This morning's text is found in 1st Peter, chapter 2 verses 9 through 11.

I invite you to take your Bible and open to that.

You don't have a Bible, there's one right in front of you.

It's found on page 1,440.

1st Peter, chapter 2 for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who

has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. For you are once not a people, but now you

are the people of God. You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lust which war against the soul.

Last week as I was praying with Noel, I found myself without even forethought, thanking the Lord for being human.

I said things like thank you that I can see and hear and feel thank you that I can think

and feel thank you that I can think about this reality, that I see here, thank you that I can

form judgments about it and talk about right and wrong and good and bad and beautiful and ugly.

And thank you that there can on the basis of these judgments be strong,

strong, deep emotions of joy and sadness and hope and discouragement and hate and love.

And thank you that on the basis of all this I can. and hate and love.

And thank you that on the basis of all this,

I can plan and strategize in the hopes of accomplishing

something worthwhile.

And thank you most of all that all of this human activity

gets caught up into knowing and loving and serving the greatest being in all the universe.

It was one of those rare moments when you feel like you've just kind of without even planned it brushed with eternity.

And you've just kind of been awakened to the wonder that you are created in the image of God, to deal with the living God,

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