You're listening to audio from Ascend Church. For more information about Ascend or to access more gospel-centered tools to grow as a disciple of Christ, visit AscendKC.org. Let's grab our Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 22. And I'm going to ask you a question as you're turning there. And in fact, before I ask you this question, let me invite the ushers down the aisles. They would love to put a Bible in your hands. Luke is where we'll be starting, but we'll be going all throughout the Bible. And so hopefully you'll grab one of those, take that with you as our gift to you if you don't own a Bible. But if I was to ask you this question as an icebreaker, how would you answer it? The question is this, what or who is the church? Now I would imagine that you're probably gonna start thinking in different categories. Maybe there's a category over here where you would start thinking about the answer to that question in terms of where we meet. There's some churches that meet in houses. There's other churches that meet in cathedrals and jungles. You even see that in the bulletin there. In fact, some churches are so crazy that they would meet in a middle school. Who would do that? Maybe you would not think about location. Maybe you would think about belief systems and you would think about maybe a reformed church or a charismatic church or a Baptist church. Or maybe, maybe you would think of a category of what a church does. It does outreach, or it digs deep into scripture, or it trains up leaders. Or maybe you'd think of a fourth category, the category of polity, or how you carry out church. And you might think of topics like baptism. Is it infant baptism? Is it believer's baptism? Think of the Lord's Supper that we'll be celebrating at the end of this service. Should we do it weekly? Should we do it periodically? And you might think along those lines of how you would answer the question who or what. is the church. Now here at Ascend, we have positions on all of those descriptions that I just gave to you, but I would submit to you that this series is an opportunity for us to get recalibrated. You see, my own journey of church has a lot of different experiences. My own journey with church has a lot of different traditions. In fact, those of you who have been with us from the beginning know that we were handed off a model as a church plant, and that model was something I could get behind. Why? Because it was a model that was biblical, but yet, now that we are more identified as our own entity and not necessarily as a model or a product of a church planting organization, it's an opportunity for us to recalibrate our understanding of what the Bible says the church is. And so here's my ask of you, but you will engage with this over the next few weeks. It's going to challenge traditions. It's going to challenge our culture. It's going to challenge maybe some positions that you've held. But my goal is to be able to effectively communicate from God's word what the church should be so that when we open the doors in November of our new location, we're all on the same page. So can we do that together? Okay, so the first question I wanna ask you is, do you have your notes in front of you? The next question I wanna ask you is, can you read? Look at the big idea in the notes. It says, defining the church in the context of the big picture of God's plan provides the foundation for who we are. What I'm driving at is that this morning is going to be foundational. What that means is that it's not gonna cover everything. We're gonna have several weeks that we'll dig into some of those topics that I described when I asked the question, who are we as a church? So give us time, but we're laying a foundation this morning. And in order for us to be able to lay a foundation, what we need to do is not dig into all the details and all the preferences of how to do church, but instead the big picture of what is God's plan for the church. And so I've got three statements that we're going to make this morning, and I want you to follow them in your notes, write down some notes. But the first one is, is that we must focus on the covenant of the kingdom. That if we are going to begin to inform our understanding of what the church is, it begins with the covenant of the kingdom. And so maybe when I mentioned church and you thought, okay, this is foundational, you might've thought, well, maybe I'll go to Ephesians chapter five. Because after all, that's the husband and the wife, and it talks about this as the mystery of Christ and the church. Maybe you would argue that I would go to Revelations chapter two and three, and we would focus on the churches and the seven letters. Or maybe you would think that I would go to Matthew 16, where Jesus mentions the term church for the first time. And all of those are great passages. But I'm going to argue that the foundation of the church actually begins, look at Luke chapter 22. Luke 22 is going to give us the foundation of the church. I'm going to make this argument this morning that the definition of church begins with the concept of kingdom through covenant. In fact, would you write that phrase down? That if we want to understand the church, we must understand the concept of kingdom through covenant. And we'll see that in Luke chapter 22. It says, and he, this is Jesus, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, his disciples, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And we're going to do that in just a few moments. Verse 20, and likewise, the cup, after they had eaten, saying, this cup is poured out for you. It is the new covenant in my blood. There it is. The foundation to our understanding of the church is the new covenant. Would you write that down? This is the concept of kingdom through covenant. I've made an argument over the last several weeks that if you want to know God's plan for the entire redemptive history, if you want to know God's word better and understand how the Old Testament and the New Testament fit, if you want to understand the gospel and how it played out through Israel and now the church, if you want to understand the Holy Spirit, I think you see where I'm getting with this, that you have to understand the covenants. And there are seven of them, seven formal covenants. You can write these down. I'll just explain them very quickly. The first one is the creation covenant or the Adamic covenant. This is the covenant that God made with the first human beings, be fruitful and multiply, exercise dominion over the earth. He then moved into the Noahic covenant, the covenant that he made with Noah and with all creation that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood. What's interesting about that covenant is that the instructions are very similar to the creation covenant. Be fruitful and multiply. Then we get to the Abrahamic covenant, the covenant that God made with Abram and said that you will be a great nation and your name will be great and that all the nations of the earth will be blessed through you, the Abrahamic covenant. Then there's the Mosaic Covenant, the covenant that God made with Abraham's descendants, saying that if you follow the instructions of the commandments, if you will obey, you will enter into your promised land and experience rest. In the Mosaic Covenant, there's also another covenant called the Priestly Covenant. This is where Phinehas grabbed a spear and did what nobody else was willing to do in the camp of Israel, to take care of sin when it was taking place before God. And then there's the Davidic covenant, the covenant that God made with King David to say that I promise you that you will always have an heir who will sit on the throne. Ultimately, that was pointing toward Jesus Christ, which I would submit to you, that is the point of the covenants. The point of the covenants of Scripture is to point us progressively toward the ultimate fulfillment of all covenants, the ultimate victor of all the covenants, Jesus Christ. Would you write down 2 Corinthians 1 in verse 20? 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20 says that all the promises of God find their yes in Christ. All of these promises from creation to the new covenant, all of these promises that are contained in these covenants are fulfilled in Christ. In fact, one of the books that has helped me tremendously in my preparation for this study has been a book by a man named Jonathan Lehman. The book is called The Church and the Surprising Offense of God's Love. Now, let me just stop right there and say that that seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it? I mean, how could we say the love of God is offensive? Well, read the book. But also study scripture. And you see that God's love is offensive if we compare it to our human definitions of love. The church and the surprising offense of God's love in that Jonathan Lehman says that Jesus fulfilled all of God's covenants and so won all their blessings and promises. In fact, here's how he illustrates it. Listen to this. I find this fascinating. Christ has inherited the earth. That's the creation covenant. Christ's name has been made great, becoming a blessing to the earth. That's the Abrahamic covenant. Christ has won the promised rest. That's the Mosaic covenant. And the author of Hebrews expands upon that. He has won the throne that is everlasting, that is the Davidic covenant. And then the seventh covenant, he has designated and declared a new covenant with his people. What's awesome about the new covenant is that it is not just to Israel, it is to all who would believe. And listen to this, everyone who believes in Jesus Christ inherits the earth through Christ, creation covenant. bears a new great name, our identity is now Christ, Abrahamic covenant. We will enter God's rest, Mosaic covenant. We will rule together with Christ, the Davidic covenant, because of the covenant that Jesus won, the new covenant. Turn over to Matthew chapter 16, you might say, well, where is the mention of the church in this? Well, I'm getting there. Matthew chapter 16 is an advancing of our understanding of the covenant, but ultimately what Christ accomplished through his death on the cross is that he established the inauguration of the final kingdom. Isn't it interesting that in the book of Matthew, Jesus would constantly say to those who are listening, the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is at hand. It has always been about establishing a kingdom. A kingdom that will be perfect and complete as we studied last week in Revelation 21 in the new heavens and the new earth. And there are keys to that kingdom. Look at Matthew chapter 16. It says in verse 14, after Jesus asked, who do people say that I am? They said, some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But Jesus said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. Listen, if you are going to be a cross Christ follower, you don't just say this, you own this. And on that confession and based upon Peter, we see in verse 17, Jesus answered him and said, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, or Simon, son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter. And on this rock, describing both Peter and the confession, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Now let me just pause right there and say that this is a little bit controversial as we read in church history. We don't have the time this morning to dig into it in depth, but some would argue that this identified Peter as the first pope, and that's not what this means. What it does mean is that Jesus would begin the building of his church through the Apostle Peter. But it would extend to others. Look at verse 19. I will give you the keys of the kingdom. And whatever you bind on earth shall have already been bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth will have already been loosed in heaven. And you can see in the footnote there, I've read it the way that the original actually communicates it. Then in verse 20, then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. Now, what's important about this passage is that it identifies Peter as the beginning of the church and the subsequent apostles as the continuation of that leadership. What we will see as we get into Acts is that those apostles actually turn those keys over to the other leaders of the local church. And this is where we see the foundation of the church of the New Testament. But it doesn't begin with individuals. It doesn't begin with a structure or a system. It begins with a work and it is the work of Christ poured out in his blood in the New Covenant. This is the foundation of the church and we must begin here in our understanding of that. So Jesus actually mentions church in Matthew 16, but you can write this down. If you want to turn there in lightning speed, you can do that. 1 Peter 2 9. Again, Jesus began the instruction of the church through the apostle Peter, extended it to the other apostles, and then extends it to the leaders of local churches throughout all of time until the end of the age. And Peter alludes to this in 1 Peter 2 and verse 9. Listen to this. But you, and he's speaking to local churches. That's what we see in verses 1 through 2 of the beginning of 1 Peter. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. This is kingdom imagery, kingdom terms. We understand now that the foundation of the church is the covenant of the kingdom. But it begs the question, who are the citizens, doesn't it? I mean, if you have a kingdom, there must be citizens. And so that's the second statement that we want to make. And that is that the church is a group of citizens of the kingdom. The citizens of the kingdom. Citizenship is a hot topic today, and I'm not going to get too political. But I am gonna read something interesting to you that came up in my studies this week. Do you know that somebody who is not necessarily born in America to a family that's citizens or abroad to a family that is citizens can actually become a citizen? It's called naturalized citizenship and there's a process to become a citizen in the United States. Let me just read it to you. First of all, they have to be a minimum of 18 years old. Second, they need to continuously or physically live in the United States with a green card for a certain number of years. Number three, they have to establish residency in the state where they intend to apply. Number four, they must have good moral character. Isn't that interesting? The rest of us natural citizens should remember that. Number five, proficient in basic spoken and written English and have a knowledge of U.S. history and government. Number six, they must register for military service where applicable. And number seven, they must swear allegiance to the United States. That's pretty logical, isn't it? I mean, if people follow this process, and I know it takes time and it's expensive, but here is the process that if you follow this process, guess what? You will be a citizen of the United States. That's just logical. So it's also logical that to be a citizen of the kingdom of God, we should have a process to follow, isn't it? I want to show you that process. Turn over to Ephesians chapter 2. Maybe your Bible flops open to Ephesians like mine does after our study of this amazing book. But Ephesians chapter 2 outlines the process of kingdom citizenship, which guess what? It's not seven steps. It's two. And these are intentional steps. The order is important. Look at Ephesians 2 in verse 8. It says, four by grace. That is the first step. Would you write that down, the first step to kingdom citizenship is grace. Beloved, grace can be summarized as undeserved favor. And beloved, listen, if you want to enter into the citizenship of the kingdom of heaven, this is the humility that starts the process. And that is that none of us deserve grace. None of us deserve salvation. In fact, Romans 3, 10 through 12 would be a good passage to write down. There is no one who is righteous. There is no one who does good. There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God. Isn't that interesting? Nobody wakes up on some morning and says, you know what? I'm going to seek God today. Nobody. If somebody wakes up and says that, it's not on their own. That means that God is working on their heart. And guess what? That's grace. Beloved, the process of kingdom citizenship begins with grace. It is undeserved. But then it moves to look at verse 8 of Ephesians chapter 2, for by grace you have been saved through faith. There it is. Beloved, would you write that down? The second step of the process of kingdom citizenship is faith. I want to make sure that we understand biblically what faith is. Faith is not just simply believing something, it's more than that. In fact, let me give you just this definition that is rather simple, but I believe it articulates what biblically faith is speaking of. Faith is trust demonstrated by action. Would you write that down? Faith is trust demonstrated by action. Now, be careful that you don't put emphasis on action where the Bible doesn't put emphasis. Let me explain that by having you turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, in verse nine, I would argue is one of the most succinct and exhaustive statements of what is required for salvation. Romans chapter 10. In verse nine it says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. There it is. You want to know how to enter the kingdom of God? You want to know how to complete the process of kingdom citizenship? It is right here. You confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. Guess what? That's faith, trust, demonstrated by action. Let me prove that. First of all, you must believe that Jesus died. What is that all about? Is that simply a historical experience? No. It is a required event for your salvation. What this means is that you acknowledge that you are answering to a holy God. That's where salvation begins. Salvation does not begin with me. It begins with God and that he is holy and he is perfect and he expects and demands that his creation is that. Raise your hand if you fulfilled that standard. Nobody has. And you have to own this, you have to trust this, you have to believe this, and that when God condemns the sinner to hell, that that is just. It is actually, listen to this, and this is where the offense comes in, it's actually good. It is good that God condemns sinners to hell. That is good. Why is that good? Because it affirms his character. and it puts the gospel on display. So see, we believe this, we trust this, we then understand that what God says about me through his word is true, and that is that I'm a sinner, I'm condemned to hell, and I need someone else to save me. And then I understand that scripture says that that one who saves me is Jesus, who lived a perfect life, and he died a sinner's death, though he himself knew no sin, and he rose from the dead, gaining victory over the grave and over sin, and he is now at the right hand of God. And do you believe that? See, that's the trust piece. But then here's where the action comes in. I have to respond to that. In fact, look at Romans 10, verse 10. It says, for with the heart one believes, that means I'm believing this, I'm trusting this, and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. What does that mean, beloved? Well, the word that is translated confess means to say the same thing. I'm saying the same thing about God that his word says. I'm saying the same thing about me that his word says. I'm saying the same thing about the righteousness of Christ that his word says. And I'm moving forward according to his word. That is the action that shows that your faith is genuine. Beloved, this is what Paul is talking about in Ephesians chapter two and verse eight. This is the faith that is required for kingdom citizenship. So I want to ask you a question. Have you ever responded in faith to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Beloved, this is a question for you as an individual, not for the person next to you, not for your small group members. This is a question for you. Have you responded to the gospel by surrendering and believing and turning from your sin? So you don't wait till the end of the service. If you understand that and you want that, would you just call out to him right now? Just ask him, God, save me because of Christ. I give my life to you. You'll be saved. What's interesting is that when you are saved, look at what verse 10 says. It says, for we are his workmanship. Who are the we? The we are the believers, those who have been saved by faith. We are created in Christ Jesus. Here's the purpose. For good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in him. What he's saying there is that if we are truly saved, the natural response is good works. If you have been saved, if you've been transformed from the inside, if you realize what you've been saved from, if you realize the sacrifice that has been made, if you realize what you've been called to, then we obey just naturally as expressions of worship. Now, do we do that all the time? No. But this is the objective to which we are saved, for good works. What's interesting is that we are saved for good works to be carried out, and this is what I really want to drive home in verses 11 through 22, in the context of a group. Isn't that interesting? I do not think it is coincidence that Paul spends 12 verses after he says individuals are saved by grace, through faith, for good works, and then he spends 12 verses talking about this being a group. Look at verse 13. Once we were far off and we have been brought near. Verse 14, it says we were two groups that have been made now both one. Verse 15, we are one new man. Verse 16, we are one body. Verse 19, we are fellow citizens. Verse 19, we are members of a household. Verse 21, we are being built up into a holy temple. Verse 22, a dwelling place of God. The vocabulary here is a group of people. It is an assembly of people. It is the local church. Let me illustrate this. When I was growing up, I think some of you might know this about me. I love baseball. Anybody know that about me? I love watching Major League Baseball. In fact, I'm so looking forward to this afternoon where I believe this may happen if God has so ordained it. But I will be watching the Twins with my dad this afternoon because the Royals are not fun to watch. No, I'm just kidding. But we'll be watching Major League Baseball. When I was growing up, there was one team that I despised more than any other team, and that was the Philadelphia Phillies. 1980. Y'all remember that? Those of us that were alive? They defeated our beloved Royals. And so anything, when I saw a P on a hat, it didn't need to be the logo. I'm like, is that the Phillies? I despised the Phillies. So imagine the surprise in 1997 in the summer when we're sitting around in the living room and the phone rings. One of my family members hands me the phone and says, Jeff, it's a scout. I get on the phone and he identifies himself as a scout with the Philadelphia Phillies. What does he say to me? He says, Jeff, we have selected you in our draft and we want you to come play for the Phillies organization. In that moment, the Phillies became my favorite team. Can't get enough. Now I signed a contract and I officially became a member of that organization. What do you think the next steps were? Well, I naturally jumped in my car, went to a little league field and found a group of little leaguers that all had fillies on their uniform. And I'm like, now I'm a member of your team. Is that what I did? No. that I put on a t-shirt and put red pinstripes and with a marker say Phillies and just go out and swing the bat in front of the house saying I'm now a Philly. No, what I did is I got in the car, I drove to where the organization told me to drive, I submitted to the manager wherever he told me to play, I showed up when they said show up, I wore the uniform that was officially designated by the Phillies organization. Why? Because I was a member of that team. I didn't act as an individual. I didn't just decide where I wanted to go. I'm a member of that team. They tell me where to go and I submit. Beloved, this is the beginning of our understanding of what the kingdom citizens are supposed to do when it comes to the local church. I know this might step on some people's toes, and I've actually been struggling with this myself, but listen, the New Testament expectation is not that we autonomously live as individual Christians. It's not. And I'll get to a place where I hope I can argue this definitively from Scripture. But God has as his expectations that when we are saved by grace through faith, that we live out Christianity within the context of a local church. Listen, beloved, before I move on, that is gracious of our God, isn't it? How many of you would love to just live the rest of your life as a Lone Ranger Christian? Would you raise your hand and then put it down quickly because y'all are lying? To be with a group of people that can support one another, that can encourage one another, that can point out in our lives where there might be blinders in our lives, that is a gracious gift. And it is the gift of a local church. It's interesting that Peter is given the keys to the local church in Matthew chapter 16. What that means is that he is given the exact instruction that is necessary for the church to thrive. And so when Peter stands up at Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, he is laying the groundwork by giving the gospel of Jesus Christ of what the church would be. You can see that his instruction is actually applied so well in chapter two, verses 41 through 42, where the new converts and those that were dedicated their lives to Christ were devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the prayer, and to the breaking of bread, and you can see the new foundation of that church is playing out, and then John does the same thing, and the other disciples do the same thing, and then God raises up through Christ the apostle Paul, and they go out, and they plant churches, and they pass on the keys to those other local churches. And this has been continuing generation after generation after generation. This is how you become a kingdom citizen. This is how kingdom citizens are to operate. But there's a clarification that we must make, number three. And this is the clarification of the kingdom. Now, at this point, I'm going to argue a statement that I have to confess several months ago, I would have wrestled with and struggled with it. I'm just going to make the statement because I believe that over these months of wrestling, I'm coming to a conclusion that this is biblical. And so I'm allowing for the fact that for some of you, this may be a concept that is new. For some of you, this might be a concept that you've heard before, but you've disagreed with. And I'm inviting you to come alongside with me on this journey of the study that if this is biblical, let's own it. Here's the statement that I'm going to make. The New Testament expects followers of Christ to submit to, join, and live the Christian life within the context of the local church. The New Testament expects Christ followers, expects kingdom citizens to do so within the context of a local church, not just coming and showing up, but joining, submitting to, engaging with, and viewing the church as your authority. That's quite a statement. And one of the reasons we resist a statement like this is because of our influences in our lives, such as individualism. As Americans, we love our individualism. We love being able to say, I have the right to decide what is right for my life. And in some aspects, you can make an argument for that, although I would argue that only if scripture allows for it. Consumerism drives us in the 21st century. And listen, it's not just in America. It's also in Romania. It's also in Israel. I stood in Jerusalem and saw an advertisement for a stormtrooper popsicle. Consumerism. I want that and I want it right now. A buffet of options are given to consumers and we are the autonomous consumers that can pick and choose what we want to put on our plates. Listen, that's not what the New Testament describes as a Christian. But these influences such as this, such as pragmatism and so many other isms that we'll unpack in the weeks ahead are influences that fog our lenses so that we don't see clearly what the New Testament intended for the church. Here's a statement that I would encourage you to write down. Christianity is more about we than it is me. Christianity, biblically speaking, is more about we than it is me. And in our day and age, again, as Christians, we've had so many influences that talk about, no, no, no, it's a personal relationship with Christ. Yes, it is, and I will give an answer someday as to whether or not I submitted to the Lord myself, not as a church, myself. Yes, but then once we enter into that relationship, it's expected that we immediately enter into the relationship with the local church. Let me illustrate that by giving three metaphors that the Bible gives. There's so many other ones, but I'm going to highlight these. The first one, I would encourage you to write this down, is the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians 12, we'll look at this in the weeks ahead. Paul uses an illustration where he talks about the individuals in the church are members of a bigger body. He talks about hands and feet and mouths and smaller parts and the point that Paul is making here is that we have as individuals both the identity of who we are in Christ as well as how that relates to the local church. Consider this with me. What would you think if a pinky toe said, you know what, I'm a pinky toe, but I am so confident about my identity as a pinky toe that I'm just gonna pinky toe over here on my own. Well, that would be absurd. The pinky toe will not function as it was designed. Listen, the point that Paul is making in my illustration is that we have a twofold identity. Our identity is first in Christ and who we are in Christ, but then also the role that he has called us to within the context of the local church. The body of Christ. Here's another one. Turn over to 1 Timothy. I want you to see this just so you know I'm not making this word up. If we have any middle school boys in here, you'll join me in a little chuckle when I read this verse. 1 Timothy 3, verse 15. Paul is instructing young Timothy how he as a leader and as the church is to be conducted in the local church context. And he says in verse 15, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God. What is he referring to there? The local church. which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth." That's the word. I don't know about you, but I haven't used that word in a long time. What does that word mean? Well, the definition of that word is that which provides the basis or foundation for belief or practice. Isn't that interesting? What is described as the buttress of truth, as the foundation, as the basis of the truth of the Christian faith? It's not individual Christians. It's not authors. It's not even seminaries and Bible college. The basis and foundation of the truth for Christians is the local church. I find that fascinating. Now, we must flesh this out. Let me give you just a couple more minutes to explain this. So does that mean that any group of people that identifies themselves as a church in name is the foundation of truth? No. There's a word here that is translated buttress that actually comes from the root word thamelios. And I just share that in case any of you are fans of theological journals. There's a theological journal called Thamelios. It means foundation. And so when Paul uses this, that the local church is the foundation of truth, I believe he's actually pointing us back to Ephesians 2.20. In Ephesians 2.20, it says that the household of God is being built upon the foundation, the thamelios, of the apostles and the prophets. Now, what were the apostles and the prophets doing? They were teaching the word of God. And what's interesting about that is that the apostles and the prophets were teaching the word of God based on another foundation. Guess what? The apostles and prophets teaching was not the ultimate foundation. Oh no. The ultimate foundation is Jesus Christ himself. And so this is how you can tell whether or not a group of people who identify themselves as a church is the familias that you need to be going to as the basis and foundation of the truth. Is it built upon an accurate understanding and teaching of God's word, and is it Christ-centered? And if the answer to both of those questions are yes, then guess what? Plug yourself into that church, and I pray that Ascend is that. I believe it is. We're not the only one, I will tell you that. the buttress, the foundation, the basis of truth within the church, Paul understood that Christians, individuals need this support. There's a third one that I'll cover briefly because last week we dug into this intensely. And if you didn't listen to that, I would just encourage you, listen to the message last week because the content is crucial. The concept of temple is all throughout scripture from Genesis to Revelation. And we unpacked what that looks like last week and how the church has a role to play within that concept. Write down 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19. 1 Corinthians 6 and verse 19, Paul goes back and forth between singular and plural words. And the point that he's driving home by that grammar and going back and forth is that the individuals who are followers of Christ, as well as the local church, both comprise the temple of the living God. And as such, he goes back and forth in such a way that he is doing so reminding the readers that it is not either or, it is both and. So in us being the temple of the living God as individuals, we are also temples of the living God as a local church. And this tells us, among all the other descriptions and metaphors of the church, that Christianity is more about we than it is about me. And so, beloved, this is the foundation. We're gonna dive deeper into this. I can't wait. I've already crafted the titles. I'm excited about what we're gonna be talking about in the coming weeks. There's gonna be some things that challenge you. in your traditions that might challenge some of your beliefs, love to grab coffees and lunches and engage with anything that you have concerns or questions about. But the goal is, is that as we work through these topics and these passages in the coming weeks, that we will be able to open the doors of our new building and this new chapter of ministry with a united understanding of what God's word says about the answer to the question, who are.