Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome to God’s living room,

Nicholas Kristof is a journalist for the New York Times. A few months ago he wrote an article which posed the question . . . Which of these two fictitious people would you rather be? Richard, a 36 yr. old white commodities trader. He is healthy and lives in Hawaii. His job is stressful but he is wealthy enough to take amazing vacations. He is very handsome. He is not married but he dates gorgeous women. He is free to indulge in his passions of running, reading and writing. He is currently composing a poem about the Haiti earthquake. Or would you rather be Lorna who is a 64 year African American woman. She lives in the opposite of Hawaii. She is unattractive. She is on kidney dialysis, but that does not impede her social life or babysitting with her grandchildren. She is a retired school assistant, very close to her 67 yr. old husband, and is much respected in their church for directing music ministries. A few months ago she organized a church drive to raise $10K for Haiti. So three questions: Which of these two would our society put forward as an example of the good life? Or to rephrase the question: Which one would companies want to use as a spokesperson for them to say, “If you buy our product, you can be like Richard or Lorna? Next question: Which one is more likely to be happy? There are all kinds of research on this. But the bottom line of current research is that Lorna will most likely live longer, be happier, have more friends, experience more purpose, and nurse fewer regrets than Richard. But that’s not what matters most: One more question, which person is more like God . . . Richard or Lorna?

We are going to begin talking about the character of God today because just like Richard and Lorna, God is a certain kind of person with a certain kind of character, and our calling, no matter what our occupation or our pre-occupation is, is to be imitators of God. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the highest, how would you rate God on compassion? How compassionate is God? We all have different experiences we are going through right now and those experiences might cloud our opinion. So listen to what the Bible says because we don’t have to guess or be unsure of God’s character. “As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him for He knows how we are formed. He remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14

Check this out: A woman finds out she is going to have a baby. Fast forward about 7.5 months ahead and the baby is born. It’s a little boy. She and her husband are thrilled. They tell their friends. They thank God. But the gradually begin to discern that things aren’t quite right. Their little baby boy doesn’t respond to normal visual cues and doesn’t seem to recognize their appearance. Eventually they realize their baby boy is blind. Their hearts drop. He has no other children to play with. He is not going to get married or hold a job. They worry what will happen to him when they die. He has to beg for a living. At first people notice him but as the days turn into weeks into months into years he fades into the scenery like a tree. Nobody really sees him but he is there. Then one day a group of religious people are walking past him, and he hears them talking about him. A couple of them said to the teacher, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" We find this story in John 9.

Jesus, the rabbi, responds, Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” So Jesus is saying you are asking the wrong question. You are looking for someone to blame. We do that when there is suffering, don’t we. Something tragic happens and we try to fix blame on to someone or something. A number of us are great at doing this to ourselves. But what we don’t need to stick blame on someone or something but instead look at what God can do “with one drop of grace at a time.” Some of us might recall this story. Jesus then spits on the ground making a little mud, puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him to wash in the Pool of Siloam. And the man born blind goes home seeing. And people are going, is this the guy who blended in on Downer and Kenwood? Some said, yes. It has to be. Other said, it might be, but it is hard to say. The guys just looks different standing up. Others said, No, it’s not him. And the formally blind man now able to put faces with voices says to them. It’s me! It’s me! This was a fantastic day. There was rejoicing all over the place. Everyone was happy! Right? Well, not so much.

The account goes on, “Now the day on which Jesus had made the mud and opened the man’s eyes was a Sabbath.” And according to one of the hundreds of Pharisaical laws healing was prohibited on the Sabbath. So the Pharisees grill the man born blind. What do you have to say about this Jesus guy? The man reflects. He must be a prophet. The Pharisees don’t like the man’s answer so they go to his parents. Is this your son, the demand. How come he can see now? John 9:20f We know he is our son," the parents answered, "and we know he was born blind. 21But how he can see now, or who opened his eyes, we don't know. Ask him. He is of age; he will speak for himself." They are afraid of getting in trouble. So they throw their newly seeing son under the Badger Coach. So the Pharisees go back to him. Tell us what happened. We know that Jesus is a sinner. And the man says, whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" People can argue about religion and they often do. But it is hard to argue a story. The man has courage and as he simply utters the truth. Later Jesus comes back to him and says, “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, "Do you believe in the Son of Man?" 36"Who is he, sir?" the man asked. "Tell me so that I may believe in him." 37Jesus said, "You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you." 38Then the man said, "Lord, I believe," and he worshiped him.

When the disciples looked at this guy, they see an interesting theological discussion that makes them feel superior. When his neighbors look at him they see an eyesore. When the Pharisees look at him, they see a Sabbath rule broken. When Jesus sees him, he sees a child of God who has suffered intensely and who could only be redeemed by the power of God to a level of spiritual insight and courage that would shock the world.

One more account from Scripture: “A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, (because a lot of religious experts were not willing) you can make me clean." 3Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" (Matthew 8:1-3) Leprosy was a dreaded and fearful disease. Worse than our present day AIDS. Today, btw, leprosy is known as Hansen’s disease. Leprosy was so feared at the time that at the first blemish on your skin, you would have to rip your clothes, mess up your hair, move outside the community, and if you saw anyone who was not a leper, you would have to yell out when they were far away from you: UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN! UNCLEAN! And the people would get it that they were to stay away from you. It was against the law for a person who had leprosy to touch anybody who was not leprous. Any rabbi knew this. The stigma with leprosy was huge and painful. With leprosy a person was not just sick they were unclean. And it didn’t just have to be healed it had to be cleansed. You understand that the power of at touch is ginormous. When somebody puts their arms around you, when they give you a hug, it is literally life-giving. And Jesus wants this leper to remember his touch. So he does what nobody else would do. The very last thing that happens to this guy before he is healed is that Jesus touches his uncleanness. Jesus touches the untouchable. You see God’s character is filled with compassion one drop of grace at a time.

Oddly enough in the mid 100’s AD and the mid 200’s AD, it was through sickness an suffering and the Christian’s response to it that became a major part of how the movement of Jesus Christ transformed the Roman Empire. In both of these centuries there were major epidemics in the Roman Empire wiping out between a quarter and a third of the population. Put that in our day, in our country and that would mean somewhere between 75 million and 100 million people died because of an epidemic that couldn’t be stopped. Imagine the fear and hysteria in our swine flu world. The Roman historian Dionysius says during this time: people would push the sick away. They ran away from their loved ones, spouses, children. Throwing them into roads before they were dead and treating unburied corpses like dirt, hoping to avert disease.

But in the middle of all this is a little community of Christians who remembered that Jesus cared for the sick. Who would touch lepers. And they would take people in, even people who were not a part of their community, even people who didn’t believe like them. They would care for the sick and dying, even at the cost of their own lives. The revolutionary aspect of Christianity is that movement of people who lived with Jesus found themselves doing what Jesus did.

I think there are a lot of us who want to be like a drop of water and making a difference for God. Nobody can do everything but everybody can do something. We don’t need guilt or stats to motivate us. Lorna is simply a good example for us to follow and so are these. Over spring break this past year some of our partners took the time to be a drop of water by building homes in the south. This summer our partners are involved in camps and mission trips. But here’s the thing you don’t have to go away from home to make a ripple. Where are you at? Where do you spend most of your time? What do you like to do? Try serving in some way and see if it won’t resonate in your heart. You can make a difference one drop at a time. Your drop might even be a splash!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome to God’s living room,

I don’t think it is a anything new or shocking to anyone here that we live in morally relativistic society. Moral relativism is the dominant value. The majority of people do not like the concept of absolute truth. So I’m going to ask you a question and if your answer is yes just simply raise your hand. Now don’t look around and see what everyone else is doing. I am just asking for your opinion. And God knows whether you are giving me your opinion or someone else’s. So here is the question: Is toleration a good thing? It’s really a bad question isn’t it. Because if by toleration you mean that we are to carry each other’s burdens and to love one another like Jesus did, then that is a good thing. Jesus didn’t necessarily approve of people’s behavior but he saw them as people of high value. But if the working definition of toleration is that anything goes and no one has a right to say anything against something then it is bad. Our world doesn’t like the concept of absolute truth. But still there are some expectations of truth. For example in the medical field if you or I or loved is to go in for heart bypass surgery we certainly are expecting that the surgeon will know the difference between an artery and vein. That the surgeon will know that the arteries and veins all carry blood but there is a big difference between the two. When we go to the pharmacy we expect that the pharmacist will give us our medication and not mix it with some pills that look really close to the same. When we go to the grocery store we expect the weight of the meat to be accurate. When we got to the gas station to buy gas we presume that we are actually getting a gallon of gas for the price and not .997 gallons. In track and field, if you are a man and want to run the marathon in the Olympics there is a qualifying standard of 2:19 flat. Not 2:19:01. You could win your countries marathon, be the national champion but unless you have run a 2:19 flat or better you are not in the Olympics. Our culture has flipped a good word “tolerance,” and made it to mean anything goes. People set their own rules. In our day there is no such thing as boundaries because there are no absolutes. And I want you to know that just because the majority of people don’t accept something as true doesn’t make it any less true. If the majority voting on discounting the law of gravity, gravity wouldn’t cease. Because of the lack of absolutes our society is swaying back and forth and is going to hell in a hand basket.

So how do we fix our culture? How do we fix them out there? Well it begins by fixing us in here. We as individuals must embrace God’s truth instead of keeping it at a distance. We must live by God’s standards the way Jesus did. And just how do we do that? Today, I want to take us into the Bible into the true life stories of four guys in the book of Daniel. They are: Daniel. Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. And these three lived in a world much like our own, an anything goes, “Wild on Babylon.” Daniel 1:3-5 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility- 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. They were recruited to go to the Harvard of their day. They were the lottery pick of the smart people. It was to be a 3 yr period where they would become indoctrinated and en-culturated into Babylon. Now each of the four had a portion of God’s name in their name so that every time they heard their name they had an opportunity to remember whose and who they were. But King Nebuchadnezzar changes their names to Beltashazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego as if to say “whose your daddy now?” That’s how anti the true God this culture was. They were being asked to be subjected to pagan decadence and just conform to the culture, check this out: “because everyone is doing it.”

Daniel 1:8 But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way. People of conviction draw a line in their heart ahead of time, to honor the deepest value and connections of God. That’s point one. People of conviction draw a line in their heart ahead of time, to honor the deepest value and connections of God. Now we don’t know exactly what it was that the four were asked to eat that was going to defile them but they were people of conviction. But Daniel decided to draw a line in the little things before the big things would come and some big test would come. People of conviction draw a line in their hearts a head of time. That means that when you get to the party and some one hands you a joint or a rock or crank you already now you are not taking it. When that hot babe and some ripped guy shows up you already know what you are going to do and what you are not going to do. It means that when a business deals that needs just a little falsification to become final you already know you are going to live honestly before God who sees all things and others who see only some things. It means that when you are in crowd of people and they are starting to talk about some one who isn’t there you already know what you are going to do. What decisions are you facing now? We must honor God in our everything goes world. We need to draw a line in our hearts that will not allow us to even consider crossing over into dishonesty and deceitfulness. We may have made some mistakes in the past but now, starting today we are drawing the line in our hearts to keep Godly values.

Now King Nebuchadnezzar had a huge ego. In chapter 3 he makes this 90 foot statue of gold and makes this narcissistic law that says as soon as anyone hears music they are to bow down and worship before the statute and anyone who doesn’t will be thrown into the fiery furnace. Daniel 3:8 At this time some astrologers came forward and denounced the Jews. 9 They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, "O king, live forever! 10 You have issued a decree, O king, that everyone who hears the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes and all kinds of music must fall down and worship the image of gold, 11 and that whoever does not fall down and worship will be thrown into a blazing furnace. 12 But there are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, O king. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up." The homegrown scholars, the people of the hood, were jealous of these foreigners and wanted their revenge. King just so you know these guys you have brought in from the other country are intolerant of your wishes and law. Today if you and I have convictions like absolute truth we become the object of intolerance. To have absolute truth today is to be narrow minded, intolerant, homophobic, unloving, hateful, old fashioned, out of touch. Now keep in mind that truth is not based on my opinion, my feelings, or majority vote. Truth is anchored to a person, a person named Jesus. John 14:6 I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. And he backed it up by rising from the dead. It would be hateful not to tell people the truth. Imagine some campers were lost out in the woods. It is dusk. They all know they need to go north. They get into a disagreement about which way is north. Does the camper with the compass keep his mouth shut out of fear of seeming to be arrogant or intolerant? He has the compass and the need of survival leads him to speak. There is a north you know. God’s Word , his standards, his boundaries are north.

People with conviction courageously speak the truth in love, not obnoxiously but respectfully. Colossians 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 1 Peter 3:15 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. In another passage Jesus asks us to speak the truth in love. People with conviction courageously speak the truth in love, not obnoxiously but respectfully.

So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are people of conviction so the music sounds and there is not a snowball’s chance in hell they are bowing down to worship this statute thing. And the hometown scholars run off to the king and tattle. And King N. is royally ticked off. He brings the three in. What don’t you get? Big statue - 90 feet tall. I know you can see it. Loud music, I know you can hear it. And then you bow down and worship. Got it. I’m going to give you another chance, even though I shouldn’t but you got it right. Big statue. Loud music. Worship. But the three say, King that is an awesome statue. I don’t know who made it but the artistry is amazing. The music - it’s loud we like the beat. In fact, it’s on our I-pods already. But the worship thing, our hearts are reserved for the true God. Furious King N. calls for the furnace to be stoked seven times hotter than normal. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are bound by the soldiers and tossed into the furnace. The furnace is so consuming hot that the soldiers who throw them have their lungs melt and they die on the spot. King N. looks from a distance into the furnace and this is what he sees:

(Daniel 3:24-26) 24 Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, "Weren't there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?" They replied, "Certainly, O king." 25 He said, "Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods." 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, "Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!" So Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego step out of the fire. They were not singed. Have you ever smelled burned hair. It is horrific. That‘s why I‘m like this. Actually there is a story there but we aren‘t going there right now. They didn‘t have blisters. Their skin wasn‘t charred or falling off. They weren‘t in horrific pain. They didn‘t even smell like smoke. This is miraculous. This is God stuff. The is from the one who is the truth. This is from the one who is in the furnace with them.

People of conviction trust that God’s truth will prevail in the end. That’s point three. People of conviction trust that God’s truth will prevail in the end. People of conviction don’t try to fight the whole battle, don’t have the answer to every question, don’t get obnoxious but are confident that God will take care of it. There are some tough things that happen in our world and that happen to us. And I don’t mean to make light of any of those things or of anybody’s pain but in the end God will prevail. This is what the three said before they were thrown into the furnace because they knew that in the end God would prevail. Daniel 3:17,18 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. 18 But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." God is the inventor of chlorophyl, photosynthesis, DNA and tons of other things we haven’t even found out about yet. He is the one who put the capacity to love and feel and laugh in our hearts. He is the one who gives the power to forgive, conquer death. The King we serve is able to save and people of conviction live like that. Even if he doesn’t save us from this particular situation, he will save us in the end. There is high anxiety in our culture because we aren’t anchored to anything, not sure about anything, but when you are sure about the truth you have conviction, and the ability to live in a way like you have never lived before. God is able to deliver me but if he doesn’t it is because he has a better plan.

I’ll be honest, I need our help. I sometimes forget that God is going to prevail and try to take matters into my own hands. And I think there are a lot of us who are like that. Let’s be there to encourage each other with the truth. Let’s draw a line in our heart ahead of time so that we don’t disconnect ourselves from God and his values. Let’s speak the truth courageously and in love. And remember, remember, even when it doesn’t look good (remember Good Friday) that in the end God will prevail. I pray that you and I will anchor ourselves in the truth of the person and word of Jesus who is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Let’s wrap this message up by singing My Hope is Built on Nothing Less

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome to God’s living room,

Most people love stories. Some won’t admit but they still watch tv shows that are really stories. Jesus told a lot of stories. One of the stories he told 2K ago is recorded for us in Luke 14. The setting for the story was at a church leader, called a Pharisee’s, house. Pharisees were religious, pious, and proud of following rules and regulations. And they primarily did it in front of other so they could seen and esteemed wearing their Niemann Marcus gowns and flashing their season tickets to the box seats in the synagogue. And when they gave, they gave out of their abundance again in front of the people so that all could be reminded that they were better than the regular people. The Pharisee invited other Pharisees and Jesus to his home for a dinner party. In those days the table arrangement was in a U shape. The host would sit in the middle and the distinguished guests would sit right next to him, the most distinguished on his right and then the next on his left. The others sat down in descending order of importance. So Jesus goes to the party and as he arrives people are in a mad scramble for the seats of honor. They want to be next to the host in the top spots. And Jesus tells them this: (Luke 14:8-14) 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

How embarrassing would that be? You get there early to the party and set up shop with your name tag, drink. You drape your coat over the chair and as you sit down you wave to the regular people with a smile. And then the host comes says, “Excuse me. You are in someone else’s place. I’m going to have to ask you to move.” and by now all the other seats are taken except the very last seat farthest way from the host. And now you have to get up with your coat draped over your forearm as you carry your drink head down to the last seat. That would suck.

Jesus says, “everyone who exalts himself will be humbled.” Reminds me of another saying: Whoever gets too big for his britches will eventually be exposed in the end. Why does Jesus make such a big deal about this pride issue? Why at this party? What in so many places in Scripture too. Check out: Proverbs 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. And how about this: James 4:6 But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Why does God feel so strongly about pride, arrogance, and ego? Why are we constantly being called to the contrast of pride, to humility?

God knows how much damage pride is doing in business, political, education, family, friendship and even church arenas and the damage it does to souls everyday. Let me take a little survey to show how pride ruins relationships. How many of us love to be around people with big heads? How many us would just love to go the Brewer game or to Summerfest his coming weekend with a conceited jerk? Pride ruins relationships. And nobody wants to humble themselves, admit they are wrong, ask for forgiveness or extend forgiveness. Proverbs 13:10 says, “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” Business relationships that were solid like a rock are now a heap of pebbles. Marriages which were united in love have been separated by the detonation of pride. Some parents never admit that they are wrong and children grow up devastated all because of pride. People struggle with finances, morals. Addictions, sin and they are too prideful to open up and say, I’m in over my head and I need help.

And elderly couple became friends in the nursing home. The man became infatuated with the women and one evening asked her to marry him. She quickly responded yes. The next morning the man wakes up and remembers asking her but can’t remember her answer. So he sheepishly seeks her out and says, “Last night I asked you to marry me but I can’t remember your answer.” She was delighted. She said, “This morning when I woke up I knew I had said yes but I couldn’t remember who asked me.”

To acknowledge short comings, to say I goofed, isn’t easy. But those who can humble themselves at work, marriage, with the kids can repair so much damage. Some of us are living in very fractured relationships right now. And they are going to stay that way until one or both of us humble ourselves. When a person is humble they don’t have to be right all of the time. It is easier to handle criticism, to say I’m sorry, I was wrong, please forgive me. Relationships excel in humility and crash in pride.

Another reason why Jesus makes such a big deal with pride is because pride can walk right by real people with real needs. I see pride every time I look in the mirror. And if I ignore it, you and others will know when I do because then I walk right by people with needs, pains, and problems because I am focused on my agenda, dreams, plans, schedule, calendar. Pride walks right by people with real needs, doesn’t have time for others. Philippians 2:3 says, Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Pride is a roadblock to happiness in so many of our lives. Everybody wants to be happy. Many are in a frantic search for happiness and there is no shortage of advice on how to be happy. I typed in How to Be Happy on Amazon.com and it came up with over 1500 books. There has never been more advice on happiness. So why aren’t more people happy, colleagues at work, spouse, kids, you, me? Happiness in counterintuitive. We think it is found in external circumstances. Like if the Brewers win we are happy. If the car repair bill is less expensive than we thought we are happy. But Jesus teaches happiness is determined by what is happening within us. The first step to happiness is humility: Matthew 5:3 says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed or happy. To be in poor in spirit doesn’t mean that we are down in the dumps. It means that we recognize who we really are. To recognize our shortcomings, misbehaviors, moral slip ups, failures and sin and all of this in the presence of a holy, righteous, pure and loving God. The engineers at Boeing aren’t impressed with our paper airplanes. We don’t make a shot on the playground and look Kobe Bryant in the eye and says, “I got game.” So we certainly can’t boast about how good we are in the presence of the holy God. People poor in spirit recognize that we don’t’ measure up to God’s standard of holiness and that’s humility. I’m destitute, overdrawn, bankrupt and I can never repay. I need God who can lift me up out this situation who can meet me in this condition. Jesus is saying, Happy are those who acknowledge I need God because God gives grace to the humble. The kingdom of heaven belongs to those who trust that they don’t deserve it.

So my question for me and you is: Is pride in the way between us and God? Is pride in the way of our happiness? Do you want to know how to break the back of pride? Do want to know how to be humble in a me first world? Then you we are going to have to take a chance and acknowledge who I really am before God and to other people. Admit that we are utterly dependent on God to get me out of this hole so deep no oil company can drill down far enough to get me out. James 5:16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. Now I know this is hard for us to do especially because deep down we like to think that we have made ourselves and deserve all that we have. I worked for it or I made some really good decisions right?

A CEO at a mega corporation and his wife were driving when they needed to pull the Mercedes in for gas. The CEO of course pulled the car up to the full service side and waited for the attendant to come out. As the attendant comes out of the gas station the CEO’s wife gets out of the car to go buy a cappuccino. As she does she greets the attendant and they actually end up talking for a while before she goes and gets her drink. When she gets back in the car her husband says condescendingly, “that was a nice conversation I bet.” His wife said, “Oh, I know him. I used to date him.” Her CEO husband responds, “I bet I know what you are thinking. You are thinking how lucky I am to have married my husband who is a CEO instead of man who is a gas station attendant.” “No,” she said, “I’m thinking that if I would have married him he would have been the CEO and you would have been the gas station attendant.”

Here’s the deal. None of us would be anything without God who has made us. None of us who be anything without God who gave us our gifts and abilities. None of us who be anything without God who gave us opportunities. None of us who be anything without God who gave us his only Son to die for us.

Second thing: Get outside of yourself and serve someone. Luke 14:12-14 "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." Don’t invite the rich neighbors, invite the poor, the cripple, the lame etc., Humble people get outside of themselves and serve others. Serve people who can’t serve you back because they don’t have the means or the ability. Matthew 23:11 (The Message) Do you want to stand out? Then step down.” Take a chance on humility in a Me world. Jesus did.

Prayer