FBC Morning Worship Service

Thankful people who have come together today to worship the Lord, thank Him for all He has done in this past week, in your life personally, in the life of the church, in the life of people that we care about and love, and we thank the Lord for all that He has done and all that He is to us, His people.

Announcements and Welcome to Visitors

Some announcements I want to share with you in your bulletin if you'll note them, and while you're looking, I just want to welcome those who are visiting with us today, trust the Lord will bless and encourage your heart through His word, and it will be a service that is of meaningful service to you today.

So next Sunday, Lord's Day, Ron Burnett is going to be here for the day, bringing the messages in the morning and the afternoon. Chris and I are taking office, yesterday afternoon I shared, or I recorded one of the devotionals for, I think it might be the middle of next week or something like that, the middle of the following week even, and it was the passage where the Lord tells His disciples, come apart and rest a while, it's something you need to do every once in a while, so this is our turn to do that.

So we're going to be gone for next Lord's Day, but Ron Burnett, you know him, he's been here many times before, and he'll be bringing the messages, and I think it will be a blessing to you, he sent me the titles and so forth the other day, both messages out of the Psalms, and I think it will be very helpful to you.

In your bulletin today, there's this yellow insert page, especially for those who are young marrieds and single adults, we'll be launching that ministry in May, that sheet should give you a pretty good amount of information that will be helpful to you to know how to participate and get involved in that ministry, so please note that, and that first session is going to be on a Sunday evening at 5 .30 at the Foreman's House, and we're going to be providing a light supper, so obviously we need to know how many to plan for, so if you could fill that little thing out at the bottom and turn that into crisps or put it in the offering box, that would be helpful.

That same evening, while the YMSA group meets, everyone in the church, I just want to encourage everybody in the church to get involved in getting to know each other and fellowshipping with one another.

This past year has been very effective at keeping people apart, keeping people separated, and not being able to get together, even in small groups of two or three couples. We've been very hesitant to do that, and so we really need to grow in our understanding and friendship and love for one another, and these evenings will help in that.

And then also, as you see there at the bottom of the page, that parent's lounge, that sounds a little better than cry room, doesn't it? It still sounds a little more sophisticated. I don't know why I did that, because we're not sophisticated people, but anyhow, that thing is now open, and we're working on it, so it's a work in progress.

At least it's a comfortable place to sit, and the service is live-streamed in that room, and that can be helpful to you, I trust. Well, we've come together today to worship the Lord. I want to begin reading from Psalm 18, first three verses.

Say this, I will love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from my enemies.

I'm going to start this morning's service singing of the Lord, who is our fortress. Jim, please come lead us.

That's on page 81 in your hymnals, 81. A mighty fortress is our God. Let's all stand together and sing all four verses together. Stand, please.

Your bulletin is Psalm reading we want to read together today, Psalm 118 and verses 22 through 29. We'll read this, and then in that red psalter book on your pew, there's a couple of them in the middle or a couple on each end of the pew.

Grab one of those and then we'll sing of this psalm. Psalm 118, let's read in unison together, shall we? Psalm 118, verses 22 through 29. Join me in the reading of this psalm together. Let's read. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

This was the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Save now, I pray, O Lord. O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

We have blessed you from the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise you. You are my God, I will exalt you.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. The Lord add his blessing to the reading together of his word, and then to the singing of it as well. Jim?

And then it's on page 252 in the red book that is this altar. The red book's at 252, and we're going to, there's five verses listed we're going to be singing.

Together today we have several folks, people we want to pray for, individuals. We also especially want to pray for our missionary of the week this week, the Barillas, Mark and Rachel and their family.

Oldest children are here in the States in college. Mark is here in the States right now. He came back a month or so ago to be with his father who is pretty seriously ill, and we want to pray for his dad also.

But then also that he can get back to the field of Cameroon, and that their ministry would prosper under their care. And then of course, members of our congregation, I'll just mention their first names today, but remember Bob and Jody.

These are folks recovering from COVID. Bob and Jody, Jim and Beruda, Rebecca and her family, also Kevin's dad, Kevin Heaven's dad, Richard, we'll pray for him. And then also want to remember Kathy today as she recovers from this hip surgery earlier in the week.

She's doing pretty well. The surgery went well, and she was actually able to go home Thursday evening, which was a good sign. About 36 hours after the surgery or less that she was able to get home. So I want to pray for that continued recovery.

Well, let's look to the Lord in prayer, shall we? So our Father, we do thank you today that you are our fortress. You are our refuge, our stronghold. And we're thankful that what you are doing, what you are building is that which cannot be destroyed by the wicked one and all of his designs and devices and intentions.

We thank you for your power that is supreme. We're thankful for your knowledge that is unsurpassed and nothing is held from it. We thank you for your presence here in this place today, and on the other side of the world as well.

Halfway around the world, a fourth of the way around the world in Cameroon, where our missionaries, the Barillas are serving, establishing a work and building that work. Thank you for their faithfulness in these years serving in Cameroon, and we pray that that work would grow and prosper, and pray that you would use them mightily.

We pray for Mark as he's currently in the States and pray that as he cares for his father, that you would bless him for that love and attention and making that an important part of his ministry, even caring for his ailing dad.

But we do pray that he might be able to get back to the field soon, his dad's health would improve, and that they could get back to that work, that calling on the field. And Father, we are certainly concerned about those in our congregation who have gotten sick in the last few weeks, and these who are recovering.

We pray for each one, for Bob and Jody and Jim and Beruda, for Rebecca and her family, and pray that they would regain their strength. We pray that they wouldn't suffer from lingering effects from this particular virus, but pray that their healing would be a complete healing.

We thank you for those who have had this sickness in recent months and have recovered, some still feeling the effects of it. I pray for sustaining grace in their lives, and encourage them, Father, that this too shall eventually pass.

Pray for Kevin's dad today, and pray that he would continue to improve and might be able to be released from the hospital soon. For Kathy, we thank you for the good report from her surgery the other day.

We pray, Father, that the exercises that she does would be effective, the healing of the body would be touched especially by your power and your care, and that you would restore her to health. And pray that this surgery will accomplish many different beneficial effects in her life and allow her to return to a certain semblance of walking again, and enjoy that activity that we just take so for granted.

Father, we pray for those who cannot be here today and those understandably concerned about these days of this virus that seems to be so contagious, seems to be such an up-and-down thing in our own region.

Father, I pray for those who are watching by live stream today that you would bless them and feed their souls today and encourage them, even though they can't be in person with their church family. I pray they'd sense our love and care for them, and may it be reciprocated today.

Father, we also pray for those in the congregation today who are rejoicing with great joy because of all that you've done in their lives in recent days. Answers to prayer that have been seen, life changes that have been affected, great reasons for joy and celebration.

Bless each of them. But then also, Father, certainly there are some here today whose hearts are heavy and burdened because of some circumstance and some storm of life, a dark shadow perhaps hanging over things, and yet we may not even be aware of it.

Father, I just pray that you would encourage that heart, give comfort to that hurting heart. And I pray that by your grace, you would bring them through the storm, bring them through the shadows, and may the light shine again in their hearts and lives.

And I pray that you would accomplish your purposes that you have for the shadows, for the storm. We thank you that we can trust you, even in those dark times when life takes a turn that we don't like, we don't appreciate.

We have to come to the place, O Lord, that we look to you and we seek your face and ask you to teach us and change us, to grow us and mold us and shape us, even through those difficult times. May that be the case, the experience of your people here today, we pray.

Meet with us, we pray, in this hour. Speak to us through your word. We'll commit ourselves to living out what you speak to us about. We pray in Jesus' name.

Turn in your 37, 37, I love the church. Now we're going to stand together, and there's six verses, but we're going to be singing first and second, and the fifth and the sixth. We're going to skip the middle, three and four, one, two, five, and six of number 37, I love the church.

The Church as the House of God

Today, we want to look at 1 Peter 1. It's Peter 1, and we'll begin reading in verse 22. Read on into chapter 2, down to verse 12. Peter 1, verses 22 through chapter 2, verse 12. I encourage you to follow along in your copy of scriptures as I read.

Peter, writing to the church that has been scattered abroad. So people had been in Jerusalem, been in Israel, and there had been persecution. Because of that persecution, believers spread to other places.

And the different places that they landed, they established local churches in those communities. And this letter is written to them, and was certainly passed around to those different areas. So he says in verse 22,.

But the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which, by the gospel, was preached to you. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore, to you who believe he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling at a rock of offense.

They stumble, being disobedient to the word to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who were once not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.".

So our Father and our God, we do pray today that from this passage of Scripture we would see that you're building a building, and we need to be a part of it. We pray in Jesus' name. So the New Testament offers three descriptive pictures of the Church, and each of those pictures emphasizes a different relationship.

So the first picture that we looked at for a couple of weeks before Easter, before Palm Sunday, was the picture of the Church as the Bride of Christ. And that emphasizes, that picture emphasizes our relationship to Christ, and in that relationship, Christ is the Bridegroom.

A second picture we're going to look at in a couple of weeks is the picture of the Church as the Body of Christ, and that picture emphasizes our relationship to one another. And in that picture, Christ is the Head, He's the Head of the Body.

But the third picture is the picture of that, of a building, the building of Christ. And that picture seems to emphasize the relationship, our relationship to the world. And in that picture, Christ, the picture of the building, Christ is the cornerstone of that building.

So you remember back in Matthew 16, we looked at that passage when we began this series on the Church. Jesus asked His disciples, Who do you say that I am? And Peter responded and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

And Jesus responded to that and said, Upon this rock, I will build my Church. I believe what Jesus was talking about was the rock of the identity of Jesus, of who Jesus is, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus said, Upon this rock, I will build my Church.

And what Jesus was talking about in that statement, He was referring to the age-long process of building how we would describe it as the Capital C Church, the Church Universal, the Church as it's comprised of believers from all time and from all places throughout this whole age that we might call the Church Age.

So when Jesus said, I'm going to build my Church, He was talking about that big building project that covers the entire Church Age. It's a project that began on the day of Pentecost. You remember in Acts 2 verse 41, there were 3 ,000 that heard the Gospel preached on the day of Pentecost.

And verse 41 says that day were added to them, to the disciples, the followers of Jesus. There were added to them 3 ,000 souls. And at the end of that chapter, chapter 2 verse 47, we read that the Lord added to the Church, added unto them daily such as should be saved.

So this began in earnest at Pentecost, and it's continued ever since. Every time the Lord adds, someone is converted, He adds them to the Capital C Church. Now that entire project, if you would turn to Ephesians chapter 2, I want to show you, remind you of this.

We saw this also in weeks gone by, but it's helpful to remember this. But in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 through 21, that entire project of the building of the Church is built on the one foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus himself being the chief cornerstone.

Here's where we read this, Ephesians 2 verse 19. Paul writes,. Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

So that's talking about the whole building of the Church from Pentecost throughout the course of the age, the Church age. But look at the next verse. The local Church also is a building inhabited by God himself.

Verse 22, Paul goes on to say, In whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. So as Paul was writing to the Church at Ephesus, he's talking about the big building project that God has, that Christ has, in building his capital C Church from Pentecost throughout this age, building that Church.

And everybody that comes to faith in Christ becomes a part of that big building project. But then he zeroes in, he narrows the focus to the Church at Ephesus. He says, You also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

So the local Church also is a building inhabited by God. Now that takes us back to our text in 1 Peter 2. Because look at what Peter writes in verses 4 and 5. He's talking to these believers that are part of local churches in different communities in the, they call it the diaspora, the dispersion.

And he says, Coming to him as a living stone, that is Jesus, a living stone, rejected in deed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, you who comprise these local churches, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So the local church, the local church is to be a building founded upon the Lord Jesus and the teaching of the apostles and the prophets. It is to be a building in which God dwells. And the building blocks in that dwelling place are people, redeemed people, people who are in a very practical and tangible way interconnected with one another.

And when you think about building a building, and I was thinking about this and the necessity for those who comprise this building of a local church being very practically and tangibly interconnected.

I thought about, I thought of all things about the children's play blocks. The church, the local church, is not to be like a building built out of children's play blocks. You know what those are like, right?

We have some of those in our house. Our grandson plays with them occasionally, the one that lives with us. And when Clayton comes over, he likes to pull those blocks out. And a few weeks ago, there were these wooden ones, and there are all kinds of different shapes and so forth.

And there's a lot of them. So he pulled out these blocks, Clayton and Nico pulled out these blocks, and they worked together to build this really fancy, incredible, complex structure. And it got to be maybe about as high as the pulpit.

I mean, this shelf of the pulpit. It got to be really tall, sitting in our living room. It's not there anymore. It's not there anymore. It lasted a few days, but all it took was somebody just to bump it, and it fell down.

It collapsed.

Why?

Because there's no interconnection between those different building blocks. And you understand that. You say, well, what about Legos? Well, Legos are a little more stable, aren't they? But you also, parents, understand that a child can be very, very destructive with the building he builds, even out of Legos.

I mean, they do have some connection to them, but they lack glue, they lack mortar, those blocks, don't they? No, the church, the church, the local church, even, is to be a place comprised of redeemed people who are, in a very practical and tangible way, interconnected with one another.

Now, in today's text, this passage that we read, and I admit it is a lengthy passage, but in this text, Peter writes to believers for whom this commitment to one another is a given. It's a given.

They don't,.

They're not questioning,.

You know, should,.

Am I a part? No, they are committed to this local assembly. They are living stones that are part of the building up of this spiritual house. Well, if that's you,.

As well,.

Then the first thing we want to understand is that we are placed, you are placed in this building by grace. You are placed in this building by grace. So look again at chapter 1 and notice in verses 23 through 25 that it is by grace that you have been born again.

He says in verse 23, having been born again, that is born from above, born by God, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible through the Word of God which lives and abides forever.

You have been graciously born again through the powerful, permanent Word of God. The powerful, permanent Word of God. Verses 24 and 25 go on to talk about that permanence of that, of the Word of God. And it is that Word that is effective at bringing you to faith in Christ.

And that Word is indestructible. And by the way, when you think about the fact that the Word by which you are brought to Christ, that Word that saves you, brings new birth to you, when you think about the fact that that Word is indestructible, then you get a little insight into why Jesus said what He did when He said, I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it.

Why?

Because it's being built by the indestructible Word of God. You were graciously, by God's grace, you were born again through the powerful, indestructible Word. And it is by God's grace that you actually heard the Gospel in the first place.

Peter brings this out in verse 25. He says, Now this is the Word which by the Gospel was preached to you. Have you ever wondered why you were privileged to hear the Gospel? Why did God in His grace see to it that you heard the Gospel?

I mean, I'm sure you've thought about that. That, you know, I could have lived somewhere where I never had a chance to hear the Gospel. I could have, I could have lived someplace and lived in such a way that I was never in a, I never put myself, I never allowed myself or nobody ever brought me to a place where I could hear the Gospel.

Why was I, why was I able to hear the Gospel? By grace, you have been saved through the Lord Jesus Christ. By grace, you heard the Gospel. And in chapter 2, verse 3, further clarifies that it is by grace that you experienced grace.

See, look at verse 3. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious by God's grace, you graciously experienced the Lord's grace. The point is that you're placed in this, you're placed in this building by grace.

It's not like I'm going to place myself in the building. It's not that anybody could place you in the building. You see, you are not like, you are not like a Lego that's sitting there waiting to be, to be picked up and put into a building by, by, you know, your loved one, your friend, or whatever.

No, it is God and His grace that picks you up and places you in that building. You're placed in the building by grace.

But then,.

I also want you to notice in chapter 2, verses 4 through 10, that your position in the building is by grace. Your position in the building is by grace. What do I mean by that?

Well,.

As part of the building, as part of the building, you are intimately connected to the cornerstone. Look at this, how this plays out here in these verses. He says, Coming to Him, to Jesus, as a living stone rejected by men but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up.

You are intimately connected to Jesus in the first place because you value Christ as precious. Your connection to Jesus is seen in how you value Him. You value Him as precious. Look at the emphasis on the preciousness of Jesus in these verses.

In verse 4, Jesus is chosen by God and precious. In the first part of verse 6, He says, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious. And then in verse 7, Therefore to you who believe He is precious.

To you who believe Jesus is precious. That indicates your connection to Jesus. How so? Well, because remember I said earlier that this picture of the church as a building emphasizes the church's relationship to the world.

We're going to focus on this some more in just a few minutes. But to you He is precious. To you who make up the building. But to those who aren't a part of the building, they care less about.

Who He is.

They give Him no thought. They may use His name every once in a while, but not in a very complimentary way. No, your connection to Him, your intimate connection to Christ is seen in that He is precious to you.

You value Him as precious. And then also notice in the first part of verse 5, that you are connected to others in that building because of Christ. He says you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house.

So Peter is speaking to the church as a whole. Just like I'm speaking to you, to every one of you who are listening here in this room and by the live stream. Who are part of this local church. He's speaking to the congregation if you will, and he says you as a whole are living stones who are being built up as a spiritual house.

You're connected to each other because of Christ. And your worship, your worship of God is a worship that is through Christ. See this? At the end of verse 5. You're built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God, but look, through Jesus Christ.

Through Christ. What I'm wanting you to see is that your position in the building is one of intimate connection to the cornerstone who is Jesus Christ. So you value him as precious, you see that stone is the most precious aspect of the building.

You're connected to one another in that building because of Christ, and you worship God as the spiritual building. You worship God through Christ. Then also notice in the last part of verse 6 that you are secure, you are secure in that building because of Christ.

He who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. You will by no means be put to shame. You're secure in Christ.

Alright,.

So what is your position we're talking about here? Your position as being intimately connected to the cornerstone. Your position is that of being a living stone as Peter refers to it in verse 5. A living stone.

And together as a group, as a congregation forming a spiritual house. So as part of the building you are intimately connected to Christ. Secondly notice as part of the building you are radically distinct from those outside the building.

Now.

Verses 7 to 9 bring this out. So I'm bringing it out because the passage does. Now listen, I am not bringing it out to develop within us a sort of angry us versus them mentality. Not at all. Not at all.

Realizing this distinction should bring us to our knees in humility and gratitude. But nevertheless this position being a living stone in this building is a position of radical distinction from those that are outside.

So look at verse 7. Therefore to you who believe he is precious but to those who are disobedient the stone which the builders rejected. You see the first contrast there, the first distinction there, right?

You who believe you believe those that are not a part of the building do not. They are disobedient.

Another way of.

Translating that is to say they are unfaithful. They are lacking in faith. They are disobedient to the gospel. They are unbelievers. You believe they do not. And again,.

Go back,.

That's why I started with what I did about the fact that you are placed in this building by grace. You believe because of God's grace. You do not believe because you are somehow intellectually superior or you are better than anybody else.

No,.

You believe because God in His grace has opened your eyes to see.

He has opened.

Your heart to receive. Has He? Has He? You who are here, you who are listening today, have you come to faith in Christ? You see who He is? You see what He did in your behalf? You see yourself, rightly, as a sinner in need of that saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Needing His atoning sacrifice on the cross of Calvary in your behalf? You see that need? Seeing that need, you bow before Him in repentance and faith. Repentance, turning from your sin, confessing your sin, but in faith, calling upon Him to save you.

If you see that, if you have called upon Him to save you, this is by God's grace that you believe. But those outside the building do not. Another distinction is that you value Christ and they don't. They despise Him.

To you who believe, He is precious. But to those who disbelieve, who are disobedient, they are the stone which the builders rejected. And He's a stone of stumbling to them. You value Christ and they despise Him.

It may not be like a radical, fire-breathing, despising of Christ. It doesn't mean that. It simply means that you have no use for Him. You despise Him. You think about how precious, you who are Christ, you think about how precious He is to you.

How absolutely indispensable He is to you. How you could do away with everything else in life. You could have your bank account drained. You could lose your house. You could lose everything. But you could not lose Christ.

Don't let me lose Christ. He is above all to you who believe. But to those who disbelieve,.

Eh, who's Christ?

Like I said earlier, He's a name to use in an unfavorable way. You may tip a hat to Him a couple times a year, Christmas and Easter, that kind of a thing, just because of family or whatever, or maybe on a special occasion, like, you know, whatever, a funeral or a wedding, you know, that's it.

But other than that, He means nothing to me. If you're not a part of the building, if you don't believe, you value Christ. They despise Him. You build upon Christ. Your whole life is built upon Christ.

They, on the other hand, they stumble over Him. End of verse 7, the stone which the builders rejected, He's become the chief cornerstone.

Of your life.

And of this building, the building of the church. To them, He's a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble being disobedient to the Word. You believe, they don't. You value Christ, they despise Him.

You build on Christ, they stumble over Him. And then notice this distinction. You are graciously chosen to be God's people and they, in the final analysis, are appointed to disobedience. You see this in verse 8.

They stumble being disobedient to the Word to which they also were appointed. The most challenging things to our understanding, which we never will, but to our humbly submitting ourselves to is the fact that this is so.

That God, in His grace, has chosen you.

Why?

Because He chose to. You say, well, how do I know who is and who isn't? You don't. It's not your place to know. How do I know who's appointed to disobedience and who isn't? You don't need to. It's not your place to know.

That's all settled in eternity. It's all settled in the end. Your place, as part of the building, is simply to do what Peter did. To take the word of the gospel that is preached and those who God, in His grace, will touch their heart and open their blind eyes and quicken their dead soul.

They will respond. You will rejoice. And so will they. But this is the distinction. This is the distinction. So what is the position here? As part of the building, you're intimately connected to Christ as a living stone.

Your position is a living stone. Here, in this place, as being radically distinct from those outside, your position is seen in verse 9, where He speaks of you as a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

A holy nation. This is your position. And then, thirdly, as having this position by God's grace, you are graciously identified as God's people by mercy. See this in verse 10. You once were not a people, but are now the people of God.

Again, why? Because you had obtained mercy when you had not had mercy. You had not obtained mercy, but now you have obtained it. You are graciously identified as God's people by mercy. So what is the position to which you owe to God's grace?

What is the position? Three of them. Did you notice? Well, there's more than that, but we're focusing on three ideas that clarify and help us understand these positions. As part of the building, you are intimately connected to Christ.