text stringlengths 7 443 |
|---|
• Praying for one another, forgiveness, and deepening relationships within the church |
• Requesting spiritual growth, strength, and guidance in times of weakness |
[0.00 --> 10.48] Well, good morning again, Hope. |
[12.44 --> 19.82] As Ken shared for us, he emphasized our calling as disciples of Christ is to be humble. |
[20.44 --> 23.66] I think it's very appropriate that Ken emphasize that for us. |
[23.88 --> 28.82] As we come to the end of our long, long series on the book of Jude, yeah? |
[28.82 --> 32.00] Anyone else ready to be done with this series? |
[33.94 --> 43.16] For the last couple of weeks now, it feels like the other pastors, so Sid and Dave, have done the hard work and laid the groundwork, actually, for my sermon today. |
[43.70 --> 48.64] Like, they've gone through the weeds of the dangers of brokenness and of false teaching. |
[49.16 --> 55.90] Whereas today, I get to encourage our congregation with the beautiful gospel message of standing strong in our faith. |
[55.90 --> 70.28] And as the loving pastor, pastoral leader that Jude was, as he was writing to his congregation, he ends his letter with encouragement for his church back then, but also for us today. |
[71.00 --> 77.44] And as we have heard, just like the church back then, we have our own false teachings that we must deal with. |
[77.44 --> 86.22] And as I meditated and prepared for my sermon and thinking back, so our expert zoologist in our home is Joseph. |
[86.52 --> 88.54] So he's really big into animals. |
[88.94 --> 91.86] It's a constant conversation around our dinner table. |
[91.94 --> 93.60] We talk about animal facts all the time. |
[93.60 --> 106.32] But it occurred to me that Jude's encouragement, especially for the leaders of the church, is kind of reflected in the image of, you know, how certain animals have herds, right? |
[106.74 --> 119.46] And the way the herds work is they keep the weak and vulnerable animals in the middle, meaning that they have the stronger and more able-bodied animals on the outside as protection for the herd. |
[119.46 --> 124.34] And that, to me, is sort of the image that Jude wants to get across to us. |
[124.58 --> 130.72] A message for the leaders, whether it be in an official level or in a volunteer or small group level. |
[131.06 --> 137.66] Whatever the case, he encourages the church, every one of us, to stand strong in the faith together. |
[139.14 --> 145.16] We'll touch more on this later, but this imagery is the encouragement that Pastor Jude's letter has for us. |
[145.16 --> 153.34] As we face the dangers of false teaching and being conformed to the ways of this world, we are called to stand firm, right? |
[153.50 --> 160.82] Persevere, contend for our faith because—and we do this together because we need each other. |
[160.82 --> 171.00] This calling to contend for the faith is not an individual calling, but a call to hold to true gospel teaching, so doctrine, |
[171.34 --> 176.92] and to live out our faith together under the ultimate shepherd in Jesus Christ our Lord. |
[177.46 --> 180.88] That is our calling, and that is the calling of the church. |
[181.30 --> 186.76] And so if you have your Bibles with you, we turn one more time to that one tiny book right before Revelation. |
[186.76 --> 190.88] We turn to Jude in the last verses from 17 to 22. |
[193.58 --> 194.44] We read, |
[194.44 --> 199.60] But dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. |
[200.14 --> 200.90] They said to you, |
[201.10 --> 206.08] In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. |
[206.88 --> 211.96] These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. |
[211.96 --> 219.68] But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, |
[220.08 --> 226.68] keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. |
[227.62 --> 230.10] And so be merciful to those who doubt. |
[231.06 --> 233.42] Save others by snatching them from the fire. |
[233.86 --> 240.46] To others, show mercy mixed with fear, hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. |
[240.46 --> 242.44] This is the word of the Lord. |
[244.72 --> 251.32] Now this, the initial verses from 17 to 19 were preached last week by Pastor Sid. |
[251.74 --> 256.58] And Sid said that he didn't want to steal anything from my sermon, so I just thought, oh, I'll steal from his sermon then. |
[258.64 --> 263.68] All kidding aside, the two key words that I take away from our previous two sermons on Jude |
[263.68 --> 267.58] is the two key words of doctrine and character. |
[268.46 --> 273.04] Doctrine, right teaching, and character, the living out of our faith. |
[273.82 --> 280.62] And these two things, this doctrine and character, both of these are the things that the false teachers failed at. |
[281.44 --> 286.94] See, when Jude says that these false leaders were following their ungodly desires |
[286.94 --> 292.70] and that they were immoral and sinful, he wasn't just calling them names because he didn't like them or something. |
[293.42 --> 297.72] He says that these leaders were ungodly in both doctrine and character. |
[298.94 --> 304.64] In other words, their whole life, word, and deed was not aligned to the way of Christ. |
[305.58 --> 309.86] Not just misaligned, not that they weren't trying hard enough, |
[309.86 --> 315.42] but they were intentionally not living to the way of Christ. |
[316.52 --> 322.60] They were living immoral lives because they judged and they taught that their idea of freedom was right. |
[323.16 --> 326.90] They had this arrogance to them that nobody could tell them what to do, |
[327.32 --> 328.62] that they were in the right. |
[329.12 --> 330.38] It was wrong posture. |
[330.38 --> 334.08] And along that line of thinking of false teaching and doctrine, |
[334.46 --> 337.28] they were denying the lordship of Jesus himself, |
[337.28 --> 340.52] probably suggesting that Jesus was not fully human, |
[340.80 --> 347.16] that our physical, sinful, broken bodies are just a shell for our real existence as simply souls |
[347.16 --> 349.70] that'll fly and float away to heaven someday. |
[350.62 --> 355.32] That excused them to do whatever they could, they wanted to, in their physical bodies. |
[356.32 --> 361.36] And Pastor Dave said a couple weeks ago that these false teachings, what we call heresies, |
[361.88 --> 363.58] they're not new, right? |
[363.58 --> 370.62] Heresies and false teachings have a way of re-presenting themselves in similar yet subtly different ways. |
[371.92 --> 375.54] So, thinking of that, what is the false teaching? |
[376.12 --> 378.48] And what does the culture tell us today? |
[380.20 --> 382.16] We say this all the time in our pulpit. |
[382.42 --> 384.36] Try to see if this is familiar to you. |
[385.04 --> 385.92] You do you. |
[385.92 --> 390.96] You're, quote-unquote, free to do whatever you want because that's real freedom. |
[391.68 --> 392.66] No restrictions. |
[393.34 --> 395.60] All of your life choices are in your hands. |
[395.96 --> 397.20] You control your destiny. |
[397.62 --> 398.76] There's no higher being. |
[400.14 --> 401.80] No one has authority over you. |
[404.36 --> 409.14] And part of this false teaching that our culture preaches at us and disciples us |
[409.14 --> 413.94] is a temptation that many of us face, especially if you grew up in the church. |
[413.94 --> 420.78] The temptation to fall into the thinking that our faith, the grace from the Lord of all creation, |
[421.30 --> 426.08] salvation itself, is just one little item in our shopping carts. |
[426.82 --> 426.94] Right? |
[427.00 --> 432.58] Dave used this image before of how Christians today define discipleship and following the way of Christ |
[432.58 --> 436.32] as just one more item to put in our consumer's shopping carts. |
[436.32 --> 438.32] Right? |
[438.48 --> 442.90] In other words, you can do whatever you want and live as if God's not part of your life, |
[443.00 --> 444.30] but you can still be Christian. |
[445.54 --> 448.76] Just have a Bible sitting in your bookcase somewhere that you never read. |
[449.20 --> 451.48] Or just wear a cross necklace. |
[451.86 --> 454.82] Or just have a Bible verse as the wallpaper on your phone. |
[455.22 --> 456.14] That's good enough. |
[457.46 --> 458.96] Nothing against those things. |
[459.04 --> 461.54] And if you have a cross necklace right now, I think they're beautiful. |
[461.54 --> 462.10] Right? |
[462.40 --> 464.48] That's not, I'm not speaking of those little things. |
[464.60 --> 471.74] I'm speaking against thinking that those little acts excuse us from doing whatever we want |
[471.74 --> 474.30] just because we're free in Christ. |
[477.24 --> 481.90] To be a disciple of Jesus, to be a real disciple of Jesus, |
[482.38 --> 485.76] is a calling to follow Him with our whole lives, |
[486.18 --> 490.62] our everything, in our doctrine and our character. |
[491.54 --> 496.44] And if we think we can somehow passively become a real disciple of Christ, |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.