back to index(1/2) Berean Community Church Wednesday Bible Study 10/16/24 Part 1
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Let's gather into our tables take our seats and we'll pray to get ready for tonight's Bible study 00:00:05.720 |
All right, please join with me in a word of prayer 00:00:14.680 |
Heavenly Father we are so grateful to you God. We're so grateful that you make our gathering possible 00:00:22.360 |
you're the one and the reason why we join together and 00:00:26.320 |
Lord God by the word that you provide the spirit you provide and the gospel you've provided 00:00:33.320 |
we recognize God what a privilege it is to be able to have a 00:00:37.040 |
United body and we again want to thank you for making it all possible according to your grace 00:00:43.360 |
It is also our prayer that as we join together 00:00:46.080 |
It's that as you're the one making it possible Lord that it is pleasing in your sight 00:00:51.880 |
I ask God then that you would continue just to sanctify each and every single one of us 00:00:59.080 |
Theology our faith to be so full with the content of Christ cause our spirit to be so eager to worship 00:01:06.320 |
To give you praise to learn of your word and grow 00:01:09.720 |
that God the content of our faith and the attitude of our hearts would be 00:01:14.040 |
Truly the sacrifice you desire to see and now Lord as we join in with our voices. We do pray 00:01:19.960 |
God that again you'd be honored and that we would be blessed throughout this Bible study. We thank you in Christ's name. Amen 00:10:26.400 |
Dear Lord, we just come before you this evening. 00:10:30.400 |
It's privileged that we're able to just meet freely 00:10:40.400 |
We thank you Lord for just all the blessings that you give us 00:10:43.400 |
and all the things that we just don't deserve, 00:10:49.400 |
that you can still continue to just pursue us. 00:10:53.400 |
And yeah, we just thank you for bringing us here tonight. 00:10:56.400 |
I pray Lord, as we just go into a time of discussion, 00:11:00.400 |
that you just give us strength, give us energy tonight, 00:11:13.400 |
Okay, well I'd like to go over some announcements for you guys 00:11:24.400 |
happening Sunday, October 20th from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. 00:11:29.400 |
and that will be taking place at Bill Barber Park. 00:11:32.400 |
So there's going to be obviously some staggering with the services 00:11:35.400 |
but please know you're welcome to come, both members and non-members, 00:11:38.400 |
for some time of fellowship with the family ministry. 00:11:42.400 |
The next announcement is that we are hosting a child safety training. 00:11:46.400 |
So anybody who would like to work with and volunteer with the children, 00:11:50.400 |
anything from our Reformation Night that's coming up 00:11:54.400 |
to future VBS, etc., or even just to babysit, 00:11:58.400 |
we do require a safety training that's going to take place 00:12:07.400 |
so that we can know how many people to expect 00:12:13.400 |
For all the men, there is a men's ministry fellowship 00:12:27.400 |
a panel of some of the faithful men of our church 00:12:33.400 |
So please make sure to sign up. It's only $10 per participant. 00:12:37.400 |
And then finally, the last announcement I have 00:12:40.400 |
is going to be for our regional Thanksgiving dinner. 00:12:43.400 |
So if you have not done it, take your phones out now 00:12:47.400 |
and do the quick QR code to sign up and register. 00:12:50.400 |
It's going to take place Sunday, November 24th at 5 p.m. 00:12:54.400 |
across various homes that people have graciously volunteered to open up 00:12:58.400 |
so that we can get together, have potluck or dinner. 00:13:01.400 |
And then we'll also have a service that will be broadcast from the church 00:13:05.400 |
so that we can be on the same page with the worship and message that evening. 00:13:11.400 |
So please, for everything else, make sure you're on the app 00:13:13.400 |
or go to the main church website and click on "Events" 00:13:16.400 |
and sign up for the various things taking place. 00:13:18.400 |
Hope you guys have a great time in discussion. 01:06:55.400 |
or maybe there's some people you don't get along with, 01:06:57.400 |
or just in your priority, just making friends 01:07:02.400 |
Some of you guys may know, the earlier part of the church, 01:07:16.400 |
He was an elder, well, it was before he became an elder. 01:07:22.400 |
for so many years, and then he kind of woke up 01:07:27.400 |
and every week he would come and ask me for books to read, 01:07:36.400 |
So he would be prayer, and devoted to scripture, 01:07:40.400 |
and if we had prayer meeting, he's the first one, 01:07:43.400 |
the last one to leave, but anytime we went out to eat, 01:07:50.400 |
when we would finish eating, and then we're gathering 01:07:54.400 |
And so I remember, 'cause he used to really be 01:07:57.400 |
into triathlete, triathlon, so he would go and run 14 miles 01:08:03.400 |
And I remember sitting down one day with him. 01:08:05.400 |
I said, "How come you don't hang out with us?" 01:08:17.400 |
"Vince, being part of the community is important." 01:08:23.400 |
and basically went over this Bible study with him. 01:08:28.400 |
"Yeah, you know, I just have very little tolerance 01:08:33.400 |
"So if you want to engage and really talk about God," 01:08:36.400 |
he said, "but I don't have patience to sit there 01:08:39.400 |
"and talk about Dodgers and talk about traveling 01:08:51.400 |
"Vince, most people can't go from zero to 10 feet deep, right? 01:08:58.400 |
"They're not going to meet somebody new and say, 01:09:04.400 |
"Most people are going to have to gradually work up to that. 01:09:06.400 |
"So you're going to have to start with Disneyland, 01:09:14.400 |
"and then you become friends, maybe superficially, 01:09:20.400 |
"But there are some people I know in this room 01:09:24.400 |
"You don't have much patience for the in-between part, right? 01:09:32.400 |
"so you want to stay at the shallow end, right? 01:09:38.400 |
and then literally next week he just stopped running, 01:09:42.400 |
I remember the first time he would go eat with us, 01:09:44.400 |
we took four hours to go eat lunch, you know, 01:09:47.400 |
because our church would just hang out all the time 01:09:54.400 |
and then you could tell he was so frustrated. 01:09:56.400 |
He said, "I can't believe we took four hours to eat lunch." 01:10:01.400 |
"But during those four hours, what did you do?" 01:10:05.400 |
I was like, "Yeah, we didn't waste four hours. 01:10:07.400 |
"The four hours where you are connecting with people, 01:10:09.400 |
"and then those conversations could turn to talking about God, 01:10:12.400 |
"but you're not going to go from zero to 10, right?" 01:10:22.400 |
"Yeah, I really want to talk about God in quiet time," 01:10:27.400 |
but majority of the people usually takes time 01:10:33.400 |
So if you're in a habit of not gathering and rubbing shoulders 01:10:36.400 |
and getting to know people and even the shallow things, 01:10:40.400 |
those things will lead to more connections, right? 01:10:44.400 |
And that's why we say the gathering of the church is important 01:10:50.400 |
There's four things that I want to cover about biblical fellowship. 01:10:54.400 |
One is biblical fellowship is always Christ-centered, right? 01:11:00.400 |
Now, it doesn't mean that every time you get together, 01:11:02.400 |
you're going to talk about Jesus in quiet time, 01:11:04.400 |
but it's founded upon your relationship with Christ. 01:11:14.400 |
Everybody who has all interests, all doctrines, 01:11:17.400 |
whatever they want to do, I just want to find friends, right? 01:11:21.400 |
Church is a gathering of people who have been called out 01:11:24.400 |
for the purpose of honoring and following Christ. 01:11:28.400 |
So the foundation behind true fellowship are other Christians. 01:11:34.400 |
is that I confess Jesus Christ as Lord and my Savior, right? 01:11:38.400 |
And so the fellowship of the church is not just everybody coming in 01:11:44.400 |
No, this is sharing Christ together is the foundation of the church. 01:11:49.400 |
Claiming to have union with Christ while living in sin is self-deception. 01:11:53.400 |
And also, wanting to feel connected at church while embracing sin 01:11:59.400 |
If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in darkness, 01:12:06.400 |
No matter how much you say, "I feel connected with Christ 01:12:09.400 |
and I have fellowship with God," no matter how much you say that, 01:12:12.400 |
the Bible says, because God is light, if you are embracing sin, 01:12:16.400 |
you don't have fellowship, it doesn't matter how close you feel. 01:12:20.400 |
It doesn't matter how intimate you think, "You know, I'm so intimate. 01:12:22.400 |
Me and God is like that." That's all in your head. 01:12:27.400 |
God is light, and if you are in darkness, there is no fellowship. 01:12:32.400 |
But also, along with that, only those who are communing with Christ 01:12:39.400 |
If we walk in light and He Himself in the light, 01:12:45.400 |
Fellowship is not something that we force upon each other. 01:12:48.400 |
It happens because in the context of other people who are pursuing Christ, 01:12:51.400 |
when they gather together, fellowship happens. 01:12:58.400 |
Your mind and heart is headed toward the same place. 01:13:02.400 |
I know Dodgers is playing right now, and some of you guys are barely paying attention 01:13:07.400 |
because you are fellowshipping in Dodgers, in your heart, 01:13:11.400 |
even though you're not sitting together talking about Dodgers, watching Dodgers, 01:13:17.400 |
So when you are gathered together with other Dodger fans, 01:13:20.400 |
automatically there's Dodger fellowship going on. 01:13:23.400 |
So in the same way, people who are in love with Christ, 01:13:26.400 |
people who are following Christ, fellowship happens in the context 01:13:31.400 |
of people who have already have their hearts toward Christ. 01:13:35.400 |
You don't have to be talking about Christ to have fellowship. 01:13:37.400 |
You don't have to be having Bible studies to have fellowship. 01:13:40.400 |
If people who are in love with Christ gather together, fellowship tends to happen 01:13:44.400 |
because we're already--our foundation of our heart is the same. 01:13:49.400 |
Number two, biblical fellowship is other-centered. 01:13:57.400 |
Now, we're going to be looking at 1 Corinthians 10, 20 through 24, 01:14:00.400 |
but I want to read these five things before I move on. 01:14:04.400 |
Freedom in Christ--anyone who's a Christian have found freedom in Christ 01:14:11.400 |
that we are not bound by a code of conduct of this is what you should do, 01:14:23.400 |
Our code of conduct is higher code which puts others' conscience before ours. 01:14:29.400 |
That's what it means to participate and live in a community 01:14:33.400 |
where I'm not coming in and say, "This bothers me. I like this, and I don't like this," 01:14:37.400 |
and you're coming and you will expect everybody else to adjust to me 01:14:40.400 |
because that's my preference. This is what I want. 01:14:43.400 |
Somebody who is self-centered will never find true community 01:14:48.400 |
because that person, everywhere they go, wants everybody to adjust to them. 01:14:54.400 |
There is no community with that person no matter where you go. 01:15:02.400 |
I'm going to read that in the text that we're looking at. 01:15:05.400 |
We are to do all things ultimately for the glory of God. 01:15:08.400 |
We are to consider others better than ourselves. 01:15:11.400 |
1 Corinthians 10, 23, 33, "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable." 01:15:16.400 |
An immature Christian is always asking, "Is this sinful or is this not sinful?" 01:15:22.400 |
If it's not sinful, if you can't find a passage in the Bible that says, 01:15:26.400 |
"I can't do this," then I have the freedom to do whatever I want. 01:15:34.400 |
As long as it's not prohibited, unless God said, "You cannot do it," 01:15:38.400 |
then that's the standard that they use to what I can and cannot do. 01:15:43.400 |
But he says, "All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable." 01:15:47.400 |
Why is it not profitable? All things are lawful, but not all things edify. 01:15:55.400 |
He said, "Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor." 01:16:02.400 |
Don't make fellowship about, "I like it. I don't like it. 01:16:08.400 |
But ultimately, how does it benefit the Church of Christ? 01:16:14.400 |
There are some things that we do at church that you might not like. 01:16:18.400 |
I'm sure we do things that you might not like. 01:16:21.400 |
You might not even agree with. Do we have to clean the church every quarter? 01:16:25.400 |
Do we have to have a Christmas party? Do we have to have a Thanksgiving? 01:16:33.400 |
But the things that we're doing at church is for the purpose of edifying the body of Christ. 01:16:37.400 |
So if you use your preference as a standard for everything that, 01:16:42.400 |
"I like it. I don't like it," but it's like, "Does this edify?" 01:16:49.400 |
Obviously, the leaders make decisions based upon what we think will edify the body of Christ. 01:16:56.400 |
But if you have a church filled with people who everything that they do and don't do 01:17:02.400 |
then it will be impossible to ever make any decisions in the church 01:17:07.400 |
because we know somebody is going to say something. 01:17:10.400 |
It says, "Does it edify? Let no one seek his own good but that of his neighbor." 01:17:15.400 |
25-29, "Eat anything that is solid in the meat market without asking questions. 01:17:21.400 |
For conscience' sake, for the earth is the Lord's and all it contains. 01:17:24.400 |
If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, 01:17:27.400 |
eat anything that is set before you without asking questions. For the conscience' sake." 01:17:31.400 |
If anyone says to you, "This meat is sacrificed to idols," do not eat it. 01:17:35.400 |
This is in the context of meat sacrificed to the temple, 01:17:39.400 |
and some people are saying, "You can't eat that because that's tainted." 01:17:45.400 |
There's no innately irreligious thing because it was at the temple. 01:17:52.400 |
You have the freedom to eat it, except if eating that is going to cause someone else 01:17:58.400 |
to stumble for their conscience' sake, not your conscience' sake, 01:18:01.400 |
for their conscience' sake, he said, "Don't eat it." 01:18:03.400 |
If anyone says to you, "This meat is sacrificed to idols," 01:18:05.400 |
do not eat it for the sake of the one who informed you for conscience' sake. 01:18:09.400 |
I don't mean that not on your own conscience, but the other man's. 01:18:12.400 |
For why is it my freedom judged by another's conscience? 01:18:14.400 |
If I participate with Thanksgiving, why am I slandered concerning that for which I give thanks? 01:18:19.400 |
In other words, this is not a matter of, "Is it right or is it wrong?" 01:18:26.400 |
But for the purpose of the conscience of someone else, don't eat it. 01:18:31.400 |
In other words, don't simply think of yourself. Think of the other person. 01:18:36.400 |
That's why he says, "Whether then you eat or drink, whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." 01:18:42.400 |
Not simply, "I like it. I don't like it. It bothers me. This is what I prefer," 01:18:50.400 |
"Give no offense either to Jews or Greeks or to the Church of God, 01:18:53.400 |
just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, 01:18:57.400 |
but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved." 01:19:01.400 |
I'm going to go a little bit longer today because I have other things to cover. 01:19:09.400 |
Obviously, meat sacrifice to idols is not an issue in our generation. 01:19:15.400 |
What you wrestle with, that may fall onto this category. 01:19:23.400 |
Some of you probably may be wrestling with that right now. 01:19:37.400 |
Drinking is probably top of the list, one of the top of the list. 01:19:47.400 |
There are some people in our church who want us to ban drinking. 01:19:53.400 |
"Alcohol touches your lips. You cannot be a member." 01:20:02.400 |
They grew up in an abused family where the father was an alcoholic, 01:20:08.400 |
or maybe they struggled with it, and they were in a halfway house. 01:20:13.400 |
I know some people who, because they struggled with it, 01:20:25.400 |
and they said they were around Christians all through high school, 01:20:33.400 |
And he said he had no respect for Christians because of that. 01:20:36.400 |
And so he came to our church, and he said he decided to come to our church 01:20:43.400 |
And then there are some people in the church who grew up 01:20:46.400 |
drinking wine with their parents after Bible study. 01:20:53.400 |
So to them it's strange that alcohol is even an issue. 01:21:10.400 |
I'm just making sure you're paying attention. 01:21:13.400 |
Of course, alcohol in and of itself is not sinful. 01:21:20.400 |
Paul says to Timothy, "Drink some wine for the sake of your health." 01:21:24.400 |
But the way you drink alcohol can be an issue like this, 01:21:32.400 |
Yes, you have the freedom, but you're very childish. 01:21:36.400 |
Because you're not thinking about anybody else but your freedom. 01:21:41.400 |
I mean, during the pandemic we had issues that came up 01:21:44.400 |
where people were like, "I have the freedom." 01:21:48.400 |
But we have church filled with people who feel other way. 01:21:55.400 |
It's like, "Yeah, that's what everybody thinks." 01:22:01.400 |
Obviously, drinking is top, and that's the easiest one. 01:22:05.400 |
But the principle that we are taught is, "Think of others first." 01:22:16.400 |
Paul says, "If it's going to bother other people, I won't eat meat. 01:22:19.400 |
I don't have to eat meat for the sake of other people." 01:22:25.400 |
A mature person is not somebody who says, "I know Christ. 01:22:27.400 |
I've been free, so I have the freedom to do whatever I want." 01:22:32.400 |
A mature Christian is somebody who thinks beyond that and say, 01:22:35.400 |
"Even though I have the freedom to do that, it doesn't bother me, 01:22:38.400 |
but because it will stumble some other people, I'm going to be careful." 01:22:45.400 |
Again, Philippians 2, 1-4, "Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, 01:22:48.400 |
if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, 01:22:51.400 |
if any affection of compassion, make my joy complete by being the same mind, 01:22:55.400 |
maintain the same love, united in spirit, intent in one purpose." 01:23:00.400 |
He says, "If Christ means anything to you, be one in mind, compassionate, 01:23:12.400 |
"This is my preference, and this is what I desire. 01:23:14.400 |
I'm going to fill my life with people who agree and think the same way." 01:23:21.400 |
He says, "Do nothing from selfish ambition, selfishness, or empty conceit, 01:23:27.400 |
but with a humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourself. 01:23:30.400 |
Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, 01:23:35.400 |
So if you're in a habit of not gathering with other people 01:23:38.400 |
because some other people who have different views, 01:23:40.400 |
different personalities irritate you, you are a spiritual infant 01:23:45.400 |
because you're not thinking about anybody else but yourself, right? 01:23:49.400 |
And so here it says you can't find unity in the church 01:23:53.400 |
if every person in the church is saying, "This is what I think," 01:23:56.400 |
and everybody needs to think and act the way I think and act. 01:24:00.400 |
And I only want to surround myself with those people, right? 01:24:03.400 |
It says, "No, the only way that the church can be united, 01:24:05.400 |
especially as the church gets bigger and bigger, 01:24:08.400 |
if more and more people are unselfishly giving of themselves 01:24:11.400 |
and considering others better than themselves." 01:24:14.400 |
Now, we're not saying that there aren't times that we need to put our foot down 01:24:19.400 |
This is what the Bible teaches, and I can't change," right? 01:24:22.400 |
But there's a lot of things that is simply your preference 01:24:32.400 |
And the gathering of the church is a place where we practice that. 01:24:35.400 |
Third, biblical fellowship produces holiness, right? 01:24:42.400 |
Purpose of fellowship is to stir up one another on toward love and good deeds, right? 01:24:47.400 |
Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, 01:24:50.400 |
not forsaking our own sympathy, as it have us some, 01:24:52.400 |
but encouraging one another all the more as you see the danger on it. 01:24:58.400 |
When you're gathering together, the word "stimulate" means to provoke very strongly 01:25:03.400 |
that because of your presence, because of your relationship with that person, 01:25:07.400 |
that person is constantly provoked on toward love and good deeds, right? 01:25:12.400 |
The purpose of fellowship is to carry each other's burdens. 01:25:17.400 |
And I'm going to get to this verse after I read it. 01:25:19.400 |
The ones who are spiritual needs to pursue those who are caught in sin, right? 01:25:24.400 |
And you can't do that if you're not gathering, 01:25:26.400 |
and you don't know how other people are doing. 01:25:29.400 |
Like, my family's taken care of, my good friend's taken care of, 01:25:34.400 |
But the purpose of the community is not just here's 5, 10, 15 friends 01:25:39.400 |
that I've committed myself, and then everybody else I can care less. 01:25:43.400 |
You can't build a biblical healthy church with that attitude, right? 01:25:48.400 |
Restoration must be done in spirit of gentleness. 01:25:51.400 |
The pursuit must be done with self-awareness of your own shortcomings. 01:25:55.400 |
Bearing one another's burdens here means to bear the task of restoring a sinner to Christ. 01:26:02.400 |
To brethren, if anyone's caught in any trance by you who are spiritual, right? 01:26:06.400 |
Instead of being irritated and simply pointing fingers, 01:26:10.400 |
it says if you recognize the sin of other people, right? 01:26:16.400 |
Instead of saying, "Why are they like that?" and pointing their fingers, right? 01:26:23.400 |
it said the reaction should be to restore such a one in spirit of gentleness. 01:26:27.400 |
Each one looking to yourself so that you too will not be tempted. 01:26:31.400 |
Bear one another's burdens, and therefore fulfill the law of Christ, right? 01:26:41.400 |
and you do not practice the love of Christ, right? 01:26:49.400 |
It's going to ruin you because what humbles a Christian is the practice of love. 01:26:57.400 |
the Word of God is going to make you an arrogant person 01:27:00.400 |
because the Word of God is going to be like a light that shines on other people's sin, 01:27:06.400 |
on mistakes they're making, what are they doing, what they shouldn't be doing. 01:27:11.400 |
But what humbles us is in the context of loving people that are difficult to love. 01:27:17.400 |
It forces us to take the Word of God and to apply it in our lives, 01:27:30.400 |
because to love somebody, you have to empty yourself. 01:27:38.400 |
and you can't do that when you're filled with pride and stiff, right? 01:27:42.400 |
And so the church, in order to fulfill the love of Christ, 01:27:47.400 |
it's not just study, we're going to go evangelize, all these things are important, 01:27:51.400 |
but first and foremost is to bear each other's burdens. 01:27:57.400 |
Fourthly, biblical fellowship produces God-centered, 01:28:01.400 |
other-centered, holiness-producing community, right? 01:28:10.400 |
I'm going to touch upon this because of the time. 01:28:14.400 |
1 Corinthians 12, 14 to 18, "For the body is not one member but many. 01:28:18.400 |
If the foot says, 'Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,' 01:28:21.400 |
it is not for this reason any less part of the body. 01:28:24.400 |
And if the ear says, 'Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,' 01:28:28.400 |
it is not for this reason any less part of the body," right? 01:28:32.400 |
He said God has deliberately given us different gifts. 01:28:37.400 |
The frustration that we get into is that we look at someone else's gift 01:28:47.400 |
but then you end up coveting the tallest guy, 01:28:52.400 |
So because you end up focusing your attention on what other people's gift is, 01:28:57.400 |
you end up not being a good point guard, right? 01:29:01.400 |
The speed that God gave you that that team needs, 01:29:04.400 |
you end up not functioning because you have your eye always on 01:29:10.400 |
So he says, "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? 01:29:14.400 |
If the whole were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?" 01:29:17.400 |
But now God has placed the members, each one of them in the body, 01:29:25.400 |
The gift that God has given you, God has given you uniquely. 01:29:29.400 |
Some of you are better at other things than others, 01:29:33.400 |
but every single person God made uniquely, right? 01:29:41.400 |
An unhealthy church is always coveting this stage, 01:29:45.400 |
whatever it may be, to lead worship, to preach, to teach.