(This transcript was generated by AI. Apologies for any inacuracies)

But what I do know is during this time of the year and during a busy season, oftentimes our life can become chaotic.

And if we're not careful throughout this season, instead of being people who refresh others, we'll be depleted because our life sometimes begins to look a lot like this.

[Showing a clip from the movie "Home Alone"]

I see this happen all the time, this time of the year, just chaotic, busyness, people running everywhere, trying to make every party, every appointment, and just running around everywhere.

And if we're not careful in all of that activity, what can happen is instead of being people who refresh others during this season, we can become depleted during this season.

And so today, what I want us to do is, I just want us, as we kick off this season, I just want us to take a moment as a church family and just make some space for God.

Begin to breathe a little bit.

Begin to understand that during this season, God came into the world so that he could impact our life.

So that we could go out in the world and impact other people's life.

But oftentimes, instead of making room for God in our hearts and in our lives and making space for God, we get caught up in the busyness, in the chaotic scene.

And I think what God wants to speak to Valorous Church about during this season, even if you're at home right now, maybe running around your house frantically as you're trying to even watch the service.

I think God wants us just to pause for just a minute and make some space for him.

Make some space for the creator to come into our heart and refresh us.

So that we can be refreshers.

You know, it's difficult to refresh others if you haven't been refreshed first yourself.

It's difficult to fill someone else's cup if your cup is empty.

And I believe that God may have even brought you in this room today.

To fill your cup out so you could pour your life out to many during this season.

I believe wholeheartedly that we're moving into a season, Thanksgiving and Christmas, where lots of people need refreshment in their life.

They're looking for God.

But what God needs or what God wants is a church that's filled with His compassion, His love, and His kindness during this season.

So I'm gonna take just a moment and allow you to breathe.

We're gonna pray together as a church family.

And then we'll move into the message.

If you don't mind, would you just close your eyes right where you sit?

If you're in your home right now, sitting on your couch, just close your eyes, let all the distractions just dissipate for a moment.

I know there's a lot you may need to get to when you leave this service today.

But I wonder if God wants you to pause for just a moment and begin to make space for Him in your heart.

To make space for Him in your life so that He can work through your life.

God, we come to you today.

And God, we need you.

That baby who was born in a manger who grew up in a chaotic world and went to a cross.

His name is Jesus.

The one who forgave us of our sin on that cross, defeated death and resurrected from a grave by your power.

God, we need that Jesus in our life today.

We wanna make room for you today, Jesus.

We wanna make space for your spirit to work in us and work through us.

God, with the busyness of the holiday season, may you open up our heart and fill it with compassion.

God, may you open our eyes and let us see people the way you see people.

God, may we interact with you.

Before our days start, before our weeks start, before the holidays start, and may we just breathe and take you into our spirit.

God, I know that you wanna refresh your people, your church, so that we can be incredible refreshers to our community.

And so, God, if there is one here today that's hurting, that's gotta conquer some mountains when they leave this space today, God, I pray in this moment, in this moment, you would renew them, you would refresh them, and God, equip them for the climb so that they can exhibit your amazing power through everything.

God, we wanna be encouragers, inspires, refreshers in a world that has gone crazy.

God, may you center us today on Jesus and his power and equip us to be incredible this season, and it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Come on, give God a hand clap today.

And today, that's exactly what we wanna talk about.

We wanna talk about you getting out in the hustle and bustle, you first and foremost being refreshed by our great God in your personal life, in the church's life, and then us together begin to make a world of difference in the world around us.

We wanna inspire you to go out and be a refresher, because that's what God calls his church to be and do, right?

Is to go out and begin to refresh those who don't know him yet, so that they can begin to have the same hope that you and I have.

And if we're properly refreshed by the spirit of the living God, the God who rose Jesus from the dead, we can walk through circumstances, we can walk through challenges, we can walk up hills, and we can begin to express the joy of the Lord.

Come on, somebody.

In all difficulties, in all circumstances.

But we have to be refreshed ourselves.

You know, the Apostle Paul, as he was writing the church at Thessalonica, he says something incredible at the end of his first letter to the church there.

In 1 Thessalonians of our Bible, chapter five, he says this to them in verses 15 through 18.

He says, do good to each other.

Come on, somebody.

And to all people.

I love how he added to all people.

Not just to my family or not just to the church family.

He says, be good to each other.

Look at your neighbor and say, be good to me.

Go ahead and tell them.

Come on.

But he also says, be good to all people.

In other words, God's vision is all people experience his goodness and they come in right relationship with him, become a part of his family and begin to help us, the people who have had the goodness of God in our life, express the goodness to people who are in turmoil.

The Bible goes on to say this, always be joyful.

Not sometimes, but it says always.

He says never stop praying.

Everybody say praying.

He says never stop praying.

Did you know that I don't have to just get in a closet and pray by myself, though I do that sometimes, but I can pray as I'm talking to someone.

Maybe I'm talking to Mike right here on the front row right now.

I can be praying for Mike and talking to Mike at the same time, praying that God gets a hold of Mike's heart because God's the one that's gonna change his heart.

Not what I'm saying with my words, but I'm praying to God to work and I work in his life too, all at the same time.

Pray all the time.

Come on, you can pray all the time.

It's a beautiful thing.

Prayer is talking to God.

Asking God to come into your life.

Asking God to work through your life.

Asking God to work in other people's life.

And I promise you, the Bible says that he will give you the wisdom that you need to speak in every circumstance, in every situation, if you will call on the name of the Lord and speak with his wisdom.

The Bible declares that wisdom comes from the Lord.

It says never stop praying.

It says be thankful in all circumstances.

Not just Thanksgiving Day.

I'm gonna be thankful for that big old turkey.

And you know, my wife's cooking a four-layer delight.

Come on, somebody.

She's gonna be cooking a pecan pie and we're gonna be having mash.

They were talking about the menu last night.

I'm like, ah, I'm thankful for all this food.

Come on, somebody.

But God says to be thankful in all circumstances.

That's what he says in his word.

Whether I'm on a mountain top or I'm in a valley, Paul charges his church.

He says, be thankful in all circumstances.

But here's the beautiful part.

He says, for all of what I just said, he says, this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

It's God's will.

So I have people all the time say, pastor, I wanna know God's will for my life.

Paul just revealed it to you in 1 Thessalonians chapter five, verses 15 through 18.

He says, be good to all people.

He says what?

He says to begin to always be joyful, to never stop praying and to be thankful in all the circumstances.

This is for those of you who belong to Christ Jesus, who belong to the church.

And so what I've discovered in order for that to begin to be exhibited out of the church family or out of us together, what I've gotta do is I've gotta be refreshed by God first so I can become a refresher in the world around me.

The book of Proverbs says this in Proverbs 11, verse 25.

It says, a generous person will prosper.

Anybody wanna prosper up in this house today?

Come on.

Well, the wisdom book says a person that's flowing with God's generosity will prosper.

But it goes on to say this.

It says, whoever refreshes others will also be refreshed.

Refreshed.

That's a beautiful picture, isn't it?

Because that's the call on us who belong to Christ Jesus.

Is to be refreshed by God and then begin to refresh the world around us.

So they'll know who God is.

And my friend, I've been doing this long enough to know that we can get so busy sometimes with life, with ministry, with jobs, with family, with just my everyday task that I don't make room for God to fill my cup first or refresh me first.

And when that's the case, it's impossible for me to give someone else a fresh drink of cold water.

And what God calls us to be as a church family is to be people about His business, to be doing ministry.

He doesn't say just, you know, sit on the couch and do nothing.

Don't let this message lean you in that direction.

And again, because that's what happens a lot of times when you're preaching on being refreshed by God and, you know, them refreshing others.

People may go to one extreme or the other.

You're telling me to just pause and let God come in.

Yes, that's what I'm telling you.

But I'm also telling you to get up and do something with your life and become a refresher in the world around you and take notice of what God needs to do in a person's life, in people's life, in the community's life, and step fully into it with a generous heart because God will prosper you and God will prosper me if we'll choose to be generous in circumstances and situations.

But what happens is people think, well, shoot, that means I sit on my couch and I meditate all day.

Or I go out and frantically do ministry all the time.

Let's get in the center of what I call biblical tension.

It's both and.

God calls us to meditate on his word, let him feel our spirit, and then get up and do something with our life.

But sometimes people are frantically trying to do ministry and they're being depleted in life because they're trying to do everything and they're not allowing God to fill them up first so that they can be a great refresher in the world around them.

And what I'm trying to say to you today before we get into the crux of where I'm going with this message today, my friends, God is calling us to show compassion on the world around us, to do great and mighty ministry.

But I also wanna encourage you as an individual and us corporately to let God fill our cup first.

And then when we pray in all circumstances, we'll see with our eyes and our heart exactly what God wants to do through us.

I promise you, if you pray and let God speak to you first, when you have an encounter with someone, the God of heaven will show you what part he wants you to play in that someone's life if he has refreshed your soul as you begin to refresh them back to God.

But let's not be so frantic in doing ministry that we miss what God wants to do.

It's not sit on the couch and meditate all the time, and it's not be so active and overstimulated with doing ministry that we miss what God wants to do in us and what God wants to do through us.

And what I believe with all of my heart is the holiday season, Thanksgiving and Christmas is a time to inspire the world with the goodness of God.

Some of us are saying, let me endure through the next 35 days.

Let me just get through Thanksgiving and Christmas to January 1, and I'll start it all new in January 1.

What I'm telling you right now is God wants to start it all new right now, and he don't want you to endure the holiday.

He wants you to inspire with his word.

He wants you to encourage and refresh those around you.

He wants to do great and mighty things through you, but you gotta be willing to receive what he wants to do.

You see, I believe that when you get that invite card today, that this week and throughout the next few weeks, God's gonna give you a divine encounter, not to just lay the card on the table or the gas station counter.

That's a great and mighty thing, great marketing, okay?

But the reality of it is your personal invite, having an encounter with someone, having a tool in your hand, which is those invite cards, and handing it to them and say, hey, with God's kindness, why don't you just come and see what God wants to do in your life during the Christmas season?

That personal invite will begin to transform the grocery store, your workplace, your street, our city, and our world.

But that's what this invite card is all about, is we want you to get in the midst of the chaos, be filled with God's spirit, and then have the compassion to see what God wants to do as you hand out those invite cards.

If you have your Bibles with you, I'm gonna invite you to turn it to Luke chapter 10 for just a few moments, and we're gonna look at a story where someone asked Jesus who my neighbor is.

They had asked Jesus, what is the greatest two commandments a lawgiver did?

And Jesus says, well, it's to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and it's to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Then the man came back and said, well, who's my neighbor?

And Jesus says, well, let me tell you a story, let me tell you a parable about who your neighbor is.

And Jesus tells this story about who your neighbor is to this guy to help him understand that God called him to be a refresher, to be refreshed by the Lord and then be a refresher in society.

And this is what it says in this story, Luke chapter 10, beginning with verse 30.

The Bible says, a Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho and he was attacked by bandits.

They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and left him half dead beside the road.

By chance, a priest came along, but when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and he passed him by.

A temple assistant walked over and looked at him also lying there, but he also passed by to the other side.

And then a despised Samaritan, someone that wasn't fully Jewish in this day came along.

And when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him.

Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine, he bandaged them.

And then he put the man on his own donkey and he took him to an inn to where he took care of him.

The next day, he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, take care of this man.

If his bills run higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.

Now, which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the bandits?

Jesus asked his audience.

And I think Jesus is asking us that same question today.

And obviously, the answer to most of us is obvious.

It wasn't the priest, wasn't the church worker, but it was the Samaritan who stopped to help the man.

And the Bible says, the man replied to Jesus, the one who showed him mercy.

The one who showed him mercy.

And then Jesus said, yes, now you go and do the same.

And again, I think that's what God is calling us to do during a season like this, is having our hearts open to people he wants to work into their life.

Having our eyes open to people that he wants to work into their life and do great and mighty things.

But it's very, very difficult sometimes to see what God wants to do in the heart of an individual if I'm so focused on my own needs.

And the reality of it is we all have needs.

I have them and you have them.

But we have to take those needs to the Lord and begin to let the Lord fulfill those needs and come alongside of us and help us so that we can help others.

And if you are taking your need personally to other people before you begin to talk to the Lord about it, I wanna encourage you in that today.

I'm telling you right now, my Bible says that God cares about every need you have.

He says that, you know what?

He feeds the sparrow who flies in the air and he sees the sparrow's need and he sees your need.

But I wanna encourage you today to begin to talk to God about your need and see if God'll show up in a mighty and powerful way.

But don't miss the need of others because God may be calling your hands and feet to help put his goodness into those people's life.

Again, the Samaritan was the one who stopped long enough to see the man's need and to help the man with his need.

And I think as we pass through the malls and Good Friday and work and the business of the season and the decor and the neighbors and everything else, that you know what?

God's gonna put people in front of us to make a difference in their life.

But if we're gonna do that, we can learn from this Samaritan how to do that.

And the first thing I wrote down is I gotta learn to be a looker.

Come on.

I gotta be a looker.

And I'm not talking about the looker you're thinking about.

Come on.

I'm talking about looking and seeing with your eyes and your heart what God wants to do in somebody's life.

Taking notice of what's around you.

Paying attention to your environments as chaos is going on.

Not just standing and having a conversation with my friends.

We talk to our greeters about this all the time.

It's great to have fellowship and talk to your friends at church, but take notice of somebody coming up for the first time.

Take notice.

They might not have direction.

They might not know where they're going.

Take notice.

Let's lead them in.

Let's walk them through.

Let's begin to help them experience the same thing we're experiencing here as a community and in the busyness of life at work.

I'm telling you right now, some of us are so focused on our work tasks, sometimes we miss what God wants to do in us and through us right before our very eyes.

Pay attention.

Maybe your boss needs compassion.

He may give you your paycheck.

She may give you your paycheck, but maybe this Christmas season, they need you to see them and have compassion on where they are in their life and begin to show the loving kindness of God in the midst of their need.

See, this is what it means to see what's in front of us, to be a good Samaritan, to show mercy to people around us.

It's not about how low they are.

I think some of us are always just looking for the guy beat up on the side of the road that the bandits left him there.

No, no, no.

There is people needing the mercy of God from the top to the bottom.

They're all around you.

They're in the auditorium.

They're in the marketplace.

They're in the grocery store.

Come on, somebody.

They're in your schools.

They're on your street.

But we have to take notice.

Maybe how you take notice of somebody is just write them a card this week.

What if every one of us wrote a handwritten card to somebody this week that we took notice of and just said something that we took notice of in their life?

That could be to inspire them with the mercy of God.

Again, we're here to be a group of people to be the hands and feet of God.

But what we have to learn to do is to take notice.

Maybe God's calling you this season to bake some brownies.

Take it to a neighbor.

Chocolate pie, I don't know.

Maybe you need to send somebody a text.

Again, I think we all have people in front of us that need to be inspired by the Lord.

But if we're not inspired first or not filled first, sometimes it's hard to see those that we need to serve.

The next thing I wrote down is be a lifter.

Not only be a looker and see the person, be a lifter, look what it says here in Luke 10 verse 34.

It says, going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds and his olive oil with wine and he bandaged them and then he put them on his own donkey and he took him to the end where they took care of him.

He lifted the man up, put him on his own donkey and took him to the end.

He lifted that man up and put him on his own donkey and he took him to the end.

I find that fascinating because I believe that God calls us in today's environment, we may not be riding around on donkeys, come on, but I do believe that God calls us to lift the environment, lift the circumstances, be a lifter of people.

There's people walking around bent over, burdened, broke, they've got trauma, they've got wounds, they got life circumstances just piled on top of them.

And God calls you and me to walk in the room and see with compassion and begin to lift them by the power of His Holy Spirit out of their place to help them know that He's a God who cares for them right where they are and He will heal their broken heart and He will bind their wounds.

We gotta be lifters, lifters in society.

Lifters of people, the church should elevate the community.

We should lift the community.

We should be the bright and shining star in the community with the love of Christ, the compassion of Christ.

And we don't always hit every single need in life but we do our best to see it corporately.

And again, this is why we're here.

Giving Hope Mall every year here at Valorous Church.

It's not just to give toys to people, it's to lift the parents, elevate the parents to be the parents.

That's why we have them to come in and shop for the toys and take them home and give them to their kids under the Christmas tree.

Not so, you know what, that just me or you are elevated because we gave something to the kids.

That's me or you are elevated because we gave somebody a toy.

No, no, them as the parent is elevated and lifted as the parent.

Do you know what that does for a parent's spirit to be able to take and personally give those kids the gift that came from them under that tree?

That lifts them up, come on, that elevates them.

That's why we do it.

They may not have been able, they may have had hardships this year.

They may not have been able to afford to go and get the gifts.

But we bring the gifts in, let them do the shopping and take it home and be lifted as a parent in their family.

That's what's being a lifter, allowing them to have the integrity that, you know what, that they're supposed to have in their family.

And then the last thing, if we're really gonna be these encouragers, these refreshers during this season, and this kind of goes in the other direction a little bit, but we have to be a releaser.

What do I mean by that?

Look what it says here in this passage of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10, verse 35.

It says, the next day, he handed the innkeeper, this man, two silver coins telling him, take care of this man.

He says, if his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I'm here.

And what's fascinating about that, this Good Samaritan did everything he could to help this man, but what he also did was he basically empowered the innkeeper to do his part.

He partnered with the innkeeper to do his part and began to help the guy.

And what happens oftentimes is many of us think that we've got to do ministry all by ourself.

This is the beautiful thing about belonging to a local church.

This is the beautiful thing about being able to partner with other people.

God's not calling me to do everything by myself.

God's calling us to partner with other people to help other people in the community.

And God is calling us to partner with him and the Holy Spirit to help people in the community.

In other words, I can't fix every problem.

The church can't fix every problem.

You can't fix every problem.

But together with God's help and the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, working in someone's heart, their life can be transformed if we're all doing our part together and working Jesus into their heart.

And some of us are worn out and we can't be a lifter because the fact of the matter is, or a refresher is because we're not being refreshed ourself, we're trying to do it all by ourself.

My friends, we need Jesus in our life.

We need the power of the Holy Spirit in our life.

And I believe that God's gonna do great and mighty things in our life, but some of us need to release some of the responsibility we think is on us and give it back to God.

The reality of it is, is without Him, none of it's possible.

And at the end of the day, we allow Him to carry the burdens on His shoulders and we do all we can to come alongside and inspire others.

But at the end of the day, we need His partnership.

We need His help.

We need Him to do what He says He will do.

I'll close with this today.

1 Thessalonians chapter five, verses 15 and 18.

Again, the writer says this, do good to each other and to all people.

Always be joyful, never stop praying, be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Let's not let this season get so busy, we miss what God wants to do in us and do through us.

Let's pray.

Father God, I thank you so much for your word.

I thank you so much, God, that you speak into us and you speak through us.

God, I pray that this season, we would pause and let you refresh us first so that we can be refreshers in the world around us.

God, the opportunity is great.

The opportunity to minister your word, your heart, your life-given mercy and grace to people is huge.

God, I pray we would be submitted today to your lordship and your leadership in what you do great and mighty things in us and through us.

But God, if there's one here today among us that have never received the mercy that Jesus displayed on that cross and been empowered by his grace, God, I pray today would be the day of their salvation, today would be the day of their restoration, and today would be the day of a new life filled and refreshed by you.

My friend, we do all that we do to just simply pass along the goodness that's been shown to us by Christ Jesus, in Christ Jesus, to other people.

And if you're here today and you've never turned from your sin, missing the mark of God's glorious standard, I want you to know that's why the baby came in a manger and later went to a cross and gave his life on a cross, was so you could be 100% forgiven this very day.

Bible says if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart that Jesus is Lord, we will be saved.

And if you need that salvation of Christ Jesus in your life today, I pray you would just simply do that.

God, I'm a sinner and I need Jesus in my life.

Make me whole, make me well, make me new again.

The Bible promises that once we receive the gift of salvation through Christ Jesus, that we can be empowered by his Holy Spirit to do life.

I invite you to be submitted to his Lordship, his leadership, he will guide you in all circumstances and he will use you to do great and mighty things.

God, as we launch into this Christmas season, may we be your church.

May we be refreshed first and foremost by you and be refreshers in the world around us.

It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.