A.R. & Jamaal Bernard | "5 Reasons Why People Don’t Change” | Christian Cultural Center

grace and peace family grace and peace i'm so excited today uh first sunday you know communion sunday which is my favorite uh you know two easters ago i spoke about uh the the what christ had to go through just to get to the cross and they say that the average person should have died even before they got to the cross so what drive was there what passion was there uh for him to even push through to get to the cross wow that's interesting yeah i didn't know that that's very good that's why they call it the passion yes yes that was the powerful drive yeah and they said they said something had to drive them they said even just being beat uh the amount of blood he lost he should have um caused him to to die he should have expired on the way to the cross yes yes and and the what made it worse was the fact that they said that when you're so stressed and you go your body goes through a process where it uh the capillaries start bursting and your your um skin and that's why he was able to sweat blood it tenderizes the skin so it makes it even more tender so prior to that so yeah i did a message on it was it really broken down that's good yeah so i i really enjoy community sunday it's an amazing time i respect it i love it and i honor it and that's of course that reminds us of the fact that we're not in the building together because communion is about the corporate experience of the body of christ it's just it's special it's commemorating his death but also his resurrection yep you know and the impact on our lives uh through salvation yes i always say to myself he was thinking about me as he pushed through to the cross i get all selfish with it yeah that's it personal life he's your personal lord and savior yes that's what sets you know uh evangelical christianity apart from you know the broader spectrum of christianity because we talk about a personal relationship with god where he we hear from him we just don't pray but he answers yep you know people some people have a problem with that you know but hey um so you got on a pink shirt yes this month that's symbolic or you know you just yeah i was trying to get you to wear you know your pink shirt i got pink this is pink i got pink on my shirt pink on my socks no those sort of don't show the socks this is what he used to do when we were younger and we were like wow daddy wow like it's not working sorry but yes i got pink on because of uh cast awareness breast cancer awareness month this month uh so we're looking to galvanize and support uh the women uh and individuals who have had uh mothers daughters sisters uh that dealt with breast cancer um as well as we're gonna move into uh next month for movember no shave november mo november are you gonna go a bear daddy absolutely not yes it's no shave november november so this is the month we're gonna look at cancer and you know what's going on with the uh both both genders of individuals but i'm gonna i'm gonna look on with you okay i'm not gonna be we're gonna get you pink next week yeah i wear pink next week i'll i'll try to remember you'll try to remember you'll help me yes i'll take my dad's shop yeah but the beard uh no definitely you know what it is you get to a place in life when there's more salt than pepper okay all right i know i'm leaving right now but yeah so um i'm excited you know and uh you know we're gonna take some time throughout these this month to really uh encourage pray for support it's beautiful you know we have a lot of survivors you know one uh male and female yeah male that female yeah all right and breast cancer just doesn't affect female it affects milk right as well that's right so you know just you know looking to say hey you know when you know we're not that we understand what you're going through but we're praying for you you know um there's a psychological mental emotional a lot of stress effects not just the individual who's experiencing but the family yes you know around them yep friends wow that's beautiful thank you all right so you're going to help me so i wear pink socks anything pink just to support i gotta get you a little pink ribbon that we did boom did y'all see last week with his boom on the screen i'm like who's encouraging this no but yeah so i'll get you something i get we'll get you something all right all right uh but uh last week first of all they were raving about the boom of course you know and and uh thank you for having uh what do you say um mercy or my daughter for tobago it's not tobago no it's not tobacco you said it in spanish that's the spanish version tobacco yes tobago we'll go with that but tobago we know what it is we're aware of it for all my trainees all you trinidad is out there yes you know we apologize it's the spanish side of us yes you know we got the chickpea curry mango you got love from chinese absolutely but uh yeah so very good feedback from last week and and they're excited for this week uh especially because you know a lot of people like okay what are the five reasons why people don't change people don't change you know and what was it what was it about what was the the the high point of last week's message what i got a lot of feedback on was the breakdown of repentance yes yep so i i think that was the high point uh deal with repentance and also the sin factor okay and and understanding that yes you know going back to the brokenness and woundedness of society it because we're quick to judge we're you know mankind humankind even to the point where they call it righteous you know judgment yeah real quick to judge and we quickly put the lens on somebody else but uh some individuals said wow i had to look back and look at me and and so that was a lot of you know some well not a lot but some of the conversation you know so sin our repentance and you know just say okay i'm i'm broken and wounded what am i doing what is what's being uh what's coming out of my brokenness and woundedness which i'm not even paying attention to yeah yeah i think it's important that we understand that especially when we talked about the oversimplification yes sin that was another one sin is a doctrine it's a teaching with a breakdown i mean there's a lot more to it than just you know uh personal choices and we're going to get into some of that uh today yeah because some of the other conversations we can't really talk about here because we have some starch strong um individuals that you know when they looked at the sin doctrine they uh you know come on get it out i'm not going to say it i got to behave you said i got to behave i was naming names last week and the week before so yeah i got to behave you don't want to blow up anybody out there no you know by certain ethnic groups or a group of individuals cultural groups uh you know uh for subconscious reasons they they you know will oversimplify sin and well yeah i mean again you know we we can engage in theological justification yep uh just to support our ideas you know um and there have been myths that have been perpetrated on the american public uh at large and specifically to certain communities um that that drive you know a certain idea that it's not biblical yeah so you said it like i was gonna say it but you were more politically correct i would i would have been straight shooter from the hip i'm working i'm working on on my you know my political correctness okay right yes but so uh moving into it you know why people don't change and at the end of the day all change is a decision yep all change begins with a decision you got to decide to change and until you decide you're not going to change no that that's i guess you know we ended with dr cole's principle yep change isn't changed until it's changed yes right so until you make that decision um you're not going to change so the pivot point is the decision to change then you have to be committed to that decision and then apply the disciplines necessary to live that decision out so it's versus the decision to change commitment to that decision and then the disciplines in order to live out that change yep so the decision the commitment and the discipline boom there it is we're booming early this is good you know because i remember you know uh you know truth brings necessary convictions for change that's right so is there a part that happens prior to the the decision because now you got because people don't know what they're doing uh people don't know that they're doing something wrong until they know that they're doing something wrong right so until they're convicted so truth brings a conviction necessary for change then you respond you know if you don't change there's five reasons okay why you don't change after that conviction comes and you want to talk about it yeah let's talk about it because you know and and this this is key because once again in a a a a environment a group you know an atmosphere where you know your truth is your truth and my truth is my truth then can can truth you know bring a necessary conviction is is is there such thing as that specific truth you know we gotta that's that's the thing about it god set this up so that the conscience facilitates our sense of right and wrong now it is true that the conscience facilitates judgment of right and wrong moral and immoral based upon how it has been informed now on a natural level right natural to every human person we have this sense of right and wrong but along the way because remember we're shaped and fashioned by social factors yep all right race ethnicity culture family education class geography family dynamics you know so your conscience can be cauterized you know king james language says in in looking at the future that people will have their conscience seared with a hot eye which means that your conscience becomes desensitized to the natural universal sensitivity that god gives every human being to right and wrong yep and i think that's why the mental health component is so key to always have in the forefront of discussion because there's also mental component yeah yeah it affects that consciousness as well absolutely absolutely so change begins with the decision then you've got to be committed to that decision then you have to employ the disciplines necessary to live that decision out and a lot and structures that's the discipline that has to be attached to it and that's the hardest part that's that discipline and people can avoid that with a ceremony yep so we get together we kumbaya you forgive i forgive your brother you forgive each other yes no but that's not what repentance is all right it can be manifest in that way you know but at the end of the day it's how you live it out you know you get married that's an official statement of commitment to each other that's legal and spiritual right but then how you live that out yup and that's that's that's the critical part you know so we need to make changes so i all right so why don't we change i don't know but i'm still on you know commitment decision commitment and discipline you know i i had an unbeliever tell me early on on an issue because it was something that i was supposed to get back to them on this is early in my christian walk and i wasn't a minister or anything like that and this person said to me you know what you'll get back to me when you decide to and that pierced my heart i said man yeah it's my decision i can't blame anyone or anything but at the end of the day it's what i decided to do you just convicted so many people watching this good i'm glad you're all convicted yeah look truth brings the conviction necessary for change all truth is confrontational but you'll never change until you're willing to confront the truth yes yes all right old school throwback principles guys the truth about your words thoughts motives and actions attitudes and choices and that's why it's confrontational because truth confronts yep what you're saying what you're thinking you know your attitude your choices all of that comes into play when the holy spirit brings and remember that's why he's called the spirit of truth and right now part of his ministry to the world at large is to convict the world of sin yes yes the whole concept of sin the whole idea not just you're doing something wrong but there is something wrong with the world the way it is that's the holy spirit and that's a problem because then you got the church well not the church now you have church members a church you got church hallelujah okay i'm trying to be hated because but you how do you sit by say you're christian but support a racist situation you you and the biggest group of individuals i know i know the biggest group of individuals are not even the racist individuals it's the the the uh how do you say the nonchalant the people who you know don't want to admit that complicit because they turn the other way yep those are the ones that are hurting them yeah and that's and that's that's important you know i'm sorry yes let's go we run into it yes yes let's put the let's at least put them down all right so number one is pride reasons people don't change fear rebellion uh laziness and ignorance now this is not as clean as when they were putting it up there last week on my green board my blackboard is back okay yeah let's see if boom's gonna but it begins with pride yes in the living bible jeremiah chapter 6 verse 14 in the living bible all right it says you cannot heal a wound by saying it's not there so pride lends itself to denial and indifference that's good denial and then yeah and those are the ones that are really hurting us the indifference doesn't matter what color skin yep doesn't matter definitely not class what education yeah and there are people who are in denial they say that you know issues like racism and other social issues that plague minorities are are myths that's a myth let's move on there's no more systematic systemic justice it doesn't exist anymore that's denial and and and the prophet jeremiah chapter 6 verse 14 y'all you cannot heal a womb by saying it's not there so pride says there's no need to change yep that's what price said everything's fine we're good it's it's it's it's dangerous on a national level it's dangerous on a personal level can you imagine you're out there you have a marriage relationship and someone in the marriage needs to change and they don't see the need to change everything's fine i don't see what the problem is can we just get along how about this one married couple uh talking to them and um you know the wife felt that the husband doesn't give an affection doesn't speak language of affection towards her you know and she's not sure whether he loves her or not and he said reverend you know i've been married to this woman for 25 years and when i got married her to her i told her i love you and if i changed my mind i would have told her i said 25 years later that was it you got it that was good that was that was but i'm i'm no pride yes says there's no need to change and there are people who feel that way yes personally with issues that they're dealing with that's affecting their relationship either with a spouse their friends their business partners their family their children you know across the board and there are people who like the status quo the way it is yes they feel everything is fine why rock the boat you know yeah let's let's not disturb anything and the biggest thing i see all five of these takes you out of your comfort zone absolutely absolutely so that's that's another thing all right so let's go a second with fear some people are afraid to change yep fear of the unknown fear of the uncomfortable fear of the unfamiliar that's where it moves them out of their comfort zone you know if we make these changes what's the world going to look like what's our society going to look like what's my family going to look like what is our business going to look like and fear is is will paralyze you i mean it'll put you in and and you'll rationalize your fear yeah yeah you'll give reasons why this is why i'm afraid this is why what may happen you know and boy i'd love to get into that you know what are people afraid of politically we're facing an election that's going to come up in a month right it's actually already started because ballots are in and on both sides of the aisle people are afraid i'd love to talk about what they're afraid of yeah we'll do that next week next time next time because because people on the the left or even democrats are afraid certain things from this administration and people on the right are afraid about certain things on the left and and they're reasonable so we need to talk about them i think we need to get them out even even even the emerge emerging of a particular people group they are afraid of yeah you know and you see why certain systems are created to keep a people group down people are afraid losing power if you're in power for so long and now that power is being challenged you know if there's if you're used to a certain way of life for a long period of time and now all of a sudden that's being changed you don't know what the future is going to look like yeah you know so again fear of the unknown fear of uh fear of being uncomfortable fear of the uh the unfamiliar third rebellion you know and when you're in rebellion you just refuse to change i don't want to change i don't care whether it needs to happen or not i just don't want to you know and some people just change bothers them you know and and the scripture beautifully in ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse 11. i think this this is a beautiful one ecclesiastes 3 11 you know and let me see if i can get it um is it 311 no i don't think so in the rsv wow i'm gonna have to look that up but basically um it says that only a fool resists change all right it's not first it's not 311. it's another passage i don't i don't remember but i'll get it but it basically said we know it's in the book all right we'll get we'll get it back all right um but the the the refusal to change is the mindset of a fool all right and there are people who just know in fact most people who are in power they want to preserve the status quo they don't want things to change so they push back they rebel against anything that's going to disrupt the status quo yep but disruption of the status quo is the only way to effect change you know what we turn it into that we have to think about carefully when we talked uh last week about prudence yes you know that's important so rebellion the refusal to change laziness you know uh proverbs 21 5 says that the the the the desire of the slothful kills because his hands refused to labor yep so you have all these dreams and considerations but you don't want to put the work in all right that's that's detrimental to you emotionally psychologically and physically because then you play the victim you feel i'm being victimized nothing's happened but you won't get up off your hallelujah yeah you know go to work i tell my kids i said look you know laziness is is not cool yeah yeah and i like the king james language lawfulness sounds nasty but laziness it's it there's too much work to change and their people look at change they see how good it is the difference that it's going to make but then they look at the process that's associated with it they look at the work involved and they say i don't want to do all this too much work too much so too much work to change lastly ignorance i didn't know i needed to change see that's that's that's a dangerous thing hosea 4 6 said so beautifully my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge so when you are blinded by ignorance and we've got a lot of ignorance in our nation right now about a lot of issues especially the history of this nation all right there's a lot of ignorance about that history on both sides you know whether it's black white republican democrat you know there's a lot of ignorance as to how we got to where we are today you know and those who don't want to talk about the past but like i said last week we got to remember the past why we change the future you know and history is important can you imagine and i didn't say this last week but let me say it now you go to a doctor's office right because you're having symptoms physically your body is in trauma you're having all these symptoms what does when you go to that doctor for the first time what do they do what's your medical history they give you sheets to fill out what's your medical history what's your father's history your mother's history do you have any cousins do you have any sisters or brothers they want to look at that entire history before they will diagnose or prescribe anything for the situation that you're experiencing so how we're going to on a social basis with regard to issues of race and relationships in america get get angry when we revisit american history yes we've got to look at that history we want to we don't want to stay there the doctor doesn't hold that history against you he doesn't look at that history wow you deserve this i can't help you now it goes in a file cabinet and then now we move forward exactly he files it or she doctor files it so that they can know how to address the symptoms what to prescribe so the history is important the past is important because it helps us understand what do we need to do to move forward yes so there's people who are afraid that diagnosing the past means we're going to stay there we're going to live there we're going to hold it against you that's what some people do god but that's wrong yeah no it's very think about the doctor illustration the doctor doesn't hold your pass against you you know he's using it to invest in the future your future your future of your health using the past to invest in the future that's it the future of your health your future of your physical health but the future of your mental health future the the future of the health of our nation yes our society so ignorance says i didn't know i needed to change right dr martin luther king jr said there's nothing more dangerous than seeing sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity he said you have a right you have a responsibility rather to be intelligent it's a powerful word let me say it again very powerful martin luther king jr all right so all y'all that are quoting him all right include everything he said there's nothing more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity so you can be conscientious but if you're stupid about it right yep then that's going to create problems and you see that happening when you look at instagram and facebook and twitter you see people trying to be conscious or woke you know and yeah but there's so much ignorance within their rhetoric you know it's it's it's insane are you hearing yourself right and then you got people retweeting and like wait are you hearing them yeah and it just it just trickles down and like you know one person was asking about crystals and and what crystals can do in your life i'm like you're a christian why are you even worried about the crystals and energy from the crystals and things like that the whole that's right i know i know we got to do that people are ignorant about their faith their christianity and they bring things that are what the old testament called strange fire yes right which wasn't allowed to be brought into the altar strange sacrifices before god uh yeah because the culture is so mixed that we can bring bring pagan practices pagan ideas pagan values and worship styles and form into the kingdom of god and it doesn't fit it doesn't work it becomes problematic the old testament talks about that so we don't as christians we should not be on a edge of a cliff somewhere in arizona howling at the moon looking at some crystals and look at them looking for them to light up no no we don't do that so again we got it right yes reason why people don't change pride fear rebellion laziness and ignorance that's it and you can apply that out there to individuals make sure you start with yourself yeah i know just self-check first start with yourself but we can apply it to the social and political conditions that we're in as a nation yes that's very very real so that's why i don't change and let me tell you either you will lead change or change is going to lead you yes and you cannot you cannot move forward into the future without passing judgment on the past so if you don't pass judgment on the past and say this is what it was and put it in perspective now we can move on if you're still questioning and you're still uncertain you're gonna you're gonna have a difficult time moving into the future yes yeah and that's why we have to revisit the past and understand not live there we don't stay there nor do we kind of throw it at you you know because in relationships and human relations we don't want the past thrown at us again and again and again you're trying to change you know and and change is not an event yep it's a process it's a process that's so important so we were talking about the the the levels of sin in terms of its impact on society yes right yep we're gonna go there um so the first level that sin impacts is personal yes because adam and eve made personal choices personal decisions and god is not holding us responsible or guilty for their personal choices i explained this again because people still don't get it i know you explain it in detail but people still don't get it you know especially when you deal with the old old-school christian thought uh you know old school christian thought you got you got to go we got to revisit this yes please so so there is personal sin right yes which is the personal choices that adam and eve made all right their judgment was that they were evicted from the garden all right they now experience death sickness disease all of that came into them as a consequence of their personal choice but that personal choice also created a condition that passed upon passed on to all humanity so it's the condition that passed exactly not necessarily the consequence for their personal sin all have sinned now yes come short of the glory of god why because we are now born into a condition that was created by the personal choices of adam and eve okay so so there is the per there is personal sin right and there is original sin yes all right this is the personal choices this is the condition created by those personal choices we do it today we make personal choices and often we create conditions that affect other people whether it look if if your husband and wife and you're not talking to each other with regard to spending and finances all right one of you can go off spend everything get into debt and now you put pressure on the family you understand if you're pursuing uh something at the expense of your family all right that you don't have the money to pursue now your family's suffering so we're always making personal choices that create conditions personal choice that could create conditions so these are personal choices that you make and we're making personal choices every day and often they create conditions so in our theology all right we it's called the doctrine of original sin through one man's sin sin and death entered the world so it came in he was the portal he opened things up when he and and and eve made those choices but more so with adam because the responsibility was laid upon him personally so god doesn't punish others for your personal sense because often we say man i'm going through this is am i being punished for what my mother did my father did you know conditions passed on so if your your parent was a an abuser of alcohol or or drugs or something else right is there inherently genetically a disposition a predisposition yes does it mean that you're going to do the same thing no but the predisposition is there the possibility is there so you have to be cognizant of that and make sure that you don't follow in those footsteps because the scripture says that when the son makes a decision not to walk in the ways of the father all right that person that son will not be judged the judgment won't come upon that son because of the father so god looks at each generation and see what their personal choices are going to put forward yeah you know so again personal sin create conditions so when we talk about the manifestation of of of sin all right we have to talk about sin on a personal level that's number one sin manifests itself on a personal level so you know this is this manifests in individual choices you all wanted me to write on the board i'm writing on the board individual choices personal morality right responsibility and understand when it shows up as sin all right it's personal immorality yep it's personal irresponsibility so it's what we do on a personal level so see and and let me say this since we're unpacking this all right sin is an offense against the imago day yep the image of god that's very very important that's where it begins so when adam and eve sin they sin against the image of god that was stamped on them because now they turn that holy image into something immoral unholy and immortal death doom because god is love life and light yes darkness set in ignorance came in right all of that happened so sin essentially is an offense against the image of god offense against it that's very very important sin is an offense against the image of god the imago day and why is that important because it's the foundation for human dignity yes it's the foundation because when we see every human person in the image of god all right then we have to respect that they are worthy of dignity worth value life so when we violate a person all right dehumanize them in any way we're actually offending the image of god that has been stamped on every human being a status conferred by god yes so when you see a situation i have to refer back to it the police officer's knee on the neck of george floyd regardless of george floyd's history criminal past demonizing that has nothing to do with it all right that knee all right he was violating he was offending the image of god stamped on that man and that's what sin does on a personal level all right so it's an also not only that it's an offense against reason against conscience that tells us that's wrong to affect it and it's a failure all right to exercise genuine love of god towards neighbor that's cool when he says love neighbor yes sir so when we see lynn on sin rather on a personal level these are all the things that go into play you know next level we repeat all that yeah individual choices personal immorality personal irresponsibility you did ah okay all right so it's an offensive against the image of god god right which is foundational to human dignity all right uh the life worth and dignity of the human person yes it's an offense against reason since all sin is irrational irrational illogical and unreasonable yep got it uh it's it's an offense against reason truth and conscience right conscience because you know your conscience is informed the right conscience right conscience yes and it's a failure in genuine love of god for our nature and genuine love exactly that's great what jesus said what love god with all your heart soul mind love neighbor as yourself so when we violate neighbor all right we're disrespecting the image of god that's placed on that person then the question is what kind of love do you have for yourself it ties together and that's why and man we're out of time but we got to do we got to do this you know why that's right because you asked me a question and this is this is so important uh you asked me a question we were talking about a in fact uh a a video was it a zoom meeting that you did with josh mcdowell's son sean mcdonald sean mcgowan live right yeah it was an instagram live yeah and their family is great i mean josh mcdowell you know uh was the evidence that demands a verdict and all that and now his son has moved in to apologetic yes yep excellent excellent but we were talking and the issue of the kingdom of the gospel the gospel and the good news the gospel yes has good news yes yeah and what people don't don't realize often that the gospel that they're two good news that were announced and i'm careful here because people say well how many gospels are there yeah all right but think about it all right and and it refers back to you know sin manifesting manifesting itself on a personal level this is where we have the gospel of salvation of salvation and i'm very careful here because in ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 ephesians chapter 1 verse 13 it talks about the gospel of your salvation so the gospel that jesus spoke of the good news that jesus spoke of and the epistles speak of is the saving of the soul the saving of the soul and that applies to the individual because sin has invaded the individual so you know uh for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life so the gospel message is the gospel of salvation which speaks to the individual all right but there's also the gospel of the kingdom so when jesus preached he preached the god repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand and that's that's ma that's language in luke because luke was speaking to the gentiles and they understood the greeks understood in the terms of kingdom of heaven but matthew says the kingdom of god which is the hebrew context of that language speaking to the hebrews so the gospel of salvation right and it's not that i'm making up this new gospel ephesians 1 13 beautifully all right it speaks of god's redemption the saving of the soul the rest reconciliation and restoration of the individual all right but then there is the gospel of the kingdom the gospel of the kingdom and this is about the reconciliation of the social order and the restoration of the social order because the kingdom of god or the kingdom of heaven is the government of god it is the reign and rule of god so when jesus says seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness all these things will be added to you he's talking about the reign and rule of god when he says thy kingdom come thy will be done he's talking about the reign and rule of god and that addresses sin on the second level that it manifests itself and the second level is what we're going to talk about next time when we get together all right well we got we got to give context because uh the there was a discussion that uh the gospel is not social justice yeah yeah and they were coming from the gospel of salvation yeah so you look at the gospel of salvation they saying that uh the gospel is the salvation of the soul but what comes out of that is social justice yeah so the soul's transformed the soul is the person is you know is redeemed the soul the person is has a different lens and say now because of this relationship with christ then i'm going to go after social justice so social justice is his priority uh you know telling the truth is priority loving your neighbor's priority loving self is priority loving god is priority what comes out of that but the gospel is a salvation is the the and restoration of the soul so it applies to the individual yes but the gospel of the kingdom you read the gospels this is what jesus said jesus was preaching the gospel of the kingdom he never said the gospel of salvation we understand that in the language that he used personally all right that whoever believes in him should not perish that was to the individual because he brought a message to the nation of israel all right ordering them commanding them to repent but he also brought the opportunity for the individual so even though the nation didn't repent as a whole individuals within the nation who embraced his message for as many as received him uh john chapter one to them gave you the power the authority to become the children of god so there is the individual and there is the society so the kingdom the gospel or good news is what gospel means of the kingdom deals with the social order the social systems its values its culture uh its its ideas its structures its system and that's where justice is dealt with that's where justice is addressed and that's where the church should be responding that's absolutely right we're the pillar and ground for the truth so it's it's partly the salvation of the individual the saving of the soul from sin all right but it's also the gospel of the kingdom which means we jesus addresses the social order and that's why this the language in in scripture that says all authority's been given to me in heaven and earth uh he he humbled himself but then he's been given a name that is above every name he's been highly exalted that at the name of jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven things on the earth things under the earth all right that's another conversation all right and and and also that he's been elevated exalted to the right hand of the father above all principalities and powers so the gospel of the kingdom all right is all-encompassing it deals with the social order the the the place of rebellion amongst angelic beings the rebellion uh from humanity so the gospel of the kingdom is is all-encompassing and deals with all of that the social order its values its structure its culture it's traditions all right that are antithetical to the kingdom of god so that's what it deals with but the gospel of salvation all right is specific to the soul so i'm again i'm not talking about two different gospels i'm talking about two expressions of the redemptive work of god in the earth towards all of the social order that is broken wounded and in rebellion and to the individual the personal message of salvation from sin that's a lot no it is because then the question is uh uh you know in which people tend to say what christianity isn't supposed to be a state religion and a lot of uh theologians say that christianity was never designed to be a state religion but a state religion yes but designed to hold the the the governing body accountable for certain um moral decisions that affect the whole pete and that's important all right christianity and so christian social ethic is to influence the culture yes to bring the kingdom mindset to the culture but it was never to be subject to the state and so we have to be very careful and that's what happened that we came became known as the roman church when christianity in rome all right joined forces with the state yep and the state said we'll protect you as christians as long as you further the agenda of the state and boy does that sound like today and then people get they've flavic acid you mean uh america is not a christian nation no it was disastrous in cult we're christian with ceremonial elite christian we're we're culturally christian but we're not constitutionally because it's freedom of religion yeah yeah and pluralism religious pluralism you know and they've got to understand in fact the constitution pushes back against the state religion because the the ravens the calvinists all those who fled you know uh uh europe they fled state religion yep to come here to freely practice their christianity that's a lot we're all the time yeah sorry but i hope this is bless you and we'll continue with the next three levels of how sin manifests itself yes and don't ask me for the uh notes prior to oh man uh and now i'm just trying to wind down i know i know how long how do we pray at the end of something like this what jesus said thy kingdom come and when we when you pray thy kingdom come what you're what you're asking god for what you're coming into agreement with god for is that the kingdom of righteousness and peace and joy all right under the power and influence of the holy spirit will influence this world in which we live all right influence government social institutions relationships the church you know across the board when you say thy kingdom come you're saying not only the salvation of the soul of individuals but the reconciliation and restoration of the social order to the ways of god i know man you're thinking you're processing all of this yeah seek first the kingdom of god in his righteousness because i'm in dialogue and conversation with so many individuals and we're having some of these theological conversations and and uh who stands where you know and it's a lot you know very very uh heady conversations that we're having you know and it tends to not be the conversations we'll we usually have you know in basic normally yeah so and we try to make these things simple so that you can understand it and also have the language to articulate it because there are conversations happening all over the place and you want to know what you're talking about and not only know what you're talking about but know how to articulate clearly what you're talking about and this is why we do what we do in the format and you know we we have to be careful because remember it's the word and the spirit coming together you know because we can get so caught up intellectually that we we miss the the the spirituality that moves us you know in our realm of our emotions but we want those two things to come together remember all right don't ever deny your emotions the benefit of your intellect the intellect guides your actions while your emotions provide inspiration so don't allow your emotions to deny you the benefit of the intellect absolutely but it goes vice versa you know don't allow your hints don't allow your intellect to deny you the benefits of your emotions as well passion the sensitivity the empathy of your emotion so they have to come together and remember balance is the key to life yep so we can't choose one of the over the other we have to balance the two good stuff man it is it is it is i feel it boom oh wow uh how you want to end this i know it's kind of like you know processing all of this stuff but i will tell you we're a month away from electing a new president or an or the same president a new administration or the current administration and i know there are a lot of fears in fact i want to make sure that next next service you know next week we we we talk about those very real fears you know just just in a small piece of the message because we still got to talk about acts of charity and how that works with prayer and fasting all right what we do how we live out the love and compassion of god in human society people say i don't care how much you know until i know how much you care and that's that all works together so for now all right understand what i said previously when you pray you're praying for those in positions of authority to be influenced by the holy spirit to be influenced by the values of the kingdom of god and it begins foundationally with the life dignity worth value of the human person that's where it all begins and when you're making decisions about voting all right they say well just vote your conscience well that depends on how your conscience was informed yep you know because if if it's been informed by wrong thinking by bad things right desensitizing you to good and what's moral then then i don't want you to vote your conscience all right um you begin by examining what the individual the candidate and their party believe about the dignity and worth of the human person now that's a lot because it plays out in policies practices and systems and structures etc but that's where you begin where does this individual stand on the value the dignity the life of the human person because that is where they begin and all the decisions that they make will come out of what they believe about that no it's true and and the intention is uh friend of mine osiris he was saying that he was you know he read a report from the president of the naacp and he said for for the longest part of history there was racism in both parts so you can't say well this part is less racism than the other part there's tension there's racial tension between both parts you know and it's about which money you follow the money truck and you see why decisions are being made so yeah we have these conversations yeah and people people vote and that's why boy that's that's another conversation we have to get into because remember the politics are symptomatic of the culture so what's happening within the culture and the social concerns that people have drive their politics so if your number one concern like even evangelical community you know abortion uh the nation of israel you know the borders i mean these kind of things all right you're gonna vote based upon those influences those social concerns now you come into the black community who experience disenfranchisement marginalization discriminate discrimination and inequities economically all right we're going to think out of our social situation and say okay what is this administration or this politician going to do for our community when we're facing racialized policing system racialized criminal justice system inequities in education inequities and economic opportunities inequities and health care what are they going to do so the social issues really drive our politics yep so i say don't just register to vote educate the vote yeah educate the vote i like that boom thank you all right you'll close this out now yes father god we thank you so much for uh always being able to come to you even uh in spite about uh us feeling that we're not worthy to approach the throne so lord we say thank you thank you for having open arms uh always looking to engage in a relationship with us lord so right now we ask for guidance we actual wisdom we ask for discernment uh really to touch our ears our eyes to see uh as things are coming across our tv screens our phones whatever it is that we see you know into it correctly that we really hear the voice of wisdom and understanding so lord we ask it for for help at this time direction at this time on how to approach even just voting so lord reacts and and we promise out on saying your kingdom come yeah your will especially at a time like this lord your will be done right here right now we are asking for this because we know within your kingdom we will find peace within your kingdom we will find worth within your kingdom we will find value so lord react to you just have your way your will be done hallelujah hallelujah lord lord we pray for these politicians we pray for you to establish relationships uh of voices kingdom-minded voices to speaking to the ears yes we pray for your spirit to move in a mighty way lord we need a divine movement right here yes right now yes lord and so we ask for it we pray for what we receive today that you know it'll move with us throughout this week we'll be able to ponder on it understanding that our choices create conditions so we'll be conscious of our choices because we're conscious of our conditions yeah yeah so lord we pray and acts that you just even let us see in ourselves if we are dealing with pride or if we're dealing with ignorance or if we're dealing with laziness or we're dealing with rebellion lord so lord we ask that you have your way in shaping our minds so that we can become better individuals and more so better christians yeah we pray this in jesus precious name jesus name amen amen amen i forgot the fifth one while i was praying rebellion pride ignorance laziness and it's rebellious pride pride yes right yep the next one is is um trying to look at the board rebellion rebellion you got ignorance got laziness laziness i gotta look at my nose look it up look it up fear pride yeah fear rebellion laziness ignorance yes that's where it goes i add that to that prayer and we pray the words of ecclesiastes that the heart of the king is in the hands of the lord yes because that we'll know will make the big difference necessary in our nation hey good stuff man thank you thank you next time yes as we leave this place but never god's presence jesus is lord we believe it we proclaim it and receive it come to pass god bless and enjoy the rest of your week you

Channel: Christian Cultural Center - Brooklyn Campus

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Length: 56min 59sec (3419 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 05 2020