I'm in.
Road, road, road, road.
Hey, good morning, welcome to Verity Baptist Church, Manila.
Let's start our first service and let's open our hymn book to hymn number 88.
Let's sing the song, Sometime We'll Understand.
Hymn number 88, Sometime We'll Understand.
Hymn number 88, all the prayers.
Ready, everybody sing.
Not now, but in the coming years.
If maybe in the better land.
We'll read the meaning of our tears.
And there's sometime we'll understand.
Then just in God through all the day.
Fear not for he who'll hold my hand.
Though dark thy face you'll see and pray.
Sometime, sometime we'll understand.
We'll catch a road trip again.
And finish what we here began.
And when all the mysteries explain.
Then we'll understand.
Then just in God through all the days.
Fear not for he who'll hold my hand.
Though dark thy face you'll see and pray.
Sometime, sometime we'll understand.
We'll know why clouds instead of sun.
Where over many cherries stand.
Why so messy when stars began.
Tis there sometime we'll understand.
Then just in God through all the days.
Fear not for he who'll hold my hand.
Though dark thy face you'll see and pray.
Sometime, sometime we'll understand.
Or at last God knows who's the way he holds the key.
He'll guide us in our hood here again.
Sometime we'll tear those heights we'll see.
Yes, there up there we'll understand.
Then just in God through all the days.
Fear not for he who'll hold my hand.
Though dark thy face you'll see and pray.
Sometime, sometime we'll understand.
Amen.
All right, good morning everybody.
Welcome to Verity Baptist Church.
Take out your bullets in here today.
And our verse of the week is Acts chapter 6 verse 1.
The Bible reads,
And in those days when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews,
because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
That's a great verse there.
We are a family integrated church,
meaning children and infants are welcome during the services.
We do have a mother baby room back there for your convenience,
as well as the ladies restroom.
The men's restroom is up here in front.
Remember, no eating during the service.
Maintain a professional atmosphere and keep the children from running,
making noise during the church service.
Weekly service times listed.
First service is at 10 a.m.
Second service at 11.15.
Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m.
So many times listed.
4 p.m. here on Wednesday's meeting at the church building.
On Saturdays all day at Case and Memorial Circle,
with lunch provided by church.
And we do have soul eating, of course, this afternoon around 1.45.
We have ice cream arriving today around 12.30
because of our record attendance last week.
And so we have a lot of ice cream.
It's going to arrive at 12.30, so feel free to partake in that.
But we're still going to try, no matter how full you are,
to get started at 1.45 for soul eating.
You can work it off, you know.
But anyways, that's coming at 12.30.
We do have soul eating this afternoon.
Salations and baptisms are listed there for the year,
as well as the month to date.
Birthdays and anniversaries down there below
for the month of March.
Bible memorization challenge.
So option one, for ages 11 and above,
is memorizing any chapter perfectly.
Option two, for the next week,
is 1 Corinthians 11 verses 17 through 34.
It shouldn't be hard to figure out what the L is
for the alphabet of Bible doctrines.
The Lord's Supper.
Okay, so I intentionally timed it at that time.
The L is kind of given, so I'm just going to let you know.
So I'll be preaching on the Lord's Supper next week.
We will take the Lord's Supper on Easter in two weeks.
So last year we took it the week before Easter.
We're going to do it on Easter this year.
But next week I'll preach a sermon on the Lord's Supper
to show you what our belief is on the topic.
And anyways, today is the last day to quote Acts 6 verses 1 through 7.
Ages 8 to 10, memorizing seven verses perfectly.
Below the age of eight, memorizing one verse perfectly.
Today is our monthly prayer meeting that will take place after.
We also have choir practice here today, which will be after the prayer meeting.
Next week there's a basketball fellowship event.
You can ask Brother June for more details.
April 5th through April 9th is the Sony Mega-Marathon.
So QMC is closed for Thursday and Friday.
And so I just found that out last night.
So we'll figure out what the schedule is for that.
I'll let you know next week.
We'll mention it in the group chat.
But for Thursday and Friday I guess QMC is not going to be open.
Of course in two weeks is our Easter service.
It will be Easter.
We will have a choir and also the Lord's Supper.
And the wedding of Brother Fabian Anaya and Sister Christine Sayo
is coming up on April 12th on Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Information on our group chat is down there below.
And then on the back there's a place for notes for both of the sermons here today.
I believe that's it for announcements.
We'll let Brother Marlon lead us in another song.
And for our next song, it's string number 119.
Feel the storm pass us by.
On a first in the dark of the midnight
Have I offed in my face
While the storm bows above me
And their soul will hide in place
In the crash of the thunder
Hear my cry
On a chorus
Feel the storm pass us over
Till the thunders have sworn
Till the clouds roll forever
From the sun
Hold me best, let me stand
In the hollow of the head
Keep me safe
Till the storm passes by us again
Many times it was worth
There is no need to try
For there's no end of sorrow
There's no hope
For in love
I hold guard with me
And fall
Over the storms
Never dark in the sky
Till the storm passes over
Till the thunders have sworn
Till the clouds roll forever
From the sun
Hold me best, let me stand
In the hollow of the head
Keep me safe
Till the storm passes by us again
When the long night has ended
And the storms come no more
Let me stand in the presence
Of the bright, peaceful shore
In the hollow of the head
Ever gone, stormy eyes
Will we be
When the storm passes by
On a chorus
Feel the storm pass us over
Till the thunders have sworn
Till the clouds roll forever
From the sky
Hold me best, let me stand
In the hollow of the head
Keep me safe
Till the storm passes by
When the storm passes by
On a chorus
Feel the storm pass us over
Till the storm passes by
On a chorus
Feel the storm pass us over
Till the storm passes by
On a chorus
Feel the storm pass us over
Till the storm passes by
Amen. First scripture reading. Please open your Bibles to the book of 1 Timothy.
1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3.
We have Philippians, Colossians, 1 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy near the end of your Bible. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Please say amen if you are there.
Amen. We will only read verse 1 down to verse number 7.
1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 1
This is a true saying
That a man desireth the office of a bishop
He desireth a good work
A bishop then must be blameless
The husband of one life
Vigilant, sober, of good behavior
Given to hospitality, apt to teach
Not given to wine, no striker
Not greedy of filthy lucre
The patient, not a brawler, not covetous
One that ruleth well his own house
Having his children in subjection with all gravity
For if a man know not how to rule his own house
How shall he take care of the church of God?
Not a novice
Lest being lifted up with pride
He fall into condemnation of the devil
Moreover, he must have a good report
Of them which are without
Lest he fall into reproach and then the snare of the devil
Bless the reunion of God's Word
Let us pray
Lord God, we thank the Lord for this day that you've given to us
I pray that you would please bless the Lord this day
Give us good weather, our soul, and our fellowship later on
And I pray that you would please bless the preaching
And I pray that you would love to say
We love you, Jesus, and we pray, Amen
So we do have two sermons on the series here today
And the name of the sermon is Pastoral Training
Act to Teach
Notice what it says in 1 Timothy 3 verse 1
This is a true saying
If a man desireth the office of a bishop
He desireth a good work
A bishop then must be blameless
The husband of one wife
Vigilant, sober of good behavior, given hospitality
Then it has a statement
Act to Teach
And being apt to teach means having the aptitude to teach
Which means having the ability to teach
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2
2 Timothy 2
You say, Brother Sucky, I'm not planning to preach sermons
I'm not going to be a pastor
How does this apply to me?
Well, I'd say all of us are teachers in one way or another
I mean, certainly if you have kids
You're going to be teaching your kids things
And so even if you never preach a sermon
You can still take away from it lessons on
How to teach your kids
Or in your work
Or whatever the setting would be
So we can always learn from the word of God
All scripture is given by inspiration of God
And is profitable
Says in 2 Timothy 2 verse 24
And the servant of the Lord
Must not strive
But be gentle unto all men
Act to Teach
And this is in 1 and 2 Timothy
Which are known as the pastoral epistles
Where basically Paul wrote
To various young men that are in the ministry
To kind of give them some guiding principles
On things that they needed to know
And he says here, Act to Teach
Act to Teach
It comes up multiple times
You say, why?
Because obviously that's one of the big things you do as a preacher
Right?
Now it's not the only thing you do
I mean, I really wish it was
But it's not the only thing that you do
But it's certainly a big thing
Because that's the thing you really look at
With people that are preachers
You think, well, how do they teach the word of God?
That's the thing that's kind of front and center
Obviously done several times a week
You hear the sermons
And if you're going to lead a church
If you're going to lead a ministry
You better have the ability to teach
Right?
That is a major thing
And I would say that at our church
You know, we're not a church that offers
A lot of amazing programs
Right?
I mean, a lot of churches
They have like the greatest music ministry in the world
I mean, I think the people that are in the music ministry
Do a great job
But we're never going to be
Like, you know, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Right?
Or some, you know, the world's biggest
What was that last week?
On Dotting God
On the world's biggest choir
Or whatever that they were doing
You know, that's not going to be us
Right?
The big thing we have here is
The teaching of the word of God and soul winning
Those are kind of the two marquee things
That we are about
Those will always be the two big things
And I would say
People come to this church
Why?
Because of the teaching of the word of God
And because we're zealous for soul winning
Those are the two big things
That draw people into this church
So how do you become a church
So how do you become apt to teach
How do you have the ability to teach
Well, go to verse number 15 in the same chapter
Point number 1, study
Point 1, study
The Bible says here in verse 15
Study to show thyself approved unto God
A workman that needeth not to be ashamed
Rightly dividing the word of truth
Look, if you want to have the ability
To teach the word of God
You need to study and know this book
Why?
Because this is what you're going to be teaching
Right?
Look, if you're teaching anything
You better be knowledgeable
About what you're teaching about
Right?
I would not make the world's greatest
Mandarin Chinese teacher
You say why?
All I know is ni hao and ni hao ma
Right?
I'm sure my pronunciation is not that good
For those two words
Or two phrases or whatever
Right?
If you're going to be good at teaching something
You have to have knowledge
You have to study and prepare yourself
And if you're going to be a teacher of the word of God
You better know this book
You better read it many many times
Memorize chapters and books of the Bible
Practice preaching
All these things are essential
Now it's hard to realize because in our modern day
People become pastors that are unmarried
And have never read the Bible
I don't understand that at all
It's certainly not what the Bible teaches
But if you are going to be a good preacher of the word of God
You need to study and know this book
You've read it many many times
You memorize places in the Bible
You really study topics out
You say why?
Because if you're the teacher
You have to have more knowledge than the students
Now I'm not saying that people at our church
Cannot really know their Bibles
I'm just saying I was a math tutor for like 15 years
Outside of being a teacher
And people came for tutoring
Because they expected me to know more than them
They don't pay you if they know more than you
It wouldn't make any sense
And I obviously wouldn't charge you to come to church
But I'm just saying if you're going to show up to church
You're showing up with the idea
Hey I believe this person can teach me something
I believe I can learn something
I believe I can be motivated
To be better at studying and know what the Bible says
Even in this verse
At the end of this verse it says
Rightly dividing the word of truth
And you've got a lot of Baptist churches
That take this a little bit too literally
And they say let's just divide
This book into like four chunks
And this is chunk one
This is chunk two
We're rightly dividing the scripture
No no we're actually needing to rightly divide every verse
Look at the context of every verse you preach
It's not just that this is like a big pizza
That she divided into eight slices
That's not the way it works
Every verse you've got to look at the context
Understand who it's being written to
I mean the Bible is a deep book
Most things, a lot of things are very surface level
But there's also things that you read every single day
And you're like
I don't know
That's a good question
You say how do you find the answer?
You study
You study to figure out what the answer is
Go in your Bible to Ecclesiastes 12
It would make no sense to not have studied this book much at all
And then all of a sudden you become a pastor
And then you've got to write three sermons a week
I mean what are you going to teach?
You're going to go to Google and just preach somebody else's sermon
That was preached
Just use their sermon title
Maybe change the title
Keep the same points
And use basically the same verses
Why? Because you're not going to have anything to say
And to be honest
If you were just writing sermons having no knowledge of the Bible
Let's say you just got saved
And you're writing three sermons a week
You don't know your Bible
You're going to say a lot of wrong things
You say why?
Because a lot of fun ideas come in your head when you're reading the Bible
Maybe this is what it's talking about
A couple chapters later
Maybe not
That's why you've got to know your Bible if you're going to be teaching it
Another thing to think of
People ask me this question
Should a person who stays study false religions?
What I would say is in general the answer to that would be no
I would not recommend studying false religions or false doctrine
Here's the difference though
If you're teaching somebody why a doctrine is false
You kind of have to actually know what they teach to be able to teach against it
I preach against Jehovah's Witnesses, Hindus, Mormons, a lot of denominations
Yeah I had to learn a little bit about what they believe
You say why?
How else am I going to teach against it if I don't know what they believe?
So if you are actually preaching sermons
You have to study and know on a bit of a deeper level
Than the normal church member would need to know
Because you're teaching about the topic
Okay
And moreover because the preacher was wise
He still taught the people knowledge
Yea he gave good heed and sought out and said in order of many proverbs
So sought out or to seek out
He's studying and knowing what the scriptures say
And as a result of studying he's able to teach the people knowledge
Verse 10
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words
And that which was written was upright even words of truth
The words of the wise are as goods and as nails fastened by the masters of assembly
Which are given from one shepherd
And further by these my son be admonished
Of making many books there is no end
And much study is a weariness of the flesh
You know what when you study the Bible it's tiring
It's exhausting
You see you could pick up a book and just read it for fun and leisure
And you could do the same with the Bible
I mean reading 1 Samuel 17 is a very enjoyable chapter isn't it David and Goliath
That's a great chapter
Very entertaining I mean it's not hard to read that
We're always excited when we come to that
Or you know Liza versus the false prophets of Baal
It's a very exciting chapter
But if you're actually studying a chapter out it's a little bit different
Because you're memorizing you're cross referencing
You're not really doing that for leisure
It's actually tiring
It's exhausting
Think about studying for school
And you memorize a bunch of words and phrases for a big exam you're taking
That's not exactly
That's not actually just leisure and fun
It's like you're just memorizing and memorizing and memorizing and memorizing
It's not fun
It's exhausting
It's tiring
But you do it because you want to get a good grade or pass the exam or get the bonus or raise or whatever it may be
Well if you're going to be teaching the word of God you've got to study and study and study
And here's the truth
It's tiring
It's exhausting
When I study topics out you know I have paper and I'm writing down notes
And then sometimes I'll stop and say I am so confused what is going on
And it can be frustrating
But if you're going to be preaching that's what you have to do
You have to actually study and know what you're talking about ahead of time
Turning your Bible to Deuteronomy 17
Deuteronomy 17
Of course Bible says if you desire the opposite of this if you desire a good work
Well part of that is just studying the Bible
Which can be very enjoyable but the truth is sometimes it's not
When I memorize the Bible I'm going to have to be memorizing
And maybe it works for other people maybe it doesn't but I just can't really sit still
So the way I memorize is I just walk back and forth for like an hour
I remember going to go sowing on Sundays most of my memorization when I was living up here was there
I would just walk back and forth walk back and forth
I come back in after walking for like an hour and a half
I'm drenched in sweat my shirt is soaked
My wife's like you know it's like what are you doing right you're going to kill yourself right
But that's how I memorize the Bible because I just have trouble just sitting still and memorizing
So that's kind of the technique that I use
It's tiring and here's the truth
I enjoy memorizing because of the end results
But the actual memorizing itself is not actually that much fun
Just like in school if you get an A and an exam you're very excited
But the actual studying in order to get that A is not necessarily that enjoyable
Deuteronomy 17 people ask what's the balance between studying and reading if you are a preacher
Well notice Deuteronomy 17 verse 18
And it shall be when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom that he shall write a copy of this law and a book out of that which was before the priest to Levi's
And so the king of God's nation was actually supposed to write out the word of God
I remember one year I had an idea you know I tried this year to write out the Bible
I lasted a couple days
You say why? It takes a lot of time
To write three chapters is like 20 minutes or 30 minutes going in really quickly
And it's like that is a great way to study the Bible and be honest
To write out actually the scripture
I mean the king was supposed to be his own scribe with the word of God
Verse 19
And it shall be with him and he shall read there in all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the Lord's God
To keep all the words of his law and these statutes and do them
See the Bible says you gotta read God's word every single day
You don't necessarily have to study the Bible every single day if you're preaching sermons
But you need to read every day
You need your daily food, your daily sustenance
Why?
Because reading there in is going to cause you to fear God
Say how do you know this applies to people that are not just the king?
Because we all need to fear God
Right?
Because we all need to keep the words of these statutes to do them
So we all need to read the Bible every day
That it's hard to not lift it up above his brethren
Look if you don't read the Bible you're going to be arrogant
That's what the Bible says here in verse 20
Well all of us need to be humble
So we need to read every single day
Right? Go to Malachi 2
Malachi chapter 2
You say by the way this seems very basic
Yeah but here's the thing
If you preach several sermons a week and you're studying various topics
It can actually be very very easy to forsake your Bible reading
You say why?
Because you feel like you've already spent time in God's Word
But here's the thing
If you preach a sermon, for example on this sermon
This is not a verse by verse sermon
Although a lot of sermons I preach are verse by verse
This is not
So you say how do you write a sermon like this?
Bible gave away your e-sword
You just look up the words and phrases that you're looking for
What does that mean?
It means that you already have the knowledge that you're going to preach on
You're not necessarily learning something new
You understand what I'm saying?
Preaching a topical sermon is great
But to be honest
If you preach a topical sermon
You learn less about the Bible than if you preach verse by verse
Why?
Because you're only looking for verses you already know
If I was preaching a sermon about the LGBT
It's like
Genesis 19
Right?
Judges 19
But if you preach verse by verse through those chapters
It really actually forces you to really understand everything
So I personally
I like going verse by verse
You know, we in the math
We come up here in several weeks
And it's good because
For one, the Bible kind of outlines itself into its own sermons
So God kind of makes three point sermons
Just put in a few verses anyway
But it also causes you to really know your Bibles
Because you're learning something new
What I'm saying is this
If you preach sermons
Make sure you still have your daily time
Just reading the Bible
Spending time in prayer
Because it's very easy to feel like you're doing spiritual work
And then forsake something God said to do
All the days of the life
Malachi 2 verse 7
For the priest that should keep knowledge
And that they should seek the law of his mouth
For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts
The Bible says the priest
The spiritual leaders in the Old Testament
Should keep knowledge
They should have knowledge
They should know the Bible
Right?
If somebody comes to church
They're coming with the expectation
That they're going to learn something
Now here's what's sad
There's a lot of Baptist churches
That you can go to
And you go to church
You learn nothing
And then you head home
Is that not true?
Many people have been at that
I've been at Baptist churches like that
Where I went to church expecting to learn nothing
I mean that's sad
But that's reality
At a lot of Baptist churches they teach nothing
And you say why?
Because they're trying to be like CCF in victory
They're like look at all these people
Those churches are reaching
So they want to get a message
They don't preach on doctrine
Why?
To bring more people in
And what's funny because if people were to ask me my advice
I'd say well you know we don't do that
And we have no problem packing this place out
We've had no problem growing as a church
By doing things God's way
Preaching the word of God
Tell us so many
Not holding back
God has lost us
But a lot of Baptist churches
You go to church
You learn nothing
You walk out
I mean it's frustrating
There's times you go to church out of obligation
But you don't actually want to walk into church
Why?
Because you just don't think you're going to learn knowledge in the sermons
You don't expect to be motivated in the sermons
I'm not saying all Baptist churches are like that
I'm not trying to say we're just so much better than anybody else
But a lot of Baptist churches you go to
You just don't learn that much
What's the proof of that?
The proof of that is most of you don't live near this church building
Right?
Many of your parents have said
Hey there's a Baptist church just down the street
Why don't you go to the church?
Because there's a difference between Baptist churches
That's reality
Right?
Point number one
You need to study
If you are going to be a preacher
You need to know your Bible
I mean read it and read it and memorize and memorize and memorize and memorize
Right?
Learn as much as you can
And the more you study
The easier it is to write a sermon
If I were to write a sermon
On salvation from John 3
It would take me about 20 minutes
Because I would copy and paste
I wouldn't need much notes
I already know what those verses are about in John 3
Now if I'm preaching on something from the book of Ezekiel
It would take 20 hours
You say what?
I haven't been done in deep study in Ezekiel
So I wouldn't feel all that comfortable
To preach a sermon on Ezekiel on short notice
John 3
I feel pretty comfortable
Luke 16
You know the parable of the rich man and Lazarus
I mean
Not parable
Okay
That shows my knowledge of Luke 16
Not parable
At least I corrected myself
I was very comfortable
Because obviously that's a very famous story on hell
Right?
So the more you study
The easier it is actually going to be to write sermons
Right?
Point number 1
Study
Point 2
In Isaiah 58 verse 1
Spare not
The Bible says in Isaiah 58 verse 1
Cry aloud
Spare not
What that means is
You don't hold back
From the message
You don't withhold information
In order to make people like you
You spare not
You don't hold back
You speak the truth
An obvious example is
A sermon on the LGBT
Right?
I mean churches preach on the homeless
And they definitely hold back
From the sermon
They hold back from the preaching
Because they don't want to offend somebody
Right?
But
God says
Spare not
Preach at all
And make no mistake about it
If a random visitor came in here to church
And I'm preaching on Genesis 19
High chance they're going to get offended by what I say
Why?
Because the Bible is just offensive to people in 2023
Because people don't read their Bibles that much
That's the reason why
But what God says is
Spare not
Don't hold back
You preach on various sins
I mean in today's world
You preach against worldliness
Or rock music
Or stuff like that
It could offend a lot of people
Why?
Because people live in those sorts of lifestyles
But you know what?
Honestly
And let me finish this verse here
Cry out out
Spare not
Lift up thy voice like a trumpet
And show my people their transgression
And the house of Jacob
Their sins
The Bible is very specific
Their transgression
And it says
Their sins
What is specific to a church?
For example
If there is a big issue with salvation at our church
You know what book I would probably preach through
Verse by verse
For the next several months
Galatians
Doesn't that make sense?
Right?
We don't have a problem as far as I know
But I would probably preach through Galatians
You preach on what is specific to
Who you're preaching to
Right?
The Bible is very specific
Their transgression
And their sins
And here's the thing
If I preach about Galatians
And we get a big issue with salvation here
A lot of people would be offended
Why?
Because a lot of people would disagree
With what I'm saying
Right?
If I preach a sermon about repentance
And we're not clear on that topic
A lot of people would get offended
Why?
Because they have different opinions
Right?
You preach on what is specific
Now there's this expression
Hard preaching
And this is an expression that's kind of a man-made expression
So people can kind of take it different ways
But I think there's kind of a misconception on hard preaching
Because honestly
I don't think if I preach a sermon on Genesis 19
I would really consider that hard preaching
Because in our type of church
It's not controversial at all
Everybody would agree with everything I said
Hard preaching would be if people inside the church
Might not agree with you
And here's this misconception about hard preaching
Hard preaching is not just hard for the listener
It's hard for the speaker
You understand this?
You say why?
Think of Paul in 2nd Corinthians 7
Where he said
You know what?
I did not repent
Though I did repent
I felt bad about writing 1st Corinthians
He said why?
Because it made people feel bad
I want people to like me
That's what he's saying
But hard preaching
It's hard for the listeners
But also the person speaking
You say why?
Because you don't want people to be mad
You want people to like you
Right?
I want people at this church to like me
But God says fear not
And I can't hold back from the message
Just because somebody might not agree
Right?
Turn your mind on Malachi 2
Malachi chapter 2
And look, if you're planning to go in the ministry
You just have to make the decision up front
Ahead of time
That you will not hold back
What God has laid on your heart
Or what is necessary
That you're willing to preach
Whether people like it
Or don't like it
Why?
Because you're the one leaning and running the church
You gotta say
And do what you believe is correct
Right?
You've got to spare not as the Bible says
Now look, at other churches
They certainly hold back
We're living in a day
Where basically denominations are being washed away
Even the Catholic church is being washed away
For just Pentecostal, Charismatic, and non-denominational churches
Where it's just very generic, CCM music
You feel good and everything
And nobody gets offended
That's not the way God intended it
Right?
He says call out, spare not
Malachi 2, verse 4
And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment on you
That my covenant might be with Levi, said the Lord of Hosts
My covenant was with him of life and peace
And I gave him to him for the fear that he compared me
And was afraid before my knee
And there's kind of a dual application
If you think of life and peace
Think of eternal life and the gospel of peace
And look, every spiritual leader
Is going to be a soul winner
But then in verse number 6
It's not really in reference
It's just soul winning
Though that is another application you can make
Whenever you're seeing peace in the Bible
For example, the book of Esther ends
And it talks about Mordecai spoke peace to his people
It's saying he spoke the gospel of peace
Saying that he was soul winning
Trying to get people saved
There is that application obviously
Here with the life and peace
But then in verse 6
The law of truth was in his mouth
And a nickname was not found in his lips
He walked with me in peace and equity
And did turn many away from iniquity
By preaching the truth
It turned people away from iniquity
Go to Acts 20
In my last service in Sacramento
Before I moved here to the Philippines
Before my family moved
One of the members of the church
He came up to me and sat beside me
And he said, yeah brother, I want to tell you something
He said, you know what, about a year ago
You preached a sermon on alcohol
And I was still drinking alcohol
He said, I have not drank alcohol
Ever since you preached that sermon
He's like, I made that decision that night
Never drink again
As a preacher, that is very encouraging
Because you don't necessarily know when you preach sermons
You know what's going on in people's lives
Or how people take it or whatever
That really encouraged me
Because here's the thing
You get up and you preach the word of God with boldness
And then someone says, hey, because of that
I never drink alcohol again
I'm thinking praise God
That's exciting
And you have such an important responsibility as a preacher
When you preach the word of God
You have the ability to change people's lives
I'd say all of us would say, you know what, hard preaching changed my life
I remember sitting in, you know, I was living in Morgantown, West Virginia
And I was listening to a sermon online
About music and worldliness
I remember stopping the sermon
Taking all my rock CDs
I threw them in the trash
I bundled it up and threw it outside the garbage
Because I knew at that moment
And I already knew my music was wrong
But I felt so guilty
And I was like, right now
I am clear headed, this is correct
It's right from the Bible
I need to apply it to my life and I applied it immediately
You know what, your life doesn't get changed
Without hard preaching
If somebody just said, you know what, God loves you no matter what music you listen to
Is that going to cause you to get rid of the world of music?
God loves you no matter what you listen to
Watch whatever you want
Listen to whatever you want
And the Lord will be with you and happy with you no matter what
But isn't that the way a lot of people preach?
That doesn't change people's lives
What changes people's lives
Are things that hurt
Right?
When the word of God hurts on the inside
And you get a little bit mad
That's actually what makes a change
That's the reality
And by preaching the truth
You can help turn people away from problems in their life
Acts 20 verse 26
Wherefore I take you to record this day
Acts 20 verse 26
Wherefore I take you to record this day
That I am cured from the blood of all men
Why is he cured from the blood of all men?
Why is he not done to declare you all the counsel of God?
Often times people quote this
As if it is in reference to soul winning
It's not really a reference to soul winning though
I mean you could make that application
That we're cured from the blood of all men
And if we at least give them a chance to hear the gospel
And I get to that
But this verse is about teaching all the counsel of God
We don't teach all the counsel of God out soul winning
We don't chase all the counsel of God out so many.
And at least you shouldn't, right?
Your gospel presentation should be 50 hours long
if you're teaching, you know,
I went to a church, you know,
just jogged back in my memory,
and this church was Calvinist for 10 seconds,
and I was kind of new at so many things
the second church I went to,
and I told my pastor, hey, I got this friend,
you know, I'd really like to see him get saved.
I think maybe it could be much better than you know,
showing him the gospel, you know,
talking about the Bible, and he said,
okay, I'm fine with that, but he asked me
willing to sign up for a six-week Bible study.
At the end of the six-week Bible study,
he might be ready to get saved.
I'm just thinking, I was newer,
I was thinking, well, that's not how I got saved.
I mean, I got saved with one conversation.
And he's like, I really want the Holy Spirit
to have time to convict his conscience.
I'm thinking, so I just tried to get in the gospel myself.
Right, now of course he was a heretic preacher,
but it's just like, you know what,
obviously your gospel presentation
doesn't need to be six weeks long, okay.
And it says, take heed therefore,
verse 28, unto yourselves, and all the clock of God,
over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
to feed the church of God,
with which he hath purchased his own blood.
As a spiritual leader, you are feeding the church of God.
Right, this is your brunch.
Right, this is your in-between breakfast
and lunch that I'm serving up here today.
Your spiritual brunch that you're getting.
Now, of course the Bible talks about
if you're a spiritual leader,
you start with running your own home.
How do you feed your kids?
Mom and dad have ice cream for breakfast.
Okay, son, here you go.
Is that how you feed your kids?
You understand?
You don't just give them whatever they want.
You know what kids want at a young age?
Ice cream, pizza, and Coke.
That's what they want.
They wouldn't eat it all day long.
They don't understand the concept of cavity.
They don't understand the concept of health problems.
And here's the thing, if somebody's newly saved,
they don't understand the repercussions
of going down certain roads in their life, right?
And your job is to feed and not give people what they want,
give people what they need.
That's the reason why God gave that example,
feeding the church of God.
How do you feed your kids?
Just give them whatever they want.
No, it's like give the Buddha.
They don't want it.
Make them eat it.
Right?
They say, I always want to drink Coke.
Make them drink water.
You know what, make them brush their teeth.
Make them take showers.
You can't just let them do whatever they want.
You're gonna destroy their lives if that's the case.
As a spiritual leader, you must feed what is necessary
because you're the one who's the pastor running the church,
the shepherd running the church.
You're feeding what they need,
not necessarily what they want, right?
First Timothy chapter three, first Timothy three.
By nature, naturally speaking as man, none of us,
none of us want to be approved.
None of us want to hear something negative.
Right?
We want people to say, you're doing a great job.
Right?
All of us, that's what we naturally want.
Now the reason why you like this church
is because you're choosing the spiritual side
over the carnal side.
But in reality, your flesh does not like
this type of preaching.
Because this preaching offends, this preaching says,
hey, keep walking in the flesh, walk in the spirit.
That can be offensive.
At our church, we're not gonna feed what people want.
We're gonna feed what people actually need.
And here's the thing, if you're alive, you know what?
Maybe it hurts sometimes, but it's what's good for me.
Right?
You should go to a church where you're actually being fed
and it's hot and it's causing you to make changes
in your life.
And look, if you're at a church and you never get upset
and you never feel guilty one time
and you're there for 10 years,
there's something wrong with the church.
It's a fact.
Look, when I was there, there were plenty of times
I got mad at Pastor Jimenez when he preached something.
He said, why?
Because if I'm guilty, my flesh doesn't like it.
And all of a sudden, inside,
we start to make those excuses on the inside.
And it's just like, am I gonna be stubborn
and just accept the message that Pastor Jimenez gave?
Right, you feed what is necessary,
not necessarily what people want.
1 Timothy 3, verse 14.
These things right now, you need to become
out of these shortly.
But if I carry along without me,
I'll have a modest behavior in the house of God
which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth.
Church ought to be the one place you can go
where you get the truth.
You show up to church and look, a lot of pastors,
they're like politicians, right?
How does a politician get elected?
They never say anything controversial.
Right?
They never say anything controversial.
People say, man, I like that politician.
Why do you like that politician?
They never said anything that offended me.
That's the reason why people like them.
Why do people like Joe Loestein?
He's never said anything that's offended them.
And the way I say you can listen to Joe Loestein's sermon,
I would certainly not recommend it.
But if you did, you probably wouldn't even hear anything wrong.
Be generic.
Be God loves you, well that's true.
God wants you to live a life of peace, well that's true.
God wants you to have more kindness in your life, that's true.
God has a plan for your life, that's true.
Probably not what he's saying.
Probably what he's not saying.
He's not saying anything negative.
He's not saying anything that ever offends anyone.
Why?
Because look at how big his church is.
We've grown a lot as a church,
we're not gonna be as big as Joe Loestein's church.
That's not gonna happen.
Say why?
Because of my preaching.
Right, I mean people come here because of the preaching,
people don't come here because of the preaching also.
That's reality, right?
Go to Ephesians four, Ephesians four.
Ephesians chapter four.
I've said before, I mean I preach a sermon on it
and how preaching sermons is like spiritual surgery.
Boy, surgery hurts.
Right, I've been in surgery before I had knee surgery
when I tore my ACL and my meniscus.
Man, I was unconscious when they did the surgery.
But I woke up and it's like, man, that's painful.
Once the numbness wore off and when they rejected my leg,
it's like, man, it was painful.
It hurts, right?
For several days, the pain was basically unbearable.
I mean, I woke up in the middle of the night
because they had injected my leg with whatever, I don't know.
And then once the numbness wore off
and I could actually feel, it's like,
the doctor said 18, I vividly remember,
18 to 24 hours from now is gonna be the most painful thing
you've ever had in your life.
I woke up in the middle of the night,
18 hours almost to the dot,
and it was the worst pain I've ever had in my life.
And to this day, the worst pain I've ever had.
It's horrible.
You say, why?
Because I had surgery.
You expect surgery to be painful, don't you?
Hey, you know what, preaching's painful, right?
Because it's like spiritual surgery.
Say, why spiritual surgery?
Because it's like a sword, right?
The Word of God, it pierces the inside,
the joints and marrow.
It's talking about hitting the inside.
It's saying that the Word of God has the ability
to get to the inside like nothing else.
And yeah, physical surgery is painful.
Spiritual surgery is painful.
Now here's the thing, obviously some surgeons
might cause less pain than others.
The big thing is, did it fix my knee?
Because 15 years later,
I don't really care about the pain anymore.
What I care about is, I'm healthy.
Isn't that what you care about about a surgeon
for the most part?
I mean, obviously, look, look,
if you've gone to the dentist's office,
nobody likes the dentist.
It's horrible, right?
Something so small, how can something so small
cause so much pain, and yet it does.
Right, when you get to the nerves and it's like,
ah, the pain is unbearable.
But you know what, some dentists are gonna cause
less pain than others, but the big thing is,
did it fix the problem so I never have to return?
That's what matters.
You care, do they get the job done?
It's like spiritual surgery,
what it hurts because they're not sparing.
They're preaching the truth with power.
Number one, study, point two,
spare not, point three, speak in love.
Point three, speak in love, verse 11.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets
and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints
for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Till we all come in the unity of faith
and in the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man,
unto the measure of the stature
of the fullness of Christ,
that with his forth be no more children
tossed to and fro, and carried about
with every wind of doctrine by the sight of men,
and cunning crafting is whereby they lie
and wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love
may grow unto him in all things
which is the head, even Christ.
If you are preaching sermons,
your goal is to get the point across
and not hold back in as much of a way
as possible to do it in love.
An example, think about when we go out sowing.
When we go out sowing,
we say the meanest and harshest thing
that anyone could ever hear.
You're gonna spend forever in hell.
That's what we're, you might not use those exact words,
but that's what you're teaching people.
That's a harsh thing.
That's rough.
But there's ways that we can say that
in a nice way so as not to offend.
There's a guy in Sacramento many years ago,
he got kicked out of Verde Baptist in Sacramento
for a million reasons.
But it's like, you know, he was going sowing
shortly before he got kicked out
because it became a big problem.
He would knock on a door,
and if somebody said, I'm Catholic,
so you're responsible for murdering
the people of my ancestors hundreds of years ago.
It's like, you're just a noxious jerk.
And by the way, if you do that out sowing,
just let me know and you're just not about to go sowing.
It's like, we're not gonna have somebody
being a noxious jerk at a church out sowing.
Here's the truth, though.
We are saying harsh things to people out sowing.
We're telling them they're on their way to hell.
As much as is possible, you try to say it in a nice way
with the end goal being that they will change their belief
on Christ.
An example of what not to do,
you know, have you ever seen Ray Comfort
in Way of the Master?
It's like Ray Comfort will go through the Ten Commandments
and he'll embarrass people.
You know, a guy will open the door
and his wife's right behind him,
and he's like, yeah, the Seven Commandments,
thou shall not commit adultery,
but Jesus said if you look at a woman
who lusts after her, you've committed adultery
with her already in his heart.
While his wife's right there.
Have you ever done that?
It's just like, you know, why would you say that?
You're just trying to embarrass him.
Right, and if he says no,
well, the Ninth Commandment, thou shalt not
bear witness, right?
It's just like you're being an obnoxious jerk.
You know, we're trying to present the good news.
You know, you get the bad news,
and don't misunderstand me.
We have to be clear about the bad news
as we go out sowing.
We must be clear with people
that they have to change their belief.
But your goal is to say it in as nice of a way as possible
where it's very clear to them.
Otherwise, you're gonna offend them,
and they're not gonna wanna listen, right?
Same thing is true when you're preaching service.
Now, here's the thing.
You go soul winning, sometimes people get offended
no matter how you say it.
I mean, you get the gospel of Muslims,
they're probably gonna get offended by you, right?
Because you're telling them their religion is wrong.
But as much as is possible,
you wanna try to say it in love.
Speaking the truth in love, verse 16.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together
and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth,
according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part,
make an increase of the body
onto the edifying of itself in love.
The goal is to be fitly joined together,
and part of that is speaking the truth in love
as much as possible.
Go to Isaiah 58.
Isaiah 58.
Ooh.
And look, if you have a desire to be a pastor
or preach sermons from time to time
and you've never done it,
there's gonna be verses in the Bible
that start making a lot more sense to you.
Be not afraid of your faces.
It'll start to make more sense to you.
Why?
Because of the fact, you know what?
People have reactions when you preach sometimes.
I mean, I've seen people cry during sermons before.
It's uncomfortable when you're preaching sermons,
because it's really hard to get through the message
when you see somebody that's obviously emotional
based on the things you're saying.
Right?
Sometimes people get mad.
Sometimes people roll their eyes or they get a whatever.
It's just like you gotta learn to avoid that.
My strategy is I usually just try to avoid faces
if there's any sort of reaction that's not the normal one.
That's the easiest way to get through a sermon.
It's the most respectful way to be honest.
It's also the easiest way to get through a sermon,
to be honest.
But it's like as much as you try to speak the truth
and love, sometimes people are just gonna disagree with you,
sometimes they're gonna be mad.
It's just the way it is.
Point number one, study.
Point two, spare not.
Point three, speak the truth and love.
Point four, spirit filled.
Spirit filled preaching.
Isaiah 58 verse one.
Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet
and show my people their transgressions
and the house of Jacob their sins.
The Bible says here to cry aloud.
Okay, this is not like boo hoo, I'm really sad.
Cry aloud means cry out.
Right, scream, cry aloud, spare not.
Lift up thy voice like a trumpet.
Be loud.
Right, that's what the Bible's saying.
Cry aloud, lift up thy voice like a trumpet.
Now look, preaching loud and yelling
during sermons, it doesn't come naturally
for most people.
It didn't come naturally to me when I started.
You know what, when you think of sermons
that are like-minded preaching or like-minded pastors
that you like to listen to, it's not just that you like
the doctrine, one reason why you like those sermons
is you feel the passion.
They preach with intensity.
You can tell their spirit filled.
It makes you wanna get on board with it.
It makes you excited.
It makes you wanna make changes.
I mean, they can say something in the same way,
I mean, say the same words somebody else says,
but when they say it, you're like, man, let's do it.
Let's go soul winning.
Why?
Because they're excited about what they're saying.
Their spirit filled.
Look, nobody wants to go to a church
where the pastor's preaching and they're just like,
this is so boring.
You wanna get excited, you wanna get motivated.
One of the big things I like about churches
that helped change my life is they were excited
about what they were saying.
They're excited, they're bold.
It makes you wanna get on board with it.
Right, whereas if you just say it,
I mean, look, the more intense you are,
the more of a reaction, just think with your kids.
I mean, once you raise your voice,
your kids immediately, right?
It causes reaction, even at a young age.
My son, Esa, the other day, he was pulling my hair
and I was like, ouch!
You know, I said that really loud and he starts to cry
because he knew that daddy's mad at me, right?
And it's just like what I'm saying is
when you're intense about something,
it causes people to wanna get on board.
When they can tell you believe in what you're saying.
And look, even if you disagree with some of the things
they say, you wanna get on board with someone who's excited.
Someone you wanna follow.
Turn to, in your Bible, to 2 Kings 9.
Look at one story in the Bible.
Actually, 2 Kings 10, go to 2 Kings 10 for second time.
And I'm not gonna read this whole story,
but we're gonna look at some of it here.
And we're gonna look at a character who,
the first time I read through the Bible,
as I'm reading this story, I mean, I was amazed.
I was like, how is this not the most talked about character
in the Bible?
I mean, it's so exciting, the story of Jehu.
Jehu, Jehu, however you pronounce it.
It's like the first time you've seen a story.
You're like, surely this is like the greatest guy ever.
And of course, later on, he sought not the Lord
with his whole heart, unfortunately.
But you see his passion and excitement
in just reading the story you wanna get on board.
Second Kings 10, verse 15.
And when he was departed then,
as he landed on Jehona down at the center of Rabkab
coming to meet him, and he saluted and said to him,
is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart?
And in Jehona's answer, it is.
If it be, give me thine hand, and he gave him his hand.
And he took him up to him in the chariot,
and he said, come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord.
So they made him ride in his chariot.
He's like, come with me, and see my excitement
in serving God.
Yeah, I would say, hey, come to our church,
and you'll learn how to get people saved.
Come to our church, and you'll learn
how to make changes in your life.
I'm confident of that.
I mean, you come to our church,
you're gonna hear preaching that's exciting and motivating.
You can make changes in your life.
And what I would say to people,
what I would tell you to say to people on Sony is,
hey, come with us, and see our zeal for the Lord.
Like, man, you guys are out here,
and the priest in the gospels is like,
yeah, we got 50 people at our church.
Why?
Because we're excited about the things of God.
Come, and you're gonna see it too.
Right?
And then you see this story with Jehu,
which is one of the most exciting stories in the Bible.
Now, I don't know whether everything he did
in this story was correct,
but it's certainly an exciting story here.
Verse 17.
And when he came to Samaria,
he slew all the remaining on the eight,
having Samaria until he had destroyed him,
according to the saying of the Lord,
which he spake to Elijah.
And Jehu gathered all the people together,
and said unto them,
they have served Baal little,
but Jehu shall serve him much.
And so Jehu's being dishonest here,
because serving Baal is basically worshiping the devil,
and Jehu has no intention of worshiping the devil.
He's pretending to,
that way he can destroy all the worshipers of Baal.
Now, he did correct in destroying all the people
worshiping the devil.
That is actually correct biblically.
However, I don't know if the meaning of what it was
necessarily correct, but it's certainly an entertaining story.
Right, he is a little bit dishonest here,
but it gets the job done.
Verse 19, now they're calling me all the prophets of Baal,
all his servants and all his priests,
but none be wanting,
private great sacrifice to do to Baal,
whosoever shall be wanting, he shall not live.
But Jehu did it, and suddenly,
in the intent that he might destroy the worshipers of Baal.
And Jehu said, proclaim a solemn assembly for Baal,
and they proclaimed it.
Solemn meaning very serious, okay?
Verse 21, and Jehu sent through all Israel,
and all the worshipers of Baal came,
so there was not a man left that came not,
and they came to the house of Baal,
and the house of Baal was full from one end to another,
and he said unto them that there was a vestry,
bring forth vestments for all the worshipers of Baal,
and he brought forth vestments.
So he causes those that are worshiping the devil
to wear certain clothing to make it obvious
they're the worshipers of the devil.
He wants to make sure he doesn't kill anyone
who's not a worshiper of the devil.
Then it says here in verse 23,
and Jehu went and Jehu sent a great cabin
in the house of Baal and sent him to the worshipers of Baal.
He searched and then looked that there be here
with none of the servants of the Lord
but the worshipers of Baal only,
and when they went in to offer sacrifices
and burnt offerings, Jehu appointed four scoremen without,
and said if any of the men who might have brought
in your hands escape, he that letteth them go
in his life shall be for the life of him.
So basically he's a bit dishonest to get all the worshipers
of Baal together, and he gets them all together,
and then they end up killing every single one of them.
Now this is not the same thing as just killing somebody
who goes to a false church.
These people are worshiping the devil.
But what you're seeing is excitement, right?
And look, people wanted to get on board with Jehu,
and why?
Because he's excited.
Now look, obviously we're not gonna do this
during our sowing time.
What we're doing is going out and preaching the gospel
and getting people safe.
But I'll tell you what, when I was a young man
and I still need to make a lot of changes in my life,
seeing a church that is zealous about sowing
is very exciting.
You wanna do something with your life, right?
Because if you get saved, and you wanna accomplish
something that has lasting value,
and you're like, how can I do something
that has eternal value?
And unfortunately in a lot of places you don't find that.
You don't know.
But I'll tell you what,
if you are doing a good job as a preacher,
people are gonna see that you're spirit-filled.
They're gonna wanna get on board with you, right?
So look, if you're planning to start a church one day,
and look, it's like this with all areas
that you're gonna be teaching.
But what you need is number one, to study.
You need to know what you're talking about.
Number two, you spare a knot.
You don't hold back what you need to say.
Point three, you try to speak in love.
And point four, you're spirit-filled.
And in all areas of our lives,
it's important to be spirit-filled.
You're gonna teach your kids you need to be spirit-filled.
Right, have the spirit of God upon your life
to accurately teach them.
Let's go to the water parable.
Dear heavenly father, thank you for allowing us today
in getting to see this topic,
and help us understand things in this sermon,
whether or not we ever plan to print sermons,
whether or not we're just gonna be teaching our kids,
or just other areas, or work, whatever,
whatever your life might be.
Pray these things in Jesus' name, amen, amen.
As God calls us to prepare us to sing a number of nights
to our friends, and to sing a number of nights to heaven.
Let's sing a song, I need me, here we are.
We have a verse, ready, sing.
I need thee, here we are,
most gracious Lord,
most ever most divine,
and beautiful Lord,
I need thee, oh I need thee,
every day I pray for thee.
I need thee, here we are,
I need thee, oh bless me now my Savior,
I come to thee,
I need thee every hour,
stay now nearby,
and please, most therefore,
when thou art mine,
I need thee, oh I need thee,
every hour I need thee,
oh bless me now my Savior,
I come to thee,
I need thee every hour,
enjoy your feet,
come with me and abide,
for life is free,
I need thee, oh I need thee,
every hour I need thee,
oh bless me now my Savior,
I come to thee,
I need thee every hour,
most only one,
oh make me die in thee,
thou blessed son,
I need thee, oh I need thee,
every hour I need thee,
oh bless me now my Savior,
I come to thee.
I need thee, oh I need thee,
every hour I need thee,
oh bless me now my Savior,
I come to thee.
Okay everybody.
Let's start.
And three,
two,
one.
Let's sing it.
And ,
and again,
eight,
Oh