back to indexBerean Community Church Sunday Service 9.25.2022
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as a response of a true affection for Christ, 00:12:18.540 |
for the mercy and love that we have been shown. 00:16:31.780 |
if you are new to the church and you're visiting us, 00:16:37.100 |
and our welcome booth, as you were coming in, 00:16:40.060 |
you probably saw that, and if you visit that table, 00:16:43.220 |
any kind of question that you have about Bible study, 00:17:01.820 |
So visit them, and then they'll be able to answer 00:17:13.020 |
we have a newcomer's luncheon that's taking place 00:17:20.380 |
And so at one o'clock, even if you haven't signed up 00:17:22.980 |
and you want to go and you have some questions, 00:17:29.720 |
So if you've signed up, please be there by one o'clock. 00:17:34.380 |
that you want to take advantage of that today, 00:17:38.460 |
One other thing is, as you were coming into the parking lot, 00:17:41.060 |
you probably saw in front of the other building, 00:17:45.140 |
there were signs there that says visitors parking. 00:17:47.800 |
So we're designating that area, that whole stretch, 00:17:50.660 |
there's maybe about six, seven, or eight spots there, 00:17:53.580 |
for people who are visiting for the first time, okay? 00:17:56.140 |
Not the second time or third time, but the first time, okay? 00:18:02.380 |
because our parking spaces are all spread out, 00:18:05.580 |
it's a bit harder for visitors to kind of know where to go. 00:18:10.180 |
please direct your friends, if you are coming, 00:18:20.580 |
but if you didn't see that starting from next week, 00:18:26.500 |
New members class starting next Sunday at 9 a.m. 00:18:31.660 |
It's gonna be in the current youth group room 00:18:40.300 |
It's an, again, eight-week course from 9 to 10.30 a.m., 00:18:43.180 |
and then you can attend the second service afterwards, okay? 00:18:49.500 |
So tomorrow, next Sunday, as I've mentioned before 00:18:56.800 |
that we participate in a manner that's worthy, 00:19:05.500 |
of what it is that we're actually celebrating. 00:19:08.380 |
Next Sunday, we are going to go back to our old system. 00:19:20.580 |
so that all your dirty hands don't get on there 00:19:24.420 |
and then share all the germs with each other. 00:19:25.900 |
So we're gonna make sure that all that's taken care of, 00:20:02.900 |
And so we have a guest speaker that's coming in, 00:20:11.460 |
but we have Pastor Paul who's gonna be coming, 00:20:41.660 |
and so today is the last day that you can sign up for that, 00:20:46.420 |
And as you guys know, many of you came to participate 00:21:01.460 |
they're gonna be watching the full film, Dropbox, 00:21:04.420 |
I think it came out maybe about seven, eight years ago. 00:21:08.080 |
but they're gonna be watching the whole film together. 00:21:13.380 |
it'd be a great opportunity to fellowship with our sisters 00:21:17.060 |
I mean, I wish we had more time to hear from him 00:21:19.900 |
because spending dinner and then some time in lunch, 00:21:24.480 |
and there's so many things that he was sharing, 00:21:28.740 |
that when somebody has gone through so much in their life, 00:21:39.780 |
And so the things that he was saying was just so empowering. 00:21:54.800 |
to sign up for that, for the sisters on October 8th. 00:21:57.960 |
And maybe after October 8th, we can borrow the video, 00:22:01.360 |
and then the men can watch that next time, okay? 00:22:12.080 |
give her testimony, and she'll be baptized this morning. 00:22:15.820 |
Gracious Father, we have gathered together as a church 00:22:30.900 |
Help us, Lord God, to put aside all our distractions, 00:22:35.720 |
and may your word and your spirit speak to us powerfully. 00:31:41.380 |
Hello, my name is Emily Kang and I'll share my testimony. 00:31:55.020 |
in a Christian family, attending Sunday service every week, 00:32:05.660 |
of Jesus's selfless sacrifice and obedience to his father. 00:32:09.900 |
I felt like I believed that there is a being called God 00:32:12.940 |
who loved and cared for me, but I didn't know at the time 00:32:16.240 |
that I was blind to my sins and that I was just 00:32:18.820 |
a Sunday Christian who was content knowing God 00:32:26.220 |
a pastor asked me to enter in her children's ministry. 00:32:30.220 |
I wrestled with this decision because I desperately wanted 00:32:33.220 |
to go into nursing, but had no time to serve more at church. 00:32:37.500 |
But the need for someone to fill in was urgent 00:32:40.100 |
and I felt unfit for the role, but with good intent, 00:32:43.280 |
I did it for the next six years and eventually leading. 00:32:46.580 |
My Mondays showed how thin and easily shatterable 00:33:02.100 |
constantly anxious and worried about every Sunday, 00:33:05.060 |
all the while unwilling to let go of pursuing nursing. 00:33:14.260 |
But committing more without completely centering 00:33:20.380 |
and contentment that God wants from me while serving him. 00:33:30.420 |
I was physically, mentally and emotionally drained. 00:33:33.640 |
By the time I came home, I had no time for family 00:33:36.380 |
and friends and completely shut myself in emotionally, 00:33:41.860 |
I was completely different while I was at church 00:33:57.040 |
I felt sick of myself for repenting of my sins 00:34:11.280 |
my dad was taken to an emergency room with a heart attack. 00:34:17.040 |
to the emergency room, but I was stuck at home 00:34:31.940 |
It was a time of completely surrendering to God. 00:34:44.580 |
And I finally realized that a life of obedience to Jesus 00:34:48.700 |
is never a life of doing only what I want to do. 00:34:51.400 |
It was about denying myself and taking up the cross. 00:35:13.400 |
Serving his people and his church meant nothing 00:35:29.840 |
Realizing my sins made me feel all the more insufficient 00:35:40.360 |
"receives forgiveness of sins through his name." 00:35:45.960 |
but I am now so thankful for Christ's boundless love 00:35:52.800 |
cancel my debts, and kneel to the cross if I repent. 00:35:56.920 |
To sum up, all of my life I wanted to be someone, 00:36:02.200 |
and it was difficult to understand why God would place me 00:36:07.240 |
I was focused on my abilities and on doing than on being, 00:36:11.520 |
but I realized that I need to fix my eyes on God 00:36:25.600 |
I can be joyful in the fact that he calls me his child. 00:36:28.900 |
My identity in him is now my living identity, 00:36:35.720 |
and be filled with new potential that he gives. 00:36:48.440 |
and not only that, but that he meets me in my weakness 00:36:59.240 |
I thank God for all the people who invested in me, 00:37:04.200 |
and modeled for the great patience, grace of Jesus. 00:37:19.640 |
and acknowledging him in all the ways of my life. 00:38:06.640 |
- All right, thank you, Emily, for that testimony. 00:38:12.260 |
If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter three, 00:38:15.540 |
I'm gonna finish the message that I started last week. 00:38:35.180 |
Now while the people were in a state of expectation 00:38:37.420 |
and all were wondering in their hearts about John 00:38:47.980 |
and I am not fit to untie the thong of his sandals. 00:38:51.220 |
He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 00:39:01.180 |
but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 00:39:14.220 |
We know, Father, that we can study, we can hear, 00:39:22.460 |
that we can understand, be convicted, and be changed. 00:39:27.900 |
So I ask, Lord God, that you would illuminate your word, 00:39:32.260 |
that you would soften our hearts, open our ears, 00:39:44.020 |
last week is a transition that's taking place 00:39:46.860 |
from John the Baptist's ministry to introduce Christ. 00:39:58.180 |
And so obviously that needed to be corrected. 00:40:00.020 |
It would be a huge sin for him to take any of that glory. 00:40:03.620 |
And so he tells them that Jesus is much mightier than he is, 00:40:11.360 |
and that he's not even worthy to untie his sandals. 00:40:16.080 |
And then the statement that really differentiates 00:40:18.160 |
between him and Christ's ministry is that he says, 00:40:21.020 |
"I baptize you with water, but the one that is coming 00:40:24.920 |
"will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and a fire." 00:40:35.500 |
And so you have to understand that for 400 years 00:40:39.900 |
not because they didn't have the word of God, 00:40:44.740 |
They had plenty of leaders, scribes and Pharisees. 00:41:10.620 |
he said, "God was speaking through this man." 00:41:21.040 |
All of a sudden there's, he's speaking like everybody else, 00:41:28.940 |
that they haven't seen for hundreds of years. 00:41:31.700 |
But what he says about John the Baptist, about Jesus, 00:41:40.140 |
It's a distinction between coming to church all your life 00:41:46.360 |
and practicing a form of godliness without any power. 00:41:50.900 |
John the Baptist, his baptism didn't save anybody. 00:42:02.780 |
just like the law, it came to make sin utterly sinful. 00:42:19.220 |
I believe that you and I are living in a generation 00:42:40.500 |
you can jump to the next church down the street. 00:42:44.100 |
you can go to the missions to another country. 00:42:50.340 |
and the questions that we need to answer is which one? 00:42:52.760 |
Out of the abundance of opportunities that we have, 00:42:58.320 |
So it naturally causes us to become consumers. 00:43:06.700 |
and choose to listen to a sermon or not listen, 00:43:30.300 |
and so little opportunities, so little finance, 00:43:35.180 |
so little training, and yet their ministry is so powerful. 00:43:43.620 |
They're literally learning the Bible through pictures. 00:43:51.620 |
Many of them who end up going to villages for a week's end 00:44:02.100 |
and they have to forfeit that in order to go evangelism, 00:44:05.100 |
People who have so little access to what we have, 00:44:10.140 |
why is there so much power in their ministry? 00:44:13.940 |
Leonard Ravenhill, he says this about revival. 00:44:18.940 |
As long as we are content to live without revival, we will. 00:44:23.720 |
If this is satisfactory, then this is what you will have. 00:44:30.540 |
If you look at the spiritual condition of where we're at, 00:44:47.560 |
which brings to life Christians who have been sleeping, 00:45:00.160 |
and when God shows up, and his presence becomes real, 00:45:04.040 |
all of a sudden, sleeping Christians wake up, 00:45:11.740 |
Last week, we talked about how Jesus' baptism 00:45:18.480 |
is what you and I depend on to be able to live out our faith. 00:45:27.100 |
It's not just some strange, miraculous spiritual sensation. 00:45:30.840 |
He said it is the power behind what God has called us to do. 00:45:35.840 |
So after the training, before he sends out the disciples, 00:45:39.160 |
he says, "Do not go yet, because you do not have the power. 00:45:41.700 |
"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, 00:45:44.020 |
"and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, 00:45:48.600 |
So we looked at it last week, how the Holy Spirit, 00:45:52.860 |
is the power behind what you and I are called to do. 00:45:56.760 |
J.I. Packer, sorry, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones says this 00:46:07.860 |
And he said, "Oftentimes, we misunderstand this text." 00:46:10.920 |
And he says this, "We must not interpret that 'be still' 00:46:13.600 |
"in a sentimental manner, some regarded as a kind 00:46:21.520 |
"It means give up or give in, and admit I am God. 00:46:25.520 |
"God is addressing people who are opposed to him. 00:46:51.400 |
Just like John the Baptist, just like Jesus said, 00:47:06.760 |
And so he says, "Repent and be baptized by the Holy Spirit." 00:47:18.200 |
We can produce everything that we can produce 00:47:28.600 |
keep my sermon short, that always seems to help. 00:47:33.920 |
I mean, our generation is hungering for community, 00:47:43.560 |
So if they come to church and they find a bunch of people 00:47:55.340 |
might as well go to a church that's entertaining 00:48:01.940 |
'cause you got a ticket and you gotta burn it anyway, 00:48:04.020 |
might as well go to the comedy school, right? 00:48:06.540 |
Instead of this dead serious, like, S-Officer, you know? 00:48:10.660 |
Yeah, I don't know how many of you have been. 00:48:22.740 |
since I grew up and I'm a professing Christian, 00:48:25.020 |
I don't want to disappoint my friends and family. 00:48:33.740 |
So we can gather people, we can make people feel good, 00:48:41.020 |
we can build nice buildings, we can do even mission work, 00:48:44.380 |
but the power to save someone from hell to Christ 00:48:57.500 |
You have work of taking care of your children, 00:49:00.620 |
you have work of taking care of your aging parents, 00:49:03.580 |
you have work of saving enough for retirement, 00:49:21.420 |
See, he says we have to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, 00:49:35.580 |
so you've never experienced the baptism of the Holy Spirit, 00:49:40.560 |
Some of you who've been baptized by the Holy Spirit, 00:49:42.440 |
and I'm not talking about some emotional high. 00:49:45.560 |
I'm talking about all of a sudden your perspective changes. 00:49:48.040 |
You're able to pray, the Word of God begins to make sense. 00:49:57.140 |
since you've actually worshiped God in spirit. 00:50:04.180 |
Well, the filling of the Holy Spirit is interesting. 00:50:16.420 |
actively doing it, he's not passively doing this, 00:50:23.440 |
to describe an action that you take to receive. 00:50:36.440 |
The Holy Spirit is not something that we control. 00:50:55.700 |
with the Holy Spirit, let yourself be filled, 00:50:57.920 |
the Holy Spirit is not up in heaven hiding from us 00:51:04.600 |
and he says to make sure that you live in such a way 00:51:13.400 |
The image that we have of this word to be filled 00:51:15.920 |
is kind of an individual who is on a sailboat 00:51:20.880 |
and directing the sail toward the wind that's coming 00:51:43.320 |
but if the sail doesn't have room to catch the wind, 00:51:50.080 |
where we're coming and asking for the filling 00:51:56.520 |
You filled your life with the things of this world. 00:51:59.480 |
Your mind is filled with movies and activities 00:52:19.320 |
Why is the power of the Holy Spirit so important? 00:52:34.240 |
but it says it's the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:52:38.840 |
just a brand new Christian filled with the Holy Spirit 00:52:46.360 |
with all the training, with all the knowledge, 00:52:51.660 |
The power to live our Christian life is the Holy Spirit, 00:52:55.400 |
so we are dependent upon the filling of the Holy Spirit. 00:53:05.820 |
you cannot come, but it is better for you if I go, 00:53:09.840 |
the counselor, the helper, he's going to come. 00:53:17.880 |
where people are looking for counselors left and right. 00:53:21.120 |
In and of itself, there's nothing wrong with that. 00:53:23.240 |
In fact, my wife trained to be a biblical counselor, 00:53:25.920 |
and I think that's one of the, in my opinion, 00:53:38.380 |
but we have created a generation filled with people 00:53:43.400 |
who are looking from person to person, place to place, 00:53:47.740 |
looking for human help before they run to Christ. 00:54:07.860 |
any leader, any counselor, are we running to him first, 00:54:13.880 |
because the Bible says the Holy Spirit was sent to us 00:54:19.120 |
Jesus also says that the Holy Spirit's gonna come, 00:54:22.200 |
and he's going to remind us of all that he has said and done. 00:54:33.880 |
especially this next text that we're gonna be looking at, 00:54:42.240 |
and you go out with your friends and grab some coffee 00:54:54.880 |
especially the younger ones, but why did I do that? 00:55:04.640 |
I know, I've been preaching long enough to know 00:55:07.160 |
that there are certain things that catch you, 00:55:23.940 |
So 10 years later, you're just gonna remember, 00:55:41.640 |
to continue to persevere, of what we already have in Christ. 00:55:51.200 |
So we can organize, we can be trained, we can read books, 00:56:00.120 |
and to repent and come to Christ is not in us. 00:56:11.960 |
So when we're not filled with the Holy Spirit, 00:56:27.480 |
Obviously, our whole Christian life is based upon, 00:56:34.160 |
and convicted by the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:56:36.920 |
So when we're not filled with the Holy Spirit, 00:56:39.120 |
I can teach, and you may like it or not like it. 00:56:49.620 |
We can go through the motion and do discipleship, 00:57:04.180 |
He says when Christ comes, the Holy Spirit's gonna come, 00:57:08.980 |
and He's gonna baptize you in the Holy Spirit and in fire. 00:57:14.400 |
when He comes, His winnowing fork is in His hand 00:57:21.240 |
but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. 00:57:28.580 |
He's going to separate the wheat and the chaff. 00:57:37.960 |
The wheat is on your right, and the chaff is on the left. 00:57:41.480 |
The chaff basically is what covers the wheat. 00:57:43.880 |
And in order for them to be able to eat the wheat, 00:58:02.380 |
the wind will blow, and because wheat has weight, 00:58:07.160 |
So Jesus is using this imagery of something that's worthless 00:58:11.840 |
with something that they've been laboring for, 00:58:24.040 |
and He's going to take the others into the barn. 00:58:26.140 |
Obviously, the imagery that He's talking about 00:58:29.160 |
is about eternal reward and eternal judgment. 00:58:51.040 |
no matter what your life, we're all gonna be together. 00:58:55.080 |
The Bible says that when Jesus comes in His glory, 00:59:02.240 |
And that language is consistent all throughout Scripture, 00:59:06.180 |
that when God shows up, the first thing He does is divide. 00:59:10.800 |
He determines right and wrong, holy and unholy, 00:59:16.080 |
That's the first thing that He does, He divides. 00:59:35.440 |
"Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, 00:59:39.240 |
"and all the sons of Levi gather together to Him. 00:59:42.520 |
"He said to them, 'Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 00:59:44.440 |
"'Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, 00:59:47.660 |
"'and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, 00:59:51.700 |
"'and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.' 00:59:54.080 |
"So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, 00:59:56.400 |
"and about 3,000 men of people fell that day." 01:00:00.760 |
God didn't just look at the rebellion of His people and say, 01:00:10.620 |
He said, "If I go with them, they're going to die, 01:00:15.280 |
"if you don't go with us, we shall surely die, 01:00:25.540 |
Joshua, after leading them into the promised land, 01:00:31.480 |
conquering their enemies, at the end of his life, 01:00:40.000 |
and coming to God, worshiping idols, coming to God, 01:00:46.720 |
"If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, 01:00:49.480 |
"choose for yourself today whom you will serve." 01:01:02.720 |
He personally chose, His covenant was upon these people, 01:01:12.800 |
was because they kept on going back and forth. 01:01:15.960 |
Whenever it was convenient, they would worship God, 01:01:18.960 |
when it became inconvenient, when it became difficult, 01:01:22.160 |
and when they were afraid that the rain wasn't coming, 01:01:42.440 |
"but ask for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." 01:01:49.640 |
and that same God is the God of the New Testament. 01:01:55.380 |
"but in the New Testament, He's all about grace and love." 01:01:58.960 |
That same language exists all throughout the new covenant, 01:02:05.580 |
Division, all kinds of immorality in the church, 01:02:16.620 |
"for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, 01:02:24.400 |
"Or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 01:02:26.900 |
"Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? 01:02:29.720 |
"For we are the temple of the living God, just as God said. 01:02:35.600 |
"and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 01:02:37.800 |
"Therefore," he says, "because I will be among you, 01:02:43.460 |
"therefore come out from their midst and be separate, 01:02:47.460 |
"says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean. 01:02:50.520 |
"And I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, 01:03:12.360 |
Make room for the Holy Spirit so that we may be consumed 01:03:26.640 |
If you want me to be in your midst, he said, "Separate." 01:03:32.280 |
Separate from the things that are in rebellion against God. 01:03:40.440 |
"Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people 01:03:43.080 |
"through his own blood, suffered outside the gate, 01:03:59.120 |
How much of our frustration is because we're trying 01:04:10.260 |
while having one eye toward the world, one eye toward God, 01:04:13.200 |
and pleading with God to meet me here inside the camp, 01:04:18.200 |
the whole time where God is waiting for us to come out. 01:04:25.120 |
How much of the frustration in the church, in our lives, 01:04:30.280 |
in our families, is because we have committed 01:04:33.080 |
to be in this camp and want Christ to come where I am 01:04:46.160 |
Matthew 25, 32, "All the nations will be gathered before him 01:04:51.780 |
"as a shepherd separates a sheep from the goat." 01:05:00.060 |
In fact, Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10, 34 to 39, 01:05:06.920 |
"Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. 01:05:18.340 |
"and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, 01:05:27.160 |
"is not worthy of me, and he who loves son or daughter 01:05:31.240 |
"and he who does not take his cross and follow after me 01:05:36.720 |
"and he who has lost his life for my sake will find it." 01:05:40.560 |
This text is not a welcoming text for families 01:05:53.960 |
we have a lot of parents who are bringing children 01:06:21.720 |
Or sometimes your parents think the same thing, 01:06:36.720 |
what is good for our parents for what is good for God. 01:06:47.480 |
with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. 01:06:50.560 |
Is to go to Christ and bring your parents with you. 01:06:58.720 |
between taking care of your children versus loving God. 01:07:03.040 |
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, 01:07:15.720 |
And sometimes challenging our unbelieving families 01:07:31.480 |
because their children are getting into trouble. 01:07:33.920 |
They're joining gangs, or they're not doing well at school, 01:07:38.120 |
And so they would say, hey, can you take care of these kids? 01:07:41.400 |
And they would come, and some of them would change. 01:07:46.960 |
come to Bible study, and this kid was going out 01:08:03.800 |
And then some of them decided to go into missions, 01:08:10.960 |
You know, there's one particular student that I remember, 01:08:16.320 |
and he decided he wanted to go into ministry, 01:08:18.360 |
and that same mom, who was so appreciative of me, 01:08:25.460 |
and she looked straight at me, just walked straight by. 01:08:59.220 |
'Cause they're gonna see that your faith wasn't real. 01:09:05.320 |
If your children, who are raising in the church, 01:09:18.480 |
'cause they're not gonna be able to listen to you. 01:09:20.560 |
They're gonna make Christ their Lord, not you. 01:09:31.400 |
and the Holy Spirit comes, and he empowers individuals, 01:09:41.640 |
The Bible says, Jesus said when he introduced the church, 01:09:44.920 |
"The gates of Hades will not prevail against it." 01:10:04.500 |
No, he said the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 01:10:24.040 |
When we are glorified, the gospel gets messed up. 01:10:30.920 |
It gets murky, but when he's glorified, life in darkness. 01:10:35.360 |
That's why he says we have been crucified with Christ. 01:10:45.860 |
That's why he says he who finds his life will lose it. 01:10:58.000 |
If the dividing line was between church people 01:11:11.220 |
If the dividing lines were people who confessed 01:11:13.540 |
and didn't confess, what Jesus says in Matthew 7:21, 01:11:19.660 |
So the dividing line is not between those who confess 01:11:23.860 |
The dividing line isn't position of leadership 01:11:28.860 |
because the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes, 01:11:43.540 |
Nobody went and traveled to make proselyte than the Pharisees. 01:11:51.580 |
Clearly, the dividing line wasn't simply hard work. 01:11:59.100 |
Jesus gives a parable similar to what is said in verse 17, 01:12:03.220 |
that in time, God will separate the wheat and the tares. 01:12:10.940 |
those are the pictures of the wheat and the tares, right? 01:12:14.060 |
Now, the wheat on the left, the tares on the right. 01:12:15.780 |
Now, in this picture, you can tell the difference 01:12:21.140 |
But imagine putting the tares within the wheat. 01:12:31.660 |
he said early on, you're not able to separate 01:12:36.400 |
you're gonna end up pulling up the wheat with the tares. 01:12:39.500 |
But as time goes by, the wheat begins to bear fruit. 01:12:46.900 |
And as it grows, because of the weight of the wheat inside, 01:12:56.660 |
So in the early on, you can't tell the difference. 01:12:59.460 |
But as time goes by and as fruits begin to become obvious, 01:13:03.800 |
it is very obvious what's the wheat and what's the tares. 01:13:06.060 |
And Jesus uses that as an illustration of the church. 01:13:11.980 |
That in the church, he says the enemy has come 01:13:21.200 |
because it had become so easy to confess Christ 01:13:31.240 |
See, the tares probably wouldn't care what I say. 01:13:39.500 |
So tares will hear it and then go out the door 01:13:46.140 |
you will be able to tell the difference by their fruit. 01:14:21.300 |
Their confession and their life just do not match. 01:14:27.580 |
their choices that they make, just do not match. 01:14:32.180 |
In fact, most people in the church, in Matthew 13, 22, 01:14:35.620 |
it says, "And the one on whom the seed was sown, 01:14:37.900 |
"among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word 01:14:41.540 |
"and deceitfulness of wealth choked the word, 01:14:51.100 |
They don't fall away because there's this one temptation 01:14:55.720 |
or because of this one sin that they kept on compromising. 01:15:14.220 |
you're going through the motion, but there's no power. 01:15:18.940 |
So it's like buying a car and just pushing it from behind. 01:16:02.820 |
dealing with your neighbors, dealing with your wife, 01:16:04.860 |
dealing with your children, dealing with your family, 01:16:07.260 |
you have enough heartache, enough difficulties. 01:16:21.620 |
all you've done is added more work to a difficult life. 01:16:29.780 |
You can go for a little bit because of your passion. 01:16:31.820 |
You go for a little bit because of discipline. 01:16:34.120 |
And eventually you just become a nominal Christian. 01:16:43.960 |
But you don't have enough to be thriving in your faith. 01:17:28.740 |
He separates the obedient and the disobedient. 01:17:53.980 |
Because work without power doesn't stay the same. 01:17:58.180 |
I can hold onto this Bible and it's not much work right now. 01:18:07.660 |
Work without power will eventually erode all your muscles 01:18:15.700 |
Church is a miserable place to be without the power of God. 01:18:25.740 |
if we just get them together, spend more time together, 01:18:28.460 |
kind of like the companies where they take you to, 01:18:30.960 |
survival room, I don't know what that's called, 01:18:38.220 |
So it's some kind of room everybody goes into. 01:18:46.340 |
and you can be more productive if you care for each other. 01:18:51.980 |
even though behind the scenes you could hate each other. 01:18:57.140 |
and you get jealous when somebody gets a promotion. 01:19:02.580 |
all for the purpose of being more productive. 01:19:04.860 |
But it doesn't last long, because it's just superficial. 01:19:14.900 |
who have not filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, 01:19:26.780 |
And eventually if you stay in one place long enough, 01:19:32.620 |
So in every church, if you're new to the church, 01:19:35.020 |
and you say oh I love this church, I love the people, 01:19:49.580 |
And eventually you'll say oh, it's not what I expected. 01:19:55.420 |
where more and more sinners are gathered together 01:20:00.000 |
and holding on to a form of godliness with no power. 01:20:03.440 |
I remember as a young kid, I don't know that many people 01:20:10.300 |
My dad was a pastor, my grandfather was a pastor, 01:20:22.820 |
As early as 13, I resolved to not go to church 01:20:32.580 |
is coming back from church, sitting in the backseat 01:20:36.520 |
what kind of problems that they were dealing with at church. 01:20:40.220 |
So even as a young kid, I'm picking up all this stuff, 01:20:51.620 |
and then in the back I'm hearing all of this stuff. 01:20:56.420 |
I'm observing this, what a miserable place to be. 01:20:59.740 |
I don't wanna leave church 'cause that's going 01:21:02.500 |
to make it look bad on my dad, so when I'm 18, I'm gone. 01:21:24.620 |
And so if church is just a gathering of people, 01:21:31.980 |
a lot of good intentioned people who's gathering money 01:21:51.140 |
with one another, let alone loving one another. 01:21:54.640 |
But when people are baptized by the Holy Spirit 01:22:17.740 |
worshiping God together in spirit and in truth, 01:22:23.520 |
when the Holy Spirit is the one gathering us. 01:22:44.820 |
to whatever you are struggling with is Christ. 01:22:55.440 |
if you love Christ, and if you worship Christ, 01:23:17.200 |
if Christ walks among us, if Christ is adored, 01:23:33.360 |
Your problem isn't your wife, it isn't your husband, 01:23:56.000 |
Not counseling, not books, not fellowship, Christ. 01:24:48.060 |
take a few minutes to come to the Lord in prayer. 01:25:11.640 |
in people, in finance, in family, in security. 01:25:34.740 |
For me and my household, we will follow the Lord. 01:32:17.980 |
that you have called to call you Abba Father. 01:32:34.000 |
Help us, Lord, that we would not be so self-absorbed. 01:32:41.260 |
of the tremendous gift that we have in Christ, 01:32:44.580 |
that no matter how difficult this life becomes, 01:32:49.780 |
But Lord, we are surrounded by people who do not know you, 01:32:54.080 |
who don't understand the hope that we have in Christ. 01:33:05.780 |
Help us, Lord God, to see them as you see them. 01:33:33.020 |
that we may truly find life in him and him alone. 01:33:37.220 |
May your name be magnified wherever you send us.