Well we're really glad to have the India team back. They prepared a video for us. So we'll first show the video and then after that we're going to invite James Hong to come up and share a bit of what he experienced and things that he'd like to share afterwards.

I wanted to talk a little bit about what we experienced and I understand that some of you or most of you have prayed for us last week and I want to give an update on that as well. First off, let me start off with the update. I've heard different things, people saying, "I thought it happened in the villages," and then details were a little hazy.

What had happened was when we got to the hotel, it was the first night, we're eating dinner at a restaurant within the hotel. And within that restaurant there's patrons there who have been drinking, I want to say a group of about 15 to 20. And there's a cricket game on, and when I say cricket I mean like baseball, right?

In India, cricket is a very, very big deal. Kind of like soccer in Central America or parts of Asia. It's a huge thing. And the cricket game is a national game, right? So the team is India versus I forgot which country. But because of that you can understand there's a sense of nationalism that's really stoking within these guys and then you have liquor in them too.

So what happened was at the start of the game they had asked us to stand, right? And obviously they didn't ask us in English, they asked us in Telugu, which is the native language of the Indians within that region. They asked the pastors in Telugu if they could stand and if we could stand.

Now at this point we don't know what's going on, right? So one of the pastors, one of the two, replies to the patrons, "Hey look, we'll stand, but they're American so they're not going to stand. We'll stand." And it didn't sit well with one or two people. For the most part the group didn't like it, but for the two it really, really ticked them off.

So one of them turns around and kind of motions for us to stand. And I can see he's kind of agitated at this point. He's a little angry, right? So he's going like this and I hear music so I'm like, "Okay, it's a national anthem." So I try to get the team to stand, right?

So we stand, but the moment we stand, we're like maybe like 10 seconds after the beginning of the anthem. We stand, we do our thing, we're very respectful, and then we sit down. One of the patrons goes up to the pastors and they start speaking in Telugu, right? I find out later that he's very upset because we didn't stand right away and also he didn't like the pastor's answer, namely that we wouldn't stand because we're Americans.

We thought, "Okay, since they're in this country, all of them should stand and you should be on that bandwagon making all of us stand." Now none of us minded at all. Had the team known that's what they wanted, we would have done initially, we didn't care, right? The pastors were just trying to be as accommodating as possible to us.

And so what ended up happening is because this is a very nationalistic environment, they have liquor in their system, they start being very aggressive, okay? They come up to the pastors and start yelling at them, berating them. One of the two gets slapped in the face, okay? And as all this is going on, the other people within their group, although they didn't really like what they did, they're a little bit more reasonable and they're trying to hold the other two back.

So what ends up happening is the two pastors, one of them splits up, goes outside, he gets hit in the... Unbeknownst to us at the time, he gets hit in the face, okay? I think what the pastor told me was two shots to the face right here. There was some slight bruising.

The other pastor is inside and they're a hotel, they don't have any security. The hotel waiters and employees are trying to break things up. And there was a lot of back and forth. They would sit down and they would stare at him, so they'd get back up, sit down, stare and get back up.

So finally what they decided to do was put us in a different room, okay? And they watched the game, we didn't see them for the rest of our trip there. Now, but there's an update that I want to tell you guys all about, okay? This is how God used that situation, now that I've painted it for you.

The following day, the hotel security, well the hotel manager calls the police, okay? The reason he calls the police is because we've been going to the same hotel for the third year in a row now. So they like our business, they want to keep our business, right? We order a lot of food.

We have 15 guys that stay in that hotel every year. So for them, if they lose our business, it's a big deal. And they know, obviously, anyone would know, if we don't want to come back, it's very easy for us not to come back. So the hotel, for that reason, economic reasons, calls the police, okay?

The police get to the scene, right? And they investigate the situation. I don't know how, but they get in contact with the two people who are the most aggressive, who did the hitting and who did the slapping. And then they have a conversation with them two and the two pastors.

Now we're not present at that point for the conversation. Because this happens, I think, late night, maybe early morning. So we're sleeping and the police approach the pastors. What happens is, the police learn of the situation, they side with the pastors, and they tell the pastors, "Hey, if you want to throw these guys in jail, if you want to quote unquote press charges, so to speak, we'll put them in jail." One of the pastors spoke up and said, "You know what?

We're Christians. We're pastors. That's not what we want. We really want to show the love and forgiveness in Christ." They were very apologetic. From what I understand, one, if not both of them, were in tears. And so what ended up happening was, the whole thing was squashed. They actually want to come and talk to the entire team to express their sorrow over what happened.

They never came, I don't know what happened to them. But that's what happened. And the hotel had promised us, "Hey, if you want police to be present while you guys are here, they can arrange that for us." And we had a private dining room, a unit away, that we occupied for the rest of our stay there.

And probably will if we ever decide to go back there. So it really turned out for the good. It really, really did. That I mean, you think of drunk people who are there to watch a cricket game, and these Americans are there, and you're not thinking two days later, "I'm going to see the glory of God." You're not thinking that, right?

But God really used that situation to show His grace. So anyways, that's the update. People are asking, "That's what happened?" I heard a lot of different things. I mean, it's kind of like telephone charades, you know, people were saying different things and it got kind of crazy. But it was at the hotel, and it wasn't at the village.

Now I want to give a little update about India itself, and what we plan to do in India. I'm glad you guys saw the video first, because that paints a portrait of what we did, and what we've done in years past. This year, the schedule was a little different the first year.

But what happened this year was, we had three pastors come with us. Pastor Peter, Pastor Aaron from BMC, and Pastor James Lee from Crosslife. And we took a team of medical professionals, two optometrists, two nurses, one physical therapist, although he helped out with eye care, and there are three supporting people who support the optometry team, and the rest of us who kind of did VBS and just normal heavy lifting stuff, I guess.

What we did was, in the morning, the pastors provided pastoral training to the villagers. There was a clip in here, I think you saw, where you saw about maybe 15 to 20, 25 Indian men between the ages of 22 and 55, right? There was a translator that was present, and on each day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Pastor Peter, Pastor Aaron, or Pastor James would give a seminar, so to speak, right?

On hermeneutics, and then applying hermeneutics, talking about how important it is to read the Bible in context. Relatively simple things that most of us probably know, but to these pastors, might be brand new. And so, we would get to a village at approximately 10 a.m., there was a translator that was present, right?

And each village, there's a room where we would meet. That's like the size of maybe three rooms, it's a building, but about the size of three rooms. The pastors would give a lesson, and then the interpreter would translate. And the pastors that were there, let's say about 25 of them, would sit there and would absorb this teaching.

That would go on for about 12.30, so let's say about two and a half hours. At about 12.30, we would eat, and at about 1.30, what would happen is, we'd break up that same exact room where the pastoral training occurred. We'd divide that room in half. In one half of the room, you had eye care, and in the other half of the room, you had wound care, like general healthcare by the nurses.

And so, what would happen is, we'd give out numbers, and in each village that we went to, we'd see approximately 100 to 110 people specifically for eye care, and another, I wanna say, maybe 20, you could ask Sarah Kim, but 20 for wound care. And the reason that was so effective is because what happens is that each of these villages, they're very neglected.

It's a very agricultural, rural-based village, where they don't have basic plumbing or electricity. You can see from the videos, you're talking about straw huts, mud brick buildings, really things like that. So, they're very neglected by not only foreigners, but the government. So for these people, half of them are illiterate.

The vast majority of them have never seen a foreigner before. These native Indians, half of them can't read, they see these Americans who look Asian, they don't know why. They see these Americans come in, and they're providing them eye care. And they're thinking, "Okay, why would a foreigner come in from far away to help me with my eyes?

Why would they do that?" And segue to the gospel, because the villages in this part of India, almost all of India, but specifically these parts of India, Hinduism is entrenched. It's not just their religion, it's their culture, it's their way of life, it's their government, it's the only thing they know.

And so, they don't know anything about Christianity. They don't know that Jesus rose from the dead. They don't understand there's 5,000 documents of the New Testament. Understand these things. All they know is that there's a foreigner that comes in, who's traveled long distances, and that foreigner says they love Jesus.

Or it's translated to them, "These foreigners are here because of Christ." And what that does is it gives a platform for the pastors. Now in that context, where they're thinking, "Okay, I've never seen a foreigner before. This is the first time I've seen a foreigner, and he wants to help me." This villager.

That gives a platform for the local pastor to say, "Hey, it's because they're Christian, it's because they love God, it's because their sins are forgiven. Would you like that forgiveness?" And it's breaking ground. It's breaking ground. The airport that we land in is called Bangalore. It's the Silicon Valley of India.

You have all these tech companies coming there, and then you have a major hub of training in terms of information and computer science. Once you land there, we drove about five hours to a city called Bellary. Bellary is not the Silicon Valley of India. It's very dingy. It's a much different world.

From Bellary, each village that we went to took another two hours of driving. And only recently, within the last year, were roads developed. The year prior, it was only dirt roads. So you can see how the neglect is very natural, because it's very inaccessible. And so the ministry that we're now doing is trying to reach each village.

We've gone there for three years now. And if you think Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, first year on Friday, each day we went to a different village. We've never visited a village more than once. And so this evangelism that we're doing, specifically in this part of India, it's very trailblazing.

It's very pioneering. So I want to, after sharing what we do, I would ask this from Breen, that we continue to pray for the pastors. Because our team goes, we spend a week there, and then we come back. But the pastors there, some of them are being beaten for passing on tracts.

Some of them, what little government subsidies there are, they don't receive, because they're not listed as Hindu. And some pastors just live in fear. In general fear for their lives, for their own lives, and for their family, all because of the name of Christ. And everyone in this team that has gone there this past trip will tell you how pregnant with meaning this trip was, for all of us.

We received so much more than we ever gave. And so we're looking forward to doing the work in the future in India. Pastor Peter is thinking about what we can do, perhaps even purchase a building for the pastors to train in. And if that's the case, where they can go and meet together, even if it's once a month, and maybe we'll send people there to train them, and we will definitely continue the work there.

If any of your hearts are moved, you don't necessarily have to have a medical skill, but if you do, you should really pray about it. But if your heart is moved, consider India. If you have the resources and the time, just pray about it. I know all of our schedules are busy, all of us have things to do, I completely get that.

But you might be surprised. You might be surprised. You might go there and come back thinking, "I've received so much more than I gave." And you come back extremely humbled, extremely blessed, and reminded of what a privilege it is to serve God in this way. So, thank you very much.

If you would please turn your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 2. Okay, and I'm going to be reading from verse 1 down to verse 10. And where it says, "Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies long for the pure milk of the Word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

And coming to Him as a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For this is contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed. This precious value then is for you who believe, but for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.

For they stumble because they are disobedient to the Word, and to this doom they are also disappointed. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

For you were once not a people, but now you are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Let's take a moment to pray. Our God, we ask that you grant to us great insight into your Word. As you also prepare our hearts through your Spirit, helping us to be both receptive, desiring to apply what you have for us, and ultimately changing our lives through it.

In Christ's name we pray, amen. This passage, I read from verses 1 through 10, but we're going to be really focusing on verses 4 through 8. As we take a look at this passage, we've been studying in the book of 1 Peter, through our Bible studies, and we've been talking a lot about how in certain circumstances, especially difficult circumstances, God tends to change our perspective.

God challenges us beyond what's normal for us. In order to help us think about this whole topic, I want to ask you a question. Have you ever been really disappointed? Not just a little let down, not somebody, "Oh, you said you'd be there, but you weren't, so I was sad," but just really disappointed.

Some of these memes that I see on Facebook and the internet, they're pretty hilarious. They have these memes where it's like, "Expectation for post-college life," and then they have these pictures of making money and buying a car, and then reality, it's like, "Basement of my mom's house." Stuff like that, where you have your expectations of what you hope for, for a huge stage of your life.

Then the second half of the meme is just like, "But the reality is this." Now, what typically happens for us, the reason why I bring that up is because whenever our expectations are up here, and then the reality comes in down here, we've got to make sense of that discrepancy.

You are now faced with an interpretive issue, how do I make sense of all that? Sometimes what we'll do is we'll play a little mind games. "Therefore, now I'm a pessimist. Don't expect nothing out of nobody." You don't expect anything out of God, people, friends, family. You're just like, "Everyone's going to let me down.

That's just how the world's going to be." We do that even with movies. You don't want people to upsell the movie, so it's like, "Oh, the movie was like, 'Don't tell me about it.' I don't want to go on with expectations." You play these mind games where you start dropping your expectations, and how you even deal with people, what confidence you have.

On that level, we have expectations and a discrepancy of it. It's true. Mentally speaking, our perspective matters. If for example, our expectations are unreasonably high, yeah, you're just going to really ruin your relationships, or you're just going to ruin everything that you hope to enjoy, but you're not going to.

Now, there's another issue at hand. Sometimes I watch a movie, and someone says, "Did you like it?" I'm like, "No." They're like, "Oh, it's because you went in with too high expectations." "No, that movie just wasn't good." Sometimes you have your expectations, and then there's the reality. Reality that sometimes some things are just really that bad.

On the flip side, even if your expectations are super low, in reality, they're really, really good. The reason why I talk about these things is because Apostle Peter, bringing things into context, is helping people make sense of their experience. In the book of 1 Peter, the people are experiencing a kind of persecution and suffering beyond our imagination.

We went over it in our Bible study, but in brief review, he starts off the letter by saying to you who are scattered. You've been chased out of your homes. To you who are aliens, refugees, much like what we see even today, where they have no provision, they have no country trying to come to their aid, they lost much to their family, and they're just in survival mode.

He says, "To you, I write this letter." We understand that when, again, we experience suffering, to whatever degree it may be, we need a way to interpret what's going on, and we also need a way to get a good grasp on reality. That's going to help us persevere in some of these contexts.

I just want to jump in right away to verses four and five to talk about the first things that Apostle Peter says to strengthen and encourage the Christians of his day. Verse four and five reads like this, it says, "And coming to him as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also as living stones are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Now, from those two verses, I want to focus in on what is grammatically the main subject and verb.

What's the main point of those two verses put together? I have you guys practice that in Bible study and stuff. The idea of coming to this living stone is incredibly important, but grammatically, the emphasis is on you are being built up as a spiritual house. That's my point one here is saying you're being built up as a house for the Lord for a holy priesthood.

God is doing a work in these people's lives. God is doing a work in our lives, and this is something we need to know, especially when we can't see it. Essentially, what's happening here is Apostle Peter is saying, "Listen, collectively, God has called you for a significant purpose. Yes, you might be chased around.

Other people are degrading you, saying demeaning things, persecuting you, oppressing you, and putting you down. I'm telling you God is building you up, building you up to a purpose beyond what your physical eyes are seeing. God is building you up to be a spiritual house, a dwelling, so to speak, and a spiritual priesthood." I just want to make mention of this a little bit that he's not focusing on the individual like I am the temple.

He's talking about the collective whole, us as believers. God has designed us so that piece by piece, it's a beautiful metaphor, just as the metaphor of the body, that you're all members united, connected together. You are the building blocks. One of the commentaries I was reading referenced that this royalty visit at Sparta because Sparta at that time in Roman culture was such a powerhouse.

Upon visiting was kind of shocked, like, "Your city has no walls." So went to the ruler and said, "How come you guys don't build a wall?" And he looked at his soldier and said, "This is our wall. You have walls that can carry spears and shields?" And they said, "Oh, shoot." As they think about that, God is building something that is a powerhouse, so to speak, of living stones being pieced together.

And the beautiful picture is that we are going to be serving the Lord. We have a significance, we have a purpose. And the reason why this helps is because for any individual who's ever suffered, what makes suffering worse is if it's pointless. What makes it very difficult to persevere and carry on is if there's no purpose behind this, then why?

And a lot of times that's what people struggle with. Is there something beyond just to make my next meal? Just for everything else that everybody is running for? Is that all I'm shooting for? Is that the only thing that's happening right now? Then why? Then why persevere? But here, there is this encouragement that God has joined us for an incredible purpose with incredible significance.

And Ephesians chapter 2 reiterates this whole idea. So I read at the beginning, but let's turn our Bibles there and read it now. Ephesians chapter 2 describes the transfer. You were children of wrath, you were destined for destruction, you had no promise, you had no hope, you had no God.

And then the transfer that in Christ we have so much more. Now, if you ever get the time, if you have the time, just read it in whole, but for our purposes we're going to be reading from verse 17 through 22. And he says, "And he came and preached peace to you who are far off, peace to those who are near.

For through him we both have our access in one spirit to the Father." So in Christ we have this access, and he says, "So then you're no longer strangers and aliens, but you're fellow citizens." So now we have citizenship, we have this fellowship, we have this brotherhood, and he says, "With all the saints in our God's household." Wow, now we have a belonging to an intimate household setting.

Verse 20, "Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together is growing up," and look at this, "into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit." Man, that passage is quite powerful.

I don't know if we appreciate what that passage is saying. I was looking at the way, I was trying to see the way that MacArthur, John MacArthur, would try to like describe and summarize all of this, but he doesn't. This passage in 1 Peter verses 4 through 8 that I'm preaching, he preaches six sermons on that.

And I was like, "Great." But the running theme, which helped me a lot, is he said, "The magnitude of privilege." Get a sense of the magnitude of privilege when he says, "I am building you into a house." And if we get that, then we get the thrust of that emphasis there.

That while you are suffering and you're sitting here thinking, "Oh, we're not making much of anything. You talking about a house? I don't have a house." Right? You're talking about a place to serve, a place to do X, Y, and Z. I don't have any of that. And he's saying, "But God has been building you all up for this.

And even while you're suffering, He's still working powerfully." That's what he's saying. And the privilege continues to just mount up and stack up. I just listed a few, but the greatest privilege of all is we're being built together and what we are going to be is a glorious temple.

I mean, all the flashbacks, so to speak, if the audience, some of them were Jews, and he speaks a lot in almost like Jewish reference to Old Testament passages and whatnot. And I'm assuming a lot of the people he's talking to are Jewish people who converted to Christianity. And immediately as he's saying this, they should think back to the glory of the temple.

The temple was an immensely sacred place. You know that. Nobody would dare tread the ground in the temple. You risk your life. God showed the Israelite nation, "You don't just approach me because my presence is holy and the access restricted." But he says, "Not only do you have access, you together become the dwelling place of His very presence." Wow.

The magnitude of privilege for those who have Christ. And in this, he says, "God is doing to you." The work that God is doing is a divine work that He is accomplishing. Now, I want to go back to this idea, and I'm going to reference it a lot, that the people are suffering.

So I'm sure it was tough for Apostle Peter to preach this in some sense because, again, somebody is going to say like, "Nah, I don't see it." Right? "I don't see it." And so that's why the next verses following, Apostle Peter gives a proof, confirmation and evidence. You don't believe God is still working even though you're suffering?

You don't believe God has not just simply a wonderful plan, but incredibly powerful, transformative plan to build the people of God up as a holy priesthood. And later on, you read in verse 9 that you're going to be this chosen nation, a royal priesthood, holy nation, proclaiming the excellencies of God.

God has a significant role for His people. Well let's take a look at that proof that I'm mentioning. So we're looking down, going back to 1 Peter, and we'll read verse 6 and 7. So he says, "For this is contained in Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone, and he who believes in Him will not be disappointed.

This precious value then is for you who believe." So as we look at that, he says, as a proof, "You don't believe me? It was written in Scripture long ago before I ever told you." Right? And what he's referring to specifically is the book of Isaiah. So please turn your Bible over to the book of Isaiah, chapter 28.

There are times when I wish that we were all Jewish. Why? Because there's an element to which ingrained into the Jewish culture is a kind of repetition, educational process where you're taught by way of ritual, habit, memory, sacrifice, and all of that, where you're taught to appreciate some of these truths.

Right? So we're going to get to that idea in a little bit, but I'm going to ask several questions before we read this. And some of these questions are this. We just read a moment ago that he is laying this cornerstone down. We read also in verse 4 that there is this living stone that we're coming to.

How would the Jewish people receive that if we were to be raised in their culture and we had all that education and all that upbringing? How would we receive that truth? Well, let's take a look at Isaiah 28 in verse 14 through 17. He says this, "Therefore, hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers who rule his people in Jerusalem.

Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death and Sheol, we have an agreement.' When the overwhelming whip passes through it, it will not come to us. For we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter." Immediately we get the context. You see, the prophet Isaiah, he had a difficult job.

He's preaching a very simple and short message. Essentially it's this, "You're going to get judged." Wrath is coming, right? But unfortunately, the people scoffed. The people who were especially even rulers of Jerusalem mocked and said, "No, not us." You see, us and the enemies, us and them, we're friends.

We're good. That's what he's saying, right? No problem. And the false teachers would constantly say, "Peace, just take it easy, Isaiah." That's the way it was working. Now let's move on. He says this in verse 16, "Therefore, thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I am the one who has laid a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious stone of a sure foundation.

Whoever believes will not be in haste, and I will make justice the line and righteousness the plumb line, and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter.'" In context, what's very interesting is that in Isaiah, this passage is a indictment. It's warning. It's judgment.

"I'm going to bring the stone, and everything in terms of your lies, your confidence that is not of God will be all done away with." So here and now, there's an interesting connection we have to ask for. How does this passage prove that God is doing a mighty work in us?

As a matter of fact, how is that passage really encouraging? How does this strengthen the Christians who are suffering? How does this all make sense? Well, let's talk about that a little bit here. He says in the midst of this warning that, "I am the one who is going to lay a foundation." He is going to lay a stone, a tested and precious cornerstone, and it's going to be sure.

You know, my mind this whole week, because Pastor Peter hasn't been here, has been thinking nothing but building, new building stuff. I'd literally at night be like, "Oh my gosh, did I remember to do this? Did I remember to do that? Oh, what did it say on the blueprints?" And so I've been looking at architectural blueprints and realizing, man, blueprints are incredibly important.

Why? Because when the expectant cousin's been like, "Drawings like this, and that looks off." That's the way it's been going. The thing about it is when he says, "I lay this foundation," you can think of it like this. He's laid down the architectural blueprint long ago, before he said in the New Testament through Peter that, "I am building this spiritual house." The first stone has been laid.

That's what he's saying. If I'm going to try to encourage you that God had this already in mind, look how far back we can go. Through the time of Isaiah, there's going to be a foundation that is done. And upon this foundation, I'm going to build this spiritual house.

So as we think about this idea of the stone and the living stone and the cornerstone, the cornerstone is typically a big stone, much bigger than your typical other stones that the rest of the building is made of. And that's going to set the line. That's going to set the trajectory of the rest.

It's going to set how things are squared. But synonymously, the way that the Jewish people understood this cornerstone, the living stone, was the foundation. You want to hear something pretty crazy? Is that this idea of the foundation stone was so ingrained in the Hebrew and Jewish culture that people would synonymously refer to that as the presence of God.

Why? In the temple on Mount Moriah where King Solomon's temple was built, okay, this is referenced in 2 Chronicles chapters 1 and 2, where the King Solomon's glorious temple was built, in the holy of holies, in that inner chamber, right, where no one really could go, the Ark of the Covenant rested on what's called the foundation stone.

That symbolically represented that God's presence was going to be here. His seat of mercy was going to be here on the foundation stone that God has provided. So what we learn is, God says, even while I'm pronouncing and foretelling of this judgment and warning, that he has selected a place.

He has set what is costly, precious, and valuable, set as a foundation for what he's going to do for all those who would trust in his name. That's pretty amazing to me. Now by way of connecting it even more, let's turn our Bibles to Psalm chapter 118. Psalm 118, verses 22 to 27.

This Psalm is very important because the Psalms from chapters about 116 to chapter 120, these are the Psalms that people regularly memorize to recite during festivals. So Yom Kippur, you know, if you guys heard of Rosh Hashanah, the calendar year for the new year for the Jews, the Jewish calendar, and the day of atonement.

In all of these festivals, they had regularly, you know, kind of ritualistic liturgy, reciting of the scriptures. Psalm 118 was one of them. Do you know what they repeated every year? This is what it reads. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing.

It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Save us, we pray, O Lord. O Lord, we pray, give us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord.

The Lord is God and he has made his light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords up to the horns of the altar. Why do I bring this passage up? Because I'm saying there's this concept of the foundational stone, synonymously cornerstone. How is this encouraging? How does this help?

Because it provides an incredible hope for the presence of God. For the nation of Israel, when they were reciting these psalms of the cornerstone to come, how marvelous that day would be. To them, they were anticipating with great eagerness, the Messiah. If you guys remember on the triumphal entry, the passion week of Christ, right?

When he's entering into Jerusalem, over a million people are gathered and everybody's laying down their psalms. You know what they say? They say, "Save us, save us, Hosanna, Hosanna." They say, "Great and blessed is the one who comes from the Lord in the name of the Lord." They're essentially saying, "This could be the Messiah." They had that kind of anticipation for the concept of the foundational stone.

To them, for us, when we read 1 Peter, it's like, "And you're coming to this living stone and this living stone was built and you're kind of like, 'Okay, I get it. We're supposed to be a building.'" To the Jewish people, this was all their lives' anticipation. This was their great expectation.

One of the questions we have to ask ourselves is this. Part of the reason why I said earlier, "I wish we were Jewish," is because there always has to be a growing appreciation for Christ in our lives. Do you have a great expectation for Christ? Another way to put it is, do you have a great anticipation for Christ by which what you are longing for, what you believe is going to fill you, the solution to their ...

For them, it was the solution to all of their both religious, their economical, and government woes. For us, as Christians, Christ is supposed to be our all in all, the very presence of God. He provides access. He provides the peace and in the book of Ephesians chapter two, he says, "He himself, he himself is the hope, the peace that is afforded to us." That's an important question to ask.

Are we looking for this precious living cornerstone as the way the people will receive it? But now, I want to quickly move to another, the back end of that application. Because something strange has happened. The Jewish people rightly were trained to anticipate the Messiah. But then, after they had sung all those Hosanna songs and said, "Oh, here comes the son of David.

Here's Hosanna, Hosanna. Save us, save us," is what they're saying. What happened? They quickly turned. Rather than marveling then and saying, "How, what a marvelous savior we have," they quickly turned and now it's like, "Get rid of him. Be gone." And they mocked him. And they beat him. They spit on him.

And then ultimately, they cried out for his crucifixion. What in the world is that? How could that happen? Well, in the intro, I talked about expectations. I also talked about disappointment. You see, there is a skewed expectation, if we're not careful, that we are all susceptible to. What am I talking about?

You see, God has given his son as an immense treasure and precious value to us who need life, who need a savior, who need light and truth, who need grace and peace. But if that's not what we're looking for, what good is he to us? You see, in this story, or not in the story, in this analogy metaphor that Apostle Peter is giving in chapter two, there is two buildings being built.

There is one, the spiritual house of God, the household for the holy priest. There is another builder, or the builders, who are building their own religion, their own system, and their own lives. If that's what you're building, what good is this stone to you? It's just a piece of stone.

We have to be careful in terms of what we're anticipating and expecting from God, that it is not skewed, so that all of a sudden we're like, "Hey, Hosanna!" And then it's like, "Oh, what?" And you're so disappointed. Now he becomes a hurdle for you to step over to get what you want.

And that's why in this passage, in 1 Peter chapter two, he'll say, "To those who believe, this is precious value. It's for you. But for those who disbelieve," look at this in verse seven, "the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." Depending on the skewed perspective of our expectations, we're going to be so disappointed in Christ, he becomes a stumbling block for us.

Now, in order to get another sense of the idea here, we're going to take a look at where this quotation comes from. Apostle Peter quotes actually three different passages in just verses six through eight. But that last part about the stone becoming a stumbling block and a rock of offense comes from Isaiah chapter eight, verses 11 through 15.

So let's go there to follow the paper trail of how he's been quoting these passages in some of the context that's come there. Okay? So so far as you go there, we've had number one, God has a plan to build you up as a spiritual household. Number two, Jesus Christ, the cornerstone is a proof of that plan.

I don't think I said that, huh? Sorry for those of you guys who have to take notes and you need it in order. I gave it to you at the end. Number two is Jesus is a cornerstone, proof of God's plan. Okay? Here's number, Isaiah chapter eight, verses 11 through 15.

And this is what he says. "For the Lord spoke thus to me with strong hand upon me and warned me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, 'Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy. Do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread.

But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear. Let him be your dread. And all will come, sorry, and he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling to both houses of Israel, a trap and a stair to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

And many shall stumble upon it. They shall fall and be broken. They shall be stared and taken." Okay. So, what we have is an interesting passage in Isaiah, where again he's rebuking the people. But as he's rebuking the people, you get in context, he's like, "Don't think like they do.

Don't have this worldview where the greatest thing they fear is them. And like sorrow and just pain." And that's a challenge to us too. Don't fear just like everybody else in the world fears. For people in the world, their worst case scenario is, "I don't get the job of my dreams and I'm stuck at a cubicle job that I hate." The fear of the world is, "I just don't get to travel." I don't know.

Whatever the fear of the world may be, don't think like them. And he says, "Let the one you fear be him, the Lord of hosts, and honor him. Regard him as holy." That's what this passage is saying, right? But then he gives this interesting, what I like to call, fork in the road.

He says, "And he will become a sanctuary and a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling." Right? So he says, "Do this. Fear him, honor him, regard him as holy. And he will be a sanctuary and he will be a stumbling block." There's a fork in the road.

And I want to give a challenge to you, just as Apostle Peter is giving a challenge to the people. He says, "There is this precious value and then there is this scary warning. There is a fork in the road. The benefits of having God as your sanctuary, the benefits of having Christ as your solid ground and foundation, the benefits of having Christ as your cornerstone, these things can only be experienced if you persevere in faith." I imagine Apostle Peter saying, "I hear that some of you, because of the persecution you're experiencing, might be tempted to say, 'Forget it.

All I have to do is, I'm not a Christian no more.'" Right? "All I have to do to not be persecuted is like, 'I'm not Christian.'" And then turn around and go, "I just read my Bible in private." Right? That's what you would have to do. But he says, "No, there is this fork in the road.

You can't have both. You can't seek safety from all the persecution, provisions for every life circumstance, and yet at the same time expect all the provisions, privileges, the great magnitude of privileges of God, while having both scenarios in your favor." Brothers and sisters, there's a fork in the road.

A lot of us, in this day and age, defer the fork in the road. What do I mean by that? Every single one of us, because of life circumstances, get tested in our faith, and some of us respond to the Word of God, the Gospel, and sometimes the commands that we know to be true in different fashion.

Some of us really know that we should surrender certain sins. Some of us really know that we should start committing to the things that we know are priorities in the Scripture. But then we start to delay and drag our feet. There is a fork in the road. What do I mean?

We believe maybe, especially if you're young, I'm going to take it more seriously and do that later on. We believe maybe, I'll give you kind of excuses wise, I don't know enough, I need to learn better, so I'm just going to do that stuff later when I know more.

Whatever may be the case, that is not an option. What am I saying? I hope I'm making sense here. What am I saying? According to 1 Peter, you're either rejecting Christ or you're standing on the solid rock of Christ. If you drag your feet, if you defer your decision, that's not obedience.

For those of you guys who have kids, when you ask your child, "Hey, go pick up your toys," and your kid goes, "Ahhhhhh," or you're like, "Good job obeying," you know, "Can you please just move a little faster?" No. Why are you not obeying me? If your child is sitting there and then you ask him, "Eat your food." What are you doing?

I'm trying to decide. Do you commend him? "Well, good. I'm glad you're thinking about it." No, that's rejection of your command. We think that by deferring, by putting stuff off, maybe just, I don't know, saying ignorance, I didn't hear that, I don't know, that is not an option. There's a fork in the road.

You're either going to run to the sanctuary of God or you're going to reject him. And there's a warning for all of us who do that, especially I'm speaking to those of you who are on the fence because I know. I've counseled a lot of people this year who I feel like they're wrestling in their faith and they don't know what they ought to do.

There is a fork in the road. You cannot delay your decision. You cannot. And there is an exhortation for us here. See the choices. There are the builders who see Christ as worthless because of whatever personal ambition, because of whatever things are desirous for you. And then there are those who trust and all of a sudden this honor, this joy is theirs.

You know something beautiful here? If you look, he talks about this stone that's precious in the sight of God. It's choice, you know? It's like, mm, it's top tier, right? And then he says that this precious value is yours then through faith. Some of your other translations will say this honor.

And then he gives this promise that those who believe in him, they will not be disappointed. Some of your translations say they will not be hastened. In the Hebrew what it means is like getting all riled up and excited, but then that's it, right? You're just like, so what he's saying is you're not going to be all stirred up for nothing.

Your great expectations are going to be met. You'll never be let down. This is amazing to me. In the midst of suffering, in the midst of pain, Apostle Peter is saying, don't you worry, Christ will never disappoint you. Wow, what conviction Apostle Peter has. But on the flip side, there's the warning.

And I want to give you this challenge and warning right now. If you defer your decision, delay your heart, give excuses, and you try to dodge the desires of God, you will harden your heart. And when your heart is hardened, there is no turning back. Let me show you how hard your heart can get.

If you turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 21, verses 42 through 45, this is the time when Jesus is interacting with Pharisees and scribes. And as you turn there, I decided just right now to kind of go backwards. I want you guys to first imagine with me, you are the Jewish person in Jesus's day.

You're like 35, 40. You've been learning the scriptures all your life. You memorize Psalm 118. You memorize the Isaiah passage. You memorize Psalm 120, all kinds of stuff, talking about here's this cornerstone. Remember that this is the glorious day. What a glorious day and marvelous time this is. You know, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

He's coming, you know. You memorize all that. And you recite that every single year during Passover. And then here and now, there is this stir in the whole city. This could be it. This could be the Messiah. You know, so just imagine with me how much like exhilaration, anticipation, and all that's in your heart, you know.