(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. We will now begin our service. (soft music) ♪ O for a thousand tongues to sing ♪ ♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪ ♪ The glories of my God and King ♪ ♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪ (soft music) ♪ O for a thousand tongues to sing ♪ ♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪ ♪ The glories of my God and King ♪ ♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪ ♪ My gracious Master and my God ♪ ♪ Assist me to proclaim ♪ ♪ To spread through all the earth ♪ ♪ The wonders of thy name ♪ (soft music) ♪ Jesus, the name that calms our fears ♪ ♪ That bids our sorrows cease ♪ ♪ 'Tis music in the sinner's ears ♪ ♪ 'Tis my comforter when He is near ♪ ♪ O praise the power of His holy Spirit ♪ ♪ He sets the prisoner free ♪ ♪ His blood can make the bowels clear ♪ ♪ His blood availed for me ♪ (soft music) (soft music) ♪ Jesus, Jesus ♪ ♪ Listening to His voice ♪ ♪ You like the dead receive ♪ ♪ The mortal broken hearts rejoice ♪ ♪ The humble born revealed ♪ (soft music) ♪ O praise to God and praise and love ♪ ♪ Be ever, ever given ♪ ♪ Thy saints below and saints above ♪ ♪ The church and earth and heaven ♪ (soft music) ♪ O a thousand tongues to sing ♪ ♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪ ♪ The glories of my God and King ♪ ♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪ (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (soft music) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (soft music) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (soft music) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (singing in foreign language) (soft music) (soft music) - Hi everyone, my name is Tiffany and today I'll be sharing a little bit about what we did in Taiwan.

This past week has been so sweet as God graciously allowed us to see him working starting from our very first day. We landed around 4 a.m. and we went straight to Pastor Alex's apartment where we had a brief introduction and overview for the trip. That afternoon we also went to Hope Church where we met Stephen, a seminary student and member of Hope Church.

Throughout this week I was so encouraged by Stephen in the way he serves the church, spends time with the youth, and just loves on people in action. We spent some time flying at two nearby elementary schools for the children's game night that would be taking place later on in the week.

Several families did end up coming out to the game night and for many of them it was actually their first time ever stepping foot into the church. That first night we also went to NKUST which stands for National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology to meet Sherry and the first group of students in her class.

Sherry is one of the English professors at NKUST and she's also a member of Hope Church. Throughout this week we were able to go to NKUST four times and Yixiu University once where we led English presentations, had discussion times, and just spent time with the students in smaller groups.

The goal of these campus tours was to build connections and get to know the students, ultimately trying to invite them out to Hope Church for English corners and church activities. For the most part the students were surprisingly very open and honest about their struggles. A common theme that I noticed was the overwhelming pressures of going to after school academies and preparing for college exams their whole life.

And even now as college students they still face the pressures of academics and wanting to do well so that they could find a good job and escape from this life. The fight for a better future weighs heavily on a lot of them. We only had a couple hours with each group and a part of me did wonder if the short time we had together would actually make a difference.

However, God graciously showed us how he is already moving in the hearts of several of them. Many of them did come out to the English corners and activities such as our hot pot night and the night market outing that we had. It was encouraging to see their openness and several of them asked very good questions.

One of them even came out to Sunday service for the first time and although he didn't understand all the lyrics to the worship songs we sang he said he felt touched for some reason. I think we all felt touched during that worship service as we reflected on the brokenness of Taiwan but found comfort in Christ's sovereignty knowing that he is working as we worship alongside fellow faithful believers at Hope Church.

I believe that God is working in several of their hearts already and he will continue to do so long after we leave. My prayer for them is that they will continue to seek the Lord and he would reveal himself to them bit by bit in his perfect timing. During this trip we also had the pleasure of meeting Wei Wei, a nine years old boy who lives about five minutes away from the church and randomly walked in one day as Pastor Alex was preparing for his sermon.

His parents neglect him and they often fight about finances. Wei Wei is a sweet kid and is honestly a pretty good kid considering his circumstances but he's also formed some bad habits already. It touched my heart to see the way Hope Church has welcomed him in and loved on him, providing him with food and loving and showing him the love of Christ.

My heart breaks for Wei Wei but at the same time I'm also reminded that God sees each one of his tears and he loves Wei Wei and desires to save him even more than any of us want that. I know and trust that God is working something out for Wei Wei, something better than I can imagine in my limited mind.

I came into the trip not knowing exactly what to expect and to be quite honest there were so many things to do leading up to the trip. Even on the morning we boarded the airplane. My prayer going into it was that my heart would be in the right place and for God to use me in some way.

And God really did answer that prayer because when we got there the things of this world did become strangely dim. The trivial things in my day-to-day life that I tend to get so caught up in do not seem to matter anymore. I found myself just wanting to love on the students we were interacting with, just wanting to spend time with those in the church and just wanting to get to know the people there.

Because really each person has been created so beautifully in his image, so how could we not love on them? To be honest, Taiwan is a place that is very spiritually dark. There's so much brokenness and just a sense of a loss of direction in life. And the brokenness may manifest itself in different ways and look different over in Taiwan, but at the end of the day the root of it is still the same.

It's sin and the pursuit of life apart from Christ. But at the same time I'm also reminded that it's the same God who loves each beautiful soul he created and he desires to save them and he can save them. I came in wanting to serve the people of Taiwan, but it was them who showed me God's love.

And I'm reminded that the only thing that matters in this life is the cross. I'm reminded that God, I want to live for you and I want to be spent for you. And I can also have peace knowing that it's not man who saves but God who saves. And he has been working and he will continue to work and I can trust in that.

Thank you. Again, we want to thank you for your prayers. I think this trip was to pray and to see if the doors would get open for us to continue to work there. And I think we all agree that this is an opportunity that's been given to us. And we are planning to return in October.

And we apologize that there were quite a few of you who wanted to go but couldn't because we lacked space and we didn't even open it up because so many people contacted me. Somehow the word went out through the grapevine. And so don't come to me now because I will completely forget.

So don't send me an email and say, "Hey, put me on the list." I'm not going to remember. So when the time comes and we are near and we say we're going to take sign-ups for that, just be praying for it. As Tiffany shared, the need there is tremendous.

There are churches there, but for whatever the reason, evangelism is not part of their culture. And so just like Korea, when you go on campus, the Christianity is 2% or less. And that's across the board in the country. And we found that they are more open. They are open--they're very intrigued.

Because of the struggles that they're having within the country, they're intrigued with what's happening outside the country. So they're eager to talk to foreigners, especially the college students, the younger ones. And so we're going to use the manpower that we have. And we have so many Taiwanese-American. And the majority of our team was able to speak some Chinese, so we didn't have much problem communicating with them.

And so we're going to continue to pray that as the door has been opened, that what God will do through this channel. So please continue to keep that in your prayers. A few announcements. First of all, this coming Saturday we have Men's Fellowship, November 9, 9 a.m. And so please sign up as soon as possible.

We are making small groups this week, and so we need to know exactly who's able to come. This coming Saturday we have some of the older men in our church that are going to be interviewed. We're going to have some Q&A about their struggles in marriage early on. And, you know, most of them--all of them have been married for many, many years.

And then all of them have grown children. And so it will be an opportunity to have Q&A for the people in our church to be able to interact with them. And so please sign up for that. Thanksgiving Outreach Dinner that's happening on November 16 at 6 p.m. If you have people that you want to invite to that where they're going to be able to share the gospel with them and meet some of our outreach team members, please sign up for that.

Cleanup and Maintenance Day on November 23, 9 a.m. So please, again, out in the courtyard the sign-ups will be there. Regional Thanksgiving Dinner. Please sign up for that if you are participating. So we're going to put you in whatever region that you're a part of. And so please sign up for that.

And then you'll get notice through the e-mail of which group that you're going to participate in. And then lastly, our Sisters Ministry is sponsoring Operation Christmas Child. And so you will need to turn that in by--if you've taken the shoebox, you'll need to turn that in by next Sunday.

So if you are going out there--if you visit the table, there's more information on that. So please go visit that. And then they'll give you more information about that. All right, let me pray for us. And then after our offering, our Sister Clara is going to come up and give her testimony and be baptized this morning.

All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege and the grace that allows us to be here together to worship you. I pray that you would search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us, that if we in any way are living in some form of rebellion against you, I pray that your Word and your Spirit would convict us, guide us, and that this worship truly would be given to you in a way that honors you.

I pray that the offering that we give would be an overflow of gratitude in our hearts and may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let us all rise and let's spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ We can fly ♪ ♪ We can fly on the clouds ♪ ♪ A hundred thousand birds and suns ♪ ♪ Wings of paper planes ♪ ♪ There is one and one in the sky ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, you're rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure of my longing soul ♪ ♪ My God, like you there is no other ♪ ♪ True delight is found in you alone ♪ ♪ Your grace a well too deep to fathom ♪ ♪ Your love sees the heavens reach ♪ ♪ Your truth a fount of perfect wisdom ♪ ♪ My highest good and my unending ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, you're rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Strong defender of my weary heart ♪ ♪ My sword to fight the cruel deceiver ♪ ♪ And my shield against his hateful dark ♪ ♪ My song when enemies surround me ♪ ♪ My hope when tides of sorrow rise ♪ ♪ My joy when trials are abound ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness my refuge in divine ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Gracious savior of my ruined life ♪ ♪ My guilt and cross laid on your shoulders ♪ ♪ In my place you suffered, bled, and died ♪ ♪ You wrought the grave and death of hunger ♪ ♪ You broke the bonds of sin and shame ♪ ♪ You wrought the grave and death of hunger ♪ ♪ You broke the bonds of sin and shame ♪ ♪ Oh Lord, you're rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ May all my days bring glory to your name ♪ ♪ May all my days bring glory to your name ♪ Amen.

May be seated. Hello, my name is Clara, and this is my testimony. I grew up in the church, but I also grew up in a broken family. In the first grade, I was introduced to my home church where I first witnessed God's grace. I scared away the kids around me because of my angry nature.

However, I was surprised how each teacher loved all of us equally, despite how I was. I had never been treated like this anywhere else. I fell in love with the church because of these benefits I received. I never liked being home because of all the sin and brokenness, and I didn't have many friends at school, so church was my comfort.

I never skipped a children's Bible study and did whatever I could to attend church. I still did not know who God was. I simply thought that since God is love, I must receive it, but I was never willing to give it. I first learned what it meant to be a sinner in sixth grade when I was challenged by my youth pastor at the time.

I started seeking God simply because I didn't want to go to hell, and I saw a life full of gifts ahead of me. Throughout middle school, I had so many youth teachers praying for me and sacrificing so much for me. I was never truly grateful for them, but I thought I deserved them.

I took advantage of them, relying on them to be my walking Bible. I never once sought after the word on my own. The more my knowledge grew, so did my pride. I said all the right answers in my small group, but my heart was always the same. In my freshman year of high school, my church split.

These youth teachers I clung to were gone. I had no source of the word without them, and I was lost. I turned to my friends in my youth group, trying to find security in them, but I also chased them away with my anger during times of conflict. At the end of tenth grade, I was alone, bitter, and blamed God.

I stopped actively seeking God during my last two years of high school to the point where I don't even remember if I went to church. I planned on returning to God once I was satisfied with my life at a certain point, but this plan backfired. My life was the opposite of what I'd planned.

By the end of high school, I was broken. I started to take God seriously after graduation because I saw that this life I planned was not working out on my own, so I sought after God as an avenue for my plans. When I first came to Berean, I met with P'Ne, and I learned that I only ever wanted God for what he could give me.

I didn't see how I could ever be undeserving because I never asked to be born into my life. I thought God owed me for everything I went through, but God continued working in this selfish heart without me realizing it at the time. As I kept--oh, sorry. As I kept learning more about his holiness, the Lord started to humble my heart.

During our last college retreat, I felt that I needed to have all the answers about God. I needed to understand predestination and why he created us. I felt that once I knew all these things, only then would I trust him. But through God's grace and mercy, he reminded me that part of faith is believing what we cannot see.

Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the words were prepared by the word of God so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible." Shortly after, I went to gospel night. During PPK's presentation, I truly thought that this life I sought after had no meaning.

As Matthew 10:39 echoed in my head, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever finds his life for my sake will find it." PPK then presented a picture of a nuclear power plant, saying how it is similar to who God is. It serves a great purpose, but we would die if we got near it.

So we have to be dressed in a suit to survive being in its presence. Similarly, God has allowed us to be in his presence by dressing us in his righteousness. The following morning, I panicked. I started to feel the weight of my sins. I knew that if I died, I would go to hell because God is righteous, and he is right to send me to hell for my sins, and I was incapable of being in his presence.

Just then, I remembered what was said on gospel night, which is the exact reason why God dresses us in his righteousness. However, I saw that I was not dressed in a simple suit. God sent his only son to die on the cross for my sins and suffered for me.

And through his blood, I have been forgiven. I couldn't believe it. I tried to make sense of why God did this, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn't. I tried to ask God if there was a reason, but Ephesians 2, 8 through 9 says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith and not that of yourselves.

It is the gift of God, not as a result of works so that no one may boast." It was then that I truly realized that God has forgiven me for every single one of my sins through the blood of Jesus Christ. Even all those times when I stood before him and pointed the finger at him or intentionally hurt someone.

I knew this truth for almost my whole life, but the Lord finally opened my eyes. There were many times when I questioned my faith due to the present sin in me, but God is faithful and he constantly gives me assurance of my salvation. The hatred I once had for God has turned into love and gratitude.

I am made for him, not the other way around. He has helped me forgive those I told myself I would never forgive. I know that I will continue to struggle with my sins, and I know that life will not go as planned. But if all my joy and even suffering brings joy to my creator and fulfills his will, there is nothing more I could ask for.

Thank you. As you understand, when you go into the water, you're being united with Christ's death. When you come out, you're being united with his resurrected life. And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All right. Thank you, Claire, for that very encouraging testimony.

If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 9. I'll be reading from verse 37 all the way to verse 45. Luke chapter 9, verse 37 to 45. Reading the NASB. On the next day, when they came down from the mountain, a large crowd met him, and a man from the crowd shouted, saying, "Teacher, I beg you to look at my son, for he is my only boy." And a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly screams, and it throws him into a convulsion with foaming at the mouth, and only difficulty does it leave him, mauling him as it leaves.

I begged your disciples to cast it out, and they could not. And Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here." While he was still approaching, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into a convulsion.

But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father. And they were all amazed at the greatness of God. But while everyone was marveling at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, "Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men." But they did not understand his statement, and it was concealed from them so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this statement.

Let's pray. Father, we pray that your word would speak to us, guide us, lead us, encourage us, rebuke us, and strengthen us, that we may be obedient, that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As our Taiwan team comes back, there's always-- when there's a spiritual high, there's always a caution for the valleys that usually follow.

I remember as a young pastor being warned that whenever I'm at a conference or speaking at some retreat, that when you come back, that's when you're kind of the most vulnerable. And many pastors usually fail after a spiritual high. And I've noticed that through the years. People come back from short-term mission trips, and then from that high, because they were so encouraged and challenged, there's a tendency to kind of relax.

And then when you relax, you have the discouragement that comes in. What we're looking at this morning is right after the transfiguration. A couple weeks ago we looked at that, and that was kind of like the spiritual high of Jesus' ministry, the transfiguration, Moses and Elijah coming in glory, God the Father saying, "This is my son.

Listen to him." And so the three disciples see the transfiguration, and they saw the glory of Jesus Christ, and heard the direct, audible voice of God, and they come down from the mountain, and they find this discouragement. They come down, and they find a man who is desperate because his son is demon-possessed, and the disciples couldn't do anything.

And you could sense frustration in Jesus' tone. "How long will I be with you?" This morning I want to look at what Jesus is doing here. And again, I want all of us to understand the context of this, where Jesus has now turned his face toward the cross. He's preparing primarily his disciples.

He's revealing himself to them, because they needed to know why he was doing what he was doing. They didn't fully understand, and even at the end of this text it says they don't fully understand, but they needed to know who he is, so that they would understand why he came, and what he was going to do on the cross.

First thing that we come into, that Luke reminds us, is just the desperate situation of this man. For the sake of time, I won't read the text, because we just read it. But the man's situation is highlighted for us about his son, that "This was my only boy." Not to say that if he had ten children that it wouldn't have mattered, but Luke highlights the fact that it was his only boy, meaning how desperate he was.

You have to understand, at this particular time, children was directly related to their wealth. So the fact that he only had the only son, meaning that it wasn't just because he loved his son. His whole family was tied to this son. His whole generation, the inheritance, all of it was tied to this son.

So if this son is ruined, the family line will end here. Highlighting the desperateness of his situation. And then it goes into detail. I don't think there's any other demon possession that has gone through this much detail of what it was doing to this child. In Luke 9.39 it says, "The demon seizes the boy." And then again it says, "The child is screaming." Again in verse 39 and 42, "The spirit slammed him to the ground in convulsion so that he foams at the mouth." And then in the other Gospels, Matthew 9.18, "He grinds his teeth and becomes stiff as a board." Matthew 17.15, "Many times he had been cast into the fire and water by evil spirits." Mark 9.25, "He's covered with scars." And then Mark 9.25, "The spirit has made him deaf and dumb." We look at this, and again, it's to highlight the desperateness of his situation.

And then on top of that, he said, "The disciples did everything that they could to help this boy, but they could not cast this demon out." So in desperation, they're running to Christ. First thing that we look at, we see, I mean, clearly, if we look at this to today's lens, he has epilepsy.

He's having severe seizures. So we may look at that, and some people may look at that as because, you know, 2,000 years ago, they didn't have the medicine. They didn't have the sophistication, so they just attributed to the demons. And so people may look at certain things that are happening and say, "Oh, that's a--medically, this, and medically, this is happening." And it may not be wrong.

And so if we're not careful, we may look at that and say, "We are more sophisticated than the first century, so therefore, they're just simply diagnosing it as demonic." But I want to give you a different perspective on that. Because the Bible clearly says that our fight is not against flesh and blood.

There is a demonic world that all of us live under. And so everything has been tainted and is in the influence of Satan. So if we're not careful, we can easily dissect--Satanic? Not Satanic. Of God? Not of God. How much of what we consider to be medical possibly is also demonic?

That you and I clearly distinguish, because we can identify physically what's going wrong, because we've come with medicine to deal with the symptoms of epilepsy, we found the cure. But in the first century, when maybe the medical and the medicine that they have, the chemicals that may reduce the symptoms, and we suppress the symptoms, but the problem that was caused by the demonic presence, oftentimes we ignore because we think we've come up with the answer.

And all that medicine could do, at least for this, is to hide the symptoms so that we can survive. How much of what we think is the answer is simply just covering up the problem? How much of the medical things that we identify is also because it is being influenced by demonic powers?

The Bible clearly tells us that the god of this age is Satan. And the Bible says that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And so this generation is influenced and under the power of Satan. And it is a very powerful, very knowledgeable, and it is actively pursuing to devour us.

In Ezekiel 28, 13-17, I'm not going to read all of it. Most scholars believe that this prophecy about the king of Tyre is ultimately in reference to the fall of Satan. I'm not going to read all of it, but I'm going to read verse 14 and 15. It says, "You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there.

You were on the holy mountain of God. You walked in the midst of the stones of fire. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created until unrighteousness was found in you." And then you skip to verse 17. "Your heart was lifted up because of your beauty." In other words, because God has exalted you, because you were beautiful, you started to become arrogant.

"You corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor." Because you are wise, because you are knowledgeable, you became arrogant. And as a result, "I cast you to the ground. I put you before kings that they may see you." In fact, in that text, it also describes how he walked in the Garden of Eden.

That could not be king of Tyre. Jesus himself says in Luke 10-18, and he said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning." Again, many commentators believe that that, Luke 10-18, is in reference to the prophecy in Ezekiel. That what Jesus was saying was the fall of Satan.

Now, I say all of this because in our generation, especially in our circles, predominantly we're not aware how much, how active Satan is to hinder us, to defile us. The schemes that he is constantly scheming to divide the church, whether it is in your personal life or in the church, and oftentimes in the name of righteousness, oftentimes in the name of being biblical.

Satan is constantly scheming to destroy the church. And if we're not paying attention, we can easily fall. The people who are in the most danger are the ones who are not aware. They're resolved, they're educated, they read, and they're passionate, but they don't realize that there is Satanic scheming behind all that is happening.

If Satan is the god of this age, as it says in the Bible, where do you see the Satanic influence the most? How does it come into our culture? It's a rhetorical question, but I want you to think for a second. How does Satanic influence come into our culture in general, and probably even into the church?

Because he does it through scheming. He doesn't come in the devil's suit. He doesn't come in and say, "I'm Satan. Worship me." It comes in scheming. It crawls in. It creeps in. And people are not aware that they're being influenced by Satan. I would say, probably through entertainment, for the most part.

We tend to think that we have things that are of God, things that are of Satan, and then we have a bunch of neutral things. It's neither sinful, nor is it godly, but it's a bunch of neutral things. The gray areas that we have the freedom to enjoy, and to pursue, and to have, as long as it's not explicitly sinful.

What I don't identify is this is clearly wrong in the Bible. There is no such realm. Either it is of God or of the devil. The Bible doesn't say there's things that are of God, things of the devil, and then a bunch of neutral things in the middle. Either it is in the kingdom of Satan, or it's under the kingdom of God.

If somebody's living in the gray area, it means that you're allowing some sin. Acceptable. It's just not as bad as the other obvious sins. A person who is pursuing holiness is not somebody who is pursuing the middle ground. Somebody who is pursuing holiness is you want it as close to God as possible.

And I want you to see how it creeps in, and I can give you example after example after example. But there's a song called "New York." How many of you know this song? Don't be embarrassed. We all know this song, "New York, New York." Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sings this song.

In New York, the concrete jungle where dreams are made of, there's nothing you can't do. Now you're in New York. These streets will make you feel brand new. The lights will inspire you. Let's hear it for New York, New York, New York. They're probably not singing it this week.

Some of you guys know what I'm talking about, right? But I want to continue to read the rest of it. Girls need blinders so they can step out of bounds quick. The sidelines is blind with casualties. Who's sipping the life casually then gradually becomes worse. Don't bite the apple, Eve.

Caught up in the crowd. Now you're in style, and in the winter gets cold and vogue with your skin out. The city of sin is a pity on whim. Good girls gone bad. City's filled with them. Miami took a bus trip, and now she got her bust out. Everybody rides her just as a bus route.

I mean, did you know that that was in there? But I want you to pay attention to this. Hail Mary to the city, you're a virgin, and Jesus can't save you. Life starts when the church ends. Did you know that that was in there? We know the first part because we sing that, and it's on TV, it's on radio.

So many people have memorized, but did you know that that was in there? How many of the songs that you listen to have satanic lyrics? Directly blaspheming the name of God. And yet, through entertainment, it's creeping in. Some of you may have been aware that Taylor Swift, that's made a huge news.

And some of you may have been aware, not aware, why she has satanic symbols at her concerts. You know, I'm not being crazy, go look it up yourself if you haven't been paying attention. Why does she push satanic symbolism? Why was there satanic symbolism at the Super Bowl? And at the Grammys?

Why are they blatantly putting satanic symbols out? And we have people, maybe even in this room, our children, are just kind of casually led into this without much thought. If the god of this age is Satan, Satan is scheming to introduce thoughts and ideas. And we are not aware, many times, that Satan is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

There's a reason why the Bible describes him as a roaring lion. Because typically, when we see lions, they're in the zoo. They're already well-fed. They're under the shade just sleeping. Can you imagine if a roaring lion was just roaring around here? And some of you guys get scared because you saw a little coyote walking around, right?

Now, that's dangerous too. We have to watch our children. We don't want coyotes coming around. But the coyote is scared of human adults. Can you imagine a hungry lion walking around? There's a reason why Peter describes the spiritual battle that we're in. There's a roaring lion, a hungry lion, that is eagerly waiting and looking to devour.

And yet we're not aware. I want you to see the seven satanic creeds of the satanic temple. I'm assuming most of you don't know what they are. There's a separate creed of the Satanists. And the central creed of the Satanists is "There is no God but you." "Do whatever makes you happy." That's the satanic creed.

This is the satanic creed. You can look it up yourself. In order to participate in the temple of Satan, these are the seven creeds. "One should strive to act with compassion and empathy toward all creatures in accordance with reason." Now, that sounds great, compassion and empathy. But pay close attention to the wording, "to all creatures." So much of evil is coming into our generation under the guise of compassion and empathy.

That's the first creed of the satanic temple. Second, "The struggle for justice is an ongoing necessary pursuit that should prevail over laws and institutions." Does that sound familiar? Just in our last two, three years, in the name of demanding justice, buildings are burned down. People are shot. Our economy is ruined.

All in the name of justice. Look at number three, "One's body is inviolable subject to one's own will alone." What does that sound like? What does that sound like? Even before I point it out to you, I hope you can make the connection. This is the mantra of the abortionist.

My body, my choice. Evil is being propagated in our generation. Murdering of children is propagated in the name that this is my body, my choice. If I kill the baby, that's my freedom. This is part of the creed of the satanic temple. And it is unconscionable that this is creeping into the church.

We made this part of the essential doctrines of our church. And I remember when we were discussing this in our leadership meeting, it sounded so ridiculous. That we even have to put this in as distinctive in our church. Because we're a church. This is the body of Christ. Why would a professing Christian ever need to be convinced that this is evil?

This is part of the satanic creed. And people are creeping into this, people are accepting this, propagating this. Not realizing that they are doing satanic work. And then in number seven, every tenet is a guiding principle designed to inspire nobility in action and thought. The spirit of compassion, wisdom, and justice should always prevail over the written or spoken word.

Does that sound familiar? Your compassion, your wisdom, your sense of justice should prevail over anything written or spoken. What does that sound like? Where your sense of right and wrong is not determined by the word of God. But you, because you're God. You determine what is right, you determine what is wrong.

You determine if somebody lives, you determine if somebody dies. As you guys know, we have an election coming up this Tuesday. I've gone through maybe, but I counted about ten or eleven different elections after I became a Christian. I've never felt, and even now, the answer is not Republicans.

Because they are also sinful and falling short of the glory of God. And I've never seen evil be so highlighted and celebrated by one party and demanding that others submit in my life until now. I don't think any Christian can see the agenda that's being pushed by the Democratic Party.

They have a clear conscience that they are practicing compassion and righteousness. This is part of the satanic creed. Satan has duped the church. And it's shocking to me that it is penetrating into the church. I'm not as concerned about what's happening over there because Christ came because of that.

The world has always been in rebellion. They've always blasphemed God. The concern I have is what's happening inside the church. When we're not aware of what is happening and the satanic power that it has, and it's beginning to creep into the church, that's when the alarm and the bells need to be rung, which I believe it is today.

Look at what Jesus says, Luke 9, 41. Jesus answered and said, "You unbelieving and perverted generation, how long shall I be with you and put up with you? Bring your son here." He looks at the problem and the desperate situation they're in, and Jesus declares a very simple answer.

"You couldn't cast it out because you didn't believe." "You didn't cast it out, you unbelieving, perverted generation. How long will I be with you?" In other words, how much more miracles do you need to see? How much glory do you need to see? How much more do I have to give you before you really start to believe?

The problem under Satan's rule has always been the case. Some are more severe, some are more obvious than the others. He didn't say, "Hey, I took you to training. I showed you how to cast out demons. I gave you the authority." You didn't use the right technique. Instead of doing it by yourself, take him up to the mountain, anoint him with oil, say some words.

He directly rebukes the disciples. "It's because you didn't believe." "You didn't believe. How much more do you have to see?" How many people in the church have convinced themselves the problem of this world is lack of manpower? That if we march, if we speak, if we do this, that this is somehow, we're going to match evil with good.

And we're just going to march, we're going to speak, we're going to write, we're going to call people out. And if we can match their energy, that we can somehow conquer demonic forces. Jesus didn't see that. He said, "The reason why you don't have any power is because you're doing it by your own strength." "You don't have the power to do that." Hebrews 11, 6 says, "Without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." Without faith, it is impossible to please Him.

Without faith, it is impossible to engage in the spiritual battle. Without faith, you have no power over Satan. Without faith. He said, "If you have faith and you seek Him, it's because you believe that He is the rewarder." "He is the answer. He is the power that you need to tap into." But without that, you're completely helpless.

You cannot please Him. Unbelief and a perverted generation is tied together. We see that in Matthew 24. He said, "Because of the increase in wickedness, love of most will grow cold." Now, why do most people's love grow cold? Because of wickedness. I think it's pretty simple. Because of the increase of wickedness, our sins don't seem that bad.

We look at the sin of Hollywood. We look at the sin in the internet. We're not as bad as that. You hear stories of perversion to the extent that even non-Christians are shocked. So, as a result, sin is not utterly sinful. The whole reason why God waited all this time in the Old Testament is so that, through the law, that sin would become utterly sinful.

And so, when you live in a society when utter sinfulness becomes normal, it negates what the law has done. And so, the sin doesn't seem as utterly sinful. It's a mistake. This is what everybody struggles with, but we're not at a state where we believe that we are desperate.

And as a result of that, grace becomes cheap. We don't realize what it is that we've been saved from, so because grace becomes cheap grace, it taints our worship. Because worship is an overflow of gratitude with what God has done and what He saved me from. But if I don't see sin as utterly sinful, and grace becomes cheap grace, what is it that we are worshiping?

We worship what is great, whatever that may be. Whether that's music, whether that's location, whether that's sports, whatever it is, we worship what is great. But when we don't understand what it is that we've been saved from, we don't see the glory of God that saved us, it naturally taints worship.

You can come to worship, you can sing the songs, you can cry if you want, but you don't see. You're just doing what you think you should do. And because you don't worship, you don't hear from God. And the Scripture says, "Faith comes from hearing, and the hearing of the Word of Christ." Now you say, "Well, the Bible has been opened, we have inducted Bible study." Hearing from God is not simply coming and studying.

How many university professors do you know who have a PhD in New Testament and hate God? So the Bible isn't simply saying, "Hearing from God, hearing from Christ is just reading the Bible, studying the books, knowing all the theology." There's a difference between revelation and illumination. God has given us the revelation, and through the revelation, He illuminates where He opens our ears, softens our hearts, and we hear from God through His Word.

But because we are not worshiping God, because grace has become cheap, because sin is not utterly sinful, our faith becomes atrophied. And the greatest evidence of an atrophied faith is we become self-reliant. The most tangible expression of faith is prayer. Because prayer is us saying, "I need you. I am helpless.

Whatever it is that I'm endeavoring in, I cannot do it myself." The danger that you and I are in is that we think that if we march, if we speak, if we shake our fist, if we can rally, if we can get more willpower, and more people gather together, that we're going to match evil with goodness, and somehow we're going to conquer.

You cannot fight spiritual warfare with fleshy weapons. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 17, 19-20, and then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, "Why could we not drive it up?" He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting." There's two rebukes that He says. One, "Your faith is smaller than a mustard seed." After everything that they've seen, after everything that Jesus showed them. If you've ever seen a mustard seed, a friend of mine went to Jerusalem and picked one up and gave it to me.

It looks like lint. That's how tiny it is. So he put it in a bookmarker, and I was kind of trying to scrape it off because I thought lint went into the bookmark. He said, "No, that's the mustard seed." I said, "Oh." Jesus was using the smallest seed that He could possibly think of and said, "If your faith is even this small, that faith that connects you to a gigantic God, it gives you power." So one, He said, "You couldn't pass it out because you don't even have faith of a mustard seed yet." And He'll explain why at the end of this.

It says they did not understand. And because they didn't understand, because they didn't understand the cross, everything that Jesus was saying didn't make a lot of sense to them. And two, they weren't praying. That this was not going to be by your might. That if you have a faith of a mustard seed as tiny as that, and that little tiny seed that connects you to this powerful God when you pray is what's needed, but your faith is too small, and as a result, you're not praying.

We cannot engage in this spiritual warfare with more might. Some of you guys know in the last ten years, there's been a lot of fights between MMA fighters and boxers. So when the professional boxer gets in the ring, and he may be a mediocre boxer, but you have a champion MMA, and then the MMA fighter gets whooped because he has to fight according to the rules of the boxer.

The boxer knows how to punch. He knows how to take a punch. He can't use his legs. So he's not going to be effective with those rules. And in the same way, the other way. You can be a champion boxer, and you have a mediocre MMA fighter, but you go in there, they put you to the ground, and use the jiu-jitsu to put you in a lock.

It doesn't matter how powerful your punch is. In that arena, you're not going to be effective. He says, "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness and heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the full armor of God." 1 Peter 5.8, "Be of sober spirit. Be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." And then finally, 2 Corinthians 10.3-4, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh.

For the weapons of warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses." We cannot fight a spiritual warfare by matching pound for pound our will, our power, our voice. It is not the flesh that we're fighting. This is a spiritual warfare. So he says to have faith, and if you have faith, to come to him.

That's why Jesus says to his disciples, "Your spirit is willing, but your flesh is weak. So therefore, pray." Pray. Prayer is the most tangible expression of what we believe. If we believe that Christ is our answer, we need to go to Christ. If we believe that man is the answer, you need to mobilize men.

If we believe Christ is the answer, anything that leads me to Christ is the answer. If you think man is the answer, mobilize men, as many men as possible. Influential men, wealthy men, educated men, articulate men, influential men. But that's where we're going to focus our attention. If we can just gather a large group of people who are outraged and march with us, that we can match their evil with our goodness, and we're going to conquer this evil.

And we fall right into the devil's trap. We cannot engage in spiritual warfare outside of spiritual weapons. And that's why we must pray. Look what happens in Luke 9, 42-43. "While he was still approaching, the demons slammed him to the ground and threw him into the convulsion. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy and gave him back to his father." One sentence with all the things that have been described about this boy.

The effort that they made, the disciples coming and trying to cast out the demons. And how elaborate description of the mess that they are in. And all Jesus says, "I rebuke you." One sentence of his deliverance. There's no paragraph, there's no chapters devoted to what technique he used, or how many people that was gathered, what kind of training was given to them.

He just showed up and he said, "I rebuke you." And in verse 43, "And they were all amazed at the greatness of God, but while everyone was marveling at all that he was doing." One sentence. With our effort, with our strength, we are constantly frustrated. We don't have enough manpower, we don't have enough know-how, we don't have enough training.

But God is not depending on us. He's not looking for men who are strong enough, powerful enough, articulated enough. He's looking for men who will depend on him. God is not depending on us. He's looking for men who will depend on him. James 4, 2, it says, "You lust and you do not have, so you commit murder.

You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask." All the problems in the church and quarrels and divisions, "Why don't we organize this way? Why don't we do small groups this way?" And all of these things are tools that God has given us.

But he says, "The primary problem is because you did not pray." Why is there division in the church? Why is there grumbling? Why is there complaining? Why are people not getting along? It's because you did not pray. So you can implement all the solutions in the world. If we did this, if we did that.

But he said, "But God says the primary problem is you did not pray." In other words, if you did not pray, your greatest problem is you did not pray. Not the people, not the organization, not anything else. Your biggest frustration is coming from the fact that you did not pray.

Whatever frustration. You're frustrated with people, you're frustrated with organization, you're frustrated with leadership. If you ever are convinced, "I cannot grow because..." "I cannot grow because..." Because I don't have fellowship, because I don't have mentors, because I don't have this, because I don't have that. And then God says, "Everything you need for life of godliness" "has been given to you in the knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ." "You do not have because you did not ask." And you see from God's perspective, "How long do I need to be here?" "How much more do you have to be given?" "I gave you the Word of God.

I gave you the Holy Spirit." "I gave you the church. I gave you fellowship." "What more do you have? How long do I have to be here?" You unbelieving and perverted generation. Our primary problem is not more know-how, more willpower. If we did not pray, it's because we did not pray.

Matthew 7, 7-8, "Ask, and it will be given to you." "Seek, and you will find." "Knock, and it will be opened to you." "For everyone who asks receives, and who seeks finds." "And to him who knocks, it will be opened." Take your frustration to God. First and foremost, before you bring it to leadership, before you bring it to your small group leaders, take your frustration to God.

Seek me and know me. See if there's any hurtful ways in me. If I believe that He is, and He is a rewarder of those who seek Him, why am I not going to Him? Why am I going to the world? Why am I going to training? First and foremost, did you ask Him?

Did you plead with Him? Do you actually believe? Jeremiah 29-13, "You will seek me and find me when you search me with all your heart." The primary reason why the church is in the condition that it is in is we are half-heartedly devoted to our Christ. There's a part of us that desperately wants to be something in the world, and there's a part of us that wants to be in Christ.

And it is that frustration within our own body that we have not determined that, "I want Christ and Christ alone," that's causing our prayer to be weak and faint. This is why Jesus said, "It is difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven because rich people never feel anything desperate." And you say, "Well, I'm not rich." Well, if you make more than $30,000 a year, you're rich.

You're the top 5%, 4% in the world. If you woke up and you didn't struggle, it's like, "I don't have enough money to buy breakfast," you're rich. After this is over, you have a home to go, and you have a nice bed to sleep on, you're rich. Is there anybody in this room that struggled with that?

In comparison with what 99% of the world experiences according to wealth, you and I are not just rich, we are filthy rich. And so when He warns the rich that it is difficult to enter the kingdom of heaven, it's because we don't feel a sense of urgency. We want Christ.

We don't need Christ. So we feel guilty when we don't pray, but we don't recognize the desperate situation that you're in. You don't realize that it's a roaring lion about to devour you. If you heard the news that there is a mountain lion up on the hills, you're probably going to stay away from that, or you're going to have some form of protection, or for sure you're not going to allow your children to go there.

It's because we think that we have found the answer, and we don't have a sense of urgency. We feel guilty. I should be holy. I should be praying. I should be. But we don't realize the demonic power that's constantly scheming. We don't even realize the thoughts that you have may have been planted by the enemy, and you're not even aware of it.

But this is how this section ends, Luke 9, 43-45. "They were all amazed at the greatness of God, but while everyone was marveling at all that he was doing, he said to his disciples, 'Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men.'" He said, "Let these words sink in." That's a huge thing that we need to understand.

After doing everything that he's done, people are amazed. Again, he casts out these demons just simply by his word. He says, "You're marveling, but while everyone was marveling at it, he said, 'The Son of Man will be delivered into the hands of men.'" It says in verse 45, "They did not understand the statement because it was concealed from them that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask him about this statement." And the reason why the disciples didn't understand is because they didn't understand the cross.

They saw Jesus' glory, and we're going to see next week, if Jesus is glorified and we're the closest companion to him, we're going to benefit from this. And so we see in the next text, after Jesus says he's going to be murdered, well, who's going to stand to the left and to the right?

Who's the greatest? I mean, as ridiculous as this is, this is what they were wrestling with, because they did not understand the cross. How many people in the church do not understand the cross? That you see the cross as a get-out-of-jail card? And so I want to believe. I believe.

But you do not realize that following Christ is going to lead you to the cross. That the life that he has promised is on the other side of the cross. And because of that, the idea of suffering and persecution doesn't make sense. There's no room for that in your life.

That's for those people. We know very well that he was speaking to all of us. And once we have determined that that's not for us, you have rejected Christ. You cannot say you're following Christ if Christ is going to the cross. Up to this point, they didn't understand, because they saw everything that Jesus was doing, that somehow they're going to receive glory.

And then when glory didn't come, and Jesus actually went to the cross, they abandoned him. As many people today abandon Christ as soon as things go wrong. He doesn't answer our prayers. We don't get married in a timely manner. We pray for our business, our relationship, our marriage, our children, and it doesn't turn out the way we want.

They say, "How come God is not gracious to me? He doesn't answer my prayers." Just like the disciples, they didn't understand that God's blessing was going to come at the other side of the cross. That's why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1:22, "For indeed, Jews ask for signs, Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.

To the Jews, a stumbling block, Gentile foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God." The answer to man's problem is the cross. No matter who sits in the office, no matter who sits in the office, if Christ is not king, it doesn't matter who the president is.

Do you believe that? Do you believe that? I mean, I pray that the truth of the Word of God would sober us and examine how much of the world we have allowed to creep into us. That even in the name of righteousness, even in the name of fighting what is wrong, how much of that is our own flesh?

Pray, believe, pray, believe, and pray, believe, and then pray. Let's pray. Father, open our eyes, soften our hearts, that we may fix our eyes upon Christ, the author and perfecter of our faith. May Christ's name be exalted, adored, loved, obeyed, and followed, and depended upon. Lead us, guide us.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. A voice was lost, a voice was lost in darkest night. I thought I knew the way. The sin that promised royal blood had led me to the grave. I had no hope that you would own.

A rebel to go wrong. And if you have come at me first, I will refuse to stop. But as I let my doubt pass, indifferent to the cost, you looked upon my helpless soul and led me to the cross. Guide me now, God's love displayed, you suffered in my place.

You bore the wrath, you served for me, now all I know is grace. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my life. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my life. I would have loved to be yours alone, and this all might seem. The strength to follow your commands could never come from me.

Oh, Father, use my words of life in any way you choose. And when my soul will never be, I only trust in you. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my life. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ. Hallelujah, Jesus is my life. Hallelujah, all I have is Christ.

Hallelujah, Jesus is my life. Let's pray. Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the eternal love of God the Father, rest, restore, equip the children of God that we may be the light wherever you send us. Amen. God sent his Son. They called him Jesus.

He came to love, heal, and forgive. Every day and hour, to my, my calling, an empty grave is there to my Savior rest. Because he rests, I can face tomorrow. Because he rests, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives.

The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell. It goes beyond the highest star and reaches to the lowest hell. The guilty bear bowed down with care. God gave his Son to win. His erring child he reconciled and pardoned from his sin. The love of God, how rich and pure, how measureless.