Fantastic hey good morning everyone you're right yeah good good thank you so um uh I'm obviously continuing after damning now we're going to be talking about kindness um now just obviously this has been spoken with pretty much every message but again just to reiterate when we talk about fruit of the spirit what we mean and what we're talking about is we're saying as the spirit Works in US these are the fruit that come from that now by fruit what I'm talking about is like the results it's almost like you know when I click this button the TV turns on right that is like the fruit of me turn it clicking the button so the fruit of the spirit's work in our lives are all of these things that we've spoken about we talk about patience this morning and we're also just looking now at kindness right um now I about 10 15 years ago I joined a wonderful website called Facebook everybody got Facebook couldn't see yeah silly question um now I want to be honest yeah Facebook I don't really look at the F acebook that much anymore like I kind of just like just a little bit and I see some things and everything like that but there is one little pocket inside Facebook that I love more than anything right and it's a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine and the title of the group is the Newport pagnal Chit Chat group right anybody else in the new four pack of Chit Chat group here a few people a few people right okay maybe you've got your in your own Estates have you got like an Oldbrook Chit Chat group o r or a Monkston church is everybody got one of those that they're a part of yeah oh they're great aren't they don't you love reading through them I love it it makes them great bedtime reading because sometimes you see some of the craziest like conversations some of the wildest like opinions that you you know ever in these things and I love just sitting there and scrolling through and just like you know if someone says a bit contract something like that let's be a controversial there that's fun t o watch um but I love it and uh and it really there's kind of two sides to the to the Chit Chat group there's kind of like the one side where people are so um you know kind and they they kind of um are you know bigging up people that have done great things in the community so maybe somebody's you know like a seven-year-old boy is like you know done a 24-hour run around willing or something and people are like yeah that's me you're the best you're a man you know and everyone's kind of going and t hey're encouraging it and they're bigging them up and praising them and it's wonderful and I love seeing things like that that's great but then sometimes you see those same people that have posted about that and you see kind of them on the other side um and it could be about anything it could be about dog poo it could be about the the youth today which are all criminals in their minds you know it could be about um I mean in the Newport Chit Chat group there's been a whole thing recently talking about the the migrant kind of Crisis and it's been kicking off Big Stuff honestly I see I see Laura at the back I'm Laura doesn't even live in Newport you're a part of the group aren't you I invite her in just I was like Laura you gotta see this you got to see what's kicking off it's crazy um and it's funny and it's fascinating because I think in a way like this little group is almost like it's a very intense thought picture of what our communities and often what life is is like a little bit and I think people feel perfect sometimes the power of their words the power that they've got to both build people up and then almost just a few minutes later with their words tear someone down right um and whether it's because of ignorance will be forget well that's just what we like as humans I think we we forget that and so really if I was going to summarise my message today just in a couple of sentences it would be this that kindness wins people where unkindness will push people away right kindness will win people where unkindness will push people away and I've just got um a few like three places in the Bible that we're just going to look at today where I think the Bible talks about kindness and gives us reasons to believe in kindness believe in the power of kindness and hopefully find kindness um you know in ourselves and the powerful kindness First Corinthians is found in First Corinthians 13. can I have my water my mouth is dry um First Corinthians 13 oh thank you Nick now this this verse is or this chapter you hear all the time every wedding you ever go to you hear does anybody have this passage red at their wedding yeah of course of course it's classic it's that love is kind love is patient love is kind it doesn't count wrongs everything like that but right at the beginning we've got this wonderful verse that says this if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but I do not have love I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol right if I speak in the tongues of men or of angels but I don't have love when I do that love isn't a part of what I'm doing when I do that then I am only a resounding gong or a clanging symbol now I don't know do these drums are these drums working are they working they're working I've got a Hamada can we turn up a little bit now let's just imagine for a second let's imagine for a second that we're trying to have another oh actually that's a bit louder imagine having a nice quiet moment which we're we're seeing an Amazing Grace it's a real slow bit close my eyes I'm trying to lift my hands and I'm trying to focus on God but all I've got in the back is this symbol that is clanging away making this horrible sound I'm gonna be honest you could be the holiest person in the room right and I know there's some holy people here it's gonna be quite hard to focus while that's happening isn't it it's going to be hard right and I think this verse is so great I call this a bit of a fighter verse it's the kind of verse that we're go ing to want to memorise and have in our back pop it back pocket for times when life gets hard because this reminds me that inner words and interactions we could be saying the most poetic brilliant incredible things we could have the wisdom of angels that we want to kind of give to guide people and help people but if it is said with unlove if it is said with unkindness all the other person is gonna hear is that clanging symbol in essence what we've intended to be delivered what we've intended to be communicated is not what's been received by the other person right unkindness will do that it will completely distort the message regardless of what we've got to say and what we're trying to achieve in essence if there's no kindness or love in our words and in our lives then we've already lost when we're trying to talk to someone when we're trying to bring a message I believe this is true in our marriages I believe this is true in the way that we talk to our children I believe there's true in Even in our workplace when we talk to our boss when we talk to people that are under us or people that we're working on projects with it's true across everywhere and it's definitely true in God's kingdom as well now this second verse one is just to bring us to is John Chapter 13 Verse 34 to 35 now maybe a lot of us have heard this before I'm just going to read out and I'm going to break it into this kind of three parts to this really says this a new command this is Jesus talking to his disciple s he says a new command I give you love one another as I have loved you so you must love one another by this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another all right so that first bit where it says a new command I give you one another bond from Jesus right it's up there along with all the other commands imagine you know do not murder do not use the lord's name in vain love one another this is a command that Jesus has given and what he's doing is he's building on this picture of love that has been spoken about through the Old Testament now into the New Testament you think even before this when you know the passage of a Good Samaritan for example and Jesus was saying yeah you need to love your neighbour and now I care I need to love my neighbour and I was like now you need to go further we need to love one another you need to be loving each other he's laying down the law for what this Kingdom that he's building is going to be like and what's going to be foundational i n that now the second part where he says as I have loved you so you must love one another Jesus is saying that he's he's demonstrated this he's lived the life of love and of kindness towards his disciples and now he's saying look you've watched me do it now I want you to do the same kindness that I spoke to with you think back to when I concerned myself over your welfare and your struggles think back to when I was patient with your failings I want you to do exactly the same that I've done just c opy me okay and then that last bit that says buy this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another now for me this this one hits really heavy I think this is uh it's a challenging verse to live out by this everyone will know that you're my disciples if you love one another essentially this Command right to love one another is is is core to the reputation of Jesus's followers and what it means to be a Christian in essence he's saying look the future reputation of this movement the future reputation of the followers of God is gonna rest and lay upon the way that you love each other like a badge like you go into work you've got a lanyard he's got a badge that says your name and who you are where you're from what your business is in the same way our love for each other is going to be that badge so that as people look at us they see the way that we love one another and they're going to know straight away this person loves Jesus this person's a follower of God this pe rson is a follower of the way he's one of Jesus's followers right now the last um little area that I just want to look at and give you as an example we're going back in the Old Testament and um I'm good I've really I've been practicing all morning to pronounce the name Mephibosheth no Mephibosheth do some of us know Mephibosheth it's kind of it's an easy thing to forget but an incredible story um and uh and so this is David King David and we're at a point in David's life where he's now King over over Israel Saul had died um Saul's son Jonathan who was David's best friend had also died as well and David is King and he's doing a pretty good job of it he's he's got he's had a lot of Victories um he's doing well he's ruling the land he's listening to God and he's and he's doing quite a good job and in second Samuel chapter nine we see this moment where David goes out and he says is there anybody in Saul's house who I can show kindness to right now just again a little bit of context Saul wa s the previous King um he felt very threatened by David so threatened that he tried to kill David right so they kind of didn't end up on on good terms David ended up waiting for us all to kind of like die before he then ascended to the throne but really they're not they weren't they weren't on good terms right and David who really in in you know normally culturally he would be wanting to kind of like squash any threats to his throne getting rid of Saul getting rid of any kind of like descendants of Saul but instead Dave is here and he's saying um is there anyone in Saul's house that I can show kindness to and so a man called Zeba who was one of the Servants of Saul comes and David says to zebra and he says um he says this and it's on the on the screen second Samuel 9 verse 3. the king asked is there life from the house of Saul to whom I can show God's kindness and David said that there was still a child of Jonathan and that's the man method of a chef he said he's the son of uh the chi ld of Jonathan who was the son of Saul and it turns out he is also actually lame in both of his feet and so David calls this grandson of Saul to him and before bows down and pays great respect to David and David tells me says this but Mephiobsheth I'm going to restore to you all of the land that Soul uh that Saul had and not only that I'm gonna make sure that you eat at my table forever right because I want to do this for you number Chef who to be honest probably didn't expect this his self-esteem so that he may be provided for and Mephiobsheth the grandson of your master will always eat at my table and from that day on the Bible records that Mephiobsheth sat at David's table and he ate and in the words of the Bible it says he ate there as if he was one of David's own Sons right now this is a wonderful story I believe of of culture clashing you know kindness that really was not expected and not seen from the kings of of the day even now would be really quite strange but there's those few show kindness like this came because he knew that it was God's kindness being expressed as soon as this moment David brings together that principle of experiencing God's kindness and then knowing that he is now a carrier of God's kindness to the people around him and actually being bold enough and brave enough and humble enough to act on that and do something about it right I love what Bex shared last week I don't know if you were here last week she had the the port she was pouring the water in as a result of that pour out from that place knowing that we're just carrying God's kindness see where the world will hold efficiency and performance as the the kind of Pinnacle in life I think we've got we've got a clue from the Bible from God that actually kindness will do incredible things right kindness is how we win people kindness is how we're gonna change the world kindness is how God is going to build his kingdom right.