back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service - 1/11/2026
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Thank you, church family, and happy Lord's Day. 00:08:02.380 |
We're going to go ahead and start our service this morning with praise. 00:12:31.260 |
And would like to join the church membership. 00:13:23.260 |
So please make sure you mark that on your calendar. 00:13:34.260 |
But importantly at the beginning of each year. 00:13:37.260 |
We do have a renewal of our membership commitments. 00:16:43.940 |
How wonderful the Father's love, the Father's love for us. 00:16:51.940 |
He would send His only Son to come and rescue us. 00:16:57.460 |
He has saved us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:17:45.660 |
How wonderful the Father's love, the Father's love for us. 00:17:53.640 |
And He would send His only Son to come and rescue us. 00:17:59.500 |
And He has saved us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:18:08.480 |
And He would send us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:18:09.480 |
And He would send us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:18:09.480 |
And He would send us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:18:10.480 |
And He would send us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:18:13.480 |
Sufferings may fill our lives, we're confident, we're heirs of cries, so we cry of a father. 00:18:31.480 |
Sufferings may fill our lives, we're confident, we're heirs of 00:18:45.460 |
How wonderful the father's love, the father's love for us. 00:18:59.460 |
How wonderful the father's love, the father's love for us. 00:19:08.460 |
He would send his only son to come and rescue us. 00:19:14.460 |
He has saved us, called us blameless, guides us now and will sustain us. 00:26:07.460 |
And I to her church's Saturday night youth group. 00:26:10.460 |
When I was old enough I entered the youth group. 00:26:12.460 |
And during the span of time is where I first heard the gospel. 00:26:19.460 |
I had a behavior where I claimed to be a believing Christian. 00:26:21.460 |
Because I had the same morals and values as one. 00:26:26.460 |
But deep down I didn't have a relationship with Christ. 00:26:28.460 |
I had the mindset that I would work on my relationship with God later. 00:26:40.460 |
And never really felt the urge to learn more about God. 00:26:55.460 |
I was embarrassed of the little knowledge I had of God. 00:27:04.460 |
As I learned what it meant to read the Bible. 00:27:10.460 |
I struggled with seeking worth from things other than God. 00:28:27.460 |
For by grace you have been saved through faith. 00:28:55.460 |
Know him more through the reading of the word. 00:29:12.460 |
To declare the works that he has done in my life. 00:30:11.760 |
Let's go ahead and go before the Lord to pray. 00:30:17.320 |
Lord, we thank you for the gift of salvation, to know you, and to be known by you. 00:30:30.140 |
I thank you, God, for the ministry of your word. 00:30:33.980 |
We take a moment to pray, as we have our team out in Korea, that, God, you would use them mightily, that you would cause them to be filled with your grace, your courage, and the boldness that comes from your truth. 00:30:48.540 |
And, God, that ultimately, as you are glorified by having sinners have their eyes opened, ears opened, to hear your truth and to be redeemed, we pray that you would do your work. 00:31:02.060 |
And, Lord God, next week, as even the India team goes and the team prepares, we pray, Father God, the success of ministry will be truly based upon the power that is contained in your gospel. 00:31:19.100 |
And, taking a look at a familiar exhortation to keep our minds saturated and full of the word of God. 00:31:41.700 |
As Pastor Peter gave a challenge to us last week to make the most of every opportunity, we want to hear just the exhortation to make sure that that drive to maximize the productivity and to maximize the opportunities in our lives is driven by the word. 00:31:57.840 |
So, we take a look here, Psalm 1, and it says, 00:32:01.180 |
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but is delighted in the law of the Lord. 00:32:14.480 |
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. 00:32:25.240 |
As we take a look at this psalm and the beginning portion of it, I want us to have us think about the concept of being influenced, influences in our lives. 00:32:38.660 |
And, I would say, right now, technology is a blessing because it can be used for good, or it can be used for evil. 00:32:47.900 |
In some sense, the voice of the world is so loud, and it's been magnified, broadcast, through technology. 00:32:57.260 |
And, what I would say, right now, is probably maybe even more than any other generation. 00:33:01.460 |
I mean, Satan is the prince of the power of the air, and he is the ruler of this age in this dark, dark, sin-covered world. 00:33:11.660 |
But, right now, in some sense, he could be right in our pockets. 00:33:16.560 |
We could be carrying around just the thoughts and ideologies, the tenor of the dark generation. 00:33:26.420 |
And, I think you guys could probably just relate to this, because don't you ever feel this frustration where you just want to turn it all off? 00:33:36.380 |
And, when you think about it, some of it, we could tell right away, it's just like, gosh, it's so filled with hatred. 00:33:42.460 |
It's so filled with conflict, animosity, and what more. 00:33:46.600 |
But, the dangerous parts of it, actually, are the parts that continue to elicit our desires. 00:33:52.560 |
And, when you think of it, even just commercials. 00:33:55.320 |
I mean, the marketing, it's just trying to get you to buy its product. 00:34:03.200 |
Sometimes, it's telling us how we should live our lives. 00:34:07.000 |
Even car manufacturers will tell us, you got to love what you drive. 00:34:14.160 |
And, then, they'll have these, you know, cliches of, you only have one life to live. 00:34:19.780 |
And, the funny thing about it is, we laugh, and we can just kind of chuckle. 00:34:25.980 |
But, then, this generation, it lives like that. 00:34:33.060 |
People will live on, I have to be happy, and I got to express myself. 00:34:36.660 |
And, then, you realize people constantly buy into the small, subtle messaging, 00:34:44.540 |
And, so, the question to you today is, where are your influences coming from, and are you aware? 00:34:51.020 |
Because, when it comes to the ideology of how you should live your life, 00:34:55.760 |
how to be happy, how to feel blessed, how to even be righteous, 00:35:01.560 |
we don't want to take cues and marching orders from the world. 00:35:12.220 |
And, we have to, then, make sure that the scriptures are influencing everything about how we are directing our thoughts, 00:35:19.000 |
emotions, feelings, and, ultimately, our action. 00:35:23.900 |
And, the way that this first psalm starts off, you would think, to tell us, you know, how to be blessed. 00:35:33.340 |
And, all the beautiful poetry of blessings, and blessings, and blessings, 00:35:36.540 |
that maybe would have some other kind of lofty thing, 00:35:40.360 |
but, it's giving to us this very, very necessary challenge. 00:35:43.860 |
To live a blessed life, you need to be in the word. 00:35:47.980 |
I want to begin with the challenge here, that we have to carefully guard our lives. 00:35:58.980 |
how blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, 00:36:03.800 |
nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers. 00:36:10.220 |
Again, instinctually, you would think that if we're talking about somebody who's blessed, 00:36:14.320 |
I mean, think about the last time you said, oh, you're so blessed. 00:36:24.540 |
Gosh, you're so blessed with, whether it be good family, 00:36:31.480 |
It's all based on the things you already have. 00:36:35.100 |
But, here he begins by saying, blessed are those who can actually identify 00:36:41.640 |
So, then, the first observation is, he recognizes that there are wicked individuals, sinners, 00:36:48.100 |
and then there are straight scoffers who mock God. 00:36:52.960 |
And the crazy thing is, in our generation, it's hard to tell. 00:37:01.360 |
Because everybody presents themselves as ministers of light, experts in their field, 00:37:08.500 |
people who are on your side, and it's just so hard to tell. 00:37:13.720 |
We have to be individuals who are so shrewd and discerning that the voices of the world aren't just all taken in, 00:37:23.520 |
And I've got to be honest with you, even for myself, 00:37:27.400 |
you know, I used to take long drives, and I like listening to podcasts. 00:37:33.940 |
I listen to podcasts about politics, I listen to podcasts about faith, about finances, 00:37:39.760 |
because I want to be informed, just like all of us. 00:37:43.380 |
But there was a time when I would be listening to this figure regularly, 00:37:52.920 |
I was, like, angry at the world, and I'm angry at the people who are on the, 00:37:57.600 |
you know, this side of this view, and that side of that view. 00:38:00.640 |
And I'm sitting there like, what's wrong with these people? 00:38:06.660 |
The other part of it is, I started thinking, wait a minute. 00:38:13.420 |
Does this person recognize Christ as the Messiah, the coming King, 00:38:19.420 |
as the Lord of our lives, and actually the solution to a lot of this stuff 00:38:26.480 |
This person doesn't even recognize the Bible as the authority in their lives. 00:38:30.500 |
Why am I making this person the voice that is painting for me my worldview? 00:38:35.880 |
You know, if you listen to somebody long enough, this is what you do. 00:38:42.880 |
You know, lately there's been, like, uproars about ice, 00:38:46.820 |
and uproars about Venezuela, and uproars about everything. 00:38:50.180 |
If you listen to an individual long enough, all of a sudden you think, 00:38:56.380 |
Every time something happened, it's like, I wonder what he thinks. 00:38:59.660 |
But for us, it should be, I wonder what God thinks. 00:39:07.760 |
But because it's so easy and so commonplace to hear the opinions of man, 00:39:13.760 |
And my warning to you is, does that influence you? 00:39:20.340 |
Even if you think, like, I'm mature enough to handle all this, etc., it always does. 00:39:25.080 |
Now, I'm not saying get rid of all your podcasts. 00:39:28.700 |
Because there are even earthly wisdom to be gleaned. 00:39:32.820 |
Even from secular things, there are wisdom nuggets that you can gain. 00:39:36.800 |
But the main question is, can you identify the influences and the influencers? 00:39:44.660 |
There is always a progression of how you are manipulated, 00:39:51.520 |
Here, you actually see a progression of moral drift 00:39:55.880 |
that is moving from being counseled and thinking to walking and doing, 00:40:00.160 |
and then ultimately sitting with them and being identified with them. 00:40:05.340 |
Wisely, he says, there is, if we're not listening with discernment, 00:40:11.040 |
there is a path they're typically taking you. 00:40:15.580 |
The dark side, evil people, wicked individuals, 00:40:20.540 |
no matter what they are in terms of their expertise, 00:40:32.140 |
This is the influence that constantly happens. 00:40:35.200 |
Are we so foolish to think that's not the heart of our enemy? 00:40:40.000 |
Are we so foolish to think that, oh, no, everybody's good. 00:40:47.480 |
But what's more, are we so foolish to think that, 00:40:51.880 |
I'm so strong, I'll never, I'll never be taken advantage of. 00:40:59.700 |
Even some of the best of us, we can confess that there are things 00:41:05.900 |
You know, just not too long ago, I preached a sermon on Psalm 19, 00:41:12.480 |
because right now I'm personally walking through the Psalms, 00:41:18.760 |
the danger of the content of our inner voice and our mind. 00:41:26.240 |
may the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 00:41:31.220 |
And I preached that first and foremost because I was shocked 00:41:34.360 |
of the stuff that was contained in my imagination. 00:41:39.400 |
And I just took the opportunity to openly confess to you how shocking it was to myself 00:41:44.140 |
that I would have visions of vandalism, other people's property. 00:41:48.740 |
But I also preached that because my heart's full of concern, 00:41:52.600 |
specifically for the next generation, specifically for the young. 00:41:58.980 |
And I look at our young children, young men and women, and I'm super concerned. 00:42:05.320 |
I'm concerned that something like right now, survey says something like 35% 00:42:12.840 |
of students under the age of 18 believe socialism is a viable solution. 00:42:23.880 |
The young people are inundated with different kinds of influences. 00:42:33.080 |
I'm mega concerned that they would think that their moral boundaries could be so loose. 00:42:46.120 |
And most of all, I'm concerned who is giving them dating advice. 00:42:53.800 |
What I'm actually most concerned about is they're so influenced 00:43:00.280 |
and they're so filled with entertainment that young people think 00:43:07.640 |
If you actually think about it, they're so pumped with, this is so cool. 00:43:18.600 |
They're so impressionable that they can be so duped to think, oh, this musician, 00:43:28.280 |
Like given to fornification, given to all kind of crudeness and this is your image of the model they want to be like? 00:43:34.200 |
My concern is the world is teaching them what's delightful. 00:43:41.000 |
And my concern is they'll come into the room and when the word of God is preached, the voice of my Lord Jesus, the voice of our Lord and shepherd is boring to them. 00:43:57.640 |
You know, a long time ago, this is maybe like 16, 17 years ago. 00:44:02.120 |
There was a really cool conference called Resolved put on by Grace Community Church. 00:44:10.680 |
Unfortunately, it was in Palm Desert, 110 degree weather. 00:44:21.000 |
And one of the main sessions, Pastor John MacArthur was preaching. 00:44:24.440 |
And his sermon was entitled How to Fight Sin. 00:44:28.360 |
And everyone was just like, yeah, he's going to give it to us. 00:44:36.280 |
He opened up a Bible and he just started going through, this is the qualifications of an elder. 00:44:47.880 |
He just kept going and we were just like, you know, I could see people just like fading. 00:44:52.920 |
I thought he was going to teach us how to fight sin. 00:44:55.320 |
And then he spent 55 minutes doing that and he left like two minutes for his punchline. 00:45:01.240 |
And he said, all of you, fine leaders like this, go to their church and stay there. 00:45:11.640 |
And then there was like 20 of us from Berean who were there and we were like, what was that? 00:45:22.440 |
And then the more I thought about it over the years, it stuck with me. 00:45:27.720 |
I always saw Pastor John MacArthur as a local church pastor. 00:45:44.760 |
He knows and the Bible knows and God has been telling us we're like sheep. 00:45:59.240 |
We've got experts and influencers all around us. 00:46:03.160 |
We've got people who are self-established, you know, professionals. 00:46:07.400 |
We don't know what they do outside of the camera, but we just follow. 00:46:14.520 |
And then if we get scared, we're like, and then we just go and do other silly things. 00:46:22.920 |
And so is it important for us to actually identify who are the voices in our head? 00:46:34.360 |
And then as an exhortation to you, the exhortation is that we then actually need a humble perspective 00:46:43.080 |
to recognize that, yes, even if you think you're an independent thinker, you're super strong, you're a leader type, actually the vast majority of us, we're followers. 00:46:54.760 |
And that's why scripture says to everyone, you set your eyes on the great shepherd. 00:46:59.160 |
We set our eyes on Christ and we regularly look up to see like, am I going the right way? 00:47:06.520 |
Or am I following a guy who says he knows where to go? 00:47:13.240 |
We are not only impressionable individuals, but we are so absorbent that scripture tells us our company we need to care for. 00:47:23.400 |
We're so absorbent, we take their fashion, we take their language, and this is true. 00:47:30.760 |
You know, just yesterday, I was at Spectrum, and when I looked around, there was a moment when I just thought like, gosh, everybody looks the same. 00:47:40.760 |
They all wear tight tops now with big baggy pants. 00:47:45.720 |
They wear, is it Uniqlo shirts with that big pouch right in front of them, and they all just look the same. 00:47:53.000 |
And now I can tease and mock that, but even in language. 00:48:12.680 |
So in that way, the challenge to us is very clear. 00:48:16.760 |
First and foremost, you're blessed when you can identify the influences that are coming to you. 00:48:21.480 |
And then the next challenge and exhortation to us is because we mimic everything. 00:48:28.040 |
First and foremost, you must delight in the law of the Lord. 00:48:31.880 |
So point two, I didn't know exactly how to articulate this, but the challenge is to saturate yourself in the scripture. 00:48:40.600 |
The challenge is to not only be disciplined in scripture, but to rise the standard of your digestion, 00:48:49.800 |
to think about how you're intaking that so that you actually experience the delight of the scripture. 00:48:58.920 |
So here in verse two, he says, "But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night." 00:49:04.600 |
Verse three, "He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water." 00:49:10.600 |
So when we think about this, I want you to consider that here at Berean, we emphasize the scripture so much, 00:49:21.960 |
we recognize that yes, a healthy intake of the Bible is necessary. 00:49:27.000 |
But I want you to consider something. I believe that across the board, most people give reverence 00:49:34.920 |
and respect to the Holy Bible. Even, I mean, there are people who will mock and ridicule and try to attack 00:49:41.960 |
the Bible. Yes, there are plenty of those. But most people around our current context respect the Bible. 00:49:49.800 |
And then churches across the board, whether it's a charismatic church, whether it's a different kind of 00:49:56.760 |
feel, all that kind of stuff, they all respect the Bible. You know what the crazy thing is? Even a prosperity 00:50:02.840 |
gospel preaching church respect the Bible. While back when I was younger, I actually tried to watch a 00:50:12.600 |
lot of these false prosperity gospel teachers just to actually see firsthand what do they preach. 00:50:18.120 |
You know, what's crazy was that, you know, Joel Osteen. Now, I don't want to sound like I have some 00:50:23.240 |
particular deep hatred for a particular deep hatred for the man. But objectively speaking, if an individual 00:50:29.320 |
has no eternal perspective and is willing to use the gospel for personal gain and to preach to all that 00:50:36.760 |
their best life is now, that person's ministry is satanic. Okay? Because Satan cares to save your life 00:50:45.160 |
here and he does not want you to see eternal life with Christ. That's why Satan will tell Jesus, 00:50:53.720 |
don't go to the cross. Be king now. That's his strategy. Yes? Now, in saying this, if you watch his videos, 00:51:01.640 |
at every service he has the whole congregation. We're talking thousands and thousands, not just thousands, 00:51:07.320 |
tens of thousands of people. He makes them hold their Bible and say this. They stand up together and they say in 00:51:13.880 |
unison. This is my Bible. I am what it says I am. I have what it says I have. I can do what it says I can do. 00:51:20.200 |
Today, I will be taught the Word of God. I boldly confess my mind is alert, my heart is receptive, 00:51:27.400 |
and I will never be the same because I am about to receive the incorruptible, indestructible, ever-living 00:51:36.120 |
word of God. It's kind of eerie, isn't it, to have thousands of people hold the Bible that way, 00:51:42.680 |
give it that kind of respect, and then preach that if you just want the bigger house and bigger car, 00:51:50.440 |
you just have to pray and speak it and believe it. There's a huge distance there, right? And the distance is 00:51:57.800 |
one individual uses the Bible as a tool to get what they want. The difference is the author knows how to 00:52:06.680 |
delight in the scriptures as an end in of itself. So if you think about it, King David, he is an 00:52:13.720 |
individual who has experienced so much loss, so much stress, so much pain, so much anxiety. He doesn't 00:52:20.360 |
use the scriptures for a solution. He goes to the scriptures to rest. He abides in it. He finds the 00:52:27.880 |
comfort he needs. He finds the strength. He finds the hope. He finds the promises, and he says, my soul is 00:52:34.680 |
good. So then for you, here's the danger. If you find yourself not really caring what this has to say, 00:52:44.840 |
if you find yourself tuning out Sunday to Sunday, but only when there's a crisis, oh my gosh, 00:52:51.160 |
so-and-so happened, oh my gosh, there's a huge loss, and only in crisis moments you go to the Bible for 00:52:57.320 |
answers, you wonder why so many people who do that, they're like, yeah, I searched the scriptures, 00:53:02.600 |
and I couldn't find answers, because you're only consulting the Bible for solutions for your life. 00:53:07.480 |
You're not going to it for delight. You're not going to experience what the Lord 00:53:14.040 |
is providing for you in terms of blessing, and so now would be a good time to review and rehearse 00:53:20.760 |
what are some of the experiences and the blessings for us. First, the Word of God, it says about itself, 00:53:28.600 |
God says that it is the life-sustaining nourishment you need every day. So in Deuteronomy chapter 8, 00:53:35.960 |
man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. 00:53:43.240 |
When was the last time you felt perhaps fatigued and famished? You went to the scriptures, and then you 00:53:49.400 |
just felt full. You felt strengthened. You felt like you just ate. I pray that we have those experiences 00:53:57.160 |
regularly. I know there are a lot of verses up there, but for the sake of time, we're going to just go to 00:54:02.360 |
the next one. The Word of God is the cleansing, sanctifying power of God. Psalm 119 verse 9 says, 00:54:10.200 |
"How can a young man keep his way pure by keeping it according to your word? Your word I have treasured in 00:54:16.600 |
my heart that I may not sin against you." For all the young men in here, have you done this? 00:54:25.240 |
Have you done this? Every single one of us has probably felt the frustration of like, "Why do I 00:54:30.840 |
keep sinning this way?" Especially when it comes to lust, especially if you're kind of, you know, in that 00:54:36.680 |
young stage where you're just wrestling through all of the temptations and the images and the allurements, 00:54:43.160 |
et cetera. But we have other vices. We're given to anger, and you're like, "How can I just stop?" 00:54:48.920 |
Have you felt when you've given yourself to memorize the scripture, rehearse the scripture, 00:54:57.160 |
and you felt it at the tip of your tongue, and you felt power? You felt it wash you? You're supposed to 00:55:05.480 |
experience that kind of delight. And then I'm going to just do a final one. Psalm 19 verse 7 through 11 00:55:11.640 |
11 verse 7. It gives to us, like in a compact way, all the blessings of how it empowers you. Take a 00:55:17.880 |
look. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise 00:55:24.680 |
the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandments of the Lord 00:55:30.600 |
is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the 00:55:36.600 |
Lord are true, and they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much 00:55:41.960 |
fine gold. Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is 00:55:48.760 |
worn, and keeping them, there is great reward." The challenge is this. Right now, I'm not talking about, 00:55:56.760 |
"Hey, we have to believe in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible. It's eternal. Everything 00:56:02.360 |
else like flowers and grass will wither." But God's Word isn't. I'm not talking about the strength in 00:56:08.920 |
that kind of character trait of the Bible. I'm talking about your delight in the Bible. And that's a challenge 00:56:17.080 |
I want to give to you. If you've kind of been just getting more and more information and you're learning 00:56:23.560 |
in the content, good. My prayer is, though, that you gain strength by being satisfied. You have to. 00:56:32.040 |
Because when we talk about inner strength, when we talk about counseling, when we talk about anything 00:56:39.240 |
where you're trying to fight sin, there is a kind of strength that comes from knowing how to do practical 00:56:45.080 |
things, knowing how to set boundaries for yourself, saying no to temptation, cutting off this and that. 00:56:50.120 |
But an individual who has not been satisfied by the Scriptures, satisfied by God's promises, and held 00:56:59.400 |
therefore by His grace, he can only resist so long. If you were in my class, in the sexual addictions class, 00:57:08.360 |
I said sexual addiction is like an affair. It's like having a lover. If all your eyes, you keep thinking 00:57:14.520 |
she's beautiful. If all your senses says, "Oh, she's so pleasurable." There's no way you can say no to that. 00:57:20.520 |
But rather, at any given moment, you're going to give in. The heart that's satisfied by that cannot resist, 00:57:31.560 |
is my point. But the heart's satisfied by God. Strengthened in the inner man, this individual is 00:57:39.000 |
taught by grace. So we have to learn to delight in Scripture. So then the next point, as the more practical 00:57:46.520 |
point, is to meditate on the Word day and night. Meditate on it. Get in the habit. Set a pattern. 00:57:54.680 |
Habits are not bad, so long as the discipline and the training of the body is combined with faith, contentment, and 00:58:02.360 |
godliness. That's what the Scripture says. Bodily training is really good. Setting discipline is really good. 00:58:07.960 |
So it is crucial, actually, that the habits are set for us to meditate on a day and night. 00:58:14.680 |
Now, day and night doesn't mean, I'm not going to set some standard for you guys, "Hey, Bereans, 00:58:19.000 |
everybody should be doing Bible study in the morning and at night." No, no. Day and night is to say, 00:58:25.000 |
"Constantly, throughout the day, you're so saturated with Scripture." But as an exhortation to some of you, 00:58:32.680 |
if some of you, your current Bible intake is majority Wednesday Bible study and Sunday sermon, 00:58:40.520 |
the challenge is you have to set your own direct contact with the Scripture, discovering for yourself. Yes? 00:58:50.760 |
And if some of you guys are like, "Dude, New Year's resolutions are old. I don't want to do it." 00:58:56.360 |
And you know, sadly to say, not too long ago, there were pastors and conference speakers saying, 00:59:02.200 |
"You know, resolutions and personal commitments, this is all self-will stuff. This is all self-determined stuff 00:59:07.960 |
and legalism." No, it's not. No, it's not. If by faith you believe that I don't live on bread alone, 00:59:17.480 |
but by the Scripture, you better be going to it every day. Set a plan. Why did the world or your 00:59:26.600 |
flesh convince yourself, "I can't. I can't do this every day." What convinced you that you can't eat 00:59:34.680 |
every day? God Almighty said, "Eat. I've laid before you my precious banquet. I've laid before you all the 00:59:43.080 |
balanced diet you need in the Scriptures." We should have this ambition. Let me soak it all in. Amen? 00:59:51.160 |
Now, as we think about that, maybe there are some of you guys in the room, you already have your 00:59:56.600 |
discipline set. You already have your routine. You've been studying for a while. Maybe you're just more of 01:00:01.960 |
the veteran in the faith, so to speak. I want to challenge you. Have you been meditating on the 01:00:08.120 |
Scripture then? Have you been meditating in such a way that God is working in you and through you and 01:00:16.280 |
all about you? I want to highlight for you some really important terms in the way that the Bible 01:00:21.480 |
describes meditation. In the Old Testament, there's a term that means that meditation is a murmuring to 01:00:27.960 |
one's self. This is the idea of you're speaking in such a way that you are digesting it. It's not just 01:00:36.200 |
simply going in one ear out the other, but you're murmuring it to yourself. And then closely collated 01:00:41.640 |
that you're pondering it, you're conversing about it, and you're rehearsing it. Okay? Have you been doing that? 01:00:50.920 |
There are individuals who have been studying the Bible for so long, but then if you ask, right? Oh my 01:00:57.400 |
gosh, I'm tempted to do this thing, this financial, like I have a financial decision, it's really hard to 01:01:02.360 |
make. They've been studying the Bible forever, and then if you ask, like, what do you think the Scriptures 01:01:06.760 |
have to say? Nothing. Nothing comes up. We want to be ones who are actually cultivating. There's a New 01:01:13.800 |
Testament term called militao, which means to cultivate that practice. So that means you're 01:01:22.200 |
reasoning it out, you're conversing with people, and you are making this incredible endeavor to make 01:01:28.840 |
sure you know how to handle the Scriptures like a pro. You know, during the holidays with my in-laws, 01:01:37.800 |
we started a new TV show. It's called The Culinary Class Wars. It's a good show. I can tell some of 01:01:44.360 |
you guys have seen it. It's super entertaining. I actually enjoy it quite a bit, okay? But one of 01:01:50.280 |
the things I am impressed by is, you know, some of these people, they start highlighting their credentials, 01:01:55.480 |
and they've been cooking for so long, and I'm not impressed by all that, but you know what I'm impressed by 01:02:00.200 |
is you have these professionals. They'll get, they'll be given an ingredient, and immediately they're like, 01:02:06.680 |
"I know what the flavor is. I know how to make that flavor pop. I know the texture. I know that if this 01:02:13.240 |
goes with this, this is going to be too mushy. You need something crispy." And just like, "Yeah." And then 01:02:19.800 |
they start talking about traditionally, if you eat this, it's paired with this, and they're going to expect 01:02:23.880 |
it. If you eat this, then that means if you want to make it modern day, they know where it fits and how 01:02:29.320 |
it's to be used. But then if you see a young man who's convicted, but he has no meditation, 01:02:35.240 |
he just thinks it goes here, it goes there, it goes here, it goes there. No, it doesn't. There is a kind 01:02:41.800 |
of temperance, there's a kind of balance, and there's a kind of wisdom when handling scripture that is 01:02:47.960 |
contained. And it says you need to be meditating it so that you can be truly one who knows how to handle 01:02:55.080 |
the word of God. So we want you to be ones who are directly going to it. I will tell you one of our 01:03:03.560 |
big concerns about our congregation is we know there are people who are really trying hard 01:03:11.480 |
to study the scripture. And we know, we're so encouraged when we hear that people are doing 01:03:15.880 |
some kind of, you know, coming together, doing a book study, etc., etc., and challenging each other on 01:03:21.400 |
inductive Bible study. That's what we want to see. Why? Because continuing this culinary classwork analogy, 01:03:30.200 |
unfortunately, there are times when people are actually more satisfied watching than going to 01:03:36.760 |
a restaurant or cooking for themselves. I don't know how many times as I was watching that show, 01:03:43.960 |
I'm looking at professional chefs making these incredibly appealing dishes, taking a heaping 01:03:50.440 |
spoonful, and then, you know, the judge takes that big mouthful. Sometimes I'm like, "How did he get it all 01:03:55.800 |
in there?" And I hop on him, "Mmm, delicious." And then I'm sitting there like salivating, "Must be delicious." 01:04:04.120 |
Sad to say, sometimes if people are content with hearing other professionals, 01:04:12.920 |
and they get convicted, they feel like that's enough. That's where I want to challenge you. It has to be 01:04:19.160 |
first-hand with the Bible. It has to feed you that way. So then, we say all of this because we trust that 01:04:26.920 |
God will bear his fruit. We trust that as we give ourselves to the study, we trust that as we discipline, 01:04:34.680 |
we trust that as we make that ambition to go to his word and soak, God will bear his fruit. It has been his 01:04:41.000 |
design and has been his purpose to grow us, and so he will bless us. If you look, verse 3, "He will be like 01:04:50.120 |
a tree firmly planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not 01:04:56.200 |
wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers." This is why you know that at Berean, we are all about the 01:05:04.200 |
preaching has to be the full counsel of God. Our youth ministry, we will not shy away from preaching 01:05:09.560 |
the Scriptures, even the difficult parts. We want our fellowship to be saturated with the Bible. Our evangelism 01:05:15.000 |
must be biblical, because how else are we supposed to bear fruit? How else are we supposed to do that? 01:05:23.800 |
What's going to give the stability? The first thing here, it says in this passage that the person, the 01:05:31.240 |
blessed man, is going to be firmly planted. He's not blessed because he has no troubles. He's blessed 01:05:37.480 |
because he's stable. His character is not moved left and right, and his mind is not swayed this way and that 01:05:44.760 |
way because of every new fad, every new teaching, every new cool guy who comes and says he's an expert. 01:05:50.600 |
But rather, he is placed, he is confident, and he can have a calm about him, even when the winds come. 01:05:57.320 |
Isaiah 26:3 says, "The steadfast of mind, you will keep in perfect peace because he trusts you." What's 01:06:06.120 |
more, the blessed man, God is going to nourish him. It says that he's going to be by streams of water. 01:06:12.120 |
He's not going to need all his emotional comforts, and he's not going to need, "I have to have somebody 01:06:17.640 |
help me." No, he has the Word of God feeding him. He's going to be independent because he has streams of 01:06:24.520 |
water that are constant. He's going to be productive because he will yield its fruit and its season. 01:06:30.360 |
There's a time for everything. If you're newer in the faith, there's a time for you to soak it all in, 01:06:36.440 |
think about growing, be discipled. But God will use you, and there's going to come a time where 01:06:41.880 |
he will expect you to bear the burdens of other people. You who are spiritual, you're supposed to 01:06:48.360 |
correct. You who are spiritual, you're supposed to teach. You're supposed to come along, and you're 01:06:53.880 |
supposed to help. How will you bear this fruit if you have not been feeding on the words of God? 01:06:59.560 |
What's more, he says you'll have endurance. God will bless you with the endurance that you need. 01:07:06.280 |
He says the leaves will not wither. In stark contrast, the wicked, everything withers. It's so 01:07:12.840 |
fast how they dry up, and they're going to be shifted by the wind, and they're not going to last. 01:07:17.080 |
We feel it. We need endurance and perseverance, and how is that going to come? 01:07:23.000 |
By the precious Word of God. And then he says this life will truly prosper. He will prosper in 01:07:30.680 |
all that he does, because God will bless him, and he will be a blessed man. Do you trust that? 01:07:37.080 |
Is your faith that simple, but that strong? I don't have to have my world just like safe zone. Oh, 01:07:47.720 |
I have to have all the bad influences removed from my life. No, you don't. You don't. You need the 01:07:54.600 |
sure Word of God feeding you. That's what you need. Oh, I have to have the right opportunities and place 01:08:00.120 |
myself in that right zone where I can. No, you don't. You need the Word of God close to you, and you need your 01:08:07.160 |
eyes in his truth. You know, when I was reading this passage, what I was led to think about was all the 01:08:15.000 |
people in our church who are serving. And I just want to say genuinely thank you. We bring this up 01:08:21.320 |
pretty frequently, but we're so encouraged, the leaders, the elders, the pastors, we're so encouraged 01:08:27.720 |
that we have a congregation that's very active. And for that, we just praise God, and we're thankful 01:08:33.080 |
for you. And the thing about it is we have actually a lot of people who are super enthused about serving. 01:08:39.160 |
They're on like four or five teams. And then we have to say, "Calm down, buddy. We can't do that." 01:08:44.440 |
Sometimes it's unavoidable because we don't have the help or whatever, and so you just have to stick in 01:08:50.040 |
there. But we try to, in wisdom, say, "Hey, it's probably better for you to focus." Focus your 01:08:56.280 |
availability, your attention on this one area, right? Okay. Why am I bringing this up? Because as the church 01:09:02.760 |
continues to grow, as the needs continue to increase, maybe double, triple full, do we have to be concerned 01:09:10.680 |
about burnout? We do. We have to be. And we have to be wise about where people are serving and how many 01:09:21.560 |
different teams they're a part of and how much responsibility because you can't buy it off more 01:09:25.960 |
than you can choose. However, here's a question for you. Does personnel management, does that prevent 01:09:34.280 |
burnout? Does administration, does that solve the problem? Does trying to, you know, really do 01:09:41.800 |
resource allocation, I mean, these are all terms you guys learned in business management, administration, 01:09:46.280 |
does that solve spiritual burnout where you can't serve? The answer is no. The danger is if you're not 01:09:56.680 |
feeding on the Word of God regularly for yourself, then even one rotation is too much. The next time you're 01:10:04.360 |
asked to do more than you're doing is too much. And therefore, even in counseling, one more problem, one more 01:10:11.240 |
failure, one more devastation, one more anxiety, it's too much because you're not being fed regularly 01:10:19.560 |
by the Word of God. So that's why for the strength of every individual, but the strength of the collective 01:10:26.360 |
church, every person has to be fed on the Word of God. Amen. And we want, we're praying that you don't just 01:10:34.600 |
grow in knowledge and wisdom, but you grow in depth of affection, of delight, the depth of how you 01:10:41.720 |
treasure and experience God through your personal devotion. And I pray that in this way we will give 01:10:49.240 |
glory to God. Why? Because when God says that He deserves glory and He wants to be honored in the church, 01:10:55.400 |
it's one thing to all rise up and just sing His glories. Good. But it's another thing to say, 01:11:02.120 |
I can prove and say with testimony, His Word is true and good. That gives glory to the Father. Let's pray. 01:11:10.760 |
Lord, I ask that you would help us in troubled times, but in peace. 01:11:21.720 |
Whether we're in feeling of deficiency and lack, but also in plenty, help us to stay true to your Word. 01:11:29.080 |
I also pray, Father God, that the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ will be the resounding voice that 01:11:35.880 |
influences every part of us, our mind, our heart, our body. We pray, Father God, that it would be the 01:11:43.320 |
light that is leading our path. Help us be mature and be discerning and wise to put away all that is 01:11:49.720 |
influencing us to the world. Help us to be strong enough to say no to the things that are purely 01:11:58.040 |
unhelpful. And I ask God that you would lead us in this wisdom. It's in Christ's name. Amen. 01:12:17.960 |
Who, O Lord, who, O Lord, could save themselves, their own soul could heal? 01:12:30.840 |
Our shame was deeper than the sea. Your grace is deeper still. 01:12:41.160 |
You alone can rescue, O Lord, who, O Lord, could save themselves, their own soul could heal? 01:12:54.600 |
Our shame was deeper than the sea. Your grace is deeper still. 01:13:07.480 |
You alone can rescue, you alone can save. You alone can lift us from the grave. 01:13:20.040 |
And you came down to find us, let us out of death. To you alone belongs the highest grave. 01:13:36.920 |
You alone, O Lord, who, O Lord, have made a way, the great divine you give. 01:13:49.800 |
For when our hearts were far away, your love went further still. 01:14:01.800 |
You alone can rescue, you alone can rescue, you alone can save. 01:14:14.680 |
You alone can lift us from the grave. You came down to find us, let us out of death. 01:14:49.640 |
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, we're the giver of life. 01:15:02.520 |
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, you're the giver of life. 01:15:06.520 |
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, you're the giver of life. 01:15:12.200 |
We lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, you're the giver of life. 01:15:21.080 |
And you alone can rescue, you alone can save. 01:15:39.960 |
You alone can lift up our eyes, you alone can save. 01:15:52.840 |
You alone can lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, you're the giver of life. 01:15:52.840 |
You alone can lift up our eyes, you're the giver of life. 01:16:05.720 |
You alone can lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes, lift up our eyes. 01:16:33.480 |
Father God, as we just sung, we thank you so much and give acknowledgement that even in the bearing of fruit, that is not something we can force. 01:16:45.480 |
So we acknowledge before you, God, thank you for bearing fruit in our lives. 01:16:49.400 |
Thank you, God, for doing that which we could not. 01:16:51.720 |
We pray then that we know, Lord, that you are glorified when we bear much fruit. 01:16:57.880 |
So we pray then that you would help us to stay on your word, to be so deep in prayer, that God, that the fruit that we bear would be wrought from God. 01:17:07.960 |
Now, to him who is able to keep you from stumbling, to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen. 01:17:23.480 |
God sent his son, they called him Jesus, he came to love, heal and forgive, he lived and died, to buy my pardon. 01:17:53.320 |
God sent his son, he lived and died, to buy my pardon. 01:18:23.300 |
God sent his son, he lived and died, to buy my pardon. 01:18:53.280 |
God sent his son, he lived and died, to buy my pardon. 01:19:23.260 |
God sent his son, he lived and died, to buy my pardon.