01/01/23 Pastor Cody Harlow

D roughly about two or three years before he is crucified publicly upside down it's probably right and at the very beginning of Christian persecution Nero he is the ruler of the Empire and the great fire of Rome has not happened yet and he has not blamed Christians as a scapegoat but Christians are not popular they are not popular at all in the Roman Empire and as a result there's increasing persecution and hatred towards this

Fringe group that is all about love and grace and salvation and this Jewish rabbi Jesus who was put to death as a Criminal by the Romans and as this gets expounded upon in First Peter I believe with all of my heart that we are going to see God work in US conforming us into his image that we might be able to go and bear hope and light and salt in where we live work and play and so if you would stand with me in honor of God's word as we read first Peter chapter one oh man y'all pray for me I need to get a new Bible all right First Peter chapter one verses one two thanks buddy it says this Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to those who are elect Exiles of the dispersion and pontus galatia Cappadocia Asia and bithynia 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 May Grace and peace be multiplied to you and so God we do thank you for this great day that you've given to us as we start this book it's always exciting as a preacher to start a new book but I pray that for us as the congregation here at First Baptist Church in Camdenton Lord that we would also be excited and anticipate you to do great things as your word is preached may it be preached well may fall on understanding ears as we wrestle with deep and heavy topics I pray that you would help us to not just throw our hands up in frustration and forsake the clear teaching of your word but to engage with it and to wrestle with it because Lord as you wrestled back in the Old Testament with Jacob Lord you will wrestle with us and you'll win so Lord help us to be overcome with your

Presence with your glory with your honor Lord with your majesty with your love with your power Lord let us be overcome by you and let us live lives of surrender especially in 2023 in Jesus name amen so what are some of the things that we know about this author his name is Peter some of the things that we know about him firstly his name is not actually Peter we know that from when we first meet him we meet him first in Matthew Chapter 4 verses 18 through 20. While walking by the Sea of Galilee he talked about Jesus saw two brothers Simon that's his name Simon who is called Peter Jesus gave him that name later on and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishermen and he said to them follow me and I will make you Fishers of Men immediately they left their Nets and followed him so Christ when he appoints The Twelve Apostles the disciples right it is Simon Peter who is listed first Peter he was the group spokesperson in many ways and Peter he was a man of Faith right he's one of these ignorance on fire kind of guys and I love those kind of guys where they're just like I want to reach people for Jesus you need to have you read this about God's word why aren't we doing this have you have you been able to I don't know they're just they're ignorance on fire guys and I mean they are just running hard after the glory of God and I love it and Peter is one of those guys isn't he I mean look at this in Matthew chapter 14 one of the things that we see from him but when the disciples saw him Jesus walking on the sea they were terrified and said it's a ghost and they cried out in fear but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying

Take heart it is I do not be afraid and Peter answered him Lord if it is you command me to come to you on the water he said come so Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus there were in other disciples that were chomping at the bit to go walking on the water were there it was it was Peter alone who went out and yeah we can be critical of Peter because he got his eyes on the waves and things like that but none of us have Ever Walked on Water by faith Peter he was also the first to confess Christ well in Luke chapter nine we read this now it happened that as he was praying alone the disciples were with him and he asked them who do the crowd say that I am and they answered John the Baptist but others say Elijah now there's that one of the prophets of old has arisen then he said to them but who do you say that I am and Peter answered the Christ of God it's the very first person to acknowledge Jesus as the Christ Peter he was also human and he also made lots of mistakes when Christ had been betrayed by Judas Iscariot Peter in his zeal tried to kill a man and this man was trying to arrest Jesus and for from Peter's perspective he's trying to do everything that he can to save the Messiah to save the Christ of God right read this we read this in John chapter 18. Verses 10 through 11. Then Simon Peter having a sword all right concealed carry he drew it and struck the high priest servant and cut off his right ear the servant's name was malcus so Jesus said to Peter put your sword into a sheath shall I not drink the cup that the father has given me so here we see Peter he does a bad thing

It's bad to cut off a guy's ear okay it's not wrong to protect innocent life though so but Peter he also denied Christ three times didn't he and Mark chapter 14 verses 66 there we go through 72 it says and as Peter was below in the courtyard one of the servant girls of the high priest came and seen Peter warming himself she looked at him and said you also with were with the Nazarene Jesus but he denied it saying I neither know nor understand what you mean he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed and the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders this man is one of them but again he denied it and after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter certainly you were one of them for you are a Galilean but he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear I do not know this man of whom you speak and immediately the rooster crowed a second time and Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him before the rooster crows twice you will deny me three times and he broke down and he wept and after the resurrection we know that Peter he sat down after the resurrection and have breakfast with the Lord and he was restored by Jesus in John chapter 21 verses 15 through 17 it says when they had finished breakfast Jesus said to Simon Peter Simon son of Jonah sorry Simon son of John do you love me more than these he said to them he said to him yes Lord you know that I love you he said to him feed my Lambs he said to him a second time Simon son of John do you love me he said to him yes Lord you know that I love you he said don't tend my sheep said to him the third time Simon son of John do you love me Peter was grieved because he said it to him the third time do you love me

He said to him Lord you know everything you know that I love you Jesus said to him feed my sheep at Pentecost it was Peter who stood up to deliver one of the greatest sermons of all time it was Peter who stood up in Acts chapter 15 at the Jerusalem Council and he spoke about how the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit just like the Jews had at Pentecost and so Gentiles they didn't have to become Jewish before becoming followers of Christ and he spoke clearly about that it was Peter who was confronted by Paul for acting hypocritically one way with Gentiles and then another with his Jewish brothers and sisters and so we see that Peter's life is full of all these ups and downs all of these tremendous successes and also devastating failures and if you're at all like me you can probably really relate to that and Peter he's the author of this book that we're studying and he has a wealth of experience from which to draw from as he writes this letter as an apostle of Jesus Christ that term Apostle is literally translated you can write this down if you want to that term Apostle literally is translated as messenger it's a messenger of the Lord now Peter is not just simply writing as a messenger but from his Apostolic office he is writing with all the authority that was given to him by the Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of shepherding the flock of God so when the last commands that Christ gives to Peter is to feed the sheep and as this letter is one of the writings that we have from him it is for our benefit as the great flock of God to Feast upon what Peter is writing and so Peter he then addresses his audience to those who are elect Exiles of the dispersion and you should probably underline that bit right there the elect Exiles of the

Dispersion because we're just going to Camp here for a bit remember that election is God's gracious purpose where he calls Sinners to Salvation and upon that profession of faith we become permanent residents in the kingdom of God and as a result of that we are now Exiles in the world and it's not so strange to hear about the doctrine of election in our church but it is hated by many people who want to take credit for their own salvation we read in the Old Testament about God's chosen people we don't bat an eye and the Septuagint which is the Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testaments what Christ used in read from even in Nazareth when he read the prophecy this has been fulfilled in your site today it was the Septuagint so it's not anything weird or mystical but it's the word is eclectos when it talks about the Old Testament people of God the chosen people of God the fact is that the Church of God is the chosen people of God and Peter he re-emphasizes this truth in First Peter chapter 2 verse 9 it says you are a chosen race eclectus and where are these people from they're from pontus they're from galatia they're from Cappadocia Asia bithynia and these are not areas that are inundated with Jewish populations these are primarily composed of Gentile believers who have received the message of the Goddess Gospel with gladness and have been born again to a living and true hope and God is using the same Covenant language that he used in the Old Testament for these Gentile believers who now have turned to Christ by faith and they are now grafted in as Paul writes in the Book of Romans grafted into the people of God and that should give us wonderful hope that as God has you he will not let you go

You cannot lose your salvation and let that let that just wash over you with truth that God loves you election is an adjective here it's used to describe the noun the people are receiving this letter from Peter are referred to as Exiles in the ESV and Exile is it's not a great word for us to use in an English translation okay I just I love the ESV it's what a preach from it's typically what I read from this is not a great word in the Greek the reason for that is that it's the Greek word parapedemos and it can mean Exile but Exile means forced right it means that you had to leave your Homeland because someone had either kicked you out or maybe you were conquered right and that's not exactly what happened to us when we became Christians is it you see a better word for us is probably a Sojourner or a stranger that's a that's a much better word someone that's passing through as a pilgrim on the way to Glory we read in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 13 and this is a passage that's full of all sorts of Old Testament Saints who live their lives by faith in verse 13 it says these all died in faith although they had not received the things that were promised but they saw them from a distance greeted them and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth that's what that word Exile means it's the same word parapedemos and so for us that's how we consider ourselves this is not our home this is not our final resting place this is not where we will spend eternity our home is elsewhere and in the meantime we are just simply passing through on our way to heaven to be with God now if you're taking notes right down this point right

Here at the nature of our Exile the nature of our Exile in the Old Testament the father of Old Testament faith we would say is Abraham Abraham he said this in Genesis chapter 23 verse 4. Oh Real strangers were suffering I wonder if I got that yeah did not put that up sorry he said this in Genesis chapter 23 verse 4. I am a Sojourner and Foreigner among you and so for us we must consider ourselves to be real strangers in a really weird place you see the customs of this world the morals of this world should seem awfully strange to the people of God thanks for that I appreciate that John chapter 15 verses 19 through 25 it says if you were of the world the world would love you as its own but because you are not of the world but I chose you out of the world therefore the world hates you remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master if they persecuted me they will also persecute you if they kept my word they will also keep yours but all these things they will do to you on account of my name because they do not know who him who sent me if I had not come and spoken to them they would not have been guilty of sin but now they have no excuse for their sin whoever hates me hates my father also if I had not done any if I had not done among them the works that no one else did they would not be guilty of sin but now they have seen and hated both me and my father but the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled they hated me without a cause now Jesus is saying that in the context of you know the Jewish persecution that the Christians were that Christ was suffering under towards his disciples but the truth holds true even to those of us who live in the world we're promised not to be loved and adored by the world but to be hated and

Reviled by the world which is kind of tough right because we all want to be loved we all want to be liked like we know that and we're called to love we're called to like I say it's pretty often that you know we should be known for like baking cookies and being nice to our neighbors we should be known for that kind of stuff but we're also going to be hated and in so doing the good works we re we keep burning coals upon our enemies heads not that they're enemies of ours but they just hate us because we are called to be Salt and Light listen church I would I would not lie to you I love you so much but you and I we are going to face hatred in this world it's going to happen people who love the things of this world they're going to revile us all the systems all the values that this world can offer they are counter to God's plan and so as Believers we are well and truly strangers in this world and our lives may be marked by persecution may be marked by suffering and if it sounds foreign to you let me go back to that one slide because we will experience real suffering in this world you might you passed over for that job promotion you might be lied about people might assume the worst about you no way that person really just loves me that really they really just want me to know Salvation to know Jesus Christ there's no way you're going to be left out your family may not talk to you some of you experienced that this past Christmas sometimes being a Christian is hard but salvation's worth it amen now

We need to ask three questions if this is kind of foreign to you if you've never experienced any kind of persecution or anything like that okay you need to ask these three questions that I think we all need to ask ourselves from time to time firstly am I really saved it's a great question to constantly ask and to really and to really wrestle with I mean as Christians we don't believe that we can lose our salvation but just because you prayed a prayer when you were a child doesn't mean that you were saved either my daughter Abigail she's three years old right and she loves to grab my face and make me look at her right and she just grabs my face looks me dead in the eye and says Daddy I am a Christian and I say no you're not okay you need to repent and believe the Gospel she goes what well you need to trust in Jesus Christ honey no I'm a Christian no you're not and so I'm I'm sharing that Gospel with her all right you need to you need to trust in Christ have you ever sinned have you ever done anything wrong of course she's like no I've never done anything wrong that's like step one that's the A and the ABC so you need to make sure that you're safe and it's adorable but cuteness is not a qualification for salvation and so I'll ask you have you been born again do you know Christ do you know God do you have intimacy with God are you close with the father really that's the determining factor is have you come to God and do you have a relationship with him not did you pray a prayer when you were seven I don't care if your name is on our roll okay what matters is do you know Jesus that's the big issue

And if that makes you mad I'm sorry what does God's word say and be submissive to what God's word says make certain that you're truly saved how we respond to Christ is the litmus test for salvation Peter he writes in Chapter 2 verses one through three so put away all malice and all deceit all and hypocrisy and envy and all slander like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk that by it you may grow up into salvation if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good have you tasted have you seen that the Lord is good put all put off the old man put on the new man and know Christ second question that you need to ask are you living a holy life don't check out on me okay I know when we when we talk about Holiness people start to go you know like I want to talk about this remember that Holiness is not just abstaining from Evil it's also doing the things that are pleasing to the father and when we live holy lives it makes God happy and people will naturally oppose you in their flesh people they assume the worst about you I've already talked about that a little bit but let's see what Peter writes in First Peter Chapter 4 verses one through six he says since therefore Christ suffered In the Flesh arm yourselves with the same way of thinking for whoever has suffered In the Flesh has ceased from sin so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God and that's the wrestling part isn't it like that's the part that like we all struggle with that's that sanctification process that we join in God in our obedience in God

Doing that sanctifying work in our lives for the time that is passed suffices for doing what the Gentiles wanted to do living in sensuality passions drunkenness orgies drinking parties and Lawless idolatry with respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you but they will give an account oh they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead for this is why the Gospel was preached even to those who are dead that though judged In the Flesh the way people are they might live in the spirit the way God does are you living a holy life thirdly and this might be it am I sharing the Gospel some of you have never experienced the hatred that this world offers because you don't share the Gospel there's no light that you're bearing I mean we got the message of Hope we've got the message of Christ how can we say that we love our neighbors if we're not sharing that light with love preparing that soil hopefully they receive it well by loving them by nourishing them by being gracious towards them by being merciful by serving them and loving them the way that Christ did but if we don't complete that process of sharing the Gospel what good does it do folks they hate the darkness you know if you don't believe that people hate the darkness just flip the light on at 2AM on your spouse or kids and see what happens the fact is that the Gospel illuminates the dark corners of our hearts and it reveals the complete sinfulness and depravity of our souls many people they wrongfully think that Christians can be born again and live holy lives and just stop there right like we are called to replicate

Ourselves we're called to make disciples of all the nations there is no easy out in that it's hard it's hard to do that but if we if we can't do that then we can't rightfully say yes I love God well on the other side try to justify our Disobedience to him well I Love You Lord but I don't want to make disciples that's the pastor's job that's what we pay Pastor for my job is to equip the Saints for the work of the ministry and so I want to encourage you let's see what Peter says right but once again he's he's going to come back to this that's why we're kind of setting all this up First Peter chapter 3 verses 14 through 16 it says but even as you should suffer for righteousness sake you will be blessed have no fear of them nor be troubled but in your hearts honor Christ's Lord Is Holy always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you yet do it with gentleness and respect having a good conscience so that when you are slandered those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame so it's not just sharing the Gospel and you know like almost like a hammer against a cinder block it's not that it's it's sharing the truth in love and we've got to get better about that in our community the world is moving to the Lake of the Ozarks yeah and our and our backyard is changing real quick and either we prepare ourselves to go and make disciples we shake off the rust of covid and we get our hands dirty and minister in love or we just continue playing Church and I'm not going to do that are you there's two yeah I'm not going to let you might hate

Me for it but I love you too much to let you go like that let's take a look at this at this map real quick now Peter he is writing to these elect Exiles that are in this area you got bithynia Asia galatia Cappadocia and Pontius right there now this is not the only time that we see these cities pop up in the New Testament okay actually this is where Paul had done a lot of his extensive travels he got Ephesus right there you got colossi right there you got Iconium where he was when he was stoned and all that kind of stuff you got lystra that's right next door to it he planted churches all through this area okay maybe with the exception of pontus but he went through there you got galatia we know that we got a whole letter to galatia my point is that this is not an area that was unfamiliar with the Gospel this is not an area where they you know were unfamiliar with Peter or Paul or anyone like that many of these churches Paul had actually went there planted and appointed elders and all of those all the churches from the second through the fourth chapter of Revelation those seven letters to the churches are all right in this area and this is a letter to that region instructing them how to live holy lives these people didn't receive letters one day without any kind of warning or instruction from Jesus these people had explicit directions from Peter inspired by the Holy Spirit on how to live their lives in holiness Peter he then instructs that we are elect Exiles 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 and so we're going to learn about the trinitarian nature of our Salvation that's a point for you to write down firstly the

Four the father's foreknowledge now this is probably mentioned first because he's already mentioned election now for knowledge it means at a minimum to know something beforehand right no one can test that but God's foreknowledge is not just simply about knowing facts beforehand it's about knowing people that's what it's about Peter he uses this language in verse 20 and I wonder if I have it up here first Peter nope I don't first Peter 4 20. Look at it in your Bible look at it in your verse in your little booklet that you got there it says that Christ uses the word he Christ was foreknown before the foundation of the world and we know that and I think that we can all agree that God he didn't just simply agree that hey Christ is going to come and he just foresaw the event that's not what happened Christ he came in a beautifully orchestrated event that God caused and brought about so that his eternal Plan of Redemption could be to telesty it is finished that was what happened there and here you have Peter using that same exact kind of language see foreknowledge it doesn't mean that God stood at the beginning of history and looked down the annals of time he foresaw your faith and chose you based off of your faith there's nothing in Scripture that affirms that if that were the case you would be the author of your own salvation you would deserve credit for making the right decision you deserve the praise for your good choice but Peter he writes that election as according to God's foreknowledge to remind us that we have a Salvation not because we are worthy but because of God's grace and this is really important so please do not check out on this don't check out just because I'm talking about election okay

It's very important we have salvation through faith because of God's Sovereign work because we are unworthy but God demonstrates his own love toward us yet while we were still sinners Christ died for us and because of that we now have power by God's Holy Spirit and by his grace to live counter to those societal norms to live according what God's purpose is if God called you if he got called you to Salvation he will give you the strength to live the holy lives required for the rest of the work as well and so we don't just sit there as apathetic Believers and go well if it's according to God's will that's just what's going to happen no he's given you and I jobs to do to go and make disciples to preach the Gospel to love our neighbor to grow in faith to raise Godly children have lots of Godly children to do those things and he gives us the strength to live those holy lives in a world that hates Jesus secondly as a result of that election there's a key word in the Greek is in this sentence it's a prepositional phrase that modifies that word elect it teaches us that the Holy Spirit is the source of our sanctification listen to acts well sanctification it's the all-encompassing work of God okay where yes after salvation right we call that justification he moves us towards a greater maturity in Christ that's that process of sanctification that each and every single one of us who know Christ are in so whether that's growing in obedience by faith into some days called you two or gaining more self-control in

The situation many I know I know as a parent I pray for a lot of patience and the Lord is working on me in that but this is not a past tense verb this word of sanctification it's an ongoing action where God the Holy Spirit he changes us bit by bit through trials and tribulations and the Holy Spirit he does this work of driving away darkness and sin and unbelief and he brings in Salvation light and Faith by his Mercy look at what it says in Acts chapter 15 verses 7 through 9 and after there had been much debate Peter stood up and said to them brothers you know that in the early days God made a choice among you that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the Gospel and believe and God who knows the heart were witness to them by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us and he made no distinction between us and them having cleansed their hearts by faith I'll leave that there this is the testimony of every single person who believes you must be cleansed by trusting in the work that Christ did on the cross for you and believing in his resurrection we come to God by faith alone and he's the one that does that work in us and we do that by and we grow in that sanctification by saying yes Lord I'm going to do everything within my power to obey you and follow that path that you have for me and thirdly we see four obedience to Jesus Christ obedience does not precede salvation salvation brings about obedience you do not have to clean yourself up to come to the cross you do not have to you know get things together and be all put together in order for God to receive you when you come to him by faith we couldn't be obedient unless the Holy Spirit saved us and dwelt inside of us and Jesus he knew this and he taught this in John chapter John chapter 14 sorry I must

Have missed that verse John chapter 14 verses 15-17 if you love me you will keep my Commandments and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever even the spirit of Truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you how do you know that you're saved look at what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians we give thanks to God always for all of you constantly mentioning you in our prayers remembering before our God and Father your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of Hope in our Lord Jesus Christ for we know Brothers loved by God that he has chosen you because our Gospel came to you not only in word but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake and you became imitators of us and of the Lord for you received the word in much Affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit so that you became an example to all the Believers and Macedonia Nakaya for not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Acadia but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere so that we not need say anything for they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you and how you turn to God from Idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his son from Heaven whom he raised from the dead Jesus who delivers us from the Wrath to come this is an example from oh sorry that's my quote this is an example from Square from Scripture about the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit that he has in our lives that's the example Faith love hope conviction imitating Paul and the Lord Jesus being an example to believer turning from Gods from Idols to waiting for Christ all of these are a

Result of Salvation and finally to be sprinkled with Christ's blood to be sprinkled with Christ's blood see this is all about the Eternal Covenant that he had set forth to us by his blood in the Old Testament there were some times when blood was sprinkled in the Mosaic Covenant actually there was there was three times the first one is when Aaron and the priests were being consecrated and the priest came forward in their garments and Moses he took some hyssop in the blood and he sprinkled it all over the priests and they were consecrated and they were set apart and so is that what Paul Peter writes about here is this what he has in mind when he says we're sprinkled with blood I don't think so because he has already said later on in the book that we are a chosen race a royal priesthood so that's something that we already are so I don't think that fits there's another time in the book of the Leviticus where a leper would come in and he would he would after he had been made clean he would make an offering of two births and the priest would let one go and he would take the other he would take its head off pour the blood out and the leper would be sprinkled with that blood on his head on his ear on his right hand on his toe and he would be pronounced clean but we've already been made clean by Christ we know that and so what is it well it's probably at the inauguration of the Mosaic Covenant we read this in Exodus chapter 24 verses 3 through 8 then Moses came and reported to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words which the Lord has spoken we will do and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord then he got up early in the

Morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain that's Sinai with 12 memorial stones for the 12 tribes of Israel and he sent the young men of the sons of Israel and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed Bulls as peace offerings to the Lord Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar then he took the book of the Covenant and read it as the people listened and they said all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we will be obedient so Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said behold the blood of the Covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words when CR when Christians receive the message of the Gospel they're not just only trusting in Christ's payment for their sins but they're also submitting to the Lord Jesus to be obedient to what he's called them to do Christ's blood shed on the cross it's the Seal of the Covenant that he has established with his own blood and there's a hope there that even when we fail in our obedience we are still sprinkled with Christ's blood and we can still receive forgiveness and be restored to fellowship with God when we come to God and just say I'm sorry help me to be obedient in this area and we receive forgiveness because of Christ's Merit even then so what does all this mean it means that God he has chosen you and I to live as strangers in this world for the purpose of making disciples to be Salt and Light because of God's foreknowledge because of the Holy Spirit sanctifying work which causes us to obey Christ and remain in him because of Christ's shed blood and Peter he continues the opening of this letter and I'll read it as a blessing over each of us may Grace and

Peace be multiplied to you and that's the same thing that I pray for each one of you as we start 2023. Head hand heart head I want you to know that we will suffer as Christians in this world but Salvation is worth it's worth it there we go you might get excluded forsaken mocked made fun of hated but he's worth it and I want you to think about your election and choose to Delight in that truth that he knew you before the foundation of the world called you Justified you not because of anything that he saw but because of his own Grace heart I want you to believe that the Triune God is active in every part of your salvation the Father the Son the Holy Spirit all work together in unison to work out your salvation God three persons one God eternally harmonious unified in their being working out the salvation of every single person who would turn to him let's all stand let's pray and let's respond and worship together so God we do love you we thank you we praise you Lord these are not easy things for many of us to hear but regardless it's your word help us to live our lives in the light of that truth thank you for calling us thank you for redeeming us and Lord there's people out there that are friends and neighbors Lord that they need to hear the Gospel they can't believe until they hear the Gospel and so help us Lord as your ambassadors to share the truth and the hope of your word we love you we thank you for this day and we worship you in Jesus name amen

[Music] amen should nothing of our efforts stand Legacy survive unless the Lord does raise the house in vain its Builders strive to you boasts tomorrow's gain tell me what is your life a miss that vanishes at dawn all glory be to Christ oh glory be to Christ Our King all glory be to Christ his Rule and reign will ever sing Oh Glory Be to Christ his will be done his Kingdom Come On Earth as is above who is himself Our Daily Bread Praise Him the Lord Of Love that Living Water satisfy the Thirsty without price we'll take a cup of kindness yet oh glory be to cry oh glory be to Christ Our King o glory be to Christ his Rule and reign will ever sing all glory be to Christ let's sing that again just our voices all glory be to Christ Our King glory be to Christ his Rule and reign will ever sing all glory be Christ amen thank you all for being here today let's pray God we thank you for allowing us to be here today to be in your house on the first day of a new year thank you Lord for being with us Lord we pray that you would help us to remember each minute every day all this year that you're constantly with us Lord in Good Times in bad times difficult situations Lord that you're right there with us each minute thank you Lord for what you did for us on the cross and we ask these things in your precious name amen thank you