Introduction:
B. Is it merely a lack of
awareness of the need to be appreciative, or is it a lack of awareness of
things to be appreciative for?
C. I think the problem is deeper than all of
these!
Trans:
I want to look
this morning at, "A Beautiful Tongue is
an Appreciative
Tongue."
Prayer
I. Look at Paul's description of humankind.
A. Notice, as Paul described the sad state of
humankind,
the
first two wrongs he listed that they had
committed had
set the rest in motion.
1. They had failed to glorify God as God.
2. They had failed to be thankful toward God.
B. Paul considered being appreciative very
important; he started out a lot of his letters with words
of thanks.
II. Failure to be thankful can set other sins in motion because
it is more than
a tongue problem: it is a heart problem.
A. We don’t want to get too hung up on the list
of sins
Paul
gives as a result of God giving them up. Things
we
should note:
1. Some of the sins are cultural and what Paul
“thinks” are a result of God giving them up. The
list of sins are at most Paul’s
opinion of sin.
2. Covetousness, envy, strife, deceit,
craftiness,
gossips, haughty, boastful, rebellious to
parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, and
ruthless are all given equal condemnation with
the others sins he lists.
3. Some of these we have probably all been
guilty
of!
4. The point is not for us to point fingers and
try
to figure out who is doing what, but we are to
realize that because of their failure to
recognize God as God and to be thankful or
appreciative, God didn’t do something to them,
but God gave them up and let their sin take its
toll.
5. We don’t want God to give us up, so we should
recognize God as God and be thankful or
appreciative! That is the point of this passage!
B. Again, it is more than just a tongue problem
but also
a
heart problem! It reveals an unappreciative
attitude!
C. If we have an appreciative attitude, we won't
be able
to help but
express it.
D. On the other hand, if we have an
unappreciative
attitude, it
won't be too important to us whether or
not we thank
people or God for things they have done.
1. Oh, it's just their job!
2. They weren't doing it for me; they did it
just because they had to!
3. God didn't get me this job; I found it
myself!
4. They just teach because it gives them a sense
of authority!
III. An appreciative attitude will give us a better home life.
A. The wife of Prov. 31:10-31 is a remarkable
lady, but notice a very important part in vs. 28, "Her children arise
and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." (NIV)
B. Her family had an appreciative tongue.
1. We want to help our family
life? We want to help our family members
grow and be better? We need to show
appreciation for the things they do right!
2. We want things to get worse and them give up
on
ever being
anything worth while? Then run them
down every time
they make a mistake!
IV. An appreciative tongue will change our whole perspective on life!
A. Do we see life for the good things that are
there and express appreciation?
B. Or do we see life for the bad
things that are there and would express appreciation, but we do not see much to
be appreciative about? Then we are not
appreciative! If we were we would see a lot of things to be thankful for!
C. Illustration: (from Beauty
Care for the Tongue by LeRoy Koopman)
1. A vulture and a hummingbird fly over the same
desert.
2. The vulture will find a decaying dead body
because that is what he is looking for.
3. The hummingbird will find a beautiful flower
because that is
what he is looking for.
4. We will find what we want to find!
D. An appreciative person will and not the:
notice:
1. friendly bag-packer 1. grumpiness of the
check-out
person
2. The good yield of 2. a lot of weeds
tomatoes,
squash, etc.
3. The smile of a babies 3. the dirty diapers
first
accomplishments.
4. The good in the church 4. the bad in the Church
5. The good in a person 5. the bad in a Person
6. Good things to respond 6. Bad things to
to
online! respond to
online!
E. An appreciative tongue doesn’t feel that they
deserve
all
the good things in life, so when good things
happen,
they are appreciative!
1. They don’t feel they deserve blessings
because
they are a Christian or so good!
2. They don’t feel they deserve blessings
because
they are Americans!
3. They realize bad things are a part of life!
4. When they are blessed, they are appreciative!
V. An appreciative Tongue will not only change our perspective
on life, but
will do something about it!
A. An appreciative Tongue will speak words of
appreciation
to those who have blessed them!
B. An appreciative Tongue will look for things
to
appreciate!
It will be the outflow of a positive life!
C. An appreciative Tongue will write encouraging
words to
people
online! It will not only see the bad,
but it
will
look for the good and encourage it!
D. A heart that is filled with appreciation will
respond
with
words of appreciation!
Conclusion:
A. Do we have appreciative tongues?
B. If we haven't it is because we do not have an
appreciative
heart (attitude).
1. God expects an appreciative heart!
2. We don’t want God to give us up!
C. There is no need to try to clean up the
outside with a tongue that expresses thankfulness that we
don't mean!
D. As we encounter Christ at the table this
morning,
let's
ask God to give us an appreciative heart
(attitude).
Prayer of Confession
Service
of Communion
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