Weekly Sermon: More than Enough - 06-15-25

The Holy Gospel according to John. Glory to you, O Lord.

I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.

When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.

For he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears.

And he will declare to you the things that are to come.

He will glorify me because he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said, that he will take what

is mine and declare it to you.

A little while, and you will no longer see me.

And again a little while, and you will see me. The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Christ. You may be seated. I'm going to step back and grab my sermon.

Bless you grace to you and peace from god our father and our lord and savior

jesus christ amen thank you for having me here this morning um as i mentioned

i or as was mentioned earlier I am the chaplain at Highland Springs.

It's a retirement community with about 1,600 residents.

I've been there for about 11 and a half years, and I absolutely love it.

And so if you're ever in far north Dallas, George Bush and Coit, stop by and say hi.

The psalm that was assigned for today is what most of my sermon is based on,

so I'm going to read that to you.

O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouths of babes and infants, you have founded a bulwark because of

your foes to silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars

that you have established, what are human beings that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?

Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.

You have given them dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen and also the beasts

of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, whatever passes

along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

The word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

So I've been co-facilitating a class on mindfulness at Highland Springs.

And it's a class that gives us tools for coping with stress and anxiety.

And it's something that's really being shared across our campus with both residents

and staff, because apparently we all carry a lot of stress and anxiety.

Anyone fit that category?

Only one person is. Okay, two. All right.

We tend to worry a lot. We worry about the future. We worry about health.

We worry about finances. We worry about relationships.

And the list can go on and on and on.

And one of the things that can help with this is actually gratitude.

There are studies that show that the brain cannot be anxious and thankful at the same time.

How many of us spend a lot of time being anxious?

Okay, thank you. I didn't have to be alone in that.

So as I preach to you today, it is not as one who has this all figured out.

Is as one who's on the journey with you.

So, as I said, a tool that can help is gratitude.

So back in the 80s, Bobby McFerrin came out with a song, and it says,

here's a little song I wrote, might want to sing it note for note, don't worry.

There we go yes and there

is something to that now it doesn't mean

ignoring our pain or our struggle gratitude isn't a glib answer to solve all

of our problems but there's something about pausing and saying as we hear in

our psalm oh lord our sovereign how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens. When I look at your heavens,

the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established,

what are humans that you are mindful of them,

mortals that you care for them?

When we pause and take a moment to realize the glory of God and that God,

all the things that God has created and that things that God continues to do,

we can't help but be grateful.

When we take in a breath of air, take that, take in a breath of air with me.

We know that all breath is from God. It's a gift, and we cannot help but be grateful.

If you spend any time in the Psalms, you can see that there's kind of this pattern of up and down.

There's a pattern where David cries out to God, and he names all of his fear

and his anger and his struggle.

And then he pivots, and he reminds himself of the glory and goodness of God.

When we name that, when we do that, when we name the good things,

when we name the glory and goodness of God, the things that we're thankful for,

we're actually rewiring our brains.

We're retraining them, and we're stopping the negative loop,

and we're practicing something different.

When we do this, studies have shown, the brain actually releases dopamine and

serotonin, which help us feel good.

Some long-term effects of gratitude are improved sleep patterns.

How many of us need improved sleep patterns?

Better blood flow, stronger relationships, and overall happiness.

Oh lord our sovereign how

majestic is your name in all the earth you have

set your glory above the heavens when i look at your heavens the work of your

fingers the moon and the stars that you have established what are humans that

you are mindful of them mortals that you care for them.

In our gospel reading, we hear about the gift of the Holy Spirit,

the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.

When we worry, we're not tuned in to the truth.

When we pivot then into gratitude, we are open to seeing and hearing the truth.

And in the truth of the Holy Spirit, we find hope and we find healing.

And we are reminded that God cares for us.

I was having a particularly stressful day last week, and I left my office to

take care of a few things.

And when I returned, there was this beautiful slice of chocolate cake sitting on my desk.

There was a huge smile on my face in that moment.

A resident had baked a cake and was thoughtful enough to bring me a slice, and I love chocolate.

So I was thrilled to see this on my desk, and it completely changed my attitude

because I was so thankful that she took time to think of me.

Those little gratitudes can make such a huge difference in our lives.

So recently i have started noticing the

trees and the clouds as i'm driving to

and from work the beautiful colors on the

leaves how they change and look different depending on the season and i've still

started noticing the clouds in the sky the different hues of blue the clouds

that especially this past week have been so fluffy and beautiful and the shapes are so interesting,

And just so you know, I only look when I'm stopped at a traffic light.

I don't look while I'm driving.

But what I realize is when I take a moment to notice those things and give thanks,

my attitude is completely different.

My mindset changes from one of being stressed out in traffic to the glory and awe of God.

Oh lord our sovereign how majestic

is your name in all the earth you have set your glory above the heavens when

i look at your heavens the work of your fingers the moon and the stars that

you have established what are humans that you are mindful of them mortals that you care for them.

When I shift my thinking, I am reminded that the God who created those clouds

and those trees and those leaves

and sweet people who share baked goods created each and every one of us.

And that God loves us beyond anything we can imagine.

Our God loves us so much that God is with us in all things.

On those mountaintop experiences, our God is with us.

In those painful valley experiences, our God is with us.

God doesn't leave us alone or abandon us, and the Holy Spirit is here to guide us into truth.

David understood the need to pivot from stress to gratitude.

Jesus understood that we need help in pivoting from stress into gratitude.

The Holy Spirit helps us see that God is doing amazing things in our lives.

And the Holy Spirit guides us to truth.

May we take time each day to notice the many ways that God blesses us.

And may we take time each day to praise God's name.

O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth.

You have set your glory above the heavens.

When I look at the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars

that you have established.

What are humans that you are mindful of them?

Mortals that you care for them. Will you pray with me?

Holy God, you are awesome and full of goodness, and you fill our lives with good things.

Thank you that you love us so much. Help us each day, especially in those moments

when we are anxious or stressed, to pivot,

to feel your spirit, and to turn to you, the source of love and truth and grace.

In your holy name we pray. Amen.

Go in peace, trusting Christ is with you. Let the Spirit lift you beyond fear,

beyond comfort, beyond the familiar.

Catch the wind of God's grace. Let it carry you to new places,

new people, new possibilities.

Set the world ablaze with hope as you love, serve, and welcome all.

Thanks be to God, and we will. If you were inspired by this week's.