2020-06-15 Coffee with Chris - Look for the good

The speaker talks about being thankful and appreciative in light of the current situations, such as the pandemic and racism. They mention that even though there are challenges, we should recognize the blessings we have and focus on the positive. They reference a verse from the book of Philippians about thinking about things that are true, noble, pure, and lovely. They also mention a YouTube channel called Some Good News that highlights positive stories. The speaker emphasizes the importance of loving others and putting them first, especially during difficult times. They encourage finding ways to help and bless the community and being grateful for the little things. Well, good morning, afternoon, evening, or whenever you happen to be watching this, welcome to Coffee with Chris. You may have noticed I got a haircut, and I'm very excited about that. It's been a while since I've been able to have a haircut, and I was very blessed that Hannah was willing to try giving me a haircut not too long ago, and she did a good job, and now it's time to go to the barber's as my hair has gotten long again, and the barber's has started opening up with the necessary precautions in place, which I'm very appreciative of, and that's really what I want to talk about, being thankful, being appreciative. I think, as I was talking to my hairdresser, honestly, something that the pandemic has taught me is that we need to not take things for granted, and there's a lot of things we take for granted, things like going outside, going to the movies, getting a haircut, being able to see one another in large groups, but I'm also thankful that in this time, the Lord has kept me safe, he's kept me healthy, and that's a huge thing to be thankful for. Sort of a running joke around 2020 that I've been seeing is just that this is the year where everything bad happens. It's the year of Murphy's Law, we might say, and I've made plenty of these jokes, too, and I don't think these jokes are harmful in and of themselves. Lots of bad things seem to have been happening. The year basically started off with Australia on fire. We had the pandemic, which is still going on. Recently, there's been a lot more attention on just some vile, vile, evil racism that has happened in our world. That's sadly nothing new, but it's something that people are becoming hopefully more aware of, not just for a flash in a moment, but long term so that we can make a real change. But yeah, people have been talking about the murder hornets, all these kinds of scary things that have made it just a seemingly awful year, but the thing is, even in the worst of times, and to be honest, we're not in the worst of times, this world has seen much worse times, this world will see much worse times. That's not a doom and gloom prophecy, that's just the cycle of history. But I think it's given me pause to think about the things that we're frustrated about right now and how ultimately it shows us just how good we have things, whether it's because of being in one of the richer nations, whether it's because of inherent privileges that we have, whether it's because of any number of things. We're dealing with some hardships, but we're not dealing with the hardships that much of the world is dealing with, or much of history has had to deal with for that matter. So we're very blessed. And I think that we tend to focus on the negative, we tend to focus on the inconvenience, the guy who cut us off in traffic, rather than the guy who paid for your Timmy's bill behind you in line. So I think we need to focus in on those things. A verse that I've been thinking a lot about lately comes from the book of Philippians 4.8. I'm going to read it in the NIV today, which says, finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things. Do we really think about those things though? Like even the words lovely, or it sounds weird, like thinking about things that are lovely. Well, I think about Hannah, she's lovely. God's love is lovely. The flowers outside are lovely. But we don't often think about what's lovely in the world. It almost sounds silly to even say the lovely things in the world. It just sounds a little too fruity and fluffy, doesn't it? But I think that there is a lot of lovely things in the world. And there's importance in highlighting what's good. There's an actor who not too long ago started a YouTube channel called Some Good News. It was called SGN, Some Good News. The actor's name is John Krasinski. And he did it for a period of time, and it was a way to highlight some things that are good. I think that as the church, we shouldn't be blind or in denial of the negative things that are going on. But I think that the Bible says that we have a hope, right, and to be ready to always give answer for the hope that we profess. Yeah, in 1 Peter 3.15, it says, But in your hearts, revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. Oh, that stings right now, because I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. Because this isn't really news. We as Christians need to step up and love our neighbors, love others more than we love ourselves, to put others first. And that means our unsaved neighbors, that means the people around us. We're not doing things to earn a reputation, but we're doing things because they're right. I want to encourage you guys to look for the good, because it's one of those things, right? As soon as you get a new car, it seems everybody's getting that brand of car now, isn't it? No, they're not. It's you're looking for it, and what you look for, you tend to find. So let's look for the good. Let's look for the ways in which we can help our community, bless our communities, rather than trying to make ourselves different and exceptional, where we should get the exceptions that everybody else doesn't get a luxury of having. Let's try and bless people. Let's do our part to keep those around us safe, and not just safe, but encouraged. Let's show that hope. Let's show people that are not only willing to sacrifice their own comfort and preferences by taking the necessary precautions to help fight this pandemic, but let's do it in a joyful way, not in a grumbling and complaining way. And let's be grateful for the little things. I'm grateful for today that I got to get a haircut. I'm grateful that my barber handed me a mask to wear when I was in there so that I could keep her and others safe. I'm grateful that they took those steps to make it happen. So let's be grateful. Let's not grumble about these temporary measures. Let's be grateful that people are pulling together to do something wonderful. I'm praying for you guys. God bless.