back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 5.21.23
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>> In Revelation 4, the apostle John shares this vision of the endless 00:08:15.000 |
worship that is happening before the throne of God. 00:08:21.000 |
He writes, "Immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was standing 00:08:30.000 |
And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone, and a stardust in appearance. 00:08:35.000 |
And there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance. 00:08:40.000 |
Around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, 00:08:46.000 |
clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. 00:08:51.000 |
Out from the throne came flashes of lightning, and sounds and peals of 00:08:55.000 |
thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which 00:09:02.000 |
And before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. 00:09:07.000 |
And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in 00:09:13.000 |
The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, and the 00:09:17.000 |
third creature had the face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like 00:09:23.000 |
And the four creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around 00:09:28.000 |
and within, and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the 00:09:34.000 |
Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come." 00:09:40.000 |
And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on 00:09:44.000 |
the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before 00:09:50.000 |
him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever and 00:09:54.000 |
will cast their crowns before the throne saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and our 00:10:03.000 |
For you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created." 00:10:10.000 |
So, church family, as we begin our worship, let us also join in this endless song of 00:11:02.000 |
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee. 00:12:00.000 |
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. 00:12:12.000 |
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee. 00:12:58.000 |
Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide thee. 00:13:10.000 |
While the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see. 00:13:22.000 |
Only thou art holy, there is none beside thee. 00:14:08.000 |
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea. 00:14:57.000 |
As you can see, I'm limping because we had a softball tournament yesterday. 00:15:05.000 |
We went then thinking that we're going to play a few games and then come home and have dinner and relax. 00:15:10.000 |
And then we, for whatever the reason, we kept on winning. 00:15:14.000 |
And then we ended up winning the whole thing. 00:15:21.000 |
Yeah, we're just as surprised and shocked as you are. 00:15:25.000 |
And so because of that, we ended up playing seven games almost back to back to back. 00:15:32.000 |
So if you see people walking around with burned foreheads and limping, they were the guys who played yesterday. 00:15:41.000 |
I have a few announcements before we get started. 00:15:44.000 |
First of all, we require anyone who is working at church with children, we require there would be a child safety training. 00:15:53.000 |
So those of you guys who are volunteering, whether it's babysitting or any capacity around children, 00:15:59.000 |
we're asking if you haven't taken the safety training, there's a safety training that's happening on May 28th from 1 to 140 p.m. 00:16:07.000 |
And so after service next Sunday, so please sign up for that. 00:16:10.000 |
And, again, it is a mandatory training for volunteers. 00:16:13.000 |
So if you haven't taken it, please take it for next Sunday. 00:16:17.000 |
And then, again, VBS registration is still happening. 00:16:21.000 |
So if you haven't registered for that, that's happening July 10th to the 14th from 5 to 8 p.m. 00:16:27.000 |
So just keep that in mind and please sign up for that. 00:16:30.000 |
And I want to make a push for one more push for the abortion seminar that's happening on Sunday, May 28th at 145 p.m. 00:16:38.000 |
So those of you who are doing the training, it'll be done at 140 and then at 145, the abortion seminar is going to be happening. 00:16:46.000 |
Pastor Mark Lim is going to be leading that seminar. And I highly encourage you to take that, 00:16:52.000 |
considering what is happening in our culture right now. 00:16:56.000 |
And this fight against abortion has existed for a long time. 00:17:00.000 |
But recently, there has been confusion that's coming into the church, 00:17:05.000 |
and even some of the church leaders are muddying the water, making this an in-house debate. 00:17:12.000 |
And I want to make that very clear that this is not an open debate. 00:17:16.000 |
It's like, well, some Christians believe that you can and some Christians believe that you cannot. 00:17:20.000 |
You cannot, you cannot confess to be a Christian and hold that view. 00:17:24.000 |
That is, again, this is an abomination before God. 00:17:30.000 |
And so not only do we want you to be informed about what the Scripture says on this subject, 00:17:36.000 |
but maybe even practically how to get involved and to be able to articulate. 00:17:41.000 |
And if you hear this argument from somebody, that you're able to defend this biblically, 00:17:49.000 |
And so we are, there is a concern because there are even some, 00:17:54.000 |
even in some circles where the church leaders are muddying the water on this subject, 00:17:59.000 |
and a lot of our Christian brothers and sisters are being confused about this issue. 00:18:03.000 |
So we want to make sure that this is not the case in our church. 00:18:06.000 |
And so Pastor Mark will be giving the seminar, a biblical view of what it says, 00:18:10.000 |
and we'll take some time to Q&A and maybe even give some practical advice 00:18:13.000 |
on how we may be able to get involved in this fight. 00:18:17.000 |
So please mark that. If you haven't signed up for it, please sign up for it. 00:18:20.000 |
That's taking place at 1:45 p.m. next Sunday. 00:18:26.000 |
Again, if you have a physical offering, we have a box in the back as you're going out. 00:18:29.000 |
And then afterwards, Catherine's going to come up and she's going to give her testimony 00:18:32.000 |
and be baptized this morning. All right, let's pray. 00:18:39.000 |
Gracious Father, we thank you so much for the privilege that we have 00:18:44.000 |
We pray for your blessing. We pray for your Holy Spirit to guide us. 00:18:49.000 |
May our worship, our singing, all that we have, Lord God, 00:18:56.000 |
I pray that your presence would be known, Father God, through your word, 00:18:59.000 |
through our singing, through the fellowship of the people, 00:19:02.000 |
and that whatever it is that we have brought into this room, 00:19:05.000 |
that you would lift our eyes to Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. 00:19:11.000 |
May it be multiplied for your use. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:19:57.000 |
All right, would you please stand with us as we continue our worship? 00:21:32.000 |
Let all things, let all things their creator bless 00:22:56.000 |
Yes, He has cast all your burdens now on Him. 00:24:05.000 |
Alleluia, oh, praise Him, oh, praise Him, Alleluia. 00:24:52.000 |
Oh, God, before the mountains were brought forth 00:24:59.000 |
or days of spring and summer filled the earth, 00:25:57.000 |
We rest within the wisdom of Your plan, everlasting God. 00:26:53.000 |
We rest within the wisdom of Your plan, everlasting God. 00:27:23.000 |
but by Your grace You're making all things new. 00:28:08.000 |
We rest within the wisdom of Your plan, everlasting. 00:28:32.000 |
We rest within the wisdom of Your plan, everlasting God. 00:29:09.000 |
I'm a first year at UCI, and this is my testimony. 00:29:11.000 |
I was born and raised in a Christian household 00:29:22.000 |
and as they often led worship, I would join them. 00:29:29.000 |
However, I never had a sincere heart to serve my God. 00:29:32.000 |
I put up a display to others of being that good Christian kid, 00:29:36.000 |
professing to be a Christian, but my faith was not my own. 00:29:42.000 |
I said the words I heard everyone around me saying, 00:29:47.000 |
By the time high school came, going to church became a chore, 00:29:53.000 |
Instead, I prioritized my academics, my relationships, 00:29:56.000 |
both romantic and friendships, and my sport, color guard. 00:30:00.000 |
I put my entire identity in these three things, 00:30:05.000 |
As a captain in color guard, I put a lot of pressure on myself 00:30:10.000 |
My patience often ran thin, and I was short-tempered. 00:30:14.000 |
When my coach started telling me that everything that went wrong 00:30:17.000 |
with my team was my fault, I thought that I had failed as a captain. 00:30:22.000 |
Then I strived to please my friends at school, 00:30:24.000 |
who were seen as the geniuses and the top of the class, 00:30:27.000 |
and I thought if I couldn't match their grades and image, 00:30:32.000 |
When my friends showed disapproval of my grades, 00:30:37.000 |
I realized I would never be good enough for them. 00:30:39.000 |
My fear of man grew, and I became a people pleaser, 00:30:42.000 |
always doing things for others for my own selfish desire 00:30:52.000 |
I sought stability in a boyfriend, but it could never last 00:30:55.000 |
because God was not the center of that relationship. 00:30:58.000 |
I held him on a pedestal, idolizing him and changing myself to please him. 00:31:03.000 |
I became the kind of person I hated, one who was self-centered, 00:31:07.000 |
cussing when I knew it was wrong, but doing so anyway 00:31:12.000 |
and going as far as breaking off my connection to God completely, 00:31:18.000 |
However, by the end of senior year, my boyfriend at the time 00:31:21.000 |
and my friend of eight years had told me I was worthless to them. 00:31:33.000 |
My pride took over, wanting to maintain an image 00:31:37.000 |
I masked my brokenness with a smile and a laugh, 00:31:40.000 |
never allowing others to see my vulnerability. 00:31:44.000 |
On the inside, I was depressed, hopeless, lost, 00:31:49.000 |
giving into every temptation that was thrown my way. 00:31:53.000 |
But God was gracious to me, and in his power, 00:31:55.000 |
he used my non-believing friend to bring me back to him. 00:32:01.000 |
"Do you really think you're going to heaven?" 00:32:03.000 |
I suddenly realized just how far I had drifted from God. 00:32:07.000 |
On Easter Sunday of 2022, I recognized my desperation for God. 00:32:11.000 |
I wanted to draw close to him, but did not know how to. 00:32:15.000 |
Jeremiah 31.3 says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; 00:32:19.000 |
therefore, I have continued my faithfulness to you." 00:32:23.000 |
And indeed, God was faithful and led me to be free 00:32:32.000 |
God sent his son to die on the cross for my sins, 00:32:36.000 |
Understanding that I do not deserve God's love, 00:32:40.000 |
Now I find my identity in God alone, for John 1.12 says, 00:32:44.000 |
"But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, 00:32:47.000 |
he gave the right to become children of God." 00:32:50.000 |
Knowing this, I long to serve him and live my life 00:32:55.000 |
Although being a believer does not remove the darkness and trials in my life, 00:32:59.000 |
I know that God is with me to guide, support, 00:33:02.000 |
and give me strength until I can be with him. 00:33:05.000 |
He is a perfect God, and I will submit to him 00:33:35.000 |
>> Do you understand when you go into the water, 00:33:39.000 |
and when you come out, you're being united with resurrected life? 00:33:42.000 |
I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:34:06.000 |
You can turn your Bible with me to Luke chapter 6, verses 12 through 16. 00:34:22.000 |
We're going to be in this text for a few weeks, 00:34:31.000 |
"It was at this time that he went off to the mountain to pray, 00:34:34.000 |
and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 00:34:37.000 |
And when day came, he called his disciples to him 00:34:39.000 |
and chose 12 of them, whom he also named as apostles. 00:34:43.000 |
Simon, whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, 00:34:46.000 |
and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, 00:34:49.000 |
and Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, 00:35:04.000 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for your continued grace. 00:35:08.000 |
I pray that what you have ordained in these words, 00:35:11.000 |
that we would hear, understand, and apply in our lives. 00:35:17.000 |
Lord, you are the powder and we are the clay. 00:35:20.000 |
We pray that you would mold our hearts, our thoughts, our very lives, 00:35:25.000 |
that we may not conform to the pattern of this world, 00:35:27.000 |
but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. 00:35:31.000 |
Bless this time, and we ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us and empower us. 00:35:38.000 |
All right, so I'm just going to give you a heads up. 00:35:40.000 |
We're going to be in this text for about three to four, 00:35:44.000 |
possibly even five weeks, because I want to take our time 00:35:48.000 |
coming through who these people are, who these 12 people are. 00:35:53.000 |
Today I'm going to be talking, generally speaking, 00:35:58.000 |
but I cannot overemphasize just how important these 12 men are. 00:36:10.000 |
and so there's a lot of conversations going on 00:36:13.000 |
as to what the success is going to look like. 00:36:17.000 |
What are the qualities that they would look for 00:36:33.000 |
but what are the things that they would look for 00:36:39.000 |
So their choice is going to be based upon what they value. 00:36:44.000 |
What are some things that aren't as important? 00:36:46.000 |
What are some things that are essential that they can't compromise on? 00:36:55.000 |
Well, these 12 men are going to be walking with Jesus for three years, 00:37:02.000 |
Jesus is going to give them the baton of his ministry 00:37:09.000 |
And so, again, I can't emphasize how important this ministry is 00:37:13.000 |
because everything that Jesus did in those three years, 00:37:22.000 |
In fact, the word "apostle" literally translates just means "sent one." 00:37:27.000 |
So I know that in some circles they use that term just kind of generically, 00:37:30.000 |
like we're the sent ones, or missionaries are apostles, 00:37:37.000 |
The apostles here are specifically ordained, 12 specific men. 00:37:42.000 |
Not anybody who is going to become a missionary, 00:37:45.000 |
but 12 specific men who are going to take the baton and have an impact. 00:37:52.000 |
The apostles were called to be the first missionaries, 00:37:57.000 |
that everything that Jesus did and everything that Jesus taught and revealed, 00:38:01.000 |
these 12 men are going to be ordained to go out 00:38:03.000 |
and first ones to go out and preach the gospel. 00:38:10.000 |
If after everything that Jesus said, it's like, "Ah, I don't remember. 00:38:16.000 |
Imagine if the 12 men went out and started telling different stories. 00:38:21.000 |
Now, I don't know if you've ever studied Buddhism, 00:38:26.000 |
but when I was very confused and I wanted to find out which faith is the right faith, 00:38:31.000 |
and I did a paper on the subject of Buddhism, 00:38:34.000 |
and I found out that this man named Gautama, who was the last Buddha, 00:38:39.000 |
and his disciples, after he died, went out and began to teach what they said Buddha taught, 00:38:50.000 |
And so every continent you go, they have the form Buddhism, 00:38:54.000 |
but then everywhere you go, they have different forms of Buddhism. 00:38:58.000 |
It wasn't because years later it just kind of got watered down. 00:39:03.000 |
Depending on which disciple of Gautama went out and where they took it. 00:39:09.000 |
Imagine what would have happened to Christianity if the 12 disciples kind of spread out, 00:39:13.000 |
and they began to just say whatever they wanted to say, and all of them sounded very different. 00:39:18.000 |
That's how important these men were, that they had a consistent message, 00:39:22.000 |
and they accurately conveyed what Jesus had to say. 00:39:30.000 |
it said Jesus gave them power and authority over demons. 00:39:34.000 |
Now I know that in some circles, that they apply this and say, 00:39:47.000 |
But not every person has been given this kind of authority. 00:39:50.000 |
The apostles specifically were given this authority over demons. 00:39:56.000 |
Ephesians 4.11 says, "The church that you and I belong to." 00:40:01.000 |
It says, "The founders of the church were the apostles." 00:40:09.000 |
You and I would not be here, because it was built upon the foundation of their preaching, 00:40:14.000 |
and of their ministry, the churches that they planted, and that's how we got here. 00:40:18.000 |
And some of these apostles were chosen to give us the Word of God. 00:40:22.000 |
So again, imagine if these men failed, and they started to go off on their own way, 00:40:27.000 |
and began to preach a different gospel, what would we have today? 00:40:32.000 |
On top of that, in Luke chapter 22, 29-30, they said, 00:40:37.000 |
"They will sit on the throne, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." 00:40:42.000 |
These twelve men, in the millennial kingdom, the thousand-year reign of Christ, 00:40:52.000 |
If God is done with Israel, why even have these twelve apostles? 00:40:57.000 |
And why even say that they're going to be ruling? 00:41:01.000 |
If we're in a new covenant, and none of this matters, it's the church, 00:41:04.000 |
why not just move on from that and talk about the church? 00:41:06.000 |
Again, this is a side point, so if you didn't get that, don't worry about it. 00:41:09.000 |
But if you did get that, you know what I'm saying. 00:41:15.000 |
These twelve apostles have their place in the millennial kingdom, 00:41:19.000 |
and then in the final kingdom, Revelation chapter 21, 12-14, read what it says. 00:41:24.000 |
"It is a great and high wall, with twelve gates, at the gates twelve angels, 00:41:30.000 |
and the names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. 00:41:34.000 |
There were three gates on the east, and three gates on the north, 00:41:37.000 |
and three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. 00:41:40.000 |
And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, 00:41:42.000 |
and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." 00:41:48.000 |
So that, I mean, not only were they the first ones, first missionaries to grow up, 00:41:53.000 |
not only were they given power that other people did not have, 00:41:56.000 |
not only were they the foundation of the church that you and I belong to, 00:42:01.000 |
they have a place in the millennial kingdom, and then they have a place, 00:42:10.000 |
So you would think with something this important, with this kind of impact, 00:42:15.000 |
that somehow there's this big revelation, and, you know, it's like, 00:42:18.000 |
"These are the twelve men I'm giving to you." 00:42:22.000 |
Jesus goes up to pray, and then he comes out and says, "You follow me, you follow me, you follow me." 00:42:27.000 |
And twelve men are gathered together, and then only as time goes by, 00:42:34.000 |
These guys have eternal impact, not just during that short period, 00:42:39.000 |
and they were going to be trained for three years. 00:42:45.000 |
That's why when they were about to leave, they understood the weightiness of what was coming to them. 00:42:51.000 |
So what we're going to do if you leave, remember what Jesus says? 00:42:54.000 |
"Don't worry. It's better for you if I leave, because if I leave, the counselor is going to come, 00:43:00.000 |
and he's going to help you, and he's going to cause you to remember everything that I have said." 00:43:07.000 |
He didn't just say, "Hey, you got enough training, you saw everything, now go and repeat it." 00:43:10.000 |
He says, "No. The Holy Spirit is going to come, and all you need to do is submit. 00:43:15.000 |
Be filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit will empower you, 00:43:18.000 |
and the Holy Spirit will cause you to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, 00:43:29.000 |
They're chosen, and no wonder Jesus took all night to pray. 00:43:35.000 |
The fact that he went up to the mountain to pray. 00:43:40.000 |
We see every time he would break away to be alone and to pray. 00:43:44.000 |
But in this particular instance, he's up in the mountain. 00:43:47.000 |
And, you know, when we think about mountain prayer, we immediately go to Moses, 00:43:50.000 |
where he spends his time there praying and meeting with Yahweh to receive the covenant, the laws. 00:44:03.000 |
I don't know if you've ever prayed all night. 00:44:08.000 |
When I first got saved, the ministry that I belonged to, 00:44:11.000 |
I don't remember much about the Bible studies and activities, 00:44:14.000 |
but all I knew is they were committed to pray. 00:44:18.000 |
And we would have Bible study from 10 to 3 in the morning. 00:44:21.000 |
Every Friday night, they would have prayer meetings. 00:44:23.000 |
And I remember so many times just falling asleep. 00:44:26.000 |
And then the older guys who would go to work, and then they would come back, 00:44:31.000 |
and after a full day's work, would be praying from 10 to 3. 00:44:35.000 |
And we were always kind of like seeing who's going to fall asleep first, right? 00:44:42.000 |
I mean, it's interesting how, you know, because they're wrestling and struggling, 00:44:45.000 |
and then we hear somebody snoring, and then we've got to tap them and say, 00:44:49.000 |
"Hey, you're making it hard for us to pray because you're snoring." 00:44:54.000 |
And that discipline of praying, I just remember that early on as a young Christian. 00:45:01.000 |
The fact that Jesus was there overnight praying is because of something important. 00:45:05.000 |
And I don't know exactly what he was praying for, but I can imagine, again, 00:45:09.000 |
that Jesus was wrestling in prayer, knowing the impact of these 12 men. 00:45:15.000 |
And that's why knowing who these 12 people are is so important 00:45:18.000 |
because it was not a random group of 12 people. 00:45:21.000 |
I can imagine all night Jesus was wrestling, and God says, "Peter." 00:45:30.000 |
You know, he doesn't have control over his temper. 00:45:44.000 |
"Are you sure? They've got such a bad temper." 00:45:51.000 |
"They're going to kill each other. They're going to hate each other. Are you sure?" 00:45:58.000 |
And so each one of them, yes, even Judas Iscariot, was not a random choice. 00:46:08.000 |
And so that's why it's important for us to wrestle and look through each one of these names. 00:46:14.000 |
I'm going to be looking at the larger picture of how Jesus chooses them 00:46:18.000 |
and what are the qualities that kind of point to God's nature, His purpose, and the way He works. 00:46:26.000 |
These are the things that we need to be able to understand 00:46:28.000 |
because as we are struggling to meet God, as we are struggling to be sanctified, 00:46:33.000 |
these are the men that God has given us to model after. 00:46:38.000 |
As the Apostle Paul says, "Follow me as I follow Christ. Imitate me as I imitate Christ." 00:46:43.000 |
So apostles were given to us so that we may imitate them as they imitated Christ. 00:46:51.000 |
Why were they given as apostles to be the foundation of the church? 00:47:00.000 |
The disciples, when Jesus comes down and chooses the twelve, 00:47:07.000 |
According to Luke 5.11, they left everything to follow Him. 00:47:14.000 |
There was nobody who was called by Jesus and said, "Let me do this. Let me do that." 00:47:22.000 |
And this is true to some degree to every Christian. 00:47:27.000 |
Anybody who says, "You know, I don't want to follow Christ, but let me do this. Let me do that." 00:47:31.000 |
Remember what Jesus said, "You're not worthy to be my disciple." 00:47:34.000 |
But especially those who had committed their life to Christ 00:47:38.000 |
to be a missionary, a full-time pastor in some capacity. 00:47:46.000 |
I remember early on in ministry when things got tough 00:47:50.000 |
and we were literally living paycheck to paycheck, 00:47:56.000 |
And just struggling to take care of the three children at that time before we had Isaiah. 00:48:01.000 |
Just wrestling with this and thinking, "I don't know how long I can do this." 00:48:07.000 |
And I remember in a car ride asking my mom, thinking, 00:48:11.000 |
"How am I going to survive here? How am I going to take care of the kids?" 00:48:15.000 |
You talk about stress, and I think all of you would agree if you have children. 00:48:19.000 |
There is nothing more stressful for a man or a mother 00:48:27.000 |
And there was years and years in the early church where 00:48:31.000 |
literally if I didn't get the check on time from church, 00:48:39.000 |
And during that period of struggling, I asked my mom, 00:48:43.000 |
and thinking, "Maybe I can just be a tent maker. 00:48:47.000 |
Maybe I can just start a business or do some kind of a job 00:48:57.000 |
And I fully thought that she was going to say, 00:49:00.000 |
"Okay, Peter, you've given your best, and you've got to take care of your family, 00:49:06.000 |
Because when I first told my mom that I was headed toward ministry, 00:49:11.000 |
And I knew why, because they struggled so much, and it was so hard for them. 00:49:15.000 |
And having one of your children volunteering and saying, 00:49:20.000 |
what mother would be happy considering what they experienced? 00:49:24.000 |
So I was thinking my mom would maybe not be happy, 00:49:31.000 |
But I remember very vividly, because it made such an impact on me, 00:49:35.000 |
and to some degree, I'm not sure if I would be here if she accepted what I said. 00:49:40.000 |
What she said was, after I said that, she said, 00:49:42.000 |
"Peter, I've never seen anybody who hasn't fully committed 00:50:00.000 |
And she said to me, she said, "Peter, you're called by God. 00:50:05.000 |
No matter how hard it is, you have to be single-minded. 00:50:09.000 |
So I was pretty taken aback, because I knew-- 00:50:12.000 |
initially, she didn't want me to go into the pastoral ministry. 00:50:16.000 |
And then I asked my wife the same question, "What do you think?" 00:50:21.000 |
And imagine if I was stressed, how stressed she was. 00:50:26.000 |
"What if I just fully commit to doing business or working somewhere 00:50:32.000 |
and just pay the bills, and I can volunteer at church?" 00:50:49.000 |
If you do that now, you're never going to be happy. 00:51:06.000 |
and to go down that path pushed me back into ministry. 00:51:09.000 |
And if they didn't do that, I don't know if I would have been here. 00:51:19.000 |
I would not have ever--I would not have been able to persevere. 00:51:22.000 |
I can't tell you how many times throughout the ministry 00:51:25.000 |
if I had an alternative, I would have taken that. 00:51:30.000 |
A rich pastor, it's very difficult to persevere 00:51:44.000 |
and then hold on to your old girlfriend's phone numbers. 00:51:52.000 |
I'm not going to call. Don't worry. I'm fully committed. 00:51:58.000 |
I'm going to keep it buried somewhere in the garage somewhere." 00:52:01.000 |
Who knows how many are going to be okay with that? 00:52:05.000 |
Nobody, because when you enter that covenant, 00:52:14.000 |
Again, this is not unique to some Christians. 00:52:20.000 |
but in particular, if you're going to be the example to the church, 00:52:28.000 |
You have to leave behind your old life, your ambition. 00:52:35.000 |
Because if you do not, you will be tempted to go back. 00:52:43.000 |
The apostles left everything to follow Christ. 00:52:46.000 |
There was no alternative if this doesn't work out. 00:53:00.000 |
They didn't know the weightiness of what it is that they were called for, 00:53:04.000 |
but because they left everything, every single one of them, 00:53:09.000 |
and Christ knowing this ordained them for what God has planned. 00:53:14.000 |
So this morning, what I want to look at are the qualities of these men. 00:53:18.000 |
And I'm just going to give a general quality, 00:53:20.000 |
and then next week we're going to go into each individual. 00:53:24.000 |
The first thing that we see that's most obvious is who they are not. 00:53:32.000 |
In Luke 6:11, it says, "But they themselves were filled with rage, 00:53:36.000 |
the Pharisees and the scribes and the leaders of Israel, 00:53:42.000 |
He wasn't breaking any law, but they were breaking their tradition. 00:53:46.000 |
So they got angry, because they tried so hard to establish these laws, 00:53:50.000 |
and here's this guy gaining popularity, and he's challenging them. 00:53:54.000 |
And he says, in the midst of them trying to-- 00:53:56.000 |
What are we going to do with this guy? This guy's a troublemaker. 00:53:59.000 |
And right after that, in the next passage, he says he chooses the twelve. 00:54:08.000 |
That in the midst of a growing animosity toward Christ, 00:54:13.000 |
the choosing of these twelve men would have infuriated the leaders. 00:54:19.000 |
And I think some of you may have experienced, to some degree, 00:54:22.000 |
if you have a job, and you know that there's a position opening up 00:54:28.000 |
that may be a higher position, and you're working your tail off. 00:54:32.000 |
You're coming in early, leaving late. You're working harder than anybody else. 00:54:37.000 |
and you think that who else is going to deserve that but me? 00:54:46.000 |
They would make perfect sense that I would be the one chosen, 00:54:49.000 |
and then when they finally choose the guy to be the supervisor, 00:54:56.000 |
Maybe he has some sort of connection with the leadership, 00:55:07.000 |
It doesn't have to be a job. It could be at school. 00:55:09.000 |
It could be at anything that you feel you work so hard, 00:55:12.000 |
and they completely bypass you and go with some random guy 00:55:19.000 |
They didn't sacrifice their company like you did, 00:55:29.000 |
compared to what the Pharisees did for hundreds of years. 00:55:35.000 |
Imagine how difficult it would have been to obey the Sabbath, 00:55:41.000 |
They sacrificed everything. They tied to everything. 00:55:47.000 |
They kept the law legalistically more than anybody else, 00:55:51.000 |
so if the Messiah comes, who would be in line? 00:56:02.000 |
who would be in line to be the Messiah's disciple? 00:56:05.000 |
Almost universities would say, "Well, who else but the Pharisees?" 00:56:12.000 |
They're the ones sacrificing more than anybody else. 00:56:23.000 |
So Jesus comes in. He breaks their tradition, 00:56:30.000 |
not one Pharisee, not one scribe, not one leader, 00:56:39.000 |
In fact, Matthew was considered scum of scums at that time. 00:57:03.000 |
The whole foundation of their religious righteousness 00:57:28.000 |
All the work that you put in to raise children, 00:57:32.000 |
it says, "If the Lord does not build your home, 00:57:39.000 |
it says, "If the Lord does not build your house, 01:01:23.000 |
Do you know how difficult that would have been? 01:01:54.000 |
but the way that the softball game was played, 01:02:25.000 |
In fact, a lot of guys never even knew each other 01:02:32.000 |
because we didn't get a lot of time to practice, 01:02:56.000 |
Because we already thought we're not going to win. 01:03:00.000 |
But I was just surprised how well everybody played. 01:03:03.000 |
But it wasn't just the fact that they played well. 01:03:24.000 |
Because we were crawling to first base once we got there, 01:03:28.000 |
and I was just surprised how fast some of these guys were. 01:03:36.000 |
Some of these guys are just really good in infield. 01:03:43.000 |
Some of these guys played baseball in high school. 01:03:52.000 |
So I had fun because I was able to play with my son. 01:03:57.000 |
That was his first softball game ever in his life. 01:04:06.000 |
We went to the batting cage just so that he can be familiar, 01:04:12.000 |
I could see him improving at the end of the day 01:04:19.000 |
And if he didn't do a good job, everybody was like, "Hey, it's okay. 01:04:23.000 |
This is the first time. You're going to improve." 01:04:25.000 |
And he was growing in confidence, and at the end of the day, 01:04:28.000 |
he's like, "Did you see my throw? It got better." 01:04:30.000 |
He's like, "Yeah, it was night and day from the beginning." 01:04:34.000 |
The reason why was because everybody was so eclectically different. 01:04:41.000 |
But we were just enjoying each other's company, 01:04:53.000 |
if the whole day it was just filled with griping, 01:04:58.000 |
"What's wrong with you? How come you didn't do that? 01:05:00.000 |
How come you didn't do this? How come you didn't--?" 01:05:02.000 |
If the whole--because we're so fixated on winning, 01:05:07.000 |
And even when we win, we may win and celebrate, 01:05:10.000 |
"I don't know if I want to play with that team again. 01:05:15.000 |
because at the end of the day, the only prize is that you won, 01:05:20.000 |
But the whole day was miserable to get there. 01:05:24.000 |
Now, I share all of this because that's the church. 01:05:30.000 |
The church is filled with people who are brand-new Christians, 01:05:33.000 |
Christians who have been walking for a long time. 01:05:35.000 |
Some of you are better at praying than others. 01:05:37.000 |
Some of you are better at evangelism than others. 01:05:46.000 |
Some of you are more educated, a lot more organized. 01:05:52.000 |
that together we represent the body of Christ. 01:05:56.000 |
And so when the church functions, we emphasize, 01:05:58.000 |
"Oh, you're good at this, or because you're good at that, 01:06:02.000 |
And you're weak at that, but you can benefit from other people, 01:06:05.000 |
and so you're encouraging so that they can also grow 01:06:08.000 |
and eventually become an encouragement to other people. 01:06:17.000 |
the various things that we're good at helps the other parts of the body 01:06:23.000 |
but imagine if the church is filled with people 01:06:30.000 |
We emphasize, put on pedestal what we're good at, 01:06:33.000 |
but whatever we're not good at, we kind of sweep under the rug, 01:06:35.000 |
and imagine if everybody's walking around doing that to each other. 01:06:42.000 |
"I love Christ, I love the gospel, but I hate the church"? 01:06:52.000 |
When we create an environment in the church of elites, 01:06:57.000 |
professionals, talented, gifted, disciplined, 01:07:07.000 |
but the people in the church are miserable in the process. 01:07:11.000 |
So the only thing that you have to show for it is the end product, 01:07:21.000 |
If that was His goal, and that was only His goal, 01:07:34.000 |
He deliberately chose humble people to dumbfound the wise. 01:07:40.000 |
"For since in the wisdom of God the world, through its wisdom, 01:07:42.000 |
did not come to know God, with all the wisdom, 01:07:46.000 |
all the technology, all the experience, all the disciplines," 01:07:50.000 |
He said, "all a man's effort did not cause them to know God. 01:07:54.000 |
God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached 01:08:02.000 |
the man who is going to carry this message also needs to be foolish. 01:08:10.000 |
Foolish in the sense that the world sees them and says, 01:08:20.000 |
And by just the choice of them, they know, "Oh, it can't be God. 01:08:31.000 |
When Apostle Peter stands up and he begins to preach the gospel, 01:08:34.000 |
and they said they were wowed by his preaching, 01:08:37.000 |
and then they said they examined them and realized 01:08:40.000 |
that they were uneducated, unsophisticated men. 01:08:48.000 |
They examined them carefully, and said, "These guys are dumb. 01:08:51.000 |
They're just average fishermen. Why are they so bold?" 01:08:54.000 |
And then they conclude by saying they realized that they were with Jesus. 01:09:14.000 |
The greatest stumbling block in our worship to God 01:09:32.000 |
But imagine if you had a choir, and you had two or three people 01:09:51.000 |
Because the choir is meant to be sung together as one voice. 01:09:59.000 |
But as soon as you have somebody singing louder than other people, 01:10:02.000 |
in order so that other people can hear my voice, 01:10:05.000 |
I know I'm singing in a choir, but they need to know that it's me. 01:10:13.000 |
What ruins worship is our own desire for self-glory. 01:10:18.000 |
God places us together because what's beautiful is not you, it's not me. 01:10:39.000 |
you know who He rebuked more than anybody else? 01:10:47.000 |
Luke 9, 40-41, "I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not. 01:10:51.000 |
And Jesus answered and said, 'You unbelieving and perverted generation, 01:10:54.000 |
how long shall I be with you and put up with you? 01:11:01.000 |
"How long do I have to be with you? Do you still not believe?" 01:11:08.000 |
when He's going to the cross, He tells His disciples, 01:11:10.000 |
"I'm going to be shamed and beaten by the leaders, 01:11:14.000 |
and I'm going to be crucified, raised on the third day." 01:11:24.000 |
Like, "What? I just told you I'm going to be beaten and I'm going to die." 01:11:28.000 |
And all they were thinking of is, "Well, but who's going to receive the glory?" 01:11:41.000 |
Jesus had to rebuke and say, "Get behind me, Satan." 01:11:48.000 |
As He goes to the cross, all of them is fearful, 01:11:55.000 |
And at Jesus' hardest and most difficult point of His life, 01:12:05.000 |
the women go see and they come back and tell the disciples 01:12:08.000 |
that Christ has risen from the dead. Remember their response? 01:12:14.000 |
You've seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. 01:12:20.000 |
All three years you see miraculous things happening, 01:12:22.000 |
and then Jesus dies and you say, "Okay, maybe all that was a fluke." 01:12:33.000 |
And then Jesus--I mean Peter, even after the resurrection, 01:12:42.000 |
had to rebuke Him publicly not to pervert the gospel. 01:12:48.000 |
They weren't just ordinary. They were weak men 01:12:54.000 |
Because God's primary desire is His own glory. 01:13:07.000 |
Now some of you might make that, "Well, that's kind of egotistical. 01:13:10.000 |
Why does He tell us not to seek our own glory? Seek His own glory." 01:13:31.000 |
And whatever gets in between that is the biggest hindrance. 01:13:46.000 |
that education sometimes becomes your greatest stumbling block. 01:13:52.000 |
Education sometimes becomes your greatest stumbling block. 01:14:58.000 |
In fact, all those things are important things. 01:15:13.000 |
I will have to think about what's going to happen 01:15:22.000 |
Obviously you need to have more than one quality. 01:15:40.000 |
with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. 01:15:58.000 |
with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, 01:16:51.000 |
is that you would fall in love with Christ too. 01:17:12.000 |
Just like I love my wife, I love my children, 01:17:18.000 |
and I am filled with joy when they are praised. 01:18:09.000 |
to know that these disciples were just like us. 01:18:27.000 |
Because the primary thing that he called me to do 01:18:39.000 |
you don't need to be at the right church for that, 01:18:42.000 |
you don't need to have prime examples for that, 01:19:00.000 |
I want to thank you for the fact that you're here 01:19:15.000 |
And I want to thank you for the fact that you're here 01:19:27.000 |
And I want to thank you for the fact that you're here 01:19:39.000 |
And I want to thank you for the fact that you're here 01:19:51.000 |
And I want to thank you for the fact that you're here 01:20:03.000 |
And I want to thank you for the fact that you're here 01:22:17.000 |
♪ Your faithfulness, my refuge in the night ♪ 01:22:52.000 |
♪ My guilt and cross laid on Your shoulders ♪ 01:23:07.000 |
♪ You rose, the grave and death I conquered ♪ 01:23:20.000 |
♪ You rose, You rose, the grave and death I conquered ♪ 01:24:02.000 |
Father, I pray that as You've given us Your Word, 01:24:09.000 |
help us not simply to be hearers, but to be doers. 01:24:12.000 |
You would mold our thoughts, our hope, our joy. 01:24:16.000 |
Help us, Lord God, to know that we are just sojourners, 01:24:22.000 |
And all the things, Lord God, that we are anxious about, 01:24:25.000 |
to know that it's temporary and it will pass. 01:24:33.000 |
knowing that eternity is coming, that our true life is coming, 01:24:40.000 |
that we would not seek our own glory, knowing Father God, 01:24:50.000 |
Help us to fix our eyes upon Christ and what He will bring, 01:24:54.000 |
that we may live lives truly worthy of the gospel 01:24:59.000 |
Wherever You send us, help us to be the aroma of Christ.