Gratitude Part 4 | Attitude of Gratitude with Chris Schlotterbeck

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard. To get connected

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point during this message you feel called to

make a change in your life, text CHANGEME to

97000. Now enjoy the message. How's everybody

doing? For those of you that love fall, I broke

out the flannel for you. It was a little cold

for me this morning, so I decided to go flannel

and boots, so I'm all in on the fall weather

now, all right? Just like you heard in our announcements,

we need help with our trunk or treat. We're moving

it to Marty Snook Park this year. We're expecting

400 kids. We need 60 trunks, all right? We currently

have 17, but I know, I know there's 43 trunks

in here. There's 43 trunks in here. See, Tracy,

you have to walk out before you leave. And since

Friday is a fabulous Friday, and it happens to

be Halloween, I felt there was no better way

to celebrate Halloween, not that we celebrate

Halloween because we don't, than to give away

Crumpy's Donuts in the square. Who doesn't like

a Crumpy's Donut on Halloween? So we're going

to give away donuts in the square that look like

pumpkins. If you can help us, we're going to

put stickers on the bags at 11 here in the cafe.

Friday we'll be in the square at noon if you

want to show up and help give away 300 Crumpies

donuts and just share God's love in a simple,

practical way. All right? No better way than

to invite people in than a Crumpies donut. So

we are concluding. Our gratitude series that

we've been discussing here for the month of October.

And it's been a great series, hasn't it? Just

a reminder of the importance of gratitude. Well,

gratitude happens to be a virtue. A virtue is

defined as a positive moral quality that is often

seen as a habit or a disposition to do good.

The term can also refer to strength or power.

Philosophically, virtue ethics focuses on character

and living a good life. So obviously, virtues

are an important part of our life. Now, according

to St. Ignatius, gratitude is the first and most

important virtue. Ignatius writes, gratitude

is the foundational virtue from which all other

virtues flow. Ingratitude is a forgetting of

the graces, benefits, and blessings received.

And as such, it is the cause, beginning, and

origin of all sins and misfortunes. And I thought,

wow, what a way to sum up original sin. They

were ungrateful. They were ungrateful. Now the

Latin word for grace is gratia. And it actually

shares its root with the word gratitude. And

this connection obviously reveals a spiritual

truth. Gratitude completes the circle that grace

initiates. Now what do I mean by that? Grace

flows down to us from God. Gratitude flows out

of us or from us back to God. And without that

return movement, the circle... remains broken.

There's a separation. There's a sin. Therefore,

our current series gratitude is vital to our

relationship with Jesus. See, as we learn to

daily practice this virtue, our pursuit of God

strengthens, our hope for the lost and desiring

to see them come home grows so that we are furthering.

Right, God's kingdom here on earth, which leads

us to our first thought this morning. See, gratitude

is the door to God's presence. Psalm 100 verse

Psalms 100:4

4, enter his gates with thanksgiving. Go into

his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and

praise his name. Now, some of you that have been

here the whole series say, well, Chris, you used

a similar point in this scripture to kick off

the series. Yes, I did. And if you're anything

like me, repetition is important. Because quite

often as we work through life, we forget the

importance of gratitude and we need reminded

by it. No better way to remind ourselves of the

importance of gratitude than focusing on Psalm

100. We enter into his gates. We enter into his

presence with what, church? Thanksgiving. That

is how we enter into God's house. If you want

to have a conversation with someone or fellowship

with someone, it really helps if you're both

in the same house. Because if you're not, the

conversation is going to get real difficult.

If one person's in the house and one person is

outside, that's a little strange. And not only

is it a little strange, you've got to scream

at the top of your lungs just for the other person

to hear you. While you are struggling to hear

what they are saying back. Sometimes, if you're

communicating that way, you may catch a glimpse

of them in a window or a door. But unfortunately,

it's not the connection God desires. But many

followers of Jesus relate to God that way. I

hear people say all the time, If only I could

hear God's voice. If only I could hear him speak

to me clearer. If only I could get into God's

presence. I wish I could be in God's presence

and it was stronger. Well, maybe the problem

is we haven't entered through his gates. Right?

When we come to him, the first thing we often

say to God is, help! Quite often when we're struggling

or we're going through disappointment, we scream

out for help. But the scripture doesn't say we

enter into his gates or enter into his presence

by screaming for help. God invites us to enter

into his gates through gratitude. Through the

practice of thanksgiving. And then, then once

you entered. into his presence and you've calmed

down and you've laid it at his feet, then you

can say, God, help me. God, I need this. God,

my son, my daughter, whatever it may be. But

we enter through gratitude. We enter God's presence

with thanksgiving. So every time you pray, start

with thanksgiving. In fact, let's take it a step

further. Every single morning, Before your feet

hit the floor, start with thanksgiving. Because

that's how we enter into God's presence. And

it's in God's presence that we experience joy.

Listen to what happens in our life when we enter

into God's presence. Psalm 1611. You will show

me the way of life, granting me the joy of your

presence and the pleasures of living with you

forever. By show of hands, how many of you want

to live a life full of joy? Like, I want that.

I believe all of humanity wants that. Well, how

do we get it? We enter into God's presence. We

enter into God's presence, which leads us to

our second thought. Gratitude brings freedom.

Not only does it bring us into God's presence,

it brings freedom. Right? As we enter into God's

presence, Paul tells us where the Spirit of the

Lord is, there is freedom. So if we're entering

into his presence with gratitude, then we can

experience freedom. Gratitude brings an element

of freedom. Spiritual freedom. emotional freedom,

relational freedom, even physical freedom. We

learned in week one of this series that practicing

gratitude reduces stress and anxiety, improves

heart health by lowering blood pressure and inflammation,

enhances our immune function, reduces pain in

the body, and leads to a better night's sleep.

We all want those things, and it's all attainable

by practicing gratitude. Now the Bible speaks

about this repeatedly, and out of all the stories

in the Bible that exemplifies how gratitude and

thanksgiving brings freedom, I want to share

with you the story of Jonah. Jonah was a prophet.

You can read all about his life in his book in

the Old Testament. But God asked Jonah to go

to a certain city called Nineveh, which is actually

the present -day city of Mosul in Iraq. He didn't

want to go. He didn't like the city. Even worse,

he hated the people. So you know what Jonah did?

He went the opposite way. He didn't listen to

God. He went the opposite way. Long story short,

you can read it for yourself. He ended up in

a boat, was thrown overboard by the crew because

of a fierce storm that God stirred up in the

sea where he ended up inside of a fish for three

days. Now, I don't know if you've experienced

grief or doubt or frustration, but that's a whole

new level of problems right there, being stuck

in a fish. Right? I respect the fact we all have

problems, but that's a new ballgame. Like, I

do not want to find myself in the belly of a

fish. And it's funny, sometimes I hear people

referring to this story as proof that the Bible's

not true. There's no fish big enough to swallow

a guy and have him inside of his stomach for

three days. My response? Hey, we're talking about

God here, the creator of heaven and earth. I

mean, do you really think God needs a fish to

swallow a guy and it's going to stress him out

because there's no fish big enough? Really? I

mean, God can create a new fish just for Jonah.

Or better yet, God can enlarge an existing fish.

He could use Nemo, right? Nemo was lost. But

Jonah, he'd be lost inside of a large Nemo. Because

nothing is impossible with God. Nothing is impossible

with God. We have to come to a place of believing

that. Just last Sunday, I had a lady stop me

on the way out of saying goodbye to all of you.

And she looked at me in the eyes. She goes, I've

got to share a testimony with you. I was like,

okay. She goes, I went up front. A couple weeks

ago and got prayer from the prayer team because

of a word of knowledge spoke to cancer. And I

had breast cancer. And now I'm healed. For nothing

is impossible with God. And I thought, oh my

goodness, thank you for sharing. That's an incredible

testimony. We need to hear more of that. I mean,

if you have a testimony about what God's doing

in your life, share it. Because it raises our

faith and desire to pray for more. Jonah, he

finds himself inside the belly of a fish. And

I don't know, that's got to be one of the most

horrible places to be. Just imagine the circumstances

that he's dealing with. But let's read what Jonah

is doing inside the belly of a fish. It says

in Jonah chapter 2 verse 9. But I, with shouts

Jonah 2:9

of grateful praise. Will sacrifice to you. What

I have vowed I will make good. I will say salvation

comes from the Lord. So even in the belly of

a fish, Jonah, what is he doing? He's giving

thanks. He's celebrating. He is praising God.

Not because of his circumstances, but in his

circumstances. And that's a big, big difference.

He was in it. He was living in it. And he's still

crying out with praise. Jonah, down in the bottom

of the sea, inside of a fish, he's giving thanks.

And he enters into God's presence. And where

the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

And look what happens in verse 10. So the Lord

commanded the fish and it vomited Jonah onto

dry land. Thanksgiving brings freedom. Thanksgiving

brings... Thanksgiving releases joy. Thanksgiving

leads us to walk in the abundance that Jesus

promises. You know, you heard Rhett sharing about

a slumbering spirit. You're slumbering. You're

asleep because you're not grateful. You're not

celebrating what God is doing in your life. Wake

up, church, and give God the thanksgiving and

the praise that he deserves. That's why Paul

challenges us. No, not just challenges. Commands

us in 1 Thessalonians 5 .18. Be thankful in all

circumstances. Even in the belly of a fish. For

this is God's will for you who belong to Christ

Jesus. And I believe that if we keep thanking

God and celebrating God and praising God, sooner

or later freedom will come. Because gratitude

brings freedom. Which leads us to our third thought.

Gratitude is a daily choice. Gratitude is a daily

choice. And to illustrate this truth, we're going

to take a look at Paul and Silas and the story

that they find themselves in in Acts chapter

Acts 16 · chapter mention

16. Paul and Silas were two of Jesus' disciples.

They were following him. The Holy Spirit had

challenged them to go and preach the good news,

to share the gospel with everyone that would

listen, to pray for the sick, to launch churches,

and that's exactly what they did. But because

of those choices, because they followed what

God asked them, they were beaten with rods. They

were arrested. They were put into the inner cell

of a jail. They were chained at their feet and

fastened to the stock. Of course, they could

have been frustrated. They could have been angry.

They could have been full of questions like,

Jesus, we did what you asked us to do. Why is

this happening to us? They could have screamed

out, help! Or they could have allowed their thoughts

to form a grudge of bitterness and disappointment

toward God. But instead, They chose to do something

completely different. They chose to praise. Acts

16, 25 -26, around midnight, Paul and Silas were

praying and singing hymns to God and the other

prisoners were listening, which means they were

bold and they were loud. And suddenly there was

a massive earthquake and the prison was shaken

to its foundations and all the doors immediately

flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell

off. A great example of the fact... That you

can never be fully in control of your circumstances.

But you can always control your attitude. You

can always control your outlook. You can never

be fully in control of what is going to happen

to you. But you can have full control regarding

your attitudes in which you respond to your circumstances.

Paul and Silas made a choice. They chose to praise.

Even though they were suffering. Even though

their bodies hurt. Even though they didn't fully

understand the situation, why they were in chains,

they chose to worship and give thanks. They stayed

in an attitude of gratitude. It's a way of seeing

life. It's an outlook of positivity. And the

beautiful thing about this story is that their

decision to respond to all this negativity with

thanksgiving and praise led to the release of

themselves, but not only them, it affected every

single prisoner that was in chains. Because not

only did their chains fall off and their doors

fly open, but every person that was in that prison

experienced freedom. Meaning, when you and I

choose an attitude of gratitude, it's not only

going to impact us, it's going to affect everyone

around us. It's going to impact your family.

It's going to impact your children. Your gratitude

will impact your workplace and your schools.

Your gratitude will transform your neighborhood.

So my challenge to you, HCV, is let's bring freedom

into our communities. Let's bring freedom into

our families. And you say, well, how? By choosing

gratitude. Because when we choose gratitude,

we are constantly entering into the presence

of God. And we know that where the Spirit of

the God is, there is freedom. Colossians 2, 6

-7. And now, just as you accepted Jesus as your

Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your

roots grow down into him. Let your lives be built

on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the

truth you were taught. And you will overflow

with thankfulness. You know, are you reading

the Bible? Are you praying? Are you making it

a priority to be grateful? See, when we do these

things, the foundation is set. And when that

foundation is set, we overflow with thankfulness.

We overflow with joy. Which leads us to our final

thought. We've said that gratitude is the door

to God's presence. That gratitude brings freedom.

And that gratitude is a daily choice. Finally,

choosing gratitude means letting go of something.

Choosing gratitude means letting go of something.

Why? Because gratitudes and attitudes cannot

coexist. They can't be together. They won't mesh.

One is going to kick the other one out. And it's

up to us to what? To choose to meditate on gratitude.

And when we let go of what we don't want in our

lives and we give it to God and we focus on the

gratitude of him freeing for us, we overflow

with joy. If you want to live a life of gratitude,

you need to let go of the junk. Maybe for you

it's bitterness against your parents. Maybe for

you it's unforgiveness towards your spouse or

a grudge against your boss. Maybe it's a disappointment

you have toward God. You're mad at God. He let

you down. He didn't answer your prayer the way

you wanted it to. One thing about prayer, we

need to understand that God always promises to

answer our prayers. But sometimes that answer

is no. Sometimes he says yes, which we love,

and we receive and we accept, especially when

it happens right away. Sometimes he says yes,

but not yet, not now. This is the wrong timing.

But sometimes he actually says no. How do I know

that? Well, Jesus got a no in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Remember, Jesus honestly prayed, Lord, if it's

your will for this to be taken from me, if there's

any other way. I don't want to suffer on the

cross. Is there any other way instead of this?

But we know that Jesus got a no. That God said

no. But you see, when God says no to your prayer,

it means there's always something better in store

for you in the future. He's got something better

down the road. Because of that no in the Garden

of Gethsemane, we're gathered here today as the

church. Because of that no in the garden, we

are saved, healed, and delivered. Because of

that no in the garden, we're righteous and restored.

Because of that no in the garden, we're sons

and daughters of God. All because of a what?

Because of a no. So no is not necessarily a bad

thing. Remember when Jonah was stuck in the belly

of a fish, we read, but I will offer sacrifices

to you with songs of praise and thanksgiving.

Sacrifices. Then we read in Hebrews 13, Therefore

let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice

of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance

to him. And don't forget to do good and to share

with those in need. These are the sacrifices

that please God. And in these verses, the word

sacrifice is mentioned three times. Once in Jonah,

twice in Hebrews. And what is the meaning of

the word sacrifice? It's defined as. An act of

offering to God something precious. To suffer

loss, to give up. The surrender of something

for the sake of something else. The bottom line,

sacrifice isn't easy. But it's an offering, it's

a surrender. It's saying, I'm not in control

anymore, God. Have you offered a sacrifice of

praise and gratitude because of your trials?

Can you offer a sacrifice of praise and humility

because of your mistakes? Right? Instead of frustration

or letting out our anger or isolating ourselves

or walking away from Jesus, we can choose to

fall on him, into his arms, to bow our knee,

to cry out to him, to praise and worship him.

It's not an easy thing, but in hard times, it's

a sacrifice. We choose to give sacrifice of praise

to God continually. Like the verse says, in good

times and in bad. Which leads us to our action

steps. Daily choosing an attitude of gratitude.

Three simple steps that Paul challenges us to

live, commands us to live daily, so that we can

be a reflection of the gratitude that God has

given to us. And the first is, be joyful. Paul

commands us in 1 Thessalonians 5 .16, always

be joyful. And some of you, just being honest,

you're not joyful. How do I know that? I just

look at your face. You don't have to communicate

a word to me. All I have to do is look at your

face. Our body language says a lot more than

what we think. And some of you are thinking,

but Chris, you don't understand. It's impossible.

You don't know my situation. You don't know my

job. What about our culture? I'm being bombarded

with negativity, the news, social media. Okay,

I agree with you. How do I know that? Sociologists

are defining the current time which we're living

as the age of anxiety. And newsflash, it's the

age of anxiety because that's how companies sell

us stuff. They want us to buy more and buy more

and buy more, thinking that that's how we're

going to experience peace, when in reality, we

don't need to buy anything else. We need just

to get in God's presence. So how can I always

be joyful? The answer is simple. In God's presence.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving. Go into his

courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Psalm

16, you will show me the way of life, grant me

the joy of your presence. See, gratitude shifts

our focus from the emptiness we lack, that we

think and we need more stuff, or the cultural

negativity, right, that is constantly bombarding

us. Gratitude brings us into the fullness of

God's presence. To be joyful is to be in God's

presence. To enter into God's presence, we have

to daily practice church, Right? We have to practice

gratitude. Which leads us to our next step, pray.

Paul tells us again, commands us in 1 Thessalonians

5, 17, never stop praying. Right? We can confidently

come before God each and every day to receive

the grace and the mercy when things aren't working

out the way we had hoped. When we receive that

phone call in the middle of the night. When the

diagnosis is bad. when the sickness or the pain

just gets worse, when the financial hardships

grow, when the tension in our relationships with

our spouse and our children doesn't change. We

need to pray. But we also read in Matthew 18,

2 -3, Jesus called a little child to him and

put the child among them. Then he said, I'll

tell you the truth, unless you turn from your

sins and become like little children, you'll

never get into the kingdom of heaven. So anyone

who becomes as humble as this little child is

the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And some

of you are thinking, Chris, why are you adding

that verse here in a discussion about prayer?

Well, because some of us won't go to God, won't

be honest with God about our anxiety because

we're all grown up. We're too mature. We have

it all together. I'll handle it. I'll discipline

myself. I'll beat my body into submission. I'm

a man. I'm not asking for help. Listen, you can

take all the creatine and squat 500 pounds, all

right? You can be as strong as you want, but

we're not wrestling with flesh and blood. We're

wrestling with principalities and powers of this

dark world, and they will take you down. I don't

care how strong you are. They'll take you down

and spit you out like they just don't care. Children,

children don't have a problem asking us to carry

something for them. All the parents get an amen

there, right? I don't know about you, but I got

a five -year -old little guy named Phoenix, and

everywhere he goes, he has to take a toy with

him. Monster truck, trucks, robots. I mean, my

car is full of toys because he's got to take

them with him. And then when he takes them with

him, say you're at the store or you're going

to the pumpkin patch, there's at some point where

he says, all right, I don't want this anymore.

You carry it. And then, of course, I always carry

it, right? And then somewhere along the line,

especially if you're on a hike to Annapolis Rock,

those of you that go hiking, you know what he's

going to say to me? Hey, Dad, I need you to carry

me. And as a father, what do we do? We carry

him. It doesn't matter that he's 62 pounds now,

right? You just keep changing arms because you

don't want one shoulder bigger than the other.

The point, Jesus is inviting us to ask him to

step in. You know why? Because he can handle

it. He can carry our burdens for us. And not

only that, Another thing I know about children,

they don't have a problem asking us for things.

Even if it's selfish, they don't care. I have

a five -year -old inquisitive phoenix that is

constantly asking question after question. He's

asking for toys and food and this and that, and

he hates to eat home -cooked meals. It's got

to be out of Chick -fil -A. And there's some

Saturdays where I'm just done and I just say

yes and yes and yes. Okay, let's go. Yes, yes.

And I say all these yeses. And then at 9 o 'clock

at night after his bath, he comes running down.

He goes, hey, Dad, I want some ice cream. And

I say, no, it's too late. Come on! I mean, dude,

it's just like he realized. I'm not even going

to say it. Anyone else experience that? You know

what I'm saying about? Come on! Now, remember

what Jesus said. You want joy? You want peace?

You want grace? You want healing? You want forgiveness?

You want freedom? Ask for it. Become like a child.

Ask for it. Ask for it through prayer. Enter

into his presence with gratitude. Experience

his presence because where his presence is, there

is freedom. So you be joyful. You pray. Number

three, you practice gratitude. 1 Thessalonians

5 .18. Again, Paul says, be thankful in all circumstances.

Does that say in some circumstances? Does that

say when things are going good? No, it says all.

It says all. Robert Emmons, professor of sociology

at UC Berkeley. It's so funny how science has

these grand breakthroughs that transform people's

lives. They have these studies. Like two years

ago, they figured out that if people, right?

Take a day off a week and don't get on social

media and just read books and take care of themselves

and do what they love to do for a whole day,

they'll get refreshed. And I'm like, that's called

the Sabbath. And that's been around for thousands

of years. It's in the Bible. Well, now they're

realizing how important gratitude is. So Robert

Emmons describes gratitude as the social glue

of humanity. The key. To establishing and building

strong relationships. And in their study. They

gathered a thousand people. That struggle daily

with depression and anxiety. And they got them

together for a month. They handed them a journal.

And a pen. And they said every day. Take three

minutes a day. And record what you're grateful

for. In the last 24 hours. Over 90%. of those

that were in the study significantly changed

their outlook on life. Seeing anxiety, stress

fall away. The doctors found the brain is changed

by rewiring new connections to the bliss center

of the brain. Has anyone ever heard of a bliss

center? Me either. I was reading that and I was

like, I wonder what the bliss center is. I don't

know where it is in our brain. But I kind of

want to be there because it sounds like a good

place to be, the Bliss Center. Practicing gratitude

reduces fear and anxiety, removing stress hormones.

It enhances dopamine and serotonin, which are

the neurotransmitters responsible for happiness.

Gratitude is the key. We have to choose to practice

it every single day. And here's the reality.

I don't need to add something else to my schedule.

I don't need to spend an hour or two hours reflecting

on how great God is and how I'm thankful for

that. Three minutes. We all have three minutes.

In fact, I believe we all have nine minutes.

We have three minutes in the morning, three minutes

at lunch, and three minutes at dinner or before

bed. But it's a choice to let go of the distractions

like social media, unwatchable TV we shouldn't

be watching anyway, books that have no impact

or music on our spiritual life, and choosing

to lay them down so that we can practice gratitude

because the gratitude that we then practice overflows

not only into us, but where? Our families, our

friends, our community. You want to be the hands

and feet of Jesus? You want to change the world

one life at a time? Practice gratitude. And the

important thing about this study that I found

was focus on the last 24 hours. Don't tell me

what God did for you 10 years ago because eventually

they're going to wear out. Tell me what God's

doing for you in the last 24 hours. Because when

you find the good in the last 24 hours, even

though it may have been in the bad, then suddenly

the joy, in our hearts grows and expands to others.

So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna put

this to practice. I'm gonna give you one or two

minutes of complete silence. So I'm gonna ask

you to, in just a second, close your eyes. Remove

distractions, put your pens down, whatever you

need to do, put your phones away. I'm gonna invite

the Holy Spirit to come. And I want you to reflect

on one thing you're grateful for in the last

24 hours. And I believe his spirit and his presence

will highlight not just one, but 10. Because

we all have them. It's just a simple choice to

be grateful. Let's go to that place now. Holy

Spirit. So God highlighted for me, I have this

little guy named Phoenix that's five. He's in

his first year of soccer. And he runs around

the field and skips and puts a beanie on because

it's the other team and gets like knotted in

it and is playing with it and skips and hops.

jumps around and gets in the goal to be the goalie

and just lets the ball go by. Dad is on the sideline.

Coach dad. Take the ball. Go that way. Score

a goal. Catch the ball. Stop the ball. You can

use your hands. God says, Christian, you need

to be present. You don't need to be his coach.

And he's having more joy running around that

field, not scoring a goal, not stopping the ball

than you do in a day. Let him be a kid. He may

be a great soccer player. He may play in the

Olympics. How am I supposed to know? But I need

to be present. What did God highlight for you?

We all have something in some way we need to

learn. We need to change. And when we practice

gratitude, God highlights things that I need

to work on and be grateful for at the same time.

Amen. There are several words of knowledge I

want to share with you before we pray a simple

prayer. Our prayer team will be here on my right

to pray for these needs. If you're having back

spasms in the left side of your back, we want

to pray for that. If you have acid reflux, we

want to pray for that. If you have anxiety to

the point where you feel like you can't get out

of bed, we want to pray for that. But for some

of you, if you're struggling with gratitude,

maybe you're forgetting what Jesus did on the

cross. Because by because of his actions on the

cross, because God said no, we are now sons and

daughters of God. We are now in God's kingdom

right now and have the opportunity to bring his

kingdom here to earth. That's something we always

can be grateful for. I'm gonna pray a simple

prayer like I do every single Sunday and some

of you need to recommit or enter into that relationship

for the first time because it will give you gratitude

like you've never experienced before. Let's pray.

Jesus, I'm broken. I'm full of doubt, shame,

regret, sin. Change me. Forgive me. I believe

you're God's son. I believe you died for me.

Make me new. Set me free. Fill me with your spirit.

Help me, God, to serve others. In Jesus' name.

So if you prayed that prayer for the first time,

see me on your way out. I want to give you a

hug and give you some next steps, tell you to

get baptized. Listen, before you go, don't forget,

trunk or treat, stop by the Welcome Hub number

two. Next Sunday kicks off Sunday morning matinee.

For those of you that may not know what that

is, we're looking at five movies with free popcorn

for the month of November. We kick it off next

week with F1, the movie, Brad Pitt, the star.

We're going to watch clips. We're going to apply

that movie to our spiritual lives and grow closer

to Jesus. Invite your friends and family. God

bless you guys. Have a great rest of your week.