Good morning, Church family. We're going to go ahead and begin our worship service. Sing, "All creatures." All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Thou burning sun with golden beam, and thou silver moon with softer gleam, oh, praise Him.

Oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Let all things-- Let all things their Creator bless and worship Him in humbleness, oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, three in one, oh, praise Him. Oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. All the redeemed washed by His blood come and rejoice in His great love, oh, praise Him.

Alleluia. Christ has defeated every sin. He's lost all your burdens now on Him, oh, praise Him. Oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. He shall return. He shall return in power to reign. Heaven and earth will join to sing, oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Then you shall fall on bed in me, all creatures of our God and King, oh, praise Him.

Oh, praise Him. Alleluia. Alleluia. Alleluia. All right, good morning, and welcome to Bering Community Church. We have, again, quite a few announcements to get through. Again, as a reminder, our Kimco parking is for the families with young children. And you're welcome to park across the street over at Alliant.

But again, we're doing this in order so that we would have less of the children crossing the street when the traffic is coming. And so please keep that in mind. We need more volunteers for babies-- sorry, I got all this mixed up-- volunteers for sign up for trunk formation.

So for the Halloween period, we have people come in and open up their trunk and decorating. And so the kids usually have games that are set up for that. If you want to come and help out with that, to set up a trunk in a parking lot, they're asking for more sign-ups for that.

And that's taking place on October 31 from 5:30 to 8:30. So you need to come a little bit earlier. And all the candy and stuff will be provided for you. So if you just sign up, they'll give you more instructions for that. Jubilee Fellowship, if you're 50 and over, we have a fellowship luncheon that's taking place at 1245 in the youth group.

So right after the service across the hall, again, if you are 50 and over, that fellowship is for you. So please go to that. And even if you haven't signed up, you're welcome to come and join us. So please see us over there after at 1245. Child Safety Training Class.

So if you are working or volunteering with the children, our church requires that you get some training, safety training for that. And so if you haven't had one or you need to get a refresher, on October 1 at 1 PM in the youth room, there will be Child Safety Training Class that's taking place.

So please sign up for that if you need to do that. Our next membership class is happening on October 1 as well, eight-week course from 9 to 1020. So if you need to take that class, again, please sign up for that. All right. Two more, OK? There's a Church Cleaning and Maintenance Day.

So there's a lot of stuff that needs attention in the church. Even though we have cleaning on a weekly basis, there's a lot of things that kind of pile up. And there's some things like maintenance things that we need to get to. So we're having an all-church Cleaning and Maintenance Day Saturday, October 7, October 7, from 9 to 12 o'clock.

And so please sign up for that. Because there's so much traffic in the church now, there's a lot of things that we need to cover. So the more of you who can volunteer, we can use all the help. So please sign up for that. It's taking place on Saturday, October 7.

And then lastly, Thanksgiving regional dinner. Our church-- we're going to take sign-ups for that as we get closer to the date. And we're going to divvy up our church members into different homes across the city. But we need volunteers to open up your home. So if you're willing to open up your home, just to open up, you don't need to do anything other than open up your home.

And if you're willing to do that, please sign up. And we need more homes that we can kind of adjust the community to spread out on that. So please sign up for that. That's in November 19. Then today is the last day to sign up for the BBA. So whatever age bracket you're in, if you want to play half court, if you want to play full court, the ladies basketball.

So that takes place on Sundays, starting from October 1. So keep that in mind. And it's at nighttime. So it's at 4 or 5 o'clock at night. So it won't coincide with other events that are taking place at church. All right. That's it. That's all the announcement that I have.

If we can-- let me pray for us. And then, again, if you have a physical offering, there's a physical box on the way out. But otherwise, we'll give you a minute to give your offerings. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for calling us here to worship, to bring us together, Lord God, to corporately-- to fix our attention on Christ and his word.

I pray that in our singing, our giving, our fellowship, all of it, Lord God, will be a pleasing aroma to you. I pray that you would bless this offering. Help us, Lord God, to give it intentionally with a cheerful heart. And may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, why don't we all stand together as we come before our God? And maybe some of you saw I introduced this new song online for you guys. Maybe you listened to it. Hopefully you did. What we wanted to do is go through the lyrics with you.

Every new song that we introduce, we want to be mindful of what we bring before God. So if you follow along with me, it says, "Holy, holy is the Son of God. None can stand before His majesty. Beautiful beyond our highest thought. Worthy, He is worthy. Holy, holy is the Word made flesh.

King who bore our pain and poverty. Come to claim the rebel and the wretch. Worthy, He is worthy." And the chorus goes, "All glory and honor, all power and praise. Be to your name, be to your name. For no one can rival your glory and fame. We lift high the name of Jesus." So as we sing the song, I hope and pray that we come with the acknowledgment of He is worthy.

All right, so somebody told me that we have many more in line, but they are just--we just had another baby this week, and then there's more coming. And so we have--the parents were up here. Before they get started introducing their children, in Proverbs 22, verse 6, it says, "Train up a child in the way he should go.

Even when he is old, he will not depart from it." There's a difference between proverb and promise. Oftentimes, they'll read the proverb and say, "Hey, we've done this, and it didn't turn out the way it says." Proverbs is basically general truth and advice of life. And so these are the things that God has ordained, that parents are to raise up their children in a godly way, and everything that they learn is going to benefit them as in due time, it's going to bear fruit.

But not necessarily is a promise that if you do A, B, it's exactly going to happen. The promise is when God says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you," that's a promise. What we read here is a proverb, proverb meaning that this is a general truth in life that God has ordained that the discipleship happens at home, right?

The gospel is shared at home first, right? They learn at church, they learn it with friends, but first and foremost, God has ordained that the raising up of the children happens with the mothers and with the fathers, and that everything that they input into their children that they do in word and deed, even though you may not see a fruit right away, that long-term, everything that they learn at home is going to somehow affect them in the future.

And so we're going to open it up, and we're going to have the dads introduce their babies to us. We'll start from the right. Hi, everyone. My name is Ryan. This is my wife, Kate. This is our first son. His name is Ezra. He's almost 2 years old, and he's been dedicated already, so this is not for him.

So this is Selah, Selah Chang. It's derived from the Hebrew word "selah," which we find in the Psalms, and it means something like "pause" and "praise God." So that's why we wanted to name her Selah, hoping that she would become a woman who will pause, stop, and praise and worship the Lord.

Hello. My name is Michael. This is my wife, Carmen. We have two other kids, Adelyn and Lucas, 11 and 9, and this one is Micah Titus Chang. As you can probably tell, it wasn't planned, but God had other plans, and that's really awesome. So we named him Micah because it sort of sounds like both of our names, but with Carmen's name sounding like how you would say it with a Cantonese accent, "common." So, you know, it worked out.

But it does mean who is like the Lord. So we just pray that he will know the Lord at an early age, and we pray and ask the church to pray for us that we do not treat Micah as our idol, but that first and foremost that God is our center, and that we continue to worship and love the Lord, and that our kids will see that.

So thank you. Hi. My name is Joe. This is my wife, Jane. This is our daughter, Chua, Jacqueline Chua Shin. Her name means God's child. And then our son is Joshua Chua Shin, and his name -- let me think about this real quick -- means as God wills. And the actual Korean, Hanja, that his name means is actually firm and a pillar.

So I think our prayer request is simply for us as parents just to raise them up in a godly household. Joshua was one of the few names that I could think of that didn't bother me as a teacher. So I apologize if your name starts with a J. And then also just for our children that they may know God early, and that they may just be a pillar of faith for the next generation.

Thank you. Hi. I'm Brian, and this is my wife, Priscilla. This is our son, Aiden Elijah Choi. Aiden means little fire, and Elijah means Yahweh is my God. So we pray that he'll be passionate for God as he grows up. Hi, everyone. My name is Daniel. This is my wife, Helen.

And this is our second child, William Jungwoo Poon. He's almost seven months old now, and we like the fact that he was born on a nice-sounding date of 2/23/23. This compensates for his older brother who should have been born on 12/12/2020, but God decided 12/13 was better. He works for Google.

So far, William seems to have a pretty friendly personality, and he likes to smile at people around him. So it just so happens that his middle name means "righteous friend." And for our prayer requests, we pray that he would continue to be friendly and show God's love to those around him, and then secondly, that he would love and follow Christ in an increasingly secular culture that we live in.

Thank you. Good morning, church family. My name is Fuji. This is my wife, Rachel. And this is our three-month-old son, Ezekiel, Russell Tang. We chose the name Ezekiel because we admire the character, the prophet in the Bible, Ezekiel, and how he boldly proclaimed the gospel. And so our desire for him is to know the Lord and also to boldly proclaim in this dark generation.

Please also pray for us as first-time parents to have wisdom, but also to keep Christ at the center of our family. Thank you. Good morning, church family. My name is Teddy. This is my wife, Sarah, and this is our three-month-old Corbin Everidge-Shea. Corbin's name comes from the Hebrew word korban, which means "gift" or "offering devoted to God." And essentially, those offerings are meant to bring one's relationship closer to God.

And this is a reminder that his life is not ultimately our own for our own possession, but it is ultimately God's. And our role here is just to shepherd and disciple him to the best of our ability so that he may know the Lord. And even now, he is reminding us that our sacrifices are of sleep, are drawing us closer to God every day, as all the other parents can attest.

Hi, guys. My name is Anthony. This is my wife, Marsha. We didn't sign up for this. We just kind of walked up here. This is our son. This is our son, Ezekiel, middle name Caius. We stole the name from Fuji and Rachel's baby. So just kidding. When we first started thinking of names, I was reading through the book of Ezekiel, and it was through that conviction that I also wanted to name our son Ezekiel.

So Ezekiel means God strengthens, and his middle name is Caius, which means rejoice. And so if you guys could just pray for us as also first-time parents that we would disciple our child and that he would know the Lord. All right. Thank you. You stay for a minute. I want to take a minute to pray.

But I also ask that as we pray for the parents and for their children, again, as I think all of us are in agreement that what's happening in our world is becoming -- obviously it's always been secular, but morals and the things that they're teaching are so, like, abhorrent to the things of God and all the more.

I mean, it's always been important that the church community, that we are able to raise children in a godly setting where we're like-minded people, like-hearted people, that the children are able to have a community that they're being raised up where even though that they don't fit in in the world, but at least in the church they really feel like this is a place where they can grow up together with similar mindset with parents.

And so all the more that as each one of the parents are praying that they will raise up the children in a godly way, that they will be a witness and come to faith early on to be a witness for Christ for many, many years to come. Again, not just for them, but our whole church.

You know, the older I get, the more just naturally you start thinking about the next generation. Like what is the church going to be like when the older people are gone, when I'm not here, when our kids or grandkids are going to be the ones who are going to inherit, hopefully, God willing, the church.

What will the community look like then? What will our grandkids, what will the church be like for these children when they are older and what kind of witness are they going to have? And all the more why it's important for us not to just think about us, but what we're doing and how it's going to affect them in the next generation.

So as we pray for them, I pray that you would join me in prayer for them and also for our community as well. So let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for the blessing and the joy that you've given each one of these homes, Lord God, of a new life that ultimately comes from you.

And as they wrestle and struggle, Lord God, of being parents and raising up children, Lord God, who do not yet know you, I pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit and your word would truly be effective in their homes from a young age, Lord, that each one of the parents would be able to lead their children and that they would hear the gospel from home, Lord God, through the mother and through the father, Lord, before anywhere else.

And we truly ask, Lord God, as you warned us, as wickedness grows stronger, Lord God, that the love of most will grow cold. And we pray, Father God, as we see the wickedness, we see the decline of morality around us, that especially now, Father God, for us and for the next generation, that you would be enough, that we would be able to say that me and my household, that we will serve the Lord and that that decision would carry forth, Lord God, to the next generation as well.

So we lift them up asking for your grace and your blessing and the strength that they need, Lord God, to raise godly children for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, let's let them go with a round of applause for all of them, okay?

All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 6, verse 17 through 19. Luke chapter 6, verse 17 through 19. Reading out of the NASB. "Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place, and there was a large crowd of his disciples and a great throng of people from all of Judea and Samaria and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases, and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were being cured.

And all the people who were trying to touch him for power was coming from him and healing them all." Lord, I pray for guidance. I pray for your Holy Spirit to illuminate and teach us your heart and your mind this morning. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. You know, those of you who are semi-new to our church, when you were coming to church you probably examined to see if this is a church that you want to commit to.

And typically when people are looking for a church, you know, there's three things that you look for. And maybe some of you may be slightly different, but one is what do they teach? Are they Presbyterian? Are they Baptist? What is the content of our teaching? Who's their leader? Who's their leadership?

And so where do they come from? What seminary do they go to? And then third, you look at who's here. So you look at the pictures to see, like, is this a place I'm going to feel comfortable in the community? And typically, I mean, you have a children's program and missions program and various things, but I would say a majority of the people, those three things are probably what causes people to make a decision that, I think I'm going to feel comfortable here, or this is where I want to belong.

This is a community that I want to be a part of. Now, all that is important because it will kind of dictate to you whether you're going to fit or whether you're going to learn, whether you're going to grow. Now, again, I say all of that as an introduction because in verse 17 to 19, it kind of outlines for us, it introduces for us Jesus' ministry.

Who's there? Typically, when we're studying the Bible, we have to find out the context. So if I said something, and if you don't know who I'm talking to and why, what is the problem, what is the circumstance, and what's my goal, you're going to take what I say out of context, and that happens in the news all the time.

It happens with politicians, and you want to twist the words that somebody said to make it fit your narrative, and you can do that. But if you want to accurately understand what is being said and why certain things are being done, you have to know the context. And so the context is, first and foremost, who is he speaking to?

Who are the audience that he is doing this in front of? So when Jesus says what he says and the things that he talks about and the miracles that he performs, who is he trying to address? So helping us to understand who is there, who's coming to him, who are the people that he's looking at, what are they thinking, what are the issues that they have, will help us to understand the rest of what he is trying to do and what he's trying to say.

So that's the first part, who is coming. And then the second, what is attracting them? We know who's there, but what is the goal? What is causing people to come to him? So those are the two main things that we want to look at this text. And the first thing is he identifies three separate groups of people.

One are the apostles, which he went, and we've been talking about the apostles the last maybe about two to three months, and who they were and how each one of them had their different personalities. But the apostles are not people that can just come and say, "Hey, I'm going to be an apostle," because they were handpicked by Christ.

I know in some circles they use the term "apostle" just generically to mean the people who are sent. And so I've seen people use that in a charismatic background, or I've seen people say it like, "Oh, I'm overseeing many churches, so I'm an apostle." But that term "apostle," though generically it means the people who are sent, but most of Scripture when they use the term "apostle" is referring to these handpicked disciples of Christ that no longer exist today.

The Word of God came through them. There are specific miracles that happen, and they were given to us as a foundation to establish a church. So in Ephesians 4, verse 11, it says, "And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors, and some as teachers." And so the apostles were given first to lay the foundation for the church.

So no one can claim apostleship today. So when Jesus comes down, he has already chosen the twelve. So when he says, "second to a group of people, a large crowd of disciples," he's not referring to the twelve. He's referring to a larger group of people outside of the twelve who were claiming to be believers.

And so they had some loyalty to him, but they were not the twelve. These weren't people just curious. They've already kind of thought, "Oh, that must be the Messiah." They probably were people who were waiting for the Messiah, who may have grown up in a synagogue, and when Christ came, and when they saw his powers, that they at least professed that he must be the Messiah.

So that's why they're called the disciples. They're not just part of the main crowd, but they are called disciples. Now this is where we need to differentiate, because we typically think if they are disciples, they're saved. They're saved. But the Bible clearly tells us that not all disciples were genuinely saved.

We know that because the term "disciple" is used and oftentimes tells us that they no longer followed Christ. In John chapter 6, 60, these were people who saw the miracles, they ate the miraculous bread and fish, and they were looking for Christ. They were attached to Christ enough that wherever Jesus went, these are the people who wouldn't leave Jesus alone.

So after the eating, they wanted to forcefully make him king. They follow him to the other side of the sea. When they find Jesus, Jesus looks right through their superficial faith and says, "You're following me not because you know who I am. You're following me because you ate bread and you want more." And so it's in that context, he says, "The only reason why I even gave you bread is so that you would understand who I am.

But all you want is the bread. You want the gift that I can give, but you don't really want me." And so in that exchange, he says some things that are difficult for them to swallow. And then in John 6, 66, or John chapter 6, verse 60, he says, "Therefore many of his disciples," "many of his disciples, when they heard this," this is a difficult statement, "who can listen to it?" And then verse 66 is, "As a result of this, many of his," who?

"disciples withdrew and were not walking with him anymore." So not everybody who are disciples were genuine believers. Not everybody who claimed to believe persevered in their faith. The term "disciple" was a generic term that oftentimes the Bible uses for people who are coming to him. But within that group, yes, there are genuine believers.

But also within that group, there are people who had superficial faith, who are only coming to him because they saw the miracles, only coming to him because they thought, "We're going to benefit. If we establish him as our king, we're going to benefit." And so when trials came and difficulties came, many of them who only wanted the bread, only wanted the miracles, eventually ended up dropping out.

If you've been a Christian for any period of time, you know some of these people. The Bible describes--Jesus describes four different kinds of seeds where he gives the seed, some fall on the ground, they don't understand it, so the enemy comes and snatches it away. Those people are very easy to identify because they'll openly say, "I don't believe.

The church is not for me." They may have heard the gospel and they have willfully and publicly rejected it. Those are easy. The second group that falls on rocky ground, where immediately they say, "Oh, that's great. I want Jesus. I want to go to heaven. What do I have to do?" "Well, raise your hand, come to the front, we'll pray for you, say the sinner's prayer." "Yes, I want that." And so they commit.

They come to the church, but because there is no foundation, they start out great, eventually they fizzle out and it doesn't bear fruit. Now, this is where the difficulty happens. That second group of people in India will not last, in Afghanistan will not last, because they're tested. It's not worth the sacrifice that they need to make.

But in a post-Christian culture where you and I live, that second group of people, even though they've already rejected the faith, they're in the church. There's no reason to leave the church. I can have church without Christ. I can have friends without Christ. I can have community without Christ.

I can have morality without Christ. And so the focus of the second group, even though in places where the circumstance is going to force you to make a decision to leave, in our culture, there's no reason to leave. You don't want to reject friends. Your parents are Christian. Your brother's Christian.

Your closest friends are Christian. So even though in every way you are no longer following Christ, you're still at church, part of the community. And this is where we have a lot of problem, right? Because there's a large group of people in the church who have willfully rejected Christ but are still at church, but willfully rejected Christ and are Sunday school teachers.

And sad to say, could be willfully rejecting Christ and be in leadership. If you've been in church long enough, you've probably seen some of them. The third group of people are people, it says, where it falls on thorny soils. And they actually bear fruit. They endure. And these are the people who may rise up and people say, "That guy for sure was a Christian." But he says, "Because of the difficulties in life and temptations of riches, their life gets choked out." And so on the surface, they have all the product that a Christian would look-- you would want to see, but there's no fruit.

When you actually go there to get some fruit, there's no fruit in it because the thorns have choked them out. So there's no fruit. And that group of people is even harder to tell because they go to church, they're committed to church. They may be giving. They may be small group leaders.

They may be worship leaders. But at the core of who they are, they never bear any fruit. And if you ask them, "Have you ever shared the gospel with anybody?" Never. Never. Even though we sing songs about Christ and his love and joy and hell and eternity and heaven, sharing the gospel is just not there.

And I'm not saying that every genuine Christian has to have experience of doing this or that. I'm not saying that. But there's no drive for them. There's no drive for them to, "I have to bear fruit. I need to bear fruit." That's the third group. And then he describes the fourth group, "It falls on the soil, and then it grows and bears 30, 60, 100 fold." So in this crowd who say that they're disciples of Christ, there are many who are not following Christ.

Now, let me give you a very simple definition of a follower of Christ. And if you want to disagree with me, keep it to yourself. But if you disagree with me, I think you will all agree with me. If you want to say you're a follower of Christ, what do you need to do?

You need to follow Christ. You need to follow Christ. You can't say you're a follower of Christ while you're not following Christ. You can't say, "I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, but Jesus is over there." It's like, "Yeah, he's over there. I'm here." It's like, "Now he's going over there." It's like, "Wow, he's going over there, but I'm not interested in that.

This is where I want to be." So a simple definition of a follower of Christ is one who follows Christ. In any other culture, it is a given. In any other culture, it was just, "Of course. Why would you even have it defined? That's what a follower means." But only in a post-Christian culture, where you have people who were raised in the church, made decisions, raised hands, and got involved in church, and did all this stuff and activity, and they're not following Christ.

But if you say, "I don't know if you're a follower of Christ, how dare you question me, you judgmental legalist?" But a simple definition of a follower of Christ is someone who follows Christ. So this large crowd of his disciples, are they genuine followers of Christ? Yeah, they followed him as long as he was feeding them.

They followed him as long as he was healing them. But as he started heading toward the cross, they stopped following him. And they no longer, it says, followed him. And as a result of that, they were no longer followers of Christ. That's the second group. The third group of people, it says, "Great throng of people." And there's a reason why Luke separates the large crowd of disciples versus the great throng of people.

He didn't just say, "Here's a bunch of people together." He said, "Here's one group of people who are called disciples, and many of them aren't going to persevere, and then here's a great throng of just crowds that are coming." It's interesting because when he describes a crowd, he says they came from Judea, Jerusalem, Tyre, and Sidon.

Now, when we just read that in English and not knowing the context of that, you may just say, "Oh, he's just mentioning some cities." Well, Judea was like a county. It was a region where Jerusalem belonged. So it's like saying these people came from Orange County, Irvine. Orange County is the region, and in that region is specifically targeting Irvine.

Now, why would they say that? If I said, "A bunch of people came from L.A. from Beverly Hills." I don't know if that's still, you know, when we were younger, Beverly Hills was like where all the rich people lived. I don't know if that's where they live now. But if I said, "They came from L.A., Beverly Hills," you know exactly what I'm talking about, right?

I'm saying that they came from that region, but a bunch of rich people are there. If I said, you know, "L.A. County," and I said some other city that's not known for that, you know exactly what I'm talking about. So when they say Judea, Jerusalem, it means that that was the epicenter of Judaism.

And then when they say Jerusalem, Jerusalem was where the temple was, where the good Jews went and made pilgrimages there to make sacrifices, you know, for annually. So what he's saying is people from all the region where the Jews were committed, the Pharisees and the leaders of Israel who were committed Jews were also coming.

And then he mentions Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon is in the other side. This is Galilee. Jerusalem's down here. Tyre and Sidon's way up here. And the reason why he mentions Tyre and Sidon is because that area is known to be filled with Gentiles. So when he says that this large crowd of people were coming, that people who were committed Jews and people who were Gentiles were all coming together because they saw what was happening and they wanted to be.

So he's describing a very broad group of people that were coming to him. But he distinguishes between this large crowd and the people who call themselves disciples. Because in this crowd, there are many who are what we would modern day call looky-loos, right? So looky-loos, I don't know if you guys still, you guys know what looky-loos is?

Is this outdated? All the Jubilee people know what I'm talking about, right? Looky-loos in the real estate context are talking about people who have no interest in really buying a house. They got exactly $15.40 in their bank account, so they don't have a down payment for the house. But they love looking at houses.

So when the real estate agents have an open house, you have a bunch of looky-loos who don't have, you know, maybe their credit score is 450, and there's no way that they're going to get a loan. But they just enjoy going to houses, eating the free snacks, you know, and talking to people.

They're just outgoing people. They just like to live. If one day, maybe I can afford this. And so it's understood that if you do an open house, you know, 90% of them are looky-loos. They're not serious buyers. So one of the first things that they do is they want to see, did you come with an approved loan, right?

Are you a looky-loos or are you somebody serious? So you have looky-loos are people who are just kind of, "Something's happening over there," right? You're just sticking your neck out because you're just curious. You have no intention to buy, but if something's happening, I don't want to miss out.

You know, I heard they give you free food, free health care. You know what I mean? That something's happening, right? Now, you know what I noticed is when our church was small, we didn't have a lot of looky-loos, right? Because we're just small. People, they stand out like a sore thumb.

When you come to a small church and you have, you know, if you have 30 people, 29 people are going to be asking you, "How are you? What do you do?" You know? And so, but as the church gets bigger, more and more people are saying, "What's happening? Something's happening over there." I, actually as our church grew, we started getting people who are very like bold and we would ask them like, "Oh, what brought you here?" And they said, "I'm looking for a wife." They straight up said, "I heard you guys are a lot of young, single people.

I'm looking for a wife. I'm looking for a husband," right? And my initial response is, "Oh, this guy's really honest." And then the second response is, "Watch out for that guy," right? But more and more, when you have a large crowd, it feels like something is happening. It attracts a bunch of people for various reasons.

Now, in this group, there might be people who hear the gospel and then they end up coming, you know, and becoming disciples and then followers of Christ, right? But also in this group are a lot of people who are coming for relationships. They're coming to sense of belonging. They're coming because out of habit.

They're coming out of superstition. That you grew up in the church and that if you don't go to church, God's not going to bless your marriage. God's not going to bless your, you know, your children. And so, for superstitious reasons. Or maybe there's some benefit of coming here because you're able to participate in sports and participate in this and that.

And this group has a mixture of all of them. Jesus says of that group, He would not give Himself to them because He knew what was in them. Even though He attracted multitudes, He never did anything to keep the multitudes. He made sure that the multitudes, when they came, that they heard the truth.

And when He said, "Not everybody who calls Me, 'Lord, Lord, child,' into the kingdom of heaven," He was talking to these groups. He wanted to make sure because His desire was not to attract the crowd. His desire wasn't simply to get the largest crowd possible to go to Jerusalem.

He was seeking for true believers, true followers of Christ. Now, true followers of Christ come through the crowds. True followers of Christ eventually make a profession. And then true followers of Christ eventually will persevere in their faith. Jesus' ministry was gaining a larger and larger and larger crowd. And you'll see as we chronicle Jesus' ministry, as the crowds become larger and larger, Jesus' message becomes harsher and harsher.

Because He knows that many of them are coming to Him for the wrong reason. And He knows that when it is time for Him to go to the cross, that many of them who followed Him and wanted to forcefully make Him king are going to be the same ones who reject Him.

Because they came for the gift. They came that maybe if they follow Jesus, that He's going to bless us. And it is to them that He says, "I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes through the Father except through Me." The reason why He's saying that is because they're coming to Him.

That they're hoping that through Him that they will be fed. That through Him that they'll be healed. That through Him that their family's going to be okay. But He says, "No, I am." The only reason why I am even doing any of these things is so that you would understand that I am.

And so, these are the people who are coming. And what drew Him is also interesting. Because we would naturally think that all these people are coming from all over. Even the leaders of Israel were coming because they heard that He's opening the blind man's eyes. He's walking on water.

He had all the signs of what a Messiah is going to have. So you would think that the reason why they were coming is because He was performing miracles. Which is true. But the way that this text tells us is, "Who had come to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases." First it mentions to heal Him.

To hear Him. Luke chapter 5, verse 15, "But the news about Him was spreading even further. And large crowds were gathering to hear Him and to be healed of their sickness." I remember years ago when we used to go out to St. Anna to pass out food. Before we started doing it ourselves, I would go there and find out what other ministries are doing.

So that I could learn from them and copy that. And maybe we could go and find another day we could go start feeding. So as I was going there and kind of trying to help out on the side. Figuring out, "Okay, this is what you do. This is where you get the cheapest food.

This is the kind of food we should bring, not to bring." But I started to notice that the people who were coming there to get fed, they had this cliche or this phrase that they would say underneath their breath as they were going to get fed. And what they would say is, "We're going to go get beans and rice in Jesus Christ." If you go to St.

Anna and say that, they'll all kind of chuckle because they know. Because they say that under their breath all the time. The reason why it's beans and rice is because the food isn't that great. You know what I mean? Because you've got to feed a large group of people with a small amount of money.

So the food is just going to be like, you know, things just to keep them full. But then beans and rice is Jesus Christ. In other words, if we want beans and rice, we have to sit there. And we have to endure through 30 minutes of preaching about Jesus Christ.

So they would roll their eyes. "Where are you going?" I was like, "I'm going to have beans and rice in Jesus Christ." It's Tuesday, so it's beans and rice in Jesus Christ. Meaning, we're going to have to sit there and endure through this. So that's why when we started, we said, "We're not going to do that.

We're just going to feed them, and then whoever wants to stick around and talk to us while they eat, we'll just kind of share the gospel, or just listen to them, pray for them that way." Because I heard them saying, "Beans and rice in Jesus Christ." You would expect that people were coming, that maybe that's what they were thinking.

Like, "Oh, you've got to endure through his teaching in order to get healed." Instead, the Bible tells us that part of the main reason why they came was because they wanted to hear from him. What he was saying was just as interesting as what he was doing. So the question this morning is, "What was he saying that was attracting this crowd?" That people would come, Gentiles even, would come from all over to come hear him and to be healed.

What was the primary thing that he was saying? So there's a test this morning. When he first showed up on the scene, what was the first thing that Jesus said to the crowd? Remember? "Repent," for what? "For the kingdom of heaven is at hand." "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The primary message that he was teaching was about the kingdom of God.

76 separate times he mentions that term in his message, "the kingdom of God." Everything that he said was about the kingdom of God. Now, I'm going to go through a bunch of passages just so that you have a better grasp of what attracted people to him. Because I think if you miss this point, you're going to miss the whole point of what salvation is.

You're going to miss the whole point of Christianity if you miss this. Because you kind of take what he says, and it's like, "Oh, I'm going to go to heaven." But what is heaven like? What is heaven like? What is it about heaven? How do you get into heaven?

You're going to create your own imagination of heaven. And I remember when I was young, I would hear stories about heaven is where all your wildest dreams come true. And hell is a place where all your fears come true. And so if your wildest dream is to be an NBA player, that's going to happen in heaven.

If you're short, you're going to be tall. If you're skinny, you're going to be muscular. If you're poor, you're going to be rich. Whatever that you couldn't do here, heaven is a place where that's going to be fulfilled. If you don't properly understand what Jesus was saying, you're going to make an imagination of what you think it is to be a Christian.

Predominantly, everything that he says was about the kingdom of heaven. He started out because the Jews were going to crucify him because they didn't understand this message. They were following him and they're going to reject him and stop following him because their understanding of the kingdom of God was created to accommodate their own idols in their heart.

So the Jesus that they wanted, the Messiah that they wanted, the kingdom of God that they wanted was a fulfillment of idols that they kept in their heart. It's just that Jesus was the better way to get it. And when Jesus began to teach, they were starting to get confused.

He says in John 18, 36, Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not of this world." And he's saying that to them because that's exactly what they were lusting after. They wanted to be in the place of Rome. They wanted a superpower. They wanted to be the ones who are able to dictate to other people how they should live.

And so Jesus starts off by saying, "That's not my kingdom. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not of this world." In other words, if I have come to fulfill what you think needs to happen, I wouldn't have raised fishermen.

I wouldn't have gotten tax collectors. I would have raised soldiers to pick up arms, sharpen the swords, and teach them how to fight. And he's saying, "My kingdom is not of this world." In Luke chapter 4, 42, "But he said to them, 'I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.'" In other words, his whole ministry was to teach them about the kingdom of God and then to bring the kingdom of God, to open the doors for the kingdom of God.

Luke chapter 16, 16, "The law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it." You notice here how he equates the gospel with the kingdom of God? The gospel and the kingdom of God is used interchangeably.

Mark chapter 1, 14-15, "Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.'" Again, the gospel and the kingdom of God is used interchangeably.

Now, why is this so important? Because in our individualistic society, in this post-Christian culture, the gospel has been presented where if you believe in Jesus and raise your hand, all your penalty of sin will be wiped away. And so now you can live your life until Jesus comes and all your wildest dreams will be fulfilled.

Again, that's a caricature of that, but there's a version of that that people have embraced. That the gospel is that you individually will no longer experience pain. There's no penalty. When you die, you got a secure ticket into heaven. The end. The way that the gospel is presented to us by Jesus is your entrance into the kingdom.

Entrance into the kingdom. Who enters the kingdom? What is the kingdom of God like? Who is the king of this kingdom? What does the citizenship of the kingdom look like? Who is able to come in? Who is not able to come in? Everything that he teaches about the gospel, the good news is that the kingdom has been opened to you.

And the entrance into this kingdom is by faith. In Mark chapter, or John chapter 3, 3, it says, "Jesus answered and said to him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" See, the benefit of being born again is the kingdom of God.

The benefit of why you need to be born again is the kingdom of God. So if you have no interest in being part of the kingdom of God, there's no need to be born again. The reason why you need to be born again is so that you can enter into the kingdom of God.

Now, obviously, this is being spoken to Nicodemus, who spent all his life trying to study the law and obey the law. And he was one of the top 1% of the law keepers. And Jesus is saying, "You've been climbing the wrong ladder. At the end of that ladder, there is no kingdom.

The kingdom of God that I brought, it can only be entered by faith, by repentance." Acts chapter 1, 3, it says, "Appearing to them over a period of 40 days after the resurrection and speaking of things concerning," what? "the kingdom of God." Even after the resurrection, his message never changed.

In fact, before he ascends, his disciples ask him, "Is it now that you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" There's a reason why the disciples couldn't let go of the kingdom, because that's all he talked about. Everything he said, your behavior, entrance into it, what it's like, all of it was about the kingdom of God.

Now, why is this so important? It's important because if we don't understand that the purpose of salvation and atonement is to restore the kingdom, the Bible says that when Christ atones for our sins, he removes us from the kingdom of what? Kingdom of Satan. Into what? The kingdom of his beloved son.

We have been slaves to sin. Now we have been slaves to righteousness. So, if our understanding of salvation is a changing of our citizenship, there is a new requirement for that citizenship. Just like if you want to be naturalized in the United States, there's rules that you have to follow.

If you want to get a United States passport, you have to be at a certain time, you have to pass a certain test. But when you come into the kingdom of God, there is a ruler in this kingdom. There's a king in this kingdom. And so, those who were under the subject of Satan, now is under the subject of a new king.

So, you have so many people who are confused. I believe in Jesus, and he's not my king. I profess, oh yeah, he died, and he was resurrected, and I believe that, I profess that, but there's no evidence of lordship in your life. You cannot have Christ as your savior if Christ is not your king.

Because that's what Jesus taught, the whole teaching of Jesus was the change of kingdom. We have a new king, so we are his subjects. We have a new set of rules, and that's why, starting from next week, we're going to get into the Beatitudes that he teaches. These are what the characteristics of the people, of the new citizen of the kingdom of God looks like.

That's what he's saying. When you are born again, when you repent of the old life, and you become a citizen of the kingdom of God, this is what it looks like. It goes against the principles of the old kingdom, and this is what the principles of the new kingdom looks like.

That's why, if you miss his teaching on the kingdom of God, and you begin to contextualize it to benefit you, and all of a sudden, the gospel doesn't sound the same. The Jesus that you know doesn't sound the same, and the Christianity that you know doesn't sound the same.

You begin to church, you begin to build a church to attract a crowd, but not building a church to bring people into the kingdom. Even his miracles, even his miracles were performed to teach them about the kingdom. In Luke chapter 10, 8 through 10, it says, "Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you, and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near you.'" Why are they healing them?

Right? Why did Jesus feed them? Why did he raise Lazarus from the dead? Why did he open their eyes to the people who are blind? It's so that he can teach them the power of the kingdom. He demonstrated his power over sicknesses. He demonstrated his power over demons. He demonstrated power over creation, and he demonstrated his power over death.

So that, so that what we desire is not longer life. What we desire isn't simply deliverance. What we desire is not, "I have sick legs and I want to have healed legs." He did all of that to teach them, "I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father but through me. He is the true gift." You know, when your children, you know, when your young children, I hope that's not how you are now, but when your young children and you ask them, "Who do you love, mommy or daddy?" And they'll say, "Mommy." Right?

Or "Daddy." Right? But ask the next question, "Why?" They'll tell you, "Mommy makes me breakfast. You know, I had a birthday and she bought me the Xbox." You know, when you get older, it's like, "Oh, you know, daddy paid for this." They'll tell you specifically what they gave you.

And that's why. Right? Imagine if they're 25 years old and you say, "You like mommy or daddy?" And they say, "I like daddy." "Why?" "Because he bought me the car. Mommy didn't buy it. Daddy bought it." Or, "He got this for me. He got that for me." It's like, "Really?" Right?

At some point you're like, "Hey, it's time to grow up." Right? Whatever gift that you got, you got because you have a daddy. Whatever gift that you have or didn't get is because you have a loving mom. But imagine if their love never outgrew that and their love was always, "I love Jesus because he gave me bread." "I love Jesus because he made me whole." "I love Jesus because he answered my prayers and my family, you know, everything went and it was okay." "He helped me with this.

He helped me with that." "I love Jesus because my business went well." Even the healing, all of it was so that they can see who Jesus is. In John 20, 13, 31 it says, "Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of disciples, which are not written in the book, but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ." "All the signs were given so that you may believe that he is the Christ, the Savior, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name." Also in John 2, 23, 25, "Now when he was in Jerusalem the Passover during the feast, many believed his name, observing his signs, which he was doing." All of it, all of it was to bring them to the real gift in Christ.

So if you come to church because of church, you come to church because of friends, you come to church because of the benefits of the church, eventually you will also leave. I came to this church because people are so friendly. Then eventually you're going to meet some unfriendly people at church.

You don't know what they're going through. They're cranky, they're having marriage problems, their children are giving them a headache, and all of a sudden they're not that friendly. But the whole reason why you came to church is because of friendly people, and when they're not friendly, you will walk away.

Maybe you started a business and you prayed and your business is doing well, and then, "Oh, Jesus answered my prayer, and then I come to church because God's been so good to me." But as soon as your business fails or doesn't do well, and the economy begins to turn, and all of a sudden, where's Jesus?

And if you came to Jesus because he blessed you in your business, you're going to leave when the business isn't blessed. If you come to Christ because of the gift, you will leave Christ because of the gift. The whole purpose of all of this was so that they may see who Jesus is.

That Jesus is the gift. That he is the light. That he is the bread. He is the light. He is the shepherd. He is divine. And until our faith grows and matures and understands that it is Christ that he is drawing. Not only were they being healed, it says the people who had demons were being cured.

Now you may say, "You know what? We've never experienced that in our life, especially in a conservative church, and we're not charismatic." Every single person who came to Christ was being delivered from demons. You may not have been demon-possessed, but the Bible says, "Everyone who has not been atoned and purchased by the blood of Christ." Purchased from what?

The empty way of life? The kingdom of darkness? The God of this age is Satan. Every single person who came to Christ has been delivered from the influence of Satan. All of this, every single one of us has experienced this if you are a true believer. And all of this for what reason?

That we may come to see the value of Christ himself. The one who brings the kingdom. The one who created the kingdom. The one who sustains the kingdom. The one who rules over this kingdom. Christ. That's why, and let me finish with this, in Luke chapter 10, 17-20 it says, "The seventy returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name.' And they came and rejoiced." Can you imagine?

These are tax collectors, these are fishermen. The greatest miracle that they've ever seen was being performed by Jesus. Now Jesus empowers them and they're doing it. "And he said to them, 'I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.'" Can you imagine the excitement and the joy that they must have had experiencing that they're healing?

Not only are they seeing Jesus healed, they're healing. They're casting out demons. "But he warns them in verse 20, 'Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this.'" Man, what a cold bucket of water. They come and it's like, "Oh man, it's fantastic. We saw demons." It's like, "Hey, don't rejoice over that." How do you not rejoice over that?

You tell somebody who's sad, "Hey, be happy." Or you tell somebody who's happy, "Stop being so happy." Why is he saying this? Verse 20, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven." You see, you're rejoicing that comes from casting out demons and seeing miracles and powers.

You're not going to experience it all the time. That's all temporary. Eating bread is temporary. Healing, temporary. Even if you're raised from the dead, it's temporary because you're going to die again. If you anchor your joy in your life to the things that are temporary, eventually you will also walk away.

If you came to Jesus because of community, community is going to drive you away. If you came to Jesus because of a friend, your friends are going to drive you away. If you came to Jesus for a meaning and purpose, eventually when that gets confused, you will be driven away.

That's why the Word of God says, "All things will fade away like grass." Only the Word of God, only Christ will remain. So the whole purpose of this ministry is to draw people to himself. So the only true test of a Christian that really matters, only true test to see if there's true maturity and progress, is do you love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?

No, I see progress because I know more Bible. I see progress because I'm doing more things. I see more progress because I'm being disciplined. All of that can be done without the love of Christ. But the goal of everything that we do in church, everything that Christ has done, everything he has preached, so that more and more when we see the love of Christ, the glory of Christ, the depth of Christ, that we would be like that farmer who sells everything because we recognize a treasure in Christ.

Again, I pray that that would be us. With the busyness, especially church is getting big and your life is getting busy, you have multiple kids, you're already, you know, one comedian said this, "What's it like having four kids?" You know, imagine you're drowning and then they throw you another baby, you know.

Some of you are in that situation where you're already busy and busy and then you just had another kid and you're just trying to make things and you're busy as it is and then you come to church, there's more things being added and we have to be careful that in the midst of all that.

Being busy is not bad, but if your busyness causes you to forget what our true treasure is, then you missed the whole point. Christ and Christ alone must be our goal, must be our passion, must be our refuge. And I pray that that may be the case. Let's pray.

Father, store in us a hungering and thirsting for righteousness that can only be satisfied in you. Lord, we are so easily entangled with the worries and concerns of civilian affairs. Help us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon Christ, the author and the finisher of our faith. Help us, Lord God, to continue to learn what it means to be citizen of the kingdom, to honor and to be subjects, Lord God, that glorifies our King.

I pray that you would guide us and lead us and build a church, Lord God, as you desire, filled with people who will worship you in spirit and in truth. We love you, Lord. Help us, Lord God, to love you more. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise.

Let's go to "How Great." How great the chasm that lay between us, how high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. Then through the darkness your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished, the end is written, Jesus Christ, my living hope.

Who could imagine so great a mercy? What heart could fathom such boundless grace? The God of ages stepped down from glory to wear my sin and bear my shame. The cross has spoken, I am forgiven, the King of kings calls me his own. Beautiful Savior, I'm yours forever, Jesus Christ, my living hope.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name, Jesus Christ, my living hope. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me.

One more time. Then came the morning that sealed the promise. Your buried body began to breathe. Out of the silence the roaring lion declared the grave has no claim on me. Jesus. Jesus, yours is the victory. Oh. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me.

You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name, Jesus Christ, my living hope. Hallelujah. Praise the one who set me free. Hallelujah. Death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain. There's salvation in your name, Jesus Christ, my living hope. Jesus Christ, my living hope.

Lord, you are my living hope. Let's pray. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, blameless with great joy. To the only God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever.

Amen. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love. He lived for you. He lived and died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to save your name. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future.

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