James 1:26, 3:2, 7-10; Proverbs 15:1-2, 4; 16:24; 18:21a
April 26, 2020
preached by Doug Cooper
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Guide for Home Worship

Time of Reflection Quotations

“Talking is the most dangerous thing people do, especially when they are stressed, and listening is the most infrequent thing people do, especially when they are stressed.”

~ Harville Hendrix (1935-present), author, speaker, clinical trainer and couples therapist, discussing the impact of Covid-19 on relationships

“I do believe that words…go into the body, as effect. So they cause us to be well and hopeful and high energy and wondrous and funny and cheerful. Or they can…get into the body and cause us to be sullen and sour and depressed and, finally sick.”

~ Maya Angelou (1928-2014), American poet, singer, memoirist, and civil rights activist

“That non-bony, flappable instrument between our bicuspids can be an instrument of tremendous good or cataclysmic destruction. It can be used to build people up in the faith or to destroy their hard-earned reputations. It can help bring about peace among nations or can start a war.”

~ Curtis Thomas, author and retired pastor

“I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.”

~ John Calvin (1509-1564), French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation

“All I need is a sheet of paper and something to write with, and then I can turn the world upside down.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900), German philosopher, cultural critic, composer, poet, and philologist

“Words are not in the power of men; men are in the power of words.”

~ Hermann Bahr (1863-1934), Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic

“Those who keep speaking about the sun while walking under a cloudy sky are messengers of hope, the true saints of our day.”

~  Henri Nouwen (1932-1996), Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer and theologian

Sermon Passage

James 1:26, 3:2, 7-10; Proverbs 15:1-2, 4; 16:24; 18:21a (NIV)

James 1

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.

James 3

² We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check…

⁷ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, ⁸ but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. ¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.

Proverbs 15

¹ A gentle answer turns away wrath,
but a harsh word stirs up anger.
² The tongue of the wise adorns knowledge,
but the mouth of the fool gushes folly…

⁴ The soothing tongue is a tree of life,
but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

Proverbs 16

²⁴ Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Proverbs 18

²¹ The tongue has the power of life and death…