back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 5/22/2022
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We want to welcome any of you who are visiting here 00:13:20.520 |
Some of us maybe may have had difficult weeks, 00:13:22.880 |
so we come here perhaps tired and discouraged. 00:13:27.080 |
In either case, I pray we may all come and seek the Lord 00:13:32.000 |
and see his goodness, his kindness, and love. 00:13:40.080 |
"How blessed is the man who takes refuge in him." 00:16:59.120 |
Before we get started, again, I wanna thank all, 00:17:02.160 |
all of you guys who participated in the auction yesterday. 00:17:05.800 |
I was told that they were able to raise about $18,000, 00:17:16.680 |
So thank you for all of you who generously donated 00:17:19.820 |
your time, energy, your talents to the auction yesterday, 00:17:28.180 |
Again, obviously it was for donation for a good purpose. 00:17:30.920 |
So as you know that all the funds are gonna be going 00:17:37.320 |
and so it's encouraged and come alongside our families 00:17:48.720 |
and there will be adoption funds that will be, 00:17:52.120 |
that will be available for you as a result of this, okay? 00:17:54.920 |
And so obviously it's not gonna cover all of the funds, 00:17:57.320 |
but it's really just kind of the community at church 00:18:03.320 |
and not just our finances, that our church as a whole, 00:18:09.940 |
So again, I wanna thank everybody who participated, 00:18:11.980 |
and especially for Rachel and Andy and the other two, 00:18:19.420 |
So thank you for helping us with all of that. 00:18:31.260 |
Reminder, this Friday we have All Church Praise and Prayer. 00:18:44.020 |
and then we have two more sessions left for the Bible study, 00:18:47.340 |
and after that, we're gonna be taking a break 00:18:51.580 |
and then we'll pick up 2 Peter next time, okay? 00:19:01.080 |
But again, this week we don't have Bible study as a result. 00:19:08.920 |
We have volunteers who are already preparing for all of this, 00:19:24.640 |
Again, if you haven't signed up, please sign up. 00:19:26.700 |
Early registration is gonna end on June 12th, 00:19:30.180 |
so you'll have a few more weeks for early registration, 00:19:32.300 |
and after that, there will be an additional cost of $50 00:19:47.540 |
so please sign up as soon as you can for that, okay? 00:20:00.800 |
So let me pray for us and give you an opportunity 00:20:04.480 |
and those of you who brought the physical offering, 00:20:06.360 |
again, in the back, underneath the big clock, 00:20:10.400 |
and you can drop off your offering there, okay? 00:20:23.380 |
Lord, especially as we see what is going on around us, 00:20:39.540 |
to commit ourselves to you, to be anchored in Christ. 00:20:46.740 |
help us to give it to you in spirit and in truth. 00:20:53.120 |
that it would be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold. 00:20:57.880 |
that we would be wise in handling your finances 00:26:21.800 |
When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast. 00:26:30.800 |
When the tempter would prevail, He will hold me fast. 00:26:39.800 |
I could never keep my hold through life's fearful path. 00:26:48.800 |
For my love is often cold, He must hold me fast. 00:27:47.800 |
But by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast. 00:30:06.800 |
I'm currently a Cal State student at Cal State Long Beach, and this is my testimony. 00:30:11.800 |
So I grew up going to church, and that was mainly because of my mom. 00:30:15.800 |
She was very adamant that all three of her kids went to church. 00:30:19.800 |
I will admit, as a kid, I did go reluctantly. 00:30:23.800 |
There were a few times where I may have suggested to my mom if I could do online church, but she quickly shut that down. 00:30:30.800 |
So I learned to just go to save myself from a lecture. 00:30:34.800 |
But as a result, I kind of learned to play the church game, where I acted like a Christian, behaved like one, 00:30:42.800 |
I did Christian things because it was what I was told to do, and I didn't want to get in trouble. 00:30:48.800 |
I remember life at that time being rather unfulfilling, because I would try to find joy in temporary things like watching TV. 00:30:57.800 |
As a result, in addition to actually my behavior, I also thought I knew everything about the Bible. 00:31:03.800 |
This was because I thought I felt like I was hearing the same sermons and the same stories over and over. 00:31:10.800 |
So as a child, I thought I had all the wisdom of the Bible. 00:31:15.800 |
So when I went to church, I didn't really try to learn, because I thought I already learned everything. 00:31:20.800 |
However, that did change when I switched churches around my sophomore year of high school. 00:31:25.800 |
At this church, the sermons were very Bible-based. 00:31:31.800 |
I remember the first sermon I heard, it immediately opened my eyes to how empty my knowledge of God really was. 00:31:37.800 |
Even though I did have that realization, I didn't yet give my life up to Christ. 00:31:42.800 |
But because of that church, I started to think more critically about the Bible and about my faith. 00:31:48.800 |
But unfortunately, I did fall into the trap of legalism, where I was trying to master the disciplines of Christianity 00:31:58.800 |
It was mainly because I was hearing all these sermons about how Christians were supposed to act. 00:32:04.800 |
So I thought if I just tried to read my Bible every day, pray every day, etc., 00:32:09.800 |
then I could come before Christ and fully give my life to him. 00:32:12.800 |
Luckily, there was a leader at that church that explained to me that there was nothing that I could do to prepare myself before Christ. 00:32:20.800 |
That there was nothing that I could do to become perfect before him. 00:32:24.800 |
She made me realize that there was nothing that I could do to really be perfect. 00:32:32.800 |
She made me realize that God wanted me who I was in that moment, which was broken, 00:32:41.800 |
Even though she gave me that great piece of advice and wisdom, I didn't yet give myself up to Christ just yet. 00:32:47.800 |
It actually wasn't until my freshman year of college, when I went on a fall retreat with this Christian club I went to at the time called Crew. 00:32:57.800 |
They asked us, "What's keeping you from obeying God?" 00:33:00.800 |
I remember leaving that retreat really contemplating that question. 00:33:04.800 |
Thinking about that question made me step back again and reevaluate my faith. 00:33:08.800 |
When I did that, it made me realize that the reason why I wasn't obeying God was because I didn't feel like I wanted to, nor did I need to. 00:33:19.800 |
The reason why I didn't feel this love or need for him was because I didn't really fully register in my mind Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. 00:33:28.800 |
I didn't really get the magnitude of what he did for us, what the crucifixion meant. 00:33:36.800 |
When everything did finally hit me, I realized how sinful I was. 00:33:40.800 |
I realized I didn't really deserve what Jesus did for me. 00:33:43.800 |
I didn't even really deserve to be wanted by him. 00:33:46.800 |
Yet, he still wanted me, and he loved me to the point where he died a death that I could never fully comprehend. 00:33:52.800 |
From that point, I realized that I felt this realization of this sense of gratefulness, shamefulness, and love. 00:34:01.800 |
I just remember wanting to do anything I could for him, to thank him for his action. 00:34:06.800 |
From that point forward, I actually wanted to obey him, because obeying God was my way to show my love and gratefulness for him. 00:34:14.800 |
From that point forward, my life has felt whole. 00:34:17.800 |
The joy I've received from God has shown me how great it is to live for him, and not for the desires of this world. 00:34:24.800 |
From now on, I have dedicated my life to joyfully following his word. Thank you. 00:35:22.800 |
>> All right, Brian, thank you for your great testimony. 00:35:25.800 |
Those of you who've ever been up here, you know it's not an easy task to stand in front of all these people. 00:35:33.800 |
I've gotten used to it, so for me, it's not as weird. 00:35:38.800 |
But if you've ever been up here, it's kind of intimidating. 00:35:40.800 |
Brianna, I don't know what her major is, but I think she's going to become a school teacher or something, public speaking. 00:35:47.800 |
If you could turn your Bibles with me to Luke 1.26, and I'll be reading up to verse 31. 00:36:12.800 |
Now in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth. 00:36:17.800 |
To a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the descendants of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. 00:36:23.800 |
And coming in, he said to her, greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you. 00:36:28.800 |
Mary was very perplexed at this statement and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was. 00:36:32.800 |
The angel said to her, do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 00:36:37.800 |
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 00:36:48.800 |
Heavenly Father, we ask, Lord God, that you would open up your word to us. 00:36:53.800 |
Help us to understand more than just a superficial historical event. 00:37:04.800 |
Help us to know what you are doing, why you are doing what you are doing. 00:37:10.800 |
That we may understand and apply in our own lives, Lord God, and become more and more like your son, Jesus. 00:37:18.800 |
So we ask for your blessing and your Holy Spirit to guide us in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 00:37:25.800 |
Have you ever been chosen for anything that you remember was, and you ask, like, why was I chosen for that? 00:37:34.800 |
Anything that you can think of recently or in the past, something that was good news to you, 00:37:40.800 |
but it made you wonder why you were chosen for that specifically. 00:37:45.800 |
This morning, we're looking at the choice of Mary and Joseph to receive God's blessing 00:37:52.800 |
that she was going to carry the Son of God in her womb, and that they were going to raise this child. 00:37:59.800 |
And so we know that the blessing that Elizabeth and Zacharias had, 00:38:04.800 |
and it was a tremendous blessing that at the end of their old age that God opened up Elizabeth's womb 00:38:10.800 |
and was able to carry the forerunner that was going to come prepare the way for Christ. 00:38:15.800 |
But as great as that miracle is, compared to what was given to Mary, 00:38:20.800 |
the Son of God, nobody ever before or after would ever experience this again. 00:38:29.800 |
What was the reason why God chose her and said, "You are favored by God and I am with you." 00:38:35.800 |
I remember as I was contemplating this myself, I was thinking years ago back in Philadelphia, 00:38:41.800 |
we were maybe about three or four years into being in the United States, 00:38:46.800 |
that I got chosen to be in a part of this play. 00:38:50.800 |
And initially I had no idea what was going on, but it must have been a big deal 00:38:55.800 |
because every day around third period, I would get pulled out of class, 00:39:00.800 |
and it was about three months straight, every day I would go and practice this play. 00:39:05.800 |
And in my mind, it must have been a big deal because all my classmates said, 00:39:10.800 |
"Oh, Peter's going, he's going to be in the play." 00:39:12.800 |
And then the more I hear about it, it was a big deal because all the parents were coming, 00:39:17.800 |
and then I thought I heard somebody say that the local news was going to show up, 00:39:21.800 |
and this was some big event, at least to me, right? 00:39:25.800 |
I don't know if my English was good enough to understand everything at that time, but it was a big deal. 00:39:35.800 |
What did I do that they would choose me to be a part of this play? 00:39:40.800 |
And so as I started to ask questions, I found out that the play was titled "The King and I." 00:39:48.800 |
And if you know that play, basically it's you need some Asians in there. 00:39:54.800 |
And so I found out, and there was only three Asians in the school. 00:40:03.800 |
Philip was too young, and Paul was too old, so I just happened to be the perfect age to be the Asian. 00:40:08.800 |
So once I found that out, I went from elation. 00:40:11.800 |
I got chosen to being embarrassed that I'm going to be flaunted in front of the school, 00:40:16.800 |
and the only qualification was I had to be the right Asian, right, male. 00:40:21.800 |
And so I remember my role in this play was the teacher would come, 00:40:27.800 |
and basically being the only Asian was trying to flaunt me in front of the school. 00:40:32.800 |
And I was supposed to stand up and twirl, dance with her, and then sit down. 00:40:36.800 |
So I had a couple places in the play where I was supposed to do that. 00:40:43.800 |
And I didn't tell the teacher that I'm not going to do this. 00:40:46.800 |
And so when it was my time, and this was the largest crowd that I remember. 00:40:50.800 |
And as a child, it seemed like everybody was there. 00:40:53.800 |
And when she came to my turn, in my mind I could hear my classmates snickering, 00:41:01.800 |
So she tried to stand me up, and I wouldn't get off my knee. 00:41:08.800 |
And then I sat down because I was like, "No, I'm not going to participate in this." 00:41:13.800 |
I said, "Peter, how come you didn't stand up?" 00:41:15.800 |
And I didn't tell her that I was embarrassed. 00:41:20.800 |
It went from, "I got chosen to, why did you choose me?" 00:41:30.800 |
The question of Mary being chosen for this great gift. 00:41:37.800 |
We know why Elizabeth and Zacharias was chosen because it tells us. 00:41:42.800 |
They were righteous people who obeyed all the commands. 00:41:45.800 |
And they were faithful, and they were of age. 00:41:49.800 |
And so God was demonstrating his glory and being gracious that God heard your prayer. 00:41:54.800 |
So it doesn't give us too much detail, but it gives us enough detail. 00:41:57.800 |
It says, "Okay, they were faithful, they were righteous, and they were praying." 00:42:00.800 |
And so therefore God chose them to carry this glory. 00:42:06.800 |
But with Mary, the only explanation that's given to us is that she was young, 00:42:11.800 |
she was a virgin, and she came from Nazareth. 00:42:16.800 |
Outside of that, there's not a whole lot given to us why she was chosen among all the people. 00:42:20.800 |
Well, first thing that we know about Nazareth. 00:42:24.800 |
Nazareth itself is one of those cities, you remember when Nathaniel, 00:42:29.800 |
the other disciples come and ask Nathaniel, "Hey, we found the Messiah, and he's from Nazareth." 00:42:35.800 |
Remember what Nathaniel says? "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" 00:42:41.800 |
That's the reputation of Nazareth. It was so obscure in the Boonies. 00:42:48.800 |
And again, I was trying to think of a city equivalent to Nazareth here, 00:42:54.800 |
and I thought of several cities that would offend somebody in this room. 00:43:19.800 |
So Nazareth was one of those cities where it's like, "What? The Messiah from Nazareth?" 00:43:25.800 |
Nazareth, according to historians, say it was a small, dinky city within the region of Galilee. 00:43:34.800 |
And some say that it was as small as maybe 300, and some will say maybe at most, maybe a couple thousand. 00:43:42.800 |
Whether it's three or a couple thousand, it was an insignificant town out of nowhere. 00:43:52.800 |
So we know that the people who were there were automatically poor, of no significance. 00:43:57.800 |
In fact, Nazareth is mentioned in no other city other than here. 00:44:03.800 |
So there's probably tens of thousands of small villages like Nazareth that have appeared and disappeared, 00:44:10.800 |
and nobody even knows, because they're never mentioned anywhere else. 00:44:13.800 |
Nazareth would have been one of those places if it wasn't for the fact that Jesus was born there. 00:44:20.800 |
Nothing more is mentioned than that, that He came from Nazareth. 00:44:24.800 |
It's significant that He came from Nazareth, because obviously there was a prophecy about that. 00:44:29.800 |
But outside of that, nothing is given to us other than the fact that She was very young. 00:44:35.800 |
They said that, some say that She could have been as young as 12, maybe as old as 14, but somewhere between 12 and 14. 00:44:42.800 |
And maybe some of us will think that, "Well, maybe 14 back then is like 30 today." 00:44:47.800 |
Well, 14 back then was still pretty young. It may be more than 14 today, but it's still pretty young. 00:44:55.800 |
And it's emphasized that She was very young, from Nazareth, the middle of nowhere. 00:45:01.800 |
And She was betrothed to this young man, Joseph, who was also from that city. 00:45:06.800 |
So all it tells us was that they come from a very, very humble place. 00:45:12.800 |
It doesn't tell us the qualification other than the fact that they were very humble. 00:45:20.800 |
The reason why, to me, this is significant is because, even though it's mentioned in passing, 00:45:26.800 |
it's significant because every part of the Bible reminds us over and over again that this is what God desires of us. 00:45:35.800 |
If there's any quality that God is seeking above anything else, it's this quality. 00:45:40.800 |
He says in Isaiah 66, "But this is the one to whom I will look, he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." 00:45:50.800 |
He says God is actively looking for people who are humble and contrite in spirit. 00:45:54.800 |
Isaiah 57, 15, "For thus says the High and Exalted One who lives forever, whose name is Holy, 00:45:59.800 |
'I dwell in a high and holy place, and also with a contrite and lowly spirit, 00:46:05.800 |
in order to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the contrite.'" 00:46:09.800 |
Over and over again, the Bible reminds us what God's looking for are people who are broken in spirit, who are humble in spirit. 00:46:17.800 |
Our natural tendency is to think that in order for us to be useful to God, that we need to be significant in this world. 00:46:25.800 |
We need to be better. We need to be smarter. We need to have more achievements. 00:46:33.800 |
Micah 6, 8, "He has told you, O man, what is good and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, 00:46:40.800 |
to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God." 00:46:45.800 |
This is what God looks for, people who will be humble and walk with Him. 00:46:54.800 |
It's significant because the root of human rebellion is self-exaltation. 00:47:03.800 |
Only one of three angels that are mentioned, Lucifer, and he was the angel of worship. 00:47:09.800 |
And as he was supposed to be the director of worship, he started to, as he was worshipping God, wanted that worship for himself. 00:47:16.800 |
And so his rebellion is wanting to exalt himself. 00:47:21.800 |
Adam and Eve, their rebellion against God was to be like God in His wisdom, right? In His knowledge. 00:47:28.800 |
When the numbers began to multiply of mankind, what did they do? 00:47:32.800 |
They came together, they built Tower of Babel, because what? They wanted to be like God. 00:47:36.800 |
So human rebellion, over and over again, is self-exaltation. 00:47:42.800 |
It is not by accident that justification happens when we humble ourselves before God. 00:47:47.800 |
And when we are broken over our sins and we acknowledge, not just one event, not just something that I said, 00:47:54.800 |
but when we acknowledge who we are before God and we humble ourselves and we are broken over our sins, 00:48:00.800 |
that's when justification happens. That's when God forgives us. 00:48:05.800 |
But the struggle that we have, we have a tendency to think that justification happens when we are broken, 00:48:10.800 |
but sanctification happens when we strive and become somebody. 00:48:18.800 |
There's a reason why Jesus, as He was leaving His disciples, said, "You cannot bear fruit unless you abide in Me." 00:48:26.800 |
Unless you remain in Me, unless you trust in Me, unless you continue in Me, unless you rest in Me, 00:48:31.800 |
you cannot bear fruit. So in other words, justification happens because we humble ourselves, 00:48:40.800 |
Sanctification happens when we humble ourselves and we are broken over our sins and we become contrite and moldable. 00:48:47.800 |
When we are glorified, you don't have to worry about pride, because you're not going to be proud. 00:48:53.800 |
When we are glorified in the presence of God, there will be no competing. 00:48:57.800 |
There will be no comparing, because when we're in the presence of God's glory, it's done. 00:49:03.800 |
Our flesh is going to be done, and we're going to be in eternity just worshiping Him. 00:49:08.800 |
It is in humility we are justified. It is in brokenness we are sanctified. 00:49:13.800 |
And it is in our contrite and worshipful spirit where God is glorified, and we are glorified with Him. 00:49:21.800 |
Imagine if Mary, when she heard that news that she was chosen, she is favored by God, 00:49:30.800 |
and the Lord will be with her, that she was going to bear the Son of God in her womb. 00:49:34.800 |
Imagine if Mary heard that news and said, "Hmm, what could I have done to deserve this?" 00:49:41.800 |
And she started thinking to herself, "I was a pretty good daughter to my parents. 00:49:48.800 |
I woke up before my siblings early in the morning to feed the cows. I sacrificed more. Maybe that's why. 00:49:57.800 |
I was better at memorizing than my siblings. Maybe that's why." 00:50:04.800 |
And what if she started thinking to herself, "I must have done something," and she latches on it. 00:50:14.800 |
I mean, this is a privilege that only Mary, and Mary alone, would have had in history. 00:50:19.800 |
And there's a reason why the Catholics exalt her to be called redemptoress, 00:50:25.800 |
even though it's completely unbiblical. It's heretical. 00:50:28.800 |
There's nowhere in the Bible does the Bible ever teach that. 00:50:31.800 |
But the temptation to elevate her, we understand. 00:50:34.800 |
Because there's nobody else who had this privilege other than her. 00:50:38.800 |
But can you imagine if Mary herself heard this news and said, "Oh, okay. I want some of this glory." 00:50:46.800 |
Just like the disciples. When they were walking around with Christ, all that was ringing in their head is, 00:50:51.800 |
"When he gets glorified, we're going to be glorified with him. I'm going to sit on the left and sit on the right." 00:50:56.800 |
Imagine Mary, the temptation that she would have been in if she wasn't humble. 00:51:02.800 |
If she didn't receive this and realize that this was a privilege that she could not have deserved. 00:51:10.800 |
The Bible says that she was a 12, 13-year-old young lady, and she was already betrothed to Joseph. 00:51:17.800 |
Now, you have to understand, at this period of time, being engaged was no different than being married. 00:51:23.800 |
To be honest, it wasn't that much different maybe 30, 40 years ago. 00:51:29.800 |
When I proposed to my wife, I didn't have this traditional, "Get on my knee and propose." 00:51:35.800 |
Because the people that went above me, the proposal was not like that. 00:51:41.800 |
My older brothers and the people, my parents, basically, if you were engaged, the two families have to come together 00:51:47.800 |
and in a Christian circle have an engagement ceremony. 00:51:50.800 |
Whatever dowries or things that need to be traded, it was traded at that time. 00:51:54.800 |
Then we had service, and we had exchange of rings. It was a formal service that we had. 00:52:01.800 |
The only part I play is making sure that she's not going to run away, and then get the parents to come together. 00:52:08.800 |
Then they, basically, as the two families, would get engaged. That's how we were engaged. 00:52:12.800 |
When people ask me, "What did you do for your proposal?" 00:52:16.800 |
I just gave her the ring, because I didn't know. I only found out afterwards. 00:52:21.800 |
I was clueless. There's a lot of things I didn't know. 00:52:25.800 |
But the engagement at that particular time was not much different than that. 00:52:31.800 |
It was the two families got together, and then your wife's family, future wife's family, 00:52:37.800 |
would basically give the dowry to the parents, and legally you were bound from that moment on. 00:52:42.800 |
Because all the money and everything that needed to be exchanged, it was exchanged at the engagement. 00:52:47.800 |
So the rest of the period, whether it's three months, six months, or a year, 00:52:51.800 |
basically was to prepare for the consummation of the ceremony. 00:52:55.800 |
So when it says that this young couple, Mary and Joseph, was already engaged, 00:53:01.800 |
and this prophecy came in the middle of their engagement. 00:53:07.800 |
So imagine, she's a virgin, young lady, the engagement ceremony already took place, 00:53:14.800 |
the money already transferred, and the angel says, "You're going to become pregnant, but not by Joseph. 00:53:20.800 |
The Holy Spirit's going to come." Can you imagine the initial excitement of, "What? I'm going to bear this privilege?" 00:53:29.800 |
Can you imagine, humanly speaking, what the next thought would have been? 00:53:33.800 |
"What if they don't believe me?" You walk around pregnant, and it's like, "Hey, she's pregnant, 00:53:41.800 |
and Joseph says he didn't do it." You know what the penalty would have been for her? 00:53:47.800 |
Stoning. She would have been stoned for that. 00:53:52.800 |
Joseph, humanly speaking, you could have easily imagined how offended he could have been, angry, 00:53:59.800 |
and he would have been correct, maybe even obedient, to send her off. 00:54:06.800 |
"I didn't do this. I'm going to break away this engagement." 00:54:09.800 |
Instead, it says in Matthew 119, "And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man, 00:54:15.800 |
and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly." 00:54:21.800 |
Let me read that again, just in case you didn't catch that. 00:54:24.800 |
When Joseph found out that his wife, as far as we're concerned, legally speaking, 00:54:30.800 |
that she was pregnant, because he was a righteous man, he could have easily just, 00:54:37.800 |
"Hey, I didn't do that. She betrayed me. She committed adultery, and washed his hands, and saved his reputation." 00:54:45.800 |
Even though she would have been stoned and would have been condemned, 00:54:49.800 |
either to be stoned or to live as a prostitute the rest of her life because she'll never be able to marry again, 00:54:57.800 |
Instead, he says, "Because he was a righteous man, he saved her, and he dismissed her discreetly." 00:55:05.800 |
Because he was a righteous man, he was gracious. 00:55:12.800 |
God breaks into this young couple. Mary's reputation is saved. 00:55:20.800 |
They have this child, and they basically fall to the background. 00:55:27.800 |
One of the most fantastic things that you and I could ever read in the Scripture. 00:55:32.800 |
Just after the delivery, Joseph just disappeared. We don't know what happened to Joseph. 00:55:37.800 |
We think that Joseph maybe had died early because he's not even mentioned in the Gospels. 00:55:42.800 |
Mary clearly is in the background, but she's not a significant figure. 00:55:45.800 |
We don't know what she says until almost at the end when Jesus is about to die. 00:55:54.800 |
We see this pattern repeatedly over and over in the Scripture. 00:55:59.800 |
In 1 Timothy 1, 15-16, Apostle Paul, when we think of, "Why did God choose Paul?" 00:56:06.800 |
We could imagine, and I don't know how many times I've heard this sermon, 00:56:10.800 |
Apostle Paul was chosen because he was a Roman citizen, so he was able to go places that other people could not go. 00:56:16.800 |
He was wealthy because his dad clearly had to have money to get the Roman citizenship. 00:56:20.800 |
He was very well-educated because he was a direct disciple of Gamaliel. 00:56:25.800 |
He was a leader already. People think that he was already a member of the Sanhedrin, 00:56:29.800 |
so he already had the respect of the Pharisees. 00:56:33.800 |
In every way, he spoke Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic. 00:56:37.800 |
He had the citizenship. He had the knowledge. He had the family pedigree. 00:56:42.800 |
You could think, "He's the perfect person we would choose." 00:56:46.800 |
Instead, Paul describes why he was chosen in 1 Timothy 15-16. 00:56:50.800 |
It says, "It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, 00:57:00.800 |
For this reason, I found mercy, because he was the foremost sinner. 00:57:04.800 |
For this reason, I found mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, 00:57:07.800 |
Jesus Christ might demonstrate his perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in him for eternal life." 00:57:15.800 |
Is this humblebrag, or does he actually mean this? 00:57:25.800 |
As we have a tendency to look for qualities that we look up to, that we put on a pedestal, 00:57:30.800 |
and Apostle Paul had all these qualities, and maybe if we work hard, we can put ourselves in that position, 00:57:37.800 |
Instead, Paul says, "No, the very reason why he chose me is because I was the worst choice." 00:57:42.800 |
He was responsible for the first martyr in the church, and that wasn't enough. 00:57:48.800 |
He got permission to get basically a small army to follow the Christians all the way up to Damascus, 00:57:56.800 |
When he says he was the worst of sinners, he meant it. He never forgot. 00:58:00.800 |
He used the present tense, because he didn't completely separate himself. 00:58:05.800 |
He's like, "I'm the worst sinner, and God chose me." 00:58:07.800 |
The reason why he chose me is that it can demonstrate to the world who he is. 00:58:13.800 |
If God can use somebody like me, if the gospel is powerful enough to change me, he can change you. 00:58:21.800 |
In fact, his choice was so out of the ordinary that even the disciples couldn't believe it. 00:58:28.800 |
"How can that guy? Why would God choose him?" 00:58:32.800 |
It took the apostles in the Christian community a while to even accept him. 00:58:38.800 |
They couldn't believe his testimony, because he was that bad. 00:58:43.800 |
He would have been the worst choice. The guy who hated, who wanted to kill everybody, 00:58:46.800 |
he's the apostle to the Gentiles? He said, "Yes." 00:58:50.800 |
Because God broke him. God broke him, and he humbled him. 00:58:56.800 |
Remember Apostle Paul when he was in Corinth? 00:58:59.800 |
If you study the book of Acts, Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, put in jail, left for dead. 00:59:09.800 |
The Jewish community that he loved, abandoning him. 00:59:14.800 |
He experienced everything that a missionary would experience to the nth degree. 00:59:18.800 |
By the time he comes to Corinth, he preaches the gospel at the synagogue, and he gets rejected. 00:59:27.800 |
By his own words, he says he came to Corinth in weakness, probably wanting to quit. 00:59:34.800 |
But Jesus speaks to him, basically to encourage him, to encourage him to continue in the faith. 00:59:45.800 |
God allows us to experience weakness and brokenness, 00:59:53.800 |
because the only way that God can ever draw near to us is when we are humble. 00:59:59.800 |
The only way that God can ever really use us is when we are empty. 01:00:03.800 |
The biggest hindrance to ministry is always what's inside of us. 01:00:11.800 |
Because as soon as we achieve a little bit, we're filled with our own pride. 01:00:16.800 |
I must have done something. I worked harder than other people. I know more than other people. 01:00:20.800 |
In fact, if you look at the church in Corinth, 01:00:25.800 |
everything that you can possibly think of that a church can go wrong in Corinth, experience that. 01:00:31.800 |
Oftentimes people say, "Oh, we want to be like the early church." 01:00:38.800 |
Every problem that you and I can think of or imagine was in the Corinthian church. 01:00:41.800 |
There was immorality. There was division. There was spiritual chaos. 01:00:45.800 |
Communion was done poorly. I mean, everything you can imagine was falling apart. 01:00:51.800 |
Paul goes to the core of the matter. What caused this chaos in the Corinthian church? 01:01:03.800 |
I follow Apollos. I follow Peter. I follow, you know. 01:01:07.800 |
Paul, "No, I'm above all of that. I follow Jesus." 01:01:11.800 |
And as a result of their spiritual pride in competing with one another, 01:01:20.800 |
Paul goes to the center of that in 1 Corinthians 1.26, it says, 01:01:23.800 |
"For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, 01:01:30.800 |
but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. 01:01:34.800 |
God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong. 01:01:38.800 |
And the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen the things that are not, 01:01:43.800 |
so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God." 01:02:00.800 |
That ambition that we had before we met Christ, 01:02:10.800 |
We've given up, you know, because we're followers of Christ. 01:02:13.800 |
We've dropped out of the rat race, and then we create a whole new rat race inside the church. 01:02:26.800 |
Books that we've read, conferences that we've gone to? 01:02:31.800 |
And then it causes the division in the church. 01:02:35.800 |
The Bible is clear that we need to identify truth, false prophets, false doctrines. 01:02:44.800 |
But if we're not careful, so much of our arguing is competing. 01:03:11.800 |
And as soon as pride, even a little bit of pride comes in, it begins to ruin everything we say and do. 01:03:18.800 |
Because at the core of who we are, before we met Christ, is our rebellion to exalt ourselves. 01:03:25.800 |
And as soon as that pride comes in, it ruins everything that you learned. 01:03:37.800 |
God calls us to be humble, to be broken, to be contrite. 01:03:42.800 |
Because only when we are truly empty, he can fill us. 01:03:47.800 |
You know what's interesting is in this greeting itself, Gabriel says, "Greetings, favored one, the Lord is with you." 01:03:58.800 |
If you were to ever get a tattoo of anything, I think you'd get a tattoo of this. 01:04:05.800 |
If I was Mary, I would have gotten this tattooed on my arm. 01:04:17.800 |
The word for greeting itself, kairo, which is an interesting word because if you look that up in the dictionary, it doesn't come out as greetings. 01:04:27.800 |
And again, it was a greeting that they used, but the literal meaning of that word is to rejoice. 01:04:39.800 |
That word rejoice here, again, is in reference of her choosing. 01:04:46.800 |
That what she's about to bear is because God favored you. 01:04:55.800 |
You know, what's also interesting is that word favored by God, karitas, is only used in this section here to say greetings. 01:05:07.800 |
And the only other place it's used in Ephesians 1, 6 when it says, "To the praise of the glory of his grace, which he freely bestowed on us in the beloved." 01:05:16.800 |
So the only two places where this word is used, that you are favored by God, rejoice you are favored by God, is in reference to Mary's choosing to bear the Son of God and of our salvation. 01:05:34.800 |
Every single one of us who have met the Lord, we have been favored by God. 01:05:39.800 |
Ephesians 1 through to 5, it describes our salvation this way. 01:05:43.800 |
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. 01:05:49.800 |
Every Christian, this is not just the elite, not just the apostles, every believer has been blessed with every spiritual blessing. 01:05:58.800 |
Just as he chose us in him, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before him. 01:06:06.800 |
In love he predestined us to the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself according to the kind intention of his will. 01:06:14.800 |
You know, whenever we study predestination and election, we always tend to get kind of sidetracked. 01:06:26.800 |
So because it's difficult to understand, we have a tendency to debate this, to argue over it, philosophize it. 01:06:34.800 |
And then at the end, after we've done all of that, we completely lose why he said it to begin with. 01:06:43.800 |
He doesn't tell us predestination and election because he's trying to tell us the intricate details of how this works. 01:07:18.800 |
He's not trying to explain and unravel this mystery so that we say, oh, that's how it works. 01:07:25.800 |
And then we miss the whole point of why he said it to begin with. 01:07:43.800 |
Because you've been favored, he said the Lord is with you. 01:07:49.800 |
I mean, it seems to be so trivial just out of all the things that God can do, it's like I'm with you. 01:07:57.800 |
Yet all throughout Scripture, that has been God's greatest comfort to us. 01:08:09.800 |
Every time the patriarchs started to fear and tremble, God would appear to them and say, I am with you. 01:08:18.800 |
He said that to Abraham when he was wandering out in the desert and fearful for his life. 01:08:23.800 |
He says that to Isaac when the future didn't seem clear. 01:08:27.800 |
He said that to Jacob because he was afraid that his enemies were going to overpower him. 01:08:33.800 |
In Exodus chapter 3, 12, imagine telling Moses who has been shepherding out in the desert for 40 years, calls him and says, go to Pharaoh. 01:08:49.800 |
That's just like if I asked you to go to the White House today. 01:08:53.800 |
And knock on the White House door and say, let my people go. 01:08:59.800 |
Go to President Biden and say, let my people go. 01:09:11.800 |
To go to the President of the United States and demand that he change his policy? 01:09:20.800 |
So we can understand why Moses would say, who am I? 01:09:29.800 |
And then he says in Exodus 3, 12, certainly I will be with you. 01:09:40.800 |
But you open your mouth when I tell you to open your mouth. 01:09:55.800 |
Moses was a great leader who marched for 40 years. 01:09:58.800 |
He's experienced dealing with these stiff-necked people. 01:10:03.800 |
And right before they go into the Promised Land, he gets disqualified and he can't go in. 01:10:07.800 |
In the larger scope of things, I think he was spared from what was coming. 01:10:11.800 |
But Joshua, this young commander who doesn't have much experience leading, sends him and says, now you're going to go. 01:10:17.800 |
You're going to go into Jericho and you're going to fight an army that's fortified, experienced. 01:10:22.800 |
And you're going to march right into this land. 01:10:26.800 |
And then what he says to Joshua, have I not commanded you, be strong and courageous. 01:10:32.800 |
Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 01:10:36.800 |
He didn't say, look above and look at all these angels. 01:10:40.800 |
I'm going to sharpen your sword so that you could be ready. 01:10:42.800 |
He said, I'm going to give an earthquake so that you know that I'm there. 01:10:46.800 |
He's all he says, the only promise that he gives is, I have commanded you and I will be with you. 01:10:54.800 |
His power, his authority, was God's going to be with him. 01:11:04.800 |
You have to understand, to really appreciate the Great Commission, you have to understand the context of the Great Commission. 01:11:09.800 |
The whole reason why Jesus called his disciples was what? 01:11:17.800 |
So the whole purpose of discipling the 12 was to lead them to the Great Commission so they can go and make disciples. 01:11:34.800 |
I would think that if they were in training, right, and at the end of it, in order to graduate, everybody has to take a test. 01:11:46.800 |
Those of you who are in law school or whatever schools that you're in, and you have to find, you have to pass a test and you fail it, right, they don't show you grace. 01:11:58.800 |
You don't fail your MCAT or whatever test you take and then allow you to go and practice medicine. 01:12:07.800 |
You would think that after their miserable failure, Jesus says, I guess it's not time yet. 01:12:14.800 |
Maybe I'll spend another three years or six years. 01:12:16.800 |
Maybe three years was too short and I'm going to have to build them up so that they can be courageous and fight for me and go out and do the work. 01:12:24.800 |
Instead, right after they fail, all Jesus does with Peter is, do you love me? 01:12:41.800 |
So when he's about to send them out, the same people who killed Jesus are still in power. 01:12:51.800 |
The same people who rejected Jesus were still alive. 01:12:55.800 |
And these disciples who failed miserably are being commissioned to go make disciples. 01:13:03.800 |
Go therefore make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 01:13:11.800 |
And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. 01:13:17.800 |
The power of the message was not with their training. 01:13:24.800 |
It wasn't because they remembered everything Jesus did. 01:13:30.800 |
It was because I am with you to the end of the age. 01:13:34.800 |
Just like he called Moses, I don't need your mouth. 01:13:49.800 |
God looks for humble, broken, contrite people. 01:13:54.800 |
When you see pride, I don't care how much that person knows. 01:13:58.800 |
I don't care how much that person has experienced. 01:14:18.800 |
But you cannot be proud in the presence of God. 01:14:25.800 |
You can't be in the presence of God's glory and then think to 01:14:35.800 |
We are naturally humbled when we're in his presence. 01:14:39.800 |
And sometimes God will allow us to experience humiliation to 01:14:47.800 |
God will allow us to be broken because he wants to mold us. 01:14:51.800 |
And he will allow us to be desperate so we can call him. 01:14:55.800 |
Because sometimes we don't call him when we're not broken. 01:14:59.800 |
We rely on our knowledge, our experience, our titles. 01:15:04.800 |
You know, one of the stories that really encourages me every 01:15:08.800 |
time I read it and I will try to wrap up here. 01:15:14.800 |
The prophets of Baal were just -- sin was running rampant. 01:15:20.800 |
And Elijah says, you know, I'm going to have this power encounter. 01:15:27.800 |
And Elijah stands up and fire consumes all of them. 01:15:31.800 |
And he thought revival was going to break out but it doesn't. 01:15:34.800 |
Instead, Jezebel, right, Ahab is the head and Jezebel is the neck. 01:15:41.800 |
And Jezebel is the king but Jezebel clearly was the one 01:15:46.800 |
She hears about it and everybody is afraid because they saw God's 01:15:51.800 |
There's a reason why nobody is named Jezebel today. 01:15:55.800 |
Because she's probably the one of the -- when you talk about the 01:16:04.800 |
And so she commissions people to go get him and kill him. 01:16:09.800 |
Elijah saw the power of God come and he overpowered 450 bald 01:16:13.800 |
prophets and then he gets scared or it seems like and he runs to 01:16:24.800 |
How did that courageous man all of a sudden become such a coward 01:16:31.800 |
And he came here to the cave and lodged there and behold the word 01:16:34.800 |
of the Lord came to him and said to him, what are you doing here, 01:16:39.800 |
He said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. 01:16:43.800 |
For the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down 01:16:46.800 |
your altars and killed your prophets with a sword and I alone 01:16:49.800 |
am left and they seek my life to take it away. 01:16:58.800 |
If God showed up and he showed his power, he thought they were 01:17:04.800 |
Instead of repenting, Jezebel leads a rebellion and go after 01:17:17.800 |
Maybe nothing is going to turn this nation around. 01:17:25.800 |
He said, God says, go forth and stand on a mountain before the 01:17:36.800 |
In a great and strong wind, rending the mountains and breaking 01:17:39.800 |
in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in 01:17:44.800 |
After the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the 01:17:48.800 |
After the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire. 01:18:04.800 |
When Elijah heard it he wrapped his face in his mantle and went 01:18:10.800 |
Then there behold a voice came to him and said, what are you 01:18:20.800 |
Because Elijah thought revival was going to come in the thunder, 01:18:24.800 |
in the quaking, in the fire, in the violent wind. 01:18:28.800 |
But God shows up in a gentle whisper to remind him, I am 01:18:40.800 |
And he says to him, the same thing that he did, I thought 01:18:49.800 |
I thought if they saw your power that they would turn but they 01:18:54.800 |
And God turns him around and he sends him back to work. 01:19:01.800 |
There are many, many periods in our life where no amount of 01:19:19.800 |
Not even your closest companion, not your wife, not your 01:19:23.800 |
husband, not the community, not the leaders is not enough. 01:19:30.800 |
Greatest encouragement for all of us is that God is with us. 01:19:45.800 |
The only reason you are looking in this direction for this long 01:19:53.800 |
You know, even something silly as the auction, the world won't 01:19:59.800 |
understand why you would offer $1,300 for a box. 01:20:20.800 |
The world will look at that and say you overpaid for that. 01:20:46.800 |
And the reason why you would -- only reason why you would do 01:20:50.800 |
that is because you have been favored by God. 01:20:56.800 |
And the reward of your sacrifice is much greater than anything 01:21:03.800 |
Let us never forget what it is that we have in Christ. 01:21:08.800 |
What he desires more than anything else is a humble spirit. 01:21:26.800 |
And as our worship team leads us, let's take a few minutes to 01:21:38.800 |
Lord, help me to open my eyes to see the gift that I have in 01:21:45.800 |
What it is I already have so that we would learn to rejoice 01:21:55.800 |
Let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads 01:27:54.800 |
Lord, help us to meditate and to apply these things in our lives, that we may fix our eyes, our heart, our mind, on Christ, who is the author and perfecter of our faith. May His name be exalted this week. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 01:28:38.800 |
To buy my pardon, an empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. 01:28:56.800 |
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone. 01:29:18.800 |
Because I know He holds the future, and life is worth the living just because He lives. Amen.