WEBVTT 00:00:02.530 --> 00:00:05.040 I know all of you can hear the kids in the background right now. 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:12.500 I just want you as parents who went on the ladies retreat as women that all your husbands did for two days is just shake your kid up, right? 00:00:12.780 --> 00:00:15.050 So they're about ready to explode. 00:00:16.149 --> 00:00:18.280 I told Marissa this morning. 00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:18.720 Marissa. 00:00:19.260 --> 00:00:23.810 Dads, I don't know if they did a good enough job, so take them when you teach them this morning and get them ready. 00:00:24.020 --> 00:00:24.240 All right. 00:00:25.260 --> 00:00:27.040 So that is that is for you as parents. 00:00:27.100 --> 00:00:31.580 I knew when you came today, if you went to the ladies retreat, you're going to come tired and it's just going to get you on edge. 00:00:31.700 --> 00:00:32.990 Right now your nerves are just shaking. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:33.560 I can feel it. 00:00:33.760 --> 00:00:34.140 Oh no. 00:00:34.140 --> 00:00:35.900 What's the house going to look like when you get home? 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:36.160 Right? 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:40.180 Well, it's good news for you. 00:00:40.440 --> 00:00:42.170 Before that happens, we're going to look at God's word. 00:00:42.820 --> 00:00:43.440 Yeah. 00:00:43.720 --> 00:00:45.160 Let's calm our souls. 00:00:45.160 --> 00:00:45.860 Right. 00:00:47.060 --> 00:00:50.650 If you brought a Bible with you this morning, I want to encourage you to turn to the book of First Peter. 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.260 Actually, whatever was beyond encouragement, do that. 00:00:54.080 --> 00:00:55.900 If you brought a Bible, open up to First Peter. 00:00:57.140 --> 00:01:02.440 it's good for us as people, one, to discover where these books of the Bible are and to make notes. 00:01:03.100 --> 00:01:05.430 It is not illegal to write in your Bible, right? 00:01:05.500 --> 00:01:06.040 Amen. 00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:08.560 In fact, it's important to understand God's Word. 00:01:09.160 --> 00:01:14.920 If you don't have a Bible with you and you're interested in following along, I know we have it up on the screen, which makes it convenient. 00:01:15.020 --> 00:01:17.980 You can also pull out a Bible from the back of the chair in front of you. 00:01:17.980 --> 00:01:21.540 It's on page 180 in the New Testament and be able to find that book. 00:01:23.860 --> 00:01:30.240 Peter writes the book of First Peter to a group of believers facing a bit of persecution in their lives. 00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:37.340 And by a bit, I mean a lot, a lot of persecution that will, in the end, ultimately cost many of them 00:01:37.340 --> 00:01:37.820 their lives. 00:01:38.960 --> 00:01:46.840 In fact, Peter is writing both his books of first First Peter and second Peter towards the end of his life, within a year before he is 00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:53.880 crucified upside down, and he's looking at a church that's being heavily persecuted, and he just wants to encourage them and 00:01:54.080 --> 00:01:55.340 continue to encourage them in their faith. 00:01:56.740 --> 00:02:01.900 And we said, as we've come to know Jesus, it's one thing to die for Christ. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:04.200 And sometimes it's easier to die for Christ. 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:05.800 And in fact it is to live for Christ. 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:14.620 Because living for Christ, especially if you come from an environment or a background where it's not encouraged in this world, it can very much rob 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:16.380 you of your joy and walking with Jesus. 00:02:17.980 --> 00:02:22.780 And so Peter writes this book to the believers, spread about throughout. 00:02:22.780 --> 00:02:28.220 It tells us in Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia he just refers to this group of Christians being persecuted as aliens. 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:36.600 They realized that this world is not their home one because they've been driven from their homes being Christian, and 00:02:36.600 --> 00:02:43.660 two because now their home resides with Christ in heaven and he wants them to look towards that hope that they have 00:02:43.660 --> 00:02:44.290 in Jesus. 00:02:44.480 --> 00:02:48.480 Because this world, if you put your hope in it, will ultimately disappoint you. 00:02:49.200 --> 00:02:50.780 Amen. 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:58.430 And so he says in verse three, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused 00:02:58.520 --> 00:03:01.460 us to be born again to a living hope. 00:03:03.300 --> 00:03:04.500 It's a hope that does not fade. 00:03:04.860 --> 00:03:05.920 It is a hope that is promised. 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:13.300 It is a hope that endures because it tells us in verse three, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, this hope is 00:03:13.380 --> 00:03:14.220 given to us. 00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:23.380 And just as Jesus conquered Satan, sin and death, so he gives you the promise of an eternity with the same joy 00:03:23.380 --> 00:03:24.200 in which he experiences. 00:03:26.620 --> 00:03:32.040 In verse six, he reminds us that even for a little while talking about this life, we may endure these trials. 00:03:32.520 --> 00:03:37.360 Verse seven, he tells us that our faith is more precious than gold. 00:03:38.880 --> 00:03:43.420 And today, as we dive into this passage of Scripture, we're going to pick up in verse 13. 00:03:44.320 --> 00:03:50.040 Peter starts this phrase with an interesting word, therefore. 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:55.840 I love it when the Bible has the word therefore, because it tells me it's about to get real simple and practical for me. 00:03:56.300 --> 00:03:58.320 And I appreciate those moments when I read God's Word. 00:03:58.980 --> 00:03:59.780 Amen. 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:07.300 Paul is about to write to us as a group of believers, and he says, based on the therefore, it is referring to the first 12 verses, he's reaching 00:04:07.300 --> 00:04:10.430 a conclusive moment in what he's writing to you as believers. 00:04:11.440 --> 00:04:14.900 And so he says, Christians, if this is you, you've placed your hope in Jesus. 00:04:14.920 --> 00:04:18.820 You realize this world is not your home, but your faith is so precious and you have a living hope. 00:04:19.200 --> 00:04:21.720 There's something that God has called you to do if you're clinging to Christ. 00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:30.140 So he says, therefore, remember everything that we've discussed together in the first 12 verses, because I'm going to call 00:04:30.140 --> 00:04:31.950 you to do something in the verses ahead. 00:04:33.420 --> 00:04:36.560 Peter is asking us to live out our life in Christ. 00:04:38.280 --> 00:04:40.470 You know what happens in a world where we often become discouraged? 00:04:41.960 --> 00:04:42.730 We get immobile. 00:04:44.940 --> 00:04:45.780 We don't like to do things. 00:04:47.440 --> 00:04:54.270 You ever been in a point in your life where you've been depressed, and count the moments that you've just sat as a couch potato? 00:04:55.480 --> 00:04:56.660 You just didn't feel good that day. 00:04:56.700 --> 00:04:59.340 You didn't want to get up, you didn't feel motivated to move forward. 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:09.760 And I think in many ways, Peter is writing to a group of believers experiencing those sort of internal trials emotionally, physically, 00:05:10.820 --> 00:05:11.920 spiritually, mentally. 00:05:12.660 --> 00:05:13.440 They're just being persecuted. 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:20.580 And so he's saying to these believers, guys, listen, you're facing a difficult moment in your life. 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:28.200 But this is what we need to understand is Jesus is so much greater, and your hope needs to be there because this world will disappoint. 00:05:29.880 --> 00:05:36.960 And as you look to Jesus and as you face Jesus in this world, there's something that God has called you to 00:05:36.960 --> 00:05:38.160 that is so much greater. 00:05:39.700 --> 00:05:45.980 And so he says, therefore, Peter's going to give us in this list ahead four things in our lives, four areas of our lives. 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:47.430 He's going to call us to action. 00:05:48.460 --> 00:05:53.740 The first is this he says to you, prepare your minds for action. 00:05:55.280 --> 00:05:56.440 Keep sober in spirit. 00:05:56.440 --> 00:06:01.560 Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:06:03.620 --> 00:06:11.060 Fixing our minds on God is a very, fairly easy way to recognize how we could do that as believers. 00:06:11.380 --> 00:06:12.560 It's just a matter of doing it. 00:06:13.760 --> 00:06:20.900 He tells us in verse 25 of this passage and in the chapter one, the first three verses, or chapter two, excuse me, the first three verses, Peter writes 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:22.960 to us that the Word of God is important. 00:06:23.980 --> 00:06:24.980 And so we talk to ourselves. 00:06:25.020 --> 00:06:28.140 We say to ourselves as individuals, I really want to know God. 00:06:28.140 --> 00:06:29.000 How can I know God? 00:06:29.300 --> 00:06:31.600 Well, the answer is very simple open up God's word. 00:06:31.640 --> 00:06:34.780 God wrote us a book to reveal to us who he is. 00:06:34.780 --> 00:06:35.470 I mean, that is logical. 00:06:36.320 --> 00:06:37.800 Prepare your mind for action. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:45.020 And so when we talk about God's Word, there are several ways in which we can mentally prepare ourselves to focus on God's Word, to identify who he is 00:06:45.020 --> 00:06:46.260 in our lives and to live that out. 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:48.820 The first is hearing God's Word. 00:06:49.480 --> 00:06:50.140 We're doing that today. 00:06:51.080 --> 00:06:52.320 Well done. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:58.230 The second is reading God's Word, opening up the book and finding what it's about. 00:06:59.320 --> 00:07:02.880 How about this taking reading God's Word a little bit further and studying God's Word. 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:09.360 That means those of us who spent the money to buy the study Bibles, we look at those footnotes, right. 00:07:10.220 --> 00:07:13.360 We study and we divulge, and we ask questions about a passage. 00:07:14.300 --> 00:07:16.100 I have to do this every Sunday before I preach, so I know what I'm talking about. 00:07:16.460 --> 00:07:16.560 Right? 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:18.000 You study God's Word. 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:20.940 You memorize God's word. 00:07:21.200 --> 00:07:23.030 How about this coupled with memorizing? 00:07:24.060 --> 00:07:31.680 Meditate on God's Word saturated Bible tells us that Jesus's words bring 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:35.180 life and out of us. 00:07:35.700 --> 00:07:39.640 The wellspring of life springs forth through His Spirit as he speaks to us in His Word. 00:07:41.980 --> 00:07:48.040 God's first call to us as believers if we want to really live like Jesus is, our hope is to get to know Jesus. 00:07:49.760 --> 00:07:54.480 We can never live for a hope of which we have in Christ without understanding the Christ for which we have hope in. 00:07:55.100 --> 00:07:57.840 Let me say it an easier way you cannot impart what you do not possess. 00:07:59.460 --> 00:07:59.660 Meaning. 00:07:59.680 --> 00:08:03.800 If I don't understand the God that I claim to know, then I can't share the God that I claim to know with this world. 00:08:03.880 --> 00:08:06.840 And I can't really cling to the hope of this God because I don't know him. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:14.660 It's interesting to me sometimes when not from this church, I'll say that. 00:08:14.900 --> 00:08:15.120 How's this? 00:08:15.840 --> 00:08:16.900 I'll take examples from outside. 00:08:17.080 --> 00:08:19.040 People come and they say, I don't. 00:08:19.240 --> 00:08:21.790 I'm not feeling close to God and he feels so distant. 00:08:21.840 --> 00:08:25.130 And so I start with the very beginning checklist that Peter has here. 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:26.400 Are you reading his word? 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:26.860 No. 00:08:28.680 --> 00:08:29.580 When's the last time you prayed? 00:08:30.380 --> 00:08:33.179 A couple of years ago. 00:08:34.919 --> 00:08:42.120 God's desire is for you to get close to him through sobering our minds, preparing our minds 00:08:42.120 --> 00:08:42.900 for action. 00:08:42.900 --> 00:08:49.900 And let me let me be, gentle in the way that we understand this because when we talk about reading, God's 00:08:49.920 --> 00:08:52.820 Word is one thing, but we talk about understanding God's Word as we read it. 00:08:52.960 --> 00:08:54.240 It's a totally different topic. 00:08:55.540 --> 00:08:58.920 Reading God's Word for many of us can become difficult. 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:03.160 Some of us, when we read, we just we just want to give up from the get go. 00:09:03.380 --> 00:09:10.480 Some of us who think that we are the scholarly type, who see ourselves as intellectuals when we read the Bible, oftentimes it can 00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:11.860 be very discouraging. 00:09:12.520 --> 00:09:16.620 We have to learn a whole new idea of vocabulary and understanding. 00:09:16.660 --> 00:09:17.700 There's a there's a christianese. 00:09:18.260 --> 00:09:18.820 Have you seen that? 00:09:18.840 --> 00:09:24.780 If you come to church and you've understood and the Christian church, there's this word language they use that sometimes you're just unfamiliar with. 00:09:25.400 --> 00:09:27.730 You read the Bible and all of a sudden you open up and you see this word justification. 00:09:30.060 --> 00:09:30.900 Like what? 00:09:31.140 --> 00:09:31.880 What is that? 00:09:32.980 --> 00:09:40.160 And so the encouragement for us is just to prepare our minds that we sober our spirit, that we get our minds ready for action for which God 00:09:40.160 --> 00:09:42.560 has called us, and we cling to the hope that we have in him. 00:09:43.500 --> 00:09:45.000 Let me share a humorous story with you. 00:09:45.880 --> 00:09:47.860 I hope if you don't laugh at the end of this, leave. 00:09:47.900 --> 00:09:48.310 No, I'm just kidding. 00:09:48.540 --> 00:09:51.560 I was kidding when I was, I came to know Christ. 00:09:52.420 --> 00:09:59.440 I was a teenager and it was an older teenager, and I had this persona about me that to 00:09:59.540 --> 00:10:01.440 become a Christian, you had to also become an idiot. 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:04.520 And you had to throw away your intelligence to follow Jesus. 00:10:05.280 --> 00:10:05.760 That's what I thought. 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:10.660 And I go to this church and I start learning about God's Word for the first time. 00:10:10.700 --> 00:10:16.000 I'm 16 years old, and the guy teaching us that day tells us to turn to the book of Job. 00:10:16.840 --> 00:10:17.580 It's sweet. 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:20.900 So I start looking for the Book of Job, and I didn't find it. 00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:22.800 But I did find the Book of job. 00:10:25.300 --> 00:10:32.380 So I decided since these people weren't as smart as I was, that I would raise my hand and let the teacher know 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:33.460 how he needs to pronounce. 00:10:33.720 --> 00:10:35.090 After all, I was from West Virginia. 00:10:35.340 --> 00:10:38.080 We don't always pronounce our words right, and I needed to correct that. 00:10:39.420 --> 00:10:43.560 And so I raised my hand in front of all these kids, there's like 70 kids in this class. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:45.740 And I say, teacher, I appreciate that. 00:10:45.760 --> 00:10:48.890 You said job took me forever to find it because I was looking for this job. 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:50.380 I just want you to know it's pronounced job. 00:10:53.820 --> 00:10:55.620 Thinking that I was intellectually right. 00:10:56.000 --> 00:10:59.500 Smirking at myself, at discrediting this unintellectual teacher. 00:11:00.360 --> 00:11:03.500 He then gave me a lesson on Hebrew grammar. 00:11:05.420 --> 00:11:05.980 Hebrew? 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:08.230 Oh, the Bible was written in Hebrew. 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:08.580 Ha ha! 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:16.100 Didn't know this, but in the Hebrew language, the book of Job is pronounced as yo. 00:11:16.100 --> 00:11:16.640 Do you see that? 00:11:16.980 --> 00:11:18.300 L y o w b. 00:11:19.380 --> 00:11:25.090 And over time, in our English language, oftentimes in Hebrew when we pronounce the y in Hebrew, we pronounce it as j. 00:11:25.560 --> 00:11:29.510 The Book of Joshua, for instance, he's referred to as Yeshua salvation. 00:11:31.320 --> 00:11:33.480 We just put that English accent on. 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:34.380 Give him a J, right. 00:11:35.220 --> 00:11:36.830 So the book of Job, the L is silent. 00:11:36.840 --> 00:11:39.140 They replaced the Y with j w silent. 00:11:39.280 --> 00:11:41.210 So we just pronounce it our English Bible as job. 00:11:41.560 --> 00:11:43.430 So in the future, you guys looking for job? 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:44.040 It's job. 00:11:44.040 --> 00:11:44.340 All right. 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:46.080 I've had that lesson in life. 00:11:46.780 --> 00:11:50.000 But when we come to God's Word, it's about preparing our minds for action. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:52.920 Getting to know the God that we claim to love. 00:11:54.720 --> 00:12:00.780 As God calls you into this world, to share God with this world, you're never going to share God for more than you understand them to be. 00:12:01.760 --> 00:12:06.140 You can communicate his truth to this world as you understand his truth to be. 00:12:07.240 --> 00:12:14.240 And so, as Peter calls us to share God with others, the first thing that he calls us to do is get to know the God he wants us to 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:14.680 share. 00:12:16.180 --> 00:12:17.300 It's powerful words, Peter. 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:22.970 It's like you're equipping a church to do something magnificent for God in this world. 00:12:24.940 --> 00:12:29.440 He tells us, as we prepare our minds, that we just focus it totally upon Jesus. 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:32.600 He calls this in this verse hope. 00:12:34.380 --> 00:12:36.400 Fixing your hope completely on the grace. 00:12:36.980 --> 00:12:44.120 I just want to give us an understanding of what hope talks about in the Bible, because I, as a kid, when I when I grew 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.180 up, hope had one particular meaning. 00:12:46.180 --> 00:12:52.020 And when I came to Scripture and I started learning about God, and as I matured in him, I realized that Scripture has a totally different word for hope. 00:12:52.640 --> 00:12:58.940 It says a young kid when mom and dad give me a promise about going to Billy Bob's, I make the fingers crossed. 00:12:58.960 --> 00:12:59.160 Promise. 00:12:59.260 --> 00:13:00.090 Oh, I sure hope so. 00:13:00.160 --> 00:13:00.960 I sure hope we get to go. 00:13:01.240 --> 00:13:02.210 It's sort of a wishful thinking. 00:13:02.920 --> 00:13:08.240 You're kind of anticipating, you hope it works out and you're in, but you're really wishing to lucky charms that you get to go. 00:13:08.260 --> 00:13:08.380 Right. 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:12.770 Hope in the Bible is an expectation. 00:13:14.560 --> 00:13:20.180 It's a certainty doesn't carry the wishful thinking that we've made it mean in our English language. 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:27.320 And so he says to us, we have this certainty that's coming through Jesus. 00:13:29.060 --> 00:13:30.040 Why not get to know Jesus? 00:13:32.060 --> 00:13:39.100 We spend our lives an exuberant amount of ours, on the things of this world that is going to pass away 00:13:39.100 --> 00:13:39.840 at some point. 00:13:41.620 --> 00:13:45.630 Why not take time getting to know the Jesus who endures forever? 00:13:47.280 --> 00:13:49.540 That's good. 00:13:49.800 --> 00:13:52.220 Therefore, prepare your minds for action. 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:58.220 Peter also says this in verse 14. 00:13:59.900 --> 00:14:01.680 He calls us to honor God through our living. 00:14:02.940 --> 00:14:05.860 Learn about God through your mind as you learn about God. 00:14:06.140 --> 00:14:08.540 After all, the Bible says, love the Lord your God with all your mind. 00:14:08.620 --> 00:14:10.440 To love God, you don't have to throw away your mind. 00:14:10.680 --> 00:14:11.720 But then he also calls us. 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:16.400 Now that you've learned about God, put this understanding of God into action. 00:14:18.020 --> 00:14:25.600 And so he says in verse 14, as obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but 00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:33.220 like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behaviors, because it is written, 00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:36.330 you shall be holy, for I am holy. 00:14:37.760 --> 00:14:38.990 We talk about the word holiness. 00:14:39.220 --> 00:14:43.300 Holiness carries the idea of a heart that's been revealed through action. 00:14:44.880 --> 00:14:46.520 Holiness literally means separate. 00:14:47.800 --> 00:14:50.460 It identifies yourself, separate from everything else. 00:14:50.560 --> 00:14:57.860 And so when we're talking about the idea of the world and who Jesus is, you separate yourself from all that the world has to offer, and your pursuit now belongs 00:14:57.860 --> 00:14:58.520 to Christ. 00:14:58.560 --> 00:14:59.070 You are holy. 00:14:59.800 --> 00:15:00.260 You are separate. 00:15:02.180 --> 00:15:09.980 I want to be careful in holiness because holiness is oftentimes misinterpreted 00:15:09.980 --> 00:15:10.180 and misunderstood. 00:15:11.180 --> 00:15:12.920 Word in religion cultures. 00:15:15.720 --> 00:15:16.240 Holiness. 00:15:16.240 --> 00:15:23.680 If I had to give us one reason or one way, we misconstrue holiness as there is an understanding in a religious teaching that 00:15:23.780 --> 00:15:28.800 God only loves you as you are holy, which in fact isn't true. 00:15:30.320 --> 00:15:35.560 The truth is that God loves you no matter what, and what he wants you to experience is his love. 00:15:35.600 --> 00:15:39.380 And the way that we experience his love is through living a holy life. 00:15:41.220 --> 00:15:44.380 Living a holy life isn't about, excuse me? 00:15:44.380 --> 00:15:45.070 Living a holy life. 00:15:45.100 --> 00:15:46.220 It's about earning his love. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:50.260 It's about experiencing his love. 00:15:50.680 --> 00:15:54.220 You understand that God loves us as people no matter what. 00:15:55.560 --> 00:16:01.450 Bible tells us in Romans five eight, God demonstrates his love to you, in that while you were yet sinners, Christ died for you. 00:16:01.980 --> 00:16:05.180 Doesn't mean that God won't bring his justice upon people for sinning against him. 00:16:05.260 --> 00:16:08.500 But God loves and God is love. 00:16:10.820 --> 00:16:17.600 Second, is this wrong way we understand holiness is that we make holiness about behavior modification. 00:16:19.800 --> 00:16:22.150 Ultimately, holiness will lead to behavior modification. 00:16:22.480 --> 00:16:26.240 But religiously we only emphasize holiness in behavior modification. 00:16:27.040 --> 00:16:29.840 And again, that's wrong. 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:34.300 See, religion tends to emphasize holiness about legalism and a system of rules. 00:16:35.480 --> 00:16:41.000 Jesus, when he emphasized holiness, is about heart transformation and living that out in community. 00:16:42.780 --> 00:16:48.220 When we follow Jesus with our lives, we're considered and interested in holiness. 00:16:48.220 --> 00:16:49.050 Because of Jesus. 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.780 We ask questions like, have you given your heart to God? 00:16:52.820 --> 00:16:54.560 Have you surrendered your life to God? 00:16:56.120 --> 00:17:01.360 Are you interested in living the fruits of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness. 00:17:02.340 --> 00:17:05.140 The Bible tells us against such things there is no law. 00:17:06.920 --> 00:17:10.849 Holiness starts with the attitude of the heart as it's understood biblically. 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:14.190 We look at holiness religiously. 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:19.240 The interest becomes in what are you wearing on Sunday? 00:17:20.380 --> 00:17:21.319 I'm already sinning. 00:17:21.460 --> 00:17:23.000 I didn't I didn't wear my suit. 00:17:23.180 --> 00:17:23.280 Right. 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:25.839 Or what are you even doing on Sunday? 00:17:25.900 --> 00:17:26.079 Sunday? 00:17:26.300 --> 00:17:27.720 Sunday is a day we obey rules. 00:17:27.980 --> 00:17:28.180 We don't. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:29.160 We don't do things that are fun. 00:17:31.120 --> 00:17:34.920 The idea of holiness, religiously speaking, and holiness according to the way Jesus speaks. 00:17:35.160 --> 00:17:38.840 Jesus is about your heart and religions, about a system of rules. 00:17:40.840 --> 00:17:46.580 Legalism is filled with a bunch of don'ts, and Jesus is interested in what you do. 00:17:49.460 --> 00:17:50.960 God wants us to be holy. 00:17:52.940 --> 00:17:53.260 We be. 00:17:53.340 --> 00:17:58.220 We are holy in our living because we're not interested in earning his presence to be loved. 00:17:58.220 --> 00:18:02.440 We're interested in enjoying his presence and experiencing his love. 00:18:04.180 --> 00:18:06.080 The Bible has called us as believers. 00:18:06.220 --> 00:18:10.230 Once that you understand God's Word, that you begin to apply it to your life and you live holy. 00:18:11.080 --> 00:18:17.180 You allow the Word of God not to change your behavior modification, but allow it to work into you for a heart transformation. 00:18:18.780 --> 00:18:22.130 And as God changes your heart, he's going to change your life. 00:18:22.540 --> 00:18:23.000 Amen. 00:18:23.000 --> 00:18:24.180 Amen. 00:18:24.780 --> 00:18:27.220 The Bible goes a little further in talking about our living. 00:18:27.260 --> 00:18:34.400 He says, if you address as the father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:36.680 the time of your stay on earth. 00:18:38.800 --> 00:18:44.740 That's to say this you're not going to be interested in living a holy life unless you fear God. 00:18:47.560 --> 00:18:51.090 Proverbs chapter one says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding. 00:18:53.400 --> 00:18:55.000 What do we mean by this word fear? 00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:56.700 Does God want us to be afraid of him? 00:18:57.920 --> 00:19:03.560 I mean, we saw in Genesis when Adam and Eve sinned, Adam and Eve ran away from God in fear, and God pursued Adam and Eve in love. 00:19:04.780 --> 00:19:09.420 And I got to say, I don't think that's the way that God desires for us to see him, to run away from him in fear. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:15.260 Because the Bible tells us in first John 418 that perfect love casts out fear, and that God is love. 00:19:15.840 --> 00:19:16.500 That's right. 00:19:17.660 --> 00:19:20.440 So what does the Bible mean by the word fear? 00:19:21.120 --> 00:19:28.150 Biblically, fear means to give credence or authority to the power over you. 00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:37.520 It's as if you take a moment and step back and examine the supernatural power of God, and you submit yourself under 00:19:37.520 --> 00:19:38.420 that enormous authority. 00:19:41.500 --> 00:19:44.660 Fear for us can carry two ideas as people. 00:19:45.760 --> 00:19:50.440 There is a fear that brings us bondage, and there is a fear that brings us reverence. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:20:00.900 For instance, a police officer, when he walks down the street or drives past your car, you let go of the gas. 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:08.560 You have reverence for that authority, and you realize his presence is significant in your life. 00:20:10.220 --> 00:20:13.680 You do something wrong and you come before that same police officer. 00:20:14.440 --> 00:20:17.480 You have a fear of bondage because you're going somewhere. 00:20:19.220 --> 00:20:19.840 Jail, right? 00:20:19.860 --> 00:20:20.100 You got that? 00:20:22.620 --> 00:20:26.040 Our relationship with God is perceived in two different ways. 00:20:27.760 --> 00:20:33.610 There is a fear of bondage in which we and our relationship, if we come before God and sin, God hates sin. 00:20:35.220 --> 00:20:37.820 But God has given us freedom in Jesus. 00:20:38.040 --> 00:20:45.040 And if we've trusted in Jesus for what he's done for our lives on the cross, we come before God not in fear, but in reverence for 00:20:45.060 --> 00:20:46.080 everything that he is. 00:20:47.080 --> 00:20:48.300 And we submit ourselves. 00:20:48.300 --> 00:20:51.220 We give credence to his power and authority over us. 00:20:53.060 --> 00:20:56.160 Fear carries with it a reverence or respect. 00:20:57.100 --> 00:20:58.260 We do it all the time in our lives. 00:20:59.740 --> 00:20:59.980 Snakes. 00:21:00.800 --> 00:21:01.480 I have a healthy respect. 00:21:02.740 --> 00:21:04.440 Amen. 00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:05.650 Heights in the mountains. 00:21:06.400 --> 00:21:07.320 Don't get me too close to the edge. 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:12.070 There is a reverence for that. 00:21:12.600 --> 00:21:19.880 And the Bible is saying to us, we want to take God's Word, and we want to understand the God that we claim to follow with all of our hearts, 00:21:19.880 --> 00:21:22.520 be sober and mind fixing our hope completely on Jesus. 00:21:23.260 --> 00:21:30.410 And we take that understanding of God and we apply it, and we live a holy life for him, separate and dedicated to God, not in legalism, 00:21:30.780 --> 00:21:36.370 but about heart transformation, allowing God in our holiness to speak to me and change my life. 00:21:36.500 --> 00:21:39.600 And it begins through having a healthy understanding of fear for who God is. 00:21:40.680 --> 00:21:41.140 He is awesome. 00:21:41.960 --> 00:21:42.680 Amen. 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:43.020 Amen. 00:21:43.280 --> 00:21:47.120 His power is true by the voice of the Lord. 00:21:47.120 --> 00:21:50.460 Everything in this world comes into existence you think about. 00:21:50.460 --> 00:21:53.780 He has the ability to give life and to take it away. 00:21:53.820 --> 00:22:01.280 There is a reverence and an awe when we think about God, and in that healthy respect for him, we 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:01.700 fear him. 00:22:03.600 --> 00:22:10.370 And when you fear God, we'll seek to align your life towards his authority and power. 00:22:11.320 --> 00:22:12.010 Let me read this again. 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:20.240 If you address as father the one who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourself in fear during the time of your 00:22:20.440 --> 00:22:21.280 stay on earth. 00:22:22.760 --> 00:22:25.160 It's as if we're looking at our lives on earth and we're saying, you know what? 00:22:26.040 --> 00:22:30.880 Because of this God who's ruling over all of us, what we do here really matters. 00:22:32.080 --> 00:22:34.600 Conduct yourself in fear in the way that you're living on earth. 00:22:34.920 --> 00:22:39.400 The day to day decisions of life are important to God, and so it should be important to me. 00:22:40.700 --> 00:22:44.290 Let me give you a beautiful picture illustration here. 00:22:46.200 --> 00:22:48.900 Top left John and Susie Jones. 00:22:49.840 --> 00:22:50.480 I don't even know who that is. 00:22:52.540 --> 00:22:53.180 Retired. 00:22:54.120 --> 00:22:55.330 They lived the American dream. 00:22:56.440 --> 00:22:59.820 They lived their life to make money to the point where one day they could eventually retire. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:02.640 They retired, and they went to the beach in Florida, like all people do. 00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:05.620 And now they're spending their life collecting seashells. 00:23:07.480 --> 00:23:08.400 All right. 00:23:09.380 --> 00:23:13.540 Bottom right is a missionary couple from the Philippines. 00:23:14.780 --> 00:23:17.200 That is Martin and Gracia Burnham. 00:23:18.560 --> 00:23:21.220 I was going to Bible college. 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:25.620 Martin and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped by the individuals that are behind them. 00:23:26.700 --> 00:23:28.500 They were serving Jesus in the Philippines. 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:32.860 And they actually went away for their honeymoon for a couple of days to spend time together. 00:23:34.320 --> 00:23:37.640 And these militia men found out that's what they were doing, and so they kidnapped them. 00:23:39.020 --> 00:23:46.140 There's a common belief in that part of the world that if you were to kidnap missionaries, you can hold them for ransom because their people will want them 00:23:46.140 --> 00:23:46.740 back. 00:23:47.380 --> 00:23:50.660 By the way, I would encourage you never be. 00:23:50.940 --> 00:23:57.960 I don't say little to their little, to their knowledge that most missions agencies, policies 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:01.000 that send missionaries around the world won't pay any ransom for their missionaries. 00:24:02.180 --> 00:24:09.320 And the reason is, they know that the moment they pay a ransom for one missionary, and they put all their other missionaries into risk, and they're going to have to start paying ransom to malicious groups 00:24:09.460 --> 00:24:10.350 for all of them. 00:24:10.800 --> 00:24:15.400 So Marcia and Gracia Burnham were kidnapped while I was in college by this group of people wanting money for them. 00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:21.300 And this story became very close to my heart because here are these people giving their lives for everything. 00:24:21.320 --> 00:24:23.960 Realizing on this earth every day matters. 00:24:24.700 --> 00:24:32.140 And while I was in college, there was a brother and sister going to the same college as me, and their parents happened to be roommates with Martin 00:24:32.140 --> 00:24:34.040 and Gratia while they were being kidnapped. 00:24:35.300 --> 00:24:39.860 And so I remember every day we would go to class and before class would start, we would pray for Martin and Gratia. 00:24:41.020 --> 00:24:42.020 God, just let them go. 00:24:42.820 --> 00:24:44.620 God just makes sure they're free. 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:46.010 God bring them home. 00:24:46.100 --> 00:24:48.580 They have had kids still in the Philippines waiting on them. 00:24:50.100 --> 00:24:52.360 Eventually, the Philippine government found them. 00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:55.560 They stormed the jungle where these people were located in the remote part of the world. 00:24:56.140 --> 00:25:01.040 And Martin ended up losing his life in the fight and Gracia was rescued. 00:25:03.720 --> 00:25:10.880 You look at a story like that of someone who understands that every day on this world matters. 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:15.740 My first response was just anger. 00:25:17.360 --> 00:25:18.640 God, why did you have to let him die? 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:23.780 God, why didn't you kill one of those fools that were standing behind him with guns, threatening his life? 00:25:24.220 --> 00:25:25.380 Why did you spare them? 00:25:25.380 --> 00:25:26.860 And why did you let him die? 00:25:30.260 --> 00:25:31.060 Then I began to realize. 00:25:33.280 --> 00:25:41.560 Now, out of all the people in that moment who was ready to meet Jesus, it 00:25:41.560 --> 00:25:42.530 was Martin. 00:25:42.600 --> 00:25:44.340 Amen. 00:25:44.800 --> 00:25:50.500 And God has spared the life of these individuals to give them the opportunity to see the importance of who he is. 00:25:52.520 --> 00:25:59.600 The Bible tells us in First Peter that God is long suffering towards us, not that any should perish, but that all should 00:25:59.820 --> 00:26:01.020 come to repentance. 00:26:03.480 --> 00:26:10.580 When we get to a place in our lives, when we realize what Peter has just written to us in verse 17, where he says, conduct yourselves in fear during 00:26:10.580 --> 00:26:11.840 the time of your stay on earth. 00:26:12.100 --> 00:26:15.880 And we ask ourselves, when we get to the end of our lives, what do we want to present to God? 00:26:17.900 --> 00:26:18.220 Seashells. 00:26:21.660 --> 00:26:22.580 Or a life that's been dedicated. 00:26:24.680 --> 00:26:31.780 A life that's lived in fear and reverence towards the sovereign hand of God over this world and in holiness, seeking to know 00:26:31.780 --> 00:26:37.820 him with the soberness of our mind, desiring to be close to God. 00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:45.460 Peter then shares this with us and thinking about the importance of the way that we live our lives. 00:26:46.740 --> 00:26:54.540 He says that knowing you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited 00:26:54.540 --> 00:26:55.880 from your forefathers. 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:05.460 Peter begins to talk about a legacy, and he's saying to a group of people, listen, some of you 00:27:05.460 --> 00:27:09.190 in this room may not have had a Jesus legacy passed on to you. 00:27:09.980 --> 00:27:11.920 Your parents may not have talked to you about Christ. 00:27:13.860 --> 00:27:18.820 And Paul's saying to this group of believers, your forefathers, they've handed you a bunch of nothing. 00:27:20.180 --> 00:27:22.020 You've learned what the American dream is about. 00:27:22.100 --> 00:27:25.500 You've learned the importance of retirement, but you've learned all of it without Jesus. 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:34.920 And so the question we ask to ourselves is, well, how do I plan on passing on that godly legacy? 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:43.920 Because while our forefathers may have handed us something in our lives that may not have been focused on Jesus, it tells us that Jesus 00:27:43.920 --> 00:27:45.180 has come for you. 00:27:46.540 --> 00:27:51.010 But with precious blood as of a lamb unblemished and spotless with blood, the blood of Christ. 00:27:52.060 --> 00:27:59.860 For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you, who 00:27:59.860 --> 00:28:07.400 through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:07.700 in God. 00:28:09.620 --> 00:28:14.720 While your forefathers may not have been interested in your relationship with God, Jesus is. 00:28:15.700 --> 00:28:19.120 And it says he's come in the last time for the sake, for you. 00:28:20.040 --> 00:28:21.560 For you Jesus has come. 00:28:22.480 --> 00:28:29.700 And so it puts us in a place in our lives where we can get very embittered and angry at everything that we've been passed on, or we can change the course of our lives and do 00:28:29.700 --> 00:28:30.700 something about it. 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:31.620 Amen. 00:28:31.860 --> 00:28:34.200 What kind of legacy do you want to live on? 00:28:35.740 --> 00:28:38.730 How do you plan for that legacy to live on in this world? 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:47.660 Comes a point in our lives where we realize everything that we've been given hasn't been all roses, but it's 00:28:47.700 --> 00:28:52.040 not an excuse to keep us from everything that God desires for us to experience in him. 00:28:54.040 --> 00:28:59.340 There comes a point in our lives where we've got to make a conscious decision, just to get past the anger and start looking to Jesus. 00:29:01.760 --> 00:29:10.140 So Peter calls our minds to Soberness, and Peter asks us to live out this legacy in him, in 00:29:10.140 --> 00:29:10.460 Christ. 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:11.820 And so in the end, he says this. 00:29:15.940 --> 00:29:23.280 Since you have an obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love 00:29:23.280 --> 00:29:24.680 one another from the heart. 00:29:26.140 --> 00:29:33.320 For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring Word of 00:29:33.320 --> 00:29:33.640 God. 00:29:35.620 --> 00:29:38.370 He's taken a step back, as he's described for us as individuals. 00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:39.740 And now he looks to the church collectively. 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:49.420 What a beautiful picture he paints, because he's saying of this group of people, guys, we're not living for things that are dying, but 00:29:49.520 --> 00:29:51.240 we're living for things that will not die. 00:29:53.060 --> 00:29:56.640 Jesus and his promises to this world are imperishable. 00:29:56.780 --> 00:29:57.880 And you as a church. 00:29:58.300 --> 00:30:02.960 And the call that God has placed upon you for all peoples throughout the world is just enormously beautiful. 00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:12.240 And so he understands something about us as people, and that is that we're people, which means sometimes we 00:30:12.300 --> 00:30:13.220 rub each other all. 00:30:15.360 --> 00:30:16.500 Yeah. 00:30:16.500 --> 00:30:17.540 Amen to the ladies retreat, nuns. 00:30:18.330 --> 00:30:20.380 We thought about you guys this morning. 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:22.000 All the ladies getting ready in one house. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:22.740 That must have been a feat. 00:30:24.660 --> 00:30:27.200 But we can rub each other raw in different situations. 00:30:28.520 --> 00:30:35.620 And Paul recognizes that when you get a group of people together, the fact that all of them will get along perfectly all the time is just a ridiculous assumption, 00:30:36.040 --> 00:30:36.140 right? 00:30:37.380 --> 00:30:44.560 And so he tells us as believers, knowing that your goal is imperishable, knowing that goal shouldn't diminish from our lives and how significant 00:30:44.560 --> 00:30:46.300 and important it is, he says. 00:30:46.300 --> 00:30:48.240 Love one another from the heart. 00:30:48.260 --> 00:30:48.990 He calls it fervently. 00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:53.360 It's like you're working so hard towards this love and unity. 00:30:53.360 --> 00:30:54.070 You're just sweating. 00:30:54.340 --> 00:30:55.020 It's gross. 00:30:55.540 --> 00:30:56.610 Turn the heat up right. 00:30:57.080 --> 00:30:58.700 Let let's see what that looks like. 00:30:59.820 --> 00:31:02.640 When it becomes difficult to love you love all the more. 00:31:03.120 --> 00:31:03.340 Why? 00:31:03.360 --> 00:31:03.600 Because. 00:31:03.800 --> 00:31:06.900 Because the perishable things of this world become highlighted in that. 00:31:06.900 --> 00:31:11.680 And we forget the perspective of living for eternity and the imperishable things that life is all about. 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:18.520 Typically, in an argument, what we often think about is me, how am I? 00:31:18.560 --> 00:31:27.760 Feelings have been hurt, how I've been wronged, and what you need to do to see justice in that moment, to reconcile. 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:31.080 And what Peter says is love. 00:31:33.280 --> 00:31:38.490 You may be wronged, but work through it and work past it. 00:31:40.040 --> 00:31:45.680 Because what God has called this church to in this world is so much more important than the perishable things. 00:31:48.060 --> 00:31:50.900 And can I just say, love isn't a word that just means tolerance. 00:31:52.720 --> 00:31:56.660 Sometimes we get to the place in our lives where we say, okay, God, the Bible says love. 00:31:57.020 --> 00:31:57.220 You know. 00:31:57.880 --> 00:31:58.900 Love, huh? 00:31:59.220 --> 00:32:02.780 Well, I'll sit close to them, but I'm not going to talk. 00:32:04.160 --> 00:32:09.400 That's not biblical love. 00:32:10.080 --> 00:32:12.640 Even when we rejected Jesus, he still went to the cross. 00:32:14.920 --> 00:32:17.840 The Bible tells us that love covers a multitude of sins. 00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:21.100 Tolerating someone isn't love. 00:32:23.240 --> 00:32:26.320 Forgiving and straining in that relationship to love is love. 00:32:29.780 --> 00:32:30.900 Let me show you this as a church family. 00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:39.770 While this is particularly important to us in this moment because as we're here today, we're also planning for the future here. 00:32:41.120 --> 00:32:42.540 Here's some inspiration for you this morning. 00:32:44.460 --> 00:32:46.200 Hey. 00:32:46.560 --> 00:32:50.740 roster. 00:32:50.840 --> 00:32:52.870 That he's an artist. 00:32:54.140 --> 00:32:54.540 Yeah. 00:32:55.240 --> 00:32:56.400 Who would have thought a bar could look that nice? 00:32:58.500 --> 00:32:59.920 Happy hour, 10:30 a.m.. 00:32:59.940 --> 00:33:00.460 Who knows when. 00:33:01.740 --> 00:33:03.300 Amen. 00:33:04.280 --> 00:33:05.330 But this is what we're pushing towards. 00:33:07.060 --> 00:33:08.820 And the church may not be that collar. 00:33:09.060 --> 00:33:10.480 I like it, but it may not be that collar. 00:33:10.580 --> 00:33:12.120 Just, people all times get. 00:33:12.220 --> 00:33:16.820 I want a purple, who cares? 00:33:16.820 --> 00:33:19.220 But the point is. 00:33:21.430 --> 00:33:25.700 The point is, if we can't get along as a body, we'll never see that goal. 00:33:26.860 --> 00:33:28.240 And right now, it's just a goal. 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:33.140 We're working in all sorts of areas all week long. 00:33:33.260 --> 00:33:35.060 I've been hammering at this for weeks now. 00:33:35.460 --> 00:33:41.650 For us to be able to buy this building as a church and move into it, and tomorrow somebody could buy it and take it away from us because we don't own it yet. 00:33:42.940 --> 00:33:51.320 This is our goal and God, Lord willing, will take a community of people who 00:33:51.320 --> 00:33:58.420 love him, who are sober in their minds, seeking after him, desiring to live a holy and dedicated 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:02.660 life to him, wanting to be a community and passing on a godly legacy. 00:34:02.660 --> 00:34:07.360 Not not just for our families, but for this community, for generation upon generation. 00:34:07.840 --> 00:34:08.639 Proclaiming Jesus. 00:34:10.420 --> 00:34:16.280 Our goal isn't perishable things, it's imperishable. 00:34:18.900 --> 00:34:20.770 You know what it takes to get to a place like this? 00:34:22.060 --> 00:34:22.400 Sacrifice. 00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:31.800 Last week, I kicked myself in the bottom after I left because I gave you an announcement last week where I said, there's two 00:34:31.800 --> 00:34:35.060 things that we're being examined right now as we get our loan to buy a building. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.420 One is our giving and the second is our attendance. 00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:48.080 and I made it sound like you should just show up and sit in church and just keep the status quo of giving and that's 00:34:48.080 --> 00:34:48.560 not good enough. 00:34:51.540 --> 00:34:53.139 you should look at your relationship with God. 00:34:53.179 --> 00:34:54.179 And if I sold it this way, I'm. 00:34:54.340 --> 00:34:59.990 I'm sorry, but you should look at your relationship with God of more than just showing up and filling in the seat. 00:35:01.660 --> 00:35:04.200 You should look at your relationship with God as something that you do every day. 00:35:05.720 --> 00:35:10.880 And in living out that relationship, you encourage other people to come, be a part and celebrate God here as well. 00:35:11.560 --> 00:35:12.580 We don't want to maintain our attendance. 00:35:13.700 --> 00:35:14.210 We want to keep growing. 00:35:15.100 --> 00:35:21.920 Not not because I'm interested in a big church, but what it says is that the church that we have is very healthy, because it's explaining to other people in this world who that Jesus really is. 00:35:23.120 --> 00:35:23.880 That's what we're about here. 00:35:24.940 --> 00:35:32.140 If we just said one word about what Alpine Bible Church is in its discipleship, seeking after Jesus in our lives and encouraging 00:35:32.140 --> 00:35:37.220 others to do the same, we want to make disciples for Jesus and the way that we do that we know. 00:35:37.420 --> 00:35:39.360 We know that we're doing that as we're growing as a family. 00:35:40.760 --> 00:35:45.320 And the second we talk about giving, we don't talk about that much here as a church. 00:35:46.100 --> 00:35:51.790 And honestly, I don't care to talk about it because I don't I don't get a paycheck from this church if you're not giving. 00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:54.070 And what does it say about your love for Jesus? 00:35:56.180 --> 00:36:03.340 If you've been following after Jesus, your life with your life, your whole life, and you're not giving Bible calls, the 00:36:03.340 --> 00:36:08.260 area of giving financially in our lives, giving to him the first area that God calls us to. 00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:13.720 When Jesus talks about discipleship and being discipled in the Gospels, he talked about money more than anything in this world. 00:36:14.040 --> 00:36:15.120 And I'm not telling you to make me rich. 00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:21.060 We don't hardly ever talk about giving here at church, but I'm saying to get to a goal like that, it takes sacrifice. 00:36:22.200 --> 00:36:25.180 And if we're not willing to sacrifice, we're not going to make it. 00:36:26.260 --> 00:36:27.500 And it doesn't have to be that building. 00:36:27.500 --> 00:36:27.900 It's every building. 00:36:28.300 --> 00:36:32.660 Any building up in Bible Church has to grow both numerically and financially. 00:36:33.560 --> 00:36:33.760 We do. 00:36:35.160 --> 00:36:39.920 We crunched our numbers this week what it would cost for us to get into a building like that, the financial budget. 00:36:40.580 --> 00:36:47.720 If we skimmed our budget down right now to almost nothing, $200 towards ministry, paid all our utilities, insurance and all that $3,600 a month 00:36:47.900 --> 00:36:48.440 for us to meet. 00:36:48.600 --> 00:36:49.060 Just the payment there. 00:36:50.400 --> 00:36:52.840 Just to float by and from month to month. 00:36:53.780 --> 00:36:58.680 Right now, our current giving level is somewhere between 3300 to 3500 a month. 00:36:59.020 --> 00:36:59.940 It's what we've been doing this year. 00:37:01.080 --> 00:37:08.280 So it says to me, if we want to be in that building right now, according to the donations that we have, some from somewhere, we've got to at least increase our 00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:10.620 giving $100 a month with what we have. 00:37:13.040 --> 00:37:13.440 Wow. 00:37:14.000 --> 00:37:17.260 And so I go back to this reason. 00:37:18.580 --> 00:37:21.860 I don't want to sound hard or brash or too bold to this. 00:37:22.900 --> 00:37:24.370 And if any of that offended you. 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:26.600 Never mind. 00:37:28.990 --> 00:37:30.380 But here's the point. 00:37:31.460 --> 00:37:38.840 You come down to verse 23, and you've got to get to a place in your life where you realize the imperishable 00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:43.380 things are far more important than the perishable things. 00:37:44.140 --> 00:37:46.200 And what you do in this world matters. 00:37:48.720 --> 00:37:50.240 And it's not about just the sacrifice. 00:37:50.560 --> 00:37:51.640 Think about the opportunity. 00:37:52.520 --> 00:37:59.540 Lehi Utah has never had an existing church building where people have gathered to worship and for that matter, east 00:37:59.540 --> 00:38:00.580 to west, above us. 00:38:00.580 --> 00:38:04.860 A Christian church doesn't exist where there is a freestanding Christian building for people to worship. 00:38:06.620 --> 00:38:13.740 And so it's saying to us as believers, listen more than anyone in this world, people, you guys are going to sacrifice the most because you're in a place where it needs 00:38:13.740 --> 00:38:14.340 to be done. 00:38:15.860 --> 00:38:18.260 We're in a place where we need to scream Jesus and love. 00:38:20.750 --> 00:38:22.310 So the Bible says this. 00:38:23.180 --> 00:38:25.520 If that's overwhelming, let's get to the simple point. 00:38:27.500 --> 00:38:30.020 Verse 24. 00:38:30.240 --> 00:38:31.950 How are we going to get there as a church family? 00:38:34.320 --> 00:38:37.620 All flesh is like grass and all its glory. 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:39.080 Like the flower of the grass. 00:38:39.320 --> 00:38:41.280 The grass withers and the flower falls off. 00:38:41.460 --> 00:38:44.660 But the word of the Lord endures forever. 00:38:46.840 --> 00:38:49.580 And this is the word which was preached to you. 00:38:52.900 --> 00:38:53.720 God's word is what lasts. 00:38:55.780 --> 00:39:03.060 If I just simplified all of what we talked about this morning and said, where is step one in this whole process, it's to pick up God's Word and 00:39:03.060 --> 00:39:05.540 realize this is what endures. 00:39:07.420 --> 00:39:11.380 Sharing this and passing this and dedicating my life to this. 00:39:11.540 --> 00:39:12.510 This is what endures. 00:39:13.040 --> 00:39:14.310 It's God's word. 00:39:15.320 --> 00:39:18.490 And so Peter says, this chapter two will end right here. 00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:21.880 Therefore, here we are. 00:39:21.980 --> 00:39:25.280 Therefore again, remember everything that we just talked about. 00:39:25.280 --> 00:39:26.240 And I look forward to this. 00:39:26.260 --> 00:39:31.340 And he says, put aside all malice and all deceit and all hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:34.220 Anything that's going to rip a church apart, let's just forget about it. 00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:36.940 Anger, resentment, whatever you've got, let's lay it down right now. 00:39:37.220 --> 00:39:38.910 It says like newborn babes. 00:39:39.200 --> 00:39:43.260 Long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. 00:39:44.020 --> 00:39:47.360 If you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. 00:39:49.480 --> 00:39:50.200 So Peter says this. 00:39:51.940 --> 00:39:55.260 How do you turn girls into women and boys into men? 00:39:56.560 --> 00:40:03.860 As newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word Crave to know 00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:11.020 Jesus in the Bible and as you crave to know God in the Bible, he'll begin to speak to 00:40:11.020 --> 00:40:18.240 your heart in holiness and fear of the Lord, transforming your lives to pass on a godly legacy and live 00:40:18.240 --> 00:40:21.500 in his community for his glory which is imperishable. 00:40:22.820 --> 00:40:23.080 Amen. 00:40:23.720 --> 00:40:24.300 Amen. 00:40:24.600 --> 00:40:24.840 Amen.