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This is The Oaks Equipped, a podcast from The Oaks Church in Liberty Hill, TX where Pastor Josh Mings talks through the stuff he didn’t have time to say on Sunday, answers the questions people are actually asking, and keeps things way more real than polished. Expect biblical truth, practical takeaways, and just enough humor to keep you guessing whether he meant it.
If you want to follow Jesus with clarity (and laugh at least once), you’re in the right place.
Welcome to The Oaks Equipped, a podcast designed to help you grow deeper in your faith. Each week we unpack sermon insights, explore what didn't fit on Sunday, and answer real questions, even the skeptical ones. Let's get equipped.
Speaker 2:Welcome back to the Oaks Equipping podcast. Josh, happy New Year.
Speaker 3:Happy New Year.
Speaker 2:So this this week's sermon was very timely because it really tied into what we do this time of year. New Year resolutions. We're trying to do things bigger, better.
Speaker 3:Always. You
Speaker 2:know? Lose weight, eat better.
Speaker 3:New year, new me.
Speaker 2:Save my save my money through my budget. But we introduced a a new house rule, which really ties into the big picture here, which was we use our words for building, a construction term
Speaker 3:that you
Speaker 2:referred to.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the Paul, Paul the apostle continues through the book of Ephesians to lead us into building off of the great grace that we've received and and really give us as a young church a picture of how to build something that's healthy and sustainable and it's gospel driven. And so just to recap those, the first one is the first house rule is we fight for unity. Second house rule is we all do our part. We contribute.
Speaker 3:Number three is that we all wear the right clothes. We put off the old and put on the new. The next, we love the truth. We love God's truth. And really, that that house rule flows into this week's house rule, which is we use our words for building.
Speaker 3:We love the truth, so we speak that truth in order to build. And that's the big idea.
Speaker 2:Yeah. We're building, and we don't necessarily have to start with demolition. No. No. We're not rebuilding.
Speaker 2:We're building.
Speaker 3:That's right.
Speaker 2:So fundamentally, what we're looking at here, and I think your big idea was the gospel not only changes who we are, but also transform how we speak, how we respond to others, and how we handle conflict and forgiveness. Fundamentally, this passage is teaching us that the gospel changes us. The Holy Spirit will enable us. Yeah. But it's not it's not just pulling pulling up our socks or setting down, you know, new resolutions that we're gonna fight like heck to to try to do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But we're allowing the words of God, prayer, and the holy spirit to transform us to be able to build up, to do some of the things that you're talking about are edifying.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So he's following the same logic of the big idea of this section of the book is walk worthy, take off, and put on. And so he's identifying the most practical and tangible things, and speech is one of those. There's things that are said in the affirmative and there's things that are said in the negative. The way that we look at that is the negative we take off and the affirmative we put on.
Speaker 3:And so he starts with like, hey, there's a type of speech that's corrupting. We need to take that off. We need to put that away. We reject it. And what's interesting is the language that Paul uses in corrupting is like a rotten the effect of the speech.
Speaker 3:So the speech may be presented beautifully, but its effect creates produces rotten. So, like, he he's talking about rotting and decaying or spoiled like bad fruit or food, and he's saying that there's a type of speech that its outcome leads to rottenness. And I don't have to say much more than anything. We have all felt that, experienced that. Things have been said to us, done to us, where that's the effect.
Speaker 3:And so we know this to be true. Yeah. You talk about things like gossip and slander. All of us know exactly what that feels like. And what the command here is is Paul is saying, hey, reject corrupting speech.
Speaker 3:Like, don't have any part of it. Don't don't let it come out of your mouth and don't tolerate it. And first, get control of your own speech. Like, that's and that's, like, the hardest thing. So it's one thing to be able to articulate the gospel or to say, yes.
Speaker 3:My life has been changed, or, yeah, I'm a follower of Jesus. But if I mean, any listener would recognize this and agree, one of the hardest things we do in our life is learn how to bridle our own speech.
Speaker 2:Oh, amen. I I can't my brother and I talk often, and he'll say something like, I remember two years ago, you said this
Speaker 4:and that, and I'm like, I don't remember that.
Speaker 2:Was it a good thing or a bad thing? He's always good, but sometimes we say stuff and we don't even know it. And like you said, I think all of us can go back. I can go back to sixth grade and remember exactly what my dad said about sausage and such, and it still sticks with me.
Speaker 3:A 100%. Yeah. And it just proves the point, I think, that Paul is trying to make, because we all have those negative experiences. And and truth is, to your point, you just scratch the surface, and those emotions or feelings are right there. Even though it was an event from middle school, high school, whatever the case was, They could have been decades ago, but the tone and tenor and emotion and feeling and rawness is right there.
Speaker 2:Yeah. And it can affect the temperature, like, even when we get together in small group or in church. Absolutely. Get what do you call them grumpsters?
Speaker 3:Oh, grumpapotamuses.
Speaker 2:Grumpapotamuses. You just start down that road and then next thing you know, you're figuring out some other ways to contribute to that speech. And the temperature of room just changes. It's no longer encouraging. You just you just realize it.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, look at our culture. I mean, you just go to any news feed or social media. The temperature and and the destructive power of everyone just sharing their opinion or adding their 2¢ or posting in the comments. It it is divisive and destructive. And so the reason it makes the list as a house rule, think in Paul's mind for the young church in Ephesus and now for us today is because the Holy Spirit knows that this instruction is so critical in order for a faith community to function in a proper and healthy and godly way.
Speaker 3:Let no corruptive talk come out of your mouth. He doesn't say limit the corrupt talk. He doesn't say manage it. He's instructing us that zero corrupt talk should come.
Speaker 2:Right. Even when we think it's constructive, it could be destructive.
Speaker 3:A 100%.
Speaker 2:But he does talk about building. He says, instead, build up one another. Right? Build up
Speaker 3:Correct.
Speaker 2:Is important. And encouragement is always welcome.
Speaker 3:A 100%. So this is important nuance. Like, sometimes we just hear the negative. Okay. Don't do.
Speaker 3:Stop this. On and on and on. Paul replaces this behavior. Because I I think the and I made the mention of this Sunday. The easy thing for people to do is just say, okay.
Speaker 3:Well, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep my mouth shut. I'm gonna step back. Don't wanna hurt or offend anybody. I know what I'm capable of doing. If I talk too much, don't wanna do that, so let me be quiet.
Speaker 3:But what I love is that Paul continues, and he's he doesn't place a prohibition on speech. He redirects speech with purpose. So he doesn't say stop talking. He's saying talk differently. And I think what's clear to me is that he uses his his words intentionally.
Speaker 3:Words are tools. They shape people and communities. He's using construction language to say, use your words not in a corruptive, decaying way. Use your words in a way that builds and brings life Just as much as you and I can recount the toxic or hurtful or painful destructive things that have been said to us, we can also point to a word of encouragement from a teacher or a coach or a parent or a grandparent, a pastor, someone who spoke in such a way that was encouraging and life giving and how powerful that was. And so at the end of the day, the instruction for the church is stop this, but use your words now to build.
Speaker 3:Put on a tool tool, pick up your toolbox, get a hammer out, and start shaping and molding with your words in a proactive and healthy way.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Spur each other on for love and good deeds, right? And what manifests, you know, outcomes happen as a result of that. We're no longer just we're building one another up into, you know, great things that can that can happen, and a community that loves one another and it's evident to others as one a
Speaker 3:100%. And our church is full of wisdom, seasoned leaders, and my encouragement to you is there's there's always there's never a shortage of critics in the world. But but the thing that that has always struck me about critics is they'll, you know, they'll come in and they'll make comments about this or that or say this should be done or that should be done. But what I've learned is that criticism without contribution is demolition disguised as discernment. And so when you have a person who has wisdom and something to offer, you know, it's one thing to criticize, but if you have something that you're gonna criticize about, bring a solution.
Speaker 3:Yep. Bring bring an opportunity for improvement. Sign yourself up. And I can say this. There's no sub context.
Speaker 3:There's no we don't have this issue as a a problem at the church. So I'm not speaking about someone specifically as I as I talk about that. This is human nature.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 3:There's always critics, and we don't wanna be that way. The bible doesn't call us to be critics. The bible calls us to be contributors. And one of the ways that we contribute is that we we build by by speaking in in ways that bring life, redemption, encouragement. We speak in ways that build up people in the truth of the gospel, in the truth and the reality of God's word.
Speaker 3:And that makes an eternal that's the power of God's word. That truth spoken can change a person's life.
Speaker 2:Yeah. It can make a huge difference. Alright? And though and a lot of times when you're trying to influence a situation or a decision or maybe like you're saying an idea of something, if you do it in an encouraging way, you do it on a consistent basis, you're more apt to listen.
Speaker 3:Oh, a 100%. Yeah. And and there's a the the next instruction that he gives, and I think you'll love this, He's he tells us to speak with discernment. And this is the hardest thing, I think, nowadays. He says, speaks for what fits the occasion.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. Sometimes truth needs to be spoken, but it doesn't need to be spoken at that moment. And the best example, Jesus is the master at this. The best example I could think of to prove this is when Jesus meets the woman at the well, and you know the story well, but, I mean, here's a lady who needed truth.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Multiple she's an adulterous woman. Yeah. She's been married multiple, multiple, multiple times. A broken, trauma laden woman. And if you follow the trends on TikTok or Instagram about the way that people claim that the church should be, you would think that Jesus messed up here, that he should have rolled up and proclaimed the truth.
Speaker 3:Yes. Boldly to her and called her all the things that she was. But is that what Jesus did? No. No.
Speaker 3:He spoke in a way that that fit the occasion, and he led her to truth as opposed to beating her with truth. And I think that that's the nuance today. Know, you and I as brothers, like we're committed to the truth. We love the truth. We want to fight for the truth and we want to help people understand the truth.
Speaker 3:But truth is not a weapon. It's not a club that we beat people with. Truth is a person that we're trying to lead them to. Truth is Christ. Christ is the truth.
Speaker 3:And so his example of the woman at the well, he could have led with he could have led with, oh, man. You're you're married, and your husband you know, you've got 15 husbands and blah blah blah. Like, he could have led with all that, but what does he do? He starts with a relationship.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 3:Hey. Give me a glass of water. And then he uses that to lead her. And I just think we need to get really you're really good at this. We need to get really good at just asking questions and having conversations and seeing the opportunities that we can weave the truth in and lead them to.
Speaker 3:That's so that's how we're building. We're building by saying the truth, but we're leading them to the truth, not beating them with it.
Speaker 2:What's great about that example in John four is that the woman is encouraged. She hears the truth. She recognizes who Jesus is, but then she goes into the town and starts impacting and influencing the people she knows that the disciples had just met or at least probably came in contact with. Yes. And then she returns with other people, and Jesus says, the harvest is is is rich.
Speaker 3:Right? So I think you would agree then that Jesus used his words to build. Yep. And then the outcome as he built that truth in her life More faith. It changed her and it changed those around her, and was it the benefit?
Speaker 3:If I'm if memory serves me right, I mean, this was the a Samaritan village that was the first to receive Christ when the Jewish people didn't. Yeah. I mean, it was a significant miracle where so many people came to faith in Christ who are outsiders Yeah. All because Jesus led a woman to truth and built, and it changed her life forever.
Speaker 2:Yeah. For sure. So let's just kinda take it maybe from to more of a practical level if I would. I wanna put this in place. It's a new year.
Speaker 2:I hear what you're saying. I wanna put bitterness aside and not be angry. I wanna be able to be positive, to build up other people. What are some ways that I should go about doing that on regular basis? Because I'm sure that after the first week, everybody's like, okay, I blew that.
Speaker 2:Let me come back. But I know you you wanna you gotta talk about being in the word and and and such.
Speaker 3:This is not how do we make good boys and good girls. Good little boys, good little boys talk right, do the right thing. That's not what this is. This isn't niceness, as its core value. I'll use big words first, and then we'll break it down.
Speaker 3:As a follower of Jesus, we are the prophetic voice to a dark world. And what that means, prophetic voice just simply means proclaimers of the truth. We need to fill our mind and our hearts with God's word so that his truth can come from our mouths. So we have a culture that is hostile to God. We've learned this, Ephesians one, on repeat.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Like, it's it's a broken, fallen universe. The word of God is the antidote to that. And so in order to be able to speak in a way that builds, we have to have the vocabulary that is shaped and formed by God's word. So the only way you can speak to these matters, the only way you can speak and build your your wife or your husband up or your kids up or your lost loved ones, what whatever the case is, is to be full of God's word.
Speaker 3:And that means daily the rhythm of reading, studying, memorizing, meditating on, being saturated in God's word. So this isn't just be nice. This isn't just say, have a good day. Hey. Thinking about you.
Speaker 3:Like, those things are nice sentimentality. Sure. And that's decent human being
Speaker 2:And the world does
Speaker 3:that well. Yes. Yes. And don't hear me wrong. Those are good, wonderful things.
Speaker 3:But there's a difference between, hey. How you doing? And and then being able to speak to a person. I I I received some bad news this week from a from a friend, and we're talking through it, and and they're hurting. And I just I just came to my mind as soon as possible, and I I said, Psalms 23, surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Speaker 2:Like,
Speaker 3:here's a person who's hurting. They receive bad news, and I can be like, hey, man. Praying for you. Be encouraged. Love you.
Speaker 3:And that means a lot. That's good sentimentality. That's good kindness. But to be able to build in that moment the promises of God's word, that he's with him. Yeah.
Speaker 3:That even though I walk through the valley of shadow of death, will not fear evil. If you're a rod and their staff, they comfort me. Like, truth builds up. And you can only do that by being saturated in God's word. And so to all our listeners out there, this is why as we move into February, we'll begin to really drill down on this.
Speaker 3:Like, your personal walk with the Lord matters, and your ability to self feed in God's word is going to resource not only your personal relationship with Jesus, but it's gonna help you be able to build up like Paul is commanding us to in this passage.
Speaker 2:Yep. And just kind of like you said, we're not trying to build good boys and girls.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:But you're really, I think your memorable line from this sermon was we don't speak graciously become new. We speak graciously because we already are new. Yeah. We're talking about a heart that's been changed, and it's putting on the new self. Like you said, we wear the same clothes.
Speaker 2:Maybe speaking the truth, reading through the Psalms is a great way to just continue to encourage yourself. Memorizing scripture like you just did, it's a fantastic way to encourage one another.
Speaker 3:Absolutely. And I think that's Paul's big point. Everything is from. We're like we're like downstream from Christ. Like, Christ is the source, the river, and his grace and goodness doesn't just flow in us and stop there.
Speaker 3:It's meant to flow out of us to others so that everyone can be connected upstream to Christ. And it's the greatest honor in the world that God would use us in that way to be a blessing to others.
Speaker 2:And follow us all of our days.
Speaker 3:Yes. Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Well, let's transition quickly. We're gonna close here in just a moment. We have some really good news about the birthday gift for Jesus. We set a goal, I think, of matching the $25,000 originally. Yeah.
Speaker 2:And I think at Christmas Eve service, you mentioned, we might have been already ahead of that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So we we like you said, we set a goal. We put $25,000 aside just because the faithfulness and goodness of everyone giving. And they were like, hey. We wanna raise another 25,000.
Speaker 3:So $50,000 total to go to five missionary partners, $10,000 to end their year so that they would be stocked, ready to roll, hit the ground running January 1. Christmas Eve, we were I believe, if I remember right, I think we're about $5,000 off. We're about $45,000 Yeah. Then the January when we met together, I reported that we raised $55,932.50, which is which is just a miracle. But now I'm pleased to report that an additional $5,000 has come in, and so we are at $60,932.50.
Speaker 3:And so thank you so much for catching a vision for what's the most important. What's most important is that darkness is pushed back, that the gospel is proclaimed, and these five missionary partnerships are critical. They're in some of the hardest to reach places in the entire world. And so it's not just about the money. We wanna resource them so that they can continue to recruit, equip, and develop leaders and pastors in those regions so that effective ministry so house rules can be made in those churches and that the church there can thrive.
Speaker 3:And so from the bottom of my heart, thank you. This was a significant win for a three month old church that we're able to do this, use our strength in a meaningful way. And so I'm proud of you. I'm so grateful and can't wait till next year to see what we can do by God's grace.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Fantastic. Thanks for the good news, Josh, thank you for the sermon.
Speaker 4:For listening to The Oaks Equipped. If you want to learn more about following Jesus or get connected here at The Oaks Church, we'd love to hear from you. You can visit us online at exploretheoaks.org or email us anytime at helloexploretheoaks dot org. Stay rooted and stay encouraged. Until next time.