back to indexBerean Community Church Wednesday Night Bible Study 2 Peter 1:12-15
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So please go ahead and make your way over to your seats. 00:03:49.360 |
Those of you guys who are in the far back by the cafe, 00:03:53.000 |
please go ahead and at this time make your way over 00:03:57.480 |
And also, good news, we do have a new water dispenser 00:04:06.840 |
You don't have to walk all over the sanctuary. 00:04:09.360 |
And then please use your refillable water bottles, 00:04:15.560 |
So again, let's make our way over to our seats, 00:05:00.640 |
as we start our evening off in our Bible study. 00:05:08.000 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you, God, for your grace. 00:05:11.040 |
And Lord, we want to continue to pray that in our hearts, Lord, 00:05:15.560 |
we would continue to seek your spiritual blessing. 00:05:18.680 |
Above and beyond all the things that we can touch with our hands 00:05:23.840 |
that we would see all the more of the incredible treasure 00:05:27.000 |
that we have in Christ and the blessing of your presence, 00:05:31.000 |
your word, instruction, all the things that guide us 00:05:39.320 |
with the intent of our mind and the striving of our hearts 00:05:46.280 |
would be a blessing, Lord, where we can dive into your word, 00:05:49.520 |
share the things that we find in your scripture, 00:05:52.160 |
but also really discuss and fellowship over how 00:05:58.320 |
And we ask, God, that by prayer, Lord, that the moments 00:06:04.560 |
go above and beyond just an intellectual exercise, 00:06:08.640 |
but that, God, it would truly be a spiritual one. 00:06:13.800 |
we pray, God, that it be something so honoring as we 00:06:18.680 |
And, God, as our voices unite together to lift you up, 00:06:25.040 |
Let's all rise-- actually, we can stay seated. 00:06:27.240 |
If you stay seated, we'll go into time of worship. 00:06:46.280 |
Christ's assuring steady anchor in the fury of the storm, 00:07:15.600 |
In the suffering, in the sorrow, when my sinking hopes are few, 00:07:37.240 |
Christ's assuring steady anchor while the tempest rages on, 00:07:50.520 |
when temptation claims a battle, and it seems a knight has won. 00:08:04.640 |
though I justly stand accused, I will hold fast to the anchor. 00:08:25.800 |
Christ's assuring steady anchor through the floods of unbelief. 00:08:35.400 |
Hopeless thunder, oh, my soul, now lift your eye to Calvary. 00:08:44.920 |
This my ballast of assurance, see his love forever proved. 00:09:02.360 |
Christ's assuring steady anchor as we face the wave of death, 00:09:39.720 |
And the calm will be the better for the storms that we endure. 00:09:49.320 |
Christ, the shore of our salvation, ever faithful, 00:10:36.440 |
You became nothing, poured out to death many times. 00:10:59.520 |
Once again, I look upon the cross where you died. 00:11:09.600 |
Humbled by your mercy, and I'm broken inside. 00:12:01.760 |
And once again, I look upon the cross where you died. 00:12:08.360 |
I'm humbled by your mercy, and I'm broken inside. 00:12:21.640 |
Once again, I look upon the cross where you died. 00:12:28.400 |
I'm humbled by your mercy, and I'm broken inside. 00:12:58.880 |
I just want to highlight a couple announcements for us. 00:13:04.720 |
that we're going to be observing the communion table. 00:13:07.480 |
And so please take some extended time preparing your heart, 00:13:12.920 |
If there's anything to confess, think about our Lord 00:13:16.000 |
and just currently where you're at with the Lord at this time. 00:13:28.520 |
Secondly, for our men's ministry, on the 15th, 00:13:36.480 |
There's going to be a guest speaker, Pastor Paul Pack. 00:13:39.320 |
And we're going to be having a good time fellowshipping 00:13:41.600 |
both learning, praying together, and then we'll 00:13:44.040 |
cap it off with a lunch fellowship with the taco guy. 00:13:47.720 |
So please make sure if you happen to forget or et cetera, 00:13:51.000 |
just go ahead and do it on your phones right away. 00:13:55.640 |
All right, at this time, please go ahead and break off 00:13:57.840 |
into your groups and have a good time of discussion. 01:05:09.120 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your continued grace 01:05:18.360 |
and the word that you give us to speak to us. 01:05:21.680 |
I pray that you would open our thoughts, our mind, 01:05:25.680 |
our own hearts, Lord God, that your word would not simply 01:05:32.960 |
that our emotions, our thoughts, our wills, our lives 01:05:45.000 |
All right, so the people on the other side of the cafe, 01:05:48.240 |
We had some technical issues last time, so can-- 01:05:58.280 |
Last time it didn't turn on, so they had to double check. 01:06:23.160 |
With all the time and effort they put into this? 01:06:35.480 |
All right, so let's look at the text in 2 Peter. 01:06:45.520 |
It says, "Therefore I will always be ready to remind you." 01:06:49.160 |
So I'm pretty sure I don't need to say anything, 01:06:52.480 |
but what is the theme that is repeated here in this text? 01:07:02.360 |
that you are already establishing the truth to which 01:07:10.600 |
Knowing that, laying aside my earthly dwelling, 01:07:13.560 |
Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me to be diligent. 01:07:16.400 |
Any time since departure you will be able to recall, 01:07:24.200 |
says I'm writing this because I'm trying to remind you. 01:07:39.080 |
to do this in repetition over and over again? 01:07:54.640 |
Remember, he mentions it in the first four verses. 01:08:00.800 |
is the diligent pursuit of our sanctification. 01:08:03.640 |
But the beginning part of it here, where he says, 01:08:08.440 |
"Bond-serving to those who have received a faith." 01:08:14.760 |
"By the righteousness of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ." 01:08:19.840 |
So first part of it is justification by grace. 01:08:30.320 |
Second part of it, "Seeing that his divine power has granted 01:08:33.280 |
to us everything pertaining to the life of godliness 01:08:37.920 |
through the true knowledge of him who called us by his-- 01:08:50.880 |
Everything you need for life of godliness, by grace. 01:09:08.560 |
you may become partakers of the divine nature, 01:09:10.840 |
having escaped the question of the--" this referring 01:09:21.320 |
So he is reminding them, do not forget over and over again 01:09:34.560 |
Your sanctification is because God has granted to us. 01:09:48.160 |
that he has given it to us by the grace of God. 01:09:50.760 |
So everything that we pursue is because of the grace of God. 01:09:55.600 |
And this is something that has to be reminded repeatedly 01:09:59.680 |
So what happens when you start to believe that justification 01:10:04.080 |
What negative effects does it have on your life 01:10:46.520 |
You're never either-- you're never good enough 01:11:00.120 |
So it has an opposite effect, one or the other. 01:11:05.000 |
Same thing with justification, sanctification. 01:11:07.880 |
If you're pursuing sanctification by your works 01:11:23.280 |
He says, no, everything has been granted to you. 01:11:31.280 |
So the reason why I'm even able to understand, 01:11:38.440 |
So the foundation upon why we pursue righteousness is grace. 01:11:42.600 |
So when we are pursuing righteousness by grace, 01:12:00.160 |
I'm able to do this because God's been gracious to me. 01:12:04.640 |
that glorification is by grace, even though all these things 01:12:13.360 |
fall into arrogance and pride, legalism or judgmentalism. 01:12:18.840 |
You end up being one or the other if you're not careful. 01:12:22.960 |
And so if you look at the end result, the fruit 01:12:26.720 |
of your labor, and if it results in one or the other, 01:12:45.520 |
to keep reminding you this, because your Christian life, 01:12:47.960 |
justification, sanctification, glorification, 01:12:50.880 |
their default setting is you didn't deserve it. 01:12:55.780 |
So whatever you're pursuing is because by the mercy of God, 01:13:00.640 |
So what ends up happening when you're motivated by this? 01:13:10.640 |
Even the byproduct of what we do ultimately leads to grace. 01:13:14.000 |
So again, this is why Paul says this is so important for us 01:13:20.360 |
That's why he said, I'm going to remind you repeatedly 01:13:24.120 |
And he says, I'm going to do this even though you know 01:13:29.920 |
already, even though you're already established in this. 01:13:40.960 |
And I know if you use another translation besides NASB, 01:13:46.840 |
But in the NASB, they decided to kind of separate it. 01:13:49.360 |
This idea is that I'm going to keep reminding you, 01:13:52.400 |
even if you know them, even though you're doing great 01:13:55.920 |
and you're already established in this truth, 01:14:03.600 |
I'm not saying this to you because I see a great need in 01:14:06.040 |
it, but I'm saying this so that you don't stray from this. 01:14:09.920 |
So whether you are in need or whether you're doing great, 01:14:25.680 |
So you can work hard and then at the end feeling like, 01:14:30.520 |
oh, I did nothing, because you're not measuring up 01:14:43.560 |
He says, I'm not saying this to you because this church 01:14:45.760 |
or these people in particular had a problem with this. 01:14:48.560 |
He says, no, they're actually very well established in this. 01:14:52.320 |
I'm going to keep reminding you because after I leave, 01:14:54.640 |
this is what's going to cause you to continue. 01:14:57.560 |
If you're going to continue in your walk with God 01:15:00.000 |
and bear fruit, you're going to have to remember 01:15:02.080 |
it's justification by grace, sanctification by grace, 01:15:11.000 |
am in the earthly dwelling, to stir up by way of reminder. 01:16:12.200 |
to keep reminding you in order to continue to stimulate you. 01:16:20.360 |
What's the energy behind why you want to pursue sanctification? 01:16:26.360 |
Why you want to practice love and grace and discipline? 01:16:33.240 |
Not for your acceptance, not so that you can be accepted here, 01:16:39.280 |
What's the motivation behind the motivation of grace? 01:16:55.080 |
So if the love of Christ is not what can compel me, 01:17:02.000 |
If the love of God is not at the center of compelling you 01:17:05.920 |
to be righteous, to be holy, to practice love, 01:17:14.480 |
Probably social pressure, guilt, fear, judgment, rejection, 01:17:28.360 |
So if it is not the love of Christ compelling you, 01:17:36.560 |
of what compels you, what's going to end up happening? 01:17:44.520 |
because you're not going to have fuel to continue in your faith. 01:17:47.960 |
That's why he says he's going to remind you continually 01:17:50.400 |
to stir you up, to wake you up, to make you active, 01:17:56.360 |
So that's why when we practice accountability, 01:18:01.720 |
who are already being motivated by the love of Christ. 01:18:06.560 |
Or accountability alone is not going to cause you to be holy. 01:18:10.160 |
Because if the love of Christ is not compelling you 01:18:13.000 |
and you happen to be a group and they're asking you, 01:18:14.800 |
did you do it or did you watch porn or did you do this or not? 01:18:18.480 |
You'll do it for a little bit because you don't want to be ashamed 01:18:20.640 |
when you come, but eventually you'll find another way. 01:18:24.560 |
Covenant ice isn't going to keep you from watching porn. 01:18:32.480 |
So if your motivation is simply the shame of the people that are around you, 01:18:39.800 |
So even accountability is only going to work within the context of people 01:18:43.560 |
who are being stirred up by justification by grace, 01:18:49.480 |
sanctification by grace, glorification by grace. 01:18:52.720 |
And then he said, "Knowing that, that laying aside of my earthly dwelling 01:19:04.200 |
In the beginning, we talked about how when Paul was writing 2 Timothy, 01:19:09.960 |
He says, "I'm being poured out as a drink offering." 01:19:18.240 |
What was the difference between the two letters? 01:19:56.360 |
We call that a pastoral letter because he's writing that letter to Timothy, 01:20:01.360 |
who's his spiritual son, because he's establishing him as a pastor of Church of Ephesus 01:20:10.360 |
So he's writing a very personal letter to the pastor on how to lead his church. 01:20:22.360 |
Not one particular congregation, but just regular people. 01:20:26.360 |
So 2 Timothy, what's the main thing that he says over and over again to 2 Timothy? 01:20:40.360 |
The main theme in 2 Timothy is do you make sure that you will be responsible that the Word of God is being taught, 01:20:46.360 |
whether they obey or disobey, whether it's in season or not season. 01:20:51.360 |
Your job is to keep teaching the Word of God. 01:20:54.360 |
And so as a pastor passing it on to his protege, he wants to make sure that Timothy is going to fight for the truth. 01:21:02.360 |
Now Peter is writing to the congregation, and what's in his mind? 01:21:10.360 |
After I leave, I don't want to see you falling apart. 01:21:13.360 |
So he goes back, and he actually goes back into the content of the gospel. 01:21:26.360 |
And he says he knows he's going, so this is his last thing that he wants to say. 01:21:30.360 |
So we're not there yet, but first chapter is this. 01:21:36.360 |
Is the content of the gospel, and you persevere in this. 01:21:50.360 |
When the false teachers come, and they start teaching strange things, it's because their judgment has been determined long ago. 01:21:59.360 |
You stick to what you already know. You remember this. 01:22:03.360 |
And then chapter 3, and when it gets hard, remember Jesus is coming. 01:22:08.360 |
Even though people are telling you, "Where is he?" 01:22:12.360 |
And so that's how 2 Peter is organized as his last letter. 01:22:20.360 |
Pay attention to false prophets so that you don't stray from what you already know. 01:22:25.360 |
And when things become difficult in walking with God, make sure you persevere because Jesus is coming. 01:22:34.360 |
And it says, "And I will also be diligent that at the time after my departure, you will be able to call these things to mind." 01:22:45.360 |
It's not like, "Okay, now I learned fundamentals one on one. 01:22:48.360 |
Now we're going to get to 201 and the 301 and 401." 01:22:53.360 |
Remember in Church of Ephesus, when they lost their first love, when they were practicing all of these things, 01:22:58.360 |
and because their love group cold, what did he say? 01:23:07.360 |
And then repent. Go back to where you started. 01:23:10.360 |
He doesn't say, "Here's like 15 things. You got one. Now go look for the other 14." 01:23:15.360 |
He says, "No, what you have has been given to you in the beginning." 01:23:20.360 |
Not five years later, not because of many years of training, not because of all these experiences, 01:23:26.360 |
not because of so much education, not because so many books have been read. 01:23:31.360 |
He says, "No, everything that you have has been given to you in the beginning." 01:23:37.360 |
So does that mean that we don't need to study the Bible? 01:23:42.360 |
If everything has been given to you in the beginning, then why do we need to continue? 01:23:47.360 |
Why do we need to dig? Why do we need to study? We already know everything. 01:24:08.360 |
What are your thoughts? Why do we study the Bible? 01:24:27.360 |
That's one of the best ways to remember is to keep studying it. 01:24:44.360 |
That you would understand the love of Christ, but in what manner? 01:24:54.360 |
So basically he says, "I'm praying for you so that you do not just understand the love of Christ, 01:24:59.360 |
but you would understand the depth of the love of Christ." 01:25:02.360 |
That you don't just understand your sins, but you understand the depth of your sin. 01:25:07.360 |
You don't understand just God's sovereignty, the depth of His sovereignty. 01:25:10.360 |
So everything that we're learning about God, we already know. 01:25:20.360 |
Just like you ask a child, "Do you love me?" Of course they love you. 01:25:25.360 |
But as you get older, you understand your parents more, and you understand the sacrifice that they've made. 01:25:33.360 |
No. You still love, but there's a degree of understanding of the sacrifices that people who have poured into you, 01:25:41.360 |
and so you start to deepen your appreciation toward things that you already have. Right? 01:25:47.360 |
That's our spiritual growth, when we understand the depth of what we have. 01:25:50.360 |
So we already have everything that we need. Right? 01:25:53.360 |
Everything we need was given to us the day that we met Christ. 01:25:58.360 |
But for the rest of our lives, we're trying to understand the depth of what we have. 01:26:02.360 |
We understand, "He loved me. He died for me." Right? 01:26:05.360 |
But what did it really take for the Son of God to die? 01:26:08.360 |
What did it take the Son of God to take on human form? 01:26:11.360 |
What did it mean for Him to absorb our sins upon Himself? 01:26:17.360 |
"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that He died for you." Right? 01:26:22.360 |
But what does it mean for the Son of God to die? 01:26:25.360 |
What does it mean for the Son of God to become sin? 01:26:27.360 |
What does it mean for us to become adopted children? 01:26:30.360 |
So there's a depth of understanding in the things that we already know that we are to continue. Right? 01:26:36.360 |
So we're not necessarily learning completely different things. 01:26:40.360 |
In fact, the majority of the time when somebody tells you that they found something new, 01:26:48.360 |
I mean, for 2,000 years we've been studying this, 01:26:51.360 |
and nothing has changed except for the depth of what we understand. Right? 01:26:57.360 |
How do we keep the Gospel message from becoming stale in our lives? 01:27:02.360 |
So this is part of the discussion questions that I'm going to leave with you, 01:27:05.360 |
but I wanted to go over this with you, and I'm sure you can add to this. Right? 01:27:09.360 |
I think if we are to continue to remember not to forget, even for the rest of our lives, 01:27:16.360 |
but to grow in depth of what we have in Christ, we celebrate. 01:27:22.360 |
That's why we come to church, and we celebrate what we have in Christ. 01:27:27.360 |
We don't just come to Christ begging Him because I have a list of things that I want from Him. 01:27:31.360 |
But our main part of worship is to celebrate what He has given us. 01:27:37.360 |
That's what ultimately communion is. Communion isn't simply repenting. Right? 01:27:42.360 |
Confessing our sins and getting right with God is required, 01:27:45.360 |
but the primary meaning of communion is to celebrate. Right? 01:27:50.360 |
Celebrate what God has already given us. That's why corporate worship is so important. 01:27:55.360 |
If we don't take corporate worship significantly, then we end up celebrating kind of in a casual manner. 01:28:03.360 |
Whatever you don't celebrate on a regular basis, you have a tendency to become stale. 01:28:07.360 |
Second, learn from it from other people's perspective. Right? 01:28:11.360 |
Maybe you've been walking for a while. It's like, "I know that." 01:28:15.360 |
I hear people all the time, especially people who have gone through seminaries 01:28:18.360 |
or pastors are guilty of this or leaders are guilty of this. 01:28:21.360 |
"Oh, yeah. I took 2 Peter in seminary, so I know this." Right? 01:28:27.360 |
How many times can you hear the gospel? "Oh, I preached about this so many times. 01:28:31.360 |
I already did this. I did quiet time in this." 01:28:34.360 |
It's already become stale to them. That's what it means. 01:28:37.360 |
Anybody who thinks that they've exhausted the understanding of any book or any topic 01:28:45.360 |
But it's never stale because I can learn the same thing, but I can learn it from your perspective. 01:28:50.360 |
I could tell you what Christ means to me, but what does Christ mean to you? 01:28:54.360 |
How did he save you? Right? What's motivating you? 01:28:57.360 |
So sometimes when I—majority of the times when I hear your testimony, 01:29:02.360 |
even though it's something that I already know, it helps me to see things from your perspective. 01:29:07.360 |
And there's things that I—it reminds me about my testimony and when I hear your testimony, 01:29:12.360 |
but it also gives me a different light. Right? 01:29:15.360 |
Some of you came to Christ because of logic. Right? Some of you. 01:29:20.360 |
Some of you came because you were so touched by the love of Christ. God bless you. 01:29:24.360 |
Some of you came to Christ because you were deep in your sins and you had no way out. 01:29:29.360 |
Some of you came to Christ because you had no hope. Right? 01:29:33.360 |
Every single one of our testimonies, we came to Christ because of different reasons. 01:29:38.360 |
So you came through the same entrance, but the path you took to get to that entrance 01:29:44.360 |
is different from each different person. Right? 01:29:47.360 |
So when we learn it from other people's perspective, right, even though it's the same thing, 01:29:53.360 |
it's kind of like watching a movie and you're seeing it from a child's perspective 01:29:57.360 |
versus a movie critic's perspective versus a first-time watcher's perspective 01:30:02.360 |
versus a fanatic's perspective. They all give you a different perspective. 01:30:05.360 |
And they all notice different things about the movie. Right? 01:30:09.360 |
You hear from one language and from a different language, it's different. Right? 01:30:14.360 |
Three, go deeper into greater understanding what you already know. Right? 01:30:19.360 |
I remember the last time that it really hit me like a ton of bricks is that 01:30:24.360 |
some of you guys remember when Dr. Harris was here and we read that book, 01:30:29.360 |
Darkness and the Glory, and he described how God drew near to his son 01:30:37.360 |
and the world went dark for three hours and how it was God drawing near 01:30:43.360 |
because he was going to punish his son for our sins. 01:30:46.360 |
Most of you guys weren't there for that. But I remember reading that just being blown away. 01:30:51.360 |
I don't know how many times I preached that. I don't know how many times I preached the gospel. 01:30:54.360 |
But when I read that, it was like I was reading that for the first time. 01:30:58.360 |
And just the depth of his love that he would do this. He didn't just passively hand over his son. 01:31:03.360 |
He actually did it himself, brought the punishment to his son by himself. 01:31:08.360 |
He did it by his hands. And he made his case for that, how God would show up 01:31:14.360 |
every time a new covenant is ratified so it would only make sense that God drew near. 01:31:19.360 |
And the reason why it went dark is because if he doesn't come in darkness, people die. 01:31:23.360 |
So he had to come in darkness in order to come draw near to his son and punish his son for our sins. 01:31:34.360 |
Even though it's the same gospel I've been preaching for so many years. 01:31:37.360 |
And so the depth of what it is that we already know is so deep that no matter how long you dig, 01:31:46.360 |
the more you end up appreciating and you realize how shallow of an understanding that we had. 01:31:57.360 |
I believe that we're just scratching the surface and when we get to eternity, 01:32:01.360 |
that the depth of who he is is going to be revealed more and more. 01:32:05.360 |
I think we're going to be doing inductive Bible study in eternity. 01:32:09.360 |
In a different way. We're not going to be scratching, but we're going to be studying God. 01:32:14.360 |
And we're going to be knowing about who he is and the depth of his love. 01:32:17.360 |
There's things to this day I don't understand. 01:32:24.360 |
That's a kind of love that you and I would never think to practice. 01:32:36.360 |
Not only to somebody that may not be good, but is actively going against me. 01:32:44.360 |
So there's a kind of love that you and I don't understand. 01:32:47.360 |
We just sing it, but we don't really deeply understand. 01:32:53.360 |
And I think everything that we know, we're just scratching the surface. 01:32:58.360 |
So going deeper, that's why we study the Word of God. 01:33:01.360 |
If the Word of God starts to come alive to you, it will come alive to you when you begin to see the roots. 01:33:08.360 |
When you begin to see the roots and the depth of what it is that you think you already know, 01:33:14.360 |
And it's different when I tell it to you than when you find it. 01:33:18.360 |
That's why inductive Bible study is so important. 01:33:23.360 |
You can't just study it in your head. You have to apply it. 01:33:26.360 |
There's a huge difference between applying the Word of God than studying the Word of God. 01:33:31.360 |
It's just like when Paul is telling Timothy to persevere, 01:33:35.360 |
hearing as a pastor that all the persecutions and not bearing fruit and people falling out, 01:33:41.360 |
and hearing that as a pastor makes a world of difference in my perspective. 01:33:46.360 |
And so same thing. If you're married, there's a perspective you will have of a married person. 01:33:50.360 |
If you're single, there's a perspective that you will only have. 01:33:53.360 |
There's a perspective that you will have if you have many children. 01:33:57.360 |
There's a perspective that you will have if you don't have children. 01:34:01.360 |
And so there's a huge difference between how the Word of God sounds to you 01:34:12.360 |
And then share it with others. Get in the habit of whatever it is that you've been touched by. 01:34:17.360 |
If something in your Bible study mate says, don't just share it just with your small group. 01:34:21.360 |
Share it with your friends. Get in the habit of fellowshipping and telling other people. 01:34:26.360 |
And the more you share it to other people, the more the things that God has blessed you is going to multiply. 01:34:34.360 |
I guarantee you. One of the biggest benefits for me as a pastor is that I have to teach it. 01:34:39.360 |
And so because I have to teach it, I'm constantly sharing. 01:34:42.360 |
And so the Word of God becomes a lot more, it makes a lot more sense to me as a pastor 01:34:47.360 |
because I have to go deeper in order to share with you. 01:34:50.360 |
And then every time I share with you, and if you get blessed, I get blessed because you get blessed. 01:34:55.360 |
And then finally, get in the habit of teaching it to others. 01:34:59.360 |
Find people who don't know. Don't just hold it to yourself. 01:35:04.360 |
That's a part of being in a community. Find somebody. 01:35:07.360 |
Don't be frustrated that other people don't know. 01:35:09.360 |
If they don't know, that means you're filled with opportunities to teach. 01:35:16.360 |
It's interesting to me how people come to church and say, "Oh, we don't have an opportunity to share. 01:35:24.360 |
You're surrounded by people who have shallow understanding of the Word of God. 01:35:28.360 |
You're surrounded by people who don't know Christ. 01:35:30.360 |
What do you mean there's no opportunity to serve? 01:35:33.360 |
You are surrounded. Even in this room, you are surrounded by people that you can easily sit down and help them. 01:35:42.360 |
You don't have to have a title. You don't have to be part of a group. 01:35:45.360 |
You are surrounded every single day, opportunity to serve. 01:35:49.360 |
So when we are celebrating it, when we are learning it from other people's perspective, 01:35:54.360 |
when you go deeper into the study of the Word of God, when you begin to practice what it says, 01:35:58.360 |
you begin to share it with your friends, and you get in the habit of teaching. 01:36:05.360 |
I think this is a very practical way to make sure that the gospel or salvation doesn't become stale. 01:36:13.360 |
I know that previously we had a movement called the Gospel Center Movement, 01:36:17.360 |
and one of the key themes of the Gospel Center Movement is "Preach the gospel to yourself." 01:36:22.360 |
I have nothing against preaching the gospel to yourself because it's that important, 01:36:27.360 |
but if you're in the habit of preaching gospel to others, you end up preaching it to yourself. 01:36:35.360 |
But if you only preach the gospel to yourself, you're going to miss out on a whole other part. 01:36:40.360 |
So focus on preaching the gospel, teaching other people, and helping others to come along, 01:36:46.360 |
and all of a sudden you'll realize this never gets stale. 01:36:56.360 |
All right, so the discussion question for you today is, 01:36:59.360 |
"How do you make sure repetition doesn't become mindless religious activity?" 01:37:05.360 |
Hopefully you guys can have some other things that you can discuss, like practically. 01:37:10.360 |
And then, "At what point does diligently striving turn into legalism?" 01:37:15.360 |
That's always the struggle that we have, right? 01:37:18.360 |
We want serious discipleship versus compassion and grace, 01:37:23.360 |
but at what point does passionate pursuit become legalism? 01:37:29.360 |
Sometimes we use the term "legalism" to make excuse for not pursuing righteousness. 01:37:35.360 |
And then sometimes we will pursue the other way. 01:37:40.360 |
We're afraid of licentiousness, so we allow legalism. 01:37:48.360 |
The Bible teaches against both, the dangers of both, 01:37:52.360 |
the danger of legalism and the danger of licentiousness. 01:37:54.360 |
So how do we make sure that our passionate pursuit of Christ doesn't turn into legalism or licentiousness? 01:38:01.360 |
And then three, "What practical things can you do to help you individually and collectively as a community not to forget?" 01:38:08.360 |
I mentioned some things that we can do individually, but how do we do it collectively, 01:38:16.360 |
All right, let me pray for us, and then I'll dismiss you. 01:38:19.360 |
There are some guidance I want to give you about the next text, but I'm not going to do it today. 01:38:26.360 |
Just watch for it online. I'm just going to post it up to save time for us here. 01:38:37.360 |
Gracious Father, we pray that your Spirit would lead our discussion, 01:38:42.360 |
and the things that you've given us already help us to know even in a much more deeper way than we know now. 01:38:49.360 |
Help us to not just be hearers, but to be practicers. 01:38:53.360 |
And we pray, Father God, that you would be gracious to us and allow your Spirit to teach us and lead us 01:38:58.360 |
and build us up through our small group. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.