SPEAKER_00 0:00

So if we look at uh 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 4 to 5, it says, as you come to him, a living stone, rejected by man, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious, you yourselves are like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So there are two key ideas or two key concepts here. One is the focus that Peter wants us to understand. As we come to Him, meaning come to Jesus, we are then being built up. We are being built up to be something, to be a spiritual house. So this uh is the first idea. We come to Christ, and as we come to Christ, we are being built up in the process. And secondly, uh we see that Christ is the living stone, he's the living stone rejected by man, and Peter then used that analogy to say that not only Christ is the living stone, but we are all living stones in the plural, right? So we have come to Christ as a living stone, and then we are moving on as living stones being built up and into a spiritual house. So uh Peter begins with this as you come to him, all believers now have the privilege of drawing near to God, and Peter says in in the main uh verb, uh the main uh phrase that is important in these two verses is actually uh the main verb uh here, which is are being built up. So if you look at the slide two, it says, You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. So the key idea that Peter wants to uh speak to us uh this morning through scripture in his word is that we are all being built up. As we come to Christ, we are being built up into something. So uh as we Peter is saying that as you continually come to Christ in initial faith, then in worship and prayer, you are yourself the living stones that are being built up into a spiritual house. So the the main verb being built up has a sense of growth. That means we are not just uh uh here like where I am standing here, or perhaps uh this year, this is my faith level or my commitment to Jesus. Then over 10 years, my faith and my commitment to Jesus still stays the same. That means there's no growth, or worse still, there is a uh retardation of my growth in the Lord. But the idea of being built up means there's a growth, there's a progression, there's a sense of God's life coming upon us so that we are built up, we are growing, we are becoming more like Jesus. So we see this in Acts chapter 9, verse 31. It says, So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. In other words, it was growing, it was manifesting the gifts of the Spirit. Members were serving, they were engaging with one another, they were connecting to one another, they were actively engaging in God's service. So the church was being built up. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, verse 11 says, Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing. So again, the building is not just a physical building, but involves the life of the community. As we gather in our connect groups, as we converse together at IZone, as we pray and support one another, we are building each other and one another up. So not only do we come to Christ and are being built, but we are coming to Christ as a living stone, to living stones, to being living stones being built up. So we are coming to Jesus Christ, who is himself a living stone rejected by man. This is what 1 Peter 2, 4 says. He's a living stone rejected by man. Jesus applies this to himself in citing Psalm 118 verse 20, verse 22. In the parable of the tenants, uh which we will not look at today, in all the three uh uh Gospels in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, um where in the parable of the tenants, uh Jesus applies this Psalm 118 verse 22 to himself. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. So in the parable of the tenants, what happens was God was sending messengers, first a servant, and finally the son was sent to them, but they rejected, they beat the sun up, and and eventually then uh Jesus said, quoted, quoting Psalm 118, verse 22 the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, uh the chief uh point of alignment in a building where uh all else takes reference. Again, we see that Peter himself spoke uh explicitly before the council in Acts chapter 4 verse 11 that this Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. So though rejected by man, this stone, which is Christ Himself, Peter says, is in God's sight chosen and precious, highly valued and esteemed in God's eyes. So let me just move on to uh my first point of uh my first point in terms of implications. One is we are called to be built up in Christ. So the flow of Peter's thought was he was talking about Christ as the living stone rejected by man. And then he in verse 5 he goes to the heart of the matter to uh identify the church as living stones being built up. So this is where we are at in terms of our implication. So all of us here are called to be built up in Christ because Peter now extends the imagery of Christ the living stone to the believers as living stones. He says, even you yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house. The believers are stones that live and are being built into God's house. Therefore, Paul can tell us in Ephesians 2 verse 19 to 22 that so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by his spirit. So all of us here sitting here, we are all being built up as a spiritual house. Uh the word house is often used to in the Old Testament to describe the Jerusalem temple. This is where the worship of God takes place. And in the New Testament, when we talk about the house of God, we often uh there's often a illusion, uh allusion, sorry, to the household of God, which is the church of the living God, which is all of us believers here. So we are all God's house, we are the building blocks, we are God's people, we are the church of the living God, not made just with physical bricks, but physically present as God's very own people. So uh then Peter goes on to speak of the spiritual house. This is what we do. We are holy priesthood, we are offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. So the mentioning of priesthood, sacrifices, and coming near to God in worship uh makes it very certain that Peter was thinking about the community of God, the church gathered, the gathered community. As we uh gather before God, we come near, we draw near, we offer spiritual sacrifices, we worship God, we gather together in worship and prayer. Interestingly, if uh we just look at do a word study of uh the word house or eukos in the Greek, uh it comes from the same root word as the verb being used, as being built up, which is oikodomio. So eukodomio uh comes from the root word oikos. So in other words, this implies that the house which God's built, which God builds, the oikos uh is also the oikodomio, which means that the house is being built up. Uh God's people are being built up as the house grows. So this is a picture of a sense that we are constantly growing. Peter has in mind a superstructure in which uh there's no uh boundaries because God's people uh as they gather in in communities, as they build up their lives in God and in one another, they continue to grow into a spiritual, into a spiritual house in which God more and more fully dwell among us. I sense that for us as a church uh in YCCA, uh there's a need over the the three years as I gather uh comments, as I pray, and as I talk to people, uh, that we need to create an alternative pathway to grow in intentional focused discipleship. Right? Intentional focus discipleship meaning that we need to gather intentionally to grow and desire that God will change us more and more to be like Jesus. So what the Connect groups are doing is great. You know, we gather mainly for fellowship, for prayer, for encouragement. We do a Bible study, you know, and and that's good. That kind of community is needed. But I felt that what is also needed, something to supplement it, is an intentional focus discipleship journey that we can take. And uh a lot of churches make the mistake by forcing everyone to go through an intentional focus discipleship. So when you do that, when everyone is forced to go through a program, then usually we have probably uh a third, one-third of those that are eager, but we have two-thirds perhaps they are lacking behind, or they don't uh have that commitment to want to grow. So this uh intentional focus discipleship program, the main idea is to help us to grow, to build up our community life uh beyond just baptism and confirmation and connect groups. So it requires commitment, requires discipline, it requires a focused desire, right? And I know that uh it's not easy in in busy Singapore to uh commit to weekly meetings. So uh when we launch this next year, it is a commitment to journey together in small groups of up to eight people, uh, which is uh just nice group size to grow in discipleship for a period of two years. Right? So and it is the hope that eventually, after the two years, someone weekly gathering and the interaction for two years, I think we we probably be able to build quite a good rapport within the group. And and the hope, the hope is within that two years, we are able to raise someone to carry the baton or the torch to lead another discipleship group. So it is uh it's a way that I think God is telling us that as a church we need to have a focused intentional discipleship. So we gather in groups, we talk about the fundamentals, how do we grow in Christ, how do we uh um walk in integrity, how do we uh set our minds on God's truth? So because it's a journeying together, it's not just uh intellectual ascent, but it is gathering in small groups to journey and to share our faith with one another. Right? So this will be strongly encouraged, and those of us, I know some of us, you know, we may not have a greater majority at the moment, but perhaps some of us, God is stirring in our hearts uh, you want to grow in God, you know, we don't know how, you know, or there's no avenue for you to grow. So as long as we have uh four people, we will start a group. So it it will be launched next year, but uh it may trickle in slowly, you know. Once we have uh people willing to gather together, we will start. And uh the commitment is is really uh to say that we are committed to grow together, right? So something which I just want to encourage all of us to consider uh because this is one way that God builds up our community life. Intentional growth together. And there's always sacrifice, there's always uh a price to pay, right? But as we go along, I will share more, uh perhaps early next year or towards the end of the year, uh more details about what this uh program entails. So the resource will be uh Discipleship Essentials by Greg Alden. So he's a well-known writer. Uh his resource has been tested uh before it's being used, and it's used widely among churches. Uh it handles the fundamentals of our faith. But sometimes we need to go back to the fundamentals to grow, right? So it brings us back to ground zero, but I think it will help us to grow. And I pray that the Lord will kindle a desire within us to grow, you know, to hunger to grow. Right? So something for us to consider. Let me move on to the second implication, and and this is it. We are called to serve, worship God as priests in the world, reflecting his likeness and holiness. In God's house, we function as a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. The term a holy priesthood is used in the Old Testament to refer to Israel as a nation who would mediate God's presence, that the nations around them would be able to say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. Deuteronomy 4, verse 6. So as priests of God they were to set example of holiness to those around. So that's their function. Their function is to radiate God's likeness to the world. So this is what we think about when we talk about when Jane, sorry, when Peter talks about a holy priesthood, you know, not that all of us will be ordained and wear the collar and and wear the castle and the stove, you know, but more in the idea of mediating God's light, mediating God's presence, uh, praying for the lost, praying for our colleagues at workplace, you know, telling them that there is a God that can help them. So we are priests in that way, and all of us, uh by that definition, are priests in God. Right? You don't have to uh wear the collar or be a full-time staff to be priests, because in the New Testament, all of us mediate God's presence because all of us have the Holy Spirit in us, and all of us are able to pray for someone to mediate God's presence and light. So as a holy priesthood, Israel was to be a holy nation set apart from God. Sorry, I don't know why I'm getting in all these um uh verbal uh gems, but let me repeat it again. As a holy priesthood, Israel was to be a holy nation set apart for God, distinct from other nations, commissioned to display who God is by their lives as a holy people. And the lingering reframe for the identity of Israel can be found especially in the book of Leviticus in the Old Testament. And the reframe and call for her was, you shall be holy to me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and have separated you from the peoples that you should be mine. Leviticus 20, verse 26. So as God's priest today in the church, in the household of God, we are to reflect his holiness, not just in church, but all that we say and we do. In the New Testament, the passage that comes to mind that kind of aptly represents what this spiritual worship or offering sacrifices to him means is actually found in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, where Paul says, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. The words uh spiritual worship uh is translated uh literally as reasonable service. Right? So the word uh worship is actually in the original rendering uh service, service or latrian, latrien. So basically what it means is our worship to God is our service to Him. Right? So a lot of times we associate worship with singing praises, bowing down, lifting up our hands. Of course, I'm not saying that's easier to do, but I'm saying that that's not the total picture of worship. It involves gestures, expressions of worship. But the heart of worship, Paul says, is our service to God, our reasonable service to God. And in the mundane details of our lives and in our offering to God, what we give to God, what we offer to God, it's not just the lips of our mouth that sings praises and songs, but what we offer to God is our service unto Him. So this is what Paul is saying. So, in other words, the word uh worship, you can change it to service. It can be used interchangeably in Romans 12 verse 1. So this is my 17th year in full-time ministry, not long compared to many of the old gods. 17 years is what? Uh still have many more years to go. Probably another 20 years. Yeah, about that, less than 20 years. Right? So, in my service and worship to God over the years, I've met many, and I myself have journeyed through that, and hopefully I've overcome it more. But many who serve God or worship Him willingly, but often we draw limits in terms of our service to God. We say, We will worship, we will serve you God this far, but not more than that. Not if it costs sacrifices to my family, not if it means that I'll compromise my child's education, not if it means that I have to work like a workhorse machine without uh not if I overtire myself. Right? So we we draw these limits or we say we will do this, but we will not do that. However, I like to suggest to us that at the end of the day, all that we do, you know, we may not always agree, you know, to do everything the church says or what the pastor says, but at the end of the day, the bottom line is our service, our worship is always and always unto God. Right? It's not unto the pastor or not unto the staff, but it's always unto God. So a true servant of God serves and worship God on his terms. Right? True worship is serving God on his terms, and it's not based on our comfort level, you know, how much we want to endure or even our ability. This is because the classic example, the unparalleled example, is actually the example of Jesus. So in Philippians chapter 2, verse 5 to 8, uh Paul says this have this mind among you, which is yours, is yours in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grudged, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of man, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. So the verb mind here is actually used in a in a verbal sense and it's in the present tense and it's a command. So Paul is saying, have this mind, this mind among yourselves, which is yours, is yours in Christ Jesus. So what does this mind, what what does Paul mean by this mind in you? Right? So uh this mind speaks of an attitude based on careful thought. It means that we have thought through, uh, we have counted the cost, we have considered with careful thought the example of Jesus. And the example of Jesus tells us that to be God is to be a servant. Let me repeat again: Jesus showed us the example that to be God is to be a servant. Because he himself emptied himself, came down from heaven, and chose to become a servant. And his ultimate uh sacrifice went beyond even the role of a servant in those days because he died as a condemned criminal on the cross for sinful humanity. So Paul says in all your interactions, in all your service and worship to God, consider, think carefully, develop an attitude and mindset, not based on what the church says or what the pastors tell you to do or what we are campaigning about, but the example of Jesus, the mind, this mind which is yours, Paul says, in Christ Jesus. So Jesus' ultimate service and worship to God is to die willingly as a servant on the cross for us. So anything we do in service to God can be thought of as a worship or spiritual worship to Him. A reasonable service acceptable to God, a continual, sweet aroma that ascends to his throne, bringing him great delight. Another way of saying Romans 12 verse 1 is that our whole life is taken up as worship and service to God. Like what uh the general thanksgiving in the morning prayer reminds us, you know, that we give up our lives for God's service. So it captures it well, you know. Teach us to follow you, to commit our lives to you by giving up ourselves for your service. So we grow as living stones being built up as God's house, as we grow in the giving of ourselves to God in worship and service. God desires us to give of ourselves fully, unreservingly to Him in service and worship when wherever He would call us, whomever He would lead us to. At this point, uh I just want to acknowledge many of us who have been serving and worshiping God in one way or another. You know, uh many of you have served tirelessly uh in uh in the church despite holding a full-time job, yet putting in the extra hours over and on top of uh your work to serve and worship God. If you are at this point, I just want to invite you to stand, if you don't mind. If you are usher, if you are serving as an usher, could you just stand? Uh if you are a befriender or if you are part of the accounting team, uh a lay reader, a ministry leader, um, whether you are serving in the connect group, uh, whether you are in the youth ministry, the children's ministry, the refreshments ministry, uh PCC member, uh, I just want to invite you to stand. Would you just join me to just stand? If you are serving the Lord in any capacity, will you just join me to stand? We want to just uh uh thank the Lord for you, for your service. Don't be shy, you know, just stand, stand where you are, you know, your your tireless service and sacrifice to God. Right, and it is such a joy to know that the Lord is greatly pleased in all that we do for Him. Thank you. Please, please sit down. Right. At this time, I also want to I also want to encourage those of us who perhaps you have just joined the church not long ago and um you are not serving, you know, it's time that we worship God by serving Him. I know that challenges are real because work is more demanding, especially for those who are of us who are um still early in our years of work. Umger, and some of us have to juggle with family commitments. But I like to again encourage us to consider serving in church too, right? Um and as a way of building up the community of God together. And this is what we are, the church. You know, uh a pastor can't do everything, right? I can't be everything to everyone, right? Uh, because even the staff team, uh, as much as we try, as much heart we have, we can't do everything. Because that is not the way God designed us to be. God designed the church to function together as each part of us fulfill our role. That is how the body of Christ is built up, especially in the church. Those of us who have gifts or we can contribute, step up to serve. That's why uh Sister Uma, I was so glad, you know, when when uh through uh Sister Sarah, we connected, and just as a church, uh I was having some thoughts of how we can you know energize, uh or rather uh for our uh Evergreen ministry, how we can consider to connect with uh health promotion board to uh to have some exercise, some uh uh Zumba exercise or like exercises uh for um for seniors or those of us who uh need to just keep fit, right? And somehow the connection came and she just came and just volunteered her her service to God. And that that's how it should be as a church, right? You know, we don't always have to keep uh calling for volunteers, but as the Lord leads you, as the Lord uh gives you the burden, please talk to me, speak to me, or to speak to any of the staff because this is how you know the Lord draws us together as a community. It's not always from top down, you know, from uh from me to you, but sometimes it's really from ground up, right? The Lord is giving you a burden, even to start some ministry, you know, let's pray about it, speak to me, let's consider, right? And that's how the Lord desires us to grow and build up the community of Christ. I'd like to end by just reading uh Romans chapter 12, verse 4 to 8, uh, because I think Paul says this very clearly. You know, how do we build up one another? We build up when we exercise our gifts, and that's where we grow. So Paul says in Romans 12, verse 4 to 8, for as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. He's talking about our physical body, our different body parts have different functions. So though we as a body of Christ, we are one body in Christ and individually members of one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given us. In other words, no pastor can do everything because we have different grace gifts, right? And but it is when we come together and contribute our gifts, our talents, our skill, that is where we build each other up. So Paul says, uh, let us use them if prophecy in proportion to our faith, if service in serving, the one who teaches in his teaching, the one who exalts in his exaltation, the one who contributes in generosity, the one who leads with zeal, the one who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness. As we close, let me summarize. My first uh the first implication I shared with us is that all of us are called to be built up in Christ. Right? So this comes from the main verb that uh is being used in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 to 5. We are being built up, that is Peter's point. So we are all called to be built up in Christ, and I want to suggest to us uh to consider as the Lord leads you to be part of an intentional focused discipleship uh that we will be embarking next year. You know, uh be intentional to grow together, journeying in small groups weekly over two years. Secondly, the second implication: we are called to serve and worship God as priests in the world, reflecting his likeness and holiness. So my application is more to the church in this context because uh Peter is thinking about the church as living stones being built up. So we grow as living stones being built up, as God's house, as we grow in the giving of ourselves to God in worship and service. So as we serve the body, we build one another up, right? And um I think this is my fourth time saying this. Um the church stuff and the pastor cannot do everything. We need the body, we need uh the swelling, the ground swell of our involvement in the body of Christ, right? Because this is what the church should be. You know, each part does his work, and as we do so, the body of Christ is being built up. So um consider if the Lord stirs you to serve in a ministry to build God's house together. Let us pray. Father, we want to thank you this morning for your word uh from 1 Peter 2 verse 4 to 5, reminding us that we are being built up in you, in Christ, and and sometimes we need to put aside an intentional effort to do so. Lord, yet we know that you as a loving father will not beat us to shape and force us to want to grow. Lord, the desire to grow must come from us, cannot be forced by the church or by anyone. So, Lord, we pray that may your Holy Spirit stir our hearts to desire to grow in discipleship so that we may consider to join a group next year over a period of two years to just anchor our lives in the basic foundation of our faith so that we in turn can multiply and make disciples as you call us to. Lord, thank you that we are called to worship you by serving you in Romans 12 verse 1. That you desire us to worship you not just with our lips, not just with songs or praises, how beautiful, even though how beautiful we may sound or how pious we may be, lifting up our hands, uh prostrating before you. But we know worship is more than just singing songs, raising up our hands, playing a musical instrument, but worship is service to the body of Christ. And Lord, we know that that calls for sacrifice, that calls for extra time, that calls for giving uh ourselves, stretching ourselves, giving ourselves more uh opportunity to serve you. And Lord, we know there's always a challenge in the context of Singapore where life is so packed with other commitments, with work, with family, and sometimes service to God is at the back burner because we just have no time, we just have no desire to commit ourselves to anything. Yet, Lord, we pray that your spirit will do a deep work within us because we know we grow as a body when we grow in giving of ourselves to you in service and worship. So help us, Lord. May you uh Holy Spirit, may you stir up our hearts more and more to love and good deeds. Lord, because I know that you are not done yet with our church. You are desiring us to grow more fully in you. So, Lord, we pray and ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.