Embracing Patience: A Path to Spiritual Growth

### Bible Reading
1. Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV): "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
2. James 1:3-4 (NIV): "Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
3. 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV): "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."

### Observation Questions
1. According to Galatians 5:22-23, what are the qualities that make up the fruit of the Spirit? How are these qualities interconnected? [35:57]
2. In James 1:3-4, what is the result of the testing of faith? How does this relate to the development of patience? [49:27]
3. How does 1 Corinthians 13:4 describe love? What is the significance of patience being the first attribute mentioned? [47:52]
4. What are some common triggers for impatience mentioned in the sermon? How do these triggers affect our relationships and personal well-being? [41:14]

### Interpretation Questions
1. Why do you think the fruit of the Spirit is described as singular in Galatians 5:22-23, even though it lists multiple qualities? How does this understanding affect our approach to spiritual growth? [35:57]
2. How does the testing of faith, as described in James 1:3-4, contribute to spiritual maturity and readiness for life's challenges? What does this imply about the role of patience in our spiritual journey? [49:27]
3. In what ways does impatience reflect a lack of love, according to 1 Corinthians 13:4 and the sermon? How can recognizing this help us improve our relationships? [47:52]
4. The sermon mentioned that impatience often stems from pride, overload, and unmet expectations. How can identifying these triggers help us address our impatience more effectively? [56:29]

### Application Questions
1. Think of a recent situation where you reacted with impatience. What was the trigger, and how could you have responded differently by applying the principles from Galatians 5:22-23? [35:57]
2. Reflect on a time when your faith was tested. How did this experience help you develop patience and perseverance? How can you apply this lesson to current challenges in your life? [49:27]
3. Identify a relationship in your life where impatience is a recurring issue. How can you demonstrate more love and patience in this relationship, as described in 1 Corinthians 13:4? [47:52]
4. Overload was mentioned as a common contributor to impatience. What are some practical steps you can take to create more margin in your life and reduce feelings of overload? [52:20]
5. Expectations can lead to impatience when they are not met. How can you adjust your expectations of others to foster more patience and understanding in your interactions? [53:58]
6. Pride was identified as a root cause of impatience. How can you practice humility and self-awareness to combat pride and cultivate patience in your daily life? [56:29]
7. The sermon concluded with an invitation to invite the Holy Spirit into one's life to develop patience. Have you taken this step? If not, what is holding you back? If you have, how has this decision impacted your ability to be patient? [01:07:06]

Day 1: Patience as Active Transformation
Patience is a deliberate choice that shapes one's character and relationships. It is an exercise in self-control and spiritual reliance, moving away from impulsive reactions towards thoughtful responses. This active transformation is a testament to the work of the Holy Spirit within, guiding individuals towards a more patient demeanor. [49:59]

Romans 12:12 - "Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
Reflection: In what situation this week can you choose to respond with patience instead of reacting impulsively?

Day 2: Maturity Through Patience
The journey to spiritual maturity is marked by the development of patience. Like a muscle that strengthens with exercise, patience grows through consistent practice and faith. This process enhances one's ability to navigate relationships with grace and fosters a peaceful inner life. [51:59]

Hebrews 6:12 - "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
Reflection: Identify a relationship in which you can exercise more patience to foster a deeper connection and understanding.

Day 3: Understanding Impatience Triggers
Recognizing the roots of impatience can lead to better self-awareness and emotional regulation. By identifying factors such as pride, overload, and unmet expectations, one can begin to address these issues and cultivate a more patient outlook on life's challenges. [56:57]

Proverbs 14:29 - "Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly."
Reflection: What are the common triggers that lead to your impatience, and how can you proactively manage them?

Day 4: Patience as an Expression of Love
True patience is an embodiment of love, reflecting the nature of God's love for us. By nurturing patience, we not only improve ourselves but also enhance our ability to love others unconditionally, just as we are loved by the Divine. [47:51]

Ephesians 4:2 - "Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."
Reflection: How can you demonstrate patience today as an act of love towards someone who may be difficult to deal with?

Day 5: Embracing the Holy Spirit for Patience
Inviting the Holy Spirit into one's life is a transformative act that opens the door to the fruits of the Spirit, including patience. This surrender to divine guidance is a pivotal step in allowing God's will to shape our actions and reactions. [01:07:06]

Galatians 5:25 - "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."
Reflection: What area of your life do you need to surrender to the Holy Spirit to cultivate greater patience and spiritual growth?

One of our ladies is going to be leaving on a mission trip this week. Molly, you want to come on up and bring your husband if you want with you, and Anita and the pastors, come on up, and Mike. Mike is our missions coordinator, and he's looking at several opportunities this year for mission trips, and you're going to be hearing about that because we would love for everyone at the Father's House to have boots on the ground somewhere.

So, Molly, when are you leaving?

Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.

And this is not your first time?

Sixth time, wow.

And you'll be going with a group?

Well, we want to pray for you. Mike, we got some upcoming things that we're looking at. Go ahead and get the mic there. Mike, get the mic.

What are some of the things, you know we're going to talk a little about in February, but what are some of the upcoming things people can pray and think about?

Well, we have a possibility of three trips this year, and we're sort of working out the details of which one might work for the body. We have one to Honduras. We've got a possibility of going to the Yucatan Peninsula. It's better than saying Cancun because it's not a vacation, where we actually will get an opportunity to minister to the Mayan people. And then we also have an opportunity coming up for Peru. And so we're sort of working out the details to see which one's going to fit, and it's going to be awesome.

And I think you and Matt are going on a mission trip.

We are, we're going to Guatemala in March.

Yeah, going down and leaving motorcycles.

We're going to be working with motorcycles, going from village to village throughout the Peruvian mountains and visiting medical clinics that they've planted and encouraging and bringing supplies to those folks.

It's just so important for you to get the experience. If you've never been, to put boots on the ground, I mean, it will change your life because it's part of the Great Commission of going and sharing the gospel with love. That's why we do that. Not because it's easier, as you said, not a vacation.

So would you stretch forth your hand right now, and let's just pray over Molly. Mike, would you pray for her?

Father, we come before you, and we are so honored that part of your Great Commission was to go into all the world.

Yes.

And Lord, we just, we don't get it, but you chose us, the least likely, to go into all the world. So I pray right now for Molly. I pray your hand of anointing on her, Jesus, that through her music, hearts would just soften, walls would come down, and the gospel would penetrate the hearts of people’s lives and be changed forever.

Father, I pray you put a hedge of protection around her as she travels there. Lord, let her divine appointment start the minute she steps a foot out of her front door.

Lord, and just bring back and share testimony after testimony of lives and hearts and the miraculous.

Lord, we just thank you for Molly, and Lord, we look forward to her coming back and hearing all that you've done in and through her in Jesus' name. Amen.

Well, let's stand. Let's pray some more. All right. Amen.

Wow, what a morning, huh? That's a great song, man. I love those songs. Thank you, worship team. Thank you guys for being here this morning on this cool morning, but you didn't have two foot of snow to dig out.

Talking about snow, some of you are snowbirds. You have dual citizenship in the kingdom. You're here, and then you're also, when it gets a little warm here, you just skedaddle out here. You go north or east or south or west or some other direction.

So what I'd like for you, if you are a snowbird and you come and you leave and all that, we want to know better how to stay in touch with you and periodically be able to follow up with you with some of our ministry teams.

And the only way that we know to do that is that maybe there's two ways, actually. You can take out the connection card and on the top put in your address, your mailing address, and then down below your Florida address, and then down below your Canadian address. And then a contact number so that we can periodically check on you.

Or you can do this: you can go and you can text the word "snowbird" to our number, 352-329... that one, that one. It just slipped my mind. But you know what? That's OK.

Hey, those of you who serve on any of our serve teams or you're interested in serving, let me remind you January the 30th, we have another team meeting, which is a great night in which we spend time getting to know each other who served. We talk about different serving things that are going on. So I'd love you. You can just text "team." We fix you a great meal that night. It's so good, and it's worth your time to come.

Right.

Hey, how are you doing on the fast? One more week. We're walking that. And if you want more information on that, on the back of your handout there, you can scan the little QR code there for more information.

But let me share with you a great praise report this week from Kelsey, one of our younger people here today who actually serves on our team next door. She said the past few months, the devil has been attacking me back to back. When I was already down, he kept attacking. I didn't know I could go farther and farther down. But with this fast, there's a new outlook I have on every situation. I have never been more spiritually awake and closer to God than ever before. I'm finally starting to stand back up. And I know, oh, it all to him.

Would you give a praise to the Lord?

Wow.

You have your Bible, your iPhone, your iPad, whatever you use to read the scripture. Let's say this together. Hold it up. Say it.

This is my Bible. It is the word of God. It is life to me.

Confess.

My mind is alert. My heart is receptive. Never be the same again in Jesus' name.

We're in a series called Extreme Makeover: Inside Edition. And for the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about how people change a lot on the outside. But unless you change what's on the inside, you're just going to be the same.

So we said God has a very unique plan for us to have an extreme makeover starting from the inside out. And our theme verse, if you read it with me, Galatians 5, 22 and 23. Let's read it together.

When the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here is no conflict with the law.

So just as a reminder, if you weren't here, go back and look in the archives. First week, I gave an overview of the fruit of the Spirit. It's not fruits of the Spirit; it's singular fruit of the Spirit, but many graces or manifestations of the fruit. And that's the love, joy, peace, et cetera.

So I asked you to look those over and vote the top three that you needed more help with right now. And we can say we want them all, but what are the top three? So you voted, and so last week we talked about what was number three. And number three was peace.

And today I want to talk about the second one, the top of the list that you said, I really need this. And it's called patience.

How many of you would like to know what the number one voted was? You have to come next week.

So take a deep breath. Just get ready because the Holy Spirit is going to mess with your lunchbox today. I believe the Holy Spirit wants to perform a little surgery on our life.

So we look at patience. We say, well, what is patience? Here's a simple definition: it's the opposite of impatience. Aren't you glad you came today and found such deep, brilliant things?

It's really how I respond to the outer world or I respond to triggers that we'll be talking about in just a minute. So we all have things that happen to us or situations, difficulties, or people or things that happen. And we have a choice either to be patient or to be impatient and sometimes respond differently.

So how do you respond? How do you express your impatience? Don't look at your spouse right now and report for them. But how do you express your frustration and impatience? In other words, it's your default. Something happens, and that's your default.

So I'm going to give you some ways that we express that. This is a judgment-free zone today. OK, so don't look around. But I just want you to be honest right now. And I want you, when I read one of these, and you say, "That's me," and some of you will raise your hand on almost all of these.

But when you get impatient, how do you react? Who goes verbal? Yeah, you yell, scream, at least raise your voice and your eyebrows a little bit. And that's how you react.

How many of you get physical? I mean, you want to punch something, you want to shake, you want to slap, you want to do a throat punch. You know, how can somebody be so stupid? Thank you for your honesty today.

And some of you on the inside say, "Yeah, that's me," but I ain't raising my hand. I don't want anybody to think I'm that way.

Or how do you maybe react, and it's hypertension. In other words, high blood pressure. And you feel that. You just feel like streaking up.

Anybody like that? Yeah, just raise your hand. You know, it's like those little veins that pop out and throb and scare the daylights out of kids. You know what I'm saying?

How many of you just get overly frustrated? Yeah, like your horn becomes your weapon or anything nearby.

How many of you express your impatience by pouting or you get moody? Yeah, some of you are lying today. That's OK. The silent treatment until you get your way.

How many of you judge or blame somebody else? Yeah, it's always somebody else, right? Oh, she makes me so mad. He always... I can't believe that you judge and you blame somebody else.

How many of you do this? You just grab your phone and you lock yourself in the little office with a porcelain seat.

I noticed some of you raised your hand on all of those. There are triggers for our impatience. I love the response that you gave this week on the Facebook post. So many people talking about different ways to respond. I mean, it's really great to go back into that and look at all of those.

But there are some that are specific, but then there's some general to all of us. And I think one of the first general ones is relationships. Say relationships.

You notice this? Nothing seems to test our patience like those that are closest to us. Can I hear an amen or no me? I mean, we live with each other. You know, I don't live with you, but I live with Anita. I live with my kids, my grandkids.

And I mean, let me ask this. Did anyone lose their patience today while getting ready or coming to church?

Yeah. You know what I'm talking about. It's a wardrobe malfunction. The kids forgot to brush their teeth. You're in the car waiting, honking your horn, waiting for your wife or your husband.

Yeah. Here's another one: life circumstance. Maybe it's like an illness that just won't go away, an illness that isn't going away. I mean, you hope and you believe that it'll go away, but it's not going away. And you deal with that, and you struggle and struggle. And it's a trigger. And you feel like, what's the use? Why pray? Why do anything else?

Or maybe those of you that are single and thought by now you should be married. Or maybe it's a financial situation in which it's like you just can't seem to dig your way out of that. You know, you're supposed to fast. I mean, you're supposed to tithe and give to God. But yet you look at all the problems that you have, and it just comes down on you.

And then because of those struggling finances, then you and your spouse or you and your kids, it becomes a place that it just blows up. And you talk about, I can't believe we're in this situation. You spend too much, and you, well, you don't budget right. You don't do something else.

Oh, come on.

Let me give you this number three. It's just a category unto itself: stupidity.

I'm sorry, I can't say it in a more woke way. It's just stupidity. You know what I mean? You're in the supermarket in and out of Publix as quick as you got. You got two items. You're in the quick checkout lane that says 10 items, and the person in front of you has 18 items, and you're counting them twice.

Yeah, just plain stupidity.

Or you pull through the drive-through, and you give your order, and the guy pretends he can't understand you or you can't understand him. And you're wondering, why don't they fix the blooming thing so that we can communicate better?

And then all of a sudden, by the time you get your coffee, you're already hypertension. You think, why in the world did I even do this? How can they hire such stupid people?

These are things that are beyond our control, unannounced, unwanted, and unprepared for. People driving slow in the fast lane. So many of you said that. So many of you said that. And it becomes a trigger.

But let's change now and let's take a picture of patience. We know that we struggle with impatience in different areas of our life because triggers set us off. Triggers set us off.

And if we're not careful, it's some of the same triggers that happen over and over and over and over.

Yeah, the Holy Spirit is doing some heart surgery right now, isn't he?

So what is the picture of patience that the Bible presents? Here it is. Patience is having a long fuse, say long fuse, and hanging in there. That's the picture.

There's actually two biblical words for patience. And the first one is the idea of self-restraint. Don't retaliate. Self-restraint and don't retaliate.

So I just put that down like this: it's having a long fuse. In other words, you're not one of these people to just pop off at the last thing. And you know, it's another thing. Here we go again. It's another week of silence, another week of argument, another week of where we are. We haven't gotten any better than we have before.

No, biblical patience is the idea of having a long fuse. And with God's help, I'm not going to let you light that fuse.

Another definition of patience is hanging in there. If you're sick and you continue to be sick, but you're praying for healing, you get frustrated in the midst of all of that.

See, a lot of people walk away from God at times like that when he's not answering the way that we think. We understand that God wants us to have a long fuse because when we have a short fuse, we hurt people.

Yeah, I'm talking to you today, and I'm talking to me. Oh, we're great Christians. We love God. We show up on Sunday. We raise our hands. We've got on our Jesus face. We do all of that. But we walk out of here, and somebody triggers something, and we lose it. And we hurt people.

How much longer are you going to do that? The idea of hanging in there has the idea of endurance and perseverance and lasting during the tough times.

See, there's a lot of people that can trust God when it's a short time, but when he drags out the answer and it's longer and longer and longer, it's hard.

James 5 and 8 says, "You too must be patient. You must be patient and take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near."

So he's saying, hang in there. Don't give up. God is working behind the scenes.

Here's another picture of patience: patience reflects love. Patience reflects love. So the opposite would be that impatience reflects no love or lack of love.

First Corinthians 13 and 4 says, read it with me: "Love is patient."

Look at your neighbor and say, "Love is patient."

Let's say it again: "Love is patient."

I don't have a short fuse. I don't blow off at you when you don't say what I think you should say or you act the way you think I should act. I start name-calling you.

Ephesians 4 and 2 says this. I hate this verse. Would you read it out loud with me? I'm not sure I want to read this one by myself.

"Be patient with each other." Stop there.

"Be patient for each other."

Now read it: "Making allowance for each other's faults because of your love."

Amen. Hope you've been glad to be here today.

Oh, man, this is tough. Making allowances.

And the third picture is patience leads to spiritual growth. People say, "Oh, I really want to grow in the Lord." Then how's your patience?

If you're not dealing with that short fuse, you're not going to grow in the Lord. If patience is one of the graces of the fruit of the Spirit and the Holy Spirit is in our life and he produces that, it's already in you.

These manifestations, these graces are already in you. So the patience of the Holy Spirit is already in you. But it's up to us to reach into that bank, pull it out, and to use it.

James 1, 3 and 4 says, "For when your faith is tested," or you could say, "when your patience is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow."

So this afternoon, this week, it'll happen. When I teach something like this, be sure on my way home or in between services, something will happen. And I'll have a chance either to have a short fuse or to just say, I'm going to let my patience grow.

"For when your endurance is fully developed, you'll be strong in character and ready for anything."

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.

Here's what I know: none of those are developed immediately. We live in a world today in which a person, you know, they turn on TV, and it's instrumental by this thing. Put it on your belly. It'll shake for a while. You don't have to go to the gym. It'll shake the stuff away in 30 days or less.

It'll shake it away, and you've taken five years to put it on.

Oh, just come to Jesus. Give your heart to Jesus. Everything's going to be good. All the graces of the fruit of the Spirit will be working through your life.

But how many of you, that's a lie? It doesn't happen immediately.

You have to conscientiously reach into that bank that the Holy Spirit has put in you and say, I will react in this situation with the patience that the Lord has put in me.

Patience is rewarded.

How you say how it's rewarded? Well, first of all, if you have patience in your marriage or your relationship with other people, people are going to like you more.

I mean, what good does it say to your spouse, "I love you," and then just constantly you guys are still short fuse blowing off? The trigger hits you.

Holy Spirit is doing a surgery today, right?

And there's also more peace in your life. I mean, you're not going around blowing off and blowing up, blowing all over people. You just have more peace.

James 1 and 12 says, "God blesses those who patiently endure testing," the testing of my patience.

When life throws you a curveball, then how do we, how do we, how do we, why do we keep acting in the same way?

Let me just share. The problem is this. This contributes to our impatience. And I just listed a few of them.

Number one, first of all, it's overload. Say overload.

Tim did a great teaching on that a few weeks ago back. He talked about margin. If you don't have margin in your life, you have no way.

So what's our... well, you're a very safe, peaceful driver. How many of you are safe, peaceful drivers? Or at least you think you are.

Until you have overbooked yourself or you get so busy doing something else, you overloaded yourself. And you've got to be somewhere in three minutes, and it's going to take you 10 minutes to get there.

And so you get out, and you're usually just very safe. But it's that day that everybody's slow. The person's looking at their phone. They can't figure out what they're doing.

And in the midst of all of that, then you're honking your horn. You're blaring at them and all of that. And then when you get to the place where you are, you're so frustrated.

You got your veins popping out. You think, you know, I... and so you just say, you know, give me a glass of wine, something just to help me right here.

And second of all is expectations. You and I have expectations of people that we deal with. Right?

And so you attach that expectation, and so then they don't react or they don't say or they don't do what you want.

Listen, every person has a flaky side. Amen.

Do you have a flaky side? Raise your hand. If you didn't raise your hand, then we're going to point to you because you're the one that needs to come to the invitation at the end.

Because if you don't know it, you got a flaky side. And just as soon as somebody expects you to react in a certain way and you react with a flaky side, then guess what happens? Crash.

If you don't know by now, people will let you down.

I expected that they would react. You know, I just sort of point out something that they need to do better. I just thought they would react in such a way and said, "Oh, yeah, that's really good."

But no, they acted the other way. I'll let you down. I let people down, not intentionally. Sometimes I do it, and I don't even know I do it.

It's expectations. You know, we have people leave the church because I didn't fulfill their expectations. I didn't do this. We didn't do this as a church.

And so they just, because we didn't fulfill their expectations, has nothing to do with are we doing what God has asked us to do.

Just you didn't meet my expectations. Sometimes we do the same thing with God. God hasn't met your expectations.

You prayed for a spouse, and he hasn't met your expectations. You prayed for healing, and that healing hasn't come yet. God hasn't met your expectations.

And we pray this: "God, why? Why do you let this happen? Why is this happening to me? Why do you heal everybody else but me?"

And in the midst of that, then what happens? A lot of people is that people walk away from God, and they walk away from church.

I overcome overload expectations.

Oh, here comes one: seatbelt pride.

Yeah. Pride is an over-inflated view of yourself. Just check out TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, see people that have an inflated image of themselves.

No matter what you say, they're going to one-up you on that because they have an inflated view of themselves.

See, when I think I am better than somebody else, then I think I deserve something better. And so it's like, well, how dare they or I can't believe you answered me that way. I deserve better treatment than that. I'm something special.

You see, behind pride is self-centeredness. Self-centeredness. It's his fault. It's her fault. It can't be mine.

Pride is very, very ugly. And the Bible says God hates pride.

You doing OK? Say amen.

Trying to help you here. Don't want you to pass out.

Well, let's get onto the plan. We can talk a lot about what's wrong or what causes the wrong. But then I know you're thinking about, OK, then how am I supposed to react when these triggers come?

So I'm going to give you some things to think and apply. They're not the only things.

But number one, here's a big one: reflect before responding.

You see, reflection gives us a necessary perspective to fuel patience. In other words, I'm thinking, and it's not counting one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, because you can count to ten quick and then blow up.

So I'm not talking about an external method of one, two, three, four. No, I'm talking about why did they act like that?

But more than why did they act like that? What's broken in me? What's broken in me that I go berserk so frequently?

What's broken in me? So we learn to respond with something spiritual, and that's one of the graces of the fruit of the Spirit.

Proverbs 14, 29, read it with me: "Those who control their anger have great understanding."

In other words, you're able to get into somebody's skin, and you're able to perceive.

If you're sitting here and thinking, well, if I reflect before I respond, I still have to respond. So how should I respond?

Number two, some of you are going to think this is so churchy, you'll write it down. You'll write me off at the same time.

Respond with prayer.

You see, I know that I can't muster up enough patience on my own, but I have to invite the Holy Spirit into the process.

Here's a simple prayer: "God, I need a long fuse right now because I don't want to hurt somebody and then hurt myself. God, I've learned enough about patience to know that with patience, you're trying to do something in me. So, Lord, would you take this situation that I'm in right now and would you make it an operating table and go after what's in my heart?"

Terry, if I ask you to grade your prayer life, how many of you would say that you have an A plus prayer life? Very few hands.

Why? Because we feel like our prayers aren't sufficient.

So if I said to you, how would you grade your prayer life? Well, maybe I'm a C. No, Terry, I'm a D minus.

Why? Because we put expectations on our prayers and how God's going to immediately answer. And if he doesn't answer us that way, then we think something's wrong with me.

I don't know how to pray. Maybe my prayers are too short. Maybe my prayers are too wordy. Maybe I just keep saying the same thing over and over and over again.

But if that's you, I have a word for you today from the Lord. I want you to catch this in your spirit.

He's saying your prayers are not too short. Your prayers are not too immature. Your prayers are not so boring or uncreative. Your prayers are not just chatty. I hear your prayers.

You know, we've heard this before. I love this thing. The famous prayer I think of all: "Thank you, Lord, for standing by me so far this day. With your help, I haven't been impatient. I haven't been judgmental. I haven't lost my temper. But I'm going to be getting out of bed in a few minutes. I need your help."

Please hear my heart. Please hear what I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying to us today. These things can be brought up in our life, but if they just continually and continually, maybe it's because we've never really stepped down like we're doing this teaching and think about it.

Some of you need to go back over and look at these notes and maybe reflect and hear this.

Here's what the scripture says: "Don't worry about anything, but pray about everything."

So here it is. We reflect before we respond. We respond with prayer.

And you say, well, what am I praying about? What should I pray about?

Number three, we should pray for his kingdom to replace yours.

Oh, man, would you read that with me? Pray for his kingdom to replace yours.

When I go through life, looking at people and situations through the lens of my kingdom, I'll see irritations and interruptions, and they always, and you never.

But when I go through life, looking through the lens that Jesus taught me, he said, "When they ask you to carry a burden for a mile, go two. When they ask you for your coat, give them all you got. If your neighbor slaps you in the face, turn the other cheek."

Well, what do we do? I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to let you get away with that. You always say these things. You never get...

Can I borrow a lady's purse? Betsy, can I borrow your purse?

Yeah. Wow, thank you. Wow, that's a big one right there. I can't believe she trusted me with this.

I'm making some of you nervous right now.

Oh, here's a... Wow, there's credit cards. There's little notes. More credit cards.

I mean, some of you ladies right now, this must be makeup.

All right, let me see.

All right, good. That's good.

Yeah, that's good. That's nice.

Okay, good. That's really good.

Now, some of you ladies are really getting nervous now. But some of you guys are saying, "Dude, dump it out. Let's see what's in there."

But for you guys, let me come to your house.

You see, this is her kingdom.

Let me come to your house and grab your remote control.

Betsy, I can't believe you trusted me. I'm going to give it back to you in a mess, OK?

Thank you. Take back your kingdom.

But all I'm saying is this: your kingdom is what you are in control of.

Not my kingdom, Lord, but yours. I sign over my kingdom to you. Would you be Lord of my life?

Jesus said, when it comes to your enemies, I want you to love your enemies, and I want you to pray for those who persecute you.

Human wisdom says, if somebody hurt you, attack them. If somebody responds with ba-ba-ba-ba, you go ba-ba-ba-ba-ba more.

Jesus said, pray like this: "Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Here's what we should pray: "God, may your kingdom come in my life as it is in heaven that I can demonstrate you."

Matthew 6:33: "He'll give you all you need from day to day if you live for Him and make the kingdom of God your primary concern."

God wants to help with your patience. You know why He can help you with your patience? Because He is patient.

Have you ever thought about this in your prayers? Maybe you haven't said it out loud.

"God, I'm praying about the same thing again. I can't believe that you're a forgiving God that will forgive me again for the same stupid thing I'm doing. God, I'm asking again, forgive me for blowing off at my spouse or my kids. God, I'm asking again, forgive me for acting that way as I'm driving down the road. Forgive me, Lord. Forgive me in the midst of that."

The reason He can help you is because the Lord is patient.

2 Peter 3 and 9: "The Lord is patient for your sake."

Some of you today have never transferred your kingdom ownership over to God. And you can't deal with this by yourself.

This is something that comes from the Holy Spirit, comes in your life. The Holy Spirit wants to say, "I want to invade your life. I want you to become more patient. I don't want you to have to keep checking the box in patience. I need patience in my life more than anything else."

Here's a summary sentence for today: You got a choice. You can react when you're triggered and cause pain because that's what you do, and you hurt, and so you hurt people.

Or you can respond with patience.

Father, I just, man, I just sense your presence right now. As you're taking something that people just take for granted, that everybody reacts that way. And I've always reacted that way. That's who I am. I'm just redhead or I'm Italian. I'm German. I'm Greek. I'm Polish. I'm whatever we give excuses for.

I deserve better.

Lord, I wonder how many times that we come short of your perfectness in our life, and you deserve better.

But you just keep loving us. You don't zap us with a fire blast from heaven. You just say, let me remind you. You invited me in your life, and I've deposited the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit produces patience.

As you continue to pray today, maybe there's some of you here today who said, you know what, I really need help with patience. But I don't have the Holy Spirit in my life. I've never invited Jesus Christ into my heart and into my life.

I never transferred my kingdom control into his hands. And today is the day that you can do that.

If you're here today and you say, I know about Jesus, but I really don't know him. He's not the center. I don't really trust him day to day. I sort of in charge of my kingdom. How's that going for you?

Yeah, not good.

Today you say, you know what, I want to sign right now, and I want to transfer my kingdom over to him. Not my kingdom, but yours be done.

If that's you today and you want me to lead you in a prayer, would you raise your hand and make eye contact with me and say, yeah, that's me today. I really want to transfer my kingdom.

Thank you. I want to transfer.

Thank you. Thank you today. Others say that's me.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I want to transfer my kingdom to him. And I want his life lived out of me.

Let me lead you in a prayer this morning.

Father God, thank you so much for not giving up on me. Thank you for loving me and sending your son Jesus to die for my sins.

I confess with my mouth and I believe in my heart that Jesus is Lord.

And it's best if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord.

And it's best as I know how, I'm transferring my kingdom to you. Live through me in Jesus' name.

Church, let's give a hand clap to the Lord for those lives that have changed today.

Listen, if you prayed that prayer, we're getting ready to receive our tithe and offering, and then we'll be out.

So let's wait just a second unless you've got to go serve somewhere.

Let's get ready with our tithe and our offering today and give to God. Tithe, we return to God. Offering is over and above that even with our change.

And if you have a prayer request or you're a snowbird, you can drop that in. If you're a first-time guest, bring that connection card out there.

Father, I pray for every person today, every giver today. This house is so generous. Thank you, Lord. Bless them. In the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Let me remind you in the chair in front of you as you're giving, you'll see a green envelope. The green envelope is about leaving a legacy. It's our annual legacy offering.

And we're using that. We have two lanes this year: $180,000 for missions and I think $20,000 or something like that for improvements.

So anyway, one what? 160 and 40. That's what it is.

So these will be received on our anniversary this year, which is also Easter Sunday, which is the last Sunday of March.

So pray about that. Take it home. See what God would have for you.

And as we sing this song, if you raised your hand to pray that prayer with me a few minutes ago, we have the first step you need to take right over here and over here.

So as you're getting ready to get up, go out there and say, "Hey, I prayed that prayer today." They want to put something in your hand.

Hey, don't miss next week. Let's go to the best one of this series. We all need it.

All right. Our prayer team is coming down. If you need prayer, let's stand and let's worship more in this song.

1) "Patience is having a long fuse, say long fuse, and hanging in there. That's the picture. There's actually two biblical words for patience. And the first one is the idea of self-restraint. Don't retaliate." [45:02] (Download)

2) "Patience reflects love. So the opposite would be that impatience reflects no love or lack of love. First Corinthians 13 and four says, read it with me. Love is patient." [47:51] (Download)

3) "Patience leads to spiritual growth. If you're not dealing with that short fuse, you're not going to grow in the Lord. If patience is one of the graces of the fruit of the spirit and the Holy Spirit is in our life, it's already in you." [48:43] (Download)

4) "James one, three and four says, for when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let your patience grow. For when your endurance is fully developed, you'll be strong in character and ready for anything." [49:59] (Download)

5) "Patience is rewarded. If you have patience in your marriage or your relationship with other people, people are going to like you more. And there's also more peace in your life." [51:59] (Download)

6) "Reflect before responding. Reflection gives us a necessary perspective to fuel patience. What's broken in me that I go berserk so frequently? What's broken in me?" [57:30] (Download)

7) "Respond with prayer. I know that I can't muster up enough patience on my own, but I have to invite the Holy Spirit into the process." [58:57] (Download)

8) "Pray for his kingdom to replace yours. When I go through life, looking at people and situations through the lens of my kingdom, I'll see irritations and interruptions." [01:03:22] (Download)

9) "Pride is an over inflated view of yourself. When I think I am better than somebody else, then I think I deserve something better. Behind pride is self-centeredness." [56:57] (Download)

10) "You doing OK? Say amen. Trying to help you here. Don't want you to pass out. Well, let's get onto the plan. We can talk a lot about what's wrong or what causes the wrong." [01:11:50] (Download)