Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today.
Our ABC News did a report here recently and I found this was interesting. There's a new trend and it's called loud quitting. How many of you have ever heard that term, loud quitting?
Anybody know what I'm talking about? Well, years ago, it would be what we would call private quitting or silent quitting. A person at their job didn't like things or whatever, they would go into the boss and say, hey, I'm quitting or turn in their two weeks notice or whatever the case is. But ABC News did this whole story on this new trend called loud quitting. And it means that today, in our day and time, people are so frustrated, they're so angry, they're so wound tight, they're so disenchanted, so frustrated that they don't just quit their jobs now. They loud quit, which means they come up with something grand and glorious to quit. Now, this is literally the stuff that would seem to be made up in movies and stuff, but people now are not asking to talk to their boss and saying, hey, I'm turning in my two week notice. No, they're showing up at the workplace with megaphones, taking their desk, uprooting their desk, crying with megaphones, I quit this blankety blank place and different things. And now they got this brand, you know, people have gone to these grand things where they've had banners made, literally paid money to have large banners made and brought friends and they walked into the, and I was looking at the one story they talked about, they walked into the business and this person's friends, they had a 30 foot long banner, six feet high, and brought enough friends where they got to work and their friends brought this banner in, marched it around the entire office that says the person's name, I quit, I'm leaving this nasty place and just walked around the thing, walked out, they're doing these grand gestures to quit.
They don't just quit, they loud quit. And I thought, my goodness, and you know, what's interesting is that this is a trend in 2023, but God talks about some things all the way back in Psalm 37. Now I want you to look at these first couple of verses. He says this, a Psalm of David, verse one, fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Now we've got two kinds of people here.
It seems like the same, but they're slightly different. We have evildoers and then we have workers of iniquity. And there's two things going on here. First, there is this frustration, this worry, this anxiety because of people that are doing evil. And then there is envy going on because of the workers of iniquity. And so there's two things going on. First, this is really, it's frustrating and what I see going on, what I see people doing and all these things that you and I can get to the point in our life that what we're watching and what we're seeing and what we're witnessing day by day, it can absolutely frustrate us.
You can hear the junk on the news and get told stuff from the news and know we're not getting accurate things and just watching what the world's doing and seeing real life stories play out on TV to think how could a young man walk into a school and shoot people and how could this person just take a vehicle and drive through a crowded street and mow over people. And you and I, we can become frustrated and disenchanted literally over this thing of evildoers. But then it says, neither be thou envious. There's not really the envy of the evildoers but the envy comes in from workers of iniquity, people that literally their life is spent around things and the world and culture and money and all. And what we can happen sometimes is we can literally look at their lives and think, hey, I'm serving God.
I'm involved here. I'm trying to raise my kids right and my kids are half mad at me all the time because I have rules at home. But yet here's these kids over there.
Mom and Dad doesn't care nothing about them. Let's them do whatever and they just, they're happy as can be. And what happens, we can almost become envious to think it seems better for them than it is for me. And I'm trying to do right and yet we live in a culture that rewards those that are doing wrong.
Am I right about that? The Bible said that's what's going to happen. We live in a culture that rewards the wrong. I mean, in fact, I tell you what, you can be in your house and your family in your house and it's your property and some idiot can try to break into your house and you can end up in jail if you shoot them.
There's almost more rights for the criminal than there is for those that are being criminalized. And he says, fret not thyself. Don't become so over anxious and anxiety and frustration because of what you're seeing and at the same time don't let yourself almost become envious.
Nobody, none of us would actually voice that probably. But at times we got to say, you know what, man, they seem to have it made. Man, everything they do touches, seems to turn to gold. And I'm working hard over here and I'm working a job and I can't get promoted and this idiot over here at the job is schmoozing everybody and talking about them behind their back.
There's not one honest bone in his body, but they just keep moving him up the ladder. I know how life goes. He says this verse two, for they shall soon be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb. So we have the scenario. All right, what's going on? You're getting frustrated, almost getting envious, almost questioning, almost doubting. And so what we're told here that David begins to tell us, okay, this is how you're going to have to handle this.
These are the steps you're going to have to take because if you don't take these steps, can I tell you something that fretting and that envying is going to lead to other things. It's going to get us in trouble in 2023. We're going to get to the point we can't even show up at church and worship.
Did you hear me? We're going to show up at church and we can't get off our minds the junk we put there all week. We've read everything, watched everything, processed everything, all the stuff going on in our culture, all the stuff going on in our world. And we show up at church and we're frustrated with it, we're kind of angry about it, we're mad about it, and before long it starts getting into our mind.
You know what? We begin to doubt. Is God really blessing? I mean, is God really blessed like He said He's going to because, man, I've been doing this and I've been trying to be faithful for this long and it doesn't seem like things are getting better for me.
It seems like they're getting worse. But everybody that I see that isn't doing these things and they've got no use for church and no use for this, man, they're posting this and they go out of church, they get into the world, now they're drinking, they're doing everything else, they're posting like they're having a party through their whole life. Listen, I've had members tell me this. The preacher, man, we're faithful and we're involved and yet it just seems like every day we're just throwing these images of people that aren't in church, they've got nothing to do with God, and they're just having the time of their lives. Can I ask you something? If that does happen, can you say amen? It does, doesn't it?
It hits us every once in a while. Don't think I haven't thought it as a pastor. Listen, I don't try to do things popular here. I try to do them biblical. I try to do it, listen, and I'm not perfect. I'm not saying that everything I do is right. Trust me, I know. I'm just trying the best I can.
I'm just doing the best I can. I'm being honest with you. But I'm going to tell you, I get pressure sometimes. I'm trying to hold down a line and there's some things that I could do that probably, you know, some people, hey, they would really love it, but I don't really feel with my conscience that God's approving of that and I just can't do that. But I watch pastors that just go over that edge and do all kinds of stuff. People are loving it, singing their praises.
You hardly ever have anybody that just says, hey, I'm just so thankful our pastor tries to keep things right. Know what you're hearing on the social media all the time, and hey, I'm thinking we got away from all that old stuff where everybody has rules and everybody whatever, and I'm just glad. Kerwin, am I talking to anybody here that knows what I'm talking about? You say, are you just up here?
No, I'm not. I am telling you how we can get in our flesh. And I am telling you that for the next four weeks I'm going to tell you what David said to do when that happens. When frustration begins to happen.
When that doubt begins to creep in a little bit. I want you to notice verse three. He says, trust in the Lord and do good.
So shalt thou dwell in the land and verily thou shalt be fed. Our first installment in this little series, I guess you would say, and fret not thyself. Number one this week is trust in the Lord and do good. This is what David says that you and I are going to have to concentrate on to get ourselves through this. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Let's pray. Lord, I love you. Thank you for all that you've done. Lord, thank you for the good songs this morning. Thank you for every person that's made their way here. Thank you for our staff that's been working hard all week long. Thank you, Lord, for protecting Jacob and Jessica and their baby and Jessica and even some of the complications that have arisen you've taken care of.
We ask you to continue to take care of it. Pray you bless them. Now, God, I pray you'd help us to understand that even the best of us can fret and become envious. So, Lord, I pray you'd help us today. In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen. Trust in the Lord and do good. Now, we're going to have to just kind of make this whole picture for you so you can understand what God is saying here in one verse.
Think of verse three. Trust in the Lord. The first thing that David says when you begin to fret over evildoers, when you can literally almost get the point that you're envious over workers of iniquity, he tells us one of the main issues is trust.
Who and what you trust. Trust is one of the biggest issues in life. Here, focusing on people and circumstances had led to fretting or frustration with what was observed. Almost looking at others and beginning to think things are better for them than they are for me. That things were better for those that have a worldly ambition instead of a godly one. You see, this trust had become an issue. What they had seen and what they had observed had literally created a trust issue.
I'm going to tell you that when it centers all down to it, it's what it does to you and me. When we see what we see, we begin to wonder, can I really trust what God said? Because what God said doesn't look like what's happening. What God said doesn't look like what is taking place. God said, I'll bless and honor you if you do this. I'm doing this. I don't feel it.
Those people aren't doing it and everything is going great for them. And what happens is it creates a trust issue. Can I really trust what God said? Do I really trust him to come through? Can I really trust his word? Do I really trust this verse?
I know the verse says that, but what I'm witnessing every day in my life so far, I just don't see it. You see, this had led to a trust issue. Seeing what had happened, noticing the evildoers and seeing the workers of iniquity and watching what had transpired had led to a trust issue. And that trust issue had to be dealt with if we're going to survive this culture and the pressures of it. So, criminal Baptist church, listen, we can't stop what's happening outside of these walls, outside of your home.
We can't stop that. But what we can do is deal with this trust issue. This phrase, do good, trust in the Lord and do good. What does it mean to do good? It's obedience. Obedience. You see, when we begin to not trust the Lord, we begin then to not obey him. Because we don't know if we can trust him. So, trust in the Lord and do good.
What is the song we've sung for years? Trust and obey, for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. So, this do good is the obedience here. Trusting God and obeying God go hand in hand. It means legitimate faith always leads to good works.
I'm going to read you the verses just a little bit. Trust is what we have faith in. So, when he says trust in the Lord, it means this is what your faith is going to be built on. Who you trust. And if my trust is in the Lord, then my faith is in the Lord. We have faith in what we can trust.
Everybody got that? Say amen. Okay, now listen to me here. John chapter 14 verse 15 says this. If you love me, keep my commandments. If you trust me, if you love me, do good. Obey.
Keep my commandments. You see, listen to me. You don't obey if you don't trust. And you haven't really trusted if you haven't started obeying.
Let me say this. We've all had our trust broken. And at times, we have all been the ones that broke someone else's trust. So, our experience tells us that no one can really be trusted. When our trust is shaken, our actions change. When we stop trusting, we stop doing.
Let me say it this way. Our problem is that we're placing our trust in the wrong sources. We're trusting results. We're trying to trust circumstances. We're trying to trust what we see. But faith is believing even when you can't see it.
Say, preacher, where are you going with this? Well, let me say this. We are placing our trust in the wrong sources and we're building our trust on the wrong foundation.
So, let me explain. Number one, if you've got a piece of paper pen, you're gonna write these down. Number one, please write this down. I will stop obeying if I place my trust in people. I will stop obeying if I place my trust in people. People are gonna let you down. People are going to break your trust at some point or another. And listen, people that don't even want to break your trust will break your trust. People that don't even want to let you down will let you down.
Now listen, my wife Julie's here this morning. I don't want to let her down. I don't.
There's nothing inside of me that ever wants to let her down. But I have. And I probably will. And I don't even want to.
Here's the problem. If you place your trust in people, yes, there are some people that they're just dishonest. They just don't care about you.
They're just gonna stab you in the back anyway. But if you place your trust in people, there are actually good people out there that do love you and don't want to hurt you and they will still let you down. And if you're expecting your trust to be in people, you're in for a miserable life. Wife, quit basing your faith and your trust on your husband.
He's gonna let you down. Don't base the happiness of your life on your wife or your husband or your kids. You don't place your trust in people.
What did the Bible say about it? Put no confidence in the flesh. You are creating an unrealistic expectation on a person when you base your trust on a person.
No wonder people in church are half mad, half miserable, half fighting everywhere. Marriages are breaking up left and right. Why? Because we're looking to the person and we think that our trust has to be in that person. And listen, people that even love you are gonna let you down. Number two, I will stop obeying if I place my trust in circumstances.
You wanna stop obeying? I'm gonna tell you how it's gonna, trust circumstances. Because circumstances are gonna go up and down, in and out, leave you hanging.
Let me tell you something, life is gonna wear you out. And Satan knows it. And what do you mean, preacher? If I trust in circumstances, I mean that you read the Bible and you say, okay, if I do this, then I believe this is what's supposed to happen. And dear friend, listen to me, your trust is not in what happens. Your trust should be in Christ.
Look at me. So what happens should be unrelated to your trust. You got a little bit of a light bulb going on, say amen. See, a lot of times you and I say, well, I trust Jesus, but you only trust him if it works out like you think it's supposed to. Our trust should not be based in circumstances.
Why? Because when we trust Christ and we put our trust in him, circumstances are gonna go up and down, in and out, but that should not affect our trust. Our trust is not in the result.
Our trust is in the person of Jesus Christ. We got Christians everywhere that are getting bent out of shape because everything's getting worse. I'm telling you what the Democrats are doing, what the Republicans are doing, what the Independents are doing, what the idiots are doing, what whoever's doing. And I'll tell you what, our things are getting worse and worse. What did the Bible say was gonna happen?
It's gonna get worse and worse. That's why you don't put your trust in people and you don't put your trust in a candidate and you don't put your trust in circumstances and you don't put your trust in your husband or your wife or a person or even in your pastor. Pastors let you down. I've told you this before, some of you are new, but I deal with, there's certain things I just don't get anxiety of. Some of you, if you had to come up here and you had to take 30, 35 minutes, 40 minutes, or in my case, 25 minutes preaching, or 55, 65 minutes preaching, whatever the case is, if you had to get up here and preach it would absolutely you'd faint. You'd be like, listen, I don't necessarily get anxiety.
This is what I've been called to do. I'm not good at it and it's not like it comes easy, but I enjoy it because it's what God's called me and I love his word. I don't have anxiety about that, but I have anxiety about other things that you probably don't. I've told you this before and I'll tell you one thing I have anxiety with is that I have anxiety with people when I'm the pastor.
If I wasn't the pastor, I don't have anxiety, but when I'm the pastor, if I come in and I shake hands with people before the service, that's anxiety to me. You say, why is that? You don't like people? I love people, but my thing is if I come in and I shake hands in my mind, there's somebody that's gonna be sitting there I don't shake hands with. Somebody I'm not gonna see.
Somebody that's gonna sit there and if I'm shaking hands with people, somebody's gonna sit there and say, well, you didn't come shake my hand and that produces anxiety in me because I look at every scenario as an opportunity for me to let you down. You say that's twisted. Yeah, I'm twisted, okay? I'm a bit crazy, but how many of you can get a little bit of an understanding of what I'm talking about?
Whatever social setting there is when you're the pastor, I now and however the more people are there, there's more people that I can now offend if I don't do what each of them think I should do. Listen, we all have our anxiety. We all have our things, but we cannot put our trust in circumstances or people or any of those things. Number three, I will stop obeying if I place my trust in myself.
Can I say something? The worst person for you to place your trust in is you. Because I'm gonna tell you something, you think people are gonna let you down? You're gonna let yourself down. There ain't nobody that's let Daniel Hotchley Jr. down more in my life than Daniel Hotchley Jr. There's nobody that I'm more frustrated with than myself. My old nasty flesh, sometimes my attitude, my spirit, I'm gonna tell you I have let myself down more than anybody has ever let me down. But I will stop obeying if I place my trust in people, if I place my trust in circumstances, if I even place my trust in myself.
That's why David said you've gotta get this straight. There is one person that you can trust, and this is where you have to put your trust. And the foundation of your trust has to be in this one person. Trust in the Lord.
That's all you can do. Don't trust people. Don't trust circumstances. Don't trust the news. Don't trust anything else.
You put your trust in the Lord, and while you do that, just go out and obey Him. You say what does this mean? Let me explain it to you.
We're almost done. You're gonna have to look at this logically. So let me show you biblically because there is a whole lot in this verse, what David is saying, that is practical to you in 2023. Number one, trusting leads to obedience. Look at verse three. Trust in the Lord.
What does that lead to? And do good. Trust in the Lord. If you will place your trust in, not on what you see going on, because that's making you doubt. Trust in the Lord and do good.
Trusting leads to obedience. Now, the book of James deals with this. And I've just gotta show you a couple of these verses so you understand what we're talking about here. James chapter two, verse 17. Look at this verse that's on the screen. Even so faith, what is faith?
What you trust in. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead. So trusting without obedience doesn't do anything.
Notice. Look at verse 18. Yea, a man may say thou has faith and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy works and I will show thee my faith by my works.
What is he saying? He's saying that somebody might say, hey, I really do trust the Lord. But if you're not doing good, if you're not obeying him, then I don't think your faith has anything. Your faith is doing nobody any good. And that's why he says, you show me your faith without your works.
And listen to what he's saying here. James says, so I'm gonna show you my faith by my works. He says, you show me your faith and it doesn't have any works. He says, I'm gonna show you my faith by my works. The proof that you do have faith in Christ is that you obey him.
Are you with me? If you're not obeying him right now in your life, it is a sign that you deep down are not really trusting him. Faith without works is dead. A faith that doesn't produce obedience is dead. Now notice this last verse in the book of James chapter 2 verse 26.
Look at this. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. So here's the principle of the Christian life. Trusting leads to obedience. If there's an obedience issue, it means there's a trust issue.
Why are you not obeying? Well, because I don't trust God's word. Preacher, I would never say that, will you? The greatest news that anyone can receive is the news of the free gift of salvation found in Jesus Christ. It is our desire for you to know him personally.
Would you take a moment to hear this today? Every man is born with a sin nature. Romans 3 23 says, for all of sin and come short of the glory of God.
No matter how hard we try, we're not good enough to obtain God's glory or to get to heaven. Because of that, sin carries the penalty of death. Romans 6 23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. The wages of our sin or the payment of our sin only equals death and separation from God. But it's only through God's gift of salvation through Jesus Christ that we can accept him as our savior.
Jesus Christ paid for your sin debt. The Bible says in Romans 5 8, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. All you have to do is receive Christ by faith as your savior. Romans 10 9 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Verse 13 continues, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's as simple as admitting that you're a sinner believing that Jesus is the only way and calling upon his name. Bible says whosoever, that's anyone, can call upon the name of the Lord to be saved. Have you accepted Christ as your personal savior? There is no greater day than today to take care of this. Would you accept Christ as your savior? If you have any questions, please give us a call at 336-993-5192 or visit our website at curwinbaptistchurch.com or visit us at person at one of our three service times. We hope you have a great rest of your day. God bless you.
