Words are Powerful
Heart to Heart • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 23:31
0 ratings
· 91 viewsYour words matter. You can build up or tear down with them!
Files
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Gatlinburg, TN
Gatlinburg, TN
show pictures of the town slide
Vacation Destination. It’s in the Smokey Mountains. There’s tons of shopping, scenery, national park, theme park, Hotels, conference centers, and cabins! Great place to visit! Actually, where me and Jessica had our honeymoon!
show fire slide
About a year ago, a forest fire, changed all of that. This tourist destination all of a sudden became like a death trap. There wasn’t much warning. A small fire on a hiking trail spread, and multiplied.
Check out this video that shows some of the destruction
Play news video
What does a forest fire have to do with us?
What does a forest fire have to do with us?
Words are powerful
Words are powerful
Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
How do you use your words?
How do you use your words?
That’s what we’re talking about.
We are mean to each other!
We are mean to each other!
It seems like I can’t walk down the hallway at school and not hear someone getting made fun of. It seems like this is all the time, everywhere we go, non-stop.
Anyone could get made fun of for the way they look, the things they say, the things they like. Life is scary and tough when we are constantly wondering when the next time someone is going to be making a joke at our expense, or call us a name we don’t like, or criticize something that is totally out of our control.
We’re mean to strangers.
We’re mean to strangers.
We make fun of people we don’t even know. We watch them fail and then talk about them anonymously. We say things about people all the time that we’d never or shouldn’t say to their face.
We’re mean to people we know.
We’re mean to people we know.
We’re mean to our friends.
We’re mean to our friends.
Why are we mean to others?
Why are we mean to others?
Have you thought about this? Why do we make fun of other people?
So people will think we’re funny?
To be cool?
Because everyone else is?
To make ourselves stronger?
Hurt People, Hurt People
Hurt People, Hurt People
It’s a cliche statement, but it’s true. Usually the people that are hurting others are the ones who have already been hurt by someone else.
Words are powerful
Words are powerful
When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
talk through the illustrations above: bit/horse, rudder/sailboat, spark/forest fire and revisit the scripture above to do so, so illustrations as we go.
This passage says the tongue - not really the tongue, but our words are powerful. They steer our life like a bit controls a horse, and a rudder maneuvers a ship. Something as simple as words can cause as much destruction as a forest fire.
We have a deadly weapon - our tongue/words! It’s dangerous. Y’all are reckless with your words.
With our same mouth/tongue we use words to praise God and then a moment later we’re using our words to put down, insult, talk behind someone’s back. “You kiss your mom with that mouth”.
Stop being mean.
Stop being mean.
Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.
And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Words are Powerful. How are YOU using them?
Words are Powerful. How are YOU using them?