11am Live CC | Centre Street Church

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good morning everyone and welcome to our 11am service the band the worship team let's welcome our online audience here and we'll let you guys go get set up to lead us in worship and wayne what are you doing back here i just was hanging out oh no wait i am preaching today just just a small thing this is this thing i'm preaching i'm really excited about you all being with us today it's going to be a great time in the lord want to welcome you the band's getting ready pam's here she's got some things to tell you so open your hearts get ready for what god's going to do because he's been doing a good thing all weekend so i'll leave it to you thank you wayne and he is absolutely right his message friends it is so applicable to what we are going through right now in light of the announcement that was made on friday so it's gonna be good now i want to let you know that this is our first weekend when we are streaming all of our services from central campus saturdays at 4 30 and 6 30 and sundays at 9 and 11. if you can't make one of those times you can still worship with us online our saturday 6 30 service and our sunday 11 a.m services are available on demand right after they stream on youtube now it is our hope that you would feel comfortable to also come and to worship in person with us one day soon according to your comfort level this is the 11am service and as you can see behind me there is still lots of room for you if distancing is important to you just find an usher or a staff member and they'll be able to help you find a spot with a little extra room now as we prepare to worship we are all entering this time with different emotions from the week that we have faced and i know that i seem happy and excited right now and i am but that hasn't come without me working through a heavy heart that i have been feeling just from change that was introduced again into my life on friday and you have different emotions as well and the enemy would love nothing more than to allow those emotions to distract you and to take away what god has for you during this time so friends let me remind you that god is with you right now he is with you right now and he loves you so much so just prepare your heart and talk to god say god would you increase my faith this morning would you show me your love as i praise you as i learn about you as i give back to you it is his love that will give you hope comfort and peace this morning good morning center street church we are so glad that you are here with us whether you're in this room in this worship center with us or you're joining on us online we are expectant about what the holy spirit is going to do in and through our services today this past week i've been just wrestling with the idea that i am a very dependent person and maybe you feel the way that i do that i don't like being dependent it means that i am requiring somebody else to do something for me and then i feel indebted to them so at all costs i try to avoid being indebted and being dependent on someone else but there is a kind of dependency that we all have and that we all need in titus 3 it says this at one time we would too were foolish disobedient deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures we lived in malice and envy being hated and hating one another but when the kindness and love of our god our savior appeared he saved us not because of righteous things we had done but because of his mercy he saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the holy spirit whom he poured out on us generously through jesus christ our savior so that having been justified by his grace we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life we all were facing the most terrifying future judgment and you know a life without god and in all our human strength and striving and effort determination we couldn't do anything to change it but when the generosity of god the love poured out on us by jesus came and found us we have now a new future and we were freed from we were saved from darkness evil in sin because of this kindness so as you stand as you worship with us we are going to just express our love to god for what he has done for us why don't you join us in singing together [Music] sing this who am i who am i that the highest king would i was lost but he brought me you know his love for me oh his love for me who the sets free [Music] his grace [Applause] [Music] died for me [Music] [Music] house there's a place there's a place [Music] i am [Music] not against [Music] [Music] my [Music] yes house there's a place [Music] [Music] there's a [Music] place am [Music] i am [Music] [Music] [Music] i am oh i am yes i am [Music] yes i am in my father's house there's a place [Music] [Music] i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me and all my days i've been held in your hands from the moment that i wake up [Music] of the goodness of god [Music] and all my life you have been so good [Music] oh [Music] [Music] you are close like no other i've known you as a father and i've known you as a friend and i have lived in the goodness of god [Music] [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh yes you have [Music] i will of the goodness [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] of the goodness of god [Music] and this is the story that we all have the salvation story that is our genesis in ephesians it says it this way as for you you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air the spirit who's now at work and those who are disobedient but because of his great love for us god who is rich in mercy made us alive with christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved and god raises us up with christ and seats us with him in the heavenly realms in christ jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace expressed in his kindness to us in christ jesus and i love that part where it says even in our transgressions it was grace that jesus gave to us we were broken and he came to mend us we were wounded he came to heal and so as we sing continue to sing in worship let's just as we are praise and worship him for the way that he has brought us into a new life to make us a new creation let's give him praise [Music] just as i am without one but that thy blood [Music] come to thee [Music] and just as i am and waiting not to read my soul [Music] whose [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] open arms praise god just [Music] am i would be lost blood mercy and grace [Music] oh oh [Music] [Music] to be rescued [Music] with open arms praise [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am [Music] open arms praise god [Music] hey [Music] [Music] how great the chasm that lay between us how high the mountain i could not climb in desperate i turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night then through the darkness your lovingkindness tore through the shadows of my soul the work is finished the end is written jesus christ [Music] could imagine so great a mercy what heart could fathom such boundless grace the god of ages step down from glory to where my sin and bear my shame the cross has spoken i am forgiven the king of kings calls me his own beautiful savior i'm yours forever jesus christ [Music] praise the one who set me free hallelujah has lost his grip on me you have broken everything their salvation in your name jesus christ [Music] then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body began to breathe and out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me who say amen to that this morning amen then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body he began to breathe [Applause] [Music] me is [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] jesus [Applause] [Music] [Music] who christ me free [Music] in your hallelujah jesus christ [Music] [Music] god we thank you that you are our living hope you are not some distant past dead promise but you are living here and now and your spirit is within us god we give you such praise and such glory for the way that you brought us out of the sin of the darkness of the evil of this world and you made us yours you made us a new creation in you god receive all of our praise and all of our glory for that fact in your name we worship amen amen you may be seated amen you know what when we sing these words like we've just sung we are singing the gospel we're singing the good news of a god who loves us who sent his son to die for us so that our we could be free from our sin so death has lost its claim over our lives we're preaching to ourselves and i don't know about you but i often need to preach to myself and remind myself of the truths of who god is who i am and how he is just made possible for me to live this life right we need that often it's so great to sing these spiritual truths from god's word together and worship so so glad that you are here this morning now if you are new to our central campus here new to center street church we want to meet you in fact we can't wait to meet you and so after this worship service we'd love to say hi to you hear a little bit about your journey and answer questions that you might have about center street church and our central campus now you can do that right after this service head on out those doors just to the left you'll see a spot that says new here that's the spot that some of our team just love to visit with you again and meet you um if you are new joining us online just look in the notes there's some links there that just give a to you some direction about how to connect with us or one of our online hosts would love to have a conversation with you online again we're so glad that you are new and for those of you who have been here a while yeah we're happy you're still here too and that's great um so we love being with you um now online this weekend we are beginning and moving forward to have all of our central campus uh worship services live streamed live from on location here so saturday evening 4 30 and 6 30 sunday morning 9 and 11 all of those four services will be broadcast live from our central campus location and those of you joining us online right now welcome and we're we're just so happy that we can you know interact with you live on location here from our central campus now we would love that those of you living in the in calgary and the surrounding area will join us in person at one of our five campus locations we have eight weekend worship services um every weekend and there's room for you to join us now if you're not able to um join us yet you know at some point do that but if you you know um our in-person services if the times of those services or online our streaming services don't fit with your schedule right now your weekly rhythm and pattern then you know you can participate um worshiping with us in our video on demand right on youtube on our website on our center street church app on itunes there's just so many ways that you can engage with us in our weekend worship services as well our youth ministry is starting up in a couple of weeks we've got children's ministry boxes and online children's ministry interaction available we've got young adults we've got groups we've got you know so many things starting up my point is this there are so many ways for you to be engaged in community with others growing spiritually don't let you know there's opportunities seek out opportunities pray and ask god god what do you have for me this fall to engage with others for me to grow to know you more and then take that step connect with us online phone the church you know there's so many ways so many different ages to engage spiritually let's grow that's part of our mission statement as a church that we would introduce others to jesus and all of us together the church all of us become fully devoted followers of jesus that's why we exist as a church introduce people to jesus fully devoted fully mature and that journey doesn't end it'll end when we see jesus face to face right we'll be present before him but until that time let's grow let's grow church so take advantage of opportunities um connect you know go to our website there's so many opportunities on there and if all else fails call the church and we'll respond to you and have a conversation now next weekend i mean it has been months right since we have had our night of worship experience together as a church so next weekend september 12th six o'clock is our night of worship and uh we've got food trucks showing up here beforehand a few of you are engaged with night of worship way to go you know um food trucks showing up at five o'clock for supper six o'clock we start now here's if you are in the room you're a junior high or senior high or young adult come come and attend this is a cannot miss night for you if you know of a junior high high school student young adult let them know it's happening next sunday night now you might feel left out if you're not a junior high high school young adult you're also welcome to come right and be a part of this night of worship experience if you're young at heart come but really if you're you know those ages junior high senior high young adult can't miss you got to be here join us for this night of worship it'll be a great night yeah it's great we have been missing these nights of worship gatherings together thank you for your generosity as a church financially supporting the ministry the mission and vision of this church we all make up center street church and it's our desire right that we would have an impact for the cause of christ in his kingdom here locally in calgary across canada and around the world so thank you for the way that you have been financially supporting the ministry the mission the vision of this church and so many of you volunteering as well there's so many ways to give through text message online we have electronic giving kiosks in our atrium and as you leave this worship center this morning there's some offering boxes just attached to the walls and that's where you can you can as an act of worship you know give of your tithe and offerings and so thank you for your generosity now join me in welcoming our senior pastor pastor henry he's returning just from a short summer break that he's had and uh he has some announcements for us this morning [Applause] well hello center street church and um i'm hoping here is working doesn't appear to be thank you we'll see whether this works all right what's up just yell out eh hello ah there we go all right i will uh have we got a plan or not just grab that all right oh uh technology is wonderful anyways we'd be lost without it but uh it can give us some challenges but so good to see all of you and just to be together again two days ago both the alberta government the city of calgary introduced a mandatory mass protocol for all of um indoor spaces as a temporary measure uh to reduce the spike in covet 19 transmission primarily due to the delta variant and as you know we made a decision when this whole thing started about 18 months ago that we were going to follow the protocols that are called for by our alberta health services and our local and our provincial governments and we will continue to do so therefore during our worship services and all other weekend and midweek ministry gatherings unless you have a medical exemption we ask that you would wear your mask and if you forget it we will have disposable masks available at the doors of each of our campuses now from talking to a number of you i know many of you are just weary of covet 19 and all of the challenges that it brings to our lives our families our friendships and relationships our our work our businesses and of course our spiritual and our church life trust me in some ways uh this has been one of the most challenging seasons in my ministry and that of our staff and also our ministry as a church it has left some people overcome with fear and uncertainty as well well in psalm 36 we're reminded that god is our refuge and our strength an ever-present help in times of trouble therefore we will not fear amen we will not fear though the earth give way [Applause] and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea or a pandemic overtakes our world the key to not despairing the key to not caving into fear is to set our eyes on the lord and on his word and to remember that the same god who has been faithful to us in the past he hasn't changed he's still good he's still all-powerful and he's still faithful today he promises to be with us and to provide daily what we need to deal with the fears that we have so let's take our concerns to him daily in prayer let's pray for one another and of course for the end of this pandemic but in the meantime let's pray that while this pandemic prevails that god would use it to help many people realize their need for the lord and for christians to keep their eyes on the lord and walking with the lord i'm sure some of you are frustrated with the need for these protocols and others of you feel these protocols aren't aren't strict enough and so i plead with us as i have before to not let the issues around covet to distract us from the main thing we've been called to or to divide us i believe satan and his minions are having a heyday in our world today and also in our churches let us not allow satan to accomplish his sinister purposes in our lives in our families or in our church rather may our eyes always be on jesus well you remember he sat down with his disciples and he told them that the greatest commandment the first and the greatest commandment is to love the lord your god with all of your heart soul mind and strength and he said the second is like it love your neighbor as yourself that is what our focus needs to be [Applause] even if we disagree let us be patient and thoughtful and kind considered and gracious with one another and let's together love and serve our neighbors and also those who need the lord who are coming to us during the week are coming to us on weekends our staff have prayed often for you our church family this last week we met for a couple of days spent a significant amount of time just praying for you our church and we would love to keep praying for you in any way that we can and supporting you in any way we can after our worship services during the week on the phone if you prefer any way that we can it's been a joy last couple of weeks i went around and to all of our different campuses and it has been such a joy seeing many of you in person again and um not just recently but this over this past year and for those of you online we're looking forward to seeing many more of you again those of you watching online in case you're wondering we still have enough room to make physical distancing possible in most of our eight in-person worship services every weekend now i have one special request as we move toward in-person gatherings for all ages children right through to adults all of our ministries are in desperate need of help so if you're healthy and if you're able to serve please pray about serving alongside us in fulfilling the mission that god's called us to introducing children and youth and adults to jesus this jesus that we know and love let's engage together let's link arms together again and then just the closing announcement for the past five years uh pastor kent priebe has served in two major capacities here at center street he has served as senior executive pastor and also as the campus pastor here at central campus and he's done he's led exceptionally well in both of those roles to for which we say thank you camp over the past couple of years in particular his leadership role as senior executive pastor has become increasingly demanding and so after much discussion and prayer kent has decided to step down from his central campus pastor role in order to give more focused attention and leadership in his senior executive pastor role while given that reality i'm pleased to announce that after much prayer and more deliberation pastor wayne smeal has agreed to be to a change in role and to be the campus pastor here at central campus wayne has served with excellence on a number of capacities over the year and more particularly his interim campus pastor at several of our campuses as they were getting established and so forth and he comes into this role not only with the right gift mix but with a wealth of experience and so before wayne shares from god's word today would you please stand with me and join me as i pray for him and his ministry going forward heavenly father i want to thank you for your church and the reminder that you jesus are building your church what a sense of peace we get just reflecting on that thank you for inviting us for calling us empowering us to fulfill the mission of the church that you are building and want to partner with us in building i thank you for those who you call to serve those who you call to lead and lord i thank you for wayne i thank you for his life his gifts his passion and love for you and your church and lord i pray that you will guide him that you will strengthen him spiritually physically emotionally by your spirit as he leads the ministry of this campus i pray lord that he will always keep his eyes on you lord and live in humble dependence on your enabling grace and now lord we pray for your anointing upon him and bless him as he teaches us from your word for i pray it in the precious name of jesus amen and all god's people said amen thanks pastor henry thanks pastor kent for all the great work that he you have done here for years and it's an exciting day for me i'm i'm glad to be um part of this and uh and the new campus pastor want to say welcome to those that are online with us i know that there's some friends of mine that are joining us from all over the u.s and across canada and i just want to say thanks for joining us as well as my mom and dad i think are joining as well so you get a shout out to mom and dad while you're there too i am i'm just so blessed to be able to be serving here at center street church and i want to thank you for your support and your prayers for me as i move into this role a little a little lame boy hurried to the passenger gate of the railway station as fast as his crutches and basket of fruit and candy would permit as the passengers rushed through the gate a young man a young man accidentally hit the basket knocking the oranges and apples all over the place he only stopped long enough to kind of scold the young man for being in his way and off he went another young man who saw the young boy in distress stopped and started to help him pick up his fruit and and put it back in the basket this man took then a silver dollar and gave it to the young boy and with it with a smile on his face he says you know what better luck next time my friend and he went on his way little boy says hey mister he says are you jesus the man says no but i am only i am one of his followers but the fruit of the spirit my friends is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control this story really resonated with me on a bunch of different levels and it sets the tone for our time together as we look a little deeper into the fruit of the spirit as it pertains to kindness which hopefully as this story illustrates helps us to become more like jesus let's pray together so lord thanks for your word it speaks very clearly to us as we look at kindness today i want to thank you father for your great example and asked god that i'd get out of the way and that you would speak to your people today from your word we look forward in anticipation to these moments together while we look at your word and you speak to us for we pray this in jesus name amen so you know many times i've when i've preached i found that the lord leads a theme in how i deliver the message not not the topic or context but the theme and this one came back to the whole theme of remembering and whether it's because i sometimes will keep things in the back of my mind and i need to be reminded or maybe there's just a lacking piece of this in my own life i felt like this was to remind us that you know this time in our lives is so amazing is that you know we have an opportunity we have an opportunity to hear from the lord in this and in this reminder i'm so grateful again for amazing people who have done more reading and writing and research on this people like rick warren and and jerry bridges and thomas trask wade goodall jim irwin jeff baker other people that have really studied this whole concept of kindness and i think right now in this time in history we need a reminder of kindness i very much needed this message for me it made me think of the kindness that god has shared and showed me all throughout my life and sometimes i'd say right now that kindness is in short supply now i'm hearing this on my own personal circle of friends i'm hearing it in the city in our country and unfortunately i'm hearing it right here in our own church coveted issues has led to division and i have spoken to people who have been so deeply hurt in our church by others through words and opinions and perspectives and it was interesting as i prayed about it one of my faithful prayer partners who texts me almost every day sent me this earlier the week this quote it says words are like eggs dropped from a great height you can no more call them back than ignore the mess they leave when they fall as i said to pastor ashwin i kind of think about this i said pastor ashwin i love to run my messages by him and learn from him i said i got this new ideas my first you know sermon as the central campus pastor that i can deliver to my my church here and he says what's that i said well this is a really a one word sermon kindness i said the idea would be is that i would put the word kindness on the screen then i would give a definition of kindness i would tell us that we all got to go and be kind then i would pray for you and dismiss you it would be the shortest sermon in center street churches history i would have that in the record books and in that thoughtful godly manner pastor ashwin says i think you really need to think that through as well as your employment he said so so a friend of mine said kindness could be summarized in what has some have called the golden rule that comes from luke 6 do unto others as you wish would have them to do unto you but friends i'm going to tell you and i challenge you to look at kindness that it's deeper than that when i talk about kindness i'm not talking about mere niceness or or politeness it's i'm talking about the qualities i'm talking about the qualities of love and mercy tenderness and compassion that is evidenced in our lives through kindness in the next 25 minutes i want to remind you that the holy spirit produces this kindness in our lives and it's an evidence of his spirit and with this in mind as i studied i kind of came to three areas that i want to unpack for you today kindness first off kindness is god inspired and authored second of all kindness is spirit-led and third and thirdly kindness is action-oriented so let's unpack these together as i studied the scriptures with kindness i was it was not surprising unto what i found the bible teaches us of god's kindness his concept of kindness doesn't necessarily come easily to us i know it's not always come easily to me and many times in my life as i'm really transparent with you during the sermons i haven't been kind and i see the bible teaches us that we don't naturally do kindness right in fact christians are urged constantly throughout the scriptures to seek to be kinder in their lives romans 3 12 says all have turned away they have together become worthless there is no one who does good not even one now this word literally kindness is the same word that we find in galatians 5 22 which is our text today the word kindness translates from the greek word christotes the meaning of christotes is best found in the word kindness and expanded it means moral goodness jack hayford describes this portion of the holy spirit's fruit as goodness in action sweetness of disposition gentleness with dealing with others full of benevolence the word describes the ability to act for the welfare of those taxing your patience and friends the holy spirit can remove those abrasive qualities in our lives that are kind of in in the face of kindness if we will surrender ourselves afresh and anew to the spirit's working now jesus said something in in the gospel of luke that i know i'd read i read through the scriptures every two years through the moravian text and i know i've read this on numerous occasions because when i reread it i saw my little notes on it but i didn't catch it in the same way as i did when i was studying for this message and it says this in luke chapter 6 35 which is called the sermon on the plane jesus said love your enemies do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back then your reward will be great and you will be children of the most high that part was kind of familiar and i'm sure most of you can remember a time where you've heard that but then there's the second part that kind of hit me with this message because he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked now jesus is not just merely saying that god is kind to those bad people over there or those people over there no i think that he is pointing to the fact that understanding that we sometimes fall into these two categories i know in my own life i have been so ungrateful and i know at times i think i would even border on on the line of wicked and how i've chosen not to believe the best about people it's a label that we all have worn but yet in spite of this god's kindness is still shown to us we need to constantly keep in mind that the goal of the fruitfulness of kindness is to both grow in the devotion to god add our likeness in character to god it's a double-edged god's kindness leads sinners to repentance in romans 2 4 we read this in ephesians 2 7 the context of our utter lostness and sin paul speaks of the inca comparable riches of god's grace expressed in kindness to us in christ jesus he draws a similar contrast in titus 3 4. after describing our lost condition he declares when the kindness and love of god the savior appeared he saved us it seems the bible goes out of its way to portray the kindness of god in stark contrast to man's undeservedness so what lessons can we draw from these accounts of kindness from god that he's kind to all men the ungrateful the wicked the utterly lost the hopeless the rebellious without distinction if we're going to become like jesus we must friends follow the example and be kind to all men rick warren says i think god wants us to have a reputation for kindness he inspired it he modeled it and it's an evidence of the fruit of the spirit and then when we read in philippians chapter 4 verse 5 this was really good it says your kindness should be known to all it is the god of the universe who's the author of kindness it's not about our thinking and doing kindness is inspired and exemplified through god hudson taylor famous missionary to china and founder of the china inland mission was asked to go to the home of a very poor woman and pray for her because she was ill now during this time many religious leaders would actually charge fees to do this but the family knew that hudson would not charge when he began to pray for her he felt uncomfortable because he had a coin in his pocket that he knew would help her in her poverty as he knelt to pray he hesitated thinking that he should give her the coin yet he rationalized in his own mind that he only had enough food at home for two more meals and that he too needed the coin when the conviction wouldn't go away he decided to give the woman his coin and as he knelt for prayer beside her and was praying for her healing he felt great freedom and encouragement see friends taylor's example teaches us that we should not repress an urge to be kind ephesians 4 32 says this instead be kind to each other tenderhearted forgiving one another just as god through christ has forgiven you and this thinking of understanding this kindness from god the father exemplified through jesus christ helps us to respond differently to the world around us and that's what i think we need to be these days the second part that i found was kindness is lead is spirit led the fruit of the spirit is not produced by our human striving and trying harder and working more it's through it's formed through our surrendering to the holy spirit and at the same time our role is is not passive it but rather to cooperate with the spirit in this process we're filled with the holy spirit and over a lifetime the spirit helps conform us to jesus likeness and the emphasis here is not on techniques or forms or methods rather on deep character qualities that we are aware of it that we're surrendering to the lord with it and then we're acting on his spirit's leading thomas trask writes the fruit of the spirit is also more than an attitude or trait we desire as i've said it's evidence of the holy spirit living in us now some people have a different perspective the holy spirit they think you know it's mystical or unapproachable or spooky or whatever and these these these are not proper descriptions the holy spirit is according to the scripture love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control that's the spirit the holy spirit is approachable and desires that we listen to him walk with him during my preparation i actually thought i was going down a different train of of looking at a scriptural reference for this and i won't forget it is i'm sitting there i'm kind of praying and thinking about it the lord directs me very clearly to just three verses down in galatians 5 25 which says since we live in by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit and as we keep in step with the spirit these virtues become distinguishing marks of our lives if we can live them we can become more and more like jesus and that just kind of you know really really helped me a little bit okay there we go the need of our day is for christian believers to reflect the life of jesus in all the the circles of influence we have it's a great witness to the gospel when we talk about god so loved you to save you and then we back that up by kindness and action i really do believe it's a great witness tool when we share the gospel and we see jesus himself being led by the spirit in matthew 4 and matthew and mark 1 12. we see peter throughout the acts of the gospel acts chapters 8 through 12. we see him being led in numerous ways by the spirit paul of course writes on it and then i found this great verse in psalm 143 it really encouraged my heart it says let your good spirit lead me on level ground i thought man that's just like the lord let me know that he wants to lead me on level ground god's purpose in having the holy spirit dwell within the believers is that we might depend on him to direct our lives and to illustrate god's personality to those that we do life with and see friends it's illustrated for us on a regular basis i believe that we're kind of ahead of the curve with this so many times on the weekend we hear those words from pastor henry or one of the speakers pastor ashwin with hands held out you know what are you saying to me that's that act of saying we want to keep in step with the spirit by saying what are you saying to me you're asking the question in fact what it is in our discipleship language is we it's it's actually a kairos moment the greek word for time is kronos but the greek word for a happening or an aha moment is kairos when we go to process a kairos we're actually asking god what are you saying to me and that is through you know we start with observation we look at reflection and sometimes we'll go into discussion with other people but it gives us an opportunity to ask that question in context lord what are you saying to me you know as i kind of thought about this again you'll find that my mind can go in different directions i i just started thinking about coffee anybody like coffee yeah i am a tim's guy i enjoy my tims i have a drive through near my home i know uh the lady who takes my order on a regular basis her name's jazz she knows my voice on the phone she knows i like my large one milk and we kind of talk and say good morning to each other you know and i'm on my way but sometimes when i go through that tim hortons there's a fella that'll be standing just before i get to the drive-through to pay and they've got a sign saying i need some help or i need a meal or i'm homeless then at times i'll come on my way down to your foot i'll get off at mcknight and i'll come to mcknight and edmonton trail and there'll be another person standing near the sign in the middle of the road again holding a sign saying i'm in need or and start walking around the cars and so on you know if i'm honest with you and i said i was going to be i've not always been kind in these situations i play the game of kind of looking away hopefully they don't he not seeing me not making eye contact i kind of hope the light changes quickly before he gets to my car or that the in the drive-through the car or two ahead of me doesn't have a large order of eight coffees and four bagels which makes me st be there longer you know and sometimes as i was thinking about this the spirit kind of brought to my mind going sometimes i do this i turn away from the individual to kind of look at my console to see if i had change knowing full well there wasn't change there okay so last night deviation last night it completely went crazy and pam had to come out and bring me another microphone on my first address to the central campus so this is nothing um so all of that i just would have been embarrassed and the lord brought that back to me about that because again like i need to be prepared i need to be prepared for kindness and this will be good because i i'm doing another thing with my hands here so i i love however hearing the stories of people that have been led by the spirit to plan to be kind one family that went with me on a family missions trip we called a family on mission to vancouver was was praying and thinking going what is a tangible way that we can be kind and i don't know where they got the idea from it was interesting i got a text from another fellow today who does the same thing is that they decided they were always going to keep a box of granola bars in their car and so that they would be able to give in kindness to somebody that who was in need to make sure that they knew at least they were kind and cared for their need at that moment and it was so they were so ready to be kind it was something that just became part of their dna and thinking about it it kind of led me to ephesians chapter 2 verse 10 it says for we are god's handiwork created in christ jesus to do good works which god prepared in advance for us to do it's the spirits leading in our lives i see friends i have been so blessed to have people that have led this by example i have some of the best and kindest friends a person could be be blessed with i have fantastic staff and associates here that we work together that lead in this example they pitch in and they give of their time and talent and treasure and serve beyond they help out with crossover camps and cs family camps and camp outs and children's ministries and and compassion and barbecues and events on a regular basis to show god's kindness to those that don't know him i'm just so blessed i have living examples of the spirit leading in kindness through people so so far we've seen kindness is inspired by god is led by the spirit and finally building on this last statement it's action-oriented jerry bridges wrote kindness is a sincere desire for the happiness of others it's the activity calculated to advance that happiness as i have just mentioned kindness is this inner disposition that we take created by the holy spirit that causes us to be sensitive to the needs of others whether it's emotional physical spiritual whatever it would be we're in tune with the spirit and action oriented i tend to think of of kindness in terms of awareness you know whether it's a smile to a store clerk or thank you to a waitress an encouraging word to an elderly person an affirmation of a child whatever and so it's just even encouragement that i've received in the three previous services of that this has resonated with people none of these expression is costly in time or money but they do require sincere interest in the happiness of those around us see friends apart from god's grace and his spirit leading and me wanting to be in tune i can be a very you know cons i can be very concerned about my responsibilities and my problems and my plans and i can go from my home to get my coffee to get to the church to get to my computer without realizing or even opening up my mind to the other needs of people the person that is growing in the fruit of the spirit is expanding his thinking as it says to me in romans 12 2 the renewing of our minds another word for me to remember it's a genuine interest in other people in the early 90s a young man raised in a good home with good parents found faith in jesus in a small church youth group he grew in his faith he experienced many great things but he also had his falls and his scrapes his bruises and his mishaps as he didn't walk through a really strong discipling process the young man began to sense a calling to ministry and finally taking a step of faith after many missed opportunities he was afforded an opportunity in a local church who was needing some help they'd gone through some difficult times his previous life caught up to him in the very first season in ministry when he was facing a difficult situation with his finances a businessman serving in leadership at the church saw potential in this young man and invited him for a cup of coffee to discuss the situation he found himself in after some time an assessment the businessman invited the young batman back to meet at his bank to see what could be done and help him sitting in the office of the bank manager along with the businessman he heard the words the young man heard these words that cut him to the core sir in our opinion you should not be helping this young man as his financial history and you know his situation does not bode well for you as he proceeded to talk the young man felt deflated and felt like he got what he deserved and then he heard words that he actually had to kind of shake his head to really hear again give him the money could he be hearing correctly then he heard the bank manager trying to talk the business man out of this statement sir we recommend highly recommend as your bank that you don't do this again the young man hears give him the money the longest short of it is is the businessman did co-sign for the loan first off the young man paid back that loan in shorter time then was agreed upon secondly the pastors of that church seeing potential in this young man and affirming his calling in character decided to hire him as a youth pastor however it was found out much later being that it was a smaller church at the time that they didn't have budget money for a youth pastor but miraculously money came in to hire the young man as a full-time youth pastor that act of kindness changed a young man's life that was nearly 30 30 years ago my life was changed by someone else's kindness my friends [Applause] thank you i've kept in touch with that man who influenced my life in such a huge way and i hope he's watching today because i want him to know again i'm grateful for him not just talking about the fruit of kindness but going out and doing what god led him to do was action orientated and changed my life i got into the ministry and was a youth pastor and now 30 years later i'm your central campus pastor thanks thank you jesus you know it's amazing to be part of this and we all have a chance to be so kind and i am such a i'm such a blessed man with the kindness of so many people as i conclude this message my good friend jeff baker came up with five areas that he thinks that we should be practicing um uh kindness every day now if you give us some thought i'm sure that each one of you could come up with an additional five and but for whatever reason as i said to you all of a sudden i'm prepping and i'm thinking of coffee and then when i'm prepping this part i'm thinking of sesame street exactly i kind of laughed and i'm going lord what's this but i love sesame street as a kid so my conclusion in sesame street fashion is brought to you by the letter c and the number five the first c is conversations with friends and family friends we don't have to be mean because we differ on opinions how we talk to each other is so crucial just because you're related doesn't mean that we should be taking you know liberties and how we share in the tone of talking to each other let's be more kind in our conversations the second c is comments on every online platform everything you write online has the potential to be read by hundreds if not thousands and when it's out there it's out there so let's seek to be kind i know so many times i have said things i wish i'd never said and if i even live by that i would say if i don't have something kind to say maybe i shouldn't say anything at all thirdly incongestion and i'm not talking about when we have a head cold i'm talking about congestion in traffic i know people including me who become different people when we get behind the wheel my excellent driving skills versus those people driving skills that can't seem to drive and i start to lose my mind you know because things are you know at speed or this or that or whatever and you know what i need to start being a little bit more kind because i have been caught by the spirit saying you did the exact same thing fourthly consumer service and being a good customer when dealing with someone serving you or dealing with a customer server representative even if they're not doing it the way you'd like it and fast enough and processing it or there's a too long line whatever those are speaking of my life it's how we kind of interact with them we can practice kindness in fact i've caught myself a couple of good times i love people's name tags because then i can see them i can see their name you know and when i see the name of someone with the words in training behind it or beside it that's an indicator for me to affirm them and encourage them to say you're doing good you're going to get the hang of this you know what you're going to do better as time goes on way to go and finally folks community the community folks that are in your circle of influence the fellas and the and the gals that are at the street corners and the tim hortons we're not going to be able to save the whole world's problems but here's the thing there's going to be times when you can help and there'll be times when you can't but the whole piece whether you say yes or no it's how you say yes or no you can respond with kindness and not condemnation you can respond with kindness and not condescension we have a chance to kind of model that because here's what the scripture says doesn't matter if you agree with me here's what the scripture says first corinthians 16 14 says everything you do must be done with love what's the relationship between love and kindness is action oriented that's what kindness is it's an action it's it's not just an emotion it's not just something we think of it's something that we do it's that external evidence of the spirit in our lives kindness is something you do towards something kindness is something that you do towards someone the christian life is about being more like jesus i've said it once i've said it a thousand times in my ministry the world is not dying of a lack of religion it's dying from a lack of relationship and that's who we can be i'm going to ask the worship team to come up now and lead us in a song to close us that i had an opportunity to choose it's become a favorite of mine it really reflects on god's kindness in my own life i hope that in this as we sing this together that the hope that i found in these words for god's love and kindness to me will resonate with you today as well [Music] oh i've heard a thousand stories of what they think your life but i've heard the tender whisper of love in the dead of night and you tell me that you're pleased and that i'm ever alone [Music] you're a good good father it's who you are it's who you are it's who you are and i'm loved by you it's who i am [Music] [Music] foreign far and wide but i know that we're all searching for answers only you provide cause you know just what we need before we say a word you're a good is good you are it's who you are and i'm loved by you it's who i am it's who i am it's who i am and you are perfect in all of your ways [Music] you are perfect in all of your [Music] [Music] this ways so [Music] undeniable i can hardly speak peace so unexplainable i can hardly think as you hold me deeper still as you call me deeper still as you calm me deeper still into love love [Music] [Applause] it's who is am you're a good good father it's who you [Music] [Applause] are it's who i am it's who i am [Music] it's who you are it's who you are [Music] [Music] because i thought how we close our time together i was reading in john in luke chapter 10 the story of the good samaritan and at the end of it in verse 37 jesus says his words go and do likewise friends let's go and do likewise let's go and be kind let's show the love of jesus in this tangible way of the evidence of the spirit the lead prayer partners up here to pray with you let's pray together so heavenly father we thank you for being with us we thank you for being the author of kindness and it's something that we can learn and grow in through your spirit in us lord i know that there's people that need the kindness of jesus in their life this week so father as we have we've extended our hands many times what are you saying to us do we need to be kind in conversations or in traffic or with those that serve us whatever it would be lord it's not condemnation because there is no condemnation for those who are in christ jesus but you can gently love us and show that kindness to us so that we can show it to a dying world so lord thanks for my friends here thanks for those online we asked god that you would now go with us and bless us and keep us make your face to shine upon us and be gracious to us lift up your countenance upon us and give us your peace and your kindness in jesus name amen god bless you have a great week [Music] we're so glad that you were able to join us live for the 11am service this morning wayne what happened we've never had so many microphone issues are you okay ah it's all good you know what cause god's word speaks and here's the thing you know what the word kindness as we kind of unpacked it is just that it doesn't matter about mics or anything else it's about the heart and so i know my friends out there have got that word of kindness and it's good to go so my my tech people here are amazing it's a glitch it's not a big deal and second of all it's me see you soon he's amazing i think i would have been so thrown off by that thank you for staying and tuning in with us today we want to remind you the next weekend we're streaming live at 4 30 6 30 9 and 11 and if you can't join us at one of those times still worship with us you can worship with us on demand saturday after the 6 30 service and also sunday after the 11am service so both of them are posted for you to be able to worship with us anytime as you can see people behind me are starting to head out and there is still lots of room for you here to be able to join us according to your comfort level so feel free um just to chat with an usher or chat with a staff member and they'll be able to help you and i want to leave you just with this kindness is love and action so put love in action this week because we get to experience the love above all loves the love of god so put love in action this week through kindness go to god as we wrap up before you shut off your tv your phone your computer wherever you're watching and ask god to lead you in where he wants to show kindness through you this week for kindness to be god inspired and spirit-led that starts in prayer and that starts right now my friends we are praying for you this week and we're excited to see you next week bye everyone [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 107min 16sec (6436 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021