1 Cor 3

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Father, we thank you for this day that you have given us. We thank you for your blessings and your mercy and your goodness to us. And thank you, Father, for allowing us to gather today in the way that we do.

Father, I pray as we go into today's message that your spirit will work within us to reveal your truth and reveal you to us and also correct us in any way that we need correct in individually or collectively, that we can ultimately glorify you. Father. Father, I pray that you will hide us behind your cross, that we will not be distracted by the world among us, but our focus will be on you during this time. In Jesus name we pray. Pray.

Amen.

Well, good evening and welcome back.

Good evening and welcome back to Church of the Bible. It's a blessing to be here tonight with you all. Be able to have church tonight and continue series through first corinthians just a reminder of what we've been through so far. Chapter one, we saw the cross. How the cross was the wisdom of God, right and foolishness to those who do not believe.

We saw that there was some disunity in the church. We also saw that Paul taught us not to boast in ourselves, but to boast in God. Last week in chapter two, Paul demonstrated the folly of human wisdom, and he demonstrated that in the way that he approached the Corinthians. Remember, he approached them, he says, not in wisdom and not in strengthen. He approached them in fear and trembling.

He approached them in weakness, and he approached them with simplicity. So this week we're going to continue here, and this week Paul is going to talk a little more about the immaturity. So if you remember, when we discussed the reasons behind the writing, there were several. Among those reasons was immaturity, particularly with disunity. And we're going to look at that tonight.

We're going to begin here with verses one through five. It says, for my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you are not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready because you are still worldly. For since there is envy and strife among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans?

For whenever someone says, I belong to Paul and another, I belong to Apollos, are you not acting like mere humans?

We are going to stop there at verse four. I apologize. So Paul begins, he says, for my part, so he recognizes the immaturity of the Christians in Corinth. He recognizes that they're not yet there. And he says, for my part, recognizing the role that he had initially played, and that role that he played was not giving them meat.

However, he says that he was, he's unable to give them meet. Remember, in Hebrews six, we talked about this a few, a couple months back. Now, Hebrews six, I corrected a teaching that I had originally taught. But if you go and read, really, starting in Hebrews 510, through Hebrews six, you will see that Paul says he had to give those believers milk, and they were continually on milk. And he says, meat are for the mature, for people who are able to digest it.

We can't just go and begin to dive into deep doctrine, into difficult doctrine and difficult teachings that are hard to understand. If you cannot yet grasp the simple doctrine, if you can't yet grasp repentance of your sins, baptism, that the gospel of Christ is the death, burial, and resurrection, and that through that alone you are saved. You're not yet ready to grasp tougher doctrine and tougher teachings. But it's more than even being able to grasp and understand that there's got to be a maturity about you before you move on to tougher and deeper doctrines. We can fully grasp and understand the simple, basic, foundational doctrines, and yet if we don't live it out, if we're not mature in that we are not ready to receive deeper things.

I believe that the church in Corinth understands the basic doctrine because in chapter one, Paul discusses the fact that the gospel was confirmed among them. So they did. They received it. They grasped it, but they are not living it out. It says they are still worldly.

Here in verse verse three, it says, you are still worldly. Now it talks here about in what way they are worldly. There is envy and strife among them. This envy and strife is stuff that will tear apart a church. It will tear apart the people of God, and it will in Cedar City, there is a guy in a building that I go and meet a Bible study in who is envious of the fact that there are other Bible studies going on.

He wants to be the only one. He wants people to follow him. And there's envy and strife there with him due to the fact that other people have Bible studies to the point that he acts immature. Now, that immaturity there, that envy and strife, not to talk about the guy, but to talk about what it does to the body of Christ is it tears it apart when we ought to be working together, we are instead opposed to each other. And it does a couple things.

One, to the body of Christ. Envy and strife puts us at odds. And if we are at odds, we are not working in unity. But in addition to that, look at what it does, the perspective. It gives that image to the outside world.

If we are fighting amongst each other, what does that tell the world? Well, it tells the world, why would I want to join Christianity if all you can do is fight each other? So envy and strife, it tears the body apart. It portrays a negative image of Christ to the outside world, and it exemplifies immaturity.

We can't be mature and have envy and strife in the body. Paul discusses the origin of this in verse 40. He says, whenever someone says, I belong to Paul and another, I belong to Apollo, are you not acting as mere humans? This actually reflects perfectly the situation in Cedar City that I'm dealing with currently. Some people say, I belong to Matt, and some people say, I belong to this other guy.

Some people say, well, I belong here. No one belongs to me. No one belongs to the other guy, and no one belongs to Pastor Joe down the street. We all belong to Christ. And this attachment to, well, I belong to this guy.

We misplace our identity. Our identity, first and foremost, should be in Christ, but we also elevate our leaders to a place that they should not be. Paul will talk about that in a minute. But we elevate our leaders to somewhere they should note, be leaders should not be elevated. We, we should not be put on a pedestal.

We should not be lifted up in any way. We are no different than you are. But in addition, not only do we misplace our identity away from Christ, but because we replace our identity, we work at odds against Christ. We have to realize whether it's our church here, or the church down the street, or a church in another city. It is all God's church.

It may have different human leaders and some of the different denominations have slightly different teachings on secondary doctrines. Doctrines not primary, but it's God's church. And I made a distinction here of primary and secondary doctrine. Let me fill you in. Primary doctrine as that which establishes a church as a christian church that belongs to God.

Primary doctrine is that which is necessary for salvation and is not contrary to foundational principles in the Bible. Churches that do not adhere to primary doctrine are not churches of God. Secondary doctrines are additional things that I believe there is a right and a wrong, but they're secondary. They're not necessary for salvation. For example, Genesis chapter six, when it talks about the sons of God and daughters of men, that's a secondary doctrine pertaining to who are the sons of God.

Additional secondary doctrines can be Hebrews six, which we talked about. That's a secondary doctrine. Those do not pertain to salvation. I believe there's a right and a wrong with them, but they're not necessary to salvation. So we need to understand here that whether we are a church of the Bible or we are a first baptist church or a first Pentecostal, I don't know how they name their churches.

So first pentecostal church. We are all the church of God. And when we misplace our identity, we begin to fight against goddess. We act as mere humans. Look at Paul.

Expand on this.

Let's look at verses five through nine. He says, what then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed. And each has the role the Lord has given.

I planted, apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but only God who gives the growth. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one. And each will receive his own reward according to his own neighbor. For we are God's coworkers, you are God's filled God's building.

Okay, so Paul here expands on what I was just teaching and saying. What is Apollos? What is Pauldin? Humans elevate their leaders. We put them on a pedestal.

And the same is true in God's church. We often see that the congregations will elevate their leaders. They'll lift them up, but we should not be lifted up. And Paul says that here he says, what is Apollos? What is Paul?

What is Matt? Who am I? What am I? I'm nothing to be lifted up, but I am a servant, right? Apollo?

St. Paul were servants and servants of who? Servants of God. And now through servants, through the preaching and the ministry and the evangelism, people believe the gospel, but we are but servants. And if we are servants of the Lord, then it is the Lord who should be lifted up.

We'll make this point clear here in a moment. Says that each has the role the Lord has given. So I can work alongside the pastor down the street and the pastor in Cedar City and the pastor in St. George or other other places, because we have each being given a role, right? And the same is not true just for pastors, but for each of us.

All of us have been given roles in the kingdom of God. Some of us are pastors. Some of us are teachers. Some of us are evangelists. Some of us are musicians.

Some of us, we all have a role, and those roles work together. Look how Paul says it. Paul says, I planted and apollos watered. So we have this image of a field, and in this field I may go and I may pluck the seeds in the soil down the rows, row by row, until the whole field is planted. But Apollos came behind me and he watered each seed.

Neither I nor apollos, however, are the cause of the growth. Neither I or Apollos are responsible for the result. It says, God gave the growth. So no matter how much I plant and apollos waters, neither one of us caused the growth of the plants or the growth of the faith in the believer, but God alone. And we need to remember this not only as we work with each other, as we work with each other.

We should remember it is God who is causing the result. We are merely his hands and his feet, his eyes and his mouth on this earth doing what he has asked us to do. But it's his power that causes it. But we must remember that in the context of our obedience to God as well as we share the word and people do not, people will reject us. We will be rejected a hundred times more than we will be received.

We will be rejected day and night, doors slammed in our face. People will scoff at us and mock us. People will scream at us and yell at us and, and do all sorts of things. But we must remember that is not our fault. That is not because we're not doing things right.

It's not because we're not given the right gospel. It's not because we are doing anything wrong. But because God causes growth, so whether or not the seed that we plant and the next person waters grows and becomes fruitful and multiplies or dies, that is God's purview. Our purview is to plant, to water, to tend, to do the role that God has given us and allow him to do the rest.

Verse seven says, so then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, right? So whether it be I or Apollos or Shane or Michael down in St. George, we are nothing. We are servants of the Lord. But it is God again who gives the growth.

Number seven, it says, now, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his reward according to his own labor. So it says they're one. What does that mean, that we're one. Obviously, I and Shane are different people, but we're one in purpose, right? The farmer who plants the seed and the farmer who waters the seed are one in purpose.

They have the same goal. And that goal is that those seeds will flourish, that they will grow, that they will produce fruit, that they will give them a crop. Same thing in Christianity. The one who plants the gospel seeds and the one who comes behind to backfill they are one. They have the same purpose.

And that purpose is that the gospel of God would be rooted in those people. So if we are one, if we have the same purpose, why do we fight each other? We shouldn't. We have the same goal. And because we have the same goal and are united in that purpose, we can and should work together.

It says, we are God's co workers. Your God's fill God's building. So the laborers of God, the servants of God, Paul describes as God's coworkers. We're going out there doing the work, and the people receiving the gospel or hearing it, having it planted in their hearts, are the fields. Now Paul changes imagery here.

He says, God's building. So we're going from a field to building. Let's see that building. In verses ten through 15, he says, according to God's grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it.

For no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down. The foundation is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on the foundation of gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, each one's work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire. That fire will test the quality of each one's work. If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

If anyone's work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. Okay, so the imagery changes here. But Paul begins, he says, by the grace of God given to me. So Paul recognizes and teaches a very important fact. Our ability to do anything, whether it's lay foundation or build upon it, plant, water, anything, is according to the grace of God, given to us.

Now, Hebrews eleven says, without faith, it is impossible to please God. So the grace of God that enables us to do any of this is through faith in God. So Paul says, through that grace, he has laid a foundation as a skilled master builder. And another builds upon. Think back to building.

He's using these analogies intentionally.

One person, one contractor, a subcontractor, will build, will lay a foundation, dig out the footings, pour the cement. Another will come and frame it out. And after it's framed out, another will come and do the electric, and another will come and do the plumbing, and another will come and do the gas. And yet someone else will come and drywall and tape and mud, and someone else will come and put, lay down tile and floors, and somebody else is going to come and paint. Someone else will come put in the countertops and cabinets and fixtures.

Someone else will come and put in the light. You have a roofer who will come in and will put in, put on the shingles, on the roof. You have a sider who will come in inside. A landscaper will come and landscape your yard for you. Every person does something different.

Now, Paul describes here, he says that he has laid the foundation. Now, there are some places that the foundation itself still needs to be laid. Paul laid the foundation throughout Asia, throughout, even in Israel and a lot of those cities. He's gone and laid the foundation. And what is the foundation?

The foundation upon which our faith and our salvation and our hope rest upon us? Jesus Christ. And that is Christ crucified, that he died for us, and that he rose again the third day. That is the foundation upon Christian, upon which Christianity is built. Now, all other doctrines, all other teachings, all this meat, Paul talked about milk and meat, all of this is built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.

And he says another builds on it. So all that Paul did, and you can see this in what he did, he went and he preached, established a church, left, came back, appointed elders and left. Paul went and laid the foundation. He preached Christ crucified. And then he raised up leaders who actually built upon the foundation, these letters that we read, these epistles of Christ that we read, it's Christ helping to correct these churches, helping to.

In some places, like Timothy and Titus and Philemon, he's instructing his leaders on how to build on the foundation. But Paul laid the foundation and others are building upon it. But he says that no one can lay any foundation other than that which has been laid, the foundation of Jesus Christ. So there is no other foundation. A foundation that bases salvation upon works, upon duty, upon religion, upon any other means than Jesus Christ is a false foundation.

No one can lay a foundation other than Jesus Christ. You'll remember Jesus said in the garden when he was praying, he said, Father, if there be any other way, let this cup pass from me right now. What we see is that cup did not pass. Jesus still went through with it, so there was no other way. The Bible proclaims, he says that there is no other name in heaven or on earth by what man may be saved by only Jesus Christ.

Now all christians can build upon the foundation. In fact, every Christian does build upon it. We all produce fruits. Now we can produce good fruits, we can produce bad fruits. We can choose.

Remember, Paul talked in Hebrews. He talked about their laziness here in first corinthians. He's talking about their immaturity. Those are not good fruits. So we all build fruit.

We all build upon the foundation. And we can build upon the foundation with gold, with silver, with costly stones, or with wood, hay or straw. All of these things he lists were common building materials back in the day.

He says that each one's work will become obvious. Let's go back to the analogy of the builder, right? We have the foundation layer, the framer, the roofer, the drywaller, the plumber, the electrician. All these things and the quality of their work becomes known, sometimes immediately and sometimes down the road as things begin to fill, or when that building still stands 300 years later. Or we have buildings today from ancient world standing 3000 years later, so the quality of their work will become known, right?

A builder who builds a straw and hay, their buildings don't last. A builder who builds with costly stones, gold, silver, their buildings tend to tend to last. And this is what he's equating it to, that. Gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hey, straw, that is the quality of our fruit. We're not literally building a building, but it's the quality of our fruit.

Are we walking in the spirit of God? And if we are walking firmly in the spirit of goddess, our fruits will show that in the quality of the fruit, in the quality of what we do and produce, and our works will become obvious. It says, the day we'll disclose it, right? That day is. Is the day of the Lord, that judgment day, the day we'll disclose it when we stand before God on that final day and he tests our works, the refiners, fire.

It says, it will be revealed by fire, and that fire will test the quality of each one's work. So, in that same analogy, we have all these buildings. If we lit them on fire, those who build with costly stones, silver, gold, will survive that fire. Those who build with wood, hay, straw, that fire will burn away those buildings. Same with our works.

The quality of our works will be tested on that day. And if our works are works of immaturity, works of the flesh, works of humanity, they will burn away and nothing will survive. But if our works are works of the spirit, fruits of the spirit, they will survive. And it says, if anyone's work survives, he will receive a reward. Now, we need to specify here this reward is not salvation.

Because look at the next verse. If anyone's work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved. So we are not talking about salvation with this reward. In fact, we don't know what this reward will be. It does not go into detail on how God will reward us.

But we're not talking about salvation. There is salvation apart from works. It's possible to be saved and to produce no fruit.

And I don't say that, as we read this, to tell you that it's okay to profess Jesus and then live the rest of your life how you want. I say it in the sense that it's actually a very scary thought. To think that I will, that you can stand before God, saved, to enter his kingdom and have zero fruit to show for it. That's a scary thought, but it's possible. And as scary as it is, it's reassuring as well.

It was reassuring to Paul. If you look at what Paul said in chapter one, despite every problem he had with him, he says, I thank God for you because you've received the gospel, not because of their love or because of their faith or because of their fruit or because of anything other than that they received the gospel, they will be saved. But the image this gives. Here's why this is scary, right? As comforting as it is, look what it says.

It doesn't just say that the work will be burned up and they will be saved, but only as through fire, right? This image. Think of your house on fire. And you're in that house, and that house is burning, and you get pulled out at the last second with third degree burns across your body by a fireman and taken to the hospital. You survived that fire, but it was by the skin of your teeth, right?

You barely survived. You're burned up, you're badly wounded. You survived. And that is the image this gives. If your work spurn up, you will be survived, but it will be by a single thread in which you survive.

In all of this, I wanted to point out, and I forgot, as Paul talks about, he says, I cannot speak to you as spiritual people. I cannot give you meat. I can only give you milk to drink because you are not yet ready. I want you to contrast that as we get to the end of this. So hold that thought.

But I want you to think of that as we get to the end. Verse 16 says, don't you yourselves know that you are God's temple and that the spirit of God lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him, for God's temple is holy, and that is what you are. So a couple of things. First, remember who he's writing to.

He is writing to the church of Corinth, the church with immaturity, the church with sexual immorality, the church with so many problems that it seems that Paul doesn't know where to begin. He jumps all over the place in dealing with these problems, and yet he tells him this. You are God's temple. You are his holy people.

So now, when he says, do yourselves know that you are God's temple and the spirit of God lives in you, we need to contextualize this to what it is. A lot of people say, do you not know that your body is a temple of God? That has taken this out of context, but let's back up. Is my body a temple of God? Yes.

The spirit of God literally indwells me. We are told that when we are saved, God's spirit comes to us and makes his home in us. So, yes, we are literally a temple, a dwelling place of goddess. But that is to take this out of context. If you look at everything that Paul has discussed in this chapter up until this verse, he is talking about the church of God.

So when he says that you yourselves are God's temple and the spirit of God lives inside of you, he is not talking about individual bodies here. He is talking collectively the church. Jesus, in his life and ministry discussed his body as his temple. And then Paul, through all of his letters, discusses that the church of God is the body of Christ. He even compares some of us to the head, some to hands, some to feet, some to eyes.

Right. He describes that the church of God is the body of Christ.

So in this verse, we cannot fall into that trap of taking it out of context and saying that I'm the temple of God. Yes, it is true. I am a dwelling place of God. He dwells in me. But the context, this whole chapter has been about the church of God.

Collectively and collectively, the church of God is his tabernacle, and the spirit of God lives within it. Now, it says, if anyone destroys God's temple, this is why it's critical to understand him. It says, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that is what you are. There are people who will take verse 16 and 17 here and use it to say, you can't do tattoos or you can't smoke, or you can't drink, or you can't do this, or you can't do this.

That. Is it true you shouldn't smoke? Yeah, it's probably true. Is it true you shouldn't get tattoos?

That's between you and God. Is it true that you shouldn't drink? Maybe the Bible doesn't prohibit drinking, but it does tell us not to be a drunkard. But in any case, taking these two verses and applying it to the self, applying it to sin, well, you can't do this. You can't do that because you're a temple of God is misapplying it.

Again, look at the entirety of the chapter, the context in which it sits in. Paul is talking about envy, strife, fighting, bickering within the church of God. And now he tells us the church of God is his temple. And if anyone destroys God's temple, if anyone divides the church, if anyone causes people to leave the church, if anyone does something to harm the church of God, God will destroy him. If we contextualize this, the meaning is actually much, much bigger than referring to ourselves.

This is referring to problems in the church. And Paul is warning us that the church of God is holy.

And he tells Corinth, right, because he's not talking to individuals when he says, that is what you are, he is talking to a body of believers, he says, that is what you are. You are God's temple. The church of Milford is God's temple. The church and seals is God's temple. There's an element to which we can apply it to ourselves because he does indwell us.

But contextually, that is dishonest. Let's end here with the last few verses. We went over these verses last week, but I want to bring them up one more time in light of the beginning of the chapter that no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks he is wise in this age, let him become a fool so that he can become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.

Since it is written, he captures the wise in their craftiness. And again, the Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile. So let no one boast in human leaders, for everything is yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come. Everything is yours, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. So again he says, let no one deceive himself.

But if there's anyone among us who thinks he is wise in this age, if you think your scientific wisdom or youre, your philosophical wisdom or any wisdom that is worldly makes you wise, you are deceived. It says, rather, you should become a fool so that you can become wise. He says that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. So let's see what Paul is actually doing. Paul uses something called parallel.

If we go back to chapter one, Paul will say, the wisdom of the cross is foolishness to man. Right now he turns that over and parallels it. He says, the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. So while the cross is foolishness to men who are perishing, the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God. So to truly become wise, we must become a fool.

What does that mean? Well, that doesn't mean to actually be a fool, but it means to become a fool to the world, right? If you preach Christ crucified, if you preach resurrection, if you preach eternal life, this world will mock at you and laugh at you and scoff at you and say to you that you are a fool. But becoming a fool to the world means we can really become wise. Now look at this.

In relation to the beginning of this, Paul says, I cannot speak to you as spiritual people, but as people of flesh. He says, I gave you milk to drink, not solid food. This is really interesting, because if we look all the way back to chapter one, look what Paul says to them.

He says, I thank my God for you because the grace of God given to you in Christ Jesus, that you were enriched in him in every way, in all speech and all knowledge. So in chapter one, Paul tells them that they were given all speech and all knowledge that would make you think that they were wise. Now in chapter three, he says, I gave you milk, not solid food. Is this a contradiction? Not by any means.

Knowledge and wisdom are different things. Right? Knowledge is information. Wisdom is application of knowledge. I can understand the Bible, but if I do not apply in my life, I am unwise.

Jesus says that the foolish man is he who hears the words and does not do them, but the wise man is he who hears the words and acts upon them, applies them to his life. So I can have knowledge and understand the words of God and be a fool. Unwise in not applying them. Or I can have knowledge and understand it and have wisdom shown through acting upon it. So they have all knowledge, but they are wise with human wisdom.

That is the problem that the corinthians have. They were enriched. God gave them knowledge, but they do not know how to use it. They are unwise. They are fools to God.

I say that to tell us. Paul says, do not be deceived. Right. Don't. He says specifically, don't deceive yourself.

We must be fools according to the world. If we are to be wise, we can have knowledge. We can have understanding of the scripture. We can read it and say, this is what it means. But if we are unable to apply it to our lives, then we are fools and we are unwise, so that no one deceive himself.

If any among us thinks he is wise in this age, become a fool that you may become wise. It says that God catches the wise in the craftiness. That is a reference to the book of Job. And then in the psalms. The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise are futile.

The wise of this world and we reason it's futile.

As we come to an end tonight, I want to.

I want to call on christians to not be immature. Right? And that's not me saying that any one of you in particular are immature. That is me saying, I'm calling upon you, upon us collectively, to not be immature, to watch our maturity. I'm calling on christians to not engage in envy and strife, in disunity, but to be one in purpose, to be one that this world sees the light of God and knows who God is.

And to those here tonight who don't know God, who think they're wise in their own selves, I call upon you tonight. Are you willing to have true wisdom? Are you willing to have. We talked about the foundation tonight, that is Jesus Christ. That is the only foundation upon which you will have any hope, the only foundation upon which you will actually have life.

And if you are willing to have that wisdom today. It begins with admitting that we are sinners. That we are not like Jesus Christ, right. That we're the opposite of him and the opposite of God. That we are bad and believing that Jesus Christ is the God man who created the heavens and the earth and came into it to live for us.

That he died upon the cross to right our wrongs and rose from the grave to secure that victory and confessing him as your Lord and savior. And if you are able to do that, you can have this precious gift today. It is a gift. In our closing prayer, I will help you verbalize that in the first half to God. If you want to follow me and verbalize that admittance of your sin.

That belief that Jesus is a God man who died and rose again for us. And that confession, you can repeat it with me. And let us know so that we can celebrate. There will be no communion after service today. And then next week, everything will return to normal.

We'll have Bible study Wednesday at 630. We'll continue in two. Thessalonians will be in chapter two. Friday, we will have church back in Cedar City again. That is at 01:30 p.m.

in Cedar City. And then Sunday morning, we will have church back here in Milford again. So everything will return to normal. Let's pray. Father, I admit that I'm a sinner and that I cannot save myself.

I admit that my ways are wrong, and that your ways are right. And I believe, Jesus Christ, that you are the creator God. That you made all of this, and you came into the heavens and the earth. I believe that you lived sinlessly, perfectly. And that you died for me as a replacement.

And I believe that you rose again the third day. And I confess to you, you, Lord Jesus, as my king, my God and my savior. I will remove my crown and follow you. And I ask you for this free and precious gift. Father, I pray as we leave tonight, that you will work in us, Father, to be united in you.

To be united in our purpose. To no longer have strife and envy and bickering and fighting among us, but to stand as your church, holy and undefiled. I pray, Lord, that you will be glorified in our works. And that your spirit will work in us. That our fruits will be fruits of gold and silver and precious stone, and not of wood and straw and hay.

And I pray, Lord, that you will be with us always until you come and get us. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.