1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,880 Welcome to the River City Church podcast and a message by our 2 00:00:03,880 --> 00:00:07,960 lead pastor, Jason Powers. Our prayer is that this message 3 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:12,240 would inspire and encourage you, build your faith and point you 4 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:14,840 to the life changing love of Jesus. 5 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:18,640 May you enjoy the goodness of God as you follow Him today. 6 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:24,720 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:28,920 Every time in Scripture, there are few in the Scripture. 8 00:00:28,920 --> 00:00:31,440 It shows us a picture into the throne room, right? 9 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:33,520 We see it in Revelation. We see it in Isaiah. 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:35,560 That's the song that they're singing. 11 00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:39,880 OK, so when we gather together and we sing in the forms of the 12 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,240 the melodies and all that holy, holy, holy is the Lord God 13 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:45,480 Almighty. We are joining in with the 14 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:49,080 chorus of heaven. That is our ultimate reality. 15 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,560 Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty doesn't just mean that 16 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:57,680 he is morally better than I am and morally better than we are. 17 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,240 What it means is that he is separate. 18 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,680 He is distinct, he is set apart from us. 19 00:01:03,920 --> 00:01:06,760 And what that means is that leads us that that is where our 20 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,960 our confession comes in our confession each week we say we 21 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:17,360 are badly broken, we are deeply loved and we are badly. 22 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:22,120 Broken the holiness of God is that he is able to look into and 23 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,800 at our. Brokenness and still love us. 24 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:30,280 Maybe the only thing that you need to hear today is that your 25 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:38,520 brokenness has not separated you from the ruthlessly determined 26 00:01:39,120 --> 00:01:43,160 God who wants to love you. Doesn't mitigate it. 27 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:44,600 It doesn't mean that we're not broken. 28 00:01:44,960 --> 00:01:47,960 It just means that our brokenness isn't what's ultimate 29 00:01:47,960 --> 00:01:51,240 and what's final about us. In fact, it's His Holiness that 30 00:01:51,240 --> 00:01:54,600 is good news for us. It is His Holiness that draws 31 00:01:54,600 --> 00:01:56,200 us. And you may have a hard time 32 00:01:56,200 --> 00:01:58,600 with the brokenness. You may be some of us in here 33 00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,600 are just like Nope. I tasted it this week. 34 00:02:00,600 --> 00:02:02,320 I saw. It on the way here. 35 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:04,880 In my own life, it's not. But some of you, this may be new 36 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:06,560 and you're just like, wait, what do you mean like I'm broken 37 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:07,480 going? Oh, that's OK. 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:10,479 That's pretty good. We have this experience in life. 39 00:02:10,479 --> 00:02:15,400 Right. The things that I intend to do 40 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,600 are not always the things that happen. 41 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,920 There's a gap. Between my intention and the 42 00:02:22,920 --> 00:02:26,000 expression of of those intentions, I try to do. 43 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:30,560 Good Romans Romans 7 Paul says the thing that I I I don't want 44 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:35,360 to do, I find myself doing right, but a story of my life is 45 00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:39,960 a story of walking into moments expecting and intending. 46 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:42,280 One thing I said last week, I want you to hear all throughout 47 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,440 this series on the Proverbs. My assumption about you is that 48 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,800 your intentions are good. I don't think anybody wakes up 49 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,160 in the morning and is like, like, I am ready to ruin 50 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:53,560 someone's day today, right? No. 51 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,960 We walk into the world intending to do good, and yet. 52 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:03,040 In an honest moment, best intentions notwithstanding, we 53 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,960 can find we find ourselves where the fruit of our intentions 54 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:10,320 isn't what we expected it to be. And so then, right, we're in 55 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,080 this position where we got it. OK, well, what do we got? 56 00:03:12,080 --> 00:03:13,440 We got to figure this out, right? 57 00:03:13,640 --> 00:03:16,480 And I, what I'm going to say is I think our attempts and our 58 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:18,960 approach to figuring it out as part of the problem. 59 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,800 Often times when we talk about figuring out, figuring it out 60 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:26,240 why things are going the way they are, figuring out why 61 00:03:26,240 --> 00:03:30,000 there's a gap between my intent and the and the expression, the 62 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:31,680 impact of my life. What is that? 63 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,040 Most of those attempts are centered around and gathered 64 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,600 around information. Somehow we live in the post most 65 00:03:38,600 --> 00:03:40,880 enlightenment, right? Like we are a thoroughly 66 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:44,000 scientific people, right? We want to reason together and 67 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:46,000 we want to understand, and that's important. 68 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:47,600 That's that's great. We see it. 69 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:50,600 But our attempt to figure out our lives and the world that we 70 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:53,880 live in that we either try to gather more information, right? 71 00:03:53,960 --> 00:03:56,920 When things aren't going well, when I'm not feeling right, when 72 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,360 something has happened that I don't understand or don't like, 73 00:03:59,480 --> 00:04:01,640 I want to gather more information, right? 74 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:04,880 What are the rules? What, what, what happened? 75 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,240 What did I, what did I do that I should have done differently? 76 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,840 We begin to look for angles. What, what position can I 77 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,600 leverage? How can I find something to get 78 00:04:15,600 --> 00:04:17,640 this through and into this moment? 79 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:21,920 How can I make this happen in such a way that they can see and 80 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:23,840 think and feel what I want them to do? 81 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,920 What is it that is keeping me from winning, from getting 82 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,560 ahead, from overcoming? This is information gathering 83 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:33,560 and we go to all kinds of different places for it. 84 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,280 It's not bad. Information is is super is 85 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:40,240 important. I'm wired like I have emotions. 86 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:42,920 The older I get, the more comfortable I am acknowledging 87 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:47,000 that like I have emotions, but I don't make any decisions based 88 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:49,840 on them, right? I distrust them, right? 89 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,240 So I'm always going like, well, what can I do different? 90 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:54,840 So we're just trying to gather information or we're trying to 91 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:57,000 use information to clarify, right? 92 00:04:57,160 --> 00:04:59,360 Somebody says something that hurts us or something, right? 93 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,360 What do we want to do? Oh, I was only. 94 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:05,320 Right, this is. Clarifying our intent, giving 95 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,440 you information that we think is going to make a different or you 96 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:10,800 didn't do this. If you had done this, then it's 97 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:13,600 the information of how this could be better. 98 00:05:13,840 --> 00:05:17,000 Underlying all of this is this assumption. 99 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:23,680 If we could just get the right information at the right time, 100 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:28,200 everything will be better. Yep, I I. 101 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,240 I think that I believe that I'm I'm a gatherer. 102 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,400 I want to find details. I want to find information. 103 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:37,560 Here's the problem that I have to that I have to wrestle with. 104 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,880 In the Internet age, the sum total of all knowledge is 105 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:46,360 available to any third grader with Internet access. 106 00:05:49,200 --> 00:05:54,240 And still we live in a world that is angry and afraid and 107 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:58,800 anxious and scared and uncomfortable and poor. 108 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:06,400 So the reality that we can, or that the conclusion that we can 109 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:10,240 draw from that is the question that information asks is, is 110 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:12,760 what do I know? What, what? 111 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:15,280 What do I? Understand what's the knowledge 112 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,560 and the information. Whereas wisdom, as we saw last 113 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,440 week, starting right, wisdom begins in the fear of the Lord. 114 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,440 Not in some trembling, afraid that God's going to like strike 115 00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:28,160 me down or punch me, but just in the acknowledgement that God is 116 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,080 holy. He's different from me. 117 00:06:30,640 --> 00:06:32,880 He's not. He's not just someone that I'm 118 00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:35,640 on equal speaking terms with. He is God. 119 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:38,760 He's the one who created all things. 120 00:06:39,360 --> 00:06:42,040 His way is good and righteous, and my way is hopefully 121 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,160 attending to be. That information asks, what do I 122 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:45,520 know? But the question that wisdom 123 00:06:45,520 --> 00:06:48,520 asks is what am I becoming and when? 124 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,680 When the Bible asks the question or implies the question, what am 125 00:06:51,680 --> 00:06:54,720 I becoming? It's talking about submission. 126 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:59,800 What am I submitting to? What am I giving permission to 127 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:04,600 tell my heart where to go and what to do and how to act and 128 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:07,440 how to behave right? Because the reality that we can 129 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:12,000 know for sure is it's not just the information that we have. 130 00:07:12,160 --> 00:07:16,680 It's how that information gets into us and then out of us. 131 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,200 What does it do in here? And then to get out. 132 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,040 And that is a question of character. 133 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:23,920 That is a question of God's nature. 134 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:27,960 That is about formation. And we said that last week when 135 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,640 we begin to walk in the fear of the Lord and our wisdom begins 136 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,840 to grow in US and around us and through us, it transforms us. 137 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:40,160 It changes us. So wisdom that isn't just some 138 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:45,040 abstract idea. Wisdom isn't just some data set 139 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:49,680 that we try to memorize and then rehearse kind of by checking our 140 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:53,480 brains out at the door. Wisdom means being fully 141 00:07:53,640 --> 00:07:59,640 intellectually available to the moment, but also being fully 142 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:05,960 available to the rest of what's. Going on around us and the thing 143 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:13,680 so so the the place that that most clearly shows up so I am 144 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,720 prone to hyperbole you know hyperbole right to exaggerate 145 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:21,120 I'm I'm the most hyperbolic person in the entire world right 146 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:27,960 so I tried to to dial that back this week right to try to not 147 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:32,120 speak in in big because. What I think the Scripture shows 148 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:37,480 us is not always and not exclusively, but if you want a 149 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:44,800 great read, a trustworthy read on our wisdom quotient in any 150 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:48,680 given moment. The best place to look is in our 151 00:08:48,680 --> 00:08:55,200 speech is in the way that we use our words, verbal communication, 152 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,960 non verbal communication, all all of that. 153 00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:01,280 So we're going to focus on wisdom through our speech. 154 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:04,360 What does it look like? Not just not just how can I 155 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,000 memorize the wise words, right? But we're going to look, we're 156 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:10,120 going to be in two Proverbs, Proverbs 12 and Proverbs 15, 157 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:11,760 right? Like one page over if you got 158 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,160 your paper Bible if you need to. Swipe if you got. 159 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:15,760 Scrolls. You know you can unroll it. 160 00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:16,760 You do. What you need to do right? 161 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,080 But we're not just trying to memorize wise words that we can 162 00:09:22,080 --> 00:09:23,960 say. Rather we want to get in on. 163 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,960 We want to understand how does wisdom get involved in in like 164 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:32,040 the time of our lives, the moments, the day-to-day moments 165 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,920 where we exist? Because wisdom is demonstrated 166 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:37,520 at work. Wisdom is demonstrated in your 167 00:09:37,520 --> 00:09:42,160 marriage, in your singleness, in your finances, in your 168 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:45,520 entertainment, in all of the places that we go moment by 169 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,040 moment. Wisdom has a formative have 170 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:50,680 effect on us. The more that we begin to walk 171 00:09:50,680 --> 00:09:53,800 in that place, the more that our moments will be transformed. 172 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:56,360 And as we look at that, we're going to see how wisdom shapes 173 00:09:56,640 --> 00:10:01,240 us, our nature, our character, and finally how all of that 174 00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,320 comes together into creating an atmosphere or an environment. 175 00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,160 Or a culture. Our words are powerful words. 176 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,240 And let me just let me guess something. 177 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:18,720 My guess is that at some point today, something's going to push 178 00:10:18,720 --> 00:10:22,320 on you. We've already acknowledged we're 179 00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:26,400 broken. We're broken and we're loved. 180 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,560 So we don't have to hide. From that brokenness, when it 181 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:34,560 shows up, when we go, it's now not just general brokenness, but 182 00:10:34,560 --> 00:10:37,600 it's a specific brand and breed of brokenness. 183 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,960 And I also want to say like, so Monday, Monday is my big like 184 00:10:40,960 --> 00:10:43,320 sermon. Like I get in and I read all the 185 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:46,520 stuff to feel really smart. And so Monday, I knew what this 186 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,800 message was going to be. I knew where it was going to be 187 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:50,360 about. And I literally, I can show you 188 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,640 in my journal, I literally wrote down, Lord, I'm not going to 189 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:56,520 have any problem with the content of this message. 190 00:10:56,760 --> 00:10:59,120 I'm going to have to wrestle with the heart of this. 191 00:10:59,280 --> 00:11:03,360 And so I want you to know I have been through it this week with 192 00:11:03,360 --> 00:11:07,040 this content. I'm not here today as someone 193 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:10,920 telling you what you need to do so you can be more like me. 194 00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:14,560 I'm telling you, I spent this week with this as the framework 195 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:19,560 for me realizing how wonderful Jesus is and how much better my 196 00:11:19,560 --> 00:11:21,960 world in life would be if I were more like Him. 197 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,600 OK, so I don't want you to hear judgement in any of this. 198 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:27,920 It's not. It's not there. 199 00:11:28,680 --> 00:11:31,600 But I also don't want you to needlessly protect yourself 200 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:35,680 because you are deeply loved. Deeply loved. 201 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:39,600 And if anything gets revealed today, it was already there and 202 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:41,800 he knew it and he loved you anyway. 203 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:46,880 Not only did he love you anyway, I loved you anyway, OK? 204 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:50,160 You're not going to shock me by your brokenness. 205 00:11:50,560 --> 00:11:52,440 I promise you I'll match a story for story. 206 00:11:52,440 --> 00:11:55,680 Like, let's go at it, OK? What we want to do is we want to 207 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:59,440 be formed by wisdom. We want to be transformed. 208 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,640 We want to be different because of what we see from him in the 209 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:04,160 scripture. And so here's kind of the big 210 00:12:04,160 --> 00:12:07,680 idea over kind of over this at the beginning is our words are 211 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:11,560 steering every moment towards either healing or harm. 212 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:16,600 OK, so every moment. Every word that we say, 213 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:21,880 everything that comes out of our mouth is steering each moment in 214 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:25,720 a direction. It's going one way or the other. 215 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:30,880 So formation then is our ability to intentionally and 216 00:12:30,880 --> 00:12:34,120 deliberately with wisdom, steer those moments. 217 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:36,560 Here's what I want, formation. Some of you may have Tesla. 218 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:38,200 I've heard one of the coolest thing about the Tesla is 219 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:41,120 sometimes the Tesla car, right? You get into a Tesla and what 220 00:12:41,120 --> 00:12:42,480 happens? Like you turn it on and it will 221 00:12:42,480 --> 00:12:46,400 say, your car has been updated. You now have this new feature, 222 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:49,680 right? Your car is now 14% faster than 223 00:12:49,680 --> 00:12:50,840 it was. I am. 224 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,880 I go to bed like Lord, download wisdom. 225 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:58,000 I would love, right? I have to pick up my phone. 226 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,080 It's like you are 14% wiser in your speech today. 227 00:13:01,320 --> 00:13:04,960 Not, not the case. That's not what formation means. 228 00:13:05,680 --> 00:13:12,480 What formation does mean for us is growth, a growing awareness 229 00:13:12,880 --> 00:13:18,480 that every moment that we walk into already has context. 230 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:23,960 You hear what I'm saying? Every person that you talk to 231 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:30,360 every moment of every day already has emotion, already has 232 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,760 tension. They're having a certain kind of 233 00:13:33,760 --> 00:13:37,160 day already. So when you speak into that, 234 00:13:37,280 --> 00:13:39,480 you're not speaking into a blank space. 235 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,480 You're speaking into something, into a story already in motion. 236 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,480 And that, and what that means is, are you listening? 237 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:54,440 Your words aren't neutral. I the problem is I thought they 238 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,120 were. I always thought they were and 239 00:13:56,120 --> 00:13:57,360 that. Allowed me to say, oh, I didn't 240 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:02,240 know I'm man Why? Like when I was a a younger man, 241 00:14:02,400 --> 00:14:08,280 newly married, my beautiful, sweet bride, you know, I was 242 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:14,280 well, I told her the truth that was important for her to know. 243 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:17,680 Valentine's Day is just a hallmark holiday. 244 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:23,040 It's not real. See, I get the Amen, right? 245 00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:25,920 Yeah. That's so. 246 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:28,400 Now listen. Was it true? 247 00:14:28,520 --> 00:14:30,920 Sure. Was she? 248 00:14:30,920 --> 00:14:33,360 Devastated. Oh yeah, Yeah. 249 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:42,640 No, definitely, definitely. My intent was one thing, the 250 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:48,160 impact was another. Proverbs 12/18 says some people 251 00:14:48,160 --> 00:14:53,560 make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. 252 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,600 I had to acknowledge the reality that in that moment I had great 253 00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:05,040 intentions. And far too often I find that I 254 00:15:05,040 --> 00:15:10,040 have great intentions and a wake of emotionally bleeding people 255 00:15:10,200 --> 00:15:14,320 behind me. And so I have to contend with. 256 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:18,920 Is that the wisdom of speech And it also confronts me with 257 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:21,120 something else. It doesn't say here that that 258 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,240 the the fundamental distinction is between truth and error. 259 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:29,200 It's possible to be true and still, unless what I told 260 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,280 Natalie was true, I'm not calling into that. 261 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,880 But what she did, she didn't hear what she wanted me to say 262 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:39,200 was I am grateful for this opportunity to demonstrate and 263 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,400 express my love for you, regardless of who sketch 264 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:44,080 schedules the day on the holiday. 265 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:47,040 And sure, I I should do it on every day, but you should do it 266 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,920 on that day too. That would have been the wise 267 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:54,560 thing to say. So the question primarily in 268 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,960 wisdom isn't primarily is this true or is this error? 269 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:01,840 I don't in any way want to minimize the value and the 270 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,920 necessity of truth. But what I do want to say is the 271 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,920 primary question isn't, is this true or is this error? 272 00:16:07,920 --> 00:16:14,160 It's are my words in this moment working with Jesus or against? 273 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,880 Him. Jesus said I'm redeeming 274 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,440 everything. He said I am making all things 275 00:16:19,440 --> 00:16:21,840 new. Jesus said, blessed are you when 276 00:16:21,840 --> 00:16:23,760 you mourn because you will be comforted. 277 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:28,520 Are my words an expression of that or an opposition to that? 278 00:16:28,520 --> 00:16:33,040 It's one or the other. I'm either communicating my love 279 00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:37,240 and devotion and commitment to my wife, Hallmark Holiday not 280 00:16:37,240 --> 00:16:42,360 with regardless, or I'm cutting her and hurting her. 281 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:49,320 What I had to wrestle with in that moment is that my. 282 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:55,080 Truth and me being me. Doesn't absolve me from the 283 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:58,720 responsibility of my relational context. 284 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,680 I'm responsible for what happened in my wife's heart that 285 00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:07,920 day. And I want you to know this very 286 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:12,200 week, you might be surprised to find that sometimes my words get 287 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,280 a little bit ahead of my brain. This week I wreck. 288 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,319 I had to wrestle with that and I had to contend with this. 289 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:24,160 My words, the pastor's words, the preachers words cut and do 290 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:27,400 harm and I'm responsible for that. 291 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:35,200 Proverbs 15 one tells us a gentle answer to flex anger, but 292 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:40,720 harsh words make tempers flare. See, that's what our speech 293 00:17:40,720 --> 00:17:44,680 does. Our speech either redirects the 294 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:47,800 emotion that's already in the room towards something that is 295 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,480 healing and life giving. Do you realize that you have 296 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:56,280 that power with your words? You can walk into a room where 297 00:17:56,280 --> 00:18:01,760 people are afraid and you can bring peace with your words. 298 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,160 You can walk into a room where people are angry and ready to 299 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,200 riot and you can calm the room. You can bring the temperature in 300 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:12,200 the room and you can redirect those words towards 301 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,280 reconciliation, towards wholeness, towards redemption. 302 00:18:15,360 --> 00:18:19,840 Or you can walk into a room of anger and anxiety and fear and 303 00:18:19,840 --> 00:18:23,120 pour the gaslight the match throw and watch the whole thing 304 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:27,880 burn words. Are powerful. 305 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:31,720 So the question of wisdom and the question, and this is 306 00:18:31,720 --> 00:18:34,800 especially relevant for us as Christians, I think the question 307 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:42,240 for us is, do we care enough? Do we care enough to redirect 308 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:49,280 each of these loaded moments? Do we care enough? 309 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,320 About the heart of other people to de escalate. 310 00:18:56,880 --> 00:19:00,400 Do we care? Enough about the people around 311 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:10,480 us to speak compassion and life and goodness or will. 312 00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:14,680 You. Speak your truth, consequences 313 00:19:14,680 --> 00:19:20,760 be damned, and pour fuel on an inferno of anxiety and fear and 314 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:24,800 outrage. You don't have to tell me what 315 00:19:24,800 --> 00:19:28,000 you're going to do. I can see it in the spaces that 316 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,960 we walk into, not just the physical space. 317 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,280 One of the things I love most about this is this is such an 318 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:35,080 encouraging place. On Sunday morning. 319 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,040 I see people being prayed with, being encouraged, being loved. 320 00:19:38,120 --> 00:19:40,880 But then I go off in other places, the places where I go, 321 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,120 it's easy for me to be in here because I'm in pastor mode. 322 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:45,560 But then I. Go home and I speak words that 323 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,440 aren't wise, speak words that cut. 324 00:19:47,440 --> 00:19:51,640 I speak words that incite anger, that that in spite incite 325 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:54,800 outrage rather than deflecting. And then I realize like I'm not 326 00:19:54,880 --> 00:19:59,440 complete. Yet our online spaces are words 327 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:02,080 unfiltered. Do they bring healing? 328 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:09,960 This is our superpower. Wise words have the power to 329 00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:16,040 shape what comes next and the power to transform not just a 330 00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:20,880 heart, but a moment. You can transform anger and 331 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:22,600 division and separation. Here's what I'm saying. 332 00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:24,720 In your marriage, are you feeling that growing gap? 333 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,240 Are you feeling that inability to connect, to understand? 334 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:30,280 Are you starting to wonder whether it's too late? 335 00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:32,960 She's too far gone? He stopped listening. 336 00:20:32,960 --> 00:20:37,840 Maybe he has. But listen, the purpose of this, 337 00:20:37,840 --> 00:20:39,600 I know the temptation. The whole time I was. 338 00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:41,680 That was my Monday, right? I'm reading all this. 339 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,600 I'm just like, Lord, man, you better tell Natalie. 340 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,320 Tell her Lord. She needs to know. 341 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:49,320 That's not what this is about this morning. 342 00:20:49,320 --> 00:20:53,720 Listen, Here's my confidence. The Holy Spirit is so good at 343 00:20:53,720 --> 00:20:56,040 applying truth where it needs to be. 344 00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,720 He is so good at that that we can devote. 345 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:01,000 All of our. Attention this morning to 346 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:05,160 listening to how he wants to apply it to our life, to my 347 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,920 life, because the reality is I don't always shape the words the 348 00:21:09,920 --> 00:21:12,640 way I think Jesus would shape the moments with my words, the 349 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:15,400 way Jesus words. What speech does it is either 350 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:20,600 going to amplify destructive emotion, or it's going to 351 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,800 steward it towards peace. It's only going to do one of 352 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:25,800 those things. It's either going to make people 353 00:21:25,800 --> 00:21:29,720 more anxious, more angry, more afraid, more outraged. 354 00:21:29,720 --> 00:21:31,880 More intolerant, More, more, more. 355 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,920 Or it's going to say, what about can we over? 356 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:40,520 The world seems to be on fire, doesn't it? 357 00:21:40,520 --> 00:21:45,920 The world's just burning. People are angry and they're 358 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,960 afraid and they're alone and they're entrenched. 359 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:53,520 You ever feel like that? I guess the question I would ask 360 00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:59,080 is, why do we continue to listen to people who fan flames with 361 00:21:59,160 --> 00:22:02,000 anger and victimhood and separation? 362 00:22:03,280 --> 00:22:07,160 Why do we continue to fill our head and our hearts with voices 363 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:09,440 that. Turn US against that. 364 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:13,240 Tell us that our anger is righteous and justified and our 365 00:22:13,440 --> 00:22:17,760 fear is expected and even responsible when we have a Jesus 366 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:18,880 who said trust. Me. 367 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:25,400 Said I've overcome. The world see the significance 368 00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:28,480 of that idea, our ability to shape the world, our ability to 369 00:22:28,480 --> 00:22:32,680 redirect and to shape it is that whether we're stewarding it or 370 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,880 whether we're inciting and and by the way, it is one of those 371 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:39,360 two. We are either escalating or we 372 00:22:39,360 --> 00:22:45,680 are de escalating and that isn't really just about the moments 373 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:49,560 that's about our character that's about the kind of people 374 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,680 that we are. This is the part that I really 375 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,520 hate. I really hate this, but how we 376 00:22:57,520 --> 00:23:00,920 use our words reveals the kind of person that we are becoming. 377 00:23:02,680 --> 00:23:07,000 It's not just verbal speech, it's non verbal communication. 378 00:23:07,200 --> 00:23:10,960 And this is important. Speech isn't just expression, 379 00:23:11,680 --> 00:23:16,480 it's it's formation. It's not just what comes out, 380 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,760 it's what's inside. Listen to 15 to the. 381 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:24,400 Tongue of the wise makes knowledge appealing. 382 00:23:25,480 --> 00:23:28,320 Wise words make people go, Hey, I want that. 383 00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,920 Oh, is that that's true. Will will help me help me know 384 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,560 that that that's interesting to me like because I I need some of 385 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:37,120 that. That seems like something like 386 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,200 wisdom takes the truth that would otherwise make people go, 387 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:41,880 Oh, I can't have that. I can't hear that right. 388 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:45,240 Wisdom makes knowledge appealing, but the mouth of a 389 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:53,080 fool belches out foolishness. The words that we speak have 390 00:23:53,080 --> 00:23:57,040 potential to either bring life or to bludgeon. 391 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:01,720 People to death and. We are becoming individually 392 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:07,360 either the kind of people who bring life or the kind of people 393 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:13,360 who bludgeon people to death. The words that we. 394 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:17,560 Choose, even when we're unintentional in our choice, 395 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:20,480 indicate the kind of people that we are becoming. 396 00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:26,280 We are either people regard. Listen, don't don't tell me what 397 00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:28,760 you're trying to do. I hear, I hear the intention. 398 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:36,320 I I hear the the intent is the world burning down around you. 399 00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:41,280 The question that I would ask is which voices are you saturating 400 00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,000 your brain with? Which sounds are you putting in 401 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:49,120 and then letting come out? Because the counterpoint to 402 00:24:49,120 --> 00:24:51,680 wisdom to why speech isn't silence. 403 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:57,240 It doesn't say that. The counterpoint to why speech 404 00:24:57,240 --> 00:24:59,720 is belching. I love it. 405 00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,240 A belch is like undigested gas, right? 406 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:11,680 Like it's in there, you eat something and right, and it just 407 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:18,480 gets out. Foolish words are like that when 408 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:20,560 you walk into a room. You've probably known a Belcher, 409 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,040 right? Someone who belches you're like 410 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,240 to how long to talk about this just It's a great illustration. 411 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:25,160 I'm glad it's in the. Bible. 412 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:29,840 We're talking about the Bible. Here, right, Someone walks into 413 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:32,800 the room and belches. Nobody in the room feels better 414 00:25:32,880 --> 00:25:34,160 except you. Right? 415 00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,960 Right. That's what. 416 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,800 Unwise speeches. You're terrible. 417 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:41,960 I don't like you. You're scary. 418 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:43,320 I don't want you to go away. Oh. 419 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:47,000 I feel so much better, right? Who else feels better? 420 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,920 No one else in the world. And so we, when we walk around 421 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:54,520 and we make the primary goal of our speech and our language to 422 00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:59,320 make us feel better, to express ourselves, to say what's on our 423 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:00,880 minds. I just got to be me. 424 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:05,040 No you don't What if you being you is foolish? 425 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,160 What if you being you is destructive and hurtful. 426 00:26:08,280 --> 00:26:11,080 Do you want to be that and it's not anybody else, not everybody 427 00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:14,320 else's fault and responsibility and problem to meet you where 428 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,480 you're of course and listen, the Lord will meet you. 429 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:20,240 The Lord knows that we have all these tendency as I use my words 430 00:26:20,240 --> 00:26:22,360 to hurt and cut this week unintentionally. 431 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,680 The Lord was right there in that moment and you know what he was 432 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,720 doing. He was healing the person that 433 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:29,400 I. Cut. 434 00:26:31,280 --> 00:26:36,240 Holding me accountable. He says, oh, you, you stand on a 435 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:40,280 stage, Jason, right? You don't get to use your words 436 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:43,560 to oppose what I'm doing in other people. 437 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:48,920 That's anti Christ, right? We read Revelation and we're 438 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:49,520 like who? Is he? 439 00:26:49,520 --> 00:26:50,760 He's got a big thing on his head. 440 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:52,280 He's probably from Russia. We got to do that. 441 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:57,960 No, Antichrist is a spirit and it's at work right now when we 442 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:02,320 use our words and our being and our position and our power to 443 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:07,600 undo the things that Jesus did. We just spent like 58 weeks in 444 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:13,200 Ephesians going, Jesus died to destroy the boundaries so that 445 00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,840 there is no longer Jew and Greek. 446 00:27:16,080 --> 00:27:18,640 There is no longer slave and free. 447 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:21,240 There is no longer sex and dialect. 448 00:27:21,240 --> 00:27:23,680 There's not even male and female in the Kingdom. 449 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:27,520 He loves and responds and respects and calls all of you 450 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:29,720 together and we're like, I got to be me. 451 00:27:29,720 --> 00:27:32,320 Great. What are you doing with your? 452 00:27:32,320 --> 00:27:37,480 Words are you destroying what Jesus died to do, Antichrist. 453 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:39,560 It's not out there. It's not someday. 454 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:41,880 It's in our presence. It's in our heart. 455 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:47,360 When we decide to use words in a way that Jesus wouldn't do that, 456 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:51,920 the problem isn't neutral ignorance. 457 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:55,240 One time, it's not right. Like after that Valentine's Day, 458 00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:56,800 right? Like I could generally say, 459 00:27:56,800 --> 00:28:01,040 listen, I am for sure an idiot. I mean, you knew that, honey, 460 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:05,120 but for sure, right? The first time I get to say I 461 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:09,440 didn't know The second time, and the third time and the 40th time 462 00:28:09,440 --> 00:28:13,520 and the 200th time, I did know and I just chose. 463 00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:22,080 And that's a character issue. When I I do. 464 00:28:22,080 --> 00:28:24,720 Me. Without regard for the 465 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,320 consequence. That's not wisdom. 466 00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,440 It doesn't lead to the life that Jesus would call us to. 467 00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:33,440 And here's an unsettling reality. 468 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:40,280 Because it's easy for me to say to think man like that in my 469 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:41,640 house, right? Nobody saw it. 470 00:28:41,640 --> 00:28:44,080 I'm still OK. But listen, Proverbs 15 three. 471 00:28:44,320 --> 00:28:49,440 The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil 472 00:28:49,640 --> 00:28:51,440 and the good. What that means is that there's 473 00:28:51,440 --> 00:28:58,120 no such thing as hidden speech, gossip that doesn't get back to 474 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:01,880 the subject of the gossip, that the problem isn't just that you 475 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:06,240 said bad things about a person. The problem is that by saying 476 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:10,000 those things, we are becoming the kind of people who put 477 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,000 people down instead of lift them up. 478 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:19,080 Gossip is destructive. It destroys whether the other 479 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:24,120 person hears it or not. There is no room for it in the 480 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,760 body of Christ. There's no hidden speech. 481 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:32,520 He defines goodness, right? It's like he's watching 482 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:35,240 everybody's keeping his eye on both the evil and the good. 483 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,560 That doesn't mean that he's like, well, this person cusses 484 00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:40,240 and this person doesn't cuss. It doesn't mean like this person 485 00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:41,680 voted this way and this person voted the. 486 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:44,040 Other way it doesn't mean this person has this money and this 487 00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:46,640 person doesn't have this many. Whatever the distinctions are, 488 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:52,200 goodness is always and only the character and nature of God. 489 00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:57,560 Our closeness to goodness is how much like that we are becoming. 490 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,200 We're not like that at all. Someday we're going to see him 491 00:30:00,200 --> 00:30:02,240 and going to know him and we're going to be fully transformed. 492 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:04,840 But right now, when it says he keeps his eye on the evil and 493 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,480 the good, we're all much closer to that first part. 494 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:10,360 There's no shame in that. There's no secret in this. 495 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:13,360 The point is, we are loved. He sees us and he knows us and 496 00:30:13,360 --> 00:30:16,640 he loves us. But we get hell bent for leather 497 00:30:16,640 --> 00:30:21,520 on on our unwise speech. We get determined to be able to 498 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,200 say what we want, when we want, where we want, who we want. 499 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,480 At that point, we're no longer submitting to the formation and 500 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:30,320 the leadership of Jesus. We're just blowing off steam. 501 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:34,160 We're belching, and the Bible calls it foolish. 502 00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:42,040 You know, the problem when we define goodness like that is 503 00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,600 that means that all the other definitions of goodness fall 504 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,600 off. That means that the ends don't 505 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:58,360 justify the means. That means that expedience is 506 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:03,160 not a value. You know, there's one day in the 507 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:07,400 year that we call good. What day's that Good Friday? 508 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:11,880 That's goodness. Now step back and think about 509 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:12,680 it. You know what happened on 510 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:18,480 Goodness. Light lost day that we call Good 511 00:31:18,480 --> 00:31:21,360 Friday, is the one who is supposed to be the king, the 512 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:25,120 ruler, the creator of all things, the Messiah. 513 00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:27,640 He was the one that all those apostles and disciples had 514 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:29,640 pinned their hopes on. He was going to sit on the 515 00:31:29,640 --> 00:31:32,760 throne of David. And on Good Friday, 516 00:31:33,560 --> 00:31:36,560 fundamentalist religion and the power of state conspired 517 00:31:36,560 --> 00:31:40,320 together to murder him. That's what God calls good. 518 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:45,720 We don't get to wrap our own desires in the claim of goodness 519 00:31:45,800 --> 00:31:49,560 because we won. We don't win. 520 00:31:49,960 --> 00:31:51,960 God wins. Jesus won. 521 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:56,000 He invites us into his victory celebration, full stop. 522 00:31:56,120 --> 00:32:00,160 That's what goodness is. We do not get to baptize bad 523 00:32:00,160 --> 00:32:04,280 behavior and victory in winning. We do not get to say, sure it 524 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:07,240 caused problems, sure that, but all's well that ends well. 525 00:32:07,240 --> 00:32:10,520 That's not the case. I can get my house clean by 526 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:15,880 berating everybody in it. I can yell at my children until 527 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:18,400 they are so afraid that they will do whatever I want. 528 00:32:19,080 --> 00:32:23,360 I will have a clean house and I will be an abusive father and I 529 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:26,560 can promise you an eternity. Only one of those matters. 530 00:32:29,400 --> 00:32:32,280 I am either the kind of person that. 531 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:41,880 Uses my words to lift up, to make people free the partner in 532 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:44,520 the ongoing redemption of this world. 533 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,840 Or I can use my words to dehumanize people, to serve my 534 00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,920 agenda. I can make you a pawn in my 535 00:32:53,920 --> 00:32:57,360 game. I can make sure that when you 536 00:32:57,360 --> 00:33:03,000 hurt me, I make sure everybody knows how terrible you are and 537 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:07,640 how justified I am. And listen, I told you, our 538 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:11,560 intentions are good. Our intentions are to fix the 539 00:33:11,560 --> 00:33:14,840 world, friend, that's not your responsibility. 540 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:17,600 You can't possibly fix the world. 541 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:20,000 You can't even fix your own bank account. 542 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,120 I know because I'm because I know because I spent this whole 543 00:33:23,120 --> 00:33:25,600 week going, Lord, I'm not ready to talk about this because I 544 00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:28,840 suck at this. I'm quite possibly the worst 545 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,000 ever at this, right? There's the hyperbole thing 546 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:39,360 again. As your pastor, you're not 547 00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,160 responsible for saving the world. 548 00:33:41,880 --> 00:33:45,080 Only Jesus can do that. You're responsible. 549 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:49,200 Responsible for becoming the kind of person who looks and 550 00:33:49,240 --> 00:33:52,040 acts like Jesus. That's it. 551 00:33:53,480 --> 00:34:00,720 And wisdom is aligned with that, and everything else is unwise. 552 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:05,360 The Bible calls it foolishness, and the words of foolishness are 553 00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:12,400 called folly. Man, I hate that. 554 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:14,080 How I said that. I hate that. 555 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,480 I hate that after all this time, I'm still the kind of person who 556 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:24,080 will be careless when it serves me that I will hurt others if it 557 00:34:24,080 --> 00:34:26,880 makes me feel better. You know what I do in that 558 00:34:26,880 --> 00:34:28,480 moment? I confess it. 559 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:31,560 I don't hide from it. I stand before the Lord and go, 560 00:34:31,560 --> 00:34:34,560 Oh, yeah, I see that. I see that wound over there. 561 00:34:34,920 --> 00:34:38,360 I did it, Lord, and if I had been more like you, I would have 562 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,239 done it different. And you know what he says says 563 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:42,840 that's it, kid. Let's go. 564 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:45,960 We're ready. We'll do it different next time. 565 00:34:46,719 --> 00:34:49,560 Except I don't do it next time. I do it exactly the same every 566 00:34:49,560 --> 00:34:50,800 time, every time, every time, right? 567 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:54,280 Because what I find is when I try to go, Oh my God, I'll never 568 00:34:54,280 --> 00:34:56,400 do that again. That's me trying to win. 569 00:34:56,520 --> 00:34:58,960 That's me trying to be better than you, better than everybody 570 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:00,520 else. And the Lord's like, you're not, 571 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:04,080 you don't win, I win. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God 572 00:35:04,080 --> 00:35:05,480 Almighty. Full stop. 573 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:11,000 We live up to and into that, and by degrees much slower than I. 574 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:15,040 Want he transforms my heart, he makes me new and he sets me 575 00:35:15,040 --> 00:35:17,000 free. But he does it by degrees as I 576 00:35:17,000 --> 00:35:19,040 walk in wisdom. I talked last week, remember? 577 00:35:19,040 --> 00:35:21,320 I was like, there's my friend Jaime over here. 578 00:35:21,320 --> 00:35:23,920 When Jaime. Reads the proverbs and he begins 579 00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:25,960 trying to live out the wisdom that they're. 580 00:35:26,000 --> 00:35:29,320 Jaime becomes a wise person as my friend Derek reads the 581 00:35:29,320 --> 00:35:31,400 scriptures and becomes wise in them. 582 00:35:31,400 --> 00:35:33,040 And he starts his, He becomes wise. 583 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:35,600 And what happens with Derek is when Derek becomes wise and he 584 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,200 begins to speak wisdom into his family, his whole family starts 585 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,520 to become wise and, and as and it starts to go. 586 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:44,960 And what happens is we become wise as a culture. 587 00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:48,280 The more people find this and follow this, wisdom becomes 588 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:52,480 bigger than just me, bigger than just Jaime, bigger even than 589 00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,880 Jaime's family. And it becomes a culture of a 590 00:35:55,880 --> 00:35:58,120 place. It becomes an atmosphere that 591 00:35:58,120 --> 00:36:01,360 you can feel in the air. That's what Psalm 50, Proverbs 592 00:36:01,360 --> 00:36:05,920 54 says. Gentle words are a tree of life. 593 00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,360 Just close your eyes for a second and I just want you to 594 00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,440 think about that. A tree of life. 595 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:16,000 We. Find the Tree of Life explicitly 596 00:36:16,000 --> 00:36:19,360 in two places in Genesis and in Revelation at the beginning and 597 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:21,680 the end and the Tree of Life in the beginning. 598 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:24,280 It was what we were kept away from. 599 00:36:24,280 --> 00:36:29,120 It's what we were we we stopped having access to in the garden, 600 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,320 but it doesn't go away. It's restored to us. 601 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,480 Again when we come to the read Revelation chapter 22, we find 602 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:36,640 that the tree of life has been there all along. 603 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,360 And the great thing about the tree of life it says is it bears 604 00:36:39,360 --> 00:36:42,760 freeze fruit in season and out. And what that means is that 605 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:46,880 whether you're having a good day or a bad day, you can find fruit 606 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:50,160 and peace and life and nourishment and sustenance and 607 00:36:50,160 --> 00:36:53,480 provision. And what the scripture says is 608 00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:58,040 that that tree of life is wise speech. 609 00:37:00,200 --> 00:37:05,280 Gentle words are a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes 610 00:37:05,720 --> 00:37:09,280 the spirit. The words that affect 611 00:37:09,280 --> 00:37:15,240 individuals create environments. When we speak words that destroy 612 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:19,320 somebody's day, that day impacts every person that they touch 613 00:37:20,000 --> 00:37:23,080 throughout throughout that day. So with our. 614 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,360 Words and our speech and our patterns and our demeanor and 615 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:28,960 the things that we say and the way that we say them, we can 616 00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:32,960 either make this world and life in it habitable. 617 00:37:34,120 --> 00:37:38,560 Gracious. Life giving, you know you can do 618 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:40,480 that with your words. You have that power to create 619 00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,640 life giving words. Or we can. 620 00:37:42,640 --> 00:37:48,160 Create atmospheres that are heavy and crushing and soul 621 00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:58,360 sapping. I'm I was surprised at the 622 00:37:58,360 --> 00:38:00,600 comparison in this right. Like notice, notice what it 623 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,480 says. It says gentle words, our tree 624 00:38:03,480 --> 00:38:06,000 of life. I would expect the comparison to 625 00:38:06,000 --> 00:38:09,240 be like harsh, right? Gentle and harsh. 626 00:38:09,360 --> 00:38:11,240 But what does he compare with gentleness? 627 00:38:11,240 --> 00:38:14,000 He compares deceit so I would expect. 628 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:15,640 The comparison either to be gentle and. 629 00:38:15,640 --> 00:38:20,360 Harsh or true and deceit, but what gentleness right and the 630 00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:21,720 counterpart to. Deceit is that. 631 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:26,080 Gentleness and truth both have is those are both rooted in the 632 00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:28,960 character of God. Those are both expressions of 633 00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:34,040 ultimate reality, whereas deceit and harshness and dishonesty are 634 00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:36,280 not. So when it says gentle words are 635 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:38,880 a tree of life. Being aligned with reality in my 636 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,760 heart and my thoughts and in my speech brings life to the places 637 00:38:42,760 --> 00:38:45,960 that it goes. But to be opposed to that in any 638 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:48,520 way or form, it brings death or destruction. 639 00:38:48,600 --> 00:38:51,880 And this is the uncomfortable truth that I don't like being 640 00:38:51,880 --> 00:38:56,280 unnecessarily harsh with. My truth is no closer to the 641 00:38:56,280 --> 00:39:00,800 character of God than a gentle, smiling white lie. 642 00:39:04,200 --> 00:39:09,680 If I serve you truth on the blunt end of a sledgehammer, and 643 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:13,240 you have no possible hope of receiving that in such ways to 644 00:39:13,240 --> 00:39:18,720 be transformed by it, I'm no closer to being transformed by 645 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:21,720 truth. Your truth has been worthless. 646 00:39:22,760 --> 00:39:26,920 Doesn't mean it's not true. It means that you didn't feel 647 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:30,240 like it was important enough to handle that truth in a way that 648 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:32,560 led to life instead of instead of death. 649 00:39:38,460 --> 00:39:42,140 Question then becomes like, because because it's about me 650 00:39:42,420 --> 00:39:44,700 and it's about you, right? And doing our homework. 651 00:39:46,100 --> 00:39:48,300 One way to tell is like, ask yourself the question, when I 652 00:39:48,300 --> 00:39:52,820 walk into a room, do people brace or do they breathe easy? 653 00:39:54,360 --> 00:39:56,360 There are some people not this, not in this room. 654 00:39:56,360 --> 00:39:57,240 I looked around. I looked at you. 655 00:39:57,240 --> 00:39:58,720 All right? They were all in first service. 656 00:39:58,720 --> 00:40:04,640 Weirdly enough, there are some people who, when I see their 657 00:40:04,640 --> 00:40:07,080 name on my caller ID, my heart beats fast. 658 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,640 And I I want to screen it every time because I know what's 659 00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:12,920 coming. It's either going to be untrue 660 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:14,920 or it's going to be unnecessarily harsh, or it's 661 00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:16,800 going to be half cocked or it's going to be angry. 662 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:18,960 It's going to be whatever. And I just want you to know 663 00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:20,320 there are others of you in this room. 664 00:40:20,320 --> 00:40:22,680 Jaime Martinez is one of them. I could go down the line and 665 00:40:22,680 --> 00:40:24,480 point you all out. There's some people in this 666 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,000 room, bro. I would take your call seated in 667 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,760 the electric chair because your words bring life to me. 668 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:35,680 Your words bring hope and encouragement to me. 669 00:40:37,720 --> 00:40:42,920 Which one are you? I tell my kids this all the time 670 00:40:43,080 --> 00:40:46,160 about this. And I tell myself also, we have 671 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:47,960 to live in the world that we create. 672 00:40:49,120 --> 00:40:50,480 We have to live in the world created. 673 00:40:50,480 --> 00:40:52,560 And I don't mean physically, I've never created a tree or 674 00:40:52,560 --> 00:40:55,160 anything like that, but I've absolutely created an atmosphere 675 00:40:55,160 --> 00:40:58,080 and I've actually absolutely created a culture. 676 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:03,680 And so the question is. If I spend my time and my energy 677 00:41:03,680 --> 00:41:07,280 and if I fill my head and my brain and, and all of that. 678 00:41:07,280 --> 00:41:10,800 And if I use the words that I have and the opportunities that 679 00:41:10,800 --> 00:41:14,760 I have to demonize other people to talk about what's wrong with 680 00:41:14,760 --> 00:41:17,360 them, to talk about how terrible and destructive they are. 681 00:41:17,440 --> 00:41:22,040 If I use my words to make demons out of other people, of course 682 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:23,960 I'm going to see a demon around every corner. 683 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:26,840 Of course I'm going to find people that are terrible and 684 00:41:26,840 --> 00:41:29,120 awful. But if I pause for a second and 685 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:30,800 if I go to somebody and. Just go listen. 686 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:36,920 Let me tell you right, I there's people that I can spend my time 687 00:41:36,920 --> 00:41:39,640 with, people who will say, listen, whatever is out there, 688 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,440 but let's talk about what my, what God might be doing. 689 00:41:42,520 --> 00:41:46,600 Let's find out how we can respond with wisdom to this, 690 00:41:46,680 --> 00:41:49,840 because I don't think God sees that person as his enemy. 691 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,920 I think God just sees them as someone that he created and 692 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:55,640 desperately loves. And they may be, and probably 693 00:41:55,640 --> 00:41:58,320 are misguided. Probably badly broke. 694 00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:03,000 Definitely badly broken Misguid. Guided as they can be, just like 695 00:42:03,000 --> 00:42:10,920 me, how can we respond with wisdom in an unwise world? 696 00:42:12,040 --> 00:42:15,120 But if I spend all my time making demons of people that are 697 00:42:15,120 --> 00:42:18,160 different, I shouldn't be surprised when I feel the whole 698 00:42:18,160 --> 00:42:22,280 world is full of demons. What if we do the opposite? 699 00:42:23,240 --> 00:42:26,520 What if we change path? I'm not pretending that dark is 700 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:28,320 light. I'm not pretending, I'm not 701 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,040 asking you to do that. I'm asking you to check your 702 00:42:30,040 --> 00:42:32,800 brain at the door. I'm just saying I'm asking us to 703 00:42:32,800 --> 00:42:35,400 acknowledge the reality that good and bad, right and wrong, 704 00:42:35,560 --> 00:42:39,000 you know, love and hate, it doesn't run down this line down 705 00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:40,920 the middle and some are on one side or the other that. 706 00:42:40,920 --> 00:42:45,680 Line runs right here through. Me and I have the choice to 707 00:42:45,680 --> 00:42:48,560 decide, am I going to give voice to the wisdom, to the goodness, 708 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:51,840 or am I going to give voice to the destruction and the safety? 709 00:42:51,960 --> 00:42:57,880 Or in that, in that hatred, if you realize the second is 710 00:42:57,880 --> 00:43:01,680 better, right? Because you have agency in that 711 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:06,960 you can choose that you can choose to see in other people 712 00:43:06,960 --> 00:43:10,520 what you see. So which are we choosing? 713 00:43:15,320 --> 00:43:18,120 We said kind of last week that the worst possible thing we 714 00:43:18,120 --> 00:43:20,560 could do with the proverbs would be to take them and then go home 715 00:43:20,560 --> 00:43:22,800 and just try to, you know, try to figure out what we think that 716 00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:24,480 they mean, right? I was like, what, you know, I 717 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:26,440 thought about this. And we'll always get that wrong 718 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:27,880 because we'll always protect ourselves. 719 00:43:27,880 --> 00:43:29,760 We'll always try to make our ourselves look good. 720 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:32,800 Right. There is an absolutely 721 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:40,440 infallible way to to to understand this, to an interpret 722 00:43:40,440 --> 00:43:43,000 this and it's Jesus, the life of Jesus. 723 00:43:43,120 --> 00:43:46,160 The Proverbs will never trump Jesus. 724 00:43:46,560 --> 00:43:50,280 The the you know, Moses will never trump Jesus. 725 00:43:50,360 --> 00:43:53,800 The Paul in the New Testament will never trump Jesus. 726 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,120 What I mean to say that is whatever wisdom we read about in 727 00:43:57,120 --> 00:44:00,800 the Proverbs, we should hear it see embodied in Jesus and not 728 00:44:00,800 --> 00:44:04,600 just embodied, but talked about Jesus should express the same 729 00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:06,440 wisdom that we see in the Scriptures. 730 00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:10,880 So we go to Luke chapter 6 and this is Luke's, Luke's version 731 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:14,120 of the Sermon on the Mount. And he says this in Luke 643, 732 00:44:14,120 --> 00:44:17,880 says a good treat can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't 733 00:44:17,880 --> 00:44:21,600 produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its 734 00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:23,680 fruit. Figs are never gathered from 735 00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:26,680 thorn bushes, and grapes are not picked from Bramble bushes. 736 00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:29,360 OK, so he's got, you can imagine Jesus standing there and he's 737 00:44:29,360 --> 00:44:31,960 got a tree there, and he's talking about everything that 738 00:44:31,960 --> 00:44:34,040 Jesus creates. Everything that God has ever 739 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:37,040 created has integrity. You've never peeled a banana and 740 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:40,200 like bees fly out of it, right? Because when you peel a banana, 741 00:44:40,280 --> 00:44:43,680 there's a banana in there. And So what Jesus is pointing to 742 00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:45,640 is the absolute integrity of God. 743 00:44:45,640 --> 00:44:48,920 And he says what comes out is what's on the inside. 744 00:44:49,040 --> 00:44:51,600 What's what's out there is what's in there. 745 00:44:51,800 --> 00:44:54,960 And myself, I'm just like, oh, yes, well, I can, yes, I wonder 746 00:44:54,960 --> 00:44:57,200 what this is about. Oh, perhaps it's about this. 747 00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:59,440 Oh, perhaps it's about this. He goes on. 748 00:45:00,560 --> 00:45:02,960 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a 749 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:06,720 good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the 750 00:45:06,720 --> 00:45:10,760 treasury of an evil heart. And now he tells us what he's 751 00:45:10,760 --> 00:45:17,120 talking about. What you say flows from what is 752 00:45:17,120 --> 00:45:21,000 in your heart. You probably hate that as much 753 00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:23,920 as I do. I didn't say it. 754 00:45:23,920 --> 00:45:26,920 Jesus did. The question isn't whether we 755 00:45:26,920 --> 00:45:28,840 like it. The question is, will I submit 756 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:32,520 to it? This isn't about general 757 00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:36,560 behavior. This isn't just about, you know, 758 00:45:36,560 --> 00:45:39,200 whether I give the one finger salute to the guy that cuts me 759 00:45:39,200 --> 00:45:41,320 off. This isn't just about whether I 760 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:46,720 pet kitties and hold babies. This is about my words. 761 00:45:47,760 --> 00:45:50,480 The nature of our speech is an accurate reflection of the 762 00:45:50,480 --> 00:45:57,840 nature of our hearts. I love that Jesus didn't say try 763 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:02,320 harder. I love that Jesus didn't say go 764 00:46:02,320 --> 00:46:04,760 stop cussing. Now you may need to stop cussing 765 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:10,920 that like that, whatever. But what he said is it's a heart 766 00:46:10,920 --> 00:46:14,080 issue. What he said is it's not just 767 00:46:14,080 --> 00:46:16,240 about you trying to be better or stronger. 768 00:46:16,240 --> 00:46:19,680 It's about letting him transform what's in here. 769 00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:25,600 It's about acknowledging I'm the kind of person who, when the 770 00:46:25,600 --> 00:46:28,320 deck is stacked against me, cut other people. 771 00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:34,120 I'm the kind of person who gives space to the worst, most 772 00:46:34,120 --> 00:46:42,200 divisive voices in our culture. Jesus doesn't say, by the way. 773 00:46:43,720 --> 00:46:47,160 That's a hard realization. I'm the kind of person who cuts 774 00:46:47,160 --> 00:46:50,360 people with my words. Jesus's point isn't to shame us. 775 00:46:51,360 --> 00:46:55,160 He says that assuming that we know that we're badly broken and 776 00:46:55,240 --> 00:46:58,000 deeply loved. This isn't about whether we're 777 00:46:58,000 --> 00:47:00,280 right or wrong. This is about whether we trust 778 00:47:00,280 --> 00:47:03,120 him enough to say, I don't want the wrong anymore. 779 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:07,720 I want to be made new. Jesus never said that wisdom 780 00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:12,520 meant having right answers. Jesus never said that wisdom 781 00:47:12,520 --> 00:47:17,800 meant winning arguments. Jesus never said that wisdom 782 00:47:17,800 --> 00:47:21,600 meant pointing out the flaws and the failures and the weaknesses 783 00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:24,960 and the sins of others. There may be time for all of 784 00:47:24,960 --> 00:47:30,640 those things, but the time will be determined by wisdom and 785 00:47:30,640 --> 00:47:35,360 submission to the Holy Spirit, not by my desire and need to 786 00:47:35,360 --> 00:47:39,280 belch. Sometimes the most, Not 787 00:47:39,280 --> 00:47:41,280 sometimes. I'm going to say way more than 788 00:47:41,280 --> 00:47:45,440 that. Far more often than not, my urge 789 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,640 to belch is exactly a reminder that I need to swallow it. 790 00:47:52,280 --> 00:47:54,440 Jesus. Says Wisdom is being submitted 791 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:59,080 to God's direction and his correction until our hearts are 792 00:47:59,080 --> 00:48:03,600 formed, transformed, made new. Redeemed and. 793 00:48:05,120 --> 00:48:06,720 You're just like, OK. Right. 794 00:48:07,320 --> 00:48:10,440 Go home, heart. Transformation. 795 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:13,440 Get a little lunch, take a nap, watch the Texans game. 796 00:48:15,120 --> 00:48:19,240 It's a process. It's far slower than you and I 797 00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:21,520 would like. It's going to take the rest of 798 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:24,440 your life. And what that means is that most 799 00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:26,680 days you're going to have to stand before the living God and 800 00:48:26,680 --> 00:48:29,680 go my speech and your purposes are not aligned. 801 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:34,920 But what it means is refusing to baptize that, refusing to say, 802 00:48:34,920 --> 00:48:38,600 oh, well, God, no, I think you understand in this, the king who 803 00:48:38,600 --> 00:48:41,320 was nailed on a cross and didn't respond to Pilate, didn't 804 00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:44,800 respond to the Sanhedrin, didn't cry out in pain and anguish. 805 00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,640 The only words that he spoke were father, forgive them. 806 00:48:47,720 --> 00:48:49,520 He spoke to the care of his mother. 807 00:48:49,920 --> 00:48:53,400 He spoke to forgiveness and that's all. 808 00:48:53,960 --> 00:48:55,960 And he's our example and he's our king. 809 00:48:57,200 --> 00:49:00,640 So don't be in a hurry. Acknowledge Lord, My words 810 00:49:00,640 --> 00:49:02,440 aren't like you, but make me more like you. 811 00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:04,640 And spend time honestly considering. 812 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:06,360 I'm going to give you 2 questions in just a second. 813 00:49:06,360 --> 00:49:07,640 And take them home and think about them. 814 00:49:07,880 --> 00:49:10,360 Think hard about them. Talk to somebody else, right? 815 00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:12,680 And just ask somebody who knows you well, who will tell you the 816 00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:14,880 truth to speak into your life. Here's the first. 817 00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:17,720 What kind of fruit is your life? Bearing right now. 818 00:49:20,120 --> 00:49:24,400 Do people brace or breathe when you walk in the room? 819 00:49:26,040 --> 00:49:27,720 Do people? Jesus said. 820 00:49:28,360 --> 00:49:32,880 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 821 00:49:33,440 --> 00:49:35,920 Guess what? You don't even have to figure 822 00:49:35,920 --> 00:49:37,640 out whether the person who's mourning. 823 00:49:37,640 --> 00:49:40,000 You don't even have to figure out whether it's valid or not. 824 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:42,920 If they're mourning, you can comfort them. 825 00:49:43,080 --> 00:49:45,440 Now, you don't comfort them by justifying them, but you can 826 00:49:45,440 --> 00:49:48,360 look at them and say the Lord's desire is that you would be 827 00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:51,600 comforted. And the second question is, what 828 00:49:51,600 --> 00:49:54,240 kind of world am I creating with my words? 829 00:49:55,600 --> 00:50:00,040 Am I creating a world where everybody in it is right and 830 00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:02,160 everybody who's out of it is wrong? 831 00:50:02,160 --> 00:50:10,800 And are you right but angry? You honest but alone, uncertain 832 00:50:11,480 --> 00:50:17,320 but hopeful, badly broken, deeply loved? 833 00:50:18,640 --> 00:50:20,880 Jesus, I pray that you would set us free to use our words to 834 00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:24,160 bring life. Forgive us for the destruction 835 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:27,320 that we've caused. Forgive us for the destruction 836 00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:33,520 that we've tolerated. Make us wise in the way that we 837 00:50:33,520 --> 00:50:34,880 speak. And, Lord, make River City a 838 00:50:34,880 --> 00:50:39,800 place where wisdom and gentleness and healing are like 839 00:50:39,800 --> 00:50:44,040 a tree of life for all who enter this place, not because of us, 840 00:50:44,040 --> 00:50:49,920 but because of you. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God 841 00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:54,600 Almighty was and is and is to come. 842 00:50:57,280 --> 00:50:59,120 Amen. Thank you for joining us today. 843 00:50:59,680 --> 00:51:02,360 River City Church is all about experiencing and expressing 844 00:51:02,360 --> 00:51:05,040 God's love in our lives and community, and we hope that 845 00:51:05,040 --> 00:51:07,080 you've been able to experience that today. 846 00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:10,240 As grateful as I am that you've spent this time listening in 847 00:51:10,240 --> 00:51:13,320 this morning, this podcast is no substitute for full 848 00:51:13,320 --> 00:51:17,200 participation in a local church. I love it when River City people 849 00:51:17,200 --> 00:51:20,560 listen to other pastors, but it is those who show up week after 850 00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:23,480 week faithfully giving their support and time and resources 851 00:51:23,480 --> 00:51:26,840 that make all of this possible. If we can help you get connected 852 00:51:26,840 --> 00:51:30,840 to a local church, pray for you, or support you in any way, click 853 00:51:30,840 --> 00:51:32,480 the link in the description and let us know. 854 00:51:32,960 --> 00:51:35,160 If you'd like to financially support the ministry of River 855 00:51:35,160 --> 00:51:38,080 City, click the give link on our website in the description. 856 00:51:38,600 --> 00:51:41,240 Don't forget to subscribe and don't forget to share this with 857 00:51:41,240 --> 00:51:43,240 your friends. Thanks so much for listening. 858 00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:46,440 May the Lord bless and keep you in all grace and peace.