Seven Truths about Christ, Our Cornerstone

God's word says this as you come to him a living Stone rejected by men but in the sight of God Chosen and precious you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ for it stands in Scripture behold I am laying in Zion a stone a Cornerstone Chosen and precious and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame so the honor is for you who believe but for those who do not believe the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense they stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to let's pray

And so God we do thank you for your word we pray that today that your word would be not only rightly divided but that your word would rightly divide us that those those things that we hold to will be changed because of what your word says whether it's a right view of you or a wrong view of you that needs to change or maybe it's just total submission to you God we pray that you would help us we pray that as your word is preached that Hearts would be changed that lives and that you would do that work that only you can do God help us dear Lord to live for your glory in Jesus name amen all right so our passage it begins with that phrase as you come to him did you know that you are invited to come to Christ you are invited to come and receive the Lord Jesus even right now and he invites you he actually invited the people in his day to come to him personally look at what the Scripture says in Matthew 11 28. Come to me all you are all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your souls for my yoke is easy and my burden is light and so as you come to him he beckons you he calls you he invites you he commands you to come to him and receive his burden and guess what Christ feel like he doesn't have like a heavy burden he doesn't have a heavy yoke he's gentle he's lowly he's perfect that guilt and that shame he invites you to exchange for his sinlessness and his righteousness as you come to him Jesus the only place where you can be rescued

You know as we look at this the Bible it says that God is The Rock his work is perfect for all his ways are Justice a God of faithfulness and he is without and without iniquity just and upright is he any Anna Jones fans in here like I love watching Indiana Jones right of course as a small child the most terrifying scene is when they open up the ark and the faces start melting right that'll shock you yeah you know here's the thing is that the reason why their face is melted was because they saw the glory of God and sinners in our in our own strength in our own power we can't stand in the glory of God we will melt away because of God's goodness his Holiness his glory his majesty we can't stand in our own power in our own strength that's why we need Jesus who will be forced to look upon the Lord one day one day you will take that last breath one day your heart will beat that last beat and you will behold God face to face and either you will be swept away in judgment or you will stand protected in Christ there is no other destiny Jesus is described here as a living Stone you should Circle that okay he is a living Stone Jesus wasn't alive Jesus is Alive he is a living refuge for our souls and yet people reject him the sermon titled today is seven truths about Christ Our Cornerstone and the first thing is that he was rejected by men I guess I could say he is rejected by men because people still reject him today this is the nature of all mankind we naturally reject God you see that in the garden all the way from creation man with their free will they chose to

Rebel against God therefore receive a we receive a nature not just inclined to sin but doomed to sin we are Sinners by nature and by choice and at that moment we all became rebellious from the womb we were haters of God and haters of each other and you see at the moment that they rebelled against God what did they do they started running from God it's hard to reject his presence because that's what sin does and we see this on and on and on Cain he offered a sacrifice that was not pleasing to the Lord and the writer of Hebrews tells us it's because Cain rejected the Lord Israel rejected the Lord in the wilderness even after being delivered even after making a covenant with God at the mountain of Sinai they beheld God in a pillar of Fire by night and a pillar of cloud by day and yet they still rejected the Lord look at what they said in Numbers chapter 11 verse 20. You have rejected the Lord who is among you and have weptable for him saying why did we come out of Egypt remember that great place where we were slaves for 400 years Israel after being in the promised land for many years they wanted a king please God we would just love to have a king we and you look in first Samuel chapter 8 verse 7 it says and the Lord said to Samuel obey the voice of the people and all that they say to you for they have not rejected you but they have rejected me from being King over them this is what happened for literally centuries among God's people God's chosen people Israel they rejected the Lord repeatedly and so Peter as he preached before the council in Acts Chapter 4 verses 8 through 12

Peter filled with the Holy Spirit and this is the same author right I want you to find some of these same themes that we are dealing with in the passage in First Peter then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit said to them rulers of the people and Elders if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled Man by what means this man has been healed let be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified whom God raised from the dead by him this man is standing before you well this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you the builders which has become the Cornerstone and there is salvation and no one else for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved Peter he uses such similar language as what he did here in Acts Christ who was rejected by men because that is their nature the second Point here is that he is chosen and precious by God look at what this passage says but in the sight of God chosen and precious this is the election language used in regards to Jesus Christ Our Messiah that we're chosen it is eclectus which means elect Impressions it means in timos which means valuable it means distinguished Jesus is the one who paid our sin debt because God chose him ordained him to do so before the world was even made and he is precious I recently saw a video of a pastor asking that question how on Earth could one man suffering for six hours on a cross pay for the sins of anyone that would come to him how on Earth was God able to do that and let me tell you why he was able to do that it's because of the sheer value of

Jesus Christ if you were to put Jesus on a scale and you were to put the whole of Creation with all of the mountains and all of the gold and all of the galaxies and all of humanity and their sin and their shame and their suffering and their Badness Jesus outweighs it all Jesus is far more valuable and precious than any collection of humanity in the world and it is precisely because of the goodness and the preciousness of the Son of God that we can look to the cross and know that what Jesus did was accepted by God and it pleased God because Jesus is more valuable than us and yet Jesus still chose to go and to die while we were yet sinners Christ died for us amen Peter says you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house how are we built up into a spiritual house put yourself like I mean just read that text what does that mean that you know like Cody and Amber and my kids and Miss Janice over there you know and Mr Phil over there you know like what how are we all of us together being built up into a spiritual house well it's because we have been made Alive by Jesus Christ and this is the only place in Scripture that we as Believers are referred to as living stones but I think that goes back to Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 through 22 and this might be out of order so you might have to help me here it's not good all right Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 through 22 it says this so then you are no longer strangers and Aliens okay we've covered that in First Peter this is a completely different author okay but you are fellow citizens with the Saints and members of the household of God built on the foundation of the of the Apostles and Prophets Christ Jesus himself being the Cornerstone in whom

The whole structure being joined together grows into a holy Temple in the Lord in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit this is point number three here okay is that he is the Cornerstone of our Salvation we're going to bring all these things together here now the only way that we can be built up into a spiritual house a place that is pleasing to God because listen to me this church with all of its bricks and mortar and all of the dollars that we put into it in all of the history that has this place in and of itself is not a special place okay some of you are going Pastor you are wrong that is evil Mutiny right what does the passage say we the people of God are the dwelling place of God does not live in places built by human hands we are dwelt by the Holy Spirit and therefore when there is a collection of Believers together that are worshiping the Lord and preaching the Gospel the true Gospel of God and we are together working to bring about the Great Commission and Make Disciples of all the nations that's a holy place and so he makes some comparisons here Peter does he's back I'm I'm kind of backtracking a little bit here but the first comparison is that he Compares us to Living Stones and I think that Peter does this intentionally because he probably thinks back to the time that he spent with Jesus Christ I mean you look at Peter Peter's real name is what Simon Simon and for some of you're like whoa I never knew that before praise the Lord you learned something

New but with Simon he got that name Peter because Jesus gave him that nickname and so Peter he's not just I mean Peter's not referring to himself as the living Stone he's including himself as part of those Living Stones being built building up the body of Christ the Church of God and so he considers himself even a part of these living stones and so I want to encourage you that the church is never better off without you and you are never better off without the church you need to be a part of a local church if you're watching online or listening on the radio or whatever you need to be a part of a local church because watching online and listening on the radio is not a substitute for serving with people of God for a congregational singing among the people of God for participating in communion with people of God for observing baptism in a local church body it's not a substitute for it and so pretend don't pretend like it is you need to get plugged into a local church body if you're physically able to now every member has a Ministry to do every member has a missionary function as an ambassador of Christ so plug in secondly he makes another comparison sorry as a holy priesthood we are built up into Christ as a unified building spiritual house to worship God and Peter he's going to revisit this theme later on in verse 9. And he tells us that we are a holy priesthood you know what this means is that you don't have to go through me or any other spiritual person in order to have access to the father you have to enter through Christ that's it's as simple as that and yet also as difficult as that as we will soon see

You see each and every single one of us who are in Christ are also priests to God in Christ this means that we have access to God that means that we can pray to God directly and he clearly hears us means that we don't have to pray to the Saints amen we're like living stones being built up as a spiritual house for a purpose to be a holy priesthood and we've talked extensively about what it means to be holy so Point number four is that he makes us acceptable makes us acceptable to God see we are completely unacceptable to stand in God's presence to offer spiritual sacrifices to be a holy priesthood in our own strength we cannot do it but Christ through Christ in Christ he makes us acceptable when we trust in him we become clean through Jesus Christ and this is part of the Priestly service that we perform because God he tells us exactly how he desires to be worshiped and God he's so specific in the Old Testament there were some priests that thought you know I we're just going to offer up this fire to the Lord we're not going to pay attention to any of God's commands and that cost them their lives God killed them for it and this means that as Christians God's word is the basis it is the sole Authority for how we are to worship and what we are to do empowered by the spirit of God that's how we are to offer up spiritual sacrifices so what is a spiritual sacrifice well spiritual sacrifices are you know sometimes a spiritual discipline a spiritual habit an offering a commitment that's based on Scripture that costs you something it's the early morning Bible study that you do that's a spiritual sacrifice it's a congregational singing lifting up your hands not worrying about your

Neighbors but you're lifting up your hands because God is so worthy amen it is offering up making a an offering that costs you something because God has been good to you it's it's interceding and taking time in prayer that is the spiritual offering but that spiritual offering is accepted based upon our position in Christ it's because we are in Christ that God he receives that gift with gladness he receives that spiritual sacrifice with joy because we are in Christ it's not that if we're not in Christ and we do those things suddenly we become more appealing no that's exactly what God hates God does not need your religiosity he does not need your worship and your adoration and your affection in order to be God you know what he wants is your heart he wants your devotion and he is deserving of all of it Peter then he proceeds to say that the Bible says and Christians need to be okay pointing to the authority of Scripture and standing on it look at what the Scripture says for it stands in Scripture behold I am laying in Zion a Cornerstone a stone a Cornerstone Chosen and precious and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame now Peter here he says that God is the one who laid this Cornerstone that's because Redemption is all God's plan from the very beginning Christ used the plan to redeem Mankind and Peter he cites Isaiah 28 here and Isaiah 28 is all about God's judgment on the nations of Israel and Judah because what had happened was that they were entrusting themselves to an ungodly alliance with the nation of Egypt they made a treaty they had put their trust in that and it was going to lead to their destruction

But there were many people that said this is a bad thing guys we should be entrusting ourselves to the Lord and so God is speaking to them comfort that those who trust in him will not be put to shame and so this leads us to point number five is that he gives us confidence now that sounds like some Word of Faith stuff right there so let me clarify it is not the Stuart Smalley from SNL kind of stuff right I'm good enough I'm smart enough and doggone it people like me right it's not that kind of confidence that's a self-focused affirmation what does it mean look at Romans 9 chapter 30 through 33. Paul he writes this what shall we say then that Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it that is a righteousness that is by faith but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law why because they did not pursue it by faith but as if it were based on Works they have stumbled Over The Stumbling Stones as it is written behold I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame the whole point of the passage in both Romans 9 and in First Peter 2 right here is about the confidence that you have obtained by faith in Jesus Christ there is a promise that if you believe in Christ if you hold to the Gospel message you will not be put to shame that same word shame is also translated as disappoint and it's found in Romans 5. Says hope does not disappoint it's the same word there shame and disappointment because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us you know you won't get to heaven and be like is this

It that is not where Heaven is going to be like you are going to be overwhelmed with the joy and the goodness and the Holiness and the majesty and the sheer magnitude of the love and the Holiness of God you will abide in his presence and it is unending it is infinite it is unsearchable and you will spend all of eternity knowing God better and there is no end to knowing God but this confidence is limited just as salvation is look at verse 7. So the honor is for you who believe but for those who do not believe the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone salvation is limited to those who believe in Jesus Christ I don't mean that you believe in it like believe that the United States is a nation or that space is big what I mean is that you believe in it as it's used here the word here is belief it's actually a verb it's a faith it's a it's a it's a faith that prompts action and response this means that moves Beyond sheer acknowledgment but it also prompts you to respond to live your life in light of that truth John 3 16 has his kind of faith and well actually do John 3 16 through verse 19 it says for God so loved the world that he gave his only son that whoever believes in him that's not just mental Ascent but living your life conducting your life with faith in light of that belief believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the but in order that the world might be saved through him whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only son of

God and this is the judgment the light has come into the world people love the darkness rather than the light because their Works were evil for those who do not believe Scripture says the stone has rejected that the Builder is rejected has become the Cornerstone So What on earth does that mean well we see this verse used in other places actually keep your finger here in First Peter and turn over to Psalm chapter 118. Okay keep your finger there in First Peter turn over to Psalm 118. Psalm 118 a lot of folks believe that it was written at the time of the dedication of the second temple constructed under Ezra's leadership in this Psalm it's a song full of joy an invitation and in verses 19 through 24 the Scripture says this open to me the gates of righteousness that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord this is the Gate of the Lord the righteous shall enter through it I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone this is the Lord's doing it is marvelous in our eyes this is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it some of you are like I thought that was just a song but we don't understand it here just in psalm 118. But this Psalm is all about Jesus Jesus is the Gate of righteousness that we must come to God through Jesus is the one who hears the sinner Repent Jesus is the stone that people have rejected Jesus is all God's doing Jesus is all the marvelous work he's the plan from eternity past and we know this because Jesus said so now turn over to Matthew chapter 21. You can leave Psalm 118 behind but look over at Matthew chapter

21. Thank you Matthew 21 verse 33 Jesus he tells a parable this is the parable of the tenants these are people that are leasing out some land right and here's what the Scripture says in Matthew chapter 21 verse 33 nope forget about that sorry here another parable there was a master of a house who planted a Vineyard put a fence around it dug a wine press in it and built a tower and leased it to the to tenants and went into another country when the season for fruit Drew near he sent his servants to the tenants to get us fruit and the tents took his servants and beat one killed another and stoned another again he sent other servants more than the first they did the same thing to them finally he sent his son you see what Jesus is doing here sent his son to them saying they will respect my son but when the tenants saw the sun they said to themselves this is the heir come let us kill him and have his inheritance and they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him when therefore the owner of the Vineyard comes what will he do to those tenants they said to him he will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits and their Seasons Jesus said to them have you never read the Scriptures the stone that the builders rejected has become the Cornerstone this was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes therefore I tell you the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits and the one who falls on this Stone will be broken to pieces and when it falls on anyone it

Will crush him what will you do with Jesus I mean I've already said there are two destinies for your eternal life either eternal life in heaven with God or Eternal death in hell away from God's presence the Bible says that you're a sinner and maybe you don't believe that so it's been a while since I've done this so we're going to do the little finger things right some of y'all know what I'm talking about okay so the Ten Commandments they're what convict us of sin and righteousness and judgment so let's go through them together if you would just follow along with me say commandment number one all right some of some of you are too cool commandment number one all right there is one God in him only shall you serve yeah don't have any other gods before God commandment number two do not make an idol and bow down to it right right so remember that don't don't commit idolatry commandment number three hold that up Commander number three what is that what letter does that look like a w watch your words right don't take God's name in vain commandment number four say four stop remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy so it's remember or you can do stop in the name alone right five yes sir honor your father and mother commandment number six come on I know that y'all want to do don't commit murder Jesus said that if you hate someone in your heart that you've committed murder

In your heart against them already commandment number seven marriages between two people not five don't commit adultery but the Bible says that if a man looks upon a woman with lust in his heart he's committed adultery with her already some of you went okay let's see here commandment number eight all right kind of looks like a cut off my thumbs right and In some cultures they'll cut off your thumbs or put you in jail if you steal something do not commandment number nine all right this one's the hardest one there are four say it there are four yeah thanks son you're making me look good yeah so do not bear false witness against your neighbor and commandment number 10 you know you might see your neighbor's stuff and want it for yourself okay do not covet now we just went through a few of those Commandments and I don't know about you but I'm guilty of all of them and so are you see if you are not in Christ you still have to face the judgment and the wrath of God and I don't want that for you the Bible says that's why Jesus came was to drink the full cup of God's Wrath so that anyone who comes to him will not have to face that wrath on Judgment day but not only that He commands you to follow him we don't just get to come to God and go I want to be saved and no change whatsoever takes place that's that's not salvation He commands us because he is the Lord and King of Everything and if you reject the Lord he will crush I know some of my brothers and sisters you hate that kind of language but

That's what the word says and I will not apologize for God's word sixth point is that he is a stumbling block and when we think of a stumbling block typically that's always negative it means that a Christian is doing something that they ought not to do and so a Christian might look at him and go you know I don't want Jesus because if it looks anything like that I don't want but Jesus is described here as a stumbling block what does that mean it means that the only thing that should prevent people from coming to God is Jesus himself either they want to come to God through every single way that they can think of maybe if I'm good enough maybe if I give enough maybe if I'm smart enough maybe if I'm nice enough maybe if I do this maybe if I join a church maybe if I get baptized maybe if I'd give enough money maybe if I'm nice to my wife maybe if I'm a good father maybe if I read my Bible more maybe if I spend more time in prayer maybe if I do this maybe if I do that and so they try to figure out every other way than the one way that God has promised that you can be saved and that's through Jesus Christ Alone Peter recalls Isaiah again here and he quotes and what's happening here in this eighth chapter of Isaiah is that Judah they are being warned of an upcoming Invasion from the nation of Syria look at what the whole passage says in Isaiah chapter 8 verses 13 through 15 it says but the Lord of hosts him you shall honor is Holy let him be your fear let him be your dread and he will become a sanctuary in a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and many shall stumble on it they shall fall and be broken they shall be snared and taken once again this is in reference to Jesus Christ

The seventh indirectly tied to this is that he is offensive he is offensive that word offense is the Greek word scandalon it's where we get our word scandalous from it's also translated as trap Paul uses a similar language in First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 23 but we cry preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and Folly to Gentiles but to those who are called both Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men and we might look at this and go why is Jesus offensive why is he a stumbling block well this is where we have to trust the wisdom of God especially in regards to this last phrase in verse 9 which I'm sure some of you read and went ooh look at verse 8. They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to who is they well it's those who do not believe according to verse 7. It's those who reject Jesus some might say that these were the Jewish leaders but Peter he's not applying this passage at all to the Jews that crucified Jesus he's applying it to those who reject Christ to those who do not believe they stumble because they disobey the word remember that the word here is the preaching of the Gospel it's the pure spiritual milk that's in verse two but here's the tough tough part they were destined to that's icky for some of us that we're destined it's the Greek word teeth May which means to be put to cause to appoint to experience now you and I we have no clue about people's Destinies we have no clue if

Someone's going to be receptive to the Gospel or reject the Gospel but you do know what but you do know what we are commanded to do we are commanded to share the Gospel with every single person that's willing to hear they may not be able to be willing to listen but if they're willing to hear then we are commanded to share the Gospel it's the only way that anyone will ever be saved God has said that is the only way that anyone will ever be saved there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved let's look at another way how else can we apply this passage of Jesus he made it clear that the builders they were the Jewish leaders and they rejected Christ just as they were destined to absolutely we know that based off of the word of God did they follow their own hearts and desires absolutely they did they contrived that plan they willed for the Son of God to die it's the same thing with people that reject the Lord they simply follow their own Hearts which is awful advice by the way don't ever give that advice out God simply leaves them as they are without that regenerating work of the Holy Spirit this is one of the reasons why as Christians we pray for our lost friends amen we pray for God to change their hearts and why do we do that because it's only when the heart is changed that salvation will take place we don't have to reconcile this apparent contradiction because these aren't contradictory but they're complementary God is Sovereign over salvation man is morally responsible for not believing the Gospel and I pray that today that you would respond to him as well and so why does Peter include this phrase here is it just so confusion or Discord among Believers I don't think so

I think that Peter going back to where we started he is emphasizing the supremacy and the sovereignty of God you see Jesus chose Peter to follow him and Peter did so it was the Holy Spirit who revealed that Jesus is the Christ the son of the Living God it was also Jesus Christ who calmed the wind and the waves with word it was Jesus who laid down his life and took it back up again and what Peter is doing here is he is assuring the Believers here in Asia Minor that in spite of living in an evil and wicked world that is filled with persecution and hatred towards God he is still in control so no matter what our country might be going through no matter if World War III breaks out nuclear apocalypse all these things that people are having hysteria over you know what we can stand firm in that God has a plan and it's a good plan and his plan will be consummated when he returns God reigns even if people disobey even if people kill the son of God is still in control and what a comfort that is for those of us that live in this crazy crazy world head hand heart head I want you to know that if you reject Christ you will be crushed do not wait do not delay today is the day of salvation turn to him trust in him today heart I want you to spend some time studying Psalm 118 this week we've referenced it a lot you could even go to Isaiah and study that a bit and get some more background on this Cornerstone Jesus Christ it'll help you in your discussion with Community groups next week and heart I want you to believe that Christ Alone is our only hope if you're worried about stumbling over Christ well the way that you stumble is when

You try to justify yourself or maybe your root is pride listen God he will not reject you if you come to him in humility in Repentance he will not turn you away he accepts you just as you are in Christ but you have to come to Christ you have to trust in him you have to repent and believe in the one son of God who died on the cross to make a way for you to go to heaven and have a relationship with the father and maybe you need to make that decision public today maybe you're just like you know I've I've chosen to repent and trust in the Lord I want to encourage you to make that public today if y'all would please stand together in honor of what God is doing and as we all join together in singing praying would you pray for people around you that their hearts would be moved to trust in Christ let's pray we love you and we just ask that you would do a great thing in our life and in our church God that you would move God there's tough things that we've talked about today and some good things God we just pray that above all that we would remember the passage and that you would prompt us to live our lives in light of the truth of that passage God and as we respond in worship as we respond through praise and prayer may you be glorified in Jesus name amen my soul finds rest in God alone my rock and my salvation of Fortress strong against my foes and I will not be shaken though lips May bless and hearts makers and lies like arrows peace me I'll fix my heart on righteousness I Look to Him who hears me Oh Praise Him

Hallelujah Mighty light and my reward Everlasting never failing My Redeemer my God find rest my soul in God alone amid the world's Temptations when evil seeks to take a hold I'll cling to my salvation though riches come and riches go don't set your heart upon them the fields of Hope in which I sow are harvested in heaven Oh Praise Him Hallelujah my delight and my reward Everlasting never failing My Redeemer my God foreign [Music] and trust in him completely with every day pour out my soul and he will prove his Mercy Mercy though life is but a fleeting breath aside to breathe to measure my King has crushed the curse of death and I am his forever Oh Praise Him Hallelujah my delight and my reward Everlasting never failing my reading praise the Lord for what he's doing amen I want to ask you guys to have a seat I want to introduce to you A friend of mine this is Zach wants you come on up here he has had God working in his life for a while actually you know it's been it's been really cool to see God working in just your family in general and he said Pastor I'm ready to make my decision public I he prayed to receive Christ back in November and

He said he's been here since really August or so or some somewhere in there and God's just been working in his life and he said I'm ready to just make that public to the church and so if y'all would just celebrate that with me say and he said I want to be baptized and join our church and you know so if y'all would just celebrate that with me say amen he yeah praise the Lord there you go and so we're we're going to celebrate that along with Sophia battleotto she's going to be the Battle of this they joined back in November or so too and so yeah she's gonna be baptized on March 12th and we're gonna celebrate his on the 12th as well and so invite your friends you know tell them about what God's doing and celebrate that and so you know so just go over it real quick you've repented of your sins you trust in Christ the Savior he's your Lord You're gonna follow him every day of your life all right you're gonna leave that family well yes awesome praise the Lord amen Let's take a moment and pray and then Zach he scurried off there but be sure to hug his neck and say hey welcome to the church family because we love you and we love your family as well they got a little mave over there as well and Ivy so praise the Lord for you guys we're thankful let's pray Lord we love you we just ask that you had continued working in us and that you would move Among Us Lord we want more of you and help us to prioritize you help us to seek you we love you as we leave here today we don't leave concluding our week but really starting it as ambassadors and missionaries God help us to do well to be pleasing to you to offer sacrifices that are spiritual and pleasing because of who we are in you we

Love you