Are You Harnessing the Power of Mercy, Faith, and Gratitude?

here at Southern Hills in case you didn't know that. Welcome to what we're

calling a Send Sunday. We're continuing in our sermon series which is Jesus

People and the title for the sermon is Staying Alive. Staying Alive. I mean

enjoyed the student worship team that was up here. Can we just say thank you to

them one more time. I love watching students worship and we had Alex and

then Hannah who's one of our leaders and then Ben and then Gabby and then Johnny

and Isaac on the back there and so man I love watching our students worship and

boy every Sunday night this is what I get. I get to come here Sunday nights and

it's our student ministry. We call it the Ascent and we show up in this room and

we move the chairs in the back half and we move some chairs in the front and

students kind of crowd around here as we do our worship and then we teach the

Word of God and man I love it. I love being apart and so it's a special Sunday

today. Our pastor is out with his family on vacation and then we are leaving for

summer camp in like two hours. We're loading up on a bus and heading up to

Mesquite, Nevada to the Rising Star Sports Ranch and that's where we're

gonna have summer camp tonight. So tonight there'll be about 450 students

from seven churches across the valley that are gathering up there and I'm

asking our church family, I get to see you more than maybe our students do. I'm

asking you how many of you will pray for our students this week as they're at

summer camp even if you just pray right now. Thank you so much. That means the

world and I'm telling you in all my years I've been serving in student

ministry for 12 years now. I'm the old guy in the room you know what I mean and

you probably find that funny but I'm telling you in student ministry I'm the

old guy. I'm telling you right now one of the biggest blessings that I get to

watch is when a student ministry shows up on Sunday morning and gets to watch

the Sunday morning church participate in worship and teach them how to worship

and serve God and it's really cool when they get to see that and then for you

guys to get to see the reverse of that. They were able to be here and lead

worship this morning and so I love, love, love serving and I believe it's a biblical

call to have an intergenerational, a multi-generational church. Amen. Where

we're passing on the faith to the next generation and so I'm so thankful. I don't

take it for granted the trust that you guys place in us to be able to go to

summer camp and then to be also to be able to continue to give and support the

student ministry. So I've got a couple goals this morning. One is to let you

know kind of what we're doing in student ministry. Of course we're going to

summer camp to ask for your prayers and to ask you to continue to support by

being faithful to church and faithful to give and my second goal is pastor's gone

he's on vacation so I want to get you out of here early. Amen. Like I've been in

student ministry for 12 years. I know how to keep students right and you keep

them happy by teaching God's word faithfully but then you let them out

early right and they're like man I like that guy you know. So that's kind of my

goal here this morning. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. God

teaches us to be good stewards of his time. Amen. So that's our goal. Luke 17.

Luke 17 is where we're at this morning. Luke 17 and we're continuing in our

verse by verse study of God's word. We've themed it. We've called it Jesus

people. We're gonna ask this question this morning. How do Jesus people stay

alive? What are the lifelines for Jesus people according to the ministry and

teachings of Jesus? Luke 17 verse 11 is where we're at. The Bible says now it

Luke 17:11

happened as he went to Jerusalem that's Jesus that he passed through the midst of

Samaria and Galilee. Then as he entered a certain village there met him 10 men

who were lepers who stood afar off and they lifted up their voices and said

Jesus master have mercy on us so when he saw them he said to them go show

yourselves to the priests and so it was as they went that they were cleansed.

And one of them when he saw that he was healed returned and with a loud voice

glorified God and fell down on his feet, fell down on his feet giving him

thanks and he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said were there not 10

cleansed but where are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give

glory to God except this foreigner and he said to him arise go your way your

faith has made you well. Can't you just see it? Like a scene out of the chosen.

Here there's 10 lepers standing afar off and Jesus is walking along with his

disciples and as they see him the the proper method that they would see

strangers and people approach them as they would have to call out and say

unclean unclean but this time they see Jesus and we don't know how they knew

him. We don't know where they'd heard about his fame. The Bible says that his

fame had spread throughout the country but they see Jesus and they think this

is my shot. This is our opportunity to try and get healed. So Jesus is walking

by and instead of them putting more distance between them they call out and

they say Jesus son of God have mercy on us and then Jesus says go show yourselves

to the priest. So now these 10 lepers who were outcast who were outside of society

turn around and again the thematic music is in the background. They walk back into

the village that they had been cast out from and as they walk back the music

picks up and it sounds like a familiar tune and then one of them starts to sing

well you can tell by the way I can hardly walk. I'm a leprous man no time to

talk. I was kicked out but Jesus spoke and now I'm back among the normal folk.

Now it's alright it's okay you may look the other way whether you're a brother

or whether you're a mother you're staying alive staying alive come on you're

gonna say what did pastor Caleb teach on? We don't know but we sang the song

together you know what I mean like something about staying alive in it right?

This morning we're gonna unpack this truth it's true these 10 lepers who were

headed for death who were outcast from society found three lifelines to help

them stay alive and we're gonna ask ourselves this question as believers as

Bible teachers as Bible students this morning as seekers of truth we're gonna

ask this question what are the three lifelines that Jesus people use to stay

alive? The first lifeline that I see in this story is mercy mercy mercy is where

God values the least look at Luke 1711 now it happened as he went to Jerusalem

that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee Luke as he's writing

this story remembers the location that this story took place and he says it was

kind of in no man's land if you put yourself in context and do a little

study on what was this location it would have been known as the borderlands or no

man's no man's land between Samaria and Galilee and it says as he entered a

certain village there met him 10 men who were lepers who stood afar off first we

see the people who need mercy first we see their situation they were in the

borderlands they were outside of community this miracle as Jesus leans

into these people show us that these people had been separated from any sort

of inclusion or sense of belonging they had been outcast from their own own

family outcast from society they had been told that they had to live on the

outskirts matter of fact for most of them as they were told to live outside the

city because there was no known cure for leprosy for this communicable disease as

they were told to live outside the city many of them I wouldn't have anyone who

cared for them or anyone who even remembered them as they lived outside

the city most of their sustenance if you could call it that they found in the

trash heaps the garbage piles outside the city outside the gates where people

would come and throw their trash that's how they would feed themselves we see

their situation was dire this disease that not only left them outside the city

also oftentimes would leave a person disfigured not only were they

emotionally and and relationally in community cast out from society but now

they were separated by even the way they looked they feel like they're on the

outside looking in Jewish law stated they couldn't re-enter society until they

first went to the priest to be checked before receiving a certificate that they

were now clean but even in their situation even with their desperation

they made a calculation to call on Jesus and that he would give them mercy I

can't help but look at this passage this morning and as I share it with a group

of believers I want you to think about the time that you called on Jesus and

found mercy in his eyes amen when you were outcast when you were left out when

you felt as if there was no way for you to come back in you called on Jesus and

found mercy in his eyes I don't know where you're at this morning maybe you

feel like you have a lack of community I don't know if you feel like you have

this identity crisis where you feel like man every every room that I walk into

people know how I failed people know how I've let God down people know how my

marriage didn't make it people know how I'm the one who walked away and now I'm

back and so I have to hang my head and friend I'm here to tell you that with

Jesus his mercy is available for all Jesus didn't pass by any other side

Jesus didn't say I'll come back when I'm done healing the

no he made his mercy available for all lamentations 322 says this through the

Lord's mercies we are not consumed because his compassion's fail not they

are new every morning great is your faithfulness isn't it awesome as

believers as Christ followers that we can come under the mercy of God this

morning friend I don't know what lie the enemy has told you to make you feel

like you're less than or like you should be outcast maybe you grew up in a very

traditional religious setting and now your life looks a little bit less

traditional and maybe you're here this morning and you're like I don't know how

to qualify or quantify this all I can do is cast myself on the mercy of Jesus I'm

here to tell you friend his mercy for you is new this morning fresh and ready

to be lavished upon your life maybe you're in here this morning and you have

an addiction or you have a habit and you're like I've tried to break it I've

tried to walk away from it I feel like this is just who I am and I'm here to

tell you that in the same way Jesus healed the leprosy that was uncureable in

that day Jesus can give you the strength and the power to walk away from

whatever it is you feel like you can't walk away from whatever it is that you

have just this morning as I get up I I've noticed that I mentioned earlier

I've served in youth ministry for 12 years now and so I'll be I'll be 35 this

summer I'm turning old right all the students like Pastor Caleb you're old

and what I found is the more mature and wise I get amen the more mature and

wise I get the earlier I get up in the morning you know what I mean like I've

got a two-year-old a four-year-old I just I don't sleep in anymore so I

usually wake up about five or five thirty so I got up this morning about five

o'clock and went out and and made my coffee and went sat in the front room and

I was looking over the sermon for this morning and as I did I was thinking

about the truths that I wanted to teach and the truths I wanted to communicate

and the Holy Spirit of God whispered to me as I was trying to look over the and

prepare for the sermon this morning wait a minute before you share mercy with

anyone else aren't you gonna receive mercy from Jesus and I started thinking

about how I think Christians a lot of times what we do is we think I'm so

thankful I received mercy from God when I got saved but no lamentation says the

mercies of God are new every morning look at what Titus 3 says but when the

kindness and the love of God our Savior toward men appeared not by works of

righteousness which we have done but according to his mercy he saved us

through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit whom he

poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior that having been

justified by his grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal

life friend I don't know where you're at this morning but can I tell you the

mercy of God is available for you in his book the bruise read Richard Sibbs

famously wrote we have this for a foundation of truth that there is more

mercy in Christ than there is sin in us amen aren't you thankful to have access

to have been an outcast but now you're in for with and and receiving of the

mercy of Jesus please don't let the enemy tell you that you're outside of

God's mercy because in this story as the 10 lepers were outside of community

mercy in the form of Jesus Christ himself came walking to them and they

received it I was thinking this morning of of something that happened in our

student ministry not long ago just a couple weeks ago as a matter of fact I

was thinking about the goodness of God and and the mercy of Jesus and how we

can receive it and I moved here five years ago matter of fact last Sunday

church family you're so generous thank you so much for loving on me and my wife

but last Sunday we celebrated five years here in Las Vegas five years at

southern Hills we moved here in May of 2018 me my family and I and it was just

me my wife my wife was pregnant with our son who's four and a half now Gatlin

and when we moved here I remember moving here in the middle of middle of May and

or beginning of May and it was already a hundred degrees by the way y'all know

it's not been a hundred degrees yet this year knock knock on wood or something

you know I mean like there is a God you know and he loves us and it's been

nice it's supposed to be nice this week and we moved here was a hundred degrees

I remember moving here and and I remember I didn't tell us in the first

service but y'all the ten o'clock people y'all can take this okay I remember

moving here and I remember unloading my truck the first day we moved here I

moved in we stayed for a couple weeks with with our in-laws as we found a

place I remember moving here and the neighbor was out and the neighbor was

we'll just say smoking some of the good stuff and I walked up and I remember it

was so hot and dry I was like downing bottles of water and then that smell came

over me and I don't partake and so I was like where have I moved to you know I

mean like what has like a hundred and fifteen degrees I'm like what happened

and we moved here and I started getting in the flow of ministry and I remember I

typed up an email when we first moved here and sent it out to all the families

and I said hey I'm the new youth pastor and I sent a picture of me and my wife

and my name is Caleb this is Ruthie and we want to serve you in any way we

possibly can and I remember I think most people were like okay you know like

welcome and and the church was kind and welcomed us and did all that but I

remember someone replied to that email and I remember the reply because I saved

the email and the reply was from Linda Scott and she wrote this she said welcome

Pastor Caleb and Ruthie may you settle soon and begin to feel at home in our

city as you begin your next chapter here at Southern Hills and then she began to

tell me some of her story and I asked Miss Linda this morning she was right back

here for 830 service and she said absolutely I want you to share that

with our church family and she said how when we if you don't know the story of

Southern Hills we started in a in a storefront location and then we moved

this is our first building that we've built and we're actually growing out of

this building if you came in and struggled to find a seat you're aware of

that we're building a new building out here and when they moved they moved

upstairs the student ministry moved upstairs to a room and because of the

location and because of some of the changes Miss Linda writes that her

grandson struggled to adapt and she says even Nana becomes overwhelmed at

times with our growth you see Pastor Caleb my grandson is autistic and now

that he's a teen it's even more difficult for him to feel a good fit but we

continue to try harder we go every Sunday morning and he loves that because he

loves Pastor Josh and his sermons she writes a little more and then down later

she says please understand I'm not criticizing anyone but God just leads

me to educate others should a door open and you open that door I love Miss Linda

she said you see I never understood disabilities or autism until my daughter

passed away her grandson is hunter hunter's mom passed away and I adopted him

and became his caregiver I've learned so much in the past several years after

losing my husband too it is by God's grace and mercy that those who love and

accept us at Southern Hills and God has carried us this far then she writes at

the very end of the email who knows what the Lord has planned but he sent you and

I sure am thankful and believe that you will make a great addition and difference

as the new youth pastor and I thank you for taking time to listen God's blessing

to both you and your family respectfully Linda Scott and I remember getting that

email and I remember thinking and probably feeling the way you feel right

now feeling burdened and I remember thinking Lord I don't know what you're

gonna do or how you're gonna do it and I can't forecast the future but God if

there is a way will you give me enough of your mercy will you share enough mercy

that I can share that with someone else and two weeks ago matter of fact I think

we have a picture two weeks ago Hunter Wadi Love graduated from high school and

Hunter that's Hunter right there and you can see he's not a small guy Hunter

gives the best hugs Hunter walk up to you and we call him Hunter Bear hugs and

he'll walk up to you and give you a big hug and throughout the years Hunter began

to become more a part of our group and attend student ministry on Sunday night

and he even went to a couple winter retreats and even a summer camp with us

and as he began to be more involved I I watched as God's story of mercy and

grace began to unfold in Hunter's life and when Hunter graduated we do a

grad night for all our seniors and we had ten students stand up here on a

Sunday night and Hunter was one of them and we invited I always give them a gift

and then I say would you like to share a testimony with the group and now you've

got to know about Hunter and if you know and love anyone in your life that's on

the spectrum or as autism you know that sometimes you never know what they're

gonna say and so I said Hunter I love you and I gave him a big old hug and you

know kind of hugged me you know and I said Hunter would you like to share a

testimony and Hunter came up and Hunter usually likes to tell jokes and have a

good time and so I said Lord please help him you know and Hunter came up and on a

Sunday night and he leaned in and Hunter wasn't joking Hunter was very serious

and Hunter leaned in and Hunter said well I'm graduating high school which if

any of you know school has been very very hard for me I've always been the

weird kid but on Sunday nights I get to show up and I get welcomed and love for

who I am and Hunter I'm telling you all there was a holy hush over all the

students and Hunter standing there just as genuine and as humble as honest as

can be and I'm I'm the professional youth pastor has done this for 12 years and

I walk up and I'm like Hunter we love you man and I'm telling you in that

moment the mercy of Jesus just fell upon our group and I'm here to tell you

watch this it wasn't just me every time Hunter would show up Hunter would would

walk up to one of his best friends junior Burgess Jeremy Burgess and Jeremy

would walk up and give him a you know skin or whatever and do their little

secret handshake and he just love on Hunter make him feel welcome and when

Hunter came to summer camp with us Hunter came up and he was a little bit

overwhelmed he's like pass you need to take me home to my grandma right now and

I thought I'm gonna have to drive four and a half hours and take you home to

your grandma right now from summer camp and guess who walked in the room Jeremy

Burgess junior Burgess and junior said Hunter it's okay man we can do this we

can get through this together and junior showed the mercy of God and Hunter's

life in just an incredible way when I showed up at his graduation two weeks

ago I was running a little bit late and I was like hey Miss Linda I'm on my way

I'm gonna be there or you know save me a seed and when I got there there's Miss

Linda and they're sitting with our faithful church members Gary and

Melanie Graves loving on Miss Linda before I even ever got there church family

I'm here to tell you the mercy of God and the mercy of Jesus is available for

everyone but listen to me it's available for everyone when we as a community

decide to share it it's available for everyone when we as a community say I'm

gonna be a representation for the mercy of Jesus and boy I stood there on that

stage with Hunter and I remember if you ever think that serving in ministry

doesn't have its moments where you're like I hope I hope what I'm doing is

making a difference I remember standing on the stage with Hunter and just the

mercy of Jesus washing over me afresh and anew and thinking man Jesus thank you

so much for letting me play a small part in Hunter's life and here's the

reality Hunter it wasn't just that Hunter needed us it was that we needed

Hunter Hunter taught us the mercy of God in afresh and a new way and as Jesus

people we believe in mercy we need it we receive it and then we freely give it to

others the mercy of God is a creed by which we live but it's not just the

mercy not only do we believe in mercy we also live by faith as we read the

story in Luke 17 the mercy of Jesus becomes so evident in the lives of these

lepers but then look at Luke 17 14 so when he saw them he said to them go show

yourselves to the priests and it was so as they went that they were cleansed

Romans 1 17 says for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from

faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith here's the great

truth of scripture here's the great enigma here's the great paradox of our

faith watch this when we are given faith it is not to reside calmly and

passively in our life when we are given faith to trusting God that faith calls us

forward to action when Jesus wanted to heal the lepers he could have said you're

clean you're done instead he says go show yourselves to the priest Hebrews 11

6 says this but without faith it is impossible to please him for he who

comes to God must believe that he is and that is the and that he is a rewarder of

those who diligently seek him the faith that God gives to us is a faith that

God calls us to action with James 2 14 says it this way what is it profit my

brethren if someone says he has faith but does not have works can faith save

him if a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food and one of you

says to them depart in peace be warmed and filled but you do not give them the

things which are needed for the body what does it profit thus also faith by

itself if it does not have works is dead but someone will say you have faith and I

have works show me your faith without your works and I will show you my faith by

my works what is this paradox what is this call of Christ in our life about

this faith unfortunately religions have wrongly identified it this way it's a

formula of faith and the formula is not that faith plus works equals salvation as

you read this passage as you study the story Jesus is not saying that if you

have faith and you have works then you receive healing he's not saying that

James is not saying that if you have faith and you attend church regularly if

you have faith and you read your Bible every day if you have faith and you

pray then you'll be saved that's not what he's saying this is the wrong formula

what he is saying is that faith saves Romans the just shall live by faith

action call to action the just shall live by faith he's saying that faith saves

and he's also saying that the faith that saves also works the formula in James

the formula in scripture is that if you have the faith that saves that faith

does not like dormant in your work in your life that faith calls you to action

that faith that saves is also a faith that works and calls you forward let me

give you an illustration it's a cent Sunday so I have student stories for

you when we first moved here we went to summer camp and had an incredible time

at summer camp and then my family had just purchased our first home here in

Las Vegas and so I came back on Friday on Saturday our pod showed up at our new

home I unloaded the entire pod the pod got taken away I came to church on

Sunday and then on Monday I left for junior camp it's fun I'm telling you

there's there's no life like it so junior camp was like fourth and and fifth

graders and all these students that are that are going and again I'm new to the

desert I'm new to the heat so where do we go to junior camp ironwood Christian

camp which is in Newberry Springs California it's not far from a place

called Death Valley you don't mean like we believe in spiritual life but we're

gonna take you to Death Valley to find it you know so we go there and we show

up and it's like 115 degrees when we get there and I'm like yeah this is amazing

alright kids go have fun I'm gonna go take a nap you know and I remember I

got there and I'm like man what is going on I'm ministering to these kids

because when I first moved here I was student pastor and kids pastor for a

little bit before we hired pastor Andrew and his wife Carrie I'm so thankful for

the Olsons amen okay so I was doing all these things and we showed up the first

night and and I'm trying to engage and minister to the students and as we're

doing that they taught the gospel story they taught salvation and then they

said if anybody wants to be prayed with and talk more about this raise your hand

and sure enough one of our students his name is Johnny raise his hand and I'm

like let's go it's all worth it 115 degrees God it's for you okay I'm

sweating for Jesus you know and I'm going over and I'm like it's okay this is

gonna be awesome it's I go over to Johnny I'm like Johnny you want to pray

tonight and he's like yeah I would love to pray I'm like Johnny what do you want

to pray about because you're not supposed to you know give them like you

want to get saved right I'm like Johnny what do you want to pray about and he's

like I want to pray about my family and I'm like oh okay that's sweet not really

what I was looking for but sure let's pray for your family and so I'm like dear

Jesus help Johnny's family and we love them and the hardens are real faithful

and and they come here and so I said just just help him I think it was his his

sister and his cousin and something that we prayed for him okay next day goes by

comes to the night service they teach the gospel they say if anybody wants to be

prayed with raise your hand Johnny raises hand I'm like all right here we go

go over to Johnny Johnny you want to pray tonight right and he's like yeah I want

to pray Johnny what do you want to pray about

Jesus and salvation right and he's like no I want to pray

for my family I'm like okay I'll pray for your family and so I take Johnny and I

go pray for his family third night Johnny raises hand I'm like man this is

all right maybe maybe i'd go over to him like Johnny you want to pray today

and he's like yeah what do you want to pray about Johnny I want to pray for my

family okay Johnny we'll pray for your family so I pray for his family fourth

night comes along Johnny raises hand I'm like we're gonna pray for his family

tonight. And so I go over and I'm like, I'm like, Johnny, what do you want to pray

about? No, no, I went up to him and I said, Hey, Johnny, I said, do you want to pray

for your family tonight? And he looks at me with a bewildered look on his face.

And he goes, No, I want to get saved. And I was like, Well, yeah, we can do that too.

You know what I mean? Like, I'm like, Okay. And so Johnny, who was like, Yay, tall at

the time, Johnny was up here on the worship team. Johnny Harding is like six three now.

And Johnny's saved and serving in our student ministry. Here's what I love about it.

Watch this. I see it over and over and over again in students' lives. When the faith of God,

when the seed of faith is planted in their life and it begins to blossom, what happens is it

calls our students forward to action. Here's a great question for us. If the faith of God planted

in the lives of students, students calls them forward to action, shouldn't do the same thing

with mom and dad, shouldn't do the same thing on Sunday morning with our adults, shouldn't

do the same thing with grandma and grandpa. The faith of God is not to just lie dormant

in our lives, but it calls us to action. This is what Jesus does with the lepers. He says,

go show yourselves to the priest. This is the illustration. Second Corinthians five seven

says for we walk by faith, not by sight. Galatians five 22 says, but the Holy spirit produces

this kind of fruit in our lives, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

gentleness and self control. So if God has planted the faith of salvation in our life,

here's a good question for you. What is growing in the garden of your heart? What is growing

in the garden of your soul? What is growing in the garden of your home? Is it love and

joy and peace and patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control? We

see that as Jesus people, we are called to live by faith and faith requires action, but

not only do we believe in mercy and not only do we live by faith as Jesus called the lepers

to go show themselves to the priest. Luke here adds an ending to the story. Now this

story in totality is not recorded in any other gospel. Luke is the only one that records

this story and he's very specific about a few things. He's very specific about the

mercy that Jesus lavishes upon the lepers. He's very specific about the call to faith.

Go show yourselves to the priest, but then he's also very specific about the third truth

that we practice, the third lifeline by which we stay alive and it's this one, number three,

gratitude. God invites us into the healing process. God invites us into healing. Look

at the story, Luke 17, 15. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned and

with a loud voice glorified God and fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks

and he was a Samaritan. So Jesus answered and said, were there not 10 cleansed? But where

are the nine? Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except as foreigner?

And he said to him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. The Samaritan's

thankfulness for his physical healing shows evidence of a deeper spiritual healing, which

is proof of his salvation. Now it's interesting to me that Jesus himself draws a sharp contrast

between the one who is thankful and the other nine who were not. And as I was studying for

this, I wanted to make sure that I'm applying it in the truest context of what Jesus is

saying. He is not saying that the other nine were not cleansed. He's saying, were there

not 10 that were healed? So all 10 received the mercy of Jesus, all 10 acted in faith,

but only one entered into the healing process of gratitude. And as I read this story, instead

of me saying, oh, well, I'm a part of the one, I try to be thankful regularly and giving

myself a hall pass. What if instead we looked at these 10 as the 10 daily opportunities

we have to be thankful to God? And the ratio in this story is that 90% of the time we miss

the on ramp of gratitude, 90% of the time we miss the opportunity to be thankful for

what God has done and what God is doing in gratitude. Perhaps in this illustration, it's

less about, am I a part of the nine who were ungrateful or the one who was and more about

of the 10 times I received mercy from God each day, am I only likely to take advantage

of gratitude once? Maybe the ratio of nine to one isn't about others, but about my inability

to find gratitude 90% of the time. In approaching the story this way, all of us are invited

to a deeper commitment to the work of gratitude. Instead of looking around the room and thinking,

I think I'm part of the 10%, we turn the camera, we turn the focus inwardly and say, man,

there's room for improvement in my life. There are opportunities where I miss the on

ramp of gratitude. And it seems that scripture reinforces this discipline as being part of

my sanctification process. Ephesians 5 20 says, giving thanks always for all things to

God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5 16 says, rejoice

always pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in

Christ Jesus for you. It's interesting that most Christians everywhere would know and be

familiar with the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and prayer, but few Christians

practice the spiritual discipline of gratitude and thankfulness. Psalm 101 says, a Psalm of

Thanksgiving, make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands serve the Lord with gladness

come before his presence with singing know that the Lord he is God it is he who has made

us and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture 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.

Philippians 4 6 says, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication

with Thanksgiving, let your request be made known unto God. Psalm 116 17 says, I will

offer to you the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. I'll put the work in. I'll make sure that

I take my own way and my own will and my own attitude and sacrifice it so that I can give

you Thanksgiving and we'll call upon the name of the Lord. Psalm 95 2 says, let us come

before his presence with Thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms.

Scripture continually repeats this theme that as believers, we are called into the process

of healing. If you look at the story in Luke 17, Jesus ends by saying this, where there

are not any found who returned to give glory to God, except as foreigner, and he said to

him, arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. It's interesting that Jesus says

to this man, not now go show yourself to the priest, but instead he says, you've entered

into the healing process of gratitude and it has made you well. It has accomplished

the work of the gospel in your life. I'll tell you this story and then we'll be done

early like I promised. So many of you over the past few months have caught me between

services or sent me a text saying, Hey, Pastor Caleb, we're praying for your mom. How's she

doing? If you don't know, if you're new to our church family at the beginning of this

year, January, my mom was diagnosed with a grade four glioblastoma, which is the most

aggressive type of brain cancer that there is. You've been so kind and many of you who

have asked about how she's doing and the truth about her is she really is doing well. She's

completed a full round of 30 treatments of targeted radiation as well as 30 treatments

of chemo and she has her next MRI tomorrow afternoon down at Cedar Sinai in Los Angeles

and that will determine next steps. Several of you have kindly followed up after asking,

Hey, how's your mom doing with, by the way, how are you doing? And you've been so kind

and so compassionate to encourage my family and I as we've walked through this. And can

I tell you, I don't know if there's any way and if you've walked this road with a family

member that you can fully prepare yourself for the highs and the lows, the onslaught of

emotions that come with watching someone you love so dearly who's so young walk through

something like this. But I'll tell you this, if I've had a focus, if I've had a target

as I've walked through this time, I've just tried to be grateful. I've tried to be thankful

for all the blessings God has given us along the way. My mom just came in town this past

weekend and unfortunately she wasn't feeling well enough to join us for services, but she

was here and she spent some time with us and our family and our grandkids at our house.

And on Wednesday, this last Wednesday, my mom and dad celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary

and my wife and I were able to take them to dinner and go out with them. I think we have

a picture of that and go out with them and able to take them to dinner. And as we went,

I was, I was trying to think of a way to just be able to enjoy the time. I was trying to

think of a way to be able to just be grateful for the extra time that I had with my mom.

And so on the way there, I asked my mom to tell me the story of her and my dad's wedding.

What was it like? Who was there? What do you remember most after receiving all the treatments

that she has? Some of her memories were faded a little bit and so she asked my dad, what

wasn't this true? Isn't this the way that it happened? And slowly they came back and

she told me the restaurant that the ceremony took place at. And my wife and I enjoyed learning

some new things about that day, 37 years ago on Wednesday. She told me who was in attendance

and who played music as she walked down the aisle. She told me how proud her dad and my

granddad was as he walked her down the aisle. And for the next few moments as we reminisced,

my mom didn't have cancer. She was 22 again, marrying the one who had stolen her heart.

I asked her and my dad if they had any advice for us. They've been married 37 years. What

can we do better? What can we do more of? And they both said that while they haven't

been perfect, every night before they go to bed, they try to tell each other that they

love each other. Simple gratitude. What I found is that when I enter into gratitude,

I enter into healing. It's a cathartic process that reframes the way I view myself and others.

It reframes the way I view God. And as we sat there at that restaurant, instead of me

thinking, God, why us? Why me? I got to rejoice with my mom and dad and be thankful for the

journey. I got to be thankful for the 37 years that they've been married. I got to be thankful

for the 35 years that I've been in their care and my mom has been a prayer warrior for me.

I got to be thankful for my mom's chipper attitude, almost to a fault. If you ask my

mom, hey, how are you doing? She'll say, I'm doing good, even if she's really hurting.

And that's probably why to this day, my wife says to me, wow, you're really in your Lin

mode. My mom's name is Lin. And usually I'm in a pretty good mood because I had a mom

who loved on me and taught me the value of gratitude. And so as we sat there and just

enjoyed our time, we were able to just be thankful for the journey that God has called

us to. And as she goes down tomorrow to Aver MRI at Cedar Sinai, albeit summer camp with

450 students, and I get to just enter into gratitude and say, God, I'm so thankful for

where you've called us and what you've called us to. And I'm trusting that what you're

doing in my mom's life and with her health is from you. You see, as Jesus people, we

practice gratitude. And I'm not saying it's easy. Matter of fact, I identify with the

90% of the time it's way easier to onboard in not being thankful. But I want to make

sure that I take the opportunity to enter into the healing process. I want Jesus to

look at me and to say that my faith has made me whole. See, Jesus people practice gratitude.

And Jesus people live by faith. It's a call to action. The faith that God has given us

spurs us onward. And then Jesus people believe in mercy, mercy to receive and mercy to share

with those we come in contact with. Let's pray this morning.