Be the One Who Thanked God | Secrets of the Chill People

Have you ever looked back on a situation and realized it could have gone much worse? 

A relationship could have ended differently. A mistake could have cost more. A crisis could have hit harder. 

Sometimes God's mercy shows up in ways we don't even recognize until later. In this message, Laveda Jones explores the story of the ten lepers Jesus healed. All ten received mercy, but only one returned to thank Him. 

The question isn't whether God has been good to us. The question is whether we've remembered. 

This message will help you: 

• recognize God's mercy in your everyday life 

• stop taking God's goodness for granted 

• develop a heart of gratitude that grows your faith 

• remember the moments God carried you through 

At Fierce Church, we're Helping You Walk with Jesus Step-by-Step because The Best U is in Community. 

Subscribe for weekly sermons, encouragement, and practical next steps in your walk with Jesus. 

#Gratitude #ThankGod #ChristianMotivation #Faith #Jesus #FierceChurch #GodsMercy #ChristianSermon

Transcript

A Pit Bull And A Panic

SPEAKER_01 0:01

About um 10 to 12 years ago, and all of this is really, really important, okay? 10 to 12 years ago, I was 10 to 12 years younger. Um my bones were 10 to 12 years younger as well, and I'm sure I was some pounds smaller, okay? So all of this is really important as I tell you this story this morning, okay? So I'm in Kentucky attending an event with a whole bunch of other people, and we have some host families that are gonna be hosting us. And this particular family that is hosting me, I am familiar with them. I know them. When I've traveled there before, I traveled there with my sons, and this family hosted us, and there was a father, I mean a mother, a wife, I'm sorry, a husband and a wife, and their son, and they had a dog. And we had stayed with this family several times, and so I was very familiar with them. But this particular time, it was a Thursday that I arrived, and my sons did not attend with me. It was just me. So I get to their home, and it's the husband and wife, and they said, Well, you know, we have to go to work tomorrow on Friday. Our son will not be with us this weekend, but our pit bull will be here. Now we suggest that you not have any interaction with the dog while we're at work. So we're gonna put the dog in the basement. We're gonna put a chair under the door so the dog doesn't get out. And I wasn't freaking out or anything because I had been there before and I had been around the dog with them before, but I was just like question, like, okay, the chair and stuff, okay. The next day comes, they go to work, and I'm getting up, I'm getting ready for the day, I'm dressed, and I come out of the room and I walk in the kitchen and eye to eye here, me and the dog. Me and the pit bull. Now I am freaking out. I am so scared. And I am thinking, what do I do? I don't know what to do. And I know if I scream, it may cause a reaction to the dog, and he may attack me. I know if I run, he may attack me, but I don't know what to do. And so I go, oh. And so I started to walk backwards really, really fast. I am walking backwards really, really fast. And I turn the corner and I get to the room and I slam the door and I am in tears crying. I am crying so hard, Jesus, please. I was like, God, come on now. I thought we had an agreement here that when it was time for me to go, I would go quietly in my sleep. I did not think you were gonna let me be mauled by a dog. Like, really, Jesus? Come on. I thought we had a relationship here. And so I'm freaking out and I'm just like crying, and I'm calling the couple, and I'm like, you know, where are they? They're not answering. I'm calling the other friends that I came down with, they're not answering. I'm calling the host families. No one's answering. I'm stuck in this house with this dog. And so after I got to the room, I hear the dog come to the door. He's pacing back and forth, and he is growling, and I'm like, oh my goodness. So remember, I told y'all all the other stuff, right? So I opened the window. And I think maybe I can jump out the window. So I open the window, I take the screen out the window, and I'm thinking I can jump out this window. And so I see a deck, I'm like, yeah, I can probably. I'm it's 10 to 12 years ago, okay? I'm like, yeah, I can probably jump, but then there's this whirlpool with this cover on this little ice on there. And then I look down and there's this like drop, and it's all concrete, and it leads to the basement. I'm like, oh girl, you might, you might not make this. You know, you got a 50 for 50 chance on if you're gonna make this and drop or if you're gonna get mauled by the dog. So I close the window and I realized that is not gonna work for me. So I go back in the room, I'm crying again. I get on top of the tresser, the chesser drawer, and I'm thinking, well, if the dog comes in, he can't get me up here. But then I thought, well, he could jump on the bed and get you. So then I get down. And I am crying. I am crying, y'all. I don't know what to do. But let me tell you, three long hours later, the family calls and says, Oh, I thought my husband put the dog away in the basement and put the chair under the door. None of that matters to me right now. I just want to know if you're gonna get me out of here, okay? So she says, We're gonna send someone, and we are going to send someone to get you out, and you're gonna be safe. So three hours later, the person comes, they let me out of the house. I am safe, I am relieved, I am grateful. And as I think back and I think back and I realize it wasn't that I was lucky at all, it was that I was covered. I was covered by his grace. And I know that some of you can think back on some situations in your life where you were desperate like me, and that you were crying out to Jesus, and you found out later that you were covered. It was his mercy that covered you. You can think about that bad relationship, it was that mercy. You can think about that time. Maybe you were in college and you were so depressed and so sad, or you were in a service and you're so lonely, and you're just so depressed. But it was his mercy that came in and delivered you during that time. Maybe you were sick, maybe you lost someone and you didn't think you can make it after they left, but it was his mercy that came and gave you strength. So we can all think about a time like that in our lives.

Realising You Were Covered

SPEAKER_01 6:41

Father God, we thank you this morning that you have met us here in this place. I pray, Heavenly Father, as I decrease, you increase in me, Father, so that I can bring forth your word with power and with might and with truth and with boldness. Father, I pray for every hearer that is in this room today, Father, that you would open up their eyes, their hearts, their ears, that they may hear you and not only hear your word today, God, but they may apply your word today. Use me for your glory, Father. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Will You Be The One?

SPEAKER_01 7:24

Good morning, Pierce. Well, today I want to ask you one simple question. Will you be the one? In Luke 17, we're gonna read Luke 17 in a moment, but in Luke 17, we meet ten men who find themselves in a situation that they cannot fix. Ten men who needed mercy, ten men who cried out to Jesus, but by the end of the story, only one came back, and that leads us to the question that we have to answer today. Will we be the one? Let's read this

Ten Lepers Cry Out For Mercy

SPEAKER_01 8:13

together. Luke 17, 11 through 19. Now, on the way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. And as he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. When he saw them, he said, Go, show yourself to the priest. And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, he came back and praised God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samarian. Jesus asked, Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, Rise and go. Your faith has made you well. When we read this story, what we have to understand is who were these ten men? These were not just ten men, these were ten leopards, ten outcasts, ten men where society had pushed them to the margins, ten men who knew what rejection felt like, ten men who knew what isolation felt like, ten men who knew what it felt to lose things like their family, like their community, their normal life, and the sense of belonging. See, leprosy back then wasn't just a disease, it was like a sentence. History tells us that leprosy then caused such severe social stigma that it resulted immediately in isolation because leprosy could be seen on the face and on the limbs. And these men knew that there was nothing that they can do for themselves. So they cried out. Luke 17, 13 says, and called out in a loud voice, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. To me, to be honest with you, this is one of the most honest, purest prayers in the Bible. Because if you've ever been desperate, having mercy matters. It matters. Because if we're real, when we struggle, we never want to admit that we need help from anybody. All they can do was cry out for mercy, and that's where the story begins. Not by strength, not because of some answers they receive, but because of their dependency on Jesus. Mercy begins when we stop pretending we don't need God. I want you to notice something in Luke 17, 14. It says, when he saw him being Jesus, or he being Jesus, he says, Go show yourself to the priest. And as they went, they were cleansed. All ten received mercy. All ten was cleansed. All ten got another chance. And before we move on, don't miss this. Every person in this room has received mercy.

unknown 12:28

That's right.

SPEAKER_01 12:29

Maybe not in the same way, maybe not at the same time, but all of us have received mercy and have experienced God's mercy. Some of us have been protected, some of us got provided for, some of us got healed, some of us God forgave, some of us God gave a second chance to. Every one of us has received his mercy. Mercy met all ten, and mercy has met all of us.

Gratitude As A Spiritual Response

SPEAKER_01 13:18

Point two, be the one who responds to God's mercy. See, gratitude grows when we focus on the giver, not just the gift. One came back, one turned back around, one return, one worship, and one thank God. I've been asking myself all week because I have been weeping all week reading this, and because I was feeling something, but I've been asking myself all week, what did that one see that the others missed? What was it? And in Luke 17, 15, it says, one of them, when he saw he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. That one thing was when he saw, he was healed. When he saw something happened when he realized what Jesus had done, it changed his direction because he was going somewhere else, right? He was headed on somewhere else, and then he turned because he saw and realized what Jesus had done for him. Instead of continuing, he went back. And I wonder: is that what gratitude is supposed to do for us? Turn us back to the one who gave it to us?

unknown 14:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Back to that giver. Gratitude should pull our attention back to Jesus, bring our focus back to Jesus, remind us where our help comes from. Because the miracle wasn't the end of the story, the miracle pointed him back to the one who made it possible to even have that story. We couldn't even read about that story if he did not even realize what had happened. Understanding that. Luke 17, 16 says he threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samarian. Notice his response. He came back, he praised him, he fell at his feet, he thanked him, he worshiped him, he was with gratitude. This was a man who understood that mercy deserved a response, and that's really the question in this passage that God wants us to focus on. How do we become that one? Because I don't think most of us struggle to remember God when we're desperate. Because when things have fallen apart in our lives, what do we do? We pray. When we need healing from Jesus, what do we do? We pray. When we need a door open for us, what do we do? We pray. When someone is in need that we love or know or don't even know, and we see them in need, what do we do? We pray, so that's not the problem. The challenge is remembering him after he's answered. After that breakthrough, will you come back? After you get that diagnosis, will you come back? After that marriage was restored, will you come back? After your kid came back, will you come back? After you passed your finals, will you come back? It's not about what happened, it's about what you do after it happened, after that breakthrough. Sometimes the very thing we prayed for becomes the thing we complain about the most. And before long, we stop thanking him for it. But the one who came back teaches us something. He returned to Jesus with gratitude, and he responded with worship. That's how we become the one. Because gratitude is more than a feeling, it's a response. We're taught as little kids, and we teach our children when someone gives you something, you say thank you. But sometimes when we're giving something from above, sometimes we don't always say thank you because we're so familiar and just think that he is just supposed to do it. But this one is teaching us something. You come back, you worship, and you thank him.

When Blessings Become Too Familiar

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Point three, be the one who never loses sight of God's mercy, don't let God's blessing become so familiar that you forget God's goodness. Luke 17, 17 through 18. Jesus asks, were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except the foreigner? Can we sit with this question for a moment? Where are the other nine? Jesus wasn't asking because he didn't know where they were. Of course he knew where they were. He wasn't asking because he wanted information, he was asking because we need reflection. Because all ten was cleansed, all ten received mercy, all ten received the same miracle, but only one came back. The danger wasn't rebellion, is forgetfulness, is familiarity with Jesus. Sometimes we become so accustomed to God's goodness that we are no longer amazed by it. And when we stop remembering God's mercy, gratitude somehow, somehow disappears. I remember a few years ago, two or three years ago, I was driving down 83, headed to Mundaline, and I came to a cross street, and I think that's Buckley, but I think they call it another name too. I knew it is Buckley. And I'm at the red light, and the light turns green, and I pull off. And the car that I owned at the time had a sensor that will shut down and break if it sensed an impact was coming. So I pull off and my car just stops and it breaks. And I'm like, and I looked up and there was this huge truck. It wasn't a semi, but it was it was construction going on, and it was like one of those huge um cement trucks, huge, coming right at me, running the red light. Some would say, hmm, they made a really good car to stop. No, I say it was mercy. It had nothing to do with the censor that was made at the manufacturers. Had something to do with my giver who saw me and said, Daughter, I have mercy on you because I have use for you. Mercy. I think about this so often and so many other times in my life when God protected me when I'm 16 years old and I'm working my first job in a fast food restaurant, and a man comes in with a gun to my face and says, Give me all the money off the cash register. I'm 16. I don't know what to do and self-fordo what he tells me to do. But it was mercy who's made that man walk out that door and he saved my life. It was mercy when I found myself in an abusive marriage and God got me out. It was mercy, y'all. I know many of you can think about some situations in your life and join me and understand that it was his mercy that came and rescued us. It was nothing that I could do to change my situation nor change my life in any of those situations that I was in. Imagine being 16 and that gun is to your face. You don't know what to do, but I knew Jesus at that age. Not because I had a perfect life, not because everything worked out for me, not because I'm so good, not because I think I do everything so well, but because of his mercy. The only reason. Jesus is trying to show us that one didn't just receive the miracle, that he returned the one he gave it to. See, when he when he got

Mercy Stories That Mark A Life

SPEAKER_01 24:48

the miracle, that wasn't the end of his story. He had to come back and say thank you to the one who gave it to him. I think Jesus is asking us the question today. Not because he needs our answer, but because we do. Luke 17, 15 says, one of them, when he saw he was healed, he came back, praising God, in a loud voice. What if that invitation is for you today? Not to learn something new, not to hear another sermon, but to come back and remember, to come back and worship, to come back and say thank you. Because when you look over your life, don't you see the mercy? Don't you see that God had opened doors that nobody could open? Don't you see that God shut doors that no one else could shut for your safety because of mercy? He protects you when you didn't even deserve to be protected. He did it. He healed you when the doctors gave you a bad report. He healed you. And maybe that's why this story moves me so much. Because the one didn't come back because Jesus needed his gratitude. He came back because he finally realized Jesus had changed his life. Fierce. If we ever truly see what Jesus has done for us, we would need to force our gratitude. We would need to manufacture our worship. We'll come back. We'll come back because we remember who found us. We'll come back because we remember who forgave us. We'll come back because we remembered who healed us. Will you be the one today? Will you be the one to say, say, Lord, I'm the one because you restored my marriage? Lord, I'm the one because when my child went the wrong way, God, you brought them back and you saved them and delivered them, Jesus. Will you be the one that come back when they said that they were gonna um um transition your whole department and God still saw you and left you

Come Back And Say Thank You

SPEAKER_01 28:17

with a job? Will you be the one? Will you be the one when you're in a hospital and they say to you that this is it, but God said it's not, and you're still here today. Will you be the one to come back to Jesus and thank him? Will you be the one that will fall at his feet and say, Jesus, thank you? When that relationship left you as a single parent, and God gave you the strength to carry on every single day. Will you be the one that thank him for that? Fears, it's time to be the one. Let's not be the nine that gets our blessing, that gets our miracle, and walk away. Let's be the one that goes back to the giver and say, Thank you. Thank you for what you did for me. Thank you for giving me a second chance, God. Thank you for healing my body, Jesus. Thank you for restoring me, Jesus. Thank you that I'm no longer addicted to drugs and alcohol, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for giving me a home. Thank you for the lights this one. Thank you for the food. Thank you for the car, Jesus. Thank you for life, Jesus. You woke me up this morning, you blew your breath into my lungs, God. Thank you. I'm sure I am not the only one who is making the decision today to be the one. Let today be the day that you're no longer the nine that's missing. That you're the one that came back to Jesus and said thank

Closing And Ways To Share

SPEAKER_01 30:04

you.

SPEAKER_00 30:04

Alright, folks, that's all the time we have, but thank you so much for listening to this sermon. If you got a lot out of this, feel free to share this with somebody who might need it. Also, there's a ton more content on our website, on our YouTube channel, on our Instagram channel, on our TikTok channel. Feel free to check all that kind of a thing out. Also, if you're interested in leadership type stuff, go ahead and check out another podcast or any other blogs or videos or anything over at BibleLeadership.com. And whatever else you do, make sure that you believe God for something big today.