I don't really know what I'm doing up here.

We can just keep singing in Christ alone.

If you all want to show up on Sundays with that type of energy, it is so powerful to be in this space.

And such an encouragement to get to sing together.

This is a pivotal moment as we are heading to the conclusion of our series through 1st Peter that we called at the

beginning of summer built different. And the idea is that God is building his church, not made up

of bricks and physical stones, but made up of living stones, broken lives that are being transformed

by the power of Jesus. And so the church is not a building. The church is people

who have been set on fire by the spirit of God to live in the kingdom of God right here and right now.

And 2,000 years ago, this letter was penned by Peter, one of the best friends of Jesus,

as the church was scattered by persecution. And he sat down to write this and said,

look, you have to learn how to live in the world, but not of the world, that we are a holy

nation, a royal priesthood. And so we coexist in the midst of a broken, dark, lost world.

And we have to learn how to stand out and show that we are being built different over time by the glory of

God. And every Sunday this summer, I have watched how the Word of God spoken by an imperfect

and willing person from this stage has broken chains and brought freedom to people because of the

power of the Holy Spirit. This is not hype. This was a special series. First Peter,

I think, will be something that we look back on for a long, long time as sort of a foundational

moment for our church learning how to walk in the way of Jesus and commit ourselves to the

endwelling work of the Holy Spirit. And now we come to the conclusion today on August 8th,

2021. And to be real with you, I started this series having this one on my mind as what I think

about when I think about First Peter. If you asked me before this series, what is First Peter about?

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