Celebrate Your Salvation! | 1 Peter 1:3-12

Well, I remember the day like it was yesterday. It was April 2nd, 2011. And the dreams of 1.2 billion people were hanging in the balance. 1.2 billion people. It was the final of the Cricket World Cup. Not that it means anything to you, but let me tell you what it means to me and to 1.2 billion people back in India. Cricket is literally the only sport that we Indians know and love and follow and play. Every household, every kid is obsessed. with it growing up. So for me growing up, my routine was I go to school at 8 a.m., come back at around 3.30, grab a quick snack, and then head straight out with my cricket gear right on the streets, going round up about 10 of my friends, and then we play cricket until the sun sets. So it's about two and a half hours of cricket every day. And it's not, we don't have parks. close to us where we go and play in parks or just away from traffic, we play right on the streets, right? So you can imagine, there's 10 of us playing cricket, so the closest comparison to cricket is baseball, so you just imagine with me. So we're there right on the streets from one side to another, and the guy is pitching, And there's cars crossing, there's bikes, and sometimes, you know, we direct traffic. We go, if it's an important pitch, we go, they assign someone to go and stop traffic for us so we can finish that pitch. That's how it is. And that was pretty much every day. So about 18 years of my life, that's what I did, you know, play cricket every evening. We're just so obsessed with it. And just for context, guys, because I've always heard, oh, Super Bowl, oh, it's the most viewed, watched event. And I go, do you know how many people watch an India-Pakistan game? A billion people. Super Bowl 2026, which by the way, I love. I love all sports, so I follow American football too. 125 million viewers. So you can see the magnitude of just the following numbers. with cricket so but here's the thing as this as obsessed as we were with this game we had nothing to show for we had won the cricket world cup in the year 1983 and hadn't won anything since then we got close to it in 2003 i remember that day too it was actually a sunday i was part of the worship team i had to be called into the evening service and as a pastor's son I didn't get to skip church if I wanted to watch a game. So I'm there. That's the only time in my life, guys, I got to confess. The only time in my life I'm part of the worship team playing the keys. I had my phone with me and I'm checking the scores while worship is going on. That's how rabid and crazy we are. And India, unfortunately, lost that game to Australia. We were so depressed, you know, for a few weeks. Days, weeks, because our dreams were crushed. But this time, we believed. 2011, we had a great team. It was happening in India as well. And so I watched every game. It was about seven hours, this version of cricket. So I watched every game. And then we made it to the quarterfinals. We were playing the defending champions, Australia again. And we won this time. And slightly, there was hope. And then we were going to play Pakistan, which is India's arch nemesis. It was such a huge game. We had both the president equivalent, we call them prime ministers, at the game. There was high-stakes security, fighter jets, all of that. And India won again. I think we, oh it works, great. So it was the final, India was playing Sri Lanka and it wasn't going too well for us, it wasn't. And here we are so nervous, you know, I had my family and my friends with me watching it together and we go, man, I can't go through another loss again. And then our captain of the team, he promoted himself. He came up, stabilized the innings, and before you know it, I still remember that moment where he hit this, smacked this ball out of the stadium. We call it a six, equivalent to a home run because it's six runs, and the country erupted. I remember jumping like crazy. I've never celebrated like that before. I'm hugging everyone. My grandmother, she was 75 years old at that time. She's shouting. My grandfather had a smile on his face, which said a lot. So we were all so happy. And then we could hear, you know, fireworks outside. There's people with their drums, you know, outside. They're all singing and dancing because we had finally arrived. won the World Cup. It was celebration time. And that continued for a few weeks. There was this overwhelming sense of joy, celebration, relief, and wonder. Celebration is just such an important part of our lives. Because it's hope realized. It's dreams coming true. And you know what? We celebrate all of the time. It's kind of like integrated into the fabric of how we live. We celebrate kids hitting milestones. You know, their first steps, their first words, their first day of school. You know, and it's graduation season. We're celebrating folks who are graduating, who are putting their blood, sweat, and tears and toil. And now we finally get to celebrate. We celebrate new jobs, promotions, buying a home, starting a family. Then we celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, engagements, weddings. So you see, celebration is just so part of our lives. But today we're gonna look at something to celebrate. It's far more important. It's something more lasting than any milestone, more significant than any achievement. And more secure than anything that this world can offer. And yet, we don't actually celebrate as much as we need to. So the title of my message today is this. Celebrate your salvation. celebrate your salvation. Celebrate what God has done in your lives. And we're going to look at a passage that gives us three compelling reasons why we need to celebrate our salvation. So here's what we're going to do. This is such a fantastic passage. I'd love for all of us to read together. It's going to be on your screen. So if you can just join with me as we go through this About 10 verses, but they're all just one sentence in the Greek language. So if you can follow along with me, let's read this passage out aloud. All right, you ready? Let's go. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for salvation ready to be revealed Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in the things that now announce to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. It's God's holy word. That was a long sentence, guys. Did you know all of this is just one huge sentence in Greek? I know our English grammar teachers would go, would be cringing at this. But this was fairly common. This was a technique that was used to kind of communicate the grandeur of the subject that was being discussed. So here Peter is just so excited at what God has done that he goes on and on and on. So we're going to talk about three reasons why we got to celebrate today. Your salvation. And I want to give you a little bit of context to this, to the letter of 1 Peter so we can truly grasp and understand what it means to the original hearers and then by extension to us. So really quick, I know Pastor Carl touched on this last week. The recipients of this letter, he says in verse 1, verse 2, to the elect exiles of the dispersion. I love this description. For a couple of reasons. One, elect is someone who's chosen. They're recipients of God's blessings. They're part of God's family. So Peter is writing to those who are part of God's family, much like us. And then he goes, exiles of the dispersion. So there's a couple of ways, couple of things about this. Number one was they were not living in their homeland. So the Christians were scattered all across the ancient world because of persecution. They no longer were just confined to Jerusalem. So they were pushed. So that's the dispersion. But also, it was not... Peter is not just writing to the Jews who were under persecution, but there were also Gentiles, non-Jews, who had become Christians. And now they were exiles in their own community. Even though this was all they knew, this was their home, now because they had adopted a new faith, People didn't understand them. People didn't get them. So they were almost outcasts in their own community that they were in. So Peter is writing to them, elect exile to the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. So if you go to the next slide, you just get to see a picture of what that is. So Peter is actually in Rome. That's almost to the top left, and he's sending a letter to these five regions in actually part of the Roman Empire. So if you actually zoom in and go to the next slide, you see this was a mail route. So Peter gives him a letter. The guy lands in Pontus, goes to Galatia, Cappadocia, and then goes all the way to Asia, and then ends there. So he was going to all of the churches in these areas and saying, hey, I've got a letter from Apostle Peter. Let me read that for you. And so Peter's encouraging not just a specific church, but just a bunch of churches in the area. And he also gives us the purpose of why this letter was written. At the end of this book, it says, I've written briefly to you. exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. So he's talking about the grace of God in their lives. And then he says, stand firm in it. I want you to stand firm. And it makes sense because these guys were going through persecution. So if you go to the next slide. This was the nature of persecution. There was not systemic state persecution yet. It was just a few years away when Nero started to persecute the Christians in AD 64. But there was slander and verbal abuse. People were speaking evil against them. They were maligning them. And there was social exclusion there. where because the Christians refused to participate in pagan festivals, temple feasts, and also worship the Roman emperor, now they were excluded from the Roman society. They were seen as disloyal to them. And then there was economic and real relational consequences as a result of that. Business relationships obviously would have suffered because of no participation in idol-related practices. There was family tensions that we hear of even in this passage, which happens, right? Especially when you're not in agreement, when there's persecution and you don't know how to respond. There's a little bit of tension that comes with it, and obviously their social networks begin to collapse. They're isolated. They're ostracized from society. There's also a few hints of formal consequences here, you know, where they're accused of being evildoers, facing local magistrates, and so on. So you see, Peter is not writing this letter to folks that were comfortable. Maybe like us. These guys were going through it. There was a cost to their faith. If you claimed you were a Christ follower, if you followed Jesus, there were real life consequences. And he tells them, we're going to see, to celebrate their salvation. So why should we celebrate your salvation? I want to give us three reasons for that. Number one. We celebrate our salvation because you have an unshakable hope for the future. You have an unshakable hope for the future. Right? Are you guys excited about that? I don't know. I don't know. We can do better than that. Are you guys excited for this? Okay, okay, that's better. We have an unshakable hope for the future. In verse 3, he says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He worships, he praises, he celebrates. He goes, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he gives the why. According to his great plan. mercy he goes our salvation was initiated by god by his mercy we have nothing to do with it not our effort not our pursuit not our worthiness but because of god's great mercy he has caused us to be born again you're a new creation if you've accepted jesus as the lord of your life You're born again. You're a new creation. And this is God's work. I love the word born again. Jesus actually uses it in John 3 when he meets the ruler of the synagogue, Nicodemus, by night. And Jesus goes, unless the straight, the words of Jesus, unless a man is born again, he will not enter the kingdom of God. Unless a man is born again, a person is born again, Jesus says you will not enter the kingdom of God. So born again just means being born anew, a second birth that happens when you gave your life to Jesus. Or maybe you haven't given your life to Jesus and you aren't born again. Yet. But salvation, as the Bible conceives it, it's not just turning over a new leaf. It's not just adding, tacking on God to our lives and just going on with our own lives. It's receiving a new life. It's what born again means. Even Nicodemus couldn't understand the concept because he goes... I'm a grown man. I can't go into my mother's womb and be born. What are you meaning, Jesus? Literally, that's what he asked Jesus, right? When you accept Jesus as your Lord, when you say, God, I want you to be the Lord of my life, you are born again. You're effectively giving control of your life to God. And when you do that, This is what we have. This is the hope we have. He says, His cost is to be born again to a living hope. A hope that is not feeble, not dead. But it's living and alive and something that we get to experience, not just in the here and now, but for eternity as well. It was made possible through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And then he goes on to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. So when you're born again, you receive an inheritance, and I love that. The adjectives, the descriptors that's used for our inheritance that we have. Imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you. I don't think we can fully grasp what these actually means to us because we've never experienced something that's imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, right? We all have our family, you know, whatever is being passed on, our inheritance or what we want to save, our 401ks, whatever. They're not imperishable. They're not undefiled. They're not unfading. They could, you know, just a war happens, it goes down. You know, I made it a point not to even look at my 401k when there's a global conflict going on, right? No, I'll wait for a couple of months and then I'll check because that's going to give me anxiety just looking at it, right? It's perishable. It's undefiled. It's unfading. And we've seen throughout history, kings and rulers have always wanted one thing. To last forever. And they knew they were fighting the wrong battles. They couldn't overcome them. A battle with death, right? So what do they do? The next best thing to leave a lasting legacy. So you have the Egyptian pharaohs. They built this huge pyramid, stuffed it with all of their treasure, mummified their bodies, put their bodies in there as well, hoping that that would last forever. And your God is saying, when you receive Jesus into your heart, when you make him the Lord and Savior of your life, you receive an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, and kept in heaven for you. That deserves a hallelujah right there. Right? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. imperishable undefiled unfading and i love how even the tense changes here up until this point it goes who has cost us blessed be the god and father of our lord jesus and here it goes unfading kept in heaven for you so personal And then it goes on, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. You are guarded by God's power. You know, these folks who are under persecution might be worried, am I going to make it? Am I going to be faithful to the end? Am I going to survive these persecutions? And Peter says, you have been guarded. By God's power. The word means kept safe. Carefully watched. And I kind of relate to it. When I read this, I relate to this in a way in which, you know, we've got two kids. My daughter is going to be six. My son is three. As parents, we've got our Spidey sense on all the time. Right? They're carefully watched. So even if I'm at church and I'm talking to people, I'm like, look at where are these guys? You know, is Roshni here? Is Rian here? And we don't always do a good job. A few months ago, I was with my son, three-year-old. We were at a play area. The whole point of taking them to a play area was they could play in an enclosed, confined space. And then I'm like, you know, working. So that's literally why I took him there, paid money to do that. And then every three minutes, every four minutes, I'm trying to spot, oh, he's right there, so I'm good. This time, it was, I think it was just about three minutes, and then I hear an announcement. We've got a boy here, whose son is this? And I look, that's my son! And you know what he did? We were in like the second floor. The guy got past me, got past the reception desk. He opened the doors, took the elevator down, and he was on the street all within two minutes. And the receptionist was so apologetic because he was there. So he goes, I am so sorry, sir. Normally, we're the last line of defense. You might not want to tell your wife about this. That was literally what he said. Obviously, I can't do that. So I went and told Katie. And you know what her response was? This happened to me last week. I go, you didn't tell me. Come on. That doesn't happen with God. We're carefully watched and kept by God. This is the privilege that we have. So we have lots of things to celebrate, right? You have an unshakable hope. You've got an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfading, kept in heaven for you. And God wants us to celebrate that. So I don't know what you're going through today. I don't know what you're walking through. It might be maybe your present trials, your present feels heavy, uncertain. Maybe like the readers of this letter, you're going through some kind of suffering. Let me tell you, this is not it. You're not defined by the trials that you're going through. You have an unshakable hope for the future. That's why Peter wants you to celebrate. So, we celebrate because we have an unshakable hope for the future. Number two. We celebrate because your pain has purpose in the present. In verse 6, Peter says, He goes, You're grieved by various trials. And you see, Peter holds both of these emotions together. He's not saying, hey, you have an unshakable hope for the future. You can never be sad. It's wrong. It's sinful for you to grieve something. That's not what Peter is saying. He's saying, you have that hope, but I know that you're grieving. Because of the stuff that you're going through in the present. And so Peter holds these two emotions in tension. Grief and rejoicing. Both are normal. He doesn't dismiss grief. And then he goes, or if I were to say, when we encounter suffering, when we encounter trials, there's two things that can happen. And this is for all of us and you might have experiences. You're going through a trial. You're grieving. There's only two things that can happen. You can either go to God, allow this trial, allow this pain, allow this suffering to help you to get closer to God, or you could be angry with God and just walk away from God. You go, why is this happening to me? This is not what I expected. This is not how life is supposed to be. And so it takes you, it can take you away from God. But Peter says, hey, You're going to be grieved by trials just for a little while. But then he gives a purpose for the pain. He says, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it's tested by fire. He says, when you go through these trials and your faith is tested, you're going to be Purified. Your faith's going to be purified that you come out with such a genuine, precious faith. And he compares the process to that of what is probably the most durable thing. and valuable resource that we might have gold right just like a gold just like gold is purified by fire this is how you gotta be i don't know if you know about this but my family my mom's side of the family they actually are into jewelry and gold business in sri lanka and so i've had every time i've been there i go to their factory i see how they make gold and all it's just fascinating it was one time You know, they always want people in the family to be part of the business because even if you steal just a little bit of gold, it's worth a lot of money. So I heard the story of this guy, this employee who tried to steal some gold and it was really hot gold. He just put it in his shirt and completely burned him. That's how fiery and hot the metal is heated to. And Jesus here is saying, God, you're saying, your faith, you might go through trials, but it's going to be tested and you're going to come out with such a genuine faith. And then it goes, may be found, our faith may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Again, I love this particular, the way it's worded. He says, your praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know, sometimes you're wondering, like, why am I going through this trial? As much as we'd like to, you might not have an answer for that. We might not know why God is working the way that he is or why we're going through a particular situation right now. It says, but at the revelation of Jesus Christ, when all of it is revealed at the end of days and your faith is found proven to be genuine, you go, you know what? I see the reason. I see it now. And it's going to bring glory to God. Right? And then he goes on. Though you have not seen him, you love him. He's just encouraging them. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy. And look at these. These guys are going through suffering and Peter is affirming them. You already rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory. Obtaining the outcome of your faith. The salvation of your souls. We rejoice, we celebrate because your pain has purpose in the present. This is probably one of the hardest things for us as children of God, as believers to go through, right? Because we have expectations as to how our life's got to be. And we're kind of socialized into the American dream where we want things to line up the way that we do. And so when we go through, when things don't, when our expectations aren't met, We're grieved. We're disappointed. Or we walk away from God. And I want to tell you guys this, and this is more for me than even it is for you. I'm actually heading to India with my family tomorrow. A few years ago when we went there, I normally love to visit some of our mission posts across India. So I think it was about 2019. So I got to visit one of those mission posts. And the only question that I could ask myself is, God, why not me? Because I go into this community of people who, again, they were all Hindus, given their lives to Jesus, much like Peter, ostracized. I know, I think Pastor Stephen and Nikki, they've been to this community as well. And now, the moment I entered in, I saw there was this pond of water that was filthy. It was almost like the sewage system was in there. And kids were playing right there, right by the shore of that. My heart was broken just seeing that. And then you go in. People live in these mud-thatched roofs, mud homes. It's probably 9 by 12, the biggest one. That's all it is. So you've got a dad, a mom, three kids living in that. They don't have an attached restroom. They don't have toilets. You got to walk to even do your business. There's no electricity. And I remember, you know, they were so overjoyed to have us. They had a huge feast for us with the little that they had. And by the time the sun had set, there was no electricity. So we were all outside having our phones, the flashlight on our phones, and we were able to just sing and rejoice and sing. They were so happy. And I go, God, what did I do? Or in other words, why not me? I could have been born in this community. Why did you have to bless me with all that I have, right? And a lot of times, I think we are more entitled than what we think we are. We have a lot of expectations. And when those expectations aren't met, we snap, right? We're like toddlers. Kids, they want something. I mean, yesterday, we wanted to do some shopping for India. We take Rian and he's like, I want a toy. And his meltdown was so bad that I was like, you know, buddy, we're going out. Because you're not getting a toy. We're going out. You want something. And obviously, when we don't want it, we try to throw a tantrum, a fit, and go, God, Why did you do this to me? When you could go, why not? Your pain has purpose in the presence. So if you're going through something today, please know this. God's given you permission to grieve. We're not saying be happy all the time, dismiss your pain, dismiss your grief. No, that's not what God is asking us to do. But process this grief with God so you become closer to him. There is a reason why we're going through what we're going through. So we celebrate our salvation because your pain has purpose because of what God has done in your life. Finally, this is my favorite. We celebrate. salvation because you have what everyone was waiting for in the past in verse 10 it says concerning this salvation which you have the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully so here you are prophets in the Old Testament prophesying how This salvation is going to work. They're searching. They're inquiring carefully because they want to know how this is happening. And they go, they're inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glory. So here they are, these prophets, prophesying about the Messiah who's going to come down to earth and take the sins of humanity and And they're trying to find out when is this going to happen? How is this going to happen? And so they're carefully searching, inquiring from it. And then it goes, it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you. So they were searching. They wanted it. I mean, if you're not passionate and eager about this, why would you search and inquire carefully, right? They wanted it, but they didn't get to have it, but we get to have it. The salvation that they searched for. And then it goes on, they were serving not themselves but you and the things that you have now been announced to you through those who preach the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. And then look, he caps it off with this. He says, things into which angels long to look. So Peter goes even further. He's saying, not just the prophet's But even the angels, beings who are in the presence of God, they're amazed. They're looking. They're trying to see how God is working out His salvation plan in our lives. You have what everyone was waiting for in the past. And I don't think we fully get that. I don't think we fully get that. I think human nature is such that we get bored of things really quickly, right? What we once longed for, the moment we get it, we lose interest in. The wonder fades. The awe disappears. You know, I think of my own life growing up in India. If you asked me as a teenager and you told me, hey, would you love to go to Chicago, be in the United States of America, my honest answer would have been I would have laughed at you. I'd go, that's never going to happen. You must be kidding me, right? And then it did happen. I was so excited. The weeks and months before I came here, I was just always Googling, trying to see. I mean, didn't know what the bean was until I found out I was going to Chicago. Never seen skyscrapers in my life. Our city doesn't have a lot of them. So I'm really excited to see all this. I remember, come to O'Hare. You know, I'm at the immigration line. There's a lot of people. It took me an hour and a half to get through immigration line. It didn't matter. I loved it. I was in the United States of America. I was in Chicago. And then I come out first time, get in the car. I'm driving downtown, see the buildings. For the first time, I was like, wow. Wow. And just even the cool, fall, crisp air. Woo. Because we say we have three seasons. I've said this a lot of times. We have three seasons in my hometown. Hot, hotter, hottest. That's what we have. You know, I was checking the temperature in Chennai where I'm going to be going tomorrow. It feels like 124 degrees Fahrenheit. That's what I'm going to. I am excited, but I'm not excited for the weather. So the cool fall crisp air was just awesome. And then you have four seasons, and the first snow was just so magical. It was just filled with awe and wonder. And now, fast forward 14 years later, come to O'Hare, I'm annoyed at the immigration line. So you know what I did? I got global entry with TSA PreCheck. I'm like, I can't wait in this line anymore. I'm going to spend extra money so that I get past this immigration line. Barely look at these skyscrapers. And then I'm so annoyed every time it snows because, I mean, I got to shovel my driveway. It takes me 45 minutes to shovel my car. If we're honest, we lose the wonder of the things that we experience, right? Same thing with the gospel. Same thing with your salvation. Are you truly excited and passionate about what God has done in your life? If you are, great, great. Praise God. If you're not, this is an opportunity for us to respond and go, you know what, God? I've got a lot of things in my life I've got to be thankful for. And most importantly, just the gift of knowing God. Because of what Jesus has done, you and I, We just don't have however long that we have to live for. You know, we just heard about the celebration of life for our dear friend Scott Russ. It's very short, taken too soon. And Scott was, he was a man's man, right? I don't know if you guys knew about this. He played college basketball. So he's played with Larry Bird. He scrimmaged with Michael Jordan. Great man, great man of God. But he's with God today. Our lives are short as well. Nothing is promised. We don't know how much longer we have as well. But you know what? We have eternity to look forward to. And that should be a cause for celebration. I want to say this one thing. I hadn't planned on it before we end this morning. Joy is just a crucial... Marker of a walk with God. We can't go through life just being sad, disappointed, anxious, when there's so much God has done for us. And you know, I believe the single most important differentiator between us and the world is joy. Because we're going to go through the same things that folks in the world go through as well. We're going to have similar sufferings, be it health issues, finances, job loss, loss in the family. We're all going to go through that. But the way you respond to your suffering is going to be the biggest light for those who don't know Jesus. So here's why. We don't even have, we not just have an obligation to be joyful ourselves, because that's part of the abundant life that God has for the year and now. But when we have the good news of the gospel, we have an obligation to be joyful so people can see what we have. And they can get the same joy and the same hope that we have. Three compelling reasons to celebrate your salvation. You have an unshakable hope for the future. Your pain has purpose in the present. And you have what everyone was waiting for in the past. So we're going to apply this. At 180, we call this the Y on the Road. We're going to get the worship team set up as we even apply that through song today. Well, we're calling it Why in the Road for this precise reason. When Jesus said, he talked about a wise man and a foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock, so when the storms hit, his house stood. The foolish man built his house on the sand, and the storms hit. It didn't stand. And you know, the only difference between the wise man and the foolish man was this. The wise man listened to God's word and did it. Where's the foolish man? Did it. Obey God's word. And today we have a choice. So you could either go, you know what, I've listened to God's word. I want to celebrate my salvation. I want to be grateful for what God has done in my life. And I want to experience the abundant life in the here and now where I'm filled with inexpressible joy, as this passage says. And I want to be that light for the world as well. I'm going to learn this. I'm going to apply. And I'm going to have God use that light. And the lives of others as well. That's a choice that you can make that completely changes how you feel. Your walk with God. Or there's another option for you. Do nothing. Do nothing. A lot of times church is just routine. Just come in, hear God's word. Hey, you know, I want to go home. You know, I'm already thinking about what I'm buying for lunch. I want to go and check the scores. I've got a list of things that I want to do. Sometimes it's hard for us to actually internalize stuff and apply. Well, when we do nothing, nothing changes in our lives. We don't want to do that. We want to be a church that not just learns, but applies and sees transformation in our own lives. So here's my question for us. How can you cultivate a habit of celebrating your salvation? How can you cultivate a habit of celebrating your salvation? I'm going to give us a few options here. Here's what I'm asking you to do. If you're able to, just pick one. Pick one of these options. and try to apply this in your life this week and i'm telling you this changes everything when you're feeling down when you feel that there isn't any hope when you've gone through it celebrate your salvation that changes stuff so i'm going to read this just choose one thing that you want to apply if you want to do more that's great too Maybe you should start your prayers with thanksgiving for your salvation before asking God for anything. Before it goes, God, I want you to heal my son. I want you to do this. I want you to do this for me. Help me to have a great day. Go, God, I want to thank you. Thank you that I have an unshakable life. future thank you that i have an inheritance that is imperishable unfading undefiled and kept in heaven for me or maybe you want to memorize first peter 1 3-9 and pray it back that's my goal i want to do that so that I memorize all of this, that I'm able to repeat it and pray it back to God. Or listen to a worship song each day that focuses on salvation and reflects and reflect on the lyrics. Or think of a difficult trial you're facing and ask God how He is using it to refine your faith. Or examine your life in light of your hope Of heaven and ask God how you can grow in investing in eternal things so you're eternity minded. And finally, maybe you can write down three things each day you're grateful for in your salvation. Let's be doers of God's word. We're going to do that right now. We're going to join together with the worship team and sing a song that says, Bless the Lord, O my soul. All that is within me. We're going to bless. Let me just pray for us and then we're going to do the song together. God, we just thank you for your word. Thank you for what you've given us, God. I'm blown away. I'm blown away by what you have done for us. The fact that we have been born again. I have been born again to a living hope because of what Jesus has done to an inheritance that is imperishable, unfading, undefiled, kept in heaven. And I'm guarded by your power. God, I just pray that we'd be able to live out this passage. I just pray for every person who's here, God. I pray that you would help us not just to be hearers of the word, not to just treat this casually, but we would just really be in awe of what you've done for us. Please give us that wonder, that awe that we need to recapture. Help us to never take you and what you've done for granted. Thank you. Thank you, God. In Jesus' name we pray.