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Welcome to the live big broadcast with Derek Greer. We believe this teaching from God's word will empower you to live a full, impactful life in Christ. Let's dig in. We're gonna be in Luke chapter 17 and verse 11. Now, it happened as they went to Jerusalem. Jesus was on his final journey to Jerusalem, and he knew the beating and the suffering and the cross that was waiting for him down the road. But the amazing thing is Jesus kept walking. And whenever I feel like giving up, whenever I feel like running away, whenever I feel like throwing in the towel, I can't help but think about Jesus. You see, the gospel is the only story where the hero dies for the village, but Jesus kept walking. And he passed through the midst of Samaria in Galilee. And what he did there is he traveled through pretty much the area of the two borders, of the two countries. And these two countries had been in conflict for centuries. Now, they worshiped the same God, but they did it in different temples and also in different ways. I think the situation probably between the Samaritans and the Jews was a little bit like the situation in America between blacks and whites in the 50s and 60s, between Ireland and Northern Ireland in the 70s, the Hutus and the Tutsis in the 90s, and probably Russia and the Ukrainians today. So there's a lot of hostility. There was long standing conflict and they hated each other and they would avoid each other. They would look down on each other, talk about each other. This was the type of relationship these two nations had or people groups. Then as he entered a certain village where, you know, of course he was going to in that area meet both Samaritans and Israelites. There met him 10 men who were lepers. Now, most of us know that leprosy is one of the oldest and most dreaded infectious diseases in world history. So it was not only like Covid and the fear that came from it, it had enormous social stigma. Actually, if you received leprosy, if you are in a nation that worshiped the gods, they felt that you were judged by the gods. And if you were in Israel, you felt that somehow God was punishing you for a deed in your life. That's why when a man that was born blind, the disciples asked, well, who sinned, his mother or his father? Because they felt that these types of illnesses only came from sin and error and bad actions. So this leprosy was a serious thing. It included sin, skin discoloration, blisters it with pus and oozing loss of hair. I already got that partial paralysis, frequent infections and over time they, you'd lose sensation in your limbs and what would happen is you'd burn yourself and wouldn't know it and there'd be an infection in your body or a rat would come along at night and start eating your fingers and you wouldn't know it. And, and that's why many times lepers were missing limbs, sometimes without a nose and all the rest. This was a horrible, horrible illness. But there met him 10 men who were facing the worst and they were lepers and because of their leprosy they stood afar. Has there ever been or have you ever dealt with issues in your life that you kind of had to stay away from people, stay at a distance because there was some unclean areas, some things you didn't feel good about yourself so you were kind of self isolated and move away. So in this time, lepers were required to self quarantine outside the community so they couldn't live with their family. They, they would live in the woods, they would live in caves, they would live in isolated places. On top of that, Jewish customs would require that they would stay six feet away from healthy people. And if the wind was blowing 150ft away and when they were in the proximity of anyone with health, they had to cover their mouths and, and shout unclean, unclean. So this was basically our social distancing and quarantine on steroids. I mean they really, really, really suffered because of this disease. And these lepers did something, they lifted up their voices. My Bible says sometimes you have not because you ask not. And if there's one thing I could teach you, it's how to pray. I'm grateful you know, and I want you to know the Bible and I teach the Bible, but the reason I want to understand the Bible so I can know how to pray. The Bible is basically a roadmap to get you where you're going and you're going to God. And the Bible teaches us how to pray so we can learn how to interact with God. One of the most important things you will ever learn in life is how to pray. A lot of people want to learn how to preach, but that's not where the power is. You know, I've said this before. The disciples didn't ask Jesus, teach me how to preach. They said, lord, teach us how to pray. There was something dynamic, there was something life giving, there was something viral about, about how Jesus prayed and got hold of the Father that the disciples wanted above everything else. You think they'd say teach me how to tell parables like you, teach me how to heal the sick and raise the dead like you. But their request was, lord, teach me how to pray. And my prayer is that your request would be, lord, teach me how to pray. Not how the Baptists do it, not how the Catholics do it, not necessarily how the Pentecostals do it, but lord, teach me how to pray. And they lifted their voices. You know, we confuse now prayer with Eastern meditation. We're so influenced by the world, we forgot how to do it. Now I can pray in my heart and with my mind, but typically in the Bible it's out loud and with your mouth. When's the last time you had an out loud conversation with God? I ain't getting no hand claps there, but. But watch how they appealed to Jesus. Jesus, what's the next word? Master. The word translated master here is only used in the book of Luke. It means owner. It means commander, it means overseer. Listen, I do have a problem sometimes with worry. But I have to remind myself, listen, I'm not the owner of my life. So the problem I'm facing is not my problem, it's God's problem. God is my owner. He is my Lord. I've given him ownership and lordship of my life. And because of that, this problem's not my so why worry self? Give it to God. Trust the one who owns the problem, the one that can handle the problem. The first step to getting free for these lepers was coming under the lordship of Jesus Christ. They called him Master. What I found in my life, what I found in my ministry, what I found in my marriage, what I found in my friendships, what I found in my family relationships. God is only responsible for the parts of my life that I submit to Him. You see, the problem with dancing with the devil is after a while he gets to pick the tune. And I've learned that the key to spiritual warfare is not climbing up on some mountain, yelling at the devil, or finding out the name of the principality over the city, none of that. James says, submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee. There's power in submission. There's power in your. Yes, there's power in sanctification. You hear what I'm saying? There's power in surrender. So when the devil starts running crazy in my life, I turn to God and say, lord, where can I surrender a new God? What else can I give to you, Lord, what shall I render? They said, Jesus, Master Christ is either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all. Jesus, when's the last. Come on, come on. I know today. Listen, listen. I know how we are. I mean, we got doctors, we got lawyers, we have jobs and. And transportation, microwaves and all the rest. And we don't really think we need God. So we kind of, you know, we kind of run to God when we kind of need something. But Christ is either Lord of all or he's not Lord at all. And listen, I want Christ not only to be my Savior, I want him to be Lord. I want him to govern the way I relate to that woman in the first row. I want him to govern the way I relate to my children. I want him to govern the way I drive my car. I want him to govern the way I live my life. The speech that comes out of my mouth, whether it's sweet or sarcastic, I want him to govern my life. My prayer is, lord, thy will be done on earth and as it is in heaven. In heaven, there's no problem. The problem's on earth. I'm on earth, and I want to bring God's solution to my situation. So, Lord, govern my affairs, govern my behavior, govern my life. Cause me to forgive. Cause me to let go. Cause me to love. Cause me to be patient. Cause me to be kind. Cause me to be good. Cause me to be loyal. Cause me to be faithful. Cause me to be meek. Caused me to have self control. God, govern my life. And they said, jesus, master, have mercy on us. This is important. No other attribute of God would help. If Jesus didn't put Mercy first. His justice would have doomed us. His holiness would reject us. His power would crush us. His truth would condemn us and his wrath would obliterate us. But Mercy said no. So when he saw them, he saw that condition, but he didn't see them till they called. There's some things in your life you're not going to get out of until you call on that name. And when he saw them, he saw their condition after he heard their appeal. Martin Luther said. He said, praying is not overcoming God's reluctance. It's laying hold of his willingness. I don't pray to twist God's arm to do what I want. I tap into what he wants. You hear what I'm saying? That his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And he ears because the Bible says his ear is inclined to the righteous. He said to them, after hearing them go, they addressed him as master. But when you call Jesus, Lord, he has a right to test, to see if you playing with him or not. See, it's Easy to worship in an environment like this. But when you go home and God said, go love your wife, go love your husband, go clean them dirty dishes, go make that bed, go to work on time, do what your boss said, that's when it gets hard. You see, faith is not just what you feel, it's ultimately what you do. He said, if y' all call me Lord, you call me master, then let me test that. Go show yourselves to the priests. This was a big ask because it was the priests that diagnosed and declared that they were unclean in the first place. And at this point, they were still sick. So they could have said, jesus, this don't make no sense. I still got pus running out the side of my face. You know, I'm still missing that finger. And I still smell bad. And, man, I'm just colored. My eyeball feels funny. It itches right on the backside of it. And Lord, I don't want to face disappointment again. I don't want to go back to them religious people. You know, last time they put me out. I don't want to deal with that again. But real faith says, I know how I feel, but I'm going to trust what God says. Can I mess with you for a moment? So many of us got a feeling religion. When I feel it, I'll do it. When I feel like going home, I'll go home. When I feel like doing right, I'll do it. I felt like if I did what I felt. Many of us have a feel good religion instead of a do right religion. And we have to learn to get past what we feel to do what's right. The cross didn't feel good. Gethsemane didn't feel good. The opposition Jesus faced all the time from religious leaders did not feel good. Dealing with men, always bickering. Those 12 men that walked with him and slept around him every night, he had to deal with him every day. It didn't always feel good to have to deal with Peter, have to deal with John, have to deal with James, have to deal with Thomas. But Jesus didn't do what felt good. Jesus was in glory, in heaven. There were no needs. He never experienced broken presence with the Father, but he humbled himself and came down. And the first thing out of his mouth was not a shout. Hallelujah. He cried like every baby. Becoming human didn't feel good, but it was necessary. Talking to this side of the room, there's some things that may not feel good, but they are necessary. And if you call him Lord, you better do what the Master says. And so it was. This is the big point today. As they went, they were cleaned. God, what he promises us is not going to happen because we read about it. It's not going to happen because we think about it. It's not going to happen just because we talk about or even just because we pray about it. It's going to happen because we get about it and we do it. As they went, not immediately when Jesus said it, but as they stepped out into what Jesus said. You will not get your freedom or your healing apart from God's instruction to you. As they went, in obedience to the word of the Master, they were cleansed. Now here's the challenge. They had to walk all the way to Jerusalem. And I don't know if it was a short walk or a long walk before they got clean. And I don't know if it's going to be a short walk or a long walk for you before God manifests his promise. All I know is if you just keep on stepping, he, he who promised is faithful. I don't know anything else except to stay at it. Keep doing what the Lord told me to do. I don't care what people say, what it looks like or feels like, I'm going to persevere in his purposes. Fifteen and one of them, only one of them. When he saw that he was healed and he got healed on the way, he stopped his journey to Jerusalem while the others kept on walking. You know, many who started with you will not finish with you in 2023. Don't be afraid of being different. Be afraid of being like everybody else. Millions didn't make it. Millions didn't make it. Many will cry out, lord, Lord. Millions didn't make it. He returned with a loud voice. And don't miss a loud voice. Loud voice, loud voice. Gotta get past some of this whispering worship. Loud voice, glorified God. He spent years screaming from a distance, unclean, unclean. But now he used that same shout to worship Jesus. How is it we do so much when we're dealing with an unclean state, but when. When God cleanses us and changes us, all of a sudden we get shy. But I worship him in my heart, and God knows what I really mean. I don't know what's come over me, but I'm helping somebody. But you got to break through all that. You got to become a worshiper of God unashamed. Unashamed. I am who God said I am. I can do what God said I can do. And with a loud voice. With a loud voice. With a loud voice. Glorified. Glorified. Glorified. Come on. Glorified. Glorified. Come on. Glorified. Come on. Give him some glory. Glory. Glorified. Glorified God. Hallelujah. Come on. Come on. Give it to him. Give it to him. Break it loose. Break it loose. Shake it loose. Get free of the cobwebs. He's worthy of praise, Worthy of adoration Worthy of thanksgiving. He's Lord of all, King of kings and I worship you. I worship you. We worship you. Oh, God. Come on. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Arise, shine. For the light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon us. Risen upon us. Risen upon us. All right, go on, sit down. God, stir something up in this room. He's turning up. Stir it up. God said to Timothy to stir up that gift of God that was within you. Some things won't manifest unless you stir it up. And God's trying to stir something in your heart. Stir something in this room. He's trying to stir it up. I'm not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God to all who believe. The Jew first, then the Greek. I'm not ashamed of this gospel. It is good news to anyone that might hear. I'm not ashamed of the goodness and the glory of my God. And this leper, he fell down on his face at Jesus feet. He didn't care who was watching. He didn't care who might say, that's too much. He completely turned up for Jesus. You see, when I was a hater, I hated. When I was a sinner, I sinned. But now that I'm a worshiper. Hold my mule. Hold my mule. Hold my mule. Hold my mule. I'm gonna worship. I'm gonna worship. I'm gonna worship. Hold my new. Hold my mule. For the young people. That was an 80s reference. Giving him thanks. This man had just gone through the ordeal of his life, eating food out of garbage cans, surrounded daily by his own suffering and suffering of others, sickness and dying daily. But when Jesus got him to the other side, he made sure he came back to give God thanks. Most today are soft. I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about them. They would have been so mad at what they went through, they wouldn't have anything to say to God. But where do we get the idea that God only wants to send us to safe places and do easy things? Giving him thanks. When's the last time you really. From your heart Said, thank you. It could have been different. God. God, thank you. I know I didn't get this, but I did get that God. I know I'm disappointed about that, but thank you for this, God. I lost someone in 2022, but I made it to 2023. As bad as things might have been, it sort could have been worse. I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow. That's not just preaching material. That's a life lived. I know who holds my tomorrow. He's faithful, and I'm going to praise him today. But here's the rub. The man that came back was a Samaritan. The man who didn't worship right, the man who worshiped in the wrong temple. The man whose doctrine was a little bit off. He was spiritually inferior as far as the Jews were concerned. But I want to tell you, the sin of ingratitude is greater than the sin of taking revenge. Many of y' all got this passive aggressive thing. You hating on people all year, and just because you ain't going to jail for it, just because you know, it's so sneaky and passive aggressive, you think you get in the way. But God sees and he knows. Pay attention. Years ago, me and my wife were struggling, and, man, I don't know what was wrong with me. I found everything wrong with her. And, man, I go to sleep, she ain't doing this, she ain't doing that. But all of a sudden, I was in this position at home. Let me tell you the whole truth. God's not shy. How many y' all know that? I was in the bathroom doing what humans do, and I felt like the Holy Spirit has a sense of humor with me. I don't know how he is with you, but it's like he was saying, that's what you're full of. And it rose, you better thank me for her. And I began to thank her for every little tiny thing about her. And I got grateful for her. And it's amazing what God did in our lives because I began to give thanks for what she was and what she did do instead of what she didn't do. Ingratitude is worse than revenge. With revenge, you return evil for evil, but with ingratitude, you return evil for good. So Jesus answered and said he's got two more verses. Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? And this is my question to many of you this morning. Some of you by livestream, some of you, you're. You're, you're. You're you're wherever you are. Maybe you'll hear this later. Where are you in your worship? Where are you in your gratitude and your prayer? I know where you are in your complaining. I know where you are in your disappointments and your hurts and your fears. But where are you in your praise? Where are you in your worship? Where are you in your gratitude? Our worship each week is simply practice for eternity. Because we're going to praise him forever. And if you don't like it now, you're not going to like it then. I'm getting you ready. I'm getting you prepared. 18. Just two more verses. I'm done. Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God? Except this forest? You see, the Jews are like a lot of church people. Not you, the person next to you. Maybe on the road somewhere. Not you, of course. See, the Jews felt entitled to the things of God. And because of it, they lost their wonder. And you could feel entitled to the big house, the big car, the perfect wife, the perfect husband. You could feel so entitled that you lose your sense of gratitude. But this man who was on the outside, he was too new to be ungrateful. He knew it was only by grace. And when grace saves you and grace reaches down and picks you up, you can't get up except with a grateful heart. Jesus said to this man, he didn't say this to the Jews. He said it to the Samaritan. He didn't say it to the folks that probably had their doctrine right. They worshiped right, and they were in the right temple, the right place, right lineage. He didn't say this to them. He only said it to this man. Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well. Other translations say whole. You see, the other nine were made well, but they weren't whole. You see, God can heal you physically. He could heal your finances, your circumstances. But you're not whole until he heals you by giving you a grateful heart. Stop focusing on what you don't have. Because a heart like that will never have enough. Be grateful for what you do have. And it will make all the difference in your life. You see, there is no long term wellness of body without wellness of soul. And today I want to preach you well. I want to remind you that the sun did rise. And later on today it is going to set. I do want to remind you that you're breathing fresh air. I do want to remind you that most of you are in your right mind, that you came here under the strength of your own body. I do want to remind you you that you may not have the nicest house and the nicest car but you do have a place to live. You do have a place to go and you're not getting wet when it rains. You have food to eat. No, it may not be in in a five star restaurant but your cooking ain't that bad. You hear what I'm saying That you do have reason to give thanks. So today my goal is not just healing but wholeness and married folk. I want you to think about your spouse and be thankful. You could be by yourself. You could be man, you could be in there with Bubba. There could be all different types of things happening. Be thankful. I know your children driving you crazy, but be thankful for that child. But see, my church doesn't do this. Their church doesn't. Be thankful for this church. There are people that have never heard the word of God. We get to hear it over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. Thank you for joining us. Until next time, remember you have what it takes in Christ to live big. We also invite you to partner with Derek Greer Ministries in bringing the life changing and impactful teachings of God's Word to the world. Get started by visiting Derekre.com by clicking the link in the description.