Worst Case Scenario

If you have a Bible, we're going to read today in the book of Colossians, chapter 3, and verse 1.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

I want to talk to you today on the top the topic of the of the sermon is called Worst Case Scenario.

And I want to speak with you today about really your your thought life and how your brain, your mind, Joyce Meyer calls it the battlefield of the mind.

Aren't you, Joyce?

And, you know, it's really about this whole concept of the circumstances that surround us often aren't the most dangerous things that we face.

The Bible says that the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.

So that we have circumstances that we that we each face that can be good or bad.

And no doubt this week you've had something that's been good, and probably this week something that's been bad.

But the battlefield of the mind can determine so much of our response of the things that we face.

There can be just like little interactions.

Probably today already, probably at church.

Church is a minefield of micro interactions with people.

You know, like when you um you know when you talk to someone and then you walk off and you um you assess your own performance, you know, like just then, you know, you're just like asked, you were talking about sharks, you know, and like, and then you you gave your answer, and then you were like, maybe I was, no, maybe a tiger.

Because I th I think a shark, because a shark would be a quicker death.

And you're in the water with the shark, and that's like his habitat.

Whereas like the tiger, you should have feel like you should dominate it because you're a human and you're kind of like, you know, this is your space, and then you lose, and then you feel like, ah, you know, I shouldn't have lost.

You know, so but even I'm now thinking about what I've just been saying.

That the the mind is, and I and I want to talk to us today because we have this tendency, I think, to in our mind play out the worst-case scenarios.

When I grew up growing up, I my mum Wendy, she gave me two nicknames.

Well, she didn't, you don't really give someone a nickname, eh?

They just spawn, don't they?

They just happen, you know?

And my first nickname from my mum was Levi Lou.

And I've always hated it.

But I've never told her that.

So if you see her, don't tell her that I hate it.

But I'll find some time at some point to let her know that.

Levi Lou never never stuck in my heart, but for her, it certainly did.

Levi Lou.

And the other one was worry wart.

You're such a worry wart, she would say to me.

You're such a worry wart.

Now, those are two things you don't really want to associate it with, you ain't.

Like worry is one thing, but warts.

So when she thought of me, she thought of a wart, you know.

And then I thought of all the warts you could be.

A worry wart, you know, so it's just like a disfigured thing on your body that's permanently a state of concern.

That's what she thought I was.

And so we've had a great relationship, but you know, there's been um a couple of moments.

But the Bible says in Colossians chapter 3, verse 1, it says, since then you are you've been raised with Christ, the Bible says, set your hearts, I love this, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Colossians 3:1

Can we just pause there for a moment?

Since then you have been raised with Christ.

Wow.

Well, I should just preach a sermon just on that first line.

Did you know that you and I have been raised with Christ?

Not raised like reared like from childhood, but raised as in we have been lifted up.

We often feel so low, hey.

Um I bet that South African members of our church family are feeling pretty low this morning, you know, but this afternoon, but I but my heart goes out to you because you shouldn't feel low because of the performance of a rugby team, you should feel high.

Because you are raised and seated with Christ.

We are lifted up that when he came, he came low so that in his poverty we may be made rich.

Wow.

That's not a promise for our bank account, although be my guest and claim it.

But he became from his riches, he became poor and impoverished, and he became low, even lower than the angels.

A little lower than the angels, the Bible says.

If you were here for Nigel Dixon's brilliant whiteboard illustration a couple of weeks ago of this pyramid, he had God, then he had like the cherubim, and then he had the angels, then he had us, and then animals, and then cockroaches.

And Jesus came from the Trinity, the Trinitarian Godhead in his personhood as a member of a functioning relationship with the Father.

He came even lower than the angels.

He came down.

Hugo, today, if you see him, he'll be walking around with a, and I'll get this wrong.

I think it's a Boeing 757.

It's got adjustable flaps, it's got a great landing gear, and he'll be flying around with that thing.

And if you ask him, and if you give him your attention just for a moment, he will tell you all about it.

Imagine if we decided, Hugo, we're gonna become Lego in your world.

What's the guy's name on the Lego movie?

Emmett.

That's his name.

We're gonna become Emmett.

We're gonna become creatures in your world, and you get to control us.

I mean, we would never, I would never want to be a Lego man walking around.

Jesus came, load came into our world so that we might be raised up with Christ.

That we don't need to live in oppression or in fear or in depression or in anxiety.

Those things have no hold on us because we have been raised with Christ.

And then it says this.

I love this next part.

This sounds like something that Stacy Pine wrote.

Set your hearts on things above where Christ is.

I talked a couple of weeks ago about the news cycle, and about how these days it's 24 hours a day.

And you got the news in your pocket right now, and you're getting phantom notifications and you're thinking you're thinking you're missing stuff.

You are, and that's good.

I often we'll talk with parents who take away their kids, especially their teenagers on little vacations, and they'll be like, no phones.

The goal is to be bored, and then a shiver goes down our spines collectively.

Bored?

I remember being bored.

Being bored was awesome.

Being bored meant that I was getting injured trying to learn how to skate.

Like that was an amazing time of my life, you know, that you were just you were just bored.

And you had to try and find, you had to try and find things to do.

The Bible says here, set our hearts on things above, where Christ is.

In other words, not where, I think what's being inferred here by the Writer of Colossians is where we live or where our minds can be.

Don't live there, but set our hearts on things above.

We're talking here, there's a picture being, I think, proposed to us about something up and something down.

But the Bible's giving us the choice of where we go.

I think heaven's trying to pull us up.

One of the interesting things that Pastor Phil Pringle talks about, that he has like a bee in his bonnet about the scriptures, is that whenever we come to pray, people in church will often say, Hey, when we pray in a moment, could you?

I think closing your eyes makes sense, and that's in the scriptures, especially for privacy.

You know, like if anyone here struggles with addiction, you raise your hand and everyone's eyes are open.

It's like we we're not that close as a family, I think, yet to, you know, know you're, you know, the skeletons in the closet.

So we close our eyes.

So we can be ministered by the Lord or by the prayer team.

But one of the things he says is that in the scriptures, it doesn't often say to bow your head.

But in church, we always say that.

Guys, could you close your eyes and bow your heads?

And so we bow our heads.

He says in the scriptures, there's more reference to us lifting our heads than bowing our heads.

There's this sense, I think, that heaven's trying to pull us up.

Like the Bible says that he stoops down to what?

Trot on you and keep you low?

No, no.

He stoops down to make you great.

That God came down to lift you up.

I think as Kiwis, this is like a challenge for us.

Because we kind of like kind of being lowly.

You know, not too big for our boots, you know.

We don't want to be on the other end of someone saying, this guy thinks he's the man.

We don't we'd hate that.

We don't want to be perceived to be the man.

And so we get, you know, the classic example is like a rugby union post-match conference when the when your team, our team, the all blacks have won.

And they say, Oh, you know, Adi Savir.

How are you going?

Great, amazing.

How do you feel?

We won.

You you did it.

You're an animal, Adi.

You're every man's hero.

You know?

And then he goes, he goes, um, uh, yeah, no.

Full credit to the boys.

Game of two halves.

Yeah, it was great.

And then we're like, no.

We wanna, we want you to say, yeah, bro, I crushed those fools.

They're nothing to me.

I am a beast.

You know what I mean?

Yes.

But something in us would it feels like that's not quite Kiwi.

And so we're trying to, we have this national identity that really struggles to be lifted up.

Because sometimes I think we would rather be um under the radar.

So it says this.

It says, Thank you so much.

Is that Kieran?

What a gifted, skillful young man you are.

Kieran, how old are you?

Oh, yeah, I'm good.

Yeah, thank you, bro.

Yeah.

Um, how old are you, bro?

Uh 18 years old, consistently serving in church.

So grateful for you, bro.

Thank you.

And and he's kept up the verse, which I really appreciate.

It says this where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

We've got a cross in here, which is a which is awesome.

It's our it's our the symbol of our faith.

What we don't have in in um in the church is a throne.

But we could, eh?

Because he's not actually on there anymore, is he?

That's why it's empty.

We could have a tomb.

You know, every church has a tomb.

Come to my church.

Well, what's that cave?

That's a tomb, you know.

Is there anything in there?

No, that's the point.

Like it's empty.

You know, what do you mean?

Well, so let me tell you.

So, but we prefer crosses.

And but what we could have is a throne because the Bible says that Jesus is no longer there or in that tomb.

He's not in the ground, he's seated at the right hand of the Father.

And this is what I want to uh this has all been an intro for verse 2.

It says, set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

It says, set your minds.

It says, raise your hearts to be where Christ is.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

For you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.

The Bible says uh about the Lord that he is our rock and our fortress, that he's the Alpha and the Omega.

So the rock and fortress is great because we understand what it means to be a rock.

Like you could stand out on a like on a rock, you know, and be like, be on a rock, you know?

And you're on a rock, you know, and that's great.

But then he says he's also simultaneously our fortress.

So I'm standing on a rock in a castle.

You know, he's the Alpha, which is the start, but then he's also Omega, which is the end.

And so he's looking at us like he's just, he's totally, he's surrounding us with his love and his glory and his majesty.

And the Bible then says this wonderful little mystery that our life is hidden with Christ in God.

Oh, there's lots to there's a lot to talk about here.

So the only thing I want to talk about today is verse 2.

I want to encourage us in the moments that we have to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for your presence.

We thank you for the scriptures.

We thank you, Lord, that today you want to teach us something, that you want to move in our hearts.

We thank you that your presence is here.

I'm really grateful for the worship team's wonderful leadership today, just guiding us gently into your presence.

That we felt like we were lifted up, but we felt like at the same time you came down.

And it's wonderful, it's precious to be in your in your presence and in the presence of family and our faith community here on a Sunday afternoon.

And we pray today that you would speak, that you would have your way, and we believe that in Jesus' name.

Amen.

I got given this book a few years ago, for like Father's Day, I think.

I think it was from Nard's.

And the book was called The Worst Case Scenario Handbook.

And it was a book full of worst-case scenarios.

That's why that's why it was called that.

And one of them was how to reschedule your dinner because of a samurai attack.

That's been helpful, you know?

What to do if your date is a bear.

Another one was how to survive an assassination attempt by your waiter.

And then it said this: remain calm.

The most important thing is that you look cool.

Then it says, assess the situation.

A spy themed restaurant?

Question mark.

If so, laugh politely.

I thought that was better than what you gave credit for.

Just then hey, you know, and it's not my joke.

I'm reading reading you someone else's humor.

So I'm not offended.

And then it said, be creative.

Try to mix it up and give your lady a show.

Use karate.

It's full of silly, trivial illustrations, stupid stuff, just random things.

What if you get attacked by a kraken?

You know, it's just like the whole thing was just so silly.

But isn't this a picture, I think, of what happens in our minds every day?

Not that you're sitting there wondering if you're going to be attacked by a samurai.

But you are concerned because you do, though I mentioned before, the news cycle.

Before we used to have back in the days, young children, TV used to finish at a certain time, and it would go to um black and white armies of ants fighting each other, and then the TV would start again in the morning.

I think it's like 10 or 11 o'clock at night and then 6 a.m.

Like it would stop and it would start.

So news coverage and television would stop and you would sleep, and then there'd be this Kiwi would come on and tell the New Zealanders to go to bed, and then he would be tired.

He was a tired Kiwi, and it would be good night.

And then in the morning it would start again and you would wake up.

So the input that you were getting stopped.

And you would turn off your light and the light and life would be still in quiet.

These days that's not the case.

You're inundated all the time.

Inundated all the time with information, with relationships, with trivia, with all kinds of things.

And so this book, as funny as it is, trying to wonder if I'm in a spy-themed restaurant, it is a good illustration, I think, of our overactive imagination.

Proverbs 23, verse 7 says this for as he thinks in his heart, so is he.

Proverbs 23:7

Wow.

That's a challenge.

I guess my next question for us would be what have we been thinking in our hearts this week?

What have we been thinking in our hearts today?

What are we thinking in our hearts right now?

Because as we think in our hearts, so we are.

Maybe not immediately, but over time and consistency, if you think the same thing about yourself every day, every week, and every month, the Bible says that we will end up becoming that thing.

In other words, your thoughts, they precede your actions.

The dark tendencies of our mind, they see everything at its worst.

Our finances at the worst.

Like, you know, like do you ever think if you're going to log into your bank account and you just wonder, like, there might just be no money there?

You know, that's just a normal day.

It might just be no money there ever, you know?

You think about your kids and what's happening at school, and you drop your kids off where they catch the bus or they go to university, and while they're at school, you're thinking, like, they are they will they be safe?

Will everything be okay?

Not so much safe from really bad things, but safe from little subtle things.

I was with Jovi the other day at Hunga Hunga Torua Murai in Matapi on a on like a fano, you know, like day with all her with all of her Maori classmates in the bilingual unit, and and I was watching her, and they were learning a mortietia.

It's a more tetia by the fuckup of Taragamona, and they were learning this song.

To Moke Moke is the name of the song.

And it's long.

It was like they'd printed out, Auntie Cheryl had printed out uh about 10 or 12 pages of lyrics, and they had to line them up and then learn the song and sing it out loud.

Like, imagine if I did that today.

Hey guys, here's 12 lyrics, here's 12 pages of even the national anthem.

Get this in order.

You'd be like, Well, I think this is verse 7.

No, it's not, it's verse 11, and they did it.

Then they had to learn it, then sing it.

And it was awesome watching these kids facilitate and plan, and then the ones who knew them all Tiertier were helping others, and then once a group had finished, then they would toe talk to another group.

And I was watching Jovi, she's having a great time.

But she's kind of like a she's like a little flighty butterfly.

You know, if she lands, it's only for a moment, you know, and then she's off.

You know, she's not really invested, she's more just like hanging out and just vibes, she's a vibes person, you know.

And then and then a girl looked at her, and you know, you you know those little like we give each other little grimaces, little looks, little facial expressions.

I don't think this girl meant anything by it, and she looked, and then Joe Fie's like, comes over to me, she goes, She's bullying me.

Classic.

I don't think she was, but when I'm at home, that's what I'm concerned about.

And then when the kids get home, I was bullied today.

Worst case scenario.

It was 15 kids pointing out all of their insecurities, you know?

Finances, kids, our marriage, friendships, work, the future, the past.

Today, tomorrow, yesterday.

And we're paralyzed.

Analysis, paralysis.

We're we're we're stuck in the muck because of our because of our mind.

I've thought about it, therefore, it must be real.

Maybe I'm only preaching to myself today.

This is a sermon for Levi Mary Church by Levi.

We create the world we live in with our thoughts.

2 Corinthians 10 verse 3 says this we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive, this is good, we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3

I think the thing about the second half of that sentence, and it's that it feels quite aggressive.

You know, we I joked the other day about um uh Jaden and Mo who have been renovating their new home.

And uh and I joked about how I talked about submission, about submitting to God, and I used an illustration of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

If you were here, I think you would have enjoyed it.

And how like these days, instead of fighting like with your fists, you grapple on the ground, you know.

So then it's like, you want to go, you know?

It was like that, and um, and and then I I was thinking it's thinking about submission can be quite an aggressive, you know.

I submit, I submit to you, Lord.

It can be like a surrender, but also like a I think this one here.

We take we we take captive every thought.

Like we we wrestle these bad boys to the ground, and we take them captive and we make them obedient to Christ.

So the whole prelim that I gave you earlier about about um higher and lower, you remember that?

It was only a couple minutes ago.

About being lifted up and not bowing, but but heaven trying to pull us up, and you remember that?

That is, I think, what's being talked about here.

This is the same author we believe of these two letters, that we want to make those thoughts, we want to take captive the thought and make it obedient to Christ.

Not necessarily by beating it down, but by lifting it up.

I feel low, I feel anxious.

I'm gonna take captive that thought.

That's not who I am, that's not who he's called me to be.

I'm fearful about something that hasn't yet happened.

I'm thinking about it, therefore I think it is.

I'm about to have the worst day ever.

Just look, time out.

Hey, a little time out, excuse me, thought.

In you go to captivity.

Get in there.

A little timeout for you, mate.

Let's talk about this.

And then just have a little chat with yourself about what's been happening to you.

That's why sometimes when people take, you know, when you hang around with people and they take ages.

I'm gonna use Jovi again, she takes forever to do anything.

She she moves at like um, you know, when you listen to a podcast and you go 1.5 or two times speed, or when I send people voice messages, they always speed those bad boys up because they're sick of them.

She does reverse, she's everything slow.

Right now, in kids, she has made a fort with a bed sheet and she's put beanbags under it.

She's bought stuffies and sketchbooks from home, and she, if she gets bored, she told me she's bought a novel.

Who's reading a novel in church?

Jovi.

She's in there just doing her thing, taking her sweet time.

My point is this when people take their time to process things well, I find those people are the healthiest.

But those of us that quickly diminish things or move on, or we become obedient to those negative thoughts that we have, I think we're the ones that could take a moment and put some of those thoughts and time out and take them captive.

Let me just give you a couple of examples of I think some of the thoughts.

That we all have.

And then I'll give you some some options of thoughts that we could have.

And now they're gonna be they're gonna be positive.

The first thought I think we have is we I think we worry.

I think we worry.

To worry is to give away, uh sorry, is to give way to anxiety or unease, to allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty or troubles.

My question would be, are we dwelling?

Hey, are we dwelling on difficulty or troubles?

Or are we elevating our thoughts not to be worried, but to be seated at the right hand of God, to have our hearts lifted higher and our minds lifted to things above where Christ is, or are we concerned about worry down here?

Worrying is something that we can deal with at some point.

It can be a crippling emotion.

Jesus said this in his greatest sermon.

He said, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given unto you.

Essentially all the things that we worry about.

And there he's talking about finances and food and clothing and housing and just all the Maslow's hierarchy of human needs.

And verse 34 says this, therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

How good's that?

We're worried so much about right now that we're like, we're so overwhelmed with worry, we start worrying about tomorrow.

Maybe I'm the only one that does that.

I don't know.

Anyway, let's let's give a quote from, you know, this is Master Ugwe.

He said this.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift.

That's why we call it the present.

That's kung fu panda.

The next thing that we uh the next thing that we can worry about is not just worry, but fear.

Fear can be something that so attacks our mind, eh?

Every night when Hugo goes to bed, every single night, without fail, he'll ask, who's putting us to bed tonight?

And he knows the answer.

It's always his dad, you know, because everyone else is over it, you know.

Who's putting us to bed?

And then he looks at me.

You know, who's putting us to bed tonight, dad?

You know, and we go on, and they don't want a long, lengthy bedtime, although they sometimes they do get a lengthy one, but they he they just want that habit of just he, especially him.

He just wants, this is what Hugo wants.

He wants me to come in, so buddy, love you so much, man.

Love you too, Dad.

He always says, I love you more.

And then I say, I love you first, checkmate.

And then he goes to sleep.

Oh no, no, he doesn't go to sleep actually at all for a few minutes.

And then we kind of think, maybe prayer, love you so much, man.

A little stroke on the brow, a little rub on the back, love you, Jovi, love you so much.

You know, thank you, Lord Jesus, for their life.

And he pray and a little something, whatever.

You know, it's just we're just having a great little time.

It's short, you know, whatever.

And then I leave.

Hugo doesn't really need a follow-up.

If he does, it's it's random, it's seldom.

He'll come out maybe looking for a little like a little piece of Lego.

But Jovi, all the follow-ups.

And there's a sucker in my house who will always succumb to the follow-up.

And she's the other half of the marriage.

And says, Jovi will come out, she's like, Can you check on me in 10 minutes?

And I'm like, I'm not gonna, I will not see you till tomorrow.

You have a bed, like you have a room, you've lived the whole day, now we power down.

And she's like, she looks at Nards, and then I'll be there in ten minutes.

And then when you come in, she goes through seasons where she wants prayer for particular things.

And there are always things she's afraid of.

And so uh I think that like the electronic space for all of us can be a dangerous space, and for our children, it's important we look after them.

So there are certain things that our kids can't do online, for sure, obviously.

But there are some things that they can do online that still scare her.

So one of the great games, I think it has more monthly subscribers than Fortnite, is Minecraft.

Minecraft is great, it's making stuff, digital Lego, making whole worlds.

But then you can have creative mode, or there's another mode.

And in the other mode, it has like little things like creepers.

And that they sound scary, don't they?

But they're not really scary.

And they're all like two pixels of just like, uh, you know?

And she'll come in and she'll be like, you know, what do you want prayer for tonight, Jovi?

Oh, I need prayer because of um alligators or creepers, you know.

But she'll say like this, she'll be like this.

I need prayer.

Well for she's like, alligators.

Fear can dominate from an early age.

There's something under my bed.

These days we're not worried about something being under our bed called the boogeyman.

We're worried about who to vote for.

We're worried about how to translate our Christian values through our voting process.

We're worried about what will happen if if if this this government coalition gets in, what will happen to our tax system, what will happen to our Kiwi Saver, our 401, what will happen to our country?

What will, what will, what will, what will, what will?

And we're full of fear.

And there are certainly leaders in the world that unfortunately stroke that fear, but Jesus is not one of those and wants us to take captive that fear.

And then the last one is offense.

Proverbs 28, verse 14 says this he who hardens his heart falls into trouble.

Proverbs 28:14

Worry, fear, and offense.

I think worry and fear are about intangible things, usually, but I think I think offense usually centers around the embodiment is found in somebody, uh, like a real person.

So we can be fearful of the future or we can worry about tomorrow, but often offense is about something that's happened to us from somebody else.

And the Bible gives us a warning here.

It says if we harden our hearts, we can fall into trouble.

Offense will force you to put people into the offended penalty box.

And we've all got one.

Someone offends you, then you go, that's it, you're in the box.

No, that's it.

I'm cutting them off.

But the problem with offense is that we never remove them from there.

You know, imagine if on your fridge you had a list of um offended, you know, people you that have offended you, you're offended by these people, you know, and then you put them in the little on the magnet, spell it with, you know, alphabet, you know, because letters, that's obviously how we that's how we spell stuff, you know?

And then, and then they, it's a constant reminder, every time you look at it, that name, that the offense, you're reminded of the offense.

And it's a challenge, I get it.

Offense is simply not letting someone else's behavior dictate your life.

The kids, but mommy hit me.

Well, you can't control someone else's actions, but you can control your, you can check, you can control your reactions.

I mentioned last week, I think, about a three-legged race offense is when you're when you're not forgiving someone, you've attached yourself to them and you're trying to walk through life with that person that you're so offended by.

The funny thing is, is that that person probably has no idea if they're freely living their life, which is so freaking annoying, and you become more offended by that.

So then you're so attached with this person, but if you just let them go, I think it was T.D.

Jakes that said that letting go of a fence is like letting go of a rattlesnake.

It's good for the snake, he says, but it's much better for us.

I said, Let me give you just a couple of things as I land this bird.

I would just encourage you this.

When it comes to your relationships or your life, trying to just keep your mind where Christ is, in verse 2 of Colossians 3, where it says, set your minds on things above, not earthly things, I would say this.

Always assume the best.

I'll just encourage you, always assume the best.

In all of your relationships, just assume the best.

How many times in our church, unfortunately, have you watched me walk past you and thought, this guy, the way he's the worst?

Man, why don't you just assume the best?

That I only did that because I was, you know, super annoyed with you.

You know what I mean?

People walk into your life, people are interacting with you, just assume the best.

Assume the best in your in your family, in your friendship group.

The circumstance is something that we can't control, but we can control what happens I guess in the in the part of our life.

As the seed of our life grows, we can control what we feed it.

Always assume the best.

Next thing I'd say is this encourage yourself often.

I think this is really important.

That we should encourage ourselves, we should encourage others, we should live a life where we're encouraged in the Lord to keep our keep our chin up, keep our mind on things above.

And the last thing I'd say is this is I would just encourage us to deal with hurt quickly.

Deal with hurt quickly.

There's a phrase we have in our home, which we've had for many, many years, and Nadia coined it, and the phrase is very simple.

It's five words, and it says this it's easy to say sorry.

And it's so funny when we we teach our kids at five or six years old, or maybe four, that it's easy to say sorry, but I'm 42 years old, and that is information and advice that I need to this day.

Deal with hurt quickly.

It's easy, it's easy to say sorry.

That in our faith, the people who are offended are the ones who take the initiative.

That when we forgive, we are most like Christ, I think.

When we forgive.

I think when we let people go.

I remember a few years ago I was at a I was at a um grocery store and I was buying nappies.

You know, just uh like single-use nappies, you know.

I wasn't buying cloth, you know, with safety pins, you know.

And and I was buying these nappies, and then this woman was staring at me.

Um, not you know, and not she wasn't staring politely, wasn't like a nice stare, it was the other one.

And so I was thinking, okay, we got a starer, you know, but that's cool.

I want to assume the best.

And but she took it a step further.

She didn't just stare, she engaged with my decision making around um buying these nappies, and she was like, Don't you care about the environment?

And I was like, this, this, this is awesome, you know what I mean?

Like this, this is some fire chat from this lady, you know, like this is amazing.

And and but I think that if you get me on a good day, that oh, that's great.

Oh, and I'll be like, what's your name?

Grab, let's grab a seat.

Share with me your heart on your issue with me buying these nappies.

I can't wait to hear this, you know what I mean?

But you get me on a bad day, oh, and this forked tongue of mine can really, you know, do some damage.

And I was probably right on the fence.

And I kind of, you know, kind of, you know, you kind of just uh, you know.

And then I walked off, and that was clearly years ago, because there haven't been nappies purchased in my house for probably six or seven years.

But I still remember everything about that moment, and I think I've let it go, honestly.

But I wonder how many little moments like that in our life we just carry, we carry with ourselves, we just bundle up, you know, and and we're offended by our parents and by our siblings and cousins and extended family and high school friends and this university thing, and then my first job, and then and then yesterday.

And I just want to encourage us.

I think this sermon has not been about offense, but I certainly think that that's the goal that's coming out maybe right now in our hearts.

And so, just while Rose is playing, I'd just love to just take a moment just to give you just a moment of space to maybe figure out in your heart is there something that's that's been bubbling up today that you just need to let go of?

Um, and I encourage you today.

Together, let's just let it go.

And so, Father, we just come before you today.

We do want to, Lord, keep our minds above.

We want to keep our hearts above.

We do believe that you're trying to pull us up, that you're trying to get us to live up, that you call us to serve in the dirt and in the mud and to be the hands and feet and to serve there, but not have our hearts and minds there.

Have our hearts and minds above, you say, Lord.

And I'm just praying that in this moment, Lord, that as you are graciously and mercifully moving through these aisles, that you would encourage us where there might be just one area, maybe just one person, just one interaction, that we don't need to follow up on, we don't need to talk to somebody, we don't need to, unless you are asking us to do that, we just need to, in our hearts, sever the ties with that interaction and just let it go.

And I'm praying, Holy Spirit, that you would do that right now.

And we just take a moment before you, just in our hearts, to offer up this moment and ask for your assistance, Jesus.