If you can turn your Bibles with me to Romans chapter 15, I'll be reading 14 to 21, but again, our main focus this morning is going to be 14 to 16. Romans chapter 15, 14 to 21. I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another.

But on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder, because of the grace given me by God, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, to the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to be proud of my work for God, for I will not venture to speak anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to bring the Gentiles to obedience, by word and deed. By the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Iliquium, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gospel of Christ, and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand.

Let's pray. Gracious and loving Father, we thank you for this morning, and as we have gathered together corporately to worship you, to honor you, to give you our hearts, Lord God, a reasonable response to your grace, we pray this morning that your Holy Spirit would lead and guide. Help us, Lord, to be eager to hear and eager to apply your word.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, as you know, we're in the study of the Book of Romans, and we're at the end part of it. And Paul has been expositing the gospel message beginning chapter 1 all the way to chapter 15, and we're kind of in the middle part of it where the end of chapter 15 and 16 is sort of a postscript.

It's kind of the end of the letter where he's saying, you know, bye to the church, and this is why he wrote it. So you know, if we're not careful, we can look at the last chapter and a half thinking like, well, he's done with the gospel, so he's just saying bye, so it's not really important for us to dig too deep into that, which is not the case.

Obviously, there's no part of Scripture where we should ever skim over. In fact, the reason why this part of Scripture is so important is Paul started in Romans chapter 1 the necessity of the gospel, why we need it, because we've all sinned, fall short of the glory of God, Jew and Gentile alike.

And then he introduced us to Christ and his sacrifice, and then the ramification of that. What did we receive as a result of that in chapter 8? Chapter 9 through 11 connects us to the Old Testament, what he has been doing with the nation of Israel, what he's planning to do going forward with Israel and Gentiles.

And then we got to chapter 12, and view of all of that, and view of all that he has done, we ought to give our lives as a living sacrifice, and in the sacrifice, the greatest application of that is to live a life of worship, to love one another, to reflect that gospel in our lives.

That's where we ended in verse 13 in chapter 5. Chapter 14 is Paul's defense of his ministry. So last week, this week, and probably for the next maybe about two or three more weeks, we're going to be talking about Paul's application of that gospel in his own life. So up to this point, Paul has been preaching about the message of the cross, he's been teaching about how it ought to look in the life of the individual and in the church, now he's going to be showing us what it looks like in his life.

What is the preaching of the gospel, and why is he engaged in what he is engaged in? So last week, we looked at Paul said that he spoke with boldness, that despite the persecution everywhere he is going, he's been persecuted, possibility of death, eventually he gets beheaded because of this message.

But he says the reason why he spoke with boldness was because there was clarity that he was speaking on God's behalf. This was not a bunch of people who got together in a think tank and said, you know, maybe we should have these ideas spread and start this. It was a direct revelation that he got from God, and he clearly knew who he was serving, even if it was at the point of death.

He said, so one, his message itself came with clarity because he knew who he was representing. The second point we're going to look at, and that's the main point, main thing that we're going to stay at this morning, is that Paul wrote to transform and not simply to inform.

Paul wrote to transform and not just simply to inform. We're going to see that the content of what he is saying here, majority of it is not new to the Romans. Paul starts in verse 14, he says, "I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers." He's not writing to a church filled with non-Christians who needed to hear the gospel so they can repent and be justified of their sins.

He actually starts the letter in Romans 1.8, and he says, "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world." So one other church we hear Paul saying this is the church of Thessalonica, because they received the gospel and they're loved for one another, and the way that they were responding to the gospel was exemplary, that even before Paul would go to distant parts of Macedonia, the news about their conversion went ahead of them.

And so Paul used the same words to describe the Roman Christians. He hasn't come to this church, but he heard of them. He heard of their faith. So he's not talking to non-Christians, and he's not talking to young Christians. He goes on, he says, "I'm satisfied about you," and I'm convinced that they are full of goodness.

They're not just good in application, they're full of it. They're rich. They are filled with all knowledge. Again, Paul is not writing this because they did not know. It says Paul describes them as people who are filled with knowledge. And then finally, it says they are able to instruct one another.

Not only were they strong Christians, not only did they apply it exemplary, and not only did they have knowledge, they were actually able to disciple one another. They had everything that you would want from a good, solid, healthy church. So the natural question that we would ask is, why did he spend so much time and effort, the longest and the most tedious of all of his letters, to a church that may on the surface seem like they didn't need it?

We can understand why he wrote to the Galatians. There were all kinds of problems. We understand the length in the Corinthians, because they had all kinds of problems in that church. But there is no particular problem that Paul was writing to for the Romans. In fact, the way he describes them, they're a model church.

They were full of knowledge, full of goodness. Why does he write to this church? And again, before I begin to kind of hopefully unfold what's happening here, what Paul says here, it is so crucial. In my opinion, to the modern-day church. When I say modern-day, I'm talking about in particular here.

It may be more specifically to Orange County, maybe even more specifically to this particular area, because we are surrounded by mega-churches. There's new church plant coming into this area all the time. I meet young pastors who want to plant a church in Irvine or Tustin or at least in Orange County, and I probably meet at least about five to ten of them per year.

I go, "Well, you've been here in this area. What's needed?" And I would talk to them about different church plants and what's going on. And so we are saturated with knowledge. In fact, if during the summertime, around June, July, and August, if you go to the airport, what do you see typically?

Obviously, you see typical people who are at the airport just traveling. You see a lot of young people headed out to short-term missions. And then if you hang out there long enough, you see a lot of young people coming back from short-term missions. We have several seminaries that are about 10 to 15, 20-minute driving distance in this area.

In any direction, about 10 to 15-minute drive, you will hit some kind of a mega-church, meaning there's probably more than 5,000 to 10,000 people gathering together every Sunday in any direction from here. So we are saturated, at least on the surface, with superficial knowledge about Christ, about the gospel, about the Bible, various theologies.

You and I are living not only in a particular time in history, but a particular place in the world where there is more information about Christ, more talks, more access, more preaching, more gathering, more worshiping, more evangelism, at least on the surface, more short-term missions taking place than any other time in human history, in Christian history.

Yet, the biggest problem that you and I have is our passion. We have it, but everything we have has become convenient. And along with that, we are saturated with churches and with people, and even up on the pulpits where the gospel of Jesus Christ has become old. It's something that we already know, something we've already heard, something we've already studied, something we've already shared.

Paul says in verse 15, "But on some points," he says, "I know you are full of knowledge, I know you are full of goodness, I know you are believers, I know you are able to instruct one another, but on some points I have written to you very boldly by way of reminder because of the grace given me by Christ, by God." He said, "I'm speaking to you boldly." I mean, if he knew that they already know this, why speak boldly?

He's preaching to the choir. Why is he so passionate about reinstating the things that they already know, that he already says that they know all of this? They're even able to instruct one another with this, and yet he says he is bold by way of reminder. And I'm going to get to this point over and over again in today's text.

The point that Paul is trying to make, and the reason why I believe this is so important, is because we have to admit, you've heard enough about the gospel. You know the scriptures, especially, I mean, you're at a Bible teaching church, so the Word of God is being exposited in your presence in Bible study, in small groups.

We're discussed, we have retreats, we have Sunday sermons, and we're so saturated with God's Word, we're always looking for something different, something new. Paul says exactly the opposite. I'm going to tell you what you already know, and I'm going to keep reminding you of the same thing that you do know.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to 2 Peter 1, 3 to 15. If you don't have your Bible, the text will be up on the screen, but if you do have your Bible, I want you to be in the habit of looking at your Bible. In 2 Peter 1, 3 to 15, Peter says something very similar to the reason why he's writing this letter.

He says, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness." Everything that you and I need for our spiritual growth, we have. So if any Christian, in particular today, considering everything that we have on top of what the early church had, if we ever say, "I can't grow because I don't have this," that's no different than Adam saying, "I've sinned because of that woman that you put here." It's not my fault, it's a circumstance that you put me in.

That's why I can't grow. Peter says, "His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence." He's not talking about the information about Christ. He's talking about knowledge, meaning personal encounter with Christ.

That everything that I need for life of godliness, I have in this relationship with Jesus Christ. So for any Christian, any genuine Christian who's been saved, had the Holy Spirit, who says, "I can't grow because of this," is denying what Peter clearly says here. Verse four, "By which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." In other words, the reason why we were saved is because we encountered Christ.

And it is this relationship, this knowledge of Him, and in Him we have all these things. Verse five, "For this very reason, since you have everything that you need for a life of godliness, for this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control steadfastness, steadfastness with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love." In other words, since you have already everything that you need for a life of godliness, now it's your turn.

How are you going to respond to that? For this very reason, right? The ball is not on God's court and saying, "Well, God, do something." Leaders do something. People around me do something. He said, "No, I'm waiting for you." He's saying, "Considering all of this, make every effort, make every effort to add to your faith virtue." And then He says, "This knowledge that you have received," and then He gives all these different things that we ought to respond, and ultimately He says, "to practice this love," which is what Paul has been saying in chapter 12 up to chapter 15.

But I wanted to continue in verse 8 where He says, "For if these qualities are yours and increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." If we're just hearers of the Word, and we say, "Well, I can't grow because of this," and as a result, we just kind of passively wait for revival to come, we're passively waiting for somebody else or something else to happen in order that I can respond to God, it says you become ineffective and unfruitful in what you have already been given.

You already have everything that you need for a life of godliness, and you say, "I can't be godly because I don't have this," and then you're not bearing fruit, and you become ineffective. But that's not where it stops in verse 9. "For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind." Nearsightedness basically means that you can only see what is immediately in front of you, and you don't have a perspective of what's coming.

So He says that if you hear and you do not apply the Word of God, and there's no radical change, you're ineffective, you're being unfruitful, what is the result of that? You're blind. You're only living for today. If I do this, how is it going to affect me today?

So all the decisions that we make are no different than the world. If I do this, if I sacrifice, what do I get today? But we don't live for eternity, because we don't have eternal perspective. That's what He says, we become nearsighted and blind. Having forgotten that He was cleansed from His former sins, therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.

Because once you become ineffective, unfruitful, and you become nearsighted and blind, what's the first thing that happens? You begin to doubt your election. You don't have assurance of salvation. And why is this so important to make your election sure? Because the Scripture says, "If you abide in My Word, My Word abides in you.

Ask whatever you wish, it shall be done for you." Prayer is not a free ticket for everyone to just come and say, "Ask God whatever you want." He didn't say that. If you abide in Me, My Word abides in you, ask whatever you wish, it shall be done for you.

So when you don't have assurance of salvation, you don't have assurance that God is listening to you. And this is the reason why so many people do not regularly pray. Why engage in something when you're not sure if God is even listening? And the reason why it's hard for us to invest in the things that are long-term, because those are promises given to those who have assurance of salvation.

It was not a blanket statement for the world. All the promises on Scripture are for those who have repented of their sins, has declared Him Lord and Savior, and who has a personal relationship with Him. So if you hear and you are not applying, you're not making every effort in your spiritual growth, and you become ineffective and unfruitful, you become nearsighted and you're blind to what is coming, and you forget all of these things, you begin to doubt whether you express it with your words or by your action.

Does any of this have anything to do with me? And once you begin to doubt your assurance of salvation, it affects your prayer, it affects your fellowship, it affects evangelism, it affects the promises of God, it basically nullifies everything that we do as Christians. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.

For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So again, what Peter is saying to them is not just to be hearers, but to hear it and to respond. That's what Paul has been saying, in view of this mercy, give your life as a living sacrifice and in particular, to live a life of love in practice.

Paul is writing to this church who has all of this knowledge already, not simply to inform for the purpose of transforming. So in verse 12, "Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities. Though you know them and are established in the truth that you have, I think it right as long as I am in this body to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me, and I will make every effort so that after my departure you will be able at any time to recall these things over and over again.

I'm telling you what you already know and I'm trying to remind you that even after I die that you would remember. Because the core of who we are is founded upon these truths of the gospel. So the moment that it becomes dull, the moment you think that you've mastered it, you've drifted from him.

That's why in John chapter 15, Jesus says to his disciple before he departs, he says, "If you abide in me," my words abide in you, "ask whatever you wish." You cannot bear any fruit unless you abide in me. The word abide, for the longest time I thought he was talking about abiding, obeying his word, which does have that meaning.

But the more natural understanding of the word abide in Greek, which is meno, it means to remain or to continue. And the reason why Jesus says you need to continue or remain in me is because Jesus was departing. As long as they were with Christ, they felt safe. They were fed.

They were taken care of. They were at clear direction. What are we going to do if you leave us? Because Jesus has been telling them, he's about to go where I go you cannot come. And he says, no, the Holy Spirit's going to come. And he's going to remind you of everything that I told you.

So the primary work of the Holy Spirit to the non-Christians is to convict them of their sin. The primary work of the Holy Spirit to Christians is to remind us of Christ. For what purpose? So we do not stray. We do not move along. The danger that you and I fall into is that we hear the gospel and we begin to study the word of God and then we become so sophisticated in our walk with God.

We become experts in church planting, small group discipleship, evangelism, missions. And we become experts because we have so much knowledge, so much experience, so much books. And yet we are dull to the things of Christ. Paul says in Philippians 3, "Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you." I need to keep reminding you to keep you safe.

Second Peter 3.1. This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them, I am stirring up a sincere mind by way of reminder. Peter says over and over again. Paul is reminding the Gentiles. Peter is reminding the Jews. Revelation 2.5, "Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen.

Repent and do the works you did at first." Again, Revelation 3.3, "Remember then what you received and heard. Keep it and repent." Over and over and over and over again. We are told in the Old Testament, New Testament, "Remember." Because our primary challenge living in this world is just drifting.

Just drifting. Let me ask you a question. What is the greatest commandment? Don't say it. I just want you to think it. What is the greatest commandment you said? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength." That's the greatest commandment, right? So if that's the greatest commandment, that ought to be our greatest pursuit.

Right? I mean, that's just Christianity 101. So let me ask you. When did you love the Lord the most? Just think about it. I would guess, and I would say it's a somewhat educated guess because of years of just counseling and talking and even from my own testimony, I would guess that the time that you were the most passionate, you were the greatest witness, you loved fellowship the most, you sang with the greatest passion, was when you first met the Lord.

That's why in Revelation chapter 2, when he's rebuking this church that had all these great qualities, he says, "Remember the height from which you had fallen." He doesn't say, "Go look and see if there's other things that you can do to make your Christian life better." He says, "Remember the height from which you had fallen." It's the beginning.

It's the beginning. What did they have in the beginning? We always talk about how we ought to go back to the early church. We need to be like the early church. What was it about the early church? It's like, did they have training? Was there, did they sit under some great teaching for so many years?

Was it the one-to-one discipleship that 3,000 and the 4,000 received from the previous mentors? What was it about the early church that they were so selfless and even in the context of being stoned and running for their lives, they couldn't contain sharing the gospel? The only thing that we can point to is they met Christ and they were convicted over their sins.

And so Jesus is telling his disciples, "Don't move from that. Don't move from that because that's when you're the most powerful. That's when you're the most effective. That's when you're singing and worship is the most genuine. Because when you've been affected by this relationship with Christ, it wasn't because of years of training.

It wasn't because of years of study. It wasn't because of years of experience. So if the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the greatest time when that was true, it has nothing to do with our works. Our works are simply a response to that.

He wants us to worship in response to that. That's why he says, "I'm stirring up as a reminder to you to tell you again to go back to what you drifted from." See, the danger that you and I have, just like anything else, we're in an area where we have all the food that we can possibly eat all the time.

And people often ask me, "Hey, Pastor Peter, I want to take you out and treat you out to eat. What do you like to eat?" Everything and nothing. Because whatever I like to eat, I eat all the time. So I don't really value it. I tell you I like sushi, but sometimes I'm tired of it because I've eaten it yesterday.

So I'd like some Mexican today, or tomorrow I might want some pho, or the next day some salad maybe. You know what I mean? But we get to have everything that we want all the time, so we don't necessarily value anything in particular. And sometimes that's the way we are spiritually.

Because we are so saturated with everything, everything has become old, just dull. And so we have to hear messages with some great presentation. It's not the message itself, but the presentation. It has to be packaged in a certain way. But the real power is in Christ. And that's why Paul is telling you, "I know you know all these things.

You are full of knowledge. You are full of goodness. You are able to teach one another. Your Christianity, your response is being heralded all over the world. But I'm going to speak to you more boldly. Because on some of these points, I want to stir you up by way of reminder so that you do not stray.

Because our fruitfulness comes directly linked to Him. People have a tendency, once you have heard certain things so many times, it's like, "I know this." Every once in a while, we'll say, "Hey, we're going to study Philippines." And somebody will say, "I already studied that." You know? "Oh, we're going to study Leviticus." "Oh, I took that class before." You know?

"Oh, we're going to do quiet time in Ephesians." You know? "Oh, I've already done that a couple years ago." In other words, "I know this. I've been a Christian for a while, so let me teach." And that's one of the greatest dangers of being a leader of any kind, especially somebody who stands up here, where I'm constantly having to tell you things.

Because once you become a pastor, or even a leader, you start putting on a teacher hat. And you know everything. Right? So whenever I get together with my pastor friends, I shared this with you before, I have to tell myself to shut up. Because we all know everything. We all have the answers for the church.

We all have answers for evangelism. So I have to tell myself to be quiet. And that's the detriment of leadership at times. Because once we think that we know, from that moment on, we begin to deteriorate. Don't ever trust somebody who always has the answer to everything. Because that is not the person who is nearest to Christ.

The person who is nearest to Christ is more aware of his weakness than when he first started. Because that's what he does when you're in his presence. Anything that you had desire to boast, anything that you boasted of in the presence of anybody else, but in the presence of God, all of a sudden, you become a babbling idiot.

I mean, that's what his glory does. So that's why Paul is saying, I'm telling you, I'm going to remind you. I had a missionary friend who went out to missions, and he came back on furlough about three years afterwards. And I asked him, what was the hardest part of being a missionary?

And he said, the hardest part is continuing to go. Continuing to go. They sacrificed everything, sold all their things, moved to a country and lived in a place where they weren't comfortable. But once they got out there, it became their home. They became comfortable. And he said, it's hard to continue to go.

See, that's our problem. That's our temptation. After we've been a Christian for a while, we know. After we've led a little bit of worship, we know. After we've been a leader for a while, we know. If we led small group, we know. If we've been a Christian for a while, we know.

And as a result of that, we begin to drift away. First Corinthians 10, 12, "Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed, lest he fall." This can even happen as a church. When you first plant the church, everybody's excited. We're going to reach the lost. But after the church gets to a certain size, we're no longer thinking about the lost.

We're no longer desperate. Because people are gathering whether we pray or not. Fellowship just happens because there's a number of people. And we begin to forget why we were planted in the first place. This can happen individually. It can happen as a church. You ever wonder why there are four Gospels?

When I first became a Christian, I started reading through the Gospels. I was really confused. One, it started with a genealogy, so I just skimmed over that. I don't remember even reading that. I didn't understand any of it. But I was so excited about reading the Bible. I read Matthew.

Great. I'm like, "What happens next?" And then it starts over. So I started reading that. I said, "Okay." And then I go to Luke. And then it starts over. Wait, I remember this. I'm flipping back over to Matthew. He's like, "Wait a minute. There's another genealogy here in chapter three." And I began to wonder, like, why is there three separate accounts of the same story?

John is a little bit different. John, over 80% of the content is different, but more than half of John's Gospel is about his last week of his life. But even that period, there's a lot of things that overlap. The wisdom behind the four different Gospels is to highlight the life and the glory of Christ in different angles because of its importance.

If you've ever bought a car, you went to a dealership, and whether it's like a $20,000 car or $30,000 car, you know, I don't think anybody in this room, or at least that I know of, is so rich that $30,000 is nothing to you. So that's a lot of money you're going to invest.

So you don't walk into the dealership and look at the front of the car and say, "This looks nice. Here's my check." You don't do that, right? Because it's a big investment. So you look at it, say, "Oh, it looks nice. What does the hood look like?" Or underneath the hood, you open it up and check out the engine, whether you know anything or not.

You have to pretend like you know so you don't get ripped off. Look at the tires, you know. Look at the cost. Look at what other people are saying. Is it worth buying? What are the problems it has? So you walk to the side and look at the door, look at the paint, the windows, power windows, what kind of power, what kind of gas mileage you have.

You open up the trunk and you look at how much space and you're thinking, "If I had to put groceries in here, would it fit all of this?" And then you get into the car, right? Then you look at all the car, what does it look like with the lights turned off, the lights turned on.

And then you get in the car and you drive it for a while to test what it looks like. And then you come back and then you start contemplating, "Do I know enough to make this decision?" And the more important it is, the more time you will take examining what it is.

See, the life of Christ, the book of Matthew is kind of like the dealership presenting to you that this is the car that you want. That's the book of Matthew. He's the fulfillment of all the prophecies. He's the king that's fulfilling the prophecy. So he's the dealership kind of like, "Here it is.

This is the one that you've been looking for." Book of Mark is the mark that has all these actions. It records more miracles than any other book. The book of Mark is kind of like getting in the car and test driving you. Every chapter, he's doing something. He's healing people, raising people, and opening the eyes.

So he's kind of like a lot of action. Luke is the buyer's perspective, is the human perspective, like, "What would I look like in this car? Are my kids going to fit into the back seat?" So it's the humanitarian, the human perspective. And the book of John is from above, where God is presenting his son to the world.

Every aspect of it is being presented to us because it is that important. In Hebrews 1.1, it says, "Long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets." This message of Christ was so important that God used narratives, poetry, laws, prophecies, visions, signs, wonders, through kings, peasants, young, old, farmers, aristocrats, all for the purpose of what?

So you can see from their angle. You know, when we take pictures to put on Instagram or Facebook, a lot of people have a certain angle that they like, because you know you look better this way than this way. So we notice, right? So you like to take pictures because you know you look different.

Just even taking a simple picture. Think about who Christ is. Think about the ramification of what he has done. Think about the consequence of what you and I study. To come to that and look at the hood and say, "I know," is arrogance. That's why all of Scripture is a revelation that gives us a different angle of Christ.

That all of human history prepared us to the cross, and all of human history after that pointed back to the cross. So do you think that there was only one sign pointing to Jesus and one sign pointing back to Jesus? No. Everything, every road led to the cross. That's why some of you guys who never knew anything about Leviticus, you had no idea.

If you've never studied through Leviticus, you had no idea how rich it was about Christ. How all of these little intricate details prepared the nation of Israel to Christ. And then when you study the New Testament, every part of that, even the rebukes, all of them highlight Christ. And so the more we study, the more we spread light upon the cross, what happens?

We change. When we love something, it just doesn't get old. I don't know how many of you guys listen to ESPN Talk Radio on 710. It is amazing to me how much time they spend talking about everything related to sports. Like only sport that I have some interest in is in basketball.

And even that, only Lakers, right? So I have a very small tolerance for what they talk about. So when they talk about Lakers, I can sit there and listen, especially now that LeBron came. But before LeBron came, they were talking about his shoe size. What company, how much money he was making, where his sons are going to go to school, where he took vacation.

His hairline. They were talking about his hairline. Where he's going to live. Who are his friends? Who is he talking to? And it's not enough to talk to him. They were talking to all of his friends and asking them, what does he like to eat? How does he prepare?

How much time is he at the gym? When does he come in? When does he leave? And the reason why they do that is because there are hundreds of thousands and millions of people listening to this radio and they make a living off of that. If you're not interested in Lakers, if you're not interested in basketball, it sounds like utter nonsense.

Utter nonsense. You're talking about his shoe size. And yet, they're making hundreds of millions of dollars talking about that. So how can we get bored talking about Christ? How can the study of the Word of God become so dull? How can the worship of this Savior, when all things are created by him and for him, when something so trivial like basketball can captivate our attention for hours and months and years, yet be so easily bored when it comes to our faith and our salvation in eternity?

This is why he said, I know you know it, but I'm going to keep telling you. And I'm going to tell you from the top. I'm going to tell you from the side. I'm going to tell you from behind. I'm going to tell you from inside. I'm going to tell you when I'm young.

I'm going to tell you when I'm old. To stir up as a way of reminder so we do not drift from this great salvation. If we're not careful, the most important person in our life can easily become an it instead of a he. He's just an idea, a figurehead.

Our relationship with him is no different than our relationship with Donald Trump. He's just the President of the United States. He makes big decisions, and we happen to live in the United States. God called us to be his children. He doesn't want us from a distance and pointing and say, oh, I believe in that God.

He opened a door so that he can invite us to come to the throne of grace to worship. You see why this is so important? It's not just important. It's fundamental. It's crucial. If you missed this, you missed everything. God's not eager to see the church filled with nominal Christians.

God is not waiting for Christians to regurgitate information that they heard, and so he regurgitated to somebody else. God's not looking at us to see how many people we're going to tolerate in our lives, add an obligation to him. All of it is so that he can rekindle worship, rekindle worship, that we may love our Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Let's take some time to pray this morning as we invite our worship to come up. Have we become bored? Have we become teachers before we really study? Let's take some time to come before the Lord, and again, in our weakness, ask the Lord. We believe, help our unbelief. Let's take some time to pray as our worship can lead us.