The Most Dangerous Thing in the World – James 3:3-12
Gladstone Baptist Church Children’s Service – 21/11/04
Boys and Girls, today I think that I have done something either really brave or something really silly. In this box, is one of the most dangerous things in the whole world
But now that I’m here, I don’t know whether I should have brought it along. What if it escapes – I don’t know that our insurance policy is enough to cover the damage that this thing could do if it got loose and let its power be let loose.
It’s been behaving itself all morning and I think that it will be alright – I’ll just check to see …
Do you want to know what I’ve got in this box? Do you want to see it?
Oh Oh – it’s stirring – I don’t think this is very wise at all. I think I better just take it home now. I don’t want it to hurt you - Is that all right?
What you still want to see it?
Okay, let’s see if we can just quieten it down a bit and put it to sleep and then maybe I can show it to you safely … I know – let’s sing rock a bye baby to it – to try to calm it down.
Look, I think it is working, but we need more people to sing – lets do it once again and get everyone to sing with us…
Okay, I think it is asleep – let me check – Yep.
Okay – you still want to know what it is.
I want 3 volunteers to come up here, put your hand inside the box, have a feel – gently!!!! And see if you can guess what it is.
Any guesses? Let’s see if a grown up can guess.
No Idea?
Okay – I’ll show you – lets sing rock a bye baby once more, just to be on the safe side …
A Tongue – An Ox Tongue Now doesn’t that look dangerous does it? Just gross. But I don’t want to talk about this cow’s tongue here today, I want to talk about your tongue. Do you all have a tongue – show me. Why don’t you turn around and show your Mum’s and Dad’s your tongue. Now I think it is our turn to see their tongues. Just to make sure they have one.
You know, our tongue is dangerous – one of the most dangerous things in all the world and this morning I want to tell you why this morning. I want to actually tell you 3 things here this morning and I want to see if you can remember them. Mums and Dads have a handout which they can write things on to help them to remember things, but I don’t think you need to write it down, because you are more clever than them don’t you think!!!! Now to help us find out these 3 things, we are going to play some hang man. Do you all know how to play?
1) The first reason why our tongues are so dangerous is that although it is small it is POWERFUL
Did you know that small things are powerful? Just look at me – small but strong!!! Not convinced?
No? Okay - let me ask you a few questions
Who has ever been on a ship? How big was it?
Has anyone ever seen the big ships down in the harbour? What is it that steers them? The RUDDER. How big is the rudder compared to the ship? Tiny – But something Small is powerful and controls the whole ship.
Has anyone ever ridden a horse? What is it that controls the horse? What tells it to go left so I miss that tree or right so I don’t fall over that cliff or stop so we don’t go in the pond? A BIT. A little bit of steel in its mouth. The bit is small, but powerful – it tells the horse which way to go.
How about a big forest fire. What is it that starts fires? Often just a single SPARK – from a match, or a cigarette or even a bit of glass that is left lying around. A small thing can be so destructive.
In the same way a tongue, even though it is very small compared to the rest of our body, has huge power.
Get a child to read James 3:3-6.
A small rudder controls a ship, a small bit controls a horse, a small spark can destroy a whole forest and our small tongue can destroy our lives and those of others …
How can the tongue be powerful? It can do an aweful lot of damage.
Has anyone ever said anything nasty to you? Something that really hurt you. Maybe they said – you can’t be my friend anymore. Maybe they said – you are ugly or smelly. Maybe they called you names. When that happens we feel really bad don’t we. Someone’s tongue has just hurt us really bad.
Have you ever said anything nasty to someone else? Do you know – that has probably hurt them really bad.
We sing a song – Stick and Stones will break our bones, but name can never hurt me. Names can hurt us, they often hurt longer and harder than sticks or stones.
Okay that’s the first thing – Our tongue is dangerous because it is powerful – can you say “It is powerful.”
Okay – let’s play some more hang man to find the second reason our tongues are so dangerous
2) The second reason that our tongues are dangerous is that they can’t be TAMED.
Men have managed to tame most of the wild animals in the world. Lions, Elephants, Killer Whales, Bears, Cats & Dogs. We can make most animals our pets if we train them right. But the tongue is a different beast.
Read James 3:7-8
While we have managed to tame all these other animals, we can’t tame the tongue.
Who has ever said something bad when they didn’t want to? Have you been nasty to someone – called them a name when you know you shouldn’t? Have you ever told a lie when you know it is wrong? Have you ever been cheeky to Mum and Dad when you were mad?
You see, our tongue says things we know it shouldn’t, but we just can’t seem to CONTROL it. We want it to say nice things and encourage people, but it doesn’t do what we want it to do. Why? Because we can’t tame it. So that means we’ve always got to be on the look out for the bad things we say.
So what is the first reason why the tongue is so dangerous – It is powerful. What about the second reason – It can’t be tamed. You ready for the 3rd reason? You’ve got 2 words to discover this time.
3) The third reason that our tongues are dangerous is that it is used for GOOD or EVIL
Some of the things our tongue says are really good things. Who can give me some examples of good things that the tongue says ….
But unfortunately not all the things our tongue says are good. Who can give me some examples of bad things the tongue says … Here are some more
Read James 3:9-12
The Bible tells us that although the tongue can speak good things and bad things, that is not how it should be. Sometimes unfortunately, we can be good at church or school – obedient, respectful, kind – but then, when we get home, we can be disobedient to Mum and Dad, disrespectful, mean and nasty to our Brothers and Sisters. The Bible says, that if we are Christians, we have to make sure that what comes out of our mouth is only good things because that is what Jesus is pleased with.
Ps 34:13 says “keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies.”
Prov 17:10 says “A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble”
Though we may sometimes slip up and say some mean or nasty things. Though we sometimes might talk back to Mum and Dad or refuse to do what they say, we have to make sure that we apologise straight away and try to make things better.
You know, what we say can either build up another person or tear them down.
If I said to you – “You look really beautiful today”, or “You are behaving yourself really well”, or “You are really smart”, they would be great complements and you would feel pretty good about yourself wouldn’t you. You would be built up.
But if I said to you – “You are so dumb”, or “I can’t believe your mum would let you out in that old grubby shirt”, or “You are really ugly” - How would you feel? You’d feelVery hurt wouldn’t you. You wouldn’t be encouraged – you would be devastated. You would be crushed and torn down.
What we say to other people can either build them up – or break them down.
Jesus wants us to build other people up. Heb 3:13 - But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today
What I want you to remember this week is that we need to try to use our tongue to build people up rather than tear them down. We need to use our tongue for good things rather than bad things. Can you do that? Well I am going to pray and then I want you to put into practice right away what we’ve been talking about. I want you to go back to your Mum & Dad and say something good to them that will build them up and Mums & Dads or grown ups, you can turn to someone you are sitting near and say something to them also.
Let’s use our tongues for Good and try to keep these dangerous beasts under control.
