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[Music] good morning woodside or i guess if by the time you get to this it's the afternoon good afternoon welcome to church like jeremy says every week we're so glad that you chose to join us for church today if you're new to woodside there's connecting cards that you can fill out on the website that will help us connect with you and meet your needs also if you're a kid there's resources for you on the website too i want to just welcome you to church as we move into our time of worship there's something new that we're going to try one of the silver linings of lockdown is that through this online medium we have the opportunity to to test out different things new things and so for the month of february you're gonna see that during our praise times they're smaller worship teams we've changed the setting where they're filmed and they're family units just praising god together our goal is that this will help you worship at home i know it's it's been honestly a little bit of a struggle for me when i watch the services to to sing to praise god with my voice and i'm hoping a little selfishly that this will help me praise god better and i hope that's true for you too so would you join us as we sing made to worship before the day before the light before the world revolved around the sun into time i wrote the story of his love for everyone he has filled our hearts with wonder so that we always remember you and i are made to worship you and i are called to love you and i are forgiven [Music] we were meant to be [Music] he has filled our hearts with wonder so that we always remember you and i are made to worship you and i are called to love you and i are forgiven and free when you and i embrace surrender when you and i choose to believe that you and i will see who we were meant to be even the rocks cry out [Music] the sound of his holy name so let every voice sing out let every knee bow down he's worthy of all our praises you and i are made to worship you and i are called to love you and i are forgiven and free and you and i embrace surrender when you and i choose to believe in you and i will see who we were meant to be hey kids do you know what the letters b i b l e spell you're right it spells bible we are going to sing a song called the b-i-b-l-e we're going to start kind of slow and we're going to get faster as we go are you ready ready okay the b-i-b-l-e yes that's the book for me i stand alone on the word of god the b-i-b-l-e the b-i-b-l-e i'll take along with me i'll read and pray and then obey the b-i-d-l-e the b-i-b-l-e yes that's the book for me i stand alone on the word of god good job hi kids it's great to see you today i've been thinking a lot about how amazing god's word the bible or the scripture is you know this book is different than any other book it's actually more like a library made up of 66 different books and divided into two sections the old testament and the new testament but even though there are over 40 different people who wrote books in it over a period of more than 1500 years it has one message that stays the same through the whole thing that's because this is the only book that has been inspired by god that means that although people wrote the words down it was actually god who was working through them to write down god's very own words to us one of the things god's word or the scripture is useful for is to help us fight temptation have you ever been tempted i know i have often been tempted to say or do something that makes me maybe look a little better than i actually am or to get out of trouble sometimes i've been tempted to tell a little lie or put the blame on someone else treat someone else unkindly or put myself and my own desires ahead of what i know what god really wants me to do did you know that jesus was tempted too early on in jesus ministry just after he had been baptized by john the baptist we read in matthew chapter 4 that jesus was led into the by the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil or satan jesus was out in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights and he didn't have any food he must have been so hungry the devil often tries to take advantage of our weaknesses and so he came to jesus and said if you are the son of god tell these stones to become bread jesus knew that satan was just trying to get him to prove himself and put his own physical needs ahead of his spiritual needs so he answered satan with a verse from the bible saying it is written man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of god he knew that obeying god and listening to his words was more important than easing physical food satan tried a second time to get jesus to obey him he took him to the temple in jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of it if you are the son of god he said throw yourself down for it is written he will command his angels concerning you and they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone this time satan even used the bible too but jesus knew that satan was not using it correctly jesus didn't need to prove himself to satan by jumping off the temple and having the angels catch him so jesus answered back with another scripture verse he said it is also written do not put the lord your god to the test for a third time satan had a plan to get jesus to sin he took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world all this i will give you he said if you will bow down and worship me again jesus used the scripture to fight against this temptation he said away from me satan for it is written worship the lord your god and serve him only when he had said this the devil left jesus and angels came to him and looked after him did you see how jesus was able to use the bible to fight against satan's attempts to tempt jesus to sin we can use the bible to help us in our fight against sin do you remember how we learned about the armor of god do you remember what the word of god was called in those verses that's right the sword of the spirit god's word is given unto us to be like a sword to fight off the enemy's attacks so when you are tempted to ignore your parents when they ask you to do something if you have god's word in your heart and in your mind you will remember ephesians 6 1 that says children obey your parents in the lord for this is right when you are tempted to say unkind words to your brother or sister you will remember ephesians 4 29 that says do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen i could list so many verses for every situation we find ourselves in in life do you see how important it is to know god's word so that you are not left defenseless when satan tempts you i encourage you to make memorizing bible verses a priority and spend time reading god's word every day parents i hope you are making use of the ideas in the live a life resource on our website to help you as you seek to make god's word important in your family we are praying for you today's verse is from second timothy chapter 3 verse 15. let's read it together it says from infancy you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in jesus christ second timothy 3 15. this verse written to timothy from paul shows us that timothy knew god's word and followed god from a young age like many of you kids watching now it also tells us that the bible teaches us about salvation and helps us grow in our faith so we're going to learn today's verse with a little bit of a rhythm and a few add-ons i will say the actual verse and i will say the add-ons so you can follow along with me or me but probably me and we'll try to say it together a few times until it is super stuck in your head all right let's start from infancy that means young you have known the holy scriptures the scriptures which are able to do what make you wise very wise for salvation through faith in jesus christ where's that found second timothy 3 15. so you're saying that from infancy that means young you have known the holy scriptures the scriptures which are able to do what make you wise very wise for salvation through faith in jesus christ where's that found ii timothy 3 15. so you're saying that from infancy that means young you have known the holy scriptures the scriptures which are able to do what make you wise very wise for salvation through faith in jesus christ and where's that found second timothy 3 15. awesome job everyone [Music] hi kids i hope you enjoyed the story about jesus being tempted it's now time for our whole church kids and grown-ups to move into our engagement time now kids if you've kind of struggled to talk with your family during this time i have a hint for you on the church's website there's resource sheets for families with kids so kids maybe you need to tell mom or dad to get online and get some of those resources i'm just going to pray for us as we move into this time of engagement heavenly father we thank you for church thank you for the gathering of the body whether it's in person or online god we seek to bring you praise in the service and lord as we now engage with these questions as we engage with your word would you illuminate new things for us in here would we grow closer to you through your holy spirit and we're asking that in the name of jesus amen [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] um so sweet to trust in jesus just to take him out his word just to rest upon his the promises jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus [Music] jesus jesus christ [Music] just from jesus jesus jesus [Music] jesus jesus [Music] i'm so glad i learned jesus save your friend and i know that thou art with me will be with me to the end jesus jesus how i trust him how i've proved him more jesus jesus praises jesus oh for grace to trust him more hungry [Music] is [Music] so [Music] me jesus i am touch restores [Music] offering all of me jesus [Music] therefore with minds that are alert and full of silver get your hope on the grace to be brought to you when jesus christ is revealed at his coming as obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but just as he who called you is holy so be holy in all you do for it is written be holy because i am holy so i'll wait for you so i'll wait for you jesus [Music] is in the mid-1980s i started directing a series of international projects in central america asia and the soviet union for each project it was essential to spend a couple days briefing the students i was bringing with me on the culture they were about to enter including important things to do and not to do as well as key points in culture etiquette and essential words and phrases in the language of that country there were basic facts that once you knew them you were fine for those specific things but there were a lot of things one could do say or where and totally not see or realize that they were out of sync with a different culture despite all of our efforts many of the students on our projects continue to stick out like a sore thumb it might be their clothing or the way they interacted with each other as they walked down the street or it could even be the level of their voices as they talked in public my point is this every one of us is a product of our culture our culture shapes us day after day and it provides the subconscious standard from which we see the world when we're in a different culture we evaluate that culture as if our culture is the standard of reference without even realizing it because to us our culture has been the environment which has shaped us all our lives our culture incessantly programs us to fit in it affects our sense of what is right and wrong it desensitizes us to some things and makes us very sensitive to others what i've just described was our number one problem in helping students to fit into a different culture there was always the unconscious assumption that it was their own culture that was the standard which all other cultures were to be judged and they did this all the time without even being aware of it there were usually some things about another culture that a student liked but there were always other things that they did not for those things there was again the assumption which they were utterly unaware of that the other culture had the problem it was the other culture that needed to change whether they were objectively right was a different question but that was almost never considered so where am i going with all this here it is we have been and continue to be heavily shaped and molded by our culture as a result and without even being aware of it it influences our view of god and our response to what we read in the bible including what we find acceptable and not acceptable as a result one of the single greatest challenges to authentic christianity today is that aspect of ourselves that has been relentlessly shaped by culture over the years and we never even felt it happening i'd like to look briefly at three things first i want to look at what we can call culture-led christianity which may be the single greatest threat to legit or authentic christianity today second i would like to compare culture-led christianity with what i might call authentic living christianity finally we will look at how we can live within our culture but as one who actually lives in that eternal culture we call the kingdom of god so let's take a closer look at culture-led christianity culture-led christianity occurs when one's view of god and how one understands and applies the scriptures is more influenced by culture rather than by god it is the default evolution for the religion of christianity what i mean by that is unless god is supernaturally intervening in your life what you will wind up with is a religion that is culture led it evolves with the culture it is commonly referred to as progressive christianity so what does culture-led christianity actually look like first of all it affects how we interpret the bible hermeneutics is the discipline of interpretation especially as applied to religious texts and philosophical writings it is what we do for example when we read a passage in the bible such as you shall not steal and we ask ourselves what did the author mean when he wrote this normally standard meanings of words and rules of language are used to answer that question and an effort is made to set aside our own cultural biases a problem arises however if the passage in the bible says something that seems quite plain if taken at face value but we do not agree with what it appears to say our culture is rapidly moving further and further away from judeo-christian values so there are more and more passages in the bible that our culture finds unacceptable culture-led christianity will often conclude one of two things either that the relevant that the passage is no longer relevant today or that the offending passage cannot actually mean what it appears to say as a result a more progressive kind of hermeneutics began to be accepted in some mainstream churches in the mid-1900s that re-examines as it were passages we find difficult to accept in today's culture and either derives an interpretation that is acceptable to our culture or this new hermeneutic argues that the passage is not relevant in our culture today this new kind of hermeneutics was noted in the scholarly literature as early as 1958 by swedish theologian christopher stendall with the rise of feminism it was soon used to explain away passages on sexuality beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s and it has now become the mainstream approach for culture-led christianity today our culture today finds christ's claim that no one comes to the father but through him to be offensive and not inclusive it also rejects jesus statements about hell as well as anything to do with biblical teachings on sexuality to deal with all of this there is a trend in progressive christianity to reject the divine inspiration of scripture for most culture-led christians daily bible reading and meditation is non-existent it is pretty hard to take the bible seriously when much of it is regarded as irrelevant offensive or even outright wrong by our culture today at the end of the day the fundamental assumption of our culture and culture-led christianity is that we occupy the ethical high ground and if there is a god that god must surely conform to our culture's views and expectations i have found that once a person decides to go down that road there's not much that i can say to persuade them otherwise because in their mind i am out of sync with culture on social media for example some have unfriended me or canceled me despite my best efforts to offer a gracious and articulate and well-reasoned defense of biblical christianity and the real god as revealed in scripture so all i can do is speak to those christians who are willing to truly put their faith in the real jesus christ and the real god and who are at least open to considering the possibility that the bible is god's divine revelation to humanity so what is the difference between culture-led progressive christianity and authentic living christianity to understand the fundamental difference between our culture and the kingdom of god we should understand what the central core value is for each the core value that drives our culture today could be stated in various ways of course but we might describe it as the right to be happy in whatever way that gives us pleasure and to make everyone else feel affirmed safe and included in whatever way that gives them pleasure and happiness it is first and foremost centered around personal rights as for what is right and wrong every person should have the freedom and right to do what is right in their own eyes so far as as it is inclusive of others the holy spirit speaking through the apostle james said this you ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures you adulterers don't you know that friendship with the world is hostility towards god therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of god what is he saying here is that it's that to embrace culture-led christianity is to actually become an enemy of god but why is this perhaps we can infer why from something he has said in the bible god says there is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the way of death to clarify god is life but what seems right to our culture leads to death for example our culture has enshrined sexual freedom as one of its highest values in short term it is what people want and what they believe will make them feel happy and fulfilled in the long term however it leads to the collapse of cultures and civilizations according to the historical data in the 1930s oxford anthropologist j.d unwin examined the data from 86 civilizations and cultures he observed that every culture that experienced an increase in sexual freedom collapsed within a hundred years or three generations there were no exceptions he states it happens with and i quote monotonous regularity professor robert p george of princeton university recently posted that j.d unwin mastered the historical data on the effect of sexual freedom on cultures and everything that we observe in our own culture today is confirming the historical observations of unwin within the next 40 to 50 years we should observe our civilization go into freefall and collapse before the end of the century now this isn't some half-baked doomsday hysteria it is the cold hard peer-reviewed academic results from the historical data of 86 cultures so this sheds new light on why god says that there is a way which seems right to a man but its end is the way of death more recently researcher and writer mary eberstadt has noted that the shorter shorter-lived serial relationships that have become the norm after the sexual revolution has led to the decimation of the extended family which in turn has left many in our society without a traditional sense of identity this in turn has led to a skyrocketing increase in people experiencing mental health challenges and identity mental health is probably one of the best ways to measure the overall well-being of a culture and by that standard something is going terribly wrong with our culture even while culture-led christianity continues to advance c.s lewis in his book mere christianity describe the difference between what was already called progressive thinking in the mid-1900s versus true progress he wrote we all want progress but progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be and if you have taken a wrong turning then to go forward does not get you any nearer if you are on the wrong road progress means doing an about turn and walking back to the right road and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man there is nothing progressive about being pig-headed in refusing to admit a mistake and and i think if you look at the present state of the world it is pretty plain that humanity has been making some big mistakes we are on the wrong road and if that is so we must go back going back is the quickest way on what lewis wrote reminds me of something that god said through the prophet jeremiah some 2700 years ago he said to the culture of that day thus says the lord stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls so if the central value of our culture today is centered on personal rights pleasures and happiness of oneself what is the single most important and highest priority for someone who has been spiritually reborn and now lives within the kingdom of god jesus said that that hap that priority is to love the lord our god with all our heart soul strength and mind and where the lord our god is described by the holy spirit through the apostle james as follows every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow our culture seeks happiness for the individual but what could possibly be more wonderful than loving the one who is the origin of joy love life beauty honor music and every good thing given and every perfect gift to follow jesus christ he said if anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself and take his cross daily and follow me for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake he is the one who will save it for what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself now at first glance the idea of losing your life for the sake of jesus christ does not seem at all appealing until we notice the next phrase that you will actually save it the most fulfilling thing i have ever experienced by far is knowing and loving the one who is the origin of every good thing given and every perfect gift which brings me to the final question how can we experience a living authentic christianity my next video will totally focus on how to experience a living christianity and what the secret is to a beautiful mind but in case you never see it what i'm about to say should start you well on the way to beginning to experience a living christianity that i have found to be far more wonderful than anything else this world has to offer first we need to take seriously christ's description of what it actually means to follow him it is radically different from our culture-led christianity with its terms and conditions and focus on the self jesus said if anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake he is the one who will save it for what is a man profited if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself if you wish to follow christ it is really all or nothing you will have to throw off the shackles of culture and put your faith totally in christ as far as who he is and what he offers no terms no conditions all in this is really what it means to put your faith in christ a lot of people say they have put their faith in christ for forgiveness of sins and for eternal life but they're not willing to actually deny themselves and follow him they do what is right in their own eyes which god describes as lawlessness to clarify when you see god talking about lawlessness in the bible he's not talking about running wild in the streets committing criminal offenses although that could certainly be part of it what he's talking about is turning away from god as the standard of flawless perfection and instead making up your own rules for life or embracing whatever our culture requires to be right or wrong this is why jesus said not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven will enter many will say to me on that day lord lord did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons and in your name perform many miracles and then i will declare to them i never knew you depart from me you who practice lawlessness in the final days of human history jesus said at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another many false prophets will arise and will mislead many because lawlessness is increased most people's love will grow cold but the one who endures to the end he will be saved so the first step in experiencing a living christianity eternal life and the joy of knowing and loving god and being loved by him is to completely abandon all your terms conditions and reservations and truly put your faith in him for who he is and for purification from sin and for the gift of eternal life and knowing god jesus said that it has to be all in second the primary secret to knowing and experiencing god was revealed in what jesus called the great and foremost command it is to love our god with all our heart soul mind and strength but do not assume that you know what that fully means one morning shortly after breakfast i was preparing to get to work when i was suddenly floored by a by a realization all my life i had unthinkingly assumed that i understood what jesus actually and fully meant when he said to love god with all my heart soul strength and mind but what a preposterous assumption that i a mere mortal with very limited mental capabilities should understand the full extent of what it means to love god with all my heart soul strength and mind right there as i was standing i prayed a prayer that has since had a massive effect on my experience of god and of living christianity i want to share it with you and then leave it on the screen so that you can pray it too if you truly want to experience what living christianity is all about it went like this heavenly father i have been assuming that i knew what you had in mind when you spoke of the primary importance and priority of loving you with all my heart soul strength and mind but i strongly suspect that i have fallen vastly short of understanding what you have in mind when you say that i ask now that you would bring me to that place where i actually love you in the way you intended and meant when you said that i ask this in jesus name amen after i prayed that prayer and continued to bring it before god in the months that followed i saw changes happening within me that i had never experienced before total surrender to christ and praying this prayer is the best thing i have ever done so i will leave this with you i'll leave this prayer if you are at the place in your life where you sincerely want to experience living christianity then go ahead and start praying this prayer this last song outlines the pillars of our faith to which we hold as christians please join with us as we sing creating one god almighty through your holy spirit conceiving christ the son jesus our savior i believe in god our father i believe in christ the son i believe in the holy spirit our god is we will rise again for i believe in the name of jesus suffered and crucified forgiveness is in you descended into darkness he rose in glorious [Music] i believe in god our father i believe in in the christ spirit our god is three and one i believe in the resurrection that we will rise again for i believe in the name of jesus you rose again i believe that jesus christ i believe in life eternal i believe in the virgin birth i believe in the state's communion and in your holy church i believe in the resurrection when jesus comes again for i believe in the name of jesus i believe in god our father i believe in christ the son i believe in the holy spirit our god is three and one i believe in the resurrection that we will rise again for i believe in the name of jesus for i believe in the name of jesus [Music] hi woodside i'm here today to let you know about an opportunity that you're able to participate in if you wish woodside is going to be having teams of walkers again for our coldest night of the year and coldest night of the year is here to support our local woolwich community services which blesses our community in so many ways you can participate in this event by becoming a walker or by donating and sponsoring someone who is walking and you can find all of the those details out on the website hello woodside before we wrap up for today i just want to remind you of a couple of things one is that alpha started this week but it's still not too late to join you can visit the website for details and and sign up the other thing is just to remind you that the care ministry is still very active and has been all through covid pastor dan has been teaching us over the month of january about god's comforting exhortation to fear not yet sometimes we struggle with circumstances in life that really make it difficult to feel that calm in the storm i think most of us have been experiencing that through this covid winter in fact we want to remind all of you connected to woodside that you are loved and to encourage you not to struggle alone reach out contact your life community leader or your life community care leader or you can contact the confidential email that's on the screen right now please don't struggle alone we have peer support we have a benevolence fund we can help you with financial support we want to be the church at this time we're going to close our service now with these words from john a new command i give you woodside love one another as i have loved you so you must love one another by this all will know that you are my disciples if you love one another take good care be gentle with yourselves be gentle with each other bye for now [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you