Berean Community Church Sunday Service 3/1/26

Thank you. Thank you.

Let's sing it together. Let's sing it together. Let me be singing when the evening comes.

Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, oh my soul. Worship his holy name, I'll worship his holy name. You're rich in your holy name. You're rich in love, your name is great. Your name is great and your name is great and your heart is great and your heart is great. Ten thousand reasons for the Lord, oh my soul, oh my God, bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul.

The Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, I'll worship your holy name.

And on that day, and on that day, when my strength is failing, the end draws near, and my time has come. Still my soul will sing your praise unending. Ten thousand years. Ten thousand years, and then forevermore, oh bless the Lord. Bless the Lord, oh my soul, oh my soul, worship his holy name. Sing like never before, oh my soul, I'll worship your holy name. I'll worship your holy name.

I'll worship your holy name. All right, welcome to Brink Community Church. First of all, this coming Saturday, our outreach team is hosting a outreach volleyball day at 10 a.m. at Oak Creek Community Park. So if you have friends or family members that you want to bring to share the gospel and meet some of the outreach team members, please sign up for that, and they'll give you more instructions on that. And so this is happening this Saturday at 10 a.m. at Oak Creek Community Park. Second announcement, this is more of a save the date because our retreat, all church retreat is coming up this summer, August 7th to the 9th. And we have a special guest speaker that's coming, his name is Dr. Christopher Yuan.

Some of you guys may know who he is, but he is a very sought after speaker. He, let me just give you a brief background, he has a, he has a very intense testimony. He was a drug addict who used to deal in drugs, ended up going to prison. He was a, he lived a homosexual lifestyle and he was in prison for six years, came out, and he was part of a community that was kind of, you know, homosexuality is okay. And then he started studying the scripture and realized that it was contradicting what he was learning. And then he did a complete flip. And so he is the author of the book, Holy Sexuality and how does the gospel affect the way we see sexuality. He's also written out of a far country, which is a testimony of his conversion and how God is using him.

And his mother will also be coming to the, to the retreat and be sharing her testimony of how she prayed and how she had to wrestle through. And so it's a great opportunity, especially if you know somebody who's wrestling with this and maybe confused theologically where people stand with this. Uh, he shares about that goes through the Bible and he's going to be, um, sharing about, uh, what he knows. And again, um, and, uh, sorry, let me give you the last one. Uh, giving voice to the voices and author of, uh, of that as well. And so he's going to be speaking four times starting from Friday night and there's going to be some Q and a. And so anybody who has people in your life who's wrestling with this, or there's any confusion on this, uh, this is not all he's going to be talking about, but that's the main thing that he kind of wrestles with and he's going to be giving his testimony as well.

So we wanted to give you a save the date and I, I really strongly encourage you to do your best to, to be able to come to that retreat because I believe that this is a subject matter that, uh, needs to be clarified. And it'd be great to be able to hear from a man who, uh, who will say in some sense, an expert on this subject. And so we'll be able to interact with him, fellowship with him. And so please keep that in mind. The early signups are going to happen at the end of March. And so we'll give you more information about that when it comes, but if you want to just have a, a, a look of, uh, just so that you can have some idea of who he is, you can just look him up, uh, Dr. Christopher Yuan, and he's pretty widespread.

And there's a lot of videos of him lecturing on that. And again, he was a former speaker at a Ligonier conference as well. And so again, we're, we're very excited that he was able to come this summer. So please keep that in mind, August 7th through the 9th. Okay. Before I pray for the offering, as you guys are very aware that this weekend, the, the bombing of Iran started. And so that's the top of the news, what's going on. And I think it's something that we ought to be not only aware of, but continue to pray, uh, pray for our leaders, pray that, uh, there would be a quick resolution to what's going on. Uh, if you have been paying attention, you know, uh, that area of the world, uh, according to biblical prophecy is where much of the prophecy gets ignited.

And Jesus constantly warned and told us that we should be sober and alert and seeking and looking to see, uh, when these biblical prophecies are happening. Things are happening so we're not caught off guard like a thief coming at night. And so we need to be paying attention. Is this the beginning of the birth pain, pangs that's going to happen? Is this going to trigger other things? Um, we don't know about, we don't know exactly what this is going to lead to and how this is going to be fulfilled. But one thing that we do know is that, you know, last 30 years that I've talked to many, uh, Iranian brothers and sisters and every single one of them that I've talked to had been telling us about the oppression that was taking place in Iran.

And, uh, there's been a revival that's been breaking out. Uh, I don't know if you've ever, you've been hearing or, or reading testimonies about it, but there's a big revival that's been breaking out in Iran. And so people are just abandoning the, the Muslim background and coming to Christ, uh, even in the millions. And so you may have run into people, but I've run into so many people from Iran who has been praying for deliverance. And so I'm praying and I hope that we would join them in prayer that God would, uh, use this situation to free them so that the churches can be, uh, be established. That this will be a place where God will be able to use to bring the next generation revival and, but meanwhile, to pray for safety of the soldiers, wisdom for our leadership and that, uh, God will bring a resolution to this as sooner than later.

So, uh, let me pray for what's going on. If you would join me in prayer and I encourage you to continue to pray, uh, over this situation and not just, not just kind of watch from a distance. Um, but, uh, let me pray for that and I'll pray for the offering and then, uh, we'll begin our service.

Heavenly Father, as you told us, Lord God, to pray for those in leadership, uh, we pray, Father, for President Trump, that you would give him much wisdom. And I know how much planning and, uh, and meetings, Lord God, and just all the consequences, Lord, of, of this conflict. And we know that it's weighing heavy on our hearts and I pray, Father, for just guidance, Lord, that, that this is beyond us. And we know that ultimately life and death is in your hands. And so as we watch this, Lord God, help us, Lord, to be engaged in prayer. Help us, Lord God, to, to participate, Lord, in what you're doing. Lord, if this is the beginning of many things, Lord God, that you have prophesied in scripture, that we would not be caught off guard, that we would live each day just waiting and eagerly anticipating what you are doing, Father, in this world, in our generation.

We pray especially for our brothers and sisters who are in Iran, uh, as they've been wrestling, praying, and marching, Lord God, for their deliverance. We pray that this will be an answered prayer, that there will be sooner than later, Lord God, an opportunity for them to establish churches openly, to be able to worship you, Father God, where missionaries will be able to go in there, uh, freely. And that that would be the catalyst of a revival that will break out in the Middle East. And so we pray for your deliverance, we pray for your sovereign hands, we pray for those who are involved, Lord God, that again, that they would be able to recognize that there's only one true God in this world.

And, and we pray, Father, that as a church, that we would not simply be passive, but be actively looking and praying as well. So we pray that you would bless this morning, bless our worship, bless the offering that we give, and may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. church family, why don't we stand together as we stand? Why don't we say hello to maybe someone sitting that's, you don't know, introduce yourself. Amen. Let us pray.

Let us pray. Where you lead us, we'll follow all the way.

Raise your hands, all you nation. Shout to God of creation. How awesome is the Lord most high. Yes, we will. We will praise you together for now and forever. How awesome is the Lord most high. Sing hallelujah. Hallelujah, hallelujah. How awesome is the Lord most high. Hallelujah, hallelujah. How awesome is the Lord most high. Raise your hands, all you nation. Shout to God of creation.

How awesome is the Lord most high. We will praise. And we will praise you together for now and forever. How awesome is the Lord most high. Last time we will praise. And we will praise you together for now and forever. And we will praise you together for now and forever. How awesome is the Lord most high. How awesome is the Lord most high. Awesome. How awesome is the Lord most high. How awesome is the Lord most high.

Now large crowds were going along with him. And he turned and said to them. If anyone comes to me. And does not hate his own father and mother. Wife and children and brothers and sisters. Yes and even his own life. He cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross. And come after me. Cannot be my disciple. For which one of you. When he wants to build a tower. Does not first sit down. And calculate the cost. To see if he has enough. To complete it. Otherwise. When he has laid a foundation. And is not able to finish. All who observe it. Begin to ridicule him. Saying this man began to build. And was not able to finish. Or what king. When he sets out. To meet another king in battle.

Will not first sit down. And consider. Whether he is strong enough. With 10,000 men. To encounter the one. Coming against him. With 20,000. Where else. While the other. Is still far away. He sends a delegation. And asks for terms of peace. So that none of you. Can be my disciple. Who does not give. All his own possessions. Therefore. Salt is good. But if it. If even salt. Has become tasteless. With. What will it be seasoned? It is useless. Either for the soil. Or for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears. To hear. Let him hear. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father. We pray. For wisdom. We pray. For the power. Of your word. To convict us. Open our eyes. Direct us. To the path. That you desire us to go. Help us. Lord God. To have ears. To hear. And understand. And wills. That are surrendered. To your word. In Jesus name. We pray. Amen. I'm sure you probably heard. A lot of discussion about. Where this AI. Technology is going to take us. So every day. We're seeing robots. Different industries. They've been affected. And. And you probably heard this week. That. One of the companies. That had 10,000 employees. And laid off 4,000. 40% of their workforce. Because it's going to be. Replaced by AI. Now every technology. That comes in. There's always a benefit.

That comes with that. And there's also consequence. That comes. Years ago. Remember. When you. Some of you guys. When you're younger. If you. Wanted to learn math. You had to learn the formula. You had to memorize. You know. 2 plus 2. 2 times 2. And obviously. We don't do that anymore. Of the younger children. Because they have a calculator. In their hand. Right. And years ago. We knew. Who. We were close to. Because we knew. Their phone number. Right. So if you asked him. Do you know this number. So if you wanted to know. Ask a close friend. Or family member. Of their phone numbers. But now nobody. Memorizes anything. Outside of your own. Personal phone number. I'd be surprised. If you memorize.

Even your mom or dad. Right. And so there's consequences. That come with technology. Because all technology. In some sense. Solves one problem. It also creates another problem. But it also creates another problem. Right. Well. In and of itself. There's nothing wrong with that. Right. That's always been the case. But this desire. To make things easier. Has crept into the church. Where we have. Done things. And said things. And organized things. And preached things. To make it easier. For sinners to participate. In the church. And oftentimes. Unrepentant sinners. Who have no desire. To follow Christ. Who are in the church. And participating. And because. We. In our desire. Maybe with good intention.

In our desire. To win over the lost. That we have lowered the bar. To the point. Where we can no longer recognize. The church. And the world. I remember years ago. When I was in seminary. In one of the classes. I took in preaching. And I remember the professor. Saying that. Your sermon. Should not be longer. Than 30 minutes. And the reason why. He gave was. Because the sitcoms. Are 30 minutes. So people. Have been trained. To only listen. To pay attention. For 30 minutes. And he said. But even in the 30 minute sermon. You have to have. Some sort of illustration. Or funny story. Or something. To get their attention. Every six. Seven minutes. And so he said. Well. Why is that? And he said. Because that's where.

The commercials come in. Right. So if you don't. Give a 30 minute sermon. With six. Seven minute break. A break in each time. Then you're going to lose them. You're not going to be able. To preach to them. A lot of people. Who have learned that. Have implemented that. And so many churches. They're required. To only do 30 minutes. And then they make sure. That when they're. Preparing sermons. That there's something funny. Or illustration. Or something going on. Right. We haven't followed that rule. Right. And broke that many years ago. But along with that came. And I was thinking. Like. If we were to apply that today. In a tick tock generation. Where their attention span. Is seconds. Not minutes.

Right. Have you seen the videos lately. Where it comes in. Two split screens. Have you seen that? They would have something random. Going on in the bottom. And then the videos. Going up in the top. What is that? And then I asked somebody. And they said. The. Now the younger. Younger generation. Has a hard time. Even paying attention to. Five. Ten minute. Ten second. Video. So they have to have something. Distracting them. In the bottom. So they have something random. Some guy working out. Or something. Has nothing to do with this video. And that's. And they said. Well why is it like that? Because they're used to playing. Video games. And they're multitasking. Talking. And shooting. And typing.

And doing their homework. You know. All at once. And so. In order to get their attention. Now the videos are made. So how do you. Reach a generation. If. We're supposed to design sermons. For that generation. Well. Some churches have come up. With a solution. Right? And they have. Pastors who are coming in. And wires. You know what I mean. And doing fogs. And it's a. You can't tell the difference. Between a Grammy. You know. Celebration. Grammy award. And then the church service. And all. With the intention. Of we have to get these people. How do we get them through the door? How do we reach them? And so. They're constantly adjusting. Right? Now. I'm not saying that all of that. In and of itself.

Is wrong. But in the desire. To bring people to church. To lower the bar. That even our understanding. Of our faith. Even our understanding. Of what the church. Even our understanding. Who God is. Has been watered down. Some of you guys may know. Didric Varnoffer wrote a book. On discipleship. And this is how he. Describes cheap grace. Cheap grace. Cheap grace. Is the preaching of forgiveness. Without requiring. Repentance. Baptism. Without church discipline. Communion. Without confession. Grace. Without discipleship. Grace. Without the cross. Grace. Without Jesus Christ. Living. And incarnate. And so yes. We're here. Because of the grace of God. But the grace of God. Never nullifies. Discipleship.

Grace of God. Never. Never nullifies. Holiness. The text that we're looking at today. Someone who has embraced. Cheap grace. Will have a very difficult. Understanding of what he's trying to say. You're going to just read it. And it's. Maybe that's not what he really meant. And then you might just pass by. But if you. Take any time. Contemplating. What Jesus says here. It's going to rock your paradigm. Of what we have. Become accustomed to. In our generation. He says. If you want to follow me. You have to hate your mom. Your dad. Your wife. Your kids. How can that be? He. Has spent. The last few chapters. He's been talking about. Warning against the religious leaders. How. These guys. You know.

They're. You have to watch out for their leaven. They're hypocrites. They pretend to be religious on the outside. But inwardly. They're like. It's a grave. They're not who you think they are. They're not who you think they are. They're not who they're presenting themselves to be. And he was warning them. Because as he is headed toward the cross. He kept on saying. These religious leaders are the ones who are going to kill me. And because they hated me. They're going to hate you too. But now he sees a large crowd following. And he's already gone through. A dividing line. Because. Way before he ever says this. In John chapter 6. After he feeds the 5,000. You would think that this large crowd who saw the miracle of Christ.

Would surrender to Christ and follow him. Instead. Jesus goes to the other side of the lake. They pack up their bags. They go looking for him. And instead of commending them. For pursuing him. Jesus says. In John 6:26. Truly I say to you. You seek me not because you saw signs. But because you ate of the loaves. And were filled. In other words. He saw right through their superficial belief. You don't want me because of who I am. You're not seeking truth. What you're seeking is bread. That I'm able to heal people. Make your life better. To overthrow the Roman government. And if I follow you. That you're going to benefit my life. And he said. You're not coming to me because you know who I am. You're coming to me because you ate.

And you want more of it. And then he warns them. He says. I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. All the other stuff that you will eat. You'll be hungry again. But if you eat of me. You will never go hungry. So in other words. The whole reason why I even fed you. Is so that you would know who I am. His purpose was not to gather as large of a crowd as possible. Because he kept on thinning the crowd. Some were hostile to him. Some people were coming to him just out of curiosity. Some people believed. At least confessed superficially that they believed. But they didn't want to abandon their own life. And as James says. They had demonic faith. They acknowledged. They observed. And say.

He must be the Messiah. Because he has all the proof. But they never surrendered to him. In fact. In John 2:23-25. He says. Now. When he was in Jerusalem at the Passover. During the feast. Many believed in his name. Observing his signs. Which he was doing. Believed in his name. Meaning. He's proving himself to be the Messiah. So they believed. He must be the Messiah. Because everything that the Bible says. That the Messiah is going to do. Jesus is doing. How can a man. Raise people from the dead. Walk on water. He must be the Messiah. But look what he says afterwards. But Jesus on his part. Was not entrusting himself to them. For he knew all men. And because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man.

For he himself knew. What was in man. He said. He's talking about people who superficially profess belief. Of course we believe salvation is by faith alone. Of course we believe that. But when you have coupled that with cheap grace. Where belief is all you need to do. Is just change your thought about God. You know what. Maybe I didn't believe that he existed. But now I believe he existed. I believe that a man named Jesus. Who was a great man. Performed miracles. Yeah he existed. And maybe you even will confess. That he was resurrected from the dead. But he says. Even the demons know that. And they shudder. Because they never surrender. Demons never repented. They're not saved. They're not saved.

We're not going to see them in heaven. We see the same thing in John chapter 8 verse 31. To the Jews who had believed him. He says. If you abide in my word. You will know the truth. And you will be disciples of mine. And the truth will set you free. And they're offended by that. And that encounter back and forth. And Jesus said. You don't know me because. You don't know my father. He said. What are you talking about? He said. You don't know me. Then who's our father? Your father. And he's talking to people who said. They believed him. In the same way. In John chapter 2. But this was not saving faith. They just. Acknowledged. That he had all the proofs of the Messiah. But they never repented.

They never surrendered. The reason why Jesus is saying. What he is saying. This morning. Is because he sees a large crowd forming. And he sees right through. The superficial gathering. Right? When our church was small. Right? It's. It's much harder to gather people. Because when they come. You know. And you don't see your future made here. Right? You're not attracted to anybody. Or maybe people are not as friendly. And you know. You come. And you don't have all the. Bells and whistles. And we don't have enough people. To go play softball. In the tournament. And you can't play basketball. Because we don't have a basketball team. And so we don't. Have the superficial things. That can attract people.

So. So. So it. Naturally. Kind of. We did. We did. We did things out. A church. Our size. People come for all kinds of reasons. Right? Despite the fact that I. Offending you. Constantly. Come for all kinds of reason. Because there's a lot of good looking people here. Right? There's friendly. There's people your age. And people you can share your life with. None of that stuff is bad in and of itself. But if that's the primary reason. Why you come to church. You missed the whole point. You can sit here. Sing the same songs. Do the same Bible study. And at the end. You're going to hear from Jesus. I never knew you. Because just attending church. Doesn't make you a Christian. Just because you become a member.

And you said some right things. Doesn't make you a Christian. And so Jesus is seeing. Right through the crowd. And he's making sure that they understand. So that those people who are following him. For superficial reasons. For curiosity. Maybe even just out of habit. You grew up in the church. Your parents are Christians. So it's weird. Not to go to church. It's harder for you to walk away from the church. Than for you to continue where you're going. Even though you haven't followed Christ for years. There's greater consequence for leaving the church. Than staying in the church. So the church is filled with people. Who are no longer following Christ. No longer worshiping him. But because they're afraid of the consequence.

Of walking away from the faith. Because they'll lose their friends. They'll lose their community. Their children will lose their friends. They stick around the church. Jesus is looking right through the crowd. And he's making sure. That they really understand. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And it's in that context he says. Here's the cost. And he says something very offensive. Very difficult to understand. Especially in our generation. Where we have been convinced. That if it's from God. It should be encouraging. That we should never leave the church feeling bad or guilty. And so we curate the message. And the culture of the church. So that anybody and everybody. Will feel encouraged and welcomed in the church.

That was not the case with Christ. Christ. In fact. If Jesus just never spoke. I mean they would have loved him. If he just kept serving people. And loving people. And giving to people. I mean he would have never been crucified. It's what he said that kept on offending people. And what he says today. Is probably one of the top of the list. Of the things that he says. In order to meet my disciple. In order to follow me. He says. Hate your father. Hate your mother. Hate your wife. And your children. I mean obviously. We're going to have to dig into this. To understand what this means. Because. Somebody may take this out of context. And say. You see. This is why I hate my mom. I knew I hated my brother.

I even realized it was godly. All throughout scripture. We are told. Honor your father and mother. If you want to live a long life. Right. And receive the blessing from God. You cannot love God. And hate your brother. You lie to yourself. He goes so far as to tell us. That we need to love our enemies. I mean. How are we called to love our enemies. And then hate our father and mother who raised us. What does that mean. He even goes forward and says. If someone does not care for his own. His own family. He has denied his faith. And he is worse than an unbeliever. He says. So how do we reconcile what Jesus says here. With the other passages that tell us exactly what it seems to be the opposite.

Right. We have to be careful. Whenever we study the scripture. That whatever your heart leans toward. Right. If your family is your idol. You're going to cling to these verses. And say. Oh I said. Honor your father and mother. And that's why I can't come to church. You know. Honor your father and mother. And I have to love my. You know. If I don't care for them. That I'm like an unbeliever. You deny everything else. And then you cling to that passage. Or maybe some of you come from a very difficult family. You naturally don't like your family members. And you say. See. I hate them. And I have a verse. Jesus says to hate them. So I'm going to hate them. Right. You have to be careful when you're studying the scripture.

You have to understand the whole counsel of God. Right. What does it say. How do we understand this in the context of the rest of scripture. In order to understand what Jesus is saying. You have to understand what family meant to the people who are hearing this. Now family has always been important. From creation to this today. Maybe in different degrees. But family is important universally. Right. You don't have to teach somebody. Love your mom. Love your dad. I mean. That's one of those universal morals. That we're embedded with. We understand that. Even without being taught that. But you have to understand. That in that particular culture. Family was everything. Whenever somebody was introduced.

How are they introduced in the Bible? Son of. Somebody, somebody. Right. Tribe of. Somebody, somebody. And so whenever someone is introduced. They are always introduced in the context of their family. family. And again. The reason why they do that is. It highlights for us. Their identity. And what family means to them. Land. Was typically. If it stayed in one generation. It would be passed on from generation to generation. And this is why. The first born. Was given two thirds of the inheritance. Because he was responsible. For not only the name. But all the possessions. Would pass down through that line. Your trade. Today. You know. One of the biggest things that you struggle with. Is. What career am I going to choose?

Am I going to be a teacher? Am I going to be a stay home mom? Am I going to be a lawyer? Am I going to be a lawyer?

Covenant relationship with God requires all of us. We have to be all in. If you're trying to get married with somebody and the other person is not all in, would you get married? No. You're not going to get married because that covenant relationship requires you to be all in. And if somebody says, you know what, I'm going to be 50% in, then you're not getting married. What if they said 99%? Oh, that's close enough. No, you're not going to say that. You're going to say, what is that 1%? What is that 1% that you're not willing to give up? You're not going to be okay with that. You're going to say, either you're all in or you're not. 99% is not a covenant relationship. And that's all Jesus is saying, that in this covenant relationship with God, He requires all of us.

And that's why it says in Matthew 20 through 37 to 38, what is the greatest commandment? He said, love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, all your might. Not most your heart, most of your strength, most of your mind, most of your might. No, He says all of it. Because it is a covenant relationship. And that's where the term picking up your cross means. We understand what it means to deny yourself, right? Picking up the cross, that phrase, that idiom did not exist before Christ. So I can imagine people saying, pick up the cross. Because the only reference that they have picking up the cross is the crucifixion that they see. The humiliation, the suffering, and the pain that they go through.

Today, when we say pick up your cross, even non-Christians use that term. Oh, we got to pick up our cross. We got to pick up our cross. But can you imagine, when they heard it, that you have to pick up your cross? It's like, pssh. What does that mean, pick up the cross? He meant it. Literally. Especially for His disciples. But what seemed to be so hideous, and harmful, and painful, and humiliating. Now, we hang the cross as a symbol of hope. We hang the cross everywhere. And we know. When we go into certain areas, and especially when we're in India, and we see a cross. And we don't know if they're charismatic. We don't. Just a sign of that cross. There's some level of peace. Why do we not get, like, oh man, that hideous symbol of death, and humiliation, and pain?

Because Christ turned that symbol of pain into hope. So Jesus tells us that you must first embrace this cross. Because His calling requires all of us. Because this covenant relationship is not something that you can get into half-heartedly. And that's why He gives these two illustrations. One is the building of the tower, and second is the king going to war. And the first, the tower, it says, no one's going to build a tower if he hasn't calculated what it costs. Because at the end, if you don't have enough to finish it, you're going to be humiliated. Some of you guys may remember, remember that Garden Grove Boulevard, hopefully nobody's attached to that building. There was a building that was sitting out there for, like, almost two decades.

Somebody, I heard that somebody bought it, and then was trying to raise money to finish it, but they couldn't. So that building was sitting there, they had all the metal structures up, but it was sitting there for over 20 years. So I asked a realtor, what's going on with this building? And he said, somebody bought it, and then they couldn't raise enough money, and then the real estate market tanked. And then so it sat there, and then somebody else 20 years later basically, you know, purchased it for real cheap. And then now it's built up, I heard it's a senior apartment, it looks nice over there. But that thing was an eyesore for a couple decades. He says, if you're going to build something, and you didn't calculate it enough, you're going to be humiliated, right?

The consequence is humiliation, you're not going to finish it. The second one is, you go into battle, and you have 10,000 men, and they have 20,000. And if you don't calculate that you're not going to be able to finish the job, he said, then what's the consequence? Not just humiliation, it's going to be death. You're going to lose your kingdom. In other words, a serious consequence. I believe the reason why he gives these two illustrations is not random. And why this covenant relationship with him is so important. Why the followers of Christ needs to know the cost of discipleship, cost of following Christ. He's called us to build a church. He said, I will build my church and gates of Hades will prevail, will not prevail against it.

And then he called his disciples to plant churches. When Apostle Paul was called, he said, your work is not done. Because you have to plant churches. So the goal of evangelism is church planting. Because the church is the presence of the kingdom of God on earth. And so he says, the church is a gathering of people who have counted the cost for the purpose of building the church. If you have a church filled with people who've never counted the cost, you cannot build a church. Church, I hear this all the time from people. I say, Pastor Peter, if you say that, my unbelieving friend is not going to feel comfortable. Or if I bring my family member, and they're not believers, and if you talk about that subject, I don't think they're going to feel comfortable.

I say, I understand your dilemma. You want them saved. And you want to bring them to church. But we need to properly understand what the church is. Church is not built primarily for non-believers. It's for Christians first. Non-believers cannot worship God. We cannot call it worship and make the primary target non-Christians. Then it's not worship, it's evangelism. We can say Sunday morning we're having evangelism crusades. But you cannot call it worship because non-Christians cannot worship. A church has to be a place where Christians who have counted the cost have gathered together. This is not a place primarily for fellowship. It is not to practice community. All of these things are byproduct of what happens when genuine believers are gathered together.

And so the preaching, the teaching, the ministry of the church, again, do we want non-Christians to come? Do we want them to become believers and follow Jesus Christ? Yes. But if they do not understand what the church is and what Christians are, even if they converted, what are they going to follow? How are they going to understand what it means to worship God? How are they going to know who God is if the church does not reflect who God is? Christ is the head of the church, not me, not you. So every decision that we make, first and foremost, of course we're concerned about you. Of course we want you to grow. Of course we want you to feel loved. But first and foremost, is this biblical? Is God honored by this?

Is he glorified? Is he pleased? Is he worshiped? Is he worshiped? That's why our first of the fourfold covenant is God-centered worship. God-centered. Now, when we have God-centered worship, we had periods of our church where no one wanted to come to church because it's boring. I'm saying offensive things. And you're not going to preach Leviticus to a bunch of non-Christians. Right? They're not going to understand, but I'm not preaching to non-Christians. The church is a gathering of people who count the cost. And then, if a church is gathered to worship God, counting the cost, then that's where fellowship happens. That's where love happens. That's where community happens. That's where discipleship happens.

But first and foremost is God-centered. But the second reason, he says, he's calling us to battle. He says, "I will build my church and gates of Hades will not be able to prevail against it." If you're inside the gate, you're the one in defense. He says, "Gates of Hades will not be able to prevail against it." Who's the one going in? It's us. We're called to go into enemy territory. We're not here to gather and build a big wall so the bad people can stay out. No. There's a gathering of people for the purpose of equipping and strengthening who have counted the cost so that when the church is built up, that we can engage in this spiritual battle to get the light into darkness. And that's where we get the pushback.

That's where we get the hatred. That's where we get the persecution. Because if we stay still, keep our mouths shut, go feed the homeless every Tuesday, and come back home, they would love us. Same thing with the Indian pastors. If they just stayed home, raised godly children, and had nice churches, and had fellowship, and had VBS for themselves, persecution would not be happening. It's because they're taking the gospel into villages where the gospel is not preached. They're trying to convert Hindus to follow Christ. They're telling them that there's only one way of salvation. That's just Jesus Christ. And that's why they're being persecuted. And so Jesus uses these two illustrations. You need to count the cost because if you're trying to build something, and you are gathering with a bunch of people who have never counted the cost, it's not going to last.

You're not going to be able to build it. And we oftentimes think when the church falls apart, and men and women begin to act like non-Christians, it's because you have invited the non-Christians to feel comfortable in the church. Unrepentant sinners are participating in every part of the church. And when they get squeezed, and the arguments begin to happen, and they begin to act and talk like non-Christians, we're all surprised. If you fill the church with unbelievers who are unrepentant, of course, in time, they're going to also act like non-Christians. The church is a gathering of believers who have counted the cost, who are being equipped. Equipped for what? Equipped what? To be a good father?

Equipped to be a good son? Equipped to teach? Yes. But primarily, we are equipped to engage in spiritual battle. We are being equipped. That's why you're studying the Bible. That's why we have accountability. That's why we have fellowship. That's why we have evangelism. But if we're not engaging in darkness, you're not going to understand what Jesus says here. Why do we need to hate our mother and father? You cannot go to war with people who are distracted. You cannot go to war with people who are not committed. You're not going to start a war when all your soldiers are not all in. That's why Jesus is saying, if you come after me, I'm engaging. And the enemy is going to push back. And because they hate me, they're going to hate you too.

So be ready for that. Anybody who follows me has to count the cost. Now let me stop right here and give a parenthetical statement. Right? Because does this mean that church is only for elite soldiers? Right? And some people kind of say it's like, well, we're supposed to engage in spiritual battle. So if you're not reading the Bible, you're not praying, you're not evangelizing, all of you out, you're not a Christian. Right? No. The church is also at times a hospital. A sinner who's been living in darkness for 30, 40, 50 years is not going to know what that is. Right? So there are some people who need to be cared for. We need to be patient with them. We need to disciple them. We need to walk with them.

We need to be gentle with them. There are some people who are at the church that came from broken families and the church community is very restoring. And it's necessary because we are building a community. So there might be different needs in the church. And also, if you came and you said, you know, I need to be healed. I need to, I want a community, but you never move beyond that. It's like going to the hospital and never leaving. Right? You go to the hospital to get healed so that you can go back to real life. So the church has all of that. We have people who are young Christians, immature Christians, struggling Christians. We have people who need to be healed. People who are participating in the community.

But all for the purpose of what? To get back into battle. To get back into battle. Some of you are wounded. And you need to be healed. Some of you are in the context of busyness where you need to, you need the encouragement and the fellowship of other believers. And all of these things are necessary so that we may bring the light into darkness. There's a reason why he ends this section by saying, "He who has ears, let him hear." And who doesn't have ears? He's saying this because this is a hard thing to accept if you don't understand who Jesus is. If you don't understand the beauty of Christ. If you don't understand what he has done. If you haven't understood the beauty of who Christ is. Him demanding everything isn't going to make sense.

It's just like going to a job interview. And they say, "Well, what's my job description?" Everything. How long? All the time. How much is going to, how much am I going to get paid? Nothing. Your life might get harder because of this. Who's going to take this job? But you will get into that relationship to marry your wife. You'll get into that relationship, marry your husband. Why? Because you want to. Because it makes you happy. And you want to make them happy. And two people are willing to die for each other. And that's why it doesn't sound difficult. And that's what Jesus is saying. The God of this age has blinded the mind of the unbelievers so they do not understand the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

But he who has eyes, he who has ears, let him hear. None of this will make any sense if you don't know Christ. None of this will make any sense. It will just seem like the cross without the reward. It will just seem like death without the resurrection. And that's why you must first come to Christ. This is not something you do out of willpower. You don't deny everything in your life. You don't deny your family, your children, your future, your hope. Just because you willed yourself. Just because you're disciplined. Only reason why you do it is because you love Christ. And Christ loves you. And you value him above everything else. And anything that competes with that becomes rubbish. I hope that this helped you to understand what Jesus is requiring.

He's not telling us to hate everything else. Say love God with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. And the reward of following Christ you will see in heaven. Okay. Let's pray. Father, open our eyes and our ears that we may see your glory, that we may understand your words. That your words would not be burdensome to us. But that it would be the source of life. Help us, Lord God. That our testimony also would be of Apostle Paul. Where in light of the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ, that all things became rubbish. May that be the testimony of your children. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.