Born Again and Purified to Love - May 31st, 2026

Well, if you guys can um get back on your feet, we're gonna start with the reading of the word of God and our passage for today. It's 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 22 to 23. And it reads, Since you have an obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, that is through the living and enduring word of God. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, I pray that your sheep this morning would come with expectant hearts and especially longing to hear the shepherd's voice. Father, we're gathered here this morning to give you praise. And Lord, we need regular reminders of who we are, and regular reminders of who we are no longer.

And so I pray that as you minister to us, Lord, that you would carve up our hearts in the best of ways, so that we would leave here just a little bit more Christ-like in our thoughts and in our attitudes, and that Lord, our witness would be that much brighter in the coming weeks. So we pray for your protection over this time. Would you help us to understand well your heart and your truth for your glory and for your name's sake? We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And go ahead and take a seat. So when you ask most people what the epistle to 1 Peter is about, the first thing that they will likely mention, if they've read their Bibles, is the theme of persecution or suffering, or how believers ought to be living as a holy people.

And those answers are not incorrect. One of the main exhortations in 1 Peter is perseverance in the midst of trials. However, a more subtle but still supremely important theme that comes up in 1 Peter is of the Christian's fiercely devoted love for other Christians. So Christians are to fiercely and unconditionally love other Christians. The Apostle Peter refers to this as a gap pain ektene. Repeat after me, agape ekten. And that's literally a love that is unceasing and fierce. It's a fervent love. It's an unconditional agape love. And so Peter writes about this fervent love, agape ectene, here in this passage, and you'll say it again in chapter 4, verse 8. So this is a fervent love that needs to be present in every Christian's life and perseverant all the way until the end.

So it's a long-term enduring love. Okay, and so the fervent love, Peter will actually say is evidence of a genuine salvation. And in this uh passage, fervent love comes in the form of a command, verse 22. So this theme of fervent love is of critical importance for us this morning. And this is a passage that we're gonna regularly need to think about. So I'm gonna do what I can to help us remember this for the week ahead, okay? And I find that this first Peter passage is most relatable and understandable if we process it and interpret it through the lens of a marriage. So I'm gonna illustrate.

Socially and relationally, a lot changed on that day as well. I went from being a daughter's fiance to formally a son-in-law. To Becky's siblings, I officially became a brother-in-law. And even to Becky, I went from being a fiance who she had to say goodbye to every day, to a husband who would share the same address going forward. And in addition to that, though it may not have been immediately perceivable, spiritually, everything changed as well. When I made my vows at the altar before God, that's when Becky and I became one. Our souls were knit together in holy matrimony and they were blessed by God. And so, though not immediately perceivable, on March 31st, 2007, much changed all in a single day.

And most of those changes were in documentation, in legal standing, and in status. Well, today is the 31st of the month, so you can wish us a happy anniversary as Becky and I are celebrating our 230th month anniversary today. She probably doesn't remember. Okay, it's okay. We've been married now for 19 years and two months to the day. So Becky, happy 230 month anniversary to us. And I assure you that in those 230 months, I have become a different person. In March 2007, many situational things have changed, but in the 19 years and two months that have since elapsed, I have changed. I am now a very different person from who I was before. So the way I think has changed.

Even some of my hobbies and passions have changed. And marriage will do that to a person. I have friends in their late 40s and in their early 50s who have never married. And it shows.

So inevitably there are gonna be many sins committed. And because of those many sins and many occasions for forgiveness will also appear, as in 1 Peter 4 8. Now, if a husband and a wife are going through a rough season and they're not getting along, are they less merry than they were before? Of course not. No matter how selfish or annoying or even however grievous a sin, the married man and his wife are still one. And they have they are just as married as they had been when they were standing at the altar. Now, the wedding day changes much in regard to a person's status and standing. The marriage changes the person. And then every married person is given both a charge and a commitment to maintain that oneness in every circumstance and through every season of the marriage.

So why do I introduce our passage in this way? It's helpful to understand 1 Peter 1, 22 to 23 in terms of the change, the changes, and then the charge that comes with every marriage. You and I are members of the church that's the body and the bride of Christ. We've been betrothed to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11 to 2, 11 2. That union changes everything. And that changed person has been given a charge to live in such a way that glorifies and honors Christ, our Lord and bridegrooms. I want to read our passage again for us. Since you have in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, that is through the living and enduring word of God.

So this is a sermon outline for the morning, for it's so it's easy for you to track Apostle Peter's flow of thought in the passage. First, we're going to be looking at what Peter says about the change in the Christian. Think of it as the wedding for a couple. Second, we're going to be looking at the changes themselves, and think of that as like the change in the growth that takes place in people in every marriage. Things that happen to every Christian after they've been united to Christ. Thirdly, in our passage, we're going to find a single command, and that's the charge. So it's helpful to think of that as the vow that you're making that one makes at the altar. So the change, the changes, and the charge.

The change, the changes, and the charge. So in verse 22 and 23, the apostle Peter mentions the change that is taking place in every Christian. Peter describes one event in two different ways. So every believer has been purified in their souls. Every believer has been born again. And it's one and the same thing. So the believers have had their souls purified, believers have been born again. And so the Peter is obviously referring to the Christian salvation here, and that salvation is a one-time thing. Right?

The change has already been done. It's already been taken place. And we know this from the language because Peter's using the perfect tense. And what the perfect tense is it's something that's used to indicate a state that something's already in. It's a present state that results from a past completed action. So it's a present state resulting from something that has been done in the past. So if you've been, if you've put your faith in Christ, your soul is perfectly pure.

And that's a profound thought.

So do you understand that that's a very profound thought? But that's what it says in the scripture. You are 100% pure. And this is how the apostle Paul describes the Christian's purification. He describes it as a completed action. 1 Corinthians 6 11. You were washed, completed. You were sanctified, completed. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. So these are all things that are completed actions. You and I cannot get to the next level of justification. You cannot purify yourself anymore. You guys tracking this? 1 John 1 7, the purification has completed. Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin. And these things were perfectly done. 100% completed.

I am no more married to Becky than I was in 2007. So in the same way the Christian does not become more pure or more born again with time. Salvation is a one-time thing. So the blood of Christ permanently sealed the deal for us. He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf, so that we might become the pure righteousness of God in God through Christ in him. 2 Corinthians 5.21. Our souls are perfectly pure, and because we are so perfectly pure, we can draw near to a perfectly holy God. And whatever service we offer to the Lord, he smiles now at your service. Amen. That's a profound thought. Because I feel dirty. But in the sight of God, through the blood of Christ, I am perfectly pure. And because I am perfectly pure, my conscience, my standing are all perfectly pure before God.

So whatever service I offer to God is pure. So Hebrews 9 14, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works unto serving the living God. So God has purified us.

Hallelujah. Okay. You can't change this. I mean, not that you would want to, right? In other words, God has caused, the God has caused the Christian also to be born again. Nod your heads if you've heard these words before. Okay, we've we hear it often, but we're not quite sure what it always means, right? Jesus told Nicodemus in John chapter 3 that a man had to be born again in order to inherit the kingdom of heaven. What he means is the person has to be made completely new. He literally has to have been recreated and reborn as something completely different. So when a person is born again, he has been irreversibly changed, and God has done it. God has caused a Christian to be born again. Verse 23 is not the first time in 1 Peter that this is mentioned.

Peter already mentioned the Christians being born again in chapter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So God has done this. God has caused this, and our God is faithful to finish what he started. He began it, he will perfect it. Philippians 1 6. Praise God that we can't undo it. Right? The believer has been permanently changed. So his standing is perfectly pure.

And we are new. And this is very important for you and me to remember, especially in the seasons when we may feel distant from God. Because when we feel distant from God, we often think, am I even changed at all? Am I born again? Do I even know God? Whenever our hearts condemn us, look back to when you came to faith. Was that real? Was that sincere? If it was, it cannot be undone. Once you have been saved, you are forever saved. Amen. Now, how does one become saved? And here's a little bit of the tricky caveat. You and I cannot will ourselves to believe. You didn't choose God. You know this, right? You and I can't will or manipulate anybody else into belief. It is not up to you to save another person and to convert them because you cannot.

Nod your heads if you understand, I can't save anybody. The truth of God's word has to do it. The gospel of Christ alone has the ability to do it. So purification and rebirth are done to us through the acceptance of doctrinal truth. The fact that you believe is not because you're smart. The fact that you believe is because you've been graced upon. So you can't boast.

And that's what the apostle Peter writes. The believer has been purified by what? Obedience to the truth. The believer has been born again through what? The word of God, the living and enduring word of God. Now, the words obedience to the truth sounds like I have to do something to earn my salvation, but this is not in reference to a workspace salvation, because our default setting is disobedience. 100% of us. Hitler is not any more disobedient than you are in your heart. Is that clear? We are all disobedient. So God has to display his kindness on a person for that person to move from disobedience to repentance, Romans 2.4. It's his kindness that brings you to that place. And it's God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose, Philippians 2.13.

And this is so important to remember that no one believer has ever become a believer because he has chosen it, because he has willed himself to be it. No believer.

No one seeks God on his own. Romans 3 11. There is none who seeks God. The elect sheep simply hear the shepherd's voice. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. And they appropriately just respond to the truth that he has been created by God and for God to love God and to serve God, and now I can through the gospel. Wow, I've been reconciled to God through Christ by faith alone, by grace alone, I receive it. So the Christian believes simply because God has chosen him to believe.

So you and I cannot help but obey.

Believers have been specifically chosen by the Trinitarian God to obed you so that you might obey. You don't obey in order to be saved. He saved you so that you might obey.

If he didn't save you, he left you alone in your sins. Wrath and the vengeance of God is reserved for those who do not obey the gospel of God, right? 2 Thessalonians 1 8. We just finished 2 Thessalonians. We learned that there. But for the elect, God has changed their hearts so that they delight to obey. So a person becomes a believer only through a response. He can't will himself to salvation. Faith is always a response to proclaim truth. So a believer cannot become a believer without first hearing the proclamation of the word of God. The word alone can save. That's why a church that moves away from the proclamation of the word of God, Matthew, Genesis to Revelation, you're in danger because you're not offering people genuine salvation.

You're offering self-help. Hebrews 4 2. The word of God is living and active. Peter uses those words, right? Living and enduring. Sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing as far as dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Peter described it as living and enduring. The author of Hebrews describes it here as living and active. So active does not mean like it's just a passive thing. It means it is so active, dynamic, it evokes change. The word of God goes forth and it just starts carving up. It not only judges the heart, it converts and transforms the heart. So nothing else can purify a human heart. Nothing else can cause someone to be born again.

Emotional manipulation, emotional manipulation does not change the heart or cause someone to be born again. Is that does that make that make sense? You dim the lights, you turn on soft music, you sing the same words again and again and again. That is not salvation. That's just emotionality. You can't manipulate a mood for someone to come to faith. It can make a person conform to an expectation for a season, but pressure, guilt, and shame cannot cause rebirth. So that's why my job is not to guilt trip you to become a better Christian. Emotional or innovative programs, creative strategies, a nice facility, inspiring music can draw a crowd. But only the word of God can save. So that's why a church's primary job is not to make people feel welcome or included.

A church's primary job is to correctly and faithfully deliver the word. Cover to cover. Faith alone leads to salvation, and that faith comes from Romans 10, 17. What? Hearing the word of Christ. May we never produce a people who get excited about church but who have no affection for the word of God or for Jesus. Amen. Being part of a church community can excite you, it could never save you. And it's very important to distinguish. Let me repeat that. Being part of a church community that is healthy can excite you. It will not save you. So the change, permanent, completed, once for all change takes place when a person makes a commitment to Jesus. In response to the preaching of the gospel through the word of God.

Okay? One-time deal. You are just as saved as you were 30 years ago, if that's when you came to faith. Just like I'm just as married as on March 31st, 2007. Second, changes take place. So the believer has been saved, but the believer is being saved continually. Salvation is a one-time deal, but then salvation also continues to make a person more and more like Christ until he calls him home to glory. What do we call that? Sanctification. So those who have been saved will continue to be saved. So for the believers, the apostle Peter makes mention of one primary change that has taken place in the believer. He highlights this with the word ace, which means unto. The LSB is translated it as for in verse 22.

The believer has been purified and saved unto love of the brothers without hypocrisy. So you've been saved from wrath and saved towards loving the brothers without hypocrisy. The word ace is important because it communicates to us that this fervent love is not a goal, it's a result. The primary byproduct of salvation is love. Philadelphia without hypocrisy. The Greek word hypocrites literally means wearing a mask. You guys have heard this before, right? Stuff on the outside is not consistent with the stuff on the inside, and that's hypocrisy. A deception is taking place on the outside with hypocrisy because hypocrisy is a show. It's a mask. So hypocritical love is a fake love. It's a deception.

And sadly, our generation is surrounded by this. Fake love, right? But the believer's love is not a show. It's not a pretense only. Love without hypocrisy is an authentic, sincere affection without any ulterior motives, without any hidden agenda. And again, this brotherly, unhypocritical love is a result. It is not a goal. Of course, every believer needs to grow and mature in love for others, but this is the fruit of salvation. Love is evidence of salvation. This is one major change that takes place in every person who has been purified in his soul and has been born again to a living hope. Love. Love is the fruit of the spirit. You guys have heard this before. Galatians 5 22. It's the primary fruit.

It is the first fruit mentioned. And a tree will be known by what? His fruit. God is love. We love because what? He first loved us. We are connected to the tree. He is love. So we're going to produce love. Right. If you are a Christian, you will be an unhypocritical loving person. Hallelujah. I'm so thankful that I'm growing. You will be an unhypocritical loving person who is always looking to serve people, not to be served by people. The apostle John cuts to the chase and he paints it in very black and white terms so there is no confusion. First John 4 20. Okay, pay attention. If someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he's a liar.

If we did Bible study on this, we don't need to spend a lot of time. It's like okay, right? For the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God, whom he has not seen. A believer, a new creation, a person who has been born again, who has had his heart of stone replaced with a tender heart of flesh, will love.

Repeat after me, love for God always produces love for people.

The Bible teaches that a Christian cannot live in unforgiveness. Did you guys know this? A Christian cannot harbor a long-term grudge. A Christian cannot be okay in a perpetual state of broken relationship. You can't harden your heart to that. Because your heart's rewired. Every Christian has been hardwired to love others, especially to love other Christians. So when there's a irreconcilable relationships between people in a church, I've discovered over the years. I mean, that that happens, but it's likely due to someone in that relationship not actually being a genuine Christian. I am absolutely convinced of this. The scriptures are not unclear on this.

It is a biblical and a theological impossibility for someone who has the Spirit of God indwelling within him to be okay with hating on someone. Right? The Christian never justifies bitterness.

He can't stay bitter and not be bothered by it. The Christian has been hardwired always to seek reconciliation. I'm very far from where I would like to be in regard to my spiritual maturity. But I've been a Christian since 94. So what is that? 32 years. And what I've seen over those 32 years, I'm actually kind of amazed by this. It's my inability to harbor resentment or a grudge for a long time. I can't. I mean, I haven't tried, but I can't. Now, of course, I can be irritated or not like someone. Of course, I can be upset with the person. But I've discovered that because of Christ living within me, I have a really hard time staying upset. My heart cannot love.

I can't help it. I have never made an effort to be this way. I have never made an effort not to be like mean. God has done this. He has supernaturally changed me, and the love of Christ now compels me to love my brother. The love of Christ also now empowers me to love even my enemies. And I'm so encouraged by that.

And this is how Jesus says that not only will the world know, but that we ourselves would know that whether or not we are truly his disciples if we love one another. John 13, 35. The passage in 1 Peter that we looked at today begins with the word sense. Since is an important word in English, right?

It is a result of having our souls purified. Since you have in obedience to the truth, purify your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart. So love is evidence. Love is evidence.

And I want you to think through this with me. You're gonna not be perfect, but are you a loving person? Are you a love-filled person? Of course, you're not a perfect person. You're still growing, but if you look back at however long you've been a Christian, are you more loving now than you were a year ago? Five years ago, 20 years ago. Is resentment disappearing? Is the pride weakening? Is the bitterness waning? Is the unforgiveness disappearing? Are you quicker to forgive now that you've been walking with the Lord who's forgiven you? Are you quicker to give people the benefit of the doubt? Are you quicker to turn the other cheek? To offer both the tunic and the garment, to go literally the extra mile.

Have you become adept at not only tolerating your enemy, but even reaching out with love towards your enemies? All of this is the lawn, the drawn out and lengthy specific details of the Sermon on the Mount, right? It is absolutely a necessary thing for us to ask these questions from time to time. Both asking and answering these questions is not legalism. It's healthy. And this is what Paul encourages the Corinthian church to do. Test yourselves. To see whether you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. And you're the answer should come quick. Do you not recognize about yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you fail the test. But I hope that you will realize that you do not fail the test.

That we ourselves don't fail the test. When we test ourselves, may we always be found to have passed. Because the evidence will come quickly. How do we test ourselves? Here are the questions for self-examination. Okay, we can infer them from 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter. Love is patient. Love is kind. It is not jealous, it does not brag, it is not puffed up, it does not act unbecomingly, does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered. It does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but with your seas with the truth, it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and love never fails. That's the test of whether or not you are Christ-like.

You know what's not on this test? Being able to speak in tongues. Oh man, that guy can speak in tongues. He must have a special relationship with the Holy Spirit. Preaching a good sermon is not on this test. Being generous to the poor is not on this test. Even surrendering my body to be burned as a martyr is not on this test. Being a member of a church for 50 years is not on this test. Being a pastor or a missionary is not on this test. You can do all of those things. Good for you. But those are not the questions on this test for self-examination. Those are the things that actually Paul writes in verses 1 to 3, right? You guys familiar with the 1 Corinthians passage? The greatest and most obvious change for every person who has had a soul purified, who has been born again, is love.

Agape is the word, unconditional love that overflows into Philadelphia. Great affection for the brother. Love is the primary change that takes place in your marriage to Christ. The change was a one-time change in standing. The change can be summed up with love. And most especially love for other Christians. So here's a charge from verses 22 to 23. Since you have been in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, that is through the living and enduring word of God. So the third point, the charge, is going to be very simple to communicate and understand.

It's gonna sound super deep and profound, but it's gonna be very simple. If I were to, okay, for you guys who are married, if I were to tell you, now that you're married, be married. You'd be like, oh. But that's literally what he is saying. If I said that to you, you would get it. Hey, since you're married, be married. You'd be like, dude, our pastor is the best. But that's literally what he's saying. I don't think a couple would have a hard time understanding this. Being selfish, doing immature things, not being faithful to the wedding vows, these things will not change the married couple's status. Of course, it'll be harder to reap the benefits and to be useful in the one flesh definition.

But since you're married, keep staying married, is his command. Since you have been purified into love, love.

And again, as a reminder, we're not called to be obedient to earn salvation. We're called to be obedient because of it. Right? In response to it. So in verse 22, Peter uses the word fervent in his charge for the believers to love one another. You guys, you guys see that, right? And again, he uses it in chapter 4. The word fervent in the Greek, and we said it in the beginning is ektanos. One more time, ectanos. It's a physiological word. It's actually very uncommon. It's not found much in the scriptures, but Peter actually uses it two times, both here and in chapter four. It means a muscle being stretched to the maximum capacity. The muscle is being stretched to the maximum, like furthest limit.

So the word ectanas is an intense word. It's not a common word. What's interesting is who's a doctor in the Bible? Luke. He uses this word. It's a medical word to describe Jesus. This is what he says. Luke 22, 44. Jesus prayed so ectanas that his sweat became like drops of blood falling down upon the ground. Pretty intense. The command to love fervently is a command to love above and beyond what anybody deserves. So this means there are no ifs ands or buts when it comes to your responsibility to love unconditionally, to love fervently, to love to the max. And this is a command. If you break this command, you're in disobedience. So that's the charge. Since God has purified the believer's soul, since the believer has been born again, he can and now must love his brothers and sisters in the faith.

Always, in always to the max capacity, no condition placed. Are you guys tracking? You can't use any buts in your argument against that. Christ did that for you. Do the same. Oh. But the cool thing is, there's a peace that transcends all understanding, Philippians chapter 4, but there's also a love that transcends all understanding because God is above all things. And he has given you a heart that can not only know how to do it, but that is empowered to do so. So in the context of this letter, fervent love involves a covering over people's sins. So forgiveness is a big theme. Fervent love will forgive. Remember, in 1 Peter, every believer is now part of a holy priesthood. Every believer is functioning like a priest.

What's a priest's job? To be a human representative of atonement, right? So every believer has been chosen to the sprinkling of blood. Every believer through forgiveness covers over the sins of all of his brothers and sisters in the flesh. We'll get to that later in chapter 4. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be of sound thinking, sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. And above all of that.

Keep fervent in your love for one another because love covers over a multitude of sins. Love involves forgiveness and covering over, looking past the sins committed against you. So here's something to remember. A Christian must always forgive. Amen. Now I know like you're like, huh, but that is truth. A Christian must always forgive. If you disagree, I would encourage you to read Matthew 18, 21 to 35, the parable of the unforgiving servant. A Christian must, will, and can forgive. Always, unconditionally. In the context of the letter, fervent love also entails a commitment to helping others in the church to become holy. That's actually throughout the letter. In context, fervent love involves a commitment to even rebuking brothers and sisters who are trying to store up their treasures on earth and not thinking about their inheritance in heaven.

So lovingly rebuke them is implied in this.

So the command to every soul that has been purified and born again is to love fervently. So in our passage, we looked at the change, the changes, and then the charge to fervently love. And I said that thinking about it as a wedding and then the marriage and the keeping of vows will help you remember the passage. But every human marriage is in is corruptible, right? Every human marriage is flawed, it involves sinful people. Marriage vows between two sinful people are often broken. Marriages can be self-centered and loveless. And human marriages can end up in divorce because every human marriage is corruptible and incredibly flawed. But unlike what we see in human marriages, the bridegroom for the church, the bridegroom for the Christian, is perfect.

Incorruptible. So the salvific work of Jesus is incorruptible and it's absolutely thorough. You have been born again with incorruptible seed.

So though a human marriage can be devoid of love, a Christian's union to Christ will produce a love that is supernatural and constant. God will finish what he started, and you and I are maturing and growing in that love. And this is happening. Sometimes it's hard to perceive, but just look back. The bridegroom is washing his bride thoroughly with the word. And he's going to do this until the bride is without spot, wrinkle, or any other blemish. Ephesians chapter 5, right? He's gonna keep purifying his church with the word. So here's the charge and application. If you're a Christian, be a Christian. Deep, huh? Yes, be a Christian. That's the application. If the God of love is your Lord, and his spirit is in you, then live like the God of love who is in you is loving.

And his love is fervent. So may the word of God continue to do its work and make us quicker and quicker to love and to love well. Amen.

Say, oh, yeah. Because I feel very silly and dumb all the time. But I look back, I was like, oh, I was dumber. I was like, oh, I was more bitter. The Lord is changing me. Little by little every day. And I want to read this passage one last time for us. Since you have in obedience to the truth, purified your souls for a love of the brothers without hypocrisy, fervently love one another from the heart. For you have been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. We're going to take a time of communion. I'm going to ask the worship team to come back up. And we're going to, the reason why we do communion is not because we deserve to be united with Christ.

It's we do this in remembrance of Him because first of all, there's no other way to salvation. There's no other way to be reconciled to God. And thank God that He has saved us and He's transforming us. And sometimes it's just we just need to be reminded of who we are. So before we partake in the elements, here's a few notes. The communion cable is for baptized believers only. If you don't believe yourself to be a Christian or have not been baptized, we'll talk. And right. But for you who are participating in the communion, after I pray, you're gonna come up just through the middle, grab both the bread and the cup, and then return to your seat and then remain just seated, holding on to the bread and the cup, and then I'll walk us through a couple passages and we'll take uh of the elements together.

Let me pray for us.

Father, how often we take our salvation for granted. And a lot of it is, Lord, we are still in our flesh. And right now we only see but a poor reflection. We don't see in full. So I pray that as we wait, that our waiting would be expectant and would be longing, and that our waiting would be empowered so that we can love those you have called us to love, that we can minister to those whom you have called us to expend ourselves over for your glory and for your joy. So I pray for your help that as we partake in the elements that you would strengthen and refresh and even revive us. And if there are people who have individuals in their minds and in their hearts that they are very unloving towards, strengthen them and remind them of the great gift of salvation and the cost.

And we pray all this in Jesus' name. Amen.