VITAL SIGNS                                                                      EAST BAY FELLOWSHIP

(Series, #5)                                                                                                 October 2, 2005

KINDNESS

TEXT: Ephesians 2:4-10

INTRODUCTION

•  This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD. — Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NIV)

1) GOD IS ALWAYS SHOWING KINDNESS

•     More than 20% of the time this word “kindness” appears in the Bible some form of the word “show” appears with it because kindness is about a good heart expressed in action.      

2) WE ARE GOD’S AGENTS OF KINDNESS

•     Workmanship means something made, a product, as in fabric.  It is also the word from which we get our English word “poem”.

•     My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth…—Psalm 139:15 (NIV)

•     We can suffocate that desire in selfishness, silence it with the chatter of competing demands, or bypass it on the fast track to personal achievement.  But it’s still there.  — Bill Hybels

3) GOD HAS PREPARED EACH ACT OF KINDNESS

•     When we miss the act of kindness in front of us our Heavenly Father recalibrates our day around the next one ahead.

•     But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the selfish.  — Luke 6:35(RSV)

CONCLUSION

•           Almost every act of kindness requires some form of courage.

•           There are basically two kinds of acts of kindness: spontaneous and intentional.