Latest / Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st / Kindness

Transcript

Kindness · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

0:09
Church Family, Lord willing, on the 1st Sunday in February we
0:12
will resume our normal MO of working through one book of the
0:17
Bible at a time. Most recently we have been in
0:20
the New Testament with first John, second John and 3rd John
0:24
and I. Just to give you a little prep
0:26
time, if you'd like to read ahead, we will resume 1st Sunday
0:30
in in February, which I think is the first where we left off in
0:34
the book of Genesis. Now some of you be like, whoa, I
0:36
don't even remember that. That was back in the spring of
0:39
2021. We preach Genesis one through 11
0:42
and we're going to pick back up in chapter 12 and work our way
0:46
to the end. If you'd like to get ahead and
0:48
read ahead, that's what we're going to be.
0:49
That first book of the Bible contains so many 1st and
0:54
foundational fundamental truths for life is how God designed it
0:58
to operate for us and His will and His people.
1:01
And so we'll be returning there as we're working our way through
1:05
the Old Testament book there of Genesis to come for the month of
1:09
February, for the month of January.
1:11
Rather, we're going to do something just a little bit
1:14
different for four weeks. And what I'm doing is many of
1:18
you've heard the saying from a man by the name of Henry
1:20
Blackaby, There's a lot of truth in this statement.
1:23
He says if you want to know the will of God, then look around
1:26
you see what God is doing and join him.
1:33
Well, you look around our city, our county, our community, and
1:36
you see God working in all sorts and all kinds of ways.
1:39
One of those ways is a way that I've been privileged to also
1:43
join in. And it was actually originated
1:46
or instigated, if you will, are launched by our local Bartow
1:50
Baptist Association and our own David Franklin member here and
1:54
local Director of missions here in our county and community in
1:58
our city. And it's an effort that has been
2:00
adopted by our Bartow County schools that they've been
2:04
implementing really going back about six years and then most
2:08
recently this most recent school year calling their Bartow Cares
2:13
for You or Bartow Relational Values Campaign.
2:17
And what this is, y'all is an adoption of some of the one
2:21
another's of Scripture. You know, those love one
2:24
another, bear with one another, serve one another, encourage one
2:28
another, forgive one another. You've got all these one
2:31
another's in Scripture that are commands for us as believers for
2:34
how to do life, how to do life in a way that honors God and
2:38
bears fruit for the Kingdom of God.
2:40
Well, the school system has realized they need some help
2:43
helping their student staff and administration do life in a way
2:49
that brings flourishing, which the Bible is all about.
2:53
And so they can't quote the book, chapter and verse, but
2:57
they can adopt the values. In fact, for the 20252026 school
3:02
year, they've adopted 4/4 that. They are bringing in leaders
3:06
from the faith community. They're bringing in pastors to
3:09
Bartow County Schools to train the the the teachers and
3:14
administration in these four things one at a time.
3:17
I had a chance to be at Woodland Middle School and spend all day
3:20
with every member of the teaching faculty teaching and
3:25
training on the truth of practicing gratitude.
3:29
Now, I couldn't name chapter and verse, but guess what I was
3:31
doing? I was conveying biblical truth.
3:34
Amazing, right? And back to our kind of verse
3:37
for the anchor verse of these four weeks, Isaiah 45, eight.
3:41
What would it look like to reign righteousness for God to reign
3:45
righteousness in our city, county and community?
3:47
Well, one way, it would look as if pastors were invited into
3:51
public schools to talk about Bible truth.
3:54
Hallelujah, right. So I'm going to go next in a few
3:57
weeks and talk about hope in the same school and others are doing
4:00
the same all from elementary to high school.
4:03
So the four words, the four one another's in this year's
4:06
campaign are kindness, gratitude, hope, and
4:13
forgiveness. Kindness, gratitude, hope and
4:18
forgiveness. What we're going to do for the
4:21
next 4 weeks is just take these one at a time out of this idea
4:26
that what if righteousness were to reign?
4:29
What if God were to open up the heavens?
4:30
What if God were to expand and do more of what he's doing and
4:33
allow the church to have influence and allow us to
4:36
demonstrate and teach and talk about and show righteousness
4:40
behind doors. We may normally never have an
4:42
opportunity to have it in your workplaces and in the schools
4:45
and in businesses, in the streets and communities and you
4:48
name it. What if God were to open up the
4:49
heavens? Then we kind of need to know
4:51
what righteousness should rain, what that rain should be, and
4:54
what it should look like. And these are just 4.
4:55
There's so many we could name, but we're going to walk through
4:58
one at a time. Kindness, gratitude, hope, and
5:01
forgiveness right out of what the Bible says about these
5:04
things. Now, by the way, if you weren't
5:06
in the first service, I had Doctor Clint Terza, the Bartow
5:09
County school Superintendent with me that I interviewed.
5:12
But obviously we have what we have as a failure to communicate
5:14
because he didn't know we had a second service so we had to
5:17
leave and could not be interviewed for you guys.
5:19
So anyway, I asked him, hey, what's the origin of these
5:21
things in this campaign? How did they choose these 4
5:25
words and what are the results they've they're seeing?
5:28
And I can't say it as good as he could, but basically they deal a
5:31
lot of their students they deal with in the classroom have
5:34
trauma they've experienced outside the classroom, right?
5:38
And that trauma leads to being a barrier to learning.
5:42
But guess what happens when you start exposing people that have
5:45
experienced things that don't allow them to flourish, but when
5:48
they get exposed to the truth that does allow them to
5:50
flourish, like kindness and gratitude, hope and forgiveness.
5:53
Guess what it does to those, those, those traumas in their
5:56
lives? It starts to bring healing.
6:00
The truth will set us free. And next thing you know, he gave
6:04
a statistic report about how basically their incident reports
6:07
of trauma that they deal with with students to try to overcome
6:11
barriers to learning have dropped in half since they've
6:13
started this campaign of allowing the biblical truth and
6:16
righteousness of scripture to be brought in behind the doors in
6:20
public school settings. Amazing, right?
6:23
Let's take the first one, kindness together #1 If you
6:26
follow along in your notes, What is kindness?
6:29
Well, kindness is literally mentioned hundreds of times in
6:34
the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New
6:36
Testament. A definition would be usefulness
6:40
or helpfulness. It's not simply though an
6:43
attitude, y'all? Kindness is an action.
6:46
It is something that you do. It's not something that just
6:48
crosses your mind. It's not something that you just
6:51
look like. It's actually something you
6:52
implement in your life through your hands and your feet and
6:55
your words and your doing. It is literally, if you want to
6:59
fill in the blank, the act of being beneficial to others.
7:03
It is the act of being beneficial to others.
7:06
Now #2 kindness is from God because God is kind.
7:10
And this is where we're going to start seeing what does the Bible
7:12
have to say about this definition of kindness of being
7:16
beneficial to others. We're going to see here kindness
7:18
is from God because God is kind. What I'm talking about is that
7:22
there's one and only one ultimate and sole source of
7:25
kindness, and that is God Himself.
7:29
If you don't have your Bible open, open it to Psalm 103
7:32
because Psalm 103, the 1st 14 verses are about as clear and
7:36
comprehensive description of the kindness of God you will find in
7:40
all the Bible. I'm not sure it's humanly
7:43
possible to truly capture the kindness of God in human
7:47
language, but Psalm 103 does about as good a job as you could
7:52
ever expect. Listen to the words of God's
7:54
kindness in 1/03 of the Psalms. Bless the Lord, O my soul and
8:01
all that is within me. Bless His holy name.
8:04
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His.
8:07
Here's a keyword. Say that out loud.
8:10
Benefits. Remember, the act of kindness is
8:12
the act of being what to others, beneficial to others.
8:15
Here's how God is acted beneficially towards you,
8:19
towards me, and every single person.
8:23
Here it is, Bless the Lord all my soul, and forget not all His
8:26
benefits. Who forgives all your iniquity?
8:29
Who heals all your diseases? Who redeems your life from the
8:33
pit? Who crowns you with steadfast
8:35
love and mercy? Who satisfies you with good so
8:38
that your youth is renewed? Like the eagles, the Lord works
8:42
righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
8:45
He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of
8:48
Israel. The Lord is merciful and
8:50
gracious, slow to anger, and abounding and steadfast love.
8:54
He will not always chide, nor will He keep his anger forever.
8:58
He does not. This is a big one.
9:00
He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay
9:07
us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are
9:12
above the earth, so great is His steadfast love towards those who
9:16
fear Him. And as far as the east is from
9:18
the West, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
9:22
As a Father shows compassion to His children, so the Lord shows
9:25
compassion to those who fear Him.
9:27
For He knows our frame. He remembers we are dust.
9:31
God is kind and God's supreme act of kindness, never forget
9:38
was in descending of his one and only Son for the forgiveness of
9:43
sins for those who would trust in Jesus for salvation and
9:47
eternal life. Let me just go ahead and ask
9:49
you, have you received the greatest kindness of God who is
9:54
kind and the sole source of all kindness?
9:56
Because by faith, there's been a moment in your life when you
10:00
receive Jesus for the forgiveness of your sin.
10:03
Let me listen. Let me let you listen to what
10:04
Titus chapter 3 three verse 3 through 6 says.
10:07
For we ourselves for once foolish, disobedient.
10:12
Now listen, I got saved when I was a nine year old boy.
10:14
But I could tell you so much of this was true of me then.
10:17
Lord knows what would have been true of me had I been saved nine
10:21
years after that, or nine years after that, or nine years after
10:23
that. Given enough time as a Sinner,
10:25
we manifest all these things. For we ourselves were once
10:28
foolish, disobedient, LED astray, slaves to various
10:32
passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice US and envy,
10:36
hated by others and hating one another.
10:38
But when the goodness and loving kindness of God appeared, our
10:46
Savior appeared. He saved us, not because of
10:50
works done by us in righteousness, but according to
10:54
His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the
10:58
Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us richly through Jesus
11:03
Christ our Savior. Friends, God is kind, and God is
11:07
so kind that He came after us when we were worse than
11:11
nobody's. I want you to remember, as a
11:14
Sinner, we were enemies of God. We were traitors of God.
11:17
We were rebels against God, but I love what 1 preacher said.
11:20
He said our sin didn't stop God from charging after us and love
11:24
any more than waving a red flag does a charging bull.
11:27
God launched himself towards you and me, nothing stopping a God
11:32
who was kind and loved, sending His Son to chase down by His
11:37
Spirit sinners to draw them back to Himself.
11:41
God didn't just prove His kindness by taking on human
11:44
flesh for Him. God proved His kindness by
11:47
sending His Son to take on your sin.
11:50
He who knew no sin became sin for you, that you might become
11:57
the righteousness of God. The Bible says, y'all, kindness
12:02
is the very heart of the gospel because the gospel is the story
12:07
and the news and the reality and the fact of God's kindness to
12:12
you. Loving you enough to send his
12:14
Son, His Son, living a sinless life for you, dying as a
12:18
substitute for you, laid in a borrowed tomb, tasting death
12:23
three days later, rising again, never to die again, so we can
12:27
offer life eternally to all who would trust Him by faith.
12:30
Has there been a time that you know you've received the
12:35
kindness of God? If not, today can be that day if
12:39
you've not truly received the kindness of God.
12:43
God is kind, and kindness comes from God #3 Kindness is a fruit
12:48
of the Holy Spirit. Kindness is a fruit of the
12:53
Spirit. Galatians 522 says this.
12:55
But the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, patience.
13:01
There it is. Kindness, goodness,
13:04
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
13:07
Against such things there is no law, y'all.
13:09
It's true that kindness can be found in various places in our
13:13
world, can it not? I mean, kindness can be found
13:16
among non Christians and kindness can be found among
13:19
Christians. That's true, right?
13:22
Amen. Y'all wake this morning, Y'all
13:23
with me. All right, Just making sure.
13:25
There we go. Why is that?
13:28
It's because of something we call God's common grace.
13:32
God's common grace is the fact that it rains on farmers who are
13:35
wicked and it rains on farmers who are righteous and both grow
13:38
crops. You know why?
13:40
Because of the common grace of the provision of God for the
13:43
things of life. God is kind to humankind and so
13:47
many broadly, generally speaking, common grace ways.
13:52
But what the Bible makes clear as a fruit of the Spirit,
13:58
kindness ought to abound in the life of a Christian.
14:03
It ought to characterize everything about the life of a
14:07
Christian. The fruit of the Spirit, y'all,
14:10
is a product of the life of God in a follower of Christ.
14:14
And like a Thanksgiving table that overflows with ham and
14:17
Turkey and vegetables and desserts, your life should
14:20
overflow like a cornucopia of kindness.
14:23
And everything you do, everywhere you go, everything
14:25
you you say, kindness should characterize you.
14:28
I've heard it said that kindness ought to be to the Christian
14:31
what salt is to the ocean. You can't touch it, taste it, or
14:36
feel it without it being salty. You shouldn't be to go near a
14:41
Christian with that kindness characterizing everything about
14:46
you and who you are as a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
14:51
And here's the deal, because of the Holy Spirit that indwells a
14:54
Christian, you see, if you've trusted Christ for salvation,
14:58
the Bible says the Holy Spirit of God now indwells you.
15:00
And because of the Holy Spirit within you, you now as a
15:03
Christian don't miss this, have the capacity to be kind no
15:08
matter your situation or circumstances in life.
15:12
Now notice what I didn't say. I didn't say you have the
15:14
capacity to be kind on your own because you don't and I don't.
15:20
This is not natural, not in every situation or facing any
15:24
circumstance, but when the Holy Spirit lives in you, guess what
15:28
happens? He goes from leading you to live
15:30
a life that's not natural but supernatural.
15:33
When you say no to yourself and yes to him.
15:35
When you say God not my will but your will.
15:37
When you say let your will be done in my life as it is in
15:39
heaven. Holy Spirit have your way and
15:41
you don't try harder but you surrender to what God is
15:45
allowing and leading you to do. You have the capacity to be kind
15:49
and have the fruit of the Spirit manifested in any situation in
15:53
your life. Let me just ask you, do you
15:55
believe that? Do you, that you have the
15:59
capacity, because of the Holy Spirit, to be kind?
16:01
No matter, no matter, no matter the situation?
16:08
Kindness and goodness, if we think about it in terms of the
16:12
Trinity, is defined by the character of the Father.
16:15
It's displayed in the person and work of the Son, and it's
16:19
produced in the life of the believer by the indwelling of
16:22
the Holy Spirit. Kindness is a fruit of the Holy
16:26
Spirit #4 kindness is a command for all Christians.
16:33
Y'all, as God is kind, so we are called to be kind.
16:38
Let me put it more clearly. Kindness isn't optional in the
16:41
Christian life, right? We don't like when things are
16:45
put like that, but that's the essence of what the Bible says.
16:48
Let me just read the word of God to you.
16:50
Ephesians 432. Be kind to one another, tender
16:56
hearted, forgiving one another as God in Christ forgave you.
17:00
Colossians 312. This is not just once randomly
17:03
in the Bible, it's everywhere. Colossians 312.
17:05
Put on them as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved,
17:09
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness and patience
17:13
bearing with one another. Micah 68 He has shown you, O
17:16
man, what is good. Y'all know this, and that's what
17:21
that you are to do. Oh, come on, now that you are to
17:26
do justice, don't look at the screen.
17:27
I'm not sure it's there, but yeah, it is there.
17:29
Come on. That you are to do.
17:31
But I'm probably saying it my way instead of that way.
17:34
Yeah. So he's told you, O man, what is
17:36
good? And what does the Lord require
17:37
of you but to do justice? To love what?
17:41
Kindness. And to walk humbly with your
17:46
God. What does kindness look like to
17:51
men? We're walking on a narrow, high
17:55
mountain trail. On one side was a sheer drop
18:00
off. On the other side was a sheer
18:04
Rockwall Cliff. When the two men came to meet
18:09
head on, try as they may, they couldn't squeeze past one
18:14
another without realizing somebody was going off the edge.
18:17
They tried, they tried, they talked about it, they tried some
18:20
more. Couldn't do it.
18:23
The trail was too narrow until one of the men, without saying a
18:27
word, decided to lay down in the path and let the other man cross
18:31
by walking over him. That's kindness.
18:37
That's kindness when you sacrificially act for the good
18:42
of another. See, a lot of people think
18:45
kindness is weakness, but actually kindness requires far
18:52
more. I'm going to let you say it
18:56
strength. Kindness is not weakness.
19:01
It is being strong enough to allow the sacrifice to be paid
19:06
by you, just as God's done for you.
19:09
And by the way, how much is Christ paid for us?
19:13
He's paid it all. Kindness is not weakness.
19:17
Jesus didn't die on the cross in weakness.
19:21
He voluntarily put Himself there.
19:24
He was in total control. He chose.
19:27
When he took his last breath, He could have caught a myriad
19:30
legion of angels to come to his rescue at any moment in time.
19:33
But in sacrifice and in love and in kindness, He laid himself
19:36
down, becoming sin for us, that we could walk free by faith in
19:41
Him and experience eternal life. This is what kindness looks
19:46
like. Kindness can be a word like
19:48
thank you or I believe in you, or God is using you, or I'm glad
19:51
you are in my life, or I thank God for you.
19:54
Good job today, great work. Kindness can be an act and act
19:58
as simple as noticing and act as simple as stopping and act as
20:02
simply making eye contact and really listening.
20:05
It can mean responding graciously.
20:07
It can mean empathizing. It can mean helping practically,
20:10
giving generously, praying sincerely, and to take it to the
20:14
next level. Second Timothy chapter 2, Paul
20:17
writes the Lord's servant. He's talking to pastors, but
20:21
this is applicable to all Christians.
20:24
He says the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to
20:31
everyone, able to teach patiently, enduring evil,
20:37
correcting his opponents with gentleness, kind to everyone.
20:42
Is that really what the Bible says?
20:47
Was Christ not kind in providing salvation for everyone who'd
20:53
receive it by fate? Kind in the face of enduring
20:56
evil? Kind to the opponents of Christ,
20:58
his Church and Kingdom of God? You know, there are times, the
21:01
times we are most tempted to be unkind is when someone is what
21:05
to us, unkind us. This is the moment when we're
21:11
tempted to be everything but kind.
21:14
And yet this is the moment when Christian kindness, sourced only
21:18
in God, now, given an opportunity to flow through,
21:21
you, can shine the brightest because it's what no one
21:24
expects. And in this way, kindness
21:27
conquers. In fact, I want you to think
21:29
about kindness is actually a weapon of righteousness that God
21:34
has called us as Christians to wield even in the face of
21:38
unkindness. Let me listen.
21:40
Let me let you listen to a quote by a famous pastor that you may
21:44
or may not have heard of by the name of Polycarp.
21:47
He says this 86 years I have served him.
21:51
That's Jesus and he has done me no wrong.
21:55
How then can I blasphemy my King and my Savior?
21:58
These were the words of this pastor by the name of Polycarp
22:02
on February 23rd in AD 155, less than 200 years after the life,
22:09
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
22:11
This was on the day spoken by him, on the day the Romans
22:15
killed him for preaching the gospel.
22:18
Polycarp was pastoring in an ancient city by the name of
22:22
Smyrna. If you want to read about it,
22:23
that city, you can read about the church there in the Book of
22:26
Revelation in the first 3 chapters, one of seven churches
22:29
and cities mentioned there that Christ addresses.
22:34
The Romans came to Polycarp and sought to force him to burn
22:40
incense to the emperor. You see, this was how the Romans
22:45
sought to get Christians to recant of worshiping Jesus and
22:50
choose to worship the emperor. This is what they did.
22:52
They believe the emperor was divine and to burn incense to
22:56
the emperor was to worship him. So they came to Polycarp
23:00
requiring him to burn incense. Polycarp refused.
23:04
He knew they were going to come and arrest him, and he wanted to
23:07
stay there in the city of Smyrna and just wait for the Roman
23:10
authorities to come. But his church members persuaded
23:13
him to flee to a villa in the country, and there he waited.
23:17
Soldiers eventually tracked him down and they found him because
23:20
they found a farm hand that had seen Polycarp come out to the
23:23
country and they tortured this farmhand until he told them
23:27
where Polycarp was. Polycarp was tipped off that the
23:30
soldiers were on their way. He could have slipped out a
23:32
window and fled for his life. He chose to remain when they
23:38
were gathered downstairs soon to arrest him.
23:43
I want you to listen to what Polycarp did and I quote.
23:47
As soon as he heard them arrive, he went down and chatted with
23:51
them, and everyone there was struck by his age and his
23:56
calmness, and surprised at the arrest of such a old and godly
24:01
man could be so urgent. In spite of the lateness of the
24:05
hour. He at once ordered them all of
24:08
the Roman soldiers that came to arrest him and lead him to his
24:11
martyrdom, be given all the food and drink they wanted, and then
24:18
he asked if he might be allowed an hour to pray undisturbed
24:23
before being escorted by them to his death on the last night of
24:29
his life. Kali Carte did not simply
24:33
manifest courage, he supremely manifested a fruit of the
24:38
Spirit, a command of God, no matter the circumstances called,
24:43
starts with AK kindness. Kindness, ladies and gentlemen,
24:49
is a weapon of righteousness. The Bible says do not return
24:54
evil with, but overcome evil with.
24:58
If it's going to rain righteousness in Carter's will,
25:01
guess what? People who've received the
25:02
gospel are going to have to let flow through their lives, no
25:05
matter the circumstance or situation.
25:07
Guess what it's going to have to be?
25:11
Kindness will have to be there for righteousness to reign, for
25:16
evil to be overcome with good. And by the way, that weapon of
25:19
righteousness of kindness cannot, will not be conquered
25:23
because people simply don't know what to do with it.
25:26
It is too strong. Let me just ask you, is your
25:28
life characterized by kindness? Would those closest to you
25:36
describe you as kind? Let's just be real honest.
25:42
It's pretty easy to put your nice clothes on and your makeup
25:45
on and be polite in public for most people, right?
25:55
At least for 8 hours. At least while the boss is
25:59
looking, at least while the teacher's there, at least while
26:03
the coach is on duty. But where it's far harder is
26:08
when you come home after a long day of pretending to be on the
26:12
outside, which you're not really on the inside.
26:17
Your spouse says something to you that hits you a little
26:18
wrong. The kid says something to you
26:22
that aggravates you a little bit.
26:23
And guess what comes out? Who you really are, right to
26:30
those closest to you, they describe you.
26:36
It's got is righteousness raining around and on those
26:40
you're around because of you, regardless of the situation and
26:45
circumstance. 5th And finally, let me talk to you about how
26:50
kindness reigns righteousness. Listen to Matthew 5 verse 14
26:54
through 16. You are the light of the world.
26:57
A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do people light a
27:01
lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives
27:05
light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light,
27:09
let your righteousness, let your good works, let your fruit of
27:11
the Spirit, let your kindness shine before others so they may
27:16
see your good works, your fruit of the Spirit, your kindness,
27:20
and give glory to the Father who is in heaven.
27:23
You see, kindness reigns righteousness because it reveals
27:26
the righteousness of God, and kindness will reign
27:30
righteousness in your marriage. Did you know that marriages
27:33
could be healed with just a little kindness?
27:37
That marriages, that homes, that parental child relationships
27:41
could be healed potentially with just a little kindness.
27:45
That Co worker relationships, church member relationships,
27:49
teammate relationships, neighborhood relationships,
27:52
family relationships could be rained on with righteousness
27:57
with the expression of not something that's rocket science,
28:01
a little something that's simple called called kindness.
28:06
That, by the way, comes straight from the gospel because the
28:09
gospel is God's kindness to us. Let me let me show you three
28:15
ways as we finish that you might not expect kindness to reign
28:21
righteousness, but in these three ways it should.
28:24
Are you ready #1 Kindness reigns righteousness by evangelizing.
28:31
Aaron was a young man who grew up in the Pacific Northwest.
28:37
Aaron did not grow up in a Christian family.
28:40
In fact, he didn't really even know a Christian.
28:43
He thought the Bible was made-up of myths, and all that he knew
28:47
of Christianity was what he saw on the TV and in movies.
28:51
He thought every preacher was the equivalent of Jimmy Swaggart
28:55
and that it may be too young to know who that is and every
29:00
Christian was brainwashed. But Aaron knew that Brenda was
29:06
the prettiest, smartest girl in school.
29:09
And so when his teacher assigned their class the responsibility
29:12
of having to go see a play to complete the class assignment,
29:16
guess who Aaron asked to go to a play with him?
29:19
Brenda. That night, at the play to air
29:24
in shock, he discovers Brenda is a Christian he didn't know.
29:31
He starts barraging her with all sorts of questions.
29:34
You really believe there's a God.
29:37
You really believe he sent his Son Jesus Christ.
29:39
You really believe he loves you and me.
29:41
You really believe he died for the forgiveness of our sin.
29:43
You really believe he offers eternal life?
29:45
You really believe all this? And then he asked her.
29:48
He said the question of all questions.
29:50
He said it was just like it came from his gut.
29:52
He's like, I just couldn't help but asking.
29:54
I knew it'd be awkward potentially, but I couldn't help
29:56
but ask it. He said, Brenda, do you believe
29:58
I'm going to hell? She said, Aaron, if you reject
30:08
Jesus and his offer of salvation, yes, I believe you're
30:15
going to hell. Aaron said it was like she
30:22
dropped a spiritual bomb in his lap.
30:27
He said that she could have dodged the question.
30:31
She could have said, well, Aaron, who am I to say?
30:36
Who am I to judge? Who am I to be the final
30:39
authority to tell you whether or not?
30:42
But Aaron said she was kind enough to tell me the truth.
30:51
And the truth sets us. Aaron is a senior pastor in
30:57
Sandy Springs, GA. Because Brenda allowed kindness
31:04
to reign righteousness by simply telling the truth when God gave
31:08
her an opportunity. How could we let tension or what
31:14
people think of us or the possibility of rejection keep us
31:18
from being kind in the moments and opportunities God gives us
31:23
to give people the greatest news of the greatest kindness in the
31:26
world? Kindness, range, righteousness
31:30
by evangelizing. Let me give you a second one
31:33
that we're going to spend a whole Sunday on.
31:35
Kindness, range, righteousness by forgiveness, by offering
31:39
forgiveness. The word of God says this.
31:43
Colossians 312 through 13. Put on them as God's chosen
31:47
ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness,
31:50
humility, meekness and patience, bearing with one another.
31:53
And if one is a complaint against another, forgiving each
31:57
other. As the Lord has forgiven you, so
31:58
that you also must forgive. Let me ask you this, are you
32:03
withholding kindness from someone because you're refusing
32:07
to forgive when God has given you the very kindness you're
32:14
choosing to withhold from someone else?
32:17
Do you realize that kindness, the greatest kindness you could
32:20
give to someone, is choosing to forgive because it was the
32:24
greatest kindness God gave you? We'll talk more about that in a
32:29
Sunday ahead #3 Kindness reigns righteousness by serving.
32:33
Listen to Matthew 35 beginning in verse 34.
32:36
Kindness reigns righteousness by serving.
32:38
Then the king will say to those on his right, Come, you are
32:41
blessed by my father, and here at the Kingdom prepared for you
32:44
from the foundation of the world.
32:46
For I was hungry and you gave me food.
32:48
I was thirsty and you gave me drink.
32:50
I was a stranger and you welcomed me.
32:51
I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me.
32:55
I was in prison and you came to me.
32:57
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did we
33:00
see you hungry and feed you? When did we see you thirsty and
33:04
give you drink? And when did we see you stranger
33:05
and welcome you are naked and clothe you?
33:07
And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?
33:10
And the king will answer them. Truly.
33:11
I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my
33:14
brothers, you did it to me. The idea here and three things I
33:21
just kind of want to give you practically of how kindness,
33:24
range, righteousness my serving is #1 if you'll just very simply
33:28
take notice of the people right around you, your spouse, your
33:32
kids, your family, your neighbors, your coworkers, your
33:36
classmates. If you'll just say what are the
33:38
needs of people around me that God has put in my life that I
33:43
could have opportunity to meet needs by serving them in some
33:47
way, The smallest of ways, big ways, ordinary ways, daily ways,
33:51
mundane ways. What are the ways that you can
33:54
meet needs by serving those that are closest to you?
33:56
Start there. Let me give you another one.
33:58
Create some margin in your life for kindness.
34:02
This is so anti our American 21st century way of life to
34:07
create some margin in our lives for kindness.
34:10
You know why a lot of times we're not kind?
34:12
Because we ain't got. And if the devil won't make you
34:16
bad, I truly believe this is true.
34:18
He'll make you just too busy to stop, too busy to care, too busy
34:26
to do anything, too busy to love.
34:29
So caught up in me, myself and mine and my life that I'm
34:33
running in my lane and I don't even know your lane or what's
34:36
going on in your lane exist. You won't be kind unless you got
34:42
time to be interrupted. Creates A margin. 1/3 practical
34:48
thing to reign righteousness through serving is to make your
34:52
church your headquarters for kindness.
34:53
Make your church the headquarters of your kindness.
34:56
Where do I get that from? Galatians 610 So then, as we
34:59
have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to
35:04
those who are of the household of faith.
35:09
What that means is a Christian ought to be kind to everyone,
35:12
but a Christian's greatest kindness ought to be shown right
35:16
at home in their own church family right here.
35:20
Make your church family the headquarters of your kindness.
35:25
Doesn't mean that it's limited here, but it begins and shines
35:28
the brightest here. Whatever, whenever you practice
35:33
kindness, you are making it rain.
35:36
In fact, let me just tell you like this, you're making it rain
35:39
whether you realize it or not. It's just a matter of what
35:41
you're raining, but you're making it rain.
35:45
The question is, is it raining righteousness?
35:48
Are people getting wet around you with the things of God
35:53
because of you that allows them to flourish?
35:58
Or is it something else? I want to close with the words
36:02
of a preacher that can say things better than I can.
36:05
Man by the name of Charles Spurgeon.
36:06
Here's what he says. This is so true.
36:09
If there be a virtue which most commends Christians, it is that
36:16
of kindness. It is to love the people of God,
36:20
to love the church, to love poor sinners, to love all.
36:25
But how many have we in our churches of Crabtree Christians?
36:32
I didn't come up with that. He did.
36:35
You probably can translate what a Crabtree Christian is, He goes
36:38
on to explain who have mixed such a vast amount of vinegar
36:44
and such a tremendous quality of gall in their constitutions.
36:48
They can specially speak one good word to you.
36:51
If anything is awry, whether it be in the house, the church, or
36:55
anywhere else, they conceive it to be their duty to set their
36:58
faces like Flint, to defy everybody.
37:01
They're like isolated icebergs, no one cares to go near them.
37:05
Imitate Christ in your living. Speak kindly, act kindly and
37:09
think kindly that men may say of you, he or she has been with
37:15
Jesus. John and praise team, they're
37:20
going to come out. My first question for you is,
37:23
have you received the kindness of God?
37:27
Has the kindness of God changed your life?
37:31
Have you realized Jesus and Jesus alone offers forgiveness
37:34
of sin, eternal life? You've confessed him as Lord.
37:38
You believed in your heart. God raised him from the dead.
37:40
There's been a moment. Everything changed for you.
37:43
If not, I'm going to invite you to step out from where you are.
37:47
I know you got to be bold to do that.
37:50
But listen, everybody came here today to seek God's will done in
37:53
their lives. They want it done in yours.
37:56
They, they, they would celebrate.
37:59
If this is what you need to do, it's why I wait for you right
38:02
here. Maybe you need to receive the
38:05
kindness of God today and be saved the second you may be a
38:10
Christian, you've received the kindness of God and salvation.
38:12
But for one reason or another, there's areas or ways in your
38:17
life that the kindness of God is not raining.
38:24
Something else is raining and you got a decision to make.
38:29
You're either going to keep letting unrighteousness reign.
38:33
Are you going to say, you know God, I'm ready for a 180 today
38:38
And that if, if you are and guess what he is and by your
38:43
help, I naturally can't, but supernaturally I can.
38:46
God, would you give me the help? And I don't know if that's in
38:48
your marriage. I don't know if that's in your
38:50
parenting, if that's in a relationship with a church
38:52
member, a Co worker or somebody in a family that you know, a
38:55
friend, whatever it may be. Is righteousness reigning?
38:58
Maybe you just need to come to the altar and say God, It's time
39:00
for that to reign in my life. It's it's time for me to choose
39:04
kindness no matter what. I've never really made that
39:07
commitment. The gospel drives us to that
39:12
kind of living. Jesus drives us to that kind of
39:15
living and we can by the Spirit that he's given us to endure all
39:18
us. Do you need to make that
39:18
decision? Father, I pray that whatever
39:20
decision we need to make today individually, that you would
39:23
lead us to do it unashamedly, boldly, clearly and completely
39:27
in Jesus name, I pray, Amen. Would you stand with me?
39:30
We're going to sing. I'm going to wait for you.
39:32
You come and pray. Stand, Neil, come and talk to
39:34
me. Let's worship as you respond
39:36
this morning.