back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 8/25/24
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>> All righty, good morning church family and happy Lord's Day. 00:01:34.000 |
We're gonna go right ahead and start with our service. 00:05:25.000 |
And again, we had a great time of retreat this last weekend. 00:05:37.000 |
So you can download it and you can go back and 00:05:39.000 |
listen to it as much as you want, whenever you can. 00:05:42.000 |
We have a few announcements before we get started. 00:05:44.000 |
First of all, the book, Master's Plan for the Church, 00:05:49.000 |
this next session of Bible study, it's being sold outside. 00:06:00.000 |
If you buy it on your own, it's gonna be about $17, $18. 00:06:05.000 |
So if you need to pick one up, please go pick one up. 00:06:07.000 |
You will need to have that if you are attending Bible study. 00:06:11.000 |
If you have an old version of that, the chapters are the same, 00:06:14.000 |
the pages are different, but the chapters are the same. 00:06:17.000 |
So you are able to use that book so you can hold on to that. 00:06:21.000 |
If you need new ones, again, it's being sold outside as you are exiting. 00:06:26.000 |
Bible study PTA babysitting sign-ups today at the courtyard. 00:06:31.000 |
So we have a new ministry that's being led by our brother Alex Koh, 00:06:35.000 |
and he's gonna be helping us to find babysitters 00:06:38.000 |
and establish babysitters in our home group in our Wednesday Bible study. 00:06:42.000 |
And so if you're willing to put your name on there 00:06:47.000 |
if you can go to the table, it's, again, set up outside, 00:06:50.000 |
and just sign your name up and then what your availability is, 00:06:53.000 |
and they'll contact you when they're in need of it. 00:06:55.000 |
So please, if you're able to do that and serve in that way, 00:06:58.000 |
you can go out to the table and sign up right after service. 00:07:02.000 |
BAM Retreat, if you're part of the singles ministry, 00:07:08.000 |
It's happening on September 13th through the 15th over the weekend. 00:07:14.000 |
And so they told me to announce that today is the very last day that you can sign up. 00:07:19.000 |
There's actually quite a few people who've already signed up for this, 00:07:24.000 |
So if you are new to the church and you are part of that ministry, 00:07:27.000 |
you're not part of the college, you're not part of the family ministry, 00:07:32.000 |
And if you want to sign up for that, today is the very last day. 00:07:35.000 |
So they're going up on Friday and come back on Sunday afternoon, 00:07:38.000 |
so Sunday worship will be happening there for the BAM ministry. 00:07:42.000 |
We have an announcement from our women's ministry. 00:07:58.000 |
The women's ministry will be hosting a new event for all sisters, 00:08:03.000 |
This event will be called "This is My Story, This is My Song," 00:08:07.000 |
and will be a time where we hear from a few of our very own Burian sisters 00:08:11.000 |
as they share about God's transformative work in their lives, 00:08:15.000 |
and we'll also be singing their chosen song of praise. 00:08:20.000 |
as it is a rare opportunity for us to be able to share, 00:08:26.000 |
and exalt God as sisters in the different life stages that we're in. 00:08:31.000 |
The event will be on Saturday, October 19th, from 8:30 to noon, 00:08:38.000 |
There is a $10 fee as breakfast and snacks will be served. 00:08:41.000 |
Please look out for the Google form that's going to be posted on the various 00:08:45.000 |
Facebook ministry pages, and if you have any questions, 00:09:01.000 |
If you have a child in the kindergarten through sixth grade, 00:09:04.000 |
there is a meeting for the parents on September 1st, 00:09:11.000 |
And so they're going to be going over the schedule, the programs, 00:09:16.000 |
so it would be very helpful for you to attend that meeting. 00:09:19.000 |
So if you have a child between K through sixth grade, 00:09:25.000 |
Before I pray for the offering, I want to give a brief encouragement. 00:09:28.000 |
And, again, I'm not saying this because there's something wrong 00:09:33.000 |
but I think sometimes we get in the habit of giving without much thinking 00:09:39.000 |
because it's like it's time to give, or I have it, 00:09:41.000 |
or maybe I got paid and it's time to give my tithe. 00:09:44.000 |
And when we're younger, if you grew up in the church, 00:09:47.000 |
you probably remember the Sunday school teachers 00:09:49.000 |
or even your parents getting you a crisp $1 bill, 00:09:53.000 |
putting it into an envelope, or putting it into the Bible, 00:09:56.000 |
so when you give, that you're giving the best. 00:09:59.000 |
You're not giving something like you just crumpled it in your pocket 00:10:03.000 |
So we teach that to our children so that they may have reverence 00:10:06.000 |
and intention in the way that they're giving. 00:10:09.000 |
And so that should not stop when we're young because we got older. 00:10:15.000 |
that we should give intentionally out of an act of worship. 00:10:18.000 |
Sometimes we just give because it's time to give. 00:10:21.000 |
And so, again, I'm not saying this because I've noticed anything wrong. 00:10:26.000 |
We actually even wrestled over should we shut down online giving 00:10:30.000 |
because we want people to be thoughtful and intentional even as they give, 00:10:38.000 |
And so even writing checks, I'm sure at some point in church history, 00:10:44.000 |
Or, "Prior to that, shouldn't we be giving our produce?" 00:10:50.000 |
But as we do that, because it's so easy and convenient 00:10:55.000 |
that we can just kind of push a button and then we're done. 00:11:01.000 |
that the giving is an act of worship out of abundance, a thanksgiving, 00:11:05.000 |
so that even as you give, that you would give prayerfully, 00:11:08.000 |
that this is coming before the Lord, expressing his lordship over our lives, 00:11:13.000 |
and as an act of thanksgiving, that you would give intentionally. 00:11:20.000 |
Again, if you brought a physical offering, there's an offering box in the back. 00:11:26.000 |
our sister Jane Shin is going to come up, give her testimony, 00:11:38.000 |
Thank you for the privilege to be able to come and worship you. 00:11:43.000 |
Lord, we know that everything that we do week after week 00:11:49.000 |
can easily become a habit that we don't give much thought to. 00:11:53.000 |
I pray that that would never be the case in the way that we worship you. 00:11:57.000 |
I pray, Father God, if we've just come into this room out of habit, 00:12:03.000 |
that you would cause us, Lord God, to be intentional in everything that we do, 00:12:07.000 |
that you would receive the glory and the honor that you deserve, 00:12:11.000 |
that you would fill our hearts with gratitude, thanksgiving, and worship, 00:12:16.000 |
and that we would come to sing praise, to give, and listen, 00:12:23.000 |
May this offering be given to you as an act of thanksgiving, 00:12:27.000 |
and may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. 00:14:45.380 |
♪ Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise ♪ 00:14:50.380 |
♪ Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong ♪ 00:15:13.600 |
♪ He rises to set us up, His love endures forever ♪ 00:15:18.600 |
♪ Grace of God we will carry on, His love endures forever ♪ 00:15:26.800 |
♪ Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise ♪ 00:15:34.380 |
♪ Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise ♪ 00:15:39.380 |
♪ Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong ♪ 00:16:01.440 |
♪ Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong ♪ 00:16:15.680 |
♪ Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise ♪ 00:16:38.480 |
♪ Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise ♪ 00:16:43.480 |
♪ Sing praise, sing praise, sing praise, sing praise ♪ 00:17:05.880 |
♪ Forever God is faithful, forever God is strong ♪ 00:22:05.260 |
- Hello, my name is Jane, and this is my testimony. 00:22:20.760 |
our mom teaching Sunday school at our church in Panama. 00:22:42.760 |
I grew up knowing about him and what he did for me. 00:22:46.760 |
But for many years, it was just head knowledge. 00:22:49.760 |
It wasn't until we moved to the States when I was 13, 00:23:05.760 |
Life had always been good in the worldly sense, 00:23:08.760 |
but after knowing it was all ordained by God, 00:23:13.760 |
I was eager and confident to share about him. 00:23:29.760 |
now it seemed like my life was a constant wrestling with it. 00:23:39.760 |
then pride and self-reliance once I started working. 00:23:51.760 |
and having another baby didn't mean it was any easier. 00:24:26.760 |
and bitterness after our mom passed away three years ago today, 00:24:33.760 |
loved me through a patient husband and sweet children, 00:24:37.760 |
a loving family and kind and faithful friends. 00:24:41.760 |
When nothing anyone said or did seemed to help, 00:25:01.760 |
He comforts me and gives me joy for my sorrows. 00:25:05.760 |
Today I am getting baptized by full immersion 00:25:16.760 |
burying my old life and persevering in this new life in Christ. 00:25:24.760 |
Usually when we have the college students get baptized here, 00:25:49.760 |
we have a row of college students in the back, 00:25:52.760 |
but today you have all the moms standing over there 00:25:57.760 |
So Jane, do you understand when you go into the water 00:26:01.760 |
and you're coming out being united to his resurrected life? 00:26:19.760 |
All right, thank you, Jane, for that encouraging testimony. 00:26:32.760 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke 9, 00:26:37.760 |
and we're going to be reading from verse 1 through 6. 00:26:47.760 |
"And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority 00:26:55.760 |
And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God 00:26:59.760 |
And he said to them, 'Take nothing for your journey, 00:27:01.760 |
neither a staff nor a bag nor bread nor money, 00:27:08.760 |
Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that city. 00:27:12.760 |
And as for those who do not receive you as you go out from that city, 00:27:16.760 |
shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.' 00:27:19.760 |
Departing, they began going throughout the villages, 00:27:22.760 |
preaching the gospel and healing everywhere." 00:27:33.760 |
We pray your Holy Spirit would illuminate us, 00:27:37.760 |
that we would understand more than knowledge, 00:27:40.760 |
that you would give us eager hearts to listen and to obey. 00:27:52.760 |
or about a year, depending on what timeline you use, 00:27:55.760 |
about a year and a half before Jesus heads to the cross. 00:27:59.760 |
Jesus made it very clear what his intention was with the disciples. 00:28:02.760 |
He didn't just tell them, "Follow me and we'll figure something out. 00:28:11.760 |
He said, "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men." 00:28:17.760 |
For three years, he walked with them, trained them, 00:28:22.760 |
that after he leaves, that they would take the baton 00:28:29.760 |
that they would learn how to be fishers of men. 00:28:34.760 |
is specifically designed for the Twelve Apostles. 00:28:38.760 |
It's important for us, especially with our generation, 00:28:42.760 |
where there's so much resources, so many books. 00:28:52.760 |
and different opinions on how we ought to approach, 00:28:55.760 |
how we design church, how we design small group. 00:28:59.760 |
But we need to see, like, what was Jesus' method 00:29:08.760 |
This morning, I want to look at three specific things 00:29:11.760 |
that he mentions here, and hopefully we gain some insight 00:29:16.760 |
And next week, we're going to be looking at the other two, 00:29:22.760 |
We're going to start today and look at, first of all, 00:29:25.760 |
who it was that he sent, the Twelve Apostles. 00:29:28.760 |
The first thing that we notice about these Twelve Apostles 00:29:39.760 |
because this is an indirect or direct indictment against Israel. 00:29:43.760 |
If God created a nation of Israel to be a blessing to them, 00:29:47.760 |
and that they would be a blessing to the rest of the nations, 00:29:56.760 |
you would think that maybe that they would maybe have 00:30:01.760 |
maybe a top scholar of each tribe represented in the Twelve. 00:30:05.760 |
But the first thing that we see, there's none of that. 00:30:08.760 |
And again, this is a direct or indirect judgment 00:30:11.760 |
against a nation of Israel, that he bypasses all of these things, 00:30:32.760 |
who was known to be a meticulous keeper of the law. 00:30:39.760 |
The only information that we do know of some of the disciples 00:30:51.760 |
These are people who would have been hated by Israel. 00:30:54.760 |
And outside of that, all the other information about the other disciples, 00:30:57.760 |
we know nothing about because they were, by human terms, a nobody. 00:31:02.760 |
So the first thing that we recognize is that these people 00:31:33.760 |
Just plain people that no one would have known. 00:31:48.760 |
How can that be the Messiah if he chooses people like them? 00:31:54.760 |
You would think that there would be some Pharisees. 00:32:08.760 |
God deliberately chose those people with no prominence 00:32:13.760 |
because of what he was intending to do in them 00:32:23.760 |
was probably the harshest and the most critical letter 00:32:29.760 |
he begins by saying that this church is divided 00:32:32.760 |
because they were trying to one-up each other. 00:32:38.760 |
He said, "No, we follow Peter because he was the first apostle. 00:32:42.760 |
We follow Paul because he's the apostle to the Gentiles 00:32:47.760 |
Some of the saying they follow somebody else or Jesus. 00:32:54.760 |
And he says, "All the problems that you are having 00:32:59.760 |
And so he's writing an indictment in 1 Corinthians 2. 00:33:02.760 |
He says, "For consider your calling, brethren, 00:33:05.760 |
that there were not many wise according to the flesh, 00:33:11.760 |
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world 00:33:13.760 |
to shame the wise and God has chosen the weak things 00:33:15.760 |
of the world to shame the things which are strong 00:33:20.760 |
and despised God has chosen the things that are not 00:33:30.760 |
And if you were paying attention closely, right, 00:33:37.760 |
who has better honor, who should get better honor, 00:33:43.760 |
And then he says, "Not many of you were wise." 00:33:49.760 |
So if they're paying attention carefully, right? 00:34:08.760 |
And then he said he chose the base things, right? 00:34:16.760 |
He's talking to these people who are fighting 00:34:23.760 |
God deliberately chose you because you had nothing, 00:34:26.760 |
because you are a nobody, because you are a fool. 00:34:45.760 |
In order to slap the face of the system of this world, 00:35:03.760 |
He deliberately chose people who weren't in the system. 00:35:28.760 |
the more of an accent you're going to have, right? 00:35:34.760 |
and accents that you picked up when you were young 00:35:37.760 |
and then tried to get a new way of saying things 00:35:40.760 |
and so you're adding on top of what you know, 00:35:45.760 |
So the older, the longer you stayed in one culture, 00:35:47.760 |
the more difficult it is to get rid of that, right? 00:35:51.760 |
So you could tell, but if you came when you were young, 00:35:55.760 |
right, if you came like two, three, four, five, 00:35:58.760 |
you probably even forgot your previous language 00:36:14.760 |
to get rid of the old ways, to teach a Pharisee 00:36:17.760 |
the things that he was trying to teach the disciples. 00:36:21.760 |
who spent years climbing up this religious system. 00:36:31.760 |
and Jesus came and he had to tear it all down 00:36:45.760 |
You know, you guys remember not that long ago, right, 00:36:56.760 |
and Steph Curry and all the superstars of the NBA, 00:37:01.760 |
and just assumed that they were going to demolish everybody 00:37:10.760 |
and they almost lost until the very last second. 00:37:18.760 |
but he made the news because it was the South Sudanese 00:37:27.760 |
is because South Sudanese have only existed for 11 years. 00:37:42.760 |
they don't even have an indoor basketball court. 00:37:45.760 |
So all their training happened on the outside. 00:37:48.760 |
They grew up just playing basketball outside, right, 00:37:53.760 |
You know, I hear all the time, "It's not good for my knees," 00:38:10.760 |
and they almost beat the superstars of the world. 00:38:17.760 |
but can you imagine if these guys actually beat them, 00:38:19.760 |
come to the Olympics, and they win the gold medal? 00:38:24.760 |
The buzz around, the news that would have come out. 00:38:41.760 |
How can these guys, who don't even have indoor basketball, 00:38:55.760 |
That's exactly what happened with the disciples. 00:38:58.760 |
These 12 guys who had no training, no background, 00:39:02.760 |
all of a sudden, they flipped the world upside down. 00:39:09.760 |
He chose 12 people for what he's been preparing 00:39:28.760 |
If you typically hear a secular or liberal New Testament scholar 00:39:33.760 |
or somebody who's just kind of superficially dismissing Christianity, 00:39:36.760 |
they'll look at it and say, "Well, that happened 00:39:38.760 |
because they were connected, they were Roman citizens, 00:39:40.760 |
people were poor, and it created this perfect storm, 00:39:43.760 |
and that's why they were able to do all this stuff." 00:39:45.760 |
But if you examine carefully, all of that is nonsense. 00:39:55.760 |
With the persecution, they're being slaughtered 00:39:58.760 |
for saying that Christ resurrected from the dead, 00:40:05.760 |
The only thing that could explain how these 12 men 00:40:22.760 |
that God is going against all the conventional wisdom 00:40:34.760 |
He chose the foolish to nullify those we think are wise. 00:40:57.760 |
Did they learn the latest marketing technique 00:41:05.760 |
He called the 12 together and gave them power 00:41:20.760 |
When you talk to the demons, talk to them this way. 00:41:45.760 |
Depending on what stage of life you're in, right? 00:42:00.760 |
or they're known and what car, what house they live. 00:42:04.760 |
it's your looks, which friend group you're in, 00:42:11.760 |
my life would be better if I'm part of that group. 00:42:21.760 |
And that's where we think life is going to be. 00:42:28.760 |
Do I work at Google or I work this or I work that? 00:42:31.760 |
And so that's where the next stage comes from. 00:42:37.760 |
And then after that is, how successful were you? 00:42:51.760 |
And then the next stage in your 50s are your kids. 00:42:58.760 |
And so this rat race gets us going all throughout our life, 00:43:05.760 |
where that's where we think power and authority comes from. 00:43:17.760 |
Do we nullify that and say when we come to the church 00:43:19.760 |
that we work through a completely different set of standards 00:43:25.760 |
If we're not careful, we do the same thing in the church. 00:43:29.760 |
If you have a large church, if you have a PhD, 00:43:43.760 |
So when a church is successful, what do we do? 00:44:00.760 |
And so we examine everything that human beings are able to do, 00:44:04.760 |
and then we try to repeat that in the next church, 00:44:07.760 |
maybe we'll have the same success that they did, 00:44:09.760 |
and by doing so, we nullify the power of God. 00:44:15.760 |
He does this very deliberately to nullify the things that are. 00:44:23.760 |
Power and authority was simply given to them. 00:44:27.760 |
So when the disciples, after the resurrection of Christ, 00:44:31.760 |
began to go and preach the gospel, people were amazed. 00:44:38.760 |
what is it about these guys that they're willing to give their lives? 00:44:44.760 |
And at the end of examination, they said they realized that they were with Jesus. 00:44:51.760 |
It's like, oh, they must have been trained properly. 00:44:57.760 |
All they can come up with is why they were able to speak with such power and authority, 00:45:02.760 |
is that they came back and they said they realized that they were with Jesus. 00:45:10.760 |
"For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourself. 00:45:13.760 |
It is a gift of God, not as a result of their works, 00:45:32.760 |
Because what ruins us more than anything else is our own pride. 00:45:36.760 |
Our own desire in this rat race to get ahead. 00:45:41.760 |
Because he saw the glory of God and said, "I want some of that." 00:45:46.760 |
He said, "If you eat of this, you will have what God has." 00:45:54.760 |
the temptation is for us to get ahead in life. 00:46:00.760 |
It is our pride. It is our flesh that the world tempts us with. 00:46:04.760 |
It is at the core of the fallen nature of man. 00:46:10.760 |
It is wanting for us to get to the next stage. 00:46:16.760 |
Because we think that's where power comes from. 00:46:19.760 |
Jesus does exactly the opposite to nullify their power. 00:46:26.760 |
"Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation for this reason, 00:46:32.760 |
Apostle Paul, this is a text that you know very well, 00:46:39.760 |
"Three times he asked the Lord to take the thorn from his side." 00:46:43.760 |
He said, "Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me." 00:46:51.760 |
The reason why he mentions three times is because that's how agonizing it was. 00:46:58.760 |
And he begged the Lord to take this off my side. 00:47:04.760 |
But some people think that maybe he was sick. 00:47:11.760 |
And some people think that maybe it was his wife, 00:47:16.760 |
Adam took the bone from his side, so that must be his wife nagging him. 00:47:20.760 |
It's like, "Please, Lord, deliver me from my wife." 00:47:24.760 |
Some scholars believe that he may have been married in the beginning, 00:47:28.760 |
and then because his wife couldn't understand how this man, 00:47:32.760 |
who was so prominent, a Roman citizen, a disciple of Gamaliel, 00:47:36.760 |
how could he have turned and he's going to village and beat up, 00:47:42.760 |
but some scholars believe that that's what happened to him, 00:47:45.760 |
and so they think that maybe this was his wife. 00:47:48.760 |
I think that it was his detractors, considering the context, 00:47:54.760 |
because later on he says, "In weakness," he says, 00:47:57.760 |
"Therefore I am well content with weakness, with insults, distresses, persecutions, difficulties," 00:48:04.760 |
and every single one of these is talking about another human being 00:48:11.760 |
And in the context, that's exactly what he says. 00:48:13.760 |
In 2 Corinthians, he writes about how people were questioning his apostleship, 00:48:17.760 |
and he says his credential of apostleship is his suffering. 00:48:21.760 |
So I believe that his detractors were questioning him constantly. 00:48:27.760 |
And here's a guy who was being beaten, stoned, dragged out for dead, 00:48:30.760 |
and people are saying, "This guy's only doing it for money." 00:48:34.760 |
I think it bothered him so much that he begged the Lord to please take it away, 00:48:42.760 |
"Concerning this, I implored the Lord to leave three times, 00:48:45.760 |
and he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'" 00:48:54.760 |
You would think if you chose an apostle to go and represent you to the Gentile world 00:48:59.760 |
that you would provide the funds, that you would provide the safety, 00:49:03.760 |
you would provide the health, that you would provide everything that he needs 00:49:07.760 |
so all he has to do is stand up on a pulpit and preach the Word of God. 00:49:14.760 |
He's a rich, connected man, a Roman citizen, already well-known even by kings. 00:49:26.760 |
And he says he deliberately allowed a messenger of Satan to bother him to the point 00:49:30.760 |
where he's begging God three times to take it away. 00:49:33.760 |
And he says the whole reason why God allowed it is to humble him 00:49:42.760 |
The biggest hindrance for the work of God to work is our own pride. 00:49:54.760 |
When we are powerful, he's presented as weak. 00:49:58.760 |
It is our own pride, our own know-how, it is our own talent, 00:50:01.760 |
it is our own view of ourselves that gets in the way of God being revealed. 00:50:08.760 |
The worst thing that a man of God can do is to touch his glory, 00:50:23.760 |
2 Corinthians 12 tells us, "The signs of true apostles were performed among you 00:50:27.760 |
with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles." 00:50:32.760 |
Today, we use the word "apostle" as somebody who's elevated, who's chosen, who's unique. 00:50:40.760 |
but the word "apostle" simply means a messenger. 00:50:48.760 |
It became elevated because of what God used them for, 00:51:08.760 |
We have a tendency to allow the secular thinking to penetrate into the church 00:51:15.760 |
and thinking that if we follow these principles, that our church will succeed. 00:51:20.760 |
And I remember when the Seeker Friendly Movement was coming in, 00:51:25.760 |
we spent a whole class time talking about how Coca-Cola brands their drink. 00:51:36.760 |
And I remember sitting there thinking, "This is interesting. I've never heard this before." 00:51:40.760 |
But the whole class was about how Coca-Cola, how everybody drinks Coca-Cola, 00:51:45.760 |
how so many billions of people drink Coca-Cola. 00:51:50.760 |
we need to learn how to brand the gospel and Christianity. 00:51:59.760 |
and we were just thinking, "That's interesting. It's interesting." 00:52:01.760 |
And one lady, an older lady, I think who's been walking with the Lord much longer than us, 00:52:09.760 |
And I remember half the class, when she said that, like, 00:52:18.760 |
So we're going to manipulate people into the kingdom of God?" 00:52:21.760 |
And I remember all of a sudden, just a snap of fingers, like, 00:52:27.760 |
I remember for years, you know, early church, 00:52:31.760 |
I'm trying to figure out, like, how are you supposed to do church? 00:52:37.760 |
I don't know what you're supposed to do in a church. 00:52:39.760 |
So I got all the church growth books that I can get. 00:52:47.760 |
"You need to have a critical mass of 30 people." 00:52:50.760 |
They said, "Don't start a church unless there's at least 30 people that you have a group." 00:52:55.760 |
Because all the churches that have ever grown has a critical mass of 30 people. 00:52:59.760 |
And then if you read further on, it'll say that you can't give sermons more than 30 minutes 00:53:04.760 |
because people are used to 30-minute sitcoms, and this is back then. 00:53:08.760 |
Now it's 14-second TikTok, so your sermon can't be more than 14 seconds, right? 00:53:14.760 |
30-minute sermon with an illustration every 5 minutes, 00:53:17.760 |
because that's where the commercials come on, right? 00:53:25.760 |
because the reason why McDonald's is so successful is because their bathrooms are immaculate. 00:53:32.760 |
and one of the things that they said is, "The parking can't be too far," 00:53:46.760 |
So the more I read, the more I began to realize, 00:53:52.760 |
The success of the church is based upon marketing techniques of McDonald's and Coca-Cola. 00:54:02.760 |
This goes directly against everything that God was trying to teach his disciples. 00:54:10.760 |
He tells them, he says, he chooses people that have no prominence, 00:54:15.760 |
so that if anything happened, it would be like the South Sudanese. 00:54:18.760 |
How were they able to, so we would examine closely and realize their proximity to Christ? 00:54:26.760 |
That's the only thing that we can look at, is because God empowered them. 00:54:30.760 |
Their power did not come from education, their background, their know-how, or their talent, or their experience, 00:54:39.760 |
No, God's power, Jesus' power was given to them. 00:54:45.760 |
1 Samuel 16, 7, when God chooses David, it says, 00:54:48.760 |
"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height.'" 00:54:53.760 |
Every time I read this, that height thing always stands out to me. 00:55:04.760 |
"Because I have rejected him, for God sees not as man sees, 00:55:08.760 |
for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 00:55:11.760 |
I don't know how many sermons I've heard where a pastor said, 00:55:14.760 |
"The reason God chose David was because David was in the background training to be a..." 00:55:32.760 |
Because he was in the background for years practicing his slingshot, he got so good at it, 00:55:37.760 |
he knew that if he chose David and Goliath came, 00:55:41.760 |
that he was the only one that was going to be able to throw that rock and hit it perfectly on his head, 00:55:50.760 |
you make sure that you sharpen your slingshot skills. 00:55:54.760 |
And when you are ready, and you have something to offer God, 00:55:58.760 |
and you have enough connections, and you have enough authority, and you have enough power, 00:56:02.760 |
then God is going to choose you because he needs you for his kingdom. 00:56:12.760 |
The only reason why David was chosen, because it says, it tells us, 00:56:16.760 |
because he was a man after God's own heart. That's why. 00:56:19.760 |
But we have a tendency to look, just like it says in Romans chapter 1, 00:56:24.760 |
that we have a tendency to make images of ourselves and worship it. 00:56:30.760 |
We can't copy God's power, but we can copy David's. 00:56:35.760 |
We can't copy his authority, but we can copy the pastor down the street. 00:56:40.760 |
And so we have a tendency to focus our energy on the things that you and I are capable of doing. 00:56:47.760 |
But what God did was completely supernatural. 00:57:05.760 |
It is our pride that prevents us from experiencing and knowing his power. 00:57:10.760 |
In fact, he says, he tells them, "Don't take anything." 00:57:15.760 |
I mean, think about it every time, even when we go on a trip. 00:57:23.760 |
Is it cool? Is it hot? Is it cold? What do I need to take? 00:57:29.760 |
If I go there, where's the hotel? How far is it? 00:57:33.760 |
Especially if you have a small child, think about all the planning that goes in so that you can be equipped and ready. 00:57:38.760 |
And even when you do all of that, it's never as comfortable as when you're home. 00:57:42.760 |
Jesus is sending them to preach about the kingdom, that people are going to be hostile. 00:57:47.760 |
And then he says, in verse 3, "Take nothing for your journey." 00:57:56.760 |
Like today, if we're going from here to LA, you're not worried about wild animals. 00:58:03.760 |
But at that time, if you're walking, you need a staff. 00:58:09.760 |
I shared this years ago when I asked the pastors in India, 00:58:12.760 |
"What's the most difficult thing you ever faced in evangelizing?" 00:58:16.760 |
And I was expecting rocks and stones and knives. 00:58:22.760 |
So they were walking in the field trying to get to a remote village. 00:58:24.760 |
And they saw a tiger walking down, and then they freaked out. 00:58:28.760 |
And then they were hiding behind the boulder. 00:58:30.760 |
And then they said the tiger ended up making a left turn and then just disappeared. 00:58:34.760 |
And they just said, "Yeah, probably a tiger." 00:58:42.760 |
The staff was there for protection, the wolves, whatever wild animals might be there. 00:58:57.760 |
But if we want to take rocks or something, don't take that. 00:59:02.760 |
I mean, today, everywhere we go, we have to figure out how we're going to eat. 00:59:11.760 |
It's not like they can go and find restaurants or they can find someone's place. 00:59:15.760 |
If you don't have bread with you, you're not going to eat. 00:59:19.760 |
And then on top of that, he says, "Don't take any money." 00:59:22.760 |
Well, if you don't have bread, at least if you have some money, 00:59:24.760 |
you can go and ask people and say, "Hey, can I give you some money? 00:59:26.760 |
Whatever you're eating for dinner, can I have some of that?" 00:59:40.760 |
He says, "Don't even take more than one T-shirt. 00:59:43.760 |
Only take exactly what you need to breathe and live." 00:59:49.760 |
To torture them so he can come back and hear about how cold it was 00:59:56.760 |
Every part of that was what was he teaching them, to trust me. 01:00:04.760 |
"Well, God intended for you to get bit then." 01:00:12.760 |
There's one single thing that we see repeated over and over and over 01:00:18.760 |
all throughout the Old Testament, all throughout the New Testament, 01:00:24.760 |
Do not turn from the word to the left or to the right, 01:00:36.760 |
That's what he told them when they were marching in the desert. 01:00:40.760 |
But don't just anybody lift it up, only these people lift it up. 01:00:42.760 |
When they lift it up, they need to use the poles. 01:00:44.760 |
He called it at the end, "Get in line, march. 01:00:52.760 |
Make sure the tribes are set up equal distance from each other. 01:00:59.760 |
And he said, "Do exactly as I say if you want to be successful. 01:01:04.760 |
When I tell you to hold the staff up, hold it up. 01:01:06.760 |
When I tell you to put it down, you put it down." 01:01:16.760 |
All of those things get in the way of God doing his work. 01:01:27.760 |
And the only requirement for David was that he loved the Lord. 01:01:36.760 |
All the commandments, the greatest commandments, 01:01:38.760 |
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." 01:01:47.760 |
Doesn't that simplify everything that we're doing, discipleship? 01:01:53.760 |
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 01:02:00.760 |
And all he told them to do was to pray, pray, pray. 01:02:11.760 |
We have a tendency, as soon as we bear fruit, it's like, "What did you do? 01:02:24.760 |
He deliberately did what he did to nullify, nullify. 01:02:30.760 |
Today, the modern Western church is an example of everything that man can throw at it 01:02:46.760 |
I don't think even the West can argue that we are spiritually weaker than the previous generation, 01:02:56.760 |
that we are spiritually weaker than the churches in China. 01:03:01.760 |
We are much spiritually weaker than the churches in India. 01:03:05.760 |
And yet, we have more money than church has ever seen in human history. 01:03:12.760 |
I heard of this one church that has $100 million just put in the bank account just in case North Korea opens up. 01:03:18.760 |
I had a friend who was in charge of a mission program in this one mega church, 01:03:25.760 |
We have more money as Christians than the church has ever experienced in 2,000 years in the Western church. 01:03:36.760 |
We have more freedom than 99.99% of any Christian who has ever lived in history. 01:03:48.760 |
There's people who are living in areas where just simply by owning a Bible, they can be executed. 01:04:06.760 |
That's the degree of persecution we have, at least. 01:04:12.760 |
We should speak to change laws and choose the right people in office. 01:04:22.760 |
We have more freedom now than the church has ever experienced in church history. 01:04:33.760 |
You can go online if you don't want to physically drive. 01:04:35.760 |
If physically driving is just too hard for you, you can get online and push a button. 01:04:41.760 |
And top-notch professors around the world are popping up on your screen whenever you want. 01:04:46.760 |
We have more education, more seminaries, more training, more books than the church has ever experienced in church history. 01:04:56.760 |
When we go to certain parts of the world and we say they need a Bible, nobody ever asks, "Which version do you want?" 01:05:06.760 |
Oh, LSB, NASB, the NIV, the RSB, the King James. 01:05:14.760 |
We have more translations than the church has ever seen. 01:05:26.760 |
I don't know any church in our generation that has gotten more training than we have. 01:05:32.760 |
Training for marriage, training for evangelism, training for small group, training to cling. 01:05:38.760 |
I mean, we have more training than they've ever had in church history. 01:05:48.760 |
I remember just even in 1993 when we were doing a vision trip to China years ago. 01:05:53.760 |
I took $50 because that's, you know, at that time that was a lot of money. 01:05:57.760 |
It took me $25 to call back home for like a four-minute conversation with my wife. 01:06:06.760 |
For 30 days I made contact with her one time. 01:06:08.760 |
And I remember, you know, back in the '70s and even parts of '80s when missionaries left, 01:06:13.760 |
we said goodbye to them at the pier or at the port. 01:06:18.760 |
Because most of them got on a boat and they left. 01:06:22.760 |
You're not going to see them again because it's too hard to get back. 01:06:25.760 |
But now, I mean, you're on the Facebook, "What's up? It's 3 a.m. today." 01:06:31.760 |
But I'm just saying that we have more opportunities than we've ever had in church history. 01:06:36.760 |
Things have become much more easier, much more convenient. 01:06:39.760 |
We have more access to education, more access to sermon. 01:06:43.760 |
And this is the spiritual state that we're in. 01:06:47.760 |
We envy the church in India. We envy the church in North Korea. 01:06:50.760 |
We envy the church in China that under heavy persecution when they have nothing 01:06:57.760 |
or they have to think twice about even gathering or they might be put into jail. 01:07:02.760 |
And yet, the power of God is so evident in those churches. 01:07:08.760 |
There's something backward in the way that we're thinking. 01:07:11.760 |
We've allowed the principles of this world that Jesus tried so hard to eradicate from the church. 01:07:18.760 |
We've allowed it to creep back into the church thinking that somehow if we work harder, 01:07:23.760 |
if we're trained better, if we have better education, 01:07:25.760 |
if we have the right people in charge, that we can be successful. 01:07:30.760 |
Success is from him. Power and authority is from him and him alone. 01:07:37.760 |
In Psalm 127, verse 1 and 2, it says, "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it. 01:07:43.760 |
Unless the Lord guards the city, the watchman keeps awake in vain. 01:07:47.760 |
It is in vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors, 01:07:52.760 |
for he gives to his beloved even in his sleep." 01:07:56.760 |
Remember, whenever we get tempted to think that only if we had more of this and more of that, 01:08:08.760 |
God chose one judge to deliver his people during the time of judges. 01:08:18.760 |
He chose a few men to turn the world upside down. 01:08:24.760 |
He chose one man, Apostle Paul, as an apostle to the Gentiles. 01:08:30.760 |
You know, one of the most common questions that I get is, 01:08:33.760 |
"We have four pastors, and we're going to have three, and so don't we need more people?" 01:08:50.760 |
So we're always beseeching the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers. 01:09:08.760 |
What makes me anxious is that we lack God's power. 01:09:13.760 |
What makes me anxious is that we don't pray enough. 01:09:34.760 |
What he is waiting for are men and women of faith. 01:09:43.760 |
One man with the authority and the power of God. 01:09:48.760 |
Room filled with people who are surrendered to God. 01:10:00.760 |
It's easy to disciple people who are in love with Christ. 01:10:05.760 |
Because all I have to do is show you what the Word of God says. 01:10:12.760 |
You know, now that our church is a little bit bigger, 01:10:14.760 |
I've heard people say, "Oh, you should write about your experiences 01:10:17.760 |
"in ministry and people will benefit and all that stuff." 01:10:19.760 |
And I said, "Everything that I would say is already here. 01:10:25.760 |
And there's people who are much more articulate, much more educated, 01:10:33.760 |
But everything that you need to know is already here. 01:10:47.760 |
Those things are things that we wrestle with after we've prayed. 01:10:55.760 |
after we are confident that we have come before the Lord 01:10:58.760 |
desperately pleading and asking for his power. 01:11:06.760 |
Then we can worry about the content of the church. 01:11:08.760 |
But until we have surrendered all that we have for his power, 01:11:13.760 |
everything else will actually work against us. 01:11:35.760 |
so that we would recognize how desperate we are. 01:11:38.760 |
And it is in our desperation the Holy Spirit will lead us to pray. 01:11:44.760 |
If there's anything central to the training of the disciples 01:12:05.760 |
Father, help us to know this wisdom, this warning, this equipping 01:12:18.760 |
Help us, Lord, God, not to follow the pattern of this world, 01:12:20.760 |
but be transformed by the renewing of our mind 01:12:23.760 |
that all the things that we have been trained and taught to do 01:12:27.760 |
in this fallen world, help us to renew all of that, 01:12:32.760 |
to be like children, to simply to obey, to listen, 01:12:38.760 |
and to follow, and to trust that it is in our weakness