(soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) (soft music) - All right, good morning church family.
Happy Lord's Day. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas, celebrating the birth and the gift that that is our savior, Jesus Christ. And as this year comes to a close, let us worship our God for his unending faithfulness to us and his sufficient grace. I'm sure that this year, we've all experienced some form of hardship, of loss, of suffering.
Yet our hope remains that even in the darkest of storms, our God is faithful and that he strengthens and protects us from the evil one as it's promised to us in 2 Thessalonians 3, 3. So this morning, would you join us to worship and to sing joyfully to our God, great is thy faithfulness.
(soft music) (soft music) ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ O God my Father ♪ ♪ There is no shadow of turning with thee ♪ ♪ Thou changest not ♪ ♪ Thy compassions they fail not ♪ ♪ As thou hast been ♪ ♪ Thou forever will be ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning ♪ ♪ New mercies I see ♪ ♪ All I have needed ♪ ♪ Thy hand hath provided ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord unto me ♪ - Summer and winter.
♪ Summer and winter ♪ ♪ Springtime and harvest ♪ ♪ Sun, moon and stars ♪ ♪ And then courses above ♪ ♪ Joined with all nature ♪ ♪ In manifold witness ♪ ♪ To thy great faithfulness ♪ ♪ Mercy and love ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning ♪ ♪ New mercies I see ♪ ♪ All I have needed ♪ ♪ Thy hand hath provided ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord unto me ♪ ♪ Pardon for sin and ♪ ♪ Peace that endureth ♪ ♪ Thine own dear presence ♪ ♪ To cheer and to guide ♪ ♪ Strength for today ♪ ♪ And bright hope for tomorrow ♪ ♪ Blessings of love ♪ ♪ With 10,000 be sound ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Morning by morning ♪ ♪ New mercies I see ♪ ♪ All I have needed ♪ ♪ Thy hand hath provided ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Great is thy faithfulness ♪ ♪ Lord unto me ♪ - Good morning, everybody.
I wanna welcome you to this morning's service. We do have a good number of announcements and important announcements at that. The first is what we have been preparing for and announcing is gonna go into effect next week. So please make sure you keep in mind the scheduled times for our three services.
It's going to be 8 a.m., 9.30, and 11.30 a.m. Please also make sure, just as it is the first week, we typically try and come to prepare our hearts by praying for about 10 minutes or so prior to the service. So keep that in mind and then come ready to worship.
As a reminder, our Children's Ministry Seeds and then Sprouts K through 2nd will be 9.30 and then all the grades for Education Department will be available at the 11.30 service, okay? With that said, today is going to be a full day. The church essentially will be kind of open throughout the entirety of the day.
There is gonna be a ping pong tournament and you are allowed to come and spectate and watch as well. And then our service in the evening will be 11 p.m. sharp. So please make sure to come ready. We'll be worshiping, hearing Pastor Peter Kim deliver the word from the scripture, and we'll also watch an end-of-the-year video.
It's a special video that the media team is preparing. So please make sure to all attend that. The other announcement is for our membership class which is starting soon on January 14th. If you are newer to the church and you wanna become a member, please sign up for this class.
It's eight weeks long covering the foundations of the Christian faith, but also covering the core doctrines that build this church and why we do ministry the way we do. You can sign up for that by visiting our website. You can even visit the welcome booth. Our welcome members will be able to just direct you to sign up for that link.
And then for all the members, we have a mandatory meeting Sunday afternoon on January 14th. If you aren't able to participate, there is going to be a email, bereanmembers@gmail.com. That's also on our app and website as well. You can notify us of your absence. And the final thing I wanna highlight to you is that the Jubilee ministry is gonna kick off a Bible reading fellowship.
So for those of you who don't know, again, the Jubilee fellowship is for those 50 years and over and this is gonna be starting from the 1st of February to read through the Gospels together, fellowshipping going hand-in-hand that way, reading through the Gospels as a way to encourage and keep each other accountable.
The sign-up link, again, is on the app and website. If you have any questions about that, you can message Elder Philip. Okay, well with that said, this morning we have the privilege of hearing the testimony of our brother Brian Kim after the worship set. We'll now enter into time of offering.
So again, if you have a physical check, there is a dropbox there by the entrance that you can submit it there or you can submit it through the digital form. Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we are so grateful to you as we come to this service at the end of the year.
Our hearts are filled with gratitude for all the ways that you have given to us, provided for us, held us, encouraged us, and led us through the entirety of the year and we wanna give you thanks. And Lord, as we worship today, may our hearts then be filled with gratitude to lift to you on high and also as we give our offering, let our attitude be the same, expressing to you just our sweet, sweet appreciation for your love and care.
And I pray, Father, that more and more as we render to you our service and our worship, our heart's desire is to express, God, that we wanna be for you to your good pleasure, to the work of your kingdom and your glory. We thank you for this service, Lord, and we pray, God, that as we hear your word, as we sing the worship songs, and even as we give, this would all turn to you in praise and glory.
We thank you in Christ's name, amen. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) As we continue our worship, let us stand together, but first, let's take a moment to greet each other. (congregation chattering) , (congregation chattering) (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music continues) ♪ When that endless song echoes in my soul ♪ ♪ I hear the music ring ♪ ♪ And though the storms may come ♪ ♪ I am holding on ♪ ♪ To the rock I'm on ♪ ♪ How can I keep from singing your praise ♪ ♪ How can I ever say enough ♪ ♪ How amazing is your love ♪ ♪ How can I keep from shouting your name ♪ ♪ Though I know I'm not prepared ♪ ♪ And it breaks my heart what you say ♪ (upbeat rock music continues) I will lift.
♪ I will lift my voice in the darkest night ♪ ♪ Oh my Savior ♪ ♪ I will walk with you ♪ ♪ Knowing you'll see me through ♪ ♪ Sing your song again ♪ ♪ How can I keep from singing your praise ♪ ♪ How can I ever say enough ♪ ♪ How amazing is your love ♪ ♪ How can I keep from shouting your name ♪ ♪ Though I know I'm not prepared ♪ ♪ And it breaks my heart what you say ♪ ♪ I can't sing in the troubled times ♪ ♪ Sing when I win ♪ ♪ I can't sing when I lose my step ♪ ♪ And I fall down again ♪ ♪ I can't sing 'cause you pick me up ♪ ♪ Sing 'cause you're there ♪ ♪ I can't sing 'cause you hear me love ♪ ♪ When I call to you in prayer ♪ ♪ I can't sing with my last breath ♪ ♪ Sing for I know ♪ ♪ Sing with the angels and the saints around the throne ♪ ♪ How can I keep from singing your praise ♪ ♪ How can I ever say enough ♪ ♪ How amazing is your love ♪ ♪ How can I keep from shouting your name ♪ ♪ Though I know I'm not prepared ♪ ♪ And it breaks my heart what you say ♪ ♪ I would love that you could ♪ ♪ And it breaks my heart ♪ ♪ And I'd love that you could ♪ ♪ And it breaks my heart what you say ♪ (gentle piano music) ♪ Though the nations rise ♪ ♪ Kingdoms rise and fall ♪ ♪ There is time again ♪ ♪ Raining on the road ♪ ♪ So I will not wait ♪ ♪ For this child to be born ♪ ♪ That my garden the ancient will take ♪ ♪ And upon her and before her ♪ ♪ All the time it is said ♪ ♪ For his blood shall be new and ever stay ♪ ♪ All the power and the glory ♪ ♪ I will trust in him now ♪ ♪ For my garden the ancient will take ♪ ♪ The dream of love overwhelms my soul ♪ ♪ And here with me I am not alone ♪ ♪ For his love is strong and he calls my name ♪ ♪ And my garden the ancient will take ♪ ♪ And upon him and before him ♪ ♪ All the time it is said ♪ ♪ His throne it shall remain and ever stay ♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory ♪ ♪ I will trust in his name ♪ ♪ For my garden the ancient will take ♪ ♪ Will take ♪ ♪ And though I may not see ♪ ♪ What the future brings ♪ ♪ I will watch and wait for the Savior to come ♪ ♪ And my garden the ancient will take ♪ ♪ And upon him and before him ♪ ♪ All the time it is said ♪ ♪ His throne it shall remain and ever stay ♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory ♪ ♪ I will trust in his name ♪ ♪ All the power, all the glory ♪ ♪ I will trust in his name ♪ ♪ The ancient will take ♪ ♪ For my God is the ancient of days ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.
(gong ringing) - Good morning, or good afternoon, almost. I was born into a home where my parents were Christian. I went to church with my parents where we commuted 30 minutes. All of the kids at church lived in the same city and were friends already, so I felt I really never fit in.
I went to church all the way through my junior year of high school, and I never really heard the gospel. Pastors were preaching, and I can remember hearing how Jesus died on the cross to forgive sin, but it never made any sense. I wondered how could the death of a man on a wooden post forgive sin?
I grew up in a low socioeconomic area, and our family didn't have much growing up. Where I lived, the school boundaries were set to mix in kids from my area with other areas which were predominantly white, and this resulted in getting bullied a lot, getting into fights, and then what started a deep-seated desire to fit in and be accepted.
Whether it was at school or at church, I was always looking to fit in. Once I got to high school, all my friends kind of ditched me in my freshman year in school, and I quickly learned to perform and be like others to be accepted. I also had the built-in chip on my shoulder with lots of buried anger due to the bullying, so this led me to join a gang, get into trouble, and just live a life in opposition to God.
I also got into some legal issues and ended up being prohibited from driving a car, and as other events unfolded, God opened a door for me to exit the gang, and he moved me in another direction. I eventually ended up back in school at community college, and then I transferred out to a college in the Midwest.
I fully engrossed myself with partying, drinking, girls, drugs, and all the like. My desire now shifted just to make a lot of money for myself, and again, I tried to find a place to fit in in the Midwest where I didn't really feel like I really belonged. My peers were preparing, were pulling really great grades, lining up job opportunities, and progressing toward graduation.
While everyone else was preparing for new jobs after graduation, I really had nothing. I believed that I was worthless, and I felt so ashamed for having nothing, and desired in my heart for the riches of this world, and I also felt that I had to lie and hide all of this in order to be accepted by my peers.
I graduated, and I came back home, and was still living out lies. I finally hit my breaking point where I wanted to take my life because it got so mentally and emotionally exhausting, and my brother, who has always been there through my entire life, answering my random spiritual questions I had, was living at home at the time.
He was in seminary, so he had a lot of resources, so he gave me Desiring God by John Piper, and he just suggested me to read the book. Then one evening in the summer of 2005, I began reading the book, and it was this night God had planned my conversion.
I vividly remember that I had to reread chapter two because this was the first time I actually heard and cognitively understood the gospel, but when I began rereading chapter two, the verse noted at the beginning of the chapter, "For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard, "and that leads to life, "and those who find it are few." Though strange was where the Holy Spirit came and convicted me of my sin.
I was on that wide path of destruction, and in that moment, all the sin that I had committed in my youth, in the gang, in my time in college, and all the lying, all the sin that my mind could conjure up just came rushing back to my mind, and I saw how all my sin, including what I was not even aware of or recollecting, had offended God, and that I had deserved the full wrath of God.
I felt so sorry for living my entire life in rebellion and directly opposing God through all of it. I felt so sorry to God that I had wasted the life he had given me. I confessed my sin, asked God to forgive me, and believed that Jesus died and rose again to provide me with this forgiveness.
He accepted me despite how sinful and messed up I was and how offensive my life was to him. I no longer needed to seek and obtain the acceptance of others. I no longer needed the riches and place, value, and the things of this world. The God of the entire world loved me and gave his life up for me.
I believed Christ to be the Lord and King over all, including my own life, and I submitted the entirety of my life to Christ that evening. Immediately after that evening, God transformed me. I began to read and meditate on the word daily and stopped drinking, quit smoking, stopped partying, stopped lying.
My anger vanished. I had a deep urge to make all the wrong things that I had done through my life right. I didn't stop these things or just modify my behavior because I owed God something. Rather, I believed and saw how much God loved me and how much he had forgiven me.
I wanted to follow Christ wholeheartedly. God gave me life and changed me and all of my desires from the inside out. One of the things that I hated the most was lying to those around me, and to make these things right, I went on this tour to meet up with all of my really close friends, and I confessed all of the things I had lied about.
God gave me this opportunity to share how he changed me, saved me, and shared the gospel to everyone in those moments of my confession of sin, and since then, four of my friends came to a saving knowledge of Christ. You might be thinking, 2005 is so long ago. Why is he getting baptized now?
I thought the same thing. I got sprinkled as a baby, but my desire is to be obedient to Christ, so here I am. I've come to believe that baptism should express my conversion and union with Christ. I also know that God ordained this time to express how intricately he knows me and how closely he has been walking with me.
The last four years of my life have been the most spiritually challenging time, and God is confirming to me once again that he knows what I've been deeply considering. He knows the inside parts of my heart, and he's been saying to me, "Remember your first love and return to me," so in a way that only God can orchestrate, I'm going back to the beginning, the union that God has forged through the blood of Christ, sealed by Christ, is so much more sweet and real to me as these past four years was confirmation that nothing will ever separate me from Christ.
This world is withering, perishing, and it won't last, but God has given me what will endure forever. I hope that my last days here on Earth will be characterized by a sincere and maturing love for Christ and others, and a daily faithful obedience to Christ and his word. To God be the glory forever.
(audience applauding) (water trickling) - Please take my hand. Thank you for that testimony, Brian. Brian, do you understand that through this baptism, you express your union with Christ in his death and resurrection? - Yes. - I baptize you in the name of the Father, in the name of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
(water trickling) (audience applauding) - Amen. Praise God for that testimony and the work he has done in Brian's life. As we continue in the service, let's all take our Bibles and turn over to Hebrews 12. And as it is the final service of the year, I wanna take a moment to encourage us as it relates to our faith and how we can go into the next year with a great amount of courage, motivation, and a word from the Lord.
So let me take a moment to read to us from the text. And it says, 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 our 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 take a moment to pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you. You know us well, and you know, God, that not only that sometimes we struggle, but sometimes, Lord, we lose heart.
And what's more, in our fatigue, Lord God, we have difficulty continuing to run and follow after you. Thank you, God, from the encouragement from scripture. And I pray every single one of us would receive the encouragement you have for us, receive this word. We thank you, it's in Christ's name.
Amen. This morning, I want us to think about our faith, because at the end of the year, we can think about a lot of things. We can think about things we wish we would have done better. We can think about how the year went, just in terms of the resolutions we made the previous year.
We can think about all the fun events. We can even think about just how the world does it, which is they have a countdown of the major news, right? Major events in history, fires, and we had so many things, wars. And then they just recount the stuff that happened.
But for us Christians, we want to think about more poignantly our faith, because what we know from God Almighty is that He wants our faith. He wants our faith to grow. He wants our faith to mature, to grow in sincerity, to grow deeper in the breath of knowledge of God and His will and more, right?
And therefore, that faith being so important in God's eyes, the faith will always be tested. Your personal faith is at the number one priority of Satan's attack. Take a moment to think about that. Your faith is so important. Yes, in the past, Satan, in other saints, even in the Old Testament, for example, Job, Satan attacked his body, struck him with ailments.
Satan attacked his flock, his possessions, his house. Satan attacked his children, his family, and more. But what Satan was going after was he was pushing Job to say, "God is not good." Satan was going after his faith. Likewise, even when our own Father, God Almighty, is tending to us, He is going to be pruning our faith.
He is going to be ministering to us by emboldening our faith, challenging our faith, encouraging our faith at the agenda of God in this time, in this generation, for you and me, God is after our faith, amen? And so, when we come to the end of the year, we shouldn't be just doing a nostalgic recount of all the stuff that happened.
We shouldn't be doing best of YouTube. We shouldn't be doing best of Netflix, top 20 movies. That's so superficial. We should be asking the question, how has God ministered to my faith? In what way has my faith grown? And how can it grow even more in the next year?
And with that said, the passage to us tells us, I'm gonna read again verse one and two, that therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us 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.
What an exhortation and command for us in the upcoming year. And I wanna reiterate this idea that the thrust of the sermon, the thrust of this passage, is a charge for us to run with endurance. It is a charge for us to keep going at it, to stay faithful, to stay loyal, to not get distracted, and all the analogies that come with running a race, I want you to think about.
Don't get lost and take the wrong turn. Don't get distracted by the cameras and the people watching, and maybe the mockers who are standing by. Don't be silly and show up in huge sweatsuits and big down coat jacket because it's cold outside. Run, run free, run hard, run for the long haul, yes?
But I want to paint a picture for you. Sometimes when we hear these commandments, because of our own just weaknesses, we can accept a less than picture, which is, well, so long as I'm in the race, I'm okay. And so one picture is in a marathon, you have those people who just, all they wanna do is finish.
If they put on the sticker on the chest and they finish, they're happy, which in some sense, we understand. But if your picture of your Christian life is, my lungs are burning, my legs are tired, and so long as I'm finished, I'm good, versus is that what this passage wants us to imagine for ourselves?
When Scripture wants us to run, when God wants us to finish the race, when Apostle Paul in other passages of Scripture says, I don't just buffet my body for no reason, I don't beat the air, but with purpose, with vitality, I wanna finish and I don't wanna be disqualified.
There's another picture of somebody who is running with great stride. Now, my body, for me, when I picture myself running, I actually picture myself very awkward. Just recently, I was hanging out with my nephews. These are just 14, 15-year-old nephews. And I looked at them and I said, man, I'm so jealous, your body is so athletic.
And they were like, huh? I was like, yeah, your arms are all long and your wingspan big for like, good for basketball. Your legs are all long. And they're like, what are you talking about? So we measured. (laughs) My wingspan's only 5'3". I have T-Rex arms. (laughs) And therefore, also my legs are super short.
We sat down and measured our legs and these young guys at 14 years old, their legs are longer. I don't picture myself in some kind of majestic stride. I picture myself doing the do-do-do-do-do-do-do, right? That's me. But I want you to picture somebody in full stride. You know they're a runner.
They don't have whatever sweatpants. They've got those lightweight running shorts. You know what I'm talking about? They've got those, you know, sweat-wicking shirts, whatever you may call it. I want you to picture somebody in full stride, running hard, because we shouldn't settle for less, amen? And so in order to do so, scripture has for us these exhortations.
And the first of it is, God wants us, God has designed us to be in this community, but also to think about the host of witnesses before us that we would find encouragement of faith. So the first exhortation is, in order to run hard and in order to run with endurance, find encouragement from the faith that is before us and around us, yes?
We are encouraged as fellow witnesses of God. This passage, chapter 12, comes actually as a big section, starting from chapter 10, where it talks about, we need endurance because of the suffering that we're gonna experience. And the author says, and God says to us, we are not like those who shrink back, but rather we endure even through the hardship.
And then chapter 11, please turn your Bibles over there, chapter 11 gives to us the examples of the faith in the patriarchs, the prophets, and the mighty people who have gone before us, yes? Question, how do you see them? When you think about their faith, how do you see them?
Well, as you turn there, I wanna remind to us that scripture says this, okay, verse one. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. For by it, the men of old gain their approval, by faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of the things which are visible.
The people before us that are going to be listed in chapter 11, they are not called, and these are the mighty cloud of heroes, superheroes. These are the mighty cloud of the generals. These are the mighty cloud of the mighty men of God, why? Because these individuals were not built different from you and me, but rather we should be encouraged that all of them are just like us, amen?
Because the scriptures calls them the cloud of witnesses. The Greek term for that is martis, is where we get the word martyr. Martyrs are not just simply ones who died for the faith, were willing to go to the far end, but rather the literal term for martyrs actually means one who has a witness because they have information to tell.
If we have a trial, we have witnesses. If we have a witnesses, that individual better have a story to tell. He can't show up to the trial and be like, "I don't know, I wasn't there." That's not a witness. These individuals, they were commended not because they moved mountains or because they had biceps and muscles made of gold.
They were just convinced of what they saw and what they saw was the goodness of God. What they saw was the power of God. And that is not something that is so far and different from the convictions we have today. And so as we walk through this, the emphasis should be by faith, Abel offered a sacrifice, verse four.
By faith, Enoch was taken, which is strange to think about. Enoch never faced death, but he was martis because he walked with the Lord daily. By faith, Noah, he was worn by God. This is verse seven, and he started to build for year upon year and his faith had to keep at it, keep going, because every year, it just looked that much more foolish.
And then verse eight, by faith, Abraham, who was called out of the Uruk-Haldeans, he said, "I want you to come out." "Abraham, where are you going?" "It's up to God." He ended up becoming a traveler. What great risks he took. Why? Because he was so sure exactly where he was headed.
He was so sure about the land. No, no, he was so sure about the one who called him. That's great faith. Likewise, down at verse 24, Moses, he gave up the life of the billionaire, and I'm gonna read this one, by faith. Moses, when he had grown up, he refused to be called the son of the Pharaoh's daughter, choosing, that's a decision right there, rather to endure ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
Now, pausing there, those are all stories you are well familiar with, but the point that I'm making is see and consider how powerful not is the man, but the faith. And that faith is something every single one of us can exercise today. These men cannot stand up here and say, you know what, I was just built different.
I'm a leader. That is not how the story goes. This cloud of witnesses is an encouragement to us because that is exactly what is capable for us. That's what we're capable of. And in order to push that a little bit, one of the things that I find myself saying, and I realize other people say it too, that we should kind of stop because it gives, rather than this faith confidence, that the faith that God has given to us is so powerful, but rather the opposite, that we've just become comfortable with failure, is when we get so encouraged by people's failure as opposed to their faith.
You know, one of the memories that I have in our Bible study in Galatians is studying and thinking, you know, Apostle Peter, he is like the leader of the Jerusalem church and he is an apostle of God, but he too, he too succumbed to the pressures of man-pleasing. The Jewish people, the false teachers were like, we can't fellowship with Gentiles.
We can't eat with them. And we need to follow the laws of Moses. And Apostle Peter was like, yeah, and he started to withdraw. You know what's so funny? I remember actually writing on my notes like, I'm so encouraged that even he failed. How many of you guys have said that?
Right? I'm so encouraged that he's crazy just like me, you know? I'm so encouraged that these are all just men, brothers and sisters. That's not how encouragement works. You're not supposed to sit there and be like, I'm so encouraged that that guy can't do it. You know what that is?
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that you shouldn't share your failures because you're being real and you're opening up the opportunity for sympathy, for humility, yes? Confess your sins, confess your limitations, confess your deficiencies, but that's not how encouragement works. The encouragement works the other way. What we see in the hall of faith are decisions made for God, amen?
I'm gonna walk out because he who promised me is faithful. Amen. I'm gonna not participate in the luxuries of Egypt because he said there's something better for me. Amen. And there's faith around us. This year, I am so encouraged by your faith. Some of you guys have good paying jobs, but you said, you know what?
This job is killing me and it's totally taking away from a sustainable relationship with God and my family. I'm gonna shift everything around, amen. Some of you guys were in a compromising relationship. You were failing and you're crossing boundaries you never should have and you said, you know what?
Forget that, I'm gonna stay pure for God, amen. That's encouraging, isn't it? It's not encouraging to sit there and calculate everything. It's like, oh, but what if I this and what if this is gonna turn out for our worse and what if I never find somebody else and what if this and then how is that gonna provide me?
And then you sit there overthinking everything and then you squat on a decision for the Lord. How is that encouraging? No, no, we find great encouragement when somebody simply goes from God said I was convicted and then he led me to the decision. This was gonna please the Lord.
So I know that the scripture is saying run, run hard, run long and endure and stuff like that but that also translates into be convinced and just take that step and take that step and take that step and take that step and what does that look like? You're just running with God.
And each decision we make that simply, that profoundly, that decisively for the Lord is so encouraging for everybody else. And I wanna say I'm very encouraged. I've seen so many of those decisions. Even with baptism, some people struggling like I don't wanna speak in front of 400 people. I get it.
I still get nervous standing in front of you guys. But they said I'm just gonna be obedient and I'm gonna do it, amen. I'm so encouraged by you, I really am. And I pray that when we think about running forward that you think more and more how can I simply move from conviction to action because the Lord has said our faith will move like that.
And that's why we can even say it's also good for you to look back and see the work that God has done in your life for your faith, even for you. As a second point to that, I want you guys sometimes to think back. I loved and we were so encouraged by the testimony given here by Brian.
He said when I was convinced, I said forget that, I'm not drinking. Forget that, I'm not lying. And it just started to move, right? Well what about your friends? I didn't think about it, I just did what the Lord desired. Amen. It challenges us. What do you think mature faith is?
It challenges us, what do you think strong faith is? Is it so complicated that you have to have the wealth of knowledge from a man who is, let's say 90 years old and you have to have the experience of the world? Sometimes actually the experience of the world messes you up because you have worldly wisdom competing with God's word.
Ain't that true? But strong faith says, no I hear what the Lord has said and if this pleases my God, he's gonna take care of any questions I have to ask after this. And so likewise in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 32, in this segment on challenging our faith, this is what the scripture says.
Hebrews 10, 32, but remember that the former days when after being enlightened you endured a great conflict of suffering. Do you have to be a 15 year old veteran Christian who's done missions to experience suffering? No, it can happen the moment you become Christian. And as a matter of fact, it will.
I remember a young Christian saying the moment they became Christian, within the first six months they said this is so hard, I'm so busy. All of a sudden there's all these things and I said, yeah, we're running. We're running towards Christ and it's gonna feel like, whoa, there's a host of things that God would want you to do.
But take a look, it says, there was a great conflict of suffering partly by being made a public spectacle through reproaches and tribulations and partly by becoming shares with those who were so treated. All they had to do was like, mm, I don't wanna be associated with you guys.
But the moment they were enlightened, they said, no, I'm part of this. I'm a part of this march. I'm a part of this marathon. And they were willing to share in all of the hardships that came. And so with that said, the host of witnesses, the faith that is around you and sometimes even your own history, you know God will work in you that way.
And the theme has been when the Lord works, that allowed them to be free. Free to sacrifice, free to run, free to leave the world and free to run in the kingdom of the Lord doing his work. So with that, we move to point two, that in order to do that, to run freely, to run with endurance, we do need to lay aside every encumbrance and sin that is in this world.
All the things that feels fleshly, earthly, carnal and just not fruitful, we need to learn to put it aside. And that's not something that God is going to force your hand to do. That's something God expects you to wisely think and cut it off, yes? He wants you to lay aside whatever it is that is an encumbrance to you.
And that's why in this first point, I say, what is an encumbrance? Okay, what is an encumbrance? An encumbrance is something that's just simply a hurdle, some kind of impediment to you running freely. Well, put it aside. As a matter of fact, it's a little hard for me to stand up here and tell you what you exactly need to cut out.
I'm gonna give you examples, but you know that I can't be so specific as to be like, you know, you and your sports, your football on Sunday, cut it out. And I can't be like, you know, your job, you're putting in extra hours for that little extra PTO, cut it out.
And you, I don't know what else, but just cut it out. I can't do that, right? Why? Because you have to feel the weight of what's happening and you have to lay it aside. You know, what's very interesting is this idea of encumbrance, it's used in many different senses.
In one sense, all it means is a weight. So it's really, really silly for a marathon runner to be like, ooh, I wanna be the crazy guy who wears weights on his legs, the weight vest so that I work extra hard. Why? But it's also crazy to be like, you know what, I'm a marathon runner, but I'm gonna take this camp chair with me just in case I get tired.
And he's running with a camp chair. That's just silly, right? So it's just literally weight, but another use of this term is like a tumor. I want you to picture with me a gross injury that turns into an infection and it develops a sack of pus. Because the literal way it was used was something that was swollen after injury.
If you guys have ever had a really gross cyst, when I was a high school student, I had one right here behind my ear and I still have a big scar because I was stubborn and I know you guys are too. You guys have this cyst and you know you should get it checked out and then you go, nope, I'm not going to the doctor.
Until what? It bursts, okay? It's nasty. You need to go get that checked out and you know you should get that cut off. Likewise, don't be stubborn. Once you start to feel the weight, once you see it starting to grow, you need to take care of it. You need to tend to it.
What is a fixation for you? What is a distraction for you? What is a go-to thing that you regularly go to where it's become such a pattern that it's a time killer? It's a focus suck. It's all kinds of not so good for the runner. I took some time to meditate on this for myself and I found out it was very interesting in preparing the sermon.
I sat there and I prayed and I said, Lord, what is something heavy, something weighty that is pulling me down from running freely with you? And the Lord was convicting me deeply inside that my heart and my mind is filled with regret and embitterment. And I thought, that's true.
(laughs) It's true and you know why? It's because I would be driving and I would just get lost in my thoughts and my wife would just scream like, it's a red light, it's a red light. I'm like, oh shoot. Because my mind was just elsewhere. And sometimes I would be driving and I'd have a scowl on my face and I would just start mouthing things.
And my wife would look at me like, what are you saying? And I'm like, huh? I didn't realize I was mouthing it and then I feel really embarrassed and I'm like, I can't tell you. Because I was actually replaying fights I had five, 10 years ago. I was like, redoing my counseling sessions of what I would say.
You know how, you guys probably do it too. If you've ever had some kind of argument, you're trying to say something but the witty words come a month later and you're like, oh. And then you imagine yourself saying the words and you're like, that's right. And then in your dream and fantasy, the person's like, oh.
And then, and it all goes right from there, right? And the reason why that's a burden is because I keep living there. But brothers and sisters, my mind, my heart, and my emotions belong to God. Those thoughts do not get to live there in God's real estate. If I'm running freely, then I have to be free to be sober, to pray, and to think, and to consider, and to even think about further ministry, to think about people, to pray for the things that God's heart is for.
Why am I setting my agenda? And I realize this, okay? I could, in one sense, imagine if this is a car, be like, God, I want this car. I have a picture of it. Give it to me, right? What else I could be doing is, God, this scenario, I want you to make it right.
Fix it. This person, you have to give them their just desserts. You have to make it right. Make them understand. Fix it, fix it, fix it, fix it. How different is that from saying, God, I want this car. Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme. It's the same thing. What a weight and burden.
And so, I was doing my devotions in 1 Samuel, and I was genuinely encouraged by the saints of old. King David was a man who could have been filled with embitterment. Why? The king, the king Saul, was literally after his head. What did King David do wrong? Nothing. Young David, the only thing he did was he succeeded.
By the mercies and grace of God, he kept winning and winning, and then he was killing the thousands and 10,000s, and then he also happened to be very handsome, and then he had to be winsome, and people loved him, and just for that, King Saul said, "You're dead," and he wanted to spear him and put him on the stake.
But what was amazing was, David at a young age, everything was about God. He said, "The Lord delivered you, Saul. "The Lord put you in the cave I was hiding. "The Lord put you in a vulnerable spot, "but you're also the Lord's anointed. "The Lord is gonna judge me if I put my hand on you, "but the Lord will also judge you, "so between you and me, God will judge." And I thought, wow, thank you, Lord.
That was the Lord's mercy to me. Whatever ill feeling I had about the past, I wanted to say the same thing to be able to run and be free. Lord, you'll judge between me and him, or her, or whoever it is I'm talking to. Why do I need to redo a fight in my own head?
Why do I need to live in any kind of regret of like, "Oh, I shoulda said this." Lord, you will speak what they need to hear. I trust you with everything, and I wanna give you that encouragement. Whatever you experienced this past year, and if you, like me, carry a burden of weight, like, "Oh, this has to be made right," and, "Damn, you don't understand what they did," and anything like that, trust the Lord, trust the Lord, trust the Lord, amen.
You can unload that weight. You should. It's gonna grow like a cyst. And what's more, Scripture tells us, there's a passage in Hebrews 12, verse 15 through 16, "See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God." Coming short of the grace of God, what do you mean?
That no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble. That is a burden and a weight that you carry that prevents you from running. And I want us to be able to see and catch those things. So I ask you this question again as a focal point of one of the things we have to do in preparation for the run, to be ready for the run and sober to run, to run in prayer, run in evangelism, run in service, in anything.
What is it to you that is a fixation? Is it possessions? Are you a collector of things? You're just collecting and collecting, and then for you, it's the next item you wanna collect and you're just fixated on it? Know by faith that Christ has said, the more you collect, there's more to burn.
The more you collect, the more you are exactly the guy Jesus said in his parable. There was a man who collected many items and decided, "I need a barn for all my stuff." And then once his barn was full, he decided, "I need a bigger barn for all my stuff." But he didn't know that his life would be required of him.
By faith, we recognize these possessions are literal weights for us in our journey. What's more, for you, are your regular distractions the social media? You thought, you know, I'm just gonna watch a few shorts, short videos, as they say, and it's so quick, so easy, and then you realize, oh, it's been an hour.
You know, like, the time goes so fast and this is your regular habit of distraction and rest? Don't you know by faith that the rest that you seek in the distraction, and sometimes you just wanna turn off your brain and rest after a hard day's work, that rest for you comes in Christ?
That any kind of rest you seek? Sometimes for me, there are statements in my mind where I literally think, like, you know, it'd be so nice to grab my camping chair and just go to the mountains and get lost. True, sometimes we need those times. But is it better there or by faith?
Scripture says one day with the Lord is better than 1,000 years elsewhere. You see, one of the things I wanna say to you is this passage tells to us lay aside the encumbrances and the sins. Well, the sins that entangle us are our disbelief. Let me say that again, okay?
The sins that entangle us are our disbelief, and the disbelief are really subtle, but they make statements. What do I mean by statements? If you live the year, if you have lived the past years beginning, getting to be more and more pessimistic, there are certain evaluations about life that you will conclude.
And some of the things I realize in my embitterment, in my resentment, or in my just regrets, there are just these thoughts that start to well up, and there are certain thoughts like this. For example, I may say, you know what? People are the same. People will never change.
If some guy is angry and violent, he will always be angry and violent. What's the use? See, that's worldly wisdom. God says a man can be born again. An angry man can be transformed into a saint who is patient because of Christ, amen? But by my disbelief, that's the sin that so easily entangles us.
That's the sin that so easily causes us to live a life that's entirely different from the race, from the ongoing, enduring, hopeful pursuit of His righteousness. So all of these thoughts that we have in the past year, when I say, let's evaluate them according to our faith, I hope we can do so.
And so, I wanna share to us again, if you here today, I know it's not all of you, but some of you guys, the past year has been very, very hard. And because 2020, 2021, 2022 were really oddball years with a lot of discouraging things happening in the world, and yes, if we start to recount and do a video montage, it's been rumors of wars, it's been infirmities and sickness, and this past year and the last year, in our church, we actually had a lot of people lose their parents, right?
A lot of people lose loved ones. But if your mind starts to be so pessimistic that you lose sight of the great God who is good, then you're starting to make these maybe even subconscious conclusions of disbelief, yes? But the hall of faith that's been given us, told us, even Sarah, she was in her old age, but what she did was, yes, she was led to bear a child, but she trusted the one who is faithful, who he promised.
And that's the encouragement for us to run, for you to trust the one who is promised, amen? So finally, as a final exhortation, then fix your eyes on Jesus and let us run this race with endurance that is set before us. This passage says, let us run with endurance this race that is before us, fixing our eyes, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joys that before him endured the cross.
And what I wanna share with you is, just get into this mindset, get into this vision, that yes, if you're running, then all the things that feels like you're running, you should do according to your faith. I want you to imagine being a runner. You are the delivery guy.
And a doctor has said, I have this vital organ, it's the heart. And that hospital with that patient needs it, you go run, yes? Then everything that you're kind of thinking should start applying. Before, you were a distracted driver, you're a distracted runner, but now you're checking the GPS like 15 times over.
Do I have the right address? Where is the entrance? Am I gonna, if when I land there, how is the, what's the fastest way to get it to the patient, right? You're not gonna just get distracted with like, ooh, but that Netflix show was on at that time. You're not gonna get distracted with people yelling at you, screaming at you, and all that kind of stuff.
You're gonna make sure that even your car, whatever it is, that it's prepared, you've got gas, and you're ready. All the analogy makes sense. Yes? And so that's what I'm saying here, is that God told us to run. God told us to run with endurance. And if there's any complaint, if there's any kind of like defensiveness, we should put all those things aside because the picture that God has given to us is we are, yes, in the last days.
We are, yes, think about all the analogies of the Bible. We are, yes, in the battle. We're in the spiritual battle. We're, yes, in the enemy territory here on this earth. We are servants of God being used for his mighty cause. All the analogies of scripture has with us this urgent and very, very serious reality.
I will tell you, though, as I reflected on this passage, that my heart, in some sense, was filled with defensiveness. I gotta be honest with you. For me, if someone told me like, "Pastor Mark, you need to run with endurance," do you know what my first response would be?
"Fool, I already am." I think that's what I would say. You know? Now, if somebody who is, you know, my senior, let's say, Elder Philip, came and said, "Mark, you need to run a little harder," I think my second defense would be like, "I know, but I'm tired." Right?
I'm just being honest, I think. And then I would give something like a, God, you know, Elder Philip, like, "You know how busy I am." Right? I wanna ask you this question, you know? This passage to people who are already suffering, God essentially saying, "In this run, not only do I not want you to give up, "but I want you to run with endurance." That's the challenge.
That's the command. And we should realize, like, this is God's will for me. And I accept the fact that I'm going to regularly feel, then, expended at the end of the day. Why? Because I'm His servant. I'm supposed to be used. And at the end of the day, I'm gonna have some bruises and injuries because I'm His soldier.
And Christ is my commanding officer. Yes? And because I'm His runner, there's a lot of stuff I can't do. I've accepted that fact. None of the analogies and metaphors of our Christian life in the Bible has with it some idea that, like, "Oh, everything's gonna be manageable. "We're always gonna have enough energy "for everything God wants us to do." But truth be told, God did give us, in His sovereignty, the exact amount of time that He wanted for us to do His will.
And should you feel incredibly busy, then it's an issue of, are you running the race God set before you? Are you running the race that God has determined for you to do? Are you busy running around doing, incredibly, a lot of things that are so, so urgent and so, so demanding and so, so taxing, and yet that doesn't have a lot to do with the race God wants you to run?
That's the question. And I have been challenged with this. I'm gonna be honest with you guys. Being a pastor at Berean is amazing. It's been such a blessing. The moment when it is not is when I'm not sober and I'm just running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
I'm just doing stuff because I just like doing stuff. But when I'm engaged in the ministry, when I go and I evangelize, I'm praying for the church members, I'm focused in on the spiritual needs of the flock, and I'm also focused in my own spiritual need. Do you have any idea what a blessing that is?
It's incredible. I feel like this weird sense of like, wow, what a worthy cause. What a lasting work. What a blessedness of God. And I want you guys to have that exact same sentiment, the exact same nature. For the scripture says, I'm gonna give you a couple passages here.
In Philippians chapter three, verse 12 through 16, "Not that I have already attained it "or have already become perfect, "but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which "also I laid hold of by Christ Jesus. "Brethren, I do not regard myself "as having laid hold of it yet, "but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind "and reaching forward to that what lies ahead.
"I press on toward the goal for the prize "of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. "Let us, therefore, as many as are perfect, "have this attitude, "that if in anything you have a different attitude, "God will reveal that also to you. "However, let us keep living by that same standard "to which we have attained.
"Amen." You know, if you heard me preach the last couple times and put it all together, you're gonna hear an interesting theme. And that theme kinda sounds like a motivational speaker. A lot of it has to do with a, like a, in summary, like you can do it kind of tone, okay?
And the reason why I did that was because I felt this weird sentiment that a lot of people would say things like, you know, we can't on our own. True that. People were like, you know, our efforts doesn't really amount to nothing. Hmm, is that the right way to say it?
You know, we know that we can't and we can't and we can't. That kinda sentiment was really evident, okay? And I don't want us to talk that way. I don't want us to get used to disappointment, used to failure, be encouraged by sin, by discouraged, by people not being able to, and then also concluding, therefore we can't, why?
Because the scripture says, literally, when you abide in Christ, you can. We shall not muddy the waters. Your justification is a work of Christ done, period, yes? But your walk with God, God said, run. And God said, run with endurance. And that's not something where we can say, hmm, but if I don't, will you still love me?
Hmm, I don't know if I can. Did you give me enough? Hmm, or what about the other people? Hmm, I've already tried. Hmm, and then you have all these excuses. We shall not be like them. Why? Because God has given us faith. And faith is powerful, amen? Now, know that the scriptures is not telling you to go run someone else's race.
You don't have to be as strong, as fast as somebody else. God has said, but I want you in what God has given you to be faithful. Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy chapter four, verse five through eight, but you be sober in the things and endure hardship. Do the work of an evangelist and fulfill your ministry.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering. And the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day.
And not only to me, but also to all who loved his appearing. Amen. So, you may not, you may not be in a position where you have to do something specific. God did not call every single one of us to be a youth group teacher or to work with children.
God did not call every single one of us to be on stage singing. God did not call every single one of us to go lead an event and be an administrator. But as you guys know, God called every single one of us to be a witness. The things that we have you do as a member, to pray, to devote your life to praying for the leaders, the members, and every saint.
For you to study your Bible and just simply apply what you're convicted of. For you to serve the people next to you. For you to evangelize. We're all in that race, amen? And I pray that our vision would not be, well, I hope at least I'm here, but that we would be willing, desiring to run hard and with endurance.
Let's pray. Lord, help me, Father. I pray, Father God, that you would tend to us for we recognize our weakness. Sometimes, God, because of our feeble bodies, just our fatigue will discourage us. And sometimes, Lord, our own setback, our own sin will discourage us. And sometimes, God, just the disappointments, maybe even harm inflicted by others, we can be shaken off our path.
Thank you so much, God, for your word today. That challenges us. What encourages us to move past that is not having everything fixed, everything rectified, for that day will come. And we trust you with it. But Lord, the faith you have given us in you, the Lord Jesus Christ who runs before us, all that he has done and endured, all of that, God, is such an encouragement to us.
So I pray to your glory and to your exaltation, we will run by faith. We thank you. It's in Christ's name we pray, amen. - Let us stand together for a little closing praise. (soft piano music) ♪ O Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Greatest treasure of my longing soul ♪ ♪ My God, my cure, there is no other ♪ ♪ True delight is found in you, O Lord ♪ ♪ Your grace, a well too deep to fathom ♪ ♪ Your love, it seems the heavens reach ♪ ♪ Your truth affirms a perfect wisdom ♪ ♪ My highest good, I am indeed ♪ ♪ I am indeed ♪ ♪ O Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Strong defender of my weary heart ♪ ♪ My God, my cure, there is no other ♪ ♪ True delight is found in you, O Lord ♪ ♪ Your grace, a well too deep to fathom ♪ ♪ Your love, it seems the heavens reach ♪ ♪ Your love, O wise, my joy travels onward bounding ♪ ♪ Your faithfulness, my refuge in the light ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ O Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ Gracious savior of my ruined life ♪ ♪ My guilt and cross laid on your shoulders ♪ ♪ In my place, you suffered, bled and died ♪ ♪ O Lord, the grave and death are conquered ♪ ♪ O Lord, my countless sin and shame ♪ ♪ O Lord, the grave and death are conquered ♪ ♪ O Lord, my countless sin and shame ♪ ♪ O Lord, my rock and my redeemer ♪ ♪ May all my days be glory to your name ♪ ♪ May all my days be glory to your name ♪ - Amen, let's pray together.
God, this is our prayer. That Lord, by the way we live our lives, even this week, day to day, the way that we make decisions about even the mundane, our work, our schedule, our priorities, may it be done in faith to your glory. We ask God that our character as it grows would bring glory to your name.
We ask God in the way that we speak, especially in the proclamation of the gospel, may it exalt you. And so this is our prayer, Lord, that in our walking and in our running and the way that we're living, that God, it would be done not just simply as the time goes by, but so purposefully unto you.
And so we pray that you will challenge us, you will empower us to live for you. And now, may the love of God the Father, grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever, 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 ♪ ♪ The Savior lives ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (gentle music continues) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)