back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 1/16/2022
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We have a few announcements before we get started. 00:19:17.000 |
We have an announcement from our sisters ministry, 00:19:19.000 |
so Grace is going to come up and give the announcement first. 00:19:28.000 |
Starting mid-February, we're going to be starting an intentional 00:19:35.000 |
This is an opportunity for BAM and family ministry sisters. 00:19:48.000 |
And our prayer is that through reading this book, 00:19:52.000 |
we can find true happiness based on growing a heart of humble 00:19:57.000 |
thankfulness and joy provided by the freedom that we have in Christ. 00:20:02.000 |
Because in our Savior, our joy is truly full. 00:20:05.000 |
And this will be a biweekly commitment taking place in person. 00:20:10.000 |
One is on Friday mornings from 9.30 to 11.30. 00:20:14.000 |
And then the second option is for Monday evenings. 00:20:17.000 |
And that time will be determined by each small group. 00:20:21.000 |
And if you could sign up, the deadline is by Sunday, February 6th. 00:20:28.000 |
>> Okay, so as you guys know, our First Peter Bible study is starting this week. 00:20:39.000 |
And so the home groups and the small groups have been set. 00:20:42.000 |
So if you have not gotten an email from the home group leads, 00:20:49.000 |
And then we'll make sure that if you weren't added, 00:20:54.000 |
And so it's starting this Wednesday for the Wednesday group and all the home groups. 00:20:57.000 |
And I think you probably got an email to tell you when that's starting and what time. 00:21:05.000 |
So that gives you enough time to go get lunch and then come back. 00:21:10.000 |
there's quite a few things that we need to cover today. 00:21:15.000 |
and obviously today is unique because there's a lot of people who are going to be online. 00:21:20.000 |
And so usually we don't do the live streaming, 00:21:23.000 |
but today for some of the people who are not able to come, 00:21:26.000 |
but we do have a covenant renewal because this is our first of the year. 00:21:30.000 |
And those of you who are members of the church, we have a covenant renewal signing every year. 00:21:34.000 |
So if you didn't get a chance to do that, please do so. 00:21:38.000 |
If you can't do it today because you're at church, 00:21:40.000 |
and to make sure that you do that earlier part of this week, hopefully today if possible, 00:21:44.000 |
and to fill that out, whatever you got from that sheet, as accurately as possible. 00:21:51.000 |
but just kind of explaining the covenants and where you are with that, with the ten covenants. 00:21:57.000 |
And then that helps us to evaluate what's going on at church 00:22:00.000 |
and how to focus on certain things and strengthening certain things. 00:22:03.000 |
So if you haven't been able to do that, please do so. 00:22:06.000 |
And again, the meeting is going to start 2.30 sharp. 00:22:09.000 |
Spiritual development courses, again, I'm not going to go over that, 00:22:12.000 |
but if you want to, that's going to start in February. 00:22:15.000 |
Also, one last thing is in February 5th, from 1 to 2, there's going to be an evangelism outing. 00:22:23.000 |
So they're doing it once a month, it seems like at the beginning of the month. 00:22:27.000 |
And one's in Brenner Park at the Source Mall, and the other one's at Irvine Spectrum. 00:22:31.000 |
And again, I want to encourage you, if you haven't done this before 00:22:35.000 |
or you're not in the habit of doing that, sharing your faith, 00:22:38.000 |
this is a great opportunity to exercise your muscles, your spiritual muscles of sharing the gospel. 00:22:43.000 |
And so if you're intimidated by going out and talking to strangers, 00:22:48.000 |
I'm sure they'll connect you with other people who are-- 00:22:51.000 |
and you can come there and kind of learn how to do that, 00:22:54.000 |
or at least just be there and listen to the conversation if that's where you are. 00:22:58.000 |
So we encourage you to come and sign up for that if you are available at that time. 00:23:03.000 |
Let me pray for us, and then we'll give you an opportunity to give the offering. 00:23:07.000 |
For those of you who are new to the church, you have a physical offering. 00:23:09.000 |
We have a physical offering box underneath that big clock over there. 00:23:16.000 |
Heavenly Father, we want to praise you and thank you for your goodness in our lives, 00:23:21.000 |
that in the midst of all the stuff that's going on around us, 00:23:27.000 |
that our peace, Lord God, would not simply be based upon just wishful thinking, 00:23:36.000 |
but that our faith may be exercised in the midst of all of these things, Lord God, 00:23:42.000 |
We pray that this morning that whatever it is that we've been entangled with, 00:23:45.000 |
help us, Lord God, to focus our attention on you, 00:23:48.000 |
to praise and worship you in spirit and in truth. 00:23:51.000 |
We pray for the offering that we give to you. 00:23:54.000 |
Help us to give it to you with a cheerful heart. 00:32:23.000 |
If you could turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 13. 00:32:31.000 |
We're going to be looking at verse 15 and 16. 00:32:50.000 |
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, 00:32:55.000 |
that is the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name. 00:33:07.000 |
Heavy Father we pray that you would bless this time, 00:33:11.000 |
and that we would not turn from your word to the left or to the right, 00:33:15.000 |
that we would neither add nor subtract from your word, 00:33:22.000 |
encourage, rebuke, and strengthen the hearts of men and women Lord God who have come to hear, 00:33:27.000 |
asking for your grace in Jesus name we pray, amen. 00:33:35.000 |
and they taught you the Westminster Catechism, 00:33:38.000 |
you'll probably already know that the very first and the most important part of the Catechism, 00:33:44.000 |
begins by this question, what is the chief end of man? 00:33:50.000 |
So this is the first thing that you learn in the Catechism when they ask you, 00:33:56.000 |
What is the most important thing that God desires of us that we should be pursuing? 00:34:00.000 |
And the answer to that question in the Catechism is, 00:34:03.000 |
man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 00:34:11.000 |
but it's the most important thing that we are to pursue. 00:34:15.000 |
Now, basically this is the summary of everything that we're trying to do. 00:34:23.000 |
the Catechism basically summarizes for us what is important. 00:34:32.000 |
Why did Christ suffer? What is the point of eternity? 00:34:37.000 |
Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 00:34:40.000 |
It's to praise him, to magnify him, to worship him. 00:34:50.000 |
where he kind of shares how he was really hung up on this idea of how, 00:34:55.000 |
you know, in every other instance where we are told to humble ourselves, 00:35:00.000 |
Jesus says that he who is the greatest in the kingdom of God is the one who is served, 00:35:05.000 |
If you want to live, you have to learn to die. 00:35:08.000 |
And yet when it comes to God, he says to glorify him, magnify him, 00:35:14.000 |
And so he kind of, he had a difficult time understanding this. 00:35:17.000 |
And this is the reflection that he found on this subject. 00:35:21.000 |
C.S. Lewis says on a reflection on Psalms praising God, it says, 00:35:25.000 |
"The most obvious fact about praise, whether of God or anything, strangely escaped me. 00:35:31.000 |
I thought of it in terms of compliment, approval, or giving of honor. 00:35:36.000 |
I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise. 00:35:42.000 |
The world rings with praise, lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, 00:35:47.000 |
walkers praising the countryside players, praising their favorite game, and etc." 00:35:53.000 |
And so the point that he's trying to make is when we see it from our perspective is like, 00:35:58.000 |
"Oh, God wants to praise. He wants to be honored. He wants to be put on a pedestal." 00:36:02.000 |
But in reality, what God is basically saying, 00:36:06.000 |
"The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever," 00:36:09.000 |
is that our appreciation, our restoration of this relationship 00:36:13.000 |
would lead to an abundance of joy that leads to praise. 00:36:21.000 |
When he says in John 10:10 that, "I have come to give life and to give this life abundantly," 00:36:27.000 |
that life there isn't bios, isn't just eternity, 00:36:30.000 |
because according to Scripture, everyone has eternity. 00:36:34.000 |
Whether you have eternity in heaven, whether you have eternity in hell, 00:36:40.000 |
He didn't come so that we would have eternity. 00:36:43.000 |
He says he came so that we may have zoe, to be alive. 00:36:47.000 |
And again, whenever you think of being alive, you're talking about joy. 00:36:53.000 |
And so Jesus says that he came to give us this joy, this life. 00:36:58.000 |
John 4:23, when Jesus is interacting with the Samaritan woman, 00:37:02.000 |
Jesus summarizes their conversation, and he says, 00:37:05.000 |
"There's going to come a time whether you worship in this mountain or that mountain, 00:37:10.000 |
What he's looking for, what he's searching for, 00:37:13.000 |
are people who will worship him in spirit and in truth. 00:37:20.000 |
The whole point of salvation is because we lost the ability to worship 00:37:26.000 |
The Bible described it as us falling short of God's glory. 00:37:31.000 |
So the whole point of salvation is to restore us so that we may reflect that glory again, 00:37:39.000 |
So discipleship is to make worshipers of God. 00:37:46.000 |
Discipleship isn't simply going out, sharing the gospel, 00:37:48.000 |
and people who didn't go to church to come to church. 00:37:51.000 |
It's not people who didn't read the Bible to read the Bible. 00:37:56.000 |
The whole purpose of salvation is to get people who couldn't worship God 00:38:04.000 |
You can have people who are very diligent, very disciplined, 00:38:08.000 |
very active in pursuing holiness and not be in worship of God. 00:38:20.000 |
And that's the primary thing that he is looking for in us. 00:38:26.000 |
The text that we're looking at this morning in verse 15 and 16, 00:38:29.000 |
there are four things that I want to highlight about true worship that he seeks. 00:38:33.000 |
The first thing is worship is what Jesus came to restore. 00:38:38.000 |
Worship, first and foremost, is what he came to restore. 00:38:42.000 |
When we think of salvation, sometimes we think of salvation as not dying, 00:38:50.000 |
And then so we imagine what heaven would be like, 00:38:53.000 |
but the primary thing that Jesus says is that he came to restore proper worship. 00:38:59.000 |
In 1 Peter 2 verse 9, it says, "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, 00:39:05.000 |
a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, 00:39:08.000 |
so that the reason why Jesus did everything that he did is so that you may proclaim 00:39:15.000 |
the excellencies of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." 00:39:21.000 |
Everything that he's done for us, everything he's given us, 00:39:24.000 |
the reason why we belong to him is to make us worshipers of him again. 00:39:29.000 |
Whole reason why you and I have been created was to bear his image, 00:39:33.000 |
to reflect his glory, to praise and worship him. 00:39:38.000 |
But because of our rebellion, because of our sin, 00:39:43.000 |
So the whole reason why Jesus came, and that's why he says, "Through him give praise." 00:39:48.000 |
That was the whole purpose of the book of Hebrews. 00:39:52.000 |
For 13 chapters we've been talking about the excellencies of Christ, 00:39:56.000 |
supremacy of Christ over everything, and to don't take your eyes off of who Jesus is. 00:40:02.000 |
But the point of that is not simply to save us from judgment. 00:40:06.000 |
The point of it is to restore us into proper worship. 00:40:10.000 |
Isaiah 43 verse 19, it says, "The people whom I formed for myself will declare my praise." 00:40:17.000 |
Over and over again, God says in deliverance of Israel, 00:40:24.000 |
in bondage, they're in anguish and they're crying out to God. 00:40:27.000 |
And God raises up Moses and he sends Moses to Pharaoh, 00:40:32.000 |
and he says this repeatedly over and over again, 00:40:35.000 |
"The reason why I am sending you, the reason why I'm demanding, 00:40:40.000 |
why Yahweh is demanding Pharaoh to let my people go," he says, 00:40:48.000 |
And he repeats that same phrase over and over again through Moses. 00:40:51.000 |
Exodus 7, 16, 8, 1, verse 20, chapter 9, verse 1, 13, chapter 10, verse 3, verse 7, 00:40:58.000 |
chapter 28, verse 41, chapter 29, verse 1, over and over again, 00:41:03.000 |
the same phrase, "Let my people go so that they may worship me." 00:41:10.000 |
He didn't say, "Let my people go because they've suffered enough." 00:41:14.000 |
Because if you remember, once they got delivered and they were in the desert, 00:41:20.000 |
they experienced hunger that they didn't experience in Egypt, 00:41:24.000 |
even though they had a hard life, and they started grumbling and complaining. 00:41:27.000 |
Oh, when we were there, at least we didn't have to worry about that. 00:41:31.000 |
Even though our life was hard, we didn't have to worry about the people trying to kill us, these enemies. 00:41:36.000 |
And when they got thirsty, they said, "Oh, yeah, we never ran out of water over there." 00:41:41.000 |
See, but God never said to them, "Let my people go so that they can drink. 00:41:48.000 |
He said, "Let my people go so that they may worship me." 00:41:52.000 |
So the primary reason why Israel was established and why Israel was delivered and chosen 00:41:59.000 |
was for the same reason why you and I have been chosen, 00:42:05.000 |
In fact, in every scene that we see in the Bible where we see the throne of God, 00:42:10.000 |
what you and I are going to see when we die and are in heaven, 00:42:18.000 |
Isaiah sees the throne of God and says, "Seraphim stood above Him, 00:42:21.000 |
each having six wings, with two He covered their face, 00:42:24.000 |
and with two He covered His feet, and with two He flew. 00:42:28.000 |
And one called out to another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. 00:42:42.000 |
In fact, every scene that we see of heaven, it's a scene of worship. 00:42:47.000 |
"And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders of the four living creatures, 00:42:52.000 |
and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God." 00:43:01.000 |
Because when they were in the presence of God's glory, 00:43:04.000 |
the natural response was they broke out in worship. 00:43:11.000 |
But the second response from fear and terror is to worship God. 00:43:19.000 |
what you and I are not able to do is to worship God. 00:43:23.000 |
But because Jesus took away the barrier and He covered us with His blood, 00:43:28.000 |
now we are able to be in the presence of this God and to see His glory and break out in worship. 00:43:37.000 |
So the whole thing that He says, "Through Him." 00:43:39.000 |
The reason why Jesus did what He did was that through Him we could praise Him. 00:43:45.000 |
Because praise is where we find our life, where we find the greatest joy. 00:43:52.000 |
We end up worshiping whatever brings the greatest joy in our life. 00:43:58.000 |
We look forward to it because that brings true life. 00:44:02.000 |
So the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is what he worships. 00:44:07.000 |
I think some of you know that I'm not a fan of Disneyland. 00:44:10.000 |
I don't know if I made that very clear. Let me make that very clear. 00:44:14.000 |
So I'm not saying objectively that no one can go, that this is a place of sins, purgatory. 00:44:24.000 |
So when I think of Disneyland, I don't have happy thoughts. 00:44:33.000 |
I think of teenagers getting out of line, three-hour lines to ride a 15-second roller coaster. 00:44:42.000 |
And then you have to pay, what, $800 to get in now? 00:44:45.000 |
So when I think of Disneyland, those aren't happy thoughts. 00:44:49.000 |
That's something that you do to please somebody else. 00:44:54.000 |
But I know some of you guys don't feel that way. 00:44:57.000 |
You guys go there, you spend your money, you spend all day hurting yourself in the sun, 00:45:10.000 |
and then you come out and then you calculate, "When can I go again?" 00:45:15.000 |
I don't understand that because it doesn't bring joy. 00:45:22.000 |
But some of you fantasize about, "When's the next time I can go?" 00:45:27.000 |
Because that place brings happiness to you, right? 00:45:30.000 |
And you're willing to sacrifice, whatever it is that you're willing to go there, 00:45:35.000 |
because it's a place that brings Zoe to you to some degree. 00:45:40.000 |
See, the Bible says that true life is found in Christ. 00:45:44.000 |
Jesus says, "I am the way and the truth and the life. 00:45:49.000 |
Through him, we're able to be restored into true life, where we find true joy. 00:45:59.000 |
And when that joy is restored, we have true worship. 00:46:04.000 |
And so that's what he means by he is pursuing people to restore them back 00:46:14.000 |
See, the greatest benefit of our salvation is the new life that he has given us, 00:46:22.000 |
so we're not tripped up in these trivial things. 00:46:29.000 |
That sometimes we forget what it is that we have in Christ. 00:46:32.000 |
And because we forget what it is that we have in Christ, 00:46:35.000 |
we let trivial things become the source of our joy. 00:46:39.000 |
And when that seems to be threatened, we get anxious, and we worry, 00:46:46.000 |
But the whole purpose of our salvation is to open the gate so that we can get to the God 00:46:55.000 |
That's what he means, the whole purpose of all of Hebrews. 00:46:58.000 |
In fact, the whole purpose of the whole Bible is to open the gate and to come in 00:47:09.000 |
So worship is exactly what Jesus came to give us, restore to us. 00:47:15.000 |
Number two, worship is not circumstantial, but it's continual. 00:47:21.000 |
That's what it says in verse 15, "Let us continually offer up sacrifices of praise to God." 00:47:26.000 |
"That is the fruit of lips that give thanks to his name." 00:47:29.000 |
You know, in the Old Testament, God had major sacrifices in the book of Leviticus. 00:47:34.000 |
You had the whole offering, you had the sin offering, peace offering, the guilt offering, 00:47:40.000 |
And so these are all offerings that God commanded the nation of Israel. 00:47:44.000 |
You cannot approach God without the whole offering, the burnt offering, 00:47:52.000 |
Every time they approached God, they were reminded, "You are seasoned to be atoned for." 00:47:56.000 |
And all of this to point to the true atonement that was coming in Christ. 00:48:02.000 |
And then there were offerings that were freewill offerings. 00:48:05.000 |
When things are happening, you're thankful to God and out of free gift. 00:48:10.000 |
It was not mandated, but whenever certain things happened, maybe you had a great harvest 00:48:15.000 |
or God answered prayer for whatever the reason, you would voluntarily give your offering 00:48:24.000 |
So whenever they were overflowing in thankfulness, they would bring that to God voluntarily. 00:48:34.000 |
What was voluntary then, he said, it's commanded. 00:48:37.000 |
In 1 Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18, he says, "Rejoice always." 00:48:46.000 |
Does he not know that sometimes there's suffering in our lives? 00:48:51.000 |
Does he not know that I don't have a job and I don't know where the next paycheck is coming from? 00:48:55.000 |
Does he not know the relational problems that I'm having with my wife or husband or my children? 00:49:11.000 |
Offer up, he says, to pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. 00:49:21.000 |
When things are going well, he says, in everything. 00:49:25.000 |
Now, Apostle Paul is writing this church where people were being beaten for their faith. 00:49:34.000 |
I mean, you remember Apostle Paul? You remember who he is? 00:49:37.000 |
This is a guy who is in Lystra. He gets stoned, dragged out of the city. 00:49:42.000 |
And then the only reason why they didn't kill him is because they thought he already died. 00:49:49.000 |
He gets back up, gets back into Lystra and preaches the gospel. 00:49:53.000 |
People are praying and prophets are telling him, "Don't go to Jerusalem because they're going to capture you there and you're going to be in prison." 00:50:00.000 |
He says, "Not only am I willing to go to prison, I'm willing to die." 00:50:08.000 |
Thessalonica is almost the only city that we know where Apostle Paul hurries up, packs up his bags and he leaves. 00:50:15.000 |
And the reason why he leaves is because persecution was so intense. 00:50:18.000 |
And it wasn't for himself. He was concerned for the Christians who converted there. 00:50:23.000 |
To protect them, he leaves. That's how intense the persecution was here. 00:50:27.000 |
And the whole reason why this letter was written is because he was concerned after he left that they would have destroyed them. 00:50:33.000 |
That's the background behind 1 Thessalonians. 00:50:36.000 |
And it is that letter, within that letter he says to rejoice always. 00:50:42.000 |
To pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks. 00:50:47.000 |
For this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. 00:50:52.000 |
Think about all the things that we wrestle with about God's will. 00:50:55.000 |
Is it God's will for me to marry this guy or this girl? 00:50:59.000 |
Is it God's will for me to go to this school or that school? 00:51:02.000 |
Is it God's will for me to have this business or that business? 00:51:09.000 |
We seek counseling. We read books. We hear sermons. 00:51:15.000 |
He didn't spell out that these people are to be engineers, these people are to be businessmen, these people are to do this. 00:51:25.000 |
Make a wise choice that honors and glorifies God. 00:51:32.000 |
And he makes it crystal clear. What is God's will? 00:51:42.000 |
In Philippians chapter 4, 6 it says be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. 00:51:47.000 |
With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 00:51:50.000 |
This is the go-to text whenever we're anxious. 00:51:53.000 |
Whenever we get stuck, whenever we have problems, it's like be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. 00:52:00.000 |
With thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 00:52:04.000 |
And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. 00:52:08.000 |
So if you've memorized this verse, you probably repeat that, meditate on this constantly. 00:52:13.000 |
But you notice here where thanksgiving is mentioned? 00:52:22.000 |
Because typically we would think thanksgiving happens as a result of answered prayer. 00:52:31.000 |
With everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known to God. 00:52:34.000 |
And when God gives you the peace, make sure you give him thanks. He doesn't say that. 00:52:38.000 |
He says approach him with what? Thanksgiving. 00:52:41.000 |
Thanksgiving is before the prayer is answered. 00:52:44.000 |
So our thanksgiving is not contingent upon answered prayer. 00:52:48.000 |
He says to have the right heart to come before God with thanksgiving in your heart. 00:52:53.000 |
So clearly thanksgiving is not circumstantial. 00:52:57.000 |
Thanksgiving is not dependent upon what's happening around us. 00:53:03.000 |
Luke chapter 10, 17 to 20, when he is sending out the 70 disciples and Jesus says this to them. 00:53:11.000 |
The 70 returned with joy and saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name." 00:53:17.000 |
And he said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 00:53:20.000 |
Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over the power of the enemy, 00:53:29.000 |
Wouldn't you break out into praise if demons were subjected to you? 00:53:35.000 |
If given power, you can go out, get bit by scorpions, they're not going to hurt you. 00:53:42.000 |
But he qualifies that and said, "You're going to see powerful things. 00:53:45.000 |
You're going to have power over these demonic, you're going to cast them out. 00:53:51.000 |
But he qualifies this and said, "Nevertheless," verse 20, "do not rejoice in this, 00:53:57.000 |
that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." 00:54:05.000 |
Despite all of that, rejoicing in everything, praising in everything, 00:54:09.000 |
because our peace, our joy, our praise is not based upon answered prayer in our circumstance. 00:54:39.000 |
Happiness is not wanting what you have, but having what you want. 00:54:45.000 |
See, as Christians, he said, "Our joy and our praise does not change because of circumstance." 00:54:53.000 |
Because the Bible says that everything that we need for a life of godliness 00:54:56.000 |
has been given to us in the knowledge of his son, Jesus Christ. 00:55:00.000 |
So the peace that he gave us, he said, is a peace that the world cannot give you. 00:55:05.000 |
And it's a peace that the world cannot take from you. 00:55:08.000 |
So therefore, our rejoicing, our thanksgiving is based upon our eternal security that we have in him. 00:55:14.000 |
He says, "Don't rejoice because of the temporary things that you see. 00:55:18.000 |
Rejoice that your name is written in heaven in eternity." 00:55:22.000 |
So whether good or bad, when we have faith in God, we always have reason to praise. 00:55:33.000 |
You know, after the sermon, we're going to sing this song, "Blessed Be Your Name." 00:55:38.000 |
You guys probably know this song, but the song goes like this, 00:55:40.000 |
"Blessed be your name in the land that is plentiful. 00:55:43.000 |
When your streams of abundance flow, blessed be your name." 00:55:52.000 |
Even rappers who have vile lyrics, when they come and get their award, they say, "Thank the Lord." 00:56:01.000 |
When people win lottery, even atheists thank God. 00:56:13.000 |
What's uniquely Christian is the second verse. 00:56:16.000 |
"Blessed be your name when I am found in the desert place, though I walk through the wilderness. 00:56:23.000 |
Verse 4, "Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering. 00:56:34.000 |
Sometimes having a lot of things become a hindrance to true joy. 00:56:39.000 |
True joy, we believe and we know that it's found in Christ. 00:56:45.000 |
There's a reason why Jesus said it's hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom. 00:56:50.000 |
It's easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle. 00:56:53.000 |
Because of the distraction, because of the temptation. 00:56:57.000 |
Because we naturally think that if I had that, if my circumstance changed, if my relationship, 00:57:04.000 |
if something changed, if my health was better, it would be so much better. 00:57:09.000 |
And that becomes a distraction to really seeing the true joy that we have in Christ. 00:57:15.000 |
I remember when I was back in college, I had this janitorial job and I would work from 5 to 1.30, 2 in the morning. 00:57:24.000 |
And I remember one day I was coming out and I was driving home near Biola. 00:57:31.000 |
And I was driving home and I ran through a red light. 00:57:35.000 |
And there were three cars on the road, 2 in the morning. 00:57:37.000 |
My car, the car I hit, and the cop behind her. 00:57:42.000 |
And so we're there exchanging phone numbers and all this stuff. 00:57:51.000 |
So they weren't satisfied with whatever settlement that they got. 00:57:56.000 |
And so they started coming after my parents, but they realized that I wasn't 18, I was 19. 00:58:06.000 |
And every few months I would get a letter from the lawyer. 00:58:08.000 |
You know, this is what's going on, this is what's happening. 00:58:10.000 |
And then at the end they sent me a final letter saying that the court demands that you list all your assets. 00:58:25.000 |
And then I remember having this conversation with my roommates, because they were all about 10 to 11 years older than I was. 00:58:32.000 |
Because the only thing I have is the $50 in my bank account. 00:58:35.000 |
And I had this guitar that I was given as a gift. 00:58:51.000 |
And I mailed it, put a stamp on it, and I sent it back. 00:58:55.000 |
And then the next letter that I got basically in summary in modern translation was forget it. 00:59:07.000 |
She probably regretted it for three years of pursuing me. 00:59:10.000 |
I think she was waiting for me to graduate college and make some money. 00:59:17.000 |
I share this story because it was so satisfying to not worry about losing anything. 00:59:25.000 |
In fact, right around that time, I was driving a Hyundai XL. 00:59:29.000 |
It didn't belong to me. It belonged to my parents. 00:59:31.000 |
And I was driving it, and I was coming out of this parking lot. 00:59:33.000 |
And you know one of those light poles in the parking lot? 00:59:39.000 |
So if you're too close to it, you don't see the cement block. 00:59:42.000 |
So I was there, and I was driving out of the parking lot, and I didn't even see it. 00:59:46.000 |
So I was revving to get out, and I smashed my car into that. 00:59:50.000 |
And it wasn't a slight dent. It was in the middle of the car, and I hit it hard. 00:59:57.000 |
I came out, and the car was dented in, and I couldn't even drive it 01:00:00.000 |
because the whole frame got bent in the middle. 01:00:03.000 |
So I had to call the tow truck, took it to the garage, and they said, "Man, what did you do?" 01:00:14.000 |
Like by yourself? Yeah, by myself, I hit the pole. 01:00:17.000 |
So basically they said, "In order to fix this, we need to get a machine 01:00:20.000 |
and pull the body back out and get it in the frame." 01:00:23.000 |
This is Hyundai Accel, brand new. It was probably like $4,500. 01:00:27.000 |
And they were saying it's going to cost $2,000, $3,000 to fix all this. 01:00:32.000 |
And I remember coming home from that, my roommates picking me up, 01:00:36.000 |
thinking like, "Man, now I really have nothing." 01:00:39.000 |
Right? "What am I going to do? How am I going to get by? I don't have a car." 01:00:44.000 |
And so that was my first thought of anxiousness, of what am I going to do. 01:00:48.000 |
And then, weirdly, there was a sense of peace. 01:01:00.000 |
And for some reason, initially it brought anxiousness, but I was happy. 01:01:05.000 |
People would think I'm crazy that I'm thinking that, 01:01:08.000 |
but I just remember, and even I couldn't understand it. 01:01:13.000 |
Because I had nothing. I mean, the thought of having nothing was very freeing. 01:01:20.000 |
I share this story because I remember at that time thinking 01:01:24.000 |
that all the pursuits that we give so much attention to 01:01:34.000 |
And we pursue it because we think that that's going to make us happy. 01:01:38.000 |
That if we have that, a bigger house, a nicer car, a better job, better retirement, 01:01:42.000 |
and we pursue that because we think that if we had that, if we visited this, 01:01:46.000 |
if we ate that, that that's going to cause happiness. 01:01:48.000 |
But the very thing that we think is going to cause happiness 01:01:56.000 |
And so I remember at that moment just having nothing, just being free. 01:02:01.000 |
And I could literally come before God and say, "Here am I. Send me." 01:02:05.000 |
I could have an earthquake hit and have the house burn down, 01:02:08.000 |
and all I have to do is pick up my sleeping bag and go somewhere else. 01:02:15.000 |
See, our joy and our praise is not based on circumstance. 01:02:18.000 |
It's not based on friendship. It's not based upon community or health, 01:02:24.000 |
but what we have that the world cannot take away. 01:02:28.000 |
Thirdly, worship involves more than what we do on Sunday. 01:02:33.000 |
In Hebrews 13, verse 16, it says, "Do not neglect doing good and sharing." 01:02:38.000 |
So worship is more than just singing. Worship is more than just putting in our time. 01:02:42.000 |
But our actual act itself is an act of worship. 01:02:45.000 |
The word "litruo" in our Bibles are translated oftentimes as "worship." 01:02:50.000 |
There's three prominent words in the Greek that's translated "worship." 01:02:54.000 |
The first word is "proskeneo." "Proskeneo" is to be prostrated before God, 01:03:01.000 |
So most of the time you see the word "worship" in the New Testament, 01:03:06.000 |
The second word is "sabomai." "Sabomai" means a sense of reverence and respect. 01:03:13.000 |
The third word is "litruo." "Litruo" oftentimes in your Bible is translated "serve." 01:03:19.000 |
And sometimes in your translation it'll be translated as "worship," 01:03:25.000 |
"Litruo" means the actual physical act of carrying out something as an act of worship. 01:03:31.000 |
So sometimes that word is described when priests are in the temple, 01:03:36.000 |
at least in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, 01:03:39.000 |
where they are performing these acts as an act of worship. 01:03:43.000 |
Sometimes in the New Testament it's translated as an act of giving, serving, living in obedience. 01:03:50.000 |
In Romans 12, verse 1, it says, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, 01:03:54.000 |
to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, 01:04:05.000 |
So worship is not simply just what we do here, singing, listening, attending. 01:04:19.000 |
I think the struggle that we get into is when we are doing things simply out of obligation, 01:04:27.000 |
Jesus and God becomes a taskmaster because we want to be serious Christians. 01:04:44.000 |
But you ever notice that the people who are the most bitter and angry after a while 01:04:51.000 |
are the people at one point who used to serve the most? 01:05:03.000 |
And at the end of that, it turns into bitterness. 01:05:09.000 |
And they don't -- they didn't get the praise or whatever it was that they were looking for. 01:05:15.000 |
So the people who served the most, gave the most, end up becoming the most antagonistic 01:05:30.000 |
And so when we do things out of worship, it produces greater joy. 01:05:42.000 |
If I go to Disneyland, right, because somebody made me, that's torture. 01:05:51.000 |
Standing in the sun, my knees swelling up, surrounded by kids cursing. 01:06:02.000 |
And at the end of that, I don't come out singing and dancing. 01:06:18.000 |
That's when somebody is trying so hard to appease a taskmaster and realizing that you can't ever really appease him. 01:06:27.000 |
And so you're constantly living and serving out of guilt, out of accountability, in order to belong. 01:06:44.000 |
And that's exactly what was happening with Mary. 01:06:46.000 |
It wasn't that she was serving, but the serving led to grumbling. 01:06:53.000 |
Marys are the ones who keep the church going. 01:06:55.000 |
Marys are the ones who are staying late and show up early to clean up the church. 01:06:58.000 |
But the problem with Mary wasn't that she was serving, but that her serving led to the grumbling. 01:07:11.000 |
You guys are all staring at me like, "Were you in the same Bible?" 01:07:18.000 |
Even in our worship, even in our service, God wants us to do it out of act of worship. 01:07:27.000 |
You notice when new Christians come in and they're just happy to be here? 01:07:37.000 |
And at the end of all their service, they ask, "Oh, anything else that you need?" 01:07:44.000 |
Versus people who have been weighed down by sacrifice. 01:07:47.000 |
They've been working so hard, sacrificing so much more than anybody else. 01:08:03.000 |
The call for Christians is to make other worshipers. 01:08:08.000 |
Not people who are more disciplined, not people who simply read the Bible more, more organized, 01:08:12.000 |
and work harder, and sacrifice more, and love people that you can't love, 01:08:18.000 |
No, what he is pursuing are other worshipers. 01:08:24.000 |
In Psalm 23, verse 5, it says, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. 01:08:34.000 |
You ever put too much coffee or whatever in your cup, you know what I mean, 01:08:40.000 |
and it's too hot and you can't drink it, so you got to move it from wherever it is to another place? 01:08:49.000 |
And if somebody else has that, you don't want to be near them because you know you're going to get splashed. 01:08:53.000 |
So you kind of walk gingerly, try to keep it in the cup, but it always ends up overflowing, right? 01:09:07.000 |
You know the best way to evangelize is to have our cup overflow, to have our cup overflow. 01:09:15.000 |
Who would want to hear the gospel from somebody who's like, "Hey, you could be a Christian too, 01:09:22.000 |
so you can come to church and sacrifice and get up early in the morning and serve people you don't want to serve. 01:09:29.000 |
Love people that you hate, but then come to church and love them anyway." 01:09:44.000 |
He said, "We've fallen short of the glory of the gospel of Jesus, glory of God." 01:09:49.000 |
And then he says that, "The God of the saints has blinded the mind of the unbelievers 01:09:53.000 |
so that they do not see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ." 01:09:57.000 |
So the whole point of the preaching of the gospel is that through what Christ has done, 01:10:01.000 |
through the preaching, through the sharing of the gospel, that their eyes may see what? 01:10:12.000 |
So that they can be cleansed of their sin, so that what? 01:10:16.000 |
They can see the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ, so they can see his glory. 01:10:21.000 |
So if all the gospel is, is God's going to get rid of your sin. 01:10:29.000 |
Yeah, we're not going to go to hell, but that's not the point of salvation. 01:10:36.000 |
That you too may be able to see the glory of who he is. 01:10:42.000 |
And so the best way to make disciples of other people worshiping is to have our cup overflow. 01:10:49.000 |
When our cup overflows, other people will catch that. 01:10:55.000 |
Evangelism has to come as an overflowing of our heart of who God is. 01:11:01.000 |
That this is not something that we do because you're supposed to do it. 01:11:06.000 |
Like miserable people trying to make other miserable people. 01:11:11.000 |
No. He said he came to give life and to give this life abundantly. 01:11:17.000 |
The joy that he gave me, the worship, praise, peace that he gave me, that you also can have. 01:11:29.000 |
In our generation, I've been hearing through the grapevine, through articles and different people saying that 01:11:35.000 |
in order to bring more people to church and ease whatever guilt and shame that people may have, 01:11:41.000 |
I've been hearing, it's like there's no way you can please God. 01:11:51.000 |
So you don't need to feel guilty because God loves you just the way you are. 01:11:56.000 |
But the problem with that is that may apply in justification, but when it comes to sanctification, 01:12:01.000 |
the scripture is very clear. God can be pleased and frustrated with us. 01:12:05.000 |
Have you not read about the letters that is written in the book of Revelation? 01:12:11.000 |
It's filled with things that God is pleased with, things that God is not pleased with. 01:12:17.000 |
So yes, we can displease God, grieve the Holy Spirit, and we can also please God. 01:12:23.000 |
Here it says our worship, a life of worship, pleases God. 01:12:30.000 |
In Hebrews 12, verse 2, it says, "Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, 01:12:35.000 |
who for the joy set before Him endured the cross." 01:12:41.000 |
What joy was worth His sacrifice and His suffering? 01:12:50.000 |
Even though in every way He was equal with God, considering equality with God something not to be grasped, 01:13:00.000 |
What is it that He had after the cross that He didn't have before the cross, 01:13:12.000 |
Our worship was the joy that He was pursuing. 01:13:18.000 |
Our worship, our joy, our life is what He was pursuing. 01:13:21.000 |
That's why it says, "He endured the cross, despising the shame, 01:13:25.000 |
and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." 01:13:29.000 |
He sacrificed Himself in order to pursue His joy, 01:13:39.000 |
"Dear brothers and sisters, be sure that you do not lose your joy. 01:13:44.000 |
If you ever lose the joy of religion, you will lose the power of religion." 01:13:50.000 |
"If you ever lose the joy of religion, you will lose the power of religion. 01:13:54.000 |
Do not be satisfied to be a miserable believer. 01:14:00.000 |
but he who is resigned to being so is in dangerous condition. 01:14:06.000 |
Greater importance attaches to holy happiness than most people think. 01:14:10.000 |
As you are happy in the Lord, you will be able to praise His name. 01:14:14.000 |
Rejoice in the Lord, that you may praise Him." 01:14:18.000 |
You notice here rejoicing and praise are intertwined? 01:14:23.000 |
When we are rejoicing, when we recognize what it is that we have in Christ, 01:14:31.000 |
"But now I have come to you, and these things I speak in the world, 01:14:34.000 |
so that they may have My joy made full in themselves." 01:14:41.000 |
He wanted us to have the joy that He has because of where He is. 01:14:45.000 |
He wanted us to bring us to Him so that we may experience that joy. 01:14:51.000 |
"For as young man marries a virgin, so your sons will marry you. 01:14:56.000 |
And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so your God will rejoice over you." 01:15:06.000 |
So many people live their lives thinking He's a taskmaster, 01:15:08.000 |
watching to see if we're going to do the right thing. 01:15:11.000 |
And yet the way that He describes our relationship is He rejoices over us. 01:15:19.000 |
He pursued the cross and the shame, ultimately to pursue joy, 01:15:26.000 |
to see us come and rejoicing and experience this life that He wants us to have. 01:15:34.000 |
the primary thing that He rejoices over is our praise, our worship. 01:15:42.000 |
If you've ever loved something so much that their happiness brings the greatest joy to you, 01:15:51.000 |
If you're a parent and you raise children, you know what we're talking about. 01:15:57.000 |
If you love your wife or your husband, just seeing them happy makes you happy. 01:16:03.000 |
Parents, or maybe your friends, maybe a co-worker, 01:16:07.000 |
or maybe you're leading Bible study and you've committed yourself to certain people, 01:16:10.000 |
just seeing the joy that you brought to them gives you the greatest joy. 01:16:20.000 |
I started with Disneyland, so let me end with Disneyland. 01:16:29.000 |
But I do have one very fond memory of Disneyland. 01:16:42.000 |
And so Nathan was--I forget how old he was, but he was enough where he could run, 01:16:49.000 |
But I remember we all decided to go to Disneyland. 01:17:02.000 |
And so if you remember--if you know where Disneyland is, if you go into the gate, 01:17:06.000 |
there's that outer part before you go to the tunnel where you suffer afterwards, 01:17:14.000 |
But before the suffering happens, there's that one little place where they have the flowers, 01:17:19.000 |
you take the pictures, and they have a shop there. 01:17:21.000 |
So we all got there, and we're all waiting for people to come. 01:17:24.000 |
And then so we get into that place, and we're all standing on the side, 01:17:28.000 |
and I'm gearing up for a long day of suffering. 01:17:36.000 |
He pops out of his chair, and he just started running back and forth, 01:17:43.000 |
just happy to be in Disneyland because he realized where he was, 01:17:47.000 |
and once he realized that, he just like, "Ahh!" 01:17:52.000 |
And literally, I mean, he was just back and forth. 01:17:55.000 |
I can't imagine another human being being that happy about anything, right? 01:18:00.000 |
More happy than if your favorite team won the championship. 01:18:03.000 |
I mean, at that age, I mean, he was just, "Yeah!" 01:18:09.000 |
And I remember all of us just kind of like gearing up for this long day. 01:18:30.000 |
Endorphins kicked in, and it wasn't because I was looking forward to what was in there. 01:18:35.000 |
It was seeing that just pure joy from that child at that age. 01:18:41.000 |
All of a sudden, without a single word being spoken, I was worth that day. 01:18:47.000 |
I share that with you because that's how the Bible describes our salvation. 01:18:54.000 |
That we've tasted the goodness of God, and we're eagerly waiting to get into that gate. 01:19:02.000 |
That once we get in, that any bit of joy and happiness and praise and thanksgiving 01:19:09.000 |
that we may have experienced here, the Bible says we've only experienced it in part. 01:19:17.000 |
We kind of imagine, but when Christ comes in his glory, we will be glorified with him, 01:19:25.000 |
and we will be in eternity celebrating and praising forever. 01:19:44.000 |
So as we focus this year in saying hope and pray, that prayer does not become another 01:19:49.000 |
task, another discipline, but it was an avenue for us to express our thanksgiving to him, 01:19:56.000 |
to commune with the only being that can give us that peace and joy. 01:20:03.000 |
And all the distractions of our lives, that we would learn to see it as it really is, temporary, 01:20:11.000 |
to focus our eyes upon Christ, author and perfecter of our faith. 01:20:33.000 |
I pray that our testimony would be the same, that our cups truly would overflow, that you 01:20:41.000 |
would sanctify us, that we would learn more and more each week what it means to be worshipers 01:20:49.000 |
Help us, Lord God, to know this joy, that it may overflow in thanksgiving and praise. 01:21:01.000 |
Why don't we all stand up for the closing praise. 01:21:54.000 |
Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. 01:22:02.000 |
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say. 01:22:58.000 |
Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. 01:23:05.000 |
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say. 01:23:37.000 |
My heart will choose to say, blessed be your name. 01:23:48.000 |
Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. 01:23:56.000 |
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say. 01:24:43.000 |
My heart will choose to say, blessed be your name. 01:25:06.000 |
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my 01:25:12.000 |
For behold, those who are far from you will perish. 01:25:15.000 |
You have destroyed all those who are unfaithful to you, but ask 01:25:21.000 |
I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all 01:25:27.000 |
Lord, we pray that this would be our confession this week. 01:25:31.000 |
That you would be our refuge, you would be our comfort, you 01:25:34.000 |
would be our joy, and that we would worship you, spirit and 01:25:37.000 |
in truth, whether here or wherever it is that we send 01:25:43.000 |
That truly, Father God, whether we eat or drink, that it may be 01:27:05.000 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.