Growing Pains (Week 2)

Well, good morning.

Welcome.

I'm Forrest Coleman, Lee Pastor here at Multiply.

If I've not met you before, welcome myself and about a hundred other folks, launched the work of Multiply Church.

Just a couple weeks now, shy of two years ago.

So welcome this morning.

Glad that you're here.

We've jumped into this message series called Growing Pains as we're looking at the book of James.

And the title of the message today is Word of Mouth.

And for me, sometimes the word of mouth ends up being my foot in my mouth.

One of those circumstances happened a little while ago.

My wife, Emily and I, we went to some leaders who were in the church, went to go, they got invited for dinner.

We went to dinner at their house.

It's just a beautiful young couple.

Had a couple of kids.

We're having a great dinner as the night is going.

And kind of towards the middle of the end of the evening, I'm just wanting to care about their life and what's going on with them.

And so they're at the dinner table.

I look to the wife and I say, How's the pregnancy going?

And she looks back at me in confusion and then uh annoyance and said, I'm not pregnant.

You can imagine how cringy that moment was.

But I didn't just stop there.

Uh I doubled down, you know?

If you're gonna uh go the wrong way, go 100%.

That's what they used to tell me in football getting up at the wrong assignment, just go all out.

And I said, Yes, you are pregnant.

I started fighting with her.

I was like, just just like three or four weeks ago, we were at the event in the church, and you told me that you're pregnant.

She said, That wasn't me.

And she was right, it was not her, it was somebody else.

And the whole time Emily is dying next to me, she's grabbing my leg, she's like, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.

Oh my goodness, that was absolutely horrible.

And then it was like such a painfully embarrassing moment for me in my life, and now you've just gotten to experience as well.

You're welcome.

You can imagine it.

But isn't it interesting sometimes that we have these painful moments in our life that then lead to change and lead to our growth?

See, because now, if you are somebody who's in our church, if you're uh a family, if you're a woman who's pregnant, do not be offended if I don't ask you about your pregnancy how it's going.

Because I've learned uh just to kind of let those things play out.

When the baby's here, the baby's here, you know?

Celebration, congratulations.

Uh you have sometimes you have these painful moments that lead to your learning and your change.

And we've been walking through the book of James, and as we take a look today about what James has to tell us, one, about the words that we speak and the way that we see others.

That I wonder if today, as you're going to reflect on maybe the words that you speak or what overflows out of your mouth, is it the wisdom of God, as it should be, or is it of the world?

James, who is the half-brother of Jesus, who starts out this last week as we talked about in chapter one, that we can ask God for wisdom and that he'll give it to us generously.

That we can, and as we walk with God, that we can receive his wisdom for our life, that we could walk in the wisdom of God, and we would not lack in any way when it comes to the wisdom of God coming out of our lips as an overflow of who we are in Christ Jesus.

What's overflowing out of you normally?

See, James starts by giving us this direct warning to us in chapter 2.

Dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?

For example, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewelry, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in dirty clothes.

If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, you can stand over there or else sit on the floor, well, doesn't this discrimination show that your judgments are guided by evil motives?

See, James starts hitting us between the eyes, talking about our motivations, talking about how we see other people and the words that we say to them.

Now you may be thinking, now, Forrest, this isn't even relevant today.

This situation is talking about somebody comes in a room, it's open seating now.

They're talking about, you know, back in Jesus' time in the synagogue, and somebody comes in expensive jewelry and has a seat.

You know what's crazy?

Like two months ago, I heard of some churches that are starting now to have VIP seating in their arena where you can pay for a VIP seat.

This is 2024.

Right now, and I'm wondering, like, what are they thinking?

Like, are they gonna serve bottle service too?

Is this a club?

Like, what are we doing here?

VIP seating for those who buy, and you'd say to me, like, oh, that's not today.

No, it is today, and it's directly contradicting the wisdom of God.

So we have to make sure that we are guarding ourselves, that we are walking as God has called us to, because he's chosen the poor to be rich in faith.

And James goes on to say that isn't it the rich that dishonor the poor and even oppress you?

And then verse 8, he said, Yes, indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law, as it's found in the scriptures, love your neighbor as yourself.

But if you favor some people over others, you're committing a what?

Sin.

You are guilty of breaking the law.

Then he goes on to say that if you break one law, then you've broken all of the laws.

And it's interesting that the title of this specific beginnings uh here of this chapter, it's it's named a warning against prejudice.

Church, prejudice has no place and no room in the kingdom of God.

There is no space for prejudice in here or elsewhere for those who are in Christ.

He goes on to say that this is of very steep consequences.

He goes on to saying that for those that show no mercies to other, that no mercy will be shown to you.

That if you've been merciful, then God will then be merciful to you when he judges you.

See, Jesus says something very similar.

And as we look at the passages from James today, we're also going to take a look at the words of Jesus as well, because James was Jesus' half-brother.

He grew up being around Jesus, he grew up hearing the teaching of Jesus.

And so this book of James it mirrors and models so many of the direct teachings of Jesus that you can just see the influence that Jesus had had over his half-brother when he says this in Matthew 5, 46 and 48.

If you love those who love you, what reward is there for that?

Even corrupt tax collectors do that much.

If you're kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else?

Even pagans do that.

But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect, and we only receive that perfection by us having the finished work of Jesus on the cross and his blood over us, covering over us.

And we talked about last week how James, when he uses this word perfect, it's this picture of wholeness.

Not somebody who's divided between the world and between the way of God, but somebody who's fully, complete, and whole.

And Jesus goes to say, hey, what reward is it if you just like the people who like you?

And it's it's a it's a lesson to us right now.

Every single one of us, that we should, and every person who walks through the doors here at Multiply, we should love sinners and not sin.

We should love sinners and not sin.

Why is that?

Because every single person who walks through the doors of multiply church, I'm here to tell you today that every single one is a sinner, including the one who's standing up here right now.

But we have the opportunity to love people so that that sin can be bought and covered by the finished work of Jesus.

That we would not think ourselves better than someone else, that we would not neglect the rich or the poor, but that we would serve both.

We should serve both the rich and the poor.

My my my first pastor in ministry used to say it this way, and I love it.

He used to say, you can be down and out in a hard time, you can be down and out, but you can also be up and out.

You can also have the nice house, have the nice car, have all the things, and still be out.

There's people who have a lot of money who still take their own life.

Why is that?

Because you can be down and out, but you can also be up and out.

See, this was very different for the Jewish people that James is talking to because in the Old Testament, the way they thought about riches and wealth in the Old Testament was that if you had land, if you had cattle, if you had family, if you had wealth, that that was a sign of God's blessing over your life.

And there are too many people today who are still teaching that God just wants to make you healthy and wealthy.

When that was not even the reality for the disciples themselves.

The ones who followed Jesus.

In 62 AD, James, the brother of Jesus, he was martyred and killed for his faith in Christ.

See, we know that God's gonna provide every single one of our needs.

But even like right now, as you come in the room, like, are you rich?

Are you poor?

Well, in America, you're kind of both.

Did you know that right now, less than 20% of the world owns a car?

It's 18%.

So if you came here today in a car that you own, you are more wealthy than 80% of the globe.

You have more than 80% of the people who are around the world.

In America, you're kind of both because there's always somebody who has less money, and there's somebody, always somebody who has more money than you do.

Uh, when we were uh when me and my wife lived down close to Lake Cumberland, it kind of looked like this because when we were on Lake Cumberland, we like to go out on the lake on the weekends, go boat and and jet skis.

And what's better than having a boat is having friends who have a boat.

So we had some friends had a boat, and we go out on the water, and you know, when you're on the water, everybody's kind of talking about the boat that you're on, and that kind of thing.

And and what I recognize because the conversation would a lot of be, you know, whoever owns the boat's like, yeah, I like this boat, but you know, I'm looking at this bigger boat over here.

And the reality is when you're out on the water, someone always has a bigger boat.

When you're out there on the water, somebody at some point is gonna drive by and they're gonna have a bigger, nicer, better boat.

Somebody always has a bigger boat than you do.

Here's the thing you can be down and out, you can be up and out.

And we as Multiply Church, we need to have the position that we're gonna serve and love both.

Serve and love both without showing favoritism.

See, James tells us plainly that the way that we respond in word and in deed, that it shows a genuine faith within us or a fake faith.

He goes on to talk about in verse 14 that if somebody comes to you and they don't have clothes and they don't have food, and you just say, bye, have a good day, see you later, that your faith is useless.

He goes on to say in verse 18.

Now someone may uh someone may argue, some people have faith and others have good deeds.

But I say, How can you show me your faith if you don't have good deeds?

I will show you my faith by my good deeds.

You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.

Good for you! Even the demons believe this and they tremble in terror.

How foolish.

Can't you see that faith without good deeds is useless?

Now here's the thing we know that works won't save you, but you're saved to do good works.

And what James is highlighting here is that a genuine faith, that it's like Ephesians says that we're saved by grace through faith.

Not of yourselves, lest no one should boast.

But it's a free gift from God above.

See, it's it's interesting to me because he even in this passage says, Hey, you believe that there's one God?

Well, even demons believe that.

You know, there's there's there's a lot of people right now in America and the world that believe that Jesus was a real person.

Academia, historians, there's not a whole lot of controversy around whether or not there was a Jesus of Nazareth who was a human figure and a person in time that the person of Jesus, there was a historical Jesus, is what they say.

See, there's plenty of people out there that say, oh, well, you know, Jesus, like, he's he's a good he's a great teacher.

You know, just like all the Buddha and and and Muhammad, all the different, you know, Jesus is Jesus, he, he, he's real.

Like, I believe that Jesus is real.

But there's a complete difference between believing that Jesus is just a person in history and knowing the fact that he's the savior of the world, that he hung the stars in the universe, that he's the beginning and the end.

And there is so many people who want to just say, oh, yeah, yeah, I believe in Jesus.

Isn't it interesting that there are going to be people who say they believe that there's one God who will be in hell?

Because they've not in faith received the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

And in doing so, their faith does not withstand the storm.

See, that's what Jesus says in Matthew 7, 24.

He says, Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise.

Like a person who builds a house on solid rock.

Though the rain comes and torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it would collapse because it is built, it wouldn't collapse because it's built on bedrock.

Verse 26.

But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn't obey it is foolish.

Like a person who builds a house on sand.

When the rain and floods come and the wind, winds beat against the house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.

See, we should be illustrating our spiritual growth with our practical deeds.

Your spiritual development should equal practical deeds in your life that's happening.

That's why we do the Frankfurt Forward Initiative around here.

You just heard a few minutes ago about the fact that we were able to come alongside and partner with the Academy School and this last Sunday and got to provide a ton of uniforms for them.

And what you just heard a few minutes ago is what they said is that there are often times that for them and their students that they feel forgotten.

They feel overlooked.

But last Sunday we saw them.

We loved them.

We brought some supplies to some people and some kids who are in impossible situations to be the tangible hands and feet of Jesus.

This last week I got to meet with, and it's kind of cool how this kind of all came to fruition finally, but I've been thinking and praying about what does it look like for us to at some point be able to serve and to uh be able to care and just show up for the men and women who are in uniform in our town at the Boon Center.

And I got to meet this last week with one of the people who is does family services with the guard.

And we sat together at Starbucks and we had a conversation and we got to talk about maybe some ideas of how we could come alongside them and and and show love to these men and women in uniform.

He said, uh, you know, he just kind of said, well, there's a lot of ways, like, you know, even on on their on their drill weekends or their annual training where they have to eat those MREs at all times.

It's like a Chick-fil-A sandwich would be amazing to them.

I'm like, we can we can we can bring some Chick-fil-A sandwiches, can we, Church?

We can get some Chick-fil-a sandwiches so that we can we can connect tangible action with our faith.

And I don't know how that's all we know, but I know this.

We're gonna continue to find ways that we can love and serve everyone in this community, that we are able to and possibly are able to.

We can't do everything, but we're gonna try to do for one what we wish that we could do for everyone, and we're gonna continue to share the love of God by serving people without prejudice.

James goes on to say about not only the way that we see people, the words that we say to one another.

In chapter three, it says we can make a large horse go wherever we want by means of a small bit in its mouth.

We as Kentuckians understand that.

A small rudder makes a huge ship turn wherever the pilot chooses to go.

Even though the winds are strong, and in the same way, the tongue is a small thing that makes grand speeches, but a tiny spark can set a great forest on fire.

And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire.

It is a whole world of wickedness corrupting your entire body.

It can set your whole life on fire.

For it is set on fire by hell itself.

You ever heard this growing up?

Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.

That is dumb.

That is not true.

It's not right.

Because words, they can hurt.

Lies, they can get into the heart of a child that's spoken over.

You're nothing, you're never gonna be anything, you'll always be overweight.

You're not gonna, you're not gonna amount to anything in life, and and spend the rest of their life battling against the lie.

For many of us, some hurtful words like that that maybe somebody said or an influence, a parent, a grandparent, a friend, still come up in your mind from time to time.

We have to recognize the fact that it's the enemy who wants to steal, kill, and destroy us.

A tongue that's been set on fire by hell itself.

See, as we walk in the wisdom of God, there's no room for lies and for wickedness.

Ephesians 4.29, it says it like this.

This is kind of the forest version.

It says, build up or shut up.

Build others up or shut your mouth.

We would be people that would bless others and bless God, and that curses wouldn't come out of the same mouth.

See, James uses this comparison of a of of a a stream or a spring.

And he says, Can can bitter water and fresh water come from the same spring?

No.

The same way with your tongue, the same way with your mouth.

Jesus puts it this way in Luke 6, 43.

He says, A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit.

A tree is identified by its fruit.

Figs are never gathered from thorn bushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes.

A good person produces good things from a treasury of a good heart.

And an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.

What you say, listen, listen, listen.

What you say.

Follows, or what you say, flows from what is in your heart.

There is an overflow from your heart to your mouth.

And so we as believers, we don't get to say, oh well, I didn't mean it.

Oh well, I take it back.

Oh well, I was just upset.

Oh well, you know me.

I just I just tell it like it is.

No, your heart is overflowing with bitter water.

Where it should be overflowing as a fresh spring.

That there's an overflow in our life from what's down inside of us.

And what should be produced and be happening and coming from us is that we should be speaking with love, with the love of God.

That we should be pouring out the wisdom of God because we know his word.

And because we love God, and so and doing so, that we would speak wise words from our lips.

And in order to do that, you have to speak words wisely.

You have to be intentional about what you say.

You have to think about what is coming out of your mouth.

Or remain quiet.

Abraham Lincoln once said, better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

Some wise words from Lincoln?

It's wise words because it didn't come from him.

It came from Proverbs 17, 28.

It said, even fools are thought wise when they keep silent.

From their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.

We should have a wisdom that overflows from us.

We should have a wisdom from our lips in the way that we love and treat others.

And then James brings it all together as he speaks of a true and a false wisdom.

In verse 13, he says, if you're wise and understand God's ways, prove it.

Prove it by living an honorable life.

Doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.

But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don't cover up the truth with boasting and lies.

For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.

Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, you'll find disorder and evil of every kind.

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.

It's also peace-loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.

It's full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.

It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.

And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.

There's evil, there's chaos, there's demonic spirit.

And you may not be experiencing that kind of evil right now.

But I don't know if you heard this or not, but yesterday, here in our state, Campbellsville University, one student got arrested last night for the murder and charged with the murder of another student.

And I've been communicating with our Southland church planting partner there, Chapman Bean, in Heartland Church, who's down there.

They're just getting going, they haven't even launched yet.

But the two the two people involved in this from yesterday were both wrestlers.

And Chapman Bean, who's the planter and pastor of Heartland, he right now is the FCA character coach for the wrestling team at Campbellsville.

And so we were texting last night and we've been communicating this morning and telling him love you, brother.

Praying for you.

And his response was I haven't been able to get so close to a lot of these wrestlers.

They have have such hard hearts.

But I'm praying, even in this tragedy, that God would use our words for the gospel to be made known.

And I just responded and said, believing with you, brother.

Believing with you.

This morning.

And we can pray for Chapman and their church and team as they minister and love these players.

Because God doesn't want.

So that by his poverty he could make you rich.

What is the richness that comes from Christ?

The richness that comes from Christ.

That not just in this life, but in the next, that you would have treasure stored up within you.

That your family and your children and your children children will be blessed and rich in the goodness of God and the love that He has for you and over you.

Jesus, He wants to make you rich.

Not just to line your pockets, but rich in His love.

Rich in His love that starts today, here, as Jesus said, that we should pray.

The kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

That heaven can start today, right now, in a kingdom that is here and also not here yet, of the glorious kingdom of Christ, that he wants us to be rich in faith and rich in love and rich in care as we follow him out of a genuine heart for him.

So I asked you, I asked you last week, read the book of James.

Let the wisdom of God enter into your life.

Five chapters.

Next week.

Let the richness of God's love and his wisdom pour out to you in your heart, so then it will return out to others.

So you may be in the room right now, and you don't yet have the riches of God because you've not received the finished work of Christ on the cross.

You've not asked for the forgiveness of your sins that he will wipe away and forgive.

So that you can be in right relationship with him in one day that you would walk in riches from this life into the glorious riches of heaven, the streets of gold, and a land of milk and honey, and a mansion that's waiting on you in the riches of God.

And maybe today is your day to step into the riches of Christ.

But let me tell you this: it will cost you everything.

It'll cost you everything.

Jesus tells us to count the cost of being his disciple.

That he went on the cross and he died in your place as a substitution of the death that you and I we should have received.

That we should have had the wages of sin and the death that we deserve because of our sins and because of how we've broken his law, but instead in his glory and his grace, he went to the cross in our place.

And then he tells us, now pick up your cross and die to yourself and follow me.

Today very well be the day of salvation for someone in this place that needs to receive the richness of God's love, that needs to receive the richness that God has planned for you and wants for you so badly for you to come to Him.

Church, will you bow your heads with me?

Father, I pray all across this room, Lord.

God, that every person who professes that they have faith in you, Christ, that Lord, that would produce a goodness that will be overflowing out of their heart this week to the people that are around them, their family, the ones that are hard to love, the impossible people at work, that God, there will be an overflow, God, of your love and wisdom for their mouth.

And Father, I pray right now, anyone in this room right now who has not received and taken the free gift of salvation that you gave to them by your finished work on the cross.

That today will be the day that they make that decision to follow you, Jesus, to receive the forgiveness and to walk hand in hand with you one day into heaven and instead of a place separated from God called hell.

So, Father, I pray, Lord, for anybody in the room right now who needs to receive your riches, that today would be that day.

And God, that they would do that right now by praying, Jesus, save me.

I believe that you're the Son of God, that you are alive.

Forgive me, cleanse me so that I can receive your riches in this life and the next.

I give you my life as you gave yours for mine.

Thank you for saving me.

No one looking around, you're in the room today, and you prayed that to receive the finished work of Jesus on the cross, to move from death to life, and today is the day for you to make that decision to be forgiven, that your eternal destination will be changed.

If that's you today, I'm gonna ask you that I can pray for you and acknowledge you with head bowed.

If that's you today at the count of three, would you just raise your hand up real quick so I can see you?

That's you today.

Ready?

One, two, three.

Anybody in the room today?

Yep.

Anybody else, Father, today?

To receive you as Savior.

Father, I pray right now, Lord, for hands that are going up to receive your finished work on the cross.

Today, God, I pray right now for those that, Lord, are receiving you, that God, you would forgive them, you would cleanse them, you would wash them as white as snow.

And God, in doing so, Lord, that you would seal it for salvation to start this day and into eternity.

We love you, we praise you in the strong name of Jesus.

Everybody said amen.

Church, are you staying together as we sing?