How To Receive New Wine In 09: Tame The Wild Thing! Series

How to receive New Wine in 09

Step 3 – Tame the wild thing!

Opening Video Illustration:

After Clip ask these questions

1. Have you ever insulted someone before? What happened?

a. Did it resolve the problem?

2. Have you ever been insulted? How did it make you feel?

a. Read: I Thessalonians 5:11 “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”

3. Why is it so hard to speak only encouraging words? How does encouragement and put downs affect other people?

4. What are some practical ways you can learn restraint when you’re tempted to say rude or mean things?

5. What will you have to do to change your hurtful put-downs into words of encouragement?

Thesis: The wild thing which needs tamed in the church is the reckless use of our tongues toward others. The tongue has done more destruction to our society than terrorist’s attacks. It has been one of the most powerful forces stopping revival from happening in this nation. It is one of the prime reasons we lack an out pouring of God’s Holy Spirit in most churches today.

Opening Illustration: Have the tongue in the box covered. Ask people to guess what powerful force is in the box.

Tell them this has been one of the most powerful forces in the world that has stopped revival from happening. Ask people to guess what’s in it!

Texts: James 3:1-10

1Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.

3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or 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. 5Likewise 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. 6The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, 8but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be.

Proverbs 12:18: 18Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

James 1:26: 26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.

Introduction:

Words have been responsible for starting wars and also ending wars. Words either unite people or divide people in this world. Words of individuals will determine that persons future and life. Words of individuals will affect other people’s attitudes and emotions. Words the little sounds that spill out of our mouths everyday impacting the world around us. These sounds which flow out of the heart and into the mouth and out into the air carry an amazing amount of power. I believe that words are the most powerful force in the universe. Mike Murdoch has this to say about the power of words:

Words created the world Genesis 1:1-31; Words create your world Proverbs 18:21.

Jesus said that your words reveal what kind of heart you possess “…for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh” Luke 6:45. Jesus said words can move mountains Mark 11:23 (Pages 121,122).

The truth is everyone of your words matter, they influence someone either negatively or positively. How many times have you heard someone say, “I wish I would never have said that!” Our text in James today addresses the issue of the uncontrolled words of the tongue. We see this dilemma of words everyday in our lives. We hear people say things throughout our day. We then respond to them and create perceptions about the person speaking. We listen to the radio and the power of words influence us, we listen to CD’s or tapes and the power of words are at work, we watch TV and the power of words are trying to influence us.

Just think of all the political adds we have had to endure over the last few months because of the election. We know that words influence others or the political campaigns would not spend millions of dollars to put them on the air. We had to endure candidates ripping on the others why so they could influence you to vote for them. I watched the news one night and the news decided to take a few campaign adds to find out how accurate they were in their comments. It was interesting to note that some campaigns distorted the truth about the candidate. The power of words either creates a positive picture or a negative picture. I honestly do not think that words are neutral – they always leave an impression on the person hearing the phrases.