equal.
SPEAKER_00: So 6,700 dead words are no match to 6,700 words that are full of life, right?
SPEAKER_00: And what we're going for is how do we submit the words of our mouth in such a way that our words actually bear life, have an effect, versus just words that are empty words.
SPEAKER_00: Words are powerful even when they're uh mundane.
SPEAKER_00: We use words for everything, ordering food.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, like if you go to a restaurant, I don't know how many of you guys eat international, but so tell me, who, if you see something on the menu that you can't pronounce, you you take a stab at it anyways, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh- who just points at the menu?
SPEAKER_00: Any pointers in this room?
SPEAKER_00: You just point because you're you're not gonna be arrogant, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like you know.
SPEAKER_00: And but who who's willing to take the risk and actually like say the words?
SPEAKER_00: See, see, we have a lot of different personalities in the room, all right?
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of different ways we use words we use for arguments, we use words for poetry, we use words for prayer, and chances are this week you're gonna speak words, you're gonna write words, you're gonna type words.
SPEAKER_00: We've never produced more words, posts, comments, texts than ever before.
SPEAKER_00: And that's why people trust words the least amount, I would argue, than ever.
SPEAKER_00: Words don't hold a lot of uh weight in our culture because of how they're used.
SPEAKER_00: We're drowning in a world of words, but starving for wise ones, are we not?
SPEAKER_00: We're starving for the wisdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And this is this is why when we open the Proverbs, about 10% of all the Proverbs have to do with words.
SPEAKER_00: So when Solomon's writing these proverbs, and he's actually talking about how do you live into wisdom?
SPEAKER_00: How do you live different, cut from a different degree from what the rest of the world is doing?
SPEAKER_00: He said, You cannot separate wisdom from the use of words.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just about intellect, it's about what the content of the heart and how that overflows into our speech.
SPEAKER_00: And so, over and over again in the Proverbs, you're gonna hear Proverbs about the tongue and the lips and the mouth.
SPEAKER_00: All different ways of describing what comes out of your mouth has more to do with who you actually are than you think.
SPEAKER_00: And how many of you know that what God is doing in the church and what God is doing is uh in us is shaping us not just to wisdom to impress people, but wisdom that brings life into the world.
SPEAKER_00: We need a church that is filled with the wisdom of God, Jesus himself born inside of us to uh to be a gift into the world.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're doing.
SPEAKER_00: We're not just talking about how do we grow in knowledge, we're talking about knowledge applied for the good of the world, for the good of your workplace, because everything we do in the kingdom of God matters to God.
SPEAKER_00: Every place we go is sacred to God.
SPEAKER_00: Everything you put your hand to is shaped by the kind of person you are and the kind of person you become and the words that come out of your mouth.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 18, 21.
SPEAKER_00: Let me just read a few of these so you can get the clue here.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 18.21, probably the most well-known out of all of these.
SPEAKER_00: Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
SPEAKER_00: Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
SPEAKER_00: And that's reiterated by James later on in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: Your tongue, the words that come out of your mouth, are gonna build up or they will destroy.
SPEAKER_00: Nothing is neutral.
SPEAKER_00: And that it's not just the content of the words, it's the content of our lives before God.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 12, 18 says, there is one whose rash words are like are like uh there is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
SPEAKER_00: How many of you have ever encouraged have ever received words that felt like sword thrusts, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've received those words, rash words.
SPEAKER_00: I've received them, I've given them.
SPEAKER_00: We've received them even in the church, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've done this even as Christians.
SPEAKER_00: But the tongue, God has given us our tongue for what purpose?
SPEAKER_00: To bring healing, right?
SPEAKER_00: Are you guys with me today?
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 10, 31 says this the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
SPEAKER_00: The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked what is perverse.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to just take a moment as we think about our words and this kind of question that we're exploring today is how do I use words well?
SPEAKER_00: How do I use words well?
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to close your eyes with me.
SPEAKER_00: Just imagine the last 24 hours.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to picture every conversation you've had in the last 24 hours.
SPEAKER_00: How did you use your words?
SPEAKER_00: With the people you love, the people who frustrate you, the people you work with, the people you play with?
SPEAKER_00: Have your words been full of life?
SPEAKER_00: Have your words been full of death?
SPEAKER_00: And underneath every word, where was that word coming from?
SPEAKER_00: I'm imagining for all of us in the room, we're we're realizing that maybe there's some of the words we've used over the last 24 hours in just the normal course of our life that we see is throwaway words, kind of flippant words, just words that come out.
SPEAKER_00: But I just want to call us back this morning to this biblical view of Christ's likeness that starts in the garden and goes from the from you know all the way through the scriptures to where we are now.
SPEAKER_00: That our your words matter and my words matter, right?
SPEAKER_00: We've all been deeply shaped by words.
SPEAKER_00: And that seems simple, right?
SPEAKER_00: Let's see the message here seems simple.
SPEAKER_00: All right, got it.
SPEAKER_00: Let's use kind words and don't be a jerk, right?
SPEAKER_00: Don't use bad words, just use kind words.
SPEAKER_00: But it goes much, so much deeper than that because many of us have never stopped to actually question where did I learn how to speak?
SPEAKER_00: Where did I learn how to speak?
SPEAKER_00: And what I mean by that is it's so natural for us to adopt whatever was modeled for us in our family of origin, and we accept that as normal.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe you grew up in a family uh uh of origin where yelling was just the norm.
SPEAKER_00: Just to communicate, nobody talked at a normal volume, everyone had to yell to get their point across.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there was blaming or accusation.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you grew up in a home where there is some sarcasm.
SPEAKER_00: You know, we knew sarcasm really well in our in our home growing up.
SPEAKER_00: We knew how to make a joke out of something.
SPEAKER_00: We're trying to kind of trying to kind of tell the truth, but kind of make a joke out of it, so never quite see anything directly.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like a little passive aggressive.
SPEAKER_00: It was fun, it was joking, but but it wasn't quite clear all the time.
SPEAKER_00: Are we joking or are you trying to say something right now?
SPEAKER_00: What about complaining or gossiping?
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you grew up in a home where it's just the silent treatment.
SPEAKER_00: It was no words, and that was words in and of itself.
SPEAKER_00: Because nobody's saying anything, nobody's communicating.
SPEAKER_00: So words, and so depending on how you grew up and in the family of origin you came of, that's what you learned was normal in the world.
SPEAKER_00: But as we come into Christ, follow me here.
SPEAKER_00: As we come into Christ, following Jesus means being retaught how to speak.
SPEAKER_00: We must be retaught how to speak in a way that brings life and not death.
SPEAKER_00: Who's with me here this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said it the best.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Words create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: Words create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: Your words in your home.
SPEAKER_00: This goes back to what Amy was saying last week.
SPEAKER_00: Your words to the people you love, your words in your marriage, your words to your friends, words will create worlds.
SPEAKER_00: And so salvation has to, when we come into Christ, salvation reaches all the way down into our vocabulary.
SPEAKER_00: It has to.
SPEAKER_00: Because our words matter, right?
SPEAKER_00: Grace doesn't stop at the heart, it always works its way to the mouth.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just talk about a few things the Proverbs teaches us about the right use of words, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And I just want you to pay attention to where is God getting your attention today?
SPEAKER_00: And this is going to be different for those of us in the room.
SPEAKER_00: But the first thing I just want to point out is the wise start by listening.
SPEAKER_00: The wise start by listening.
SPEAKER_00: The place to start with our speech is actually not our mouth, it's our ears.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, here's what Proverbs 18, 13 says.
SPEAKER_00: If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.
SPEAKER_00: How many husbands know this in the room?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: My wife knows when I'm not listening.
SPEAKER_00: All right, she's not here right now, but she would be nodding her head.
SPEAKER_00: She knows when I'm like, my mind is somewhere else.
SPEAKER_00: Because like my mind can just be all over.
SPEAKER_00: And kind of the dead giveaway is we're on the phone and I'm talking to her, and I have to go, and I'm like, okay, sounds good, sounds good, okay, okay, okay, sounds good.
SPEAKER_00: And she's like, you're not listening.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, ah, you're right.
SPEAKER_00: And so listening is something we have to practice because you can't, it doesn't matter what you have to say if you're not able to listen.
SPEAKER_00: And so the whole frame of Proverbs, a lot of the way that the Probs are written is as a father to children, like my son, pay attention to my words, pay attention to what I have to say.
SPEAKER_00: Can I just give you a hint?
SPEAKER_00: In in the Proverbs, you're not the father, you're always the son, or you're always the child.
SPEAKER_00: You're the child learning to listen.
SPEAKER_00: So when when the Probs are calling to your attention, you know, my child, listen, my son, daughter, listen to what I have to say.
SPEAKER_00: That's us.
SPEAKER_00: We're learning to listen to the wise.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why we have to remind ourselves that listening is of prime importance is because we've been discipled into a culture that celebrates the freedom of speech, and yet almost nobody is excited about the freedom of listening.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody's posting about the freedom of listening.
SPEAKER_00: You actually have a right to listen as well.
SPEAKER_00: It's one of the difficult parts of living in the United States.
SPEAKER_00: It's a beautiful thing, actually.
SPEAKER_00: Freedom of speech is a beautiful thing.
SPEAKER_00: Um, that it should be part of our of our nation.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the tension that we struggle with is between what we are free to say and what we should say.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Because just because we are free to say what we want doesn't mean that the Holy Spirit has given us permission to say everything that comes to our mind.
SPEAKER_00: So you have freedom, you have the right to say whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: But when you're following Jesus Christ as your Lord and Master, that means every one of your words is not submitted to what you have the right to.
SPEAKER_00: It's what's what's submitted to the kingdom of our of our Lord and His Christ and what will build his kingdom on this earth.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, somebody preach back at me.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody preach back at me.
SPEAKER_00: Because, like, listen, guys, we are thoroughly American.
SPEAKER_00: I'm thoroughly American, I love it.
SPEAKER_00: But all of this is submitted.
SPEAKER_00: Our first citizenship is in the kingdom of heaven before it's the citizens of the United States of America.
SPEAKER_00: All right?
SPEAKER_00: Can we just say that?
SPEAKER_00: And I love our country, and whatever country you're from has its own beautiful redemptive values to it, and it has things that will need to be redescipled to the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: So we do use our voices to assert our God-given voices, right?
SPEAKER_00: Evil persists when good men stay silent on important matters.
SPEAKER_00: So we do have to use our voices, but it's always submitted.
SPEAKER_00: Hang with me, it's always submitted to what what is the what is the Lord leading me?
SPEAKER_00: What is the what would the Spirit of God lead me to either speak to or be silent to?
SPEAKER_00: Um some of us mask all of that of just saying, I'm going to say whatever comes to mind, no matter how degrading, divisive, or immature it sounds, because I'm, quote, just sharing my opinion, right?
SPEAKER_00: But again, the most important objective as we're living in the kingdom of God, is not how do I share my opinion everywhere I go, it's how do I live a life that actually multiplies and cultivates life wherever I go.
SPEAKER_00: Can I can I say that?
SPEAKER_00: Your opinion is not as important as you think it is.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean it doesn't matter, it does matter.
SPEAKER_00: It's just when we come into the wise use of words, we have to posture ourselves first of listening before speaking, right?
SPEAKER_00: So the posture of wisdom is always holy curiosity.
SPEAKER_00: This is what Proverbs 12, 15 says.
SPEAKER_00: The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.
SPEAKER_00: Come on.
SPEAKER_00: The way of a fool is right in his own eyes.
SPEAKER_00: And you guys know that.
SPEAKER_00: You know people that cannot be corrected.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's you, who knows?
SPEAKER_00: But you know people, you know other people as well that just think that everything they think is right, everything is everything, you know.
SPEAKER_00: But a wise man listens to advice.
SPEAKER_00: So let me just ask you: are you able to receive advice or correction even from somebody that you disagree with?
SPEAKER_00: Are you able to listen to what they have to say to find is there a grain of truth in here that God is wanting to use to get my attention?
SPEAKER_00: Do you actually welcome feedback into your life?
SPEAKER_00: I I I appreciate that even among our leaders and our team here, when I um we cultivate certain environments where we welcome feedback, um, where we say, hey, what would you do differently?
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything I need to know?
SPEAKER_00: How am I affecting?
SPEAKER_00: How did my words affect this atmosphere?
SPEAKER_00: Anything that I'm not seeing.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because wisdom is linked to self-awareness.
SPEAKER_00: Wisdom is linked to the ability to understand how people are experiencing you.
SPEAKER_00: And when people give you feedback that maybe you don't like, let me just ask you, do you get is your first response to get defensive, to get reactionary, to prove them wrong, to show them what they don't know?
SPEAKER_00: Because Proverbs would say, no, the way into a life of wisdom has to do with the posture of listening.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 17, 27 says this whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Is your spirit cool?
SPEAKER_00: You have a cool spirit?
SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
SPEAKER_00: It's a cool spirit.
SPEAKER_00: It's a cool spirit, is a man of understanding.
SPEAKER_00: Even a fool, listen to this one.
SPEAKER_00: This one's great.
SPEAKER_00: Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody that's the best news you've heard all day.
SPEAKER_00: And when he closes his lips, he's deemed intelligent.
SPEAKER_00: So let me just give you a very easy one here today.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a fool, all you have to do is just be quiet.
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to become wise.
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that incredible?
SPEAKER_00: You don't even have to be wise.
SPEAKER_00: Just shut your mouth.
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, everyone's like, oh my gosh, this guy's incredible.
SPEAKER_00: I love this scene.
SPEAKER_00: If you guys ever watch the show New Girl, I love this scene where this guy sits down to Nick on a bench and he just, you know, has an effect on him without saying a single thing.
SPEAKER_00: Take a look at this.
SPEAKER_01: Please don't do that, sir.
SPEAKER_01: Please, I would love to sit by myself right now.
SPEAKER_01: There's something real creepy about you, pal.
SPEAKER_01: You wanna get weird?
SPEAKER_01: Let's get weird.
SPEAKER_01: You got a nice face.
SPEAKER_01: Anger problem?
SPEAKER_01: Living with them?
SPEAKER_01: Are you kidding me?
SPEAKER_01: It's frustrating.
SPEAKER_01: It's like, just get a job.
SPEAKER_01: I like your hat.
SPEAKER_01: I like how it's not a team or a logo, it's just blue.
SPEAKER_01: Would you rather be covered in fish scales or feathers?
SPEAKER_01: Scales?
SPEAKER_01: Why you weirdo?
SPEAKER_01: You wanna see me jump really high?
SPEAKER_01: I'm afraid of lying, man.
SPEAKER_01: Boom! The enemy is in me.
SPEAKER_01: The enemy is the inner me.
SPEAKER_01: Do you understand a word I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: You just nodded everything.
SPEAKER_01: I need to change.
SPEAKER_01: And you showed me that.
SPEAKER_01: I have an anger problem.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Can I get a hug?
SPEAKER_00: All you gotta do is just sit on a park bench next to somebody and see how long you can go, man.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, even a fool who keeps silent is consistent.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's something about restraint that is under-celebrated in the American culture.
SPEAKER_00: It's under-celebrated in our culture because we have such, we are so addicted to what we have to say on everything.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you do have something to say, but there's something about restraint and self-control that has to be linked with freedom as well.
SPEAKER_00: There are times to talk, we'll talk about that in a second.
SPEAKER_00: But what, but I just want to reiterate that listening is a skill that must be learned.
SPEAKER_00: That's why we do we do a lot of work.
SPEAKER_00: We give you opportunities, even our emotionally healthy relationships course.
SPEAKER_00: A lot of it is skills to learn how to listen.
SPEAKER_00: We think that we're good listeners a lot of times.
SPEAKER_00: I've realized I have so much further to go, just to be present with somebody, to understand what they're saying.
SPEAKER_00: This matters when we're building bridges with people, building cross-cultural bridges, anything when we're interacting with people that are coming from a different mode of life or life experience.
SPEAKER_00: If we don't know how to listen, we won't know how to embody the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: And that moves beyond just our words to our feelings, our nonverbals, such as facial expression, tone, intensity, posture.
SPEAKER_00: We listen until the other person feels felt.
SPEAKER_00: And you know what that feels like when you're with somebody who is actually listening to you.
SPEAKER_00: And so this is what God is calling us to, even before we think about how we respond.
SPEAKER_00: So before you speak, you think.
SPEAKER_00: We stop before we press send.
SPEAKER_00: We slow down a cool down before you speak up.
SPEAKER_00: So the wise listen first.
SPEAKER_00: The wise listen first.
SPEAKER_00: But then the wise do speak truthfully.
SPEAKER_00: This is kind of the second movement here that we see in the Proverbs.
SPEAKER_00: The wise speak truthfully.
SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 12, 22, lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason why God loves honesty is because God lives in reality.
SPEAKER_00: He deals with reality.
SPEAKER_00: And so most of our discipleship to Jesus is him helping us deal with our illusions and delusions until we can enter back into reality.
SPEAKER_00: So the reason why we speak honestly and truthfully, because we're leaving delusions and we're living into the only world where God exists, which is reality.
SPEAKER_00: And this is what happens our entire life of Christ-likeness.
SPEAKER_00: As God is growing you up, he's allowing you to move away from lies and illusions into uh into the knowledge of him and his work in the world and his work in us.
SPEAKER_00: And so our words, the opportunity we're given is for our words to align with his reality.
SPEAKER_00: And our words will always align with his reality or distort it, which is why in the garden the first distortion happened with words that were spoken to Eve.
SPEAKER_00: It happened with words.
SPEAKER_00: Did God actually say this?
SPEAKER_00: So we distort or we clarify even with our words, right?
SPEAKER_00: Why do we why do we feel that the temptation to lie?
SPEAKER_00: Some of it we wouldn't call it lie, we just call it not truthfulness.
SPEAKER_00: We'd call it white lies.
SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of different language we would talk about around dishonesty, but we lie to survive, to avoid consequences.
SPEAKER_00: We lie to get ahead, to skip the hard work, we lie to be liked, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I and I know what that feels like to want to be liked, to want to please people, but it does not lead to life.
SPEAKER_00: And so when our words have to be submitted to, what will bring truthfulness and honesty in all of our conduct, in your work, in your relationships, right?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, let your yes be yes and your no be no, which means that we don't live in these half, these kind of maybes and in-betweens.
SPEAKER_00: We try as best as we we can to use language that matches an honest, uh you know, honest reality.
SPEAKER_00: So we do speak truthfully to each other.
SPEAKER_00: We speak we we speak truthfully in order to love each other well and to grow each other up.
SPEAKER_00: So Proverbs 27, 5 says this better is an open rebuke than hidden love.
SPEAKER_00: Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
SPEAKER_00: So you do need a few friends around you who are gonna tell you the truth, uh, who are gonna rebuke you.
SPEAKER_00: You need people in your life who have the ability to do that, and you have to know that you're willing to receive that from them.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't have that in your life, I'm just telling you, it it's it's a dangerous place to be when nobody can correct you.
SPEAKER_00: But your words actually bring feedback into other people's life.
SPEAKER_00: It matters.
SPEAKER_00: So a couple months ago, I got a letter from somebody uh who uh was here on a Sunday morning and they listened to a sermon of mine, and I said something that was pretty kind of snarky.
SPEAKER_00: I tend to do that from time to time.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I said something that uh they wrote me a letter and said, Hey, you know, thank you for the sermon.
SPEAKER_00: There's this one part you said something, and here's where I didn't appreciate it, and here's where I felt misunderstood, and uh and I just wanted you to know that.
SPEAKER_00: It was actually a very kind letter.
SPEAKER_00: It was respectful, it was direct, it was clear, it wasn't combative.
SPEAKER_00: And I read it, you know, and it there's a little part of me is like, who's this person?
SPEAKER_00: But then I took the letter and I gave it to the elders and said, Listen, do you think there's anything here?
SPEAKER_00: Let me know.
SPEAKER_00: And so they all read it.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, Yeah, we think there's something here.
SPEAKER_00: You got that one wrong.
SPEAKER_00: They're like, Yeah, I did remember that, and you got that one wrong.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: All right, well, that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: So I had to kind of do some soul searching, a little reflection, like, are you what and I realized it wasn't what I said, it was how I said it.
SPEAKER_00: Because how many of you guys know you can say the right, you can be a hundred percent wrong, a hundred percent right and a hundred percent wrong at the same time.
SPEAKER_00: And so it was how I said it, and it was flippant, it was snarky, it was kind of joking on something that was a serious matter.
SPEAKER_00: So I had to write this letter, uh, this person back and said, first of all, thank you for writing me a letter.
SPEAKER_00: I get very few letters, uh, you know, if anything, an email.
SPEAKER_00: And thank you for writing an email that was actually like thorough, and it was actually kind and it was direct, and and uh you didn't mince words, you said what you meant meant, and and it was it all actually opened up you know a great exchange uh between us.
SPEAKER_00: But we need people.
SPEAKER_00: I need people who tell me the truth, you do too.
SPEAKER_00: We need in our culture truth tellers, and not just people who say, I'm a truth teller, I tell it like it is.
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of caveat here.
SPEAKER_00: We have this really interesting thing, is some of you have this type of personality, you say whatever comes to mind, and the way you've been able to get away with that is you say, I'm just one of those people, I just tell it like it is, just tell it like it is.
SPEAKER_00: And usually what that means is you only see negative things and you're willing to say those things.
SPEAKER_00: That's really what that means.
SPEAKER_00: Because if you just tell it like it is, then half of everything you say will be an accompliment of something like, you know, uh, I love your hair, and that shirt is weird.
SPEAKER_00: And I mean, you would say things like a compliment and I mean you would it would probably be half and half, but usually people who say I tell it like it is, usually means that they're really good at pointing out what's wrong, right?
SPEAKER_00: Now, I love people who are very honest and open like that, but speaking truth is not just about takedowns and deconstruction.
SPEAKER_00: It's about building up, it's about using the power of words for growth and honor and life and healing, right?
SPEAKER_00: So, kind of four ways to think about this.
SPEAKER_00: In the new family of Jesus, we speak ref respectfully, honestly, clearly, and in a timely fashion.
SPEAKER_00: In the new family of Jesus, we speak respectfully, honestly, clearly, and in a timely fashion.
SPEAKER_00: What I mean by that is respectfully, you give thought to your words instead of saying, How could you go to that movie?
SPEAKER_00: It was terrible.
SPEAKER_00: You say, that's fascinating.
SPEAKER_00: Tell me what you liked about it.
SPEAKER_00: You speak honestly, you say what you truly think instead of I can't volunteer because of it, I have other plans.
SPEAKER_00: You say, I prefer not to volunteer because I want some time alone after a full week.
SPEAKER_00: That's honest.
SPEAKER_00: You speak clearly, instead of saying, Are you busy Tuesday night?
SPEAKER_00: You ask, would you attend the class I'm teaching on Tuesday and give me feedback?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: And in a timely fashion.
SPEAKER_00: You notice when the other person is tired, irritated, or in short on time.
SPEAKER_00: So you don't bring up something that's gonna be hard to talk about if it's not the right time.
SPEAKER_00: You wait till they're relaxed before you're raising a concern.
SPEAKER_00: And so there's things that we have to learn in the family of God because your words matter.
SPEAKER_00: And when people reflect on their experiences of Christians in the church, a lot of times it comes back to the way that we use our words, what people feel from us, okay?
SPEAKER_00: So third thing though, so so the wise listen, the wise tell the truth, but the wise speak life.
SPEAKER_00: The wise speak life.
SPEAKER_00: So Proverbs 10, 11, the mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
SPEAKER_00: The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.
SPEAKER_00: And so Christian speech has a purifying quality to it.
SPEAKER_00: You guys know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_00: There's a purifying quality when you're with people who are embodying the life of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: It's a fountain.
SPEAKER_00: You feel clean afterwards, you feel edified, encouraged, built up.
SPEAKER_00: That doesn't mean no, you never talk about hard things.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean you don't share honestly and actually get to the stuff of life.
SPEAKER_00: That's not we're not talking about, we're not talking about avoiding hard things.
SPEAKER_00: What I'm talking about, there's a way of talking about hard things that actually leads to purity.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what that was.
SPEAKER_00: That leads to purity.
SPEAKER_00: And this is why in Ephesians 5, when when Paul is talking about the relationship relationship between a husband and a wife, he's talking about the husband's responsibility for a wife to wash her in the water of the word.
SPEAKER_00: And it's like what Christ did for the church.
SPEAKER_00: He he washes us in the water of the word, cleansing and purifying us until we're holy and spotless and without blemish or wrinkle.
SPEAKER_00: That's what Jesus does for us.
SPEAKER_00: He cleanses us, he cleanses you through speaking over you.
SPEAKER_00: Words of life and words actually evoke beauty out of you.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: So the reason this matters for us is because our words ought to have the same kind of qualitative effect.
SPEAKER_00: Do our words, even the casual, even like kind of the checking in before and after a church service, do your words have that kind of quality where you're like, you're like, man, I just felt so full of life after talking with them.
SPEAKER_00: And we were just talking about soccer, you know, that's all we were talking about.
SPEAKER_00: It was still so full of life, you know.
SPEAKER_00: Do you feel that?
SPEAKER_00: Because this is the there's two things that can destroy a community.
SPEAKER_00: It's unhealthy conflict and gossip.
SPEAKER_00: It's words that are flippant.
SPEAKER_00: It's words that we use that we don't know how they're creating an effect.
SPEAKER_00: And so the invitation here, as we think about if realizing that our words have life is how might God invite you to bring a word of life in something that would be other way otherwise a throwaway exchange?
SPEAKER_00: What would you think about a text message that you need to send today or tomorrow?
SPEAKER_00: How would you not only communicate what you're gonna communicate, but also add a word of life to that person?
SPEAKER_00: Or an email that you need to send to a coworker, how would you add an encouragement, a word of life to that person after the service today, and you're gonna be checking in with each other a little bit after the service?
SPEAKER_00: How would you add a word of life to each other to help each other know I see you, I know you, God sees you, right?
SPEAKER_00: We don't need to overthink it, but as we as we think about our words, it's a prayer that we can take with us.
SPEAKER_00: So we listen, we tell the truth, we speak life, we speak life.
SPEAKER_00: And why do we speak life?
SPEAKER_00: Because God speaks life over us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the word that was made flesh.
SPEAKER_00: He's the word that was made flesh.
SPEAKER_00: He is the word.
SPEAKER_00: And the scripture said that his blood even speaks a better word than the blood of Abel in the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: His blood actually speaks and it declares identity over us.
SPEAKER_00: I just want you to think about, before we even think about what am I going to change or what needs to be adjusted in my words, I just want you to remember what are the words that God has spoken over you.
SPEAKER_00: Because when you come into, when you give your heart, your life to following Jesus, it always comes hand in hand with you responding to something he is saying about you or has said about you.
SPEAKER_00: I just take a moment in this room.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, let's do this, let's close our eyes.
SPEAKER_00: I want you just to recount the promises of Scripture, the things that God has said over you, about you.
SPEAKER_00: That you're an heir or co-heir with Christ, that you are a friend of God.
SPEAKER_00: Even Jesus says, I no longer call you servants, I call you friends.
SPEAKER_00: You're a new creation.
SPEAKER_00: Is that a word you need to receive over you?
SPEAKER_00: That you're righteous in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You're redeemed, you're forgiven, you're adopted, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit in whom he has pleased to dwell.
SPEAKER_00: Not only that, you're an ambassador for Christ.
SPEAKER_00: He loves that he's sending you into the world as a you're a missionary.
SPEAKER_00: You're a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a saint, a holy one.
SPEAKER_00: You are God's workmanship, God's crafted image-bearer.
SPEAKER_00: You're the light of the world, you're the salt of the earth, you are a branch abiding in the vine.
SPEAKER_00: You are more than a conqueror.
SPEAKER_00: You're free.
SPEAKER_00: You're God's own.
SPEAKER_00: And he knew you before you were born.
SPEAKER_00: As I read those words, can you can you feel, just reconnect with the sense of yes, those are the words of life.
SPEAKER_00: Those are the words of life.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe you've never heard those words before, and I speak them over you too.
SPEAKER_00: You can receive words of life from God if you just turn your attention to Jesus and say, Jesus, I receive your love.
SPEAKER_00: Even right now, I just thank you, Holy Spirit, to wash us with words of life across this room.
SPEAKER_00: The words that God speaks are the only words that can heal the deepest parts of us.
SPEAKER_00: The words of God call us back into significance and belonging and security.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to bless you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: That before we ever speak, he's spoken over us.
SPEAKER_00: That's the beautiful part about following Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: He he thinks his own thoughts towards us and he calls us to agree with him about who we are in him.
SPEAKER_00: So the source of our words is not just not just I'm gonna be a better person.
SPEAKER_00: The source of our words is Christ Himself with His words having an effect on us, and so our words can have an effect on others.
SPEAKER_00: So this morning, here's what I want to do to end our time.
SPEAKER_00: I already mentioned this passage that talks about the blood of Christ actually speaks its own language.
SPEAKER_00: The blood of Christ speaks over us, it reminds us of what's true, of who we are, of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: So this morning, I do want to invite us together to receive communion.
SPEAKER_00: And there's gonna be two tables in the front and there's one in the back.
SPEAKER_00: They're covered up right now.
SPEAKER_00: But what I'm gonna ask you to do is wherever you're at in the room, if you're a believer in Jesus and you want to remember the words that Jesus speaks over you, what he's done on your behalf, I want to invite you to receive, we're gonna receive communion together.
SPEAKER_00: And so wherever you're at, just find a table closest to you.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe go up with any friends or family and get the elements and bring them back to your chair.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do something special together.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So let's do that now.
SPEAKER_00: Wherever you're in the room, just find a table.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're not ready to take that step, you can sit where you are.
SPEAKER_00: No problem.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want to invite you to do this morning.
SPEAKER_00: If you're receiving communion, could you just stand across the room?
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna do something a little bit more interactive here.
SPEAKER_00: So when we receive communion, it's deeply personal in the sense of you know, we're singing about God's love for us uniquely.
SPEAKER_00: But one of the gifts of communion together is the fact that we share it, we're sharing a meal together.
SPEAKER_00: That's really what it is.
SPEAKER_00: We're receiving the grace and mercy of God together.
SPEAKER_00: So here's what I want to invite you to do if you are receiving communion this morning, is to I want you to either pair up.
SPEAKER_00: We're to get in groups of three.
SPEAKER_00: You can do that too.
SPEAKER_00: Either pair up or get in groups of three.
SPEAKER_00: And here's what I want you to do.
SPEAKER_00: As you prepare to receive communion, I want you to take turns saying these words to each other.
SPEAKER_00: This is the body of Christ given for you.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the blood of Christ shed for you.
SPEAKER_00: I want you to look the other person.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna invite you to look the other person in the eyes and just say that verbatim.
SPEAKER_00: This here, this is the body of Christ given for you.
SPEAKER_00: This is the blood of Christ shed for you, and as you say it, you're saying it, speaking life and faith and purity, healing into the life of another person.
SPEAKER_00: And as you receive those words, I want you to receive them as a gift of Christ Himself.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: So one person's gonna say that, then the other person will say that back.
SPEAKER_00: And then together you'll receive the elements.
SPEAKER_00: And after that, you can do whatever you want.
SPEAKER_00: If you feel like you want to pray for each other, that's great.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to sit down and do your own thing, that's fine too.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in a group of two or three, just take turns one.
SPEAKER_00: Um, one after, you know, just take turns sharing that word with each other until everybody receives and gives those words to each other.
SPEAKER_00: Receive communion together, and let's let's let's receive the words of God over us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: So go ahead and get in groups of two or three and repeat these words to each other and receive communion.
SPEAKER_00: As you're praying, I want to pray a closing prayer over you, not to interrupt you.
SPEAKER_00: But just to bless what God is doing.
SPEAKER_00: So if you'll just join me for a moment as we kind of close our time.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, I thank you today that we receive your grace and mercy.
SPEAKER_00: We receive the words that you've spoken over us, and I just bless what's happening in the room right now.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you for every word of life that is being spoken even right now.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you that as we leave, you're growing us up into your image and your likeness, and you're sending us out to bring healing.
SPEAKER_00: Give us words of life, God.
SPEAKER_00: We thank you that you have words of life and you're sending us with words of life.
SPEAKER_00: We pray all of these things in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, let's stand again.
SPEAKER_00: Let's stand again across the room.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to I do want to invite you as we close to continue.
SPEAKER_00: If you were in the middle of a prayer with others, you can continue back into that.
SPEAKER_00: But I just want to just say it again.
SPEAKER_00: If you're a guest with us, I'd love to meet you in the back.
SPEAKER_00: Uh introduce myself.
SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow night we'll be at the park in Longma, at Centennial Park.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be an awesome time of connection.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and as we go, we're going in the peace of God.
SPEAKER_00: So may you may as you give them, may you love them, light up and look out to the places that God has sent you.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, give them the peace and the strength of the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_00: Love you guys.