Alan Smith: **AUTOMATED TRANSCRIPTION** Good morning, Springhouse. Good morning, those that watch online. It's good
Alan Smith: to have you with us. Michael, if you'll just stay right there for a little
Alan Smith: bit. Did this in the 1st gathering. Why does he always cry?
Alan Smith: Anybody
Alan Smith: going through anything? Anybody been sick lately? Anything
Alan Smith: weighing heavy on your minds? Work
Alan Smith: situations, relationships? I know just today, I've
Alan Smith: heard that there's gonna be somebody that has to have a hip replacement. I've heard
Alan Smith: that somebody is, sitting in the hospital.
Alan Smith: In fact, I went and saw them. They're in ICU room
Alan Smith: 12 with ketoacidosis, something along
Alan Smith: that line. I just know that there is stuff
Alan Smith: there is stuff going on in people's lives.
Alan Smith: But aren't we glad that we have a father?
Alan Smith: Aren't we glad that we have a savior that is touched by our
Alan Smith: infirmities? And he knows what it is that we go
Alan Smith: through, and he's moved with compassion toward us. And he seeks compassion toward us.
Alan Smith: And he seeks to answer our prayers. I
Alan Smith: got turned on to Oswald Chambers about 16 years ago, and I've
Alan Smith: I
Alan Smith: read
Alan Smith: But I read something again February of this
Alan Smith: year at the beginning, and it's been hounding me for the last
Alan Smith: 10 days, and I just wanna share that with you.
Alan Smith: Because sometimes, I don't know about you, but when I pray, I start asking
Alan Smith: God for answers. And
Alan Smith: that's not the key to prayer. Whenever the
Alan Smith: insistence is on the point that God answers prayer, we are off track.
Alan Smith: This is February 7th. The meaning of prayer is
Alan Smith: that we get hold of God, not the
Alan Smith: answer. Because here's the deal. Too many
Alan Smith: times we seek the answer versus the giver of the answer.
Alan Smith: He knows what's best for us. He knows the
Alan Smith: timing that it needs to take place. He knows the way and the method it
Alan Smith: needs to take place. But the most important thing is
Alan Smith: not the answer we seek is the giver. We
Alan Smith: get 2 let me rephrase that. Maybe y'all got this down.
Alan Smith: I get too caught up looking for his hand
Alan Smith: than his face. When the
Alan Smith: the answer is this, if I'll seek his face,
Alan Smith: I'll receive the rest of it because then he's gonna freely give. So if
Alan Smith: that's you this morning and you're in something, I don't
Alan Smith: know what it is, but if you're in something, will you just yield?
Alan Smith: Will you yield this morning? Raise your hands. Father God,
Alan Smith: we come to you because you are a good
Alan Smith: God. And we don't understand the depth of the meaning of that word good,
Alan Smith: but you are a good God. And your
Alan Smith: word says you watch over it to perform it in
Alan Smith: our lives, lord. So today, God, we come
Alan Smith: broken. We come in despair. We come hopeless. We come
Alan Smith: tainted and tattered and torn and dirty and filthy in our
Alan Smith: righteousness, God. But we seek your face.
Alan Smith: Give us the spirit of Mary that we would sit at your feet,
Alan Smith: God, and not look for
Alan Smith: your hands, but we'd look for your presence
Alan Smith: because in your presence is a fullness of joy.
Alan Smith: God, and when we draw close to you, you draw close to us, and
Alan Smith: you buoy us up, and you hold us up in your right hand, God.
Alan Smith: Hear the cry of your people today. In Jesus'
Alan Smith: name. Amen. Amen.
Alan Smith: Today's gonna be a little different.
Alan Smith: So much that I don't have a lot to pray. But yesterday, the bikers I
Alan Smith: work with had a chili cook off. And it's bad when the
Alan Smith: pastor is the Ghost one at the bar, isn't it? I beat all the bikers
Alan Smith: to the bar yesterday. I was the 1st one in the well, not the Ghost
Alan Smith: one, the bartender and her helper. But I was the Ghost one. I'm knocking on
Alan Smith: the door. It was locked. And I said, hey. Where's everybody at? So I beat
Alan Smith: them to the bar. I had 9 shots of chili,
Alan Smith: little 2 ounce cups of chili because we
Alan Smith: had 8 different pots. You know what? A cup of chill
Alan Smith: or a a shot of chili is okay, but when you got 8 different ones,
Alan Smith: some of them were Ghost, And some of them were not,
Alan Smith: but they were they were chilly.
Alan Smith: And then you could buy a flight. You could buy 4 bowls for
Alan Smith: $10. And so I had 4 bowls of chili,
Alan Smith: 4 cans of diet dew because I've thank God I've changed from
Alan Smith: sun drop to diet dew. There's 0 calories in dew. So I got them to
Alan Smith: make that conversion for me. But then like a
Alan Smith: dummy, I said, hey. Bring me some of them creakle cut fries, and
Alan Smith: I'll make chili cheese fries. And I thought it was gonna
Alan Smith: hit me last night, but it hadn't hit yet. So be warned today.
Alan Smith: For the person that told me this morning that I'm channeling my inner Patrick
Alan Smith: Mahomes with my, thing because he I'm
Alan Smith: no. And for the person that was older, and this
Alan Smith: is for people 50 and older, it said I look like Robert Tilton because
Alan Smith: of my haircut. Honey, I need a haircut, Wednesday. I want it spiky again.
Alan Smith: If you're from the old generation, name it, claim it, and the televangelist.
Alan Smith: Somebody said I had a Robert Tilton haircut, so I don't know
Alan Smith: about that. 2 quick things. We had
Alan Smith: we've got 37 people signed up to go to Mexico.
Alan Smith: If you are praying about this, you need to see
Alan Smith: me ASAP because I'm gonna have to cut it off at 50. So,
Alan Smith: wow, Alvin. You're gonna have to cut a missions trip to 50. Who knew? But
Alan Smith: God has put the people. So if you're interested, see me soon. And
Alan Smith: then next Sunday, we'll talk about, Ghost responders. So that's right
Alan Smith: after service. If you hadn't registered, come on anyway, and we'll talk about
Alan Smith: that. So all that being done, hallelujah.
Alan Smith: Oh, we'll still get out of here by 12:40 or 11:45.
Alan Smith: I'm not making a promise. If you would, let's stand and read the
Alan Smith: word today. Hey. They fixed me. Thank you.
Alan Smith: As pastor Kevin and miss Vonda says with gusto.
Alan Smith: Alright. Praise be to the God and father of our
Alan Smith: lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion
Alan Smith: and the God of all comfort who comforts us
Alan Smith: in all our troubles so that we can comfort
Alan Smith: those in any trouble with the comfort we
Alan Smith: ourselves receive from God. In Colossians,
Alan Smith: therefore, as God's chosen people,
Alan Smith: holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves
Alan Smith: with compassion, kindness, humility,
Alan Smith: gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other
Alan Smith: and forgive one another if any of you has a
Alan Smith: grievance against someone. Forgive as the lord
Alan Smith: forgave you. Father, thank you that you are
Alan Smith: the God of compassion. And, lord, once more,
Alan Smith: your son modeled that out for us. So today, lord, we ask you
Alan Smith: to pour into our spirit. Let your word remain. Let my
Alan Smith: foolishness go away. And, lord, teach us your
Alan Smith: ways today in Christ's name. Amen. You may be seated.
Alan Smith: So So if you're looking for slides today, that was your 2. That's all you
Alan Smith: get today. No clicker. Boy, I'm not don't tell
Alan Smith: pastor Kevin. Don't tell pastor Ronnie. But boy, I feel so liberated. Y'all
Alan Smith: better watch out. I don't have to worry about half of my time whenever I
Alan Smith: get to speak. I'm worried about it in my click, and y'all ain't gotta worry
Alan Smith: about that today. Now you just gotta worry about if I can scroll and read.
Alan Smith: Help him, lord. Listen.
Alan Smith: We serve a God who is full of compassion. From
Alan Smith: the very beginning with Adam and Eve when they fell prey to sin in the
Alan Smith: garden, to the Hebrew children who were captive in Egypt. And
Alan Smith: God it says the word said he heard their cries and was
Alan Smith: moved. And he brought a deliverer through Moses all the way to
Alan Smith: Jesus hanging on the cross and bearing the sin of humanity,
Alan Smith: though he was blameless and perfect because of
Alan Smith: the compassion and the obedience he had to his father. All through
Alan Smith: scripture, we see the compassion of God bleeding
Alan Smith: through. Now
Alan Smith: listen. That being said, we all should
Alan Smith: know that God compassion, like
Alan Smith: his grace, is something we can't earn.
Alan Smith: It's it's something that he chooses to give to
Alan Smith: us. And if that's the case, Alan, in your filthiness,
Alan Smith: when you receive the compassion of God, it should
Alan Smith: be easy for me to be able to give compassion
Alan Smith: to somebody else. No matter what it is, it should be.
Alan Smith: But yet, somehow I seem to put
Alan Smith: conditions and qualifications and
Alan Smith: requirements on the amount of compassion that I give to somebody.
Alan Smith: It's easy to be compassionate toward Renee.
Alan Smith: 35 years this May. Hallelujah. She's put up
Alan Smith: with me. God bless her.
Alan Smith: Pray, it's easy to give compassion to my
Alan Smith: children because I love my kiddos. 30 and
Alan Smith: 25. I love my kids. It's easy to be compassionate with them.
Alan Smith: I'll be honest with you. It's pretty easy to be compassionate with most of you.
Alan Smith: That was supposed to be a laughter. In my notes, I've
Alan Smith: got a bracket. Maybe they'll laugh. So we'll no. I'm
Alan Smith: kidding. He's preaching. He's
Alan Smith: talking. But there are so many times
Alan Smith: where I will put a distinction or a
Alan Smith: qualification on whether I truly am compassionate
Alan Smith: to somebody. See, in in this, pastor Barbee
Alan Smith: gave me a great word between services, and I wanna share it now before I
Alan Smith: lose it. There is a difference between sympathy,
Alan Smith: empathy, and compassion. And the
Alan Smith: difference is this, I can empathize with
Alan Smith: somebody in a time of sorrow or struggle. I can be
Alan Smith: sympathetic towards somebody in a a a difficult
Alan Smith: situation. But compassion requires
Alan Smith: an action on my part. Yes.
Alan Smith: Empathy is a feeling. Sympathy is a thought.
Alan Smith: But genuine compassion requires
Alan Smith: an action on my part. And we see all through scripture
Alan Smith: lord, I don't know. Boy, help me stay with notes somehow. We see
Alan Smith: all through scripture that God the
Alan Smith: father when moved with compassion created a reaction.
Alan Smith: The word or phrase compassion happens 43 times in
Alan Smith: scripture. 22 in the Old Testament, 21 in the New.
Alan Smith: Specifically that phrase. But there are near I got exhausted trying
Alan Smith: to look them all up of phrases like feels
Alan Smith: like, or moved with, or stirred within. There are so
Alan Smith: many passages littered throughout the scriptures of God the
Alan Smith: father and Jesus Christ and others, his
Alan Smith: disciples, reflecting that compassion.
Alan Smith: Now here's the thing. We
Alan Smith: say we words are tricky, aren't they? I remember how many years
Alan Smith: ago, Justin? 5, 6 years ago he preached about words are
Alan Smith: hard. We just use so many words in our
Alan Smith: vocabulary. Sometimes we really forget
Alan Smith: the true meaning or the depth that's contained in a word. So
Alan Smith: I had to look up the word compassion because Allen thought with his big 12th
Alan Smith: grade education that he knew what it meant.
Alan Smith: And I wanna jump back to some scripture.
Alan Smith: The Hebrew word that is most often
Alan Smith: connected with the word we translate as compassion,
Alan Smith: It it it comes from a derivative of root word that means
Alan Smith: and we'll read it to you so I get it right. A word related
Alan Smith: to a mother's womb. Suggesting the depth
Alan Smith: of God's compassion for us is likened
Alan Smith: to a mother's care for her child within a
Alan Smith: womb. Now I've never given birth. I went like I'm
Alan Smith: about 7 months prayer. But but I've never gone through that process.
Alan Smith: But I've watched my wife and I've seen other women that have. And
Alan Smith: here's what I know. There is something
Alan Smith: about that life within that womb for that mother.
Alan Smith: That there is just a connection on such a deep
Alan Smith: guttural level. And when that that life is growing within
Alan Smith: that womb, and they start to feel that baby move. And when
Alan Smith: they're speaking and that baby responds within that womb,
Alan Smith: there is such a depth in connection to that
Alan Smith: child that that mother has. That when that
Alan Smith: child is born, no matter how excruciating, no matter how
Alan Smith: painful childbirth may be, when that child is put
Alan Smith: in that mother's arm and she puts it to the bosom.
Alan Smith: That mother would fight through heaven and hell to protect that child
Alan Smith: from any pain or injury that it could ever she would do
Alan Smith: anything she could to take away any pain or suffering that child
Alan Smith: may ever endure. That is
Alan Smith: what compassion is from the father God. That is how he
Alan Smith: feels about humanity. And there are so many Holy testament
Alan Smith: scriptures that bear that witness. Let me give you just a few.
Alan Smith: The psalmist have several. Psalm
Alan Smith: 103 is a father has compassion on his children. So the
Alan Smith: Lord has compassion on those who revere him. Psalm
Alan Smith: 86. But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
Alan Smith: slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Isaiah
Alan Smith: 3018. Yet the Lord longs to be gracious. He
Alan Smith: yearns. He earnestly desires to be gracious to you.
Alan Smith: Therefore, he will rise up to show you compassion. For
Alan Smith: the lord is a God of justice, and blessed are those
Alan Smith: who wait for him. Too many times, we don't have the patience
Alan Smith: to wait on God in our situation to allow
Alan Smith: him to come through with his compassion.
Alan Smith: Nehemiah 9. I'm I'm not
Alan Smith: real edumacated with grammar. The word before
Alan Smith: is an adverb or an adjective, whatever it describes something.
Alan Smith: It says, have mercy on me, oh God, according to your unfailing love,
Alan Smith: according to your great we just read right through that pray compassion.
Alan Smith: Do you know what that word great means right there?
Alan Smith: According to your huge, ample, elaborate,
Alan Smith: remarkable, grand, superior. That kind of
Alan Smith: passion, God the father has for us,
Alan Smith: that he would blot out our iniquities. Lamentations,
Alan Smith: we don't like to spend time there, but there is such a great
Alan Smith: person there. Lamentations 322 says, because
Alan Smith: of the lord's great, use all those definitions, love,
Alan Smith: we're not consumed for his compassions never
Alan Smith: fail. Never fail. God's
Alan Smith: compassions never lose strength. They never fall short. They never
Alan Smith: fade away. They never stop functioning. They never become
Alan Smith: deficient or disappoint in our
Alan Smith: expectation.
Alan Smith: Hell you've lived through. It don't matter what life you're in. It It don't matter
Alan Smith: what hell you've lived through. It don't matter what life you're in. It don't matter
Alan Smith: what hardship you're going through. When you rise up in the morning, God
Alan Smith: compassion is there waiting for you.
Alan Smith: New every morning. I don't know I don't know about you, but I've
Alan Smith: used up my grace
Alan Smith: and compassion with some people in this life.
Alan Smith: I've burnt bridges. And that
Alan Smith: ran out in those relationships but God's compassion
Alan Smith: never fail. They'll never fail.
Alan Smith: Well, those are old testament, preacher. What about the new
Alan Smith: testament? What about Jesus? What about
Alan Smith: Jesus? Hebrews 1.
Alan Smith: Long ago, God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and
Alan Smith: in different ways. In these last days, he has
Alan Smith: spoken to us by his son, whom he has
Alan Smith: appointed heir of all things, and through him, he made the
Alan Smith: universe. He, Jesus, is the radiance of God's
Alan Smith: glory, the exact expression
Alan Smith: of his nature, And he sustains all
Alan Smith: things by his powerful word. John
Alan Smith: recounts the, occurrence with the disciples, and he's telling
Alan Smith: them that that he and the father are 1. Those who see the father see
Alan Smith: me. And Philip says, when have we seen the father?
Alan Smith: And Jesus says, have I been with you not long enough?
Alan Smith: When you see me, you've seen the father. For the
Alan Smith: father is in me and I am in him. We are
Alan Smith: one. Which means that Jesus carried
Alan Smith: out in the flesh the exact compassion that God
Alan Smith: the father carried out through the old history scriptures. He was the
Alan Smith: physical. What and listen, if God if
Alan Smith: God never sent him, his compassion as a
Alan Smith: godly father in heaven is enough. But he cared
Alan Smith: about us enough that he sent his son that we might
Alan Smith: touch him. That he could touch us in our
Alan Smith: infirmities. To know what it's like to be human on this
Alan Smith: earth. And in that part of Christ manifest
Alan Smith: in our life, his compassion
Alan Smith: is so deep. And it cuts to the quick.
Alan Smith: There's so many passages in the New Testament. I put a few of them together.
Alan Smith: Come on, Spirit. Here we go.
Alan Smith: Before I go there, I wanna tell you this. We were talking about the word.
Alan Smith: The Holy Testament word, the New Testament word in the Greek is too
Alan Smith: many letters, has a g h, a k, and an I and all those, so
Alan Smith: I'm not even gonna try. But here's what it
Alan Smith: means. It means a stirring of the inward
Alan Smith: parts. Usually, literally, the twisting of the
Alan Smith: intestines. Have you ever encountered somebody or been in a situation
Alan Smith: that it just gripped you inside, almost doubled you
Alan Smith: over because you felt the anguish of their
Alan Smith: their pain, the the situation they were in. That's the
Alan Smith: Greek word for compassion. So that changes the
Alan Smith: whole outlook when we start thinking about we read
Alan Smith: so many times we just read through, and I challenge you. Listen. The 5 for
Alan Smith: 5, I'm doing it with you. But sometimes we read it just to check it
Alan Smith: off and mark the little box and put the date by. Hey. Don't just do
Alan Smith: it for that. Read it. Take time and read it
Alan Smith: again, and look at words and understand words
Alan Smith: preparing for this when I have studied and read the word compassion, now
Alan Smith: that I understand that that depth of it from the father
Alan Smith: like a mother has for her child in the womb, in the inward
Alan Smith: twisting of the intestines, in that guttural thing. It's giving me a
Alan Smith: whole different look. Jesus said in Matthew 9 and Mark 6, it
Alan Smith: says, Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages teaching in their
Alan Smith: synagogues, proclaiming the gospel to the kingdom, and
Alan Smith: healing every disease and affliction. When
Alan Smith: he saw the crowds, he had compassion
Alan Smith: because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd.
Alan Smith: Matthew 15 in Mark 8 says, Jesus called the disciples to him. I have
Alan Smith: compassion on the crowd because they've been with me now 3 days and have
Alan Smith: nothing to eat. And I'm unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they
Alan Smith: faint on the way. He cares about our physical needs.
Alan Smith: The healing of the 2 blind men, they were sitting out, son of David have
Alan Smith: mercy on us. And everybody said, shut up. Leave the
Alan Smith: rabbi alone. And they cried out even louder, have mercy.
Alan Smith: And it said, Jesus looked at them with compassion
Alan Smith: and he healed them. And immediately they began to
Alan Smith: see the leper.
Alan Smith: Spirit what will I do for you? And he said, if you will, you
Alan Smith: can make me clean. And Jesus was moved
Alan Smith: with compassion. And he didn't just speak
Alan Smith: it. He touched him. He
Alan Smith: made him clean. Sometimes we just need
Alan Smith: to feel him touch us. And you know what? That's hard to do
Alan Smith: now because he is now seated at the right hand of the
Alan Smith: father. So do you know how he touches us now?
Alan Smith: With us. With each other. We
Alan Smith: are now the hands and feet of Christ. We are the ones that are called
Alan Smith: to be moved with that guttural deep level of
Alan Smith: compassion that requires an action on our part. And
Alan Smith: then when we are moved like Christ was moved
Alan Smith: and we church somebody, I'm praying for you, man. I
Alan Smith: know it's hard. I'm praying for you, sister. I know
Alan Smith: it's difficult to grieve the loss of a loved one. When we
Alan Smith: do that action, we become
Alan Smith: the hands and feet of Christ's compassion
Alan Smith: in this world. 2 of my
Alan Smith: favorites
Alan Smith: the stories of his compassion.
Alan Smith: Many of us know this story. It's John 11. Pastor
Alan Smith: Jonathan did amazing teaching in the 12 of couple of weeks
Alan Smith: ago. So if you have the capacity, go look it up online and watch it.
Alan Smith: Because he prayer some things that I I've seen it twice now. Once in
Alan Smith: person and 2 in my office. But he prayer something that I really didn't
Alan Smith: think about. And he was talking about when he's talking about Jesus was
Alan Smith: coming and they were traveling back Ghost, technically, there's 2 different Bethanies in
Alan Smith: the Bible. And so he was coming to where and
Alan Smith: he said, Mary and Martha and
Alan Smith: Lazarus lived. And he named the place and he names
Alan Smith: names because Jesus was making a connection
Alan Smith: that this is not just somebody. He knew
Alan Smith: them. He had relationship. They were important to
Alan Smith: him in life. And so he was moved. And
Alan Smith: we think, well, he waited and he delayed 2 days. And then by the time
Alan Smith: he gets there, he's dead. Why didn't he move quicker? Because his
Alan Smith: ways are not our ways. His thoughts and ideas are
Alan Smith: higher than ours. And there was a purpose because when he
Alan Smith: came, not only was he gonna raise Lazarus back in life,
Alan Smith: but it was that he might glorify the father.
Alan Smith: And those that would see would recognize.
Alan Smith: Sometimes we go through things in our life
Alan Smith: that is not about us. I sat in an ICU room for
Alan Smith: 14 days 2 years ago, and I am certain in my mind
Alan Smith: it had nothing to do with me. But it was so that I could minister
Alan Smith: to 23 different nurses, doctors, and technicians in that 14
Alan Smith: days to show them the love of God while I was laid up in that
Alan Smith: bed. It was because there were countless numbers of you that were
Alan Smith: praying for me that maybe Ghost stirred your faith to reach
Alan Smith: out on somebody else's behalf.
Alan Smith: And all that was that God would be glorified through it.
Alan Smith: So we see Jesus. He shows up. And Martha comes
Alan Smith: running in tears. And it says there were Jews around and they were
Alan Smith: crying. And then we get these words that says, Jesus
Alan Smith: was moved in his spirit and
Alan Smith: groaned. The
Alan Smith: grief and the compassion of God. And then we
Alan Smith: know, spoilers, pastor Jonathan said, you raised him from the
Alan Smith: dead. And then there's another
Alan Smith: story that I love in Luke 7. I've heard it before as a child, and
Alan Smith: I've heard it taught different times. But it says, Jesus, see it
Alan Smith: if you will. Forget these comfy chairs in the air
Alan Smith: condition. We're in Jerusalem
Alan Smith: and we're walking with the master and the disciples and
Alan Smith: the people that are walking around him. And Jesus
Alan Smith: sees a funeral possession. It made me
Alan Smith: think about Alice Taber this
Alan Smith: week. I was ready to went home to be with the Lord this past
Alan Smith: sun Saturday, Sunday morning.
Alan Smith: It says that after he was on his way to a town called
Alan Smith: Nain, his disciples and a large crowd were traveling with him.
Alan Smith: And just as he neared the gate of the town, a
Alan Smith: dead man was being carried out. You know what I love
Alan Smith: about the state of Tennessee? That when we see
Alan Smith: funerals, we pull over.
Alan Smith: And you know, I know I get in my flesh and it makes me so
Alan Smith: upset when I see people pass by.
Alan Smith: Listen, I've been on the way to somewhere, and
Alan Smith: I've been late because of it. But I pull over
Alan Smith: and I put my lights on and I sit there because
Alan Smith: somebody in a hearse, somebody in the car behind the hearse,
Alan Smith: and people in those numerous cars behind it are
Alan Smith: grieving the loss of a mother, a father, a son, a a
Alan Smith: loved one, a coworker. And for just
Alan Smith: that moment, as simple as pulling over and put my lights on,
Alan Smith: it renders an action of concern.
Alan Smith: I've been in those lines and seen the
Alan Smith: cars pulled over and I felt, man.
Alan Smith: So imagine Jesus is walking through the crowd, and they're he's
Alan Smith: going, hey. If you've tried to leave a ballgame somewhere and there's thousands of
Alan Smith: people, if you're trying to go that way and the crowd's going this way, you're
Alan Smith: just gonna walk all the way around till you get over there because you're not
Alan Smith: gonna get through that crowd. And Jesus was moving
Alan Smith: with that throng of people, and it says he saw
Alan Smith: the dead man's funeral. He saw the woman.
Alan Smith: Sometimes we have to just
Alan Smith: stop and look.
Alan Smith: Sometimes we just got to be able to see
Alan Smith: what's right in front of us.
Alan Smith: And she was a widow.
Alan Smith: A large crowd from the city was also with her. And when
Alan Smith: the lord saw her, he had compassion.
Alan Smith: Sometimes I see the need,
Alan Smith: but I stop there. And I
Alan Smith: fail to be moved
Alan Smith: with compassion. See,
Alan Smith: the difference is that's Alan. But if I
Alan Smith: yield myself to the Holy Spirit, Jesus says it's expedient that I should go because
Alan Smith: I'm gonna send 1 just like me, and he will teach you in all things.
Alan Smith: He will comfort and guide you in all
Alan Smith: truth. And most of the time, he doesn't use a
Alan Smith: bullhorn. It's the whisper.
Alan Smith: It's that tug. It's that,
Alan Smith: and he wants to see if you'll be obedient. He wants to see,
Alan Smith: I know you see it. Will you now
Alan Smith: do it? And it says Jesus saw
Alan Smith: her. And then it says he was moved
Alan Smith: with compassion. And he said, don't cry.
Alan Smith: Then he come up and touched the open coffin. The pallbearer
Alan Smith: stopped and he said, young man, I tell you get up.
Alan Smith: And he rose and began to speak and Jesus
Alan Smith: gave him to his mother. Can you see it?
Alan Smith: A widow with no husband to provide. Her
Alan Smith: only it didn't say her son. There's
Alan Smith: a reason it said only son. He was
Alan Smith: her only source of provision. Her only source of
Alan Smith: protection, her only source. And
Alan Smith: now she's with nothing. And Jesus was
Alan Smith: moved with compassion and he gave her back
Alan Smith: life. What is it you need him to
Alan Smith: give you life in today? Is it a relationship?
Alan Smith: Is it a mental state? What is it that you feel is gone
Alan Smith: and I have nothing left? That you need
Alan Smith: him or somebody
Alan Smith: used by him to give you that life
Alan Smith: back.
Alan Smith: Just as Jesus set for us an example when he washed
Alan Smith: the disciples' feet, his immeasurable compassion
Alan Smith: displayed throughout his season of ministry on earth has left for
Alan Smith: us as an example, not just to one
Alan Smith: another within the kingdom,
Alan Smith: but also to those that yet believe. If you come
Alan Smith: on midweek, pastor Wayne's been
Alan Smith: doing a series about seeing Jesus the last 6 weeks. In a
Alan Smith: couple of weeks ago, when he wrapped it up again with the the one this
Alan Smith: Thursday, he used the scripture in 2nd Corinthians 5, and it said that God
Alan Smith: himself, through Christ Jesus,
Alan Smith: was reconciling us. And Wayne asked the question, who
Alan Smith: is us? The answer is not us.
Alan Smith: The answer is humanity. All us.
Alan Smith: Said God was reconciling to himself through Ghost,
Alan Smith: us while we were still in sin, not counting
Alan Smith: our transgressions against us. In other words, he
Alan Smith: didn't quantify, qualify, or place requirements
Alan Smith: on it. He did it for all of
Alan Smith: humanity. And then it says that we have been given the
Alan Smith: ministry of reconciliation, which means we are to go do the same
Alan Smith: thing. It's pretty easy.
Alan Smith: That's a oxymoronic statement. To
Alan Smith: be compassionate to somebody in this room.
Alan Smith: We're almost 400 between the 2 services and all the children.
Alan Smith: And I apologize if you've been coming 6, 8, 10 months, 2 years,
Alan Smith: and I can't get your name right. I I but I see your face.
Alan Smith: And it's pretty easy to go, yeah. I'm gonna help you. Or I see you're
Alan Smith: in need or you're moved in something and I've come to try to help
Alan Smith: you. But he's not just talking about taking care
Alan Smith: of us, us ins.
Alan Smith: We have to be compassionate to those
Alan Smith: who don't speak like us, who don't look like us, who
Alan Smith: don't smell like us, who don't dress like us, who don't act
Alan Smith: like us. Let me tell you something. A sinner's gonna act like a
Alan Smith: sinner, but we're still called to love and minister
Alan Smith: to them. And if they find themselves in a
Alan Smith: place that is deserving I'm sorry. That's the
Alan Smith: wrong word. None of us deserve compassion. If they
Alan Smith: find themselves in a place of needing
Alan Smith: compassion, it is our responsibility
Alan Smith: to be those hands and feet and see them
Alan Smith: and be moved to meet their
Alan Smith: need and compassion. And sometimes, it's as
Alan Smith: simple as just sitting with a grieving widow.
Alan Smith: Sometimes it's as simple as hugging that
Alan Smith: lonely person.
Alan Smith: It'd be amazing what small acts of
Alan Smith: compassion can do. I wanna read something to you that came from one of our
Alan Smith: brothers in the men's ministry. We have 3 or
Alan Smith: 4 different threads in our pursuit minutes
Alan Smith: page. One's a prayer thread. One's a help needed page, And then
Alan Smith: one's just a thing where we try to encourage each other. And I think it
Alan Smith: was maybe Wednesday or Thursday of this week, this maybe Thursday,
Alan Smith: This brother posted this. He said, I was walking from one area of the gym
Alan Smith: to another yesterday, not really paying attention when I noticed a little bit
Alan Smith: of water on the floor. Then about 2 feet in front of it,
Alan Smith: there was more. In another kip couple of feet, there was more water.
Alan Smith: I looked up and I saw a woman carrying a water bottle by her sit
Alan Smith: side, but the lid wasn't screwed on tight. And the angle at which she was
Alan Smith: holding it caused water to pour out every few feet.
Alan Smith: This had gone on for about a stretch of maybe
Alan Smith: 50 feet or so. So I called up to her and I told her, I
Alan Smith: said, you're you're spilling water
Alan Smith: in in your drink, and I just didn't want you to be thirsty
Alan Smith: because you ran out of water.
Alan Smith: Now he could've said, hey. Hey. You're
Alan Smith: making a mess. You're spilling water all through here, and I
Alan Smith: almost tripped on that. I almost slipped. Clean up your
Alan Smith: stuff. He could've.
Alan Smith: Sometimes we do,
Alan Smith: but that wasn't his heart posture.
Alan Smith: His heart posture was I didn't want you to be out of theater.
Alan Smith: I didn't want you to be thirsty. And it says she looked at
Alan Smith: him. She looked embarrassed, but said thank you, and
Alan Smith: that she'd clean it up. I almost went right back to my
Alan Smith: workout, but instead you ever had one of those?
Alan Smith: I was going to and then
Alan Smith: I went and grabbed some paper towels and started walking
Alan Smith: the water from the opposite end of the trail.
Alan Smith: And when we met in the middle, she looked as if she was
Alan Smith: about to cry. She said thank you
Alan Smith: because I'm not used to people helping me.
Alan Smith: And I could see the genuine gratitude in her eyes.
Alan Smith: I'd never seen her before, but I told her if she ever is in need
Alan Smith: and sees me here, she can come ask.
Alan Smith: You see, even the smallest acts of kindness can have the biggest impact on
Alan Smith: people. It cost me less than 5 minutes,
Alan Smith: but I can imagine that she thought about it for much longer. I
Alan Smith: bet she did too. And you know why
Alan Smith: I know she did? Because she said when she looked at him, I'm not used
Alan Smith: to people helping me. 5
Alan Smith: minutes of wiping up water on it. I don't know the woman's
Alan Smith: spiritual state. Maybe she's a believer. Maybe she's
Alan Smith: not. But I believe that brother in that 5
Alan Smith: minutes of extending his kindness because he
Alan Smith: was moved by compassion to help her
Alan Smith: Could be seeds that Ghost an eternity for her. Maybe she's
Alan Smith: a believer and she's wandered because she's felt deserted or left
Alan Smith: alone. And this act restored
Alan Smith: her hope that God has not forgotten me. Maybe
Alan Smith: she's an unbeliever and can't believe anybody would take their
Alan Smith: time out. And he listen. It's easy to point out people's
Alan Smith: mess ups. Guess what? Most of the
Alan Smith: time we know we're messing up, but
Alan Smith: sometimes we don't. But how
Alan Smith: much better is it when we negate the error
Alan Smith: in the pointing out of the thing rather than getting in the ditch and helping
Alan Smith: and minister onto them.
Alan Smith: The smallest acts of kindness can have the
Alan Smith: biggest impact on people. It Ghost me less than 5 minutes.
Alan Smith: Then he writes, lend a hand. Be the change.
Alan Smith: Be like Jesus.
Alan Smith: Don't worry about what others think. Praise and worship team, you can come
Alan Smith: out. Don't worry about the snickers or the stairs
Alan Smith: because we all need help
Alan Smith: at times. So help someone when you
Alan Smith: can.
Alan Smith: John says this in first John.
Alan Smith: This is how we know what love is.
Alan Smith: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us,
Alan Smith: and we ought to lay down our lives for our
Alan Smith: brothers and sisters. If anyone
Alan Smith: has the material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need,
Alan Smith: but is not moved with compassion for them,
Alan Smith: how can the love of God be in that person?
Alan Smith: Dear children, let us not love with
Alan Smith: words or speech, but
Alan Smith: with actions and in truth.
Alan Smith: I can say all pray,
Alan Smith: and I can preach and proclaim it all I want
Alan Smith: to with my mouth. But until my
Alan Smith: life reflects through my
Alan Smith: actions, my words are useless.
Alan Smith: You ever been told something by body? And you know,
Alan Smith: you know you know, they ain't gonna
Alan Smith: do it. They
Alan Smith: have every intention. They mean
Alan Smith: well. But you know,
Alan Smith: soon as it comes out it falls to the ground. Coach, you know.
Alan Smith: But have you met people also? That they never
Alan Smith: say a thing? But when you need them,
Alan Smith: when you're in that grind, you're in that hard place,
Alan Smith: you know they're coming. You know they're praying.
Alan Smith: You know that whatever you need, they're gonna do.
Alan Smith: Because their actions speak louder than their
Alan Smith: words. I wanna be a person
Alan Smith: that my words
Alan Smith: reflect my actions.
Alan Smith: I want my life to be one that's consistent.
Alan Smith: So if I say, you know I will.
Alan Smith: And listen, I'm gonna blow it. I'm gonna miss it. You
Alan Smith: are too, so don't point at me. But God,
Alan Smith: that my heart would be so attuned
Alan Smith: to his spirit that when I hear him
Alan Smith: whisper, if I say, then I will
Alan Smith: do. And I think that's what he's called us
Alan Smith: as believers to be. Because there's a world out
Alan Smith: there, Spirit earlier, sinners gonna
Alan Smith: sin. And they already have a misconception
Alan Smith: about the genuine body of Christ.
Alan Smith: But oh, that we would be a people
Alan Smith: that genuinely lived a life
Alan Smith: of grace, and mercy, and compassion
Alan Smith: with no restraint, with no qualifications
Alan Smith: that they could taste and see that the lord is good. For
Alan Smith: those that are gonna pray with people, if you'd come down.
Alan Smith: Maybe you're here this morning and you're on one side of the
Alan Smith: coin or the other. Pastor, I'm in a difficult place.
Alan Smith: Brother, I'm in a place of grief, mental
Alan Smith: anguish. I've got sickness. I've got things in my life. And I
Alan Smith: just need to sense the lord's compassion in my life again.
Alan Smith: There are people here that will pray with you.
Alan Smith: Maybe you're on the other side of that. Lord, I blow
Alan Smith: it. I blow it more than I get it right. And I need your Holy
Alan Smith: Spirit to help me to hear your
Alan Smith: voice so that I can move with compassion
Alan Smith: when you speak. There are people that are here pray with you for that
Alan Smith: too. So would you stand and let's worship? And if that's you,
Alan Smith: come spend some time down here with