Sermon Tone Analysis

Opening Story

Have you ever watched the news and just felt great after?

Probably not.

When we watch the news we typically say how bad the world is and that somebody needs to do something.

You are absolutely right.

That somebody is you and I.

I believe we are in the position we are in because the church has sat there pointing out the problems and saying, “Somebody needs to do something.”

Question

What are we going to do about it?

I believe God’s Word is very clear that we are to do that “something.”

Text

James 1:19-

James gives us a wonderful step by step process in these few verses.

James 1:19

James starts off the instructions by saying “Everyone.”

Not “Hey Lay people.”

or “Hey leaders.”

James says, “Everyone.”

Now I’m not the smartest person in the room but I know that “everyone” means you and me.

quick to listen & slow to speak

This tandem goes together perfectly.

In a book I read years ago called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

One of the habits was to seek first to understand and then to be understood.

That is exactly what this portion of scripture is teaching us.

We must listen 1st.

What I often do is only half listen.

What I mean by that is I’m only listening enough to stay with you but really in my head I’m only thinking about what I’m going to say or how I’m going to respond.

That is exactly the opposite of what God’s Word is instructing us to do.

quick to listen -

I bet we would be amazed at how much more effective we would be in our witnessing if we stopped talking and began to listen.

The most effective means of ministry, for example, is responding to need, not dumping our load.

slow to speak -

In our world today we demand to be heard.

We are very quick to judge our leaders and post it on social media how they are wrong and how we know it all.

I believe this also applies to our time in prayer.

We do way to much talking and not enough listening when it comes to our time with the Lord.

Proverbs 1

Please understand James is not instructing us not to speak, he is just emphasizing that we must listen first and once we understand then we speak.

Slow to anger -

If we take the first two steps seriously it would greatly cut down on the anger situations.

We should not just be slow to speak but slow to get angry.

When we are quick to get angry because we are not getting our way that does not produce righteousness in our lives.

So how can we do this?

James 1:

James is saying to us, as you are slow to anger and to speak, carry that out in your daily living by laying aside all filthiness (rhuparı́a: dirtiness as contrasted to cleanliness) and the overflow of wickedness (kakı́a: evil or naughtiness).

In short, our words and outbursts of anger reveal the true person within us.

As we become more and more possessed by the Holy Spirit, we will increasingly enjoy not the overflow of filth, but rather the fruit of the Spirit of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal.

5:22–23).

We just learned that listening is vital in our lives.

But if we don’t live out what we have learned we become stagnant like the Dead Sea.

A lake can have the most beautiful spring water in the world flowing into it, but unless there is an outlet for that water it will become stale and stagnant.

I believe this is many of us even in our churches today.

We show and ask “Ok, what are you going to do for me today?”

We have a consumer mentality.

We must give, we must do!

When it comes to surrendering our lives to Christ, the more we give, the more He gives to us.