back to index2018-01-21 Jesus is I AM Part 2
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But first, we just want to say that we're just so honored that we're able to share our 00:00:15.320 |
experiences from India and also represent the Eye Care team. 00:00:21.440 |
This is the first year that we've gone and the fourth year that Burian has sent a team 00:00:28.800 |
And personally, Vince and I decided to go because we wanted to serve God using our Eye 00:00:35.560 |
Care skills so that hopefully we could be useful to the team. 00:00:42.240 |
And I'll be a little bit honest, there's a little bit of pride involved because this 00:00:46.960 |
year there were five Eye Care professionals going. 00:00:50.360 |
And because of that, I was just really ready to rock it with this rock star team. 00:00:56.400 |
But as we were preparing for the trip, and especially during the trip, there was definitely 00:01:01.680 |
a turning point where my mind shifted in what our goals were trying to achieve. 00:01:09.400 |
Because it no longer was really about seeing as many patients as possible, but more in 00:01:17.520 |
utilizing the Eye Care to reach the many lost souls. 00:01:24.480 |
And I learned that with the medical care that we provided there, along with VBS and wound 00:01:30.640 |
care, that this would then serve as an avenue for the Indian pastors to share the gospel 00:01:40.600 |
On a regular basis, these pastors who are there, they live there and they would travel 00:01:46.440 |
to these villages that are sometimes one or two hours away and try to spread the gospel, 00:01:51.720 |
not knowing whether or not they would receive the word at all. 00:01:56.840 |
And sometimes they would get rejected or they would get beat or chased away. 00:02:01.080 |
And then, so with our presence there providing the medical care, they were offered an in. 00:02:07.720 |
They were offered an opportunity to be able to share that gospel. 00:02:14.560 |
So by providing this medical care, the villagers were then intrigued, they were curious, they 00:02:22.320 |
would ask, "Why would these people who live in the comfortable U.S. come all the way here 00:02:28.560 |
And the pastors would be very, they would definitely mention this fact when they would 00:02:38.480 |
talk about us and introduce us in the ceremony. 00:02:43.800 |
And the pastors would then indicate the reason why they're here. 00:02:46.840 |
They would leave their comfortable homes because they're here to share the word of God. 00:02:52.680 |
They're here because they love God and they desire for you to know him too, because he's 00:02:57.520 |
worthy and because he's our one true Lord of all things. 00:03:00.880 |
So on the eight days that we were gone, we actually spent only four of the days visiting 00:03:08.320 |
Every day it took about one to two hours to travel every day. 00:03:13.320 |
And by the way, I just have to say the driving in India is just absolute madness. 00:03:25.640 |
Literally if there were two lanes, one going and one incoming, the cars would just go over 00:03:32.100 |
to the incoming traffic all the time to try to pass the car in front. 00:03:36.720 |
And then so a lot of times you see like head-on traffic until the very last minute and then 00:03:41.520 |
I felt like I was going to die like all the time, but it was pretty exciting. 00:03:47.320 |
When we get to the village, they'd be waiting for us. 00:03:57.560 |
We would just clap along because we didn't understand Telugu. 00:04:01.600 |
And then because we often were outside or in an area where it wasn't in an enclosed 00:04:07.120 |
space, it was like we were proclaiming the word for all to hear. 00:04:15.160 |
Because it was a small village, like literally everyone would be able to hear us singing 00:04:24.080 |
And then the longer we were there, more and more people would show up because they wanted 00:04:29.880 |
They wanted some medical care and they would be able to hear the word. 00:04:34.200 |
The actual medical camp actually lasted about four hours. 00:04:39.460 |
And while our goal was to see as many people as possible, we hoped that our presence and 00:04:45.780 |
our demeanor, despite our language barrier, would show that we're here out of love and 00:04:56.420 |
We were giving them glasses, eyedrops, and sunglasses. 00:05:03.980 |
And we hoped that in doing so that their hearts would be softened to hear the message of the 00:05:12.240 |
And then so that the Indian pastors who visit these villages every day and sometimes new 00:05:17.540 |
villages, they would be able to preach the word to them. 00:05:20.540 |
They would accept it and then one day proclaim God as their Lord and Savior. 00:05:31.860 |
So you know, Pastor Sake, he didn't know all of our names. 00:05:36.340 |
And so James Hong, he had to give him a list. 00:05:39.680 |
And for the couples, he wrote both on the same line. 00:05:43.100 |
Well, you saw in the picture, in the video, they gave a lei and then we stood up proudly. 00:05:48.800 |
And then he's all, okay, introducing Brother Connie and his wife. 00:06:00.660 |
Like Connie said, we wanted to use the skills, the skills that seemed essential to the trip. 00:06:05.060 |
You know, eye care was like the rock star medical part that was going to be able to 00:06:13.020 |
And we were pridefully thinking, you know, we want to try to provide the best medical 00:06:17.700 |
care possible, the absolute, you know, best they can get so that they can, you know, be 00:06:24.380 |
And this was going on in our planning stages. 00:06:26.700 |
And after reflecting, after praying, after receiving prayer, we realized that, you know, 00:06:33.980 |
the medical part was, like Connie said, just an avenue. 00:06:37.480 |
We're actually just going so that they would somehow have a softening of their hearts to 00:06:43.540 |
the gospel so that the pastors could have an avenue to proclaim the gospel to them and 00:06:50.540 |
And make no mistake, you know, we weren't the primary evangelistic people there. 00:07:00.580 |
Our purpose on the trip, like I said, was to provide that avenue. 00:07:05.620 |
And through that purpose, we were able to see almost 700 people. 00:07:10.060 |
What was truly amazing about the trip was that God was evident everywhere. 00:07:14.620 |
In an area so dark to the gospel, it was clear to see God at work. 00:07:21.900 |
As Connie was explaining, we were, you know, singing in open air. 00:07:25.580 |
It was just a tent, and the village is really small, so everyone around could hear. 00:07:31.680 |
And as we were singing, as we were giving testimonies, I looked around, and outside 00:07:35.940 |
the tent, you can see people with kind of hardened faces, kind of like, "What are you 00:07:44.420 |
But as they came through, you know, as they received their medical care, went through 00:07:50.500 |
VBS, having gotten glasses, I felt like I saw an inkling of a softening in their hearts 00:08:00.700 |
You had a Muslim woman take off her face cover. 00:08:03.860 |
You had, you know, parents bringing their kids. 00:08:06.300 |
You had older people who are sometimes the hardest to have a change of heart just show 00:08:12.420 |
just a tremendous amount of gratitude, even though we were Christians there. 00:08:18.780 |
This was our purpose of being there, that softening of their hearts, that inkling of 00:08:23.580 |
a softening of their hearts so that, you know, the pastors could have that way to really 00:08:28.940 |
show them who God is, show them who the truth is. 00:08:33.660 |
While we were in India, we had daily devotionals reading 1 Peter, and one verse that kept standing 00:08:42.540 |
Like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that you may grow up into salvation if 00:08:49.300 |
indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 00:08:52.680 |
To do what these pastors are doing on a daily basis, that milk must have tasted really good. 00:08:58.620 |
They risk their safety, sacrifice comfortable living, give up good education for their children, 00:09:04.980 |
get ridiculed and sometimes beaten, all to share the gospel to the lost. 00:09:10.300 |
The goodness of God, when you know the taste, is what makes it worth it. 00:09:15.720 |
My prayer is that we are all constantly reminded of the goodness of God because it's knowing 00:09:22.300 |
It's feeling his presence that makes us proclaim his name. 00:09:26.060 |
I also want to share a few thoughts of some of the team members in I-Care. 00:09:31.340 |
Diane Hong shared, "One patient that stood out to me was a desperate mother who heard 00:09:35.700 |
the word medical and brought her severely sick and malnourished eight-month-old son. 00:09:41.920 |
She came for her son and she knew there was nothing we can do, but she waited in line 00:09:46.820 |
an hour just to receive prayer, the only thing that she could rely on. 00:09:52.520 |
Pastor Peter prayed for her and for her son, and that was one memory that reminded me why 00:09:57.860 |
we were there, to open up opportunities to minister to the locals there, to offer hope 00:10:02.440 |
and prayer, and to demonstrate the love of Christ." 00:10:06.100 |
Anna Yang, "Our discomfort during the trip pales in comparison to the discomfort of the 00:10:14.260 |
What a privilege it is to partner alongside these pastors, even for a short week, and 00:10:18.620 |
to see what an encouragement our presence alone is to them and the joy they have to 00:10:24.660 |
Jenny Mao, "When going through the villages, we could offer I-Care, but compassion didn't 00:10:33.700 |
The most important thing was singing praise and giving testimonies. 00:10:37.140 |
We provided an avenue to proclaim the truth in an otherwise hostile environment. 00:10:41.260 |
We feel rebuked, or I feel rebuked, because my life here is not like in India. 00:10:51.100 |
Sam Kim from Crosslife, "One of the highlights for the trip was the times that we were able 00:10:57.060 |
to listen to and proclaim the gospel to the locals through the testimonies of the pastors 00:11:03.660 |
I was convicted by the gospel's power to transform the lives of the local pastors through the 00:11:08.300 |
legacy of Pastor Matthew's faithfulness in preaching the gospel." 00:11:17.120 |
We all noticed the same thing, that God is working in India, that God has his servants 00:11:21.500 |
in place there, and that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 00:11:25.700 |
I'm truly thankful that Connie and I and our whole team had the privilege to serve 00:11:30.300 |
God this past week in India, but let us not forget that for his kingdom, there's still 00:11:39.500 |
I just want to first thank everyone who prayed for the India mission trip team, as well as 00:11:44.860 |
specifically for the ones who prayed for me to stay focused and to be used, because this 00:11:53.260 |
But I must first especially thank Esther, because she made it possible for me to go. 00:12:02.320 |
With little or no help, it must have been so hard to be a single mom for so long, both 00:12:16.780 |
We all had to do something to make it happen. 00:12:20.580 |
In short, our journey started in 2017 with Covenant Keepers. 00:12:27.220 |
We did a book called You and Me Forever by Francis and Lisa Chan. 00:12:34.380 |
That's when God revealed to me that I had a marriage-centered marriage instead of a 00:12:41.980 |
It's not that five loving languages and supporting each other and trying to keep a good family 00:12:49.340 |
But in the midst of the daily grind of daily life, providing for our family, I had to admit 00:13:07.660 |
So when India Mission Trip opportunity came up, we answered the call. 00:13:14.700 |
I wish I could say otherwise, but it wasn't the love for India or even the love for missions 00:13:25.260 |
It was a simple, small step of obedience and faith that we took. 00:13:32.640 |
We want and we pray for our children to be mighty warriors for Christ and for the kingdom. 00:13:43.180 |
I want to be like Elijah who rained down the fire from heaven. 00:13:48.220 |
I want to be like great men of faith in the Bible. 00:13:51.100 |
But sometimes I look at my life and I look at the Bible and there's a chasm of a difference. 00:14:04.380 |
In India, we took the gospel to the gates of Hades. 00:14:08.140 |
Even with the language barrier, with our eyes and with our service and our obedience, we 00:14:15.300 |
I ask you continually to pray for me to stay sober-minded after a mountaintop experience, 00:14:21.860 |
to live for Christ in the midst of a daily grind. 00:14:25.520 |
In doing so, I encourage you to answer God's call in your own life, where you're at, with 00:14:32.980 |
Elder Joe once put it best, he said, "Sunday service is like a pep rally for all of us 00:14:39.580 |
believers to get together, to encourage one another and to spur each other on for the 00:14:47.740 |
So it's my privilege and honor to lead this pep rally today, to encourage you to take 00:14:56.760 |
the gospel from where you're at, with who you're with, to the gates of Hades, to kick 00:15:02.840 |
it open, to reach deep inside, to the clutches of death, rip out from its throat, to souls 00:15:10.440 |
for God, the ones that we call our mother and father, our brothers and sisters, our 00:15:15.440 |
coworkers and our neighbors, our friends, our casual acquaintances. 00:15:24.000 |
I'm going to be preaching the part two of the "I Am Statements of Christ," and I'm going 00:15:29.640 |
to just kind of give you updates on my version. 00:15:32.880 |
Again, thank you, Lee, for sharing your heart. 00:15:36.320 |
We had a team of 15, four optometrists and one eye doctor, optometrists, and we had nurses 00:15:44.700 |
and we had VBS team and one strong security guard who kept people at bay. 00:15:54.600 |
And people ask, like, what's the highlight of the mission trip? 00:16:00.440 |
It's always being able to spend time with my brothers and sisters, to labor together, 00:16:04.920 |
And, you know, every time I go to mission trips, it kind of reminded me of how our church 00:16:09.280 |
used to be when it was a lot smaller, to be able to interact with everyone every day and 00:16:14.000 |
to pray for each other, enjoy each other's company, and to be able to do that on a day 00:16:19.240 |
in and day out basis and laboring together, even though we're fatigued, seeing everybody 00:16:23.720 |
just working so hard to do the best that they can is such an encouragement. 00:16:29.160 |
I think we looked at the number of people that we saw. 00:16:33.160 |
I think last year we may have seen maybe about 300, 350, and we thought that was a huge number. 00:16:38.920 |
They did almost double that, 600 to 650 people that they saw. 00:16:45.520 |
Every day, the crowd that we had to say no to is increasing at the end of the day, so 00:16:50.440 |
we always have to leave because we don't want to leave after the sun goes down. 00:16:56.080 |
And it was, again, such an encouraging experience. 00:16:58.840 |
And, you know, when I think about India, you know, people ask, like, why do you have a 00:17:06.320 |
And it's not because I have a heart for India or for China or any other place. 00:17:14.280 |
And you know, I was asked to go years ago, about seven years ago, to go and teach a pastoral 00:17:20.800 |
And I went there, and I didn't come back with a heart for India. 00:17:23.680 |
I came back with the realization that the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. 00:17:33.000 |
I thought that the greatest unreached people, concentration of people groups was in the 00:17:37.400 |
Middle East, and I found out that it was actually in India. 00:17:40.800 |
And that there's, even though there are a lot of people doing ministry, but the persecution 00:17:45.280 |
is rising, so a lot more people are being cautious. 00:17:49.360 |
And so as a result of that, I came back with, again, with a knowledge that there is a tremendous 00:17:55.960 |
amount of need and not enough being done over there, in comparison to where you and I live, 00:18:01.040 |
where it almost seems like churches are competing with each other to gain more people to come 00:18:05.120 |
to their church instead of the church down the street, where there are parts of the world 00:18:09.040 |
right now where there's not even a single pastor, a single person or Christian being 00:18:16.440 |
And so really, it was because the door has been opened. 00:18:19.680 |
And Apostle Paul talks about that in 1 Corinthians 16, 9, where he writes his letter and he said 00:18:23.880 |
he's going to spend more time in Macedonia because the Lord opened the door for him to 00:18:29.320 |
And so heart is something that God gives you in obedience. 00:18:34.160 |
We don't follow our heart because our heart is very deceptive. 00:18:36.640 |
If we go where we want to go and not go where we don't want to go, you'll end up right at 00:18:40.480 |
home building a comfortable safety net and do whatever is comfortable. 00:18:45.300 |
So we kind of make this boundary of what God wants in my life based upon what is comfortable 00:18:51.600 |
And the next thing you know, you find your life living in disobedience. 00:18:55.000 |
And so India is not because God gave me a heart, it's because he opened the door. 00:19:00.000 |
But I also come back, as I shared with the team, the realization that this door may not 00:19:07.840 |
When we went, part of the reason why we were safe is because now that this was our fourth 00:19:13.040 |
year doing this medical camp, they've already heard about what we've done in the previous 00:19:17.640 |
And so the village leaders who are Hindus are actually asking us to come to their village. 00:19:22.280 |
And you could see when you start the beginning of the day, we have all of us in a room and 00:19:29.960 |
you have the Christians, the pastors, and a lot of the village people and the leader 00:19:33.180 |
of the village, who many of them are Hindus, will sit there. 00:19:38.000 |
And once the singing starts and the gospel and the testimony begins, you can begin to 00:19:45.000 |
And some people will just literally just get up and walk out. 00:19:51.320 |
And they're just kind of examining what are these people doing here. 00:19:54.780 |
But once the medical camp starts, even the people who left, for whatever the reason, 00:20:02.400 |
And they'll make lines and literally begging us to see them. 00:20:06.940 |
And even at the very end of the camp, we had four reporters who came and asked if they 00:20:11.760 |
can take pictures and write about us in their newspaper. 00:20:15.000 |
Because a lot of these villages haven't had a foreigner in their village for over 30, 00:20:19.960 |
So it's a very strange sight to see foreigners coming in there doing what we're doing. 00:20:25.500 |
So they want to write about it because over there, it's a very big event. 00:20:30.560 |
And the leaders, some of the pastors that I talked to said that the very first year 00:20:36.280 |
that we went, the way that they prepared for these camps is if we were doing the camp on 00:20:41.440 |
Monday at a particular village, the pastors would go the night before and they would walk 00:20:46.840 |
around with drums and they would beat and just tell people announcing that there's a 00:20:51.000 |
medical camp coming next day, so make sure you guys come. 00:20:53.520 |
So each village we went to, there was a large number of people already waiting for us. 00:20:58.720 |
They said that they can't do public campaigns anymore because they're not well received. 00:21:02.960 |
So that's the way that they would do evangelism. 00:21:05.040 |
They would go and drum up support and say, "Hey, we're having this event, come," and 00:21:10.320 |
And they said they stopped doing that because the village leaders won't allow it anymore. 00:21:14.500 |
So the way they do evangelism now is they would find if there's a Christian in the village, 00:21:18.360 |
they would go to their homes and then ask them to invite their non-Christian Hindu friends 00:21:22.660 |
to come and they would share the gospel inside the house. 00:21:26.240 |
So inside the house they can do it, but they can't do public events. 00:21:28.880 |
So the fact that we're having this public event and having hundreds and hundreds of 00:21:32.800 |
people show up, again, this is a very rare happening in that village, and the fact that 00:21:39.000 |
And I think about the eye care and the wound care that we do, and probably the most offensive 00:21:47.960 |
One because it is just direct gospel sharing with these children, singing songs and having 00:21:53.080 |
them present the gospel through the different beads, and the fact that they're doing it 00:21:59.760 |
And so a lot of times the parents are sitting there and watching, and they're hearing the 00:22:04.120 |
gospel being presented through the VBS, and yet they'll sit there through the whole day 00:22:08.520 |
because they're trying to get into the medical camp. 00:22:11.920 |
And so a lot of work is being done, but at the same time I realize that this door may 00:22:19.080 |
That because we're garnering a lot of attention and we ask the reporters not to take the 00:22:23.000 |
pictures, not to write about us, for obvious reasons. 00:22:26.120 |
We don't want the unwanted attention of people reading it and then the radical Hindus figuring 00:22:31.200 |
out what we're doing and then coming and causing problems for us. 00:22:34.520 |
So we try to ask them not to do this, but I have a feeling that they're going to do 00:22:39.880 |
that anyway because it was such a big event for them. 00:22:42.920 |
So I'm not sure how long the door is going to be open and how much time we have and opportunity 00:22:49.160 |
to do exactly what we're doing, not that our support for the pastors there is going to 00:22:53.240 |
stop anytime soon, but the specific thing of going there. 00:22:56.560 |
And again, what we're doing is very effective. 00:22:59.000 |
I feel like not a single minute, not a single dime is wasted in the work that we're doing 00:23:05.240 |
But again, I don't know how long the Lord will keep this door open, but as long as it 00:23:10.480 |
is open, we want to make sure that we take advantage of it and we live in obedience. 00:23:15.360 |
And again, I was talking to a few of our team members and what they shared was how when 00:23:25.200 |
Anytime you go to a foreign place where you're not familiar, say, well, everybody kind of 00:23:31.080 |
go to the villages and you just see the masses. 00:23:33.660 |
But now that we've been there four times, it's no longer the masses. 00:23:38.560 |
You see the story behind the people who are coming. 00:23:49.520 |
They're people who have brothers and sisters and they have heartaches and they have a hard 00:23:55.880 |
And we've met a lady who had a child born premature and it was in one of the pictures 00:24:01.840 |
and the baby looked like it didn't have much to live and the mother has no hope. 00:24:07.280 |
And there's nothing we could do there because it was an eye camp and wound care and the 00:24:11.360 |
child's lung wasn't developed and wasn't eating and it was clear that the baby was 00:24:16.160 |
in his last days of life and the mother came and asked for prayer. 00:24:23.560 |
And so we had several instances where we were able to sit down and talk with them and to 00:24:30.760 |
And so it's no longer, to me, just these Indians out in the middle of nowhere, but these are 00:24:37.160 |
people who have faces, the people that we've met. 00:24:53.040 |
The text that we're looking at today, again, all the messages, if you listen carefully, 00:24:58.640 |
they're all tied together to know who Christ truly is. 00:25:05.040 |
Obviously we're not there for humanitarian aid. 00:25:07.240 |
Ultimately, getting people who don't see to see better is not the main reason why we 00:25:13.080 |
Or children who need to learn about morality and to have a different code of ethics, Christian 00:25:21.280 |
We're there ultimately that that is an avenue, a vehicle to bring the gospel, to bring the 00:25:26.440 |
message of Christ, to introduce them to Jesus. 00:25:30.520 |
Because of our language barrier, obviously we're just giving a platform for the pastors 00:25:41.400 |
It is not about the eye care and all the other things. 00:25:45.320 |
See the I Am statements of Jesus is taking a group of people who were coming to Christ 00:25:56.160 |
If you remember the first I Am statement, Jesus says, "I am the bread of life." 00:26:01.000 |
Every day when we had these groups of people, 200, 300, 400 people coming to these camps, 00:26:06.760 |
and every second that you have, James had the toughest job out of all of us because 00:26:11.800 |
basically he's doing crowd control all day long. 00:26:15.840 |
Crowd control is not like here where you say, "Hey, you guys got to stand in line." 00:26:18.640 |
They stand in line and every once in a while you have to remember. 00:26:21.640 |
Every second you don't push back and you don't do crowd control. 00:26:28.280 |
You have dozens and dozens of people who are trying to break in, trying to go. 00:26:34.440 |
Every time the door opens, they're peeking in. 00:26:37.000 |
James and the security team has to constantly be there all day fighting to keep the crowd 00:26:45.640 |
But can you imagine that Jesus and his 12 disciples, what kind of crowd followed Jesus? 00:26:53.540 |
At the feeding of the 5,000, it's like 5,000 plus their family members, maybe 20,000 people 00:26:58.080 |
and only 12 disciples and possibly a few of the women disciples were following them. 00:27:06.600 |
Remember when Jesus was teaching in possibly Peter's house that they couldn't get to him 00:27:14.400 |
The only way that they can get to him is to go to the roof and break it open and put him 00:27:19.600 |
So the scene that we experienced at the village is a small fraction of what I think was probably 00:27:29.880 |
We had maybe about 20 or 30, including us and the pastors who were doing crowd control. 00:27:34.640 |
But this is 12 disciples and a few women and thousands of people are knocking at his door. 00:27:40.440 |
The people in the villages are desperate because a lot of them, the only medical attention 00:27:49.520 |
It's no wonder that they're desperate and that why they're trying everything in their 00:27:53.240 |
But can you imagine people who haven't eaten, who can't see, can't walk, oppressed, seeing 00:28:00.360 |
that Jesus is performing miracles and he's the only person that has any kind of solution 00:28:06.760 |
And they're coming in thousands everywhere he went. 00:28:08.880 |
So can you imagine how fatigued Jesus and the disciples were and why he was constantly 00:28:16.840 |
It is to that crowd, these multitudes who are coming to Jesus at all costs, breaking 00:28:22.840 |
through the door, fighting through the crowd just to get a glimpse of him, just to touch 00:28:26.920 |
the fringe of his garment, hoping that healing will come. 00:28:31.840 |
That it is in this crowd that Jesus sees them and he sees the defect of their faith, that 00:28:40.640 |
Understandably, if you're hungry, you want food. 00:28:43.640 |
Understandably, if you're sick, you want to be healed. 00:28:47.440 |
But in the context of all of this, they could have easily missed why Jesus came. 00:28:54.320 |
He says he performed miracles in order that they would know him, that they would know 00:29:00.600 |
him because the real reason why he came is to reconcile us to the author of life. 00:29:07.720 |
So that was just an avenue, just like our medical camp was simply an avenue to bring 00:29:12.820 |
Everything that Jesus did, the feeding, the healing, his power, all of it was to bring 00:29:21.260 |
So these "I am" statements are a clarification of some of the misunderstandings that people 00:29:26.720 |
had for the false reasons that many people were clamoring to get to Jesus. 00:29:31.960 |
And Jesus says in these "I am" statements that you need to know who I am. 00:29:36.980 |
We talked about the first four the previous weeks, and then I want to look at the next 00:29:43.240 |
And all three of these "I am" statements, the "I am the resurrection and life," "I 00:29:46.000 |
am the way and the truth and the life," and then "I am divine," all three of these 00:29:49.920 |
"I am" statements happen at the very, very tail end of Jesus' ministry. 00:29:55.600 |
"I am the resurrection and the life" happens the very last week before he enters into Jerusalem. 00:30:01.720 |
So we're talking about two weeks before he is crucified on the cross. 00:30:06.480 |
So every one of these statements are stated in the context of him telling and preparing 00:30:14.480 |
So the fourth and the first "I am" statement that I'm going to be addressing today is 00:30:24.720 |
He says it in verse 25 and 26, and again in various places, where the context is Jesus 00:30:30.480 |
has this personal relationship with his family, Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. 00:30:35.200 |
And they are mentioned in other texts outside of this miracle. 00:30:38.760 |
And we could tell that they were a prominent family just by the fact that they were already 00:30:45.960 |
And when Lazarus is buried, he's buried in a tomb very similar to Jesus' tomb, which 00:30:53.600 |
You have to be very wealthy to have a tomb carved into the side of the mountain very 00:31:02.040 |
So Mary, Martha, and Lazarus was probably a very prominent family that Jesus was close 00:31:11.480 |
And so when Lazarus seems like his illness is very severe, they send messengers to go 00:31:18.060 |
get Jesus, and Jesus responds in verse 4, chapter 11, says, "This illness does not 00:31:23.720 |
It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of Man may be glorified through it." 00:31:26.680 |
Jesus is already aware of what's going to happen. 00:31:30.160 |
Even before they come and get him, he says, "No, this is not going to lead to death. 00:31:37.900 |
He deliberately stays two days longer, it says in chapter 11, verse 6. 00:31:41.660 |
He waits until he dies, and he's buried, and for four days he's buried, and he's 00:31:46.780 |
already in the tomb where the body is starting to rot. 00:31:51.220 |
And he deliberately waits for that, and then he shows up after he dies in verse 21 through 00:31:58.100 |
Martha runs to Jesus and says, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not 00:32:01.320 |
have died, but even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 00:32:06.300 |
In other words, we were waiting, anticipating, because they had a special connection to Jesus. 00:32:14.860 |
They had access to him, and they thought that we're desperate and we go get you, that 00:32:24.980 |
If you came before he died, you could have done something, but now that he's dead, 00:32:30.780 |
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 00:32:34.700 |
And even then, Martha did not clearly understand. 00:32:37.580 |
He says, Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on 00:32:42.740 |
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. 00:32:46.300 |
Whoever believes me, though he die, yet shall he live. 00:32:50.460 |
And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. 00:32:58.180 |
Jesus is saying to Martha and the crowd that was gathered together, "You are clinging 00:33:04.820 |
Understandably, because every human being, from the moment that you are born, you learn 00:33:16.060 |
When danger is around, we avoid it like a plague. 00:33:21.300 |
Not only do we want to physically live, we want to feel alive. 00:33:25.860 |
So we work hard to make money so that we can use that money so that we can live. 00:33:30.620 |
How many times do we say, you know, we work during the weekday and we live during the 00:33:36.820 |
So we want to not only exist, but we want to feel alive. 00:33:40.420 |
See, as long as Lazarus had breath in his body, there was hope. 00:33:50.820 |
It is in this context that Jesus warns them and he corrects them. 00:34:01.700 |
Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." 00:34:07.740 |
He didn't come to prolong Lazarus' life so that he wouldn't die as a young man, but if 00:34:13.860 |
he is blessed by God, that he would die as an old man. 00:34:17.940 |
He didn't come so that somebody who couldn't see could see and live a normal life like 00:34:24.980 |
He didn't come so that the poor, their stomach would be fed and they wouldn't experience 00:34:29.460 |
hunger pains for a period, just like everybody else. 00:34:36.420 |
Because in the end, the scripture says, "Inasmuch as it is appointed for all men to die once, 00:34:46.080 |
Not to deliver us from poverty, not to deliver us from illness, not to deliver us from illnesses 00:34:51.580 |
or bad memories, but to deliver us from the judgment that is coming without the atonement 00:35:01.260 |
He did everything he did, ultimately to bring them to himself. 00:35:06.660 |
It wasn't a longer life, a better life, a comfortable life, that's why he came. 00:35:20.020 |
Colossians 3, 4, it says, "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will 00:35:29.780 |
We may not fully experience this life that Jesus came to give us. 00:35:34.220 |
And that's why we eagerly anticipate his second coming. 00:35:38.320 |
Not so that the good life that we have will be better when Christ comes. 00:35:41.780 |
He says, "Your life that's hidden in Christ will appear and we will experience that glory 00:35:51.080 |
John 10, 10 says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy." 00:35:56.880 |
Well who's the thief that he's talking about? 00:35:59.640 |
Anybody that is not Christ, anybody that does not introduce Christ, anybody who presents 00:36:05.880 |
anything else but Jesus Christ as life is a thief. 00:36:14.360 |
And what is introduced to us as a form of life ultimately ends in death and condemnation. 00:36:23.600 |
But Christ himself comes and he says to deny your life, to pick up your claws. 00:36:32.700 |
He came to give life and to give this life abundantly. 00:36:37.260 |
If you find life in anything else, that's what you will pursue. 00:36:40.360 |
It doesn't matter what you confess on Sunday. 00:36:42.760 |
It doesn't matter what your doctrinal statement is. 00:36:45.640 |
If you find life in anything else outside of Christ, that's exactly what you are pursuing 00:36:51.160 |
If vacations, that's where you find life, then you'll put in all the work and make the 00:36:55.200 |
sacrifices to get to your vacation, to get to travel, to get to eat. 00:37:02.240 |
It's what you fantasize about with the spare time that you have. 00:37:11.160 |
If you believe that Jesus Christ is life, that is what you will pursue. 00:37:16.360 |
And you know as well as I do, you can come to church and not be pursuing Christ. 00:37:21.440 |
And that is the strange thing about being a Christian in our generation, in this part 00:37:27.200 |
1 Peter 4, 12-13, Peter says, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it 00:37:33.160 |
comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you." 00:37:39.720 |
He's saying when these trials come, and we're talking about trials where it may end in their 00:37:46.000 |
And Peter is telling them, "When this happens, don't think it's strange. 00:37:49.320 |
Jesus warned you, Paul warned you, every disciple warned you, that if you follow Christ, you're 00:37:57.680 |
So when the time comes when you actually have to pick up the cross, he said, "Do not think 00:38:04.720 |
Believers here who've been raised in the Western church, when we go to places like India, it's 00:38:10.080 |
Obviously, there are cultural things that are strange, because there's a lot of idol 00:38:14.200 |
worships and you see temples everywhere you go. 00:38:17.960 |
But a lot of times, what we see in Christianity is also very strange. 00:38:22.640 |
To live your life where you're literally sacrificing, feeding your children to get the gospel out, 00:38:28.440 |
walking into villages to share the gospel, and then living out in the streets sometimes 00:38:33.120 |
because they wouldn't be hospitable to you, that's very strange. 00:38:37.180 |
To be worried about your neighbors coming into your house and beating you for having 00:38:41.480 |
worship and not worshiping idols, it's very strange to us, because that's not what we 00:38:47.040 |
We admire it from a distance, but it's very strange to us. 00:38:52.820 |
But let's be honest, that is not what's strange, because we are warned about that. 00:39:00.340 |
All throughout church history, we see traces of that, examples of it. 00:39:04.440 |
What is strange is the Christianity that you and I experience that has become normal in 00:39:10.140 |
It has become normal to confess Christ as Lord and never consider what that lordship 00:39:19.280 |
It is very strange to say that our relationship with God has been restored and never pray. 00:39:28.600 |
It's very strange to say that our friends and family members are going to be condemned 00:39:33.540 |
to hell if their sins are not forgiven, and then not to be on our knees every day praying 00:39:39.400 |
for their salvation and making every effort to get the gospel out. 00:39:45.040 |
It is very strange to have friendship centered on Christ where Christ's name never comes 00:39:57.160 |
What we experience, the Christianity that you and I have become accustomed to, what 00:40:01.000 |
has become normal in our Western churches is very strange. 00:40:07.280 |
If Christ was to come and stand in our midst, I think he will recognize what he sees in 00:40:12.200 |
India but he will not recognize what he sees here. 00:40:18.880 |
It is not consistent with the songs that we sing. 00:40:21.520 |
It is not consistent with the doctrines that we profess. 00:40:25.360 |
Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." 00:40:38.080 |
I don't know how old she was, but she must have been no more than mid to late 20s, at 00:40:44.920 |
She said that she wanted us to pray for her because she's having a really difficult time. 00:40:49.440 |
Her and her husband became a Christian not too long ago, and she was three months pregnant 00:40:56.680 |
Soon after, her husband, right after the conversion, has a heart attack and he dies. 00:41:01.360 |
And then not too long after that, her father also passes away. 00:41:06.000 |
And so the village leaders took it upon themselves to use that to condemn Christianity and was 00:41:11.620 |
condemning her and saying, "Look, it's because you converted from Hinduism that you're being 00:41:16.960 |
punished by the gods, and that's why your husband died, and that's why your father died." 00:41:20.880 |
So you have to understand that there is no government help for her. 00:41:25.480 |
She's living in a village where if her husband doesn't work, even if her husband worked, 00:41:29.760 |
they'd barely survive, but not that the husband's gone, and she has a small child, and the father, 00:41:39.320 |
And on top of that, all her neighbors are mocking her for turning to Christ. 00:41:44.560 |
So the pastors told me that, again, they are barely scraping and surviving themselves, 00:41:50.080 |
and what little money that they have, they're buying food for her so that she can survive. 00:41:54.800 |
So we had an opportunity to talk to her and pray for her. 00:41:58.420 |
But what would cause somebody like her to continue in her faith? 00:42:05.360 |
What would cause her to not turn to God and shake her fist at God? 00:42:15.080 |
Because I became a Christian, look at the context that I'm in. 00:42:24.520 |
You see, this is what Jesus means, not only to Mary and Martha and Lazarus, but to us 00:42:43.880 |
The only thing somebody in her context would cause her to persevere in her faith is because 00:42:48.840 |
she believes that even in death there's life in Christ. 00:42:53.540 |
Even if she can't eat, even if she's being mocked, even if her life becomes harder because 00:42:59.280 |
she believed in Jesus, because the hope that we have in Jesus as a resurrection and life 00:43:12.040 |
You're hoping that I can raise him from the dead and I will raise him from the dead, but 00:43:16.080 |
you're going to miss the whole point if you think that that's why I came. 00:43:24.280 |
The only reason why we persevere in our faith, the only reason why we share the gospel in 00:43:28.800 |
the context of persecution, why these men have such courage is because they have come 00:43:36.680 |
Again, it is very strange to profess this and then believe this and not have it affect 00:43:45.720 |
what you do with your money, not have it affect what you do with your free time, that our 00:43:54.680 |
life doesn't look any different other than the fact that we're active at church. 00:44:01.920 |
Jesus says in Acts 4.12, "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name 00:44:09.880 |
other than the one given among men by which we must be saved." 00:44:17.580 |
We can feed them, but if we don't bring them to Christ, we've missed the point. 00:44:21.800 |
We can give them eye care and cause them to see. 00:44:24.680 |
We can get people who may die and pray for them and bring new life into them, and if 00:44:29.800 |
they do not meet Christ, we've missed the whole point. 00:44:35.560 |
The other two "I am" statements basically is the same thing. 00:44:40.400 |
The main point of what Jesus is saying is what he says, "I am the resurrection and 00:44:44.560 |
The other is to continue to emphasize and point to that. 00:44:46.880 |
He says, "I am the way and the truth and the life," chapter 14, verse 6. 00:44:51.840 |
You know, what's interesting is that this is a verse that I memorized as a young child. 00:44:55.600 |
I remember going to a VBS when I was about third or fourth grade, and the VBS t-shirt 00:45:04.560 |
I just remember seeing it on the t-shirt and riding in the back seat, and one of my brothers 00:45:09.240 |
would have that on the back of his shirt, and I just, "I am the way and the truth and 00:45:14.600 |
I had no idea what that meant until I became a Christian. 00:45:19.200 |
I think a lot of people in the church, even as a Christian, don't fully understand what 00:45:26.280 |
He's saying, you know what's interesting, the grammar here, that each one of these words, 00:45:32.400 |
he doesn't say, "I am a way, I am a truth, I am a life." 00:45:37.120 |
There's a definite article "the" in front of each of these statements for the purpose 00:45:55.760 |
There is no, "I tried Jesus on Sunday, it doesn't work, so I'm going to try something 00:46:04.720 |
He's not saying he is a truth among many truths. 00:46:10.360 |
If the truth of Christ doesn't work, you have no other truth. 00:46:18.020 |
If you don't find life in Christ and you try to find life in any other way, you are 00:46:26.960 |
That's what he means when he says, "I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life." 00:46:32.040 |
Now you may have understood that theologically, but do you really believe this? 00:46:42.940 |
How many people in our generation actually believe this? 00:46:45.040 |
Because if we believe this, it would change us radically. 00:46:51.320 |
If he's the way, the truth, and the life, how can we spend all of our lives pursuing 00:46:59.020 |
something else and only pursuing him over the weekend? 00:47:05.680 |
He's telling his disciples that he's going to depart and where I am going, you cannot 00:47:10.780 |
He's very aware that because he's going to the cross, many people are going to abandon 00:47:17.540 |
He says to Peter and his disciples that where I'm going, you cannot come. 00:47:21.940 |
Peter said to him, "Lord, why can I not follow you? 00:47:27.220 |
Jesus answered, "Will you lay down your life for me? 00:47:29.620 |
Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times." 00:47:34.740 |
Jesus knew very well that even his closest companion, Peter, is not going to understand 00:47:40.740 |
what Jesus was doing, even though he made it very clear to him that every minute that 00:47:44.860 |
he spent with his disciples, he was preparing him for the cross, but he knew that when he 00:47:53.900 |
As a result of that, many, many, these multitudes were fighting through the crowds to get to 00:48:00.100 |
him, no longer would follow him as a result of that. 00:48:05.220 |
Jesus is preparing his disciples for this, for this mass turning from Jesus, going back 00:48:12.180 |
to their old life, and he's telling them, "You may not understand what I'm doing. 00:48:21.540 |
As I go to the cross, you may be confused because what you thought isn't going to happen." 00:48:28.700 |
It is in that context that Jesus is preparing them. 00:48:31.460 |
Even if everybody falls away, there is no other way. 00:48:34.840 |
When the multitudes turn from me and turn back to their old life, I am the way. 00:48:46.040 |
No one can come to the Father but through me. 00:48:50.740 |
If you want to be restored to the author of life, Jesus is the only one. 00:48:56.300 |
If you want the truth, Jesus is the only truth. 00:49:00.600 |
If you're lost and looking for the right way, Jesus is the only way. 00:49:06.180 |
First Timothy 2.5, "For there is one God, there is one mediator between God and men, 00:49:16.060 |
Pastor Matthew, he's the guy who started this whole ministry out in India, and every single 00:49:20.780 |
pastor who gave a testimony shared about how Pastor Matthew brought the gospel to them. 00:49:25.740 |
This is why I was intrigued and went to India to meet them in the first place, because the 00:49:30.460 |
whole time I was talking to his son, Pastor Sake, he would never talk about himself. 00:49:34.260 |
He would always talk about his father, his father's testimony, how he came to Christ 00:49:40.420 |
He told me as a young child, his memory of his childhood is not good because he remembers 00:49:48.500 |
He remembers going to villages and being chased out. 00:49:51.320 |
As a young child, they had four children, but when he converted, he had his oldest son, 00:49:56.580 |
Pastor Isaac, and the second one, Pastor Sake. 00:50:00.440 |
After that, he had his third son, Pastor David, and then a daughter who was also married to 00:50:07.940 |
A couple years ago, I had an opportunity to interview Pastor Matthew, and I asked him, 00:50:13.660 |
Typically, you would hear, whenever you hear about this great man, at least when I heard 00:50:20.780 |
from the other pastors, how he was persecuted and he went out and did this crazy work. 00:50:26.620 |
As a result of that, he has this network of pastors evangelizing to areas that never heard 00:50:35.480 |
But I was so encouraged by his testimony because he shared with me that at an earlier part 00:50:45.260 |
I said, "That's a strange thing to hear from a man who's been so strong in his faith, and 00:50:53.940 |
everybody's just completely dependent on this man, even all the pastors. 00:50:59.340 |
They're leaning on his faith for him to say that at one point, he just wanted to die." 00:51:05.340 |
He's out there proclaiming the gospel and promising life in the name of Jesus, and he's 00:51:10.100 |
confessing honestly that at one point, he wanted to end his life. 00:51:13.860 |
He said the reason why is because he saw his children and his wife suffering. 00:51:18.860 |
At times, many, many times, he couldn't feed his kids because he would walk into a village, 00:51:24.100 |
and just like the New Testament, if they blessed him, they would give him some food, and they 00:51:28.380 |
would sleep at his house, and then the next day, they would go on doing the ministry. 00:51:33.140 |
So this is a man who just read the Bible and just applied it directly. 00:51:38.460 |
If they didn't receive him, he would shake off the dust and go to the next town. 00:51:41.580 |
But a lot of times, he would be there late at night, and no one would welcome him to 00:51:46.900 |
their house, no one would feed them, and it was too late to walk out because it takes 00:51:50.700 |
anywhere from an hour to two hours to come in and out of these villages. 00:51:54.540 |
He said they would just go into the fields, and him and his two young children would just 00:51:58.220 |
sleep, and they would go hungry until they go to the next village, and somebody opens 00:52:09.560 |
So he had thoughts that maybe if I just disappeared, that this burden would be lifted from my family, 00:52:17.020 |
my wife and my children could have a normal life. 00:52:19.420 |
And he said, "Yeah, they were difficult periods." 00:52:23.900 |
You know, the first thought that we may have is, "Why don't you just stop it then? 00:52:35.860 |
The majority of the Christians don't do what he's doing. 00:52:44.060 |
Make money like everybody else and feed your kids. 00:52:47.740 |
Evangelize on the weekend when it's convenient, after everything is taken care of. 00:52:52.340 |
Why take your family to the point where he wants to end his life to take the burden off 00:53:07.060 |
He believed that Jesus was the way and the truth and the life. 00:53:18.420 |
It would be easier for him to take his life than to deny what he believed. 00:53:24.980 |
It was easier for him to just disappear than to deny the truth that radically changed him. 00:53:31.580 |
The love of Christ was compelling him to preach the gospel, even as his family suffered. 00:53:37.540 |
The only reason why he continued is because he was so convinced of this truth. 00:53:44.180 |
What you and I experience and practice today is strange. 00:53:48.060 |
We're trying very hard not to make it strange, but it is strange. 00:53:55.900 |
It is a reasonable response to the tremendous mercy he has received. 00:54:06.380 |
He says this in the context in the last "I am" statements to prepare his disciples because 00:54:13.260 |
If Jesus actually carries out what he said he was going to do, he says, "I am going to 00:54:17.460 |
leave and where I go, you cannot come," and they're freaking out. 00:54:23.480 |
As long as Jesus was with them, when the enemies came to beat him and to kill him, they were 00:54:31.640 |
But Jesus deliberately walks into Jerusalem, the epicenter of the enemies. 00:54:37.860 |
For the last three years, we're trying to kill him, and Jesus was walking right in. 00:54:41.740 |
Now Jesus says, not only is he walking in, taking his disciples to the lion's den, he 00:54:50.700 |
To these disciples who are in fear and trembling, hoping that maybe they misunderstood, Jesus 00:54:57.980 |
says, "I am the true vine and you are the branches, and you cannot bear any fruit unless 00:55:06.880 |
The word "abide" here is a key Christian word, just like the word "love," that we have to 00:55:11.840 |
make sure that we don't add meaning to this, that we understand it exactly as Jesus said 00:55:16.340 |
it, because basically what he is saying here with the "I am" statement, or that he is divine, 00:55:22.120 |
is that the key to your Christian life, the key to bearing any fruit, is this, abiding 00:55:29.640 |
It is not technology, it is not money, it is not organization, it is not your gifting, 00:55:40.340 |
Whatever you've been successful in, you cannot apply to Christianity. 00:55:46.120 |
Because you will ruin it, because it is filled with your personal pride, and you get the 00:55:53.280 |
So much of what we try to apply to Christianity ultimately results in saying, "You are so 00:56:03.360 |
Everything about Christianity is to bring us to the point to recognize that we are utterly 00:56:13.200 |
So the most important, the most powerful thing that God ever leads us to is to recognize 00:56:19.280 |
our weakness and to cling to him with all our might. 00:56:22.400 |
And that's why he says, "If you abide in me, my words abide in you. 00:56:25.840 |
Ask whatever you wish, it shall be done for you." 00:56:31.000 |
Power is not in your past experience, power is not in your past success, power is not 00:56:40.840 |
The power is when we abide in Christ, that he gives us full access to himself, that we 00:56:51.960 |
And until we mature to the point where prayer is not something we sprinkle upon what we 00:56:58.000 |
do, but we saturate and devote ourselves to prayer, you have not matured. 00:57:05.320 |
Prayer is our tangible way to acknowledge that the power is in him, not us. 00:57:17.480 |
Because our primary problem is not persecution here. 00:57:21.800 |
Persecution actually is very sanctifying for the church. 00:57:24.760 |
I asked one of the pastors years ago, I said, "Now the persecution is increasing, how does 00:57:35.600 |
The nominal Christians will not turn to Christ. 00:57:39.240 |
Pastors who are coming in for any other reason other than being convicted by the gospel will 00:57:45.240 |
So it has purified the church, so the fellowship is sweeter, the gathering, the singing, all 00:57:52.680 |
So he said, "It's actually been good for us." 00:57:58.260 |
Our problem where you and I live, the Christianity that you and I experience, is that we have 00:58:02.440 |
a tendency to drift, to forget, to marginalize Christ where we see him sprinkled in various 00:58:11.840 |
places in our life, where we call him Lord, but the Lordship is not practiced. 00:58:19.080 |
He is important, but not important enough to sacrifice everything. 00:58:25.440 |
We love him because of the good things he's given us, but we question him when things 00:58:33.360 |
Our idea of blessing from God is no different than the health and wealth gospel preachers. 00:58:38.520 |
We praise him for the goodness, we question him when trials and difficulty and illnesses 00:58:47.240 |
If you want to bear fruit, he says, you must abide in me. 00:58:49.720 |
John chapter 6, verse 56, Jesus says, "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks of my blood abides 00:58:57.400 |
And it is in the present tense, meaning he who continues to feed, he who continues to 00:59:02.240 |
drink of my blood, he will be mine, he abides in me. 00:59:07.360 |
It is not enough that years ago that your sins were justified. 00:59:12.240 |
The church is filled with people who claim justification at some point in their life 00:59:21.200 |
I'm not sure what trials and difficulties and anxieties that you live with on a day-to-day 00:59:25.840 |
basis, but if you're not abiding in Christ, that's your biggest problem. 00:59:33.880 |
Not your marriage, not your children, not your job, not your health. 00:59:43.040 |
Even if cancer has been diagnosed and you may only have a few years to live, your biggest 00:59:51.040 |
problem if you're not abiding in Christ is that, because Jesus is the resurrection and 01:00:13.600 |
He who comes to God must first believe that he is, and he is a rewarder of those who diligently 01:00:23.880 |
Everything about who we are and why we are gathered together is to come to Christ. 01:00:38.800 |
This is why we go to India and China and wherever else he calls us to. 01:00:44.880 |
As a pastor of Bering Community Church, my ultimate goal is not to get you to India. 01:00:54.280 |
My ultimate goal is not to get you to your neighbors either. 01:00:59.680 |
My ultimate goal is to see Christ in you, that every single one of you would see the 01:01:08.080 |
glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ and fall so deeply in love with him that this love 01:01:18.840 |
It will compel you to your neighbors, to China. 01:01:28.880 |
I pray with all my heart that we would come to this conviction that no matter what we 01:01:35.480 |
sacrifice that it wouldn't seem like sacrifice in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing 01:01:47.120 |
Let's take some time again to pray and to invite the Lord genuinely. 01:02:01.520 |
Maybe you have been justified, assuming that you are all Christians. 01:02:09.840 |
But when you examine your life, can you honestly confess that Jesus is your life? 01:02:16.820 |
Can you honestly confess that he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that is what 01:02:22.080 |
other people see in you, that I don't understand you outside of the gospel message of Jesus 01:02:28.840 |
Let's take some time to pray before God that Christ, the true Christ of the scriptures 01:02:35.360 |
So let's take time to pray as our worship team leads us.