WEBVTT 00:00:07.929 --> 00:00:13.689 Chapter 11, verse 25. One short little verse, 00:00:13.769 --> 00:00:18.129 probably a short sermon, amen. Proverbs chapter 00:00:18.129 --> 00:00:31.530 11, verse 25. If you've never read through the 00:00:31.530 --> 00:00:35.130 Proverbs before, I would encourage you to do 00:00:35.130 --> 00:00:38.409 so. There is some great wisdom in there, some 00:00:38.409 --> 00:00:41.929 great instruction. If we would all live by the 00:00:41.929 --> 00:00:45.909 Proverbs, we would all be a lot better off. So 00:00:45.909 --> 00:00:47.829 I encourage you to read through those Proverbs 00:00:47.829 --> 00:00:51.670 if you've never read them before. But this morning 00:00:51.670 --> 00:00:58.570 we'll be in Proverbs chapter 11, verse 25. We'll 00:00:58.570 --> 00:01:05.840 read the Scripture, then we will pray. will be 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:09.519 enriched and the one who waters will himself 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:14.659 be watered let's pray father god we come to you 00:01:14.659 --> 00:01:18.099 today and i thank you for your good word and 00:01:18.099 --> 00:01:21.519 god we thank you for the blessings that you give 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:25.200 to us and i pray god that we would not fail to 00:01:25.200 --> 00:01:28.640 realize the blessings that we that we see daily 00:01:28.640 --> 00:01:32.349 god some of them maybe are small and sometimes 00:01:32.349 --> 00:01:35.269 go unnoticed, and maybe even sometimes, God, 00:01:35.390 --> 00:01:37.769 there are big things that you bless us with. 00:01:37.870 --> 00:01:41.069 But God, help us not to ever forget that you 00:01:41.069 --> 00:01:44.209 are the one who blesses us and provides for us 00:01:44.209 --> 00:01:46.810 and gives us mercy and takes care of us, dear 00:01:46.810 --> 00:01:50.109 Lord. So I pray, God, that today that we would 00:01:50.109 --> 00:01:52.769 all rejoice in your blessing, that we would continue 00:01:52.769 --> 00:01:56.189 to experience your blessing in our daily life, 00:01:56.230 --> 00:01:59.750 and God, that it would transform us. It would 00:01:59.750 --> 00:02:03.250 transform our hearts. It would cause us to be 00:02:03.250 --> 00:02:06.129 a people who would bless those that we encounter, 00:02:06.370 --> 00:02:08.610 dear Lord, to share your love and to share your 00:02:08.610 --> 00:02:10.789 grace and to share your mercy, dear Lord, to 00:02:10.789 --> 00:02:14.550 maybe give people a little glimpse of hope in 00:02:14.550 --> 00:02:16.849 this world that needs it. So I pray, God, that 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:20.009 in these few minutes that your Holy Spirit would 00:02:20.009 --> 00:02:23.289 just speak to each one of us, take away any fear 00:02:23.289 --> 00:02:25.490 or pride that's within me, dear Lord, today. 00:02:25.930 --> 00:02:29.009 I pray that you would free us from the distractions 00:02:29.009 --> 00:02:32.810 and the worries of the world. And in these few 00:02:32.810 --> 00:02:36.129 minutes, your Holy Spirit would begin to do a 00:02:36.129 --> 00:02:39.689 mighty work in our hearts. And I ask these things 00:02:39.689 --> 00:02:47.509 in Jesus' name. Amen. It is a beautiful thing 00:02:47.509 --> 00:02:52.729 in life when we realize that we are blessed by 00:02:52.729 --> 00:02:56.490 God. Now maybe you all realize that today, or 00:02:56.490 --> 00:02:59.229 maybe you don't. Maybe there are days that we 00:02:59.229 --> 00:03:02.479 realize it more than others. Maybe you could 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:05.120 list a whole list of things this morning that 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.599 God has blessed you with. Maybe sometimes in 00:03:08.599 --> 00:03:11.379 the hustle and bustle and the worries of life, 00:03:11.500 --> 00:03:17.120 we overlook some of God's blessings. But it is 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.439 a great joy in our life when we realize that 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:24.060 there is a God who created us, who takes care 00:03:24.060 --> 00:03:28.550 of us, who is with us. who leads us, who guides 00:03:28.550 --> 00:03:31.770 us, and most importantly, who has sent his son, 00:03:31.909 --> 00:03:34.949 Jesus Christ, to die on a cross that our sins 00:03:34.949 --> 00:03:38.610 could be forgiven. That is the greatest blessing 00:03:38.610 --> 00:03:41.750 we could ever receive, is that we would repent 00:03:41.750 --> 00:03:45.509 of our sins and follow Jesus Christ. And when 00:03:45.509 --> 00:03:49.270 we seek God, and when we realize who God is, 00:03:49.370 --> 00:03:53.370 that God is the God of everything, and that there 00:03:53.370 --> 00:03:58.520 is no good that comes... Apart from God, it is 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:01.300 a beautiful thing. It is a joy in our life when 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:05.000 we take a moment and we begin to pause and we 00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.460 begin to see that we are blessed. Even from the 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:11.439 little things that we may take for granted. Our 00:04:11.439 --> 00:04:15.139 air conditioning. What a blessing it is that 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:17.279 we can come here today. It's a few of you fanning. 00:04:17.279 --> 00:04:21.160 I see that, but it could be a lot worse. The 00:04:21.160 --> 00:04:23.740 little things like that that we just become so 00:04:23.740 --> 00:04:28.370 accustomed to. We have vehicles to drive. Do 00:04:28.370 --> 00:04:30.350 we all are going to eat food today? I hope we 00:04:30.350 --> 00:04:32.170 are. I think we probably all are. If you're not, 00:04:32.170 --> 00:04:33.610 let me know. We want to make sure you're going 00:04:33.610 --> 00:04:35.990 to eat. But I expect we're all going to eat today. 00:04:36.250 --> 00:04:38.629 Probably three meals and probably a snack in 00:04:38.629 --> 00:04:40.629 between. I thought about that this morning. I 00:04:40.629 --> 00:04:43.389 was in my office and I thought, here I got a 00:04:43.389 --> 00:04:46.930 box of Cheez -Its and a Hershey bar. Here's some 00:04:46.930 --> 00:04:48.470 people in the world that would kill for that. 00:04:48.670 --> 00:04:50.709 And this is just my snack. This is just between 00:04:50.709 --> 00:04:52.670 meals when I'm sitting there reading and I'm 00:04:52.670 --> 00:04:55.750 thinking, I'm hungry, you know. It's the small 00:04:55.750 --> 00:04:58.129 little things that sometimes we take for granted, 00:04:58.209 --> 00:05:02.050 and we don't realize how blessed we are. We're 00:05:02.050 --> 00:05:05.069 blessed that we have parents or grandparents. 00:05:05.389 --> 00:05:07.529 We're blessed that we have spouses. We're blessed 00:05:07.529 --> 00:05:10.269 that we have children. We're really blessed when 00:05:10.269 --> 00:05:14.029 we have grandchildren. There are lots of blessings 00:05:14.029 --> 00:05:16.930 that God brings in our life, and that brings 00:05:16.930 --> 00:05:21.160 us a lot of joy. And if you haven't stopped to 00:05:21.160 --> 00:05:23.500 count your blessings lately, then maybe this 00:05:23.500 --> 00:05:27.259 afternoon you should. Because in the midst of 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:29.540 our world that comes with stress and pain and 00:05:29.540 --> 00:05:31.740 heartache and depression and all that comes with 00:05:31.740 --> 00:05:36.079 it, there is great joy when we pause for a moment 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:41.620 and realize that God has blessed us. I'll tell 00:05:41.620 --> 00:05:43.639 you a great blessing that I'm thankful for is 00:05:43.639 --> 00:05:48.730 this church. It is a blessing. to be part of 00:05:48.730 --> 00:05:52.290 Enterprise Baptist Church. It is a blessing to 00:05:52.290 --> 00:05:55.269 know you people. It is a blessing to serve alongside 00:05:55.269 --> 00:05:58.189 you people. It is a blessing for us together 00:05:58.189 --> 00:06:03.250 to serve the Lord. God has been good to us. And 00:06:03.250 --> 00:06:06.550 God loves us, and that is evident in the hearts 00:06:06.550 --> 00:06:09.689 of the people who are here. And there is great 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:12.269 joy that comes in the blessings of the Lord. 00:06:13.610 --> 00:06:17.720 But what do we do with those blessings? Do we 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:21.939 bless those that we encounter? When we go out 00:06:21.939 --> 00:06:24.720 into the world, if we are God's people and we've 00:06:24.720 --> 00:06:29.160 experienced the joy of being blessed, then are 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:33.079 we blessing those that we encounter? We should 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:39.160 be. The scripture here says, whoever brings blessing 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:44.519 will be enriched. Perhaps on some level it's 00:06:44.519 --> 00:06:47.079 speaking of material gain that God blesses us 00:06:47.079 --> 00:06:51.100 with. And certainly sometimes he does. Certainly 00:06:51.100 --> 00:06:53.959 God blesses us with material gain and sometimes 00:06:53.959 --> 00:06:57.800 even great riches God blesses us with. And so 00:06:57.800 --> 00:06:59.879 be it should that be God's will in our life. 00:07:01.180 --> 00:07:05.019 But I think the real blessing that we receive 00:07:05.019 --> 00:07:09.779 when we serve the Lord and we love others. The 00:07:09.779 --> 00:07:12.939 real blessing that we receive is in the joy of 00:07:12.939 --> 00:07:17.199 doing it. Jesus is quoted as saying in Acts chapter 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:21.959 20, verse 35, it is better to give than to receive. 00:07:23.019 --> 00:07:25.819 Now, I suspect sometimes maybe our heart is not 00:07:25.819 --> 00:07:29.360 right. And maybe we are tempted to think, well, 00:07:29.420 --> 00:07:31.879 I want to give to somebody else because I want 00:07:31.879 --> 00:07:34.879 God to give back to me tenfold. And our motivation 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:38.720 may be sometimes for our generosity. or our blessings 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:43.259 toward others is not from a right spot. But when 00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:46.160 we do the Lord's will, and we do the Lord's work, 00:07:46.379 --> 00:07:49.600 and we begin to bless others in our life, and 00:07:49.600 --> 00:07:53.680 whatever means we may be able to, the real joy 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:57.680 comes from not what we get in return necessarily, 00:07:57.939 --> 00:08:01.300 not in a materialistic way, but the real joy 00:08:01.300 --> 00:08:04.420 comes from knowing that we have done the right 00:08:04.420 --> 00:08:09.160 thing. And oftentimes the real joy comes from 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:13.180 seeing the person that you have helped. Now I'm 00:08:13.180 --> 00:08:15.360 going to tell you guys, you know this, because 00:08:15.360 --> 00:08:17.420 you all live in the world, you watch the news. 00:08:17.540 --> 00:08:22.100 Our world is in a bad shape. Sometimes I really 00:08:22.100 --> 00:08:25.819 begin to question humanity. I see people do some 00:08:25.819 --> 00:08:28.939 things and I think, I don't have a lot of hope 00:08:28.939 --> 00:08:33.399 for humanity. People do some stupid stuff. People 00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:38.730 do some evil stuff. And sometimes I wonder, what 00:08:38.730 --> 00:08:43.289 is the future going to hold for humanity? But 00:08:43.289 --> 00:08:48.429 then I'm reminded of God. And God is good. And 00:08:48.429 --> 00:08:51.230 God can change hearts. And God can change people. 00:08:51.330 --> 00:08:54.909 And you know what? There may be more good people 00:08:54.909 --> 00:08:58.570 in this world than you realize. God may be working 00:08:58.570 --> 00:09:01.690 more than you realize. And our world can be so 00:09:01.690 --> 00:09:06.899 overwhelming and depressing. But it's always 00:09:06.899 --> 00:09:10.559 a beautiful thing when you see someone who is 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:14.179 a blessing to someone else or who is generous 00:09:14.179 --> 00:09:18.220 to someone else. You know, sometimes I'll go 00:09:18.220 --> 00:09:20.620 eat breakfast, and maybe you've had this experience 00:09:20.620 --> 00:09:25.299 before. And I went just Saturday morning. I went 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:28.360 to eat breakfast Friday morning. And I was in 00:09:28.360 --> 00:09:29.799 line, and there was a guy that went in before 00:09:29.799 --> 00:09:31.620 me, and he was ordering, and he got through ordering, 00:09:31.659 --> 00:09:35.919 and he said, and I want to pay for his too. I 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:37.639 didn't do nothing to deserve this guy to pay 00:09:37.639 --> 00:09:40.799 for my breakfast. And little things like that 00:09:40.799 --> 00:09:43.899 happen sometimes. People will do the littlest 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:47.820 things for you that are so insignificant. A $4 00:09:47.820 --> 00:09:52.019 biscuit, not really too much. But when people 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:54.480 do those things in my life, and maybe in your 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:59.299 life too, it renews my hope for humanity. It 00:09:59.299 --> 00:10:03.240 brings me a little joy. That someone was generous 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.799 enough and that cared enough to bless me. I'm 00:10:07.799 --> 00:10:10.080 certainly not deserving of it. Sometimes I wonder 00:10:10.080 --> 00:10:13.360 why God even blesses me so much. There are certainly 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:15.860 far more people in this world that are deserving 00:10:15.860 --> 00:10:19.019 of blessings than myself. But yet God is so good 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:22.039 that he continues to bless us in spite of us. 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.440 And so I see the things that people do. Sometimes 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:29.600 they're the smallest things that you could ever 00:10:29.600 --> 00:10:33.330 imagine. Sometimes it's when I go to the dollar 00:10:33.330 --> 00:10:36.309 store and the lady behind the counter speaks 00:10:36.309 --> 00:10:39.370 and smiles and says, how are you doing today? 00:10:39.669 --> 00:10:42.809 Are you having a good day? I'm shocked. You know 00:10:42.809 --> 00:10:44.710 why I'm shocked? Because most of them don't even 00:10:44.710 --> 00:10:46.389 look up. They don't even pay you no attention. 00:10:47.250 --> 00:10:49.409 You ask them a question, they just kind of grunt. 00:10:50.149 --> 00:10:52.230 It's like you don't even know they're there, 00:10:52.309 --> 00:10:55.330 you know? And sometimes I think, man, this world's 00:10:55.330 --> 00:10:58.750 in a bad place. But then the smallest little 00:10:58.750 --> 00:11:03.440 thing, just someone... speaking to you, it renews 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.059 my hope. And I think, man, I'm glad to see there's 00:11:06.059 --> 00:11:07.779 somebody that cares about their job and that 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:12.320 cares about other people. And so maybe it's the 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.919 little things in our life that we can do to other 00:11:15.919 --> 00:11:19.399 people. Maybe we can be a little bit of hope 00:11:19.399 --> 00:11:22.559 to the people that we encounter. Maybe there 00:11:22.559 --> 00:11:26.080 are ways that we can bless others today. Maybe 00:11:26.080 --> 00:11:28.440 there are ways that we can help enrich the lives 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:32.259 of others today. If we've experienced the love 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:35.000 of God through Jesus Christ, if we've experienced 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:37.799 the hope through Jesus Christ, if we've experienced 00:11:37.799 --> 00:11:40.759 blessing through Jesus Christ, then we need to 00:11:40.759 --> 00:11:43.539 be those who are going into this world and who 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:47.519 are blessing others, not for some materialistic 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:50.059 gain that we can get in return, but because it's 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:53.860 the right thing to do. And you may discover in 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:56.620 your life, if you're not serving God and blessing 00:11:56.620 --> 00:11:59.519 others, you may discover that you are missing 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:03.639 a lot of blessing in your life. Because there 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.799 is nothing greater than taking a little bit of 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:10.700 your time and a little bit of your money and 00:12:10.700 --> 00:12:13.179 caring about someone just a little bit. There's 00:12:13.179 --> 00:12:17.960 nothing better than doing that and seeing that 00:12:17.960 --> 00:12:21.320 you bring a little bit of hope to somebody's 00:12:21.320 --> 00:12:24.590 life. Now there are a lot of ways perhaps that 00:12:24.590 --> 00:12:27.149 we could be generous. Maybe we could be generous 00:12:27.149 --> 00:12:29.370 financially. Maybe God's blessed you and you're 00:12:29.370 --> 00:12:32.450 doing good. Maybe you could afford to buy that 00:12:32.450 --> 00:12:34.850 biscuit for that person behind you in line next 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:36.830 time you go through line. It might change their 00:12:36.830 --> 00:12:39.049 day. You ever had something like that happen 00:12:39.049 --> 00:12:40.750 to you before? You're just having the worst day 00:12:40.750 --> 00:12:42.970 ever and somebody does the least little thing 00:12:42.970 --> 00:12:46.929 and it instantly changes your attitude. Maybe 00:12:46.929 --> 00:12:49.350 in the way that you interact with other people. 00:12:50.490 --> 00:12:52.529 Maybe if the girl behind the counter at the dollar 00:12:52.529 --> 00:12:54.570 store speaking to you makes your day better, 00:12:54.669 --> 00:12:57.190 well, maybe if you spoke to her, it would make 00:12:57.190 --> 00:13:01.110 her day better. Maybe nobody speaks to her and 00:13:01.110 --> 00:13:05.149 ask her how her day is. Maybe you see the same 00:13:05.149 --> 00:13:07.070 person every time you go to the grocery store. 00:13:07.870 --> 00:13:09.889 Here's something cool. Maybe you could learn 00:13:09.889 --> 00:13:14.049 their name. When you go in there, say, hey, Susie, 00:13:14.049 --> 00:13:17.080 how you doing today? Those things make a difference. 00:13:17.340 --> 00:13:20.299 It takes us very little effort to do those things, 00:13:20.379 --> 00:13:23.340 but those things begin to make a difference in 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:26.559 people's lives. If you know somebody that's struggling, 00:13:26.779 --> 00:13:29.019 wondering where their next meal will come from 00:13:29.019 --> 00:13:32.340 or how they'll pay the light bill, you say, I 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:35.759 could pay a couple hundred bucks. I could help 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:38.240 them out. It might not even be that much to you, 00:13:38.340 --> 00:13:43.230 but it may change their life. The little ways 00:13:43.230 --> 00:13:45.570 in which we can be generous and we can bless 00:13:45.570 --> 00:13:50.990 others may change their life. Because people 00:13:50.990 --> 00:13:53.370 don't see that in the world today. You see the 00:13:53.370 --> 00:13:55.649 evil. And there's plenty of good out there. I'm 00:13:55.649 --> 00:13:58.009 not saying there's not. But that's what our world 00:13:58.009 --> 00:14:01.389 needs to see is the love of Jesus Christ and 00:14:01.389 --> 00:14:04.529 the generosity of Jesus Christ that comes in 00:14:04.529 --> 00:14:07.570 us and overflows through us to those that we 00:14:07.570 --> 00:14:12.860 encounter. We want our world to change. And maybe 00:14:12.860 --> 00:14:15.740 God's going to send a great revival, and maybe 00:14:15.740 --> 00:14:18.139 there's going to be some wonderful, magnificent 00:14:18.139 --> 00:14:20.360 event that's going to just shake up everybody 00:14:20.360 --> 00:14:24.620 at once. But then again, maybe God just wants 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:30.440 to use you to be generous to somebody else. Maybe 00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:34.419 God wants to use you to just go love on somebody 00:14:34.419 --> 00:14:37.620 else. We can be generous with our money, but 00:14:37.620 --> 00:14:42.799 we can also be generous with our time. I say 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:46.580 this all the time, and I'll say it again, because 00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:48.500 you need to do this, church, brother and sister 00:14:48.500 --> 00:14:52.139 in Christ. There is no greater blessing to me. 00:14:52.940 --> 00:14:55.639 You might not agree, but try it and let me know. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:59.320 There is no greater blessing than when you go 00:14:59.320 --> 00:15:03.539 see someone who is sick, who is bedridden, who 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:06.620 cannot leave their house, who has no company. 00:15:07.120 --> 00:15:10.480 There is no greater blessing than to go and to 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:14.629 sit down, and to visit with someone. It ain't 00:15:14.629 --> 00:15:18.450 about what you talk about. It's just about going 00:15:18.450 --> 00:15:22.470 to see them. And you got people right now, you're 00:15:22.470 --> 00:15:24.090 thinking about somebody's name, and you thought, 00:15:24.210 --> 00:15:26.190 yeah, I need to go see that person. And you've 00:15:26.190 --> 00:15:27.730 been thinking about that for five years. You 00:15:27.730 --> 00:15:29.429 know, I should go see that person. Well, yeah, 00:15:29.509 --> 00:15:32.370 you should. You should. You should go see them 00:15:32.370 --> 00:15:34.710 this afternoon. You know what I hear when I go 00:15:34.710 --> 00:15:36.850 visit a lot of people? A lot of them are older. 00:15:37.190 --> 00:15:40.269 And I hear this all the time. They say, you know, 00:15:40.289 --> 00:15:44.269 people used to go visit each other. They don't 00:15:44.269 --> 00:15:47.090 anymore. I don't know why, but you should. But 00:15:47.090 --> 00:15:49.870 you should go visit each other. And you can go 00:15:49.870 --> 00:15:51.429 see the people you see all the time. You can 00:15:51.429 --> 00:15:53.460 see the people you see here on Sunday. And that's 00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:55.620 all well and good. But you need to go see the 00:15:55.620 --> 00:15:57.519 people that everybody's forgotten about, that 00:15:57.519 --> 00:15:59.659 have fallen through the cracks. And I've told 00:15:59.659 --> 00:16:01.980 you guys this a lot, and I'm going to keep telling 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:04.840 you because this is a way in which we can minister 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:08.220 to these people and love on these people and 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:10.539 let them know that they're not forgotten. And 00:16:10.539 --> 00:16:12.740 you know what that brings in their life? It brings 00:16:12.740 --> 00:16:16.620 hope. That's what they need. That's what we need. 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:20.129 That's what our world needs. And I believe when 00:16:20.129 --> 00:16:23.529 we bless others and people see our generosity, 00:16:23.529 --> 00:16:26.570 we don't do it for us. We don't do it so we can 00:16:26.570 --> 00:16:29.470 say I paid somebody's light bill or I went to 00:16:29.470 --> 00:16:31.750 visit 17 people this week. We don't do it for 00:16:31.750 --> 00:16:34.409 us. We do it because it's the love of God that's 00:16:34.409 --> 00:16:38.970 in us. And that comes with great blessing to 00:16:38.970 --> 00:16:42.929 the person that you minister to. And it might 00:16:42.929 --> 00:16:46.289 even bring more blessing to you than it brings 00:16:46.289 --> 00:16:50.509 to them. So perhaps in our world that is dark 00:16:50.509 --> 00:16:55.330 and is dying, maybe one of the easiest ways that 00:16:55.330 --> 00:16:58.210 we can begin to bring hope into our world today 00:16:58.210 --> 00:17:03.870 is just by being kind to people, being generous 00:17:03.870 --> 00:17:09.410 to people, being compassionate to people. Just 00:17:09.410 --> 00:17:11.309 talking to somebody, just saying hey to somebody. 00:17:11.509 --> 00:17:13.529 You know, you go up there and you're pumping 00:17:13.529 --> 00:17:15.089 gas, you know, and you're looking straight ahead. 00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:16.289 You're like, I'm going to watch this little screen 00:17:16.289 --> 00:17:17.490 because there's this person here and I don't 00:17:17.490 --> 00:17:18.849 want to look at them. I might accidentally make 00:17:18.849 --> 00:17:20.769 eye contact and then they'll speak or I'll have 00:17:20.769 --> 00:17:22.269 to speak. So I'm just going to look here, just 00:17:22.269 --> 00:17:24.390 pretend like I'm busy. Well, maybe next time 00:17:24.390 --> 00:17:26.390 you get gas, you just look over across the thing 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:28.329 and you say, hey man, how are you doing today? 00:17:31.589 --> 00:17:37.789 That might blow somebody's mind. It's the little 00:17:37.789 --> 00:17:42.369 things that I think renew hope for humanity. 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:47.069 Humanity's not that bad. I mean, sin is pretty 00:17:47.069 --> 00:17:50.230 bad, and it's always been bad, but as long as 00:17:50.230 --> 00:17:53.690 there are human beings, as long as God is at 00:17:53.690 --> 00:17:56.329 work and he will continually be at work, there 00:17:56.329 --> 00:18:01.769 is hope for us. And the Bible calls us to be 00:18:01.769 --> 00:18:06.759 servants. It calls us to serve one another. And 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:09.460 here in this proverb, it talks about blessing. 00:18:09.460 --> 00:18:15.079 It talks about generosity. Now, I would hope 00:18:15.079 --> 00:18:17.779 that everybody in here has experienced the blessing 00:18:17.779 --> 00:18:20.240 of God in some way, and I suspect you could all 00:18:20.240 --> 00:18:23.859 give me at least one thing. But more importantly, 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:26.920 I hope that you've experienced the blessing of 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:30.960 forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ. That's 00:18:30.960 --> 00:18:33.680 what changes our heart. That's what changes our 00:18:33.680 --> 00:18:36.700 attitude. That's what guides us and motivates 00:18:36.700 --> 00:18:42.339 us to go and do the little things. So ask God 00:18:42.339 --> 00:18:45.619 to show you those little things this week. Ways 00:18:45.619 --> 00:18:50.019 in which you can be generous. And when God shows 00:18:50.019 --> 00:18:54.599 you those ways, you go and you do it. You don't 00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.829 make excuses. You can make excuses from now until 00:18:57.829 --> 00:19:01.190 you die and miss the opportunities that God has 00:19:01.190 --> 00:19:04.109 given you to be generous and to bless those around 00:19:04.109 --> 00:19:08.009 you. So ask God to help you see, because sometimes 00:19:08.009 --> 00:19:11.049 we don't see. Sometimes we're so selfish and 00:19:11.049 --> 00:19:13.789 we're so focused on things in our own life. Sometimes 00:19:13.789 --> 00:19:18.470 we just fail to miss the simple things. But never 00:19:18.470 --> 00:19:22.089 take the little things for granted, because the 00:19:22.089 --> 00:19:26.140 way you speak to someone, The meal you buy for 00:19:26.140 --> 00:19:31.920 someone, the visit that you pay to someone, the 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:35.859 card that you mail to someone are things that, 00:19:35.880 --> 00:19:38.440 quite frankly, will take very little effort on 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:43.579 your part, but they may change the life of somebody 00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:47.400 you encounter. When people know that you love 00:19:47.400 --> 00:19:51.480 them, it makes a difference. When people know 00:19:51.480 --> 00:19:53.839 that you care about them, it makes a difference. 00:19:55.210 --> 00:19:57.269 And when people know that you care about them 00:19:57.269 --> 00:20:00.210 and you love them, they listen to what you have 00:20:00.210 --> 00:20:03.730 to say. And when you show them the love of God, 00:20:03.930 --> 00:20:06.569 when you show them the love of Jesus Christ, 00:20:06.890 --> 00:20:09.750 you can share with them the love of Jesus Christ. 00:20:10.509 --> 00:20:13.430 And they will listen. But they won't have to 00:20:13.430 --> 00:20:15.029 listen to your words because they would have 00:20:15.029 --> 00:20:19.589 already seen it in your actions. And that generosity 00:20:19.589 --> 00:20:22.910 and that blessing that you bring to others that 00:20:22.910 --> 00:20:27.380 you encounter, it may very well change the world. 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:32.480 Let's pray. God, we thank you for your good word. 00:20:33.579 --> 00:20:35.680 We thank you for the many blessings you give 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:38.960 us. We thank you for Jesus Christ. We thank you 00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:43.160 for loving us when we are unlovable. We thank 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:45.319 you for the joy that we receive through your 00:20:45.319 --> 00:20:48.380 words. We thank you for the joy that we receive 00:20:48.380 --> 00:20:50.480 through the blessings that we have through you, 00:20:50.539 --> 00:20:52.480 the blessing of your presence, the blessing of 00:20:52.480 --> 00:20:55.019 your love, the blessing of your grace, the blessing 00:20:55.019 --> 00:20:59.519 of your forgiveness, dear Lord. And God, that 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.740 gives us who are in Christ hope. And so I pray, 00:21:03.819 --> 00:21:07.279 dear Lord, in our hope and what we are blessed 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:10.460 with, God, that we would be faithful to bless 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:13.950 those we encounter. that you would help us, dear 00:21:13.950 --> 00:21:16.470 Lord, to see areas in our life that we could 00:21:16.470 --> 00:21:20.190 be generous in ways that we could be a blessing 00:21:20.190 --> 00:21:22.529 to others, ways that we may not even realize, 00:21:22.789 --> 00:21:26.789 dear Lord. We often don't even realize the impact 00:21:26.789 --> 00:21:30.210 that the things that we do will have on people, 00:21:30.309 --> 00:21:33.289 dear Lord. So I pray that you would help us to 00:21:33.289 --> 00:21:35.170 see those opportunities in which you want us 00:21:35.170 --> 00:21:38.509 to serve. I pray, God, that you would help us 00:21:38.509 --> 00:21:42.369 to be a blessing. to help us to be generous to 00:21:42.369 --> 00:21:45.470 those we encounter. God, maybe there is one today 00:21:45.470 --> 00:21:49.730 that we need to go visit. Help us to go love 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:52.750 on them, dear Lord. Maybe there are some today 00:21:52.750 --> 00:21:56.190 we can help financially. Maybe there's a little 00:21:56.190 --> 00:21:59.650 act of kindness, dear Lord. Maybe it's speaking 00:21:59.650 --> 00:22:04.109 a kind word, God. Whatever it may be, God, I 00:22:04.109 --> 00:22:07.369 pray. that you would help us to see those opportunities 00:22:07.369 --> 00:22:09.970 in which your generosity can overflow through 00:22:09.970 --> 00:22:14.609 us and let that overflow this week. And I pray, 00:22:14.670 --> 00:22:16.509 dear Lord, that through the actions we do, we 00:22:16.509 --> 00:22:19.910 never do it for our glory, but only for your 00:22:19.910 --> 00:22:23.710 glory, only for your kingdom. And I pray, dear 00:22:23.710 --> 00:22:26.430 Lord, that the world will see the hope of Jesus 00:22:26.430 --> 00:22:29.430 Christ through the love that overflows through 00:22:29.430 --> 00:22:33.730 us. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.