back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 9.10.2023
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- Good morning Church family, happy Lord's Day. 00:08:34.160 |
The Bible says in Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24, 00:08:48.160 |
It is a challenging prayer to ask God to reveal in us 00:13:07.760 |
We have quite a few announcements to go over. 00:13:11.360 |
But I wanna just kinda give you an encouragement. 00:13:15.460 |
that are being shared, it's kinda added every week, 00:13:19.500 |
there's no way that we're gonna be able to cover. 00:13:25.200 |
we're just gonna be highlighting certain things, 00:13:45.100 |
we're not gonna be able to cover all of these things. 00:13:49.080 |
to just go and check the email and check the websites 00:13:56.900 |
our family parking, again, family with small children 00:13:59.940 |
to park on the Kimco side so that you don't have 00:14:06.400 |
across the street at Lyon and all the other places. 00:14:08.780 |
And especially those of you who've been parking far away 00:14:14.240 |
because that has opened up more parking for other people. 00:14:21.060 |
so that young families with children or strollers, 00:14:31.660 |
Sprouts PTA, if you have children from K through sixth grade 00:14:37.700 |
there is a meeting that's happening at 2 p.m. 00:14:47.360 |
for the new coming year, that meeting is for that, okay? 00:14:53.580 |
there is a fellowship going on on September 17th at 1245. 00:15:04.420 |
Yeah, next Sunday there'll be fellowship at 1245. 00:15:07.000 |
Family Ministry Picnic happening September 24th, 00:15:12.300 |
If you want to participate, get to know other families, 00:15:15.260 |
And then FAM 245 Workshop, that's for families, 00:15:19.120 |
young couples, maybe you might not be that young, 00:15:22.400 |
but if you've been married for just a few years, 00:15:24.760 |
I don't know exactly what the cutoff date is, 00:15:28.440 |
So if you've been married for like a year, two years, 00:15:30.080 |
I think three years, I forget how many years, 00:15:35.520 |
they're having a quarterly seminar that's taking place 00:15:43.000 |
And that's a Saturday that's taking place here. 00:15:45.720 |
New round of membership class that's taking place 00:15:59.380 |
That happens on Sunday mornings at nine to 1020. 00:16:08.180 |
and also it'll expose you to the ministry philosophy 00:16:13.980 |
So if you wanna become a member of the church, 00:16:23.320 |
Women's ministry tea time, October 14th, 930 to 12. 00:16:29.820 |
For Thanksgiving, we'll give you a more detailed announcement 00:16:35.700 |
we're no longer able to have the whole church 00:16:39.700 |
So last year, we divided into different homes, 00:16:49.380 |
and then they're gonna assign some people in the church. 00:16:51.860 |
It's gonna be a mixed group of college and young adults 00:17:02.060 |
will contact you on more information that you may need. 00:17:05.980 |
PBA, if you are interested in playing basketball, 00:17:17.980 |
We have one more announcement from our college ministry. 00:17:19.900 |
Pastor Nate's gonna come up and give an announcement. 00:17:52.940 |
if you need rides to any of our college events. 00:18:05.860 |
is come and join us on Friday nights for Bible studies. 00:18:13.740 |
it really does shrink the church quite a bit. 00:18:18.340 |
- All right, so let me pray for the offering. 00:18:27.860 |
Gracious Father, we thank you for the privilege 00:18:34.460 |
Help us, Lord God, to give what is sincere in our hearts, 00:18:39.740 |
that this giving would simply represent our worship, 00:18:46.800 |
You are the one that we worship in spirit and in truth. 00:18:51.720 |
I pray, Father God, that you would bless this time, 00:18:53.620 |
even in this giving, that it would be a sweet aroma 00:18:57.100 |
and may the offering that we give be multiplied 00:29:37.680 |
All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me 00:29:49.680 |
I'm gonna read just 14 and 16, 14 through 16. 00:29:52.380 |
Simon whom he also named Peter, and Andrew his brother, 00:29:55.840 |
and James and John, and Philip and Bartholomew, 00:29:57.920 |
and Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Apheus, 00:30:11.360 |
Give us a willing heart to obey, not just to listen. 00:30:17.560 |
We lift this time to you, asking for your spirit, 00:30:21.800 |
Lord God, to use your word to guide and lead us. 00:30:30.360 |
we always have numbers of visitors that come and ask, 00:30:42.820 |
that you look for when you're looking for a church. 00:30:44.480 |
And maybe some of you who've been here for a while, right? 00:30:47.440 |
How do you evaluate if the sermon is a good sermon 00:30:51.680 |
Is this, if this is a sermon that you should be listening to 00:30:54.440 |
or what you gleaned from or not gleaned from. 00:31:00.800 |
if the goal of the sermon is your encouragement, 00:31:12.960 |
living in this fallen world, raising children 00:31:24.780 |
Did I, did I feel encouraged at the end of it? 00:31:28.800 |
Maybe some people come because we're Bible teaching church 00:31:39.040 |
So I wanna see if the Bible is actually taught. 00:31:41.640 |
And we can go to the other extreme thinking like, 00:31:44.680 |
a good sermon is if you exposit it, this word means this, 00:31:48.960 |
this words means that, and this is the syntax of this, 00:31:53.960 |
and that's how you determine if a sermon was good or bad 00:32:04.040 |
because the goal of preaching isn't simply to inform you 00:32:11.200 |
tell you information, 'cause if that's the case, 00:32:15.440 |
if I just gave you a commentary and then afterwards 00:32:17.840 |
you just came and tell us what you read, right? 00:32:20.520 |
The goal of preaching is ultimately for God's glory 00:32:26.840 |
and for his glory in the context of salvation, 00:32:51.000 |
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, 00:32:53.160 |
and ultimately give you hope so that you could eagerly wait 00:32:56.860 |
That's the end goal of preaching, end goal of teaching. 00:33:03.220 |
or not good sermon isn't simply am I encouraged, 00:33:13.740 |
through the accurate teaching of the word of God? 00:33:20.240 |
are filled with encouragements about the love of God 00:33:51.460 |
But because that is not the end goal of any sermon 00:33:56.480 |
am I conveying exactly what God said to sinners? 00:34:01.160 |
Am I conveying exactly what God says to his children? 00:34:04.760 |
When it is time to encourage, it is to encourage. 00:34:14.360 |
As much as we are encouraged by what the grace of God 00:34:20.760 |
here's a man who fell away despite being as close 00:34:25.520 |
as he could possibly be in the presence of Christ, 00:34:30.520 |
literally saw, literally saw somebody come back 00:34:34.920 |
from the dead and chose to sell him out for 30 silvers, 00:34:42.220 |
Now we talked about last week, why did he do that? 00:34:50.680 |
casting out demons and healing people by his own hands, 00:34:57.280 |
If we didn't know, if that aspect of the last part 00:35:00.000 |
of his life where he sold out Christ for 30 pieces of silver 00:35:03.040 |
and then he hangs himself, if that was not recorded 00:35:19.800 |
to scratch our head, it's like how can somebody 00:35:21.640 |
in that position who had that kind of privilege 00:35:31.600 |
The Bible says that he left us because he was not of us. 00:35:36.080 |
Him doing what he did and dying the way he died 00:35:44.840 |
who bore fruit, cast out demons, even healed people, 00:35:55.600 |
became a leader in the church, maybe even went out 00:35:58.520 |
to mission, went to seminary and started preaching 00:36:12.500 |
If Judas, who was a member of the 12 disciples, 00:36:17.100 |
apostles, if he was proven to be a non-Christian, 00:36:30.340 |
can be absolute proof if Judas clearly was not a Christian. 00:36:39.520 |
because of the way he ended up taking his life. 00:36:43.020 |
And we saw that last week, that it wasn't simply 00:36:47.240 |
because he couldn't see, it's because he didn't want to see. 00:37:14.140 |
if he somehow challenges the life that I've set, 00:37:17.240 |
the things that I'm pursuing, the way I spend money, 00:37:20.300 |
the way I collect money, the way I pursue money, 00:37:25.220 |
causes us to challenge that, we automatically think 00:37:32.180 |
And so we create a theology where God would never 00:37:43.020 |
Obviously, love of money is pervasive and is universal. 00:37:50.540 |
And Jesus himself says in Matthew chapter 15, 37, 00:38:02.260 |
Now, obviously, he's not telling us not to love 00:38:04.220 |
our mother or father, not to love our son and daughter. 00:38:07.640 |
But he's saying sometimes your love for mother or father, 00:38:10.020 |
sometimes your love for your own children can blind you. 00:38:12.900 |
That you're hearing and studying the word of God 00:38:15.700 |
and you box him in, that anything that he challenges us 00:38:19.180 |
to make it uncomfortable, that maybe that we need to, 00:38:23.260 |
in certain things, to put God first before our children, 00:38:32.500 |
Because we will not allow God to speak outside of this box. 00:38:40.440 |
You know, you come to church and one of the greatest 00:38:42.860 |
benefits of being in a church is you have other friends 00:38:47.820 |
that you can run this race with and you came in 00:38:50.080 |
and you see the power of community and how that helps you. 00:39:05.860 |
You can never make any decisions or do anything 00:39:07.900 |
that's gonna cause us to walk away from that. 00:39:11.180 |
There are times when God will call you to leave. 00:39:13.820 |
There are times when God will call you to go. 00:39:20.900 |
we cannot see beyond the boundaries that we set for God. 00:39:25.740 |
And that's why he says that whatever we've made idols 00:39:29.340 |
in our lives, we are closing our eyes to anything 00:39:40.960 |
And when he thought that he wasn't gonna get it, 00:39:43.460 |
that Jesus was actually gonna go to the cross, 00:39:45.820 |
he wanted to make sure that he salvaged something 00:39:50.780 |
even as much privilege that he had, he could not see. 00:39:55.240 |
Thirdly, and the scripture makes it very clear, 00:40:06.500 |
"Satan entered into Judas, who was called Iscariot, 00:40:13.540 |
And then you look at Luke chapter 22, verse 31. 00:40:16.560 |
Jesus says to Peter, "Satan has asked permission 00:40:19.260 |
"to sift you, the disciples, and you in particular." 00:40:22.780 |
But you notice here how Satan has to ask permission 00:40:27.940 |
to sift them, to test them, to challenge them. 00:40:32.220 |
But when it comes to Judas, there's no asking permission. 00:40:46.060 |
so Satan didn't ask to have permission to go at him. 00:40:49.220 |
See, the other disciples were under Jesus' care. 00:40:53.200 |
So in order for Satanic work to happen with them, 00:41:05.700 |
when you see the demonic work that's happening, 00:41:18.700 |
And the scripture says those who are not under 00:41:24.260 |
under the blood of Christ, the God of this age 00:41:30.340 |
He's messing with you because he wants his own glory. 00:41:38.980 |
'cause he doesn't want you giving glory to God. 00:41:41.180 |
You know what's interesting is in John 8:31-32, 00:41:53.700 |
because there's so much confusion in our generation 00:42:01.420 |
In John 8:31-32, Jesus was saying to those Jews 00:42:21.280 |
If you continue in my word, if you continue in my word, 00:42:26.980 |
Since you say that you believe, you're saved, 00:42:30.560 |
you're confirmed, don't worry about anything. 00:42:46.520 |
He has a condition that he places on the people 00:42:51.780 |
Now we know for a fact that they weren't Christians 00:43:03.400 |
We're Abraham's children and they go back and forth, 00:43:11.880 |
They love the fact that Jesus was talking about the kingdom 00:43:18.720 |
I mean, here's our next Messiah, the King of Israel, 00:43:29.360 |
And yet Jesus knows exactly what's in their heart. 00:43:36.320 |
As a result of this interaction back and forth, 00:43:41.200 |
he says to them in verse 32, Jesus said to them, 00:43:45.400 |
are the same people that he was talking to in verse 31, 00:43:54.860 |
for I have not even come on my own initiative, 00:44:05.920 |
I remember the first time I was studying through this text 00:44:11.480 |
and I said, wait a second, this is the same context. 00:44:14.680 |
Did he go somewhere else and talking to a new people? 00:44:27.800 |
And you want to do the desires of your father, 00:44:34.560 |
Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, 00:44:44.240 |
Now you can listen to this and if this bothers you, 00:44:46.040 |
you can say, ah, you know, Peter's always saying 00:45:00.640 |
And if I am, I'm happy to just lean on one thing, 00:45:21.080 |
If you profess that you believe in God, that's good. 00:45:23.060 |
Even the demons believe that and they shudder. 00:45:29.180 |
So he's talking to people who have demonic faith. 00:45:43.360 |
Remember, even Judas performed all these things. 00:45:52.860 |
especially in our culture where there's so much confusion. 00:46:19.440 |
Whatever it is, it's the Daily something, right? 00:46:35.240 |
And he's like, "What do you mean by fun faith?" 00:46:37.920 |
I'm of the fun faith because all you have to do is believe 00:47:09.360 |
you can't do that, you can't eat this, but that's not us. 00:47:22.040 |
that is the Christianity that's being propagated 00:47:30.540 |
If that's all, if that's all, if you just profess, 00:47:33.800 |
if you just raise your hand, give Jesus a try, 00:47:57.160 |
Meaning, I just believed and I lived my life, 00:48:05.520 |
It sounds so godly and truthful, but blasphemous. 00:48:15.720 |
If you want to follow after me, deny himself, 00:48:26.800 |
And it's the modern day Christian who has come up with, 00:48:30.320 |
You lose nothing 'cause you never really knew Christ. 00:48:37.540 |
if what I'm preaching is fake, I've lost everything. 00:48:43.720 |
every minute that I studied to prepare for the Bible, 00:48:58.680 |
the promises that I made to my parents when I was young, 00:49:03.960 |
that I would make you money, I lost everything. 00:49:06.400 |
If this is not true, every single penny that you paid, 00:49:18.700 |
Everything that you did because you believe in Christ 00:49:28.280 |
and you receive his new life and you put away your old. 00:49:42.120 |
See, Satan doesn't have that kind of power over us 00:49:46.280 |
where he can enter us, but we do have warnings. 00:49:58.360 |
"I did it for your sake in the presence of Christ 00:50:00.480 |
"so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, 00:50:13.760 |
he says you've opened the door for Satanic influence. 00:50:17.760 |
He can never possess us, but he can influence us. 00:50:20.900 |
If you have unrepentant sins that you're holding onto, 00:50:25.280 |
you're giving room for Satan to use at the scheme. 00:50:53.800 |
he says you're making room for Satanic influence. 00:50:57.760 |
So like you have a house and you clean the room out, 00:51:02.560 |
put a nice bedding in, and you don't lock it, 00:51:09.040 |
but he said when you allow that to persist in your life, 00:51:19.860 |
"your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, 00:51:27.280 |
who's been well-fed and just resting for us to observe, 00:51:29.920 |
and good thing that he's behind bars and he's well-fed. 00:51:41.060 |
"He's walking, he's looking, he's seeking to devour." 00:52:08.380 |
Judas was a man who was not under the protection 00:52:11.700 |
because he gave into his lust, caused him to be blind, 00:52:21.280 |
Judas did what he did because it was prophesied. 00:52:32.640 |
"but it is that the scripture may be fulfilled. 00:52:36.500 |
"He who eats my bread and has lifted up his heel against me 00:52:39.020 |
"from now on, I am telling you, before it comes to pass, 00:52:54.420 |
Just in case after everything that I've done, 00:52:56.180 |
just in case if raising Lazarus from the dead, 00:53:03.660 |
when you see what happens so that you may know 00:53:09.220 |
He gave evidence after evidence after evidence 00:53:13.420 |
John 15, 25, "But they have done this to fulfill the word 00:53:25.980 |
There's always somebody who likes counting, right? 00:53:31.340 |
How many were prophesied, how many were fulfilled, 00:53:44.540 |
You know, I don't know how many times I've talked to people 00:53:53.540 |
Remember Jesus said they kept on asking for evidence 00:53:56.700 |
I will give no evidence except for the sign of Jonah. 00:54:07.860 |
He said that because he gave evidence after evidence 00:54:11.060 |
after evidence, 324 different fulfilled prophecies, 00:54:20.700 |
After everything that he's done, he said, prove yourself. 00:54:23.500 |
And as to them, he said, the wicked and evil generation, 00:54:27.960 |
there's no amount of proof that I'm gonna give 00:54:38.580 |
It wasn't that he gave the only sign was the sign of Jonah. 00:54:41.540 |
He gave all kinds of signs, but they refused to believe 00:54:49.940 |
The Messiah that they wanted, Jesus didn't fit into that box. 00:55:00.980 |
He challenged the way they were raising children. 00:55:02.780 |
He challenged the way they were getting married. 00:55:04.380 |
He challenged the way they were getting divorced. 00:55:19.540 |
But if you want evidence, if you want evidence, 00:55:26.860 |
That's why he says, he who searches me with all his heart, 00:55:43.980 |
The way that our generation comes to a conclusion 00:55:51.300 |
and it's more of an evidence of our hardened heart. 00:55:53.900 |
If I stood here today and say I was Michael Jordan, 00:56:23.060 |
maybe you don't know what Michael Jordan looks like, 00:56:47.620 |
But if among that, if the word of God has been gone 00:56:52.020 |
and you still will not believe, you're not gonna believe. 00:57:04.780 |
so that they might not see the light of the gospel, 00:57:06.780 |
the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 00:57:09.580 |
Even the minute details of Judas' betrayal was prophesied. 00:57:19.940 |
betraying him with a kiss, all of that was prophesied. 00:57:24.380 |
Nail on the cross, his companions dispersing, 00:57:29.380 |
crucifixion on a tree, the mocking, the signs, 00:57:34.060 |
all of it, every single one of it was prophesied. 00:57:36.660 |
So if anybody had any interest to look into that, 00:57:41.820 |
Judas' betrayal was another sign of who he was. 00:57:59.300 |
Judas' betrayal demonstrates his love toward us. 00:58:07.180 |
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 00:58:21.340 |
of the greatest darkness so that you may be able to see 00:58:32.180 |
you have to go to a place where there's no light. 00:58:45.700 |
You would think after three years of showing miracles 00:58:48.020 |
and loving them and caring for them and feeding them, 00:58:50.660 |
that there would have been a crowd waiting for Jesus, 00:59:01.740 |
of performing miracle after miracle after miracle after 00:59:14.140 |
I didn't come to you so that you can be filled 00:59:19.740 |
He who eats of the bread of the world will be hungry again. 00:59:22.780 |
He who drinks of the world will be thirsty again, 00:59:27.860 |
The water that I give you will well up in you eternal life 00:59:34.500 |
You must drink of my blood and eat of my flesh. 00:59:47.220 |
After they rejected him, Jesus starts going to Jerusalem 00:59:57.660 |
he's gonna be crucified because the leaders of Israel 01:00:01.020 |
is gonna betray him and they're gonna turn him over. 01:00:04.080 |
And so they will be rejected by the people of Israel. 01:00:08.460 |
He will be rejected by the leaders of Israel. 01:00:11.140 |
He will be rejected by the leaders of the pagan world. 01:00:14.620 |
And then he said he will be rejected by his own disciples. 01:00:22.900 |
in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 01:00:26.680 |
You know, whenever you enter a covenant relationship, 01:00:32.500 |
if you want to test the quality of a covenant relationship, 01:00:36.620 |
it doesn't happen during your honeymoon stage. 01:00:40.660 |
During your honeymoon stage, like nothing bothers you. 01:00:49.100 |
of course everybody has bad breath, it's an easy fix. 01:01:18.340 |
But it's when that's over and you start to see the sins 01:01:47.980 |
How many times did I ask you to do the dishes 01:01:52.960 |
The quality of our love in our covenant relationship 01:01:58.460 |
is tested and proven through trials and difficulties 01:02:07.040 |
And in the context of everything in you would have run, 01:02:15.940 |
you know that the quality of your love is much more pure 01:02:53.560 |
in a year's time is gonna stab you in the back, 01:03:07.140 |
you're gonna go out and you had a lunch appointment 01:03:16.940 |
your Bible study, whatever it is that you had planned. 01:03:24.260 |
Because you know, he's gonna betray me next year. 01:03:27.860 |
It's gonna affect every part of what you do with that person. 01:03:45.980 |
It's like, don't ever call me, don't come to my house. 01:04:00.380 |
"But there are some of you who do not believe, 01:04:09.200 |
He knew from the beginning that his 11 disciples 01:04:19.860 |
He knew from the beginning that Judas was gonna betray him, 01:04:25.540 |
And when he prophesied at the communion table 01:04:34.000 |
'Cause Jesus never treated him any different. 01:04:43.200 |
As much as we talk about how only the blood of Christ 01:04:52.720 |
who's able to cleanse us because of his deity, 01:04:56.480 |
Not only could we not die for other people's sins 01:05:25.840 |
and you've already stiffed-armed those groups of people 01:05:53.500 |
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 01:05:59.100 |
1 Peter 3, 18 says, "For Christ also died for sins 01:06:10.220 |
That only happened one time in human history. 01:06:29.540 |
with unjust people, but there was only one just, Christ. 01:06:36.740 |
And he gave his life that you and I may have life in him. 01:06:47.740 |
We think like, oh, you know, I understand his love 01:06:52.120 |
because I love my children, or my mom loves me this way. 01:06:55.620 |
It's like, yeah, that's probably the closest thing 01:06:59.940 |
But even the love of mom, even the love of dad, 01:07:37.700 |
upon vessels of mercy, which he prepared beforehand 01:07:44.480 |
he allowed to show us, to demonstrate to us his love. 01:07:57.480 |
It's not obligation, it's not, you better do this, 01:08:10.900 |
is people who worship him in spirit and in truth. 01:08:13.680 |
And true worship that happens in spirit and in truth 01:08:19.140 |
of the love of Christ and the grace of Christ, 01:08:22.140 |
depth of his patience that brought us to this point 01:08:31.020 |
that you know that you become experts in hiding, 01:08:50.180 |
And yet, knowing all of that, he didn't turn away. 01:09:08.780 |
Judas' final destination clearly was condemnation. 01:09:13.380 |
Because at the end of it, when he realized what he did, 01:09:18.180 |
he had worldly sorrow, and the only way to deal 01:09:24.660 |
'Cause he did not understand, nor did he want to know 01:09:49.380 |
After everything he said, after everything Jesus has done. 01:10:01.020 |
And Jesus extended his tender hands and said, 01:10:09.020 |
And restored him, because he asked for forgiveness. 01:10:13.460 |
See the difference between an unbeliever and a believer 01:10:27.700 |
and the need for his grace, and we come to him 01:10:38.620 |
We come to him because we know that the only answer 01:11:12.940 |
I don't have to look so far for disappointment, 01:11:17.980 |
I thought I'd be much further along in my faith. 01:11:25.300 |
I thought I'd be much more disciplined at this age. 01:11:31.700 |
I have less confidence in my flesh than when I first started. 01:11:42.500 |
I understand a little bit better today than years past, 01:11:52.820 |
As Paul says, "I am compelled by the love of Christ." 01:11:55.540 |
And this is Paul, he's like, "They're questioning me. 01:12:01.060 |
And he says, "But I am compelled by the love of Christ 01:12:06.660 |
So my prayer for us, even as we think of Judas, 01:12:22.140 |
Not in your good deeds, not because of your potential, 01:12:37.020 |
Not the Christ that was just handed out like candy. 01:12:41.740 |
But the true Christ, that despite everything, 01:12:47.580 |
he came, loved us, suffered, died, and resurrected 01:12:52.580 |
so that we may be saved from this empty way of life 01:12:57.780 |
hoping that eternity will come when he comes. 01:13:34.260 |
so that we would no longer live as if we're blind. 01:13:46.260 |
But even now, Father, we wrestle, we struggle 01:13:50.340 |
with our flesh, we struggle, Lord God, with fear 01:14:02.460 |
Help us, Lord God, to trust in you with all our might, 01:14:15.460 |
that all that we wrestle with, all that we are tempted by, 01:20:47.640 |
help us to be the aroma of the grace of Christ.