back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 4/27/2025
00:12:38.220 |
♪ Praise to the king whose throne transcends ♪ 00:14:27.640 |
- Good morning, welcome to Breen Community Church. 00:14:42.820 |
First of all, next Sunday is the all church members meeting 00:14:48.260 |
so if you cannot make it for whatever reason, 00:15:04.460 |
at all age level on May 18th from 11 to 3 p.m., 00:15:17.320 |
you just bring your own lunch, it's a casual time. 00:15:50.820 |
there's gonna be anywhere from four to six weeks, 00:15:53.660 |
depending on which class that we're gonna be offering. 00:16:00.620 |
hoping that many of you will take advantage of that. 00:16:02.780 |
And there's three courses that are gonna be given. 00:16:05.400 |
The dates and time are different for each class. 00:16:15.680 |
I think it's the last week of May or third week of May. 00:16:21.680 |
So please sign up for that, Foundations of Marriage. 00:16:25.920 |
more detailed explanation of when you try to sign up. 00:16:29.820 |
And then Fourfold Disciplines of Christian Life, 00:16:34.200 |
It's gonna be more of a practice than just teaching. 00:16:48.520 |
that are gonna be offered during the summertime. 00:16:51.200 |
and to see which one you can take advantage of. 00:16:58.040 |
So regular small group and regular home group 00:17:02.360 |
It was gonna be happening through these classes. 00:17:13.480 |
that you want to invite to take the Seeker class, 00:17:24.160 |
on starting from May 28th to four Wednesdays consecutively 00:17:33.600 |
from this Seeker class, please sign up for that as well. 00:17:41.920 |
well, it's Men and Co-ed kinda softball tournament 00:17:45.920 |
for mission fundraising is happening on May 24th. 00:17:50.200 |
So I don't know when the practice supposedly start today. 00:17:54.400 |
So if you did sign up, you should have gotten an email. 00:18:01.680 |
We're not 100% sure yet, depending on the other churches. 00:18:04.720 |
So if your skill level is up to it for the sisters, 00:18:12.520 |
there will be a team that is appropriate for you. 00:18:21.640 |
And then for Women, again, this is for all skill level. 00:18:35.680 |
And I think that's everything for this morning. 00:18:55.160 |
Thank you for your sacrifice, Lord God, toward us, 00:18:59.640 |
sustaining us, orchestrating all things, Lord God, 00:19:10.200 |
that we may see a greater glimpse of your glory, 00:19:13.840 |
that as a result, that we may change and be sanctified 00:19:22.440 |
that it may be multiplied, that it may be used wisely, 00:19:36.200 |
Let's take a moment just to greet those around us. 00:21:04.420 |
♪ Be still, my soul, I'll lift your voice and pray ♪ 00:21:51.960 |
♪ My hope was sure when there my Savior prayed ♪ 00:22:39.340 |
♪ My heart restored with all your saints asleep ♪ 00:23:39.520 |
♪ Now as your church, we lift our voice in praise ♪ 00:23:59.480 |
♪ Now as your church, we lift our voice in praise ♪ 00:24:56.440 |
♪ For all eternity, without hope, without rest ♪ 00:25:41.960 |
♪ Matchless King of all, be the blood that's for me ♪ 00:25:46.960 |
♪ Slaughtered land, what atonement you bring ♪ 00:25:54.300 |
♪ And the final sinner's heart can be cleansed, can be healed ♪ 00:26:39.720 |
♪ That songs of gratefulness ever rise, never cease ♪ 00:26:52.640 |
♪ My heart is satisfied in the riches of Christ ♪ 00:28:50.920 |
If you can turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 23, 00:29:15.820 |
And he was casting out a demon and it was mute. 00:29:22.340 |
the mute man spoke and the crowds were amazed. 00:29:25.300 |
But some of them said he casts out demons by Beelzebul, 00:29:30.180 |
Others to test him were demanding of him a sign from heaven. 00:29:36.820 |
"Any kingdom divided against itself, laid waste. 00:29:46.000 |
"For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 00:29:55.900 |
"But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, 00:30:00.460 |
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, 00:30:06.240 |
"But when someone stronger than he attacks him 00:30:11.300 |
"on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 00:30:16.640 |
"And he who does not gather with me scatters." 00:30:35.540 |
that we may have a deeper understanding of you. 00:30:58.020 |
but it's one of the weirdest mascots I've ever seen. 00:31:02.620 |
it's like, of all the things that you could have chosen, 00:31:12.900 |
Maybe some of you guys may know this already. 00:31:33.780 |
And so of all the things that they could have chosen, 00:31:43.740 |
from BC Comics that was very popular at that time. 00:31:54.400 |
What is, how many of you know the why behind this? 00:32:10.400 |
I visited UCI in 1985 to see some of my friends here, 00:32:47.960 |
But the reason why they went over the anteater 00:32:51.000 |
is because typically anteaters are very, right, 00:32:58.080 |
But they say that anteaters are very ferocious 00:33:08.620 |
And then those sharp claws are very dangerous. 00:33:18.260 |
And the reason why they wanted to choose that 00:33:19.820 |
is because UCI was kind of known as a farmland. 00:33:23.720 |
But if you mess with us, we're gonna get you. 00:33:25.860 |
And that's where the thing is zot, zot, zot, zot, right? 00:33:39.740 |
Still a weird choice, but that's the story behind it. 00:33:54.880 |
It's not from what's going on outside the church, 00:33:59.840 |
False prophets are described to us in the scripture 00:34:10.180 |
sometimes, many times, leaders in the church, 00:34:13.180 |
where they begin to introduce heresy into the church. 00:34:16.900 |
And what has harmed the witness of Christ in the church, 00:34:24.420 |
And when they are cornered, they become very ferocious. 00:34:28.700 |
The text that we're looking at in the narrative, 00:34:33.560 |
but in the narrative, Jesus is heading toward the cross. 00:34:38.280 |
And as we can see, that as he gets closer and closer 00:34:41.500 |
to the cross, he makes his intentions more and more clear. 00:34:58.820 |
"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." 00:35:12.260 |
"They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, 00:35:14.100 |
"but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you 00:35:20.600 |
"because they have not known the Father or me." 00:35:35.300 |
And what it is that we are to glean from this. 00:36:11.460 |
Probably of all the miracles that he performed, 00:36:14.120 |
the most common miracle was the casting out of demons. 00:36:41.140 |
Colossians 1.3, he rescued us from the power of darkness 00:36:45.380 |
and brought us into the kingdom of his beloved son. 00:36:57.100 |
The demonic world basically had monopoly over the sinners. 00:37:24.740 |
it says they were amazed, just like we would be. 00:37:27.140 |
The early church is described to us in Acts 2.43 00:37:38.780 |
And so, as much as we always look at the early church 00:37:43.780 |
and say, "Hey, we need to be like the early church. 00:37:54.060 |
You don't just create that, that if we just study harder 00:37:59.000 |
that somehow we're gonna be like the early church. 00:38:02.260 |
is because they were constantly encountering God. 00:38:06.340 |
And it was their encounter with God that caused the awe 00:38:09.060 |
and it was the awe that caused them to be discipled 00:38:30.640 |
And the Bible constantly records this in the Scripture. 00:38:34.600 |
When people are encountered, encountering God, 00:38:40.980 |
We see it in Moses after the deliverance from Pharaoh. 00:38:52.180 |
When a nation of Israel, during the time of Judges, 00:38:54.380 |
God delivers, she just breaks out into worship. 00:38:56.460 |
Hannah, when God answers her prayer and she gets pregnant 00:39:14.780 |
with the Son of God, breaks out into worship. 00:39:16.700 |
Zechariah, when he realizes his prayers are answered, 00:39:19.660 |
breaks out into worship, over and over and over again. 00:39:23.580 |
The Bible records people breaking out into worship 00:39:37.740 |
Worship is something that happens when you encounter God. 00:39:41.380 |
It tells us that the first response that people gave 00:39:49.460 |
when they heard him speak, it says they were amazed 00:39:55.020 |
C.S. Lewis says in his book, The Weight of Glory, 00:40:00.180 |
it would seem that our Lord finds our desires 00:40:09.780 |
fooling about with drink and sex and ambition. 00:40:27.040 |
and tempted and distracted with the things of this world. 00:40:30.660 |
And then so, we don't have a hungering to encounter God. 00:41:02.220 |
In the early church, it was the encountering with God 00:41:13.980 |
every single Sunday, how do we have a sense of awe? 00:41:29.020 |
If you had something that you've been praying for, 00:41:51.740 |
like, can a leper change his skin or his spots? 00:42:03.900 |
to share the gospel when somebody comes to Christ. 00:42:30.040 |
Because the Bible says that He has put His breath, right? 00:42:34.720 |
It is His very breath that's in the Word of God. 00:42:45.160 |
His very breath has been put into the Word of God. 00:43:04.940 |
because God has invested Himself in His Word. 00:43:09.980 |
when God created Eve, Adam and Eve, what did He do? 00:43:19.960 |
And it is that breath that died because we sinned. 00:43:34.720 |
How did He say He was going to give us this life? 00:43:37.480 |
He who hears my words and believes Him who sent me 00:43:52.400 |
the more you encounter God through the Word of God, 00:44:03.680 |
and I didn't see somebody come back from the dead. 00:44:06.780 |
But when you encounter God through the Word of God, 00:44:10.320 |
man, who else could have written this but God? 00:44:12.760 |
You begin to see different aspects of who God is 00:44:17.240 |
and His love and His grace and His mercy and His power, 00:44:26.320 |
We're trying to worship by singing beautifully. 00:44:50.020 |
that I want to spend most of the time this morning. 00:44:56.420 |
I mean, think about how mind-blowing this is. 00:45:01.720 |
who's emptied Himself, who's walking among us 00:45:22.600 |
but in the parallel passage in Matthew 12, 20 to 24, 00:45:36.800 |
they would have automatically said it's the Pharisees. 00:45:43.320 |
They were the ones who were trying to get ahead 00:45:44.920 |
by making money and connecting with the Roman government. 00:45:55.880 |
So Pharisees were the ones that everybody thought, 00:45:58.920 |
if anybody knows God, it must be the Pharisees. 00:46:05.960 |
They no longer represented God in the Scripture. 00:46:16.740 |
and then these Pharisees look at what Jesus is doing 00:46:19.160 |
and say, you are casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. 00:46:31.400 |
So you're casting out demons by the power of Satan. 00:46:36.240 |
And this was not, it's not only in the book of Luke. 00:46:39.160 |
It's recorded multiple times in the book of John. 00:46:44.920 |
Every time that they see something to be amazed by, 00:46:55.200 |
Since it is not from God, it must be from Satan. 00:47:02.460 |
I mean, that's the question we should naturally ask. 00:47:17.920 |
The Pharisees were not a special group of evil people 00:47:37.480 |
because in our generation, that's the epitome. 00:47:40.720 |
And when we say that, we're basically saying, 00:47:51.160 |
Why did the Pharisees, why were they so blind? 00:47:58.720 |
standing in front of the God that created them, 00:48:26.480 |
He's the worst player that basketball has ever seen. 00:48:32.920 |
but the worst basketball player you have ever seen. 00:48:39.120 |
That's how far the distinction is of who Jesus is 00:48:57.280 |
"Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees 00:49:08.600 |
And this is where I hope that you will be able 00:49:15.920 |
If we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him. 00:49:20.800 |
So their concern is that he's getting too popular. 00:49:34.200 |
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was a high priest 00:49:36.680 |
at this year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, 00:49:38.960 |
"nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you 00:49:46.680 |
They're concerned that his popularity is growing, 00:49:51.800 |
and his growth of popularity is going to ruin them. 00:50:06.240 |
And they tied that to the well-being of the nation, 00:50:12.720 |
that what's best for the nation is them rising 00:50:47.480 |
but your inner person is still filled with dead men's bones. 00:51:02.480 |
either they will have to repent and acknowledge that 00:51:07.280 |
and come under his teaching and accept what he is saying, 00:51:31.040 |
you know the greatest opposition to public evangelism 00:51:46.000 |
'Cause they don't want to be represented that way. 00:51:51.920 |
I went to speak at a joint evangelism or gospel night 00:51:56.920 |
with all the different campus ministry at UCI. 00:52:02.080 |
It might have even been before we started this church. 00:52:09.040 |
And at that time, I was on campus at least two, 00:52:19.360 |
So I shared the gospel, and I shared what I was doing. 00:52:26.800 |
He said, "Don't people get offended by that?" 00:52:38.160 |
He said, "We shouldn't be offending people like that. 00:52:51.160 |
And I was so dumbfounded that they asked me to come 00:52:56.000 |
and speak and preach the gospel to the non-Christians, 00:53:31.480 |
"But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death." 00:53:34.480 |
Lazarus to death also, because on account of him, 00:53:55.520 |
that even Lazarus, who came back from the dead, 00:54:00.000 |
that they decided they must kill him to survive. 00:54:32.360 |
And when you're blind, you don't know you're blind. 00:54:37.200 |
If you're not constantly buffeting your body, 00:54:53.360 |
Our desire for self-preservation is what blinds us. 00:54:59.400 |
Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and come after me. 00:55:03.680 |
Because without that, even as we follow Christ, 00:55:10.080 |
If I keep following you, what benefit do I get? 00:55:13.720 |
Do I get to sit on your left or to the right? 00:55:20.920 |
that somehow, some of this glory is gonna fall to me. 00:55:27.880 |
These Pharisees were so committed to their self-preservation 00:55:33.240 |
that they realized, as Jesus was coming closer and closer 00:55:46.480 |
was basically setting the theological foundation 00:56:04.560 |
they crucified a crazy man who was demon-possessed. 00:56:21.400 |
A man who's living by the pattern of this world, 00:56:25.800 |
eventually will be counted among the sinners, 00:56:51.800 |
Jesus does not have a final say in our lives. 00:56:57.000 |
We look for him for counsel to see if we agree. 00:57:15.760 |
His life doesn't look any different than a sinner. 00:57:28.220 |
and they leave the church to never come back, 00:57:30.120 |
and then if you ask them 10, 15, 20 years later, 00:57:36.700 |
and so they become the greatest antagonists to the church, 00:57:40.320 |
people at one point who said that they were committed, 00:58:00.720 |
Luke 4.41, demons also were coming out of many shouting, 00:58:07.080 |
But rebuking them, he would not allow them to speak, 00:58:15.360 |
Luke 8.28, "Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before him, 00:58:21.220 |
"What business do we have with each other, Jesus, 00:58:44.280 |
Just how far that Israel had fallen from their Lord. 00:59:00.280 |
if you don't pay attention carefully, the skeptics. 00:59:17.340 |
Even Thomas, after Jesus resurrected, had a hard time. 00:59:20.240 |
He's like, "Let me, let me see, let me see your scars." 00:59:29.160 |
So on the surface, it may look like they're asking, 00:59:34.840 |
But the text tells us that they weren't simply asking, 00:59:42.420 |
who is asking questions and somebody who's questioning. 00:59:58.280 |
as justification for their unbelief, for their rejection. 01:00:01.740 |
Jesus says in Luke 11, 29, "As the crowds were increasing, 01:00:06.660 |
"he began to say, 'This generation is a wicked generation. 01:00:09.720 |
"'It seeks for a sign, and yet no sign will be given to it 01:00:14.760 |
They were seeking signs, not because Jesus didn't give signs 01:00:28.980 |
They were using their skepticism as an excuse 01:00:47.760 |
that a casual walk with God is what they're committed to. 01:00:51.760 |
And if they study too hard, if they dig too much, 01:00:55.840 |
and they come convicted that this must be the truth, 01:01:06.120 |
to somebody who is convicted that this is true, 01:01:09.260 |
that everything that we are doing is temporary, 01:01:24.160 |
knowing that there's an eternity waiting for them 01:01:32.320 |
the early church was a reasonable, logical response 01:01:40.960 |
and the whole world is under the judgment of God, 01:01:47.040 |
all these things, this bucket list that we have 01:01:49.600 |
that I want to experience, I want to taste it, 01:01:53.640 |
So natural, reasonable response is we give our lives, 01:01:58.520 |
pick up our cross, we spend the rest of our lives 01:02:01.120 |
trying to tell as many people as possible before we die, 01:02:04.100 |
so that when we die, we have a clear conscience before God 01:02:23.200 |
He said he was going to leave behind evidence 01:02:56.860 |
but in the light of what it is that we worship, 01:03:07.260 |
in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ. 01:03:11.260 |
There's a man named Simon Greenlee, professor of law, 01:03:13.860 |
and he was one of the founders of Harvard Law School. 01:03:22.500 |
He spent many years trying to gather up enough evidence 01:03:31.780 |
Not only a Christian, he becomes an evangelist, 01:03:49.180 |
the result would be an undoubting conviction of their truth. 01:03:53.500 |
How many Christians have made this their life journey? 01:04:07.160 |
because if it is, I can no longer live this pattern of life. 01:04:22.880 |
So how much of our weak Christian life is willful ignorance? 01:05:04.900 |
Jesus' answer, he says, "Satan is not going to attack Satan." 01:05:16.780 |
"laid waste, and a house divided against itself, falls. 01:05:23.720 |
"For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. 01:05:34.480 |
does it make any sense that Satan would cast out Satan? 01:05:37.440 |
Most common question that we get in the Western church 01:05:59.600 |
What if the church is exactly where Satan wants it to be? 01:06:19.760 |
He's not gonna cling to idols and demonic world. 01:06:28.840 |
He's gonna have just enough Jesus to feel like he's okay, 01:06:32.340 |
and he's gonna stay right there, and no more than that. 01:07:04.740 |
Now, I'm not saying that all of that is valid. 01:08:06.980 |
"God is casting out demons by the finger of God." 01:08:23.700 |
"But I stand before you and by the finger of God," 01:08:39.580 |
"by the finger of God, he's casting out demons. 01:08:42.980 |
"If that's true, the kingdom of God has come upon you, 01:08:50.540 |
"When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, 01:08:56.420 |
"but when someone stronger than he attacks him 01:08:58.580 |
"and overpowers him, he takes away from him all his armor 01:09:01.820 |
"on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 01:09:07.860 |
"and he who does not gather with me scatters." 01:09:17.860 |
which a natural human being has no power over, 01:09:23.180 |
And then you see a Pharisee and these people saying, 01:09:43.580 |
Have you ever done something good for somebody 01:09:48.500 |
I mean, just being accused of evil is bad enough, 01:09:55.500 |
and then they, the people that you love, is accusing you. 01:10:00.060 |
I mean, I could spend all morning this morning 01:10:15.500 |
they wanna go into ministry, I tell them, "Are you sure?" 01:10:19.100 |
I say, "Oh, you know, I have a heart for people." 01:10:20.700 |
He's like, "Oh, you know, a heart for people fades quick. 01:10:27.780 |
And even the orphans, he's like, "Oh, orphans, 01:10:35.900 |
See how benevolent you feel next time you go. 01:10:42.740 |
That's why I said if you're gonna come into ministry, 01:10:48.180 |
that despite the people that you wanna obey God, 01:10:59.100 |
if you're doing it because you have heart for people, 01:11:17.620 |
He says, "He who is not with me is against me, 01:11:19.780 |
"and he who does not gather with me scatters." 01:11:41.740 |
or because of your lukewarm, nonchalant, worldly attitude, 01:12:09.540 |
We have to be careful that we're not so concerned 01:12:21.940 |
He says, "Either you are with me, or you are against me." 01:12:32.420 |
that the accusers and the skeptics are not that far from us. 01:13:40.260 |
that we would not covet recognition during this life, 01:13:45.260 |
that we would covet your presence in our life 01:13:57.060 |
that all things, all things have become rubbish, 01:18:28.860 |
that we may live lives according to the gospel