1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,840 here at Southern Hills in case you didn't know that. Welcome to what we're 2 00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:09,640 calling a Send Sunday. We're continuing in our sermon series which is Jesus 3 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:17,820 People and the title for the sermon is Staying Alive. Staying Alive. I mean 4 00:00:17,820 --> 00:00:21,400 enjoyed the student worship team that was up here. Can we just say thank you to 5 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:27,640 them one more time. I love watching students worship and we had Alex and 6 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:34,240 then Hannah who's one of our leaders and then Ben and then Gabby and then Johnny 7 00:00:34,240 --> 00:00:38,720 and Isaac on the back there and so man I love watching our students worship and 8 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:43,640 boy every Sunday night this is what I get. I get to come here Sunday nights and 9 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:48,760 it's our student ministry. We call it the Ascent and we show up in this room and 10 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:52,600 we move the chairs in the back half and we move some chairs in the front and 11 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:55,800 students kind of crowd around here as we do our worship and then we teach the 12 00:00:55,800 --> 00:01:01,960 Word of God and man I love it. I love being apart and so it's a special Sunday 13 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:07,780 today. Our pastor is out with his family on vacation and then we are leaving for 14 00:01:07,780 --> 00:01:11,680 summer camp in like two hours. We're loading up on a bus and heading up to 15 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,720 Mesquite, Nevada to the Rising Star Sports Ranch and that's where we're 16 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:20,000 gonna have summer camp tonight. So tonight there'll be about 450 students 17 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,480 from seven churches across the valley that are gathering up there and I'm 18 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:28,520 asking our church family, I get to see you more than maybe our students do. I'm 19 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:31,280 asking you how many of you will pray for our students this week as they're at 20 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:34,640 summer camp even if you just pray right now. Thank you so much. That means the 21 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:40,040 world and I'm telling you in all my years I've been serving in student 22 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:45,200 ministry for 12 years now. I'm the old guy in the room you know what I mean and 23 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:48,320 you probably find that funny but I'm telling you in student ministry I'm the 24 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:53,600 old guy. I'm telling you right now one of the biggest blessings that I get to 25 00:01:53,600 --> 00:01:59,120 watch is when a student ministry shows up on Sunday morning and gets to watch 26 00:01:59,120 --> 00:02:05,240 the Sunday morning church participate in worship and teach them how to worship 27 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:09,400 and serve God and it's really cool when they get to see that and then for you 28 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:12,800 guys to get to see the reverse of that. They were able to be here and lead 29 00:02:12,800 --> 00:02:17,480 worship this morning and so I love, love, love serving and I believe it's a biblical 30 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:22,840 call to have an intergenerational, a multi-generational church. Amen. Where 31 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:27,560 we're passing on the faith to the next generation and so I'm so thankful. I don't 32 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:32,360 take it for granted the trust that you guys place in us to be able to go to 33 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,120 summer camp and then to be also to be able to continue to give and support the 34 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:42,440 student ministry. So I've got a couple goals this morning. One is to let you 35 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,960 know kind of what we're doing in student ministry. Of course we're going to 36 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,360 summer camp to ask for your prayers and to ask you to continue to support by 37 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,520 being faithful to church and faithful to give and my second goal is pastor's gone 38 00:02:54,520 --> 00:03:00,440 he's on vacation so I want to get you out of here early. Amen. Like I've been in 39 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,640 student ministry for 12 years. I know how to keep students right and you keep 40 00:03:04,640 --> 00:03:08,000 them happy by teaching God's word faithfully but then you let them out 41 00:03:08,000 --> 00:03:12,680 early right and they're like man I like that guy you know. So that's kind of my 42 00:03:12,680 --> 00:03:15,480 goal here this morning. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. God 43 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:20,360 teaches us to be good stewards of his time. Amen. So that's our goal. Luke 17. 44 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:25,240 Luke 17 is where we're at this morning. Luke 17 and we're continuing in our 45 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,240 verse by verse study of God's word. We've themed it. We've called it Jesus 46 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:34,040 people. We're gonna ask this question this morning. How do Jesus people stay 47 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:40,360 alive? What are the lifelines for Jesus people according to the ministry and 48 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:45,880 teachings of Jesus? Luke 17 verse 11 is where we're at. The Bible says now it 49 00:03:45,880 --> 00:03:50,000 happened as he went to Jerusalem that's Jesus that he passed through the midst of 50 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:55,240 Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village there met him 10 men 51 00:03:55,240 --> 00:04:00,360 who were lepers who stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said 52 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:05,200 Jesus master have mercy on us so when he saw them he said to them go show 53 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,640 yourselves to the priests and so it was as they went that they were cleansed. 54 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,760 And one of them when he saw that he was healed returned and with a loud voice 55 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,520 glorified God and fell down on his feet, fell down on his feet giving him 56 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:23,560 thanks and he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said were there not 10 57 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,240 cleansed but where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give 58 00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:33,600 glory to God except this foreigner and he said to him arise go your way your 59 00:04:33,600 --> 00:04:42,000 faith has made you well. Can't you just see it? Like a scene out of the chosen. 60 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:48,320 Here there's 10 lepers standing afar off and Jesus is walking along with his 61 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:56,840 disciples and as they see him the the proper method that they would see 62 00:04:56,840 --> 00:04:59,960 strangers and people approach them as they would have to call out and say 63 00:04:59,960 --> 00:05:04,640 unclean unclean but this time they see Jesus and we don't know how they knew 64 00:05:04,640 --> 00:05:08,160 him. We don't know where they'd heard about his fame. The Bible says that his 65 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:12,480 fame had spread throughout the country but they see Jesus and they think this 66 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:18,920 is my shot. This is our opportunity to try and get healed. So Jesus is walking 67 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,360 by and instead of them putting more distance between them they call out and 68 00:05:22,360 --> 00:05:31,160 they say Jesus son of God have mercy on us and then Jesus says go show yourselves 69 00:05:31,160 --> 00:05:36,440 to the priest. So now these 10 lepers who were outcast who were outside of society 70 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:42,520 turn around and again the thematic music is in the background. They walk back into 71 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:47,440 the village that they had been cast out from and as they walk back the music 72 00:05:47,440 --> 00:05:51,600 picks up and it sounds like a familiar tune and then one of them starts to sing 73 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:57,480 well you can tell by the way I can hardly walk. I'm a leprous man no time to 74 00:05:57,480 --> 00:06:02,720 talk. I was kicked out but Jesus spoke and now I'm back among the normal folk. 75 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:07,040 Now it's alright it's okay you may look the other way whether you're a brother 76 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:12,680 or whether you're a mother you're staying alive staying alive come on you're 77 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,680 gonna say what did pastor Caleb teach on? We don't know but we sang the song 78 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,440 together you know what I mean like something about staying alive in it right? 79 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,560 This morning we're gonna unpack this truth it's true these 10 lepers who were 80 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:30,120 headed for death who were outcast from society found three lifelines to help 81 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,160 them stay alive and we're gonna ask ourselves this question as believers as 82 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:40,320 Bible teachers as Bible students this morning as seekers of truth we're gonna 83 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:44,880 ask this question what are the three lifelines that Jesus people use to stay 84 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:52,360 alive? The first lifeline that I see in this story is mercy mercy mercy is where 85 00:06:52,360 --> 00:06:58,960 God values the least look at Luke 1711 now it happened as he went to Jerusalem 86 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:03,000 that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee Luke as he's writing 87 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:08,440 this story remembers the location that this story took place and he says it was 88 00:07:08,440 --> 00:07:12,880 kind of in no man's land if you put yourself in context and do a little 89 00:07:12,880 --> 00:07:18,600 study on what was this location it would have been known as the borderlands or no 90 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:24,080 man's no man's land between Samaria and Galilee and it says as he entered a 91 00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:28,000 certain village there met him 10 men who were lepers who stood afar off first we 92 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,920 see the people who need mercy first we see their situation they were in the 93 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:38,880 borderlands they were outside of community this miracle as Jesus leans 94 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:44,400 into these people show us that these people had been separated from any sort 95 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:50,400 of inclusion or sense of belonging they had been outcast from their own own 96 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:54,720 family outcast from society they had been told that they had to live on the 97 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,720 outskirts matter of fact for most of them as they were told to live outside the 98 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:04,680 city because there was no known cure for leprosy for this communicable disease as 99 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:08,720 they were told to live outside the city many of them I wouldn't have anyone who 100 00:08:08,720 --> 00:08:12,080 cared for them or anyone who even remembered them as they lived outside 101 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,640 the city most of their sustenance if you could call it that they found in the 102 00:08:15,640 --> 00:08:20,880 trash heaps the garbage piles outside the city outside the gates where people 103 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,720 would come and throw their trash that's how they would feed themselves we see 104 00:08:24,720 --> 00:08:30,160 their situation was dire this disease that not only left them outside the city 105 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:34,680 also oftentimes would leave a person disfigured not only were they 106 00:08:34,680 --> 00:08:40,520 emotionally and and relationally in community cast out from society but now 107 00:08:40,520 --> 00:08:44,840 they were separated by even the way they looked they feel like they're on the 108 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:51,480 outside looking in Jewish law stated they couldn't re-enter society until they 109 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:55,280 first went to the priest to be checked before receiving a certificate that they 110 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:59,880 were now clean but even in their situation even with their desperation 111 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:05,840 they made a calculation to call on Jesus and that he would give them mercy I 112 00:09:05,840 --> 00:09:09,840 can't help but look at this passage this morning and as I share it with a group 113 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:14,160 of believers I want you to think about the time that you called on Jesus and 114 00:09:14,160 --> 00:09:21,240 found mercy in his eyes amen when you were outcast when you were left out when 115 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:25,720 you felt as if there was no way for you to come back in you called on Jesus and 116 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:30,720 found mercy in his eyes I don't know where you're at this morning maybe you 117 00:09:30,720 --> 00:09:34,760 feel like you have a lack of community I don't know if you feel like you have 118 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:40,720 this identity crisis where you feel like man every every room that I walk into 119 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:46,360 people know how I failed people know how I've let God down people know how my 120 00:09:46,360 --> 00:09:50,800 marriage didn't make it people know how I'm the one who walked away and now I'm 121 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:54,040 back and so I have to hang my head and friend I'm here to tell you that with 122 00:09:54,040 --> 00:09:59,600 Jesus his mercy is available for all Jesus didn't pass by any other side 123 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:07,000 Jesus didn't say I'll come back when I'm done healing the 124 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:13,120 no he made his mercy available for all lamentations 322 says this through the 125 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:18,120 Lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassion's fail not they 126 00:10:18,120 --> 00:10:22,960 are new every morning great is your faithfulness isn't it awesome as 127 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:28,000 believers as Christ followers that we can come under the mercy of God this 128 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,880 morning friend I don't know what lie the enemy has told you to make you feel 129 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,560 like you're less than or like you should be outcast maybe you grew up in a very 130 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:39,320 traditional religious setting and now your life looks a little bit less 131 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:42,600 traditional and maybe you're here this morning and you're like I don't know how 132 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:48,880 to qualify or quantify this all I can do is cast myself on the mercy of Jesus I'm 133 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:53,680 here to tell you friend his mercy for you is new this morning fresh and ready 134 00:10:53,680 --> 00:10:57,000 to be lavished upon your life maybe you're in here this morning and you have 135 00:10:57,000 --> 00:11:00,920 an addiction or you have a habit and you're like I've tried to break it I've 136 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:04,760 tried to walk away from it I feel like this is just who I am and I'm here to 137 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:09,120 tell you that in the same way Jesus healed the leprosy that was uncureable in 138 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:12,600 that day Jesus can give you the strength and the power to walk away from 139 00:11:12,600 --> 00:11:15,680 whatever it is you feel like you can't walk away from whatever it is that you 140 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:21,320 have just this morning as I get up I I've noticed that I mentioned earlier 141 00:11:21,320 --> 00:11:26,600 I've served in youth ministry for 12 years now and so I'll be I'll be 35 this 142 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:29,760 summer I'm turning old right all the students like Pastor Caleb you're old 143 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:34,920 and what I found is the more mature and wise I get amen the more mature and 144 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,480 wise I get the earlier I get up in the morning you know what I mean like I've 145 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:41,280 got a two-year-old a four-year-old I just I don't sleep in anymore so I 146 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,360 usually wake up about five or five thirty so I got up this morning about five 147 00:11:44,360 --> 00:11:48,640 o'clock and went out and and made my coffee and went sat in the front room and 148 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,920 I was looking over the sermon for this morning and as I did I was thinking 149 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:55,240 about the truths that I wanted to teach and the truths I wanted to communicate 150 00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:59,400 and the Holy Spirit of God whispered to me as I was trying to look over the and 151 00:11:59,400 --> 00:12:03,120 prepare for the sermon this morning wait a minute before you share mercy with 152 00:12:03,120 --> 00:12:06,760 anyone else aren't you gonna receive mercy from Jesus and I started thinking 153 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,680 about how I think Christians a lot of times what we do is we think I'm so 154 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:14,160 thankful I received mercy from God when I got saved but no lamentation says the 155 00:12:14,160 --> 00:12:19,360 mercies of God are new every morning look at what Titus 3 says but when the 156 00:12:19,360 --> 00:12:22,800 kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared not by works of 157 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,600 righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us 158 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:30,360 through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he 159 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:33,880 poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that having been 160 00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:38,680 justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal 161 00:12:38,680 --> 00:12:42,400 life friend I don't know where you're at this morning but can I tell you the 162 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:47,400 mercy of God is available for you in his book the bruise read Richard Sibbs 163 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:51,680 famously wrote we have this for a foundation of truth that there is more 164 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:58,600 mercy in Christ than there is sin in us amen aren't you thankful to have access 165 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:04,800 to have been an outcast but now you're in for with and and receiving of the 166 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:09,200 mercy of Jesus please don't let the enemy tell you that you're outside of 167 00:13:09,200 --> 00:13:13,000 God's mercy because in this story as the 10 lepers were outside of community 168 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:17,880 mercy in the form of Jesus Christ himself came walking to them and they 169 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:22,560 received it I was thinking this morning of of something that happened in our 170 00:13:22,560 --> 00:13:26,240 student ministry not long ago just a couple weeks ago as a matter of fact I 171 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,400 was thinking about the goodness of God and and the mercy of Jesus and how we 172 00:13:30,400 --> 00:13:34,520 can receive it and I moved here five years ago matter of fact last Sunday 173 00:13:34,520 --> 00:13:38,080 church family you're so generous thank you so much for loving on me and my wife 174 00:13:38,080 --> 00:13:41,700 but last Sunday we celebrated five years here in Las Vegas five years at 175 00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:46,760 southern Hills we moved here in May of 2018 me my family and I and it was just 176 00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:50,880 me my wife my wife was pregnant with our son who's four and a half now Gatlin 177 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,280 and when we moved here I remember moving here in the middle of middle of May and 178 00:13:54,280 --> 00:13:58,560 or beginning of May and it was already a hundred degrees by the way y'all know 179 00:13:58,560 --> 00:14:02,280 it's not been a hundred degrees yet this year knock knock on wood or something 180 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:07,480 you know I mean like there is a God you know and he loves us and it's been 181 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,840 nice it's supposed to be nice this week and we moved here was a hundred degrees 182 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:15,240 I remember moving here and and I remember I didn't tell us in the first 183 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:18,480 service but y'all the ten o'clock people y'all can take this okay I remember 184 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,560 moving here and I remember unloading my truck the first day we moved here I 185 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:25,560 moved in we stayed for a couple weeks with with our in-laws as we found a 186 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:30,640 place I remember moving here and the neighbor was out and the neighbor was 187 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:35,040 we'll just say smoking some of the good stuff and I walked up and I remember it 188 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:39,240 was so hot and dry I was like downing bottles of water and then that smell came 189 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:44,160 over me and I don't partake and so I was like where have I moved to you know I 190 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:47,640 mean like what has like a hundred and fifteen degrees I'm like what happened 191 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,720 and we moved here and I started getting in the flow of ministry and I remember I 192 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,800 typed up an email when we first moved here and sent it out to all the families 193 00:14:54,800 --> 00:14:58,000 and I said hey I'm the new youth pastor and I sent a picture of me and my wife 194 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:01,480 and my name is Caleb this is Ruthie and we want to serve you in any way we 195 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,240 possibly can and I remember I think most people were like okay you know like 196 00:15:05,240 --> 00:15:08,960 welcome and and the church was kind and welcomed us and did all that but I 197 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:14,320 remember someone replied to that email and I remember the reply because I saved 198 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:19,600 the email and the reply was from Linda Scott and she wrote this she said welcome 199 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:23,880 Pastor Caleb and Ruthie may you settle soon and begin to feel at home in our 200 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:27,640 city as you begin your next chapter here at Southern Hills and then she began to 201 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:31,400 tell me some of her story and I asked Miss Linda this morning she was right back 202 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,160 here for 830 service and she said absolutely I want you to share that 203 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:38,120 with our church family and she said how when we if you don't know the story of 204 00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:41,960 Southern Hills we started in a in a storefront location and then we moved 205 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:45,640 this is our first building that we've built and we're actually growing out of 206 00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:48,280 this building if you came in and struggled to find a seat you're aware of 207 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,840 that we're building a new building out here and when they moved they moved 208 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:56,480 upstairs the student ministry moved upstairs to a room and because of the 209 00:15:56,480 --> 00:16:00,160 location and because of some of the changes Miss Linda writes that her 210 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:04,520 grandson struggled to adapt and she says even Nana becomes overwhelmed at 211 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:09,480 times with our growth you see Pastor Caleb my grandson is autistic and now 212 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:13,240 that he's a teen it's even more difficult for him to feel a good fit but we 213 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:17,320 continue to try harder we go every Sunday morning and he loves that because he 214 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:20,840 loves Pastor Josh and his sermons she writes a little more and then down later 215 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:24,400 she says please understand I'm not criticizing anyone but God just leads 216 00:16:24,400 --> 00:16:28,680 me to educate others should a door open and you open that door I love Miss Linda 217 00:16:28,680 --> 00:16:33,240 she said you see I never understood disabilities or autism until my daughter 218 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:37,640 passed away her grandson is hunter hunter's mom passed away and I adopted him 219 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,920 and became his caregiver I've learned so much in the past several years after 220 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:45,000 losing my husband too it is by God's grace and mercy that those who love and 221 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:50,080 accept us at Southern Hills and God has carried us this far then she writes at 222 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:53,520 the very end of the email who knows what the Lord has planned but he sent you and 223 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:57,720 I sure am thankful and believe that you will make a great addition and difference 224 00:16:57,720 --> 00:17:01,040 as the new youth pastor and I thank you for taking time to listen God's blessing 225 00:17:01,040 --> 00:17:04,720 to both you and your family respectfully Linda Scott and I remember getting that 226 00:17:04,720 --> 00:17:07,920 email and I remember thinking and probably feeling the way you feel right 227 00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:10,680 now feeling burdened and I remember thinking Lord I don't know what you're 228 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,880 gonna do or how you're gonna do it and I can't forecast the future but God if 229 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:19,920 there is a way will you give me enough of your mercy will you share enough mercy 230 00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:24,000 that I can share that with someone else and two weeks ago matter of fact I think 231 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:28,760 we have a picture two weeks ago Hunter Wadi Love graduated from high school and 232 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:36,120 Hunter that's Hunter right there and you can see he's not a small guy Hunter 233 00:17:36,120 --> 00:17:39,880 gives the best hugs Hunter walk up to you and we call him Hunter Bear hugs and 234 00:17:39,880 --> 00:17:43,000 he'll walk up to you and give you a big hug and throughout the years Hunter began 235 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,520 to become more a part of our group and attend student ministry on Sunday night 236 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:50,800 and he even went to a couple winter retreats and even a summer camp with us 237 00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:55,440 and as he began to be more involved I I watched as God's story of mercy and 238 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:59,440 grace began to unfold in Hunter's life and when Hunter graduated we do a 239 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:04,240 grad night for all our seniors and we had ten students stand up here on a 240 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:08,760 Sunday night and Hunter was one of them and we invited I always give them a gift 241 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:12,080 and then I say would you like to share a testimony with the group and now you've 242 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:16,000 got to know about Hunter and if you know and love anyone in your life that's on 243 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,560 the spectrum or as autism you know that sometimes you never know what they're 244 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:23,600 gonna say and so I said Hunter I love you and I gave him a big old hug and you 245 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:27,200 know kind of hugged me you know and I said Hunter would you like to share a 246 00:18:27,200 --> 00:18:31,320 testimony and Hunter came up and Hunter usually likes to tell jokes and have a 247 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:35,760 good time and so I said Lord please help him you know and Hunter came up and on a 248 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,080 Sunday night and he leaned in and Hunter wasn't joking Hunter was very serious 249 00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:46,440 and Hunter leaned in and Hunter said well I'm graduating high school which if 250 00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:50,800 any of you know school has been very very hard for me I've always been the 251 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:57,000 weird kid but on Sunday nights I get to show up and I get welcomed and love for 252 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:04,000 who I am and Hunter I'm telling you all there was a holy hush over all the 253 00:19:04,000 --> 00:19:08,160 students and Hunter standing there just as genuine and as humble as honest as 254 00:19:08,160 --> 00:19:11,760 can be and I'm I'm the professional youth pastor has done this for 12 years and 255 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:18,720 I walk up and I'm like Hunter we love you man and I'm telling you in that 256 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:22,400 moment the mercy of Jesus just fell upon our group and I'm here to tell you 257 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:27,160 watch this it wasn't just me every time Hunter would show up Hunter would would 258 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:31,440 walk up to one of his best friends junior Burgess Jeremy Burgess and Jeremy 259 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:36,200 would walk up and give him a you know skin or whatever and do their little 260 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,680 secret handshake and he just love on Hunter make him feel welcome and when 261 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,600 Hunter came to summer camp with us Hunter came up and he was a little bit 262 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:45,960 overwhelmed he's like pass you need to take me home to my grandma right now and 263 00:19:45,960 --> 00:19:48,360 I thought I'm gonna have to drive four and a half hours and take you home to 264 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:51,920 your grandma right now from summer camp and guess who walked in the room Jeremy 265 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,640 Burgess junior Burgess and junior said Hunter it's okay man we can do this we 266 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:59,360 can get through this together and junior showed the mercy of God and Hunter's 267 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:04,760 life in just an incredible way when I showed up at his graduation two weeks 268 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:08,520 ago I was running a little bit late and I was like hey Miss Linda I'm on my way 269 00:20:08,520 --> 00:20:12,360 I'm gonna be there or you know save me a seed and when I got there there's Miss 270 00:20:12,360 --> 00:20:15,240 Linda and they're sitting with our faithful church members Gary and 271 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,360 Melanie Graves loving on Miss Linda before I even ever got there church family 272 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:23,880 I'm here to tell you the mercy of God and the mercy of Jesus is available for 273 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,360 everyone but listen to me it's available for everyone when we as a community 274 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:31,200 decide to share it it's available for everyone when we as a community say I'm 275 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:35,040 gonna be a representation for the mercy of Jesus and boy I stood there on that 276 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:38,960 stage with Hunter and I remember if you ever think that serving in ministry 277 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:42,520 doesn't have its moments where you're like I hope I hope what I'm doing is 278 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,440 making a difference I remember standing on the stage with Hunter and just the 279 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,040 mercy of Jesus washing over me afresh and anew and thinking man Jesus thank you 280 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,160 so much for letting me play a small part in Hunter's life and here's the 281 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:59,560 reality Hunter it wasn't just that Hunter needed us it was that we needed 282 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:05,560 Hunter Hunter taught us the mercy of God in afresh and a new way and as Jesus 283 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:12,520 people we believe in mercy we need it we receive it and then we freely give it to 284 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,760 others the mercy of God is a creed by which we live but it's not just the 285 00:21:16,760 --> 00:21:22,840 mercy not only do we believe in mercy we also live by faith as we read the 286 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:27,760 story in Luke 17 the mercy of Jesus becomes so evident in the lives of these 287 00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:33,000 lepers but then look at Luke 17 14 so when he saw them he said to them go show 288 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,240 yourselves to the priests and it was so as they went that they were cleansed 289 00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:41,000 Romans 1 17 says for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from 290 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:46,880 faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith here's the great 291 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:51,720 truth of scripture here's the great enigma here's the great paradox of our 292 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:57,000 faith watch this when we are given faith it is not to reside calmly and 293 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:02,440 passively in our life when we are given faith to trusting God that faith calls us 294 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:06,840 forward to action when Jesus wanted to heal the lepers he could have said you're 295 00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:12,720 clean you're done instead he says go show yourselves to the priest Hebrews 11 296 00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:17,240 6 says this but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who 297 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:21,960 comes to God must believe that he is and that is the and that he is a rewarder of 298 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:29,080 those who diligently seek him the faith that God gives to us is a faith that 299 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:34,360 God calls us to action with James 2 14 says it this way what is it profit my 300 00:22:34,360 --> 00:22:38,960 brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works can faith save 301 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:43,200 him if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you 302 00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:47,000 says to them depart in peace be warmed and filled but you do not give them the 303 00:22:47,000 --> 00:22:51,120 things which are needed for the body what does it profit thus also faith by 304 00:22:51,120 --> 00:22:55,520 itself if it does not have works is dead but someone will say you have faith and I 305 00:22:55,520 --> 00:22:59,560 have works show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by 306 00:22:59,560 --> 00:23:05,520 my works what is this paradox what is this call of Christ in our life about 307 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:10,440 this faith unfortunately religions have wrongly identified it this way it's a 308 00:23:10,440 --> 00:23:17,000 formula of faith and the formula is not that faith plus works equals salvation as 309 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:22,400 you read this passage as you study the story Jesus is not saying that if you 310 00:23:22,400 --> 00:23:27,080 have faith and you have works then you receive healing he's not saying that 311 00:23:27,080 --> 00:23:31,040 James is not saying that if you have faith and you attend church regularly if 312 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:34,080 you have faith and you read your Bible every day if you have faith and you 313 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:38,960 pray then you'll be saved that's not what he's saying this is the wrong formula 314 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:45,160 what he is saying is that faith saves Romans the just shall live by faith 315 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,600 action call to action the just shall live by faith he's saying that faith saves 316 00:23:49,600 --> 00:23:57,280 and he's also saying that the faith that saves also works the formula in James 317 00:23:57,280 --> 00:24:02,080 the formula in scripture is that if you have the faith that saves that faith 318 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:06,760 does not like dormant in your work in your life that faith calls you to action 319 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:13,280 that faith that saves is also a faith that works and calls you forward let me 320 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:17,440 give you an illustration it's a cent Sunday so I have student stories for 321 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:21,320 you when we first moved here we went to summer camp and had an incredible time 322 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:25,080 at summer camp and then my family had just purchased our first home here in 323 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:30,200 Las Vegas and so I came back on Friday on Saturday our pod showed up at our new 324 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:35,520 home I unloaded the entire pod the pod got taken away I came to church on 325 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:39,880 Sunday and then on Monday I left for junior camp it's fun I'm telling you 326 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:44,520 there's there's no life like it so junior camp was like fourth and and fifth 327 00:24:44,520 --> 00:24:48,640 graders and all these students that are that are going and again I'm new to the 328 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:52,200 desert I'm new to the heat so where do we go to junior camp ironwood Christian 329 00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,280 camp which is in Newberry Springs California it's not far from a place 330 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:00,280 called Death Valley you don't mean like we believe in spiritual life but we're 331 00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:04,680 gonna take you to Death Valley to find it you know so we go there and we show 332 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:09,400 up and it's like 115 degrees when we get there and I'm like yeah this is amazing 333 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:14,920 alright kids go have fun I'm gonna go take a nap you know and I remember I 334 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,800 got there and I'm like man what is going on I'm ministering to these kids 335 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,560 because when I first moved here I was student pastor and kids pastor for a 336 00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,520 little bit before we hired pastor Andrew and his wife Carrie I'm so thankful for 337 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:28,720 the Olsons amen okay so I was doing all these things and we showed up the first 338 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:32,720 night and and I'm trying to engage and minister to the students and as we're 339 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,920 doing that they taught the gospel story they taught salvation and then they 340 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:40,280 said if anybody wants to be prayed with and talk more about this raise your hand 341 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:44,240 and sure enough one of our students his name is Johnny raise his hand and I'm 342 00:25:44,240 --> 00:25:48,560 like let's go it's all worth it 115 degrees God it's for you okay I'm 343 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:53,080 sweating for Jesus you know and I'm going over and I'm like it's okay this is 344 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:56,000 gonna be awesome it's I go over to Johnny I'm like Johnny you want to pray 345 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,840 tonight and he's like yeah I would love to pray I'm like Johnny what do you want 346 00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,640 to pray about because you're not supposed to you know give them like you 347 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:04,840 want to get saved right I'm like Johnny what do you want to pray about and he's 348 00:26:04,840 --> 00:26:10,160 like I want to pray about my family and I'm like oh okay that's sweet not really 349 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:13,360 what I was looking for but sure let's pray for your family and so I'm like dear 350 00:26:13,360 --> 00:26:17,120 Jesus help Johnny's family and we love them and the hardens are real faithful 351 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:20,640 and and they come here and so I said just just help him I think it was his his 352 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,880 sister and his cousin and something that we prayed for him okay next day goes by 353 00:26:23,880 --> 00:26:27,720 comes to the night service they teach the gospel they say if anybody wants to be 354 00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:30,720 prayed with raise your hand Johnny raises hand I'm like all right here we go 355 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,200 go over to Johnny Johnny you want to pray tonight right and he's like yeah I want 356 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:34,880 to pray Johnny what do you want to pray about 357 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:38,340 Jesus and salvation right and he's like no I want to pray 358 00:26:38,340 --> 00:26:42,720 for my family I'm like okay I'll pray for your family and so I take Johnny and I 359 00:26:42,720 --> 00:26:45,400 go pray for his family third night Johnny raises hand I'm like man this is 360 00:26:45,400 --> 00:26:48,280 all right maybe maybe i'd go over to him like Johnny you want to pray today 361 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:51,480 and he's like yeah what do you want to pray about Johnny I want to pray for my 362 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,460 family okay Johnny we'll pray for your family so I pray for his family fourth 363 00:26:55,460 --> 00:26:59,600 night comes along Johnny raises hand I'm like we're gonna pray for his family 364 00:26:59,600 --> 00:27:03,380 tonight. And so I go over and I'm like, I'm like, Johnny, what do you want to pray 365 00:27:03,380 --> 00:27:06,980 about? No, no, I went up to him and I said, Hey, Johnny, I said, do you want to pray 366 00:27:06,980 --> 00:27:09,860 for your family tonight? And he looks at me with a bewildered look on his face. 367 00:27:09,860 --> 00:27:16,340 And he goes, No, I want to get saved. And I was like, Well, yeah, we can do that too. 368 00:27:16,340 --> 00:27:20,540 You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, Okay. And so Johnny, who was like, Yay, tall at 369 00:27:20,540 --> 00:27:23,820 the time, Johnny was up here on the worship team. Johnny Harding is like six three now. 370 00:27:23,820 --> 00:27:27,300 And Johnny's saved and serving in our student ministry. Here's what I love about it. 371 00:27:27,300 --> 00:27:31,700 Watch this. I see it over and over and over again in students' lives. When the faith of God, 372 00:27:31,700 --> 00:27:35,740 when the seed of faith is planted in their life and it begins to blossom, what happens is it 373 00:27:35,740 --> 00:27:40,900 calls our students forward to action. Here's a great question for us. If the faith of God planted 374 00:27:40,900 --> 00:27:45,020 in the lives of students, students calls them forward to action, shouldn't do the same thing 375 00:27:45,020 --> 00:27:48,460 with mom and dad, shouldn't do the same thing on Sunday morning with our adults, shouldn't 376 00:27:48,460 --> 00:27:54,300 do the same thing with grandma and grandpa. The faith of God is not to just lie dormant 377 00:27:54,300 --> 00:27:58,980 in our lives, but it calls us to action. This is what Jesus does with the lepers. He says, 378 00:27:58,980 --> 00:28:04,220 go show yourselves to the priest. This is the illustration. Second Corinthians five seven 379 00:28:04,220 --> 00:28:10,460 says for we walk by faith, not by sight. Galatians five 22 says, but the Holy spirit produces 380 00:28:10,460 --> 00:28:14,980 this kind of fruit in our lives, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 381 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:20,820 gentleness and self control. So if God has planted the faith of salvation in our life, 382 00:28:20,820 --> 00:28:26,540 here's a good question for you. What is growing in the garden of your heart? What is growing 383 00:28:26,540 --> 00:28:31,620 in the garden of your soul? What is growing in the garden of your home? Is it love and 384 00:28:31,620 --> 00:28:38,860 joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control? We 385 00:28:38,860 --> 00:28:44,220 see that as Jesus people, we are called to live by faith and faith requires action, but 386 00:28:44,220 --> 00:28:49,180 not only do we believe in mercy and not only do we live by faith as Jesus called the lepers 387 00:28:49,180 --> 00:28:54,780 to go show themselves to the priest. Luke here adds an ending to the story. Now this 388 00:28:54,780 --> 00:29:00,460 story in totality is not recorded in any other gospel. Luke is the only one that records 389 00:29:00,460 --> 00:29:05,580 this story and he's very specific about a few things. He's very specific about the 390 00:29:05,580 --> 00:29:11,500 mercy that Jesus lavishes upon the lepers. He's very specific about the call to faith. 391 00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:17,140 Go show yourselves to the priest, but then he's also very specific about the third truth 392 00:29:17,140 --> 00:29:22,100 that we practice, the third lifeline by which we stay alive and it's this one, number three, 393 00:29:22,100 --> 00:29:29,060 gratitude. God invites us into the healing process. God invites us into healing. Look 394 00:29:29,060 --> 00:29:33,460 at the story, Luke 17, 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and 395 00:29:33,460 --> 00:29:37,900 with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks 396 00:29:37,900 --> 00:29:43,060 and he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, were there not 10 cleansed? But where 397 00:29:43,060 --> 00:29:48,100 are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except as foreigner? 398 00:29:48,100 --> 00:29:54,900 And he said to him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. The Samaritan's 399 00:29:54,900 --> 00:30:00,500 thankfulness for his physical healing shows evidence of a deeper spiritual healing, which 400 00:30:00,500 --> 00:30:08,540 is proof of his salvation. Now it's interesting to me that Jesus himself draws a sharp contrast 401 00:30:08,540 --> 00:30:15,100 between the one who is thankful and the other nine who were not. And as I was studying for 402 00:30:15,100 --> 00:30:21,540 this, I wanted to make sure that I'm applying it in the truest context of what Jesus is 403 00:30:21,540 --> 00:30:27,100 saying. He is not saying that the other nine were not cleansed. He's saying, were there 404 00:30:27,100 --> 00:30:36,780 not 10 that were healed? So all 10 received the mercy of Jesus, all 10 acted in faith, 405 00:30:36,780 --> 00:30:42,900 but only one entered into the healing process of gratitude. And as I read this story, instead 406 00:30:42,900 --> 00:30:48,020 of me saying, oh, well, I'm a part of the one, I try to be thankful regularly and giving 407 00:30:48,020 --> 00:30:54,300 myself a hall pass. What if instead we looked at these 10 as the 10 daily opportunities 408 00:30:54,300 --> 00:31:02,900 we have to be thankful to God? And the ratio in this story is that 90% of the time we miss 409 00:31:02,900 --> 00:31:10,620 the on ramp of gratitude, 90% of the time we miss the opportunity to be thankful for 410 00:31:10,620 --> 00:31:16,820 what God has done and what God is doing in gratitude. Perhaps in this illustration, it's 411 00:31:16,820 --> 00:31:21,940 less about, am I a part of the nine who were ungrateful or the one who was and more about 412 00:31:21,940 --> 00:31:27,660 of the 10 times I received mercy from God each day, am I only likely to take advantage 413 00:31:27,660 --> 00:31:34,360 of gratitude once? Maybe the ratio of nine to one isn't about others, but about my inability 414 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:41,300 to find gratitude 90% of the time. In approaching the story this way, all of us are invited 415 00:31:41,300 --> 00:31:48,300 to a deeper commitment to the work of gratitude. Instead of looking around the room and thinking, 416 00:31:48,300 --> 00:31:54,940 I think I'm part of the 10%, we turn the camera, we turn the focus inwardly and say, man, 417 00:31:54,940 --> 00:32:00,220 there's room for improvement in my life. There are opportunities where I miss the on 418 00:32:00,220 --> 00:32:05,180 ramp of gratitude. And it seems that scripture reinforces this discipline as being part of 419 00:32:05,180 --> 00:32:10,380 my sanctification process. Ephesians 5 20 says, giving thanks always for all things to 420 00:32:10,380 --> 00:32:14,580 God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5 16 says, rejoice 421 00:32:14,580 --> 00:32:19,100 always pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in 422 00:32:19,100 --> 00:32:24,820 Christ Jesus for you. It's interesting that most Christians everywhere would know and be 423 00:32:24,820 --> 00:32:30,940 familiar with the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and prayer, but few Christians 424 00:32:30,940 --> 00:32:36,820 practice the spiritual discipline of gratitude and thankfulness. Psalm 101 says, a Psalm of 425 00:32:36,820 --> 00:32:41,100 Thanksgiving, make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands serve the Lord with gladness 426 00:32:41,100 --> 00:32:45,460 come before his presence with singing know that the Lord he is God it is he who has made 427 00:32:45,460 --> 00:32:50,500 us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture enter into his 428 00:32:50,500 --> 00:32:54,420 gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless 429 00:32:54,420 --> 00:33:00,940 his name for the Lord is good. His mercy is everlasting and his truth endures to all generations. 430 00:33:00,940 --> 00:33:04,940 Philippians 4 6 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication 431 00:33:04,940 --> 00:33:09,740 with Thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Psalm 116 17 says, I will 432 00:33:09,740 --> 00:33:14,820 offer to you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. I'll put the work in. I'll make sure that 433 00:33:14,820 --> 00:33:20,420 I take my own way and my own will and my own attitude and sacrifice it so that I can give 434 00:33:20,420 --> 00:33:24,860 you Thanksgiving and we'll call upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 95 2 says, let us come 435 00:33:24,860 --> 00:33:30,740 before his presence with Thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms. 436 00:33:30,740 --> 00:33:36,700 Scripture continually repeats this theme that as believers, we are called into the process 437 00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:45,060 of healing. If you look at the story in Luke 17, Jesus ends by saying this, where there 438 00:33:45,060 --> 00:33:48,700 are not any found who returned to give glory to God, except as foreigner, and he said to 439 00:33:48,700 --> 00:33:56,460 him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. It's interesting that Jesus says 440 00:33:56,460 --> 00:34:02,740 to this man, not now go show yourself to the priest, but instead he says, you've entered 441 00:34:02,740 --> 00:34:08,580 into the healing process of gratitude and it has made you well. It has accomplished 442 00:34:08,580 --> 00:34:14,060 the work of the gospel in your life. I'll tell you this story and then we'll be done 443 00:34:14,060 --> 00:34:20,800 early like I promised. So many of you over the past few months have caught me between 444 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:26,420 services or sent me a text saying, Hey, Pastor Caleb, we're praying for your mom. How's she 445 00:34:26,420 --> 00:34:30,060 doing? If you don't know, if you're new to our church family at the beginning of this 446 00:34:30,060 --> 00:34:34,940 year, January, my mom was diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma, which is the most 447 00:34:34,940 --> 00:34:40,540 aggressive type of brain cancer that there is. You've been so kind and many of you who 448 00:34:40,540 --> 00:34:44,820 have asked about how she's doing and the truth about her is she really is doing well. She's 449 00:34:44,820 --> 00:34:50,040 completed a full round of 30 treatments of targeted radiation as well as 30 treatments 450 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:55,380 of chemo and she has her next MRI tomorrow afternoon down at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles 451 00:34:55,380 --> 00:35:00,940 and that will determine next steps. Several of you have kindly followed up after asking, 452 00:35:00,940 --> 00:35:06,780 Hey, how's your mom doing with, by the way, how are you doing? And you've been so kind 453 00:35:06,780 --> 00:35:11,140 and so compassionate to encourage my family and I as we've walked through this. And can 454 00:35:11,140 --> 00:35:15,660 I tell you, I don't know if there's any way and if you've walked this road with a family 455 00:35:15,660 --> 00:35:20,980 member that you can fully prepare yourself for the highs and the lows, the onslaught of 456 00:35:20,980 --> 00:35:27,140 emotions that come with watching someone you love so dearly who's so young walk through 457 00:35:27,140 --> 00:35:33,380 something like this. But I'll tell you this, if I've had a focus, if I've had a target 458 00:35:33,380 --> 00:35:39,980 as I've walked through this time, I've just tried to be grateful. I've tried to be thankful 459 00:35:39,980 --> 00:35:44,900 for all the blessings God has given us along the way. My mom just came in town this past 460 00:35:44,900 --> 00:35:49,220 weekend and unfortunately she wasn't feeling well enough to join us for services, but she 461 00:35:49,220 --> 00:35:54,660 was here and she spent some time with us and our family and our grandkids at our house. 462 00:35:54,660 --> 00:36:00,820 And on Wednesday, this last Wednesday, my mom and dad celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary 463 00:36:00,820 --> 00:36:05,420 and my wife and I were able to take them to dinner and go out with them. I think we have 464 00:36:05,420 --> 00:36:13,460 a picture of that and go out with them and able to take them to dinner. And as we went, 465 00:36:13,460 --> 00:36:18,740 I was, I was trying to think of a way to just be able to enjoy the time. I was trying to 466 00:36:18,740 --> 00:36:23,180 think of a way to be able to just be grateful for the extra time that I had with my mom. 467 00:36:23,180 --> 00:36:30,380 And so on the way there, I asked my mom to tell me the story of her and my dad's wedding. 468 00:36:30,380 --> 00:36:37,340 What was it like? Who was there? What do you remember most after receiving all the treatments 469 00:36:37,340 --> 00:36:41,780 that she has? Some of her memories were faded a little bit and so she asked my dad, what 470 00:36:41,780 --> 00:36:47,100 wasn't this true? Isn't this the way that it happened? And slowly they came back and 471 00:36:47,100 --> 00:36:54,740 she told me the restaurant that the ceremony took place at. And my wife and I enjoyed learning 472 00:36:54,740 --> 00:37:02,340 some new things about that day, 37 years ago on Wednesday. She told me who was in attendance 473 00:37:02,340 --> 00:37:08,820 and who played music as she walked down the aisle. She told me how proud her dad and my 474 00:37:08,820 --> 00:37:16,300 granddad was as he walked her down the aisle. And for the next few moments as we reminisced, 475 00:37:16,300 --> 00:37:26,740 my mom didn't have cancer. She was 22 again, marrying the one who had stolen her heart. 476 00:37:26,740 --> 00:37:33,540 I asked her and my dad if they had any advice for us. They've been married 37 years. What 477 00:37:33,540 --> 00:37:39,140 can we do better? What can we do more of? And they both said that while they haven't 478 00:37:39,140 --> 00:37:45,300 been perfect, every night before they go to bed, they try to tell each other that they 479 00:37:45,300 --> 00:37:54,340 love each other. Simple gratitude. What I found is that when I enter into gratitude, 480 00:37:54,340 --> 00:38:02,600 I enter into healing. It's a cathartic process that reframes the way I view myself and others. 481 00:38:02,600 --> 00:38:08,660 It reframes the way I view God. And as we sat there at that restaurant, instead of me 482 00:38:08,660 --> 00:38:16,340 thinking, God, why us? Why me? I got to rejoice with my mom and dad and be thankful for the 483 00:38:16,340 --> 00:38:22,380 journey. I got to be thankful for the 37 years that they've been married. I got to be thankful 484 00:38:22,380 --> 00:38:29,980 for the 35 years that I've been in their care and my mom has been a prayer warrior for me. 485 00:38:29,980 --> 00:38:35,100 I got to be thankful for my mom's chipper attitude, almost to a fault. If you ask my 486 00:38:35,100 --> 00:38:39,500 mom, hey, how are you doing? She'll say, I'm doing good, even if she's really hurting. 487 00:38:39,500 --> 00:38:45,100 And that's probably why to this day, my wife says to me, wow, you're really in your Lin 488 00:38:45,100 --> 00:38:49,740 mode. My mom's name is Lin. And usually I'm in a pretty good mood because I had a mom 489 00:38:49,740 --> 00:38:56,260 who loved on me and taught me the value of gratitude. And so as we sat there and just 490 00:38:56,260 --> 00:39:01,380 enjoyed our time, we were able to just be thankful for the journey that God has called 491 00:39:01,380 --> 00:39:07,940 us to. And as she goes down tomorrow to Aver MRI at Cedar Sinai, albeit summer camp with 492 00:39:07,940 --> 00:39:13,020 450 students, and I get to just enter into gratitude and say, God, I'm so thankful for 493 00:39:13,020 --> 00:39:16,620 where you've called us and what you've called us to. And I'm trusting that what you're 494 00:39:16,620 --> 00:39:22,820 doing in my mom's life and with her health is from you. You see, as Jesus people, we 495 00:39:22,820 --> 00:39:29,100 practice gratitude. And I'm not saying it's easy. Matter of fact, I identify with the 496 00:39:29,100 --> 00:39:34,660 90% of the time it's way easier to onboard in not being thankful. But I want to make 497 00:39:34,660 --> 00:39:40,340 sure that I take the opportunity to enter into the healing process. I want Jesus to 498 00:39:40,340 --> 00:39:48,940 look at me and to say that my faith has made me whole. See, Jesus people practice gratitude. 499 00:39:48,940 --> 00:39:55,780 And Jesus people live by faith. It's a call to action. The faith that God has given us 500 00:39:55,780 --> 00:40:03,820 spurs us onward. And then Jesus people believe in mercy, mercy to receive and mercy to share 501 00:40:03,820 --> 00:40:27,900 with those we come in contact with. Let's pray this morning.