back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 02/09/2025
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So if you have a child between the age of kindergarten 00:08:22.380 |
to sixth grade, we have a PTA meeting that's happening 00:08:25.380 |
at two o'clock today, so make sure you grab your lunch 00:08:39.380 |
so please let them know if you are able to come. 00:08:41.380 |
This coming Saturday, we have a men's quarterly fellowship 00:08:45.380 |
that's happening from nine a.m. to about one o'clock. 00:08:50.380 |
Today is the last day for early registration, 00:08:55.380 |
or if you can go to the app and sign up today, 00:09:00.380 |
and then the cost will go up after that, $15. 00:09:02.380 |
So today is the last day for early registration, okay? 00:09:06.380 |
And then college retreat, Roots of Redemption, 00:09:14.380 |
Pastor Eric Chabonet from Pillar Baptist Church 00:09:17.380 |
is going to be coming and speaking on the subjects 00:09:27.380 |
so please sign up for that as early as possible. 00:09:49.380 |
Again, to save the date, on April 5th at 9:30 to 12 p.m., okay? 00:09:55.380 |
All right, I'm going to pray for our offering, 00:10:09.380 |
Father, we thank you so much for your continued grace and love. 00:10:13.380 |
Help us, Lord, to fix our eyes upon who you are 00:10:18.380 |
that all that we do would lead to greater worship, 00:10:26.380 |
that it would be given as an act of worship to you, 00:10:29.380 |
and again, may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. 00:11:19.420 |
and let's spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us 00:13:33.460 |
♪ Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, ♪ 00:20:48.700 |
Born into a Christian family and growing up in the church, 00:20:51.700 |
I never once questioned my faith when I was younger. 00:20:57.700 |
prayed, and served in my home church's children's ministry, 00:21:03.700 |
During middle and high school, I began to drift from church 00:21:06.700 |
and placed my worth in my social life and academic success. 00:21:13.700 |
they left me unsatisfied, anxious, and lonely, 00:21:27.700 |
Leading up to college, my heart was far from God, 00:21:30.700 |
but I decided to join a mission trip to Spain 00:21:47.700 |
I questioned why, despite my privileged life, 00:21:52.700 |
I realized their peace came from knowing Christ's love, 00:21:55.700 |
which led me to take my faith more seriously, 00:21:57.700 |
and I started attending Berean once I entered college. 00:22:03.700 |
I had never seriously thought about my salvation, 00:22:10.700 |
and I experienced a false sense of happiness, 00:22:22.700 |
I sought comfort in alcohol and other worldly pleasures, 00:22:25.700 |
and for a fleeting moment, it really felt so good, 00:22:28.700 |
almost like an escape from my pain and struggles. 00:22:46.700 |
it would fill the gaping emptiness in my soul, 00:22:49.700 |
a void so real it really felt like a hole in my chest. 00:22:53.700 |
But instead of relief, I found only hopelessness. 00:23:07.700 |
or surrendering to the darkness of my thoughts. 00:23:10.700 |
Life felt meaningless, stripped of hope and emotion, 00:23:13.700 |
and the only escape I saw was to numb the pain. 00:23:17.700 |
At some point, I realized I no longer recognized myself 00:23:32.700 |
I spent these days reflecting on the past quarter and my sins, 00:23:36.700 |
but my heart remained hardened to God's love, 00:23:41.700 |
A few weeks after returning to college last quarter, 00:23:44.700 |
I began slipping back into the same depression 00:24:02.700 |
and how I could find joy in him rather than in the world. 00:24:08.700 |
I began to feel true, genuine sorrow over my sin, 00:24:19.700 |
I am a sinner fully deserving of eternal punishment, 00:24:27.700 |
because of his great love with which he loved us, 00:24:30.700 |
even when we were dead in our transgressions, 00:24:41.700 |
offered himself as a sacrifice for our sin upon the cross 00:24:44.700 |
so that we may be saved from eternal separation from God. 00:24:56.700 |
for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus 00:24:59.700 |
has set you free from the law of sin and of death." 00:25:06.700 |
became prayers of genuine repentance and gratitude, 00:25:09.700 |
and I felt a deep, indescribable sense of warmth wash over me. 00:25:19.700 |
I now have a genuine, eternal hope and joy in Christ, 00:25:26.700 |
and bring glory to him in everything that I do. 00:25:34.700 |
and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. 00:25:46.700 |
Praise and glory to God for his love and mercy 00:25:51.700 |
to be his servant, living solely for him and his witness, 00:25:58.700 |
that others may see and know his true greatness. 00:26:08.700 |
Even though I am imperfect and still continue to sin, 00:26:30.700 |
The law came in so that the transgression would increase, 00:26:33.700 |
but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 00:26:38.700 |
even so grace would reign through righteousness 00:26:41.700 |
to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 00:27:13.700 |
and you're being united to his resurrected life? 00:27:35.700 |
All right, thank you, Gracie, for that great testimony. 00:27:55.700 |
Don't mind them, they're setting up for the communion. 00:28:07.700 |
'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.' 00:28:12.700 |
'I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. 00:28:27.700 |
but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.'" 00:28:33.700 |
Gracious Father, we thank you for this morning. 00:28:36.700 |
We thank you for the privilege to be able to come 00:28:40.700 |
Help us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon Christ, 00:28:48.700 |
that your sheep will hear your voice and follow you. 00:28:58.700 |
and I would say in all the years that I've been in ministry, 00:29:01.700 |
some of our fondest memories were out in the mission field, 00:29:11.700 |
when they tell me stories about their experiences 00:29:13.700 |
and what it was like and the people that they met. 00:29:16.700 |
And the many years that we've been coming in and out 00:29:19.700 |
of different places, I remember the first time 00:29:30.700 |
but there wasn't a lot of traffic coming in and out, 00:29:34.700 |
about how the underground churches were thriving 00:29:39.700 |
And when we went in, there weren't a lot of churches 00:29:51.700 |
and there's maybe one or two people in this room 00:29:55.700 |
but that was probably one of the most memorable trips 00:29:58.700 |
because we got there, and one of our team members 00:30:03.700 |
got a little bit too aggressive in sharing the gospel. 00:30:06.700 |
And one of the students there, her name was Sophia, 00:30:17.700 |
of the Communist Party, but not only was she a member 00:30:19.700 |
of the Communist Party, her job was to report 00:30:29.700 |
we had probably the best prayer meeting that we've ever had 00:30:32.700 |
because everybody was so scared, like, "What's going to happen?" 00:30:35.700 |
They were asking me questions, "Should I burn 00:30:39.700 |
And one person even asked, "Should I throw in my Bible?" 00:30:41.700 |
I said, "No. Hold on to that. We're going to pray. 00:30:46.700 |
So I ended up switching out to her to teach that class, 00:30:49.700 |
and after two weeks, not only did she not turn us in, 00:30:58.700 |
And she said that she was so interested in Christianity 00:31:05.700 |
but to have a girl who was threatening to turn us in, 00:31:09.700 |
and then at the end of the 2-week camp telling us 00:31:12.700 |
that she is very interested about the Christian faith. 00:31:15.700 |
And so early on, our mission work to China was so exciting 00:31:19.700 |
because the doors were just beginning to open, 00:31:22.700 |
and it was as ripe as any time I've ever experienced a ministry. 00:31:28.700 |
It didn't take much to convince people to come to Christ. 00:31:31.700 |
Many of them grew up never hearing the gospel, 00:31:33.700 |
had very prejudicial understanding of Christianity, 00:31:37.700 |
but we were like the first Christians that they met, 00:31:40.700 |
and so everything that we shared, they were so open. 00:31:45.700 |
I could tell you story after story, but for the sake of time, 00:31:48.700 |
but some of my fondest memories of ministry was that. 00:31:51.700 |
And I share all of this as an introduction to the text 00:31:54.700 |
that we're looking at because, if you remember, 00:31:56.700 |
in the beginning of Chapter 10, Jesus sends out the 70 00:32:06.700 |
He didn't just go there and say, "Hey, go share the gospel." 00:32:11.700 |
Where I'm sending you is going to be dangerous. 00:32:18.700 |
instead of telling them to get ready, he says, "Don't take a staff. 00:32:22.700 |
Don't take anything that you're going to use to protect yourself." 00:32:26.700 |
He instructed them, and it's not like when we go on trips, 00:32:30.700 |
we have two weeks, and sometimes the longer trips 00:32:35.700 |
This is during a time when they didn't have transportation, 00:32:37.700 |
so if they were going from village to village, 00:32:39.700 |
most likely their trips are anywhere from month to several months 00:32:43.700 |
that they're out on the street, and this is not a situation 00:32:45.700 |
where they can just go to a restaurant and use your credit card to pay. 00:32:48.700 |
If you didn't bring food with you, you're not eating. 00:32:51.700 |
Whatever you bring may last maybe a week or two, 00:32:54.700 |
but there's no way they're going to be able to bring enough food for that journey. 00:32:57.700 |
In fact, Jesus tells them, "Don't bring anything. 00:33:02.700 |
You're going to go on this journey where it's difficult. 00:33:09.700 |
He tells them that some of them are going to reject him. 00:33:12.700 |
He tells them, "Don't even sit around socializing 00:33:19.700 |
If they don't receive you, shake off the dust and move on. 00:33:22.700 |
And he told them that the primary message that you are to preach 00:33:28.700 |
It is to challenge the kingdom that they're in, 00:33:30.700 |
so the message itself is going to be difficult for them. 00:33:33.700 |
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:33:35.700 |
So if they repent, they're going to welcome you. 00:33:37.700 |
If they don't repent, they're going to chase you out of the place 00:33:44.700 |
And in order to do that, he said, "Don't take any of this stuff." 00:33:47.700 |
And he only told them that, "You go in my authority." 00:33:52.700 |
And he told them, "I'm going to give you authority 00:34:02.700 |
And the reason why Jesus told them all of that 00:34:04.700 |
is so that they don't return and say, "You know what? 00:34:09.700 |
We prepared well because we had some guys who were expert fishermen 00:34:13.700 |
and so when we got hungry, they knew how to catch fish. 00:34:16.700 |
We had a baker among us, and so whenever we got hungry, 00:34:19.700 |
he got all the weed and ground it up, and he was able to make bread, 00:34:27.700 |
He knows how to speak, and he makes a point clear, 00:34:32.700 |
So they don't come back and say that, "We had a great team, 00:34:35.700 |
so if we can just have this team wherever we go, 00:34:39.700 |
And that's exactly what Jesus was trying to prevent, 00:34:42.700 |
that they don't go there and come back and give credit to themselves 00:34:47.700 |
They would come back and experience the power of God. 00:34:50.700 |
Jesus wanted them to see what kind of power that he has 00:34:55.700 |
to be able to give to them, and that's exactly what happens. 00:35:01.700 |
They were rejoicing that even the demons are subject to us in your name, 00:35:09.700 |
We went out the way you told us to, taking nothing. 00:35:16.700 |
We didn't have extra clothes, and by your authority, 00:35:22.700 |
Now, is that the only thing that they experienced? 00:35:25.700 |
It tells us Jesus gave them power to heal the sick, 00:35:32.700 |
Why was the casting out of the demons of all the things 00:35:41.700 |
how powerless they were against the demonic world, 00:35:44.700 |
and they knew that even the many diseases that they were struggling with, 00:35:48.700 |
there were some demonic things attached to that. 00:35:51.700 |
And so if you're sick, maybe you can call a doctor. 00:35:54.700 |
Maybe if somebody is blind, maybe you can help them or give an assistance, 00:35:58.700 |
but what do you do for a man who is demon-possessed? 00:36:00.700 |
What do you do to a town when the demon has completely taken over? 00:36:04.700 |
So they come back, and of all the things that they experienced, 00:36:11.700 |
"We rejoice because in your name, we were even able to cast out demons. 00:36:18.700 |
In fact, in Colossians 1.13, our salvation is described 00:36:30.700 |
So in their rejoicing, Jesus responds in verse 18. 00:36:33.700 |
He says to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning." 00:36:38.700 |
He's describing to them what they experienced 00:36:41.700 |
and why they were able to have this authority over the demons. 00:36:44.700 |
So I'm going to read you--it's a little bit lengthy, 00:36:46.700 |
but there's two passages that if you haven't read it before, 00:36:56.700 |
In Isaiah 14.12-15, it describes the fall of Satan. 00:37:01.700 |
It says, "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning." 00:37:05.700 |
"O star of the morning," literally in Hebrew, is "Lucifer," 00:37:16.700 |
"O Lucifer, son of Don, you have been cut down to the earth. 00:37:20.700 |
You who have weakened a nation, but you said in your heart, 00:37:23.700 |
'I will ascend to heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God.'" 00:37:27.700 |
This is Satan saying, "I'm going to elevate myself 00:37:32.700 |
I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. 00:37:35.700 |
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. 00:37:39.700 |
Nevertheless, you will be thrust down into Sheol to the recesses of the pit." 00:37:46.700 |
Satan's whole rebellion was he saw the throne of God, 00:37:49.700 |
and he coveted it, and he did everything in his power 00:37:52.700 |
to raise himself up, but the rebellion didn't work. 00:38:01.700 |
and he was thrown down to the recesses of the pit. 00:38:15.700 |
"There was a war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. 00:38:19.700 |
The dragon and his angels waged war, and they were not strong enough, 00:38:22.700 |
and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 00:38:26.700 |
When the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old, 00:38:29.700 |
who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world, 00:38:32.700 |
he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him." 00:38:37.700 |
It doesn't say in this text, but it tells us in the other text 00:38:50.700 |
but if he loses, then all the soldiers also go along with him. 00:38:57.700 |
Satan rebels, a third of the angels are backing him up. 00:39:01.700 |
Archangel Michael fights against him, and he's able to overpower him, 00:39:05.700 |
and as a result of that, Satan and his angels are fallen. 00:39:09.700 |
Now, Jesus is describing this scene, and he's not saying that he just saw this yesterday. 00:39:14.700 |
Jesus is describing this scene because he himself was there. 00:39:20.700 |
So he says, "We come back, and the angels, even they are subjected to us. 00:39:25.700 |
When we declare your name, they knew he was from you." 00:39:28.700 |
So not only did Jesus have authority over them, 00:39:37.700 |
Not only was I there, I was the one who kicked them out of heaven. 00:39:43.700 |
that you're able to have this authority and power." 00:39:48.700 |
That not only do you have that, you have power to heal. 00:39:51.700 |
That no serpent or scorpion is going to harm you. 00:39:58.700 |
Now, that promise wasn't just for anybody at any time. 00:40:02.700 |
He was saying that when I send you out to do my work, 00:40:09.700 |
that everything that you need is going to come under my authority. 00:40:13.700 |
Remember, Jesus, before he left, he said to his apostles, 00:40:17.700 |
"You're going to be dragged in front of governors and kings." 00:40:21.700 |
And I know you're fishermen, and just like Moses, 00:40:24.700 |
he was so afraid of speaking in front of Pharaoh. 00:40:28.700 |
Jesus is telling them ahead of time to prepare them. 00:40:30.700 |
When you go before them, don't worry about what you're going to say. 00:40:32.700 |
I didn't call you because of your great ability to articulate truth. 00:40:39.700 |
and the Holy Spirit is going to teach you what to say. 00:40:51.700 |
Why Jesus did what he did with the 70 disciples. 00:40:58.700 |
"I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, 00:41:01.700 |
and in my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, 00:41:08.700 |
so that your faith would not rest on wisdom of men, 00:41:17.700 |
sometimes we hear people interpret Paul's ministry and say, 00:41:21.700 |
"Yeah, he was chosen because he was a Roman citizen, 00:41:23.700 |
so he would have had a much easier time getting around. 00:41:27.700 |
He was very well-educated, so he didn't need much training. 00:41:30.700 |
He already knew the Old Testament inside and out, 00:41:37.700 |
so wherever he goes, he's able to get into certain places." 00:41:44.700 |
He said, "I was chosen because I was the chief of sinners. 00:41:49.700 |
In fact, that's exactly how people responded when Paul became a Christian. 00:41:56.700 |
And the whole reason why Paul says why he was chosen 00:41:59.700 |
is to demonstrate not his power, not his love, 00:42:15.700 |
Sometimes we see people interpret even King David. 00:42:19.700 |
He said he was chosen because he was in the background 00:42:27.700 |
And because he got so good at it and at the perfect time, 00:42:30.700 |
God needed him and chose him to represent him and kill Goliath. 00:42:40.700 |
and the reason why he was able to hit him right on the forehead 00:42:43.700 |
wasn't because God was waiting for a master slingshotter to arise. 00:42:49.700 |
God was choosing somebody that other human beings 00:42:57.700 |
to show them that their faith is not on man but on God. 00:43:11.700 |
so they don't come back from missions and say, 00:43:16.700 |
"We had a great fisherman who knew how to catch fish, 00:43:21.700 |
"We had somebody who was able to make shelter, 00:43:28.700 |
"Everything he says, he's able to give .1, .2, .3, 00:43:33.700 |
"So if we can just multiply this team wherever we go, 00:43:41.700 |
so that they don't come back and give credit to man 00:43:44.700 |
so that they can understand that this power came from him, 00:44:07.700 |
"that's great that you've experienced all of this. 00:44:15.700 |
"but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." 00:44:25.700 |
and they come back and say, "Oh, it was so exciting. 00:44:27.700 |
"We saw people come to Christ, and demons are shattering. 00:44:32.700 |
He said, "That's great, but don't rejoice over that." 00:44:48.700 |
There's four things that I want to mention here. 00:45:03.700 |
everything that they've experienced is circumstantial. 00:45:13.700 |
"You keep preaching in season and out of season." 00:45:17.700 |
Because all his companions were beginning to leave. 00:45:35.700 |
some of the people who were faithful with him, 00:45:38.700 |
even imprisoned with him, persecuted with him, 00:45:41.700 |
were beginning to change their mind and go home. 00:45:45.700 |
"You keep at this, in season and out of season." 00:45:49.700 |
In fact, most of the prophets in the Old Testament 00:45:57.700 |
Every single one of them, Hezekiah, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, 00:46:02.700 |
every single one of them, God sent it to them 00:46:07.700 |
They didn't go there, and then revival broke out. 00:46:13.700 |
If you look at Paul and Peter and the apostles, 00:46:20.700 |
They were healing the sick, raising the dead. 00:46:23.700 |
So even though they were heavily persecuted, it was season. 00:46:33.700 |
who are laboring in ministry struggle with fruit, 00:46:38.700 |
whether they're missionaries, whether they're pastors, 00:46:49.700 |
You give so much effort and very little fruit. 00:47:01.700 |
I mean, earlier part of--when we're going into China, 00:47:04.700 |
it was just--fruit was just falling from the trees. 00:47:23.700 |
So even that, even this ministry out in China was seasonal. 00:47:27.700 |
If our joy is dependent upon the fruit that we see, 00:47:36.700 |
And when it is not season, we don't know how to rejoice. 00:47:50.700 |
"Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, 00:47:56.700 |
"If there are knowledge, it will be done away with, 00:48:03.700 |
Pastor Mark did a great job expositing and focusing 00:48:06.700 |
and helping us to see the context of this text 00:48:08.700 |
because we often look at 1 Corinthians 13-10 and say, 00:48:12.700 |
"Well, is the perfect the closing of the canon of the Bible, 00:48:16.700 |
"or is it Jesus coming, or is it our perfection?" 00:48:20.700 |
But the main point that he's trying to make in this 00:48:32.700 |
or, "I'm following Apollos," or, "I'm following Peter," 00:48:35.700 |
and they were one-upping each other in ministry, 00:48:40.700 |
because they were following the right leader. 00:48:45.700 |
that you're one-upping each other on the lesser gift. 00:48:51.700 |
All these things you see temporarily as a child. 00:48:55.700 |
Everything that you're experiencing is temporary, 00:49:02.700 |
that of all these things, the greatest is love. 00:49:08.700 |
So these gifts that they come and they're experiencing, 00:49:41.700 |
"Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, 00:49:52.700 |
If you remember the seven "I am" statements of Jesus 00:50:05.700 |
He would feed the 5,000, and people are elated 00:50:10.700 |
and he says, "You're looking for temporary bread, 00:50:20.700 |
and you're so concerned about getting back into society, 00:50:51.700 |
everything that God has given the nation of Israel, 00:51:24.700 |
If you've been a Christian for any period of time, 00:51:46.700 |
and then we're like, "Okay, now what do we do? 00:51:55.700 |
"Now we need to do this and we need to do that." 00:52:15.700 |
And so we get so fixated on what we need to do, 00:52:25.700 |
The Scripture says that we have become co-heirs with Christ. 00:52:34.700 |
And you're looking at me with no face expression. 00:53:17.700 |
Everything else seems trivial in light of that. 00:53:29.700 |
we're going to be in heaven with Him for eternity. 00:53:32.700 |
Everything that He has given us is so that we can have that. 00:53:38.700 |
But for whatever the reason, at some point in our walk with God, 00:53:47.700 |
And we're so fixated on the gift and what we're going to do. 00:53:50.700 |
And some of them, a lot of them, may be good things. 00:53:56.700 |
if that somehow affects your worship before God, 00:54:02.700 |
If you ask a three-year-old, "Why do you love Mommy or Daddy?" 00:54:14.700 |
"Because I wanted this toy and she gave it to me." 00:54:19.700 |
And the next day, Daddy comes and buys him ice cream. 00:54:27.700 |
Now you ask that to a 20-year-old, and they say, 00:54:30.700 |
He says, "Oh, you know, I wanted this designer pants, 00:54:37.700 |
"I like Daddy better because I asked him to, you know, 00:54:40.700 |
get this thing for my car, and he got it for me." 00:54:44.700 |
"Okay, you know, I have some more work to do." 00:54:48.700 |
Then you get a 30-year-old, and you ask a 30-year-old, 00:54:52.700 |
And they say, "Well, I like Daddy because, you know, 00:54:55.700 |
He gave me a couple thousand dollars because I needed 00:54:59.700 |
You hear from a 3-year-old, and you say, "Oh, you know, 00:55:02.700 |
it's cute because you expect that from a 3-year-old." 00:55:04.700 |
You hear from a 20-year-old say, "Oh, my gosh. 00:55:06.700 |
It's frustrating, but, you know, sometimes it's not 00:55:17.700 |
The reason why you have any of that is because you have 00:55:22.700 |
But at some point, you would think that you would mature 00:55:24.700 |
beyond the gift, and the real gift that you have 00:55:28.700 |
is you have a mother and father who loves you. 00:55:31.700 |
That's the real gift, not the things that you got. 00:55:35.700 |
The whole point of everything that Jesus was doing 00:55:41.700 |
And that's why He says, "If you're going to rejoice 00:55:44.700 |
over anything, rejoice that your name is written 00:55:55.700 |
We don't know a single name of these 70 disciples. 00:56:00.700 |
I'll bet you there were celebrities in the early church 00:56:04.700 |
because, aside from the 12, these are the 70 ones 00:56:10.700 |
They were the first ones that experienced that. 00:56:20.700 |
And I'll bet you, we don't know a single name, 00:56:22.700 |
but I'll bet you the early church knew all 70 of them, 00:56:26.700 |
That they were the ones who received the Holy Spirit. 00:56:39.700 |
Remember, everywhere Paul went, before Paul even went there, 00:56:43.700 |
he went to a synagogue, there were Christians there already. 00:57:02.700 |
and reputation of other people, it is temporary. 00:57:06.700 |
All of it was meant to bring us to the real gift, 00:57:12.700 |
How many of you know your grandparents' names? 00:57:17.700 |
I know somebody's going to come up, "I know." 00:57:21.700 |
How many of you know your great-grandparents' names? 00:57:34.700 |
many of you don't even know your parents' middle name. 00:57:40.700 |
somebody between 50 and 60, I'm not sure, right? 00:57:46.700 |
so I'm not even going to ask about the grandparents, 00:57:58.700 |
So when Jesus says, if you're going to rejoice 00:58:02.700 |
sooner or later, you're going to become depressed. 00:58:07.700 |
If your joy comes and goes, why is this so important? 00:58:12.700 |
"See how great a love, behold our greater love, 00:58:21.700 |
That truth, "Behold the mystery of the gospel," 00:58:31.700 |
Every part of our life, that's the fuel that drives us. 00:58:40.700 |
If our worship is dependent upon bearing fruit 00:59:04.700 |
Why focusing and rejoicing over our salvation, 00:59:19.700 |
That's the foundation upon how or why we worship God. 01:00:00.700 |
We're going to be more determined than anybody else. 01:00:09.700 |
Fellowship isn't something because we found people 01:00:20.700 |
Our unity is because we have the same Father. 01:00:31.700 |
So if our joy comes from circumstantial things 01:01:06.700 |
Not simply because we need to do good things for God. 01:01:14.700 |
Somebody who understands that the greatest gift 01:01:34.700 |
Persevere because I already have everything that I need. 01:01:45.700 |
If I can make disciples, if I can do this and that, great. 01:01:53.700 |
But if the focus becomes the gift and not the giver, 01:01:58.700 |
you have missed the whole point of all the gifts. 01:02:08.700 |
Paul spends three chapters going deep into the gospel 01:02:21.700 |
So if you want to know about salvation in detail, 01:02:28.700 |
but that's one of the passages I would recommend you. 01:02:31.700 |
Before he says, "Therefore, that you ought to do this and this," 01:02:37.700 |
he concludes everything he says, and he says this. 01:02:39.700 |
"For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, 01:02:41.700 |
"from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 01:02:44.700 |
"that he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, 01:02:47.700 |
"to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in the inner man." 01:03:02.700 |
"So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, 01:03:06.700 |
"and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 01:03:08.700 |
"may be able to comprehend with all the saints, 01:03:10.700 |
"with all the breath and length and height and depth, 01:03:12.700 |
"to know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, 01:03:15.700 |
"that you may be filled up to the fullness of God." 01:03:28.700 |
is so that you may understand the depth and the height 01:03:31.700 |
and the width and the length of the love of Christ, 01:03:35.700 |
so that we may have all of Christ and more of Christ. 01:03:44.700 |
"Therefore, now live up to the calling that you've given." 01:04:15.700 |
it's not introduce 'cause it's from the 1980s. 01:04:20.700 |
You know, usually they ask me, like, Tuesday or Wednesday, 01:04:24.700 |
say, "Hey, based on sermon, do you have a song 01:04:26.700 |
"that you wanna sing that's gonna kind of correlate 01:04:34.700 |
because I only know about six songs by memory. 01:04:40.700 |
We're gonna sing this, and then we're gonna-- 01:04:44.700 |
And I wanna tell you ahead of time, you know, 01:04:46.700 |
we come here to celebrate, not by your effort, right? 01:05:04.700 |
that your names are written in the book of life 01:05:19.700 |
when we open up the communion table, to come one by one. 01:05:26.700 |
"Before even time began, my life was in his hands. 01:05:29.700 |
"He knows my name. He knows my every thought. 01:09:17.700 |
"For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, 01:09:20.700 |
"that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he portrayed took bread. 01:09:23.700 |
"When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 01:09:30.700 |
"In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, 01:09:35.700 |
"'Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. 01:09:38.700 |
"'For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, 01:09:41.700 |
"'you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" 01:09:44.700 |
Father, as we participate, Lord God, in this Lord's Supper, 01:09:48.700 |
as you commanded your disciples to do this in remembrance of you, 01:09:52.700 |
help us, Lord God, to think deeply of what you have given, 01:09:58.700 |
that our love and our worship may be truly in response 01:10:08.700 |
So we invite you one by one when you are ready to come, 01:10:11.700 |
and if you're coming down the middle, make sure that you make two lines 01:10:14.700 |
and then you exit to the sides when you come. 01:17:59.700 |
The community table will be closed in a minute, 01:18:01.700 |
so if you haven't come up, we invite you to come up now.