Treasured Possession, Kingdom of Priests, & a Holy Nation (Exodus 19:1-6)
Use this guide to help your group discussion as you meet this week.
Transcript
Good morning my name is Spencer I'm one of the pastors here we're going to be in Exodus chapter 19 verses one through six as we continue to Journey Through The Book of Exodus so a few weeks ago I was on my phone I saw a video uh with a kind of a clickbaity type click baity type title pop across the screen and I was like I have got to watch this and the title of video was some form of uh this is why you need subtitles to watch movies and television nowadays and I went what I thought it was just me I thought my children just blowing on my eardrums and I can't hear anymore.
That it's not a unique problem to me that people needs subtitles so I was like yes I will give you 10 minutes of my time I'd love to know why I need subtitles and I'm not going to get into all the nerdy details because there's multiple reasons but I'll give you a couple one of them is because back in the day there used to be One mic above each scene so they have a mic above that scene and those actors were trained uh to very be to be articulate to project their voice at that mic.
So that all these words could be caught and then nowadays because there's mics everywhere they can put them on their person they can put them in all parts of the scene that actors have gotten lays here and they've started to slur and Mumble their words together which for someone like me who if you've ever been an informal conversation with me who slurred in my words it's like oh I'm not alone even the pros do it uh but then I kept watching and I thought that there was uh uh something that I found to be very helpful is that they shoot movies and television primarily.
For a surround sound experience okay so like that and they shoot it for in the theaters to have all the speakers from front to back and all around and at home if you have like an expensive Sonos system that's what it's made for and what they do is they shoot up for that type of quality and then they start to reduce it down to the lowest kind of common uh listening experience and one of the more popular listening experiences is what I do I have a flat screen TV that is thin and has one tiny speaker on the back and that shoots sound back at the wall.
Then comes back to me and by the time that I'm listening like there's moments where I'm watching this a show or a movie and I'm like I know that this is important I can tell by the setup that this is a very important scene but I can't hear in the word so I have to rewind put subtitles on and be ah there it is to catch some of the most important pivotal parts of the story you need the full surround sound experience and that is a little bit of where we're at in Exodus.
Today that is our passage we're going to look at what is one of the most pivotal an important and foundational passages in the Old Testament this passage clearly outlines who the people of God are supposed to be who God's people are supposed to be in order to hear it clearly there's these major descriptions that are given for the people of God and each of those is like a different speaker the front the back and the sides you need all of them to help hear who we are supposed to be.
Now as the Church so we're going to walk through this together and we pray for us and then we will see what God has to say to us Heaven heavenly father I pray that you would help us be present this morning I pray that you would help us listen that we receive your word with glad and generous hearts that we would be willing to be molded and shaped into your image whether that's through correction whether that causes to repentance whether that causes cause us to just simply delighting in you I pray that you would help that happen this morning and you'd work in our hearts we ask this in.
Jesus name amen okay we're gonna start from verse one says on the third New Moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt on that day they came into the Wilderness of Sinai so most of us aren't well versed in Jewish calendars when it says on the third new moon this is about seven weeks okay and a lot has happened in the last seven weeks when they left Egypt we've seen the the Great Red Sea Crossing and everything that went into that with.
God uh destroying the enemies of Israel and saving his people we've watched as they've been in the wilderness the highs and the lows we've seen them suffering with starving and thirsting we've seen God provide through Manna through Quail through water from the rock they have fought a war with the amalekites and then last week we saw Jethro Moses father-in-law visit there's a lot that's happened in seven weeks but now finally we're at a big shift in Exodus they are out there they have arrived they're arriving at Mount Sinai Mount Sinai is where Moses and the people are going to receive the Ten Commandments it's where they're going to receive the law.
So in verse 2 when it says they set out from rephidem and came to the Wilderness of Sinai then can't end the Wilderness there Israel and Camp before the mountain the mountain being Mount Sinai while Moses went up to God so they get to the mountain the people of God and Camp below it Moses goes up to meet with God and this is what happens the Lord called to him out of the mountain saying thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the people of Israel you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore You On Eagle's Wings and brought you to myself.
So Moses the prophet is going to tell the people this y'all remember what I did to the Egyptians right the very people that enslaved you for centuries who brutalized you you remember what I did to them and what I did for you because you were helpless in your state you were slaves you had no hope of saving and redeeming and freeing yourselves but he used the language of I bore you on the Eagles wings just you were helpless and hopeless and I swooped in like an eagle and picked you up and carried you to myself this is a picturesque of uh Return of the King uh the final book final movie of.
Lord of the Rings when Sam and Frodo have completed their Journey the ring has been destroyed now Mordor is going up in flames and there's lava all around them and they are exhausted and they're they they're starving and they've got nothing left in them they're completely hopeless about to die and then all of a sudden Eagles come in and scoop them up and carry them to safety that's us that's the Israelites that's our story hopeless and helpless on our own.
God in his Rich mercy and his love for us redeeming us scooping us up and it says Like an Eagle he bore us on his wings to himself it is this save us away from destruction he brings us to himself that we might live with him and Delight in him that's what he's trying to help the people of God see that the God who saved you is now about to teach you what it means to be my people so what he's telling Moses and what the people of.
God need to hear out the gate is Grace I saved you because of my great love because of my power over the Egyptians I redeemed you and now you're going to learn as my people what it means to be the people of God in these next two verses are foundational for them so verse 5 it says now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant let me pause there for a moment he says since I'm the God that is.
For you that's redeemed you I want you to listen to what I have to say my words that's going to be the law that he's getting ready to deliver obey my voice but he says keep my Covenant now amongst Bible nerds which is a tribe that I've got a foot in they really love to debate this word covenant what does he mean because there's two possible options for what he means by Covenant so the first option is the Covenant that God made with Abraham in the Book of Genesis this will be the the abrahamic Covenant and this is the Covenant where.
God chooses Abraham there's nothing special about Abraham but God chooses Abraham and says I'm going to make a great nation out of you your descendants are going to be the means by which I bless the Nations so you'll see the different commentaries that go this is the abrahamic Covenant you look at the language and how it Compares some of the Covenant language that was earlier in Exodus it goes back to Abraham of Genesis and it's like oh this is a compelling arguments.
But on the other side they're like no no this is the Covenant with Moses What's called the Mosaic Covenant that's the Covenant that we're entering into right now that we're seeing in verse 19 20 and following this is the Covenant of Moses the law where the language that flows out of this is obeying the Lord and you listen to both of their arguments oh that's that's compelling oh that's compelling but as I've looked at the text this week what's become clear is that this passage is actually a bridge between those two Covenants that it's it's one plan the whole time and two promises two uh covenants that.
God has made with his people and this really brings them together you have the one of God's grace that Abraham chose and trusted God in faith and you have the outworking of that and the Mosaic Covenant which is obedience it's trusting God at his word that it is good and following him but this kind of holds both of those together with faith and following that's what's happening faith and following are bound up in when it says keep my Covenant so verse 5.
Now therefore if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant you shall be here it is here's the big descriptions okay the big surround sound descriptions of who we're called to be as the people of God you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples for all the Earth is mine verse six and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests second description and a holy nation and that's the third these are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel treasure possession Kingdom of priest holy nation this is what it means to be the people of.
God now we're going to spend most of our time in that before we get there I want to help tie this whole story together for us because What's Happening Here is profound it's beautiful so if you go back to the Covenant with Abraham and specifically when God is reinforcing it when he calls Abraham to sacrifice Isaac they're on the mountain and then he's about to sacrifice his son but then God intervenes and says no I've seen your faith Abraham and that what follows that is the reinforcing of this Covenant in Genesis 22 verses 17 and 18 it says I will surely this is.
God speaking I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply your Offspring as the stars of the heaven as the sand that is on the seashore and your Offspring shall possess the Gate of his enemies and in your Offspring shall hear this all the nations of the earth be blessed because you have obeyed my voice okay as the promise that he made with Abraham that I'm going to bless you with a great nation and through your people I will bless the Nations.
And then you get to our passage today which is hundreds of years later when one of Abraham's descendants Moses is on the mount and God tells them now therefore if you indeed obey my voice same language and keep my Covenant you shall be my treasure possession amongst all peoples for all the Earth is mine you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation now we're going to get more into that and that language of what's happening there.
But what the people of God are called to be is the kingdom of priest to the surrounding Nations and this gets reinforced by the book of Isaiah in chapter 49 when it says God's speaking he says is it too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel I will make you as a light for the Nations that my salvation May reach to the end of the Earth and what you.
See is you're pulling this thread from Genesis all the way through the Old Testament is that God chose a people that they might be a holy nation a kingdom of priests a light to the surrounding Nations and then he brings them into his Promised Land into his presence and if you just look at the geography of where he chose that Israel geographically is this land bridge between two continents between all these different surrounding Nations all these different surrounding Nations that did not know.
God that did not love God they did not follow him they did abominable practices like sacrificing their children to foreign idols they don't know God but this people you're going to know me you're going to be like me and you're going to be a light to these surrounding Nations but when you read the rest of the Old Testament you see a rejection of that calling they don't want to be a treasure possession they don't want to be a kingdom of priest they don't want to be a holy nation they don't want.
God and they reject them over and over and over again they love the gods of the other nations they fall in love with their practices all the way to sacrificing their own children to foreign gods they failed they were not the light to the Nations but that promise Still Remains the promise that Abraham Still Remains the promise to Moses through Moses to his people still remains and God makes good on his promises despite the failure of his people and in steps.
Jesus and Jesus steps in and he becomes the light to the Nations that he fulfills the Mosaic Covenant obeying the law perfectly and that when he goes to the cross and dies for the sins of the world and when he rises out of the Tomb he is making a way for the light Nations to expand and for all the nations to be brought in and then when you get to after his resurrection before he ascends you get to the Great Commission which happens on a mountain you.
See a mountain thing there too from Abraham to Moses to now Jesus commissioning his Church and what does he say go therefore and Make Disciples of what All Nations you see it of all Nations This Promise is being pulled through at its coming true guys that this is biblical theology this is it right here like this is the sweet reward of reading the Scriptures and seeing these it's not a bunch of disconnected stories that's not all linked together it's one grand story from Genesis to Revelation the whole way through.
And then when you keep pulling that thread you get towards the end of the Bible and you get to second Peter it's coming alive you guys second Peter chapter two it's going to bring us home this is God through inspiring Peter speaking to this new these new testament churches here it is but you are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession sound familiar see same language of Exodus the same calling that the people of.
God are about to receive in Exodus that continues for thousands of years it doesn't change if you belong to God this is it that you're a royal priest to the kingdom of priests that you are a people for his own possession God's treasured possession that you are a holy nation same language but then you get the purpose right for what God's people and why they're called to be this and it goes on that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous Light that you are these things as my people.
So that not only you would know God but that you would Proclaim God to the world who needs him that you be a light to the Nations as God's people bearing the Light of Christ that you proclaim the excellencies the glory the goodness the Gospel of him who called you out of Darkness into Marvelous Light you were once enslaved to sin but now you've been made free as my people to Proclaim the Gospel that's why he continues in First Peter he says in.
Verse 11 beloved I urge you as sojourners and as Exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which waged war against your soul keep your conduct among the Gentiles that's Outsiders who don't believe that's the language there the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak evil must speak speak against you as evildoers they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation that how you assemble as the people of God and what you look like how you walk in this faith and the message that you have that they might.
See it and they might want to know Christ they might want to follow him so that when the day of visitation happens when judgment happens they might stand joyfully that's what the people of God have been for thousands of years that means that in this Exodus passage we really need to be very familiar with this language of what it means to be when he says now therefore if you want to obey my voice and keep my Covenant you shall be my treasured possession.
When he goes on to say my kingdom of priests he goes on to say a holy nation we need to be very familiar with those that language and we need each of those descriptions so we can have this surround sound experience of hearing who God is calling us to be as the Church so we're going to spend the rest of our time looking at those descriptions and why they matter so let's look at that first one my treasured possession or as.
First Peter says a people for his own possession okay so you shall be my treasure possession among the peoples and a people for his own possession in First Peter God looks at us and says you are my treasured possession out of everything and everyone that's ever been made God is the creator of the universe that means that from the farthest Galaxy and all of its stars to the very atoms beneath our feet that he looks at his people and says you are my most treasured possession how wonderful is that how beautiful is that.
God loves us that much that he calls us his treasured possession the Israelites they so needed to hear that they so needed to hear that for years for centuries they were pharaohs abused possession and God says listen you are my treasured possession and the same thing is true of the two of us with Christ that in Christ were God's treasured possession and we need to believe that because the enemy would love to would love to lie to us and like let us believe.
So many other things that God doesn't love us that God doesn't care that you don't matter I'm gonna walk as one of the things I do is I do pastoral Counseling in our Church not walk with people that had this internal Narrative of just I don't matter no one loves me God doesn't love me God doesn't care I'm worthless I'm terrible I should just end it I mean the the thought patterns that people have that just this reinforcing of the exact opposite of the language of.
God that you're a treasure possession we walk in this negative feedback loop of just it just continues and it continues and it continues and God in the middle of all of it is just trying to break through and says don't you see you're my treasured possession that you belong to me that I love you that I love you so much that I sent my son to die for you I I sent him to give you new life that what's while this moment in life might be filled with suffering it is light and momentary compared to the surpassing worth of the glory and the weight of Glory that awaits us at this moment in life it.
Feels long but it's like a vapor it's here and then it's gone when you compare that to the vast expanse of Eternity that God has secured for us in Christ and all the joy and endless peace and his presence that awaits us you don't realize how treasured you are Christian is what God is trying to help us see you're unbelievably treasured you're far more loved and cheers than you ever possibly imagine or dream I love the language that continues in Exodus of how.
God views his people because here he says treasured possession but when you flip to the next chapter in The Ten Commandments which we're going to spend more time in and the second commandment he says you shall not bow down to them or serve them talk about Idols for I the Lord You Are God and they jealous God our God is jealous for us his tragic possession how great is that the God of the universe cares that much about you like if I.
If my with one of my children came to me and said father well Daddy they don't use the language Daddy I've been playing with some kids down the street and that family is awesome dad they have all kinds of toys like their parents make a lot more money than you do they've got all the things they their dad drives a full-size truck that's like a tank it ain't like your Prius or your little pickup truck they drive the real deal they provide all the things and you know what we've decided I've decided that I'm I'm going to move in with them and I'm going to call them dad and I just think that family's better.
If I heard that you know what I feel jealous Wrath I'm jealous for my children they're my treasured possession I've looked at them and say you're not going to anywhere you were riding in the back of that Prius until it dies you are a part of this family you are mine I love you more than you could ever possibly imagine you ain't going nowhere because you're my treasure possession that's how God feels about us and then some feel that believe that Christian you're more valued than you could ever possibly understand your life was literally bought with the blood of.
God you are as treasured possession you need to hear that because what happens is is that we we when we endure suffering when we endure suffering we question them and we question the goodness of God if God's really good it really does value me as a treasured possession then why is life so hard why do I feel so sad or why do I feel so alone or what fill in the blank that's a longer discussion that sometimes you're not going to get the most satisfying answers answers to.
But you're not alone the Israelites felt that I mean they wandered in the wilderness through all types of Trials and they questioned the goodness of God and God's not trying to help them see and help us see you don't understand how treasured you are that our minds are so focused on this moment and the and the sufferings that feel great but pale in comparison to what await us we are absolutely treasured and loved by God and you need to believe that.
And if you believe them if you walk in them these next two descriptions are going to make a lot more sense when he says Kingdom of priests and holy nation okay now these are similar similar language here Kingdom of priests and holy nation all right but there's there's some differences here that is worth separating out to see the Nuance of the language that's being used we're going to look at the Kingdom of priests first so priests are a specific group of people.
Okay they're distinct from the rest of the people that we're going to see this later on in Exodus when God establishes this literal the priesthood of God and you're going to see these laws that show how they were different and distinct that they uh they had to follow all types of of different rituals and uh to to be holy to be Pious they had to even dress differently their dress was I mean later on in the New Testament that it gets used as a place of arrogance.
But the original design of of the dress and the difference was you all are distinct you distinct because you're called to a higher calling they were called to uh to maintain Holiness and to consecrate themselves make themselves holy for different rituals and the reason why is because the priesthood had special access to God the priesthood had unique access that the rest of the people did not that when the temple gets built there are different parts of the temple that the rest of the people cannot enter and and there's only the priest could enter into that.
Because they devoted themselves to God and to this pursuit of holiness and what we see coming out of that is not only for the end itself knowing God it was so that with their special access they might teach the people they might teach the law that they might be in charge of corporate worship helping people bring their sacrifices to God that they had special access to God to know him so that the people could know him that's what it means to be a kingdom of priest is that we as Christians have special access to.
God that we're called the priesthood of all believers now because we no longer need a preach between us and God that we have Jesus our great high priest who gives us access to God the father that we can approach him in prayer and in worship at any moment and with that special access it's not just for our good it's for the good of others that we might know God and the Overflow of knowing God and loving him might be poured out.
For the good of others that's why in First Peter he says keep your conduct amongst the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak evil against you they may see their good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us on the day of visitation so that the people can hear the excellencies of him who cauldron of Darkness into Marvelous Light a kingdom of priests Proclaim who God is that the invitation to God ultimately is flowing through them as teachers of the law and as those who facilitate worship and in Christ we have that message of who.
Jesus is and we get to as a kingdom of priests Proclaim who he is to the Nations who need him that the Church we say this every week I don't know if you've heard this the Church is plan a not plan B There It Is say that every week in our closing and I just missed it did the Church's plan a there is no plan B it's the means by which God proclaims his Gospel to the world because we are the kingdom of priests who give the invitation the Gospel to those who need him.
So second third is holy nation he says in verse 6 of chapter 19 you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation first Peter he says a royal priesthood and a holy nation now the word holiness it's a bad rap in our culture okay I caught a glimpse of the Grammy's performance that was talking about unholiness and I was a good night this is crazy also you misunderstand Holiness completely I've misunderstood Holiness completely when I was a lost teenager and rebellious like I got around some people that were very self-righteous and judgmental and you know I used to not be Baptist and they were and I thought Baptists were the worst.
Because what I equated I equated Holiness with holier than thou Holiness with self-righteousness and I think largely when you use the term Holiness that's what people think they think of self-righteousness no you think you're better than me that's not what Holiness is at all Holiness quite simply as seeking to be like our maker it's seeking to be just like him when he says Holiness that you've been set apart to be like your God that's the pursuit of Holiness is this trying to be like.
God and in any other listen any other phase of Life any other example like you no one looks at a at a boy that you know who loves his dad and he looks up to his dad and he wants to dress like his dad and look like his dad and talk like his dad no one looks at that and says oh you're just trying to be better than me you're just gonna be like your dad no one looks at a little girl who wants to be just like her mom or or a student that wants to be just like their teacher or a player that wants to be like their coach and says anything negative.
About that we all look at that and say that's awesome that's great but when it comes to God I said oh you you think you're better than me you must be self-righteous and it's like no no I Holiness is not I'm better than you as Jesus is better and I just want to be like him because he is better and what he has to offer is better and I trust him at his word that the God who saved me who redeemed me and set me apart and gave me these Commandments that show me what it means to live in life with.
God that these things are actually truly better that I'm going to trust what the Scriptures teach on this over what my gut says my trust with the Scriptures teach on this of what the world says because what Jesus offers is better and I want to be like my God and the people of God had a unique opportunity to be a holy nation amongst all types of surrounding Nations that did not know God and we as Christians get to be a holy nation not.
Because we're great because he is and his light gets to shine through us to people that desperately need to know God that's what it means to be a holy nation so with these three different phrases the Israelites we're hearing a picture this surround sound every part of it this is what it means to be the people of God that you are a treasured possession no longer the abuse possession of Pharaoh but you are treasured possession that you're no longer a kingdom of slaves.
But you're a kingdom of priests that you're no longer subject to the Egyptian Rule and reign as that Nation you are a holy nation that belongs to The Great I Am and with each of those descriptions you have an essential pick they're an essential part of a grander picture of what it means to be the people of God and you need all three I think all three descriptions to see your to try to embody what it means to be the Church all three of those matter.
So chat now this week uh we're talking through this and and we put together this Venn diagram um one because Venn diagrams are awesome they just are uh but it's just a helpful tool to be able to actually see kind of what happens if you don't have all three of them now if you're the kind of per if you're cynical you can try to poke holes in this all right that's nice or you can just kind of every illustration can break down eventually.
But we're going to look at this now and you have time and in your groups this week and group content actually work through this so treasured possession royal priesthood Kingdom of priests and a holy nation okay that's the three descriptions now here's what happens if you just have one of these individually go to the next slide please so if you just believe that you're a treasured possession and you post up and that that that's what you believe the Church is supposed to be that ultimately you just believe that.
Well just God is good and he is that's one part of it God is good but what can happen is is if you just believe that God is good and you're not concerned with being a royal priesthood an invitation to those who don't believe you're not concerned with holiness then ultimately what happens is you just think God okay is all of whatever we want to believe whatever we want to live the God's just gracious and he's good and you get this nominal Christianity this this Christianity that's a name only.
But as it doesn't actually ever take sin seriously doesn't reckon with what the our sin cost us that doesn't see a need to go therefore Make Disciples of all Nations and that can go all in all kinds of directions and go towards even universalism they're just like God just gonna be good to us it's all going to work out in the end and that's a misunderstanding of the Gospel if you just have this okay not we're not there yet go back the big reveal is coming you guys all right.
So if we just have Kingdom a priest royal priesthood then we have is just do good okay it's just you're doing a bunch of good you're just concerned with being uh you know an invitation and and missional and if you're just concerned with doing good but you actually don't see the part of the Gospel where God has Grace towards us if you don't see the calling to really this personal Holiness to be like Christ then what can happen is you really just have a bunch of good works that you reduce our faith down to really just kind of like a social Gospel of just doing good and doing good and doing good and ultimately you.
Don't have the essential parts of the Gospel that tell us that God is graceful towards us and his Mercy towards us that he calls us to be different for a reason and if you just have holy nation you understand what it means to be a Christian is to be a holy people but you don't have these other two you don't see the grace of our God you don't see but he's called to make us missional people that bear the Gospel then what you have ultimately is a holy huddle that's where you get the self-righteousness.
For people that are just like oh we're so great we're so concerned with being good and being good and being good but that's not the Gospel now what if you have two of these next slide please all right so if you have two of these if you see yeah we're a treasure possession we believe that God is and his grace and his Mercy and we believe that yes we're called to go and do and and serve the poor and and do good.
But you're not concerned with Holiness in any form and pursuing God and being like him that what you ultimately have is compromise you won't see that oh like sin is real and we should put it to death goodness one of when I became a Christian one of the most popular phrases at the time he's like 15 years ago I think it still lingers a little bit is we got to be relevant we got to be relevant I heard that over and over and over again and the people that bang that drama like the problem with the reason the Church is dying in America is we're just we're not relevant enough like they they they hit.
That drum over and over again to the point of Ad nauseam and a lot of those people aren't even following Jesus Anymore because they may compromise after compromise after compromise and listen what I don't know if you know this I'm going to totally break your brain if you don't know this Christians aren't cool to the world we're not we're weird we are Guided by a book that's thousands of years old we're not relevant at all in the sense of what people might think.
Today and that's okay you get to be distinct and different for a reason you don't have to look like or be like the rest of the world that's not how you make disciples of all Nations you're missing it if you don't have no we're actually called to look differently and if you just have a royal priesthood the invitation and a holy nation and it's just about doing good and being good that what you have is moralism are due to gain God I do to to be seen as good before.
God that's not the Gospel gospels that we were dead in our sin and Brokenness in our mess and is by his grace he Scoops us up and redeems us and sets us apart to be the people of God you just have moralism that's not the Gospel if you just have that you're a treasured possession that God is good and that you're a holy nation that you're called to be like him but you don't ever see the need to be a royal priesthood who proclaims the excellencies of him who calls us out of Darkness into moral of his life.
Then you just have a retreat you I mean you you and I'll be honest if we're going to air anywhere as our Church it's going to be in that category right there that we we have we love theology we talk about God's grace and his mercy and the richness of his kindness and that we see a need in our groups if you've been with our groups long enough we love each other we don't want each other to live and sin so we hold each other accountable and correct one other and pulling us to Christ.
But the one thing we might be lacking is evangelism and being the people that take the invitation to the world you need all three and if you have all three of them that that sinner sweet spot if you have all three of them you're never going to see this coming we get to be a Gospel-centered community on Mission boom nailed it that's it but it's true it's true we talk about that all the time that we believe the Gospel that God's grace and his Mercy claims it's redeemed is.
Because of what he did on the cross in the empty tomb and it sets us apart to be a holy nation and a people that know him that love him so that we might proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of Darkness into Marvel's light so that the world might taste and see that the Lord is good and take refuge in him that's the calling of what it means to be a Christian and that's the calling what it means to be the Church of.
Jesus Christ as the people of God were called to be thousands of years ago in Israel and that's what we're called to be now and that calling is beautiful and it is good and it is wonderful and we get to press into that together as a Church the band's going to come up and we're just going to worship and sing one last song as the Church that's seeking to be these three descriptions so let me very clearly this morning need to hear that.
God loves you that he sees you as a treasured possession that he does want you that he does desire you that he does want you to live in relationship with him and some of you may not know our God and the invitation is there that you don't have to clean yourself up you don't have to be good to gain him that you get to trust in the finished work of Jesus that he died for our sins and that he rose to give us new life in him and you get to experience what it means to be a treasured possession some of you need to feel the correction that we are called to be a holy.
Nation we are called to be different for a reason that distinctness and that separateness does not make us better but it does help us enjoy God and be a newer and beautiful better ways and then if we do that we do get to be a kingdom of priest and you got friends and neighbors and co-workers that lead Christ they don't know him that's our surrounding Nations I don't know him and if you lean into and press into who God calls us to be that maybe just might they might get to know him by the way that you live and the Gospel that you Proclaim.
So let me pray heavenly father I pray that you would help us really own what it means to be the people of God that you would help us see what it means to be a treasure possession and a kingdom of priests and a holy nation you would see this as unbelievably beautiful and good and if there's anyone here that does not even begin to know where to start I don't know what it means to be your treasured possession I pray that right.
Now they would see that the work that you did for them 2 000 years ago and the offering that is there for them right now that they would take it and if the rest of us who are sinners in desperate need of a savior for daily growth and wisdom and strength and insight as he mold us and conform us into your image may you make us be the holy people that bear the Gospel to a world that needs in Jesus name amen.