Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton,
the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship,
Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico,
where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're
here. Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome
to Cross Christian 66. Let us pray. Lord, we
thank you for this day, this time in fellowship,
this time in your word, and this time of growth.
We ask you to open the eyes of our hearts and
minds. to everything that you have to teach us
today and show us how to apply it to our lives
as we step away. And help us to, you know, appreciate
your Beatitudes and your teachings even more.
In Jesus' name, amen. Good morning, everybody.
Welcome to the Sanctuary. Welcome to everybody
following us online or on the podcast. It's great
to have everybody with us. Of course, last week
we started this new series. We're going to be
kind of working our way through the Beatitudes.
You know, I'll remind you, Jesus, when he started
with the Beatitudes, he was starting his Sermon
on the Mount, and he was using this as a way
to challenge the disciples' way of thinking,
right? Not just the way that they thought about
the world that they lived in, but the way that
they interacted with it. Right? And, you know,
in doing so, we see the same thing in our world,
that we are in an upside -down kingdom, right?
as they should be. There's a lot of things that
are wrong, and the reason, because of sin, right?
Plain, straightforward sin. And so we're going
to move forward on that today as we look more
at it. Now, as we get started, though, I want
to backtrack a little bit. And just to remind
you, for those who want to turn early, we're
in Matthew 5. Yes, really, it's Matthew 5, not
Mark. Last week, that was a little boo -boo.
It's Mark 5. All right. Like I said, this is
when Jesus was kicking off a sermon on the mount,
right? It's a big sermon. It's one of the, you
know, one of what we as believers like to say
is one of the big moments in the Bible. Not that
there's really small moments. They're all big
moments, but this is one of like the really like,
ooh, right? That a lot of people come back to
fairly frequently. And he kicked it off with
the Beatitudes. And it was a shock to everybody
who was there. It's still a shock to people who
hear it today. Why would he start with something
like this? Does anybody have an idea? Has anybody
in here ever taken a speech class? What's that?
Well, yeah, everything he was saying was counterintuitive
to us, absolutely. But he started his sermon
like this for a specific reason. All right. If
you've ever taken a speech class, if you think
back on that, right, it is a concept with speeching.
I think I created a word there. With speeches
and teaching, right? In fact, in the military,
the Marine Corps, we would start off with these
if you were teaching a class called an attention
grabber, right? A lot of places, like you turn
on a TV show, what do they have? They have the
little jingle, right? A lot of us learn the little
songs. It's like some of us in here could probably
still recite the lyrics to Gilligan's Island
or Three's Company, right? I know I can. Yeah,
I'm not alone. I'm in good company. Good. All
right. But it's an attention grabber, right?
It's like people are like, oh, what? Now he has
their undivided attention. All eyes are on him.
They're like, whoa, what's going on here? Did
he fall off of his rocker? Right? I assure you
he did not. That's what it was. It was to get
that response from everybody and have them locked
in on him. All right? So he had everybody's undivided
attention. So let's... Let's go ahead, and if
you haven't already, let's open our Bibles, Bible
app, whatever you're using, to Matthew 5. I made
sure it was right this week, and I made sure
we can actually read it this week. Verses 1 through
5. We're going to go through and refresh. I hope
everybody went through and refreshed themselves
over the week as well. If not, that's okay. We're
going to do it anyway. All right. Matthew 5,
verses 1 through 5. The word says, And seeing
the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and
when he was seated, His disciples came to him.
Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is
the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who
mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. We're
not going to go any further than that today.
That's what we're focused on today. I said, when
you get a chance, write your week, come back,
read it all the way through. See what sticks
out. See what looks confusing. You know, what's
hard to understand. All right? And then pray
on that. All right? So, all together, when you
read through it, Jesus gave eight Beatitudes.
And the Beatitudes should be treated as characteristics
to those who belong to the right side up, to
those who belong to the kingdom of God. Right?
These are characteristics that all of us should
look towards and embody. A little different.
And if you notice, each beatitude starts with
the word blessed. And again, as I mentioned last
week, it most closely translates to happy or
fortunate. It's not an exact translation because
we don't have an exact translation for that in
English. I don't mean to give you an English
class or language class, but that's the way it
is. Some things just don't translate well. And
for those that are out there listening, to give
you an example, why we don't harp on these things
too much, we move forward. Some things cannot
translate. Now, here in the U .S., we've all
heard of the man in the moon, right? We've grown
up with it. Maybe those of you who grew up in
England did not. I don't know. The man in the
moon is something here in the U .S. If you were
to go over to Asia, Japan, or especially China,
you might as well be speaking in Greek because
they will have no idea what you're talking about.
They don't know the reference. It's not even
in their comprehension wheel. Like man in the
moon, is this a cartoon back home? What's going
on? No. But the rabbit and the cheese. which
is a whole other thing, translates for them.
So if somebody were translating English into
their language, and I were to say the man in
the moon, they would shift it over and start
talking about the rabbit and the cheese. Now
here in the U .S., it's like, huh? What are you
talking about? And blessed translates the same
way. We have something close enough to it, and
that's as good as it's going to get for us. All
right? There's your language class. You're welcome.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. But in the
first two statements, as we get back to what
we're looking at here, Jesus tells us that those
who are poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom,
right? And those who are sad and depressed and
lonely will be comforted. Right? That's what
it's saying. Those who mourn. What's mourning?
Sadness, depression, loneliness. You have a hole
now where there didn't used to be one. However,
I want everybody to notice what it does not say.
It does not say that you will never be sad. It
does not say you will never be lonely. It does
not say you will never be depressed. It will
never say you will not have those low lows. There
are those people who try to preach the opposite.
The Bible has made it very clear. We will see
the lows. That's part of life. All right. However,
as believers, as we see here, we have. Promises
made to us. We have assurance being made to us.
Right? We have inheritance in the kingdom. We
have comfort. Those are those times when we're
really low and we get that comfort that just
surpasses all understanding, right? We don't
have a way to explain it. We just know we're
comforted. And it's the Holy Spirit at work in
us. You, as a citizen of the right side up, as
a citizen of God's kingdom, will find comfort
when you go to Jesus. You have inheritance waiting
for you greater than anything you will ever find
here. Those are a couple pretty good benefits,
wouldn't you say? I know I would. Pretty extreme.
And you look at the comfort. It's safe to say
everybody in here has lost somebody at some point,
right? Matter of fact, yesterday was the anniversary
of my dad's death. I can tell you, there are
a lot of people, when it comes to the anniversary
of a loved one's passing, it is a hard time,
right? Sometimes we refer to it as the death
-iversary. It's kind of grim. Right? But it's
because that's how it impacts us because that's
where we have a big piece of hurt waiting inside.
And when we look inside and we turn our thoughts
towards them, yes, we remember the happy times.
Unfortunately, we also remember they are no longer
with us. Now, sometimes there's that comfort
that comes from knowing, hey, they are a believer
and we will see them again in the kingdom. Now,
that's some great comfort. That is a joy to have.
Unfortunately, we also know that those who have
passed who are not believers, they will never
be able to take the joy in seeing them again,
being reunited with them. That hurts. You know,
it should hurt any time that we think of somebody
that we know is not a believer and their time
has ended. It hurts Jesus. So when we hear that
the poor will inherit the kingdom, it is a promise.
Even though we're spiritually unworthy. Is there
anybody spiritually worthy in here? Good. I see
no hands up. That's good. No hands should be
up. I didn't raise mine to say I'm worthy. I'm
not. I was just doing it as an example. Raise
your hand. Because I'm there with you. I'm there
with you. None of us is worthy. Not a single
one of us. But even though we're unworthy, because
of Jesus and what he did for us, we still have
something waiting for us in heaven. We still
have inheritance. We still have reward in heaven.
That's pretty big in addition to the comfort.
It's not like just, hey, it's going to be okay.
We're being promised. Not only is it going to
be okay, you have something awesome waiting for
you. It's a surprise. I can't wait for you to
see it, but you're going to love it. It's going
to be great. All of this, though, speaks very
much against what the world has to say. As Pastor
Mike was saying, it's counterintuitive to what
the world tells us, right? It's a huge contradiction
in the way the world wants us to think and the
way the world wants us to live. Plain and simple.
The world says, you can have your best now. You're
entitled to it. Name what you want. Claim it.
It's yours to have. You should have health and
you should have wealth. You should have position.
Ooh. That's a big one. You know, the world treats
it as a J .G. Wentworth commercial. It's yours
and you can have it now for a price. Give us
this much or call us and give us this much and
we'll tell you how. There's the catch, right?
Fortunately, you can't buy it. You can't pay
for it. You can't bribe it away. Let's turn back
to chapter Matthew 4. Matthew 4, verses 8 through
9. This is when the devil was tempting Jesus
in the wilderness. Word says, again, the devil
took him up on an exceedingly high mountain and
showed him all the kingdoms of the world and
their glory. And he said to him, all these things
I will give you if you fall down and worship
me. You can have it now for a price. The price
is your soul. Sound familiar? We see these things.
We hear these things. This is a quick way to
identify a false teacher. You can have it. There's
a price. Don't forget to pay me on your way out.
Hmm. Let me tell you what. Anyone who says you
don't have to wait for heaven is a liar. The
devil is a liar. The devil is straight up a liar.
Going back to the Beatitudes, Jesus was challenging
the status quo. He was challenging the world
and what the world was feeding to everybody.
He was saying that if you live for God, if you
love him, you have to be ready to do things.
You have to be ready to start thinking about
things differently. You have to be ready to start
living differently. And the world is going to
come against you and say, no, you're wrong, but
the world is not right. It's upside down. As
Lou Costello would say, I fell on my mother's
mixed master this morning. That's where it's
at. You're going to have to be willing to do
things that are strange. You're going to have
to be willing to do things that come foreign.
Things that make absolutely no sense yet. Jesus
said, you don't know what I do now, but you will.
Will. That is all contrary to the world that
we live in. All these things that we have to
do as believers. It's not so much that we have
to. When you come into a relationship with Jesus,
You want to start doing these things? You feel
compelled to start doing things? You start seeing
things differently? What is the greater good?
Is this within the character of God? Is this
what Jesus would have me do? You start asking
these questions. Does this line up with what
the Bible says? And when it doesn't, you start
changing the way you go through life. You start
changing the way you think. And unfortunately,
because you will change, You will not be the
same person that you were. People are going to
come against you. There will be spiritual warfare.
Things going on that you won't even see, but
you will feel it. It will tear at your life.
People are not always going to be accepting regardless
of what they say about. People are not always
going to be tolerant regardless of what they
say about tolerance. And when you reach out in
love, there are those who are going to smack
you away with hate and discontent. You're going
to reach out to serve people. That's what we
as followers do. We serve. We follow Jesus' example.
There are going to be those who are going to
not only refuse your service, but respond with
abuse. They will say hateful things. They will
do hateful things towards you. Their hearts are
going to be hardened. And why? Because they do
not truly know Jesus. And that is the difference
between someone who is born again, child of God,
and someone who belongs to the world. Because
there are lots of people out there who, just
like Satan, know the word. They memorize it verse
by verse. They could spit it out at you, book,
chapter, the whole bit. It maybe even gives some
historical context. But they don't know Jesus.
To them, it was a book to memorize. The devil.
knows Jesus. He knows the word. But is he loyal
to God? So it's okay, as far as he's concerned,
if you read the Bible. You can know it inside
and out, front to back, back to front. It's when
you start applying it to your life and that change
happens in your life. That he has an issue. That's
when he sends his ministers against you. That's
when he sets the world against you. And it's
going to hit and it's going to hit hard. The
world comes against you because they don't know
Jesus and they don't understand his values. It's
simple. The next beatitude that we have here
tells us as believers to be meek. Now, Meekness
is all too often confused with weakness. It is
not. It's not even close. Meekness, the way it's
defined is gentleness and strength. Okay? Gentleness
and strength. It's backing off when you have
the power to do some serious damage. Right? You
easily have the strength to absolutely overpower
someone or destroy somebody, but you choose the
higher road and you don't do it, right? Best
way to think of this, even if you're not a fan,
we've all seen fights, right? Whether it's MMA
or boxing or karate or, you know, whatever, right?
Kung fu. And you get some of these fights out
there and they're filming it and you got these
tournaments and they're going at it, right? You
got hooks, you got jabs, you got uppercuts, you
got kicks, you got all this stuff. And this dude
lands a hit on his opponent and they drop like
a sack of potatoes, right? Meekness is the fighter
who doesn't just keep going into him needlessly.
Meekness is that fighter who backs off and lets
the ref do his job. Or the one who immediately
falls to his knees and starts praying. Right?
And is worried about their opponent. That's meekness.
That fight where they're easily, they know that
their opponent is done. They're just tapping
them and their opponent's ready to fall over.
And they're trying to get the ref's attention
because he's not doing it. He's just saying,
hey, look at this guy. He's about to go over.
I don't want to kill him. End this. Meekness.
gentleness, and strength. You have the power,
you have the ability, but you choose not to.
You look out for the greater good. You look out
for your fellow man. That's meekness. It's not
weakness. This is where the saying, do not confuse...
Ah, just lost me. Yes, there we go. Do not confuse
my kindness for weakness. Thank you. You guys
knew exactly where I was going. Praise the Lord.
That is meekness. So you hold back. It's that
thought of saying, that way of living that says,
even though I can, I'm not going to. I'm not
going to flaunt it. I'm not going to sit here
and beat my chest in your face, right? That's
not meekness. That's a whole other kind of weakness
right there. You know, it's not saying, hey,
even though I can prove it, I'm not going to
act like I'm better than you. There are those
people who think that they are better than you
and they can't even prove it. They just built
up a legend in their own mind. It's not meekness.
It's weakness. You know, when it comes to being
meek, meekness is very much like self -defense.
Anyone who's ever taken a self -defense class
has been taught. Even those who have worked in
security or law enforcement has been taught.
You only do what's needed to stop the action
or to be able to break away and get away. That's
it. Once it stops or you're able to break away,
you stop. Done. You're not Johnny Lawrence. You're
not Cobra Kai. You're not sweeping the leg. Plain
and simple. You only do what needs to be done.
Nobody likes a showboat. Nobody deserves to be
hurt so bad that their life might be altered
or end. Which is the opposite of what the world
teaches because the world teaches us to be tough,
right? There's a lot of machismo in the world
these days, even with women. A lot of machismo.
I'm the queen bee, right? The world wants us
all to be tough, wants us to be aggressive, wants
us to be hardened. As my grandpa would say, those
are some tough hombres. That's what the world
wants, a bunch of tough hombres. It is not what
the word teaches us, though. The world teaches
us that we should get revenge. We should be out
looking for what's ours, what we're owed. Last
I checked, the world doesn't owe us anything.
You're not entitled to anything, but the world
will say you are entitled to everything. Absolutely
everything. You know, think about back in the
day. You know, the 80s and the 90s, somewhere
in the 2000s it's changed, but it used to be
the telephone tough guy. You had the guy pick
up the phone on the other end and he'd be like,
ah! Right? These days it's the internet tough
guy. They'll hop on social media and they'll
just flood it with garbage. Meet up with them
face -to -face and it's a different story. Right?
Unlike the internet warriors, though, we are
called to be meek. We are asked to humble ourselves.
Humble ourselves. That the meek will inherit
the kingdom. It is not your job to be the baddest
dude in the room. I don't know if anybody even
says that anymore. Probably not. The disciples,
they didn't quite get this concept. Even after
this, even after this powerful sermon, they didn't
quite get it. They were still battling each other
for position. They all were still fighting and
bickering amongst one another as to who should
be at the right hand of Jesus. And that one we
do see in Mark, this time, Mark 10, verses 35
through 45. So Mark 10, 35 through 45. It is
kind of long, so I'm just going to go ahead and
go through it while you're turning there. And
the word says, And James and John, the sons of
Zebedee, came to him teaching, Teacher, we want
you to do for us whatever we ask. And he said
to them, What do you want me to do for you? They
said to him, Grant us that we may sit. one on
your right hand and the other on your left in
your glory. But Jesus said to them, you do not
know what you ask. You are able to drink the
cup that I drink and be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with. They said to him, we
are able. So Jesus said to them, you will indeed
drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism
I am baptized with, you will be baptized. But
to sit on my right hand and on my left is not
mine to give, but it is for those whom it is
prepared. And when the ten heard it, they began
to be greatly displeased with James and John.
But Jesus called them to himself and said to
them, You know that those who are considered
rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and
their great ones exercise authority over them.
Yet it shall not be so among you. But whoever
desires to become great among you shall be your
servant. And whoever of you desires to be first
shall be slave of all. For even the son of man
did not come to be served, but to serve and to
give his life a ransom for many. He's saying,
guys, knock it off. What are you doing? This
isn't right. Everybody's jockeying for a position
of power these days. That is very worldly. This
person did this. This person did that. But nobody
wants to admit that there's fault on both sides.
They want to yell and talk over people. Right?
They don't want to listen to what the other side
says. They want to tack down on them. Right?
And I do say attack down on them because it's
not talk down. It is attacking. Right? This person
doesn't have their right. This person doesn't
have that right. We see it all the time. We see
it in our own lives. We see it on TV. We hear
it on the radio. All over the place. It is the
world at work. It is not Christ -like. And the
disciples very much were still falling into that
worldly way of thinking, just like a lot of us
today are. They wanted position. They wanted
to be esteemed, like, ha ha ha, I'm the right
hand of Jesus. I'm the left hand of Jesus. I'm
better than you, ha ha ha, right? So they were
trying to one -up each other. They were bickering
like a bunch of children. And they were so caught
up as to who belonged at the hand of Christ,
they forgot the most important thing in the room.
The most important one in the room. Jesus. Jesus,
who they should have been going to in the first
place. Jesus, the one who should be first amongst
everything. And they were arguing over position
at his side like he wasn't even a part of the
conversation, like he wasn't even in the room.
Nobody appreciates that, do they? It all became
about them. And when we do this, when you do
this, it becomes about you. When I do this, it
becomes about me. It is a very selfish way of
thinking. It's like that basketball player who
started humble as a rookie. And as their skills
and their talents improved and they spent a little
bit more time in the limelight, all of a sudden
it became about them. They go to interviews and
it's not even so much about the team. It's me,
me, me, right? They become the ball hog. The
ball has to go to them. They have to get the
shots. If the team isn't setting them up so they
can get the shot, then the team is at fault,
right? It's all about them. The Marine Corps,
the way we put it is Semper Fi, forget the other
guy. That's probably the cleaner way of the way
we would say it. Semper Fi, Semper Fidelis, meaning
always faithful. The Semper Fi, take away all
the rest of it, and it's just I. It's not supposed
to be about I. It's supposed to be about Him.
So the disciples were competing for this place
of prominence. And they forgot. Look at Jesus.
Even though they were talking about Him, it wasn't
about Him. When it should have been about Him,
It was about them. And Jesus taught them that
they needed humility. They needed to become meek
in order to get what they wanted so badly. They
needed to live humbly. And the funny thing is
when you do that, that thing that you thought
you needed so badly to have suddenly isn't so
important. Whether you get it or not, you get
it, cool. If not, why? Because it's not the most
important thing in the room. It's not the most
important thing to have in your life. But by
humbling themselves and becoming meek and being
patient and serving one another, that not only
would they have the experience to look forward
to of being with Jesus forever in the right side
up for eternity, but receiving his approval and
his praise. Because they weren't putting themselves
first, they were putting others first, which
is hard. It's the opposite of what the world
tells us. Instead, we get upset when things change.
We get upset when things don't go our way. We
get upset when we're not being told the things
that we want to hear. You know, we think because
of our job or our position or our education or
whatever, that what we want and what we have
to say is more important than what others do.
We're wrong. That way of thinking is wrong. Not
only that, but we need to accept the fact that
sometimes we're wrong. That's a hard pill to
swallow. Who likes to eat crow? Be a little embarrassing,
huh? You can also be very humbling, which is
a good thing. It's what we need in our lives.
We get upset and forget that it's supposed to
be about him and not about us. And again, we
cannot bribe our way or buy our way into heaven.
And for those who try, you need to stop. You
can't do it. Psalm 25, verse 9, where it says,
the humble he guides in justice and the humble
he teaches his way. God will teach and guide
the meek, not the boastful, not the arrogant,
not the selfish, not the self -centered, but
the meek. Why? Because When you're up high on
that horse and you're pompous and arrogant, self
-centered, right? Even if you recognize God,
you don't feel like you need him. You feel like
he's already blessed everything that you're doing.
So he no longer becomes first, right? As the
word says, you forgot your first love. But when
we're meek and we're humble and we make it so
it's not about us, It's about others and what
we're called to do, what we're doing our best
to answer in that calling. Now, God has a position
to actually step in and speak to you. You're
not forcing him out the door. You're leaving
the door open for him to come in. When things
go wrong, you're not stopping like, oh, really?
What's going on here? Why me? Why does this got
to happen now? And that stinking thinking creeps
in. No, instead he's like, okay, this isn't going
according to plan. Something's wrong. Lord, help
me see what I need to see here. What's going
on? What's gone wrong? Where do I need to be
steered? Right? Guide my path. God becomes number
one in your life. And so he can teach you. They
ask him for the things that are needed, the things
that are... Most important, direction, comfort,
rest. They recognize that without him, they are
nothing. That all their stuff that they're doing
means nothing. But with Jesus, they are somebody,
you are somebody, and you are loved, and what
you do matters. Because with Jesus, everything
and everybody is something. I promise we're heading
for home. This is our last verse. Turning back
to Matthew 23. Matthew 23, verses 11 through
12. Jesus said, He who is greatest among you
shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself
will be humbled. And he who humbles himself will
be exalted. You want to be great, you need to
humble yourself. You need to learn to serve others.
Right? Back in the 90s, the term came about,
check yourself before you wreck yourself. The
word tells us, pull the plank from our eye before
we examine the splinter in our brothers. Dale
Brawner once said, if serving is beneath you,
then leadership is beyond you. Meekness helps
you put away your own agenda. Humbleness. opens
you up to the needs of others. Sometimes it's
kind words. Sometimes it's nothing at all. Sometimes
it's just being in here. Sometimes it's a whole
lot more. Sometimes people need work. Right?
Let's face it. That's just the way it is. It's
not going to be about you right now. Your time
will come. So put away your own agenda. Humble
yourself. Become Meek. Look to serve others.
Don't worry about your moment. Don't worry about
what's going to come. Instead, you look to the
others. You look to their moments and you build
them up. We don't need to crowd people where
we have 10 people. You have one person shaking
it on them. Okay, cool. Don't overcrowd them.
As a problem comes, there's two issues that come
across. When you crowd in on people. One, they
have a whole bunch of people around them. They
get uncomfortable. Ooh, walls are closing in.
Right? A lot of first responders, a lot of veterans,
we deal with this. Go out to a tight spot. We
sit in a certain place. We sit in a certain way.
We have our visuals set. We don't like it when
we have 10 people. We don't like it when we have
10 people coming to us with the same question.
Are you okay? How are you doing? I just told
Pastor Mike, he didn't tell you? Right? I just
told Brian, he didn't tell you? So they end up
setting up walls and pushing away. Or the opposite
comes. You got 10 people around you and all of
a sudden you're the limelight. You're standing
in the spotlight. Ooh, I like this. I'm important.
I'm somebody. Right? We feel like Steve Martin
in The Jerk when he finds his name in the phone
book. I'm finally somebody. Right? And they eat
it up and they want more. If for some reason
somebody's missing and they don't come to...
Uh -oh. Something's not right. They'll either
worry, they'll panic, or their feelings get hurt
way too easily. So don't crowd people. One or
two of us come to them, look to your brother,
and unless help is needed, then you call help
in. Hey, guys, we need to come in. We need to
partner up on this. I think most of us would
be much more accepting of that, right? That's
the way it should be. It's like a family. I know
if I call my mom and something's going on, maybe
she just needs someone to talk to her. Or maybe
I need to get on the phone, call my brother or
whoever else, be like, hey, something's going
on. We all need to kind of partner up on this,
right? We're like, hey, you know what? I went
over there. She's okay. She just needs some space
right now. That's how the family works. That's
the way our family, our church family should
work as well. You know, just like when I got
that text from Marvin this morning saying, hey,
sorry, I'm going to miss you all this morning.
I'm out of town. Hey, we miss you, Marvin. Hope
you're having fun down there though. Right? It's
good stuff. It's like, you know, those of us
who are here in the sanctuary, those of you who
are out online and, you know, following on the
podcast, you don't hear it. But before service,
we come in. If we have a report on somebody like,
hey, somebody's sick or whatever, we share it.
You know, Marvin's case, he's not with us today
because he's at a birthday party. I think it
was, yeah, down in Las Lunas. Getting tongue
-tied here. That's the way communication should
work. That's the way this should work. Don't
worry about your time. Your time will come when
it's due. And the thing is, when you're so caught
up looking for your moment, for your time in
the limelight, for your time to be great, you
miss the moment. You miss that moment that you
were supposed to be great. Because it wasn't
great for yourself, it was great for somebody
else, and you may not have even known it. That
moment that you had to share a word with somebody,
it changed their life forever. introduced them
to Jesus, or made sense of something in the word
that they were struggling with as a new Christian,
and now all of a sudden, and a light comes on,
and they're able to carry on forward, and things
are good. But you miss it because you're focused
on you, not them. So don't worry about it. Your
time's going to come. As we leave here today,
remember, don't look for your own greatness.
Don't look for your chance. Think of how you
can be meek and how you can show that to the
world. Look for ways to become meek for others
and show that compassion that they so greatly
need. Compassion comes in many forms. Let that
sink in. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for
opening our eyes more and more to this upside
down world that we live in. and how we should
be responding and how we should be thinking as
your children. We ask that you forgive us of
our egos and our pride and the things that we
continue to do even though we know we shouldn't.
We know it's a struggle. We ask that you do continue
to speak to us and guide us constantly, daily,
as we leave from here today. Protect us as we
go down that path. And let us be the tool that
you use to work in this world and the light that
shines its way towards you. As people said, amen
and amen. Remember, as you leave here today,
you are loved and you are blessed. So go and
be the church. Thank you for joining us at Healing
Scars with Pastor Burton. Until next time, take
care and God bless.