Taming the Tongue (12 sermons)

Transcripts for a series of 12 sermons:
Power of Words: Words have the power to Change Lives. You can Empower People through Words You Speak, or Cut Them Down. You can cause them to live, or to wither and die. Don't let your mouth be full of negative talk, but rather practice and make it a habit, a lifestyle of speaking words that build.
Diseases of the Tongue: When the tongue is not controlled, it has all kinds of dramatic & serious consequences in people's lives; but when the tongue is controlled, when we begin to yield our tongue and master the words we speak, & begin to learn how to speak words that are God-given words, if we get into agreement with God & begin to speak the things God is saying about our life, our circumstances, our condition, our future, then we make way for God to move in those situations.
Empty Words: Words are containers, they carry a ‘spirit’ content. They are living seeds that produce fruit when spoken. The words we speak impacts our relationships, our personal health and destiny. What words are you releasing into the world around? Empty words include: flattery; religious Words; lame excuses; insincere commitments. God speaks words that create, impart life, and release spiritual authority. We are called to imitate god.
Dealing with Put-Downs: The Tall Poppy Syndrome is the words and behaviours intended to cut people down who are achievers or excellent in their field in some kind of way. It originated as a reaction in New Zealand & Australia to the class system of England, particularly against people who thought they were more important or better than anyone else, or carried on like they were, or projected I'm better than you. It started off as a reaction against the class system; now it's evolved. Now it's a reaction usually rooted in envy against anyone who shows excellence or achievement or gets ahead in a field. It's envy. The root behind it is envy, bitterness and envy.
Dealing with Put-Downs: If you connect with Jesus Christ and begin to listen to His dreams for your life, He will want you to stand up and become a tall poppy. He wants you to be one. You're called to represent heaven. You're called to stand out and be different. You're called to stand up and bring something of God into the earth.
Hasty Words: Hasty words always have bad consequences. Words spoken out of inflamed emotions. Have you ever found afterwards you've had to say I wish I hadn't said that? When our emotions are stirred, we get angry, we get wound up on the inside, we say and do things we later regret. Anger is a strong, violent feeling. It is the seed that gives rise to murder. Be angry but do not sin. It becomes sin when we don't resolve it.
Verbal Abuse: How many know we live in a culture that really puts people down? If we don't break out of things which are spoken against us, then those negative words spoken in our life which we agree with will soon speak, and begin to set the course of our destiny.
Creative power of the Tongue: One of the biggest difficulties all marriages and families struggle with is the failure of men to actually speak words that give value, identity, purpose and encouragement to their wife and their children. Marriages languish for lack of words like plants languish for lack of water. Relationships languish for lack of words. They just wither. Use words to build relationships.
Wise Words: When God wants to change something in the natural world, He always gets someone to speak, because words are the way the power of God is released from the spirit world into the natural world. Death & life are in the power of the tongue. Your tongue has power. With our tongue we express our words, ideas, feelings, and fears. If there's bitterness/anger or doubt/limitation in your heart, you'll express it through your tongue. Change on the inside, then you'll start to see the things change on the outside. Internal shifts first.