(soft piano music) (people chattering) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family. Happy Lord's Day, and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Scripture says in Colossians 3:12 and verse 17, so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to him, to God the Father.

As we begin our service with this song, may we give thanks to Jesus, who is our humble King, the Lord who sees the broken and is compassionate to the weak and to those in need, the Lord who has shown compassion to us. And may it be our prayer to desire humility and to be like Jesus in this way.

(soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ Oh, kneel me down ♪ ♪ Oh, kneel me down again ♪ ♪ Here at your feet ♪ ♪ Show me how much you love ♪ ♪ Humility ♪ ♪ Oh, Spirit be the star ♪ ♪ That leads me to ♪ ♪ The humble heart of love ♪ ♪ I see in you ♪ You are the God.

♪ 'Cause you are the God of the broken ♪ ♪ The friend of the weak ♪ ♪ You wash the feet of the weary ♪ ♪ Embrace the ones in need ♪ ♪ I want to be like you, Jesus ♪ ♪ To have this heart in me ♪ ♪ You are the God of the humble ♪ ♪ You are the humble King ♪ ♪ Oh, kneel me down ♪ ♪ Oh, kneel me down again ♪ ♪ Here at your feet ♪ ♪ Show me how much you love ♪ ♪ Humility ♪ ♪ Oh, Spirit be the star ♪ ♪ That leads me to ♪ ♪ The humble heart of love ♪ ♪ I see in you ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are the God of the broken ♪ ♪ The friend of the weak ♪ ♪ You wash the feet of the weary ♪ ♪ Embrace the ones in need ♪ ♪ I want to be like you, Jesus ♪ ♪ To have this heart in me ♪ ♪ You are the God of the humble ♪ ♪ You are the humble King ♪ ♪ You are the God ♪ ♪ You are the God of the broken ♪ ♪ The friend of the weak ♪ ♪ You wash the feet of the weary ♪ ♪ Embrace the ones in need ♪ ♪ I want to be like you, Jesus ♪ ♪ To have this heart in me ♪ ♪ You are the God of the humble ♪ ♪ You are the humble King ♪ - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Brink Community Church. We have a bit of announcements before we get started. First of all, Pastor Mark announced last Sunday that we are adding a third service to our worship service starting from January 7th. Obviously, we're doing that because we're trying to make more space with a growing church.

And so the service times are 8 o'clock, 9.30, and 11.30 a.m. And so we're asking, again, 8 o'clock, there is no children's or education department. So a lot of the younger people who, you know, where that's not an issue, we're asking you to come to the 8 o'clock service.

And then our main education department is gonna be at 11.30. So right now it's at 11, so we're gonna have to postpone that to 11.30. And then there's some nursery and just early, K through 2, for the second service at 9.30. And I know that when we took a survey, most of you prefer going to the 9.30 service, but we're asking, obviously, the parents, you're gonna have to bring your children to the 11.30 service.

Okay? And then if possible, to choose the 8 o'clock, and then the 9.30, again, and most people, if you can come to the 11.30 service. So, you know, years ago when we added our second service, this is more than probably 10 or 12 years ago, it took us several years to kind of get comfortable and make sure that we have all the services filled and all of that.

And so, you know, just be patient with us as we go through the transition, and a lot of things have to be changed in order for us to accommodate that. We've been looking into different options that we have for the growing church, but I think for the time being, this is the quickest solution that we have.

So please mark that on your calendar. On January 7th is the first service that we're gonna be doing, 8, 9.30, and 11.30. Okay? If you--like, 8 o'clock service, if you notice, there's the time between 8 and 9.30 is one and a half hours. Between 9.30 and 11.30, there's two hours.

So those of you who are--been complaining that my sermons are too long, 8 o'clock service is for you. So next time you say, "Hey, your sermon's too long," I'm gonna say, "8 o'clock for you then," okay? 'Cause we're gonna try to keep it a little bit shorter in order for us to be able to get the people out and then have 9.30 service.

So the service is gonna be a little bit shorter. We're not gonna be having baptism in that service, and so it's--again, if you want to come, okay, try to come to 8 o'clock service, okay? FAM 245, if you're part of that ministry, if you're been married less than three years, there's a bowling fellowship going on on Saturday, December 2nd at 4 p.m., so please sign up for that.

Family Christmas party, family ministry Christmas party. So if anyone who's married, which is the bulk of our church, we haven't had this in a while just because of space, but we're trying to implement that, okay? And again, I'm not sure if we're gonna be able to do this again next year, but if you can sign up for that, that's happening on December 10th from 1 to 3, after second service from 1 to 3.

There is child care provided. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for children. It's gonna be held in the sanctuary as much as possible, and then if we have too many, depending on how many people sign up, there will be overflow room outside, okay? Just mark that on the calendar, and today is the last Sunday, they say, that you can sign up for that.

Even though it's a couple weeks away, they need to know how to prepare for this, so please sign up for that. Is there a sign-up table outside? Okay, so there is a sign-up table. You go outside, either that, or you can go online and sign up directly online, okay?

Also, New Year's this year is falling on Sunday, on December 31st, and so we'll have our New Year regular Sunday service, and then at nighttime, we have 11 o'clock New Year's Eve service that we have every year, so just mark that on the calendar, and along with that, we have an annual ping-pong tournament that takes place, so if you wanna participate in that, the cost of it is $5, and again, the last day to sign up for that is December 24th, okay?

And then for Galatians Bible study, we have, I think, three more weeks left for this session, right? And then after that, there's a little bit of break. There's almost about seven weeks of break, and the next Galatians is gonna start on February 7th, so there's a whole month of January is gonna be off, and then half of December is gonna be off, and so that time is gonna be used to kind of, like, meet with the small group leaders and possibly home group leaders, and it'll give you a break, but we need you guys to sign up even now.

Even though it's quite a bit away, we need to know how many small group leaders, home groups that we need to add to this, so if you guys are planning to come to the Bible study, which we hope you are, please sign up for that as soon as possible.

That'll help us to organize what we need, okay? And then one last-- we have Living Well Pregnancy Center, baby bottle drive, so if you've taken one of those, you need to turn it in by December 10th, okay? So they need to take it to where they're gonna take it to, but the last day to turn that in is December 10th, okay?

I think that's it for today. Let me pray for the offering, and then after the offering, after our main worship time, Justin Yu is gonna come up, give his testimony, and be baptized this morning. All right, let's pray. Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to come and call you our Abba Father, to worship you, to thank you, Father God, for your goodness in our lives.

Help us, Lord, to calibrate our hearts if we've come into this room entangled with civilian affairs. Help us, Lord, to live a life truly fixated on Christ, that he would be our all, that our worship, Lord God, would be an overflow of gratitude that you've placed in our hearts.

Help us, Lord God, to fight against a sense of duty, fight against, Lord God, just rote behavior, that you would search our hearts, know us, and that you would sanctify us, call us, that whether it is in giving, worshiping, or even in listening of your word, that may it all cause us, Lord God, to be greater worshipers who worship you in spirit and in truth.

Bless the offering that we give, Lord, may it 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) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let us all rise and before we continue on the service, if we could spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us.

I'd like to read from Philippians chapter 2 verse 9, line 2, 11. "For this reason also God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father." Let's sing, "All hail." All hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall.

Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all. He comes in seed of Israel's grace, he ransomed from the fall. Hail him who saves you by his grace and crowned him Lord of all. Hail him who saves you by his grace and crowned him Lord of all.

Let every kindred, let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial hall. To him all majesty ascribe and crown him Lord of all. Oh that with yonder, oh that with yonder sacred throng, we at his feet may fall. We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song and crown him Lord of all.

Romans 11 verse 33 goes, "Oh the depths of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways." You are beautiful, you are beautiful beyond description. Too marvelous for words, too wonderful for comprehension. Like nothing ever seen or heard. Who can grasp your infinite wisdom?

Who can fathom the depths of your love? You are beautiful beyond description. Majesty enthroned above. I stand, I stand in awe of you. Lord I stand, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe of you. You are beautiful, you are beautiful beyond description.

Yet God blessed you for my sin. Agony, deep affliction. Cut off that I might enter in. Who can grasp such tender compassion? Who can fathom your mercy so free? You are beautiful beyond description. Lamb of God, you died for me. I stand, I stand, I stand in awe of you.

Lord I stand, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe, I stand, I stand in awe of you. I stand, I stand in awe of you. Holy God to whom all praise is due. I stand in awe of you.

Amen, you may be seated. Good morning church, my name is Justin Yu. I'm currently a junior attending California State University Long Beach. Now you may find that my testimony starts much like many of yours. I grew up in a Christian household, attending church every Sunday and participating in Vacation Bible School, otherwise known as VBS.

My family and I would do the typical things like pray before meals and live according to Christian values. However, throughout all of this I failed to understand what being a Christian truly meant. In the years before college, I can say that my life appeared good from a worldly perspective, but it lacked a connection with Christ.

Throughout my middle school and high school years, I was constantly controlled by my own heart. This led me to live a life full of sin, greed, and hate. I continuously lied, stole, and gave into my lustful desires, believing the things of this world would satisfy me. During those times, I would often feel regret and helplessness, and almost every day I was plagued with depression and loneliness.

In high school, I took pride in proclaiming myself a Christian. My friends would often call me "the Christian boy" because I refrained from swearing and participating in their activities. I took pride in this, believing that I was holier, better, and just. I made many things into idols, including tennis, video games, and people.

However, deep down, my actions were never truly aligned with my faith in Christ. I was one of those Christians who knew of God, but never truly knew God. A Sunday Christian, someone who appeared devout on Sundays, but lived differently the rest of the week. Despite this, deep in my heart, there was still a curiosity and a desire to know more.

When the pandemic hit, I became harboring self-hatred and convinced myself I was a failure in all aspects. During my junior year, I would constantly compare myself to my friends' academic achievements. This feeling of inadequacy and isolation intensified. Senior year brought further challenges, with college rejections. These setbacks devastated me, and I remember I would plead with God nightly, questioning why I seemed to be failing.

I grew resentful towards God for not making me smarter and making life seemingly harder for me. I ignored my own gifts and fixated on what I lacked. Throughout all of that, though, a verse that resonated with me at the time was Isaiah 40, 29. "He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might, he increases power." Despite frequently repeating this verse, I needed help to internalize its message.

As my life continued and I entered college, that desire grew to a point where I was desperately searching for a Christian community. Through God's grace and his plan for me, I found Asian American Christian Fellowship, AACF, where I encountered God's love and his promises for me. For the first time in my life, I found a group of people who were all seeking to understand what it truly meant to be a Christian and have real faith.

As I spent countless hours with them, I began to grasp the true meaning of placing all of our hope in Christ. My desire to know Christ grew exponentially, and I frequently found myself turning to the Lord with my struggles and sins. Every day, I began to witness God's mercy and blessings in my life.

My perspective on the Bible shifted from "How does God's word relate to me?" to "How can I apply God's word in my life?" Through this transformation, I came to realize that Jesus is, indeed, my Lord and Savior, and I am utterly dependent on him and his strength. Over time, I gained a clear understanding that Jesus died and suffered, bearing all my sins, but rose again, defeating death.

By putting my dependence on Jesus, I have learned what it truly means to repent and turn towards him. This newfound reliance and acceptance of God has made me more intentional in my interactions with everyone around me. I walk alongside my brothers and sisters in their spiritual journeys, being poured into and pouring out to those around me.

I can say that I have grown in my desire to read the word, not for personal improvement or knowledge acquisition, but because I desire a deeper relationship with Christ. In prayer, I now understand all the gifts and blessings he has provided for me, which I was previously ignorant of.

Thus, over the past three years, I have learned what it truly means to surrender everything to him. As Matthew 16, 24-25 states, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." While I am still in the process of learning and growing in my faith, I hope to share the love and joy that God has bestowed upon me with others, and in the end, glorifying him.

Reading the Bible has transformed from a chore to an enriching experience, and as my testimony continues to evolve each day, I may not fully comprehend God's plan for me, but I have learned to place my trust in him, recognizing that his truths transcend my own understanding. I have found joy and satisfaction through the Lord, and I couldn't be more glad.

And so today, I am getting baptized to proclaim to the whole world that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Thank you. Listen, do you understand when you go into the water, you are being united with Christ's death, and when you come out, you are being united to his resurrected life?

I do. And I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All right, thank you, Justin, for that encouraging testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 6, verse 46 through 49. Luke chapter 6, verse 46 through 49. Reading out of the NASB, it says, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?

Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock. And when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built the house on the ground without any foundation. And the torrent burst against it, and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great." Let's pray. Father, we pray for understanding. We pray for your Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, that we may understand more than just your words, Lord God, that we would understand your heart.

I pray that you will bless us and guide us and teach us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I want to introduce three books to you. We call them core books of our church, and those of you who have been at our church for a while already know what they are.

At the beginning of the church, probably the first 10 years of the church, this was a mandatory reading in our church. And so after you took membership, we made sure that every single person in our church read this in small groups. And the reason why I want to introduce them to you is because of the size of the church and growth of the church, we weren't able to keep track, but we highly encourage you guys to read this.

The reason why there's only three, there's many good books to read, but the reason why we chose these three as the foundational books for our church is that if you don't understand it, or if you disagree with it, you're going to have a problem or have a difficult time accepting why we do what we do.

What is the reason behind that? So I want to introduce you to these three books. First one is The Holiness of God. This is from R.C. Sproul. And our first vision in our church is God-centered worship. And basically what that means is our primary purpose of gathering is not to make sure that your felt needs are taken care of, that you have the best experience in the church as possible.

That's not our primary goal. We're hoping that it would be a byproduct of what we do, but our primary goal is how do we honor God? How does he desire to be worshipped? Where it's God-centered. Every decision that we make, every value that we have is God-centered. So what this book teaches is about his holiness.

God established all throughout the Old Testament, even before Christ comes to be sacrificed, they needed to understand who God is. In order to understand why Jesus had to do what he had to do. And so if we have a misunderstanding of who he is, or lack of understanding of who he is, and because of that we have an incomplete understanding of where we stand with God, then everything that we do from that point on isn't going to make sense.

It's like kind of pouring water into a bucket that has a hole in it. So this book helps us establish that, the holiness of God. The second book is from MacArthur, "Gospel According to Jesus." And this book basically goes over lordship salvation. Meaning that the main reason why I'm introducing these books is because of the topic that we're talking about today, is about lordship.

And so once we understand our salvation in light of that we've rebelled against God, and God restores us, that we may come under submission again to worship a holy God. And then "Gospel According to Jesus" is, salvation isn't simply that he erased the penalty of our sins so that we can live life freely.

According to the scriptures, that God saves us, that we may again serve a new master. We were at once slaves to sin, but now he made us slaves to righteousness. And so this book helps us to understand, going scripture passage by passage, what lordship salvation looks like. Lordship is not mandated in scripture for justification, but true saving faith will always lead to Christ as Lord.

And so that's what this book is about. And then the third book is "The Master's Plan for the Church." And so this is like, if Christ is our Lord, where does that get expressed? Primarily through the church. A Christian who says that Christ is Lord, and who does not understand or practice lordship in the context of the church, is outside the body of Christ.

You can say, you know, I have this personal relationship with God, but if you look at the scripture carefully, where the expression of our relationship with God is expressed is primarily through the church. So everything that we do is to be done through the church, whether it's homeless ministry, whether it's through missions, whether it's outreach, community, family building, all of it was given to us that we may practice this within the context of the church.

And so this book helps us to understand that. So this is the reason why we've introduced this book at the very beginning of our church, in order to help disciple our church to make sure that we're on the same page. If you come with a different view, or maybe, "Hey, I don't agree with some of that." And one of the main reasons why you may listen to something and then say certain decisions that are being made, "Why do we have to do it that way?" is because either you don't understand this, or maybe you are in disagreement with some of the stuff here.

Again, I say all of this because we're looking at a text where Jesus is calling out people who are calling him Lord, Lord, and yet not practicing. In other words, it was just lip service. In Acts 2.36, it says, "Therefore, let all the house of Israel know for certain that God had made him both Lord and Christ." This Jesus whom you crucified, he was made to be Lord and Christ.

He's not just our Savior. The reason why he's our Savior is because him saving us from our sin establishes him as Lord over our lives. So you cannot call Christ your Savior if he is not your Lord. Romans 10.9, it says, "If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." When he says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord," obviously he's not saying people who say those magical words.

If you speak English and you happen to put those words in a sentence, that somehow magically you're saved. Obviously that's not what he's saying. He's saying somebody who establishes and recognizes Christ's Lordship over them. That it is no longer your life to live, but that you and I have been purchased by the blood of Christ, so now we belong to him.

And so he says, "He who confesses with his mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that he was crucified and raised from the dead, in order to establish him as Lord," he says, "he will be saved." This morning we're going to be looking at this text of verse 46 to 49.

There's three things about Lordship that I want to talk about. One is that Lordship requires more than lip service. Second, Lordship requires coming, hearing, and doing his word. And third, Lordship ultimately will be tested. So first of all, Lordship requires more than simple lip service. Verse 46 says, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?" One of the questions that I asked on Facebook last night, if you don't know, I put up questions there before I come so that you'll be familiar with the text, so that the text that we're going to be looking at will make more sense to you.

And the question that I asked is, "Why does he repeat himself and say, 'Those who call me Lord, Lord'?" The reason why things are said in repetition in the New Testament is for the purpose of emphasis. So when Jesus has something very important to say to Peter, what does he say?

"Peter, Peter." "Simon, Simon." He's not stuttering. That's the New Testament way to get your attention, pay attention. When he had something really important to say, what would he say? "Truly, truly I say to you," for the purpose of emphasis. Not to say that everything else he's saying is not important, but he's saying pay attention.

If you're just kind of haphazardly listening to what I'm saying, you're going to miss the point. So when he says, someone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," he's not referring to somebody who's just passively saying, "Oh, Lord, you're my teacher, you're my director, you're my pastor," or whatever that first century Jews would have said.

He's talking about people who are convinced that he is Lord. "Lord, Lord." They were absolutely confident that if you asked them, "Where do you stand with God?" He said, "He's my Lord." So when he's saying, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord?" He's not referring to necessarily simply people who are just kind of saying it haphazardly.

They're convinced themselves. "No, he is my Lord." There's many people in the church who are absolutely convinced that they've done something and said something at some point in their lives and they're absolutely convinced that I'm a follower of Christ. He's referring to those people. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do what I say?" In other words, it's simple lip service.

You mean it in your heart, but it's not being done. Selective obedience is disobedience. These are people who may be obedient or at least going through and picking and choosing what is beneficial to them, what they like and don't like. And so as a result of that, the very core things that God desires of them, they don't obey.

I think a good example for this, illustration of this, is again, if I was to, you know, me and Esther was to leave the home and say, "Hey, we're going to leave you $1,000 to my oldest son and say this money is given to you so that you can take care of your siblings." Then after, you know, a month goes by, I come back and I find out that he used that money for himself.

I said, "What did you do with that money?" He said, "Well, you know, I made sure, you know, that the house was clean, the trash was taken out, and I made sure that they slept." But he said, "No, I'm not asking you that. I'm asking you what you do with the $1,000 that I gave you." He said, "Well, I went to school.

I made sure we did the homework." And he said, "Well, you may have done all of that, but the central thing that I asked you to do is use that money for your siblings, but you did not." Many people who call me Lord, Lord are not disobedient to everything.

They're just selective as to what they choose to obey. In Matthew 23, 23-25, Jesus says to the Pharisees and the scribes, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law, justice and mercy and faithfulness, but these are things you should have done without neglecting the others." The problem wasn't with their giving.

The problem wasn't with the other things that they were doing. It's just that you chose to highlight the things that are easier to do, but the weightier matters. The matters that he was just talking about in the previous text, to love your enemies, to practice the kind of love that Jesus practiced with us.

When it comes to the weightier things, you say, "Well, but I gave this and I've done that." But when it comes to the central thing that I asked you to do, you said you neglected it. You blind guides who strain out the net and swallow the camel, woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

For you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and of self-indulgence. You know, in the Old Testament, God wanted to make sure that lordship was properly established. And so he embedded into the law of Israel the tithing. And tithing was specifically tied to recognition of lordship.

And in tithing, he said, "Not at the end, not after you've done all the harvest and you've used all your money, and then see whatever is left over and to give to him." He says, "No, in the first fruit." To recognize first and foremost, before you did anything else, you need to recognize that this belongs to God, this is not yours.

And that whatever it is that you have left over, it is to use to glorify God. But if you refuse to recognize God in the beginning, you for sure not recognize God in the middle or at the end. And so that's why he embedded this into the law. And some people say, "Well, you know, in the New Testament, we're not commanded to do this." And you're absolutely correct.

The word tithing is not used in the New Testament. It says to give generously, but it's not used in the New Testament. But neither is membership. Neither is Wednesday Bible study or home group. Or going out to certain countries to do missions or reading certain type of books. None of these things are commanded.

But these are principles taught in the Old Testament that we are to follow. Now, the reason why I mention this in my sermon is not going to be about giving. But this is where the rubber meets the road. Where we can establish Christ as Lord in every other part of our lives except for money.

But money is where the rubber meets the road. Money represents our time, it represents our energy, it represents our heart. So when we refuse to establish Christ as Lord in our finances, you refuse to establish Christ as Lord, period. I want to establish Christ in the areas that I can give.

I don't want to do this and I want to serve here. But the thing that matters the most to you, you want to retain control. And that's why God told him, "Among your first fruits, what is the most important to you?" The thing that you value the most. He says to give as an act of obedience, to surrender.

Why do you call me Lord, Lord and yet your actions are not consistent? Calling him Lord doesn't make him Lord. If he is Lord, he says to do what I say. In verse 47, it tells us three things. Three things that a true disciple of Christ ought to do.

He says, "Everyone who comes to me and hears my word and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like." There's three things that he says. One, to come. To come to Christ. In Matthew 11, 28, 30, he says, "Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your soul, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." If you come to church looking for friendship and community and certain activities, and yet you are not any closer to Christ than the first day that you met, you missed the whole point of this gathering.

The calling of the church is not to call and gather as many people as possible in the church. People who are good, people who are moral, people who vote for the right party. That is not the ultimate goal of the church. Jesus called us to himself, to him. I remember years ago, I had a friend who left this huge mega church, and he was so high on this church in the beginning, but after a few years, he decided to leave, and I asked him, "What caused you to leave?" He said, "After a couple of years, I realized that he wasn't on the same page." I asked him, "What happened?" He was a part of a youth group staff in this large church, and he said that their desire was to attract as many people, seekers as possible, so they set up Xbox all over the area.

They invited the youth kids to come, obviously because they get to play Xbox. They would play. While the parents were having worship, they would come and play. Then after 40 or 50 minutes of playing Xbox, the last 5 to 10 minutes, some youth pastor would stand up and say, "Isn't Jesus awesome?

Isn't this the kind of church you want to go to?" Initially, he said he tolerated thinking that, "Oh, they're going to come. Maybe they'll hear the gospel." Then he realized that the people who were coming were only coming for Xbox, and they never transitioned to wanting Christ. If you attract them with chocolate, you have to keep giving them chocolate.

So he eventually ended up leaving. I heard of another church. In order to cause the church to grow, they were raffling off a car. If you brought somebody, you get to drop your name into the bucket, and then if the person who came also puts their name out in the bucket, at the end of the year, all the names of the people who brought people, and all the people who were brought, they get into a box and they pick.

The guy who brought them and the new person that came, they brought a car. They got a car. So it's like, "Why not?" If that's what's going to save them, and that was their logic. I know another church. I know about this because we had non-Christians who were falling out of that church.

Non-Christians. I said, "Why did you come?" He said, "I was at a church where they were doing evangelism dance parties." So they would open up a room and get a DJ to play all the music that's on the radio. At the end of this dance party, two, three hours of strobe lights and all this stuff, and at the end, they would turn off the light before they lock up the church, and they'd say, "Isn't this the type of church you want to come to?" And that was it.

And then they would go home. So non-Christians were disturbed by that and said, "I'm not sure. I don't know much about the Bible. I don't know what the Old Testament and New Testament is, but something sounds strange there." So they started falling out, and so that's how I found out about it.

If Christ is not what draws you to the church, you're coming to the church for the wrong reason. The church will disappoint you. If the refuge you find is in community, the community eventually is going to disappoint you. If you're trying to find life with people who are like you so that you can do things together, travel together, you can raise children together, these are all benefits of being in a community that is centered on Christ.

But if Christ is not who you are coming to, if Christ is not the reason why we gather, then you missed the whole point of our gathering. Jesus says in John 7, 34, "Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, 'If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.'" Right now, in our generation, biblical counseling has taken off.

They've been around for a while, but biblical counseling has taken off. When I was in China, whether it's in Taiwan and even in India and Korea, people are looking for counselors. Now, not all counseling are the same, but they're looking for counselors because it's become trendy to seek counselors.

I'm having anxiety. I'm having relational problems. I feel lonely, need purpose, and seeking counselors. So I think it's great. I think biblical counseling is great, and that's something that we're trying to push at our church as well. But if counseling is nothing more than seeking somebody who is older and mature to say certain things, to show love to you, and yet you have not moved any closer to Christ at the end of the counseling, that counseling was useless.

Because all you did was put a Band-Aid on somebody, somebody who's lonely. Temporarily, you feel lonely because somebody cares for you. Ultimately, everything that we do at church, whether it's Bible study, worship, or prayer meetings, everything that we do is so that you may come to Christ. If you come to church and you don't have a single friend at church, and you feel alone, and yet you are meeting Christ, then the purpose of the church has been fulfilled.

The purpose of the church is not so that you can have many friends in a community. All these things are great. Hopefully, you do have that. But the purpose of the church is to bring you to Christ. Revelation 22, 17, "The spirit of the bride say, 'Come,' and let the one who hears say, 'Come,' and let the one who is thirsty, 'Come,' let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." You know, some of the most dangerous people in the church are people who love the church, but do not love Christ.

The most dangerous people in the church, the most dangerous leaders in the church, are people who love the church, and the purpose of the church, the goal of the church, yet do not love Christ. Because our ultimate goal is different. How we evaluate what is good and bad is different.

What we should or should not do, our priority is different. Because the whole priority of the church is to bring you to Christ. First and foremost, people who are true disciples of Christ are not simply people who give lip service, but people who are seeking Christ. Secondly, he must be a hearer, a listener.

You know, people, you can come to church all your life, right, and gain knowledge, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. So every year, you're hearing, every week you're hearing, you're hearing, hearing, but you're not listening. You ever try to have a conversation with somebody who's not listening?

They're looking at you, right, but they're not listening. You know, what I found out is, children, you can tell right away if they're not listening or not, right? I've been to youth camps that felt like purgatory. I mean, these kids just don't care, and they'll tell you, right? I remember I was at a youth retreat at a large church in L.A., and my sermon went a little bit long, and I said, "You know, I'm going to finish here," and one of the kids said, "You said that already!" And if they're tired, they're just going to lie down, so I know if they're paying attention or not paying attention.

But as you get older, people are a little bit more sophisticated, right? For all the students, it's a little bit easier, too, because you don't have a good poker face yet, right? You can tell, and some of you who don't pay attention, you're sleeping. You have two modes. Either you're paying attention or you're going to sleep, right?

So you're not as good, but the older you get, your poker face gets much better, and I realize the older you are, the more good at staring at something, and yet there's nothing going through, nothing, and you can tell, right? If you try to have a conversation with somebody who's really not listening, they're face towards you, but they're not listening, especially in our generation.

We're so distracted with our phones and so many things, like even if, even like five minutes of silence, something has gone wrong. I remember years ago, you know, obviously this is before cell phones. I had a, my friend invited me to come and preach at his church, and I was sitting among the congregation, so they didn't know I was the speaker, and as they were leading praise, they were flipping through magazines.

So you can tell that this was a long time ago, right? They're flipping through a magazine, and I'm sitting there. The worship is going on. It's like they have no interest whatsoever, and I looked around to see how many people were paying attention, and very few people were even worshiping, and the whole time I was thinking, "Wow, I'm going to spend the next 30, 40 minutes preaching to them.

No one's going to listen." So I get up there, and I'm about to preach, and I'm looking at the crowd to see how many people are actually even interested in what I have to say before I started. Parents are in the back playing with their children, and I could tell that, you know, they're saying, "Oh, it's a little child was starting to walk," and everybody was clapping in the middle of the sermon.

So most of the parents were in the back playing with their kids, distracted, and the people who didn't have children were flipping through magazines, and I could have just said, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah," and no one would have even noticed because they weren't paying attention. Many people in our generation listen to the Word of God like they're listening to an airline stewardess giving instructions of an emergency, right?

So I was just on a plane just last week, and as soon as—before they take off, I was like, "Ladies and gentlemen, before we take off, let me go through their emergency procedure," and they'll go through this spiel, right? And everybody just clicks off, especially if you've been—you've traveled quite a bit, and you know what they're going to say.

So that's when I put in my earplugs, and I close my eyes, you know, and I go to sleep, and then when they're done, I'll wake up, right? But in order to get people to pay attention—so they'll make jokes, they say silly things, or they'll make a recording of BTS, you know what I mean, do a dance thing.

It's like, "Oh, put the mask on first," you know, because people are not paying attention, right? And part of the reason why people don't pay attention is because they've heard it so many times, and the other reason why they don't pay attention is because they don't expect an emergency to happen.

So as a result of that, you click off. This is not important. But if they knew, let's say if there's a 50% chance, even a 10% chance, let's say 5% chance, that there was a chance that this is going to hit the water, and you're going to need these instructions, even if you heard it a thousand times, you'll be paying attention.

That's exactly what Jesus says about the ten virgins. Before the bridegroom comes, it's like, "Oh, he's not going to come. It's been so long, and they weren't paying attention. They weren't prepared." And Jesus said, "Those who recognize the urgency of this, and those five virgins who are ready, when the bridegroom comes, that they will enter into eternity." So much of our church, especially if you've been to church for a while, what haven't you heard?

You probably memorized it. You probably taught it. You grew up in the church, so after a while, you just kind of turn off. So you just put in your time, and then check in and check out. But you're not listening. You're not actually paying attention. In fact, that was the exact problem with the disciples that Jesus was teaching them.

And as he was headed toward the cross, he's talking about his death and resurrection. Remember what the disciples were saying? Jesus said, "Clearly, I'm going to go into Jerusalem. The leaders are going to catch me. They're going to crucify me, and I'm going to die. On the third day, I'm going to resurrect." And they were all blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

So tell me who's going to sit on your left and who's going to sit on your right? And they kept on asking the same questions. So when Jesus was going to the cross, it's like, "What is he doing?" If they paid attention, Jesus was not speaking in parables. He made it very clear this is what's going to happen.

But when it actually happened, they're like, "What is he doing?" In fact, they were so oblivious that after Jesus was resurrected, they're like, "What? How can he resurrect?" Jesus has told you this was going to happen because they've been so inoculated. They were so fixated on their own glory that what Jesus said didn't make sense.

John 5.24, it says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of judgment into life." He who hears my word. He's not just talking about somebody who's come to church and listened to sermons.

You all have years. Obviously, that's not what he's talking about. He's somebody who's attentive, recognizes the urgency of what it has to say, who's paying attention, who's coming to the Lord and saying, "Search me and know me. See if there's any hurtful ways in me." Searching the scriptures to see the judge of thoughts and intentions of my heart.

The first of the Ten Commandments is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." That's easy. Don't worship any other gods but God. But the second commandment is, "Do not make any graven images of me and worship it." At a superficial glance, it looks like the same commandment. Don't worship any other god.

But the second commandment is so practical because the tendency of Israel was, if Yahweh was telling them to do things that they didn't want to do, or maybe Yahweh was not answering their prayer and not enough rain was coming, or they didn't have as many children as they wanted, they made an image of Yahweh into a calf and then began to worship it and said, "This is Yahweh who delivered us." And they would begin to form Yahweh into the image that they want God to be.

How often do you hear people say when they don't like to hear, we say something that they don't like and they say, "Well, that's not the God that I know." The God that I know would never permit that. The God that I know would be okay with that. But they know nothing of God because the God that they know isn't from scripture.

The God that they've created is a God that would tolerate and would be perfectly okay for you to pick and choose what you're going to do and not do. So they've created a God of their own image. And then the third commandment is not to use His name in vain.

That once you've created a God that will tickle the ears of sinners and you begin to propagate that God, you are using the Lord's name in vain. That's why it's so important that anybody who stands to preach the Word of God, that we're not simply expositing the Bible. Because let me tell you, I can choose to expose the Bible and week after week after week say exactly what I want to say.

I just need to find the text to say it. I don't know if that makes sense to you, but those of you who ever preach regularly know exactly what I'm talking about. I can take the text and say exactly what I want to say. So if I'm frustrated with you, right, every text is going to turn into, "What is wrong with you people?

God is angry with you. God is going to judge you." I can choose to do that every single week. Or I don't want you to be angry with me. So I can take every text, exposit it in a way, "God loves you. He's so gracious to you. He loves you.

He's so patient with you. There's nothing you can do." If I don't judge the thoughts and intentions of my heart, I can easily use the Lord's name in vain through the Scripture. Through the Scripture. That's why this is such a tricky thing to come before the Lord in prayer.

I don't know how many times I've been frustrated with church, and I would get on my knees praying and I would be rebuked. "Peter, be patient with them. Love them as I love them." There are times that I would get on my knees in prayer wanting to just let it just pass and be convicted.

"Peter, if you love them, rebuke them. If you love them, represent me properly. Say everything that I would say if I was in that position." And oftentimes, it is my own heart, it is my own compromise that causes me to pick and choose what I want to present and how I present it.

If I am not carefully listening to the Word of God and sensitive to my own obedience, I can easily create a God in the image that I desire Him to be. And you are in that same boat. If you pick and choose what you will obey and what you won't obey, depending upon how difficult it is, sooner or later you will have created a God that looks nothing like Scripture.

You will have the Scripture, you will be in the church, but it is not the God of the Bible. Romans 10.17, it says, "So faith comes from hearing by the Word of Christ." John 10.27, "My sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me." So it is imperative that I make sure that it is His voice that you hear.

Not my opinion, not my leaning, but His voice accurately. Even the things that I don't want to say. There are some things that I don't want to say because I know very specific people who are going to be hurt if I say it. God did not give me that option.

As long as I'm representing Christ, first and foremost, I have to make sure that it is His voice that you hear, encouraging or discouraging, it is His voice that you need to hear. If we pick and choose, even as a pastor I wrestle with this, if we pick and choose what we think is good and what we think is bad, eventually you will create a God of your own choosing.

2 Timothy 4.3-4, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine." In other words, they're not going to want to hear it. "But wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires." In other words, they're going to create a God that's going to look and tolerate them in their sins.

"And will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." They're not going to want to hear it. It's going to make them feel uncomfortable. That's why I can talk generally about lordship, and I don't think anybody would disagree. Yes, of course the Bible teaches that.

Of course He's Lord. But as soon as I talk about money, He wants more money because He doesn't want to do three services. Because I touch the nerve. There's a reason why God chose money to establish lordship. Because He knows where your heart lies. He knows where your treasure is.

I have no idea if you're giving and not giving because I'm not in the finance team. But I know even in my own personal life that that's where the rubber meets the road. If I refuse to establish Christ as Lord over my finances, from the beginning, then I will struggle in the middle.

And I will for sure struggle at the end. I say, "Ah, okay, man. It was good as long as He kept it general, but now He's getting personal." And that's what He says. He said, "You call me Lord, Lord, and you don't do what I say." The third part of it is the doing.

Some of you need to really pay attention. Don't assume you've known things. That's why once you become a teacher, you become a lousy student. The temptation is once you put on that leadership hat, it's hard to learn. That's why I said not many of you should become teachers because once you see yourself as a teacher, you no longer learn.

It hinders your growth. Some of you need to pay much more close attention to the Word of God and to yourself. Yourself. Before the church, before anybody else, where are you? Where do you stand with Christ? I know who they say I am. Who do you say that I am?

And then there's many of you who are coming, trying to listen, but that's where it ends. And so every week, you're becoming a better, better analysist, analyst of the sermon. So if somebody asks you, "How was the sermon today?" "It was good." "Ah, it wasn't good." "Ah, it was okay." "Ah, a little bit too long this week." "I didn't like that illustration." So you become expert analyst of the Bible.

Good or bad, that's where it ends. As soon as you hear it, it's like, "Oh." You become very sensitive to how the sermon made you feel. "I felt good. I felt encouraged." "I felt enlightened." "I felt taught." But the purpose of the Word of God is to cut and to move you.

To build you. So the question that we should be asking is, at the end of this sermon, what will you do? If you are guilty of saying, "Lord, Lord," and not doing what He says, the purpose of this sermon is not to say, "Oh, that was good. Yeah, that was good." Thumbs up.

And then you go back to your life, and then you come back next week, evaluate the next sermon. "Oh, okay, that was good. Nah, today I don't know. He looked tired today." But that's where most of the sermons end, if we're not careful. We need to come to Him.

We need to listen to Him. And He calls us to do what He called us to do. James 2:26, "For just as the body without the Spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead." Is useless. If all faith is causing you to become a better analysist, analyst of the church, of the leadership, of what we're doing, what we're not doing, then all of it is for nothing.

But the word that you've heard, what does that look like in your life? Not in that person's life and not in the church's life, but what does that look like in your life? John 8, 31-32, "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in my words, those who profess to believe Him, if you continue, meno, if you continue, remain.'" And the other way that this word is translated is "obey." "Those who profess to believe Him, if you continue, if you obey my words, then you are truly disciples of mine." True disciples are not simply those who profess.

True disciples are those who obey. And He said, "You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." How many of you don't feel free today? How many of you don't feel free today? That if you were to look at your life before you met Christ and after you met Christ, you don't know--you can't tell what the huge difference is other than the fact that you come to church, other than the fact that when you die, you don't have to worry, "Oh, I'm going to go to heaven." And so you have convinced yourself that Christ is Lord.

There's not much evidence in your life professing Lord, Lord, and yet you do not do what I say. He says, "Those who obey my words, those are my disciples, and they will know the truth, and truth will set you free." There's a huge difference between somebody who is worshipping God because they've been set free.

There's a huge difference in the singing of people who've been set free, who've been under bondage to their sin, but we've been set free. There's a huge difference between people who are thankful to God because they've been set free. Not because it's Thanksgiving, not because somebody asked you, and you're kind of like, "What am I thankful for?" If the Son sets you free, you'll be free indeed.

The church can't set you free, the counselors won't set you free, your friends aren't going to set you free. He says, "Only Christ can set you free." And that's why the final word when he says, "A person who is saying, 'Lord, Lord,' but does not do what I say," versus somebody who's saying, "Lord, Lord," coming, hearing, and doing what he tells them to do, he's like a man who builds his house on solid foundation.

So when the winds come, when the trials come, they will stand firm. But those who profess, "Lord, Lord," and do not do what it says, is like a man who's building on sand, and looks good for a while. As long as there's no storm, as long as the waters don't come, as long as the storms don't come, and your life is lived in peace, you can build your house, you can build it high, but as soon as you get tested, it will reveal what kind of foundation that you've built on.

See, lordship isn't simply God telling us what you should and should not do. It's like any parent telling their children, "Don't do that, don't do this," because danger is coming. If you continue to go down this path, if you refuse to be disciplined, if you spend all that time investing in things that you don't need, there's danger coming.

And it will be revealed in time, it will be revealed where your life is going to lead, just like we raise our children, warning them, instructing them, discipling them, and asking them to obey for their own good. Christ establishes lordship in our life because He wants us to build our eternity on solid foundation.

Until Christ is Lord, everything that we do is building upon sand. And it's just a matter of time. Any structure that is built, and anything other than Christ, danger's coming. Danger between husband and wife, I guarantee you, it's coming. Danger between your children, you may not see it now because they're young, but it's coming.

Danger between your parents, because it's founded upon things that are going to crumble. Every relationship, every endeavor, when the storm comes and is not built on the foundation of Christ, will crumble. But the scripture says of Christ, the stone that the builders rejected, because they didn't see the beauty of Christ.

Because He came and He said, "Well, that's the Messiah." There's a reason why Isaiah describes Him as a man who was not pleasant looking. There's nothing about Him that man would be attracted to Him. They rejected Him because He wasn't beautiful. Because He wasn't going to give them what they wanted.

But He says the stone that the builders rejected had become the chief cornerstone. The chief cornerstone, the foundation in which all of eternity will be built. So if our houses are not built on the cornerstone of Christ, it's just a matter of time that it will crumble. And the bigger you build that house, the bigger the heartache when it crumbles.

Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and not do what I say? He who comes to me and hears my word and does what He says, He's like a man who builds his house upon the foundation that is not Christ. And when the storm comes, trials come, when you're tested, you will crumble and your heartache will be great.

But those who hear my words and they do what I tell them to do, and establish Him as Lord, will build their house upon the foundation of Christ. And when the storms come and you get tested and the building gets tested, you will see that you did not waste your time.

That the Lordship of Christ is building for eternity. My prayer is, again, that you don't leave the Sunday sermon, it's like, "How was the sermon today?" It's like, "It was a little bit long today." It's like, "Oh, you know, I like the way he broke down the sermon, three-point sermon, that's good.

It was easy to remember." "Oh, I like that story, you know, his illustration, that was good." Like, or dislike, the end. If all it is, is us professing with our mouth, and you're not going to practice this in your life, how is this any different than what he's addressing?

How is that any different than the warning that he's giving? I pray that we would be more than people who just give lip service. Establish Christ as Lord, and build, so that at the end of your life you may not look back at the 60, 70, 80 years that you lived, and say, "Oh, I wish I could have had that time again." I pray that we would be wise enough to practice it while we have time.

Let's pray. Father, help us. Help us in our weakness. Help us, Lord God, with our constant entanglement. Help us, Lord, with not being able to see the big picture, Lord God, of Christ coming. Help us, Lord God, to see how vain this world is. The things that we desire, our reputation, the place that we live, the cars that we drive.

Help us to see it from an eternal perspective, that we may live, Lord, in obedience, recognizing that it is no longer our lives to live, but that we would truly be crucified with Christ, that our lives would be hidden with Christ, that we would eagerly wait for the coming of Christ.

Lord, convict us. Reveal to us specifically where we have been avoiding you, that we may be more than just hearers, but to be doers of your Word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. Worthy of every song. Worthy of every song we could ever sing.

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Jesus. Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever sing. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. We live for you.

Holy. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. Worthy of every song we could ever sing. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring.

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever sing. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you. We live for you. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you.

Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. Let's sing, I will build. And I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone.

And I will not be shaken. And I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone. And I will not be shaken. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder.

Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me.

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

Amen. God sent his son. They called him Jesus. He came to love. He lived and died. He lived and died. To my, my, poor, an empty grave is there to my Savior lays 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. Because he lives.