>> Good morning, church family. We're going to go ahead and begin our worship. >> O sovereign God, O matchless king, let us adore the angel sing and fall before the throne of grace. To you belongs the highest praise. >> This sufferings, this passing time, under your wings I will abide.

And every enemy shall fear. You are my hope and victory. >> Praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise the Spirit, three in one. Clothed in power and in grace, you leave my blood all alone. >> To the valley. To the valley for my soul, my great descent has made me whole.

Your word my heart has welcomed home. Now peace like water ever flows. Praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise the Spirit, three in one. Clothed in power and in grace, you leave my blood all alone. You leave my blood all other need. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the power.

Yours is the glory forever. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the power. Yours is the glory forever. Praise the Father, praise the Son. Praise the Spirit, three in one. Clothed in power and in grace, the name above all other name. The name above all other name. >> All right, good morning.

Welcome to Marine Community Church. We have a bunch of announcements to get to, so let me get started with this. First of all, I told you guys that the shuttling system is going to get started soon. The official date that they've assigned for that is June 25th, so starting from not next Sunday, but Sunday after that, you'll see shuttles that are going to be going around in certain parking lots, especially the one that's far lot, not the ones on Mitchell, but if you go down, I think it's Cowan, and at the end of that, there's a parking lot that has about 150 spaces there, so there's going to be shuttles that's going to be going around, and so we're trying to create a habit of people parking there, and then the shuttle system's going, so again, the specific hours of those shuttles that are going, we'll let you know more specifically in the next week before that gets started, so just kind of give you a heads up.

So right now, you might see a shuttle, but it's not an official thing yet. They're just kind of testing things out to see what route needs to go, so not next Sunday, but Sunday after that, India's pastor support. We're starting again a new year. If you committed previous year, we're asking that if you can commit again another year from June to June next year, and the funds that are going to, $50 a month that will go to the families to support the pastors to do their ministry, and if you would just prefer to give a $600 for the whole year, again, that will help the ministry that's going on over there, so if you want to sign up for that, there's Facebook, the app, they'll have places where you can sign up for that.

Child safety training, that was supposed to be scheduled today because the people who are running that got sick, so they're not here, so they're postponing that until July 9th at 1 p.m., so if you were scheduled to go to that today, they're postponing that until July 9th, okay? And again, a heads up, next week is Father's Day, and there's going to be a lemonade stand, cookies and beef jerky and that kind of stuff that's for the fathers who are coming, so make sure you stop by those booths after service, and this is being run by our children, and so they're going to be there serving, okay?

So that's next Sunday, and then the next round of Berean membership class is happening on July 9th, so if you want to become a member of the church, that's starting on July 9th from 9 to 10.20 a.m., okay? And then Jubilee Fellowship, so if you are 50 and over, the next Jubilee Fellowship is happening on June 25th at 1 p.m., and so if you want to sign up for that, the lunch cost is $12, and then our Elder Phillip is going to be in charge of that, so please sign up with him.

Again, all of this is on the website and the church app, so you can go and sign up for that. And then one last announcement, today we have a garage trunk sale that's happening at 1.30 p.m. where families are donating their goods, and so the money raised for that is going to be for donation for the Baby Box Ministry that's happening out in Korea.

So as you guys know, as our team goes out, not this week, but next week, we're going to be visiting and doing some work with them, and so the money that's raised today with that is going to be donated to that. So that's happening at 1.30 at the church parking lot, so if you're around or if you ate and you want to come back and see what they have, that's going to be spread out and ready at 1.30.

Well, this morning we have Baby... Wait, do we do it now or later? Oh, we do it now? Okay, I forgot. We don't do it before my sermon? Huh? Okay, we do it now? Oh, okay. All right, so we're doing it now. All right, so we have Baby introduction today, so if we can have all the parents come up to the front.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah, so our... Our church is being very fruitful and multiplying, so we are very concerned about our facilities. (laughter) So we're very concerned about our facilities. (laughter) So we are very concerned about our facilities. (laughter) Okay. All right. So I'm going to give the mic to Herman first.

(baby crying) Okay, so the fathers will introduce the children to us going down the line, okay? Hi, good morning. My name is Herman and this is Jennifer, and our daughter is Gabriela. We chose the name Gabriela because we just liked the way it sounded, but it does mean God is my strength.

Our prayer request is for Gabby to grow up in the knowledge of who God is and to develop a genuine saving faith in Christ as her Lord and Savior. As her parents, we pray for godly wisdom and guidance in raising both of our girls to be good and good parents.

(applause) Hi, everyone. My name is Tim. This is my wife, Patticus, and this is little Jasmine, Ember. She's six weeks old. She's got four other siblings, and she desperately wants her diaper to be changed. (laughter) She's got minor health problems, but it's just a joy. The brothers and sisters, they just love on her.

It's just a wonderful time. Our prayer for her, just like the rest of her kids, is that the Lord will save them. One of our kids is saved, we think, but the rest of them, they don't. We pray for the rest of the kids at this church that the Lord saves them.

Thank you. (applause) Hello. My name is Isaac. This is my wife, Elise, and this is our son, Nehemiah. He's three months old, our first child. Oh, yeah, very cute. His name's Nehemiah. I think it means "comforted by God," but don't quote me on that. Our prayer would be that he grows up to be a good man who loves the Lord and pray for me and Elise to be good parents.

We often tell each other we don't know what we're doing, so we just want to do our best. (applause) Hi, I'm Henry. This is my wife, Liz, our daughter, Reagan. It's good to be back with you guys. We actually had her when we were up north at BMC, and we had a lot of different invitations there, so we were waiting to come here.

Which is why she's a little old. Her name is Reagan, which we just liked how that sounded. It actually means, I think in some language, "little ruler," and unfortunately that came true in our house where she's ruling over especially me. Alinea means "a new line of thought" in Latin, and we liked how that was sounding too.

Her Chinese name is actually, it means "grace and wisdom." And the second character there is actually the second character of Liz's Chinese name as well, so it was a little bit of carrying through. Our prayer for her is that she would live a life that is glorifying God, and that she may enjoy God eternally.

And along with that, our prayer for you guys to help us with is that the decisions we make on a day-to-day basis to raise her, disciple her, discipline her would be towards that end and not the ends of this world. Hello, I'm Dave. This is my wife Esther. This is Logan.

He will be three next month. And this is Levi, and he will be two months next month. God has already kind of answered every prayer that we could possibly give him, so we just pray that both of them would know him and chase after God with everything they have and work for his kingdom by helping others do the same.

So, yeah. Hi everyone. I'm Jensen. My wife is Sharon. And this is Ellis and Andy. I wish we had a story to tell about their names, but we just liked how they sounded. I think our prayer for our kids are that they would understand the weight and depravity of their sin, and they would see their need of Jesus at an early age.

And she wants to say that. But yeah, if you could join us in prayer with that, we'd appreciate it. Thank you. (applause) Hi, my name is Sam. My wife here is Grace. This is Abby, or Abigail. She's two and a half. And this is Eli. He's about nine months.

Elias, he's about nine months. Our prayer for them is that they would just know Jesus and just serve him over everything else. Oh, and their names. So, Abigail means "father's joy," and I really wanted a daughter, so I was really happy when I found out. And then Elias means "the Lord is my God," so we just really wanted that to be a foundation for him.

(applause) Hey, everyone. My name is John. This is my wife, Jess. And this is our youngest, Calvin. Oldest is Christopher. Middle is Charlie. Last is Calvin. With Calvin, we kind of backed ourselves into a corner and, you know, it has to be a seed name, so we just picked Calvin because it sounded the coolest.

In addition to everybody else's prayer requests and for the salvation of all three of our kids, if you just pray for us as parents. Every time we have a kid, the dynamic seems to change. We're dealing now with a middle child where I've never really had to deal with one, and so you guys just pray for that.

Thank you. (applause) All right, so before we send them off, I want to pray for them. But again, part of the reason why we introduced the babies to the church is that we are aware of the next generation of people who are in our church, especially now. I'm sure you guys are aware, especially in California.

What they are--the public schools are, like, committed to indoctrinate our kids against the teachings of the Scripture where it's no longer neutral. It's a hostile environment that these children are being raised in. So it's always been important that the parents are actively involved in praying, but all the more today, the parents really have to be committed to make sure that the fight-- good fight is being fought at home, especially with the children, with what's going on.

And so we want to make sure--or at least do our best for our next generation of children. They have a community in the church that's starting from a young age where the teaching and the culture and the values of what they're being raised in the community, that they would be strengthened so that when they're going out and really, like, standing against the tide in the culture, that they would be able to do that together.

So my prayer--our prayer is that all of us as a church, whether you have children or don't have children or maybe your children are older, you're not at that stage anymore, but to really be prayerful about the next generation, not just for ours, but that what we are learning and growing and building is going to affect the next generation of children as well, okay?

So let me pray for us, and then I'll also pray for the offering, and then we'll let them go, and then we'll enter into our main time of worship. Let's pray. Gracious Father, we thank you so much for blessing each one of these families, Lord God, with the precious gift of life.

Lord, as every single one of them has expressed desire, Lord, that their children would come to faith early, we ask, Lord God, that you would give them the strength to be a model, that you would use the father and mother to be the first missionaries to these children, to share the gospel with them, that they would be raised in a home that is not simply nominal, going to church, Lord God, but that they would be an example of what it means to be a genuine follower of Christ, so that the preaching of the word and the life of the parents would be consistent.

So we pray, Father God, as our church commits, Lord, not just for us, but for the next generation of children, help us, Lord, to build a community that is strong, based on your word, to follow in your spirit, that we would truly be the light and that they would be the light in this dark world.

So we pray for your grace, we pray for strength, we pray for our teachers in our church, Lord God, who are volunteering to care for them, that it would not simply be a responsibility, a task that they do each Sunday, but give them a greater vision, Lord God, to bring the gospel even to these children, that again, that they would come to faith early and for many, many years, as you have ordained for them to walk on this earth, that they would be the light.

And so we pray for your grace, we pray that even in this offering that we give now, may it be filled with your blessing, may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100 fold for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Alright, let's give them a hand as they go back to their seats.

(applause) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) Church family, let's all stand together as we come before our God. What a joy it is to be able to celebrate these new babies, but we are here to honor God who is worthy to be praised.

(piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) - Bibles with me to Luke chapter six.

We'll be again reading from verse 12 through 16. Reading out of the NASB. Luke chapter six, verses 12 through 16. It was at this time that he went off to the mountain to pray and he spent the whole night in prayer to God. And when they came, he called his disciples to him and chose 12 of them whom he also named as apostles.

12 in whom he also named Peter and Andrew, his brother, and James and John and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the zealot, Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for your blessing.

We pray for your word that it would bear fruit in our hearts. May your word and your word only go forth. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I forgot to announce, starting from today, the college students have their study hall from 6 to 2, Monday, Tuesday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.

And so just like we do every time we do that, if you are interested or want to help out and bring snacks, you can just drop it off at the cafe when you come. So whether it's today, Monday, or Tuesday, again, just to encourage them so that they can actually study.

So you can just take it and drop it off at the cafe. All right, this morning we're going to be spending some time talking about Andrew. And there's not a lot of material on him, but there's a reason why I wanted to take some time to talk about him.

How many of you in this room are middle children? Okay, some of you guys are reluctant to say. Okay, so middle children, yes. Middle children have a reputation of being difficult, strong-headed, you know, growing up thinking like life is not fair. Maybe some of you don't feel that way, but that's a typical, right?

If you say middle children, that's kind of like, oh, you know, these are the typical things that we would expect of a middle child. And I can say that I'm probably the most prototypical middle child. The three boys growing up thinking that life is not fair, nobody cares, you know.

And then if I get in a fight with my older brother, I get in trouble. It's like, why are you fighting with your older brother? If I fight with my younger brother, why are you fighting with your younger brother? So, again, whether that's true or not, like growing up thinking that, it's like, oh, life is not fair, I'm like, does anybody care?

Right? And that's, again, maybe you didn't grow up that way, but until I became a Christian, that was like dominant thought in my head. And it affected everything that I did, just being angry about everything, and just life is not fair. How many of you guys know Brady Bunch?

Okay, some of you guys know, okay. It's a program that some of us grew up watching back in the '70s and '80s. And so there's a character in that TV show named Janet. Huh? Jan, okay, so she knows. (Laughter) Oh, it wasn't Janet, Jan. Okay, Jan, and so there's a thing, a statement that she would always say.

She's like, "Marsha, Marsha, Marsha." Because she's always complaining that Marsha gets all the attention. She's the pretty sister, the older sister, and she always gets jipped. And that's the prototypical middle child syndrome, that you're always left out, nobody cares, you're not seen, you're not important. Now, I say all of this because Andrew is the saint of middle children, right?

That's just a joke. Don't go out and say, "Oh, yeah, I didn't know that." Andrew is the neglected disciple that we don't know much about. In fact, when we dig a little bit further, it's actually even more surprising that there's not much mentioned about him. In the Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, when you look up Andrew, this is what it says.

The New Testament shows little interest in Andrew. That's what it says in the Bible Dictionary. There's little interest in Andrew. There's not a lot written about him. But he's the one, he's the first of the disciples. Before he, Jesus knew anyway, Andrew was the one who was pointed to Christ, and then he goes over there and he gets his older brother, or younger brother, we're not exactly sure if he's older or younger, and takes Peter and introduces him.

In fact, most likely, Andrew was the first one that brought Peter and James and John to Jesus. Andrew is known, again, not by many texts, but what little that we do know about Andrew, Andrew was a missionary. He was the one who brought people to Christ. He was the one who introduced him.

And then after he's introduced, there's not much spoken about him. He just disappeared. He brings people, like the boy who had the loaves and the fish, Andrew was the one who brought him. There's a Greek who wanted to know more about Christ, and Andrew was the one who brought him to Jesus.

And so he's known to be the middleman who connects people to Jesus, and then that's it, and he just disappears. So, the more, the little information that we do have, you would automatically think, like, he, being the first disciple, the one who introduced other disciples to him, why was he not more prominent?

There's three things that I want to cover in this morning, and hopefully you'll understand why, at the end of this, why I wanted to take some time to consider why this was so important. Andrew, first of all, was the disciple of John the Baptist. And I'm just going to read this text to you so that you kind of, because there's not a whole lot written about Andrew, but I want to introduce him to you by reading this text, and this is how Andrew shows up at this scene in the Gospels.

In John chapter 1, 35-41, "Again the next day, John was standing," this is John the Baptist, "was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked and said, 'Behold the Lamb of God!' The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus." Now, these two disciples, one of them is going to be clearly identified, Andrew, some think that maybe that was John, but we don't know that for sure because he's not identified.

But we know for sure that it was Andrew because later on it says so. "And Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, 'What do you seek?' They said to him, 'Rabbi,'" which translated means teacher, "'where are you staying?' He said to them, 'Come and you will see.' So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon the Baptist." Simon, Peter's brother. "He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah,'" which translated means Christ. Now, you would think with a beginning like that, Andrew being the first disciple, being the disciple of John the Baptist, that he would have a more prominent role.

In fact, after this happens, you know very little about Andrew other than the fact that he's introducing people to Christ. John, some people think that maybe James and John were also disciples of John the Baptist, but again, that's a minority view. We don't know for sure if John was the other person, again, but the Bible never says that.

But what we do know for a fact is Andrew clearly is identified as the one who followed John the Baptist first. And he was the first one who recognizes the Messiah, and he brings his brother, and most likely the other two as well. Now, you have to understand, what does it mean for him to be a disciple of John the Baptist?

Which means that John started his discipleship before he met Christ. All the other disciples began this journey with Christ when they met Jesus. John the Baptist, his whole ministry was to prepare for Christ. So, we don't know how long he was a disciple of John the Baptist, but what we do know is he had training before.

His whole training was to prepare him for them to meet Jesus. That's why when Jesus shows up, he said, "He's the one, he's the Messiah," he just leaves and goes. There's no struggling, there's no talk about, like, "Oh, how can I abandon you to go follow him?" Because John the Baptist prepared him for that.

So, his whole ministry was to get him ready. Now, you have to understand, at that particular time, to be a disciple, discipleship didn't happen in classrooms. Like, "Oh, we're going to have discipleship programs, we're going to go here, we're going to read this, and we're going to give you an assignment and come back and then check up on you." That's not how discipleship happened.

Discipleship happened in that period where if someone was being discipled, you would leave your home and you would live with that person. You would eat with them, travel with them, and whatever happened, whatever they ate, you would eat. However they dressed, whatever honor or dishonor they got, you would be a part of that.

Just like the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, John the Baptist's disciples probably did the same thing. They left everything to follow him, so Andrew was already committed. He didn't leave everything when Jesus showed up. He already left everything to be a disciple of John the Baptist. John, as you guys know, lived in the wilderness.

He didn't live in a comfortable home. He was a reflection of the Old Testament prophets, especially Elijah. Even the way he dressed, as sackcloth and camel's hair with leather belt. And he came, and if you know anything about the Old Testament prophets, they suffered. God made them do strange things, even be homeless for large periods of time, just so that they can convey the message with their life.

And so John the Baptist was a man who lived a difficult life. His whole diet was honey and locusts, living out in the wilderness. And even his message. You know, if you ever see a depiction of Jesus, you'll see him on the cross, or you'll see him with his hands stretched out with a halo on the head.

Probably one of the most affectionate pictures of Jesus is he's sitting, and you have children around him, and Jesus is laughing and he's very welcoming. Depending on what picture you see. But have you ever seen John the Baptist's picture? Obviously it's not a picture, it's a depiction. What they imagined John the Baptist would be.

He's always angry in this picture. And often times he's black and white. He's very serious. He has a very serious message. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. He's always clothed in almost homeless-like clothing. And so the fact that Andrew followed him, that Andrew was prepared for whatever difficulty that was going to come, Andrew was the one who was the most prepared to be the disciple of Christ.

So the fact that he was the first, the fact that he was trained, and the fact that he is the one who first brings everybody to him, you would automatically think, right? John the Baptist would be the... Andrew would be the leader. Not Peter. Andrew would be a significant person.

At the minimum he would be at the core. But he just does his job and it almost disappears. We don't know much about him. So why was Andrew not more significant? Andrew is known more for what is not recorded about him. So everything that I deduce about his character and who he is in his ministry comes from what's not here.

What is here I just already told you. Everything significant that we know about Andrew, I've already kind of shared with you. Why was he not in the core? I remember when... because I have four children and I have two children in the middle, and I remember Zachary when he was a little kid.

Zachary is kind of kind-hearted. He doesn't like to be mean. And so when he would get angry at his brother, older brother, and this is before Isaiah came into the world, and the way he would convey discontent with his brother, he would say, "I like mommy, I like daddy, I like faith." And then he would pause and say, "That's it." That's how he would convey discontent.

That's him saying, "Jeremy hurt me." He's like, "I like mommy, I like daddy, I like faith, and that's it." So we knew exactly what he was saying. By the absence of Jeremy's name on that list, he was not happy with him. So every time I look at the list of the inner core, it's kind of like, Jesus chose Peter, James, and John, and that's it.

Why is he not here? Andrew's name actually is only mentioned 12 times in the New Testament. And in the 12 times, the 4 times is just on the list of disciples. He's just one of the 12 that is mentioned. And of the 8, majority of it is just insignificant, it's just passing.

Andrew happened to be there. Andrew was also there. But everything that we know significant about Andrew, I already told you. That's it. Why was he not at the core? In fact, in John 1, 41-42, after Andrew introduces Simon to Jesus, this is what happens. "And Andrew introduced his own brother Simon and said to him, 'We have found the Messiah,'" which translated means Christ, "He brought him to Jesus.

Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon, son of John; you shall be called Cephas,'" which translated Peter. Andrew introduced Simon to Jesus, and the first thing that Jesus says is like, "Simon, you know, Simon, you're going to be my disciple." He just completely bypasses Andrew and says, "Simon, I'm going to change your name.

I'm going to be your leader." From the get-go. There's no record of anything Andrew has done or said that was wrong. Outside of he was one of the people who scattered when Jesus went to the cross, but there's no record that he did something, he said something. He must have done something that disqualified him, but there's no record of that.

Any mention of Andrew is positive. So again, why was he not at the core? In Mark chapter 5, verse 37, when a synagogue official's daughter dies, Jesus is going to go heal, and he didn't want this to spread, so this is what he did. And he allowed no one to accompany him except Peter, James, and John.

And that's it. I added that that's it. Where's Andrew? At the transfiguration, Matthew 17, verse 1. This is the most important thing that he's going to reveal to them, because they're going to go and tell that this is who Jesus is. They're going to hear the voice of God, and it says this, "Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, his brother, and led them up on a high mountain by themselves." And that's it.

Where's Andrew? He's the first. He was the disciple of John the Baptist. He would have been the most qualified, but he's not in the middle. Mark chapter 14, 32-33, at the Garden of Gethsemane, it says, "They came to a place and named Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, 'Sit here until I have prayed.' And he took with him Peter, James, and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled." Peter, James, and John, repeatedly over and over again.

You can't miss it. Why is Andrew not there? Considering what we know about him. In fact, it doesn't stop with Jesus' ministry. We get into the New Testament, and Apostle Paul goes to Jerusalem to try to connect with the leaders. He says this, Galatians 2-9, "And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James, and Cephas, and John, James, Peter, and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship so that we might go to Gentiles, and they to the circumcised." Where is Andrew?

In fact, the last time we hear of Andrew is in Acts 1, where there's a list of the 11 disciples, and Andrew's name happened to be there. And after that, we never hear of Andrew again. There's no record of his preaching, there's no record of church planting, there's no record of who he discipled, there's no record of anything that he said.

Outside of what I mentioned to you, that is it. So the question is, why? Why is Andrew not here? Even though it may be something, it's like, oh, it's a mystery, you know, maybe we'll know when we get in heaven. But I'll bet you, all of you have the same reaction that I do.

Maybe varying degrees of that, right? Why is he not there? I wonder if there's anybody in this room maybe asking the question, "Who cares? Why is this such a big deal? So he's not there, so what?" Maybe some of you are thinking that. My guess is most of you, just varying degrees, are asking the same question.

Right? What did Andrew do? Why didn't he get the honor to be in the inner core? Maybe, maybe they just needed three. And they had four, they had two brothers, and they just had to choose one, and maybe Andrew just, you know, maybe he volunteered, okay, take me out, I don't know.

It doesn't say. Maybe Andrew just wasn't a natural leader. You have two sons of thunder, so you know that these guys are go-getters, right? Like, wanted to kill people, and then they want to love people, and so they were go-getters. Peter was a go-getter. Maybe Andrew was just kind of in the background, maybe he's an introvert.

I don't know. It doesn't say. But I think it's important for us to question not why is Andrew not there, but why does it bother us that he's not there? Why does it bother? Why do we look at that and say something must have gone wrong, because he should have been in that position of honor?

Martin Luther King, Jr., who was assassinated in 1968 in April. Two months before his assassination, this is the second of the last sermon that he gives, and in this sermon, the title is called "Drum Major's Instinct." "Drum Major's Instinct," and this is what he says in this sermon. "We all want to be important to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade.

Alfred Adler, the great psychoanalyst, contends that this is the dominant impulse. Sigmund Freud used to contend that sex was the dominant impulse, and Adler came with a new argument saying that this quest for recognition, this desire for attention, this desire for distinction is the basic impulse, the basic drive of human life, this drum major's instinct." And he goes on to say that this desire to be recognized, to be distinguished, is what was leading to this racial division in the country.

And then he goes on further in saying the reason behind the war is this drum major's instinct. The reason behind our marital problems, the reason behind our family problems, all at the core of it is a drum major's instinct. This drum major's instinct basically, in summary, is basically wanting to get ahead, wanting to be better, wanting to be noticed.

Even though the teaching of Christ repeatedly over and over and over, and the example that Jesus gives is to overthrow the paradigm in this world to be better. And from the moment that we are born, what kind of child is he going to be? In the Korean community, you have this "donjabi" thing, and then you choose, right?

You're going to be a doctor, you're going to be a businessman, you're going to be a pastor, right? But most of those careers are things that we consider to be honorable. You don't put a trash can out there, right? "Oh, he's going to become this person, or a blue collar worker." We put that out there.

We put that out there because we want to see, oh, what potential? Because now they're brand new, so what potential of honor are they going to choose? And from the moment that they're born, we're training them. We don't want them to get behind. Other kids are learning piano, other kids are playing sports.

We don't want them to get behind, so we want to train them so that they can compete, so that they can be better. We want to make sure that they're speaking when they're supposed to speak, socializing when they're supposed to socialize. And just subconsciously, we start talking, "Oh, when did your kid start walking?" "Oh, my kid walked at one year, two years." "Oh, my kid could put sentence together at one and a half." "Oh, they started reading when they were two." "Oh, my kid's an honor student." And so subconsciously, we're feeding that drum major's instinct.

Things that we had, and we projected on our children. What school did they go to? What was their major? What kind of job did they have? Who did they marry? Where are they living? Oh, what kind of retirement? Oh, how's your grandchildren? And so this drum major's instinct is so deeply embedded in us.

Even though we know passage after passage after passage after passage, Jesus says over and over and over again, "He who is first shall be last." The very last thing that Jesus told his disciples, he got on his feet, humiliated himself, and washed their feet, and said, "If you want to be great in God's kingdom, you must be like this." We learn it, we teach it, we memorize it, and then we shun it in the way that we live.

The way that we talk. What makes us happy and not happy? It's this drum major's instinct. Matthew 23, 6-12, or 11-12, "But the greatest among you shall be your servant." "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." Matthew 18, 1-4, at the time the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And he called the child to himself and said to him before them, and said, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children." Converted.

Converted from what? Converted from a drum major's instinct. From this pride and wanting to get ahead, to compete, to compare, and to collect. This desire to make sure that I'm a little bit better, I'm acknowledged, that we're going to do these things. If I invest my 20's, I'll be honored in my 30's.

If I invest my 30's, I'll be honored in my 40's. If I work hard enough, in my 50's. So what does he mean by converted? To convert from that way of thinking and take on the form of a child who has no honor. He has no glory, he's just a child.

That's what he's saying. He's not being saying, "Be naive." Or, "Not intelligent." He's talking about children who have no honor. Unless he is converted to be like a child, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself as a child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

It goes opposite of everything that we do since we're born. Every impulse that we have to get ahead. Even for our own children. We're fighting against what God is trying to do with us. Matthew 20, 27, 28, "And whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave." Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

We're following a Christ who constantly teaches us to humble himself, to empty yourself, to become nothing, to be a servant, pick up your own cross, deny your own life, and follow me. We sing this, we praise this, we memorize this. And then yet, our pattern of life goes exactly against it.

So the question that we have to wrestle with is not, "Why did Andrew not get the distinction?" But the question we have to ask is, "Why does that bother me?" Why do we look at that and say, "Something has gone wrong because Andrew is not part of the three." What is happening inside of me?

And the reason why so many people in our generation, the feminists, have taken over and saying that it's not fair that women are not able to have positions of honor in the church. Because in their mind, the secular worldview has penetrated into their thought, thinking because if men are leading, then the woman is not as valued.

The only way that they can be valued is if they're in the front and they're leading. But that is not the teaching of Christ. The teaching of Christ is the one who serves, the one who is humble, the one who is serving is the one who is greatest in the kingdom of God.

So the fact that it bothers people is not kingdom value. It's the world's value that causes them to reject or receive certain things in the scripture. In fact, in our church, we try not to use the word "leader" because we don't want to implant in people's heads that the goal of discipleship is to make you a leader.

And then you begin to compete and compare, "I did this," and train for you to be a leader, to rise, to be the cream of the crop, so that you can have positions of honor. And we're deliberately trying not to use those terms because our goal is to become more like Christ.

So that if anything, as you mature and be sanctified, you become better servants. To be up in the front and to be recognized is not that hard. As much as everybody, whether it's at work or anywhere else, like if you work hard enough, you're going to be at the top.

It's not that hard. What I'm doing, I can do while I'm in sin. If you're articulate and you went to school and you have certain gifts, you can be in the front. In fact, people will put you in the front. People will ask you to be in the front.

So it is not difficult if you have certain things that you're good at. But to be in the background and serving faithfully without recognition, it challenges the core of who we are. And to do it consistently for a long period of time without honor requires buffeting of our pride, humility, requires character.

To be up in the front, if you've done it for a while, you have education, you have certain gifting, you're able to do this and you happen to be a good salesman. A good salesman who's articulate, who has a seminary degree and who likes to read can do what I'm doing.

It can be copied. In fact, in seminary it was a common thing to say good preachers are a dime a dozen. And I remember that's very humbling as a preacher. It's like good preachers are a dime a dozen. Everybody's trying to be a good preacher and they say it's a dime a dozen.

And I can tell you from experience, it's absolutely right. Just some people may be just better storytelling. Some people may be better articulate or more compassionate or more knowledgeable. Whatever that may be, good preachers are a dime a dozen. When I go to conferences, again, because I'm a preacher myself, the people that I get the most blessed by are not the ones up in the front giving instructions and teaching.

Because I'm a preacher. I know it doesn't require character to do this. Even though God requires it, but humanly speaking, there's plenty of people who lie in beds of money, who are adulterous, struggling with impurity, all kinds of sin, and they are great at reading and leading and teaching.

In fact, the better you are at it, the more benefits you have. You write books, you get more money, you travel, people treat you like a celebrity, they come get your signature, your church is growing, everybody wants to model after you, and they treat you with honor wherever you go.

And then you get paid for it, you get financially compensated for that because you're so good at it. But to be a faithful servant in the background without honor requires humility. To be able to serve others without recognition requires a bearing of your own cross. It requires love that the world does not understand.

It requires a peace that the world cannot give. To be faithful and serving Christ for a long period of time without grumbling requires a much higher calling. When measured by the standard of this world, Andrew was gypped. Why didn't he get that position? He never got to write scripture.

We don't know much about him. By the standard of the drum major's instinct, he never got to strike the drum even once. But Andrew is the perfect example of a man that Christ called us to be. He did his job and then just went home. The end. God didn't call us to leave a legacy because Christ already left a legacy.

God didn't call us so that we can have distinction because Christ already left a distinction. So the calling that he's given us is to point to Christ, introduce people to Christ, and then to go home. We may look at that and say, "Well, how come he never got honored?" Again, that's the world's perspective.

Can any one of us say that Andrew got gypped when he was at home with his Heavenly Father? He never promised glory here. He never promised honor here. In fact, he said exactly the opposite. Because they did not know me, they will not know you. Because they rejected me, they will reject you.

He said, "You are heading toward a difficult life because of me." Yet everything inside of us fights against that, praising Jesus for that, teaching people for doing that. Yet with every ounce of energy, we fight against what he tells us. Andrew did his job and then just went home.

He just went home. Andrew's name, his name itself, means manly or strong. Especially in our culture today, like, you know, it's like, "Oh, what is manly?" It's like toxic masculinity and they say all this stuff, but Andrew, his name was a man. We don't know much about him, but church tradition says that he went north when everybody else kind of scattered all the way up to Russia and possibly to Scotland.

And Andrew ended up converting some Roman official's wife, and he got so angry, they tried to get her to recant and she would not, so they ended up crucifying him. And even as he is hanging on the cross for two days, you know, typically when somebody is hung on the cross, it was meant to torture, and it was not an easy and quick death.

Jesus died almost instantly that day, but that cross was not made for that. The cross was made to prolong your suffering. And the accounts say that some people who were hanging on the cross lasted there over a week. In suffering. Andrew was hanging on the cross and it took him two days to suffocate and die.

And it says, according to church account, it says for two days he preached the gospel to everyone who was coming by. Till his last breath. Most people know about Peter hanging upside down. We know about John who was trying to be boiled, you know, we know about the beheading.

Very few of us know what happened to Andrew. Because Andrew was the man that he called us to be. We have a tendency to look to Moses, to David, to Peter, to Paul, and we emulate them. There are books written about them. But if you look carefully at scripture, Christ calls us to be Andrew.

We have celebrities and we have these big men, these scholars, we have mega churches, but majority of church history, majority of church, majority of mission are done by people like Andrew. Who just faithfully serve in the background and when it's time to go home, they just went home. You could already tell that Andrew was a good disciple.

Not just of Jesus, but of John the Baptist. Because just like John the Baptist, he started out his ministry by saying, "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." But after Jesus shows up, what does John say? What is John known for? When Jesus shows up, he says, "He must increase and I must decrease." And then he's gone.

Just like that. Some people were thinking that maybe he's the Messiah, maybe he's Elijah. That's how popular he was. But you see, as soon as Jesus shows up, he says, "He must increase, I must decrease." He did such a good job with Andrew and that's exactly what Andrew does.

He introduces people to Christ and he goes to the background and then he goes home. That's our calling. That is our calling. That is our calling. That is the cross. That is the desire for dying of ourselves. That desire for drummer's instinct, drummer major's instinct is killing us. It's ruining our marriage.

We're giving to the rat race. Even though we're training our children with Sunday school lessons, but by the way we're raising them is so that they can compete and win in this rat race. Do they really know that it doesn't matter? Do our children really know that even if they win, they lose?

Do they really know that by the way that we're raising our children? Are we teaching them what the Bible says and showing them what the world teaches? Andrew is what we have called to be. Andrew is who we need to strive to be. Work hard to point to Christ and then just go home.

Thank you. Our church cannot be filled with Peters. One Peter is enough. Even though we have two. I don't want to go to a church filled with this Peter. I'm aware of who I am. I know the good in me, but I'm also very aware of the bad in me.

I would hate to disciple you to become just like me. But I would in no shame with a clear conscience wish that this church is filled with Andrews. This church is built with Andrews. Serve faithfully, quietly, without grumbling, point to Christ. And when our job is over, go home and look for glory up there, not here.

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the example of our brother Andrew. Without glory, without honor, without distinction, how he faithfully served you and received his reward in heaven. Help us, Lord God, to be like this man. To be strong and manly, to point to Christ that we would not receive the glory, that we would not receive the distinction, but Christ and Christ alone.

Help us, Lord God, to build a church that the next generation will follow. Not us, but Christ and Christ alone. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. You are my supply. You are my supply. My breath of life. Still more awesome than I know.

You are my reward. Worth living for. Still more awesome than I know. I love you. It's more than enough for All of me. For every thirst and Every need. You satisfy me. With your love And all I have of you Is more than enough. You are my sacrifice. You are my sacrifice.

My greatest pride. Still more awesome than I know. You're my carnal gain. You are everything. Still more awesome than I know. I love you. It's more than enough for All of me. For every thirst and Every need. You satisfy me. With your love And all I have of you Is more than enough.

More than all I want. More than all I need. You are more than enough for me. More than all I know. More than all I can say. You are more than enough. I love you. It's more than enough for All of me. For every thirst and Every need. You satisfy me.

With your love And all I have of you Is more than enough. Let's pray. Isaiah 42, 5-8 Thus says the God Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it.

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness. I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you. And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations, to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

I am the Lord, that is my name. I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images. Help us, Lord God, to see the example of Christ, that we would not desire or touch your glory. Help us simply to be servants that points to Christ, that introduces Christ, whether it is our family, our children, our neighbors, our friends, that they would know that the hope is in Christ and Christ alone.

Wherever you send us, help us, Lord God, to be the aroma of Christ. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love, heal and forgive. He lived and died to buy my body. An empty grave is there to put my Savior's lips.

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. (music) (music) (music) (music) (music)