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Replay | ...but words will always hurt me with Chris Schlotterbeck

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  1. Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

  2. To get connected or to give online, go to hcv.church or give.htv.church.

  3. If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text

  4. change me to 970-00.

  5. Thank you and enjoy the message.

  6. Good morning everyone and welcome to Hub City Vineyard Sunday live stream.

  7. I just want to apologize first for those of you that are still tuned in.

  8. We literally had a power outage this morning.

  9. We lost all power.

  10. Now you do know that literally our Sunday live stream is live because we were broadcasting

  11. live.

  12. We lost all power, we lost the internet and we lost the ability to share the sermon with

  13. you this morning.

  14. But we're back and I just want to thank you for tuning in and being with us this morning

  15. and welcoming us into your home no matter where you are in your living room or your

  16. kitchen or your bedroom.

  17. I just want to thank you for welcoming us into where you are.

  18. Just to give you a few updates about our community of faith this morning, I shared on Thursday

  19. in my weekly email we have found a temporary meeting location for our in-person gatherings.

  20. We are going to begin meeting at the Hagerstown premium outlets for our in-person gatherings.

  21. Our target date for our first Sunday morning gathering which will be at 9 and 11 is Sunday,

  22. July 5th.

  23. And again I do say that's a target date.

  24. We'll be bringing you updates weekly about our progress and about different building

  25. codes that we need to meet to make sure that when we do gather we're safe and we're meeting

  26. all of the restrictions that are still being handed down from the state as far as COVID-19.

  27. We want to bring you the safest, best place for us all to gather and us all to reconnect

  28. with God.

  29. So with all that said this morning I would just like to open in prayer.

  30. It's kind of thrown us all off here a little bit, this power outage.

  31. And I just really have a powerful message to share with you that's been really impacting

  32. my life over the last two weeks.

  33. And I know that God wants to supernaturally speak to your heart and change you as well.

  34. So let's invite the Holy Spirit to come and to surround us with His presence in the changes

  35. this morning.

  36. So just ask and invite your Spirit to be with us, God.

  37. We thank you, God, for you working out all the details.

  38. And I just pray that you would use my words as a tool to change all of us, God.

  39. May my words be yours and may we just supernaturally reflect on where we are this morning in terms

  40. of our lives and how you desire to change us in Jesus' name.

  41. Amen.

  42. So we are kicking off a new series this morning called Tongue-pierced.

  43. And for the next four weeks we're going to be looking at the power of words, the words

  44. that we speak not only to others, but the words that we speak to God, the words that

  45. we speak about ourselves, the words that we speak about our community, and how powerful

  46. they are and how they can ultimately transform our lives and the lives of the people around

  47. us.

  48. So a group of sociologists intrigued by the impact words have on daily life recently conducted

  49. a study of the most powerful words in the English language.

  50. Now what they did, they took a different approach.

  51. Instead of just looking for one word or a few words that are impactful in the English

  52. language, they broke it down to use the most powerful four-word phrase, three-word phrase,

  53. two-word phrase, and of course the single most powerful word in the English language.

  54. They found the most powerful four-word phrase to be once upon a time.

  55. Now as a child, think about it, when you heard those words once upon a time, immediately

  56. it meant that something significant was about to happen.

  57. In fact, something fantastic could follow those four words because it's almost as if

  58. something intriguing or an adventure was going to take place and we wanted to be focused

  59. on it and we wanted to go on this adventure.

  60. Now unfortunately, as adults, those words have kind of lost its meaning, if you will,

  61. because we think we have made it and we've arrived and we can no longer take an adventure

  62. or live in some fantasy world.

  63. But have you ever thought for a second that our personal story actually begins with the

  64. four-word phrase once upon a time?

  65. As you made your entrance into this world, your story began.

  66. Think about it, once upon a time, a woman gave birth to a baby.

  67. That baby grew, became a child and learned, worked through the difficult teenage years,

  68. slowly matured and now became the man or woman that you are today.

  69. Actually stated friends, we all live in a story.

  70. Every day the story of our life is played out in our homes, our workplaces, our schools,

  71. our athletic events.

  72. In fact, the church that we attend.

  73. These places are full of interesting people, conflicts, decisions and if you really think

  74. about it, intrigue.

  75. Each of our lives is unique and they all hinge on the elementary building blocks that comprise

  76. every story and that is words.

  77. Think about it, no story we have ever read or told to our children gets very far without

  78. words.

  79. And the same is true for your and my life.

  80. Our everyday lives as we make decisions and choices and speak with other people, our words

  81. actually dictate the direction our lives will go, not only now but into the future.

  82. Our words have the potential to open doors and the opportunity to quickly close them.

  83. They can nourish and build our relationships or they can tear people down.

  84. The words we speak about ourselves, our self-talk if you will, have the power to shape our subconscious,

  85. the view of our worth and our abilities, determining the very actions that we take on a daily basis.

  86. Have every thought that the words that we say to and hear from God are critical to the

  87. story that we live both now and in the future when we spend eternity with God in his kingdom.

  88. In short, our words create our lives and that leads us to our first thought this morning.

  89. You see, words are a gift from God.

  90. See the phrase once upon a time is in direct connection with the most important story ever

  91. told and that's God's story.

  92. The story in which you and me, our lives are intertwined with one another as we begin and

  93. walk out a relationship with Jesus.

  94. In the Bible, the book of Genesis begins, in the beginning, God created the heavens

  95. and the earth.

  96. The earth was formless and empty.

  97. The darkness covered the deep waters and the spirit of God was hovering over the surface

  98. of the waters.

  99. Now continuing on in verses three through 27, we read this, then God said, let there

  100. be light and there was light.

  101. Then God said, let there be a space between the waters to separate the waters of the heavens

  102. from the waters of the earth.

  103. Then God said, let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place so dry ground

  104. may appear.

  105. Then God said, let the land sprout with vegetation, every sort of seed bearing plant and trees

  106. that grow seed bearing fruit.

  107. Then God said, let the lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night.

  108. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days and years.

  109. Then God said, let the water swarm with fish and other life.

  110. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.

  111. Then God said, let the earth produce every sort of animal, every producing offspring

  112. of the same kind.

  113. Then God said, let us make human beings in our image to be like us.

  114. We think about it.

  115. God, God's words alone literally set the world into motion from the beginning of time.

  116. Words now, now that'll be a God's words have been the tools that carry the power to create

  117. reality.

  118. Now he has passed that those tools to us literally given us the power to create and shape our

  119. very lives.

  120. The problem, the problem is this, our understanding of words and language is a learned behavior.

  121. Most of our harmful speech patterns are negative language are seared into our minds at a very

  122. early age.

  123. Now if you're anything like me, have you ever opened your mouth to, to speak or correct

  124. your children and suddenly you heard your mom come out?

  125. Or have you ever said something to your spouse suddenly to be in all that?

  126. Wow, that sounded like my father.

  127. See before we ever said ma or da, we began to internalize the meaning of conversations

  128. taking place all around us.

  129. When we started speaking, we learned to talk by repeating what we heard from our parents

  130. and other family members.

  131. Did you like the way your parents spoke to you when you were a child?

  132. If not, hopefully you're not speaking the same way to your children.

  133. Now think about the way your, your father spoke to your mother and your mother to your

  134. father.

  135. As you saw that picture while you were growing up, did you like the way they communicated

  136. to one another?

  137. Well chances are you may not even know it, but you're communicating the same way to your

  138. spouse in your different relationships today.

  139. Why?

  140. Because that's what we learned.

  141. If not, here's the reality.

  142. We have to become intentional in the way we're communicating to others.

  143. Otherwise it's just going to be what we learned many, many years ago.

  144. Now to start changing things for the better, we need to recognize the ability to use the

  145. words at all is a gift from God.

  146. God has given us this gift and he's challenging us to use these words well, to be responsible,

  147. to value the words that he's given us when we speak them.

  148. Now just take for a second and imagine if a friend of yours, a close friend, someone

  149. that you loved and trusted, imagine if he or she handed you $25,000 in cash.

  150. And when he or she handed you that money, this is what they said, this is my gift to

  151. you.

  152. It's free and clear.

  153. I want you to use it to create a better life for yourself and for others.

  154. Now I don't know about you, but if someone was to hand me that kind of money and said

  155. that statement, someone that I loved and trusted, I would be intentional about how I spent that

  156. money.

  157. I wouldn't just blow it on one purchase, but I would be intentional about how I spent it

  158. to improve not only my own life, but someone else's.

  159. Our words are just the same.

  160. Our words are a gift from God and our words are just as important in shaping the lives

  161. of others.

  162. In fact, more important than money.

  163. See we have to use this power that God has given us as a means to create a better life

  164. for ourselves and for all the people around us.

  165. Listen to Luke 12, 48, for those who are received a greater revelation from their master are

  166. required greater obedience.

  167. And those who have been trusted with great responsibility will be held more responsible

  168. to their master.

  169. Friends, God is calling us to be responsible with the words we use, which leads us to our

  170. next thought this morning.

  171. Words can build up or tear down.

  172. Think about it.

  173. Our life is full of, we're constantly surrounded by and bombarded with what?

  174. Words.

  175. We read words on the news, we hear words being spoke to us, reflect on the weight and impact

  176. of words and how they change the outlook of your life.

  177. See, now when we think about the words that change our lives and impact our lives, now

  178. think about the words that you speak.

  179. Okay, when we begin to be able to internalize the words that come out of our mouth, then

  180. we recognize that in fact those words are life or death.

  181. King Solomon widely considered the wisest man to ever live said this in Proverbs 1821,

  182. words kill, words give life, they're either poison or fruit.

  183. You choose.

  184. You choose.

  185. See, what will you say today?

  186. What you say today will change your entire outlook of your life.

  187. Right?

  188. Your words are either going to lead you toward a path of abundant life.

  189. You know how Jesus talks about an abundant life flowing within us?

  190. It all comes out in your words or they're going to lead you toward death.

  191. Now I'm not referring to physical death.

  192. I'm referring to the destruction of relationships, of a career, of momentum, of joy, of peace,

  193. hope, of contentment.

  194. In his essay, War of Words, Paul David Tripp wrote this, you have never spoken a neutral

  195. word in your life.

  196. Your words have direction to them.

  197. If your words are moving in the life direction, they will be words of encouragement, hope,

  198. love, peace, unity, instruction, wisdom, and correction.

  199. But if your words are moving in a death direction, they will be words of anger, malice, slander,

  200. jealousy, gossip, division, contempt, racism, violence, judgment, and condemnation.

  201. Friends, as I was reading that quote this week, it just sounds like our country.

  202. Like our country is so divided and wrecked.

  203. What is it leaning towards?

  204. Is it speaking words of life?

  205. No, it's speaking words of death and destruction.

  206. Now I know if you're anything like me as a kid on the elementary playground, we would

  207. always say or say to one another, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will

  208. never hurt me.

  209. And those words coming out of our mouth, we firmly believe, but they're just a flat out

  210. lie.

  211. They sound good in theory, but it's just wrong.

  212. Words hurt.

  213. Think about the last time someone spoke harshly to you.

  214. What those words made you feel like.

  215. How you ultimately changed what you were doing because those words were spoken.

  216. Now see during Jesus's ministry, the religious leaders of the day, the Pharisees, they were

  217. always trying to make him mess up.

  218. They would ask questions to try to catch him in a lie or some form of inconsistency in

  219. his teaching.

  220. And, and in one of those attempts, the Pharisees approached Jesus and said, Hey, what's the

  221. greatest commandment in all of scripture?

  222. Jesus, without hesitation responded with Matthew 22.

  223. You must love the Lord your God for your heart, all your soul and all your mind.

  224. This is the first and greatest commandment.

  225. The second is equally important.

  226. Love your neighbor as yourself.

  227. See according to Jesus, the greatest call on our lives is to love God with everything

  228. that we are.

  229. And then to love those around us as much as we love ourselves.

  230. How can we hope to accomplish those two things with words?

  231. Words are the primary way we relate or communicate with each other.

  232. If we follow what we should begin and do in our conversations, then we would speak life.

  233. We can't simply choose to speak words of life over death, right?

  234. We have to choose to speak love and encouragement and comfort and celebration instead of words

  235. of criticism and gossip and complaining and negativity and hate.

  236. Our words are an outward indication of what is happening in our heart.

  237. They're like a, literally like a neon sign.

  238. Think about our neon sign that we had in our old location, open, right?

  239. Well, our words are literally like that neon sign broadcasting what is happening in our

  240. lives.

  241. Friends, simply say that it's impossible to love your neighbor as yourself unless you're

  242. consumed with loving God first.

  243. Because God's spirit is what gives us the ability to love others.

  244. Which moves us to our next thought this morning, you see the quality of life is determined

  245. by words.

  246. Think about that.

  247. The quality of life is determined by words.

  248. Matthew 15, 18.

  249. What comes out of your mouth reveals the core of your heart.

  250. Words can pollute, not food.

  251. See friends, the way you and I choose to communicate will ultimately affect our everyday lives

  252. and in every area of our life as well.

  253. Every word that is spoken has a consequence attached to it.

  254. How you speak to your friends and family and, and your coworkers will determine the quality

  255. of those relationships.

  256. The same is true in your spiritual life.

  257. How will you communicate with God in prayer and how well you listen to the Holy spirit

  258. in prayer develops your connection with him.

  259. How about this one?

  260. How you speak about yourself will determine the quality of your actions and interactions

  261. every day.

  262. When you consider everything altogether, it naturally follows the simple truth that the

  263. quality of our life is determined by the words that we speak.

  264. That's why James said in James 3, 2, we all fail in many areas, but especially with our

  265. words.

  266. If we're able to bridle the words we say, we are powerful enough to control ourselves

  267. in every way and that means our characters mature and fully developed.

  268. What is James saying?

  269. He's saying the indication of a heart that is allowing God's love to fill it and flow

  270. through it is the words that we share with others.

  271. And see friends, the battle of our words and our life rages on every day.

  272. Every time we speak, we choose a side, which leads us to our action steps this morning.

  273. Friends, we first, we need to avoid complaining.

  274. Look at Philippians 2, 14, live a cheerful life without complaining or division among

  275. yourselves.

  276. How often do you catch yourself complaining about your boss, your kids, right?

  277. How they just don't listen, your friends neediness, your busy schedule, your constant aches and

  278. pains, the list can go on and on.

  279. For some reason we have bought into the idea that complaining about our difficulties will

  280. make us feel better.

  281. I don't know if you've learned this or not, but what I've learned is the more we complain,

  282. the more negative we are.

  283. The more we talk about our struggles, the more strength we give them.

  284. And as those struggles gain strength, what happens to us?

  285. We get more frustrated, right?

  286. We get more doubtful.

  287. We get more negative.

  288. And then there's this vicious cycle of complaining that constantly surrounds us.

  289. Paul understood that complaining never leads to anything positive.

  290. That's why I said stop complaining.

  291. Don't do it anymore.

  292. Complaining about every little thing that's wrong in our life will do nothing but heighten

  293. the problem.

  294. Which moves us to our second thing we need to avoid, we need to avoid gossip.

  295. Verse 18, eight, the words of a gossip merely reveal the wounds of his own soul and his

  296. slander penetrates into the innermost being.

  297. Gossip in all forms is wrong and destructive.

  298. Most of the time.

  299. Now, when, when people talk about someone behind their back, they don't even know if what they're

  300. saying is true because they heard it from someone else.

  301. And typically it's a distortion of the truth.

  302. They are only repeating what that other person shared with them.

  303. And friends, we can't buy into that negativity.

  304. When we discuss someone else's problems with anyone other than that person, it's a sin.

  305. And simply stated, we're wrong.

  306. There's no other way around it.

  307. Not only does it tear people down, but it destroys trust.

  308. It's impossible to gossip about someone else without being personally effective in a negative

  309. way and friends.

  310. It's rampant in the church.

  311. And as a community of faith, I want to challenge you.

  312. We need to change that.

  313. Which moves us to our next thing we need to avoid.

  314. We need to avoid negativity.

  315. Good Ephesians 429, never let ugly, hateful words come from your mouth, but instead let

  316. your words become beautiful gifts that encourage others.

  317. Do this by speaking words of grace to help them.

  318. Columnist Steven Pinker wrote this, the media exaggerates negative news.

  319. The distortion has consequences.

  320. Whether or not the world is really getting worse, no one knows.

  321. But the nature of news that we watch each and every day makes us think that it is.

  322. He goes on the right.

  323. Consumers of negative news, not surprisingly, become gloom.

  324. A recent literature review cited misperception of risk, anxiety, lower mood levels, learned

  325. helplessness, contempt, and hostility toward others.

  326. Again, friends, that's the world we live in today.

  327. We are constantly bombarded with negative news.

  328. Our phones go off at the very second that something negative happens.

  329. What if over the next few days you and I shut off the news?

  330. And instead of watching the news, what if we were to record our words?

  331. What we literally speak each and every day.

  332. What if we began to review those words that are spoken?

  333. Because that's going to indicate the reality of our heart, the condition of our heart.

  334. What's going on inside you and me?

  335. If we're constantly negative or fearful or frustrated, it means we're not speaking words

  336. of life and hope over ourselves.

  337. That means we're not hearing from Jesus and the hope that he would give us.

  338. God is challenging this this morning.

  339. Be a people of hope, of light, not of selfishness and negativity and doubt and fear and anger.

  340. What kind of verbal fruit are you producing this morning?

  341. James 312 says, does a fig tree produce olives or a grapevine produce figs?

  342. No.

  343. And you can't draw fresh water from a salty spring.

  344. What are your words saying about you this morning?

  345. See friends, we have to avoid those three topics.

  346. In direct contrast, we have to choose something completely different.

  347. What are those three things we need to choose?

  348. First, we need to choose praise.

  349. Look at Psalm 145 verses one through two.

  350. I lift you high and praise my God.

  351. Oh my King, I will bless your name into eternity.

  352. I bless you every day and keep it up from now to eternity.

  353. What is praise?

  354. It's simply thanking God for who he is.

  355. Words of praise reflect a God focused heart.

  356. They demand a shift away from self, from selfishness and toward God goodness and love and focusing

  357. on being filled with the spirit.

  358. But see too often as Jesus followers, we only praise God on Sunday mornings while turning

  359. in church.

  360. We, we think that we can only praise when we have a worship band in front of us and

  361. we can extend our arms so we can sing back to God.

  362. In reality, if we're going to win the battle of words in our life, we have to choose to

  363. praise him every day.

  364. Look at Psalm 63, three through four.

  365. Your unfailing love is better than life itself.

  366. How I praise you, I will praise you as long as I live, lifting my hands to you in prayer.

  367. One of the most practical ways to focus on God daily is the creative habit of starting

  368. your day with praise.

  369. Really dedicate the first hour of your day to, to, to giving him back to God, to thanking

  370. him for who he is in your life.

  371. Play some songs on your, on your phone or your iPad or on your computer and see if your

  372. day changes when you choose to open with praise.

  373. What are the first words that come out of your mouth on a daily basis?

  374. Now, if you're anything like me, when I wake up in the morning, the first thing that comes

  375. to my mind is everything hurts.

  376. I am tired.

  377. What happened yesterday?

  378. It's almost like I look in the rear view mirror.

  379. I feel beat up.

  380. I mean, they literally are some of the words that came out of my mouth when I woke up this

  381. week.

  382. First thing, I'm getting up out of bed.

  383. I stand up and think my body hurts.

  384. Now what if I, you are willing to replace those words with words of praise, with words

  385. of thankfulness and gratitude.

  386. God, thank you for getting me up today.

  387. Thank you for, for giving the ability to stand up, to, to walk to the sing, to make a cup

  388. of coffee.

  389. See, an attitude of gratitude suddenly changes the entire outlook of the day.

  390. Friends, we need to start our day with praise.

  391. We need to choose praise.

  392. Second thing is we need to choose encouragement.

  393. Look at Romans 15 13.

  394. I pray that God, the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because

  395. you trust in him.

  396. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the spirit overflowing.

  397. See our world, our community needs us to overflow.

  398. Every person you walk by on the street, stand beside in Walmart, work with every day might

  399. as well be re wearing an invisible sign that says, encourage me.

  400. People want to be encouraged.

  401. Johan Wolfgang goth wrote this.

  402. If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is.

  403. If you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he

  404. ought to be and could be.

  405. That is the essence of encouragement.

  406. Treating people in your life to, to, to literally become the best person, the best version of

  407. themselves, whether they're currently living it or not.

  408. That happens through encouragement.

  409. What if you practice speaking encouragement to your spouse, to your children, to your

  410. friends, to your classmates?

  411. What if encouragement became what you were known for?

  412. And friends, it's hard because again, we constantly focus on the negative.

  413. Me being a coach, it's really difficult when you're working with, with young people to

  414. learn how to play baseball or softball.

  415. You always want to point out a nitpick of the little things they're doing wrong.

  416. And yes, you have to do that to correct them.

  417. But if that's all you focus on, then the game loses what it means to be fun.

  418. Right?

  419. And then you see your team constantly focused on the negative.

  420. If they make a mistake, oh, I'm bad or I'm no good or I can't be successful.

  421. We can't allow ourselves to constantly focus on the negative.

  422. We have to focus on words of hope, on a vision of how they become better and then speak that

  423. encouragement into their lives.

  424. And see, as we become people of encouragement, then we see people grow and change and flourish

  425. in ways they've never imagined.

  426. First Thessalonians 5 11 says, encourage each other and build each other up just as

  427. you are already doing.

  428. But, but see, are you doing it?

  429. See when we read that verse, it says encourage each other and build each other up just as

  430. you're already doing.

  431. Paul assumed it, but should he have assumed it?

  432. See, see God is challenging us through this series.

  433. We have got to become a people of encouragement.

  434. And then the last thing we need to choose is our third one is you need to choose to

  435. hold your tongue.

  436. James 3 2.

  437. We all fail in many areas, but especially with our words.

  438. Yet if we're able to bridle the words we say, we are powerful enough to control ourselves

  439. in every way.

  440. And that means our characters mature and fully developed.

  441. Now do you know anyone who talks too much?

  442. Right?

  443. Now, I'd be willing to guess.

  444. I'd be willing to guess that the second I asked you that question, like two or three

  445. people pop to your head, you're like, yep.

  446. Now here's something to think about.

  447. Would your name be someone else's answer?

  448. Could you be accused of talking too much?

  449. Have we ever realized that sometimes our best language is just not saying anything at all

  450. and listening?

  451. Proverbs 12 15 says a fool is in love with his own opinion, but wisdom means being teachable.

  452. Sometimes we're so busy explaining, proving, justifying, arguing our points that we don't

  453. even listen to other people's opinions.

  454. We don't even listen to other people's pains and anguish so that we can actually pray for

  455. them.

  456. Proverbs 12 23 says those who possess wisdom don't feel the need to impress others with

  457. what they know.

  458. But foolish ones make sure their ignorance is on display.

  459. I love this quote from Winston Churchill.

  460. He said this, we are masters of the unsaid words, but slaves of those we let slip out.

  461. See, we have to start paying attention to our own mouths.

  462. We have to become aware of the words that we're speaking and the words that we let slip

  463. out.

  464. Friends, we can't allow our tongues to be our master.

  465. We have to choose to master our tongues.

  466. Now you remember the sociologists that set out to determine the most powerful four word

  467. phrase, three word phrase, two word phrase, and the single most powerful word, the English

  468. language.

  469. That's right.

  470. The first three word phrase was once upon a time.

  471. The most powerful three word phrase was, I love you.

  472. The most powerful two word phrase was, I'm sorry.

  473. And the most powerful single word was I. Now, if you're anything like me, when I saw those

  474. answers, I wasn't surprised at all because we already know the phrase.

  475. I love you.

  476. I'm sorry.

  477. And I come with immense power.

  478. And as I've been studying and wanting to share this, this talk with you over the last two

  479. weeks, because remember we took last week off and went out into the neighborhoods to

  480. pray for our neighborhoods and it's happening again today.

  481. If you want to join us, it's starting at 1030.

  482. I have 30 minutes to meet down in the pavilion to go out on a prayer walk.

  483. That would be great.

  484. But I've actually been preparing for this message for two weeks.

  485. And I tell you what, I've done a lot of soul searching.

  486. I've thought about the words that I speak.

  487. I've thought about the words that my children speak.

  488. I thought about the words that the teams that I coach speak.

  489. And it's amazing when you read a book like this and you prepare a message like this,

  490. how much you realize, wow, I'm negative.

  491. You know, just the fact that I wake up and think that my body hurts or I, what happened

  492. to me yesterday, or I felt like I got hit by a truck.

  493. It's just, again, that's just negative.

  494. But when we shift the words that we speak and we begin to listen to how other people

  495. talk about themselves and we correct them, not in a rude way.

  496. Why would you say that about yourself?

  497. Just say, Hey, just don't choose to use those words.

  498. You're not bad.

  499. You're not a failure.

  500. You know, God loves you.

  501. God, God, God has an incredible plan for your life.

  502. When we begin to shift and, and, and speak life into people, I tell you what, lives are

  503. transformed, but friends, we got to evaluate where our heart is.

  504. And this morning I want to encourage you, will you go on this journey with me for the

  505. night, for the next month and really do some soul searching and, and some, some heart identification

  506. of what comes out of our mouths?

  507. Do words of life come out of our mouths or the words of death?

  508. And I firmly believe that if we go on this journey together, if we take these next four

  509. weeks and really internalize and reflect on where we are and where we could be and where

  510. God wants us to be, we'll become a community of faith that becomes a powerful force for

  511. God's kingdom in our community because we're constantly speaking words of life, but it's

  512. a choice.

  513. Will you choose to change this morning?

  514. I'm choosing to change.

  515. I'm choosing to listen to more and I'm choosing to speak life, but it's a choice that we all

  516. must take together.

  517. So I want to invite you for, to just simply start this journey with me.

  518. I, I, this is all I want you to do.

  519. Do you need to change the way you speak?

  520. Do you need to change some of the words that come out of your mouth?

  521. Do you need to get rid of gossip?

  522. Do you need to stop complaining?

  523. You know, are there some things you need to work on?

  524. I believe that if you're really honest, you'll say, yeah, Chris, there's something because

  525. I know I have things and I've really found those things over the last two weeks, but

  526. I want to invite you to go on this journey with me and I want to pray, pray for you that

  527. the God's spirit would lead you to change.

  528. So if you're, if you're listening this morning, if you're tuned in, if you're back tuning

  529. in, if you're watching later in the week, is there something in your life that you want

  530. to change?

  531. If you say, yeah, I just want you to slip your hand up.

  532. I want you to say, yeah, I need to change my words.

  533. I need to change my outlook.

  534. I need to change, um, what is happening in my life because of the words that I speak

  535. over myself.

  536. I need to change my communication with God and the way I talk and share with him.

  537. If that's you just slip your hand up right where you are.

  538. I don't care where you are.

  539. Just slip your hand up and say, yeah, Chris, that's me.

  540. Cause that's just an acknowledgement of saying I want to change.

  541. And now I just want to pray for all of us.

  542. So Holy spirit comes around each and every person that slipped their hand up.

  543. God that, that, uh, said, yeah, I want to change.

  544. I need to change the words that I speak.

  545. I need to change how I talk to my wife or my children or my coworkers or my class or

  546. my team.

  547. I just need to change the way I listen.

  548. Whatever it is that they slipped their hand up for God, I pray them.

  549. I pray that you would reveal to them how they can change.

  550. I pray that this, this opening talk is a, is a light bulb comes on for all of us that,

  551. that, that the words that we speak over ourselves, over our church, over our, over the tri-state

  552. area are words that can bring about change and God, we want to be that change in this

  553. world.

  554. So Holy spirit just supernaturally begin to work on each and every person's life.

  555. Make us more into your image so that we can become more like Jesus each and every day.

  556. In Jesus name.

  557. Amen.

  558. Now, if you prayed that prayer this morning or you put your hand up, I want you to text

  559. change me C H A N G E M E to nine seven zero zero zero.

  560. Change me to nine seven zero zero zero.

  561. And you say, Chris, why would I do that?

  562. Why would I text change me to the, to the, to that number?

  563. Well, this is why, because we're in this together.

  564. I want to pray for you.

  565. I want to encourage you.

  566. I want to send you scriptures.

  567. I want to let you know that we're in this together, that we're changing together so

  568. that we can be a people of hope and that we can be a people that speak life.

  569. And I, and I, and our community of faith will reach out to you this week and, and we'll

  570. invite you into this journey that we're on so that our story, right?

  571. Once upon a time, remember, so that our story is a story that brings about hope and meaning

  572. and change.

  573. So have a great week.

  574. Thanks for hanging in there with us.

  575. Sorry about the technical issues earlier.

  576. And I want to encourage you to, to, to text that and, and, and ultimately just to stay

  577. tuned that, that all that HCV is doing over the next few weeks, because change is coming.

  578. We're going to meet, be able to meet again soon.

  579. So have a great week.

  580. God bless.

  581. Thank you.

  582. Have a great week.