You are listening to the Passion City Church podcast.

To learn more about Passion City Church, including our gathering times in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.,

visit us online at PassionCityChurch.com.

Today's talk comes from Pastor Louis Gaglio, on a day designated as above and beyond.

And so yes, it is a day of generosity for Passion City Church. It's the day that we give above.

What we normally give, not because we have to or we ought to, not because we have a campaign or an envelope came in the mail,

not because there's a thermometer in the oval or in the atrium at North Atlanta High School or the lobby at the Howard Theatre.

We're giving above what we normally give because we can and because we want to, because we are free people,

and we are able to do more than the bare minimum as we reflect what God has done for us.

So we're giving today above what we normally give so that as a house we can go beyond where we normally go.

And so we always celebrate before we give. We always want to tell the story of what we're giving to.

And it's certainly not buildings or theaters or home depot expo design centers.

We're not about building buildings. We are about reaching people and preparing a place, making a place for people to experience what we have experienced in Jesus Christ.

And we're also speaking. And so every above and beyond Sunday we speak out.

We're not just hoping that something will happen in the city or cities. We're not just dreaming that maybe God one day could do something else.

We are actually speaking out what we know is in God's heart to do. Proverbs 18, 20 says that the power of life and death are in the tongue.

To put that more specifically, the power of life and death is in your tongue and in my tongue today.

In other words, I can kill a relationship by the power of my tongue. I can kill a dream by the power of my tongue.

I can kill the possibility of peace by the power of my tongue. Or I can open my mouth led by the Spirit of God and rooted in the Word of God and I can speak truth.

And I can speak peace and I can speak justice and I can speak kindness and I can speak life. I can speak life into a friend. I can speak life into a relationship.

I can speak life into something that's been buried long ago. I can speak life into a tomb sealed up for three days. I can speak dreams for my future.

The power of life and death is in the tongue. And we know the scripture also says that it's out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.

...