Chris Hodges - Kindness
Well, hello, church. How's everybody doing today? How's everybody doing today? It's good to see you. I just got a question: does anybody love Jesus at Church of the Highlands, anybody? Come on, everybody. God bless you guys. It's a joy to be with you. I love you very, very much. I pray for you every single day. Thank God for you. You are the best church in the world, and I'm grateful to God for you. I wanna say a big hello to all of our campuses. We are one church that meets in 26 different locations, 24 in Alabama, 2 in Georgia. God bless you guys.
What a joy it is to bring not just the Sunday service but Small Groups, Growth Track, Dream Team, all that we are as a church into 27 of Alabama's Department of Corrections facilities. God bless you guys today. We're so glad you're along. Yeah, you want to clap right there? You can, that's okay. And then, of course, there are people watching live online right now and maybe on demand later. We love you guys. Thank you for joining us as well. We're in week number five of a series called "The Fruit of the Spirit" that we intentionally planned for this season of our country.
Just, we all know this is a time that we tend in these election years, and with all that's going on in the world, there's a lot of chaos happening in the world right now, and I think more than ever, it's important for true believers to have the fruit of God's Spirit on display for the world to see. Can I hear a really good "amen," everybody? In fact, I truly believe that God's hope for the world is that Christianity would actually work in inside of us in such a way that it proves, the way we behave, the way we act, the way we live shows that our God is real.
That's how... how will they know? Jesus said that how else will people know except that by the love that we have for people and just what's coming out of our hearts? And so, we're really focusing on this so we can live these out. Christian living out true biblical values. We're also doing this because I think fruit shows you how healthy the tree is. It lets us know how well our Christianity is, so this is a little bit of a checkup. Like, when you go to the doctor, you know, you feel healthy perhaps, but maybe they do some blood work or they do some things, like, "Wait a minute, there's a problem here".
Well this list lets us know how healthy our spiritual tree is based on the kind of fruit that's coming out, so if none of this list looks like us, I don't think we can rightfully say, "Well, you know our Christianity's working". No, no, no, the Bible says, again, "They're gonna know them by their fruit". The last reason why we're talking about this is that God wants things for us, and I say that to give you hope in your heart. I hope you never rest on just what you currently have. I think one of the joys of our faith in Christianity is, come on, everybody, there's more, and you can experience more, and there's more for God to give you and for you to have, and please continue to pursue faith and pursue your growth.
I know that's why you're here, and by the way, good job coming to church today. I'm so grateful that you're here, but the hope is is that we leave here changed, and different, and better, and more like God. Can everybody say a good "amen" right there, all right? Okay, so that's where we're going and why we're going there. And of course, our text comes out of a passage of Scripture where the apostle Paul was bringing this letter to a church that he planted in Greece in a town called Galatia. Tammy and I actually got to visit this area this year.
We actually went on a "Steps of Paul" tour, and we actually stood in these places and studied Scripture, and I did some teaching to the group that was there. But in the book of Galatians, in chapter 5, he lists this list of fruit, and this is the nine parts of our series. It says, "But the fruit of the Spirit," in other words, the results of being full of the Spirit, "is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness," our topic today, "goodness," which is completely different. You'll see that next week. I'm gonna teach us about goodness, "Faithfulness, gentleness and self-control". Again, look at that list and say, "How much of that looks like me? How much of it doesn't".
And it ends this way, which made a whole lot of sense to their culture. I wanna make sure it makes sense to our culture. "Against such things there is no law," in other words, in order to get these, you don't get these by just being told you need to be these. So it doesn't happen through a law. You can't write the law and say, "Okay, now do this". No, no, the Bible's saying, no, no, you can't be full of the Spirit of God and have fruit coming out because a list told you what to do.
That's really the framework of the Old Testament, which is why God says, "I had to get rid of that Old Covenant and bring you a new covenant because the Old Covenant was completely external and just made you really feel bad about yourself 'cause all the things that you weren't". He says, "But in the new covenant, the New Testament, I'm not gonna tell you to do these things, I'm gonna make you these things. I'm gonna write these on your heart". And you become them, and now they're just popping out, and that's why he's saying you can't get these by just trying to be a better loving person. You've gotta let love overtake your life. We have to become them. Are you getting that everybody?
It's very, very important for you to see so that I teach you this. This is why when I'm bringing you these nine, I can't say, "Okay, here's how you do it". No, no, I'm more thinking about how can we become it, because you can't learn fruit. Fruit is the byproduct of who you already are. It's you. So whatever's popping out right now on your spiritual tree, or your life tree, whatever, however people would characterize you, that's who you are right now. And so, what we're asking is, "God, would you make us more like you? Would you continue to transform us"?
Which, by the way, is what salvation and Christianity are all about. When you get saved, you're completely made new spiritually. You're clean, which means when you stand before God, he sees you perfect. But we still have this other part of our life, this life on earth, where we're being, the theological term is regenerated. It means that little by little, and it even, the Bible even says it's gonna happen incrementally. You're gonna get more like him, more like him, more like him, more like him. So we're allowing God to do this work on the inside of us. We become more and more like Jesus, and that's what this one's all about.
And today, we're gonna talk about the fruit of kindness, and I just wanna start with this verse 'cause I think it's so beautiful, and it says, "Those who are kind," we're not doing it just so people can say, "Well, aren't they a nice person"? No, no, no, kindness benefits us. "The kind benefit themselves". In other words, when you are, God built inside of you, literally created you, that when you do kind things for people, say kind things about people, medical science can't even really understand this 'cause they have more of an evolution mindset of, you know, "We're more survival of the fittest. We're all out there, you know, just for our own human attainment".
And they can't even understand why that when you show kindness and are kindness, endorphins are released into your brain to give you the sense of pleasure. Actually, I read an article not too long ago from the "Wall Street Journal". I love reading articles, business articles, and it was saying that humans are hardwired for generosity, and the writer was actually confused by it. He didn't understand how we have the ability to do things for others and not for ourself and these chemicals are released to give you the sensual pleasure. I'll tell you the reason why. You're not evolved! God made you. God put that on the inside of you, everybody, and that's why, yeah. There you go. They should have called us, right, everybody?
We'd have helped them with the article. Because those who are kind, it benefits you. This is gonna make you like your life better whenever you're kind. "And the cruel bring ruin on themselves". Now, before I ever put myself out there as the kindest person you'll ever meet, the truth is, the more I studied this, the more convicted I got in more areas that I'll say I wanna work in in my own life to be a kind person. I can be a little too aggressive sometimes and maybe a little bit too harsh at times, and I really have asked God to work in my own life. But there was this one day where I felt like I maybe I got it right.
I was driving through our neighborhood, coming home from work, and I passed by this. When I got almost to my house, about eight houses from my house, there was this card table set up in the front lawn, and there's these two little blond-headed girls who had a sign hanging off the front of the card table that said, "Lemonade for sale". And they had this lemonade and a stack of Dixie Cups. And so I thought, you know what? I'm in a hurry actually, but, you know, let me try to make these girls's day a little bit, all right. So I pulled over, and they just jumped up out of the card table, and they ran, a little blonde hair flinging everywhere, like, "Yes sir, yes sir, yes sir". And I said, "Hey, I'll take a lemonade".
And they ran back to the card table, and they got the pitcher and got the cup, put their finger in the cup, poured it over their finger, and then rushed it out to me. And I said, "How much"? She said, "A dollar". And I swapped, I got my wallet, and I only had a 10. And I said, "You have change"? They go, "Oh, no, sir, you're our first customer". And I said, "You know what? Just keep it". "Are you serious"? Said, "Yeah, just keep it". And they ran and waving in the air, ran right past the card table, ran into, they left the front door open, ran in, ran back out. Mom was looking. I was driving off. I'm watching all this in the rearview mirror, and they're jumping and dancing and got the $10. Y'all, come on, that felt good. And I was thinking, why can't I just kinda be wired more like that every single day? What would it look like?
Let me just throw this out there for all of us. What would it look like if, like, we entered the world saying, "I'm gonna say kind things. I'm gonna do kind things. I'm gonna be on everybody's kind list". I was thinking about this. In fact, I even texted my family in the family text thread yesterday. I said, "Give me some words that describe kindness. Tell me about some of the kindest people you know, why they're on your list". By the way, I was never mentioned in the text thread. I'll just throw it out there to you. Thanks a lot, kiddos. I appreciate you. But words came out, like "they're just friendly," just friendly.
When they walk in, they're just, "Good morning. Good to see ya". They're just friendly. They're always generous people, right? They don't mind taking what is theirs. In fact, the word "kind" literally means, when I looked up the Greek word, it means "useful to others". Isn't that interesting? The word "considerate" came out. They consider you. They're always thinking, they're not thinking about themselves. They're thinking about you. And I don't know if this is the right word, so I picked the biblical word for all the words they were giving me, but they were always talking about humility. So meekness is not weakness. In fact, you can be kind and still be a very strong person, but they have a humility about them. There's no edge. They're not edgy, right?
Now, I don't know if any of that kind of gets to you. I want you, maybe you can think about the kindest person you know. Names came up, like of course my wife Tammy is the kindest person in the world. She literally wakes up the same way every single day. She's always sweet, always, always. It's kinda hard living with a person like that. I want y'all to know that right now. Halo everywhere, beams from her wings. Anyway, just, she's an angel. She's just an angel, okay. But names like Miss Lynn Chatham came up from our family, who's, if you know her, you know she's just super, super sweet. In fact, her daddy went to be with the Lord a couple days ago, and I think she's watching online right now.
Miss Lynn, we love you so very much, and I know the celebration of life is today. God bless you guys. We love you with all of our heart, all the family, many of our families involved but just so, so, so sweet. Tammy's dad, who's with the Lord now, came up just kind. I wanna talk about it a little bit today. And I was really praying and thinking, like, how do you not learn it but be it? How do you get kindness on the inside of you so that it's popping out from the fruit of your life? And I want to give you an interesting take that I found, I believe, by the Holy Spirit as I was studying for you today, and it's in this verse in Ephesians chapter 4, where the Bible says, be it. Just go be kind.
Well, that's pretty easy for you to say, Paul. That's not that easy, really. "Go be kind to one another," and then it gives this word, "tenderhearted". And when I read that word, I felt like by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit was saying kindness comes out of the life of a person whose heart is not hard. Let me say it this way. Kindness, if you're taking notes, is a heart issue. It's the best revealer of what's going on inside of our hearts. So now I went on this trail of studying heart conditions in the Bible, like what God was teaching us through Scripture, the holy Word of God, of what the condition of the world is, and the Bible actually says that the closer we get toward the end of time, the harder people's hearts are gonna become and the worse the world's gonna get.
I don't know if we're in the worst yet. I think we're headed that way. I think we're in a very toxic culture right now. We're in a world where there's more divisiveness, more hatred, and we see it really raise up its ugly head during election seasons. But the Bible, when it says about things that are gonna be perilous at the end of time, it doesn't mention the economy, it doesn't mention the wars, and all that's happening. Doesn't mention pollution or politics. It mentions heart issues.
Watch this in 2 Timothy chapter 3: "You should know this, that in the last days there will be very difficult times," the word "difficult," I'm not sure if it's the best English translation. They didn't call me up when they were translating it from the original manuscripts, but the word literally means fierce or demonic. It's the same word in the Greek that's used when Jesus described the demoniac of Gadara that he casts all these devils out of. So it's a demonic word. Like in the last days, people are gonna have such heart conditions that it's almost demonic. You know why? Because what's going on, if we're not bearing the fruit of kindness, it's not something that's not being learned to do, there's something spiritual going on the inside of us, inside of our hearts.
And now it gives us is this: "For people will love only themselves". Notice it doesn't mention any of the other symptoms of society or culture, "themselves, they're gonna be lovers of money. They'll be boastful, proud, scoff at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful. They're gonna consider nothing sacred," they're gonna lose their sense of sacredness, "They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others, have no self-control. They'll be cruel and hate what is good. They'll actually betray their friends, be reckless, puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God".
Now watch this: "And they will still even act religious," they still go to church on Sunday, "but they've rejected the power of God," not the learned ability, not the religiousness, but they rejected the power that makes them kind, "makes them godly". And that's what we're studying here today. I really felt like, unlike many times that I have when I'm studying, I felt like the Holy Spirit was directing my study time for us today to just kind of give a heart checkup, 'cause I know we all want to be the people who are kind to the kids at the lemonade stand, and kind to the people in our homes, and wake up and say kind things and just be... wouldn't you love to be on the list?
I would have loved to have been on the list, right, everybody? Just love to have been on the list, right? How do we get there? And as I was reading this list, because I've read this, you know, for a lot of years, not out of the New International version, but out of the King James version, I went to that translation, and there was four "uns" that stuck out, and I wanna talk about the four "uns".
And I wanna talk about getting rid of the "un" and getting to these four words that I am completely convinced... again, I believe by the Holy Spirit, that if we just think about these four words, the kindness is gonna pop out like the healthiest tree ever. The first one is the word unthankful, unthankful. Like, we're no longer moved by sunsets, no longer moved by beaches and mountains. We've lost the awe of the fact that God lets us be alive, that we have breath in our lungs, that how beautiful the trees are, the birds that sing. We are so focused on what we want, we forget what we have. But just this spirit of gratitude, I saw it best in my grandparents. I see it best when I go on missions trips. I see it best in places where people have the least.
And so, could it be that the more we get, the more we're actually not content with what we have, actually want even more? And what would it look like if we just had this attitude and this daily practice of, "Lord, if you never did another thing for me". Who am I talking to today? Are y'all listening to me? "If you never did another thing for me, Lord, I'm just so grateful". And kids today with their devices, you know, they have all this in streamings, you know. They can, in their little phones, you know, we have millions of songs at our disposal if you have any type of streaming service. Is there anybody my age or older in this room that remembers the Sony Walkman? Where y'all at? Remember that?
Like, if you wanted to hear music, first of all, you had to go buy a cassette tape. And then if you wanted to exercise with that bad boy, they put this thing. It was about the size of a small book, and you clip it to your hip. Like, you're just running out there, you know. And then, y'all remember this? When we got CDs, we thought, "Oh my God, CDs are amazing". But then they tried to put the CDs on that thing. But the problem with that is if you jump too hard in your jog, it would skip. So you had to heel toe, heel toe, heel toe, heel toe. Like, you know, you're just trying so hard to not. I read a book years ago called "The Progress Paradox," and it's a secular book built off of research that they have proven that the more we have, the less grateful we are and actually, the more we still want and how it never satisfies.
That the people with the most actually ended up being the most miserable people. And could there be this beautiful solution? It's the reason why we come to church on a Sunday. Remind ourselves, "God, you're so good". Come on, help me out. "God, you're so good". Sing it with me if you know it. "God, you're so good. You're so good to me". That's why we come, to remind ourselves he gave us another day to be alive, everybody! He gave us the breath in our lungs. He's been so good to us.
Romans speaks of the end-times, saying that, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all godlessness, wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain, because God made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities: his eternal power and divine nature," the mountains, the trees, the beaches, the birds, the, "it's clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. But although they knew it and they knew God," and they knew he had to be real, "they neither glorified him nor gave him thanks".
Notice that the greatest offense is not even the sins that he goes on to mention. The greatest offense is you forgot to remember that I gave you every bit of that. So what's the antidote that we have to remind ourselves? "That at one time we were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved by our passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating everybody else around us. But when the," say it out loud, "when the kindness and love of God and of our Savior appeared, he saved me, not because of the righteous things we've done, but because of his mercy".
And I'm making the contention today that if we get in the habit of just, "Lord, you're so good to me," I think we go to work and go to home, and now kindness pops out from us. Here's the way I like to think of it. The more I am grateful for the kindness of God toward me, the kinder I will be to the people around me. May we be that, God, in Jesus's name, and God's people said a good.
Here's a second "un". This was a big one. And if you know me, I don't like to get in people's faces with messages, and I certainly didn't, you didn't come to church here to feel bad about yourself. But the truth is, some of us, we're no longer moved by the fear of God or holiness. In fact, for some of us, we expect God to continue to bless us and be good to us while we allow little compromising sins to permeate our hearts and our lives. That, look in my eyes, everybody, not only destroy us spiritually, but they wreck our soul, torture, it tortures us emotionally. The weight of carrying a secret sin, the shame and the guilt that comes with it every single time, and the energy it takes to keep it a secret.
And for some of you came to church with a fake smile and it's that you're exhausted, and really, instead of just continuing to hide it, or keep it, or try to manage it, what would it look like if you said, "God, now, today you can have it"? I think there's some of you here in this room that need to give whatever it is in your life that displeases God that I don't have to tell you what it is 'cause the Holy Spirit already has, just leave it here at the altar today, and walk out of this room light, and free, and cleansed, and clean. And I'm gonna tell you what's gonna happen. Kindness is gonna pop out everywhere. I think it's almost virtually impossible to be kind when you're carrying something like that in your heart.
And some of us have talked ourselves into believing a little bit won't hurt a bit, just a little bit. I'm like, I'm mostly godly. And it reminds me of this story about a mom who had this teenage boy who wanted his friends to come over to watch a movie at the house, but the movie that he wanted to watch was an R rated movie, and he's pleading with his mom, "Look, mom, it's just this one little small part, and it doesn't last that long, and it'll be over soon, and the rest of the movie's really, really good. I promise you. In fact, most of my friends have already seen it". And she says, "Okay, you can have your friends over and go watch that movie". She goes, In fact, "I'll even make your favorite dessert brownies".
And they're downstairs in the basement watching this movie, and she's upstairs, you know, whipping up the batter, and she decides to go out into the yard where their little pet dachshund, Ginger, does his business and doesn't get much, everybody, just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit, just a little bit, little piece. You can't even tell it's in there, but she dropped it in the batter, and stirred it up, and baked it off, and brought it to the boys, and said, "Hey, everybody! I've got your brownies here, but I wanna let you know there is a little bit of Ginger's business in here. There really is. And a little poop won't hurt you. No, a little poop goes a long way". Isn't that right, everybody?
And just like sometimes I think we think God will overlook it. The Bible also says this. So this is one of those places when I'm studying a word or trying to put a message together, I will read every place in the Bible, Old and New Testament, where these words are used. I looked up kind, kindess, kinder, kindness, every variety of the word, and this is one of the ones that kinda showed up, and that is, "Consider therefore the kindness and the sternness," that God's both, sternness to those who continually choose to have a little bit of the mess on the inside, just a little bit, "but kindness to you, provided that you continue in receiving that kindness of God," his forgiveness and his grace.
And he goes on to say, "Otherwise, you're actually... I'll cut", if that's the way you wanna do it, it's really not up to me, it's up to you. And so, what do we do? He calls us to this beautiful word that I'm calling many of us here today, and that is to simply say, "I'm so sorry, God. Forgive me". It's called repentance. And let me tell you what's gonna happen every time you truly repent. It's just, it's kinda like driving away from that card table of girls in the lemonade stand. It's just like, wait a minute, that feels good. And what happens is, according to Titus, "Everything that is pure," like if you go to this purity route, everything that is pure, "it happens to those whose hearts are pure". And one version says it this way: "To those who are pure, everything's pure now".
So, you know, you start treating people purely, you see the world purely, "'Cause everything is pure to those whose hearts is pure. But nothing is pure to those who have a little bit, just not much, but just a little bit, an unbelieving, because their minds and consciences have been corrupted". So what do we do? "We pursue righteousness and kindness, and you'll find life, righteousness, and honor". And here's the best news of the day. He's not even gonna make you explain it. He's not even gonna say, "But you said that to me last Sunday". His mercies endure forever, and that's why I would tell you today, true repentance means God changed my mind, changed my direction so much that it changes me. And I believe that can happen to a bunch of us today so that the fruit of kindness comes out.
Here's the third "un". Is everybody still with me? Little bit quieter in here. We'll go to the next one. This one probably is the one that you have to work on the least, at least the way I see you. It's that some are unloving. They're no longer moved by love for people. They'd rather hate people, rather be divisive, rather have enemies, rather have sides. Everybody wants you to pick a side. It's okay to have a conviction, but it's not okay to treat people on the other side of your conviction poorly. We're still called to love everybody, love one another. We don't have to agree with them. We don't have to prove their behavior, but we do have to accept them as people that God's made. Can I hear a good "amen," everybody?
It's true. And that's why we believe is what the church should be known for is that, "Man, I don't know if I agree with them, but I'm gonna tell you, everywhere we go, we see people from Church of the Highlands loving people, taking care of people, just treating them the way Jesus would want them to be treated". We believe the church should be known as the most loving place on planet Earth. And that's why 24 years ago, we decided that we were gonna make this a hallmark of who we were, that we would never be a church just for us, that we would be completely focused on those on the outside of all these walls, to the prisons, and the Dream Centers, and the churches, and the rest of our country, and the rest of the world, and even that when disasters come along, that we would be pre-planned and pre-ready.
We bought trucks and trailers. And right now, as I speak to you, there are a thousand Church of the Highlands members in Georgia and North Carolina, right now in Florida serving others. Can we put our hands together? They're probably watching right now, okay? So we decided years ago that we would do more for others than ourselves, and that's why we worked hard, worked very hard to figure out, is there a way that we can run this whole thing on less than the whole so that we can do more for others, and translate Bibles, and do projects that are both strategic and compassionate.
And this year alone, you're gonna give more than 20 millions of dollars to places outside of our walls. 64 cents of every dollar comes right back to you through your staff, and your buildings, and your air condition, and things we do for your kids and family, but the other 36 cents of every dollar, we're giving away to make a difference around the world, everybody. And so, when Hurricane Helene came along, we didn't have to take an offering. We already gave. You are already well represented, everybody. Through our partners, like Convoy, been on the phone with them several times this week, Convoy of Hope, who is there on the ground right now on your behalf.
In fact, we're building a warehouse in Asheville right now as we speak and plan to be there for up to a year to serve that community long after all the relief efforts leave. Come on, everybody. Are y'all listening to me? And if you wanna see more about it, go look on your app. We're gonna post a video today that'll show you even more detail of how your giving is making a difference in the world around us. The Bibles talks about this, "Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they've done". When people say, "How in the world has Highlands grown the way it is"? That's not me. We're not this good. It's God is rewarding us.
There are so many things I cannot explain about this journey at this amazing church that only God did, and I think it's 'cause we got his attention because we don't care just about ourselves, we care for others. We're not unloving, we're loving. 1 Thessalonians says, "See to it that none of you repays one another with evil, but always aim to show," there's our word again, "kindness". And how do you do it? "You seek to do good to one another," that means take care of each other, "and everybody else". And that's why I remind you, I'm thrilled to tell you, we're entering into one of my favorite seasons of the year at our church. I'm a artist. I mean, I've done music my whole life. I did the music in church long before I was a senior pastor, and I've already, I work directly with our music teams on Christmas.
We've been working on Christmas for a couple of months. Listen to me, it's gonna be the best Christmas services in the history of our church. I don't even think it's gonna be a close second. It's that good. It's so good. I can't, oh my goodness, I wish it was here now. Okay, it's just so good, and it's just right around the corner. There's not that many, it's coming. But on top of that, gives us an opportunity to, you know, we're always compassionate but to ramp it up because holidays allow you to do that, things like our Thanksgiving Outreach, which I would love for a bunch of you to write that date down. You parents, you ought to have your kids, you need to teach your kids kindness, like giving food to somebody else.
Our Legacy Offering's coming up, which is an offering that we give the offering away. It accelerates our missions. It accelerates some of the projects that God's given us. We're gonna actually, Lord willing, this year, complete two more translations of the Bible that's gonna affect 17 million people that still don't have God's... that's gonna happen this year by the grace of God. Like, and I tell you, this many weeks out because we don't do fancy, you know, moving your heart, and messing with your heart, and guilting you. No, no, no, each person should give what they have decided in their heart to give. That's why I tell you weeks out. I'm telling you right now weeks out, think about it. We're gonna have things like our Giving Hope Christmas.
This is where we give thousands of parents that get to shop for age-specific toys, but the parent gives the gifts to their kids. We don't give gifts to kids, 'cause we want the parent to be the hero, not us. And so, some of you guys are very involved in this, but that's the date if you wanna be a part of it. And then all throughout this season, all throughout this season, I'm gonna remind you that you can leave here and grab these little cards. It looks just like, if I can get it out of my pocket, like this. And it just says "something extra to show you that God loves you," that's all.
So you pay for the person behind you in a drive-through line. Ask the teller, "Would you tell 'em it's paid for and give 'em this"? And we're gonna show the love of God in practical ways all throughout this season. Grab some of these if they're available. I've asked the team to print even more, just acts of kindness cards.
By the way, let me pause here and say, on this First Sunday, I wanna thank specifically the tithers of Church of the Highlands. There's some of you, you never have to be asked to give. You grew up like I did. You gave 10% to your local church. That's how you were trained. And if that's not where you are, that's fine. You just, God will grow you into these places. But I wanna thank every person who just, you don't have to be asked, you just support it. You just support it. And that's why this church has never had to take any offerings, we can give all this away. I wanna thank you. I wanna thank you for being so consistent and faithful with your generosity. Put your hands together with me, everybody. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Here's the last "un," and this one might be the biggest. I think it's virtually impossible to be kind when you still harbor anything in your heart about somebody else, no longer willing to forgive, but would rather expose and cancel. That's the culture we live in. We would rather, instead of love someone and give them the benefit of the doubt, we'd rather punish the person we hate, and society's doing this at such an alarming rate. I'm not saying what they did wasn't wrong. I just hate the way we're treating people now. And we think when we punish them, and hate them, and cancel them, and call them out, and expose that it kind, like it's, like, "That's good"! And how somehow you don't feel good anymore.
I always say unforgiveness is like setting yourself on fire, hoping the person that you hate dies from smoke inhalation. You didn't hurt them. You're hurting you. And maybe that's why every, not every, literally every place where it talks about kindness, it has to talk about forgiveness too: "Get rid of your bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, every form of malice. Be kind, compassionate, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you".
Colossians, look at it, "Therefore, as God's chosen people," that's you, "holy and dearly loved," you are, "clothe yourselves with compassion, and kindness, humility, gentleness, patience. And bear with each other. Forgive each other. If any of you has grievance," don't get 'em back, "Forgive 'em". "But they were wrong, PC". I know. I'm not trying to help them. I'm trying to help you. In fact, I'll close with this little quote. It's one of my favorite: To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was me.
So on my list of the kindest people, I had several too. Tammy's dad was one of 'em. Interesting thing about Tammy's dad, he was raised in a very brutal home. A couple of his brothers never survived it really. Their dad used to come up from work and just say, "Light up"! And he'd whip the fire out of all the boys, all five boys. And they'd say, "Dad, what did we do"? He goes, "I don't know, but I know you did something". He had every right to be the meanest person on earth. A couple of his brothers, they really are. But not Billy. Billy was the kindest, gentlest, nicest, funniest, warm human ever.
You say, "Chris, how? How"? You ready for it? Jesus, Jesus. Christianity is not a service we go to once a week. Christianity is a person who can change your life, and you know he did. Because love, and joy, and peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control pop out everywhere. And Lord, that's what we're asking for in our lives. And God's people said a good "amen". Bow your head, please. Would you just whisper these words to heaven for me? "Holy Spirit, what are you trying to say to me"? Just whisper that, please: "What are you trying to say to me"? And maybe you've become ungrateful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving.
God, today we're asking you to work inside of our heart just a spirit of gratitude, God, of repentance. We're gonna leave our issues here at the altar today. We're gonna choose to love 'cause that's our calling, and, God, today we're gonna forgive those who don't even deserve it so that we can be set free. God, I'm asking you to do a work in our hearts today through this simple little service, God, 'cause we believe in the power of God to change our lives.
With heads bowed, eyes closed, if you're here today and you know you're not right with God, don't even evaluate it based on any other decisions, you know you're not right with God. You would probably know it because you feel a million miles away from him. In fact, you feel your guilt. You feel what you've done. Because the people of God have that freedom, lightness, that cleansing. It's available for you today.
And if you're under the sound of my voice right now and you're under conviction, like, "Man, I need my heart right. My heart's not right," it begins with repentance: "Jesus, take my life, forgive me for what I've done, and save me". And in an instant, he's gonna wipe away everything you've ever done. He's gonna give you power to be the person you never could be on your own, and he's gonna provide a home for you in heaven. And if you know you need to be a part of that prayer, I'm not gonna have you stand up or come to the front. I'm just gonna pray for you right there, but I do think you need to be bold and say, "That's me".
So without hesitation at every location, if you wanna be included in this prayer, put your hand up high right now and say, "Count me in," just literally all over this room, all over this room. God bless you. You can slip it up. You can put it right back down. Let God see it, and you can put it right back down. And if you lifted your hand, I want you to pray this little prayer with me right there where you are. Just whisper it:
Jesus, thank you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for cleansing me. Today I receive forgiveness. I'm asking you to be the Lord of my life. I surrender to you. I surrender to you the control of my life. I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you rose from the dead, and today I put my faith in you, and the best way I know how, I'm gonna serve you with all of my heart. In your name I pray, amen.