A.R. Bernard | "Roots" | Christian Cultural Center

[Music] hallelujah hallelujah [Music] lord thank you you said where just two or three are gathered in your name there are you in the midst and truly we thank you for your presence here today [Music] to strengthen us to lift us to enlighten us to fill us with the experience of your love your life and your light as we turn our hearts and minds [Music] the worship song we now worship you with the study of your word father touch our eyes to see our ears to hear and our hearts to receive we ask in jesus precious name amen and amen come on give god a good hand clap offspring hallelujah [Music] let's appreciate the band our praise and worship leaders israel [Music] you know i tell you it's it's like getting back into it you notice that i don't know if i'm on the planet by myself it's like getting back into it and um we're going to work our way back there amen i'm looking forward to vibrant spirit-filled worship with a with a packed house [Applause] [Music] so we look forward to that well i want you to greet each other with a fist bump or an elbow you know keep it coveted safe [Music] you may be seated how many know that god is smarter than us did it ever occur to you that nothing ever occurs to god so he put systems in place he put structures in place patterns and principles you've heard me say this again and again and again over the years especially when it comes to the growth and development of the body of christ jesus said i will build my church and the church the ecclesia is a gathering of people out from all of humanity towards worship and understanding and embracing the lordship of christ and his ministry in the earth i was reading in the book of acts chapter 8. i'm sure you've read it by now where the evangelist philip was dispatched by the lord to attach himself to a caravan and that caravan he would find at that caravan he would find in ethiopian eunuch he comes across the ethiopian and you can read the read the chapter it's it's fascinating how he got there and god was engaging in beam me up scotty long before captain kirk and star trek but the encounter speaks of philip meeting this ethiopian leader and finding him reading from the book of the prophet isaiah chapter 53 and he was reading these words for who has believed our report and to whom is the arm of the lord revealed how many familiar with the text he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquity the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are what come on healed amen he had no form or comeliness that anyone would desire him his soul was made an offering for sin and as the man was reading it philip asked him do you understand what you're reading and i think the response of the ethiopian was so important he said how can i unless someone teach me i'll say that again how can i unless someone teach me how many know we need teachers in life people to instruct us to give us guidance give us wisdom out of their own experience and understanding over time in the book of ephesians chapter four and you could look these texts up when you get a chance so that was acts chapter 8 that we were just in ephesians chapter 4. it said that when jesus ascended on high he gave gifts to the church he gave some apostles prophets pastors evangelists teachers and that's important because it meant that certain individuals would be anointed by god in a specific way to bring a certain kind of ministry to the body of christ and the growth of the church paul continues in that text beginning at verse 11 down to verse 12 13. he says that we will not be children toss to and fro by every wind of doctrine little king james language there so these what some refer to as fivefold ministry are important because they provide guidance god's love god's life god's light but most importantly understanding those sex impacted me deeply and that's why here at ccc we are a teaching ministry how many figured that out already yeah and that's why you come right you come to learn to grow i love uh speaking of jesus and his growth and development in luke 2 52. it says that he grew in wisdom and stature and gained favor good graces with god and man and boy is that a great packaging of what it takes for us to grow and be successful and develop in life growing in wisdom and stature right and at the same time in good graces with both god and our fellow human beings so you come to learn you come to have the light of god's word brought to you and the text theology and don't ever let that word scare you it essentially means the study of god but that's a little not true how do we study god can we take them apart put them back together again no the apostle paul says that we can learn about the eternal power of god and his divine nature through studying and observing creation and that's what gives birth to science and for us there is no conflict between faith and science or philosophy so as we study creation its order its gradation its emotions causations things like that we discover a lot about god's nature and his eternal power and the eternal power simply means that his power transcends time and space so theology and i love the way saint anselm put it that's a-n-s-e-l-m he said theology is faith seeking understanding i'm going to say that again theology fancy seminary word is simply faith seeking understanding say it with me what is theology faith seeking understanding so as i seek to understand my faith in jesus christ right what am i engaged in theology what am i engaged in theology yeah so it's not just a fancy word for those in seminary it's what you do on a daily basis trying to make sense i'm a christian you've heard this before i'll say it again because it bears repeating i'm a christian because christianity for me best answers the big questions who or what is god ultimate reality what does it mean to be human and what does it mean to live in this world and i have found the best answers for me come from my christian faith so theology is going through a process of studying understanding as much as we can but how many know god is infinite so we're we're finite so we cannot actually fully comprehend god he still remains to a degree mystery that's another thing i love about christianity some people have all the answers how many notable folks don't point we are on a journey to learn to grow amen so we study we worship absolutely we study we study collectively here we study individually in our personal life we study and we've been entrusted with scripture i thank god for the bible every day i thank god for the bible every day i thank god for all of the programmers who put it and made it digital all in my phone i thank god that i can carry 32 translations in my phone and notes and commentary that is fantastic i pray for those programmers those people who stay up at night and that's what they do i couldn't do that but i'm glad they can do it and i pray for them because i want more and more content amen i want to talk to you about roots how many remember that movie i'm not going to talk about the movie but it was a great movie introducing america to in a very vivid way the story of slavery and how that developed from its beginning but i want to talk to you about roots as an anchor and support roots whether it's the root roots of a tree roots of a plant we think in those terms so when i think of roots i'm thinking of what an anchor and a support right additionally that which sustains that which sustains what's today's sermon about roots roots as a what anchor support sustains and what i love about the teaching ministry because we don't want you to come to church and say oh the pastor preached such a great sermon what did he preach about i don't know but he preached such a great sermon i want you to know i want you to leave your understanding the bible says wisdom is a principle thing get wisdom but in all you're getting get what understanding because what you understand can never be taken from you it is yours for the rest of your life [Applause] so roots are an anchor a support that which sustains could be a plant could be a tree but it also can be an idea a belief an activity a lifestyle roots anchor support and sustain ideologies or ways of thinking roots anchor support and sustain beliefs belief systems activities that people engage in lifestyle your theology is is is critical and also critical is where your theology begins your understanding of god your study of god begins there are some who start with the fall how many got that far in the bible that's chapter three of genesis the first book some people their theology begins there mine did when i came to christ because i entered a particular context where they were very conscious of sin and the loss of god's holiness and god's justice so i i was in a context that was you know s unconscious and everything was sin and you know the story of how many incredible albums i threw out because i thought it was sin to listen to jazz music thank god i was free and liberated from that but it was a context that was sin conscious so everything revolved my understanding of god my relationship with god other people creation was dominated by this consciousness of unholiness and sinfulness and that's if your theology begins with the fall of man in genesis 3. but as i grew and i learned that there was something that took place before that i knew this but i didn't appreciate its value and its position and that is creation where god created everything and pronounce it to be good you got to that part and god looked at all that he made in including people and said that they were what good in fact very good and i shifted my theology beginning from the fall to creation and i will tell you so much came alive i discovered a good and loving god that in spite of my failures and shortcomings and that of humanity at large he still loves us and he had originally great intentions for humanity see one the fall leaves you in despair and it leaves you in a sense that you look at everything through the lens of being bad and evil the other creation leaves you with a lens that allows you to look at everything as originally intentionally good but it became evil and god's whole objective is to redeem it and bring it back to what it was meant to be in matthew 19 jesus encounters some of the religious leaders on the issue of divorce and he says have you not read that in the beginning god created male and female he was talking about the marriage covenant in the marriage unit but notice his point of reference it was where in the beginning where was it come on talk back to me in the beginning so his point of reference was not the fall it was creation in other words what god originally intended guided him in his thinking and in his approach to the world in which we live they said well if if god intended that why did moses give a writing of divorcement and jesus response was it was a concession arb language it was a concession god conceded because of the hardness of your heart he allowed something to be built into the relationship so that it doesn't get escalate to the place where two people at odds with each other and about to take each other out so it shows that god has made some concessions along the way to respond to the wounded and broken human condition i get half of an amen there right there that's a good spot for an amen why it's important to choose where your theology begins because that's where it's going to be what rooted anchored supported and sustained your whole view your whole world view comes out of where you root your theology and interestingly enough in enough roots tend to be the unseen portion of the plant or the tree or the idea or the belief or the activity or the lifestyle because we get to see the fruit but the fruit is fed by the roots let's go to psalm chapter 1 verse verses 2 through 3. in fact just jot this down for the sake of time i was told i've got a certain amount of time i have some who's time and they laughed but in psalm 1 verses 2 and 3 the bible speaks of the persons whose words thoughts and this is the a.r bernard version 2021 whose words thoughts motives actions attitudes and choices are anchored in god's patterns principles precepts and they will ultimately lead to a prosperous and fruitful life when you read the text you won't read all that but it simply says blessed is a man who is planted planted in the ways of god whose delight is in the law of god he's like someone who's planted by the rivers of living water and if you know that if you're planted by a river you're going to get the water that you need the refreshment that you need to grow and develop again anchored in matthew chapter 13 verses 4 through 6 you can write it down the reference the bible speaks of this the sowing of the word the message of jesus and the seed falls on different soil how many remember the parable of the sower and it falls on wayside right stony ground thorny ground and then good ground but in matthew 13 4 through 6 it speaks of the stony ground and it says that these who are those who hear the word but they're emotional hearers of the message of jesus christ they immediately welcome the message with joy yet they have no roots no what roots nothing to what anchor them nothing to support that decision for jesus nothing to sustain them they have no roots they get excited about it they receive the message with joy but because they are not anchored in the word what happens it's a temporary experience and their relationship with christ and when pressure or persecution comes because of that commitment to the word and this newfound faith they immediately stumble and fall away how many have ever seen some people like that yeah yeah jesus was very clear in the book of hebrews chapter 12 verse 15 you could write down this reference as well the bible speaks of a root of bitterness and boy i did a whole sermon on that and how that root of bitterness impacted my relationship with my wife karen pastor karen and what we learned out of that experience many many years ago but the bible speaks in hebrews 12 15 of a root of bitterness which is an intense animosity caused by emotional pain grief or regret it not only poisons you but it infects the people around you the scripture in that verse says be careful don't let a root of bitterness form inside of you in such a way that you actually contaminate the people around you and bitterness usually takes root after constant disappointment and disappointment and disappointment after disappointment in the context of a relationship or a desire it fills you with pain with grief and i've seen many people bitter how many know some bitter folks and that bitterness overshadows everything that they experience in life becomes a lens through which they see everything and when when past karen and i were going through our marriage marital challenges uh i remember because i would see her in the morning and say uh how are you doing she said what do you mean by that how did how are you doing become what do you mean by that but it was it was the grief it was and it was my fault of course who said of course did i hear y'all bitterness taking root and becomes a what anchor support and sustain that condition of extreme animosity matthew 3 10 write this reference down matthew 3 10. this is prophet john the baptist and he's bringing an indictment against the audience especially group of religious leaders and he says in the new living translation on already the acts of god's judgment is swinging toward the root of the trees toward the what can't hear you told what the root of the trees therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire of course john's words dramatically portrays not a simple pruning of unfruitful branches but actually the cutting down of the tree implying what john was implying that jesus would bring a radical change in the jewish religious system jesus hinted of it when he spoke concerning the temple prophetically he said there shall not be left here one stone upon another that the temple would be utterly destroyed and of course that was fulfilled in the destruction of the city of jerusalem and the temple in 70 a.d and this the jewish sacrificial system ended and radically changed the way jewish people would engage their faith and that continues up to this day jesus hinted of it in his conversation with the woman at the well how many remember her story he said to her the hour is come and now is not only that when the true worshipers of god shall worship the father and spirit and truth remember she was a samaritan woman so they argued about whether worship worship was valid in jerusalem or on on mount garisham and he said that's not going to matter anymore because people are not going to worship in jerusalem or in mount girism people are going to experience worship of god in their heart and your bodies will become the temple of the holy spirit and the place of worship hallelujah he said the ax is laid to the root now i want to highlight what this text presents to us because again the root is what gives life and sustains something right the root does what anchors supports and sustains again the root does what anchors supports and sustains it could be a plant a tree an idea a belief system an ideal ideology right and the root tends to be the unseen portion what john the baptist was actually talking about here when he said the axes laid to the root he was using an expression really that we say today striking at the root how many understand that striking at the root well if you don't you'll know today striking at the root of something means to attack the central part or most crucial element of something essentially to attack the part that allows something to function are you hearing me because when you strike at the roots what are you striking at the anchor the support and that would sustain something so striking at the root is getting to the heart of it that which allows something to function that which sustains it american poet and philosopher henry david thoreau taught that listen to this for every thousand people hacking at the leaves of evil there is one person striking at the roots let me say it again for every thousand people hacking at the leaves of evil there is one person who gets it and where they're striking because if you want to stop something you've got to deal with it where it's being anchored supported and sustained in other words we've got to deal with the cause and not the symptoms is essentially what john was saying jesus was coming to do he was coming to deal with the cause of the human condition thoreau observed that most people spend their time dealing with the symptom instead of the cause of things am i talking to anybody in here today and and we're we're in a we're in a society that is there a pill for that no matter what it is that i want to alleviate myself from i want to know just just can you give me a pill doc we want to deal with the symptoms make it go away stop the pain but what we really need to do with is what come on deal with the roots strike at the come on roots because when we strike at the roots we deal with the what the anchor the support and that which sustains it and you could see the you could really understand and see the importance of striking at the root in all dimensions of life let me give you some i'm glad you asked for them should we focus on controlling our borders or developing a better immigration system the key word that i'm going to use here you know here again and again is focus it's not that we should do one or the other we need to do both but what should we give the greatest amount of attention and resources to pastor you're meddling amen hallelujah should we focus on controlling our borders or developing a better immigration system should we focus on treating disease or preventing disease where should our focus be should we focus on feeding people or preventing hunger should we focus on arming ourselves for war or preventing conflicts let me get a little personal here should we change should we keep changing our love relationships or find a better way to screen them i'm just saying well that one hits home boom you can't keep moving from person to person to person the person maybe you need a better screening process background check should we focus on making more money or better money management [Applause] should we focus on whining complaining and griping or should we focus on making the best use of a situation and the resources available here's the language of god to moses he's about to deliver close to a million people from political bondage in egypt and god asking what's in your hand should we focus on whining complaining and griping or should we focus on making the best use of the situation and the resources available to us we've got to get to the what otherwise we want to keep dealing with the symptoms and not deal with the cause another american lecturer and philosopher by the name of ralph waldo emerson he was also an abolitionist thought i'd throw that in there he said sow a thought reap an action sow an action reap a habit sow a habit reap a character so a character reaper destiny in other words thoughts lead to actions actions lead to habits habits lead to character and character determines destiny you want me to say that one more time thoughts lead to actions actions lead to habits habits lead to character and character determines destiny classic book that i read several times and continue to read and again revisit often and should be part of your library and it's a quick read because you know this generation judges whether they read a book by how thick it is i'll read that i don't know about that one it's called as a man thinketh by james allen if you haven't read it you need to if you read it you need to read it again those books that you go back to again and again and he takes it from a text in the book of proverbs as a man thinketh in his heart so is he which means everything comes from our thoughts so thoughts must be thoughts lead to actions actions of habits habits of character character to destiny but it all begins with what you've heard me preach it again and again the quality of your thinking determines the quality of your life one more time the quality of you come on say it with me the quality of my thinking determines the quality of my life so if i don't like the outcomes if i don't like the way things are going in my life what do i need to change i've got to go where not to the symptoms i've got to go to the what anchors what's been going on in my life in my relationships what supports and sustains these problems that i'm having i've got to get to the what come on the roots the quality of your life your thinking rather determines the quality of your life let me go to romans chapter 12 verse 2 in the amplified bible listen i'm going to read it to you romans 12 2 amplified says therefore i urge you brothers and sisters by the mercies of god to present your bodies dedicating all of yourselves set apart as a living sacrifice holy and well pleasing to god which is your rational logical intelligent act of worship and do not be conformed to this world any longer with its superficial values and customs but be transformed and progressively change as you mature spiritually by the renewing of your mind focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes so that you may prove for yourselves what the will of god is that which is good and acceptable and perfect in his plan and purpose for your life let me read it to you out of the message bible verses one and two romans 12. so you know the message is the down home bible right so here's what i want you to do god helping you take your everyday ordinary life sleeping eating going to work and walking around life and place it before god as an offering embracing what god does for you is the best thing you can do for him don't become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking instead fix your attention on god you'll be changed from the inside out readily recognize what he wants from you and quickly respond to it unlike the culture around you always dragging you down to its level of immaturity god brings out the best in you and develops well-informed maturity remember the last time we were together here i said to you that both believers and unbelievers think about the same things remember that saints and sinners saints and ants however you want to call it people think generally about the same things right security safety money power i mean everybody we all think about the same thing but as christians we think about them differently and that's how we make the christian difference that's how we live out the christian difference because of how we what how we think how we process information and that's what the kingdom of god really is less a place that you go to after you die and more a way of thinking doing and being so living out your faith is about living the christian difference especially in the gray areas of life how many know about the gray areas of life yeah all of life is not black and white no pun intended there's a lot of space in life where there are no rules or the rules are not clear the gray areas of life are where situations can be difficult to judge what is right and what is wrong have you ever been in a gray area and you're trying to figure it out from your christian moral perspective the gray areas where situations are unclear and open to interpretation so someone may look at it one way you may look at it another way bring in a third person they'll look at it another way now we got three ways to choose from in fact bring 10 people now we've got 10 ways to choose from and it just gets more confusing and this is where knowledge wisdom understanding discernment and experience over time come in and it comes from having your mind renewed by the word of god so here's a question how should we think as christians how should we think about these uncertain social political spiritual moral and economic times that we are in how should we think about them that's important because how we think about them becomes the roots that anchor and support and sustain how we feel and how we respond amen how should we think about these uncertain times that we're in i've taught you that everything that god does he does according to a pattern the bible reveals the power and nature of god his plans and purposes but it also reveals patterns principles precepts seasons systems and cycles so i want to get into how should we think about these uncertain social political spiritual moral and economic times we are in don't you want to know how we should think about these things let me give you one word that will frame how we think about these times that we're in and it's from the list it's called cycles and when we come back to church next time [Applause] i'm going to unpack that word and how it relates and gives us a lens through which we can take a look and make sense of the world around us did you get anything out of that today come on give god a good handclap offering let's stand on our feet our minister is going to come and lead us in prayer minister misha we'll praise the lord sometimes you forget that you're wearing it beloved we conclude every service by saying that jesus is lord but we can't do that without giving someone the opportunity to make him lord pastor bernard reminded us that god gave us apostles prophets pastors evangelists and teachers because the christian walk is a lifelong learning experience and part of that learning is conflict resolution learning how to live as peacemakers as productive contributors to church society and the world pastor talked about roots those which anchor support and sustain and some of us need to resolve the conflict between our roots and god's plan for us we have many things in life that have nourished and secured us but some of those roots are bitter and some of the bitter roots are new and a bitter root can fuel a bitter lens which leads to bitter thinking you may have lived your life with fall consciousness and it's time to return to creation consciousness israel shared some good news today whom the sun sets free is free indeed we need to be free and that means we need the good news the good news is that a holy god so loved a rebellious world that he sent his only begotten son to live a sinless life die in our place and rise from the grave conquering death and in doing so he paid the price for our sin and gives us a right to everlasting life the good news is that god's grace is bigger than our flaws the good news is that no matter how much stony ground has blocked our healing god is here today to plant a seed that will grow into an experience the good news is that no matter how many leaves we have blindly hacked off god will lead us to the root we have perfected poverty thinking instead of learning stewardship we've railed against broken partnerships instead of choosing better ones we built higher fences and thicker doors and reveled in speaking hard and unkind truths instead of working to change the conditions that make our neighbors desperate to get through the men's speaking life as pastor bernard often says if god is going to do a new thing he's got to change the old you the good news is that he can and that when he does he won't just heal your heart he will begin to heal your home he will begin to heal your community he'll begin to heal your neighborhood your city your nation your world a changed you is the key to a change to us and us is spelled us that changed us is the key to a changed u.s a changed nation revival begins today with us [Applause] romans 10 9 says this if you confess with your mouth the lord jesus and believe in your heart that god has raised him from the dead you will be saved if you're with us today if you're if you're watching us online and you'd like to do that just repeat after me father i repent of my sin i believe christ died on the cross and rose again to pay the price for my sin i confess him as lord and savior and your word says i'm born again i am your child you are my god thank you lord thank you lord i will never be perfect but i am forever changed i pray in jesus name amen family just give god praise for a second that he is moving even now family we believe that if you prayed that prayer you are born again but change is not an event it's a process now the journey in christ begins now we get to be representative of god's rule in the world and to represent his rule we need to learn his rules now we reflect his character which means we need to study to become more like him and now we get to discover and this is the good part with god's hand upon us what our gifts talents and abilities are for and what we were created to do we have some information we'd like to give you so text or call the number on the screen may god continue to bless you your life will never be the same yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] god gave each of us some skill talent some ability and it's our stewardship responsibility to cultivate that as we discover our role in the world senator schumer used the term tikkun olam was taught to me by my dear rabbi friend repairing the world making the world a better place while we're here and part of that is constructively engaging culture with our values and ethics and beliefs and challenging them to judge their decision-making according to god's perspective on humanity amen hallelujah praise the lord come on give god a hand clap offering one more time give him some praise god loves you that's creation theology god made you for a purpose that's creation theology amen and god is using us right now as agents of change until he comes back personally and puts it all in order so let's do our part and continue to celebrate life his life his love and his light amen father thank you for our time together today in your presence thank you for this community of faith we don't grow in isolation we grow in community and thank you for this community christian cultural center thank you for christian communities around the world that are building up your people building up your church and creating disciples to share the good news let this word today become rooted in us and bear much fruit we thank you in jesus precious name amen and amen and those of you watching online thank you for being with us today let's say something because we leave this place but never god's presence jesus is lord period we believe it we proclaim it and we are seeing it come to pass thank you governor hokul and all the elected officials for being with us today god bless

Channel: Christian Cultural Center - Brooklyn Campus

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Length: 48min 37sec (2917 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 27 2021