FBC Morning Worship Service

Well, I trust you are 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.

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. You know, 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 there'll 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'll 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 530 at the

Foreman's House. 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 Chris or put it in the offering box, that would be helpful.

And that same evening, while the YMSA group meets, everyone in the church, 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. 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?

A little more, 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 as 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 with us.

Thank you, Pastor. And that's on page 81 in your hymnals. Eighty one. A mighty fortress is our

God. Let's all stand together and sing all four verses together. Lord, from age to age, this world with Prince of Darkness, we tremble not for him.

His rage we can endure, his doom is sure.

One little word shall fell him, that word above all earthly powers.

No thanks to them, but the spirit and the gifts are ours through him who with us sides and kindred go.

Also, God's truth abideth still, his kingdom is forever.

As you remain standing for prayer, Brother Edward, Julia, Father, we're just so thankful,

Lord, for Christ, the master builder. Thank you for building your church and just pray that you would just build our church,

Lord, and that you would teach us, Lord, to help you in this endeavor.

And just pray that you would just focus our hearts and minds on you,

Lord. And pray that you would be glorified by our worship this morning.

And pray that you'd just guide in the message and speak to our hearts through your word.

We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.

You may be seated. The back of your bulletin is a 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. So Psalm 118, let's read in unison together, shall we?

Psalm 118 verses 22 through 29. So 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 that is on page 252 in the red books that is this altar.

The red books at 252. And we're going to there's five verses listed.

We're going to be singing all five verses together.

252. As we pray together today, we have several folks who want to people 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 want to pray for his dad also.

But then also that they can get back to the field of Cameroon and that their ministry would 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 Kevin's dad, Kevin Heaven's dad, Richard, 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 doing pretty well. The surgery went well. And she was actually able to go home

Thursday evening, which was a good 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. 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, 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've 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 and 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 and great with great joy because of all that you've done in their lives in recent days.

Answers to prayer that has 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.

And 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, oh 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, amen. Jim? Amen. Thank you,

Pastor Frere. Turn in your blue songbook, supplement books to page number 37.

37, I Love the Church. Now we're gonna stand together and there's six verses, but we're gonna be singing first and second and the fifth and the sixth.

We're gonna skip the middle three and four. One, two, five and six of number 37,

I Love the Church. To cure, may

Christ be praised. The truth may turn them from, may

Christ be praised. Please be seated.

So our scriptural reading today, wanna look at First Peter chapter one. First Peter chapter one, and we'll begin reading in verse 22.

Read on into chapter two, down to verse 12. First Peter one, verses 22 through chapter two, verse 12.

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, since you have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible.

Through the word of God, which lives and abides forever, because all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man is the flower of grass.

The grass withers and its flowers falls away. 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. Brief word. 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, amen. 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, it was, 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 what we would, 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 would, 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 two, 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 two,

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 two, 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. There's where we read this, Ephesians two, 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.

Now 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 when, 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, you know, and there are all kinds of different shapes and so forth.

And there's a lot of them. They 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.

You had to be really tall, sitting in our living room. It's not there anymore.

It's not there anymore. 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're not questioning, you know, 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 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 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 able to hear the gospel? By grace, you have been saved through the

Lord Jesus Christ. By grace, you heard the gospel. And chapter two, verse three, further clarifies that it is by grace that you experienced grace.

See, look at verse three. If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious by God's grace, you graciously experience the

Lord's grace. The point is that 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 a Lego that's sitting there waiting to be picked up and put into a building by your loved one, your friend, or whatever.

It is God in 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 two, verses four through ten, 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 four, Jesus is chosen by God and precious. In the first part of verse six, he says,

I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect precious. And then in verse seven, 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 verse first part of verse five, 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.

You see this at the end of verse five. 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 six 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.

All right. 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 five, 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 seven to nine bring this out. So I'm bringing it out because the passage does. And I am 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 seven. 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 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's opened your heart to receive.

Has he? Has he? You who are here, you 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've 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, you know, at 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, but 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.

The 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.

One of the most challenging things to our, 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? 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.

And 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 nine, 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, is being, 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, you are a living stone.

As part of the building, you are radically distinct from those who are outside of that building. You are a chosen generation.

You are a royal priesthood. You are a holy nation. As part of the building, you are graciously identified as God's people by his mercy.

Verse nine, he speaks of you as his own special people. And verse 10, the people of God.

Now, what's the point here? What am I getting at, this point of your position in this building is by God's grace?

What's the point? The point is this. We are connected to Christ and we are interconnected to one another by the common experience of God's grace and the receiving of his mercy.

That's why we firmly believe in what's called a regenerated church member, a regenerate church membership.

See, why shouldn't the church allow people to join the church who don't have a testimony of saving faith?

Why? Because what connects the church, what connects the people of the church to one another and to Christ is that common experience of God's grace and the receiving of God's mercy.

So you're placed in the building by grace. Your position in the building is by grace. And then thirdly, what

I want us to see, and this is very important, is that you have responsibilities in the building because of grace.

And there are three of them that I want to emphasize from our text today, three responsibilities.

One of them is you are responsible to sincerely love the brethren, sincerely love the brethren.

That is like in the imagery that Peter uses here. You are to sincerely love the other stones that comprise that building.

Now that's exhorted of us in verse 22 of chapter one. You see this, since you have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the spirit in sincere love of the brethren, this is what you did, okay?

Love one another fervently, keep doing so. You are responsible to love one another with a pure heart.

Now here's the deal. That, that love is the identifying characteristic of the stones, right?

Remember what Jesus said in John 17? He says, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples.

How? If you have love one for another. So that, that love that the stones are in the building should have for one another is, is the thing that to those outside of the building look at as the, as, as one of the most obvious, distinctive characteristics of the stones, that they actually really love each other.

They really do. But I also want you to notice that that love that we are responsible to have for the stones in the building is the mortar that holds the blocks together.

Let me show you this. Turn to, turn to Ephesians chapter four. Ephesians chapter four and look at verses one to three and then we're going to look over at another passage in Colossians very quickly.

Ephesians four, verse one. Paul says, I therefore the prisoner of the

Lord beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you are called. What does that, what does that walk, worthy walk look like?

With all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love.

See that? All right, now watch the next verse. Endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Good, look at the connection there between bearing with one another in love and keeping the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

I want you to see how this, this love that we're responsible to have for one another, this love of the brethren is the mortar that holds the stones together.

This is even more clear in Colossians chapter three and verses 12 through 14, especially verse 14.

Colossians three, verse 12, Paul says, therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

If anyone has a complaint against one another, even as Christ forgave you, so also do you.

Look at this, look at verse 14. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

It's a bond of perfection. This love then is the mortar that holds the blocks together.

This is why thinking of children's building blocks, the wooden building blocks that are just stacked on one another and they balance on each other and they stay there precariously, it doesn't work to describe the church.

Even Legos, there's some interconnectedness with Legos, but they break apart pretty easily.

Except those little, you know, you who have kids, you know what I'm talking about, the little tiny ones that are just the flat ones.

You got two on top of two and it's like, how do you get this thing off of here? You got to have the little tool to get it off. But you can do that.

You can get the little tool and get it off. Oh no, the building that is the local church is comprised of living stones that love each other and that love is the mortar that holds the stones together.

Now, back in our text in 1 Peter 2, verses 1 to 3,

Peter applies that responsibility of sincerely loving. All right, you're exhorted to do it.

How do I do it? How do I do it? He suggests two things. One, he says, you do so by practicing personal relational piety.

What do you mean by that, pastor? Well, look at verse 1. Therefore, see, therefore, that means he's following up on what he's just said and the previous exhortation is love one another fervently with a pure heart because you've been born again.

And he goes on talking about that being born again. And now at the beginning of chapter 2, verse 1, he says, therefore, here's how you do this.

Here's what it looks like. Lay aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, these behaviors and attitudes that will be corrosive and that will eat away and destroy the mortar of the building.

How do we practice sincere love? Well, we do so by practicing personal relational purity.

Get rid of these things out of your heart, out of your mind, out of your behavior.

But the second thing he says on a positive note, we sincerely love each other.

Now watch this. This may seem counterintuitive. Shouldn't he just start emphasizing all the positive things that we ought to do for one another?

No, he instead addresses you as an individual in your heart that will result in overflow of life and behavior.

Let me show you what I mean. He says, as newborn babes in verse 2, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby if indeed you've tasted that the

Lord is good and gracious. So he's saying, all right, you're a believer. You've trusted

Christ. You're one of the living stones. You're part of this local church.

All right. Then one of the ways you show sincere love for the brethren is by pursuing personal spiritual growth.

Have such a hunger for the word like a newborn baby. And this is very vivid in my mind right now as a newborn baby sincerely, earnestly desires mother's milk.

You have a sincere earnest desire for the word so that you might grow.

Why does he say that? Why does he emphasize that? Because here's the thing. If you grow in grace and the knowledge of the

Lord Jesus Christ, if you grow in the word, then that's going to spill over in how you relate to each other, how you relate to others in the church family, how you relate to others outside the church family.

Because God is growing you up, making, listen, making you more like Christ, you live more like Christ.

What a wonderful thing. When a church is comprised of living stones that are pursuing personal spiritual growth, because the more and more that happens, the more and more the people of that congregation are like Christ.

And it shows in the way they treat one another. So one of your responsibilities is a sincere love for the brethren.

There's a second, a wholehearted worship of God. A wholehearted worship of God.

See this brought out here in a couple of different places. That wholehearted worship of God is seen in offering sacrifices to God in verse five.

He says, as living stones, you build up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

What kind of sacrifice? I thought the sacrificial system was done away with. Well, you can turn back a few pages in your

Bible, probably to Hebrews chapter 13, and you get a sense of what Peter might be referring to.

Writer of Hebrews says, therefore by him, that is by Christ, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God.

That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

But do not forget to do good and to share. For with such sacrifices, God is well pleased.

So we offer sacrifices to God. We worship God by offering the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving from our lips.

We actually worship God by sharing what we have with the church as a whole and with those within the church.

Another aspect of our worship, and we touched on it here just a minute ago, back in first Peter two is seen in verses nine and 10.

And that is by the proclaiming of the praise, the proclaiming the praises of his grace.

Look at this in verse nine. Your position in the building is a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people.

Why? So that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Now that is not something only reserved for the church building when we gather together for corporate worship.

We offer this praise to our God and proclaim those praises of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light throughout the course of our week.

And why do we do that? Well, one of the reasons that we can do that is to be a testimony to those who are outside of Christ, those who are still in darkness.

Let me show you, keep your finger here and let me show you how Paul alludes to this effect in first Corinthians 14.

In first Corinthians 14 verses 24 and 25,

Paul is talking about, you know, different gifts in the church. And he's saying, you know, look, it doesn't do any good when the church comes together and, you know, everybody's speaking in tongues and all this kind of stuff.

Because if an unbeliever comes into the congregation when you're all doing this stuff, it's meaningless to him.

He's gonna think you're maybe a little nuts. But look at what he says in verses 24 and 25.

He says, but if all prophesy, that is speak the truth, preach the truth, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.

And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed. And so falling down on his face, he will worship

God and report that God is truly among you. Now, I said, Paul is just kind of alluding to the concept here that our worship of our

God, our proclaiming of praise to our God has an impact on the unconverted.

If we really believe what we say we believe, and it comes out in our praise and thanksgiving to God who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light, that'll have an impact on the casual observer.

So our responsibilities, sincere love of the brethren, wholehearted worship of God, and then a third responsibility back in our text, comes out in chapter two, verses 11 and 12.

And that is practical holiness in the world. Practical holiness in the world.

Now remember, this picture of the church as a building emphasizes our relationship to the world with Christ as the cornerstone of that building.

So one of our responsibilities is to exhibit practical holiness in the world, living in light of who we are.

Who are we? Verse 11, beloved, he says, I beseech you, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims.

This world is not my home, I'm just a passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.

The angels beckon me from heaven's open door and I don't feel at home in this world anymore.

Of course, back in the 60s or 50s, somewhere back then. But it communicates the truth that we are strangers and pilgrims, sojourners in this world.

That's why, by the way, we do get rightly upset over a lot of the things happening in the government and in our nation and so forth, and rightly so.

But only to a certain extent. Why? My citizenship is in heaven.

Your citizenship is in heaven. And so we live out that citizenship.

We live in this world in light of who we are, sojourners in this world.

And in this practical holiness that is lived out in the world, the last part of verse 11 points out how we need to wage this inner warfare that's going on inside of us.

He says, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against your soul. Why do you need to do that?

Why do you need to do that? Because there's a tendency that those fleshly lusts that war against your soul will spill over into your outward living.

Isn't that right? James chapter four, back a page or two in your Bible. James four, verse one.

James writes, where do wars and fights come from among you? Talking about the church.

Where do they come from? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war that you do not have because you do not ask.

What's the antidote to that? Abstain from those fleshly lusts that war against your soul.

Wage this inner warfare. And that practical holiness is exhibited in chapter, in verse 12 of chapter two as we practice public piety or integrity, public integrity.

He says, have your conduct honorable among the Gentiles. How so?

Why? Because it makes an impact. Now and later.

Now the impact, it may be negative toward us because he says that when they speak against you as evildoers, that may be the response right away.

Doesn't change what you and I are to do. We still have to have our conduct honorable among the

Gentiles. We still need to walk with integrity in this world. It makes an impact now.

It may be a negative impact as far as we're concerned. We may be reproached for it. But in the long term, in the end of it all, last part of verse 12, they may speak against you as evildoers, but they may by your good works, which they observe, glorify

God in the day of visitation. Whenever and whatever that is. The ultimate thing is they'll glorify

God in the day of visitation. Now the interesting thing is that from here, from this point on,

Peter applies this idea of honorable conduct to, you can look at your

Bibles and you probably see this laid out in some way in your Bible, to our submission to civil government, our relationship to civil authorities, our relationship in the workplace, verses 18 through 25, and in chapter three, the first seven verses, in marriage.

This practical holiness in the world affects our whole life, every aspect of our life, in the church, outside of the church.

And this is our responsibility. And here's the point. Fulfilling your responsibilities within the building helps establish the local church as a place where God dwells.

It's a place where God dwells. So some questions. Are you part of God's overall building?

This big seed church started at Pentecost, proceeds and carries out through the church age.

Are you part of that overall building? Have you come by faith to Christ, received him as your personal savior, called upon him to save you as God opened your eyes to that need?

Are you part of God's overall building? Okay, well, are you a living stone, then, within a local building?

One in which you can actually, practically, truly fulfill your responsibilities in a local church?

Now, if not, why not? I came across an article, came out just before Easter, conducted by Gallup, Gallup conducted a survey regarding church membership in the

United States. And the result of that survey was that now, in our country, fewer than half of the population are church members.

Adults are church members, 47%. That's down from 70 % in 1900.

And it's down significantly, even from the year 2000. Dropped below half.

So I thought about that and wondered why part of it has to do with lack of commitment. I'm sure people don't want to commit.

You know, it's hard to make commitments. You know, you don't want to make commitments. If I make a commitment, then I'm going to be held to it, all that kind of stuff.

But let me ask you something. Let's think about this. If I'm not a part of this building, this structure of living stones, why not?

Is it, am I reflecting more the spirit of the age or the spirit of Christ, see?

And I think that's something that we need to grapple with. I think we need to be honest with ourselves about that.

I realize that there can be reasons why people are hesitant. They've been burned, they've been hurt, they've been abused or whatever, and they're just very hesitant because they don't want to get burned and hurt again.

But there comes a point in our Christian life where we have to say, you know what?

I belong, I belong. I'm a living stone. I belong as part of a building in which

God dwells. Let's think on that. Our Father and our God, I pray this morning that we would just see the importance and the value, the urgency of being a part of a committed to a building of God's people, of living stones where we can be practically, personally interrelated with one another and truly fulfill the responsibilities that you give us as believers that comprise a part of a local church.

Lord, help us to be faithful in this, we pray. And we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.

Let's take our hymnals and turn to number 400. Number 400, just a stanza or two of this hymn.

Really, it's a hymn of consecration where we say, okay, Lord, take my life, let it be consecrated to you.

And let's stand together as we sing, shall we? Number 400, we'll sing the first and the last.

Take my life and let it be consecrated,

Lord, to thee. Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of thy love, at the impulse of thy love.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour at thy feet its treasure store.

Take myself and I will be all for thee.

I hope you'll be able to stay for lunch. If you brought your lunch and join us, if you want to run out and get a sandwich and bring it back and join us for lunch.

If not, one o 'clock, we gather back for afternoon service here in the auditorium.

So let's be dismissed in prayer. And now to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his

God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.