Crosspoint Baptist Church, Terrell

05/31/2026

05/30/2026

Before you say, “I promise,” James asks a harder question: why wasn’t your yes enough? Join us Sunday.

Crosspointbaptistterrell.org

05/26/2026

https://open.substack.com/pub/pwsimpson72/p/the-fire-in-our-mouth?r=2daogf&utm_medium=ios

Crosspointbaptistterrell.org

James 3:5-12

05/26/2026

James says the tongue is a fire.

That is not soft language.

One small spark can burn down acres of land. One careless sentence can burn down trust, damage a family, wound a friendship, or divide a church.

We often excuse gossip, slander, sarcasm, exaggeration, and angry outbursts because they feel small compared to other sins. But James does not treat them as small.

He says the tongue is “a world of unrighteousness.”

That ought to sober us.

Some words spoken to us years ago still sting. Some words we spoke years ago still haunt us. We remember the faces. We remember the silence afterward. We remember knowing, “I should not have said that.”

James 3 reminds us that words are never just words.

They reveal the heart.
They spread quickly.
They can give life or burn things down.

So the question is not merely, “What did I say?”

The deeper question is, “What kind of heart produced those words?”

https://open.substack.com/pub/pwsimpson72/p/the-fire-in-our-mouth?r=2daogf&utm_medium=ios

05/18/2026

Run for the Wall yesterday morning. Really cool meeting so many good people doing a good thing for our veterans and remembering those who lost their lives for our safety.

05/17/2026

Crosspoint will have an abbreviated service today starting at 11 am. We will be hanging with the bikes Running to the Wall at Terrell’s Brookshire’s this morning.

05/08/2026

A bit controls a horse.
A rudder controls a ship.
A spark burns a forest.

And the letter from James says your tongue works the same way.

This Sunday:
James 3:1–12

We will examine:
• Why words carry such power
• Why teachers face stricter judgment
• Why speech reveals spiritual maturity
• Why the tongue can destroy families, churches, and lives
• And why only Christ can truly transform the heart behind our words

“Words that Reveal the Heart”
Crosspointbaptistterrell.org

05/06/2026

Christs Law of Freedom

James calls God’s Word “the perfect law, the law of liberty.”

That sounds strange because we often think law and liberty fight each other. But sin is not freedom. Anger is not freedom. Lust is not freedom. Greed is not freedom. An uncontrolled tongue is not freedom. Worldliness is not freedom.

Sin promises liberty and gives us chains.

Christ frees us from that old slavery and brings us under His good rule. Under Christ, we finally become what God created us to be: worshipers of the one true God.

We do not obey God to earn salvation. We obey because Christ has saved us, redeemed us, changed us, and planted His Word in our hearts.

That is the liberty James talks about.

The freest life is not doing whatever we want. The freest life is doing what God made us for.

05/05/2026

It is possible to hear the Word of God and still not do it.

That is one of the most dangerous things James warns us about. We can sit under preaching, nod our heads, say “Amen,” and walk away unchanged. We can admire the mirror without ever washing our face.

James says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

That means sermon listening is good, but sermon listening alone is not obedience. The question is not just, “Did I hear the Word?” The question is, “Did the Word take root in me? Did I receive it with meekness? Did I put away sin? Did I actually do what God said?”

The Word that saves us also shapes us.

So do not trust sermon listening. Hear the Word. Receive the Word. Do the Word.