back to indexOrdination Service - Pastor Alex Han 12-07-14
00:00:00.000 |
For Alex, it's really easy actually. I think every single one of you in here, you've come 00:00:05.520 |
and you want to show your support and you want to give a public affirmation, as Pastor 00:00:10.840 |
Peter mentioned earlier, of your recognition of Alex's gifts and his service to the church 00:00:16.880 |
and really kind of express to him the fact that you're praying for him as he and his 00:00:21.440 |
family go out to China in a few months. I think for me, the thing that I'm really grateful 00:00:27.360 |
for in terms of Alex is the fact that I've known him for such a long time and in that 00:00:31.760 |
process he's always been a very consistent presence. My first experience with Alex was 00:00:37.720 |
actually in a Bible study context. So I was teaching a Bible study over at Pastor Peter's 00:00:41.440 |
house when his church was much smaller. And during those days, we didn't have a ton of 00:00:47.240 |
newcomers so anytime someone new showed up to the church, immediately they stuck out. 00:00:52.040 |
And certainly with Alex, that was the case because he was, I mean, the moment he walked 00:00:55.520 |
in, the biggest guy in the room. And so he walks in and the thing that I vividly remember 00:01:01.280 |
about Alex was he was wearing his baseball cap backwards. And being the big guy that 00:01:08.800 |
he is and before you really get to know him, he's a really friendly guy, but before you 00:01:13.160 |
get to know him, he doesn't necessarily appear to be that way, I guess, at first glance. 00:01:17.800 |
And so I saw this guy, he's got his hat backwards, he's this big guy, and I just thought to myself, 00:01:23.080 |
like, this guy's bad news. It's bad news, got to make sure we guard the sheep and protect 00:01:29.040 |
the flock. And if this guy's looking to cause trouble, then we got to make sure that we 00:01:34.320 |
address that early. But clearly first impressions were changed dramatically as he continued 00:01:40.760 |
to come out. We got to know him much better. And it's funny in that Alex going out to China 00:01:48.360 |
is in a lot of ways, I think, going through the same sort of emotions and same sort of 00:01:54.920 |
mental process that I was going through when we decided to move up to NorCal. And when 00:02:00.880 |
he first again came out to Berean, he was just a college student. He was in one of the 00:02:05.640 |
very first small groups I ever led at this church. And just from the get go, he exhibited 00:02:11.280 |
his faithfulness, his desire to learn, to grow, and the fact that he really loved Christ 00:02:16.600 |
and he loved the church. And then from that point of being a college student, he eventually, 00:02:21.560 |
of course, graduated and he became more of a friend. I didn't really see him as someone 00:02:25.400 |
that I shepherded, but I saw him as a brother in Christ. And our relationship grew to the 00:02:29.880 |
point where I asked him to be one of my groomsmen, to stand up with me on my wedding day, because 00:02:35.680 |
I felt like he was a brother that had encouraged me so tremendously that it would be fitting 00:02:41.400 |
for him to be up there with me when I got married. And then so our relationship changed 00:02:46.960 |
from me being his pastor to me being his brother and his friend. And then soon, of course, 00:02:52.520 |
as again, Pastor Peter mentioned just a bit ago, he started to serve alongside me. So 00:02:57.480 |
we were co-laborers too. And when we had sort of broached discussions about possible people 00:03:05.360 |
that could help with the college ministry and Alex's name was mentioned, I mean, immediately 00:03:10.060 |
there was no question that he would be a huge asset to our group. And I think the reason 00:03:14.360 |
why is because again, being that consistent and faithful presence that he is, we knew 00:03:20.200 |
what we were getting with Alex. We knew that by asking him, there was going to be certain 00:03:24.800 |
things that we could expect for him to contribute into our ministry. And there was no question 00:03:29.680 |
about asking him and him not being able to follow through with those things. And so during 00:03:35.100 |
the time that we served together as co-laborers in gospel ministry in the local church, again, 00:03:41.040 |
I found my relationship with him continued to transform. And now that he's being sent 00:03:46.840 |
off by this church to do the work of the Great Commission out in China, I think it's just 00:03:53.880 |
sort of the cherry on top in terms of this process of sanctification and growth and development 00:03:59.400 |
that we've seen taking place in Alex's life. I think it should be gratifying for all of 00:04:04.560 |
us to see and to take part in what's happening tonight, because this really is God operating 00:04:11.600 |
through brothers and sisters in this community to not only be encouraged by Alex, but to 00:04:17.640 |
really seek to encourage Alex and his family as they go out. But yeah, I'm just so thankful 00:04:23.900 |
for Alex, for his presence in this church and as much of a loss as it'll be for Berean 00:04:31.200 |
to have to send him out, China's going to gain a lot from Alex's presence. And so Alex 00:04:37.840 |
is zealous for the gospel. Alex is zealous for the Great Commission and God has planted 00:04:44.060 |
a seed of desire and conviction when it comes to gospel ministry out in China. And so the 00:04:49.800 |
fact that Alex is being sent out with the support, the resources and the prayers of 00:04:54.040 |
this church, I think we should anticipate and be really eager to hear about all that 00:04:58.040 |
God is doing through him and through his family as they labor faithfully in Beijing. So brother, 00:05:04.560 |
I'm just again, so thankful for you, thankful for your friendship. I'm thankful that we 00:05:09.360 |
can talk about anything from the angels to the Lakers to church ministry to just our 00:05:16.680 |
spiritual lives and how things are going with us as parents and as husbands. And I really 00:05:21.960 |
hope that we are able to encourage you tonight and even in the coming months before you leave, 00:05:27.180 |
as much as you've encouraged us for the last several years. So thank you, brother. 00:05:36.600 |
Ah, okay. I think every single one of us that was there at that Bible study when Pastor 00:05:53.240 |
Alex first came into our house had the exact same impression. Yeah, because he didn't look 00:06:00.320 |
like a guy who belonged in a church initially, you know, looked like a gangster guy. And 00:06:05.440 |
he has that serious expression about him. And he, people call him Genghis Khan because 00:06:11.800 |
he kind of looked like a Mongolian. And, but again, I think everybody knows who knows him 00:06:17.640 |
well. He's like a big teddy bear inside. He tries to be this tough guy, but we know him. 00:06:24.240 |
Yeah. So again, you know, when the scripture tells us, "Sanate lehens hastily," I remember 00:06:31.080 |
talking to a brother, a pastor who's been ordained outside of the church. And he was 00:06:35.320 |
telling me the process and how in the context of the ordination, he felt like, is this it? 00:06:42.120 |
Is this the way ordination is supposed to be? Because the room full of 150 people, they 00:06:46.040 |
passed the test and a bunch of people that didn't know them were saying, "Hey, you're 00:06:50.440 |
being commissioned out into ministry." And I remember him just kind of leaving the ministry, 00:06:55.840 |
leaving the ordination process. And he was saying how disappointed he was. He thought 00:06:59.320 |
it would be more than that. And, and, and again, we were talking about that ordination 00:07:03.520 |
process. Well, what did the Bible say? How does the Bible say we ought to bring people 00:07:08.560 |
into ministry? That we ought to take very serious, you know, what it means to come into 00:07:14.040 |
ministry that when we ordain somebody and say, as a church, we confirm the calling of 00:07:17.920 |
this man, that we are not just hastily sending somebody out. Every once in a while, somebody 00:07:23.960 |
would ask me, "Now, now that you're a pastor, do you encourage your children to go into 00:07:28.920 |
ministry?" And, and I say this with a clear conscience. I said, "No, I do not. I do not 00:07:34.600 |
encourage. In fact, I wouldn't encourage anybody, push anybody to go into ministry because I 00:07:38.880 |
know what ministry means." Is that, there's that beginning process of like Simon of standing 00:07:45.120 |
in front of people and leading and small groups and all of that stuff. There's a lot of behind 00:07:49.080 |
the scene type of stuff that, again, you know, I was just having dinner with Pastor Aaron 00:07:54.760 |
and you know, now that he's a senior pastor of his church up north, he knows exactly what 00:07:58.240 |
I'm talking about. I mean, it's sometimes you feel like you're schizophrenic. You know, 00:08:02.640 |
there's nights when you go home so encouraged, you know, I love this church and I'm doing 00:08:06.400 |
the exact thing that I want to do. And then you wake up next morning, you get an email 00:08:10.040 |
and it's like, "Oh my gosh, I don't want to do this anymore." You know, and you go through 00:08:13.240 |
this roller coaster ride that's kind of hard to relate. It's like, why, why would, why 00:08:17.720 |
would it, why would it be so difficult? And again, you know, Pastor Aaron knows exactly 00:08:21.320 |
what I'm talking about. And soon Pastor Alex will know exactly what I'm talking about. 00:08:25.960 |
And so the, the wear and tear that being called into ministry requires, and that's why he 00:08:34.080 |
says someone who desires to be an elder is, seeks a noble task. Pastor Alex has never 00:08:42.840 |
wavered in that. He, he wanted to do ministry. And again, being called into ministry, Paul 00:08:50.680 |
says, Paul tells Timothy, 1 Timothy 1.18, wage the good warfare, right? Paul described 00:08:57.080 |
ministry as warfare. He describes it as a fight in 1 Timothy 6.12. He says, "Fight 00:09:01.760 |
the good fight." Again, Paul at the end of his life, 2 Timothy 4.7, he described the 00:09:07.320 |
totality of his ministry as, "I have fought the good fight." So what we're doing today 00:09:12.040 |
is really ordaining him to enter into this fight. Not that, the rest of the church is 00:09:17.040 |
not, not that if you're not ordained, you're not in this fight. But in particular, when 00:09:21.560 |
a man is ordained, when the church lays hands on this man, we're asking him to take charge, 00:09:26.360 |
to take the lead. And when the criticisms come, when the bullets come, that you're going 00:09:30.720 |
to be the guy in the front who's going to take the bullet first. So ordination really 00:09:35.600 |
is a, a setting apart from the church to say, we're ordaining you. We're, we're confirming 00:09:43.740 |
you to lead us in this fight. And so, yeah, I'm hesitant. I'm not eager to send my kids 00:09:51.340 |
out to battle. Now, if they say they want to go, I will be the first one who will be 00:09:56.240 |
proud. And I'd be, I'd be thankful that God is leading them in that direction. But would 00:10:00.400 |
I ever push them in that direction? No, I would not push them in that direction. As 00:10:04.840 |
we have this time of ordination, I want to encourage all of us, and in particularly, 00:10:11.080 |
obviously, Pastor Alex. What does this day mean? And obviously he's been a pastor, at 00:10:15.920 |
least serving as a pastor. But today, as we confirm him together, you know, when you launch 00:10:22.040 |
a new business, you want to make sure that you have your proper, you know, study done, 00:10:27.320 |
the market study. You know, you, is it the right place? Is there, is there a supply and 00:10:31.440 |
demand? You know, whenever you, you do something new, you want to make sure that all the things 00:10:37.160 |
are prepared and all the tools that you need, that, that you have that. You know, every 00:10:42.720 |
year we have graduations. People graduate because they learned a set of facts and they're 00:10:46.840 |
going to apply it in the real world. Well, ordination, calling it to ministry, is unlike 00:10:52.280 |
anything else. It's unlike anything else because the battle that he's fighting is not a psychological 00:10:58.560 |
battle. It's not a sociological battle. It's not a financial. It is spiritual. And that's 00:11:04.360 |
why it says 2 Corinthians 10, 3-4, "For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war 00:11:09.320 |
according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but of the 00:11:13.280 |
divine power to destroy strongholds." This is not something that we can enter into thinking 00:11:20.400 |
that, well, you know, he's very articulate, he's strong, he has, he has a degree. He has 00:11:25.600 |
many experiences. So now he's equipped to go. Paul warns us, again in Ephesians 6, 12 00:11:32.760 |
and 13, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against authorities, 00:11:38.400 |
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of 00:11:42.280 |
evil in the heavenly places." It is a spiritual battle. He said our enemy is spiritual. And 00:11:49.560 |
so therefore the weapons that we need to gear up on are spiritual. So again, I don't want 00:11:55.120 |
to spend too much time in this, and I know you're already tired of, you know, your tolerance 00:11:59.560 |
level of my preaching is already kind of filled to that point, so I don't want to go too much 00:12:04.080 |
over. But at the same time, we want to encourage Pastor Alex, and again, reminder of the church, 00:12:09.200 |
what this battle really is. Because it is a spiritual battle. The scripture tells us 00:12:15.760 |
you have to gear up spiritually. And, you know, we don't look at Pastor Alex and say, 00:12:21.320 |
you know, he's going to, we believe he's going to be successful and fruitful in ministry 00:12:24.480 |
because, because we see all of his gifts, and he has all this education, all this experience, 00:12:30.440 |
so now he's going to apply it to ministry. That's exactly opposite of what Paul says. 00:12:35.600 |
If that's our mentality, you're already setting yourself up for failure. He says, if God really 00:12:40.600 |
exists, which we believe, if heaven and hell really exist, if angels are real, if demons 00:12:45.880 |
are real, we know that our struggle is against them. It may manifest physically, but the 00:12:51.760 |
real power behind our discouragement, the real power behind the pushback and the persecution 00:12:58.000 |
is always spiritual. So therefore, we are reminded to gear up spiritually, he says, 00:13:04.160 |
to put on the full armor of God. He says in Ephesians chapter 6, he says, "For we do not 00:13:10.880 |
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against authorities, against the 00:13:14.440 |
cosmic powers, over the present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the 00:13:19.600 |
heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand 00:13:26.400 |
in the evil day, and having done all to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on 00:13:31.760 |
the belt of truth." So the first thing that he says, you're putting on the armor of God. 00:13:36.240 |
As we commission him to battle, the first thing he says is to fasten on the belt of 00:13:41.360 |
truth. Now obviously the truth is referring to the Word of God, which we talked about 00:13:45.000 |
this morning. But the idea of fastening on the belt of truth, it has the imagery of being 00:13:50.680 |
prepared for action. Truth is not just changing our paradigm or the way that we look at the 00:13:56.920 |
world. Truth equips us for battle. That's the image that we get. They would tie up their 00:14:03.360 |
belts before they go into battle in order that whatever it is that they're wearing would 00:14:07.920 |
not trip them up. So the first idea is to be prepared. He's been trained in seminary. 00:14:15.880 |
He's in the process of getting his THM. And so he has a lot of biblical knowledge that's 00:14:21.520 |
crammed into his head. And all of that is not simply to say, "Well, he's got a degree. 00:14:26.800 |
Now he's got an MDiv. He's going to get a THM." And so because he has these titles, 00:14:32.000 |
he said, "No, these truths are given to him to prepare him for action." And that's the 00:14:37.040 |
first thing that he says, that the Word of God is our weapon. In fact, he begins the 00:14:42.360 |
armor with the Word of God. And then at the end of it, he also says to put up the spirit 00:14:49.440 |
of the sword, which is the Word of God. Second thing that he says is to put on the breastplate 00:14:56.200 |
of righteousness. You will be tested. If you push against the darkness, they will push 00:15:05.360 |
back. You don't go and preach the gospel in the darkness and darkness doesn't say, "Thank 00:15:12.040 |
you." If you push against the darkness and you bring the gospel to people who have not 00:15:15.680 |
heard, they are going to push you back. And one of the first ways that you'll see it manifested 00:15:21.600 |
is in order to nullify your message, they will nullify the messenger. And that is the 00:15:26.240 |
common thing that you see, even with the Apostle Paul. We see in Thessalonica where he preaches 00:15:31.240 |
the gospel and he was so fruitful. When he left, in order to nullify the power of the 00:15:35.760 |
gospel, they were saying that, "That guy is like any other philosopher who came here. 00:15:39.880 |
All he wants from you is money." And they were trying to nullify his message by nullifying 00:15:45.400 |
the messenger. And that's why he says to put on the full, the breastplate of righteousness. 00:15:51.060 |
And that's why one of the first qualities of an elder is that he must be above reproach. 00:15:58.200 |
If your life is not above reproach, your message will be disqualified. People will listen to 00:16:04.760 |
what you say and say, "That sounds great, but you, how can we trust anything you say?" 00:16:11.520 |
They're going to, there's no other profession where you're going to be examined in every 00:16:15.920 |
part of your life, by every facets of different people, young people, old people, people who 00:16:22.640 |
are from one group or another, will examine your life to see, "Is this guy, is this guy 00:16:27.800 |
able to preach this?" That's why Paul says in Acts 24, 16, "So I always take pains to 00:16:33.560 |
have a clear conscience toward both God and man." And the reason why he takes pains to 00:16:38.560 |
have a clear conscience before God and man is because he knows. He knows that his life 00:16:44.120 |
is a platform to be able to preach the gospel because they would easily nullify, "You know 00:16:48.680 |
what, Apostle Paul, that guy's saying all this stuff, but look at his life. Look at 00:16:52.440 |
the way he spends his money. That guy, all he wants is money." So Paul lives in such 00:16:55.880 |
a way so that he would not be accused of any wrongdoing. 1 Peter 2, 12, "Live such good 00:17:02.560 |
lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good 00:17:06.660 |
deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us." Even when they want to disqualify you, 00:17:13.400 |
he says, "Live in such a way to put on the breastplate of righteousness that Christ gives, 00:17:18.840 |
that even if they want to accuse you, they can't." Thirdly, "Put on the shoes for your 00:17:23.680 |
feet having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace." So again, putting on 00:17:27.720 |
the shoes, he gives us a picture of being ready to go. And I would say, if, when anybody 00:17:33.760 |
says that they're interested in going into ministry, the first thing that I will ask 00:17:37.080 |
them is, "Are you ready to go?" If you, once you're done with your training and the church 00:17:42.780 |
ordains you, are you ready to go? So what do you mean by ready to go? If you are being 00:17:47.680 |
ordained so that you can be here and you see, you see the comforts of, of maybe, on appearance 00:17:54.040 |
looks like, "Well, this is comfortable, this is nice, and this is what I want." The first 00:17:58.120 |
thing I would ask is, "Are you ready to go?" Are you standing before God and saying, "Here 00:18:02.080 |
am I, send me." Obviously, Pastor Alex has made that commitment from the get-go. That 00:18:09.480 |
he is being ordained today because he's already committed to go. The word gospel just means 00:18:16.440 |
good news. And by the nature of the word news, news is not something, you don't tell somebody, 00:18:21.240 |
"I have some news," and then walk away. Right? You don't tell somebody, "I got some news." 00:18:26.960 |
You don't say, "I have good news. See you tomorrow." Right? The nature of the word gospel 00:18:34.120 |
means to tell somebody. That's what the word means, news. So to be a minister of the gospel 00:18:39.520 |
means that he is ready to go. He's ready to tell people. He's ready to proclaim it, wherever 00:18:45.720 |
it is God sends him. So the first call of a minister is to stand before God and say, 00:18:50.120 |
"Here am I, send me." If we're not ready to be sent, then we're not ready to be, to be 00:18:58.400 |
a proclaimer of the gospel. It's to go. But going isn't just about moving location. We 00:19:05.960 |
say, "Well, if we go to China, we'll go." But again, one of the best insights that I've 00:19:11.760 |
gained about mission work was from a missionary who was out in the mission field. And he says, 00:19:16.720 |
"The greatest challenge of a missionary is to continue to go." Because you have that initial 00:19:21.680 |
going. You pack up your stuff, and it's uncomfortable, and you move to a new location. But our natural 00:19:26.840 |
human nature is to learn to adjust. Everywhere we go, make it our home. Whether it's here, 00:19:32.360 |
whether it's NorCal, or whether it's a foreign country, it's our natural nature to want to 00:19:37.520 |
make wherever we go our home. And that's the challenge, is to constantly remember that 00:19:42.400 |
we are aliens and strangers in this world, whether you are living in Irvine. And again, 00:19:48.200 |
that's some of the mistakes that we make, is that we think, "Well, we're home, and they're 00:19:51.920 |
not." No, none of us are at home. It's just that when we physically move somewhere, it 00:19:57.560 |
constantly reminds us we're not home. So that part of it, putting on the shoe of the gospel 00:20:05.240 |
of peace, is to have that mentality to constantly be ready that this is not your home. That 00:20:10.160 |
one day we will be home in eternity. Until then, we are to go physically, we are to go 00:20:16.360 |
socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Be always ready, wherever God calls us. He says, 00:20:23.640 |
"In all circumstances, take up the shield of faith with which you can extinguish the 00:20:28.040 |
flaming darts of the evil one." Why do you need to take up the shield of faith? Because 00:20:35.040 |
you're being set apart from ministry. When the scripture says that you have an adversary, 00:20:40.240 |
like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, guess who the primary target is going to be? 00:20:45.320 |
Are the people who are the most committed to share the gospel. And so, all of a sudden, 00:20:50.640 |
you're going to become a target. Not that you weren't a target before, but you're going 00:20:53.040 |
to be a greater target. Because if you become a leader, and you fall, the effects are going 00:20:58.920 |
to be much greater. It's not because we're more special, it's just that there's more 00:21:04.600 |
consequences when we fall. So our adversary is going to be targeting anyone who picks 00:21:10.600 |
up his cross and say, "Here, my son, me." That's why, if you remember Luke chapter 22, 00:21:16.560 |
when Jesus is about to go to the cross, he looks at all the disciples and he said, "Satan 00:21:20.400 |
has asked permission to sift you, all of you, like wheat." Because they were the closest 00:21:25.600 |
to Christ. He didn't sift everybody. He didn't say, "I'm going to attack everybody." He said 00:21:30.520 |
he wanted to attack specifically you guys. Because you guys are the one closest to Christ. 00:21:36.600 |
So if there's... So by being ordained, being set apart, and saying, "I'm going to take 00:21:42.480 |
on this task," you're putting yourself in a situation where you're going to be attacked. 00:21:48.400 |
You're going to be... And it's going to come from all different places. It's going to come 00:21:51.540 |
from places that you don't expect. If you expected, it wouldn't be so discouraging. 00:21:57.480 |
But it will come. There are... I don't think there's anything else that we can do where 00:22:03.400 |
you're going to become the target of scrutiny more than what you are choosing to do. Okay? 00:22:09.160 |
It's too late. You can't back out now. Right? Kill first. Our enemy will first cause you 00:22:17.200 |
to doubt God. When discouragements come, when people begin to question you, when you are 00:22:26.600 |
not fruitful as you desire, and you're laboring, and you're lonely, and you feel alone, especially 00:22:32.600 |
because you're going to be on a foreign country, and you're out there with your family, and 00:22:38.040 |
you're having a difficult time, maybe even financially, and you're going to begin to 00:22:42.560 |
question, "Is God real? Why is he not answering my prayers? Where's the fruit? I thought if 00:22:50.740 |
I came out here, and I just gave myself, and we're going to bear fruit, and you find that 00:22:55.680 |
it's not what you thought, Satan is going to attack you. He's going to cause you to 00:23:01.560 |
question. And that's why it's so important for us to take up the shield of faith, that 00:23:07.380 |
our belief in God does not waver because of circumstance. There's going to be times when 00:23:12.660 |
God's going to make himself so clear to you, and you're going to say, "Thank God." I get 00:23:18.480 |
to wake up every morning to be in the Word of God and tell other people, "There's going 00:23:21.880 |
to be days when you're going to be, 'Thank God, what a privilege it is to be in this 00:23:25.600 |
position.' And then there's going to be days when you wake up, 'Oh my gosh, I don't know 00:23:30.080 |
if I can do this another day.' And you're going to ask yourself, "Is there another way?" 00:23:37.040 |
As Christ agonized, obviously we're nowhere near the agony that he experienced, but as 00:23:40.680 |
Christ agonized over what was about to happen, there will be days where you will be able 00:23:45.920 |
to understand Jesus. When he cried out, "Lord, is there any other way? But not my will, but 00:23:52.360 |
your will be done." In Numbers 23, 19, it says, "God is not man that he should lie, 00:23:57.600 |
nor the Son of Man that he should change his mind. Has he said and will he not do it? Or 00:24:02.840 |
has he spoken and will he not fulfill it?" There will be days when you're going to have 00:24:06.720 |
to cling on to that, and everything inside of you is going to say, "I don't know if this 00:24:12.000 |
is true. He said he promised, but where is the fulfillment? I'm crying out to God, but 00:24:18.520 |
where is he?" And that's when you have to remember, you need to take up the shield of 00:24:24.920 |
faith. "Has he said and will he not do it? I believe it. Help my unbelief." Paul says 00:24:33.440 |
to Timothy, 2 Timothy 1, 12, "I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. I am convinced 00:24:39.840 |
that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me." Do you think Paul 00:24:43.840 |
never wavered in his faith? I think he did. When he says in Philippines, "I have learned 00:24:50.600 |
the secret of being content in every and all situation." You know what it means by he learned 00:24:54.640 |
it? There are times he questioned it. That's why he said he learned it. There are times 00:24:59.840 |
when he was having hardship, and it's like, "What is this? How come I'm an apostle, and 00:25:05.440 |
I have to make tents to pay the bills?" You know, in Corinthians, he said, "Go in here, 00:25:10.840 |
I have many people, you know, that are mine, and to be courageous and preach the gospel. 00:25:17.000 |
And these same people that you told me to go to, now they're questioning my apostleship, 00:25:20.760 |
and they're causing so much pain in my life." And at those times, you must take up the shield 00:25:30.520 |
of faith. See, Paul learned it, right? Because he went through hardship. He went through 00:25:35.340 |
periods of doubts. And it was at the conclusion of that, he realized that God is always faithful. 00:25:42.120 |
He will not only make you doubt about God, our enemy will make you doubt yourself. It's 00:25:47.120 |
like, "I believe in God, but maybe I'm not the one. You know, I see all these other people 00:25:53.720 |
who are being fruitful, but why not me? Maybe I'm not cut out for this. Maybe I don't have 00:25:59.440 |
the makings of a good pastor." And he's going to begin to poke at all your flaws, I guarantee 00:26:06.440 |
you, right? Because we have flaws, right? You know my flaws, I know your flaws. We know 00:26:12.480 |
Pastor Aaron's flaws, right? We know our flaws. But you're in a situation where they're going 00:26:18.640 |
to poke at it, right? Our enemy's going to poke at it. And they're going to poke at it 00:26:23.400 |
and cause you to doubt yourself. And it is at those times, you take up the shield of 00:26:26.720 |
faith saying, "I didn't come into ministry because I was the most gifted. I didn't come 00:26:30.640 |
into ministry because I was the most articulate. I didn't come into ministry because I thought 00:26:34.800 |
I was going to be the most successful. I came into ministry because I was convicted that 00:26:40.000 |
the gospel was true. And I'm committing to do my part. And in the end, God is going to 00:26:46.320 |
do what he's going to do." And you cling to that with all your might, right? To persevere, 00:26:52.520 |
take up the shield of faith. Take up the helmet of salvation. That God's love for you is not 00:26:58.320 |
based on your performance. And that's something that you will wrestle with. And I'm pretty 00:27:03.880 |
sure Pastor Aaron knows what I'm talking about. And every pastor knows what I'm talking about. 00:27:08.440 |
That are, just like any other guy, you know, two guys meet together and say, "Hey, what 00:27:13.600 |
do you do for a living?" Oh, and then you kind of, you know what I mean? You're secretly 00:27:17.200 |
jocking to say, "Oh, I make more money than you do." "What school did you go to?" You 00:27:21.640 |
know, "I went to UCLA." "Oh, I went to a better school than you." It's no different 00:27:26.040 |
even in pastorate. You know, you get together and say, "Well, how's your ministry going? 00:27:30.160 |
What's going on with you?" So take up the helmet of salvation. That our foundation is 00:27:35.120 |
not based upon our performance. God's love for you is not based upon your performance. 00:27:41.560 |
God never saved you because of your potential. God saved us because we could not. And that 00:27:48.520 |
will never change. That will never change. So our work for Him is just an expression 00:27:55.760 |
of our love. Because we want to see the lost saved. And I want to again remind you, Romans 00:28:02.080 |
8, 31-36. "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own son, but 00:28:08.880 |
gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who 00:28:15.680 |
shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is it that condemns? 00:28:23.080 |
Christ, Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised? Who is at the right 00:28:27.760 |
hand of God? Who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of 00:28:31.760 |
Christ? Whether your ministry is large and successful, whether you are struggling to 00:28:38.440 |
just hold on to one soul, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, 00:28:45.440 |
distress, persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? We must put on the helmet 00:28:51.640 |
of salvation. That my identity in Christ does not waver one bit because of what you are 00:28:59.080 |
able to do or not able to do. Once He becomes our Abba Father, He's our Abba Father for 00:29:05.560 |
eternity. And that's what gives me strength. That's what gives you strength. And when you 00:29:11.280 |
get out there and you begin to do ministry again, as you are doing ministry here, that 00:29:15.560 |
you remember this. Take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And finally 00:29:19.560 |
He concludes by saying, "Pray. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray." If there's anything that 00:29:26.040 |
a minister must commit to do is to pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. Because by praying, we're 00:29:31.360 |
coming before the Lord and saying, "All of this is not possible without You." And when 00:29:36.200 |
we don't pray, we're indirectly saying, "I can do this." And that's the last lesson that 00:29:42.600 |
any of the disciples needed to learn before he went to the cross. That you're not going 00:29:46.600 |
to do it. Satan has asked permission to sift you like wheat. And I don't know if Satan 00:29:51.800 |
has asked permission to sift you like wheat, but I know from experience and from all the 00:29:57.920 |
people who've gone before us, that you will be tested. Your character is going to be tested. 00:30:04.120 |
Your ability is going to be tested. Your family is going to be tested. Your relationship with 00:30:07.800 |
your wife is going to be tested. Your children will be tested. Your ministry is going to 00:30:12.120 |
be tested. You're going to be tested in your 30s. You're going to be tested in your 40s. 00:30:16.520 |
You're going to be tested in your 50s. You're going to be tested with your finances. You're 00:30:21.400 |
going to be tested in your leisure. You're going to be tested in your pride. You're going 00:30:26.080 |
to be tested in public. You're going to be tested in private. In every aspect of your 00:30:30.920 |
life, you will be scrutinized. And in the context of that, if the Holy Spirit is not 00:30:36.440 |
sustaining you, we can't make it. And that's why he says, "Your spirit is willing, but 00:30:42.200 |
your flesh is weak. So therefore, cling to Christ in prayer." So this is our encouragement 00:30:48.200 |
to you this afternoon. And I ask all of you who are here this afternoon to confirm him. 00:30:55.080 |
It is not because the people who are ordained are some special people that you guys can't 00:31:00.120 |
relate to. And we're not saying that at all. We're same people like you who needed his 00:31:07.320 |
grace to live. We're same sinners who struggle with the same lust, same desire for recognition, 00:31:15.040 |
same desire for honor, just like everybody else. If there's anything that's different 00:31:21.200 |
in any way, it's because God was gracious to us and he opened our eyes to see the glory 00:31:26.680 |
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And then that caused us to say, "I want to tell other people 00:31:30.920 |
about this. I want to spend every minute that I have, the rest of my life, to tell other 00:31:36.440 |
people about this." And that's why we ask you to pray for him. We ask you to pray for 00:31:41.440 |
him today. We ask you to pray for him when he goes. We ask you to pray for him for the 00:31:45.000 |
rest of your life. So when we're here ordaining him, we're not just ordaining him today and 00:31:50.320 |
say, "Well, he's off, so we've done our part." When we're ordaining him, we're going on the 00:31:55.040 |
same wagon as him, right? Same thing with Pastor Aaron. When he was being ordained, 00:31:59.760 |
Pastor Mark, when he was being ordained, that we're basically saying that even though we 00:32:03.520 |
may be physically apart, by laying hands on him, we're saying, "We're going to get on 00:32:08.760 |
the same bandwagon. We're going to get on the same cart from this day on. That I'm going 00:32:14.880 |
to be responsible for him. He's going to be responsible for me. And you're going to be 00:32:18.400 |
responsible for him as well." That we're laying hands on him and on behalf of us, representing 00:32:23.240 |
us, he's going to lead. He's going to take the lead in preaching the gospel. So if he 00:32:27.440 |
fails, we all in some part will fail. If he fails. And so we need to keep him accountable. 00:32:34.800 |
We need to pray for him. And so when we ask the elders and the leaders to come and we're 00:32:38.680 |
going to lay hands and pray for him, obviously we're not going to have you all come and lay 00:32:43.000 |
hands on him, because you can't. Okay, there's too many people. But spiritually, symbolically, 00:32:48.360 |
we're all going to lay hands on him. We're all spiritually going to be praying and saying, 00:32:53.680 |
"We affirm. We affirm this man's calling in his life and from this day forward, what he 00:32:58.640 |
does, we do with him. If he succeeds, we succeed with him, because we confirmed him. If he 00:33:03.240 |
fails, we fail with him, because we confirmed him." And so I pray that again, now as I ask 00:33:10.920 |
his family to come up and ask the elders, including Pastor Aaron, to come up, and we're 00:33:15.000 |
going to lay hands on him. We're going to pray for him. Okay, if you can come up. Jan 00:33:20.480 |
and Hadden? I think they're washing him up to be presentable. All right. Okay. Okay, 00:33:50.880 |
All right, we're all going to lay hands, and again, please pray with us, and then Elder 00:34:09.960 |
Philip, Elder Joe, and Pastor Mark is going to represent us in prayer. But again, as we 00:34:14.920 |
pray, again, if you would have the same spirit that we're laying hands on him, and we're 00:34:19.120 |
confirming all together. So we'll have them lead us in prayer. 00:34:24.080 |
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that you've put us in this position, Lord God, to witness 00:34:37.480 |
and to be a part of sending and also ordaining Pastor Alex and Jan and also Hadden. Father 00:34:45.880 |
God, Lord, I just want to pray for their ministry in China as Pastor Alex and the family is 00:34:55.680 |
preparing to go. I pray, Lord God, that you would help them in just the practical ways 00:35:02.920 |
of preparing themselves, just leaving the United States and taking the family overseas 00:35:14.200 |
to China. And I pray that all the transition that will occur, all the logistic that needs 00:35:20.500 |
to get done will be smooth. I pray, Lord, even just emotionally that you would comfort 00:35:27.040 |
them. I know that it's not going to be easy the day that they're traveling overseas, knowing 00:35:32.520 |
that they are leaving their family members, everything that they know here in the United 00:35:38.260 |
States and building a new life in China where it's a new place. New things, Father God, 00:35:47.800 |
people that they don't know, language that they don't understand, people they don't, 00:35:53.080 |
the culture that is different, Father. But Lord God, we are just wholeheartedly ordain 00:36:00.000 |
Pastor Alex and his family, Lord, to be a minister and a pastor of the gospel so that 00:36:06.680 |
they can bring light, Lord God, to areas that are dark, that needs to hear the gospel, Father. 00:36:13.440 |
And I pray, Lord, that you would meet all of their needs, that you would meet all of 00:36:19.320 |
their needs emotionally, physically, financially, in every way, knowing that you are with them, 00:36:27.120 |
Father, that you have commanded us to go. But in the end, that you comfort, that you 00:36:32.640 |
will be with them always to the end of the age, Father. And I pray that that will be 00:36:37.480 |
their comfort in times of difficulty, in times of loneliness, times of just questioning, 00:36:44.560 |
Lord, maybe why they're there, Father, that they will feel your presence with them, Lord, 00:36:50.520 |
in the most difficult times, knowing that you have called them and they're exactly where 00:36:55.760 |
you have placed them, where they should be. And I pray for fruitfulness in their ministry 00:37:07.600 |
Father, we want to lift up our sister Jen to you, Lord, as your child, as your adopted 00:37:16.120 |
daughter, Lord God, I pray that she may continue, Lord God, to be sanctified, that you challenge 00:37:22.960 |
her in so many ways through the support of her husband, through raising Hadan as she 00:37:30.400 |
prepares and as she goes, Lord God, I pray that she may cling to you, Lord God, that 00:37:34.960 |
her relationship with you personally, Lord, may continue to grow with passion, with intensity, 00:37:41.320 |
Lord God, with the desire, Lord, to please you in everything that she is able to do, 00:37:46.040 |
Lord God. So I pray as well, Lord God, as a sister, Lord, as she will be meeting and 00:37:52.720 |
ministering to other sisters around her, I pray that you help her to be a model example, 00:37:58.080 |
Lord God, of faithfulness, of patience, of the fruit of the Spirit, Lord God, that as 00:38:03.560 |
she disciples others, that sisters around her may see the light of Christ, her attitude, 00:38:10.840 |
Lord God, to be humble, to be like Christ, that in everything that she does in encouraging 00:38:16.240 |
words and in things, Lord God, that she may continue, Lord God, to think with a mindset 00:38:22.420 |
of service, a mindset of doing things out of love. And Lord, as a wife, Lord, we pray 00:38:29.620 |
that she continue, Lord, to support Alex as they ventured into a foreign place. And I 00:38:37.160 |
know, Lord God, that alone is somewhat stressful, but I pray, Lord God, that as they go together, 00:38:43.640 |
Lord, that she may find strength through the relationship that she has with her husband, 00:38:48.660 |
that as she supports, as she continues, Lord, to build relationship in a different place, 00:38:54.760 |
Lord, I pray that whether they're in China or wherever they are in the world, Lord, that 00:39:00.160 |
their relationship may continue to be solid, that their love for one another may continue 00:39:04.460 |
to grow, that their love for one another may continue to support their desire to please 00:39:09.960 |
you as a team, as one, Lord God, that the ministry, Lord God, that they both commit 00:39:15.960 |
to, Lord God, may be for your glory as well, Lord God, as a mother. We pray, Lord, that 00:39:22.520 |
you give her patience, that you help her, Lord God, to be mindful of how and what she 00:39:28.320 |
can say and encourage young Haddon, Lord, so, Lord, that she can raise and be a part 00:39:34.560 |
of really ministering to her son and really getting the gospel into him to help him, Lord 00:39:43.680 |
God, to see just the light of Christ through his interactions with Jen as well, Lord God. 00:39:51.360 |
We want to pray for Haddon. We thank you, Lord God, that he brings so much joy to this 00:39:56.600 |
family and, Lord, I know that the most important thing in their minds is that Haddon would 00:40:03.200 |
know Christ and that would come to believing and sanctification and knowledge, Lord God, 00:40:10.860 |
that the gospel is real, that Christ is real, that he may one day see his parents and what 00:40:16.200 |
they have committed to do, that he may embrace that as well, that the passion for the lost 00:40:21.600 |
may be imparted to him as well, Lord God. We pray for his safety and his continual growth, 00:40:27.920 |
both physically, emotionally, and spiritually, Lord, that in the situation for him, I pray 00:40:35.160 |
that he may be an obedient child, that he may not bring heartache to his parents, but, 00:40:41.680 |
Lord God, that he may bring joy and continued understanding of your love for us, Lord God, 00:40:50.040 |
as teaching both Jen and Alex, Lord God, in parenting. So, God, we pray for this family. 00:40:55.400 |
We pray for Jen and Haddon, Lord God, as they support and be a part of this ministry and 00:41:01.600 |
be a part of this team as a family, Lord God, that as they venture into this new chapter, 00:41:07.480 |
I pray, Lord, for much strength and much commitment to you, Lord God. 00:41:12.120 |
>> Heavenly Father, we pray that Pastor Alex and Jen, in their preparation before leaving, 00:41:21.120 |
God, that they would have sweet times of prayer with you, that as you prepare them, that you 00:41:26.400 |
would prepare their heart to be in a place of humility. God, that Pastor Alex would empty 00:41:32.160 |
himself of any selfish ambition to create or produce something of his own accord, but, 00:41:37.360 |
God, that he would learn through sweet prayer and you would bring his heart to a place of 00:41:42.040 |
submission, that he would be ready to do your will, that he would be ready to follow your 00:41:47.800 |
lead, and, God, he'd be willing to take the steps and guidance that you provide, Lord. 00:41:53.240 |
And, God, we do know that in the times to come, in the months leading up, that there 00:41:58.920 |
are going to be hardships, perhaps logistical frustrations. I know that they're already, 00:42:04.720 |
right now, busy as it is, and that there are different stresses to come, but now as you 00:42:09.960 |
prepare them, God, would you build in them a great confidence not in themselves, but 00:42:16.080 |
as they labor, as they strive diligently for your glory, would that be accompanied and 00:42:20.760 |
combined with great confidence in the name of Christ. Lord, would you bring them to a 00:42:24.960 |
point of trust, trust in your sovereignty, trust in your character, trust in your presence. 00:42:31.360 |
In all things, Father God, we pray that you would fill their hearts with more love for 00:42:35.240 |
Christ, that any sacrifice made, at any time they feel that they're leaving behind too 00:42:40.840 |
much, Lord, that these things would be all sacrifices of love to you. God, that their 00:42:45.640 |
hearts would be filled with great affection for our Lord and Savior, that when they go 00:42:49.900 |
to preach, that God, they'd be preaching the love of Christ. God, that when they go to 00:42:54.440 |
minister, it'd be done for the love of your name. And Father, it's in that great name 00:43:04.680 |
>> Okay, at this time, we would like to present Pastor Alex with a certificate of ordination 00:43:25.780 |
and also a little gift. So I'll go ahead and on behalf of the Berean Community Church, 00:43:30.580 |
I will go ahead and read the certificate, okay, and make the presentation. Certificate 00:43:34.900 |
of ordination, we, the elders and members of Berean Community Church, hereby certify 00:43:40.080 |
that Alex Han has been tested and confirmed through years of faithfulness and fruitfulness 00:43:47.260 |
to be set apart for the gospel ministry of Jesus Christ. On the 7th of December, 2014, 00:43:54.980 |
the following council members, leaders of Berean Community Church, signed by Peter Kim, 00:44:13.780 |
>> Thank you. Yeah. Yes. It's like I'm being sent out to war and spiritual battle and you 00:44:40.740 |
guys are cheering for me. It's so great. Yeah, I mean, I was trying to think of a way to 00:44:48.020 |
sum up just my attitude and just my perspective in all this. And there's just like two points 00:44:54.780 |
that I just want to make. And first point I want to make is just how I got here. I remember 00:45:00.580 |
when I was in China and I was, I think I was talking with Pastor Aaron over the phone. 00:45:07.380 |
Probably Henry probably heard about this too, but it was like a Sunday morning. We didn't 00:45:12.900 |
go to church yet. And so I was talking to Pastor Aaron and then I remember telling him, 00:45:17.180 |
I was like, "You know, for whatever the reason, like I just love God." You know? And it wasn't, 00:45:25.500 |
it's a known fact, you know? It's a known fact. Yeah, I believe it. But there was such 00:45:31.520 |
a simplicity to that, to whatever experience I was having at that moment, you know, just 00:45:37.220 |
to have this simple love for God, no strings attached, you know, like, you know, like, 00:45:44.020 |
yeah, he saved me, he's blessed me, he's given me all these different things. And just my 00:45:49.740 |
response is just, I simply love you. And just thinking about how that simple love is being 00:45:58.820 |
manifested now and just coming up to this point of being ordained and now, you know, 00:46:03.940 |
thinking about China and missions and trying to start a church, it really is just a manifestation 00:46:10.980 |
of this simple love for God and a desire to share this simple love with everyone that 00:46:17.860 |
I know. And I'm just utterly humbled and amazed to see how much that love for God could carry 00:46:25.940 |
me through. And I'm genuinely wondering, will this love carry me through once more? And 00:46:34.260 |
I think with confidence I can say, yes, it will carry me through. 00:46:39.220 |
My second point, I was just trying to think, yeah, like, people are asking me, "So how 00:46:42.140 |
do you feel like being ordained?" And I'm like, "I don't know, I never went through 00:46:44.740 |
it before." I'm only expecting to be ordained once, so I'm like, I don't know how I'm gonna 00:46:49.980 |
feel. But if I can sum it up in two words, it's answered prayers. And it's not my answered 00:46:56.540 |
prayers, it's really the answered prayers of a lot of different people at our church. 00:47:02.260 |
I am the result of your prayers. And I think knowing that should stir up the body of Christ, 00:47:10.140 |
to stir up the faith to have in Him, that He does answer prayers. Like, when Pastor 00:47:15.580 |
Peter comes up and says, "You need to pray to God to raise up more workers to be sent 00:47:20.340 |
out to the harvest," tonight, this is like the manifestation of that prayer being answered. 00:47:26.740 |
You know? I'm one of those workers. And there's gonna be many more workers that are gonna 00:47:31.220 |
be raised up as a result of answered prayers. And so when Pastor Peter was saying, "You 00:47:36.180 |
gotta pray, pray, pray," I'm looking at my life and I'm like, I'm the result of 00:47:40.860 |
answered prayers many times over. And it just humbles me. It points to the fact that I can't 00:47:48.620 |
be here without the support of God and the support of this church. And I am absolutely 00:47:55.380 |
excited. You know, I know school is gonna end for me pretty soon, and I'm excited about 00:47:59.420 |
that. I'm like, yes, no more driving up 70 plus miles, you know, twice a week. But I'm 00:48:06.900 |
actually more excited to start the work in China. It's been seven years waiting, praying, 00:48:13.100 |
preparing, and to finally come to the manifestation of like actually going. I'm gonna be like, 00:48:18.340 |
man, I'm just gonna be praising God, you know, every day. And so I'm utterly humbled, I'm 00:48:24.620 |
grateful, I am the result of your answered prayers, and I'm only praying that our church 00:48:29.860 |
would pray more so that we could raise up more workers to be sent out into the harvest. 00:48:35.300 |
You know, yes, our family needs prayer, yes, our family needs financial support for this 00:48:40.860 |
move to China. But more than us, the work itself needs more people. And I'm taking open 00:48:48.460 |
calls right now to be sent out to China. You don't have to wait. If you want to join the 00:48:53.540 |
team, you can join the team now. So I'm just letting you guys know. Anyways, that's it.