(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) (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. Romans chapter eight, verse 28, it reads, that we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. I pray this morning we can be reminded of God's faithfulness in our lives, that in any season we might be going through, even through the toughest trials, he is working in us to yield the fruit of righteousness and a deeper love and joy in Christ, to make us more like him and to one day be with him in full glory.

(soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ This life is an altar ♪ ♪ Where I want to offer my soul, my mind and strength ♪ ♪ Cleansed by your mercy ♪ ♪ To live a life worthy of the one who called my name ♪ ♪ Jesus, be glorified ♪ ♪ Jesus, be magnified ♪ ♪ Let me be a pleasing sacrifice ♪ ♪ Jesus, be glorified ♪ ♪ Jesus, be magnified ♪ ♪ Here on the altar ♪ ♪ My life is an offering ♪ ♪ Could I not love you ♪ ♪ You offer my rescue ♪ ♪ Raise me up from death to life ♪ ♪ Your spirit is in me ♪ ♪ Revealing your glory ♪ ♪ Oh, what joy ♪ ♪ As I give my life ♪ ♪ Jesus, be glorified ♪ ♪ Jesus, be magnified ♪ ♪ Let me be a pleasing sacrifice ♪ ♪ Jesus, be glorified ♪ ♪ Jesus, be magnified ♪ ♪ Here on the altar ♪ ♪ My life is an offering ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪ I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪ I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪ I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪ Jesus, be glorified ♪ ♪ Jesus, be magnified ♪ ♪ Let me be a pleasing sacrifice ♪ ♪ Jesus, be glorified ♪ ♪ Jesus, be magnified ♪ ♪ Here on the altar ♪ ♪ My life is an offering ♪ (upbeat music) (crowd cheering) - All right, good morning.

Welcome to Prairie Community Church. Let me get to a few announcements before we get started. First of all, a family ministry picnic is happening today at 11.30 to 3.30. So after this service at the Bill Barber Memorial Park, it's informal, so you grab your lunch and then go, and if you wanna meet other family members and married couples, they're gonna be there till 3.30.

So that's happening today from 11.30 to 3.30 p.m. And then FAM 245 on Memorial Day weekend, this coming Saturday, there's gonna be a barbecue at 11 to 2 p.m. So if you are a part of that ministry, they're having that. And then India Pastor Support. If you are praying or you wanna help out with that, a $50 a month or $600 one-time gift to support our Indian pastors to be able to do the work that they're doing out in that area.

VBS Sign Up, please sign up for that. That's happening on July 15th. And also the family ministry retreat that's happening in August. The pre-registration is gonna be happening. Early registration is happening until June 2nd, okay? God's design for marriage. And one last thing, as you were coming in, you might have seen a table stationed outside.

What that table is, they're taking sign-ups or not sign-ups for petition. They're trying to add, I guess, an amendment to what's already passed. They're trying to put it on November 2026. So if they have enough signatures, they're gonna put this in. And what this is, basically, the law has already passed in California.

Again, as you guys know, we're living in one of the most liberal states in the country. And basically, this petition is to ask that the schools require to contact the parents if their student is having whatever, like counseling for gender identity type of stuff. It protects girls' sports so that males who are saying that they're females cannot compete.

And then finally, that there would be, they would prevent sterilization of children, prohibiting the state from using puberty blockers and hormones and mastectomies to minors, to young children. As ridiculous as this is, this is what's going on around this. And so the fact that we even have to petition the state to not do this, I mean, it's pretty crazy, the era that we're living in.

But as you're exiting, there will be a table set up out there so if you have time, please stop by there and just sign your name and petition on there. And they'll add that to the names. And if we have enough names, they're gonna put this on the ballot.

And then eventually, it will come out so that we can vote on it, okay? So all this stuff was passed through California Congress without notification, they just made a decision. And so we're asking that we would get a say, at least the voters would get a say on this.

Okay, so that's why the table's set up out there and it will be there all throughout, after the second service and also the third service, okay? Let me pray for our offering and after that, our brother Josh Chung is gonna come and give his testimony and be baptized this morning.

Let's pray. Gracious Father, we pray that you would bless this time and whatever it is, Lord God, that we have been entangled with before we came to worship, that you would help us to lift our eyes to Christ, reorient us, cause us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon Christ.

Let our worship, Lord God, help us that the worship that we give you will be in spirit and in truth. I pray that you would bless this offering. May it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) Let us all rise and before we continue on with our service, let's spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us.

(gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Holy, holy is the Son of God ♪ ♪ None can stand before His majesty ♪ ♪ Beautiful beyond our highest thought ♪ ♪ Worthy, He is worthy ♪ ♪ Holy, holy is the Word made flesh ♪ ♪ King who bore our pain and poverty ♪ ♪ Come to claim the rebel and the rich ♪ ♪ Worthy, He is worthy ♪ ♪ Glory and honor of power and praise ♪ ♪ Be to Your name, be to Your name ♪ ♪ No one could rival Your glory and fame ♪ ♪ In this, I, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Holy, holy is the Lamb who died ♪ ♪ Canceling Your dead in Calvary ♪ ♪ Rising from the grave to raise on high ♪ ♪ Worthy, He is worthy ♪ ♪ Glory and honor of power and praise ♪ ♪ Be to Your name, be to Your name ♪ ♪ No one could rival Your glory and fame ♪ ♪ In this, I, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, not beside You ♪ ♪ Greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, not beside You ♪ ♪ Greatly to be praised ♪ ♪ Oh, glory, honor of power and praise ♪ ♪ Be to Your name, be to Your name ♪ ♪ No one could rival Your glory and fame ♪ ♪ In this, I, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ No one could rival Your glory and fame ♪ ♪ In this, I, the name of Jesus ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, Lord Almighty ♪ ♪ Worthy is Your name ♪ ♪ Holy, holy, Lord Beside You ♪ ♪ Greatly to be praised ♪ - We're gonna sing "Jesus, I, My Cross." ♪ Jesus, I, my cross have taken ♪ ♪ All to leave and follow Thee ♪ ♪ Destitute, despised, forsaken ♪ ♪ Thou from hence my all shall be ♪ ♪ Perish every fond ambition ♪ ♪ All I've sought or hoped or known ♪ ♪ Yet how rich is my condition ♪ ♪ God and heaven are still my own ♪ ♪ My own ♪ ♪ That the world despise and leave me ♪ ♪ They have left my Savior too ♪ ♪ Human hearts and looks deceive me ♪ ♪ Thou art not like them a true ♪ ♪ Oh, while Thou dost smile upon me ♪ ♪ God of wisdom, love, and might ♪ ♪ Foes may hate and friends disown me ♪ ♪ But show Thy face and all is bright ♪ ♪ Golden, earthy, vain, and treasure ♪ ♪ Come disaster, scorn, and pain ♪ ♪ In Thy service, pain is pleasure ♪ ♪ With Thy favor, loss is gain ♪ ♪ I have called Thee, Abba, Father ♪ ♪ I have staked my heart on Thee ♪ ♪ Storms may howl and clouds may gather ♪ ♪ All must work for good to Thee ♪ ♪ So then know Thy full salvation ♪ ♪ Lies or sin and fear and care ♪ ♪ Joy to find in every station ♪ ♪ Something still to do or bear ♪ ♪ Think what spirit dwells within Thee ♪ ♪ Think what Father's smiles are Thine ♪ ♪ Think that Jesus died to win Thee ♪ ♪ Child of heav'n, canst Thou reply ♪ ♪ Face Thee on from grace to glory ♪ ♪ Armed by faith and with my prayer ♪ ♪ Heaven's eternal days before Thee ♪ ♪ God's own hand shall guide Thee there ♪ ♪ Soon shall close Thy earthly vision ♪ ♪ Soon shall pass Thy pilgrim days ♪ ♪ Hope shall change to glad fruition ♪ ♪ Need to sigh and pray to grace ♪ ♪ To grace ♪ - Hey everyone, my name is Josh and this is my testimony.

I grew up in a Christian family where I followed my parents to church from a young age. I was your typical Sunday Christian who kept everything, needed to be a true believer in the back burner. As I grew more independent over time, I stopped going to church consistently and by the time I was in high school, having fun and life was my top priority.

Around my sophomore year in high school, a close friend invited me to go to this church. Because I could finally make my own decision, I felt pushed to try it out. I enjoyed and stayed for the friends I met until I was asked if I wanted to take a Bible study that would eventually lead me to making the choice to receive Christ as my savior.

At this time, I still thought of myself to be a believer but wanted to affirm it as I was now older and significant time has passed. I eventually finished the Bible study and affirmed my faith in Christ as a believer. Habitual patterns turned into real desire to learn more about God, attend church and praise and prayer nights.

I joined the praise team, served and went through active introspection. However, my first year of community college, I began to stagnate in my growth. I watched as many fellow members in the church left their professed faith. Of those in my grade, about half remained. I didn't realize how disassociated I felt from the church community until I transferred to university in Los Angeles.

I was away from my home church and from Christian friends. My closest group of friends were those who left the church and were no longer believers. In LA, I attempted to keep on maturing and growing as a Christian by finding a fellowship in a new church to attend to during the time I was there.

However, I began to feel and grow more isolated from other Christians, especially in a new church I knew I was only gonna stay in for the next two years. After facing some discouragement from one of the churches, I came to a conclusion that I did not need a church to continue my faith.

Their self-reliance and the disappointment in seeing professed Christians living and acting in worldly ways, as well as a number of other factors, my pride grew. As I watched fruit being born from seemingly the result of my personal actions, my vanity and arrogance grew. And during this time, prayer and reading the Bible became more methodical than intentional.

By the time I graduated in 2020, my priorities had shifted to becoming more career-focused. Around the summer of 2021, my mom was diagnosed with cancer as I started a new job, which I had high hopes for. Life became much heavier and exhausting from busy seasons at work to the logistics and emotions of dealing with the cancer, and then subsequently hospice care.

In 2022, she passed away, and what I thought was experienced faith built up over a long period of time, crumbled to its foundations. Due to pride I couldn't let go of, I kept my thoughts and feelings to myself from the remaining family members, became distant friends I didn't want to rely on, and a church I attended but felt I didn't belong to.

I was completely burned out and isolated. My physical, mental, and emotional health were a mess. For the first time in my life I felt completely lost, and I mentally gave up on everything in my life, on myself and others and ideals and material things. Every conviction and dream and hope I had no longer meant anything to me.

I questioned God's existence. I was at a crossroads where I had to come to an absolute realization if my belief was real or not. At my lowest point, I very deeply wanted my life to come to an end, but realized that could not justify it in my heart. There was an unceasing hope left in me that I initially tried to block out and was even sickened by.

I believed in God, but still questioned his love. I complained and prayed in desperation and was eventually overwhelmed and overpowered. I could no longer push back God's love for me. I could not reject the goodness and greatness that he had shown to me throughout my life, and I knew I wasn't the one to dictate my own life or death.

I was his servant, and I should abide by his will, not the other way around. For the first time, I was faced with many ups and downs, as I struggled with the hope in Christ I believed, but often could not clearly see. In this place where I found difficulty in opening up to people and committing to churches, I was drawn to the word.

In Ecclesiastes 1, I was reminded of the futility and waste of my efforts on earth that were not for God, as well as my self-perceived wisdom. There began the slow process of giving up my pride through real repentance and remembrance of the work done by the Holy Spirit, by God.

First Corinthians 3, five through seven. What then is Apollos, and what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.

Over time, as I prayed and read the word, God also provided me with much to rest them of. I felt especially comforted with the words and imagery from the Shepherd's Song. As God healed me to a new normal through his word, praise, and prayers, sermons, and people around me, I started to gain a strong desire to want to serve more and to be a deeper part of a community of believers.

When I was invited to Burien by a friend, I felt that it was an appropriate time to start anew in finding a church with intention to grow and recontinue a life to thank, serve, and glorify God. Thank you. (audience applauds) (water gurgles) - Joshua, do you understand when you go into the water, you're being your eyes to Christ's death.

Then when you come out, you're being your eyes to his resurrected life. I baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. (water gurgles) (audience applauds) - All right, thank you, Joshua, for that encouraging testimony. If you could turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter eight, and I'll be reading from verse 11 through 15.

(pages rustle) Luke chapter eight, verse 11 through 15. "Now the parable is this. "The seed is the word of God. "Those besides the road are those who have heard. "Then the devil comes and takes away the word "from their heart so that they will not believe and be saved.

"Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, "receive the word with joy, and these have no firm root. "They believe for a while, "and in time of temptation, fall away. "The seed which fell among the thorns, "these are the ones who have heard, "and as they go on their way, "they are choked with worries, "and riches, and pleasures of this life, "and bring no fruit to maturity.

"But the seed in the good soil, "these are the ones who have heard the word "in an honest and good heart, "and hold it fast and bear fruit with perseverance." Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would give us understanding of your word. Help us, Lord God, to give our full attention and lean our ears towards you, and that your word, Lord, would speak to us, illuminate us, guide us, and lead us this morning.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. If you can turn your Bible just briefly to Jonah chapter three, I wanna give you an example of what we've been talking about, how God chooses a reluctant servant and brings repentance and revival to this brutal nation, the Assyrians, and I think, to give an example, again, an illustration of what true repentance looks like.

If you, again, know the Book of Jonah, oftentimes you hear the preaching of the Book of Jonah, and they completely take it out of the context, 'cause I've heard people say, "Don't mess with God, "or a whale's gonna eat you up," right? So you can't run from God, God's gonna chase after you, so don't run from God, and all of these things may be, in some way, be true, but the main point of the Book of Jonah is a rebuke toward a nation of Israel, because they have forgotten their calling.

They were created so that they may bring glory to God, that they may demonstrate who he is to the rest of the world, and during this period of time, Israel has forgotten their identity. They were only concerned about themselves, and bringing glory to the other nation was not their priority, so that's why this book ends with God basically telling Jonah and rebuking Jonah, and then it just ends that way, right?

Well, if you look at it, Jonah is probably the worst person to call to bring revival to the Assyrians. These were brutal people, and they were hated, and Jonah hated them, and you can tell, because when they repent, instead of celebrating, he pouts, and he complains. I knew this is who you are, that you're slow in anger, and you're patient and gracious, and this is exactly the reason why I didn't wanna go, 'cause I didn't wanna see them repent, and yet God chose Jonah, knowing that he would be a horrible messenger of what God has called him to do, so it says in verse four, "Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk, "and cried out and said, "Yet 40 days and then about will be overthrown." It's interesting when he says he cried out.

Typically, when we cry it out, you would see an evangelist crying out, "Repent, for God wants to forgive you of your sins," but can you imagine what that crying out must have sounded like from Jonah? Because he actually wanted them to be judged. He was just crying out, "Condemnation, right?

"You Assyrians are gonna be judged," and so you could tell, he's not pleading with them to repent. He's basically telling them, "You're being judged because you're a horrible nation." But what's interesting is, despite the context, despite this reluctant man, it says in verse five, "Then the people of Nineveh believed in God, "and they called it fast and put on sackcloth "from the greatest to the least of them." I mean, can you imagine if evangelism was like that?

We just went out and say, "God is angry with you," and it's like, "Okay, I'm gonna repent," right? Why did they repent? Considering what he was saying, this is a prophet from a nation that they've conquered and they were brutal against. Well, it doesn't tell us in this story, but the background story is, during this period, before Jonah even shows up, God was already doing work here.

It says, according to historical record, there was a tremendous earthquake that shook up this city, and there was a famine, and so there was a lot of turmoil in the city, which caused an upheaval, and there was infighting, and so there was all this chaos going on, and so God wasn't just simply calling Jonah to go to just anywhere.

He was already doing the background work so that when he said, "These things are happening "because God is angry with your sin," they were already ready, and they said, "That's the reason. "God has sent the prophet," and so that's why they relented and they repented. Now, I don't know if you've been paying attention, and I've been saying this many times, that the pandemic has created an atmosphere of evangelism that I have not seen in many, many years.

Those of you who are new to Christianity may not have something to compare with, but in the last 40-some years, I've seen more people interested and concerned about life and death and meaning of life than I've seen in decades, and that's not something that we did. God created an atmosphere, so if you're living day-to-day only concerned about yourself, you may not be aware of that, but if you've ever tried to share the gospel in the last 10-plus years, you'll notice that there has been a stirring of people, and I just mentioned this on a side note, but because this is what was happening.

Jonah went in because there was already concern and fear that God created in this city, so when he comes, that they repented, and again, I can imagine Jonah not being happy about their repentance. This repentance was so deep that even the king, even the king makes a decree that we're gonna have this fast, no one's going to be normal, we're gonna come plead with the Lord, but look what he says in verse nine.

Who knows? God may turn and relent and withdraw his burning anger so that we will not perish. That is an attitude of a true repentant, right? The way that the gospel has been presented today, that the representative of an offended God is basically pleading with sinners who offended this holy God to give him a chance.

Open your heart, what have you got to lose? And so, so many people in our generation expect the grace of God. If I just say the right things, God's gonna forgive me. That's what the Bible says, right? And he's supposed to. He's supposed to do that. Why isn't he?

And so, when we pray and God doesn't answer, we think, what kind of a God is this? I thought he loved me. I thought he said he's gonna answer my prayer. It makes absolutely no sense that the people who've offended God, and instead of bringing judgment upon us, he relents and he forgives us, and that we have churches filled with people pointing finger at God.

You didn't show up when I asked you to. And I think the reason why is because of the way the gospel was presented in the first place. We didn't represent a holy God who was offended. We were more concerned about those who offended God, that they would no longer be offended and give Jesus a chance.

See, what he says, who knows? Maybe this holy God will relent, and he would no longer be angry. That's the attitude of a penitent sinner who recognizes, who recognizes he's the creator, not me. If he wanted, he could just snap his finger, and we're gone. We don't have any power.

He has all the power, and he's the one that we've offended. And then look what it says in verse 10. When God saw their deeds, they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which he had declared he would bring upon them, and he did not do it.

What did God see? Their profession, raising of hand, coming down the aisle, their membership at a church. He said, when God saw their deeds, and they turned from their wicked ways. So every instance where the gospel is presented, that's presented, repent. Repent for the kingdom of heaven is that turn from your wicked ways.

Acknowledge your wickedness, and turn away from the world, and turn to God. That's the gospel that we see in the scripture. But the gospel of our generation is sinners who have been offended by religiosity of God, and they're gonna, they almost think like they're doing God a favor by entering the church.

And as a result of that, the church has become what it has become. Our first vision in the church is having God-centered worship. Man-centered worship is not worship. Man-centered worship is your being worshiped. We come here to worship God. We come here to celebrate God for what he has already done.

Not to see what he's going to do, but to celebrate what he's already done. And that's why the parable of the sower, a parable of the seed, is basically warning the disciples that these guys are all not coming for the right reason. They're coming because they were fed, they saw miracles.

But as soon as I don't do what they want me to do, they're going to leave. And he's warning the disciples. And obviously it happens. The more we study through Jesus' ministry, people are gonna leave one by one, and because Jesus doesn't live up to their expectation. Because they never died, they never repented.

They never turned from their ways. All they did was add something better to their old life. They're still living in it. They're still pursuing the world. They're like, they're no different. Outside of the fact that they are at church and they grew up in the church, their life looks no different.

All they've done is added Jesus to help them in their old life. So he's telling them they will not last. Eventually they will walk away. First soil will leave because they don't believe. Second soil because they don't have roots. And then the third soil because of the concerns of life are gonna choke the word of God and they're not gonna bear fruit and they're going to go.

And then he said the fourth soil, the quality, we talked about two of them last week, that they have a good heart. Good and honest heart meaning that they heard, they heard the preaching of the gospel and they were convict and they were honest. They didn't make excuses for their sins.

They didn't say, I am the way I am because of this, because of that, because of my circumstance. It's me. And they were convicted and they accepted it. Accepted it meaning they repented. And then thirdly, Luke says that they held it fast. Held it fast. In the NIV it says they retained it.

King James it says they kept it, to keep it. But another simple way to understand this considering this analogy that Jesus is giving, it basically took root. The seed that was put into the ground began to take root in that ground and it became one. So when the word of God goes forth, instead of just hearing it and not the other, and superficially saying, oh I like that, I raise my hand, it began to grow.

In contrast, we see that in Hebrews chapter six, four through six, Apostle Paul, which I believe this author is Apostle Paul, so if I say Paul, that's because that's my view. Apostle Paul writes to the Hebrews and he's describing people who are part of the third soil. They were in the church, they had every opportunity, they heard the word of God, they were near the power of the Holy Spirit, they're probably members in the church.

They've seen everything that a Christian could possibly, they had every opportunity to come to repentance and they turn away from God. Look what it says, for in the case of those who have once been enlightened, enlightened meaning that they heard the gospel and then they tasted the heavenly gift.

They didn't eat it and digest it, they just tasted it. They have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was not indwelling in them, they just were partakers of them. He said, and that they have tasted the good word of God. The word of God did not convict them and change them and bring them to repentance, they just like hearing it, 'cause it makes them feel good, they're encouraged by it.

And the powers of the ages to come and then have fallen away, meaning every opportunity they've had to come to repentance, they've been exposed to. They've been around Christians, the work of the Holy Spirit. They've been around the gift of the church, the leadership, right doctrine. They've been around all of that, and then they say, well, I'm not sure if I'm interested.

So when he says, when they fall away, it is impossible to renew them, meaning every opportunity that they had to repentance, they would not repent and they turned away, there is no other way. We have a tendency to think that if we preach the word of God and people are not responding, let's try something else.

Let's try rock climbing club, right? Let's try, you know, let's try some other thing. Maybe people will be more interested if we try a different method. God has only given one thing to bear fruit, and it's the word of God. He says to preach it in season and out of season.

So he says the person, part of the soil that receives it and bears fruit to eternal life is the one who has been planted. Just like it says in Psalm chapter one, two, and three, it says he's like a, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in this law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season, and its leaf does not wither, and in whatever he does, he prospers. He's not somebody that is constantly dependent on his circumstance. Somebody who hears the word of God superficially is constantly dependent upon the people and the circumstance that they're around.

So if they happen to be around, very encouraging, they're always chasing after you. How are you doing? What's going on? Did you read your Bible? How come you didn't pray? Come out with us. And if you're not constantly being pursued, you wither. Whether you've been a Christian for a year, or 10 years, or 20 years, because you're not planted.

Your feeding is dependent upon others. So you're just enjoying the fruit of other people. But you yourself are not planted. So you need to constantly have somebody. And as soon as that person, or that circumstance, disappears, you completely wither. You know, I've mentioned this before, but all the bushes on the side of this building, we never water, right?

We never water. We got rid of all the outside watering 'cause we got so tired of our pipes breaking, and water leaking, and one day, you know, our water bill is like four times what it should be. And so almost three, four times a year, we have to go and fix it.

So let's get rid of all these pipes, and we're just gonna put fake stuff in, right? So we expected all the bushes on the side to eventually wither, and then we're gonna pull it out, and we're gonna put fake grass in, right? That was our plan, but they never died.

It's been like four, five years, and they're still thriving. When you go out there, it's all green, and we never water that thing. It has found the living water. (congregation laughing) Somewhere underground, it has attached itself to living water, and so even though we don't do it, right, it never dies, right?

I mean, their fruit is green leaves, not a fruit tree, obviously. But he says a man, or a person, who hears the word of God, and he keeps it, is like a man who's planted in Christ. So, of course, being around other people that is encouraging circumstances may encourage us or discourage us, but he will never wither.

Because the true feeding is coming from Christ and his word. And they can't, nobody, no matter what circumstance, no matter what trials you go through, they can never take that away from you. Fourthly, which is the only one that I'm gonna go through, and then the perseverance we're gonna go through next week.

Okay, I wanna give plenty of time for perseverance of the saints next week. They bore fruit, right? We talked about this in the beginning. The Bible makes it very clear. It said you will know them by what? Their profession? No. You will know them by an act that they did?

No. You will know them by their baptism? No. What did he say? You will know them by their fruit. By their fruit. In John 15, eight, it says my father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit. And so prove to be my disciples. What is the proof of genuine faith?

He says much fruit. Much fruit, it's coming from the Bible. It's what you can observe. That's why when Paul sends his disciples to Thessalonica or Corinth or somewhere else, they come back and they say, they started reporting about their faith. Were they in a room and they professed like, oh, this is what I believe, and they signed a doctrinal statement, and that's why he was coming reporting out.

Oh, they had great faith because they signed this doctrinal statement? No, they were observing their life. They were observing their life. They were observing the love that they had toward one another, and that was evidence of genuine repentance, genuine conversion. He said you will know them by their faith, by the fruit as proof of my disciple.

If the fall of mankind is described in the Book of Romans that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, what brings the greatest glory when we are restored? Not how loud we sing, right? That may be the fruit. That may be as a result of what's happening inside of you, when you go to church and doing all this.

Yeah, all this stuff is good, but at the end, it's the fruit. It's who you are. In fact, one of the greatest hindrance to the gospel ministry is the church that worships God with its mouth, but they see hypocrisy. Like, you come to church and you're raising your hands and you're singing loud to the Lord, but as soon as the service is over, they don't see any difference between you and the world.

And the people who notice that more than anybody else are the non-Christians. You serve God with your lips, but your life is no different than mine, and then you're telling me that I need to repent? I don't think you repented. He says, "Bearing fruit is the evidence," right? But let me say a couple things about this bearing fruit that we need to, that I wanted to take some time in, and again, the reason why I separated this from the last point, because I don't wanna rush through this.

First of all, you cannot bear fruit, at least not spiritual fruit, if you're a goat. You cannot disciple a goat to be a sheep, right? And the confusion that we made in the church is, we have opened the door for all the wheat, the tares, the goats, and the sheep to come in, and then we're asking the church, as soon as they say, you know, I'm a member of this church, to act like sheep.

But that was not the criteria to the entrance to the church. The church membership was open to anybody and everybody. Who are we to judge anybody if they say they're a Christian? And so all kinds of people kept coming to the church, and then now we're expecting you to act like a sheep, and pastors are so frustrated.

Why isn't my church doing this? How come my church isn't stepping up? Well, you're telling goats to act like sheep. You can't take a church filled with people who've never repented, and then expect them to act like they've repented. You can't disciple people who've never truly repented. In Matthew 7, 17 to 20, it says, "So every good tree bears good fruit, "but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

"A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, "nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit "is cut down and thrown into the fire, "so then you will know them by their fruit." He says you cannot bear fruit. So the first step when you come to the church, maybe even in this room, is ask yourself, did you genuinely repent?

Did you genuinely repent? Or did you just raise your hands? Like, I'll give 'em a try. What have I got to lose? I don't wanna go to hell. But did you genuinely repent? Were you actually convicted? Were you planted? You cannot disciple a bad tree to bear good fruit.

There must be a born-again experience. That's why the clear preaching of the gospel, the entrance to the kingdom is repentance, not acceptance, is repentance. You cannot, you cannot love the world and love God. That's not a principle of brain community church. That's what the Bible says. You cannot serve mammon and God, cannot.

You cannot be a bad tree and expect to bear good fruit. You must repent. That's why Jesus' call to the church, call to his kingdom, is repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent. So the first question we need to ask ourselves, did you ever repent? I'm not asking did you become a member of the church.

I'm not asking if you ever served the church. Did you ever really repent? And remember what David said last week? He wasn't repenting about an act. Like I did, yeah, I did that. When I was young, I used to do this and I used to do that, and I shouldn't have said that.

He was repenting about who he is, his core nature, even before he was born, he says. Have you ever genuinely repented? That your old way of thinking, that your pursuit, your joy, your happiness, your life, realized that you are in sin and rebellion against God, and you surrendered, you repent, and you surrendered your life to Christ.

Did you ever really repent? Secondly, to bear fruit, you must have the Holy Spirit. Obviously, this is intertwined. That's why Jesus says to Nicodemus, here's a man on paper, did everything that a good Christian was supposed to do. He memorized scripture as a Pharisee. He fasted. He even proselytized.

He gave more than most people. And so he climbed this religious ladder, and Jesus says, you must be born again. He was born of the Spirit, is from the Spirit. He was born of the flesh, is from the flesh. He says, you must be born again of the Spirit.

The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is you can do the exact same work with the power of the Holy Spirit and without the power of the Holy Spirit, and it produces exactly the opposite.

A person who is working and laboring without the power of the Holy Spirit almost always ends in bitterness and burnout. 'Cause you've done it with all your work. You've sacrificed so much. You've done so much for other people, and they don't appreciate me. And it didn't produce what I wanted.

It's like buying a Lamborghini with no gas. It's just nice to look at. And every time you get in that car, you literally have to burn yourself out to move. In fact, it's harder to move with that car 'cause you gotta drag that car with you. And so many people who have come into the church who have never genuinely repented and does not have the power of the Holy Spirit, everything that the Bible tells you to do is just more burden.

Aren't you already burdened with life? Isn't it hard paying your bills and taking care of kids? Isn't it already hard? And then you come to church and you gotta serve. You gotta give. You gotta sacrifice. You gotta talk to strangers. You gotta make friends with people that you don't even like.

And so every time an imperative is taught, a legalism. Because you don't feel life in righteousness. You're just burdened by righteousness. Because you don't have the power of the Holy Spirit. When the disciples were ready to do the work, Jesus said, "Don't go yet because you will receive power "when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

"And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, "Judea, Samaria, to the remotest part of the world." So somebody who is trying to be righteous and good and religious without the power of Christ eventually gets burned out and become bitter. But the difference when the Holy Spirit is upon you, you get to.

You get to worship God. You get to pray. You get to commune with him. You get to go to heaven at the end of all of this. It says in Acts 8, 11, "But the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead "dwells in you. "He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead "will also give life to your mortal bodies "through his spirit who dwells in you." That same power, that resurrected Christ dwells in us.

But without that power, all you've done is have a difficult life and added more things to do. You have things that you love to do you can't do because the church makes you feel guilty. Or you're gonna do it, but then you feel judged. There is a huge difference of what kind of fruit we bear when we are moved by the Holy Spirit versus moved by our flesh.

Our churches are filled with people who are moved by their flesh, who are bitter and angry, serving the Lord, but bitter and angry and tired and constantly needing to take a break. Again, there's nothing wrong with that, and I'm gonna talk about that later on. There's a right time for that.

But the church is filled with people who have been burned out because they are laboring without the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, when I say that you bear fruit according to the Spirit, our first instinct may be that we're gonna see more people come to Christ. Maybe if you're a church planter, that church is gonna grow in number, and you're gonna be able to do more things.

But first and foremost, the fruit of the Spirit, evidence of the fruit of the Spirit is internal. It's in who we are. In Galatians 5, 22, it says, but the fruit of the Spirit is what? Love, first, and it's not by accident that love is on the top. 'Cause Jesus said, they will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another, as I have loved you.

You know why love is the first fruit? Not simply because it's the most important, which it is, the Bible says so, but because the reason why you and I are a worshiper of Christ is because of his love. We love because he first loved us. So when we recognize that he loved us, people who've been affected by the love of Christ, we become more loving.

People who have been recipients of the greatest love are the ones who will be able to practice that love. That's why the first sign that the Holy Spirit has made an indwelling in you, he says, is love. And then, you ever see people who are in love who are miserable?

Yeah, maybe. Maybe you're gonna find an example, but most people that I know who fell in love are happy. Right, and that's why I can tell. Even as I preach here, who just started dating, I can see it on your face. Right? You have a silly smile that you can't get rid of, right?

People who have been affected deeply by the love of Christ tends to be the most joyful, right? You ever see people who are laboring for God, but they're laboring so much, but they're so miserable. They're so miserable. You know, they're working so hard, they're sacrificing so much, but every time you have a conversation with them, they're like, I don't like this, I don't like that, what's wrong with them, what's wrong with this?

They're so miserable. But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love. And then it's joy. And then it's peace. You know why there's peace? Because when we meet Christ, the works-based righteousness in life is over, right? And then we become children again. You know, many of us, most of us are old enough, if you were to think back, like, oh, I wish I was a child.

You know, whenever our kids complain, all you have to do is just wake up, have fun, you know? Eat, when it's time to eat, your mom has food ready on the table, and when they tell you to go to sleep, go to sleep, and then you wake up and you get to do it again.

And every day, the only concern that you have is like, what am I gonna fill my day today with? And all you need to be worried about is, what is my mom or dad telling me to do? You just need to follow their direction, and you're gonna live and thrive.

And then you wake up and do that again. At some point in our life, we become independent, and we begin to work, and the responsibilities come on our shoulders. Are we gonna succeed, are we gonna fail? Are the investments that we made, are they gonna prosper? What is my life gonna, that's why you get midlife crisis, because all the things that you sacrifice in labor, you're measuring when you're in midlife crisis.

Did I succeed or did I fail? And so, people get into this depression because of that. But when you meet Christ, and the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and makes an indwelling in you, we become children again. All you need to do is do what he tells you to do.

He tells you to speak, you speak. Tell you to lie down, just lie down. He tells you to rest, go rest. Wake up, go wake up. You don't have to worry about what this is going to lead to, like a child, right? A child doesn't say, "Hey, eat this." Like, well, if I eat this, is it really good for my health?

Am I gonna gain weight if I eat this, you know? Is this gonna cause future problems if I do this? The child doesn't worry about that. If my mom told me to do it, right? She, what she is telling me, I just trust. I'm just gonna do, right? That's exactly what the Bible tells us to do.

The Holy Spirit has been given to us as a deposit, guaranteeing our salvation. So, everything that God tells us to do is good for us, even when it seems to be bad. It's good for us. So, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace. And then, when you have that peace, you can be patient, because you're not the one in control.

No matter what your circumstance is, you're not the one in control. So, if you've let go, and God is the one who's in control, I can be patient because I can't control this anyway. It's up to God. All I have to worry about is, did I do what God told me to do, and then let God do whatever he's gonna do?

So, you become a lot more patient. And joyful, loving, peaceful, patient people tend to be kind. Kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control are fruits when the Holy Spirit is making an indwelling in you. Third, and finally, the fruits are varied. In the Gospel of Mark, it says that the fruit you will bear will be 30, 60, or 100-fold.

They're different. So, is it 30, 60, or 100? He said, no, it looks different. Some people will bear 30, and some periods of life, you will bear 30 or 100. I remember early on at church, it was not in season. I already got burnt out of ministry. I tried everything, fasting.

I even shaved my head one time, saying I'm not gonna grow my hair until revival comes. Obviously, my hair grew back. Revival didn't come, and I fasted, and I prayed. It's in season, bring revival, bring revival. Early on in church, I was so burnt out from ministry, and I said, well, if we're gonna start this church, I'm just gonna follow what the Bible said, which is what I should've done to begin with.

I'm just gonna do whatever it says. Whatever the Bible says, this is what we're gonna do our best to practice. But it was just not in season. People are here, it's like, ah, it's so boring. Just always like, it's going over their head. It's just always, he was talking about the Bible, and we don't have activities, and seeker-friendly movements were blowing up, and they're growing like crazy, and then they come to our churches.

Like, you're a Calvinist? You believe in the sovereignty of God and predestination? And people wouldn't come for that reason. But all of a sudden, six, seven years into it, people are looking for churches that are preaching Reformed theology. And nothing we did changed. If you've been at our church for 20-plus years, you know my sermons haven't changed.

Ask any of them. Nothing has changed. But why are we bearing fruit now, and what didn't bear fruit in the early part of ministry? It just was not in season, right? In God's timing. That's what it says. He's like a tree planted by the river, and in season, he says.

And so Paul tells Timothy, preach the word in season and out of season. The problem that we get into is we try to bear fruit at all season. At all season. God's word is not bearing fruit. People are not interested in Christ, but we need to get them to church.

So even though they're not interested in Christ, we need to somehow get them interested in the church. And so we change the teaching. We change the preaching. We change the culture of the church so that we can bear fruit at all season, and that's why we get into this problem.

If the preaching of the word of God does not bear fruit, you shouldn't be bearing fruit. It's not season. I think right now, it's strawberry season. We have some people who are very generous. I've eaten more strawberries in the last month than I've ever, I don't think ever. If I cough, I think strawberry's gonna be coming out of my mouth.

And it's been very sweet, right? But I don't know when strawberry season is, but it looks, it tastes like it's strawberry season. But this season's gonna pass, right? And then there's a season for something else, right? So fruit doesn't look the same every season in life. Some of you will bear a lot of fruit during college time, and then you'll go through some dry periods in your life, so we don't judge people based upon a particular event in your life.

It's just in season and out of season. So just as there is season and in season in totality of generation, there are seasons and in seasons even in your life. There are periods when it is harder for you, especially young parents with small children at home. And you're frustrated because you can't do what you used to do.

But the size of the fruit will depend on the season. Secondly, how you cultivate the fruit matters. You know, Calvinists and Reformed people have a tendency to use Calvinism as an excuse to be passive. You know, that if we labor hard, if we do disciple-making, and we're gonna go preach the gospel, and say, ah, you don't trust the sovereignty of God, it's gonna do whatever he wants to.

Apostle Paul is the one. He says, "I endure all things," for who? "For the sake of the elect." He's the one who teaches about predestination and election, but he works harder than anybody else. So does it matter, does it make a difference between those who pray hard and those who don't?

Of course it does. Is there a big difference between somebody who is in the Word of God daily versus somebody who's not? Of course it does. How you cultivate your life will determine. You will bear fruit if you are a genuine Christian, but the quality of the fruit, the amount of fruit, does matter in the way we cultivate.

Galatians 6:8, it said, "For the one who sows to his own flesh "will from the flesh reap corruption, "but the one who sows to the Spirit "will from the Spirit reap eternal life." If you invest in the things that are spiritual, you will see fruit that are spiritual. If you give in to the things that are fleshly, you will bear fruit that are fleshly.

And let me tell you, this is not 100%. If you have a grumbling spirit, you probably notice grumbling around you a lot more. You say, "Why are these people always so negative?" And you don't realize that that's a fruit coming from you. And again, I'm not saying 100%, but if you happen to be somebody who is cold and distant from people, all of us, you notice that with everybody.

Everybody's so cold and distant. You don't realize that that's the fruit that you're bearing 'cause they see that in you, and they're just reciprocating. So much of the fruit, our circumstance, is created by you. You ever see joyful people? They think everybody's joyful. It's weird when other people complain to them.

They're like, "Huh, what?" That's shocking that they think that way. Joyful people tend to bear fruit everywhere they go. They're joyful. And again, let me qualify. I'm not saying 100% is like that, but so much of what we see around us, the circumstances of people, how you get treated, is a fruit, fruit of you cultivating your flesh.

You're giving in to certain thoughts and certain emotions. And other people are treating you the way they think you're treating them. Fruit, cultivation matters. It's like Philippians 4, 12-13. It says, "I know how to get along with humble means. "I also know how to live in prosperity "in any and every circumstance.

"I have learned the secret of being filled "and going hungry, both of having abundance "and suffering need. "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." I've seen this verse on people's shoes, locker rooms, tags, and tattoos. And then they would start by saying, "I can do all things through him who strengthens me." And then it got shortened to, "I can do all things." Right?

'Cause at the end of the day, that's what it really was. Right, it was Christ was an avenue to achieve greatness in their life, but it wasn't about Christ. Paul says here, "I have learned the secret." I have learned. It didn't come to him, he'd just wake up one day and then, he said he learned.

He learned the secret of being content, right? In poverty, in poverty. How much when things are going hard, it's like, "Man, only if circumstances change, "I can worship God. "Only if circumstances change, I can praise God." He says, "No, I learned the secret even in poverty." Well, what's crazy here, he says, "I've learned the secret of being content "when he has much." Whoa, we all know how to do that.

Why did he have to learn? What was the secret about being content when you have a lot? Because his contentment wasn't from the riches. The temptation that we have is, we know how to be content when we have much, but that's not what he's talking about. He said the temptation of thinking that we are abundant because we have abundant in resources is a trap and a temptation that will take you away from God.

His secret of being content is learning to find Christ whether you are rich or whether you are poor. Your contentment does not come from your circumstance or the people around you, but your deep-rooted relationship with Christ. And he said he had to learn that. God had to put him through poverty.

And even when riches were coming his way, he had to learn that. Hebrews chapter 12, verses one to four says, "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses "surrounding us, let us also lay aside "every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us." If you're in the habit of giving into your flesh, you are bearing fruit with that.

And we have a tendency, especially in our culture, anything that's difficult, we just change our theology. God doesn't expect perfection. God loves us just the way we are. And so we begin to preach and teach that sinners may remain sinners and be perfectly content that one day, that when Christ comes, that he's just gonna take us into heaven.

Now, there's portions of that that are true, but the Bible also says they will know them by their fruit, that beginning of salvation is repentance and turning away from our sins. Look what he says. He said, "Every encumbrance and every sin "that would so easily entangles us, "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

"You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood "in your striving against sin." He doesn't say, "Well, it's so hard." And you know what our tendency is? We come to church and we share our struggles with other people and they say, "Yeah, me too." And then after a while, you start to think like, "Oh, this is normal." Christians struggle with purity.

And when they say struggle, you're not struggling. You've given in. He says, "In your striving against sin, "you have not shed blood." In other words, you've given in too easily. You've accepted a sinful life, a rebellious life, an unrepentant life too easily. You have made rebellion against God an acceptable place to be.

He said, "Against sin, you have not shed your blood." In other words, what he's saying, there will never be a time when a holy, holy, holy God is okay with your sin. Does he forgive us? Yes. Is he patient? Yes. But he calls us to repentance. Repentance isn't feeling bad.

Repentance just isn't how you feel. Repentance is turning away. Don't say, "I feel bad about that," and then go right back to it the next day. That's not repentance. In your struggle against sin, he says, "You have not shed blood." You've given in. You're not just struggling with sin.

You are living in sin at that point. Does cultivating true fruit matter? Yes, it matters. Pursuing righteousness matters. It has consequences. Investing in the work of the Holy Spirit matters. Evangelizing matters. Prayer matters. Study of the word of God matters. Loving people matters. In 2 Corinthians 13, 4, it says, "For indeed, he was crucified because of our weakness, yet." Okay, I want you to hear that word, yet.

He was crucified because of our weakness, yet he lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in him, yet we will live with him because of the power of God directed toward you. We tend to embrace our weakness, our fallenness, and that's why Christ died for us, and he said, "Yet." Just as the power that resurrected Christ, that same power resides in us.

That's why Paul says, "I can do all things "through him who strengthens me." I can do all things. If somehow you've been lied to and convinced that you cannot, that's a lie. That's unbiblical. We may not achieve perfection, but God desires and expects us to pursue righteousness with all our heart because much fruit comes from cultivating and pursuing righteousness.

We have made it too comfortable to be in sin in church. We have made it too easy to give up in the church because nobody wants to be labeled a legalist, and that's one of the worst things you wanna hear, legalist. Legalist in the church is like calling somebody racist in the world.

They bend in over backwards to prove they're not racist, and the church is bending over backwards to prove we're not legalists. Any pursuit of righteousness is legalist. I want you to lay down legalist that you don't need to pursue it. Read the scriptures. Read the scriptures carefully. God has given us everything that we need for a life of godliness in the knowledge of his son, Jesus Christ, everything that we need.

Thirdly, and next two points, let me make it quick. Thirdly, we need to learn how to rest. We need to learn how to rest. God said not to plant every seventh year, to give the land rest. Those of you who are a little bit older, I think everybody I talk to I think is in agreement that the fruit that we taste today is not as good as 40 years ago or 50 years ago when we were younger, and I don't think it's because our taste buds are dying.

That's part of it, right? I think that it's being over-cultivated, and that's why when Israel refused to observe the Sabbath, the seventh day rest for the land, he put them into judgment, and God forced Sabbath on the land. There's a tendency where people are, because they made bearing fruit, bearing fruit and idol in their life, that they don't know how to rest.

And so the church is really good at creating Marthas. Because you get praise if you're a Martha in the church. You're working hard, you're serving, you're sacrificing more than anybody else, and so if you're working hard, more work, right? Because the harvest is plentiful. Workers are few, so if you're working hard, more work on you, and if more work's coming in, then more work comes, 'cause the harvest, the need will never be lesser than the people who are working.

So the working people tend to be worked to the ground, and we don't know how to rest. The rest is necessary, not simply because we need to recuperate, but because we trust in Christ. Resting is also part of God's plan. And not resting is not trusting God. What if I rest?

What if this happens? What if it falls apart? What if people do this? What if people do that? If I don't work, that's also an idol. So in order to cultivate true fruit, there are periods when we need to learn to rest and to trust God. I just need to obey.

I'm just gonna do whatever he tells me to do. If he tells me to go, I'm gonna go. If he tells me to speak, I'm gonna speak. If he tells me to go to sleep, go to sleep. You need that. And then finally, God has apportioned faith to different levels, to different people.

He says, "For through the grace given me, "I say to everyone among you, "not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, "but to think so as to have sound judgment, "as God has allowed it to each measure of faith." Notice that? Even faith was given to us in different measures in the church.

Now, everybody has faith if you're a genuine believer in Christ. Everybody repented, but he says he has given different measures of faith. Not everybody was called to be an apostle. Not everybody was called to be a martyr. But we have a tendency to think, especially if you're like a type A personality like me, you know, I remember early on in ministry, like I was determined to create the green berets of Christianity, right?

And so I didn't have patience for people who weren't running at my pace. And one of the people that wasn't running at my pace was my own wife, you know? Because I was gonna have homeless people in my house. I was gonna go to the hardest place in the world, and I was gonna evangelize, and if God calls me to die early, I'm gonna die early.

I mean, I was gonna burn out for Jesus, and I thought that that was it. And anybody who wasn't following me, it's like, "It's 'cause you don't love Jesus. "You don't love Jesus." And every time I would share my frustration with my wife, she would say, "Not everybody's like you." My response was, "Why not?

"I don't get it." But as time went by, and the more I understood the scripture, the beauty of the church is he's filled the church with different gifts, people running at different pace. And so early on in ministry, I wanted a church filled with Navy SEALs, right? Green berets.

And if you're a Navy SEAL or green beret, right? I don't have patience for you. But as time went by, I realized how much of that was in my youth, and how much of that was my pride. Now, that sounds good. If you're a green beret pursuer like me, right?

And it's like, "Yeah, what's wrong with that?" Right? If we're being shot at, and I'm going in for a very specific task, right? Green beret is useful, right? But green berets at a dinner party, they might not be the people that you want, right? Imagine running your family with that mentality.

This son got straight A's, this one got a B minus. I can't tolerate this, right? If you have one son who's running 100 miles per hour, another one's running at 50 miles per hour, what do you do as a parent? 'Cause you gotta teach the ones that's running faster to slow down for the brother.

To make sure that we're all going together. And so there are things that that guy needs to learn. You need to learn to be patient. You need to learn to be gracious. And you have this person, the person who tends to move a little bit slower, tends to be more patient.

That's why they are the way they are. It just doesn't bother them, right? Like, again, I have a personality. If I'm gonna go somewhere, I can't rest in the process. You know, people always say like, "You gotta enjoy the process." It's like, "Yeah, I'll enjoy the process after I'm done." You know what I mean?

And then I'll look back and enjoy the process, but I'm not gonna enjoy it while I'm getting there. I gotta get there as fast as I can, right? But I realize in God's wisdom, he has placed the church, and do some Christians struggle with certain things? Of course we do.

Are there periods when we're like, "How come I'm not bearing fruit?" Of course we do. Are there periods of time when it seems harder than other times? Of course we do. Genuine Christians. That's why sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the third and the fourth soil. The church is filled with that.

But the people who are running 100 miles per hour learn to humble themselves and be gracious and be patient. So that your brothers and sisters in Christ can come along with you. And the ones who are going slower need to benefit from the people who are running faster. To admire them and to be attached to them and to benefit from the work that they're doing.

But our tendency is, if I'm bearing 60, you're bearing 30, somebody's bearing 100, we're all just pointing fingers at each other because they're not like me. But in God's wisdom, he didn't just call us an army. We're a family of God. And because we're a family of God, every single person in this room has some weakness that they need to learn and to grow.

And that's why it says, you will bear fruit by 30, 60, 100 fold. In season, cultivation, learning to rest, and knowing and accepting and loving people who are different than us. And that's the beauty of the church. Let's pray. - Amen. - Father, we pray that your word would continue to bear fruit, that you would help us, Lord God, to be planted, not just to taste it, not just to know it and regurgitate it, but to be planted by the living water.

Help us, Lord God, to bear fruit, to bear much fruit for the sake of your kingdom and for your glory. Guide us and lead us for the sake of your name. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (gentle guitar music) ♪ When my heart was cold ♪ ♪ When my heart was cold and lifeless ♪ ♪ And I wandered in my blindness ♪ ♪ You pursued me ♪ ♪ And before the world was breathing ♪ ♪ You had chosen to redeem me ♪ ♪ For you love me ♪ ♪ Lord, you love me ♪ ♪ I know you are working ♪ ♪ You are working all things ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ Lord, you will accomplish ♪ ♪ Everything you promised ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ The Lord in me is mighty ♪ ♪ And a thousand fall beside me ♪ ♪ You defend me ♪ ♪ When the wilderness seems endless ♪ ♪ And I feel the weight of darkness ♪ ♪ You are with me ♪ ♪ You are with me ♪ ♪ I know you are working ♪ ♪ You are working all things ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ Lord, you will accomplish ♪ ♪ Everything you promised ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ 'Til the day you come in power ♪ ♪ Or I reach my final hour ♪ ♪ You will keep me ♪ ♪ You're the author of my story ♪ ♪ You are faithful, you are for me ♪ ♪ I will praise you ♪ ♪ I will praise you ♪ ♪ I know you are working ♪ ♪ You are working all things ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ Lord, you will accomplish ♪ ♪ Everything you promised ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ I know you are working ♪ ♪ You are working all things ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ Lord, you will accomplish ♪ ♪ Everything you promised ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ ♪ All things for your glory and my good ♪ - By the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and eternal love of God the Father, strengthen us, renew us, revive us, that we may bring the much glory to your name wherever you send us this week, amen.

♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ Then called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ Healed and forgave ♪ ♪ He lived and died ♪ ♪ To my my pardon ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ My Savior lives ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ ♪ He lives ♪ (guitar music) (guitar music)