Our Words Matter
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Introduction
Introduction
Good morning church....
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Let us continue to pray for the situation in Ukraine.
What a great week at FBCO-
Word is out, Tim and Becky Berghold are having a baby
Praise Team and Choir Rehearsals
Kidz Kollege
Wednesday Morning Bible Study
Pep Club
The Church Workday
God is doing great things at FBCO.
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Looking back at last week for just a moment....as last week is closely connected to this week.
If you recall our first point last week was this-
We must be living our lives in such a way that our words and actions bring the message of salvation and enhance life for others.
We must be living our lives in such a way that our words and actions bring the message of salvation and enhance life for others.
As we saw last week, our actions are incredibly important. Whether it’s in a marriage, with our kids or grandkids, our employers or employees, our friends or even strangers. How we conduct ourselves matters to God.
Let us not forget Colossians 3:17
17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
So, our actions have to match up with God’s expectations because we are supposed to be doing it in Jesus’ name.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
Our faith is not separate from our actions because our actions prove our faith.
Our faith is not separate from our actions because our actions prove our faith.
We are equally reminded in 1 john that we cannot just say it but we need to do it.
18 Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.
Our actions matter....
But so do our words. Which is the main focus of our passage this week as Paul makes an appeal to the Colossians that their words are equally important to how they conduct themselves.
Please stand...
2 Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. 3 At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, 4 so that I may make it known as I should. 5 Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.
Pray
Despite our actions being a strong example of our faith.....our words take it to another level. That is because our words show, out loud and poignantly, what our actions can’t…that is...
Our words show specifically who we serve.
Our words show specifically who we serve.
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James warns us that our tongues are difficult to control.
10 Blessing and cursing come out of the same mouth. My brothers and sisters, these things should not be this way.
Before this moment he compares the tongue to a raging fire that destroys.
6 And the tongue is a fire. The tongue, a world of unrighteousness, is placed among our members. It stains the whole body, sets the course of life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
This is what can happen to us if we don’t bridle our words and maintain they reflect Christ. That is why in chapter 1 of James he gives us the warning to be slow to speak-
19 My dear brothers and sisters, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,
This is the warning that keeps us from allowing our words to become destructive.
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And our words show what fills our hearts.
Jesus Himself tells us this-
34 Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.
In this moment, people are trying to justify themselves and the things they say. Jesus was having none of it. The point is, our words reflect what we are filling ourselves up with…the good list of expectations that Paul lays out or the bad ones…And the difference between those is God and evil.
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As Paul closed out his letters, he generally would proceed the closing with these types of instructions on prayer and general behavior.
Here he begins by calling us to be devoted or steadfast.
At first glance this may be straightforward enough, but Paul’s call to be devoted goes much deeper.
Greek Alert
Pros-cart-erow- which means to be devoted to.
But it comes from a compound word, Kart-erow which is to be steadfast or endure. And there is an added preposition to intensify the word.
So, it really means to be courageously persistent or hold fast and not let go.
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Paul is calling us to strongly and persistently be in prayer.
As believers, we must be steadfast in prayer.
As believers, we must be steadfast in prayer.
This is not the only time Paul calls us to this.
We see it in-
Eph 6:18 where we are called to pray at all times.
1 Thess. 5:17 where we are instructed to pray without ceasing.
Romans 12:12 where he again calls them to be devoted to it.
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Doing this in devotion or steadfastness does not mean you will constantly be sitting there spewing out prayers. It means it is at the core of your consciousness. It means you are walking through your day and you pray. It means you are sitting at home and you pray. It means you are going about life and just feel gratitude to God…you pray.
George Muller
George Muller was a celebrated Christian evangelist and the founder of the ‘Ashley Down Orphanage’ in Bristol, England. During his lifetime he cared for more than 10,000 orphan children. He is considered as one of the most revered Christian evangelists and examples of dedication to prayer. He provided care and education to a number of orphan children with sheer faith in Jesus Christ.
“I live in the spirit of prayer. I pray as I walk about, when I lie down and when I rise up. And the answers are always coming.” George Muller
There should never be a time, moment, day, week, dare I say month or year…that we are not finding ourselves in a spirit of prayer. Because we must be devoted to it, because of who it draws our attention to.
Are you praying with devotion?
Are you allowing prayer to draw you closer to the savior?
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That is Paul’s instruction here....be devoted to it so that you are alert and that alertness draws your gaze to Jesus and results in thanksgiving.
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Our prayers should always result in giving thanks to God our Father.
Our prayers should always result in giving thanks to God our Father.
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And as we pray, we should be lifting others up. And we must not forget this. Paul calling us to prayer as he is putting a spotlight on our words is no coincidence. As our speech goes, there is not greater utterance we can have as the redeemed, than when we commune with God in prayer.
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Paul then directs our attention in our words not to God, but to others.
He starts by asking for prayer, but not selfishly as we can be prone to do, but with a purpose. He wants prayer because he wants to proclaim Christ.
How often is that your prayer request?
Paul wants his words to be God led and for opportunity after opportunity to open.
We must do the same.
Our goal should be to make Jesus known with our words, not ourselves.
Our goal should be to make Jesus known with our words, not ourselves.
That was Paul’s focus and his request.
Captain/Co-captain
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Verse 3- And a side note- Paul throws this in and we can easily move through it if we move to quickly. There is a reminder here, that suffering will happen in an effort to do this.
Paul is in chains, prison, for proclaiming who Christ is.
Are we each willing to go to such lengths?
That’s how important this is.
And it must be out loud with words.
Actions/Preach the Gospel, if necessary use words.
2 Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and teaching. 3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear what they want to hear. 4 They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Paul’s words here to Timothy are an exhortation to Preach Christ. Why? Because people need it and if we aren’t preaching Christ, people will find themselves wandering away and fulfilling their own desires.
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Proclaiming with words, the Greek word is kir-e-so, it’s seen over 70 times in the N.T. and root expressions of kir-e-so, like herald are seen around 70 times themselves.
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Our words matter, and our words should be gospel focused.
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Verse 5 tells us to act wisely and make the most of our time. Paul has already called us to be wise in this letter...
9 For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you. We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding,
As believers, we must be willing to evaluate situations and act accordingly. Though our actions, are not to be based on things or rules or standards made by this world, but on Godly standards.
The reason for this…those who do not believe....outsiders as Paul describes them. If we are flippant, unwilling to follow God’s commands, then the watching world will not see the power of God working in us. And when that happens they will not put any stock in the faith. That is why-
We must act with Godly wisdom and our words must reflect the truth of the Gospel.
We must act with Godly wisdom and our words must reflect the truth of the Gospel.
And where does our source for wisdom and truth come from?
Scripture
Prayer
Worship
Even extrabiblical writings that point us to God’s truth- like books by John MacArthur, John Piper, Alistair Begg, Charles Stanley...
Ultimately, our source is God and anything that comes from God(which we know when we study His Word.)
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Remember, the needs for Godly wisdom is imperative. Let us not forget, Paul wasn’t writing this just to say hello. There was false teaching happening all around the Colossians. And if you remember, false teaching is often times subtle. For us to to see it, we must be pouring into the Scriptures, studying, learning, meditating so that we understand.
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If you were here last week, you will remember we talked about salt and Jesus’ command for us to be the salt of the earth.
Here Paul brings us back, if we forgot yet, to how important our speech is and why our words matter.
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We may think Paul is specifically referring to proclaiming the gospel here since he just made a reference to it. But he is not.
Paul is talking about our regular, everyday, on the go conversations.
29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
In those, he is explaining that they should be gracious, they should be seasoned with salt. Why?
Because we often talk with “outsiders”, people who don’t believe. And that salt, if you recall, is something that preserves....our conversation should be a purifying influence on others. As John MacArthur puts it, “a rescuing conversation”. Likewise the flavor that salt adds should be something that is charming and appealing, not deterring.
And part of this is having the right thing to say at the right time. Our words must be focused on Jesus.
Drama Club/Doug
Our words are important. Because as we go about our day, we need to show grace to those around us through our conversations.
Call Center
And those conversations need to be seasoned with salt so that they are reflective of Christ like attributes. Even if you don’t get to have full on Gospel conversation, don’t do or say something that could ruin a future potential opportunity.
Our conversations with others have to reflect Jesus.
Our conversations with others have to reflect Jesus.
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Our words, as new creations, reflect who we follow. Jesus paid the ultimate price for us and set the tone for how we live.
Closing
Closing
Jesus Alone....That is the message here in Colossians....It is the message of the Gospel....is it the message of the Word of God.
Our sin is what separates us from Christ. It is what bounds us and keeps us from God and Heaven. It is our debt....and like any debt it needs to be paid. Jesus did that because the payment for sin was death....not just a physical death because we all will experience that unless He returns. But an agonizing wrath filled death that would result in eternal condemnation.
Thankfully, God gave sinners( and you may be thinking you aren’t....we all are-all have sinned) a way for redemption. And that was through Jesus’ death on the cross as He took on that debt, by receiving that agonizing wrath filled death that we deserved and he not only took, he defeated it so when we accept him as our savior....he can present us holy and blameless to the Father.
This is something we all need. And you may think, “well, I’m a good person.” That’s great. But it’s not enough.Because there is only one way to get to Heaven and to be redeemed and that is through Jesus Christ who declares, I am the way the truth and the life....no one gets to the father but through me.
If you don’t know him, if you have never admitted your sinfulness and need for a savior, Jesus....I implore you to make that decision today! Don’t put this off until it’s too late. I would invite you to see me after the service or any of our deacons…we would love to talk with you, pray with you, and help you understand this more. And if you are joining us online, call us. Message us. We will reach out.
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For those of us that believe, we continue to have work to do. The life of the believer does not stop at the moment of conversion. Growth and discipleship must happen in our lives as we daily surrendering out wants and desires for Christ and pick up our cross to serve.
Our growth is evident but the things we put on and the things we put off. It’s evident in our actions with others and certainly in our words.
Now, let me throw this in. If you have done and/or said something that is not reflective of Jesus, seek forgiveness. Even if it was years ago. Seek forgiveness. Because that is what God calls us to. Even if it is today, right now…do it. That is what separates us, or should, from the the rest of the world.
35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Loving one another, is seeking forgiveness. And as people seek forgiveness from us, we forgive.
Paul has made it very clear to us in this book and in our passage today, much is expected…but that is because much was given on our behalf.
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Our prayer should be this, Psalm 141:3-
3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.
Our Words Matter....choose them wisely....make sure they reflect the Savior who gave everything for those words.
Pray
