Gratitude: The Heart Posture of Radical Love | Heather Schott | Mercy Culture Church

This morning, it's another exciting morning. I'm bringing a prophetic word and a foundational word for this house, a new value of Mercy Culture Church. Come on, who's excited about it? You guys remember the value of last year, the new value that we added, correct? We spent a whole year teaching in it. What was it? There you go, there you go. Good disciples. And so I wanna just downshift with some of you there in the room, maybe you're new to Mercy Culture. You're like, what does that mean? We're introducing a new value of Mercy Culture culture. Our culture here is built upon biblical values. Landon and I were really provoked a long time ago, early in ministry. We were leading at a very unhealthy church and this pastor called us forward and went to pray over us. And he went to pray his DNA in us and our spirits and immediately he was like, no, take a little step back, but no, thank you. And we have always craved not what is in man, but what is in God, what is heaven's values and heaven's culture. And so when we planted Mercy Culture Church, we went to the Lord, we went before him and said, God, what does Mercy Culture culture look like? What are the values?

What are the foundational values you want this house built upon? If you do not know what they are, I highly want to encourage you, go on our website and in this fast, take a deep dive and begin to not just memorize, but live them, amen. Teach them to your children, allow them to be a part of your home, your business, anywhere and everywhere that you are because it's beautiful accountability. And listen, we have to be intentional in an hour when culture is so loud and so wicked. If we are not intentional about a healthy biblical culture around us, the culture begins to form us without us knowing. And so that's why this is an important morning. And I encourage you to go and take a deep dive into those values and make it a part of the culture of your home and business and life, amen. All right, well, we will be in Luke 8, verse 27 through 39. It's titled this, Jesus heals a man with a demon. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time, he had worn no clothes and he had not lived in a house, but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high God? I beg you, do not torment me.

For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For many a time it had seized him, he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. Jesus then asked him, what is your name? And he said, legion, for many demons have entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And then those who had seen it told them how the demon possessed man had been healed. Then all of the people of the surrounding country of Gerasimos, a stranger, this word, this city's name means literally a stranger drawing near. This is how they treated Jesus,

coming into their town, healing a demonically possessed man. They treated him as a stranger. Listen to their response to him. It says that they asked him or Jesus to depart from them for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, return to your home and declare how much God has done for you or testify. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. I came to tell you this morning that the new biblical value for mercy culture is gratitude. The title of this message this morning is Gratitude, the Heart Posture of a Radical Love. I thank you that you are in this room this morning. I thank you that this is your house and we are your people. We come and we say every week, Lord, come and have your way. Fill every single part of this room, it is yours. And Lord, in this room, since thousands of temples, individuals, we say, Holy Spirit, come, fill us up. Fill your temples up with your glory and with your presence. We continue to decree after the year of reformation, less of us and more of you. This morning, we submit ourselves to you, King Jesus. We submit our minds, our bodies, our souls, our hearts, every single part of us.

We submit ourselves to you this morning. Is there anybody else that's in agreement this morning that says, yes, I submit every single part of me, my thoughts, my ideas, my opinions, all of my ways. This morning, God, we submit them to you and we say, have your way. In fact, Lord, teach us your ways that we may know you more intimately and find your favor. And so this morning, Lord, we pray what Samuel prayed. Speak, Lord, your servants are listening. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, this is the year of radical love. Radical love is when we love God for no reason and no reason can take our love from God away. It's a Matthew 22, 37 year where Jesus declares, love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul and with all of your might. This is the first and the greatest commandment. I'm excited about this year because I believe a radical church that is radical in reformation has to be just as radical in our love. In fact, it was in 2023, the first time that I remember hearing this statement, radical love, and it provoked me. I'll never forget it. I felt my spirit leap up within me and I was scrolling online and I saw a distant family member and I saw all of these pictures on her social media

and it was heavy witchcraft. And my spirit was burdened by how dark her social media was, the places she was going and what she was doing. And so the following week, I'd had another family member that was close to her that came to visit and I began to show him and he was distraught. He was also new in his walk with Christ, but he says, I'm gonna go back and I'm gonna talk to her about this. And I talked to him about a month later. He said, I had a conversation with her and I asked her, I thought that you loved Jesus. I thought that you were a Christian. And he says, she had the weirdest response. She said, that's a radical type of love. And I remember getting the biggest smile on my face and saying to this individual on the phone, yes, it is a radical type of love. We're talking about a savior that gave himself up for a people betraying him, a people cursing him, a people mocking him, a people today that we have turned our backs against him, sinned against him, that we choose our ways over his ways, that we have chosen self many times over him, that we have chosen wrong over and over and over again. Yet a king radically loved us and gave his all despite a bride loving him back, a bridegroom poured out all of his love.

It is a radical love. This moment that left in my spirit birthed a sermon that I preached in August of 2023 at one of the first services of Mercy Culture Dallas. And I preached the message called radical love. The Lord began to stir these words in me that it was necessary for what was coming in our nation and in our world and in the church. Thank you, Holy Spirit, that you are here this morning. Man, I just felt like even as we talk about radical love, Jesus, we're talking about you. And Lord, I even decreed just this morning that I will not preach a message, but Lord, we pray that we come in more intimately with you this morning. Lord, as we decree what radical love is, we're talking about you, King Jesus. So Lord, we thank you that you have radically loved us and that you are. teaching us how to radically love you back and to love your people, amen. The only response to a God and a king like this is gratitude. A king that gave his all, that radically loved us first when a bride didn't love him back. Church, the response is gratitude. Friday night, I was putting my son to bed, my youngest, and it was his birthday this last week. And so we celebrated his birthday and Friday night as I'm putting him to bed,

he puts his little arm around my neck and puts me in this headlock. And he puts his cheek right up against next to my cheek and we're cuddling and he says, he says, mom, thank you for my birthday. Thank you for my presents. Thank you for my cake. Thank you for inviting all of my friends. And he began to list every detail of his birthday. And then he says, it was my favorite birthday ever. Then he goes into Christmas. Mom, thank you for my presents at Christmas. Thank you for cooking on Christmas. And he lists a whole bunch of things at Christmas. This kid five minutes later is into fall. Mom, thank you for the best fall ever. I was like, kid, what do you want? Anything you ask, right now, you can have it. I will go and I will get you whatever you want. You have the presents at Christmas, you have the presents at your birthday, what do you want? I'll go get it for you. Because it pleased a mother's heart. It was so cute, I have to tell you the funny part. I said, Porter, thank you for having a heart of gratitude. And he goes, mm-hmm. Then he got real quiet for the first time, five minutes. And I said, why are you so quiet? He said, because at first I thought you said, thanks for having a bad attitude.

And then I thought, wow, how interesting. We get confused that they can become so similar that we can walk with a bad attitude instead of a heart of gratitude. But I ministered towards the end of the year, a message that was called, Gratitude Pleases the Lord. On this night, it so pleased me, the heart of gratitude. It was this beautiful picture of what our king must feel like when his church and his bride bestows gratitude upon him for all that he has done for us. If you have not listened to this message yet, I highly encourage you go listen to this message as we are laying this foundational value as a part of our culture. It was an powerful and incredible Sunday, but I break down the three main ways that we show gratitude, which is through thanksgiving, praise, and giving God glory. And this morning, I'm gonna go a different direction. But first, I wanna teach you on our new biblical value, and you'll find it on our website just like this. We say this, gratitude, it's a lifestyle. Gratitude pleases the Lord. No matter what we face, valleys or mountaintops, gratitude is the answer. Gratitude is the heart posture that seeks in all things to be thankful and glorify the Lord because it brings you and it keeps you in the presence and in the favor of the Lord. Because he first loved us, we will forever be grateful. And with it comes many scriptures that you can go

and study in this fast on gratitude. But God spoke to me, when he spoke to me about radical love in 2023, he brought me to Hosea. So let's go there, Hosea 3, chapter one. Let me set the scene for you. Hosea was a prophet that was sent by God to the Israelites and to a nation that had completely turned away from God. They were fully in wickedness. They had turned to false idols. They had completely turned their back on their first love. And so God calls this prophet to come and to teach them on repentance, to prepare them to turn his bride back to him. And God does it in a really interesting way. God teaches this prophet what his heart feels like in breaking and in aching over a bride that does not love the bridegroom back. And God tells Hosea the prophet to go and marry a prostitute, an adulterous woman. He says, I want you to go and marry her so that you can feel the agony of What it is like to be married to a bride that will not love you back. I Want you to feel the desperation and the pain To be married to a bride That when you bless and you give and you give your loving devotion upon your bride that there is no Gratitude in the bride to the bridegroom And this is Hosea's life that he is sent as a prophet to warn God's people of their idolatry and their Adultery because they had turned their back on their first love Hosea was submitted to God and did what the Lord told him to do Marrying the adulterous wife and he even went as so far to obey God and name his children

after the sins of the Israelites God said name your second child No mercy. Can you imagine naming your child? No mercy Let alone putting the bumper sticker on the back of your car I Think it's gonna be the last words I put on the back of my car since it was God's Word that he was giving for judgment. He was bestowing on his people despite Oakhurst trying to sell them right now That's true. They're selling bumper stickers that say no mercy You know what this morning? Let's pray for our neighbors. Let's pray for them. Can everybody just stretch your hand over to Oakhurst God we thank you But you are the God of Oakhurst You are the God of the people that live in Oakhurst and are on the ONA Lord, we thank you. You are the God of our neighbors and your word says to love our neighbors So this morning Lord, we pray for salvation and deliverance in Oakhurst neighborhood Lord I pray that this year this is the year that they would come to know you They would come to have an intimate relationship with you Lord. We pray this morning for revival and Reformation in Oakhurst neighborhood. In fact, we lift the name of Jesus the highest authority over that neighborhood Lord We thank you that you rule and reign in that neighborhood and that Lord you're about to transform You are you are about to revolutionize marriages children families that entire neighborhood for your glory King Jesus So Lord, we thank you that you are the God of Oakhurst that salvation and Deliverance is coming that they are encountering a radical love this year in 2025 in Jesus mighty name. Amen Amen So Hosea learns how to love like God despite Betrayal because God gives him his heart by showing him what it felt like to love a bride that was in love with other lovers God in fact has him prophesy that there is a Messiah coming to prepare them Selfs for the Messiah that is coming to prepare themselves for salvation and Deliverance this cause Hosea to be able to stay faithful to God and to love the people not like a man

but like a Savior to love like Christ and to love the bride as The Lord their God loved them We see after God's righteous anger in Hosea in Hosea 118 through 11. It's titled this God's love for Israel. It says this how could I give you up Oh Ephraim? How could I surrender you Oh Israel? How could I make you like Adma? How could I treat you? Like the vine my heart is turned within me. My compassion is stirred I will not execute the full fury of my anger I will not turn back to destroy Ephraim for I am God and not man the Holy One among you And I will not come in wrath. They will walk after the Lord He will roar like a lion and when he roars his children will come trembling from the West They will come trembling like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria Then I will settle them in their homes declares the Lord God's love is so radical that even with a bride Even with us that have been unfaithful in our lives. He is patient to love us through. Oh That he is so loving to love us at our worst But as we would betray him he would never betray us us. We have turned our back on him. He would never turn his back on us because he radically loves us, his people. See, America deserved judgment in this last election. It's what we deserved. Yet we see the hand of God and mercy. Why? Because a man is going to save America? Absolutely not. God is. But a man was elected that will honor biblical principles. I'm telling you, church, we deserved judgment, but God gave us an hour for mercy and not just an hour of mercy, but of radical love that America is going to receive from a God that is going to pour out mercy and mass salvation. I heard the Lord say in 2023, radical love will bring mass salvation. It's wild. Our pastor was not there that night that I ministered. I'm sorry, I'm just going to lean in as your pastor. The fact that I just said, I heard the Lord saying 2023 radical love is going to bring mass salvation and five people clapped. It could be my ear pieces, but this morning I'm going to believe that you're going to be set free and shook awake. If the word of mass salvation in our nation with our hurting, broken, crooked, wicked world, doesn't get you excited. I don't know what's going to get you excited, but the Lord promised that this year, those of you that have been believing for the

family member that has been lost, that has been drug addicted, that has been serving other gods, that has been dabbling in witchcraft. Maybe you're sitting in a room this morning and it's been your family members that has been crying out for you this year. This is your year says the Lord that mass salvation, hundreds of thousands, millions shall be saved around the world. Come on, it's time church. It's time. It's time for the church to arise and say yes and amen to preparing a great harvest for the return of our King. The Bible says to pay attention to the times that we are in, we are in end times. He tarries for souls. He tarries for a harvest. God is saying he spoke it through our pastor last week. He spoke to me in 2023 mass salvation is about to break out in our nation and around the world. This means that as you radically love the Lord, your God, the second part of the greatest commandment is that you would love your neighbor or those who do not know him. Matthew 22 39 says, love your neighbor as yourself. So question, how do we love those that curse us? How do we love those that don't believe in our God? How do we love those that betray us? How do we love those that are evil or that are worldly? First John chapter four, verse seven through 14 tells us, I want you to meditate on this portion of scripture on this entire chapter in your fast and this year, because there is so much I could preach a sermon on each verse, but I'm going to, I'm going to go through a seven verses this morning. And it says this in verse seven, beloved, he's speaking to you, my loved ones. Let us love one another because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. We know what knows means. What does it mean? Come on. Disciples, great disciples. It means intimacy with God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and is intimate with him. Whoever does not love does not know, or has not been intimate with God because God is love. Hear me this morning, evidence of an intimate relationship with the Lord is loving others radically. If you are struggling in loving your spouse right now, if you are struggling in loving your family members right now, if you are struggling at loving the lost right now, those that are in the world, those are in LGBTQ community. If you are struggling to love them right now, your relationship with the Lord may not be as intimate as you thought. The way that we radically love is a mirror of our personal relationship with the Lord because we cannot daily encounter the radical lover and come into his presence and receive that and go out and hate what he radically loves. So this morning If you are struggling, I wanna challenge you. Go deeper with the Lord, push back religious ways.

Maybe you need to break up some things that you've been doing in your daily encounter and come before Him differently. Maybe you need to get real with God and pour your heart out, weep before Him, tell Him what your struggles are. Begin to ask help to love others, but invite God into this space so that we can begin to radically love others. I wanna make this note, that this does not mean that as we radically love others, that we compromise, that we compromise on faith or that we compromise on truth. Many people would say when we were stepping out and being bold, that we weren't being loving to our neighbors, no, the Word of God says that if you love God, you will obey Him. And so we obey by stepping out in faith and being bold witnesses for the Lord. It's interesting because the scripture says, God is love in many people because we have been so culturized, if that's a word, I'm making it into one now. We have been so culturized because the culture has tried to re, not try, but done a really good job in a very evil way to redefine what love is. And what we don't understand is that when we're living in a world that's all around us, speaking to us from every angle, it begins to influence and change us without knowing. And all of a sudden, we think, man,

bold Christianity, that's mean and hateful and unloving because the world says it. But it's interesting that the Bible says that God is love. So is there ever a moment that God stops being love? Absolutely not, He is love. So whether Jesus was flipping tables or healing the woman with the issue of blood, He was love. Whether He was rebuking a disciple or somebody that didn't wanna sell everything and follow after Him, or whether He was encouraging and loving on children, He was love. He is love. And so this year, we are going to do our best to begin to teach you about all of the characteristics of who Jesus is because there is no point in time when He is judged that He is not loving or when He is Savior that He is not loving because God is love. Church, this means we do not compromise truth. We walk in truth and we walk in love because it is who He is all the time, amen. Verse nine says this, this is how God's love was revealed among us. God sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. And love consists in this, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Thank you, Jesus. Beloved, He's speaking to you again.

If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us and He has given us His Spirit and we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. Woo! So when you're struggling to love that person and your flesh wants to go and tell somebody off, all of a sudden you remember you are not your own. You are not your own. There is a Holy Spirit that abides on the inside of you that you say, Holy Spirit, help me right now, that my flesh does not lead me, but that your Spirit partnered with my spirit will lead me to love them like you radically loved them and radically loved me. This is a word of the Lord for right now. And how do I know this? Because God gives us warnings that apply for specific times. We find one of these warnings in Matthew 24, verse 12 through 13. These are Jesus's words and He begins to warn us of a time that wickedness will multiply. What does that mean? It means wickedness is going to grow quickly. Anybody notice wickedness growing quickly in the last five to 10 years? Right?

You talk to our parents that raised the 40s and you go back and you would have told them when I was a kid, my parents, and said, hey, one day your daughter is gonna have to teach her kids about kids in her generation having their body parts chopped off. My mom, 30 years ago, would have laughed at that and said that sounds like a horror movie, not a reality. This is how we know that there has been a multiplication of wickedness when the mind and the reality has collided and created such evils that the next generation that we're having to deal with now. So Jesus is speaking of this time that we're in. He says, because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who perseveres until the end will be saved. Come on. He's speaking not only to the wickedness of our time, but he's saying the answer, church, is radical love. What he spoke over 2025, when you love him for no reason at all, and it begins to change and transform, not just me, not just you, but it begins to transform the world. See, the ones that radically love, despite wickedness multiplying, their relationship with Jesus does not grow cold. The ones that radically love does not grow cold and in the end shall be saved. The ones that love and does not grow cold continue to testify and to bring mass salvation. Here's your warning. Your love cannot grow cold. You must be intentional in checking your heart. How do you view people? Here's your practical advice. Look at people as the Lord's. When you're driving on the freeway and somebody cuts you off, praise God, that's his son. That's his daughter. When you're waiting in line somewhere and somebody has taken forever and complaining and throwing a fit and you're late to your next appointment, they're his son. They're his daughter. But when we begin to view others in the world, not through our frustration, not through craziness, not through what we see in the news, allowing the news and media to begin to transform peace that we walk in as warriors. Come on, I'm speaking to a lot of people. I know in the room right now.

But we begin to walk in this radical love. People's lives are transformed, just like your life was transformed by his radical love. Luke 6, 31 through 31 through 36 says this. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Come on, he's speaking to some consecrated ones this morning. He's saying, you want to be set apart, distinguished from the world? Let me tell you what it looks like. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners expecting to be repaid in full. He says this in verse 35. But love your enemies, do good to them, lend to them, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. Listen to this verse. He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful just as your Father is merciful. Mercy Culture Church, God is saying this morning, mercy is seen through radical love to those that are wicked and ungrateful. Just pause right there. This is kind of wild. It says that radical love or the kindness of God is to those that are ungrateful and wicked. He uses the word ungrateful with wicked. Let's take a deep dive to see why. Romans chapter 1 verse 21 says this. For although they knew God, they had relationship with Jesus. They neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him.

But they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. This is wild because everything that Scripture says, says to be intimate with God. Your relationship is about knowing Him more intimate. It's the vision of this. house, yet it says that they knew God but became futile and and darkened in their foolish hearts because they did not show gratitude or bring glory to God." Let's let's see what this word ungrateful means. It's the word aharisthos. Okay it means this, ungrateful, ungracious, or unpleasing. Literally to be ungrateful to God displeases our God. Cultural and historical background is this, in the Greco-Roman world gratitude was considered a fundamental virtue or what a foundational value, essential for maintaining social harmony and relationships. This concept of aharisthos which means favor and grace or it means gratitude, was central to Greek culture encompassing not only grace and favor but also the reciprocal nature of giving and receiving. Ingratitude therefore was seen as a serious moral failing, disrupting the social and divine order. Just think, what do you feel is the most serious, serious moral failing? Just think of it right now. You would think that would be the most serious moral failing. And that is what culture and God says ungratefulness is, right next to that. The term, this term ungrateful means this, it is used to describe a person who is ungrateful or lacking in thankfulness but in the New Testament it conveys a moral deficiency, highlighting a failure to recognize and appreciate the grace and blessings received from God and others. Church, when you break this down it literally means that God sees ungratefulness as rejection of his grace, of his favor, and his radical love. It literally means it is an unpleasing aroma to God or an unpleasing attitude to God that means without thanks or without grace. Let me break down to you three different types of ungrateful individuals. I don't want you to think about other people, I want you to think about your life. Number one, those that have received blessing, favor, miracles, answered prayers, radical love from God, a Savior that died on a cross for them, yet they live a life lacking praise and

thanksgiving to him, therefore stealing glory from him that he is so jealous for. Those of you that struggle to walk into this room thinking you have nothing to give him praise for, you have nothing to lift your hands for, I pray this word shakes you awake this morning that you, that those thoughts, that that attitude is literally a displeasing aroma that repels his favor from you. Number two, those that aren't thankful for the unanswered prayers. You heard me right, I said the unanswered prayers. The loss, the thorn in your side like Paul that he was grateful for. Personal reformation because your full trust isn't in him that he is so deserving of. And because we don't love him for no reason. See, many of us think that we have a reason all of a sudden to not give praise and glory to God because of loss or extreme hurt and pain that we have gone through. But what you don't recognize is you have an opportunity like nobody else in the midst of that valley, in the midst of that low place that you are facing to lift your hands and say, if he never did another thing for me, if he never answered, I feel the Holy Ghost, if he never answered another prayer, if he never did another thing, the cross was enough. It was enough. Jesus giving his all for me, making me new, putting the breath in my lungs. It is enough. And he deserves all the glory and all the praise. The third is this, that ungrateful ones are those that see everything in a negative perspective. They are blinded by frustration and cannot see all the good that he has done. And when they cannot see all the good he has done, they cannot walk in gratitude and therefore they steal his glory. Many have withheld this morning, many of us in all different parts of our life and seasons of our life have withheld glory from him. And in different forms. One of those ways is that we have withheld testifying of all the good that he has done in and through our lives. This is withholding gratitude from God. And Jesus places this in the same category as wickedness. But church, here is the beautiful news this morning and every single day. And he says it to Hosea in the midst of the Israelites choosing wickedness. He says, show them mercy. Even though I said no mercy, I've changed my mind and I desire to show my bride mercy. Church, listen this morning. Mercy means a loving kindness or

steadfast love. Literally an undeserved, unwavering, radical love that is for no reason. Church, it is who he is and it is who he has called us to be. We see it displayed in Luke chapter 23 verse 39 through 43. It says this, this is the scripture, when Jesus is hanging on a cross between two criminals and thieves on each side of him. And one of the criminals begins to heap and hurl abuse and insults on him. And he says, are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us. But the other one rebukes him saying, do you not even fear God? Since you are under the same judgment, we are punished justly. For we are receiving what our actions deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. And then he said, Jesus, remember me when you enter into your kingdom. And Jesus says to him, truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise. Hear me this morning, Church, Jesus received what he didn't deserve so we could receive what we don't deserve. This is a radical love. And the only response to radical love like that, Church, is gratitude. A heart of gratitude that brings him all of the praise and all of the glory. We see this heart posture of gratitude in Luke chapter 8, verse 1 through 3. It's the women that begin to minister to Jesus. And in this portion of Scripture, it says that these women that were traveling with the disciples had been delivered of many different diseases and infirmities. That is in there for a reason. Because at the end, it says that these women had a ministry to Jesus. The Bible says that Jesus did so many miracle signs and wonders. He did so many healings that there's no book that could possibly contain it all. So what's the difference between the thousands of individuals that received healing from Jesus, encounters with Jesus, and these few women that are with him with a ministry? If you study it, the Word will tell you.

Theologians will tell you they call them the grateful women. Women that had gratitude. I feel the Holy Ghost. Women that felt gratitude and not just felt, but sat at his feet and poured perfume and oil and wept tears of gratitude, bringing praise and glory to our King. Hear me this morning. Do you realize that the power of your gratitude can birth a ministry to Jesus? Whoo! The greatest ministry that there is possibly can be would be one to our Messiah, one to our King, that you can do anywhere. That you can minister to him in your car, in your closet, in your bed, in nations, anywhere, by yourself, with a group, with your family. That you can have a ministry to Jesus through a heart of gratitude. The heart posture in response to radical love, church, it is gratitude. So I ask you this question this morning. God has radically loved each one of us. Have you radically loved him back? Have you had a heart of gratitude overflowing with thanksgiving for no reason at all? Because your gratitude should never come from receiving what you want first. Children do that. Not spiritually mature adults with an intimate relationship with a King of Kings. Gratitude is an expression of your radical love for God. A love that is for no reason. And many of you this last year went through great personal reformation. Things were exposed in you. Crooked ways were exposed in you to be made straight. desires in you that weren't of God's selfish desires exposed to trade desires for his. Did you thank him for it? Did you thank him for the pain? Did you thank him for the time that he spent with you revealing those things? Why? So that he can make you into a vessel of radical love. Have you showed gratitude to God for the things that you deemed as difficult? Because when we're at church the cries, God make me holy like you are holy. He'll send a refiner's fire that will be uncomfortable. But church it's on purpose. He's in the fire with us and I can promise you this that he will never allow you to suffer more than the suffering that he went through as a perfectly holy God. His refiner's fire, his personal reformation, the pain, the unanswered prayers, it is all a part of his radical love for us church. Worship team come up this morning. Luke chapter

8 verse 33 through 39. It's our original opening scripture and it says this, Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs and the herd rushed down the steep bank and into the lake and drowned. And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Tattletales go flooding the city angry about demons being delivered out of a dead man walking. Wild. Then people went out to see what had happened and they come to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed in his right mind and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all of the people surrounding this countryside asked him to depart from them for they were seized with great fear. Their response is for Jesus to leave. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might go with him. But Jesus sent him away saying, return to your home and declare how much God has done for you or what testify. And he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. Church can you imagine responding to a supernatural healing of a man that is demon-possessed by a legion of demons that is cutting himself, that is breaking chains, that is living in a tomb down the road from your neighborhood. And when he is delivered by a Savior you're filled with fear. Hold up you would rather him live near you in the previous condition. Yet now you're afraid when he is delivered and in his right mind. So you cast Jesus out of your town. Whoo! Coming in agreement with the demons that were begging Jesus when he showed up, please don't torment us. Please don't send us away. Hoping that Jesus would be sent away. The people come into agreement with demons or a spirit of fear and cast the deliverer out. Sounds like when they cheered for a murderer to be released instead of a Savior. Sounds like Psalm the chant for those that are bound to stay bound instead of giving them a place of freedom and redemption. I came to tell you this morning the ones with great fear begged for Jesus's presence to go. But the one with great gratitude begged to stay in the presence of Jesus. Oh the man that had the legion delivered he said as they were casting Jesus out he said let me go with you. Let me stay

in your presence. The one with great gratitude begged to stay in the presence of Jesus. Hear me this morning those that do not know Jesus will be spreaders of fear. But those that know Jesus will spread the radical love of Jesus. John 4 18 through 19 says there is no fear in love. There is no fear in love. If God is love, and you feel fear, there is a demonic present present. Because there is no fear in love. There is no fear in God. But perfect love, or what? Radical love drives out fear. Because fear involves punishment. And the one who fears has not been perfected in love. For we love because He first loved us. I have a prophetic warning for you this morning. If you would just get comfortable, turn your phones off, position yourself to receive. But this week, I experienced a demonic attack as I was writing this sermon. I kept feeling the prophetic come, and then a voice come and say, that's not God. Those aren't God's words. And look, if it's not God's words, I'm not saying it. So I had some of these moments where I would just cry out to God. And at the end of writing this sermon, I said, God, does this sermon please you? Do these words please you? And I hear the Holy Spirit so clear. See, these are not your words. These are my words.

And then a prophet text me yesterday and said, Heather, as I was praying for you, I saw warfare over you in this message. But I came to encourage you to tell you, the Lord said, these are not your words. These are my words. You can't make that up, church. God is alive. He's alive and He's speaking. This morning, I have this prophetic warning, but word for you, that fear is coming in a different form than before. Now it's a fear that will steal your gratitude for the Lord, which steals the glory from the Lord. He told me to tell you this morning that your testimony is a vehicle of gratitude. I'm gonna say it again. Your testimony is a vehicle of gratitude, church. He did not set you free for you to isolate yourself. He did not set you free for your freedom alone. He set you free. He delivered you. He saved you to set others free. And I don't know where we heard this thing in Christianity, probably from a wicked culture. But oh, you tell your testimony, you're gonna be really spiritually attacked. I don't know if you're ready for that. You need 10 years of Christianity under your belt

before you do that. Where does the word say that? I'm gonna take you through the word in a second, but this is where I believe the body of Christ has taken a lying, bitter pill that we are to fear telling the world the good that he has done for us. How dare us? How dare us? That we would receive his power, his authority to receive freedom. Oh, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. We're an entire world, millions church. Millions are stuck in bondage. And we have the audacity to withhold sharing with the world what he has done for us. I'm gonna lean in more because some of you that have shared your testimony, you have fabricated it so that you don't look as bad. Let me help you this morning. Your testimony has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with him and what he did for you. It has nothing to do with you, church. It is everything that he has done for you. And your eyes have been too much on the enemy and what he did to tempt you, what he did to get you to fall. And that shame that Pastor Landon prophesied last week that it's coming off of you this year. I prophesy over you, it's coming off today.

I decree over you, the spirit of fear is breaking off of you today, church. Enough is enough. You've been focused on what the enemy did to trip you up and what you did. And I'm telling you this morning. Oh, just like the Lord rebuked me told me the very first time I shared my testimony with a group of girls 20 years ago I had my back on a wall with a little piece of paper in my back pocket Trembling when I saw 50 people in the room and the first thought I thought was run It's what I've done my whole life from uncomfortability is run I hear the audible voice of God speak to me and say Heather Stop making this about you and go be to those girls, which you never had I can't tell you what I said in that moment, but I can tell you at the end It was weeping. It was prayer. It was freedom It was girls Telling and confessing their sins saying I want freedom and it caused me to begin to say who is this God? Who is this God that can take the most? Shameful that the darkest moments the pit Moments and use those moments to bring glory to him and to set other people free. Who is this God? And Many of us in this room. We have been stealing glory from God By not sharing our testimony by not telling the world How good he is? Church, I am telling you this morning. He is jealous He is jealous for a harvest It is the word of the Lord right now that you break off shame and you break off fear and you become You walk as the witness that he has called his bride to walk as revelations 10 through 12

This is wild Because I told you we are in end times. We don't know where we're at in end times, but we are in it and revelation speaks to those times And the Word of God says this and I heard a loud voice in heaven saying now have come the Salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down Look, I don't know if you remember the prophetic word from last week When pastor Landon said we're coming into a season of the accuser of the brethren Where the enemy is coming to accuse you he's coming to accuse leaders He's coming so that people would begin to rip out the weeds With the wheat the enemy went and planted the weeds so that somebody will come and say all This all looks like weeds and begin to tear out those that are holy those that are good those that bear fruit He said we're coming into a season of the accuser of the brethren I can't tell you how many Conversations how many stories that I have talked with people lately where the accuser came and I thought in my head But I couldn't say it out loud Except to a couple of them I did because I didn't want to wait to crush them, but I thought these words only If you would have testified I'll tell you the enemy can't wait to tell your story in the wrong way To the wrong person with a lying manipulative twist to it and He will never include What God did for you only how Satan tempted you because God wants his glory This is why God puts Ungratefulness with wicked because literally Our testimony is a form of gratitude Telling the world or what what he radically loves

About what he has done Scripture says this he accuses them day and night day and night He accuses them day and night before our God But in verse 11 it says this for they have conquered the accuser or they have Overcome they have defeated It is by your testimony that you overcome church the accuser it is not the other way around like he has tried to get us to believe it's how you overcome him this is why he wants the bride thinking don't tell your testimony your reputation in business it will be ruined don't go tell your testimony to your family they won't support you in a ministry they'll mock you so what so what so what if your reputation was ruined in business so what more than most likely it's a threat but so what you want to know why so what because the next scripture says this and they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death it was the people it was the remnant that testified and lived if i perish i perish see radical love is when we radically love him and not our own life not our own reputation not other people's opinions but when we radically love him so much god every part of me every part of me let it bring you glory every part of me that you have entrusted me with every part of my story everything i went through as a child the abuse the rape every single part of it every part of it shame fear has to go to bring glory to my king this is what i want you to do everybody go ahead and stand to your feet this morning go ahead enemy expose yourself i can hear the lies of the enemy i can hear him but what if of the enemy i can hear him but what if i'm not ready but what if i'm not fully healed and what if i'm not fully delivered and i've only just got saved in the last couple of months and i don't know if i'm ready for the questions you don't have to answer all the questions can you put the opening scripture back up on the screen for me you got a demon possessed man living in tombs breaking shackles naked y'all out of his mind and god comes and sets him free and says return to your home and declare how much god has done for you and it says he went right away proclaiming throughout the whole city he went testifying throughout the whole city shame come off of you in jesus mighty name fear come off of you in jesus mighty name church it is time to testify and it is time to testify not just in the house of god but throughout

the entire city throughout the nations at one eight until the end of the earth but you will receive power when the holy spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses he decrees over you church you will be my witnesses you will be my witnesses balcony you will be my witnesses your children will be witnesses let him tell your story with you be honest about your story with your children my daughter my son they know my testimony they share it for me 20 years church i stand as a living representation of testifying and i've only gotten freer and freer and freer you can mock me you can make fun and i will laugh with you because i am free the freer and freer you become when you testify and bring glory to your king so this morning close your eyes for those of you that says first i want to give my my my life to jesus you either want to rededicate because you've fallen away or you want to give your life to jesus for the first time you say this god I am convinced. I want to know him. I want to serve this king named Jesus. Lift your hands. Hands are already going up. They're already going up. Yes. It's time to let freedom ring young woman and with her hand lifted in the back in the middle in black. Come on. Any other hands? Yes. Thank you. I see hands. Any other hands? Just lift your hand. I'm not going to call you down. Just let heaven see today. Thank you for your hands. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Pray this prayer with me, church. Pray this prayer this morning. Say, dear Jesus, I repent for my sins. I believe that you died on the cross for me. And I receive today all that you paid for. I receive your forgiveness. Jesus. Fill me. Holy spirit. Fill me. Don't just save me. Deliver me. Use me for your glory. Annoying me to testify. Use me as a witness of your radical love. Thank you, Jesus, for what you did on the cross. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for delivering. Thank you for setting me free. Hey, man, come on today. If you prayed that prayer, you just made the greatest decision of your entire life. You just entered the greatest adventure of your life. This is what we're going to do for the rest of the room. There's a posture of gratitude that the word of God shows us over and over and over. In fact, we see the same heart posture in the very scripture that we read today of the demon-possessed man. And when all the people come running to see what happened,

the Bible says that they saw him sitting at the feet of Jesus. It's the same words that we see for the lepers, the 10 lepers, the one that turned around to show gratitude to Jesus. The Bible says that he ran and he threw himself at the feet of Jesus in gratitude. And then we see it again in Luke seven with Mary, when Jesus begins to rebuke all the other people around. And he says, no, no, no, no, no, no. You haven't seen what she's done. Look at where she's at. She's not my feet. She's anointed my feet with her tears with oil. She's shown gratitude at my feet. This is the heart posture church of gratitude this morning. You can come up to the front, you can get into the aisles, but I want to posture ourselves this morning in a heart of gratitude, kneeling before our King. If you cannot physically kneel, would you just sit and bend over as a posture of humility and submission? But if you can kneel this morning, go ahead and kneel. And this is what I want you to do. I want you to begin to pour your affection at the feet of Jesus. I said that in this room, that there had been people that had stolen glory from God, from not showing gratitude. Maybe it's for what he did on the cross. Maybe it's been how good, maybe this morning you were convicted because you've been the one that is blamed in the valleys and not showed gratitude and praise. This morning, the feet of Jesus is before you. And I want you to close your eyes and picture yourself kneeling at the feet of Jesus and beginning to pour out your gratitude on his feet. I'm not going to do it for you, but just let a sound of gratitude just begin to come from your voices. I put a light on the year belief now reflecting back on it I put a light on the year belief now reflecting back on it I put a light on the year belief now reflecting back on it I put a light on the year belief now reflecting back on it I'm the light Come on, don't get tired

Don't get tired of pouring gratitude on the feet of Jesus this morning Some of you just need to say over and over to Him I love you, I love you, I love you Some of you need to go back and what are the things that you didn't give Him glory for and say God thank you for that miracle God thank you for this opportunity God I took the glory when it was your hand it was your favor, it was the open door that you opened it was the gifts you placed upon me with your anointing to be able to do this Come on, where's been the misplaced glory that this morning you need to lean in and bring glory to your King Come on, just look at Him Come on, just look at Him Just look at Him, focus on Him, not the time, not anybody else around you Just at the feet of Jesus right now Just begin to tell Him you love Him over and over I love you, I love you, I love you King Jesus we adore you You are worthy of all of our adoration, all of our love Come on church, would you just begin to love on Him Pour your affection on Him this morning Would you radically love Him back the way that He has radically loved you Would you pour your all out, your affections on His feet this morning Jesus this morning we love you with our mind

We love you with our soul We love you with our strength With every single part of us this morning We love you for no reason at all But this morning we turn back to our bridegroom and we say We love you, we love you, we love you This morning Lord we turn away from our other lovers Oh God the idols The things that have stolen our attention The things that have stolen our affection And this morning you are the only lover God we pour our affections out on you this morning And we say King Jesus Oh we adore you We adore you We adore you King Jesus We love you No other reason, no other reason but to love you No other reason, no other reason just to love you Oh You're the only reason No other reason but to love you No other reason just to love you No other reason but to love you No other reason just to love you No other reason but to love you Come on, radically love Him right now, church. Wrap your arms around Him this morning. Radically love Him this morning. No other reason but to love you

Oh, oh, oh No other reason just to love you Oh, oh, oh No other reason but to love you Oh, oh, oh No other reason just to love you Oh, oh, oh No other reason but to love you Oh, oh, oh Come on, His glory is in the room. You're touching heaven, church. Continue to pour out your affections. His glory is here. You are all my reasons You're why I love you, Lord, I know You're the only reason You're why I love you, Lord, I know You are all my reasons You're why I love you, Lord, I know You're the only reason You are all my reasons Oh, oh, oh No other reason but to love you No other reason just to love you No other reason but to love you Come on, the spirit of deliverance is here, church! Pride, you didn't ask for it! But the spirit of deliverance is in the room! If you need deliverance in the room this morning, just continue to decree your love for Him

and He is delivering His people this morning! Oh, oh, oh No other reason but to love you No other reason just to love you I just love you I just love you Oh, oh, oh You are all my reasons You're why I love you, Lord, I know You're the only reason You're why I love you, Lord, I know You are all my reasons You're why I love you, Lord, I know Come on, lift your hands if you want shame and fear to break off of you! The spirit of deliverance is in the room! Jesus is here, church! You are all my reasons You're why I love you, Lord, I know You're the only reason You're why I love you, Lord, I know You are all my reasons You're why I love you, Lord, I know You're the only reason You're why I love you, Lord, I know You just loving on the Lord And deliverance happening Last week I sat in the front row And I had no responsibilities on a Sunday morning And I came in and I said, God I am getting everything from you that I possibly can this morning

I came in with an expectation I didn't know what for Apologize if I didn't greet you. I was on a mission. I came to encounter God First service I said God, would you deliver me of perfectionism? Irritation frustration with things not being perfectly right That was binding me up It was stealing gratitude because I was focused on what I was frustrated with I threw myself on my knees there and I said God deliver me I begin to pour out my love to him His glory falls on me begins to wreck because we had to go into the next service Landon begins to close out the service and I'm thinking God I don't want to leave this moment right now. I wish I was in my prayer closet with you right now. Will you start off from this spot in the next service? The second service I fall to my face and I am weeping like I am the only one in the room. God begins to radically encounter me and take me through radical encounters in my life where I came into the Lord. He showed me the key when the weight feels heavy when the distractions come when the enemy comes with his insults with persecution. Heather come into me like in these moments when you hid yourself in me I begin to weep as I see these flashes. I'm telling you this morning if you came on a mission to encounter God this morning to be delivered to be set free saying I'm done I'm done being bound I don't care what it is I've been in ministry for 20 years and I cried out last week God deliver me this morning you have a moment lift your hands to the Lord think about nothing just picture him picture him right now there's his glory there's his presence but I want you to just say God I love you and I want to tell I want you to tell him so many times that you don't know how you're going to save the 500 and seconds time I just want you to continually over and over begin to put your affections on him begin to pour out your love begin to pour out your love men of God begin to pour out your love and your affection on the Lord of Lord and kings of kings Jesus we love you this morning we adore you King Jesus you are worthy you are worthy of all of our adoration all the spirit of religion is going the spirit of religion is being cast out many of you that have dealt with spirits with the spirit of religion he's casting it out come on keep loving on him this morning King Jesus we love you you are worthy you are a worthy king you are a holy king we put our affections on you you are worthy of every last drop of our affection and of our love King Jesus

we love you for no reason we love you for no reason come on tell him we love you for no reason we love you for no reason we love you for no reason oh witchcraft witchcraft is going ah new age lies new age theology is leaving deception is being cast out frustration come on we love you for no reason oh we love you for no reason we love you come on church for one more minute pour your affection out on the king of kings on the bridegroom this morning you're the only reason you're the only Come on, stand to your feet this morning, and lift your hands, and love on Him. Oh, no other reason but to love You. No other reason just to love You. No other reason but to love You. No other reason just to love You. I just love You. I just love You. I just love You. I just love You. I just love You. I just love You. Oh, I just love You. I just love. Oh, I just love You. Oh, I just love You. I just love You. I just love You, Lord. I just love You. I just love You. I just love You. I just love You.

I just love You. I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. I love You, Lord, I love You. You're all my reasons. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're all my reasons. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're all my reasons. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. You're the only reason. Why I love You, Lord, I love You. Lord, You're my only reason. Why? No other reason but to love You. No other reason just to love You. No other reason but to love You. No other reason just to love You. No other reason but to love You. No other reason just to love You.

No other reason but to love You. No other reason just to love You. I'm gonna love You with all my heart. All my soul. All my mind. And strength. I'm gonna love You with all my heart. All my soul. ♪ All my mind and strength, come on sing it out ♪ ♪ I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul ♪ ♪ All my mind and strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart ♪ ♪ All my soul, all my mind, all my soul ♪ ♪ And strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ ♪ And strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ ♪ And strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ ♪ And strength, no other reason but to love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ Can we just sing that one more time? Just keys. ♪ I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ ♪ And strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ ♪ And strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ ♪ And strength, I'm gonna love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind ♪ I was just sitting on the front row and I had the thought, Lord, I feel you so near, I feel like I could just whisper to you. And I heard him say, I am. He's near. Would you just whisper to the Lord, I love you. Lord, I love you, Jesus. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you. Lord, I love you. Jesus. Jesus, I love you. Lord, we ask that you would stay near to us as we leave this place, as we go into our daily encounters. Even as Pastor Heather was talking about knowing you, Lord. Lord, would we know you in a new way, which we know you with radical love this week. Lord, we love you. We love your presence. We love deliverance. Lord, we love how you move in this place.

So Lord, with gratitude, we say thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. We just give the Lord a hand clap this morning. It's a beautiful time in the presence of God today. I want to invite our altar team up. If you have anything that you need prayer for, we want to partner with you. You heard Pastor Heather talk about in her message, the power of testify. And we want to partner with you in sharing your testimony. You'll see a keyword on the screen. If you text the word testimony to 590 90, we want to hear about how you were saved, how you were delivered, the miracles you've experienced. We want to partner with you in testifying what the Lord has done in your life. And I can tell you, if you are in this room and you have encountered God, you have a testimony. Amen. Amen. So we have our altar team up front. I even just felt just a moment ago that there was someone in this room. And you feel like you're supposed to come up to the altar, but you're hesitating. The Lord is inviting you up here right now. to encounter him with our team. We also have three ways to give. You'll see him on the screen. We wanna thank you for being an obedient church. And if you'll just pause and open your hands to receive, I wanna pray our benediction over you this morning. Lord, we say, teach us your ways that we would know you and find your favor, amen. You guys have a blessed week. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Amen. Amen. Amin. We always say...