back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 8.27.2023
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and I will praise your name forever and ever. 00:00:57.140 |
let us continue to reflect on the greatness of our God 00:05:22.460 |
And again, I wanted to just kind of give a plug on this. 00:05:29.580 |
or the home group Bible studies that we're having, 00:05:39.800 |
Basically, Pastor Mark is gonna have three separate sessions 00:05:47.740 |
So if you haven't attended our Bible study before, 00:05:58.780 |
where you will learn how to do Bible study on your own. 00:06:01.420 |
So you can go in there, understand the context, 00:06:18.580 |
how to bring outlines, how to ask the right questions, 00:06:22.940 |
And so if you've never done that kind of Bible study before, 00:06:28.020 |
And those of you who've been at the Bible study, 00:06:41.000 |
and sharing your insights, not just waiting for the leaders 00:06:49.540 |
the more you'll be able to get out of the Bible study. 00:07:02.660 |
and that's where the class is gonna be taking place. 00:07:24.540 |
is proper accountability, especially in our day and age 00:07:29.060 |
with so much struggles and temptations going on, 00:07:50.940 |
If you have children in our elementary department, 00:07:54.060 |
they're gonna have a PTA in September 10th at 2 p.m., 00:07:59.900 |
And then family ministry community groups is happening. 00:08:08.500 |
That's gonna be happening on Saturday, October 14th. 00:08:11.820 |
I'll give you more announcements as we get closer, 00:08:21.080 |
Two more announcements, okay, and then I'll be done. 00:08:36.660 |
and they asked if they can film this morning. 00:09:01.900 |
They're gonna be filming during the praise time, 00:09:16.880 |
One last announcement, if you can put the picture up. 00:09:29.660 |
I mean, the right word, the technical word for them 00:09:33.020 |
is not orphanage, because almost most of these children 00:09:41.540 |
because the parents have either abandoned them. 00:09:47.100 |
than the orphans who don't know where the parents are, 00:09:49.740 |
because they know exactly where their parents are, 00:09:54.260 |
The parents got divorced, or they got remarried, 00:09:56.620 |
and neither side claimed the child, and so they're here. 00:10:00.820 |
because they had some family issues or abuse, 00:10:03.380 |
and the state had to come in and put them in a home. 00:10:06.380 |
And so they're not quite orphans, at least most of them. 00:10:09.340 |
There's about 50-some of them in this home that we visited. 00:10:15.860 |
So they get some funding from the government, 00:10:17.740 |
and it's just enough for them to pay for school 00:10:27.820 |
because a church up there is sponsoring a few of them. 00:10:31.100 |
But they just happened to be coming to California, 00:10:39.980 |
But none of them speak English, even the directors. 00:10:45.780 |
And so we volunteered to care for them while they're here. 00:10:48.620 |
So it's gonna be September 7th, 8th, and 9th. 00:11:13.660 |
if we do come out, is there something that we can do 00:11:17.560 |
or maybe have an English camp or something like that? 00:11:20.260 |
And then she kind of thought about it for a little bit, 00:11:22.220 |
and she said, "It'd be great if you just came 00:11:29.700 |
"because the government only gives just enough money 00:11:33.500 |
"and so they've never, especially the kids who came in 00:11:46.100 |
of what their life is like, so for them to come here. 00:11:50.020 |
there's only five of them out of 50-some that's coming, 00:11:52.540 |
and so some of you guys asked how we can help. 00:12:02.660 |
just when you're giving, just make sure that this is for, 00:12:05.420 |
you can just write there for the orphaned kids, 00:12:10.300 |
that the funds get to them when they're here. 00:12:16.940 |
And then after that, obviously when they come, 00:12:21.020 |
to support the work that they're doing, okay? 00:12:24.060 |
So again, you'll have an opportunity today and next week, 00:12:27.540 |
so that we can know that it's designated for that, okay? 00:12:32.180 |
And again, we have a physical box in the back 00:12:36.020 |
If you're headed out, you can just drop it off there. 00:12:38.420 |
For the rest of you, you can give electronically. 00:12:47.100 |
we have a brother who is going to be baptized. 00:12:49.260 |
Philip is gonna be coming up after our pray set, 00:13:07.580 |
Lord, you are a God of love, you're a God of patience, 00:13:16.220 |
Help us, Lord God, that we may recognize this 00:13:24.020 |
praise you, and worship you in spirit and in truth. 00:22:40.120 |
and today I'll be sharing my testimony with you. 00:22:46.120 |
If I could summarize what God has done for me 00:22:49.120 |
in the last eight months here at Berean in two words, 00:22:54.120 |
In December 2022, I was invited to visit Berean 00:22:57.120 |
with my friend Tiffany Pham, visiting from Montana. 00:23:00.120 |
Back then, my walk with Christ was almost non-existent. 00:23:21.120 |
There was something lacking, something missing. 00:23:41.120 |
follow the rules and be rewarded type of relationship. 00:24:00.120 |
After college and throughout all of dental school, 00:24:24.120 |
I knew in my heart that what I was doing was wrong, 00:25:00.120 |
I don't remember exactly what was said during the sermon, 00:25:20.120 |
Through the gradual process of surrendering my heart to God, 00:25:33.120 |
he taught me to grow and develop my faith in him 00:25:52.120 |
I felt that she left me when I needed her the most. 00:26:29.120 |
I was finally able to start resting in the Lord 00:26:35.120 |
I found myself in scripture during that time, 00:26:44.120 |
for my strength is made perfect in weakness." 00:27:08.120 |
but only through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross 00:28:00.120 |
Praise God, by Christ's sacrifice on the cross, 00:28:15.120 |
And praise God that he revealed himself to me 00:31:16.120 |
it's like, oh yeah, yeah, they are the disciples. 00:31:19.120 |
And the people that we're going to be covering today, 00:31:26.120 |
Because there's so little written about them. 00:31:43.120 |
And I know Thomas is somebody that we could have 00:31:45.120 |
kind of taken a separate time just to study him. 00:31:54.120 |
You know what's interesting about these four men 00:31:57.120 |
is they all have some kind of title on their name. 00:32:12.120 |
We're going to go over each one of these things. 00:32:15.120 |
at least you'll have something to stick in your head 00:32:42.120 |
We'd have to, we want to give it some thought. 00:33:02.120 |
If you actually understood how the Zealots were viewed 00:33:07.120 |
Simon the Zealot for, you know, for eternity, 00:33:12.120 |
you'd think that's not what you would choose. 00:33:24.120 |
that you have at least some understanding of them. 00:33:30.120 |
had a significant role in the spreading of the gospel 00:33:43.120 |
the majority of them gave their life preaching the gospel. 00:33:45.120 |
These are the apostles, the foundation of the church 00:33:51.120 |
But 2,000 years later, we know nothing about, 00:34:00.120 |
Judas, like we're going to spend a special day 00:34:03.120 |
just talking about him because there's a lot of questions 00:34:08.120 |
Why was he chosen if God already knew if he's ordained? 00:34:14.120 |
But today, we want to focus our energy on these four men 00:34:17.120 |
and who they are and maybe some of the bad rap 00:34:28.120 |
And this is not a name that's given in the Bible. 00:34:30.120 |
It's just that we just call him, you know, the Doubting Thomas 00:34:38.120 |
Now, it's a bad rap because he's the only one 00:34:53.120 |
but for whatever reason, Thomas gets the label, 00:34:58.120 |
He's also called Didymus because he was a twin. 00:35:01.120 |
We don't know what happened to the twin brother. 00:35:03.120 |
Maybe, you know, maybe he just kind of followed along, 00:35:08.120 |
But outside of that, the label that he got, Doubting Thomas, 00:35:15.120 |
After the resurrection, it says, "But Thomas, one of the twelve, 00:35:18.120 |
called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 00:35:25.120 |
'Unless I see in his hands the imprint of the nails 00:35:28.120 |
and put my finger into the place of the nails 00:35:30.120 |
and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.'" 00:35:35.120 |
This is where he gets the term Doubting Thomas. 00:35:47.120 |
none of the disciples were awaiting Jesus' resurrection. 00:35:50.120 |
So when the women went to go see the burial site 00:36:01.120 |
So Thomas is not the only one who didn't believe. 00:36:15.120 |
except that Thomas wasn't there when Jesus showed himself 00:36:22.120 |
"No, we saw him just like the other disciples," 00:36:29.120 |
Considering all that's happened, unless I see him. 00:36:34.120 |
reveals himself, "Reach here with your finger 00:36:45.120 |
Thomas answered and said to him, "My Lord and my God." 00:36:48.120 |
And then Jesus says to him, "Because you have seen me, 00:36:52.120 |
Blessed are they who did not see and yet believed." 00:36:56.120 |
Now, I want to explain what he means by here in verse 29. 00:37:10.120 |
I think every single one of us could relate to Thomas. 00:37:27.120 |
and it was the best that they've ever tasted, 00:37:32.120 |
My initial response is, "Well, that's what you think." 00:37:38.120 |
You know how many times I've been disappointed 00:37:42.120 |
and they go, "This is the worst pizza I've ever tasted." 00:37:46.120 |
I had somebody who told me they ate this burger place, 00:38:12.120 |
Is he saying that Thomas should not have asked this question? 00:38:16.120 |
Is he basically telling us that if Jesus said it, 00:38:29.120 |
If it's just stated, if somebody says the Bible says it, 00:38:32.120 |
just believe it, and if you ask any questions, 00:38:51.120 |
what's the first thing that you have to understand 00:39:01.120 |
you need to come to the Bible lab today at 2 o'clock, okay? 00:39:05.120 |
The first thing you need to look at is context. 00:39:13.120 |
and then go to page 3 and take out a paragraph 00:39:15.120 |
and a sentence in that paragraph and try to dissect it. 00:39:23.120 |
So in the context of what Jesus is saying this 00:39:25.120 |
to his disciples, remember, Jesus has been performing 00:39:41.120 |
and then he was going to be resurrected on the third day. 00:39:52.120 |
So you have to understand, one, he's saying this to them 00:39:58.120 |
I've been showing you, and yet you didn't believe." 00:40:03.120 |
I've given you every proof that I was going to resurrect, 00:40:05.120 |
and you still didn't believe until you came and saw me." 00:40:08.120 |
So in the context, he's telling Thomas and the disciples 00:40:23.120 |
He's saying, just like he told John the Baptist, 00:40:33.120 |
He's referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us. 00:40:44.120 |
he said he is the least in the kingdom of God. 00:40:47.120 |
He told his disciples that you're seeing greater works, 00:40:49.120 |
but after I leave, you will see much greater works. 00:40:54.120 |
So when he says those who do not see and believe, 00:42:00.120 |
and you will see the power of the cross in you. 00:42:35.120 |
to come to church and participate in a community 00:42:40.120 |
and have assurance that we're going to be in heaven. 00:42:44.120 |
But if I ask more, if I get really convicted, 00:42:55.120 |
that all that we're working for is going to burn up, 00:43:04.120 |
in the life that we have created for ourselves. 00:43:12.120 |
because we're afraid what's on the other side. 00:43:36.120 |
See, some of us don't want to ask that question, 00:43:50.120 |
don't ask any questions and you believe anyway." 00:44:15.120 |
because they believe that Thomas was the first one 00:44:21.120 |
we set the date for our India trip in January, 00:44:50.120 |
By the time I get there, I mean, my back is shot. 00:45:07.120 |
and then most of the time we're in air-conditioned places, 00:45:11.120 |
and it's physically grueling for that period, 00:45:15.120 |
but we're able to come back, sleep on a nice bed. 00:45:18.120 |
But you have to remember, at this particular time, 00:45:23.120 |
You don't get on a boat to go to India from where they are 00:45:26.120 |
and then say, "You know what? I'll be back next year." 00:45:32.120 |
went with knowing that they aren't going to be able to come back. 00:45:48.120 |
gave his life to bring the gospel all the way to India. 00:45:59.120 |
but in Mark 1540, he's called James the Less. 00:46:06.120 |
who's going to judge the 12 tribes of Israel in the eternal kingdom, 00:46:19.120 |
Some people think that that is in reference to his physical size, 00:46:26.120 |
or it could simply be that he was just a quiet, 00:46:33.120 |
For whatever the reason, he's known as James the Less, 00:46:37.120 |
to distinguish him from James the More, right? 00:46:45.120 |
He's--you know what's interesting about James is 00:46:52.120 |
and Matthew in Mark 2:14 is also called son of Alphaeus. 00:46:59.120 |
We're just speculating, but Alphaeus may have been a common name, 00:47:03.120 |
so maybe both of them, their father's name was Alphaeus. 00:47:06.120 |
Some believe--again, this is all speculation-- 00:47:12.120 |
And Matthew was the well-known one because he's a tax collector. 00:47:16.120 |
And maybe James kind of wanted to separate from that identity. 00:47:19.120 |
We don't know what the dynamic is, but I don't want to go too deep into it, 00:47:22.120 |
but there's a possibility that they might be brothers, 00:47:24.120 |
which makes sense because we have other brothers on the team. 00:47:28.120 |
What's interesting is James' mother in Mark 16:1 00:47:37.120 |
was one of the women who went to the grave to prepare for Jesus' burial. 00:47:42.120 |
It says in Mark 16:1, "When the Sabbath was over, 00:47:45.120 |
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome 00:47:48.120 |
bought spices so that they might come and anoint him." 00:47:52.120 |
Now, you have to--if you don't know who Salome is, 00:47:55.120 |
you may automatically read that and think this is James the mother-- 00:48:01.120 |
But James and John's mother's name is Salome. 00:48:05.120 |
So they already mentioned Salome, so the James' mother here 00:48:10.120 |
which means that there were at least three mothers. 00:48:14.120 |
My guess is there are probably more, but at least three mothers 00:48:18.120 |
that were traveling with Jesus, ministering to them. 00:48:22.120 |
And so when their sons decided to leave everything to follow Christ, 00:48:27.120 |
the mothers also took up and left everything to help them, 00:48:38.120 |
and then at least we know for a fact that his mother 00:48:40.120 |
was also traveling and doing ministry with them. 00:48:45.120 |
He was not somebody that could have easily been forgotten. 00:48:51.120 |
But he also gave his life preaching the gospel, 00:48:55.120 |
and church tradition says that he was stoned. 00:49:01.120 |
All we know about Simon the Zealot is the title, Zealot, 00:49:07.120 |
Now you have to understand, at that particular time, 00:49:12.120 |
You had the Pharisees, and all of them hated the Roman government. 00:49:16.120 |
But the way the Pharisees approached it was if they kept the law 00:49:19.120 |
and if they had enough righteousness, God would bless them, 00:49:23.120 |
and by God's blessing, they're going to somehow overthrow the Roman government. 00:49:31.120 |
because if they didn't have enough righteousness, 00:49:33.120 |
they would never be able to overpass this oppression from the pagans. 00:49:43.120 |
And so they had more of a political approach, 00:49:45.120 |
that if we gain enough power, if we have enough people of influence, 00:49:53.120 |
and somehow we can change the destiny of our nation. 00:50:00.120 |
They controlled the temple, and they were the majority ones in their senate. 00:50:07.120 |
and the Essenes are never mentioned in the New Testament 00:50:14.120 |
I don't want to see evil. I don't want to hear evil. 00:50:25.120 |
I'm just going to go, and we're going to preserve these scrolls." 00:50:33.120 |
Zealots carried a knife in their back pocket at all times. 00:50:38.120 |
If you wanted to be a Zealot, you needed to commit to die. 00:50:43.120 |
They made a vow that if there is anyone who is treasonous to the nation of Israel, 00:50:50.120 |
that they would take out their dagger and stab them to death. 00:50:55.120 |
every Zealot had to commit all their family members. 00:51:01.120 |
they know that they would come for their families. 00:51:05.120 |
they had to commit the possibility that this would lead to not only their death, 00:51:09.120 |
but their wife, their mother, their father, even their children. 00:51:13.120 |
So every Zealot was willing to sacrifice everything that he had. 00:51:18.120 |
In fact, the very beginning of this movement started in Galilee, 00:51:31.120 |
When Gamaliel came in defense of the apostles, 00:51:40.120 |
and Gamaliel is the one who stands up and saying, 00:51:43.120 |
"You know, there was a guy named Judas of Galilee, the leader of the Zealots. 00:51:48.120 |
And so they were willing to fight the Romans because of the census tax. 00:51:55.120 |
And again, this is a tax that was just fixed. 00:52:00.120 |
you had to pay the tax for five people, and it was a set tax. 00:52:05.120 |
They were willing to die, and that rebellion got suppressed. 00:52:14.120 |
if they were willing to die for paying taxes to Romans, 00:52:19.120 |
imagine having Matthew as a part of your traveling team. 00:52:25.120 |
I mean, he must have been tempted to take out that dagger 00:52:28.120 |
and stab Matthew every time Jesus turned around. 00:52:39.120 |
Can you imagine the hatred that came to Simon because he was traveling with Matthew? 00:52:48.120 |
You know, in India, the reason why the Christians are being persecuted is because of nationalism. 00:52:54.120 |
Because it's not specifically because they hate Christianity, 00:52:58.120 |
because Christianity was brought in by the British who colonized them. 00:53:05.120 |
and so they think foreign religion is a treasonous religion, 00:53:09.120 |
so they go after Christians because you're selling out our country. 00:53:14.120 |
And so those of you guys who remember many years ago when we showed up in India, 00:53:19.120 |
and the reason why is because we didn't stand up on their national anthem. 00:53:25.120 |
There was a bunch of young men who were drinking, and they got really angry, 00:53:31.120 |
We had no idea why they were angry, and we looked up, and there was a cricket game, 00:53:34.120 |
and I said, "Oh, it must be the national anthem." 00:53:39.120 |
And then the pastor said, "Well, they don't know because they're foreigners, 00:53:44.120 |
Then it's your fault because you didn't teach them." 00:53:55.120 |
and then to have Matthew traveling with them, 00:53:59.120 |
how he must have been hated by his friends, by the other zealots. 00:54:05.120 |
As much as he was uncomfortable with Matthew, 00:54:08.120 |
you could probably tell, "Well, then Simon needs to be killed." 00:54:13.120 |
In fact, Simon eventually ends up taking the gospel to Egypt and to Persia. 00:54:21.120 |
Again, if you know anything about Israel's history, 00:54:24.120 |
the first oppressors to Israel were the Egyptians, 00:54:28.120 |
and Persia was, again, one of those nations who suppressed them. 00:54:32.120 |
So if the zealots' main goal in life is to rebel against the oppressors, 00:54:37.120 |
this is the last place a zealot would want to go to preach the gospel. 00:54:42.120 |
Simon picked up his cross, went to Egypt, to Persia, 00:54:46.120 |
and in the context of preaching the gospel, was martyred. 00:54:49.120 |
And according to church tradition, it says he was sawn in half 00:54:53.120 |
and he was the last one to preach the gospel. 00:55:10.120 |
My guess is he was the last Judas that a parent named his son as a Christian. 00:55:18.120 |
He was the last Christian Judas in the last 2,000 years. 00:55:22.120 |
We have some kids whose name is Jude, and if you ask them, they say, "Oh, it's Judah." 00:55:33.120 |
So he was probably the last Christian Judas in the last 2,000 years. 00:55:48.120 |
And Thaddaeus, again, we don't know if this applies directly, 00:55:51.120 |
but it literally means breast child or heart child. 00:55:55.120 |
And most commentators believe that that's just another way of saying mama's boy. 00:56:01.120 |
So we don't know exactly if that's what it means, 00:56:03.120 |
but again, I think a negative way to put that name is, "Oh, he's a mama's boy. 00:56:10.120 |
Maybe a child that was had late in life, and he was kind of babied. 00:56:19.120 |
A positive spin to his name is the one who is loved. 00:56:23.120 |
So next time somebody calls you mama's boy, he says, "Yes, I am loved. 00:56:33.120 |
But what we do know is he was a loved child to someone, maybe a brother, maybe a husband. 00:56:47.120 |
But he also gave his life preaching the gospel. 00:56:51.120 |
Every single one of these men, every single one of these 12 men, 00:57:01.120 |
The church that you and I belong to now is because they purchased it through their blood. 00:57:07.120 |
What Christ did, they took it, and they established the church by their own blood. 00:57:14.120 |
As Christ purchased us, their blood was the foundation upon the church. 00:57:22.120 |
I'll bet you in that first generation that there wasn't a single person who didn't know any of them. 00:57:27.120 |
Every single one of them were superstars, and yet today, we have no idea who they are. 00:57:33.120 |
So typically, when we name our children, I know now we try to stay away from the names 00:57:39.120 |
because we have enough Peter Kims, Peter Lees, or James Lees. 00:57:44.120 |
And we have so many of the same names repeated over and over again. 00:57:49.120 |
So we go to other names, Hezekiah or biblical names. 00:57:54.120 |
But normally, when we choose names, it's because we're choosing names of great men or great women in the Bible. 00:58:02.120 |
But rarely, we're going to say, "Oh, James the Less." 00:58:06.120 |
We're going to name you the James the Less or Thomas the Doubter or Simon the Zealot or Judas the Other One. 00:58:17.120 |
But 99.999999% of us are just like them, are just like them. 00:58:27.120 |
The church for 2,000 years have been built on people who gave their lives with no recognition. 00:58:39.120 |
Most people who sacrifice the most in the kingdom of God, when they die, there's no great funeral. 00:58:48.120 |
There's no mega churches that they're leaving behind. 00:58:51.120 |
There's faithful men and women who picked up their cross, lived faithful lives, and then just went home. 00:59:00.120 |
We have a tendency to fill our minds with heroes and the people that we put on pedestals, and we want to be like them. 00:59:13.120 |
But the majority of us, 99.999999% of us, are going to be like James the Less, Simon the Zealot, Judas, not the Iscariot. 00:59:25.120 |
Mark 10:28, Peter says, "We have left everything to follow you." 00:59:36.120 |
Hebrews 11.33-40, the heroes of the faith, it says, "Who by faith conquered kingdoms, performed acts of righteousness, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, from weakness were made strong, became mighty in war, but foreign armies to fight, women received back their dead by resurrection." 00:59:55.120 |
And typically, we look at that and say, "Yes, because of faith, God blessed them. 00:59:59.120 |
Look at all these powerful things that they did." 01:00:01.120 |
But the second part is actually longer than the first part. 01:00:05.120 |
"And others were tortured, not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection. 01:00:11.120 |
Others experienced mocking and scourging, yes, also chains and imprisonment. 01:00:15.120 |
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with a sword. 01:00:19.120 |
They went about in sheepskin and goldskin, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated. 01:00:24.120 |
Men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, mountains, and caves, and holes in the ground. 01:00:30.120 |
And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised, because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect." 01:00:42.120 |
Among the heroes of the faith, some were doubters, just like us. 01:00:48.120 |
Among the heroes of the faith, some were timid, just like us. 01:00:56.120 |
Some were very involved with politics, some didn't want anything to do with politics. 01:01:00.120 |
Some were outspoken, some stayed in the background. 01:01:03.120 |
Some we know a lot about, some we have no idea outside of their name. 01:01:10.120 |
Some had their mothers travel with them, some their families left them because of their faith. 01:01:16.120 |
Some were single, some were married, some wrote great letters. 01:01:22.120 |
Some we have no idea even exactly where they died, but every single one of them heard the voice of God when they died, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 01:01:35.120 |
You know, in Arlington Cemetery, you have all these graves of soldiers, but they have this one grave called the grave of the unknown soldiers. 01:01:45.120 |
And that monument was set up in World War I to commemorate all the soldiers who died fighting for this country, but yet their bodies were never claimed. 01:01:57.120 |
So either they didn't know or they couldn't find them, they couldn't connect the dots. 01:02:02.120 |
So as a result, you have hundreds, thousands of men and women who died fighting for this country. 01:02:11.120 |
And in order to commemorate them, in order to honor them, they set up that monument. 01:02:18.120 |
In that monument, they have four bodies. They have one from World War I, one from World War II, one from Vietnam and Vietnam War, and one from the Korean War. 01:02:35.120 |
And just like there were heroes who fought for this country, there are heroes of the faith, majority of them you do not know. 01:02:44.120 |
In fact, every single one of us, in due time, we're going to be forgotten. 01:02:53.120 |
How many of you know the names of your great-grandparents? 01:03:00.120 |
My guess is the majority of you don't even know their name. Not your grandparents, but great-grandparents. 01:03:06.120 |
If you do know their name, when did they get married? 01:03:11.120 |
What was their profession? What did they do for a living? 01:03:15.120 |
How did they meet? How old were they? What were their likes and dislikes? You don't know. 01:03:20.120 |
In fact, I would say, taking it one step even further, how many of you know your grandparents? 01:03:27.120 |
Don't raise your hand. I know there's going to be a little bit more. 01:03:32.120 |
But do you know anything other than the fact that they're your parents' parents? 01:03:36.120 |
What are their names? How did they get married? What are their backgrounds? 01:03:42.120 |
What was their profession? I'm going to go even further than that. 01:03:46.120 |
Sometimes I ask you how old your parents are and you don't know. 01:03:50.120 |
They're somewhere between 56 or 66. I'm not sure. 01:03:54.120 |
So you know. You know your parents. Of course you know your parents, but you don't know the details of how they met, 01:04:00.120 |
what their likes or dislikes, what their interest is, what's their favorite food. 01:04:05.120 |
You don't know. You know a lot about your friends, but you don't know that much about your parents. 01:04:10.120 |
And oftentimes you don't even think about it until they're gone. 01:04:14.120 |
Now the point of this is not to depress you, because it is depressing, but the point of it is, 01:04:20.120 |
in 50 to 70 years, every single one of us is going to be forgotten. 01:04:26.120 |
In 50 to 70 years, no one on this earth is going to know your name. 01:04:33.120 |
In 50 to 70 years, we're going to disappear and everything that mattered so much during this lifetime, 01:04:39.120 |
no one's going to remember. No one's going to remember. 01:04:44.120 |
And to think the kind of energy and the heartache and the money that we pour into making this short period of life significant, 01:04:56.120 |
when we know just in time, in the next generation, they're not even going to remember our names. 01:05:08.120 |
Whether we live a long life or short life, that we make sure we fight the good fight, the eternal fight. 01:05:15.120 |
As Paul says, "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering in the time of my departure has come. 01:05:22.120 |
I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith." 01:05:26.120 |
Every single one of these disciples lived their life in this way. 01:05:31.120 |
We don't remember them. We don't know who they are. 01:05:34.120 |
But every single one of them were heroes of the faith that brought the gospel to us. 01:05:39.120 |
I pray that you and I would have a proper perspective of what it is that we have in Christ. 01:05:45.120 |
That this short period of life that we have been given, whether people recognize us or not, 01:05:50.120 |
whether we are young, whether we are old, whether we are fruitful or we are not fruitful, 01:05:56.120 |
that the fight that God has called us to fight is a good fight. 01:06:01.120 |
That we would be faithful so that more than anything else in life, that when we die, 01:06:06.120 |
that we would hear the same words that these men heard, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." 01:06:12.120 |
I pray that our perspective, and when we think of these heroes of the faith, 01:06:28.120 |
Let's take a few minutes as our worship team comes up to lead us in praise. 01:06:34.120 |
To focus our attention. If we have been entangled with the things of this world, 01:06:40.120 |
in the context of eternity, it really doesn't matter. 01:06:44.120 |
To really come before the Lord and ask, "Lord, help me to be anchored in Christ. 01:06:55.120 |
Again, that we would focus our heart on the things that truly matter. 01:07:03.120 |
That we would see these heroes of the faith, that we would be men and women, 01:07:09.120 |
that follow Christ, proclaim Christ, live for Christ, and eventually die for Christ. 01:07:15.120 |
Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us. 01:10:49.120 |
My cross I'll carry, my cross I'll carry, till I see Jesus. 01:11:22.120 |
I have decided, I have decided to follow Jesus. 01:11:58.120 |
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, 01:12:04.120 |
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, 01:12:09.120 |
In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, 01:12:12.120 |
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will order to me on that day, 01:12:16.120 |
and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. 01:12:22.120 |
Heavenly Father, I pray, Father God, that this would be our confession 01:12:33.120 |
Help us, Lord God, to live each day with our mind and our heart and our lives, 01:12:39.120 |
ready, Father God, to be called, to pick up our cross, to deny ourselves, 01:12:47.120 |
to follow the pattern of the hero, the cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, 01:12:52.120 |
that we would remember your blessing upon them without name, without glory. 01:12:58.120 |
Help us, Lord God, to shine Christ wherever you send us this week. 01:13:37.120 |
an empty grave is there to hold my Savior's lips.