1 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:10,360 Good morning, Springhouse. Oh, you can do better. Is it a good morning? 2 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,520 Is God good? Come on, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:16,800 come on. God is good today. 4 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:24,080 Well, I am so glad to be with you in the presence of the Lord. 5 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,120 You'll have to forgive me if I'm limping a little bit this morning. I'm pretty 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:31,120 sure I'm passing a kidney stone before you right now. But I'm gonna 7 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:34,660 preach through this because I believe God's given me a word. So I'm gonna do 8 00:00:34,660 --> 00:00:38,460 it today. Before we get started, I have a few 9 00:00:38,780 --> 00:00:42,420 announcements. First of all, aren't we so thankful for the 10 00:00:42,420 --> 00:00:46,380 ministry of f. Stop doing pictures for us. Family 11 00:00:46,380 --> 00:00:50,380 pictures. If you came today, prepare to do family pictures that will be 12 00:00:51,740 --> 00:00:55,340 out there through the way to the fellowship hall. And if you came today and 13 00:00:55,340 --> 00:00:58,180 you didn't sign up but you'd like to have a family portrait, we'd be glad 14 00:00:58,180 --> 00:01:01,140 to do that for you as well. It's a free gift from us to you 15 00:01:01,140 --> 00:01:05,040 and they will have that back to you in time for Christma. Okay, a 16 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,520 couple other things for us to just make note of. Okay? First of all, we're 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,120 heading into Advent next week, which is the four weeks leading up to 18 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:16,040 Christmas Day. And on December 5th and 6th, something very special is gonna 19 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,879 be happening here. And it is our very own Springhouse kids 20 00:01:19,879 --> 00:01:23,840 production of A Star Is Born. And we want you to come and be a 21 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,480 part of that on those nights. That's a Friday and a Saturday night, 22 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:31,280 and then the day after on the 7th, we're gonna have a Springhouse 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,080 Christmas party here. So what that's gonna look like if you wanna 24 00:01:35,860 --> 00:01:39,700 worship and word, we're gonna do that at 9am in this room. And then 25 00:01:39,700 --> 00:01:43,340 following that, at 11, we're gonna do a reprise of A Star Is Born. Yes, 26 00:01:43,340 --> 00:01:46,420 I believe it's gonna be that good. And we're gonna do a reprise of the 27 00:01:46,420 --> 00:01:49,940 show. And then we're gonna have lunch and there's gonna be candy and there's gonna 28 00:01:49,940 --> 00:01:52,820 be all types of fun things for the kids to do and you to do. 29 00:01:52,980 --> 00:01:56,860 Please make plans to come and celebrate with us during that 30 00:01:56,860 --> 00:02:00,700 very special time on December 7th. Then later 31 00:02:00,700 --> 00:02:04,420 on in the month, on December 19th, it's our annual Carols by 32 00:02:04,420 --> 00:02:08,360 Candlelight. And let me tell you, you're not gonna wa. Candlelight. 33 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:10,920 Make a point to be a part of it. It's always a packed house and 34 00:02:10,920 --> 00:02:14,760 a rich time together. And then one of my favorite services of the year is 35 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:18,240 on Christmas Day at 11 o'. Clock. And I'll tell you, I've been here nearly 36 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:22,040 three decades, and I have only missed one Christmas Day. 37 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,880 And I remember it. I remember the year I missed it. It 38 00:02:25,880 --> 00:02:29,720 is the thing that ties that day together. Please be a part of 39 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:32,720 that, that day. It's 11 to 12. So we know you have plans with your 40 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,400 family, and we will get you out of here on time for those 41 00:02:36,400 --> 00:02:39,940 plans. And then, man, you missed an incred incredible 42 00:02:39,940 --> 00:02:43,740 midweek series. Real Talk with Pastor Justin. So go back and look at that 43 00:02:43,740 --> 00:02:47,740 online. We will not be here this Thursday. Hopefully you'll 44 00:02:47,740 --> 00:02:51,340 be with family gathering, and we do not have midweek gathering again until 45 00:02:51,420 --> 00:02:55,300 January 8th. And so there will be no midweek gathering for the month of 46 00:02:55,300 --> 00:02:58,860 December. If you show up on Thursday night, hopefully somebody else shows up, too, and 47 00:02:58,860 --> 00:03:01,820 y' all can go to Starbucks and hang out. We won't be here, but 48 00:03:02,700 --> 00:03:05,980 we will be back on January 8th. 49 00:03:06,220 --> 00:03:10,080 Okay. It's Thanksgiving week, and so we are going 50 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:14,080 to talk about the pathway to gratitude. Would you 51 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,240 say that the pathway to gratitude. 52 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:21,840 And so we're gonna draw from the book of Luke, hopefully a story that you 53 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:25,600 are familiar with. So if you'll stand with me this morning, let's read with 54 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:29,160 gusto and excitement this morning, because anytime 55 00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,320 God gives a word, it is exciting. Okay, here we go. As 56 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:37,200 Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came 57 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,020 to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home 58 00:03:41,020 --> 00:03:44,980 to him. She had a sister called Mary who sat 59 00:03:44,980 --> 00:03:48,660 at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But 60 00:03:48,660 --> 00:03:52,540 Martha was distracted by all the preparations that he 61 00:03:52,540 --> 00:03:56,340 had been. She came to him and asked, lord, 62 00:03:56,340 --> 00:04:00,260 don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by 63 00:04:00,260 --> 00:04:04,020 myself? Tell her to help me. Martha. 64 00:04:04,020 --> 00:04:07,740 Martha, the Lord answered, you are worried and upset 65 00:04:07,740 --> 00:04:11,380 about many things, but few things are needed, or 66 00:04:11,380 --> 00:04:15,220 indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is 67 00:04:15,220 --> 00:04:19,140 better, and it will not be taken away from her. Father, I 68 00:04:19,140 --> 00:04:22,740 thank you for your precious word. I thank you for the gift of your word. 69 00:04:22,740 --> 00:04:26,180 And I just pray, Lord, that it would minister to our hearts today. In Jesus 70 00:04:26,180 --> 00:04:30,140 name, amen. You may be seated. Well, I 71 00:04:30,140 --> 00:04:34,020 am extremely grateful for a lot of things, and 72 00:04:34,100 --> 00:04:37,300 first and foremost, I just have to tell you I'm thankful for 73 00:04:37,540 --> 00:04:41,480 macaroni and cheese. Planning 74 00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,880 on eating some of that golden deliciousness this year 75 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,960 on Thursday? And I hope that you're planning on having some good food and that 76 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,840 you're grateful for it. It is the season to be thankful. It's the season 77 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:56,640 to be grateful. But might I suggest to you that the 78 00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:00,480 life of a believer should be saturated with Gratitude. 79 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:04,040 I'm going to say that again. The life of a believer should be 80 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:07,970 saturated with gratitude. But the culture with which we 81 00:05:07,970 --> 00:05:11,810 live, the culture, the society we live, we have reduced the time 82 00:05:11,810 --> 00:05:15,490 we've had to earmark a time to be thankful. And that is the 83 00:05:15,490 --> 00:05:19,210 fourth Thursday of the November month where 84 00:05:19,290 --> 00:05:23,130 we get together with family, some people who we actually don't like, 85 00:05:23,210 --> 00:05:27,170 and we invite them over our houses and they sit around our tables and 86 00:05:27,170 --> 00:05:31,170 we look at them and we have shallow conversations and we eat some pretty 87 00:05:31,170 --> 00:05:35,170 good food, hopefully. And then with the people that we really want to say thank 88 00:05:35,170 --> 00:05:38,400 you to, because we're such in a hurry, we'll send them a text message. 89 00:05:39,110 --> 00:05:42,550 Send them a text message and say, happy Thanksgiving. And if we're really in a 90 00:05:42,550 --> 00:05:46,150 hurry, we'll put them in a group message, because everybody loves a group text message 91 00:05:46,310 --> 00:05:48,990 with all of the thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, and all of 92 00:05:48,990 --> 00:05:52,990 the turkey emojis. And if you're really, really busy, you won't even have time to 93 00:05:52,990 --> 00:05:55,670 spell out the word thank you. You'll just put, ty. 94 00:05:56,950 --> 00:06:00,910 Isn't that the culture we live in? I'm 95 00:06:00,910 --> 00:06:04,070 thankful for macaroni and cheese. I'm thankful for friends 96 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:07,560 who helped me not make tragic choices in my life. 97 00:06:15,160 --> 00:06:18,920 So tragic that even my baby was kind of scared to be held. 98 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:26,520 I'm grateful this year to be your pastor, 99 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:31,160 to walk alongside some of the most wonderful, fabulous, fascinating people 100 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:34,800 in my life. I'm grateful for my family. 101 00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:40,120 I'm grateful that the Lord has given me Hadassah. He's given 102 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:44,120 me Lucia, Ruby, Nora, and soon to be Eliana, and my 103 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,760 wife Shari. I'm thankful. I'm thankful. But I'm not just 104 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:51,040 thankful because a date on a calendar tells me to be thankful. 105 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:55,560 I'm thankful because of the overflow of blessing 106 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:59,400 the Lord has placed on my life. I believe that the mark 107 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,120 of gratitude flows from the overflow of 108 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:06,320 selflessness. Gratitude flows from the 109 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,280 overflow of selflessness. So I want to 110 00:07:10,280 --> 00:07:13,320 talk today about the pathway of gratitude. And I want to start with a story 111 00:07:13,399 --> 00:07:17,080 that I recently heard that I thought really fit with today's message. 112 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,720 There's this man who loves to fly. He loves to fly 113 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:24,640 internationally, he loves to fly nationally, and he's a businessman. And 114 00:07:24,640 --> 00:07:28,480 he flies. And he flies frequently across seas. And his favorite airport 115 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:32,160 is the London Heathrow Airport. Has anybody ever flown through London Heathrow? 116 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:36,600 And so he loves that airport. And he doesn't love that airport because they 117 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,480 are organized or on top of things or the flights get out 118 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:44,240 faster or Anything like that. He likes it because there's this 119 00:07:44,240 --> 00:07:47,920 doughnut shop in this airport called Little Tiny 120 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,760 Donuts. And every time he goes to London Heathrow Airport, 121 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:55,120 he goes to this donut shop, Little Tiny 122 00:07:55,360 --> 00:07:58,240 Donuts, and picks up a box of eight fresh 123 00:07:59,690 --> 00:08:03,210 little mini donuts and eats them every single time. And so he has 124 00:08:03,850 --> 00:08:07,850 this itinerary, and it puts him in London Heathrow, and he's gonna go 125 00:08:07,850 --> 00:08:11,610 by and get those donuts just like he always does. And he's super excited. In 126 00:08:11,610 --> 00:08:15,530 fact, his entire day is wrapped around getting these donuts. And so he lands in 127 00:08:15,530 --> 00:08:19,050 London Heathrow for the layover. And 128 00:08:19,690 --> 00:08:23,570 when he gets to the layover, he's looking around and he goes and gets the 129 00:08:23,570 --> 00:08:27,050 donuts, and he's looking around for a place to sit. Because, see, the donuts are 130 00:08:27,050 --> 00:08:30,790 only good when they're fresh. The donuts are only good when they're fresh. 131 00:08:31,270 --> 00:08:34,310 And so he gets the donuts and he's looking for a place to sit, but 132 00:08:34,310 --> 00:08:38,310 he can't because there are tables everywhere, but there are tons of people in 133 00:08:38,310 --> 00:08:42,110 this airport, so he really wants to sit down. And he's looking around and he 134 00:08:42,110 --> 00:08:45,550 sees in the back, there's this round table, and there's this man sitting there, and 135 00:08:45,550 --> 00:08:49,470 he's reading a book. And there's one chair on the other side of this 136 00:08:49,470 --> 00:08:53,230 small round table. And so he goes up to the table and he makes eye 137 00:08:53,230 --> 00:08:56,030 contact with the man, and he nods to the chair, and the man nods to 138 00:08:56,030 --> 00:08:59,510 the chair and he says, okay, that's my invitation to sit down. And so he 139 00:08:59,510 --> 00:09:03,450 sits down and he's excited, and he puts his stuff down and he 140 00:09:03,450 --> 00:09:07,290 grabs his newspaper and he opens it up and he reaches his hand 141 00:09:07,290 --> 00:09:11,290 and grabs that first donut. And, oh, it was just delightful. He 142 00:09:11,290 --> 00:09:15,010 puts it in his mouth, he's chewing it up. It is everything he had hoped 143 00:09:15,010 --> 00:09:18,810 for for that day. So much so that before he actually consumed that entire 144 00:09:18,810 --> 00:09:21,730 donut, he reached his hand back in the box and put a second one in. 145 00:09:21,970 --> 00:09:25,850 He was really enjoying these donuts. Well, as 146 00:09:25,850 --> 00:09:29,690 he's chewing these donuts and enjoying the savory flavor of these donuts and reading the 147 00:09:29,690 --> 00:09:33,690 paper, something astonishing happened. The guy that was sitting on the other side of 148 00:09:33,690 --> 00:09:37,570 the table takes his hand, reaches across the table and 149 00:09:37,570 --> 00:09:39,770 grabs a donut out of the donut box. 150 00:09:42,170 --> 00:09:45,730 And the man reading the paper looked over at the man reading the book, and 151 00:09:45,730 --> 00:09:48,890 they make eye contact. And not only did he take one of the donuts out 152 00:09:48,890 --> 00:09:52,730 of the box, but he smirked at him while he did it. As if 153 00:09:52,730 --> 00:09:56,090 this was something acceptable, as if this was okay. 154 00:09:56,650 --> 00:10:00,450 And so the man reading the paper was not very happy about the man grabbing 155 00:10:00,450 --> 00:10:03,950 his donut. So he continues to read the paper, 156 00:10:04,110 --> 00:10:07,990 and he grabs another donut and puts it in his mouth. And he's just kind 157 00:10:07,990 --> 00:10:11,950 of like, what just happened here? And as he's thinking, what just happened here? 158 00:10:11,950 --> 00:10:15,630 The man across the table reading the book reaches out again and 159 00:10:15,630 --> 00:10:19,630 grabs another donut. And this time, the man 160 00:10:19,630 --> 00:10:23,350 reading the paper looks eyeball to eyeball to him while the other man's 161 00:10:23,350 --> 00:10:27,070 smiling and gives him this stare, blank, like, what are you doing? 162 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,080 And so as he's staring him eyeball to eyeball, he reaches over, puts his hand 163 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:37,000 in the donut box, slides the donut box toward him, pulls 164 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,440 out another donut, pops it in his mouth. Hopefully he'll get the sign. 165 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:44,520 Well, the guy with the book kind of straightens up, and he's smiling and happy 166 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:48,440 and reaches further across the table and 167 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:52,400 gets a third donut. On the third donut, the man closes the 168 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,800 newspaper, slams it on the table with his hand, and says, I've gotta move. 169 00:10:56,310 --> 00:10:59,190 And so he reaches down to grab all of his stuff. And when he reaches 170 00:10:59,190 --> 00:11:02,510 down to grab his stuff on top of his bag, he sees a box of 171 00:11:02,510 --> 00:11:03,990 donuts that has not been opened 172 00:11:06,950 --> 00:11:10,830 the entire time. The man with the newspaper was eating 173 00:11:10,830 --> 00:11:13,270 the donuts that belonged to the guy with the book. 174 00:11:15,110 --> 00:11:18,950 Here we have a story of two heart postures. The first heart posture is, 175 00:11:20,150 --> 00:11:23,880 what's mine is yours. The second 176 00:11:23,880 --> 00:11:27,560 heart posture is, what's mine is mine. And if we 177 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:31,400 ever live in a culture saturated with what's 178 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:35,400 mine is mine, if we ever live in a culture that 179 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,240 says, I've earned this. I bought this. I did 180 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,920 this. And you wonder why the blessing of heaven can't 181 00:11:42,920 --> 00:11:46,720 flow free in your life because you are holding on so tight to 182 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:50,330 what you have. I'm going to tell you right now, I believe with all of 183 00:11:50,330 --> 00:11:53,850 my heart the reason the Beshears family is able to walk through a season with 184 00:11:53,850 --> 00:11:57,770 a new house being built is because they opened their home when they had no 185 00:11:57,770 --> 00:12:01,650 room for multiple families to come stay with them. When you give out of 186 00:12:01,650 --> 00:12:05,650 your nothing, the Lord returns a whole lot to your behalf. He returns 187 00:12:05,650 --> 00:12:09,330 things to you many fold than you can ever imagine. And the Lord is 188 00:12:09,330 --> 00:12:13,330 blessing you guys because of your generosity and your willingness to open up what you 189 00:12:13,330 --> 00:12:17,170 have and say, there's always a place at my table. Is 190 00:12:17,170 --> 00:12:21,050 it said for you guys? Is it said of you that you always have room 191 00:12:21,130 --> 00:12:24,810 at your table or Are you one of the ones 192 00:12:24,810 --> 00:12:28,770 clenching with dear life every little thing that you have because your 193 00:12:28,770 --> 00:12:32,250 name is on it? Let's look at the pathway to 194 00:12:32,250 --> 00:12:35,570 gratitude by looking at five roadblocks. Five 195 00:12:35,570 --> 00:12:39,130 roadblocks that stop us from reaching a lifestyle 196 00:12:39,370 --> 00:12:42,460 of gratitude. Using the story of Mary and Martha, 197 00:12:43,410 --> 00:12:46,770 the first one I want to look at, the first roadblock to our pathway to 198 00:12:46,770 --> 00:12:50,770 gratitude is distraction. We 199 00:12:51,170 --> 00:12:52,930 are distracted. 200 00:12:55,810 --> 00:12:59,090 I didn't get an amen. I'm going to try that again. We are 201 00:12:59,090 --> 00:13:03,090 distracted. You are distracted. 202 00:13:03,330 --> 00:13:06,690 I am distracted. We are so. We are. We 203 00:13:06,770 --> 00:13:10,690 squirrel everywhere. Squirrel, squirrel, squirrel. We are 204 00:13:10,770 --> 00:13:14,700 so saturated with distraction. Can I tell you, 205 00:13:14,700 --> 00:13:18,660 I believe that we were not created to consume as 206 00:13:18,660 --> 00:13:22,260 much information as we consume our 207 00:13:22,260 --> 00:13:25,460 brains and our minds and our lives. We are 208 00:13:25,460 --> 00:13:29,460 overstimulated and over saturated. But here's 209 00:13:29,460 --> 00:13:33,460 what's so crazy about that. We give an amen when a statement like that's 210 00:13:33,460 --> 00:13:36,980 made, but we do nothing to stop it. In fact, we go chase it. We 211 00:13:36,980 --> 00:13:40,940 are looking for more information, looking for more stimulation, looking for more things 212 00:13:41,260 --> 00:13:45,130 to distract us. Busyness is not a 213 00:13:45,130 --> 00:13:49,130 badge of honor. The things 214 00:13:49,130 --> 00:13:52,770 that God has given you, he has graced you in certain things. 215 00:13:53,250 --> 00:13:57,010 Some of you are able to carry a load a lot heavier than the person 216 00:13:57,010 --> 00:14:01,010 sitting next to you. If God has graced you to do that, praise God for 217 00:14:01,010 --> 00:14:04,850 some of you, he has graced you to do fewer things. But 218 00:14:04,850 --> 00:14:08,290 may none of us step out of God's grace when he has given us something 219 00:14:08,290 --> 00:14:12,090 to do. How are the indicators? What are the indicators? Whenever 220 00:14:12,090 --> 00:14:15,490 we're stepping out of God's grace, the indicators are fatigue, 221 00:14:16,210 --> 00:14:19,890 family issues, being distraught, being 222 00:14:19,890 --> 00:14:23,850 sick. All of these are indicators that you may not be. If 223 00:14:23,850 --> 00:14:27,730 you're running on fumes all of the time, if the 224 00:14:27,730 --> 00:14:31,730 fruit of the spirit is not evident in your life, then 225 00:14:31,730 --> 00:14:34,290 you may not be leaning into the spirit. 226 00:14:36,060 --> 00:14:39,900 Imagine going to the gas pump and putting water in your gas tank. 227 00:14:41,020 --> 00:14:44,900 That's not going to last very long. You'll get some of the residue from the 228 00:14:44,900 --> 00:14:48,620 gas you had in before, but eventually your car's going to go kaput. 229 00:14:49,180 --> 00:14:52,940 Can I say it's the same thing with your life. We are 230 00:14:53,020 --> 00:14:56,940 so distracted. This is what the word says. But Martha was 231 00:14:57,100 --> 00:15:00,980 distracted by all the preparations that had to 232 00:15:00,980 --> 00:15:04,300 be made. Can I tell you that some of you hear this? Please. 233 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:09,560 Some of you are going to get to Thursday. You're going to wake up 234 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:12,240 early. You're going to go to bed that night and you're going to miss the 235 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,120 entire day because you were distracted 236 00:15:16,120 --> 00:15:19,680 by all the preparation of Serving everybody else. 237 00:15:23,760 --> 00:15:27,520 Now we're going to have a turkey at my house, and my wife's going to 238 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:31,450 have to make it. She gonna be preparing that 239 00:15:31,450 --> 00:15:35,410 turkey. But what. I don't. But I'm not saying that my wife 240 00:15:35,410 --> 00:15:39,250 is the only. I cook at my house too. Okay? Geez, 241 00:15:39,250 --> 00:15:43,170 Justin. Some 242 00:15:43,170 --> 00:15:46,730 of you guys are gonna make some great dry turkeys, okay? It's gonna be great. 243 00:15:46,730 --> 00:15:50,290 Okay, here's the deal. There are 244 00:15:50,290 --> 00:15:54,250 preparations that have to be made. See, here's the 245 00:15:54,250 --> 00:15:58,050 thing. We read this story about Mary and Martha, and we automatically assume that 246 00:15:58,050 --> 00:16:01,230 Martha has done something wrong. Think about it. 247 00:16:02,110 --> 00:16:05,590 We think Martha has just completely. She's just done something 248 00:16:05,590 --> 00:16:09,270 completely wrong. Like she shouldn't be preparing that Jesus is there. Do you notice at 249 00:16:09,270 --> 00:16:12,110 the end of the story, it never says Martha changed anything. 250 00:16:14,510 --> 00:16:18,310 It wasn't that Martha was necessarily doing anything 251 00:16:18,310 --> 00:16:21,150 wrong. It's that she had the wrong heart posture. 252 00:16:22,590 --> 00:16:26,280 You can be a preparer, you can be 253 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:30,280 doing things, and you can be doing it with the wrong heart 254 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:33,880 posture. In the same way, you can be doing nothing 255 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,920 and be doing nothing with the wrong heart posture. 256 00:16:38,520 --> 00:16:42,520 It's all about heart posture. Jesus told Martha, you are worried 257 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,520 and troubled about many things. When we are hurried, overwhelmed, overstimulated, 258 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:50,160 or emotionally scattered, we literally use the ability to see the 259 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,930 blessing that sitting right in front of us when we're 260 00:16:53,930 --> 00:16:57,450 going so fast. Brittany Grisham said something to me once that 261 00:16:57,450 --> 00:17:01,410 convicted the mess out of me. I was with her, and 262 00:17:01,490 --> 00:17:05,490 she was saying, kevin, I so enjoy walking alongside 263 00:17:05,490 --> 00:17:09,290 you, ministering alongside you. And I have. Brittany and I have 264 00:17:09,290 --> 00:17:12,810 ministered together since youth grew. I mean, we've. For a long time. But I went 265 00:17:12,810 --> 00:17:15,410 to her house one time and she said, but you know, Kev, 266 00:17:16,610 --> 00:17:20,570 the thing is, is I don't mind helping you get to the vision, but I 267 00:17:20,570 --> 00:17:22,450 just don't want to be trampled upon in the. 268 00:17:26,900 --> 00:17:30,420 You see, the thing that we are doing is not more important 269 00:17:30,660 --> 00:17:34,580 than the people we are doing it with. All of 270 00:17:34,580 --> 00:17:37,780 this, everything that you see here is all about 271 00:17:37,940 --> 00:17:41,860 God's people being restored to him and restored to 272 00:17:41,860 --> 00:17:45,620 one another. Everything has to do with relationship. 273 00:17:45,940 --> 00:17:49,910 Everything has to do with eternity. And 274 00:17:49,910 --> 00:17:53,510 we can get so mixed up on this turkey, it's got to look just right, 275 00:17:53,510 --> 00:17:57,470 be just right, and miss the whole point of everybody 276 00:17:57,470 --> 00:18:01,390 who's gathered around. Some distractions 277 00:18:01,390 --> 00:18:04,870 are not just there by happenstance. Some of the distractions you put in your life 278 00:18:04,870 --> 00:18:08,110 on purpose because you're trying to avoid a conversation that you need to have. 279 00:18:10,990 --> 00:18:12,910 Aren't you glad you came to church? This morning. 280 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:18,040 Hurry overshadows the good stuff. 281 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:23,120 Hurry overshadows the good, important stuff. I have a 282 00:18:23,120 --> 00:18:27,040 feeling. Has this PowerPoint been updated? Y' all have the most recent 283 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:29,960 one up there? We're gonna find out in just a minute, aren't we? Okay. 284 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:34,880 Martha wasn't necessarily doing something wrong. She was doing the right thing with 285 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,720 the wrong heart condition. She was distracted, worried, overwhelmed, 286 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:42,690 emotionally scattered. Jesus, says Martha. Martha, you are worried and 287 00:18:42,690 --> 00:18:46,570 troubled about many things. There was Christmas 288 00:18:46,570 --> 00:18:50,410 time, and I was just in a season where I was 289 00:18:50,410 --> 00:18:53,730 doing, doing, doing, doing, doing, doing, doing. You ever know anybody that's just always just 290 00:18:53,730 --> 00:18:57,209 doing, doing, doing, doing, doing. I was doing so much, and I was not 291 00:18:57,209 --> 00:19:01,170 focused on anybody around me. And I had a group of friends who wanted me 292 00:19:01,170 --> 00:19:04,930 to come over to their Christmas celebration. And I believe that I 293 00:19:04,930 --> 00:19:08,130 actually told them I was coming, and I didn't come. Have you ever told somebody 294 00:19:08,130 --> 00:19:12,100 you were gonna come and then you didn't? No. You guys are perfect. Okay, 295 00:19:12,100 --> 00:19:15,340 well, I made the mistake. I said I was coming, and I didn't come. And 296 00:19:15,340 --> 00:19:18,380 I thought to myself, I felt so bad because they just wanted to hang out 297 00:19:18,380 --> 00:19:21,380 with me. They just wanted to spend time, and I just felt so bad. So 298 00:19:21,380 --> 00:19:24,540 I said, you know what? I know what I'll do. I'm gonna go buy some 299 00:19:24,540 --> 00:19:28,460 massive Christmas gifts, and I'm just gonna bless em. And so I go 300 00:19:28,460 --> 00:19:31,860 to Target and I buy up the shelves and I wrap them up, and I 301 00:19:31,860 --> 00:19:35,860 go to their front doorstep, and I lay a pile of gifts right there. Right 302 00:19:35,860 --> 00:19:38,460 during the party, the party I was supposed to be at just laid gifts and 303 00:19:38,460 --> 00:19:42,380 walked away. I was so proud of myself. And so I walked away, 304 00:19:42,380 --> 00:19:46,300 and I just was going and going, and I. And I got 305 00:19:46,380 --> 00:19:50,060 in my car, and I'm just awaiting the text message, 306 00:19:50,860 --> 00:19:54,500 the text message that said, thank you so much for these wonderful gifts. You know, 307 00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:58,460 nobody said anything to me. The next day, I'm 308 00:19:58,460 --> 00:20:01,340 looking at my phone saying, maybe something's wrong. Maybe I didn't pay my phone bill. 309 00:20:01,740 --> 00:20:05,740 Surely they got these gifts. I mean, nobody gets gifts and doesn't say 310 00:20:05,740 --> 00:20:09,510 thank you. And I went through that day, not 311 00:20:09,510 --> 00:20:12,230 one thank you, not one message. And then I was ticked. 312 00:20:13,430 --> 00:20:16,910 And so the next day, I just said, well, you know what? Forget them. I 313 00:20:16,910 --> 00:20:20,910 text them and said, did you not see the gifts on your porch? And I 314 00:20:20,910 --> 00:20:24,070 got one response. And the response was this. 315 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:35,360 You cannot buy your way into relationship. 316 00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:42,800 Presence with a CE is far greater than presence. 317 00:20:43,920 --> 00:20:47,120 Some of you need to take this into Friday of this week. 318 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,440 Silence. You know what Friday is? 319 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:59,040 Some of you need to take this into Friday and Saturday of this week because 320 00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,960 some of you are going to go into the negative in your bank account trying 321 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:05,790 to buy relationships. When presence with a CE 322 00:21:05,870 --> 00:21:09,710 is all that is needed. Distraction 323 00:21:09,710 --> 00:21:13,710 hides blessings. Presence reveals them. Mary slowed down. She sat. 324 00:21:13,790 --> 00:21:17,630 She listened. You cannot be grateful for what you refuse to slow 325 00:21:17,630 --> 00:21:21,510 down long enough to notice. So 326 00:21:21,510 --> 00:21:25,390 distraction then leads to our second row barrier, which is not. 327 00:21:25,630 --> 00:21:29,600 This is the wrong slideshow. So I'm going to try to make 328 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:33,600 this happen here, okay? Selfishness. When 329 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:36,760 we stop appreciating people, we start 330 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:38,760 expecting from them. 331 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,000 Selfishness filters every decision 332 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:47,720 through you. Selfishness filters 333 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,720 every decision through you guys. I missed this this week with my 334 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,920 nine month pregnant wife, Shari. I had an activity that I 335 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,920 wanted to go do with a friend and I went and did that activity and 336 00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:02,620 she had asked. She didn't ask me to do anything all week. She asked me, 337 00:22:02,620 --> 00:22:06,460 would you come home and do this one thing at this specific time? And it. 338 00:22:06,460 --> 00:22:10,180 Oh, this is so bad. So horrible. It was an appointment I set up 339 00:22:11,220 --> 00:22:15,100 and I made her meet with the person and I stayed there. Horrible. I 340 00:22:15,100 --> 00:22:19,100 am the most selfish husband. Oh, Jesus, can y' all come pray for 341 00:22:19,100 --> 00:22:19,780 me right now? 342 00:22:23,540 --> 00:22:27,320 But can I tell you my wife loves me. 343 00:22:29,070 --> 00:22:32,350 And it was modeled in her response to my 344 00:22:32,350 --> 00:22:35,870 selfishness. You see, love's test 345 00:22:36,030 --> 00:22:39,950 happens when the rubber hits the road. Love's test 346 00:22:39,950 --> 00:22:43,830 is really about the response when somebody comes upon your path and 347 00:22:43,830 --> 00:22:47,590 wrongs you. And she responded with such 348 00:22:47,590 --> 00:22:50,750 grace. And I did not deserve it. 349 00:22:53,560 --> 00:22:55,960 Paul says to value others above yourself. 350 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,640 Do nothing out of selfish ambition, but in humility, value 351 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,480 others above yourself. Selfishness 352 00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:09,000 shrinks gratitude because it turns every blessing into not enough. 353 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,000 Listen, Mary expected. Sorry. Martha expected 354 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,000 Mary to serve her agenda. When we walk in selfish 355 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:20,680 ways, we expect people to bow down to what we want in our 356 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:21,530 agenda. Agenda. 357 00:23:25,210 --> 00:23:29,170 When we walk in selfish ways, we expect people to bow down to 358 00:23:29,170 --> 00:23:32,650 our agenda. Selfishness creeps in 359 00:23:33,050 --> 00:23:36,610 quietly. This is what the. It's. Ask these questions. Why am I doing all the 360 00:23:36,610 --> 00:23:40,530 work? Why isn't 361 00:23:40,530 --> 00:23:44,490 anyone here helping me? Why 362 00:23:44,490 --> 00:23:47,450 aren't they meeting my expectations? 363 00:23:49,910 --> 00:23:53,830 Selfishness is a roadblock toward gratitude. 364 00:23:54,150 --> 00:23:58,030 And if it's not distraction that leads to selfishness, the next thing it 365 00:23:58,030 --> 00:24:01,350 leads to is not. It's to 366 00:24:01,350 --> 00:24:02,070 Chili's. 367 00:24:10,390 --> 00:24:14,130 Sorry. It hurts to laugh. Okay, baby. No, it's 368 00:24:14,130 --> 00:24:17,130 chilies. Maybe macaroons. All right. It leads to pride. 369 00:24:18,410 --> 00:24:22,330 Pride. You're like, what did we miss in the first gathering? 370 00:24:24,330 --> 00:24:27,690 Pride is the next step after selfishness. Selfishness says, 371 00:24:28,170 --> 00:24:32,010 serve me pride. Says, my way is right 372 00:24:35,370 --> 00:24:38,650 as your pastor. The first thing, when I met with the elders 373 00:24:39,540 --> 00:24:43,060 and they conferred the appointment of lead pastor, 374 00:24:43,300 --> 00:24:46,900 and then we had a meeting with the leaders, the very first thing I asked 375 00:24:46,900 --> 00:24:50,420 for is, the very first request that I had from the leadership of this church 376 00:24:50,660 --> 00:24:53,380 is I said, I need your permission to fail. 377 00:24:56,180 --> 00:24:58,580 I need your permission to fail. 378 00:25:00,740 --> 00:25:04,180 I know it's astonishing to hear, but I am not always right. 379 00:25:05,310 --> 00:25:09,310 Shari knows that more than anyone. But I'm here to inform you that your 380 00:25:09,310 --> 00:25:13,190 pastor is not always right. But I know a God who always 381 00:25:13,190 --> 00:25:17,110 is. And I know what it 382 00:25:17,110 --> 00:25:21,070 looks like to have a bad attitude towards somebody who's not right and misses it. 383 00:25:22,750 --> 00:25:26,190 I know what it's like to respond the correct way to somebody who 384 00:25:26,430 --> 00:25:30,190 missteps or misses it. I'm not 385 00:25:30,190 --> 00:25:34,080 always right. Pride says, you're right. I'm right all 386 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:37,960 the time. Martha stands over Jesus and says, lord, tell 387 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,680 her to help me. Pride tells God how 388 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:45,680 things should go. Have you ever tried that? How's that worked 389 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,520 out for you? Pride makes your perspective the standard. It 390 00:25:49,520 --> 00:25:53,440 makes your expectation the requirement. It makes your experience the 391 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:57,320 truth. Mary shows humility by sitting at 392 00:25:57,320 --> 00:26:01,160 Jesus feet. Martha shows pride by standing in accusation. 393 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,600 James 4, 6 says this. God opposes the 394 00:26:05,600 --> 00:26:09,160 proud, but gives grace to the humble. Is there 395 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,960 anybody here who needs grace? Raise your hand if you need grace. I just want 396 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,720 to check. Litmus test here. Look at your neighbor and say, I need 397 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,840 grace. Look at them and say, remember that Thursday. 398 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:23,040 Okay? 399 00:26:27,690 --> 00:26:30,810 He gives grace to those who walk in humility, who are humble. 400 00:26:31,450 --> 00:26:34,970 Pride makes gratitude impossible because pride 401 00:26:35,130 --> 00:26:38,570 convinces you that everything you have is earned, 402 00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:40,170 owned, and deserved. 403 00:26:43,130 --> 00:26:46,970 When I taught back at the school at Lancaster, when I taught early 404 00:26:46,970 --> 00:26:50,890 on, when I started there, I was in a classroom full of students. And 405 00:26:50,890 --> 00:26:54,370 you know what? I thought I was the cat's pajamas when it came to teaching. 406 00:26:54,370 --> 00:26:58,250 I mean, I was like, I am the teacher. And 407 00:26:58,250 --> 00:27:01,890 I got in there and I taught this history lesson. And I knew 408 00:27:02,450 --> 00:27:06,210 that every student got the information that I was trying to convey because I 409 00:27:06,210 --> 00:27:09,970 did a great job presenting the information. And I was 410 00:27:09,970 --> 00:27:13,890 ready on that Friday to give them a test. Because, Scotty, I did my 411 00:27:13,890 --> 00:27:17,730 job. I taught and taught and taught, and they have better retained 412 00:27:17,810 --> 00:27:21,410 everything that I said. So I handed out that test 413 00:27:21,810 --> 00:27:25,790 and I collected that test. And I had about 12 students in that room, and 414 00:27:25,790 --> 00:27:29,790 eight students failed. And I was happy 415 00:27:29,790 --> 00:27:33,670 to give them all an F. F for you. F for you. F. Why? 416 00:27:33,750 --> 00:27:37,350 I taught the subject. I did my job. You didn't do your job 417 00:27:37,350 --> 00:27:40,910 retaining it. Can I Tell you just a sidebar. If you're a 418 00:27:40,910 --> 00:27:44,790 teacher and over half of your class fails the test, you 419 00:27:44,790 --> 00:27:47,670 didn't do a good job teaching. Okay. 420 00:27:48,470 --> 00:27:50,790 But arrogant, prideful Kevin thought, hey, 421 00:27:52,470 --> 00:27:56,170 I did my job and made the dumb mist. Going right into the 422 00:27:56,170 --> 00:27:59,970 faculty meeting with the principal saying, hey, I taught this thing, and I had 423 00:27:59,970 --> 00:28:03,730 eight kids fail the test. She came to my classroom, said, we're gonna have to 424 00:28:03,730 --> 00:28:04,930 remove you from this class. 425 00:28:07,490 --> 00:28:11,330 And she said, kevin, here's the thing you don't understand. When the 426 00:28:11,330 --> 00:28:14,050 student fails, the teacher has failed. 427 00:28:16,050 --> 00:28:20,010 And I had an epiphany that it wasn't about me 428 00:28:20,010 --> 00:28:23,650 giving information to see if they get it right. It was about me making 429 00:28:23,890 --> 00:28:27,500 sure that they owned and learned the material. 430 00:28:30,220 --> 00:28:34,060 And I have failed my students because of my arrogance and 431 00:28:34,060 --> 00:28:38,020 my pride. Gratitude only 432 00:28:38,020 --> 00:28:42,020 grows in humble soil. And so if you've 433 00:28:42,020 --> 00:28:45,900 got distractions that lead to selfishness, selfishness leads to pride. 434 00:28:45,980 --> 00:28:49,820 What does pride lead to? And this, guys, this is really. I'm honing in 435 00:28:49,820 --> 00:28:53,660 right here on what I want your takeaway to be right here. Because this week 436 00:28:53,820 --> 00:28:57,320 is a week where some of you are going to be sitting at tables with 437 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,360 people that you don't want to sit at tables with. 438 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,960 You're going to be conversing. Some of you have already gotten out of gatherings 439 00:29:04,960 --> 00:29:08,920 that you didn't want to go to. And it's because of this issue here, 440 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:11,880 and it's not this one, because this is going to be. I'm going to get 441 00:29:11,880 --> 00:29:13,720 there. Bitterness. 442 00:29:16,760 --> 00:29:20,600 Distraction leads to selfishness. Selfishness leads to pride. Pride 443 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:22,300 leads to bitterness. 444 00:29:24,370 --> 00:29:26,370 Martha says, lord, don't you care? 445 00:29:28,610 --> 00:29:32,050 You cannot hold bitterness and gratitude in the same heart. 446 00:29:33,810 --> 00:29:37,330 Let me say it this way. If you rehearse it in here, 447 00:29:38,530 --> 00:29:42,450 if you rehearse what happened in here over and over again, you 448 00:29:42,450 --> 00:29:43,810 can't release it here. 449 00:29:46,930 --> 00:29:49,260 This is what bitterness, bitterness looks like. 450 00:29:50,700 --> 00:29:54,420 I have never. I've struggled with bitterness in my life. I have 451 00:29:54,420 --> 00:29:58,380 never been bitter towards someone I didn't love. 452 00:30:00,540 --> 00:30:04,340 Are you with me? If I meet a random Bob and he 453 00:30:04,340 --> 00:30:08,220 does something wrong, and I've never. I don't have any relationship with him. I 454 00:30:08,220 --> 00:30:10,860 probably am not going to struggle with bitterness. 455 00:30:13,180 --> 00:30:17,140 But if you struggle with bitterness, if you've struggled with bitterness and you 456 00:30:17,140 --> 00:30:20,860 think of that person, it has to be somebody that you've had some 457 00:30:20,860 --> 00:30:24,660 relational equity with. And so 458 00:30:24,660 --> 00:30:28,060 what happens is this. You meet this person 459 00:30:29,180 --> 00:30:33,100 and you strike up a relationship with this person. And in 460 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:36,060 this relationship, all these wonderful things happen. 461 00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:40,220 Wonderful life, wonderful conversations, 462 00:30:41,270 --> 00:30:44,550 experiences, adventures. Help when you're hurting. 463 00:30:45,030 --> 00:30:48,950 Prayer Just being there when you're down, being there when things 464 00:30:48,950 --> 00:30:52,470 go awry. I mean, just wonderful, incredible things 465 00:30:52,870 --> 00:30:56,830 take place in that relationship that bond you together. And 466 00:30:56,830 --> 00:31:00,790 then that person makes one bad choice. 467 00:31:04,470 --> 00:31:07,990 And all of a sudden, that one bad choice, that one 468 00:31:08,070 --> 00:31:11,800 mistake, that one mission, that one hurt, 469 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,560 that one failure, overshadows everything 470 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:18,280 that has been good in that relationship. 471 00:31:20,600 --> 00:31:24,480 And so we walk around like this with that 472 00:31:24,480 --> 00:31:27,640 bitter mistake, and we walk away from everything 473 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:32,120 that brought that relationship to fruition. Every good and wonderful 474 00:31:32,120 --> 00:31:34,880 thing, we walk away from it because we're going to hold on to this one 475 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:38,820 thing, this one choice, this one mistake. Some 476 00:31:38,820 --> 00:31:42,580 of us are going to go to tables this Thursday and sit down with 477 00:31:42,580 --> 00:31:46,060 somebody that you're holding a big old canister of bitterness toward. 478 00:31:49,260 --> 00:31:53,019 It robs us of the ability of seeing everything 479 00:31:53,180 --> 00:31:55,980 that brought the relationship to the forefront. 480 00:31:56,940 --> 00:32:00,700 We carry this around. I find it interesting that while we 481 00:32:00,700 --> 00:32:04,510 carry this for people, this is how we expect people to 482 00:32:04,510 --> 00:32:05,030 view us, 483 00:32:09,750 --> 00:32:13,470 Because we always got good stuff, right. I want you to view me in the 484 00:32:13,470 --> 00:32:17,110 positive light, while at the same time, I'm going to view 485 00:32:17,190 --> 00:32:18,790 my neighbor like this. 486 00:32:23,750 --> 00:32:27,510 Ephesians 4, 29 says this. Do 487 00:32:27,510 --> 00:32:31,490 not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but 488 00:32:31,490 --> 00:32:35,250 only what is helpful for building others up. Why do I start here? At the 489 00:32:35,250 --> 00:32:38,650 end of this scripture is going to address bitterness. Why do I start this? I 490 00:32:38,650 --> 00:32:40,690 was not going to start here, but I thought, you know what? No, this is 491 00:32:40,690 --> 00:32:44,530 a great place to start. Because out of the root of bitterness comes unwholesome 492 00:32:44,530 --> 00:32:48,410 talk according to their needs, that they may 493 00:32:48,410 --> 00:32:52,170 benefit those who listen. And then it says, do not 494 00:32:52,170 --> 00:32:56,050 grieve the Holy Spirit of God. Might I 495 00:32:56,050 --> 00:32:59,930 suggest to you, friends, that when you talk bad about other people, 496 00:32:59,930 --> 00:33:03,710 when you slander and you gossip, you are grieving the Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit 497 00:33:03,710 --> 00:33:07,630 of God, with whom you were sealed for the 498 00:33:07,630 --> 00:33:11,550 day of redemption. And then it says these three words. Say them with me. 499 00:33:11,710 --> 00:33:15,510 Get rid of all bitterness. Not 500 00:33:15,510 --> 00:33:18,749 some. Not. Okay, I can get rid of this because, you know, I liked your 501 00:33:18,749 --> 00:33:22,670 outfit and your hair today, so I think we're good now. You've paid enough 502 00:33:23,070 --> 00:33:26,750 penance for what you did to me, you know. Okay, you're so. 503 00:33:26,750 --> 00:33:30,410 No. Get rid of all bitterness, rage, 504 00:33:30,890 --> 00:33:34,770 anger, brawling, slander, along with every form of 505 00:33:34,770 --> 00:33:38,330 malice. And then it doesn't just. I love that God doesn't just tell us what 506 00:33:38,330 --> 00:33:41,530 not to do. He tells us what to do. It's not enough. 507 00:33:41,850 --> 00:33:45,370 Listen, it's not enough to just get rid of it. There's more. 508 00:33:45,930 --> 00:33:49,210 There's always more with God. Be kind and 509 00:33:49,210 --> 00:33:53,050 compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as 510 00:33:53,050 --> 00:33:54,650 Christ, God forgave you. 511 00:33:56,900 --> 00:34:00,860 In other words, let's look at this. Bitterness 512 00:34:00,860 --> 00:34:04,820 turns memories into weapons and rewrites a good 513 00:34:04,900 --> 00:34:06,900 story around the worst moment. 514 00:34:09,060 --> 00:34:12,820 In other words, bitterness revises 515 00:34:12,820 --> 00:34:16,580 your story so that the worst part becomes the highlight. The 516 00:34:16,580 --> 00:34:20,340 headline. Bitterness is like an emotional 517 00:34:20,340 --> 00:34:24,020 eraser. It wipes away every good memory that a person created. 518 00:34:25,050 --> 00:34:28,970 Bitterness narrows the story down to one moment, one 519 00:34:28,970 --> 00:34:32,850 wound, one disappointment. Bitterness blinds the 520 00:34:32,850 --> 00:34:36,650 heart. It breaks relationships. It blocks gratitude. 521 00:34:36,730 --> 00:34:40,289 The Bible warns that bitterness will defile everything it 522 00:34:40,289 --> 00:34:43,930 touches, including your ability to see the good in someone. 523 00:34:46,810 --> 00:34:50,780 And so if you start with distraction and it leads to selfishness, and 524 00:34:50,780 --> 00:34:54,180 then you're walking in pride and it leads to bitterness, Bitterness 525 00:34:54,260 --> 00:34:58,100 opens the door for the biggest blockade toward gratitude, 526 00:34:58,180 --> 00:35:02,060 and that is unforgiveness. It's the 527 00:35:02,060 --> 00:35:05,380 heaviest roadblock because you'll never reach 528 00:35:05,380 --> 00:35:08,420 gratitude if you stay chained to the past. 529 00:35:09,220 --> 00:35:13,140 Jesus responds to Martha not with anger, but with compassion. 530 00:35:13,140 --> 00:35:16,620 And there's only seven times that I can find in Scripture that the Lord says 531 00:35:16,620 --> 00:35:19,730 a name twice back to back. And this is one of them. He says, martha, 532 00:35:20,760 --> 00:35:24,080 Martha, have you ever been trying to get somebody's attention and you need them to 533 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,920 listen to you? Scotty, Scotty, 534 00:35:28,440 --> 00:35:30,680 hear what I am saying to you. 535 00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,520 To respond out of compassion. Jesus does. 536 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:42,040 Forgiveness breaks the chains. Forgiveness 537 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:46,000 heals the heart. Forgiveness makes space for gratitude. 538 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:49,960 Again, forgiveness is not pretending that the wound didn't hurt. I'm going to 539 00:35:49,960 --> 00:35:53,660 say that again. Forgiveness is not pretending that the wound didn't 540 00:35:53,660 --> 00:35:57,660 hurt. Guys, let me tell you something. You're gonna be hurt by the people 541 00:35:57,660 --> 00:35:58,500 who love you. 542 00:36:03,300 --> 00:36:07,300 In fact, just to make it a little more concrete, raise your hand if you've 543 00:36:07,300 --> 00:36:11,300 ever been hurt by somebody who loves you. Okay, 544 00:36:11,620 --> 00:36:14,100 so we're all pretty much on the same playing ground. 545 00:36:15,780 --> 00:36:19,450 So if we're on the same playground, why are so many of us holding 546 00:36:19,450 --> 00:36:20,170 onto it? 547 00:36:23,610 --> 00:36:27,490 Why are so many of us holding onto it? Several months ago, or 548 00:36:27,490 --> 00:36:31,330 several years ago rather, there was a situation where I felt like I 549 00:36:31,330 --> 00:36:34,730 really hear heard something from the Holy Spirit and I acted upon it. 550 00:36:35,530 --> 00:36:38,970 And the way that I went about it was completely wrong. 551 00:36:40,010 --> 00:36:43,810 And it caused hurt, it caused division, it caused a 552 00:36:43,810 --> 00:36:47,730 severing of a relationship. And I was broken and grieved because it 553 00:36:47,730 --> 00:36:50,550 never was my intention, but it is what happened. 554 00:36:51,590 --> 00:36:55,430 And there were moments in that severing of relationship I thought, this is 555 00:36:55,430 --> 00:36:59,310 never going to be repaired. And 556 00:36:59,310 --> 00:37:03,190 it wasn't going to be repaired with a flesh reaction. It was 557 00:37:03,190 --> 00:37:06,070 never going to be repaired with a flesh antidote. 558 00:37:07,270 --> 00:37:10,910 But do you know how gracious and wonderful our Holy 559 00:37:10,910 --> 00:37:14,910 Spirit is that he got into that other person's 560 00:37:14,910 --> 00:37:18,730 life? The one that had every right to walk out on my life, 561 00:37:18,730 --> 00:37:22,730 Every right to be upset, be hurt, be wounded, to hold on to bitterness. 562 00:37:22,730 --> 00:37:26,090 And you know that the Holy Spirit of God worked on their heart 563 00:37:26,650 --> 00:37:30,650 and they decided to sit across from me at lunch in tears and say, kevin, 564 00:37:30,730 --> 00:37:31,850 I forgive you. 565 00:37:34,810 --> 00:37:38,610 Can I tell you that our relationship has been so much better 566 00:37:38,610 --> 00:37:41,690 and deeper and more meaningful post that interaction than before? 567 00:37:44,060 --> 00:37:47,260 Because when the Holy Spirit gets involved and you 568 00:37:47,500 --> 00:37:51,340 surrender that hard space to him, what he does is he 569 00:37:51,340 --> 00:37:54,900 removes your flesh glasses and he gives you 570 00:37:54,900 --> 00:37:58,780 eternal ones. He gives you Holy Spirit glasses to 571 00:37:58,780 --> 00:38:02,300 see things the way he sees them, to see the person. 572 00:38:02,460 --> 00:38:05,940 Listen, I want to see you with the hurt I've experienced. I want to see 573 00:38:05,940 --> 00:38:09,630 you with this wound. But the Holy Spirit gets involved in these things. No, 574 00:38:09,710 --> 00:38:13,630 there's so much good. There's so much good. 575 00:38:13,950 --> 00:38:17,790 There's so much life. And if you'll just lay down your 576 00:38:17,790 --> 00:38:21,750 pride and your hurt, if you'll lay down that bitterness, I will 577 00:38:21,750 --> 00:38:24,910 show you all of the good things. And guess what? There's more. 578 00:38:25,550 --> 00:38:29,430 There's more to be had. But you gotta be willing to 579 00:38:29,430 --> 00:38:33,270 surrender. You gotta be willing to give it to the Lord. You gotta be willing 580 00:38:33,270 --> 00:38:36,910 to recognize that you are going to be hurt and other people are going to 581 00:38:36,910 --> 00:38:40,880 hurt you. And you're going to hurt people because we're broken. 582 00:38:43,200 --> 00:38:46,960 Colossians 3 says this. Therefore, as God's chosen people, 583 00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:50,000 holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, 584 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:54,320 kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. I hope 585 00:38:54,320 --> 00:38:58,080 that these are common things happening around tables this week on 586 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:01,920 Thursday. But more than just this week, this would be a lifestyle and life 587 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:05,830 posture of those who call themselves believers, Bear with each 588 00:39:05,830 --> 00:39:09,790 other and forgive one another. If you have a grievance against someone, forgive as 589 00:39:09,790 --> 00:39:13,710 the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues, put on love. You 590 00:39:13,710 --> 00:39:17,030 know what the very. You know what the most important word in that first sentence 591 00:39:17,030 --> 00:39:20,750 right there? Forgive as the Lord forgave you. You know what the most important word 592 00:39:20,750 --> 00:39:23,110 is? It's the word as. 593 00:39:25,110 --> 00:39:29,110 Because we read that and say forgive because the Lord forgave 594 00:39:29,110 --> 00:39:32,400 you. It's not what it says. It says 595 00:39:32,400 --> 00:39:35,520 forgive as the Lord forgave you. 596 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,680 Has anyone been forgiven much from the Lord? Raise your hand, 597 00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:46,760 guys. If it's pride, if it's deceit, if 598 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,720 it's lust, if it's theft, all the things I 599 00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:52,080 am a guilty person. 600 00:39:54,560 --> 00:39:58,480 I'm grateful for Mac and cheese. I'm grateful for friends. I'm 601 00:39:58,480 --> 00:40:02,230 grateful for family. But I am grateful that I am really redeemed because of the 602 00:40:02,230 --> 00:40:06,030 blood of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful that he sought 603 00:40:06,030 --> 00:40:09,910 fit to not draw lines, but to draw 604 00:40:09,910 --> 00:40:13,710 circles. I believe that true forgiveness draws circles and 605 00:40:13,710 --> 00:40:17,670 invites in. It doesn't draw lines. The big buzzword right now in the culture is 606 00:40:17,670 --> 00:40:21,630 this word boundaries. Make sure you create a boundary so you don't get hurt again. 607 00:40:21,710 --> 00:40:25,510 Make sure you put distance. Make sure you just keep everything separate in a 608 00:40:25,510 --> 00:40:29,430 way. And then we cleverly get into scripture and we weave our way to be 609 00:40:29,430 --> 00:40:33,000 able to preach that message. But here's the thing. I do believe in 610 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,960 seasonal boundaries. When you're healing, that's important. But I do not 611 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:40,880 believe in eternal boundaries because Jesus did not come up to me and say, 612 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,240 kevin, I forgive you. Now I don't want anything to do with you for the 613 00:40:43,240 --> 00:40:47,080 rest of your life. He says, I forgive you. Now come back in. 614 00:40:47,080 --> 00:40:50,920 Let's try this again. And if we are to forgive 615 00:40:50,920 --> 00:40:54,640 as the Lord forgave, then guess what it is. Chance 616 00:40:54,800 --> 00:40:58,560 after chance after chance after chance after 617 00:40:58,560 --> 00:41:02,400 chance. And you, my friends. Kevin, I 618 00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:06,200 have the opportunity this week, today, to 619 00:41:06,200 --> 00:41:10,000 release, to surrender, to forgive, so that my life 620 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:14,000 can be radically changed. And I won't just walk with somebody who's got Jesus on 621 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,000 my shirt praising the Lord on all the situations that are 622 00:41:18,000 --> 00:41:21,080 going well. But I could be a testimony of Christ 623 00:41:22,440 --> 00:41:26,360 to a dying world in situations that look ugly, that 624 00:41:26,360 --> 00:41:30,120 look bad, that are fueled with hurt, hurt and woundedness, and all of those things 625 00:41:30,280 --> 00:41:33,560 that they can say, wow, I can't believe that Kevin had 626 00:41:33,560 --> 00:41:36,360 compassion on that person who didn't deserve it. 627 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:42,040 We've been talking all year about the greatest stories 628 00:41:42,040 --> 00:41:46,000 ever told. What if one of your greatest stories was that this 629 00:41:46,000 --> 00:41:49,920 year you decided to let go, surrender and forgive somebody. Forgive 630 00:41:49,920 --> 00:41:53,880 the unforgivable. And somebody says to you, how'd you 631 00:41:53,880 --> 00:41:57,450 do it? And you say, I couldn't. 632 00:41:58,170 --> 00:42:01,530 It was the power of the Holy 633 00:42:01,770 --> 00:42:02,490 Spirit. 634 00:42:07,050 --> 00:42:11,050 True forgiveness draws circles, not lines. Martha was not 635 00:42:11,050 --> 00:42:14,810 irritated with a stranger. She was irritated with someone she loved. 636 00:42:16,250 --> 00:42:20,210 Have you ever been irritated with somebody you love? Some of y' all 637 00:42:20,210 --> 00:42:22,180 are irritated with the person you're sitting next to right now. 638 00:42:26,250 --> 00:42:29,850 Not every person is a blessing, but every single person is a lesson. 639 00:42:33,290 --> 00:42:37,210 And as people marked by forgiveness, we ought to also be people marked 640 00:42:37,210 --> 00:42:41,010 by gratitude. Jesus 641 00:42:41,010 --> 00:42:44,010 said, few things are needed. Indeed, only one. 642 00:42:46,170 --> 00:42:50,160 There are some important people in my life that have 643 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,960 been in my Life. Some of these people, you know, 644 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:57,800 the man on the left, his name is Mike Gibson. And Mr. 645 00:42:57,800 --> 00:43:01,680 Mike, man, he was such a blessing to my life. There was a season when 646 00:43:01,680 --> 00:43:05,040 I was being. I was the youth pastor and I was with the youth. And 647 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:08,920 man, I just, I felt alone. I felt like I didn't have any support. 648 00:43:09,400 --> 00:43:12,200 I don't mean that this was true, but this is how I felt. I didn't 649 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:15,200 have any support. I didn't have people rallying around me. And I went and I 650 00:43:15,200 --> 00:43:18,600 shared that with the elders. And do you know that that next week Mr. Mike 651 00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:22,470 came up to you youth. And every week after that, he came up and just 652 00:43:22,470 --> 00:43:26,350 stood there and all he did was pray for me. Said, I'm here, what do 653 00:43:26,350 --> 00:43:30,270 you need? I'm here for you. The second lady, or the first lady in 654 00:43:30,270 --> 00:43:34,270 the picture, her name is Rena Montgomery. Rena was my bus driver as a high 655 00:43:34,270 --> 00:43:38,190 school student. She was the very first person who said anything to me 656 00:43:38,190 --> 00:43:41,830 when I came to Smyrna assembly. I dawned the doors. I saw two things in 657 00:43:41,830 --> 00:43:44,990 that old sanctuary. I saw a disco ball and I saw Rena Montgomery. 658 00:43:46,580 --> 00:43:50,500 Rena screamed out loud. She was so excited to see me. 659 00:43:51,140 --> 00:43:54,460 And she was a blessing and an encouragement to my life. And the last one 660 00:43:54,460 --> 00:43:57,660 there, her name is Margaret Meek. She was the kids pastor here forever. And she 661 00:43:57,660 --> 00:44:01,619 was like a second mom to me. I will tell you right 662 00:44:01,619 --> 00:44:04,140 now, I would not be lead pastor of this church had it not been for 663 00:44:04,140 --> 00:44:07,780 this woman and her investment in my life. Now, the things 664 00:44:07,860 --> 00:44:11,660 outside of them having significant impact in my life. The things that these three have 665 00:44:11,660 --> 00:44:13,800 in common is that they're all with Jesus, Jesus right now. 666 00:44:16,360 --> 00:44:20,160 Margaret, at our funeral, Arwen, her 667 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:23,600 daughter got up and said, you know, 668 00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:27,400 oftentimes we look for extraordinary moves of God and 669 00:44:27,400 --> 00:44:30,920 extraordinary moments, and we think that those are the moments we're going to remember most 670 00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,720 to the people we're closest with. But she said, that's not what I 671 00:44:34,720 --> 00:44:38,120 found with my mom. She was talking about Margaret. She said, 672 00:44:38,770 --> 00:44:42,530 I find it in the ordinary days. And so 673 00:44:44,210 --> 00:44:47,370 with that I got a little plaque that or a little thing that I put 674 00:44:47,370 --> 00:44:51,010 in my office and it says, enjoy the gift 675 00:44:51,650 --> 00:44:55,490 of the ordinary. Enjoy 676 00:44:55,490 --> 00:44:59,490 the gift of the ordinary. Guys, if you're carrying this, 677 00:44:59,650 --> 00:45:03,450 don't let this become ordinary. You have the choice 678 00:45:03,450 --> 00:45:07,360 to not let this be the ordinary. This could be the 679 00:45:07,360 --> 00:45:10,320 ordinary. And I tell you, this is so much more fun and more delicious, 680 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:13,040 more filling. 681 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:20,280 So what I say is, if I were to see, I 682 00:45:20,280 --> 00:45:22,400 don't know what's going on right now with the clicker. But if I were to 683 00:45:22,400 --> 00:45:26,160 see these three people, if I were to see these three people again, 684 00:45:28,000 --> 00:45:31,320 I wouldn't spend time. If I, you know, have you ever. Has anybody ever had 685 00:45:31,320 --> 00:45:34,290 somebody pass away and you're like, if I had one more moment. Moment. If I 686 00:45:34,290 --> 00:45:37,810 had 30 more seconds, if I had one more minute. If I had whatever. 687 00:45:39,090 --> 00:45:42,890 I wish I had one more minute with each of those. I wouldn't tell them, 688 00:45:42,890 --> 00:45:46,290 look what I've done. Look what I've. See, See what? What's happened in my life. 689 00:45:46,290 --> 00:45:49,850 I wouldn't say that to them. I probably wouldn't even say I love them. I 690 00:45:49,850 --> 00:45:53,610 wouldn't ask them what it is to be like to be with Jesus. I would 691 00:45:53,610 --> 00:45:57,330 simply say two words to them. Thank you. 692 00:45:59,480 --> 00:46:03,280 Thank you. Now, here's what 693 00:46:03,280 --> 00:46:06,880 I've learned this year. You are 694 00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:10,720 probably sitting by a person with whom you 695 00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:14,720 are so grateful for, yet it has 696 00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:18,600 been an eternity since you have actually conveyed your gratitude 697 00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:22,560 to them. Well, they know. They know. They live with 698 00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:25,720 me. They see it. They know. And you haven't put in words. And I don't 699 00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:29,590 know what that is, that little wall that comes. You're closest to that person 700 00:46:29,590 --> 00:46:33,590 yet. It just seems so hard to actually express gratitude. Well, guess what? 701 00:46:33,670 --> 00:46:37,310 I'm about to give you an opportunity today because this is going to be a 702 00:46:37,310 --> 00:46:40,350 different year. 2025 is going to be a different year. It's going to be a 703 00:46:40,350 --> 00:46:43,870 year where Thanksgiving is just the springboard to a lifestyle of 704 00:46:43,870 --> 00:46:47,670 gratitude. And so everyone, on most of the chairs, there was this 705 00:46:47,670 --> 00:46:51,110 thank you card. This was just a reminder because 706 00:46:51,510 --> 00:46:53,890 your someone may not be next to you right now, 707 00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,800 but I'm going to ask you to do something in the next few moments. They 708 00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:02,680 may be sitting across the room here, they may be sitting next to you, but 709 00:47:02,680 --> 00:47:06,640 we're just going to take a few moments. We're going to steal a few 710 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:10,560 moments here and we're just going to look people eyeball to eyeball. And 711 00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:14,280 you're not just going to say thank you. You're not going to say Ty or 712 00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:18,280 happy Thanksgiving. You're going to 713 00:47:18,280 --> 00:47:22,260 say Barbie, I'm so grateful that you see me, me. I'm so 714 00:47:22,260 --> 00:47:26,020 grateful for the way that you have run beside me so faithfully all these years. 715 00:47:26,020 --> 00:47:29,900 The way that you lift my arms and you encourage me. I'm so grateful 716 00:47:29,900 --> 00:47:33,740 for the staple that you're in my life. The person who never wavers, 717 00:47:33,900 --> 00:47:37,099 never goes away. The rock that I can lean on 718 00:47:37,740 --> 00:47:41,620 if I'm in distress or if I'm discouraged. I can always count on you. The 719 00:47:41,620 --> 00:47:45,220 moments when I ran after other things. I looked back and those things fell in 720 00:47:45,220 --> 00:47:48,900 shambles. And you were always there. You never wavered on me. And I'm so 721 00:47:48,900 --> 00:47:50,620 grateful for your friendship. Thank. 722 00:47:52,920 --> 00:47:56,680 To express our gratitude to one another. Put it into words. 723 00:47:56,920 --> 00:48:00,240 Now. Allow the Lord to begin to develop a 724 00:48:00,240 --> 00:48:04,200 culture of gratitude within your life and within this house. 725 00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:07,240 Would you stand with me? And we're going to take the next few moments and 726 00:48:07,240 --> 00:48:10,680 you move about the room as you need to. And let's give thanks today.