WEBVTT 00:00:02.839 --> 00:00:04.919 Let's bow once more in prayer. Would you join 00:00:04.919 --> 00:00:09.480 me? Eternal Father, we thank you that you have 00:00:09.480 --> 00:00:13.640 placed in our hearts the Holy Spirit who stimulates 00:00:13.640 --> 00:00:16.600 us to come to you, not only to address you as 00:00:16.600 --> 00:00:20.019 Father, but even by that intimate term, Abba, 00:00:20.379 --> 00:00:25.600 Daddy. How humbling it is for us to realize that 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:29.780 you, the great Creator, desire us, creatures, 00:00:29.859 --> 00:00:34.460 to come. to worship you and to know you through 00:00:34.460 --> 00:00:39.380 your Son. Oh, may today our hearts be drawn in 00:00:39.380 --> 00:00:43.640 sweet fellowship with you. Open your word to 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:46.960 our hearts. Stimulate us to see what you would 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:50.619 want us to be as a congregation in the years 00:00:50.619 --> 00:00:59.740 ahead. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God has 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:04.599 put it in the heart of man to build. We start 00:01:04.599 --> 00:01:08.859 out with blocks and graduate to Legos and Tinker 00:01:08.859 --> 00:01:13.680 Toys and models and cakes and pies, but we like 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:16.340 to build things. We like to put things together. 00:01:18.019 --> 00:01:20.319 One of the most fulfilling and challenging things 00:01:20.319 --> 00:01:23.280 any of us can do is to build something. Those 00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.280 of you who are architects or engineers, construction 00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:31.060 workers, etc., know what I'm talking about. And 00:01:31.060 --> 00:01:35.299 for that matter so do mothers and fathers and 00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:40.019 counselors and teachers and pastors. That's a 00:01:40.019 --> 00:01:42.420 different kind of building that's just as important. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.620 I've had my share of building physical buildings. 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:53.819 I remember in the first pastorate that I had 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:56.680 when we as a church got a burden for a Christian 00:01:56.680 --> 00:02:01.950 school. in our area of northern Kentucky. And 00:02:01.950 --> 00:02:04.469 we began to search around for some land where 00:02:04.469 --> 00:02:08.870 the church was locked in a city situation with 00:02:08.870 --> 00:02:11.889 a shopping center on one side and houses and 00:02:11.889 --> 00:02:14.770 a railroad on other sides so that there was no 00:02:14.770 --> 00:02:20.129 opportunity to build there. And because of the 00:02:20.129 --> 00:02:22.270 topography of the land in northern Kentucky, 00:02:22.389 --> 00:02:24.349 it's difficult to find a level spot to build 00:02:24.349 --> 00:02:27.860 anything. So we looked at the hilltops around 00:02:27.860 --> 00:02:31.180 and finally went out five miles to where we saw 00:02:31.180 --> 00:02:34.800 a corn field that had potential. But it wasn't 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:37.879 big enough to do the job, so we contacted the 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:41.280 landowner next to that. Well, he might be interested, 00:02:42.139 --> 00:02:44.340 but still we had to have more land. We felt we 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:48.759 needed at least 100 acres to do the job. And 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:52.080 they said there is one other piece of land connected 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:54.719 to ours, but the lady refuses to sell to anybody. 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:59.580 Well, she was a widow lady, and a couple of us 00:02:59.580 --> 00:03:02.280 went over to visit her and talk with her about 00:03:02.280 --> 00:03:04.699 the possibility of buying some of the ground 00:03:04.699 --> 00:03:07.219 at the back of her property that connected to 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:11.020 the other two pieces. And much to our amazement, 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:13.360 she said, you know, I have prayed for years that 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:16.580 God would allow the land that I own to be used 00:03:16.580 --> 00:03:21.120 for a church or for a school. And she said, I 00:03:21.120 --> 00:03:23.300 believe this is God's answer, and I want to sell 00:03:23.300 --> 00:03:26.090 you that land. You know, the Lord allowed us 00:03:26.090 --> 00:03:29.110 to put together 100 acres of land for about $79 00:03:29.110 --> 00:03:35.090 ,000, which even 15, 16, 17 years ago was a very, 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:39.789 very good price, even in northern Kentucky. And 00:03:39.789 --> 00:03:41.830 I remember working with the architect and what 00:03:41.830 --> 00:03:44.050 fun it was to begin to dream about a building. 00:03:44.110 --> 00:03:46.090 I'd never done anything like this before. I was 00:03:46.090 --> 00:03:49.729 28 years of age and had never built anything 00:03:49.729 --> 00:03:53.759 beyond... models and tinker toys and those things 00:03:53.759 --> 00:03:56.240 I talked about earlier. I hadn't built a house 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:02.979 or anything, even a dog house. But a group of 00:04:02.979 --> 00:04:04.879 us in the church worked with that architect and 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:08.180 we began to dream to see what God might do and 00:04:08.180 --> 00:04:11.879 we put together the first phase, an elementary 00:04:11.879 --> 00:04:15.840 school, a simple one -floor plan, a U -shaped 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:19.899 building. In fact, a friend of ours here in the 00:04:19.899 --> 00:04:23.240 Twin Cities was down to speak at the dedication 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:27.600 of that building, Mel Johnson. And after that 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:29.819 was up and the first few grades were functioning, 00:04:30.019 --> 00:04:32.019 we realized we needed to build for the future. 00:04:32.100 --> 00:04:35.000 We needed a high school. And so we began to dream 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:37.680 about that kind of a building and how that might 00:04:37.680 --> 00:04:40.480 attach to the elementary structure, a two -story 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:43.160 building with a large gymnatorium that could 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:46.250 handle special occasions as well as athletic 00:04:46.250 --> 00:04:50.790 events. And so we put the dreams to the paper 00:04:50.790 --> 00:04:54.649 and the church saw the need and was challenged 00:04:54.649 --> 00:04:57.709 by it and a church just a little larger than 00:04:57.709 --> 00:05:01.550 this and very much middle class, even blue collar, 00:05:02.990 --> 00:05:05.430 realized that this was something God wanted us 00:05:05.430 --> 00:05:09.149 to do and in the end we were able to see a school 00:05:09.149 --> 00:05:12.600 built worth about two million dollars. with an 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:16.540 indebtedness of only about $900 ,000 in our church. 00:05:17.180 --> 00:05:19.579 It was a marvelous thing, a miraculous thing. 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:22.740 One of the Sunday school classes in that church 00:05:22.740 --> 00:05:26.860 was called the Fidelis class, a group of ladies 00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:29.759 who were all on Social Security. And I think 00:05:29.759 --> 00:05:32.500 per capita those ladies probably, sacrificially, 00:05:32.579 --> 00:05:35.060 gave more than anybody else in the whole church 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:38.439 because they believed in the children and they 00:05:38.439 --> 00:05:41.629 saw the need for that school. I tell you that 00:05:41.629 --> 00:05:44.850 was the most exciting thing that we did in the 00:05:44.850 --> 00:05:47.149 nearly 10 years that I was the pastor of that 00:05:47.149 --> 00:05:49.790 church. It took us a number of years to do it. 00:05:50.209 --> 00:05:52.250 But then to see it up and then to see that first 00:05:52.250 --> 00:05:57.230 graduation, the class that came through the first 00:05:57.230 --> 00:05:59.910 time graduating with diplomas from Calvary Christian 00:05:59.910 --> 00:06:02.889 School, what an exciting thing that was to see 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:06.750 that vision fulfilled. And today it's still functioning 00:06:06.750 --> 00:06:11.550 with 400 plus students. I've had my part in that 00:06:11.550 --> 00:06:13.649 kind of building, building this structure that 00:06:13.649 --> 00:06:16.269 we're in today. And there is a certain excitement, 00:06:16.389 --> 00:06:18.990 a fulfillment about that. But I want you to know 00:06:18.990 --> 00:06:22.810 that there is even a greater thrill in seeing 00:06:22.810 --> 00:06:26.529 one life come together. Or for that matter, seeing 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:29.529 a group of lives come together as in a church. 00:06:30.569 --> 00:06:33.250 I think that was what was in Paul's mind as he 00:06:33.250 --> 00:06:37.930 writes to us in 1 Corinthians, the third chapter. 00:06:38.240 --> 00:06:42.639 and says in verse 9, we are God's fellow workers, 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:47.720 you are God's field, God's building. He says 00:06:47.720 --> 00:06:49.920 the church is like a building. He calls it later 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:52.860 in this chapter a temple, a holy place for worship. 00:06:53.579 --> 00:06:56.000 But he's not talking about the physical structure 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.899 in which the church meets. He's talking about 00:06:58.899 --> 00:07:02.639 the body of people, lives of people that are 00:07:02.639 --> 00:07:06.899 individually restored by the grace of God. and 00:07:06.899 --> 00:07:11.100 which are then built with other lives to fashion 00:07:11.100 --> 00:07:15.939 a body, a church. He says in verse 10, according 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:19.560 to the grace of God which was given to me as 00:07:19.560 --> 00:07:24.139 a wise master builder, I laid a foundation and 00:07:24.139 --> 00:07:27.540 another is building upon it. Let each man be 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:33.259 careful how he builds upon it. We, today, as 00:07:33.259 --> 00:07:37.199 Paul in that day, are workers together in building 00:07:37.199 --> 00:07:41.600 the church. Not merely as a physical plant, as 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:45.459 important as that can be, nor as an organization, 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.920 although organization is important in a church. 00:07:48.819 --> 00:07:52.000 But we are fellow workers building an organism 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:56.399 that is spiritually vital because of its union 00:07:56.399 --> 00:08:01.019 to Jesus Christ. As we enter the decade of the 00:08:01.019 --> 00:08:04.480 90s, I would like for us as fellow workers in 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:08.560 Grace Church, Roseville to think about the kind 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:12.300 of local church that we are putting together. 00:08:13.519 --> 00:08:18.160 What will we look like in the years ahead, as 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:21.699 the Lord should tarry? I've been doing some thinking 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:24.920 about that over the past several months and would 00:08:24.920 --> 00:08:27.720 like to share with you today and for several 00:08:27.720 --> 00:08:32.179 upcoming weeks. Some of my thoughts and my vision 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:35.919 for the building of Grace Church Roseville in 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:39.100 the 90s. In doing this, I want to speak to you 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:42.960 from my heart as your pastor about our building 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:47.299 together in this place. What kind of a church? 00:08:48.139 --> 00:08:51.159 What will we look like as Grace Church Roseville 00:08:51.159 --> 00:08:54.799 in the years ahead? Well, I believe that there 00:08:54.799 --> 00:08:57.259 is an answer to that and it arises really out 00:08:57.259 --> 00:08:59.990 of the text of scripture. It's not something 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:02.710 that comes outside of Scripture, but it flows 00:09:02.710 --> 00:09:05.590 through the New Testament as we see the Church 00:09:05.590 --> 00:09:09.529 of Jesus Christ described to us. And then as 00:09:09.529 --> 00:09:14.110 we see that applied also to the culture in which 00:09:14.110 --> 00:09:18.730 we live today in the 1990s. What will we look 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:20.830 like in the future? What kind of a church will 00:09:20.830 --> 00:09:24.250 Grace Church Roseville be in the 90s? I'd like 00:09:24.250 --> 00:09:26.409 to say in the first place that I would like to 00:09:26.409 --> 00:09:29.289 see Grace Church Roseville be. a church where 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:33.850 the Word of God is faithfully taught, with relevance 00:09:33.850 --> 00:09:40.149 to real life, and also where it is obeyed. Now 00:09:40.149 --> 00:09:41.710 you say, well that's certainly nothing new, and 00:09:41.710 --> 00:09:44.350 you're absolutely right. That's where we started 00:09:44.350 --> 00:09:48.370 out, back in 1981. That's where we've been every 00:09:48.370 --> 00:09:51.230 year since then. That's where we are today. And 00:09:51.230 --> 00:09:53.690 I underscore that and say it first today, because 00:09:53.690 --> 00:09:56.129 that's where I want us to be in the year 2000. 00:09:56.620 --> 00:10:01.059 and 2010, and as long as the Lord allows us to 00:10:01.059 --> 00:10:04.500 minister in this place in His name. I want us 00:10:04.500 --> 00:10:06.860 to be the kind of church where the Word of God 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:10.820 is faithfully taught with relevance to life and 00:10:10.820 --> 00:10:16.340 where it is obeyed by all of us. A pastor friend 00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:18.799 of mine giving me counsel in my ministry said 00:10:18.799 --> 00:10:24.179 to me, find the intersection where truth meets 00:10:24.179 --> 00:10:29.200 life. in your preaching and stay at that intersection. 00:10:30.539 --> 00:10:32.980 Well that is good counsel not only for me as 00:10:32.980 --> 00:10:36.480 a pastor but for all of us who instruct others 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:40.220 and disciple others in the Word of God. Find 00:10:40.220 --> 00:10:43.399 that intersection where the truth of God's Word 00:10:43.399 --> 00:10:48.240 intersects with real life situations and problems 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:53.809 where people are living today. and apply the 00:10:53.809 --> 00:10:56.149 Word of God there and stay at that point and 00:10:56.149 --> 00:11:00.009 God will bless your ministry. Now when I make 00:11:00.009 --> 00:11:03.309 the statement that I do, it seems to me that 00:11:03.309 --> 00:11:05.590 there are at least two concerns that flow out 00:11:05.590 --> 00:11:10.649 of it. They are proper interpretation and proper 00:11:10.649 --> 00:11:16.309 application of the Word of God. As we come to 00:11:16.309 --> 00:11:18.649 the Bible and as we teach it, we need to ask 00:11:18.649 --> 00:11:21.350 ourselves the question, what did the writer of 00:11:21.350 --> 00:11:25.289 Scripture have in mind when he penned those words? 00:11:27.970 --> 00:11:31.629 There seems to be the attitude growing in the 00:11:31.629 --> 00:11:35.090 Church of Christ today that the important thing 00:11:35.090 --> 00:11:37.509 is to ask the question, what does this mean to 00:11:37.509 --> 00:11:41.370 me? Now that is an important question, but there 00:11:41.370 --> 00:11:44.639 has to be a question asked first. And that is, 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:47.279 what did that text mean in the day in which it 00:11:47.279 --> 00:11:52.559 was written? That requires work on our part to 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:57.259 interpret Scripture. We have to understand something 00:11:57.259 --> 00:12:01.460 of history to answer that question. What did 00:12:01.460 --> 00:12:04.259 it mean to the writer? We have to know the events 00:12:04.259 --> 00:12:08.220 happening in his day. We have to know something 00:12:08.220 --> 00:12:10.840 about the culture in which the writer of Scripture 00:12:10.840 --> 00:12:14.299 lived. It helps to understand something of the 00:12:14.299 --> 00:12:21.679 geography in which he lived. There is benefit 00:12:21.679 --> 00:12:24.740 in knowing a little bit about the language in 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:27.320 which he wrote, though we may not be able to 00:12:27.320 --> 00:12:30.679 read it, at least to have some basic understanding 00:12:30.679 --> 00:12:33.820 of that language, whether it be Hebrew or Greek 00:12:33.820 --> 00:12:39.980 or in small portions of the Bible Aramaic. Daniel, 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.659 which we'll begin studying tonight, was written 00:12:42.659 --> 00:12:46.539 partly in Aramaic. Now one doesn't have to be 00:12:46.539 --> 00:12:49.019 a scholar in any of those languages to understand 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:51.600 what the Bible means, but it helps if you have 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:53.779 some insight as to what these languages are all 00:12:53.779 --> 00:12:57.100 about. Because you see the first question we 00:12:57.100 --> 00:12:59.139 have to ask when we come to Scripture is this, 00:12:59.220 --> 00:13:02.299 what did the writer of Scripture mean when he 00:13:02.299 --> 00:13:05.879 wrote that to that church or that nation, to 00:13:05.879 --> 00:13:10.399 that person? Proper interpretation is important. 00:13:11.950 --> 00:13:14.549 And just after that comes the question of, what 00:13:14.549 --> 00:13:18.230 does this mean to me? That is proper application. 00:13:20.149 --> 00:13:23.049 We need to ask ourselves, how does the Bible, 00:13:23.090 --> 00:13:26.289 which we want to carefully interpret, apply to 00:13:26.289 --> 00:13:32.210 our lives in the 90s? Some of us are better at 00:13:32.210 --> 00:13:34.590 understanding how the Bible applied back in the 00:13:34.590 --> 00:13:39.110 40s or the 50s. So are some of the authors of 00:13:39.110 --> 00:13:42.559 books that are written. The question we need 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:46.759 to ask is, how does this text apply today to 00:13:46.759 --> 00:13:49.700 where people are living in the 1990s in our culture? 00:13:50.820 --> 00:13:54.559 We may come up with some fresh answers. Now in 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:57.559 doing that, we want to be careful not to compromise 00:13:57.559 --> 00:14:01.080 the Scriptures just because it may cut across 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:04.860 the grain of our culture. One of the things I 00:14:04.860 --> 00:14:11.429 fear is that we may allow our culture to twist 00:14:11.429 --> 00:14:16.350 the interpretation of the Bible. We must be careful 00:14:16.350 --> 00:14:20.669 about that. We must interpret it and then bring 00:14:20.669 --> 00:14:25.009 it to our culture to see how it applies. There 00:14:25.009 --> 00:14:29.929 are some people who are skilled at being able 00:14:29.929 --> 00:14:36.830 to take away the authority of the Bible by trying 00:14:36.830 --> 00:14:41.320 to coerce our culture upon it. We do not want 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:45.059 to do that. We want to interpret the Bible in 00:14:45.059 --> 00:14:48.179 its culture and then bring that interpretation 00:14:48.179 --> 00:14:50.899 to our culture today and see how it may apply 00:14:50.899 --> 00:14:53.919 to us. And I can tell you that in some instances 00:14:53.919 --> 00:14:57.299 at least it is going to run counter to our culture. 00:14:57.899 --> 00:15:00.840 And when that happens then we must realize the 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:05.200 Bible is our authority not our culture. And we 00:15:05.200 --> 00:15:07.559 will seek to bring ourselves, and to what extent 00:15:07.559 --> 00:15:10.039 we can, our culture into conformity to the Word 00:15:10.039 --> 00:15:16.600 of God and not the other way around. The authority 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.620 of Scripture is being subtly undermined not only 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:21.580 by what I've just talked about, but by some other 00:15:21.580 --> 00:15:24.759 things today as well, I think. And I mention 00:15:24.759 --> 00:15:27.039 these because I want us to be alert to them. 00:15:27.779 --> 00:15:30.600 Because I want us as a church to faithfully teach 00:15:30.600 --> 00:15:37.039 the Word of God. and apply it to our lives and 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:41.200 obey it. Some of the other things undermining 00:15:41.200 --> 00:15:43.639 the authority of the Bible, I think, in our day 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:48.299 are, for example, the emphasis on experience. 00:15:52.340 --> 00:15:54.519 There are some who say, I don't care what the 00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:59.139 Bible says, I know what I've experienced. And 00:15:59.139 --> 00:16:02.320 the bottom line in that is, my experience is 00:16:02.320 --> 00:16:04.940 more important to me and has a greater authority 00:16:04.940 --> 00:16:10.299 than the Bible does. Now the fact is that experiences 00:16:10.299 --> 00:16:14.399 are important. Our feelings are important. God 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.399 has made us with feelings. Experience is a part 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.620 of the life He has given to us. But let's not 00:16:22.620 --> 00:16:26.179 make our experiences the authority. The Bible 00:16:26.179 --> 00:16:30.090 is the authority. Let's not undermine its authority 00:16:30.090 --> 00:16:32.250 in our lives by making statements like I did 00:16:32.250 --> 00:16:36.610 earlier. Our experiences must be conformed to 00:16:36.610 --> 00:16:39.210 what the Bible says and not the other way around. 00:16:41.450 --> 00:16:43.450 The authority of the Bible is also being undermined 00:16:43.450 --> 00:16:47.870 by psychology in our day. There are those, even 00:16:47.870 --> 00:16:50.570 some sincere Christians, who feel that psychology 00:16:50.570 --> 00:16:53.529 has the answers that the Bible doesn't have. 00:16:53.710 --> 00:16:57.980 Friend, that is not true. The Bible has the answers. 00:16:59.580 --> 00:17:03.539 There may be some helpful insights into human 00:17:03.539 --> 00:17:08.480 behavior found in psychology. I'm not throwing 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:12.920 the baby out with the bath water. But I will 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:16.279 say this, we must never allow psychology to dictate 00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:23.299 to us over the Bible. I guess I am more firm 00:17:23.299 --> 00:17:25.880 in this than I have ever been that I would not 00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:31.779 ever suggest to a Christian that he go to an 00:17:31.779 --> 00:17:35.599 unsaved counselor, psychotherapist, or psychologist 00:17:35.599 --> 00:17:40.160 to receive help. Nor would I send a person to 00:17:40.160 --> 00:17:44.539 a Christian counselor who does not point his 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:47.240 clients to the Word of God as the final answer. 00:17:49.140 --> 00:17:52.079 We must be careful that we do not subtly allow 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:56.000 psychology to undermine what the Bible says about 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.539 what it is to be human. And what the Bible says 00:18:00.539 --> 00:18:03.980 about the answer to the dilemmas, the troubles 00:18:03.980 --> 00:18:06.619 in which we find ourselves in our sinful condition. 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:10.819 The answer is not ultimately found in psychology. 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:14.240 The answer is found in understanding what God 00:18:14.240 --> 00:18:18.799 says to us. He is our Creator. and then applying 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:22.500 what he says to our lives as the Holy Spirit 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:27.339 gives us understanding and grace to do that. 00:18:28.619 --> 00:18:31.079 One of the Bible teachers that many of us have 00:18:31.079 --> 00:18:33.200 heard, John MacArthur, has a series of tapes 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:35.700 that someone recently loaned to me called, Whatever 00:18:35.700 --> 00:18:39.359 Happened to the Holy Spirit? It's a pretty clever 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:43.480 title to that tape series. Because in some churches, 00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:45.759 that's exactly the question we have to ask. Whatever 00:18:45.759 --> 00:18:47.680 happened to the Holy Spirit, everything is now 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:53.240 going to counseling. The Bible is the authority. 00:18:53.299 --> 00:18:55.980 We want never to allow it to be undermined by 00:18:55.980 --> 00:18:58.839 psychology. Nor do we want it to be undermined 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:01.859 by that teaching that is prevalent in some circles 00:19:01.859 --> 00:19:07.140 today called prosperity theology. where what 00:19:07.140 --> 00:19:09.819 the Bible says about trials and sufferings in 00:19:09.819 --> 00:19:13.440 this life are simply written out, and only those 00:19:13.440 --> 00:19:16.500 passages that deal with prosperity and success 00:19:16.500 --> 00:19:22.880 and blessing are applied, and oftentimes misapplied. 00:19:25.640 --> 00:19:28.660 I fear for some Christians who are allowing teachers 00:19:28.660 --> 00:19:32.660 like Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hagelin, Hagen, 00:19:33.380 --> 00:19:37.609 and Robert Tilton out of Dallas to influence 00:19:37.609 --> 00:19:42.349 their lives. These men are false teachers. They 00:19:42.349 --> 00:19:45.250 are undermining the authority of the Word of 00:19:45.250 --> 00:19:48.549 God as it really is by extracting from it only 00:19:48.549 --> 00:19:51.490 those portions of it that fit into their neat 00:19:51.490 --> 00:19:55.130 little package of prosperity theology. A theology 00:19:55.130 --> 00:19:58.009 that could only exist in an affluent America. 00:20:00.329 --> 00:20:02.869 They could never make it overseas in a third 00:20:02.869 --> 00:20:08.680 world country. The Bible can make it, if it's 00:20:08.680 --> 00:20:12.480 interpreted properly, wherever it's taught. It 00:20:12.480 --> 00:20:16.319 applies to life. Whether it be a country of affluence 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:20.299 or a place of deep poverty, the Bible speaks 00:20:20.299 --> 00:20:23.900 to life as it really is. It is our authority. 00:20:24.740 --> 00:20:26.940 We need to be careful the Bible is not undermined 00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:33.779 by the ethic that says, what's good for me is 00:20:33.779 --> 00:20:37.289 what I'll live for. This is perhaps the most 00:20:37.289 --> 00:20:40.630 insidious one to Christians in churches like 00:20:40.630 --> 00:20:44.750 ours. For we say, well, I'll do what the Bible 00:20:44.750 --> 00:20:53.829 says if it's good for me. If it makes me successful, 00:20:55.109 --> 00:20:58.690 if it helps me accomplish my plans, then I'll 00:20:58.690 --> 00:21:02.140 do what the Bible says. But when the Bible tells 00:21:02.140 --> 00:21:04.240 us to do something that doesn't fit into our 00:21:04.240 --> 00:21:07.759 plans, then we say, well, God, sorry about that. 00:21:09.339 --> 00:21:11.279 Do you see how that undermines the authority 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:15.619 of God and His Word in our lives? The what's 00:21:15.619 --> 00:21:19.400 good for me ethic destroys the authority of the 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:23.160 Bible. And that is the ethic that's largely the 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:26.759 ethic of the baby boomers today. If it's good 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:29.259 for me, fine. If it's not good for me, forget 00:21:29.259 --> 00:21:33.450 it. And there are churches that pander and cater 00:21:33.450 --> 00:21:38.829 to that sort of thing. The real question is, 00:21:38.849 --> 00:21:43.650 what's good for God? What does God want for me? 00:21:43.650 --> 00:21:45.789 Whether I think it's good for me or not good 00:21:45.789 --> 00:21:48.990 for me, what does God tell me? See, then the 00:21:48.990 --> 00:21:53.289 Bible is the authority. I've started here this 00:21:53.289 --> 00:21:56.130 morning at this point because I believe that 00:21:56.130 --> 00:21:59.910 this is the essential foundation. And the churches 00:21:59.910 --> 00:22:03.670 that neglect to faithfully teach the Word of 00:22:03.670 --> 00:22:10.049 God in the 90s will ultimately crumble. Now why 00:22:10.049 --> 00:22:13.450 will they crumble? Well because they have an 00:22:13.450 --> 00:22:19.069 insufficient structure underneath them. And the 00:22:19.069 --> 00:22:23.710 pressures of the world eventually will cause 00:22:23.710 --> 00:22:27.160 them to begin to crumble and to collapse. Those 00:22:27.160 --> 00:22:29.700 who are building themselves on prosperity theology, 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:32.940 what are they going to do when our economy does 00:22:32.940 --> 00:22:34.880 what most economists thinks it's going to do 00:22:34.880 --> 00:22:38.440 eventually and begins to collapse? And the standard 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:41.240 of living for everybody begins to go downhill, 00:22:42.380 --> 00:22:46.819 like on a ski slope. Well, Christians who have 00:22:46.819 --> 00:22:48.599 built their lives, churches that have been built 00:22:48.599 --> 00:22:51.039 upon prosperity theology in that day are going 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:59.720 to collapse, and well, they should. Those who 00:22:59.720 --> 00:23:03.180 have built their ministries upon experience, 00:23:05.099 --> 00:23:07.259 those who have built their ministries upon psychology 00:23:07.259 --> 00:23:11.640 and counseling, replacing the Bible, those who 00:23:11.640 --> 00:23:14.940 have built their ministries upon the ethic, what's 00:23:14.940 --> 00:23:23.500 good for me, will all collapse in the end. Today, 00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:26.380 churches like that are sort of supported by our 00:23:26.380 --> 00:23:29.829 culture, secondarily. because our culture to 00:23:29.829 --> 00:23:34.170 some extent still has a Judeo -Christian flavor 00:23:34.170 --> 00:23:36.910 to it. It's quickly disappearing, but it's sort 00:23:36.910 --> 00:23:41.549 of still there. But as our culture becomes more 00:23:41.549 --> 00:23:47.130 humanistic and then pluralistic, there will not 00:23:47.130 --> 00:23:49.730 be that secondary support to those kind of churches 00:23:49.730 --> 00:23:53.740 any longer, and they won't make it. The church 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:56.420 that is going to make it through the 1990s and 00:23:56.420 --> 00:23:59.839 into the 21st century is the church that will 00:23:59.839 --> 00:24:02.500 be careful to properly interpret the Word of 00:24:02.500 --> 00:24:05.599 God and will then faithfully apply it to life 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:10.279 right down where the rubber meets the road. Come 00:24:10.279 --> 00:24:12.440 what may, whether it's good for me or not good 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:15.319 for me, they apply the Word of God and seek to 00:24:15.319 --> 00:24:18.299 obey it at that point. That's the kind of a church 00:24:18.299 --> 00:24:22.900 that God will bless. I want to emphasize that 00:24:22.900 --> 00:24:26.140 the Word and its doctrines, because they are 00:24:26.140 --> 00:24:30.759 the revelation of the eternal God, do not change. 00:24:32.420 --> 00:24:35.380 What God has called us to do as a church does 00:24:35.380 --> 00:24:39.319 not change. But as we're going to talk, perhaps 00:24:39.319 --> 00:24:43.500 next week, the form in which we do our ministry 00:24:43.500 --> 00:24:48.460 needs to change with the age. No other foundation 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:52.509 but this. No other doctrine other than what the 00:24:52.509 --> 00:24:57.130 Bible teaches period But the way in which we 00:24:57.130 --> 00:25:00.470 do our ministry now, that's a different subject 00:25:00.470 --> 00:25:04.609 The methods that we use the forms of ministry 00:25:04.609 --> 00:25:08.609 that we use to teach the Word of God to present 00:25:08.609 --> 00:25:11.490 and proclaim the Word of God Those forms need 00:25:11.490 --> 00:25:15.940 to change with the times I've written a little 00:25:15.940 --> 00:25:17.779 about that this morning in the column, but I 00:25:17.779 --> 00:25:20.519 want to say a lot more about that probably as 00:25:20.519 --> 00:25:24.700 I say next week. Well, I've started at what is 00:25:24.700 --> 00:25:27.119 probably a very obvious point to most of you, 00:25:27.299 --> 00:25:30.339 but I don't think we can say it too often or 00:25:30.339 --> 00:25:34.299 too forcefully. As we think about our church 00:25:34.299 --> 00:25:36.500 in the 90s, we want to be the kind of a church 00:25:36.500 --> 00:25:41.339 where the Word of God is the foundation, where 00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:44.440 it is faithfully taught with relevance to life. 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:50.319 and where it is obeyed, not just taught, where 00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:54.119 it is obeyed by those of us who are part of this 00:25:54.119 --> 00:26:00.000 church. And then as I think of the church in 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:03.799 the 90s, I want to see Grace Church be a church 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:09.460 noted for loving acceptance of hurting and needy 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:17.750 people while practicing holiness of life. The 00:26:17.750 --> 00:26:20.349 Corinthian church was a church that got out of 00:26:20.349 --> 00:26:24.589 balance in this regard. It was a church that 00:26:24.589 --> 00:26:26.890 was so open to hurting and needy people that 00:26:26.890 --> 00:26:31.690 they even allowed openly immoral people to remain 00:26:31.690 --> 00:26:35.950 in their fellowship. That's being too open. And 00:26:35.950 --> 00:26:37.869 so that's why I say we want to be the kind of 00:26:37.869 --> 00:26:40.470 a church that is noted for loving acceptance 00:26:40.470 --> 00:26:44.190 of hurting and needy people while at the same 00:26:44.190 --> 00:26:48.549 time practicing holiness of life. There's an 00:26:48.549 --> 00:26:52.089 important balance here, and I want to address 00:26:52.089 --> 00:26:55.109 that. You and I are living in a time when there 00:26:55.109 --> 00:26:58.250 are more people than ever who are hurting. Through 00:26:58.250 --> 00:27:02.609 broken homes, through abuse, through divorce, 00:27:03.309 --> 00:27:07.670 various kinds of addictions, loneliness, disillusionment 00:27:07.670 --> 00:27:11.710 with life, there are people around us who are 00:27:11.710 --> 00:27:15.829 desperate. And many of us reflect the same kinds 00:27:15.829 --> 00:27:20.829 of needs. We as a church need to minister to 00:27:20.829 --> 00:27:24.490 the hurting and needing in our community. The 00:27:24.490 --> 00:27:27.250 danger that we face is that we allow ourselves 00:27:27.250 --> 00:27:31.109 to become a little subculture within the larger 00:27:31.109 --> 00:27:34.430 culture. And we do our own little thing and we 00:27:34.430 --> 00:27:36.529 come together and we feel good about what we 00:27:36.529 --> 00:27:38.710 do and we feel good about each other and ourselves 00:27:38.710 --> 00:27:44.329 and that's as far as our vision goes. But I believe 00:27:44.329 --> 00:27:46.250 if we're going to minister effectively in the 00:27:46.250 --> 00:27:48.289 90s, we've got to be the kind of a church that 00:27:48.289 --> 00:27:53.049 is willing to lift its eyes off itself and to 00:27:53.049 --> 00:27:56.089 look more and more at those around us who are 00:27:56.089 --> 00:28:00.630 crying out desperately in their needs. I want 00:28:00.630 --> 00:28:03.670 us to be the kind of a church that is not characterized 00:28:03.670 --> 00:28:09.430 by a judgmental attitude. I think most of us 00:28:09.430 --> 00:28:12.369 realize that there is a place for proper discernment. 00:28:14.340 --> 00:28:17.400 Never making any judgments leads to a lack of 00:28:17.400 --> 00:28:21.359 health and even death in a church. There is a 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:26.099 place for the right kind of judgment. We are 00:28:26.099 --> 00:28:29.960 to judge doctrine whether it is right or whether 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:34.980 it is false. There is a sense in which we are 00:28:34.980 --> 00:28:39.579 to judge lifestyle. The Corinthians failed to 00:28:39.579 --> 00:28:41.339 do that with this man mentioned in the fifth 00:28:41.339 --> 00:28:46.210 chapter and Paul rebukes them for it. He commands 00:28:46.210 --> 00:28:50.309 that they judge the man and remove him from their 00:28:50.309 --> 00:28:55.890 midst that he might learn not to be immoral. 00:28:57.569 --> 00:29:01.410 They did that apparently and it worked. So we 00:29:01.410 --> 00:29:04.230 see in the Corinthian church a lack of balance. 00:29:06.369 --> 00:29:10.269 We don't want that lack of balance. We want to 00:29:10.269 --> 00:29:13.660 be the kind of a church that is concerned about 00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:22.519 holiness. Folks, holiness is not rigid. I want 00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:26.440 our spirit to be free from the kind of harshness 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:31.960 that legalism engenders. I don't want us to be 00:29:31.960 --> 00:29:37.319 known for coldness that comes out of self -righteousness. 00:29:38.000 --> 00:29:42.380 The kind of picky and cantankerous spirit that 00:29:42.380 --> 00:29:47.019 some professing Christians have. The kind of 00:29:47.019 --> 00:29:50.839 a spirit that produces strife and divisions and 00:29:50.839 --> 00:29:54.380 splits in churches, and some of us have been 00:29:54.380 --> 00:29:58.740 a product of those kinds of churches, I believe 00:29:58.740 --> 00:30:02.759 that is unchrist -like. I don't want us to be 00:30:02.759 --> 00:30:05.859 known by that kind of a spirit. I want us to 00:30:05.859 --> 00:30:08.740 be known for loving acceptance of those who are 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:12.589 in need. When we have people come and visit our 00:30:12.589 --> 00:30:17.470 church and they're obviously struggling, I want 00:30:17.470 --> 00:30:19.670 us to have the kind of a spirit that reaches 00:30:19.670 --> 00:30:23.849 out and embraces them and says to them, I'm struggling 00:30:23.849 --> 00:30:29.450 too. Let me show you the Savior who is helping 00:30:29.450 --> 00:30:36.509 me in my struggle. I heard recently about a man 00:30:36.509 --> 00:30:38.569 who has been coming to our church for a while 00:30:38.569 --> 00:30:44.099 and his His impression is that no one in our 00:30:44.099 --> 00:30:46.339 church is struggling with the same kinds of things 00:30:46.339 --> 00:30:50.519 that he and his family are struggling with. And 00:30:50.519 --> 00:30:53.940 that's not true. There are some of us that could 00:30:53.940 --> 00:30:56.299 identify very closely with what they're going 00:30:56.299 --> 00:31:00.200 through. That doesn't mean that we go around 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.980 hanging our dirty laundry out so everybody can 00:31:02.980 --> 00:31:05.400 see what our dirty laundry is and compare theirs. 00:31:06.140 --> 00:31:09.190 That's not the point. But there needs to be the 00:31:09.190 --> 00:31:12.009 kind of openness and transparency about it so 00:31:12.009 --> 00:31:15.069 that when someone expresses a need and we can 00:31:15.069 --> 00:31:18.890 identify with that, we do it readily. And we 00:31:18.890 --> 00:31:24.130 put our arm around them and we say, hey, I've 00:31:24.130 --> 00:31:27.589 been down this pathway. Maybe a few steps ahead 00:31:27.589 --> 00:31:30.069 of you, let me show you what God's done for me. 00:31:30.769 --> 00:31:33.410 A loving acceptance for those who are hurting 00:31:33.410 --> 00:31:37.819 and needy. And yet, at the same time, I want 00:31:37.819 --> 00:31:41.200 us to cultivate holiness and godliness in our 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:45.319 attitude and lifestyle. Holiness is not rigid. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:49.180 I don't see holiness as being sterile. I don't 00:31:49.180 --> 00:31:53.700 see holiness as harsh. But I see holiness in 00:31:53.700 --> 00:31:58.900 the Lord Jesus. Perfect holiness. And I see Him 00:31:58.900 --> 00:32:01.779 willing to reach out and embrace those who were 00:32:01.779 --> 00:32:07.039 searching, those who were lost. I see Him being 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:12.119 gracious and kind to sinners. I see Him dealing 00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:14.740 rather harshly, however, with those who are self 00:32:14.740 --> 00:32:19.059 -righteous, those who are legalistic, those who 00:32:19.059 --> 00:32:23.059 refuse to see their own need. Ah, but those who 00:32:23.059 --> 00:32:25.039 are hurting and needing, the Savior was open 00:32:25.039 --> 00:32:29.559 to them. As a church, we want to reflect Him. 00:32:30.599 --> 00:32:33.579 I want us to see ourselves as a hospital for 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:37.960 sinners, not as a museum for saints. Not where 00:32:37.960 --> 00:32:40.059 we put people up on the pedestal and say, oh, 00:32:40.099 --> 00:32:44.579 what a perfect specimen this one is. There are 00:32:44.579 --> 00:32:48.000 no perfect specimens of saints around. We're 00:32:48.000 --> 00:32:53.640 all growing. None of us have arrived. Though 00:32:53.640 --> 00:32:56.420 we may be saints, we still have sin that indwells 00:32:56.420 --> 00:33:00.549 us. and to varying degrees affects our lives. 00:33:01.470 --> 00:33:05.329 We need to be patient with one another in our 00:33:05.329 --> 00:33:09.089 struggle and our pilgrimage. Let's be the kind 00:33:09.089 --> 00:33:15.289 of a church noted for loving acceptance for all 00:33:15.289 --> 00:33:17.329 of us who are hurting and who are needy, who 00:33:17.329 --> 00:33:21.769 have not arrived. And yet at the same time pressing 00:33:21.769 --> 00:33:25.319 on toward holiness. pressing on toward being 00:33:25.319 --> 00:33:30.079 what God wants us to be. Not content simply to 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:36.359 be unholy. Not wallowing around in the mud hole 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:39.720 that we may be in now, but desiring to be clean, 00:33:39.920 --> 00:33:42.779 desiring to be whole. Pressing on toward that 00:33:42.779 --> 00:33:46.740 mark, yet patient with others as we work together 00:33:46.740 --> 00:33:52.660 in that direction by the grace of God. Some aging 00:33:52.660 --> 00:33:57.160 Christian wrote a poem that says part of what 00:33:57.160 --> 00:34:00.000 I'm trying to say to you. And it captures it 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:01.519 well enough I wanted to share it with you this 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:08.760 morning. It's called A Prayer. Lord, keep me 00:34:08.760 --> 00:34:11.219 from the habit of thinking I must say something 00:34:11.219 --> 00:34:16.739 on every subject and on every occasion. Release 00:34:16.739 --> 00:34:20.320 me from craving to straighten out everybody else's 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:26.269 affairs. Keep my mind free from the recital of 00:34:26.269 --> 00:34:29.929 endless details. Give me wings to get to the 00:34:29.929 --> 00:34:34.210 point. I ask for grace enough to listen to the 00:34:34.210 --> 00:34:38.610 tales of others' pains. Help me to endure them 00:34:38.610 --> 00:34:42.389 with patience, but seal my lips on my own aches 00:34:42.389 --> 00:34:45.250 and pains. They're increasing and my love of 00:34:45.250 --> 00:34:47.610 rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years 00:34:47.610 --> 00:34:52.079 go by. Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally 00:34:52.079 --> 00:34:57.059 it is possible that I may be mistaken. Keep me 00:34:57.059 --> 00:35:01.420 reasonably sweet. I do not want to be a saint. 00:35:01.559 --> 00:35:05.420 Some of them are so hard to live with. But a 00:35:05.420 --> 00:35:08.000 sour old person is one of the crowning works 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:12.079 of the devil. Give me the ability to see good 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:16.619 things in unexpected places and talents in unexpected 00:35:16.619 --> 00:35:20.480 people. And give me, O Lord, the grace to tell 00:35:20.480 --> 00:35:26.860 them so. Make me thoughtful, but not moody. Helpful, 00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:32.059 but not bossy. With my vast experiences of being 00:35:32.059 --> 00:35:36.039 put to the test, it seems a pity not to use it 00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:40.559 all. But thou, Lord, knowest that I want a few 00:35:40.559 --> 00:35:45.480 friends at the end." Well, that aging saint, 00:35:45.679 --> 00:35:49.480 whoever he or she was, said it pretty well, at 00:35:49.480 --> 00:35:51.400 least in part of what I'm saying to you this 00:35:51.400 --> 00:35:54.159 morning, that I want us to be the kind of church 00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:56.739 noted for loving acceptance of hurting and needing 00:35:56.739 --> 00:35:59.860 people, while at the same time practicing and 00:35:59.860 --> 00:36:03.119 pursuing and pressing on toward holiness. And 00:36:03.119 --> 00:36:05.420 I would like to say to you that I see this church 00:36:05.420 --> 00:36:11.039 largely in that category already. One of the 00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:13.460 blessings that I have as your pastor is seeing 00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:17.380 very little of the kind of judgmental spirit 00:36:17.380 --> 00:36:21.699 in our church that I've warned about. I thank 00:36:21.699 --> 00:36:25.739 God for that. I thank God for the warmth that 00:36:25.739 --> 00:36:30.980 I see. I thank God for the reaching out in many 00:36:30.980 --> 00:36:35.699 of you to others who are struggling along the 00:36:35.699 --> 00:36:41.320 path. That says something to me about authenticity 00:36:41.320 --> 00:36:47.780 in you as a Christian. And as that reflects our 00:36:47.780 --> 00:36:50.119 church, it says something about the authenticity 00:36:50.119 --> 00:36:54.300 of our church being the body of Jesus Christ. 00:36:55.039 --> 00:36:59.480 Because we are an organism. We're not just a 00:36:59.480 --> 00:37:02.539 meeting of people. We are an organism. We are 00:37:02.539 --> 00:37:07.199 a functioning, living thing related to Jesus 00:37:07.199 --> 00:37:11.739 Christ. And He is today desiring through this 00:37:11.739 --> 00:37:16.840 body to express his likeness to the world. And 00:37:16.840 --> 00:37:20.360 oh, I believe this spirit of loving acceptance, 00:37:20.539 --> 00:37:23.159 a desire to help people, to reach out to them 00:37:23.159 --> 00:37:27.059 in their needs. And not just passively, not waiting 00:37:27.059 --> 00:37:29.039 for them to come in the doors, but going out 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:33.219 to where they are. Getting outside the walls 00:37:33.219 --> 00:37:35.539 of our church. I want to talk more about that 00:37:35.539 --> 00:37:40.320 next week. Into those pockets of people that 00:37:40.320 --> 00:37:46.980 are in need. those groups of people that are 00:37:46.980 --> 00:37:51.219 crying out, oh, that God would enable us as individuals 00:37:51.219 --> 00:37:54.880 to say, Lord, what do you want me to do to reach 00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:58.940 out? Where do you want me to invest my gifts 00:37:58.940 --> 00:38:01.820 outside the walls of the church, touching the 00:38:01.820 --> 00:38:08.500 lives of those who are hurting and needy? What 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:11.079 I'm saying is, in the 90s, I want us to increasingly 00:38:11.079 --> 00:38:16.630 be known. as a church that loves people. There 00:38:16.630 --> 00:38:19.570 could not be a greater compliment paid to us 00:38:19.570 --> 00:38:22.050 that they should say that we faithfully teach 00:38:22.050 --> 00:38:25.070 the Word of God in this place and seek to obey 00:38:25.070 --> 00:38:29.949 it and that we love people here. I mean, really 00:38:29.949 --> 00:38:33.690 love them. Not just with a hearty handshake and, 00:38:33.909 --> 00:38:38.570 hi, how are you? But the kind of a spirit that 00:38:38.570 --> 00:38:45.900 says, if you're hurting, I care. And I want to 00:38:45.900 --> 00:38:51.320 do what I can to help you. I must stop. Let's 00:38:51.320 --> 00:38:58.039 pray. You know, even right now, as I talk this 00:38:58.039 --> 00:38:59.940 morning, I'm aware that there are some right 00:38:59.940 --> 00:39:05.260 here in this body of people hurting. Maybe you 00:39:05.260 --> 00:39:07.500 know somebody who's here this morning who's hurting. 00:39:08.340 --> 00:39:12.280 Oh, some word from you, some loving act from 00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:17.360 you could make a difference. Or maybe as we've 00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:23.179 talked, God has laid some person or some ministry 00:39:23.179 --> 00:39:25.380 in your heart outside the walls where you can 00:39:25.380 --> 00:39:31.679 have an impact for the love of Christ. God helped 00:39:31.679 --> 00:39:34.260 us to respond to these impressions that he lays 00:39:34.260 --> 00:39:40.449 in our hearts. And it may be that you're here 00:39:40.449 --> 00:39:45.630 without the Savior. That's why you're so hurting 00:39:45.630 --> 00:39:49.230 this morning. You don't know Him at all. You 00:39:49.230 --> 00:39:51.190 say, well if I come to the Savior, will my hurt 00:39:51.190 --> 00:39:57.250 stop? Not immediately. I can guarantee you He's 00:39:57.250 --> 00:40:02.710 the Healer. I promise you that He is the answer, 00:40:02.809 --> 00:40:07.760 the only answer to your need. And He will immediately 00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:11.760 care for your sin need. He will immediately upon 00:40:11.760 --> 00:40:16.300 your receiving Him give you eternal life. But 00:40:16.300 --> 00:40:21.699 the issues of your life may take some time. But 00:40:21.699 --> 00:40:24.300 if you turn in some other direction, you'll never 00:40:24.300 --> 00:40:32.159 find the answer, the healer. Turn to Him and 00:40:32.159 --> 00:40:39.170 trust in Him today. Lord, so imperfectly has 00:40:39.170 --> 00:40:45.949 this burden been spoken this morning. I pray 00:40:45.949 --> 00:40:52.010 that you will enable us together, however, to 00:40:52.010 --> 00:40:56.429 capture it. May the vision of the church you 00:40:56.429 --> 00:40:58.510 want us to be in the nighties become clearer 00:40:58.510 --> 00:41:01.269 to each of us as these weeks go by in the month 00:41:01.269 --> 00:41:05.559 of January. And I pray that we'll not only see 00:41:05.559 --> 00:41:08.559 that vision, but we will deeply desire in our 00:41:08.559 --> 00:41:12.960 hearts to be the kind of a church you want us 00:41:12.960 --> 00:41:20.480 to be. Effective, on the cutting edge, representing 00:41:20.480 --> 00:41:25.880 you well in our world at the close of this millennium. 00:41:27.519 --> 00:41:30.079 You are the eternal one. You never change. You're 00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:34.940 the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, eternal 00:41:34.940 --> 00:41:43.780 Lord, work in us, weak as we are. Work in us 00:41:43.780 --> 00:41:49.320 by your grace that we might be your faithful 00:41:49.320 --> 00:41:54.019 body in Grace Church, Roseville. In Jesus' name, 00:41:54.519 --> 00:41:54.860 Amen.