Announcements
1.
Maci Hope Murphy will be baptized Sunday and we
will have a luncheon following morning worship. Please bring a side dish or a
dessert to share.
2.
As of this weekend Jim and Laurie will be
residents of Cleo for the next 4 months while the manse is remodeled. If you
need us please call our cell phones the manse number will be on vacation hold.
Jim 325-215-9017 and Laurie 830-459-7950
Scripture
James 3:1-12 (ESV)
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know
that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. [2] For we all
stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a
perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body. [3] If we put bits into the
mouths of horses so that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. [4]
Look at the ships also: though they are so large and are driven by strong
winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot
directs. [5] So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great
things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! [6] And the
tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our
members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life,
and set on fire by hell. [7] For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and
sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, [8] but no human
being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. [9]
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made
in the likeness of God. [10] From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My
brothers, these things ought not to be so. [11] Does a spring pour forth from
the same opening both fresh and salt water? [12] Can a fig tree, my brothers,
bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh
water.
Questions for Reflection
1.
If you could hear a tape recording of everything
you said last week, what would you want to edit out?2. How can a person be hurt by the words of others?
3. If a person were never at fault in what he or she said, what would that show about the person? (3:2)
4. What is significant about the way we talk? (3:2)
5. What similarity does a person’s tongue have to a horse’s bit, a ship’s rudder, and a spark of fire? (3:5)
6. What are the ways we sin with our speech?
7. Why are sins of speech often overlooked as not serious?
8. What weaknesses in our lives does our speech often expose?
9. In what times or places can your tongue be used for good?
10. How can you change your daily speech to reflect its importance in your life?
