Good evening. Got your Bibles? You would go and turn to Proverbs chapter 3. That's where we're gonna get started tonight.

This song I heard earlier this year from this pretty popular country song artist Texan That some of the younger people may know. Her name is Kasey Musgraves, and Abby's a big fan.

She's kind of gotten me introduced a little bit. She's got a song that's one of her most popular ones on her album this year. It's called The Architect. And in this song, what she ends up doing is she kind of recognizes the complex design that's present around the world that she sees, and she starts asking, Is there an architect?

Can I speak to the architect? She says things like, even something as small as an apple, it's simple and somehow complex. Sweet and divine, the perfect design. Can I speak to the architect? And so throughout the song, she's grappling with the things she's seeing and she's asking these questions and she ends up ending the song asking, Is there an architect?

They're an architect. And so whether Casey knows or not, she's actually engaging a pretty serious theological discussion about wisdom. She recognizes that there's visible wisdom, order, and function based upon the things that she sees in the world around her. And so, you've got your Bibles open to Proverbs chapter 3.

We want to kind of talk about Casey's question and how, how Proverbs answers this question. Look at some Old Testament examples of people who kind of model God's wisdom tonight and then make some applications. But I think, to answer Casey's question, Proverbs, in Proverbs chapter 3, in one of the Lady Wisdom poems here, or speeches as they're often called, is calling us here to search out for wisdom, and the Proverb Writer kind of tells us where that can be found.

And if you look in verses 19 and 20, It says, The Lord, by wisdom, founded the earth. By understanding, He established the heavens. By His knowledge, the deeps broke open, and the clouds dropped down the dew. And I want you to pay attention to, obviously, the words that are boldened on the screen there. Because these are going to come up throughout the different texts that we're going to look at tonight.

Wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. And I'm, I'm using the ESV here. They're going to be translated a little bit differently, but I'll try to highlight those when those words are the same. And I'll, I'll kind of articulate that as we go. But what Proverbs 3 is saying here, to answer the question, is there an architect, says that God created and He sustains the world with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge.

And wisdom itself is interwoven in the very fabric of God's world. So therefore, wisdom is observable. It is it is, it can be learned from God's creation and His ongoing provision. And so when we talk about wisdom, wisdom is theology that's gleaned from a, from below, not above. And God's own wise building, His own construction, if you look in Genesis chapter 1, is really interesting and clear here.

You see how God first builds, He separates aspects of creation, and then He and then he goes on to give them fills them with these different bodies or, or types of beings in order to give this world that he's created function. And so we see in day one he creates the light, he creates the dark, and then day four kind of parallels that.

He fills the dark spaces with the moon and the stars, the, the light places with the sun, the waters above and below. So he fills with the fish and. Fisher down, sorry. Birds and fish, and then sea and dry land is separated. And on that dry land, God places humans and animals. And so if you wanted a theological reason to give your kids, you know, if their kids ask, well, why do I need to clean my room?

Well, you can just say, look at Genesis 1. God took all the chaos that was present in this formless and void world. He put it in order and he gave it function. And so go clean your room because it's a chaotic mess right now. And so like God creating the world, humans are called to live within and model this same order in society and everyday life.

And so there's a really cool example that parallels Proverbs chapter 3 and Proverbs chapter 24. You look at the words that are highlighted here again. It says, By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. By knowledge the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. And I don't think a lot of construction workers or interior designers really consider themselves to use WISM every day.

So I wanted to ask, I actually asked Peyton and Calo because I know they do a little bit of construction work. I got some interesting answers. Peyton told me that he thinks he does because he wears a shirt while he works because he doesn't think it would be wise to not wear a shirt because you get a sunburn.

So that was not what I expected. That was a good one. And then I asked them, do you think that you model God's own building of the world with, when you build a house? And they said, well, I mean, I guess you could write scriptures on the studs and if they ever tear it down, they'll see those scriptures.

It's like, not what I was thinking again, but hey, that was a good, the good thought, I guess. But I got some humorous answers for them. But And it's not something I think that most people probably consider when you're in your day to day job or occupation or the things that we spend a lot of our time doing, but what the Proverb Writer says about people who practice construction and build houses is that you participate in modeling God's wisdom and modeling His construction of the world.

And so Proverbs and Genesis are pointing out to us that God is a builder and God calls us to build like Him. And what I want to do now is we're going to turn and look in the Old Testament. There's two model builders who I think emulate God's construction in the world. And we're going to kind of examine their stories and then pull a few applications at the end of our lesson tonight.

To kind of see how these individuals can impact us and help us learn how to live as model builders of God's wisdom in the world around us. And the first one of those is going to be Bezalel. And you're probably like, who is Bezalel? I've never heard of that guy. He's, you know, definitely one of the little lights of the Bible.

Somebody we probably don't talk about very much. Maybe you're familiar with them since y'all have gone through Exodus in the last couple of years. But Bezalel is a really interesting character. He's the one that's appointed to help design and construct the tabernacle on Exodus 31. He's mentioned also in chapters 35 at the very end and the beginning of 36.

And look at what it says about Bezalel here. And 31 verses 1 through 5 of Exodus. 'So the Lord said to Moses, See, I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence and with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise designs to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every craft.

And so again you can see the three words that are highlighted there. They're in the same order that we saw them in Proverbs chapter 3 and Proverbs 24. They're translated a little bit differently here, ability and intelligence and knowledge, but in the same exact words, Chokmah, Tebunah, and Da'at in Hebrew.

And so, in the Old Testament, if you asked who the premier builder was, it'd probably be Bezalel. And here, Bezalel gives us the same characteristics that we've already mentioned, but it's the Spirit of God here that says that grants Bezalel this wisdom. And so, Bezalel shows us, one, I think, wisdom's practical effects on the world, and two, our human calling that we have to model God.

And here the, the word that, you know, is traditionally, probably most of you if you don't have the ESV, it says wisdom but here the ESV translates it as ability in order to kind of capture the context of the, in, in Hebrew the word for wisdom has kind of a broader range and the ability kind of captures what the text is trying to say here.

Bezalel's capacity to create these artistic designs, to create the structure and the implements that fill the tabernacle. And Bezalel kind of models, just like we saw in Genesis chapter 1, God's own creative construction of the world by filling this space where both the physical and the spiritual things collide.

And so using his God given wisdom that's expressed through his artistic skill, Bezalel constructs this building that ends up magnifying God's presence to the world. And the end result, if you look in Exodus chapter 40, And verse 34 says, The glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And so, Bezalel's building of this structure had practical effects, not only on the people's communion with God, but also their knowledge about Him as well.

And in this text as well, the Spirit of God that's mentioned here is really unique in the Old Testament when it's it's not used very often, especially not in Genesis or Deuteronomy. And it's only used in reference to Balaam in Numbers. It's used, of course, in Bezalel and the spirit of God that hovers over the waters in Genesis 1 verse 2.

And then with Joseph in Genesis chapter 41 as well. And Joseph is one of those really interesting examples. And if you'll turn over to Genesis 41 where an individual is kind of described in this manner. I just want to read a section. This is right after Joseph, of course, as we know, is being granted wisdom by God in order to interpret dreams.

And that helps him rise in, in status within Egypt because he's an asset to the king. And he's just been given, or he's just given Pharaoh knowledge about how to kind of deal with the famine that's going to be coming up in the next couple years and how to navigate that. And he says, you need to find a guy that's going to help you get all this done.

And in verse 37 it says, This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God? Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning as wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command.

Only as regards to the throne will I be greater than you. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt. And so, let me go back here. I'm getting ahead of myself. And so here Joseph, I think he's granted this authority and this ability. He's given this dominion. And this recalls God's intentions for all people back in Genesis 1, where God had created man in his own image to have dominion over the world in God's stead.

And so Joseph is given this same spirit, and he excelled in his abilities and was entrusted this dominion. And so Joseph, and I think Bezalel both, are model examples of God's desire for humans to use wisdom to rule and to bear His image. And so the Spirit of God that rested within both of these men is the same thing that's granted to each of God's people.

And through His Spirit, all of us are empowered to use the skills that we have, whatever capacity that we have been given, in order to help others come to know and experience God's glory and His presence. And to kind of jump into the next person, King Solomon, I think, really helps helps us see this point about how emulating God's wisdom and building, being model builders, can have an effect not only on, on ourselves and what we're called to be as humans, but also on other people.

And so if you'll turn over to 1 Kings chapter 10. We talked about Solomon a couple weeks ago, and we talked about his, his hiccups and the, more than hiccups, moral failures when it came to, to love and different things of that nature. So we know how Solomon's story ends. But if you look back to how his story kind of begins, we all know Solomon wasn't somebody who was innately wise, but he had asked God for a discerning mind in order that he might govern God's people.

And of course, God obliged and He grants us, He grants him this wise, Discerning mind. And so solemn wisdom is in described in judicial matters. So you get the, the story that we all know that's really interesting, where they have the two women come in and they've got the baby and one of the ba or they got two babies.

One's one is dead, one of the women has slept on it, and they come in. There's one of the women switched the babies at night. And so there's a whole dispute on who's the real mother of the, the remaining child that's alive. And Solomon, you know, says, grab a sword and we'll half the baby and give each mother a half.

And then the mother, who actually is truly the mother, says, no, give the baby to the other woman. And so his wisdom is expressed there in being a righteous judge and being able to make good decisions. It also goes on his wisdom is shown through his intellectual wisdom, things like the proverbs that he writes in the Psalms and his knowledge of animals and plants and all of these things and his political prowess.

But the largest portion, if you read Solomon's story through chapters 1 through 10 and chapter 11, Solomon's wisdom is actually shown through a lot of his building projects for the temple and his own household and his dedication to the temple. And if Bezalel himself was the premier builder, Solomon is definitely the premier wise man in the Old Testament.

Everybody kind of knows that and agrees. But Solomon is, of course, a really big time builder himself. In fact, Solomon's wise building the temple that parallels Bezalel's own construction, and both his wisdom that he received from God, and His building and furnishing of the temple, and of course, God's presence coming and filling that temple.

But, for our purposes, when we talk about Solomon, right now, what I want to look at is a story of him and the Queen of Sheba in chapter 10. So look in chapter 10, verses 1 through 5.

The Queen of Sheba has come and says that now the Queen of Sheba heard of the famous Solomon concerning the name of the Lord. She came to test him with hard questions. She came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue with camels bearing spices and very much gold and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon, she told him all that was on her mind, and Solomon answered all her questions.

There was nothing hidden from the king that he could not explain to her. And when the queen of Sheba had seen all this wisdom of Solomon, the house that he built, the food of his table, the seating of his officials, and the attendance of his servants, their clothing, his cupbears, and his burnt offerings that he offered at the house of the Lord, there was no more breath in her.

The Queen of Sheba had heard all these rumors. She wants to come and speak to Solomon. And essentially, she's asking the same question that the psalm writer we talked about in the beginning, K. C. Musgrave, is asking. Can I speak to the architect? I've heard about all of these things, the things you've built in your kingdom.

I want to come speak to the guy who built it all. And so as a result, Solomon's building becomes this way for a foreign queen to come to the knowledge of the master builder. And look how she responds in verses 6 through 9. She says, The report was true that I heard in my own land of your words and of your wisdom, but I had not believed the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it.

And behold, the half was not told to me. Your wisdom and prosperity surpassed the report that I heard. Happy are your men, happy are your servants who continually stand before you and hear your wisdom. Blessed be the Lord your God who is delighted in you and set you on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord loved Israel forever, He has made you king.

You may execute justice and righteousness. So just like Bezo El Solomon's own life modeled God's wisdom and, and that became a channel through which God's glory could be known among all the rulers and kings of the earth. And so, while Solomon's fame did rise, so did god's. And even though, like we talked about a couple weeks ago, Solomon's story ends in infidelity, not religiously.

We also need to point out that this is what the ultimate end of living wisely should result in. We want to live in such a distinct way that people see our lives and they come asking, can I speak to the architect? So that in turn, we can invite them into bearing the image of the God that we represent through our wise living.

So, telling you all this stuff tonight about Solomon and Bezalel using wisdom to build a temple, to build a tabernacle, and modeling God, probably isn't anything new or something that you're probably like, this is kind of nebulous, what does this really have to do with me, what does some ancient temple builder and some ancient king really have to do with me and how that I live, what do they really have to teach us?

Well, I think these Old Testament builders are really helpful because, one, they're I think they, they help challenge some of the presuppositions that we have about wisdom itself. But also, they challenge us to try and integrate wisdom into every single aspect of our lives. So, let's turn now, just got three applications for you, and we'll conclude our lesson tonight.

First, I think, being model builders, when we talk about trying to emulate God's own construction of the world and our own lives, I think the first thing is that being model builders recovers our created problem. I think a lot of times, and I know this for a fact because I asked the high school class a couple Wednesday nights ago.

I asked them, do you guys consider yourself to be wise? And a lot of them were like, No, not really. And I was like, do you think you're wise compared to your peers? And they were like, yeah, probably so, yeah, a little bit more wise. But then I said, who do you consider, like, what do you consider a wise person to be?

And a lot of them were like, old people. I'm sorry for all of you agely challenged people here tonight. All of you gray hair people. The Proverbs have great things to say about you people with gray hair, so. Don't, don't don't let it be skin off your back from the high school kids. But I think a lot of times we think wisdom is for the, it's just for the age, it's for the experience, for the exceptional, or maybe just the people that are well educated.

It's something that's too far off, it's something that's out of reach, and it's for only special kinds of people. But if, in our reading here, Proverbs 24 and Genesis 1, I think they show us that as image bearers, all people are called to emulate God's wisdom, whatever it is we may be, you know, quote unquote, building in our lives.

And like Bezalel, God wants to use our personal talents and our abilities for His glory. And wisdom, it's not something that's too far from us, but it's something that is for all of us. And God does not withhold wisdom just for the scholarly or for old people, no offense. Or just people that we might consider to be exceptional.

God has given it to anyone who is willing to humble themselves before Him. As Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7 says, The fear of the Lord is a beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. And so, if we want to learn from the Master Builder, we've got to come before Him, and we've got to be humble.

And we've got to be willing to listen if we want to become better builders of God's glory. And wisdom is, it's for anyone who's willing to learn from the master because he ultimately is the source not only of wisdom itself but our created calling. And we've always got to keep the fear of the Lord at the beginning of our pursuit of wisdom.

I think, again, before you start thinking, alright, all these guys that we talked about, Joseph, Bezalel, Solomon you start thinking, okay, well, these person, these people are really exceptional people. Of course, they were granted wisdom. I want you to remember Joseph himself was this slave in Egypt. His brother sold him out.

He was, he was in a pit several times in his life. His life, it just consists of having his clothes ripped off and being thrown in holes all the time. And Bezalel himself, he's just merely a handyman. He's a craftsman. He's an artist. He's skilled, but he's just a craftsman. And yet he's given this great role.

And King Solomon himself, when you look at his story in, in first Kings three, he describes himself as a little child. When he's given this kingdom, kingdom to run, he doesn't know what he's doing. And I think the reason that we remember these people is not because they were inherently special or exceptional, but it's because God's wisdom empowered them to be exceptional.

And wisdom isn't something that's, you know, meant to just completely change who you are, to change you into some beard stroking sage or some, you know, smart college professor or something. It's not even meant to turn you into an exact copy of Joseph, Bezalel, or Solomon, but it's, it's calling you to be the best version of yourself that God has created you and intended you to be.

It's about living a distinguished life from everyone around you, so that you Or that is empowered through God's spirit, because God wants to use you. He wants to use your unique, unique life, your experiences to display his wisdom through your own skills and talents. Think secondly, as well, being model builders really calls us to build intentionally in life.

We of course have the capacity as being image bearers of God to have wisdom, but also we have the responsibility to live wisely too. It's like a wise man once said, with great power comes great responsibility. And living a wise life, it really requires living intentionally. And unfortunately, I think when we think about wisdom, we solely connect it maybe with morality, which it definitely is, don't get me wrong.

But we, I think, compartmentalize wisdom into spiritual spaces. Or maybe I think about, well, I can only use wisdom on a Sunday when I'm in a church setting, or on a Wednesday night, or involved in church things, and I have a hard time grasping, okay, well, how does wisdom actually affect my everyday life? How can I use wisdom in a way that, how can I bring somebody the gospel through the way that I live?

On a Monday through a Saturday. And so we have hard times implementing wisdom into every facet of every, in every aspect of our life. And I think what Proverbs 3 and the other Old Testament texts we read showed that wisdom, as we said, has a broader range of understanding, as we saw with Bezalel, that his wisdom is linked to his ability, his skill, his technical ability, things of that nature.

And so wisdom, of course, it originates in spiritual realms with God, but it's meant to have real, practical effects within the world. And so God intends for His wisdom to be reflected from the top and the bottom of each of our lives. And so being model builders is really about intentionally wielding wisdom so that we thrive and we distinguish ourselves by God's glory in every single day of life.

So, I want to give you a couple examples. I've been getting to know you all. I've been getting to know a lot of the jobs that you guys do. And I want to give some examples using Proverbs and some wisdom on how maybe you can think about implementing wisdom more into a practical way. And so much of what we do, is our careers and the things we spend our time doing throughout the week.

We spend at least 40 hours a week for most of us. And I think a lot of times we think, okay, how can I show somebody God during the week in the, and sometimes we think it's got to be through conversations about scripture. Of course it has to be, but we can do things even with every single aspect of who we are and how we're living and how we're even working.

So the thing about Maybe you're a tradesman of some kind. Maybe you're a farmer, somebody who works with their hands. Maybe you're a millwright at a warehouse or a plumber. Read Proverbs 24 with me really quick. Proverbs 24, verses 30 through 34. I want to consider here work ethic. How do we distinguish ourselves through our work ethic and the quality of the work that we do?

In Proverbs chapter 24, I love the sluggard Proverbs. They are hilarious. If you go through and read some of these, one of the great things about Proverbs is that they're just really funny. They're, and they're memorable that way. Proverbs 24 verse 30 through three. Four says, I passed by the field of a slugger by the vineyard of a man.

Lacking sense and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns. The ground was covered with nettles, and its stonewall was broken down. Then I saw and considered it. I looked. And received instruction, a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

So, this is definitely a proverb that's trying to teach the reader, you know, hey, Be careful about being a slugger. Don't be lazy, because if you end up living a lazy life, before you know it, you're going to be in poverty, and it's not going to be a good situation for you. But I want you to look in verse 32 again.

He says, Then I saw and considered it, I looked and received instruction. And I love the perspective here. The, the, the proverb writer saying, Hey, look, I went and I saw this guy's work, which wasn't really work at all, he wasn't doing anything, and I testified to the character of that person. I want you to consider what, what about your worth, work ethic testifies to your character, and how do you display wisdom and intention in your work?

Do you do, do you do shoddy work, or is your work really good quality like Bezalel's? Do you take care in the things that you do, and what your customers, your fellow co workers, Or the, or other people around see when they see your work, do they see you've done it right? How do you distinguish yourself from the things that you do?

Now I'm going to stop there because I know how much people who work with their hands and work outside in the heat love for a guy who spends all of his time in the A. C. to tell them how to do their jobs better. So I'll stop right there. Alright, think about Proverbs 15 verse 16. What about all of us that maybe you own your own business as well, and maybe you do pride yourself on your work ethic and your work quality.

Proverbs 15 verse 16 helps us kind of deal with the complexities of life and it says, better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. I think in conjunction with saying, you know, we need to work on, we need to work really hard. We need people who, who put our nose to the grindstone.

We work really hard. We also need to be people that know when to knock off and say, I know where my priorities lie. My priority lies first in my faith. It lies with my family. And I'm not going to spend all my time chasing a career because I want accolades or I want money. Even though that may start with good intentions and providing for your family, giving your family opportunities.

Well, a lot of times we need to temper our work ethic and realize that sometimes the best things that we can be doing for our children, for our families, It's being there for them. And I love Proverbs 15, 16 as well, you know, it kind of confirms it, mo money, mo problems. Well, what about nurses and doctors?

There's a lot of you here that are in the healthcare field. Look at Proverbs 16, verse 24. So much of what you do every day in learning about patients and their needs requires wisdom. But also what about your words and how do they reflect God's wisdom? The, the proverb writer says gracious words are like a honeycomb.

Sweetness to the soul and health to the body. You know, how do you express yourself wisely in the way that you deal with your patients and in their needs in your bedside manner? Everybody's probably had those experiences where you deal with a, a doctor who told you what you need to know, but maybe he didn't say in a very nice way, wasn't very helpful, and maybe did more hurt than good, you know.

How we distinguish ourselves is, through our language, is incredibly important, and that can be used in so many other examples that we have here. What about police officers? We have a lot of guys in DPS. I know what that stands for now. Took me a while. We have guys that are security guards, we have guys that work at the rangers, different things of that nature.

Proverbs 16, 32 says, Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes the city. You know, in talking with a lot of you, I've, I've heard so many stories already of, you know, Oh, man. Well, how was your week? Oh, man. I had this guy. I was just about to be off my shift and he did something stupid and I had to work another three hours.

You know, the things that happen, you deal, those of you who are out and about that are keeping the peace for us, y'all deal with a lot of people that are really frustrating sometimes and can be kind of crazy, unfortunately. But how do you control your anger when other people might fly off the handle?

Some of your co workers maybe, how do you distinguish yourself, not only in front of the people and your professionalism, but even behind closed doors, do you talk negatively about the people that you've engaged with, even if they might, you might feel like they deserve it? How do we distinguish ourselves in a way where we control our emotions and display God's own character and His wisdom in how we bridle ourselves?

That's a real expression of strength, as Proverbs says here in chapter 16. And lastly, teachers as well. Teachers, educators, administrators, so many of you are involved in education. Look at Proverbs 25, verse 11 through 12. This is our last example, and we'll have one more point, and we'll end with our discussion tonight.

Good night. I love this proverb. This one's really interesting and a really pretty proverb. This is a word fitly spoken. It's like apples of gold in a setting of silver, like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear. I think everybody probably had that, that teacher either in elementary school or high school that just always knew exactly what to say at the right time.

Everybody can probably think of that person or if you're in high school or middle school now you know that person. The person who, maybe you have a rough day, you've got stuff going on at home, and it's carrying over into school, and they say the thing that needs to lift you up, or maybe one of your friends, when you don't know what to say.

The person who helps you, they know exactly the, the problem you're having with learning a concept, and they step in and they say, hey, this is exactly what you're doing wrong, let me help you fix that. And they use wisdom to guide you in your studies. And then a lot of times, for me, most often it's the teacher who gives you the swift kick in the pants when you needed it because you're acting up in class and they have that one thing they can say to you that really just cuts to your heart and then you just shut down.

You're like, I'm going to behave now. And sometimes those are words that are fitly spoken when you need that reprimanding or that reproving. But those people and all the people that we're talking about here when we talk about living wisely and modeling God's wisdom are those people that really you have in your mind that impact you so much that you think about them a lot and you think about how they influenced you and they push you to live in a different way.

They cause you maybe to even ask the question, you know, where is the architect behind the way that you're living? I think lastly, what Being Model Builders does is invites other people to emulate God's building too. When people live how, or they see how different that we're living as Christians, trying to, to live as God created the world, living within those boundaries and living wisely a lot of times, many people do ask you outright, Why are you, why are you living like this?

Why don't you speak like everybody else? Why don't, why do you work so much harder? You're making us look bad, man. Why are you working so hard? Why do you go home early? Don't you know the boss wants us to be here later? When they see us living differently, essentially, you know, they might be asking, just like KC Musgraves, Can I speak to the architect?

And of course, we're doing all these things not because we're trying to glorify ourselves, we're not trying to puff ourselves up, we're doing it for God's glory, and if we do it that way, God desires to share his glory with us as well. But we do all of these things because we, we want to live in such a way that we give, give people a taste.

Or we, we allow people, people to encounter the living God. I think when people see God's spirit within us and they begin to try and uncover our faith, and what is it that's really motivating us, we give the opportunity to invite people, invite others to emulate the wisdom of God alongside us. And we ultimately call others into the house that Christ built himself, which is his church.

Jeremy, Ephesians chapter 2. It's our last passage and we'll close for this evening. I was thinking just as I got up here, you know, I totally didn't think about this, but Jesus himself was a literal builder and for the first 30 years. of his life. He was a carpenter and, you know, a lot of people think that word probably meant like something like tradesman or construction worker, something like that.

They would have had a lot more rock where he was living around Nazareth growing up probably than they had abundant forest. And so Jesus probably was himself a builder in a lot of ways, but of course he came for even greater purpose than to just build tables and chairs or whatever it is he might have been building.

But I'm sure, for those 30 years, Jesus probably took care in the things that He did while He worked with His hand. And He built like God did. But the greatest building we benefit from is, of course, the building of His church in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 18 through 22. It says, ooh, wrong place, here we go.

For through Him we both have access in one spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens of the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ himself being the cornerstone in whom the whole structure being joined together grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

In him, you are also being built together into a dwelling place for the God, for God by the Spirit. Not sure what any of your concerns are. Maybe it is that you haven't been emulating God in the way that you've been living. You've been living after folly and not after wisdom. And maybe you're not emulating God Himself, but you're maybe emulating Satan.

Maybe you've got some sin in your life that you need to take care of. Or maybe You're here this evening and you haven't chosen to follow after God and His footsteps and living a life within His creation that models His own wisdom and seeking to live righteously and rightly as His son Jesus did who came and showed us how to live properly as well.

So this evening, whatever your needs are, if you'll come now as we stand and as we sing.