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Exercising Your Tongue

Family, Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / September 4, 2007

Currently we’re in a message series called “Faith Workout.” In this series we’re looking at many of the important themes from the book of James. James is a short book of five chapters in the New Testament. If you haven’t taken the time yet to read through it during this series, I would encourage you to do it this week. James is an intensely practical book that deals with many of the day to day issues we all face.

Today I’m going to talk about “Exercising Your Tongue.” When you exercise in a gym, you can exercise the right way or the wrong way. If you exercise the right way, you grow stronger, it benefits you and others. If you exercise the wrong way, it can hurt you and even others who may be around you. Some people think that what you say really isn’t that important. However Jesus taught that every word you speak is very important. NLT Matthew 12:36-37 “And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. The words you say now reflect your fate then; either you will be justified by them or you will be condemned.” Jesus is saying that on judgment day God is going to turn on his cosmic tape recorder and play back the words of your lifetime. Even idle careless words will be judged and the result of this final test will determine your destiny, heaven or hell. I want to learn to exercise my tongue correctly.

Our words can get us into a lot of trouble. At an outpatient surgery center, the anesthesiologist often chatted with patients before their operations to help them relax.. One day he recognized his patient as a co-worker at the hospital where he had trained. Speaking idly, he said, “So, tell me, is the food still as bad there as it used to be?” “Well, I suppose,” she replied, “I’m still cooking it.” Whoops, wrong exercise of the tongue. Our words can get us into a lot of trouble or our words can have wonderful effects.

Last week we talked about the importance of our actions and you might be thinking that your actions or more important than your words. Listen to what James says. NLT James 3:2 We all make many mistakes, but those who control their tongues can also control themselves in every other way. James is saying that if you can exercise your tongue correctly, you’ll be able to control your actions.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my September 2, 2007 message entitled Exercising Your Tongue

Being An Encourager

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / May 14, 2007

Being a mother is an awesome privilege and a great responsibility. NIV Psalm 113:9 He settles the barren woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD. God wants Moms to be happy mothers of children. To be a happy mother, you’ve got to have a sense of humor. We don’t live in a perfect world, and even if we did, the kids would mess it up in short order.

Some elementary school children were asked the following questions about Moms: Why did God make mothers? She’s the only one who knows where the Scotch tape is. Mostly to clean the house. To help us out of there when we were getting born. How did God make mothers? He used dirt, just like for the rest of us. Magic, plus superpowers and a lot of stirring. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts. What ingredients are mothers made of? God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean. They had to get their start from men’s bones. Then they mostly use string, I think. Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom? We’re related. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people’s moms like me.

If you’re a mother here today, God wants you to be happy. One of the great things about how God made mothers, is that He made them to be encouragers. Mothers are great encouragers of their children. So today I’ve entitled my message “Being An Encourager.” I’d like to talk about how mothers can become even better encouragers and how they can encourage themselves. But I’m not just talking to mothers this morning. I hope that all the Dads will also put these principles into practice and learn how to be better encouragers of their wives. Rather than criticize and pinpoint other’s faults, each of us can learn to be an encourager.

And do you know who the greatest encourager is? It’s God Himself. We can learn from God how to bring out the best in others, how to be an encourager. Today we’re going to look at how God encouraged a new leader in Israel named Joshua. From this passage I’m going to draw out some ways to encourage others and bring out the best in them. And if you’re feeling discouraged this morning, you can apply them to your own life first and then share them with someone else.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my May 13, 2007 message entitled Being An Encourager

Forgiving When It’s Hard

Family, Life, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 30, 2007

Currently we’re in a message series called “God’s Power For Your Relationships.” In the last weeks I’ve talked about the importance of love and patience. This week, I want to tackle a somewhat more difficult topic. What do we do when a relationship has problems? When a relationship becomes damaged? When someone we care about hurts us? Some people hold a grudge and become bitter. Others try to pretend that nothing has happened. Neither response is God’s way to deal with problems in a relationship. The way to bring healing to a relationship that has been damaged is through forgiveness.

Today my topic is “Forgiving When It’s Hard.” Some forgiveness is easy, when the hurt is small, when the other person seems truly sorry. However, forgiving is hard in other situations. Forgiving is hard when the hurt is big. Forgiving is hard when you are hurt repeatedly. Forgiving is hard when the other person does not seem to be sorry. Sometimes we may feel that we just can’t forgive what someone has done to us.

Take a quick inventory of your life this morning. Is there anyone in your life who you hold a grudge against? Is there someone who has hurt you and you feel bitterness, resentment or anger toward them? If there is, keep that person in your mind as listen this morning. God wants to release your mind and emotions from the pain of what someone else has done. And in many cases the relationship can be restored. What is the key? The key is forgiveness.

NLT Colossians 3:13 You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. There is a word in that verse that occurs two times that I would like you to circle, the word is must. It is repeated twice for emphasis, you must forgive. Those are commands from God for every believer. Forgive, even when it’s hard. Why must we forgive when it’s difficult? Because the Lord forgave us. Each one of us has been forgiven by Jesus for our wrongs. When we truly understand how much we have been forgiven for, we can forgive others, even when it’s hard.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 29, 2007 message entitled Forgiving When It’s Hard

Practicing Patience

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 23, 2007

Today I am going to talk about “Practicing Patience.” Patience is an essential character trait that you need to develop in order to have healthy relationships. You can’t talk about patience without talking about anger, because the word patience means “slow to get angry.” The Greek word for patience is “macrothumos” where macro means “long or slow” and thumos means “anger or wrath.” So patience means you have a long fuse, you don’t blow up easily, you manage your anger.

NIV Proverbs 14:29 A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly. It’s wise to learn how to develop patience, but it’s foolish to be quick-tempered. An angry person seems powerful but he doesn’t accomplish anything constructive. In fact anger weakens and destroys relationships. On the other hand a person who is patient overlooks wrongs in others. NLT Proverbs 19:11 People with good sense restrain their anger; they earn esteem by overlooking wrongs. People with good sense work at being patient. They learn to restrain their anger. They don’t blow up over every wrong another person does, they have a long fuse.

Who is the most patient person around? Well it is God Himself. God has incredible patience to put up with people like me and you. If God was not patient with us, we would be long gone. We have insulted Him, done wrong countless times, yet He loves us and has patience with us. NLT Numbers 14:18 The LORD is slow to anger and rich in unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. God wants us to be like Him slow to anger, patient, full of love and forgiveness. In every relationship there are times when we have to choose, will I get angry or be patient? How can we learn to practice patience?

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 22, 2007 message entitled Practicing Patience

Learning To Love

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / April 17, 2007

Today we begin a new message series which I’ve entitled “God’s Power For Your Relationships.” We’re going to look at how God’s power can help you with your relationships. Quite frankly, relationships are what life is all about. Relationships with family, with relatives, with neighbors, with co-workers, with people at church. Relationships can make life wonderful or miserable. We need God’s power to help our relationships be everything that God intended.

Today, my first message in this series is called “Learning To Love” Do you remember the first time you fell in love? Might have been in middle school or high school, perhaps you noticed someone in class. But it was more than just noticing someone, you had feelings when you looked at them and when you talked to them. You thought, this must be what love is all about, this mysterious feeling that I’ve fallen into.

The fact is that love is not just a feeling. When the Bible talks about love it most often uses a Greek word agape. Agape means to make a choice to appreciate and act in the best interests of someone else. It is used both for loving God and for loving people. Love is much more than a feeling, love is much more than words, love is a choice. Love is a choice to do the right thing for someone else even if the feelings are not there. This God-kind of love applies to everyone of your relationships.

How can we learn about love? The best way is to learn from the person who invented love God Himself. Jesus did a lot of teaching about love. Jesus did a lot of demonstrating what love was all about. Jesus showed us what love is through His life and through His death. We need to learn from Jesus what love is all about. NLT 1 John 4:19 We love each other as a result of His loving us first. Jesus loved us first so we can truly love one another. Not just when we feel like it, but with the kind of love God has for us, agape love. That is the kind of love that will build the strong relationships that God wants us to have in our lives

Today we’re going to look at some of Jesus’ teaching about love. One day an expert in the Jewish law asked Jesus what he had to do to receive eternal life. Jesus asked him what the Bible said? NLT Luke 10:27-28 The man answered, “`You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” These verses are called the Great Commandment. They have two parts, loving God and loving people. The man asked Jesus who his neighbor was, the neighbor that he was supposed to love as himself and Jesus answered with a story.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my April 15, 2007 message entitled Learning To Love

Finding The Right Friends

Family, Message / By Pastor Dan Walker / March 5, 2007

A man once had a pet canary that had a beautiful song. During the summer, the man thought he would let his canary enjoy the sunshine. So he put the canary’s cage in a tree in his backyard. Of course, there were a lot of other birds that frequented the tree, mainly sparrows. Whereas canaries sing, sparrows simply twitter and chirp. Over the course of the summer, the canary’s song began to change. By the end of the summer, the canary sounded just like a sparrow. He had lost his beautiful song and become like those sparrows. You also become like the friends you keep, whether for good or bad.

Today my messages is entitled “Finding The Right Friends.” I’m going to be talking about how you as a parent can influence your children’s relationships with others. In this messages series, “Parental Guidance Required”, I’ve been talking about the three relationships of your children that you need to influence: their relationship with God, their relationship with you and their relationship with others. NIV Proverbs 20:11 Even a child is known by his actions, by whether his conduct is pure and right. Even children become known for their actions and conduct. One of the important parts of life is your child’s relationships. Who does your child play with, who do they hang out with? Your child’s reputation and behavior will be strongly influenced by their friends.

NIV Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. We could, of course, substitute man with child and the verse would still be true. Blessed is the child who does not walk with the wicked, but who delights in God’s Word. So in this verse, we have the negative warning that parents are to teach their children. Don’t hang out with sinners or you will become like them. The positive encouragement is that children need to build relationships with friends who put a high priority on God’s Words, people who are believers.

Think back over your life to some of the major events. If you’re like me, your best decisions in life were influenced by good relationships. On the other hand, your worst mistakes were often strongly influenced by bad relationships. As a parent, God wants you and I to teach our children the importance of finding the right friends. So, let’s look at these two principles in more detail.

To hear more about this topic, listen to my March 4, 2007 message entitled Finding The Right Friends