1 00:00:01,120 --> 00:00:05,840 Yes, we are starting uh we started last week our series 2 00:00:08,220 --> 00:00:09,900 They'll get it here. 3 00:00:09,900 --> 00:00:17,660 On one anothering, we are going to be looking at several of the Bible texts that talk about the phrase or use the phrase 4 00:00:18,119 --> 00:00:23,480 one another and one of those texts is what we read this morning for our scripture reading. 5 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:27,400 Last week uh Cheryl and I 6 00:00:27,820 --> 00:00:35,980 Did some shopping and we went to the mall and I saw a banner that said this. 7 00:00:35,980 --> 00:00:41,580 And I said, you know that sounds a whole lot better than what my sermon title was. 8 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:46,280 Because I have boring sermon titles. 9 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:48,360 Just boring. 10 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:52,360 And I they they're not gonna bring anybody off the street to hear the message. 11 00:00:52,480 --> 00:00:53,360 That's for sure. 12 00:00:53,360 --> 00:01:00,480 So I need somebody with some creativity to come up with awesome sermon titles. 13 00:01:01,780 --> 00:01:05,860 But when I saw that, I said, yeah, that's an awesome sermon title. 14 00:01:05,860 --> 00:01:09,780 Spread kindness like confetti. 15 00:01:09,820 --> 00:01:23,660 Can you imagine if you and I were sitting together and we were just having a simple conversation and I politely asked you, do you consider yourself a kind person? 16 00:01:26,340 --> 00:01:27,860 How would you respond? 17 00:01:27,860 --> 00:01:28,820 Don't answer it. 18 00:01:28,820 --> 00:01:31,300 Just think about it for just a second. 19 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:36,640 You thought about it? 20 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:42,400 Research tells us that most individuals say yes. 21 00:01:42,759 --> 00:01:44,840 I'm a kind person. 22 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:50,840 But then when the researchers are asked a few more questions, they say, Oh, did you remember yesterday when your children were 23 00:01:53,380 --> 00:02:02,820 Gathering around you when you got home late and they were a little bit hungry, and you said, Yes, you'll get dinner when dinner's ready. 24 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:12,120 Or maybe it was the yesterday, the passive aggressive comment that you made to your spouse. 25 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:20,960 Or maybe it was yesterday morning when you were late to work and you didn't let someone merge into traffic. 26 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:26,640 Now that I've reminded you, do you consider yourself a kind person? 27 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:33,040 Most of us still say yes. 28 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:38,000 But those were exceptions to the rule yesterday. 29 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:42,239 Normally I am a kind person. 30 00:02:42,459 --> 00:02:50,540 Oftentimes we tell ourselves, yeah, we are are we are kind people. 31 00:02:50,540 --> 00:02:54,060 We do some kind things. 32 00:02:55,680 --> 00:03:04,319 But the research tells us that we don't do as many kind things as we think we do. 33 00:03:05,659 --> 00:03:12,780 And so that's one of the reasons why this this message on on kindness comes from scripture. 34 00:03:13,360 --> 00:03:25,200 One of the reasons I started with it first or second is because kindness kind of covers several other things. 35 00:03:25,540 --> 00:03:27,620 In the series. 36 00:03:27,620 --> 00:03:31,620 But kindness is kind of a foundation block. 37 00:03:31,620 --> 00:03:39,220 Many of us as Christians, we say, Well, I'm a kind person, but I'm just going to ask you, uh, have you ever met a 38 00:03:40,140 --> 00:03:45,660 A mean vegan. 39 00:03:45,660 --> 00:03:50,540 Some of us are you're shaking your head, yes, you've met a mean vegan. 40 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:54,480 And you say, hey, here's uh some ice cream. 41 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:57,600 Maybe it'll make you feel better. 42 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:02,160 And uh the it'll help you get it out of you or something. 43 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:02,720 Uh 44 00:04:02,780 --> 00:04:06,620 Or I'll m ask, don't take too much offense at this. 45 00:04:06,620 --> 00:04:11,740 I'm going to ask you, how many of you have met a mean Sabbath keeper? 46 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:25,360 Because you know the purpose of Sabbath is for us to have that relationship with God so that we are sanctified. 47 00:04:26,500 --> 00:04:31,699 It's the way God the product of the process God uses in the sanctifying process. 48 00:04:31,699 --> 00:04:35,460 And so Sabbath is a really have you met mean Sabbath keeper? 49 00:04:35,699 --> 00:04:36,979 I go one step further. 50 00:04:36,979 --> 00:04:39,940 How many of you have met a mean keeper 51 00:04:39,420 --> 00:04:41,580 Christian. 52 00:04:41,820 --> 00:04:42,860 I hear some of you. 53 00:04:42,860 --> 00:04:44,460 Oh yeah. 54 00:04:44,460 --> 00:04:51,900 Yeah, that uh and it Yeah, I shouldn't have to explain that. 55 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:51,880 that one. 56 00:04:51,880 --> 00:05:00,840 If we're a follower of Jesus Christ, to say a mean Christian, that's kind of uh yeah, oxymoron, isn't it? 57 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,400 Our scripture reading, Ephesians 4, 32. 58 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:12,720 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ 59 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:15,160 Forgave you. 60 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:22,280 If you think about the the kindest person that you know. 61 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:29,000 I mean, all of us kind of have a a picture of the kindest person that you know or that you have met. 62 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:33,879 I mean, mine starts off with my grandmother. 63 00:05:34,080 --> 00:05:37,200 And then it moves to my mother. 64 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,160 And I probably should have started with my wife. 65 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:54,199 But those are the people that when when I think of a a kind person, I mean those are the people that I that I think of, and I think those three ladies are kind of cut out of the same cloth. 66 00:05:54,199 --> 00:05:54,840 Because 67 00:05:55,940 --> 00:06:00,020 They let their grandchildren win at board games. 68 00:06:01,300 --> 00:06:05,780 I mean, I could never understand, still don't understand that. 69 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:14,160 I mean I I you know when I was playing checkers with my father, when I if I beat him, I knew I had accomplished something. 70 00:06:17,379 --> 00:06:22,819 But I'm afraid my daughters, they don't know what it means to win when they're playing mom. 71 00:06:22,819 --> 00:06:27,300 They don't know if mom just wasn't 72 00:06:27,460 --> 00:06:35,860 Wasn't paying attention or something and they got by or it's because of the kindness. 73 00:06:35,860 --> 00:06:40,099 My grandmother was the same way, my mom was the same way 74 00:06:42,820 --> 00:06:48,180 Kindness, those those that focus their attention on the other person. 75 00:06:48,180 --> 00:06:50,420 The good news for me. 76 00:06:51,220 --> 00:06:58,660 The good news for you is that we can grow our kindness quotient. 77 00:06:59,620 --> 00:07:01,780 Did you know that's possible? 78 00:07:02,660 --> 00:07:10,180 It's possible for us to grow our kindness quotient, but it takes some intentionality. 79 00:07:10,180 --> 00:07:13,300 It doesn't happen naturally. 80 00:07:14,140 --> 00:07:20,220 I mean, when was the last time you were talking with someone and you were not really present? 81 00:07:22,260 --> 00:07:30,340 You know, your ears were there, your lips were there, but you weren't there. 82 00:07:30,340 --> 00:07:32,260 You know how that works? 83 00:07:33,220 --> 00:07:34,500 Too often 84 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:39,680 That doesn't happen to you? 85 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,480 Because it happens to me, and oftentimes I'm 86 00:07:46,060 --> 00:07:48,780 I'm preaching to myself today, okay? 87 00:07:48,780 --> 00:07:54,220 Oftentimes I'm the unkind one because I'm not fully present. 88 00:07:54,220 --> 00:07:57,420 I'm not I'm not paying full attention to 89 00:07:57,860 --> 00:08:02,900 What is taking place in front of me? 90 00:08:02,900 --> 00:08:08,340 There's a communication model that we need to be aware of called, see if I can get his name right. 91 00:08:08,340 --> 00:08:10,580 I don't get his name right all the time. 92 00:08:10,740 --> 00:08:12,420 Moravians rule. 93 00:08:12,420 --> 00:08:14,980 Some of you know about Albert Moravian. 94 00:08:14,980 --> 00:08:24,180 He did a research and came up with a communication formula that says our communication, that 55% of our communication is. 95 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:28,000 Our body language. 96 00:08:28,000 --> 00:08:33,840 Thirty-eight percent of our communication comes from our tone. 97 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:40,880 Seven percent comes from our words. 98 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,360 Think about that. 99 00:08:44,580 --> 00:08:53,940 Think about that in our day and age when most of our communication is texting each other. 100 00:08:55,180 --> 00:09:03,100 I tell people, I say, when people send me a text, when they send me an email, I don't know how to read it. 101 00:09:03,100 --> 00:09:06,779 I mean, I tend to read between the lines. 102 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:11,760 Of the last conversation or previous conversations that I've had with that person. 103 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:18,560 And if previous conversations I've had with that person are good when I read between the lines, I think. 104 00:09:18,620 --> 00:09:20,300 Oh, they're saying something positive. 105 00:09:20,620 --> 00:09:21,660 It's encouragement. 106 00:09:21,660 --> 00:09:26,860 This is uh it but if they say something that can be taken two ways. 107 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:36,160 I don't always know how to take it. 108 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:40,080 And then the second thing is that we say words 109 00:09:42,680 --> 00:09:46,520 And what do they see? 110 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:51,560 They hear the words, they get your tone of voice. 111 00:09:54,740 --> 00:09:57,700 But they don't get your body language. 112 00:09:57,700 --> 00:10:02,580 How much of the communication is missing without the body language? 113 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:09,800 More than half. 114 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:14,839 Now I'm telling you this now, but I want you to apply it at the end. 115 00:10:15,340 --> 00:10:16,460 Okay? 116 00:10:16,460 --> 00:10:20,700 This communication is important. 117 00:10:20,700 --> 00:10:24,700 The way we we we talk with people, the the way we meet people. 118 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:28,040 people, the way we greet people, the way we are are present with people. 119 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:35,080 Now I'm gonna give you permission, or maybe I should turn over here, those of you that see me every day. 120 00:10:35,460 --> 00:10:43,220 Give you permission to call me on this because I have a problem with this thing. 121 00:10:43,220 --> 00:10:46,660 I have a problem with picking it up when I'm talking with people. 122 00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:56,800 But I need to grow my kindness quotient. 123 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:59,840 Because Scripture tells me to be kind 124 00:11:03,100 --> 00:11:08,620 When it talks about being kind, is this one of the Ten Commandments? 125 00:11:08,220 --> 00:11:09,900 Do we rate it up there high? 126 00:11:09,900 --> 00:11:21,660 Or is this just one of the things that we think Paul was just writing and when he says, be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgives? 127 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:23,800 Is it just something to fill up the page? 128 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:25,480 Be kind with one another. 129 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:35,480 The second word there was to be kind and tender-hearted. 130 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:37,640 Do you know what tender-hearted means? 131 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:47,079 It's one of those Jewish idioms or Hebrew idioms that literally means much bowels. 132 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:52,480 You you like that? 133 00:11:52,480 --> 00:12:02,160 You you you've seen people, you you know you you see people you especially children when they see that bird that has crashed into the window of the house 134 00:12:02,240 --> 00:12:04,720 How do they how do they respond? 135 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:10,800 I mean, they go like they themselves are hurt. 136 00:12:12,220 --> 00:12:13,899 Dad, do something. 137 00:12:13,899 --> 00:12:17,660 It's just lay out there. 138 00:12:17,660 --> 00:12:20,060 Why do they they feel that way? 139 00:12:21,140 --> 00:12:24,900 It's because they they they have sympathy. 140 00:12:24,900 --> 00:12:29,780 They empathize for that bird that has just hit that that window. 141 00:12:35,040 --> 00:12:40,160 And so it's called tender-heartedness. 142 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:45,200 Now that that person easily moves to to love, to sorrow, to 143 00:12:45,860 --> 00:12:52,340 Sympathy, be kind and tender-hearted to one another. 144 00:12:52,340 --> 00:12:55,220 We are to be encouraging one another to 145 00:12:56,079 --> 00:12:59,040 Be tender-hearted, to sympathize with one another. 146 00:12:59,040 --> 00:13:06,480 Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 8, he says, Finally, all of you, be of one mind, having compassion. 147 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:07,680 for one another. 148 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:09,040 Love as brothers. 149 00:13:09,040 --> 00:13:10,720 Be tenderhearted. 150 00:13:10,720 --> 00:13:12,400 Be courteous. 151 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:16,240 Both Paul and Peter tell. 152 00:13:16,920 --> 00:13:24,040 Tell us that we need to be tender-hearted towards one another, kind towards one another, compassionate towards one another. 153 00:13:26,260 --> 00:13:30,820 This kind of living is important. 154 00:13:31,300 --> 00:13:38,019 When I think through scripture, when I think about the person that is encouraging, when I think about the person that is sympathetic, when I think 155 00:13:37,980 --> 00:13:41,500 I think about the person who is tenderhearted. 156 00:13:42,220 --> 00:13:46,940 The story that came to my mind was a Good Samaritan. 157 00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:53,840 He was tenderhearted. 158 00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:57,120 He showed kindness. 159 00:13:58,139 --> 00:14:10,380 The ones that walked before the Samaritan, they saw the person that was laying there on the ground, they saw him that was wounded, they saw what had happened to him, they may have even looked at him, but they 160 00:14:11,540 --> 00:14:13,780 Didn't touch. 161 00:14:13,780 --> 00:14:16,740 They didn't go over and feel his pulse. 162 00:14:16,740 --> 00:14:20,340 They didn't see if there was still life. 163 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,360 They had other places to be. 164 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:23,960 They had other things to do. 165 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:25,960 They didn't want to be unclean. 166 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:27,800 And so they continued on. 167 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:29,480 But the Samaritan. 168 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:36,800 The Samaritan. 169 00:14:36,800 --> 00:14:39,520 If things had been reversed in this story 170 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:49,280 The Jew probably would have just kept walking on had he seen a Samaritan lay there. 171 00:14:51,780 --> 00:15:00,500 The one that was chosen of Israel would have probably just continued on the path. 172 00:15:00,500 --> 00:15:02,100 But the Samaritan was 173 00:15:02,240 --> 00:15:03,520 was tenderhearted. 174 00:15:03,520 --> 00:15:15,600 There was something inside of him, something that that caused him to be to be moved, to be motivated to do something on behalf of the stranger that was lying there 175 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:22,000 What about us? 176 00:15:22,000 --> 00:15:24,480 Do we show kindness? 177 00:15:24,480 --> 00:15:28,240 Do we show this kind of tender-heartedness? 178 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:36,440 I'm sharing this with you to remind myself that our kindness quotient can grow. 179 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:38,040 It can be increased. 180 00:15:38,040 --> 00:15:40,040 We can make things a habit. 181 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:48,360 When it comes to kindness, when we do these acts of kindness, there's something that happens in our brain. 182 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,400 Oxytocin is released into our body. 183 00:15:51,660 --> 00:15:54,139 And this is a good thing. 184 00:15:54,139 --> 00:15:55,819 It is good for us. 185 00:15:55,819 --> 00:16:00,699 If you are, just look at the things here, okay? 186 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:01,960 I'll go to the next slide here. 187 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:06,840 If you have stress in your life, oxytocin helps to prevent stress. 188 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:09,320 It also lowers your blood pressure. 189 00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:10,840 It also has kindness 190 00:16:11,339 --> 00:16:14,300 This oxytocin also helps to protect your heart. 191 00:16:14,300 --> 00:16:18,620 It improves your body's disease fighting system, your immune system. 192 00:16:18,620 --> 00:16:20,300 It improves your energy. 193 00:16:20,300 --> 00:16:22,860 It reduces aches and pains. 194 00:16:22,860 --> 00:16:25,980 And it also can lead to a longer. 195 00:16:25,779 --> 00:16:31,940 life and help you to feel better about yourself. 196 00:16:31,940 --> 00:16:34,580 Should I read that again? 197 00:16:34,580 --> 00:16:37,860 Do we need that kind of oxytocin in our life? 198 00:16:38,899 --> 00:16:40,660 Think about that again, okay? 199 00:16:40,660 --> 00:16:52,339 Prevents stress, lowers blood pressure, protects your heart, improves your body's disease fighting system, your immune system, it improves your energy, reduces a I didn't put that 200 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:54,600 aches and pains went up there did I? 201 00:16:54,600 --> 00:16:58,680 Ah I needed that one. 202 00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,160 And it can lead to a longer life. 203 00:17:01,160 --> 00:17:04,520 And in the process you can feel better about yourself. 204 00:17:07,020 --> 00:17:11,660 This is what kindness does to us. 205 00:17:11,660 --> 00:17:18,299 That means it is for your health, for you to have better health. 206 00:17:18,419 --> 00:17:27,699 You should be more kind. 207 00:17:27,699 --> 00:17:30,179 Would you like to reduce your aches and pains 208 00:17:30,980 --> 00:17:32,260 Be kind. 209 00:17:33,940 --> 00:17:38,340 If you like to reduce your stress level, be kinder. 210 00:17:40,740 --> 00:17:42,820 Would you like your blood pressure to go down? 211 00:17:42,820 --> 00:17:46,580 The doctor doesn't write this on their prescription pad, does he? 212 00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:48,340 Be kinder. 213 00:17:54,340 --> 00:17:57,780 Ephesians 4, verse 32. 214 00:17:57,780 --> 00:17:59,540 Be kind to one another. 215 00:17:59,540 --> 00:18:01,700 You got it memorized yet? 216 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:03,640 Shall we read it together then? 217 00:18:04,360 --> 00:18:06,120 Okay, all together now. 218 00:18:06,120 --> 00:18:15,000 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. 219 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:22,159 Forgiving one another. 220 00:18:22,159 --> 00:18:24,159 Oh man, that one's 221 00:18:27,520 --> 00:18:30,160 Hard. 222 00:18:30,160 --> 00:18:37,520 Do we realize that the act of forgiveness is also an act of kindness 223 00:18:38,980 --> 00:18:49,460 But that act of forgiveness that I call an act of kindness, that's an act of kindness that you give to yourself. 224 00:18:50,780 --> 00:18:57,980 Because when we are not forgiving, when we don't forgive other people, that's like holding a grudge. 225 00:18:57,980 --> 00:19:04,460 That's like that's like taking a a spoonful of poison and hoping somebody else dies. 226 00:19:07,220 --> 00:19:08,820 You heard that, right? 227 00:19:11,140 --> 00:19:12,740 When we hang on the right, you can't get it. 228 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:18,000 And we are unforgiving, that's like taking a spoonful of poison and hoping somebody else dies. 229 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,000 The likelihood of them dying if I take poison is what? 230 00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:24,880 Zero. 231 00:19:26,420 --> 00:19:34,660 But yet that's what happens when we hang on to our unforgiveness. 232 00:19:34,660 --> 00:19:37,060 When we do not forgive that other person 233 00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:44,880 We keep hoping something happens to them, but instead it happens to us. 234 00:19:49,980 --> 00:19:55,020 Jesus talked about forgiveness when he taught the Lord's Prayer. 235 00:19:55,020 --> 00:19:57,900 Just remind you, this is part of the Sermon on the Mount. 236 00:19:59,039 --> 00:20:06,080 And we are studying in Thoughts of the Mount of Blessings in our midweek service if you want to come on Wednesday evening. 237 00:20:06,660 --> 00:20:12,660 We're on chapter 3, about halfway through chapter 3, if you want to join us. 238 00:20:12,660 --> 00:20:18,820 Jesus said, Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. 239 00:20:20,260 --> 00:20:25,460 Forgive us our sins how? 240 00:20:25,460 --> 00:20:30,820 As we forgive those that sin against us 241 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,440 Against us. 242 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:36,919 That's heavy. 243 00:20:36,919 --> 00:20:39,559 How do we want God to forgive us 244 00:20:42,299 --> 00:20:46,779 We want him to say, be forgiven. 245 00:20:46,779 --> 00:20:48,539 Go in peace. 246 00:20:48,860 --> 00:20:51,820 Is that what we want him to say? 247 00:20:51,820 --> 00:20:54,620 Your sins have been washed away. 248 00:20:55,240 --> 00:20:57,720 Go in peace. 249 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,840 I mean, that's what we would like to hear from him, isn't it? 250 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:05,960 Your sins have been cast into the depths of the sea. 251 00:21:05,960 --> 00:21:07,400 Have no fear 252 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:13,520 But yet what would do we do to others? 253 00:21:15,520 --> 00:21:18,800 Oh, that's a whole nother sermon, another Bible text here. 254 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,440 Let's see, Matthew 18, 21. 255 00:21:22,020 --> 00:21:27,700 And Peter came to him and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? 256 00:21:27,700 --> 00:21:29,460 Up to seven times? 257 00:21:29,519 --> 00:21:35,039 Now that was a pretty good answer because at the time Jewish thought was three times. 258 00:21:35,039 --> 00:21:39,519 So Peter had taken it and doubled it and added one. 259 00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:46,620 So he was really going above and beyond when he said seven times. 260 00:21:46,620 --> 00:21:53,740 But Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but seventy times seven times. 261 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:58,080 Have you heard that 70 times 7 before? 262 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:02,399 I mean, you're good Adventists, Bible scholars, prophecy scholars. 263 00:22:02,399 --> 00:22:05,600 You know where that 77 comes from? 264 00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:15,120 Yeah, those years, 490 years that were cut off from the 2300 years that was given to the Jews. 265 00:22:15,120 --> 00:22:17,200 490 years 266 00:22:18,980 --> 00:22:21,460 Worth of forgiveness. 267 00:22:21,460 --> 00:22:24,660 Time that was allotted to them. 268 00:22:24,660 --> 00:22:27,059 Now you think about poor Peter here. 269 00:22:27,059 --> 00:22:31,299 Peter hears those words 70 times seven and he thinks 490. 270 00:22:31,299 --> 00:22:32,820 I've heard that before. 271 00:22:33,539 --> 00:22:37,539 490 years worth of forgiveness? 272 00:22:37,539 --> 00:22:40,740 I don't even have 490 years in my life. 273 00:22:45,060 --> 00:22:48,820 Can't even get up to 490 times. 274 00:22:50,100 --> 00:22:53,940 I know some of you are still keeping track of how many times you've forgiven. 275 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,240 people and you're getting there. 276 00:22:56,240 --> 00:22:57,360 Keep it up. 277 00:22:57,360 --> 00:22:58,320 Make it to $4. 278 00:22:58,320 --> 00:22:59,200 90. 279 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,400 By then it will be such a habit you'll carry on. 280 00:23:02,940 --> 00:23:06,540 Mark 11, 25 and 26. 281 00:23:06,540 --> 00:23:14,780 And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you 282 00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:16,679 Your trespasses. 283 00:23:16,679 --> 00:23:22,600 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. 284 00:23:23,740 --> 00:23:26,460 That's kind of strong. 285 00:23:26,460 --> 00:23:27,580 It's kind of heavy. 286 00:23:27,580 --> 00:23:31,179 It r it reminds us how important forgiveness is. 287 00:23:31,179 --> 00:23:34,860 Forgiveness is not just a a a small thing. 288 00:23:34,860 --> 00:23:38,059 Forgiveness is is huge. 289 00:23:42,620 --> 00:23:46,300 Next I have Colossians three, twelve and thirteen. 290 00:23:46,300 --> 00:23:50,940 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved. 291 00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:53,320 Who's he writing to? 292 00:23:56,520 --> 00:24:00,280 Yeah, to the Church of Colossae, but we're going to apply it to us. 293 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:05,960 So he starts off there, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved. 294 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:13,000 Put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another. 295 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:13,880 If anyone has a 296 00:24:14,260 --> 00:24:22,340 Complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do. 297 00:24:22,340 --> 00:24:24,980 Is this forgiveness thing important? 298 00:24:25,540 --> 00:24:30,500 As the elect of God, we should be forgiving one another. 299 00:24:30,500 --> 00:24:32,900 I mean, forgiveness should come just 300 00:24:33,740 --> 00:24:40,220 Flowing out of us just so easily because we know that if we drink the poison, they're not going to die. 301 00:24:40,220 --> 00:24:45,020 So we might as well forgive them so that we can be healed. 302 00:24:45,640 --> 00:24:51,800 We might as well forgive them so that our relationship can be restored. 303 00:24:52,120 --> 00:24:59,800 We might as well forgive them so that our relationship can be restored. 304 00:25:00,679 --> 00:25:04,520 I don't want God to hold anything against me. 305 00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,400 I don't want to commit the unpardonable sin. 306 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:09,880 No, God, I'm not going to forgive them. 307 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,919 I mean, that's not yielding to the Holy Spirit. 308 00:25:16,919 --> 00:25:22,760 When the Holy Spirit says to you, you need to forgive that person, what are we supposed to do? 309 00:25:23,260 --> 00:25:25,340 Yes, Lord. 310 00:25:25,340 --> 00:25:28,140 How do I do that? 311 00:25:28,140 --> 00:25:32,380 Teach me how to forgive because I don't have it in my heart. 312 00:25:32,380 --> 00:25:34,860 I'm not there yet, Lord. 313 00:25:35,580 --> 00:25:40,620 Please give me the willingness to forgive. 314 00:25:40,620 --> 00:25:44,620 I don't want to drink this poison. 315 00:25:44,620 --> 00:25:46,860 Because I don't want to die. 316 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:53,040 And the reality is, I really don't want them to die. 317 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,840 So please, Lord, take this poison away from me. 318 00:25:58,600 --> 00:26:05,160 Give me the willingness, the heart to forgive. 319 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:07,800 Because I know that I need forgiveness. 320 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:08,440 Forgiveness from you. 321 00:26:08,440 --> 00:26:11,160 I'm going to come back and I'm going to say it again. 322 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:16,520 This forgiveness is in this kindness category. 323 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:25,720 It is an act of showing kindness to to to forgive someone. 324 00:26:27,299 --> 00:26:29,380 Our scripture reading, Ephesians 4. 325 00:26:29,380 --> 00:26:30,019 32. 326 00:26:30,019 --> 00:26:32,340 Yeah, you thought you'd read it all together before. 327 00:26:32,340 --> 00:26:35,620 I want you to have this memorized by the time we get done. 328 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:35,440 Okay? 329 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:37,040 Are you ready with this? 330 00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:38,480 All right. 331 00:26:38,480 --> 00:26:47,360 And to be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. 332 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:50,760 Did God forgive you? 333 00:26:53,480 --> 00:26:56,200 You didn't have to think very long about that, did you 334 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,000 I mean, we look at the cross. 335 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:04,200 I mean, the cross is up here to remind us that Jesus died on the cross because 336 00:27:06,140 --> 00:27:08,380 He loved us. 337 00:27:08,380 --> 00:27:13,900 And while he was there, he prayed, Father, forgive them. 338 00:27:13,900 --> 00:27:15,740 Do you know who them are? 339 00:27:16,620 --> 00:27:17,580 That's me. 340 00:27:17,580 --> 00:27:19,580 I'm part of them. 341 00:27:19,580 --> 00:27:20,700 You. 342 00:27:20,700 --> 00:27:21,580 That's you. 343 00:27:21,580 --> 00:27:22,940 You're part of them. 344 00:27:22,940 --> 00:27:27,020 Father, forgive them for they don't know what they do. 345 00:27:27,020 --> 00:27:29,020 They don't have a clue what they're doing. 346 00:27:29,020 --> 00:27:30,380 Father, please forgive them 347 00:27:30,740 --> 00:27:36,500 I mean the heart of Jesus is a forgiving Jesus. 348 00:27:36,500 --> 00:27:42,100 He has a yearning, a longing to forgive each and every one of us. 349 00:27:44,920 --> 00:27:54,760 But when we rebel in our heart, and we don't offer forgiveness to our brother and sister that's across the aisle, 350 00:27:56,780 --> 00:28:00,780 Or in the church next door. 351 00:28:00,780 --> 00:28:02,780 Or the neighbor next door. 352 00:28:02,780 --> 00:28:05,900 Or the co-worker that's in the cubicle beside us 353 00:28:32,740 --> 00:28:33,220 Dr. 354 00:28:33,220 --> 00:28:41,700 Frank Mayfield was touring the Tewksbury Institute when he was headed out of the Institute. 355 00:28:41,700 --> 00:28:43,299 He accidentally ran into a 356 00:28:43,460 --> 00:28:45,620 An elderly floor maid. 357 00:28:45,620 --> 00:28:51,060 To cover the awkward moment, he asked the floor maid, How long have you worked here? 358 00:28:51,940 --> 00:28:53,780 I've worked here almost since the place 359 00:28:54,060 --> 00:28:55,980 Open, the maid replied. 360 00:28:56,140 --> 00:28:59,100 What can you tell me about the history of this place? 361 00:28:59,340 --> 00:29:00,380 He asked. 362 00:29:00,380 --> 00:29:04,620 I don't think I can tell you anything about the history. 363 00:29:04,620 --> 00:29:06,620 But I can show you something. 364 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:09,760 Come with me. 365 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:17,120 And with that, the maid led him downstairs into the basement under the oldest section of the building. 366 00:29:17,380 --> 00:29:23,780 And there, down in the basement, there was a cell that looked like a prison bar's. 367 00:29:23,780 --> 00:29:30,820 The bars were rusted with age, and she said, That's the cage where they kept 368 00:29:31,179 --> 00:29:33,980 Annie Sullivan. 369 00:29:33,980 --> 00:29:36,460 The doctor asked, Who's Annie? 370 00:29:38,220 --> 00:29:43,179 Annie was a young girl who was brought in here because she was incorrigible. 371 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:45,600 Nobody could do anything with her. 372 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,720 She would bite and scream and throw food at people. 373 00:29:48,720 --> 00:29:55,520 The doctors and nurses could not even get close to her to examine her without being clawed or bitten. 374 00:29:55,780 --> 00:29:59,220 spit at or scratched. 375 00:29:59,220 --> 00:30:09,380 I was only a few years younger than Annie myself, and I used to think for sure that I would be I would hate being locked up in that cage. 376 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,520 I wanted to help Annie, but I didn't know how to. 377 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:16,600 If the doctors and nurses could not help Annie, what could I do? 378 00:30:17,400 --> 00:30:22,040 I didn't know what to do, but I had an idea. 379 00:30:23,059 --> 00:30:25,940 So I baked some brownies. 380 00:30:25,940 --> 00:30:29,539 And I took brownies one day to work. 381 00:30:29,539 --> 00:30:37,059 And I took them and I laid the container next to the prison to the bars there and I set them down and I said, Annie, these are for you. 382 00:30:36,740 --> 00:30:37,700 you if you want them. 383 00:30:37,700 --> 00:30:44,980 And I stepped back, hoping that she would not throw them at me. 384 00:30:44,980 --> 00:30:50,260 She ate them and I left as quickly as I could. 385 00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:57,640 The next day she seemed a little bit happy to see me. 386 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,280 We talked some. 387 00:31:01,299 --> 00:31:08,020 I brought her some other delicacies, and our relationship seemed to grow. 388 00:31:08,020 --> 00:31:14,740 One of the nurses noticed this and told the doctor, and then the doctor asked me if I could help them with any. 389 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:18,400 If I could help them to examine Annie. 390 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,280 And so I went into the cage first. 391 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,200 I calmed Annie down. 392 00:31:23,300 --> 00:31:26,900 And I held her hand as the doctors came in. 393 00:31:26,900 --> 00:31:31,940 And it was then that they discovered that Annie was almost blind. 394 00:31:32,659 --> 00:31:39,620 They had been working with her for about a year, and it was extremely difficult. 395 00:31:41,080 --> 00:31:52,120 It was only a few months later when the Perkins Institute opened up, the Institute for the Blind, and they sent Annie to Perkins Institute. 396 00:31:53,280 --> 00:32:03,840 A few years later, Annie came back to the Tuxbury Institute to visit to see what she could do to help around the place. 397 00:32:04,060 --> 00:32:09,900 At first, the director did not know what to do with Annie. 398 00:32:09,900 --> 00:32:12,620 But then he had an idea. 399 00:32:12,620 --> 00:32:16,220 He had just received a letter from a gentleman 400 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:25,120 The gentleman wrote that he had an unruly daughter that was almost like an animal. 401 00:32:25,120 --> 00:32:29,600 She was blind and deaf as well as deranged. 402 00:32:29,940 --> 00:32:34,100 He was at his wit's end and didn't want to put her in an asylum. 403 00:32:34,100 --> 00:32:40,740 So he wrote the Institute and asked if they knew of anyone who could come to his house and work with his daughter. 404 00:32:41,060 --> 00:32:49,060 And that is how Annie Sullivan became the lifelong companion of Helen Keller. 405 00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:57,720 Helen Keller was asked who had the greatest impact on her life, and her answer was 406 00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:01,720 Annie Sullivan. 407 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,760 And Annie said to Helen, No. 408 00:33:06,760 --> 00:33:10,440 The woman who had the greatest impact on your life 409 00:33:10,919 --> 00:33:19,240 Was the floor maid at Tuxbury Institute? 410 00:33:19,240 --> 00:33:22,760 What will a little bit of kindness do? 411 00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:31,880 All together now 412 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:43,520 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. 413 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:51,880 What can a little bit of kindness do? 414 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:56,760 Ten years ago, I was doing some reading. 415 00:33:57,639 --> 00:34:01,480 On the importance of marriage counseling. 416 00:34:01,480 --> 00:34:09,879 I was doing some reading for marriage counseling, and one of the authors that I was reading said: one of the best things to encourage 417 00:34:10,299 --> 00:34:16,379 couples to do is to be kind to one another. 418 00:34:16,379 --> 00:34:17,980 And I said, duh 419 00:34:20,660 --> 00:34:24,179 I mean that should be obvious, shouldn't it? 420 00:34:26,580 --> 00:34:31,460 But the reality is, once couples come for marriage counseling, things 421 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:38,240 have broken down to the place where kindness is not the first thing on the agenda 422 00:34:43,340 --> 00:34:56,060 The marriage counselor that I was reading said she came to the fact that a kindness was so important that she stopped s her research on marriage and marriage counseling. 423 00:34:55,800 --> 00:35:04,840 And she moved to some research on kindness and being kind and seeing what it will do in people's 424 00:35:05,220 --> 00:35:06,339 Lives. 425 00:35:06,339 --> 00:35:17,220 And because of this emphasis on kindness, she came up with what she referred to as the 30-day kindness challenge. 426 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:25,880 Trying to encourage people to raise their kindness quotient. 427 00:35:25,880 --> 00:35:28,280 I have good news for you. 428 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:35,520 I was part of her 30-day kindness challenge. 429 00:35:35,520 --> 00:35:41,120 And because of that, you are going to be part of her 30-day kindness challenge. 430 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,840 If I have your email address. 431 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:49,640 If I don't, I'm sorry you're on your own. 432 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:52,760 Or you can give me your email and I can get you on 433 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:54,000 The list. 434 00:35:54,000 --> 00:36:03,520 But starting tomorrow, you'll get an email that starts us off on a 30-day process for raising our kindness quotient. 435 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:18,160 And it encourages you how to it may be your spouse, you name me may need to be kinder to, it may be a co-worker, it may be your neighbor, it may be somebody that you you work with, whoever it is. 436 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:26,960 you can think about who you want to grow your kindness quotient on and practice, well maybe you got three, four, five 437 00:36:27,220 --> 00:36:36,260 six are you counting them how many people you you don't have to choose all of them but just you can practice for the next 438 00:36:36,620 --> 00:36:44,940 30 days some very practical ideas on being kind. 439 00:36:48,340 --> 00:36:52,340 I started today. 440 00:36:52,340 --> 00:36:56,820 As I was sharing with Alice about this, and 441 00:36:56,859 --> 00:37:01,740 the sermon title, she said, Are you going to drop confetti from the ceiling? 442 00:37:03,579 --> 00:37:06,300 Oh man, I wanted to. 443 00:37:07,180 --> 00:37:13,260 But I decided I was going to shoot off a confetti cannon. 444 00:37:13,260 --> 00:37:17,339 And then I had the thought, and who's gonna clean that up? 445 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:24,320 And I said, you know, I'm going to be kind to the person who would have to clean that up. 446 00:37:24,320 --> 00:37:29,840 And I'm not going to shoot off the confetti cannon in church. 447 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:32,840 So I'm not going to scare you with a confetti cannon. 448 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:35,640 I'm not going to drop confetti from the sky. 449 00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:41,560 But I want to release you into the world as a confetti cannon. 450 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:51,560 Share God's kindness with those around us. 451 00:37:53,299 --> 00:37:56,980 Raise your kindness quotient 452 00:38:03,780 --> 00:38:09,380 Our closing song today is going to be the family of God. 453 00:38:11,579 --> 00:38:24,540 And uh it's a song that most of you know, but as part of our one-anothering, I would like us to stand and to join hands to 454 00:38:24,740 --> 00:38:33,540 together and to make a big circle around we may have to cut down one aisle here and to just make it around the s two center sections 455 00:38:33,640 --> 00:38:42,440 or something, but to join the hands together and to sing this song, I'm so glad I'm part of the family of God.