Embracing Exponential Living: Cultivating a Life of Abundance - Pastor Matthew Anderson

[00:00:00] Welcome to the C3 Church Sermon Podcast. We pray that this content uplifts you, encourages you, and challenges you to walking in a life full of belonging and becoming. Belonging to the family of God and becoming all that He has created you to be. Now let's dive into today's message together.

[00:00:21] Well good morning everybody. Thank you for joining us this morning here in person or online in the Pierce County Jail, wherever you're at. Come on somebody, how many know it's still good to be together? Amen. Praise the Lord. It is God's will for us to be together. That's like the most common used word in the New Testament in teaching about the churches coming together. So thank you for honoring your commitment and coming together.

[00:00:50] We're excited about being together this morning and I'm excited about sharing this word with you this morning on exponential living. Can you turn to your neighbor and say exponential living?

[00:01:04] We started last week with the idea that it's kind of like the song we sang that God has more for us and He's not done with us yet. And so there's a component in the scripture that's a deep doctrine that speaks of us breaking forth to be

[00:01:22] all that God's all that God has called us to be. And let me preface this this morning by saying that is there for us who have, if you will, died to our old nature. So the promises of God are confined or reserved for people that have made Jesus Lord of their life.

[00:01:45] You can't access the promises of God and your flesh be wildly alive. It doesn't work that way. Our flesh has got to die and then the door opens for the supernatural blessings of God to flow into our life. And so I want to speak from that vantage point of the scripture that we read as our launching pad into this number two message on exponential living about unless a corner of wheat fall on the ground and die, it abides alone.

[00:02:12] And what that scripture is referring to that if we are always our self master, if we're always our own Lord, so to speak, and we continue to do things out of our own thinking in our own way. The scripture says that that person in their heart, they think they're going to win in life, but they're actually going to lose greatly.

[00:02:35] But the Bible says that those of us who die will win in life, which means that we die to our selfishness. We die to our way that is inherent in the human nature and we die and give our lives to Jesus. Amen? Now, this is the truth and so pay attention here is there's that one time moment and we had a moment here in the service already.

[00:03:03] And Elder Michael, this is such a great job of pastoring that moment in the flow of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Help me appreciate our elders at Seafree Church. Amen. Such wonderful men of God. I'm so thankful for the team that God has put together. You know, that's the thing about this. The Bible says, unless the Lord build a house, they that labor, labor in vain, that build it.

[00:03:25] And so from day one, we've depended on the Lord to provide everything that we would need to do this work and including giving us grace and giving us strength. Amen? And so that death then turns us over to a new life where Jesus is Lord of our lives. But as I was saying, it's a one-time moment, but then you have this supernatural ability.

[00:03:49] The Spirit has been filled in your heart and life where now moment by moment, day by day, you get to follow Jesus, which still includes dying to yourself. And so there's many Christians that say, well, I've turned my life to Jesus and why do I still have a struggle?

[00:04:06] Well, there's always going to be a struggle, but the sooner you daily commit, everybody turn to your neighbor and say daily, that I daily commit my life to Jesus, then I begin to walk in this newness of life. And so this morning, I want to expand upon this exponential living for our lives. And I want to read a couple of verses here. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 8 says this,

[00:04:35] Still other seeds fell on fertile soil. Say other seeds fell on fertile soil. The parable Jesus is talking about the four types of soil. And then he wraps it up with this, that other seeds fell on fertile soil and they produce those seeds. Everyone say those seeds produce a crop. So you're going to hear this often in the next 30 minutes.

[00:05:05] Seeds produce a crop. Seeds produce a crop. Well, these seeds, some 60, some 30, some 60, and even 100 times, wow, as much had been planted. That's crazy exponential. That's quite a harvest, amen?

[00:05:33] Now we're reading from Galatians chapter 6, verse 7. Don't be misled. You cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.

[00:06:07] Do not mock God or the justice of God or the character of God or the integrity of God or God knows what's going on. You will always harvest what you plant. God gets blamed for way too much.

[00:06:28] Now the great apostle nip this in the bud in this one of the first churches about this misunderstanding that somehow Jesus would save me.

[00:06:48] And then I can continue to live how I've always lived and expect to reap this great harvest. So now he says, Paul says, hold on a minute. God is not mocked. You know, I've had more than one person come and say, Pastor, I really need you to pray with me. And I'm like, no, I'm not going to pray with you. You need to change your actions.

[00:07:18] We act as though God is this genie God that's going to go against his law. So there's laws that God has put in motion that even prayer won't change. One of them is the seeds that we sow.

[00:07:39] That is, you can pray and maybe God would have some mercy on you, but you are going to and I am going to reap the seeds that I sow. I'm going to reap the actions that I take. I'm going to reap the thoughts that turn into seeds that then take on action. I'm going to reap that. And Paul is saying here, don't be misled.

[00:08:04] Don't think that now that you're born again and you have grace flowing in your life, so to speak, that you can just go on and somehow your life is going to be different. That's why the Bible says by your fruit, you will know one another. So if you want to see the real me, look at everything that I'm associated with.

[00:08:27] Because 24-7, unless we're just sleeping and we're comatose, we are planting seeds, right? And so a religious spirit can be very blinding. One of the first things you can look at is a family. How does a family treat one another? How do children treat parents and how do parents treat children?

[00:08:57] And that dynamic right there is going to tell you a lot about people's confession. Because this is what I've learned. Kids can sense a fraud in a moment's time. And if you're telling your children to do things that you're not willing to do or not hold yourself accountable, but you want to hold them accountable, they're going to say you're a fraud and your religion is not sincere.

[00:09:24] That's why to even be an elder, your home has got to be in order. Because that's the first line that says you live what you talk. Come on, somebody. The power of a seed. There are laws that God will not violate. I told you guys about this last Sunday within this. If I jump up in the air, I'm affected by a law.

[00:09:55] There's only one that seemed not to be too affected by a law, and that was Michael Jordan. But all the rest of us. It's the law of gravity. So when the Bible is using in this dimension law, the law of sin and death, the law of the harvest, it's something that's in place that's not going away. It's a seed time in the harvest, the Bible says. There's going to be seasons. There's going to be reaping and sowing.

[00:10:24] Until Jesus comes back again, there's going to be this law that governs our life. Whatever we sow, we're going to reap. Now, I'm not a rocket scientist. But I try, and if I learn something, I kind of take, sometimes it takes me a little while. My whole family, they always amaze me. They're smarter than me. My wife, my children, I'm always the last one to the party.

[00:10:50] And they're like, yeah, okay, Dad, thank you for getting it 10 minutes later. But I always tell them, but when I get it, I got it, so leave me alone. It may take me a little while, but when I get there, I got it. And this is one of those that you got to catch, even if it takes you a little while, because it has the power to revolutionize your life. It really has the power to revolutionize your life. Now, you can't be religious. You can't be a victim.

[00:11:18] You have to get clean before God and say, okay, God, I'm going to take responsibility for these things in my life, and I'm going to begin to honor the seed. I'm going to begin to honor this truth in my life, because just like gravity, this law will affect us our whole life. Turn to your neighbor and say, you're a farmer. Turn to the person on the other side and say, you're a farmer.

[00:11:51] So this message is for all the farmers this morning, and we're all farmers, including the preacher, which means we're sowing seeds. Seeds are so powerful, I can look at you and how your face looks and how your eyes look, there's a seed being sowed. It's that powerful. You're either seeing openness or you're seeing closed.

[00:12:19] You're either saying, don't tell me what to do or I'm open, let me hear the word of God. 24-7, brothers and sisters, we're sowing seed. And the most ridiculous thing is for us as human beings and more Christians to somehow complain about the harvest. You're the seed sower. You're the one sowing the seeds.

[00:12:47] If your life is bad, I'll talk with you, but eventually I might take my camera out, take a picture of you and say, look really close. You're the sower. You have the power. I think this message is so empowering to live an exponential life because by God's grace, I'm at the control, so to speak, with my Lord and Savior, with the word of God and with the Holy Spirit,

[00:13:16] and I can determine my harvest. I can determine my harvest. I'm not saying that life doesn't throw stuff at us. I'm not saying that things happen to us. I'm not saying that bad circumstances come that are out of our control. We all know that life is falling and we're going to deal with things in life.

[00:13:43] Like I've heard said and I so believe it and seen it and have happened in my own life, life is going to bear hug us. Life is going to happen where it's not a source of our action, but what I'm teaching this morning is how we build our lives around us by our words and actions and our lifestyles that we do have an effect over.

[00:14:06] God has designed his kingdom around sowing and reaping. People often want an exponential harvest without sowing properly daily. God's pattern is this way. The harvest is always hidden in the seed. Every act of surrender plants life.

[00:14:36] Every decision that crucified the flesh plants life. Every yes to the Holy Spirit in our life and no to our fallen nature is a seed that the Holy Spirit can multiply. So the first point I want to make if you're taking notes is remembering in an exponential life, the harvest is the seed.

[00:15:06] The harvest is the seed. Stewardship produces increase. If you have a mentality of lack and you're always sowing seeds of there's not enough to go around, guess what? You're going to live in a world where there's not enough to go around. It is a attitude. It's a seed of belief.

[00:15:35] Generosity produces increase. The Bible teaches this law that when we have a generous heart, when we are giving of ourselves, that's what we will reap. We're sowing it so we will reap it back. We're sowing it so we will reap it back. Diligence produces promotion.

[00:16:00] Again, diligence produces promotion. A lot of people are into this deceptive thinking that someone just is genius or someone just had a stroke of luck. But for most people that do anything with their life, after 30 years, they're an overnight success.

[00:16:30] And laziness produces lack. Stewardship produces increase. Generosity produces increase. Diligence produces promotion. Laziness produces lack. Galatians, that sixth chapter, do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever one sows, they will also reap. Here it is.

[00:16:56] For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption. But the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. As Paul was teaching this, remember the chapter before. The chapter before chapter six was what? Great job. Chapter five, which is what? The contrast from the fruit of the flesh versus the fruit of the spirit.

[00:17:25] Works of the flesh versus fruit of the spirit. And then he goes on to chapter six. And he now throws down the gauntlet on that. The fact is our life is constantly planting seeds. And he begins it with this warning. Don't be deceived. Which means, in biblical terms, being deceived means, in this sense, fooling yourself.

[00:17:51] How many know that we've fooled ourselves more than anybody else has fooled us? So in a context, these people were living however they wanted. They were indulging in sinful desires. And they were ignoring the spirit, thinking that it wouldn't have any consequence. And Paul says, no, please don't deceive yourself.

[00:18:19] It literally means the Greek word on this is, I'm not going to produce the word, pronounce the Greek word. But it literally means to turn the nose up at someone, to sneer, to treat with contempt, to think you can outsmart them. Paul is saying, God will not be mocked.

[00:18:45] People think, we can think, our flesh can say, well, I'll sow this now, but later I'll somehow reap something different. God says, nope, doesn't work that way. Whatever a man sows. And so then he moves right into this dynamic of explaining in a farming sense. No farmer expects planting corn to harvest apples or to plant weeds and harvest wheat. And that'd be absurd, right?

[00:19:17] And Paul says it's equally absurd if life works just like agriculture. Every decision, every habit, every thought, every conversation, every act of obedience, every compromise is planting something. Come on, we're all farmers. You're never neutral. You're always sowing. So the flesh in this word is a Greek word that's S-A-R-X.

[00:19:45] And it's much deeper. When you sow to the flesh, the scripture here is saying, Paul does not mean your skin, your muscles, your humanity. He means our old nature that resists God. That old life that is supposed to be crucified, which is my will, my comfort, my control, my ideas,

[00:20:08] my attitudes that are fleshly, my pleasure, my kingdom, my way, serving your own life is sowing to the flesh. Notice, this is an important thing. Paul says that it's sowing. The one who keeps on sowing. What he's speaking of is direction. He's speaking of lifestyle, the way that you live where you're sowing in this direction.

[00:20:38] This is how you're doing it. What your life continually feeds on. It will, if you sow to the flesh, if you keep walking in that lifestyle, you're going to reap corruption. And I love these word searches. They're always so fascinating. This Greek word, corruption, it means decay. Everybody say decay. Spoilage. Perishing.

[00:21:05] It was used in the Greek in their time of rotting food, metal corroding, bodies decomposing. Things, listen to this. Paul is saying corruption, which meant things slowly falling apart. So if I plant my flesh, my life is going to slowly fall apart.

[00:21:35] Wow. So it may take a little time, but eventually the harvest comes. Now, the one who sows to the spirit, everyone say to the spirit.

[00:21:59] Paul is not saying try harder because if you look at the above chapter, he was talking about it's by the Holy Spirit's work inside of us. So I don't want you to take from this message like, well, I need to try harder. That's not what the scripture is saying. He's saying so differently. He's saying invest differently. He's saying feed something different.

[00:22:24] Our spirit man, the Holy Spirit inside of us, our new nature begins to grow as we seek God, as we get into his word, as we worship, as we live in obedience, as we live in repentance, as we live in serving, as we live in generosity and forgiveness. Then that begins to grow. Somebody said amen. And that's what we're talking about.

[00:22:48] But a harvest that is exponential, that doesn't stop growing, will reap eternal life. Everybody say, will reap eternal life. Now, what Paul is saying here, he's not saying that doing these good things, then your good works will save you eternally. That's not what he's saying.

[00:23:10] What he's saying is, you are going to have life in the spirit here and in eternity. Those who walk by the spirit experience a life that's increasing in measure even in the present while looking for the return of Christ. So, Paul gives us the promise.

[00:23:38] He gives us the future that says, you're going to reap eternal living. You're going to reap a harvest of righteousness. You're going to reap blessing when you sow to the spirit. When you sow, when you're pointing in the lifestyle of honoring God in every area of your life, you are going to reap a harvest. Can somebody say amen? So, number two is, boy, with all diligence, pray for the right seeds to sow.

[00:24:11] I don't want to sow negativity. I don't want to sow worry. I don't want to sow anxiety because I'm going to reap a harvest of anxiety. I'm going to reap a harvest of stress. I don't want to sow things that are going to come back and rob my life. I want to sow good things. James chapter 1 and verse 5 says,

[00:24:38] If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. So, I'm rebuke you for asking. If you're saying, Lord, I really need a change in my life. You know, obviously, make him Lord like we prayed in the middle of the service. But as you lean out into that, as you start walking in faith, you need to ask God to help you plant the right seeds. Somebody said amen. Does God want me to say this? Does the Holy Spirit want me to take this action?

[00:25:07] Does the Holy Spirit want me to do this? Does the Holy Spirit agree with my heart? Does it agree with my mindset? Does it agree with the direction I'm going? Am I going the direction that God wants me to go? Pray for the right seeds to sow. So, Psalm 139 verses 23 through 24 says, Search me, O God, and know my heart.

[00:25:34] Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life. What we can pray for is the right seeds. Once they're sown, they're sown. But on the front end, Lord, guide my steps. Lord, guide my heart. Guard my mind. Come on, somebody.

[00:26:08] Pray for the right seed. Thirdly, the ultimate seed. The ultimate seed, as you stand with me, is God's word. The ultimate seed is God's word. We just said it, thy word have I hid in my heart.

[00:26:38] This literally means thy word have I hid in my heart. Hid means like be so close that you know it, like you've memorized scriptures, like you know what to do because the word of God is so available in your heart. So we all have, how many here have memory?

[00:27:11] We all have a truckload of memories. Sometimes bad memories, sometimes bad experiences are the word that speak to us. And we get involved in these revolving circles because we don't replace all that with the fresh living word of God. You know, like someone said, well, you know,

[00:27:39] Pastor Matt, I need more friends. Well, quit being mean. Why are you mean? Why are you alienated? What's going on in your life? Did you know what the Bible says? If you're gonna have friends, you must show yourself friendly. You must plant a seed of friendship.

[00:28:08] Well, I don't have any friends. Well, be a friend attractor. Be a person that no one can live without because every time they're around you, you're positive. You have a good report. You're believing God for great things. You're a loyal friend. You're uplifting. You have the word of God inside of you that is the ever living word to God

[00:28:37] and people will be around you. And you'll attract the right crowd. Come on, somebody. How many know you can also attract the wrong crowd? How many know you can attract Debbie Downers? And I'm not against Debbie if you're here with the name Debbie. There is one. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. You get what I'm saying? I'm being in trouble after church here. Or a Karen or a...

[00:29:06] What's the guy named? A Roy? A Chad? I don't know. Yeah, that's it. Don't be a Carl. Come on, somebody. All right. But, you know, I've told my children this from a young age. You know, every light attracts its own bug. I mean, if everybody is around you and is negative and poor and broken and broken down

[00:29:35] and having... Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You know? And you know this. I always teach this. This is how we... This is a right matrix of friendship. You need three levels of friends. Everyone say three levels of friends. The first friends that you need is an upline or someone who is where you want to get. That's the hardest. Because a lot of us don't like to be challenged. So we stay comfortable with people who are the second tier, which would be your sideline of friends.

[00:30:03] So that's people that are at the same level as you. And that's pretty easy. You know, that really fulfills the old thing of you attract who you are at the same level. There's a whole message in and of itself. And then the third is to... You reach to someone that needs to get where you're at.

[00:30:33] So it's not all one. It's all three. It's living in the tension of, I got a good sideline. I've got some upline people in my life that I allow to speak in my life. If you're your only upline, look in the mirror because that's as far as you'll ever get is where you are at right now. God always uses people around us to take us to the next level.

[00:31:03] So be on purpose and schedule lunch, schedule coffee with someone who you know has their finances together, has their health together, has their family together. Don't be a know-it-all. Turn to your neighbor and say, don't be a know-it-all. Amen? Amen? That's the last thing. We as Christians should be people that say we have a lot to learn. Come on, somebody. That's why our church mission statement is to belong and we're moving in the right direction. We're moving forward with one another

[00:31:33] and with the Lord, with His Word, with the power of His Spirit. We're not what we were last year. We're better this year because of God's grace living inside of us and all of us heading in the right direction. Amen? Amen. Amen. That's what's special about the church. That's what's special about this place is we want a growth environment where we're challenging in a good way one another and iron sharpening iron and we're becoming more useful to the Master's hand

[00:32:01] so that we're better spouses, we're better friends, we're better workers or business owners. We're keeping growing on the mission that God has called us to be. Amen? Amen. For His glory. For His usage. For His purpose. So when people see us out there, they say, I want to be like that. I want to have a marriage like that. I want to be like that. What do they have that I don't have? Well, we have a treasure in earthen vessels which is the power of God's grace living inside of us.

[00:32:30] Come on, somebody. Exponential living. Living that goes beyond what we can do in our human nature. We die to that so then God can resurrect us to the best version that He's wanted us to be from all along. Amen. Oh, praise the Lord. The ultimate seed is God's Word. Oh, many times I've had to open the Word and get correction, receive correction. If every time you read the Word of God,

[00:33:00] it agrees with you and you agree with everything, oh no, you're not reading the Word of God. You're religiously doing a pattern. You at a time shut the Bible and say, oh, help me God. I'm a man of unclean lips. Help me Lord. I need your grace in this area of my life. God, help me to be more like you. God, help me to be more loving. I'm going to be more forgiving. I'm going to be more full of grace.

[00:33:28] I'm going to be more full of your love. So I just want to finish with this. I want to give you some good seeds to sow. Firstly, sow peace. Sow peace. I think when people leave our presence,

[00:33:58] they should be able to say, I'm glad that I connected with that person. My life is now better because we give them some of what we have in the Lord. Peace. Sow in peace. peace. The scripture says, a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. I'm

[00:34:28] way beyond playing games with myself or with people and so if you want drama, don't waste my time. If you have problems in your workforce, let's get going and let's correct the harvest and let's move forward. word. But at my age and maybe you're with me, I don't have time for foolishness. We're on a mission. Come on, somebody. And if what we're doing doesn't lead to peace,

[00:34:58] doesn't lead to multiplication, doesn't lead to exponential kingdom growth, let's not waste our time with it. A harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who may. I've figured something out. Turn to the neighbor and say, Pastor Matt, figure something out. Some people have a euphoric. What's the new word? We don't use euphoric anymore. What's the word we use? A stimulation.

[00:35:29] Dopamine. I'm convinced that some people are so used to drama all around them in their family, in their life, maybe in the business that it's their fix and if something ain't going on, they're not happy. And so, good, bad, or the other, something's got to go on so I'm just going to cause a little problem here so I can get a dopamine effect. Well, I've had enough dopamine effects in my life and I want peace.

[00:35:58] Come on. I want productivity. I want smooth sailing by the Holy Spirit. Are you with me on that? So that we can be productive for Jesus. Amen. The better our lives get, the more consistent they are in peace and growth and God using us in great ways because the seeds that we've sown and the lifestyle that we're living.

[00:36:28] Praise the Lord. In peace by those who make peace. Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12. Hosea chapter 10 and verse 12. Sow righteousness. Plant the good seeds of righteousness and you will harvest a crop of what? Plow up the ground of your heart for now is the time to seek the Lord that he may come

[00:36:57] and shower righteousness upon you. Wow. Someone needs to take and highlight that verse and read it every morning when your feet hit the ground and say, today I'm going to plant good seeds of righteousness and I will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts. Well, they did me wrong and I'm mad at my daughter. I'm mad at my son. I'm mad at this. I'm mad at this and I'm just mad at the world. Well, you're going to reap a heart of madness.

[00:37:31] I like sending texts like, I love you so much I don't know what I would do without you. I like sending texts like, when I think of you I'm so proud. My heart is overflowing with the person that you've become next to Jesus. You're one of the best things that's ever happened to me.

[00:38:01] I mean, I do joke around a little bit with my kids like, I'm going to beat you at golf. You watch it. But you got to always be wise and lay seeds of a return. Lay seeds of a return. You want to change the harvest? God will not be mocked. You may have to ask somebody for forgiveness on some bad seeds you've sown. You need to say, you know what?

[00:38:30] I was wrong. I stand corrected. Sometimes saying, I stand corrected is the biggest thing you can say where freedom comes. Where freedom comes to your life. Proverbs 22 and 8, whoever sows injustice will wreak calamity.

[00:39:00] Whoever sows injustice will wreak calamity. Injustice is a nasty spirit, by the way. Injustice is based in pride. I would put right next to the word injustice, equitability. Equitability.

[00:39:30] Being equitable is justice. Where there's a, there's a posture of equitability in my life. Where, when someone has sowed into my life, I'm grateful to them. When someone has had kindness in my life, I'm thankful to them. There's an equation of equity. I bless them. I honor them.

[00:40:01] 2 Corinthians 3, 9, 6, whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly. This would be on the positive side. Galatians, chapter 6 and verse 9, which is my life verse. As we have opportunity, or the NLT says,

[00:40:31] so, turn to your neighbor and say, so, don't get tired of Pastor Matt's preaching. You're gonna make it. Let's not get tired of doing what is good. Everyone say, what is good? Let's not get tired of living in that posture. There's times I've looked at Angel and said, I still gotta be forgiving. Not to her,

[00:41:00] but I still gotta love. I said, yep, let's get not tired in doing what is good. At just the right time, you will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up the fight of faith. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone. Why? We should gonna reap a harvest.

[00:41:31] And he distinguishes and says, especially to those of your church family, especially to those in the family of faith. I got a whole nother section to preach here, but I'm not going to, on attitude. Everyone say attitude. I'm just telling you, some of y'all, some of us,

[00:41:59] you need to continually let your attitude be corrected. Because your attitude determines your altitude. Yes. Yes. Your attitude. Philippians 2, 3 through 5 says, do nothing from selfish ambition or conceitful attitude, but in humility count others more significant than yourself. having this mind

[00:42:29] among you, among yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, was a humble mindset. Second attitude posture. Colossians 3, 12 through 15, write these down, read them, read them and study them this week. Clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. When the Bible says clothe, it means let this be the first thing people see on you.

[00:43:02] Kindness, compassion, humility, gentleness, and patience. And above all these, put on what? Love. Let that be your motivation. Love. James 3, 17 through 18. First pastor of the first church at Jerusalem. Teaching.

[00:43:32] The wisdom from above is first pure, then what? Peaceable. Gentle, open to reason, full of mercy, and good fruits. Oh, praise the Lord and a harvest of righteousness is shown by peace by those who make peace.

[00:44:01] Philippians chapter 4 and verse 8. Whatever is true, not half truth, not slander, not an opinion, not what you think, but whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure.

[00:44:30] think on those things. Your thoughts are seeds. What you dwell on shapes your attitude. One more time. Read it with me. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, think on these things. Well, you know, that pastor, he didn't even shake my hand.

[00:45:02] Oh, if I'm going to shake everybody's hands, there's a lot of hands to shake. So a pastor could be, I didn't get around to you. But you know, over the years, I've seen little things like that or whatever they might be be turned into something that's not even true with brothers and sisters. See what I'm saying? How important this is? This is life or death for us as believers that we, what is true, what is honorable, what is just, what is pure.

[00:45:31] Meditate on those things. Somebody say meditate. Over and over in your mind. This is the word of God. This is the way I think. Proverbs 15, 1. A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. I'm just going to say it. Whew. I've said more things than that attitude that I never should have said. How many are with me?

[00:45:59] That spirit ever comes over you, don't. Turn your name and say don't. No, because it's the fire of hell that's in the tongue sometimes. Right? Gentleness is something you can intentionally sow in conversations. We're tying these seeds become habits and character and ultimately the fruit that others see in your life.

[00:46:31] This is what Paul is saying when he encourages us as believers to sow to the spirit. To consistently invest in attitudes and actions that align with God's character. Come on, how many know that we need a fresh grace of God in each one of our lives? Amen? So that we can live an exponential life of goodness, of reward, of blessing, of victory, of God's will

[00:47:01] in our lives. Amen. God is not mocked. Whatever we sow that we reap. Let's sow good seeds. Amen? Father, right now in Jesus' name, if you could go into that tag, Grant, we've come a long way than into that song. Amen. Did I preach that long?

[00:47:31] I'm so sorry. Really, I'm not. Amen? Amen. The word of God is forever living, changes our hearts, has the power to change a lifestyle. Oh, praise the Lord. As I was sitting worshiping this morning here, thinking about this word because I had the inside scoop but I knew what I was going to preach, kind of. I'm like, Lord, I got so excited

[00:48:00] about the potential of harvest in my own life. I was like, Lord, man, the future is so bright in you. The future is so bright when we follow your word and we're filled with your grace and your Holy Spirit. The future is so bright. If you don't think of a bright future, I want you to lift your hands right now and let a fresh wave of God's grace fill you right now so that you can leave church this morning uplifted by the supernatural presence and power of God that says God

[00:48:30] is going to make a way as he puts in my heart what to sow as I sow good things in every situation and every circumstance around me. Lord, the best is yet to come in my life. Lord, the best circumstances, the best relationship. Oh, praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Come on, receive that now in the name of Jesus. Be filled with God's refreshing spirit. Be filled with encouragement this morning. Be filled

[00:48:59] with life. Be filled with God's word. Be filled with the joy of the Lord. Come on, can we clap our hands to the Lord as we sing this song this morning? Hallelujah. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you for joining us today. We pray you feel encouraged and equipped as you continue in your faith journey. Please like, comment, and subscribe and share this with somebody who you believe needs to hear this message. We can't wait to connect with you

[00:49:29] again next week. Now let's show the world what it looks like to belong and become to the family of God. Amen. Amen.