harnessing the power of words

Words matter. How we speak TO people...matters. How we speak ABOUT people matters. We have the choice to speak life into peoples' lives or suck the life out them. Choose wisely, because your words matter to God.

You Don't Say [Part 1]

Pastor Chris Voigt

August 7, 2022

This week we’re beginning a brand-new series called Harnessing the Power of Words. Over the next five weeks, we will be looking at what The Bible has to say about our words and how we use them. I invite you to join us as we journey together to a deeper understanding of how to use our words to bless and encourage others, rather than to discourage or destroy them.

The writer of Proverbs 18 said that, “Life and death are in the power of the tongue...” If that is true, don’t you think we should know how to better use it? I hope you’ll join us this Sunday!

Careless Words [Part 2]

Pastor Chris Voigt

August 14, 2022

Most of us just don’t think that much about what comes out of our mouths. We throw words around, speaking without really thinking. And sometimes it gets us in trouble.

This week in our series, Harnessing the Power of Words, we’ll be considering what the Bible has to say about careless words. Sometimes, our words are careless because we let words fly out of our mouths before we really give them much thought. Other times, we let them fly when we could really care less how they impact the person we’re talking to or about.

God’s Word has a lot to say about how we wield our words. Just like every resource God has given us, we are responsible to use words wisely. I hope you’ll join us this Sunday as we learn how to do this together!

Close the Gap [Part 3]

Pastor Chris Voigt

August 21, 2022

Much like the landscapes of our world, our relationships can be scarred by obstacles that create gaps in communication and understanding between people. Which can turn into distance or even disconnection from people we love. If the gaps are small, we might be able to bridge over them easily. But if the span between people has grown and the distance is significant, bridging the gap will require effort. But as the bridge photos reveal, even monumental gaps can be successfully bridged, with the right tools, skills, and time.

Join us as we look at what God’s Word has to say about navigating the gaps in our relationships and how we can learn to communicate in ways that will help us close the gaps.

Can We Talk? [Part 4]

Pastor Chris Voigt

August 28, 2022

Three times, in John 17, Jesus prays for unity among His disciples; and not just the small group who are gathered around Him in that moment, but He asks for unity among “those who will believe in me through their message.” That includes you and me!

Unity was what mattered most to Jesus. Unity was what would spread His message to the world. If unity was such a big deal to Jesus, don’t you think we should do whatever is necessary to cultivate and protect it? In order to do that, we must love each other the way Jesus loves us, in the ways we treat one another and how we speak to one another. And it means that when unity is threatened…we must courageously wade into hard conversations to restore peace.

We are in week 4 of our series, Harnessing the Power of Words. We’ve covered a lot of ground already, but as we come to this week, we’re going to unpack what it looks like to have hard conversation with a higher purpose…or, as I like to call them, redemptive conversations. We’ll look at how to navigate those conversations in a healthy way and why doing so is so important.

Our words matter. Let’s learn to use them in ways that reveal the heart of Jesus to our world!

Final Words [Part 5]

Pastor Chris Voigt

September 4, 2022

I’m Chris Voigt, Lead Pastor at Dayspring Fellowship in Keizer, Oregon. We’re wrapping up our series, Harnessing the Power of Words, this Sunday. While I have no reason to believe this would be my final message, I do have the ‘luxury’ of knowing it IS the end of this series! I would venture to say that our words are one of the most powerful resources God has given us. I hope you’ll join us as we consider some final thoughts about how we can use our words to build up, encourage, bless, and bring life to the people around us.

I hope you’ll join us as together, we grow to be more like Jesus; harnessing the power of words and speaking hope and life into our world.