(gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New and more ♪ ♪ Sins they are many ♪ ♪ Mercy is more ♪ ♪ And remember no wrongs we have done ♪ ♪ Omniscient all knowing ♪ ♪ He counts not their sum ♪ ♪ Thrown into a sea ♪ ♪ Without bottom or shore ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ - One piece.

♪ Patience will wait as we constantly hope ♪ ♪ What Father so tender is calling us home ♪ ♪ He welcomes the weakest ♪ ♪ The vilest, the poor ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New and more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New and more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ What riches of kindness ♪ ♪ He lavished on us ♪ ♪ His blood was the payment ♪ ♪ His life was the cost ♪ ♪ We stood 'neath the dead ♪ ♪ We could never afford ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New and more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ ♪ Stronger than darkness ♪ ♪ New and more ♪ ♪ Our sins they are many ♪ ♪ His mercy is more ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Berean Community Church. I know I was away for a couple weeks because of our mission trip to India and then my visit out to Korea, and I'll explain a little bit about what happened and about our mission work that's gonna start in Korea this summer, and I'll give you a little explanation on that.

But let me get to a few announcements before we get started. First of all, our BCC service auction that we have every year is taking place, and they're taking submissions for either service or any kind of product that you wanna donate for that. They're taking that right now, and then the auction itself is happening in March.

And again, for the service aspect of it, we're only taking it from members because we're trying to control certain type of things that are going on. And the money that's coming in for that is gonna be specifically used for adoption fund. So some of you guys may be aware or not aware, but for the members of the church and those of you who are interested in possibly adopting children in the future, the funds are gonna be reserved for that.

And so after you're done with the process, there is an application that you can turn in. And so the funds that we are raising will be specifically laid aside for that purpose. So that's happening. Again, the submission for the service and the products are taking place now, and then the service itself, or the auction itself, is taking place in March.

Men's ministry meeting happening on Saturday, February 18th and a few Saturdays. The cost of it is $10. There's gonna be light breakfast and then a lunch fellowship afterwards. And Pastor Mark is gonna be covering the subject of men's purity. And so again, this is a subject that I think is very needed in our generation.

And so we highly encourage you to participate in that and then to establish accountability. And again, the subject matter is very important. So whether you are a college student or high school student or whether you've been married for a long time, I think it would be very useful. Again, so this is happening on a quarterly basis, but the next one is happening on February 18th.

BAM retreat is coming up on Friday, Friday through Sunday on February 24th and 26th. The topic is fear of God. Pastor Simon Suh is gonna be preaching for the, this is the singles ministry. The registration is $150. So if you haven't done so, please sign up for that as soon as possible.

And then one last is SEEDS nursery PTA meeting happening on Sunday, February 26th at 1 p.m. So if you have children in any of our departments from the little children, I think up to elementary school. So if you have children in that department, they're having a PTA meeting to give you announcements on what's happening and to meet some of the teachers there.

So please come to that. Okay. One other thing is that I know we've been having parking issues and maybe not, maybe today if had problems parking or finding parking, we are looking for parking. And so I just wanted to make an announcement for those of you who attend first service.

Okay. And maybe today is not usual. We made the announcement for service that if you are planning to get off campus, to try to get off campus before 11, not at 1110. Okay. So if you're gonna get off campus anyway, because we need to make some space. Last week we ran out of parking.

I heard the last couple of weeks we ran out of parking. So we need your help in doing that. So if you are planning to, and then if you attend first service and you're gonna meet somebody for lunch and you brought two cars to take both cars off the campus if possible, so we need to make some space in order to accommodate.

And so we are looking for more parking, but for now we're asking like if you are able to take the car off campus and then if you're gonna come back, I'm sure there'll be enough parking when you come back. Okay. I think that's it for the announcements. Let me pray for our offering.

Again, if you have a physical offering, we have an offering box in the back that you can visit afterwards. So let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace. Thank you for the things that we are aware of. And especially for the things that we're not aware of.

That as you are working all things together for good. Help us Lord God, to not to simply confess that you are sovereign, but to believe that all good and perfect gift comes from you. We pray that through this service, that we would be reminded again of who you are.

More than anything else Lord God, that we would give you worship in spirit and in truth. That even in this giving, that we would not give out a habit or under compulsion, but cheerfully Lord God, that it may be multiplied and be used for your purpose, and your honor, and your glory.

In Jesus name we pray. Amen. (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) - Church family, would you please stand with us as we continue our worship? (soft music) ♪ One church, one faith ♪ ♪ One anthem raised ♪ ♪ God and God alone ♪ ♪ One cross, one grace ♪ ♪ One name that says ♪ ♪ All praise to you belong ♪ ♪ All praise to you belong ♪ ♪ We lift you high, high ♪ ♪ God and God alone ♪ ♪ You'll be louder, louder ♪ ♪ Than any other song ♪ ♪ You are forever sitting on your throne ♪ ♪ You are forever God and God alone ♪ ♪ Who else can watch or set away ♪ ♪ God and God alone ♪ ♪ Who else can raise us from the grave ♪ ♪ All praise to you belong ♪ ♪ Jesus, all praise to you belong ♪ ♪ We lift you high, high ♪ ♪ God and God alone ♪ ♪ You'll be louder, louder ♪ ♪ Than any other song ♪ ♪ You are forever sitting on your throne ♪ ♪ You are forever God and God alone ♪ ♪ Who else can watch or separate us ♪ ♪ From this amazing love ♪ ♪ What could say it's greater than our God ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow down ♪ ♪ Oh, what could separate us ♪ ♪ From this amazing love ♪ ♪ What could say it's greater than our God ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow down ♪ ♪ Oh, every knee will bow down ♪ ♪ We lift you high, high ♪ ♪ God and God alone ♪ ♪ You'll be louder, louder ♪ ♪ Than any other song ♪ ♪ You are forever sitting on your throne ♪ ♪ We lift you high, high ♪ ♪ God and God alone ♪ ♪ You'll be louder, louder ♪ ♪ Than any other song ♪ ♪ You are forever sitting on your throne ♪ ♪ You are forever God and God alone ♪ ♪ You are forever God and God alone ♪ ♪ And what could separate us ♪ ♪ From this amazing love ♪ ♪ What could say it's greater than our God ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow down ♪ ♪ What could separate us ♪ ♪ From this amazing love ♪ ♪ What could say it's greater than our God ♪ ♪ Every knee will bow down ♪ ♪ Oh, every knee will bow down ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Your will be done by God and Father ♪ ♪ As in heaven so on earth ♪ ♪ My heart is drawn to self-exalting ♪ ♪ Help me save your kingdom first ♪ ♪ As Jesus walked so I shall walk ♪ ♪ Held by your same unchanging hand ♪ ♪ Be still my soul ♪ ♪ Lift your voice and pray ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ ♪ How in the garden he persisted ♪ ♪ I may never fully know ♪ ♪ The fearful weight of true obedience ♪ ♪ In what held me by ♪ ♪ A wondrous way to bear the cross ♪ ♪ To bear my sin was wondrous love ♪ ♪ My hope was sure ♪ ♪ Yet there my Savior prayed ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ (gentle music) ♪ When I am lost and I am broken ♪ ♪ In the night of fear and doubt ♪ ♪ Still I will trust in my good Father ♪ ♪ Yes to what breaking I bow ♪ ♪ As Jesus walked so I shall rise ♪ ♪ Hear a song for me at the throne ♪ ♪ Lift your heart to stride ♪ ♪ Before your sins I pray ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ As we go forth our God and Father ♪ ♪ Lead us daily in the fight ♪ ♪ That all the world might see your glory ♪ ♪ And your name be lifted high ♪ ♪ And in this day we overcome ♪ ♪ For you shall see us safely born ♪ ♪ Now as your church we lift our voice and pray ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ ♪ And in this day we overcome ♪ ♪ For you shall see us safely born ♪ ♪ Now as your church we lift our voice and pray ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ ♪ Father not my will but yours be done ♪ (gentle music) - Amen, you may be seated.

All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter four, it's been about six, seven weeks since we've been in this text. And so we wanna jump back in. I'm gonna be mainly covering from 21 to 30, but let me read starting from verse 14 to refresh our memory of the context, okay?

Luke chapter four, 14 through, I'm gonna read all the way to 30. And Jesus returned to Galilee, and the power of the Spirit and news about him spread through all the surrounding district. And he began teaching in their synagogues and was praised by all. And he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as was his custom, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read.

And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him, and he opened the book and found the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and to recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favor of the ear of the Lord.

And he closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down, and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." And all were speaking well of him and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from his lips.

And they were saying, "Is this not Joseph's son?" And he said to them, "No doubt you will quote this proverb to me, 'Physician, heal yourself. Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum. Do here in your hometown as well.' And he said, 'Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown.

But I say to you in truth, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah when the sky was shut up for three years and six months when a great famine came over all the land. And Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow.

And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed but only Naaman the Syrian. And all the people in the synagogue were filled with rage as they heard these things. And they got up and drove him out of the city and led him to the brow of the hill on which their city had been built in order to throw him down the cliff.

But passing through their midst, he went his way." Let's pray. Gracious Father, we ask for understanding. We ask for eager ears and hearts to listen, to be molded. We pray that your word and only your word would go forth. Renew us, revive us. Help us, Lord God, to see a clearer picture of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. As you guys know, I wanted to give a brief update on India. You know, as you guys know, the persecution meter in India has been going up exponentially. And we've been hearing news from our pastors and just from the news itself, the persecution and just how intense it got, especially during the pandemic.

Because there's basically no police presence in the area that we're going. And so the pastors, it's become a regular thing that they're getting rocks thrown at and beaten. And so in the midst of that, we've been very encouraged that they had resolve and their fellowship was going strong. And they were even adding more pastors to their fold so that they can reach certain areas.

So some of you guys who don't know, the area that we're going into is the heaviest concentration of unreached people groups in the world, which I did not know. When we first started ministry, part of the reason why we decided to go in, it was for that reason. Because prior to that, I thought the greatest concentration of unreached people groups, I thought that that was in the Middle East.

And then when I found out that that was in India, and in particular, the area that we're going into, and those of you who've been to India with us know exactly why, because it is just so remote. And you have to, even if you're Indian, if you don't speak that local dialect, you can't go in there and evangelize.

So you have to be a Christian who knows that dialect to be able to get in there, to be able to share the gospel with them. This time around, the environment was very different than any other time that I've been to India. Those of you who've been with us to India know exactly what I'm talking about, because when we get there, usually it's a pretty lively environment.

The pastors are there. They enjoy each other's company. And even in the midst of heavy suffering, as you guys know, we reported about three years ago about eight to ten pastors who were dragged into the forest and beaten and left for dead. By the grace of God, the forest ranger found them and brought them back to the hospital.

And then again, not too long ago, they broke into the training center that we built for them. And one of the pastors was severely beaten and was hospitalized for about a week and a half. And even in the midst of that, they're still going strong, still deliberately bringing the gospel to these areas.

But this time around, we could tell that there was discouragement among the pastors. Their greatest concern in this trip was for our own safety. In fact, out of the four villages that we went to, two of them, they had to change the last minute. And I didn't even know about that until we were about the fourth day, and they told us that the first village and the third village, they actually had to change the last minute because they found out, as they sent pastors the night before to scope out what's going on, they said that there was a crowd that was already stirred up through the leaders waiting for us.

And so they took us further away than what we normally go to. And so again, they didn't even share any of this with us in order to kind of keep us comfortable. And so I could tell that the environment was, there was a little bit of discouragement there. And the discouragement was coming not from the outside, but there was a pastor who was a core pastor among them.

And because he was disgruntled, he ended up leaving the group. And whether he was doing it or the information is coming through him, it was kind of, it was bringing discouragement because they didn't know who was disseminating this information about where we're at. They kind of, they told me on Thursday that they didn't tell the pastors where we were at.

And so only the translators and a few of the people that they were familiar with. Usually when we get there, there would be about 40 some pastors waiting for us, but this time around, it was about the third of the numbers that was there. And you could tell that there was some discouragement.

And so, and they did share with me that there was some concern and that after we leave, that they're going to have to deal with that and we're praying for them so that it would go well, that the discouragement that came in. And through all the hardships and the beating that they've gone through, the thing that has brought the greatest discouragement was within.

And it's probably no different than here. When persecution comes and when things become difficult outside, typically that strengthens the church. It causes the Christians to have a greater resolve. But oftentimes, that's not how Satan attacks. Satan attacks by, you know, poking at the members within, sometimes within the leadership, bringing division.

And when that is not handled well, it leads to whatever else it leads to in the church. And so we're praying for them. We're praying that God would continue to use them. And again, we're asking you to keep them in your prayers that the ministry-- and again, it's one of the most effective things that we've done in our church history because our medical professionals and other people who go with us, we're literally going into villages to open the doors for the gospel to go into these Hindus.

And the typical response that we get from afterwards is that they're surprised that the Christians would be so generous to the Hindus. And they would say, "The Hindus would never do this for Christians." So they're actually surprised that when it's opened up and at the end of the day, more and more villages come out because they realize that this is open to everybody.

And that's what opens the door for the pastors to be able to come in and share the gospel. Oftentimes, they're actually being invited to come. "We want you to come to where we are also." And that opens the door. And the reason why we're able to get into these villages is because the Hindu leaders in the villages hear about us, and they're actually inviting us to come.

So we're coming usually under their protection, under their invitation. That's why we're able to get in there. But again, some of these villages, they found out that leaders were stirred up before we came, and so they had to switch up. As you guys know, after that, I went to Korea to set up.

And I just wanted to give a quick announcement that some of you guys who may have heard, starting from this summer, late June to mid-July, we're going to be taking our first team out to Korea to possibly start work there. We're going to be having our interest meeting next Sunday at 1 o'clock.

So if those of you are interested, I'll tell you where it's going to be after the second service, and then I'll give you all the information that you need to make a decision if you're willing to come out with us this summer. The contrast between these two places couldn't be any further.

In India, we're talking about, we're going in there thinking that we don't know what's going to happen. Is it going to be safe for us? And everything about that place reminds us that this is not our home, and it forces us to be sober. And it causes us to have deeper fellowship.

Because we know we're not home, and there is a sense of pressure that we feel. Even though we didn't necessarily feel any physical danger, that threat is always kind of in the back of our mind, and that causes us to be sober. In contrast, in Korea, it's exactly the opposite.

You typically go to Korea, you don't think of hardship. Korea is rated number one in technology. And as soon as you enter, you know that this is a pretty wealthy country, and everything is so convenient. Everything that you would think of convenience, of why you would want to visit a big city, I mean, Korea has that, and then some.

Spiritually speaking, though, Korea is a much more dangerous place than India. Because India, everything about it causes us to cling to Christ. Everything about India causes us to desire fellowship, and it reminds us that this is not our home. Korea, on the other hand, is a constant spiritual battle.

This is a country that had experienced one of the greatest revivals in modern history. The last hundred years were a country who almost had no Christianity, had 33% and above who claimed to be Christians. But in one generation, it went from that to less than 3%. So the next generation, where the country was known for fast rise economically, fast rise spiritually, went from that to one of the highest technologically advanced, it is one of the top economies in Asia, K-pop, K-drama, that's what it's known for.

It's known for plastic surgery, it's known for wealth, and yet their spirituality, Christianity, is just bottoming out. And so one of our main reasons why we're starting work there is so that we can reach out to the campuses because the churches have basically dried up over there. The mega churches, they have, I know a friend who was in charge of the mission program as one of these mega churches, and he told me his budget just for the mission program was $10 million.

This one particular church put aside over $100 million just in case North Korea opens up, so that they can use that to bring the gospel to North Korea. But the problem with that is, as much as they are doing all of these things on the surface, spiritually, within their own churches, they have dried up spiritually.

They have the resources, they have the money, they have the buildings, and yet the people within the church have synchronized into the wealthy, secular, the new Korea that the second generation sees the superficialness of this, and they don't want any part of it. And they don't have a second generation to take over what God has built in the previous generation.

So what we're hoping to do is to get into Korea and help these two particular churches that we've come into contact with to reach out to the local campuses. And so, going to India, you need to be sober because you need to know where you're getting into. We don't want anybody getting into India thinking like, you know, this is going to be a fun trip.

Korea, on the other hand, you must be very sober. Yeah, because a spiritual attack comes, and you don't even know it. You get dragged into everything that Korea has to offer, and you might be under attack and not even know it, and so it's much more dangerous to be a Christian in that culture, which is the culture that you and I are in here today.

Because we're comfortable, because we're wealthy, because we have all the freedom that we need, we have all the access that we need, that we're not aware of the spiritual attack that's happening, and we are being dragged into the world, and we don't even know it. And so if there's any place where there is in dire need of soberness is you and I here.

It wasn't the team out in China--I mean, out in India. I don't need to remind them to be sober. I don't need to remind our team why we're here because everything about it reminds us of that. But here, if it's not reminded, our natural inclination is because we don't have much threat coming from the outside, that we forget that there is an enemy roaring, prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour, and we are being devoured, and yet we are not aware.

The whole time I was in India, I couldn't get the thought out of my mind that we traveled 35 hours on plane, on buses, to get to the village, and just how tiring it is. In my 40s, I was okay. Now that I'm in my 50s, the travel is getting more and more difficult, and then coming back, I barely woke up today.

I was sleeping at--I was-- first time in three days, I actually fell asleep in the middle of the night, and then Faith came into the room and woke me up. I said, "Daddy, it's 8 o'clock." And they said, "Yeah, so why are you waking me up? I'm so tired." And I said, "It's Sunday." He's like, "Oh, shoot.

I'm going to be on the pulpit in about an hour." So I got dressed, and I-- So I got here. The traveling is becoming more tiring, but at the same time, you know, it's so rewarding to be able to participate in that work. The fellowship that we have with our brothers and sisters while we're there, you know, but I couldn't get that out of my head.

The whole time I was there-- and I did share this with our India team-- this is tiring for us to travel 35 hours. And if you look at the map, this is probably as far as we can go land-wise, distance-wise, from where we are in Southern California to where we go, right?

And I couldn't get that out of my head, just how far our Lord traveled to come and get us. Of course, I'm not just talking about physically. I'm talking about the God of the universe who created all things, Holy, Holy, Holy God, took on human form and walked among us and humbled himself, the distance that our God and Savior had to travel to come and bring the gospel, the good news, to us.

Even if he came as the emperor of Rome, it would have been humiliating for him to live veiling his glory. Can you imagine how tempted he must have been while he was walking on this earth when people are mocking him, rejecting him, questioning him? How tempted he must have been, the kind of self-control he must have had for him to say, "Enough," and reveal his glory and then just get back to where he was, enjoy his fellowship with the God the Father and the Holy Spirit, just the distance that he traveled.

You know, the story that we're looking at this morning is about the rejection of Christ at his hometown in Nazareth. When we read the gospel superficially, you can read and say, "You know, Jesus starts out, "and maybe he lived humbly, "but as he begins to reveal himself, "he starts gaining a bigger and bigger crowd, "and he goes to the cross, and he goes to heaven in glory, "and then one day he was going to come back in his full glory." But if you study the gospels carefully, that's not how it's presented to us.

Every part of the gospel story tells us of why and how he was rejected, not simply by his hometown. He goes and spends more than half of his ministry in Capernaum, in Chorazin, in Bethsaida, and at the end of his public ministry, they all leave him in John 6, 66, because he says, "I am.

I am the bread. "You are looking through me to get to something, "but I am the bread." So the whole gospel of John is the seven "I am" statements. "I am the light. You're looking for the light, "but I am the light. "You're looking for a shepherd, a leader, "but I am the good shepherd.

"You're looking for meaning. "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. "No one goes to the Father but through me." So the seven "I am" statement is trying to correct people who are looking to Jesus, thinking that he is going to get them to where they want to go.

And Jesus reminds them, "It is me. "I am your life. I am your answer. "I am your refuge." At the end of that, they reject him. And then he heads toward the cross, and at the end of this path, all his disciples that he discipled and he relied on, who walked with him, revealed himself to them.

They reject him. Then at the very end, the leaders of Israel capture him, and then they reject him. And then the Gentile world, represented by the Romans, they capture him, they crucify him, and they reject him. So all of the Gospels basically is summarized in John 1, 9-11. It says, "There was the true light of which coming into the world "enlightens every man.

"He was in the world, and the world was made through him, "and the world did not know him. "He came to his own, and those who were his own "did not receive him." The Gospel story is about the rejection of Christ. Yes, it ends in glory at the cross, but his whole ministry, his whole life, is about the rejection of Christ, every part of it.

In fact, Luke 2, 34-35, Simeon prophesied that this was going to happen. "Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "'Behold, the child appointed for the fall "'and the rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed. "'And a sword will pierce even your own soul "'to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.'" So from his very birth, he didn't just say he's going to come and seek and save the lost.

He said many will oppose him. Their true intentions and heart is going to be exposed. The presence of God, we typically think is going to bring delight. But the Gospel story tells us that instead of bringing delight, it exposed their sins. So this morning, as we look at the text that we're looking at, why did they reject him?

They've been waiting for him, praying for him. They've been telling each other about him, that when he comes, all things are going to be great. Every frustration that they had, every oppression that they felt. When the Messiah comes, they studied the Scriptures. They reminded each other. They memorized. But when he finally came, they wanted to throw him off a cliff and kill him.

Now we may look at that and say, "These dummies." If we were there, I don't know if I would be this blind, if I would be this foolish. But these stories are not simply history about something that happened to those people. It is an indictment against mankind. It is an indictment against you and I.

How Jesus could be so close. How he could have made it so clear. How you can go to church all your life and yet have nothing to do with him. That is the danger of where you and I are at. Where you and I have been Christianized. You and I have been Christianized to the point that we can be so blind.

You know, the greatest problem in our modern generation is that our churches are filled with people who neither hate Jesus nor love Jesus. And I think most of you who have been at church, any church, even this church, know that that's probably true. But our greatest struggle in any period of our church history is that we are constantly struggling.

Our congregation is filled with people who neither hate Jesus nor really love Jesus. And we are perfectly satisfied to be somewhere in between. And that's why we say, "Well, we checked off. I did this, this, and this." We say, "What more do you want?" When we know clearly, the Scripture says, "Not anyone who calls me Lord, Lord, child, into the kingdom of heaven." The greatest thing that God desires of us is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.

We know that. We memorize that. We sing that. Yet our churches are filled with people who neither hate Jesus nor really love Jesus. Why did they reject Him? There's three things that I observed. One, they rejected Jesus because they couldn't accept Him as more than a mere man. If you remember, as Jesus was going around, remember what they said?

They said, "Many people were speaking very highly of Him." By the time He shows up in Nazareth, Jesus was already doing ministry and miracles in Capernaum. And so, you remember what Nazareth is. Nazareth is a tiny little city, and they said, "What good comes from Nazareth?" All of a sudden, they have a hometown hero.

They're putting Nazareth on the map. The only reason why we even know about Nazareth is because of Jesus. So here's this man, from nowhere, all of a sudden, everybody's talking about this man who's performing miracles. Possibly He's the Messiah. And they were speaking very highly of Him. He comes to his hometown, and it says, "In the synagogue where He grew up." And you have to understand what the synagogue is.

The synagogue was kind of like their rec center. Those of you who've been to India, every village we go to, there is a building that is used universally. So typically, a lot of these children don't end up going to regular public school because they're poor, and they end up just kind of creating a makeshift school.

So every building we go into, they have, you know, Telugu, the local language, and then maybe English and math on the board, because that's where they get their education. That's where they have town meetings. That's where they have cultural centers. That's where they invite guests to come. Any meeting that requires a little bit bigger building, that's the building that they would use.

The synagogues was that for the Jews, because they kind of spread out, and what typically happened in the temple couldn't happen at the temple anymore, because it was too far. If you were a faithful Jew, you would make a pilgrimage maybe once a year, twice a year, if you're very faithful.

The majority of the Jews probably made it one time, because it cost a lot of money to be able to go to the temple and come back. So most of everything that they did happened at the synagogue. The synagogue was kind of like the community center where the children were gathered together, getting their education, where the parents, you know, if they celebrated big parties and birthdays, possibly if they had weddings, that's the building they probably used.

The reason why this is significant is because Jesus grew up here. Jesus grew up here. And so they were very familiar with Jesus. Jesus, in every other city, was a prophet, he was a miracle worker, but Jesus, that was his hometown, they saw him grow up. Some of them probably have the tables that he made, with his dad sitting in their living room, sitting in their houses, the bed that they were sleeping in, Jesus probably made that.

You know, I've heard so many pastors give sermons about how Jesus was the perfect carpenter, he never had a crooked table, he never had... I think Jesus' table was crooked. I think his chairs were not even, because it's not sin, it's human, right? He didn't have a laser pointer, how did he make it so straight?

He was probably like anybody else. And that's why it was so difficult for them, because they were willing to accept him as a great man, a performer, a hometown hero, but the problem was, Jesus declared to be much more than that. In John 6, 42, it says, "They were saying, 'Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?' How does he now say, 'I have come down out of heaven?'" See, up to this point, they said they were so enamored with his gracious words, and everybody outside was speaking so highly of him.

And when he began to say, "I am from heaven," in fact, John 10, 33, goes even further, and it says, "The Jews answered him, 'For good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy, and because you being a man, make yourself out to be God.'" They wanted to reject him.

They loved him as a man. They loved him as a miracle worker. And as long as he didn't speak, they would have adored him. They would have lived, he would have lived a very comfortable life with everybody admiring him and loving him. It was because of the things that he said.

A mere man, according to their words, claimed to be God. And they knew exactly what that meant. See, to honor him as a person, as a great example, as a humanitarian, there's nobody greater than Jesus. He influenced more people in the last 2,000 years to be gracious and generous, to think of the poor, for doctors to go into remotest villages because of Jesus' example and his teaching.

But him claiming to be God, he wasn't simply asking us to see his example. He wasn't simply asking us to follow him to the poor. If he is God, he is demanding submission. It is no longer about you and I. If he is God, if he's a great humanitarian, we just follow his example.

We honor him. Nobody hates Mother Teresa, Albert Schweitzer. Nobody hates these people who are generous and give to the poor. But Jesus didn't simply say that. He says, "I am God," meaning that we are to submit to him. We are to obey him. We are to worship him. If he is God, it is no longer about me and you.

It is no longer about our wish lists. It no longer matters that you live a long life. That's not what he promised us. It no longer matters that you have the best job. It no longer matters that your children are safe. If he is God, because our greatest calling in life is to submit to this God, is to obey this God, to worship this God.

If he is God, if you keep him as an example, if you keep him as a supporter, a refuge, only without recognizing him as God, you would love him. No one would persecute you. If all we did to go to the villages and did humanitarian work, every time we go, every village would roll out the red carpet.

Why not? These rich Americans are coming in here and doing all these great humanitarian work. Persecution comes because of the message that is brought with that. They wanted to accept him as a hometown hero, the Messiah, the deliverer from Rome, but not as God. You cannot, you cannot know God as a savior if you do not know God as God.

That's like saying somebody, somebody saying, "Peter, I really want to have an intimate relationship with you, but I'm not going to accept your Asian-ness." You can't do that. I can't just take that off. You can't have a relationship with me if you hate my Asian-ness. That's who, because this is who I am.

I can't take that off. You cannot pick and choose the things that you like about Jesus and reject his Godhood. They wanted Christ as a good example. They wanted him as a hometown hero. They wanted him to be their king, but could not accept him as God. That's why the whole Gospel of James, or John, is around the seven "I am" statements of Jesus, because people were coming to Jesus hoping that he will answer their prayers.

"Give me bread. Give me some direction. Point us to the right leaders. Sustain us. Guide us." In the midst of seeing Jesus as an avenue to get what they want, Jesus says, "I am. I am. I'm not leading you to the right direction. I am the destination. I don't just give you the bread.

I am the bread. I'm not just going to point you to the leadership. I am the good shepherd." So you can come to church all your life and like the church. Love your friends. You can fall in love with the idea of being in love with the Bible without really loving the Bible.

Let me say that again, because we're at a church where the Bible is elevated, and we put a high premium on knowing the Bible, but you can be in love with the idea of being in love with the Bible without being in love with Christ, and you have missed the whole point of why the Bible is elevated.

They rejected him because they wanted his humanity, but they didn't want his deity. Secondly, they rejected Jesus because he was too familiar. "Isn't this Joseph's son? Didn't he build our furniture? We saw him grow up. His sisters are still with us. He's speaking in front of his aunties and uncles and elders who watched him grow, and now he's not just saying that he has great words.

No, he's demanding more than that." In Mark 6:3, it says, "Is not this carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon, are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Even his own siblings had a hard time believing.

You know what this tells me was that Jesus, when he was growing up, did not walk on water just for fun. He didn't get hungry and then say, "Hey, I can make gold coins out of these fish. Go get it." Because he lived exactly like them. That's why they say, "He was with us.

We know this guy. We remember when he was a kid, when he was circumcised. He was with us. We saw him grow up. We know his dad. We know his mom. We know his siblings. We know his work." And because Jesus was too familiar with them, he said, "He was one of us and how can he be greater than us?" Sometimes, the greatest things in our lives are the things that are pretty mundane and regular.

We get caught up in seeking the spectacular, that it causes us to grumble about the regular. You know, the perfect example of that is every single one of us in here, physically and spiritually, are here because somebody sacrificed tremendously for you. Physically, none of you came out of your mother's womb and fed yourself.

Not one person is saying, "You don't know my mom." It's like, "Of course I know your mom." None of you. I don't care what kind of relationship you have with her or your dad. Somebody sacrificed to feed you and keep you alive. Once a year, we're like, "Oh, Mother's Day, here's some flowers." If you had a friend who did a portion of what your parents did for you, you're like, "That's my best friend." I remember the first time it really hit me was, by that time, we had about three.

The fourth one came later. It was like we had two weeks of just miserable. Esa and I got sick. All the kids got sick. We didn't have adults around us, so we were just kind of doing what we can. I remember just Esa and I both just miserable, just trying to survive.

The kids got sick. I remember waking up in the middle of the night after about three or four days of this, just miserable, and feeding them milk. Just like, "My fever's going nuts, and I have a headache. I haven't slept in three days. But if I don't feed them, they're going to die.

Literally, they're going to die." So we're feeding them, then go back to sleep, and miserable came back up. I remember in one of these nights, miserable, just feeding one of these kids, thinking, "My mom must have done this for me. Somebody did this for me." You don't really think about it until you're in that situation and realize just how hard it is to raise a kid.

But it's so mundane because you're just so used to it. And then when they're immature, it's like, "Well, you're supposed to do that. You're my mom." It requires every restraint in your body to hold your arm. God is merciful, so I need to be merciful. But as tremendous love kept us alive, nothing compared to what God has done for us.

The distance He traveled, just so that you can understand what I'm talking to you about. You didn't choose one day to wake up and say, "Oh, I'm done with this. I'm going to love Jesus. I'm going to go to church, and the Bible is just going to make sense to me today." That didn't just happen.

The Son of God had to empty Himself of His glory. For who? For people who aren't going to appreciate Him. Not to the degree that He deserves. See, people are going to be constantly distracted. People are going to grumble and complain because, "I didn't get the job that I wanted." Because life isn't exactly the way I wanted.

It didn't happen exactly at the timing that I wanted. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. How many people in this room entered with some discontent? Not really ready to worship God. The very breath that you and I breathe were dependent upon Him. The ability to understand what's coming out of these words.

Remember, if you've ever read the Word of God before the Holy Spirit opened your eyes, it's just nonsense. It's utter gibberish. Why does it all of a sudden, one day, make sense? You didn't do that. You didn't all of a sudden, your IQ just started skyrocketing, and then it made sense.

God had mercy on us. But everything that becomes ordinary, we have a tendency to not appreciate. And that happens with relationships. We have a honeymoon stage, and then we get comfortable with our wives and our husbands. And then we're always thinking about, "Oh, when we first got married." And then that leads to grumbling.

And that grumbling leads to failed marriages. Because everything that becomes mundane, most likely, even in bad marriages, that person probably means more to you than anybody else in your life. Because you've gone through more with them than anybody else in your life. They've been more patient with you than anybody else in your life.

And yet, because it becomes mundane, it becomes regular, because you interact with them so often, they're no longer spectacular. That happens in the church. We have a honeymoon stage. "Oh, God has sold us." I can't believe He did that. And after about 5, 6, 10 years, the people who are the hardest to reach are the people who were raised in the church.

The PKs and the MKs were so familiar, were so blessed with the presence of the gospel in their lives, are sometimes the hardest to reach. Because the spectacular has become so mundane. And as it becomes mundane, that's when the grumbling comes in. Because you're no longer appreciative of what you have, and then when the grumbling comes in, that leads to whatever else.

Destruction, division. Jesus was just too familiar. How can He be so spectacular when I know Him? How can He be anything else other than a good person? As a result, they rejected Him. But third and finally, they rejected Jesus because Jesus called them out of their sins. Jesus, at the end, coming into Jerusalem and Nazareth, He said, "People are speaking very highly of Him." He said, "Gracious words are flowing out of His mouth." And then at the end of that, He said, "But isn't He the Son of Joseph?" And Jesus, knowing what's in His heart, He goes off and He says, "You're going to say, quote this proverb." The prophet is not honored in his hometown, and He gives these two stories of the time of Elijah and Elisha.

And how these two greatest prophets of the Old Testament, Elijah is known as the greatest prophet of the Old Testament. Elisha had more miracles than any other prophets. So when you're talking about powerful miracle workers in the Old Testament, it would be Elijah, and then Elisha took it to the next level.

And He says, "These two prophets God sent to Israel as an indictment against Israel." That in the midst of this great famine, instead of going to Israel, He went to a Gentile. Elisha, instead of healing so many lepers in Israel, healed the Syrian, who was an enemy of Israel, as an indictment against Israel.

Now, why does Jesus say that? He's saying that because He's telling them, "You are living in that generation." That Jesus was sent, the Messiah was sent to deliver them, but first and foremost, to indict them for their sins. Because until they recognize the darkness in their heart, they would not know who Jesus is.

The dean of divinity of Yale, which is an oxymoron, is quoted in saying this, "How is the preaching of repentance, and a call to shape up afterward, how is that good news?" Joel Osteen, when they asked him, "How come you don't preach against sin and repentance?" His answer was, "There's enough pushing people down in life already." He added, "When they come to my church or our meetings, I want them to be lifted up.

I want them to know that God's good, that they can move forward, that they can break an addiction, that they can become who God created them to be." On the surface, he's like, "Yeah, life is hard enough." I said, "You know how hard it is to raise kids? You know how hard it is to have a good marriage?

You know, like the economic downturn, there's a recession coming, or at least everybody's saying. So life is hard enough as it is, and you go to church and say, 'We need to repent of our sins. We don't want people leaving our church discouraged.'" I said, "There's enough discouragement." On the surface, that sounds great.

"Yeah, God is gracious. He's love. He loves us unconditionally. Why do we keep hearing a call to repentance?" Robert Shuler, when they asked him this question, he said, "The core of sin is lack of self-esteem. Sin is psychological self-abuse. The most serious sin is one that causes me to say, 'I am unworthy.

I may have no claim to divine sonship. If you examine me at my worst, for once a person believes he is an unworthy sinner, it is doubtful if he can really honestly accept the saving grace God offers in Jesus Christ." If you've never read the Bible, read it superficially, you may read that and say, "Yeah, that sounds about right.

Because God is gracious and loving. You want the church to be a place where people are living uplifted and want to face the hardship of life and marriage and raising children. Why do you want to feel down when you leave the church?" But if you read the Bible, you know this is utter blasphemy.

Jesus gives an example of the Pharisee who comes up and says, "Thank God I'm not like them. Thank God you've blessed me that I don't act like these sinners." And he had the tax collector beating his chest because he couldn't raise his head. And Jesus said, "Who is forgiven?

Who has found peace? Who has found salvation? Who is forgiven? The tax collector." There's a reason why this whole drama of the Israelites, everything was given so that sin could be utterly sinful. And it says at the perfect time when sin became utterly sinful, Jesus came to expose the sins of Israel, his hometown, the nation of Israel, his own disciples, and the world itself.

Why did he need to expose their sins? Because their greatest problem was not economics. Their greatest problem was not oppression from Rome. Their greatest struggle is not the relationship between mom and dad. Their greatest heartache didn't become because relationships are difficult. He said all of that exists because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

All the problems of mankind, all the heartaches, all the broken families, all the drug addictions, all the sexual addictions, sex trafficking, poverty, brokenness in this world, at the core is sin. So until our sins are exposed and we recognize how desperate we are without Christ, Christ is a good man.

He's a moral man. He's a man to be honored, respected, maybe even imitated, but never to be surrendered to. Until we recognize that he came to save us from our own sins. This is why self-righteousness is so harmful to your soul. Because self-righteousness focuses all the problems on outside of you.

On them. On this. On that. And this is why grumbling is so detrimental to your souls. Because a grumbling spirit does not recognize the greatness of God. It's like going to a spectacular view and then complaining about the gravel on the ground. Why did they make parking like this?

Why did they make the roads like this? Why did they make the signs like this in the presence of glory? They could not accept his indictment against them. Instead of leading to repentance, they wanted to get rid of what brought judgment. In John chapter 8, people who already believed him, Jesus said, "If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." And they just could not.

They loved his teaching. They wanted to follow him. Because Jesus said, "You need to be set free." That was enough to trigger them. And they also wanted to do the same. You see, the greatest calling for every individual in here, including myself, is to recognize our own sins. And come before the only person in the universe who has any answer to my own sins.

I don't just turn off selfishness. If you struggle with coveting, you don't just come in here and say, "Oh, I'm just going to memorize scripture and coveting and be gone." If you have bitterness in your life because of something happened to you, you don't just come to church and say, "I'm just going to stop thinking about it.

Stop thinking about it." The only person that can deliver you from your own sin is Christ crucified. The Son of God who traveled the distance that you and I could not possibly imagine to seek and save the lost, which is you and I. That we may be delivered from the main reason why we suffer.

That he may give us life and give this life abundantly. You're not going to find abundant life because you found good friends. You're not going to find abundant life because you committed to a good church. You're not going to find abundant life because your family is in order or you married the right person or you found a good job or you saved enough money.

This life that he's talking about can only be found when we are delivered from our own sins and restored to the author of life. So my prayer as we continue to study the Gospel of Luke, that we see, that we don't look at these stories and say, "Oh, these dummies.

How can they have missed him? This is an indictment against us." But not to leave us in our guilt, not to leave us in our indictment, but that would lead us to our knees. And that we would be reminded of what it is that we have in Christ. And that's why we have the communion table today.

The communion table is given to us so that we may do this in remembrance of him. That we would recalibrate our lives, that everything that we are doing, everything that we're hoping, if what we are pursuing has nothing to do with what this table represents, to recalibrate our lives, to take time before the Lord in prayer, that we do not come up here in an unworthy manner.

You don't come here by your own righteousness. You don't come here because you've been good this week. You come here because we are in need. Just like the first day we needed Christ, we need him today, and we will need him tomorrow. So be in prayer. And as we always remind you, that this is a remembrance of our union with Christ.

So if you've never had a union with Christ, where you repented of your sins, and you have never been baptized, we ask that you do that first. If you've never repented, and you've never come to Christ, we ask that you would come today. Just be honest before the Lord.

Lord, open my eyes. Let me see you. I want to know who you are. I've been admiring you from a distance, but I don't know you. I appreciated you, but I don't love you. I don't hate you, but I don't love you. So take time before the Lord in prayer, honest prayer.

I believe. Help my unbelief. I am in need. So when you are ready, we're going to ask you one by one to come up. And we're going to ask the pastors and the elders to come and help me open up the communion table. So if I can ask the leaders to come.

And I'm going to open up the communion table. If I can ask, like in the midsection we have two, and we have one on the other side. So that section come there. This section come to this side, and that section come to this side, and that section come to that side.

Then after I open up the communion table, as you are ready to come up and participate, you grab your own cup, and we'll give you the bread. And as you are seeing the line, if let's say the line on this side is long and this is short, you're more than welcome to go to the shorter line.

But just in general, because this is the shortest distance for you to come, and then when you're ready, just come and participate. In 1 Corinthians 11 it says, "For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which he was betrayed took bread.

When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.' In the same way, he took the cup also after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.'" Amen. Father, we thank you for giving us this sacred time. You know, Father God, how prone we are to wander and forget. Help us to approach this holy time with reverence.

Examining our hearts, examining our lives, examining your grace. Help us, Lord God, to be revived, restored, recommitted. That Christ may be exalted, worshipped, and loved. So for that end, we pray for your anointing over this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So again, as you are ready, we invite you to come one by one.

The community table will be closed. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Let's pray. Matthew 5, 3 and on. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Lord, we pray that each one of us would embody the Beatitudes, Lord God, that you've taught us.

That these are the characters, Lord, of your children and your kingdom. Help us not to pursue or to covet the things of this world. Help us, Lord God, to be renewed in our mind that we would not conform to the pattern of this world, but to transform, Lord God, as you called us.

I pray that your presence, your Holy Spirit, that you've deposited in your children to groan on our behalf, Lord God, to be reunited with you. That we would be aware of that groaning, that we would pray along with that groaning, that we would pursue that groaning with all our hearts more than anything else, Lord God.

Help us not to sacrifice the things that are eternal because we are tempted by the temporal. Send us wherever you desire that we may be the aroma of Christ. May Christ and his sacrifice and his love and his pursuit bear much fruit, Lord God, wherever you send us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.

God sent his Son, they called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lived. Because he lived, I can face tomorrow. Because he lived, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future.

And life is worth the living just because he lived. Amen.