WEBVTT 00:00:00.180 --> 00:00:07.220 If you're just finding out that it's Mother's Day, I don't know what to tell you at this point other than maybe, if you know your mom's 00:00:07.220 --> 00:00:12.090 going to be happier watching church online today, maybe you can share this and tag her in it and try to save your bacon. 00:00:12.460 --> 00:00:18.480 But it is good to see, especially our young people celebrating Mother's Day and what a joy it is. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:21.270 Hey, we're happy that you're joining us online today for worship. 00:00:22.220 --> 00:00:29.540 I want you to know that as a church family on the back end we are busy trying to figure out how we can best accommodate us moving 00:00:29.540 --> 00:00:30.140 forward. 00:00:30.520 --> 00:00:37.770 If that video didn't just make your heart just soar and just the celebration of seeing young people honor their mothers. 00:00:38.860 --> 00:00:42.720 It also reminds us of just how important it is to be together. 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:50.680 I'm missing those faces and as a church I want you to know we're working on options that we have as an opportunity to be respectful 00:00:50.680 --> 00:00:55.360 to social distancing and still provide us a place to meet with one another. 00:00:55.400 --> 00:00:59.660 We're working actually with Lehi city on a few things that we could do as a church. 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:02.460 And as soon as we have details, we will let you know. 00:01:02.660 --> 00:01:09.760 We want to provide a safe place for everybody, so we're not wanting to put us in a position that's compromising, but at the same time that you can still have 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:14.200 that fellowship because we know it's important to have community around you and to be loved. 00:01:14.200 --> 00:01:19.320 And so we're doing the best that we can on that end because of the pandemic going on. 00:01:19.320 --> 00:01:21.530 It's making things a little bit slower in the process. 00:01:22.080 --> 00:01:26.080 But we are working on that and as soon as we know, we will let you know those details. 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:32.400 But I am thankful that you're with us today and I want you to know this morning on Mother's Day we're going to partake a communion together. 00:01:33.780 --> 00:01:38.080 If you have in your home, maybe you've got some things. 00:01:38.080 --> 00:01:42.320 We try to drop off to people on our church family, we may not have gotten these to everybody. 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:45.970 Just the communion opportunity we have to partake together. 00:01:46.180 --> 00:01:51.900 If you don't have that kind of thing, you can grab grape juice or even some water. 00:01:51.940 --> 00:01:59.060 We're just going to have a spirit of what communion is today and some kind of bread or tortilla shell or something, 00:01:59.480 --> 00:02:01.780 the partake of for communion. 00:02:01.960 --> 00:02:03.520 We're going to do that here at the end of today's message. 00:02:03.860 --> 00:02:10.860 We're going to be in 1 Peter 2:4, so 00:02:10.860 --> 00:02:11.700 you've got a Bible. 00:02:11.760 --> 00:02:13.390 I'm going to invite you to turn to that. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:21.200 This passage of scripture is going to be important for us because this sets a foundation for really the importance of 00:02:21.200 --> 00:02:28.460 everyone, not just mothers on Mother's Day, but it's a beautiful passage to the significance of who we are as human beings and what 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:31.980 God desires for us in our relationship with him. 00:02:32.740 --> 00:02:39.780 When you look at what 1 Peter is, remember this is a passage of scripture, an epistle that Peter has written to 00:02:39.780 --> 00:02:41.830 the early church going through persecution. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:48.480 And he wants them to not just endure it or not just wait for things to get back to normal. 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:55.920 But I believe Peter really believes that God's people can go through circumstance and even adverse circumstances and come out stronger because of 00:02:55.920 --> 00:02:56.300 it. 00:02:56.380 --> 00:03:03.500 Now, one of the verses that we highlighted, encouraging that even make memory verse in your life is 1 Peter 3:15, but sanctify Christ 00:03:03.500 --> 00:03:10.500 as Lord in your hearts always being ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you with gentleness and 00:03:10.500 --> 00:03:11.100 respect. 00:03:11.620 --> 00:03:14.270 So God wants us to give an answer to everyone. 00:03:15.040 --> 00:03:21.220 And so in order to do this in this passage of scripture, if you remember this, epistle is being written to Christians that are being persecuted. 00:03:21.660 --> 00:03:28.840 So it's saying that God's expectation for believers is more than just simply get through it, but it's also an opportunity to allow your light to shine 00:03:28.840 --> 00:03:29.520 for Christ. 00:03:29.540 --> 00:03:32.650 Because in the midst of darkness, God's light shines forth in his people. 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.070 So in order to do that, we've got to find ourselves strong. 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:38.430 Strong in the Lord, and strong on what he's called us to do. 00:03:38.560 --> 00:03:43.100 And that is exactly where 1 Peter 2:4 begins for us. 00:03:43.920 --> 00:03:50.980 Now know if you've gone through this section of scripture with us together, you looked at chapter one, you might be at the end of chapter one thinking, man, I 00:03:50.980 --> 00:03:53.200 am not that strong believer. 00:03:53.200 --> 00:03:56.590 That's great for everyone else, but I am not the super spiritual Christian. 00:03:57.000 --> 00:03:58.000 I struggle. 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:05.400 I've seen a popular meme going around of the back of a minivan and I just assumed that a mother wrote it on the back 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:06.020 of a minivan. 00:04:06.540 --> 00:04:09.200 But it said something to the effect that, "You lied. 00:04:09.220 --> 00:04:16.480 You said my kids were a joy to have in class." Maybe you've been home over these last few weeks and 00:04:16.480 --> 00:04:19.000 being together, you've enjoyed in that. 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:22.130 And other times you thought someone in this room is not going to survive. 00:04:22.460 --> 00:04:26.400 It's a testing of where you are in your walk with the Lord. 00:04:26.960 --> 00:04:30.360 Maybe sometimes you've felt like you failed. 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:37.520 And so you look at a passage like 1 Peter 3 and you're thinking, I can't even make the struggle of these last few weeks, let alone thinking 00:04:37.520 --> 00:04:40.720 about losing your life because of your faith in Christ. 00:04:41.220 --> 00:04:45.020 Well, I want you to know that's exactly why Peter writes chapter two. 00:04:45.840 --> 00:04:48.920 Because he knows as people, we all have our battles. 00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:56.320 Verses five and six of chapter one tells us that we go through persecution, but you have something that's precious and imperishable in Jesus. 00:04:56.500 --> 00:04:57.960 Verse three and four. 00:04:58.120 --> 00:05:04.980 And because of the resurrection in Christ, verse seven 11 that you are refined, a beautiful, pleasing thing to the Lord. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:06.910 That God sees right where you're at. 00:05:07.020 --> 00:05:11.830 And in verse 15 he calls us to be Holy, set apart for him in the midst of our circumstances. 00:05:12.640 --> 00:05:18.220 And last week we looked in verse 17 and on where he tells us to turn to the word of God and love one another. 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:23.260 Let God grow us in him through his word, and in our relationship with each other. 00:05:23.780 --> 00:05:29.340 It's not always about the result, but it's about understanding the journey that God has us in with him. 00:05:29.340 --> 00:05:35.020 That God is doing a work in us and as we depend on him, he grows us even in our struggles. 00:05:35.020 --> 00:05:40.210 And could I say, especially in our struggles, We all need encouraged here. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:43.380 Let me just give you a test. 00:05:44.200 --> 00:05:48.180 Maybe you might be speculative as to whether or not some people need encourage. 00:05:48.380 --> 00:05:51.720 You might see someone that always seems happy go lucky, rolls with the punches. 00:05:51.720 --> 00:05:54.680 You think, man, they're an exceptional person. 00:05:54.740 --> 00:05:55.380 And what about me? 00:05:55.380 --> 00:05:56.580 Well, let me give you this test. 00:05:57.140 --> 00:06:00.460 Here's how you know if someone in your life needs encouraged. 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:07.900 If you're sitting with somebody this morning, next to them on the couch enjoying popcorn pajamas, watching church online, like if 00:06:07.900 --> 00:06:10.660 you turn to them for a minute, this is the test you need to give them, okay? 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:14.300 If they're breathing, then they need encouraged. 00:06:15.380 --> 00:06:21.120 And in 1 Thessalonians 5:11 it tells us, encourage one another and build one another up. 00:06:22.320 --> 00:06:29.560 How important it is to understand where we are in Jesus as it relates to the circumstances that we face. 00:06:29.580 --> 00:06:31.780 Because it's Jesus who builds us up in him. 00:06:33.200 --> 00:06:40.880 It is very valuable for us as people to understand intrinsically who you are in God and 00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:43.080 positionally where you are in God. 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:51.220 If you don't understand who you are in the position that you have, your entire life, you'll be trying to prove yourself to others 00:06:51.220 --> 00:06:53.100 in order to validate who you are. 00:06:54.480 --> 00:07:01.540 But when you understand the identity that God gives you in him, and that identity is immovable, it tells us in 1 Peter 1:3-4, 00:07:03.820 --> 00:07:07.200 that it is imperishable and undefiled. 00:07:08.860 --> 00:07:11.160 And it's not because of you, but it's because of him. 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:17.550 And so today he's laying into this identity because he understands that the things that we go through can be a struggle. 00:07:17.860 --> 00:07:24.960 But when we recognize our position in Jesus, it gives us that power, that authority, that place to not try 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:32.400 to validate ourselves, but to walk in what Jesus has already called us to through him, which is undefiled and imperishable. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:39.640 And in chapter two verse four, he starts to describe for us our new identity. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.270 And this is exactly what we want to talk about today. 00:07:42.520 --> 00:07:44.840 Your identity in Christ. 00:07:44.920 --> 00:07:52.140 Whether you're a mother, a woman, a male, this position, this identity becomes 00:07:52.140 --> 00:07:54.420 the basis for all that we do in Jesus. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:02.420 And so he says this for us in verse four, and coming to him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men but 00:08:02.420 --> 00:08:04.720 is choice and precious in the sight of God. 00:08:04.880 --> 00:08:11.920 You are all also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a Holy priesthood to offer up spiritual 00:08:11.920 --> 00:08:16.700 sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:08:16.720 --> 00:08:18.640 For this is contained in scripture. 00:08:18.640 --> 00:08:25.550 Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in him will not be disappointed. 00:08:26.100 --> 00:08:33.280 This precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve the stone, which the builders rejected, this became 00:08:33.280 --> 00:08:37.720 the very cornerstone, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. 00:08:38.080 --> 00:08:44.360 For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word and to this doom they were also appointed. 00:08:46.420 --> 00:08:53.560 So this new identity for us, this recognizing of position becomes important because it's everything that Jesus 00:08:53.560 --> 00:08:55.020 gives to us. 00:08:55.020 --> 00:08:58.960 It's based on not our authority, but on his authority. 00:09:01.160 --> 00:09:03.750 And what he says about us becomes important. 00:09:04.340 --> 00:09:12.020 And I just want to answer this key question in this passage verses four to eight, what does it mean to be a living stone? 00:09:14.860 --> 00:09:16.960 What does it mean for us to be a living stone? 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:24.370 Now I realize that this is very, you and I centric to ask that question, but here's what's important about this question and related to this passage. 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:31.330 What you see when you read this passage is this passage is predominantly about Jesus and here I am asking the question, what does it mean for you to be a living stone? 00:09:32.500 --> 00:09:39.820 The reason we want to ask this key question is because the foundation of this question can't be answered without understanding everything that Jesus is for us, 00:09:39.820 --> 00:09:44.400 because that provides the basis for understanding the statement that you then become this living stone. 00:09:46.060 --> 00:09:53.820 So when you look at these verses, verse four it becomes important for us because it starts off on the idea of as you were coming to him Meaning 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:58.040 in order to become what God calls you to in him, it starts on who he is. 00:09:59.180 --> 00:10:00.740 But this isn't given to everyone. 00:10:00.740 --> 00:10:07.860 Now intrinsically, what's important to understand for all human beings is that all of us carry value, not because of what you do, but because 00:10:07.860 --> 00:10:09.100 of who you are. 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:10.720 You're made in the image of God. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.310 You have this intrinsic value. 00:10:13.660 --> 00:10:16.660 This is why human life to the Christian is so sacred. 00:10:16.660 --> 00:10:19.760 It's why we fight for life and we'll defend life. 00:10:19.760 --> 00:10:21.880 It's because it's not about what you do. 00:10:21.880 --> 00:10:23.680 It's about who you are. 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:31.120 In this world, if you try to live your life and find your value based on what you do, you'll always find someone else that can 00:10:31.120 --> 00:10:35.180 do it better, greater, stronger, faster, and more beautiful than you can. 00:10:37.080 --> 00:10:41.320 And when you compare yourself to them, what do you become? 00:10:43.940 --> 00:10:44.760 Worth less. 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:50.700 You're not worthless, but you become worth less because someone can do it better. 00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:56.420 But God gives you a value that transcends what you do. 00:10:57.700 --> 00:11:01.440 It's gifted intrinsically based on who you are made in his image. 00:11:02.940 --> 00:11:04.370 Now, that's for all human beings. 00:11:04.400 --> 00:11:11.480 And in addition to that, he gives positionally this place for his followers, which is why Peter says in 1 Peter 2:4, 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:14.900 you need to understand how unique this is. 00:11:15.000 --> 00:11:22.240 Because as you're coming to him as to a living stone describing God, he then refers to us as living stones in 00:11:22.240 --> 00:11:27.200 him and becoming precious to him because he himself is the cornerstone. 00:11:29.320 --> 00:11:36.540 When you think about this idea of cornerstone, it's kind of a silly illustration maybe we would think of right off the cuff that Peter 00:11:36.540 --> 00:11:39.440 would pick a stone to describe us. 00:11:39.620 --> 00:11:44.510 You think you want to help someone understand their value in life, call them a stone. 00:11:44.780 --> 00:11:45.900 You think about it. 00:11:46.060 --> 00:11:49.520 What great thing did you learn at church today when you watch church online? 00:11:49.520 --> 00:11:51.960 Well, I'm a stone. 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:58.720 Out of all the illustrations you can say, Peter's coming to this place and he realizing that at the end of chapter one you know people are going to struggle with this still. 00:11:58.800 --> 00:12:02.100 We're human beings and he wants us to understand our position, our value. 00:12:02.260 --> 00:12:05.760 He's saying and thinking to himself, what's the best illustration I can come up with? 00:12:05.840 --> 00:12:07.290 I know you're a stone. 00:12:07.510 --> 00:12:09.450 What does this have to do with anything? 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:17.180 Well, when you think about the picture Peter's creating here, first he begins to describe this stone in connection to the idea of a building 00:12:17.180 --> 00:12:18.080 of worship. 00:12:18.100 --> 00:12:20.260 To the Jewish mind they would've thought of temple. 00:12:21.940 --> 00:12:23.880 Because this was where God's presence was. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:25.260 This beautiful building. 00:12:25.420 --> 00:12:26.980 God's presence was known to be there. 00:12:26.980 --> 00:12:34.280 All of Israel gathered a worship through the holidays, and now Peter is drawing on the illustration of the temple and rather than than described 00:12:34.280 --> 00:12:39.720 this building as this place where they connect to God, he describes it as us. 00:12:39.880 --> 00:12:43.140 And the basis for this connection is because of Jesus. 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:47.730 And the reason that he wants us to recognize this is because the illustration he uses of cornerstone. 00:12:49.400 --> 00:12:56.520 And this is why in this section of scripture, the highlight of everything that's happening here to us and in us is because 00:12:56.520 --> 00:12:59.920 of this precious cornerstone you find in verse six. 00:13:00.260 --> 00:13:05.280 This word cornerstone is foundational to the building of any structure. 00:13:07.260 --> 00:13:12.980 In Jesus day, the cornerstone became the pinnacle stone of which everything else was built. 00:13:15.060 --> 00:13:18.180 Without this cornerstone, the building would be off and all of it would fall apart. 00:13:20.340 --> 00:13:27.380 You needed this cornerstone to be correct, to be level and to be the foundational place from which the rest of the building could 00:13:27.380 --> 00:13:28.070 be built. 00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:31.260 That's what it's saying about Jesus here. 00:13:33.740 --> 00:13:40.980 Everything that you are is because of everything that Christ gives to youth, both intrinsically and positionally. 00:13:43.100 --> 00:13:50.060 Don't buy into any lie about what anyone else might say, but value what Jesus says about you. 00:13:50.080 --> 00:13:54.060 It is imperishable and undefiled. 00:13:56.140 --> 00:13:57.340 Hold these words. 00:13:59.760 --> 00:14:03.440 He becomes the cornerstone of which everything else rests. 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:10.880 And he says this in verse five then based on his identity that you become a living stone. 00:14:11.500 --> 00:14:12.080 What does it mean? 00:14:13.920 --> 00:14:19.670 Well, when you think about the idea of a stone, a stone left unto itself is most often pretty unimpressive. 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:29.540 Our parking lot is littered around with all sorts of stone, both in our landscaping and in our back parking lot. 00:14:29.540 --> 00:14:34.480 We have stones and really no one gives two sense of thought towards the stones. 00:14:34.680 --> 00:14:41.840 It's unimpressed, but give God this stone and let 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:43.240 God shape this stone. 00:14:45.140 --> 00:14:52.520 And what he begins to recognize for us in this passage is not just a stone anymore, but what makes this unique 00:14:52.520 --> 00:14:55.780 in this beautiful work of God is that it becomes a living stone. 00:14:58.160 --> 00:14:59.820 Now what stone is a living stone? 00:15:02.020 --> 00:15:06.980 But it's Jesus who takes the things that are dead and he breathes into it life. 00:15:09.320 --> 00:15:12.540 And now in him you become this living stone. 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:21.260 And what he's illustrating now rather than the physical structure of a building, in Israel's day, it's not about a building. 00:15:22.800 --> 00:15:29.370 It's about the work that God is doing in all of us and taking a heart of stone and he's bringing it to life and he's creating a community. 00:15:29.980 --> 00:15:35.080 We need a spiritual family, but we don't need facility. 00:15:35.140 --> 00:15:42.780 It's about God's people on mission to gather as a living stone towards the miracle that he works in our lives. 00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:48.200 You're the church wherever you go. 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:54.940 It's not the building, it's about his presence in you. 00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.440 Because you belong to Christ and you are the church. 00:15:59.760 --> 00:16:02.930 There is no such thing as secular anymore. 00:16:03.060 --> 00:16:06.380 Everywhere that you are, it is sacred unto the Lord. 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:15.120 And God wants you to begin to understand this, that on Sunday watching church online, wonderful thing, and on Monday 00:16:15.120 --> 00:16:22.220 it's all sacred to God because wherever you go, you go as this beautiful edifice in which Jesus is working his miracle 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:26.640 in your life, transforming you to demonstrate the beauty of who he is in this world. 00:16:28.120 --> 00:16:35.180 Now, if we ask the question why would Peter pick a stone out of all the things that he could use to illustrate the beauty of God's 00:16:35.180 --> 00:16:35.720 people? 00:16:35.940 --> 00:16:38.140 Why is Peter picking a stone? 00:16:39.560 --> 00:16:46.720 One it certainly identifies the miracle work of God becoming a living stone, but I think at the same time, 00:16:47.080 --> 00:16:50.920 Peter wants to understand the particular value that you hold as a believer. 00:16:52.660 --> 00:16:59.760 And what I mean is this illustration isn't too far from Peter's heart because this became the very illustration that Jesus 00:16:59.760 --> 00:17:00.960 used over his own life. 00:17:02.220 --> 00:17:04.520 Do you remember the story in Matthew 16? 00:17:06.060 --> 00:17:08.819 Jesus says to the disciples, who do you say that I am? 00:17:10.780 --> 00:17:13.079 Peter says, you are the Christ. 00:17:15.020 --> 00:17:22.040 And Jesus says, based on that profession of faith, you are Peter, meaning you are a 00:17:22.040 --> 00:17:22.460 rock. 00:17:23.720 --> 00:17:27.740 And he will build his church upon that profession of faith in Christ. 00:17:29.880 --> 00:17:32.320 I think the reason Peter comes to this, and he says, you know what? 00:17:33.260 --> 00:17:38.480 God's people need encouraged, especially in hardship, we need encourage. 00:17:38.500 --> 00:17:40.700 What's the best way that I can encourage him? 00:17:41.040 --> 00:17:48.480 Peter goes all the way back to a time in his life that was a transitioning point in his understanding of his relationship 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:48.840 with God. 00:17:51.560 --> 00:17:56.900 God takes him to a place to see what the Lord's going to do through them to change this world. 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:00.470 And what did God do in Peter's life in this moment? 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:01.530 He called him a rock. 00:18:03.680 --> 00:18:08.400 And what's Peter now doing in your life to help us understand that Peter is not the spiritual elite. 00:18:10.520 --> 00:18:17.060 All of us are called to this in Jesus because all of us become living stones in Christ and all of us are being built up in him. 00:18:17.500 --> 00:18:24.740 And Jesus has given us not just intrinsic worth, but in a position in which to walk in this world to glorify him wherever we 00:18:24.740 --> 00:18:24.960 go. 00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:33.140 No matter how broken we've may feel, it's about his strength working in us. 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:37.800 And so Peter takes this beautiful picture of his own life and he makes it our picture too. 00:18:41.480 --> 00:18:48.800 In Hebrews 12:28, perhaps this is why it says in relationship to this rock, you serve 00:18:48.800 --> 00:18:51.880 a kingdom that cannot be shaken. 00:18:52.820 --> 00:18:54.080 What a rock. 00:18:56.440 --> 00:18:59.600 Meaning you got a place to make a difference no matter the circumstance. 00:19:00.040 --> 00:19:03.960 That we think about what Jesus calls us to on-mission for him. 00:19:04.040 --> 00:19:06.780 That in this world there is sin, there is a problem. 00:19:07.080 --> 00:19:08.030 We call it sin. 00:19:08.320 --> 00:19:11.730 And in this world there is a solution and his name is Jesus. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:19.200 And God has given us a place to participate and belong on this journey for which he provides the solution 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:20.060 to this world. 00:19:22.140 --> 00:19:27.100 What a beautiful building and you're a part of that story. 00:19:29.220 --> 00:19:34.400 Maybe we could say in a cheesy sense, we all get to be rockstars for Christ. 00:19:36.700 --> 00:19:37.840 As ordinary people. 00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.910 When I think about what God calls us to in this world, I don't think we measure it by results. 00:19:48.040 --> 00:19:53.480 Bur rather faithfulness to this statement being lived out in our lives and the results are up to him. 00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:01.380 I was reading this statement written by Kyle Dugdale. 00:20:01.440 --> 00:20:08.500 He was working on his master's of architecture thesis at Harvard graduate school of design and he 00:20:08.500 --> 00:20:12.400 was reflecting on scripture as it relates to design in this world. 00:20:12.520 --> 00:20:19.840 He argues that people have been building structures since the garden of Eden to create a sense of feeling 00:20:19.840 --> 00:20:24.760 at home, a feeling that we lost when we were kicked out of Eden. 00:20:25.900 --> 00:20:32.610 And Kyle says this, "A city is a poor substitute for the garden of Eden." And then he gives his proposal. 00:20:33.740 --> 00:20:40.820 He says this, "We built structures not as a cure to losing our home in 00:20:40.820 --> 00:20:49.260 Eden, but as an expression of our homesickness." Since 00:20:49.260 --> 00:20:52.100 the garden of Eden, man has struggled to belong. 00:20:54.440 --> 00:21:01.640 And here what you find in 1 Peter, we've created these buildings in order to give the appearance of belonging or try to formulate 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:03.140 some structure of home. 00:21:03.180 --> 00:21:08.460 But what you see in 1 Peter 2 is God has built that home in you. 00:21:10.820 --> 00:21:14.300 What we lose, Jesus provides in him. 00:21:16.100 --> 00:21:20.860 The sin that destroyed this world and the pain of separation that comes with sin. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:27.880 Jesus takes on himself and because of the cross, he then gives us opportunity to find that life through him. 00:21:28.320 --> 00:21:35.340 And so as we were coming to him, the living stone, we ourselves become living stones because of the preciousness of 00:21:35.340 --> 00:21:36.320 this cornerstone. 00:21:38.880 --> 00:21:46.120 Not only do we want to answer the question, what does it mean to be a living stone, but the next part of this verse, verse 9 and 10 he 00:21:46.120 --> 00:21:50.760 also describes for us and answers this question, what does it mean to be God's people? 00:21:53.060 --> 00:21:55.520 Verse nine, what does it mean to be God's people? 00:21:55.520 --> 00:21:56.060 Listen to these words. 00:21:57.880 --> 00:22:05.040 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:12.180 people for God's own possession so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness 00:22:12.180 --> 00:22:14.100 into his marvelous light. 00:22:14.560 --> 00:22:19.980 For you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God. 00:22:20.260 --> 00:22:24.080 You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:22:26.520 --> 00:22:28.380 What does it mean to be God's people? 00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:36.560 When Peter goes to illustrate this, he goes to a text of scripture sacred to the Jews. 00:22:36.580 --> 00:22:37.990 He actually goes to two passages. 00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:45.360 He goes to Exodus 19:5-6, which is when Israel is at Mount Sinai and the presence of God comes 00:22:45.360 --> 00:22:47.060 down and delivers the 10 commandments. 00:22:47.660 --> 00:22:50.360 It's the closest these people get to the presence of God. 00:22:51.500 --> 00:22:55.150 It's when God chooses them and they're taking on identity in him. 00:22:55.800 --> 00:23:00.940 Beautiful passages of scripture, sacred to the Jews, and God gives these statements of their identity in him. 00:23:01.120 --> 00:23:04.760 A chosen people, a Holy and Royal nation. 00:23:06.340 --> 00:23:10.300 And at the same time in Deuteronomy 7, God does the same thing. 00:23:10.320 --> 00:23:17.020 Where it's the second giving of the law where Moses is preaching a message and he reflects back on this passage from Exodus 19. 00:23:17.100 --> 00:23:20.640 He uses these same words to describe God's people. 00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:29.160 The more you understand Judaism, the more you appreciate the terms that he chooses here to describe who God's people are. 00:23:29.160 --> 00:23:32.040 This chosen race just as God chooses Israel. 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:38.130 It becomes an illustration of God choosing Israel of how God chooses all people for him. 00:23:38.460 --> 00:23:45.620 In Genesis 18, and Genesis 22, Abraham is told by God that through him all nations of the world would 00:23:45.620 --> 00:23:46.260 be blessed. 00:23:46.280 --> 00:23:53.640 That we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, royalty showing kingship and priesthood showing the ability to connect to God. 00:23:53.900 --> 00:23:59.260 In Revelation 1:6, "And he has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. 00:23:59.520 --> 00:24:06.920 To him be glory and dominion forever and ever." He saying this to the church, that not just Israel has this royalty and this priesthood, but God's 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:08.500 people in this world have this priesthood. 00:24:08.540 --> 00:24:09.800 I'm going to come back to that in a minute. 00:24:10.320 --> 00:24:13.520 A holy nation of people for his own possession. 00:24:14.280 --> 00:24:20.090 You've got to think in the first century to be in Rome, not everyone in Rome was a Roman citizen. 00:24:20.300 --> 00:24:22.380 That citizenship was a prized thing. 00:24:23.600 --> 00:24:25.680 Paul was fortunate to call himself a Roman citizen. 00:24:27.820 --> 00:24:34.860 To think about the citizenship and the extra privilege that comes with that, but here to be called a citizen of 00:24:34.860 --> 00:24:38.700 heaven, a citizen of God's kingdom. 00:24:38.900 --> 00:24:46.220 Jesus came as a King to deliver a kingdom for all people, all tribes, all tones, all languages 00:24:46.220 --> 00:24:46.880 and nations. 00:24:48.860 --> 00:24:56.020 I want us to pay particular attention to this passage and the specific words in which he 00:24:56.020 --> 00:24:56.860 uses here. 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:05.560 Because for us, these words are always in danger of being pulled away to the identity of which God gives 00:25:05.560 --> 00:25:05.700 us. 00:25:07.600 --> 00:25:14.700 When you think about what these words represent, when you just consider them in your mind what Peter is saying here, he's saying these words 00:25:14.700 --> 00:25:16.960 don't just belong to the elite. 00:25:18.380 --> 00:25:25.400 These words belong to everyone in Jesus, that all of us together we are 00:25:25.400 --> 00:25:26.560 a chosen race. 00:25:27.900 --> 00:25:31.000 All of us together, we're all a royal priesthood. 00:25:32.420 --> 00:25:36.210 All of us together, a holy nation of people for his own possession. 00:25:36.620 --> 00:25:39.340 These aren't just some people that belong to Jesus. 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:41.840 These are all people that belong to Jesus. 00:25:43.240 --> 00:25:50.240 For some reason and sometimes what people like to do with these passages is rip these words out and pretend like it belongs to 00:25:50.240 --> 00:25:54.740 a particular group of people or a particular race of people. 00:25:55.080 --> 00:25:55.860 This is not true. 00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:00.780 This belongs to all of God's people. 00:26:01.180 --> 00:26:03.360 The Holy spirit isn't gender bias. 00:26:03.400 --> 00:26:06.900 The Holy spirit isn't racially biased. 00:26:07.020 --> 00:26:10.580 In God's eyes, there's only one race, the human race. 00:26:12.890 --> 00:26:14.860 It's not based on wealth. 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:24.310 It's based all on Jesus and what he's done for you and because of what he has done is sufficient. 00:26:25.160 --> 00:26:30.640 Do not give anyone position over you for what God has already provided for you. 00:26:33.080 --> 00:26:37.220 What I mean by this is you are royalty in Christ. 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:43.240 That you hold the priesthood in Christ. 00:26:45.080 --> 00:26:52.140 That you can connect to God anytime, anywhere, not because of anything special you have done, but because of 00:26:52.140 --> 00:26:53.880 the special thing Christ has done. 00:26:55.640 --> 00:27:02.220 And in case you approach a verse like verse nine and you say to yourself, well, I'm a glass half empty kind of person. 00:27:02.260 --> 00:27:04.120 How do I know that this is talking about me? 00:27:04.300 --> 00:27:04.820 Well, listen to this. 00:27:04.860 --> 00:27:06.540 Let me just give you a couple of verses here. 00:27:06.560 --> 00:27:12.120 Galatians 3:26, "For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 00:27:13.180 --> 00:27:17.620 For all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourself with Christ. 00:27:17.620 --> 00:27:19.560 There is neither Jew nor Greek. 00:27:19.620 --> 00:27:21.680 There is neither slave nor free. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:23.600 There is neither male nor female. 00:27:23.720 --> 00:27:26.080 For you are all one in Christ. 00:27:26.080 --> 00:27:33.080 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise." So what he's saying to us 00:27:33.080 --> 00:27:37.660 is, look, this promise given to Abraham wasn't just for those that were born out of Abraham. 00:27:37.660 --> 00:27:39.330 God doesn't care who your daddy is. 00:27:39.460 --> 00:27:41.460 The God cares who you trust in and whether or not it's Jesus. 00:27:41.960 --> 00:27:49.280 You don't get this elitism because of who your parents are and what your parents are done, it's everyone comes to God the same way: through the cross. 00:27:52.060 --> 00:27:59.100 And when you come to Christ because of what he has done, this image 00:27:59.860 --> 00:28:02.020 and this position is yours. 00:28:04.320 --> 00:28:06.260 Don't let anybody take that from you. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:14.920 And if you're still hesitant and you say, well, I still feel like it's good for everyone else that's good for them. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:17.680 But me? 00:28:18.280 --> 00:28:19.480 I don't think you know me well. 00:28:21.240 --> 00:28:25.180 I think if you feel that way, this is exactly why Peter writes verse 10. 00:28:26.460 --> 00:28:35.240 Listen to this, "For you once were not a people, but 00:28:35.300 --> 00:28:38.420 now you are the people of God. 00:28:40.380 --> 00:28:47.550 You have not received mercy, but now you have received 00:28:49.040 --> 00:28:56.280 mercy." Jesus says you belong. 00:28:59.080 --> 00:29:04.840 You might think in your life that you deserve condemnation or you may look at your life and see the failures. 00:29:06.960 --> 00:29:10.320 And Peter's honest with it here, saying, you're right. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:15.460 At one point in life, apart from Jesus, maybe you didn't belong to him, you were not his people. 00:29:17.460 --> 00:29:24.480 And maybe because of the sin in your life, maybe you weren't to receive mercy. 00:29:24.540 --> 00:29:25.860 Maybe it is the wrath of God. 00:29:28.280 --> 00:29:33.300 But thanks be to Christ, because those that are not his people become his people. 00:29:34.940 --> 00:29:39.040 And those who don't deserve mercy receive mercy because of his grace. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:43.760 That's exactly what the cross of Christ represents for us. 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:52.540 A place to turn and look at the accusations of Satan who heaps our past upon us and to remind him none of the goodness of 00:29:52.540 --> 00:29:58.250 who we are, but the goodness of who Jesus is and what he says about us because of what he has done for us through the cross. 00:30:01.320 --> 00:30:08.480 When you don't know your position before God all the time, you're trying to fight to validate who 00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:08.960 you are. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:11.980 When you don't know your position before others, it's unsettling. 00:30:11.980 --> 00:30:14.120 You want to be loved. 00:30:14.120 --> 00:30:14.830 You want to be accepted. 00:30:15.300 --> 00:30:16.030 You want to belong. 00:30:16.040 --> 00:30:17.140 You want to prove yourself. 00:30:19.560 --> 00:30:24.380 But in Jesus the identity is there. 00:30:25.980 --> 00:30:27.060 A people for him. 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:30.800 And because of the position God has given you. 00:30:31.880 --> 00:30:39.380 He knows during the coronavirus you may have learned some shortcomings in your life, but 00:30:39.380 --> 00:30:40.160 he still loves you. 00:30:41.540 --> 00:30:48.620 And he still wants to do his work in you, and because of the position given to you in Christ, you can go united in him 00:30:48.620 --> 00:30:55.440 as one living building in Jesus and represent him wherever you are because you are royalty. 00:30:55.460 --> 00:30:57.080 You hold the priesthood in Christ. 00:30:58.780 --> 00:31:04.440 You're a living miracle to what Jesus is doing because he took a stone which was dead and he brought it to life. 00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:11.240 And because of this, wherever you go, you represent Christ. 00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:18.760 And maybe your story isn't that you lead 10,000 people to him, it's not about the results. 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:25.100 For us, it's about a Christ like love and faithfulness to him. 00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:28.460 I think that in itself inspires others. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:37.040 May I be faithful and may my faithfulness be a tool to inspire others to the love of God because of the love that 00:31:37.040 --> 00:31:38.500 he has given me. 00:31:40.080 --> 00:31:43.140 This week I was reading about Amy Carmichael. 00:31:44.540 --> 00:31:51.560 And Amy Carmichael I think was one that understood her position in Christ and because of that, it led her to places in the world where she could love people 00:31:51.560 --> 00:31:53.430 that maybe even felt unlovable. 00:31:53.480 --> 00:31:57.060 She went to India and she started a ministry rescuing young girls. 00:32:00.280 --> 00:32:02.330 They asked the young girls, they call it her Amma. 00:32:03.420 --> 00:32:06.640 Why did you, why did you love Amy Carmichael? 00:32:09.140 --> 00:32:16.440 Amy Carmichael, by the way, she was in the 1800 into the 1950s you can see photos of Amy Carmichael 00:32:16.440 --> 00:32:16.920 today. 00:32:16.940 --> 00:32:23.600 But they said to these young girls that Amy minister too, why did you love her? 00:32:25.240 --> 00:32:32.620 They responded this way, they said that we love Amma because they knew, Amma 00:32:32.620 --> 00:32:33.540 loved them. 00:32:36.530 --> 00:32:42.460 The love of Jesus in her life on transformed the lives of those around them. 00:32:43.940 --> 00:32:51.170 Amy Carmichael once reflected on a young lady that wrote her a letter and they said, what is it like to be a missionary? 00:32:51.200 --> 00:32:57.460 And Amy Carmichael just simply wrote back saying, missionary life is simply a chance to die. 00:33:00.320 --> 00:33:07.700 And that's the beauty of this picture in 1 Peter for us is it's this recognition that yes, we are dead. 00:33:07.700 --> 00:33:08.720 It's this living stone. 00:33:09.100 --> 00:33:16.360 And when we come to him as stones dead in our trespasses and sins before God, but God takes 00:33:16.360 --> 00:33:19.520 that heart of stone and he gives it life. 00:33:21.660 --> 00:33:26.800 And the dying to self and the turning over of self to him, Jesus births that life into us. 00:33:27.260 --> 00:33:30.910 And as I was reading about Amy Carmichael's life, she gave this beautiful poem. 00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:37.640 I think it's fitting that it become our prayer as we understand our identity in Jesus. 00:33:38.820 --> 00:33:44.540 Amy wrote this word, I think it was because she understood her position given to her because of Christ. 00:33:44.900 --> 00:33:52.420 She said this, "Give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, the 00:33:52.420 --> 00:33:57.020 hope, no disappointments tire, the passions that will burn like fire. 00:33:57.300 --> 00:33:59.480 Let me not sink to be a clod. 00:33:59.660 --> 00:34:02.880 Make me Thy fuel, Oh flame of God. 00:34:05.720 --> 00:34:10.659 Everything that we are in this world it's not because of us. 00:34:12.900 --> 00:34:19.940 The things that we are because of us will perish, but it's the things that we are because of him that 00:34:19.940 --> 00:34:20.040 endures. 00:34:22.440 --> 00:34:29.480 Your worth as a human being, intrinsically given to you by God and your position as a believer has everything 00:34:29.480 --> 00:34:32.960 to do with what Jesus has done for you. 00:34:32.960 --> 00:34:34.000 It is enough.