WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.839 Now, will you turn with me for a reading this morning and then our study to 1 Peter chapter 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:06.839 1? 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:11.960 It will be on the screens, but if you have a Bible, Church Bible, it's on page 1014. 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:19.240 We're going to read a bit from towards the end of chapter 1 and then on into chapter 2 00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:22.199 and verse 10. 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:27.160 So the word, therefore, at the beginning there means that he's following on from something 00:00:27.160 --> 00:00:31.800 that's already been said and he's just been talking about the gospel. 00:00:31.800 --> 00:00:36.539 He's been talking about how good the gospel, the good news of the gospel is. 00:00:36.539 --> 00:00:43.000 Therefore he says to this believing group of people, preparing your minds for action 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:47.320 and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be given, will be brought 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:49.920 to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:00:49.920 --> 00:00:54.600 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:59.280 as he who called you as holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:02.920 Since it is written, you shall be holy, for I am holy. 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:08.079 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, 00:01:08.079 --> 00:01:12.359 conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you are ransomed 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:17.400 from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:24.000 or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:28.439 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in this last 00:01:28.439 --> 00:01:34.120 times for the sake of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:39.280 the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. 00:01:39.280 --> 00:01:44.359 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, 00:01:44.359 --> 00:01:49.680 love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:55.160 seed, but of imperishable through the living and abiding Word of God. 00:01:55.160 --> 00:02:00.840 For all flesh is like grass, and all is glory like the flower of the grass. 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:05.800 The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever. 00:02:05.800 --> 00:02:10.240 And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:15.400 So put away all malice and old deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, and like 00:02:15.400 --> 00:02:21.520 newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation, 00:02:21.520 --> 00:02:25.599 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 00:02:25.599 --> 00:02:31.520 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and 00:02:31.520 --> 00:02:32.520 precious. 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:39.200 You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:45.879 priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:02:45.879 --> 00:02:51.839 For it stands in Scripture, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone, chosen and 00:02:51.839 --> 00:02:55.439 precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame. 00:02:55.439 --> 00:03:00.839 So the honour is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe the stone that 00:03:00.839 --> 00:03:06.039 the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, and that a stone of stumbling and a rock of 00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:07.039 offence. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:12.239 They stumble because they disobey the word as they were destined to do. 00:03:12.239 --> 00:03:18.239 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession 00:03:18.239 --> 00:03:23.919 that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:25.120 light. 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.959 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. 00:03:28.959 --> 00:03:34.000 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:39.280 This is the word of God, and we give thanks for the privilege and freedom to be able to 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:42.240 read that word together. 00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:48.960 So this morning we are going to carry on for another today and for another two weeks, 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:56.360 I think another two weeks, maybe three, looking at the idea of planning and praying. 00:03:56.360 --> 00:04:01.759 And we kind of introduced that last week by looking at the verse, commit your ways to 00:04:01.759 --> 00:04:05.639 the Lord and your plans will be established. 00:04:05.639 --> 00:04:12.599 And so today we are looking at the theme of really planning our life, our Christian life, 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:18.439 and praying through that as well, both personally, and I am going to mention also the church. 00:04:18.439 --> 00:04:27.759 So really this is about, as we move forward I guess into this new year, academic year 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:32.279 as it were, and our plans both individually and the church. 00:04:32.279 --> 00:04:40.199 So what am I trying to achieve in this sermon series? 00:04:40.199 --> 00:04:43.079 Because preaching also has a plan. 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:46.920 It's not just random, and it's, I hope, never just thoughtless. 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:50.639 It is intentional, there is a reason behind it. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:57.800 And it's really, I want to get across to myself and to all of us the vitality of praying 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:05.159 into our lives and into our church, and also planning the gospel into our lives and into 00:05:05.159 --> 00:05:07.159 our church. 00:05:07.159 --> 00:05:09.560 Prayer is our lifeblood. 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:12.319 We simply can't exist without it. 00:05:12.319 --> 00:05:16.839 And as you plan your lives, and you know, we are very fortunate here to have a young 00:05:16.839 --> 00:05:17.839 congregation. 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:24.879 So at the, just the entry door of their future lives. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:31.239 But all of us at whatever age or stage we are at, the importance of taking Jesus Christ 00:05:31.239 --> 00:05:40.039 and the gospel into the plans for our lives and for involvement in the gospel community. 00:05:40.039 --> 00:05:47.439 And so really my hope is that we will be challenged to look at the priority of prayer 00:05:47.439 --> 00:05:54.360 in our lives and see the place and be challenged by whether Jesus does really have a place 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:58.759 in our day-to-day living and the planning of our life. 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:04.079 Because in many ways, I think if you could measure faith, and I know you can't really 00:06:04.079 --> 00:06:11.680 measure faith at that level, but if a good litmus test at a good temperature gauge of 00:06:11.680 --> 00:06:16.240 our faith in Jesus is our prayer life. 00:06:16.240 --> 00:06:20.439 And only you know that, and only I know that for myself. 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:27.199 So as a fundamental truth behind that, and a foundational reality behind that, knowing 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:34.720 Jesus, knowing Jesus as our Lord and Savior is absolutely key to what we go on to say 00:06:34.720 --> 00:06:37.400 about prayer and about planning in our lives. 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:46.279 It can never be about planning and praying as a ritual, as a mere programmable thing 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:48.479 that we do in our lives. 00:06:48.479 --> 00:06:54.000 It needs to be based on the reality of our relationship with Jesus. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:58.879 So it's not a ritualistic thing that we want to plug into our life, but it's based on this 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:04.139 great foundation of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:12.479 We will pray when we get who Jesus Christ is, and the magnitude of what He has done 00:07:12.479 --> 00:07:13.479 in our lives. 00:07:13.479 --> 00:07:18.599 That's when we will get prayer, when we see who Jesus is, and when we see our need of 00:07:18.599 --> 00:07:20.240 Him in our lives. 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:25.399 In many ways, until we see Him, and until we recognize that relationship of grace and 00:07:25.399 --> 00:07:31.159 love that is offered to us in the gospel, He will always be a sideshow. 00:07:31.160 --> 00:07:34.640 He will always be a fringe event. 00:07:34.640 --> 00:07:37.439 He will never be significantly important. 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:44.240 We will plow forward with our own plans and with our own lives, and He will be just in 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.000 the very corner and will not be significant. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.560 And so this passage we've read in 1 Peter, half of chapter 1 and half of chapter 2, where 00:07:54.560 --> 00:08:01.920 Peter is laying foundations for believers that are scattered throughout different places, 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:04.680 in ancient Near East. 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:14.639 The whole of it actually, or it's interspersed and it's soaked with the presumption of a 00:08:14.639 --> 00:08:20.399 knowledge of Jesus Christ and who Jesus Christ is and why He matters. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:25.079 It's all very personal in the advice and everything He says, and there's a couple of 00:08:25.079 --> 00:08:31.919 things that I just want to say about Jesus Christ here from this passage that recognizes 00:08:31.919 --> 00:08:34.039 Him as key in our ongoing thinking. 00:08:34.039 --> 00:08:41.439 The first is that He is precious, and that's what Peter says in founding what he's got 00:08:41.439 --> 00:08:43.199 to say in this letter. 00:08:43.199 --> 00:08:47.360 In verse 19 he says, you know, it's not with worthless things that you've been redeemed, 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.800 but with the precious blood of Jesus. 00:08:50.800 --> 00:08:56.360 And in chapter 2 and verse 4 he says, you've come to the living stone to God who is chosen 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:57.960 and precious. 00:08:57.960 --> 00:09:02.919 And then in verse 6 he says, he's a cornerstone, he's chosen and precious. 00:09:02.919 --> 00:09:08.159 And he repeats that because that's the truth for him, that Jesus Christ is precious, that 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:14.480 the word is important, he's valuable, he's held in honour. 00:09:14.480 --> 00:09:20.080 And that makes all the difference to what he has to teach and what he is to encourage 00:09:20.080 --> 00:09:21.080 the people to do. 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:28.120 See, everything that Peter's saying here is based on the worth of Jesus Christ, that 00:09:28.120 --> 00:09:33.920 He is a precious stone, He's not worthless, He's not insignificant. 00:09:33.920 --> 00:09:38.440 His love, His grace, His character, His worthiness. 00:09:38.440 --> 00:09:44.480 And in that verse 4 of chapter 2 we see that really it's not only precious to those who 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:50.640 believe but it's precious within the Godhead, in the sight of God chosen and precious. 00:09:50.640 --> 00:09:54.720 So there's this sense of value of who Jesus is. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:10:03.760 Not insignificant, not a bit player, not a fringe performer but precious in His character. 00:10:03.759 --> 00:10:08.799 This maybe in many, many different facets that we can't go into but a couple of things 00:10:08.799 --> 00:10:09.799 here. 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:16.080 First in his pure goodness, he is different, he is holy. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:21.200 In verse 16 of chapter 1 he says, you know, be holy because I am holy. 00:10:21.200 --> 00:10:27.120 And then he goes on to speak about the goodness of Jesus that we have tasted as believers. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:33.639 So there's a pure goodness that makes him precious. 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:38.279 This has become a difficult word for us I think because we regard it as kind of sometimes 00:10:38.279 --> 00:10:45.639 as we associate it with being holier than thou, kind of a bit kind of prissy. 00:10:45.639 --> 00:10:47.439 But it's not like that at all. 00:10:47.439 --> 00:10:53.319 Holiness just means different and different as he is revealed. 00:10:53.319 --> 00:10:55.039 God is holy and that He's set apart. 00:10:55.039 --> 00:10:59.200 He's incomparably good and pure. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:05.080 We can't begin to imagine how good and different and holy He is. 00:11:05.080 --> 00:11:11.600 He speaks of Him here in terms of what He's done for us and that He's a lamb without blemish. 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:16.520 And that's an Old Testament picture where the Old Testament people of God were to take 00:11:16.520 --> 00:11:27.160 not a diseased or a broken, boned animal to sacrifice to the living God, you know, that 00:11:27.160 --> 00:11:28.840 was cheap and nasty. 00:11:28.840 --> 00:11:35.720 They were to bring a whole, an unblemished, the very best of their flock as a reflection 00:11:35.720 --> 00:11:39.759 of the debt they owe and of the worth of Jesus. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:42.560 And here we have this picture of God in His pure goodness. 00:11:42.560 --> 00:11:49.600 Jesus Christ in His sacrificial capacity as a lamb without blemish and His sacrifice 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:58.800 for us in His innocence and in His perfection nailed to a tree in death on our part. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:07.799 And He is always good, perfectly good, hugely challenging theological truth in a world where 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:15.479 we are soaked and surrounded in confusing darkness and badness and evil, that God Himself is 00:12:15.479 --> 00:12:25.039 good like the newborn baby's milk from its mother craving the pure spiritual milk that 00:12:25.039 --> 00:12:31.559 is spoken of there at the beginning of chapter 2, longing for that goodness, that life-giving, 00:12:31.559 --> 00:12:41.480 nourishing, satisfying, communicable, shared goodness that He gives to us, precious. 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:49.079 And as believers, we've tasted that, incomparable with anything in our own hearts or in the 00:12:49.079 --> 00:12:50.839 world which we belong. 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:56.480 So He's precious in His goodness, but He's also precious in His power in chapter 2 and 00:12:56.480 --> 00:12:57.480 verse 6. 00:12:57.480 --> 00:13:02.080 He speaks about being a cornerstone, and He quotes from Isaiah chapter 28. 00:13:02.080 --> 00:13:10.800 And that cornerstone is really just a picture of great power carrying all the weight of 00:13:10.800 --> 00:13:14.399 a building, or the cornerstone or the foundation stone. 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:18.800 The cornerstone keeps it together, or the foundation stone is the one that carries all 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:20.919 the weight of the building. 00:13:20.919 --> 00:13:28.240 And it's this picture of God in Christ as the powerful one, the Redeemer who takes the 00:13:28.240 --> 00:13:36.399 weight of our sin and of our burdens and of our troubles and of our prayers as we come 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:37.399 to Him. 00:13:37.399 --> 00:13:40.240 So that's always been His plan. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:44.319 From the beginning of the world, He says here, that's been His plan, His incomparable love. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:50.200 He wants to share with us His preciousness and His goodness, His difference, His holiness, 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:54.680 His life, His victory over life and death. 00:13:54.680 --> 00:14:00.879 He wants us to give Him the weight of our struggles, of our hopes, our fears and of 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:02.760 our plans. 00:14:02.760 --> 00:14:08.960 So the relationship with Jesus Christ and the value of Jesus Christ is going to determine 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:15.720 how significant we place prayer in our planning and in our life. 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:20.240 So can we look at His place in our life plans? 00:14:20.240 --> 00:14:25.240 I'm going to look at that personally and then within the church briefly. 00:14:25.240 --> 00:14:26.680 We'll look at these things. 00:14:26.680 --> 00:14:29.160 So personally, I want to keep it simple. 00:14:29.160 --> 00:14:34.040 I'm going to ask, do you have a life plan? 00:14:34.039 --> 00:14:39.159 Are you planning through your life or are you drifting or very passive? 00:14:39.159 --> 00:14:42.120 No real thought about a plan for your life. 00:14:42.120 --> 00:14:44.879 And if you do have a plan, what's it based? 00:14:44.879 --> 00:14:47.959 What is your life plan based? 00:14:47.959 --> 00:14:52.519 Because as a Christian, you already have a life plan. 00:14:52.519 --> 00:14:58.799 You have a life plan because verse 14 tells us that we're children of God. 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.240 We're children of God. 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:06.840 He says, as obedient children, do not be conformed by the passions of your former ignorance. 00:15:06.840 --> 00:15:12.440 We have new hearts, new love, new motivation, new power. 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:18.919 We've been recipients of God's mercy and therefore He wants us to plan our lives with 00:15:18.919 --> 00:15:22.680 the gospel at the very core of it. 00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:28.840 He wants us to plan what it means to have the gospel outworked in our day-to-day lives. 00:15:28.840 --> 00:15:31.800 And He says, I want you, what does He say? 00:15:31.800 --> 00:15:32.800 I want you to be holy. 00:15:32.800 --> 00:15:35.639 And so I want you to plan to be holy in your life. 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.960 It doesn't just happen by osmosis or by magic. 00:15:39.960 --> 00:15:42.240 We're called like Him to be different. 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:47.440 As Christians, we're called to be different, to be Christ-like, to be full of grace, to 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:52.040 be good, to be pure, to love our neighbor and to love God. 00:15:52.040 --> 00:15:55.840 That's His plan for every one of us, for every believer. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:16:02.080 And all of the teaching in His Word is to reveal who He is and what He's like. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:06.960 And therefore this passage, for the examples, gives us as much of the New Testament does, 00:16:06.960 --> 00:16:09.519 just unpacks a lot of what that means. 00:16:09.519 --> 00:16:13.320 All of the New Testament teaching is just unpacking what it means to love God and to 00:16:13.320 --> 00:16:14.759 love your neighbor. 00:16:14.759 --> 00:16:21.920 And we are asked to recognize that as His purpose and His plan for us in our lives. 00:16:21.920 --> 00:16:25.639 So we're not to conform to our own selfish ideals. 00:16:25.639 --> 00:16:26.799 We are to love others. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:32.000 We are to get rid of the damaging stuff, all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, slander, 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:36.000 anger, all the things that sometimes make up our lives. 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:43.159 We are to plan for these things, think them into our lives and think them into our futures. 00:16:43.159 --> 00:16:49.039 We're to want to know what God wants for us because it's good. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:52.840 And we're to seek the resources and the learning to do that. 00:16:52.840 --> 00:16:59.399 And that needs to be for us intentional, conscious, reflective, cooperative. 00:16:59.399 --> 00:17:01.000 We need the help of other people. 00:17:01.000 --> 00:17:04.799 Holiness, it never just happens in our lives. 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:07.400 You know, it's like a journey, isn't it? 00:17:07.400 --> 00:17:12.960 We plan a journey, but we don't just arrive. 00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:14.720 We never just arrive. 00:17:14.720 --> 00:17:18.200 We've got to follow a plan. 00:17:18.200 --> 00:17:21.160 We've got to follow a particular route. 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.560 And eventually we get there. 00:17:23.560 --> 00:17:25.400 And as Christians, we're on a journey. 00:17:25.400 --> 00:17:30.480 We are growing and we have a destination to be more and more like Jesus Christ. 00:17:30.480 --> 00:17:39.720 But it doesn't just happen because there is natural antagonism in our hearts remaining 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:44.840 towards growing holy because we have selfishness that we have to deal with and we have various 00:17:44.840 --> 00:17:46.960 other things in our hearts and lives. 00:17:46.960 --> 00:17:52.680 So personally, it's knowing what He reveals and planning that into our lives, knowing 00:17:52.680 --> 00:18:00.120 what He wants us to be like, knowing the character traits and the ethics and the morality and 00:18:00.120 --> 00:18:07.240 the love worked out for Him and for others. 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:12.680 So we're to plan to be like Him and what He reveals, but also to trust God in what He 00:18:12.680 --> 00:18:13.680 doesn't reveal. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:19.000 Because there's lots of things He doesn't tell us our everyday choices, our decisions, 00:18:19.000 --> 00:18:25.640 even the big ones, our circumstances, our relationships, the illness that we may face, 00:18:25.640 --> 00:18:31.400 different events that come into our lives that maybe challenge our hopes and plans. 00:18:31.400 --> 00:18:37.200 We are to commit them to Him also and recognize His purposes for us. 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:42.840 So in what He reveals and even in what He doesn't reveal, we are to plan and pray through 00:18:42.839 --> 00:18:45.000 these plans in verse 4 of chapter 2. 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:50.519 He says, as you come to Him, and that's what He's wanting for us in our lives. 00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:57.839 He's wanting us to come to Him, to take our plans and to commit our plans to Him, to trust 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:04.000 in Him daily, giving ourselves to Him, being alert, recognizing that we can't live the 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:12.159 Christian life on our own and pray through all of these things because of the battle. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:18.200 Praying for your heart to be holy, that He would expose the idols that might be there, 00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:23.800 the wrong desires that need to be addressed, the priorities and the focuses that are not 00:19:23.800 --> 00:19:26.080 Christ-centered. 00:19:26.080 --> 00:19:32.400 And pray as we sung in that Psalm as you go into the day, praying intentionally for what 00:19:32.400 --> 00:19:38.440 lies ahead, praying as a child of God, praying for the challenges and the encounters that 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:44.640 you will face that day, and maybe praying at the end of each day, maybe for forgiveness 00:19:44.640 --> 00:19:49.720 for some of the things that we've done wrong, or thanksgiving for what has happened during 00:19:49.720 --> 00:19:51.360 the day. 00:19:51.360 --> 00:19:57.840 Praying your life and the gospel into all that you do, just soaking the gospel into 00:19:57.840 --> 00:19:58.840 your day-to-day living. 00:19:58.840 --> 00:20:03.400 That's why prayer is so significant for us, and I'm just going to say a couple of things 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:05.039 about that at the end. 00:20:05.039 --> 00:20:13.920 So praying His place personally into our lives, but also praying as part of the church family, 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:17.399 part of the community of God here. 00:20:17.399 --> 00:20:23.839 Now as leaders, we're always planning lots of different things in the church. 00:20:23.839 --> 00:20:26.759 We have visions and plans which we share with you. 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:28.920 We want to be a gospel-centered community. 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:30.519 We want to be on mission. 00:20:30.519 --> 00:20:31.759 We want to worship well. 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:34.000 We want to highlight discipleship. 00:20:34.000 --> 00:20:35.960 We want to build relationships. 00:20:35.960 --> 00:20:38.000 Want to share the gospel relationally. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:39.920 We're planning churches. 00:20:39.920 --> 00:20:46.319 We're bringing in, we're training interns and ministers in training from September, and 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:50.839 we've worked with our young people, and there's lots of things we plan and think through and 00:20:50.839 --> 00:20:51.839 consider. 00:20:51.839 --> 00:20:59.039 But can I encourage you about your own place within the church? 00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:03.720 The church isn't someone else's responsibility, and it's not simply the responsibility of 00:21:03.720 --> 00:21:04.720 the leaders. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:09.200 Look at the last few verses where you're a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.640 a people that declare the Excellencies are praises of God. 00:21:12.640 --> 00:21:17.319 Once you were not a people, now you are God's people because we share in the receiving of 00:21:17.319 --> 00:21:18.799 God's mercy. 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.360 And you belong. 00:21:21.360 --> 00:21:24.160 The church is your family. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:25.960 You matter. 00:21:25.960 --> 00:21:30.440 God's community is part of your identity as a believer. 00:21:30.440 --> 00:21:39.720 With all its fragility, frustration, flaws, unreasonableness, failure, it is a place to 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:40.720 serve. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:48.840 It's a place to forgive, a place to be forgiven, a place that we want to be a community that 00:21:48.840 --> 00:21:55.000 is different, that is holy, that is declaring God's praises. 00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:02.480 And we seek to encourage you to plan what that looks like and to pray what that looks 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:07.440 like, to be deliberate and intentional about your involvement in this family. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:08.720 Where can I serve? 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:10.720 How can I sacrifice? 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:12.599 What are the needs? 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:15.759 What priority does the church community have in my life? 00:22:15.759 --> 00:22:18.720 Who can I support and help? 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:26.279 What plans do I put in place to stop me gossiping or judging or looking simply out for myself? 00:22:26.279 --> 00:22:28.680 How can I welcome new people? 00:22:28.680 --> 00:22:33.799 How can I move beyond just my friendship group to serve those who need in this? 00:22:33.799 --> 00:22:37.000 Because I'm not a passenger in the kingdom. 00:22:37.000 --> 00:22:45.319 And this is the local outworking of the kingdom in our lives. 00:22:45.319 --> 00:22:51.159 So as a church family, we have plans and you are part of that. 00:22:51.159 --> 00:22:57.319 And so I would encourage you to pray through your church-related plans. 00:22:57.319 --> 00:22:59.839 Pray for others in the church. 00:22:59.839 --> 00:23:04.599 If you look at the prayers of the New Testament, and I know that very often we think, well, 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:07.799 I never know what to pray and I run out of things to pray about. 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:10.439 And I don't know what to say. 00:23:10.440 --> 00:23:15.559 If you look at the prayers in the New Testament, many of them, a high percentage of them, are 00:23:15.559 --> 00:23:18.960 praying for other people. 00:23:18.960 --> 00:23:24.279 They're praying, words of encouragement, they're praying for those who need Paul or Peter or 00:23:24.279 --> 00:23:28.960 Thomas or James or anyone telling one another that they're praying for each other. 00:23:28.960 --> 00:23:35.200 So many of the New Testament-recorded prayers are for other believers. 00:23:35.200 --> 00:23:42.920 Praying for them, and so pray for others in the church, for the next church plant, 00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:47.319 pray for the resources we need for that, pray for the interns that are starting, pray for 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:52.080 the leadership, pray for your city group friends, pray for those who maybe haven't been around 00:23:52.080 --> 00:23:56.319 for a while, those who are struggling, those who are going through difficult times, know 00:23:56.319 --> 00:24:00.240 them, tell them, text them, say, I'm praying for you. 00:24:00.240 --> 00:24:06.599 I remembered you this morning, it's amazingly powerful to know that somebody else has thought 00:24:06.599 --> 00:24:09.960 of you in this big, isolated world in which we live. 00:24:09.960 --> 00:24:16.200 So plan to pray for others and plan to tell them that you're praying for them and all 00:24:16.200 --> 00:24:22.519 the energy and effort that is needed maybe to do that. 00:24:22.519 --> 00:24:31.200 It's a great motivation for us, and also pray not only for others, but pray with others. 00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:33.639 Can I really encourage you to do that? 00:24:33.639 --> 00:24:39.720 It's also a very significant element of the New Testament church life that they prayed, 00:24:39.720 --> 00:24:44.240 not just for one another, but they prayed with one another. 00:24:44.240 --> 00:24:52.359 And I do fear that it's dangerously diminished more and more in the world in which we live. 00:24:52.359 --> 00:25:00.719 But in our church life, just as much as our individual life where we saw last week from 00:25:00.719 --> 00:25:05.519 John 15 about the vine, the branches, without me you can do nothing, that's not just true 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:09.159 of us as individuals, it's true of us as a church. 00:25:09.159 --> 00:25:15.039 And a reflection of that will be that we see in our community together the need to pray 00:25:15.039 --> 00:25:17.879 together with God as our Father. 00:25:17.880 --> 00:25:24.200 And it's one area I'm just going to plead with you as your pastor to stand against the 00:25:24.200 --> 00:25:28.600 trend of spiritual individualism at that level. 00:25:28.600 --> 00:25:35.080 He is precious, He is powerful, He is worthy, we need Him. 00:25:35.080 --> 00:25:39.200 And I'm calling on you as a people. 00:25:39.200 --> 00:25:45.320 Yes in twos and threes, yes in city groups when we meet together, yes whenever we can 00:25:45.319 --> 00:25:50.599 choose to pray in any way and it's been great to know in these days when we're not being 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:53.319 able to gather on a Wednesday that people are meeting together to pray. 00:25:53.319 --> 00:25:59.799 But can I just make that special plea for over the term, over this year, once a fortnight 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:05.119 when we corporately gather together in the engine room, man it's not called that to be 00:26:05.119 --> 00:26:10.639 flash, it's just called that because I hope it reflects something of its significance. 00:26:10.640 --> 00:26:15.520 And I know that will be painful and I know it will be sacrificial and I know it's a challenge 00:26:15.520 --> 00:26:18.520 and I know everyone can't make that on a Wednesday evening here. 00:26:18.520 --> 00:26:25.680 But can I just encourage you to see this sign that it's not just going through the motions 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:29.600 because well that's what churches always do when they meet on a Wednesday night to pray. 00:26:29.600 --> 00:26:36.160 But it's significant and it's recognizing both His preciousness and His power for us 00:26:36.160 --> 00:26:44.840 as a church not just as individuals because we are a people and we are those who have 00:26:44.840 --> 00:26:46.880 God as our Father. 00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:51.600 Now I know and I would like you to plan that in your diary, put it this way, I know as 00:26:51.600 --> 00:26:58.840 minister I can't and I have no desire to inspire you by guilt or with fear but I do just plead 00:26:58.840 --> 00:27:06.120 with you for the sake of the Kingdom to prioritize and plan your life in the gospel and your 00:27:06.119 --> 00:27:13.839 prayers individually and together as a family, as a people together. 00:27:13.839 --> 00:27:18.399 Now I just want to conclude with two very brief words about prayer. 00:27:18.399 --> 00:27:21.839 First is attitude and the second is time. 00:27:21.839 --> 00:27:23.159 First is attitude. 00:27:23.159 --> 00:27:24.639 I think prayer generally. 00:27:24.639 --> 00:27:30.679 I think our attitude to prayer will be reflected in how we think about it. 00:27:30.680 --> 00:27:38.400 So if we say I need to pray or I want to pray. 00:27:38.400 --> 00:27:44.759 Now this might be wrong but at some levels it might be right. 00:27:44.759 --> 00:27:52.840 So I think sometimes if we say, well I need to pray then it will be hurried, ritualistic, 00:27:52.840 --> 00:27:54.960 grudged and unproductive. 00:27:54.960 --> 00:27:58.560 I really need to, I just need to pray before I go into the days. 00:27:58.559 --> 00:28:04.440 Just like it's a superstition or just to get it done out of the way. 00:28:04.440 --> 00:28:06.559 Might be hurried, ritualistic, grudged, unproductive. 00:28:06.559 --> 00:28:07.919 Now I know we do need to pray. 00:28:07.919 --> 00:28:10.200 I know, I know. 00:28:10.200 --> 00:28:20.159 But if we say I want to pray then I think that comes from a heart of desire and refreshing, 00:28:20.159 --> 00:28:22.720 life changing and important value. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:29.360 I've just finished a counselling, biblical counselling course which was hugely challenging. 00:28:29.360 --> 00:28:32.400 Had to write things all over the place and do exams and everything. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:33.519 It was terrible. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:40.400 But I got marked down several times when I was giving advice in counselling and saying 00:28:40.400 --> 00:28:48.000 that the person needed to do, they needed to change this, they needed to do that. 00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:53.240 And the examiner questioned that and said, should it not be that we get them to the place 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:56.480 where they want to do that? 00:28:56.480 --> 00:28:59.279 Because there's, can you see the difference? 00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:08.400 The difference in attitude sometimes, sometimes we're driven by guilt and by a desire to perform 00:29:08.400 --> 00:29:10.720 or a superstition or a fear. 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:13.119 I need to do this. 00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:18.679 Because if he is precious and powerful and if Christ is the core of who we are and what 00:29:18.679 --> 00:29:22.639 we do then we will say, I want to do this. 00:29:22.639 --> 00:29:26.799 I desire this and that's important. 00:29:26.799 --> 00:29:30.519 So attitude I think can make a great difference to us in prayer. 00:29:30.519 --> 00:29:38.039 But so also can time, space, you know, making space in our lives. 00:29:38.039 --> 00:29:40.079 We don't have any space, you know. 00:29:40.079 --> 00:29:42.479 You think of your day, your week this last week. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.759 How much space did you have? 00:29:44.759 --> 00:29:48.559 How much down time did you, oh no, okay, it's holiday time just now. 00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:50.360 But just take it in the routine of life. 00:29:50.360 --> 00:29:54.240 How much time did you actually take where you hadn't, you had nothing to do? 00:29:54.240 --> 00:29:58.279 A planned space, planned emptiness. 00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:06.360 Then time is hugely important and I think it's a great longing we should have because 00:30:06.360 --> 00:30:08.079 we need to plan it. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:09.360 See there I go again. 00:30:09.360 --> 00:30:10.519 We need to plan. 00:30:10.519 --> 00:30:14.759 You should want to plan time in your life for God. 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:21.440 You should want to make it part of your daily routine, I should as well, to read and to 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:29.960 meditate without the pressure of the bus coming in two minutes or a multitude of other things. 00:30:29.960 --> 00:30:36.599 If we can somehow get into our life that recognition that time is something we can plan and set 00:30:36.599 --> 00:30:43.480 aside that will allow us to meditate on God and on His Word without undue rush. 00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:50.599 I know 99% of my devotional time is rushed and I always think there's other important 00:30:50.599 --> 00:30:53.439 things that I need to get on with. 00:30:53.439 --> 00:30:59.480 But if we can plan our time, now we've all got, nobody's got more than 24 hours, nobody's 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:04.639 got less, we've all got that and it's no different from any other time in history at 00:31:04.640 --> 00:31:08.720 that level in terms of hours. 00:31:08.720 --> 00:31:16.759 Take out your phone at some point today, press on settings, press on screen time. 00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:21.240 See how many hours you have spent on screen time today, this week. 00:31:21.240 --> 00:31:26.040 Now I'm not saying that it hasn't been valuable and good and important time, much of it will 00:31:26.040 --> 00:31:29.640 be, but all of it. 00:31:29.640 --> 00:31:37.480 Is it that we're just filling every conceivable downtime with something to look at or with 00:31:37.480 --> 00:31:44.920 something to take up our boredom? 00:31:44.920 --> 00:31:50.360 Do we have, can we set aside time for Jesus Christ? 00:31:50.360 --> 00:31:59.120 Jesus was pure and perfectly good and God. 00:31:59.119 --> 00:32:02.919 We have the same amount of times every day that Jesus had when he walked on this earth. 00:32:02.919 --> 00:32:12.599 He was Savior of the world, He was the Son of God, yet He made time every day to be with 00:32:12.599 --> 00:32:14.439 His Father in prayer. 00:32:14.439 --> 00:32:21.519 He wanted that, He needed that and wanted it and longed for it in His life, went into 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:23.119 the presence of God. 00:32:23.119 --> 00:32:30.279 And that would be my heart's desire for me and what I would like to plan for more, planning 00:32:30.279 --> 00:32:39.559 my time and my use of time so that I am learning and knowing and loving and understanding God 00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:45.559 better in Jesus Christ so that I know His plan for my life. 00:32:45.559 --> 00:32:51.639 I'm aware of what He wants for me and then knowing that my plans in life are established 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:55.560 as we saw last week. 00:32:55.560 --> 00:33:01.240 So planning these things, I hope that you will consider that in your life. 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:07.240 I also hope you'll pray for the preaching and the planning that we're doing. 00:33:07.240 --> 00:33:11.840 Next Sunday morning, next Sunday, I think it's actually next Sunday evening, I'm going 00:33:11.840 --> 00:33:19.720 to look at planning to pray as a people for the whole question of abortion and how to 00:33:19.720 --> 00:33:26.160 address that and how to pray through it and how to be consistent, gracious, loving, gentle 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:31.120 and strong in relation to it in our society. 00:33:31.120 --> 00:33:43.120 And then the following Sunday morning, looking at praying into the gospel into the LGBT community 00:33:43.120 --> 00:33:48.640 and how to reach into that community with the love of Jesus Christ in a meaningful and 00:33:48.640 --> 00:33:51.080 gracious and loving way. 00:33:51.080 --> 00:33:52.480 So let's pray. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:34:00.240 Lord God, we ask and pray that you would help us as we plan to pray as a people and as we 00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:06.560 plan to pray through issues in our society and also issues in the church and issues in 00:34:06.560 --> 00:34:08.800 our own lives. 00:34:08.800 --> 00:34:16.360 We pray that we would each take time to think about what you want for us, the purposes and 00:34:16.360 --> 00:34:25.800 the plans you have for us and we take time to recognize our responsibility and our privilege 00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:33.039 of being children of God and being holy because He is holy and help us to know that priority 00:34:33.039 --> 00:34:36.599 and that usefulness in His kingdom therefore. 00:34:36.599 --> 00:34:44.360 And we pray that we would support one another and love each other and pray for one another 00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:52.800 and be different together because of Jesus Christ and because of His grace. 00:34:52.800 --> 00:35:01.440 Deal with our selfishness or our pride or our anger or our frustrations and of our 00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:02.440 battles. 00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:08.559 Help us, we pray, through them together and may our fellowship with you in prayer as 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:14.559 a people and as individuals be hugely encouraging and uplifting. 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:40.559 Amen.