back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 06.11.23
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We're going to go ahead and begin our worship. 00:12:14.000 |
the shuttling system is going to get started soon. 00:12:18.000 |
The official date that they've assigned for that 00:12:20.000 |
is June 25th, so starting from not next Sunday, 00:12:25.000 |
that are going to be going around in certain parking lots, 00:12:34.000 |
and at the end of that, there's a parking lot 00:12:38.500 |
so there's going to be shuttles that's going to be going around, 00:12:40.500 |
and so we're trying to create a habit of people parking there, 00:12:46.500 |
so again, the specific hours of those shuttles that are going, 00:12:48.500 |
we'll let you know more specifically in the next week 00:13:11.500 |
we're asking that if you can commit again another year 00:13:23.500 |
and if you would just prefer to give a $600 for the whole year, 00:13:35.000 |
they'll have places where you can sign up for that. 00:13:48.500 |
because the people who are running that got sick, 00:13:52.500 |
so they're postponing that until July 9th at 1 p.m., 00:13:54.500 |
so if you were scheduled to go to that today, 00:13:56.500 |
they're postponing that until July 9th, okay? 00:13:59.500 |
And again, a heads up, next week is Father's Day, 00:14:04.500 |
cookies and beef jerky and that kind of stuff 00:14:09.000 |
so make sure you stop by those booths after service, 00:14:14.000 |
and so they're going to be there serving, okay? 00:14:19.000 |
and then the next round of Berean membership class 00:14:23.000 |
so if you want to become a member of the church, 00:14:26.000 |
that's starting on July 9th from 9 to 10.20 a.m., okay? 00:14:35.000 |
the next Jubilee Fellowship is happening on June 25th at 1 p.m., 00:14:43.000 |
and then our Elder Phillip is going to be in charge of that, 00:14:47.000 |
Again, all of this is on the website and the church app, 00:15:03.000 |
and so the money raised for that is going to be for donation 00:15:06.000 |
for the Baby Box Ministry that's happening out in Korea. 00:15:13.000 |
we're going to be visiting and doing some work with them, 00:15:16.000 |
and so the money that's raised today with that 00:15:21.000 |
So that's happening at 1.30 at the church parking lot, 00:15:25.000 |
and you want to come back and see what they have, 00:15:27.500 |
that's going to be spread out and ready at 1.30. 00:15:50.000 |
All right, so we have Baby introduction today, 00:15:54.000 |
so if we can have all the parents come up to the front. 00:16:06.500 |
Our church is being very fruitful and multiplying, 00:16:10.500 |
so we are very concerned about our facilities. 00:16:17.500 |
So we're very concerned about our facilities. 00:16:24.000 |
So we are very concerned about our facilities. 00:16:32.500 |
So I'm going to give the mic to Herman first. 00:16:38.500 |
Okay, so the fathers will introduce the children 00:17:11.000 |
and to develop a genuine saving faith in Christ 00:17:45.500 |
and she desperately wants her diaper to be changed. 00:18:06.500 |
Our prayer for her, just like the rest of her kids, 00:18:32.500 |
This is my wife, Elise, and this is our son, Nehemiah. 00:18:55.000 |
and pray for me and Elise to be good parents. 00:18:58.000 |
We often tell each other we don't know what we're doing, 00:19:15.000 |
We actually had her when we were up north at BMC, 00:19:19.000 |
and we had a lot of different invitations there, 00:19:27.500 |
Her name is Reagan, which we just liked how that sounded. 00:19:34.500 |
"little ruler," and unfortunately that came true 00:19:37.500 |
in our house where she's ruling over especially me. 00:19:41.500 |
Alinea means "a new line of thought" in Latin, 00:19:48.500 |
Her Chinese name is actually, it means "grace and wisdom." 00:19:55.000 |
the second character of Liz's Chinese name as well, 00:20:01.000 |
Our prayer for her is that she would live a life 00:20:05.000 |
that is glorifying God, and that she may enjoy God eternally. 00:20:10.000 |
And along with that, our prayer for you guys to help us with 00:20:15.500 |
is that the decisions we make on a day-to-day basis 00:20:23.000 |
would be towards that end and not the ends of this world. 00:20:41.000 |
And this is Levi, and he will be two months next month. 00:20:45.000 |
God has already kind of answered every prayer 00:20:51.500 |
so we just pray that both of them would know him 00:20:55.500 |
and chase after God with everything they have 00:20:58.500 |
and work for his kingdom by helping others do the same. 00:21:16.500 |
I wish we had a story to tell about their names, 00:21:22.500 |
I think our prayer for our kids are that they would understand 00:21:29.500 |
and they would see their need of Jesus at an early age. 00:21:36.500 |
But yeah, if you could join us in prayer with that, 00:21:50.000 |
This is Abby, or Abigail. She's two and a half. 00:21:59.000 |
Our prayer for them is that they would just know Jesus 00:22:05.000 |
Oh, and their names. So, Abigail means "father's joy," 00:22:08.000 |
and I really wanted a daughter, so I was really happy 00:22:11.500 |
when I found out. And then Elias means "the Lord is my God," 00:22:15.000 |
so we just really wanted that to be a foundation for him. 00:22:22.000 |
Hey, everyone. My name is John. This is my wife, Jess. 00:22:32.000 |
Oldest is Christopher. Middle is Charlie. Last is Calvin. 00:22:36.000 |
With Calvin, we kind of backed ourselves into a corner 00:22:39.500 |
and, you know, it has to be a seed name, so we just picked Calvin 00:22:46.000 |
In addition to everybody else's prayer requests 00:22:49.000 |
and for the salvation of all three of our kids, 00:22:55.000 |
Every time we have a kid, the dynamic seems to change. 00:22:58.000 |
We're dealing now with a middle child where I've never really 00:23:01.000 |
had to deal with one, and so you guys just pray for that. 00:23:10.000 |
All right, so before we send them off, I want to pray for them. 00:23:12.500 |
But again, part of the reason why we introduced the babies 00:23:15.500 |
to the church is that we are aware of the next generation 00:23:19.500 |
of people who are in our church, especially now. 00:23:22.500 |
I'm sure you guys are aware, especially in California. 00:23:26.500 |
What they are--the public schools are, like, committed 00:23:30.500 |
to indoctrinate our kids against the teachings of the Scripture 00:23:37.000 |
It's a hostile environment that these children are being raised in. 00:23:39.500 |
So it's always been important that the parents are actively involved 00:23:42.500 |
in praying, but all the more today, the parents really have 00:23:46.500 |
to be committed to make sure that the fight-- 00:23:49.500 |
good fight is being fought at home, especially with the children, 00:23:55.500 |
And so we want to make sure--or at least do our best for our next generation 00:23:58.500 |
of children. They have a community in the church that's starting 00:24:01.500 |
from a young age where the teaching and the culture 00:24:06.000 |
and the values of what they're being raised in the community, 00:24:08.500 |
that they would be strengthened so that when they're going out 00:24:11.500 |
and really, like, standing against the tide in the culture, 00:24:17.500 |
So my prayer--our prayer is that all of us as a church, 00:24:20.500 |
whether you have children or don't have children or maybe your children 00:24:23.500 |
are older, you're not at that stage anymore, but to really be prayerful 00:24:26.500 |
about the next generation, not just for ours, but that what we are learning 00:24:29.500 |
and growing and building is going to affect the next generation 00:24:35.500 |
So let me pray for us, and then I'll also pray for the offering, 00:24:38.000 |
and then we'll let them go, and then we'll enter into our main time of worship. 00:24:45.000 |
Gracious Father, we thank you so much for blessing each one 00:24:49.000 |
of these families, Lord God, with the precious gift of life. 00:24:53.000 |
Lord, as every single one of them has expressed desire, Lord, 00:24:57.000 |
that their children would come to faith early, 00:25:00.000 |
we ask, Lord God, that you would give them the strength to be a model, 00:25:04.500 |
that you would use the father and mother to be the first missionaries 00:25:08.000 |
to these children, to share the gospel with them, 00:25:11.000 |
that they would be raised in a home that is not simply nominal, 00:25:15.000 |
going to church, Lord God, but that they would be an example 00:25:18.000 |
of what it means to be a genuine follower of Christ, 00:25:21.000 |
so that the preaching of the word and the life of the parents 00:25:24.000 |
would be consistent. So we pray, Father God, as our church commits, Lord, 00:25:28.000 |
not just for us, but for the next generation of children, 00:25:31.500 |
help us, Lord, to build a community that is strong, 00:25:35.000 |
based on your word, to follow in your spirit, 00:25:38.000 |
that we would truly be the light and that they would be the light 00:25:42.000 |
in this dark world. So we pray for your grace, we pray for strength, 00:25:46.000 |
we pray for our teachers in our church, Lord God, who are volunteering 00:25:49.000 |
to care for them, that it would not simply be a responsibility, 00:25:53.000 |
a task that they do each Sunday, but give them a greater vision, Lord God, 00:25:57.000 |
to bring the gospel even to these children, that again, 00:26:00.500 |
that they would come to faith early and for many, many years, 00:26:03.000 |
as you have ordained for them to walk on this earth, 00:26:06.000 |
that they would be the light. And so we pray for your grace, 00:26:09.000 |
we pray that even in this offering that we give now, 00:26:12.000 |
may it be filled with your blessing, may it be multiplied 30, 60, 00:26:16.000 |
100 fold for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. 00:26:20.000 |
Alright, let's give them a hand as they go back to their seats. 00:27:23.000 |
Church family, let's all stand together as we come before our God. 00:27:27.000 |
What a joy it is to be able to celebrate these new babies, 00:27:31.000 |
but we are here to honor God who is worthy to be praised. 00:36:38.000 |
We'll be again reading from verse 12 through 16. 00:36:47.000 |
It was at this time that he went off to the mountain to pray 00:36:54.000 |
and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. 00:36:57.000 |
And when they came, he called his disciples to him 00:36:59.000 |
and chose 12 of them whom he also named as apostles. 00:37:03.500 |
12 in whom he also named Peter and Andrew, his brother, 00:37:06.000 |
and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew 00:37:08.000 |
and Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, 00:37:11.000 |
Simon who was called the zealot, Judas the son of James, 00:37:23.000 |
We pray for your word that it would bear fruit in our hearts. 00:37:38.500 |
from 6 to 2, Monday, Tuesday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. 00:37:42.500 |
And so just like we do every time we do that, 00:37:45.500 |
if you are interested or want to help out and bring snacks, 00:37:48.500 |
you can just drop it off at the cafe when you come. 00:37:54.500 |
again, just to encourage them so that they can actually study. 00:37:58.500 |
So you can just take it and drop it off at the cafe. 00:38:02.000 |
All right, this morning we're going to be spending some time 00:38:09.500 |
but there's a reason why I wanted to take some time to talk about him. 00:38:13.500 |
How many of you in this room are middle children? 00:38:22.500 |
Middle children have a reputation of being difficult, strong-headed, 00:38:26.500 |
you know, growing up thinking like life is not fair. 00:38:31.000 |
Maybe some of you don't feel that way, but that's a typical, right? 00:38:34.500 |
If you say middle children, that's kind of like, oh, you know, 00:38:37.500 |
these are the typical things that we would expect of a middle child. 00:38:40.500 |
And I can say that I'm probably the most prototypical middle child. 00:38:44.500 |
The three boys growing up thinking that life is not fair, nobody cares, you know. 00:38:48.500 |
And then if I get in a fight with my older brother, I get in trouble. 00:38:52.500 |
It's like, why are you fighting with your older brother? 00:38:55.500 |
If I fight with my younger brother, why are you fighting with your younger brother? 00:38:59.000 |
So, again, whether that's true or not, like growing up thinking that, 00:39:03.500 |
it's like, oh, life is not fair, I'm like, does anybody care? 00:39:06.500 |
Right? And that's, again, maybe you didn't grow up that way, 00:39:10.500 |
but until I became a Christian, that was like dominant thought in my head. 00:39:14.500 |
And it affected everything that I did, just being angry about everything, 00:39:28.000 |
It's a program that some of us grew up watching back in the '70s and '80s. 00:39:31.500 |
And so there's a character in that TV show named Janet. 00:39:44.500 |
Okay, Jan, and so there's a thing, a statement that she would always say. 00:39:49.500 |
Because she's always complaining that Marsha gets all the attention. 00:39:52.500 |
She's the pretty sister, the older sister, and she always gets jipped. 00:39:56.000 |
And that's the prototypical middle child syndrome, 00:39:59.500 |
that you're always left out, nobody cares, you're not seen, you're not important. 00:40:03.500 |
Now, I say all of this because Andrew is the saint of middle children, right? 00:40:10.500 |
Don't go out and say, "Oh, yeah, I didn't know that." 00:40:13.500 |
Andrew is the neglected disciple that we don't know much about. 00:40:22.000 |
it's actually even more surprising that there's not much mentioned about him. 00:40:27.500 |
In the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, when you look up Andrew, this is what it says. 00:40:32.500 |
The New Testament shows little interest in Andrew. 00:40:44.500 |
But he's the one, he's the first of the disciples. 00:40:50.000 |
Before he, Jesus knew anyway, Andrew was the one who was pointed to Christ, 00:40:56.500 |
and then he goes over there and he gets his older brother, or younger brother, 00:40:59.500 |
we're not exactly sure if he's older or younger, 00:41:03.500 |
In fact, most likely, Andrew was the first one that brought Peter and James and John to Jesus. 00:41:11.500 |
Andrew is known, again, not by many texts, but what little that we do know about Andrew, 00:41:22.500 |
And then after he's introduced, there's not much spoken about him. 00:41:27.500 |
He brings people, like the boy who had the loaves and the fish, Andrew was the one who brought him. 00:41:32.500 |
There's a Greek who wanted to know more about Christ, 00:41:35.500 |
and Andrew was the one who brought him to Jesus. 00:41:38.500 |
And so he's known to be the middleman who connects people to Jesus, 00:41:47.000 |
So, the more, the little information that we do have, 00:41:50.500 |
you would automatically think, like, he, being the first disciple, 00:41:53.500 |
the one who introduced other disciples to him, 00:41:59.500 |
There's three things that I want to cover in this morning, 00:42:03.500 |
and hopefully you'll understand why, at the end of this, 00:42:05.500 |
why I wanted to take some time to consider why this was so important. 00:42:11.500 |
Andrew, first of all, was the disciple of John the Baptist. 00:42:16.500 |
And I'm just going to read this text to you so that you kind of, 00:42:19.000 |
because there's not a whole lot written about Andrew, 00:42:21.000 |
but I want to introduce him to you by reading this text, 00:42:25.000 |
and this is how Andrew shows up at this scene in the Gospels. 00:42:30.000 |
"Again the next day, John was standing," this is John the Baptist, 00:42:33.000 |
"was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, 00:42:39.000 |
The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." 00:42:42.000 |
Now, these two disciples, one of them is going to be clearly identified, Andrew, 00:42:46.000 |
some think that maybe that was John, but we don't know that for sure because he's not identified. 00:42:50.500 |
But we know for sure that it was Andrew because later on it says so. 00:42:54.500 |
"And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, 'What do you seek?' 00:42:57.500 |
They said to him, 'Rabbi,'" which translated means teacher, 00:43:00.500 |
"'where are you staying?' He said to them, 'Come and you will see.' 00:43:06.500 |
and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 00:43:10.500 |
One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon the Baptist." 00:43:17.000 |
"He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, 00:43:20.000 |
'We have found the Messiah,'" which translated means Christ. 00:43:23.000 |
Now, you would think with a beginning like that, Andrew being the first disciple, 00:43:28.000 |
being the disciple of John the Baptist, that he would have a more prominent role. 00:43:33.000 |
In fact, after this happens, you know very little about Andrew 00:43:38.000 |
other than the fact that he's introducing people to Christ. 00:43:41.500 |
John, some people think that maybe James and John were also disciples of John the Baptist, 00:43:51.000 |
We don't know for sure if John was the other person, again, but the Bible never says that. 00:43:56.000 |
But what we do know for a fact is Andrew clearly is identified 00:44:00.000 |
as the one who followed John the Baptist first. 00:44:03.000 |
And he was the first one who recognizes the Messiah, 00:44:07.000 |
and he brings his brother, and most likely the other two as well. 00:44:11.000 |
Now, you have to understand, what does it mean for him to be a disciple of John the Baptist? 00:44:15.500 |
Which means that John started his discipleship before he met Christ. 00:44:21.500 |
All the other disciples began this journey with Christ when they met Jesus. 00:44:27.500 |
John the Baptist, his whole ministry was to prepare for Christ. 00:44:32.500 |
So, we don't know how long he was a disciple of John the Baptist, 00:44:36.500 |
but what we do know is he had training before. 00:44:40.000 |
His whole training was to prepare him for them to meet Jesus. 00:44:45.500 |
That's why when Jesus shows up, he said, "He's the one, he's the Messiah," he just leaves and goes. 00:44:50.500 |
There's no struggling, there's no talk about, like, "Oh, how can I abandon you to go follow him?" 00:44:55.500 |
Because John the Baptist prepared him for that. 00:45:03.500 |
Now, you have to understand, at that particular time, to be a disciple, 00:45:10.500 |
Like, "Oh, we're going to have discipleship programs, we're going to go here, we're going to read this, 00:45:13.500 |
and we're going to give you an assignment and come back and then check up on you." 00:45:18.500 |
Discipleship happened in that period where if someone was being discipled, 00:45:22.500 |
you would leave your home and you would live with that person. 00:45:26.500 |
You would eat with them, travel with them, and whatever happened, 00:45:32.500 |
However they dressed, whatever honor or dishonor they got, you would be a part of that. 00:45:37.000 |
Just like the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, 00:45:39.500 |
John the Baptist's disciples probably did the same thing. 00:45:42.500 |
They left everything to follow him, so Andrew was already committed. 00:45:47.500 |
He didn't leave everything when Jesus showed up. 00:45:50.500 |
He already left everything to be a disciple of John the Baptist. 00:45:54.500 |
John, as you guys know, lived in the wilderness. 00:45:59.500 |
He was a reflection of the Old Testament prophets, especially Elijah. 00:46:04.000 |
Even the way he dressed, as sackcloth and camel's hair with leather belt. 00:46:10.500 |
And he came, and if you know anything about the Old Testament prophets, they suffered. 00:46:16.500 |
God made them do strange things, even be homeless for large periods of time, 00:46:20.500 |
just so that they can convey the message with their life. 00:46:24.500 |
And so John the Baptist was a man who lived a difficult life. 00:46:29.000 |
His whole diet was honey and locusts, living out in the wilderness. 00:46:37.500 |
You know, if you ever see a depiction of Jesus, you'll see him on the cross, 00:46:42.500 |
or you'll see him with his hands stretched out with a halo on the head. 00:46:46.500 |
Probably one of the most affectionate pictures of Jesus is he's sitting, 00:46:50.500 |
and you have children around him, and Jesus is laughing and he's very welcoming. 00:46:58.500 |
But have you ever seen John the Baptist's picture? 00:47:01.500 |
Obviously it's not a picture, it's a depiction. 00:47:04.500 |
What they imagined John the Baptist would be. 00:47:17.500 |
He's always clothed in almost homeless-like clothing. 00:47:25.500 |
that Andrew was prepared for whatever difficulty that was going to come, 00:47:30.500 |
Andrew was the one who was the most prepared to be the disciple of Christ. 00:47:35.500 |
So the fact that he was the first, the fact that he was trained, 00:47:39.500 |
and the fact that he is the one who first brings everybody to him, 00:47:45.500 |
John the Baptist would be the... Andrew would be the leader. 00:47:56.500 |
But he just does his job and it almost disappears. 00:48:09.500 |
Andrew is known more for what is not recorded about him. 00:48:14.500 |
So everything that I deduce about his character 00:48:17.500 |
and who he is in his ministry comes from what's not here. 00:48:24.000 |
Everything significant that we know about Andrew, 00:48:34.000 |
I remember when... because I have four children 00:48:39.000 |
and I remember Zachary when he was a little kid. 00:48:43.000 |
Zachary is kind of kind-hearted. He doesn't like to be mean. 00:48:46.000 |
And so when he would get angry at his brother, 00:48:49.500 |
older brother, and this is before Isaiah came into the world, 00:48:52.000 |
and the way he would convey discontent with his brother, 00:48:56.000 |
he would say, "I like mommy, I like daddy, I like faith." 00:49:01.000 |
And then he would pause and say, "That's it." 00:49:12.000 |
He's like, "I like mommy, I like daddy, I like faith, and that's it." 00:49:19.000 |
By the absence of Jeremy's name on that list, 00:49:24.500 |
So every time I look at the list of the inner core, 00:49:27.500 |
it's kind of like, Jesus chose Peter, James, and John, 00:49:43.500 |
And in the 12 times, the 4 times is just on the list of disciples. 00:49:50.500 |
And of the 8, majority of it is just insignificant, 00:49:54.500 |
it's just passing. Andrew happened to be there. Andrew was also there. 00:49:58.500 |
But everything that we know significant about Andrew, 00:50:08.500 |
In fact, in John 1, 41-42, after Andrew introduces Simon to Jesus, 00:50:17.000 |
"And Andrew introduced his own brother Simon and said to him, 00:50:19.500 |
'We have found the Messiah,'" which translated means Christ, 00:50:22.500 |
"He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 00:50:25.500 |
'You are Simon, son of John; you shall be called Cephas,'" 00:50:33.500 |
and the first thing that Jesus says is like, "Simon, you know, 00:50:46.000 |
I'm going to be your leader." From the get-go. 00:50:48.500 |
There's no record of anything Andrew has done or said that was wrong. 00:50:52.500 |
Outside of he was one of the people who scattered when Jesus went to the cross, 00:50:56.500 |
but there's no record that he did something, he said something. 00:50:59.500 |
He must have done something that disqualified him, 00:51:12.000 |
In Mark chapter 5, verse 37, when a synagogue official's daughter dies, 00:51:17.500 |
Jesus is going to go heal, and he didn't want this to spread, 00:51:23.500 |
And he allowed no one to accompany him except Peter, James, and John. 00:51:35.500 |
This is the most important thing that he's going to reveal to them, 00:51:40.000 |
because they're going to go and tell that this is who Jesus is. 00:51:42.500 |
They're going to hear the voice of God, and it says this, 00:51:45.500 |
"Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, his brother, 00:51:49.500 |
and led them up on a high mountain by themselves." 00:51:55.500 |
He's the first. He was the disciple of John the Baptist. 00:51:58.500 |
He would have been the most qualified, but he's not in the middle. 00:52:02.500 |
Mark chapter 14, 32-33, at the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:52:07.000 |
it says, "They came to a place and named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 00:52:12.500 |
And he took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled." 00:52:19.500 |
Peter, James, and John, repeatedly over and over again. 00:52:31.500 |
In fact, it doesn't stop with Jesus' ministry. 00:52:35.000 |
We get into the New Testament, and Apostle Paul goes to Jerusalem 00:52:41.500 |
He says this, Galatians 2-9, "And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, 00:52:45.500 |
James, and Cephas, and John, James, Peter, and John, 00:52:49.500 |
who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship 00:52:54.500 |
so that we might go to Gentiles, and they to the circumcised." 00:53:02.000 |
In fact, the last time we hear of Andrew is in Acts 1, 00:53:05.500 |
where there's a list of the 11 disciples, and Andrew's name happened to be there. 00:53:10.500 |
And after that, we never hear of Andrew again. 00:53:13.500 |
There's no record of his preaching, there's no record of church planting, 00:53:17.500 |
there's no record of who he discipled, there's no record of anything that he said. 00:53:22.500 |
Outside of what I mentioned to you, that is it. 00:53:31.500 |
Even though it may be something, it's like, oh, it's a mystery, 00:53:34.000 |
you know, maybe we'll know when we get in heaven. 00:53:37.000 |
But I'll bet you, all of you have the same reaction that I do. 00:53:47.000 |
I wonder if there's anybody in this room maybe asking the question, 00:53:51.000 |
"Who cares? Why is this such a big deal? So he's not there, so what?" 00:53:57.000 |
My guess is most of you, just varying degrees, are asking the same question. 00:54:02.500 |
What did Andrew do? Why didn't he get the honor to be in the inner core? 00:54:13.500 |
And they had four, they had two brothers, and they just had to choose one, 00:54:17.500 |
and maybe Andrew just, you know, maybe he volunteered, okay, take me out, I don't know. 00:54:28.000 |
You have two sons of thunder, so you know that these guys are go-getters, right? 00:54:31.500 |
Like, wanted to kill people, and then they want to love people, and so they were go-getters. 00:54:37.500 |
Maybe Andrew was just kind of in the background, maybe he's an introvert. 00:54:42.500 |
But I think it's important for us to question not why is Andrew not there, 00:54:49.500 |
but why does it bother us that he's not there? 00:54:56.000 |
Why do we look at that and say something must have gone wrong, 00:54:59.500 |
because he should have been in that position of honor? 00:55:02.500 |
Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in 1968 in April. 00:55:11.500 |
Two months before his assassination, this is the second of the last sermon that he gives, 00:55:17.500 |
and in this sermon, the title is called "Drum Major's Instinct." 00:55:24.000 |
"Drum Major's Instinct," and this is what he says in this sermon. 00:55:27.500 |
"We all want to be important to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade. 00:55:32.500 |
Alfred Adler, the great psychoanalyst, contends that this is the dominant impulse. 00:55:38.500 |
Sigmund Freud used to contend that sex was the dominant impulse, 00:55:42.500 |
and Adler came with a new argument saying that this quest for recognition, 00:55:46.500 |
this desire for attention, this desire for distinction is the basic impulse, 00:55:52.000 |
the basic drive of human life, this drum major's instinct." 00:55:55.500 |
And he goes on to say that this desire to be recognized, to be distinguished, 00:56:02.500 |
is what was leading to this racial division in the country. 00:56:07.500 |
And then he goes on further in saying the reason behind the war is this drum major's instinct. 00:56:13.500 |
The reason behind our marital problems, the reason behind our family problems, 00:56:20.000 |
all at the core of it is a drum major's instinct. 00:56:23.500 |
This drum major's instinct basically, in summary, is basically wanting to get ahead, 00:56:32.500 |
Even though the teaching of Christ repeatedly over and over and over, 00:56:40.500 |
and the example that Jesus gives is to overthrow the paradigm in this world to be better. 00:56:49.000 |
And from the moment that we are born, what kind of child is he going to be? 00:56:54.500 |
In the Korean community, you have this "donjabi" thing, and then you choose, right? 00:56:58.500 |
You're going to be a doctor, you're going to be a businessman, you're going to be a pastor, right? 00:57:04.500 |
But most of those careers are things that we consider to be honorable. 00:57:13.500 |
"Oh, he's going to become this person, or a blue collar worker." 00:57:17.000 |
We put that out there. We put that out there because we want to see, oh, what potential? 00:57:20.500 |
Because now they're brand new, so what potential of honor are they going to choose? 00:57:26.500 |
And from the moment that they're born, we're training them. 00:57:30.500 |
We don't want them to get behind. Other kids are learning piano, other kids are playing sports. 00:57:34.500 |
We don't want them to get behind, so we want to train them so that they can compete, so that they can be better. 00:57:40.500 |
We want to make sure that they're speaking when they're supposed to speak, 00:57:46.000 |
socializing when they're supposed to socialize. 00:57:48.500 |
And just subconsciously, we start talking, "Oh, when did your kid start walking?" 00:57:56.500 |
"Oh, my kid could put sentence together at one and a half." 00:57:59.500 |
"Oh, they started reading when they were two." 00:58:04.500 |
And so subconsciously, we're feeding that drum major's instinct. 00:58:11.000 |
Things that we had, and we projected on our children. 00:58:14.500 |
What school did they go to? What was their major? 00:58:24.500 |
And so this drum major's instinct is so deeply embedded in us. 00:58:27.500 |
Even though we know passage after passage after passage after passage, 00:58:34.500 |
Jesus says over and over and over again, "He who is first shall be last." 00:58:40.500 |
The very last thing that Jesus told his disciples, 00:58:43.000 |
he got on his feet, humiliated himself, and washed their feet, and said, 00:58:46.000 |
"If you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must be like this." 00:59:05.000 |
Matthew 23, 6-12, or 11-12, "But the greatest among you shall be your servant." 00:59:10.000 |
"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." 00:59:15.500 |
Matthew 18, 1-4, at the time the disciples came to Jesus and said, 00:59:19.500 |
"Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 00:59:22.500 |
And he called the child to himself and said to him before them, and said, 00:59:25.500 |
"Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children." 00:59:34.500 |
From this pride and wanting to get ahead, to compete, to compare, and to collect. 00:59:39.500 |
This desire to make sure that I'm a little bit better, I'm acknowledged, 00:59:45.000 |
that we're going to do these things. If I invest my 20's, I'll be honored in my 30's. 00:59:48.000 |
If I invest my 30's, I'll be honored in my 40's. 00:59:58.000 |
To convert from that way of thinking and take on the form of a child who has no honor. 01:00:11.000 |
Or, "Not intelligent." He's talking about children who have no honor. 01:00:17.000 |
Unless he is converted to be like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 01:00:21.000 |
Whoever humbles himself as a child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 01:00:26.000 |
It goes opposite of everything that we do since we're born. 01:00:37.500 |
We're fighting against what God is trying to do with us. 01:00:41.000 |
Matthew 20, 27, 28, "And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave." 01:00:47.000 |
Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. 01:00:52.000 |
We're following a Christ who constantly teaches us to humble himself, to empty yourself, 01:00:57.000 |
to become nothing, to be a servant, pick up your own cross, deny your own life, and follow me. 01:01:03.500 |
We sing this, we praise this, we memorize this. 01:01:08.000 |
And then yet, our pattern of life goes exactly against it. 01:01:12.000 |
So the question that we have to wrestle with is not, "Why did Andrew not get the distinction?" 01:01:21.000 |
But the question we have to ask is, "Why does that bother me?" 01:01:27.500 |
Why do we look at that and say, "Something has gone wrong because Andrew is not part of the three." 01:01:36.000 |
And the reason why so many people in our generation, the feminists, have taken over and saying 01:01:43.000 |
that it's not fair that women are not able to have positions of honor in the church. 01:01:49.000 |
Because in their mind, the secular worldview has penetrated into their thought, 01:01:55.500 |
thinking because if men are leading, then the woman is not as valued. 01:02:01.000 |
The only way that they can be valued is if they're in the front and they're leading. 01:02:08.000 |
The teaching of Christ is the one who serves, the one who is humble, 01:02:12.000 |
the one who is serving is the one who is greatest in the kingdom of God. 01:02:16.000 |
So the fact that it bothers people is not kingdom value. 01:02:21.500 |
It's the world's value that causes them to reject or receive certain things in the scripture. 01:02:27.000 |
In fact, in our church, we try not to use the word "leader" 01:02:34.000 |
because we don't want to implant in people's heads that the goal of discipleship is to make you a leader. 01:02:43.000 |
And then you begin to compete and compare, "I did this," and train for you to be a leader, 01:02:48.500 |
to rise, to be the cream of the crop, so that you can have positions of honor. 01:02:54.000 |
And we're deliberately trying not to use those terms because our goal is to become more like Christ. 01:03:01.000 |
So that if anything, as you mature and be sanctified, you become better servants. 01:03:07.000 |
To be up in the front and to be recognized is not that hard. 01:03:13.000 |
As much as everybody, whether it's at work or anywhere else, like if you work hard enough, 01:03:18.000 |
you're going to be at the top. It's not that hard. 01:03:26.500 |
If you're articulate and you went to school and you have certain gifts, you can be in the front. 01:03:33.500 |
In fact, people will put you in the front. People will ask you to be in the front. 01:03:38.500 |
So it is not difficult if you have certain things that you're good at. 01:03:45.000 |
But to be in the background and serving faithfully without recognition, it challenges the core of who we are. 01:03:54.500 |
And to do it consistently for a long period of time without honor requires buffeting of our pride, humility, requires character. 01:04:05.500 |
To be up in the front, if you've done it for a while, you have education, you have certain gifting, 01:04:12.000 |
you're able to do this and you happen to be a good salesman. 01:04:15.500 |
A good salesman who's articulate, who has a seminary degree and who likes to read can do what I'm doing. 01:04:22.500 |
It can be copied. In fact, in seminary it was a common thing to say good preachers are a dime a dozen. 01:04:29.500 |
And I remember that's very humbling as a preacher. 01:04:32.500 |
It's like good preachers are a dime a dozen. Everybody's trying to be a good preacher and they say it's a dime a dozen. 01:04:36.500 |
And I can tell you from experience, it's absolutely right. 01:04:41.500 |
Just some people may be just better storytelling. Some people may be better articulate or more compassionate or more knowledgeable. 01:04:48.000 |
Whatever that may be, good preachers are a dime a dozen. 01:04:51.000 |
When I go to conferences, again, because I'm a preacher myself, 01:04:58.000 |
the people that I get the most blessed by are not the ones up in the front giving instructions and teaching. 01:05:05.000 |
Because I'm a preacher. I know it doesn't require character to do this. 01:05:10.500 |
Even though God requires it, but humanly speaking, there's plenty of people who lie in beds of money, 01:05:18.000 |
who are adulterous, struggling with impurity, all kinds of sin, and they are great at reading and leading and teaching. 01:05:28.000 |
In fact, the better you are at it, the more benefits you have. 01:05:35.500 |
You write books, you get more money, you travel, people treat you like a celebrity, 01:05:41.000 |
they come get your signature, your church is growing, everybody wants to model after you, 01:05:46.000 |
and they treat you with honor wherever you go. 01:05:48.000 |
And then you get paid for it, you get financially compensated for that because you're so good at it. 01:05:53.000 |
But to be a faithful servant in the background without honor requires humility. 01:06:00.500 |
To be able to serve others without recognition requires a bearing of your own cross. 01:06:07.000 |
It requires love that the world does not understand. It requires a peace that the world cannot give. 01:06:15.000 |
To be faithful and serving Christ for a long period of time without grumbling requires a much higher calling. 01:06:23.500 |
When measured by the standard of this world, Andrew was gypped. 01:06:31.000 |
Why didn't he get that position? He never got to write scripture. We don't know much about him. 01:06:38.000 |
By the standard of the drum major's instinct, he never got to strike the drum even once. 01:06:45.500 |
But Andrew is the perfect example of a man that Christ called us to be. 01:06:53.000 |
He did his job and then just went home. The end. 01:07:00.000 |
God didn't call us to leave a legacy because Christ already left a legacy. 01:07:06.000 |
God didn't call us so that we can have distinction because Christ already left a distinction. 01:07:12.500 |
So the calling that he's given us is to point to Christ, introduce people to Christ, and then to go home. 01:07:20.000 |
We may look at that and say, "Well, how come he never got honored?" Again, that's the world's perspective. 01:07:26.000 |
Can any one of us say that Andrew got gypped when he was at home with his Heavenly Father? 01:07:36.500 |
He never promised glory here. He never promised honor here. In fact, he said exactly the opposite. 01:07:43.000 |
Because they did not know me, they will not know you. Because they rejected me, they will reject you. 01:07:50.000 |
He said, "You are heading toward a difficult life because of me." 01:07:56.000 |
Yet everything inside of us fights against that, praising Jesus for that, teaching people for doing that. 01:08:03.500 |
Yet with every ounce of energy, we fight against what he tells us. 01:08:08.000 |
Andrew did his job and then just went home. He just went home. 01:08:22.000 |
Andrew's name, his name itself, means manly or strong. 01:08:29.500 |
Especially in our culture today, like, you know, it's like, "Oh, what is manly?" 01:08:33.000 |
It's like toxic masculinity and they say all this stuff, but Andrew, his name was a man. 01:08:40.000 |
We don't know much about him, but church tradition says that he went north when everybody else kind of scattered 01:08:47.000 |
all the way up to Russia and possibly to Scotland. 01:08:50.000 |
And Andrew ended up converting some Roman official's wife, and he got so angry, 01:08:56.500 |
they tried to get her to recant and she would not, so they ended up crucifying him. 01:09:00.000 |
And even as he is hanging on the cross for two days, you know, typically when somebody is hung on the cross, 01:09:07.000 |
it was meant to torture, and it was not an easy and quick death. 01:09:12.000 |
Jesus died almost instantly that day, but that cross was not made for that. 01:09:16.000 |
The cross was made to prolong your suffering. 01:09:19.000 |
And the accounts say that some people who were hanging on the cross lasted there over a week. 01:09:27.500 |
Andrew was hanging on the cross and it took him two days to suffocate and die. 01:09:32.500 |
And it says, according to church account, it says for two days he preached the gospel to everyone who was coming by. 01:09:41.500 |
Most people know about Peter hanging upside down. 01:09:44.500 |
We know about John who was trying to be boiled, you know, we know about the beheading. 01:09:55.000 |
Because Andrew was the man that he called us to be. 01:09:59.500 |
We have a tendency to look to Moses, to David, to Peter, to Paul, and we emulate them. 01:10:07.500 |
But if you look carefully at scripture, Christ calls us to be Andrew. 01:10:13.500 |
We have celebrities and we have these big men, these scholars, we have mega churches, 01:10:19.000 |
but majority of church history, majority of church, majority of mission are done by people like Andrew. 01:10:25.500 |
Who just faithfully serve in the background and when it's time to go home, they just went home. 01:10:33.500 |
You could already tell that Andrew was a good disciple. 01:10:44.000 |
Because just like John the Baptist, he started out his ministry by saying, 01:10:48.500 |
"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 01:10:50.500 |
But after Jesus shows up, what does John say? 01:10:56.500 |
When Jesus shows up, he says, "He must increase and I must decrease." 01:11:06.500 |
Some people were thinking that maybe he's the Messiah, maybe he's Elijah. 01:11:12.000 |
But you see, as soon as Jesus shows up, he says, "He must increase, I must decrease." 01:11:17.500 |
He did such a good job with Andrew and that's exactly what Andrew does. 01:11:22.500 |
He introduces people to Christ and he goes to the background and then he goes home. 01:11:43.500 |
That desire for drummer's instinct, drummer major's instinct is killing us. 01:11:55.500 |
Even though we're training our children with Sunday school lessons, 01:11:59.500 |
but by the way we're raising them is so that they can compete and win in this rat race. 01:12:10.500 |
Do our children really know that even if they win, they lose? 01:12:15.000 |
Do they really know that by the way that we're raising our children? 01:12:20.000 |
Are we teaching them what the Bible says and showing them what the world teaches? 01:12:40.000 |
Work hard to point to Christ and then just go home. 01:13:01.000 |
I don't want to go to a church filled with this Peter. 01:13:08.000 |
I know the good in me, but I'm also very aware of the bad in me. 01:13:13.000 |
I would hate to disciple you to become just like me. 01:13:18.000 |
But I would in no shame with a clear conscience wish that this church is filled with Andrews. 01:13:30.000 |
Serve faithfully, quietly, without grumbling, point to Christ. 01:13:35.000 |
And when our job is over, go home and look for glory up there, not here. 01:13:52.500 |
Lord, we thank you so much for the example of our brother Andrew. 01:13:59.000 |
Without glory, without honor, without distinction, how he faithfully served you and received his reward in heaven. 01:14:14.500 |
To be strong and manly, to point to Christ that we would not receive the glory, that we would not receive the distinction, but Christ and Christ alone. 01:14:26.000 |
Help us, Lord God, to build a church that the next generation will follow. 01:18:21.500 |
Thus says the God Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, 01:18:25.500 |
who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, 01:18:31.500 |
I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness. 01:18:34.500 |
I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you. 01:18:37.500 |
And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, 01:18:42.000 |
to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from dungeon 01:18:44.500 |
and those who dwell in darkness from the prison. 01:18:50.500 |
I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images. 01:18:55.500 |
Help us, Lord God, to see the example of Christ, 01:18:59.500 |
that we would not desire or touch your glory. 01:19:03.500 |
Help us simply to be servants that points to Christ, that introduces Christ, 01:19:10.000 |
whether it is our family, our children, our neighbors, our friends, 01:19:13.500 |
that they would know that the hope is in Christ and Christ alone. 01:19:18.500 |
Wherever you send us, help us, Lord God, to be the aroma of Christ. 01:19:56.500 |
An empty grave is there to put my Savior's lips. 01:20:36.000 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.