STACKING STONES | SUNDAY 1ST JUNE | PS PAUL MILLER

It's good to have you here, Mezzanine.

You guys are dark up there. It's like

you guys are in the movies or

something. Hi, it's good to have you

online as well. For those that are

online, it is good to have you here with

us. If you don't know, my name is uh as

the screen is telling me, my name is

Paul Miller. If we have not met, I am

part of the team here uh at Elim and it

is my privilege to to share with you

this morning. Obviously, I am not pastor

Aaron. I have hair on my head. So, it

is hopefully uh shots fired already and

the starting salvo. It is uh so good to

have you here uh this morning. Uh if you

are visiting, look, can I just say can I

apologize for our weather? Um our pastor

Aaron has been the last couple weeks has

been speaking and preaching into a thing

called a new season. And before he

started preaching, we were still having

summer. We're having glorious days. No

rain, no wind, just beautiful sunshine.

And then Aaron gets the word of God and

starts preaching about the new season.

And straight away it's like the

atmosphere realized, oh, I'm meant to be

in autumn or winter. It is like, get

behind me, winter. I am I am a god who

believes that in summer. So, welcome to

and hopefully you're enjoying our great

city uh here. And just we again we

apologize for the weather for that that

wind. It is not normal for this. It's

just because you Oaklanders are down

here. So,

[Laughter]

um I am loose. All right. Um, it's a

it's it's funny how you think you know

people, right? Um, it's it's funny how

like in life you you think you know

Brody and then one day he tells you

something and you're like, "I had no

idea about you, Brody." And look, I had

um we're going to we we're open. We're

vulnerable. This is a safe place, is it

not? You guys are safe? You guys alive

this morning? You guys all good? Uh you

Misine is a safe place for me to sort of

share here this morning. So, uh you got

the thumbs up. So, this is fantastic.

So, a couple of weeks ago or months ago,

whenever it was, we uh I did a ancestry

uh uh test because I just wanted to

figure out and we as a family did it.

And I got to tell you, man, there is

some shocking results that are coursing.

There's some some unusual DNA coursing

through my veins. And and as I as I

predicted, there is some I think I'm 38%

British, which is like I I like it's all

good. I celebrate that. And I I am sadly

I am 1% less Scottish. I'm 37% Scottish.

So, I was like, ah, I was so close. I

was so close. And I we we have some a

little bit of German, a little bit of

the Nordics, sort of Denmark, um Sweden,

and uh some uh Finland and uh I don't

know what I was saying there, but and I

have a little bit of Welsh in me, but to

my absolute surprise now, and you got to

understand this, um I have been hassling

Pastor Trevan Debs uh for a long time

around rugby and Ireland and all this

sort of stuff. And to my utter horror,

no, just kidding. Uh to my to my horror,

I am 9% Irish.

So all this time T we're I could have

been celebrating the the island win over

the all blacks and I had no idea and I

can tell you green looks fabulous on me

and I was like all this time I have been

wearing black. So it it's funny how you

think you know the person next to you

and you think you know who you are and

and something like this I just find out

me and Brody are basically cousins. So

it is just there's only four people in

Ireland just like there's only three

people here uh in New Zealand. So, why

don't you turn to the person next to you

and go look them in the eyes. If you

aren't driving, don't do this. Um, look

at the guys on the road. Look them in

the eyes and go, "So, what are you not

telling me?" Come on. Ask them, "What

are you not telling me? What is the

secret? What are you holding back from

me?" Now, turn to the other person

that's next to you. What are you not

telling me?

So, you think you know a person, right?

You think you know a person. Uh um

pastor Aaron last week uh he's been uh

sharing uh he shared about the life of

Zakius and Zakius was was a tax

collector. He shared from uh Matthew and

uh Zakius was known as a chief uh tax

collector. He was he was hated and he

was obviously putting his own people

down. He was a Jewish uh sort of tax

collector for the Roman government. And

so he was he was stealing from his own

people. And and so you think you know

who this person is. You think he's going

to be a tax collector for life. He's

he's he's set his lane. He is in who he

is. He set his career, his path, and

then along comes one encounter with

Jesus, and you think you know who he is.

And straight away, what a one lunch.

What a lunch though. Come on. One lunch

with Jesus. And straight away, his

entire future, his whole whole path, his

whole purpose completely changed because

of one encounter with Jesus. He had to

go through this. He goes, "If I've taken

from anyone," which is a statement like

he definitely had taken from people. He

goes, "If I've taken, I'm going to give

back four times." And that sort of

stuff. And you imagine from that day

onwards, people saw him as a tax

collector, but they didn't know who he

was because of the change of Jesus. And

he's going coming to these people goes,

"I'm sorry I stole from you, Seth. Here

is $722." You know, like whatever the

dinaries and that sort of stuff. And and

so this entire process of people getting

to know someone who's had an encounter

with Jesus. Uh and so that you think you

know these people, but then Jesus comes

along. And if you guys don't know, our

church actually has a a YouTube account.

So hopefully there's a slide that's

coming up. And I would encourage us,

look, there are some phenomenal

preachers all over the world. Let me let

me not just say that from the outskirts,

but it is so important as a church that

we hear and what know what's going on in

our church and what's happening in our

city because God has placed us here for

a purpose and a reason. And I would

encourage us if you guys do podcasts or

if you do watch YouTube, uh I would

encourage us, man, if you're not here

some weeks, if you're a CEO Christian,

your Christmas, Easter, and occasion

Christian, uh can I just can I just

encourage you check out our YouTube page

and I know there's a possibly a Spotify

or podcast. Check it out because you

it's so good when you know what's

happening here where God has planted

you. And I know Aaron's been doing some

great sermons up there as well. So feel

free to uh along that sort of line. And

Aaron was obviously preaching one of the

verses is Ephesians chapter 2. If you

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

got your Bibles, we're going to start

there. We're going to get to First Peter

later on, but if you guys got your

Bibles, come on guys, find your phones,

get off uh Instagram or whatever you

guys are on. Uh it's good. There's a

thing called Uver. Find that. Download

that. It is good. Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians 2:8

verse 8 and 10. Uh we'll just I'll

quickly read it while you guys are

trying to find find ID. Remember your

pin

code. Hopefully, it comes online for the

those that are online as well. So, it

says this in verse 8. What did I say?

First uh Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and

Ephesians 2:8

10 it goes this for it is by grace you

have been saved beautiful beautiful

verse through faith and this is not from

ourselves it is a gift of God not of

works so that no one can boast for we

are God's handiwork created in Christ

Jesus to do good works which prepared

which God prepared in advance for us to

do I I love this uh verse handiwork and

I look I I I know can I just say this

from the outskirts I I know that we are

fearfully And like I'm giving like a

warning. Be be prepared. I know that um

we are fearfully and wonderful

wonderfully made. I I love this word

handiwork because it it gives to me like

it's like it was so easy for God to make

us. When I see this word handiwork like

it does not feel that it was hard for

God to do this. You know like if you

think about it like uh the complexity of

the universe like it is I cannot wrap my

head around the size the the the

millions of galaxies the the the the the

billions of stars the these are big

numbers I cannot deal with like and

trillions of planets in in this entire

universe and the how long it would take

to travel from point A to point B. It's

like I just uh it just like I am a

builder who cannot fathom these numbers.

Um and I cannot like it's just the

complexity even of the the earth and how

wonderful and how perfect it was before

us humans started to destroy it. Um it's

just the sheer size and complexity and

brilliance of all of these things. And

he goes to us he goes feels like I'm

just like a little like a cashy like a

weekend job.

I I I know that we are the pinnacle of

creation, all this sort of stuff, but to

God, it's just like handiwork. It feels

so

easy. Feels

just like I I hard to wrap your head

around it. It's our best minds, our best

scientists have yet to create life from

nothing. Even with a head start of all

the technology we have, we still haven't

even created a complex cell. Think we've

got to 15 instead of 128. Like there is

some stuff that it is so easy for God

and he comes to us. It's like just feels

so easy and uh like I I now that we are

we managed to car Elijah and I managed

to surprise uh Karen last night. We

we're at a restaurant and and I had

arranged Elijah to come down for the

weekend. And so she we're at the

restaurant and she saw this guy looking

like her son. She goes, "Oh, that looks

like

Elijah. That is Elijah." So we managed

to surprise Karen last night. She

basically kicked me to the floor. get

out of the way. I haven't seen my son

for for a number of weeks. So, pushes me

to the ground, pushes the waitress to

the ground, hugs her son. Beautiful

moment as I'm crying with my I'm just

kidding. I'm I'm embellishing the story.

But here's um can I just say my my our

son Elijah has been up in Oakuckland and

he's studying and working. When he was

uh five or six years, just cuz he's

here, I'm going to embarrass him because

that's what a dad can do. Uh we have a

picture here of when he was uh five or

six. This is Elijah's handiwork here.

This is him drawing parents in a big bro

pen on the wall of our

house. And this wasn't this is one

photo. He obviously went to bed one

night and he was I don't know what does

it look like to you guys? Star Wars

maybe. There's Elijah in the corner with

a little house he's built. It's just so

awesome. We had to paint the entire room

because uh so that is Elijah's

handiwork. It's amazing. He is now like

basically Picasso. Well, who's that guy?

Banksy. That is his original Banksy. It

is painted behind some house in

Oakuckland. See, my handiwork in my life

may result in a couple of cool buildings

or a great mezzanine or may result

in maybe a sermon you guys can follow

or maybe it's very hard to follow my

sermons. I get it. Maybe a very elegant

stickman. I am not known for drawing.

That's definitely for sure. Uh maybe

maybe my handiwork can result in maybe a

semi- delicious meal at my house. And

you know what my handiwork also sort of

um it sort of leaves it can my handiwork

is also I'm notorious for losing things.

So on average humans uh uh look for

things for one whole year of your life

like you lost things. For me it's about

seven years of my life. I am always

looking for my keys, my wallet, my cell

phone. I am just a hot mess at times. Um

uh my handiwork can result in very

expensive mistakes on site. When I

remember I did this big m expense with a

beam and I I stuffed it completely up.

It's very expensive and you know my

handiwork at times can can leave sort of

Karen my wife in tears because of my

stupidity and my handiwork in no doubt

will leave some of you offended today or

no doubt you'll you'll be sort of hurt

by what I'm going to say cuz let's be

honest soccer is not really a sport and

uh I just no I've played soccer once

it's okay that's all right

um our

handiwork is not the same as God's

handiwork

The apostle Paul in Ephesians isn't just

talking about us as individuals. He goes

we

to God's handiwork yet is as can I can I

just say is not our church our church is

awesome but maybe the church is down the

road like churches have done some dumb

things throughout history not us because

we are awesome.

Uh I think sometimes when churches take

their eyes off Jesus we get it

wrong. Amen. We take our eyes off Jesus.

We get it

wrong. We take our eyes off Jesus and we

start to look like Elijah's

drawings. It's masterpiece. Yeah. The

worldwide church has had scandal after

scandal and at times and sometimes it's

in part I think is because we've take

our eyes off Jesus and we put on

ourselves. It's our wants, our feelings,

our friends, our circle, and what we

enjoy.

what's comfortable to

us and we forget it's about

Jesus. Imagine what God actually planned

for the church. How powerful it could

be. He says in Matthew 5, he goes, "You

are a light of the

world. You are a city on a hill. Don't

hide it." How powerful it is. We are

meant to be the promise to the world of

a place maybe a a picture of hope, a

place of peace.

Bible says a a river of healing, a a

place of safety where you can hide, a

place of generational blessings. 2.6

billion people in the world call

themselves

Christians. 2.6 billion

people, that's seven zeros, eight zeros,

a lot of

zeros, call themselves Christians.

Imagine what we could do if we kept our

eyes on Jesus.

If he was the center of our lives, we

could shift cultural

norms. When we keep Jesus in the center,

we could stop injustices all over the

world. We could raise

incredibly healthy kids when we keep our

eyes on

Jesus. Luke 4, this is what Jesus, he

said of his life. He goes, uh, verse 18

and 19, it should come behind me, the

spirit of the Lord is on us. Can I just

I'm just going to say us just for to

keep us involved in this verse.

The Bible obviously saves me the spirit

of the Lord is on us because he has

anointed us to proclaim good news to the

poor. Come on. He has sent us to

proclaim freedom for the prisoners. Not

just Peter and Karen and Eley. Us to

proclaim freedom for the prisoners. The

recovery of sight for the blind to set

the oppressed free to proclaim the years

the year of Lord's favor. God's the

church is God's plan to bless the world.

How good is that? And if we stop and we

think about that, uh the plan is for the

church to bless the world. It can be a

little affronting at times because we're

like, do I bless the world? Am I just a

consumer or am I a taker? And and you

sort of come to this point and can I can

I say this church is absolutely blessing

this community. I mean, not not just

through not just through street reach

and not just through Alpha, not just

through Tiny Bees, the these but through

all of your guys' lives. There is some

stories that I hear are fantastic. Like

even in Alpha the other day, we're

talking someone who's has who's given up

like this is this is not our world all

the time, but someone's just like,

"Yeah, I'm sober from meth for for a

number of months." I was talking to

someone. He goes, "I'm 38 days sober."

And he goes, "It's because of Jesus, not

because of myself. We had this instance

the other day where where someone was

going, he doesn't believe in God, but he

comes to Alfred. He doesn't believe in

God necessarily." He goes, but he goes,

"I was he's a he's a shoplifter." And he

steals that. And understand this, this

was me when I was younger, too. I used

to steal. And so he goes to the goes to

the place where he normally steals and

his friend goes off the seal and he

goes, "God, if you're real, help me to

not steal." Straight away encounter with

God. Right there in countdown or

whatever it was and warm feeling comes

over him and he and a change of heart

instantly comes over him. Doesn't

believe in God but prayed a prayer.

Walks out those doors all because of

what is happening, what God is doing in

our city. He's blessing people. Lives

are getting free. Countdown didn't get

some something stolen because God is

doing something in this place. He's

blessing people. And this is just us

being God's

handiwork. And uh I'm trying to trying

to get you to realize, look, I

understand we were the day six part of

creation. We were the pinnacle.

Everything else was repaired. And we

were the we are in the image of God

placed on earth and and the breath of

God breathed into us on earth. But we

are not the center of the

world. We've got to understand this as

as human beings and as Christians. We

are not the center of our universe. God

is.

When we take our eyes off him and put

them on ourselves, we get jacked up. But

when we keep our eyes firmly fixed on

him, we our whole world is is

just when when when all this is done,

guys. Can I I'm going to get

excited. When all this is done, I'm

going to slow down so I don't yell. I

apologize. This front row gets spat on

from

me. When all this is done, time is done

and we're the end of eternity. We're

looking back at the mural of time. The

mezzanine will have a much better view

online. We'll have a better view too.

And we look back from the start of start

of creation. We talking when the earth

is formed and when Adam's sort of placed

on the earth right to the end when Jesus

comes back and makes everything good.

When we look at this

mural, it is not going to be about our

gifts, our talents, and how amazing we

are.

It is going to be about God's goodness

and his love. How he

weaved using us frail, broken human

beings and sometimes very stubborn Irish

people. I'm calling myself Irish. I'm

9%. Come on. Very stubborn Irish people.

He uses us in our brokenness and our

complexity and he weaves this beautiful

mural of his love.

We are not going to see our goodness,

our goodness, our glory, our perfection.

No matter how good Joy is worshiping and

she does worship amazing that is not

going to be in the picture because it's

going to be about Jesus.

And I forget we we can I this is a cool

story. I'm going to go into building. I

apologize. I will nerd out a little bit

here.

I just need to get you guys to get this.

I was building a job in Remya in

Oakuckland and we were doing this house

renovation house. I don't know what I

was doing. Across the road or the

neighbor's property, there was this um

group of stonemasons who were building

this uh stone wall and it was 20 m and

that sort of stuff. Now, if you don't

understand, let me give you an insight.

There is a stone wall and then there is

a stone wall. So, this the the low lower

level stone wall that I would build. It

doesn't look right. There's heaps of

mortar. This looks like some

three-year-old has thrown it together.

It's not level. It's not straight. It's

not clean. That's my level of stone

wall. These guys were doing the top

level stone wall as in we built nearly a

a 200 and something square meter house

in the time that these guys were

building a 20 m stone wall.

So, we started, we put our foundations

down, we put our frames up, we put a

roof on, we put some cladding on, we

started the jib, and these guys are

still building the stone wall like as in

top level, level five. I don't know what

you guys level five wall. It was just

amazing to watch cuz you would see these

guys, they they set the stones and then

they'll look at the

stones. Like, it's so nerdy. Okay. They

would they would take hours they would

go this stone belongs over here. And so

they would carefully place this one

stone so it perfectly matched. Like how

is this possible? Perfectly match the

other two stones that were there. No

gap, no mortar, no visible tool marks.

And in the end or the end of this sort

of six to eight weeks of whatever it

was, you've stood and you looked and you

as a as a builder, someone is a trade.

Like, wow. Like like this is this is

awesome. All these individual stones

with their little juts and their little

hooks and the little I don't know little

holes and brokenness and little sticky

outy parts. They all just became one

awesome wall. Not for the glory of the

stones, but for the glory of the

builder because he could see from the

start. There was this old tongen guy.

These guys are tongen. And there were

this one guy. He didn't do a thing. He

just goes, "No, no, that stone doesn't

belong there. It's it's going to be for

the top to put them to the side." And so

they would go to the quarry and they

would come back with two stones. Spend

all day finding two stones to put them

into this wall. And weeks later, this

beautiful thing was done. You stand

back, you see the individual glory of

the stone, sure, but you look back and

you see the glory of the builder. And we

come to someone who knows about this in

in first

Peter. You guys got your

Bibles? The Apostle Peter. Peter was

firstly a follower, then a disciple,

then an apostle of Jesus. He spent three

and a half years in and around Jesus and

his under his teaching. Yet, we see

Peter who walked on water, got the

revelation of who Jesus was. He still

didn't get to he still didn't fully get

who Jesus was. We see him at the end of

the in the garden of Gethsemane with the

sword cuz he he go tries to hack off the

servants's uh thing trying to hack. He

was aiming for the head, but he only hit

the ear. Let's be honest, guys, we

aren't that smart. that he was he takes

the ear off because he was trying to

protect Jesus because in his eyes Jesus

was going to solve his problems in this

current circumstance. He failed to see

what Jesus was truly doing. And so you

see Peter who has lived and he what

Peter does he goes and denies Jesus in

front of strangers in front of a

fireplace. He then goes and gets

redeemed and restored by Jesus. And you

know he he's not the smartest. He walks

on water. He he he then jumps into the

river. All sorts of other things with

his jacket.

Peter saw him as Jesus who's going to

get him out of the circumstances or get

him out of under the Roman rule maybe

and get him into connection with God.

But he didn't see him who for who he

was. He jumps out of the boat. He swims

the shores, encounters the risen Jesus,

gets filled with the power of the Holy

Spirit. He preaches a message. He gets

beaten. He gets thrown in prison. This

is the same Peter. His the Bible says in

Acts, his shadow heals people. They were

lining the streets with with Peter. The

power of God was going through Peter so

much that his shadow was healing people.

He leads the beginnings of his of this

new church. Peter ultimately dies some

35 years later and refuses to be

crucified like Jesus. And and the the

the early Christians say that he was

crucified upside down because he was not

worthy to be counted with Jesus. That

same Peter at the end, he saw Jesus

differently. It wasn't just a goal to

get him out of a problem. He was the

goal of

everything. Jesus is not a different

way. He is not just an addition to our

lives, but he is

everything. All right, let's First Peter

1 Peter 2:1

chapter 2 verse 1 and 10. Let's do this.

This is where I told you. I told you I

was going to offend you. Therefore, rid

yourselves of every malice and all

deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander of

every kind. There we go. Let's start hot

and heavy. Come on, Peter. Let's start.

Let's start by picking on our faults and

our things that we carry on in our

lives. Here we go, guys. Let's just get

rid of everything in our lives that is

wrong. Get rid of the malice. Get rid of

the deceit. Get rid of the hypocrisy we

live and the slander of every kind of

lives. Can I say this right at the start

of this? God hates sin. Sin separates

you from God. And if we get comfortable

with sin, we are comfortably with being

separated with God. Do not be

comfortable with sin in your life.

Church. Let us start today this part

about Peter. He saw Jesus and he goes,

"First thing we have to do is we have to

stop being comfortable with sin in our

lives because that separates us from

God." So if you're here this morning and

it is a convicting to you, can I say

that conviction is to bring you closer

to God, not to make you feel bad. But

there is a truth in the start of this

that we go get rid of it out of your

lives because it is separating you from

God. God hates sin. He angers. He is so

annoyed. He was so annoyed that he sent

his own son to die so that that

separation can be done. And we here we

are as Christians. Sometimes in our

lives, we tolerate it because it's

socially acceptable. Peter says, "Get

rid of it."

There we go. Just start that off by

offending you. There we go. Verse two.

You guys still love me though, right?

Sort of. Maybe. Oh, there's a lot less

there. It's okay. Good thing Pastor

Aaron will be back next week. Like

newborn verse two. Like newborn babies

crave pure my version says spiritual

milk. It's the word of God. so that they

may be may grow up into salvation. Verse

three, now that you have tasted that the

Lord is good. Okay, so we we started by

getting rid of things in our lives. We

we we understand that to grow is to

crave the the word of God, the spiritual

milk. And it is to start from a place of

knowing that God is good. So we get rid

of things in our life. We grow in the

word of God. And we start by coming to

God knowing that he is good, that he is

tastes good. Not just that he we

understand that we ta like when Stefan

cooks you taste the goodness of the food

and you got to understand there is

something we need to start. It is a

basis of what we're saying that we just

know we got to start that it is

good. It is not according to your

feelings or your life circumstances.

It's according to the word of God. We

start with that verse four. As you come

to him I'm getting Come on. We're

getting our Bible in this week. Come on.

You guys got to understand we got to

read the Bible. Verse four, as you come

to

him, there is an obviousness with this

statement, right? Sometimes we read the

scripture and we just rush over because

it feels so

obvious. But when we slow down and we

pause and we

go as you come to

him, there is an implied thing in here

that you don't have to come to him. But

when you do, see, sometimes we sit and

it's like God, you do everything and and

and there's a lot of stuff. I'm going to

get into this later on, but there is a

part that we have to come to

him. You got to understand this guys.

There is there is an action involved

from us where there is a there's a

stepping out of our circumstances and a

coming to him. This is not you don't the

Bible never says you are a grandchild of

God. It says you have must be a child of

God. There is no second generate that

you don't just inherit this. You must

come to your come to God

yourself. So some of us want it to

happen through

Instagram. But you got to realize it

comes what happens in this truth is it

that we must come to God ourselves.

Quite

often what starts in the spirit with the

revelation of God gets finished by us in

our and our energy in our flesh because

we stop coming to

him. We get set free. We taste that the

Lord is good. And then we go, "That's

enough. I'm okay. You've solved my

problem. I've got it from here." With a

dance

move. Sorry. I don't know why my body

does things and

uh we must come to

him. Doesn't matter how young, old,

new, moldy you are, you must come to

him. Here we go. Verse five. Let me

four.

As you come to him, the living capital S

stone rejected by humans but chosen by

God and precious to him. Verse five, you

also like living stones are being built

into a spiritual house to a holy

priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices

acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Can I just add a little bit of context?

I'll make it quick.

when he's talking about the offering of

sacrifices on a sort of altar, he's

talking about back when Moses got a

revelation, a sort of a mosaic covenant,

it was called in sort of Genesis uh

Exodus 20, sorry. Let's go back a little

bit further. So before Moses, there was

Abraham. And in Genesis sort of 13 sort

of 18, Abraham gets called from his his

home place goes God God leave your

place. I will show you where you're

going. And during this thing, Abraham

gets covenants with God. covenant is,

let me make sure I don't sort of stuff

this up, but a covenant is a a solemn

agreement or promise often between God

and humanity that establishes a

relationship or with specific examples

or commitments or obligations. So God

comes to Abraham goes, I will make you a

great nation. You will have a have land.

You'll have riches. You'll be blessed. I

will bless those who c bless you. I'll

curs those who curse you. And he goes,

and uh from you, out of you, all

families of the world will be blessed.

That was what God said. This is my

promise to you. Normally in a in a

covenant, one side makes a promise and

the other side goes, if I don't do this,

I'm, you know, and so one of these

examples in in 15, this is pretty

gruesome. In Genesis 15, I won't go

there, is they they cut some cows in

half and they split them. And it's this

illustration of because I'm making this

commitment to you, there's these dead

animals. He goes, if I don't keep uphold

my end of the bargain, let it be like me

as this dead animal. I will die uh

because I have upholded my bargain. So

God comes to Abraham. They they kill the

animals. They split them down. God

promise makes a promise to Abraham. He

go and goes and guess what Abraham does?

This is the best part. He has a nap. He

falls asleep. He doesn't do his promise.

He doesn't walk through the the animals.

He doesn't do anything. Falls asleep.

You know what God does? He goes, "Okay,

I've made a promise." Guess what God God

does in in form of a smoke and some some

coals. He walks through the dead bodies.

He goes, "I will make sure this happens

and if it doesn't, I will die to make it

happen." Abraham's covenant came purely

out of the goodness of God. If we go to

Moses, so Abraham gets a covenant, a

promise of God. We go to Moses. Moses in

Exodus 20, they're getting the law right

after the law. This is what happens in

verse uh 20, Exodus 20:2. It goes this,

Exodus 20:2

"If you use stones to build my altar,

use only natural uncut stones. Do not

shape these stones with a tool. for that

would make the the the altar unfit for

holy use. So we have here guys I has a

plan. Here's a purpose and how we do it.

Don't add value to this

altar. Don't touch it. This is going to

be my way and how I'm going to do it.

Get your hands off how we're going to

get this done. And God goes, don't.

Because Israel had come out of slavery.

that had come. They had been building

cities and pyramids and they knew how to

make bricks and they knew how to do

things. And God goes, I don't want that

way of thinking. Leave these stones

uncut, un totally natural because I am

going to do it

all. Yeah, we sometimes we add our

value, don't we? God, you're doing good,

but I'm going to just open this door by

myself. Don't don't add your own value,

guys. There's something about this.

Sorry, I better press on.

Don't try add strength where it it's not

going to work. It's got to be done by

God. Verse five, you also like living

stones are being built into spiritual

house to be a holy priesthood offering

spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God

through Jesus Christ. So our job here

church is to present our bodies as a

living

sacrifice so that God can build into a

spiritual house where people can come

and find what they experience here come

home feel like they're home to a holy

priesthood and this is done through the

power and the gift of Jesus. Peter goes

on when we're getting our scripture in.

Come on, guys. Verse 6, he goes, he

quotes uh Isaiah 28:16, he goes, "See, I

Isaiah 28:16

lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and

precious cornerstone." If you don't

know, cornerstone simply means it is the

first like like in building, it is the

foundation before you build your walls,

before you do your roof, before you sort

of do your doorways, the first thing you

do is you set the dimensions. You put a

cornerstone in. This is what it is. It

all other stones are aligned to the

cornerstone. The cornerstone determines

the orientation and structure of the

entire building both literally and

spiritually. Jesus is the foundation

that everything is laid on. Here we go.

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a precious

and corn, a chosen and precious

cornerstone. And the one in

him, a one in who trusts in him will

never be put to shame. What a

statement. Come on, church. I know

there's a lot of us in here who have

even to my my thing. It's a hard

statement because it is such a it is a

statement filled with faith and in

truth. It's not a statement that goes

you will never go through hard things.

You will never experience the ups and

downs of life. But he goes in the end

you will never be put to shame. There is

a promise in this statement that you

will in the end be absolutely thrilled

with your your choice. You will not be

put to shame when you go through the

valley of despair. and you stay

connected to Jesus because in the end

you will not be put to shame. I think a

lot of us when we go through a hard time

we go we give up and we get depressed or

we we get in despair or we get doubted

doubts in our minds we give up because

this shouldn't be this hard God but

God's got in the end you will not be put

to shame. He is saying the ultimate

vindication of any wrong that happens to

you will be made right. It also speaks

to the valley of despair and the doubt

people go through, you will not be

disappointed in your faith. Verse seven,

now to you who believe this stone is

precious, but to those who do not

believe, church this morning, do you

think that Jesus is

precious? Mezanine, do you think Jesus

is precious

online? Come on. Do you think Jesus is

precious? If you don't come to him

thinking he is precious, we're missing

the point. If he is just a friend or or

or or just something that makes your

life enriched, you're missing the point.

Jesus explains it very well in Matthew

13. He goes, "I gained the kingdom of

heaven. Finding Christ is like a

merchant looking for fine pearls. When

he found one of great value, he went

away and sold everything he had and

brought it." That is what precious

means. We need to see Jesus as important

as this. something worth selling

everything we have. And history is

littered with not only the saints of the

early church, but of countless lives who

saw that value. Missionaries that went

all over the world because they saw the

value of Jesus. Verse seven, I have four

minutes. Let's do this. Now to you who

believe this stone is precious, but to

those who do not believe, he quotes

Psalm 118. He goes, the stone the

builders rejected has become the

cornerstone. He quotes Isaiah 8, this is

Peter in verse 8. He goes, "A stone that

causes people to stumble and a rock that

makes them fall." He goes to clarify the

end of verse eight, Peter says they

stumble because they disobey the

message, which is also what they were

destined for. This is to not say that

you are predestined to stumble. What

this is this is saying is that because

you will reject Jesus, you will stumble.

This is the outcome of not obeying the

message. Here we go. Verse nine. But you

churchim are a chosen people, a royal

priesthood, a holy nation goes from

people to royals to a nation, from

people to a royal priesthood who brings

in the presence of God to a holy nation.

You are God's special

possession that you may declare the

praises of him who called you out of

darkness and into his wonderful light.

Once you were not a people. Come on

guys. Once we are all not a people. Here

you were lost without a savior. But now

you are people of God. Once you had not

received mercy, you have now received

mercy. Isaiah, you want to come with the

keys and let's just close this baby out.

There was a lot of talk of stones,

wasn't there? Pretty boring. Pretty

pretty interesting geography. And I'm

sorry to bore you if you felt

bored. I needed us to lay something down

here.

Because I need us to see a perspective

change of who Jesus

is. We need to see God for truly who he

is. He is more than just our

savior. So important we start there. He

is more than just our

helper. He we need him as need his help.

Can I say this morning, we need to see

him as a master builder.

one who can so

perfectly place people in the right

time, the right

space, and even if

sin and life has ravaged

you, even if you don't see your own

value, even if you are just a little

prickly on the

outside, why don't we As I take a drink,

turn to the person next to you and say,

"You're a little prickly."

Some people aren't disagreeing down

there. This is a bit scary.

on uh

Thursday. Uh so if you don't know, I I I

sort of do a couple days for church and

the other couple days I'm a builder. I

run my own building company. And on

Thursday, I managed to there's some more

water. Was going to a site just to pick

a trailer up and pack a pack some sort

of stuff away. I was finishing a

job. And throughout the process, I'm

pretty open with most of my clients and

all my clients. Hey, I'm a I'm a I'm a

builder. I'm also a pastor. And they

freak out because they can't think you

can do

both. And they they sort of freak out a

little bit because they don't understand

that, you know, pastors are real people

in a sense. And so here I was Thursday,

I was I said I'll be there at 9:30. I

turned up at 10:30 actually cuz I was

running late, which is not surprising

for me. I walk in this door. I say,

"Hey, how's this things going? One of

the owners is just in

tears. She just got off the phone. Her

brother's dying in hospital." And she

goes, "I just finished a Zoom call. My

life is

broken. I don't know what to

do." Tears streaming down her face. Here

I am in my builder's clothes covered in

silicon. I had a rip. down their shorts,

my work boots

on places,

people. I said,

"Lord, I can't help you as a

builder. I can as a Christian. So, can I

pray for

you?" As you can see, both of us are

probably crying.

We sort of let grief wave and prayed and

the peace of God, her tears started to

dry. The presence of God

came. The lump in her throat diminished

with a sense of

peace. And after a few minutes of her

build on her house, a Christian praying

for her, she goes, "I just feel so much

lighter." because I feel like I can go

back to my

life. He places me on a

job on a rainy

Thursday to help

someone because in the glory of

time, my story doesn't

matter, but his does.

I need another prickly

moment. Jesus is not something we add

into our lives this morning as we

close. Jesus is something we lay our

lives

on. When we say to him, "Have your

way." Jesus isn't a lifestyle

choice.

Here's something you throw everything

on. Why don't we just close our eyes as

we

[Music]

close? I think I'm feeling a

heaviness and the tears are flowing

because I know there's people in this

house that need this.

You need to know if you throw your life

on Jesus this morning, you will not be

put to

shame. Jesus is worthy of every

sacrifice you make, every laying down of

our

wills. Jesus is so precious. He is worth

selling everything you know and getting

him in your life.

Christ was and always will be our

cornerstone. He has a firm foundation to

help anchor you in storms. His life, his

love, his miracles, his interactions,

his death on the cross, his resurrection

on the third day, and the release of the

Holy Spirit, that is the cornerstone

that we

need. It's not our talents, it's not our

gifts, it's not what we bring, it's what

we give to Jesus that matters.

And if there's anyone here in this place

who's just been sitting here and I'm not

talking about if you've had a bad week,

but you've been sitting here and you're

like, I need to know this

Jesus. This preacher has been crying.

He's been telling stories, but I need to

know. There's something on the inside of

me that goes, that's the Jesus I need to

know. And how we start, the Bible says

is that we believe in our heart and we

confess with our mouths that Jesus is

Lord.

And how we do it here at church is this

is a sinful invitation where it's a safe

place. We talked about it at the start.

No matter where you are in a journey, no

matter who you are, whether you're

coming back to God or you are taking

that first step of faith and it does

feel like a first step of faith in your

life because you don't know what you're

stepping into. But I can tell you this

from a life lived in this that it is a

sure foundation that he will never let

you down.

So what we do here at church is we just

simply and those that are online you can

you can click below as well and someone

will help you out. But if you're here in

this place and you're hearing my voice

and you're receiving something on the

inside of you has been shifting and

something has been changing you're like

there's a hunger or a warmth or some

people describe it as a tingly feeling.

It's a shift in your life but you can

for once feel like this is something I

could possibly do. This is a moment for

you this morning. The Bible says don't

do it tomorrow. Don't do it. Do it now.

The Bible says, "Behold, Jesus stands on

the door of your heart and knocks." And

the only door handle on your heart in a

met metaphorical sense is on the inside.

You must open that door to let him in.

He does not force his way in. He does

not crowbar himself into your life. You

must come to him for him to change your

life. So if that's you in this morning,

you're hearing me and you are like, I

want to accept Jesus as my savior. I

want to believe in him and confess him

with my life. Confess him with my mouth.

Is there anyone in this place? Just as

we're closing, why don't you just lift

your hand? No one's watching. There's

hands going up. Cool. Any other hands in

this place? There's some more hands.

That's cool. Anyone else? I'm just going

to spend a bit of time here. There's a

few hands going up. Fantastic. You guys

can put those down. Any more hands that

are in this place that just want to go,

today's the day I'm going to put my

trust in you, Jesus. I have been on the

the sidelines for a while, but today I'm

putting my whole life on that that sort

of altar to you, Jesus. Anyone in this

house that wants to just believe in

their hearts and confess with their

mouths that Jesus is Lord. Any more

hands? That's

fantastic. God, you're good. You're

wonderful in this place. And I I I just

as a church, we're just going to and I

actually don't want you to repeat this

prayer. I just want you just to say it

in your heart this morning. Just going

to lead you in a simple prayer. And if

you that's you, just want you to say it

in your heart. So we say Jesus I come to

you this

morning in need of you in needing need

of saving from my sin. I give you all my

wrongs this morning all my sin and I

take from you all the rights that you

will give me. Father, this Lord I this

morning I confess you as Lord of my

life, as savior of my life and help me

from this day forward to live as a

Christian in Jesus mighty name. Amen.

Amen. Amen.

And just before we um I hand back to to

um the MC

Kelvin with every head bowed, every eye

closed, I just sense in this

place. If there's people, if you just

something has happened this morning that

I've been speaking to and you're like, I

just need a touch of God like like that.

I have been treating God like an

addition. I have been treating God like

an like he is just a genie in a bottle

or I've been treating this relationship

with God like I will get to it one day.

But today I have this hunger in my heart

that I just want to know God like the

Bible declares I should that he is my

cornerstone that my whole life is going

to be built and and you're like in a

sense you're going God I give you

permission this morning to place me to

use me to do with my life. I lay my life

on this altar and this morning I just

say have your way. The answer in my

heart is yes. Have your way because you

are a master builder and you are going

to build a wall for your glory. And I'm

saying God you can use me. You can do

whatever you want because I trust you

and you will my trust in you will never

lead to shame. And this morning if

that's you in your heart and why don't

you just lift your hands right where

you're seated and God wants to do

something in your place. And father, we

just release the Holy Spirit across this

place from the front to the back. Lord,

we just say all those lives that have

just been surrendered to you this

morning, Father, have your way in this

place. Lord, let the power of the Holy

Spirit flow through them so much that

even their shadows when they walk

through Bayfair will be healing people.

Lord, we just declare, Lord, as we

surrender our lives, Lord, let them be

acceptable to you.

have your

way that only you can do in Jesus mighty

name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Calvin,

you want to come and close us off?

Well, let's give him a