This year’s Fall Festival was a great success!  With Ian Jenkins leading the pack in the 5 K walk/run we had over 70 racers attend this year’s event.  Most of the proceeds went to the “Covering House.”  The Covering House is a ministry that helps women and children caught in some of life’s worst circumstances.  You all made a difference this weekend.  A special thanks to the Upward program for making the race possible by setting up the course, and the Safety Team for helping with direction, ambulance resources, and a safe environment. 

Following the race many of our ministries helped in the Fall Festival.  The College and Career ministry helped with the 4 man joust.  Solid Rock preschool ministry got us bouncing in the preschool bounce room.  Children’s Sunday school helped knock it out of the park with the T-ball blast.  WAM for children really went all out with the football toss.  We also had Children’s Church and Missions help with the face paint lines.  One Sunday school class passed out candy all day while another asked to pray with those who had a need.  In all we had over 60 volunteers helping with one of the booths. 

You can’t get much better than the five, yes five, food trucks that came to serve food.  The one group that had a station from 7:30am until 2:00pm was the drink booth posted by the Deacons of the church.  Great job for keeping everyone hydrated. 

In all we had 188 families registered, and over 250 children with candy cards.  Many of the families won great prizes provided to us by local restaurants and stores.  A special thanks to the prayer ministry, for your work in getting these great prizes.  We also had a great time working with Joy FM in their time with us, and Elite Event Services for the entertainment. 

God provided the perfect weather for our event as well.  There were so many who made this day a special time of fun and fellowship and I am sure I have missed some but, thank you!

In our society today, we are constantly reminded that we need to make sure we are being politically correct whenever we speak. In theory, that sounds very reasonable; however, when you take God out of things even the most innocent statement can be regarded as a politically incorrect statement.

As Christians we should always be aware of every word that comes out of our mouths—not because we are concerned about being politically correct, but because we want all our words to be pleasing to God and bring Him glory and honor. In fact, our words are so important to God that He addresses this issue over and over again throughout the Old and New Testaments.

Proverbs 12:18 – “The words of the reckless (thoughtless) pierce like swords but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

Proverbs 18:21 – “The tongue has the power of life and death…”

Proverbs 12:25 – “Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.”

Proverbs 10:11 – “The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life.”

I would go out on a limb here and say that God is being very specific in letting us know our words can have the ability to be either powerfully destructive or they can bring new life and hope to those who are lost and hurting.

Now I know that we have all said hurtful things to others—words that once they left our lips, we wished we could pull back in our mouths.  We have also had hurtful things said to us.  How do we keep a guard on our lips so that those times are very few and far between?  God has also given us some clear instructions in His Word about how to accomplish that.

Proverbs 15:28 – “A good man thinks before he speaks; the evil man pours out his hurtful Words.”

We should ALWAYS take a moment in EVERY situation to pray and ask God to give us words that will be pleasing to Him—words that will draw others to Him, not push them away. We need to never let our pride or emotions take control of our words.  When we do, harsh and hurtful words will come spilling from our lips as we try to prove we are right or defend ourselves. Oh, that I would have learned that lesson early in our marriage when in the middle of a “discussion,” the words that would fly out of my mouth were anything but pleasing to God and were hurtful to my husband.  Then too late, I would feel so ashamed about how I had spoken to my husband—the man I love more than anything on this earth.  But, our God in His mercy and patience has never given up on me and continues to teach me every day how important my words are.

In order for us to have words that are controlled by God, WE MUST HAVE LIVES THAT ARE CONTROLLED BY GOD.  Let’s look at a couple more scriptures that teach us how to give God control of our lives and words. First and foremost, we must make sure what we put into our minds will always align our thoughts/words with God’s standards and not those of society.

Philippians 4:8-9 – “Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is TRUE (lines up with God’s truth), whatever is NOBLE (honorable), whatever is RIGHT (not in the worlds eyes, but right according to God’s Word), whatever is PURE (free of contamination – worldly views, sin), whatever is LOVELY (innocent, humble, pure), whatever is ADMIRABLE (deserving respect, high esteem), if anything is EXCELLENT or PRAISEWORTHY (having worth, merit or value in God’s eyes) – think about such things.  Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me – put into practice.  And the God of peace will be with you.”

Second, we must make sure our words always allow others see Jesus in us—even when hurtful things have been said to us. Use Jesus as our example—He endured more hurtful words than you or I will ever have to hear and yet He responded with love, grace, mercy and forgiveness.

Colossians 3: 12-14, 17 – “Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  17- And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

I Thessalonians 5:11 – “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up just as you are doing.”

Wouldn’t it be an awesome testimony to our God if the way others spoke was motivated by the way they heard Christians speaking to others? 

God—let it begin with me.  May this be my daily prayer: “Let the words of my mouth (EVERYTHING I SAY) and the meditation of my heart (EVERYTHING I THINK) be pleasing in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer” Psalms 19:14.