9am Live | Centre Street Church

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] good morning and welcome to this 9 a.m service can you help me welcome our online audience okay we're gonna let you guys get ready on the stage okay thanks for leading us in worship this morning and wayne what are you doing here this and morning to everybody i'm glad that you're here with us and it's going to be awesome today fantastic welcome are you preaching this morning oh yes and i am preaching today i almost forgot about that i am preaching today so you could say a prayer for me and open up your hearts to what gods want to say through this message i really believe it's got something for everybody so we'll see you soon it is a great message so applicable to what we are going through this week in light of friday's announcement so do prepare your heart as wayne has encouraged you to do now i just want to let you know that we are live streaming from central campus saturdays at 4 30 at 6 30 and sundays at 9 00 and 11. if you can't join us for one of those times and join us on demand on youtube we have our saturday 6 30 service and our sunday 11am service ready for you to worship with us anytime after they stream now as you can see behind me we still have room for you to join us in person at 9am at central campus in fact we hope that you would feel welcome to join us according to your comfort levels and there is space to be able to distance at most of our eight in-person worship services in calgary and in airdrie simply find an usher or a staff member and they can help you find a spot with a little bit more room now we are all entering this worship service caring different things from the week different emotions i know that i seem happy and excited this morning and i am because this is good it is what god intended and it is good but it hasn't come without me working through a heavy heart just as more change was introduced into my life and so i am here to remind you that god loves you he is with you his love is bigger than anything that you are feeling today any fear any worry any anxiety and so spend a moment right now inviting god into your life he is with you ask him to show you his love as you praise him as you learn from his word as you give back it is his love that can give you comfort peace hope and joy this morning well good morning center street church for those of you who are with us in this worship center and those of you who are joining online we are just expectant this morning of what the holy spirit will do in our time together and this past week i have been realizing my own dependence and how dependent i am and maybe you feel this way too but i don't like being dependent relying on someone else i feel indebted to them it's a scary thought that i will have to pay back what they've given to me but there is a kind of dependence that we all share and we all need in titus 3 it says at one time we 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 gods our savior appeared he saved us not because of righteous things we have 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 sin our savior so that having been justified by his grace we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life we were facing the most terrifying future possible and with all our human strength with all our skill with all our effort determination there was nothing we could do to change it but the generosity of love poured out by jesus gave us a new future and so as we stand this morning we sing out of that new future out of that new identity that he has saved us and all he asks in return is our worship and our praise so let's worship him this morning [Music] sing who am i at the highest king who am i that the highest king would welcome me i was lost but he brought me and know his love for me oh his love for me who the sun sets always [Music] [Music] his [Music] grace died yes he died for me [Music] [Music] there's a place [Music] forsaken i am who you say i am you are for me not against me i am not against me am [Music] there's a [Music] [Music] my place house there's a place for me i'm a child of god yes i am [Music] i am [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] there's a place for me [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 until i lay in my head oh i will sing of the goodness of god [Music] [Music] with [Music] of the goodness [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 god [Music] [Music] with every breath that i am [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] is [Music] and all my life you [Music] i will see of the goodness of god [Music] [Music] [Music] with every breath that [Music] i will see the goodness [Music] amen [Music] amen because we all have this salvation story that we were dead in our transgressions it says this in ephesians 2 as for you you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when you followed the ways of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air the spirit who is now at work in 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 our 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 amen to that we have all come from a place of brokenness of woundedness and it was jesus and jesus alone who took us as we were and made us into a brand new creation healed and whole so let's sing just as i am [Music] [Music] [Music] we come to the [Music] of god i come i come and just as i am and waiting not to read [Music] whose [Music] i [Music] [Music] [Music] to be part parted by the blood of christ the land and i will come with open arms praise god justice [Music] my [Music] oh [Music] [Music] i [Music] praise god [Music] i [Music] to be part [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] open arms praise god just as i am [Music] [Applause] praise god [Music] hey [Music] [Music] how great the chasm that lay between us how high the mountain i could not climb in desperation i turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night [Music] and through the darkness your lovingkindness tore through the shadows [Music] the end is written jesus christ [Music] who could imagine so great a mercy what heart could such boundless the god of ages step down from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame the cross has spoken i am forgiven the king of kings calls me [Music] i'm yours forever jesus christ [Music] praise the lord who set me free hallelujah jesus christ [Music] then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body began to breathe out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me can we stay amen to that this morning amen then came the morning that sealed the promise your buried body it began and out of the silence [Music] jesus hallelujah [Music] their hallelujah in your name jesus christ [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] jesus christ [Music] yes you are jesus you are our living you are living breathing hope god we thank you so much for the way that you just saved us out of the wreckage we've made of our lives that you brought us out of that place of sin and darkness into a new and glorious life god it is only your generosity only your kindness only your mercy that could have done that work and we praise you for it in your name amen amen you may be seated amen well it's great to worship with you and i don't know about you but when we gather for worship and we sing truths from scripture in song it encourages me it it helps me know again who god is who i am what he desires to accomplish in this world and i love it so we're so glad that you are here if you are new to our central campus location here if you if you're new to center street church we are so glad that you are here and we want to meet you we want to hear a little bit about your story your journey where you've come from we want to help you grow in your walk with jesus and so immediately after the service if you would we'd love for you to join us and meet us um just through those doors to the left you'll see a spot that says new here some of our team will be there to again meet with you hear about your story answer questions that you might have if you're joining us online now we would love to again have a chat with you with our online host um there's some information in the notes that you can access as well to just find some next steps but we'd love to just connect with you online as well now beginning this weekend we are streaming live all of our four worship services from this location our central campus and that means at 4 30 saturday evening 6 30 saturday evening and the 9 o'clock and 11 o'clock services sunday morning are streaming live so even right now we are live on location from our central campus and so we're going to continue to do that now we would love for you to join us in person at one of our five campus locations if you live in an or around the calgary area we'd love to you know join with you in person we have room and space in our worship centers available but if those service times you know don't fit your schedule and if you're unable to join us online we want you to know that our worship services are available on video on demand on youtube they're also available on our website our sermons are available on itunes and our center street church app so there's all of these avenues to continue to walk with the lord and grow spiritually as we worship together and hear his word taught speaking of just getting connected and growing boy we've got our children's ministry boxes that are available we have online children's ministry lessons available our youth ministry starts in a couple of weeks we've got some something we call taste and see that is uh just a trial of a small group experience a community group experience we've got alpha visit our website there are so many opportunities for you to continue to grow through online um platforms and in person these days so that's our encouragement is all of us together um part of our mission right is to introduce people to jesus and that all of us will become fully devoted followers of jesus fully mature becoming more and more and more like jesus and that journey never ends until we see jesus face to face so some encouragement for you to get involved through serving earth in community to continue to grow spiritually now it has been almost 18 19 months since we have had a night of worship as a church and so next weekend september 12th we have our night of worship sunday night starting at six o'clock um food trucks are going to be around here if you want to show up and have supper at 5 p.m now night of worship those of you who know a junior high senior high young adult if you have a junior high senior high young adult living in your home this is a cannot miss event for that age bracket right junior high senior high young adults now you might be thinking well i'm not a junior high senior high or young adult i feel left out you can come you can come right those of you who are young at heart maybe you wish you were a young adult you can come but please let people know let junior high senior high young adults know in your sphere of influence come next sunday night september 12th 6 o'clock 5 pm if you want to grab some supper at a food truck thank you for your generosity church the way that you've been financially supporting the mission the vision of center street church we all together are the church we want to have an influence in this area of calgary southern alberta across canada and around the world with the gospel that's why we exist as a church your financial support makes that possible through helping people grow spiritually finding out about jesus having tangible needs met through compassion ministry through our missionaries partner churches and so much thank you for your generosity for the way you continue to support the mission of this church there's so many ways to give as well through text through online through our given kiosks here at our central campus location as you leave this worship center there's some offering boxes attached to the walls there for you to place your tithes and offerings as an act of worship this morning now we want to welcome our senior pastor pastor henry back from a bit of a summer break that he had but he's got some important just an important message for us as a church so would you welcome our senior pastor pastor henry [Applause] well thank you kent and hello center street church so good to be together wonderful um as you know two days ago both the alberta government and the city of calgary they introduced a mandatory mask protocol for all indoor public spaces as a temporary measure to reduce the spike of covet 19 transmission primarily due now to the delta variant as you know we made a decision when this whole thing started about 18 months ago that um we're going to follow the protocols that are called for by our alberta health services and our local and provincial governments and we will continue to do so therefore during our weekend worship services and all other weekend and midweek gatherings for ministry unless you have a medical exemption we do ask that you would wear your mask we will have disposable masks at the entrance of each of our campuses if you have forgotten yours now from talking with a number of you i know many of you are weary of covid and all the challenges that it brings into our lives our families our friendships and relationships our work businesses and of course our spiritual and our church life trust me in some ways this has been one of the most challenging seasons in my ministry that of our staff and our ministry as a church it has also left some people overcome with fear and uncertainty well psalm 36 reminds us that god is our refuge and our strength an ever-present help in times of trouble therefore we will not fear though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea the key to not despairing or 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 friends he hasn't changed he's still good he's all-powerful and faithful today he promises to be with us and to provide daily what we will need to deal with the realities that we're grappling with 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 while this pandemic prevails let's pray that god would use it to help all people to realize they need the lord and to need to be walking close to the lord i'm sure some of you are frustrated with the need of these protocols and others of you feel that these protocols aren't strict enough and so i plead with you as i have again have before to not let the issues around covet distract us from the main thing or to divide us i believe satan and his minions are having a haiti payday right now in our world but also in the church let us not let satan accomplish his sinister purposes in our lives our families or as a church rather may our eyes always be on jesus who told his disciples the first and the greatest commandment is to love the lord god with all of your heart and the second is like it and that is to love your neighbor as yourself even if we disagree let us be patient and thoughtful and kind and considerate and gracious with one another and let's together love and serve our neighbors and also those who need the lord who come to us here in our worship services and in other times during the week our staff have prayed often for you our church family we did that an extended way this last week for a couple of days and we would love to pray for you in person after our worship services or during the week or on the phone if you prefer that or if you're worshiping with us online you know let us know we want to connect with you it's been a joy seeing many of you again in person uh over this past year and we look forward to seeing many more of you uh going forward those of you watching online uh in case you're wondering we still have enough room to make physical distancing possible in most of our eight services in-person worship services every weekend now i have one special request as we move toward in-person gatherings for all ages all our ministries are in desperate need of people to join us in serving so if you're healthy and if you're able to serve please please pray about serving alongside us in fulfilling the mission of introducing children and youth and adults to jesus this jesus that we know and love and then just the closing announcement for the past five years pastor kent priebe has served in two major capacities here at center street church he has served as senior executive pastor and also as campus pastor here at central campus and he has led exceptionally well in both roles for which we say thank you can't however over the last couple of years in particular the leadership role as a senior executive pastor has become increasingly demanding and so after much discussion and prayer kent has decided to step down from the central campus pastor role in order to give more focused attention and leadership to his role as senior executive pastor well given that reality i'm pleased to announce that after much prayer and deliberation pastor wayne smeal has agreed to a change in his role to be the next campus pastor here at central campus wayne has served with excellence in a number of areas but also as interim campus pastor at several of our campuses as we were getting them established over the years and he comes into this particular role not only with the right gift mix but also with a wealth of experience and so before wayne shares from god's word today would you please stand with me and join me and kent as we pray for him and his ministry right now let us pray heavenly father again we thank you for your church and the reminder that you jesus are building your church lord thank you for inviting us calling us and empowering us lord to fulfill the mission for the church in partnership with you and we also thank you lord for just the way that you call people to serve you call people to lead and i thank you for wayne his life his gifts his passion and his love for you and your church and lord i pray that you will guide him you will strengthen him spiritually physically emotionally by your spirit as he leads the ministry of this campus i pray that he will always keep his eyes on you and he will live in humble dependence on your enabling grace and now lord we ask that you [Music] would anoint him and bless him as he teaches from your word today we pray it in the precious name of jesus and all god's people said amen amen thanks pastor henry god bless wayne thanks well thank you for that pastor henry and pastor kent um it is a joy to serve with him and i want to welcome those that are online and welcome you that are here in person to central campus my first address as the central campus pastor and i am honored and excited about this next season this lit a little lame boy hurried to the passenger gate of the railway station as fast as his crutches and basket of of fruit and candy would permit as the passengers rushed through the gate a young man accidentally hit the basket knocking the oranges and apples every direction he stopped only long enough to scold the boy for being in his way another young man who was passing by saw the boy's distress and began to pick up his fruit and as he placed it in the basket he put a silver dollar in his hand with a better luck next time and a smile and he went on his way hey mister the little boy said are you jesus no answered the friend i'm only one of his followers but the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control this story really resonated with me on many levels and it sets the tone for us spending some time together looking into this fruit the fruit of the spirit and pertaining to kindness which hopefully helps us to be more like jesus let's pray together so lord um i just thank you god for your word which speaks clearly to our hearts and father i want to get out of the way of that today i want to pray father for our friends online wherever they would be and i know there's many joining us from around the world today and father for us here in person i just pray lord that your spirit and your will be done i thank you god for this opportunity to continue to lean into the teachings of the fruits of the spirit and help us oh god to be more like jesus in our day-to-day lives we thank you and praise you in your name amen well many times i've preached i found the leading of the spirit brings me into a theme for the sermon not the topic of the sermon but the theme in which i'll deliver it and again as it has happened a couple of different times it seems that the lord was leading me in this whole theme of remembering it's like i need to bring to the forefront of my mind again something that i've maybe have put in the back seat and of my life and of actions and i'm so grateful for work done by fantastic authors and pastors like rick warren and jerry bridges you know thomas trask wade goodall jim irwin jeff baker and others and during this time in history i really feel that we need a reminder of kindness i very much personally needed this reminder as i prepared for this weekend and it's made me think of the kindness that god has shown me time and time again some days it would seem that kindness is in such short supply i'm hearing in this in my own personal circle of friends i'm hearing it within our city i'm hearing it within our country and unfortunately friends i'm hearing it within our church the covet issues has led to much division in the church and i have spoken to people who have been so hurt by others through words and opinions and accusations and i just i was again praying about this and as i was praying one of my faithful prayer partners sent me these words this week they said 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 i thought boy that's that's really powerful for us as we look at kindness now i said to pastor ashwin i i love to run my sermon uh layouts by him i so respect and admire him and always like to say you know what if you ever want to take my preaching i'll i'll do something for you you take the pulpit i'll do something else and they're like so no pastor wayne you can do this i said okay i've got a great idea pastor ashwin i said you know being this is really a one word sermon the text is one word kindness i thought here's what i could do pastor ashwin i could i could we could put the word kindness on the board on the screen then i could do a definition of kindness then i could actually challenge you to all go and be kind and then i could close in prayer it would be the shortest sermon ever preached at center street church on the weekend i become the central campus pastor and pastor ashwin looked at me in that thoughtful way and he says well wayne i think you better think that through very carefully as well as your employment now i i am just so blessed to be able to kind of talk about this and and that is is that a friend of mine once summarized what some have come to believe or think about kindness and that is they call it the golden rule it's actually from luke chapter six do unto others as you would have them do unto you but friends i am here to challenge you and invite you to think that kindness is deeper see friends kindness is deeply rooted in the character and nature of god we know that kindness because almost all of us that claim the name of jesus as lord and savior has experienced that kindness and goodness in our lives and when i speak of kindness again i'm not talking about being merely nice or polite i'm talking about a quality that's representative of love and mercy tenderness and compassion it's an evidence one evidence of the fruit of the spirit in our lives now in the next 20 minutes i want to remind you that the holy spirit produces kindness and it's the evidence of the spirit and as i prayed this through this week and was in preparing i came to mind three areas of understanding for kindness that i want to present to you today number one kindness is god inspired secondly kindness is spirit-led and thirdly kindness is action oriented so first off kindness is god inspired as i studied the scriptures dealing with kindness it was not a surprise to me what i found as the bible teaches us that that kindness this god's kindness doesn't come easily to us it kind of made sense to me because at times if i'm honest with you and i'm going to be really transparent and honest during this message that i've not always been kind i've not always found it easy to be kind and as i continue to look at this the bible actually teaches us that we don't naturally do these things in fact christians are urged constantly to seek to be kinder in their lives in romans 3 12 it says that all have turned away they have all together become worthless there is no one who does good not even one and this word likeness literally means sorry kindness is the same word as we find find in galatians 5 22. it's the same word the word kindness translates from the greek word christotes the meaning of christotes is best found in our word kindness that connection expanded it means moral goodness jack hayford describes this portion of the holy spirit as goodness in action sweetness of disposition gentleness in dealing with others and full of benevolence the word describes the ability to act for the welfare of those that are taxing your patience the holy scripture can remove abrasive qualities from our character if we will surrender and listen to the spirit on that jesus said something in the gospel of luke that i know i read i read through the bible every couple of years with my moravian text and i know i've read this chapter before in this verse before but i don't think it really kind of stuck out to me as it had right it's it's really called the sermon on the plane from luke chapter 6 35 but love your enemies do good to them and lend them without expecting to get anything back then your reward will be great and you will be children of the most high and that's the part that's kind of familiar to many folks but then he said because he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked now jesus is not merely saying that god is kind to those bad people over there he would want us to understand that at times if we're really honest we have been ungrateful maybe even wicked at times and that's a label that maybe we all have worn one time in our lives yet god still shows us kindness in spite of it when i was in the word this morning and doing my weekly journal i just was looking at going thank you god for your kindness and your second chances for redemption we need to constantly be in mind that the goal of fruitfulness is to grow both in the devotion to god and the likeness to him in our character and conduct god's kindness leads sinners towards repentance and that could be a whole sermon on itself from romans 2 4. in ephesians 2 7 in the context of our utter lostness and and sin paul speaks of the incomparable riches of god's grace expressed in his kindness to us in christ jesus he draws a familiar contrast in titus 3 4. after describing our lost condition he declares but when the kindness and love of god our savior appeared he saved us it seems the bible goes out of its way to portray the kindness of god in stark contrast with the undead undeservedness of us so what lessons can we draw from these accounts of kindness of god that he's kind to all men absolutely you know those that are ungrateful the wicked the utterly lost the helpless the rebellious without distinction we all can experience the kindness of god rick warren says i think god wants us to have a reputation for kindness he inspired it he modeled it and it's evidence of the spirit in our lives and then we read in first in philippians chapter 4 5 your kindness should be known to all it is god who's the author of kindness it's not of our own doing it's a supernatural piece that he's been the example for and that we need to lean into if we want to be like kindness is god inspired and exemplified hudson taylor famous missionary to china and founder of china inland mission was asked to go to the home of a very poor woman because she was ill and during that time many other religious leaders charged people for such service but the woman's 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 and that he knew would help her in her poverty poverty as he knelt to pray he hesitated thinking that he should give her the coin yet he rationalized that he only had enough food in his own home for two more meals when he when the conviction wouldn't go away he gave the woman the coin and as he knelt in prayer for her healing he felt great freedom and encouragement and friends taylor's example teaches us that we should not repress an urge to be kind ephesians 4 32 says instead be kind to one another be tenderhearted forgiving one another just as god through christ has forgiven you see friends this thinking and understanding that kindness is from god the author of kindness and the example of kindness helps us to respond differently even while we're walking through this crazy covid it gives us a chance to be different and to help the world around us with that fruit of the spirit and kindness so the second thing is kindness is spirit-led it's god inspired it's spirit-led the fruit of the spirit is not produced by human effort and trying harder but formed through the surrenderance to the holy spirit in the same time our role is not passive we need to be active and cooperate with the spirit as he speaks and as he leads and as we're filled with the holy spirit over a lifetime the spirit helps us conform to jesus likeness and the emphasis here is not on techniques or models but rather on the character qualities of jesus that in that embodied the life that he lived that also can embody our lives as we interact with both with everybody in our circle of influence thomas trask states the fruit of the spirit is also more than an attitude or a trait that we desire it's the evidence of the holy spirit living in us now some people have thought that the holy spirit is mystical or spooky or or unapproachable and these are not true perceptions the holy spirit is love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control all of these evidences that we can have in our lives the holy spirit's very approachable and desires that we listen to him be like him and walk like him during my preparation i actually thought i was going down another portion of scripture to illustrate this when the lord clearly you know spoke to me about going into and led me to galatians 5 25 which wasn't on my radar at that time and it says these words since we live by the spirit let us keep in step with the spirit and there's two pieces with that living and keeping in step with and as we walk in step with the spirit these virtues become the distinguishing marks of our life and we can if we live them become more and more like jesus which i think during today's world needs to be a predominant theme that we are more and more living like jesus now in the day that we are living in today we need to reflect this life we need to be these kind of people led by the spirit and again we take our model from jesus because jesus when we look at matthew 4 1 and mark 1 12 jesus himself was led by the spirit we see peter throughout acts 8 through 12 being led by the spirit in numerous ways and then paul of course is writing on it a numerous books and then i read psalm 143 10 which says let your good spirit lead me on level ground that's just good for me to hear lead me on level ground god's purpose and having the holy spirit dwell within the believers is that we might depend on him be directed by him and and illustrate god's great love for the world through this one evidence of kindness and friends this is illustrated regularly here in our services that we're when we're asked that question what's god saying to you for us to be listening to the spirit we're saying that we we're led by the spirit we want to be listening to what's being said listening to god asking that question basically in our discipleship we talk about this moment as a kairos moment there's kronos which is linear time and there's kairos which means happening something's going on and that pauses us to ask the lord what are you saying to me we take time to observe and reflect and discuss and we take a look at that and then we're able to move forward with god what are you asking me to do you know ever as i was kind of thinking about this and again using those the example of observing reflecting and then a little bit of discussion um anybody coffee people here like coffee four of you awesome no there's more i like coffee and i'm a tim's guy i enjoy my tim's i when i go through tim's close to my house i know the lady who is normally there who gets my coffee knows my voice and has my my large one milk coffee and we kind of talk back and forth i love my tims and so i go through the drive through and then at times i also um have noticed uh at the same as noticed that there's somebody there with a sign just before i get to the drive-through that's looking for help it's got a cardboard sign it's the same when i many days i come down at mcknight uh mcknight and edmonton trail and there's a fella um or you know right in the middle of between the roads and got a sign and walking up and down the cars looking for for for some help now if i'm honest with you and i told you i was going to be i've played the game of looking away so that they're not going to look at my eyes he's not going to see her she's not going to see my eyes you know i'm hoping in the back of my mind going okay if the light just changes and i'm perfectly timed i'm going to be able to get through and not have to interact at the tim's line you know if i'm if i'm there i'm going okay if if the person just two cars ahead of me doesn't have a huge order i'm going to be able to drive right up to the drive-through not have to stop and maybe interact and embarrassed as i am to say this sometimes i i'll even look into the console to think that i'm looking for change to give that person the the potential that i'm going gonna be kind to them and as the lord brought this back i needed to repent this repent of this and embarrassed of it however i know that there is redemption i know that he brought this this message for me as well to be reminded of myself of being kind but i also love i love hearing stories about how the spirit has led people to be kind and and so many times i've seen and heard this and there's a family that went on a family on mission trip with me to vancouver and they were led of the spirit as in interacting and talking about different things and they thought you know what i'm gonna we're gonna keep a box of granola bars in our car so that when we pull up and somebody is in need we're gonna be able to extend kindness to that individual i thought that's great i love that that they were ready to be kind it wasn't just thinking about kindness it wasn't reading about kindness it was prepared and led to be kind and it reminded me of ephesians 2 10. for we are god's handiwork created in christ jesus to do good works which god prepared in advance for us to do this is the spirit's leading i have some of the kindest best friends and staff that in the world that i've ever had the joy of serving and working with they they lead in kindness and responding to kindness they offer to help they're praying they give of their efforts and their money and their time and talent to things like crossover camp into the csc campout to outreach events to barbecues to compassionate ministries to being here and volunteering on a regular basis and showing kindness to people i am so inspired i have these living examples of people being led by the spirit to be kind so so far friends a quick recap is that we see that kindness is god inspired we just kind of unpacked that kindness is spirit-led and finally building on my last point with my friends and this family with the granola bars faith kindness in faith is action oriented jerry bridges wrote that kindness is a sincere desire for the happiness of others goodness is the activity calculated to advance that happy happiness kindness is an inner disposition created by the holy spirit that causes us to be sensitive and aware of the needs of others whether it's physical emotional spiritual it's goodness it's kindness in action both in word and deed and i tend to think of kindness in terms of those around us how we can express this to them and kindness may be as simple as a smile to a store clerk you know a thank you to a waitress an encouraging word to somebody the affirmation of a child these simple things don't cost a lot of money or time friends but they are very valuable in the lives of those who receive it apart from god's grace to be honest with you i i can tend to be more concerned about my responsibilities my plans my problems i can just be sometimes internally focused and but the person who has grown in the fruit of the spirit of kindness has expanded their thinking and again romans 12 2 it's the renewing of the mind it's about reminding ourselves of what god's taught us at least in my life you know and it has developed a genuine interest in other people's well-being 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 but experienced many falls scrapes and bruises and mishaps because he wasn't fully discipled this young man began to sense a calling to ministry in finally taking a step of faith after many missed opportunities he was afforded an opportunity in a local church who was needing some help his previous life however caught up to him and in the first season of ministry he was facing a very difficult situation with his finances a businessman serving in leadership in 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 him to come and meet with his bank to see if there's anything that could be done so the young man met the businessman at the bank sitting in the office with the bank manager he heard the words that cut him to the core sir in our opinion you should not help or give a loan to this young man his financial situation and history does not bode well for you as he proceeded to talk the young man was deflated and felt like he got what he deserved then he heard the words the words that kind of changed a perspective in this young man give him the money could he be hearing this correctly then he heard the bank manager talking to the businessman out of the statement sir we recommend you don't give any money to this man and again the young man heard the words give him the money the long short of it is as the businessman did co-sign for the loan and first off the young man paid back that loan in shorter time that was agreed upon secondly the pastors of that church seeing the potential in the young man affirming his calling in character decided to hire him as a youth pastor however it was found out much later being it was a small church at the time didn't have budget for a additional staff pastor to youth but miraculously the money came in to hire the young man as the full-time youth pastor that act of kindness changed the young man's life as almost 30 years ago my life was changed by that by that kindness friends i didn't deserve what i was given and i can say i've kept in touch with that man over the years who influenced my life in such a huge way and i hope he's watching from wherever he is i want him to know again how grateful i am for showing me not just talking about kindness but showing me kindness and the fruit of the spirit in a life-giving way that actually changed the the trajectory of my life as i conclude this message my good friend and fellow pastor jeff baker came up with five areas that he thought we need to get into the habit of practicing kindness every day and i kind of modified it a little bit now as i was prepping for this i'm sure that you could come up with five or ten more and i don't know why and i do feel like i i've said this many times i feel like i was the first child that was never diagnosed with add and my mom and dad would probably tell you i was hyper i was always active and stuff like that and i loved sesame street and i don't know why but when i was preparing for the closing of this my mind drifted back to my days and center in sesame street and so being a sesame street guy in closing i want to conclude the sermon that is brought to you by the letter c and the number five okay the first c is this conversations with friends and family there's a good chance that you're sitting here today that you've been hurt by words in conversations during this covet season you don't have to be mean because your family you don't have to be so direct that you alienate somebody we can differ we just can't divide so friends you know it's okay to be kind in our conversations number two c is uh comments on every online platform everything you write online has the potential to be read by thousands of people you know it's it's so easy to say words and want to take them back but i think sometimes i think i should have not said anything if i wasn't going to say something that was kind and affirming the third c is congestion and i'm not talking about the congestion that comes with you know colds and stuff i'm talking about congestion in traffic i know people who become hostile the minute they get behind a wheel and i'll tell you sometimes my kindness is in short supply when i drive because i compare my awesome driving skills to the poor driving skills of someone else i need to extend a little bit more kindness and i found myself catching myself going i've done that before stop judging be a little bit more kind wayne the fourth one i call consumer service which is being a good customer when we're dealing with somebody who's serving you or dealing with a customer server service representative even if they don't do it right even if they don't do it fast even if they don't do it to your standards i think that we can be the people that can extend kindness in fact i've noticed myself and i'm not as strong as i once was but i'm going to bring it back again because it's a reminder when they're name tag and i like name tags because then i can say hey holly and i can see right there where it says in training and if they've got the term in training on their name tag that's an opportunity for me to tell them they're doing good you know you're gonna get this you're gonna get this you're doing okay thanks for your good service and finally the fifth c would be community folks who need your help you're not gonna solve all the world's problems we as a church are not going to solve the world's problems that's jesus job and god almighty but while we have an opportunity sometimes we're going to be able to say yes to the needs of other people and sometimes it's going to be no but here's the thing whether it's yes or no it's how we how we respond it's not with condemnation it needs to be with mercy it's okay to say no but we can do that with kindness the same way as when we say yes with kindness first corinthians 16 14 says everything you do must be done with love it's not really an option everything you do needs to be done with love so what's the relationship between love and kindness well kindness is action oriented that's what kindness is it's it's love and action kindness is an emotion it isn't just an emotion or a feeling it's an action you might have all sorts of different kinds of feelings and thinking regarding this topic but really if we want to step out we need to do something kindness is something that you do towards someone it's an activity or an event an action kindness is love and action the christian life is becoming is is about becoming more like jesus and what does it mean to be more like jesus it's about demonstrating this fruit this evidence of the fruit of kindness in our lives because it's the qualities of jesus in the holy spirit again i point you to the scripture love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and self-control kindness is god inspired kindness is spirit-led kindness is action-oriented i'm going to ask the worship team up as they lead us in a song i had an opportunity to choose for this closing it's become a favorite of mine and it just really jumped into my heart and mind you know to reflect on god's kindness and mercy in my own life it's loaded with meaning i hope that it speaks to you the same way as it is spoken to me [Music] oh i've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like [Music] that you're pleased and that i'm never alone why don't you stand and sing with us you're a good good father [Music] who you are and i'm loved by you it's who i am [Music] i've seen many searching for answers far and wide but i know that we're all searching for answers only you provide cause you know just what we need before [Music] who you are [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] who i am [Music] you are perfect [Music] yes you are perfect in all of your ways [Music] i i can hardly speak peace so unexplainable i can hardly think as you call me deeper still as you calm me deeper still as you calm me deeper [Music] who you are [Music] [Applause] it's who you are [Music] who you are who you are [Music] who i am [Music] he is a good good father in luke 10 37 jesus telling of the good this telling the story of the good samaritan in verse 37 it kind of captured me this week and i wondered if it would be our closing benediction as it resonated with me four words go and do likewise you are loved the world is not dying from a lack of religion friends it's dying from a lack of relationship and we can show them the kindness so as we we ask the lord today what are you saying to me let's pray together as we close our time so lord jesus thank you for being such an amazing model for us in kindness all the stories through the scripture of your kindness and love god our father thank you for being the author of kindness and lord as you speak to us not just in our moments here but as we leave we get in our cars lord speak to us about our response to kindness what is it you're going to have us to think about or to do to bring that love in context with the gospel so lord we thank you for being with us here today we ask god that you would be with us as we depart in this next week we thank you for your goodness and your kindness to us may we go and do likewise in your name we pray amen there will be prayer partners here for you if you have a prayer need god bless you [Music] we're so glad that you joined us this morning wayne thank you so much for your message thank you do you want to tell them about the kindness that happened yesterday pam showed me kindness friends like nobody at the uh at the evening service the mask had electrical charge and my whole system went down and pam comes running out and saves me and shows me kindness so i appreciate her i appreciate you guys god bless you this week may you go and be kind to those as god has been kind to you thank you so much thank you wayne before you shut your tv off your computer your phone wherever it is that you are watching the service spend a moment with god as wayne said it is spirit-led and god-inspired and for god to inspire you and for the spirit to lead you you need to spend some time praying about where he is leading you to show kindness this week so it would be really easy for you to just kind of move on from this service and to live your life the way that you always live your life this week but be intentional take a moment right now and practice kindness in a new and a fresh way as the spirit leads you and friends we are praying for you this week as you step out in a new and a fresh way to show kindness share it in the chat next weekend how it is that you're sharing kindness and we'll see you as we live stream at 4 30 6 30 9 and 11 next weekend if you can't join us for one of those times then check us out on youtube video on demand saturday after the 6 30 service or sunday after the 11 service we love you guys we are praying for you guys and we'll see you next week bye everyone [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you

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Length: 93min 43sec (5623 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021