Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Well, this morning I want to speak about speaking life. Last week we looked at our site and this week I want to speak about our mouths. There was a telephone company in the 1980s with a famous actor, Bob Hoskins, that coined the phrase it's good to talk. It was profitable for them for us to talk back in those days. There are a number of mental health campaigns around today that encourage us to talk. ITV have launched Get Britain talking. There's a campaign in Northern Ireland that says we're better when we talk, also quite loud when they talk.
[00:00:50] It's commonly recognised, isn't it, that it's good to talk.
[00:00:53] But we live in a world where there are many words, and I want to spend a few moments today to look at how talking isn't necessarily good.
[00:01:05] Our words can be hindering as well as healing.
[00:01:11] In fact, every single word that we use has the power of life or death.
[00:01:20] Every one of our words that come out of our mouths have such significance, and it feels like words are so popular today, words are so used, they surround us everywhere with messaging that the currency of our words has been lowered. It feels that lies are more acceptable at all levels of our society than they've ever been. It feels the words are cheap.
[00:01:50] And I want to remind us this morning that every word that comes out of our mouth has the power of life or death.
[00:02:02] Talking can be one of the most demeaning and destructive forces on the planet.
[00:02:11] Talking can ruin families.
[00:02:15] Talking has taken lives, it has started wars, it has divided nations.
[00:02:25] Talking has impacted souls negatively.
[00:02:30] Talking has betrayed friendships. It's established cultures that devastate the emotional well being of those who walk into those cultures.
[00:02:44] Talking can be dangerous.
[00:02:49] Now, I know there are people in this room who speak more than one language. Well done.
[00:02:55] I've never been good at languages. I've tried. I've spent years learning Welsh, I spent years learning French, I spent years learning German. And I'm just very grateful for Google translate today because it feels like very little of that learning ever sunk into me. So I'm always a great admirer of people who speak in multiple languages. And if you like, what I'm about to say this morning is identifying that there are two languages that you and I can speak.
[00:03:27] One of them is the language of the kingdom of God and the other is the language of this world.
[00:03:36] And you and I can be bilingual in both of these languages. But one of the questions that people who speak multiple languages often get asked is, what language do you think? In what language do you have dreams in? What language are your ideas formed in? I'm always intrigued to hear the answer to that question.
[00:04:00] Well, usually the answer is the one that they use the most. Eventually, the one they use the most is the one that begins to form their thinking. It's not the one they've studied the most, it's the one they use the most. It begins to shape their ideation. It begins to form how they process things inwardly.
[00:04:24] And you and I are bilingual. We have the ability to speak in the kingdom of God or the kingdom of this world. And the language that we think in will be the one that we use the most.
[00:04:38] Now, when someone is learning a new language, they don't instinctively start thinking in that language. They usually have a clunky journey of unfamiliar words.
[00:04:48] Oh, it's embarrassing when you begin to learn a new language, isn't it? You know, I remember a trip to France a few years ago, and I remembered a few words that had come back to me from my studies in school. And so over the course of a week, I was there where there seemed to be very few english speaking people in this church I was in. I learned a few with. I was reminded of a few of these words, just simple words, simple words about, my name is mark and, you know, hello, bonjour, and all those things. And I remember flying back and forgetting to buy my kids any sweets or anything to sort of say, dad's home. So when I arrived back in the UK, I went to the supermarket and I picked up some bags of sweets and I took them to the till, and the lady processed the items, and I went to pay and I gave her the money and I said, bonjour, and I'm like, what am I doing, mark? I'm in England.
[00:05:47] What am I doing? Sometimes it can be confusing speaking those different languages, and it just feels a little clunky getting used to that. It doesn't feel natural to use words you're unfamiliar with.
[00:06:01] And also, when someone starts speaking a new language, it can feel like their confidence is lacking. At first, it just doesn't feel like them. It goes against their past experience, their concerned that they may pronounce things incorrectly.
[00:06:17] But there is only one way that this can change, and that is when we keep trying and using the new language.
[00:06:28] Familiarity changes our clunkiness and our lack of confidence. The more we use a new language, the more natural it becomes. And eventually, we begin to have the capacity to think in our new language as well. Now, let me just pick up one of these languages I'm talking about. There is a kingdom, language.
[00:06:49] It's filled with life.
[00:06:52] The kingdom language, it's filled with joy. It heals. It restores. It carries the presence of heaven on this language of the kingdom. It can go into the most chaotic of situations and bring peace. It brings encouragement to those around them. It inspires joy in those around. It builds people up. It addresses injustice in this world. It inspires and it lifts, it elevates those people around them. It goes beyond the feelings of the person, and it has a well and a resource that's rich and unending.
[00:07:32] And that's the language of the kingdom. That's what it does. If you walk away from someone and they've been discouraged by you, by the things you've said, you've been speaking in the world's language, not in heaven's language. There's a culture, and there's a language of the kingdom. Do you know this language, or are you stuck? I'm not asking, are you saved? I'm asking, have you learned the new language?
[00:07:59] There are those of you here that you have had the most awful of circumstances and you have fled to this country, and we welcome you.
[00:08:08] We are grateful that we have been able to offer refuge and safety and protection as a nation. And there will be words that are said in this general election campaign that will make you feel like you're not wanted. And we want to let you know that we welcome you here. We are grateful that God has given us the ability to provide that safety and that protection and that love for you.
[00:08:33] Please hear that?
[00:08:35] Whatever people say, that's the language of the kingdom.
[00:08:39] God cares for the vulnerable.
[00:08:43] God has a heart for those who don't have.
[00:08:47] And God calls those who have to give to those who don't have. And we have an abundance of protection in this nation. We have an abundance of provision in this nation. Oh, we have our needs and our challenges, but the kingdom of God is a generous kingdom, and it pours out love and protection. But some of you who have come to this country and you are struggling with the language, you are here.
[00:09:16] You are part of this nation.
[00:09:19] But why have we made the english language so difficult?
[00:09:26] We have complicated it so much. And then if you've got your spell check on your word documents set to American English, it adds a whole new layer of complication in.
[00:09:42] I'm not saying, are you in this nation? I'm asking, do you speak the language? I'm not saying, are you in the kingdom? I'm asking, do you speak the language of the kingdom?
[00:09:54] Because God has called us to have a new language, not just a new passport.
[00:10:00] And the language of this world is very different to the language of the kingdom. The language of this world. It responds with insecurity, to threats that people experience.
[00:10:10] The language of this world, it speaks badly about others. In order to make them feel better about themselves, they put others down.
[00:10:19] The language of this world is critical.
[00:10:21] It criticizes people. It's always negative about others. It injures people. It stirs up division. It's out of control. It snipes at people. It lays its yoke of disappointment onto others around them. It is negative about many things. That is the language of this world. It pulls people down. It's laced with anger. It's duplicitous in its nature. It whispers critical things in the ears of others so that other people don't hear.
[00:10:57] If you have to whisper something about people or make sure that they're not listening, if you're talking about someone in a way that if you're feeling phone was on and connected to them that you would be deeply embarrassed by, your conversation is probably a conversation of this world and not of the kingdom.
[00:11:19] The kingdom of God. The language of the kingdom has the power of life and the kingdom of this world. The language of this world has the power of death.
[00:11:29] Proverbs 15 two says, the tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pour forth foolishness.
[00:11:44] The wise are those who fear the God, fear the Lord. The scripture says, it's the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. As we live in light of his glory, it impacts the wisdoms in our life. And there is a language to that wisdom. It's the kingdom language.
[00:12:03] The language of the kingdom of God sounds different to the language of this world. The kingdom of God's language is full of light. It's full of truth. It has authenticity. It's full of life. It's vibrant. It builds others up. It speaks redemptively when people fall, it speaks of others well, even when they're not around.
[00:12:25] It's more mindful of speaking of God's mind than our mind.
[00:12:30] I keep hearing people say, speak your mind. Speak your mind.
[00:12:35] Well, I want to speak his mind.
[00:12:38] I want to know the mind of Christ. I want to speak his mind because his mind is better than my mind.
[00:12:48] Proverbs 16 says, gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
[00:13:00] That's the language of the kingdom.
[00:13:03] So let me point this question really clear to you and I. What language are we speaking?
[00:13:11] The kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of this world.
[00:13:15] And I want to give you some top tips now on how to learn the language of the kingdom.
[00:13:22] So here's my top tips. Number one, you need to pause to learn and speak heaven's language.
[00:13:34] Proverbs 15 says, the heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.
[00:13:49] Are you a reactor?
[00:13:51] Sometimes we're a bit like a nuclear reactor, aren't we?
[00:13:55] Do you have a short fuse? Do you get wound up really quick? Do you come in with your best ideas quickly?
[00:14:05] One of the wisdoms of God is that we should pace that moment and pause, not jump in with our advice, but listen and ask the mind of Christ.
[00:14:24] That's a really good discipline to have when you're thinking about spending your money on something. Do you ever pause and say, God, should I be doing this?
[00:14:35] Do you ever ask for his input, for his mind?
[00:14:41] When somebody comes to you with a dilemma, do you quickly rush in with your best advice? Or do you pause and say, God, what would you want to say in this situation?
[00:14:53] I believe the heart of the righteous ponders how to answer.
[00:14:58] Proverbs ten says, in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his or her lips is wise.
[00:15:12] There are times, lots of times, when our words flow out so easily, and we would have been wiser to have restrained our opinion.
[00:15:28] Be careful. If you have learned to speak a million words an hour, be careful. That proverb says, in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking.
[00:15:45] So to speak, the language of the kingdom, we need to pause more.
[00:15:50] Secondly, we need to season our conversations with God. So we pause and then we season.
[00:15:59] We often in our home when we're cooking, Nina will say, does that need more salt? I'm a fan of salt on my food. I think it amplifies the other flavors. Yeah, put a little bit more salt in there. There's always that tipping point, though, isn't it? When it just goes a little bit too much.
[00:16:16] But there's a verse in the scripture that talks about season in our conversations, Colossians four six says, these words, let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt so that you may know how to answer everyone.
[00:16:41] We could do with a little kingdom salt shaker on our conversation.
[00:16:47] I wonder how much of the kingdom sits upon our thoughts now. I know it will be so easy to say, well, a kingdom conversation sounds like a Bible conversation, and that can be. And I want to encourage you, if you've got good friends, and you never talk about spiritual things. Probably you need to rethink some of the framework of your relationship with them to think about, how do I add God into this conversation? That's a good thing. How are you going to season the relationship if you're in a marriage and you never talk about spiritual matters, and you never talk about the Bible, and you never talk about what God might be doing, and you never bring the issues of your family before God in prayer. If you never do those things, then get the salt shaker out and sprinkle your relationship. Sprinkle your conversations with the grace of God.
[00:17:44] It transforms conversations.
[00:17:47] It transforms how we engage in this language of the kingdom.
[00:17:54] And it isn't always about sitting around sort of talking theology or talking scripture with people. Sometimes it can be just in those everyday parts of our life where the ordinary begins to slip into the distraction.
[00:18:09] You know, I think I've said before that sometimes when I've gone to the football game and there's a lot of rivalry in Devon between the two big teams, isn't there? We got Exodus City and then we got that other small team down in the south of Devon. I forget what they called. I can't quite remember.
[00:18:27] But when they play together, it's like warfare, like, never mind all of that lovely, quaint Devon stuff. You know, we've got our tractors and pitchforks out against one another.
[00:18:39] And I see in those moments that there's a song that gets sung by thousands of supporters and they say this. Stand up. If you hate Argyle, stand up.
[00:18:58] And, yeah, people get out of their seat and they're like this.
[00:19:03] That's a deeply ordinary moment.
[00:19:06] But if your life is seasoned with grace, you don't stand.
[00:19:12] I don't hate anybody.
[00:19:16] I'm not allowing the pressures of thousands of other people doing something to cause me to respond and to do something that is not right and is not the heart of God.
[00:19:29] How could I stand up at that moment? Oh, just go along with the crowd. Let's stand up and then go and preach in Plymouth.
[00:19:40] How could I do that?
[00:19:44] Because the ordinariness of our life, the everyday part of our conversation, the conversations in your workplace, you know, if your work colleagues hear you say things about other work colleagues behind their back, you know what those work colleagues think?
[00:20:03] They think that's how you're going to talk about them when they're not with you.
[00:20:10] And our ordinary mealtime conversations at workplace need to be seasoned with what? With grace.
[00:20:17] Because there's a kingdom way that we communicate. There's a kingdom language that we have.
[00:20:22] And then there's a language of this world.
[00:20:25] So we pause, we season, and then we need to change our mindset.
[00:20:31] And our mindset changes often as we become more familiar with speaking this heavenly language, because it becomes something that has this symbiotic relationship. And we begin to, as we act out and talk out the kingdom, it begins to change the framework of our understanding. But let's look about changing your mindset, because in Philippians two, we read these words. In your relationship, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
[00:21:06] In your relationships, didn't say, when you go to church, make sure you got the mind of Christ. Didn't say, when you're ministering or preaching, have the mind of Christ. It says, in your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.
[00:21:23] And then he goes on to explain what that mindset is. It says, who, being in the very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage. It goes on to say, rather, he made himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness and found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself, obedient to death, even death on a cross. Having the same mindset as Christ means that we serve one another, that we take the place of humility, that we don't try to create ascendancy. We don't bully people. We take a role that says, I am serving those who are around me.
[00:22:09] And we live in a dog eat dog world, don't we? Where people push and muscle their way through and they elbow their positions. And I believe with all of my heart that to take on the mindset of Christ, it changes our interactions with one another because we take on a humility.
[00:22:25] And if that sounds weak, if that sounds too weak for you in this world, I want you to know it's the strongest thing you can do. This is not weakness. It's easy to be a bully. It's easy to break a sense of connection with other people just to get your own way. That's the easy bit. Humility is the tough bit. Humility is what real men do. Humility is what real people with an inner strength in their hearts. That's what they do.
[00:23:00] You can muscle your way forward, and you can use your physical strength or your position or your stature to get something you want. But if you really want to grow in strength, you have to take on the mindset of Christ.
[00:23:14] And it changes our language, it changes our posture. You know, we have a world today where everyone has got a complaint about something, and I get that there's lots of things wrong in this world. There's lots of people who have let us down. There's lots of failure around. And I understand that we feel more empowered than ever to complain about those things. But I have to ask the question of whether we, as people of God, who should take on the mind of Christ, need to reflect in our conversations and our disappointments and take a bit of responsibility that God will allow us, as we take on that mindset of Christ, to come with humility and to season our conversations with grace.
[00:24:00] You see, it's not about speaking your mind. It's about speaking his mind.
[00:24:06] And that's what God is looking for in his people. That's the language of the kingdom. And then fourthly, spirit aided discipleship. See, a language teacher is not going to take over your voice box.
[00:24:20] My french teacher at school didn't say, okay, I've got this wonderful little formula I've got now, and basically, I'm going to teach you a few things and I'm going to take over your voice and I'm going to speak for you. Of course, that doesn't happen. And yet we have this understanding that when we come to Christ that he's going to change our language. No, no, no. He helps us, he teaches us, he counsels us, he coaches us. But we have to choose to change.
[00:24:50] We have to put the disciplines of learning a new language.
[00:24:56] It involves pushing past your first instinct.
[00:25:01] It gets easier as you do that more often.
[00:25:05] But the change of language doesn't just happen. It takes discipline. And that's a word that none of us like today.
[00:25:14] Oh, we love the thought of going to the gym for a week and then having a summer ready body.
[00:25:21] We love that thought. We love. We'll, you know, we'll do the slim fasts and do everything else that we can just to get a quick circumnavigate the complications, the hard work. Let's find a simple way of doing this. Oh, please, can you lay hands on me? Because I've got some breakthrough I need. Oh, I'll lay hands on you, of course I will. But you have to choose to change.
[00:25:45] Of course we will come and we will hear the word of God and we will allow someone else to disseminate the word of God and unpack it for us. And that's good. And I thank God for that in our lives. Or we'll go to a conference and we'll hear people expand about the things of the Lord. And that's wonderful. But we cannot live by other people making those calls for our life. We have to choose to change, and it takes discipline.
[00:26:14] Oh, Mark. I tried reading the Bible once and I was so hard, I got bored. Mark, how many days did you try? Well, I tried it quite a long time. Really? How many days? I tried it for, like, five days and it was just really hard. I got lost. It's not enough.
[00:26:33] You can't garden your garden for five days and then complain when the weeds grow up a year later. You've got to keep gardening your garden. You can't say, oh, do you know what? I sprung clean our house in 2022. It's messy. What's going on? What was all that about? What a waste of time that was.
[00:26:51] You can't do that. You have to keep cleaning. You have to keep gardening. You have to keep going to the gym. You have to keep eating healthy. You have to keep coming to the promises and the word of God. You have to keep sitting in the presence of God. You have to keep coming to church with the people of God.
[00:27:10] We can't change unless we do.
[00:27:14] It takes discipline.
[00:27:18] Spirit aided discipline.
[00:27:23] James three famous passage about our tongues, says this with our tongue, we give thanks to our Father in heaven. And with our tongue we speak bad words against men who are made like God.
[00:27:38] Notice there it says, against men who are made like God. You know, one of the reasons we want to give a good welcome here is not because we're trying to attract you to church. It's because we believe you are made in the image of God. It's because we believe you are fearfully and wonderfully made. And the most appropriate way to welcome you is the way we would welcome Jesus to say, we are so blessed that you are here.
[00:28:05] You know, in our conversations, you know, those people you fall out with? You know, those people who wind you up? Oh, you don't have those, do you? This is like a really spiritual group, innit? No one in this room has ever been wound up, ever, in their lives. No one has fallen out with anybody ever in this room. But just imagine. Just imagine it, that you maybe think of someone who probably live in Australia, don't they? Someone who maybe fall out with someone else. It's not this group. You know, no one in Devon ever falls out with anybody.
[00:28:33] Just imagine that you have the propensity. I know it's going to take a wild imagination that you have the propensity to fall out with someone, that person you fallen out with. Is made in the image of God.
[00:28:45] And the words you speak about them should have the reverence that they are made in the image of God.
[00:28:55] That's what should cause our interactions in the body of Christ with one another to be wholesome and well.
[00:29:03] That's why when Jesus said, people will know that you're my disciples, not because you go on barbecues together, not because you sit in wonderful pop up church experiences, not because you sing the same songs, but because we love one another, not because we stand around with our phone lights on, singing, bind us together, Lord. Not because we just do nice things together, but because our hearts are stirred, because we see the value of God in each other and we say, he she is made in the image of God, and therefore I will love them.
[00:29:37] If you have compassion for someone who's sitting on the street, who's not had the experiences that you've had in life, if your compassion is stirred or if it's not stirred, remember that whatever the circumstances of their life, they are made in the image of God. And the church is called not just to do mission, not just to be nice, not just to buy them a meal. The gospel calls us to help them discover that they are fearfully and wonderfully made, because when they discover that, it brings around transformation.
[00:30:13] With our tongue we give thanks to the Father in heaven, and with our tongue we speak bad words against men who are made like God. Giving thanks and speaking bad words come from the same mouth. My christian brothers and sisters, this is not right.
[00:30:29] Does a well of water give good water and bad water from the same place? Can a fig tree give olives or a grape, or can a grapevine give figs?
[00:30:39] A well does not give both good and bad water.
[00:30:43] And God's people should not give both heaven's language and this world's language.
[00:30:54] Fifthly, finally, God's people are called to speak a bigger reality in our language.
[00:31:03] See, there's a language of promise and hope that the people of God are meant to carry in their spirits.
[00:31:10] If you meet people who are full of hope, you want to hang around them. Unless you are so beaten up by life that you become so cynical that those people wind you up, I suggest you get some prayer and therapy for that.
[00:31:26] Because your cynicism is not healthy.
[00:31:30] It's a stumbling block. In fact, you might even need to be set free from it.
[00:31:36] God wants his people to be attracted to the hope of tomorrow, not caught in the cynicism and the disappointments of the past.
[00:31:46] And God's word brings freedom and release to people's lives and therefore the people of God. We don't speak just positive words, we speak words of faith. We paint a picture on a landscape of this world that this world has no answer for.
[00:32:03] We're seeing our politicians stumble around a little bit trying to find vote winning ideation.
[00:32:11] God's kingdom is not trying to win votes. God has a vision for his people and he has a vision for this world. And it's a glorious, restored, beautiful image.
[00:32:22] And the people of God have that captivated in their hearts and they live it, they breathe it, and they talk it.
[00:32:30] If you're not talking full of faith for the future, then your language is dominated by this world.
[00:32:39] If you are not full of the promises of God in your life, then you are speaking the language of this world.
[00:32:47] Hebrews one, verse eleven. Hebrews eleven, rather verse one, says these words now. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen. Do you have a conviction in your heart that God has good plans and purposes for our lives? Do you have a conviction that when you're walking through the valley, that God is good?
[00:33:15] Do you have a conviction that when all is failing around you, that God is a God who never fails?
[00:33:26] That's the language of the kingdom.
[00:33:29] Oh, I pray that one day when people sit around my coffin and they say nice things, as everybody says nice things at those moments, I pray that people will say, I always felt bigger when I was around him.
[00:33:49] I always felt more hope filled when I was around him. I always felt more stirred than I can do it when I was around him. I always felt like God could do anything through my life when I was around him. That's what I pray people will say about me. What are you praying that they'll say about you? Because I tell you what, I'm pretty sure it won't be.
[00:34:09] It was quite negative, you know, I know they were insecure, and therefore, when they spoke, they needed other people to feel lower, so they often spoke negatively. I hope they don't say that.
[00:34:24] I don't think anyone in this room has got a goal to make, that the conversation about their life, the legacy of their life.
[00:34:31] But I believe with all my heart that you and I were called to be people of faith, to have a language of the kingdom, a language of faith that speaks into this city and says, this city has hope.
[00:34:46] I'm not buying the negative press. I'm not buying the stories of the Daily Mail. I'm not buying the stories of any of the other tops of the newspapers. I'm buying the story of heaven, which says God has a plan for this nation. I believe an awakening is coming to this country. I believe God is stirring his people. I believe God is yet to finish through what he's doing in the church. I believe the best is yet to come for the body of Christ.
[00:35:12] It doesn't matter how many statistics I read about churches closing, congregation dwindling, I do not believe it. I believe God has spoken and he has said, I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. And I'm giving my life to that. I'm giving my life to his mind. Not my mind or not your mind, his. And when you do that, your language is faith.
[00:35:36] Faith has had a lot of bad press in the past. You know, some of that prosperity gospel, then the name it, claim it, you know, lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? You know, that sort of stuff. And if you've got a mercedes, please don't feel guilty about that.
[00:35:50] Just pick up the students on a Sunday. They love it.
[00:35:57] That's not faith.
[00:36:00] It's blessing. It's not faith.
[00:36:03] Faith is that whatever is whistling around you, whatever wind is blowing, I'm standing on the rock and I'm trusting in Jesus. And my language reflects that truth.
[00:36:18] So what language do you want to speak?
[00:36:20] What language do you think in?
[00:36:23] I think that after many years of following Jesus, I think my language is becoming more king. I think my thinking is becoming more oriented by the kingdom than it is the world.
[00:36:31] I'm not done yet.
[00:36:33] I still slip into old language. I still slip into the things of this world. But I want to be a kingdom man.
[00:36:40] I want us to be a kingdom church.
[00:36:43] I want us to be full of the glory of God and speaking the reality of that in our lives.
[00:36:51] To learn a new language. We benefit from three things we benefit from right teaching.
[00:36:57] Fill your mind with the word of God.
[00:37:01] Come on now. Whether you read chapters a day or just a verse, fill your mind with the word of God.
[00:37:08] Don't just do it because you've done your bit for the day, because that's what's expected. Fill your mind with the language of the kingdom. Good teaching.
[00:37:17] If you want to learn a new language, you need right coaching.
[00:37:22] And the spirit of God is our coach.
[00:37:25] He's the one who trains us. He's the one who infills us. He's the one who empowers us.
[00:37:31] Fill your life with the spirit of God. And if there's anything in your life that is distracting from you being filled with God. Then get rid of it.
[00:37:42] Say, Mark, it's not a sinful series I watch on tv, but it's, you know, it's just taking me away from my passion for Jesus. Get rid of it. It's not worth having. I don't care how good it is. I don't care who else is talking about it in your workplace. Just get rid of it. Mark, that's a bit radical. No, it's not. It's really simple.
[00:37:58] If you want something that much, you'll do anything to get it.
[00:38:04] And there are distractions.
[00:38:07] So fill your life with right teaching, fill your life with right coaching and fill your life with the right environment.
[00:38:13] Fill your life with kingdom culture.
[00:38:17] We have to choose the places we hang out, the people we speak with.
[00:38:24] If you're continually negative as a pastor, I'll be loving, I'll be kind, I'll be gracious, I'll challenge, I'll pray for you. But I don't want to hang out with you.
[00:38:38] Did I just say that out loud? I think I did, didn't I? Mark, what's going on?
[00:38:48] Because I don't want my language corrupted and our environments matter.
[00:39:01] They infiltrate our souls.
[00:39:06] And if you are continually hanging around people that make other people the meat on the place that they carve up, I don't want to be a part of that.
[00:39:28] Oh, Mark, it's just a little bit of tittle tattle.
[00:39:33] A little bit of tittle tattle that's of this world and not of the kingdom.
[00:39:41] I don't want that.
[00:39:43] If you want to snack away at that, then okay, it's your choice. And God will still love you, still be gracious to you, and he'll still offer you redemptive moments time and time again to come back to him.
[00:39:57] But God has got a bigger language for us.
[00:40:01] Right teaching, right coaching, right environment.
[00:40:06] And I know post Covid, lots of people struggled with the sense of church engaging back and gathering with God's people. Again, if you come to this environment and you feel worse about your walk with Jesus at the end of it, we're wrong, not you.
[00:40:25] The church is called to be a people that are the right environment.
[00:40:31] Get involved in a life group, gather together regularly.
[00:40:36] Oh, Mark, it's going to be a busy week this week. I'm going to be tired by the time I come to Friday. You want to see my diary?
[00:40:44] I'll be here because there are some things that are worth fighting through.
[00:40:51] Do you know, we've got a little bit of anecdotal formula that when the sun comes out, the attendance drops. On a Sunday.
[00:40:58] No, I get it. It happens once every three years, doesn't it? You know, I get it.
[00:41:05] But I do think we have to decide where our priorities are, because we're kingdom people.
