I think I already said it, my name is Greg, I'm one of the pastors here.
If we've never had coffee, I like it.
I'd love to buy you coffee.
If lunch is more your speed, we can work that out too.
I like to eat, and so it all works out.
We are in a series called Radical Effect, because when you plant a seed, the first little
sprout that comes from that seed is called the radical, and the plant that ends up growing
from it is the effect.
And we're talking about this because as Christians we believe when Jesus died, He took all of
our sin.
Just think those words.
All of our sin.
Not just the sin of that day.
All the sins of the world, past, present, future.
It doesn't mean that you cannot sin, it just means that if you sin, then sin is the echo
of something old.
It's already been defeated.
If you look closely enough, even in those moments, you'll see that there's still something
new that is growing.
Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, the traditional seven deadly sins,
they all have something new that can grow instead.
Things like humility, charity, chastity, gratitude, self-control, patience, and diligence.
Today we consider envy and gratitude.
So let's go ahead and open up our Bibles.
We're going to open to 1 Peter, 1 Peter, it's going to be chapter one.
1 Peter is really close to the end.
So if you just open your Bible all the way to the end and then just start flipping back,
you're going to find it.
So 1 Peter is after James, and then it goes 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John.
So if you find any of those, you know you're in the right neighborhood.
If you don't have a Bible, there's Bibles on the table.
If you would like one, you can take one of those home with you.
Otherwise, just download a Bible from any of the digital app stores.
We have a tradition of giving the scriptures that are read during the sermon our full attention.
And one of the ways you can do that is by standing with me.
You're welcome to sit as well.
But let's give the scriptures our full attention as we read them now.
1 Peter 1, starting in verse 23, says this, you have been born anew, not of perishable,
but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.
For all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flowers of grass.
The grass withers and the flower falls.
But the word of the Lord endures forever.
That word is the good news that was announced to you.
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of
every kind.
Let us pray.
God of every tribe, of every tongue, every color, every nation, we thank you for the
scriptures that they have persisted throughout the millennia.
And I pray that whatever we talk about today, that whatever you have for us to learn, that
it would stick.
It would become a part of the framework of our faith.
That our faith would become stronger.
That we would become more like your son Jesus.
Amen?
Amen.
You all have a seat.
Thanks.
So I think that Peter lays out our premise pretty well.
He says that you were born anew.
You've been saying that over and over again throughout this series, that there is something
new.
You have been born anew through something that will last forever.
There's things, we're constantly surrounded by things that are perishable.
And yet somehow there's something about what Jesus has done and who Jesus is that is imperishable.
That can never end.
Even though we, every day, we're constantly bombarded with what is temporary, we have
within us something that is forever.
What Jesus does is permanent.
So he says, get rid of all the old stuff that will not last.
One thing I really like about books like Peter and the Johns is you see these hints and shadows
and mimicry of things that they heard Jesus say himself.
Jesus said, but do not store up treasures for yourself here where moth and rust can
destroy it, but store up for yourself treasures in heaven.
He's talking about the things that Jesus was talking to him about.
If I was going to put it in other words, just as simply as possible, the root is cut, but
all those old dead branches, they still need removed.
The root is cut, but there's still some old branches that need removing because if those
dead branches get to hang around, they just might affect how we feel about our faith.
Because if we keep tripping on old branches that don't even have life in them anymore,
but if we keep tripping on those branches, we might start telling ourselves, maybe we
haven't changed.
Maybe that wasn't real.
Maybe the old way is the always.
I think that we can be pretty hard on ourselves, can't we?
Or maybe some of us have people in our lives that do that for us.
Maybe you've heard someone say, don't raise your hand if this is you, but maybe you heard
someone say, you haven't changed.
Let me just encourage you for a minute.
If you started following Jesus and someone said that to you, I think most of the time
people say something like that.
Not because you haven't changed.
It's because they never changed the story that they have for you.
So in some ways, whether you have changed or not, they're going to see what they believe.
And it is also simultaneously true that it can take a long time to break some old habits.
Some of us have had a lot of dead branches just laying around in our yard.
And then the wind blows and those branches get strewn across our sidewalk.
And suddenly we were like, well, I had it where I wanted it.
Now we find ourselves tripping over things that no longer give us life.
But hear me, like we may not have completely changed all at the same time or all of our
behavior on the outside, but that does not change that your heart is new.
If anyone is in Christ, then they are what?
A new creation.
The old is gone.
The new has come.
Sometimes the outside needs some time to catch up with the new reality of what has happened
on the inside.
That's part of what baptism is about.
Y'all, Jesus has already forgiven you.
Your sins are already dead.
Your heart is already new.
So in baptism, you're doing something to the outside of your body to communicate what you
believe has already happened on the inside of your heart.
And then the church, the people around you, when you get baptized, we're the ones that
are supposed to be committing to see who you are now.
There's this video online, and I will not quote it verbatim.
This guy's getting baptized, and they're standing in the baptismal, and the pastor says into
the mic, so why are you getting baptized today?
And he holds the mic up to him, and he says, because I used to be a piece of...
And he said the word.
He said it in front of the whole church.
He was acknowledging that I used to act a certain way.
That I used to be a certain person, but now I'm doing something on the outside that reflects
what I believe happens inside.
Because he didn't say because I am.
He said because I used to be.
And as the church, the church is supposed to come around us and believe who we are now.
Because we know, at least we should, that none of us are perfect on the outside either.
So when someone diminishes what God is doing in your life, remember, they're probably just
telling an old story.
You can hold on to whatever Jesus has done.
And then in some cases, I think people diminish how you've changed because they envy what
you have experienced.
You ever been telling someone about something good that happened, like a vacation, a promotion,
a new relationship, and they just want to poke holes in it?
Hey, hey, I had a great vacation.
Oh, I bet it was pretty hot, huh?
Expensive?
How are you going to pay that one off?
Oh, I got a promotion.
Congratulations.
Oh man, it sounds like a lot of extra work now, huh?
Hey, I'm in a new relationship.
That's great.
Let's hope he doesn't cheat like the last guy.
You sure know how to pick him.
And it's sad to say that the same thing can happen between Christians.
Because one of those old branches that some of us still have laying around is called envy.
Envy isn't just wanting what someone else has.
It can turn into not wanting them to have what they have.
Sometimes someone will say to you, you haven't changed because they don't feel like they
have changed.
If they don't feel like they have changed, they don't really want you to feel like you
have changed either.
They envy what you're experiencing.
So I want to say something clearly.
When we believe in Jesus, we are not meant to be using each other for comparison.
Jesus is our model.
Jesus is our standard.
Jesus is our benchmark and beginning.
He is the end and everything in between.
When we feel like we do not measure up, the grace of Jesus is our comfort.
If you feel, if you believe in Jesus, and if you feel disappointed or envious of what
someone else is experiencing, right now I'm talking to you.
I know the sting of feeling unchanged.
I know the frustration of old sins hanging around.
I know the feeling of looking in the spiritual mirror and wishing that I was further along.
I know how it feels to have moments, even seasons, where this life with Jesus isn't
what you thought that it would be.
To those of you that this applies to, I just want to say that I'm sorry.
Because some of that comes from a version of Christianity that told you, if you just
believe in Jesus, all your problems will go away.
Every illness will be healed.
Your anxiety will disappear.
Everyone will love you as you are.
Your enemies will become your best friends.
Your addictions will dissipate.
You won't have to feel envious of anyone because you will have everything you hoped for.
And if that's you, I have no harsh words for you.
I have only compassion.
I just hope that you won't give up.
Because Jesus is still good.
Jesus is who He says that He is.
He is the way.
He is the truth.
He is the life.
And hear me.
Your heart is as new today as it was the day that you met Him.
Your heart is as clean and perfect as Luke's, as Zayla's and Zaya's.
All these little babies that you see running around this church that couldn't possibly
have done anything wrong yet in this life.
Because of who Jesus is, your heart is as perfect as theirs.
So what do we do with this?
Other than need to blow your nose.
How do we participate?
There's this old saying, gratitude is the heart's memory.
Gratitude is the heart's memory.
And if your heart is as new today as it was the day you met Jesus, then we might need
to develop our sense of gratitude to remember what that felt like.
There's a gratitude practice that's called three good things or counting your blessings.
Each day what you do is you write down three good things or blessings and you intentionally
identify the cause of that good thing.
You don't just say, oh, I had a good day at work.
You identify why.
Oh, I felt blessed in this way.
And then you identify why.
Oh, this worked out.
You identify why.
One study that involved this practice found that even six weeks later, the people involved
in this study that were using this practice were happier than previously reported and
they were experiencing less depression.
And another study, people that wrote a letter of gratitude every day for three weeks.
12 weeks later, they reported significantly better mental health.
What am I saying?
I'm saying when gratitude is our focus, it can become difficult to trip over our envy.
It's not a magic wand.
It's not going to fix everything.
But when we practice gratitude, that is the action of us picking up those old branches
of envy and throwing them into the fire.
Because now we are walking with gratitude instead of tripping over envy.
The more we practice gratitude, the less chance those old branches have a chance of hiding
in the yard.
So I thought that we could use a bit of our time today to count some blessings or to write
a letter of gratitude.
There's at least two or three journals that are on each of the tables.
If there's more people at your table than journals, feel free to go to another table
and grab one that isn't being used or open your phone to the notes app.
But I just want to give you a little time to write three blessings and identify why
are they a blessing.
So write down three things that are good that you're grateful for and identify why.
If you would prefer to start a letter of gratitude, start that, but finish it later.
You can take that journal with you if you need it.
Let's just take a few minutes to identify what God has done or what is good and you're
grateful for in your life and identify why.
We'll give you a couple of minutes.
Good luck.
One, two, one, one, two, one, two.
One, two, one, one, two, one, two, one.
My three things.
My kids.
I'm grateful for my children because every day I get to love them and offer them love.
No matter what the world throws at them, God lets me be their dad.
And I'm blown away that I get to know them.
My wife.
I am not the best husband, but she loves me like I am.
My church.
I could not have imagined what this would be.
And I can't really put into words how grateful I am that we are who we are and that it's
because of Jesus.
If you feel so led, do this every day for three weeks.
See if it has an impact or an effect on your heart.
Invite the Holy Spirit to be a part of developing the gratitude that you have in this life.
And believe me, you will start to see how new your heart really is.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Fathers, thank you so much for loving us, for giving us life, for making us new.
Even when we don't feel like it, the Holy Spirit comfort us and counsel us and lead
us into knowing you more.
Pray that gratitude would grow, that the old branches of envy would burn up in the bonfire,
that we would watch it float away like sparks in the night.
We do this because of you.
Thank you for being with us.
Your name?