Scattered But Certain | Pr. Julian

You're listening to a message to go from acts Church.

We hope this message will light up your day.

I will start with this question. I've got a question

for you this morning, and it's a bit of a

reflective question, okay, And this is the question, have you

found yourself in a situation or a position, or a

place or maybe a season in your life? Have you

found yourself in a situation where you feel out of place?

You feel out of place? Maybe you're a visitor here

for the first time in like what's going on here?

Who are these guys? Have you found yourself in a

position or a place where you felt out of place? Right?

Like you don't you're not meant to be there, or

like you've been thrown into a situation that is foreign

and you are struggling, right, Okay, Maybe you're asking why

am I here? There is so much opposition and strive

or maybe asking yourself, why did God lead me into

this company? And that's all these challenges I face. I'm

facing and my manager and my boss is giving me

a hard time? Right, have you guys been there before?

Maybe you're at that place right now, uh, you know?

Or maybe asking myself why did God lead me to

this country, correct affirmation or no? Why did God lead

me to this country where the culture is so different?

What am I doing here? Why did God lead me

to this university where I am the only I'm the

minority in my faith? Right? You know, essentially that's who

we are as Christians, right, God the Word of God

calls us foreigners in this land. That's a saying we're

in this world, but not of this world, right, Romans

twelfth Tuesday, is that we do not conform to the

likeness of this world. We are all meant to be

a little bit weird here on earth as Christians. Right,

So if you're asking those questions, maybe are there? Right now?

We want to just look into God's word this morning

and I'll share a quick illustration of how that feels. Like. Okay,

So my family and myself we had a privilege to

go to Osaka in Japan last month, right, and you know,

being in a foreign country, language all different. So we

have this I have this weird, funny story. Laura is

not here so I can can share it freely. So

we were going to travel from Osaka to Kyoto, which

is quite a far distance, and we decided to take

the bullet train, so it's called chink cans and right

bullet train. So it goes really fast. And to save money,

we bought unreserved tickets, right, So so tickets where you're

it's unreserved lack okay, whatever that means to you. And

and unreserved tickets you're meant to sit in a certain

part of the train, which is at the end, okay.

So say, for example, this train has five carriages, you're

meant to sit at carriage number five, steady Endler. Right.

So we were rushing to the train and then you

know they start, you know Japanese, right, they either start early,

the train goes goes right on the dot. So if

they say we're moving at three pm, at three pm

and thirty seconds, the train is gone. If you're not

on the train, that's it. So the whole family was there.

We've got three kids. I'm carrying these two big luggages,

trying to manage one kid who wants to climb on

the escalator and like tear things down, and you know,

risking us getting kicked out of Japan. And we saw

the train and I was trying to coordinate with John Roche.

When you traveled with them. Are they on the train? Yeah?

Are they on the train? Yeah? You want to get

on the train together. And then Laura tells me you

must get on carriage number five. So I'm like, yes,

I saw number five. I ran into the train, ran

into the train with the whole family. No, no kids

were there, you know, drag your luggage or we made it.

We made it. We made it to the train before

the starting time. Then I'm okay, looking for seats now right,

looking for seats, okay, So I saw, hey, there's a

two rows of three seats. Let's sit down, and then

we just put our luggage somewhere seated. And then this

Japanese man comes to earth with his the gut. It

looks immediately angry, trying to tell me that I've taken

his seat. Right, So instead of going to carriage number five,

we actually went to carriage number two. And the Shinkansen

Bullet train was already starting to move, right, so I

know he travels at three hundred clumb to spa or something.

Yeahs bac halo. So we had to get up and

walk in the train while the train's moving at high

speed from Osaka to Kyoto with two big luggages, and

the whole time I fell so out of place, like

this guy doesn't speak Japanese, like does he know that

he's in the wrong carriage? And and all these stairs

at me, like, you know, while I'm walking and I'm

trying to say, excuse me, I'm ser service, excuse me,

excuse me. Then my car trying to climb on the

climb on the chair here and they're swinging here and

they're like a monkey. And I can see my wife

at the back of her head rolling her eyes from behind.

Uh yeah, yeah. No. The parint is this, there are

moments in life where you just fell out of place.

It can be your own mistake, you know, But that's

just how it is, and sometimes sometimes it's actually designed

to be that way. God designed the situation for us

to be out of place, to be scattered, to be

exiles in our life. You know how God called Abraham

out of his family and then he had to be

an exile or pilgrim, or how God called the Israelites

out of Egypt slavery. They were wandering in the desert,

they were scattered, they didn't have a home. So today

we're gonna look at this and if I have a

title this morning, it's this scattered but certain, Scattered but certain.

And we will study from the book in the New Testament,

one Peter, chapter one, and we just stay in this

chapter the whole morning, one Pita, Chapter one, Scattered but Certain.

What I'm trying to say is we may fill out

of place or persecuted, or suffering or wondering, or you know,

it's like where's my home? But there is always certainty

in Christ. There is always certainty in Christ. So let's

just jump straight into one Peter, chapter one, and we'll

take it verse by verse. I won't read the whole

body of text from the beginning, but we'll take it

verse by verse and study scripture one Peter, Verse one

to God's elect exiles scattered like me in Japan in

that train, that Shinkansen going. I feel so out of place.

I'm an exile. I'm a pilgrim wife rolling her eyes,

scattered throughout the provinces of Ponts, Glacier, Cappadocia, Asian, Bintnia,

who have been chosen according to the foreign knowledge of

God the Father, to the centifying work of the Spirit,

to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood.

So we'll start here. We'll start here, and I want

to start by explaining the context of this particular is

a letter. It's a letter that the apostle Peter was

writing to the church, which is written here. God's elect

exiles scattered, scattered throughout this place. And these people that

Peter was writing a letter to, who are they? Who

were they? They were non Jewish Christians, Okay, non Jewish Christians.

So they were Christians. They are gentiles. They were Christians

back in the day, and they were not in their

own home right. And beyond that, they were also persecuted

by the Romans and the Greeks. Okay, so they have

this belief in God real past. The mad He shed

a couple of weeks ago about this very same example.

They were Christians who believe in Jesus, but they were

persecuted by their neighbors, the Romans and the Greeks, right,

and they were in their own home because they were exiled,

their pilgrims. They're moving around and Peter was writing this

to this bunch of people. Okay, more than that, I

want to bring to you verse too, right, So imagine

you're this group of people. I think some of us

here are are not from the left of Malaysia. I

don't know how y'all feel. This is not home. But

but verse two says this who have been chosen according

to the foreign knowledge of God the Father. Hence the

title you can be scattered, but it certain because it's

not a mistake that they are exiles. It's not a

mistake that they are pilgrims. It's not a mistake that

they have been scattered because verse two says they have

been chosen according to the foreign knowledge of God. So

my title and my first point is this, persecution can

cause either growth or bitterness in the Christian life. The

response determines the result. Persecution can cause either growth or

bitterness in the Christian life. The response determines the result.

These are a bunch of people not in their own home.

They will exiles. They were persecuted by their neighbors. But

it was God's intention for them to be in that place.

And it's our response that they will determine the result

of this process. Amen, So let's go to this. It's

going to be a Bible study. So I will take

it step by step A little bit different but I

hope you guys can track with me today. Yep. So

God's choosing is not random or uninformed. It's according to

his fore knowledge. Right, that's intention, that's purpose in the process.

Let's go to verse three. So we read verse one

into one pitch the one verse three, and the second

point is this saved by God's mercy. That three verse three,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord,

Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us

new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of

Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that

can never perish spoil of faith. This inheritance is kept

in heaven for you. So the first point is, yes,

we are scattered, we're exiles, but we have certainty in

Christ that he has intention for us. Verse three is

Paul Peter then saying to this church that in his

great mercy he has given us new birth into a

living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Track with me. So we've seen who Peter wrote the

letter to. Now let's study who Peter is and who

Peter was. Okay, so y'all know Peter, right, Peter is

that apostle that was probably the closest apostle to Jesus

when he was here on earth. Peter was the one

who walked on water, right, he was the only one

who stepped out of the boat in faith and really

believed that Jesus could do it for him. In fact, Peter,

before he was called Peter, his name was Simon, right,

so somebody to hear what Simon Peter? And the moment

when Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter, how

that happened was Simon had this revelation of who Christ was,

and he, you know, Jesus was asking who does the

people call me? Who do they see? I am a

Manchester and a prophet? You know, I might just like

John the Baptist. And Peter had this revelation that Jesus

was the Christ, Jesus was the Messiah. And the moment

that happened, what did Jesus say, You know, he called Simon?

Then now your name is Peter. And Peter means Petross

in the original Hebrew language, which means the rock. Okay,

so Peter's name I don't notice any Peter's. Yeah, but

if you called Peter your name, your son Peter. You're

calling him the rock right the way Johnson in the house.

The rock means by definition, Jesus called him to be

like a solid person, someone that something or someone that

the church can build on the foundation of the church.

He was strong, he was solid, he was reliable. That

is Peter. That is Peter when Jesus call him Petross

of Peter. That was his calling. And and you know

what happened after that, Right, this same Peter who walked

on water, this same Peter who had this revelation of

who Christ is the Messiah, this same Peter who Jesus

called to be the rock when times got hard, when

times got difficult. Ironically, he wasn't solid at all. He

wasn't the rock. He was anything but the rock. You know,

when Jesus was being brought to the cross, and when

there was before all that happened Jesus, Peter actually denied

Jesus three times. Right, Peter went on to deny Jesus

three times, cursing and swearing. He did not just deny

but bibles. He's actually say bad words. Right, he was

cursing and swearing that he did not even know this

man refusing to even name the name of Jesus. And

I was thinking about it yesterday, like, imagine, if I'm Jesus,

this is one of my closest friend and disciple, someone

I've been physically with for so many years, that went

on to say bad words and deny that I even

know me. I mean, how breaking is that to be, Jesus,

Like when a friend betrays you like that, right? And

what's more, Jesus called him the rock, like I know

that's in you, and I've given you that name to

be that firm foundation of the church, and you did

just the opposite, right. So this point is then what

I saw was Peter. Of course, after that, Peter had

a restoration. Right. Peter was the only disciple where Jesus

came to in person after his resurrection. And you know

that Jesus restored him, right. Jesus in his mercy restored Peter,

gave him a new birth and a living hope. So

for Peter to say this to the church, after going

through all that, all that challenges and being so grieved

by his own guilt, Peter then encourages the Church of

exiles with these words. In his great mercy, he has

given us new birth into a living hope. Come on,

this is the guy who has went all the way down,

did something wrong, and can now declare that Christ is

able to give us a new birth and a living hope.

So my encouragement in this point number two is this,

we all make mistakes. Sometimes our mistakes causes to go

into the wrong carriage, you know, shinkansen, and you have

to inconvenience the whole of Osaka and the family to

walk through. You know. I it was share I turned

thirty nine yesterday. I mean my birthday was yesterday. Yeah,

And I still find myself doing things which I don't

want to. I still find myself making mistakes. And even

over the last two or three weeks, I'm learning that

I have blind spots and there's there's responses or ways

I've reacted to situation where it was not the most

kind and godly right. So I'm preaching to myself as well. Hey,

in his great mercy, he has given me new birth

and a living hope. He has given me a second chance.

What does new birth mean? We all have a second chance.

We all have a second least, we all have a

second chance to get it right with Christ. So sure,

you may be scattered, you may be exiled because of

your own decisions. But today I want to declare, by

His great mercy, you have new birth into a living hope.

It's not by your own strength, but by the resurrection

power of Jesus Christ that has raised, that was raised

from the dead. And this inheritance you have can never perish,

spoil of faith. Come on, we have this hope, this

inheritance that can never perish, spoil of faith. We hold

onto that. We hold onto that. So number one, we

may be scattered, but it certain because there's purpose in

the scattering. Point Number two is we have been saved

by new birth. In new birth, by God's mercy, we

have a second chance. You'll jump to verse six, you

guys thinking, okay, so we've done. You've done verse one, two, three, four.

Now we jump in verse six and verse six. Is

this suffering that refines, suffering that refines In all this,

you greatly rejoice. So Peter now goes on to talk

about this. He's he's said that they are exiles, they

are scattered, but God has purpose. He's then remind reminded

them of their new birth in Christ. And then Peter

says this, in all this you greatly rejoice, though now

for a little while you may have had to suffer

grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so

that the proven genuineness of your faith of great to word,

then go, which perishes, even though refined by fire, may

result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

So Peter then went on to talk about suffering, well,

because they were suffering. They were suffering, and this is

the third point suffering that refines. I think you you're

talking about suffering quite a few, quite a bit over

the last few weeks and months in church. And Jason

made a quick comment like, oh no, the word suffering

keeps coming up here and there doesn't mean we're about

to go through a period of suffering in our life.

Is God trying to do do something? But this is

why Peter was trying to remind the church, you know,

in reminder the gentle, the non Jewish Christians back then.

And he says that we should greatly rejoice though now

for a little while you may have had to suffer

grief in all kinds of trials. So remember James, chapter

one says this dear brothers and sisters, When troubles of

any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for

great joy. Same thing, when troubles come, consider it great joy.

For you know that when your faith is tested, your

endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow.

For when your endurance is fully developed, you will be

perfect and complete, needing nothing. What is our perspective on suffering?

What is our perspective on trials? Peter was reminding us,

and I want to also remind us this morning that

our perspective on suffering is that it refines us, it

refinds us. There are many farms around the world that

produce crops. For example, I think Eli was sharing about

this lemon the man in France, or the grapes that

produce very good wine. And the underlying story or consistent

story with all these award winning crops or fruits can

be lemon, can be grapes. The underlying story, you know,

it's always that these fruits go through either a period

of wintering or a very dry soil. My dad's a botanists.

He may he may correct me later, but the period

of wintering or dryness actually forces the tree to produce

an outstanding fruit because during that time, maybe the biomechanics

of the tree is telling them to make the fruit

juicier and refine the fruit, and it's more outstanding. And

if the same tree doesn't go through that process of

suffering or wintering, or process of dryness or coldness that

is uncomfortable, often the fruit won't result in the best

possible quality. Right, So this morning I want to remind us.

I know suffering is not easy when we go through

whereiaus trials, but our perspective on suffering should be Suffering

refines us, and it not only refinds us, it also

validates our faith. Verse seven. These have come so that

the proven genuineness of your faith. Suffering refines us. Suffering

validates our faith. So the point number three, can I

challenge you today to have a fresh perspective on your

suffering and trials. If you're going through a difficult time

in your workplace, count it all joy. I'll declare that

this process will refine your career. If you're going through

challenges in a specific subject in school, count it all joy.

Count it all joy. You know that this process will

refine who you are as a student. If you're going

through conflicts or strive in a relationship with a loved one.

And this is very really challenging. I mean, it's easy

when you're going through suffering as an individual, right, but

when you're suffering involves another person, I'm not pointing to anyone.

If the strife and trials, especially with someone that you love,

conflict here, or she doesn't see eye to eye to

what I want to do here, or she disagrees with me,

or maybe things that were in the past gets brought up,

and this person, this person is a loved one. I

want to say counted all joy because I really believe

that this process of you and that person working through

this suffering will make that relationship even better, will make

that relationship even better. Right if you're married here, if

you have a spouse, or even you have any relationship,

but after after a big fight that we both work

through and understand each other, it always takes it to

the next level. Right, So that is what suffering. This

so point of the tree is this suffering refines us.

Suffering refines us, And that is what Peter was encouraging

the church. You guys good, I'm doing good with time

number four. We're gonna go to verse thirteen. So we

jump to verse thirteen, and the point is this sober

minded with hope. Remember it's grammatically correct. Sober minded. Peter

says this verse thirteen. Therefore, gird up the loins of

your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon

the grace that is to be brought to you at

the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's a loaded verse verse thirteen.

Number one, it says, gird up the loins of your mind.

I don't know whether you guys have contacted that. I'll

show a picture in a while. So verse the things,

there's three things. Number one, gird up the lowyers of

your mind, be sober, and rest your hopefully upon that grace.

We may go through suffering, and we may have the

perspective that suffering is going to be good for us,

But how do you approach suffering? How do you approach

that trial and difficult time. Peter was encouraging the church

with this verse, So I'm going to just bring that

to us this morning as well. Okay, so we know

that suffering is good. This is how we're gonna go

through suffering. So gird up the loins of your mind?

What arelloins? You know what a lawine is? Is that

a popline? Park line? Right, it's called popline. Yeah, it's

not a poplin. So he's not talking about food. But

allin is a garment that men war in the day

back then. Maybe they haven't invented pens yet. Okay, So

alin looks like a long dress that men wore. Okay,

let's look at this picture. Yeah, so I found this

website called the Art of Manliness that very descriptively tells

me how to gird up your allins. Come on, thank

God for the Internet. Now we can understand how to

gird up our loins. So number one, the tunic or

aline looks like this, you know, so of course no

one dresses up like this now. So the first I mean,

I wanted to wear a tunic today, but I will

show you a while how it's very it looks very weird.

Allowed to do it in in person. So the first

thing you do is you lift up, You lift up

that dress part of the lord, lift it up all

the way above to the knees. Right, okay. Then step three,

what do you do next? Light you get you gather

all the garments in front of you. Yeah, so you

imagine someone doing that in person. Get it right in

front of you, right, and then you put it under

your crouch area and pull it to the back. Pull

the excess capac to the back. Next light. Yeah, yeah,

it does feel like a taper. And then you pull

both sides around you and then you tie in front. Okay. Yeah,

so if you ever won a napkin for a baby,

I think that's as a see how you do it.

That is girding up your loins. That's girding up your loins.

And the reason why they do this is this so

both your hands are ready and alert to do what

you need to do, because I think I've seen ladies

struggle with a long dressler like they're trying to they're

trying to walk fast to a certain places, like especially

like heels, uh you know too tight right, yeah, yeah,

to tight, so don't wear type clothes. But if they

did this right, they can like start running after the hinkansend.

So I'm sure if the men back then were chasing

the bullet train the chickens and they had to gird

up their loins and run to make it in time,

why do why do they do this because If they

don't girt up their loins, their mobility is very low.

They can't move fast, they're not ready. They're not in

the position to either fight or do something physically that

is very important. So in order to do that, they

need to get up their loins and be in a

position of alertness, of readiness to overcome what's going to

come ahead. Okay, So Peter says, gird up the loins

of your mind. Gird up the loins of your mind.

What he's saying is we need to be alert and

ready to go through that suffering. Be alert and ready

to go through this time where God may be testing us.

We can't just lie comfortably with our loins all down

there and or tunic all nicely down, sit on the couch,

eat potato chips, and expect the outcome to be easy.

When we're going tough, there's times our mind needs to

be alert and ready. Okay. Then he said this, Peter says,

got up your loins of your mind and be of

sober mind. Be sober, be sober. So let's look at

sober mindedness. Anyone been drunk before. Don't put your hands

not mentioning it. You don't be driving for no, but

opposite of sober, I mean you would say it's drunkenness, right,

you know it could be it's not just not just

being intoxicated by some illicit product or substance. But you know,

it could also mean the opposite of sober is like

flamboyant or or you know, very chill, not sure what's

going on. But Peter wants to remind the church to

be sober minded. Some synonyms to be serious, to be steady,

to be sensible, composed, clear headed, earnest, self control. This

is what sober means. Earlier I read from James chapter one.

If you go down further to James chapter one, it

says to be sure that your faith in God is

in God alone. Do not waiver for a person with

divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the

sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. So

if you imagine a drunk person and he's like, I

don't know, you know, it kind of walks straight, no direction, uncertain,

that is not how we should be. Right. We need

to get up our loins. We need to be alert

and ready, and we need to have a sober mind,

not wavering here and they're being passed by the win.

So we went Osaka last month and I think I

had the privilege and honor to also share the word

of God in ex Osaka. They've got a very they've

got a small church. That morning, there were twenty people

in the room, twenty eighth people and our missionaries in

ex Osaka, their names are Benji and Michelle if you

haven't heard of them. So we pray for them every

Sunday as well in the morning before we start our service.

And they it's not easy to be missionaries in Japan, okay.

So the first obstacle is language, right, they don't speak

most of them don't speak English or they don't identify

with English. And Benji and Michelle had to first learn

the language here in Malaysia for going over. Then they

did two years of starting the language. It was a

very long journey for them. We spent the day with

them also just to encourage them. And then they had

a kid. They had a kid raised two right or

one one and a half, So they had so midway

being missionaries in Japan, trying to reach out to this

group of people that speaks a different language. God blesses

them with a child. And so imagine being a missionary

in another country, having a child who was very young,

without any support system of parents around to help. And

week after we trying to reach this group of people,

these students that they meet in YMCA. Right, And while

talking to Benji, I think I had a good catch

up with him. He really told me that it was

a challenge, especially in the first two years, because there's

no support system, there's no next level where you can

help to solve each other with, you know. And he

told me there were weeks where he's like he's struggling.

He's struggling. So he's going through literally this process being

exiled in another country of foreign land, going through trials, suffering.

I think we've got missionaries here as well. I don't

know why you guys go through the same thing and

every time, every time here and I could see his

faith being so strong because if he wasn't sober minded, right,

and he was being like waved and by the wain

and like, you know, I don't know whether God called

me here, they God really called me here when my

son Ray is crying in Osaka, when I'm when I'm

asking people to come to church and they're not saying yes,

when it's all alone in you know at night, and

you know it's so cold there. I should have just

stayed back in KL nice weather throughout the year. You've

got banana, leave rice just downstairs if I want to.

Everybody understands me. They don't speak Japanese back home. Imagine

being in that position and not sober minded, not clear, hey,

that not being earnest and steady in your belief of

what God has caught you to do. One feed in Osaka,

the other feed in KL being waved here and there,

or some days is good, some days it is bad.

Got answer my call here, got on my prayer, didn't

tell my prayer. How do you function like that? You can't.

You have to be sure, sober about what God has

caught you to do, and stay firm on that. I

believe that what that is what Peter was saying to

the church. Yes, their exiled, Yes there are suffering and

trials in this time, but be sober minded on your

calling in Christ. Sorry for a quick summary of this part.

An uncertain person is unstable in troubled times. A certain

person goes through troubled times with genuine faith. An uncertain

person your next light. An uncertain person is unstable in

troubled times. A certain person goes through troubled times in

genuine faith. All right, let's jump to verse fourteen, so

we are the end. Verse fourteen says this, as obedient children,

do not conform to the evil desire you had when

you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called

you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

for it is written, Be holy because I am holy.

This is my last point for this morning, as we

prepared to and I want to remind us that it's

not just understanding that the perspective that suffering will refine us,

and it's not just that we need to be alert

and ready and sober minded, but it also takes consistency

in our lives to continue to work with God. Do

not conform to the evil desires you had when you

lived in ignorance. And to counter this, Peter reminds us

to be holy, be holy because I am holy. So

in order for us to live this out, I really

believe it's a schedule thing. It's a to be consistent.

We need to be disciplined in our schedules. I know

you don't talk about schedules when I talk about holiness,

but this is how I see it. This is how

I see it. Because you want to keep moving in holiness.

We can't be holy for one day and not holy

the next day, right, you know? If you want to

live out that life of that new birth, we need

to be consistent. And I love this saying by Eugene Peterson.

God cannot fit into our plans. We must fit into his.

So our schedules and our patterns need to reflect God's

holiness so that we do not conform, fall back to

the evil desires we once had, and we live in ignorance.

Track with me for a while. Let me read you

this few sentences which I had in my devotion last week,

and it was written or paraphrase. It is written by

Nicki Gambo. It says this, we can't use God. God

is not a tool or appliance or credit card. Holy

is the word that sets God apart. Okay. Holy is

the word that sets God apart. Holy means that God

is alive on God's terms. Holy means that God is

alive on God's terms, alive in a way that seeds

our experience and imagination. Holy refers to life, burning with

an intense purity that transforms everything it touches into itself.

The Hebrew word for holy actually means, it says, the

Hebrew of holy is kardosh. It means being separated or

set apart, and it really is used to describe the

ardedness nature of God. That God is so set apart

from this world. God is so set apart in terms

of your character, his nature, his power. He's so much greater,

so much more wonderful than any other personal thing. And

that is who God is. And God is saying, be

holy because I am holy. Be holy because I am holy.

So for something else to be holy simply means for

it to be dedicated to God. Be holy for I

am holy. For something else to be holy simply means

for it to be dedicated to God. You are holy

to the extent that your life is devoted to Him

and your actions reflect his character. You are holy to

the extent that your life is devoted to Him and

your actions reflect his character. So for us to say

consistently holy, we need to get our schedules right, and

we need to not treat God as know, like a

credit card or some Sometimes we go to him just

when we have problems we can't solve, but we are

called to be set apart. We are called to be

set apart. He man, I'm not called a band to

come up as we close today, to summit up this morning,

there's intention with us being scattered. So the last light,

we are scattered. But it is certain that's purpose to

some of the points I want to say that we

are saved, we have new birth, we have a second chance.

Our mistakes don't matter. God cares for us. He's given

us new birth by his mercy. And we need to

be sober minded in our suffering, steady in our suffering,

because we know that suffering refines us, Suffering validates our faith,

and this will bring us to holiness, that we may

be set apart for holiness this morning, can I just

ask that we stand to our feet as we respond

to God from the words that we've read today, listen

to him. May not know exactly what we want going

through in a room, but I know that trials and

suffering is not foreign experience to all of us. And

we go through different difficulties in our lives. We go

through different challenges, conflicts in our relationships, difficulties with our family,

persecution from management of friends, having issues that we don't

have answers, to having thoughts that often contradict the word

of God. This morning, I want to declare that God

has given us the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit

and the fire of the Holy Spirit will help us

and enable us to set ourselves apart. So Lord, this morning,

we thank you for your word. Lord Jesus, we can

declare and look to you because Christ, you went through

that process before us. Lord Jesus, you went through the

process of persecution, of taking up the cross, of paying

the ultimate price, that we may have freedom today, that

we may have salvation from our sin, that we may

have freedom from our sickness. And we honor you today,

Lord Jesus, we look to you, and we know that

we are not alone God in our own challenges. Lord,

we are not alone when we go through suffering. We're

not alone. Lord. We have the Holy Spirit. We have

the body of Christ today, which is the Church, to

walk alongside with us. It's Lord, I pray for the

Church this morning. I pray for your confidence and strength

to be upon every life that's here in this room. Lord,

I pray for the revelation of Christ is to be

so real, the revelation of who you are and the power,

the resurrection power of Jesus that lives in us to

be evident. We surrender every situation to your hands, Lord,

and we pray that this will refine our faith in You,

that the process that we go through will refine our

faith in You. So we come in our lives to you.

We give you all praise and glory, and we enthrown

you in our lives the name of Jesus. We pray Amen, Amen,

Thank you Church.

We hope you've been blessed by this message. For more

information on our church, please visit as church org. We

are also active on Facebook and Instagram. We're believing that

this week is going to be a good week. I

hit for you. God bless