" LEE" Rev. Reginald W. Sharpe Jr. Wednesday June 8, 2022

0:57 Come on, write it in the chat. We're going to celebrate her more on Sunday. But tonight we thank God for Lady Bree. She is a blessing to me. She's a blessing to her family. She's a blessing to this church. I love you, Lady Bree. We celebrate you. And on Sunday, we hope that you feel the love from your church family. Of course, I got some for you privately. But, you know, the whole church will celebrate you publicly. And I hope that if you come into church on Sunday, let's show some love and shower her with some love. She deserves that. Amen. We thank God for her day of birth. And I thank God for you. The seven ways to give are popping up on the screen. right before we jump into this message i want to give you an opportunity to sow go ahead and do it go ahead and do it go ahead and do it i'm not going to take long tonight but i just want to give us the last ingredient to a happier life what a great series this has been and i pray that this series continues to speak to your heart thank you to all of those of you behind the scenes helping to make this day possible i thank god for our media team our music ministry uh thank god i can't start calling names i'll miss somebody but all of you staff fellowship family thank you thank you thank you as you're giving go ahead and shift your mind as you're giving i know you're on zell or cash app or on shelby next or preparing to mail your gift in writing that check to the church i pray that god will speak to you in the area of giving but tonight I'm excited to give you this last lesson. We have walked through it, protecting our internal peace. We have walked through minding our business. I may not remember them all off the top of my head, but we walk through making sure that we give ourselves something to look forward to, embracing unhappy moments. We've even talked about how powerful it is that when we are generous, that the oxytocin hormone is released in our minds and we think that we're the ones that receive something

3:06 that's just how powerful it is and so a great way to trick yourself when you're not having a happy moment is go quickly be a blessing to somebody else go give go so and make sure that you bless somebody i'm trying to give you real psychological principles that can add happiness to your life trust me i didn't just pull all of these out of the sky i didn't go in some hole and seek god and not eat for three weeks to get this no these are studied proven practical principles that psychologists agree with biblical the bible affirms and so i put psychology and theology together to make sure that we are embracing a happier life this was not just thrown together and so i thank you for those of you who've really embraced this series and today you're about to get a three-in-one combo sometimes you go to certain restaurants you get a three-in-one combo Well, today I'm going to be teaching from the acronym LEE.

4:01 LEE. LEE. Everybody say LEE. L-E-E. Because if you embrace LEE, then you will have another principle for a happier life. What does LEE stand for? I'm so glad you asked. Laugh deeply. Eat well. Exercise often. You weren't ready for that, were you? Laugh deeply. eat well exercise often uh and the word someone told me is not often you don't pronounce the t is often so if you want to be you know grammatically correct and enunciate your words appropriately it's just another little lesson in this refuel don't use the t in the word often so that we can be you know correct grammatically so let's say it again write it down write it down Laugh what? Deeply. Eat hot well and exercise often.

4:58 So here's what I want to tell you. If you don't know how to laugh, you will have an absolutely miserable life. Oh, I'm just trying to tell you. The opposite of this series is if you want one ingredient for the worst life possible, be a person that does not know how to laugh. Be a person that is so serious you can't laugh at yourself. You can't laugh at others. You can't laugh at movies. You're just so holy. You're just so spiritual. You're just so deep that everything is serious. I have family members. I remember growing up, they didn't want to watch shows like Martin. They didn't want to watch shows that were comical. Bernie Mac show. Y'all remember that throwback? They didn't want to watch movies with comedy. You know, they just, it's too silly.

5:53 I don't want to watch that. That's the point. It is silly so that it can induce some laughter. Can I give you about three scriptures on laughter? I can't walk along with it because I also want to talk to you about eating well. I want to talk to you about exercising often. So here it is. Laugh, laugh deeply. Not that fake laugh. I remember when I was at Yale Divinity School. I was in the northeast. Not only was the weather cold, but the culture was cold too. and I remember being around those folk up there and I just was laughing fake. You know that fake laugh. You know somebody say a joke that's really not funny. You say, and it's just, it's fake. And you're just trying to move on to the next moment or the next move in the conversation. That fake laugh. No, sometimes you need that deep laugh. Y'all know what I'm talking about. That laugh where you've been over and you got to take your glasses off, wipe tears. And I want to help you understand the power of laughter straight from the Bible.

6:48 The Bible says that Proverbs 17, 22, a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person's strength. The Bible says in Proverbs that you will literally lose strength if your spirit is always broken. But a cheerful heart, somebody who's smiling, somebody who embraces laughter, is good medicine for your body. Sometimes you don't need to go to the doctor. You need to go laugh. You need to go watch a good movie. You need to get on Facebook or Instagram or social media and find all the funny pages. Find a comedian that you enjoy and just embrace some laughter. Job 821 says that God will once again fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. Job is going through all he's going through and he still declares that God is able to fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy. then Psalm 126 verse 2 says we were filled with laughter and we sang for joy and the other nations said what amazing things the Lord has done for us that is after they came out of Babylonian captivity they were so glad of what they had come through that the Bible says in Psalm 126 verse 2 that the the children of Israel were filled with laughter and they sang for joy and they laughed so much and they sang so loud and so joyfully that the other nations looked at them and said what amazing things the lord has done for them does anybody know how good god has been to you based off of how often you laugh and smile do i need to ask that again a little slower can people tell god's been good to you by your disposition by your countenance by your face does joy show up on your face is joy in your smile is it in your cheeks is it coming through your pores are you happy do you laugh do you have some sense of humor about yourself and the bible says when god has brought you out of something that you didn't think you would survive you ought to be filled with

8:55 laughter and you ought to sing with joy it's good medicine and i can remember some days i'm talking not long ago some days where things were you know a little topsy-turvy and i had a lot to do y'all i went on instagram and i followed this guy named tony baker and he has these videos where he pretends to be saying what he thinks the animals are saying it's the silliest thing ever but when i tell you the joy that i get from tony baker the joy i get from kev on stage just picking on somebody or just laughing at something about life the the joy i get from miss shirley you know just follow some some of us follow the wrong stuff everybody's fighting everybody's cussing all all this bad news sometimes you need to unplug from the serious side of life and plug back in to the more lighter side of life because i promise you that some of your heaviest days are because you have not laughed in a long time and you know the saddest thing can happen and all of us know it everybody is human when is the last time you said to yourself it's been a long time since i laughed like this have you ever gone out with some friends i mean you just having such a good time that you have to look around and say i don't even know the last time i had this much fun i laughed this hard whoever are the people in your life i don't know if that's grammatically correct let me say it again whoever i'm gonna say just like i said it because you're gonna know what i'm saying whoever makes you laugh hang around them whoever fills your life with joy hang around them whoever makes life a little bit brighter and when they walk up the sun comes out on cloudy days spend your energy around the people that make life lighter and add laughter to your life i promise you There are biblical principles all through the scripture that says that God's going to get the last laugh.

10:55 God gets the last laugh. And if God is going to get the last laugh, I don't care what's threatening to take your laughter away. You keep on laughing because in your life, no matter who thinks they're winning, conquering you, defeating you, misinterpreting you, trying to undermine you. God will get the last laugh and then that second part of this acronym laugh deeply but eat well every scientist that you talk to every psychologist that you talk to even therapists say that what we put in our bodies affect our moods so you just can't eat everything if you're down already avoid fried foods avoid dairy avoid sweets because it's going to give you a sudden high and then you're going to drop so you got to eat healthy when you're not in a place where you're happy.

11:48 I'm talking to the people who are trying to get your happy back. You can't get your happy back and you're sitting around eating portillos at 11 p.m. ordering Uber Eats and DoorDash and you're ordering sweets and trash and fried stuff and french fries. All that's going to do is make you feel heavier. It's going to pull you down lower. You need to eat some life so you can feel life. It's so deep. One of my mentors at Morehouse College changed my life because he said that you have to eat things that are alive since you are a living being. Every night and then you're going to eat some trash. Every night and then you're going to eat that comfort stuff. But if your main diet is eating dead things, things that are not even real, you need to put life in your life if you want to have a greater life. So you need vegetables that are alive.

12:44 you need to eat fruits that are alive you can eat some some meat but make sure that you are careful what you put in your body because that impacts your happiness i'm gonna read something from nehemiah chapter 8 starting at verse 9 to verse 12 but i also want to include exercise often i don't exercise watch this clearly some of you may look at me and say you don't look like you exercise i got a friend you know they were in the gym working out working out working out working out and they went home to see grandma. Now you already know where this story going. It's about to go left real quick because grandmas have no filter. So they in the gym working out, working out, working out and they walked through the door and the grandma looked at them and said, hey baby, I thought you said you've been going to the gym.

13:31 Only grandmamas can get you like that and make you feel like you are doing zero when you actually trying to do a hundred. But can I tell y'all personally why I go to the gym, while I try to walk. I'm not as consistent as I need to be. I don't even go to lose weight or to gain muscle right now in this season. Eventually, yeah, I want to lose some weight. Yeah, I want to gain some more muscle mass. But psychologists say that when you work out, here goes another, here goes some more hormones getting released. The happy hormones get released when your heart speeds up so the minute you start working out start sweating the oxytocin and dopamines start flooding your body and and your body feels like oh man we're doing something good because your heart rate's going and here's the mystery you think if you wake up in the morning and work out man i'm gonna be tired for the rest of the day i'm trying to tell you if you work out at the top of your day you actually jump start your blood flow you jump start your heart rate and you feel better for the rest of your day before covid happened watch this y'all i used to work out before the eight o'clock service i had eight ten and twelve i would work out before i got to the eight o'clock service and everybody i told that to could not understand you waking up at 5 30 to work out before you preach three times? Absolutely. Because every time I worked out before I came to church, Bree was like, it's going to be a bad day today because his heart rate is up. He's feeling good. He's not tired. And it gave me energy, gave me my happy home. It gave me all I needed. I'm trying to tell you, and I know some of y'all going to hear this is going to go in one ear and out the other, but you have to walk because you have to live. You have to sweat because you have to live.

15:25 You have to stop putting trash in your temple because you are a living being. And if you are alive, you have to eat things that are alive. You've got to laugh because you've got to live. Everything I'm trying to tell you are simple principles that it's not just me. It's biblical. The Bible says that our bodies are the temple. So often we don't take care of the temple where the Holy Spirit lives. and so you want to extend your health as much as you can and i know the other flip side of that is there are people that work out and they still get sick that happens there are people who work out every day they work watch their diet and and the unfortunate reality of just life happens where illnesses and sickness and sudden death still comes it it does happen but i'm trying to tell you you and you i can't promise you that you will increase the quantity of your days but if you do these three things you will increase the quality of your days are y'all listening to me it's not all about quantity when i'm gonna live to be 90 you have no control over that you know the book of ecclesiastes says that the race is not given to the swift the battle is not given to the strong the bread is not given to the wise and it says time and chance happens to us all we misquote that we love to misquote that don't we but the real text says time and chance happens to us all you can't impact time and chance but while you have time on this earth you can have happier more fulfilling healthier days by just laughing more by eating well and exercising more nehemiah chapter 9 through 12 i'm just going to read this i want you to hear the word of the lord nehemiah the governor along with ezra the priest and scholar and the levites who were teaching the people said to all the people this day is holy to god your god don't weep and carry on lord that will preach don't weep and carry on they said this because all the people were weeping as they heard the words of revelation here's the context the people have not heard the word of god they've not heard the torah read and so long that they're hearing all the laws of moses and they're saying

17:33 OMG SMH we're a long way from what God told us to do we're messing up so they're reading the word of God to the people and the people get convicted and they start weeping and then Nehemiah he continued he said go home and prepare a feast holiday food and drink and share it with those who don't have anything this day is holy to God don't feel bad today I know we got some stuff to work on but the joy of god is your strength everything i just told you is showing up in this text are y'all following me the the joy of god is your strength and the levites calm the people quiet now this day is holy don't be upset so the people went off to feast eating and drinking and including the poor in a great celebration now they got it they understood the reading that had been given to them i'm trying to tell you go eat well eat well and that doesn't mean every day i'm eating fruits and vegetables. I'm eating all the stuff that's healthy. Sometimes you do need to eat the comfort food. Sometimes you do need to have a cheat day or a cheat week or a cheat moment where you lie. I'm eating everything I want to eat, but brothers and sisters, siblings of God, you cannot have a life of doing whatever you want to do. Discipline has to show up somewhere so that you can be well. But I like this text. He said, no, y'all, y'all got the wrong day. You're weeping when you ought to be shouting god has brought us through over 70 years of babylonian captivity god is great god is gracious go home have a feast turn up get you some good to drink eat good the joy of the lord is your strength that's in the bible and so i'm trying to tell you today laugh deeply eat well exercise often and if you increase those three things and and put Lee, L-E-E, back into your life.

19:27 Hey, that's the last ingredient I have. We're working on our internal peace by not suppressing our emotions. We're going to give ourselves something to look forward to. Uh-huh, come on. We're going to be honest about our unhappy moments. We're going to mind our business. We're going to be more generous. And guess what? We're going to laugh deeply. That's why I come to church, y'all, and be just up here cracking jokes sometimes. You don't know the hell that some people go through before they get to church. I thank God for Elder Vassar and our creative team, Miss Wendy and Ashley. When they're doing that boarding experience, you come to church, sometimes you just need to relax and learn how to laugh. And then when you go home, skip Harold's, go by Mariano's and get you a good smoothie. And then go for a walk. The sun is coming back out.

20:19 You may not run, but you can walk. you may not walk but you could do some home exercises in front of your television in front of your computer i'm trying to give you what i got to give i want you to live not just spiritually but i want you to be holistically well you are a trichotomous being you are mind soul and body and so we just can't come learn about the soul we just can't talk about the mind we got to talk about the body as well live life is yours it belongs to you if you need christ the the christ who says i've come that you might the thief comes to steal kill and destroy but i've come that you might have life and have it more abundantly if you want that christ you can email us tonight and we will introduce you to christ if you need a church home a place where You can get a real word with a real pastor and some real people. You can come to fellowship.

21:14 I'm always keeping 100 over here. I don't have time to play with you. Life's too short to be lying. Amen. You can join this church. We'll be glad to grow with you and your family. Connect with us. You can email us. You can text us right now. We want you to be blessed. We want you to be blessed. We want you to be blessed. If you need to join, go ahead and do it right now. You can go ahead and do it right now. and if you're making that decision go ahead and email us go ahead and text us if you want to give go ahead and give so right now go ahead and so right now