Luke 7:36-50 (NLT) 36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” 40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.” “Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. 41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” 43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
45 You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. 47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” 50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
The peace governed life.
Philippians 4:4-7 (NIV) 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Postures that stifle gratitude.
“Negativity comes out of those who have not nurtured an internal culture of gratefulness.”
1. Entitlement
“What you are entitled to is so much less than what God promises you!”
2. Victimhood
3. Poverty Mindset
4. Greed/Materialism
“Money promises what only God can provide!”
5. Offense/ unforgiveness
“Offense is the posture of those in bondage.”
Practicing the posture of gratitude.
“The economy of our heart is revealed in the posture of our gratitude”
Colossians 3:15-17(NIV) Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1. Absorb: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly!
What does he say about you?
2. Adore: Giving praise & thanks.
1 Thessalonians 5:18(NIV) Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Find the melody in the moment.
3. Apply: The attitude of Gratitude.
Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
2 Corinthians 9:10-11 (NLT) God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.
“God’s part is providing our part is planting.”
Seeds//Sacred Resources
2 Corinthians 8:1-3, 7-9 (NLT) 1 Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. 2 They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. 3 For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will…
7 Since you excel in so many ways—in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge, your enthusiasm, and your love from us—I want you to excel also in this gracious act of giving. 8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches. 9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
We want to be generous….
2 Corinthians 9:6-11 (NLT) Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.” And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. As the Scriptures say, “They share freely and give generously to the poor. Their good deeds will be remembered forever.” For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you. Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.
1. Cheerfully
2 Corinthians 9:11 Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous.
1 Corinthians 16:2 (NLT) On the first day of each week, you should each put aside a portion of the money you have earned.
Deuteronomy 6:12 (NIV) Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
Joshua 3:15-16 (NLT) 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam.
Joshua 4:1-10 (NLT) 1 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the LORD said to Joshua, 2 Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” 8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan River, one for each tribe, just as the LORD had told Joshua. They carried them to the place where they camped for the night and constructed the memorial there. 9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day. 10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the LORD’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed.
The Ark of the Covenant/Testimony Hebrews 9:4-5
Covenant Reminders….
1. God Presence- Mercy Seat.
2. God Precepts- The Ten Commandments
3. Gods Provision- Jar of Manna
4. Gods Power- Aarons budded shepherds rod-
5. God’s Promotion- Monument.
Isaiah 46:8-9 (NIV) 8 "Remember this, fix it in mind, take it to heart, you rebels. 9 Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me
Developing Healthy Markers…
1. Burn the bridges of regret
2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV) Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
“Regret will hold you in bondage to the past.”
“God is destroying the monuments of regret & shame replacing them with hope and victory.”
“If the past doesn’t inspire you to move forward its not a monument its an Idol.”
Monuments become idols when they hinder progress.
2. Don’t live in the “Good ol’ days”
Ecclesiastes 7:10 (NIV) Do not say, "Why were the old days better than these?" For it is not wise to ask such questions.
3. Develop your story.
1- Start today
2- Don’t bail in the process
3- Win some Battles
“Your investment in the struggle now will be your inspiration in the future.”
4- Celebrate little things.
5. Capture Moments
4. Share your story.
“The more you tell what God has done the less likely you are to forget it.”
Revelation 12:11 (NIV) They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony…
1. Honors the past.
2. Gives courage in the present
3. Inspires hope for the future
Communion:
Luke 22:19 (NIV) He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Acts 16:16-26(NLT) 16 One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a demon-possessed slave girl. She was a fortune-teller who earned a lot of money for her masters. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to tell you how to be saved.” 18 This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and said to the demon within her, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And instantly it left her. 19 Her masters’ hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace. 20 “The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews!” they shouted to the city officials. 21 “They are teaching customs that are illegal for us Romans to practice.” 22 A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So the jailer put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks. 25 Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a massive earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors immediately flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off!
You can’t cage the freedom we have!
“We rejoice in God’s worth and goodness not how good and worthy our situation is.”
“A Christian may find more true joy in a prison, than the monarch on his throne.” -Albert Barnes(Theologian & commentator)
Colossians 3:16-17 (NLT) 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.
The Spirit of Praise…
1. Praise brings us in….Engages us
Psalm 100:4-5 (NLT) 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
2. Praise brings Him in…. Engages him
Psalm 22:3 (NKJV) You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel.
“When we set our Attention, Affection and our Appreciation on Jesus it sets us at an Advantage.”
Psalm 24:3-8 (NIV) 3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Selah 7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
3. We are clothed with Praise
Isaiah 61:1-3 (NIV) 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
Garments of Praise:
You can't put heaviness off until you put praise on!
“We don’t just express praise we are possessed by it!”
Communion & Ministry
John 16 20-22 (NLT) 20 I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy. 21 It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. 22 So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) 16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Luke 17:11-19 (NLT) 11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria. 12 As he entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, 13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. 15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
Lepers-
Jesus-
-Connects with the outcast.
-Extends mercy.
-Troubled by ungratefulness.
Verse 17 “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
Why are people Ungrateful?
1. They feel entitled
“The entitled demand an experience but the grateful are driven to expressions of gratitude.”
“God has far more for you than you can ever earn or deserve.”
If it deserved it its not called grace.
2. They are situationally minded
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT) Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
3. They forget
Leprosy is symbolic of sin.
Have you forgotten that…
1- All have sinned(Rom 3:23)
2- The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23)
Colossians 1:21 (NLT) … You who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions…
3- Jesus paid the wage
Colossians 1:22 (NLT) Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault
4- Jesus has more for us.
Jesus had more for the other nine but they were satisfied with just getting their momentary fix.
“There will be some things you will never receive because you are ungrateful what what you have.”
Verse 19 “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
“Gratefulness increases our faith because we set because we keep the one we trust before us.”
SOZO- Complete wholeness in Jesus.
3 Things ways to start the gratitude journey..
1. Say it
2. Write it
3. Reflect on it
Matthew 26:26-28 (NIV) 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
…..
Ephesians 1:3-7 (NLT) 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.