Lincoln Berean Church: Recent Episodes
Lincoln Berean Church
We exist to glorify God by seeking to present every person complete in Christ. There’s no reason to walk in darkness when God has given us a light. The Bible is a light to our feet that can help us navigate through the ordinary decisions we make every day. This is why we are so passionate about our commitment to rightly interpret the Bible as our guide for living each day for the things that matter.
When you walk through these doors to gather for a service like this, what is it you expect from any our teachers?
When the bottom falls out in life, when everything unravels, when everything is going horribly, is God really with us?
How many times over those many years do you think they really wondered in their heart, is God still with us?
It’s in the most ordinary, everyday relationships of life where we’re exposed and we learn who we really are in our marriage, our family, and where we work.
What is it that would prevent someone from playing their part in the work of this team, the work of the church?
Have you found something that is so good it is worth orienting your entire life around, and it might even be worth dying for?
Can the church live out its salvation faithfully and confidently in our perilous world?
Without ignoring the baffling, frightening realities of the world, it is possible to live a life of meaning?
People often lack the ability to connect the dots between their own choices, and the misery they're experiencing.
What happens to us when we die? Do we just become food for worms? What if God is inviting us into something more?
Do you think it's possible that that God wants to be with you more than you want to be with Him?
For those of us that have experienced new life in Christ, what do people who are seeking God need from us?
For those of us that have experienced new life in Christ, what do people who are seeking God need from us?
How do we live faithfully committed to the covenant relationship that we have entered with God?
To seek God in the midst of the struggle, is much more like that very first Christmas than we are apt to think.
I would like to invite you to engage your imagination and go with me on a journey to “Wonder”, at the awesomeness of our Creator God.
Wherever you find yourself this weekend, this I do know, we have a God who delivers, and this we must remember.
How do we cultivate a remembrance of what God has done, the way He has rescued us in big ways and in small ways?
What does it say about a God who is all powerful and all knowing who would allow His children to face difficulty and danger?
Which generation do you think is most likely to take what they've been given for granted, and to miss the blessings God has for them?
Often what makes news really good news is that it comes in the context of circumstances that are really difficult.
Will we trust in what we can do in our own power and in our own strength or will we live a life of surrender to the God who is in charge?
In a moment of your greatest need, has there been a time when it seemed like God was nowhere to be found?
Most of our lives are lived in the ordinary, but God has this habit of meeting us in the ordinary and turning it into something extraordinary.
Sometimes with great courage and faith, all you can do is cling to the promises of God and choose to believe God tells the truth.
I find myself wondering, is that sometimes how we treat God? We're busy with our own agenda. We have all this other stuff we're doing, and we offer God the leftovers, what little bit we can spare.
For the first time in our series, we go from talking about what Jesus does for us to what the resurrected Jesus wants from us.
What if there was a way that we could shape our days and shape our weeks and shape our lives, so that it would leave an imprint on this world long after we're gone?
I want to propose to you that an extraordinary 2023, and really an extraordinary life, is built by taking a thousand seemingly unexceptional steps, one day at a time.
We have a desire to sing about something that matters; to find that thing that our souls have always been looking for and sing about it.
We go to church; we hear all this stuff, and then you walk away thinking, "Okay, but what is the relevance of this to everyday life?"
If you've truly found new life in Christ, why are you still wearing the old dirty clothes?
Is Christ sufficient for what you need, or do you need to do something to make it better?
As we open this book I think we’re going to be inspired to follow Him more closely, to be more intent of our pursuit of Him—to be, in a word, rooted in Christ.
Sin will always take you farther than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay in it and will cost you more than you want to pay.
We learn this value system early in life: “As long as I didn’t start it, then it’s not my fault. I have a right to retaliate.” Sadly, a lot of people never outgrow that, and the consequences to themselves and the people around them are devastating.
Is it possible that you will never experience the life that Jesus wanted you to experience because of someone else's failure?
In a world that is set on anger, in a world that tries to have us foster anger, what would it look like to become a people with hearts of gentleness?
How do we go from being a person whose soul was governed by chaos, to increasingly becoming a person who has a heart at rest?
Do you find yourself cultivating more contentment or getting more discontent in the last few weeks or months? Do you find yourself more irritable, more frustrated? Or do you ind yourself more joyful, more at peace?
God has made a way for us to be now in His very presence, to be known by Him and to know Him. To be fully known and fully loved.
Here at the end of this series, how do we think differently about what it means to dare to be the church, and the way that might impact our very life?
It's critical to understand, we are part of something so much bigger than ourselves. So my job in the next few minutes is to review 28 chapters of the book of Acts, and walk you through the story of 2000 years of church history.
We love a good ending, don’t we? You get to the end of a book…you get to the end of a movie…and it just feels right. Things have all come together, and it’s perfect. I wonder if you are writing the end of the book of Acts, how would you write the ending?
So, how do you discern whether or not God is happy with you…like pleased with you? Or how do you determine whether or not you’re in God’s will?
People today reject Jesus and the claims of the gospel for lots of reasons. But for those of us who believe, it should be comforting that there were some very powerful people who had everything to gain by disproving the claims of the gospel thirty years after the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, but they could not do it.
In the midst of an increasingly complex and even hostile world, how are we to respond as the people of God?
If Jesus were to return next week, what is it that you were involved in this week that would still matter?
There is a sense in which there is “us” and there is “them”. But, if we’re not careful, it can become “us” against “them,” and that is a problem.
Our calling is to represent Jesus to the world. The question we're wrestling with is, “What is the cost of that calling?”
It's very easy, in a selfish, greedy, materialistic world, to waste your life on things that don't matter. But we're going to make it very difficult to do so.
What is our life leaned up against, being propped up by? Is it faithful obedience and faith in God's promises? Or is it something else?
Today, if we listen, there is a message from God of His generous, extravagant, extraordinary love for you and for me.
Every one of us wants to make our life count. And yet so many times we get stuck behind our pride, thinking we're too insignificant, or our pride thinking, “Well, I can just make that happen.”
You find that Paul lived his life in a way that what he said, lined up with what he did, and what he did, lined up with the Word of God.
Our Christian lives are not lived out here. They’re lived out in the most ordinary circumstances of life
I would suggest there are people that are religious, people that go to church, people that celebrate Christmas and Easter. But here's my question. Is that enough to experience new life in Christ and experience the presence of the Holy Spirit within?
God's providence may call you into places that you never expected, so that He can use you in ways you never thought possible, if you are willing to submit to His will.
We have a rapidly changing American culture, and in order to be effective, we need to think about how we present this life-changing message of Jesus.
Often our light is going to shine most brightly when life is the most difficult, and if, in that moment, instead of demanding my rights and freedoms, I respond in a way that is so other than what's happening in the culture, people can't help but look at us and say, “I don't know what you have but I want that.”
What if the question is not so much “What do I have to do?” What if the question is: What has already been done?
Have we settled for a smaller story, a smaller mission, or are we caught up in the mission and the vision of God?
We are called to be a light in the darkness. But we're only going to accomplish that if we go forth with great courage and great skill.
If you're having trouble telling people about Jesus, check your delight in your relationship with God.
The purpose of the church is to make disciples. But what does it mean to make disciples?
I know people talk about the God of the Old Testament being this angry, wrathful, judgmental God. But when people say that, I have to ask them, “What Old Testament are you reading?”
Have you ever found yourself in need of being judged? It's kind of a weird question. Why would I want someone to judge me?
It is tragic when heroes fall. But surely God intends for us to learn something, even within that fall.
If we know who wins at the end of the game, shouldn’t that affect the choices we make today?
The culture we live in has become very skillful at presenting that which is offensive to God as virtuous. It's a Lie.
Why is it we're not experiencing the life Jesus promised? Because rather than driving out the things in our lives that are offensive to Him, we allow them to remain.
We have to remember, it's not our job to complete the work of justice. That is God's. But we are not free to ignore it. And we have to create margin in our lives, to continue to lean into it.
Our God is on the move, and we are His people, called to step in obedience into the work He is doing right now, right where we are.
The conflict and anger in our culture is intentional, as the influencers of our culture are not interested in a peaceful reconciliation, but rather an oppressive revolution. And it is so utterly contrary to God's vision for the world, that is beautifully pictured in our story this morning.
How are you, personally and specifically, seeking to follow Jesus, as He leads us in daring to be the church in these days?
We can create pockets of flourishing that give people just a glimpse of the world as God intended it to be. As a church, how do we do that?
The most important decision anyone can ever make in life, is what they will do with the realities of Easter and the resurrection and all that comes with it.
What do you suppose happened that would turn this crowd from such excitement and celebration on Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, in such a way, that in a matter of days, they would be so angry, they would cry out for Him to be executed? And what does that have to do with us today?
The apostle Paul wrote, “He had learned to be content in any circumstance.” He wrote those words from a Roman prison cell, awaiting potential execution under the Emperor Nero. So what is it Paul knew, that allowed him to write those words in those circumstances?
Every time God does something incredible, there's also, on the other side, an enemy that is out to destroy and distract the church from the mission and purpose of God.
Is being the church all about those incredible championship moments or is there more in between?
Okay, so you think you've blown it. You struggle to believe God could ever want you back or ever use you again. The answer Peter gives brings hope to every person.
The incredible reality of Pentecost is that as we've been given a mission, we've also been filled with the very Spirit that empowers us to be on that mission.
It's an interesting commentary on a culture, to look at what we believe “is” and “is not” essential. So, what about the church?
We live in a world where we have more and more information about people every day, and yet we become more and more isolated.
The reality is everyone is going to die. So we better be thoughtful about what we do with the days we've been given.
Do you genuinely believe that Jesus is of greater worth than anything this world has to offer?
I would contend that if you are looking for Christmas to make you happy, you very likely will be feeling disappointed one week from now.
What difference did Jesus' presence here on this earth make? How was Him being here among us, a gift to those people that He was around?
Okay, so you've blown it. You've made a mess of things. And ever since, you've been sitting on the bench, because you are convinced God could never use you again. If that is your story, I invite you to listen carefully to the story in our final chapter of the Gospel of John.
If our story this morning is not true, we as Christians are a pitiful, hopeless people.
One question we might ask, since John keeps encouraging us to believe is, “How do we know that this is the truth?”
The greatest moment in human history is so wondrous, it gives reason for every person to have hope in the most uncertain, difficult times.
Jesus would willingly choose to travel this terrible journey to the cross. Which does raise an interesting question. “Why would He do that?”
Jesus is not saying to go out there and try harder; I think you can do it. He's saying, “I'm inviting you to join Me. Let's dance together and experience a unity among the children of God, that will be our light in the world."
Jesus offers three little words, that if we understand what He's saying, it will give us what we need to get through the most difficult moments in life.
Jesus is giving His last teaching to His disciples before He's to be arrested and crucified. His disciples are fearful and hurting and in the midst of that He tells them, “You're going to be hated and persecuted!” Now that raises an interesting question: They're already stressed out enough; why would you tell them that?
What are the 'these things' that He has spoken that would allow us to have joy in the midst of the most difficult moments of life?
Community is not an evolutionary adaptation for the survival of the species; it’s how we’re made by a Creator.
Is community necessary in the Christian life, or is it possible to move forward in the Christian walk and do that as a solo pursuit?
We need to drop our anchor there and figure out how to tie into that rock so that we can not only endure these times, but be the kind of person that others can look to, who would say, “There’s something different there.”
Can we actually be involved in meaningful works that will lead to lasting and significant impact among the great needs of the world in far-away places? I believe the answer is, “No”. We can't…unless we are willing to align our lives to the plans and the purposes of an extraordinary God.
Why is it so easy to talk about that kind of experience but so challenging to talk about your experience with Jesus?
What does it mean for me to be a neighbor in this day, in this moment, in this world that is filled with chaos and confusion right now?
The fruit of our lives—our attitudes, our actions, our words, our thoughts—are really an outflow of what's happening in the “root” of our life.
How has your Christianity been impacting your life in these crazy days—internally—in regard to the quality of your life and—externally—in regard to the impact from your life?
It’s possible to spend our lives building a religious resume having confidence in the flesh, but still not know Jesus in a real and personal way.
What does God want the church to look like that I can join with, in order to reach and help shepherd others around me?
Maybe today's pretty good and tomorrow will be the worst day of your life. In those moments, what do we need to do?
In less than twenty-four hours, Jesus is going to give His life on the cross. So, these are significant words to prepare His leadership team for the assignment that's coming.
If John has presented such a compelling case, both then and now, why would anyone not believe?
One reason that I think a lot of Christians are maybe dissatisfied or disappointed with their Christian life, is because, in a sense, they have created their own Jesus.
There are some wolves that howl more loudly than other wolves, and perhaps for a lot of people, the loudest wolf of all is the wolf named Death.
There are hundreds of things wrong with the world, and you're left with this question, “What can anyone do for me?”
There are many false shepherds, who ultimately are thieves and robbers, and when the wolves start howling, they're going to flee, and you are in trouble.
If your joy is dependent on your circumstances, you're destined to live a pretty unhappy life.
There are so many different religions, so many different truth claims, and it kind of has that same feel to it as people are frustrated, trying to figure out what's actually true.
It's true that every single one of us suffers from a sickness far more devastating than a virus. And if we don't get this particular sickness dealt with, it will affect us forever.
There's no reason to live in the bondage of our past. We've all blown it. We've all messed up. At some point, you’ve got to settle this thing and realize God tells the truth. He longs for you to experience His forgiveness and grace and mercy. Let the past be in the past.
What are you looking for? And the fact that you're still searching, isn't that indicative of the fact you're not finding it? Perhaps there's some other way.
As people made in the image of God, we all have a longing to know God. So for many people, the logical next step is to pursue religion.
We tend to think when we hear the word religion that religion leads people to God. But John is reminding us that actually religion becomes the barrier to getting to God.
What is it that's going on in your life that you feel like it’s just too much for Jesus?
It's actually religion that becomes the barrier to experiencing a meaningful relationship with God.
Whether you have a lot or whether you have a little, the issue is: “Where do you find life?”
Even though the waiting for the presents will be over on the morning of the 26th, will we still be a waiting people? Will we still be a people with a longing for something more?
In your heart of hearts, do you think Jesus tells the truth or do you think Jesus is a liar? It's got to be one or the other.
Let's imagine that Jesus invited you to sit down at a table with a cup of coffee, and after you share whatever it is that's on your heart, He looks you in the eye and asks you the question, “Okay, I hear you. Do you want to get well?” What would you say?
It's in the midst of this particular story where we remember something very important that we must remember in those most difficult moments of life.
It started out like any other day. Whatever hopes and dreams she once had, had given way to survival. She had no idea that an ordinary, routine trip to the well would change her life forever.
If you want to experience the power of God in your life in a personal way, you’ve got to take a step of faith and get out of the boat and get your feet wet, whatever that means for you.
In the book of Joshua, we see Joshua in a posture of listening and God speaking, and God giving him exactly the words he needs in this moment.
Imagine what God could do through each one of us if we realize that we are a part of the ministry of reconciliation, and the message of reconciliation.
You'd be hard pressed to find last words that have had a greater impact than the last words of Jesus to His disciples.
I would suggest to you, the best person to listen to about what is true of God, is God.
Many people have a lot of opinions about what it takes to enter the kingdom of God, but it might be a good thing to ask ourselves what Jesus had to say about that.
What happens when the God of the universe takes on human flesh and collides with the religious establishment of His day?
John will reveal what he calls a sign, the first evidence to validate his claim that Jesus was actually God in the flesh.
Within this story of Jesus calling His first disciples, there is a message for those of you who are still seeking and for those of us who have already experienced new life in Christ.
They had no idea that, standing among them, was the One who, for hundreds of years, the people had longed for. Most would reject Him, but for those who would receive Him, their lives would never be the same again.
John offers us what our soul is longing for—that we might understand it, that we might believe it—that we might find life.
We need to understand what God says about money. Jesus said if you get this one area of your life wrong, it's not likely you're going to get much of anything else in your life right.
In the hardest moment, no matter what you're going through, God’s voice can break through.
We want to get to the finish line without regrets, and know we lived the one life that we got for the things that will last forever.
Forgiveness is not forgetting, it's choosing not to remember, and there's a big difference between the two.
What if that’s me? What if I get led astray? What if I don’t know the truth? To which Jude comes back and says, wait, settle down, there’s no reason to panic. Just a few things to remember.
If you think you can make up your own story, your own morality, your own truth— lead your life your own way and God’s okay with that—you’re living in a dream world.
When the liar gets to us and deceives us, we believe things that aren’t true, and it has all kinds of effects in our lives.
We as 21st century Americans have more information at our fingertips then anyone has ever had in the history of the world. But that doesn’t mean we’re more skillful at living.
This is a journey we're on together to learn how to talk with God, how to ask God, how to be about the things that He's about, and have our prayers in alignment with His good purposes.
Jesus is still speaking through His Spirit to His people; and the question that we want to consider is, “Are we listening?”
He is here; He is with us and He invites us to talk with Him about everything. So the question is: what does that look like?
Whenever people come together they’re either ultimately going to rejoice or they’re going to groan, depending on what?
How can I, just as the person that I am, be authentically and effectively a good communicator of Jesus to people who don’t know him?
As we cling to Him, as we seek Him, as we get near to Him, His life starts to grow inside of us, such that it gets to the point where He is the one that’s living our life—not necessarily us anymore.
It’s not so much that you need to do something different, as it is you need to think differently about what you’re already doing.
Whether you've had a great week as super Christian or whether you’ve had a lousy week and messed up, your worthiness to stand right before God does not come from your performance; it comes from the broken body and the shed blood of Jesus Christ—and Christ alone!
There’s nobody too far for God’s grace. There’s nobody too far gone for God’s salvation. No matter what, you don’t need anything else. Christ is enough!
This weekend's service also included baptism. The full service contains all of the baptisms that took place. Saturday Night baptisms start at 35:44, Sunday 1st service baptisms start at 01:02:18, and Sunday 2nd service baptisms start at 01:25:23.
You don't have to go get good or get religious, God offers you salvation freely as a gift if you're willing to receive it.
Discipline isn’t punitive; discipline isn’t punishment. Discipline is teaching; it’s instruction; it’s correction in order that we may run the race well.
This race isn’t easy; it’s hard; it’s lonely. It can get confusing and painful, but you have to know that the saints of old are gathered in the bleachers of heaven and they are cheering.
They were unwilling to settle for the things of this world and knew that one day, by faith, they would be in a better city, in a place their souls longed for.
I am a stranger and an alien; I’m just passing through. I’m looking for a place I can call home.
The purpose of the gospel is not to possess a ticket to heaven but to enter in to a deeply meaningful, soul-satisfying relationship with Jesus.
It is virtually impossible for any religious activity or work to make us right as sinners before a holy God.
Religion, at its core, is the belief that somehow, some way, I can make myself right or acceptable to God.
The gospel isn’t just relevant to those not acquainted with Christ, but to us as believers everyday.
It’s good to remind ourselves that God didn’t send His Son into the world because all was well with the world.
Jesus didn’t enter through the holy place, He became the holy place through which we access the very presence of God.
It was the beginning of something radical—the transition from the picture to the reality.
How does someone become complete in Christ? Is it through programs and a lot of religious activity, or is it some other way?
As people made in the image of God, there is something deep within us that longs to know God. But what many experience is religion, and religion ends up being distasteful and greatly dissatisfying.
God takes us in the hard situations not to crush us but so that we can learn to see His hand and learn to trust Him when He’s doing a good work.
That's the opportunity God is giving us, to join Him in His workplace and get to know Him better by getting involved in what He is doing.
“We have to understand the hope of the gospel is that everything you long for will be realized, but not in this life.”
“We can’t keep staying as infants; we have to decide are we in or are we out, and keep learning.”
"If we don’t take seriously the warning and continue to grow as believers, we simply lack the maturity we need to live righteously in a very confusing and dangerous world."
“Sabbath rest is when we rest from our own attempts at self-righteousness and we simply rest in what God has done for us through Jesus.”
“Jesus has conquered sin and death! But to do that, He Himself had to become human and blaze the trail.”
“In your heart of hearts, do you really believe Jesus is enough for whatever it is you're going through?”
“God has promised redemption, restoration and renewal, and through his salvation is bringing us to a place where things will be made right again.”
God isn’t like an angry judge, waiting to whack people. He’s like the father in the story of the prodigal son. Day after day after day he waits, and he looks to the horizon and he wonders, “Will this be the day that my son finally comes home?”
“One of the first steps to traveling down the path of life is to be willing to be honest”
“Whether you're talking about violence, racial tension, or sexual abuse, we've created a culture we have to live in, and now that we're living in it, we're saying, “Wait a minute, we don't like it!” There is a better way, but the better way has to be traveling the path of light as defined by God's Word, not by the false teachers.”
“Don’t mistake His patience or mercy for a God who will not act. Judgment will come. But in the midst of that is also the reminder that God has also been faithful to rescue His children.”
"You can believe whatever you want. That doesn’t make it true, and are you really willing to risk your eternal destiny on nothing more than your opinion?"
“God has done His part, but I have to be willing to do my part. That’s what it means to live out this magnificent gospel truth.”
“None of us stands before God on the basis of our own performance, on the basis of our own religious activity. We equally stand in the righteousness of Christ—therefore, no one more than, no one less than.”
“My hope is built on my belief that no matter what happens in this life, Jesus is coming back, He will fulfill His promise, and there will be this grand victory celebration around the glory of God!”
“I want to know that I gave everything I had to be part of the victory when we celebrate this magnificent victory at the return of Christ.”
"At the end of the story there’s only one opinion that matters, and that is the opinion of God, and God has been perfectly clear that there is no way to God except through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ."
"We’re free to be a bond slave to Christ, which means we’re free to surrender and submit in order to accomplish the mission which we have been given."
If you’re asking, “What is God’s will for me?” the first question to ask is, “Am I already being obedient to the revealed will of God?”
As long as we believe that too much grace leads to license, we will always embrace a very average, ordinary grace. But when we embrace this full, rigorous, wondrous, amazing theology of grace, we realize it’s all Jesus. It’s not based on performance at all.
"It was for freedom that Christ set you free." You have to believe that. You have to fight for that and not only on your best days but especially on your worst days when you mess up, when you sin, when you offend God.
Religion is nothing more than just inserting God into a performance-based value system and, no matter how good you are, you’ll never be good enough. The system simply doesn’t allow for your soul to find rest.
It is possible to discipline yourself every day to choose not to have a day defined by worry and anxiety and fear, and to say, “I will trust God with that which I cannot control or change so that I am free to focus every day on the things that matter because life is just too precious and short to waste one single day."
Is your Christian life defined more by an internal passionate love relationship with Christ or an external standard motivated by some sense of obligation to God for saving you?
There is no such thing as a Christian that’s more than or less than. There’s no one more righteous; there’s no one more accepted; there’s no one more loved. We stand equal before God because it’s not based on performance—it’s promise! You are just as loved, just as righteous, just as accepted, just as celebrated because of the radical grace of God.
Grace and Law are not compatible systems. Either it is belief by faith, all grace, or it's salvation by works, but it can't be both.
It is the life of Christ in us that empowers us to live in a way we never could have lived before.
When we understand the ramifications of grace alone, we flee into the presence of Jesus. Those are the moments when we need Him the most, and we are reminded that He loves us and accepts us and sees us through eyes of grace.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; nobody comes to the Father but through Me". Salvation is a gift of His grace, no religious works required.
The distortion of the Gospel is typically not denying the facts of the Gospel, but rather adding human works to the finished work of Christ on the cross - which eradicates the concept of grace.