WEBVTT 00:00:06.030 --> 00:00:09.810 Proverbs chapter 12, verse 25. We're going to 00:00:09.810 --> 00:00:12.070 look at a few different Proverbs. If you're not 00:00:12.070 --> 00:00:16.149 able to catch them as I go through them, just 00:00:16.149 --> 00:00:18.949 let me know afterwards and I'll be glad to tell 00:00:18.949 --> 00:00:23.670 you where they are. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 00:00:23.670 --> 00:00:31.750 25 is where we will begin. Probably going to 00:00:31.750 --> 00:00:36.570 be a pretty short sermon today. Amen. If there's 00:00:36.570 --> 00:00:38.950 any aspiring preachers in the audience or online 00:00:38.950 --> 00:00:43.549 listening, I'll give you a word of wisdom. People 00:00:43.549 --> 00:00:46.289 may complain about a long sermon, and they may 00:00:46.289 --> 00:00:49.090 complain about a bad sermon, but very seldom 00:00:49.090 --> 00:00:51.530 will anybody complain about a short sermon, even 00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:55.429 if it's bad. So just keep that in mind if you're 00:00:55.429 --> 00:00:59.390 an aspiring preacher. Proverbs chapter 12, verse 00:00:59.390 --> 00:01:03.380 25, let's pray, and we'll get started. God, we 00:01:03.380 --> 00:01:05.579 thank you for being good to us. I thank you for 00:01:05.579 --> 00:01:08.959 all these folks that's able to come today. I 00:01:08.959 --> 00:01:10.859 thank you for loving us. I thank you for your 00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:14.340 grace and your mercy. I thank you for giving 00:01:14.340 --> 00:01:17.120 us air conditioning and just all the good things 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:19.579 you bless us with. And I pray, dear Lord, that 00:01:19.579 --> 00:01:23.239 in these few minutes that we would hear from 00:01:23.239 --> 00:01:25.780 you, that your Holy Spirit would speak to us. 00:01:26.700 --> 00:01:28.780 Where our heart is, you know what our distractions 00:01:28.780 --> 00:01:31.099 are that we come in here with. You know what 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:33.200 happened in our life last week and what's going 00:01:33.200 --> 00:01:35.859 on next week. But, dear Lord, we don't want to 00:01:35.859 --> 00:01:38.719 think about those things today. I pray that you 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:41.780 just help us to focus on you. Let your Holy Spirit 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:44.079 speak through me, dear Lord. Take away any pride 00:01:44.079 --> 00:01:46.060 or fear that's within me that I would just be 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:49.340 faithful to preach your word in a way that brings 00:01:49.340 --> 00:01:52.500 glory to you. And I ask these things in Jesus' 00:01:52.659 --> 00:01:57.719 name. Amen. I have said probably no less than 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:01.459 100 times over the last 12 years. Proverbs are 00:02:01.459 --> 00:02:03.659 good. You should read the Proverbs. If you have 00:02:03.659 --> 00:02:06.459 not ever read the Proverbs, there's 31 of them. 00:02:06.519 --> 00:02:10.099 So a lot of months you can start in the first 00:02:10.099 --> 00:02:11.840 one, the first day of the month, and finish up 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:14.580 by the end of the month. But there is such good 00:02:14.580 --> 00:02:18.780 wisdom and encouragement and instruction to help 00:02:18.780 --> 00:02:22.120 us not to be foolish. There's all kind of good. 00:02:22.590 --> 00:02:26.789 in the book of Proverbs. And I find myself reading 00:02:26.789 --> 00:02:29.330 the book of Proverbs a lot, and I like to preach 00:02:29.330 --> 00:02:33.449 a proverb here and there. And so that's what 00:02:33.449 --> 00:02:35.930 we're going to do today. Proverbs chapter 12, 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:42.889 verse 25. Anxiety weighs down the heart. Now, 00:02:42.909 --> 00:02:44.870 before we read the second half of the proverb, 00:02:45.009 --> 00:02:48.969 let's stop right there. Anxiety weighs down the 00:02:48.969 --> 00:02:51.629 heart. Would anybody in here agree with that 00:02:51.629 --> 00:02:55.409 statement? I think every single one of us would 00:02:55.409 --> 00:02:59.289 agree with that statement. Anxiety is one of 00:02:59.289 --> 00:03:03.069 the worst things that there is. And some of us 00:03:03.069 --> 00:03:05.550 struggle with it more than others. But I think 00:03:05.550 --> 00:03:08.009 everybody has times in their life where they're 00:03:08.009 --> 00:03:11.710 anxious about something. They have anxiety. They 00:03:11.710 --> 00:03:14.229 have worry about something that's going on in 00:03:14.229 --> 00:03:17.169 their life. We all have it. There's bills that 00:03:17.169 --> 00:03:19.729 are due. There's health problems that are coming 00:03:19.729 --> 00:03:22.270 up. There's busy schedule. There's school that's 00:03:22.270 --> 00:03:24.830 starting back. There's things that we've done 00:03:24.830 --> 00:03:28.189 and all kind of things in our life that just 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:32.870 bring about a great amount of anxiety. And that 00:03:32.870 --> 00:03:38.750 will weigh you down. It'll bum you out. It'll 00:03:38.750 --> 00:03:43.439 make you feel bad physically. It'll consume your 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.740 mind. That's one of the hardest things to escape. 00:03:45.939 --> 00:03:48.939 Like a lot of temptations and trials that we 00:03:48.939 --> 00:03:51.800 go through, maybe we can just avoid them in some 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:54.800 way. But we can't just step away from anxiety. 00:03:55.580 --> 00:04:00.379 Because when anxiety is upon us, we wake up anxious. 00:04:00.599 --> 00:04:03.560 And we go through the day anxious. And we think 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:06.280 about whatever is causing our anxiety. It's just 00:04:06.280 --> 00:04:10.759 there. And we may pray a lot. Three, four, five, 00:04:10.919 --> 00:04:14.080 a hundred times a day. And that anxiety, it just 00:04:14.080 --> 00:04:18.300 continues to bear down on us. So when we read 00:04:18.300 --> 00:04:22.300 the scripture that anxiety weighs a heart down, 00:04:22.620 --> 00:04:25.759 everybody in here could say amen to that. We 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:29.240 understand that. Now, if you struggle with anxiety, 00:04:29.560 --> 00:04:33.160 Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 6, you 00:04:33.160 --> 00:04:36.100 need to put you a bookmark in there because that 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:40.180 is a beautiful passage. Be anxious for nothing, 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:43.040 but in everything, through prayer and supplication, 00:04:43.060 --> 00:04:47.420 let your request be made known to God. And the 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:50.699 peace of God which transcends understanding will 00:04:50.699 --> 00:04:53.060 guard your heart, guard your thoughts. That's 00:04:53.060 --> 00:04:55.920 a loose translation of it, but mark that down. 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:59.680 Look that up. That is a verse that a lot of us 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:01.579 probably need to spend some time on and live 00:05:01.579 --> 00:05:05.339 on because that anxiety is ever before us in 00:05:05.339 --> 00:05:10.920 our busy world. And so the proverb acknowledges 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:14.399 the problem. Anxiety weighs down the heart. But 00:05:14.399 --> 00:05:18.079 listen to what it says. A solution to the problem 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:25.540 is. But a kind word cheers it up. Now I suspect 00:05:25.540 --> 00:05:30.699 that some of you can understand that. Have any 00:05:30.699 --> 00:05:32.920 of you ever been in a point in life where you 00:05:32.920 --> 00:05:36.060 were kind of down and you were depressed? Just 00:05:36.060 --> 00:05:38.300 nothing seemed like it was going good and you 00:05:38.300 --> 00:05:40.540 felt like a failure. Maybe some of you have been 00:05:40.540 --> 00:05:44.199 there before and you felt that way. But it's 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:46.500 a beautiful thing when somebody comes up to you 00:05:46.500 --> 00:05:52.240 and shares a kind word to you and shares a word 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:56.360 of encouragement with you. I know this because 00:05:56.360 --> 00:05:58.699 this has happened to me just recently. I was 00:05:58.699 --> 00:06:00.879 kind of bummed out about some stuff and, oh, 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:03.379 woe is me, you know. And maybe you've been like 00:06:03.379 --> 00:06:05.399 that way, or maybe you hadn't. Maybe it's just 00:06:05.399 --> 00:06:09.100 me. But just last week, somebody gave me an encouraging 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:12.199 word, just kind of out of the blue, and it changed 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:15.060 my whole attitude. It changed my whole mindset 00:06:15.060 --> 00:06:19.600 instantly. Just because somebody took the time 00:06:19.600 --> 00:06:24.779 to say a kind word. And how many people's lives 00:06:24.779 --> 00:06:30.300 could we impact in our world today with a kind 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:33.410 word? Now you know what it's like to be anxious 00:06:33.410 --> 00:06:36.829 and don't feel good. And it's not just you. Sometimes 00:06:36.829 --> 00:06:39.610 I think we look at our lives and our own troubles 00:06:39.610 --> 00:06:42.089 and we feel like, man, I'm going through this 00:06:42.089 --> 00:06:44.149 struggle and nobody else knows what it feels 00:06:44.149 --> 00:06:46.730 like or I'm afraid to tell anybody else because 00:06:46.730 --> 00:06:49.910 everybody else has got it together. But I've 00:06:49.910 --> 00:06:52.790 got news for you. None of us have it together. 00:06:53.990 --> 00:06:56.290 The things that you struggle with and the things 00:06:56.290 --> 00:06:58.410 that you go through are the same things that 00:06:58.410 --> 00:07:01.810 everybody in here goes through. So when you struggle 00:07:01.810 --> 00:07:03.949 over loss and you struggle over sickness and 00:07:03.949 --> 00:07:05.810 you struggle over hardships and you struggle 00:07:05.810 --> 00:07:08.449 over relationships and you struggle over people 00:07:08.449 --> 00:07:11.089 doing wrong to you and you struggle over whatever 00:07:11.089 --> 00:07:14.089 it is you struggle over, there are people in 00:07:14.089 --> 00:07:16.529 here that are struggling over it too. And they 00:07:16.529 --> 00:07:18.589 have in the past and they will in the future. 00:07:18.610 --> 00:07:21.990 And some of you really know what it's like to 00:07:21.990 --> 00:07:25.750 go through those struggles. Some of you really 00:07:25.750 --> 00:07:28.480 know what it's like. When somebody comes to you 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.240 and offers you an encouraging word and a kind 00:07:32.240 --> 00:07:36.800 word. And the question is, are we doing that? 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:41.360 Are we doing that in our life? Some of you have 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:43.620 walked through hard paths in life and you see 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.439 and you know that there are other people that 00:07:46.439 --> 00:07:48.360 are walking through that path that you've walked 00:07:48.360 --> 00:07:51.779 through. And you know how hard it is. Maybe you 00:07:51.779 --> 00:07:58.259 could offer them a kind word today. encouraging 00:07:58.259 --> 00:08:03.240 word today. What kind of word do you bring to 00:08:03.240 --> 00:08:07.480 people when you see people? Are you just complaining 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:10.139 all the time? Are you just rude to people all 00:08:10.139 --> 00:08:12.579 the time? Are you short with people all the time? 00:08:13.899 --> 00:08:16.160 I mean, the way we treat people really has an 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:18.680 effect on people. It can change their day for 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:22.180 the good or for the bad. When you're standing 00:08:22.180 --> 00:08:24.019 in line at the Dollar General and you say, why 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:26.879 is this taking so long? You can tell the girl 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:28.639 at the register, why is this taking so long? 00:08:29.860 --> 00:08:32.799 That could make her day a lot worse. Or you could 00:08:32.799 --> 00:08:35.860 say, golly, I see you're working really hard 00:08:35.860 --> 00:08:38.320 today. Thank you for checking us out so we can 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:42.279 get the stuff we need. Like the words we say, 00:08:42.460 --> 00:08:44.980 like how do we handle situations that we encounter, 00:08:45.159 --> 00:08:48.840 even bad situations? How do we treat people that 00:08:48.840 --> 00:08:51.519 we see every day? Do we treat them with love 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:54.740 and with kindness and with gentleness? Or are 00:08:54.740 --> 00:08:59.360 we harsh with them? Like this is something we 00:08:59.360 --> 00:09:01.480 can think about. Like this is something that's 00:09:01.480 --> 00:09:04.120 easy for us to put into practice instantly. Like 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:06.139 you can start working on this as soon as you 00:09:06.139 --> 00:09:09.580 leave today. You can think about this and pray 00:09:09.580 --> 00:09:12.600 about this and say, okay God, do the words that 00:09:12.600 --> 00:09:14.860 come out of my mouth, are they building people 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:18.759 up or are they tearing people down? Because I 00:09:18.759 --> 00:09:21.639 got news for you. When you are anxious and depressed 00:09:21.639 --> 00:09:24.700 and afraid and feel like a failure and somebody 00:09:24.700 --> 00:09:27.000 comes at you with a negative word, that does 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:30.919 not help your situation. That does not give you 00:09:30.919 --> 00:09:34.480 any hope. That does not make you want to try 00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:39.700 harder and do good and make it through another 00:09:39.700 --> 00:09:44.039 day. It makes you want to give up. And you have 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:48.059 the power. You have the power to tear somebody 00:09:48.059 --> 00:09:50.220 down or you have the power to tear somebody up. 00:09:50.279 --> 00:09:53.980 And it comes a lot of times through the words 00:09:53.980 --> 00:09:58.840 that we speak. I wish that I could say that I 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:01.220 always spoke a kind and gentle word, but that's 00:10:01.220 --> 00:10:07.259 not true. But I know the power of a kind word. 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:12.399 And this proverb reminds us that, hey, anxiety's 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:16.629 pretty rough, but a kind word will... Make a 00:10:16.629 --> 00:10:20.429 big difference in somebody's life. Proverbs chapter 00:10:20.429 --> 00:10:24.370 16, verse 24. If you want to flip over a couple 00:10:24.370 --> 00:10:28.850 of pages, it says the same type of thing. It 00:10:28.850 --> 00:10:32.669 said, Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to 00:10:32.669 --> 00:10:38.570 the taste and health to the body. Same message. 00:10:38.929 --> 00:10:41.970 Pleasant words. They're good for us. They are 00:10:41.970 --> 00:10:45.600 sweet to us. If you've ever eaten honey before, 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:49.340 it's good, it's sweet. It's something that we 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:52.019 probably like and we probably look forward to. 00:10:52.059 --> 00:10:53.799 I remember when I was a kid, we'd go to the state 00:10:53.799 --> 00:10:56.440 fair every year, and you'd go inside one of the 00:10:56.440 --> 00:10:58.419 buildings, and there was always a booth there, 00:10:58.480 --> 00:11:00.279 and they always had Mississippi honey. And they 00:11:00.279 --> 00:11:02.120 had these little plastic straws that were full 00:11:02.120 --> 00:11:03.480 of honey, and you could get one of those and 00:11:03.480 --> 00:11:06.039 hand them out. And I couldn't wait every year 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:08.019 to go through there and cut the top off of that 00:11:08.019 --> 00:11:10.620 thing and just suck that honey down because it 00:11:10.620 --> 00:11:13.620 was sweet and it was good. And it was refreshing. 00:11:14.340 --> 00:11:16.340 And that's the illustration that the proverb 00:11:16.340 --> 00:11:19.620 uses. Not going to the fair. But the honeycomb, 00:11:19.860 --> 00:11:22.539 the honey is sweet. It's good for us. It's something 00:11:22.539 --> 00:11:26.259 that lifts us up. Are your words pleasant? Are 00:11:26.259 --> 00:11:29.980 they kind? This is an easy test for us to take. 00:11:30.580 --> 00:11:32.799 We don't have to be super smart. We can just 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:35.539 pause for a moment this afternoon. And you can 00:11:35.539 --> 00:11:37.500 think back over the last week, the last month, 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:39.139 the last year of your life. And think, okay. 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:41.980 What are the words that I've said to people? 00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:46.779 Have I said them out of love? Have I been kind? 00:11:47.539 --> 00:11:51.299 Have I been pleasant to people? Do people like 00:11:51.299 --> 00:11:53.860 to see me coming or do they dread to see me coming 00:11:53.860 --> 00:11:56.080 because of what I'm going to say and what's going 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:59.179 to come out of my mouth? And if we're honest, 00:11:59.279 --> 00:12:01.100 we probably could look at our life and say, oh, 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:02.779 there's some days that I haven't been super kind. 00:12:03.720 --> 00:12:05.179 There's some days that I've been short, been 00:12:05.179 --> 00:12:07.679 rude. And maybe there's some good days in there 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:09.440 too. I'm not saying we're all just evil all the 00:12:09.440 --> 00:12:11.419 time, just negative, negative, and mean, and 00:12:11.419 --> 00:12:13.659 hateful. Hopefully we're not. But if you are, 00:12:13.679 --> 00:12:16.659 you may be. I don't know. If you are, you don't 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:18.139 want to be that way. That's not what the Lord 00:12:18.139 --> 00:12:21.639 calls us to. We want to have kind words and pleasant 00:12:21.639 --> 00:12:24.980 words because that's going to be a light to the 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:27.539 world. That's going to be a breath of fresh air. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:29.980 Because look, you look around the world, there's 00:12:29.980 --> 00:12:33.500 people, negativity all the time. People have 00:12:33.500 --> 00:12:35.519 enough negativity. They don't need more negativity. 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:39.100 They need grace and mercy and love and peace 00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:42.639 and kindness and gentleness. These are the things 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:44.899 that come through Jesus Christ. These are the 00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:47.740 things that when we follow the Lord, this is 00:12:47.740 --> 00:12:51.799 what he calls us to. We see these things mentioned 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:54.820 in Proverbs. We see these same ideas mentioned 00:12:54.820 --> 00:12:58.179 to us in the New Testament. Proverbs 25, 11. 00:12:58.340 --> 00:13:01.289 A word spoken at the right time is like... Gold 00:13:01.289 --> 00:13:05.070 apples on a silver tray. That's pretty good. 00:13:05.110 --> 00:13:08.110 A word spoken at the right time. Sometimes maybe 00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:11.750 that's a good word. Maybe sometimes it's a corrective 00:13:11.750 --> 00:13:15.009 word. That is a word that's really not something 00:13:15.009 --> 00:13:16.789 you want to hear, not something you want to say, 00:13:16.889 --> 00:13:20.710 but a word at the right time. How many times 00:13:20.710 --> 00:13:24.309 in our life do we encounter somebody that is 00:13:24.309 --> 00:13:28.779 having a bad day? That if we were to... Speak 00:13:28.779 --> 00:13:32.480 a kind word at that time. It'd be like gold apples 00:13:32.480 --> 00:13:35.899 on a silver tray. It would be of great value 00:13:35.899 --> 00:13:44.279 to them. The scripture is full of positive and 00:13:44.279 --> 00:13:48.600 encouraging words. And I think the devil, he's 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:51.720 pretty good at discouraging us and our anxiety. 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:56.080 He's good at... Getting us depressed. He's good 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.500 at getting us down. He's good at wanting to make 00:13:59.500 --> 00:14:02.500 us give up. Or maybe not for you. Maybe it's 00:14:02.500 --> 00:14:04.480 just me. But maybe you struggle with that too. 00:14:07.460 --> 00:14:12.899 But a kind word goes a long way. An encouraging 00:14:12.899 --> 00:14:15.559 word goes a long way. And maybe for some of you, 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:20.940 you need to hear an encouraging word today. But 00:14:20.940 --> 00:14:22.720 for all of us, we need to give an encouraging 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:26.090 word. Because we may be the hope and the light 00:14:26.090 --> 00:14:28.990 and the love and the grace that somebody needs 00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:33.029 to help them make it through another day. I just 00:14:33.029 --> 00:14:35.610 wanted to share a couple of New Testament scriptures 00:14:35.610 --> 00:14:39.710 with you today that I think are good scriptures. 00:14:40.509 --> 00:14:43.490 John chapter 8, verses 10 and 11. You can go 00:14:43.490 --> 00:14:46.690 back and read this story this week. There was 00:14:46.690 --> 00:14:48.710 a woman who was caught in adultery and she was 00:14:48.710 --> 00:14:52.470 brought before Jesus. And all these people were 00:14:52.470 --> 00:14:55.399 ready to stone her. And Jesus said, you who are 00:14:55.399 --> 00:14:58.919 without sin cast the first stone. And everybody 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:01.779 began to walk away and drop their stones. And 00:15:01.779 --> 00:15:04.139 pretty soon there was no one left but the lady. 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:08.840 And he said, is there anybody here who condemns 00:15:08.840 --> 00:15:13.659 you? And she said, no, everybody's gone. And 00:15:13.659 --> 00:15:19.899 he said, neither do I. Go and sin no more. Now 00:15:19.899 --> 00:15:24.250 that's an encouraging word to us. We may not 00:15:24.250 --> 00:15:26.750 be caught in adultery today, but name the sin. 00:15:26.950 --> 00:15:29.490 Whatever sin that we struggle with, there's sin 00:15:29.490 --> 00:15:33.149 in our life. And a lot of times that causes some 00:15:33.149 --> 00:15:36.389 of our anxiety. That causes some of our struggle. 00:15:36.950 --> 00:15:39.389 We feel ashamed of that or we feel the burden 00:15:39.389 --> 00:15:43.309 of our sin. But I want to give you a word of 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:46.590 encouragement through Jesus today that if you 00:15:46.590 --> 00:15:49.730 would come to Jesus like this woman did, there 00:15:49.730 --> 00:15:53.279 is no condemnation there. Jesus died on the cross 00:15:53.279 --> 00:15:57.000 so your sins could be forgiven. So maybe you 00:15:57.000 --> 00:15:59.200 say today, I don't know if Jesus can even love 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:01.279 me anymore. I don't know if Jesus cares about 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:03.580 me. I want to tell you that Jesus does care about 00:16:03.580 --> 00:16:10.159 you. And if you'd come to Jesus today, he'd say, 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:15.960 I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. Maybe 00:16:15.960 --> 00:16:18.700 some of us need to hear that encouraging word 00:16:18.700 --> 00:16:25.690 today. Matthew 25 and verse 23, Jesus is telling 00:16:25.690 --> 00:16:29.649 a parable. And at the end of the parable, there's 00:16:29.649 --> 00:16:31.610 a line that's pretty well known. You may have 00:16:31.610 --> 00:16:34.850 heard it before. Where the servant who was doing 00:16:34.850 --> 00:16:39.090 the right thing in the parable was applauded. 00:16:40.009 --> 00:16:44.950 And he was told, well done, my good and faithful 00:16:44.950 --> 00:16:48.309 servant. Well done, my good and faithful servant. 00:16:50.120 --> 00:16:52.759 Are we doing what God calls us to do today? And 00:16:52.759 --> 00:16:56.899 maybe we are. Sometimes I think maybe we're doing 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:59.559 good and the devil wants to convince us that 00:16:59.559 --> 00:17:01.299 we're not. Now, I'm not implying that we're perfect. 00:17:01.379 --> 00:17:02.840 I'm not saying that we're all going to stand 00:17:02.840 --> 00:17:06.819 around and pat ourselves on the back. But maybe 00:17:06.819 --> 00:17:10.579 you are living in obedience to God. Maybe the 00:17:10.579 --> 00:17:12.400 devil's convinced you that you're not. Maybe 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.900 you're not as big a failure as you thought you 00:17:14.900 --> 00:17:19.279 were. Maybe those words... Apply to your life 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:23.619 today. Well done, my good and faithful servant. 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:28.960 Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. It's one of my 00:17:28.960 --> 00:17:32.299 favorite verses. I have said it a lot over the 00:17:32.299 --> 00:17:34.660 last 12 years, and I will continue to say it 00:17:34.660 --> 00:17:36.839 because I feel like it's so important in our 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:40.960 life. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, 00:17:40.960 --> 00:17:45.299 and I will give you rest. Boy, I tell you what, 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.740 when anxiety... It's bearing down on you. It's 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:52.119 hard to rest. You don't get any rest in the day. 00:17:52.220 --> 00:17:54.680 Your mind's constantly going. You don't get good 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:57.720 rest at night. A lot of times sleep escapes you. 00:17:57.779 --> 00:17:59.660 You lay there and you think about your worries 00:17:59.660 --> 00:18:03.339 and your fears and that anxiety. It just robs 00:18:03.339 --> 00:18:07.940 you of your rest. But I want to give you an encouraging 00:18:07.940 --> 00:18:11.740 word today that through the kindness of Jesus 00:18:11.740 --> 00:18:14.160 Christ and His love and His mercy and His grace 00:18:14.160 --> 00:18:18.079 that He... died on the cross for you, that He 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.480 can offer this promise, this invitation to you, 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:24.279 that if you'd come to Him, that in the midst 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:27.880 of your anxiety today, He will give you rest. 00:18:29.299 --> 00:18:34.680 Psalm 34, 18, one of my favorite passages. It 00:18:34.680 --> 00:18:37.720 says, The Lord is near the brokenhearted. He 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:43.579 saves those crushed in spirit. That's what anxiety 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:46.779 does. It breaks our heart. It crushes our spirit. 00:18:48.920 --> 00:18:55.380 It leaves us just looking for some hope. Well, 00:18:55.380 --> 00:18:57.859 I want to tell you today that there is hope in 00:18:57.859 --> 00:19:01.259 Jesus Christ. Now, you may have come into this 00:19:01.259 --> 00:19:04.400 room today with anxiety that weighs you down, 00:19:04.500 --> 00:19:08.680 as Psalm 12 said. But I want to offer you an 00:19:08.680 --> 00:19:12.279 encouraging word and a word of kindness. I want 00:19:12.279 --> 00:19:15.299 to tell you today that God loves you. I want 00:19:15.299 --> 00:19:17.420 to tell you today that you may be a sinner. You 00:19:17.420 --> 00:19:19.559 may very well be. You may be thinking about your 00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:21.839 sins and they may be weighing on you. And our 00:19:21.839 --> 00:19:24.539 sins are bad and we are sinners. But I got good 00:19:24.539 --> 00:19:29.720 news for you. Jesus still loves you. There is 00:19:29.720 --> 00:19:33.460 no condemnation in Christ. God didn't send his 00:19:33.460 --> 00:19:36.059 son in the world to condemn the world but to 00:19:36.059 --> 00:19:38.400 save the world. That we can all be saved through 00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:43.119 Jesus Christ. That we can all find rest when 00:19:43.119 --> 00:19:46.859 we are weary and burdened. That we can all find 00:19:46.859 --> 00:19:50.660 a moment of relief in the midst of our anxiety. 00:19:52.660 --> 00:19:55.259 And I know sometimes when we're anxious it feels 00:19:55.259 --> 00:19:57.880 like that we are alone and that God doesn't care. 00:19:58.940 --> 00:20:02.859 But God's word says just the opposite. He is 00:20:02.859 --> 00:20:05.259 near those who are brokenhearted. He is near 00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:12.779 those who are crushed in spirit. Save them. I 00:20:12.779 --> 00:20:14.420 want to tell you today there is hope and there 00:20:14.420 --> 00:20:16.259 is help and there is love and there is grace 00:20:16.259 --> 00:20:19.420 and there is peace and there is joy in Jesus 00:20:19.420 --> 00:20:23.000 Christ. I want to tell you that he'll walk with 00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:24.640 you through what you go through. I want to tell 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.539 you that life's not always going to be easy, 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:31.160 but I want to tell you that Jesus loves you today. 00:20:37.319 --> 00:20:41.960 If you've ever experienced What it feels like 00:20:41.960 --> 00:20:45.700 when somebody shares a kind word with you. And 00:20:45.700 --> 00:20:48.599 you know how that lifts you up. How that encourages 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:53.559 you. And I challenge you this week. Would you 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:55.940 share an encouraging word to somebody that you 00:20:55.940 --> 00:21:00.000 encounter? Would you show kindness to a world 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:05.259 that may not see it anywhere else? Now the most 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:07.940 likely place probably people in our world is 00:21:07.940 --> 00:21:09.640 going to see kindness is through a Christian. 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:14.319 And if our world cannot see the kindness of God 00:21:14.319 --> 00:21:18.980 through His followers, where in the world are 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:22.500 they going to see it? So may God help us today 00:21:22.500 --> 00:21:25.839 to be a people who seek Him, who find encouragement 00:21:25.839 --> 00:21:29.880 in Him, who find grace in Him, who are uplifted 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:32.160 through Jesus Christ. And may we take that joy 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:35.400 and that grace that we've experienced and bring 00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:39.660 kindness into a world that we encounter. Because 00:21:39.660 --> 00:21:43.289 you never know. The words you speak to somebody 00:21:43.289 --> 00:21:48.309 this week may change their life for better or 00:21:48.309 --> 00:21:52.670 for worse. But you have to decide the words that 00:21:52.670 --> 00:21:54.849 are going to come out of your mouth. Let's pray. 00:21:56.690 --> 00:21:59.990 God, we come to you today. We thank you for your 00:21:59.990 --> 00:22:02.289 encouragement. We thank you that you love us. 00:22:02.710 --> 00:22:07.210 Dear Lord, life is so tough. And I suspect, dear 00:22:07.210 --> 00:22:10.400 Lord, that there are some... hear today and some 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:12.819 online that they are feeling the weight of that 00:22:12.819 --> 00:22:15.500 anxiety. They feel that burden. They feel that 00:22:15.500 --> 00:22:18.059 pain. They feel like there is no hope, that there 00:22:18.059 --> 00:22:20.700 is no light at the end of the tunnel. And I pray, 00:22:20.759 --> 00:22:24.299 dear Lord, that just through these few verses 00:22:24.299 --> 00:22:26.339 that we've looked at today, that they would know 00:22:26.339 --> 00:22:31.960 that they can come to Jesus Christ, that they 00:22:31.960 --> 00:22:34.240 can have forgiveness of sins, that they can find 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:37.950 peace today. God, I pray that that they would 00:22:37.950 --> 00:22:39.710 know that you have not abandoned them, that you 00:22:39.710 --> 00:22:41.589 are with them, dear Lord, even as their heart 00:22:41.589 --> 00:22:44.210 is broken and their anxiety weighs on them, that, 00:22:44.289 --> 00:22:47.190 God, you are near them and you will save them. 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:49.869 So, God, I pray that if there are some today 00:22:49.869 --> 00:22:55.930 who are weary and brokenhearted and buried in 00:22:55.930 --> 00:22:58.089 anxiety, God, that they would just seek Jesus 00:22:58.089 --> 00:23:00.130 Christ, that they would come to him to put their 00:23:00.130 --> 00:23:04.390 faith and trust in him. God, help us to be a 00:23:04.390 --> 00:23:07.660 people who bring kindness to the world. So many 00:23:07.660 --> 00:23:10.440 times, dear Lord, we speak words and they are 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.599 so powerful and we don't think about what we're 00:23:12.599 --> 00:23:15.339 saying. But I pray, dear Lord, that you would 00:23:15.339 --> 00:23:19.160 just help us to examine our hearts. Help us to 00:23:19.160 --> 00:23:21.759 be a people who bring gentleness and kindness 00:23:21.759 --> 00:23:25.299 to our world today. In Jesus' name I pray it.