- All right, well thank you for having me come and just deliver God's Word for you. It really is a joy and a pleasure to just administer to all of you here. You guys have been a huge blessing to me personally and to our church. I know a lot of our members at our church have friends here and so it's just good to know that there's like a, almost like a sister church with which we can labor for the kingdom.

And you know, I wanna say that I'm so thankful for your pastor. Pastor Peter is just an amazing guy. I was so humbled that he would ask me to come and minister with him out in India. And it's, I love doing ministry out there. It was amazing. I mean, you saw the update and everything, but I loved spending time with your pastor.

The guy is hilarious. (audience laughing) You know, I picked up on some mannerisms, but you know, he would say, he would go like this a lot. You know, he'd go like this. (audience laughing) You know, and sometimes he would like, like when someone does something dumb, he'd be like, wah, wah.

(audience laughing) I don't know if the team told you, but you know, there was a time when we were praying as a team. So three of us were praying. And so I saw him pray, another person prayed. I closed and prayed. And then like, we all done praying and Pastor Peter was like, mm.

(audience laughing) But you know, then he just wakes up, like nothing happened. And it's like, oh, you guys done? (audience laughing) I'm like, our faithful leader, yes. (audience laughing) You know, I love Pastor Peter because, you know, he doesn't take himself seriously, but man, you know, he loves the Lord.

He loves the Lord. He is faithful to the calling of a preacher, of a pastor. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out.

He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the message out. He is faithful in getting the gospel out to the nations. I mean, hence the trip in India, and the opportunity for guys like me to come alongside.

And you know, Pastor Peter, over the years, I feel like I've gotten to know him a lot more, and spend time with him more. And he has been to me a mentor. And I just think about the ways in which he has blessed me, and I can't imagine how much he has blessed you.

'Cause he is laboring over you, week in, week out, in the middle of the week, sacrificing, giving. And you are truly blessed. Not a lot of churches have pastors like the ones you have here. I hope you realize that. And one of the encouragements I would want to give you is to encourage him.

Let him know how much you appreciate all the sacrifice, all the work he's been doing, along with the leaders here at this church. And minister to them. A lot of times people think that pastors are impervious to sin, and impervious to struggles. But he is a sinner, he is a man, and if you can encourage him, man, that will be a blessing.

It just comes back to you. Write him a letter, take him out for dinner, or get him a gift card or something. Bless him, and I know he will be deeply encouraged by the way in which you appreciate him. But as I was thinking about what to preach today, one of the things I was thinking about is how I can bless Pastor Peter, and at the same time challenge you guys.

And so I thought it would be great for me to preach on the book of Titus, Titus chapter two, verse one. So if you take your Bibles, turn with me to Titus chapter two, verse one, and then I'll open us up in a time of prayer. Titus chapter two, verse one.

But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. I'll read it again. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Pray with me. Dear God, we think about doctrine. We think about theology. We think about your word, the revelation that comes from heaven. And God, we know that in it is the answer to life.

In it is the path to salvation. In it is the path to have a relationship with you. And Father, we are humbled that we are able to read and to understand and to be taught truths that proceed from the heights of heaven. God, it's so easy to look at the Bible and to just treat it like any other book because it looks so unassuming, just words written upon a page.

But we know within its pages is the power of God for the salvation of man to those who believe. I pray that we will understand the weightiness of what we have in our hands, that we will be a people who submit to the word because we know in submitting to the word, we are submitting to the king who gives us his word.

God, we pray this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, preachers follow a long line of men who have preached the word of God, guarding doctrinal truths from error, recovering doctrinal truths from the morass of human traditions and philosophies, and disseminating doctrinal truths for the salvation of man.

The Apostle Paul in the first century established the truth of the gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Irenaeus defended the gospel truth against the Gnostic heresies in the second century. Athanasius in the fourth century guarded the deity of Jesus Christ. John Hus in the 15th century fought for Christ's headship over against that of the Pope.

Luther in the 16th century recovered the gospel from the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. Edwards in the 18th century profoundly developed the doctrines of scripture. And Spurgeon in the 19th century preached the doctrines of scripture with fire. And in the 20th century, Lloyd-Jones exposited it with much clarity.

I think about that long line of faithful men who have delivered the word of God unashamedly, and your pastors here in this church follow in that long line of men. What they do, what your pastors do, what the preacher does from this pulpit is no less significant than the great saints of the past because the same power that surged through the lips of Luther pulses through theirs as they proclaim about the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

When they speak about the word of God, the souls of men are resurrected from the dead. They're forgiven of their sins. The guilty are justified before a holy God, and the Holy Spirit dwells within man. And that is no small thing. The task of the preacher is to communicate the word of the living God, so that through that proclamation, the elect might come to salvation, that those who are saved might grow in their faith.

As we come, as we study this text in Titus chapter two, verse one, there's a simple lesson that many of you guys know already, and it's this, the responsibility of the preacher to preach the word of God. It's a simple point. I mean, it's just only one verse, right?

The responsibility of the preacher to preach the word of God. But there's three applications I want to draw from this. Okay, three applications I want to draw from this. First, to listen to a message for depth, okay? To listen to a message for depth. Secondly, to listen to a message for the sake of God.

To listen to a message for the sake of God. And lastly, to listen to a message for the sake of the community. The role of the preacher is to preach, but that doesn't mean you just sit there idly. As a congregation, you have a responsibility before God. You need to worship God in listening to the word.

And so listen to a message for depth, listen to a message for the sake of God, and listen to a message for the sake of the community. Let's read verse one. The responsibility of the preacher to preach the word of God, verse one. But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.

As for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. In this section, the apostle Paul contrasts the false teachers with Titus. Look at Titus chapter one, verse 13 to 16. It says, "This testimony is true. "Therefore rebuke them sharply "that they may be sound in the faith, "not devoting themselves to Jewish myths "and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

"To the pure, all things are pure, "but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. "But both their minds and their conscience are defiled. "They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. "They are detestable, disobedient, "unfit for any good work. "The legalists from the circumcision party "distorted the gospel of Jesus Christ, "saying that the death and the resurrection of Jesus "is not enough for salvation, it's not sufficient.

"But they themselves need to contribute "to the work of salvation." Now in contrast to their false teaching and to their false work, the apostle Paul commissions Titus, calls Titus, "You preach sound doctrine." And when he addresses Titus, he is emphatic. He's emphatic and he says, "But you yourself, Titus, "you yourself teach what is true, teach what is right.

"They manipulate, they deceive, they endanger, "but you teach according to what is true to the scriptures. "Teach sound doctrine." This is the calling of a pastor, the calling of another, the calling, the responsibility of an overseer of the church. The reason why this is so imperative, the reason why Paul is emphatic, is because lives are at stake.

False teaching infects the soul, and if that infection is not cut off, then that soul will be damned to hell. Therefore, teach sound doctrine. But even more serious than the threat of damnation is the threat upon the glory of God. Listen to Titus chapter one, verse 16. It says, "They profess to know God, "but they deny him by their works." Their ascetic works, their manipulative works, which accords with perverse teachings, denies the God of the Christian faith.

They misrepresent God, make him out to be someone that he's not. A God whose love must be earned and worked for. A God whose promises are uncertain because it's dependent upon man. A God who rejects the sufficiency of his own son. He rejects the crucifixion of Jesus Christ upon the cross.

Is that our God? Is that Yahweh? And so the apostle Paul tells Titus, "You teach sound doctrine. "Teach what is consistent with who our God is. "Teach what is consistent with what he has done. "Teach what is consistent with his character." The preacher's responsibility is to proclaim biblical truth.

He must teach the entirety of the Bible. He must talk about the reality of the fall, the reality of sin, the judgment of hell, the weakness of man, the coming of Jesus, the sacrifice of Jesus, the damnation of Jesus, the burial of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the return of Jesus Christ.

Because only by the proclamation of truth will lives be saved. Because the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of mankind. And only by the proclamation of truth will people be sanctified. Because the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the emanation of the glory of God, and it's the glory of God that sanctifies us.

And only by the proclamation of the truth will the church be reminded to wait for the king who is going to return, all for the glory of God. First Corinthians 1.22-24 says, "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. "But we preach Christ crucified, "a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.

"But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, "Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." Woe to the preacher who does not preach the gospel. One of the reasons why I'm so grateful for this church is because I know the word of God proceeds from this pulpit.

That's why I'm grateful for this ministry here. I know from this pulpit here, God is glorified. And it's all about God. But you know, that's not the case with a lot of churches. You know, I feel to be such a sad thing when pastors, overseers of the church, neglect to fulfill Titus chapter two, one, because they're more concerned about being popular and entertaining the people.

And I know some of you guys come from that background. Some of you guys come from a background where the word of God has not been preached. And you know firsthand the dangers that results from that kind of culture, that kind of church. Because then you find people who've been going out to church their entire lives, they don't even know who Christ is.

They don't even know what the gospel is. It's such a tragic thing, and not only a tragic thing, but a perverse thing, when professors of Christianity wind up in hell because sound doctrine is crucified, all for the sake of entertainment, and of all people, by the preachers. Second Timothy in four three says, "For the time is coming when people "will not endure sound teaching, "but having itching ears, they will accumulate "for themselves teachers to suit their own passions." For the time is coming when the people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

The church here is not a circus, and the pastor a clown, and the word of God just a show. This place is a hospital, and the preacher is the surgeon, and the scalpel that he uses is a double-edged blade of the word of God. With it, he cuts into the soul, and he takes out the tumor of your sin.

To do anything less endangers the soul, because when the word of God is not preached faithfully, sin is minimized. When sin is minimized, the need for salvation is diminished. When the need for salvation is diminished, the power of the gospel is overlooked. When the power of the gospel is overlooked, souls are damned to hell.

A preacher who fails to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, a preacher who fails to preach the word of God, is a preacher who fails in his responsibility towards his fellow man, and towards his savior. Souls and glory is both at stake in the proclamation of sound doctrine. It's for this reason why the apostle Paul gives this serious charge, not only to Titus, but he gives it also to Timothy.

Second Timothy chapter four, verse one through two. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Second Timothy chapter four, verse one through two. (silence) Second Timothy chapter four, verse one through two. Listen to what God says, listen to him. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching.

Paul charges the preachers in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus to preach. But look, he doesn't say Jesus Christ, the savior, right? He doesn't say that. He doesn't say Jesus, the merciful one, the patient one, but he says, look at the text, Jesus, the judge of the living and the dead.

The one before whom the preacher is called to proclaim the gospel is before the judge who judges and damns souls of men. The great judge of all judges. The one to fear in this pulpit is not man, but it is God. What's man gonna do to you if you preach a sermon that offends him?

You know, blog about you? Better to be blogged about than to be found unfaithful before the judge. It's not about entertaining people, it's ultimately about our God. It's not about making people laugh, it's ultimately about glorifying the savior. At the end of the day, what needs to happen from this pulpit, and I know what happens from this pulpit, is that the word of God is faithfully proclaimed.

And for that, I am grateful. That's why it is my privilege and my joy to be laboring alongside this church here. And the reason for why I'm so grateful for your pastors and your leaders here in this ministry. That's their responsibility. But you have a responsibility as a congregation.

You have a responsibility to listen. To listen worshipfully. Not because what proceeds from my lips is the words of James, or the words of Pastor Peter. Because the words that proceed from this pulpit ultimately proceeds from heaven, so as long as the word of God is exposited. So it's a responsibility on behalf of the congregation to listen to the word of God worshipfully.

And so the first application I have for you is to listen to the message for depth. Listen to a message for depth. Some of you here, I know not all of you, I would even venture to say only a few of you, few of you need to develop a palate for the deep doctrines of God.

You need to listen to the word of God for your own personal growth. Some of you, or a few of you, have a hard time swallowing biblical truths. You have a hard time listening to a message unless it is sugar-coated with a lot of jokes and stories. You know what I'm saying?

And just a whole bunch of stories, that's the only way to keep you awake, only to keep you interested. Spurgeon, he says this, he says, "It is bitter, say you, "when we bring the honey of the gospel. "It is not the honey that is bitter, it is your mouth." He's so sassy, I love it.

"It is your mouth that is out of order." How often people ought to recollect this when they hear a true gospel sermon. George Herbert says, "Judge not the preacher, "he is thy judge." And very often when the man who has condemned the sermon, he has far better condemned himself.

He has not agreed with it, no. If he had, it would not have been true. The reason why it's so hard for some of you to listen to biblical teachings is because your love for Jesus Christ is weak and shriveled up. It's clear, that's straight up what it is.

And you know what it's like when you're trying to learn something that you're not interested in? You guys know what it's like? You guys sit through lectures, lectures you have no interest in, it's painful. It's sleep inducing, you gotta suffer through it. But if you love something, and regardless of how hard it might be, you're gonna strive to know it, to experience it, to grow in it.

Now someone who loves nature, if you love nature, you're not gonna be satisfied with just walking in the park, strolling along the park. You wanna climb mountains, even though it's gonna be excruciating and painful. Like someone who loves science is not gonna be satisfied with the ASAP science videos from YouTube.

You're gonna study the subject that you're interested in, maybe pursue a PhD in it. Someone who loves literature is not gonna be satisfied with comic strips, but they're gonna wanna read novels, classics, over and over again. Things that are interesting and exciting, you will love it. So when you hear about the mystery of the Trinity, and the duality of the Christological nature, when you hear about the glory of redemption, when you hear about the grace of death, the power of the resurrection, when you read about the hope of return, the battle of Armageddon, the recreation of heaven and earth, and the descent of the new Jerusalem, and you have a hard time tasting the sweetness of these doctrines, you don't need more jokes, you need more love for Christ.

That's what you need. So you need to examine your own life, and you need to think, have I been meditating upon the gospel? Have I been thinking about the sacrifice of my Savior? Have I been thinking about my own wretchedness, my own sinfulness, and how much he has loved me, that he would die for me?

Have I been communing with my God, the God who's throne to which I can come boldly? Because if you have, the truth of the gospel will draw out love from your heart, and that love will cause you to seek and experience your Savior even more from every single message that is preached, because you know in the proclamation of the truth of God, you get another glimpse into his heart.

May you develop a palate for the deep things of God, amen? Yeah. Now the rest of you, you know that the goal of preaching is not to be entertained or superficially engaged, which is why you're here at this church. You come here for depth. You come here for things that are true, profundity.

But there's an application for you as well. In the same way as people who want to have their ears tickled, faithful people can come to church mainly for themselves. Faithful people can come to church mainly for themselves. They might not come to hear something superficial, but they come for themselves nonetheless.

By default, we are self-focused, because we're sinners. We think about ourselves, and so we filter things through how it can apply to us, how it impacts us. You know, for example, I've heard people respond to sermons like, you know, I was blessed by it. Thank you, pastor, I was blessed by it, or it was really helpful for me.

I wish somebody told me that before. Right, oh man, I really needed to hear that. These are things I hear. I also hear, man, yeah, it was okay. It was okay, but I already knew that. It didn't really resonate with me. Oh yeah, you know, the sermon was good, but you know, that's more for the young people.

Or it's more for the single people, or for the married people, for the old people. It wasn't for me, you know, it's more, you know, tailored towards them. In short, we listen to our sermon for ourselves. And this is not necessarily wrong, but if you're listening mainly for yourself, then you're missing out on a big part of the purpose of preaching, which is not you, but God.

Now, let me give a quick illustration. Imagine if, imagine if someone blogged about me, okay? It just happened in the past. (laughs) That's when you know you're legit, you know, people blog about you. (audience laughs) And so, let's say someone was blogging about me, and just saying all these terrible things.

Now, Pastor James is teaching heresy, he's dividing up the church, he left his family. And they're just blogging all these things, and people are hearing it, it's like, oh my goodness gracious, you know, Pastor James, unfaithful. (audience laughs) And so, you know, every time they see me, they avoid me, they feel all uncomfortable around me.

And then finally, one of my friends says, I had enough, I'm writing my own blog. You know, and then he defends me, he tells me what's true. And then finally, my name gets cleared up. And then one of these guys come up to me, and says, Pastor G, I'm so glad your name got cleared up, because when people were thinking all these things about you, avoiding you, man, it made my life so hard.

It made my life so inconvenient. I had to exert a lot of energy to avoid you, and when I was around you, man, I felt so uncomfortable, so I'm glad that things got cleared up for me. (audience laughs) Right? What if, what if they, I go, whew, whew, blog about this, now, (laughs) Right?

What if that were to happen? I'd be like, what? As much as all the bad things had happened to me affected you, the issue is really what had happened to me. And my friend who came to my defense, who told people what is true, and even though he knew all these things were happening to me, it didn't affect our relationship, because he already knew what was true about me.

It didn't affect our relationship. And, but it was still relevant to him. It was still relevant to him. And that's how it needs to be with us and our God. The world is denying our God. The world is blaspheming our God. The world is laughing at his commands. The world is looking at the cross of Jesus Christ and saying it's nonsense, that it's foolishness.

And all we care about is the vindication of God's name, the exaltation of his glory. What, for us? Are we the main issue? Are we the main focus? How often do we hear the vindication of God's name, the proclamation of his character, preaching of his work, and think more about ourselves, instead of thinking I'm glad that right things were being spoken about my God.

How many of you guys think like that? I'm glad that my God was honored. I'm glad that my Savior was glorified. I'm glad that the things of God was faithfully communicated. Even though it doesn't affect our relationship, because I know who he is. I know what he has done.

I know his love for me. It doesn't affect our relationship, but I'm glad the one that I love, his name is being proclaimed truthfully. By default, we are self-focused. Some might even say self-centered. So it's natural to listen to a message for ourselves. What can I get from this?

What can I learn? What do I need to change from this? But I want you to think beyond yourself, to think about our God and evaluate whether preaching of a message is faithful to who he is and what he has done, and whether he is pleased with it. Because he's more important than you.

Was the preacher faithful to the text? Above everything, above everyone, above myself was God honored. That is the way you need to begin to think. There are going to be messages that you listen to, and you're already gonna know that lesson, that theology and that doctrine. There are gonna be messages you listen to that's not gonna resonate with you in that particular stage of life.

There's gonna be messages you listen to, and there's gonna be no application to it. And you're gonna struggle through it if the purpose of the message is ultimately about you. But if it's about God, and God matters to us because he has loved us and sent his son to die for us, then it's not gonna matter if there is no direct application in your life.

You're gonna praise God because what is true about God has been proclaimed. You know, I'm glad people come up to me. I am encouraged. I don't wanna say I'm not encouraged when people come up to me and tell me how blessed they are by the sermons. But I would be just as happy and joyful, if not more, if those people said, "Thank you for preaching what is right about my savior.

"Thank you for caring more about his name "than entertaining the people. "Thank you." And so here's my exhortation to you, okay? I don't know if Pastor Peter's gonna listen to this. Cut off the beginning, you know? (laughing) But when he comes back, thank him for what he has done for God.

Say, "Thank you for speaking rightly "about the God who I worship. "Thank you for being faithful to the truth." You know, and encourage him in that way because the focus now, 'cause now you're reminding him too, yeah, it's not about them. It's not about us ultimately. It's ultimately about our God, and I'm grateful that my congregation understands that.

What a joy it is for a pastor to hear that. So encourage him with those words. I encourage him with those words. Now, second application I wanna give is to listen to a message for the sake of the community, or this is the third one. Listen to a message for the sake of community.

As we move on from verse one, the Apostle Paul does not call Titus to address the Christian community on Crete as a whole, but he tells him to address specific types of people. Look at the text and read with me from verse two to verse nine. Titus chapter two, let's just read from verse one to verse nine.

Titus chapter two, verse one to verse nine. "Then I ask for you, "teach what accords with sound doctrine. "Older men are to be sober-minded, "dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith and love, "and in steadfastness. "Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, "not slanders or slaves to much wine.

"They're to teach what is good, "and so train the young women "to love their husbands and children, "to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, "kind and submissive to their own husbands, "that the word of God may not be reviled. "Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. "Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, "and in your teaching, show integrity, dignity, "and sound speech that cannot be condemned "so that an opponent may be put to shame, "having nothing evil to say about us.

"Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters "and everything they are to be well-pleasing, "not argumentative." So in verse two, he addresses older men. In verse three, he addresses older women. Verse four through five, he addresses young women. In verse six, he addresses younger men. In verse seven through eight, he addresses Titus directly.

And lastly, in verse nine, he addresses slaves. That's a very important lesson for us to learn just from this fact. We are not only to listen to a message for our own souls. We are not only to listen to a message for the sake of God, but we are also to listen to a message for the sake of the community.

There are times when a message, when messages are directed specifically to a group of people you are not a part. So it's not gonna have any practical relevance to you. But you need to be able to listen to that message, not so much with yourself in mind, but with the entire community in mind.

And this is especially true for this ministry here at Berean. You know, our church at Cross Life, we're like your little brothers. I don't know. 'Cause we're smaller, we're younger. And yeah, so we're just like a miniature version of following you along. So the target group at my church is maybe 18 to, I don't know, we got 17 year olds, crazy.

So we got 17 year olds, and dude, I'm the oldest one there at the church. (laughing) So I'm the old dude. And so that's the range we got. Late teens, early 30s. And so when I preach a sermon, it's not hard to hit that target. But here at Berean, you have youth group, man, you got youth group kids through high school, you got collegians and people in their 20s, all the way into their like 50s, 60s, I think, right?

So you got people, the range is broad. So when a message is being preached, it's not gonna hit all of you. It's not gonna get to all of you. And so it's important for you to develop a discipline of listening to a message communally, and to think about how the word of God will work through the lives of people who might not know that doctrine, even though you might know that doctrine, or how an instruction is gonna help someone who is young in the faith, even though you might be mature in the faith, or how that rebuke is gonna wake someone up, even though you have been faithful.

I don't want you to miss out on what God is doing in this church through the power of this word, as he is saving people, as he is growing people, strengthening people, healing people, all because you're just so consumed on whether or not the passage is relevant for you.

Think bigger than yourself, and rejoice in what God is doing outside of you. Titus chapter two, verse 11 through 14, listen to this. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

The grace of God is for all people. We must open up our eyes to see how that grace is working not only in our own lives, but in the lives of the members here at this church. I have a friend, his name is Steve, and he's a full-time tutor, but he's trying to start a business, an after-school prep course.

And he was telling me about the challenges going from a tutoring context to that of a classroom. And he was saying when he was tutoring, it was easier because he can custom tailor every single lesson to the students. If things were too hard, he would just slow down. If things were too easy, he would just pick up the pace.

But in a classroom, it was much more difficult because you can teach a lesson, and one kid might get it, but the other kids might not. But if you slow down, that kid is gonna get boring for him, but if you keep up at the same pace, you're gonna lose everybody else.

And he was sharing this with me, and I understood the sentiment because that's one of the challenges that pastors have. But can you imagine a classroom where Steve's students are willing to help each other out, to help each other out with physics and chemistry? The students who are able to understand things faster take the time to teach those who are slower.

And in teaching them, they master the material. And the students who are receiving the help and receiving the tutoring from their peers obviously grow in their understanding as well. Now does this require the smarter kids to make sacrifices? Absolutely, and absolutely. But it doesn't mean that they themselves aren't gonna get anything from it, because now as a whole, they move forward towards their goal.

And this kind of communal growth can happen in the church because it's not about the individual. It's the church, it's about the community. Take your Bibles and turn with me to Ephesians 4, verse one to 13. Or 11 to 13, sorry. Ephesians 4, verse 11 to verse 13. Ephesians 4, verse 11 to verse 13.

It says, "And he gave the apostles, the prophets, "the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers "to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, "for the building up the body of Christ," listen to this, "until we all attain "to the unity of the faith "and the knowledge of the Son of God, "to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature "of the fullness of Christ." You guys catch that?

"He gave the apostles, prophets, evangelists, "shepherds, and teachers to equip you "so that you all might attain to the unity of the faith, "to mature manhood, to the knowledge of the Son of God." My Mexican professor, Dr. Montoya, he used to always say this. He used to say, "Juno, there's something romantic "about a lone wolf howling into the night, "howling into the full moon, ah-hoo-hoo!" (audience laughing) But you know, a lone wolf is a dead wolf, because the strength of a wolf is the pack, strength of the pack is the wolf.

(audience laughing) I was like, oh, that's good. (audience laughing) I'm taking that. But it's true, it's true. You are not lone wolves here, you're not. You are one pack, you are the Berean pack. You move together, you hunt together, you fight together. So learn to grow together, help each other, to minister to each other, to teach each other, and to even listen to a message for each other, and not just for yourself.

As you guys are growing, there are gonna be people who are younger than you in the faith, and it's the responsibility for the older people to begin to teach and to train them up, and to listen not only for yourself, but for everyone, for those who are younger in the faith.

As you guys are listening to a message that goes over your head, you have to know that it is going to your older brothers and sisters, and they're gonna take in that knowledge, and even though you might not necessarily understand it, it's going to bless them, and that blessing is gonna overflow to you.

The responsibility of the preacher, responsibility of the preacher, is to faithfully preach the word of God, to preach sound doctrine. But church, it is your responsibility to listen to that sound doctrine worshipfully. May God's blessing be upon you guys. Let's pray. Our Lord, we think about your word, and truly it is the power of God for salvation.

For there is no power in this world that justifies sinners before man, no power that resurrects men from the dead, no power that saves people from hell. There is no power like the power of the gospel, and I pray that we would understand that power, and to know that as we listen to the word of God that has saved us, the word of God that continues to sanctify us progressively, or that we would do it worshipfully, knowing that the power proceeds ultimately from you, the giver of the word.

I pray for your blessings upon this church. I pray for the congregation, that as they receive the word of God from this pulpit, they would do so worshipfully. They would do so looking for depth. They would do so listening for your glory. They would do so listening for this community.

Again, would your blessings be upon my brothers and sisters here. Pray this in Christ's name, amen.