I will invite you to open up your Bibles
to the book of Exodus chapter 19 Exodus
chapter 19 so you're like wait a minute
haven't we been preaching on the book of
Acts for the past like 10 years you know
is there any other book in the Bible
some of you might be wondering I think
I'm pretty much done right it's all all
the sermons from the book of Acts are on
our YouTube page you can get to that
through the church web page and click in
and feel free to check out those if you
want we might revisit it but I think
we're moving on and you know it's
interesting timing that the song that we
kind of saying that the Lord really
brought us to today was that a song that
began with a if there's one word that we
could use to describe if there's one
word they could sum everything up for us
as we come to the Lord what would that
word be and the word was holy holy and
that is a powerful word and a word that
I think what exactly does that mean what
does it mean that God is holy what does
it mean that we're to be holy we have
this sense that it is absolutely central
that it sums up everything and yet what
exactly does it mean and how do we enter
into that we're going to be talking in
the coming weeks about the beauty of
holiness the beauty of holiness and I
know that can sound like a a strange
phrase the beauty of holiness because
for many of us when we think about
holiness we don't think about beauty we
think about other things and different
misconceptions we might have but we're
going to be exploring the beauty and the
majesty of the holiness of God and how
that sticks to each one of us as we
become his treasured possession amen so
Exodus chapter 19 starting in verse 1
we're going to read something that I
would consider the proposal where King
Yahweh the Lord of the universe proposes
to the people of Israel that they would
become
his people Exodus 19 verse 1 just read
it in your rival it's there okay on the
first day of the third month after the
israelites left egypt on that very day
they came to the desert of sinai and
after they set out from ref adine they
entered the desert of sinai and israel
in camp there in the desert in front of
the mountain then Moses went up to God
and the Lord called to him from the
mountain and said this is what you are
to say to the descendants of Jacob and
what you are to tell the people of
Israel you yourselves have seen what I
did to Egypt and how I carried you on
eagle's wings and brought you to myself
now if you obey me fully and keep my
covenant than out of all the nations you
will be my treasured possession although
the whole earth is mine you will be for
me a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation these are the words that Moses
was to speak to the Israelites Father
and Jesus name I pray God that your Holy
Spirit would be here teaching us today
you are the Good Shepherd and I pray
that we as your sheep would hear the
Shepherd's voice today that we would
hear you communicating your heart to
each one of us lord I pray God that your
power would be made perfect in our
weakness is Lord and that we would hear
your heart what you're speaking to us
today Holy Spirit we give you free rein
in this time in jesus name amen amen
holiness holiness what are some of the
images that come to mind when you think
of that word just think to yourself if I
were in a class I'd ask for hands and I
would hear it from people but I won't do
that here but when you think of Holy of
a holy person some of us might bristle
little bit some because we might be from
a background where holiness means you
will bei a lot of rules where holiness
means you let people have it if they
don't obey the right rules right some of
us might have the image of a grim kind
of puritanical and by the way the
Puritans really weren't so bad but we
won't talk about that but a kind of a
grim super serious holy Rite got the
voices got to get deeper holy kind of a
scary thought others might have a
positive impression you might imagine a
person who is just so perfect and holy
then there's nothing that they could do
wrong that they float they just float
right they don't have to walk they can
just try to float around because they've
never sinned maybe they're you think of
like the heroes right do you think of
the mother Teresa you think of the Pope
maybe you think of somebody who just
seems like a monk someone who's so
perfect they certainly don't have to get
up on monday morning and fight with
traffic to go to work they certainly
don't like football and they wouldn't
laugh at a joke or maybe they would but
only the good ones don't leave the nice
ones right sometimes the positive
misconception of holiness does more
damage than the negative because holy
people are someone else someone who
lives in a monastery someone or maybe in
the Protestant setting maybe the
missionary right the mission or someone
who goes we think or a minister a
full-time clergy person but it's not me
I'm just a normal guy if you are a
Christian you do not have the option of
being a normal guy or a normal gal you
are what is called in the King James
Version a peculiar people gotta love
that a
distinctive people a holy people and
that might mean that you accepted Jesus
yesterday and you got a lot of stuff
you're still working at you're a holy
person in discipleship level two we
talked about the process of
sanctification and under the place with
the place where I have people put their
names you know the blank where you write
their name I put before the blank the
words the letter S T period st. and then
you got to fill it in does that mean you
have arrived no but does it mean you're
a saint according to the New Testament
we are saints of the Living God in the
process of becoming holy it is a reality
and a process and it's a beautiful
process sometimes we think of the
process of discovering holiness like I
said before as a stressful process a
process where we get to feel guilty a
lot right anyone good at guilt now every
culture yeah every cultures got their
own way of trafficking and guilts we've
all got our own flavors of killed I'm
from Italian to set Italian Italian
grandmother's are experts there there
there there men majestic composers and I
don't got my mother is an Italian
grandmother who is a beautiful human
being so mom I'm not talking about you
but everyone else you feel guilty
already Italian kill japanese guilt
latino or latino guilt i got a lot of
that don't no te preocupes past or voy
estar bien so we're about a pastor I'll
be all right I feel so guilty the guilt
the process of growing in holiness is
not the process of growing in guilt in
guilty feelings it's not the process of
growing to be so hard on myself that I'm
miserable all the time because I can
never be good enough that's not holiness
it is something different real holiness
is beautiful real holiness is majestic
and shining
and powerful and in the context of an
intimate anointed love relationship with
the god of the universe real holiness
will change our lives it'll change our
perspectives on who we are and who the
people around us are it's no accident I
think that in the New Testament the
relationship between God and His people
is compared to a wedding the
relationship between a groom and the
bride coming down that aisle I have the
privilege of doing a lot of weddings in
this church and in every one of them and
I really mean this and every one of them
I experience the presence of God in a
special way especially as I go back over
the vows and remember what I side on to
amen and but there's a sense of
something holy and awesome happening in
that moment that these two human beings
have been given the privilege of making
a covenant with one another of
entrusting themselves to one another and
even God is watching to honor that
covenant I always have a sense of the
angels of God around watching what's
going on at that moment because they're
making a covenant as that bride is
coming down and in the New Testament it
says that that's like Jesus with his
church who gave himself for her to wash
her with water to make her clean without
blemish it's it's a bride is it's like
Jesus is is the groom and we are that
bride coming down the aisle and that
radiant devotion of saying I'm giving
myself to this person that is holiness
as we become his possession we become
his his bride as we belong to him so
we're gonna talk we're gonna explore
this and as we explore the concept of
holiness we're gonna be looking in the
coming months at some bizarre text of
the Bible that you never usually read
some stuff in the Old Testament that you
usually skip over or you read it and
you're like what in the world was that
stuff about some of the Old Testament
rules as they would worship God in the
tabernacle and there were rules
their diet and about their clothing and
about cleansing all of those are
spectacular pictures that God has given
us of what it means to belong to a holy
God and we unpack some of the least
likely texts of the Old Testament we're
going to discover diamonds on the inside
and it's gonna change our lives so i
invite you to buckle your seat belt if
you're still willing to come back next
week after all this because we are going
to unpack what it means to be God's holy
people but I want to start with the
proposal if God were a husband proposing
to his novia his his beloved then this
is it God has the people of Israel in
Exodus 19 they have been delivered from
400 long years of brutal slavery in
Egypt you know the story right the
people of Israel under Pharaoh the
Israelites were slaves being beaten
being abused being degraded God heard
the groaning of his people and he came
to a man named Moses who through a
series of poor decisions ended up in the
desert right for 40 years and God
appeared to Moses in a member bush a
burning bush and he says go down I've
heard my peoples groaning and deliver
them up out of Egypt and he says and
this is going to be the sign to you that
it's really me talking to you when you
have brought them out of slavery you
will worship me on this mountain well
guess what had happened Moses went to
Egypt goes to Pharaoh let my people go
that they might worship me Pharaoh says
no way Bam Bam plagues after plague
after plague God the God of the universe
wages war against the superpower of the
day to deliver a poor enslaved people
and plague after plague until Pharaoh
finally lets them go you know the story
they go through the waters of the Red
Sea
they come into the desert and there's no
food and God miraculously provides we're
going to read a little later about bread
in the desert there's no water Moses
strikes the rock and water comes gushing
out of the rock God feeds them but now
is the time where he brings them back to
the mountain where he originally
appeared to Moses Mount Sinai and this
is the moment where God says okay now
you're out of Egypt you've come out now
I have a proposal for you he's going to
propose that they become his people he
is gay I'm not gonna say he's getting
down on one knee right but he's
proposing to them and they're gonna need
to respond to and I want to look at that
so this is a special moment it's after
seven weeks they've been out the third
month they had left Egypt so that
coincides with the modern day feast of
Pentecost there's got to be something to
that as God is going to come down in the
mountain and appear to Moses and he
talks to them and he offers them to
become his people now first I'm going to
say that God proposing to them is God
proposing to us too because the same
words used here are applied to
Christians in the New Testament and God
is issuing a proposal to his people on a
regular basis he's giving us an
invitation and each one of us as
individuals and we as a community need
to decide on a regular basis will we say
yes or will we implicitly say no by
ignoring the invitation there is an
invitation God wants to give us but
before he gives the invitation he
reminds us why he is worth trusting
right why should we be willing to enter
into a covenant ille agreement with a
relationship with God in trust him fully
why should I become God's person and
God's community he begins by saying in
Exodus 19 in verse 4 he says you
yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt
they had seen
they had seen God wage war against this
evil dis oppressing nation they'd seen
the plagues you remember the plagues if
you've never read them they're pretty
dramatic it's the stuff that movies is
made of God says let my people go Moses
says no okay you're gonna have a bunch
of gnats climb all over you until it
annoys you right and gnats cover the
land of Egypt until they say fine let
you go then he changes his mind wait a
minute no way okay we'll try frogs this
time remember that one and frogs come
out of the Nile and jump up into the
places of Egypt into their places of
business into their homes on their
kitchen tables in their beds on their
computers frogs everywhere and Moses is
ok enough frogs you can go now if any
changes is mine there will be darkness a
plague of darkness it's going to be
completely dark but I'm gonna make a
distinction wherever the Israelites are
there's gonna be light but on you it's
gonna be pitch-black darkness no
flashlights no iphones to light the way
darkness okay but you'll hail that
destroyed animals and crops blood
turning the water to blood plague after
playing after plague until that ultimate
and terrible plague on the first born in
which every firstborn son of Egypt every
animal and person was put to death but
God spared the homes of the Israelites
if they would kill a sacrificial lamb
and smear the blood on the door remember
the story the Angel of Death would pass
over their homes and they survived this
terrible plague they escaped and they're
coming out and they remember what God
did to the objections that God is a
warrior you know I remember when I was
when I was new to Lion of Judah 20 years
ago a lot of the Spanish choruses sing
about God is a warrior they draw from
the Psalms where you know God fights for
us and he fights our enemies and
mr. Bergman yo yo yo otra passe you know
and and all the cod roe stay hito hol
Lamar you know and I you know God
through the chariots of Egypt into the
ocean and it would they were very
warlike songs I was used to kind of
meditate the kind of meditative kind of
thing and I remember being like wow this
is hardcore we got some got some angry
songs going on here but they weren't
really angry there were happy songs
because they were celebrating the fact
that our God is a fighter he's a warrior
and you know what it's good to have God
fighting for you know anyone facing some
Egyptians now I don't mean literal
Egyptians okay there's very nice
Egyptians out there we got no problem
with Egypt now that was a long time ago
but what we're talking about those
things that enslave you write those
problems those battles that we deal with
it got it it's good to know that someone
is fighting for me cuz sometimes it
feels like I'm all alone God is on your
side he is aware of you and he is
fighting your battles for you remember
you yourself in the Hebrew this is
emphatic you yourself saw what I did to
the Egyptians you saw how mighty I have
and you saw that I'm willing to fight on
your behalf to rescue you and how and
look at the language of this you
yourself saw what I've done to the
people to take Egypt and how I carried
you on eagle's wings and brought you to
myself you know some people view the god
of the Old Testament as a scary distant
harsh God not at all God is the same God
God has the same heart in the Old
Testament as in the new and God says I
carried you on eagle's wings when you
came through those waters of the Red Sea
and you're looking from one side to the
other and you're like is this a dream
and you come out to the other side and
he like
I can't believe on living there any
people who can't believe they're still
living there any people who God has had
to fight for you and he has carried you
on eagle's wings and here you are you're
in one piece you're living he's carried
you on eagle's wings and it's not just
for nothing he's done that and he says
and I brought you to myself here the
heart of God he rescued us to bring us
to him so that we would have an intimate
relationship with him you know there's a
beautiful text in the Old Testament in
the book of Hosea where God calls Israel
his firstborn son see God uses people
the way we view a little child that is
our own and he says out of Egypt I
called my son now here the heart of God
as he says it was I who taught ephriam
that's a word for Israel who taught
Ephraim to walk taking them by the arms
but they did not realize that it was I
who healed them I led them with the
cords of human kindness with ties of
love to them I was like one who lifts a
little child to the cheek and I bent
down to feed them that's God they didn't
know that it was I who healed them there
have been moments when you have been
delivered and you didn't know it was God
who healed you it was God who was
watching over you That moment when you
felt all alone and you thought no one
could hear well there was someone who
heard your groaning there's someone who
knows what you were going through and
who cared who is weeping with you the
heart of God hear the passion of God for
his people I love these people so much
I've rescued them and in the New
Covenant God did that at the cost of his
own son you were bought with a price how
much he loves you and to bring them to
myself now because I love you so much
because I've shown that I'm powerful to
do to deliver you and take care of you I
invite you if you will fully obey me and
keep my covenant a covenant is two way
two ways God can't force us to be his
people God can't force you sometimes I
want to force people I want to make
people love Jesus right I want a
discipleship I want two feet you know
you can God invites us but we've got to
decide if we're going to respond to him
or not and he's I'm inviting you into
this covenant and you will have your
part you will be me fully and you'll
keep my covenant but if you will do this
if you will enter into this continent I
will be there for you Jesus still makes
that invitation come to me all you who
are weary and heavy laden and I will
give you rest learn from me take my yoke
upon you and learn from me for I am
humble and gentle in heart and you will
find rest for your souls for my yoke is
easy and my burden is light behold I
stand at the door and knock if anyone
hears my voice and opens the door I will
come in and dine with him and him with
me he's beckoning he's inviting and he
makes some spectacular promises and
here's what we're going to begin getting
into the meaning of holiness of what God
means by holiness look what it says in
Exodus 19 verse 5 now if you obey me
fully and keep my covenant then out of
all the nations you will be my treasured
possession although the whole earth is
mine you will be for me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation well if you
will accept the
proposal of all the nations on earth you
will be my treasured possession that is
holiness belonging to a God who
treasures us who is holy now I looked up
the I did a little bit cracked open my
Hebrew Bible it's been too long I find
the crack that open the word here for
treasured possession has a very
technical meaning in the Old Testament
it's the word that is used for a king's
royal treasury King David King Solomon
it's their gold it's their silver it's
their jewels it's their treasures that
they they have in their royal treasury
God is saying I am King Yahweh king of
the whole universe and if you will
accept this invitation then you will be
as a king you will be my royal treasured
possession and I will treasure you like
a diamond I will cherish you in the
wedding vows to love and to cherish
right who doesn't long to be cherished
right that's why we often in marriage
can give each other a hard time because
whoever you marry won't do it good
enough right so don't because they're
human but there is one who will cherish
you there is one who sees your value
there's one who can take care of you as
you deserve to be cared for of all the
nations on earth you will be my
treasured possession like a like a
person treasures of jewel like a groom
treasures a bride like a parent
treasures a newborn child like a child
treasures a puppy you will be that for
me right my little guy wants a puppy
he's giving giving me a hard time all
three of them over here you give me they
want a puppy right and the biggest
argument the biggest argument that's
almost got me over the edge was when
Noah was like you know what sometimes I
see a puppy or dog and I just I wanted
to love me because I love it so much and
I think that's how God feels about us
and I'm like oh man okay oh dude okay
get the puppy I don't know okay we got
some people who are we gonna hook us up
holiness means you're that puppy for God
he loves you he chose you he saved you
he rescued you he knew you from before
you were born and he's followed your
journey and you are called to be of all
nations on earth his treasured
possession holiness means we belong to
God that God looks at us and says that
one that's mine that one's that's mine
that's mine mine not in now mine mine
mine I don't want to be like Nemo right
but in a good way it's good to belong to
God and God looks at us yeah that's mine
that one's mine Dodd already if you have
accepted Jesus that's already your
reality that is holiness that which is
set apart for God that's what the
definition of holiness a holy person is
a person who belongs to God doesn't mean
you've already fully then growing in a
life of holiness means simply growing
into my identity you already are holy
now there's I there I have some dear
friends that I love who have accepted
Jesus and their heart as their Lord and
Savior they're real Christians
struggling with addictions that are
awful then that are just just it's it's
so hard but they are already holy if
they believe in Jesus it's already a
reality and the power of that belonging
will transform their lives I know that
I've seen it I've lived it in different
ways holiness is a reality that then
it's a reality before God that then
becomes part of who we are that's the
process of holiness it's not about being
issued a list of rules that now you must
obey it's about a transformation from
the inside out because I belong to God
and I love
him I want to please him and the
transformation begins but it begins by
God looking at you and saying you're
mine you're mine you're his treasured
possession you are special you have a
special identity out of all the peoples
on the face of the earth the Lord has
made you his treasured possession and
chosen you a special dignity it says he
declared that he will set you in praise
and fame and honor high above all the
nations he has made and that you will be
a people holy to the Lord your God as he
promised God will clothe you in holy
Majesty in the beauty of holiness a new
dignity a new identity now lest this go
to your head okay God does make a point
when he talks to the people of Israel of
saying you are a people holy to the Lord
your God the Lord you God has chosen you
out of all the peoples on the face of
the earth to be his people his treasured
possession but the Lord did not set his
affection on you and choose you because
you were more numerous than other
people's for you were the fewest of all
peoples but it was because the Lord
loved you and sworn oath to your
ancestors you don't deserve it okay I'm
not trying to be mean here okay I'm just
say in a reality there's nothing you did
that means oh this one's I've got to
make this one a Christian oh man I need
I need a few good men I need a few good
women please please will you sign I
really need to hire you you're such a
good person I want you to be a Christian
that's not it it's a loving choice of
choosing us in spite of the fact that we
don't deserve it and making us his own
there's a word for that it's called
grace and grace is not only a new
testament concept grace is God's way of
dealing with these people from the
Garden of Eden
to the book of Revelation grace people
have never deserved his love and mercy
and he's always found us in the Garden
of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned against
the lord what did they do first they
know they're naked they make these
ridiculous you know leaf garments for
themselves and hide in the bushes
trembling afraid and God doesn't leave
them hiding in the bushes he says Adam
where are you he comes and finds us in
our sin and we become his his treasured
possession he looks at those garments I
said that's not going to do it and he
clothes them in animal skins we talked
about this in discipleship level 1 where
did those skins come from for a from
Adam and Eve an animal had to die blood
had to be shed to cover their shame God
has always been about finding us where
we hide clothing us and covering our
shame even at the cost of the blood of
another that's the God we serve a God of
mercy a God of love and of kindness now
as we are called to be that special
people out of all the nations on earth
he says I will make you to be for me in
verse 6 you will be for me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation a kingdom of
priests what does a priest do in the Old
Testament we're going to learn about
this a priest is the one who goes into
the presence of God the visible we're
going to read the visible manifest
Shekinah glory of God that God chooses
to dwell among them and that priest
worships in that Tabernacle in that
movable temple and allows and serves
that God and worships him so that that
priest enables the people to worship God
in his presence a priest mediates the
presence of God see the nation of Israel
we're going to have a very special
mission as a nation they were going to
host the visible
presence or manifestation of God even
though God is over the whole earth he's
in all places he's omnipresent he will
manifest his presence in a visible
glorious fire cloud among the people of
Israel they will host his presence he's
moving in he's moving in who's your
neighbor right who is in our
neighborhood well god is saying the
presence of God will be in your
neighborhood and you will have the job
as priests of hosting that presence now
for an ancient Israelite that raises a
huge question how can the visible
presence of God a holy and morally
perfect God dwell among a sinful and
dirty people like us and that's what the
Old Covenant is about that's what the
Book of Leviticus is about we're going
to be studying that how can this
presence be among us without melting us
in His Holiness I'm aware of my
sinfulness and when I'm in the presence
of a holy god I'm like God I don't
deserve it and we're gonna find out how
God makes it possible for us to welcome
his presence and to house his presence
and not just to have his presence in a
tabernacle near us but to actually we're
gonna see in the New Covenant to be that
temple of the Holy Spirit so that the
glory of god dwells in you and in me
it's a real thing guys that's a real
thing this is not just a hypothetical
concept the presence of God truly can
dwell among and inside people now thanks
to the blood of Jesus as we're going to
learn about in the future God's presence
can be here in that presence now rather
than destroying us transforms us to
reflect the glory that we're touching I
love i'm teaching discipleship level one
this semester I so enjoyed on Friday
nights because I love it when people
learn how to plug into the presence of
God for themselves where they learn how
to really put their faith in Jesus how
to pray how to read the Bible because
when they do
there is a power that starts flowing and
there is a light that starts shining and
I am addicted to that I love in the best
sense of the word I love seeing people
plug into God's power and to see how he
changes our heart from the inside out
you will be a kingdom of priests you
will mediate the presence of God as a
church this is our calling to we're
going to talk about this more and you
wherever you are whether it's at work or
on the street you are called to be a
priest of the Living God but when you're
there in a very real sense God is there
not because your God but because God is
coming through you as a priest of the
Living God amen where you go the
presence of God goes with you and there
we see the meaning of living a holy life
it's not because I feel obligated it's
cuz i have a special dignity a special
office I want my life to reflect the
perfection of the god I represent I want
that love to shine through it's a
totally different view of how to grow in
holiness but it's not just that God says
also you will be a holy nation a holy
nation so you will be a nation unlike
any other nation before or since you
will be a political geographical
political nation whose king is Yahweh
who's king is the Lord no primaries no
elections know you know all the stuff
for watching on CNN these days because
there is one king and he will be the
king of the nation he says my laws will
be your national laws I will write your
Constitution I will rule I will put a
human rulers who will reflect my kingdom
among you I will be your king and you
will be a holy nation now as Christians
there is also a new people a new
priestly people that God has created I
talked about this in other sermons in
the book of Revelation there's a
beautiful song being sung in heaven
where they it says they say
the Angels sang a new song saying you
are worthy to take the scroll in to open
its seals because you speaking to Jesus
King Jesus you were slain and with your
blood you purchased for God persons from
every tribe and language and people and
nation and you have made them to be a
kingdom and priests to serve our God and
they will reign on the earth there's a
new people that God has formed a new
race you've heard about la raza that is
used in Latino the circles right
blending Africa and Spain and indigenous
cultures into a new race well we are a
new raza right here we're a race that is
not based on ethnicity but on a new
birth we share the same birth we are all
born of the same spirit there's a new
kingdom on earth that is no longer a pal
it's greater than a political Kingdom
it's a kingdom ruled by King Jesus with
people from every tribe and tongue and
nation and language every socio-economic
situation and together there is a new
King ruling on earth and people look and
said what are you all doing in the same
room singing these songs we're here
because there is one king that has given
us the same spirit and we are a new
nation a holy nation a new race a holy
race in first Peter 29 it says but you
are a chosen race a royal priesthood a
holy nation a people for God's own
possession that you may proclaim the
excellencies of the one who called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light
we have a mission as a people your job
together with the people of God is to
say god is awesome he is excellent he is
loving look at what he can do he can set
me free he can bring me together with
other people and the holiness of that
shines out of us because we're people
that belong to God that's our mission is
a holy people it's what we're called to
do and to be in all of the different
rules of moral living
flow out of that when I see my body as a
temple of that Holy Spirit then we think
of the vote Paul said to the Corinthians
he said do you not know that your bodies
are temples of the Holy Spirit who is in
you whom you've received from God you
are not your own you were bought at a
price and therefore honor god with your
body's my body belongs to God my life
belongs to God my my tone my everything
about me so I will honor God with my
body as is fitting my identity is a
royal priest of the Living God holiness
means I belong to the God who loves me
it means I'm his it's the mark of God on
my life holiness means we belong to that
God you know in the old testament the
priests and i'll begin kind of bring it
to a close with this the priests used to
wear very special garments to symbolize
their being set apart to serve God in a
special way beautiful symbolism that
we'll talk about actually and on their
turban they had a very special head
plate that they would wear right there
and it was majestic clothes by the way
there was a breastplate with jewels that
represented the people of Israel that
they would carry on their heart and all
kinds of beautiful symbolism and the
priestly garments they were majestic
looking when they were fully in their
full outfit that God prepared for them
but on the the turban there was a plate
that had simple words three words no for
words holy to the Lord holy to the Lord
on the plate on their forehead for me
that says it all holiness means I am set
apart for a holy God and that i have
that plate right here on my forehead the
god has written right there mine holy to
yahweh he this one belongs to me when we
discover that in the spirit we are
wearing that identification it is a
beautiful thing and that's why God says
that he is majestic over the whole
universe he made the
Mountains and the waters and the Seas
but in his house holiness adorns his
house for endless days see God is all
over the universe right but he lives
here in this group of people in a
special way and holiness adorns this
house and makes us beautiful and that's
why we worship in the splendor of his
holiness we respond to the God who has
joined us to himself in that coven ental
relationship and that then spills over
into all of our life i invite you to
think about this week as you go through
your week as you interact with people as
you deal with situations think of
yourself as wearing that head plate holy
to the Lord you know some people do this
by maybe they'll wear a cross or
something but that's fine because it is
comforted but even more important than
that is internalizing in my heart I
belong to him I am I you think the Pope
is holy you think mother well you are
too you are too I will reflect the one
who has married me who owns me and that
is a beautiful thing because then
there's this love and gratitude saying
what did I do to deserve this nothing
and I can't lose it and there's a joy
that you just can't hold back that's
what submission means its submission to
the one who loves us and bought us with
his own blood amen so i invite you to
stand with me and let's pray together
and invite the the worshipers let's
begin this this new series we're going
to be talking about by hearing the
proposal god has made to us and saying
yes right you gotta say yes he can
invite you he can propose but we have to
say yes and so God we come before you
today and lord I thank you God for the
way you have delivered us in dramatic
ways father there are many of us here
who should not even be here toward God
we are here because you have fought for
us
ready you've carried us on eagle's wings
you've brought us to yourself and you
invite us into this relationship with
you Lord we say yes Lord God we say yes
to you Jesus we say Lord God we humbly
submit to you Lord we want to be your
treasured possession we want to be a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation we
want to live up to the dignity of that
and appreciate God how awesome that is
Lord God Father I pray for peace and
your people today and I especially want
to invite I'd ask people to close your
eyes and really focus in on the Lord if
there is anyone here today who you've
never accepted Jesus in your heart as
your Lord and Savior he invites you to
do that today is there anybody who wants
to receive Christ in their heart and to
become a Christian today I'd invite you
to demonstrate that by raising your
heart your hand boldly to the Lord as a
symbol of thank god i want to give
myself to you is there anyone here in
that situation today who wants to give
your heart to Jesus as your Lord and
Savior you've never done it before and
you want to do it today is there anyone
here in that situation I want to be able
to pray for you in a special way
amen and now I invite all of us to if
you're comfortable doing so to raise
your your hands to the Lord if you're
comfortable doing so has a symbol of
yielding your heart to him I thank God
thank you I say yes I say yes to you I
yield to you today Lord God take my life
and let it be ever only all for the Lord
God that you would shine through us as
your people and that we would belong to
you as your treasured possession