back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 11.26.23
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Scripture says in Colossians 3:12 and verse 17, 00:01:54.040 |
holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, 00:01:57.600 |
kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 00:02:10.840 |
may we give thanks to Jesus, who is our humble King, 00:02:16.080 |
and is compassionate to the weak and to those in need, 00:07:02.320 |
We have a bit of announcements before we get started. 00:07:05.320 |
First of all, Pastor Mark announced last Sunday 00:07:08.320 |
that we are adding a third service to our worship service 00:07:14.320 |
because we're trying to make more space with a growing church. 00:07:17.320 |
And so the service times are 8 o'clock, 9.30, and 11.30 a.m. 00:07:25.320 |
there is no children's or education department. 00:07:29.320 |
So a lot of the younger people who, you know, 00:07:33.320 |
we're asking you to come to the 8 o'clock service. 00:07:35.320 |
And then our main education department is gonna be at 11.30. 00:07:39.320 |
so we're gonna have to postpone that to 11.30. 00:07:41.320 |
And then there's some nursery and just early, K through 2, 00:07:50.320 |
most of you prefer going to the 9.30 service, 00:07:55.320 |
you're gonna have to bring your children to the 11.30 service. 00:07:59.320 |
And then if possible, to choose the 8 o'clock, 00:08:08.320 |
So, you know, years ago when we added our second service, 00:08:11.320 |
this is more than probably 10 or 12 years ago, 00:08:13.320 |
it took us several years to kind of get comfortable 00:08:16.320 |
and make sure that we have all the services filled 00:08:41.320 |
that we're gonna be doing, 8, 9.30, and 11.30. 00:08:46.320 |
If you--like, 8 o'clock service, if you notice, 00:08:49.320 |
there's the time between 8 and 9.30 is one and a half hours. 00:09:02.320 |
So next time you say, "Hey, your sermon's too long," 00:09:05.320 |
I'm gonna say, "8 o'clock for you then," okay? 00:09:07.320 |
'Cause we're gonna try to keep it a little bit shorter 00:09:09.320 |
in order for us to be able to get the people out 00:09:13.320 |
So the service is gonna be a little bit shorter. 00:09:16.320 |
We're not gonna be having baptism in that service, 00:09:18.320 |
and so it's--again, if you want to come, okay, 00:09:28.320 |
if you're been married less than three years, 00:09:45.320 |
we haven't had this in a while just because of space, 00:09:50.320 |
And again, I'm not sure if we're gonna be able 00:09:55.320 |
that's happening on December 10th from 1 to 3, 00:10:02.320 |
The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children. 00:10:06.320 |
It's gonna be held in the sanctuary as much as possible, 00:10:29.320 |
or you can go online and sign up directly online, okay? 00:10:33.320 |
Also, New Year's this year is falling on Sunday, 00:10:38.320 |
and so we'll have our New Year regular Sunday service, 00:10:48.320 |
we have an annual ping-pong tournament that takes place, 00:10:55.320 |
and again, the last day to sign up for that is December 24th, okay? 00:11:03.320 |
we have, I think, three more weeks left for this session, right? 00:11:06.320 |
And then after that, there's a little bit of break. 00:11:11.320 |
and the next Galatians is gonna start on February 7th, 00:11:14.320 |
so there's a whole month of January is gonna be off, 00:11:20.320 |
and so that time is gonna be used to kind of, like, 00:11:31.320 |
we need to know how many small group leaders, 00:11:35.320 |
so if you guys are planning to come to the Bible study, 00:11:42.320 |
That'll help us to organize what we need, okay? 00:11:54.320 |
you need to turn it in by December 10th, okay? 00:11:58.320 |
So they need to take it to where they're gonna take it to, 00:12:00.320 |
but the last day to turn that in is December 10th, okay? 00:12:13.320 |
give his testimony, and be baptized this morning. 00:12:20.320 |
Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have 00:12:23.320 |
to be able to come and call you our Abba Father, 00:12:28.320 |
to thank you, Father God, for your goodness in our lives. 00:12:34.320 |
if we've come into this room entangled with civilian affairs. 00:12:38.320 |
Help us, Lord, to live a life truly fixated on Christ, 00:12:49.320 |
Help us, Lord God, to fight against a sense of duty, 00:14:06.320 |
- Let us all rise and before we continue on the service, if we could spend a few moments 00:14:55.740 |
I'd like to read from Philippians chapter 2 verse 9, line 2, 11. 00:14:59.740 |
"For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above 00:15:04.500 |
every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven 00:15:09.540 |
and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ 00:15:29.740 |
All hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall. 00:15:39.740 |
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. 00:15:53.740 |
Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. 00:16:13.740 |
He comes in seed of Israel's grace, he ransomed from the fall. 00:16:24.740 |
Hail him who saves you by his grace and crowned him Lord of all. 00:16:38.740 |
Hail him who saves you by his grace and crowned him Lord of all. 00:16:57.740 |
Let every kindred, let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial hall. 00:17:09.740 |
To him all majesty ascribe and crown him Lord of all. 00:17:41.740 |
Oh that with yonder, oh that with yonder sacred throng, we at his feet may fall. 00:17:54.740 |
We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all. 00:18:07.740 |
We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all. 00:18:31.740 |
Romans 11 verse 33 goes, "Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. 00:18:37.740 |
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways." 00:18:58.740 |
You are beautiful, you are beautiful beyond description. 00:19:07.740 |
Too marvelous for words, too wonderful for comprehension. 00:19:27.740 |
Who can grasp your infinite wisdom? Who can fathom the depths of your love? 00:19:40.740 |
You are beautiful beyond description. Majesty enthroned above. 00:19:54.740 |
I stand, I stand in awe of you. Lord I stand, I stand in awe of you. 00:20:07.740 |
Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe of you. 00:20:30.740 |
You are beautiful, you are beautiful beyond description. 00:20:46.740 |
Agony, deep affliction. Cut off that I might enter in. 00:20:58.740 |
Who can grasp such tender compassion? Who can fathom your mercy so free? 00:21:12.740 |
You are beautiful beyond description. Lamb of God, you died for me. 00:21:24.740 |
I stand, I stand, I stand in awe of you. Lord I stand, I stand in awe of you. 00:21:39.740 |
Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe, I stand, I stand in awe of you. 00:21:56.740 |
I stand, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe of you. 00:22:52.740 |
I'm currently a junior attending California State University Long Beach. 00:22:57.740 |
Now you may find that my testimony starts much like many of yours. 00:23:02.740 |
I grew up in a Christian household, attending church every Sunday and participating in Vacation Bible School, otherwise known as VBS. 00:23:10.740 |
My family and I would do the typical things like pray before meals and live according to Christian values. 00:23:17.740 |
However, throughout all of this I failed to understand what being a Christian truly meant. 00:23:24.740 |
In the years before college, I can say that my life appeared good from a worldly perspective, but it lacked a connection with Christ. 00:23:32.740 |
Throughout my middle school and high school years, I was constantly controlled by my own heart. 00:23:38.740 |
This led me to live a life full of sin, greed, and hate. 00:23:43.740 |
I continuously lied, stole, and gave into my lustful desires, believing the things of this world would satisfy me. 00:23:52.740 |
During those times, I would often feel regret and helplessness, and almost every day I was plagued with depression and loneliness. 00:23:59.740 |
In high school, I took pride in proclaiming myself a Christian. 00:24:03.740 |
My friends would often call me "the Christian boy" because I refrained from swearing and participating in their activities. 00:24:11.740 |
I took pride in this, believing that I was holier, better, and just. 00:24:15.740 |
I made many things into idols, including tennis, video games, and people. 00:24:21.740 |
However, deep down, my actions were never truly aligned with my faith in Christ. 00:24:26.740 |
I was one of those Christians who knew of God, but never truly knew God. 00:24:31.740 |
A Sunday Christian, someone who appeared devout on Sundays, but lived differently the rest of the week. 00:24:38.740 |
Despite this, deep in my heart, there was still a curiosity and a desire to know more. 00:24:45.740 |
When the pandemic hit, I became harboring self-hatred and convinced myself I was a failure in all aspects. 00:24:52.740 |
During my junior year, I would constantly compare myself to my friends' academic achievements. 00:24:57.740 |
This feeling of inadequacy and isolation intensified. 00:25:02.740 |
Senior year brought further challenges, with college rejections. 00:25:06.740 |
These setbacks devastated me, and I remember I would plead with God nightly, questioning why I seemed to be failing. 00:25:13.740 |
I grew resentful towards God for not making me smarter and making life seemingly harder for me. 00:25:19.740 |
I ignored my own gifts and fixated on what I lacked. 00:25:23.740 |
Throughout all of that, though, a verse that resonated with me at the time was Isaiah 40, 29. 00:25:30.740 |
"He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, he increases power." 00:25:35.740 |
Despite frequently repeating this verse, I needed help to internalize its message. 00:25:41.740 |
As my life continued and I entered college, that desire grew to a point where I was desperately searching for a Christian community. 00:25:48.740 |
Through God's grace and his plan for me, I found Asian American Christian Fellowship, AACF, 00:25:54.740 |
where I encountered God's love and his promises for me. 00:26:01.740 |
For the first time in my life, I found a group of people who were all seeking to understand what it truly meant to be a Christian and have real faith. 00:26:10.740 |
As I spent countless hours with them, I began to grasp the true meaning of placing all of our hope in Christ. 00:26:16.740 |
My desire to know Christ grew exponentially, and I frequently found myself turning to the Lord with my struggles and sins. 00:26:24.740 |
Every day, I began to witness God's mercy and blessings in my life. 00:26:28.740 |
My perspective on the Bible shifted from "How does God's word relate to me?" to "How can I apply God's word in my life?" 00:26:36.740 |
Through this transformation, I came to realize that Jesus is, indeed, my Lord and Savior, and I am utterly dependent on him and his strength. 00:26:44.740 |
Over time, I gained a clear understanding that Jesus died and suffered, bearing all my sins, but rose again, defeating death. 00:26:51.740 |
By putting my dependence on Jesus, I have learned what it truly means to repent and turn towards him. 00:26:57.740 |
This newfound reliance and acceptance of God has made me more intentional in my interactions with everyone around me. 00:27:04.740 |
I walk alongside my brothers and sisters in their spiritual journeys, being poured into and pouring out to those around me. 00:27:11.740 |
I can say that I have grown in my desire to read the word, not for personal improvement or knowledge acquisition, but because I desire a deeper relationship with Christ. 00:27:22.740 |
In prayer, I now understand all the gifts and blessings he has provided for me, which I was previously ignorant of. 00:27:29.740 |
Thus, over the past three years, I have learned what it truly means to surrender everything to him. 00:27:36.740 |
As Matthew 16, 24-25 states, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 00:27:45.740 |
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." 00:27:53.740 |
While I am still in the process of learning and growing in my faith, I hope to share the love and joy that God has bestowed upon me with others, and in the end, glorifying him. 00:28:04.740 |
Reading the Bible has transformed from a chore to an enriching experience, and as my testimony continues to evolve each day, 00:28:11.740 |
I may not fully comprehend God's plan for me, but I have learned to place my trust in him, recognizing that his truths transcend my own understanding. 00:28:21.740 |
I have found joy and satisfaction through the Lord, and I couldn't be more glad. 00:28:26.740 |
And so today, I am getting baptized to proclaim to the whole world that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Thank you. 00:28:43.740 |
Listen, do you understand when you go into the water, you are being united with Christ's death, and when you come out, you are being united to his resurrected life? 00:28:58.740 |
And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:29:16.740 |
All right, thank you, Justin, for that encouraging testimony. 00:29:19.740 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 6, verse 46 through 49. 00:29:29.740 |
Reading out of the NASB, it says, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 00:29:37.740 |
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like. 00:29:43.740 |
He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. 00:29:47.740 |
And when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 00:29:54.740 |
But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built the house on the ground without any foundation. 00:30:01.740 |
And the torrent burst against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great." 00:30:12.740 |
We pray for your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, that we may understand more than just your words, Lord God, 00:30:20.740 |
I pray that you will bless us and guide us and teach us. 00:30:28.740 |
We call them core books of our church, and those of you who have been at our church for a while already know what they are. 00:30:34.740 |
At the beginning of the church, probably the first 10 years of the church, this was a mandatory reading in our church. 00:30:39.740 |
And so after you took membership, we made sure that every single person in our church read this in small groups. 00:30:45.740 |
And the reason why I want to introduce them to you is because of the size of the church and growth of the church, 00:30:51.740 |
we weren't able to keep track, but we highly encourage you guys to read this. 00:30:55.740 |
The reason why there's only three, there's many good books to read, 00:30:58.740 |
but the reason why we chose these three as the foundational books for our church is that if you don't understand it, 00:31:04.740 |
or if you disagree with it, you're going to have a problem or have a difficult time accepting why we do what we do. 00:31:15.740 |
So I want to introduce you to these three books. 00:31:22.740 |
And our first vision in our church is God-centered worship. 00:31:26.740 |
And basically what that means is our primary purpose of gathering is not to make sure that your felt needs are taken care of, 00:31:33.740 |
that you have the best experience in the church as possible. 00:31:39.740 |
We're hoping that it would be a byproduct of what we do, but our primary goal is how do we honor God? 00:31:49.740 |
Every decision that we make, every value that we have is God-centered. 00:31:52.740 |
So what this book teaches is about his holiness. 00:31:55.740 |
God established all throughout the Old Testament, even before Christ comes to be sacrificed, 00:32:02.740 |
In order to understand why Jesus had to do what he had to do. 00:32:06.740 |
And so if we have a misunderstanding of who he is, or lack of understanding of who he is, 00:32:11.740 |
and because of that we have an incomplete understanding of where we stand with God, 00:32:16.740 |
then everything that we do from that point on isn't going to make sense. 00:32:19.740 |
It's like kind of pouring water into a bucket that has a hole in it. 00:32:23.740 |
So this book helps us establish that, the holiness of God. 00:32:27.740 |
The second book is from MacArthur, "Gospel According to Jesus." 00:32:32.740 |
And this book basically goes over lordship salvation. 00:32:36.740 |
Meaning that the main reason why I'm introducing these books is because of the topic that we're talking about today, 00:32:43.740 |
And so once we understand our salvation in light of that we've rebelled against God, 00:32:48.740 |
and God restores us, that we may come under submission again to worship a holy God. 00:32:54.740 |
And then "Gospel According to Jesus" is, salvation isn't simply that he erased the penalty of our sins so that we can live life freely. 00:33:03.740 |
According to the scriptures, that God saves us, that we may again serve a new master. 00:33:10.740 |
We were at once slaves to sin, but now he made us slaves to righteousness. 00:33:16.740 |
And so this book helps us to understand, going scripture passage by passage, what lordship salvation looks like. 00:33:22.740 |
Lordship is not mandated in scripture for justification, but true saving faith will always lead to Christ as Lord. 00:33:32.740 |
And then the third book is "The Master's Plan for the Church." 00:33:36.740 |
And so this is like, if Christ is our Lord, where does that get expressed? 00:33:43.740 |
A Christian who says that Christ is Lord, and who does not understand or practice lordship in the context of the church, 00:33:53.740 |
You can say, you know, I have this personal relationship with God, but if you look at the scripture carefully, 00:33:59.740 |
where the expression of our relationship with God is expressed is primarily through the church. 00:34:05.740 |
So everything that we do is to be done through the church, whether it's homeless ministry, whether it's through missions, 00:34:11.740 |
whether it's outreach, community, family building, all of it was given to us that we may practice this within the context of the church. 00:34:18.740 |
And so this book helps us to understand that. 00:34:20.740 |
So this is the reason why we've introduced this book at the very beginning of our church, 00:34:25.740 |
in order to help disciple our church to make sure that we're on the same page. 00:34:29.740 |
If you come with a different view, or maybe, "Hey, I don't agree with some of that." 00:34:33.740 |
And one of the main reasons why you may listen to something and then say certain decisions that are being made, 00:34:38.740 |
"Why do we have to do it that way?" is because either you don't understand this, 00:34:42.740 |
or maybe you are in disagreement with some of the stuff here. 00:34:45.740 |
Again, I say all of this because we're looking at a text where Jesus is calling out people who are calling him Lord, Lord, 00:34:52.740 |
and yet not practicing. In other words, it was just lip service. 00:34:56.740 |
In Acts 2.36, it says, "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God had made him both Lord and Christ." 00:35:05.740 |
This Jesus whom you crucified, he was made to be Lord and Christ. 00:35:12.740 |
He's not just our Savior. The reason why he's our Savior is because him saving us from our sin 00:35:18.740 |
establishes him as Lord over our lives. So you cannot call Christ your Savior if he is not your Lord. 00:35:26.740 |
Romans 10.9, it says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, 00:35:31.740 |
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." 00:35:36.740 |
When he says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord," 00:35:39.740 |
obviously he's not saying people who say those magical words. 00:35:42.740 |
If you speak English and you happen to put those words in a sentence, that somehow magically you're saved. 00:35:48.740 |
Obviously that's not what he's saying. He's saying somebody who establishes and recognizes Christ's Lordship over them. 00:35:54.740 |
That it is no longer your life to live, but that you and I have been purchased by the blood of Christ, so now we belong to him. 00:36:00.740 |
And so he says, "He who confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, 00:36:05.740 |
and believe in your heart that he was crucified and raised from the dead, 00:36:10.740 |
in order to establish him as Lord," he says, "he will be saved." 00:36:14.740 |
This morning we're going to be looking at this text of verse 46 to 49. 00:36:17.740 |
There's three things about Lordship that I want to talk about. 00:36:20.740 |
One is that Lordship requires more than lip service. 00:36:24.740 |
Second, Lordship requires coming, hearing, and doing his word. 00:36:31.740 |
And third, Lordship ultimately will be tested. 00:36:35.740 |
So first of all, Lordship requires more than simple lip service. 00:36:40.740 |
Verse 46 says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" 00:36:45.740 |
One of the questions that I asked on Facebook last night, 00:36:50.740 |
if you don't know, I put up questions there before I come so that you'll be familiar with the text, 00:36:54.740 |
so that the text that we're going to be looking at will make more sense to you. 00:36:57.740 |
And the question that I asked is, "Why does he repeat himself and say, 'Those who call me Lord, Lord'?" 00:37:05.740 |
The reason why things are said in repetition in the New Testament is for the purpose of emphasis. 00:37:11.740 |
So when Jesus has something very important to say to Peter, what does he say? 00:37:15.740 |
"Peter, Peter." "Simon, Simon." He's not stuttering. 00:37:18.740 |
That's the New Testament way to get your attention, pay attention. 00:37:24.740 |
When he had something really important to say, what would he say? 00:37:27.740 |
"Truly, truly I say to you," for the purpose of emphasis. 00:37:31.740 |
Not to say that everything else he's saying is not important, but he's saying pay attention. 00:37:35.740 |
If you're just kind of haphazardly listening to what I'm saying, you're going to miss the point. 00:37:40.740 |
So when he says, someone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," 00:37:43.740 |
he's not referring to somebody who's just passively saying, "Oh, Lord, you're my teacher, you're my director, you're my pastor," 00:37:50.740 |
or whatever that first century Jews would have said. 00:37:54.740 |
He's talking about people who are convinced that he is Lord. 00:37:59.740 |
"Lord, Lord." They were absolutely confident that if you asked them, "Where do you stand with God?" 00:38:08.740 |
So when he's saying, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord?" 00:38:11.740 |
He's not referring to necessarily simply people who are just kind of saying it haphazardly. 00:38:21.740 |
There's many people in the church who are absolutely convinced that they've done something and said something 00:38:27.740 |
at some point in their lives and they're absolutely convinced that I'm a follower of Christ. 00:38:35.740 |
"Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?" 00:38:43.740 |
You mean it in your heart, but it's not being done. 00:38:52.740 |
These are people who may be obedient or at least going through and picking and choosing what is beneficial to them, 00:39:00.740 |
And so as a result of that, the very core things that God desires of them, they don't obey. 00:39:05.740 |
I think a good example for this, illustration of this, is again, if I was to, you know, 00:39:11.740 |
me and Esther was to leave the home and say, "Hey, we're going to leave you $1,000 to my oldest son 00:39:16.740 |
and say this money is given to you so that you can take care of your siblings." 00:39:20.740 |
Then after, you know, a month goes by, I come back and I find out that he used that money for himself. 00:39:28.740 |
He said, "Well, you know, I made sure, you know, that the house was clean, the trash was taken out, 00:39:38.740 |
I'm asking you what you do with the $1,000 that I gave you." 00:39:46.740 |
And he said, "Well, you may have done all of that, but the central thing that I asked you to do 00:39:50.740 |
is use that money for your siblings, but you did not." 00:39:55.740 |
Many people who call me Lord, Lord are not disobedient to everything. 00:40:00.740 |
They're just selective as to what they choose to obey. 00:40:05.740 |
In Matthew 23, 23-25, Jesus says to the Pharisees and the scribes, 00:40:09.740 |
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 00:40:11.740 |
For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, 00:40:15.740 |
justice and mercy and faithfulness, but these are things you should have done 00:40:24.740 |
The problem wasn't with the other things that they were doing. 00:40:27.740 |
It's just that you chose to highlight the things that are easier to do, but the weightier matters. 00:40:34.740 |
The matters that he was just talking about in the previous text, to love your enemies, 00:40:39.740 |
to practice the kind of love that Jesus practiced with us. 00:40:43.740 |
When it comes to the weightier things, you say, "Well, but I gave this and I've done that." 00:40:48.740 |
But when it comes to the central thing that I asked you to do, you said you neglected it. 00:40:52.740 |
You blind guides who strain out the net and swallow the camel, 00:40:55.740 |
woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! 00:40:58.740 |
For you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, 00:41:01.740 |
but inside they are full of robbery and of self-indulgence. 00:41:06.740 |
You know, in the Old Testament, God wanted to make sure that lordship was properly established. 00:41:12.740 |
And so he embedded into the law of Israel the tithing. 00:41:20.740 |
And tithing was specifically tied to recognition of lordship. 00:41:25.740 |
And in tithing, he said, "Not at the end, not after you've done all the harvest 00:41:30.740 |
and you've used all your money, and then see whatever is left over and to give to him." 00:41:36.740 |
To recognize first and foremost, before you did anything else, 00:41:40.740 |
you need to recognize that this belongs to God, this is not yours. 00:41:44.740 |
And that whatever it is that you have left over, it is to use to glorify God. 00:41:49.740 |
But if you refuse to recognize God in the beginning, 00:41:53.740 |
you for sure not recognize God in the middle or at the end. 00:41:57.740 |
And so that's why he embedded this into the law. 00:42:00.740 |
And some people say, "Well, you know, in the New Testament, we're not commanded to do this." 00:42:06.740 |
The word tithing is not used in the New Testament. 00:42:08.740 |
It says to give generously, but it's not used in the New Testament. 00:42:15.740 |
Neither is Wednesday Bible study or home group. 00:42:19.740 |
Or going out to certain countries to do missions or reading certain type of books. 00:42:26.740 |
But these are principles taught in the Old Testament that we are to follow. 00:42:30.740 |
Now, the reason why I mention this in my sermon is not going to be about giving. 00:42:38.740 |
Where we can establish Christ as Lord in every other part of our lives except for money. 00:42:43.740 |
But money is where the rubber meets the road. 00:42:45.740 |
Money represents our time, it represents our energy, it represents our heart. 00:42:50.740 |
So when we refuse to establish Christ as Lord in our finances, you refuse to establish Christ as Lord, period. 00:42:59.740 |
I want to establish Christ in the areas that I can give. 00:43:02.740 |
I don't want to do this and I want to serve here. 00:43:05.740 |
But the thing that matters the most to you, you want to retain control. 00:43:10.740 |
And that's why God told him, "Among your first fruits, what is the most important to you?" 00:43:18.740 |
He says to give as an act of obedience, to surrender. 00:43:23.740 |
Why do you call me Lord, Lord and yet your actions are not consistent? 00:43:39.740 |
Three things that a true disciple of Christ ought to do. 00:43:42.740 |
He says, "Everyone who comes to me and hears my word and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like." 00:43:54.740 |
In Matthew 11, 28, 30, he says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:43:59.740 |
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, 00:44:04.740 |
and you will find rest for your soul, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." 00:44:13.740 |
If you come to church looking for friendship and community and certain activities, 00:44:21.740 |
and yet you are not any closer to Christ than the first day that you met, 00:44:26.740 |
you missed the whole point of this gathering. 00:44:30.740 |
The calling of the church is not to call and gather as many people as possible in the church. 00:44:35.740 |
People who are good, people who are moral, people who vote for the right party. 00:44:49.740 |
I remember years ago, I had a friend who left this huge mega church, 00:44:55.740 |
and he was so high on this church in the beginning, 00:44:57.740 |
but after a few years, he decided to leave, and I asked him, "What caused you to leave?" 00:45:02.740 |
He said, "After a couple of years, I realized that he wasn't on the same page." 00:45:06.740 |
I asked him, "What happened?" He was a part of a youth group staff in this large church, 00:45:12.740 |
and he said that their desire was to attract as many people, seekers as possible, 00:45:22.740 |
They invited the youth kids to come, obviously because they get to play Xbox. 00:45:28.740 |
They would play. While the parents were having worship, they would come and play. 00:45:32.740 |
Then after 40 or 50 minutes of playing Xbox, the last 5 to 10 minutes, 00:45:38.740 |
some youth pastor would stand up and say, "Isn't Jesus awesome? 00:45:42.740 |
Isn't this the kind of church you want to go to?" 00:45:44.740 |
Initially, he said he tolerated thinking that, "Oh, they're going to come. Maybe they'll hear the gospel." 00:45:49.740 |
Then he realized that the people who were coming were only coming for Xbox, 00:45:54.740 |
and they never transitioned to wanting Christ. 00:45:58.740 |
If you attract them with chocolate, you have to keep giving them chocolate. 00:46:05.740 |
I heard of another church. In order to cause the church to grow, they were raffling off a car. 00:46:11.740 |
If you brought somebody, you get to drop your name into the bucket, 00:46:15.740 |
and then if the person who came also puts their name out in the bucket, 00:46:18.740 |
at the end of the year, all the names of the people who brought people, 00:46:21.740 |
and all the people who were brought, they get into a box and they pick. 00:46:25.740 |
The guy who brought them and the new person that came, they brought a car. 00:46:33.740 |
So it's like, "Why not?" If that's what's going to save them, and that was their logic. 00:46:42.740 |
I know about this because we had non-Christians who were falling out of that church. 00:46:50.740 |
He said, "I was at a church where they were doing evangelism dance parties." 00:46:53.740 |
So they would open up a room and get a DJ to play all the music that's on the radio. 00:46:59.740 |
At the end of this dance party, two, three hours of strobe lights and all this stuff, 00:47:04.740 |
and at the end, they would turn off the light before they lock up the church, 00:47:08.740 |
and they'd say, "Isn't this the type of church you want to come to?" 00:47:13.740 |
And that was it. And then they would go home. 00:47:16.740 |
So non-Christians were disturbed by that and said, "I'm not sure. I don't know much about the Bible. 00:47:21.740 |
I don't know what the Old Testament and New Testament is, but something sounds strange there." 00:47:25.740 |
So they started falling out, and so that's how I found out about it. 00:47:30.740 |
If Christ is not what draws you to the church, you're coming to the church for the wrong reason. 00:47:37.740 |
If the refuge you find is in community, the community eventually is going to disappoint you. 00:47:44.740 |
If you're trying to find life with people who are like you so that you can do things together, 00:47:50.740 |
travel together, you can raise children together, 00:47:53.740 |
these are all benefits of being in a community that is centered on Christ. 00:48:03.740 |
if Christ is not the reason why we gather, then you missed the whole point of our gathering. 00:48:10.740 |
Jesus says in John 7, 34, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, 00:48:13.740 |
Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.'" 00:48:20.740 |
Right now, in our generation, biblical counseling has taken off. 00:48:25.740 |
They've been around for a while, but biblical counseling has taken off. 00:48:28.740 |
When I was in China, whether it's in Taiwan and even in India and Korea, people are looking for counselors. 00:48:36.740 |
Now, not all counseling are the same, but they're looking for counselors because it's become trendy to seek counselors. 00:48:43.740 |
I'm having anxiety. I'm having relational problems. I feel lonely, need purpose, and seeking counselors. 00:48:48.740 |
So I think it's great. I think biblical counseling is great, 00:48:52.740 |
and that's something that we're trying to push at our church as well. 00:48:56.740 |
But if counseling is nothing more than seeking somebody who is older and mature to say certain things, 00:49:03.740 |
to show love to you, and yet you have not moved any closer to Christ at the end of the counseling, 00:49:12.740 |
Because all you did was put a Band-Aid on somebody, somebody who's lonely. 00:49:16.740 |
Temporarily, you feel lonely because somebody cares for you. 00:49:20.740 |
Ultimately, everything that we do at church, whether it's Bible study, worship, or prayer meetings, 00:49:24.740 |
everything that we do is so that you may come to Christ. 00:49:29.740 |
If you come to church and you don't have a single friend at church, and you feel alone, and yet you are meeting Christ, 00:49:38.740 |
then the purpose of the church has been fulfilled. 00:49:44.740 |
The purpose of the church is not so that you can have many friends in a community. 00:49:47.740 |
All these things are great. Hopefully, you do have that. 00:49:51.740 |
But the purpose of the church is to bring you to Christ. 00:49:54.740 |
Revelation 22, 17, "The spirit of the bride say, 'Come,' and let the one who hears say, 'Come,' 00:50:00.740 |
and let the one who is thirsty, 'Come,' let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." 00:50:09.740 |
You know, some of the most dangerous people in the church are people who love the church, but do not love Christ. 00:50:18.740 |
The most dangerous people in the church, the most dangerous leaders in the church, 00:50:22.740 |
are people who love the church, and the purpose of the church, the goal of the church, yet do not love Christ. 00:50:30.740 |
Because our ultimate goal is different. How we evaluate what is good and bad is different. 00:50:35.740 |
What we should or should not do, our priority is different. 00:50:38.740 |
Because the whole priority of the church is to bring you to Christ. 00:50:44.740 |
First and foremost, people who are true disciples of Christ are not simply people who give lip service, 00:51:00.740 |
You know, people, you can come to church all your life, right, and gain knowledge, 00:51:06.740 |
but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 00:51:09.740 |
So every year, you're hearing, every week you're hearing, you're hearing, hearing, but you're not listening. 00:51:16.740 |
You ever try to have a conversation with somebody who's not listening? 00:51:20.740 |
They're looking at you, right, but they're not listening. 00:51:24.740 |
You know, what I found out is, children, you can tell right away if they're not listening or not, right? 00:51:31.740 |
I've been to youth camps that felt like purgatory. 00:51:35.740 |
I mean, these kids just don't care, and they'll tell you, right? 00:51:39.740 |
I remember I was at a youth retreat at a large church in L.A., and my sermon went a little bit long, 00:51:44.740 |
and I said, "You know, I'm going to finish here," and one of the kids said, "You said that already!" 00:51:53.740 |
And if they're tired, they're just going to lie down, so I know if they're paying attention or not paying attention. 00:51:57.740 |
But as you get older, people are a little bit more sophisticated, right? 00:52:02.740 |
For all the students, it's a little bit easier, too, because you don't have a good poker face yet, right? 00:52:07.740 |
You can tell, and some of you who don't pay attention, you're sleeping. 00:52:10.740 |
You have two modes. Either you're paying attention or you're going to sleep, right? 00:52:14.740 |
So you're not as good, but the older you get, your poker face gets much better, 00:52:18.740 |
and I realize the older you are, the more good at staring at something, and yet there's nothing going through, nothing, 00:52:30.740 |
If you try to have a conversation with somebody who's really not listening, 00:52:34.740 |
they're face towards you, but they're not listening, especially in our generation. 00:52:39.740 |
We're so distracted with our phones and so many things, like even if, even like five minutes of silence, something has gone wrong. 00:52:46.740 |
I remember years ago, you know, obviously this is before cell phones. 00:52:49.740 |
I had a, my friend invited me to come and preach at his church, and I was sitting among the congregation, 00:52:54.740 |
so they didn't know I was the speaker, and as they were leading praise, they were flipping through magazines. 00:53:01.740 |
So you can tell that this was a long time ago, right? 00:53:04.740 |
They're flipping through a magazine, and I'm sitting there. The worship is going on. 00:53:07.740 |
It's like they have no interest whatsoever, and I looked around to see how many people were paying attention, 00:53:11.740 |
and very few people were even worshiping, and the whole time I was thinking, "Wow, I'm going to spend the next 30, 40 minutes preaching to them. 00:53:20.740 |
So I get up there, and I'm about to preach, and I'm looking at the crowd to see how many people are actually even interested in what I have to say before I started. 00:53:29.740 |
Parents are in the back playing with their children, and I could tell that, you know, they're saying, 00:53:33.740 |
"Oh, it's a little child was starting to walk," and everybody was clapping in the middle of the sermon. 00:53:40.740 |
So most of the parents were in the back playing with their kids, distracted, and the people who didn't have children were flipping through magazines, 00:53:46.740 |
and I could have just said, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," and no one would have even noticed because they weren't paying attention. 00:53:55.740 |
Many people in our generation listen to the Word of God like they're listening to an airline stewardess giving instructions of an emergency, right? 00:54:06.740 |
So I was just on a plane just last week, and as soon as—before they take off, I was like, 00:54:11.740 |
"Ladies and gentlemen, before we take off, let me go through their emergency procedure," and they'll go through this spiel, right? 00:54:18.740 |
And everybody just clicks off, especially if you've been—you've traveled quite a bit, and you know what they're going to say. 00:54:24.740 |
So that's when I put in my earplugs, and I close my eyes, you know, and I go to sleep, and then when they're done, I'll wake up, right? 00:54:32.740 |
But in order to get people to pay attention—so they'll make jokes, they say silly things, or they'll make a recording of BTS, you know what I mean, do a dance thing. 00:54:42.740 |
It's like, "Oh, put the mask on first," you know, because people are not paying attention, right? 00:54:48.740 |
And part of the reason why people don't pay attention is because they've heard it so many times, 00:54:53.740 |
and the other reason why they don't pay attention is because they don't expect an emergency to happen. 00:54:59.740 |
So as a result of that, you click off. This is not important. 00:55:02.740 |
But if they knew, let's say if there's a 50% chance, even a 10% chance, let's say 5% chance, 00:55:08.740 |
that there was a chance that this is going to hit the water, and you're going to need these instructions, 00:55:13.740 |
even if you heard it a thousand times, you'll be paying attention. 00:55:17.740 |
That's exactly what Jesus says about the ten virgins. 00:55:21.740 |
Before the bridegroom comes, it's like, "Oh, he's not going to come. It's been so long, and they weren't paying attention. They weren't prepared." 00:55:28.740 |
And Jesus said, "Those who recognize the urgency of this, and those five virgins who are ready, 00:55:35.740 |
when the bridegroom comes, that they will enter into eternity." 00:55:40.740 |
So much of our church, especially if you've been to church for a while, what haven't you heard? 00:55:47.740 |
You probably memorized it. You probably taught it. 00:55:49.740 |
You grew up in the church, so after a while, you just kind of turn off. 00:55:53.740 |
So you just put in your time, and then check in and check out. 00:55:57.740 |
But you're not listening. You're not actually paying attention. 00:56:02.740 |
In fact, that was the exact problem with the disciples that Jesus was teaching them. 00:56:07.740 |
And as he was headed toward the cross, he's talking about his death and resurrection. 00:56:12.740 |
Jesus said, "Clearly, I'm going to go into Jerusalem. The leaders are going to catch me. 00:56:16.740 |
They're going to crucify me, and I'm going to die. On the third day, I'm going to resurrect." 00:56:19.740 |
And they were all blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. 00:56:22.740 |
So tell me who's going to sit on your left and who's going to sit on your right? 00:56:29.740 |
So when Jesus was going to the cross, it's like, "What is he doing?" 00:56:32.740 |
If they paid attention, Jesus was not speaking in parables. 00:56:37.740 |
He made it very clear this is what's going to happen. 00:56:39.740 |
But when it actually happened, they're like, "What is he doing?" 00:56:44.740 |
In fact, they were so oblivious that after Jesus was resurrected, they're like, "What? How can he resurrect?" 00:56:50.740 |
Jesus has told you this was going to happen because they've been so inoculated. 00:56:57.740 |
They were so fixated on their own glory that what Jesus said didn't make sense. 00:57:04.740 |
John 5.24, it says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me 00:57:10.740 |
has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of judgment into life." 00:57:17.740 |
He's not just talking about somebody who's come to church and listened to sermons. 00:57:22.740 |
Obviously, that's not what he's talking about. 00:57:24.740 |
He's somebody who's attentive, recognizes the urgency of what it has to say, 00:57:30.740 |
who's paying attention, who's coming to the Lord and saying, "Search me and know me. 00:57:37.740 |
Searching the scriptures to see the judge of thoughts and intentions of my heart. 00:57:44.740 |
The first of the Ten Commandments is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." 00:57:49.740 |
That's easy. Don't worship any other gods but God. 00:57:53.740 |
But the second commandment is, "Do not make any graven images of me and worship it." 00:57:58.740 |
At a superficial glance, it looks like the same commandment. 00:58:03.740 |
But the second commandment is so practical because the tendency of Israel was, 00:58:10.740 |
if Yahweh was telling them to do things that they didn't want to do, 00:58:15.740 |
or maybe Yahweh was not answering their prayer and not enough rain was coming, 00:58:20.740 |
or they didn't have as many children as they wanted, 00:58:23.740 |
they made an image of Yahweh into a calf and then began to worship it and said, 00:58:33.740 |
And they would begin to form Yahweh into the image that they want God to be. 00:58:38.740 |
How often do you hear people say when they don't like to hear, 00:58:43.740 |
we say something that they don't like and they say, "Well, that's not the God that I know." 00:58:53.740 |
But they know nothing of God because the God that they know isn't from scripture. 00:58:58.740 |
The God that they've created is a God that would tolerate and would be perfectly okay 00:59:05.740 |
for you to pick and choose what you're going to do and not do. 00:59:14.740 |
And then the third commandment is not to use His name in vain. 00:59:19.740 |
That once you've created a God that will tickle the ears of sinners 00:59:24.740 |
and you begin to propagate that God, you are using the Lord's name in vain. 00:59:30.740 |
That's why it's so important that anybody who stands to preach the Word of God, 00:59:40.740 |
Because let me tell you, I can choose to expose the Bible 00:59:46.740 |
and week after week after week say exactly what I want to say. 00:59:55.740 |
I don't know if that makes sense to you, but those of you who ever preach regularly 01:00:00.740 |
I can take the text and say exactly what I want to say. 01:00:05.740 |
So if I'm frustrated with you, right, every text is going to turn into, 01:00:10.740 |
"What is wrong with you people? God is angry with you. God is going to judge you." 01:00:21.740 |
So I can take every text, exposit it in a way, "God loves you. 01:00:27.740 |
He's so gracious to you. He loves you. He's so patient with you. 01:00:33.740 |
If I don't judge the thoughts and intentions of my heart, 01:00:37.740 |
I can easily use the Lord's name in vain through the Scripture. 01:00:45.740 |
That's why this is such a tricky thing to come before the Lord in prayer. 01:00:49.740 |
I don't know how many times I've been frustrated with church, 01:00:53.740 |
and I would get on my knees praying and I would be rebuked. 01:00:57.740 |
"Peter, be patient with them. Love them as I love them." 01:01:03.740 |
There are times that I would get on my knees in prayer 01:01:06.740 |
wanting to just let it just pass and be convicted. 01:01:18.740 |
Say everything that I would say if I was in that position." 01:01:27.740 |
it is my own compromise that causes me to pick and choose 01:01:37.740 |
If I am not carefully listening to the Word of God 01:01:45.740 |
I can easily create a God in the image that I desire Him to be. 01:01:57.740 |
If you pick and choose what you will obey and what you won't obey, 01:02:05.740 |
sooner or later you will have created a God that looks nothing like Scripture. 01:02:11.740 |
You will have the Scripture, you will be in the church, 01:02:16.740 |
Romans 10.17, it says, "So faith comes from hearing by the Word of Christ." 01:02:30.740 |
So it is imperative that I make sure that it is His voice that you hear. 01:02:36.740 |
Not my opinion, not my leaning, but His voice accurately. 01:02:43.740 |
There are some things that I don't want to say 01:02:47.740 |
because I know very specific people who are going to be hurt if I say it. 01:02:58.740 |
first and foremost, I have to make sure that it is His voice that you hear, 01:03:02.740 |
encouraging or discouraging, it is His voice that you need to hear. 01:03:08.740 |
If we pick and choose, even as a pastor I wrestle with this, 01:03:11.740 |
if we pick and choose what we think is good and what we think is bad, 01:03:16.740 |
eventually you will create a God of your own choosing. 01:03:19.740 |
2 Timothy 4.3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine." 01:03:24.740 |
In other words, they're not going to want to hear it. 01:03:26.740 |
"But wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers 01:03:32.740 |
In other words, they're going to create a God that's going to look and tolerate them in their sins. 01:03:38.740 |
"And will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." 01:03:47.740 |
That's why I can talk generally about lordship, 01:03:54.740 |
Yes, of course the Bible teaches that. Of course He's Lord. 01:04:02.740 |
He wants more money because He doesn't want to do three services. 01:04:13.740 |
There's a reason why God chose money to establish lordship. 01:04:25.740 |
I have no idea if you're giving and not giving because I'm not in the finance team. 01:04:30.740 |
But I know even in my own personal life that that's where the rubber meets the road. 01:04:36.740 |
If I refuse to establish Christ as Lord over my finances, 01:04:41.740 |
from the beginning, then I will struggle in the middle. 01:04:50.740 |
I say, "Ah, okay, man. It was good as long as He kept it general, but now He's getting personal." 01:04:56.740 |
And that's what He says. He said, "You call me Lord, Lord, and you don't do what I say." 01:05:08.740 |
That's why once you become a teacher, you become a lousy student. 01:05:11.740 |
The temptation is once you put on that leadership hat, it's hard to learn. 01:05:18.740 |
That's why I said not many of you should become teachers 01:05:21.740 |
because once you see yourself as a teacher, you no longer learn. 01:05:28.740 |
Some of you need to pay much more close attention to the Word of God and to yourself. 01:05:35.740 |
Before the church, before anybody else, where are you? 01:05:39.740 |
Where do you stand with Christ? I know who they say I am. 01:05:44.740 |
And then there's many of you who are coming, trying to listen, 01:05:53.740 |
And so every week, you're becoming a better, better analysist, analyst of the sermon. 01:06:01.740 |
So if somebody asks you, "How was the sermon today?" 01:06:26.740 |
You become very sensitive to how the sermon made you feel. 01:06:39.740 |
But the purpose of the Word of God is to cut and to move you. 01:06:56.740 |
If you are guilty of saying, "Lord, Lord," and not doing what He says, 01:07:02.740 |
the purpose of this sermon is not to say, "Oh, that was good. Yeah, that was good." 01:07:08.740 |
And then you go back to your life, and then you come back next week, 01:07:13.740 |
"Oh, okay, that was good. Nah, today I don't know. He looked tired today." 01:07:20.740 |
But that's where most of the sermons end, if we're not careful. 01:07:30.740 |
And He calls us to do what He called us to do. 01:07:33.740 |
James 2:26, "For just as the body without the Spirit is dead, 01:07:42.740 |
If all faith is causing you to become a better analysist, 01:07:47.740 |
analyst of the church, of the leadership, of what we're doing, what we're not doing, 01:07:58.740 |
But the word that you've heard, what does that look like in your life? 01:08:03.740 |
Not in that person's life and not in the church's life, 01:08:10.740 |
John 8, 31-32, "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 01:08:15.740 |
'If you continue in my words, those who profess to believe Him, 01:08:19.740 |
if you continue, meno, if you continue, remain.'" 01:08:26.740 |
And the other way that this word is translated is "obey." 01:08:31.740 |
"Those who profess to believe Him, if you continue, if you obey my words, 01:08:37.740 |
True disciples are not simply those who profess. 01:08:44.740 |
And He said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." 01:08:57.740 |
That if you were to look at your life before you met Christ and after you met Christ, 01:09:02.740 |
you don't know--you can't tell what the huge difference is 01:09:08.740 |
other than the fact that when you die, you don't have to worry, 01:09:13.740 |
And so you have convinced yourself that Christ is Lord. 01:09:18.740 |
There's not much evidence in your life professing Lord, Lord, 01:09:27.740 |
He says, "Those who obey my words, those are my disciples, 01:09:32.740 |
and they will know the truth, and truth will set you free." 01:09:38.740 |
There's a huge difference between somebody who is worshipping God because they've been set free. 01:09:45.740 |
There's a huge difference in the singing of people who've been set free, 01:09:51.740 |
who've been under bondage to their sin, but we've been set free. 01:09:55.740 |
There's a huge difference between people who are thankful to God because they've been set free. 01:10:01.740 |
Not because it's Thanksgiving, not because somebody asked you, 01:10:04.740 |
and you're kind of like, "What am I thankful for?" 01:10:08.740 |
If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed. 01:10:14.740 |
The church can't set you free, the counselors won't set you free, 01:10:26.740 |
"A person who is saying, 'Lord, Lord,' but does not do what I say," 01:10:29.740 |
versus somebody who's saying, "Lord, Lord," coming, hearing, and doing what he tells them to do, 01:10:34.740 |
he's like a man who builds his house on solid foundation. 01:10:39.740 |
So when the winds come, when the trials come, they will stand firm. 01:10:45.740 |
But those who profess, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what it says, 01:10:49.740 |
is like a man who's building on sand, and looks good for a while. 01:10:55.740 |
As long as there's no storm, as long as the waters don't come, 01:10:58.740 |
as long as the storms don't come, and your life is lived in peace, 01:11:03.740 |
you can build your house, you can build it high, 01:11:06.740 |
but as soon as you get tested, it will reveal what kind of foundation that you've built on. 01:11:15.740 |
See, lordship isn't simply God telling us what you should and should not do. 01:11:21.740 |
It's like any parent telling their children, "Don't do that, don't do this," 01:11:25.740 |
because danger is coming. If you continue to go down this path, 01:11:30.740 |
if you refuse to be disciplined, if you spend all that time investing in things that you don't need, 01:11:40.740 |
And it will be revealed in time, it will be revealed where your life is going to lead, 01:11:44.740 |
just like we raise our children, warning them, instructing them, discipling them, 01:11:54.740 |
Christ establishes lordship in our life because He wants us to build our eternity on solid foundation. 01:12:02.740 |
Until Christ is Lord, everything that we do is building upon sand. 01:12:11.740 |
Any structure that is built, and anything other than Christ, danger's coming. 01:12:18.740 |
Danger between husband and wife, I guarantee you, it's coming. 01:12:24.740 |
Danger between your children, you may not see it now because they're young, but it's coming. 01:12:31.740 |
Danger between your parents, because it's founded upon things that are going to crumble. 01:12:38.740 |
Every relationship, every endeavor, when the storm comes and is not built on the foundation of Christ, will crumble. 01:12:46.740 |
But the scripture says of Christ, the stone that the builders rejected, 01:12:52.740 |
because they didn't see the beauty of Christ. 01:12:56.740 |
Because He came and He said, "Well, that's the Messiah." 01:12:59.740 |
There's a reason why Isaiah describes Him as a man who was not pleasant looking. 01:13:06.740 |
There's nothing about Him that man would be attracted to Him. 01:13:10.740 |
They rejected Him because He wasn't beautiful. 01:13:13.740 |
Because He wasn't going to give them what they wanted. 01:13:17.740 |
But He says the stone that the builders rejected had become the chief cornerstone. 01:13:24.740 |
The chief cornerstone, the foundation in which all of eternity will be built. 01:13:32.740 |
So if our houses are not built on the cornerstone of Christ, it's just a matter of time that it will crumble. 01:13:41.740 |
And the bigger you build that house, the bigger the heartache when it crumbles. 01:13:49.740 |
Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? 01:13:53.740 |
He who comes to me and hears my word and does what He says, 01:13:57.740 |
He's like a man who builds his house upon the foundation that is not Christ. 01:14:04.740 |
And when the storm comes, trials come, when you're tested, you will crumble and your heartache will be great. 01:14:11.740 |
But those who hear my words and they do what I tell them to do, 01:14:17.740 |
and establish Him as Lord, will build their house upon the foundation of Christ. 01:14:23.740 |
And when the storms come and you get tested and the building gets tested, 01:14:27.740 |
you will see that you did not waste your time. 01:14:33.740 |
That the Lordship of Christ is building for eternity. 01:14:38.740 |
My prayer is, again, that you don't leave the Sunday sermon, 01:14:48.740 |
It's like, "Oh, you know, I like the way he broke down the sermon, three-point sermon, that's good. 01:14:55.740 |
"Oh, I like that story, you know, his illustration, that was good." 01:15:08.740 |
If all it is, is us professing with our mouth, 01:15:14.740 |
and you're not going to practice this in your life, 01:15:18.740 |
how is this any different than what he's addressing? 01:15:23.740 |
How is that any different than the warning that he's giving? 01:15:27.740 |
I pray that we would be more than people who just give lip service. 01:15:38.740 |
so that at the end of your life you may not look back at the 60, 70, 80 years that you lived, 01:15:42.740 |
and say, "Oh, I wish I could have had that time again." 01:15:47.740 |
I pray that we would be wise enough to practice it while we have time. 01:16:08.740 |
Help us, Lord God, with our constant entanglement. 01:16:13.740 |
Help us, Lord, with not being able to see the big picture, Lord God, of Christ coming. 01:16:21.740 |
Help us, Lord God, to see how vain this world is. 01:16:27.740 |
The things that we desire, our reputation, the place that we live, the cars that we drive. 01:16:35.740 |
Help us to see it from an eternal perspective, 01:16:39.740 |
that we may live, Lord, in obedience, recognizing that it is no longer our lives to live, 01:16:47.740 |
but that we would truly be crucified with Christ, 01:16:55.740 |
that we would eagerly wait for the coming of Christ. 01:17:03.740 |
Reveal to us specifically where we have been avoiding you, 01:17:09.740 |
that we may be more than just hearers, but to be doers of your Word. 01:17:41.740 |
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. 01:17:47.740 |
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. 01:18:14.740 |
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. 01:18:39.740 |
Show me who you are and fill me with your heart 01:19:01.740 |
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. 01:19:07.740 |
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. 01:19:34.740 |
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. 01:19:59.740 |
Show me who you are and fill me with your heart 01:21:32.740 |
Show me who you are and fill me with your heart 01:21:59.740 |
Show me who you are and fill me with your heart 01:22:18.240 |
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling 01:22:23.740 |
and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, 01:22:26.740 |
blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, 01:22:29.740 |
through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, 01:22:33.740 |
and authority before all time and now and forever. 01:23:07.740 |
To my, my, poor, an empty grave is there to my Savior 01:23:37.740 |
All fear is gone because I know he holds the future. 01:23:52.740 |
And life is worth the living just because he lives.