Beacon Sunday Service: May 19th, 2024

Grace and peace to you. And really, the most appropriate response to that is to worship our God who is the source of that grace and peace. And so this morning, let I want to just open us up in some scripture. Um, from Psalm 107, and the response from you guys in Isaiah 44, verse 23. Uh, it says this. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble, and together sing as done it, shout, O depths of the earth, break forth into singing, O mountains, O forest, and every tree in it, for the Lord has redeemed his people. Amen. The Lord has redeemed us, he has saved us, he has shown us his great grace and mercy, and so may we just respond to him in worship this morning as we just sing together.

What wonders of wonder, what wonders of wonders, what love is this that Christ would die for me, his goodness, his merit, his righteousness, the sinners only plea, oh foolish pride, be crucified, the work is finished, all my boast is in Jesus, all my hope is his love, glory forever, in what the cross has done, fully forgiven, now fully forgiven.

For mercy that flow down that sacred hill, let praise is now return. Rise up my soul and bless the Lord, who else is worthy, all my boasts is in Jesus, all my hope is his love, Amen. And I will glory forever in what the cross has done.

Oh praise one for blessed him alone, my will boast in nothing less than the love of Christ my Lord. Sing that again, oh praise one, oh praise one for blessed him alone my will boast in nothing less than the love of Christ my Lord.

I boast not in riches or strength or mine, but in the grace of God, I glory in weakness to live his Christ in plenty or in one that I may know that all may see his power within me, all my boasts is in Jesus, all my hope is his love, and I will glory forever in what the cross has done. Now I stand. Now I stand in his freedom. Ransom cleaning his eye. And I cannot be ashamed. For my post is Jesus Christ. My post is Jesus Christ.

Horever my post is Jesus Christ. Amen. He is our boast.

And then the water. Teach us how to live. Making service for your kingdom.

Some of your people. Reflect your glory in us. Spirit work within us. Make us more like you.

Refle in us.

Make us more like you. Jesus as we worship as we worship you.

Reach those that are far from you.

Give us your eyes to see and mend wounded. Teach us how to live. Teach us how to live making servants for your kingdom.

Place your perfect heart in us. Send out your people. Flect your glory. Reflect your glory in us.

Make us more like you.

Refle in us. Spirit work within us. Make us more like you. Jesus reflect your glory in us.

Make us more like you.

Amen. That's our prayer. This morning we will confess our faith using a catechism for Christian growth. And in this question and answer, we will confess what three offices that Jesus fulfills. So here's the question. What three offices does Jesus fulfill? And together, both in his incarnation and exaltation. Jesus perfectly fulfilled the three old testament offices of prophet, priest, and king. Amen. And we're gonna be singing about some of these offices in this next song as we sing before the throne of God.

Before the throne God of God, I have a strong perfect high priest name, whoever lives and who are my name is craven on his hand, my name is rich on his heart, I know the eye steps.

Behold him there, the risen Lamb, my perfect spausness, the great unchangable I am the king of glory and of grace, one with himself I cannot die.

One with himself I cannot die. My soul is searches. My life is shared with Christ on high. With Christ my Savior.

With Christ my Savior.

Good morning, everyone. This morning, our confession of sin is going to be focused on the idea that we in our sinfulness continue to struggle with our sin. But according to the Lord, our sins are forgiven because the love that Christ had for us in cleansing our sin with his blood. So let us have our confession of sin together corporately, and then we'll have an individual time of confession. Have mercy on us, O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your abundant mercy, blot out our transgressions. Wash us thoroughly for our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Amen. Please be seated.

Let's now take in a time of private confession of since we're going to be.

So that we would be a perfect fit and be led by a shepherd who loves the Lord.

Father, we thank you for just for today giving us the freedom to worship in this place. And we ask of you, as we gather together as a ministry as a congregation, that our voices be heard in just this time, just journey as we wander uh without a shepherd full time to lead us going forward in the ministry. Lord, we we're so thankful for just what you've revealed to us in this time and and just challenging us to hold steadfast in our faith and our hope in you and knowing that as we continue to pray to to gather an understanding of what your will is for us as a ministry. We thank you so much for just the love and care from our our our brother Pastor Madison and just the way that he's shepherding us.

May you send us someone like him and just the way that he's caring for us and and preaching from the word and being such um a godly man, a faithful man. So Lord, we pray for those qualities to be in this next past for us as well. We pray for someone who loves the word, who preaches from it faithfully, uh, and who does not waver uh in the foundation of who he is in you. And we just pray, Father, for someone uh who loves you very much. We pray for our ministry to persevere, to go through this trial and time together, uh, and may we in the end grow grow stronger from it, because we know that even though a year has passed, it's only a speck in the vast amount of time uh that we have together on this earth.

So, Lord, may you provide, may you bless us as a ministry going forward. We thank you in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Uh children, you're dismissed. Please father teacher Steve, uh please follow Teacher Stephen out for Sunday school. It'll be Teacher Harold as well. With that, I'm gonna also give announcements. Uh, same announcements as we've been having. Uh, we have our Korean Heritage Night at Dodger Stadium. Uh, I think the tickets are sold out now. But if you already have tickets to go to the game and you want to carpool, there's a good majority of the brothers here who are going, so please uh ask around and we can figure out a ride. It's parking is pretty expensive at Dodgers Stadium, so if you just chip in, it'll be good.

Uh, our brother Simon uh Yang has an art show near Chateau Park uh May 31st through June 1st. He's not here today, but uh reach out to him and ask him if you could go and support him uh and and go to this art show. He's been working on these drawings for many years. Uh, I'm sure uh he could use the encouragement to see your faces. Uh today is our brother Josh's graduation from Loyal Law School. Uh he will be graduating right here uh at LA Live. Um I think it starts at eleven and ends at two. I think the plan for us as a ministry, if you are available, is to maybe eat lunch together in that area and then try to see him after his graduation at two, uh after it ends at two o'clock. So we can just say congratulations and maybe take a picture with him.

Uh, last but not least, our offering options are Zell Vemo Cash and Check. With that, Pastor Madison. Hey, what a what a joy that uh with with Josh. Uh I I sent him a note yesterday uh uh on his phone, and he got right back to me. I just said, Hey, we'll be praying for you uh tomorrow during your graduation. And he has uh his family uh is here uh from Canada, and so he if you get a chance, matter of fact, after the service, we won't give it out while we're or while we're live, but after the service, if you uh want to uh get his email or uh phone number, uh send a note if you can't see him today, you can at least congratulate him on that.

We took a week off uh because of Mother's Day, and but I I want to just go back and kind of remind you what the book of James is all about. I I would say, can you remember that there were people, really important people in Christianity, that had decided that the book of James, they had decided the book of James shouldn't be in the Bible. And one of those people that questioned whether the book of James was should even be in the Bible, was Martin Luther, who was a Roman Catholic priest, and began to read through the book of Romans, and he read, the just shall live by faith. Those who are declare right before God will live by faith, not by works. And so here he was as a Roman Catholic priest, and he's saying, wait a minute, we're telling we're telling people they have to do this and do this and do this and do this.

They have to do these special things like baptism or communion, or they have to go to confession. Uh they there are let me say it this way, so you hear it clearly. There are means, M-E-A-N-S. Ways to get more of God's grace. That's what that's what they had been taught. This is the means to get more of God's grace. I would say to you, nowhere in God's word, well, there is one place that you can get more of God's grace. Did you realize that God's grace, I can't do anything to earn God's grace. It's grace. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saves rich like me. Not that I worked and God said, Oh, hey, here's here's what I owe you. Let me pay you now. It's grace. Um, and so there aren't any means of getting God's grace.

If I do this, God has to give me grace. If I do this, God has no, there aren't any means that way. But in James 4, James chapter 4, verse 6, it says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. So I can't earn it. But as I just humble myself before the Lord, he says, Oh, that's oh, that's I love that. And he gives us more of his grace. So when we started the book of James uh ten weeks ago, uh, here's what I said to you. Some people say, Oh, the book of James is all about works. And there are those then that would say, you have to work or you don't get saved. And the focus of, for instance, the the Mormon church. They love this book. They love the book of James. Because they say, look, you have to work your way to heaven.

You have to have works in order to show that you have faith. And that is somewhat true. But let me say it this way. Is the book of James about works? Or is it about this? Faith. And so here's here's what I'm gonna put on the screen again. Is it faith versus works? Is it faith, you know, kind of fighting works? No. Here's what we said when we started out ten weeks ago. It's not faith versus works, but faith that works. I place my faith in Christ, and because of that, I want to work for him. I don't work to get saved. Let me put it on the screen again this way. We don't work to get saved. We know Ephesians 2 8 and 9 says it this way. For by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourself.

Not of what? Not of works, lest any man should boast. So we don't work to get saved, but here's what we do. We work because we're saved. So there's nothing I can do that would earn my way to heaven. I can't pay my way. I can't go to church and get there. I can't get baptized and get there. I can't do anything that's going to earn my way to heaven. But once I realize that I need Christ and I'm a sinner, and the only way to heaven is to trust him as my Savior, then God gives me a love for him that wants to work for him.

It's not me working. I didn't win her by, hey, well, let's say I can do this, and I'll wash your car and I'll do this and I'll do this and I'll do this, and then she'll want me. You know, what really draws, what really draws us to the Lord is his love for us. What really hopefully drew her to me was my love for her. And because I loved her, then she responded. You see, we love God. First John 4 says it this way. We love him because he first did what? Loved us. And so we just respond. We're just like, it I'm from the Antelope Valley. We have poppies. And you know what? You know what poppies do? You know, when it's nice, when they get enough water, and it's a real calm day, and the sun's out.

You know what they do? They go, oh, they just open up, and it's just the whole area is red. This reddish orange poppies. When it gets windy out, and it's blown away, they just go, and it gets cold. You know what they do? And they just close right up. That's what that's what wives can do if if we're if there's a lot of trouble going on in home and it's and you're acting cold towards her, she can just close right up. That's how when God ministers to us, it's like he gives us the water of his word and the light of his SON. And he says, Oh, peace be still. And we just kind of open right up because we love him because he first loved us. And so, what do we do with the Lord? He just opened us up so that we want to serve him.

We want to work for him. And so I'll take this word. Oh, well, here's James 2.26. For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead. Do you want to know whether you have a faith in the Lord? Then you ought to be able to serve him. It's what uh Howard and Sarah do in leading us in worship. It's what Tiffany does in helping with the children's ministry. It's what John does at the drums, it's what the guys do in the back of the soundboard. It's we just want to serve the Lord. What can I do to serve the Lord? If you have a real faith, it will go to work. But you don't work to get saved. You work because you're saved. But in the book of James, uh, I could do it a couple of ways, but let's do it this way.

I took the word works because it's faith. That what? Works. So I could use the word faith, because it has five letters. Let me uh the reason I chose this, it has five letters, and there are five chapters in the book of James. And here's what I ask you to do. Look at the screen. I ask you to take the word works and drop it on its side like that, and then I ask you to give every chapter the first letter of the word works. Now, what's interesting is I could use the word faith. Because remember, it's it's a faith that works. And so I could take the word faith, has how many letters? Five. And I could lay faith on its side like that, and I could take the letter F and I could say, okay, what's in chapter one that's gonna help me remember what the book is about?

For me on the word works, I said we're gonna we're working through our trials and tests, and that's what's in chapter one. Remember how James starts? James, a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad. Greetings. And then we read it this we heard it this morning. Count it all joy when you fall into difficulties and trials, knowing that the testing of your faith. Got it? The testing of your faith produces what? Endurance. So you're working through what? Trials. And by the time you get up to uh verse 12, let no one say when he's tempted, I am tempted of God. For God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts any man. But every man is tested when he is drawn away and enticed.

So chapter one is working through why we have trials and why we have tests. Chapter one. Chapter two, the O is okay. I I need to be, I need to have obedience that accompanies my faith. I can't if if I have faith, then there ought to be obedience that accompanies that. Now, I'm not gonna give you the rest because we did that uh a few weeks back, and we're in chapter two today, so I want to take you back to chapter two, and I want to talk about being trapped. Because in chapter two, he's gonna break it into two parts. Verses one through thirteen uh is one section of of chapter two and verses fourteen to the end. The second part of chapter two. Have you ever had anybody say to you or try to trap you into saying something or doing something?

They set it up, and they're just they're just kind of trapping you. Up in the Antelope Valley, we have uh we have ground, ground squirrels. They just they just live in the ground there in Indiana where I pastored for 10 years, they had tree squirrels, and the tree squirrels were you know really nice and they jump from branch to branch, and it would be beautiful. You go out there and you see them, and they would they would build their nest in the trees in in the valley. We have ground squirrel ground squirrels, they just live underground, and they are in a lot of a lot of our valley is nothing but dirt and dry because it's desert up there, and so these squirrels would come and live near near our church because we'd water the lot, and so they had water, and they would have um we'd have jasmine or other kind of flowers there, and they would love to eat those the flowers with little kids around.

I thought we need to get rid of these squirrels, and so I I didn't make this kind of a trap, a mouse trap. We had a trap that was probably this uh this long, you know, almost almost three feet long, and had an opening on one of the ends, and I I put I put peanut butter in there, and those squirrels would come in, and then it would close down, and now they're they're locked in this trap, and then I would take them out to the desert. Five miles away, ten miles away, open it up, and say, run, run for your life, and they would take off like crazy, and but I did it, I trapped them. Why? Not to kill them at that point. But I trapped them so I could take them, transplant them someplace else. Satan wants to trap you.

So he can take you where you don't want to go. And ultimately, we know he's a murderer and liar. And so he really does want to kill you. But in James chapter 2, I want to talk about being trapped. Okay. Let me say this. In John chapter 8, let me show you some places in Scripture where Satan or others wanted to trap people. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives at dawn. You know this story. John chapter 7, verse 53 through chapter 8. Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn, he went to the temple complex again. And all the people were coming to him. He sat down and began to teach them. Then the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, making her stand in the center.

Teacher, they said to him, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. By the way, I it's always been strange to me. Why someone is lingering around trying to catch somebody in the midst of adultery? What are you doing that you would even catch catch someone in the midst of adultery? Verse 5. In the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say? They ask this to what? You know, if they wanted to trap our Lord, it just kind of makes sense that they'd want to trap us at times as well. This is John chapter 8. Let me take you to 1 Timothy chapter 3. Elders can be trapped at times. An elder must have a good reputation among outsiders so that he doesn't fall does not fall into disgrace and the devil's what?

Trap. So think about it. If they wanted to trap Jesus, if the devil wants to trap our elders, our our spiritual leaders, don't you think he wants to trap us? In 1 Timothy chapter 6, it says this. But those who want to be rich, but those who want to be rich fall into a trap. Fall into temptation, a trap and many foolish harmful desires, which punch people into ruin and destruction. By the way, can I just say this? It doesn't say there, those who are rich.

But if your goal in life is to have money, and you want to be rich, and you want to have, but all of a sudden you have the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. But sometimes people get inheritance, sometimes people get wonderful things, sometimes they have they get a great job. It's not wrong to have money.

So they try to trap Jesus, they try to trap our elders, uh, they try to trap people with riches. Listen, here's the sermon in a sentence in chapter in James chapter 2. As believers, we need to speak and act in biblical ways toward others. Because if we don't, Satan will trap us and hurt our church and your family. But before I go on, let me take you back to the text again, okay? In James 2, 1 to 13. I know it's small and you have a hard time reading it in that sense. But I want you to see, I just said, as believers, we need to do what? Speak and act in a way that would glorify the Lord. So I want you to see. Look at this screen. I'm gonna lift out uh verse 12 at the very bottom.

Let me just lift it out there. We're to speak and act as those who will be judged. Do you get that? So I want you to see as he develops the these 13 verses, what's the conclusion? I want you to speak and act as those who will be judged. Got it? So let's go back then to the sermon. As believers, we need to speak and act in biblical ways toward others. Now what he's gonna do, James warns us of five traps that Satan uses to divide churches and hurt other people. And he's gonna give you these traps. What we do at times to wound other people in the church, in your family, in your life. And the first one is this showing favoritism. Showing favoritism. So let me take you to the text.

Here it is again. James, see this full passage in James 2, verses 1 through 13. I lifted out verse 12 before. That's where it ends. Here's how I want you to speak and act. But look at the focus. Let me just highlight the focus of this passage. My brothers, do not show favoritism. If you look with favor, but if you show favoritism, you commit sin. What's the focus? Showing favoritism. He's saying, look, as a brother in Christ, don't show favoritism within the body of Christ. Treat everybody as equal. They're brothers or sisters in Christ. I don't give uh honor to this person and look down on that person. So, James 1, that's uh 2, verse 1. My brothers, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

This is verse 1. Verse 9, he says it again. But if you show favoritism, you commit sin. If you can show favoritism. Here's the Greek word for favoritism. Prosopalempse, polempia. There is no English word that we get from this. So let me show you, I'll slide it here. Prosopone is the first part of this word, and the second part of the word is lumbano. So let me just slide it up here and you can see what the word means. Interesting. I mean, before I even show you what it means, um, in some translations, it's but if you show partiality, and in some translations, if you show favoritism. You know that there are times that you go, oh, I I'm really partial to this.

I I really I'm really partial to that kind of music. I'm really partial to, but if you if you show partiality, let me even tell you how it's used in our society. Uh this past week, um, there were a number of uh people who went at one of the Supreme Court judges. Do you remember why they went at the Supreme Court judge? Um they don't want him to sit on any of the overseeing events of the January 6th investigation. And they don't want him to oversee that because something went on in his neighborhood where his wife decided that she would uh voice her opinion to the neighbors and all their signs uh and everything and and their their neighbors were of a political persuasion and she was of another political persuasion.

And so she took the flag and ran it up the flagpole upside down. And people took a picture of that because they said, wait a minute, her husband's a Supreme Court judge, and he was uh appointed by a Republican, and uh, and so we don't think he ought to be able to sit in judgment over the January 6th things because he can't be impartial. Do you hear that word? If he's partial, if he's in favor of let's say President Trump, then he's not impartial. So, what is impartial mean? In terms of how we deal with the church and our people.

That's the first part of this word. Lambano means to receive, to receive. So when I put the two together, it means to receive by face what we think is going on. And so we think, oh, well, they're they're a wonderful person. I can I can see uh by by just looking at them. Uh and I begin to begin get in favor of them. So when somebody comes into our church, if we see them, and we think by the way they're dressed, or by the way they act, or oh, they're of the right pro political persuasion, or whatever. We begin to be partial towards them or show favoritism towards them. You know, what's interesting is we almost make Christianity at times if we're not cautious. We almost Americanize Christianity and other cultures, uh, oh, they're not where we are as Americans.

You know, something. Um God has a wide latitude for us. He just wants us to love him. He wants to be first in our hearts and lives. He just wants to protect our families and and so they don't have to all look alike. We would say in our church uh in Palmdale, uh, we're we're not made out of cookie cutters, you know. We don't all believe everything the same. It might be uh we know the Lord's coming back, for instance. Is he gonna come back before the tribulation? Uh midway through the tribulation, at the end of the tribulation, uh we say, look, he's coming back. My preferences pre-trip. I want to be raptured before the tribulation occurs. And and there are a lot of biblical grounds for that. But you know something?

I know people that love the Lord that think, oh, you know, the Lord said, you know, you're gonna have trouble in this world. And so they were gonna go through the tribulation, maybe. But I'm not worried about it. God's gonna give me grace. They don't have to believe everything. That's not an essential. What's essential is the word of God is without air, and I can trust it. What's essential is Jesus is the only way to God. I am the way, the way, the truth, the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. So we we stay with essentials, and I don't look at their outward side. But Satan says, Oh, I can really, I can destroy this church if I can get people to start to show favoritism so that others think, well, they they they don't treat me as nicely.

And Satan says, Oh, I want to trap them into liking these people and not liking these people. Therefore, favoritism seems to come from looking on a person's outward appearance by face to receive by face. We say, Well, just take it at face value. We understand that. Just take it at face value. But at face value might not be the correct way to do that. So here are several places in the New Testament that uses this word. In the Gospels, Matthew chapter 22. They sent their disciples to him with the Herodians. Teacher, they said, they come to Jesus. We know that you are truthful and teach truthfully the way of God. You defer to no one. For you don't show what? Partiality. You don't show favoritism.

You want to treat everybody in the body of Christ the same. They're just as important as anybody else. We treat them all with love. Equally with love. The same is used not only in Matthew, but in Mark chapter 12. Matter of fact, let me say it this way. You recall there are four Gospels in the New Testament, right? Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they're all about the life of Christ. Three of them are very similar. They keep telling the same stories. And that's Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And they're called synoptic gospels. I told you that uh several months back. Synoptic gospels. Optic means to see. An optometrist, okay? Optic, synoptic. It means to see. Synoptic means to see as one, to synthesize them, to see them as one.

So Matthew, Mark, and Luke see Jesus, and they tell most of the same stories. John, on the other hand, says, hey, uh, these are some things that uh that weren't in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And the Lord wanted them to put it in Scripture. So this one is the same one we just read in Matthew. When they came to him, they said to him, when they came, they said to him, Teacher, we know you are truthful and defer to no one. For you don't show what. Yeah. You don't show favoritism. So Matthew says, hey, I want you to, uh did you get that? Mark says, hey, I want to repeat it. Luke says the same thing. Luke chapter 20. They questioned him. Teacher, we know that you teach, that you speak and teach correctly, and you don't show what?

Partiality. Same Greek word that's used in James for don't show favoritism. And they're saying, Jesus, you don't show favoritism with anybody. You know all of us are sinners. And you love us. So the phrase show favoritism is addressed five times in the New Testament, each time indicating that God does not show favor. When you get beyond the Gospels, beyond Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, then you see it in Romans. And in Romans chapter 2, it says this.

That's Romans. By the time you get to Ephesians, he says it this way. And masters, treat your slaves the same way. Without treat uh without threatening them, because you know that both their master and yours is in heaven. And there is what? No favoritism with him. The next one is Colossians chapter 3. These are the examples of the same Greek word that's used, and he's saying this way. Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically. It's something done for the Lord, not for men. Can I say this? If you have kids, get them to memorize this verse. Why are they doing what they're doing? Don't do it for mom or dad, even though they do it for mom or dad. But whatever you do, do it enthusiastically as something done for the Lord and not for men.

You know, I would take and put it on a three by five card. What we did with our kids, we we would even, we would even print it out on a eight and a half by eleven sheet of paper and put it between uh clear uh plastic that would stick together. And then when they jumped in the shower, we'd wet the backside, stick it against the wall of the shower, so that when they weren't wasting time whenever we could have scripture, we wanted them to learn scripture. This is a great scripture for them to learn. Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically as something done for the Lord, not for men, knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ, for the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.

So when you come to church, you know, and really I'm I'm preaching. You ever heard this phrase? I'm preaching to the choir here. You know, I I'm preaching to people that you already believe this. Your church already acts this way. We we don't show faith. We we love this church loves each other. It's it's there's no I don't see somebody that says, Oh, they can't get along with this person, oh, they can't get along with that person. Oh, there you are, they're best friends, but she's not friends with anybody else. You you are already obedient. But what I'm saying to you is we're just going through the book of James, so you need to understand the book of James, and when we get to this chapter, he's saying, I want you to speak and act in biblical ways, so you don't wound other people.

And what is what how does Satan want to trap you? He wants you to start getting really close to somebody and not having enough time with anybody else. I would say to you, in our church here, you we are close, and you you're the closest with people. In our church in Palmdale, uh, we have three morning services. So you have an eight o'clock service, a 9 30 service, 11 o'clock service, and you, if you're in the 11 o'clock service, you don't know the nine o'clock, the eight o'clock service and the 9 30 service. And so you, but those you're around, you want to be close to. And you want to just treat everybody equal. They're believers in Christ. Don't let Satan pull you into his trap and get you sidetracked.

Because James 2 9 says this, but if you show favoritism, I've highlighted. What does he say happens when you show favoritism? It's sin. You know, now let me define that a little bit. In our church up there, there used to be a guy, uh, he sat in the second row. So I'm up there preaching, and he's right in the second row. Uh, the true locks are their names. They've since gone to be with the Lord, godly people. And his he couldn't uh see very well. Uh I'd be preaching away in his phone because he couldn't see and couldn't hear very well. His phone, his watch, rather, would go off uh on the hour. So I'd be preaching away, especially at the 9 o'clock 9:30 service at 10 o'clock, it would go off. And I'd say to him, Oh, does this mean I'm supposed to stop speaking?

And he'd just laugh. And and but he had three uh granddaughters, and when he would see his granddaughter, uh, you'd see one of them, and he said, Oh, my favorite granddaughter. Oh, it's so good to see you. And when the next one would show up, he'd say, Oh, I didn't think I was gonna see my favorite granddaughter today. And he'd give her a hug. And when the third one would show up, he'd say, 'Oh, what's what a joy it is to have my favorite granddaughter here.' So all three of them knew what what did he say? Hey, you're my favorite, you're my favorite, you're my favorite. All three of them would say, I'm his favorite. And they'd laugh about it because he treated them all the same. And and he was being uh do I word use the word facetious?

He was it was just a loving kind of thing. Oh, you're my favorite, oh you're my favorite. That's not what he's talking about here. He's talking about when I treat this one better than this one. And you know what's interesting? Maybe I'll get sidetracked just for a second, okay? If you want to read an interesting um book, it's it's not the and the Bible, of course, is where you want to go for God's direction in your life. But if you want to read a good book that is just outside the Bible framework, it's love languages, and love languages uh is a book uh written by a guy that graduated from uh Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. Um he began to discover as he watched people that they used different ways to express love to people.

As a matter of fact, he came up with five different ways to express love. Now, the reason you need to maybe read that book and know that book, if I ask anybody here, uh, if you were in a family with more than one child, did you ever feel like uh oh mom or dad loved him more than me or love I was their favorite and they didn't you know because what happens in every family, you have multiple love languages going on, and what happens is uh if their love language my I'll I'll give you an example quick, like because I don't want to get too sidetracked here. My love language is talk or touch. So when I say talk, I I can tell people, hey, it was when I get to know them and get to care about them and say, Hey, I I love you, I can say to the guys, hey, I love you, man, and I'll give him a fist bump.

Hey, love you, man. Or uh when we say grace and peace as we greet each other here in the morning, what what do I do? Hey, hey, grace and peace, what am I doing? I'm giving hugs. Okay, but my wife's love language is neither talk nor touch. So uh if I if I want to tell her I love her, I have to talk her language, and her language to say love is acts, acts of service. What can I do to serve you? What can I do? So what does she want me to do to tell her I love her? Go to work, buddy. Do act do, you know, get the lawn taken care of, get make sure you don't have the counter all junked up on the house. Don't you know? I help her make the bed in the mornings, you know. I mean, just acts of service.

So you're gonna have kids that have different love languages, and if they speak your love language, the other kids that don't speak your love language are gonna think you treat them, you love them better. Did you hear that? Did you catch what I'm saying there? So if their love language, another love language is gifts. Other and I gifts, gifts don't mean anything to us. As a matter of fact, this morning, as we were talking to a Tiff, we said, uh, what did I get her for Christmas? She says, I don't know. You know, because gifts, gifts uh don't uh aren't her language. But there are some people that they go shopping at a store and they find something and they say, Oh, I bought this. I I when I thought when I saw this, I thought of you.

And they go, and that's the way they tell people they love one another. And other people's love language are notes. They can't say it. They just can't say it. They they have a hard time saying, I love you. But they can write a note. So if that's your kid's love language, then write the notes. So what I'm telling you here is, you know, there are different ways, but Jesus understands your love language, and he will hit the nail on the head in telling you he loves you. The best way greater love has no man than this, that a man do what? Lay down his life. What did Jesus do for us? He laid down his life. And we know that. And it's love. So he says, look, if you show favoritism, learn their love language.

Study your kids. Study people in the church. I had a gal in uh in a church in Palmdale. Um, like I said, I I'm a hugger. I I hugged one of the guys. I just did the funeral uh for a friend of his last Monday night. Uh, when he came up to me, he gave me a hug, I gave him a hug, and and he's eighty. And he said, he's eighty-two, as a matter of fact. And he said, Hey, Linda, his wife, she needs a hug too. You know, because that's their love language. But her love language is also sending cards. I get a birthday card, we get an anniversary card. Our kids still get birthday cards and anniversary cards for them, and they're in their 40s. So learn, you know, a ways, and there'll be people in the church here that think you don't care about them because you don't know their love language, and you you're telling them you love them, but you're doing it in your language.

You know, you grow up, if you grow up learning Korean, and then you meet uh an English speaking person, you you have to learn, you're gonna if you're gonna tell them you love them, you have to learn their their language and they have to learn your language. In this church, you need to study people enough to know what tells them you love them. I had one guy, one high schooler in our youth group uh years ago, and he's not a hugger, and so his name was Ezra. I said, Hey, how are you doing, buddy? And I gave him a hug. And here's what he did. I gave him a hug, and he goes, you're you're you're hugging me. So what's that tell me? That's not his language. So learn so that people don't misread, that you aren't that you are showing favoritism to somebody else, and that listen to me carefully, that one of your kids doesn't think that they're not your favorite, but the other kid is, because the other kid speaks your love language, and you're giving them gifts and they really like it, or you give them hugs and they really like it.

You know that guy I told you that froze when I gave him a hug. He said to me at one time, you know, my dad loves my brother more than me. I said, Oh, how do you know that? Well, every night he gives my brother a hug, and he doesn't give me one. I said, You want to know why he doesn't give you one? I said, he loves you, and and by the way, he gave this for you, and he gave this, and I gave him examples. I said, but he knows when I hugged you, what'd you do? You went frozen. And I said, and when he hugs you, what do you do? You don't feel comfortable. So don't think that because he's hugging your brother, that he doesn't love you. But that's how Satan works, so that they began to think, and people in our church begin to think that you are giving favoritism to somebody else and not treating them the same.

Got that. Peter, the apostle Peter, the one who became, can I say it this way? Look at me. I'm gonna put it this way the one who became, in quotes, the first what? Pope. Okay, Peter. He was showing favoritism at times, and he didn't want to be around Gentiles, non-Jewish people. But then when he saw Jewish people come to know the Lord, here's what he said. Then Peter began to speak. Now I really understand that God doesn't show favoritism, but in every nation, the person who fears him and does righteousness is acceptable to him. So Peter had to learn that this kind of lesson. So, as believers, we need to speak and act in biblical ways. How do I learn that? Because verse 12 says, speak and act in ways.

And what do I have here? James warns, ah, five traps. First one is showing favoritism. The second one is focusing on appearance. How people look. I'll give you an example. I won't take the time to do that. Okay. I'm saying to you, there are people that come in, and there are others. Older people have a tendency. Okay? That's that'd be me. Okay. Older people have a tendency because they grew up. Uh, how do I dress every every week when I come? What do I have? I have a tie on, or you know, and and what we see in our church up up north in Pondville, look. Come dress, just honor God.

You know, you can wear shorts, you can wear, you know, they just just come. God is interested, more interested that you come than how you look when you come. So we want people to come, and that's that's how it is here. We want people to come. It doesn't matter to us whether they have a tie on or not a tie on. But old, old people grew up with the kind of the tie thing, so they look as a tie thing. But what's interesting is when I when I preached in the Midwest for 10 years, our our church didn't have any air conditioning. We but we put fans in above circular fans and stuff. But no matter how hot it was, I preached with a suit and tie. Because that's kind of the way the Midwest people in the church do.

When I when I got out to California here, they they wanted me to shed everything, you know. You don't need a tie on, get rid of the, you know, so I I got so I'd preach without the suit coat on, and but I never preached without a tie on, I don't think. Maybe I don't recall during COVID if I did. We were out outdoors on a flatbed trailer with driving cars, and but it didn't matter. It was 95 degrees out, it was really warm, and I just I was being cooked on the platform, and uh the people were sitting in their air-conditioned cars, you know. But so we I'm saying to you, it doesn't matter how people dress, because man looks on what the outward appearance. Here's what it says in the text. My brothers, do not show favoritism as you hold on to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.

For example, a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and dressed in what fine clothes, a poor man dressed in dirty clothes comes in. So what is he talking about now? He's warning you, Satan will use traps to try to get you to wound people and hurt people a few weeks back. Uh a guy came into our service here. It was rainy outside, so he probably came in because of the rain. Uh I I'd never seen him before. He had the hood up, and he was standing back over here. I'm preaching away. Everybody's right here. I'm preaching away. And he's reaching into his. He's a hooded sweatshirt on, and he's reaching into the pouch that he has here, and he's just standing back there and really kind of agitated, and he reaches in, and I go, okay.

Is he going? What's he going for? You know, and uh, but I thought I'll just keep preaching the word. He just happened to come and he plugged in his cell phone over there and trying to get it charged. And we want to welcome people. And in our society, we're almost in a position where we're cautious at times. And uh my brother Stephen went back and talked with him and and handled it. Um it didn't matter how he was dressed. We want them to, hey, we'll welcome him. Come on. Because here's what he's saying. If he's dressed in fine clothes, or a poor man comes dressed in dirty clothes, also comes in. If you look with favor on the man wearing the fine clothes and say, sit here in a good place, and yet say to the poor man, stand over there.

Ah if you look with favor, then Satan can say, Huh, see, I knew you and you were looking at the wrong thing. And Satan can trap you, and instead of caring about people, you care how they look. Or instead of caring about people, you care that they don't they don't stink, or they they have a shower, or whatever. He said, Look, when you come to your church, here's how I want you to treat people. Don't show favoritism and don't just look on the outside. What did favoritism mean? What was the first part of favoritism? Your face.

Sometimes favoritism is well, let me talk to some of the guys. You guys know that if a good looking woman comes in, and a woman that's not so good looking comes in, which one are you gonna look at? Yeah, I'm sorry, I pinned you down, you know, but you know, what what do you do? Satan knows how to use appearance, and so he he knows how to trap you. So let me say it this way. I don't want you focusing on appearance. That's that's the trap that Satan wants to use on us when it comes to church. First Samuel 16 says it this way. Do you remember the story? They're looking for a king in the land, and David uh was the runt of the litter, and but when others came in, they kept looking, uh, and oh, this must be the one.

Oh, this must be the one. Oh man, this one's man, he's tall, dark, and handsome. This gotta be the one. Here's what it says. But the Lord said to Samuel, do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. So if that's what God wants us to do when people worship with us, we're not gonna show favoritism, we're not gonna look at their outward appearance. We wanna look at the heart. John 7 24 says it this way stop judging according to outward appearances, rather judge according to righteous judgment. Now, how did he end James chapter one? Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this to look after orphans and widows in their distress, orphans and widows, people that don't have as much, and that's why he leads into chapter two with oh, you're showing favoritism to the people that have and the people that don't, the people that dress nice and the people that don't.

To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world. You remember that Greek word for unstained is stained there means something that spills over on you? He says, Don't let the world spill over on you and leave you stained. He said, I want you to I want you to really grow and to avoid these traps.

So next week we'll look at the last three traps that he gives in this text. But the question I have for you is on the screen. Have you been drawn into any traps where you are attracted to this person but not so easily to talk to that person? Or where you've looked at the outward appearance and thought, oh, they're really sharp and all this. Oh, they would be great for our church. They're really sharp looking. You know. God said, hey. Looks on the outward appearance. You need to look in the heart. I would say to you, you know, I alluded to this at least once before. I came from a very poor family. And in our church, we were not the uh elevated up ones because we didn't have the money. But God used uh our Sunday school teachers and others to teach God's word and to faithfully lay the groundwork for my life so that I end up here and starting a church in Palm Dale and not be uh because people weren't showing favoritism, they reached out.

You don't know who you're teaching in that children's Sunday school class that's going to become the next John MacArthur or the next godly pastor, or the next woman who does great ministries to help in a nursing capacity or some other capacity of you being used with God, a school teacher. Don't let Satan draw us into these traps. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we're asking that right now you'll speak to our hearts, that Satan won't be able to trap us, that Satan will be blocked in the traps that he tries to set for us. While your heads are bowed. Can you say, Father, help me?

Never to show favoritism. Help me to just treat everybody with the same love that you treat me. May I today determine that I'll treat everybody that comes through the door of this church with love and care and prayer so that they grow to be what you want them to be, Lord. Father, help me not to look on appearance, but to encourage people with their hearts to walk in a way that would honor the Lord. Or it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Let's all rise and respond in worship. Um as we uh just fa face uh just the many uh trials in life. May we just hold on to Christ and just look to him as our source of strength this week.

Did we in our own strength confine our striving would be losed? Were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choose, does ask who that may be Christ Jesus, it is he the Lord of hosts his name from age to age the same and he must win the battle and know this world with devils built should threaten to undue us.

We tremble not for him, his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure, one little word shall fell a mighty fortress, a mighty fortress, a rock unfair, the king of glory forever, amen, for endless ages, enthroned in praises, the king of glory forever, a man that were thou above all earthly powers, no thanks to them abide the spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us goods and kindred go this mortal life.

Also the body they may kill God's truth abideth still, his kingdom is forever, mighty fortress, a mighty fortress, a rock unfailing, the king of glory forever, amen, for endless ages, enthroned in praises, the king of glory forever, a man, a mighty fortress, a mighty fortress, a rock unfair, the king of glory forever, amen, for endless ages, enthroned in praises, the king of Glory forever.

Amen. Amen. Hey, uh, afterwards, there'll be some treats. Why don't you go back and get those? Um, we'll just have uh some treats. But the the treat, uh, you may want to have your kids uh, I don't know if you want them to ruin their uh lunch, um they're Oreo cookies inside uh uh about a quarter inch or so of chocolate on the top and the bottom. So it's it will be a sugar high. So you might want to monitor that, okay? Let's close in prayer. Father, thank you for the word of God, which warns us uh how you want us to act in the church of Christ. And Father, we're praying right now that you would bless uh Josh Sue as he graduates, as it takes place right now.

We pray your blessing on him and on his family as they enjoy this time. And we pray now, Father, that you bless our fellowship as we share together, and that you would use us, take us from here to use us this week in the lives of other people, bring us back to glorify you. But Father, we're praying that maybe your son would come back this week. Lord Jesus, we invite you back, and we would say, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. For it's in your name we pray. Amen. God bless. Have a great week in the Lord.