How To Be Content - Pastor Nicole Crank

you know I just wanted to say thanks to all the moms you know do you know if y'all ever hear that saying if momma ain't happy ain't nobody happy but you know the things I've noticed about moms over the years is I've noticed this moms seem to be the happiest when everybody that they love and everybody that they care for is happy then momma is finally happy so the day that momma's happy is a good day because the day that Mama's happy pretty much everybody's happy thanks mom for all you did cuz without you we wouldn't be here that's what we're talking about today we're talking about happiness who wants to be happy say me I like you guys you play along you had that kind of kid I remember my mom voice you remember how you used to say me when your mom said you know who wants the cookie you are like me that's how I am about the happiness I really want happiness in my life and another word for happiness is contentment everybody just say that with me say contentment I had a friend who was actually planning a message the way I got this and he was like hey I want to preach on contentment here's a couple ideas I had and kind of what I was gonna do what would you do and immediately this thought just came into my head with all of these stories and that's when I knew he was talking about this but I just was developing a message right in that moment and I said you know what I think about contentment is that we're calmed by the tenth UC tensor moveable tints are collapsible tents fall down tents don't really shield us a tent can be here today and in another state tomorrow we get conned thinking that happiness is in this one place at this one time and that it's a pillar but happiness contentment is really a very movable thing it's a moving target and so if you study psychology you will find out that there are three things that humans do when we aren't content so I thought okay well first of all we have to figure out how many humans are here who's human okay we got 12 aliens good to know we have you identified we're watching you now in and tell ET to phone home there are three things that humans typically do when we are not content the first thing never works the shame is it's the first thing we do but it never works the second thing sometimes we do it and a lot of times it works the third thing it's the thing we're least likely to do but it always works who wants to know what always works a way to always be happy say me so let's talk about these three things real quick so let me ask you think of a time when you weren't happy something that happened recently that upset you and made you mad what's the first thing that we typically do we blame somebody we blame people well I can't believe they did that god I can't believe you did that sir why did you why did you let that happen gods in heaven going well actually I was telling you go to the other way but somebody wasn't listening we're like that thing it's the things fault it's the organisation's fault it's the church's fault it's the government's fault it's the company's fault it's this thing's fault so blame the thing or we blame the people well you see the fact is it's not my fault that my boss doesn't like me Suze doesn't like me and my boss likes Suzy so therefore my son I've got no hope with the boss or my Uncle Bob he put my pampers on too tight and now I just can't possibly just be all that I was supposed to be we blame God we blame the things we blame the people the problem with the blame game is this it typically only leads to resentment into bitterness and it's said about resentment and bitterness it's like drinking poison and waiting for somebody else to die that gets us nowhere it takes us down the wrong road but it's the first thing we naturally do because of the stinking flesh so the second thing the second thing that we do sometimes and it works sometimes it is to change what we do you see we can blame people or we can do something the do so let's talk about what we do let's go to Matthew 7 and in Matthew 7 verses 26 and 27 it talks about a passage in scripture where there's this guy and he's getting ready to build a house and it says this it says and everyone who hears these words of mine which I'm so proud of you today here you are you're hearing the word it says everybody who hears these words of mine but does not do them we're talking about doing he's like the foolish man built his house upon the sand foolish man built his house upon the sand the foolish man built his house upon the sand and the rains came a-tumblin down verse 27 says the rains came down the floods came up the winds blew against the house and the house couldn't handle it because it was built on built on the sand and great was the fall of it you see we try and find happiness as a moving target but it's a shifting sand it moves up from underneath our feet every time we think we have it there it goes and it moves again we're conned by the tense it's moving around you see I remember back when I was a kid we would go camping not because it was my vacation of choice it's because it was the vacation we could afford and so I brought with me today a picture of me in a bikini because it's the one my mom could find so I'm not gonna look you in the eyes there I am yeah I was five so and behind me is my mom she's doing dishes and these little pails and I'm obviously even at five a hot mess right and then behind that what is that a canvas army surplus tent that was my vacation it weighed 197 pound not light nice like nylon that big ol thing and that big ol thing is where we went and I remember is we would be driving out into the middle of nowhere to spend as many days as we could until the money ran out that's how long our vacation was as long as the money lasted we usually took a hundred dollars with us for the whole vacation so we'd go and we'd find a bus spot and I remember driving past a river rat looking Motel you know those kinds that are owned by a mom and a pop and they changed the sheets every few months the roaches are on the front porch waving at you as you go by I remember driving by places like that thinking man I wonder how cool it would be to stay in a hotel I was unhappy with the fact that I was actually getting to take a vacation because I thought there was something better out there for me contentment for cons by this moving thing we're contingent till we see what somebody else has contentment always see what somebody else gets we don't like that because it moves around moves around on us so since I hated camping when I was a kid I decided to do that to my kids and take them camping so when Austin was about five years old our neighbors all went on a camping trip together so we went with them we had to buy a tent we got this you know a cool little nylon thing from Walmart and we had to get a sleeping bag and we got a Coleman cooler we filled it up and we headed out into the country we were the first ones to get there we set up camp first and I was actually so pleased with our cute little campsite it was just adorable and it was all new and I felt special until everybody else showed up you see my neighbors camped regularly and they knew what they were doing when they set up their tent it didn't just have a middle they popped out this side wing and that was bedroom number one they put two chairs in the middle and this was their living room then they pop out this other side and they have bedroom number two with a zip in wall the adults had privacy they have walls in their tent oh but no there's more they pop off these pose off the front and it's surrounded by screen they put their table in it they have a dining room in their tent twinkle lights Coleman lanterns shut all this big forks for s'mores I was totally happy with what I had until I saw it somebody else had so if you're a note taker I'd like you to write this down comparison is the contentment killer comparison is the contentment killer that's what happens to a lot of us at work we get the new job we are so psyched we cannot believe they are gonna pay us this for what we're doing it's more money than we made before we go home we tell the spouse look baby look what mama brought home to you kiss me and take me out to dinner in that order or reverse it yeah I'm missing Pastor Dave don't worry he's on his way home he jumps on an airplane at 3 o'clock he's coming home to mama it is Mother's Day I'm gonna collect so comparison is the contentment killer I forgot where I was I started thinking about pastor David was all gone y'all guys don't compare to my man let me tell you about my man for a minute my man is good my man is sweet my man treats his momma right somebody played this service back for my man let him know I have set the bar high coz he will live up to it that's what marriage is supposed to look like before the record so you don't get in the comparison game that is not what our marriage always looks like there were two times last week I'm surprised he survived orange jumpsuits don't look that bad on me is it okay if I do this at the 12:30 you don't have the extra time the other services so we just go ahead and put it on comparison comparison is the contentment killer so we get all excited about we're gonna make it the new job until we're there for 60 days 90 days six months one year a couple years then we're at the water cooler and all of a sudden it comes out what Bob makes and we realize that Bob makes 10 cents an hour more than we do uh you're like oh no he didn't I have been here longer I work harder he is not as valuable to this organization as I am why do they pay him 10 cents an hour more than they pay me then we find out Suzy makes 25 cents an hour less than we do and no we're not vindicated we're like how can they pay her that much she leaves early she comes in late she wouldn't even have a job I did not cover her behind on that last project how do they pay her that close to what they pay me they don't bow you me around here we get on content with the very thing we were content with until we figured out what somebody else was doing Luke 3 verse 14 God had to actually address this and I'm so glad he did because it helps us where we're at there's some soldiers they're talking and they're asking so so what are we supposed to do and he says to them well first of all don't intimidate anybody second of all don't lie don't falsely accuse anybody and third of all what's that last line be content with your wages be happy about it be happy about it be happy about your house be happy about your car be happy about your marriage be happy about your kids be happy about where you're at be happy about your peace be happy about what you're paid be happy about what they promoted who they promoted why they promoted them be happy about it why why do we got to be happy about it because God wants us to be happy where we are at on the way to where we are going the comparison man comparison will mess us up there's this VW guy got a VW Bug pulls up to stop like my my my my my my mama next to the big Rolls Royce BW got rolls down his window hey bro you got a phone in your car I got a phone in my car bro sir I said whoa yeah phone in my car Thanks BW guys says huh you got a refrigerator in your car got a refrigerator in my car roller guy says well in the center console they got this little thing and it keeps no drinks cool crisis okay I got a TV in my VW you got a TV in your roller guys like well it's a luxury car and they put a TV in the back of the seat but no he's like cool all right well I got a bed in my car you got a bed in your car roller guy goes well no I don't got a bed in my car why don't I have a bed in my car light turns green VW guys like back I was like I don't have a bed in my car he's got a bed in his car I don't have a bed in my so he goes straight to the dealership why is there not a in my car we need to put a bed in my car so they put a bed in his car he goes back to the dealership a few days later picks it up he's sitting at that same stoplight he sees that VW Bug parked in a parking lot over there he's like I need to go tell that man that I got a bed in my car so he pulls up to the car and the VW Bug is all steamy and foggy and the windows you can't see through him and he's like huh hey sir hey buddy you in there no answer he's like buddy I got something to tell you the guy on the VW finally rolls the window down he says hey what's up he's like I'm the guy from the Rolls Royce I just needed to let you know I've got a bed in my car the guy in the VW says you got me out of the shower to tell me that [Laughter] contentment it's moving around so what do we do Hebrews 13 verse 5 it says let your conduct let what you do we can blame or we can do let what you do would be without covetousness be without jealousy but without m/v let what you do be without jealousy and then it says be content in such things as you have for he says unto us I will never leave you and I will never forsake you be content that we woke up be content that we can breathe be content we walked in here on two legs be content that we had a car be content that we had breakfast because that we have a home be content that we have a family be content that we can worship and freedom be content that we have friends somebody better praise the Lord with me don't let me get all this all by myself why cuz we got to watch this tent cuz this tent will move around on us you see at that time that we went camping with Austin when he was a little on that same trip we finally all go to bed while we're sleeping middle of night sometime I wake up and all of a sudden squish I'm like oh this five year old did not the bed so I'm like where's the towel because I'm gonna put it all over it and go back to bed because that's what moms do birthday so I scoot over and I go the other way squish on the other side I'm like what is happening and I roll again and I'm squish sink I move again squish sink do we have a waterbed in our tent squish sink what is we're flooding we're flooding everybody get up everybody get up we're flooding we grab everything out of the tennis quick is we cannot step out of the tent by the time I step out of the tent it's past my ankles things are already starting to float around on the camper around everybody come on we start grabbing things as they're formed by as quickly as we can we jump in the car by the time we get in the car it's up to our knees we start backing the car up out of the water and the very tent I did not want to spend the night in and I wasn't content to have I suddenly wanted really bad a tent keeps moving around see if we go back to Matthew 7 it says in verse 24 for everybody who hears these words that's what you're doing right now and does them talking about blaming or doing anybody who hears those words and does them is like a man who builds his house upon the rock and when the rain came down and the floods came up the rain came down and the floods came up the rains came down and the floods came up and the wise men's house stood it didn't move why it was built on a rock it was built on the rock of Christ Jesus it was built on the rock of faith it was built on the rock of the blood it was built on the rock of God it was built on the rock come on somebody of knowing that no matter what happened God wasn't leaving God wasn't forsaken whatever the trouble was God was out ahead of it God already made a way to get out of it crisis solid rock I stand right now you're thinking why is it she on the worship team all other ground is sinking sand all other ground is so we have the sinking sand of the world and the happiness and the way we try and chase it and then we have God which changes our expectation huh expectation that's thing number three actually expectation or the way we think we have blaming we have doing and we have thinking or expectation if we can change our expectation if we can change the way we think if you can change the way you think you can change the way you live we have control over what we think except for in the natural as humans and most of us are except for you twelve as humans we are pitiful at managing our expectations we expect that we're gonna be happy when we get out of the tent and we get to the roach motel except for we get to the roach motel and we're driving to the roach motel then we see a hotel with a pool well why don't we have a hotel with a pool so now Bob you don't treat me right you don't take me to a hotel with a pool next year we get a hotel with a pool and then we find of hope two hotel with a pool and playground why don't we have one with a pool at a playground so next time it's pool in a playground but the next time we found out another one's got room service well why don't we have room service we found out another time they got indoor hallways and better air conditioning and a view why don't we have indoor hallways a better air conditioning interview then this one's got a multi complex and they wax your puppy I don't know there's always something we don't have we don't manage our expectation we get to the place where we thought we would be happy that's key where we thought we would be happy so if you study psychology here is when people are unhappy this is super important people are unhappy when what they think they will make them happy people are unhappy when what they think will make them happy does not match what they see in life what we think will make us happy I'm single I think marriage will make me happy we can't wait to get married whoo I'm married I think kids are gonna make me happy I can't wait to have kids I can't wait till the kids sleep through the night then I'll be happy we think we'll be happy when the kids finally go to school the kids finally go to school we think we'll be happy when the kids finally leave the house the kids finally leave the house we think we'll be happy when the kids finally come back to visit we think we'll be happy when we make $50,000 a year we think we'll be happy when we own the business we'd be happy would think what we happen we make 75 we think we'll be happy once we why is it always out there here's the beautiful thing you control what you think what you think so change the way you think and you change the way you live you can finally feel the happiness that's been invading us for so long because the happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything no the happiest people just make the most of everything that they have change the way you think and we change the way you live so we have to learn how to think well this is really great psychology but I came to church I really need some word for what you're talking about my am well here we offer you would you turn with me to Philippians 4 what start in verse 10 I don't know who that character was but Tyler Perry should borrow her so in verse 10 Paul starts talking about how he was overflowing in joy and people were showing him some kindness and and this is where we're at but let's really start in verse 11 and in verse 11 he says I'm not telling you any of this because I have a need he said actually I have learned to be satisfied in any circumstance learns he learns you we can meet we can learn to be satisfied how we think about it can teach us to be satisfied contentment is not the fulfillment of what we want it is the realization of how much we already have so here here's something on it so Austin wanted to go camping again sorry about that Austin wanted to go camping again when he was a little bit older so I don't like camping I don't want to go camping so I can either go and have a miserable time or I can figure out how to make it good so I'm gonna have to think about it differently I'm gonna have to learn how to be content so then I'm like okay well what don't I like about this I don't like the fact that it's 90 degrees and I'm trying to sleep I don't like that I don't like the fact that the Sun Goes Down but I do not I'm still awake after the Sun is down and I got nothing to do so what am I gonna I nee I need to be cool and I need something to do so we got to think about it and then I'm gonna do something about it I thought about it I decided I was gonna be happy and I brought a picture of us on this particular camping trip once I figured out how to be happy camping do you see what that yellow arrow is pointing to [Applause] we brought a window unit for our tent Oh friends that's not all I still needed something to do after bedtime so I brought a TV and a VCR because it was 20 years ago and VCRs were the thing so we got a $10 more expensive campsite we brought all our stuff and I was cool with that air conditioning blowing right on me and I was watching my movies and everybody else in the campsite I'm like y'all will come over for a party I just put a shower and a bed in the back we're content with life when what we think happiness is matches what we see the beauty is we can learn we can change our thinking to be content wherever we are Corrie ten Boom she was in a Nazi concentration camp I can't imagine anywhere more horrible anywhere more difficult to try and be happy and yet she said they can take everything from me but they can't take my happiness she learned Philippians 4:12 Paul was the same way you see he's writing this from prison and in Philippians 4:12 he says I know what it means to lack and I know what it means to have overwhelming abundance and I think that's even harder it's harder to know how good it was and then go backwards and yet he still learned he still painted the picture of contentment in his head to say I can be content in prison you see moms dads let me ask you a question is God your Heavenly Father okay so if you're his child let me ask you this which of your children gets the most affirmation and love and affection for you from you I submit to you today it's the little one that crawls up in your lap it's the one that comes up to you and gives you a squeeze and you give him a squeeze back it's that one that comes and grabs your hand and hold your hand and you hold their hand back it's the one that comes up and kisses you on the cheek and you just grab them and you're all over their face the one running around that won't pay attention to you they don't get as much affection because they're not up on you you see when we're happy where we are and we're giving God a squeeze for everything he's done for us so far there's nothing God can do but just squeeze us back give us a love that affection and in verse 13 I believe it is as I start to wrap up Paul says for I'm trained in the secret of overcoming off things whether in fullness or in hunger you see today you came and you heard and I'm really proud of you for that but when we take out from here we got to do sometimes do one's gonna work sometimes doing isn't gonna work sometimes doing doesn't work cuz life throws us this wacky curveball we had no idea was coming a diagnosis a layoff somebody left you weren't planning it has that ever happened to you say me it's happened to all of us so that's why doing only works part of the time we can't control what we do but we can't control what we think and my people perish for a lack of knowledge you didn't know how to arm yourself and fight against this before but now you know what to do when things in life seem to move you can just let it move away from you or you can say I'm not doing this anymore you see I've made a decision like Paul and whether I'm in LAC whether I'm hungry whether they promote somebody else whether the economy Falls whether they elect somebody I don't like whether they give me a diagnosis whether somebody leaves me whether they break up with me whether they pray they give somebody else to raise I'm taking it with me I'm not on some shifty sand I'm standing on the rock so I'm going to stand here and I'm going to take my happiness with me wherever I go God you just watch me I'll be happy wherever you take me God but I know you're not gonna leave me here I'm gonna be happy right here on the way that you're taking me and where you're taking me because we go from face to face from level to level and from victory to victory somebody you've got a good Amen y'all are getting training you're getting the tracks tracks us what we got growth track if you're looking for the track to get on it helps you make sure you're safe make sure you're baptized make sure you need to know what you know about the church you need to know what you know to get started in theology it helps you mind out your spiritual giftings helps you discover the the giftings God's put in your life and in your personality I hope you make a difference psychology said there are two things that are necessary to be happy you want to know what they are you have to give and you have to grow you see what happens is if we don't have an opportunity to give something and contribute something we're not happy we need to give our time we need to give our talent we need to give our treasure and then we have to grow we have to know what's next what's my progress what's my next step where am I going from here I need to grow well this growth track helps you grow and then we lead you to I connects I connect there are small groups why it helps gives you that firm foundation beneath your feet it gives you that solid rock to stand on it gets you deeper in Christ it helps to disciple you it helps surround you with the right day in your life that they can pray for you and be there for you when other things in life and things start to shift around and then serve growth track helps connect you to make a difference serve what shaking hands for an hour at the front door yeah because some people didn't get a hug or touch all week long and so they got to you like I said so I could take care of somebody else's baby in the nursery yeah cuz maybe that moms freaked out and she just needs an hour to get her sanity back what to be an usher I think y'all have plenty of hours I think we have plenty in ushers it's not about us it's about the two things that you need to be happy you need an outlet well you mean make coffee for an hour every week yeah give somebody a reason who's new to the church and they don't know why to stay but if you put a cup of coffee in their hand they finally got a reason to hang around for a minute can I tell you something I only told one another service only 10% of this church serves the target number for a church is 70 so I want to invite you right now if you're not content in your life and you're not happy in your life you don't have a giving outlet in your life I want to invite 90% of you to commit to serving somewhere for one hour a week friends see if your contentment level doesn't get brought up why because the very last part of this scripture it says and find that the strength of Christ explosive power and fuses me to conquer every difficulty Christ has an explosive power to handle the difficulty when it comes the difficulty is still gonna come the enemies still exist we still live in a car swirl that's common but what do we do with it when we get here do we get all it moved around and now we can't be happy anymore or do we decide on Christ the solid rock I stand I'm gonna take a part of Christ explosive power it's not poof power not like I'm a Christian now doo doo doo doo Jesus do your thing it's not like that what does Christ's explosive power look like it looks like the inside of you it looks like the love of God being shed abroad in your heart it looks like faith building you into a person you didn't even know you could be it's about forgiveness coming out of you for people that you thought you could never forgive it's about pride being set aside and humbling ourselves they need the mighty hand of God so he can lift us up and bring us higher it's about God doing stuff for us that we never thought he could do cuz we're in that happy place of being happy where we are on the way to where God with every head bowed and every eye closed I want to pray for you right now if you've got an area of your life that yeah you're like no it's out of whack I'm not happy I'm not content with where I'm at if you would raise your hand whether you're on television here at our city wherever you're at father God you see our hands its humility its repentance God for not being happy with what you've given us for us so far here's the amazing thing about you God is you are so faithful to forgive us no matter what it is that we've done so God now that you've forgiven us we stand here clean as Jesus and His righteousness it's a gift from you and so right now God we stand boldly before the throne of grace and we ask we ask for your courage we ask for your confidence we ask for your boldness we ask for a greater faith to rise up on the inside of us we ask for the breath of heaven to come down on us not we ask for wisdom and direction to be whispered in our ear so we know exactly what to do and exactly what to say and exactly when to do it God I just ask you for a flood a favor to come in opportunities that we don't deserve but God we're so hey you're so happy with us because we're happy with you you bring them to us anyway you don't give us what we deserve you give us what Jesus deserves because that is your gift unto us and we receive it in Jesus name we pray amen and amen was that Alright for today [Applause]

Channel: Crank Ministries

Views: 4,211

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Nicole Crank, Pastor Nicole Crank, Faith Church, faithchurch.com, church in St. Louis, church in West Palm Beach, church in Missouri, church in Florida, happiness, happy, tent, content, better life, expectations, believe, contentment, how to be happy, change, faithful, how to be content, Matt Killingsworth, Habits to a Happy Life, be content with what you have, how to be content with what you have, choose to be happy

Id: wi3_AB1h48E

Length: 33min 9sec (1989 seconds)

Published: Mon May 14 2018