WEBVTT 00:00:09.840 --> 00:00:12.300 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:12.300 --> 00:00:18.859 Lifehouse Church. Alright, well good morning 00:00:18.859 --> 00:00:24.920 everyone. I love it. Everybody's so nice and 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.199 so kind. Don't worry about me. You guys just 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:30.379 keep talking. It's fine. It's fine. I'll just 00:00:30.379 --> 00:00:34.789 hang out over here. No. Thank you so much. for 00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:37.109 being here today. Thank you for welcoming me 00:00:37.109 --> 00:00:41.250 and Heather to Lifehouse. And there on the screen, 00:00:41.329 --> 00:00:45.869 you see my family and our kids, Savannah, Jackson, 00:00:46.109 --> 00:00:51.450 and Easton. And just so excited to be here today, 00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:56.009 to be a part of what God is doing here at Lifehouse. 00:00:56.210 --> 00:01:03.130 And when I went through MIP, Pastor Kip was leading 00:01:03.130 --> 00:01:06.400 that. program and leading that process for our 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.799 state. And to be here and for him to invite me 00:01:09.799 --> 00:01:13.500 here was such an honor. And so if anything weird 00:01:13.500 --> 00:01:15.459 happens, if I do anything or say anything weird, 00:01:15.719 --> 00:01:19.680 it's Kip's fault. Okay, just keep that in mind 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.040 as we go through. But no, I'm thankful to be 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:26.560 here. Today I'd like to talk to you on the subject 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:31.019 of the gratitude gap. And actually this morning, 00:01:31.980 --> 00:01:34.739 I've heard what I'm going to talk about kind 00:01:34.739 --> 00:01:36.719 of hit on here and there, which is amazing. God 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:39.420 is so good and he works these things out. You 00:01:39.420 --> 00:01:42.799 know, it's Thanksgiving and that's the time of 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.719 year where we really focus in on what we're thankful 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:50.680 for. Focus in on the blessings of God in our 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:54.579 lives. But isn't it interesting that sometimes 00:01:54.579 --> 00:01:59.750 we need that reminder? to be thankful. You know, 00:01:59.750 --> 00:02:02.030 at Thanksgiving, it's always that, oh yeah, I 00:02:02.030 --> 00:02:05.290 got to say thanks for this, or I got to say thanks 00:02:05.290 --> 00:02:08.330 for that. And why is that? Why does that happen? 00:02:09.689 --> 00:02:12.949 If we're honest, I think it's pretty easy to 00:02:12.949 --> 00:02:16.810 forget sometimes to say thank you. We've all 00:02:16.810 --> 00:02:19.150 been there, right? Someone holds the door for 00:02:19.150 --> 00:02:21.650 you, but you're on the phone and you're talking 00:02:21.650 --> 00:02:24.189 to someone, you're distracted, and you don't 00:02:24.189 --> 00:02:26.469 say anything to the person who holds the door. 00:02:26.569 --> 00:02:30.349 Or, Maybe your spouse does something they always 00:02:30.349 --> 00:02:33.389 do, takes care of the laundry, washes the dishes, 00:02:33.469 --> 00:02:37.129 gets the kids ready for bed, and you don't say 00:02:37.129 --> 00:02:40.849 thank you because you just get so used to it. 00:02:41.550 --> 00:02:45.770 They're used to doing it. Or how about when our 00:02:45.770 --> 00:02:50.729 kids do something good? And they make a great 00:02:50.729 --> 00:02:53.090 decision. And sometimes we can be so focused 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:56.650 or so busy on correcting them and making sure 00:02:56.650 --> 00:02:58.370 they're doing the right thing that we miss that 00:02:58.370 --> 00:03:01.050 opportunity to say, hey, thank you. Thank you 00:03:01.050 --> 00:03:06.030 for doing that. Great job. Or even here at church, 00:03:06.069 --> 00:03:11.229 it can be easy to forget sometimes to say thank 00:03:11.229 --> 00:03:14.310 you. Thank you to the crew that comes and gets 00:03:14.310 --> 00:03:17.080 church ready every morning. Thank you on a day 00:03:17.080 --> 00:03:19.419 like today to the person who comes and turns 00:03:19.419 --> 00:03:23.159 the heat on. And you're ready, right? We don't 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:27.599 always say thank you. Thank you to the worship 00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:30.620 team, to the media team who make it all happen 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:34.620 behind the scenes. We don't always say thank 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:37.680 you. We benefit every week. We enjoy it every 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:42.500 week. But do we always say thank you? And so 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:44.840 don't get me wrong, I'm not coming here today 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:48.300 and saying, you're ungrateful. No, that's not 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:52.360 what I'm doing. But the truth is we can be distracted 00:03:52.360 --> 00:03:57.300 sometimes. We can be overwhelmed sometimes. We 00:03:57.300 --> 00:04:02.300 can lose focus sometimes and miss those opportunities. 00:04:03.699 --> 00:04:08.500 And if that happens with all of these other things, 00:04:09.289 --> 00:04:13.169 Is it really a stretch to think, does this happen 00:04:13.169 --> 00:04:17.850 with our relationship with God? Do we sometimes 00:04:17.850 --> 00:04:23.129 miss those opportunities to say thank you for 00:04:23.129 --> 00:04:25.750 all the things that God has done and all the 00:04:25.750 --> 00:04:31.550 things he continues to do in our lives? And so 00:04:31.550 --> 00:04:33.829 let's just be honest. I don't know that there's 00:04:33.829 --> 00:04:37.980 enough thank yous to say thank you to God. We 00:04:37.980 --> 00:04:41.259 don't have enough thank yous. We don't have enough 00:04:41.259 --> 00:04:46.100 words. But I think there is a gap there sometimes. 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:50.180 And that's what I'd like to kind of get at this 00:04:50.180 --> 00:04:52.300 morning. I'd like to speak on the thought of 00:04:52.300 --> 00:04:56.180 the gratitude gap. And that gap is the space 00:04:56.180 --> 00:05:00.879 between God's goodness to us and our response 00:05:00.879 --> 00:05:05.279 back to him. So before we get into the word, 00:05:05.319 --> 00:05:06.939 would you pray with me one more time? Jesus, 00:05:07.100 --> 00:05:11.019 thank you. Thank you for these moments that we 00:05:11.019 --> 00:05:13.819 get to be together, that we get to be in your 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:19.160 word. So Holy Spirit, we invite you here. Help 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.079 me to say the things you want me to say and help 00:05:22.079 --> 00:05:24.980 us to hear the things you want us to hear. Help 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:27.699 us to learn the things you want us to learn and 00:05:27.699 --> 00:05:30.319 help us and give us the courage to change the 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:34.540 things that you want us to change. Holy Spirit, 00:05:34.600 --> 00:05:39.720 you're welcome here in Jesus' name. Amen. So 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:42.120 to help us this morning as we get into this idea 00:05:42.120 --> 00:05:45.240 of gratitude, I want to go to the account of 00:05:45.240 --> 00:05:50.300 the 10 lepers in Luke chapter 17. So that's where 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:53.060 we'll be today, Luke chapter 17. But before we 00:05:53.060 --> 00:05:56.639 begin reading this morning, I want to give you 00:05:56.639 --> 00:06:00.939 just a little bit of background. This story that 00:06:00.939 --> 00:06:05.040 we're going to read focuses in on 10 men who 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.939 had leprosy. And leprosy was a devastating skin 00:06:09.939 --> 00:06:13.439 disease. It caused visible sores, disfigurement, 00:06:13.459 --> 00:06:17.060 numbness in the affected areas. It made people 00:06:17.060 --> 00:06:22.120 physically, socially, even spiritually isolated. 00:06:23.160 --> 00:06:27.949 Lepers were considered unclean. They had to live 00:06:27.949 --> 00:06:33.410 outside of their community, outside of their 00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:37.209 friends and family, really in isolation because 00:06:37.209 --> 00:06:41.029 people feared that what they had was contagious. 00:06:42.610 --> 00:06:45.009 So they weren't able to worship at the temple. 00:06:45.069 --> 00:06:48.410 They weren't able to participate in normal life. 00:06:48.509 --> 00:06:50.790 They had to kind of form their own community 00:06:50.790 --> 00:06:54.410 with other people who were affected by this same. 00:06:55.449 --> 00:07:00.149 because no one else would come near them. They 00:07:00.149 --> 00:07:04.269 also had to announce their condition if they 00:07:04.269 --> 00:07:07.790 saw other people coming toward them. They would 00:07:07.790 --> 00:07:13.629 have to yell out, unclean, unclean, which had 00:07:13.629 --> 00:07:18.529 to be completely humiliating, dehumanizing. And 00:07:18.529 --> 00:07:23.370 so that's the life that these men are living. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:27.879 When Jesus shows up. So with that as the context, 00:07:27.980 --> 00:07:29.959 with that as the background, let's read in Luke 00:07:29.959 --> 00:07:34.279 17, starting with verse 11. This is what it says. 00:07:34.540 --> 00:07:38.379 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:41.920 the border between Galilee and Samaria. And as 00:07:41.920 --> 00:07:45.279 he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:49.600 stood at a distance, crying out, Jesus, Master, 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:54.680 have mercy on us. He looked at them and said, 00:07:54.759 --> 00:07:59.019 go show yourselves to the priests. And as they 00:07:59.019 --> 00:08:02.019 went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One 00:08:02.019 --> 00:08:04.680 of them, when he saw that he was healed, came 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:10.339 back to Jesus shouting, praise God. He fell to 00:08:10.339 --> 00:08:14.600 the ground at Jesus's feet, thanking him for 00:08:14.600 --> 00:08:19.779 what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Jesus 00:08:19.779 --> 00:08:23.779 asked, didn't I heal 10 men? Where are the other 00:08:23.779 --> 00:08:28.139 nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God 00:08:28.139 --> 00:08:32.200 except this foreigner? And Jesus said to the 00:08:32.200 --> 00:08:36.799 man, stand up and go. Your faith has healed you. 00:08:38.580 --> 00:08:43.159 Jesus completely changed the lives of these men, 00:08:43.340 --> 00:08:49.679 all 10, but only one man came back and thanked 00:08:49.679 --> 00:08:53.679 Jesus for his healing. And Jesus noticed. He 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:57.820 noticed the gratitude. He also noticed the lack 00:08:57.820 --> 00:09:03.200 of gratitude in the other nine men. And I think 00:09:03.200 --> 00:09:08.759 what this passage, this story shows us is that 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:11.740 as followers of Jesus, gratitude really shouldn't 00:09:11.740 --> 00:09:15.940 be optional. Gratitude should be evidence that 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:19.600 our life has changed, that our life has been 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:24.970 transformed. By the power of Jesus. It really 00:09:24.970 --> 00:09:27.269 should be evidence that God is up to something 00:09:27.269 --> 00:09:32.409 and doing something in our lives. So this morning, 00:09:32.429 --> 00:09:34.429 I want to make just a couple observations about 00:09:34.429 --> 00:09:38.169 that story I just read. As we dig into this idea 00:09:38.169 --> 00:09:42.690 of gratitude. And the first thought is this. 00:09:42.769 --> 00:09:45.289 And I'm going to start with an easy one. God 00:09:45.289 --> 00:09:50.350 is far more generous than we realize. God is 00:09:50.350 --> 00:09:54.870 far more generous than we realize. Let's go back 00:09:54.870 --> 00:09:58.809 to verses 13 and 14. Crying out, Jesus, Master, 00:09:59.110 --> 00:10:02.350 have mercy on us. Look what it says. He looked 00:10:02.350 --> 00:10:06.990 at them and said, go show yourselves to the priests. 00:10:07.149 --> 00:10:09.389 And as they went, they were cleansed of leprosy. 00:10:10.909 --> 00:10:14.250 Remember, these guys were the outcasts. These 00:10:14.250 --> 00:10:17.029 guys were the unclean. These guys weren't worthy 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:19.470 of people's time, weren't worthy of people's 00:10:19.470 --> 00:10:24.330 attention, but not Jesus. He looked at them. 00:10:24.529 --> 00:10:29.950 He saw them. He engaged with them and they lifted 00:10:29.950 --> 00:10:33.389 up their voices to him and he responds with healing. 00:10:34.429 --> 00:10:38.429 And all 10 of those men experienced God's goodness. 00:10:40.070 --> 00:10:43.440 But did they do anything to dirt? Did they do 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:47.820 anything to deserve it? No. And we're going to 00:10:47.820 --> 00:10:51.019 dig into that idea in just a minute. But Jesus 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:54.200 shows them, and as he shows them, really he's 00:10:54.200 --> 00:10:58.299 showing us who he is. He's reflecting the character 00:10:58.299 --> 00:11:01.860 of God, that he's gracious, that he's giving, 00:11:02.039 --> 00:11:08.389 that he's merciful. Look at Psalm 103. Verses 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:12.389 8 through 11, the Lord is compassionate and merciful. 00:11:12.690 --> 00:11:15.909 He's slow to get angry. He's filled with unfailing 00:11:15.909 --> 00:11:20.350 love. He will not constantly accuse us or remain 00:11:20.350 --> 00:11:24.309 angry forever. He does not punish us for our 00:11:24.309 --> 00:11:26.950 sins. He does not deal harshly with us as we 00:11:26.950 --> 00:11:30.450 deserve. For his unfailing love toward those 00:11:30.450 --> 00:11:34.529 who fear him is as great as the height of the 00:11:34.529 --> 00:11:42.169 heavens above the earth. That's our God. That's 00:11:42.169 --> 00:11:48.649 the one who sent his son to die for us. And he's 00:11:48.649 --> 00:11:53.289 the same today as he was back then. See, the 00:11:53.289 --> 00:11:56.669 truth is, as I said, we receive far more from 00:11:56.669 --> 00:12:00.110 God on a daily basis than we even recognize the 00:12:00.110 --> 00:12:04.200 breath that we're breathing right now. forgiveness 00:12:04.200 --> 00:12:07.460 for sin, provision for the day, answered prayers 00:12:07.460 --> 00:12:10.279 that we've forgotten about, protection we didn't 00:12:10.279 --> 00:12:14.580 even see. The list goes on and on, and that's 00:12:14.580 --> 00:12:20.740 just one day. But God does this every day and 00:12:20.740 --> 00:12:23.700 every day for millions and millions of people. 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:32.039 So a question to consider today, where has God, 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:37.000 been good to you that maybe you haven't thanked 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:42.600 him for? Where has God come through for you that 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:46.799 maybe you took it for granted? As I was thinking 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.279 about this question, one thing that I have to 00:12:51.279 --> 00:12:55.820 remember or that I constantly get reminded to 00:12:55.820 --> 00:13:01.139 thank God for is my family. As Charlie said, 00:13:01.320 --> 00:13:04.620 as he was talking about me, I grew up in the 00:13:04.620 --> 00:13:06.860 church. My dad is a pastor. I've been in the 00:13:06.860 --> 00:13:09.419 church my whole life. And so I've been surrounded 00:13:09.419 --> 00:13:12.159 by people, my mom, my dad, my aunts, my uncles, 00:13:12.299 --> 00:13:17.759 who love God and who have shown me a great example 00:13:17.759 --> 00:13:21.700 of how to serve God. And I've been able to stand 00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:25.620 on their shoulders and continue on. Because of 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:27.440 their faithfulness and because of their example 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:31.000 that they showed in my life. But as a pastor, 00:13:31.019 --> 00:13:35.000 sometimes I talk to people and I see families 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.620 that are broken. Families that are hurting. And 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:42.659 to me, it's a constant reminder of how God has 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:47.639 blessed me. With my family, with the support 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:52.539 that I have. And so we have to be careful that 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:56.840 we don't forget or we don't overlook those things. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:01.960 God is so much more generous than we realize. 00:14:03.100 --> 00:14:06.399 And that leads me to my next thought, my next 00:14:06.399 --> 00:14:10.220 observation, that most people enjoy God's blessing 00:14:10.220 --> 00:14:15.720 but don't express gratitude. Most people enjoy 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.399 God's blessing but they don't always express 00:14:18.399 --> 00:14:22.919 gratitude. Gratitude. Let's go back to our account 00:14:22.919 --> 00:14:26.500 of the ten lepers. All ten had been healed of 00:14:26.500 --> 00:14:29.960 leprosy. As they were heading to the temple to 00:14:29.960 --> 00:14:32.080 show themselves to the priest, that's what was 00:14:32.080 --> 00:14:34.519 required of them, that they had to go show themselves 00:14:34.519 --> 00:14:40.379 to the priest so they could be made clean. And 00:14:40.379 --> 00:14:45.700 look at what verse 15 said. One of them. One 00:14:45.700 --> 00:14:48.769 of them. When he saw he was healed, came back 00:14:48.769 --> 00:14:54.750 to Jesus shouting, praise God. One of the 10 00:14:54.750 --> 00:14:57.490 men came back to Jesus to say thank you. Quick 00:14:57.490 --> 00:15:03.269 math says 90 % of the men who enjoyed the blessing 00:15:03.269 --> 00:15:05.509 and healing of Jesus didn't come back and say 00:15:05.509 --> 00:15:13.149 thank you. 90%. And Jesus notices this. Look 00:15:13.149 --> 00:15:17.850 at verses 17 and 18. Jesus asks, didn't I heal 00:15:17.850 --> 00:15:23.570 10? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned 00:15:23.570 --> 00:15:29.070 to give glory to God except this foreigner? To 00:15:29.070 --> 00:15:31.870 boot, the one guy that came back was a Samaritan. 00:15:32.629 --> 00:15:39.750 The hated, looked down on Samaritan. And when 00:15:39.750 --> 00:15:44.769 we see this 10 % and we see this 90%, I think 00:15:44.769 --> 00:15:48.870 the gratitude gap is on full display in this 00:15:48.870 --> 00:15:52.450 passage. Jesus has done the miraculous for all 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:54.970 10 and only one has returned to give thanks. 00:15:56.250 --> 00:15:58.830 So why does this happen? How does this happen? 00:15:59.629 --> 00:16:06.730 Why do we fall into this 90 % or how can we fall? 00:16:07.370 --> 00:16:12.190 into this 90 percent sometimes i think we get 00:16:12.190 --> 00:16:15.409 distracted we get distracted by the next thing 00:16:15.409 --> 00:16:18.370 the men in our story were probably so focused 00:16:18.370 --> 00:16:21.169 on getting to the temple getting to the priest 00:16:21.169 --> 00:16:23.509 so they could present themselves to the priest 00:16:23.509 --> 00:16:26.809 and and start this new life they were healed 00:16:26.809 --> 00:16:28.830 they were clean now so they could start doing 00:16:28.830 --> 00:16:34.340 things they couldn't do before It's kind of like 00:16:34.340 --> 00:16:37.320 what happens and it's coming up Christmas, right? 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:40.000 Christmas is coming up. And if you have kids, 00:16:40.139 --> 00:16:43.279 you know how this goes. The kids, when it's time 00:16:43.279 --> 00:16:45.240 to open the presents, they start opening the 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:47.159 presents and they open it up and all this is 00:16:47.159 --> 00:16:50.000 amazing. They throw it to the side. They open 00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:51.820 up the next one. This is awesome. They throw 00:16:51.820 --> 00:16:58.259 it to the side. I know my kids do that. Right? 00:16:58.440 --> 00:17:04.390 They're so focused on what's next. And we have 00:17:04.390 --> 00:17:07.609 to remind them, hey, hey, hey, hey. Say thank 00:17:07.609 --> 00:17:10.490 you to grandma. Say thank you to grandpa. Say 00:17:10.490 --> 00:17:15.549 thank you for what they got you. And we can do 00:17:15.549 --> 00:17:18.609 the same thing, right? We get so focused on the 00:17:18.609 --> 00:17:23.430 next thing that we miss the opportunity to really 00:17:23.430 --> 00:17:26.490 enjoy and appreciate what's right in front of 00:17:26.490 --> 00:17:32.380 us. What God has done just now. Another reason 00:17:32.380 --> 00:17:37.099 I think we fall into the 90 % is sometimes we 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:42.380 just assume that we deserve it. The men in our 00:17:42.380 --> 00:17:45.940 story had been pushed aside, right? The men in 00:17:45.940 --> 00:17:48.619 our story were made outcasts because of their 00:17:48.619 --> 00:17:53.279 condition. If anyone deserved healing, it was 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:56.579 these guys, right? Seems right on the surface. 00:17:58.059 --> 00:18:00.059 Seems like, yeah, you know what? They've been 00:18:00.059 --> 00:18:04.440 through a lot. They do deserve this. But the 00:18:04.440 --> 00:18:08.940 truth is, we really don't deserve anything good 00:18:08.940 --> 00:18:16.799 at all. Sin is very clear in the Bible. The result 00:18:16.799 --> 00:18:21.160 of sin is devastating. Romans tells us that the 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:27.180 wages of sin is death. That's what we deserve. 00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:34.759 But as we read earlier, man, praise God, he does 00:18:34.759 --> 00:18:39.920 not give us what we deserve. He doesn't give 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:44.200 us what we deserve. But that's only because of 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:48.559 his grace, only because of his mercy. James tells 00:18:48.559 --> 00:18:51.920 us that every good and every perfect gift comes 00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:55.869 from the Father. Everything good we have in our 00:18:55.869 --> 00:19:01.109 lives comes from God. So we have to be careful 00:19:01.109 --> 00:19:05.890 that we don't assume that we deserve what is 00:19:05.890 --> 00:19:10.250 good. Another reason that I think sometimes we 00:19:10.250 --> 00:19:14.349 fall into the 90 % is that we think that we'll 00:19:14.349 --> 00:19:19.630 thank God later. The men in our story went, presented 00:19:19.630 --> 00:19:22.660 themselves to the priests and we... We never 00:19:22.660 --> 00:19:26.799 hear from them again. That's it. We don't see 00:19:26.799 --> 00:19:31.599 them. Maybe they thought, okay, we'll go to the 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:34.259 priest and then we'll come back. We'll see Jesus 00:19:34.259 --> 00:19:38.440 after that. But I'm sure once they presented 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:40.599 themselves to the priest, they were ready to 00:19:40.599 --> 00:19:43.119 move on to the next thing. I got to see my family. 00:19:43.160 --> 00:19:44.619 I got to see my friends. I got to tell them. 00:19:44.660 --> 00:19:55.150 I got to tell them. They moved on. We get distracted. 00:19:56.930 --> 00:20:02.170 We do this. I know I'm guilty of this. We're 00:20:02.170 --> 00:20:05.829 busy in the moment where it's not the ideal time 00:20:05.829 --> 00:20:09.650 and place to give God thanks. And so we just 00:20:09.650 --> 00:20:13.670 assume, oh yeah, tonight when I'm praying, I'll 00:20:13.670 --> 00:20:17.730 definitely thank him for that. But the truth 00:20:17.730 --> 00:20:21.430 is that moment usually doesn't come. We forget. 00:20:22.119 --> 00:20:26.359 We move on. We get distracted. We assume we deserve 00:20:26.359 --> 00:20:29.980 it. We think we'll thank God later, but we never 00:20:29.980 --> 00:20:36.640 do. That kind of sums up the 90%. And I think 00:20:36.640 --> 00:20:40.259 these symptoms really stem from a much deeper 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:43.500 issue. And I think that deeper issue is this. 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:48.519 We tend to focus more on the gift than the giver 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:54.279 of the gift. We focus more on the blessing that 00:20:54.279 --> 00:20:58.079 we receive and how that affects us rather than 00:20:58.079 --> 00:21:01.380 the one who gave us the blessing in the first 00:21:01.380 --> 00:21:05.980 place. We focus on the healing. We focus on the 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:09.279 provision, on things working out in our favor 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:13.779 the way that we want them to. But let me just 00:21:13.779 --> 00:21:17.920 say this. God is so much more and so much bigger 00:21:17.920 --> 00:21:22.859 even than the things that he gives us. And they're 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:25.140 good things and they're great things, but God 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:31.359 is even bigger and better than that. And so our 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:36.200 attention, our focus should be on the giver, 00:21:36.279 --> 00:21:41.160 just like the man in our story. That man, that 00:21:41.160 --> 00:21:44.779 one who came back shows us that gratitude is 00:21:44.779 --> 00:21:49.859 more than a feeling. Gratitude leads to a response. 00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:54.539 Gratitude is more than just a feeling. It leads 00:21:54.539 --> 00:22:00.579 to a response. Let's go back to verse 15. We 00:22:00.579 --> 00:22:03.619 see the response of the man. One of them, when 00:22:03.619 --> 00:22:07.380 he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus 00:22:07.380 --> 00:22:14.420 shouting, praise God. The man who was healed 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:17.859 stopped what he was doing. He changed directions 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:24.200 and he came back. To Jesus. Sometimes when I'm 00:22:24.200 --> 00:22:28.180 reading these passages, I think about different 00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:32.460 parts that the Bible doesn't tell us. In this 00:22:32.460 --> 00:22:38.200 story, I often wonder how far did he get before 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:43.680 he realized, I need to go back. How far away 00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:47.960 from Jesus was he? How close was he to the temple? 00:22:48.940 --> 00:22:51.559 We know that it happened on the outskirts of 00:22:51.559 --> 00:22:55.380 town. So we know it was a little bit of a walk. 00:22:56.180 --> 00:23:00.079 And the Bible tells us that as they went, they 00:23:00.079 --> 00:23:02.420 were healed. So we don't really know exactly 00:23:02.420 --> 00:23:06.799 how far away they were. But we do know he's walked 00:23:06.799 --> 00:23:09.460 far enough that he has been completely healed. 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:14.140 And so even then, even though he's moved forward, 00:23:14.220 --> 00:23:19.059 he stops. He changes direction. And heads back 00:23:19.059 --> 00:23:23.859 to Jesus. Another thought. Do you think there 00:23:23.859 --> 00:23:27.200 was a conversation between the ten men? When 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:32.079 that guy realized, I should go back. Did it start, 00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:35.299 hey, we should go back. We should go back and 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:38.019 thank Jesus. Was he trying to convince the other 00:23:38.019 --> 00:23:40.519 men? And they said, no, we'll do it later. We 00:23:40.519 --> 00:23:42.400 got to go to the priest now. We got to go to 00:23:42.400 --> 00:23:47.599 the temple now. It can be uncomfortable sometimes 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:52.480 to stop what we're doing and give praise to God. 00:23:54.619 --> 00:23:58.059 Either way, he makes the choice. He makes the 00:23:58.059 --> 00:24:01.440 choice to go back and thank Jesus. And I believe 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:05.000 this man truly models what gratitude is all about 00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:07.480 and what gratitude looks like. It was all in 00:24:07.480 --> 00:24:12.200 response to what Jesus had done for him. So what 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:16.099 does he do? First, he notices the blessing. He 00:24:16.099 --> 00:24:19.279 sees what has happened. He realized that Jesus 00:24:19.279 --> 00:24:24.319 has healed him. That shows us that gratitude 00:24:24.319 --> 00:24:28.400 often begins with awareness. We should be looking 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:30.660 for how God is moving in our lives. We should 00:24:30.660 --> 00:24:34.160 have our eyes open to the work of God every day, 00:24:34.180 --> 00:24:38.920 not just Sunday at church, every day in our lives. 00:24:40.600 --> 00:24:43.160 Next, he returned to Jesus, the one who healed 00:24:43.160 --> 00:24:46.240 him. He stops what he's doing. He goes to the 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:50.539 source. And that shows us that gratitude requires 00:24:50.539 --> 00:24:56.500 movement and intention. And then when he gets 00:24:56.500 --> 00:25:00.019 to Jesus, he expresses that gratitude openly. 00:25:00.099 --> 00:25:03.599 He is loud. He's praising God. He's falling on 00:25:03.599 --> 00:25:07.039 his face in humility. He doesn't care who sees, 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:13.660 who hears his focus. is on Jesus. And that shows 00:25:13.660 --> 00:25:18.039 us the importance of worship and vocalizing what 00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:23.039 God has done for us. Gratitude is a response 00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:29.400 to God for what he has done for us. And it doesn't 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:35.200 just produce words. It can, and it should, but 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.599 I think it produces even more. I think it should 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:43.210 produce worship. And yes, we sing and we worship 00:25:43.210 --> 00:25:47.089 with song, but Paul tells us in Romans that worship 00:25:47.089 --> 00:25:50.769 is more than just that. Look at Romans chapter 00:25:50.769 --> 00:25:55.269 12. Paul says, and so dear brothers and sisters, 00:25:55.329 --> 00:25:59.089 I plead with you to give your bodies to God. 00:25:59.130 --> 00:26:03.809 Why? Because of all he has done for you. That's 00:26:03.809 --> 00:26:08.400 the response. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, 00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:11.500 the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:16.079 the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:19.299 and customs of the world, but let God transform 00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:23.019 you into a new person by changing the way you 00:26:23.019 --> 00:26:26.059 think. Then you will learn to know God's will 00:26:26.059 --> 00:26:29.480 for you, which is good, pleasing, and perfect. 00:26:31.180 --> 00:26:34.380 We respond to God's goodness and what he has 00:26:34.380 --> 00:26:38.420 done for us in worship. Yes, in singing. Yes, 00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:42.859 in lifting our voice to him, but also with our 00:26:42.859 --> 00:26:48.819 lives, with our everyday life. We give our bodies 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:53.400 to God. And I love how there's another translation 00:26:53.400 --> 00:26:56.000 of this passage. It's actually the message translation. 00:26:56.019 --> 00:26:59.210 This is what it says. So here's what I want you 00:26:59.210 --> 00:27:03.150 to do, God helping you, take your everyday ordinary 00:27:03.150 --> 00:27:05.750 life, you're sleeping, you're eating, you're 00:27:05.750 --> 00:27:10.569 going to work, you're walking around life, and 00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:14.670 place it before God as an offering. Embracing 00:27:14.670 --> 00:27:16.769 what God does for you is the best thing that 00:27:16.769 --> 00:27:20.230 you can do for him. Don't become so well adjusted 00:27:20.230 --> 00:27:22.450 to your culture that you fit into it without 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:25.900 even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on 00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:28.859 God and you'll be changed from the inside out. 00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:32.640 Readily recognize what he wants from you and 00:27:32.640 --> 00:27:36.779 quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around 00:27:36.779 --> 00:27:39.680 you, always dragging you down to its level of 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:43.180 immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops 00:27:43.180 --> 00:27:47.579 well -formed maturity in you. I love that, our 00:27:47.579 --> 00:27:53.720 everyday walking around life. We give God everything. 00:27:54.660 --> 00:27:58.900 We fix our attention, our eyes on him. We give 00:27:58.900 --> 00:28:04.519 him our whole lives. And when we do that, we're 00:28:04.519 --> 00:28:06.440 living out the will of God in our lives. When 00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:10.380 we give our lives to him, we're living out his 00:28:10.380 --> 00:28:14.680 will in our lives. And we will develop into mature 00:28:14.680 --> 00:28:21.339 followers of Jesus. We respond. to God's goodness. 00:28:23.420 --> 00:28:26.039 And that brings me to my last observation this 00:28:26.039 --> 00:28:31.140 morning. Gratitude deepens our relationship with 00:28:31.140 --> 00:28:36.359 God. Gratitude deepens our relationship with 00:28:36.359 --> 00:28:40.279 God. In our account, Jesus has healed all 10 00:28:40.279 --> 00:28:43.700 lepers, but only one has come back and thanked 00:28:43.700 --> 00:28:48.160 Jesus. And then look what Jesus says to him in 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:52.799 verse 19. Jesus said to the man, stand up and 00:28:52.799 --> 00:28:58.059 go. Your faith has healed you. Another translation 00:28:58.059 --> 00:29:04.400 said your faith has saved you. And so there's 00:29:04.400 --> 00:29:08.160 a much deeper meaning here than just physical 00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:14.920 healing. His faith had saved him. And this phrase, 00:29:14.980 --> 00:29:19.079 these words that Jesus used, your faith has healed 00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:22.420 you, your faith has saved you. Those are the 00:29:22.420 --> 00:29:26.680 same words, if we go back a little earlier in 00:29:26.680 --> 00:29:30.019 the New Testament, that Jesus uses when he talks 00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:31.960 to the woman who had been caught in adultery. 00:29:32.619 --> 00:29:37.579 Same words. It's the same words Jesus uses when 00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:41.039 he heals the woman with the issue of blood. Your 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.920 faith has healed you. It's the same words Jesus 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.640 uses when he heals the blind beggar. Your faith 00:29:49.640 --> 00:29:54.220 has healed you. Your faith has saved you. Yes, 00:29:54.359 --> 00:29:57.460 there's physical healing, but it goes deeper 00:29:57.460 --> 00:30:03.160 than that. There's salvation. There's life change. 00:30:04.839 --> 00:30:08.319 See, gratitude doesn't just say thank you. It 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:12.809 draws you closer. To God, it opens up your heart. 00:30:13.289 --> 00:30:16.289 It deepens your faith. It produces joy in your 00:30:16.289 --> 00:30:19.309 life. It strengthens your worship. And it changes 00:30:19.309 --> 00:30:22.529 the way you think. And it changes what you value. 00:30:25.170 --> 00:30:28.910 Gratitude doesn't just change our mood. It deepens 00:30:28.910 --> 00:30:33.369 our spiritual maturity. It helps us ultimately 00:30:33.369 --> 00:30:36.250 become more like Christ. And that's what we want 00:30:36.250 --> 00:30:42.079 to do. To be like Christ. So as we begin to wind 00:30:42.079 --> 00:30:45.660 down this morning, I want to talk about how can 00:30:45.660 --> 00:30:51.960 we close this gap, this gratitude gap? How do 00:30:51.960 --> 00:30:57.119 we close the gap? How can we develop this attitude 00:30:57.119 --> 00:30:59.779 of gratitude in our daily lives that ultimately 00:30:59.779 --> 00:31:03.440 draws us closer in our relationship with Jesus? 00:31:03.839 --> 00:31:07.359 And I think we look right at the example of the 00:31:07.359 --> 00:31:10.730 one man in our story. And so here's where it 00:31:10.730 --> 00:31:14.369 starts. It starts with actually looking for God 00:31:14.369 --> 00:31:19.410 in our daily lives. We look for God in our everyday 00:31:19.410 --> 00:31:22.549 life, looking for what he's doing, looking for 00:31:22.549 --> 00:31:26.029 how he's moving. We fix our eyes on him. We fix 00:31:26.029 --> 00:31:31.289 our attention on him. And we recognize that the 00:31:31.289 --> 00:31:36.109 good things that we have come from him. We don't 00:31:36.109 --> 00:31:42.049 chalk things up to accidents or chance. We believe 00:31:42.049 --> 00:31:46.009 that God is moving in our lives for our good. 00:31:47.730 --> 00:31:50.690 David understood this in the Psalms. He writes 00:31:50.690 --> 00:31:55.630 this Psalm 37 verses 23 and 24. The Lord directs 00:31:55.630 --> 00:31:59.369 the steps of the godly. I love this. He delights 00:31:59.369 --> 00:32:05.279 in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, 00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:07.579 they will never fall for the Lord holds them 00:32:07.579 --> 00:32:12.940 by the hand. God is in the details of your life. 00:32:14.539 --> 00:32:18.920 We just have to look for it. You know, one thing 00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:21.119 that I have found throughout my life is what 00:32:21.119 --> 00:32:26.019 I look for, I'll find. If I go through my day 00:32:26.019 --> 00:32:28.420 looking for someone to hurt me, guess what I'm 00:32:28.420 --> 00:32:30.799 going to see? I'm going to see them hurt me. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:34.460 If I go through my day thinking, oh, something 00:32:34.460 --> 00:32:37.160 bad's going to happen, I'm going to find it. 00:32:37.880 --> 00:32:43.400 I'm going to see it. But if I look for God every 00:32:43.400 --> 00:32:49.599 day of my life, I guarantee you'll see it because 00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:53.980 he's moving. He's working. He's working it all 00:32:53.980 --> 00:33:00.240 together. So if we look for him, we will see 00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:04.220 him. And then when we see him, we want to actually 00:33:04.220 --> 00:33:08.400 take the time to, number two, reflect on his 00:33:08.400 --> 00:33:14.160 goodness. As followers of Jesus, we should be 00:33:14.160 --> 00:33:18.819 making space in our lives every day to reflect 00:33:18.819 --> 00:33:22.900 on God's goodness. Let's go back to David in 00:33:22.900 --> 00:33:27.579 Psalm 77, verses 11 through 12. But then I recall 00:33:27.579 --> 00:33:32.369 all you have done. Oh Lord, I remember your wonderful 00:33:32.369 --> 00:33:36.190 deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my 00:33:36.190 --> 00:33:41.150 thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty 00:33:41.150 --> 00:33:45.990 works. The goodness of God should be on our minds 00:33:45.990 --> 00:33:50.950 all the time. And when we focus on God's goodness 00:33:50.950 --> 00:33:54.250 and when we focus on how God is moving, it is 00:33:54.250 --> 00:33:57.549 so much easier to see him the next time and to 00:33:57.549 --> 00:34:03.670 see him the next time. So we look for God. We 00:34:03.670 --> 00:34:08.050 focus on the good things. We reflect on his goodness. 00:34:08.110 --> 00:34:11.389 We make time for it. And then before we move 00:34:11.389 --> 00:34:16.849 on to the next thing, let's express that gratitude. 00:34:17.929 --> 00:34:21.250 Let's express our gratitude. And we're going 00:34:21.250 --> 00:34:22.690 to have a chance to do that in just a minute. 00:34:22.769 --> 00:34:24.730 I'm going to invite our worship team to come 00:34:24.730 --> 00:34:27.349 up and get ready. We're going to end with a song 00:34:27.349 --> 00:34:33.329 of gratitude this morning. So we make time in 00:34:33.329 --> 00:34:37.190 our lives for it, and then we actually express 00:34:37.190 --> 00:34:41.489 it. We thank God for what he has done. In the 00:34:41.489 --> 00:34:44.570 morning, you can pray through your day, God, 00:34:44.650 --> 00:34:47.309 give me my daily bread. Give me what I need today. 00:34:47.610 --> 00:34:49.789 You know what I'm going to face. You know what 00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:51.349 I'm going to see. You know what I'm going to 00:34:51.349 --> 00:34:56.289 experience. God, give me what I need today. And 00:34:56.289 --> 00:34:58.730 then in the middle of the day, when you see God 00:34:58.730 --> 00:35:02.420 come through, it's okay to stop. It's okay to 00:35:02.420 --> 00:35:04.380 say thank you, even in the middle of the day. 00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:10.360 It's okay. And then at night, I like to pray 00:35:10.360 --> 00:35:13.760 through the day and say, God, thank you. I saw 00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:18.699 you here. God, I saw you here. Kind of a look 00:35:18.699 --> 00:35:22.920 back at the day and seeing God's faithfulness, 00:35:23.019 --> 00:35:26.539 how he came through, how he provided. Maybe you 00:35:26.539 --> 00:35:28.360 want to write it down. Maybe you like to journal. 00:35:29.179 --> 00:35:31.900 Write down how God has come through for you. 00:35:32.380 --> 00:35:36.679 Write down the blessings of God in your life. 00:35:37.820 --> 00:35:40.619 Maybe you sing a worship song to the Lord, but 00:35:40.619 --> 00:35:43.940 be specific. Don't just say, God, thank you. 00:35:44.860 --> 00:35:47.119 But God, thank you for giving me patience today 00:35:47.119 --> 00:35:51.840 with my kids. God, thank you for giving me the 00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:54.219 words to say in that difficult situation today 00:35:54.219 --> 00:35:59.739 at work. God, thank you for opening up that door 00:35:59.739 --> 00:36:03.519 that I could share my faith with my family. Be 00:36:03.519 --> 00:36:07.659 specific in your thanks because our gratitude 00:36:07.659 --> 00:36:14.179 grows when it's expressed. Psalm 34 one, David 00:36:14.179 --> 00:36:17.860 again, I will praise the Lord at all times. I 00:36:17.860 --> 00:36:24.739 will constantly speak his praises. I will constantly. 00:36:25.929 --> 00:36:30.190 Speak his praises. David tells us that it should 00:36:30.190 --> 00:36:35.730 be on our lips all the time. And we don't just 00:36:35.730 --> 00:36:38.030 keep it to ourselves. We don't just keep it between 00:36:38.030 --> 00:36:42.409 us and God. The last thing is we can share the 00:36:42.409 --> 00:36:46.889 goodness of God with others. That when God moves 00:36:46.889 --> 00:36:49.889 in our lives, when God does the incredible, when 00:36:49.889 --> 00:36:53.289 God does the unthinkable, or when God does the 00:36:53.289 --> 00:36:58.300 small thing, We can share it with God. Share 00:36:58.300 --> 00:37:03.420 the goodness of God with others. Psalm 9, verse 00:37:03.420 --> 00:37:05.519 1, I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart. 00:37:06.420 --> 00:37:10.920 I will tell of all the marvelous things that 00:37:10.920 --> 00:37:16.059 you have done. You know, I don't know every single 00:37:16.059 --> 00:37:20.980 one of you here today, but I do know that I'm 00:37:20.980 --> 00:37:23.079 sitting in a room with people that God has been 00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:27.690 good to. that God has been faithful to, that 00:37:27.690 --> 00:37:33.630 God has come through for, that God has done the 00:37:33.630 --> 00:37:41.110 miraculous in your life. And so because of God's 00:37:41.110 --> 00:37:44.329 goodness and in response to God's goodness, you 00:37:44.329 --> 00:37:50.090 have a story to share. And no one can take it 00:37:50.090 --> 00:37:54.420 from you because it happened to you. No one can 00:37:54.420 --> 00:37:57.079 say it's not true. No one can say it didn't happen 00:37:57.079 --> 00:38:01.119 because God did it for you and you saw it and 00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:08.019 you experienced it. So we've got to be willing 00:38:08.019 --> 00:38:11.219 and we've got to be ready to share God's goodness 00:38:11.219 --> 00:38:16.780 with those in our lives. So that's how we do 00:38:16.780 --> 00:38:23.449 it. That's how we close the gratitude gap. We 00:38:23.449 --> 00:38:28.309 look for God. We reflect on his goodness. We 00:38:28.309 --> 00:38:31.550 express our gratitude to him and then we share 00:38:31.550 --> 00:38:37.949 it with others. So we come to a close this morning. 00:38:37.989 --> 00:38:42.789 Here's what I want us to remember. God has been 00:38:42.789 --> 00:38:48.630 far more generous to us than we realize. And 00:38:48.630 --> 00:38:52.699 most people enjoy God's blessings. Without expressing 00:38:52.699 --> 00:38:55.280 gratitude. But gratitude is more than a feeling. 00:38:55.920 --> 00:39:02.159 It's a response. A response that returns to Jesus. 00:39:02.260 --> 00:39:04.920 A response that worships. A response that says, 00:39:05.039 --> 00:39:08.340 Lord, I see what you've done. I see what you're 00:39:08.340 --> 00:39:10.440 doing. And I'm not going to move on. I'm not 00:39:10.440 --> 00:39:12.119 just going to keep walking. I'm going to thank 00:39:12.119 --> 00:39:17.300 you for it. Just like that one man we read about 00:39:17.300 --> 00:39:20.389 today. We want to be the people who turn back, 00:39:20.469 --> 00:39:24.389 the people who notice God's hand, people who 00:39:24.389 --> 00:39:27.170 pause long enough to reflect on his goodness, 00:39:27.230 --> 00:39:33.170 people who express our gratitude openly to others, 00:39:33.429 --> 00:39:38.130 people who share what God is doing in our lives, 00:39:38.309 --> 00:39:43.610 people whose faith isn't silent, but it's seen, 00:39:43.690 --> 00:39:48.309 it's felt, it's lived out. The truth is this. 00:39:48.829 --> 00:39:51.690 Gratitude doesn't just change our words. Gratitude 00:39:51.690 --> 00:39:57.489 changes our walk. It changes our lives. It draws 00:39:57.489 --> 00:40:02.969 us closer to Jesus. So the challenge for us, 00:40:02.989 --> 00:40:08.070 for me, for you, is to close that gratitude gap. 00:40:09.150 --> 00:40:13.730 The gap between God's goodness and our response 00:40:13.730 --> 00:40:20.460 to him. So let's make that choice today to be 00:40:20.460 --> 00:40:24.739 like the one, the one who turned back, the one 00:40:24.739 --> 00:40:28.280 who chose to say thank you, Lord, both with his 00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:32.699 lips and with his life. And we can do the same, 00:40:32.780 --> 00:40:36.320 yes, with our lips, but that's got to spill over 00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:40.340 into our lives and how we live. And so today, 00:40:40.440 --> 00:40:44.000 as we close this service, as we close this gathering, 00:40:46.670 --> 00:40:50.010 We're going to sing of God's goodness. We're 00:40:50.010 --> 00:40:54.289 going to sing this song of gratitude. And so 00:40:54.289 --> 00:40:58.110 as we sing this song this morning, I would encourage 00:40:58.110 --> 00:41:02.469 you to lift your hands, to praise God, to be 00:41:02.469 --> 00:41:05.969 specific about the things that you're thankful 00:41:05.969 --> 00:41:10.349 for. Maybe you even need to come forward and 00:41:10.349 --> 00:41:15.400 take a step further than you normally take. And 00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:18.619 begin to worship and begin to praise. And as 00:41:18.619 --> 00:41:21.659 we sing and as we worship God in this moment, 00:41:21.900 --> 00:41:26.059 my hope and my prayer is that it would be a catalyst 00:41:26.059 --> 00:41:29.199 for what we do when we walk out these doors. 00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:33.340 Yes, we can praise God here in church. That's 00:41:33.340 --> 00:41:39.000 what we do. But how can we take that with us 00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:42.420 and be people of gratitude in our daily lives? 00:41:44.139 --> 00:41:47.639 So I'd invite you to stand this morning and our 00:41:47.639 --> 00:41:52.280 worship team is going to sing. Think about that 00:41:52.280 --> 00:41:55.480 thing. Think about that thing God has done that 00:41:55.480 --> 00:41:58.280 you are so thankful for that maybe you haven't 00:41:58.280 --> 00:42:02.400 thanked him for out loud. Vocalize it, verbalize 00:42:02.400 --> 00:42:05.019 it, take a step forward, whatever that looks 00:42:05.019 --> 00:42:20.489 like for you. We pray that you were impacted 00:42:20.489 --> 00:42:23.550 powerfully by this message. If you have been 00:42:23.550 --> 00:42:26.230 personally affected by our ministry and you would 00:42:26.230 --> 00:42:28.969 like to partner with us as we love God, love 00:42:28.969 --> 00:42:31.789 people every day, visit our website at