The Transformative Power of the Tongue

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "James would say, if you're going to be a Christian, be a real one. If you're going to do this, do it all the way, 100%. And so we're going to jump into week three of this. I love this. If you missed any of the weeks, you can go back to our Facebook, to our YouTube, and watch those weeks. Pastor Jason had an incredible message last week that we should operate in dynamic faith. That means our belief meets our behavior, and it turns into action. So we don't just want to talk about it, but we want to be about it." [00:20](25 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "My goal for us today is that we would use God's wisdom, come on, to govern the words spoken from the tongue. Oh, we need this message. You need this message. Some of us, 2.30, 3 a.m., when we can't sleep, we're looking at the ceiling, and all that we can replay in our mind is the words that have been spoken over us, and so we need God's wisdom to govern the words spoken from our tongue." [05:03](24 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Proverbs says that the power of life and death is in the tongue. Some of us are still battling with things that people have said. This is a big deal. I hate that phrase. You know, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never, that's not true because all of us have that. Whether someone verbally said it, or maybe they wrote something about you. Maybe they sent you an email. Maybe they sent you an angry text. We all deal with this, but man, if we're going to use God's wisdom to govern our words, we have to know this is the power of the tongue." [18:22](29 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Is your speech life-giving, or is it life-corrupting? This is what we strive for at the church, and this is an honest question that we have to ask ourselves. I have to ask, is my speech life-giving? Or life-corrupting? I've heard it said often that you'll know you've seen a great movie because when you leave the movie theater, you feel something. Now, that something might be anger. It might be a joy. It might be gladness. It might be pride in something. And whatever it is, you'll feel something. Now, here's my question. Our tongue has this corrupting power, so here's my question. When people leave your presence, what do they feel?" [22:03](41 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "For James, what we say actually matters. All over this room, let's bow our heads and I want to pray over us and we'll be done in just a second. But Lord, I pray that you would help us in this area. This isn't necessarily the easiest thing to talk about because, man, we're all guilty. But you can help us. Apart from you, we can't do anything. But with you, man, we can learn to control the words. Lord, set a guard over each and every one of our mouths this week. Help us in this area that we might, glorify you, that we would become mature, as James would say, perfect, able to do what we need to do. Help us in that, I pray." [29:45](37 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


### Quotes for Members

1. "I brought something to church, and it's actually something super, super important. It's critical to living each and every day. It's very important. I brought it to church today, and I need you to know that this thing, with it, I can lift people up, and man, I can inspire people. I can do all sorts of things, depending on the platform I have, the stage I have. Man, I can lift people up. I can change a whole nation, a whole people group. Man, I can give hope and life to people with this thing I brought today. Man, I can turn somebody's whole day around. I'm sure with this thing that I brought today, I can turn somebody's whole life around, but here's the crazy thing. I was thinking about it, and also with this thing I brought to church, I could destroy somebody's life. I could take somebody's hope and their life right out in one split second. I can do that." [01:03](47 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "James chapter 3. Here's my whole hope. My goal for us today is that we would use God's wisdom, come on, to govern the words spoken from the tongue. Oh, we need this message. You need this message. Some of us, 2.30, 3 a.m., when we can't sleep, we're looking at the ceiling, and all that we can replay in our mind is the words that have been spoken over us, and so we need God's wisdom to govern the words spoken from our tongue. So, here's what I want to do to kick us off. I want to talk just for a moment about acronyms, and so you know what an acronym is. It's like, it's a word, and each letter of the word spells out another word, and usually it's a catchy phrase or something like that." [05:03](24 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Your tongue has the power to condemn. So we begin in James chapter three. He says this, that not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged. More strictly. So he begins at the top talking to all of those that teach. And when he says people that teach, that's those that do this for a living, like what we do, or it's even people that remember Sunday school, raise your hand. You remember Sunday school, going to Sunday school and it's people like that, that maybe they're volunteering their time, but they're taking time to open up God's word. It may be you, if you're leading an access group, you are teaching God's word. Dare I say you are speaking on behalf of God." [09:51](39 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Your tongue has the power to control. Now, James is going to give us some word pictures to really look at. He says this, when we put bits in the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Everyone say the whole thing. He says we can turn the whole thing or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and 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. So what he's saying is that, that a horse is strong and powerful. And, and I don't know if you've been around horses and I certainly didn't grow up around horses. I mean, look at me. I'm like, I am not a horseman. I'm not a, I don't even know what you're a jockey or I don't know. What's that movie? There was the Toby. It doesn't matter. I don't even, I don't know that. But one thing I do know is if you get kicked by a horse, it's going to hurt, right? They're powerful. And so, but they're controlled by the small bit that's in their mouth. Ships are so large and they can navigate all of the seas and they can do so much, so much powers behind them. Yet they're controlled by just a small rudder." [13:30](67 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father. We praise you. We do all of that. And with it, we curse human beings who have been made in God's name. So in other words, I'm singing praise. I'm sorry, I can't sing, but you know, we're singing praise the Lord, and then we get on the Polk Parkway, and we cut somebody out. Come on, I know this is tough. We come here, and we sing praise the Lord. And then we get on the Polk Parkway, and we cut somebody out. We sing all hail King Jesus, but when I get on I-4 going to Orlando, talk to me. He says, this is crazy. With our tongue, we contradict. We curse human beings. When someone doesn't treat us right, they cut us off. They did us dirty. They talk behind my back. I praise on Sunday, but on Monday, you're going to get where you're from and where you need to go to. Come on, this is crazy. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing." [24:43](54 seconds)(Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)