back to indexWed Bible Study (BCC 2 - Class 3) - 10-5-16
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Again, we apologize if the tables got moved around 00:00:22.800 |
and then we set it up, and I think this is better anyway. 00:00:27.000 |
so that you're not sitting back to back with somebody. 00:00:32.640 |
and that's why we have extra tables in the back. 00:00:34.800 |
So most likely, I asked you to look at the table 00:00:38.680 |
that you're in now and try to stay within that table. 00:00:41.480 |
Last week wasn't the final one, this is it, okay? 00:00:55.360 |
you can just come straight and sit down, okay? 00:00:58.160 |
All right, today we're gonna be talking about, 00:01:03.040 |
when we're talking about God-centered worship, 00:01:07.640 |
So first week, we talked about God's nature of holiness 00:01:30.440 |
through the tabernacle, through the sacrifices, 00:01:33.880 |
and how that reveals where we stand before him. 00:01:38.860 |
Today's session, we're gonna be talking about 00:01:45.820 |
Because we're, again, gathered together as a church, 00:01:47.800 |
we're gonna be talking about our church vision, 00:02:01.640 |
And again, if you've been at our church for a long time, 00:02:05.240 |
again, all of this stuff is gonna be reviewed to you, 00:02:07.440 |
but for those of you who are maybe in the last, 00:02:17.580 |
But that's the point of what we're gonna be doing today. 00:02:23.000 |
affects the way we approach everything that we do at church. 00:02:39.540 |
So if you don't have a handout sheet with those open, 00:02:46.080 |
our worship must be God-centered and not man-centered. 00:02:53.040 |
I would say, if there's one particular doctrine 00:03:07.040 |
I remember early on in ministry as a youth pastor, 00:03:14.560 |
I preached topically because that's all I knew how to do. 00:03:18.160 |
That's, you know, that's how I heard the messages, 00:03:27.960 |
So the first book that I started preaching out of, 00:03:38.960 |
And I remember doing Romans at some point back then. 00:03:43.440 |
By the time I got to about three or four books, 00:03:53.320 |
how I understood God, how I understood church. 00:04:08.800 |
on this topic of holiness, which I've never given before. 00:04:13.560 |
How can you read the Bible without coming across passages 00:04:27.160 |
for this one particular message I was gonna give, 00:04:40.920 |
that this was central to everything that I knew about God. 00:04:45.640 |
And it caused me to change the way I view church, 00:05:04.920 |
So I can't emphasize enough that the first two days 00:05:19.080 |
then again, everything that we're gonna be teaching 00:05:23.080 |
but you're really not gonna get the weightiness 00:05:27.320 |
So again, I wanted to set that as a foundation 00:05:29.400 |
just to let you know that this is not just one 00:05:32.320 |
of many things that are important in the church. 00:05:40.800 |
like, "Oh, I know this," and just kind of dismiss it, 00:05:43.380 |
it will affect the way you understand scripture 00:06:00.120 |
that you and I could not possibly work toward, 00:06:03.120 |
and if we have a proper understanding of God, 00:06:09.720 |
That's why our very first vision in our church 00:06:12.240 |
is to establish God-centered worship and not man-centered. 00:06:15.580 |
Now, that may seem kind of obvious, maybe, to some of you, 00:06:19.620 |
but I'm gonna explain the difference between the two, 00:06:22.740 |
when it's not God-centered, when it's man-centered, 00:06:28.740 |
where market-driven churches, where if you do this 00:06:42.120 |
God-honoring church, the first question we need to ask 00:06:48.480 |
So, right worship begins with the right understanding 00:06:56.780 |
So, we can't say that we're come to worship God 00:07:01.060 |
And of the things that we know of who God is, 00:07:04.720 |
God is not, again, if you have a picture of God 00:07:07.020 |
as a grandfather that just kinda is okay with sin, 00:07:17.380 |
then yeah, it's gonna affect the way you understand. 00:07:23.780 |
So, first and foremost, our whole purpose of gathering 00:07:27.500 |
in our personal being is to give God the glory 00:07:31.380 |
So, right understanding of God is at the center of that. 00:07:36.420 |
King David, having a right perspective of God, 00:07:40.140 |
asked the question, "Why are you so mindful of men?" 00:07:55.820 |
So, we're always like kinda testing God to see, 00:07:59.380 |
If he loves me so much, why doesn't he do this for me? 00:08:01.740 |
If he loves me so much, why doesn't he answer my prayer? 00:08:04.300 |
But when we have a proper understanding of who God is, 00:08:07.260 |
the right question that we ought to be asking 00:08:09.100 |
every single day is, why does he even care, right? 00:08:26.820 |
We're just like a mist that comes and goes, right? 00:08:36.500 |
if you really think about it, objectively, who are we? 00:08:46.460 |
who's saved by the grace of God should be asking 00:08:51.240 |
Why does he care to send his only begotten son, right? 00:08:54.180 |
And that should be the foundation upon everything that we do. 00:09:00.340 |
I don't understand why he did what he did for me, 00:09:02.660 |
but the scripture says he did it and I believe in it, 00:09:05.060 |
I accept it, and therefore I worship him, right? 00:09:07.700 |
So, from that moment on, even if you're homeless and sick 00:09:16.820 |
So, our worship should not be contingent upon 00:09:24.880 |
If our worship is contingent upon Jesus and anything else, 00:09:28.720 |
you've really missed the whole point of worship, right? 00:09:34.900 |
send his only begotten son to save a sinner like me? 00:09:39.820 |
and then spend the rest of the time complaining 00:09:51.060 |
So, the very beginning of our relationship with God 00:09:54.420 |
and at the church, at the core of why we exist 00:10:02.180 |
So, even the very word for worship in English 00:10:09.580 |
which means to give value to something, right? 00:10:16.260 |
we come and worship him because he is worthy. 00:10:21.880 |
Not necessarily simply because, well, he did, 00:10:26.420 |
but by very nature of who he is and who we are, 00:10:41.620 |
"as a bound to his worshippers by bonds of self-interest, 00:10:50.300 |
"a similar feeling that God is somehow obliged to love 00:11:00.940 |
well, you know, we're doing this to get something from God, 00:11:04.140 |
but at the core of our worship is recognizing who he is 00:11:17.040 |
So, if we have a very trivial view of who God is, 00:11:24.220 |
it will directly affect the way you worship God, right? 00:11:31.340 |
in the presence of something mightier and holier than you. 00:11:43.460 |
If you value money, you end up worshiping that. 00:11:51.900 |
is to recognize the value of who God is, right? 00:12:06.460 |
So, again, why a correct understanding of God 00:12:11.820 |
Without it, you can't really worship God, right? 00:12:15.220 |
Again, the greater the object that is being encountered, 00:12:19.100 |
and we are creatures created for this very purpose. 00:12:30.860 |
is that more important than anything else at church, 00:12:41.540 |
Our primary reason why we make decisions on certain things 00:12:44.240 |
is not so that we can get most people into the door. 00:12:49.500 |
We want to encourage people, we want to properly train, 00:12:54.300 |
but never to do that with this as a compromise, right? 00:13:05.180 |
and our people recognizing the God that they worship, right? 00:13:11.620 |
it's not centered around me, it's centered around who he is. 00:13:18.360 |
it's primarily because we think it'll honor God, 00:13:24.700 |
So, again, that's at the core of why we do what we do. 00:13:29.240 |
By definition of what worship is, it must be God-centered, 00:13:34.580 |
since God is the one we are coming to encounter. 00:13:57.260 |
I'm going out of town and I need to look for a church, 00:14:04.180 |
Is worship, a place where you can go to worship, right? 00:14:07.700 |
First, that should be your first and foremost, 00:14:17.860 |
and then in that context, you wanna find fellowship, 00:14:20.780 |
who are seeking God in the same manner, right? 00:14:30.460 |
and then hopefully those group of friends that I find 00:14:40.020 |
So again, I wanted to, again, for those of you 00:14:46.960 |
to, I mean, I wish I could just spend the whole day 00:14:53.960 |
but because we are in a market-driven culture, 00:15:04.040 |
it's just satisfying the needs of the people, right? 00:15:09.720 |
well, who's unhappy and what are you unhappy about? 00:15:15.440 |
so that more people can be happy in the church. 00:15:20.120 |
As leaders and as one of the teachers in the church, 00:15:23.320 |
our primary goal is a lot of times you're unsatisfied 00:15:25.600 |
because there's something wrong in your heart, right? 00:15:32.400 |
So I'm not saying that that's always the case, 00:15:42.800 |
before we're concerned about anything else, okay? 00:15:50.920 |
is to equip the church with God's inerrant word, 00:16:01.580 |
We're not going into scripture doing eisegesis, 00:16:07.820 |
so you look for scripture that's gonna bring comfort, right? 00:16:12.960 |
and a lot of people are struggling with raising children, 00:16:17.340 |
so that I can encourage you in raising children, right? 00:16:22.280 |
Even the way we study the Bible is God-centered, okay? 00:16:28.680 |
The scripture says the word of God is God-breathed. 00:16:34.040 |
In 2 Timothy 3, 16, all scripture is breathed out by God, 00:16:40.220 |
It means that his very breath is in his word. 00:16:43.380 |
So what is the primary way that we encounter this God? 00:16:47.680 |
Primary way that we encounter this God that we worship 00:16:56.640 |
through circumstances and things that happen in our life? 00:17:01.900 |
the avenue in which we encounter God is through his word, 00:17:09.820 |
because Pastor Mark is gonna cover it next week, 00:17:16.020 |
when they have an encounter with God at the transfiguration, 00:17:20.380 |
right, God says, "This is my son in whom I am well pleased," 00:17:31.100 |
the first act of worship when you encounter God, 00:17:33.940 |
there's trembling and fear, they recognize their sin. 00:17:36.340 |
Well, that's what happened to the three of them, 00:17:48.540 |
you would expect God to say, "Go tell everybody." 00:18:12.340 |
that he was eyewitness of God saying that, "This is my son," 00:18:21.860 |
the passage says, "But I have something more sure 00:18:25.260 |
"than the testimony in me hearing his voice." 00:18:34.200 |
Again, I didn't wanna spend too much time here, 00:19:02.700 |
For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, 00:19:05.620 |
and the voice was born to him by the majestic glory, 00:19:09.340 |
this is my beloved son, with him I am well pleased. 00:19:12.940 |
We ourselves heard this very voice born from heaven, 00:19:19.020 |
I mean, what can be more reassuring than to know 00:19:23.900 |
that they're talking to somebody who actually saw 00:19:30.300 |
But the interesting thing is, right after that it says, 00:19:32.140 |
and we have something more sure than what he heard, 00:19:40.500 |
to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place 00:19:42.940 |
until the day dawns and the morning star rises 00:19:47.180 |
because again, like I said, Pastor Mark's gonna spend 00:19:49.540 |
a little bit more time talking about that next week. 00:19:52.880 |
So the primary way that God has ordained for us 00:19:57.320 |
to encounter this God that we worship is his word. 00:20:06.180 |
but it's not regularly in the word of God, right? 00:20:11.220 |
because that's his primary way that God called us 00:20:19.480 |
one of the first things that we need to do and recognize 00:20:21.920 |
is to honor God by having high view of his word, right? 00:20:29.040 |
It's not because, well, this church is about missions, 00:20:34.740 |
The reason why the word is emphasized in our church 00:20:37.520 |
is because we're trying to put Christ and God 00:20:46.660 |
The goal of the church is to make his voice clear 00:21:00.720 |
There's nothing necessarily innately wrong with that, 00:21:13.560 |
He says in John 10, 27, "My sheep hear my voice 00:21:26.720 |
So every part of that sentence is about Christ, right? 00:21:39.080 |
that you hear his voice, that you don't go and say, 00:21:41.880 |
"That's his opinion or someone else's opinion." 00:21:44.080 |
And if I say anything that contradicts the scripture, 00:21:47.240 |
right, we're Bereans, we're supposed to test it, right? 00:21:50.800 |
So your confidence doesn't come from certain men 00:22:18.040 |
and we're looking at the context and historical context, 00:22:28.340 |
that just kind of whatever you get out of it. 00:22:30.960 |
And that's the problem that we have with our generation. 00:22:40.880 |
has nothing to do with what that passage says. 00:23:02.840 |
And that's why we do it, we teach expository, 00:23:06.840 |
I wanna talk about this, and then just pick certain verses. 00:23:11.540 |
We also go through scripture, systematically, 00:23:14.980 |
because we want to make sure that the whole counsel 00:23:16.820 |
of God is taught and not just select subjects, right? 00:23:23.420 |
there are certain subjects that I prefer not to talk about. 00:23:33.860 |
some people are gonna interpret it the wrong way. 00:23:36.520 |
And there are some times when I would have a conversation, 00:23:39.580 |
or may have had a heated conversation for many weeks, 00:23:47.180 |
Or there are certain sensitive subjects in our culture, 00:23:49.660 |
in our generation, that I know if I say these things, 00:23:57.700 |
But by teaching systematically, I don't have a choice. 00:24:21.380 |
There have been times when I saw that coming, 00:24:31.860 |
or she's gonna think that I'm talking to her. 00:24:36.980 |
because it was coming, unless I just skipped over it. 00:24:49.960 |
but by preaching and teaching systematically, 00:25:00.440 |
To make sure that, again, we're exalting Christ, 00:25:07.440 |
And finally, the word of God has final authority 00:25:17.500 |
If you ever want to get my attention about something 00:25:22.540 |
that you really feel dire need to address in the church, 00:25:28.980 |
he won't listen to anything, which may be true, 00:25:44.160 |
you're one of 500 other people with opinions, right? 00:25:58.800 |
So, I'm always kinda hearing opinions and voices 00:26:02.960 |
constantly, so if you really want me to pay attention, 00:26:07.940 |
what convicted you to say, or, "Hey, we really need 00:26:11.800 |
"to address this issue according to Scripture," right? 00:26:15.220 |
Otherwise, your voice is gonna be just one of many opinions. 00:26:29.100 |
telling me that our church is gonna be ruined 00:26:35.160 |
literally two days later, raving about how they were blessed 00:26:40.240 |
So, at the end of the day, I have to just keep going. 00:26:44.200 |
I have to make sure, like, this is what I'm convicted in, 00:26:46.780 |
and as long as I don't see what you're telling me 00:26:49.780 |
through Scripture, you're probably not gonna get 00:26:51.960 |
my attention, 'cause the final authority in my life 00:26:57.000 |
in our church life is the Word of God, right? 00:27:03.300 |
all it'll sound like is, I know better than you, 00:27:06.660 |
I'm smarter than you, and I have everybody else 00:27:13.380 |
to a lot of people telling me that they're smarter, 00:27:15.940 |
because I just want to put you guys together, 00:27:23.160 |
But if you really want to get the ear of the leaders, 00:27:31.580 |
So, as long as you can point to me in Scripture, 00:27:35.100 |
this is what we need to do, then there's nothing 00:27:54.900 |
and we're becoming more and more of a minority every year, 00:28:01.060 |
as long as the Scripture is clear on this subject, right? 00:28:04.900 |
We say what we say, because this is what we see 00:28:06.900 |
in Scripture, and so, if you have any questions 00:28:10.420 |
why does our church do that, first thing I'm gonna do 00:28:12.860 |
is open up the Scripture and tell you, right? 00:28:15.500 |
So, if you have a rebuttal to that, that's Scriptural, 00:28:22.420 |
but Scriptural, then we'll have a good conversation. 00:28:34.980 |
so we have God-centered worship, God-centered Bible study, 00:28:39.940 |
Again, the first thing that I wanna emphasize 00:28:43.980 |
is the gathering of the church is a holy community, 00:28:54.340 |
high view of Scripture, and high view of the church, right? 00:28:59.340 |
So, God doesn't serve us, we serve the church. 00:29:04.420 |
The church isn't, the Scripture isn't twisted to serve me. 00:29:19.180 |
The church is a gathering of people who've been saved, 00:29:21.740 |
who belong to Christ, whose ownership is Christ, 00:29:29.060 |
So, again, the adjustment in attitude that we need to have 00:29:33.220 |
if we have the wrong attitude toward churches, 00:29:41.620 |
I like this about this church, so I go there, 00:29:51.120 |
and then you just kinda pick and choose what you want, 00:29:52.780 |
and then, you know, and I'm kinda exaggerating, 00:30:11.780 |
and then it causes the church to be just another avenue 00:30:17.660 |
So if this church doesn't have friends my age, 00:30:26.700 |
the scripture teaches us to have a high view of His church. 00:30:34.260 |
there was a division in the Corinthians church, 00:31:03.260 |
There are certain people, if you had any kind of defect, 00:31:05.580 |
if you were a Gentile, if you had any kind of disease, 00:31:13.980 |
So the temple to a Jew was the most holiest of place. 00:31:20.460 |
"That you, your body now, not the physical temple, 00:31:23.460 |
"but your gathering, your church, is the temple of God," 00:31:27.100 |
immediately, any Jew would have understood this as sacred. 00:31:31.100 |
Where does the sacredness first appear in the scripture 00:31:36.940 |
to teach us about the sacredness of the church? 00:32:04.020 |
In Acts chapter, I'm not gonna read the whole thing, 00:32:10.460 |
and Peter condemns them, and they fall down and die. 00:32:28.000 |
So you're talking about a seeker-friendly church, 00:32:30.680 |
I mean, these guys were exactly the opposite, right? 00:32:37.160 |
so you don't have to worry about people dying, 00:32:43.280 |
because they were trying to teach the early church 00:32:52.560 |
that they wouldn't want to associate with the apostles, 00:33:00.200 |
So they weren't coming to church because it was safe. 00:33:03.440 |
They were coming to church because they recognized 00:33:05.840 |
that that's where the Spirit of God dwelt, right? 00:33:32.680 |
"that you may proclaim the excellencies of him 00:33:34.640 |
"who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 00:33:37.320 |
So it's not just the pastor, it's not just the Bible, 00:33:48.100 |
1 Corinthians 6.19 also talks about us being the temple, 00:34:00.180 |
And this is why we practice church membership. 00:34:05.820 |
1 Corinthians 12.12-15, "Just as the body is one 00:34:09.740 |
"and has many members, and all of the members of the body, 00:34:11.740 |
"though many are one body, so it is with Christ." 00:34:25.060 |
Saying, "I wanna be part of this body one day, 00:34:28.560 |
"and then the body down the street the other day." 00:34:38.580 |
Now, I didn't put it down here because, again, 00:34:41.540 |
we're gonna go into a little bit more detail later on 00:34:46.220 |
But there's a universal church, the unseen church, 00:34:52.900 |
Universal church is the unseen church of all believers. 00:35:06.000 |
We don't have membership in the universal church 00:35:24.940 |
"From him the whole body joined and held together 00:35:47.660 |
He said each gift was given so that you can play your part 00:35:56.060 |
whether you're a foot or your hand, you're playing a part. 00:36:24.020 |
"clothe yourself with humility toward one another, 00:36:33.300 |
every one of these letters are written to who? 00:36:41.100 |
Not universal church, but to local churches, right? 00:36:47.540 |
and the elder would read it to the church that he's with. 00:36:51.680 |
So you can't practice Christianity outside of the church. 00:36:57.680 |
You don't know what your gift is outside the church, right? 00:37:05.560 |
but if the church doesn't confirm that that's your gift, 00:37:11.500 |
You can say, you know, I'm so good with hospitality. 00:37:23.300 |
How do we know what kind of gifts God has given us 00:37:26.260 |
and what we're good at, what we're not good at, 00:37:29.860 |
You know, most of what is taught about choosing elders, 00:37:41.380 |
If you have been getting consistent complaints 00:37:51.940 |
you're always saying those people are unfair, right? 00:37:56.100 |
There's a great chance that that's your blind spot. 00:38:01.060 |
There's a great chance that there is an issue with you 00:38:06.900 |
your pride just would not allow it to yield, right? 00:38:18.740 |
initially they love it because everybody's so nice 00:38:31.140 |
Real sanctification happens when all of a sudden 00:38:35.580 |
There's certain people that rub you the wrong way, 00:38:37.660 |
there's certain people who don't behave the way 00:38:51.740 |
Sanctification happens when you're rubbing each other. 00:38:53.820 |
So tell me somebody who doesn't know how to love somebody 00:38:59.400 |
I mean, you're just a miserable fool if that's the case. 00:39:17.220 |
That's why he puts us in the context of a church. 00:39:20.420 |
And again, if you're in a habit of running from people 00:39:24.860 |
that rub you the wrong way because of certain things, 00:39:27.340 |
then there's a huge blind spot even in your life, right? 00:39:45.560 |
'Cause I guarantee you, if you're around people 00:39:49.360 |
And if they know your weak spot, they're sinners, 00:40:04.840 |
it talks about purging the evil person from among you. 00:40:23.520 |
when God-centered worship, God-centered scripture, 00:40:28.040 |
God-centered church, high view of the church, 00:40:47.440 |
then it is elevated to church discipline, right? 00:40:52.000 |
And this, again, accountability happens two ways. 00:40:57.560 |
and the church leaders need to get involved officially, 00:41:00.840 |
but the real accountability on the day-to-day basis 00:41:03.120 |
where we don't just sweep sin under the rug, right? 00:41:11.100 |
it is not loving to just turn the other way, right? 00:41:15.920 |
your son or daughter or your brother or sister 00:41:23.400 |
and pretend like that's not happening, right? 00:41:40.240 |
the church members have to practice accountability 00:41:45.480 |
If you practice accountability with people you don't like, 00:41:55.640 |
We're talking about people that are close to you, 00:41:57.520 |
they're your friends, the people that are very awkward 00:42:02.400 |
Especially those people, those are the people 00:42:11.960 |
there's no way that the church is gonna remain holy, right? 00:42:23.920 |
hey, you're sinning, I pointed out, I did my job, right? 00:42:27.000 |
The purpose of that is to turn them from their sin 00:42:36.160 |
Again, there's a fine line between being judgmental 00:42:44.680 |
learning how to do that and do that well, right? 00:42:58.240 |
You can just write it down, look at it later. 00:42:59.820 |
This is where God is judging the nation of Israel 00:43:07.080 |
He took certain things that God told him not to touch 00:43:09.600 |
in the city of Jericho, and as a result of that, 00:43:20.560 |
he brings the whole nation of Israel out, right? 00:43:25.120 |
One guy's sin, over a million people have to stand in line, 00:43:30.120 |
and then out of all of Israel, he calls out Judah 00:43:36.520 |
and then from there, he calls the clan of the Zerrites, 00:43:39.440 |
and then from there, he calls the family of Zimri, 00:43:49.120 |
a million people to call out this one guy, right? 00:43:52.480 |
And we see this consistently throughout scripture 00:44:11.600 |
That's just like if something is happening to, 00:44:17.440 |
and you say, "Ah, it's his problem, he doesn't care." 00:44:20.120 |
There's some responsibility to the older brother 00:44:22.240 |
for not caring enough to say something or do something, 00:44:43.920 |
and Titus gives a list of qualifications of an elder. 00:44:59.400 |
Husband of one wife, that he needs to be proven at home. 00:45:04.600 |
And then he says, "Make sure that he's not a recent convert 00:45:14.880 |
So one of the most important qualification of an elder 00:45:20.960 |
because once it gets to his head, what happens? 00:45:29.160 |
But if somebody stands in between pointing to Christ 00:45:33.200 |
and then he wants some of the glory, right, what happens? 00:45:43.080 |
"You don't put in newcomers because the greatest fear 00:45:45.400 |
"is that he may become conceited and become proud." 00:45:47.960 |
And then that in and of itself would disqualify all of this 00:45:51.000 |
because he's doing all of this for his own glory, right? 00:45:59.440 |
and not take the glory and give the glory to God, right? 00:46:02.920 |
And that's why we follow biblical mandate of leadership. 00:46:16.740 |
not broken, not humbled, and not compassionate, right? 00:46:20.980 |
At some point, that's gonna manifest in the leadership. 00:46:35.860 |
I'm just gonna pass by this for the sake of time. 00:46:39.220 |
God-centered evangelism, and I'm gonna talk about this 00:46:45.780 |
God-centered evangelism and not man-centered. 00:46:48.840 |
Man-centered evangelism attempts to make the gospel 00:46:53.960 |
God-centered evangelism focuses on representing God 00:47:01.240 |
we don't change the method, simply because it works, right? 00:47:05.560 |
Our primary goal is to make sure that what he meant 00:47:10.540 |
in the scripture is presented accurately, right? 00:47:13.740 |
What happens when you have evangelism that's man-centered? 00:47:19.040 |
Highlight the positive and kind of sweep under the rug 00:47:35.140 |
Anything that you think a modern man would not be interested 00:47:43.380 |
and then just kind of highlight the good stuff, right? 00:47:45.860 |
God loves you, you know, like God loves you unconditionally. 00:47:49.420 |
So we end up highlighting, and all of that is true, 00:47:52.620 |
but we end up kind of taking certain things out, 00:47:57.420 |
and then so they hear a partial gospel, right? 00:48:00.460 |
So the goal of evangelism, again, in me speaking, 00:48:05.660 |
Man-centered evangelism ends justify any means, right? 00:48:11.980 |
If that's gonna get people to church, we'll try it, right? 00:48:18.140 |
and if we have the right people here doing that, 00:48:21.740 |
And the God-centered evangelism emphasizes the fact 00:48:27.100 |
that God has ordained the means as well as the ends, 00:48:41.060 |
So when the Holy Spirit, when we abide in the Holy Spirit, 00:48:46.420 |
the Holy Spirit is gonna cause us to bear fruit, right? 00:48:49.180 |
So it is not by being clever, by new methods, 00:49:03.580 |
the way we used to do evangelism 20 years ago 00:49:10.100 |
they're gonna find another new relevant thing 00:49:13.460 |
If you look at scripture, God constantly points backward. 00:49:24.980 |
That Jesus is gonna come and judgment is gonna come 00:49:32.140 |
remember, remember who I am, remember what I did, 00:49:39.500 |
Remember when I was faithful to you, remember. 00:49:46.700 |
should be no different than what the apostles did. 00:49:58.300 |
we have people with MBAs and marketing degrees 00:50:10.660 |
those techniques will work to bring people to church, 00:50:15.580 |
but it's absolutely useless to bring people to Christ. 00:50:19.780 |
It's absolutely useless to bring people to Christ. 00:50:22.340 |
There's no, God wasn't waiting for people to get an MBA 00:50:25.660 |
so that we can do evangelism effectively, right? 00:50:36.020 |
who were uneducated, was able to rock the world 00:50:46.180 |
Why do we all of a sudden, 2,000 years later, 00:50:50.740 |
And again, I'm not saying that we shouldn't be sophisticated. 00:50:53.660 |
I'm not saying that all of that stuff is absolutely useless, 00:50:58.060 |
but at the core of how we understand bare fruit, 00:51:06.100 |
It wasn't because, you know, got a doctor of ministry 00:51:09.900 |
and how to do ministry and learned all the new techniques 00:51:23.640 |
and none of that is evil, none of that is bad, 00:51:26.260 |
but it's absolutely useless to bring people to Christ, right? 00:51:31.700 |
to bring people to Christ is to preach Christ crucified, 00:51:37.720 |
Man-centered evangelism focuses on profession. 00:51:45.100 |
God-centered evangelism focuses on conversion, right? 00:51:49.100 |
When people encounter God and there's an actual conversion. 00:51:54.840 |
I'm talking about not just your thoughts, your life, 00:52:00.160 |
what you pursue, there's actual conversion that takes place. 00:52:04.080 |
Man-centered evangelism focus on a better life here. 00:52:13.280 |
these things will happen, God will answer your prayer, 00:52:14.880 |
maybe he'll bless your family and your business, 00:52:22.740 |
But like I said, every time God points to the future, 00:52:28.040 |
it's always to tell us that there's hope at the end, right? 00:52:42.000 |
that in the church that God is exalted, not man, right? 00:52:56.400 |
that church is growing because of these methods 00:52:59.760 |
that we're implementing in the church, right? 00:53:08.000 |
and all this stuff, and I hope that you would use your gifts 00:53:10.400 |
to help the church, but at the core, if you're asking me, 00:53:16.920 |
how to invest my time, I will always invest my time 00:53:26.080 |
Instead of running around trying to attend seminars 00:53:29.240 |
to see the latest method, whatever it is working, right? 00:53:33.160 |
'Cause like I said, I think I've shared this so many times, 00:53:36.920 |
I figured out very early on how to grow a church, right? 00:53:44.960 |
And you can disagree with me, but it's pretty simple. 00:53:59.960 |
and the welcoming people at the welcome table 00:54:04.680 |
that sermons have to be simple, it has to be funny, 00:54:12.040 |
And if I stick to that principle, keep the sermon short, 00:54:24.760 |
And the church will grow, like in number, it'll grow, right? 00:54:34.880 |
They're gonna have to put in their time anyway, 00:54:39.640 |
I gotta do it anyway, might as well go to a comedy one. 00:54:45.320 |
might as well go to one that I like the people, 00:54:47.920 |
and the sermons are short, you know what I mean? 00:54:51.400 |
So it's not drawing people who wants to meet Christ, right? 00:55:01.200 |
If people are coming because they love Christ 00:55:04.640 |
and that's the primary reason why they come, right? 00:55:14.360 |
But only if it's because they're coming to meet Christ. 00:55:21.400 |
and then Pastor Mark is gonna take it over for us. 00:55:26.960 |
this is the kind of like the pattern that we're gonna have. 00:55:32.720 |
and then the ramification of that in the church. 00:55:34.640 |
And so part of the reason why we're having this class 00:55:37.360 |
is so that we can bring everybody on the same page 00:55:41.160 |
and realize like, oh, okay, this is why we do what we do. 00:55:44.980 |
So next one that we're gonna be covering is the Word. 00:55:49.440 |
And we're gonna get into a little bit more of hermeneutics 00:55:54.680 |
How do we, if we're going to make it God-centered, 00:55:57.280 |
like how do we understand what God is saying? 00:55:59.080 |
And again, it may be review for a lot of you, 00:56:02.240 |
but we wanna make sure that not just the elders 00:56:07.760 |
We want the whole church to be able to go into the Word