back to indexBerean Community Church New Year's Eve Service 12/31/2022
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All right, church family, why don't we take a minute or two just in preparation as we reflect on this upcoming new year. 00:04:24.000 |
We're on a time constraint, so we're going to start right at 11, so why don't we take a minute or two just to prepare our hearts. 00:06:16.000 |
Father, we thank you for this evening where we can come together as a corporate body of Christ to celebrate, to reflect, to look forward to this new year. 00:06:28.000 |
Lord God, you are so faithful to us, and we're so grateful, Lord God, that you've allowed us to see the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, that we can come together to honor you, Lord God. 00:06:43.000 |
That is our first and primary goal, Lord God, to give you the glory and worship that you deserve. 00:06:50.000 |
Lord, I pray that you help us moving into this new year. 00:06:57.000 |
Give us passion, fervent hearts, Lord God, to live out our lives ultimately pleasing to you. 00:07:05.000 |
God, I pray that tonight may be a time of celebration, a time of reflection of what you are doing and what you continue to do, using us as your children, as your church. 00:07:20.000 |
So we pray, Lord God, that you may be blessed and honored through this evening's service. 00:07:27.000 |
Church family, why don't we all stand together as we sing? 00:08:03.000 |
Who can light the fires of a thousand burning suns? 00:08:09.000 |
Blazing in the heavens, there is only one, he is our God. 00:08:19.000 |
Who commands the nations, building up and tearing down? 00:08:26.000 |
Silencing his rivals, there is only one, he is our God. 00:08:43.000 |
Holy, you alone are holy. Matchless in your glory, holy God. 00:09:11.000 |
Who will come to save us when we turned away his love? 00:09:16.000 |
Conquer us with kindness, there is only one, he is our God. 00:09:33.000 |
Holy, you alone are holy. Matchless in your glory, no one is like you. 00:09:50.000 |
Worthy, you alone are worthy. We adore you only, holy God. 00:10:13.000 |
Now to the king on the throne, who was and is to come, and to the lamb who has slain me, glory. 00:10:24.000 |
Now to the king on the throne, who was and is to come, and to the lamb who has slain me, glory. 00:10:35.000 |
Now to the king on the throne, who was and is to come, and to the lamb who has slain me, glory. 00:10:47.000 |
Holy, you alone are holy. Matchless in your glory, no one is like you. 00:11:04.000 |
Worthy, you alone are worthy. We adore you only, holy God. 00:12:09.000 |
Our only confidence that our souls to Him belong. 00:12:52.000 |
Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 00:14:02.000 |
Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 00:14:10.000 |
Unto the grave, unto the grave, what will we sing? 00:15:12.000 |
Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 00:15:34.000 |
Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 00:15:42.000 |
Now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. 00:16:10.000 |
I want to begin just by reading Lamentations chapter 3, 00:16:22.840 |
This should be a passage that's familiar to many of you. 00:16:28.040 |
And it reads, "The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, 00:17:01.960 |
And we draw near with humble yet bold confidence 00:17:10.160 |
And I pray that you would cause our hearts to be stirred tonight. 00:17:14.560 |
And as we give you just our final moment of 2022, 00:17:19.840 |
Father, I pray that you would cause us just really 00:17:23.920 |
to be grateful and to be worshipful this evening. 00:17:32.480 |
So New Year's Eve service is something that we do every year. 00:17:36.280 |
As far as long as I've been at Berean, that's what we've done. 00:17:40.040 |
And many of you guys were here exactly one year ago. 00:17:49.800 |
that perhaps we would not have imagined would happen, 00:17:55.080 |
that things that we would not have expected, anticipated, 00:18:01.040 |
Many things that we did expect, that we did plan, actually, 00:18:12.840 |
And there have been a lot of things that have happened in 2022. 00:18:16.800 |
Early on in the year, war broke out between Ukraine and Russia. 00:18:24.000 |
that about 200,000 soldiers have been killed thus far 00:18:32.440 |
And that's not including civilians and children. 00:18:35.840 |
And Ukrainians probably did not anticipate a year ago today 00:18:52.000 |
I don't know if you guys remember that the Rams won 00:18:57.760 |
And my beloved Dodgers had one of the best regular season 00:19:07.200 |
And then they lost in the first round of the playoffs. 00:19:11.400 |
Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on live television. 00:19:16.400 |
It was the most watched slap in the history of the world. 00:19:19.440 |
I just checked, 104 million views as of today. 00:19:37.920 |
In the summer, the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, 00:19:45.480 |
And we just lost Pele, Barbara Walters, and the Pope 00:19:56.880 |
But what were some of the happenings in your 2022 00:20:01.800 |
that didn't make any headlines but were probably 00:20:11.440 |
and you started dating, to your own surprise. 00:20:33.720 |
And I know that there are some who got saved and met Christ. 00:20:39.680 |
And then some of you brought people to Christ. 00:20:45.320 |
have thought those things would happen in the year. 00:20:50.600 |
But there's really nothing new under the sun. 00:20:53.880 |
Because despite all of these things that have happened, 00:20:56.360 |
both good and bad, 2022 wasn't that different 00:21:11.200 |
And then we studied 2 Peter, and we just wrapped that up 00:21:17.240 |
And Peter's epistles, they have a heavy emphasis 00:21:23.560 |
The destruction of the heavens and the earth. 00:21:26.840 |
And reflecting on what we studied in Bible study 00:21:29.040 |
this past year, 2023 means we're just one step closer 00:21:39.640 |
We who love Christ and believe that the Bible is 00:21:42.000 |
God's inerrant word, we actually know that most years are not 00:21:54.680 |
Every year is filled with devastation, heartache, 00:22:00.120 |
And the curses that were laid out in Genesis 3 00:22:21.640 |
written in one of those really, really dark years. 00:22:24.360 |
It was written perhaps in the darkest hours of Israel's 00:22:29.440 |
And if you guys read earlier in the Old Testament, 00:22:38.000 |
have to understand that they have lost everything 00:22:43.880 |
All their armies, their soldiers were all wiped out. 00:22:48.080 |
They no longer had any might, any military power. 00:22:58.680 |
The temple, the physical dwelling place of Yahweh God, 00:23:04.920 |
And countless Hebrews were taken as slaves to Babylon. 00:23:14.440 |
And I'm going to read the first three verses for you. 00:23:33.480 |
She weeps bitterly in the night, and her tears 00:23:37.480 |
She has none to comfort her among all her lovers. 00:23:40.400 |
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her. 00:23:54.480 |
All her pursuers have overtaken her in the midst of distress." 00:23:59.000 |
Verse 4 actually continues that even the roads are mourning. 00:24:05.280 |
So this is akin to the streets of Washington, DC 00:24:12.680 |
All the beautiful monuments in Washington, DC, 00:24:20.000 |
And only like the poor wandering the streets among the rubble. 00:24:31.120 |
So can you imagine Washington, DC becoming like that? 00:24:39.880 |
And Lamentations is a very interesting and fascinating 00:24:44.240 |
There are five chapters in the book and 154 verses. 00:24:49.280 |
And with the exception of the first three verses 00:24:52.560 |
that I read, those three verses, all of the other 150 verses 00:25:02.000 |
Most of the verses are literally all lamentations, 00:25:12.120 |
is chapters 1, 2, 4, and 5 are all 22 verses each, 00:25:18.840 |
all beginning with a consonant in the Hebrew alphabet. 00:25:22.320 |
And chapters 1 and 2 and 4 and 5 are written objectively, 00:25:30.960 |
detailing the events of the world as Jeremiah had seen them 00:25:39.320 |
So he's reporting in Lamentations 1 and 2 and 4 to 5 00:25:43.520 |
in a poetic form all of the stuff that has happened 00:25:50.160 |
So chapters 1 and 2 are very despondent and sad. 00:26:04.840 |
It's at the very heart of Jeremiah's short book. 00:26:11.520 |
And unlike other chapters, it's actually three times longer. 00:26:20.160 |
And all four others, remember, they're 22 verses each. 00:26:32.920 |
He's writing what is mostly like a personal prayer. 00:26:43.240 |
are three of the most beautiful verses in all the scriptures. 00:26:50.640 |
"The Lord's loving kindnesses indeed never cease, 00:27:26.480 |
And around Jeremiah, there's nothing but devastation. 00:27:33.440 |
The world around him had completely fallen apart 00:27:35.800 |
physically, politically, and even perhaps spiritually 00:27:38.200 |
because his temple, the center of the worship of Yahweh, 00:27:43.960 |
His life and the life of every single one of his countrymen 00:27:51.960 |
Yet, right at the heart of these sorrows, Jeremiah worships. 00:28:01.000 |
And this is an important passage because in this, 00:28:28.120 |
It's based on objective truth that the God of Israel, 00:28:36.000 |
created everything out of nothing, that He is good. 00:29:23.680 |
And Jeremiah, in these three verses, right at the heart, 00:29:28.400 |
even though everything around in chapters 1 and 2 and 4 and 5 00:29:32.400 |
and in his life, everything around is devastation, 00:29:37.960 |
He will worship in and through every circumstance. 00:29:41.880 |
He will worship even in and through daily lamentations. 00:29:49.840 |
Verse 24 reads, "The Lord is my portion, says my soul. 00:30:06.040 |
The ESV and the King James actually say, "I will hope in Him." 00:30:12.840 |
okay, there's going to be some bright stuff that happens in the future. 00:30:22.880 |
The ESV, the King James, and the NIV make it seem like this is a decision 00:30:27.200 |
Jeremiah has committed to taking or committed to making. 00:30:32.360 |
He's doubling, he's going to be like, "Okay, I will worship, I will hope." 00:30:39.040 |
But actually, the verb is in the imperfect tense, 00:30:43.880 |
which means it's a past action that is ongoing. 00:30:49.400 |
So for Jeremiah, waiting on and hoping in God 00:30:53.560 |
aren't things he committed to doing despite the circumstances. 00:31:00.440 |
They were not his resolutions that he was making, 00:31:06.960 |
Waiting and hoping in God characterized who Jeremiah was. 00:31:16.080 |
Waiting and hoping in God are not things that we plan to improve on. 00:31:23.400 |
Waiting on and hoping in God are things that characterize 00:31:35.080 |
I don't have any hope in 2023, nor should you. 00:31:40.840 |
You know, 2 Peter talks about destruction, devastation. 00:31:43.320 |
What if that's 2023? It's not going to be a happy new year at all. 00:31:51.440 |
And I don't trust in my New Year's resolutions. 00:31:56.200 |
Because that's all effort to become a better person. 00:32:08.280 |
I don't have any hope or dread in the policies 00:32:34.680 |
Not the articulate teachers that are around us. 00:32:47.720 |
I have hope in the Lord, is what he says in verse 24. 00:32:58.080 |
As we are already in the habit of doing this, 00:33:02.400 |
we will wait for him. We will continue to pray to him. 00:33:08.040 |
We will hope in him, and we will worship him in 2023, 00:33:21.640 |
The world as you know it may collapse on you. 00:33:29.920 |
What if this turns out to be the worst year of your life? 00:33:36.160 |
If in the event, if in the God-ordained event 00:34:12.880 |
not because our circumstances are going to change for the better. 00:34:19.320 |
just from what we see in scripture and what we read on the news, 00:34:27.960 |
Our happy new year is not in the happiness of the circumstances that 2023 will bring. 00:34:42.200 |
And he is and will continue to be on his throne. 00:35:07.480 |
They are going to be new in about 30 minutes. 00:35:22.440 |
He is still sovereign and he is supremely good. 00:35:30.680 |
What we're going to do is we're going to give you guys about 10 minutes 00:35:36.200 |
just to pray together over a few topics that I prepared. 00:35:51.960 |
One is that pray for our church and our members that we really will grow in abiding in Christ, 00:36:01.840 |
in knowing him and hoping in him that our trust is not circumstance centered or people centered, 00:36:12.400 |
And then if you're here with your family, gather with your family to pray for each other. 00:36:16.840 |
That God will cause you and every member in your family to be a more receptive conduit of his kindness. 00:36:26.800 |
And that he will not just bear fruit in you, but also through you. 00:36:36.120 |
And the second one is more for you personally. 00:36:38.360 |
OK, and the goal is to try to get us ready for 11.59. 00:36:44.840 |
OK, so we do have a slideshow or like a video presentation and a closing song. 00:36:51.440 |
And so at about 11.40, I'm going to pop back up here, interrupt your beautiful moments of prayer 00:47:26.440 |
All right, I'm going to give you an extra 20 seconds just to wrap up your prayers. 00:47:30.440 |
And then in about half a minute or so, we're going to show you just a year-end wrap-up video. 00:57:45.440 |
>> We're going to stand together as we sing this last song. 00:58:27.440 |
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, 00:59:02.440 |
Knowing well that as our hearts begin to worship, 01:00:57.440 |
I just have a couple of announcements and I do want to close our time in prayer 01:01:02.440 |
before we do the countdown because after that it's going to be a little bit 01:01:08.440 |
like a taste of heaven where we're all like happily greeting each other with a holy hug. 01:01:15.440 |
Tomorrow the services are at 9 and 11 o'clock. 01:01:19.440 |
We do not have the cry room available for you guys who have small children, 01:01:26.440 |
so we do ask that you guys squeeze in in the old cry room just for tomorrow 01:01:32.440 |
because tomorrow we're making -- a good number of our church people are making 01:01:38.440 |
rice cake soup, ttukguk, for everybody or whoever signed up paid the dollar. 01:01:47.440 |
That's a lot of work, and so if you do see the people tomorrow, 01:01:51.440 |
please do go ahead and make sure you thank them. 01:01:54.440 |
Tonight, after we do the Happy New Year's and we greet each other, 01:02:02.440 |
First of all, tomorrow morning is Sunday service, 01:02:06.440 |
and a lot of people have to come here by 7 for differing reasons. 01:02:14.440 |
My goal is that we lock up everything and everyone's gone by 1220 so that we can 01:02:19.440 |
come back in about seven hours, all right, at a reasonable time. 01:02:24.440 |
So please do go home, sleep, and then prepare your hearts for worship. 01:02:36.440 |
Okay, let me pray for us, and then we're going to just hang for, like, 01:02:43.440 |
But let me wrap our time in prayer so there isn't going to be a formal, 01:02:48.440 |
We're just going to pray here, and then at 1159 and 50 seconds, 01:02:53.440 |
we're going to have a countdown that's going to be up on the screen for you, 01:02:56.440 |
and then we'll call it a night, or we'll call it a morning. 01:03:02.440 |
Father, we are very grateful that you give us an opportunity to reflect, 01:03:09.440 |
and just even think through all the baptisms and all the new lives in Christ 01:03:17.440 |
We thank you for our growing church, and our prayer, Lord, 01:03:20.440 |
is that this church doesn't just become a large organization, 01:03:24.440 |
but that it really becomes a church that pleases your heart. 01:03:32.440 |
Help us to abide in you, and in your time and in your way, 01:03:38.440 |
We thank you, and we entrust 2023 into your care. 01:03:43.440 |
We love you, Lord, and we pray all of these things in Jesus' name. 01:03:50.440 |
I've never looked at my watch so much in a service before in my life, 01:03:57.440 |
Once the numbers go up, everyone just get up, count together, 01:04:02.440 |
and then after we say happy new year, we can wrap up that way.