WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.740 how often do you do the right thing? Often? Maybe not often enough? What even is the right thing, 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:14.300 you might be asking? So do we know what the right thing is? How often do we do it? Is it for life 00:00:14.300 --> 00:00:22.160 insurance? But the real question is why? Why do we do what is right? Why do we do the things that we 00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:30.039 think is the right things to do? What really motivates us? What even perhaps is it an advert 00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:36.340 that sways us to live for something that we really believe in? Or is it because someone else told us 00:00:36.340 --> 00:00:43.379 that that was the right thing to do? What is our motivation in life? I've got some funny adverts 00:00:43.379 --> 00:00:48.640 up here that might be examples of things that people are like, yeah, I'm going to live for that. 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:56.060 And if you have the first one, it's the Bulmers advert. So there's an advert that's basically 00:00:56.060 --> 00:01:04.519 saying we're told to eat apples. An apple a day keeps the dentist away. And so there the advert 00:01:04.519 --> 00:01:09.560 is advertising Bulmers. It's saying, well, we have apples, so drink our cider because that's a good 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:17.219 thing to do. So you'll be fine. And there's another advert with a tiny little baby and a mother holding 00:01:17.219 --> 00:01:22.920 her child. And it's a Coca-Cola advert saying, start them young because they're going to have 00:01:22.920 --> 00:01:29.099 a guaranteed happiness if you start them on Coke really early. I don't know, you might be swayed to 00:01:29.099 --> 00:01:35.200 go with that. Who knows? Or maybe there's something else that really motivates you, that really gets 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:43.280 you up in the morning. This, I believe, is our last series on worship and worship transforming our 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:49.599 lives. This is about transforming our wavering hearts. But just to recap, we're talking about 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:56.920 worship. That's it. There's the Bulmers advert. Very persuasive. We're talking about worship being our 00:01:56.920 --> 00:02:03.400 whole lives, not just what we do on a Sunday, but what we do every day, what gets us up in the morning, 00:02:04.120 --> 00:02:06.120 how we choose to live our life. 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:15.800 And Revelation is an interesting book because it is full of symbolism and kind of strange things 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:21.879 we don't really understand, maybe crazy monsters with lots of arms. So I thought I'd kind of help 00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:27.740 us illustrate a little bit about what this bit of Revelation is talking about because there was 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:35.319 something that really struck me when I was reading it. Right at the beginning, it says about Christ 00:02:35.319 --> 00:02:44.400 being holding these seven stars and walking among these seven golden lampstands. Who knows what 00:02:44.400 --> 00:02:50.680 that's about? But as I was reading up about it, because I don't claim to be the person who knows 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:57.879 everything about Revelation, I was really struck because this guy, Morris, was talking about it being 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:04.859 about Christ being right in the center of the churches. So these different lampstands representing 00:03:04.860 --> 00:03:13.400 the churches, which were letters that St. John was writing to through Jesus. And he's saying, 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:19.920 I'm in the midst and I really care about what's going on. I'm really intimately and concerned about 00:03:19.920 --> 00:03:27.140 everything that goes on in your life. And so he's there, he's in our midst. And I think that's 00:03:27.139 --> 00:03:34.959 something for us to just be reminded on today as I carry on talking, that Christ is in our midst. He cares 00:03:34.959 --> 00:03:45.839 really deeply. So as we think about what motivates us, let's be reminded of that as well. And this 00:03:45.839 --> 00:03:55.619 passage in Revelation carries on talking to the church in Ephesus. And it's commending them for the 00:03:55.620 --> 00:04:00.300 good things that they're doing. It's saying, well done, you're recognizing when there are people 00:04:00.300 --> 00:04:04.980 talking and they're really not talking about what they should be. And you're saying that's not right 00:04:04.980 --> 00:04:12.819 and getting rid of them. And that's a good thing. Well done. Commending them for it. But then he's 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:18.560 also criticizing them for it, which seems strange. You're kind of doing the right thing, but then 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:26.899 it turns out maybe it's the wrong thing. It's hard to know. Why are they being criticized for 00:04:26.899 --> 00:04:35.199 seemingly doing the right thing? Well, it's what motivates them. It's what are their motives behind 00:04:35.199 --> 00:04:45.399 it. What their motives become their stumbling block. You know, for us, sometimes it can feel 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:52.120 really good when we get praised for doing things. And perhaps it's because actually it bigs us up 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:57.199 quite a lot. Or sometimes it feels really great if you know that you're a little bit better than 00:04:57.199 --> 00:05:02.879 someone else because you know that you're doing really well because they're not. I don't know. 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:11.279 Maybe it's just me. I've got some examples of different things that we might do. And there may 00:05:11.279 --> 00:05:18.079 be different motivations behind why we might do them. So for example, picking up rubbish from 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:23.479 the street. Are we doing it to make someone's life easier so they don't have to do it so often? 00:05:24.039 --> 00:05:29.819 Or perhaps we're doing it to be recognized and to be seen to be doing a really good thing. 00:05:30.819 --> 00:05:37.179 Or maybe having people over for dinner. Is it because you love giving and love sharing what you have? 00:05:37.180 --> 00:05:40.780 Or maybe because you're hoping for an invite as well at some point. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:48.120 Or maybe complimenting someone at work because they've done a really good thing and they deserve 00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:53.300 a compliment. Or is it actually because you're hoping for that job promotion eventually? You might 00:05:53.300 --> 00:05:58.439 say, you're looking great today. It's hard to see what other people's motivations are, but 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:04.280 we can look at our own motivations. We can look at what gets us up in the morning. And actually, 00:06:04.279 --> 00:06:10.719 we know that God knows what our motivations are. He sees straight into our hearts. He's right in 00:06:10.719 --> 00:06:17.619 the midst of us and he cares. So going back to the passage, the reason why they were being rebuked 00:06:17.619 --> 00:06:24.879 for seemingly doing the right thing was because Jesus was saying, you've forgotten the whole point. 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:32.319 You've forgotten why we asked you to do these things. Haven't you remembered your first love? 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:41.719 What was that first thing when you first found out about me? That fact that God loves you and he came 00:06:41.719 --> 00:06:47.560 down to earth so that you could know him, so that you could love him too. This is what you're created 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:55.680 to do. It says you have forsaken your first love. Come on, guys. You've forgotten the whole point. 00:06:55.680 --> 00:07:06.660 The very thing, all of our actions, all of our thoughts, our words should come from knowing God's love 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:17.019 and wanting to portray that onto others, wanting to demonstrate that. Knowing God's love invigorates us. 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:26.779 It makes us want to do more for the right reasons, for the right motives. Jesus was asked at some point 00:07:26.779 --> 00:07:32.199 early on when he was walking the earth, what are the greatest of the commandments? There are so many. 00:07:32.339 --> 00:07:38.159 What are the greatest ones? And we probably all know it. He says, love the Lord with everything, 00:07:38.500 --> 00:07:45.399 with your heart, your soul, your mind, your strength. Love God. And also, love your neighbor. 00:07:45.399 --> 00:07:54.399 Love those around you. This is what God calls us to do because he first loved us. That is our first love. 00:07:55.620 --> 00:08:00.039 So could that be our motivation? Could that be what gets us up in the morning? 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:08.099 If our motivation is selfish, looking for that promotion or I don't know whatever, then it's dead. 00:08:08.219 --> 00:08:15.379 It's not going anywhere. If our motivation comes from human praises, that's going to soon perish. 00:08:15.399 --> 00:08:26.060 But if our motivation comes from knowing God's love, comes from knowing that he first loved us, 00:08:27.399 --> 00:08:33.919 then as we spend time with him in worship, in what we do, in our actions, in our thoughts, 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:39.059 then we're going to get more of a glimpse of that first love. 00:08:39.059 --> 00:08:43.779 Then that's going to help us keep going, keep being motivated. 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:53.099 I've got a person to talk to you about, a lady that I met a few years ago called Kasoni. 00:08:53.959 --> 00:09:00.000 And she grew up in Sambura, I think there's a picture of her, which is North Kenya. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:04.139 She lived in a tribe with her family. 00:09:05.159 --> 00:09:16.620 And the tribe that she lived in had certain rituals and things that would help confirm that you are becoming a woman. 00:09:17.379 --> 00:09:21.000 Some things that perhaps our culture wouldn't quite understand. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:32.500 She was beginning, she was about eight, she was beginning to grow up and her friends and her family were talking about this thing, 00:09:32.600 --> 00:09:36.759 this initiation which is going to see her into womanhood. 00:09:37.019 --> 00:09:38.919 So she started getting excited about it. 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:46.340 But when she found out what it was, FGM, she wasn't so sure that that was the right thing to be doing. 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:50.379 She didn't know anyone else, she didn't know God at that point. 00:09:51.060 --> 00:09:52.920 But she knew that this wasn't right. 00:09:53.220 --> 00:10:01.000 So something within her, perhaps the spirit at work, moved her to actually run away from her family, from her village. 00:10:02.420 --> 00:10:08.180 And she ended up meeting a family who were Christians and who told her about Jesus. 00:10:08.179 --> 00:10:19.679 Who told her the life that she can live knowing Jesus, knowing that she is accepted and valued and loved, just as she is. 00:10:21.419 --> 00:10:26.299 And so as she grew to know the Lord, she grew to know God's love. 00:10:26.620 --> 00:10:30.739 She wanted to demonstrate this to everyone that she met. 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:41.440 So she learned more about health care and went into schools and taught mums and taught especially other girls who were also thinking of running away from FGM. 00:10:42.659 --> 00:10:52.279 And this became her life, her motivation, her goal to show God's love to others, which did cost her a lot. 00:10:52.279 --> 00:11:04.360 As we come to God, our Heavenly Father, as we worship Him in adoration, and we're completely overwhelmed by His love for us, 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:08.519 then He shows us His love for the world. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:12.399 We're given that motive to live. 00:11:13.860 --> 00:11:16.419 But the thing is, it's not always easy. 00:11:16.419 --> 00:11:22.939 We've heard a bit of Val's story, there are kind of good times and there are bad times. 00:11:23.379 --> 00:11:28.039 And we can keep on trying to do the right thing because we know God loves us. 00:11:28.159 --> 00:11:30.439 And sometimes it doesn't always work out. 00:11:31.059 --> 00:11:32.679 Or we kind of think, why are we here? 00:11:34.199 --> 00:11:42.860 But actually, there's that reminder that Jesus is with us, in the middle, in the midst of us. 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:44.519 And He deeply cares. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.919 He calls us to come with Him. 00:11:49.179 --> 00:11:55.579 So as sometimes these things aren't always easy, when we know that we're living for God's love, 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:59.240 He equips us and gives us the courage that we need. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:04.240 When we come back to Him, when we worship Him, when we don't know what the words are to say, 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:07.399 He gives us the strength to carry on. 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:10.779 For Kasone, it cost her a lot. 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:14.419 It cost her her family, her community. 00:12:16.120 --> 00:12:18.620 But she knew that this was the right thing to do. 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:24.799 And every year they go back there and give the family a goat as a kind of peace offering, 00:12:25.059 --> 00:12:29.120 which actually might seem a bit odd, but in that culture is a pretty big thing. 00:12:29.120 --> 00:12:36.080 They continue to show love to that family who rejects her completely daily. 00:12:36.720 --> 00:12:42.240 But she still chooses to love them and to do what God is calling her to do. 00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:53.879 So I really hope perhaps that might be a motivation for us to know that in the hard times when we perhaps feel that we're not quite sure where we're going, 00:12:54.060 --> 00:12:58.039 hope seems lost or motivations are just in the wrong rut, 00:12:58.039 --> 00:13:09.959 we can remember that our Heavenly Father is here in our midst and cares deeply about us to keep going, to keep persevering, 00:13:10.259 --> 00:13:14.860 so we can keep coming to Him and praising and worshipping Him, 00:13:15.360 --> 00:13:17.399 because that's what we were created to do. 00:13:17.399 --> 00:13:27.340 So as I close, I would love to encourage you, perhaps if you are feeling a bit wavering today or a bit stuck in a rut, 00:13:27.620 --> 00:13:36.299 then please do ask for prayer or grab someone and pray that you would be reminded of that first love again, 00:13:37.419 --> 00:13:41.600 that you would be reminded of what it is that really motivates us, 00:13:41.600 --> 00:13:50.159 that that God who completely loves us, who brings Himself to earth to let us know Him intimately, 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:54.480 cares for each hour of our lives, 00:13:56.139 --> 00:13:59.060 hopes that we might live our lives for Him.