WEBVTT 00:00:00.420 --> 00:00:05.330 If you've got a Bible with you this morning, I want to encourage you to turn to the book of First Peter. 00:00:06.680 --> 00:00:09.440 And I want to sit down this morning. 00:00:10.700 --> 00:00:14.440 I've gone through first Peter quite a bit, and knowing that we're going to study this together. 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:22.620 And the reason I want to sit down and just kind of communicate with us today is because as I've looked throughout this book from here on out, Peter 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:25.500 just spanked me. 00:00:26.040 --> 00:00:33.260 This book is a is a difficult book to swallow for us as believers because from 00:00:33.260 --> 00:00:40.360 here on out and the rest of the book, Peter really talks to us as Americans, I think more so than any other culture. 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:46.040 And the reason is because Peter's focus is not about self. 00:00:47.620 --> 00:00:49.460 Peter's focus becomes all about sacrifice. 00:00:51.420 --> 00:00:59.180 And to me, that screams a lot in the face of us as Americans, because we are always about mine 00:00:59.180 --> 00:01:00.480 and what I can get. 00:01:02.260 --> 00:01:06.680 our country, after all, was born out of rebellion from the get go. 00:01:06.680 --> 00:01:11.900 Just ask the British when we broke free, thinking about our independence and our individual rights. 00:01:12.080 --> 00:01:16.580 And we think, tend to think more about the individual and less about community in our American culture. 00:01:18.360 --> 00:01:23.040 And it's significant for us to look at this book and accept it. 00:01:23.100 --> 00:01:24.640 And I'm not saying it's us as a church family. 00:01:25.900 --> 00:01:32.980 my prayer and love for us is I think we're a great community that thinks outside of itself, but it's a community 00:01:32.980 --> 00:01:40.200 that always needs to be encouraged to do that, because the inclination of our sin nature is to get selfish and 00:01:40.200 --> 00:01:44.540 to look after ourselves, and to not want to make sacrifice for the well-being of other people. 00:01:45.980 --> 00:01:49.080 And so Peter continues to encourage us along those paths. 00:01:49.100 --> 00:01:56.300 You know, one of the great things I like when I consider that in just reading Scripture, both the old and the New Testament open 00:01:56.300 --> 00:01:58.480 up communicating to us sacrifice. 00:02:00.060 --> 00:02:02.050 In the Old Testament you read Adam and Eve sin. 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:02.890 God goes to the garden. 00:02:02.960 --> 00:02:07.700 The first animal that sacrificed God kills that animal, and he clothes Adam and Eve with it. 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:10.740 And he gives them a promise of a messiah who would come and pay for their sins. 00:02:11.580 --> 00:02:12.450 It's about sacrifice. 00:02:13.620 --> 00:02:14.260 It's about God. 00:02:14.380 --> 00:02:17.440 Even though he could bring justice on our lives, brought grace and love. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:19.340 And you open up the New Testament. 00:02:19.700 --> 00:02:22.790 And as soon as the New Testament starts, it starts on the back of sacrifice. 00:02:24.060 --> 00:02:29.340 And Jesus could have rejected people who didn't love him, didn't embrace him. 00:02:29.580 --> 00:02:32.580 But he still went to the cross, even though he was despised and shamed. 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:34.160 And he and he died for them. 00:02:34.160 --> 00:02:43.060 And he sacrificed, and his life changed the world forever. 00:02:43.060 --> 00:02:49.370 And this portion of the book has been particularly interesting to me and challenging to me as an individual. 00:02:51.660 --> 00:02:53.780 because I came to Utah with that attitude. 00:02:55.820 --> 00:02:56.200 I want to sacrifice. 00:02:58.640 --> 00:03:01.260 I want to sacrifice because Jesus is that important. 00:03:03.580 --> 00:03:08.640 One of the things I have to continue to remind myself of is the thing don't get selfish. 00:03:11.420 --> 00:03:17.760 A lot of times when I'm doing ministry, there are places throughout ministry where people upset me. 00:03:18.320 --> 00:03:19.400 My feelings get hurt. 00:03:20.560 --> 00:03:23.890 It's not always easy and I don't want to sacrifice. 00:03:26.540 --> 00:03:27.500 I don't want to give of myself. 00:03:27.780 --> 00:03:30.020 I want to just fight for what I think I deserve. 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:39.940 But when I look at this field and the opportunity that we have in verses like Peter communicates 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:40.860 to us today. 00:03:41.620 --> 00:03:48.700 It just reminds me of the beauty of who Jesus is and my need to continue to lay down self for what Jesus wants 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:55.440 to accomplish in me and through me, and allow that example to not only be for me, but an encouragement to my church family as well. 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:02.360 I, I hope you guys feel that way about me being here. 00:04:03.340 --> 00:04:11.560 I feel that way about you That we are a community coming together for what God wants to do in us and through us, because 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:12.160 we love Jesus. 00:04:14.380 --> 00:04:21.399 And the first chapter, what Peter says to us as believers, is he knows throughout the rest of the book he's going 00:04:21.399 --> 00:04:24.580 to ask us to sacrifice for the sake of Christ and for all people. 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:28.450 And so he reminds us of the beauty of Christ. 00:04:29.860 --> 00:04:34.800 He says to us in verse three that you guys, you have a living hope in Christ. 00:04:36.100 --> 00:04:40.840 And in verse six he tells you that your faith is much more precious than gold. 00:04:42.100 --> 00:04:46.120 And in verse 13 he goes on and says, excuse me. 00:04:46.120 --> 00:04:48.400 It says, therefore prepare your minds for action. 00:04:48.500 --> 00:04:54.120 Keep sober in spirit, fixing your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:04:55.720 --> 00:04:57.420 Looking just to the beauty of Jesus. 00:04:57.940 --> 00:05:05.160 Just get rid of all the garbage in life that just keeps you from thinking about the significance of Christ and laying yourself down for him and devoting your life to him. 00:05:05.180 --> 00:05:06.920 Because Jesus loves you so much. 00:05:06.980 --> 00:05:12.380 Get rid of all that stuff that stops that, and just sober your mind and fix your hope completely on Christ. 00:05:14.240 --> 00:05:17.590 And so he says in chapter two, and that's where we're going to pick up today in verse one. 00:05:19.220 --> 00:05:26.580 Put aside all this stuff, all that stuff within your heart that builds anger and resentment and discouragement and 00:05:26.580 --> 00:05:30.140 malice and hypocrisy and slanders, which is gossip. 00:05:30.620 --> 00:05:32.020 Just lay that stuff aside. 00:05:33.140 --> 00:05:36.940 Because what Jesus wants to do in you and through you, he can't do when we carry those attitudes. 00:05:38.240 --> 00:05:40.600 I want to live the kind of life that God wants to bless. 00:05:40.620 --> 00:05:44.820 I don't always do that, but in my mind, I know that I want to live that life. 00:05:46.100 --> 00:05:53.240 And in verse one, he's saying that malice and deceit and hypocrisy and slander and envy, those are the kind of lifestyles when it's embedded 00:05:53.240 --> 00:05:56.100 in our heart, that Jesus doesn't bless that kind of life. 00:05:56.960 --> 00:06:04.160 And when I think of the future of our church and what our family has in Christ as we proceed and everything that Jesus wants to do in 00:06:04.160 --> 00:06:08.400 us and through us, I want us to be in a place where Jesus can just bless us. 00:06:10.360 --> 00:06:16.940 And it all starts with your heart and really asking the question, What's Jesus worth to you? 00:06:18.080 --> 00:06:21.900 Because ultimately, if Jesus really doesn't have any worth to you, you're not going to want to sacrifice. 00:06:24.100 --> 00:06:28.020 And a lot of your motivation in coming to church is really going to be about thinking for self. 00:06:30.140 --> 00:06:37.420 What can I get from Sunday and how is this going to bless my life and hurry up out the door rather than thinking about God? 00:06:37.420 --> 00:06:43.100 Now here I am with your community and all of them go through experiences this week and all of them need encourage and their walk with Jesus. 00:06:43.300 --> 00:06:46.120 God, how can you use me to do that for what you've accomplished in this world? 00:06:46.480 --> 00:06:50.540 And Peter says, listen, if this stuff is hiding in your heart, man, get rid of it. 00:06:52.720 --> 00:06:57.520 And so he says in verse two, like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the word that you may grow. 00:06:58.840 --> 00:07:03.300 It's saying, Come to God's Word and allow, rather than that garbage that we surround ourselves with. 00:07:03.580 --> 00:07:06.980 Let God's Word communicate to our heart to transform our lives. 00:07:09.190 --> 00:07:12.580 And so in verse four, let me pick up here, where do we go? 00:07:14.100 --> 00:07:21.280 See how Peter's communicated to us the beauty of Jesus seeing how he's called us to go to the Word of God to learn it, says in verse 00:07:21.280 --> 00:07:28.320 four, coming to him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice 00:07:28.320 --> 00:07:31.580 and precious in the sight of God. 00:07:32.920 --> 00:07:35.080 Peter carries this idea for us as believers. 00:07:35.120 --> 00:07:36.910 When you come to Jesus, it's just not a one time activity. 00:07:38.180 --> 00:07:39.940 It's a perpetual motion of our lives. 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:44.520 And so he says, coming to him in the Greek is a process of our lives. 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:45.860 It's always about surrender. 00:07:45.900 --> 00:07:47.120 It's daily about giving ourselves. 00:07:47.400 --> 00:07:54.660 It's always about reminding us of the worth of Jesus in our lives, because our inclination and our sinful nature is to think about self, 00:07:54.680 --> 00:07:55.280 me and mine. 00:07:55.300 --> 00:07:57.060 What I deserve you wrong me, I need justice. 00:07:59.940 --> 00:08:06.760 And Peter says, but the walk of a Christian who understands, really the value of Jesus is about a life that just continues to come to Jesus. 00:08:09.080 --> 00:08:10.590 And I love the reason he tells us why. 00:08:10.700 --> 00:08:17.680 He says, Because Jesus is a living stone, meaning Jesus's work isn't finished yet. 00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:25.500 The stories that you read in the Bible about Jesus conducting ministry in the past, well, Jesus is still doing that ministry in 00:08:25.500 --> 00:08:25.700 the today. 00:08:27.440 --> 00:08:31.700 And you and me as a living stone as we continue to come to him. 00:08:31.760 --> 00:08:33.799 Jesus is working in us and through us in our lives. 00:08:34.299 --> 00:08:37.450 If we see the value of Jesus and if we continue to come to him. 00:08:40.299 --> 00:08:40.860 Surrender your lives. 00:08:43.419 --> 00:08:45.080 And Peter gives us a response to us. 00:08:45.080 --> 00:08:46.920 He tells us what Jesus is doing. 00:08:48.380 --> 00:08:55.460 And so he says in verse five, As Jesus is a living stone, he says, you also as living stones are being built up as a 00:08:55.620 --> 00:09:02.430 spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:09:03.920 --> 00:09:07.700 Jesus is saying that you as well become living stones with him. 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:12.780 I love the Bible's illustrations of living stones because we don't quite build with that great of material these days. 00:09:13.940 --> 00:09:21.240 But living stones are built to last the mark that Jesus places upon your life as you witness for him in this world is intended 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:22.060 to last. 00:09:23.700 --> 00:09:30.740 I was reading this week in the book of Joshua, and I like going to Joshua in my life every time I get 00:09:30.740 --> 00:09:31.830 to a difficult place. 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:39.120 Like, I don't know by looking into buying a church building in the future, that scares the living life out of me, because there's a lot that comes on 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.180 your shoulders and taking on that responsibility. 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.860 To be quite frank, in some churches people aren't that committed. 00:09:48.580 --> 00:09:52.240 And all it takes for me as a pastor, I was calculating, trying to build my fear up this week. 00:09:52.840 --> 00:09:53.380 It's calculating. 00:09:53.620 --> 00:10:00.700 You know, I've probably shared, I don't know, 3400 messages on Sundays since we started as a church, which is countless hours 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:02.280 at one point. 00:10:02.300 --> 00:10:03.520 I'm betting one time. 00:10:03.580 --> 00:10:06.960 Somewhere along the way I'm going to say something stupid and I'm going to make people mad and people are going to leave. 00:10:07.810 --> 00:10:12.080 And what if that happens when I'm about to buy this building, and then all of a sudden we can't meet the needs and we go bankrupt as a church. 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:12.820 That's going to be horrible. 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:14.620 You know, things like that go through your mind, right? 00:10:14.780 --> 00:10:16.100 Please be happy, everybody. 00:10:16.380 --> 00:10:17.540 You want to make people be happy. 00:10:17.540 --> 00:10:19.360 But ultimately I can't live in fear of that. 00:10:19.460 --> 00:10:21.060 It's about loving Jesus. 00:10:21.080 --> 00:10:23.880 As long as we continue to do that as a church, it works out to our benefit. 00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.640 So that's not a godly thing I'm doing, but it's fear that runs through your mind. 00:10:27.680 --> 00:10:33.240 And so I went to the book of Joshua and God reminds Joshua at the end of Moses's life to the beginning of his life. 00:10:33.340 --> 00:10:36.040 He says, don't fear, don't be afraid, for I am with you. 00:10:36.360 --> 00:10:42.180 He continues to remind Joshua that he says so many times that when you're reading the passage, you're like, when does Joshua going to get that? 00:10:42.900 --> 00:10:49.980 But then when you actually live in that moment in your life, you're like, man, God should have said it one more time to Joshua because I'm still feeling like I need that encouragement 00:10:50.180 --> 00:10:51.820 for God as we take these steps together. 00:10:53.660 --> 00:10:55.960 And Jesus is saying to you guys that we're living stones. 00:10:56.100 --> 00:11:03.240 And when you read the story of Joshua, when they crossed out of Egypt into the land of Israel for the first time, and God told Joshua not to be afraid, 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:06.040 it was because Joshua had an enormous battle in front of him. 00:11:07.040 --> 00:11:12.500 And if you looked at the obstacle rather than Christ, the obstacle was going to keep him from doing what Jesus called him to do. 00:11:14.160 --> 00:11:17.280 And so when they got across the river, God told Joshua. 00:11:17.520 --> 00:11:18.040 Joshua, listen. 00:11:18.200 --> 00:11:18.760 Take stones. 00:11:19.760 --> 00:11:24.460 I want you to take one stone for every tribe of Israel, and I want you to make a monument or a pillar to me. 00:11:25.640 --> 00:11:30.280 And every time these kids of Israel pass by, I want you to tell them what I've done. 00:11:32.940 --> 00:11:36.260 Their living stones that testified to the nation of Israel. 00:11:36.300 --> 00:11:37.040 The goodness of God. 00:11:38.820 --> 00:11:39.440 But they were just stones. 00:11:41.760 --> 00:11:46.320 And what God is saying to us in this passage of Scripture is that it's not just about the stones. 00:11:47.800 --> 00:11:48.580 It's also about you. 00:11:50.920 --> 00:11:54.060 God in the Old Testament lived in the temple built by stones. 00:11:54.060 --> 00:12:00.040 But today he lives in you and you've become living stones for Jesus. 00:12:01.560 --> 00:12:08.340 Your monuments for Christ and God's getting us to recognize the beauty of the testimony of Jesus working in us. 00:12:08.500 --> 00:12:15.520 How powerful your testimony in Christ is, and the opportunity that you have to share such a 00:12:15.620 --> 00:12:17.240 beautiful message in this world. 00:12:17.500 --> 00:12:24.640 You guys are living stones and tells us, as verse six goes on, the importance of 00:12:24.760 --> 00:12:26.420 seeing ourselves as living stones. 00:12:28.800 --> 00:12:34.660 It says, for this is contained in Scripture behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone. 00:12:34.900 --> 00:12:37.060 And he who believes in him will not be disappointed. 00:12:38.160 --> 00:12:41.760 This precious value, then, is for you who believe. 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:50.320 But for those who disbelieve the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:50.860 of offense. 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:56.100 For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 00:12:58.860 --> 00:13:00.240 You have a doom if you don't believe in Jesus. 00:13:00.780 --> 00:13:01.900 That's what it's saying in the very end. 00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:08.920 It's also recognized for us in the previous verses that you are living stones to testify to the world who Jesus is. 00:13:08.940 --> 00:13:12.140 And the reason is because the world finds Jesus offensive. 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.000 After all, Jesus talks about hell. 00:13:16.880 --> 00:13:21.180 That's what doom is in the last of this verse, coming before an all mighty God with sin on your hands. 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:23.720 You don't want to meet your maker on that day. 00:13:24.560 --> 00:13:25.920 That is a very dooms day. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:29.900 Jesus talks about hell in the world, finds it offensive. 00:13:31.300 --> 00:13:35.460 Jesus says, I am the only way and truth and life in the world finds it offensive. 00:13:37.040 --> 00:13:44.120 In fact, some people in those seeing Jesus as a loving person try to embrace a form of who Jesus is, but they deny him outright according to 00:13:44.120 --> 00:13:44.900 the way the Scripture communicates. 00:13:45.360 --> 00:13:48.020 They create in their mind an identity of who they want Christ to be. 00:13:48.020 --> 00:13:49.020 But it's not the real Jesus. 00:13:51.260 --> 00:13:54.860 Jesus says, I am God and all other gods are false gods. 00:13:56.160 --> 00:13:59.200 Jesus basically said I'm right and all their beliefs are wrong. 00:14:01.000 --> 00:14:01.450 To the world. 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:03.960 This is offensive and to the world this is a stumbling block. 00:14:06.140 --> 00:14:09.480 What Jesus calls himself in this passage of Scripture is a cornerstone. 00:14:11.160 --> 00:14:18.180 The cornerstone was significant to the way in which the building was built, because the cornerstone helped establish the foundation for which 00:14:18.180 --> 00:14:19.300 the building was built upon. 00:14:20.420 --> 00:14:27.580 Whenever an individual would go and build a building out of stone, they would look for the one stone that would set the foundation level, 00:14:27.580 --> 00:14:30.660 a large enough stone in which they could place all other stones upon. 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:39.400 And what is saying about us in connection to this cornerstone is that you have become living stones, but the only reason you're able to be living stones is because the cornerstone 00:14:39.400 --> 00:14:40.360 that's been established. 00:14:40.520 --> 00:14:44.540 And so all of our lives and building up the spiritual house is all about Jesus. 00:14:44.980 --> 00:14:50.380 Everything points to that cornerstone of who Christ is in this world. 00:14:50.840 --> 00:14:57.910 Paul wants us or excuse me, Peter wants us to recognize his significance as being our cornerstone. 00:14:59.220 --> 00:15:00.520 Jesus doesn't just get Sunday. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:07.880 Jesus gets our life, our marriage, our friendships, our finances, our jobs, our kids. 00:15:07.940 --> 00:15:10.220 In fact, Peter is about to lay all of that out for us. 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:12.440 But Jesus is the cornerstone and he gets it all. 00:15:12.600 --> 00:15:17.780 And if we don't build upon that, we build unhealthy and that stone, or that house will begin to crumble and fall. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:22.540 And I love the way Peter lays all this out for us. 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:24.070 It's beautiful the way he pieces together. 00:15:24.100 --> 00:15:24.240 It's like. 00:15:24.480 --> 00:15:26.020 It's like the Spirit of God inspired it. 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:28.640 Look at the value of who Jesus is in your life. 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:30.300 Remind yourself of that. 00:15:30.300 --> 00:15:32.620 Be sober on this place, your hope in this. 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:39.700 Realize as a person this is why you were created for that relationship and everything in your heart that separates you from experiencing that with God. 00:15:40.120 --> 00:15:45.300 Just lay it all aside, forgive it, and move forward because you're never going to be where God wants you to be unless you can do it. 00:15:46.540 --> 00:15:52.300 And as you forget it and look to Jesus, you become a living stone, continuing to come to him. 00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:55.930 He is that cornerstone upon the foundation of which we build our life. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:57.880 Yes. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:15:59.000 Amen. 00:16:00.140 --> 00:16:00.520 It's simple. 00:16:01.360 --> 00:16:01.860 It is so simple. 00:16:04.300 --> 00:16:11.400 But, I find myself when I read scripture that I also have to be compelled to continue to remind myself to look at things like 00:16:11.400 --> 00:16:12.920 this, because I forget this message. 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:16.640 I build in my heart garbage of resentment. 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:22.900 And I think at certain points that I'm I deserve things that God needs the glory for. 00:16:25.020 --> 00:16:25.820 It's about him. 00:16:25.820 --> 00:16:26.640 It's not about me. 00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:28.150 I came here for sacrifice. 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:29.200 I want to commit to this community. 00:16:29.680 --> 00:16:31.820 I want to see what Jesus can do in us and through us. 00:16:32.760 --> 00:16:33.340 That's what I want. 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:34.180 Do you want that? 00:16:35.400 --> 00:16:35.720 Okay. 00:16:35.720 --> 00:16:35.820 Good. 00:16:35.960 --> 00:16:36.380 Good. 00:16:36.380 --> 00:16:37.340 Yeah. 00:16:37.700 --> 00:16:39.540 Good. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:43.470 So Jesus reminds us of this. 00:16:45.020 --> 00:16:48.530 He says in verse, verse ten, I'm going to skip verse nine for just a minute. 00:16:50.980 --> 00:16:59.820 And this says to us, don't forget who you were when you didn't have Christ, for 00:16:59.820 --> 00:17:05.859 you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. 00:17:05.960 --> 00:17:11.500 You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:16.099 God's picture of us isn't just about this world. 00:17:16.140 --> 00:17:23.300 I know sometimes we read that verse and we say, wait a minute, I'm Sherman Whitman at 157 Sydney Lane or whatever that says on that 00:17:23.300 --> 00:17:24.079 fish movie. 00:17:25.980 --> 00:17:26.579 Yeah. 00:17:26.579 --> 00:17:28.420 Nemo, right? 00:17:28.560 --> 00:17:29.060 I mean, I'm a place. 00:17:29.300 --> 00:17:31.320 I'm a I'm a person, I exist somewhere, I have a job. 00:17:31.500 --> 00:17:32.140 What is he talking about? 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:32.680 I'm nobody. 00:17:34.120 --> 00:17:39.760 But when God views us as people, he views us more than just the speck of time of life which we exist on this world. 00:17:39.860 --> 00:17:39.880 He. 00:17:40.080 --> 00:17:42.840 He sees us outside of time in the realm of eternity. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.470 And when it comes to our relationship with God, apart from Jesus, we are nobody. 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:49.680 There is no hope. 00:17:49.700 --> 00:17:51.630 It said in verse eight that we are condemned. 00:17:51.820 --> 00:17:53.640 There is a doomsday waiting for us. 00:17:53.740 --> 00:17:57.160 But thanks to Jesus, with his mercy, he's given us the name. 00:17:57.340 --> 00:17:59.980 He's called us his own, and he's brought life into our world. 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:07.800 And when you think about things like that, it brings significant worth to Christ and your relationship with him. 00:18:08.340 --> 00:18:09.300 Jesus becomes everything. 00:18:12.300 --> 00:18:17.780 It tells us as people that our identity isn't based on performance. 00:18:19.440 --> 00:18:19.920 It's based on Jesus. 00:18:21.980 --> 00:18:27.220 The fact that we become people has nothing to do with what you have done, but everything about what Jesus did. 00:18:29.380 --> 00:18:36.000 If you seek to earn your identity through your performance, that lifestyle either leads to pride or despair. 00:18:38.040 --> 00:18:42.020 You think that you're something great and you'll never recognize your need for salvation for Jesus. 00:18:42.080 --> 00:18:45.810 Or you think that you're worthless and Jesus could never accept you. 00:18:47.780 --> 00:18:48.530 Both are untrue. 00:18:50.280 --> 00:18:53.020 Jesus came to this world and he died for you. 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:53.830 And in your sin. 00:18:54.020 --> 00:18:55.960 Jesus still said, even if you sin, I love you. 00:18:55.960 --> 00:18:56.750 I don't want you to sin. 00:18:56.760 --> 00:18:58.120 But if you do sin, I love you. 00:18:58.380 --> 00:18:58.960 I died for you. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:01.840 I want you to place your faith in me and nothing else and nothing that you do. 00:19:02.060 --> 00:19:04.380 I want your faith and trust to look to me. 00:19:07.020 --> 00:19:10.700 These people were nobody, but they became everything in Christ. 00:19:10.700 --> 00:19:13.760 And so in verse nine, he defines for us what we became. 00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:18.480 Because of that he says, you are a chosen race. 00:19:19.720 --> 00:19:22.670 Meaning we weren't a people, but now we are a people. 00:19:23.380 --> 00:19:24.560 You are a royal priesthood. 00:19:26.380 --> 00:19:28.260 We all become priests in Christ. 00:19:29.840 --> 00:19:30.860 What does a priest responsibility? 00:19:31.640 --> 00:19:32.340 One of the Old Testament. 00:19:32.540 --> 00:19:39.700 The priest took on the responsibility of representing the people of Israel to God and 00:19:39.700 --> 00:19:40.670 being a royal priesthood. 00:19:41.060 --> 00:19:48.540 What it's saying to us in Scripture is that God has now given you responsibility and your identity to him to represent this world to 00:19:48.540 --> 00:19:48.780 God. 00:19:50.680 --> 00:19:54.920 God has called you for something magnificent and reaching people for Christ. 00:19:54.940 --> 00:19:58.180 And he goes on and says that we're also a holy nation. 00:19:59.800 --> 00:20:00.300 Holiness. 00:20:00.300 --> 00:20:05.800 We looked at last week, but it means to be separate, set apart for God that we see the system of the world. 00:20:06.100 --> 00:20:07.940 We see God's desire for this world. 00:20:07.960 --> 00:20:11.040 And rather than live for the system of the world, we separate ourselves to God's intentions. 00:20:13.020 --> 00:20:16.960 And holiness has the tendency to be defined under some terms that are incorrect scripturally. 00:20:19.040 --> 00:20:23.580 Oftentimes, we'll find people defining holiness under legalism or liberalism. 00:20:25.400 --> 00:20:31.100 Legalism to give an idea, if we see it functioning in a church, typically wants to take us back to the 1950s. 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:39.980 Legalism keeps a running list of rules in which you have to obey, unless you abide by those rules and God isn't going to please, but you won't find him anywhere 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:40.220 in Scripture. 00:20:41.460 --> 00:20:48.560 They keep a checklist on things like how you dress, your attendance at church and what you do, and whether or not you 00:20:48.560 --> 00:20:51.240 sing to an organ on Sundays and carry a hymn book along with you. 00:20:52.500 --> 00:20:56.020 Legalism gives the appearance that you're never good enough as an individual. 00:20:56.080 --> 00:20:57.420 It puts people in bondage. 00:20:58.700 --> 00:21:03.140 It's concerned about how people treat God, but it gives little concern with how God looks to other people. 00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:11.470 It attempts to be the Holy Spirit for people, and tries to guilt them, rather than allow the Spirit of God to move in their heart and convict them. 00:21:13.000 --> 00:21:17.540 Legalism has the tendency to highlight God's view of sin over and above God's grace. 00:21:18.600 --> 00:21:18.820 Forgiving sinners. 00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:26.120 Legalism is more concerned with behavior modification than heart transformation. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:35.220 Legalism fears the world so much that its tendency is to isolate itself from the world rather than live in the world. 00:21:37.600 --> 00:21:39.260 Reverse of that, the other extreme is liberalism. 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:41.940 Liberalism. 00:21:42.580 --> 00:21:47.480 Try to keep others happy, neglecting what God would call joyous to him. 00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:53.900 Liberalism has the tendency to say that the Bible is just an old book, and we need to let go and embrace the times of today. 00:21:54.900 --> 00:21:57.360 Can I tell you every culture has done that throughout Scripture. 00:21:58.140 --> 00:21:59.920 We'll read the Bible and say, yeah, it's cultural. 00:22:00.140 --> 00:22:00.760 It doesn't fit. 00:22:00.820 --> 00:22:01.480 Let's throw it away. 00:22:01.820 --> 00:22:02.660 Everyone's always done that. 00:22:03.080 --> 00:22:03.880 There's always some culture. 00:22:04.040 --> 00:22:08.130 Every culture somewhere has one area of the Bible they just don't agree with, and they want to buck against it. 00:22:09.120 --> 00:22:13.760 Liberalism takes advantage of man's freedom in Christ without caring concern about how Jesus looks to others. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:20.050 Liberalism has the tendency to place grace over and above God's hatred for sin and the need for man's salvation. 00:22:22.080 --> 00:22:30.100 People who are often liberal use the phrase like keeping it real or just being myself, rather than having 00:22:30.120 --> 00:22:32.020 a concern for what Jesus would want. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:39.260 Liberalism loves the world so much it carries a low fear of God. 00:22:39.540 --> 00:22:41.500 Both views end up winding excuse me? 00:22:41.560 --> 00:22:45.160 Compromising God's word, God's integrity, God's truth. 00:22:46.100 --> 00:22:48.310 And it buries the beauty of who Jesus is. 00:22:50.300 --> 00:22:57.440 Jesus's prayer for us wasn't that we would be legalistic or liberal, it's that we would learn to live in this world for 00:22:57.520 --> 00:23:04.520 Christ said in John 1715, I do not ask that you take them out of the world, which would be 00:23:04.520 --> 00:23:09.140 legalism, but to keep them from the evil one, which is a prayer for liberalism. 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:12.460 They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 00:23:12.520 --> 00:23:13.720 Sanctify them in truth. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:19.320 Your word is truth, as you have sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 00:23:22.020 --> 00:23:28.500 If you live a legalistic life, the question you typically ask is how can I avoid from committing sin? 00:23:30.820 --> 00:23:36.220 If you live in a liberal life, the question that you often ask is how in the world can I fit in? 00:23:38.220 --> 00:23:45.180 If you live a Jesus focused life, you always and often ask the question, what would Jesus do? 00:23:48.300 --> 00:23:50.160 The glory all belongs to him. 00:23:51.760 --> 00:23:53.590 We don't live defensively in a bubble. 00:23:54.420 --> 00:23:57.010 We carry God's truth into this world. 00:23:59.080 --> 00:24:06.220 First Peter 121 says this, for you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you 00:24:06.220 --> 00:24:08.740 an example for you to follow in his steps. 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:18.440 It's saying to people like Joshua in the Old Testament and the Daniel today, don't be afraid of who Jesus has called you to be in this world. 00:24:20.340 --> 00:24:23.840 And the reason we're able to do that is because we see the worth of Jesus in our lives. 00:24:25.540 --> 00:24:32.250 We recognize in verse ten that apart from Christ, we really didn't have an identity, But because of Jesus, look at what we've become. 00:24:33.780 --> 00:24:34.810 We become a chosen race. 00:24:36.300 --> 00:24:41.600 We become a priesthood, a royal priesthood royal indicating our dominion in his kingdom. 00:24:43.360 --> 00:24:46.280 We've become a holy nation for Christ. 00:24:46.360 --> 00:24:53.960 And it goes on and says, A people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of whom has called you out of darkness into 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:55.120 his marvelous light. 00:24:57.400 --> 00:25:01.180 And so Peter makes a request to us in the last two verses that we're going to look at here. 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:11.280 It says, beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers, to abstain from the fleshly 00:25:11.280 --> 00:25:15.340 lust which wage wages, war against the soul. 00:25:16.340 --> 00:25:23.460 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may be may because 00:25:23.460 --> 00:25:28.100 of your good deeds, and they observe them glorifying God in the day of visitation. 00:25:30.740 --> 00:25:34.390 Like the believers in First Peter are being attacked because of their faith in Christ. 00:25:35.900 --> 00:25:39.600 I like the Bible verses that say when someone attacks you punch them in the face. 00:25:41.260 --> 00:25:43.440 I have not found it, but I like it. 00:25:45.800 --> 00:25:51.260 I could get violent, but I have an angry streak in me, an anger streak. 00:25:52.840 --> 00:25:58.000 And it gets provoked when I get wronged and I scream justice with an attitude of hatred. 00:25:59.960 --> 00:26:07.120 And Peter is saying in this passage of Scripture that he knows these believers are being persecuted for their faith in Christ, but he tells them to 00:26:07.120 --> 00:26:14.940 abstain from those things in your life which incur within you that desire to provoke anger towards other people and 00:26:14.940 --> 00:26:18.080 keep, he says, your behavior excellent before the Gentiles. 00:26:19.340 --> 00:26:24.640 Meaning that rather than seek your own retribution in those moments, trust God and what he wants to accomplish. 00:26:25.500 --> 00:26:26.300 I love it like this. 00:26:27.220 --> 00:26:27.960 It's glorious. 00:26:28.200 --> 00:26:31.400 If someone does wrong to me that I just love them for Jesus. 00:26:32.100 --> 00:26:37.760 Because the good thing is that Jesus comes in their life and seeing that example, their hearts change and they can love Jesus with me too. 00:26:38.260 --> 00:26:39.960 And rather than have an enemy, I have a friend. 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:40.480 That's great. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:48.220 And if they reject Jesus, Jesus is going to take care of him one day better than I can anyway, right? 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:49.320 Who am I to play God? 00:26:52.520 --> 00:26:54.500 God's called me to love this world. 00:26:54.620 --> 00:26:57.000 God's called me to be a priest into this world. 00:26:57.100 --> 00:27:02.200 God's called me to be his holy example, separate from this world system, living for him. 00:27:05.760 --> 00:27:07.480 The question is, so how do we get to this place? 00:27:10.540 --> 00:27:15.140 Before you get to a place where you look at a verse like that and you say, Jesus, I'm okay with that. 00:27:17.880 --> 00:27:19.220 I think you've got to see the worth of Christ. 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:25.000 I am different because I love Jesus. 00:27:25.900 --> 00:27:29.360 I accept that, and I love it because Jesus loves me. 00:27:31.560 --> 00:27:34.160 And I think of the struggles in living here sometimes. 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:37.480 I love living here, man. 00:27:37.540 --> 00:27:42.260 There's no better place on earth to lay everything down for Christ to be a light for Jesus, I love it. 00:27:43.840 --> 00:27:48.000 But you also count the cost sometimes to move into a new building. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:50.820 It's a struggle to get to Utah. 00:27:50.840 --> 00:27:54.220 My salary was cut in half, but the income level to live here doubled. 00:27:56.560 --> 00:27:58.440 There's a lot of sacrifice that comes with that. 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:06.860 But as you see, the love that Jesus has for you, it compels your heart to share that love with others. 00:28:08.540 --> 00:28:15.110 And until you see the beauty of a relationship with Christ in your life, you're not going to give a hill of beans if someone else knows them. 00:28:16.300 --> 00:28:16.980 That's a West Virginia term. 00:28:21.760 --> 00:28:22.860 Let me put it to you this way. 00:28:24.600 --> 00:28:30.320 We'll never see the value in serving others for Christ without first seeing the value of Christ. 00:28:31.540 --> 00:28:37.570 Meaning this only by embracing the worth of Christ will you believe that it is worth serving Christ. 00:28:39.680 --> 00:28:41.820 That's why Peter started with our eternal hope. 00:28:43.360 --> 00:28:47.340 If you go home this week and read the rest of this book, you're going to see for yourselves what I'm talking about. 00:28:47.480 --> 00:28:51.380 When Peter says, okay, church, you've seen what Jesus has done for you now. 00:28:51.940 --> 00:28:52.100 Sacrifice. 00:28:56.320 --> 00:29:03.460 You know what I think will happen to us as a church family when we begin to see the beauty of our relationship with Christ and how much Jesus loves you 00:29:03.460 --> 00:29:07.160 and the worth of Christ, we're going to have to beg each other to stop serving. 00:29:08.420 --> 00:29:15.520 I always get to the summertime, and I start getting heartburn and staying up late at night, because we do so much activity throughout the summer that we get to a point where some of it 00:29:15.520 --> 00:29:17.510 I feel like I have to man by myself. 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:24.450 There have been times where I've just been sitting there by myself doing ministry at church, and so the encouragement this year is keep your pastor from getting heartburn. 00:29:24.940 --> 00:29:31.460 It's a but we're going to have so many places to do ministry this summer, and we're not going to want to do it as a church unless we see the value of Jesus in our life. 00:29:32.080 --> 00:29:36.580 So this is a good place for us to stop and say, What is Jesus really worth to me? 00:29:37.560 --> 00:29:41.880 And when we see that worth, we're going to beg each other, listen, you're doing so much for Christ. 00:29:41.960 --> 00:29:47.280 I mean, you must love Jesus that you want to just get out there and share that with the love of the, his love for the world. 00:29:48.340 --> 00:29:50.580 And so let's stop in our hearts and examine ourselves. 00:29:51.120 --> 00:29:52.360 How much do I love Jesus? 00:29:52.540 --> 00:29:53.740 Do I love Jesus at this point? 00:29:54.160 --> 00:29:55.980 Do I even want to serve Jesus at this point? 00:29:56.060 --> 00:30:02.520 The reason I don't want to serve Jesus is because probably my heart isn't connected to him and loving him the way that I understand his love to be for me. 00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:05.760 How do we love Jesus that way? 00:30:07.260 --> 00:30:09.020 By seeing Jesus's love for us. 00:30:10.260 --> 00:30:11.060 I was reading this week. 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:13.530 Somebody shut that door. 00:30:14.820 --> 00:30:16.360 Thank you. 00:30:16.640 --> 00:30:17.760 I was reading this past week. 00:30:17.760 --> 00:30:18.940 There was this 90 year old lady. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.320 She had a stroke and she went to the hospital and a Christian went and visited her. 00:30:25.500 --> 00:30:29.520 And they commented on this experience that they had with this lady because she was full of Jesus. 00:30:30.520 --> 00:30:36.940 I said this I learned that Luella had been taken to the hospital suffering from a stroke. 00:30:38.300 --> 00:30:39.440 Luella is 90 years old. 00:30:40.560 --> 00:30:43.880 When I visited her today, God's glory was all over her. 00:30:45.460 --> 00:30:50.440 In reference to her stroke, she said to me, I was so happy I wanted to shout. 00:30:51.520 --> 00:30:59.800 I thought I was going to go and get to be home with Jesus, but now I feel disappointed because I know I'm getting better, so 00:30:59.800 --> 00:31:01.520 I expect the Lord isn't ready yet. 00:31:02.880 --> 00:31:04.940 I was so looking forward to being with what? 00:31:05.560 --> 00:31:08.940 Which is her husband who went to went to be with the Lord several years ago. 00:31:10.720 --> 00:31:14.060 As long as Jesus wants me here, I'll stay. 00:31:14.300 --> 00:31:16.380 But when he's ready, I want to go. 00:31:17.580 --> 00:31:19.960 People ask me, Lou, aren't you lonely? 00:31:20.900 --> 00:31:21.990 And I say, why no. 00:31:23.040 --> 00:31:24.100 It's Jesus and me. 00:31:25.020 --> 00:31:27.020 And it's been Jesus and me for so long. 00:31:27.960 --> 00:31:29.240 He doesn't let me get lonely. 00:31:29.960 --> 00:31:32.500 He is with me when I go to heaven. 00:31:33.680 --> 00:31:34.620 Don't let anyone cry. 00:31:35.580 --> 00:31:36.880 I'll be too happy for that. 00:31:37.880 --> 00:31:40.320 Tell them it's Jesus and old Aunt Lou. 00:31:41.520 --> 00:31:48.060 And then this person remarked, I praise God that I have the opportunity to share these moments with saints like Luella. 00:31:50.840 --> 00:31:56.290 Reminds me in scripture, in the Psalms where it says, taste and see that the Lord is good. 00:31:58.180 --> 00:32:05.340 Any time we get to an opportunity as a church, we're kind of changing phases where our Bible studies slow 00:32:05.340 --> 00:32:07.280 down because we're about to do summer outreach. 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:15.700 It is a beautiful time for us to stop and just say, Jesus, encourage me and strengthen me and 00:32:15.700 --> 00:32:18.430 love me in my relationship with you. 00:32:18.840 --> 00:32:21.340 God, help me to understand what you're worth. 00:32:24.600 --> 00:32:30.260 And I think in that place, in our hearts and our lives, we get to a position where we just want to sacrifice and give. 00:32:32.100 --> 00:32:36.980 We want this world to know the same Jesus that we met and the same Jesus that we keep coming to. 00:32:37.020 --> 00:32:44.320 As it says in verse seven, in fact, Paul is going to go on and give you a teaser here in the passage of Scripture, but he 00:32:44.320 --> 00:32:45.720 addresses every area of our lives. 00:32:47.380 --> 00:32:48.530 We can say, I give God Sunday. 00:32:49.560 --> 00:32:51.130 But Peter says, what about Monday? 00:32:53.580 --> 00:32:54.920 He tells us to submit. 00:32:56.320 --> 00:32:56.740 Literally. 00:32:56.920 --> 00:32:58.240 It comes to a place of service. 00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:01.610 You want to know how a church moves forward. 00:33:01.920 --> 00:33:05.680 It's with an attitude of desiring to serve and sacrifice, really. 00:33:08.060 --> 00:33:12.660 He says in verse 13, submit yourself to every human institution talking about government. 00:33:13.580 --> 00:33:15.920 Pray for those leaders and submit to authority. 00:33:18.100 --> 00:33:18.920 Verse 18. 00:33:19.080 --> 00:33:20.770 Servants submit to your masters. 00:33:20.820 --> 00:33:22.740 We don't have masters today. 00:33:23.240 --> 00:33:27.600 Some jobs may feel like that, but it's talking about the area that you work. 00:33:29.020 --> 00:33:29.500 You're a light there. 00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:34.980 He gets to the husbands and wives and says, wives, be submissive to your husbands. 00:33:35.460 --> 00:33:37.280 Husbands, show your wife honor. 00:33:38.180 --> 00:33:39.030 Lift her up. 00:33:39.160 --> 00:33:40.560 Serve her. 00:33:41.860 --> 00:33:43.300 It's about getting beneath each other. 00:33:43.300 --> 00:33:48.180 And just as we saw Jesus serving this world, carrying that attitude in which Christ had to other people. 00:33:50.320 --> 00:33:51.600 I love it the way that Paul says it. 00:33:52.760 --> 00:33:55.880 He phrased the same thing that Peter phrases just in a different portion of Scripture. 00:33:56.500 --> 00:33:59.880 Think about the significance of Jesus to this world and reaching people for Christ. 00:33:59.880 --> 00:34:06.980 He says this for though I am free from all men, I made myself a slave to all, so that I may 00:34:06.980 --> 00:34:07.440 win more. 00:34:08.920 --> 00:34:13.260 To the Jews I became as a Jew so that I might win the Jews. 00:34:14.380 --> 00:34:21.679 That means the Jews had all these legalistic laws and chose to live under that, to reach them to those who are under the law, as 00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:26.400 under the law, though not being myself under the law, so that I might win those who are under the law. 00:34:27.560 --> 00:34:29.880 Can I take that attitude that says, I'm just going to be myself? 00:34:30.120 --> 00:34:38.159 And it says, and forget that Jesus would rather you do what it takes to reach the people who are around you, knowing 00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.300 that you're free from all men still serve. 00:34:41.100 --> 00:34:48.179 And so he goes on and says to those who are without the laws, without the law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I 00:34:48.179 --> 00:34:49.940 might win those who are without the law. 00:34:50.580 --> 00:34:52.600 To the weak I became weak, that I might win. 00:34:52.820 --> 00:34:58.420 The weak I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. 00:34:59.980 --> 00:35:00.760 I do all things. 00:35:01.900 --> 00:35:09.280 I love that maybe we should underline that I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so 00:35:09.280 --> 00:35:13.920 that I may become a fellow partaker of it. 00:35:15.800 --> 00:35:16.780 Attitude carries this. 00:35:18.940 --> 00:35:19.960 God, it's not what I want. 00:35:21.300 --> 00:35:21.970 What do you want? 00:35:23.640 --> 00:35:24.960 Jesus, I've seen your worth. 00:35:26.180 --> 00:35:27.200 I'm trusting in that. 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:29.100 And I want to partake in it. 00:35:29.900 --> 00:35:30.580 And God, what do you want? 00:35:32.560 --> 00:35:38.060 It's about looking at the hearts of the people around you and becoming what they need to be encouraged in Christ. 00:35:40.500 --> 00:35:41.980 And when someone offends you, forgive it. 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:45.940 When someone upsets you, don't fight over it. 00:35:46.760 --> 00:35:47.360 It's not worth it. 00:35:48.660 --> 00:35:51.680 The beauty of who Jesus is what changes the lives of other people. 00:35:53.000 --> 00:35:59.120 And you can win every battle in the world with someone who comes against you, but you will lose the war for Christ. 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:08.980 There are some places in our lives where, when it comes to our hearts and we want justice in the end, you've got to look at it and say, but is it ultimately going 00:36:08.980 --> 00:36:10.590 to matter for the sake of Christ? 00:36:12.620 --> 00:36:19.060 Am I going to do more damage to the body of Christ by fighting this battle, and by just surrendering and showing Jesus? 00:36:22.760 --> 00:36:29.880 The reason I share this today is if you look in your bulletins and you open up and you see on the second page at the bottom, we've got a 00:36:29.880 --> 00:36:32.620 rough outline of our summer activities as a church. 00:36:34.420 --> 00:36:39.920 Four booths, three kids zones, which are VBS, VBS type things in the park. 00:36:41.080 --> 00:36:46.240 Our summer is loaded with activities and we need people to help us out. 00:36:47.780 --> 00:36:53.340 Right now we have a sign up sheet out in the entry room that's got Saratoga, the first booth that we're doing, Saratoga Booth. 00:36:53.500 --> 00:36:53.860 Sign up. 00:36:54.460 --> 00:36:55.320 It's got two names on it. 00:36:55.460 --> 00:36:57.560 I think we need more than that. 00:36:58.600 --> 00:37:02.460 I'm going to be there all day, but I don't want to be there all day. 00:37:04.220 --> 00:37:05.550 At some points, I've been at booths. 00:37:05.700 --> 00:37:09.700 I think when we first started, I was at a booth so long by myself tying balloons for kids that my fingers were bleeding. 00:37:09.700 --> 00:37:11.620 By the end of the day, I was handing kids bloody balloons. 00:37:13.620 --> 00:37:14.630 Don't worry, I don't have anything. 00:37:17.420 --> 00:37:18.430 I don't want that this summer. 00:37:20.200 --> 00:37:21.520 I want to stand with a church family. 00:37:21.960 --> 00:37:23.760 And I'm not saying it's going to be like that this summer. 00:37:25.240 --> 00:37:27.800 I want to stand with a church family who wants to stand for Jesus. 00:37:29.520 --> 00:37:36.620 It's a good time for us to take a step back and remind ourselves of the significance of Jesus and your place and your community to promote his name for 00:37:36.620 --> 00:37:37.080 this world. 00:37:38.480 --> 00:37:45.680 And as we think about that all summer long, I'm going to tell you I'm going to start, like, spaz twitching for no reason this 00:37:45.680 --> 00:37:48.050 summer because we're working on this right here. 00:37:49.020 --> 00:37:49.300 And. 00:37:50.400 --> 00:37:55.300 I know you guys don't see all the day to day stuff that involves to get into a building. 00:37:55.580 --> 00:37:57.480 Right now, it's like three months of paperwork. 00:37:59.180 --> 00:38:01.790 and I've never built a building, as you believe, that or not. 00:38:02.220 --> 00:38:03.980 And so I'm learning as I go. 00:38:04.000 --> 00:38:07.920 People use terminology that I've never heard before, and I got to learn some of this stuff and figure it out. 00:38:08.760 --> 00:38:12.740 But so now you've got pastoral responsibilities and a building project. 00:38:12.780 --> 00:38:16.640 So I'll like if I'm in a fetal position when you come on Sunday, just ignore it. 00:38:16.640 --> 00:38:17.820 Come pat me on the back, let me know you love me. 00:38:18.000 --> 00:38:25.100 Okay, so this whole summer, not only are we doing the ministry that we typically do, which is a lot of ministry for us as a church family, we 00:38:25.100 --> 00:38:28.730 do more in a summer than any church I've ever seen, heard, or been a part of. 00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:30.920 We do a lot, which is why we cut our Bible studies down. 00:38:31.420 --> 00:38:38.580 We also got a building project too, which says to me, as a church family, I need to communicate to you more how important you are in your relationship with Christ 00:38:38.580 --> 00:38:40.350 and communicating that to other people. 00:38:41.860 --> 00:38:48.900 How big of a deal it is when we pack our booth and people see a church that's just loaded with people that are vibrant and full of life, 00:38:49.000 --> 00:38:51.490 and they love each other and they care and they can come be a part. 00:38:51.700 --> 00:38:54.800 And if they just tell us where we live, we'll actually go and capture them and drag them here. 00:38:55.300 --> 00:38:56.520 That's how much we love them, right? 00:38:57.660 --> 00:38:59.440 But it's significant for us. 00:39:00.520 --> 00:39:01.790 So here's the challenge that I need to close. 00:39:02.020 --> 00:39:04.460 This really doesn't have this is an open ended sermon today. 00:39:04.580 --> 00:39:07.020 There's really not an ending to it other than this. 00:39:09.420 --> 00:39:09.860 Do you love Jesus? 00:39:12.420 --> 00:39:18.160 Do you love Jesus to the point that you'll sacrifice for Jesus. 00:39:20.420 --> 00:39:27.680 Do you love Jesus to lay down even when people wrong you at points in your life for the sake of the gospel, and communicating that 00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:29.360 truth and displaying it to other people? 00:39:30.580 --> 00:39:33.040 And the second part is, will you prove it? 00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:36.100 We approve it this summer. 00:39:36.100 --> 00:39:38.080 We approve it in your life wherever you go. 00:39:38.080 --> 00:39:42.080 However, you're living for Christ by just sharing the beauty of who Jesus is with other people. 00:39:44.240 --> 00:39:51.400 Let me close in a word of prayer I'm going to say, as we close for us as a church family, Pat, Pat and Larry couldn't be with us 00:39:51.560 --> 00:39:54.340 today because Larry's brother is in the hospital. 00:39:54.340 --> 00:39:57.040 He's in I think he's in intensive care down in Payson. 00:39:57.980 --> 00:40:02.380 And so his name is Ronald, and we're going to pray for Ronald this morning as well. 00:40:02.900 --> 00:40:03.760 Let's close in a word of prayer.