Leadership 4.23.24
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Gratitude and Rest
Gratitude and Rest
Josie and Beau both had games last week in different places
Reflection creates revelation and revelation creates application:
Tell me what you learned last week?
What have you started making contracts with yourself?
What has changed when it comes to your planning
Law of Gratitude/Thankfulness:
13 Whoever rewards evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.
A sowing and reaping principle
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”
People being ungrateful is the norm
We’ve produced a society of ungrateful people
Ungrateful people are only focused on outcomes that favor them and their ideas
People are flooding to our country in droves to escape from a lot of other places
The norm is always looking to what’s next
We are exceptions not the norm
Gratefulness is how you enter and stay in God’s presence
Psalms 100:4-5 NKJV
“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
God inhabits our praise
God lives in and occupies our praise
Could you use more of Gods presence in your life? We have to live a life of worship to God
1 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy,
3 And gathered out of the lands,
From the east and from the west,
From the north and from the south.
4 They wandered in the wilderness in a desolate way;
They found no city to dwell in.
5 Hungry and thirsty,
Their soul fainted in them.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He delivered them out of their distresses.
7 And He led them forth by the right way,
That they might go to a city for a dwelling place.
8 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
9 For He satisfies the longing soul,
And fills the hungry soul with goodness.
10 Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death,
Bound in affliction and irons—
11 Because they rebelled against the words of God,
And despised the counsel of the Most High,
12 Therefore He brought down their heart with labor;
They fell down, and there was none to help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,
And broke their chains in pieces.
15 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
16 For He has broken the gates of bronze,
And cut the bars of iron in two.
17 Fools, because of their transgression,
And because of their iniquities, were afflicted.
18 Their soul abhorred all manner of food,
And they drew near to the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.
21 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
22 Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
And declare His works with rejoicing.
23 Those who go down to the sea in ships,
Who do business on great waters,
24 They see the works of the Lord,
And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He commands and raises the stormy wind,
Which lifts up the waves of the sea.
26 They mount up to the heavens,
They go down again to the depths;
Their soul melts because of trouble.
27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble,
And He brings them out of their distresses.
29 He calms the storm,
So that its waves are still.
30 Then they are glad because they are quiet;
So He guides them to their desired haven.
31 Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
32 Let them exalt Him also in the assembly of the people,
And praise Him in the company of the elders.
33 He turns rivers into a wilderness,
And the watersprings into dry ground;
34 A fruitful land into barrenness,
For the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He turns a wilderness into pools of water,
And dry land into watersprings.
36 There He makes the hungry dwell,
That they may establish a city for a dwelling place,
37 And sow fields and plant vineyards,
That they may yield a fruitful harvest.
38 He also blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
And He does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they are diminished and brought low
Through oppression, affliction and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt on princes,
And causes them to wander in the wilderness where there is no way;
41 Yet He sets the poor on high, far from affliction,
And makes their families like a flock.
42 The righteous see it and rejoice,
And all iniquity stops its mouth.
43 Whoever is wise will observe these things,
And they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
Story of my tax return and waiting on money:
Complaining and worrying
2. Gratefulness keep you committed
In the old testament they had ways to honor God by setting up monuments:
Bethel
10 Now Jacob went out from Beersheba and went toward Haran. 11 So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. 12 Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
13 And behold, the Lord stood above it and said: “I am the Lord God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and your descendants. 14 Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth; you shall spread abroad to the west and the east, to the north and the south; and in you and in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” 17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
18 Then Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put at his head, set it up as a pillar, and poured oil on top of it. 19 And he called the name of that place Bethel; but the name of that city had been Luz previously. 20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I am going, and give me bread to eat and clothing to put on, 21 so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God. 22 And this stone which I have set as a pillar shall be God’s house, and of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”
He set up a monument to remember this by and made a vow:
Abraham had given a tithe to Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20), but there is no scripture where God had instructed men to tithe yet. This implies that tithing was considered a godly thing to do.
We tithe cause God first gave to us
tithing is a monument to God every time we do it
I’ve seen what you can do in my life
3. Gratefulness shows your inner strength
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
How many of you admire people who complain?
Or do you actively avoid such people
Being grateful will pick your friends for you
Paul and Silas worshipped in prison
I don’t think they had a prison riot in mind when they started worshipping
Maybe Paul did
We do Joy based warfare not fear based
4. Negativity shows defeat:
Complaining also picks your friends for you
#1 – The people complained to Moses that because of Him and His talk of a promise land, Pharaoh made things worse for them – Exodus 5:1-22 This is when the enemy creates pressure at home, at work or school to discourage you at the beginning of your Christian walk. Out of nowhere, your responsibilities at home, work or school suddenly increases and requires you to meet impossible deadlines and quotas. Your workload and the extra overtime “scatters” (verse 12) you, and you feel like you are taking a “beating” (verse 14). Your family, your boss or supervisor blames you and your sudden interest in “Christian things” for not being able to do your job.
#2 – The people complained and said to Moses “let us alone” – Exodus 14:11-12 This is when you are faced with what seems like an impossible situation all because you listened to your godly friends or leaders. You wonder if this “Christian thing” is worth it. We sometimes blame the preacher or our Christian friend who has been witnessing to us for all the new drama and pressure in our life.
#3 – The people complained about the bitter water – Exodus 15:22 This is when you are faced with the bitterness of changing your diet from the things of the world to the things of God. Like asking a child to go from sugary foods to eating their vegetables, it never happens without a protest.
#4 – The people complained about being hungry; God gives them Manna – Exodus 16:1-4This is when your spiritual growth produces greater hunger. However, its the not the earthly food we are used to; God begins to feed you with heavenly food. The irritability during the infant phase seems constant.
#5 – The people complained about being thirsty – Exodus 17:1-4 This is when your spiritual growth produces greater thirst. God seems to allow the thirst and the hunger to teach us where our provision truly comes from.
The people complained about how difficult it looked to conquer the giants in the land and refused to enter the Promise Land. Numbers 14:1-10 Because the path the Lord has chosen to develop His people is almost always humanly impossible and difficult, it can cause some people to freak out and desire to go back to their old life. These people didn’t want to have to depend on the Lord this much in order to go forward.
40 How often they provoked Him in the wilderness,
And grieved Him in the desert!
41 Yes, again and again they tempted God,
And limited the Holy One of Israel.
42 They did not remember His power:
The day when He redeemed them from the enemy,
43 When He worked His signs in Egypt,
And His wonders in the field of Zoan;
5. Who’s fault is it?
Most grateful people judge themselves and Negative people justify themselves
Grateful people are thankful to God and others for their success -
Negative people blame, the government, bosses, etc.
14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
6. Gratitude enables you to receive
1 Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him. 2 And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, “Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! 3 Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?” So they were offended at Him.
4 But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own country, among his own relatives, and in his own house.” 5 Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.
Your ability to receive will often be based on another persons gifting
Presence driven network
7. Gratitude will precede your victory
22 Now when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushes against the people of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah; and they were defeated.
Gratitude sets your faith for victory
Law of Rest:
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.
The sabbath day should be freedom not religious bondage
Isreal had just come out of 400 years of work and hard labor
God was not giving it to give them another rule
All of his commandments are for your benefit
The Israelites turned it back into bondage:
timers
can’t ride in cars
drive cars
can’t handle money
can’t answer the phone
Can’t turn on the ovens
Anything that looks like work
no bowling
They turned it back into a bondage of can’t
Jewish family dinner
For working at the church or even volunteering you should have a Sabbath
It doesn’t mean it has to be Sunday
What it should is a 24 hour period that you rest
Rest is probably the hardest thing for me to do:
Our culture has told us that rest is bad
That you are missing out on opportunities
You’re missing out on money
You’re going behind
etc
The world we now live in is:
Work, work, work, work, vacation, work, work, work, work
I remember working in the oilfield a lot of days without any days off
Working through a month of Sundays when I was industrial painting
Having no days off for a month
It does something to your soul
You cannot escape burnout with no rest
God’s rhythm is Work Sabbath, Work Sabbath repeat
“Biblical sabbath is a 24 hour block of time in which we stop, enjoy rest, practice delight and contemplate God”-Peter Scazzero
What Sabbath is:
Stop:
We cease all work paid or unpaid
What happens for most of us is our sabbath is the day we catch up on all the chores you didn’t do all week
So we have to stop all work
Not do the laundry mow the yard
I don’t work on my sermon
I don’t even pray over my sermon I wait till that evening
Stop social media on that day
Leave your phone in a drawer somewhere
2. Rest:
Once we stop we accept God’s invitation to rest
God rested not because he was tired but he completed the tasks he set out to do
Like a painter puts his brush down after the picture is completed so God put his brush down
Keep occupied you keep throwing stuff under the rug
if your never stop to take a break eventually you will break
couple in ministry reaching their breaking point
This doesn’t mean you can turn the oven on and make food
This doesn’t mean you can’t drive your kids to a baseball game
You don’t have to just lay around watching Judge Judy
Go on a date with your spouse
read
visit friends and family
Maybe mowing the lawn is therapeutic for you
Do something you enjoy
3. Delight:
31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
celebrate what God has done
enjoy the goodness of his creation
Make meals
Go on hikes
Running
Biking outdoors
What brings you joy or delight
Maybe its watching your kids play sports
Whatever it is plan to do something you like doing
Take a nap if you can
4. Reflect:
The most important part is to remind yourself about the goodness of God in your life
Ponder his greatness and love
It give you time to practice gratitude and being thankful for what is behind you
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
find obscure or non obvious things to be thankful for
find the beauty and Glory in his creation
O that men would give thanks
Helpful Hints for Sabbath
Plan ahead:
The Bible even had land not planted on the seventh year to let the land rest
Sabbath is actually a huge core of spiritual and natural discipline
It enables us to plan ahead and take care of the tasks at hand
So that we can put our trust and worship in God with full focus
My sermon planning:
Done by Thursday
It doesn’t shut off if not
2. It’s not about legalism
legalism is relying on our own obedience to gain acceptance from God
It’s not about rules, its about being healthy
We have our core values as our church and our standards of leadership
We didn’t create them so we had something to enforce and make you do
We made them so you are healthy
12 ‘Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
15 And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
3. It’s about total reliance on Him
God will bless your rest
True sabbath puts faith in his process
His timing
on all the other days you can try and save the world and pour out into people
ON a sabbath we receive from God
Listen
Often times were to busy to hear