(gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) (gentle music) - All right, good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day. In every season, our Lord invites us to lift our eyes up to him. He is our true help. He, our Lord is the one who made heaven and earth, and he is the same one who watches over us and sustains us every day. His strength stands higher than the hills.

His love reaches into the depths of our hearts. And these are the hope-stirring truths of Psalm 121. And Pastor Peter read that to us last week and thought it'd be good for us as a church to sing Psalm 121 together. (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ I lift my eyes up to the mountains ♪ ♪ Where does my help come from ♪ ♪ My help comes from you ♪ ♪ Maker of heaven ♪ ♪ Creator of the earth ♪ - I lift my eyes.

♪ I lift my eyes up to the mountains ♪ ♪ Where does my help come from ♪ ♪ My help comes from you ♪ ♪ Maker of heaven ♪ ♪ Creator of the earth ♪ ♪ Oh, how I need you, Lord ♪ ♪ You are my only hope ♪ ♪ You're my only prayer ♪ ♪ You're my only prayer ♪ ♪ So I will wait for you to come and rescue me ♪ ♪ Come and give me life ♪ ♪ I lift my eyes up to the mountains ♪ ♪ Where does my help come from ♪ ♪ My help comes from you ♪ ♪ Maker of heaven ♪ ♪ Creator of the earth ♪ - Oh, how I need you.

♪ Oh, how I need you, Lord ♪ ♪ You are my only hope ♪ ♪ You're my only prayer ♪ ♪ So I will wait for you to come and rescue me ♪ ♪ Come and give me life ♪ (gentle music) - Sing I lift my eyes up one more time.

♪ I lift my eyes up to the mountains ♪ ♪ Where does my help come from ♪ ♪ My help comes from you ♪ ♪ Maker of heaven ♪ ♪ Creator of the earth ♪ Amen. - Hi, good morning. Welcome to Breen Community Church. And also for those of you who are online, I wanna give you a heads up that our college ministry is having a gospel night on Wednesday, this Wednesday at 8 p.m.

And so they're gonna be talking about various religions and the gospel presentation itself. And so if you have people that you would like to invite or just refer them, they are going to be meeting this Wednesday at 8 p.m. So please let one of the college students know or let Pastor Nate know as well, okay?

Let's see, we have an announcement from the family ministry. So Jason Choi is going to come and give the announcement. - Woo, all right. All right, we got a couple announcements actually. The first one is community groups are starting up again. It's only for half the year, obviously. So we're only gonna have three meetings this time on July, September, and November.

The first meeting is actually, we're attempting to start on July 4th, but we're aware it's a holiday. So, you know, discuss with your facilitators like a feasible day that works for you that week. It's not a hard date when you have to meet. We're designated days, but you can meet whenever that's feasible for you guys, okay?

And registration is gonna be available on the app and on the Facebook page as well. It will be posted on the Facebook page today. So look for that as well. The second announcement is pertaining to everybody at church. It's the all church retreat on August 13th to the 15th.

It's gonna be at Indian Wells Renaissance Resort and Spa. Many of you have been there before. The theme's gonna be on biblical reconciliation and we're taking signups now. It's also available on the Facebook page. Not on the Facebook page yet. It's also available on the Bringing app and the website.

It will be posted on the Facebook page today. So look for that. Early registration ends on July 4th. After that, there'll be a $50 late fee. Okay, we know a lot of people kind of have concerns about COVID restrictions and protocols. So we just want you to know the hotel is doing their best to sanitize and disinfect the common areas.

And there's gonna be cleaning every day for that. As well, I know for the registration, we just want you guys to be aware. It's gonna be a little bit different this time around. We're allowing you guys to let us know who you feel comfortable sharing a room with. Okay?

You can do pairs or you can do quadruples. But you need to let us know who you want a room with. Otherwise, you're gonna be randomly assigned. So it's gonna be more clear on the registration. But if you have any questions, you can email Esther Leung or family@boreancc.com. Okay?

Thank you. - All right, so all that information will be on the website, so you can go and double-check for that. After the worship time, our sister Lauren Kim is going to be giving her testimony and be baptized this morning. So that will happen after that. And one other announcement is, if you guys have been following the CDC guidelines, this week they came out and basically said that indoor masking is not necessary for those who have been fully vaccinated.

And so those who've been vaccinated, again, they're not making those restrictions inside anymore. And so we've been, you know, getting questions about, like, how are we going to apply that in the church? And so we've said from the very get-go that we're gonna follow the guidelines that are given to us, as long as it doesn't infringe upon our own conscience of worshiping God and making that our priority.

And so what we're planning to do is allow, at least until June 15th. According to our governor, June 15th is the date that they're going to probably, or shooting, to lift up all the restrictions of masking in California, especially for those people who've been vaccinated. And so we're gonna ask the church to continue to keep everything status quo until June 15th, or unless they give us further announcements.

But once that time comes, if you choose to wear the mask, that's up to you, but it's no longer gonna be required in the church. So we're just giving you a heads up. And so that way, those of you who are in the process of getting vaccinated, you can get vaccinated.

And so by then, hopefully everybody will have that. And right now, as far as I know, everybody has access to that if you want to. And if you're not vaccinated by that time, we're assuming that you're not vaccinated for a reason. And so for that reason, the restrictions that we have and the checking is not gonna be happening starting from that time.

So until then, we're gonna keep whatever standards that we have status quo. Okay, so does that make sense? Okay, so that's the protocol. That's what we're following, according to the guidelines. And also, if you've been following the guidelines, they are expected to get to yellow tier by this Tuesday.

So if that happens, yellow tier basically is the least restrictive. So there's very little guidelines that are given, meaning that the numbers in California are down enough where those are not a big concern anymore. And so, of course, they're gonna keep watching that. But as far as the official things that we are being told, that's where we're at.

Okay, so we're moving toward the right direction. So hopefully by the time we get to the retreat that we won't be in the same place, that it'll continue to get better. And so please continue to keep that in your prayers as well. Okay, all right, so let me pray for us, give you time for the offering.

And then again, the physical offering box is in the back. And so if you want to do that after the service, you can go and just drop off the envelope in the back box. Okay, all right, let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your blessing. Your grace is truly sufficient for all of us.

Help us, Lord, to give you worship sincerely from our hearts. And we pray, Father God, that your word would convict us, that our singing would be from the bottom of our hearts, that we may be able to observe, to fix our eyes upon Christ. And may this time be honoring to you, sanctifying, encouraging, rebuking, whatever it is that you have ordained your word to be.

I pray that you would guide us and lead us. May this giving be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for the purpose of your kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, church family, would you please stand with us as we continue our worship? Here is love, vast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood.

When the Prince of life, our ransom, shed for us His precious blood. Who His love will not remember, who can cease to sing His praise. He can never be forgotten throughout His eternal days. On the mount of crucifixion, fountains open deep and wide. Through the flood gates of God's mercy, flowed a vast and gracious tide.

Grace and love like mighty rivers poured incessant from above. Heaven's peace and perfect justice kissed the guilty world in love. Here is love, here is love that conquered evil. Christ the first, born from the grave. Death has failed to be found equal to the life of Him who saves.

In the valley of our darkness, dawn is everlasting light. Perfect love in glorious radiance has repelled death's hellish night. No love is higher. No love is higher, no love is wider. No love is deeper, no love is truer. No love is higher, no love is wider. No love is like your love, O Lord.

No love is higher, no love is wider. No love is deeper, no love is truer. No love is higher, no love is wider. No love is like your love, O Lord. No love. No love is higher, no love is wider. No love is deeper, no love is truer. No love is higher, no love is wider.

No love is like your love, O Lord. Here is love, vast as the heavens, careless as the stars above, are the souls that He has ransomed. Precious God, our treasured son, we are called to feast forever on a love beyond our time. Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit, now with man are intertwined.

We are called to feast forever on a love beyond our time. Glorious Father, Son, and Spirit, now with man are intertwined. There's a place where mercy reigns and never dies. And there's a place where streams of grace flow deep and wide. Where all the love I've ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down.

At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in all of you, I'm in all of you. Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you, Jesus. There's a place where sin and shame are powerless. Where my heart has peace with God and forgiveness.

Where all the love I've ever found comes like a flood, comes flowing down. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in all of you, I'm in all of you. Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you.

Here my hope is found, here on holy ground. Here I bow down, here I bow down. Here arms open wide, here you save my life. Here I bow down, here I bow down. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in all of you, I'm in all of you.

Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you. At the cross, at the cross, I surrender my life. I'm in all of you, I'm in all of you. Where your love ran red and my sin washed white, I owe all to you, I owe all to you, Jesus.

Amen. You may be seated. Hello, my name is Lauren. I'm currently a third year public health science at UCI, and this is my testimony. Unlike many of my peers, I never grew up in a church, nor did I grow up in a Christian household. The earliest memory I have of church was attending it with my grandparents here and there when I was younger.

But after entering elementary school, I stopped going. Growing up, I was what you called a good kid. Never got in trouble by my teachers, obeyed my two loving and caring parents, didn't attend parties or intake alcohol or drugs. Had a close group of friends that all got along well with each other, anything the world would see as ideal.

However, in my senior year of high school, I began to be involved in different dating relationships. Even though I had all that I could ask for, I still felt a void in my heart, and struggled at finding my purpose and identity. Although my closest friend introduced me to her home church in senior year, I was still confused at who God was and who I was.

My struggle at trying to please man, especially my boyfriends, and deem worthy to those around me. I tried filling the void with dating relationships in school, but because of that, it brought upon a lot of scars and pains. Coming into university, I never planned on being involved with church or Christ.

I wanted to indulge in the world by attending parties and seeking freedom now that I was away from my family. However, in his grace, God had other plans for me. I was introduced to Berean Community Church by alumni from my high school. Many of you may know him as Eugene.

I was drawn in by how welcoming the community was and the passion Pastor Peter had for the word. Before I realized, I was involved in small group, Friday Bible study, Sunday service, and campus ministry. I heard the gospel for the first time during small group my freshman year of college.

The gospel loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life, John 3:16. Through church, small group, and campus ministry, I was beginning to understand who God was and the consequences of sin. My faith wasn't tested until I was away from church for the summer my freshman year.

By experiencing various trials, I saw that my knowledge of the Lord was all head and no heart. I tried to convert those around me into Christianity and change their hearts through my own works and actions, but was only faced with constant criticism and rejection. I began to question my salvation and faith in the Lord.

One day, I shut myself in a closet and for the first time, prayed vulnerably and honestly to the Lord. I surrendered my everything to him and truly declared him as my Lord and Savior. An overwhelming sense of peace flooded in my heart as I knew that no work or worth could ever earn his love.

Someone so insignificant and sinful as myself is deeply known and deeply loved by the Lord, my Father. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who God put forward as appropriation by his blood to be received by faith.

Romans 3, 23-25 God continues to write my story. I am far from perfect and I struggle with sin daily, but I know that he is working in me and renewing me. I am blessed to be surrounded by communities of brothers and sisters that encourage and sharpen me. And as Pastor Nate likes to say, "Once saved, always persevere." I am no longer a slave to death or sin, but redeemed and adopted into his kingdom.

Truly, this life is no longer mine to live, but Christ's who lives in me. Thank you. All right, thank you, Lauren, for your testimony and for Woo-Jean for inviting her to church. All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews 12, verses 1, 2, and 3.

Okay. Again, I wanted to finish what was started last week. And it will be in the first three verses, Hebrews 12, verses 1, 2, and 3. "Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him who has endured such hostility by sinners against himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart." Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for your grace. Help us to have ears to hear. Help us have eyes to see and will to obey and to listen.

Lord, teach us what it means to fix our eyes upon Christ and to be renewed, Father God, in our affection for him. So we pray for your guidance. We pray for your Holy Spirit to guide and lead us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You know, with the spread of the pandemic and with all the rules that's been given from the CDC that you can go inside, you know, stay outside, wear the mask, don't wear the mask, get the vaccination or don't get the vaccination, and all this stuff has been going back and forth through the last year.

And at the center of this debate is how much freedom are we willing to fight for. And so obviously you have different people have different opinions on that, and this has nothing to do with how strong your faith is or not, or one way or the other, but you and I definitely live in a free country.

If you've ever lived anywhere else or if you've traveled, you'll know that America is one of its primary values is that we live in a free country. We can say what we want even if it is offensive. We have the freedom to pursue our desires, our passions. And so within that context, to have the government give too much restrictions obviously is going to have a reaction because we're trained and to value our freedom.

But no matter how free we are, there are things that are limited, not simply because of law, but because of our own personal limitation. We have the freedom to choose what college we want to go to, who to marry, where to live, what we do with our money. That's the freedom that we have living in this country, where we kind of take it for granted until you are part of a place where that is not there for everybody.

But there is one thing that you and I are completely limited because of our own limitation. And that is we can even choose to die if we wanted to physically. People talk about how they're in depression and considering suicide. And that is something, whether it's good or bad, we are able to do that.

We shouldn't do that, but we're able to do that. But one thing that you and I are not able to do is to choose to live. You and I cannot will ourselves to live. We can prolong our life from 70 years to 90 years or possibly even 100 years, but you and I cannot choose to one day to be dead and then to say, "You know what?

I'm tired of being dead," and just wake up. You can't will yourself to live. That's something that you and I cannot do until the author of life gives us this life. Every single one of us. We're here because God chose to give us life. And the whole of redemptive history is God trying to regenerate us for mankind who has chosen to die.

The Bible says in the book of Genesis that if you disobey, you will surely die. So the history of mankind in Genesis is how death came and how death reigned over mankind. So what God is doing through redemptive history, through the blood of Christ, is to regenerate us, to re-give us life, to restore that life, which only he can give.

You and I cannot by ourselves say, "I'm done with this death. From now on, I'm just going to live." And that's the point that he's trying to get at here in Hebrews. He says, "To fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the author and perfecter of our faith." Now, by saying that, in effect he's saying he's the author and perfecter of our life.

Because faith is what has regenerated us. And so if he's the author of our faith, he's the beginner of our faith, meaning that he is the initiator. He's the only one who can give us life. And so therefore, he says, we must fix our eyes upon Christ. Secondly, not only is he the author of our faith, he said he is the perfecter, the finisher of our faith.

Again, the point of that is so that we may continue to fix our eyes upon Christ. And then the third point that I want to make this morning is that Jesus is the one that we need to continue to anchor ourselves in because he is the author and perfecter of our life.

So that's kind of like the outline that we're going to be going through. And again, this was something that I started last week that we want to finish this morning. So let's look at the first thing that he says. We need to behold and fix our eyes. Not just casually look, not just casually study, not just casually sing, but to fix, like decide that more than anything else, more than fixing our attention on our children, more than fixing our attention on our business, more than fixing our attention upon whatever it is in front of us, to decide that this is the race that is more important than any other race that I'm in, that I'm going to fix my eyes upon Christ because he's, first of all, the author.

The author in Greek is archegos, and that word literally means the originator, founder, ruler, leader, chief, the beginner. And these are all synonyms that the Bible dictionary gives of this particular word, that everything that we have in life, he is the one who initiated and gave to us. When we heard the gospel, the Bible describes us as dead in our trespasses, not sick in our trespasses, not weakened in our trespasses.

The Bible says that we were dead in our trespasses. The Bible says clearly that if you disobey, that you shall surely die. And that's exactly the state of mankind. And not only did we die, death reigns upon mankind. So when we heard the gospel, the reason why you and I are here is not one day we decided, "Oh, we heard the gospel.

You know what? I'm going to choose to live." And we willed ourselves to believe, and therefore why you and I are here. There was something special inside of us that other people did not have. That's not how the Bible describes us. The Bible says that we were dead in our trespasses, and it was only because God, in his sovereign election, decided to predestine us and to give us this faith.

Open our eyes so that we may see. Open our ears so that we may hear, so that the dead may rise and come to Christ. That's how the Bible describes it for us. That's why when Jesus says, "My sheep, they hear my voice, and they follow me." If you look at that passage carefully, Jesus calls them his sheep before they even hear him.

He says, "My sheep will hear my voice, and they will recognize me, and then they will follow me." In other words, he has already chosen them, and the way that he's going to bring them to himself is he's going to spread the word. They're going to hear it, and they're going to come to him.

Again, in John 5.25, he says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live." The dead will hear, right? Now, there's a reason why we don't go to the cemetery.

We don't go to the cemetery to have conversations with people. Now, we may go, and maybe we have loved ones who are buried there, and we'll visit for a purpose of memory, to rekindle our memory. But you don't go there and have dialogue with the dead. You don't expect that.

You don't expect any kind of response. You don't say, "How are you doing?" and then expect to say, "I'm doing fine. How are you?" Right? You're going crazy. That doesn't happen. You don't expect a dead person to hear something and then to respond. And in the same way, the Bible describes us dead in our trespasses.

So the only way that you and I came to life is because God allowed us to have faith to be able to believe. And that's why the Bible says it's His kindness that leads us to repentance. Even the fact that you heard it, it made sense, and something stirred inside of you to say that I must repent and come to Christ.

All of that is God's mercy. All of that is His kindness. Everything that you and I have done is not because we were more moral. It's not because we were intellectually smarter and so we figured it out and the rest of the world couldn't figure it out. It wasn't because we were more disciplined than other people, so therefore we were able to work harder than anybody else.

That's not how the Bible describes us. It is His mercy. It is by His grace that when we heard the gospel, the Holy Spirit convicted us so that we may understand. So from the get-go, everything that you and I have was given to us by the mercy of God.

And so therefore, that's why He's saying that we must continue to fix our eyes upon Christ because He's the one who gave it to us. In Romans 10, 17, "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ." So the word of God was taught by the Holy Spirit.

We were convicted. And so faith was aroused and so now we believe. Well, how did we get this? Well, the Bible describes the way that the disciples in the early church recognized Christ. In John 1, 14, it says, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us and saw His glory, glory as the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." So the disciples understood who Jesus was and was able to believe, even though they didn't fully understand what exactly Jesus was doing, they saw His glory.

And by seeing His glory, even though some were falling away, those who saw His glory and recognized His glory, those are the ones who believed and they continued and they persevered. Do you see the connection of what He's trying to say here? So faith comes from hearing. Faith comes from seeing the glory of who Jesus is.

So the natural question is, how did they see His glory? What did they see about Jesus that they said, "We were able to believe because we saw His glory. We were able to believe because we heard and we were able to believe." Well, the primary thing that he says here in this text is, he says, "To fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him had," what?

"Endured the cross, despising the shame," and then later it says, "Endured the hostility of sinners." In other words, where Jesus displayed His greatest glory that we are to fix our eyes upon is the cross. It's where He endured suffering, despised the shame, endured the hostility against sinners, all for the purpose of His glory.

When we think about the cross, our natural inclination is the cross is where Jesus died for our sins. He absorbed our sins. God placed His judgment upon Him and then He was crucified. He was resurrected and so again, as Lauren was being baptized, we asked the question, "Do you understand you're being buried with Christ and resurrected into a new life?" Because that's exactly what the cross has done.

But if we see the cross only as a place, as a door that we must pass to get to Christ, then you really missed the whole point. You've gotten partial understanding of what the cross is, but that is not the full understanding of the cross. The cross is not simply a door that we must pass to get to the other side where life is.

The Bible describes the cross as the destination, not a path to go through. And that's why Jesus Himself says, He doesn't say, "I will show you life and I will give you answer." He says, "I am the truth, I am the way, and I am the life." Cross itself is not simply a place where we have received salvation.

The cross is a place where God had displayed who He is to the greatest of extent than any other place. So everything that we see from Genesis to the cross is preparation. Preparation to bring us to the cross. So every part of the scripture, when we're studying it, if it is not connected to the cross, you probably missed the point.

So if you study Hosea, the question that we need to be asking is, how does this relate to what he's doing? Jonah. What is God's purpose with Jonah? What is God's purpose with the tabernacle? What is God's purpose with the promised land? What is God's purpose in this? Because every part of it is to prepare us and to highlight Jesus' coming.

And then everything outside of His coming is to point back and to look. That this is what Jesus has done. This is who Jesus is. So all of scripture, at the center of it, is Christ. That's how the Bible presents it to us. And that's exactly what Jesus says as He's going to the cross in John 17, 1-5.

"Jesus spoke these things, and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, 'Father, the hour has come to glorify Your Son.'" Now, we know that Jesus is praying this prayer because He's preparing to go to the cross. So when He says, "I'm going, I'm going to go to be glorified." Which is a ridiculous thing to say.

Because the cross was developed for the exact opposite purpose. The cross was developed in order to bring the maximum shame. You know, whenever we see Jesus on the cross, we'll usually see Him kind of naked on the top. But He's usually covered by some cloth. That's not how it actually happened.

The way it happened was they stripped Him naked for the purpose of humiliation. And so they would publicly whip Him. Make Him carry His own wood that He's going to be crucified in. All the way up to wherever that individual is going to be crucified. And then, they would let Him hang.

And usually, they didn't die from the wounds, from the beating. They died of suffocation. So when they would come and they decided to have mercy on that individual, they would come and break their legs. And the purpose of breaking their legs is not to bring more excruciating pain to them, but to actually show mercy.

Because for days and days and days, they would be hanging on the cross, pushing themselves up just to get a grasp of air. And then, once they get that, they would hang again and suffocate. And this would go on for days and days and days. And so the only way that somebody would end this horrible situation is somebody would break their legs and they would have no strength to be able to pull themselves up.

That's what the cross was made for. Maximum humiliation. In fact, they considered it so cruel that they only reserved this for Romans who traded their country. Or whoever that they conquered. So Roman citizens were exempt from the cross. That's what this cross was made for. In order to publicly humiliate them.

In order so that by it, it would deter anybody. If you break the law, if you come against Rome, this is what's going to happen to you. So it is that cross that Jesus is pointing to and he's praying to the Father and saying, "I'm going to there to be glorified." So imagine how ridiculous that would have sounded in that context that Jesus is saying, "I'm going to be glorified." Not only am I going to be glorified, he says that some may glorify you.

By hanging on this cross in my humiliation, in my suffering, I will be glorified and I will glorify you. Even as you, in verse 2, gave him authority over all flesh, that to all whom you have given him, he may give eternal life. This eternal life that may be known to you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

He said the purpose of him doing that is in order to restore life to those who have chosen death. And he said in his humiliation, he's going to glorify through bringing life again. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you have given to me. Now, Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was.

In other words, the cross was going to be where God the Father and God the Son were sharing their glory together. Now, they're going to put it on display. So the whole world will see who God is. So when we see the cross, from a human point of view, we see humiliation.

We see suffering. We see death. We see cruelty. We see punishment. But in that, Jesus says, if you understood what was happening at the cross, to recognize Jesus and not know the cross is to completely miss the point. If all the cross is, is just place where Jesus sacrificed and went through humiliation so that you and I can go through that door and get to God, you missed the whole point.

It wasn't just to accomplish what he came to accomplish. It was to display his very nature, who he is. The cross, if you want to know who Jesus is, you must understand the cross. If you want to understand the relationship with God the Father and God the Son, the Holy Spirit, you must understand the cross.

If you want to see the glory of Christ, you must look at the cross. We can look at Jesus as he serves and as he performs miracles and walks on water. All of these things are a glimpse of his glory. But the greatest manifestation of his glory was what he did at the cross.

Because that's what he says that he was going to do. All that he was, before even the creation of the world, we're going to show the world who we are. That's what he was going to do. The cross, in Psalm 85, 9-10, I think this describes perfectly what it is that you and I are to recognize.

"Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land. Loving kindness and truth have met together, and righteousness and peace have kissed each other." What a perfect description of the cross. Without righteousness, the cross wouldn't make any sense. Because, I forgive you, just pretend like it didn't happen.

If you disobey my commandment, you shall surely die. I said that, but I'm just going to show mercy. I'm just going to sweep it under the rug. So what's the drama with the cross? We don't have to go through all that drama of Jesus and preparation. If it was just mercy, the cross is completely unnecessary.

Just be merciful. Just forget it. Sweep it under the rug. If it was just justice, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. You took a life. You and I took life that belonged to God. And so the punishment is death. And so we would have been crushed over and over and over again.

I don't know how long we would make it when we come into this world. So if it's just justice, again, the cross is not necessary. You don't need the cross to practice justice. You don't need the cross to practice mercy. But it is only at the cross where justice and mercy kiss each other in perfect union.

Which only God, and only God alone, is able to practice perfectly. In the last year, with all the political and social and racial turmoil that's been going on, that phrase that we've been hearing over and over again throughout our history is, "No justice, no peace." Because there's a segment of the population, a segment of the world, that believes that justice is not being carried out, so they are demanding justice.

But the problem with mankind wanting justice is, you and I do not have the perfect ability to carry out justice because we are biased by our own anger. We are biased by our own perspective. We are biased by our own sins. And we are biased by our lack of ability to know someone else's heart.

So we are carrying out justice by our perspective. Or we can err on the other side and say, "Oh, we're merciful, we want to be gracious, but no one's going to be okay with being merciful and gracious to somebody who murdered your wife or murdered your children. I just want to be gracious." You know, the Bible tells us that we ought to practice speaking the truth in love.

And if you've ever really tried to practice that, you know how difficult that is. It's a difficult one because it's hard to discern even our own heart. How much anger is in you or how much bias is in you when you're supposedly speaking the truth in love? Because somebody else would look at that and say, "Oh, it's not in love, but in actuality there's a lot more judgment in that." But you're Christian, so you have to say the right lingo.

Or we may be saying, "Oh, we're going to practice truth, but didn't Jesus say this?" And then we kind of skim over justice because we're afraid of the response that we're going to get. And then we just kind of brush over and say, "Oh, we're practicing love, but we're not practicing truth." The more you try to practice, the more you realize just how difficult it is for man to genuinely practice it.

But here's the problem. This is the only way that you and I can ever be saved if this justice and mercy is practiced perfectly. Because if it is not practiced perfectly, there is no life. Because if we err on justice, we die. If we err just on this, then God's wrath is not satisfied, so we die.

It is only when righteousness and peace is in perfect union that life can be regenerated. And so that's why he says, "To fix our eyes upon Jesus, who is the author, he's the initiator, he's the beginner, chief." The only reason why you and I live is because Jesus Christ displayed perfect justice, perfect mercy.

Who knows all our sins, who is perfectly pure, never sinned, and yet he is perfectly merciful at the same time. Where only the Son of God can bring upon himself God's wrath perfectly, and to distribute that to those who are sinners like you and I. And that's why he says, "He endured the cross, despised the shame, endured the hostility against sinners, all for the purpose of saving us and all for the purpose of displaying his glory." That's his glory.

He deliberately chose the cross to show the world, "This is who I am." This is who I am. If you know God as merciful and do not know his wrath, you don't know God. If you know God as a wrathful God who deals with sin and do not know his mercy, you don't know God.

The only way that you can truly know God is when these two things are in perfect union. And the only place where that is perfectly practiced is at the cross. So you see why all of history leads to the cross, and all of history after that points back to the cross.

Because that's the only place where you and I find true life. You and I can pretend to have life. You and I can prolong, maybe from 10 to 20, 30 years, if you take good care of your body. You can prolong with medicine for a period. But someone who is dead cannot will himself to say, "I'm going to live." Only through the cross.

Romans 3, 24-26 is being justified as a gift by his grace. Just that statement alone. Justified by his grace. And we read that all the time. It's like, "Oh, we're justified." Justified by God's punishment is what we would think. We were justified by proper sentencing. So we had to pay for it.

No, he said, "We were justified by the gift of his grace." We don't think much about how this thing in perfect union is such an awesome display of who he is. And the more we dig, the more we ask, the more of his glory is revealed, the more he becomes worthy of our worship.

That's why he's saying, "Don't take your eyes off of Christ." Because there is no life found anywhere else. You can pretend. You can be stimulated for a period. You can worship something else and be distracted for a period. But only true life comes at the cross. So that's what he means, to fix your eyes upon Christ.

But not only is he the author of our faith, he said he is the perfecter. He is the finisher. He's the ultimate cause of all the effects. Not only for justification, but even for sanctification. The word "teleos," for completion here, is to be complete. So whatever intended purpose it is, that it is to bring it to completion.

That's what that word "teleos" means. Meaning, that not only did he begin our faith, the whole reason why you and I are continuing to persevere in our faith is because of Jesus. Even though we may not articulate it this way, so many people understand faith as something that God has given to us.

And then now we've got to do this and do that. Here's four things I need to do, five things I need to do. And then what we end up doing is, we end up taking the same principles that we had of this world and just applying here. Where before, over there, we were working hard to get ahead, make more money.

You work hard, you get a promotion, you become the boss. And so we work hard, sacrifice, study, do hard things so that we can get ahead. And if we're not careful, we take that same principle and apply it in the church. And so what it means to be a great Christian is, be disciplined, work harder than other people, study more, know more theology, read more books, do more things.

And then now, we take the same principle and then apply it in the church, and then now we're competing. Who are the A students, who are the B students, who are the managers, who are the blue collar, who are the white collar workers? But nothing has changed. We're still in the same rat race, except we put a Christian spin on it.

That's why Paul says in Galatians 3, 3, "Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Did you will yourself to live? Did you will yourself in your deadness, that's like, "Oh, I'm just going to believe and just woke up"? Is that how you lived?

Why are you so foolish? That's not how you came to life. So why do you think that now that you are alive, that you're going to work yourself to be sanctified? You've begun by the Spirit, in other words, he's saying you must continue in the Spirit. Look what it says in Romans 8, 20-32, "And 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.

To those whom he foreknew, he predestined to become conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among the brethren. And those whom he predestined, he called, and those he called, he also justified. Those whom he justified, he also glorified." You notice how in every part of this event, he says God did it.

Because God knew you, God called you, so that he opened the ears, so that he can justify you, and those who he justified, he's going to glorify. All of it. And that's why Paul is able to say in Philippians 1, 6, "For I am confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it unto completion." You know, say, oh, you know, Philippians, that was a good church, so maybe that's why he's able to say that.

No, he says similar things in Corinthians. You know, that messed up church. He says, I'm very thankful for you. But not because of all the mess, but he sees God's work. He sees God's presence in there. God's the one who told him. He came in there weak and trembling and burnt out, and he says, "Don't worry, I have my people here.

You continue to preach. I'll take care of the results. You just be faithful." So his confidence did not come necessarily because he saw all these great things. His confidence came because he saw Christ. That's where his confidence came. That's why he was able to persevere. That's why he was able to give his life.

He says he did this, and then he sat down at the throne of God, at the right hand of the throne of God. First thing what that means is that his work is complete. He sat down. You remember when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, there was no seat for them.

There was no place. You don't go in there and say, oh, man, because he's in there by himself. Take a break, right, nap. But there was no seat intentionally because he was supposed to do his work and get out because that's not his place. That seat was reserved for Christ.

So when Christ says he has come and he sat down at the right hand of God, it means that he is complete. He is where he belongs. He wasn't at a temporary seat. His work is finished. That's why when he was being crucified on the cross, he ended his life by saying, "It is finished." That's what that means.

That not only he continues to sustain us, the work that is necessary for our salvation is complete. Think about how much time and energy is wasted because we have convinced ourselves we are missing something. We have convinced ourselves that only if I had this, only if these people, only if I had this community, only if I had more of this, only if I had more of that.

And so because we've convinced ourselves there's something lacking in our life, we live our life as if life is something ahead of us and not here. No, it is complete. 2 Peter 1.3 says, "Seeing that his divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and excellence." Through the knowledge.

Everything that we have is not through community, is not through accountability, is not through a program, is not through long hours of counseling and deconstructing. He says, "No, everything that you and I need for life has been given to us in the knowledge of his son, Jesus Christ." So the most important question that every Christian should be asking routinely, repeatedly, is, "Do you know this Jesus?" I'm not asking, "Do you know this Jesus like you know Michael Jordan or Steph Curry, whoever?" Like from a distance, "Oh, we've read about him.

I've watched him play." We know the president from a distance, so we can say we know him. That's not what he's asking. That's not what I'm asking. When I say, "Do you know Jesus?" Do you have a relationship with this Jesus? Do you have affection for this Jesus? Do you commune with this Jesus?

Do you speak with this Jesus? Do you walk with this Jesus? That's probably the most important question that any Christian should be asking. Besides, "Am I reading? Am I praying?" All of these things are necessary and important things, but those are just means. Those are just means. Inductive Bible study is just a means.

Learning theology is just a means. Praying is just a means. Fellowship, building churches, just the means. If we get fixated on the means and you forget the goal, you can miss the whole point of Christianity. That's why Paul says in 2 Timothy 1.12, as he is facing execution, "For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed." And because he knows whom he has believed, I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.

Why was he able to persevere? If you read Apostle Paul, he feels like a superhuman. "Oh, he's an apostle. He's not like us." No, he's exactly like us. Read the Bible. He's discouraged. He says things and he's like, "Oh shoot, I shouldn't have said that. You're the high priest." He gets discouraged.

Calls out people, "Hey, this guy, don't let this happen to you." I mean, it's a man. If you study him carefully, he's a man with his flaws. He wasn't even the best of preachers. I know I said this before, but I always think about how he's described by Luke.

Because of him, somebody just dies and then he says, "Oh, that's just a habit of him just going on and on and on." I was just picturing that in my head, how discouraging that must have been for him. That's a preacher's perspective, right? Your perspective is, "Come on, get on with it.

Why are you preaching long sermons?" So I can imagine walking over there, it's like, "Hey, get up. Get up. You're embarrassing me." And he just gets up, goes, "It's kind of comical." He's a human being. There was no supernatural thing on him. He was another human being. What was the difference between him and us?

He had an intimate knowledge of the Son of God. And that's why he says, again, in comparison to the surpassing knowledge of knowing Jesus Christ, everything else became rubbish. If you've ever been around children and you try to feed them something or try to get them to do something, they're so fixated on this particular toy.

And they want that, and they can't get their eyes off it. They're like obsessed and lusting after it. How do you get a child to take their eyes off of that? You get something better. If you let go of that, you can have this. If you give that to your brother, we'll take you to Disneyland next week.

And so he didn't will himself and say, "I'm not going to love this anymore." No, he said, "I can't have that. I can have this if I let go of that." That's sanctification. That's sanctification. Sanctification is not you and I willing ourselves, being disciplined and getting more. When we recognize a greater value in Christ, we naturally want to get rid of things that get in the way of getting that.

That's why he's saying to fix your eyes upon the author and the perfecter of faith because there's nothing else in this world that's going to get you to let go of that until you see the value of Christ. Even the way we understand maturity. Why would you get these tax collectors, these fishermen, to be the first apostles?

And then have the Pharisees, who's been studying Scripture, memorizing Scripture, all their life to become students. What was the difference? The disciples saw Jesus' glory and the Pharisees did not. That was the only distinction that made them, the leaders, and the Pharisees, sit and learn, to behold his glory, to recognize.

So again, the most important question that we ask as Christians is, "Do you know this Jesus? Do you know about him? Do you observe him from a distance? Have you learned about him?" That's not what we're asking. Do you know this Jesus? Do you have a personal relationship with this Jesus?

You know how sometimes I can tell somebody has a personal relationship with God? It's when God's name is blasphemed, how you respond. Your mama's so fat. I saw your mom. She's fat. Your mom is so dumb. Oh my gosh, she's so dumb. Your dad is the ugliest guy I've ever met.

Good thing I didn't name anybody. But if I did, I'm going to actually start naming some people. You're probably getting nervous already. Is he actually going to do it? He met my mom. I brought her to Mother's Day. Could he possibly be? It's going to make you nervous because you have affection for your mom and your dad.

Even the thought of your mom and your dad's name being dragged through the mud makes you nervous and you're gearing up. People get offended even if somebody doesn't like what you love. Man, I love sushi. I went down the street and they said, "The best sushi in the world." I love it.

It's like, "Come, let's go. Let's go get some sushi." They've been talking about it and saying, "It's the best sushi ever. Come get it." And then you invite him to lunch and he eats it. You give five stars. I give half a star. It's like, "What?" We get offended if somebody doesn't even love food, a restaurant.

It's like, "How can you not? What's wrong with you?" But yet when it comes to the name of God that we worship, that saved us and loved us unconditionally, have eternity with him, it's just for fun. It's just a joke. It's fiction. It's just a story. Sometimes I can tell if somebody has this personal relationship with God or it's just something that they know, something that's just assumed.

So the question that I'm asking again isn't, "Do you know something about this Jesus? Have you heard it? Did you hear that?" That's not the question I'm asking. Do you know this Jesus? And by asking that question, I'm asking, "Do you love this Jesus?" Because that's the greatest command in the Scripture, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

That's the greatest goal. So above everything else that we're pursuing, the greatest question we should be asking every day is, "Do you know this Jesus? Do you love this Jesus?" Remember Job? His whole life was targeted because he said, "Oh, he's a righteous man." And they said, "Oh, he's righteous because you've been protecting him." Stop protecting him.

Let me at him. Let's see what happens. So there's three cycles of just torture in his life. He begins by saying, "Oh, my God is so good." And then it just gets to him, losing his children, his health, his wealth, any of his friends saying, "Surely God wouldn't do that to a righteous person.

There must be some hidden sin in you." And he just couldn't take it anymore. And he started grumbling against God. "Why are you doing this to me?" And then God shows up in Job 42, 5-6. And after he reveals himself to him, he never answers the question. He never justifies what happens.

He just tells him, "I am God." Basically, that's the summary of what God says to him. "You're questioning me?" In other words, Job was really demanding that God repent. He was really in his grumbling. He was saying, "Why did you do this to me? I obeyed you. I did what you told me to do.

Why did this happen to me?" So he was grumbling and complaining, and in essence saying, "God, you need to apologize." He meets God, and God basically rebukes him and says, "I am God." And that's all he says. He reveals about his nature, his creation, and he tells him, "You don't understand.

You wouldn't know even if I told you." And basically all he does is reveal himself to him, and this is what Job says, "I have heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eyes sees you. Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes." He was demanding God to repent and apologize, and yet when he is in the presence of his glory, he repents, and he has changed.

"I knew you from a distance. I heard of you, but now I have seen you. Now I repent." See, this is sanctification. This is perseverance. This is what's going to lead us to glory. You can play the game, carry your Bible, do the inductive Bible study, serve the church, and say the right things, and have a reputation in the church, but there's a huge difference between somebody who loves Jesus and somebody who's just culturally a Christian.

See, somebody who's a cultural Christian is constantly laboring, constantly laboring, but there is no peace. There is no peace. There's always a wrestling in the heart because you haven't arrived. You see him from a distance, but you haven't drank from the living water. You see other people eating of the bread, but you've never tasted it yourself.

So you see what it looks like. You know what it sounds like, but you yourself do not know. So there is no peace, and you're constantly going from relationship, from place to place, looking for this peace in people, in programs, in things. But the most important and essential question is, "Do you know this Jesus?

Do you love this Jesus?" 2 Corinthians 3:12 said, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as it mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord the Spirit." As we are exposed to his glory, as we begin to understand more and more of what it was to have righteousness and peace, to kiss each other perfectly, the more of that glory that we recognize, he says, we are transformed from one form of glory to another.

That's what Jesus meant when he was telling Martha and Mary, "Martha, you're so busy doing so many things in the name of God. You're sacrificing, picking up your cross, discipline. You're doing so many things, Martha. But only one thing was required of you, and Mary has chosen what is best." And all she was doing was fixing her eyes upon Christ.

That's exactly what he was telling his disciples. They're gearing up to go. "What do we do? You've trained us. Where do we go?" He says, "You cannot bear fruit until you remain in me." You cannot bear fruit. No matter how hard you work, no matter how much sacrifice, no matter how much money, no matter how much training you get, you cannot bear fruit unless you stay with me.

Unless you remain with me. You have to stay with me. That's what he was telling his disciples. "I'm not telling you to go. I'm telling you to stay. Stay. Even after the resurrection, now, now we're equipped." He says, "No. It's only when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. Then you will have power, because the power is not within you.

You don't have the power. You don't have the will. You don't have the discipline. You can't resurrect people from the dead. You can't get dead people to hear and then say, 'I believe.' The Holy Spirit does that." So you wait and you stay. When the Holy Spirit comes, you will receive power.

And when you have that power, you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the ends of the earth. So this is not just one of many questions that Christians need to ask. This is the central question that we need to be asking ourselves routinely. Do you know this Jesus?

Do you love this Jesus? I don't care how long you've been at church. I don't care how many people that you share the gospel with. I don't care how much money you've donated. I don't care how disciplined you are, how much experience that you have. If you haven't beheld His glory in a while, the fruit that you think you see is probably not real fruit.

Because the Bible says, "You cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me." So let's fix our eyes upon Christ. Fix our eyes, beholding His glory, His righteousness and peace, where it kisses each other. And as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, 4-5, "My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of His Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." Let's take some time to pray.

As our worship team comes, take some time to pray. When's the last time you really sought the Lord? You made up your mind like this is it. It's like, "Ah, it's church Sunday. It's prayer time, praise and prayer." Inductive Bible study, got to do the Bible study. When's the last time you can honestly say you sought the Lord with all your heart?

That you desired more than anything else to be able to say, "I love you, Jesus," without hypocrisy, with a clear conscience, and you meant it with all your heart. When was the last time you wanted that more than anything else in life? If you can't remember, or it's been a while, that's probably the most important thing that we need to be wrestling with today.

So let's take some time to pray. Be honest before God. "Lord, help me. Help me. Help me to believe. Help me to deal with my unbelief that has brought me here. Open my eyes that I may see you." Let's take some time to pray as our worship team leads us.

Churchmen, let's stand together for a closing praise. What wisdom once devised the plan Where all our sin and pride Was placed upon the perfect land Suffered, bled, and died The wisdom of a sovereign God His greatness will be shown When those who crucified your son Rejoice around your throne And oh, the glory of the cross That you will send your son for us I gladly count my life as lost I might come to know The glory of, the glory of the cross What righteousness What righteousness was there revealed That sets the guilty free That justifies a godly man And calls the filthy clean A righteousness that proved to all Justice has been met And holy wrath is satisfied For one atoned in death And oh, the glory of the cross That you will send your son for us I gladly count my life as lost I might come to know The glory of, the glory of the cross What mercy now has been proclaimed For those who would believe A love incomprehensible That minds could not conceive A mercy that forgives my sin And makes me like your son And now I'm loved forevermore Because of what you've done And oh, the glory of the cross That you will send your son for us I gladly count my life as lost I might come to know The glory of And oh, the glory of the cross That you will send your son for us I gladly count my life as lost I might come to know The glory of, the glory of the cross Let's pray.

Galatians 6, 4 But may it never be that I would boast Except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ Through which the world has been crucified to me And I to the world. Lord, we pray that this truth would be ours this week. That we would truly not boast Or even be ashamed Just to be fixed, Lord God, upon the cross.

Those who are weary, I pray that you would lift them up. Those who are haughty, I pray that the cross would bring us down. Help us, Lord God, to fix our eyes upon your Son, Jesus. That we may know you, that we may know the Holy Spirit. That we may know Christ with all our heart.

That his glory would cause us, Lord God, To desire him more than anything else in this world. So for that end, I pray that you would open our eyes, Open our ears, that we may see and hear your glory this week. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God sent his Son They called him Jesus He came to love Heal and forgive He lived and died To buy my pardon An empty grave is there to prove My Savior lived Because he lived I can face tomorrow Because he lived All fear is gone Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living Just because he lived Amen.

Again, if we can ask this side of the room to try to exit that way And this side to go out these doors.