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Happy Lord's Day. It is a great privilege and a joy for us to be able to worship together. We will now begin with a worship by singing Psalm 103 together. (soft piano music) ♪ Bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ And all that's within me ♪ ♪ Praise Him ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ And forget not all His dine ♪ ♪ He forgives all your iniquities ♪ ♪ He heals all your infirmities ♪ ♪ He redeems your life from the pit ♪ ♪ And crowns you with mercy ♪ ♪ As far as the east is from the west ♪ ♪ So far have you taken our sins from us ♪ ♪ And as high as the heaven over the earth ♪ ♪ So great is your steadfast love ♪ ♪ Toward us ♪ ♪ Toward us ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord, oh my soul ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ And all that's within me ♪ ♪ Praise Him ♪ ♪ Bless the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh my soul ♪ ♪ And forget not who He is ♪ ♪ As a father ♪ ♪ As a father shows compassion ♪ ♪ To His beloved children ♪ ♪ So the Lord shows compassion to us ♪ ♪ To those who fear Him ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ As far as the east is from the west ♪ ♪ So far have you taken our sins from us ♪ ♪ And as high as the heaven over the earth ♪ ♪ So great is your steadfast love ♪ ♪ And as far as the east is from the west ♪ ♪ So far have you taken our sins from us ♪ ♪ And as high as the heaven over the earth ♪ ♪ So great is your steadfast love ♪ ♪ So great ♪ ♪ So great is your steadfast love ♪ ♪ So great is your steadfast love ♪ ♪ Toward us ♪ - Good evening, welcome to Breen Community Church.
We have an announcement from our Sister's Ministry. So Sister Jen Choi is gonna come and she's gonna give the announcement this morning. - Can you hear me? Okay. My name's Jen Choi and this is an announcement for the Women's Ministry about IWF, which stands for Intentional Wives Fellowship. That will be happening September through December of this year.
This is an opportunity for married women in all seasons of marriage to come together and fellowship. And for this session, sisters who are engaged are also invited to join. In small groups, we'll be reading "This Momentary Marriage" by John Piper. And we pray that sisters would develop a deeper understanding of the biblical meaning of marriage and grow an appreciation of marriage as a display of Christ's covenant love for his church.
This will be a bi-weekly commitment. We'll be having two meeting days available. That works best for you. One is Friday mornings from 9.30 to 11.30 a.m. And the second is Monday evenings with meeting times determined by each small group. And meetings will be taking place in person. Please sign up through our online form on the Berean app or through the links that will be posted on the Berean Church Facebook page or the Berean Women's Facebook page.
Deadlines to sign up will be Sunday, August 29th. And if you have any questions, please contact Carrie Chang. Thank you. - All right, thank you. Again, all of this announcement is on our church website. It's on the Facebook and also on the church app. Okay, so if you need more information about that and know who to contact, you can do that as soon as, again, if you go to those avenues.
Next Sunday, we have a communion service. So please prepare for that, for the first and second service. And then on August 21st, we have a church maintenance day. And so obviously, we've opened up the church on both sides and there's more needs than we've had before. And so we wanna really encourage you, if you are able to come that Saturday, to come and help us to kind of maintain the church.
And I've already shared this with our members that our philosophy at church is, we wanna run the church with the help of the church as much as possible. Instead of just hiring, we want the people to be engaged and look at this building as just not something that the leaders are taking care of, but that the church is taking care of.
And so if you're able to come that day, please sign up for that because we can use the hand that Saturday. And also, fall Bible study that's coming up. So today is the first day that the inductive Bible study lessons to help you prepare for the Bible study that's coming up.
So that's starting today. But the regular Bible study for everybody else, Wednesday Bible study, and then the home group Bible study is happening. So again, if you haven't signed up, please do that ASAP. Okay, and then one other announcement is that usually we have a summer retreat that's coming up in a couple weeks.
And so not next weekend, but the weekend after that, we have the retreat coming up. And usually we have an in-person service where we have a guest speaker come and while we're having service out there. But this year, because basically almost everybody at church is going, so we won't be able to run a live church here.
So we have three suggestions, okay? So one is that if you are able to, to make the drive out there, 'cause the live service is gonna be happening about an hour and 15 minute, hour and 10 minute, depending on how you drive, is gonna be out there. So you can come join us for the morning service and then you can just stick around and have lunch with us.
And so that's available for you. Number two is to find a local church somewhere where you can physically attend. And so if you have a church that you're able to go to, we recommend that you do that. And then the third option is we are going to be live streaming the Sunday worship that's happening at the retreat site.
And so if you go online to our website or Facebook page, you'll be able to access that. Now out of the three, obviously in order, if you're able to make it, number one, we suggest that that be your option. And then the number two, if you can't make it there, that you find a physical church that you are able to go to, that would be a second option.
And third would be another option, but the least of the favorite option, if you're able to come physically, we ask that you guys participate in that way, okay? All right, so this morning, after we have our worship time, we have a brother, Chris, who's gonna come up and give his testimony.
He'll be baptized this morning. And let me pray for us for our offering, give you an opportunity to give. And then again, if you did bring a physical offering, there is a basket in the back, that little birdhouse over there, that's the offering basket. So you can drop it off there as you are exiting, okay?
All right, let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we just wanna thank you so much for your continued blessing that you give. Lord, whatever it is that we have been entangled with coming into this room, I pray that our worship, our giving, our time of your word, fellowship, may it all cause us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon Christ.
I ask for your grace, and we know that even the worship that we give, that we are in need of your spirit to guide and lead us. So we pray for your blessing this time. We pray, Lord God, that even the offering that we give, help us to give it to you joyfully, cheerfully, willingly as an act of worship, that it may be multiplied for your use.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) All right, Church family, would you please stand with us as we continue our worship? (soft music) ♪ In the name of the Father ♪ ♪ In the name of the Son ♪ ♪ In the name of the Spirit ♪ ♪ Lord, we come ♪ ♪ Gathered together ♪ ♪ To lift up your name ♪ ♪ To call on your Savior ♪ ♪ To fall on your grace ♪ ♪ In the name of the Father ♪ ♪ In the name of the Son ♪ ♪ In the name of the Spirit ♪ ♪ Lord, we come ♪ ♪ Gathered together ♪ ♪ To lift up your name ♪ ♪ To call on your Savior ♪ ♪ To fall on your grace ♪ ♪ Hear the joyful sound ♪ ♪ Of our offering ♪ ♪ As your saints bow down ♪ ♪ As your people sing ♪ ♪ We will rise with you ♪ ♪ Lifting up your wings ♪ ♪ And the world will see that ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ And His hope ♪ ♪ Is your hand ♪ ♪ In the name of the Father ♪ ♪ In the name of the Son ♪ ♪ In the name of the Spirit ♪ ♪ Lord, we come ♪ ♪ We're gathered together ♪ ♪ To lift up your name ♪ ♪ To call on your Savior ♪ ♪ To fall on your grace ♪ ♪ Hear the joyful sound ♪ ♪ Of our offering ♪ ♪ As your saints bow down ♪ ♪ As your people sing ♪ ♪ We will rise with you ♪ ♪ Lifting up your wings ♪ ♪ And the world will see that ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ There is hope ♪ ♪ In your hand ♪ ♪ Born in tongues ♪ ♪ Born in tongues ♪ ♪ To sons of men ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ Saved ♪ So hear the joyful sound.
♪ Hear the joyful sound ♪ ♪ Of our offering ♪ ♪ As your saints bow down ♪ ♪ As your people sing ♪ ♪ We will rise with you ♪ ♪ Lifting up your wings ♪ ♪ And the world will see that ♪ ♪ And the world will see that ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ There is hope ♪ ♪ In your hand ♪ ♪ Born in tongues ♪ ♪ To sons of men ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ ♪ Of God's saved ♪ Amen.
(gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Your grace that leads the sinner home ♪ ♪ From death to life forever ♪ ♪ And sings the song of righteousness ♪ ♪ By blood and not by merit ♪ ♪ Your grace that reaches far and wide ♪ ♪ To every tribe and nation ♪ ♪ Has called my heart to enter in ♪ ♪ The joy of your salvation ♪ ♪ By grace I am redeemed ♪ ♪ By grace I am restored ♪ ♪ And now I freely walk into ♪ ♪ The arms of Christ my Lord ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Your grace that I cannot explain ♪ ♪ Not by my earthly wisdom ♪ ♪ The Prince of blood without a stain ♪ ♪ Was traded for this sinner ♪ ♪ By grace I am redeemed ♪ ♪ By grace I am restored ♪ ♪ And now I freely walk into ♪ ♪ The arms of Christ my Lord ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Let praise rise up and overflow ♪ ♪ My song resound forever ♪ ♪ For grace will see me welcomed home ♪ ♪ To walk beside my Savior ♪ ♪ By grace I am redeemed ♪ ♪ By grace I am restored ♪ ♪ And now I freely walk into ♪ ♪ The arms of Christ my Lord ♪ ♪ By grace I am redeemed ♪ ♪ By grace I am restored ♪ ♪ And now I freely walk into ♪ ♪ The arms of Christ my Lord ♪ ♪ And now I freely walk into ♪ ♪ The arms of Christ my Lord ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.
(audience applauding) - Hey guys, I'm Chris and I'm going into my fourth year at UCI and this is my testimony. Growing up in the church and in a Christian household, I heard the gospel and attended church, Sunday school, and BBS at an early age. I would always pray before meals, read and hear stories from the Bible, and discuss church-related topics with friends and family.
This all became habitual and I never really questioned it because it was what people did around me. Others in the church would share the gospel with me at day camps and every year I accepted Christ as my Savior without hesitation since I had already heard it and everyone else was doing the same.
I thought that as long as I was a good person attending church and simply knew that Jesus died on the cross for my sins, that I would call myself a Christian and deem myself a genuine believer. Fast forward to middle school and high school, I continued living my life with this mentality and pursued academic success with Christ in the background.
I began to put all my efforts into school and in my academic accomplishments. I had a strong work ethic, which is not inherently wrong, but it allowed me to excel in school and take pride in my success. Living in the Bay Area only further motivated my pursuit of man's approval since I was constantly surrounded by successful and wealthy individuals and corporations.
I still consider myself a genuine believer and I did not go out and party or hang out with the wrong crowd, but I still wasn't different from the rest of the world since I pursued worldly success by constantly chasing the next grade and never being satisfied, the next internship opportunity or achievement rather than turning to the word or to prayer.
In some instances, church became an inconvenience for me and I would skip it if I had too much work to do. I did all of this just to beef up my college application and in hopes of going to the best college I could possibly get into so that I could pursue a stable career and live a comfortable life.
By the time college admissions came around, I did not get into my dream schools and attended UCI feeling ungrateful and filled with pride, thinking that I deserved to be somewhere better and continue to be consumed by school and success while church hopping every once in a while. However, God quickly humbled me as I struggled academically for the first time in my life.
No matter how hard I worked, I was failing to meet the expectations I had set for myself. This process of struggling made me realize how much hope I had placed into a temporary satisfaction and how far my heart was from God. One Sunday while church hopping, I heard a sermon on Matthew 7.
Matthew 7, 21 to 23 states, "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, "will enter the kingdom of heaven, "but he who does the will of my Father "who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to me on that day, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name "and in your name cast out demons "and in your name perform many miracles?
"And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you, depart from me, "you who practice lawlessness." Up until this point, I had only gone to God when I needed him or when I was struggling with selfish things like school. My prayers were filled with self-centered desires to get me through difficult situations so that I could continue to pursue what I wanted from the world.
I had turned God into my therapist and created my own version of him, thinking that I could use him to glorify myself and achieve whatever was on my own agenda. This all showed my lack of knowledge in the God that the Bible describes him to be. And throughout my time in college, I gradually learned more about the loving and sacrificial God who sent his only son, Jesus Christ, to die for my sins that were blinding me from the rest of the truth of scripture and his sovereignty.
Through his perfect justice, I deserve to be condemned, but through his spirit, I now live to serve him and glorify his kingdom rather than my own like I was before. I still struggle with sin, but no longer place my hope in perishable things like my success or career, but the resurrection and eternity with him.
Although my plan did not necessarily pan out the way I wanted it to, I can see God's faithfulness and patience with me. He challenged my humility and revealed my brokenness by bringing me to UCI and placed people in my life who have encouraged me and challenged me in my faith as well.
Though I was undeserving and fell short many times, God was patient and welcomed me into his body. And through the gospel, I know that I can trust his hand in everything and place my hope in eternity. First Peter 1, 24 to 25 says, all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Thank you. (audience applauding) (audience chattering) (audience applauding) (audience chattering) the word of the Lord endures forever. Thank you. (audience applauding) (audience chattering) (audience applauding) (audience applauding) - All right, thank you for that testimony.
If the rest of you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12, we're gonna be reading from verse 18 through 24, and we're gonna be finishing up what I started a few weeks ago, okay? Yeah, and I won't be making any promises anymore, all right?
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 18 through 24. And again, I'm gonna finish up the third point that I started last week but wasn't able to finish. Reading from the NASB. For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched, and to a blazing fire, and to darkness, and gloom, and whirlwind, and to the blast of a trumpet, and the sound of words which sound with such that those who heard begged that no further word be spoken to them.
For they could not bear the command, if even a beast touches the mountain, it will be stoned. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, "I am full of fear and trembling." But you have come to Mount Zion, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel.
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we come before you, we ask, Lord God, that you would protect this pulpit, that you would use it, Lord God, to declare your word, and your word alone. I pray that you would soften our hearts, open our ears, and give us wills to apply.
May your word be proclaimed, and as you have ordained it, not return until it has accomplished the purpose you have given it for. And so we pray for guidance, in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let me ask you a question. In your memory of your life, up to this point, whether it's 18, or 60, or 70, however old you may be, up to this point, what is your happiest memory in life?
You know, just think for a second. As I was preparing this message, I was kind of contemplating, what's the happiest memory that I remember? There's three distinct things that I remember, and I remember the first memory was in 1975, when my father came to the United States first in 1974 to get his doctorate, and so we were separated for about a year, and then when we first came in 1975, I remember just so eager to see the plane doors opening so we can run to our dad and then be reunited with him, and so that's one of the most fondest memory I have of childhood.
And then as an adult, the fondest memory that I remember is when I got married, and Esther and I, we were driving up to San Francisco on our honeymoon, and so that was our honeymoon, so we were just kind of driving up, and we were playing John Gibson. Some of you guys may know who he is, may or may not know who he is, but he was the only Christian tape we had, and so we probably played that about 20 times, so every once in a while, I hear that tape, and to this day, it reminds me of that drive up the, I think the Pacific Coast Highway that we took the long, nice route, right?
We were in no hurry, and I remember just fond memory of that, just being so happy that finally I was able to marry Esther. And then the other memory that I remember very specifically was Esther already had two miscarriages, and when she got pregnant with Jeremy, the doctor already told us that she couldn't have, that it was a miscarriage, and the doctor already told us that she couldn't have children in the normal way, and so we were already talking about possibly adopting in the future, maybe that's what God wants, and then, so she didn't really do anything for the third pregnancy.
She actually went to Magic Mountain, 'cause I was a youth pastor, a college pastor, so we took our group. She went on the revolution, you know, 'cause she liked roller coasters, because we thought she already had the miscarriage, and then she went back by herself for a follow-up meeting, and then she came back with the ultrasound and said, oh, the baby lived.
(audience laughing) And then since then, we've had three other children, right? And so I just remember that very distinctly, that day when she came back with that, just shock and excitement, and those are memories that I can take very distinctly that I remember, but of all the memories that I have, and as great as those memories are, the first day that I met Christ is by far anything that I've ever experienced.
Because I knew that day that my life would completely change, right? You know, some people, it takes them time, it's a process to understand what was happening, but that day, every bitterness, every anger, every regret, all of a sudden, it disappeared when I met Christ. And even though this is a Christ that I sang about, you know, memorized verses in Sunday school, but this was different.
He was real, he wasn't just a figure, figure, you know, some big picture God, he was personal, he answered my prayer, and I met him for the first time. And, you know, our small group leaders told me that I was singing in my sleep, you know, the new songs that I learned, and that I was just mumbling as we were driving down, you know, and to this day, when I think of like one that stands out, as great as those memories are, the day that I met Christ was the happiest day of my life, and it changed me forever.
The Bible says that Zion is a place where we're headed, that as great as whatever you've experienced up to this point, pales in comparison to the joy and the celebration that we're gonna have when we meet Christ. And so we talked about how in the previous passage that it's a place of celebration, and it was equated with a wedding banquet, and the angels are gonna be there celebrating with us.
The elders, the pure church, right? Not just people who are gathered because of whatever the reason, but the pure church is gonna be gathered together. And he says, along with that, God who's the judge, who's gonna protect us and guide us and lead us in righteousness, he will be there, obviously.
And then the text that we're looking at that I wanna get to where he says, this is where the spirits of the righteous will be made perfect. Spirit of the righteous who will be made perfect, meaning that those who believed in God who went ahead of us, that's where the final destination's going to be, and ultimately it will be our final destination.
That what he started here, he will perfect it when Christ comes. But that word perfect is a theologically rich word, teleos. In fact, back in seminary, I did a whole paper just on this word, teleos. It's kind of very similar to the word agape. You can do a whole series on the word agape, or another word in the New Testament, the word meno, to remain.
That's another word that can't be translated with one word. And so in the Greek, in Colossians 1:28, it says, "We proclaim him admonishing every man "and teaching every man with all wisdom "so that they may present every man complete in Christ." And that word is teleos. In the NIV, it says, "To be made perfect in Christ." And in the ESV, it says, "To be made mature in Christ." So the word perfect, teleos, in this passage is not referring to perfect as in reference to not being perfect, not having some sort of a defect.
The word perfect has the idea of fulfilling, meaning to bring to conclusion what was started. That's what the word means. And so theologians call this theology here and not yet. God initiated the salvation, justification. We are in the process of sanctification, but ultimately we will get to glorification when he comes.
But these are not three separate things. These are all one thing that he describes in different ways to help us understand. So the word teleos has the idea of reaching its goal, to fulfilling its purpose, to reach the finish line, to finish the term, and to make something complete and full, that there is nothing more than that, meaning that everything that God has started here is going to be fulfilled when we are in heaven.
And as great as that day was when I met Christ, he said it was just the initiation. Every other memory that I have on this earth and probably that you have is temporary. As great as that memory of meeting my father, it's temporary, and it's only for me. And as great as it was that the day that I got married, it's only here.
Whatever memories that you may have, it's temporary because life is temporary. But what he initiated with us, he said he's going to teleos. He's going to bring it to completion. And we talked about that last week, how heaven is a place of celebration. And he says it, John 15, 11, "These things I have spoken to you "so that my joy may be in you, "and that your joy may be made full, complete, teleos." That what he initiated, this joy, this celebration, we're going to be in heaven celebrating in its fulfillment.
John 10, 10, "The thief comes only to steal "and to kill and to destroy. "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." To the full, it says in the NIV. So the purpose of salvation isn't simply to save us from judgment. He saved us from judgment so that we may have this zoe and have it eternally and have it to the fullest.
So anything that you and I have experienced on this earth was just the initiation of that. And that's why the Bible calls us to taste and see that the Lord is good. Because if you have tasted his goodness, that taste is what drives us to pursue him further. That taste is what causes us to praise him and worship him.
In Luke chapter 10, 17 to 20, Jesus sends out the 70 disciples and they come back elated, joyful, happy, because they were able to cast out demons in his name. Remember we talked about the power of angels, whether they were fallen angels or whether they're angels worshiping God, serving God.
Angels were powerful beings. Remember we talked about how one angel wiped out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers? That's how powerful they were. So the disciples were aware of that. In fact, angels were so venerated that some people in the early church started to strain, actually started to worship angels. So they knew how powerful these angels were.
They were living in fear of these demons. They went out in the name of Jesus and they started casting out demons. They come back and say, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, Jesus 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 power and enemy and nothing will injure you. Imagine the joy and excitement of hearing that and seeing the kind of power that God has given, Jesus has given them. But Jesus says in verse 20, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.
There are other times it recorded where the disciples were trying to cast out demons and they couldn't cast out because the demons were too powerful and they come back discouraged. The reason, what he is saying here, he's not saying don't rejoice or don't be happy. He said, if you're gonna place your hope in anything, place your hope in something that cannot be taken away, that the Son of God died for you.
If you're gonna rejoice in anything, rejoice over the fact that the Son of God loves you. In fact, in Luke chapter 15, verse 10, it says in the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. It says whole heaven rejoices when a sinner repents.
People ask me, as the church grows, right, how big do you want the church to get? Now, I don't know the motive behind that question, right, 'cause I can't read what they're asking. I think part of it is because, especially if you came to our church when our church was small, you know, and as the church grows, there's an initial excitement.
It's like, oh, the church is growing, church is growing, and then it grows to a certain point. It's like, eh, it's just not the same. 'Cause some of you guys remember when our church was smaller, where, you know, you knew every part of my house, right? You knew every part of my house, 'cause we had Wednesday Bible study there, Friday Bible study, we had, you know, leaders meeting, and we even celebrated New Year's Eve.
You know, I'm sure our neighbors didn't like that, but we did everything out of our house. So we had intimate, you know, intimate relationship. And I remember when our church was young, remember when we would send people off to China? You know, we had 120 people, and 120 people would show up at the airport to send people off.
You know, our church was known as a loitering church, because once we got together, we would never leave, you know? And so every once in a while, somebody may ask, and again, I'm not saying that that's the reason behind it, but I know sometimes when that question is asked, it's because how do we manage this growth?
You know, at some point, maybe that's it. And so whenever they ask me that question, I tell them, "How big do you want the church to get?" It's like, "Seven billion." Seven billion, that's my goal. So until then, we're gonna keep growing, okay? If the purpose of our church, and the reason why we're doing what we're doing is to build our kingdom, even 10 is too big.
Five is too big, even one is too big. But if our goal is to reach the lost, the Bible says every sinner that comes to Christ, he says, "Heavens rejoice." Some of the greatest joys in my life after I became a Christian was seeing sinners come to Christ. I remember, and this was the second person that I was able to share the gospel that came to Christ.
It made such an impact in my life. We were up in Seattle, Washington, and this is when I was about sophomore in college. And our Bible study leader took us out, and we were in downtown Seattle, and they were trying to share the gospel, but there was this homeless man that stood out to me.
And I could tell he had a bit of alcohol in his breath, but he wasn't drunk. So as I was walking around, and I stopped, and I tried to share the gospel with him, and you could tell he's just not having it. You know, I'm like, "Get that trash away from me." And he was angry, and then I was kind of curious.
And normally, I would just kind of walk by and talk to somebody who's more interested, but I could tell in his eyes that he, even as he was angry, that he wanted to engage. So I asked him, "Hey, can I ask you a personal question? "And if you're offended, you don't have to answer me." But I said, "What happened?
"How'd you get out of here?" And then, with tears in his eyes, he started to share with me. He said he was a middle-class engineer, had a nice house, had a wife that he loved, and had two small children. And he had a great life, except him and his wife got into this habit of doing drugs.
So after work, they, her, him and his wife would do drugs, and it just got more severe. And one day, he came home and found his wife overdosed, and she died from that. He loved her, and you could tell he loved her. And so, as he's telling me this story, he's weeping, and he said, "I just lost all motivation to live." And so, eventually, he lost his job.
Because he lost his job, he couldn't pay for his house, and so he lost his home. Because he lost his job, he lost his home, he couldn't pay the bills, so the government came and took the small children away from him. And then, he just said, after that, it was just, "I just wanna die, but I just can't." And he was out in the street, drowning his sorrows whenever he can.
And so, I was, obviously, I wanted to help him, but it's like, I remember that story, Peter and John at the temple, like they're begging for money, he says, "Silver and gold I have none, "but what I have I give unto you." I don't have any dollars, I don't have any coins, but can I share with you something that happened to me?
And I started sharing my testimony, and then I started to share the gospel with him. And so, I went through the whole, that we all have to fall short of the way, how I was trained in college, and I came to the end, and he was very attentive, and I asked him at the end, "Do you want to accept Jesus Christ?" And he eagerly said, "Yes." So, I'm a little bit skeptical.
You know, this is, I probably, by that time, shared the gospel maybe about 100 times, but he's only the second guy who was interested. And so, I said, "Is this guy real or not?" Maybe he wants money, maybe he's just kind of like, going through the motion. So, I said, "But let's pray." So, you know, I was just, we were standing there with all these people walking around, and they started staring at us, 'cause he saw me engage him.
And then when I said, "Let's pray," he grabbed my arms and he got on his knees. So, he pulled me down with him. So, this is the middle of downtown, people walking around, and I'm embarrassed. You know, but we're gonna pray. So, I led him through the prayer, and as I was leading him through the prayer, I say, "Lord, I'm a sinner, I need you.
"I believe in Christ, he died for my sins." And I could hear him weeping. And after we finished the prayer, he opened his eyes and I looked at his eyes, he was not the same guy. He was not the same guy. He genuinely repented and accepted Christ, and he got up on his feet, and then he said, "Give me your tracts." So, I had a pocket full of tracts that I was trying to hand out, and he took all of it, he said, "I'm gonna tell my friends." And I didn't live in Oregon at that time, or Seattle at that time, so our leader said, "Hey, we have to go," so we packed up, and I wasn't able to follow up with him.
But I remember that experience made such a deep impression in me. What could I have possibly given this man to change his situation? Even if I was a millionaire, gave him $100,000, couldn't bring his wife back, his children, everything that he lost, he just wanted to disappear. But what I did give him was a hope in Christ, his sin forgiven.
And I could tell he had a new reason to live. So, it was at that time I thought to myself, I didn't think about pastoral ministry, but I said, "This is what I wanna do "the rest of my life. "I wanna tell people about Jesus Christ. "I wanna spend the rest of my life "and give my full attention to share the gospel "to as many people as possible." Not simply because it was an obligation, not because the Bible said so, because it brought so much joy.
To see that joy in his heart brought so much joy in my heart. The Bible says that true celebration is coming. And once we forget that, Christianity becomes such a burden. It's like things that we need to do. I mean, life is hard enough as it is. Those of you who have small children at home, you're huffing and puffing just to make it out of the door in the morning.
You come back and you're exhausted and tired. And if your walk with Christ isn't because it produces the greatest joy, on top of all the burden of living in this sinful world, you have to appease this God that you cannot appease. You have relational problems at church, you have relational problems at home, and you're trying to do it, constantly feeling guilty, because that's all Christianity is if you don't know the joy that Christ brings.
You know the parables, the three parables in Luke chapter 15? Jesus gives the same three parables because he was hanging out with the sinners, right? The prostitutes and the tax collectors and the Pharisees and the scribes became angry because he was gaining a lot of popularity and they thought that they needed to be pure.
We need to keep the law perfectly in order to get God's blessings so that God doesn't condemn us again. So here's this Messiah and all these people are coming to him and yet he's hanging around with the sinners. He's going to ruin God's blessing for us. So they became angry with him.
And in response to that, he tells these three parables. The parable of the 99, leaving the 99 and going after the one lost sheep. Parable of the one silver coin that's lost and she sweeps the whole house and gets it. And then the parable of the prodigal son. And all three parables are really meant to be understood together because it makes the same point.
The first point that he makes with these three parables is that they did not understand the heart of God. They said, "Oh, we need to be pure. We need to be holy." And he said, "You don't know the heart of God." He would leave the 99. He's not saying he's going to forsake them, but how every single sheep is precious.
Every single soul is precious. So he was reversing the table and he said, "You're saying that we don't know God." And Jesus said, "No, you do not know God. This is who God is." He would leave the 99 to go after the one. He would leave, sweep the whole house and get one.
He's eagerly waiting for the prodigal son to come back. If we dissect these parables, we can say there's certain parts of it that really doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Because the third part of this message, or another universal part of this message is that once he finds them, he celebrates.
Now I'm thinking about that, when he comes back with that one sheep and they say, "Hey, I found this one sheep. Let's celebrate." And usually when they celebrate, they slaughter the sheep. They find one coin, they say, "Oh, I found this coin. Let's spend the other ones to celebrate." But the point of that is not about the coin.
The point of that is not about the sheep. The point of it is how it is precious, how every single one of these things are precious. And that's the point that he was trying to make. You've forgotten your calling. The only reason why the nation of Israel was called is so that he would bless them and then through them, bless the world.
So that the sinners may come to him. But you've used your blessing to get on a pedestal and look down at everybody else. So his point was, you do not know the heart of God. God celebrates the salvation of each sinner when they repent. And if you look at the prodigal son's message, he says in verse 15, the prodigal son wasn't able or wasn't willing to wait until the father died because he was not the first son and he wanted my possession.
He takes it and we know the story. He goes back and he just blows it, right? But look, look at the way it's described. So when he went and hired himself out to the one of the citizens of the country and he sent him into the fields to feed what?
Swine, right? Who is this? What is a swine? Right, it's a dirty animal. And who is this man? He's a Jew. He grew up in a faithful Jewish home and for him to work to feed swine is the lowest job that he can have. And Jesus is telling this story on purpose to demonstrate just how far he fell.
And then the very next page, verse it says in verse 16, and he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating and no one was giving anything to him. Not only was he feeding the swine, he fell so far. He said he was willing to eat what they eat.
That would have been so sacrilegious for a Jewish man. But that's the point that Jesus is trying to make. That's how desperate he became. And it wasn't until he became that desperate he realized what he did. And he says in the next verse, but when he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger.
I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired men. He was so filled with pride when he demanded to have his possession and left, but it wasn't until he fell flat on his face and he was so hungry, he was willing to eat swine food, he realized what he had with his father.
And this was him repenting. I remember when I first became a Christian, I was so excited about my faith. I didn't know much about the Bible, even though I grew up in a pastor's home. I didn't know much about the Bible. We moved around so much, but I was just so eager to tell people about God and I remember in my mind thinking that I'm gonna preach to as many people as possible.
I'm gonna see revival and I've always wanted to be in the military and I fantasized about that. I wanted to be a general. I was like, I'm gonna be a general in the kingdom of God. I remember thinking that as a young Christian. And then, just like many young Christians, reality set in.
My flesh didn't disappear. I started struggling with the same things. Started getting into fights. I was still disappointing my parents. Purity, it didn't just disappear. And so every Friday, we had a prayer meeting in LA and every Friday, I was praying for forgiveness. Every Friday. In fact, I prayed so much for forgiveness, I was crying out to every Friday, just God, forgive me.
And I would sit on Monday and I would wait till Friday so that I can repent and get restored and this was a cycle over and over. And I didn't realize just how loud I was when I was praying. One of our Bible study leaders pulled me aside and said, Peter, we can't pray when you pray.
I was so hurt by that 'cause like I'm praying to God and he's telling me, this guy's leading me Bible study. He's telling me to stop praying. I must have been really loud because every Friday, I was pounding God, forgive me, God, forgive me. And then it got to a point where I got tired.
I got tired of repenting. I got disappointed in myself. And it wasn't because of a temptation in the world. It wasn't because some discouragement. It was just, how can I go to God again? And so for about a year and a half, I fell away from my faith. I just kind of let myself be and I started getting into things that I didn't get into even before I became a Christian.
'Cause I became a Christian when I was 16. When I backslid, I was about 18 years old. And so my friends that I didn't talk to for a while, they started driving, have money. And so we got into things that I didn't get into even before I was a Christian.
So I remember this one particular night, about a year and a half of just doing this, that we got wasted. We just got, I'm not gonna get into the details, but we got wasted. And we barely made it home. He dropped me off at my parents' apartment, got home about 3.30 in the morning.
And I was sitting in the living room, in the middle of the night, in my parents' apartment. And I was just talking to myself. Is this fun? Is this fun? And I was like, this is so stupid. Maybe before I was a Christian, I could have enjoyed this, but as a Christian, in the back of my mind, this is not right.
I don't want this. I'm not even having fun. This is dumb. And I remember, half drunk, sitting in that room, thinking I'd rather, I'd rather sit in the back of the seat. Forget this revival, I'm gonna be used by God. It's like, all that went out the door. I'd rather sit quietly in the back, even if it's just an inch of progress a year.
That's better than this. And so it was much different. My first repentance was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe God is real, and he loves me, and I'm gonna tell the whole world about God. And that was my first conversion. But the second time I repented, it was just, my father's house, as a servant, is better than this.
See, it says in Luke chapter 15, when the son came, verse 21, son said to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, "and in your sight I am no longer worthy "to be called your son. "But," he was expecting his father to come out, and he said, "You, after what you've done, "everything you blew, the disgrace "that you brought to our home?" He says, "But," the father said to his slaves, "quickly, bring out the best robe, put it on him, "put a ring on his hand, and sandals on his feet, "and bring the fattened calf, kill it, "and let us eat and celebrate!
"For this son of mine was dead, "and has come to life again. "He was lost, and has been found, "and they began to celebrate." He was trying to tell the Pharisees and the scribes, "This is your heavenly father! "What you think heavenly father is, you've missed him. "This is the heavenly father who is eagerly waiting "for sinners to repent and come, "that not only he will celebrate, "that they're gonna be celebrating for eternity "in Zion, this is who God is." See, all that you and I have experienced, all the joy that you and I have known as Christians, we're really meant to be hors d'oeuvres.
Right, you go to a wedding, and they'll present the hors d'oeuvres, and you don't go to the hors d'oeuvres and then go home. Right, you get the hors d'oeuvres 'cause it kinda whets your appetite and prepares, so you know, you go to some place, and the hors d'oeuvres are ridiculous.
Right, and you come, and you come, and say, "Oh my gosh." In fact, some of the people at church have pictures of me standing by the door waiting for hors d'oeuvres. (congregation laughing) Right, you gotta stand in the right place 'cause when they come out, you know, the hors d'oeuvres that aren't that popular will make its way around, but the good ones don't make it past 10, 15 feet, right?
Jason knows what I'm talking about. (laughing) I have a picture of me and him standing by the door. (congregation laughing) 'Cause the hors d'oeuvres are to prepare us, and if the hors d'oeuvres are this good, what's inside? What's inside, right? That's what this means, the here and not yet.
That's what the word teleos means, is to be made whole, to bring to completion, that everything that he has shown us, everything he has taught us, is just to whet our appetite. So he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ when he comes.
He will bring to teleos what he has intended. In 1 Corinthians 13, 9-12, it says, "For we know in part, and we prophesy in part, "but when the perfect comes," teleos comes, "the partial will be done away with." When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child.
When I became a man, I did away with childless things, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. I can't describe to you with words the day that I became a Christian.
Some of you are probably sick and tired of me to share my testimony, 'cause you've heard it over 100 times. I can tell it to you another 100 times. It was the happiest day of my life. An angry child became happy instantaneously. Instantaneously. I didn't have to get counseling, I didn't have to get discipled.
I met Christ and everything changed. Everything changed. And to think, those were just hors d'oeuvres. That when we get to heaven, this God who opened my eyes to see him, I'm gonna be in front of him face to face. And it's not gonna be temporary, it's gonna be forever.
That's why Jesus says he went to the cross because of the joy set before him. Not because he was obligated, not because somebody was twisting his arms. He said because of the joy set before him, he was able to endure the cross. See, the moment we take our eyes off of what's coming, it just becomes the cross.
It just becomes suffering. It just becomes obligation. It isn't until we have firmly placed our hope in Christ. That's what it says in Philippians 3, 12, 15. Not that I've already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also he laid hold of me.
He says he's pressing on because he wants what God has already given him, but he hasn't reached it yet, right? He hasn't been made perfect yet. In 1 John 3, 2 to 3, it says, "Beloved, now we are children of God "and it has not appeared as yet what we will be.
"We know that when he appears, we will be like him "because we will see him just as he is. "And everyone who has this hope fixed on him "purifies himself just as he is pure." He just described sanctification. Sanctification isn't just hard work. It isn't the right program. It isn't the right organization.
It isn't meeting the right person. So he says sanctification is the individual who recognizes this hope in Christ. And he who hopes in this Christ, he purifies himself. Just as Jesus said, "He endured the cross because of the joy set before him." If we believe that true joy is coming to Christ, true life is coming to Christ.
And that's why anything that gets in the way of tainting that, we don't want anything to do with. That's sanctification. Not just hard work. Not just right organization. Not just right program. Do we believe this? Do we believe this? He who believes it, sets his hope on him, will purify himself as he is pure.
You know, some of you guys probably have different bucket lists, right? And I know some of you guys love to travel. I like traveling, but some of you guys are really like traveling. And every once in a while I ask you like, "Hey, can you tell me if we go here what to do?" And then the itinerary you give.
Seven o'clock wake up, 7.05 brush your teeth, 7.10 get breakfast, 7.15 get coffee. It just, I don't wanna go to this vacation. I'm tired looking at this itinerary. Right? That's a vacation. You're supposed to go there and relax. I'll wake up when I feel like waking up, and then if I'm hungry I'm gonna eat.
And then if I'm bored I'm gonna go see something. And then when I'm tired I'm gonna come home. I mean, this is worse than the job. But because you love it, you love traveling to the point where you wanna go maximize the time that you have when you get there.
And you pour so much energy to maximize it, right? Why? Because it makes you happy to do that. You put time and effort and energy and money because it brings joy. If we recognize the things that God has given us in eternity is so much more than anything else that we can experience here, how much more energy and time and effort should we be pouring into pursuing that?
Let me close with this, Isaiah 25, six through eight. The Lord of hosts will prepare a lavish banquet for all peoples on this mountain, a banquet of aged wine, choice pieces with marrow and refined aged wine. And on this mountain he will swallow up the covering which is over all peoples.
Even the veil which is stretched over all nations, he will swallow up death for all time. And the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces. And he will remove the reproach of his people from all the earth for the Lord has spoken, amen. I pray that the promise of Zion will be so deeply embedded in us that what he started in us now will cause us to long for the day, right?
Long for the day that we would also eagerly wait and be purified as a result. Let's pray together. (pages rustling) Lord, what an awesome God you are. Lord, you know our weakness. You know how easily we get entangled and tempted by the things that are temporal. We know, Father God, in our minds that all of these things are passing away.
And yet we are constantly concerned, worried. Help us, Lord God. We're helpless when we are away from you. I pray that your word and your spirit would lead us, guide us, help us, Lord God, to know that true joy, true celebration is coming with Christ. That though our life is now hidden with Christ, help us, Lord God, to wait for him coming.
And when he is glorified, that we will be glorified in him. May your name be honored. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Why don't we all stand up for the closing praise? (gentle piano music) ♪ In Christ alone my hope is found ♪ ♪ He is my light, my strength, my song ♪ ♪ This cornerstone, this solid ground ♪ ♪ Firm through the fiercest drought and storm ♪ ♪ What heights of love, what depths of peace ♪ ♪ When fears are stilled, when strivings cease ♪ ♪ My comforter, my all in all ♪ ♪ Here in the love of Christ I stand ♪ ♪ In Christ alone who took on flesh ♪ ♪ Fullness of God in helpless faith ♪ ♪ This gift of love and righteousness ♪ ♪ Scorned by the ones he came to save ♪ ♪ 'Til on the cross that Jesus died ♪ ♪ The wrath of God was satisfied ♪ ♪ For every spin on him was laid ♪ ♪ Here in the death of Christ I live ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ There in the ground his body lay ♪ ♪ Light of the world by darkness slain ♪ ♪ Then bursting forth in glorious day ♪ ♪ Up with the grave he rose again ♪ ♪ And as he stood in victory ♪ ♪ His curse has not its grip on me ♪ ♪ For I am his and he is mine ♪ ♪ Bought with the flesh and blood of Christ ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ No fear in death ♪ ♪ No fear in death ♪ ♪ This is the power of Christ in me ♪ ♪ From life's first cry to final breath ♪ ♪ Jesus command my destiny ♪ ♪ No power of hell ♪ ♪ No scream of death ♪ ♪ Can ever part me from his path ♪ ♪ Till he returns or calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I'll stand ♪ ♪ No power of hell ♪ ♪ No scream of death ♪ ♪ Can ever part me from his path ♪ ♪ Till he returns or calls me home ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I'll stand ♪ ♪ Here in the power of Christ I'll stand ♪ - Let's pray.
Hebrews chapter four, eight through 11. For if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered his rest has himself also rested from his works as God did from his.
Therefore, let us be diligent to enter that rest so that no one will fall through the following of the same example of disobedience. Lord, we pray that you would give us wisdom to apply your word in our life. Help us, Lord, to have a clearer and greater vision of what is coming, that we would live the rest of our lives preparing Father God to be in this celebration and worship in your presence.
So we pray that wherever you send us this week, that your word that you've planted in our hearts and our mind would bear much fruit for the sake of your kingdom and your name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪ God sent his son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ He went for good ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To buy my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ My Savior lives ♪ ♪ 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.
(gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ Strength arises ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We will wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Strength arises ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We will wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ You reign forever ♪ ♪ Our strong deliverer ♪ ♪ You are the everlasting God ♪ ♪ The everlasting God ♪ ♪ You do not make new ones ♪ ♪ You are weary ♪ ♪ You're the defender of the weak ♪ ♪ You comfort those in need ♪ ♪ You lift us up from the heat ♪ ♪ Like eagles ♪ ♪ Strength arises ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We will wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Strength arises ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We will wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Our God ♪ ♪ You reign forever ♪ ♪ Our hope ♪ ♪ Our strong deliverer ♪ ♪ You are the everlasting God ♪ ♪ The everlasting God ♪ ♪ You do not make new ones ♪ ♪ You are weary ♪ ♪ You're the defender of the weak ♪ ♪ You comfort those in need ♪ ♪ You lift us up from the heat ♪ ♪ Like eagles ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ You are the everlasting God ♪ ♪ The everlasting God ♪ ♪ The everlasting God ♪ ♪ The everlasting ♪ ♪ Strength arises ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We will wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Strength arises ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ We wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ The everlasting God ♪ ♪ I will wait upon the Lord ♪ ♪ Rise up with wings like eagles ♪ (upbeat music) - The Lord is the everlasting God.
The creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired. A young man will fall and be massaged. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
They'll soar high on wings like eagles. They'll run and not grow weary. They'll walk and not faint. (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (people chattering) (upbeat music) (man singing in foreign language)