Sermon Reflections from Taming The Tongue | Alex Hardt  | July 9, 2023
  July 16, 2023

James is such a practical book as it is filled with advice and admonitions about how to live our best Christian life.  A life where our walk and our talk line up with scripture and are pleasing to God. Pastor Alex took this Sunday to walk us through James Chapter 3 gleaning important truths for us to remember and put into practice.
James starts with the admonition to be careful if you are a teacher.  At first glance most of us would say- I don’t teach.  But all of us are teachers of spiritual truths by the way we speak and act.  Our children, spouses, family and neighbors all hear and see our ‘teaching’ each and every day.  I know James was talking about teaching spiritual truths and the need for them to be accurate so that we give out the Word of God correctly.  We do not want to cause others to deliberately stumble by what we say and do.  Take a few minutes and think about a spiritual truth- God is love, God desires us to be just and righteous in Christ, etc.  How have others seen these truths in your life?  Are you giving a true picture of Christ and His love?  James reminds us that we need to be mindful of the messages we give to others and be sure they are aligned with scripture and show who God is.
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Next James talks about the power of the tongue.  It is a small member of our body but used improperly it can do great damage.  We only have think about a time we said something to someone that was unkind or hurtful.  I’m sure we have all experienced the repercussion of those types of remarks.  Pastor Alex talked about the tongue being a container that we carry around with us that can greatly affect everyone and everything.  He wanted us to remember that the power of the mouth has the ability to give life to those around us- positive, hope filled encouragement or to give death with putdowns, discouragement, slanderous, and even evil thoughts.  We can praise God or curse God with the same tongue.  It holds a lot of power and we need to be mindful of how and when we speak. When we are speaking ill of something, it is like using deadly poison or pouring gasoline on a fire.  David describes a poisonous person in Psalm 140:1-3 “Rescue me, Lord, from evildoers;   protect me from the violent,
2 who devise evil plans in their hearts
    and stir up war every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a serpent’s;
    the poison of vipers is on their lips.    I know we all agree with David that only the Lord can rescue us from such people and their vile tongues! 

I love the way James 3 concludes.  He talks about 2 kinds of wisdom.  Wisdom from God and wisdom of the world.  We know we cannot all be perfect but we can seek God’s help, wisdom and guidance to live as best we can for Him.  He empowers us through His Holy Spirit to stand firm and resist the devil and his enticing desires.  Worldly wisdom is described in James 3:14-15” But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic.”  Worldly wisdom causes strife, bitterness, selfish desires and untruth to grow in our lives.  The root of this type of wisdom is unspiritual and of the devil.  It is filled with evil desires and leads to chaos.   The wisdom of God, by contrast, is described in James 3:17-18 “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. 18 Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.”  God’s wisdom leads to peace, hope, living well with others, showing others about Jesus and His righteousness.  What a contrast- chaos vs peace!   Pastor Alex reminded us that God’s Wisdom produces good fruit.  James calls it a ‘harvest of righteousness’.  Isn’t that what we all truly desire? 

So how do we get there? 

1. Watch what we say and try to align our words and deeds with scripture.  Pray- ask God to help you ‘mind your words.’
2. Take measure of our words. Examine- are they ‘poisonous’ in nature or do they lead to good feelings and encouragement.  My Mom use to say, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.’  Seems to fit here with James.
3. Look for the fruits of the Spirit in your life.  Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  As we walk the Christian walk and seek to glorify Jesus in our lives, we should see more and more of this fruit. 

Not seeing fruit?  Pray about it and seek God’s help and wisdom. Just as David did, call upon the Lord and seek Him.  Remember our memory verse for this week from John 14:1 ““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.”   Be comforted, God is greater than anyone or anything we can face.   He knows the way; seek Him and He’ll guide you.

Linda

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Sermon Reflections from A Hospital for the Wounded and Weak | Alex Hardt | February 5, 2023

In Sunday’s message, Pastor Alex focused on the who Jesus came for and why he came. The passage in Luke 5:27-32 opens with Levi being confronted with Jesus and responding to his invitational command to ‘follow me’. When did you receive Jesus’ invitation to follow him?  If you know him as Savior, at some point you decided to follow Jesus.  Many who have known Jesus for a long time, since childhood, have difficulty pointing to an exact time when they decided. However, if you see the fruit of your decision – the desire to learn more about Him, to tell others about Him and Serve Him, then don’t let the timing bother you.  Have you considered why you said yes?  Was it an emotional response to a call from a pastor, was it during a bible study or was it from seeing God’s grandeur in nature?  God can and does use all of these situations to lead us into the realization that we need Him!  The realization that we are sinful and cannot be holy through any efforts of our own comes from Him.  We can never be good enough in and of ourselves.  When Jesus calls us and we realize that He is connecting with our heart, mind and soul, then we respond with a resounding YES!  Our hearts connect with His love and tenderness, and we encounter His lasting forgiveness.  When this happened to Levi, he dropped everything, left his corrupt lifestyle and stepped out in faith to follow Jesus.  Levi was undesirable and looked down upon by both Romans and Jews.  Yet, Jesus singled him out and called him.  The definition of grace is the undeserved favor of God.  Levi had not earned God’s favor in any way and yet, Jesus chose him.  Each of us who responds to Jesus are sinners undeserving of God’s love and forgiveness, and yet, like Levi, God calls us to himself.  I love Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We see in our passage Levi’s response to God’s grace was to drop everything and follow him.  That is how it has to be, drop everything and follow Him. He is worthy of all our praise and love and is more valuable than anything or anyone.  What do you need to drop this week in pursuit of Jesus?  Where can you make time for prayer, study of His Word or fellowship with other believers? 
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We see from the passage that Levi wanted to tell everyone about his new found love for Jesus.  He hosted a large dinner party at his home. It is significant that he did not try to do this secretly but openly invited all those he knew.  The Pharisees who criticized the disciples of Jesus about why they would lower themselves to associate with tax collectors and sinners were probably not coming inside to eat with them.  They would not have wanted to be defiled by eating in their presence.  They would have stood outside the home and spoke with the attendees from outside.   In Luke 5:31-32 “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance,”  Jesus was not suggesting that the Pharisee’s were healthy in their faith but that those who realize they need a doctor, someone to save and cleanse them, are the ones Jesus came for.  Following Jesus requires a repentant open heart. Levi had been open and recognized his sinful nature and became a follower of Jesus.  The result was a change of heart, mind and body towards his whole world.  2 Corinthians 5:17 describes this change succinctly, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!  Doesn’t that sound like what happened to Levi?   Peter writes and gives us the why of this miraculous transformation in 1 Peter 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”    Knowing and following Christ changes us because we have new hope, a new life and a new forgiven perspective in Jesus!  Praise God!

Pastor’s last point was that Levi experienced joy in this new found life with Jesus. Likewise, we find Joy in Jesus. Sometimes this is not easy as we have many things in the world that would seek to rob us of this joy.  Difficult circumstances, hardships, painful relationships, death of loved ones, sickness…., the world is filled with things that would love to take away our joy.  Satan works overtime to defeat our joy filled walk with Christ.  He cannot take away our salvation but he can destroy our witness and rob us of joy.  To counteract this, one must put things aside, and immediately follow Jesus.  Focus upon Him and the provision he provides for us spiritually (indwelling of the Holy Spirit), emotionally (a home in heaven, salvation assurance, hope) and physically (casting away our sins, providing for us in so many ways).  Scripture is filled with verses that seek to uplift and remind us of who God is and how much He loves and cares for us.  Here are a couple of my favorites: 

Nahum 1:7 “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.”  Nehemiah 8:10b “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”   Regardless of your circumstances is your attitude like Habakkuk’s in

Habakkuk 3:18?  “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

When we choose to follow Jesus, joy comes and we need to learn to be open to it, accept it whenever and however it appears with gratitude and grace, knowing it is from Jesus!  Levi did and he was mightily blessed and blessed those around him.  He continues to bless us as we read his story and share in his joy.

Know that just like Levi, Jesus came for you and me and died to bring us into His forever family. We now have a new life, a new perspective and a new hope in Jesus.  Following Him brings it to us with joy an abundance! Praise God!
Linda
 
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The Unknown Love | A Hospital For the Wounded and Weak
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Sermon series, "The Unknown Love " Today Alex Hardt share how to Christ is A Hospital For the Wounded and Weak

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