1 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:06,320 We are. We started a new series last 2 00:00:06,320 --> 00:00:10,560 week on 1st and 2nd Thessalonians and basically what 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:15,000 I did was we are going over every time Paul says I am 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:20,520 thankful for you, meaning the Thessalonian church, and we want 5 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:24,320 to know why he's thankful. We could infer from Paul being 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:28,400 thankful for the church is that those characteristics is 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:29,880 something that we should strive for. 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:31,960 Those could be our spiritual goals. 9 00:00:32,479 --> 00:00:34,800 Those are signs of a healthy church. 10 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,600 So these are good things that as SBMC, as a church, we should 11 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,520 strive for. Last week, Paul was thankful 12 00:00:43,520 --> 00:00:48,520 that the church was, you know, full of faith, love and hope. 13 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:54,000 So we'll move on to the next thing that Paul is thankful for. 14 00:00:54,120 --> 00:00:58,160 And when I say Paul, I do mean Paul, Silas and Timothy, those 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:02,400 three co-authored these letters. But for the sake of the sermon, 16 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:09,640 I'll just, I'll just say Paul. When I read articles or attend 17 00:01:09,640 --> 00:01:12,880 seminars, you know, when I go to a conference or something, one 18 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:17,280 of those topics that I find fascinating or very interesting 19 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:21,720 at the least is topics on church visitors. 20 00:01:23,360 --> 00:01:27,400 For, for instance, there's one particular study survey I should 21 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:31,200 ask, I should say it asked people looking for a church 22 00:01:31,200 --> 00:01:33,120 like, what are what are the three like? 23 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:36,360 What are the most important factors in your decision to join 24 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:38,440 a church? And so there will be like a 25 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:40,000 bunch of things. And then they would just list 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:46,360 whatever applies the top three reasons or top three things that 27 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:49,040 people are looking for. It's probably something that you 28 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:52,040 might guess. It's number one was preaching. 2 29 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,320 was worship style, whether it was contemporary, traditional 30 00:01:55,320 --> 00:01:58,360 and all that. And #3 was praise the music. 31 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,040 But at the same time, once people found the church, it was 32 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:07,000 a separate survey. They surveyed 400 people. 33 00:02:07,920 --> 00:02:10,000 They asked, OK, you pick the church finally. 34 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,960 Now, why did you pick the church that you you were attending? 35 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:18,880 The number one and two reasons were about welcoming #1 being I 36 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,680 felt very welcomed by the congregation #2 being I felt 37 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:25,560 very welcomed by the pastor or one of the pastors. 38 00:02:27,120 --> 00:02:31,160 So what are people looking for? Is it the preaching or is it the 39 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,160 welcoming? Who knows? 40 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:38,280 I don't know. All I know is that these surveys 41 00:02:38,760 --> 00:02:41,920 reveal that people care about many different things. 42 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,600 They care about parking location, they care about child 43 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,320 care. They they care about the age of 44 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,520 the congregation and denomination. 45 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:55,720 They care about a lot of things. By the way, I saw that only 10% 46 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,400 of Christians are willing to drive 30 minutes or more. 47 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:02,800 I think we have like a third of our church driving 30 minutes or 48 00:03:02,800 --> 00:03:04,760 more. So I am thankful for for all of 49 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,400 you guys. But these surveys, all it tells 50 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:14,680 us is what people prefer it it it teaches about people's 51 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:20,680 preferences. Only Scripture tells us what we 52 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:26,000 need, what's important about a church, what makes the church 53 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:28,120 healthy? What what what's something that 54 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:30,600 we need to look for when when thinking about joining a church. 55 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:34,600 Let's not worry about preferences. 56 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,800 Surveys only reveal what other people care about. 57 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:43,560 Let's care about what Scripture tells us, what we need, and what 58 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,960 we need. The simple answer is what we all 59 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:52,400 need is a healthy church. For the second time in this 60 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,880 letter letter, Paul thanks God for this church and today we 61 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:02,160 will find out why it will reveal mark of a healthy church. 62 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:03,600 That's the question we'll be answering today. 63 00:04:03,880 --> 00:04:05,520 What is the mark of a healthy church? 64 00:04:05,520 --> 00:04:09,800 Now you know, whether it's like, hey, what's Paul thankful for? 65 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:12,760 What, What, what does he think, you know, is a healthy church? 66 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,800 It's it's all the same. I'm just rewarding it each week 67 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:19,440 a little bit differently. But essentially we're talking 68 00:04:19,440 --> 00:04:21,800 about the same thing. What are the marks of the 69 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,920 Thessalonian church that makes it healthy, that makes Paul 70 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,040 thankful God for and all of that. 71 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:32,920 What is the mark of a healthy church, A healthy church? 72 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:39,280 In a healthy church, number one, the word of God is preached 73 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,440 faithfully. The word of God is preached 74 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:50,440 faithfully. I know I just said the preaching 75 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,120 is what, what people look for the most. 76 00:04:54,360 --> 00:04:55,640 And I said, don't worry about all that. 77 00:04:55,640 --> 00:05:00,200 Just look for a healthy church. But when I say preaching, I 78 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:03,640 don't mean what, what most of people say when they're, when 79 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:05,600 they say I'm, you know, preaching is important. 80 00:05:06,120 --> 00:05:09,760 What most people say when they say I care about preaching is 81 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:13,160 the style. OK, we're not, I'm not going to 82 00:05:13,160 --> 00:05:16,160 talk about style too much. I'll just say this about style. 83 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:22,480 Just avoid the 2 extremes. 1 extreme is, is really the, the, 84 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:28,040 the pastor's personality, right? Just, you know, very little 85 00:05:28,040 --> 00:05:31,000 Bible, you know, it's very inspiring, you know, maybe very 86 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,840 funny, very passionate, but it's just all personality and then 87 00:05:34,840 --> 00:05:37,440 very little content. And the other extreme is just 88 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,240 all content. And there is no pastoral, no, 89 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:43,280 no, you know, it's just all to the head. 90 00:05:43,560 --> 00:05:47,920 It's like a seminary professor teaching you a lesson. 91 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:51,200 We need sermons that go to the heart, not just the head. 92 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,680 So those are the 2 extreme examples. 93 00:05:54,080 --> 00:05:56,280 Other than that, styles don't matter. 94 00:05:56,760 --> 00:06:00,560 OK, don't, don't pick a church. I know most of the guys looking 95 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:04,080 around, this is your home church, but someday, let's say 96 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:05,960 you move far and you have to look for a church. 97 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:12,560 Think about these things. All right, So what we need, OK, 98 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,360 I'm going to talk about three things when it comes to faithful 99 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,120 preaching. Faithful preaching is preaching 100 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,480 the gospel. OK, let's turn to 1st 101 00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:25,760 Thessalonians chapter 2. I'm going to read 2 one through 102 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:37,280 9. OK, one through 9 For you 103 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:40,080 yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you 104 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,960 was not without result. On the contrary, after we had 105 00:06:43,960 --> 00:06:46,760 previously suffered and we were treated outrageously in 106 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:51,440 Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak 107 00:06:51,440 --> 00:06:55,280 the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition. 108 00:06:56,160 --> 00:06:59,800 For our exhortation didn't come from error or impurity or an 109 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,640 intent to deceive. Instead, just as we have been 110 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:08,120 approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak not 111 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,640 to please people, but rather God who examines our hearts. 112 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,440 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had 113 00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:18,440 greedy motives. God is our witness, and we 114 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,200 didn't seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 115 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,040 Although we could have been burdened as Christ's apostles, 116 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:29,000 instead we were gentle among you as a nurse nurtures her own 117 00:07:29,000 --> 00:07:31,840 children. We care so much for you that we 118 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,200 were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God, but 119 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,800 also our own lives, because you have become dear to us for you. 120 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,920 Remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters, working 121 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:45,520 night and day so that we will not burden any of you. 122 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:50,880 We preach God's gospel to you. That's a lot. 123 00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,840 So let's start dissecting what we just read. 124 00:07:55,920 --> 00:08:00,120 All right, Verses 2489 talks about the same thing. 125 00:08:00,240 --> 00:08:01,960 OK, It's about preaching the gospel. 126 00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:07,200 The first part of faithful preaching is that you preach the 127 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:09,840 gospel. That is the most important thing 128 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:11,960 about preaching. Look at verse 2. 129 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:16,360 Speak the gospel of God to you. Verse 4, we are entrusted with 130 00:08:16,360 --> 00:08:18,720 the gospel. Verse 8, Share with you the 131 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,560 gospel. Verse 9 We preach God's gospel 132 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:24,800 to you in these short verses 4 times. 133 00:08:25,440 --> 00:08:27,280 We speak the gospel. We preach the gospel. 134 00:08:27,440 --> 00:08:28,840 We are entrusted with the gospel. 135 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,840 We share with you the gospel four times. 136 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:36,600 Paul makes it clear that is the most important thing about what 137 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:42,400 they are teaching the church. Paul doesn't say we preached 138 00:08:42,520 --> 00:08:45,680 principles to you. We he didn't say VR, DS, Bible 139 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:48,960 lessons or historical backgrounds or clever stories. 140 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,680 He says they preach the gospel to the church. 141 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,240 In fact, Paul and his friends, they thought preaching the 142 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:02,440 gospel was so important that in verse 2IN spite of great 143 00:09:02,440 --> 00:09:06,800 opposition, they were literally their lives were in danger. 144 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:12,680 They chose to preach the gospel. When I say gospel, I mean the 145 00:09:12,680 --> 00:09:15,200 gospel that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. 146 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:25,400 I grew up all my life hearing for the most part just 147 00:09:25,400 --> 00:09:28,880 moralistic sermons. I truly thought faithful 148 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:32,400 preaching was preaching moralism, a Bible lesson and do 149 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,960 it. In fact, the first four years of 150 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:41,080 me being a pastor, I could honestly say that all my sermons 151 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:46,520 were just full of morals. In those four years I was a 152 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,360 youth pastor. So I am sorry for those youth 153 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:53,920 kids back then. I have two in here, Isaac and 154 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:57,120 Hannah, but they're still Christian. 155 00:09:57,280 --> 00:10:03,480 God's grace thankful there after 20 something years there there 156 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,920 at my church. But more preaching focuses on 157 00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,240 what I should do. It's all about human behavior 158 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:14,120 and effort. So let's say I'm preaching on 159 00:10:14,120 --> 00:10:17,760 Good Samaritan, OK. And the lesson is, hey, are you 160 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:22,200 too busy to help others? So this week, go home and help 161 00:10:22,200 --> 00:10:23,560 somebody. Amen. 162 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:29,600 None of this is bad, but we have to preach the gospel as well. 163 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,080 We can't make what to do the main thing. 164 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:36,480 In the long run. If this is all the preaching 165 00:10:36,480 --> 00:10:40,920 that you hear, then I believe that it'll be more damage might 166 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,480 be done than than actually helping. 167 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,320 It trains us to ignore our heart change. 168 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,600 It focuses on just outside change. 169 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:53,480 It focuses on behavioral change and change happens when our 170 00:10:53,480 --> 00:10:56,840 heart changes. People think that if you do good 171 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:58,800 things, eventually you will change. 172 00:10:58,800 --> 00:11:01,600 That's not true. You can only fake it so long. 173 00:11:03,240 --> 00:11:06,720 You take Jesus out of the Good Samaritan story and it could 174 00:11:06,720 --> 00:11:12,200 literally be any religion. There's a sick guy opposite a 175 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:14,120 race that normally doesn't like each other. 176 00:11:15,280 --> 00:11:18,880 Help, help, help that person, help a sick person lying in the 177 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,040 street. That literally could be any 178 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:24,920 religion. It's only when we point out the 179 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:30,960 gospel in the story that it becomes Christian that Jesus is 180 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:34,800 the true and better Samaritan. He binds our wounds, He pays the 181 00:11:34,800 --> 00:11:39,600 cost and he promises to return. So we show mercy. 182 00:11:39,600 --> 00:11:44,240 The application is we show mercy because we have been shown mercy 183 00:11:44,400 --> 00:11:47,760 by God. All the things that we do is in 184 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:50,680 response of the gospel coming into our lives. 185 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:55,760 You have to preach the gospel in the story, otherwise it's just 186 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,720 moralism. So if there's, you know, 187 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:03,040 beginning of the year, there's a lot of people visiting churches. 188 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:09,320 And if you are visiting our church today, don't just random 189 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:13,160 randomly visit churches. Ask me or one of the pastors for 190 00:12:13,160 --> 00:12:15,200 help. We will give you a list of 191 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,840 churches where we think faithful preaching happens. 192 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,960 I remember not to call you up, but David and Julia, I think I 193 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:24,720 emailed you a list of church to check out. 194 00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:29,040 I gave you a list of all the terrible churches so that our 195 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:32,880 church looks good. No, I'm just kidding. 196 00:12:33,160 --> 00:12:37,600 I promised we will give you a list of churches where we think 197 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:42,960 it's good preaching. OK, if you are a member of our 198 00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:47,280 church, don't ask me for a list. Come on, trying to do here. 199 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:53,560 OK, so faithful preaching is gospel preaching and also 200 00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:59,080 there's a lot of in here, right? Also, number 22 of the first 201 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:02,440 point is preaching with no ulterior motives. 202 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:04,400 This one, I'll keep it short because I think we all agree, 203 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:09,560 but let me reread parts of verse 3456. 204 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,000 It talks about like, hey, we didn't do this. 205 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:16,400 Instead we did that right? For exhortation didn't come from 206 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:19,320 error, not from impurity or intended deceive. 207 00:13:19,680 --> 00:13:23,680 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted 208 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:27,600 with the gospel and not to please people, but but to rather 209 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:31,520 God to examine our hearts, Verse 5, we never used flattering 210 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,480 speech. We never had greedy motives, as 211 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,880 God is my witness. We didn't seek glory from 212 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:40,080 people, from you, or from others. 213 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,480 So Paul is going on and all about, hey, we didn't deceive 214 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,320 anybody. We weren't trying to please 215 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:48,320 people. We only try to please God. 216 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,360 We weren't flattering you, we didn't have any greedy motives. 217 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:54,920 We weren't seeking, you know, self glory. 218 00:13:55,280 --> 00:13:57,200 He was just saying we taught you. 219 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,960 We preach to you with no ulterior motives. 220 00:14:02,160 --> 00:14:05,640 I'll keep this short because I think this is obvious, but I 221 00:14:05,640 --> 00:14:08,320 think sometimes for some people it is not too obvious. 222 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,400 Maybe because they're caught up on something. 223 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:16,400 But anytime a preaching is done with too much flesh, like there 224 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:21,640 is prophecy healing our church, me myself included, we do 225 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:22,960 believe in all the spiritual gifts. 226 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:25,760 We do believe in prophecy and healing and all of that. 227 00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:27,840 But we just don't think it should be happening on the 228 00:14:27,840 --> 00:14:29,640 stage. OK. 229 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,720 The the sermon is too emotional talking about, you know, apart 230 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,000 from the gospel, of course. And then let's say there's a 231 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,560 very emotional sermon. And right after it's like, sign 232 00:14:41,560 --> 00:14:45,720 up for missions. Perhaps those are ulterior 233 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:50,680 motives, a sermon that is always positive. 234 00:14:51,320 --> 00:14:58,240 Sometimes we have to preach things that are not popular and 235 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,360 all of that. OK, so no ulterior motives. 236 00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:07,280 And the last thing Paul says is you have to preach like a 237 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:08,960 parent. That is really important that 238 00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:12,400 that is a sign of a healthy church is when the preaching is 239 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,480 like done by a father or mother for 7-8. 240 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,720 It's like it's got to be motherly now for seven. 241 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:21,440 Although we would we could have been a burden as Christ, as 242 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,240 apostles. Instead, we were gentle among 243 00:15:23,240 --> 00:15:27,160 you as a nurse who nurtures their own children. 244 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:30,760 We care so much for you that we were pleased to share with you 245 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,960 not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives. 246 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,720 This is motherly caring and sharing kind of teaching. 247 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:43,600 And then 11 to 12 is now the fatherly type, as you know, like 248 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:47,680 a father with his own children. We encouraged, we comforted and 249 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,640 we implored each one of you to walk worthy of God. 250 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:58,080 OK, to to teach, to encourage, to sometimes correct all of that 251 00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,520 this motherly love and this fatherly love is required. 252 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:08,320 And when when accompanied by the gospel out of the three things, 253 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,720 I'm pretty sure as BMC we preach the gospel from day one. 254 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:16,440 I'm I'm I'm certain of that. The second one we preach without 255 00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:21,760 ulterior motives. I think OK, my opinion is we do 256 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,920 do a pretty good job not preaching with ulterior motives, 257 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,320 preaching like a parent. That's the part where I have 258 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:32,360 failed in that area more than once. 259 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:38,160 One time I, I preached A sermon and a complaint claiming 260 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:43,360 sometimes complaints are they just disagree so that I just, I 261 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,000 can't change our beliefs or teaching. 262 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:55,200 But I got a, a remark a little, you know, that hey, your sermon 263 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,480 last week, there was a little mean. 264 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,880 It was a little mean spirited. And I was like, no way, I'm a 265 00:17:00,880 --> 00:17:02,720 nice guy. And I listened to it and I was 266 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:06,040 like, OK, so I'm a little mean. I don't know if I was having a 267 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:09,599 bad week or a bad day, but someone told one of our elders 268 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:13,400 and then the elders say, hey, this is a feedback, let me share 269 00:17:13,400 --> 00:17:14,640 with you, let me know what you think. 270 00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:18,640 And I and I was given that feedback and I said, OK, well 271 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,640 this part I do agree. The other one I'm not sure, but 272 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:27,079 definitely guilty of being too harsh. 273 00:17:28,720 --> 00:17:31,480 And no one complained about this per SE. 274 00:17:32,560 --> 00:17:41,680 But I know that at times I was too soft, especially on I 275 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,880 probably would say that at least a few times I tiptoed around a 276 00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:50,200 difficult part of the Bible. There are regrets at times I'm 277 00:17:50,200 --> 00:17:52,360 like, man, I should have been more straightforward. 278 00:17:52,360 --> 00:17:54,800 I know it would have been a little offensive, but I should 279 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:59,240 have just said it directly and, and, and I tiptoed around 280 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,000 something. No one complaints about it, but 281 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,360 it it hurts my conscience. So while preaching cannot be too 282 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:11,520 harsh, it can't be too soft, There is this middle where we 283 00:18:11,720 --> 00:18:15,680 faithful preaching kind of holds both together, both firm and 284 00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:21,600 loving at the same time. OK, so a healthy church, that 285 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:23,560 part is me and whoever's preaching. 286 00:18:23,920 --> 00:18:31,840 OK, now the second part is all y'all everyone else healthy 287 00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:39,320 church, faithful preaching 1-2 faithful receiving the word of 288 00:18:39,320 --> 00:18:43,000 God is received even in difficult circumstances, 289 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:48,240 faithful reception, receiving of the word of God. 290 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:53,840 Now, if you are visiting churches, this part you you 291 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,400 cannot really see by just visiting. 292 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:59,160 OK, so you could kind of judge the preaching, but this part 293 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,720 hopefully, you know, you would think faithful preaching there, 294 00:19:02,720 --> 00:19:04,880 you know, it's there is faithful reception of the word. 295 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:11,960 But this one you cannot tell. Let's read verse 13 and 14. 296 00:19:16,560 --> 00:19:19,800 Paul said something very similar in last week's sermon. 297 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:22,320 He says you welcomed my message with joy. 298 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:24,840 And this week he says something similar. 299 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,840 This is why we constantly thank God, because when you receive 300 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:34,680 the Word of God that you heard from us, you welcomed it not as 301 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:39,680 just human message, but as it truly is the Word of God, which 302 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:42,720 also works effectively in you who believe. 303 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:46,200 For you brothers and sisters, became imitators of God's 304 00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:49,760 churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, since you have 305 00:19:49,760 --> 00:19:52,840 also suffered the same things from people of your own country, 306 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:57,600 just as they did from the Jews. Sorry 15 two who killed the Lord 307 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,920 Jesus and the prophets and persecuted us? 308 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,760 They displease God and are hostile to everyone. 309 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:07,960 I'll stop there. So 13 is saying that you 310 00:20:07,960 --> 00:20:12,760 received the word of God like it was from God, and the last week 311 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,840 you received the word of God with great joy. 312 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:27,640 And then 141516 is the result of of a church that is faithfully 313 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:31,080 receiving the Word of God. Now they are able to persevere 314 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:33,880 through persecution. People are dying, but they are 315 00:20:33,880 --> 00:20:36,000 being faithful. They are sharing God's Word. 316 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,640 This is the fruit, the evidence of a church that is has received 317 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:47,720 the Word of God faithfully. I think many people listen to 318 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,080 sermons. We listen to the ones preached 319 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:56,440 at this church sometimes. Maybe not all of you, but I know 320 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,080 handful of you. You guys also listen to sermons, 321 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:04,000 you know, from kind of famous, well known pastors, like a 322 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:09,000 podcast or something. Our church, we're on Spotify by 323 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,760 the way, we're getting solid 5 downloads per week. 324 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,760 Let's get to 7, OK? That's our magic number. 325 00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:20,320 But whether you're listening to someone famous or our church, we 326 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:25,160 all listen. But I would say out of the ones 327 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:31,000 who listen, only few people might receive the word. 328 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:36,080 Paul doesn't say that you heard my message, that you heard my 329 00:21:36,080 --> 00:21:39,760 preaching. He says that more than once you 330 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,960 received it. Receiving means to accept. 331 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:49,200 It means to own it, and it means to live it out as truth in your 332 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:52,280 life. The Greek word used here for 333 00:21:52,280 --> 00:21:57,040 receiving is often used between teacher and a student. 334 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:02,200 So if a math teacher is teaching the student math, the student is 335 00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:04,160 going to. OK, well I guess that's how 336 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,280 multiplication works. And you, you receive it, you own 337 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:10,080 it, you study it, you memorize it. 338 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,960 And then in a test, you write the answers based on what you 339 00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,440 learn. You receive that as truth. 340 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:21,560 And now you're living it out. It's not passive listening, but 341 00:22:21,560 --> 00:22:25,480 it's active faith. So receive it, you accept it as 342 00:22:25,480 --> 00:22:28,160 true, you own it and you live it out. 343 00:22:31,760 --> 00:22:34,520 There are people in this service. 344 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,960 Well, maybe not their service, but we had in our first service, 345 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:38,880 we had, you know, a couple of youth kids. 346 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,160 And even if you're not kids, maybe you're here because 347 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:44,840 somebody brought you here, a friend brings you here, maybe 348 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,200 your spouse brings you here, maybe somebody drags you, I 349 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,480 don't know. But maybe you hear the message 350 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:56,360 or maybe you've hearing messages most of your life. 351 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:03,160 But at a certain point, you have to figure out, you have to 352 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:08,840 decide if you're going to receive it, not just hear it. 353 00:23:11,360 --> 00:23:15,400 At a certain point in your life, you have to realize, should I 354 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,400 actually believe, should I actually apply these things into 355 00:23:18,400 --> 00:23:23,320 my life? Once you're ready, of course, 356 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:30,400 because until you receive it, there will be very little change 357 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:34,200 in your life, if at all. There could be temporary changes 358 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:40,400 motivated by other things, but if you want true heart change, 359 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,640 if you want to see the world differently, if you want to have 360 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:49,520 hope, faith, joy, love, you have to receive it. 361 00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,360 Let the word work in you so that your heart changes. 362 00:23:54,440 --> 00:23:57,080 At a certain point, you got to be like, oh man, this is kind of 363 00:23:57,080 --> 00:24:00,160 a waste of time if I keep coming here and not getting anything 364 00:24:00,200 --> 00:24:03,800 out of it. So ask yourself, is it time for 365 00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:09,600 me to receive it? Because once you receive it, 366 00:24:10,200 --> 00:24:13,360 there will be real tangible fruit that you will notice in 367 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:16,480 your life. This church, there was real 368 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,880 tangible fruit. They were going through the 369 00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:21,720 persecution. They're saying Paul says the 370 00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:25,160 same people that killed Jesus, the same thing is happening to 371 00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,920 you. People are getting killed, but 372 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:29,800 there's joy, there's hope, there's love. 373 00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:33,240 They're serving, there's preaching, there's real fruit. 374 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:39,160 In the beginning of my sermon, I mentioned the survey of why 375 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:43,240 people, you know, chose a church and I said number one and two 376 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:45,160 reasons are both related to welcoming. 377 00:24:45,600 --> 00:24:49,640 A lot of churches know this. The church that I used to work 378 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:54,320 for before here for whether it was the English ministry or 379 00:24:54,320 --> 00:24:58,600 whether the Korean ministry, both ministries, a paid staff 380 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:01,400 was in charge of welcoming. They wanted to make sure they 381 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:04,960 know welcoming has a big something, you know, a lot to do 382 00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:09,280 with retention of newcomers. So they had a paid staff doing 383 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:11,960 welcoming. I was the welcoming on the 384 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,400 English side. They they paid me to welcome 385 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:16,760 people. Terrible idea. 386 00:25:18,360 --> 00:25:20,040 Never remember anyone's name anyway. 387 00:25:22,920 --> 00:25:25,720 So a lot of churches know this. So they kind of do welcoming 388 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:30,320 well by hiring people. I think that is a terrible 389 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:34,400 approach, honestly. I think now we're trying to 390 00:25:34,400 --> 00:25:39,920 artificially, artificially manufacture fruits into the 391 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,160 church. A church that preaches 392 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,880 faithfully, a church that receives the word faithfully. 393 00:25:47,320 --> 00:25:51,360 They will have fruits. They can handle difficult 394 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,200 circumstances. They can handle the ups and 395 00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:57,400 downs of their personal lives, of the church's life. 396 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:03,760 And also a church that preaches faithfully and receives the word 397 00:26:03,760 --> 00:26:06,840 faithfully. They will naturally be welcoming 398 00:26:06,840 --> 00:26:12,080 to new people, new people who are different, older, younger, 399 00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:14,960 natural fruit will be, they will be able to, they'll have a big 400 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,600 heart and they'll have to, they will receive accept a lot of 401 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:24,040 people, healthy churches don't manufacture fruit. 402 00:26:24,760 --> 00:26:27,040 They produce fruit. They bear fruit. 403 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:37,440 So is SBMCA healthy church? I think that is the wrong 404 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:39,840 question to ask. That is not the point of the 405 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:42,280 sermon. It's not to hey guys, let's make 406 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,520 our church healthy. Let's have these characteristics 407 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:48,200 and now I'm trying to manufacture fruit. 408 00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,320 Better approach is am IA healthy Christian? 409 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,200 Am I receiving the word faithfully? 410 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,360 Am I receiving it? Am I owning it? 411 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:12,960 Am I living it out? A big litmus litmus test to see 412 00:27:12,960 --> 00:27:17,560 the fruits in our lives is how we handle a crisis. 413 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,920 We're living in a crazy world in a crazy time. 414 00:27:25,720 --> 00:27:31,120 I'm sure everyone here, if if not most, are at least at the 415 00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:33,280 least heard about what's going on in Minneapolis. 416 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:36,960 I feel like George Floyd happened just, I don't know, not 417 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:38,200 too long ago it was during COVID. 418 00:27:38,200 --> 00:27:43,000 There has to be 5 years. But now five years, 5-6 years 419 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:47,240 later, there are protests and just violent events happening 420 00:27:52,780 --> 00:27:59,300 and the fruit is this. How do you respond to something 421 00:27:59,300 --> 00:28:05,000 like that? People today are looking for 422 00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,560 church because they want answers, they want peace, they 423 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,880 want wisdom, they want hope. They look at the world. 424 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:12,880 They're like there is no hope in this world. 425 00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:15,720 And then some of them will come to church and said, tell me, 426 00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:20,880 where is this hope? If you're not faithfully 427 00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:24,520 receiving the word, you're going to be like, good question 428 00:28:24,520 --> 00:28:26,320 because I don't know where the hope is the either. 429 00:28:28,720 --> 00:28:31,960 If you don't let the word of God, the gospel of God change 430 00:28:31,960 --> 00:28:35,680 your heart, your response to a crisis like that will be exactly 431 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,200 the same as somebody who doesn't know God. 432 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:40,960 It'll be like, you're right, there's no hope. 433 00:28:45,000 --> 00:28:47,880 But this church, they respond, they're different. 434 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:52,280 It's a time where Christians are literally getting killed. 435 00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:59,160 And Paul says your your labour is motivated by love. 436 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,960 Your faith is produced. Your work is faced, faith 437 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:06,040 produced by faith. You have endurance inspired by 438 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,840 hope. You receive the message with 439 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:15,720 joy. The Word of God worked in them. 440 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,160 They clung to the gospel. Hope amid suffering. 441 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:28,560 When the gospel shapes our hearts, do you know what 442 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,040 happens? You see fruit in these moments, 443 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:36,280 these key moments. You don't respond like everyone 444 00:29:36,280 --> 00:29:39,240 else. Panic, paranoia. 445 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:41,680 I'm moving to Canada. I don't know how many times I 446 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:48,200 heard that these days. No, we don't respond like that. 447 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:53,360 We encourage, we're able to encourage grieving people. 448 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:55,080 You say, Oh my gosh, that's going on. 449 00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:57,480 It's time for action. It's time to take care of 450 00:29:57,480 --> 00:30:00,840 people. It's time to pray for leaders, 451 00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,600 even the ones that you don't like, especially the ones you 452 00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:10,560 don't like. Pray for police officers, pray 453 00:30:10,560 --> 00:30:17,040 for victims, pray for peace. Us Christians, we don't claim to 454 00:30:17,040 --> 00:30:18,600 have all the answers to the problems. 455 00:30:19,040 --> 00:30:22,560 We don't claim to know how to fix the world because we believe 456 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,360 that Jesus will return to do just that. 457 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:31,360 But meanwhile, we have to bear fruit in this world. 458 00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,760 We need to have compassion when there's hatred all around. 459 00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,840 We need to have hope. People are coming here looking 460 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:44,400 for hope. We have to have hope, not 461 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:47,880 despair. We need to have courage, not 462 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:51,400 fear. And how do you do that? 463 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,960 Receive the word. This is not therapy, this is not 464 00:30:59,440 --> 00:31:03,840 advice, this is not positive vibes. 465 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:12,000 It's the truth of God. The truth of God says this world 466 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:15,840 became sinful, started with Adam and Eve. 467 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:23,120 It is a fallen world, so don't be shocked when you see the 468 00:31:23,120 --> 00:31:28,920 results of sin all around you. But the gospel doesn't end with 469 00:31:28,920 --> 00:31:30,800 we're sinners, that there's sin all over the world. 470 00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:37,480 Gospel starts with I'm a Sinner, but it ends with, you know what? 471 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:42,080 That's why I need a savior. That's why this world needs a 472 00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,600 Savior in Jesus Christ who will rescue us from that sin. 473 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:52,560 That is our hope, that is our motivation, and that is the 474 00:31:52,560 --> 00:31:57,080 fruit that we will bear and the world will look at us. 475 00:31:58,000 --> 00:32:04,240 They'll learn our job is just point to the cross in these 476 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:10,000 messed up times. Receive the word main point. 477 00:32:10,360 --> 00:32:15,640 A healthy church is marked by faithful preaching and receiving 478 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:17,840 of God's words. Let's pray.