1 00:00:00,050 --> 00:00:00,051 Dr. Gregg Marutzky: 2 00:00:00,051 --> 00:00:04,370 The sermon this morning is about goodness Amen. 3 00:00:04,469 --> 00:00:08,810 You know, uh, preachers are always wanting people to be their best 4 00:00:08,810 --> 00:00:12,310 self, to be good, not to be bad. 5 00:00:12,890 --> 00:00:17,570 And, uh, so one preacher, he was bold one Sunday, and he had seen 6 00:00:17,570 --> 00:00:21,609 a guy at church that hardly ever came, and he decided, "You know, 7 00:00:21,609 --> 00:00:23,389 it's time for me to say something. 8 00:00:23,390 --> 00:00:24,569 I've been holding back. 9 00:00:24,569 --> 00:00:28,720 I, I probably won't see this guy for another several months, 10 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:30,279 so I just gotta say something." 11 00:00:30,290 --> 00:00:33,510 And he, he, he, he went up to him after church, and he said, "You 12 00:00:33,510 --> 00:00:38,510 know, I really want you to be a strong soldier in the army of God. 13 00:00:38,510 --> 00:00:40,380 I want you to be in the army of God. 14 00:00:40,429 --> 00:00:43,169 I've been praying for you to be in the army of God." 15 00:00:43,189 --> 00:00:46,010 And the man looked around for a minute. 16 00:00:46,799 --> 00:00:48,029 He says, "Keep it down. 17 00:00:48,899 --> 00:00:50,259 I'm in the Secret Service." 18 00:00:54,096 --> 00:00:56,596 Some of you thought that was cute, some of you didn't. 19 00:00:59,286 --> 00:01:00,556 Life on the vine. 20 00:01:00,746 --> 00:01:01,356 Goodness. 21 00:01:02,466 --> 00:01:03,376 Goodness. 22 00:01:04,355 --> 00:01:07,916 Don't you wanna be known as a good person whenever you pass? 23 00:01:09,135 --> 00:01:11,135 Don't you wanna have that reputation? 24 00:01:11,795 --> 00:01:17,045 Don't you wanna go from wherever you're at, wherever you start, 25 00:01:17,506 --> 00:01:20,745 to having a good reputation? 26 00:01:21,475 --> 00:01:24,466 I, I, I think I'm gonna need a little help this morning. 27 00:01:25,375 --> 00:01:29,146 Uh, Satan's alive and well in our technology. 28 00:01:30,055 --> 00:01:33,125 And, uh, so next slide please. 29 00:01:33,845 --> 00:01:37,256 And if you haven't gotten this book, go ahead and, uh, get it 30 00:01:39,708 --> 00:01:41,108 Next slide, please. 31 00:01:42,717 --> 00:01:43,657 Satan's back there, too. 32 00:01:43,668 --> 00:01:45,888 It's up here, and he's back there. 33 00:01:46,448 --> 00:01:47,378 Let's drive him out. 34 00:01:47,388 --> 00:01:48,088 There he is. 35 00:01:48,488 --> 00:01:49,037 All right. 36 00:01:49,268 --> 00:01:50,217 And next slide. 37 00:01:50,618 --> 00:01:54,597 Let's try to memorize this together as we're going through this, this series. 38 00:01:54,648 --> 00:02:01,767 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, 39 00:02:02,128 --> 00:02:05,668 goodness, gentleness, self-control. 40 00:02:05,708 --> 00:02:06,428 Amen? 41 00:02:06,428 --> 00:02:07,378 Amen. 42 00:02:07,378 --> 00:02:12,037 And let, let, let's, uh, let's get those on our mind, on our hearts, and 43 00:02:12,038 --> 00:02:14,727 let's constantly be thinking about them. 44 00:02:15,027 --> 00:02:17,307 Today, we're talking about goodness. 45 00:02:17,387 --> 00:02:22,418 The opposite of that, you could say, is badness, but let's, uh, uh, put 46 00:02:22,418 --> 00:02:23,988 it in a little different context. 47 00:02:23,988 --> 00:02:26,347 It could be selfishness. 48 00:02:26,428 --> 00:02:31,218 As you hear the definition this morning, you're gonna see why I'm making the 49 00:02:31,237 --> 00:02:37,797 contrast selfishness because of the, the biblical definition of goodness. 50 00:02:38,227 --> 00:02:42,207 Here's my simple definition of goodness, all right? 51 00:02:43,018 --> 00:02:44,268 Goodness is… 52 00:02:45,156 --> 00:02:45,548 All right. 53 00:02:45,738 --> 00:02:47,268 Yep, Satan's back there. 54 00:02:48,598 --> 00:02:55,827 Goodness is the natural inward transformation produced by the Holy 55 00:02:55,827 --> 00:02:59,807 Spirit as you grow closer to God. 56 00:03:00,997 --> 00:03:02,078 Let me say that again. 57 00:03:02,558 --> 00:03:03,078 There we go. 58 00:03:03,078 --> 00:03:04,117 We've got it on the board. 59 00:03:04,997 --> 00:03:06,788 Goodness is natural. 60 00:03:06,797 --> 00:03:06,837 Amen. 61 00:03:07,607 --> 00:03:08,597 It's inward. 62 00:03:09,367 --> 00:03:13,257 It has to come from somewhere supernatural, from 63 00:03:13,257 --> 00:03:15,087 without, not from within. 64 00:03:15,837 --> 00:03:17,188 Produced by what? 65 00:03:18,287 --> 00:03:19,258 The Holy Spirit. 66 00:03:19,258 --> 00:03:19,288 The Holy Spirit. 67 00:03:19,288 --> 00:03:20,858 It's a byproduct, guys. 68 00:03:20,867 --> 00:03:22,827 You can't manufacture it in your life. 69 00:03:22,887 --> 00:03:25,488 You can't just decide, "I'm gonna be good." 70 00:03:25,847 --> 00:03:27,327 You need help to be good. 71 00:03:27,337 --> 00:03:27,517 That's right. 72 00:03:27,517 --> 00:03:28,407 That's right. 73 00:03:28,407 --> 00:03:29,027 All right? 74 00:03:29,777 --> 00:03:32,947 And the way that you become good, listen to this, this is very 75 00:03:32,948 --> 00:03:37,827 important, by getting closer to God. 76 00:03:37,847 --> 00:03:37,887 Amen. 77 00:03:39,018 --> 00:03:42,337 You become good by getting closer to good. 78 00:03:43,897 --> 00:03:46,607 God is good. 79 00:03:46,647 --> 00:03:46,687 Amen. 80 00:03:48,327 --> 00:03:50,347 And some of us struggle with believing that. 81 00:03:50,358 --> 00:03:50,518 Yeah. 82 00:03:52,147 --> 00:03:53,867 It's not good sometimes. 83 00:03:54,047 --> 00:03:56,167 Oh, I love the songs we sang this morning. 84 00:03:56,677 --> 00:03:58,398 Goodness is running after you. 85 00:03:58,427 --> 00:04:03,228 This morning, this sermon is running after you, 'cause I want everybody 86 00:04:03,228 --> 00:04:05,067 to leave here wanting to be good. 87 00:04:05,087 --> 00:04:05,127 Amen. 88 00:04:06,097 --> 00:04:06,958 To be gooder. 89 00:04:07,727 --> 00:04:08,178 All right? 90 00:04:10,386 --> 00:04:11,956 Doctors can make up words 91 00:04:15,322 --> 00:04:16,502 I want us to be good. 92 00:04:16,562 --> 00:04:18,281 I want us to be closer to God. 93 00:04:18,281 --> 00:04:20,591 I want us to believe in the faithfulness of God. 94 00:04:20,591 --> 00:04:24,232 If you don't believe God is good, then you're not gonna wanna be good. 95 00:04:24,452 --> 00:04:28,891 If you don't believe God is good, you, you won't believe you can become good. 96 00:04:28,892 --> 00:04:31,212 If you don't believe God is good, you don't believe 97 00:04:31,272 --> 00:04:32,882 other people can become good. 98 00:04:32,882 --> 00:04:36,441 You've gotta get solid on God is good 99 00:04:38,587 --> 00:04:39,618 We sing about it. 100 00:04:40,357 --> 00:04:46,828 His faithfulness, the goodness of God, the goodness of God, the goodness of God. 101 00:04:47,727 --> 00:04:49,078 I choked up on that, too. 102 00:04:49,078 --> 00:04:51,128 I'm emotional this morning for some reason. 103 00:04:51,128 --> 00:04:53,048 Something in the water down here, all right? 104 00:04:54,498 --> 00:04:54,548 Come on. 105 00:04:54,548 --> 00:04:55,967 I, I usually drink Smartwater. 106 00:04:55,977 --> 00:04:56,288 That's… 107 00:04:56,887 --> 00:04:58,707 But that keeps me from being emotional. 108 00:04:58,707 --> 00:05:03,308 I guess I need to get off of that and stay soft-hearted, amen? 109 00:05:05,177 --> 00:05:08,518 Goodness is natural by being close to God. 110 00:05:09,877 --> 00:05:15,147 From the Greek, the ancient Greek word for goodness is agathosune, 111 00:05:18,287 --> 00:05:19,687 agathosune, okay? 112 00:05:20,918 --> 00:05:28,077 And it's a noun that describes active benevolence, means you see it, moral 113 00:05:28,357 --> 00:05:34,467 excellence, and a generous desire, listen to this, to bless others. 114 00:05:35,107 --> 00:05:36,947 If you're good, you bless others. 115 00:05:37,527 --> 00:05:39,507 Good people are a blessing to other people. 116 00:05:40,117 --> 00:05:40,147 Yes. 117 00:05:40,987 --> 00:05:44,607 You know, I walked in this morning, I probably ran into 10 good people. 118 00:05:45,737 --> 00:05:48,948 I stopped and hugged five of them, and said, "You're a good man. 119 00:05:49,417 --> 00:05:50,097 You're a good woman. 120 00:05:50,107 --> 00:05:50,728 You're good." 121 00:05:51,817 --> 00:05:52,587 And they just bring… 122 00:05:52,597 --> 00:05:54,507 Good people bring smiles to your face. 123 00:05:54,508 --> 00:05:55,987 Look at these good women right here. 124 00:05:56,467 --> 00:05:58,748 This is a bunch of the prayer women right here. 125 00:05:58,947 --> 00:06:02,057 You need help in your life spiritually, here you go, right here. 126 00:06:02,437 --> 00:06:02,457 Wow. 127 00:06:02,837 --> 00:06:03,267 All right? 128 00:06:03,567 --> 00:06:07,607 Go up afterwards to that, the prayer room, and get good, all right? 129 00:06:07,618 --> 00:06:07,638 Wow. 130 00:06:08,368 --> 00:06:09,458 It rubs off. 131 00:06:09,508 --> 00:06:12,718 Good people rub o- I was a campus minister at MIT. 132 00:06:12,718 --> 00:06:14,017 That's how I got so smart. 133 00:06:15,787 --> 00:06:17,987 I wish it w- was that easy. 134 00:06:19,157 --> 00:06:20,217 I wish it were. 135 00:06:20,817 --> 00:06:25,747 But goodness is a generous desire to bless others. 136 00:06:25,807 --> 00:06:31,197 It comes from the root word agathos, which means inherently 137 00:06:31,287 --> 00:06:35,757 good, virtuous, and beneficial. 138 00:06:36,547 --> 00:06:39,067 But c- you can't just decide, "I'm gonna be good." 139 00:06:40,258 --> 00:06:42,717 You gotta do things to become good. 140 00:06:42,727 --> 00:06:42,787 Yes. 141 00:06:44,307 --> 00:06:48,967 You've got to grow in spirituality so you become good. 142 00:06:49,048 --> 00:06:50,437 I wish it were easier. 143 00:06:50,457 --> 00:06:53,837 It's not easy, but it's worth it. 144 00:06:53,878 --> 00:06:53,928 Come on. 145 00:06:53,928 --> 00:06:54,428 It's worth it. 146 00:06:54,467 --> 00:07:02,257 Goodness is moral integrity that com- compels believers to selflessly 147 00:07:02,378 --> 00:07:04,877 act for the benefit of others. 148 00:07:04,927 --> 00:07:08,497 Why do some people deny themselves so much? 149 00:07:08,548 --> 00:07:10,097 Because they're good people. 150 00:07:12,665 --> 00:07:14,466 Why do some people love to serve? 151 00:07:14,506 --> 00:07:15,795 'Cause they're good. 152 00:07:16,086 --> 00:07:18,895 They have fed that part of their nature. 153 00:07:18,905 --> 00:07:23,996 They've shrunk the evil and the bad, they've flushed out the pollution 154 00:07:24,185 --> 00:07:29,525 that the world has, has infected us all with, and they've become better 155 00:07:29,555 --> 00:07:32,145 and better and gooder and gooder. 156 00:07:33,345 --> 00:07:33,385 Amen. 157 00:07:33,446 --> 00:07:33,486 Amen. 158 00:07:35,075 --> 00:07:35,685 All right? 159 00:07:35,985 --> 00:07:36,095 Wow. 160 00:07:37,216 --> 00:07:38,356 They've changed. 161 00:07:39,645 --> 00:07:40,615 They've changed. 162 00:07:41,495 --> 00:07:43,284 Very few people in high school… 163 00:07:43,315 --> 00:07:46,015 I'm not going to my high school reunion here this year. 164 00:07:47,115 --> 00:07:47,955 It's my 50th. 165 00:07:47,966 --> 00:07:53,045 I'm not going, 'cause I wasn't good, and they don't wanna see me, 166 00:07:55,284 --> 00:07:56,765 and I don't really wanna see them. 167 00:07:58,685 --> 00:08:04,706 Now, I became a Christian, and I wanna be around the reunion 168 00:08:04,785 --> 00:08:06,496 of the, my campus ministry. 169 00:08:06,505 --> 00:08:06,525 Wow. 170 00:08:07,335 --> 00:08:13,195 I wanna be around when I was a good person, and those people wanna see me too. 171 00:08:14,606 --> 00:08:20,316 There's something about being good that's so awesome, isn't it? 172 00:08:22,166 --> 00:08:27,116 Goodness is to selfishly act for the benefit of others. 173 00:08:27,166 --> 00:08:31,905 In action, it is generosity and charity. 174 00:08:33,096 --> 00:08:37,725 You know, there's studies that show that people under 40 are 175 00:08:37,725 --> 00:08:40,005 less generous than people over 40 176 00:08:43,602 --> 00:08:46,382 Probably is in every generation, and probably the older you 177 00:08:46,382 --> 00:08:50,012 get, the more generous you get, 'cause maybe you have more. 178 00:08:50,492 --> 00:08:55,531 But maybe you just get wiser, and you've l- got a little more life experience, 179 00:08:55,531 --> 00:09:00,782 and you realize, "Hey, I don't need all this, and I wanna be a good person." 180 00:09:02,449 --> 00:09:07,040 Sometimes when you're younger, you're focused on success or pleasure 181 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:12,189 or relationships or other things and not focused on wanting to be 182 00:09:12,189 --> 00:09:14,719 generous or charitable or good. 183 00:09:15,660 --> 00:09:18,670 Goodness is a core attribute of God. 184 00:09:19,709 --> 00:09:24,770 Agathosune is goodness for the benefit of others. 185 00:09:25,479 --> 00:09:30,469 It's not just being good for yourself, that you can feel good about yourself. 186 00:09:31,199 --> 00:09:32,789 And we should feel good about ourselves. 187 00:09:32,790 --> 00:09:33,959 We should affirm ourselves. 188 00:09:33,989 --> 00:09:38,040 We should love ourselves, the Bible says, but we should be good for the 189 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:40,669 sake of God and for the sake of others. 190 00:09:41,049 --> 00:09:50,099 The Hebrew word for goodness is tov, which means pleasing, excellent, or right. 191 00:09:50,879 --> 00:09:53,569 And many of us have read these books. 192 00:09:53,669 --> 00:09:54,709 Next slide, please. 193 00:09:55,430 --> 00:10:03,049 These books called The Church- A Church Called Tov and Pivot by Scott McKnight 194 00:10:03,089 --> 00:10:05,199 and his daughter, Laura Barringer. 195 00:10:05,709 --> 00:10:10,339 And, uh, I want our church to be a tov church. 196 00:10:10,349 --> 00:10:10,389 Amen. 197 00:10:11,949 --> 00:10:15,869 A church that's full of good people- Yeah 198 00:10:15,879 --> 00:10:17,109 and a good culture. 199 00:10:17,679 --> 00:10:17,719 Amen. 200 00:10:18,159 --> 00:10:22,780 And people walk in, like I walked into the Boulder Church of Christ when I 201 00:10:22,780 --> 00:10:30,150 was 19 years old in, in a God-forsaken place from the University of Colorado. 202 00:10:30,170 --> 00:10:35,219 I tell you, in this, the '70s, Boulder was not a spiritual place. 203 00:10:35,439 --> 00:10:35,689 Okay? 204 00:10:35,839 --> 00:10:38,339 Well, it was spiritual, but it was ugly spirits. 205 00:10:38,789 --> 00:10:39,229 All right? 206 00:10:39,899 --> 00:10:41,990 Coarse spirits and other things. 207 00:10:42,679 --> 00:10:44,449 Uh, you, you may… 208 00:10:44,549 --> 00:10:47,129 I- it's my own opinion, but I think it was true. 209 00:10:47,379 --> 00:10:47,799 All right? 210 00:10:48,740 --> 00:10:52,439 But I want people to walk into this church and say, "Hey, that's a good church. 211 00:10:53,839 --> 00:10:54,889 Those are good people. 212 00:10:55,929 --> 00:10:57,430 There's a good culture there." 213 00:10:58,219 --> 00:11:03,609 And so McKnight tells us a little bit how to be a good church. 214 00:11:03,899 --> 00:11:11,190 He says, next slide please, "Culture socializes us, forming our beliefs, 215 00:11:11,250 --> 00:11:14,580 behaviors, values, and morals." 216 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:22,480 And so we want to develop a good, a tov culture here in our church. 217 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:23,049 Amen? 218 00:11:23,049 --> 00:11:23,530 Amen. 219 00:11:23,530 --> 00:11:26,069 We want a goodness to permeate things. 220 00:11:26,069 --> 00:11:26,689 Oh, yes. 221 00:11:26,689 --> 00:11:31,200 And then he and his daughter wrote in the next slide, and listen to this. 222 00:11:31,209 --> 00:11:34,170 It's a little bit of a longer reading, but I, it's important. 223 00:11:34,539 --> 00:11:39,049 "The circle of tov," and I'm gonna share that with you next, "begins when 224 00:11:39,049 --> 00:11:43,109 a church sees people as people- Amen 225 00:11:44,049 --> 00:11:46,130 and treats them as people." 226 00:11:46,130 --> 00:11:47,209 That sounds simple. 227 00:11:47,250 --> 00:11:48,839 I think we can do that, right? 228 00:11:49,778 --> 00:11:54,528 By nurturing them to become what God designed them to be. 229 00:11:55,238 --> 00:11:59,318 People with names and histories and stories. 230 00:11:59,798 --> 00:12:03,558 I believe you, you, you, you hear people's stories, you fall in love with them. 231 00:12:03,997 --> 00:12:07,648 People who are doing well and people who are not doing well. 232 00:12:07,938 --> 00:12:10,918 People who are recovering from church abuse and people 233 00:12:10,918 --> 00:12:12,258 that have never been abused. 234 00:12:12,358 --> 00:12:15,047 People who've had surgeries and sickness. 235 00:12:15,778 --> 00:12:20,667 People who are aging, people who are rich and poor, and everything in between. 236 00:12:21,747 --> 00:12:25,297 People who are wounded and in need of healing, and people who 237 00:12:25,298 --> 00:12:27,237 are unemployed and underemployed. 238 00:12:27,598 --> 00:12:31,427 People who need encouragement or tan- tangible assistance. 239 00:12:31,517 --> 00:12:36,558 The essence of treating people as people can be summed up in the 12 simple 240 00:12:36,558 --> 00:12:43,397 words by Je- by Jesus, "Do to others as you would like them to do to you." 241 00:12:43,877 --> 00:12:47,237 That's what produces a good culture. 242 00:12:48,077 --> 00:12:48,107 Yes. 243 00:12:48,258 --> 00:12:52,897 Sees people as people and treats them as people. 244 00:12:53,417 --> 00:12:53,447 Yes. 245 00:12:54,407 --> 00:12:55,397 Sees people… 246 00:12:55,998 --> 00:12:57,417 Do people see you? 247 00:12:58,348 --> 00:13:03,598 Make eye contact when you're talking When you're fellowshipping, do you see 248 00:13:03,598 --> 00:13:05,748 these kids looking out here so confident? 249 00:13:05,758 --> 00:13:05,778 Yeah. 250 00:13:06,378 --> 00:13:07,728 Standing up straight. 251 00:13:07,748 --> 00:13:07,768 Wow. 252 00:13:08,338 --> 00:13:09,498 So articulate. 253 00:13:10,607 --> 00:13:10,647 Amen. 254 00:13:10,908 --> 00:13:13,588 I didn't even know some of those words when I was their age. 255 00:13:13,598 --> 00:13:13,618 Yeah. 256 00:13:14,687 --> 00:13:15,968 Definitely couldn't say them. 257 00:13:16,698 --> 00:13:16,808 That's right. 258 00:13:16,808 --> 00:13:20,977 That little Logan, man, he's a big, he, he's a big package in a small- 259 00:13:22,088 --> 00:13:22,668 stature. 260 00:13:23,488 --> 00:13:23,978 Right? 261 00:13:24,588 --> 00:13:25,368 He was so… 262 00:13:25,918 --> 00:13:27,728 I mean, all of them, awesome. 263 00:13:28,047 --> 00:13:29,887 What's the circle of tov? 264 00:13:29,928 --> 00:13:30,707 Next slide. 265 00:13:32,457 --> 00:13:33,857 What do we wanna display? 266 00:13:33,887 --> 00:13:35,927 What do we wanna be in our church? 267 00:13:36,157 --> 00:13:37,427 We wanna be empathetic. 268 00:13:37,587 --> 00:13:37,607 Yeah. 269 00:13:37,778 --> 00:13:39,537 This is all good stuff. 270 00:13:40,127 --> 00:13:40,147 Yeah. 271 00:13:40,157 --> 00:13:45,198 Empathy, the ability to understand and share the feelings of other persons. 272 00:13:45,567 --> 00:13:48,528 I don't know how your Passion group has been going, but we've 273 00:13:48,528 --> 00:13:50,568 been developing greater empathy. 274 00:13:50,568 --> 00:13:52,507 We've been listening to each other's stories. 275 00:13:52,537 --> 00:13:57,497 We've been having an incredible group on Thursday night, 'cause 276 00:13:57,497 --> 00:13:58,707 we're growing in empathy. 277 00:13:58,727 --> 00:14:00,907 Grace, the unmerited favor. 278 00:14:00,918 --> 00:14:03,637 We're giving one another forgiveness and love. 279 00:14:03,797 --> 00:14:04,977 People firstness. 280 00:14:06,197 --> 00:14:09,278 See, oh, Scott, he makes up words, too, okay? 281 00:14:09,847 --> 00:14:11,267 First people firstness. 282 00:14:11,268 --> 00:14:12,818 I didn't know this was a word. 283 00:14:13,277 --> 00:14:15,447 Okay, I would've just said relational. 284 00:14:15,537 --> 00:14:17,027 But anyway, that's just me. 285 00:14:17,377 --> 00:14:21,317 Putting the needs of people above the needs of the institution. 286 00:14:21,737 --> 00:14:23,668 Truth-telling or honest. 287 00:14:23,677 --> 00:14:26,098 Speaking the truth even when it is hard. 288 00:14:26,438 --> 00:14:31,527 Justice, uph- upholding what is right, fair, and we could add good. 289 00:14:31,798 --> 00:14:36,527 Service, giving of oneself to help others. 290 00:14:36,618 --> 00:14:36,638 Yeah. 291 00:14:36,638 --> 00:14:39,467 Guys, let's not have trouble getting volunteers. 292 00:14:40,317 --> 00:14:42,357 Let's all look for ways to serve. 293 00:14:42,397 --> 00:14:43,527 Can, can you amen that? 294 00:14:43,527 --> 00:14:43,897 Amen. 295 00:14:45,057 --> 00:14:47,907 I mean, let's not just be into our own own lives. 296 00:14:47,907 --> 00:14:49,458 Let's not be self-centered. 297 00:14:49,707 --> 00:14:51,027 Let's deny ourselves. 298 00:14:51,027 --> 00:14:52,457 Let's be good. 299 00:14:52,617 --> 00:14:52,657 Amen. 300 00:14:53,317 --> 00:14:53,937 Amen. 301 00:14:54,167 --> 00:14:56,707 An invitation to goodness and service. 302 00:14:57,057 --> 00:15:01,578 Christ likeness, reflecting the character of Jesus. 303 00:15:02,427 --> 00:15:06,497 And this is the circle of go- of tov, or good. 304 00:15:06,927 --> 00:15:06,947 Yeah. 305 00:15:07,097 --> 00:15:11,357 Empathy, grace, relational, truthful, justice, service, 306 00:15:11,817 --> 00:15:13,348 and then the Christ likeness. 307 00:15:13,897 --> 00:15:17,338 This just sums up being like Jesus. 308 00:15:18,327 --> 00:15:19,537 We're gonna be a good church. 309 00:15:19,597 --> 00:15:21,287 We're, we are a good church. 310 00:15:21,287 --> 00:15:22,908 We're gonna be a gooder church. 311 00:15:22,918 --> 00:15:22,938 Yeah. 312 00:15:23,767 --> 00:15:25,397 I'm stuck on that this morning. 313 00:15:25,397 --> 00:15:26,537 I apologize. 314 00:15:26,897 --> 00:15:28,077 It was not planned. 315 00:15:28,077 --> 00:15:29,537 It's not in the notes. 316 00:15:29,607 --> 00:15:32,387 It's not on the slides, but I'm having fun with it. 317 00:15:32,978 --> 00:15:33,638 Gooder. 318 00:15:34,118 --> 00:15:34,198 Good. 319 00:15:34,437 --> 00:15:35,528 Greg, be gooder. 320 00:15:36,427 --> 00:15:39,018 Jesus says, "Why do you call me good? 321 00:15:40,277 --> 00:15:43,147 No one is good except God alone." 322 00:15:43,207 --> 00:15:44,347 Next slide, please. 323 00:15:45,687 --> 00:15:48,868 We cannot manufacture goodness. 324 00:15:49,567 --> 00:15:52,927 God is the source of goodness. 325 00:15:52,937 --> 00:15:52,977 Amen. 326 00:15:53,707 --> 00:15:54,297 All right? 327 00:15:55,993 --> 00:15:57,354 And then the next slide. 328 00:15:58,773 --> 00:16:03,803 Spiritual goodness for, means being committed to selflessness. 329 00:16:03,803 --> 00:16:10,233 That's how you get spirit-filled, to be committed to g- to selflessness. 330 00:16:10,664 --> 00:16:14,384 How are you spirit-led to be committed to sacrifice? 331 00:16:14,983 --> 00:16:18,553 How are you spirit-minded to be committed to surrender? 332 00:16:19,013 --> 00:16:22,874 How are you, we spirit-driven to be committed to service? 333 00:16:23,303 --> 00:16:25,883 And we'll have this up on the websla- site. 334 00:16:26,214 --> 00:16:30,233 I apologize for our technical difficulties this morning. 335 00:16:31,003 --> 00:16:31,573 All right? 336 00:16:31,584 --> 00:16:35,613 Satan just doesn't want you to hear this, but you're paying attention. 337 00:16:35,814 --> 00:16:36,683 Look at your eyes. 338 00:16:36,693 --> 00:16:37,394 Look at you guys. 339 00:16:37,413 --> 00:16:39,503 Even in the dark I can see you. 340 00:16:39,503 --> 00:16:40,103 All right? 341 00:16:41,143 --> 00:16:43,204 John 4, you know this story. 342 00:16:43,803 --> 00:16:47,373 Verses 13 and 14 said, "Jesus answered, 'Everyone who drinks 343 00:16:47,373 --> 00:16:49,303 this water will be thirsty again. 344 00:16:49,753 --> 00:16:53,963 But whoever drinks this water I give them will never thirst. 345 00:16:54,023 --> 00:16:58,904 Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water 346 00:16:58,904 --> 00:17:01,113 welling up to eternal life.'" 347 00:17:02,454 --> 00:17:06,203 I've sort of welled up before and started crying. 348 00:17:07,483 --> 00:17:12,713 I've welled up before 'cause of food poisoning. 349 00:17:13,903 --> 00:17:15,654 Let's not go there very far, all right? 350 00:17:17,778 --> 00:17:21,558 But this is welling up with goodness, welling up with the 351 00:17:21,568 --> 00:17:24,387 Spirit overflowing out of your life. 352 00:17:24,896 --> 00:17:28,217 Good just comes up and overflows. 353 00:17:28,718 --> 00:17:32,548 You well up because you're so spiritual. 354 00:17:33,997 --> 00:17:37,518 Guys, make it a goal, I wanna be spiritual. 355 00:17:37,528 --> 00:17:40,718 I want the fruits of the Spirit to be overflowing out of my life. 356 00:17:40,718 --> 00:17:43,538 I want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, 357 00:17:43,827 --> 00:17:48,287 faithfulness, and self-control to just ooze out of everything that I do. 358 00:17:49,327 --> 00:17:55,697 I want people to see and feel and sense and smile at goodness, not because 359 00:17:55,697 --> 00:17:57,937 I'm good, because God made me good. 360 00:17:58,157 --> 00:17:58,187 Yes. 361 00:17:58,758 --> 00:18:03,957 Because God has transformed me, and it's welling up and overflowing. 362 00:18:04,407 --> 00:18:05,697 Yet its time is coming. 363 00:18:05,697 --> 00:18:10,397 He goes on in verse 23 and says, "Na- but it has now come when the true 364 00:18:10,417 --> 00:18:14,917 worshipers of God will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they're the 365 00:18:14,917 --> 00:18:17,027 kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 366 00:18:17,397 --> 00:18:21,947 God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth." 367 00:18:21,947 --> 00:18:24,697 What he's saying, we've gotta be spiritual. 368 00:18:25,928 --> 00:18:26,068 Amen. 369 00:18:26,068 --> 00:18:27,617 We, we need to be spiritual. 370 00:18:28,377 --> 00:18:31,037 You know what you're, what you are if you aren't spiritual? 371 00:18:31,138 --> 00:18:32,728 Paul called the Corinthians this. 372 00:18:32,958 --> 00:18:34,197 He called them carnal. 373 00:18:35,727 --> 00:18:37,057 He called them worldly 374 00:18:39,066 --> 00:18:40,896 He called them unspiritual 375 00:18:43,612 --> 00:18:44,782 Let's be spiritual. 376 00:18:44,992 --> 00:18:45,532 All right? 377 00:18:46,762 --> 00:18:51,352 I mean, you can be dumb, but if you're spiritual, you're good 378 00:18:54,098 --> 00:18:57,628 You can be unathletic, but if you're spiritual, you're good. 379 00:18:58,467 --> 00:18:58,598 Yeah. 380 00:18:58,918 --> 00:18:59,697 You can be poor. 381 00:19:00,618 --> 00:19:02,238 If you're spiritual, you're good. 382 00:19:02,238 --> 00:19:02,387 Amen. 383 00:19:02,387 --> 00:19:04,178 You can be less than attractive, but if you're spiritual, you're good. 384 00:19:04,178 --> 00:19:04,197 Yeah. 385 00:19:09,048 --> 00:19:09,148 Amen. 386 00:19:10,547 --> 00:19:11,677 'Cause it's inner beauty. 387 00:19:11,678 --> 00:19:12,148 Amen? 388 00:19:13,128 --> 00:19:13,168 Amen. 389 00:19:13,447 --> 00:19:17,127 Let's be as spiritual as we can be. 390 00:19:17,377 --> 00:19:17,417 Amen. 391 00:19:18,297 --> 00:19:18,967 Amen? 392 00:19:18,967 --> 00:19:19,957 Amen. 393 00:19:19,957 --> 00:19:24,087 And then 2 Corinthians 3:6 says, "He has made us competent as 394 00:19:24,088 --> 00:19:27,818 ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the" what? 395 00:19:28,118 --> 00:19:28,888 Spirit. 396 00:19:29,557 --> 00:19:34,168 "For the letter kills, but the spirit gives" what? 397 00:19:34,708 --> 00:19:35,528 Life. 398 00:19:35,897 --> 00:19:37,077 We wanna be spiritual. 399 00:19:37,418 --> 00:19:44,697 Proverbs 11 and verse 27 says, "He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil 400 00:19:44,727 --> 00:19:47,117 comes to him who searches for it." 401 00:19:47,618 --> 00:19:50,547 So let's seek to be good. 402 00:19:51,037 --> 00:19:51,787 Proverbs 22:1, "A good name is more desirable than great riches." 403 00:19:51,787 --> 00:19:51,877 Your reputation is more desirable than your bank account. 404 00:19:51,877 --> 00:19:51,967 "To be esteemed is better than silver or gold." 405 00:19:51,967 --> 00:19:52,047 To be respected as spiritual is the key. 406 00:19:52,047 --> 00:19:52,117 Proverbs 12 and verse two, "A good 407 00:20:12,947 --> 00:20:15,398 man obtains favor from the Lord." 408 00:20:15,678 --> 00:20:20,318 God blesses the good person, "But the Lord condemns" who? 409 00:20:20,797 --> 00:20:22,007 The crafty man. 410 00:20:23,278 --> 00:20:24,748 Some people, it's hard to trust. 411 00:20:26,307 --> 00:20:27,357 They're not straightforward. 412 00:20:27,357 --> 00:20:29,047 They're not direct in their speech. 413 00:20:29,498 --> 00:20:32,457 You ask them direct questions, they don't give you direct answers. 414 00:20:34,898 --> 00:20:36,408 Their eyes are even a little shifty. 415 00:20:36,408 --> 00:20:37,618 They won't look you in the eye. 416 00:20:39,138 --> 00:20:40,048 They're looking around. 417 00:20:40,487 --> 00:20:41,858 They're hemming, they're hawing 418 00:20:44,476 --> 00:20:45,596 Don't be crafty. 419 00:20:45,946 --> 00:20:46,966 Don't be crafty. 420 00:20:47,795 --> 00:20:48,476 Be good. 421 00:20:48,846 --> 00:20:54,125 Proverbs 14 and verse 19 says, "Evil men will bow down in the 422 00:20:54,126 --> 00:20:59,265 presence of the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous." 423 00:20:59,265 --> 00:21:00,456 We see that in Esther. 424 00:21:00,456 --> 00:21:02,616 We see that in so many of the biblical stories. 425 00:21:02,956 --> 00:21:07,685 Matthew 12 and verse 35 says, "The good man brings good things out 426 00:21:07,685 --> 00:21:11,105 of the good stored up in him." 427 00:21:12,325 --> 00:21:15,055 You store up that good stuff in your quiet times. 428 00:21:15,706 --> 00:21:18,265 You go- store up that good stuff in your Bible reading. 429 00:21:18,506 --> 00:21:23,795 You store up that good stuff when you're just by yourself doing and 430 00:21:23,845 --> 00:21:29,485 thinking about the goodness of God and the good person you wanna be. 431 00:21:30,646 --> 00:21:38,446 And the evil man, though, brings evil out of the evil stored up in him, sadly. 432 00:21:39,326 --> 00:21:45,045 This is one of my favorite verses, Titus 2, verses 11 through 14, "For the grace of 433 00:21:45,045 --> 00:21:49,735 God that brings salvation has appeared to everybody," but not everybody's responded. 434 00:21:50,485 --> 00:21:56,146 It teaches us, though, as Christians to say no to ungodliness and worldly 435 00:21:56,146 --> 00:22:00,905 passion, to the pollution that could come in and keep us from being good, and to 436 00:22:00,905 --> 00:22:07,195 live self-controlled, upright, or good and godly lives in this present age. 437 00:22:07,675 --> 00:22:13,015 While we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God 438 00:22:13,015 --> 00:22:19,425 and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all pollution, 439 00:22:20,095 --> 00:22:29,275 garbage, wickedness, sin, and to purify for Himself a people that are ver- his 440 00:22:29,285 --> 00:22:34,805 very own, eager to do what is good. 441 00:22:35,125 --> 00:22:40,495 The Greek could also be translated eager to be good. 442 00:22:41,475 --> 00:22:43,775 Eager for goodness. 443 00:22:45,025 --> 00:22:49,525 That's what I wanna inspire us to be today, this morning, folks. 444 00:22:50,355 --> 00:22:57,131 Good And for many of you, you're already really good. 445 00:22:58,861 --> 00:23:00,282 But we can all take it higher, right? 446 00:23:01,292 --> 00:23:01,371 Yeah. 447 00:23:02,121 --> 00:23:04,962 Nobody's competing with Jesus yet, all right? 448 00:23:06,002 --> 00:23:09,141 But we want to follow His example. 449 00:23:09,141 --> 00:23:15,562 In the same way, Matthew 5 and verse 16, "Let your light shine before 450 00:23:15,562 --> 00:23:17,961 men, that they may see" your what? 451 00:23:18,812 --> 00:23:19,791 Good deeds. 452 00:23:20,041 --> 00:23:22,991 "Good deeds, and praise your Father in heaven." 453 00:23:24,131 --> 00:23:29,082 See, when people think about you, they're not gonna think about, what a good person. 454 00:23:29,992 --> 00:23:31,661 They're gonna think, what a good Christian. 455 00:23:32,562 --> 00:23:34,571 I used to know that guy before he was a Christian. 456 00:23:34,602 --> 00:23:35,541 He wasn't good. 457 00:23:35,992 --> 00:23:38,971 Now, he, she, they're good. 458 00:23:39,042 --> 00:23:39,062 Yeah. 459 00:23:40,271 --> 00:23:41,972 Something changed in their life. 460 00:23:42,431 --> 00:23:43,522 I used to know them. 461 00:23:43,531 --> 00:23:43,571 Amen. 462 00:23:44,321 --> 00:23:45,461 Now they're different. 463 00:23:45,472 --> 00:23:45,492 Wow. 464 00:23:46,111 --> 00:23:47,131 Isn't that awesome? 465 00:23:48,062 --> 00:23:48,111 That is. 466 00:23:48,111 --> 00:23:50,611 And Christians, we're growing all the time. 467 00:23:50,722 --> 00:23:51,521 Couple more. 468 00:23:51,571 --> 00:23:53,591 These are all inspiring, good stuff. 469 00:23:53,941 --> 00:24:01,801 Matthew 7:17-20 says, "Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, 470 00:24:02,782 --> 00:24:04,671 but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 471 00:24:05,111 --> 00:24:08,731 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 472 00:24:09,041 --> 00:24:13,121 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire. 473 00:24:14,001 --> 00:24:17,832 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." 474 00:24:19,941 --> 00:24:20,721 As he has said. 475 00:24:20,721 --> 00:24:22,801 By people's lives, by who they are, we recognize them. 476 00:24:23,161 --> 00:24:25,681 What are some obstacles to being good? 477 00:24:27,481 --> 00:24:28,611 Pursuing pleasure. 478 00:24:29,431 --> 00:24:30,701 It's always gonna get in the way. 479 00:24:31,821 --> 00:24:35,112 It's good to enjoy life and to have some pleasure in your life 480 00:24:35,112 --> 00:24:39,591 and do pleasurable things, and you need breaks, you need vacations. 481 00:24:39,591 --> 00:24:45,151 You, you, you, you can't just be intense and serious all the time, you know? 482 00:24:45,641 --> 00:24:47,881 But don't just constantly pursue it. 483 00:24:49,938 --> 00:24:53,918 Don't get addicted to happiness 'cause it's so fleeting. 484 00:24:55,008 --> 00:25:01,238 Lack of limits, not having boundaries, and even addicted on just freedom. 485 00:25:02,138 --> 00:25:03,578 "I'm gonna do whatever I wanna do." 486 00:25:03,667 --> 00:25:05,288 No, be responsible. 487 00:25:06,298 --> 00:25:06,887 All right? 488 00:25:07,718 --> 00:25:11,008 'Cause your freedom may infringe upon someone else's freedom. 489 00:25:11,008 --> 00:25:12,477 Don't be addicted to it. 490 00:25:13,448 --> 00:25:14,487 Enjoy it. 491 00:25:15,028 --> 00:25:15,938 Appreciate it. 492 00:25:16,917 --> 00:25:19,287 But extremes always get us in trouble. 493 00:25:20,127 --> 00:25:22,218 Exalting of effort. 494 00:25:23,258 --> 00:25:25,558 See, you can get addicted to success. 495 00:25:26,467 --> 00:25:28,287 It feels good to be successful. 496 00:25:29,017 --> 00:25:32,667 It feels good to accomplish things, but that's not the 497 00:25:32,667 --> 00:25:36,098 main purpose of life ourselves. 498 00:25:37,348 --> 00:25:41,227 The purpose of life is being like God and being good. 499 00:25:42,467 --> 00:25:46,268 And then sometimes just being in denial, addicted to denial, 500 00:25:46,848 --> 00:25:50,307 refusal to really see reality. 501 00:25:51,487 --> 00:25:56,217 We can either be good or bad and not think that we're better than we are. 502 00:25:56,818 --> 00:25:58,277 We've gotta constantly strive. 503 00:25:58,307 --> 00:26:00,037 How do you cultivate goodness, though? 504 00:26:00,477 --> 00:26:01,467 This is good stuff. 505 00:26:02,068 --> 00:26:03,127 Surrender to God. 506 00:26:03,288 --> 00:26:04,017 Seek God. 507 00:26:04,028 --> 00:26:05,238 Get closer to God. 508 00:26:05,827 --> 00:26:08,697 Acknowledge our need for God. 509 00:26:09,287 --> 00:26:10,248 Worship God. 510 00:26:10,257 --> 00:26:11,807 We've been drawing closer. 511 00:26:11,807 --> 00:26:16,928 You're getting gooder by the, by breathing in here, by being here, 512 00:26:17,178 --> 00:26:18,878 by sitting next to good people. 513 00:26:18,878 --> 00:26:20,747 I guess it is contagious, isn't it? 514 00:26:21,397 --> 00:26:23,637 Practicing prayer and fasting. 515 00:26:24,157 --> 00:26:24,808 What is that? 516 00:26:24,818 --> 00:26:27,127 That's seeking God for transformation. 517 00:26:27,467 --> 00:26:32,138 I don't know about you, but I've had to beg God, "God, change my heart. 518 00:26:32,557 --> 00:26:36,557 I'm trying, but I s- I can't control this. 519 00:26:36,557 --> 00:26:39,288 I can't control my speech. 520 00:26:39,288 --> 00:26:45,577 I can't have this kind of goodness that I need," especially as a minister. 521 00:26:45,577 --> 00:26:46,658 "I need you, God." 522 00:26:46,677 --> 00:26:52,087 I've begged God to change me at times, and He does. 523 00:26:52,657 --> 00:26:53,767 That's the encouraging thing. 524 00:26:53,987 --> 00:26:54,367 He does. 525 00:26:55,638 --> 00:27:01,227 You know, I saw myself being an ungrateful person lately, 526 00:27:01,987 --> 00:27:03,697 and I was so ashamed of myself. 527 00:27:03,748 --> 00:27:08,168 I'm like, we moved into this house, and it's an amazing house, and, 528 00:27:08,578 --> 00:27:13,088 and, and, and, and, you know. 529 00:27:14,017 --> 00:27:18,087 But it's about a third the size of the house we had before. 530 00:27:19,537 --> 00:27:21,268 Well, we had too big a house, yes. 531 00:27:22,147 --> 00:27:25,427 I remember when we bought it, my son-in-law said, "Craig, you, you 532 00:27:25,438 --> 00:27:26,697 and Cathy, it's just the two of you. 533 00:27:26,707 --> 00:27:27,647 You don't need this big a…" 534 00:27:27,877 --> 00:27:32,367 "I'm buying it for the s- square footage, buying it for the resale." 535 00:27:32,998 --> 00:27:34,078 And I'm glad I did it. 536 00:27:34,188 --> 00:27:37,517 I, I, I got some good equity out of it by buying a bigger house 537 00:27:37,517 --> 00:27:40,167 than I needed, but it spoiled me. 538 00:27:42,000 --> 00:27:45,960 We had rooms probably for months we didn't even go into. 539 00:27:47,170 --> 00:27:47,720 You know? 540 00:27:48,780 --> 00:27:54,400 I mean, we, we had a big house, uh, uh, up in Antelope Valley, and now we've 541 00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:56,240 had to downsize, and we planned on it. 542 00:27:56,269 --> 00:27:59,150 We knew we'd have to downsize, and then at this time in our 543 00:27:59,150 --> 00:28:00,780 life, we wanted to downsize. 544 00:28:00,999 --> 00:28:04,489 But when you downsize, you're like, "Huh 545 00:28:11,985 --> 00:28:13,906 And one day it hit me, this is wrong 546 00:28:17,170 --> 00:28:21,340 You're telling people publicly, constantly, Greg, to be grateful. 547 00:28:22,860 --> 00:28:24,560 And you're, you're not content. 548 00:28:25,060 --> 00:28:26,380 What more do you need? 549 00:28:26,420 --> 00:28:27,350 What more do you want? 550 00:28:27,930 --> 00:28:29,490 And it, and God changed my heart. 551 00:28:29,490 --> 00:28:30,719 I started praying about it. 552 00:28:30,910 --> 00:28:33,659 He cha- Now I woke this morning, I'm walking around my 553 00:28:33,660 --> 00:28:36,500 house, "Wow, this is so great. 554 00:28:37,109 --> 00:28:38,149 This is so wonderful." 555 00:28:38,990 --> 00:28:39,060 Amen. 556 00:28:39,060 --> 00:28:42,879 And it was such a good feeling, and it, and it didn't come from me, though. 557 00:28:42,889 --> 00:28:42,909 Wow. 558 00:28:43,139 --> 00:28:46,380 I'm not a, a good naturally. 559 00:28:46,430 --> 00:28:48,969 I'm a selfish person naturally. 560 00:28:49,550 --> 00:28:51,460 I want more naturally. 561 00:28:51,460 --> 00:28:52,100 Yeah, yeah. 562 00:28:52,100 --> 00:28:56,019 I'm, I'm, I'm all these things that the world polluted me with. 563 00:28:56,269 --> 00:28:56,429 Yeah. 564 00:28:57,089 --> 00:28:59,139 But I want to be good. 565 00:28:59,679 --> 00:28:59,699 Yeah. 566 00:28:59,710 --> 00:29:00,150 Amen. 567 00:29:00,490 --> 00:29:01,500 And you do too. 568 00:29:02,109 --> 00:29:06,599 And so you've been at it as long as I, many of you, and some of you even longer. 569 00:29:06,900 --> 00:29:08,839 You're older than me, praise God, amen. 570 00:29:08,839 --> 00:29:09,830 A few of you. 571 00:29:11,519 --> 00:29:12,469 We wanna be good. 572 00:29:12,729 --> 00:29:13,599 God bless us. 573 00:29:13,629 --> 00:29:15,099 God bless us, amen. 574 00:29:15,839 --> 00:29:15,879 Amen. 575 00:29:16,699 --> 00:29:18,819 Few more slides, we're gonna wrap up. 576 00:29:20,510 --> 00:29:21,760 Lack of prayer 577 00:29:24,666 --> 00:29:29,706 Lack of silence, lack of gratitude, lack of purpose. 578 00:29:30,396 --> 00:29:31,696 It's not the right heart. 579 00:29:32,406 --> 00:29:33,476 We need to get filled. 580 00:29:33,476 --> 00:29:35,366 We need to get led by the Spirit. 581 00:29:36,256 --> 00:29:38,056 We need to be Spirit-minded. 582 00:29:38,925 --> 00:29:39,816 And then to close out 583 00:29:42,962 --> 00:29:48,042 In expressing goodness, guys, affirm the goodness in others, 584 00:29:48,042 --> 00:29:49,432 especially your family. 585 00:29:51,112 --> 00:29:53,802 I need to affirm my wife, Kathy, much more. 586 00:29:54,302 --> 00:29:58,632 We were in a devotional yesterday with some of the dating couples, and 587 00:29:58,641 --> 00:30:03,371 she was saying some things about, you know, you, you need to be… 588 00:30:03,392 --> 00:30:07,271 women need to be adored and loved and thought, all this stuff. 589 00:30:07,351 --> 00:30:09,712 And I, "Oh, man, I haven't been doing all that." 590 00:30:12,594 --> 00:30:16,574 It's so good to be teaching others 'cause you gotta live up to it. 591 00:30:16,984 --> 00:30:19,994 And Kathy, I was listening, and I'm gonna try harder. 592 00:30:20,994 --> 00:30:22,414 Affirm their goodness. 593 00:30:22,424 --> 00:30:22,434 Oh. 594 00:30:23,224 --> 00:30:25,303 Recognize the good examples. 595 00:30:25,364 --> 00:30:29,434 Tell some people this morning before you leave what a good example they are to you. 596 00:30:30,324 --> 00:30:35,034 Go up to some neighbors and do a good deed for a neighbor, all right? 597 00:30:36,033 --> 00:30:40,943 There, there's, there's, there's a lot of, of, of widows and people 598 00:30:40,943 --> 00:30:42,764 living alone in our neighborhood. 599 00:30:42,824 --> 00:30:45,934 I'm, I'm gonna try to figure out some good deeds to do. 600 00:30:46,664 --> 00:30:50,513 And then for strangers, find something good. 601 00:30:51,344 --> 00:30:55,224 You know, I'm, I'm trying to crack one of the ladies at the pharmacy. 602 00:30:56,204 --> 00:31:00,313 Unfortunately, I have to buy a lot of prescriptions and, and, uh, 603 00:31:00,583 --> 00:31:04,053 they seem to get spread out that I can't all pick them up at once. 604 00:31:04,053 --> 00:31:04,303 I have… 605 00:31:04,324 --> 00:31:06,164 Like once a week I'm picking one up. 606 00:31:06,553 --> 00:31:08,683 And there's w- this one lady, man, she's just 607 00:31:11,342 --> 00:31:13,482 She just seems so mad at the world. 608 00:31:14,182 --> 00:31:17,772 And I say nice things, and I try to lighten her up, but the 609 00:31:17,772 --> 00:31:21,532 more I try to lighten her up, the worse look I get from her. 610 00:31:21,572 --> 00:31:23,781 Like, "Do not talk to me." 611 00:31:24,352 --> 00:31:24,792 You know? 612 00:31:25,142 --> 00:31:29,212 "I'll help you, but don't make it hard on me by being nice." 613 00:31:30,321 --> 00:31:31,571 And I'm gonna break through. 614 00:31:31,571 --> 00:31:33,151 I'm gonna break through this lady. 615 00:31:33,352 --> 00:31:35,211 It … But this has been months. 616 00:31:35,501 --> 00:31:37,682 There's something going on with that poor soul. 617 00:31:37,692 --> 00:31:37,702 Aw. 618 00:31:38,321 --> 00:31:39,521 And I hurt for her. 619 00:31:40,272 --> 00:31:43,191 Here's a few thoughts to close out with. 620 00:31:43,202 --> 00:31:46,151 A couple books if you … Some of you are real readers. 621 00:31:46,212 --> 00:31:50,922 You can get this little book, The Let Them Theory or the Atomic Habits. 622 00:31:50,922 --> 00:31:53,151 You can take a picture of this if you want, guys. 623 00:31:53,561 --> 00:31:58,421 These are some things to try to be good and to be better, all right? 624 00:31:58,762 --> 00:32:03,271 The Let Me core principles are, you know, stop managing others. 625 00:32:03,271 --> 00:32:03,981 Let go. 626 00:32:04,341 --> 00:32:05,252 Let go of them. 627 00:32:05,561 --> 00:32:10,571 Love yourself, embrace personal responsibility, set boundaries, 628 00:32:10,981 --> 00:32:13,041 and then you'll be happier. 629 00:32:13,102 --> 00:32:14,871 Just let it be. 630 00:32:15,201 --> 00:32:15,922 Let it be. 631 00:32:15,922 --> 00:32:17,561 That's a good Beatles song. 632 00:32:17,901 --> 00:32:20,231 And then the Atomic Habits. 633 00:32:20,481 --> 00:32:24,012 You know, these are four laws for changing your behavior. 634 00:32:24,012 --> 00:32:27,581 If you wanna be better, then cue yourself. 635 00:32:27,901 --> 00:32:29,032 Make it obvious. 636 00:32:29,081 --> 00:32:34,121 People put up these Post-it Notes on their car, on their fridge, on their doors, 637 00:32:34,151 --> 00:32:36,661 you know, to remind them of something. 638 00:32:36,971 --> 00:32:38,551 You know, make it attractive. 639 00:32:38,631 --> 00:32:40,581 Want to do it, all right? 640 00:32:40,971 --> 00:32:44,351 Buy some new running shoes if you wanna exercise and walk around. 641 00:32:44,581 --> 00:32:46,821 Just, you just cue yourself. 642 00:32:47,041 --> 00:32:48,571 Develop a craving for it. 643 00:32:48,611 --> 00:32:49,921 And then make it easy. 644 00:32:49,962 --> 00:32:53,281 Don't set these unrealistic goals. 645 00:32:53,282 --> 00:32:57,682 Just start with two minutes, five minutes, that kinda thing, and 646 00:32:57,682 --> 00:33:00,511 then reward yourself, all right? 647 00:33:01,121 --> 00:33:07,511 Sometimes Cathy and I, we go get the two for $6 sundae at, at Dairy 648 00:33:07,511 --> 00:33:09,481 Queen at the end of long days. 649 00:33:09,491 --> 00:33:09,501 Ooh. 650 00:33:10,072 --> 00:33:10,481 You know? 651 00:33:11,212 --> 00:33:14,381 Some days we go home 9:30, 10:00 at night. 652 00:33:14,381 --> 00:33:18,111 We've had long days in the ministry, and we look at each other, and 653 00:33:18,111 --> 00:33:20,642 I know what she's thinking, and she knows what I'm thinking. 654 00:33:20,642 --> 00:33:21,842 I go, "Yes." 655 00:33:24,793 --> 00:33:27,214 And we don't blow the budget, you know? 656 00:33:27,514 --> 00:33:31,524 We get the special, $6. 657 00:33:31,663 --> 00:33:35,024 So I'm carrying six bucks in my wallet almost all the time 658 00:33:37,170 --> 00:33:37,810 Be good. 659 00:33:39,070 --> 00:33:40,370 Be a blessing to others 660 00:33:42,449 --> 00:33:43,500 Be good, Greg. 661 00:33:44,719 --> 00:33:45,819 Be a blessing to others. 662 00:33:45,819 --> 00:33:47,409 Don't be a pain, Greg. 663 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:48,830 Be good. 664 00:33:49,100 --> 00:33:49,139 Amen? 665 00:33:49,810 --> 00:33:50,460 Amen. 666 00:33:51,399 --> 00:33:52,979 Reflect on goodness. 667 00:33:53,270 --> 00:33:56,319 Every time we take of the Lord's supper, every time we worship, 668 00:33:56,819 --> 00:34:01,399 every time we serve, as we try to change, God's gonna make us good. 669 00:34:02,649 --> 00:34:05,669 Goodness is running after us. 670 00:34:05,960 --> 00:34:06,350 Amen. 671 00:34:06,429 --> 00:34:07,089 God bless.