(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) All right, good morning, church family.
Happy Lord's Day, and welcome to our Sunday worship service. We will now begin with a time of praise. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ Who else commands all the hosts of heaven ♪ ♪ Who else can make every king bow down ♪ ♪ Who else can whisper in darkness' trebles ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ What other beauty denies such presence ♪ ♪ What other splendor outshines the sun ♪ ♪ What other majesty bears with justice ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Come and sit home forever ♪ ♪ The holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ What other glory consumes like you ♪ ♪ What other power can raise the dead ♪ ♪ What other name is unto you ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Come and sit home forever ♪ ♪ The holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Come and sit home forever ♪ ♪ The holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ (soft rock music) ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ No else could rescue me from my failing ♪ ♪ No else would offer His only Son ♪ ♪ No else invites me to call Him Father ♪ ♪ Only our holy God ♪ ♪ Only my holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Come and sit home forever ♪ ♪ The holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ ♪ Come and behold Him ♪ ♪ The one and the only ♪ ♪ Come and sit home forever ♪ ♪ The holy God ♪ ♪ Come and worship the holy God ♪ - Good morning.
Welcome to Breen Community Church and also those of you who are online. Again, we wanna give a few announcements, but first of all, if you notice that our parking area between the two buildings, we put a little ramp between the two parking lots, so for those of you who have little children that you're wheeling around so that you don't have to go over the rocks, so make sure you use that when you're coming between the two parking lots.
And also, if you notice that we got rid of most of the rocks on that side, so for safety reasons for the children, and also so we can have easier access to the other building, okay? So that area is being used for the cafe, so if you guys wanna go, you happen to come earlier, and you want to sit there and do stuff, you're welcome to go into that room on the outside.
In fact, the cafe, the people who run the cafe told me that they're gonna be having a soft lunch starting next week, so if you wanna go there and grab a coffee or something, you're welcome to go there before or after the service, okay? All right, and so along with that, we're asking that the people who-- we're gonna try to reserve that side of the parking for the young parents with small children that you have to bring across the street so that you don't have to do that, so, you know, every time we cross the street, I mean, it's safer.
So if you have strong legs, you don't have children, you don't have a handicap placard, you know, and you're more than able, please use the other side. But if you have small children, and you're, you know, you're wheeling them around or small children that you need to kind of watch, we're gonna try to reserve that side of the parking.
We did that for that side because when we didn't have it, so try to reserve that for the families if possible, okay? We have a couple announcements that we're gonna give, and so Pastor Peter Chung, who is the pastor for the family ministry, he has an announcement, and right after that, Grace Chu has an announcement for the sisters ministry, okay?
- Oh, good morning, everybody. We were supposed to start this last year, but it got derailed by COVID. We're gonna be starting a newlywed ministry in the family ministry department, but our definition of newlywed is a little bit different where the slide says like three years and under, but basically if you got married on and/or after January 1st, 2018, you can come to this thing.
What we're gonna do is we're gonna have a launch on May 15th with a barbecue. The older family members are actually gonna cook you meat. So if you are a newlywed individual, just come together with your spouse and sign up online, and then we'll see you there, and then you'll find out what FAM 245 is all about, what the vision is and stuff like that, all right?
So that's May 15th at 1030. So if you're a newlywed, go ahead and check that out on the website, all right? Thank you. - I'm sorry, I'm so out of breath. Good morning, my name is Grace, and this announcement is for the ladies. How many of you guys have been to our fellowship or film-alship in the past?
(laughs) Lee, okay, yes, in spirit. We have our first ever women's event, and that's coming up, and this is the first event we've had since pretty much the quarantine and lockdown, so we're so excited. We hope you guys can come. This is gonna be open from high school all the way up, so all across the board, all affinity groups for women.
Film-alship is basically film fellowship. We get together, we watch a film, have a really good intentional time. There is breakfast, so come hungry. This year, we're gonna be listening to Darlene Diebler-Rose. Does that ring a bell for anybody? Well, I'll be honest, I actually hadn't heard about her until recently, and she's amazing.
Corrie Ten Boom, anyone else hear about her? She's pretty much like Corrie Ten Boom, just removed from a different World War. She's phenomenal, and a missionary in Papua New Guinea. Her information is up there, so the time's gonna be from 8.30 to 12.30. This is gonna be an in-person event.
There is a virtual option, but we do encourage you to come in person. It is very different meeting sisters and fellowshipping in front of each other versus doing it via Zoom. It's gonna be May 22nd. The last day to sign up is the 8th. If you have any questions, please contact Carrie Chang, and you can sign up via Facebook or through email.
Thanks so much. (applause) Okay, we have a couple more announcements. First of all, we have a members' meeting next Sunday, and it's going to be virtual. This is probably gonna be the last time that we have a virtual members' meeting, hoping that things will, you know, as it is right now, progressing into the yellow phase.
And so for this one, at 2.30 p.m., we're gonna be online, so watch for the Zoom link for the members, so make sure you're there sharp. And we're gonna start right at 2.30. It'll probably last about an hour, so that's next Sunday. Also, right after our praise time, our sister Jennifer Lynn is gonna come up, and she's gonna give her testimony, and she'll be baptized this morning, okay?
So let me pray for our offering, give you an opportunity to give, and then again, if you have physical checks that you want to give, we have a box in the back as well. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to worship you, to honor you, to glorify you, and the brothers and sisters that we have to run this race together.
Help us never take for granted what it is that we have, that our worship may be an overflow of abundant thanksgiving that you give us in our hearts. I pray, Father God, that you would bless this time of worship, bless this time of giving, bless this time of fellowship in your word, that all of it, Lord, may be given to you in spirit and in truth.
We pray that you would bless this offering, may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for the sake of your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Would you please stand with us as we continue our worship? Come now, Father, every blessing To my heart to sing thy praise Streams of mercy never ceasing Call for songs of loudest praise Teach me some melodious song And sung by flaming tongues above Praise the mountain, fix the pond Bountify redeeming love Here I rest, here I rest my ever-beating Hither by the river by And I know my good pleasure Safely to arrive at last Jesus saw me when a stranger Wandering from the fold of God He to rescue me from danger Interposed his precious blood O to grace, O to grace How great a debtor Daily I'm constrained to be Let thy goodness like a fetter By my wandering heart to lead No to wander, Lord, I fear Him Come to me, the God I love Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it Seal it for thy courts above O that day when free from sin I shall see thy loving face O that day when I'm washed clean I will sing thy sovereign praise I will no longer dare Take my ransom, stole away Send thy angels now to carry Me to Ramzah endless day Come my Lord, no longer dare Take my ransom, stole away Send thy angels now to carry Me to Ramzah endless day I will rest in thy promises My confidence is your faithfulness I will rest in thy promises My confidence is your faithfulness Faithful you are Faithful forever you will be Faithful you are All your promises are yes and amen All your promises are yes and amen He's the Father of kindness Father of kindness You have borne and raised You've poured me out of darkness You have filled me with peace Giver of mercy You're my help inside of me Lord I can't help but sing Faithful you are Faithful forever you will be Faithful you are All your promises are yes and amen All your promises are yes and amen Beautiful Savior Beautiful Savior You have borne and raised You've pulled me from the ashes You have broken every curse You're my Savior, Redeemer You have sent this kind to me Lord I can't help but sing Faithful you are Faithful you are Faithful forever you will be Faithful you are All your promises are yes and amen All your promises are yes and amen Faithful you are Faithful forever you will be Faithful you are Yes you are All your promises are yes and amen All your promises are yes and amen All your promises, all your promises Are yes and amen Thank you Lord All your promises are yes and amen Amen, may we sing it.
Hello church family, my name is Jennifer Lin and I'm a second year student at UC Irvine. Today I have the privilege to share my testimony. I was born and raised in Taiwan for 14 years and I did not hear about the story of Jesus, not until I was a second grader.
One time my mom's friend invited her and my family to her church and that was my first time being exposed to a Christian community. I did not seem to like the community at first because I did not understand why people were so serious and were worshipping this God who they call Abba Father.
I would only go to church for Sunday schools to hear interesting Bible stories and enjoy yummy candies. As I stayed with the church longer I saw something different among the people who are called Christians. They were extremely kind and loving towards others, making me curious and wanting to know who this God is and what makes them this way.
When I was still in Taiwan I feel ashamed when people ask me if I went to church. I think about moving to the United States where Christianity is the main religion excited me. Moving to the US as a freshman in high school I had so much love for this Christ who I did not know really well but was excited to know.
And I was also excited to be a part of a church family. I attended my own church and was convinced that I was a Christian with my shallow knowledge of God and was baptized in December 2015. Right now looking back I do not believe that I was saved. When people ask me I would tell them that I'm Christian but in real life I only attended church occasionally and lived life for myself like the rest of the world.
I did not know who this God really is and did not have a personal relationship with him. All I knew about the gospel was only half true that God loves me and that's all. And I continued to go after the world and put my hope in all temporary worldly desires.
In December 2018 during my senior year of high school I went into a three month period of depression without telling anyone. I lost hope, cried to sleep every day and did not know how to ask for help. One night while I was crying to sleep and at the lowest point thinking about death I hear the voice from above God say to me Jen I love you.
It was a heartwarming and touching experience. That was my first time hearing the voice of God and I prayed to God and surrendered my life to him for help right after. Immediately God opened my heart the next day and I finally shared my thoughts and what I was going through with one of my close friends who also happened to be a Christian.
She encouraged me and prayed for me. This made me hungry and thirst to learn more about Christianity and the love of God. Coming into UCI I was hoping to find a Christian community where I could grow spiritually and learn more about this God. By the grace of God I was introduced to Berean Community Church during my second quarter at UCI.
I saw a group of genuine believers who lived their lives glorifying to God. I was encouraged and rebuked at the same time after learning more about the biblical truth and getting to know this godly individuals and seeing how humble they are recognizing their own weaknesses and sin and repent.
For the very first time I learned the complete version of the gospel. In Romans 5, 8 but God demonstrated his own love towards us. In that while we were yet sinners God Christ died for us. This was also the first time I learned about the importance of devotion and prayer and had started to take these steps for my spiritual growth.
Going into quarantine was a challenge to my still growing faith. I was hopeless about the uncertainty and feel this content not being able to see people in person. Through the bible study on the book of Philippians and first Corinthians I learned that the Lord is the only source of joy, hope and peace.
And everything else in this world is just material and will one day fade away. Through the Holy Spirit my eyes were opened and led me to genuine surrender and repentance. Ever since then my joy and contentment are only found in Christ and Christ alone. And I'm able to recognize the godly wisdom versus the worthy wisdom.
Throughout my life there are so many ups and downs but I know that these are all God's grace. I'm super thankful that God prunes me and reveals my sinfulness and pride through them all to make me come to an understanding of what my life is truly about. He always closes doors and opens even better ones for me.
I once was lost but now I'm found. I once was a slave to sin but it was only through the blood of Christ my sins are forgiven and an eternal life was given. I will still sin in the future but I will not destined grow to be a hobbit.
Instead I will strive to kill sin and pursue a life of holiness. It is no longer who I live but Christ who lives in me. I want to know God more and make him known. Thank you. Alright, thank you Jennifer for your testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to Hebrews chapter 11 verse 35.
And we're going to be reading all the way to verse 40. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 35 all the way to verse 40. Reading out of the NASB. It says, "Women received back their dead by resurrection and others were tortured not accepting their release so that they might obtain a better resurrection.
And others experienced mockings and scourging, yes also chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated. Men of whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
And all these having gained approval through their faith did not receive what was promised because God had provided something better for us so that apart from us they would not be made perfect." Let's pray. Grace Father we pray that your word would speak to us, allow our hearts Lord God to be molded according to your purpose and will.
Lord search us and know us and see if there's any hurtful ways in us. That all that we have we would surrender. And that our hearts Lord God and our mind, our will, will all be molded according to your purpose. In Jesus name we pray, amen. You know, when I first became a Christian, I think most people in my generation was trained how to evangelize through the four spiritual laws.
Some of you guys may know what they are. It was created by a man Bill Bright from CCC. And I actually had an opportunity to meet him years ago at a conference. And so there was a small number of us, maybe about a 30 of us, were able to sit in a room and just pick his brain and it very Godly man.
And I didn't realize that CCC, Campus Crusade for Christ, was actually started at UCLA in 1951. And so we were able to pick his brain and ask him questions. And he was really into praying and fasting at that time. So we were very challenged. Some of you guys who are maybe a little bit older may have been trained in the same way.
This four spiritual law basically begins by saying God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. And then the second part is, but all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. And we've been separated from this. And third, Christ came and died for us to bridge that gap in order that we may have life again.
And then fourth, God requires all men and women to repent and receive this forgiveness. And so those are the four spiritual laws. And again, you know, paraphrased, but in a nutshell, those are the meaning. Again, for many years, I would say for seven, eight years of early life as a Christian, I would go through the four spiritual laws because that's how I was trained.
And I realized after time passing that the first part of that can easily be misunderstood. And I don't think that was the intention of Bill Bright. That his intention was to present the full gospel. But that first part where it says God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, I started to see how some people were twisting that to think that God's ultimate plan for us is for us to prosper.
He wants us to be healthy. He wants us to be wealthy. And so, again, I met the man, and I know that that was not his intention, but I started to see how some people can easily twist how the gospel is presented and say, "Well, God wants me to be happy." God wants it.
There's nothing I can do. And God wants me to be happy. The gospel is a way for me to achieve happiness, and I can't do that unless I repent and I receive Christ. Now, the problem with that type of thinking, one, is completely unbiblical. Because the Bible does not teach that.
In fact, the Bible completely contradicts that. The text that we're looking at, up to verse 35, he's been given examples of men and women of faith, how sometimes, even in their great suffering and sacrifice, God used that to lift them up and to glorify and to save Israel and to do many great things for God.
But then we get to the second part of chapter 30, verse 35, and he just simply says, you know, "Women received back their dead by the resurrection, and others," you know, no big hoopla, he doesn't even say "but," he just says, "and others were tortured, not accepting their release, so that they might obtain a better resurrection." And then he goes down a list of all these things that these people experienced, and they never experienced this abundant life.
They were tortured, they lived homeless, they were mocked, they starved, and some of them just died that way. So it doesn't fit this narrative that God's ultimate purpose is so that we can have a wonderful life, not in the way that many people experience or think that they are.
You've probably heard of the health and wealth gospel preachers. Joel Osteen, probably in our generation, is on the top of that list. And I don't know for whatever the reason that some churches are afraid to call false teachers out, because that's part of our job, right? It's part of our job to recognize that when false teaching and false teachers begin to propagate things that are unbiblical, it's not just difference of opinion.
They are actually going against what the Bible teaches. And it prevents certain people from coming to Christ. Joel Osteen, on the top of that list, wrote a book called "Best Life Now," and this is what he says. "God didn't make you to be average. God created you to excel.
Therefore, if you will start acting like it, talking like it, seeing yourself as more than a conqueror, you will live a prosperous and victorious life." Obviously, what he means by prosperous is being very wealthy. Benny Hinn is another man who is very well-known and had decades of ministry teaching the same false gospel.
And this is what he is quoting and saying. "God will begin to prosper you, for money always follows righteousness." Clearly, he never read the Bible. Clearly, he never read the Bible. Jesus says, when people were coming to Him, "I want to follow you," He said, "birds of the fox have holes, birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head." In other words, I'm homeless.
If you follow me, you're also going to be homeless. So He warned them to make sure that you know what you're getting into. All the disciples, they didn't live a better life, they didn't get a better job. Most of them, with the exception of one, were martyred because they believed in Jesus Christ.
We have countless number of people, because of their faith, have ruined their lives. Apostle Paul, a perfect example of one, who has pretty much achieved what every Jew would have wanted in education and in wealth and position, and even religiously, and yet he ruined all of that because he met Christ.
I remember years ago, there was a man named Fred Price. Most of you guys who are younger will probably not remember him, but he was a famous preacher in LA. His church bought the Coliseum, some of you guys who remember the Coliseum, and it could fit probably about 50,000 to 60,000 people.
It was one of the largest churches in this area, probably in the United States. Excellent preacher. Not knowing who he was, early Sunday morning, before I went to church, I wanted to hear a sermon, and I had him on. One of the sermons he had, people stand up. He said, "Anybody who's on welfare, stand up." So he had a bunch of people, not knowing what he was doing, just starting to stand up.
"Anybody who's not getting minimum wage, stand up. Anybody who doesn't get paid this much, stand up." Then after they stood up, he began to rebuke them. This is on national television. He said, "The reason why you're on welfare is because you don't have enough faith. The reason why you don't have a house is because you don't have enough faith.
The reason why you don't drive a certain type of car is because you lack faith." Then he began to expound upon his wealth. How he has so many Rolls Royces, and how he has so many houses, what kind of clothes he wears, and how much his shoes cost. All of that on national television, and you can see the demeanor of these people who stood up, just kind of shriveling in shame.
I remember watching that, being so disgusted that this man was publicly shaming these people simply because they weren't making money. Sad to say, even though we may be disgusted by what he says, this health and wealth gospel has so deeply been embedded into our psyche. We practice it without even recognizing that that's what we're doing.
Even in biblical Bible teaching churches, even like ours. I remember years ago at a conference, John Piper came to speak, and he was the keynote speaker. He got up on the pulpit and he said, "You know, I had this message prepared, but I really felt convicted to preach a completely different sermon." Then he began to preach about suffering as a Christian.
The whole sermon was based upon how God ordained suffering for the sake of His glory. It was a great message. I always wondered why he decided to change the message. I found out later on what the reason was, which I'm not going to get into this morning. I remember at that conference, there were about 27 Russian pastors who used to pastor in the old communist regime.
They were coming in and out of prison, so they invited them to come pay for their airfare, got them to stay. They happened to be in the room when he was preaching that. After John Piper finished, they asked the leader of that group to come up and give his testimony.
I remember that Russian pastor stood up, and the first thing that he said was, "I want to thank John Piper for preaching that sermon, because I never thought that I would hear a sermon in America to American pastors about suffering." It was, in one sense, thanking him for the sermon, but at the same time, backslapping everybody else.
He said, "We never thought that this would ever be taught in an American church." The author of the letter, remember why he's writing this letter. He's writing this letter because the persecution in the church wouldn't let up. Remember, in the beginning, they were rejoicing in their property being confiscated.
When their friends were being arrested, they went and visited them, and they were rejoicing. "We're suffering for Christ," and they were willing to put up with that for a short period, but it wouldn't let up. Ten years passed, 20 years passed, 30 years passed. By the time this letter is written, they're in their second, possibly even third generation Christians, and they're beginning to drift back into their old line.
Backsliding usually doesn't happen overnight. You don't wake up one morning and say, "You know what? It's too hard following Christ, so I'm just going to go and make money." You don't do that. Usually, backsliding happens because you compromise. God calls you to do something, and you say, "What if I do this?" God didn't call everybody.
"What if I do this?" You start to make small compromises, and you begin to see your heart starting to harden up. In your mind, you've never abandoned your faith. You've just made a series of compromises that cause you to drift further and further away from God. Physically, you're still at church.
You're still at Bible study. But you know deep in your heart, you have a limit to how far you will go in following Christ. So the Christianity that we've created is a Christianity that doesn't look like the Scripture. The Christianity that we've created is a breaking of the second commandment of the Ten Commandments, where he says, "Thou shalt not worship any other god," and the second commandment is, "Thou shalt not make any grave images of me and worship me." In other words, don't make up a god that is more palatable to you and worship that, and say, "You're worshiping me." Backsliding typically happens gradually because we avoid suffering at every end.
"If I do this, I might lose my job. If I do this, my friends are going to be happy. If I do this, I might not be able to get this. If I do this, I might not be able to get that house." And so after a series of compromises, we have created a Jesus that doesn't look anything like the Scripture.
So he's writing this letter to challenge them that Christ is better than anything that you are backsliding into. That Christ is better than that. Do you recognize who Jesus is? He's better than the angel. He's better than Moses. He's better than the sacrifices. He's better than the priests. He's better than the temple.
He has a better covenant. So the whole thing that we've been talking about in the whole book of Hebrews is, "He is better." Do you believe that? So if that is the priest, if he's writing this letter to a group of people who are having a hard time with suffering, you would think that he would leave this out because this would be completely discouraging.
Right? Leave it at the first 35. Women receive back their dead by resurrection. All these great things happen because they believe God. But then he says, "But others, they're tortured." Some of them died, experienced mocking, scourging, chains, imprisonment, sawn in two, tempted, experienced death, sheepskins, goatskin, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, wandering deserts, mountains and caves and holes in the ground.
And it doesn't end with, "They did all of that, but God lifted them up, and so therefore they experienced greatness and then they died." No, they just died. I mean, if your goal is to write this letter to encourage people who are suffering to continue and persevere, you would think that he would say, "Relief is coming." For a short time you're experiencing this, but after that you're going to experience glory.
Just put in a year, put in two years. And if you continue, good things are coming. He doesn't say that. Some experience this, some experience this. The heroes of the faith that he talks about, some experience their children being resurrected, and some voluntarily give their life. And he says the reason why is because they wanted a better resurrection.
Because they believed that the payoff wasn't here. They were willing to even give their life, because they knew that the hope that they had wasn't here. It was after, and that's why they were able to persevere. You know, I was at a conference not that long ago, and when our church was struggling and we were small, we had like 30, 35 people for many years.
We did a podcast describing our church in the beginning, because it wasn't a normal church plan. We just got thrown out, and we just tried to survive. And I just had a kid, and another kid, and another kid, eventually another kid. We had many kids. And in the midst of what we were doing in ministry, we were just trying to survive.
And no one asked me about ministry advice back then. In fact, everybody was giving me ministry advice. They said, "Oh, you should go to that church. You should go to this conference. Oh, if you talk to that pastor. Oh, if you were discipled by this pastor, maybe your church would do better." But as soon as our church started growing to a certain number, you know, 300, 400, and then they said, "Oh, what are you doing over there?
How do you do your Bible study? What is your teaching like?" And all of a sudden, they want to know. So I remember I was at a conference, and I was asked that question. And, you know, we had smart men. There's like three or four other churches that are larger in size, and so they asked us to give a presentation about our church, our ministry philosophy, what we're doing.
And each one of them were going around, and smart guys, articulate, you know, talented, gifted. And I was blown away. You know, I felt like I don't belong here. I don't even understand some of the words that they're using, you know. And it came to my turn. "So, Peter, what happened at your church?" And I told them the story that we told you in the podcast.
Like, I didn't want to be a pastor. I just felt bad for the kids, and I just held on for dear life. Right? And that's how we got here. And I remember, it's like, "Huh." It was nothing useful that I said. Other than I just didn't quit. Right? And I remember after I said that, the pastor was presiding to kind of wrap things up, and he said, "Who knows?
If you did what Peter did, maybe your church would be the next Berean." And I remember I ended up by saying, "Or not." It was awkward. It was very awkward. Right? It was clear I didn't belong there. Right? Because the point that I was trying to make was that it wasn't ingenuity.
It wasn't anything. Because we're not doing anything different than we did the first seven years, and the next seven years that caused it to grow. But our natural tendency is to think that if we do certain things right, good things are going to come. And good things is like bigger church, better finances, better homes, healthier, wealthier, and long life.
And then when that doesn't happen, we deconstruct. What did we do wrong? What should we do better? What's our plan? And then we're constantly deconstructing and reconstructing because of what? Because we have what we think God wants. Better life, healthier life, longer life, better bank account, right? Our children are safe, better taken care of, better education.
And so we have the same standard that the world has, we just brought it into our Christian life. And we don't normally filter that out. We just kind of, you know, because it has that Christian name on it, we don't recognize that as the health and well. It's so deeply embedded in us.
This passage completely obliterates those thoughts. It says that some were sawn in two. Now it doesn't mention any names. None of this has any names because prior to that it was mentioning Abraham and Moses and Joseph and Jacob and all these great men and women who by faith did these great things.
But then he says, but the others who were tortured and killed and, you know, and they were imprisoned and chained, wandering in deserts, none of their names are mentioned. I think the reason why none of the names are mentioned is because there's too many. Because we have a tendency, like when you read missionary books, you usually read a book about an individual who went and bore ridiculous fruit.
Whether it's in China or India, wherever it is, and then we put them on a pedestal and we read about them. I want to be like Hudson Taylor. I want to be like William Carey. I'm going to be the next Billy Graham. I'm going to be the next John something.
And so we put them on pedestals. We know a lot about very few people. Majority of the people that have gone before us, for every one person that's been highlighted, there's probably hundreds of thousands of people who just labored, couldn't pay their bills, just barely surviving, constantly tempted to quit, and just making it.
And it is God using those people to continue to establish his kingdom. We didn't get here by the Billy Grahams of the world. We got here by the grace of God. There were some Billy Grahams. There were some William Careys. There were some Hudson Taylors. But majority of the people that is described in verse 35 to 38 are never mentioned.
In fact, for every one Moses, you're going to see hundreds of other people that God used, that you never heard of, but they're in Scripture. Hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of people that have walked out into desert and never bore fruit. Church planters who suffered for years and just closed up.
Missionaries who've gone to places and never saw a single convert. I don't know how many pastors that I know dedicated their lives and in retirement didn't have a single penny in their name. No house, no retirement, no car, nothing. And they were dependent on other people just to make the end part.
I have missionary friends who've been out in the field for 20, 25 years, come back, and they say they feel like beggars because they have nothing in their name. I know countless number of missionaries who've lost their children in their faith. They've dedicated everything to follow Christ and went out to foreign land, and their children got caught up in something, and they walked away from their faith.
For every one Moses' and William Careys' and Amy Carmichael's, these people that we write about and put on pedestals, many of them experienced verse 35 to 38. He says some were sawn in two. We don't know. When you think of Isaiah, Isaiah is probably the most quoted Old Testament prophet in the New Testament.
Isaiah, according to Jewish tradition, was martyred for his faith. Manasseh, King Manasseh was one of the worst kings that Israel had, and he just got sick and tired of Israel, of Isaiah, constantly telling them, "You need to turn from your sins, or judgment is coming." He got so sick and tired of him, according to Jewish tradition, he was sawn in two.
The true prophets who were speaking and trying to turn Israel from their sins, they were the ones who were stoned. The false prophets kept on coming and saying, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. The reason why the false prophets were popular is because that's what everybody was looking for, peace.
You know what peace, the modern day translation for peace is? Health, wealth, and safety. And that's what the false teachers were propagating, "Peace, peace," when there is no peace. Jeremiah, here's a man who lived a miserable life. He's known as the weeping prophet. He wrote a book called Lamentations, because the whole book is about lamenting.
In verse 37b, it says, "They went about in sheepskins, goatskins, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated, men whom the world was not worthy, wandering in deserts, mountains, and caves, holes in the ground." Now, any prophet probably can recognize that maybe this is their life as well, but Jeremiah exemplifies this. I mean, he lived such a miserable life, because God was using him to warn the nation of Israel.
And everywhere he went to speak, they hated his guts. God had him do such weird things, just wandering in the desert and walking around, you know, in places where he's going to be harmed all his life, just weeping. Not simply because of what was happening to him externally, but internally, he was saddened by what was coming, pleading with Israel to turn, and they would not turn.
You know, when I think about my life, there are four periods that, you know, like watershed moments that I can pinpoint and say that completely changed my life. First is coming to America, obviously, and I didn't choose that, right? That happened to me, because my parents chose to come to the United States, and that's the reason why I don't speak Korean here, I'm speaking English, right?
The culture where we grew up, all that changed because my parents decided to come to the United States. So that was a watershed moment for me at that time. Secondly, which is probably the most important out of all of them, was when I became a Christian. 1983, December 26, 1130 p.m.
I remember very distinctly when it happened. And it was almost like being there for your birth, right? Physical birth, that would be gross, but that's what it felt like. And spiritually, I knew when it happened, like, my life would never be the same. So that happened. So that was the second, and that changed everything for me.
The third thing that happened was when I decided to go into ministry, full-time ministry. The reason why that was a watershed moment, it wasn't because I was choosing between, "Am I going to serve God or not serve God?" I don't know how any Christian chooses, "I'm not going to serve God," right?
"I'm a Christian, but I'm just going to do whatever I want," right? You're not a Christian. How can somebody who believes what we confess to be, whether you are an attorney or a business or whatever it is that you're doing, live your life saying, "You know what? I'm just going to live my life, and some people are going to go to hell, some people are going to go to heaven.
I'm just going to live my life." That makes no sense to me. So it wasn't a decision between, "Am I going to serve God or not serve God?" But specifically, I'm going to full-time ministry. And the reason why that was a difficult decision is because I'm a third-generation pastor.
I saw the misery that my parents went through. And children who are in that family. And then my dad came from a pastor's family, and the misery that he experienced as a result of that. I remember during the war, the Korean War, because my grandfather was a pastor, he had to hide because the communists were coming, so he was basically gone.
And my dad had to take care of his family when he was 16 years old, selling medicine, because his dad was a pastor. And when I was wrestling with this idea, I don't want to-- I'll do anything. I'll be a businessman. I'll go to missions. I'll do anything. Anything but a pastor.
I don't want to do what my dad did. And then I had to surrender. I said, "Okay." What else am I going to-- I want to preach the gospel, but if I make a lot of money, I'm concerned that I'm going to be tempted, so I'm going to go down this path.
But the fourth and final thing-- I don't know what else is coming ahead, but the fourth and final thing was in the context of this church. After five, six, seven years of struggling in the church and not wanting to-- I was literally just dragging my feet, and the only reason why I did what I did is because I felt like the kids that were there-- they're not kids anymore, obviously, but kids weren't going to make it.
So out of guilt. It wasn't out of great faith or this vision. What was your vision? I had no vision. I'm just being honest. I had no vision for this church. It was out of guilt. I can't leave them because if I leave them, I'm going to abandon my kids.
They were like kids to me. My own kids. But I remember wrestling with this idea. I came into ministry thinking, "Okay, I'm going to do great things for God. I'm going to preach the gospel. I'm going to plant churches. I'm going to go out to missions. And even if I die early, that's a good way to live and die." And I remember thinking, reading about Jim Elliot, how he prayed that he doesn't have a long life but a meaningful life, even if it's short, and that's exactly how he went out.
And I remember thinking that. It's like, "Yeah, that's what I want to do." I want to do hard things for God, and if I die early, that's a good way to live your life. But then the last part of it, I had to wrestle with, "What if God called you to be Jeremiah?" Because Jeremiah just lived a long life, just miserable, preaching to people who didn't want to hear.
Never saw revival. Never really saw fruit. Everybody that he cared about, that he was preaching to, hated him. I mean, he's the weeping prophet. And I remember really wrestling with that. And as I was digging through Scripture, and I was like, "Wow, there's more Jeremias in the Bible than there are Pauls." Who am I to come before God and say, "I'm going to hear my Lord, send me there." And then God said, "Well, go to the Israelites who are stiff-necked, and they're not going to listen to you.
How long until you die? Because they're not going to turn. Will you still go?" And I couldn't answer that question. I'll go to China, North Korea. And I remember during that period, I wanted to do the craziest things because there was some sense of glory in that. So I used to do a lot of public preaching.
Go out on the streets, and I would see the end of the parade, and I would be the last person at the parade, and I would preach the gospel. And I remember this one thing. In Cal State LA, they were having the anti-war rally because of the first war in the Gulf.
And there were hundreds of people over there who probably didn't want to go to class. And they were out there as anti-war chants, and they had a mic set up. And we just happened to be witnessing there in LA, and I thought, "Maybe this is a good place." So I just kind of took about 40 minutes to gear up enough courage.
And at the end, when we were about to leave, I said, "Give me a minute." I said, "Oh, shoot. What's he going to do?" So I stood up, and I got the mic, and I started preaching. And they didn't know what I was preaching, obviously, until I said the name Jesus.
And if you ever want to know what it feels like to have 300 people flip them off all at once, I'll explain it to you what that felt like. And it was not fun, but afterwards, there was a sense of glory in that, like, "Oh, I did something hard for Jesus." I did something hard for Jesus.
I was willing to do all of that, even if it meant living in poverty, even if it meant having homeless people in my house. I was willing to do all of that. But I did not want to live the life that my dad lived, struggling in a small church, taking care, having a hard time paying his bills, always worried about what the church people are going to think if he did this, and if he bought this car, what are they going to think, that we spent too much money on this, we can't buy this house, we can't take a vacation because we can't do this.
I don't want to do that. But what if God called you to do that? And I couldn't say yes. I said yes to everything else, even homeless ministry. My wife experienced having homeless people in my house. I said yes to that. But I couldn't say yes to pastoring a church.
Because I didn't want to repeat what I saw. But the question that was brought to me was clear. Are you going to come before God and say, "Here, my Lord, send me over here to these people at this time so I can do this," or are you just going to say, "Here, my Lord, send me," even if it's to this?
Man, that broke me. More than the initial time when I decided to go into ministry. More than when I became a Christian, because when I became a Christian, it was just good. God loves me? God created the universe, loves me, and He died for me? It was all good.
Nothing that I had, nothing that I sacrificed at that time seemed worth holding on to. But the fourth watershed in my life was what really broke me. And I realized that even in the way that I wanted to do ministry, I had my own plans. I had my own desires.
I had my own glory in mind. What if God calls you to serve people who don't want to be served all your life? Will you still say yes? Apostle Paul, when he was called, here's a guy who had everything, money, already famed, religiously on the top of the ladder, meets Christ and his life is ruined.
Literally, his life is ruined. When he meets Christ, Jesus says from the get-go, "I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." He didn't say he's going to glorify me and all that stuff. He said, "No, I'm going to show him how much he must suffer for my name." When he's writing 2 Corinthians, he's writing to a group of people who are questioning his apostleship.
Because he was not the greatest speaker. Apollos was the great speaker. Peter was the great leader. Paul was the latecomer. And they were questioning him because they didn't like what he was saying, so they were kind of disqualifying him, saying he's not a true apostle. But Apostle Paul, in defense, and he is defending himself because people are questioning him.
I think naturally he just was not the best speaker. In fact, the book of Acts says that he was in the habit of preaching so long, people actually died. That's what it said. He was in the habit of preaching on and on, and somebody fell off and died, and so he had to resurrect that guy.
That's how bad of a preacher he was. He didn't know when to stop. But he, in defense, this is what he says in 2 Corinthians 11, 24. "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked.
A night and a day I spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys and dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from countrymen, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers in the sea, dangers among the false brethren. I have been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure." And so his credential is not his upbringing.
His credential is not the many churches that he planted. His credential wasn't his knowledge. His credential was his suffering. He said, "You question my apostasy, look at my suffering." But along with that, verse 28, "Apart from such external things, there is a daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches." I mean, it's hard enough, the external things, the stoning and the hardship and persecution and the whipping that he got.
But he says on top of that, there's this internal pressure because he's concerned for the churches, for the people. As he's sitting in prison, he's concerned for the Philippians. As he's waiting to die in 2 Timothy, he's writing to his protege. Because he's concerned that even as he is facing death, he sees this internal pressure.
Who is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern? This is a man who understood that he was called to suffer, just like Jesus said. He wasn't just called so that he can stand in a pulpit and hear the Savior, the Lord, and there's where Jesus is.
It's like, no, he did that in the midst of much suffering. This flies in the face of all the people that I quoted in the beginning of the sermon. We hear so many times about how Christianity is flourishing all over the world. I've traveled enough and talked to enough people out in the field to know that the number of Christians have been so bloated.
I remember talking to a pastor in an underground church in China, and I've heard numbers as big as 350 million Christians. And I asked him, "Is that true?" And he said, "Not even close." He said, "Most of the numbers that you're hearing about are people who are coming to faith because of the health and wealth gospel." Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, all false teachers, because they promise that if you believe in Jesus, that you can have the wealth that these missionaries have.
So they want to be like Americans, that if you believe Jesus, and Jesus is their ticket to get wealth, a lot of the people who are coming to faith are coming for that reason. It's not the true gospel, it's the health and wealth gospel that's spreading all over the world.
Jesus clearly said that the path to life is narrow, and it is difficult, and few will be found in it. He says all of this and reminds us again in 1 Peter 4.12, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you." You shouldn't be surprised because Jesus told us, the Bible made it very plain to us.
There are examples that are given to us in the scripture, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange things were happening to you. You notice how whenever hardship comes, we think, "What did we do wrong?" If a church is planted and it doesn't bear fruit, it doesn't grow, what did we do wrong?
If people begin to leave because you're preaching the gospel, what did we do wrong? If we started having relational issues and sinners don't appreciate what you're doing, what did we do wrong? We planted a church and we're trying to share the gospel and nobody's interested, and what did we do wrong?
We have a tendency to kind of deconstruct everything that we think isn't meeting our standard, and so we need to reconstruct constantly, deconstructing, reconstructing, deconstructing, reconstructing, in order to get what? What the world has taught us, what success is. When all He told us to do is to be faithful, do not turn from the word to the left or to the right.
In season and out of season, whether they listen or don't listen, whether you bear fruit or don't bear fruit, whether the church grows or doesn't grow, in season and out of season, I only give you one thing. Preach the word in season and out of season. Sometimes the children are resurrected, sometimes they are not.
Sometimes you will experience well, sometimes you will not. Sometimes people will thank you and praise you, and sometimes you will not. God uses that all for His glory. Would you still follow Christ? If following Christ meant you can't get into the school that you want, if you have to forfeit your career, would you still follow Christ?
If you can't get the house that you want, would you still follow Christ? If your children are not safe, and given the best that you want to give them, would you still follow Christ? Are there conditions upon following Christ? You see, the problem with the health and wealth gospel is, we don't break the first commandment.
The first commandment is thou shalt not worship any other god. But the second commandment is thou shalt not make grave an image of me and worship it. In other words, don't create an idol, and then attach my name on it, and then worship it, thinking that you're worshipping me.
When we deconstruct everything, that doesn't get us to a better life. We've created a Jesus that's not in the scripture. If the only Christian faith that we have embraced always leads to a better, comfortable life, then that Jesus is not the Jesus of the Bible. See, verses 35 through 38 completely blows that out of the water.
You know, the health and wealth gospel, people, verse Jeremiah 29, 11, is a verse that they love. It says, "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare, not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope." The way that the health and wealth gospel people see this is, and sometimes we even use it to encourage other people, that though it's hard now, if you endure a little bit, better things are coming tomorrow.
Like tomorrow. Put in your time and discipline and sacrifice now, then better things will come tomorrow. Now, is that anything different than the world? I go to the gym, I wake up 5 in the morning, and I outwork everybody else. This is why I got a million dollars, because I put in the hard work early.
And I suffered. And I did what other people are not willing to do, and that's why I was successful. And the health and wealth gospel people use this verse to basically perpetuate the same thing, same wisdom that the world is giving. Put in your time now, sacrifice now, discipline now, then when you're 30, when you're 40, you're going to be wealthy, healthy.
When he says, "God has a wonderful plan for your life," clearly, the wonderful plan isn't health and wealth. The wonderful plan he's talking about is that though some died and experienced resurrection, the others voluntarily gave their life and were tortured for what purpose? For a better resurrection. The wonderful plan that the Bible talks about is an eternity when Christ comes.
When Christ comes. And if we miss that, you didn't just miss a part of Christianity. If you miss that, you didn't miss, you know, you weren't a B+ student as a Christian, but you weren't A. If you miss that, you missed Christianity, period. The Christianity that we practice, the health and wealth gospel mentality, is no different than the Buddhists going to the temple.
You ever go to, you know, the Asian countries, and the ancient ruins are all Buddhist temples? You wonder why they went through so much trouble to build statues of Buddha and temples in just weird places up in mountains? You know, this is a thousand Buddha mountain. This is a hundred feet Buddha mountain.
This is mountain Buddha. This is river Buddha. I mean, I remember the first time visiting China, and we must have gone to about a hundred Buddha something. I said, "Why was this so important?" Because that was their avenue to get health and wealth. That was their way of getting a better life.
If we're not careful, Christians can do the same thing by becoming a member in the church, by being faithful and serving and giving. That I'm going to trade in something because I'm expecting something bigger. And then when that doesn't happen, God's not real. You're right. That God is not real.
The God that many of those people turn away from was never real because he never promised that. That is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible tells us in Hebrews 11, 39 to 40, "And all these having gained approval through their faith," not through their hard work, not through their sacrifice, but sacrifices came because of their faith, did not receive what was promised because God had provided something better for us so that apart from us, they would not be made perfect.
2 Corinthians 4, 17, "For momentary light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison." Do you believe that? Even in our suffering, it is producing in us a glory that you cannot possibly imagine that can be fulfilled here. It's far beyond that when his glory comes.
Why did some people experience this great deliverance and why did some people just die in their difficult state? The answer is simple. It may be difficult to understand, but the answer is simple because in Isaiah 42, verse 8, it says, "I am the Lord, that is my name. I would not give my glory to another, nor my praise to given images." God says over and over again, he says, "For my name's sake, for my glory," over and over again, "for my glory." So the answer is simple.
Why did Joseph go through that and then experience, why did he experience what he experienced? He says, "For my glory." Why did Isaiah live his life and then was sown in two? "For my glory." Why was Moses lifted up and experienced all of that? "For his glory." Why did Jeremiah live in misery?
"For his glory." His glory in our comfort, his glory in our suffering, his glory in long life, his glory in life cut short, his glory in living in peace, and it is for his glory that we live a life of turmoil. It is his glory when we are financially wealthy, and it is his glory when we are struggling financially.
All things, good and bad, it says, ultimately for his glory. I know what a non-believer will say when I say this. That's checked up. He's playing with us. So he's toying with us and letting some people suffer, and some people do this and that, and he's a jerk. Some people will say that because they don't believe, because they do not see, because they only see this life.
And if this life is all that matters, they're absolutely right, because it didn't pay off. Some people are suffering, and some people are doing fine. He's unfair, the end. But you have to understand, the Bible says that you and I have been created to be his image bearers. That's our whole purpose of why we exist, is so that we may reflect his glory.
So salvation is for the purpose of restoring us so that we may live according to how he created us. Now, keep that in mind. Now, why is that beneficial to us? Because we live when he is glorified. Let me say that again. We live, we experience the greatest life when he is magnified the most.
Imagine if LeBron James, I know some of you guys are not a fan of LeBron James, Steph Curry, whoever you want to say. If LeBron James came on the court and he started to interview everybody, "How can I make all of you happy?" Just make a list, and then he started reading all of that.
Okay, so I'm going to design my game to make everybody happy. First of all, that's impossible. Because 30,000 people are going to have different ideas, right? Pass more, shoot more, sit down, sit up. Right? And I remember the criticism of LeBron James, like, "Man, that guy, he doesn't, you know, he passes too much.
He's not clutch. He should take the shot." And when he takes the shot, he's like, "Dude, he doesn't pass. All he wants is his own glory." There's nothing he can do to satisfy anybody, everybody to begin with. But the best way to make the most number of people happy is to play the best game that he's able to play.
When he is glorified on the court, everybody, everybody experiences euphoria. It brings people together. We experience koinonia, high-fiving. And you talk about that for years. Remember? Remember when you were there when he did this? Remember when Kobe shot 81 points? Right? Remember when he did that? What did he do other than glorify himself?
So selfish. So egocentric. But why did we experience this life? Because Kobe glorified himself. Because you and I were created for worship. So when God is glorified, we experience the best life. So salvation is to restore us so that our eyes may be opened to see this glory. And for eternity, we're going to be seeing his glory in a greater and more magnificent way.
So we're going to be experiencing this life. So this momentary suffering, this momentary, this blip of a life, this mist of a life, that whether you live comfortably, whether you live uncomfortably, whether you are rich or whether you are poor, all this is producing in us eternal glory that we may have in his presence.
That's why sometimes some people are called and they live in North Korea. And some of us live in America. There's a kind of glory that God can receive only when rich people are giving. There's a kind of glory that God gets when we are suffering. There's a kind of glory that God gets when we live a long life living for Christ.
And there's a type of glory that God gets when our life is cut short. Because when he is glorified, what happens? The world ceases. The world ceases. Because what God is interested in is an eternity. That more and more people may see his glory and come to him. So sometimes God will use our suffering for that purpose.
Let me read the final passage, and I know it's a little bit long. This is the verse that I know Elder James used to quote when he was younger all the time. And I don't know his suffering inside, but this was one of his favorite verses. Habakkuk is written during a period when Israel--it's kind of like Isaiah.
He's preaching to people who don't want to hear it. He's wondering, "God, why are you allowing the unjust to punish the just?" And at the end conclusion of his grumbling before God, he says this, "Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exalt in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." In the end, it's not about the vines being plenty and revival and all that.
In the end, it's do you believe this God? Do you believe this God? I'm going to ask the praise team to come. And for this part, as they're preparing, they're going to be showing a video with a worship song. And so what I would like you to do--I think the lyrics on this song kind of summarizes what God is trying to say and what this passage is teaching us.
And so if you can just follow along. The lyrics are here. Just follow along. And then afterwards, they'll lead us in our final closing praise. Okay. We pray for blessings. We pray for peace. Comfort for family. Protection while we sleep. We pray for healing. For prosperity. We pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
All the while you hear each spoken need. Yet love is way too much to give us lesser things. 'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near? What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, your voice to hear. We cry in anger when we cannot feel you near. We doubt your goodness. We doubt your love. As if every promise from your word is not enough. All the while you hear each desperate plea. Long that we'd have faith to believe.
'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near? What if trials of this life are your mercies in disguise? When friends betray us, when darkness seems to win, we know the pain reminds this heart that this is not, this is not our home.
It's not our home. 'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? And what if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near? What if my greatest disappointments or the aching of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy?
And what if trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest nights, are your mercies in disguise? Okay, we're gonna close our time with a praise song. Can you all please stand again? We're gonna sing the hymn "A Mighty Fortress is Our God." And this is an old hymn penned by Martin Luther in the 1500s.
And it's a song that God's used to really serve the church and his people for 500 years now. And it's been said that many people, many Christians who were persecuted, in exile, or on their way to death, this was the song that they were singing. So I just want to go through real quickly, let's do two verses.
Verse one, it says, "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. Our helper, he admits the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe that seeth to work us woe. His craft and power are great and armed with cruel fate. On earth is not his equal." Verse two, "Did we in our own strength confide our striving would be losing.
We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Thus ask who that may be, Christ Jesus it is he. The Lord upholds his name from age to age the same, and he must win the battle." And there's a part of the song that goes to the bridge.
This is not the original lyrics by Martin Luther, but a modern hymn writer wrote this. "A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing, the king of glory forever. For endless ages enthroned in praises, the king of glory forever, amen." So this hymn, it's a paraphrase of Psalm 46. And as we sing the song, I hope that you pay attention to the lyrics, and it would provide much encouragement for us as well.
A mighty fortress is our God, the boulder and the hail. Our helper he amates the flood of mortal hairs prevail. For still our ancient foe, with sin to work us woe, His craft and power are great, and God with good ordain. On earth is not his end. Deadly and heartless, our striving will be raised.
We're not the right men on our side, the men of God's own choosing. Ask who that may be, 'cause Jesus, it is he. The Lord of hosts is name, from age to age the same. And he must reign above. And though this world with devil's fill should threaten to undo, We will not fear, for God has brought his children triumph through.
In the face of darkness' strain, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little worshiping. A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing, the King of glory forever, amen. For endless ages, in throngs and places, the King of glory forever, amen. The Lord above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abide.
The Spirit and the gifts arise through him who weighed the side. Kids and kindred go, peace for all life, all soul. The body they may kill, brought truth about instead. His kingdom is for all, forever and ever. A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing, the King of glory forever, amen.
For endless ages, in throngs and places, the King of glory forever, amen. A mighty fortress, a rock unfailing, the King of glory forever, amen. For endless ages, in throngs and places, the King of glory forever, forever, amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we pray for continued guidance. I pray that the Holy Spirit would speak to us and guide us, Lord God, that our eyes may be opened, that we would not live for temporary things, that we would live, Lord God, for those that are eternal.
I pray that your word that you've implanted in us would bear fruit. I pray, Father God, that your word, as you promised, would go forth, would not return until it has accomplished the purpose that you have ordained it. So whether we eat or drink, help us, Lord God, this week to truly do it for your glory.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God sent his Son, and called him Jesus. He came to love, heal, and forgive, live and die. To buy my heart and an empty grave, he's there to give his Savior live. Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, all fear is gone.
Because I know he holds the future, and life is worth the living just because he lives. Amen. All right, again, if I can ask this side of the room to go this way, and then this side to go that way.