back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 2.5.2023
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and I'll explain a little bit about what happened 00:10:00.480 |
and I'll give you a little explanation on that. 00:10:09.480 |
and they're taking submissions for either service 00:10:16.980 |
and then the auction itself is happening in March. 00:10:25.980 |
because we're trying to control certain type of things 00:10:36.480 |
is gonna be specifically used for adoption fund. 00:10:40.480 |
So some of you guys may be aware or not aware, 00:10:53.980 |
there is an application that you can turn in. 00:10:57.480 |
will be specifically laid aside for that purpose. 00:11:04.980 |
and then the service itself, or the auction itself, 00:11:09.480 |
Men's ministry meeting happening on Saturday, 00:11:25.980 |
that I think is very needed in our generation. 00:11:29.980 |
And so we highly encourage you to participate in that 00:11:35.980 |
And again, the subject matter is very important. 00:11:38.980 |
So whether you are a college student or high school student 00:11:41.980 |
or whether you've been married for a long time, 00:11:45.980 |
Again, so this is happening on a quarterly basis, 00:11:48.980 |
but the next one is happening on February 18th. 00:11:54.980 |
Friday through Sunday on February 24th and 26th. 00:11:59.980 |
Pastor Simon Suh is gonna be preaching for the, 00:12:09.980 |
And then one last is SEEDS nursery PTA meeting 00:12:16.980 |
So if you have children in any of our departments 00:12:19.980 |
from the little children, I think up to elementary school. 00:12:27.980 |
they're having a PTA meeting to give you announcements 00:12:29.980 |
on what's happening and to meet some of the teachers there. 00:12:34.980 |
One other thing is that I know we've been having parking issues 00:12:37.980 |
and maybe not, maybe today if had problems parking 00:12:41.980 |
or finding parking, we are looking for parking. 00:12:57.980 |
to try to get off campus before 11, not at 1110. 00:13:01.980 |
Okay. So if you're gonna get off campus anyway, 00:13:06.980 |
I heard the last couple of weeks we ran out of parking. 00:13:10.980 |
So if you are planning to, and then if you attend first service 00:13:15.980 |
and you brought two cars to take both cars off the campus 00:13:23.980 |
but for now we're asking like if you are able 00:13:26.980 |
to take the car off campus and then if you're gonna come back, 00:13:28.980 |
I'm sure there'll be enough parking when you come back. 00:13:38.980 |
we have an offering box in the back that you can visit afterwards. 00:13:43.980 |
Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace. 00:13:48.980 |
Thank you for the things that we are aware of. 00:13:51.980 |
And especially for the things that we're not aware of. 00:13:54.980 |
That as you are working all things together for good. 00:13:59.980 |
to not to simply confess that you are sovereign, 00:14:02.980 |
but to believe that all good and perfect gift comes from you. 00:14:12.980 |
that we would be reminded again of who you are. 00:14:17.980 |
that we would give you worship in spirit and in truth. 00:14:22.980 |
that we would not give out a habit or under compulsion, 00:14:28.980 |
that it may be multiplied and be used for your purpose, 00:15:27.000 |
- Church family, would you please stand with us 00:23:39.300 |
♪ Now as your church we lift our voice and pray ♪ 00:23:59.300 |
♪ Now as your church we lift our voice and pray ♪ 00:24:29.300 |
All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me 00:24:36.300 |
to Luke chapter four, it's been about six, seven weeks 00:25:00.300 |
and the power of the Spirit and news about him 00:25:07.300 |
And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, 00:25:10.300 |
and as was his custom, he entered the synagogue 00:25:15.300 |
And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, 00:25:19.300 |
where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me 00:25:22.300 |
because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. 00:25:24.300 |
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives 00:25:31.300 |
to proclaim the favor of the ear of the Lord. 00:25:33.300 |
And he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant 00:25:37.300 |
and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue 00:25:42.300 |
"Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." 00:25:50.300 |
And they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?" 00:25:52.300 |
And he said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to me, 00:26:07.300 |
there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah 00:26:12.300 |
and six months when a great famine came over all the land. 00:26:20.300 |
in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow. 00:26:32.300 |
were filled with rage as they heard these things. 00:26:35.300 |
And they got up and drove him out of the city 00:27:03.300 |
We pray that your word and only your word would go forth. 00:27:48.300 |
And so the pastors, it's become a regular thing 00:27:50.300 |
that they're getting rocks thrown at and beaten. 00:28:02.300 |
And they were even adding more pastors to their fold 00:28:28.300 |
And then when I found out that that was in India, 00:28:30.300 |
and in particular, the area that we're going into, 00:28:33.300 |
and those of you who've been to India with us 00:28:48.300 |
who knows that dialect to be able to get in there, 00:28:53.300 |
This time around, the environment was very different 00:29:36.300 |
and was hospitalized for about a week and a half. 00:29:42.300 |
still deliberately bringing the gospel to these areas. 00:29:53.300 |
In fact, out of the four villages that we went to, 00:30:15.300 |
that was already stirred up through the leaders 00:30:28.300 |
And so I could tell that the environment was, 00:30:30.300 |
there was a little bit of discouragement there. 00:31:10.300 |
there would be about 40 some pastors waiting for us, 00:32:02.300 |
it leads to whatever else it leads to in the church. 00:32:08.300 |
We're praying that God would continue to use them. 00:32:12.300 |
we're asking you to keep them in your prayers 00:32:30.300 |
And the typical response that we get from afterwards 00:32:35.300 |
that the Christians would be so generous to the Hindus. 00:32:38.300 |
"The Hindus would never do this for Christians." 00:32:47.300 |
because they realize that this is open to everybody. 00:32:54.300 |
Oftentimes, they're actually being invited to come. 00:33:01.300 |
And the reason why we're able to get into these villages 00:33:10.300 |
So we're coming usually under their protection, 00:33:17.300 |
they found out that leaders were stirred up before we came, 00:33:28.300 |
And I just wanted to give a quick announcement 00:33:38.300 |
we're going to be taking our first team out to Korea 00:33:42.300 |
We're going to be having our interest meeting 00:33:48.300 |
I'll tell you where it's going to be after the second service, 00:33:50.300 |
and then I'll give you all the information that you need 00:33:52.300 |
to make a decision if you're willing to come out with us this summer. 00:34:21.300 |
and there is a sense of pressure that we feel. 00:34:23.300 |
Even though we didn't necessarily feel any physical danger, 00:34:26.300 |
that threat is always kind of in the back of our mind, 00:34:31.300 |
In contrast, in Korea, it's exactly the opposite. 00:34:34.300 |
You typically go to Korea, you don't think of hardship. 00:34:43.300 |
you know that this is a pretty wealthy country, 00:34:47.300 |
Everything that you would think of convenience, 00:34:59.300 |
Korea is a much more dangerous place than India. 00:35:04.300 |
Because India, everything about it causes us to cling to Christ. 00:35:09.300 |
Everything about India causes us to desire fellowship, 00:35:16.300 |
Korea, on the other hand, is a constant spiritual battle. 00:35:23.300 |
one of the greatest revivals in modern history. 00:35:31.300 |
had 33% and above who claimed to be Christians. 00:35:36.300 |
But in one generation, it went from that to less than 3%. 00:35:40.300 |
So the next generation, where the country was known 00:35:43.300 |
for fast rise economically, fast rise spiritually, 00:35:47.300 |
went from that to one of the highest technologically advanced, 00:35:57.300 |
It's known for plastic surgery, it's known for wealth, 00:36:01.300 |
and yet their spirituality, Christianity, is just bottoming out. 00:36:06.300 |
And so one of our main reasons why we're starting work there 00:36:12.300 |
because the churches have basically dried up over there. 00:36:15.300 |
The mega churches, they have, I know a friend 00:36:21.300 |
as one of these mega churches, and he told me his budget 00:36:24.300 |
just for the mission program was $10 million. 00:36:27.300 |
This one particular church put aside over $100 million 00:36:32.300 |
so that they can use that to bring the gospel to North Korea. 00:36:38.300 |
as much as they are doing all of these things on the surface, 00:36:45.300 |
They have the resources, they have the money, 00:36:47.300 |
they have the buildings, and yet the people within the church 00:36:50.300 |
have synchronized into the wealthy, secular, the new Korea 00:36:56.300 |
that the second generation sees the superficialness of this, 00:37:02.300 |
And they don't have a second generation to take over 00:37:04.300 |
what God has built in the previous generation. 00:37:07.300 |
So what we're hoping to do is to get into Korea 00:37:22.300 |
because you need to know where you're getting into. 00:37:26.300 |
thinking like, you know, this is going to be a fun trip. 00:37:29.300 |
Korea, on the other hand, you must be very sober. 00:37:38.300 |
You get dragged into everything that Korea has to offer, 00:37:42.300 |
and you might be under attack and not even know it, 00:37:46.300 |
and so it's much more dangerous to be a Christian in that culture, 00:37:50.300 |
which is the culture that you and I are in here today. 00:37:53.300 |
Because we're comfortable, because we're wealthy, 00:37:56.300 |
because we have all the freedom that we need, 00:38:01.300 |
that we're not aware of the spiritual attack that's happening, 00:38:08.300 |
And so if there's any place where there is in dire need of soberness 00:38:16.300 |
It wasn't the team out in China--I mean, out in India. 00:38:22.300 |
I don't need to remind our team why we're here 00:38:24.300 |
because everything about it reminds us of that. 00:38:30.300 |
our natural inclination is because we don't have much threat 00:38:36.300 |
that we forget that there is an enemy roaring, 00:38:39.300 |
prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, 00:38:42.300 |
and we are being devoured, and yet we are not aware. 00:38:50.300 |
that we traveled 35 hours on plane, on buses, 00:38:55.300 |
to get to the village, and just how tiring it is. 00:39:05.300 |
the travel is getting more and more difficult, 00:39:08.300 |
and then coming back, I barely woke up today. 00:39:16.300 |
I actually fell asleep in the middle of the night, 00:39:19.300 |
and then Faith came into the room and woke me up. 00:39:23.300 |
And they said, "Yeah, so why are you waking me up? I'm so tired." 00:39:26.300 |
And I said, "It's Sunday." He's like, "Oh, shoot. 00:39:29.300 |
I'm going to be on the pulpit in about an hour." 00:39:39.300 |
but at the same time, you know, it's so rewarding 00:39:45.300 |
The fellowship that we have with our brothers and sisters 00:40:02.300 |
this is probably as far as we can go land-wise, distance-wise, 00:40:06.300 |
from where we are in Southern California to where we go, right? 00:40:12.300 |
just how far our Lord traveled to come and get us. 00:40:17.300 |
Of course, I'm not just talking about physically. 00:40:23.300 |
who created all things, Holy, Holy, Holy God, 00:40:29.300 |
and humbled himself, the distance that our God and Savior 00:40:32.300 |
had to travel to come and bring the gospel, the good news, to us. 00:40:46.300 |
Can you imagine how tempted he must have been 00:40:52.300 |
when people are mocking him, rejecting him, questioning him? 00:41:01.300 |
for him to say, "Enough," and reveal his glory 00:41:06.300 |
enjoy his fellowship with the God the Father and the Holy Spirit, 00:41:14.300 |
You know, the story that we're looking at this morning 00:41:18.300 |
is about the rejection of Christ at his hometown in Nazareth. 00:41:24.300 |
you can read and say, "You know, Jesus starts out, 00:41:31.300 |
"he starts gaining a bigger and bigger crowd, 00:41:33.300 |
"and he goes to the cross, and he goes to heaven in glory, 00:41:36.300 |
"and then one day he was going to come back in his full glory." 00:41:48.300 |
of why and how he was rejected, not simply by his hometown. 00:41:53.300 |
He goes and spends more than half of his ministry 00:42:13.300 |
"You are looking through me to get to something, 00:42:18.300 |
So the whole gospel of John is the seven "I am" statements. 00:42:21.300 |
"I am the light. You're looking for the light, 00:42:32.300 |
"I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. 00:42:37.300 |
So the seven "I am" statement is trying to correct people 00:42:39.300 |
who are looking to Jesus, thinking that he is going to get them 00:43:01.300 |
all his disciples that he discipled and he relied on, 00:43:04.300 |
who walked with him, revealed himself to them. 00:43:11.300 |
Then at the very end, the leaders of Israel capture him, 00:43:18.300 |
And then the Gentile world, represented by the Romans, 00:43:21.300 |
they capture him, they crucify him, and they reject him. 00:43:24.300 |
So all of the Gospels basically is summarized in John 1, 9-11. 00:43:29.300 |
It says, "There was the true light of which coming into the world 00:43:34.300 |
"He was in the world, and the world was made through him, 00:43:38.300 |
"He came to his own, and those who were his own 00:43:45.300 |
The Gospel story is about the rejection of Christ. 00:43:56.300 |
is about the rejection of Christ, every part of it. 00:44:08.300 |
"Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 00:44:14.300 |
"'and the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed. 00:44:20.300 |
"'to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.'" 00:44:25.300 |
So from his very birth, he didn't just say he's going to come 00:44:33.300 |
Their true intentions and heart is going to be exposed. 00:44:45.300 |
But the Gospel story tells us that instead of bringing delight, 00:44:52.300 |
So this morning, as we look at the text that we're looking at, 00:44:59.300 |
They've been waiting for him, praying for him. 00:45:04.300 |
that when he comes, all things are going to be great. 00:45:06.300 |
Every frustration that they had, every oppression that they felt. 00:45:10.300 |
When the Messiah comes, they studied the Scriptures. 00:45:16.300 |
But when he finally came, they wanted to throw him off a cliff and kill him. 00:45:22.300 |
Now we may look at that and say, "These dummies." 00:45:27.300 |
If we were there, I don't know if I would be this blind, 00:45:35.300 |
about something that happened to those people. 00:45:58.300 |
That is the danger of where you and I are at. 00:46:07.300 |
You and I have been Christianized to the point that we can be so blind. 00:46:14.300 |
You know, the greatest problem in our modern generation 00:46:28.300 |
And I think most of you who have been at church, any church, even this church, 00:46:35.300 |
But our greatest struggle in any period of our church history 00:46:48.300 |
who neither hate Jesus nor really love Jesus. 00:46:54.300 |
And we are perfectly satisfied to be somewhere in between. 00:46:59.300 |
And that's why we say, "Well, we checked off. I did this, this, and this." 00:47:09.300 |
"Not anyone who calls me Lord, Lord, child, into the kingdom of heaven." 00:47:16.300 |
is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 00:47:19.300 |
We know that. We memorize that. We sing that. 00:47:26.300 |
who neither hate Jesus nor really love Jesus. 00:47:35.300 |
One, they rejected Jesus because they couldn't accept Him as more than a mere man. 00:47:40.300 |
If you remember, as Jesus was going around, remember what they said? 00:47:44.300 |
They said, "Many people were speaking very highly of Him." 00:47:51.300 |
Jesus was already doing ministry and miracles in Capernaum. 00:47:57.300 |
Nazareth is a tiny little city, and they said, "What good comes from Nazareth?" 00:48:09.300 |
The only reason why we even know about Nazareth is because of Jesus. 00:48:13.300 |
So here's this man, from nowhere, all of a sudden, everybody's talking about this man 00:48:17.300 |
who's performing miracles. Possibly He's the Messiah. 00:48:23.300 |
He comes to his hometown, and it says, "In the synagogue where He grew up." 00:48:27.300 |
And you have to understand what the synagogue is. 00:48:30.300 |
The synagogue was kind of like their rec center. 00:48:34.300 |
Those of you who've been to India, every village we go to, 00:48:37.300 |
there is a building that is used universally. 00:48:41.300 |
So typically, a lot of these children don't end up going to regular public school 00:48:45.300 |
because they're poor, and they end up just kind of creating a makeshift school. 00:48:50.300 |
So every building we go into, they have, you know, Telugu, the local language, 00:48:54.300 |
and then maybe English and math on the board, because that's where they get their education. 00:49:04.300 |
Any meeting that requires a little bit bigger building, that's the building that they would use. 00:49:08.300 |
The synagogues was that for the Jews, because they kind of spread out, 00:49:14.300 |
and what typically happened in the temple couldn't happen at the temple anymore, 00:49:19.300 |
If you were a faithful Jew, you would make a pilgrimage maybe once a year, twice a year, 00:49:24.300 |
The majority of the Jews probably made it one time, 00:49:27.300 |
because it cost a lot of money to be able to go to the temple and come back. 00:49:31.300 |
So most of everything that they did happened at the synagogue. 00:49:35.300 |
The synagogue was kind of like the community center 00:49:37.300 |
where the children were gathered together, getting their education, 00:49:40.300 |
where the parents, you know, if they celebrated big parties and birthdays, 00:49:43.300 |
possibly if they had weddings, that's the building they probably used. 00:49:47.300 |
The reason why this is significant is because Jesus grew up here. 00:49:59.300 |
Jesus, in every other city, was a prophet, he was a miracle worker, 00:50:04.300 |
but Jesus, that was his hometown, they saw him grow up. 00:50:09.300 |
Some of them probably have the tables that he made, 00:50:13.300 |
with his dad sitting in their living room, sitting in their houses, 00:50:17.300 |
the bed that they were sleeping in, Jesus probably made that. 00:50:20.300 |
You know, I've heard so many pastors give sermons about how Jesus was the perfect carpenter, 00:50:24.300 |
he never had a crooked table, he never had... 00:50:30.300 |
I think his chairs were not even, because it's not sin, it's human, right? 00:50:36.300 |
He didn't have a laser pointer, how did he make it so straight? 00:50:43.300 |
And that's why it was so difficult for them, because they were willing to accept him 00:50:47.300 |
as a great man, a performer, a hometown hero, 00:50:51.300 |
but the problem was, Jesus declared to be much more than that. 00:50:55.300 |
In John 6, 42, it says, "They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, 00:51:00.300 |
whose father and mother we know?' How does he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven?'" 00:51:07.300 |
See, up to this point, they said they were so enamored with his gracious words, 00:51:12.300 |
and everybody outside was speaking so highly of him. 00:51:16.300 |
And when he began to say, "I am from heaven," in fact, John 10, 33, goes even further, 00:51:20.300 |
and it says, "The Jews answered him, 'For good work we do not stone you, 00:51:24.300 |
but for blasphemy, and because you being a man, make yourself out to be God.'" 00:51:31.300 |
They wanted to reject him. They loved him as a man. 00:51:38.300 |
And as long as he didn't speak, they would have adored him. 00:51:42.300 |
They would have lived, he would have lived a very comfortable life 00:51:55.300 |
A mere man, according to their words, claimed to be God. 00:52:04.300 |
See, to honor him as a person, as a great example, as a humanitarian, 00:52:12.300 |
He influenced more people in the last 2,000 years to be gracious and generous, 00:52:17.300 |
to think of the poor, for doctors to go into remotest villages 00:52:26.300 |
But him claiming to be God, he wasn't simply asking us to see his example. 00:52:33.300 |
He wasn't simply asking us to follow him to the poor. 00:52:47.300 |
If he is God, if he's a great humanitarian, we just follow his example. 00:52:53.300 |
We honor him. Nobody hates Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer. 00:52:58.300 |
Nobody hates these people who are generous and give to the poor. 00:53:03.300 |
But Jesus didn't simply say that. He says, "I am God," 00:53:08.300 |
meaning that we are to submit to him. We are to obey him. 00:53:15.300 |
If he is God, it is no longer about me and you. 00:53:23.300 |
It no longer matters that you live a long life. 00:53:27.300 |
That's not what he promised us. It no longer matters that you have the best job. 00:53:31.300 |
It no longer matters that your children are safe. 00:53:35.300 |
If he is God, because our greatest calling in life 00:53:43.300 |
is to submit to this God, is to obey this God, to worship this God. 00:53:55.300 |
if you keep him as a supporter, a refuge, only without recognizing him as God, 00:54:01.300 |
you would love him. No one would persecute you. 00:54:05.300 |
If all we did to go to the villages and did humanitarian work, 00:54:09.300 |
every time we go, every village would roll out the red carpet. Why not? 00:54:14.300 |
These rich Americans are coming in here and doing all these great humanitarian work. 00:54:21.300 |
Persecution comes because of the message that is brought with that. 00:54:27.300 |
They wanted to accept him as a hometown hero, 00:54:31.300 |
the Messiah, the deliverer from Rome, but not as God. 00:54:38.300 |
You cannot, you cannot know God as a savior if you do not know God as God. 00:54:49.300 |
That's like saying somebody, somebody saying, "Peter, I really want to have an intimate relationship with you, 00:54:57.300 |
but I'm not going to accept your Asian-ness." 00:55:03.300 |
You can't do that. I can't just take that off. 00:55:08.300 |
You can't have a relationship with me if you hate my Asian-ness. 00:55:13.300 |
That's who, because this is who I am. I can't take that off. 00:55:17.300 |
You cannot pick and choose the things that you like about Jesus and reject his Godhood. 00:55:28.300 |
They wanted Christ as a good example. They wanted him as a hometown hero. 00:55:33.300 |
They wanted him to be their king, but could not accept him as God. 00:55:41.300 |
That's why the whole Gospel of James, or John, is around the seven "I am" statements of Jesus, 00:55:48.300 |
because people were coming to Jesus hoping that he will answer their prayers. 00:55:53.300 |
"Give me bread. Give me some direction. Point us to the right leaders. Sustain us. Guide us." 00:56:03.300 |
In the midst of seeing Jesus as an avenue to get what they want, Jesus says, "I am. I am. 00:56:11.300 |
I'm not leading you to the right direction. I am the destination. 00:56:16.300 |
I don't just give you the bread. I am the bread. 00:56:19.300 |
I'm not just going to point you to the leadership. I am the good shepherd." 00:56:25.300 |
So you can come to church all your life and like the church. 00:56:33.300 |
You can fall in love with the idea of being in love with the Bible without really loving the Bible. 00:56:42.300 |
Let me say that again, because we're at a church where the Bible is elevated, 00:56:47.300 |
and we put a high premium on knowing the Bible, but you can be in love with the idea of being in love with the Bible 00:56:53.300 |
without being in love with Christ, and you have missed the whole point of why the Bible is elevated. 00:57:00.300 |
They rejected him because they wanted his humanity, but they didn't want his deity. 00:57:08.300 |
Secondly, they rejected Jesus because he was too familiar. 00:57:14.300 |
"Isn't this Joseph's son? Didn't he build our furniture? 00:57:19.300 |
We saw him grow up. His sisters are still with us. 00:57:24.300 |
He's speaking in front of his aunties and uncles and elders who watched him grow, 00:57:32.300 |
and now he's not just saying that he has great words. 00:57:42.300 |
In Mark 6:3, it says, "Is not this carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, 00:57:49.300 |
are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. 00:57:55.300 |
Even his own siblings had a hard time believing. 00:58:00.300 |
You know what this tells me was that Jesus, when he was growing up, did not walk on water just for fun. 00:58:06.300 |
He didn't get hungry and then say, "Hey, I can make gold coins out of these fish. Go get it." 00:58:16.300 |
That's why they say, "He was with us. We know this guy. 00:58:20.300 |
We remember when he was a kid, when he was circumcised. He was with us. 00:58:25.300 |
We saw him grow up. We know his dad. We know his mom. We know his siblings. We know his work." 00:58:30.300 |
And because Jesus was too familiar with them, he said, "He was one of us and how can he be greater than us?" 00:58:37.300 |
Sometimes, the greatest things in our lives are the things that are pretty mundane and regular. 00:58:47.300 |
We get caught up in seeking the spectacular, that it causes us to grumble about the regular. 00:58:54.300 |
You know, the perfect example of that is every single one of us in here, physically and spiritually, 00:59:02.300 |
are here because somebody sacrificed tremendously for you. 00:59:07.300 |
Physically, none of you came out of your mother's womb and fed yourself. 00:59:13.300 |
Not one person is saying, "You don't know my mom." It's like, "Of course I know your mom." 00:59:18.300 |
None of you. I don't care what kind of relationship you have with her or your dad. 00:59:23.300 |
Somebody sacrificed to feed you and keep you alive. 00:59:30.300 |
Once a year, we're like, "Oh, Mother's Day, here's some flowers." 00:59:35.300 |
If you had a friend who did a portion of what your parents did for you, you're like, "That's my best friend." 00:59:43.300 |
I remember the first time it really hit me was, by that time, we had about three. 00:59:53.300 |
It was like we had two weeks of just miserable. 00:59:58.300 |
We didn't have adults around us, so we were just kind of doing what we can. 01:00:02.300 |
I remember just Esa and I both just miserable, just trying to survive. 01:00:06.300 |
The kids got sick. I remember waking up in the middle of the night after about three or four days of this, 01:00:16.300 |
Just like, "My fever's going nuts, and I have a headache. I haven't slept in three days. 01:00:21.300 |
But if I don't feed them, they're going to die. Literally, they're going to die." 01:00:27.300 |
So we're feeding them, then go back to sleep, and miserable came back up. 01:00:31.300 |
I remember in one of these nights, miserable, just feeding one of these kids, 01:00:36.300 |
thinking, "My mom must have done this for me. Somebody did this for me." 01:00:43.300 |
You don't really think about it until you're in that situation and realize just how hard it is to raise a kid. 01:00:50.300 |
But it's so mundane because you're just so used to it. 01:00:53.300 |
And then when they're immature, it's like, "Well, you're supposed to do that. You're my mom." 01:01:01.300 |
It requires every restraint in your body to hold your arm. 01:01:14.300 |
But as tremendous love kept us alive, nothing compared to what God has done for us. 01:01:24.300 |
The distance He traveled, just so that you can understand what I'm talking to you about. 01:01:31.300 |
You didn't choose one day to wake up and say, "Oh, I'm done with this. I'm going to love Jesus. 01:01:35.300 |
I'm going to go to church, and the Bible is just going to make sense to me today." 01:01:42.300 |
The Son of God had to empty Himself of His glory. For who? 01:01:48.300 |
For people who aren't going to appreciate Him. 01:01:54.300 |
See, people are going to be constantly distracted. 01:01:56.300 |
People are going to grumble and complain because, "I didn't get the job that I wanted." 01:02:02.300 |
Because life isn't exactly the way I wanted. It didn't happen exactly at the timing that I wanted. 01:02:07.300 |
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 01:02:12.300 |
How many people in this room entered with some discontent? 01:02:23.300 |
The very breath that you and I breathe were dependent upon Him. 01:02:28.300 |
The ability to understand what's coming out of these words. 01:02:32.300 |
Remember, if you've ever read the Word of God before the Holy Spirit opened your eyes, 01:02:40.300 |
Why does it all of a sudden, one day, make sense? 01:02:43.300 |
You didn't do that. You didn't all of a sudden, your IQ just started skyrocketing, and then it made sense. 01:03:03.300 |
We have a honeymoon stage, and then we get comfortable with our wives and our husbands. 01:03:07.300 |
And then we're always thinking about, "Oh, when we first got married." 01:03:16.300 |
And that grumbling leads to failed marriages. 01:03:27.300 |
that person probably means more to you than anybody else in your life. 01:03:32.300 |
Because you've gone through more with them than anybody else in your life. 01:03:35.300 |
They've been more patient with you than anybody else in your life. 01:03:41.300 |
it becomes regular, because you interact with them so often, 01:03:52.300 |
We have a honeymoon stage. "Oh, God has sold us." I can't believe He did that. 01:03:58.300 |
the people who are the hardest to reach are the people who were raised in the church. 01:04:04.300 |
were so familiar, were so blessed with the presence of the gospel in their lives, 01:04:13.300 |
Because the spectacular has become so mundane. 01:04:24.300 |
Because you're no longer appreciative of what you have, 01:04:27.300 |
and then when the grumbling comes in, that leads to whatever else. 01:04:38.300 |
How can He be so spectacular when I know Him? 01:04:42.300 |
How can He be anything else other than a good person? 01:04:50.300 |
But third and finally, they rejected Jesus because 01:04:59.300 |
Jesus, at the end, coming into Jerusalem and Nazareth, 01:05:06.300 |
He said, "People are speaking very highly of Him." 01:05:09.300 |
He said, "Gracious words are flowing out of His mouth." 01:05:12.300 |
And then at the end of that, He said, "But isn't He the Son of Joseph?" 01:05:18.300 |
He goes off and He says, "You're going to say, quote this proverb." 01:05:26.300 |
and He gives these two stories of the time of Elijah and Elisha. 01:05:31.300 |
And how these two greatest prophets of the Old Testament, 01:05:34.300 |
Elijah is known as the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. 01:05:37.300 |
Elisha had more miracles than any other prophets. 01:05:42.300 |
So when you're talking about powerful miracle workers in the Old Testament, 01:05:45.300 |
it would be Elijah, and then Elisha took it to the next level. 01:05:49.300 |
And He says, "These two prophets God sent to Israel as an indictment against Israel." 01:05:55.300 |
That in the midst of this great famine, instead of going to Israel, He went to a Gentile. 01:06:00.300 |
Elisha, instead of healing so many lepers in Israel, healed the Syrian, 01:06:06.300 |
who was an enemy of Israel, as an indictment against Israel. 01:06:14.300 |
He's saying that because He's telling them, "You are living in that generation." 01:06:19.300 |
That Jesus was sent, the Messiah was sent to deliver them, 01:06:24.300 |
but first and foremost, to indict them for their sins. 01:06:29.300 |
Because until they recognize the darkness in their heart, 01:06:39.300 |
The dean of divinity of Yale, which is an oxymoron, 01:06:46.300 |
is quoted in saying this, "How is the preaching of repentance, 01:06:51.300 |
and a call to shape up afterward, how is that good news?" 01:06:57.300 |
Joel Osteen, when they asked him, "How come you don't preach against sin and repentance?" 01:07:06.300 |
His answer was, "There's enough pushing people down in life already." 01:07:11.300 |
He added, "When they come to my church or our meetings, I want them to be lifted up. 01:07:16.300 |
I want them to know that God's good, that they can move forward, 01:07:19.300 |
that they can break an addiction, that they can become who God created them to be." 01:07:26.300 |
On the surface, he's like, "Yeah, life is hard enough." 01:07:30.300 |
I said, "You know how hard it is to raise kids? 01:07:33.300 |
You know how hard it is to have a good marriage? 01:07:38.300 |
You know, like the economic downturn, there's a recession coming, 01:07:46.300 |
So life is hard enough as it is, and you go to church and say, 01:07:48.300 |
'We need to repent of our sins. We don't want people leaving our church discouraged.'" 01:07:58.300 |
"Yeah, God is gracious. He's love. He loves us unconditionally. 01:08:01.300 |
Why do we keep hearing a call to repentance?" 01:08:06.300 |
Robert Shuler, when they asked him this question, 01:08:10.300 |
he said, "The core of sin is lack of self-esteem. 01:08:17.300 |
The most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy. 01:08:25.300 |
If you examine me at my worst, for once a person believes he is an unworthy sinner, 01:08:30.300 |
it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ." 01:08:39.300 |
If you've never read the Bible, read it superficially, 01:08:42.300 |
you may read that and say, "Yeah, that sounds about right. 01:08:48.300 |
You want the church to be a place where people are living uplifted 01:08:51.300 |
and want to face the hardship of life and marriage and raising children. 01:08:57.300 |
Why do you want to feel down when you leave the church?" 01:09:03.300 |
But if you read the Bible, you know this is utter blasphemy. 01:09:08.300 |
Jesus gives an example of the Pharisee who comes up and says, 01:09:11.300 |
"Thank God I'm not like them. Thank God you've blessed me that I don't act like these sinners." 01:09:15.300 |
And he had the tax collector beating his chest because he couldn't raise his head. 01:09:32.300 |
There's a reason why this whole drama of the Israelites, 01:09:36.300 |
everything was given so that sin could be utterly sinful. 01:09:41.300 |
And it says at the perfect time when sin became utterly sinful, 01:09:50.300 |
his hometown, the nation of Israel, his own disciples, and the world itself. 01:10:02.300 |
Because their greatest problem was not economics. 01:10:06.300 |
Their greatest problem was not oppression from Rome. 01:10:10.300 |
Their greatest struggle is not the relationship between mom and dad. 01:10:15.300 |
Their greatest heartache didn't become because relationships are difficult. 01:10:22.300 |
He said all of that exists because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. 01:10:30.300 |
All the problems of mankind, all the heartaches, all the broken families, 01:10:39.300 |
all the drug addictions, all the sexual addictions, 01:10:45.300 |
sex trafficking, poverty, brokenness in this world, at the core is sin. 01:10:55.300 |
So until our sins are exposed and we recognize how desperate we are without Christ, 01:11:09.300 |
He's a man to be honored, respected, maybe even imitated, 01:11:18.300 |
Until we recognize that he came to save us from our own sins. 01:11:24.300 |
This is why self-righteousness is so harmful to your soul. 01:11:29.300 |
Because self-righteousness focuses all the problems on outside of you. 01:11:39.300 |
And this is why grumbling is so detrimental to your souls. 01:11:45.300 |
Because a grumbling spirit does not recognize the greatness of God. 01:11:51.300 |
It's like going to a spectacular view and then complaining about the gravel on the ground. 01:12:07.300 |
Why did they make the signs like this in the presence of glory? 01:12:16.300 |
They could not accept his indictment against them. 01:12:21.300 |
Instead of leading to repentance, they wanted to get rid of what brought judgment. 01:12:31.300 |
In John chapter 8, people who already believed him, Jesus said, 01:12:36.300 |
"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." 01:12:45.300 |
Because Jesus said, "You need to be set free." 01:12:55.300 |
You see, the greatest calling for every individual in here, including myself, 01:13:03.300 |
And come before the only person in the universe who has any answer to my own sins. 01:13:15.300 |
If you struggle with coveting, you don't just come in here and say, 01:13:17.300 |
"Oh, I'm just going to memorize scripture and coveting and be gone." 01:13:21.300 |
If you have bitterness in your life because of something happened to you, 01:13:24.300 |
you don't just come to church and say, "I'm just going to stop thinking about it. 01:13:29.300 |
The only person that can deliver you from your own sin is Christ crucified. 01:13:36.300 |
The Son of God who traveled the distance that you and I could not possibly imagine 01:13:44.300 |
to seek and save the lost, which is you and I. 01:13:49.300 |
That we may be delivered from the main reason why we suffer. 01:13:58.300 |
That he may give us life and give this life abundantly. 01:14:03.300 |
You're not going to find abundant life because you found good friends. 01:14:07.300 |
You're not going to find abundant life because you committed to a good church. 01:14:12.300 |
You're not going to find abundant life because your family is in order 01:14:16.300 |
or you married the right person or you found a good job or you saved enough money. 01:14:23.300 |
This life that he's talking about can only be found when we are delivered from our own sins 01:14:34.300 |
So my prayer as we continue to study the Gospel of Luke, 01:14:39.300 |
that we see, that we don't look at these stories and say, 01:14:43.300 |
"Oh, these dummies. How can they have missed him? 01:14:47.300 |
But not to leave us in our guilt, not to leave us in our indictment, 01:14:55.300 |
And that we would be reminded of what it is that we have in Christ. 01:14:58.300 |
And that's why we have the communion table today. 01:15:01.300 |
The communion table is given to us so that we may do this in remembrance of him. 01:15:05.300 |
That we would recalibrate our lives, that everything that we are doing, 01:15:09.300 |
everything that we're hoping, if what we are pursuing has nothing to do 01:15:12.300 |
with what this table represents, to recalibrate our lives, 01:15:19.300 |
that we do not come up here in an unworthy manner. 01:15:21.300 |
You don't come here by your own righteousness. 01:15:23.300 |
You don't come here because you've been good this week. 01:15:29.300 |
Just like the first day we needed Christ, we need him today, 01:15:36.300 |
And as we always remind you, that this is a remembrance of our union with Christ. 01:15:41.300 |
So if you've never had a union with Christ, where you repented of your sins, 01:15:46.300 |
and you have never been baptized, we ask that you do that first. 01:15:51.300 |
If you've never repented, and you've never come to Christ, 01:16:03.300 |
I've been admiring you from a distance, but I don't know you. 01:16:11.300 |
So take time before the Lord in prayer, honest prayer. 01:16:22.300 |
So when you are ready, we're going to ask you one by one to come up. 01:16:25.300 |
And we're going to ask the pastors and the elders to come 01:16:36.300 |
And I'm going to open up the communion table. 01:16:38.300 |
If I can ask, like in the midsection we have two, and we have one on the other side. 01:16:44.300 |
This section come to this side, and that section come to this side, 01:16:48.300 |
Then after I open up the communion table, as you are ready to come up and participate, 01:16:54.300 |
you grab your own cup, and we'll give you the bread. 01:16:59.300 |
And as you are seeing the line, if let's say the line on this side is long and this is short, 01:17:05.300 |
you're more than welcome to go to the shorter line. 01:17:07.300 |
But just in general, because this is the shortest distance for you to come, 01:17:11.300 |
and then when you're ready, just come and participate. 01:17:14.300 |
In 1 Corinthians 11 it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, 01:17:20.300 |
that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread. 01:17:24.300 |
When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. 01:17:29.300 |
In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. 01:17:34.300 |
Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 01:17:37.300 |
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, 01:17:40.300 |
you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" 01:17:44.300 |
Father, we thank you for giving us this sacred time. 01:17:50.300 |
You know, Father God, how prone we are to wander and forget. 01:17:55.300 |
Help us to approach this holy time with reverence. 01:18:01.300 |
Examining our hearts, examining our lives, examining your grace. 01:18:07.300 |
Help us, Lord God, to be revived, restored, recommitted. 01:18:14.300 |
That Christ may be exalted, worshipped, and loved. 01:18:21.300 |
So for that end, we pray for your anointing over this time. 01:18:28.300 |
So again, as you are ready, we invite you to come one by one. 01:31:08.300 |
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 01:31:12.300 |
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 01:31:18.300 |
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. 01:31:21.300 |
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 01:31:27.300 |
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 01:31:32.300 |
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 01:31:37.300 |
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. 01:31:44.300 |
Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 01:31:51.300 |
Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 01:31:59.300 |
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. 01:32:04.300 |
For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. 01:32:12.300 |
Lord, we pray that each one of us would embody the Beatitudes, Lord God, that you've taught us. 01:32:22.300 |
That these are the characters, Lord, of your children and your kingdom. 01:32:26.300 |
Help us not to pursue or to covet the things of this world. 01:32:31.300 |
Help us, Lord God, to be renewed in our mind that we would not conform to the pattern of this world, 01:32:39.300 |
but to transform, Lord God, as you called us. 01:32:42.300 |
I pray that your presence, your Holy Spirit, that you've deposited in your children 01:32:50.300 |
to groan on our behalf, Lord God, to be reunited with you. 01:32:56.300 |
That we would be aware of that groaning, that we would pray along with that groaning, 01:33:01.300 |
that we would pursue that groaning with all our hearts more than anything else, Lord God. 01:33:08.300 |
Help us not to sacrifice the things that are eternal because we are tempted by the temporal. 01:33:14.300 |
Send us wherever you desire that we may be the aroma of Christ. 01:33:21.300 |
May Christ and his sacrifice and his love and his pursuit bear much fruit, Lord God, wherever you send us. 01:34:06.300 |
An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lived. 01:34:48.300 |
And life is worth the living just because he lived.