Transcription
Heat.
[Music] [Music] Heat.
[Music] Good morning everybody. It's good to see you today. Let's all stand together. We're going to sing a few songs together to get going today. Let's warm up our voices. Let's lift praise together today.
[Music] Sing to the king. Sing to the king of kings. Sing for He's done great things. Bring your worship to the Lord. Sing to the mighty God. Sing for He's Lord of all. Sing your worship to the Lord. Our God in heaven forever. There is no above and we shout your glory. We lift you higher with every breath we praise. Sing to the son of man for He'll come again with your worship to the Lord. Shout it out. Shout to the risen one. For He's overcome.
[Music] Bring your worship to the Lord.
[Music] Our God in heaven. Our king forever. There is no greater love than yours. We shout your glory. We lift you higher. With every breath we give you praise. All of our praise unto your name. Heaven and earth together proclaim Jesus worthy worthy of it all. Jesus worthy of it all. All of our praise unto your name. Heaven and earth together proclaim Jesus your word. Worthy of it all.
[Music] I got in heaven. I'll keep forever. There is no other than yours. We shout your glory. We lift you higher with every breath. We give you praise.
[Music] You made the saw his goodness. He gave us life. Though we would flee, you never fail to show us mercy.
[Music] Your love amazes me. You came to earth way to save. A mighty God. Emmanuel spoke the truth with grace and power. Your love amazes me. I stand in your presence in all of your mesty. How great is your love.
[Music] Heart chose the cross rose in glory? All praise to you, Lord. All praise to you, Lord. I stand in your presence in all your majesty.
[Music] I'm over in your presence. How great you love me. How marvelous, how wonderful my soul will sing of your love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful.
[Music] My soul will sing of your love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful my love for me. How wonderful. Yes. My wonderful my soul will see you. I sh your presence in all your in your presence. How great is your love for me, how far and how wonderful my soul will sing of your love, how wonderful.
[Music] My soul will sing. Let's sing it. How wonderful my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my s singing. How marvelous, how wonderful my soul shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for.
[Music] Amen. Go ahead and grab a seat real quick. We're going to continue uh just in a quiet time of this service. Hopefully, you're able to pick up a little container that has the juice and the bread in it. this morning that represents Christ and the sacrifice of the cross for us. If that part's new to you, there's uh no obligation to participate in that. But there'll be some scriptures on the screen that we can all read and all think on and a number up there as well. If you need someone to pray for you, you can text in that request and they'll start right away praying with and for you. And they're available at the end of the service, too. If you want to talk to somebody in person, they would love to meet you. Let's just take a few more minutes uh this morning to just uh just quiet our hearts and uh just uh have a heart of gratitude for all that Jesus has done for us.
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] I sing amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazareth. They wonder how he could love me. A sinner condemned. How marvelous, how wonderful and my son shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my love for me.
[Music] He took my sin and my sorrow and made them his very own. He bore the burdens of Calary and suffered and died alone. You said, "How marvelous, how wonderful my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my work for me." ing glory. His face I last shall see will be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for him. We all sing it out. Sing it. How marvelous, how wonderful my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my love for me.
Well, let me pray for us. Father, our words just seem to fall short of our ability to truly express how great you are and how grateful we are for you and your love for us. But we just wanted to say thank you for always receiving what we offer you, for being present with us today. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.
You can go ahead and have a seat. And as you do, I will take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Greg and I'm part of the ministry staff here at Southland. We're glad you're here today. There's a great story in the Bible about two sisters that had an opportunity to host Jesus in their home. And so Martha got to work right away making sure all the details were put together. While Mary, on the other hand, decided that she just wanted to visit with Jesus. And there was a moment when Jesus had to gently say to Martha, "Martha, slow down. It's okay. It isn't a perfect house that I want or an excellent meal. It's time with you that I want." And I think for many of us, it's easier to be busy like Martha than to be content to be with Jesus like Mary.
Well, we have a great opportunity for you to spend some quality time with Jesus with the help of our amazing worship team this Wednesday night. That's right. Summer worship night is finally here and we're looking forward to celebrating together. We're going to be meeting at the Lexington Sporting Club Soccer Complex which is out at the corner of Richmond Road and I75. Food trucks are going to be there at 6:30. Worship starts at 7:30. We're going to be celebrating baptisms. It's going to be amazing. So, bring a chair, bring a friend, and come on out. And let me just say this to you. If you're hesitant at all about, I don't know about making that drive. I don't know if I know where that place is. When you get to Richmond Road close to I75, you'll know you're there because you'll see it. Pull into the parking lot and we're going to have signs, flags, people telling you where to go. So, it's not going to be as complicated as you might think. Come on out and let's have a great night together.
Well, we've been seeing a lot of new faces around here this summer. In fact, there were a couple of weeks in June where our attendance rivaled that of fall. And it's wonderful. We just want to say to those of you that might be newer to this place, how glad we are that you're here. and we'd love to have you stop by the help desk in the concourse. Introduce yourself. No strings attached. We'll have a gift for you. Mostly we just wanted you to know that when you're ready to take next steps, we are here for you. Uh and let us know how we can help in that way. We'll be glad to do it.
Well, my wife serves in our children's ministry on Sunday mornings and she tells me the best stories out of serving. Can I just tell you a couple of things about your kids? Your kids are bright and your kids are hysterical. They say the funniest things and I can't wait for her to tell me more stories week after week. When your kids are uh in our Southland kids area, we love our Southland kids. Uh they're in a place that maximizes their time here. It also helps us minimize distractions here in the auditorium as does silencing those cell phones and refraining from conversations. Now, we realize those of you that have kids checked into the children's ministry have your phones so that we can reach you. just keep them on silence and we'll be able to reach you that way. But mostly we just wanted to say thank you for helping us minimize those distractions.
We are continuing a teaching series that we've been in called Headcratcher and John Whis is here today to continue that series. So let's go ahead and join in with the rest of our campuses right now as John comes to teach us. We're glad you're here.
[Music] [Music] In a span of four weeks in 2007, my wife lost her mom, I lost my dad, and both of us experienced a very unique um dynamic at their funerals. Those normal social barriers that people have up on a daily basis disappeared. And we watched people hug one another and we felt them as they hugged us. And it had a profound impact on me, that human connection, that human contact. Many of you will remember this. I made a little sign that just said free hugs and started standing on a street corner in downtown Lexington on Tuesdays. Offered those to anybody that might need one.
Well, one of the very first men who came across the street squinted at my sign and said, "Oh, I thought it said free hogs." And I was like, "Only in Kentucky would people think we're giving away free farm animals." Sorry to disappoint you. There's a police officer who rode up on horseback and he looked at me and he said, ' Do you mind me asking why you're doing this? I said, 'I just trying to make your job a little bit easier. And he laughed and I said, "Do you need a hug?" He said, "No thanks. I'm on duty." And uh so I end up hugging his horse, which was a lot of fun. There's a homeless man that came across the street and he said, "Bro, do you do you mind if I bum a cigarette off of you?" And I was like, "Man, I'm plum out. I'm so sorry." Um but I said you can sit and hang out with me if you want. So he sat down on my water cooler and that was the first of many conversations. Went about 30 minutes and heard his about his childhood. The next time he came he told me about his marriage that had fallen apart, his addiction to drugs and it just kept snowballing to time in jail, homelessness and got out. And I said, "Well, where are you now?" He said, "Man, I'm actually in a healthy spot. I just need I need someone to give me a chance." And so I called one of you and I said, "Hey, I got this guy who needs a job." And one of you came and picked him up and gave him the training he needed, put him up in an apartment for six months, and I think he still has that job. And most people thought I had lost a bet. They thought that's why I was out there or that I was on some kind of hidden camera show. One man came and approached me aggressively, snatched the sign out of my hand, and he said, "I'm going to tear this up if you don't leave." And I just said, "Listen, man. If you tear up my sign, you just prove that I need to be down here more, not less. And there was a woman who rode up on a 10-speed bicycle. I'll never forget her as long as I live. And she watched me interact with about a dozen people, kept taking hits off her cigarette. And finally, she worked up the courage and she said, "Hey, what's your sign say?" And I realized in that moment that she couldn't read. And so I just kind of told her what it what it said. I waited for the kill and I wrapped her up and man, she started to sob, held on to the back of my shirt for dear life. And when she finally regained her composure, she said, "Nobody's hugged me in a long time. When nobody hugs you, you begin to feel like a nobody, and nobody's a nobody to God. Everybody's a somebody to him." And in the eight or nine years that I did it, I hugged probably, I don't know, thousands of people, laughed with them, cried with them, baptized 17 of them. But there was a singular verse in my mind from the mouth of Jesus. It just says, "Do to others what you want them to do to you." And my guess is you learn that verse as a young child. We refer to it as the golden rule. And I've often thought, man, the golden rule could be the only rule in life, the only rule we need. If we just obeyed it, I don't know that we'd need any others.
But here's what I want you to notice. I want you to notice what Jesus didn't say. He didn't frame it in the negative. He didn't say, "Don't do to others what you wouldn't want them to do to you." So, it's more than just refraining from unkindness that Jesus expects of us. He's proactively telling us, "Pursue a lifestyle of kindness. do to others what you want them to do to you." And friends, we see that play out in the life of King David in this very unique headscratching moment in his life. He asked this question of his adviserss. Is anyone still alive from Saul's family? If so, I want to show God's kindness to them in any way I can. Well, immediately they all said, "Yeah, Saul has a grandson who doesn't live too far from here. His name is Mphibicheth and he's disabled in both feet. He can't walk." So David sends his adviserss to bring Mphibicheth to him. They carry him into David's palace. And when Mphibicheth realizes where he is and who he's standing in front of, it says he bows in fear before the king. And David says to him, "Hey, don't be afraid. I have asked you to come so that I can be kind to you. I will give you all the land that once belonged to your grandfather Saul and you may live here with me at my palace." I don't want you to miss this. The context here is Mphibicheth's grandfather Saul wasn't kind to David. Matter of fact, he tried to kill him on multiple occasions. So David's doing for him what he would want someone to do for his own family. And that's why Mphibicheth responds this way. Should the king show such kindness to a dead dog like me? That tells you he's had a hard life. He's had a difficult circumstances in his life. But the goodness of David, the generosity of David is overwhelming to Mphibicheth. And that's why this is the best line. Mphibicheth ate regularly with King David as though he were one of his own sons. In other words, David didn't look at Mphibbeeth and say, "I'm going to treat him the way he deserves to be treated." David looked at this young man and he said, "I'm going to treat him the way God has treated me, with kindness."
I remember hearing years ago about a high school teacher who had her students put a blank sheet of paper on their desk with a pen and she gave him this simple the simple assignment. She said, "Hey, for two minutes, I want you just to make a list of the students you dislike in our school." Well, most students would write anywhere from one to to three names on their list. One girl wrote 14 names on her list. And there was an interesting lesson that emerged from this simple exercise. And the lesson was this. The students who disliked the most students were themselves the most disliked students. We refer to this in sociological circles as the echo effect. Meaning, if you stand on the edge of a canyon and you shout, "I love you." The odds are you're going to hear it back three times. I love you. I love you. I love you. Stand on the edge of that same canyon and shout, "I hate you." You're going to hear it back three times. And what's always interesting to me is that the echo effect and the golden rule kind of go hand in hand. And that they teach us a basic principle that we need to teach our children. And that is you often get out of life what you put into it. But notice I put the word often. Not always, because there is an exception to this principle. And we know it in church circle as the grace of God. If you're not new to this, or if you are new to this and you've not been exposed to it, you just need to know the grace of God allows you to take your worst moments and you give them all to him and in exchange, he gives you his best moments. You do nothing, but you get everything in return. This is why David was compelled in in Romans chapter 2 to say it's the kindness of God that leads people to repentance. Right? You come to grips at some point when you realize how kind he's been to us. That God is not mean. He's not demanding. He's not overbearing. And the Bible says he does not treat us as our sins deserve. And once that settles into your soul, because he's been so kind, you can't help but be kind to other people.
I I remember reading in elementary school the children's classic Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shell Silverstein, and he's got a humorous poem in there that describes the way most people feel about themselves, the people we interact with on a daily basis. He writes this, "Oh, I came in fourth in the beauty contest. Please let me cry a minute. I came in fourth in the beauty contest. I was so sure I'd win it. They can keep the ribbon that says fourth place. And I don't care where they pin it. I came in fourth in a beauty contest and there were just three of us in it." And the truth is sadly a lot of the people you lock eyes with every day, they feel that way deep inside about themselves. Matter of fact, they bought this lie. I will never be good enough. I will never be smart enough. I will never be pretty enough to amount to anything to anyone. And that's where God's family steps in and we intervene with against that lie with truth. And we tell them, no, you have a place in the king's palace. You have a seat at the king's table. And it's so important that we deliver that news through the relationships that we establish with people. So much so I've been studying over the years what makes people relationally successful. And I don't think you'll be surprised to see this. Research says there are four qualities that most relationally successful people, magnetic personalities tend to exude. The first is they exude integrity. They're honest. You can trust what they say because they mean what they say. Number two, they exude authenticity. They're comfortable in their own skin and they want you to be comfortable in your own skin, in their presence. They're not seeking approval or applause from you. They don't need that. Not trying to take. They're trying to give. Next, they exude positivity. There's nothing negative about them, nothing cynical. As a matter of fact, they're going to draw the positive out of view and highlight it as a beautiful characteristic. And last but not least, maybe most important for our conversation today, they exude empathy, which simply means this. They're not going to add to the pain in your life. You got enough of that. They want to relieve that pain if possible.
Now, here's what I I know. I'm not surprised that modern research has discovered those are the qualities to look for in a good friend. Those are the qualities to embody as a good friend. Well, because the Bible has a similar list that we refer to in the church as the fruit of the spirit. When Jesus invites himself into your life and you say yes to that invitation, you need to know that his spirit wants to clean out the corruption in your heart from your own sin and the effects of other people's sin. And what that means is Jesus is going to help you look like him. He wants you to think like him, talk like him, act like him, which is for your benefit and the benefit of everybody around you. So the longer you follow Jesus, people around you should see more love and more joy flowing out of you. More peace and patience. And here it is, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. And if you'll let me for just a minute, I want to connect modern research with ancient wisdom, specifically around that word empathy and the fruit of the spirit. This is kindness and gentleness working together. And here's why it's so important. Today in the English language, we have a wonderful word, a very descriptive word that describes most people again that you're going to see tomorrow. And that word is fragile. Now, the common language in this room and in all of our campuses is pain. Unfortunately, we're all fluent in the language of suffering. Life is hard. Anyone that denies that is lying. But it's especially hard for certain people. So much so that they need us to deliver the kindness of God through the vehicle of gentleness. Because gentleness is this relational counterbalance to meanness and bluntness and harshness that is so pervasive in our culture today. And when I think about that lethal combination, that compassionate combination of kindness and gentleness, my oldest sibling, my older sister, Julie, is probably the person who taught me the most about it over the years. I think my family would agree with this. She has an unbelievable heart, and she and her husband have given their lives to to paying attention to and serving and loving and caring for people that our society has shoved to the margins. ex-convicts, people caught in the cycles of homelessness, addictions, uh cycles of poverty and abuse and prostitution. And it's not new to my sister, having had a front row seat to her life. When she was younger, we had a girl that rode our school bus named Lori. Lori was mentally and physically challenged. My sister, this popular cheerleader, would get off the bus, help Lori get onto the bus, and get to her seat comfortably. She would sit with her at lunch when no one else would. She'd pick her up on Sunday and bring her to church. And it didn't stop when they graduated from high school. 40 years later, my sister's still driving hours to watch Lori compete in bowling competitions within the framework of the Special Olympics. And I know the cynic would look at my sister's life and they would say, "Well, she probably has margin for this. She's probably blessed to be able to do this kind of stuff." My sister has eight kids, okay, and 13 grandchildren. She has no margin for anything. Her life is chaos, right? But if you met her, you would feel like you're the most important person in the world to her. Matter of fact, if you met her today and you were at church with her, she'd say, "Hey, come to my house for lunch." She wouldn't need to know anything about you. And when you get to her house, you're going to meet people that she just met that week at the gas station at Sam's Club. And she's just pulling people together. Why? Why? Julie knows her Bible. More importantly, she knows the main character of the Bible is Jesus. And no one in human history delivered kindness through gentleness better than him. Friends, think about the Samaritan woman at the well. Every man in her life had taken advantage of her. Man after man after man. And here's a man who's looking at her for the first time in a loving way. She was fragile when Jesus met her there. Think about Legion. This guy was a threat to himself. He was a threat to the well-being of everyone around him. So much so, his neighbors chained him to a wall inside of a cave. When Jesus met him, he was fragile. Think about Bararddmus. He's blind. He's sitting on this dusty road. He's got a little bowl in his hands, and he is begging from people who are passing by that are just as poor as he is. He is fragile when Jesus meets him. And what I've learned from Jesus and Julie and King David, none of them were waiting for opportunities to come their way to be kind. They were proactively looking for opportunities to be kind to other people. And in that regard, they remind me of these two ships that we have in our Navy's fleet. The USS Comfort and the USS Mercy. These are floating hospitals that your tax dollars have paid for. And when our country is at war and soldiers get wounded on the battlefield, oftentimes they end up on these floating hospitals where they get the surgery, the medicine, the rest and recovery they need to heal. When our nation is not at war, these ships are deployed to countries around the world where there's human suffering. Hurricanes and tsunamis, they go. Civil wars and famines, they go. They are goodwill ambassadors representing the heart of our nation for other people. And isn't that precisely what God wants to do with each of us this week? He wants to deploy you, aim you, steer you towards someone in need where you can be his hands, heart, and head in their presence. You can be an expression of kindness and gentleness. That's why I love this passage from 1 Thessalonians 5. It says, "Gently encourage the stragglers. reach out for the exhausted, pulling them to their feet."
One of the most important life lessons I learned from working with disadvantaged children in Haiti was hungry children become angry adults and understandably so. When your basic needs aren't met in childhood, you can develop these really dangerous behavioral tendencies in adulthood. And that's where this church comes in. You look at most of what we do. We're trying to get to the root problem, root solution. And so we aim a lot of our effort at children. If we can get them before they become adults, man, we lower incarceration rates. We we lower poverty rates. We lower teenage pregnancy and drug addiction rates. And so last year, I brought an idea to stage that was very unique. And we talked about using meat that was harvested by hunters in the state of Kentucky to feed hungry children across the state. And I've asked Ben Robinson, who's the chief biologist for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, good friend and an active member at our Danville campus, if he would sit down in front of the camera this week and just share with you a behindthescenes look at what this partnership between Southland and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife has done in the state of Kentucky. Take a look at this.
>> Yeah, my name is Ben Robinson and I'm the director of wildlife for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. And I'm also a board member of the organization Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry. The mission of Kentucky Hunters for the Hungrys. It's really very simple. It's fighting food insecurity, feeding hungry kids, hungry adults, hungry Kuckians through donated venison or deer meat. And now bringing Southland in, you know, to that partnership, uh, the three of us together are really, we've been able to accomplish some great things. Since Southland signed on, um, the very first year, in the very first season last fall, um, Hunters for the Hungry experienced a 10% increase in the number of donated deer, which is huge. So over 3,300 deer got donated uh, to the cause. That equates to over 140,000 pounds of venison uh that was that provided meals for people around Kentucky. The backpack program has been a success for a long time, but one of the things that's really been missing is a consistent source of protein, and venison is that, you know, it's a it's a very abundant source of protein. It's an organic form of meat, very healthy. So, you package it up into a shelf stable package like this that's going to last a while. Um, it fits perfectly in these backpacks. South got 10,000 meat sticks this year to distribute out. Um, from what I'm hearing, they've been very wellreceived. Everybody that tries them loves them. This is a really easy first step. Turn your hobby of deer hunting into a service project for the church. So, when you're out hunting this fall, think about taking maybe a deer or an extra deer, dropping that off at a participating processor. pray over that deer and that donation that it's going to go, you know, to feed a hungry child or or a hungry adult around the state and then just sit back and wait and and see what happens. And you might be really surprised at what the Holy Spirit's doing in your life and and how he speaks to you and what doors that may open up in the future for, you know, for future service within the church.
>> Man, some of the best ideas are the simple ideas. I'll never forget where I was sitting in my brother's basement in Colorado when the dollar club was downloaded into my brain. I'm watching this economist on the news bemoan the value of the American dollar. And at the time he was right. I understood what he was saying because if you gave $1 to one person in need, it would almost be insulting. It wouldn't move the dial for them. But I had this simple thought. If all of us gave a dollar, we wouldn't miss that dollar. But if we collect those dollars and aim it at someone who has a need, man, they'd miss it and we'd miss an opportunity to really help them. And the same is true for every penny, nickel, dime, quarter you have. In the United States, $68 million a year is lost in loose change. And I'm not surprised by that. It goes between the cushions on our couch. It ends up on the floorboard of our trucks. We throw it away on trays at fast food restaurants. $68 million. I I just want you to have confidence in our church. Every penny, nickel, dime, quarter is aimed at every man, woman, boy, and girl in the state of Kentucky so that we can meet their needs. And when we demonstrate that kindness and that gentleness, it impacts people outside the family of God. But I also want you to see it impacts people within the family of God.
Paul continues in 1 Thessalonians 5 and he says, "Look for the best in each other and always do your best to bring it out." Let me illustrate that in a unique way. When I was in the fifth grade, I always played summer baseball and this year they had these two little all-star teams and so I tried out and one was sponsored by Coke and the other was sponsored by Taco Bell and I ended up on the Coca-Cola team which was awesome because after every game we got a free Coke and we went undefeated. We had a great summer season. The Taco Bell team didn't win a game that season. They went 0 and4 and I used to think in my little kid brain, well, yeah, man, it'd be hard to run on the bases with a gordita or chalupa in your belly. That's the way I thought about it. Now, many of you will remember this. Back in the day when you played youth sports, you didn't have to have the gear. You show up with a baseball mitt, that's all you needed. And the coach by the league would be given three batting helmets and three bats for the the players to use. We all shared them. One evening I'm sitting at home in the summer and my mom says to me, "John, you've been scratching your head a lot. Are you okay?" And I remember telling her, "Man, it feels like my head's on fire, like I've had a sunburn on my scalp." And I didn't realize this, but there was a boy on our team whose last name was Roach. Very appropriate for what he did because he blessed all of us with head lice that summer, and we all had to get our heads shaven and go to the next game, you know, just embarrassingly so. But if you know anything about head lice, the egg of a lice is called a knit. And the person who gets the knit out of your hair is called a knit picker. Right? So even more history. In 1950s, that phrase nitpicking made its way into the mainstream and bloodstream of American vernacular to describe someone who pays an excessive amount of negative attention to details that don't matter. If you're new to South, we love you and we're so glad you're here and we pray you stay with us. But we want you to know that as a church family, we recognize that gossip is a sport in central Kentucky. We don't participate. Quite the opposite. If you're new here, you need to know this because it'll be a shock to your system. We don't nitpick in this church. And what I mean by that is we don't highlight the negative in anyone's life. We highlight the positive. We look for that one good characteristic in everyone we meet and we highlight that, exacerbate that, draw that out because that's meant for the good of others. When you nitpick, whether you realize it or not, no one ever feels safe in your presence. And we don't want that as a church. We want everyone to come through the doors of this place to feel very warm and welcomed here. It's why Paul said this, 'Do not let any un and wholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen.' This isn't hard. It's simple complimentary words like, "Hey, you are so good at that. That looks so nice on you." Simple words like, "Hi, thank you. Please let people know that they matter to you, that you see them."
I always have a group of boys that I'm investing in. It's fun to see them turn into solid young men. But a lot of the boys in my groups don't have dads. Their dads bailed on them. And so I want to be a positive male influence in their lives. Check in with their moms. Make sure they're being respectful. Check in with teachers. Make sure they're doing their homework. And then I use words to represent that they have a father in heaven who won't do what their earthly dad did. And friends, I didn't learn that just on a whim. I studied one man and his name was Jesus. I could give you a hundred examples of how he leveraged words for the good of others. Let me give you one from the cross. Jesus uttered seven statements up there in that six-hour period. My guess is he uttered a whole lot more. But all of them were aimed at others. John, this is my mom, Mary. Mary, meet John. John, meet Mary. John, when I'm gone, take care of her. Look out for her. To the thief on the cross next to him, this won't be the last chapter of your life, brother. I promise you this. Today, you will be with me in paradise. And then this one aimed at us. He looked at the crowd and he said, "Father, forgive these people. They don't know what they're doing." Even when Jesus wasn't being treated the way he deserved to be treated, he still treated people better than they deserve to be treated. And he wants us to do the same. It's the best way to live.
So let me put it on a practical level. I read years ago that the average flower shop throws away 30 flowers a day. There are 40 flower shops in our region. That's 1,200 flowers a day. 1,200 little emblems and symbols of beauty that aren't being aimed at widows in nursing homes that might be sad and lonely and just need a touch. You know people in your neighborhood who have gone through health issue after health issue. Now they've lost their job. They just need their yard mowed. They just need their gutters cleaned out. They just need you to run some errands for them. Others of you know young couples who are about to pull their hair out and you've been there. So, you just need to look them in the eyes and go, "Hey, this Friday night, you're going out for dinner on us. We're paying and we're going to watch your kids for free, too." Others of us have good circles of friends that we deeply love and they love us in return. And then we got these straggler friends over here that don't really connect anywhere. Invite all of them to your house in the next couple weeks and just put some ice cream out. Just get two gallons of ice cream. Make sure they don't say fat-ree. That is so I have to say this every summer. It's so insulting to the cows that made it. Don't do that. Okay? Put it out and just watch what happens. Just watch what ice cream does. And this week, when that person sticks out that hand, if it's appropriate, bypass the handshake and go for the hug, you'll be surprised. I remember standing on that street corner and it's in the middle of lunch hour traffic and this car just stops screeching halt little BMW middle of the road and this lady jumps out door wide open cars behind her and she runs up on the sidewalk and she says I have had the worst week and she just hugged me nearly broke my ribs suffocating I couldn't say anything I just said I love you I'm so sorry I'm here for you people are cussing at her honking at her she didn't she didn't care and I remember thinking about that little poem I memorized as a kid. All the paths that wind and wind, but just the art of being kind is all this world needs. And it's true.
So, let me leave you with a visual. Umpire on his way to call a high school baseball game gets pulled over by the police for speeding in a school district. So, as the police officer approaches his side window, he begins to think through what he's going to say. And so, the guy approaches and this umpire says, "Listen, I'm I'm running late. I have a day job, but this is not night job, and these boys are counting on me. I'm a law-abiding citizen. I I don't normally speak." All this stuff we tell police officers. And the police officer had had a rough day. And so, he just wrote the ticket, and he said, "Tell it to the judge." In a really gruff way. Fast forward two weeks, the the firefighters in town and the police officers in town have a softball charity event. Guess who the umpire is? Yeah, it's the umpire who had been pulled over two weeks early. And guess who the first batter in the game is? It's the police officer who pulled the umpire over. So the police officer recognizes it's him. And so as he steps into the bat batter's box, he's a little nervous. It's a little awkward. So to break the ice, he said, "Hey man, I hope the hope the ticket thing turned out. Did everything go okay for you with the judge?" And the umpire just lifted his mask and he said, "You need to swing at every pitch. do to others what you want them to do to you. If we obey it, if we live it out, it might just be the only rule we will ever need in this crazy life."
Let me pray for us. Uh, Father, when I think about the the movie of my life as it plays out, all the different ways I've messed up and screwed up, hurt myself, hurt others, I definitely don't deserve to be on the receiving end of your kindness, but it's made the biggest difference in my life. Uh, that you've delivered your love gently, patiently, in a way that I could handle. And God, the last thing I want to be is harsh and mean and abrupt and blunt. And I don't I don't want to acquies the the culture's mindset. So, Father, I pray you give us opportunity this week to just be kind and gentle to people who have been beaten up and beaten down by life. And I pray, God, that they experience your love through us. That we do it with no strings attached. That's paying for someone's gas at the gas station. If that's blessing a waitress or waiter, God, if that's dropping a note to someone who's just tired, discouraged, whatever that looks like, just bring to mind, Father, what David did for Mphibicheth. He didn't He didn't deserve that. David went above and beyond. Even created a place at his table and gave him a room in his palace. God, thank you for that example. Thanks for Jesus who showed us how to do it as well. We pray this in his name. Amen.
[Music] Lord, I confess I fall apart. You're the one that God,
[Music] Lord, I need. Oh, I need every hour. I need you. My defense, my right. rightousness. Oh God, how I need rest.
[Music] Found is where you are. Lord, I am free. Holy is Christ. And where you are, Lord, I am free. Holy is Christ in me.
[Music] Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you. Every hour I need you. My rightousness, oh God, how I need you. soulise when temptation comes my way. When I cannot stand, I'll fall on you. Jesus, you're my hope. When I can't, I stand. I'll fall on you. Jesus, you're my homeless. You sing it out. Lord, I need you. Oh, I need you. Every hour I need you. I want my rightousness. Oh God, how I need you, Lord. I need you. Oh, I need you every hour. I need you. My one defense, my rightousness. Oh God, how I need you. Cuz you're my one defense, my rightousness. Oh God, how I need.
Who was there before there was creation? Who illuminates the stars and sun? is set eternity in motion. There is just one.
[Music] Who can calm the storm with just a whisper? Who can make the darkest demon? And who can break the curse of generations? There is just one.
[Music] The mighty tender, the pure and spotless lamb, the alpha and the good and great. I am the God that saves the weon
[Music] and who endured the cross and scorn it shame. Who was like every other but who rose again stormed out of grave mighty children. The pure and spotless lamb, the alpha and omega, the good and great. I am the God that saves the nation. The one we bow before. Let every voice sing out. Who is Who is the Lord? Who is the Lord? You are the one true king, Lord over everything. Jesus, there is no other. Jesus there is no other. Your word will never change. Your name is here to save. Jesus there is no other. Jesus there is no other. You are the one. Jesus there is no Jesus. There is no other. Your word will never change. Your name is here to stay. Jesus, there is no other Jesus. There is no mighty light of truth. The father, the alpha and the good. I am the God that saves the nation. No one sing. Who is my Lord? Who is my Lord?
Amen. We're going to celebrate some baptisms together. Go ahead and grab a seat and uh turn to your left. Good morning. I am so excited to introduce Harper to you. She has given her life to Jesus and decided to get baptized this morning. Just give her some encouragement.
>> Harper, if you repeat after me. I believe
>> I believe
>> with all my heart
>> with all my heart
>> that Jesus is the Christ.
>> that Jesus is the Christ
>> the son of the living God.
>> the son of the living God.
>> My Lord,
>> my Lord
>> and my Savior.
>> and my Savior.
>> Now, because of that confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, death, burial, resurrection.
[Applause]
[Music] This is Renardo. He has also given his life to Jesus and can't wait to publicly profess that to all of you.
[Applause]
>> Repeat after me. I believe
>> I believe
>> with all my heart
>> with all my heart
>> that Jesus is the Christ
>> that
>> Jesus is the Christ.
>> The son of the living God
>> the son of the living God.
>> I accept him
>> I accept him
>> as my Lord
>> as my Lord
>> and my Savior.
>> and my Savior.
Because of that confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the father, son, holy spirit. Death
[Applause]
Got Tony here with me. Uh Tony has very recently decided to just give everything to Jesus. The go the gospel just wrecked his life. So give him some encouragement this morning.
[Applause]
>> Repeat after me. I believe
>> I believe
>> with all my heart
>> with all my heart
>> that Jesus is the Christ
>> that Jesus is the Christ.
>> The son of the living God.
>> the Son of the living God.
>> My Lord
>> my Lord
>> and my Savior.
>> My Savior.
>> Tony, because of that confession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. death, burial, resurrection.
[Applause]
>> Well, that's an incredible way to wrap up today. There's folks down front who would love to talk with you more about baptism or pray with you if you need that. Take advantage of that this morning. We'd love to see you guys next week.