Good morning, Church family. Good morning. So, as we sing this first song, I want to just remind us and encourage us. This first song we're going to sing is "Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless Love." That as we reflect on why we come here, in the midst of who we approach, that we approach a God who is truly magnificent, marvelous, and matchless.

So, as we sing this song, I hope and pray again that whatever song that we're singing as we come before our God, that we reflect and really take ownership of those lyrics as we exalt our God. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love, too vast and astounding to tell. Forever existing in worlds above, now offered and given to, O fountain, O fountain of beauty eternal, the Father, the Spirit, the Son.

Sufficient, endlessly general, magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. Creation is all we have, creation is brimming with faithfulness. The mountains exalted they stand, the seasons rejoice in your faithfulness. All life is sustained by you, you crown every matter with power, you paint every shade in the sky. Each day the thought wakes as an encore of magnificent, marvelous, matchless love.

How great thou shalt, His love endures forevermore. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. What grace that you entered our brokenness, in the fullness of time. How far we have fallen from righteousness, and from the mercies of Christ your cross. Your cross is our door to redemption, your death is our boldness of life.

That day our forgiveness, Lord, as a flood. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. How great thou shalt, His love endures forevermore. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. United in your resurrection, you lift us to infinite heights. Oh, could any force ever take us from you? Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. How great thou shalt, His love endures forevermore.

Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. How great thou shalt, His love endures forevermore. Magnificent, marvelous, matchless love. All right, good morning, Marine Community Church and those of you who are worshiping with us online. We have quite a few announcements before we get started, so let me just jump right into it.

Next Sunday, we have a members meeting that's going to be taking place on Zoom at 2.30 p.m. So there's a lot of things that are happening, there's moving pieces, and I'll get to those announcements pretty soon. But next Sunday at 2.30 online, we're going to be having a members meeting.

So we're going to be presenting new members and the various announcements that's going to be going out. Please join us on that online. The Education Department, this is the big thing that's happening. With all the, again, things that are happening, there is a possibility within the next maybe two to three weeks that our current COVID situation may get to the next tier.

But even if we don't, on October 18th, so that's not next Sunday, but the Sunday after that, we're going to be opening back up our Sunday school from K through 6. Okay, so but we do need the parents to sign up for that. It will only be happening at the second service upstairs.

So we're moving our whole Children's Department upstairs, and the whole upstairs are going to be used in order to spread the children out because it's a much bigger space. So all the teachers and the staff are getting ready to prepare that in the next couple of weeks. And so we're trying to spread them out.

And so we need to have headcount as accurate as possible. So we won't be accepting people just kind of, you know, just walking in that day. So we need you to do that. And there are forms that we need you guys to fill out and various things like that.

So that's going to be starting on October 18th during the second service upstairs. Specific announcements of registration and scanning and that kind of stuff is going to be given out within a couple weeks. And also it'll be explained more in detail during the members meeting. So please mark that on your calendar.

Also for the Children's Department for nursery, C's classes A and B. So if you don't know what that is, it's probably because you don't have children in that group. And B basically is the four and five year olds. So infants to two year olds or -- no, sorry, three and four year olds.

So infants to three years old. There won't be any kind of program for them because it'll be too difficult, at least for the moment, to be able to distance and practice the safety that we need to do that. So if you are parents of children that age, we ask that you would be patient a little bit longer.

But, again, if you have children three and four, that group is going to start in the same room on November 15th. So they're already in the process of getting things ready, getting the teachers ready. And so if you are planning to come, you need to sign up for that as soon as possible.

And so please do that again. So October 18th for the sprouts and then November 15th for the nursery but only class A and B. Again, more instructions are going to be posted online. So if you have any questions, you can call or you can email and they'll give you more information about that.

Along with that, we had our -- we moved our service. We normally started our first service at 9 o'clock but we moved to 830 because at one point we needed to have three services and another time it's because of the weather. It was so hot outside we wanted to do it a little bit earlier.

But now that we're moving away from the hot season, hopefully starting from next week, at least on the program it says that it's going to drop 15 to 20 degrees. And we are getting into the colder season so we are going to move it back to what we originally had it at 9 o'clock for the first service.

Not next week but starting from the 18th. So that's only for the first service that's going to start at 9 o'clock. And then the second service, because of that, we're going to be moving it back to 11. So just please mark that on your calendar. We'll remind you as we get closer.

So that's going to be our permanent probably for I don't know how long but that's what we had and that's what we're going back to. And let me clarify, it's not 11.15 but 11. We used to have it at 9 and 11.15 but we're going to put it back to 11 o'clock.

Okay? Alright, so that will start happening on October 18th. So 9 and 11 o'clock at that time. A couple more announcements. One, the Family Ministry is having a beach day on October 24th and I am told that you don't need to sign up for this. And this is just an opportunity for those of you in the Family Ministry to get together with other families and fellowship out at the beach area where the bacteria dies quickly.

So you don't need to worry about that. So there's no sign up. If you want to come, just to show up. And this is bring your own food. So, you know, again for the purpose of safety, you can just bag your own food, bring your own kids. Of course you're going to bring your own kids.

Bring your own food, lunch and all that stuff and just show up and they'll tell you where they're going to be meeting. And they're going to be at Bolsa Chica State Beach from 11 to 4 o'clock. Okay, so just keep that in mind. Another thing is the Family Ministry is doing a 40 days devotions for the men.

So as the leaders were kind of contemplating and again in the Family Ministry, you know, they're thinking how can we encourage our church to stay focused and not to drift. And so they wanted to implement this specifically for the men. And so for 40 days, they're going to be teaming up with other men.

And if you sign up for that, you'll be teamed up with maybe, you know, a few people. And then at that time, there's no instructions. They're just going to give you like, you know, devotional passages and you'll sit there online and you'll be doing devotions together just again for accountability and fellowship at that time.

And then at the end of 40 days, they're going to be having a day of fast together to come have that as a conclusion. So this is open to men. This is for just Family Ministry, not all men, right? Okay, so if you're part of the Family Ministry, if you have any more questions about that, you can ask Elder Phillip and he's going to be overseeing that.

And finally, Trunk Formation, that's coming up in October 31st that again, you know, our kids, those of you who have small children who've been home all year, you know, we didn't want to deprive them of this big day. So we were instead of having it inside, we're going to have it outside.

And we're calling it Trunk Formation. It's usually called Trunk or Treat, but we don't believe in the treat part. So it's a Trunk Reformation. So Trunk Formation, this is Pastor Mark's idea. So Trunk Formation is happening on that same day. So we're asking for volunteers to come and set up your trunk and put games in it and that type of stuff so the children could come around.

They're going to be having masks on already anyway, and they'll be playing games. So they'll be able to enjoy the night that way. And then we're going to reserve this inside simply for crafts and a brief teaching session that's going to be going on about the Reformation. So do they need to sign up for that?

Yeah, so please sign up for that. If you are planning to bring your children or you want to help to decorate and do whatever it is for that day, please let Pastor Mark know he's in charge of that night. Okay? All right. Let's take some time to pray for the offering, and then we'll get started.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the blessing of who you are and what you give us. Help us, Lord God, to navigate through these awkward times, Lord God, that we may not sway back and forth with the rest of the world. Help us, Lord, to be firmly grounded and anchored in Christ, that all that we do, Lord, would ultimately cause us to seek you, know you, and love you more.

We pray this morning as we give our offering, help us to give it with a cheerful, generous, and worshipful heart, that it may be multiplied for your use. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, let's all rise together as we sing this first song, "He is our God." Who can light the fires?

Who can light the fires of a thousand burning cities? Blazing in the heavens, there is only one, He is our God. Who commands the nations? Who commands the nations, building up and tearing down? Silence, speak, His prideness, there is only one, He is our God. Yes, He is. He is our God.

Sing it out, who will come? Who would come to save us when we turned away His love? Come for us with kindness, there is only one, He is our God. He is our God. He is our God. Oh, you are Lord our Lord. Matchless in your glory. No one is like you.

You are Lord our Lord. We adore you only. Holy God. Now to the King on the throne, who has sent this to come. And to the Lamb who was slain, be glory. Now to the King on the throne, who has sent this to come. And to the Lamb who was slain, be glory.

Now to the King on the throne, who has sent this to come. And to the Lamb who was slain, be glory. Oh, you are Lord our Lord. Matchless in your glory. No one is like you. You are Lord our Lord. We adore you only. Holy God. Amen. It's wonderful.

Wonderful, merciful Savior. Precious Redeemer and friend. Who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men. Oh, you rescue the souls of men. Counselor, comforter, keeper. Spirit we long to embrace. You offer hope when our hearts are hopelessly lost. Oh, we're hopelessly lost. You are the one that we praise.

You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace. Our hearts always hunger for you. Oh, our hearts always hunger for you. Almighty, infinite Father. Faithfully alive in your own. Here in our weakness you find us. Falling before your throne. Oh, we're falling before your throne. You are the one.

You are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace. Our hearts always hunger for you. Oh, our hearts always hunger for you. You are the one that we praise. You are the one we adore. You give the healing and grace.

Our hearts always hunger for you. Oh, our hearts always hunger for you. Amen. You may be seated. All right, good morning. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. I'm going to be reading verses 1 and 2, but actually I want to read it starting from verse 35 just so that we understand his thought flow that got us to chapter 11.

Okay, so I want to read it in context of verse 35 all the way to chapter 11 verse 2. Again, reading out of the NASB. Therefore do not throw away your confidence which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised.

For yet in a little while, he who is coming will come and will not delay, but my righteous one shall live by faith. If he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the persevering of the soul.

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray that you would ordain this time to exalt yourself, your son, Holy Spirit in your word. Help us, Lord, to open our ears that we may understand, apply, and to be obedient to all that you have given us.

Open our eyes that we may see a greater sight of your glory, that all that we do, Father God, may lead to a greater honor to your name. So we pray for your blessing over this time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let me ask you, how many of you guys have been following the NBA finals?

I heard the ratings have been down tremendously. But obviously if you've been a Lakers fan for a while, we haven't been here in a while. So it's exciting to see what's going on. I don't know if you've noticed, but one of the things that they've been doing, in order to gain an edge and to be motivated, you know how they've been wearing the Mamba jerseys, the black Mamba jerseys?

And then so after they win a game, they would ask, "Do you think that motivated you, that had any effect?" And they would say, "Yeah, you know, the spirit of Mamba was with us, and we were extra motivated, and we want to make him proud." I don't know if you saw this video clip, but there's a video clip going around, where I think it was from the Lakers Nation, where there's a video of LeBron James scoring 81st point at the third quarter, and the time on it is exactly 8.24.

So if you're not a Lakers fan, you may not know what that means, and if you don't watch sports at all, what do these numbers mean? But I think if you guys are avid Lakers fans, like those of you guys who have smiles on your faces, know exactly what I'm talking about.

81 was Kobe Bryant's highest scoring game that he had during his career against the Raptors, and then 8.24 was the number that he wore. 8 was the number he wore when he first came in, and 24 was the number that he wore before he retired. And so they were making a big deal about, "Oh, you know, the Mamba's presence was with us," and it was 81 points at 8.24, and they would ask, you know, "Do you think Mamba had anything?

Do you think he's in the building?" And the players would, you know, players who are loyal and love Kobe would say, "Yeah, I believe. You know, I believe his presence was with us. I believe that he's helping us, right? He's helping us get into the end of the finals." Obviously, we don't believe that, or we're not Christians, right?

But what is faith? Because that term "faith" is being used, you know, in the culture where it's about winning ballgames or, you know, about having Kobe in the presence and helping us out. But what is the idea of faith? Because the chapter we're going to be looking at for the next month and a half is it's all about faith.

We're going to be on the subject about faith for about six weeks or possibly even longer than that. 24 separate times, just in one chapter, the word "faith" is mentioned 24 times. In fact, in almost every verse, almost every verse or almost every paragraph starts by saying, "By faith." "By faith, Noah." "By faith, Joseph." "By faith, Abraham." "By faith, Enoch." And so the whole chapter is about faith.

If we say, "What is the chapter of love?" Right? I think most of you would know, right? 1 Corinthians chapter 13, we typically say, "That's a chapter of love." So if you want to know the definition of love, then you go to 1 Corinthians chapter 13. On the flip side, if you want to know about faith, this is the chapter that you need to go to.

Right? Again, it's not comprehensive. Not everything that you need to know about faith is written in this chapter, but this is a go-to chapter if you want to do an exposition of what the meaning of the faith is. Now, having said that, we can't emphasize enough, we can't stress enough how important it is for us to not only understand this faith, but to be practicing this faith.

Obviously. Because you wouldn't be saved without faith. We wouldn't be here. There is no Christianity without faith. Right? There is no salvation without faith. You cannot win a spiritual battle without faith. In fact, during Jesus' ministry, he would see different people, and whether they were doing great works or whether they were anxious, he would always describe it as having great faith, or little faith, or having no faith.

And that's how he distinguished people. He distinguished people by saying, "You have faith, you have no faith, you have little faith, you have great faith." And so that's how God saw people. Because that's what connected these people to him. So, what we're going to be endeavoring in chapter 11 is as crucial as any other thing that we've been studying.

But understand, again, the reason why I read the last part of chapter 10 is to give you the context of why chapter 11 is here. The purpose of chapter 11 is not simply to give us the idea or theology of faith. The goal of it is, this is so important, you need to be able to pass this test.

So, if somebody asks you what faith is, that you're able to quote verse 1. That's not his point. He was saying at the end of chapter 10 that you have need to endure. You need to endure, because the righteous shall live by faith. And so the goal of chapter 11 is the accumulation of all the arguments that he's been making in 10 chapters.

That you are not enduring, you are drifting, you are not paying attention. And if you aren't paying attention, and you think it's no big deal, it's that there's a severe judgment that is waiting to take it seriously. But once you've done that, and you recognize where you are, you realize that the only way that you're going to be able to persevere is to have enduring faith.

You need to recognize what faith is, and be connected to God, and persevere by this faith. And so chapter 11 is very practical. So he's going to give us the definition of faith in what we're looking at today, and then how that was played out in Israel's history. And based on that, he's going to go to chapter 12, "In view of the cloud of witnesses that were saved by faith, that lived by faith, that died by faith, now let us do the same." And so that will take us to chapter 12 and to the rest of the book of Hebrews.

So again, I want you to understand what we're doing in the context of where we're at. So today, I want to look at just the first two verses, and there's three things that I want to highlight in this text, before we move on to the other part. One is, it'll tell us what faith is.

That's our first point, what is faith? And it's pretty clear, right? Faith is. The second point of it is, what faith is not. That's not clearly in the text, but we wanted to make sure, in order for us to clearly understand what faith is, we also need to know what faith is not.

And then third, what faith does. And that will take us to the rest of the verses in chapter 11. So what faith is, what faith is not, and what faith does. So let's look at the first part, what faith is. First and foremost, faith is tangible. That was the last question that I asked.

If you're on the Facebook and you look at the, and again, hopefully, some of you guys are, more and more of you guys are looking at that before you come to service, because it will help you to be better listeners, intentional listeners of the sermon. But one of the questions that I asked is, is faith tangible or intangible?

Right? So the answer to that, at least according to this text, is that faith is tangible. Let's look at verse 1. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen." Most of your translations have something to that effect. It is the assurance of things hoped for.

And then it is the conviction of things not seen. Well, I asked you to compare the translation of those words in the King James and New King James versus the NASB. Right? I'm not going to ask you to raise your hand to tell me if you did it or not, because I don't want to be discouraged.

All right? Maybe I'll be encouraged, but I don't want to take the chance. The difference between the New King James or King James versus the NASB is that in the NASB, this is how it's translated. "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Do you hear the difference?

Let me read it in NASB, and then I'm going to read it in King James. "Faith is"—this is the NASB—"assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen." That's the NASB. The King James version says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen." Did you catch the difference?

Okay. Well, if you didn't, I'm going to explain. If you read it in the NASB, it sounds like a subjective application of what faith does. So, "Faith is"—through faith, I have assurance. Through faith, I have conviction. Right? That's how we read it in the NASB. In the King James, it says, "Faith is the substance, and it is the evidence of things not seen." Do you catch the difference?

In the NASB, there is a subjective application of faith. In the King James, it just describes the truth, an objective truth of what it is. Right? Did you get it? Okay. Even if you didn't get it, this is what we're going to be talking about today. If you read the NASB, it just reads it very plainly in English.

This is what faith is. It's just describing what faith is. In the NASB, it describes what faith does. Right? Okay. Let me just leave that right there. Which is the correct translation? Well, the literal translation almost always is the King James version, because the King James version did not make much effort to try to translate into the way we speak.

The NASB did some. So if something didn't make sense in English, they did the extra work of trying to use words that you and I are familiar with. King James didn't care. King James just kind of took what is in the Greek, and if that's what it says, they just translated it.

So sometimes, you know, a lot of times, King James is hard to read, because that's not the way we speak normally. Right? But if you want to know literally, word for word, how it is said in the Greek, King James is almost always has done that. And though having said that, the word for assurance in Greek is "hupostasis." And it is the literal understanding of the "hupo" means to be under.

"Stasis" means to stand. So the literal understanding of this is to "substance." Did you get that? Because under, sub, and then stasis means to stand. So the literal understanding is "substance." So the King James says, in translation of "hupostasis," "substance," "substance," which was basically, "substance" is the stuff that you stand on.

Whatever it is that you're building, it is the foundation in which something is built. So the literal understanding of what faith is, just like we said earlier, everything that you and I know about Christianity stands on the foundation of this faith. That's what he means. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, things that we desire about Christ.

Everything that he promised, we stand on that faith. And then it is the evidence of the things that we don't see. It is the proof of things that we do not see. So why did the NASB translate it that way? Well, the reason why is because the word "hupostasis," used in other parts of the Bible, is used either way depending upon the context.

So in some contexts, this word is used subjectively to refer to assurance, having confidence. And then there are some places where it's strictly just talking about the objective truth of something. It is evidence. It is the proof of something. So the New Testament context doesn't help. So if that context doesn't help, we have to look at the smaller context.

How does the author use it in the book of Hebrews? Well, we have a problem with that because there's only a couple places where he uses it. And in those places, one uses it subjectively, one uses it objectively. So that doesn't help. So if we look at the immediate context of how he uses it here, and you have to understand, he's taking where we are in the book of Hebrew.

I hope this isn't too early. I hope you're in the student mode. Because what's happening in chapter 11 is, he took 11 chapters of doing what? Proving the superiority of Christ. Of the objective truth that Christ is superior to everything that you know. So he's been setting the foundation.

Correct? He said, "This is our faith." "You've been drifting away from faith. You've been drifting away from Christ." So he's been talking about objective faith. Now he goes to chapter 11. What is chapter 11 about? The application of that faith. Right? So we're right in the middle of taking the objective truth, and then applying it to our lives.

And he begins by giving us examples of the men and women who went before us in the Old Testament, how this objective truth was applied subjectively in their lives. And then once he transitions, he gets to chapter 12, and he's going to tell us, "What does this faith look like in your life?" You follow?

So having said that, which is it? Is it objective? Is it subjective? And the answer to that is both. Because without the objective faith, there is no subjective application. We happen to be right at that transition. So let me go a little bit further, talking about what this means.

It is the substance of things hoped for. It is the evidence of things not seen. In other words, he's saying, "Faith..." I've been telling you all this stuff about who Jesus is, but faith is tangible. It's not intangible. It's not just something that people say, "You know, I have faith in this, and I have faith in that." No, faith can actually be measured, and that's why Jesus looked at what was happening in the New Testament during his era.

He said, "You have little faith. You have great faith. You have no faith." So he was measuring faith. And so he says, "Faith can be observed." It is the substance. It is the evidence. We've been studying Thessalonians. In Thessalonians, Paul sends Timothy back because he was chased out of that town, and he was worried that they were going to backslide because of all the enemy's work.

Timothy comes back with a good report. Remember what he says? He says that we rejoice because your faith has become the model for all the other Christians, all the other churches. Now, how did he know that? How did he know that they were thriving? How did they know that he was becoming...

Did he go there and count? How many of you believe? And then people raised their hands, like, "15, 16." Last time it was 16, so this time we have 18. So he says, "They're thriving." More people raised their hand this time. You know, I had an altar call, and more people came.

Is that what he's describing? No. He saw the tangible evidence. He saw the tangible evidence of their faith and how it affected their life. So when he said that they became a model citizen, he wasn't simply talking about a subjective feeling inside, a confession, like somebody confessed them more deeply, more articulately than before.

No. He was observing the application of their faith, and he saw that even in the midst of persecution and danger, that their faith radically transformed them, that they were known for their love, that they didn't practice before. So Paul, Timothy was observing tangibly what this faith looks like, and he said they have great faith despite the persecution.

So when he says faith is the substance of things hoped for, that's what he's talking about. It's not just intangible things, because, you know, these guys who he's writing to, the author he's writing to, were professing right doctrine, but their life was drifting back to their old life. So the problem that he was addressing is, you're professing with your mouth, but with your life you're drifting back to your old life.

So what he's saying in chapter 11 is, you're professing objective truth, but true objective truth is tangibly seen by how it is applied in the life of a believer. We do not believe that we are saved by our works, but works is evidence of our faith, whether it's little faith, whether it's sliding faith, or whether it's great faith, or whether there's no faith.

That's what he means here when he says faith is tangible. It is a substance of things that we cannot tangibly see. Now let me give you an illustration of this, to better make sense of this. Do you believe in gravity? If you don't, how did you survive all these years?

So if you believe in gravity, which I'm assuming 100% of you will say you believe in gravity, meaning that it exists and it works. Prove it to me. How will you prove gravity? This is proof. Your chair, that's proof. This building is proof. The car is proof. Because without gravity we wouldn't be stuck to the ground.

It's not certain people who are heavier, where we're stuck to the ground, everybody else is floating around. He said we see the work of gravity by how everything else works. How important is gravity? You and I can't live without gravity. No one would build a building, no one would spend millions of dollars building a building if they weren't sure if that building was going to fly away into the galaxy.

Because that would be a waste of time. So everything, whether you and I are conscious or not, everything is based on this belief that what we know, even though we can't explain it, even though we cannot see it, exists and it works. So this belief in gravity is the foundation upon which we build everything that we do in life.

So, faith is the substance of things that we hope for and it is the evidence of things not seen. Even though we can't see it, even though I can't clearly define it for you, it says you can see faith because everything that we know about the reality of heaven is based upon this truth of what Jesus has told us.

That our sins are forgiven, that because of this, that when we die, we're going to be in eternity with Christ. That this earth is under condemnation and we're going to be saved and be in heaven for eternity. And so everything that you and I do as Christians are based upon this set of truths that you and I believe and faith is what connects us to this truth.

You understand that? That's what he's describing here. And he's saying that this is what faith is. Now having said that, I need to explain what faith is not. Because the way that the word faith is used, even in the church sometimes, it confuses people. Faith is not faith in faith.

Right? Faith is not faith in faith. So when LeBron James or whoever says, "Oh, I just believe," right? There's no power in that. Faith is not just wishful thinking. If I just believe. Finish this sentence. If I believe I can... You guys are so Asian. If I believe I can achieve, right?

You probably heard that before. If I believe I can achieve. And that is the mantra of the word faith movement. That if you believe you can do whatever. So let's say if Lakers win, which is the possibility is very high right now, right? If they win, you may hear an athlete who just won the championship and say, "I believed.

I believed." Even when nobody believed in me, I believed. Everybody said, you know, that the Clippers were going to win. That Kawhi was the best player. That we had no chance. They didn't give us the odds. But we never stopped believing. So we believed. And because of their belief, they were able to win the championship.

That's if you believe you can achieve. Not only is that false, it's dangerous. It can ruin your lives. You ever watch American Idol? You have some people who come up there to compete in a competition that they have no business doing? For whatever the reason, I think as the years went by, they got rid of more and more people who really don't belong there.

But some of you guys who remember, remember the beginning of that show, American Idol? There are some guys like, how did he get up there, right? Remember William Hung? Okay, let me pass. Let me move on. Some of you guys may remember, right? There are some guys, they couldn't even hit a note.

And they would come there and say, yeah, they would say the same thing. I was always told I'm no good, and everybody tried to stop me. My parents, they didn't believe in me. But I believed in myself. I was like, go ahead, William. She banged, she banged. And Simon Cowell was like, you suck.

And everybody said, he's so mean. And we were looking at him, he's like, no, he's true. He's like, maybe the way he said it was mean, but that's true. Just because you believe doesn't make your voice better. Just because you believe, you're not going to achieve. So the best thing that he, somebody should have told him.

Somebody should have told him that you're not gifted in that. In fact, you're really bad at this. You know what I mean? Should have been an engineer, right? I was like, what does that mean? No, it's the truth, right? So not only is it false, it's dangerous when it is applied in the wrong place.

That's not what faith means. In fact, you and I live in a world where the word faith is used by politicians. Oprah, Joel Osteen, Benny Hinn, LeBron James, Lancy Pelosi, these are all people that I've heard in the last few months saying how faith is so powerful. They're not talking about Christ.

They're not talking about his resurrection. They're talking about faith in faith. In fact, there's a lot of songs out there, secular songs that have nothing to do with Christ, but they're talking about faith. And you guys remember George Michael? Okay, it's a little outdated. How about his band Wham?

Anyway, okay, look it up. He's real. So a guy named George Michael, he had a song called "You Gotta Have Faith." Anybody who knows George Michael knows he's not a Christian. I'm not going to get into what he got caught doing and all that background stuff, but just trust me, he's not a Christian.

But he has a song called "You Gotta Have Faith," and let me read you his lyrics. "Well, I guess it would be nice if I could touch your body." He's not talking about the church. "I know that everybody has got a body like you, "but I gotta think twice before I give my heart away, "and I know all the games you play because I play them too.

"Oh, but I need some time off from that emotion, "time to pick my heart up off the floor. "Oh, when that love comes down without devotion, "well, it takes a strong man, baby, "but I'm showing you the door 'cause I gotta have faith, "gotta have faith, because I gotta have faith, faith, faith.

"I gotta have faith, faith, faith." He's not talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The way that the term faith is being used in our culture, it's like if you believe, you can achieve. He's not talking about that, clearly. It is not faith in faith that gives you power.

In fact, if you remember, in Luke 8, 11, 15, Jesus gives a parable of the sower and the seed, and out of the four soils, only one soil endures and bears fruit. The other three either immediately dies or after a little bit it dies, or it looks like it's going to bear fruit, and then it gets choked, and it dies, but all three, in the end, it dies.

But the distinction between the one that lives and bears fruit, and he's talking about eternal life, versus those who seem to bear fruit, and then they die, is how they receive what? The seed. What they did with the seed. Because the seed is the word of God. And does the seed, when it lands on wherever you are, does it bear fruit?

Does it endure? So, that's what he means in Romans 10, 17. It says, "So faith comes from hearing, and the hearing by the word of Christ." So faith is not faith in faith. Faith is in what? His word. Faith comes from hearing, or the hearing of the word of Christ, because faith is what connects us to the unseen.

And what is the greatest of the unseen? God himself. So faith is the evidence of what we hope for. It is a substance, or evidence, or proof, of what is unseen, which is God himself. Some people ask me, "Why is your church so hooked on teaching the Bible, memorizing scripture, expiatory preaching, conducting Bible study?

What about homeless? What about this? And what about that?" It's not that those things don't matter. But the Bible says that the central thing that connects us to God is faith. Not your hard work, not organization, not older brothers, not good leaders. He said it's faith. Faith is what connects you and makes things that aren't seen real.

So the greatest thing that you and I need to cultivate is faith. And the way that we get faith, the way that the faith grows, is through what? Hearing of the word of Christ. And you may sit here and sit all your life, hear the word of Christ, and not have any effect in your heart.

But no matter what you do the rest of your life, you're not standing on the right foundation. That's why the word of God is central. Without the word of Christ, it doesn't matter if you feed the poor. Without the word of Christ and our faith, it doesn't matter if we are doing social justice and whatever it is that we get involved in.

Because faith is what connects us to this living God. John 10, 27, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." That's what he's been doing. He's been spending 10 chapters establishing Christ as what? The foundation, the chief cornerstone. And chief cornerstone in modern English just means it's foundation.

That Jesus is the foundation upon which we build everything else. So if you drift away from Christ, it doesn't matter what you build. It doesn't matter how hard you work. It doesn't matter how well you educate your kids. If we drift away from the foundation, Christ is a chief cornerstone.

In 1 Peter 1, 20-25, "For you have been born again, not of seed, which is perishable, but imperishable. That is through the living and enduring word of God. For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word which was preached to you." Everything else, every other foundation, is going to dry up. It's going to rot. It's going to die. But only what's built our salvation, our sanctification, glorification, that's built on the enduring word of God will last forever. So in other words, enduring faith is what's connected to the enduring word.

That's what he means. So what faith is and what faith is not, and then thirdly, what faith does. He says in verse 2, "For by it, men of old gained approval." He says, in verse 6, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." You can have knowledge, you can have passion, but he says without faith it is impossible to please God.

So he said this is what faith is, and here's all these people that I'm going to be mentioning, and it is by faith that they endured, they suffered, and even died. And by doing so, they found approval before God. In other words, when they died, God said to each one of them, "Well done, my good and faithful servant." Not simply because of hard work.

Yes, faith caused them to have hard work. Faith caused them to sacrifice. Faith caused them to do crazy things for God. But it was faith that caused them to work, not work. Now, all of this is basically what he was trying to tell them in Hebrews chapter 10, 34.

He says, "For you showed sympathy to the prisoners, and accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and a lasting one." And he's reminding them. The reason why they were able to endure the first time, when persecution came around, and why now they're tempted to go back to their old life, is because when it first came, they were anchored in Christ.

And they were able to see that there's a better possession coming. Even if all of this gets stripped away, all of this gets stripped away, he says, they saw clearly what was coming, because of this faith. Apostle Paul, that's what he means in Philippians, when he says, "In comparison to the surpassing knowledge of Jesus Christ." The Bible says, "Satan blinds the mind of the unbeliever, so they do not see." How was our eyes open?

Through faith. So when faith caused us to see the eternal things as to be true, they had courage. And that's why Paul says, "In light of what I saw in Christ, everything that I knew here became rubbish in comparison." So faith is what causes us to see that. Faith is what causes us to be connected to that.

And so he's trying to remind them to be re-anchored in Christ. In Galatians 5.5, "For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything." Let me stop right there. How much time has Paul dedicated in the New Testament to describe that circumcision is not necessary? Is there a right and wrong with circumcision?

Again, you guys are so Asian. Yes. You can't be circumcised. Paul, his whole second missionary journey was to go back to the churches and tell them, "You don't need to be circumcised." That's his whole argument. He rebukes Peter and Barnabas because they wouldn't sit with the uncircumcised. So is there a right and wrong answer with circumcision and uncircumcision?

Yes. Then why does he say that? Why does he say it doesn't matter whether circumcision or uncircumcision? Because even your talk of right theology, if it is not coming from faith, is useless. Even if you're theologically correct, if it's not faith, what does he say? He says, "Through faith means, but faith, working through love." If it is not your faith in Christ that is evidenced by how you love, even correct theology is useless.

Did you catch that? That's why this faith is so important, because it's the foundation upon which we build everything. Where the right theology has to come from, right faith working itself out through love, and everything else built on top of that. 1 Peter 1.7, "So the proof of your faith being more precious than gold, which is perishable even through tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." That even in the midst of suffering, that when you endure it, it is proof that you are connected to the unseen, God himself.

He's laying all of this as a foundation, right? This is how important faith is. This is how important being connected to Christ is. This is how important not to drift. And then he's going to show us what that looks like in the life of these believers, right? Let me get practical and personal here for a minute, okay, in application.

The beginning of our salvation is faith, obviously, right? But what is it of faith in? How do you start your relationship with God? If somebody off the street said, "You know, I want to be a Christian, what do I do?" What would you tell them? Go to church? "Oh, I know this guy, you know, this small group, join that small group." What would you tell them?

I'm talking about the very genesis of someone's connection to God. What would you tell them? "God died for--Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for you to take away your sins, and he was resurrected that you may have a new life. So if you believe that he died for you and that your sins are forgiven because of what he has done," he says, "you will be forgiven." That's the genesis.

Now that will lead to teach them to observe all that I have commanded you, right? But the first action, first thing that somebody who said, "I want to be a Christian," is you need to confess and believe that Jesus forgave you of your sins. But that's not the first and only time where that gets questioned.

Sometimes we do that. It's like I raise my hand, I confess, and then we move on. And there are many Christians living day to day in the process of sanctification having a hard time believing that Christ forgave you. There are people, tons of people that I've met, who regurgitate what has happened in the past.

"Maybe I'm struggling because of my sins. Maybe these things are happening because I did this in the past." You know, how many times could God possibly forgive for the same sins over and over again? So even though we may profess it outwardly, inwardly, there's a doubt whether He really forgave me.

And because there's doubt of His forgiveness, that automatically trickles down to, "Does God really love me then?" And so when we try to live out our sanctification without doubt lingering over us, we have to prove ourselves to make sure that we are worthy of that love. Which is an impossible task.

Not a hard task, an impossible task. So the first and foremost thing that every Christian, from the beginning, in the middle, and at the end, that we need to have absolute confidence of, is when Jesus says that if you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive you of all your unrighteousness.

You have to believe that with all your heart. Because that's the only way that we have any connection to the eternal, to the unseen. Your sins are forgiven. Your sins are forgiven. And when God says your sins are forgiven, He says it is forgotten. He sees us as righteous because we're covered by the blood of Christ.

Jesus' righteousness was imputed in us, and that's what atonement is. We are covered by His blood. So now when He sees us, He doesn't see a failure who's trying to make up for his mistakes. He sees a sinner who could not. That his Son had compassion and love and forgave.

That is the beginning point of our salvation. It is like ongoing sanctification, and it is the only way that we can make it to glorification. First and foremost, do you believe that you are forgiven? He who did not spare his own Son, how will He not, along with Him, freely give us all things?

If you believe that Jesus died for your sins, how do you struggle with the fact that He would give you anything that you need? So many Christians, you know, accept that superficially and then wrestle the rest of our lives worrying that God's not going to care enough to take care of the things that I need.

You see how completely illogical that is? Not only is it not biblical, it's illogical. It's illogical to believe that God would send His Son but not care about your needs. And that's exactly what he is saying. He's saying trust Him. Believe Him. Whatever trials may be coming, be anchored in Christ.

What caused you to begin your relationship with God, continue to anchor with Him so that you may persevere in your faith. Then I want to wrap up with, because there are some of you who feel so weak in your faith, that you're just barely hanging on, especially with this pandemic.

And I was reading the statistics of how many people have fallen out in their faith. They said over a third of people who were attending church at one point before the pandemic have walked away from their faith. A third! I mean, you tell me, I mean, that's something spiritual.

That's not something that any human being could have done. And obviously from our perspective we can see that as purification of the church, but from another perspective that's satanic work. There are a lot of people who are barely hanging on. Jesus said that if you have a faith of a mustard seed, you can move mountains.

Have you ever seen a seed of a mustard seed? It's like a lint. In fact, it's a lint of a lint. That's how tiny it is. You almost have to look at it and say, "What is that?" Because it's that tiny. So Jesus was pointing to the smallest seed, and he said, "If you have a faith that tiny, you can move mountains." So what he means by that is that's how powerful that is.

That tiny little faith that you have that connects you to the Almighty God. That tiny little connection is more powerful than anything that you can think of. And it is not that mustard seed. The power is not in that seed. The seed is the path that connects us to the Almighty.

That's what he means by that. He's not saying you can move mountains. He says through faith that connects you to this powerful God, he can move mountains. That's what that means. Some of us are just hanging on on a thread for whatever the reason. Maybe it was out of neglect.

Maybe you failed and you have a hard time believing that God can possibly forgive you. And you've drifted and you've drifted and you've drifted. And it's so small. They say, "Well, mustard seed, I feel like it's even smaller than that." My guess is if Jesus could point to something even smaller than a mustard seed, he would have pointed at that.

Because that was his point. There are times when we hold on, even through that small seed. Maybe some of you guys are at that right now. Let me give you a powerful illustration of this through the life of the disciples. You remember in John chapter 6, he feeds 5,000, you know, the actual number probably 20,000.

Remember, if today, if you have a crowd of 100 people, that's a pretty big crowd. Let's say if you got off the airport and you're coming through International and there's 30 people with signs with your name on it. What would we think? "Oh, he's important." What if there was 100 people?

"Is this guy a movie star?" What if there was 1,000 people? "Is this the president?" What if there was 10,000 people? This is at LAX, where there's millions of people that live here. This is in the rural side of Galilee. 20,000 people are following him everywhere he goes. He just fed them.

So this is at the peak of Jesus' ministry in John chapter 6. And people are forgetting to feed their kids. They're following him wherever he goes. Remember the mindset of the disciples. The disciples were constantly wondering, when the kingdom comes, who's going to be the greatest? They didn't understand what Jesus came to do.

Or they didn't fully understand. They knew him, but Jesus would say, "I'm going to go to the cross. I'm going to die." He said, "Who's going to sit on your left? Who's going to sit on the right?" That's all they could think of. So imagine 20,000 people following their master wherever they go, and they're the right-hand men.

My guess is, every time the disciples stepped out, it's like, "Oh, that's Paul. That's that guy." They were probably celebrities because they were attached to Christ. And so they were at the peak of their success. Like, we're famous! Right? We're famous. We have 20,000 people and more who recognize who we are.

And that's exactly what they were thinking. If we follow Jesus, this is going to happen. And then all of a sudden, Jesus has a conversation with these people saying, "You're following me because you want bread." He said, "Yes, we want bread." "I am the bread." "Okay, then give me some bread." He said, "No, I am the bread." "Okay, okay, then prove it.

What do you want?" "I want some bread." That's the conversation that takes place in John chapter 6. And then at the end of that conversation, Jesus, recognizing that their hearts are hardened, they don't really believe him, and then he says, "If you want to follow me, you have to do what?

You have to eat my flesh and drink my blood." What? I mean, that's the most sacrilegious thing that anybody can say. They were told all their lives that if they drank the blood of animals, they can be killed for that. But he's saying, "You've got to drink my blood and eat my flesh." So we know how the multitudes heard that.

Because in John 6.66, they said they turned away. "This is too hard." "He just told us to eat him." What is that? So they left him. So can you imagine? The disciples are on the side. They're like, "Yes, we're the apostles of Jesus Christ." They probably still have the baskets of bread and fish left over that they're carrying around to identify who they were.

All of a sudden, they all disappear. What? We thought we were going to be glorified. That's like having 10 million followers and waking up the next day and having zero. This is for the young crowd. The old people, I'll explain later. It happened overnight. And it's not like the disciples understood.

They were confused too. This is hard. So after they left, Jesus turns to his disciples and he asks them, "Are you going to leave too?" Because he knew that they were confused. But this is their answer. John 6.68. "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.

We have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.'" In other words, I don't understand it either. Why did you do that? Why did you do that? I don't get it. What do you mean by that? Okay, are you going to leave too?

Where are we going to go? I don't understand you, but I believe you. I don't know what you're doing. I don't know why you're causing all these problems and why my life is so hard and why it's so difficult just to make it to the next day. I don't know.

I don't know what you're doing. But I believe you. So their faith, that tiny little mustard seed, kept them connected to Christ. We believe you. There are times in our lives that our only confession is, "What else? Where else am I going to go? I don't know what's going on.

I don't know why he's allowing this to happen. I can't explain. I'm so tired. Where else am I going to go?" That tiny little seed, mustard seed, connects us to the Almighty God. That's what he means. And that's what enduring faith is. Sometimes it's strong, sometimes it's weak, sometimes it's so tiny.

But if you have it, that powerful God will move mountains. Amen? So all that is a setup for now, if we believe, this is what is capable of happening. So my encouragement to us, if there's any time in our lives, and I've said this repeatedly, where you need to be anchored in Christ, it's now.

Because persecution is here and it is coming. Difficult times are here and it is coming. Turmoil is already here, but greater one is coming. And I'm not talking about the political arena. I'm talking about in the church. Spirit of delusion has already entered into the churches. And there is so much confusion, even among Christians and even among pastors.

So if we're not grounded and connected to the Almighty God through our faith in his word, if there's any time confusion is going to come into the church, it is now. So I encourage you and I implore you to be connected to this Christ. Be in the word, in season and out of season.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness. We thank you for your patience with us. Lord, we thank you that there are some in our midst who are thriving in their faith, that even during the pandemic, it would only cause them to long for you and love you more.

But then there are also some of us who are just holding on by a tiny thread. But even in that, we thank you for the promise that though we are weak, you are strong. Help us, Lord God, to persevere, to endure, as we will be implored over and over again through this text.

May Christ and his sacrifice be honored, declared, and worshipped. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Church family, let's all stand together as we sing this last song, "The Solid Rock." I just want to read verse 1 in the Course. As we think about anchoring in Christ, it says, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand." And all other ground is sinking sand. My hope. "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand." When darkness unveils his lovely face. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. His oath is covenant, his blood. Support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, even is all my hope is found. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand. When he shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in him be found. Trust in his righteousness alone. Lawless be standing for the throne. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. That's all for today. Reading from Psalm 33, 16-22. The king is not saved by a mighty army. A warrior is not delivered by great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory.

Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope for his lovingkindness, to deliver their soul from death and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our shield, for our heart rejoices in him, because we trust in his holy name.

Let your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us according as we have hoped in you. Heavenly Father, we pray that all of these words of the psalmist would ring true in our own hearts, that these would be our confession as we go. May Christ and his sacrifice be honored, glorified, and exalted wherever it is that you send us.

Amen. God sent his Son, they called him Jesus. He came to earth, he led the way. He lived and died to buy my poverty. An empty grave is there to be a Savior laid. Because he lived, I confess to my heart. Because he lived, all fear is gone. Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lived.

If we can have this side just start to go out that way. And then this side, if I can ask you guys to help us because we have a new members luncheon that's going to be taking place in this room. So if some of you guys... You're for that gathering.

Okay. And then the rest of you guys just kind of start leaving that way. And then those of you guys who have business. And again, you guys can start going out that way as well. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Okay. Okay. Next week.