Your Words Can Heal a Nation or Destroy It | Ephesians 4:29

How are you? Church? Are you feeling good this morning? Are you glad to be in church? Amen. Well, I want to tell you this morning something that we all know, and that is this, that words have power. Amen. How many of you know that words have power? Amen. And that's what we're going to be talking about this morning as we go through again and again, as we've been going over this passage in Ephesians. Ephesians, chapter four. Let's just read today's verse together. Today's verse is in verse 29. And in verse 29, Paul is saying this. He says, 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. Amen. Words. Words have power. Let me ask you, have you ever. Have you ever had that feeling that I sometimes have? You've maybe been somewhere and you've met with people, or you've been in a social situation or a work situation. Situation. And as you leave, your only prayer is that the ground will swallow up, open up and swallow you whole. Have you ever been in that place? And you know, you just. You just come out of that place and you're so embarrassed and just. You just want the ground to open up and swallow you absolutely whole. Amen. We all know that feeling, don't we? We all know how that feels. Well, I want to ask you. Let's do a quick survey. When you felt like that, like you just wanted the ground to open up and swallow you, was it because of something you. Some action that you did, something that you did? Or was it because of something you said? Nine times out of ten, when I feel I want the ground to open up and swallow me, it's not because of something I did. It's usually because I opened up my big fat mouth and I said something. And it can't be unsaid. Maybe you don't have that feeling. Maybe, unlike me, you don't have those moments. But I seem to have them from time to time. And pain perhaps more regularly than most. And I come away and I think, oh, my goodness, I just need the ground to open up and swallow me. But words have power. Words have power. When I was growing up, they used to teach us. And when I was back in school, in my junior school, I always remember, they used to tell us this rhyme that says, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. I want to say that's the biggest lie that you could ever Tell. Because words have power. I wonder how many of you. We've talked about embarrassment, but how many of us, we still experience things in our life, struggles in our life, in our personality, in our interactions, in our relationships because of things that were said to us when we were young, words that were spoken over us when we were young. Because words have power. Words are tremendously powerful things. You know, the Bible knows this as well. There's no verse in the Bible that says, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. No, when we look in the Bible, we find that it says in Proverbs 18:21, I'm sure you all know this one, death and life are in the power of the tongue. Now let me tell you, because I know many of us are from diverse backgrounds and cultures, and I want to say this has nothing to do with witchcraft. This has nothing to do with cursing. This just has to do with the power of words. Proverbs 18:21 says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue. And those that love it will eat its fruit. In other words, there are people that just love it. In other words, they love the sound of their own voice. Hallelujah. They love to talk and talk and talk and talk. Well, listen, if that's you, you're going to eat the fruit of what you talk. What you talk has fruit. And so, you know, say less. Hallelujah. Say less. Proverbs 18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Listen, that doesn't mean we don't struggle with words. I struggle with words. That's why I sometimes get that feeling that we talked about, because I struggle with words. You know, David struggled with words. He had to pray about it. David had to pray about his words because he knew that if he didn't pray about his words, left to his own devices, something would be wrong. And so he had to pray. In Psalm 19:14, you know this one as well, he says, let the words of. Of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Hallelujah. The Bible takes words very seriously. In fact, so seriously that Matthew says, or Jesus said rather in Matthew 12:36, that we will be judged for every careless word. That's heavy. That's heavy. How many words do you think we speak in a lifetime? Hallelujah. How many words do you think you have spoken in your lifetime? As a percentage, how many of them were careless, foolish, or you didn't really think about it before you said it? And yet Jesus said, we'll Be judged for every careless word. So words matter. They matter in life. They matter to God. Words are powerful. Words make a difference. And the fact is that right now, as we look at the world around us, I mentioned last week at the beginning of the message, I mentioned the fact that, that people are actually, for the first time in my lifetime, really seriously talking about preparation for war. And not just any kind of war, not just a local skirmish, but all our war people are actually considering that might happen. The world is in a very serious place right now. There's a lot of hatred right now. There's a lot of division right now. And I'm willing to bet that at the moment, root of it, at the heart of much that is going on in the world today, that we are concerned about the friction, the war, the fighting, the hatred, the rhetoric that is going on, the right wing and the left wing and every other wing, all of the rhetoric and everything that's going on all boils down to words. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 15:1, a soft word turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. It doesn't take much to stir up anger. It doesn't take much. And you know by your words you will either escalate or de escalate a situation. And there's a lot of escalation going on right now. There's a lot of harsh words that are going on right now. Psalm 16:28 tells us about another kind of word, and that is whispering. Look that up in the Hebrew. And actually, the word used for whispering is grumbling. Grumbling. It says in Psalm 16:28. Well, actually, Proverbs 16:28, I'm sorry, a whisperer or a grumbler separates friends. And then in Proverbs 26:20, it says, For a lack of wood, the fire goes out. And where there is no grumbler or whisperer, quarreling ceases. Words have power to stir things up. It just takes a grumbler. Have you ever been around a grumbler? Either in church or in the workplace, it begins to divide people. It begins to just a word or two in the right place begins to divide people and have all kinds of consequences. You know, you go into work one day and you're just chatting with people, or you go into church one day and you're chatting with people around and everyone seems friendly. They like you, you like them, it's a nice place to be. And suddenly one day you walk in and everyone's giving you the cold shoulder and you're not Quite sure why. Someone's been whispering. Someone's been whispering, and it's bringing division. Your words have power. You might think, oh, I'm just sharing. You know, Christians, we have a great way of doing this. We said just sharing for prayer. Just sharing for prayer. We need to pray for pastor. Have you seen recently, we need to pray for pastor. We need to pray for that brother. You know, I've never gossiped, but I'm very good. We say at calling people to prayer, you know, it's a grumbler, a whisperer, and it actually just begins to divide people. I don't really like the way they're doing that. You know, I don't really, you know, if we have something that we want to deal with, something that's bothering us, let's go to the people who can change. Why do we speak to our neighbor, but not the one with the power to change it? And so grumblers bring division, stir up fire, and bring all kinds of problems. It says in Proverbs 11, 9, with his mouth, a godless man would destroy his neighbor. Destroy his neighbor. Words destroy people. How many people know that? It just takes. And we see this on social media, don't we? There is an accusation that is made, that person's reputation is destroyed, and then they are vindicated and the truth comes out and it is shown that they are insulted, innocent, but things can never go back. Hallelujah. In fact, you can say, you know, he was vindicated. You know, they proved that that was all a lie. And you say, yeah, but no smoke without fire. And it sticks. They never go back to where they. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Look at what James says in James 3, 5, 6. He says, the tongue is a very small member. Hallelujah. Small fist. A tongue is a very small member, but it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire. And the tongue is a fire. A world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting up a fire, or rather setting on fire the whole course of life and set on fire by hell. Words have the power to destroy. And right now, words and rhetoric are actually bringing the world to the brink of disaster. People that used to be neighbors in this country now struggle to be neighbours because you are not of my kind, or something like that. Because rhetoric and words have convinced them. Because most people don't think. I remember so many times hearing things said about people and I say, is that really true? Have you Confirmed it. They say yes, yes, it's true. How do you know? Oh, because Mama so and so told me. And so that is the confirmation of truth. Mama so and so told me. And yet the whole world is being set ablaze by words. I don't know where to begin with the hatred that's going around now. I've never seen so much anger and bitterness and division in our nation alone. But then in Europe and elsewhere, this is going on. People are voting for more and more extreme people because of words that have been spoken. Let's be clear about that. It all began with words. Circumnavigating around it. Because I don't want to talk about some things again that we've talked about before. You know, some of the things that people are campaigning about and rhetoricizing about. I don't even know if that's a word, but let's just use it anyway. Things that people are going on about. And it all begins with words. Someone on a podium, someone on social media, someone with a ball horn, someone shouting about this group or that group or the other group, and no one sat down. They've all got their statistics at the end of the day. But it all begins with words. Words. Words. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will crush my spirit. Words will rob me of my reputation. Words will set one community against another community, black against white, rich against poor, and even one nation against another nation. The power of words is not to be underestimated. And not only that, when we speak our words, we are not just human beings. We are spiritual people. A man is body, soul, and spirit. And we don't just live in a physical world, but we are surrounded by the supernatural world. And every word we speak aligns itself with something. And we can align ourselves with the living God in our words, or we can align ourselves with the devil in our. In our words. And the devil comes to kill and to steal and to destroy. And when we align our words with his, because, you know, our words alone lack a lot of power, lack a lot of authority. The words that we speak gain their power and their authority depending on who we align them with. We can align them with the devil. We. We can align them with God. It's up to us. But there's a lot of words that are being aligned with ideologies and philosophies that are not of God. And so we see the division that is in the world. Reminds me of Genesis 6. Something was happening there, and God looked down at it, said God saw that the whole world was filled with violence and he was grieved. The power of words. The power of words. Well, now it doesn't stop there. Paul talks about the power of words and here we are talking about the corrupting power of words. He says, let no corrupting talk come out of your mouth. You see what he calls it? Corrupting talk, corrupting words. When we speak words that are not aligned with the words of God, when we, when we speak those words, they are corrupting. There's a corrosion that happens through words. Words can break down and corrode trust. Words can break down and corrode relationships. Words can break down and corrupt our sense of dignity, our sense of self worth. Words, when spoken long enough and hard enough, can take a self confident, strong person with purpose and ambition and turn them into a weak, broken. Individual who has no sense of self worth anymore. It just takes a repetition of words. And it destroys people. It doesn't bless, it curses. But Paul doesn't stop there. Because where does Paul begin this verse? He says, let not, let not, let not. Something has to change. Let not let no corrupting word come out of your mouth. Don't let it happen. And that seems to imply, doesn't it, we have a choice. If Paul says in the Holy Spirit, let no corrupting talk, let it not happen. That seems to say that you and I have some kind of choice in the words that we are going to speak. There's a change, there's a transformation that God is wanting to happen. And he says, don't let those words come out of your mouth. Stop them before they start. You know, they start here, right? The most powerful words that I have ever spoken. And I'm talking about negative words, I'm talking about corrupting words. Angry words had the power they had because I had percolated them in here. Those words, I'd worked on them, I chewed on them like a cow chews on the grass. I had chewed on those words. I had rehearsed the words that I would speak. When I met that person who had conned me, that person who had lied to me, me, that person who had mistreated me, that person that frankly I just didn't like. I had percolated exactly what I was going to say. And when I met them, I was ready. That's my AK47 right there. Ready to fire, ready to release. The words of power for this hour all begins in here. And Paul says, don't let it happen. I love that. When Paul talks about spiritual warfare most of the time, for example, when he's talking to the Corinthians. He says, the battle is where in the mind. The battle is in the mind. How you process, because before anything happens, you process the overflow. The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. It begins there. Everything begins there. Emotion begins there. Anger begins in the heart. We know that, right? You're having a perfectly lovely day and someone comes and says, you'll never guess what your husband did. You hear enters your gray matter here. You process it, you think about it and anger follow. Someone comes and says to you, did you know that those numbers in the lottery, they've come up your numbers. You hear it, you think about it, And you begin to sing. Because emotions rise up, begins there. So something is happening here long before something happens here. And so you have an opportunity to. To stop it in its tracks. It very rarely just goes from your ears to your mouth. It goes into your central processing unit before it comes out of your mouth. So you have an opportunity to stop it. You know, we have a three second delay on our broadcast right now. Hello to our life audience. If you're watching online right now, you're seeing me speak these words roughly three or four seconds after I've actually spoken them. That's an opportunity. If I stub my toe and say something that as a pastor I shouldn't, that we can try and cut that out before it reaches. There's a moment, there's a process for you to say, let not. And yet there is still a problem. There is still a problem. You see, James says that no human being, he says in James 3. 8. No human being can tame the tongue. No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, he says, a restless evil full of deadly poison. No human being can tame the tongue. And so what are we to do? Paul says, let not. And James says, you can't. We're stuck somewhere. Paul says, let no corrupting talk come out. And James says, hang on a minute. No human being can do this. And so we have to remember the process. We have to remember what Paul has been talking about from verse 17 of this passage where he says, now this I say, and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality and greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learn Christ, verse 20, verse 21, assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, and as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds. You see there the spirit of what? Your minds be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created. You remember when we were there, we really emphasized on that, that the new self has already been created by God after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. In other words, no human being can do it. But God has made provision that by faith, as we walk in him, we put off our old self, we put off our old ways. And by faith in him, he has given us all the resources that we need that we might put them off and put on the new self. And that includes being people who are able to arrest our words before they leave our mouth and say, no, I'm not going to go there. I'm not going to say what I wanted to say. Have you ever stopped yourself? Stopped yourself? But after you have put the brakes on, it's just sitting there. It's like being pregnant and the contractions have stopped for a moment. And you have stopped yourself, but you are absolutely bursting to say it. And so though it is delayed, it is not denied, and out it comes. That's the old self saying. It wants to assert itself. But we say no. God has given me both the power and the ability with this new life that he has power put in me that I might change. And that is the good news. That is the good news. Because as much as it grieves us not to be able to say the words that we wanted to say, not to say to your neighbor, my brother, you are pursuing wisdom, or wisdom is pursuing you, but you're faster not to say to your brother, my expectations were low, but I see you have bought a shovel not to release those words. You have suddenly now in God you have the power, the choice, the ability to make a difference, to do something else, to use your words for a different purpose. And as much as it grieves us that we can't express that negativity that wants to escape. When we realize who we are in Christ, we hear the good news in him. It is impossible for man to truly tame his tongue. But with God, all things are possible. And he has given us a new song to sing. And he has given us new words to speak new words. Isn't that what happened on the day of Pentecost. Isn't that what's supposed to happen to us, that we receive the Holy Spirit? What happens when you receive the Holy Spirit? Says, they all spoke in tongues. They all spoke in a new language as the Spirit Spirit gave them utterance. Hallelujah. And Paul said, by man of strange tongues, you will hear the good news. We get a new tongue, a new word to speak, a new song to sing. And we can be people who just by our words bring change and transformation for the world around us. I love what it says. In 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 4, he said, in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge. There is a rich inheritance that God has laid aside for those of us that trust in him. A rich inheritance of that we would be enriched in every way, in all words and all knowledge. Church as people who know Jesus, we have words to speak that nobody else has. We have words to speak that they might speak. But we speak with a new authority and a new power because our words are aligned with Jesus. Our words are aligned with what God says, says in His Word. We are enriched in our words in every way. Look at what Paul says in this very passage. He says, words that do what build up as fits the occasion so as to impart grace to those who hear three things, there is wisdom. Knowing when to speak, he gives us wisdom. James said, God gives wisdom generously to all who ask without finding fault. My God, I need to pray that prayer so often. I don't know about you, but I need to pray that prayer so often. Because before we can even talk about what to speak speak, we have to talk about when to speak it. You know, right now I thank God for my wife. She helps me with this a lot. She helps me, you know, that brake pedal of mine? Sometimes it needs two people's feet on it. And so she helps me with that. But, you know, I get so excited. Like, I'm so excited about 2027. We've got our vision for this year leveling up, but I already know what we're doing in 2027, and I'm so excited. And it just takes the grace of God not to blurt it out, because even though it's a blessed word, it's not time, if not time. If I share that with you, we'll forget about this year. There's a time and a place for everything under the sun, isn't there? And it takes great wisdom. I think when he says, you know, as fits the occasion, it's not just about the wisdom to know when, but. But it's about the strength to resist. Because sometimes I know it's not the time, but it's not just knowing it's not the time. I know it's not the time, but I still want to say it. I still want to speak it out. The wisdom of God. Imagine that God has given us the wisdom to know. And if you struggle with that, just say, God, give me wisdom. I want to be that person, person who knows when to say things. Because when we get the timing right, if we get the timing right. I love that. I love that when you, you're just moving in the spirit. Sometimes, you know, you know, we talk about prophecy and word of knowledge, but sometimes we don't even know we're being prophetic, right? Sometimes we don't even know. You know, sometimes I'll speak to someone and I'll just. I just kind of feel I should say something. And I'm not really in prophecy mode, but I just speak a word and say something to them. And later they come along and they say, you know, when you said that at just that time, that was just what I needed to hear. Because you see, church, it's not just about having this prophetic gifting in operation. We are a prophetic people, and everything we say carries some weight of glory, glory with it. Everything we say should be under the power of the Holy Spirit. So when you're walking in the power of the Holy Spirit, when you're walking in the temperament of the Holy Spirit, when you're walking filled with the Holy Spirit, then you find that every word you speak can carry something. Knowing when to speak in the power of the Holy Spirit. We have been given that. We have been given that. And we have been given words that build up. Words that build up. Hallelujah. Two things. Words that build up and words that give grace. You know, there are words that help someone to grow, and we can all share those words with each other. Words that help us to grow. Paul said, you want to be teaching others. By now we should all be growing in the word, in the wisdom of God, so that we can build one another up in faith, so that we can help one another to grow. The problem so often with us as believers is that we, we're like those people on the Haribo ads. Not everyone got that. Don't worry, it'll hit later when you see the ad. We need to. We have amazing words. Your words can build somebody up. Your words can make a difference. Your words can make A change. And then he says, they give grace. They give grace because people need grace. They need encouragement. They need to know that the grace of God is there. They need to know that God loves them. They need to know that they are somebody in the eyes of God. They need to know that they are worth something. And we can bring those words. Do you know how often we come into contact with people who just. Honestly, sometimes people speak to me, and my first reaction is, they're just people that they just have. They just say it like it is, meaning they're just rude. They just say it like it is, and they're just kind of harsh. And my first reaction with an angry person or a person that just talks to me harshly and condescendingly and rudely, My first reaction when I hear that is say, okay, we're gonna fight fire with fire right now. We're gonna call fire down from heaven. In fact, I'm gonna be like my savior, Jesus. There's gonna be like a sword coming out of my mouth. But you see, grace says that person is like that for a reason. They are broken down. When they were children, maybe they were talked to a certain way. They've been put down themselves. They've built a wall around themselves. Their words are not because they are attacking you. Their words are because they are defending themselves. Their words are there to defend their position, for them to feel safe and not vulnerable. And so then you begin to bring words that impart grace, that impart grace, that make them realize that their harshness is not going to change your love for them, your care for them. You bring grace everywhere you go. I can't count the number of times I've been in different places and I've met someone, you know, one of those people who everything you try fails. You know, you're like, good morning. Go over there and wait. Okay. And then you. You know, and then. And then you. You. You try to talk nicely. You know, sometimes in reception, in different places, you get this. Have you encountered this? Yeah, there's. There's something called a spirit of reception. And in certain places, when you go to that reception, what you meet with, it's. It's just because they're. They're. They're meeting rude people every day. You know that. You ever worked on reception? You'll meet rude people. People will shout at you. You're the first line of the first place they come to with their anger, with their complaint. And so they built up this wall, and so you meet them, and they are impenetrable. But I've had people like that. And over time as you, you're just gracious with them. You don't return what they're giving. You give something different. Suddenly the, the interaction over time begins to change. We are people of grace. And as believers, words of grace can change the world. I'm not just talking about, you know, saying to that person, that receptionist, listen, the way you are talking is not good. And I want you to know that Jesus loves you and you need to repent. No, but words of grace that show forth love, that show that, that you, that you see them as a human being, that you care about them, that, that you're going to talk nicely, even if they're talking harshly, because you're processing grace in your mind instead of anger. Because it all takes place up here. That's what Paul was saying about spiritual warfare. He said, we take what, we take every thought captive and make it obedience to Christ. In other words, it starts on one side. I will kill you. But we capture it, we make it obedient to the word of God. And it is, I will pray for you. Because the word of God says, love your enemies and pray for them. And so we process it that way. Our words have power to change. Our words have power to change things. Proverbs 12:18 says, There is one whose harsh words are like a sword thrust. Hallelujah. But the tongue of the wise brings healing, healing, healing. Our words can heal the nation. This nation doesn't have enough believers, but there's still, there's a lot of us throughout the nation, up and down. If we learn to hide, harness the power of the words that God has given us, we can bring healing to this nation. Our words can transform the nation around us just by our words, the words that God has given us. Hebrews 4:12 says, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joint and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. We have that word from God that can change things. It can divide things and put them back together. It's a dividing word and it's a healing word. It's a transforming word. Romans 10:17. There is this bringing of the word. You Remember what Romans 10 is about? It's Paul is appealing to them to take out the gospel to the world, to the nations. And he says, how will they hear without someone going out and preaching that word? And then he says, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. And so listen, I Want you to follow the logic here. Paul says, there is a word of salvation and I have given it to you. Take it out. They need to hear it. Unless you go as a messenger, they won't hear it. And then what does he say about that word that we speak? He says that word, that word of faith. He says, faith comes by hearing and hearing, by the word of God. So as we speak out that word, we actually are part of something that causes faith to rise in them. So you can have words that can cause anger to rise in them, or you can speak God, words that cause faith to rise in them. And when we speak words that cause faith to rise in people, then we begin to see salvation in this nation. We begin to see a transformation. We begin to see the power of the spirit moving across this country in every direction because of the words that we speak. Words of faith, words of healing, words of transformation, words that say, I'm not going to judge you because now is the year of the Lord's favor. You know, I love that in the book of Luke, chapter four, where Jesus stands up before them, he quotes Isaiah and he says, spirit, as the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me. And he reads that passage and he gets to the end and he says, and this is the year the favour of the Lord. And he stops. Do you know what it says next in the Isaiah passage? And the day of vengeance of our God doesn't read that one, because this is not that yet. We're not there yet. Where we are right now is the year of the Lord's favor. And so as we take out that word to the nation, that God loves you. Whatever you have done, whatever you have said to me, whatever you have done to me, I don't care. Because I'm here to tell you that there is a God in heaven that loves you. And I don't know how you got to be this angry. I don't know how you came to be a thief or a liar. I don't know how you came to be so someone who hates me or hates my God. I don't know how you came to be a person that is mistreating me or mistreating my family. I don't know how you came to be a racist or a xenophobe. I don't know how you came to be that. But I know one thing. Whatever you are, whoever you are, God loves you. And I'm here to tell you that God loves you. And even though there might be be a temptation in me to Speak. Otherwise, I'm going to say to them, God loves you. Because I know that however evil I might think they are, Jesus considered them worthy of him going to the cross and shedding his blood for them. And so we need to speak out those words to this nation right now. Our words, Church, have power. They have power. I want to tell you that your words have power. Power when somebody is sick. Let's not shrink back from praying for people. Church. Let's not shrink back from taking authority. You know, we can spend all day asking the question, oh, why was this one not healed? Or why was that one not healed? Or we can instead use our time to say, in the name of Jesus, I take authority over this sickness. This sickness will not harm you. This sickness will not overtake you. Because Jesus took up our infirmities. Use that word. Use that word. Speak that word. Speak that word into every situation. Get a hold of that word. Because you know what? There's a place where we find that word. Hallelujah. There's two types of people who pray in a crisis. There's the kind of person that they face a crisis, that they're at a crossroads. And they say, God, I am standing on your word, as it says in your word, Father. And they begin to quote scripture after scripture. They align their words with his words. They make his words their words. Because faith doesn't come by any word except the word of God. So they begin to speak out the word of God. And then there's the kind of person that says, oh, God, oh, God, oh, God, I stand on your word. That says you love me and you'd never let this happen to me because you're good. It says you're good. And we just go around all the vagaries of the Word because there's no word in us. I want to tell you, faith comes by hearing, by hearing, by the word of God. Make his word your word. Get it into your heart so when you meet with a crisis, you're not reaching for a concordance. You're not going on the Bible app and searching for a word about this or that. But you've got the word in you. You've loaded your weapon. You know what happens in war when the enemy's facing you and you say to the enemy, hold on, I just need to put some bullets in my gun. No, you need your weapon preloaded first of all. Because if you have the word in you, it might stop the battle before it even begins. Because you're walking in the word of God. Sometimes the battle comes because we're not walking in the word of God. The word that is in us is TikTok. Now, there's some good stuff on TikTok, some people saying some good things, some people saying some bad things. But, you know, sometimes all we've got in in us is whatever we saw on, you know, the Housewives of Whatever, whatever we saw on the Influencer, on social media, because we're so big into that. And so we start saying things that are demonic, we start saying things that are doctrines of demons, and we start saying, now, I'm manifesting my victory not in the Bible, Hallelujah. In church, we know that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. I'm not manifesting anything. I'm standing on God's promises. And I have them in me because I read it, I absorb it, I think about it, I meditate upon it. It's his word. And so, church, this morning we have a decision to make. And I want to ask you, first of all, are you full of the Holy Spirit? Spirit? Has the Holy Spirit filled you? Are you speaking in other tongues? Have you got the word of God in you that way? Because I tell you, that's one side of it. When you're filled with the Holy Spirit, then he's going to control your tongue. That's one thing. Are you in the word of God? Are you going to make a decision that you are going to go through the process of putting off and putting on? Because we. We are putting on new life. We are putting on a new way. Are you going to make a decision, you know, as we look to 2027, I want 2027 to be a year when we shake the city. I'm not giving you the vision that's coming later. I want it to be a year. When we shake the city, let's prepare to put off what's holding us back and let's put on what will take us forward and shake the city and change the world around us. Let's not be people of, you know, let's go to church. My church is great. My church is big. My church has the best worship. My church has the most handsome pastor. You know, it's true. My church, my church, my church, my church. No, let's be people who are like, we want more than church. We want to shake the city. We want to speak words that send demons scattering, that sends sickness out of people, that chases the devil out of Colchester, that brings transformation in people's lives. And it all starts today with a decision that you make that. I make that. We make that. We're going to get this word in us, make a change and work out what God is wanting to work in. So, church, let's make that decision. Let's think about the times when we speak words over people, words over our family, words over ourselves that carry that negativity and that lie of the enemy. And let's speak life over our friends, over our family, over ourselves, over our enemy. Let's make that decision that we're going to pick up our Bibles in the coming year and get words in us that are words of truth and words of blessing and words of favor and words that breakthrough and words that build up and words that impart grace and. And words that are delivered at the right time so that there can be change and transformation in our city and beyond. Are you ready, church, to make that decision today? Yes. Then let's stand up together and let's pray in the name of Jesus. Let's give him all the glory and let's say God, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for your word. Word. Your word is truth. Your word is reality. And Father, in the name of Jesus, from today I'm going to get that word in me. I'm going to start saying no to words that tear down. I'm going to start saying no to words that corrupt. I'm going to start saying no to the words that don't do anything good. They are worthless, they are empty, they are negative. And I'm gonna start putting on the words that heal, the words that build up the words that give grace. Lord, in Jesus name, this morning we are making a decision before you. Let your words become our words. Because your words have created worlds. Because your words brought order in Genesis 1. Because your words became flesh and manifested himself amongst us and walked amongst us. In the beginning was the words and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Let your word be our word, Father, so that when we speak, healing comes when we speak speak, transformation comes when we speak. Our city changes when we speak, people come to know Jesus. When we speak, power is released. Father, thank you for your word. Let your word be our word. In Jesus name. In Jesus name. Thank you. For your mercy. Never fails me. Oh my God to I've been held in your hand from the moment that I wake up until I lay my head I will sing of the goodness of God. Sing I love you Lord I love you Lord for your mercy never fails me. All my days I've been held in your hand from the moment That I wake up. Until I lay my head out you see. Of the goodness. All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness. You have led me through. The fire in darkness is mine, you are close like no other. I've known you as a father, I've known you as a friend. I have live in the goodness. All my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. So good. With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God. Your goodness is running out, it's running after me. Yes you are. Your goodness is running after. It's running out to me. With my life laid down. I'm surrender now. I give you everything your goodness is running after. It's running after me. Your goodness is running after. It's running after me. Your goodness is running after. It's running after me. With my life la down I surrender now. I give you everything your goodness is running. It keeps running after me. All my life you have been. All my life you are. With every breath that I am able I will sing of the goodness of God. All my life. All my life you have been day. All my life. All my life you have been so, so good. So good. Every breath that I am, I will sing of the goodness of God. Your goodness. Your goodness is running after. Your goodness is running after. It's running out to me. With my life laid down. I'm surrender now. I give you everything your goodness is running after. It's running out of to me me. Your goodness is running after. It's running out to me. Your goodness is running after. It's running out to me. With my life laid down through surrender now I give you everything your goodness is running. This is all my life you have been so good. I will see of the goodness of God. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. He's so good. God is so good. Good God is so good. Hallelujah. We want to take up an offering. Can I just remind you that if you're in the house that there is a small bucket over there for our building project that we mentioned earlier. Can you make sure if you give there that you give on top of your normal giving, otherwise it doesn't make sense. We're just robbing Peter to pay Paul, right? So if it's and. And whatever you can give, even if you just have a little to give towards that, it's going to help us in the winter months. If you're watching online. We have an online giving at Colchester Church. Give if you'd like to give. God bless you for that. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Shall we sing one more as we're giving? I saw darkness run for cover the miracle that I just can get over My name is registered. My name is registered in heaven My praise belongs to you forever this is my testimony from death to life. Jesus Christ the righteous I'm justified this is my test testimony this is my testimony. Washed in water Sing the praises of the spirit Son and father Our God will finish what he started yes our God will finish what he started this is my testimony from death to life his grace rewrote my story I'll testify now Jesus Christ the righteous I'm justified this is my destiny this is my testimony. Still to come oh I believe if I'm not dead you're not done you greater things still become oh I believe if I'm not dead you're not done Greater things still to come oh I believe if I'm not dead you're not done Greater day still to come oh I believe this is is my testimony from death alive Cuz grace rewrote my story I'll testify My Jesus Christ the righteous I'm justified this is my testimony oh I'm alive this is my testimony from dead to life his grace re my soul I testify that Jesus Christ the righteous I'll testify this is my testimony this is my testimony. Thank you Jesus. Thank you Lord for another amazing Sunday. Hallelujah. Thank you Jesus. If you, if you just loved being in the room with Jesus today, would you just clap for him? Hallelujah. Amen. I want to pray for you. If you're watching online, I want to pray for you and you can give us a thumbs up or leave a comment just to let us know how you're finding this service and how it's blessing you as well. But Father, we want to just pray now for each and every person both in the room and online. That Father, in the name of Jesus, you're going to be with us all of this coming week. That Father, you're going to use us and as we have heard, use our words to be those that build up at just the right time and give grace to those that hear. Father, use our words, use our hands, use all that we have for your glory and your fame and bless each one of us until we come together again in Jesus name and we all say Amen. Hallelujah.