Some form of the word encourage appears eight times in Acts, twice as often as anywhere else. Pastor Adam builds the case on Barnabas, who vouched for Saul when the disciples were afraid of him, and argues much of the New Testament exists downstream of that.

Pastor Adam defines gossip sharply enough to remove its defences: a coercive social weapon that creates influence for whoever shares it. Ephesians 4:29 supplies a standard higher than merely being true, and James 1:26 supplies the harder line.

James says no human being can tame the tongue. Pastor Adam opens the series by asking why Scripture gives words that much weight, tracing “God said” nine times through Genesis 1 and Jesus himself being called the Word.