WEBVTT 00:00:01.190 --> 00:00:03.649 You are listening to a message from First Baptist 00:00:03.649 --> 00:00:06.429 Church, Wichita Falls. For more information about 00:00:06.429 --> 00:00:08.910 First Baptist, click the link in the show notes 00:00:08.910 --> 00:00:13.990 or go to FBCWF .org. Good morning church family. 00:00:14.390 --> 00:00:16.870 Welcome and welcome to those at Shepherd and 00:00:16.870 --> 00:00:19.510 West and 11 East. We are so thankful that you're 00:00:19.510 --> 00:00:21.769 here today. My name is Sam Powers. I am the middle 00:00:21.769 --> 00:00:25.070 school pastor and it is an honor to preach God's 00:00:25.070 --> 00:00:27.350 Word while Pastor Bob is out. If you have your 00:00:27.350 --> 00:00:31.489 Bibles open up to Matthew chapter 9. As you open 00:00:31.489 --> 00:00:32.850 up your Bibles, I wanna just tell you a little 00:00:32.850 --> 00:00:34.649 bit about me and my family. We've been here just 00:00:34.649 --> 00:00:37.609 coming up on three years, and our family is absolutely 00:00:37.609 --> 00:00:40.469 blessed by this church. Our two daughters, Charlie 00:00:40.469 --> 00:00:43.530 and Audrey, have been involved in our preschool 00:00:43.530 --> 00:00:46.369 ministry and also our wee school ministry. Our 00:00:46.369 --> 00:00:49.030 son Colson has been involved in first kids ministry. 00:00:49.710 --> 00:00:51.590 My wife has been involved in women's ministry 00:00:51.590 --> 00:00:53.450 with Jamie, and I've had the pleasure of getting 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:55.770 poured into with men's event with Justin Mendel. 00:00:56.189 --> 00:00:59.109 And we have the opportunity to pour our hearts 00:00:59.109 --> 00:01:01.149 and to tell middle school students about who 00:01:01.149 --> 00:01:03.670 Jesus Christ is. And we're so thankful to serve 00:01:03.670 --> 00:01:06.489 with Steven Patterson, our student pastor, who 00:01:06.489 --> 00:01:09.310 leads an amazing student ministry but also leads 00:01:09.310 --> 00:01:11.709 an amazing bridge ministry. And I wanna challenge 00:01:11.709 --> 00:01:14.750 you, if you have not been poured into by the 00:01:14.750 --> 00:01:16.290 ministries of our church, I wanna challenge you 00:01:16.290 --> 00:01:19.170 to get involved and get plugged in because it 00:01:19.170 --> 00:01:21.549 will change your life and be a blessing for you. 00:01:21.890 --> 00:01:23.909 In Matthew chapter nine, it says this starting 00:01:23.909 --> 00:01:28.810 in verse 35. And Jesus went throughout all the 00:01:28.810 --> 00:01:31.290 cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues 00:01:31.290 --> 00:01:33.709 and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and 00:01:33.709 --> 00:01:36.510 healing every disease and every affliction. When 00:01:36.510 --> 00:01:39.209 he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, 00:01:39.430 --> 00:01:41.870 because they were harassed and helpless, like 00:01:41.870 --> 00:01:44.489 a sheep without a shepherd. And he said to his 00:01:44.489 --> 00:01:47.370 disciples, the harvest is plentiful, but the 00:01:47.370 --> 00:01:50.629 laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to 00:01:50.629 --> 00:01:52.989 the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers 00:01:52.989 --> 00:01:55.769 into the harvest. Let's pray. God, I pray as 00:01:55.769 --> 00:01:57.769 we just come before you that you would challenge 00:01:57.769 --> 00:02:00.310 us, that you would speak to us, that you would 00:02:00.310 --> 00:02:03.010 encourage us, and that you would send us out 00:02:03.010 --> 00:02:05.590 into the harvest. I pray that as we just hear 00:02:05.590 --> 00:02:08.150 your word that it would change lives and allow 00:02:08.150 --> 00:02:10.129 us to see your truth. In Jesus' name we pray, 00:02:10.409 --> 00:02:13.460 amen. So Jesus is out traveling and he's going 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:15.680 from cities and villages and he's doing three 00:02:15.680 --> 00:02:18.400 primary things He's opening up the Old Testament 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:21.500 and he is teaching God's word The second thing 00:02:21.500 --> 00:02:24.180 he's doing is he's proclaiming the gospel of 00:02:24.180 --> 00:02:26.180 the kingdom So he's taking what the Old Testament 00:02:26.180 --> 00:02:29.099 has said about the Messiah and he's revealing 00:02:29.099 --> 00:02:32.259 that it's him He's telling people that he is 00:02:32.259 --> 00:02:34.460 the way, the truth, and the life, and no one 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:38.159 comes to the Father except through Jesus. And 00:02:38.159 --> 00:02:41.120 the third thing he's doing is he's healing every 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:44.240 disease and every affliction. You see, Jesus 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:48.659 was so impacted and made an impact in both the 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:52.340 physical, the spiritual, and the emotional support 00:02:52.340 --> 00:02:56.240 of the world. He cared deeply. He uses this word 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:59.000 that when he saw the crowds, he had compassion 00:02:59.000 --> 00:03:01.979 on them. And this compassion can be defined as 00:03:01.979 --> 00:03:05.080 a deep concern about the pain and suffering of 00:03:05.080 --> 00:03:08.159 others and willingness to lend a helping hand. 00:03:08.840 --> 00:03:11.139 You see, compassion should be what drives us 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:13.680 as the church, as the body of Christ, to go out 00:03:13.680 --> 00:03:17.240 into the nations and to meet the physical, spiritual, 00:03:17.379 --> 00:03:19.879 and emotional needs of the world. And when Jesus 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.139 had compassion, it gives a reason on why he had 00:03:22.139 --> 00:03:25.599 compassion. Because they were harassed and helpless, 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:28.090 like a sheep without a shepherd. When I think 00:03:28.090 --> 00:03:30.449 of this image of harassed and helplessness, I 00:03:30.449 --> 00:03:33.110 don't think of the image of sheep without a shepherd, 00:03:33.210 --> 00:03:35.610 though you can probably draw the analogy. I think 00:03:35.610 --> 00:03:37.509 of an image that I have when I was a young boy 00:03:37.509 --> 00:03:40.830 of a dog that was tied to a tree, and it had 00:03:40.830 --> 00:03:43.009 a chain on it, and so it was a dirt path and 00:03:43.009 --> 00:03:45.629 a circle all around the tree, and there was grass. 00:03:45.930 --> 00:03:47.949 And the grass was kind of the safe area, so you 00:03:47.949 --> 00:03:50.009 could get up to the dog, you could kind of harass 00:03:50.009 --> 00:03:52.830 and tease the dog. And I remember one time watching 00:03:52.830 --> 00:03:56.330 this cat walk right past it. And the cat was 00:03:56.330 --> 00:03:58.300 kind of like, taunting the dog and the dog is 00:03:58.300 --> 00:04:01.460 going crazy, barking at this cat, just wanting 00:04:01.460 --> 00:04:05.300 to get to the cat, but it's chained up. Can't 00:04:05.300 --> 00:04:08.120 do anything about it. And I'm not gonna tell 00:04:08.120 --> 00:04:09.580 you the story about the little boy who would 00:04:09.580 --> 00:04:12.060 also tease the dog and run across, but I do have 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:14.280 a scar on my left calf because if you run into 00:04:14.280 --> 00:04:18.379 that perimeter, the dog can also get you. But 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:21.259 this harassed and helplessness is the reason 00:04:21.259 --> 00:04:25.199 why Jesus had compassion. He saw the crowds, 00:04:25.579 --> 00:04:28.160 and he was looking at them, and every single 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.920 one of us, we are harassed and we're helpless. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:36.399 And it's not by God, it's by Satan. Like God 00:04:36.399 --> 00:04:38.819 had compassion when he saw this, he said, this 00:04:38.819 --> 00:04:41.360 isn't the way I intended the world, this isn't 00:04:41.360 --> 00:04:45.019 what I created humans for, it's to be helpless. 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.939 And so he challenges them to do something. And 00:04:48.939 --> 00:04:50.939 the problem that we have is we don't see the 00:04:50.939 --> 00:04:53.540 world like God does. We see the world through 00:04:53.540 --> 00:04:56.939 our own lens. Now, my daughter Charlie loves 00:04:56.939 --> 00:04:58.699 sunglasses, and I brought a few different pairs 00:04:58.699 --> 00:05:00.759 of them. No, I'm not going to try them on for 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:04.180 you. But you can find her walking around our 00:05:04.180 --> 00:05:07.279 house. with a pair of sunglasses on, a purse 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:10.120 and a baby doll, or even the grocery cart. And 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:11.879 what she's gonna do is when she puts on these 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.100 glasses, it distorts her view. And she trips 00:05:15.100 --> 00:05:19.199 over toys and she runs into walls and it distorts 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:21.720 the view. And so today I wanna use this analogy 00:05:21.720 --> 00:05:26.040 of glasses that we wear that distort our view 00:05:26.040 --> 00:05:30.180 of compassion. So what blocks compassion? The 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:32.480 first thing that blocks compassion is a distorted 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:37.160 view of sin. The way we view sin shapes the way 00:05:37.160 --> 00:05:39.639 we view the world I grew up in a family where 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:41.720 there's a lot of drugs and there was alcohol 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:44.459 and it was a broken home I didn't meet my dad 00:05:44.459 --> 00:05:47.040 until I was 16 years old and I was literally 00:05:47.040 --> 00:05:50.040 the redheaded stepchild and I remember when I 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.339 was asking the question that every kid asked 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:54.959 is How are you a good person? How does someone 00:05:54.959 --> 00:05:58.430 go to heaven? I answered that question was, I 00:05:58.430 --> 00:06:00.730 just have to be better than my parents. So if 00:06:00.730 --> 00:06:03.170 I don't drink, if I don't do drugs, if I don't 00:06:03.170 --> 00:06:06.230 leave my kids, that makes me a good person. And 00:06:06.230 --> 00:06:09.129 I set up a standard in my life that was here. 00:06:09.689 --> 00:06:12.810 And so as long as I was above that, I was a good 00:06:12.810 --> 00:06:16.230 person. But this distorted view of what sin was 00:06:16.230 --> 00:06:19.730 led me. down a path that I was just trying to 00:06:19.730 --> 00:06:22.629 be better than other people. And it blocked compassion 00:06:22.629 --> 00:06:25.449 because when we view sin as this ladder and as 00:06:25.449 --> 00:06:28.089 people go higher and higher, they sin more and 00:06:28.089 --> 00:06:32.209 more, we lack compassion and empathy for these 00:06:32.209 --> 00:06:34.589 people. And that's how I viewed it. It was this 00:06:34.589 --> 00:06:38.529 holy huddle of we get together and it's us. And 00:06:38.529 --> 00:06:41.850 in my teenage years, I looked at God's word and 00:06:41.850 --> 00:06:45.490 I found verses like Romans 3 10 that says no 00:06:45.490 --> 00:06:49.839 one is righteous. No, not one. No one understands. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:54.060 No one seeks for God. All have turned aside together 00:06:54.060 --> 00:06:57.639 and have become worthless. No one does good. 00:06:58.139 --> 00:07:01.319 No, not one. You see, the way God views sins 00:07:01.319 --> 00:07:03.420 and the way we can view sin is when we remove 00:07:03.420 --> 00:07:06.899 the glasses, it's not this ladder. Sin is sin. 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.420 And any sin separates us from a holy God and 00:07:10.420 --> 00:07:14.430 we are not good. And our acts, our ties, our 00:07:14.430 --> 00:07:16.649 offerings, our church attendance doesn't put 00:07:16.649 --> 00:07:20.189 the standard of covering that up. And as we look 00:07:20.189 --> 00:07:24.009 at sin, we see that people struggle with sin 00:07:24.009 --> 00:07:28.269 and they're all in need of compassion. I'm thankful 00:07:28.269 --> 00:07:30.790 God removed those blinders and I accepted him 00:07:30.790 --> 00:07:33.350 when I was 14 years old. The second thing that 00:07:33.350 --> 00:07:36.129 blocks compassion is a distorted view of others. 00:07:37.009 --> 00:07:39.149 As you read the Bible, there's a lot of examples 00:07:39.149 --> 00:07:41.709 of people that you should look up to and that 00:07:41.709 --> 00:07:44.149 just knock it out of the park. But there's also 00:07:44.149 --> 00:07:47.009 a lot of examples of people who just fail miserably. 00:07:47.649 --> 00:07:49.649 And one story of one of those people is a guy 00:07:49.649 --> 00:07:52.829 named Jonah. You see, Jonah was told to go to 00:07:52.829 --> 00:07:55.649 the city of Nineveh and preach the gospel and 00:07:55.649 --> 00:07:58.930 to tell him to repent. But Jonah decided to run. 00:07:59.569 --> 00:08:02.610 And so God picked Jonah up in the Uber Express. 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:06.639 A great fish or how I like to call it, the great 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:09.620 well mobile 3000, right? You can argue whether 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:12.720 it's a well or not, but he put the GPS coordinates 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:17.699 for 316 Nineveh shore and Jonah was dropped off 00:08:17.699 --> 00:08:20.579 on the shoreline. He walked into the city and 00:08:20.579 --> 00:08:23.519 he preached the shortest sermon, eight words, 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:26.839 told him to repent. And what happened afterwards 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.000 is found in Jonah chapter three and Jonah chapter 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:33.759 four. Jonah 3 10 says this. When God saw what 00:08:33.759 --> 00:08:36.720 Nineveh did, how they turned from their evil 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:40.580 ways, God relented from the disaster that he 00:08:40.580 --> 00:08:43.240 had said that he would do to them, and he did 00:08:43.240 --> 00:08:47.779 not do it. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:51.500 and he was very angry. I don't know about you, 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:53.460 but if I preach an eight -word sermon and the 00:08:53.460 --> 00:08:56.179 whole city of Wichita Falls repents, I'm gonna 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:59.480 be excited, I'm not gonna be angry. But Jonah 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:03.279 wasn't preaching a sermon to his hometown. Jonah 00:09:03.279 --> 00:09:05.940 was going and told to go to the people he didn't 00:09:05.940 --> 00:09:08.279 like, the people he didn't respect, the people 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:13.059 he saw unworthy of salvation. So it distorted 00:09:13.059 --> 00:09:15.519 his view of compassion on the way he saw other 00:09:15.519 --> 00:09:18.919 people. He saw that they weren't worthy of it. 00:09:19.500 --> 00:09:23.259 He had no compassion for it. And verse two says 00:09:23.259 --> 00:09:25.960 this. And he prayed to the Lord and he said, 00:09:26.720 --> 00:09:29.320 is this not what I said to you while I was yet 00:09:29.320 --> 00:09:32.720 in my own country, that I made haste to flee 00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:36.419 to Tarshish, for I knew that you were a gracious 00:09:36.419 --> 00:09:41.779 God, and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in 00:09:41.779 --> 00:09:46.519 steadfast love, relenting from disaster. Jonah 00:09:46.519 --> 00:09:49.919 said, I knew you were compassionate, I knew you 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.879 cared about people, I knew that you wanted it, 00:09:52.139 --> 00:09:57.509 but I didn't like them. If we're honest, sometimes 00:09:57.509 --> 00:10:00.970 we relate more to people like Jonah than we do 00:10:00.970 --> 00:10:03.450 to people like Paul. See, Paul, they took his 00:10:03.450 --> 00:10:05.289 handkerchief and they were healing people. No 00:10:05.289 --> 00:10:07.730 one's come and asked me for clothes of mine so 00:10:07.730 --> 00:10:11.590 that I can go heal people and do miracles. But 00:10:11.590 --> 00:10:14.409 I can tell you I've had attitudes and I've had 00:10:14.409 --> 00:10:17.809 convictions and complaints in my heart that made 00:10:17.809 --> 00:10:22.549 me have a distorted view of other people, people 00:10:22.549 --> 00:10:25.190 I didn't like. Maybe it was their personality. 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:28.889 Maybe it was just something about them, but we 00:10:28.889 --> 00:10:31.509 have distorted view of people and if you were 00:10:31.509 --> 00:10:34.029 real Maybe there's some unread text messages 00:10:34.029 --> 00:10:35.789 on your phone because you don't like the person 00:10:35.789 --> 00:10:38.029 and don't want to respond to Maybe there's people 00:10:38.029 --> 00:10:41.629 that annoy you that you avoid on purpose the 00:10:41.629 --> 00:10:45.679 way we view people should be taken away and we 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.159 should view people like Jesus does. There's a 00:10:48.159 --> 00:10:50.379 group of people that had a disease called leprosy. 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:53.220 Leprosy was this flesh eating disease that just 00:10:53.220 --> 00:10:56.279 tore apart every part about you. Not only were 00:10:56.279 --> 00:10:59.820 you dying and decaying from the outside, you 00:10:59.820 --> 00:11:02.799 were isolated and you were told to be by yourself. 00:11:03.799 --> 00:11:05.700 And when people would come near you had a crowd, 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.000 unclean, so that they didn't come there. The 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:10.820 people of the day would have said, it's some 00:11:10.820 --> 00:11:12.820 kind of sin that you must have done that gave 00:11:12.820 --> 00:11:15.120 you leprosy or maybe you're just cursed by God. 00:11:15.740 --> 00:11:19.179 These people were broken and they were left alone. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.279 And in Mark chapter one, we see a leper that 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:25.220 comes to Jesus and he implores him and kneels 00:11:25.220 --> 00:11:28.080 down before Jesus and he says, if you will, Mark 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:32.759 1 .40, if you will, you can make me clean. And 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:36.039 moved with compassion, Jesus stretched out his 00:11:36.039 --> 00:11:39.889 hand and he touched him. And he said, I will 00:11:39.889 --> 00:11:43.750 be clean. And immediately the leprosy left him 00:11:43.750 --> 00:11:47.710 and he was made clean. When Jesus saw this man, 00:11:48.009 --> 00:11:49.809 he didn't just see a man that was sick that could 00:11:49.809 --> 00:11:53.370 get him sick. He saw someone that was harassed 00:11:53.370 --> 00:11:58.659 and helpless in need of compassion. The way Jesus 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:01.080 views other people sometimes so much more radically 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.700 different than how I view other people. My wife 00:12:03.700 --> 00:12:06.059 gets sick and I wanna quarantine her off and 00:12:06.059 --> 00:12:07.960 be like, I'll throw you the soup, you better 00:12:07.960 --> 00:12:13.399 catch. And the way Jesus viewed a man who was 00:12:13.399 --> 00:12:18.769 isolated, outcast, hurting. He reached out and 00:12:18.769 --> 00:12:20.409 he could have healed him a million different 00:12:20.409 --> 00:12:22.330 ways. He could have spoken it. He could have 00:12:22.330 --> 00:12:24.409 picked up dust and blown it at him. He could 00:12:24.409 --> 00:12:27.169 have not touched him. But Jesus was the only 00:12:27.169 --> 00:12:30.389 one that knew the last time someone embraced 00:12:30.389 --> 00:12:33.870 him and made human contact with him. So Jesus 00:12:33.870 --> 00:12:38.250 stretches out his hands, embraces him and heals 00:12:38.250 --> 00:12:42.389 him. This is the God we serve, a gracious, a 00:12:42.389 --> 00:12:46.090 merciful, a compassionate God who loves you. 00:12:46.330 --> 00:12:49.389 and loves the people of the world. There's a 00:12:49.389 --> 00:12:52.429 Latin phrase called Amago Dei. In Genesis 1, 00:12:52.429 --> 00:12:55.850 27, it says, so God created man in his own image. 00:12:56.269 --> 00:12:59.909 In the image of God, he created a male and female, 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:02.529 he created them. See, when Jesus saw this man, 00:13:03.070 --> 00:13:06.190 he saw a reflection of himself. Because God had 00:13:06.190 --> 00:13:11.590 put an imprint on him that gave him value and 00:13:11.590 --> 00:13:16.460 worth and love. And sometimes, We view people 00:13:16.460 --> 00:13:18.759 because they speak a different language, from 00:13:18.759 --> 00:13:21.740 a different part of the world, different skin 00:13:21.740 --> 00:13:25.440 color, different socioeconomic class. Maybe they 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.179 just have different personalities or different 00:13:28.179 --> 00:13:32.679 hobbies than us. Maybe they have some disability 00:13:32.679 --> 00:13:36.759 or special needs and we view them differently, 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:40.740 like they're lesser. But God made it clear from 00:13:40.740 --> 00:13:44.480 the beginning that we were made in His image. 00:13:44.909 --> 00:13:47.090 And I'm so passionate about this issue because 00:13:47.090 --> 00:13:50.990 if we had the right mindset of how to view people 00:13:50.990 --> 00:13:54.929 as the image of God, it makes sin extremely hard. 00:13:55.929 --> 00:13:57.970 There was a professor and he took his class and 00:13:57.970 --> 00:14:00.330 he had them draw images of people they disliked. 00:14:00.590 --> 00:14:02.950 and the class got together and just started drawing. 00:14:03.110 --> 00:14:05.429 And some of them made characteristics and put 00:14:05.429 --> 00:14:07.850 big pimples on them, and they drew people who 00:14:07.850 --> 00:14:09.870 cheated on their boyfriend, or they drew people 00:14:09.870 --> 00:14:12.750 that backstabbed them or stole or lied about 00:14:12.750 --> 00:14:15.289 them, people they really were harmed and hated 00:14:15.289 --> 00:14:17.889 by. And the professor one by one had them come 00:14:17.889 --> 00:14:20.330 up and put the picture on a dart board and throw 00:14:20.330 --> 00:14:22.370 darts. And they did it. And some of them threw 00:14:22.370 --> 00:14:25.230 with a lot of anger. At the very end of the lesson, 00:14:25.289 --> 00:14:28.370 he starts removing every single picture. And 00:14:28.370 --> 00:14:30.649 the very last picture that he had placed before 00:14:30.649 --> 00:14:32.889 the class had started was a picture of Jesus. 00:14:33.750 --> 00:14:36.269 And he explained that when we throw darts at 00:14:36.269 --> 00:14:40.429 other people, when we are a distorted view of 00:14:40.429 --> 00:14:43.490 how we see others, it's a distorted view of how 00:14:43.490 --> 00:14:48.149 we see our Creator. Point number three, as another 00:14:48.149 --> 00:14:50.929 thing that blocks compassion, is a distorted 00:14:50.929 --> 00:14:57.110 view of ourself. The view of how others see us 00:14:57.909 --> 00:15:01.470 directly shapes how we see ourselves. So how 00:15:01.470 --> 00:15:03.509 other people see us, how your parents talk to 00:15:03.509 --> 00:15:07.029 you, what was spoken to you is how you see yourself. 00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:11.049 And that shapes how we see it. And a lot of us, 00:15:11.049 --> 00:15:13.909 we have a distorted view of ourselves. And so 00:15:13.909 --> 00:15:15.889 if someone asked you today and asked you, how 00:15:15.889 --> 00:15:19.809 are you doing? The answer is always, good. It's 00:15:19.809 --> 00:15:23.350 never, I'm horrible, today sucks, it's not a 00:15:23.350 --> 00:15:26.590 good day. It's always, I'm doing good, I'm doing 00:15:26.590 --> 00:15:28.490 great. And if you were to expand on it, you'd 00:15:28.490 --> 00:15:30.710 probably use words like, man, life has just been 00:15:30.710 --> 00:15:32.570 busy. And that would be like the most vulnerable 00:15:32.570 --> 00:15:36.090 that you get. And see, part of it is we don't 00:15:36.090 --> 00:15:40.149 think our issues matter. We think there's people 00:15:40.149 --> 00:15:41.769 out there that are starving, there's people that 00:15:41.769 --> 00:15:44.210 are homeless, there's people that are medically 00:15:44.210 --> 00:15:46.570 in a lot of need, and we're doing better than 00:15:46.570 --> 00:15:49.230 them, so we don't need compassion. We don't need, 00:15:49.809 --> 00:15:52.330 we don't feel that we're harassed or helpless. 00:15:53.100 --> 00:15:55.779 Because we're not down at this certain level. 00:15:56.340 --> 00:16:00.220 And that distorted view of ourselves puts a blocked 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:04.000 view on where we can have compassion. See Jesus, 00:16:04.120 --> 00:16:07.259 when he has compassion, he has it for you too. 00:16:07.820 --> 00:16:11.279 Like he loves you, he cares about you. So many 00:16:11.279 --> 00:16:13.419 people think that Jesus of course can save other 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:15.820 people, but Jesus could never love me. Jesus 00:16:15.820 --> 00:16:18.440 could do this for so many other people, but not 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:22.370 for me. You see, Jesus loves you. Jesus made 00:16:22.370 --> 00:16:27.809 you in his image. Jesus cares about you. When 00:16:27.809 --> 00:16:30.230 I was thinking about just kind of this selfishness 00:16:30.230 --> 00:16:33.009 and just like, how do we view ourselves, the 00:16:33.009 --> 00:16:36.009 thing that came to me was our cell phones. You 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:38.889 know, every social media algorithm, every app 00:16:38.889 --> 00:16:42.230 that you have, it is all catered to what you 00:16:42.230 --> 00:16:45.470 want and what you desire. Everything about it 00:16:45.470 --> 00:16:47.870 is catered to what you want. and what you desire. 00:16:48.009 --> 00:16:49.789 If you don't like something, you swipe past it, 00:16:49.870 --> 00:16:52.129 the algorithm picks up on it and doesn't show 00:16:52.129 --> 00:16:53.769 you any more of that content or shows you less 00:16:53.769 --> 00:16:56.230 of it. If you spend more time on something, it 00:16:56.230 --> 00:16:59.509 caters to you. And so it's hard to be compassionate 00:16:59.509 --> 00:18:43.650 when everything about our phone... cowboy hats, 00:18:43.809 --> 00:18:46.490 like country, riding a horse makes no sense to 00:18:46.490 --> 00:18:48.589 me. You have a truck and the truck has a seat. 00:18:48.730 --> 00:18:53.569 Like there's other ways to do this. But I applied 00:18:53.569 --> 00:18:56.890 for an Evening Star Ranch foreman position. I 00:18:56.890 --> 00:18:58.910 was newly married and me and my wife needed money 00:18:58.910 --> 00:19:02.450 to survive. And the sweet family, the Clarks, 00:19:02.609 --> 00:19:05.529 gave me a job interview. And in that job interview 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:07.650 they started telling me about how their operation 00:19:07.650 --> 00:19:09.589 works. You see the Clarks at the Evening Star 00:19:09.589 --> 00:19:13.569 Ranch took in wild Mustangs, They broke and trained 00:19:13.569 --> 00:19:16.490 them. I think it's really dumb to jump on a horse 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.869 and get bucked off. I don't think that is a smart 00:19:18.869 --> 00:19:21.750 way to do it. And if you've ever been a job interview, 00:19:21.789 --> 00:19:24.289 but you needed a job and you needed money, you 00:19:24.289 --> 00:19:26.789 probably lied at the job interview. So when Doug 00:19:26.789 --> 00:19:29.509 was asking me if I was OK with this, if I was 00:19:29.509 --> 00:19:31.710 this kind of person, I was like, absolutely. 00:19:31.829 --> 00:19:33.690 I wore jeans to the interview just to impress 00:19:33.690 --> 00:19:37.170 him. And I was all in because I was a broke, 00:19:37.549 --> 00:19:40.390 married college student. And I needed a job. 00:19:40.490 --> 00:19:43.470 that provided for my family. I'm very thankful 00:19:43.470 --> 00:19:45.950 for Doug because Doug taught me that there's 00:19:45.950 --> 00:19:48.089 more than one way to break an animal. There's 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:50.410 this thing called desensitization. Blah, I messed 00:19:50.410 --> 00:19:53.190 that one up. Yeah, desensitizing the Mustangs. 00:19:53.549 --> 00:19:55.509 And so my job wasn't to jump on the horse and 00:19:55.509 --> 00:19:57.210 get bucked off and get back on and get bucked 00:19:57.210 --> 00:20:00.470 off. My job was to brush the horse and move my 00:20:00.470 --> 00:20:02.920 hand real fast. And when it started, the horse 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:05.539 to calm it down and do it again. And I was to 00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:07.539 put the saddle on the horse and take it off and 00:20:07.539 --> 00:20:10.660 put it on the horse and take it off. And we desensitized 00:20:10.660 --> 00:20:12.579 the horse in like a million different ways. I 00:20:12.579 --> 00:20:14.900 had a flag and I would just like wave the flag 00:20:14.900 --> 00:20:16.920 when I was near him and it would scare the horse. 00:20:17.059 --> 00:20:18.900 But sooner or later, the horse just got used 00:20:18.900 --> 00:20:21.539 to this crazy redheaded guy just waving stuff 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:24.420 around and making some noise. And they became 00:20:24.420 --> 00:20:28.920 calm and they became tame. It's crazy to watch 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:32.990 horses do that. But in the terms of compassion, 00:20:33.650 --> 00:20:37.309 our culture's doing it to us. You see, we get 00:20:37.309 --> 00:20:40.509 on our phone and we see our favorite sports clip, 00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:44.289 our athlete top 10 moment from ESPN, and it's 00:20:44.289 --> 00:20:46.410 so cool, and it's so awesome, and we get the 00:20:46.410 --> 00:20:48.150 endorphins, and we think about what it was like, 00:20:48.170 --> 00:20:50.829 and if only there was cameras when I was a student 00:20:50.829 --> 00:20:52.650 and I was playing sports, because I would have 00:20:52.650 --> 00:20:56.329 made the top 10. And then we scroll, and there's 00:20:56.329 --> 00:20:59.930 a flooding that kills kids. and our hearts is 00:20:59.930 --> 00:21:02.650 filled with compassion. But instead of doing 00:21:02.650 --> 00:21:05.490 anything with it, we scroll again. And there's 00:21:05.490 --> 00:21:07.890 a puppy video that's really cute and we're all 00:21:07.890 --> 00:21:10.190 happy again and we forget about that. A little 00:21:10.190 --> 00:21:12.730 bit later scrolling, we see another devastating, 00:21:13.069 --> 00:21:15.349 heartbreaking situation that breaks our heart. 00:21:15.569 --> 00:21:18.349 But instead of letting God build that compassion, 00:21:18.470 --> 00:21:21.410 it blocks the compassion because we can scroll 00:21:21.410 --> 00:21:26.430 and do it. The world is desensitizing us as Christians 00:21:26.430 --> 00:21:30.069 to compassion. So what do we do about it? We 00:21:30.069 --> 00:21:32.450 have to build compassion. And so how do we build 00:21:32.450 --> 00:21:35.789 compassion? First, you have to live for the kingdom. 00:21:36.569 --> 00:21:41.049 As a Christian, every day, every single day of 00:21:41.049 --> 00:21:44.150 every single moment, we are on mission for God. 00:21:44.529 --> 00:21:47.269 And God is giving you opportunities to build 00:21:47.269 --> 00:21:52.490 compassion at your job, in your home, in the 00:21:52.490 --> 00:21:54.609 work field, no matter where you're at, God is 00:21:54.609 --> 00:21:57.740 doing it in your hobbies. every aspect of our 00:21:57.740 --> 00:22:01.000 life is a mission field. And I'm so glad that 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:03.119 God allows each and every single one of us have 00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.019 different mission fields because where you work, 00:22:06.819 --> 00:22:09.240 you get to be the hands and feet of Jesus to 00:22:09.240 --> 00:22:12.579 those people. But you have to look up and have 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:14.700 vision because God's gonna give you opportunities 00:22:14.700 --> 00:22:17.940 every single day to have compassion. The question 00:22:17.940 --> 00:22:20.150 is, are you gonna be ready? I've learned one 00:22:20.150 --> 00:22:22.509 thing about God is that when he gives opportunities, 00:22:22.690 --> 00:22:24.789 it's not like I can say, hey God, I wanna be 00:22:24.789 --> 00:22:27.049 more compassionate. Can we block off Tuesday 00:22:27.049 --> 00:22:28.769 from like four to five and I'm just gonna be 00:22:28.769 --> 00:22:30.950 on mission for you right then? No, it's always 00:22:30.950 --> 00:22:35.190 at the most inconvenient time. I absolutely love 00:22:35.190 --> 00:22:38.789 flying, but I absolutely hate flying. because 00:22:38.789 --> 00:22:41.509 I roll the dice on who I sit next to every single 00:22:41.509 --> 00:22:43.789 time. Some of those are good conversations, some 00:22:43.789 --> 00:22:45.930 of those are bad, but when I'm flying, especially 00:22:45.930 --> 00:22:48.529 when I'm returning home from flying and I'm exhausted, 00:22:48.890 --> 00:22:51.430 my conversation goes like this with God. God, 00:22:51.490 --> 00:22:55.230 can I just put my AirPods in and just fall asleep 00:22:55.230 --> 00:22:58.470 and just relax and enjoy it? Can the roll be 00:22:58.470 --> 00:23:01.109 empty? And usually God laughs because when I'm 00:23:01.109 --> 00:23:03.470 tired and I'm exhausted and it's an inconvenient 00:23:03.470 --> 00:23:06.190 time to be compassionate and be the hands and 00:23:06.190 --> 00:23:09.069 feet of Jesus, that's when he shows opportunities. 00:23:09.759 --> 00:23:12.200 And if you're willing and you're able to listen 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:14.660 and look for those admissions and those compassionate 00:23:14.660 --> 00:23:17.700 opportunities, God will be faithful. And there 00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:20.859 will be amazing stories of what he does in everyday 00:23:20.859 --> 00:23:23.259 moments. Some days I get done with work and I've 00:23:23.259 --> 00:23:26.079 gotta run to Walmart or Target and pick up one 00:23:26.079 --> 00:23:29.180 item and I wanna get in and get out and I'm in 00:23:29.180 --> 00:23:32.079 a rush and that is the moment when I meet someone 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:35.579 from my past 15 years ago and we start connecting 00:23:35.579 --> 00:23:38.200 and we start talking and of course they ask what 00:23:38.200 --> 00:23:39.900 I'm doing and I get to say I'm a pastor and I 00:23:39.900 --> 00:23:42.039 get to tell people about Jesus and that's always 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:44.880 the best set up just to be like, hey, so do you 00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:47.680 go to church? Do you know Jesus? And I get to 00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:50.180 ask that question. And some of those conversations 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:52.079 aren't always easy and some of them are sticky 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:53.980 and some of the people are going through divorces 00:23:53.980 --> 00:23:56.539 and they're having a hard time in life and they're 00:23:56.539 --> 00:24:02.000 harassed and helpless. And as a compassionate 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.059 person every single day in those moments that 00:24:04.059 --> 00:24:06.339 I don't want to, it gives me the opportunity, 00:24:06.460 --> 00:24:08.920 it gives you the opportunity to be the hands 00:24:08.920 --> 00:24:12.980 and feet of Jesus. I want to warn you that when 00:24:12.980 --> 00:24:16.599 you live every day for the kingdom, When you 00:24:16.599 --> 00:24:18.940 have this kingdom -minded or the kingdom vision, 00:24:19.740 --> 00:24:22.759 it's gonna change how you see everything. You're 00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:24.799 exhausted to come home, guess what? Your kids 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.779 need compassion. Your wife needs compassion. 00:24:28.059 --> 00:24:31.259 Your husband needs compassion because Satan has 00:24:31.259 --> 00:24:34.099 been speaking lies all day and you get to be 00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:36.519 the hands and feet of it. Number two, you get 00:24:36.519 --> 00:24:39.400 to serve on mission. Here at First Baptist Church, 00:24:39.680 --> 00:24:42.799 we talk a lot about serving because serving can 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:46.849 change your Serving is so important for the Christian. 00:24:47.150 --> 00:24:48.890 That's why we had the volunteer video. And there's 00:24:48.890 --> 00:24:50.250 many different ways where you can serve. You 00:24:50.250 --> 00:24:52.029 can serve in preschool, and you can serve in 00:24:52.029 --> 00:24:54.089 the media team, and you can serve with the greeting 00:24:54.089 --> 00:24:56.789 team, you can serve in kids ministry, or you 00:24:56.789 --> 00:25:02.250 can serve in 180 ministry. Yeah, yeah. And as 00:25:02.250 --> 00:25:05.150 you look at all these places to serve, this builds 00:25:05.150 --> 00:25:07.450 compassion. And it builds compassion in a different 00:25:07.450 --> 00:25:10.200 way. Because what I find is when we go serve, 00:25:10.420 --> 00:25:12.420 a lot of times we're looking at the people we're 00:25:12.420 --> 00:25:14.700 looking to help, but God is doing something in 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:18.460 our own heart, in our own mind. When you serve, 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:22.660 God wants to change your heart, your compassion, 00:25:23.119 --> 00:25:25.579 your mind. And you have to be willing to let 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:27.720 him do it. It gives you a better perspective 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:32.079 and allows you to see that compassion can change 00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:34.619 you, but it also changes the people that you 00:25:34.619 --> 00:25:37.119 do serve with. And not only should you serve 00:25:37.119 --> 00:25:40.039 locally just here, like you should go on a mission 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:42.279 trip. It's easy to give to a mission trip, but 00:25:42.279 --> 00:25:44.660 when you go on a mission trip, right now as they're 00:25:44.660 --> 00:25:47.220 in Kenya and they are serving, their perspective 00:25:47.220 --> 00:25:51.019 is radically being changed. Their heart is being 00:25:51.019 --> 00:25:53.700 softened for compassion as they see different 00:25:53.700 --> 00:25:56.160 needs of the world and they see different people. 00:25:56.460 --> 00:25:58.380 When you go to Mission Arlington just down the 00:25:58.380 --> 00:26:00.799 road, it gives you a heart of compassion and 00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:03.859 it builds it because you see the needs of the 00:26:03.859 --> 00:26:08.609 world. And so you should serve. And not only 00:26:08.609 --> 00:26:10.470 does it change you, but it changes those you 00:26:10.470 --> 00:26:13.549 serve. Life changes when you're willing to sacrifice 00:26:13.549 --> 00:26:16.309 and give abundantly to those around you. You're 00:26:16.309 --> 00:26:18.250 willing to see the harassed and the helpless, 00:26:18.329 --> 00:26:20.150 and you're willing to tell them that they're 00:26:20.150 --> 00:26:23.450 not harassed and helpless by God, but by Satan. 00:26:23.769 --> 00:26:26.190 and that there's a shepherd and there is a savior 00:26:26.190 --> 00:26:29.109 and his name is Jesus Christ and he loves you 00:26:29.109 --> 00:26:32.369 unconditionally and he is compassionate for you 00:26:32.369 --> 00:26:35.970 and you get to make his name known. Point number 00:26:35.970 --> 00:26:37.950 three in there, how to build compassion is to 00:26:37.950 --> 00:26:40.390 stay in God's word. When we're on our phone, 00:26:40.430 --> 00:26:43.109 we get to see what we want, what our desires 00:26:43.109 --> 00:26:46.269 needs, but when we open up God's word, guess 00:26:46.269 --> 00:26:49.329 what? Doesn't really care what you want. what 00:26:49.329 --> 00:26:52.769 your desires are or what your need is. It speaks 00:26:52.769 --> 00:26:56.529 truth into your life. And as you read the story 00:26:56.529 --> 00:26:58.789 of the Bible, you're gonna read stories of people 00:26:58.789 --> 00:27:01.109 who spit in the face of God and you're gonna 00:27:01.109 --> 00:27:03.250 be like, God, why didn't you just destroy these 00:27:03.250 --> 00:27:05.890 people? They were stubborn. They were all running 00:27:05.890 --> 00:27:09.470 away from you. They didn't care about you. And 00:27:09.470 --> 00:27:12.690 God's gonna turn the flip. And you're gonna see 00:27:12.690 --> 00:27:15.910 that you're stubborn, that I'm stubborn, that 00:27:15.910 --> 00:27:19.390 I deserve, God, not to be slow to anger. but 00:27:19.390 --> 00:27:22.630 he's compassionate. And when you see the compassion 00:27:22.630 --> 00:27:24.690 that he has for other people in the Bible, when 00:27:24.690 --> 00:27:28.089 you see the picture of how he can save people 00:27:28.089 --> 00:27:31.390 like Jonah, he can save people like Paul, he 00:27:31.390 --> 00:27:34.190 can save people like Nineveh, he can heal people 00:27:34.190 --> 00:27:37.869 like the leopard, it changes your heart. But 00:27:37.869 --> 00:27:40.130 it's when you force yourself to read what God 00:27:40.130 --> 00:27:43.250 wants you to, you can see how God is a gracious 00:27:43.250 --> 00:27:47.130 God. how God is a merciful God, how He is slow 00:27:47.130 --> 00:27:50.109 to anger, how He's abounding in steadfast love, 00:27:50.470 --> 00:27:53.470 and how He is relenting from disaster. Even now, 00:27:53.829 --> 00:27:56.730 in a world that doesn't deserve it, He's showing 00:27:56.730 --> 00:28:01.349 compassion. Compassion should produce action, 00:28:01.589 --> 00:28:03.930 though. That's my final point. Passion should 00:28:03.930 --> 00:28:08.089 produce action. It is impossible to have compassion 00:28:08.089 --> 00:28:11.549 without action. Almost every instant of scripture 00:28:11.549 --> 00:28:14.410 where we see Jesus have compassion, there is 00:28:14.410 --> 00:28:16.430 an action that follows. He sees the leopard, 00:28:16.809 --> 00:28:18.869 and he has compassion on him, and he touches 00:28:18.869 --> 00:28:22.170 him, and he heals him. He sees the crowds, and 00:28:22.170 --> 00:28:24.529 they're hungry, and they're tired, and he says, 00:28:24.849 --> 00:28:27.809 feed them, and he feeds them. He sees in this 00:28:27.809 --> 00:28:30.410 passage, and he gathers up his disciples, and 00:28:30.410 --> 00:28:34.359 he says, who pray for laborers because the harvest 00:28:34.359 --> 00:28:39.220 is plentiful but the laborers are few. Jesus 00:28:39.220 --> 00:28:43.900 prays for laborers. Me and you, we are the laborers. 00:28:44.119 --> 00:28:47.480 Jesus is challenging you. Jesus is calling you 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:49.799 out. The laborers are right here. They just haven't 00:28:49.799 --> 00:28:52.839 been sent out yet. So as you're in the seed and 00:28:52.839 --> 00:28:55.000 as you're listening, there's people all around 00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:58.839 us. They're harassed. They're helpless. They're 00:28:58.839 --> 00:29:01.759 at Walmart. They're at Target. They're at those 00:29:01.759 --> 00:29:04.180 moments where it's real busy. And let's just 00:29:04.180 --> 00:29:07.019 be honest, they're right here in this room. It's 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:11.220 me. So many times, I'm just like harassed and 00:29:11.220 --> 00:29:12.740 I'm helpless, and that's not because I have a 00:29:12.740 --> 00:29:16.279 one year old. It is the moments where Satan is 00:29:16.279 --> 00:29:19.799 speaking lies to me. He's trying to tear me down. 00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:22.700 Someone says something that they didn't mean 00:29:22.700 --> 00:29:24.779 anything, but all of a sudden it's got me in 00:29:24.779 --> 00:29:28.460 a bad attitude and it ruins my day. And I need 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:32.630 more compassion. for myself, but I also need 00:29:32.630 --> 00:29:36.190 more vision to see compassion for those around 00:29:36.190 --> 00:29:39.789 me, those who are hurting, those who are lonely. 00:29:40.710 --> 00:29:43.930 Compassion must produce action and if it doesn't 00:29:43.930 --> 00:29:47.349 produce action, it will callous your heart and 00:29:47.349 --> 00:29:50.109 your heart will become hard and you'll see God 00:29:50.109 --> 00:29:53.990 as an evil God who's not loving, who's not kind. 00:29:55.210 --> 00:29:58.950 Some people in this room, you are harassed and 00:29:58.950 --> 00:30:01.819 helpless. and you're at the point of giving up. 00:30:02.279 --> 00:30:05.000 Some of you that are in this room, you have blocked 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:08.079 compassion out for so long that you feel numb. 00:30:08.599 --> 00:30:10.799 Some of you who are in this room, you've never 00:30:10.799 --> 00:30:14.880 seen the compassion that Jesus has for you. And 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:17.460 I want you to know there's a savior. His name 00:30:17.460 --> 00:30:21.640 is Jesus. We're not helpless if we call out to 00:30:21.640 --> 00:30:25.569 the one who can help us. You've been listening 00:30:25.569 --> 00:30:27.809 to a message from First Baptist Church, Wichita 00:30:27.809 --> 00:30:30.609 Falls. For more information about First Baptist, 00:30:30.750 --> 00:30:33.549 including gathering times and locations, click 00:30:33.549 --> 00:30:37.390 the link in the show notes or go to FBCWF .org. 00:30:37.809 --> 00:30:38.910 We'll see you next week.