Priceless | Donovan Rillion | Invited Anyway

there are six people that I believe it's impossible

to tell the story of Christianity without. Obviously,

there's Jesus Christ, there's Adam and Eve, there

is Moses, then there's the Apostle Paul and the

Apostle Peter. So Peter, the apostle who preached

the very first gospel sermon, he is one of the

most important figures in Christian history.

I mean, you have this man that stood at the right

hand of Jesus. You have this man that was an

apparent leader of the apostles, the man who

the Catholics believe was the first pope. This

man who is so beloved and notable that in England

alone, there are roughly over a thousand historic

churches dedicated to him, Peter. I would say

we see Peter as a very valuable part of our heritage

as Christ followers. He is a priceless proponent

of the kingdom of God. But do you ever stop and

wonder if Peter ever questioned his worth? Do

you ever think about how Peter must have thought

about himself, the self -image, the idea of who

he was, what value he brought to the mission?

what value he brought to his friends and to his

community. Do you ever think that Peter, as we

know him, this valuable, very integral member

of the kingdom of God, do you ever think that

he struggled with his own sense of worth? See,

I imagine in the two or so years that Peter spent

with Jesus, he spent a lot of time thinking about

where he came from. He spent a lot of time wondering

about how other people saw him. You know, before

becoming an apprentice to Jesus, Peter was the

son of a fisherman. And so being the son of a

fisherman, that means Peter was a fisherman.

He was from this little fishing village on the

Sea of Galilee. And because Peter was a fisherman

from a family of fishermen, he was not nor would

he have a real chance to be someone at the top

of the social ladder. You see, fishing, it's

a major part of the economy in this area, in

this time, but it wasn't some relaxing or super

profitable career on a nice boat. Basically,

what Peter did was he lived and he worked under

a system where he most likely would never really

feel like he was worth much of anything. And

unlike in today's capitalistic American dream

society, Peter did not have much control of his

life. He didn't have much say in what career

he would have. He didn't have this ideal of what

fortunes he could obtain. And he had no control

over how other people saw him. Peter was at the

bottom with no chance of really moving up. His

father was a fisherman. He was a fisherman. His

son would have been a fisherman. This was Peter's

reality. And in those days, it wasn't a super

valuable reality to have. But as I said, that

was his life before he started his apprenticeship

under Jesus. So this morning, I want you to see

how Peter's life is transformed, how it goes

from this dark and, well, maybe not dark, but

just bleak, mundane, normal and ordinary life

to something that we view as super extraordinary,

something that gets cathedrals named after him,

something that gets churches named after him,

something that causes people to name their son

Peter. I want us to see how the transformation

begins when Jesus steps into this ordinary life.

We're going to do a lot of reading this morning

from Luke chapter 5. There are 11 verses. I know

Luke 5 · chapter mention

how horrible. We're going to read a lot of scripture.

It'll be on the screen. If you'd like to turn

there in your own Bibles, you can. I would encourage

that actually because there's more text around

it that I would love for you to read after this

is over. but starting in verse 1 of Luke chapter

Luke 5 · chapter mention

5. On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing

in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing

by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats

by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of

them and were washing their nets. Getting into

one of the boats, which was Simon's, also known

as Peter, he asked him to put out a little from

the land, and he sat down and taught the people

from the boat. And when he had finished speaking,

he said to Simon, put out into the deep. and

let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered,

Master, we toiled all night and took nothing,

but at your word I will let down the nets. And

when they had done this, they enclosed a large

number of fish, and their nets were breaking.

They signaled to their partners in the other

boat to come and help them, and they came and

filled both the boats so that they began to sink.

But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at

Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me. For I am

a sinful man, O Lord. For he and all who were

with him were astonished at the catch of the

fish that they had taken. And so also were James

and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners

with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, Do not be

afraid. From now on you will be catching men.

And when they had brought their boats to land,

they left everything and followed him. Now, this

appears to be the second time that Peter is called

to follow Jesus. In John chapter 1, we read of

John 1 · chapter mention

this moment where Peter had followed Jesus for

a little bit through Judea before going back

to fishing, which is why Peter and Jesus, they

seem to know each other. They have some familiarity

with each other here in Luke 5. Now Jesus, he

had spent a lot of time in this area. He was

familiar with the Sea of Galilee and the fishing

culture there. He was aware of the perception

that people had towards lowly fishermen. And

knowing that, he still purposefully chose to

call these men, to go to these men, including

Peter, and he calls them to follow him, to be

his apprentices, to be his disciples. I mean,

like we said, this is the second time that Jesus

had been with Jesus, that Peter had been with

Jesus, that Jesus had called him. And it's kind

of practical. Some of us give up. We give up

following after the first ring. Some of us, when

we call somebody, we give up calling after the

first ring. Oh, they didn't answer. Guess they

don't want to talk. But what Jesus does is he

continues to invite. Peter into this new life.

He continues to go after him. Peter had already

had his chance and it could have been very easy.

Jesus had a lot of options of people to follow

him. It would have been very easy for Jesus to

say, all right. This guy, Peter, he doesn't want

to follow me. That's fine. Moving on to the next.

But instead, what Jesus does is he goes and he

finds Peter again. He gets in Peter's boat. He

intentionally teaches Peter, trying to get him

to see not just that he thinks that Peter is

worth something when the world around him doesn't,

but he wants Peter, I think, to catch a glimpse

of what he has planned for him to do with his

worth. You see, after Jesus demonstrates his

deity doing this miracle of putting all these

fish into the nets. I mean, you think about the

way it's described. And I love the chosen. If

you've seen this episode of the chosen where

they let their nets out and it just like devastates

these boats. And there's all these people that

are running to help to bring the fish onto the

boats and get the catch in. And they're like,

we can't take on anymore. It'll sink us. And

it's this beautiful. of Jesus' awesome power.

And so you have this demonstration of deity.

And Peter is shocked. He's blown away. There

in Luke chapter 5, we read Peter say, depart

Luke 5 · chapter mention

from me, for I am a sinful man. Josh and I didn't

talk about the Lord's Supper talk, but I think

it was convenient that Josh said, you know, you

see the best parts of me, but in reality, I'm

just a sinner. And that's what Peter sees. That's

what Peter sees in himself. He's like, I'm not

worthy to be in the presence of God. I'm not

worthy to be in the presence of the Messiah,

the Savior. Depart from me. Because at this moment,

Peter can only see his sin. He can't see his

worth. But thankfully, God does not see what

we see. Yes, God sees our sin. He sees the mistakes

we made. He absolutely sees when we are in a

position that is contrary to what he has called

us to be. He sees when we're doing things that

are contrary to what he has called us to do.

He sees all of it. But when he looks at you,

he does not see sinner. He sees his child. He

sees past our mistakes and he sees what we are

worth in his eyes. And we know this because God

proved it. And here's something I love. Peter

himself. actually goes on to write about this

very truth. He goes on to write about the good

news. Way after this moment here in Luke chapter

Luke 5 · chapter mention

5, Peter in his own letter in 1 Peter chapter

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

1 writes this, You were ransomed from the futile

ways inherited from your forefathers, not with

perishable things such as silver or gold, but

with the precious blood of Christ like that of

a lamb without blemish or spot. I want you to

think about that. if you have given your life

to Christ, if you have been baptized into Christ,

if you have been redeemed, if you've been bought

with the blood, which we have all been bought.

It's just a question of if we're going to accept

it or not. And if you are in God's family, he

looks at you and he sees someone that he purchased

from their futile ways. He sees someone that

he has redeemed from their sin. He sees someone

that he has bought. not with silver or gold,

not with money, but with the precious blood of

Christ. And if you have been bought with the

precious blood of Christ, He looks at you like

a lamb with no blemish, with no spot. In other

words, He does not see you as a sinner. He sees

you as His purchased child. Think about that.

The same Peter who was once a nobody fisherman

that probably, I think we can gather through

Scripture, he had his own issues. This same Peter

now understands that his worth and our worth

was never supposed to be measured in currency.

net worth or achievement. It was never measured

by where you were born, what family you were

born into. It was never measured by your accomplishments.

It is simply measured by the cost of the cross.

You see, Peter wasn't really that valuable in

a worldly sense. Peter wasn't valuable because

Jesus liked his fishing skills. Peter was valuable

because Jesus was already planning. He already

knew what he was going to do. For Peter and what

he was going to do through Peter. Jesus was going

to pay a price for him that no amount of silver

or gold could touch. And because Jesus, being

God, sees Peter's worth, he tells him, don't

be afraid. Peter says, depart from me, Lord.

And he's filled with this like this awestruck

fear. You think about the priest that would go

into the Holy of Holies and how they would go

in with a rope tied around their feet just in

case they died being in the presence of God.

And so you have this idea that being in the presence

of God is this fearful thing. Why is it fearful?

Because we know we're sinners, we're unworthy.

And if we go in the presence of the true righteous

God. in a state of being unworthy, we might just

die. And so Peter gets on his knees and he's

saying, depart from me, Lord. I'm not worthy

to be in your presence. And Jesus says the same

thing that all those angels that used to appear

to people back in the Old Testament say. He says,

do not be afraid. And I think we need this message

because we have a worth problem. We have a self

-image problem. We have a problem where we see

ourselves as awful. We see ourselves as worthless.

We see ourselves as stained. And we say things

like, well, if God only knew what I've done,

as if he can't see it all. Or we come into church

or we avoid going to church because we feel like,

well, I'm not good enough or I could never live

up to the standard of being a Christian. I could

never be good enough. I could never be holy enough.

And what we see in scripture over and over and

over again is that God does not care about you

being good enough because you're right. You cannot

be good enough. What God cares about is what

he can do for you. And that is save you and redeem

you and make you righteous, not by your own actions,

but by. the good news of Jesus Christ. But some

of us are so blinded by our own sin, by our own

mistakes, by our own deficiencies that we cannot

see ourselves the way God sees us. Some of us

might could, but we're so afraid of what following

Jesus and leaving behind the old life might look

like. Either way, whether it's that you're blinded

by your own sin or you're afraid of accepting

the call to follow Him, that way of living is

incompatible with a heart, with a mind that believes

what God says and demonstrates about our worth.

If I truly believe what God says about my worth,

I'm going to stop focusing on my inadequacies.

And I'm going to lean into what Jesus has done.

If I stop or if I truly believe what God says

about my worth, then I'm going to be willing

to go with God wherever he calls me because I

will know that the only person in this world

that could ever purchase me is God. I mean, think

about this. When you're dating, especially ladies,

you don't settle for a man that just treats you

okay. And at least I hope you don't. You don't

settle for somebody who just treats you like

they're okay with being with you. You don't settle

for somebody that just tolerates you. You don't

settle for somebody that's just willing to be

around you. No, you find somebody that what?

Loves you. You find somebody that adores you.

You find somebody that treats you right. And

the same is true for us. If we believe that we

are actually worth something, that this world

cannot pay for, that this world cannot afford,

and the only person who can afford it is God,

then what should we do with our lives? Raise

our standards. You think about professional athletes.

They don't just go to the team that's willing

to take them on the roster. Now, if you're struggling

to get on a team, maybe you do, but they go to

the team that can do what? Pay the most for them.

We live in a capitalistic society, so we understand

this idea, right? You pay for or you get what

you pay for. And what God has paid for is some

really good stuff. And if he has paid for good

stuff, and if we are that good stuff, then we

can't live like everybody else. We've got to

live like our worth says. And so I say all that

to say we need to believe what God says we're

worth. We need to believe what God has said our

value is. And then, once we know what we're worth,

we've set the market. we don't settle for any

less. We don't settle for just tolerable. We

don't settle for just, I'll settle. We don't

settle for less. We set our standard high and

we live up to that. And the standard is following

Jesus because where Jesus goes is way better

than anywhere on this earth. Where Jesus says

to go is way better than what this earth has

to offer. And the life that he offers is so good.

It's a life full of. joy and peace and happiness

and comfort. Now, it's not necessarily comfort

in a worldly sense, but it's a comfort in knowing

that my life for eternity is secure. It's a life,

as Jesus says, that is abundant. And so we need

to believe that that's what God wants for us

and from us. And if I'm honest, I think that's

what scared Peter the most. Maybe it's what scares

you the most. Not that God believes you're valuable.

I think that's probably a pretty, maybe an easier

concept to understand. It's definitely an easier

thing once you understand it to enact in your

life like God believes I'm valuable. But I think

what we struggle with is what it means for our

lives. Because I've said it before and I believe

it to be true. When you learn something, you

have to respond. When you learn something, you've

got to respond in a different way. If I teach

you how to drive a car and I teach you the rules

of the road and I teach you how to keep it in

the lanes and I teach you how to go 10 miles

over the speed limit, not 11, just 10. If I teach

you how to drive a car, then you have to respond.

By driving in the car the right way. And if you

don't drive the car the right way, then guess

what happens? You either wreck or you go to jail.

So when you learn something, it demands a response.

You cannot stay the same. When you receive good

information, when you receive new information,

something has to change. If I tell you there

is a scary man outside your house coming to get

you, then what will you do? You've now learned

this information. You're either going to take

protective measures or you're going to run. But

you have to respond. You can't just sit there.

I guess being still is a response. I wish my

kids would respond that way when I say, hey,

we need to sit still during church, right? But

you have to respond when you learn something

new. And so if you learn and you accept that

God deems you to be priceless, that has to change

how you live. The way I would put it is, you

don't take an Escalade through a mud hole for

fun. You know, Escalades are nice. Do people

even drive Escalades anymore? I'm still stuck

in the 2000s, right? Escalades, nice, you know,

you've got the nice wheels on them. They're not

really meant for anything other than driving

on the nice road. We had guys in high school

that had the nice lifted trucks and we called

them pavement princesses. Maybe you've heard

that before. Like, you don't take that through

a mud hole. You take a razor from Nelson Power

Sports through a mud hole. I got you, Jared.

You don't take the nice thing through the nasty.

And so if God says you're the nice thing, why

do you keep going to the nasty? If he says you

are as valuable as an escalade, why would you

go through the mud hole? You're worth too much

for that. The same is true for our lives. If

God deems us priceless and we believe it, then

we have to live like it. And I think a big part

of the problem for us as Christians in this world,

for the American church especially, is we say

we accept Jesus as our Savior, we accept the

gift of salvation from Him, but we don't really

let that change our lives. We don't let it change

the way we operate when we're at our job. We

don't let it change the way we operate when we're

out in the community. We just keep living as

normal. The only difference is we wear a cross

necklace sometimes, or we get a Bible verse tattooed

on us, or we put the Jesus Save sticker on the

car. But it doesn't change the way we live, and

that is not how becoming a disciple and apprentice

of Jesus is supposed to look. And so Peter, after

witnessing the greatness of Jesus and hearing

what Jesus has called him to do, Peter finally

decides to give this rabbi, this teacher, a chance.

He accepts the call to go fish for something

new. And it's this invitation from Jesus that

changes everything for Peter. I want you to consider

this. How often... were fishermen in the ancient

world invited to change their occupation and

learn from a great religious teacher. How often...

Did someone get to go on adventures and witness

the things that Peter was going to get to witness?

Peter would witness people risen from graves.

Peter would witness people being healed of all

kinds of illnesses, diseases, and ailments. Peter

would witness women have their lives completely

changed by the prophecy of Jesus. Peter would

witness all of these things happen in radical

community. He would witness the church form.

Peter himself would walk on water. This is the...

Invitation of a lifetime. This is like Charlie

Buckets finding the golden ticket, except Charlie,

he won a trip to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory

by accident. Jesus choosing Peter was no accident.

This was intentional. Peter received this invitation

because Jesus saw value in him. Peter wasn't

invited because he'd proven his worth. Jesus

didn't see value in him because Peter did something

special. Peter was invited because Jesus had

already decided that he was priceless, that he

needed him for his mission. The truth of this

that I want you to hear today is an invitation

says you are worth something. I want you to think

about when you get invited to a party, when you

get invited to a wedding, even if you don't want

to go, especially if it's a fall wedding, when

you get invited to the special event, it makes

you feel important. Right? And then on the flip

side, when you don't get invited, how does that

feel? When you know that the party's going on,

but nobody asks you. When you know that somebody's

getting married, but you never got the invitation

in the mail. When you know something good is

happening, but it seems like nobody wants you

to be a part of it. This is, let me take a time

out and talk about Friends Day, okay? How many

of your friends and family would be upset? If

they learned that you had a friends and family

day at church and you didn't invite them. So

invite them so that they feel like they're valuable.

Okay, back to the sermon. Okay, so we know how

valuable an invitation is. And we know how valuable

or how much it hurts when you don't get the invitation.

But in God's kingdom, we don't have to worry

about not getting the invitation. We don't have

to worry about not being good enough, not being

liked enough, not being whatever to get invited.

In God's kingdom, even a lowly fisherman like

Peter was invited to be a part of Jesus's great

mission. Think about that. No matter who you

are, where you've been, what you've done, No

matter where you've gone, what wrong things you've

done, how awful of a life you have lived in the

past, none of that matters when it comes to being

invited to God's party. God deems you worthy

to be invited to. Because in His kingdom, we're

all priceless. And so that's the truth that we

learn. And I hope you believe that. And if you

do believe that, the question then arises, What's

the response? In other words, what are you going

to do with this invitation? Because if you're

like me, and you get an invitation to a wedding

in the fall on a Saturday, you just put it in

the trash. Because there's football games on

on fall Saturdays. Stop getting married on fall

Saturdays. There's other pretty times of year.

Joking, but also, seriously, think about how

many invitations you get that you just... set

on the counter and you never look at them again.

Every invitation demands a response. Invitation,

did I say that? Invitation demands a response.

You either say yes and you go and you have the

fun and you do the thing and it's awesome or

you say no and you stay back and you feel like,

man, I wonder what I'm missing out on. So what

are you going to do with the invitation? I advise

doing what Peter did the second time, because

Peter, remember, he had his first chance, but

the second time, Peter accepted the invitation

to become an apprentice, a disciple of Jesus.

Peter believed that he was worth what God says

he was worth, and he invited others to do the

same. And maybe that's you this morning. Maybe

you've never actually said yes to the invitation.

You've never actually accepted the call. You've

been around Jesus. You've been to church. You've

been around Christians. You know, there's a few

times where you thought maybe this Jesus thing

is worth a try, but you always kept thinking,

nah, I don't know. If that's you, I want to challenge

you to not leave here the same way that Peter

did the first time. I want you to leave here

the way Peter did the second time by accepting

the invitation. Talk to somebody today. I, as

the minister here, I would love to talk to you.

I know we've got leaders in this room. We have

people in this room. If they have accepted the

gospel, they are a minister in Christ's kingdom.

They should be able to talk to you about what

it means to accept the invitation. We'll have

a moment shortly here after we sing and finish

up with a lesson where you can come and talk

and pray. We can take that step together. Or

maybe you've said yes to the invitation. You

said yes a long time ago. You got baptized. You

gave your life to Christ. And you were a follower,

but you've kind of been living like Peter was

right after he fell at Jesus' knees with your

mind so fixed on your own sin that you forget

to remember what Jesus, what God says about your

word. And if that's you, the solution isn't you

trying harder or doing more or just trying to

achieve. It is believing what's already been

proven to be true by the God of the universe

and then living like it. And so for the people

that have given their life to Christ, but maybe

you've been so captivated by your own sin that

you haven't really been following, I want to

give you this challenge this week. And this is

a challenge for me. It's to ask God. to help

you feel and live like the priceless piece of

his puzzle that you are. Ask him to help you

live like it. It's one thing to believe it. It's

one thing to accept it. But what does your life

show? I read a book recently called The Body

Teaches the Soul. And what the whole premise

of the book was, was the way that you live, the

way that you treat your body, the habits that

you instill in your life, those things, those

physical things you do, they will educate, they

will teach your soul. And you get the point of

like the idea that when you go exercise, you

feel better afterwards. Now your body might hurt,

but mentally. you feel better for having exercised.

When you eat certain things, when you eat right,

you feel better for doing it. Now you may still

think, I really wanted the cookie, but you also

are glad you didn't eat the cookie because it

showed that you have some self -control. And

so what the point is, is the way that you live,

the way that you operate in this world, the way

that you go about your life, that will educate,

it will inform your mind, your heart, and your

soul. And so ask God to help you live like what

you say you believe. And if you're already living

convinced of your worth in Christ, then the question

for you is, who is your Peter? Who's someone

in your life that's... going through the motions

of their ordinary life, someone who is just thinking

that they're not worth much, someone who's living

this life as it was predestined for them to just

go through life, you know, eat, sleep, work,

eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep, work, eat, sleep,

play golf, eat, sleep, work. Who's doing that?

Who do you know that's doing that? And who is

it in your life that you can say, hey, let me

pull you out of the ordinary and bring you into

the extraordinary, the life that Jesus has called

us to, this life of abundance, this life of eternity,

this life of love, joy, peace, and all of those

good fruits of the Spirit. Who is someone in

your life that needs that simple but amazing

invitation? I want you to think about that person

and then don't just think about them. but actually

extend the invitation. And look, if you know

the story of Peter, you know he wasn't perfect.

We can think of all the times. I mean, I heard

a preacher one time, he called Peter the chief

mess up. I don't know that Peter was the chief

mess up, but in the New Testament, he kind of,

he does mess up a lot, right? So we know Peter

wasn't perfect. He still had his moments of doubt.

He still had his moments of failure, but despite...

his imperfection, Peter goes on to trust Jesus

enough that he would eventually step onto a stormy

sea and walk on water with him. He trusts Jesus

enough that shortly after the Jews had killed

Jesus, or had Jesus killed, he stood up in front

of a crowd of Jews and preached the first gospel

message just weeks after denying he even knew

him. And he preached this good news. of a risen

Messiah. And later, when the religious leaders

saw Peter's boldness, Scripture says they were

astonished because they realized, as the book

of Acts says, that Peter was an uneducated and

a common man. Basically, they said, Peter is

just your average Joe, but there's something

special about him. And what... The religious

leaders who want to deny Jesus, the religious

leaders who want to make it seem like Jesus was

not deity, these people that wanted everyone

to stop believing who Jesus said he was, they

say there's something special about Peter because

in the words of Luke in the book of Acts, he

had simply been with Jesus. This lowly fisherman

from a small little fishing town. on the Sea

of Galilee, was transformed into a confident

catalyst for the advancement of the kingdom of

God. Peter had accepted not only what God said

he was worth, but also what God had called him

to. And he followed faithfully until the end.

Peter would eventually die. He would be killed

for his faith. for living a bold life that invited

everyone, regardless of where they were from,

what they did, who they were, whatever. He invited

everyone to be a part of God's family. And that

ultimately got him killed. But guess what? I

can just imagine when Peter was dying. There's

historical points on how he died. We don't really

truthfully know how. But either way, Peter was

dying. He was being killed. And we can only imagine

that in that moment, he did it with a smile on

his face because he knew he lived a faithful

life and he knew where he was going. I think

about Stephen in the book of Acts when he's being

stoned to death for proclaiming the good news.

It says he looked up to heaven and he saw Jesus

and he saw Jesus stand to receive him. That's

the life. That's the way you can go out of this

life when you know that you lived faithfully

in your worthless, not worthless, priceless.

When you lived faithfully in your priceless portion

of this mission. See, people who don't know how

much they're worth, they don't often live that

boldly. They're not able to live with, as some

would say, reckless abandon. They're not able

to live without concern for what might happen

to them. They're not able to live without concern

for what their finances might look like, what

their community might look like, what their life

might look like, what their death might look

like. People that they don't know how much they're

worth, they don't often live that boldly. People

who don't know their worth often, they follow

their own self -doubt, and they chase after the

approval from this world, even to their own demise.

But Peter, he saw another way to live. He saw

a way that wasn't scared to proclaim the good

news of Jesus. He saw a way that wasn't scared

to preach the gospel, even if that meant being

ostracized, arrested, beaten, or killed. The

truth is that no inconvenience, no pain, no death

could take away what God said Peter was worth,

what God had called Peter into. Peter wasn't

just convinced of that, he was convicted by it.

And we need to be convicted by it as well. Convinced

by the truth that regardless of your background,

regardless of where you've been, what you've

done, where you come from, regardless of all

of those things, you are invited to the kingdom.

You are invited to the family of God. And once

you know that truth, you accept it regardless

of what may come. And so here's the invitation

for you today. As Jesus said in Matthew 11, come

to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I

will give you rest. What Jesus promises is a

good life, an abundant life, a hope and joy filled

life here and to come. And that's still the invitation

for us all today. It's not you need to get your

act together. It's not you need to. get cleaned

up. It's not you need to be perfect. It's not

you need to prove your worth first. It is simply

to come. And so that's the invitation we extend

to you today. Jesus says you are priceless. He

has proven it. He has extended the invitation

to even the least of these. And we say the same.

We ask that you come as we stand and as we sing.