Worshipful Start And Welcome

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Amen, Amen.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

Pastor Hirsch is here today. So beautiful in this house today. Come on, let's just take a moment. It's hard to go from there to there to just feel like I have to get right back in the saddle. Let's just give him some praise for just a minute. You're so good. We worship you in this house. We worship you, Lord. You're wonderful and marvelous and holy in God. We give you praise. Lord, it overflows in our lives and our hearts, Jesus. We thank you for loving us. Thank you for giving us everlasting life. I'm thankful for it every day. Amen. Well, it's good to be in God's house. Thank you, worship team. Thank you, free church. Y'all just know how to worship. I feel like we all come in the same. We're just like, oh, it's Sunday. That's how I come in. Oh, it's Sunday. Because man, Monday be Monday and Tuesday be Tuesday and all the things. So, and I think, you know, this is what I love about the Lord. And the worship team had no idea what we were teaching we were teaching on. And because I didn't know. I'm like, Lord, help me, help me. So it kind of came to me this last week, and I've been working on it, and um, you know, I'm speaking on gratitude and man, song after song, just reminding us of the goodness of God. Man, I need reminding. I need reminding. I'm so thankful for that. And today I get to speak, and um, I'm so thankful to be in this spot and honored to be here. And Pastor Chuck is in Naperville. He is with a church there, a startup church, about four years old. Um, pastor and his wife are sweet, and they have got an incredible work there, and they need a break. And they've been going four years without a Sunday off. And so um a few of us pastors, area pastors around are just kind of coming in and out of there in the next couple weeks and just giving them a moment to breathe. Y'all, they've got three kids under four years old and a church. So they're young, they can handle it, but oh my goodness, that wears me out just saying it. So Pastor Chuck and Eli are there just serving that house, and that's what the body of Christ is about, really. Amen.

Summer Growth Series And Direction

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So we've been talking this summer, we've been growing this summer, right? Yes, our kids are growing, all the things are growing. Today I just thank the Lord I could button my pants. Amen. Amen. Our faith is growing, and where I keep asking myself, where does God want me to grow? And man, won't he do it? Just, you know, I came into this thinking, all right, I'm I'm a thankful person. Man, he's just been working on me this week, just revealing things in my heart that I needed to be revealed. And so today, as I share this, just open your heart and just hear the words from the from his word. Let it shape you, let it move you, and let it grow you so that we can be doers of his word. We can do what we pray about, we say about, we can do it, we can walk this out. So, where does God want me to grow? Well, we learned in growing in generations, growing in grace, amen. Grace, grace. We're growing in wisdom, we're growing deep roots from from Tyler and growing in generosity yesterday last week, and today we're growing in gratitude.

Rooted Faith That Overflows Thanks

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And today, um, we're gonna read read the key text from Colossians 2. I got it up there, there we are. And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. Paul connects roots to gratitude, and your faith will grow strong, and you will overflow in with those roots, you will overflow with thankfulness. When my roots grow deep, gratitude grows strong. Gratitude isn't just good manners, it's not just once a year a holiday, we think about it. Gratitude is a discipline we apply to ourselves, it's not a personality. Some people think, oh, they're just a happy, they just have a great personality. No, it is a discipline that we can get and we can use in our lives, and it will create faith in our hearts. Gratitude is spiritual maturity. Amen. All right, here I go. Shallow people complain about everything. Rooted people can find God in anything. I am convinced that you cannot walk around with Holy Spirit in your life and be complaining and complaining and complaining. Now, Mama Ursh is here, so I'm just leaning in a little bit. Pastor Chuck didn't know that was in there. I was like, I'm gonna take a minute. But I said it and I've I'm saying it with the mirror right in front of me. We have to do better. If you are a Christ follower, and today, if this is your first time being here, I'm so glad you're here. This is not for you. You will get this in a couple weeks as your as your spiritual walk grows. But this is for the choir. We need to do better with our words and with our actions and how we walk this out, not just on Sunday in this beautiful altar, but as we're walking out in our businesses, on the phone, in our text messages, on our ghosted text messages. Don't want to do it. I'm not gonna do it, they can't make me. But Proverbs 423 says, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Gratitude Defined And Complaint Confronted

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What is gratitude? Gratitude is recognizing and responding to the goodness of God. It is not pretending everything is good. Because you know what? Everything's not good, but it is recognizing God is good in everything, He will make everything good. 1 Thessalonians 5, 18 says, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ. All not just some, not just the good, not just this day on Sunday. We're gonna give thanks all circumstances. I don't thank God for the pain. I thank him for being there with me through the pain. I don't thank God for that diagnosis, I thank him for showing up while I walk through that diagnosis. I don't thank God for the closed door, I thank him for the ones that are opening. I give thanks way before anything moves. Gratitude doesn't deny reality. All right, here that's for that personality that's just trying to figure this out. It doesn't deny the realness of life, circumstances. It doesn't deny it, but it just gratitude decides where to focus.

Gratitude Changes What We See

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My first point is gratitude changes what I see. Psalms 103 2 says, Let all that I am praise the Lord. May I never forget the good things he does for me. David needed to say, may I never forget, because he forgot. If you've read the Psalms, there's many times he would forget. But one thing he always did was he got back to worship, he got back to praise, he got back to thanksgiving. And that is our reminder when we remember who he is and how God has saved us, how he's brought us out, gratitude immediately flows from your heart. The thing is we have to remember because we sometimes remember that one criticism and forget the five compliments. Right? We remember the closed door and we forget that he opened about 10 the lat last year. We remember the prayer we're still waiting on, and we forget the prayers God has already answered. We're so that's so us, and he knows it, but we have to live in this place. You can live in the answer to yesterday's prayer and complain about tomorrow's prayer request, right? How many have done the thing where you get the answer and immediately you're going to okay now? I need to pray for right? Let's take a minute and understand where God has brought you from just that moment. He answered it. And maybe we just need better vision and maybe we just need a change of focus. Gratitude changes what I see. Number two, gratitude changes what I say.

Gratitude Changes What We Say

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Luke 17, 11. This is the story of the ten leopards. You've ever grew up in a church or maybe even been here in this house. We've talked about this story, a parable that Jesus talks about. And let's read it 11. Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem. He reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. And as he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. He looked at them and said, Go, show yourselves to the priest. And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, Praise God! And he fell to the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. Verse 17, Jesus asked, Didn't I heal ten? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner? And Jesus said to the man, Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you. Ten leopards cried out to Jesus, ten received healing, ten experienced the miracle, one came back. It doesn't mean it doesn't matter, or it doesn't really mean that the nine weren't grateful. I'm sure they were thankful. You know, I feel like I can see myself in those nine where so many times I'm thankful, but I don't express it. I've got to open my mouth and tell him, and not only tell him, tell others what he's done. Gratitude didn't just stay in his heart, that one man, he came out, it came out of his mouth. Jesus asked, Where are the other nine? And unexpressed gratitude is incomplete gratitude. So when you keep it, it's like, what is that song? Hide it under a bushel. No, I'm gonna let it out. Let out your testimony, let out your praises. It's not just again, it's not just a style, but it is your heart posture. Gratitude changes what I see, what I say, and number three, gratitude changes how I face what's next.

Gratitude For What Comes Next

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Habakkuk 3, 17, 18 says, Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and then and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will be joyful, thankful, and God my Savior. Mature faith thanks God when the seed is still underground. And that's what I believe. There are two powerful words in that scripture, though and yet. Though I don't see it, yet I will trust. Though it hasn't happened, yet I will praise him. Though the door hasn't opened yet, I believe God is working. Though I'm still waiting, yet I know he's still faithful. This is the growing season. There is a season when the seed is growing, but you can't see it. We have the most beautiful moment in this city, and it's tulip season, right? I mean, and it's I always feel bad for the tulips because when they're coming up, it's just still gray out. It's still kind of cold. I'm feeling really bad for them, but they're doing an amazing job. But they weren't planted when you see it. They were planted in fall. And in that moment, it's not too bad out. The ground can be, you know, cultivated, the seed can be put in the ground. And then they go through winter. And winter's brutal, winter's dark, winter's cold, winter's hard. That ground is hard, and you just can't imagine how anything could grow out of it. And then it's still cold here. You know, we don't really, I feel like winter is like sprint sprinter, springer. I don't know, because it's like we have some snow in the spring when we shouldn't. But those little tulips, you'll see green coming out of the ground. And I'm like, how in the world? They are working hard underground. And that's called for us our roots. Our roots are what keep us stable, grounded, strong, making a better decision, doing the right thing when we really want to do the wrong thing. Roots keep us growing, and mature faith thanks God while the seed is still underground. Gratitude speaks it before you see it. God, I'm thankful. Even when I can't see it, even when I can't really feel it, even when I don't know it's gonna happen, I'm gonna be thankful before it happens. And Lord, if you never do another thing, if you never bless me again, I'm thankful because of who He is. Gratitude is faith for tomorrow. Amen. How do we walk all this out? All right, we're closing out. I can get the band. Oh, hi. So happy to have Sean here. So good. So thankful.

Notice It Name It Express It

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Three ways we can grow in gratitude. First is notice it. You gotta notice. Psalms 34:8 says, Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. You gotta notice it. You gotta have a moment with the Lord. The best time to notice is in that early morning time. Before all the world starts hitting you. Keep the phone on the stand. Pick up his word and notice. It's in this word, it's in the sunrise, it's in the raindrops, it's in all of those moments, those quiet times with him. Notice it. It will make you grateful. Ask every day, where was God good to me today? Slow down. Pay attention. If you can't find it, look again. It's there. It's there. You can't be grateful for what you refuse to notice. Notice it. Second way is to name it. Psalms 34 and 1. I will praise the Lord at all times. I will continually speak his praises. I'm gonna speak it out. God, you're so good. You woke me up this morning. You started me on my way. You put food on my table. I've got joy in my heart to stay. I am blessed. I am blessed. But don't just stop and I am blessed. Name the blessing. God, thank you for I put gas in my car. Thank you, Lord, for I've got milk in my mug. Thank you, Lord, for parents that love me. Thank you, Lord, for friends that show up. Thank you for my family. Thank you for my health. Thank it. Name it. Speak it out. It will con it will stir up gratitude in your life. And number three, express it. Psalms 107 2 says, Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out. Speak it out. Testify. Tell of his goodness. Tell him one-on-one and tell him till the whole world hears it. Because that is what gratitude is. That is the one that comes back and falls at his feet and says, Thank you, Lord. Thank you for healing me. Thank you for seeing me. Thank you for naming me, your son, your daughter. I'm thankful for it. Say it to God. Say it to people. Send the text, write the note, make the call, give the compliment. Gratitude grows when gratitude flows. If you anytime in your heart, whenever if you think of someone that has ever, you know, just out of the blue giving you a compliment, it kind of, you're just like, oh, okay, thank you. Sometimes we don't even know how to respond to a good gesture. If someone opens the door, thank you. If someone just looks your way, give them eye contact. Don't look away. You are confident in the Lord. He has given you the spirit of peace and good heart. We don't have to shy away. Express it. If you're able in this place, let's just stand.

Personal Story And Eternal Perspective

SPEAKER_01 19:32

I feel like God just set us up in this moment. I think He's in this room, and I feel like I'm in a room full of people that are thankful. But if there's just one that needed reminding, that was for you. And it honestly was for me. There's so many moments in my life that, you know, sometimes I feel like stage can kind of make you feel like we have it all together, Pastor Chuck and I. And, you know, I feel like there are moments in our life that we don't really always get to share. But I want you to know that there have been hardships in both of our lives. And there have been things that we don't understand. And I bitterness can come in, right? Bitterness and just a moment of just like, well, why God? Why did that have to happen? And as a little girl, there were moments in my life, you know, I lost my mom really early on, and my dad, sweetest man on earth, he was young as well. He was 46 years old and had four kids to raise. And poor guy. I thought he was, you know, at that age, I'm thinking he knew everything. And now I'm at an age where I'm like, he didn't know anything. He needed help. But at that time, you know, I look at him, I just, he's, he'll, he just turned 87. I called him the other day. He's the one I call. And I called him the other day. I was just having a rough day and rough week and rough everything. And I called him and I said, Dad, and I just let him, you know, I just said, I need you to pray. I need you to pray about this. And he kind of started a little complaining a little bit. Like those prayer requests sounded a little, wow, wow, wow me. And he's so sweet. And when I tell you what he's been through, he's been through so much. I've never ever heard him say anything. I wanted him to say, validate all my feelings, right? I wanted him to just go, you're right. That's horrible. Oh my, you know what he said? He said, you know what, Ursh? None of that matters. Because you know what? I'm at an age. I cannot wait to see his face. And what I want you to know is that I want you to, in those moments, focus your attention on him. Because none of the earthly things matter. None of those things matter. None of those I'm going to say it. It doesn't make it right what they did to you, but it isn't, it doesn't matter. It doesn't make it right what was done to you or what you've lost. It doesn't. But it's not what matters. What matters most is living our life with overflowing gratitude to see his face. Just that one moment to see his face. That is what we're working for. And so in this moment, I just want to invite everyone in this house. Let's just take a moment to just express thankfulness to God. Lord, I thank you. God, you're so good. You're wonderful and great and mighty to be praised. With all of our hearts, God, we give you praise. God, I thank you for the miracles that have already taken place in each and every one of these lives. God, I thank you for the miracles that are coming. God, but before that, Lord, we just sit at your feet and we say thank you, Lord, for loving us right where we're at, for seeing us right where we're at. We're gonna notice it. We're gonna see it. We're gonna express it, Lord. We're gonna tell you each and every day how good, how faithful, how wonderful, how mighty you are, Jesus. There is no one like you. Nobody like you.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Oh, I thank you, Lord. Come on, we're not done. Come on, get it in your heart, get it in your spirit. Come on, I thank you, I thank you. Oh, we thank you, we thank you. I'm lifting both of my hands. I'm grateful, I'm grateful, I'm grateful, so grateful, Lord.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

You've been so good to us, you've been so good to me. I will not stop, I will tell it all, I will give it all, I will do it all for you, Lord. Nothing else matters.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Thank you, Jesus. Grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful, grateful. All of my days, Lord, I'll sing your praise. I live my life to worship. Amen, amen.

Prayerful Response And Salvation Invitation

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If you're in this room today, I want to give you an invitation. If you've never said yes to Jesus, turned your life toward him today. Is that day I would be honored to walk you through it? There is no better joy. Sometimes I think we walk around, and when people are joyful, we think their world is great. But what I would just say, they're they're grateful. They're grateful. Because I'm gonna tell you, the people around you, even driving the best cars, drive having the best house, not having a car, whatever it is, you still have to be thankful and grateful. Your heart has to be in a posture of thankfulness. And right now, I just want to invite, if this is your first time and you want to give your life to Christ, it'd be my honor to walk you through this prayer. Maybe it's your first time, your first time in a long time. Everybody in this house, let's just pray this prayer together. Lord, we thank you. God, we thank you for your love. We thank you for your goodness in our life. God, we thank you for sending your son, Jesus, to die on a cross. He rose again on the third day, and now he lives forever and ever in our life. And God, I ask you right now, Jesus, to come into my heart, make me whole, give me, Lord, the strength that only you can give me. And we say thank you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen.