back to indexBerean Community Church Praise and Prayer 06.30.23
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I'm sweating. Oh my goodness. That night window was so heavy. Did you see Garry just one man that thing? 00:00:21.260 |
I saw you try to and I'm like oh my god. Look at me compared to him man. I'm tiny. He's got like the back muscle of the least man. 00:00:29.260 |
No one works out those muscles back there. Except Garry. I could not. I could never. 00:00:35.260 |
You guys are a small team. That's what's going to happen. 00:00:44.260 |
My name is Ashley. My wife and my daughter extremely like the king and the elephant. 00:01:27.260 |
Carolyn I promise to forget your name in the future. 00:01:52.260 |
I don't know if she's waving or if she's just like being vibrated by Tim's pads. 00:02:42.260 |
Let's start our praise prayer service tonight. 00:02:51.260 |
We'll begin our service with a song called Worship. 00:02:53.260 |
So let us continue to come forward as we sing this song. 00:04:29.500 |
♪ I'm looking back to the offer of a virgin ♪ 00:04:43.700 |
♪ I'm so in love with you, leave me that thing ♪ 00:05:05.660 |
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh ♪ 00:05:54.180 |
♪ You said, "Congratulations, great birthday" ♪ 00:06:06.100 |
♪ I'm looking back to the offer of a virgin ♪ 00:06:36.460 |
♪ I'm looking back to the offer of a virgin ♪ 00:07:22.100 |
Well, it's a privilege for us to come together 00:07:25.460 |
for prayer, and as you know, we have these pre-audited, 00:07:32.420 |
lifting up our God, and raising up our voices in prayer. 00:07:39.500 |
and we'll have extended time to go to God in prayer. 00:07:42.980 |
Interestingly, one of the things that we will do again 00:07:45.740 |
as we come before is to remove the white chairs 00:07:54.700 |
A periodic is a meal, a mass will have to be a meal, 00:07:58.780 |
because some people are just so obedient that way. 00:08:01.940 |
And as you know, it's not necessarily something 00:08:05.220 |
is because we want it, but we want each individual 00:08:16.500 |
And so in that case, that's why I'm structurally 00:08:25.620 |
or you'll find that they'll close off their face 00:08:29.820 |
It's all variety, because it is ways we can react 00:08:35.340 |
And so with that said, please do not feel outnumbered. 00:08:38.740 |
We're gonna dim the lights, we don't want you 00:08:43.820 |
but that we will really read your letters to us. 00:08:46.340 |
Let's go in prayer as we prepare for this time. 00:08:59.940 |
There is nothing, not even the greatest of kingdoms, 00:09:07.540 |
the hearts of man, that is outside of the reach. 00:09:14.940 |
Lord, therefore, with faith and hope we pray. 00:09:30.740 |
Also, Lord, as we lift up these songs of praise, 00:09:34.900 |
God, that is not so much from a period of dissonance, 00:09:50.340 |
We thank you, God, for your grace and we pray. 00:09:53.340 |
- Let us all rise as we sing these praise songs. 00:10:46.220 |
♪ He pulls me close with a little scarlet hand ♪ 00:11:26.260 |
♪ Through the great high anthem of his name ♪ 00:24:01.300 |
Okay, I would like to give a brief encouragement 00:24:11.940 |
from the scriptures from Romans chapter nine, 00:24:17.060 |
From Romans chapter nine, verses one through five. 00:24:29.900 |
there are a lot of people who seek to summarize 00:24:42.820 |
It's all about loving others or something like that, right? 00:24:48.820 |
when we're trying to summarize all of our Christian faith 00:24:51.300 |
into one thing, one concept, one character trait, 00:24:58.460 |
Because you and I both know, it's much broader than that 00:25:01.580 |
because Christianity can be more better summarized 00:25:05.780 |
within one person, the person, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:10.420 |
And in a way, if people try to summarize Christ 00:25:24.380 |
And we ask the question throughout different circumstances 00:25:26.900 |
of life, what would Christ do in this situation? 00:25:30.580 |
It's because our Christian life is summarized 00:25:32.780 |
by we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:25:38.500 |
of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's not just simply 00:25:40.700 |
what he does we're following, it's also his attitude 00:25:54.060 |
We wanna react to things the way that he would. 00:26:08.740 |
And we know that a huge part of following Christ 00:26:21.180 |
to such a degree that we would take initiative, 00:26:29.100 |
We would not only do that, but we would avail ourselves 00:26:46.580 |
in Romans chapter nine, verses one through five, 00:26:59.340 |
Romans chapter nine, verses one through five. 00:27:02.820 |
I'm telling the truth in Christ, I'm not lying. 00:27:05.820 |
My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit 00:27:09.380 |
that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 00:27:13.180 |
For I wish I could, that I myself be a curse, 00:27:17.500 |
separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, 00:27:22.860 |
who are Israelites to whom belong the adoption as sons, 00:27:26.140 |
and the glory and the covenants, and the giving of the law, 00:27:31.500 |
Those whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ 00:27:41.220 |
Okay, so in jumping down into a passage in Romans nine, 00:27:47.260 |
we know obviously, Apostle Paul, through the Book of Romans, 00:27:56.760 |
he essentially laid down that every single person 00:28:01.740 |
Revealed that each individual, no matter whether Gentile 00:28:07.100 |
you're underneath this condemnation to such a degree 00:28:10.660 |
that our depravity is slavery, that we are enslaved to sin. 00:28:15.000 |
But thanks be to God, there is absolute freedom, 00:28:18.700 |
and thanks be to God, there is no condemnation in Christ. 00:28:27.320 |
after having laid out that salvation is by faith, 00:28:32.960 |
described the incredible security that is found 00:28:39.320 |
That when God has set upon his people his promise, 00:28:49.220 |
they're going to be elected, they're going to be washed, 00:29:03.960 |
and that's what he's answering in chapter nine, 00:29:17.520 |
that when Christ came, they cried for his crucifixion? 00:29:21.640 |
And in current standpoint, although the Jewish people 00:29:32.820 |
And what's very interesting is to this question 00:29:35.620 |
of Apostle Paul reassuring that God's promise is true, 00:29:40.020 |
and Apostle Paul demonstrating that God is faithful 00:29:49.160 |
He begins by expressing emphatically his emotion, 00:29:53.800 |
and that's what I want to draw our attention to tonight. 00:29:59.380 |
"I am telling the truth in Christ, I'm not lying. 00:30:02.380 |
"My conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit 00:30:18.200 |
"my conscience testifies in the Holy Spirit." 00:30:30.700 |
is he has this incredible sorrow and unceasing grief, okay? 00:30:39.740 |
and encourage us with is again, if we're following Christ, 00:30:48.460 |
will regularly feel great sorrow and unceasing grief. 00:30:53.460 |
We must follow Christ's sorrow with grief in our heart. 00:31:04.480 |
In view of the incredible grace and mercies of God, 00:31:07.300 |
when we look at God and then when we look at us, 00:31:10.240 |
there should be incredible joy that is inexplicable 00:31:17.760 |
And yet paradoxically, we're going to see increasing sorrow, 00:31:24.820 |
because the light of Christ will open our eyes. 00:31:31.520 |
but more so open our eyes to the deserved consequence 00:31:48.860 |
if you recall, Jesus' heart was incredibly grieved. 00:31:55.400 |
When he looked upon Jerusalem, it says in Luke 19, 41, 00:32:10.500 |
"'but now they have been hidden from your eyes, 00:32:14.720 |
"'when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you 00:32:19.360 |
"'and surround you and hem you on every side, 00:32:25.820 |
"'and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, 00:32:30.160 |
"'because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'" 00:32:34.400 |
I want us to take a moment to meditate and think. 00:32:51.420 |
But then now there's that challenging question for us. 00:32:55.000 |
Is the state of our heart and condition of our soul, 00:33:01.680 |
when we see the current even state of our country, 00:33:05.920 |
when we see all kinds of paganism, all kinds of fallenness, 00:33:11.880 |
one of the questions I ask is, what is the state of my heart? 00:33:28.180 |
I hear heading, news lines, et cetera, et cetera, 00:33:34.020 |
And I heard on the radio, I heard on YouTube, 00:33:38.540 |
you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. 00:33:50.160 |
Now, the fact of the matter is, is that statement true? 00:33:55.680 |
Scripture literally says, you reap what you sow. 00:34:01.840 |
what you put in is what you're gonna get out. 00:34:31.540 |
Do you not understand you have completely missed, 00:34:44.320 |
if I said it out loud, you play stupid games, 00:35:03.180 |
who will cry out for his own death is weeping. 00:35:12.540 |
oh, you know, Jesus is only this or only that, 00:35:18.460 |
in which he knows the exacting nature of God. 00:35:22.300 |
He knows the perfect faithfulness of God to his holiness. 00:35:26.020 |
And yet he grieves knowing where the whole city is headed. 00:35:34.100 |
do not react to the things that you see in this world 00:35:36.660 |
with just the same kind of reaction any commentator would. 00:35:45.100 |
And he's now crying, and he's trying to emphatically say, 00:35:56.220 |
of any other group, which group persecuted him the most? 00:36:01.540 |
Of any other people, which people gave him the hardest time? 00:36:09.100 |
who has already been his greatest antagonist? 00:36:11.700 |
A passage in Philippians answers that question. 00:36:16.140 |
In Philippians chapter three, verse two and six, 00:36:40.140 |
although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. 00:36:43.780 |
If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, 00:36:52.620 |
Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, 00:37:07.720 |
these people think that I'm preaching the gospel 00:37:11.560 |
out of what, because I can't do anything else, 00:37:25.420 |
As a matter of fact, you wanna go toe to toe, 00:37:27.420 |
I could've been the best of any of you, right? 00:37:39.140 |
You live in a system that, yes, has rules, policies, 00:37:45.000 |
has standards and culture, has history and legacy, 00:38:00.260 |
brings worry, it brings sleepless nights, right? 00:38:09.140 |
Apostle Paul set a model for us to follow Christ. 00:38:20.980 |
by which because they've caused you so much pain, 00:38:24.700 |
because they've caused you so much inconvenience, 00:38:31.100 |
perhaps in the more deeper recesses of your mind, 00:38:33.260 |
it would be so much better if you weren't here. 00:38:52.260 |
we have very little hope whether they would turn. 00:39:00.940 |
there's just no signs of repentance, forget that. 00:39:05.260 |
I mean, for them to admit one thing wrong, maybe. 00:39:15.740 |
we are going to be willing to bear the sorrow 00:39:18.540 |
of caring for their soul, even if it looks so bleak. 00:39:38.620 |
"For I could wish that I myself were accursed, 00:39:43.620 |
"separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, 00:39:50.660 |
And if you take a moment to think about that, 00:40:11.540 |
And he says, "I wish I could be accursed for you." 00:40:21.180 |
Well, first, again, going to the idea and theme 00:40:26.460 |
Christ in his attitude, Christ in his intent, 00:40:30.840 |
we remember his own words that in Mark 10:45, 00:40:38.000 |
"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, 00:40:47.240 |
Likewise, then, in following Christ's example 00:41:07.740 |
Apostle Paul says, "All this time, you have been thinking 00:41:26.480 |
"and may be found by you to be not what you wish, 00:41:29.560 |
"that perhaps there will be strife, jealousy, 00:41:40.360 |
what is he saying by saying, I wish I was accursed for you? 00:41:49.980 |
hey, you and me, ride or die, I'll take a bullet for you. 00:42:20.200 |
What they need to avoid is to avoid the consequence of God 00:42:28.160 |
and what they need to gain is very specifically 00:42:33.160 |
the only salvation that is found in Christ, amen? 00:42:39.280 |
in following Christ and the example of Apostle Paul, 00:42:46.720 |
who have a good education, a good marriage, a good family, 00:43:05.920 |
things like social justice, et cetera, et cetera, 00:43:14.040 |
What grieves my soul is not simply poverty, right? 00:43:33.480 |
for any cause, any reason, I won't die for you 00:43:41.160 |
For us, the only reason why we would self-sacrifice 00:43:54.120 |
because I really feel like we live in a generation 00:44:04.120 |
Even for those who are poor down in the streets, 00:44:07.860 |
you're gonna come and just preach the gospel? 00:44:10.920 |
You're gonna come and just invite them to church? 00:44:15.400 |
People in their current perspective are gonna think, 00:44:19.840 |
you know what's the solution is, just simply economy. 00:44:32.800 |
is gonna receive eternal damnation from God Almighty. 00:44:38.040 |
And if that's the case, then I have no qualms 00:44:44.460 |
hey, I'm not just trying to sell you a cheap car, 00:44:47.620 |
I'm not trying to sell you on better finances 00:44:52.680 |
the only thing that is worthy of eternity, amen? 00:44:56.220 |
And that being the case, I wanted to take time tonight 00:44:59.820 |
to make sure, especially because we have a mission team out 00:45:11.940 |
I want us to make sure that we follow in Christ's 00:45:17.180 |
just simply the burden of care and sorrow in our heart 00:45:21.640 |
And what's more, we wanna have every intention. 00:45:24.420 |
If some of you guys struggle with things like, 00:45:26.500 |
oh, I don't know, I don't wanna make my friend believe 00:45:29.700 |
that all I care about is preaching the gospel, 00:45:37.980 |
You wanna run the risk of having your friends feel like, 00:45:40.980 |
did you just become friends with me to share the gospel? 00:45:44.220 |
Did you take me out to lunch just so that you could 00:45:50.700 |
Because outside of that, I don't actually have 00:46:04.580 |
Outside of the gospel, I have no other intent. 00:46:07.580 |
Like, what other intentions that's so grand do I have 00:46:11.180 |
for you other than that you would know my savior, amen? 00:46:17.820 |
Our God and Father, we pray that you would give to us 00:46:25.220 |
such conviction of the unimaginable weight of the gospel 00:46:29.880 |
of Christ because he shed his holy blood for us. 00:46:34.880 |
And I pray, Father God, our hearts would cry out. 00:46:39.140 |
Our hearts, Lord God, would truly mourn over those 00:46:45.300 |
Help us, Father God, to have eyes that are not just physical 00:46:54.020 |
That when we check to see if someone is doing well, 00:46:59.100 |
we're not just simply asking about their jobs. 00:47:02.340 |
Help us, Father God, to make sure that everybody around us 00:47:10.800 |
It is your design that we would speak it boldly. 00:47:18.180 |
Okay, at this time, we're gonna do just a shift. 00:47:27.380 |
We're gonna stack away the white chairs upon these dollies. 00:47:31.260 |
And those of you guys who are designated to be helpers, 00:47:37.700 |
so that we have space to roam and space to kneel, okay? 00:47:42.540 |
We're also gonna put up just a couple points for you guys. 00:48:42.500 |
So again, for those of you who want to come forward 00:48:47.300 |
to kneel or to just sit near the front and pray, 00:48:52.100 |
please go ahead and make your transition now. 00:48:54.340 |
I wanna encourage you just to really just cry out to God 00:48:59.580 |
and pray for the people who are in your lives 00:49:06.380 |
And again, some of you have been praying for people, 00:49:19.140 |
There is no place where God is not sovereign. 00:49:23.500 |
And so with hope in our heavenly Father, we pray for them. 00:49:32.020 |
they hit the ground running and their schedule was packed. 00:49:47.780 |
Next week, right after they finish the retreat, 00:49:49.820 |
they're gonna be doing a lot of street evangelism, 00:50:05.060 |
there are people that his spirit is already working on. 00:50:15.780 |
Pastor Peter has mentioned that upon observing and learning, 00:50:27.820 |
So also continue to pray for focus, energy, and perseverance. 00:50:32.420 |
As you guys know, we are people beset with weakness 00:50:35.980 |
and just a little fatigue, lack of sleep, no food, 00:50:38.980 |
and all of a sudden we can be knocked off our course, 00:50:41.980 |
so let's pray for perseverance and a lot of focus for them. 00:50:50.380 |
and all the various things that we mentioned. 00:50:52.500 |
After 15 minutes, I'll come back and open it up 00:50:55.340 |
where our elders and pastors will be up at the front 00:51:01.340 |
So while the AV team sets some music in the background, 00:51:05.980 |
I'll say a brief prayer to open us into that time. 01:07:30.780 |
we'll have our elders and pastors come to the front, 01:07:36.780 |
If you need prayer, please come up and request prayer. 01:07:41.440 |
But also, if you're sitting there at your chair