Words Matter: Building Up Through Grace and Love

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "In week one, I learned the importance of using words that will build up and to refrain from using words that will tear down. In week two, I learned that my family and my household my family needs to hear me speak life giving words rather than hurtful words. And some of you grew up in homes where that would have been very helpful. In week three, I learned that I don't get a pass if I engage politically. That I still need to be a reconciler in a culture of conflict. I need to act in ways that reflect and radiate the light of Christ into the culture." [48:47] (53 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Overall, I think what I have learned is that I need just to be much more thoughtful in the ways that I use my words. And that means, as James 1 19 says, speaking less and listening more. So this week, I've made a couple calls to apologize to people about things I've said that were irresponsible or thoughtless. Where it would have been better for me had I exercised my right to remain silent before saying what I said." [50:20] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "The word came announcing that God was like a father who loves his children or a mother who loves her children when they've been foolish and squandered everything. God loves them and wants the lost every last one to come home. Isn't that a good word? And there are just too many people in this who don't know that this word of God's love in Christ Jesus is for them." [57:24] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "I want you when you get up in the morning and go to bed at night every night this week sing Jesus loves me and end your day by singing Jesus loves me embed that in your heart if the words that we followers of Jesus speak and live are somehow related to that word the word made flesh I think more people will find what we have to share worth listening to." [58:28] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "How do we keep our words so closely to the word that was with God since the beginning? Well, there are three things that I notice about Jesus the incarnate word of God that we can emulate. First, we can listen more actively. Second, we can ask more questions. Third, we can pray more regularly." [59:03] (444 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


### Quotes for Members

1. "Mother Teresa offers a meditation on the power of words by recommending that we practice silence when we can. Specifically she encourages us to practice three types of silence and you might want to write these down on the back of your bulletin where there's some white space but one of these is silence of the ears by listening always to the voice of God and to the cry of the poor and needy and closing our ears to all other voices that come from fallen human nature such as gossip tail bearing and uncharitable words. Number two silence of the tongue by praising God and speaking the life giving word of God that is truth that enlightens and inspires brings peace, hope and joy and by refraining from every offense and every word that causes darkness turmoil, pain and death and the third silence is silence of the mind by opening it to the truth and knowledge of God in prayer and contemplation and closing ourselves to all untruths, distractions destructive thoughts rash judgments false suspicions of others and vengeful thoughts." [52:24] (102 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Scripture reveals that Christians are to hold themselves to a higher standard when it comes to using our words and the ways that we speak and act and live but especially how we speak unfortunately a whole lot of evidence that Christians are doing that but this is because the words of scripture not only help us to hear God's word but because the most powerful word of God came to be with us and the gospel of John chapter one we read in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God and the word became flesh and blood and lived among us full of grace and truth." [53:59] (62 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Jesus often recognized that his own disciples were such poor listeners that he would say things like let he who has ears hear the composer and musician Paul Williams once wrote an album dedication and he said there are two types of people there are those who listen and those who wait to speak this album is for the listeners isn't that a great sentiment I've read that when someone recorded the new testament on tape they discovered that the actual words spoken by Jesus amounted to about 30 minutes of the hours it took to read the gospel I can't believe that's right I do think it's probably closer to 30 minutes because I just know the story of the Samaritan woman is real long so anyway but I do know for sure that Jesus spent as much or more time listening as he did talking." [01:00:16] (72 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "The German poet Renier Maria Rilke advises us that the best way to deal with life's difficult questions is often to just sit with them for years and years he writes try to love the questions themselves and to live the question without really knowing it we may live our way into the answer I love that you know when I was in seminary we get really academic in seminary and we know that in the original Hebrew the prediction that a virgin would give birth doesn't say that a virgin will give birth to a child it says that a young woman will give birth to a child but then when I translated the Greek version of the Hebrew scriptures and translated it into Greek the Septuagint for Greek speaking Jews the translators used the word that translates as virgin but the more ancient scripture doesn't use that and for a boy that spun me out for a while you know thinking well how do you say this creed you know I believe in Jesus born of the Virgin Mary I came to another question and this was the question do I believe in a God who is loving enough and powerful enough to create this life giving love mysteriously without any explanation yeah I believe in that type of God I believe that God can do amazing things out of love and so I say the creed absolutely you know affirm that creed now." [01:03:01] (125 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "If what I said earlier was accurate that the words of Jesus actually probably take about 30 minutes the gospels are also very clear that Jesus spent a great deal of time in prayer Mark 1.35 is a prime example of Jesus' prayer life it says and in the morning he went out to a lonely place and there he prayed he went to a lonely place but he wasn't alone because he was praying that's what he was doing that picture Doris Donnelly observes people who listen to God in prayer put the world on alert that they're trying to hear more clearly the voice of God and that both they and the world may change when they do it should change us." [01:05:11] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)