back to index2019-12-15 Called to a continual and consistent sober living
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from 1230 to 2300, there's gonna be an opportunity 00:00:22.300 |
or you have questions, please, the link is there. 00:00:33.760 |
One, there's a ping pong tournament on Sunday, 00:01:00.640 |
So if you wanna mark your calendars for that, 00:01:10.560 |
what is called a Lottie Moon Missions Offering 00:01:14.860 |
And some of you may not know exactly what that is, 00:01:18.040 |
but that is fundraising specifically for missions 00:01:26.440 |
and that is the organization that our friends, 00:01:29.280 |
the Han family and Tong family are involved with. 00:01:32.120 |
And we are able to earmark our offering towards them. 00:01:37.840 |
Lottie Moon, the name comes from a famous individual 00:01:43.600 |
and invested years and years and faithfully tried to teach, 00:01:51.000 |
they made this into an annual offering time for us. 00:02:09.080 |
there is a link there that you can participate that way 00:02:13.000 |
or reach out to Sarah Kim if you have any questions. 00:02:27.460 |
If you could turn with me to 1 Peter chapter five, 00:02:31.700 |
we're gonna read just two verses, verses eight and nine. 00:02:52.340 |
"knowing that the same experiences of suffering 00:03:05.560 |
come back together and we are filled with joy 00:03:27.260 |
And Lord, when we hear your word, we hear it. 00:03:39.460 |
Would you allow your word to take root and produce fruit? 00:03:50.920 |
of our covenant series, our tenfold covenant series, 00:04:02.560 |
was kind of thinking about, the idea of soberness, 00:04:05.340 |
something we quite often talk about, I think, 00:04:17.180 |
And so, I don't think there's anything new in this passage. 00:04:25.260 |
And the good thing is, this is 1 Peter again. 00:04:27.720 |
Last week, Pastor Peter went into chapter one, 00:04:35.900 |
the same people that was being addressed last week 00:04:37.780 |
is the same people being addressed this week. 00:04:41.080 |
They're aliens, they're sojourners, they're exiles, 00:05:12.460 |
this command of being sober, this command of being alert. 00:05:19.260 |
A lot of the Apostle Paul, when you read his epistles, 00:05:33.260 |
is going to be very much kind of indicative-based. 00:05:38.960 |
and then eventually gets into the application. 00:05:59.600 |
used as something called the Aorist Imperative. 00:06:04.720 |
Maybe one day you could do a personal study on it. 00:06:08.000 |
It's pretty fascinating, actually, when you do. 00:06:17.020 |
of this call to be sober, this command to be sober. 00:06:29.040 |
Being of sober spirit is to be self-controlled. 00:06:32.860 |
That's largely what it means, to be self-controlled. 00:06:38.040 |
And we have to sit there, pause, and think about that. 00:06:46.900 |
It means to be free of intoxicating influences. 00:06:56.400 |
Well, we understand here that this is spiritual in nature. 00:07:05.240 |
Be spiritually self-controlled is what he's saying. 00:07:09.400 |
Be spiritually free of intoxicating influences. 00:07:15.600 |
Spiritually, you're in control of your thought process. 00:07:24.420 |
or at least not in danger of, irrational thinking. 00:07:49.260 |
we should always be kind of digging up in our lives 00:07:57.200 |
So for you parents, when your kids are acting up 00:08:01.860 |
you're responding out of spiritual soberness. 00:08:05.620 |
When a coworker makes a snarky comment against you, 00:08:11.140 |
you're responding out of spiritual soberness. 00:08:14.580 |
When you have a decision to make at the end of the day 00:08:46.920 |
spiritual soberness can't quite be aimed at things, right? 00:09:01.940 |
but the ability to exercise that theology or that doctrine? 00:09:30.780 |
What are the first thoughts in your mind in the morning? 00:09:35.940 |
Even as you begin your day, where is your attention? 00:09:39.420 |
At what point does soberness kick in in your day? 00:09:51.580 |
And then there's a second half of this command, 00:09:56.380 |
the idea is to be watchful or to be vigilant. 00:10:08.080 |
You're seeing everything with kind of a kingdom eyes, 00:10:29.780 |
When someone asks you, how are you doing spiritually? 00:10:35.420 |
Sometimes the vagueness of how you respond to that question 00:10:40.100 |
might kind of display your spiritual alertness in your life. 00:10:51.100 |
and trying to figure out, what am I struggling with? 00:10:54.380 |
It might mean that you have not been spiritually alert. 00:11:04.320 |
it might reveal how alert you are spiritually. 00:11:09.060 |
When you're spending time with brothers and sisters, 00:11:17.340 |
there's this group that I'm a part of at Berean, 00:11:37.460 |
And sometimes I wonder, I sit back and I wonder, 00:11:39.660 |
man, I wonder how this guy's doing spiritually. 00:11:53.320 |
if your primary objective is to get them to behave 00:12:02.360 |
where our victory is when they obey, or when they behave. 00:12:15.280 |
and there's hopelessness, or something like that, 00:12:21.520 |
So these commands are that, it's to be on the alert, 00:12:24.040 |
it's to be aware, it's to be ready, or on guard, 00:12:27.480 |
that when you view the world, just generally speaking, 00:12:30.240 |
you're able to be sober in your view and understanding 00:12:36.720 |
Because we are prone to the opposite, this is C. 00:12:54.280 |
you know that song, Prone to Wander, it's there, 00:12:57.600 |
there's a proneness to not be sober, to not be alert. 00:13:28.960 |
for the purpose of godliness, we've lost discipline. 00:13:45.120 |
And especially in this season, it's very easy. 00:13:48.720 |
In the simple decisions we make, our spiritual sobriety, 00:13:54.400 |
In this season, it's really easy to get swept up. 00:14:11.840 |
And it's something like, honestly, all people have. 00:14:14.720 |
Everyone has some kind of mission statement in life. 00:14:17.720 |
We all live living out something that has to do 00:14:33.640 |
if we were all to sit, pull out a piece of paper, 00:14:36.520 |
grab a pen, and we all wrote out our mission statement, 00:14:40.000 |
for every believer, ours would sound very similar. 00:14:44.360 |
Our mission statement is to live for God's glory. 00:14:47.640 |
Our mission statement is to live for His kingdom. 00:14:52.080 |
Our mission statement is to love God with all of our hearts, 00:14:56.120 |
to go after His purposes, His goals, and not mine. 00:15:00.280 |
Actually, my goals come into conformity with His goals. 00:15:10.920 |
There is no personal self kingdom building in my life. 00:15:17.380 |
The mission statement says your goal and purpose, 00:15:24.640 |
What is my goal and what is my purpose in life? 00:15:30.240 |
What do you deem to be most important in your life? 00:15:50.920 |
And that is where you're going to see soberness, 00:16:01.880 |
if these don't line up, we've lost soberness. 00:16:11.960 |
We are drunk on some kind of intoxicating influence 00:16:19.000 |
under the control and influence of the enemy. 00:16:34.240 |
"and are increasing, they render you neither useless 00:16:38.680 |
So a whole list of things that Peter listed out 00:16:44.200 |
But he says, "If these qualities that I previously listed 00:16:49.960 |
"then, listen, they render you neither useless 00:16:53.800 |
Again, inductive study, a really good thing to do 00:17:16.800 |
again, we're not gonna go into those qualities, 00:17:19.720 |
"But if these qualities are yours and are increasing, 00:17:22.600 |
"you will not be useless, you will not be unfruitful 00:17:25.120 |
"in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." 00:17:27.040 |
In verse nine, "For he who lacks these qualities 00:17:32.760 |
"Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent." 00:17:37.600 |
"To make certain about his calling and choosing you 00:17:43.760 |
"You practice these things, you will never stumble. 00:17:47.560 |
"For in this way, the entrance into the eternal kingdom 00:18:06.160 |
See, right now, every day, there's a new deal 00:18:11.520 |
And so, of course, we know, we all know the drill here. 00:18:22.440 |
But what we purchase, or even if we don't purchase, 00:18:26.920 |
you know, we're sitting there and you sit there 00:18:37.040 |
of what we're consumed over, where our attention is, 00:18:40.720 |
where we see our heart struggling, battling, contemplating. 00:18:46.760 |
So when we see the subject of our contemplation 00:18:49.480 |
through the day, it might reveal our sobriety 00:18:54.520 |
A lot of college students in the season of final exams 00:19:03.040 |
towards the long winter breaks, could be tested. 00:19:05.360 |
In a season where we're going to spend a lot of time 00:19:07.240 |
with family members we don't see all that often, 00:19:10.160 |
Right now, there are just so many holiday parties. 00:19:18.160 |
I just have to cook all the time for this polygon, 00:19:20.400 |
that polygon, I got to go buy a gift for this gift exchange, 00:19:30.880 |
What consumes our attention from the moment we wake? 00:19:39.120 |
What causes us to veer into sinful attitudes? 00:19:44.760 |
What does that display about our own personal 00:19:54.440 |
and we listed out what we're actually living for, 00:19:56.480 |
and we just write it all out, and we hand that paper over 00:20:00.320 |
"Hey, read this list and write out what you think 00:20:05.480 |
See, these types of things might be things in our lives 00:20:14.600 |
that inebriate us, draws us into intoxicating influences, 00:20:26.880 |
But we understand it's not our circumstances. 00:20:32.920 |
We know that for the drunkard, alcohol isn't the problem. 00:20:42.000 |
And for us, ultimately, it's not the situation we're in 00:20:45.840 |
It's not our circumstance that causes us to lose soberness. 00:21:17.800 |
All circumstances can cause us to lose perspective, 00:21:23.080 |
For you to be sober, your heart must be sober. 00:21:28.080 |
And so, Peter issues this command from our God. 00:21:35.920 |
We talk about this so much here at our church, 00:21:40.320 |
From the moment I got here two years ago, I loved it. 00:21:54.840 |
I talk to this person, "I wanna be more sober-minded." 00:22:05.520 |
but we have need to really again and again and again 00:22:42.440 |
Is something or someone taking your eyes off of Christ? 00:22:59.320 |
"and I can write it down, and I can share it, 00:23:03.400 |
"that these are things I'm actually struggling with, 00:23:06.040 |
"that I am not sober in this arena of my life. 00:23:10.240 |
"We're very good at it, and I get encouraged by it, 00:23:18.600 |
If we know it, and if we talk about it too much, 00:23:27.480 |
what concerns me today is how much do we apply it? 00:23:38.400 |
And the reason why I bring this up is because of myself. 00:23:49.160 |
I wanted to see, I wanted to see how many sermons he did, 00:23:59.280 |
And much of it, I know, we cling to in our minds. 00:24:04.160 |
I have heard probably over 100 times already, 00:24:10.680 |
I'm like, "Wow, that's Pastor Peter Kim language." 00:24:30.760 |
is that this knowledge has caused in us change. 00:25:08.160 |
like, if we get into this time machine we have here, 00:25:13.680 |
where he preached on the, like, not spiritually drifting. 00:25:22.800 |
and scan down to your personal application for that sermon, 00:25:26.320 |
the question to us is not how much did that affect us, 00:25:33.440 |
it's how much has that actually caused change in our lives, 00:25:38.480 |
When we see the things that we knew we have to surrender, 00:25:41.560 |
today, eight months later, have you surrendered it? 00:25:53.520 |
because for many of us, there has been great change. 00:26:07.400 |
and you feel the same conviction week after week, 00:26:16.640 |
Why is it convicting me and cutting me so deep again? 00:26:32.560 |
If you're asking the question, is that good or bad 00:26:37.280 |
that you're being convicted like that every week? 00:26:59.640 |
And so we've become master spiritual compartmentalizers. 00:27:02.960 |
And we were able to, in places and portions of our lives, 00:27:08.560 |
And we're able to say, though we're not living sober here, 00:27:11.800 |
though we are not actually actively living out 00:27:14.160 |
our convictions here, that we can come to our brothers 00:27:18.120 |
and talk about the fact that we're struggling with that. 00:27:24.040 |
And even for those of us who are actively applying, 00:27:27.960 |
actively seeking the Lord and denying the flesh, 00:27:37.000 |
not just to parts of our lives, but to our entire lives. 00:27:42.000 |
From the moment we wake up, this is the way we need to live. 00:27:52.800 |
that we live as Christians, we have the mindset of Christ. 00:27:55.800 |
And so it doesn't matter if it's a negative experience 00:27:59.840 |
Now when Pastor Mark was teaching through that, 00:28:03.680 |
That it flips upside down, that the Christian worldview 00:28:06.640 |
is so different from the non-Christian worldview. 00:28:09.360 |
That is for us, our evaluation of what is good 00:28:16.920 |
It doesn't matter about circumstantial things. 00:28:34.720 |
If we're distracted by something in our lives, 00:28:38.480 |
like are we trying to just apply soberness to that thing? 00:28:41.540 |
I know I heard some people after certain sermons, 00:28:51.720 |
You know what happens when you direct soberness at Netflix. 00:29:00.720 |
You direct soberness here, and boop, this pops up. 00:29:24.940 |
We can't just say like, I'm going to be self-controlled here. 00:29:35.100 |
So again, it's never about the thing, the situation, 00:29:45.400 |
the circumstance, the relationship, whatever. 00:30:02.560 |
is knocking on the door, and so we're aware of it. 00:30:15.720 |
Because the Bible says that's going to be the case 00:30:25.280 |
not to say like, the flesh is going to be gone. 00:30:30.160 |
Like, the eradication of temptation, that's not the goal. 00:30:52.240 |
Aorist is typically seen as past tense, but it's not. 00:30:56.000 |
And so it's interesting, it's not just past tense. 00:31:04.960 |
So the reason why an aorist imperative is very interesting 00:31:08.040 |
is because what it does is it puts a giant force 00:31:12.960 |
on the past, that this is a command and a truth 00:31:16.120 |
that is given to you from the moment you're saved. 00:31:22.180 |
that this is your truth, that you are called to be sober, 00:31:31.680 |
At every moment and every juncture of your life, 00:32:02.100 |
Brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you, 00:32:11.300 |
then destruction will come upon them suddenly 00:32:18.020 |
that the day would overcome you like a thief, 00:32:19.900 |
for you are all sons of light and sons of day. 00:32:27.860 |
For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, 00:32:32.020 |
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, 00:32:34.260 |
having put on the breastplate of faith and love 00:32:40.220 |
but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:32:43.140 |
who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, 00:32:49.700 |
and build up one another just as you are doing. 00:33:17.480 |
It actually ought to be very, very disturbing 00:33:23.060 |
when we find ourselves acting like children of the night. 00:33:25.960 |
It should be very disturbing when we're acting like people 00:33:34.980 |
When we know that everything we see around us 00:33:41.260 |
with the things of this world, that's very disturbing. 00:33:45.780 |
And so when we are enamored by the things of this world, 00:33:58.300 |
Only eternal things will be found in Christ will remain. 00:34:02.020 |
And yet, if our lifestyle, if our decisions that we make, 00:34:07.040 |
if the things we partake in does not fall in line 00:34:09.900 |
with what we believe, that the world is passing away, 00:34:22.680 |
It's not just spiritual, personal betterment. 00:34:38.640 |
that kind of the SoCal or type of Christianity, 00:34:53.980 |
in the decisions we make, we confuse the world. 00:34:56.340 |
They're like, that doesn't make sense, you know? 00:35:02.180 |
We dilute the power of God's message in our lives, 00:35:13.620 |
And actually, we are called to shine into the darkness. 00:35:17.220 |
In Ephesians chapter five, verse seven, it says, 00:35:37.740 |
Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 00:35:42.580 |
Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, 00:35:48.300 |
"For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things 00:35:54.960 |
"For everything that becomes visible is light. 00:36:00.400 |
I love this passage, because what it's calling 00:36:02.440 |
the Christian to do is to shine into the darkness. 00:36:05.200 |
And I think, I fear sometimes, when we're not being sober, 00:36:08.260 |
what happens is, again, we come over and over and over again 00:36:22.240 |
When we are called to live as children of light 00:36:28.040 |
If we're constantly talking about how we're living 00:36:33.680 |
We're called to go and be the light to a dark world. 00:36:50.720 |
if we're saying that we can see this clearly, 00:36:54.380 |
This brings us to our second and final point here. 00:36:59.600 |
This is an additional reason for soberness that he gives. 00:37:09.440 |
"like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." 00:37:13.000 |
Now the question is, what does this look like, though? 00:37:23.520 |
What does it mean for him to devour us, to get us? 00:37:42.840 |
His desire, day and night, with every breath he has, 00:37:48.920 |
is to do this, is to prowl around and devour. 00:37:52.000 |
He is thinking at every moment how he can devour us, 00:38:03.040 |
is trying to find an open place where he can get you. 00:38:10.160 |
He's constantly thinking on better and better strategies. 00:38:24.880 |
He's thinking, oh, health condition in his family. 00:38:58.880 |
and he's prowling at the end of a long day of work at home. 00:39:12.840 |
He's prowling in the midst of our relationships. 00:39:15.280 |
He's there, and this is our spiritual reality. 00:39:23.940 |
And looking at this, we can do that inductive study thing 00:39:31.980 |
So what might it look like if we don't resist him? 00:39:37.300 |
Well, I think that's when the believer is rendered useless. 00:39:52.700 |
with this giant lion that was like untamed, you know? 00:39:56.720 |
And then I sat here, and then I opened up this cage, 00:40:03.520 |
Like, and you guys are talking with each other, 00:40:09.600 |
to just talk with the person right next to you, right? 00:40:16.400 |
Oh, yeah, did you get that deal on Slick Deals? 00:40:19.900 |
You have all these things you're just talking about. 00:40:51.240 |
But he's saying, in your flesh, you're forgetting. 00:41:30.400 |
trying to get you to eat another slice of cake, 00:41:32.000 |
sometimes that happens at the end of our potlucks, right? 00:41:34.200 |
So all this food, there's always that one person 00:41:37.840 |
You know, you're trying to get rid of all the food. 00:41:40.320 |
And it's like, you know that person who goes like, 00:41:43.920 |
But the person who's going around knows weak people. 00:41:54.480 |
But the active resistance that we're talking about here, 00:42:00.440 |
the word can be translated to show hostility against. 00:42:03.200 |
Okay, so it's like someone comes up and says, "Cake." 00:42:15.280 |
But this is the type of resistance that we're talking about, 00:42:18.960 |
to show hostility against, to hate him, to hate his schemes. 00:42:45.520 |
Like, they're like, "I'm gonna run this half marathon." 00:42:47.800 |
You're like, "Wow, you're gonna run a half marathon?" 00:42:56.880 |
And then, like, you go run your half marathon, 00:42:59.600 |
and you run like half a mile, and you come out, 00:43:01.680 |
and you're like, "Did you run the half marathon?" 00:43:03.440 |
You're like, "Oh, man, I only got half a mile in." 00:43:50.680 |
And we go, and it's a half-hearted attempt of like, 00:43:59.320 |
And you use these little spiritual loopholes of like, 00:44:11.560 |
like, kind of the reverse psychology spirituality, like, 00:44:18.520 |
to like, the spiritual view that someone has upon you. 00:44:29.040 |
and showing hostility against things that are anti-God? 00:44:37.240 |
Are you fighting, not just saying, "I should do better." 00:44:49.880 |
but you should actually sit there and try to evaluate, 00:44:51.840 |
is there real struggle there in what they're sharing? 00:45:12.000 |
"that I've actively not been fighting against in my life?" 00:45:19.400 |
did these sermons simply identify the state we're in? 00:45:47.040 |
Because if there hasn't, it's called disobedience. 00:45:49.640 |
It can be just like the spiritual compartmentalizing 00:46:04.400 |
Knowing it's wrong, being able to identify it. 00:46:07.400 |
But until there's surrender, there is no soberness. 00:46:17.560 |
You can say you want to surrender to the Lord 00:46:31.080 |
that you need to change in your life right now, 00:46:42.800 |
But straddling the fence is actually just living 00:46:59.200 |
Friendship with the world is hostility towards God. 00:47:01.760 |
Praise the Lord we have Christ and his work for us. 00:47:16.680 |
like rebellion against God is this kind of rebellion. 00:47:19.960 |
So scary, tucking away the truths that we know. 00:47:27.160 |
but just the title of an article was very intriguing to me. 00:47:29.880 |
It said, "The dangers of not atheism, but apathyism." 00:47:34.720 |
I was like, man, yeah, that's what we struggle with. 00:47:42.960 |
1 Peter 5, "Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. 00:47:45.240 |
"Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, 00:47:50.120 |
"Firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences 00:47:58.640 |
If you wanna, just kinda, let me just start you on the road. 00:48:02.320 |
And it's a different passage, and I'm not going to read it, 00:48:05.840 |
but the idea of permissible versus beneficial things 00:48:12.720 |
So, focus on beneficial things, not permissible things. 00:48:29.040 |
But the problem is, when you're asking that question, 00:48:33.040 |
generally you're not coming from a sober-minded place. 00:48:35.880 |
You're coming more from a self-centered place 00:48:45.460 |
You have to stay laser-focused on beneficial things. 00:48:48.440 |
So, when you're focused on permissible things, 00:48:56.200 |
Those are the things that show that you're being sober. 00:49:00.960 |
Beneficial, when you're focused on beneficial things, 00:49:11.440 |
That's the way you're focusing, the beneficial things. 00:49:19.200 |
many times you're focusing on your self-work, 00:49:28.520 |
The question is not, am I allowed to do this? 00:49:43.900 |
Are they causing me to grow slowly intoxicated 00:49:54.740 |
has become downright dishonoring to the Lord. 00:50:12.840 |
Our entire mindset, our entire worldview and base desires 00:50:23.000 |
you know, I was a youth pastor for about seven years, 00:50:28.360 |
the youth students, raging hormone days, right? 00:50:35.080 |
they fell in love with someone every other week. 00:51:09.360 |
And you know, on and on, and when you see that, 00:51:13.960 |
Like, it's so silly, because when I see them, 00:51:19.520 |
you know what happens in ministry all the time? 00:51:22.680 |
that's like kind of younger than you or whatever, 00:51:39.480 |
And you gotta repent to God, because you're like, 00:51:46.200 |
You know, I'm like sitting there, and going like, 00:52:19.740 |
Secondly, and lastly, the church must be of one mind in this. 00:52:43.360 |
and we say, "Of course it's okay to do this." 00:52:47.360 |
And so that as a church, we put a stamp of approval on it, 00:52:50.880 |
saying, "These things are okay, and these things are not." 00:52:53.900 |
So you can buy these types of cars, but not these types. 00:53:00.180 |
but we need to stay sharp in this together being sober. 00:53:03.360 |
So again, the idea is we need to be sober together. 00:53:14.040 |
We need to ask uncomfortable questions towards each other. 00:53:23.800 |
Oh, sorry, not like in the sermon-like style, 00:53:30.400 |
If you see your spiritual sleepy brother or sister, 00:53:38.040 |
but you're like, "Oh, they haven't been coming out 00:53:53.600 |
"Making the most of your time, because the days are evil. 00:53:57.120 |
"but understand what the will of the Lord is, 00:54:04.300 |
"For that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit." 00:54:07.020 |
Not drunk with the Spirit, but be filled with the Spirit. 00:54:27.580 |
"Singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord. 00:54:34.320 |
"Of our Lord, Jesus Christ, the God, even the Father, 00:54:37.080 |
"and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ." 00:54:49.000 |
We've gotta be very careful about these things, 00:54:56.200 |
because the enemy is very clever in these things. 00:55:02.160 |
and our goal takes into consideration all spiritual truths. 00:55:11.040 |
and who I truly am and what I really live for 00:55:17.000 |
These things are all stuff that we need to think through. 00:55:19.800 |
We need to not just go along with the program, 00:55:23.000 |
like new movie comes out, oh, we're supposed to watch it. 00:55:25.760 |
New device, oh, we're supposed to purchase it. 00:55:27.720 |
New car, you know, like, oh, well, yeah, anyway. 00:55:33.760 |
If someone goes on vacation, we all go there. 00:55:40.160 |
Well, I guess I better plan that for two years or whatever. 00:55:43.120 |
None of this is wrong, but we need to stay sober together, 00:55:46.680 |
because those things become very distracting, 00:55:55.400 |
The best way to do this, don't judge one another. 00:56:01.120 |
oh, what the, you spend your money on those things? 00:56:04.600 |
You spiritually insober person, don't do that. 00:56:13.920 |
Can I end this off here in 1 Peter 4, verse seven, 00:56:25.960 |
it's been very clear that even here in our church, 00:56:29.960 |
there's been a lot going on the last few months, 00:56:43.440 |
Let me read it for us, and then let's talk about it first, 00:56:47.280 |
The end of all things is near, chapter four, verse seven. 00:56:49.680 |
1 Peter 4, verse seven, I'm not gonna have it up here, 00:56:56.080 |
Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit 00:57:02.120 |
So a lot of times we pray for soberness, right? 00:57:04.920 |
But here what it says, it flips it upside down, 00:57:06.760 |
and it says you need to be sober in order to pray. 00:57:09.320 |
So we need to be sober, and when we're sober, 00:57:21.840 |
and you know there's been a lot of crazy things happening 00:57:26.200 |
And I hope what happens is soberness is happening. 00:57:36.280 |
And I'm so thankful sometimes when trials hit, 00:57:41.080 |
because it causes us to remember that that's reality, 00:57:45.040 |
and it causes us to spark us out of our sleepiness. 00:57:57.640 |
and we're gonna spend a slightly extended time 00:58:02.600 |
And one of the things, as you might have heard, 00:58:04.900 |
Stanley and Christina Sue, they lost their baby 00:58:09.960 |
that's just a few months old, died very tragically, 00:58:22.120 |
and even personally for me when I heard the news, 00:58:25.400 |
you know, their child was about the age of my youngest, 00:58:31.640 |
And I know that they're really fighting and struggling, 00:58:43.880 |
But I wanna ask us as a church to pray for them. 00:58:47.040 |
Her name was Kaylee, just a few months old, again. 00:58:50.160 |
And pray for Stanley, and pray for Christina. 00:58:57.320 |
there's a lot of different health conditions. 00:58:59.280 |
We have people who are struggling with different things. 00:59:05.760 |
there might be people who have contracted cancer, 00:59:34.240 |
And the fact that right now it's Christmas time, 00:59:42.240 |
And honestly, it causes in a lot of us drunkenness. 00:59:51.920 |
kinda sober up today, and let's look at our lives, 01:00:01.240 |
and praying on behalf of our family in Christ here? 01:00:32.360 |
and things feel like everything's going right, 01:00:41.380 |
Father, we are called to the same call of sobriety. 01:00:48.900 |
if we are not content and satisfied in Christ alone, 01:00:51.540 |
God, we will lose our heads, we will lose our hearts. 01:00:57.360 |
And so God, I pray that for Berean Community Church, 01:01:04.920 |
help us not to be a people who just say it verbally. 01:01:34.100 |
Whether by life or by death, Christ is exalted. 01:01:40.880 |
Help them to believe in the God they've come to know. 01:02:02.280 |
and they would not lean on their own understanding. 01:02:10.580 |
as they lift up to you their petitions and supplications, 01:02:20.100 |
that we too would come alongside families like this. 01:02:25.420 |
And I pray, Father, that we would be sober people 01:02:32.100 |
as well as everything that's going on around. 01:02:42.380 |
in the places that are easy for us to surrender, 01:02:45.320 |
but God, help us to give up our entire lives again. 01:02:52.180 |
but Lord, even today, would you anew that conviction, 01:02:57.420 |
and not just agree with the concept of surrender, 01:03:01.400 |
and bow the knee before our Lord and our King.