So what's the funniest thing that happened to you this week? I'm, I'm going to give you a minute. Let's just think about it. What's the funniest thing that you've heard all week long or the funniest thing that, that happened to you this week? Ok. Got it, got it here. Here's the funniest thing I heard all week. Our own dear Michael Brooks was walking into a store the other day and as he walked into the store and an older gentleman with a cane came walking by Michael Brooks said, how you doing today, sir? And the man said, fat and ugly to which Michael Brooks says, well, that makes two of us. And the man said, nah, you ain't fat. And then when he got past him, he turned around and said, got you. I have laughed at that every day this week. I mean, it just, it kills me the first time. I, I was erupting in my car. I, I knew my neighbors heard me. I just pulled in the driveway. He told that story. I was so loudly laughing. Then he told me the very next day and I laughed all over again. It's, it's just funny, man. That's funny. Now, my question is, is that something that guy says to people all the time? I don't know. Or, or was Michael Brooks the first person that got that one? I don't know. My guess is he's used it more than once. And if so, can you imagine how that one moment changed someone's day? You know, we, we all know that, right. We, we know that there are moments in life when, when one word, one phrase changes everything that's happening around us. We continue our series Fresh Air where we are looking at the words that are in the air around us and not just the words that we're hearing most specifically, the words that we are putting in the air. What, what kind of words are we putting in the air around us? We're going to be looking in James chapter three and, and what James is going to do is he's going to help us see how quickly our words can change a moment because in a moment like that older gentleman, we, we can bring laughter into a scene or we can bring other things into a scene that, that may not be laughter. So what kind of words are we using? And why does it matter? Well, let's find out together. Our message today is titled catchy words. We're going to be in James chapter three beginning with verse five, the second part of verse five. And this is what James says. See how great a forest is set a flame by such a small fire this week in Texas just a few days ago, there was a, a trailer being pulled by a truck. It was a, a trailer full of lawnmower equipment and there was a blowout on one of the tires of the trailer and the, the blowout caused one spark and that spark torched five acres of land where that trailer was just, just one spark. If we look at the, the worst wildfires in history, many of them were began by small things, small things like just a tiny smoldering ember from a, a campfire or tiny smoldering piece of a cigarette. Sometimes a wildfire that that killed 100 thousands of forest land. It was started, started just by the spark of a tool. So we, we see this, we, we know this but James is moving us beyond just a forest fire. And he's saying that there's something else, something super small that can create a devastating fire. Listen to verse six and the tongue is a fire. The very world of unrighteousness. It only takes the, a little flick of a cigarette to tear through and torch thousands of acres. And likewise, it only takes a little flick of the tongue to tear through someone's life. See, that's what the tongue does. It's a little two ounces of muscle that are in our mouth and it flicks up against the roof of the mouth or it flicks up against the teeth and it creates sounds so that we can create words. And some of those flicks create good words. They create creative words and constructive words. They, they create caring words. Those little flicks can create cheerful words, but those little flicks can also make devastating words, destructive words, discouraging words and depressing words. Those flicks can do all of that, all those different emotions, all of those different feelings, all of those different words with just little flicks and a little fleck of two ounces of muscle James uses the word unrighteousness here with the flicks and flecks of the tongue. Unrighteousness. We we could say if we flip flop it, we could use the word righteous and we could say something that has righteousness is something that's in the category of being right with God. Righteousness would, would be an imagery of being right with God. So on the flip side, unrighteousness would be something that's connected to something that's not right with God. And so the word He uses is letting us know that our words sometimes can be not right with God. In other words, our words can be very, very sinful and, and that can be super dangerous. How, why? Well, because once our words are out, there's, there's no controlling them life application study Bible says this before you speak. Remember that words are like fire, you can neither control nor reverse the damage they can do what that word is out. It's, it's out. There's, there's no controlling it. Look, I, I speak a lot. I, I use a lot of words. The staff will tell you, I use a lot of words when I talk about anything. I, I use a lot of words and here's the math. When you use a lot of words, you know what happens every now and then. Words are going to get you in trouble. Ok. Uh, They got me in trouble this week. All right. When you use a lot of words, at some point in time, the math is just going to work, you're going to sin. Your words are going to be sinful. But let me graciously encourage you if you're someone that doesn't use a lot of words just to be cautious because not using words can be sin, too Ecclesiastes. It says there is a time to be silent, but there is also a time to speak in relationships. There is a time to speak and sometimes being silent is sin. Likewise, Ezekiel was told by God that there would be consequences. He would be held accountable if he did not speak to others about their need for salvation. As Christians, when it comes to the gospel that saved us and redeemed us, we have to remember that silence can be sin. Our unwillingness or failure to speak of the glory of God can be sin. So speaking too much can be sin and and being silent can be sin. Either way our words can get us into trouble or our lack of words can get us into trouble. John Wesley was a, a pastor, a evangelist, a theologian in the 17 hundreds and it seems that he was also a snazzy dresser, like a like a good garment, had a little clothier, I guess. And there was one particular Sunday where after the service, this woman came up to him and this is what she said to brother Wesley. She said, brother Wesley, would you admit a word of criticism? Now, of course, she said this in a very snippy snarky tone of voice. And John Wesley said, you know, but of course, and so this is what the woman said. Your bow tie is much too long and it is an evidence of worldliness to me to this. John Wesley turned to the crowd around and said, does anybody have a pair of scissors? And after a few moments, someone appeared with a pair of scissors, John Wesley gave it to the woman and he said, trim it to what suits you where the woman joyfully grabbed those scissors, she trimmed his tie and he said, well, thank you, ma'am. He said, can I have the scissors and may I be allowed to use them on you? And she said for what he said to trim your tongue because it's too long words, matter what I say matters what you say matters. There is power in our words, our our tongues have the power with, with little flicks and a little flex. It, it has the power to create catchy words. Not, not like cool fad, catchy words, but, but catchy words that can quickly catch fire. That's, that's the power of the tongue. James has more to say about that power, that power that can spark unrighteousness. This is what he says. Continuing in verse six, the tongue is set among our body parts as that, which defines the whole body and sets on fire the course of our life and is set on fire by hell. In other words, our tongue can really get us into trouble. Why? Because the tongue, unlike anything else, it seems to be a part of everything in life. I mean, just think about it, the tongue and the fire of the tongue can spread so quickly because words are everywhere. They're at the, the breakfast table in the morning, they're at the lunch meeting, they're at the dinner date, they're at the weekend cookout, they're on the, the radio when we're listening to music, they're on the, the talk radio. When we're listening to pundits and, and speakers, they're in books and magazines on the TV, and newspapers on, on podcast on and on. Everywhere we turn, there are words and so words make up every part of life. So what's happening with our tongue? What's, what's happening coming out of our mouth and, and coming out of the mouths of others. It's everywhere. It's, it's not just a little moment, it's not just one place it impacts and affects everything. Words matter what we say, what we hear, what we read. It all matters, what we say, what we read, what we hear, those types of things can be used to start a fire of hope and salvation or what we say what we hear. What we read can be used to start a fire of sin and destruction. Proverbs 21 23 says this King Solomon wrote one who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles. Your, your soul is, is guarded by what you say and what you don't say and guarding your mouth is not just good for your soul. It's good for the souls of people around you, guarding the tongue and, and guarding the mouth is something that we must do. Because if we're not careful, our words can become kindling and kindle is used to start the fire to, to get it going. It, it catches fire quickly. The words that we use and our enemy, the devil loves kindly loves. In fact of, of everything else in our life. If there is anywhere that the enemy seems to create the most temptation for us and we grab on to it is the words that we use. The words that we speak. How are real fires started? Well, generally speaking in, in one of three different ways. A real fire has started intentionally arson. It started accidentally, something that, that can't be controlled or it started naturally, like, like a lightning strike. What about the fires of the, of the tongue? How, how do those fires get started? How, how can the tongue start fires? The exact same three ways intentionally accidentally or, or naturally? Meaning that the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts can cause our, our words to start a fire. And what kind of damage can a real fire do? Well, there's first degree burns, there's second degree burns and there's third degree burns. Right. There's, there's a degree of how those, those burns can impact a person's body. Same is true when it comes to the, the fire of the tongue. See, sometimes it just hits the surface and, and we can roll on but other times it's deeper. It's, it's more hurtful and we can't roll on, think about it just in your own life. What's something that someone has said to you? And maybe it's been years and it's still in your mind. It's, it's still there. It, it still pops up. What kind of fires can the tongue start? Well, Paul, when he was writing to Timothy and Titus, he used the words malicious gossips and, and the words for malicious gossips one time that a commentator said that more than 34 times in The New Testament. The same word used for malicious gossips is the word used for Satan. I mean, that should be enough for us to want to avoid gossip. Right. So, what is gossip? Well, many times we think that gossip is saying something bad about somebody but that's not true. Gossip is repeating anything about somebody that's not helpful for that person. You know, some people say, well, I'm not gossiping. It's true. No, it's still gossip. You know, if, if it's something that you're sharing that is not helpful for someone, it's, it's hurtful to someone. It's, it's a form of, of slander. Doesn't matter if it's true or not. The tongue can create fires of gossip. Gossip is an emotional disease. It, it creates problems to those who are gossiped about. But I think what we forget is that it also creates problems for the soul of the person who is gossiping. It, it shrivels up it, it has this inability to just be kind and caring about others. This is a strange illustration and I shouldn't use it because I don't know the context. But every morning I have a little routine of things that I do. Um, I check the news real quick. I don't watch a lot of news. I don't sit there and, and scurry the news but I try to make sure I know, you know what the main things are going. So, I, I spend about 15 minutes in the morning, uh, going through all of it. I look at the conservative and the liberal and everything in between. I look at everybody's insights on what's happening in the world, but I do it all in a 15 minute time span. Most of the time, I'm just reading, you know, the titles of the article. I don't, I, and maybe the first paragraph I don't get too deep into it, but I, I like to stay aware and, and up to date and I always, of course, in that time frame create, you know, a little time for sports. And so undoubtedly there was a cage match yesterday, um, or, or some kind of UFC fight and the only thing I saw on my feed this morning was a guy completely knocked out on the mat and everybody in the stadium cheering and going nuts. No. Look, I realize in a fight that that's what happens when somebody gets knocked out, you know, everybody cheers. But I was also thinking, I don't know, would this be like a moment of silence moment? You know, let's see if the guy's going to get up, you know, let's just, just take him, let's just breathe and let's, you know, let's just see, you know, exactly what's going to happen here. But, but that's become part of our culture now, part of our culture is we, we have no control, we have no restraint. We don't realize that sometimes the things we are actually cheering are rotting away our ability to be kind and gracious and loving to the person in the parking lot when we leave the tongue can create a fire of, of gossip and that gossip is not just hurtful to the people that are gossiped about. If you are the gossiper, it hurts you even if you don't know it. What other kind of fires can the tongue create? First Peter 38. Peter says this to sum up all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate and humble. Verse nine, not returning evil for evil or insult, for insult. We start fires by returning evil for evil by foolishly arguing, not, not debating in some healthy sense but but foolishly arguing and going back and forth with evil after evil insult after insult, over and over again, that is a fire that the tongue creates a fire of unrighteousness. Another fire Paul right into the church in Ephesus says this Ephesians 4 29 let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth. We can start fires with unwholesome words and, and those aren't just like four letter words. Either, those are any words that are unnecessary, any words that are, that are rude and hurtful and and critical for for no reason at all. Another fire, Paul writes about in Philippians two verse 14, he says, do all things without complaining. Uh Come on man, but you know, we can start fires with complaining and grumbling. Look, none of us are perfect, right? We're not, we, we're all going to have our moments where we whine where we complain, where we grumble about something somewhere. But I had someone this week a professing Christian, speaking of another professing Christian, and they just made the comment. Well, you know, everybody knows they're always going to be complaining about something. That's just not right. If, if we are a believer, then, then we should not be known for complaining and grumbling. That should not be what we are known for. Not by our family or our friends or, or anyone else just consider it this way. If you have been saved and redeemed and rescued, if your sin has been eternally pronounced, not guilty against you. If, if you're not guilty of your sin by the one true God of the universe through his son Jesus Christ. And if you and I do things every day that dishonor God and by the way, we do all of us, we say things, we think things, we do things that, that dishonor God. If, if we do things and say things that, that dishonor God, if, if we have things in our life that God could legitimately hate or at the very least not like or complain about. And yet He doesn't hate us. He doesn't dislike us. He doesn't complain about us. But but because of the rich mercy and salvation of Jesus Christ God rather than complaining, he comforts, he rescues, he encourages, he gives more grace and more mercy over and over and over again. If all of that is true then, dear Christian. What do we have to complain about? I, I mean, really if we have been rescued from hell, ok. Not, not ac G I part of a movie but hell, the place that Jesus talked about more than heaven. If we've been rescued from hell, if we've been redeemed by Jesus Christ, if one day as, as we will sing, we will almost be home forever with our greatest treasure. What do we really have to complain about? No, we will still complain. All right, we'll still whine, we'll still grumble. But I'm telling you the longer we know Jesus, it really should be less. It really should, it should be less. There should be something about the reality that everything above hell is icing on the cake that should do something to us. It should change how we think it should change how we act and it definitely should change our words. If you've been rescued from hell, what do we have to complain about? Isn't it amazing that, that the sweet truth of the gospel, the sweet water of the gospel has a way to put out the fires of sin, the, the fiery, unrighteous words that, that are coming in. Amazing how the gospel, the sweet words, the sweet water of the gospel can put out the fires of sin. Just think about it in your own life. What are you mad about right now? What are you angry about? What are you upset about? What are you mad about within your family? What are you mad about at work or at school? What are you mad about with your health? What are you mad about with the country? What are you mad about with the church? What is it that you're, you're mad and upset about? Well, the sweet truth and the sweet water of the gospel can put out those fires of anger. That, that's what it does. What about, what are you worried about? What are you afraid of right now? What are you stressed out about? What are you anxious about? What are you worried about within your family? What are you worried about at work or worried about at school or worried about with your health or what are you worried about in the country? What are you worried about even in the life of the church? Whatever it is you're worried about the sweet water. The sweet truth of the gospel is designed has the power to put out those fires of worry. And what is the sweet truth in the sweet water of the gospel? Paul said it like this in Romans 81. There is now no condemnation at oh for those who are in Christ Jesus? No, no condemnation of sin. Know you die and go to hell. No, you die and, and you have to be held accountable for your sins. No condemnation at all. For those who are in Christ Jesus, if you hate Christianity, if you think Christianity is a fairy tale, we can't control that. But I do want you to know that every ounce of hope that is found in Christianity is found in the person of Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished on the cross and from the empty tomb, he will return and make no condemnation a reality. I have a lot of things in, in common with my dad. Um, but my dad didn't use a lot of words. I use a lot of words, but my dad didn't use a lot of words. Now, don't get me wrong. Now, my dad knew how to talk right. You get my dad and Sam's or, or Lowe's and you start talking about repairing something or you start talking about Clemson. Oh man. You know, you're going to be there a while, you know, uh uh I graduated with a guy, just a great super guy. He, he does all the pest control at my parents' house and, and I know more than once. Uh my mom has had to go out there and say Josie, let Bill go, let him go. Come on, let him, let him go. You know, my, my dad can talk. But when it comes to the, comes to the big important words that we think about in life. Those, those were the words that my dad didn't use a lot of words with. But for instance, we're, we're a very loving family, very serving family. But, but we have not been the kind of family that, that says I love you a lot. That, that's kind of not, has been in, in our vocabulary. So that's one particular reason I enjoy the, the three weeks I had in the hospital with my dad because he and I said I love you to one another a lot, like, like a lot. And one night we were talking and, and he started telling me about all the things I was going to have to start doing. He's like, all right. No, look, you, you know, you have to take care of mom and, and here's, here's where this is and here's where that is. And you know, he had to tell me about how, how to take care of the cars. I have eight cars. I'm responsible for now right now. Yeah, Ted up here at Mooney Hands, I just say Ted I'm bringing part of the fleet up you to you today. I, I need you to look on something else. So he told me how to take care of the cars, how to take care of the house. You know, I take care of the bills, how to take care of the money, how to take care of the grass. I mean everything on and on and on on, you know, my my dad had a million systems for everything and so I listened, but of course there's no way I could learn all of the systems for life and, and keep up with them and repeat them and do them. Right. So at one point in that conversation that night, I jokingly said, dad, do you trust me? And he looked up at me and he said, of course, I trust you. Now, I have always felt like my dad loved me and trusted me, but he didn't always say it, but I, but I knew it. But I'm telling you, there was something about hearing him say that that night that made an impact on my life. Something about those five words have, have changed me over the last 10 weeks since he died because I do have lots of responsibilities. My my life is a bunch of chaos right now trying to, to manage and balance everything out. But but every time someone doesn't trust me, every time someone challenges me. Um like a lady from Social Security administration the other day, um when I'm not trusted and when, when I'm challenged, there's something about those five words from my dad, they have become a big deal in my life because hearing those words, it's, it's sustaining me. It's encouraging me. Why? Because my dad was a trust worthy man who loved the Lord. So if he tells me I can trust you, then I know that that I'm trustworthy. If my dad believes in me, then I'm ok. Now there is therefore no confusion in my mind. That my dad trusted me. There is therefore now no condemnation, no confusion for those who are in Christ Jesus, whatever you're mad about, angry, about, upset, about, worried about, afraid about stressed out, about, anxious, about whatever it is in your life that you wish were different. Those words matter, there is now no condemnation at all. For those who are in Christ Jesus, those words, they matter in the hospital, they matter at the doctor, they matter at work, they matter at school, they matter at home, they matter in traffic. They matter. When you're watching the news, they matter. When you're listening to talk radio, they matter. When you're tiktok or Facebook or Instagram or whatever else you're doing. These words, there is now no condemnation at all. Those words matter. They matter, they matter in every single moment in life because those words are the sweet words of the gospel. Those words are the sweet words that can put out the fires of sin at any given moment. And those are also the sweet words that can spark a fire of hope and salvation and rescue and redemption in the lives of others. One Sunday night in 1969 Kurt was sitting at home with his wife, Pat, they were sitting around the fire and, and Kurt was thinking about a song that he had to write. He and a friend of his Ralph were writing a musical and he had been tasked with writing the closing song of the musical. And so he had kind of just been thinking about it and he sat there looking at the fire and, and he just, he thought, man, you know, in that wild how a fire can get started with just, just one spark and, oh, hey, there's a song in that and he sat down and 20 minutes later, he had written the whole song. It's a song that is not just in the Christian world, but uh is recognized, uh far outside of the Christian world. The song is called Pass it on. And this is how part of the song goes. It only takes a spark to get a fire going. And soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That's how it is with God's love. Once you've experienced it, you spread his love to everyone. You want to pass it on, you want to pass it on. Do we want to pass on the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ? Do we want to pass on the sweet water of the gospel? It's not wrong to go knock on doors for your favorite candidate. But do you knock on doors for your favorite candidate? More than you speak of Jesus Christ. If so, the math is off, it's not wrong for us to like our favorite team. But do we spend more time speaking about our favorite team than we do? Speaking about Jesus Christ? Well, the math is, is off there. See, when we've experienced the love of God, we want to pass it on. We want the gospel to be part of our words. Many years later, decades later, Kirk Kaiser, who wrote that song said this. I'm always amazed how the Lord can take a little song and use it to reach so many people. That little song has been sung at countless weddings, countless funerals at ordination services by the Sea of Galilee in Rhodesia on the aircraft carrier Enterprise and lots and lots of camps with one little song. It, it spread out, it, it got passed along just the little flicks and the little flex of the tongue. There is great power. The power of the tongue can reflect the condemnation of hell or the salvation of heaven. So none of us are perfect. We're, we're all going to mess up, we're going to get it wrong. I got it wrong a lot of times this week with my spouse, with my kids, with friends, with strangers. I did pretty good with the social security lady. I just said thank you, ma'am and hung up on her. I was, I was feeling pretty good about that but the reality is we're all going to mess up. But, but what's the norm? What are we, what are we known for? What, what are our words reflecting to borrow from that older gentleman? Are our words reflecting the fat and ugly, selfishness of the world? Or are our words reflecting the faithful, lovely, selflessness of our Savior Jesus. Will our words be marked with the sweet water of the Gospel? What will fill the air around us? What kind of words are we putting in the air? There is now no condemnation at oh, for those who are in Christ Jesus, let's pass that on.