This is the last Sunday of this year, some are saying it is the last of the Millennium, but being a purist, that will not occur for another 53 weeks. The new Century and Millennium starts on January 1, 20001. Someone joked that the Y2K experts will discover this fact in January 2000 and begin to warn people about the danger of the new Millennium starting in 2001. They won't want to be out of work!

This morning we come to what may well be the most familiar verse in all the Bible - John 3:16. But before we can look at that verse we must make sure that we understand the context in which it is set.

What does it mean to be "born again." This morning we are going to be looking at John 3 where this term originates, but the term has been perverted over the years to mean something different than what Jesus meant by it when He said it to Nicodemus.

What is Jesus like? As we enter into the Christmas season, the common perception focuses on Jesus as the innocent baby lying in a manger. The greeting card pictures drawn of the scene are of a cute, smiling baby lying in a beautiful manger - often it is more like a cradle - and surrounded by cute animals - often baby animals. This is Jesus meek and mild who would not and could not harm anything.

One of the great privileges of being a pastor is weddings. I enjoy being able to perform marriage ceremonies and be a first hand witness to all that goes on. I meet with the couples that sort of float in to see me for premarital counseling. They have great big eyes for each other and they see the world through wonderful rose-colored glasses. Everything is beautiful. The bride will commonly speak of the coming wedding ceremony with great expectations. They present their dream of how everything would look just perfect. It is a joy to help them plan and make that dream come true. It is also a joy for me to perform the ceremony and see the joy in their faces as they hold hands and make their vows to one another.

How do people respond to Jesus Christ? That will depend in a large part in what the are looking for before the meet Him. Those who are not interested in spiritual things and those who already have their minds made up about will generally ignore Him. Those who are seeking the truth and are willing to investigate will find Him. We will see this principle displayed this morning we are going to look at the beginning of Jesus' public ministry in John 1:35-51 and the response of the first disciples.

Have you ever wondered why references are so important? If you apply for a job, you have to list references on your application. If you want to rent an apartment, you have to give references. If you apply for a loan, you will have your credit history searched. If we lived in a perfect world our own statement about who we are and what we are like would be sufficient. But we do not live in a perfect world. By experience each of us knows that a person can claim anything they want, but it doesn't mean it is true. We want to have something to verify that the claims are true. The person could be telling the truth, but then again, perhaps they are self-deceived or are lying.

This evening is Halloween. A festival that a generation ago was considered even by the Christian community to be pretty innocuous. As a child, I, like many of you, participated in all the activities commonly associated with this Fall celebration.

This morning we begin our actual study of the text of the Gospel of John. Last week's introduction was an overview with emphasis on the purpose of the book. John specifically states his purpose in 20:31, but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.

This morning we begin our journey in the Gospel of John. Before we can begin this journey we need to be introduced to our guide and get a brief description of what we will encounter on our way to our destination. We also will want to know why we should undertake this journey. Today will be an Introduction to the Gospel of John.

This morning I will complete my series on the purpose and nature of the church by talking about the "Heart of the Church." I am not referring to our emotions by that, but rather what is at the center of our lives as Christians and as a church. There should be a driving force, a motivation that causes us to want to live the Christian life and see the church, the Body of Christ, grow. Without this motivation the Christian life will be very difficult to live. It will be full of frustration, hurt, pain, guilt and even severe depression.

I have been stressing the purpose and nature of the church for a couple of months now. The reason? We can not fulfill our purpose if we do not know what it is. We cannot function effectively if we do not know how God has designed us to work.

For several weeks we have been examining the purpose and nature of the church. The purpose of Grace Bible Church is to Glorify God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ. We strive to do that by Communicating New Life in Christ - Evangelism. Cultivating New Life in Christ - Edification. Caring for One Another in Christ - Fellowship and - Worship. And for the last couple of weeks we have concentrated on worship - Celebrating New Life in Christ.

This morning I want to continue on the topic of worship. This topic came up a few weeks ago in our series on the Purpose of Grace Bible Church. We use the statement, Glorifying God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ, as a simple definition of our purpose, but we also expand that into four statements that express the essential aspects of how we fulfill our purpose. 1) We Communicate New Life in Christ through Evangelism. 2) We Cultivate New Life in Christ through Edification. 3) We Care for New Life in Christ through Fellowship and 4) We Celebrate New Life in Christ through Worship.

This morning I want to bring before you something that has been on my heart for sometime. I would like to express to you something that is both a concern and desire. In some ways I especially want you who are new to Grace Bible Church to understand this because it defines for you where we desire to go as a church.

In view that tomorrow is Labor Day, I thought it would be fitting to speak on the subject of "Honorable Labor" today.

This morning we come to the fourth purpose of the church. We have already discussed Communicating New Life in Christ - Evangelism; Cultivating New Life in Christ - Edification; and Caring for New Life in Christ - Fellowship. This morning we come to Celebrating New Life in Christ - Worship.

Change is a part of life. Some changes are good and some are bad. Some changes are neutral, but all of them can add stress to life. We are glad to see our children getting taller and stronger, though it does mean buying them more clothes. Some of us are noticing more character wrinkles etched into our faces and our hair is changing color - for a few, that color is gray. We don't really care for those changes. As you get older your perspective changes and instead of counting the years from birth, you start thinking more of how many years you may have until death. Some of have had the joy of adding members to your family this past year. Others have had the sorrows of family members passing away. There is constant change in our lives and stress because of it.

Last week I spoke to you about the commission Jesus gave to the church to evangelize. We are to Communicate New Life in Christ by telling people the good news of Jesus Christ. We proclaim the gospel that man can be forgiven of his sin and enter into a personal relationship with his loving creator.

Some years ago I heard a story about a fellow who was starting a new job. Like any of us might be, he was quite nervous about it. He was going to be taking on new responsibilities and meeting new people and he wanted to make a good first impression. He and his wife prayed about it before he left that morning. When he got home his wife greeted him at the door and asked how things went. He said, "Great, I got along real well with the guys, and they never even found out that I am a Christian." (Now before you judge this guy, consider that there may have been a Christian at that job that never let him know that there was already a believer there).

This morning we begin a series on the church. What is it? How is it structured? How does it function? What are its purposes? This will be somewhat basic for some of you, and it will be new for others. In either case, it is good to make sure we know God's design for the church, or we risk wasting away our lives on our own vain efforts. Unless we function according to God's design for His purposes we can not accomplish His will.

This morning I want to address a subject that is basic, yet not so simple as one might think at first glance. What is a Christian?

The following is a fictional story, but it is based on many true stories of missionaries that have occurred over the years.

223 years ago today, the General Congress formed by Representatives from the 13 Colonies voted to approve the Declaration of Independence which dissolved their allegiance to the British Crown and severed the political ties to the State of Great Britain. The celebrations held today commemorate not only the actions taken that day, but also the results of those actions - the Revolutionary War & its victory that established this new Republic as a nation and the eventual writing and passing of The Constitution of the United States upon which our system of Government is established. The Fourth of July is about celebrating the birth of this nation and the principles upon which it was founded which has given us Liberty.

This morning we come to the conclusion of our short series on The Battle for the Mind. In the previous two messages I have tried to bring out the fact that we are in a spiritual war. That fact is made clear throughout the Scriptures. We must be of sober spirit and on the alert for our adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Ephesians 6:10f warns us in no uncertain terms that we must be prepared for conflict by having put on the full armor of God so that we might stand firm against the schemes of the devil to deceive us and lead us astray.

Two weeks ago I began this series by pointing out that the Scriptures give us clear warning that we are in a Spiritual War. Any of us that have been Christians for any length of time and have been striving to live for Jesus Christ is also aware of this conflict by personal experience.

Today is the traditional day for Memorial Day. Back in 1971 it was changed from May 30 to the last Monday in May. I guess the particular calendar day is only important because Diane was born on that day and consequently her birthday was always celebrated with a picnic. That is something we still try to do.

We are all aware of the current war in Yugoslavia over its province of Kosovo. President Clinton and NATO claim this is not a war, but they are only fooling themselves. Tragically, as usually occurs in modern warfare, there have been non-combatants - innocent people - killed by mistake. The Chinese embassy was bombed because it was thought to be something else. Groups of refugees have been bombed because they were mistaken for military columns. I don't know of any "friendly fire" yet, but as anyone can tell you, when someone is shooting at you, whether it is your own forces or the enemies, it is not "friendly."

This morning we come to the end of our journey through the Sermon on the Mount. It has been a journey of highs and lows, of comfort and of challenge. I hope that this section of Scripture has a friend to you. Not one of those friends that always tells you what you want to hear, but a friend that cares enough to tell you the truth and encourage you to live according to it. A friend that walks along with you and points out the proper path. A friend that will not abandon you. The things we have learned and been challenged with will stay with us the rest of out lives - if we are careful to heed its message.

I am sure that all of us have seen pictures of what a storm can do to a costal community. It is one thing to see pictures of such destruction. It is another to see it in person. While in Seminary, I earned my living working for the Los Angeles County Agriculture Department. Among my duties was the responsibility of inspecting certain sites along the California coast from Santa Monica to the Ventura County Border. It was a wonderful area to work especially in the summer when cool breezes blew off the ocean. One of the other areas I inspected was the hot desert area in the north east section of the county. I remember one particular winter there was a series of severe storms that battered the coast. Damage was high and included quite a few homes totally destroyed. It is quite a shock to drive up to a site you check every week, get out of the truck, and then notice there is nothing but surging ocean left. The house and property have all been washed away. You notice other homes, some only slightly damaged, others with the front part of them fractured and collapsing upon their broken support pilings.

I mentioned two weeks ago that the greatest danger we face is not the changing world around which can only effect us outwardly. Personal finances can change, but that only raises or lowers our standard of living. The decline of social morality may make it more difficult to live a holy life, but it can not change who we really are. The political climate can change, but that will only increase or decrease governments' intrusion the daily business of life. Even if direct persecution came upon us in the future that can not change our eternal destiny. What is most dangerous to us are those things that can affect us internally.

Last week we looked at one of the most decisive texts of Scripture. Jesus gives us a command and our obedience to that command will determine our eternal destination. In Matthew 7:13,14 Jesus commands us to enter the narrow gate that leads to the narrow way. This is the way to life, but few are those that find it. There is another gate which is wide and it leads to a wide path. This is the way to eternal destruction. Many are those who are on that path. What decision have you made in regards to Jesus' command. Is it one of obedience in righteousness resulting in eternal life, or is it one of disobedience resulting in eternal condemnation? The decision that you make will be based on what you believe is true.

This morning we begin our study of the last section of the Sermon on the Mount. In this section Jesus draws all He has said throughout the sermon to a conclusion and calls on each and every one of us to respond. How will we respond to what He has said?

Have you ever watched a little boy with his father? They like to try to be just like dad. That is of course where the phrase, "Like father, like son" comes from. I have noticed that about my sons. For the most part that is good, but sometimes it is to my embarrassment one of them imitates some bad habit of manners or speech I have. Diane works overtime to correct us. Each one has particular area of interest. Jonathan wants to go hunting with me. Jimmy likes to help me fix things, and David likes to talk.

Many people are confused by what the Bible says. One of the reasons for this is that there are often so many differing opinions about what it says. The main reason for so many different interpretations is that too often people are not careful to understand what they are reading in its context. They do not pay attention to what is said before and after any particular passage or what is taught on that same subject in other places of Scripture. We have seen several examples of this already in our study of the Sermon on the Mount.

This morning we will continue in our study of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus has made it very clear throughout this sermon that there is a big difference between true righteousness from the heart and self righteousness as demonstrated by the Scribes and Pharisees. True righteousness is demonstrated in the character qualities described in the Beatitudes. Poor in Spirit, Mournful, Meek, Hungering and Thirsting after righteousness, Merciful, Pure in Heart & True Peacemakers. Those who demonstrate these qualities are hated by the unrighteous world and suffer persecution for their righteousness. The self righteous may try to give outward display of virtue, but it ends up being perverted in some way.

Anxiety, worry, fret, distress, agitation, tension, irritability. Words that describe a feeling of an inner turmoil that result in a feeling of outward uneasiness. The words describe a common feeling among humans as we consider what the future may bring to us personally and to the ones we love.

Welcome to Grace Bible Church! As of this past week, all legal work has been completed including changing over our bank accounts. There are still a few minor things to change from Faith Bible to Grace Bible, like the hymn book, but everything important has now been changed.

What is success? That depends upon what you value in life. If you value fortune, success depends on the standard of living and number of dollars in the bank. If you value fame, success depends on how many people know who you are. If you value power, success is determined by the number of people you have under your control. Most people consider a success a combination of fortune, fame or power. The amount of each varies, but success is still described in terms of those things. Even introverts who do not care how many people know about them will often still define success in terms of being the best, or at least extremely good, in their personal interest, hobby or sport. The individual determines what is success by what he or she personally values.

This morning we come to a topic that most of us are probably unfamiliar with - fasting. We may recognize the word and may know its meaning. Some of you may even think you have fasted before because you were forced to do so for some medical test or as part of a diet to lose weight. Some of you may come from religious traditions in which some sort of fast was practiced on particular occasions -, i.e., the Lenten season, etc. However, I doubt that there are more than a handful of people in the room that have ever fasted in the Biblical sense. Why? Two reasons. First, the proper Biblical practice of fasting, as expressed by our Lord in the passage we will be examining this morning, was quickly perverted and those parts of the church that have practiced fasting have not done it correctly. Second, the evangelical church has largely ignored the subject as a reaction to the excesses that have occurred within Catholicism and other Christian traditions.