Gratitude: The Key to Deeper Connection with God
Summary
### Summary
Today, we began a new series titled "Questions Jesus Asked," focusing on the profound and often revealing questions Jesus posed during His ministry. We explored the story from Luke 17:11-19, where Jesus heals ten lepers, but only one returns to thank Him. This narrative underscores the importance of gratitude and the deeper relationship Jesus desires with us beyond mere physical healing or miracles.
Jesus' questions often reveal His heart and character, drawing us into deeper reflection and understanding. In this story, His question, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?" highlights the significance of recognizing and responding to God's goodness with gratitude. The one leper who returned to thank Jesus exemplifies a heart of gratitude that leads to a closer relationship with God.
We also discussed the broader theme of isolation, both physical and emotional. The lepers were outcasts, shunned by society, and forced to live in isolation. Yet, Jesus saw them, acknowledged their plight, and healed them. This act of seeing and healing reflects God's desire to reach out to us in our isolation, whether it stems from past mistakes, achievements, busyness, or other life circumstances.
Gratitude is a powerful antidote to isolation and entitlement. It opens our eyes to God's continuous work in our lives and draws us closer to Him. In a world filled with opportunities and distractions, it's easy to miss the presence of God. We must cultivate a heart of gratitude to truly experience His goodness and presence.
### Key Takeaways
1. The Power of Jesus' Questions: Jesus' questions often reveal His heart and character, inviting us to reflect deeply on our own lives. His question to the healed leper, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?" challenges us to consider our own responses to God's blessings and to cultivate a heart of gratitude. [55:26]
2. Isolation and God's Compassion: The story of the ten lepers highlights the physical and emotional isolation that many experience. Jesus' act of seeing and healing the lepers demonstrates His deep compassion and desire to reach out to us in our own isolation, offering healing and connection. [47:20]
3. Gratitude as a Pathway to God: The one leper who returned to thank Jesus exemplifies the importance of gratitude. Gratitude not only acknowledges God's blessings but also draws us into a deeper relationship with Him. It helps us see His continuous work in our lives and keeps our hearts soft and receptive. [50:18]
4. The Danger of Entitlement: In a culture of entitlement and constant pursuit of more, we risk losing the ability to be content and grateful. Entitlement blinds us to God's goodness and presence. Cultivating gratitude helps us combat entitlement and keeps us grounded in the reality of God's grace and provision. [01:04:39]
5. Recognizing Our Need for God: The lepers' cry for mercy, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us," reflects a posture of humility and recognition of their need for God's intervention. We must maintain this posture in our own lives, continually acknowledging our need for God's grace, mercy, and presence. [01:11:58]
### YouTube Chapters
[0:00] - Welcome
[41:28] - Introduction and Prayer
[43:03] - Series Introduction: Questions Jesus Asked
[44:27] - The Power of Questions
[45:58] - Story of the Ten Lepers
[47:20] - Jesus Meets the Lepers
[48:29] - The Isolation of Leprosy
[50:18] - Jesus' Compassion and Healing
[51:52] - The Leper's Gratitude
[53:46] - Jesus' Question: Where Are the Other Nine?
[55:26] - The Heart of God Revealed
[57:22] - The Reality of Isolation
[59:08] - Causes of Isolation
[01:02:56] - The Danger of Busyness and Entitlement
[01:04:39] - The Importance of Gratitude
[01:06:01] - Experiencing God's Presence
[01:08:13] - The Who Behind the Miracle
[01:10:12] - Disillusionment and Distraction
[01:11:58] - Recognizing Our Need for God
[01:14:23] - Closing Prayer
[01:26:47] - Special Prayer for Young Moms
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
- Luke 17:11-19
#### Observation Questions
1. What was the physical condition of the ten men who approached Jesus in Luke 17:11-13?
2. How did Jesus respond to the lepers' plea for mercy in Luke 17:14?
3. What was the reaction of the one leper who returned to Jesus after being healed? ([50:18])
4. What question did Jesus ask when the one leper returned to thank Him? ([53:46])
#### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?" What does this reveal about His expectations? ([55:26])
2. How does the story of the ten lepers illustrate the broader theme of isolation and God's compassion? ([47:20])
3. In what ways does gratitude serve as a pathway to a deeper relationship with God, according to the sermon? ([50:18])
4. How does the concept of entitlement contrast with the attitude of gratitude demonstrated by the one leper who returned? ([01:04:39])
#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you received a blessing but failed to express gratitude. How can you cultivate a habit of thankfulness in your daily life? ([55:26])
2. The sermon mentioned that isolation can stem from various life circumstances, including past mistakes and busyness. What steps can you take to address any feelings of isolation in your life? ([59:08])
3. How can you ensure that you do not miss God's presence in the midst of your daily distractions and busyness? ([01:08:13])
4. In what ways can you recognize and combat a sense of entitlement in your life? How can gratitude help in this process? ([01:04:39])
5. The lepers cried out, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us." How can you maintain a posture of humility and recognition of your need for God's grace in your life? ([01:11:58])
6. Think of a specific area in your life where you need God's intervention. How can you actively seek His presence and guidance in that area this week? ([01:14:23])
7. How can you support others in your community who may be experiencing isolation or feelings of being outcast? What practical steps can you take to show them God's love and compassion? ([47:20])
Devotional
### Day 1: The Power of Jesus' Questions
Jesus' questions often reveal His heart and character, inviting us to reflect deeply on our own lives. His question to the healed leper, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?" challenges us to consider our own responses to God's blessings and to cultivate a heart of gratitude. Jesus' questions are not just rhetorical; they are meant to provoke thought and self-examination. They help us see areas in our lives where we may be taking God's blessings for granted or failing to respond with the gratitude and acknowledgment He deserves.
In the story of the ten lepers, only one returned to thank Jesus, highlighting the importance of recognizing and responding to God's goodness. This single act of gratitude led to a deeper relationship with Jesus, showing that our responses to His blessings can either draw us closer to Him or keep us distant. Reflecting on Jesus' questions can help us align our hearts with His and cultivate a deeper sense of gratitude and awareness of His continuous work in our lives. [55:26]
Luke 17:17-18 (ESV): "Then Jesus answered, 'Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?'"
Reflection: Think about a recent blessing or answered prayer in your life. Have you taken the time to thank God for it? How can you express your gratitude to Him today?
### Day 2: Isolation and God's Compassion
The story of the ten lepers highlights the physical and emotional isolation that many experience. Jesus' act of seeing and healing the lepers demonstrates His deep compassion and desire to reach out to us in our own isolation, offering healing and connection. The lepers were outcasts, shunned by society, and forced to live in isolation. Yet, Jesus saw them, acknowledged their plight, and healed them. This act of seeing and healing reflects God's desire to reach out to us in our isolation, whether it stems from past mistakes, achievements, busyness, or other life circumstances.
Jesus' compassion is not limited to physical healing; it extends to emotional and spiritual restoration as well. He desires to connect with us, to heal our wounds, and to bring us into a closer relationship with Him. In a world where isolation can be prevalent, whether through physical distance or emotional barriers, Jesus' example reminds us that we are never truly alone. His compassion reaches into the depths of our isolation, offering us hope and connection. [47:20]
Psalm 34:18 (ESV): "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."
Reflection: Is there an area of your life where you feel isolated or disconnected? How can you invite Jesus into that space to experience His healing and compassion?
### Day 3: Gratitude as a Pathway to God
The one leper who returned to thank Jesus exemplifies the importance of gratitude. Gratitude not only acknowledges God's blessings but also draws us into a deeper relationship with Him. It helps us see His continuous work in our lives and keeps our hearts soft and receptive. In a world filled with opportunities and distractions, it's easy to miss the presence of God. We must cultivate a heart of gratitude to truly experience His goodness and presence.
Gratitude is a powerful antidote to isolation and entitlement. It opens our eyes to God's continuous work in our lives and draws us closer to Him. The act of returning to thank Jesus was more than just a polite gesture; it was an acknowledgment of God's goodness and a step towards a deeper relationship with Him. By cultivating gratitude, we keep our hearts open to God's presence and His ongoing work in our lives. [50:18]
Colossians 3:15-16 (ESV): "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Reflection: Take a moment to list three things you are grateful for today. How can you express your gratitude to God and others in a tangible way?
### Day 4: The Danger of Entitlement
In a culture of entitlement and constant pursuit of more, we risk losing the ability to be content and grateful. Entitlement blinds us to God's goodness and presence. Cultivating gratitude helps us combat entitlement and keeps us grounded in the reality of God's grace and provision. Entitlement can create a sense of dissatisfaction and a constant desire for more, leading us away from recognizing and appreciating the blessings we already have.
Gratitude, on the other hand, shifts our focus from what we lack to what we have been given. It helps us see God's hand in our lives and keeps us grounded in His grace and provision. By actively practicing gratitude, we can combat the culture of entitlement and develop a heart that is content and appreciative of God's blessings. This not only enhances our relationship with God but also brings a sense of peace and fulfillment in our daily lives. [01:04:39]
1 Timothy 6:6-8 (ESV): "But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content."
Reflection: Reflect on an area of your life where you feel entitled or dissatisfied. How can you shift your perspective to one of gratitude and contentment?
### Day 5: Recognizing Our Need for God
The lepers' cry for mercy, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us," reflects a posture of humility and recognition of their need for God's intervention. We must maintain this posture in our own lives, continually acknowledging our need for God's grace, mercy, and presence. Recognizing our need for God is the first step towards experiencing His transformative power in our lives. It requires humility and a willingness to admit that we cannot do it on our own.
This posture of humility opens the door for God's grace and mercy to flow into our lives. It allows us to experience His presence and His work in a deeper and more meaningful way. By continually acknowledging our need for God, we stay connected to Him and remain open to His guidance and intervention in our lives. [01:11:58]
James 4:6-8 (ESV): "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.' Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you."
Reflection: In what areas of your life do you need to acknowledge your need for God's grace and mercy? How can you cultivate a posture of humility and dependence on Him today?
Quotes
### Quotes for Outreach
1. "Questions are powerful. Sometimes they're annoying. But they're powerful. Jesus asked apparently 305 questions. That will mean something to some of you. There was an article in the New York Times that cited that Jesus was 40 times, listen to this, 40 times more likely to ask a question than to answer one. That's interesting, isn't it? I mean, you've maybe noticed, for those of you who've maybe been around the story of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John's accounts, the renderings of his life, the writings of Jesus' life, that sometimes Jesus would be in a group and someone would ask a question and you'd keep reading and you'd go, that didn't answer that question. Because Jesus would respond with a question." [44:27] (47 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "When he saw them, when he saw them, that settle in a little bit. When he saw them, he said, go show yourself to the priests. And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, he came back, praising God in a loud voice. And he threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan. Interesting. When he saw them. That's not what people wanted to do or be about anyone with leprosy. That's why they were shunned outside of the village. That's why they were supposed to be a hundred paces away, two, three hundred feet away. Nobody wanted to be anywhere near them. No one wanted to acknowledge them. No one wanted to see them. But Jesus saw them." [50:18] (68 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "Learning gratefulness leads us to see the goodness of God, who he is, what he's done, and what he wants to continue to do. And that leads us to his presence in such a beautiful way. When you are around people who are grateful, who have hearts of gratitude, who understand what it is to receive the blessings of God, not so much necessarily of the healings as I talked about last week with our granddaughter, we are blessed to have had a little granddaughter who received a miracle. We don't understand it because I know that that's not everyone's experience." [01:04:39] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "Know God's heart for you this morning. Whether things are going well. I mean, it's a long weekend in Victoria. We're having a barbecue after. Woo-hoo. But maybe there's some things that are being a real challenge and are causing a bit of disillusionment for you. I understand. But know that that doesn't cause God to run. He sees you. He knows you. And he hears you. Even when you might feel like you're a hundred paces away, you're a hundred miles away, he hears you." [01:14:23] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
### Quotes for Members
1. "Jesus begins to reveal his heart to us. He wants more to be just some magic man. He wants to be more than just some sort of healer guy, some sideshow. What we begin to see here is we begin to understand the heart of God that he actually wants us, not just our disease possibly to heal, but he actually, he wants us. There's no one returned except this foreigner. It's interesting in that phrase, this foreigner, but this community, just like our cultures today, you know, we kind of segment and end up in these little pods or clicks or whatever you want to call it where the sort of like-minded people end up with like-minded people and like, you know, and all this kind of stuff." [57:22] (64 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
2. "The story shows us and reminds us and tells us the reality of the isolation experience, the experience that many of us, you know, have in this broken world. We live in a broken world. The world was broken. These people had leprosy, but the world is broken in more than just physical ways. See, this story is about outcasts, shunned, people whose identity was just all of a sudden, no, you are a leper. That is who you are. You're not the son and or daughter of so and so. You're not from this way or place or that place. No, you are a leper. And being a leper, get out of here. We don't even want to see you, let alone do we want to hear you. Get a long ways away." [59:08] (49 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
3. "We live in Victoria. Victoria. Beautiful. Unbelievable. Where the push for more, where the push for better, there's honestly, there's a bit of an entitlement sense that we have, and it's pervasive in our culture. And when entitlement starts to take over, and we just sort of have expectations, we completely lose the ability to be content, and to have hearts full of gratefulness and gratitude. And did you see what happens in this story when you're not grateful? You don't get Jesus. You've got a cool deal, but you don't get Jesus. You got healed of leprosy and I just, it blows my mind. I'm sure they were glad, but were they grateful?" [01:04:39] (33 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
4. "We can get so fixated on the what and not the who. The what matters, don't let me downplay that. Life matters, things are going on, but let's not miss the who. But sometimes we can, our hearts, I guess, can get hard a little bit. Our hearts can get a little insensitive. Sometimes we can get a little insensitive, but sometimes we can get a little disillusioned. Sometimes what just happens is we actually get distracted. Sometimes we maybe for sure at times, right, we can become even just disillusioned and just not really sure what's really going on." [01:10:12] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
5. "I think the posture of these 10 lepers, at least at the very beginning, is the posture that we need to have. Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. The NIV, the one that I read, actually says, have pity on us. I don't want to say pity, but I should. Are you, am I, are we willing to understand our need of God's goodness, of God's grace? Do we see our need for God to have mercy on us, to have pity on us, if you like? Can live with that kind of posture. You need, we need, I need to protect my heart. We need to keep our heart soft, grateful, hopeful." [01:11:58] (63 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)
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