Welcome back to another week of Life Lifters. Today we're going to be looking at Psalm 1:1-3, and we're going to be talking about how you find true happiness. Now, we'll read about the word "blessed" from this verse in a moment. The word blessed in Hebrew, ashrê, actually means "happiness". So let me ask a question: how do we get happiness? This is what the passage says: "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked nor stand in the path of sinners nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaves do not wither and in whatever it does, he prospers."

So here's the first thing I see in this first verse. It says, "how blessed is the man..." That word "blessed" there means happiness. "How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers." What is that? He's saying, be separate from the world. Yes, be in it, but don't be *of* it. Don't stand in the counsel of the wicked. Don't be with the sinners. Don't hang out with those who mock you. Don't do that.

The second thing he says in verse two is be saturated with the word, versus to be separate from the world. "...but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law, he meditates on it day and night." He's thinking about it all the time. He's being constantly encouraged and reminded. So, be separated from the world, but be saturated with the Word of God.

The third is this be situated under God. "He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields in its fruit and its season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers." Be separate from the world, be saturated in the word, be situated under God in His presence.

Now, if you want to ensure a life of doubt, unhappiness, and despair, simply just reverse these things and see what happens. Allow others to ridicule you and to mock you. It starts affecting your thinking. Disconnect from the Word of God and cut off your supply of nourishment, you will dry out and pull yourself away from God Himself. This simply brings you a life of despair. We know that's not what God wants for you, but to do as we talked about—separate yourself from the world, be saturated in the word, be situated under God.

Let me pray for you. Father, I pray that we would understand what it means to have and find true happiness. Being separated from the world, being saturated with your word by meditating on your law, and be situated under God. And Father, whoever's watching or reading this right now, I pray that they would find that encouragement and be able to just dive deep into that, so they would find what true biblical happiness means. We thank you in Jesus' name. Amen.

As some of you know, I lost both of my parents back in November to COVID-19. I just think back to that time; there was so much communication going on when my parents were sick between my sisters and I and between the doctors and other family members. Then, when they passed, it was just a barrage of texts and phone calls, making funeral arrangements, and all of this is going on in the middle of a pandemic. But you know it became, at least for me, overwhelming (and in some ways, a good overwhelming) because people really loved on us and were checking in and caring for us. However, in another sense, it was a very busy time. Life was still going on. I was managing tensions at work, making sure that the kids were getting to where they needed to go, and there was a period of time from when they passed until we were able to actually have the funeral.

If I can be honest with you, I became very overwhelmed through all of this and I don't know about you and how you feel when you get overwhelmed, but it's in those moments that God really wants us to draw close to Him. We see this in scripture with Jesus and His disciples. In Mark 6:31 , they were in a very overwhelming situation. There were people that needed to be fed, people that needed to be healed of sickness, and people were coming and going. There were false teachers that needed to be rebuked, there were demons that needed to be cast out, and there were lives that needed changing. This is what Jesus came for, and all of this was happening in the shadow of the cross that Jesus was to face. So in Mark 6:31, we're given a glimpse of this. It says this: "Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, 'Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'”

You know, this is an invitation by Jesus for you to go with Him. To be with him, the Son of God, the Creator of the universe, the lover of your soul. He is inviting you in those times when you're overwhelmed to go away with Him. He wants you to be alone with Him. He doesn't want others around; it's time to forget about the kids for a moment, forget about your spouse, and maybe your parents that you're taking care of. He wants you to spend time with Him by yourself in a quiet place. Put the phone away. Don't worry about the office for a moment. I'm not saying that you totally neglect all of these things, but Jesus wants us to spend a part of our day with Him. May I suggest the first part of our day, and not a place where there's a lot of traffic, like a coffee shop or maybe your house at 8:30 when people are running here and there. Instead, go to a quiet place where you can listen for the voice of God. God can hear clearly from you what's on your heart. Why does God want us to do this? So you can get some rest and some peace, and so you don't feel so overwhelmed with the burdens of life. This is what Jesus has in mind for us to give us that rest. This is my go-to verse when life becomes stressful, when I'm overwhelmed, and when I can't focus. That happens often, but I have to remind myself to spend time with God. As I mentioned, for me, it's in the morning. Maybe for you, it's in the evening, you know, before the kids get up and people are showering and they have to get on a bus and go here and there. That's when I have to focus. That's when I can focus with God. That's my appointment with God.

When is your appointment with God? How do you get away and spend time with God? I'll tell you, my days tend to go more smoothly when I put first God and I listen to Him. When I have my Bible, I pray and I ask God to speak to me from what I'm reading so I can apply that to my day. When I do that, my day tends to go a little bit better. My days are still crazy, but the way I handle the craziness is markedly different than the days that I don't spend time in my Bible with God, by myself in a quiet place. How do you handle that craziness? How do you get away and spend time with God? Thanks for following along with Life Lifters this week. Don't just have a great day. Go and make a great day!

Today I want to talk to you about something really uncomfortable for me. Maybe it's uncomfortable for you as well. I'm talking about when someone you love and care about, maybe a friend, a family member, a co-worker, and they betray you—they stab you in the back or they say something hurtful about you. Over the years, this has happened all too many times and I've learned to deal with it in a certain way. I want to share that with you today. It's dealing with it by separating the person from their sin.

We see this modeled by Jesus in Matthew 16:13. Matthew writes this: "When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, 'Who do people say the Son of Man is?' They replied, 'Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.' 'But what about you?' he asked. 'Who do you say I am?' Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.'"

In that moment, Jesus really commends Peter for that. He prophetically shares what's going to play out in Peters's life as the church unfolds. What we see here is that Jesus replied with the following to Peter: "Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven." So Peter listened for the voice of God. God revealed something to Peter and he listened. He had that seed planted in his mind and he proclaimed that truth back to Jesus.

Just a few short verses later, though, we see a completely different story after Jesus commends Peter. We pick up in verse 21: "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'"

Are you nuts, Peter? You don't do that! Can you imagine if Peter prevented Jesus from going to the cross? I don't even want to think about that. But I'm glad that this is what Jesus did. We see in verse 23, "Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." And so we see here, Jesus rebukes Peter, but did He actually call Peter Satan? I mean, it sure sounded like He did. He knew Peters's name and we know that that was not Peter's nickname. So what's really going on there? Did Jesus call Peter Satan? I think the answer is no. I think what Jesus was doing was that He was speaking to Satan through Peter; He was speaking to Satan through Peter. There's an enemy that works behind each of us and that enemy is Satan. He's trying to trip us up. He's trying to tempt us. He's trying to get our sinful nature to act out on the temptations that he plants for us. So what Jesus did here is He modeled separation.

You see, Jesus separated the real Peter—the one that wanted to listen and obey the Lord— from the one that desires to listen and follow the kingdom of Satan. So here's the ugly truth. This not only happens to people around us who say and do things to us. This happens to us, as well. This idea of separation that Jesus modeled for us has been helping me in dealing with relational issues. It's opened up my eyes and it's helped me to take ownership when I'm the one who has sinned. It's helped me to truly forgive people when they have sinned against me.

So I want to encourage you to learn and understand that there is an evil force that often works behind us trying to trip us all up. Why do we have relational issues? Well, oftentimes, I think it's because we, instead of listening for the voice of God like Peter did at the beginning of this story, we end up following the voice of Satan and giving in to temptation.

Let's pray. Father, I want to thank you for this idea of separation that Jesus modeled for us. Help us to understand that there is an enemy that wants to trip us up and get us to screw up our relationships and screw up our faith. So Father, help us to recognize that when we open our mouth and when we act, let us take responsibility and ownership when we make the mistake of following Satan instead of following you, Father, and let us be quick to forgive those around us Father who do the same. Father, help us to encourage one another, as we forgive one another Father, and we thank you for this and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for joining us today. Don't just have a great day, but go and make a great day!

I want to ask you a question, but I kind of know the answer already. I'll ask it anyway... Have you ever been tempted to do, think, or say something that you know was not going to be pleasing to God? Of course you have. We are all tempted in various ways, and not one of us has never been tempted. we face temptation as a part of the Christian life. 

Today, I want to talk to you a little bit about that. we know that we have an enemy, Satan, who is trying to trip us up and get us to fall in our faith, to fall spiritually. In fact, Scripture tells us that Satan is like a lion who prowls around looking to devour victims. I was reading recently during my quiet time in the Gospel of Matthew, and when I came upon chapter four, I was stopped dead in my tracks and just fascinated by what verse one said: Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. That just struck me because Jesus faced temptation just like we did and as you go through and you read that story, it's really cool to see how Jesus overcame that. We'll talk more about that in a moment. 

As I started researching it and looking at my study Bible and cross-references, it became very clear to me that there's a parallel between the temptation that Jesus faced in the desert and the nation of Israel. The people of Israel, as you probably know, were held captive in Egypt as slaves for 400 years. They were led out of Egypt by the Lord and they came to the Red Sea. If you remember the story, God parted the Red Sea when the Egyptian army was just about to attack them. God allowed them to walk through that Red Sea on dry land and then He closed it up again on the Egyptians. That's a picture of baptism; God bringing us through the water. keep that in mind, that's going to be important. After God brought them through the Red Sea, Israel was in the desert and they wandered in the desert for 40 years. While they were in the desert, they were tempted by the other nations and they were tempted to leave their commitment to the Lord and follow the gods of other nations, and to follow the sins of the flesh. Many of them in fact, tens of thousands of them, died in the desert there in their sin because of that temptation. 

The parallel to Jesus is this: Jesus, when he was born, his earthly father, Joseph, took him and his mother Mary to Egypt to escape King Herod who wanted to kill Jesus. when King Herod had died, after a period of time passed, Joseph brought Mary and Jesus back to Israel. So it fulfilled a prophecy that God would bring his Messiah out of Egypt. So you should be starting to see a parallel there. Jesus, to begin His earthly ministry, was baptized, just like the Israelites went through the Red Sea. that's a picture of baptism. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Then after that, Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the desert. the Israelites went into the desert and were there for 40 years. Jesus was there for 40 days, fasting and preparing him for the temptations of Satan. But here's the difference: Jesus overcame those temptations. Israel (many of them) did not. 

Here's the cool thing. Jesus quoted scripture to Satan, to overcome him and to be that temptation. He quoted the book of Deuteronomy, which is a retelling of the history of the nation of Israel while they were in the desert. it's also a book for the readers to be warned. it's a warning to not fall into the same trap and the same temptations that the Israelites fell in. That's the book that Jesus used to overcome the temptations of Satan. I find that really cool because you and I can also overcome temptation the way that Jesus did through fasting and through the Word of God. Fasting allows us to give up something, like food or some kind of physical need, so that we can draw closer to God. It also helps us to that we can understand His will, listen for His voice in our lives, and so we can tell Him "this is so important God, I want to overcome this temptation or this sin in my life, I'm going to go without items so that I can fully rely on you." Fasting is a great tool to strengthen us and help us to overcome such temptation, but so is the Word of God. are you studying the Bible? are you reading it daily? before you read the Bible, ask God for His Holy Spirit to give you understanding and guidance to what you're reading so that you can overcome temptation and be strong. You can memorize scripture, which will also help you in those times of temptation to come back against the enemy with the truth of God to overcome his lies. 

So when you're tempted, I really want to encourage you to remind yourself that the same Spirit that led Jesus into the desert to be tempted is the same Spirit that will lead you out of the desert that you're in when you are tempted and facing sin. God will give you the strength to overcome. In fact, I want to close by sharing with you 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says this: "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man." We all face temptations, and many of them are the same as what Paul is telling us here. We're not special and we all face these similar temptations. He goes on to say, "and God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." 

I really want to pray for you, and for me, that as we face temptation, that we can seek that way out, that we can listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit to lead us out and not ignore that voice and fall prey to temptation and sin that Satan sets up for us as a trap. So let's pray. Father, thank you for today. I pray that we listen for that voice and seek that way out. May we know your word more profoundly and more intimately in our lives so that we can be strong. May we periodically fast Lord so that we can draw closer to you and rely on you. Father, to seek your way out that you've provided when we are tempted. Thank you, Father, for this in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, don't just have a great day. Go and make a great day. 

One of the great truths is that when you are a Christian, you have victory. You have the victory already. Isn't that great to play a game and know that you're going to win? The good news is the Bible says that you're going to win, you're going to have the victory. Who will you have the victory over? You'll have the victory over sin and death.

I get this from 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 where it says this: "Where oh death is your victory? Where oh death is your sting? The implied answer to both questions is it's nowhere. Verse 56 says, "the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law." The law helps us to know right and wrong and that's what helps us see sin. The wages of sin is death. So the law leads to sin, or at least leads to us seeing that it's sin, and sin leads to death. But we have victory over all of that. So the text goes on to say, "but thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ".

You're a winner. I'm not talking about looking in the mirror and pumping yourself up. You're a winner because of Jesus Christ. You have one question? Do you want to be a winner or not? If you do, then follow Jesus Christ. Put your faith in Jesus Christ and trust Him alone. He will give you the victory. When I put my faith in Jesus Christ many yeas ago in October or November on a Sunday night, 1983, I felt the victory. I had some things going on in my life that I instantly changed. Yeah, there's some other things that took time and some other things that are still a battle right now, but I know this: from that day on, I knew I was right with God. I knew I had won. I had victory over sin and death in the law.

Do you? You can have victory if you commit your life to Jesus Christ. Many of you have, some of you have not, and there might be some of you who think you have, but you really have not. So how do you have the victory in Jesus Christ? You invite Him into your life by faith. You do that by saying "Jesus Christ, you are God. Jesus Christ, I am not and I'm a sinner. I believe when you died on the cross, you took my place and paid for my sins. You allowed me to be forgiven of everything so that I can be in right relationship with you for the first time ever and so that I can go to heaven. Because of all that, I have your victory."

Have you ever committed your life to Christ? You say, "Vince, I've always believed that." First of all, you didn't "always believe that". When you're three months old, you didn't believe anything. There has to be a point in time when you believe it. You might say "I believed it when I was a kid." Great. That's not enough, either. Have you received Jesus Christ? You have to believe it and receive it. Have Jesus Christ come into your life. He never goes where he is uninvited; he must be invited. Will you invite Him into your life? Say, "Jesus Christ, come into my life. I put my faith in you alone, not in my good work, not in my religion, not in my sacraments, not in any human effort, but in you alone. Come into my life. I receive you by faith." If you say it and mean it, you're a Christian. Life might be hard. In fact, it might get harder. Just because you become a Christian doesn't make your life automatically easier, but I will say this: with Jesus Christ at the center of your life, you have the victory. You have won.

I want to win. Do you? If you've committed your life to Jesus Christ by saying that prayer, let us know about it! You can send us an email or tap the Connect button in the Lakeshore App. We want to celebrate with you and support you in your new faith! Thanks for joining me today, have a great day.

Are you an ambassador? What is an ambassador? It's someone who represents a person or entity to another person or entity. So for instance, in the United States of America, we have ambassadors to different nations; we have an ambassador to Italy, to Ireland, to France and to other nations. What's the whole goal of the ambassador? To faithfully and accurately represent the nation that sends them before another nation, to make sure that our intentions are clear. Our desire ideally, is for a good relationship based on honesty and truth. The ambassador helps that communication flow between the nation they represent and the nation they're standing before to help them understand who they are, and to have a better relationship.

That's why I come back to my original question, are you an ambassador? So the question is ambassador for who? An ambassador to whom? Are you an ambassador for Jesus Christ? Are you an ambassador to other people? See, other people need to see Jesus Christ and you might be the only Jesus some people ever see, so you're called to be a great ambassador. Now, as I said, hopefully, you're an ambassador for a great nation. We're ambassadors, as Christians, for the living God who is perfect and holy, splendid and magnificent, amazing and wonderful. We get to be His ambassador.

What does that mean? That we represent Jesus Christ well. That we tell people about Jesus Christ, appropriately and at their level, when they're ready to hear it. It means we keep representing Christ well, so that ultimately, we can form a pact between God and the individual. It's called the covenant. It's called the New Testament. It's called the gospel, the good news message, that God wants to forgive people of their sin. Are you an ambassador for Jesus Christ? Do you live your life in such a way that you model and inspire grace and the good news of Jesus for others? Do you make it easy for people to want to become Christians because they admire the way you live? I know that sometimes there are people that don't agree with the way we live as Christians, but they do usually quietly, inside, respect us (and that's not the goal. The goal is only to respect us so that they respect and commit their life to Jesus Christ). But it all begins by being an ambassador.

It says this in 2 Corinthians 5:20-21: We are there for Christ's ambassadors as though God we're making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf be reconciled to God. God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God. Romans 10 says, how will people ever hear the good news unless somebody tells them? Are you telling them, Ambassador? It's the best way to live. Being an ambassador for Jesus Christ is a tremendous honor and there is no greater joy than being such an ambassador before others that they want to follow Jesus Christ too. Some of the greatest joys in my life have occurred that way.

As you know, I've done a few funerals here, and it's always such a joy when people have come to Christ and put their faith in Him here at Lakeshore Community Church. I do those funerals with the biggest smile I possibly can have on my face, because I know as sad as their loss is, it is nothing compared to their tremendous joy as they spend eternity with Jesus Christ. Nothing greater.

So let me pray. Father, I pray that you help all of us be an ambassador, and that we would do what this text says, that we would be an ambassador for others, as though we were making an appeal. "We implore you before Christ to be reconciled to God". That's what the text says. I pray God, that you will help us to be that ambassador who represents you well, so that people can be reconciled to you. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today, I want to talk to you about giving yourself to God's work. A lot of people think serving God is optional, and that's unfortunate. What makes it really unfortunate is when people who follow Jesus Christ say, "working for God is optional." Now, nobody ever comes out and says that, but what people do is they basically don't work for God. They end up doing their own thing and they end up saying, "well, I go to church and that's work for God." There's some truth to that, but here's what I want to say: You should spend your life finding ways to work for God.

Why should you work for God? Well, He pays well. He has great rewards, a great benefits package. He's a kind boss. Doing His work is thrilling if you really love Him. I get that because of 1 Corinthians 15:58, the very last verse in the chapter, where the Apostle Paul says this: "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." What does that mean, "not in vain"? It means it's not useless. I already told you all the benefits, but here's what I want to say. Give yourself to the work of the Lord.

You might say, "Vince, what does that mean? What does that look like?"

1. Here's the first. Whenever you're at work, model your faith. When you're at home, if you're the parent, if you're the child, whatever you are, model your faith by playing your right part in the family.

2. Here's another one: serve God at church. It's amazing to me how Christians who profess a faith in Jesus Christ, year after year after year, do nothing to lift a finger to serve God in the church. I find that disturbing. This text says, always abound in the work of the Lord, always finding ways to do God's work. You can do God's work at home, at work in church, in so many different places, but He wants you to abound in it, not dip your toe in it. He wants you to get involved in His work. Whether that's working in the church or working with people who are not yet followers of Jesus Christ to help them, whatever it is. Get to work for God. Always be at work for God. Find your way. There's so many ways. God has a way for you.

Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. He's got a plan. You just have to do it. You may not know the plan. Just begin to do God's work wherever you are at, the best you can. And guess what? You'll be in God's plan. He'll work it out. He'll open doors for you. He'll create opportunities for you.

Are you abounding in the work of the Lord? He wants you to be because He loves you. He knows it's fulfilling to work for Him. Nothing in life is greater, and that's kind of why I got into the ministry full time from engineering. Working in ministry is so satisfying because I love working for God. It's not always easy, but it's always rewarding and it's always fulfilling. Are you abounding in the work of the Lord? You don't have to be a full-time pastor to do that. No, all you have to be is available. Availability is so important. God cares more about your availability than your ability. He'll give you the ability. You just make yourself available. I hope you'll find a way to abound in the work of the Lord today and every day of your life.

Let's pray. Father in heaven, thank you so much for the reminder, to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in your work and that is not in vain. Help all of us to find your work, to pursue it and to live it. Help us to get to work for you because you are a kind boss. You have great rewards stored for us and heaven when we do. Thank you so much, in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, it's an absolute privilege to work for God. Are you at work for him? I hope so. Thanks and have a great day.

I have to deal with so many people all the time throughout the week. I deal with people here at church in a work environment, nearly 15 staff members, other volunteers, and other people that come in. On the weekends, like on Sundays, we're talking hundreds of people. Here's what I have learned. I have learned that if I really want to, I can take things that people say so literally and so negatively that I could be discouraged. I can also choose to give people what I would call "the benefit of the doubt". And I find I live better.

So let me give you an example. Somebody might say something, and then they say, "you know, that was a good message, Vince", and I could think about how come they didn't say it was a "great" message. Somebody could say something like, "I think you could have done better," and I can take it in the most negative way. What I find is that a lot of people can say things and you could take it the most negative way. Somebody can crack a joke and you can say "you attacked me." I have found that if nothing else, give people the benefit of the doubt. When you're not sure how to take something, take it the most neutral or positive way you can. Life goes a lot easier that way.

I get this from 1 Corinthians 13:7, which is one of the 15 traits of love in the Bible. This chapter is called the "love chapter". If you read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, you pick up 15 traits of love, and I want to focus on a few of them related to giving people the benefit of the doubt.

1 Corinthians 13:7 says this: "love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres". Love always protects. Protects what? People and relationships. Love always trusts. Of course, you trust God, but you trust people to the degree in which you can. It says love always hopes. You're always hoping for the best in a relationship, and love always perseveres—it goes for the long haul. So here's what I want to say, when people say things or when people do things, and you're not sure, and there's any possible way that you can interpret it another way, interpret the most positive way possible. Somebody says something, just say they're having a bad day. Or maybe they really meant this, or somebody does something, maybe things aren't going their way. Here's the thing, just give people the benefit of the doubt.

Now, sometimes, you can't give people the benefit of the doubt, because there is no doubt what they did was mean and awful and vicious. And listen, it is what it is. You have to forgive them and you have to move on. Not forgive and forget, but forgive and release. So, give people a benefit of the doubt. Don't jump on every word and don't jump on everything—don't be jumpy. Let it go. Just let it go. Give people the benefit of the doubt. I know many times people have said, "Vince, you know, I said that to you. I hope that didn't bother you", and I go, "Not at all". You know why? Because I gave them the benefit of the doubt. So instead of taking something and running with it negatively, when you give people the benefit of the doubt, you're better for it and you give them room to be better for it as well. Do you give people the benefit of the doubt? It's a great way to live.

Let's pray. Father, I pray that you'll help us give people the benefit of the doubt. Lord, You gave us the benefit when there was no doubt that we did not love you. We were sinners and we turned our back on you. And I pray Almighty God because you gave us the benefit when there was no doubt that we were alienated from you and sinful. Help us to give other people the benefit of the doubt as well. We ask this in Jesus' name, Amen. As you go throughout the day, don't take it the wrong way. give people the benefit of the doubt as long as you can.

We live in a day in which we suffer from a critical disease called "me-ism", where we tend to think about ourselves. We used to have a magazine in our country called "Self", which seems appropriate. For this disease, me-ism, we have a term called "narcissism" where all we do is think about ourselves and what interests us. We all know that's wrong, but unfortunately, we're all tempted to live in "Me-ism Ville". That's a new word (or place)!

I want to instead propose a new idea that's completely countercultural, radical, and goes against the flow of everything you probably see, read and hear: put others first. It's interesting that narcissistic people that focus on themselves are the most unhappy people. All the research shows you this; the more you focus on yourself, the more unhappy you are because all you're doing is examining yourself and critiquing yourself. It's why social media is such a colossal flop for so many reasons. I mean, it has some positives, for sure. The negative of social media is that you see all these people putting their fake images of themselves out there, and meanwhile you're going, "I don't seem that happy, I'm not doing all these fun things like they are." All social media can do quite often is feed narcissism, or me-ism. All the research says that it will depress you. "I think about myself all day long."—It's a radically depressing thought. But you know what the research shows about people who put others first? They are the happiest people! Counterintuitive? Countercultural? Yeah, but it works.

I get this idea from the words of Jesus Christ with one of his marquee statements in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 10, verse 45, where he said this: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” He didn't come to be served, but to serve. Now, Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is perfect. Jesus Christ deserved to be served. Instead, He served. Why? Because in His humanity and deity, He loved us to the full and because of this, He served us. He served us because we needed serving because of our sin. He served us because He loved us. He also served us so that He would be a model for us. In fact, here at Lakeshore, when we teach people about leadership, we teach about not just any leadership, but the driving motive for the leadership we teach here is servant leadership. Servant leadership puts other people first.

Do you put other people first? It's really hard, in fact, it's probably impossible, but I can say this: when you begin to engage and appreciate God's love for you, then you have something to give others. You cannot give what you do not have. But if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are a Christian, and God's love is in you, and then you can put others first.

I already told you that if you think about yourself all the time, it's depressing. If you think about others first, it's enjoyable, but here's the thing: if you put others first and yourself second, you're going to be more satisfied because what happens is when you put others first, most 'reasonable' people will be appreciative of you. It will encourage you and you'll feel more satisfied. If you think about yourself, people are going to think, "I don't want anything to do with that". That's depressing. So, put others first. When you do, you'll find life has more meaning. If Jesus Christ said the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give His life for ransom, I'm thinking that's the right way to live for me. Is it easy? No. It's especially hard if you're Italian, but I can tell you this: it's worth it. I think it'll be worth it for you, too.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this reminder to put others first. If you Lord, and your Son, Jesus Christ, put others first, help us to do it. Help us catch ourselves when we're trying to put ourselves first, and others second. And help us to think about ways we can elevate others and when we do, you'll lift us up. You say that the last shall be first when we humble ourselves. You will exalt us. So many great promises. So help us to do that. Help us start at home, start at work, start in our neighborhood and do it to everyone we can. We asked this through your Son, the servant leader, Jesus Christ, Amen. Thanks for joining us today. Have a great day.