SPEAKER_01: This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God.
SPEAKER_01: For more information about Grand Parkway, visit Grandparkway.org.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, I thank you that what we were just singing is true.
SPEAKER_00: That you're worthy.
SPEAKER_00: You're worthy, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for what you've done for us, God.
SPEAKER_00: You've been far better to us than any of us deserve.
SPEAKER_00: We're so grateful this morning, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray as I preach this morning, would your Holy Spirit come and speak to us?
SPEAKER_00: Would you encourage us where we need encourage?
SPEAKER_00: Would you challenge us where we need challenge, God?
SPEAKER_00: We came this morning because we need to hear from you.
SPEAKER_00: We could be out on a boat in a lake somewhere.
SPEAKER_00: It's Memorial Day weekend, Lord, but we came because we want to hear from you.
SPEAKER_00: And so I pray that you'd you'd speak to us this morning, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: In your name I pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing I gotta tell you guys is some good news.
SPEAKER_00: My wife yesterday had a baby.
SPEAKER_00: And so um my son was born late last night.
SPEAKER_00: His name's Bear Knox.
SPEAKER_00: I know last week I said, you know, the thing with the name that we weren't gonna tell you until afterwards.
SPEAKER_00: So now, yeah, you can't complain.
SPEAKER_00: That's just the name.
SPEAKER_00: Um, Bear Knox.
SPEAKER_00: So we're very excited.
SPEAKER_00: Still can't believe that God's been that good to us to give us another child.
SPEAKER_00: Um, but this morning I want to share with you some news that is it's hard for me to believe right now, but it's actually better news than that.
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about what Christ has done for us, which is far better and far more impactful and more significant news than having a new child.
SPEAKER_00: Think about that for a minute.
SPEAKER_00: What Christ did for us.
SPEAKER_00: Way, way better than a new baby.
SPEAKER_00: So let's go to 1 Peter chapter 1.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read verses 1 through 5.
SPEAKER_00: That's where we're gonna spend the morning.
SPEAKER_00: 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 1 through 5.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna read.
SPEAKER_00: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Capitol, Asia, and Bithnea, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, and the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.
SPEAKER_00: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.
SPEAKER_00: All right, so that's God's word for us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Let's uh let's dig into the book.
SPEAKER_00: Verse one says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And I think the thing to note here is that Peter, that's a name, that's the name Jesus gave him.
SPEAKER_00: His name used to be Simeon, and Jesus said, No, that's not who you are anymore.
SPEAKER_00: You're you're Peter, and that name meant rock.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, On this rock, I'm gonna build my church.
SPEAKER_00: And that that became significant for Peter that that was his name.
SPEAKER_00: Later in the book, he's gonna refer to the people in this book as living stones.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's kind of carrying on what Jesus did for him.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, It's not just me, you guys are called to be living stones as well.
SPEAKER_00: He also says, um, his name's not just Peter, he says I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the kind of thing that you see in a lot of the letters in the New Testament.
SPEAKER_00: When Peter or Paul starts a letter, they often start off by like, hey, this isn't something I did, this is something Christ did for me.
SPEAKER_00: He called me to be an apostle, and that's how I got appointed to this role.
SPEAKER_00: The next verse or the next sentence there, he says, To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion, elect exiles, does that sound weird to anybody else?
SPEAKER_00: It's like two words, like elect kind of makes you feel good and wonderful inside, and exiles is like I don't I don't know if I want to be an exile.
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of two different words there.
SPEAKER_00: Um, so when you when you look at the word exiles, what Peter's referring to, so what you got to realize with Peter, when he's writing this book, he's he's very Jewish.
SPEAKER_00: And so when being Jewish, Jewish words come out of his mouth.
SPEAKER_00: And and the word exile to Peter, he would be thinking back to the Old Testament.
SPEAKER_00: And in the Old Testament, the Jewish people were God's chosen people, and he said, One day I'm gonna give you a land and you're gonna prosper there, and that happens for them.
SPEAKER_00: He gives them the land of Israel and they prosper.
SPEAKER_00: But then he says, if you want to keep the land, you're gonna have to obey what I've I've called you to do.
SPEAKER_00: And they don't do that, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like they disobey over hundreds of years.
SPEAKER_00: They disobey and disobey.
SPEAKER_00: And God says prophet after prophet after prophet to warn them and say, guys, you gotta get back on track, you gotta follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And they're at the end, they're kind of like, Yeah, that we're you just love us anyhow, we'll do whatever we want, forget it.
SPEAKER_00: And they get exiled.
SPEAKER_00: A nation comes and conquers them, and they get led off in chains to another country.
SPEAKER_00: That's what exile would be.
SPEAKER_00: That is what Peter is referring to when he uses the phrase exile.
SPEAKER_00: It's living in a foreign land that isn't your homeland.
SPEAKER_00: But he calls them elect exiles.
SPEAKER_00: Um, if you look at verse 4-3, I think it can give a little more to what's going on here.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 4, verse 3 of 1 Peter, he says, For the time is that the time that is past suffices for doing what Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter's kind of identifying who he's writing to right there.
SPEAKER_00: And he's saying he's writing to the Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: This book, if you look at it, you would see this book wasn't written to Jewish people, it was written to Gentiles.
SPEAKER_00: Gentiles are simply non-Jewish people, which is probably the majority of us in the audience were probably mostly Gentile.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's identifying Gentile sins in this passage.
SPEAKER_00: All this stuff in here, idolatry, parties, all that kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: This is all the kind of things that Gentiles struggled with.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews didn't struggle with this kind of stuff.
SPEAKER_00: The Jews struggled with legalism.
SPEAKER_00: They were trying so hard to follow all the rules of scripture, and and and they'd get in trouble because they were adding to the rules and making more rules.
SPEAKER_00: That was the Jewish issue.
SPEAKER_00: The Gentile issue was just doing whatever they wanted and sending it up.
SPEAKER_00: And so Peter is writing to these Gentile believers, and they're starting to feel like exiles in their culture.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason they're starting to feel like exiles is because they're being persecuted.
SPEAKER_00: How are they being persecuted?
SPEAKER_00: If you look at chapter 2, verse 12, it says there that they're being reviled.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter 223 and also 3.9, I'm sorry, 212 says they're being spoken evil of.
SPEAKER_00: 223 and 3.9 says they're being reviled.
SPEAKER_00: In 3.1, it says that wives are suffering under unbelieving husbands.
SPEAKER_00: In 314, it says they're suffering for righteousness' sake.
SPEAKER_00: In 316, it says they're being accused and called account, called to account for their hope.
SPEAKER_00: And in 4-1, it says they're suffering in the flesh.
SPEAKER_00: So minimum here, they're experiencing social persecution.
SPEAKER_00: This is a kind of persecution where, you know, maybe you have a business deal that you want to do with this other guy in your town and things are going great.
SPEAKER_00: And then he's like, Well, you know, what which one of the gods do you worship?
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, Well, I worship Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And you're like, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_00: And then you start to explain it, and he's like, I don't want to do the deal anymore, I'm out.
SPEAKER_00: Or um, maybe it's uh maybe you have some friends and you used to go to the temple with them and worship these false gods and do all kinds of crazy stuff, and you're like, Yeah, I can't, I'm I'm a Christian now, I can't do that anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And they're like, What are you talking about, man?
SPEAKER_00: Like, you're too good for us now, you can't do it?
SPEAKER_00: Fine, we're not friends with you.
SPEAKER_00: And they they just ditch you.
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of persecution these people were going through.
SPEAKER_00: And I think when you think about that kind of persecution, what Peter's saying is you're elect exiles.
SPEAKER_00: Like, yeah, I realize that you guys are exiles.
SPEAKER_00: I realize that's what's what's happening to you.
SPEAKER_00: You you feel like you've been exiled, but you need to understand you're not just exiles, you're elect.
SPEAKER_00: God chose this for you.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't something that's happened by accident.
SPEAKER_00: It's something God placed you there for a purpose and he ordained this season for you.
SPEAKER_00: When I was in uh Taiwan, I had a card when I was there, and on it it said resident alien.
SPEAKER_00: And I was literally not an alien like extraterrestrial, I was a resident alien.
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't my home, but I legally had the right to be there.
SPEAKER_00: That's what that card said of me.
SPEAKER_00: And I think what we need to realize as Americans is like our primary allegiance isn't with America.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, it's Memorial Day.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I I probably couldn't love America much more than I do.
SPEAKER_00: I've been to other countries.
SPEAKER_00: I like I understand how blessed we are.
SPEAKER_00: I know what a good country this is.
SPEAKER_00: I'm grateful for our soldiers, and I'm working for the good of our nation.
SPEAKER_00: I want to see our nation prosper.
SPEAKER_00: However, I also realize that my primary citizenship is not as an American citizen.
SPEAKER_00: My primary citizenship is a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, right?
SPEAKER_00: And so what that means is that sometimes I don't feel super comfortable in America.
SPEAKER_00: I I remember when I was living in Taiwan, I'd been there for like seven, eight years, and I remember a year or two in, I flew back from my furlough or my vacation in the States.
SPEAKER_00: And when I came home, I was like, I don't, this doesn't feel like home anymore.
SPEAKER_00: And I remember then I flew back to Taiwan and I was like, well, Taiwan's kind of my home.
SPEAKER_00: It kind of feels like home, but not really.
SPEAKER_00: And America doesn't really feel like home anymore either.
SPEAKER_00: And I kind of got depressed about it, and I was like, what's going on here?
SPEAKER_00: And at that time I felt like the Holy Spirit came to me and said, Brent, this is this is a good thing.
SPEAKER_00: Like you're understanding what it is to be a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: You shouldn't feel comfortable in either nation because neither of them are your primary residence.
SPEAKER_00: But your primary residence is in the kingdom of heaven.
SPEAKER_00: And here's how I think this relates to us.
SPEAKER_00: I I think for us in our nation, I don't know that we're really facing persecution, especially down here in Texas where everybody says they go to church on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I don't I don't know that we're facing real persecution, but I think we are facing some social stuff.
SPEAKER_00: Like I think, I think politically, we as Christians, we're used to being uh kind of in the center and having some power and some clout.
SPEAKER_00: And I think we feel ourselves being pushed to the margins more and more in America.
SPEAKER_00: I think most of us can feel that.
SPEAKER_00: And and could I just encourage you?
SPEAKER_00: I I think actually the margins, I'm not saying we should want that.
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray that we continue to have influence.
SPEAKER_00: But if it does happen, I think that's actually where the Holy Spirit works the best.
SPEAKER_00: Because when we have power, we think we can do things on our own and we become less dependent on the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: But when we don't have power, then 2 Corinthians stuff can start to happen, where God's strength is made perfect in our weakness.
SPEAKER_00: That's the theme of that book, all through 2 Corinthians.
SPEAKER_00: God's power is made perfect in our weakness.
SPEAKER_00: And when we're weak, we depend on Jesus more, and he's able to work through us in a more powerful way.
SPEAKER_00: And so I think that possibly that's what the Lord is doing right now.
SPEAKER_00: We've been pushed to the margins, but but he, we also, you know, Peter's writing this as an alien to aliens and saying, guys, this isn't an accident, God's ordained this.
SPEAKER_00: So we continue.
SPEAKER_00: It says the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Asia, and Bithhnia.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter refers to them as the dispersion.
SPEAKER_00: This is also a Jewish word, the diaspora.
SPEAKER_00: And that this these are the Jews that have been scattered all over the world.
SPEAKER_00: And what Peter's saying to them is, you're part of that now.
SPEAKER_00: You've been grafted in.
SPEAKER_00: Like you're part of God's people now, and you're part of the dispersion.
SPEAKER_00: And these places, they're all in modern day Turkey.
SPEAKER_00: These are all cities in modern day Turkey.
SPEAKER_00: So he's writing to them to encourage them.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, as we continue on, he says, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with his blood.
SPEAKER_00: Did you guys notice the Trinity in that passage?
SPEAKER_00: We got the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: They're all hanging out in that passage.
SPEAKER_00: You'll see this a lot of places in Scripture, but this is a spot where you see the Trinity.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, according to the foreknowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: Peter is trying to let these persecuted people know that what's happening to them is not an accident.
SPEAKER_00: Like God's in control of the situation.
SPEAKER_00: God's not surprised by what's happening to them.
SPEAKER_00: And I think often people that are going through difficult times, this is something that on the surface, we we think they just need to be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: We need to say nice stuff to them, but they also need to know that God's in control.
SPEAKER_00: And he's sovereign over the situation and they can trust him.
SPEAKER_00: I'm reading a book right now.
SPEAKER_00: It's called, I'm not sure what it's called.
SPEAKER_00: It's about these two ladies that were imprisoned.
SPEAKER_00: I just said it's I should remember.
SPEAKER_00: It's called it's about these two ladies that were imprisoned in Iran.
SPEAKER_00: So it's something along those lines, is the title.
SPEAKER_00: And uh anyhow, these ladies, what the reason they get in prison is they converted to Christianity from the Muslim faith.
SPEAKER_00: And so that's not legal in Iran.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, number two, they start to share their faith.
SPEAKER_00: When people come up to them and ask them about Christianity, they tell them, yeah, we're Christians and they they share the gospel, and they often give people a Bible when people ask and pray for them when people ask.
SPEAKER_00: They only did it when people ask, because that's all that's legal in Iran.
SPEAKER_00: Well, the authorities find out about it, they raid their home.
SPEAKER_00: In their home, they find hundreds of Bibles.
SPEAKER_00: These ladies are really in deep trouble now because in Iran, you can be executed for this.
SPEAKER_00: And sure enough, Iran ends up sending them to a prison that is the prison where you get tortured and eventually killed.
SPEAKER_00: That's what this prison's known for.
SPEAKER_00: It's the most notorious prison in the nation.
SPEAKER_00: And so these ladies are there.
SPEAKER_00: And what they realize while they're there is that God has ordained this and he has sent them there.
SPEAKER_00: Because what happens in prison, when you're in prison, the other prisoners come up to you and they say, Why are you here?
SPEAKER_00: Do you see what happens for them every single time?
SPEAKER_00: They get to share their faith with every single person they come in contact with.
SPEAKER_00: And tons of people in these Iranian prisons end up coming to know Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: They they the people in the prison, they they become known as these ladies that will pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: And they become known as these ladies when they pray for you, God actually answers their prayers.
SPEAKER_00: And so they have people coming to them and being like, Will you pray for us?
SPEAKER_00: Because we hear your answer, your God will answer the prayer if you pray.
SPEAKER_00: So will you do that for us?
SPEAKER_00: And and and they do.
SPEAKER_00: One day, um, they end up being uh interrogated by this policeman.
SPEAKER_00: And they're in the room with this guy, and this guy, you know, he's getting mad because they're not listening and they they won't back down and they're still standing for their faith.
SPEAKER_00: And he says, You know, I could have you executed tomorrow if I wanted to.
SPEAKER_00: And they look at him and they say, No, you couldn't.
SPEAKER_00: Because God decides when we get executed.
SPEAKER_00: You might you might execute us tomorrow, but if that happens, it's because it was God's will, but we might not be supposed to die for 10 years, and that would probably be what God has preordained as well.
SPEAKER_00: You don't get to decide when we die, so you can't scare us with that threat because God decides when we die.
SPEAKER_00: Do you see how people that are persecuted, this is something they need to understand.
SPEAKER_00: You need to understand that God is in control.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're going through difficulty right now, you need to know that God's not caught by surprise by it.
SPEAKER_00: He knew it was coming and he is walking with you through it.
SPEAKER_00: He might not answer your prayers in exactly the time that you want him to.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, the few times I've gone through difficulty in my life, he hasn't answered prayers exactly when I wanted to.
SPEAKER_00: He's let me suffer longer than I thought was even just.
SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you he has been good in the middle of it.
SPEAKER_00: You need to trust him.
SPEAKER_00: Um so foreknowledge of God.
SPEAKER_00: God knows what's going on.
SPEAKER_00: The next thing it says is it says, in the sanctification of the Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Sanctification is a big word, and it just means it's how the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to make us more and more like Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So we start to love the things that God loves more and more, and we start to hate the things that God hates more and more.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's basically sanctification in our heart.
SPEAKER_00: It's us growing in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: And so again, I think Peter is writing to these persecuted believers, and he's saying, listen, guys, you need to know this isn't an accident.
SPEAKER_00: Like God's God's not, it's it's not just that it's not an accident, it's also that God is actually gonna grow you through it.
SPEAKER_00: He's gonna sanctify you through the difficulties that you're facing.
SPEAKER_00: Um I I told you earlier that in my life I've I've tasted suffering just a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: I've been so blessed.
SPEAKER_00: God's been so good to me.
SPEAKER_00: For me to say I've suffered in my life is a little bit, um, a little bit funny to me because I haven't really suffered.
SPEAKER_00: But the few times that I have, here's the question that often comes up in my heart.
SPEAKER_00: I start asking why.
SPEAKER_00: I say, Why are you allowing this, God?
SPEAKER_00: Like, I thought we had a good relationship, I've been obeying you, what's going on?
SPEAKER_00: Did I sin?
SPEAKER_00: Is it like this is the kind of stuff that starts to come up in my heart when I start to go through difficulties?
SPEAKER_00: And I think Peter knows this is gonna come up in their hearts as well.
SPEAKER_00: And what Peter is saying is God is working through it, he's gonna grow you, he's doing this for your growth, he's doing it for your growth.
SPEAKER_00: Could I just kind of differentiate between suffering and the consequences of our poor choices for a second?
SPEAKER_00: Because I think as Americans, we struggle with those two.
SPEAKER_00: So, consequences of your poor choices.
SPEAKER_00: If you're in massive credit card debt, that's not suffering.
SPEAKER_00: That you made a bad choice to go into credit card debt and you're suffering the consequences of your poor choices, okay?
SPEAKER_00: That's not suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe you're playing soccer this afternoon and you start talking trash, and you notice the one guy, he's getting pretty mad at your trash talk, and you just say one more thing because you know it's gonna push him over the edge, and it pushes him over the edge and he pops you in the face, you're not suffering.
SPEAKER_00: That's consequences of your poor choices again.
SPEAKER_00: You see?
SPEAKER_00: Um, but stuff like cancer, that's suffering.
SPEAKER_00: Somebody, if you if you're a kid in school and somebody's making fun of you and you've done nothing to earn it, that's true suffering.
SPEAKER_00: You see the difference between the two.
SPEAKER_00: So I want to be careful with that, because I think sometimes people think consequences are bad choices is is suffering.
SPEAKER_00: And what God's gonna do is He's gonna use the stuff that you go through to sanctify you, to grow you.
SPEAKER_00: The difficult things you grow through, he's gonna sanctify you through them.
SPEAKER_00: Let me let me give you some examples.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe this week your boss comes to you and he says, I'm gonna give you a raise.
SPEAKER_00: And I just wanna, you've been working hard here and I'm gonna give you a raise.
SPEAKER_00: And when when when God allows that to happen in your life, I think that's God ordained.
SPEAKER_00: And I think what God is doing for you is he's gonna sanctify you through that blessing.
SPEAKER_00: And you have a choice now.
SPEAKER_00: You know, it's God kind of asking you, you said that your wallet was mine.
SPEAKER_00: You said that I was the one in control of it.
SPEAKER_00: Am I still the one in control of it now that you got a raise, or do you need to go buy a new boat or a new car?
SPEAKER_00: And that might be fine.
SPEAKER_00: You might be able to buy a new boat or a new car, but like, are you gonna check with me first?
SPEAKER_00: Am I still the boss of your finances, or does that change now that you got a raise?
SPEAKER_00: You see how God will use even good things to sanctify us.
SPEAKER_00: Um, or maybe it's the opposite.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a coworker at work who's the worst person to work with, they're always complaining, they're always gossiping, they're always upset with the boss, they're upset with you, and you're just completely you're you're done with them.
SPEAKER_00: You you don't want to deal with them anymore, you're even trying to avoid them at work.
SPEAKER_00: Do you realize that God most likely placed that person in your life for your sanctification so that you could grow in him?
SPEAKER_00: He is probably asking you things like, you know, you say all the time that we should love our enemies.
SPEAKER_00: What about them?
SPEAKER_00: You, you know, do you notice that some of the things that they're doing are things that you actually do as well, and that's why it's setting you off?
SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about that.
SPEAKER_00: Um He could also be asking you, you know, you say that you love me, but if you can't love this person you can see, how do you really love me that you can't see?
SPEAKER_00: And God will use these kind of people in our life to challenge us and to grow us.
SPEAKER_00: So the people in this book, they're being sanctified.
SPEAKER_00: Next it says, for sanctification in the spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ, and for sprinkling with his blood, sprinkling with his blood.
SPEAKER_00: I think there's some foreshadowing here to 2 9 where it says you're a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
SPEAKER_00: I kind of think that at the beginning of the book here, Peter is um, Peter's kind of saying, You guys are all priests.
SPEAKER_00: Like this is the beginning of the book, and Peter's saying, each and every one of you are priests.
SPEAKER_00: You know, back in Exodus chapter 29, when Aaron and his sons became priests, the way they were ordained is they sprinkled them with blood.
SPEAKER_00: And this is Peter kind of sprinkling his church audience here with blood and saying, You guys are all called to be priests.
SPEAKER_00: A phrase that you'll hear here in this church is you'll hear pastors around here and just regular attenders of the church will say, I trust your priesthood.
SPEAKER_00: This is what we're talking about.
SPEAKER_00: We're saying that we trust that God has put the Holy Spirit in you and that you actually have the ability to understand God's word, to pray, to minister to others.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't the Catholic Church where you have to go to a priest to interact with God.
SPEAKER_00: We believe that each and every one of us has the Holy Spirit in us, and that means we have the ability to interact with God on our own.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: Another thing that I think Peter is doing here, he's saying you're all priests, but the second thing he's saying is he's reminding them when you get sprinkled with blood, that that's signifying that Christ's blood came and he covered your sin and you've been made righteous in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That that's true for the believers in this book as well, that they've they've been made righteous in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: They're they're high priests called to lead men in worship to God.
SPEAKER_00: And so when you go to breakfast this week with your friends or something, you're walking in that door, or you're thinking, you know, I'm a priest, I'm called to minister.
SPEAKER_00: And while I'm eating with these guys, I need to be checking in with the Holy Spirit and seeing if he wants me to minister to them or pray for them.
SPEAKER_00: Or do you do you think that?
SPEAKER_00: Do you realize the value of what you carry?
SPEAKER_00: Um, would you say your identity has been more shaped by what God says about you or what the world says about you?
SPEAKER_00: Your identity is it more shaped about what by what God says about you or what the world says about you?
SPEAKER_00: When somebody comes and asks you, who are you?
SPEAKER_00: Or the first thing that come to mind are you like, well, I'm a branch manager, or I work at McDonald's, or I'm a plumber, or I'm a teacher, or uh maybe you say stuff like I'm a housewife, maybe, maybe I'm not very smart, or I'm not a good person, I always make mistakes, I don't even know if God even likes me.
SPEAKER_00: Is that the kind of stuff that comes out of you?
SPEAKER_00: Some of that stuff's okay, and some of it's completely not even true.
SPEAKER_00: Is that what your primary identity is?
SPEAKER_00: Or is your identity this kind of stuff that you've been sprinkled in his blood?
SPEAKER_00: You you are a great high priest of the most high God, and you're a son or daughter of the king, and and because of his death on the cross, you're you're forgiven and you walk in that now.
SPEAKER_00: Which one of those two are you walking in?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Because God paid a great price for that to be true about you.
SPEAKER_00: And I think because of the price that he paid, we can't we can't allow the people in this world to rob us of our identity in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: So as as we go through this passage, it's like the joy just kind of builds.
SPEAKER_00: Um, Peter says in verse 3, he says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: You guys see the exclamation point at the end of that sentence?
SPEAKER_00: This is like Peter just yelling it.
SPEAKER_00: Like he's so Excited about what God's done for him, and he's about to share some really amazing stuff.
SPEAKER_00: And so he continues and he says, according to his great mercy, he's caused us to be born again, caused us to be born again according to his great mercy.
SPEAKER_00: It's an interesting phrase.
SPEAKER_00: You know, there's nowhere in scripture where it says anything but God's mercy is why he chose to do what he did for us, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like it doesn't say in scripture that, you know, because you are a Sunday school teacher, or because you lead a community group, or because you lead a discipleship group, or you serve in a kid's ministry, or you serve back at the soundboard, or because you regularly attend church, because of that, that's why God saved you.
SPEAKER_00: Because you did all that good stuff, that's why he chose to save you.
SPEAKER_00: That's not what scripture says.
SPEAKER_00: It says one thing alone is why God saved you, because of his mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's just who he is.
SPEAKER_00: I'll try to bring it down into our world a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: If you, if if you had a friend who's maybe a father and he has a daughter, and he says, according to my mercy and my love for my daughter, I'm gonna spend time with her according to my mercy and love for her.
SPEAKER_00: If he said that, you'd expect he's gonna spend a lot of time with her, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because he probably really loves her, a lot of time's gonna be spent with her.
SPEAKER_00: Or if he said, According to my mercy and love, I'm gonna buy a house for my daughter, again, we'd be like, Well, that's probably gonna be a pretty big house because we know he really loves her.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's helping us some, but I think the problem with us bringing it down into our world and using human terminology about it is we fluctuate, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like there are days where I'm more merciful than other days, and God's not like that.
SPEAKER_00: Like there's not a day where God's like, yeah, I'm sorry, I wasn't as merciful today.
SPEAKER_00: Tomorrow I'll try to do better.
SPEAKER_00: He's just merciful, it's just who he is.
SPEAKER_00: But see, I'm not.
SPEAKER_00: Like there's days where I do great.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I'm a wonderful husband, I anticipate the needs of my wife, I wrestle with my kids and have fun with them and read the Bible and lead spiritually and do all this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But there are other days where I'm not, where I want them to serve me.
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, why is my wife not being kinder to me and more loving?
SPEAKER_00: And with my kids, I'm like, I have I'm too tired.
SPEAKER_00: Why do they want me to wrestle with them when I'm so exhausted?
SPEAKER_00: Why can't they see how tired I am?
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Like my mercy goes up and down according to how connected to God I am.
SPEAKER_00: But God's mercy doesn't.
SPEAKER_00: God is just merciful, it's just who He is.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's really hard for us to grasp, but it's true.
SPEAKER_00: Um in Lamentations 323, it says this about God's mercy.
SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
SPEAKER_00: 322.
SPEAKER_00: The steadfast love of the Lord, it never ceases.
SPEAKER_00: His mercies never come to an end.
SPEAKER_00: They're new every morning.
SPEAKER_00: Great is your faithfulness.
SPEAKER_00: His mercies never come to an end.
SPEAKER_00: God is just merciful.
SPEAKER_00: You know what happens in times of persecution when people are being persecuted?
SPEAKER_00: What do people often do?
SPEAKER_00: They sell out, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like they they come into a situation where it's like they realize if I tell them I'm a believer, I'm not gonna get this business deal.
SPEAKER_00: Or if or if I don't go with my friends and do what they want to do, and like they're not gonna be my friends anymore.
SPEAKER_00: So I'm just gonna pretend for tonight it'll be okay, and I'm just gonna I'm gonna kind of sell out.
SPEAKER_00: And when you do that, there's there's some shame that comes on you, right?
SPEAKER_00: Because you know that's what you just did.
SPEAKER_00: You you know you just sold out.
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that that Peter maybe was pretty familiar with this?
SPEAKER_00: Remember Peter's story?
SPEAKER_00: Uh Jesus came to the disciples one day and he said, Hey guys, you know, I'm gonna die and then I'm I'm gonna rise again.
SPEAKER_00: That's what's gonna happen, that's what's destined for me.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter kind of argues with him about that, and God's like, no, this is it's gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: And so then Peter, at some point, he kind of accepts it and he's like, Well, I'll be there for you, I'll stay by your side.
SPEAKER_00: Don't you worry, I'll never deny you.
SPEAKER_00: And and Jesus, when he says that, Jesus is like, No, that's not actually gonna happen.
SPEAKER_00: Actually, tonight, before the rooster crows three times, you're gonna deny me three times.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's just kind of quiet after that.
SPEAKER_00: And sure enough, that night, before the rooster crows three times, Peter denies Jesus three times.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this wouldn't have been quite as bad if Jesus had just said this to Peter and nobody else was around, but all 12 disciples were there and heard Peter act so tough and say he'd never deny his best friend on earth.
SPEAKER_00: And then Peter goes and does it, and I'm sure those 12 disciples found out because that kind of news travels fast.
SPEAKER_00: You imagine the shame that Peter must have felt in that moment.
SPEAKER_00: And see, if Peter, if he would have, if he would have based his value and his worth on what he did, I think it would have slowly killed him.
SPEAKER_00: But at some point, Peter said, No, I I can never do it.
SPEAKER_00: I can never do enough to earn God's love.
SPEAKER_00: It's just his mercy.
SPEAKER_00: It's just mercy, mercy, mercy that's gonna give me new life.
SPEAKER_00: How are we doing with this?
SPEAKER_00: Um, are we interacting with God on the basis of our works, on the basis of his mercy?
SPEAKER_00: On the basis of what we've done or on the basis of what Christ did on our behalf?
SPEAKER_00: If you are interacting with God on the basis of what he's done, you're probably a really happy, grateful, pretty wonderful person to be around.
SPEAKER_00: Because you just you can't believe how good God's been to you.
SPEAKER_00: If you're not, you're probably a rather bitter and judgmental person because trying to live according to the law is exhausting.
SPEAKER_00: It's exhausting.
SPEAKER_00: Because on one side, maybe it's a person in the pew next to you, you'll be like, well, I'm at least I'm doing better than them, and you get puffed up.
SPEAKER_00: On the other side, you'll look at people like Mother Teresa and Billy Graham, and you'll be like, man, I'm not even close.
SPEAKER_00: And then you'll you'll go down.
SPEAKER_00: But either way, you're always up and down, and you you'll just you'll just be this up and down a person, up and down person, and Satan will constantly be accusing you and going after you on those two things.
SPEAKER_00: And I think what you need to do in this situation is you need to go to Satan and you need to say, Yeah, you're right.
SPEAKER_00: I am a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: If I compare myself to Jesus, I fall far short.
SPEAKER_00: I've sinned so much.
SPEAKER_00: But you know what?
SPEAKER_00: I do deserve to die.
SPEAKER_00: You're right, Satan.
SPEAKER_00: But you're forgetting the other half of the story.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus did that on my behalf.
SPEAKER_00: And now I'm forgiven.
SPEAKER_00: I'm set free.
SPEAKER_00: I'm made righteous in him, and you need to get out of here.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh, Matt Chandler, he says this.
SPEAKER_00: I think it's a great quote.
SPEAKER_00: He says, The marker of those who understand the gospel of Jesus Christ is that when they stumble and fall, when they screw up, they run to God and not from him, because they clearly understand that their acceptance before God is not predicated upon their behavior, but on the righteous life of Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death.
SPEAKER_00: That is what we need to experience.
SPEAKER_00: That goodness of God, that's what we need to get in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: It goes on and it says, according to his great mercies, causes to be born again to a living hope.
SPEAKER_00: A living hope is something that grows and increases.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a dead hope.
SPEAKER_00: It's a living hope.
SPEAKER_00: And when something's living, it's growing, it's increasing, right?
SPEAKER_00: Um, and what is that hope placed in?
SPEAKER_00: A living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: So that living hope, what is to be placed in, is Jesus' resurrection from the dead.
SPEAKER_00: You guys realize that we serve a living Savior.
SPEAKER_00: Like all the other religions in the world, the head of that religion has died.
SPEAKER_00: Like that you could probably go to most of them, you could probably find their grave and you would know where they're buried.
SPEAKER_00: But for Jesus, they have tried to find his grave.
SPEAKER_00: There is no grave, there is nobody.
SPEAKER_00: Historically speaking, you can look it up, they've never found it.
SPEAKER_00: And that's pretty compelling evidence for the fact that Jesus actually was who he said he was.
SPEAKER_00: He is the living hope.
SPEAKER_00: And and the kind of hope that we have is hope in a savior that went to a cross and died for our sins.
SPEAKER_00: Have you guys ever thought about Jesus being on the cross and and kind of the shame that he would have faced when he was on the cross, being naked in front of your whole town on a cross, dying and suffering like a criminal would?
SPEAKER_00: How shameful that would be.
SPEAKER_00: But that'd be, I'd I'd feel so much shame if you guys saw that.
SPEAKER_00: Do you understand that when Jesus went to the cross, he went to the cross to remove that kind of shame?
SPEAKER_00: There's no reason for you to feel the shame anymore because he's now given you honor in place of that shame.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what has happened to you, Christ came and he gave you honor.
SPEAKER_00: Like Jesus was seated high above at the highest seat in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: There's not a more honorable seat in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: And it says in Ephesians that we're seated there with him.
SPEAKER_00: He's honored you greatly.
SPEAKER_00: Um let's keep moving.
SPEAKER_00: Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that's imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
SPEAKER_00: So when we think of an inheritance, we think of our parents passing away and they're gonna leave us something behind.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they leave us a home, maybe hopefully some money, maybe a car, you know, the furniture in their home.
SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of stuff that we get.
SPEAKER_00: Do you realize that all of those things, they're perishable, they're fading, like they're not gonna last forever.
SPEAKER_00: Even the money, guys, like even money, you know, with inflation, that means the value of your money just keeps going down.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's what happens.
SPEAKER_00: None of it will last forever.
SPEAKER_00: And eventually one day we'll die and we we can't take it with us.
SPEAKER_00: Heaven or hell, it's not going with us.
SPEAKER_00: And so, whatever it is that Peter's talking about here, he says it's imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, and that it's kept in heaven for you.
SPEAKER_00: Um he says, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I believe he's saying.
SPEAKER_00: I think our inheritance is the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Because that's the only thing that's imperishable, unfading.
SPEAKER_00: It's the only thing that's gonna last forever.
SPEAKER_00: It's our relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You know, those two women that were imprisoned in Iran, the reason they were able to have so much joy is because they couldn't take Jesus from them.
SPEAKER_00: Like they were still able to interact with Jesus, and their hope truly rested in Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was who they loved.
SPEAKER_00: And so they were still able to interact with their greatest joy that couldn't be stolen from them.
SPEAKER_00: And for each of us, one day, you know, that that's great and well and good here on earth that we get to interact with Jesus, that's a wonderful thing.
SPEAKER_00: But do you realize one day we're gonna go to heaven and we'll fully inherit what we're meant to inherit?
SPEAKER_00: And it's gonna be amazing.
SPEAKER_00: Like there's the revelation and some other books try to describe heaven and it's just beyond words.
SPEAKER_00: And that will be our inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: We'll get to spend our eternity with Jesus, who, if he's your joy, you'll be overjoyed.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, I had a friend, and as a child, he he grew up in foster care.
SPEAKER_00: And somehow, growing up in foster care, he eventually heard the gospel and came to Jesus and he ended up at the same Christian college as me.
SPEAKER_00: And I got to know him a little bit there.
SPEAKER_00: But when I really got to know him, it was like 15, 20 years later, he came and he he shared at the church that I used to be at.
SPEAKER_00: And when he was sharing at the church, he shared with me, he said, you know, I've I've never had parents in my life.
SPEAKER_00: Like it's just, it's just been like the stain on my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Like I've always wanted parents.
SPEAKER_00: I long for that kind of relationship, and I've just never had it.
SPEAKER_00: And so he's talking to me about that.
SPEAKER_00: A few weeks later, he calls me and he says, You know what?
SPEAKER_00: I was telling you, I don't have any parents.
SPEAKER_00: He said, I actually do now.
SPEAKER_00: This couple came to me, and as a 35, 37-year-old man, they said, We want to adopt you.
SPEAKER_00: And we want to adopt you into our family, and we want to love you just like we love our kids.
SPEAKER_00: We want you to have an inheritance, just like our kids have an inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: We want you to be able to call.
SPEAKER_00: Anytime you want to call, we want to be a mom and a dad to you.
SPEAKER_00: Think of that just incredible change.
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, I can't even describe to you what this has done to my heart.
SPEAKER_00: Like, I'm understanding things about God that I never got before.
SPEAKER_00: Do you guys understand that for each of us, this is what God has done for us?
SPEAKER_00: We've all been adopted into his kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: We are sons and daughters of a most high king.
SPEAKER_00: That makes us royalty.
SPEAKER_00: Like we're princes and princesses.
SPEAKER_00: That's who we are.
SPEAKER_00: Are you walking in that identity?
SPEAKER_00: That's what this passage is about.
SPEAKER_00: It's about God's mercy, about his grace, and about what he's done for us.
SPEAKER_00: And and I think what we struggle with is um, I think we struggle to to get into that identity and begin to walk in it.
SPEAKER_00: I think we often, you know, when we're given the choice between something perishable or something imperishable, we often choose the imperishable thing.
SPEAKER_00: Like, it's like if somebody come up to you and they said, I want to give you a choice of two homes.
SPEAKER_00: One home has 26 bedrooms, like five bathrooms, there's shiplap on all the walls, there's quartz countertops.
SPEAKER_00: But there's just one thing with this house, it's massive.
SPEAKER_00: It's made of sand.
SPEAKER_00: And so we have a, don't worry though, we have a sprinkler system spraying on it all the time, and it'll probably stay up.
SPEAKER_00: They say there's this other home, it's not updated at all.
SPEAKER_00: But it's made of rock and steel.
SPEAKER_00: And it needs, it needs a lot of work.
SPEAKER_00: But that house has been there for 300 years and it's probably gonna be there for another 500.
SPEAKER_00: Which one do you choose?
SPEAKER_00: I think for all of us it'd be pretty easy because that that sandcastle, it might last you for a couple weeks, but first thing the hurricane's coming used to it, it's gonna be gone, right?
SPEAKER_00: Like it's not, it's not gonna last through that.
SPEAKER_00: And so we got to go with the strong one.
SPEAKER_00: I think what we often do is we choose a sandcastle over a legitimate house all the time.
SPEAKER_00: I think we choose to place our trust and our hope in things that really don't matter.
SPEAKER_00: You know, in America, our culture screams at us from every direction that we need to put all of our hope in our earthly inheritance.
SPEAKER_00: We need to build up that 401k, get a new car, get a bigger house, keep investing.
SPEAKER_00: Like that is what you need to focus your life on.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter in this book is trying to point them to a different kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, that's not the main kingdom, guys.
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God's the main one, and that's where you need to invest.
SPEAKER_00: So, what does it look like for us to invest in God's kingdom?
SPEAKER_00: I think if you're not a believer this morning and the gospel's beginning to penetrate your heart and you're beginning to long for this identity, and you man, that identity sounds pretty glorious.
SPEAKER_00: I think what you need to do is you need to step into it.
SPEAKER_00: You need to say, Jesus, I put it in the ditch so many times.
SPEAKER_00: You're the only one that can save me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to follow you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I repent of my sin.
SPEAKER_00: I just want everything you have.
SPEAKER_00: And that is probably the best investment you can ever make.
SPEAKER_00: You're never gonna get a better return than you get on saying, I want to follow Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: There's just not a better return.
SPEAKER_00: I think it means us making disciples.
SPEAKER_00: It means you, you know, maybe there's a young person that you see, you know, there's something in them, you see a gift or an ability in them, and it's going up to them and saying, I see this in you, and and you encourage them with it.
SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's even more than that.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're like, I don't know, I don't just see this in you, I want to develop this in you.
SPEAKER_00: Let's start meeting and I want to see you grow in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's actually investing in the kingdom, like financially.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's given to this church, given to missionaries, given to other Christian organizations that are helping the gospel to go forth.
SPEAKER_00: Do you know when when you give to a ministry or a missionary like that, it might be changing their life.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, think about it.
SPEAKER_00: The the kids that are going to Brooklyn this summer, if you choose to invest in one of them and the child that you invest in ends up going to Brooklyn, and you know, they Jesus is kind of cool, but they go to Brooklyn and their heart just gets set on fire.
SPEAKER_00: You can't you can't get a return on investment like that.
SPEAKER_00: There's no price to put on somebody's heart being just lit on fire for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: That is a good kingdom investment.
SPEAKER_00: I think another way you can invest in the kingdom is getting into God's word more, reading your Bible more.
SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, a lot of people they ask for wisdom, they say, God, I need more wisdom, I need more wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: And I was that person when I was in my early 20s.
SPEAKER_00: I just I was always praying for wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: And one day as I'm praying for that, I felt the Holy Spirit just kind of real quietly say, uh, Brent, you you want wisdom, but do you know, like this book, the Bible has all the wisdom you want, and you've never read it.
SPEAKER_00: I was like, Oh, you got me, God, that's that's good.
SPEAKER_00: So I spent the next few months in God's Word, and I got through God's Word in like under six months.
SPEAKER_00: I read the whole thing.
SPEAKER_00: And I realized there's a ton of wisdom in here, and I haven't even begun to mine it.
SPEAKER_00: And I've just continued to be in God's word.
SPEAKER_00: And so maybe one thing is you need to spend some more time in God's word.
SPEAKER_00: When when people get into God's word and they're regularly in God's word, they start to grow as believers.
SPEAKER_00: It just happens.
SPEAKER_00: This isn't just a book, it's a supernatural document that will greatly affect you.
SPEAKER_00: One other thing that I would say that we can invest in is just is wisdom.
SPEAKER_00: You know, if you have a chance to go to a marriage conference, that's a great investment in the kingdom and into your marriage.
SPEAKER_00: Buying a good Christian book, that's a good investment in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: Um, buying a resource that's gonna help you understand the Bible better, that's a good investment in the kingdom.
SPEAKER_00: This is the kind of stuff we need to be investing in.
SPEAKER_00: We we don't want to be the kind of people that are constantly putting our money, our resources, our time, our energy into sand castles.
SPEAKER_00: We want to put our time and money and energy into things, something something that's unfading and imperishable.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: Let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, thank you for your word.
SPEAKER_00: I trust, Lord, that you came and spoke this morning.
SPEAKER_00: As we're looking at the questions up there on the screen, Lord, would you come and would you speak to us?
SPEAKER_00: What are you saying to us, God, and what do you want us to do about it this week?
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you'd speak to us and you'd give us a plan of action for this week.
SPEAKER_00: These wouldn't just be words that we hear, but they would be words that we go and do because we're people of faith here, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And faith requires action.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So we have a video that's going to come up here on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: It's just some stuff happening in our church that we would like you to know about.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you for joining us today.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a few things we want you to know.
SPEAKER_01: June 6th is Bible Buddy Adoption Day.
SPEAKER_01: Stop by with your kids at the Pet Adoption Booth outside the kids' building to select a stuffed pet and get a summer Bible reading plan.
SPEAKER_01: Their new pets love the Bible being read today and will have prizes throughout the summer for the owners of the pets that participate.
SPEAKER_01: The Baby Bottle Boomerang Collection continues in the lobby.
SPEAKER_01: All proceeds go to the Pregnancy Resource Medical Center, and bottles are due by Father's Day on June 20th.
SPEAKER_01: We have several opportunities to connect with other men this time.
SPEAKER_01: This Wednesday, all men are invited to dinner at Rudy's Barbecue in Thursday at 6 p.m.
SPEAKER_01: We'll see you then.
SPEAKER_01: Be sure to check out our website at grandparkway.org slash events for updates on events and to learn about ministry opportunities in your church.
SPEAKER_01: If you're new or would like someone to pray with you, find one of our pastors at the front of the stage at the conclusion of our service.
SPEAKER_00: So if you're new here, there are connect cards in the back of the chairs.
SPEAKER_00: And if you'd fill one out, we'd love to hang out with you.
SPEAKER_00: If you want to hang out with us as pastors, we'd love to hang out with you.
SPEAKER_00: We want to hear your story.
SPEAKER_00: I want to get to know you better.
SPEAKER_00: I've probably only met like a sixth of the people in the church, maybe not even that many.
SPEAKER_00: I'd love to meet you.
SPEAKER_00: Um, and then one other thing, there are there's offering in the back as well as boxes.
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to give and and worship in that way, we encourage you to do that as well.
SPEAKER_00: Um, let's pray.
SPEAKER_00: Would you guys stand with me?
SPEAKER_00: I just want to I want to bless you guys.
SPEAKER_00: So let's just put our hands out and receive.
SPEAKER_00: Lord Jesus, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for what you've done for us, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for your incredible mercy toward us, God.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you that this good news is so much better than the good news of a baby being born, God.
SPEAKER_00: Because for each of us, it's new life for us.
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that you'd help us this week to walk in our new identity.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that we would, as we're walking into restaurants and baseball games and all this, the different our home, would you remind us as we walk in, like you're a priest, and I'm calling you to minister.
SPEAKER_00: And we'd be looking for opportunities, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I pray you'd help us to have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend in your name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for coming this morning, guys.