Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

Well, we are going to have 1 more song in just a moment before Pete comes to preach to us. But first, we're going to have our readings. So if you've got a bible with you, could you please turn to Proverbs chapter 14 The words will come up on the screen if you haven't got a bible with you. And although the whole chapter's up there, we're actually just gonna read the first the first 12 verses of Proverbs 14.

The wise woman builds her house but with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears hers down. Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly, But those who despise him are devious in their ways. A fool's mouth lashes out with pride. But the lips of the wise protect them. When there are no oxen, the manger is empty.

But from the strength of an ox come abundant harvests. An honest witness does not deceive but a false witness pours out lies. The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none. But knowledge comes easily to the discerning. Stay away from a fall for you will not find knowledge on their lips.

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception. Falls mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright. Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no 1 else can share its joy. The house of the wicked will be destroyed. But the tenth of the upright will flourish.

There is a way that appears to be right but in the end it leads to death. Well, we've been looking at proverbs. There are fantastic pithy little sayings. That when you spend a bit of time on, you see actually the depth of them. They're they're they're just brilliant things.

Let's just ask the law to help us. Further help us now as we listen, there are so many things that can distract us externally and internally. Pray, please, that you would help us by your spirit to hear your word, and then be doers of what we hear you say. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. So we're really looking at Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 1.

So if you wanna turn to that, that will be really helpful. Proverbs 14 verse 1. And it says this, the wise woman builds her house But with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears hers down. Now, you've only got to give that just a little bit of thought and you'll discover how how striking. It really is a very striking problem and that's why it stopped me in reading through what's the next 1 we're gonna do.

And it it It struck me and stopped me here. The wise woman built her house, but with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears hers down. It's like a little drama in a single sentence and we're discovering this with problems. That's what they are. They're so graphic.

1 woman building Another woman tearing down. It's the sort of thing that that actually happens in play groups around the country. You've only got to look at play groups. Even the 1 at the hub. And you'll find 1 little person going around sorting through all the the toy boxes trying to find all of the Lego.

Fits the right colors, the right sizes. Then he spends the whole of the play group building up a nice tower. He's a builder. A men comes along another little and with 1 swipe is a wrecking ball and smashes the whole one's a builder, one's a wrecking ball. But I don't think that illustration takes us into this proverb enough It's it's stronger than that.

It's it's full of pathos and sadness really because the foolish woman here is not knocking down someone else's tower. She's knocking down her own house. It's just extraordinary. There is something so radically and fundamentally foolish about her. That she destroys her own house.

So loads of things come to my imagination You know the person that is so foolish, they massively got themselves into debt. And in the end, built up this house, but in the end is selling everything off, so this item after item, brick off the brick being sold to pay off the enormous debt that they're in. That that you can see that, can't you? Or the person that's broken the family apart by some foolishness and destroyed a whole family. Or the person who's addicted to alcohol or drugs or or or whatever, tearing their own body apart, you see it.

So foolish. Or some of the things that you hopefully have heard on the new I say hopefully, but you, you know, you're listening to the news and you've heard on the news some of these 14 year old boys that take a knife out and stab someone to death The latest 1 in in Liverpool, a 12 year old girl, killed by a 14 year old boy. He's not only wrecked her life and all of that family life. His life is wrecked. The whole of his life is wrecked.

So this this proverb is so powerful, so moving, isn't it? We have 2 women contrasted. You have the wise builder. You have the fool someone who tears down. Now we've seen these 2 women before in in proverbs, and they're women that the picture for every human being.

This is not just for women, but the the the women that picture 2 alternative vivid alternative paths, routes that people can walk down. And of course, the challenge of this is is, you know, which are you gonna follow? I mean, that's obvious the challenge, isn't it? Which which you gonna turn out to be like? Which are you following?

Are you a builder or a demolisher? When people sit around you, do they feel I'm sitting next to a demolisher here. Or are you a builder? Are your hands dirty? With building material.

Are your hands? You know, are your fingernails? Got dirt in them because you've got your hands in in the mortar, and you're building up the bricks, and you're you're a builder, you're a builder. Or are you someone that's got very nice smooth hands because you're used to using the button on the on the wrecking ball? And it swings and smashes it down.

My first point is, be a builder. Let me just pull this up a bit. Be a builder. The wise woman builds her house. But with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears hers down.

Now, the word for house in Proverbs, as in the rest of scripture, doesn't just mean a building that you live in. You've got to get rid of that. It it describes a family, a household, you know, we we're used to using those words and an estate. But now, and for the future, obviously, for the future future descendants. It's got that sort of feel to it and it includes morality in that and spiritual climate of the household.

So you can see it, Joshua. The great Joshua back in the old testament is standing up in the promised land. And he's got the people of God and he's wanting them to renew their covenant with the Lord God and be faithful to the Lord God. And he says very loudly, at the end of that book. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

And what he means by that is not just him, but it is his household, his family, but not just his near family, all those who were under his care, under his roof. That he works with and works with him, that he has daily life with. As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. If you go to Paul in the book of Romans. At the end of Romans, he's giving greetings and he says greet Priscilla and aquila.

And the church that meets in their house, their home. So it's a group of people. It's never individual. It it includes always others. So you When when you think of house, you're not there and you're flat on your own.

You're you're there with a a group of others, you influence what your roof goes over, if you like. So be a builder. Of a household. BA wise, be a builder, be a wise builder. Why?

Because God is a builder. You've only got to do a quick survey through the bible, which I'm gonna do very quickly. And you see God is a builder. The triune God, 3 persons in 1 God, father, son and holy spirit. All are builders.

They're all about building. You you you go to Genesis, worry, this this whoever gives us this platform. Doesn't know what a preacher has to do. I've got a stand on a foot square and if I slightly move, I'm going over. This is not building properly.

Okay? Yeah. Anyway, a wise building gives you something of substance. Oh, gosh. And and a quick survey.

You go to Genesis 1 and 2 and you'll see God builds the universe. He designs it. He creates it. He places the moon and the stars and the sun all in their place. He builds a world and he places the plants and the birds and the fish and the animals all in their place.

He takes hold of some dust and sand and he makes it a magnificent sand castle and he calls it Adam and he breathes life into it and then he takes a rib from from Adam's side and the word is builds Eve out of it and there to go into the world to build a family. And then later on, if you follow through, God gives blue print prints and plans to build the tabernacle. A place which will represent God dwelling with his people. The father is a builder. God, the son is a builder.

It says in John chapter 1 and tonight, you'll see that if you come to the service that he tabernacled with us, building. That's a building word. Jesus says I will build my church. He's a builder. The foundations of the church He is the foundation.

He is the cornerstone of the church when people were talking to Jesus and he's talking about his own body. He says destroy this temple. He's talking about his body and I'll build it up in 3 days time. I'll raise it up. So God the son is a builder.

God the Holy Spirit is a builder. He gives gifts to the people in the church to and this is the word that's used in the bible, edify. That's a building word. You get edifice from it. A massive great building.

The Holy Spirit gives gifts to edify. 1 Corinthians 14 says, since you eat your eager for gifts of the spirit, if you're e are you eager for gifts of the spirit? Well if we're eager for gifts of the spirit, he says, try to excel in those that build up the church, not just build you up personally, not so you can show off and say hey, look at me, I've got this spiritual gift, but that you build up the church. Paul writes in Ephesians 4 that that Christ has given apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers to equip God's people so that they may be built up Built up in Christ. The Holy Spirit talks about the church as the house hold of God, the temple of God.

Peter says you are living stones being built into a spiritual house. If you look at ephesians 2, these I'm gonna give you loads of texts here. But if you look at ephesians 2, you see all of the Trinity, Father, son, and holy spirit about working to build the household of God to bring people from different countries and different backgrounds, particularly Jews and gentles. To get to gentiles, together, to build, to join together, to love each other, and be built into the family of God. Father, son, holy spirit.

They're all builders. Proverbs tells us, listen, He's just seen James Roads and and I don't know where he is now. There he is. And I wanted I wanted to say this. The building because he does sort of building stuff, building is is the work of God.

We have it all wrong. We put builders down here. Yeah. Just the builder. Just to trade just to build.

What builders are up here? God is a builder. Yeah? We've got it wrong. Computers What are you talking about?

Internet stuff? What a little broader. Yeah. Number 1. Anyway, there you go.

Hopefully, that encourages you, James. Yep. Well, you go to work, you're doing God's work. Yep. Lay a patio.

Whoa. Brilliant. That's a by the way. So God is about building. Proverbs tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

1 of the evidence that you are wise and you fear the Lord is to be about what God is about and God is about building. So we will be a builder. You are built by a builder to build. You are built to construct the church, if you're a Christian. You are God's Co laborer.

Look at those words. God's co laborer in the family business of church construction. The wise woman builds her house, says, verse 1. But with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears it down. A wise person builds.

They build their marriage, they build their family, they build their home, their estate for future generations, they build the church, on the truth of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the fear of the Lord God. Wise people say, as for me and my house, we will serve the lord. Just look at proverbs chapter 24 verse 3, if you bible. Just turn to that. It's a wonderful, wonderful proverb.

And it adds to 14 verse 1. Proverbs 24 verse 3. By wisdom, a house is built And by understanding, it is established. By knowledge, the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. That's a beautiful beautiful thing, isn't it?

I mean, you could just open that up, you know, It's just amazing. There's this in other words, look, keep extending the house. Keep extending. Keep adding riches. Keep adding precious riches by the knowledge of the Lord.

Don't just build a little tiny shack and sit under the roof with another person. But extend, bring riches of the knowledge of God into your family. It was a it was a delight to be invited as a guest around Dean and Chris Dryden's house for for American Thanksgiving. I mean, I don't understand what America have got to be thankful for. But, you know, I was thankful.

I wasn't an American. And and so I guess that's what it's about. But it was a it was a it was a joy just and it's just a little tiny thing. They they invited a group of us around, and we just ate Turkey together. It was very nice, very lovely, just together.

But they extended their house because little Lucas invited his friend called Arton. Arton is from Iran, a lovely little boy, a Muslim little boy in the house with a whole bunch of Christians eating together It was just a beautiful picture of extending the house, extending the roof, bringing in the riches of people from other nations. That's wise. That's a builder. My second point is building material What are we gonna build with?

Psalm 127 verse 1 says this. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders, labor in vain. Actually the city police in London London City police have that verse on their on their helmets, on the on their hat things. Unless the lord builds the the house, its builders' labor in vain.

Now, that shows us that you can be a builder, but you're building with wrong material or you're building on your own, and it will be a waste of time. Unless the Lord is their building. Look at the second half of verse 14, verse 1 of chapter 14. But with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears hers down, tears her house down. I think it's not just that she tears it down, but it's possible to tear down the house by building with your hands in the wrong way.

It will eventually collapse and it will be your fault that collapsed because you built with the wrong material, or you built on your own without the Lord. If you don't build a proper foundation, then the work of your hands in the end will be torn down. So this foolish woman She thinks she's constructing a house, but she's tearing it down. And Jesus gives that picture in the great sermon on the Mount. Of 2 house builders.

And he says, 1 builds a house on sandy ground where the where the foundation is sand, and 1 builds a house on the rock. And the houses presumably look good together. They're looking the same. But 1 falls down when the storm comes because there's no foundation, and the other stands when the storm comes. So it's possible to look like a builder.

But, because you've got no foundation or a no solid foundation, In the end, it will be a waste of time. So what are you building with? Are you building with the lord unless the lord builds the house? Are you building on your own? What foundation are you building your grand house with?

Looks good now, but will it fall? What I wanna do now, so I hope you bear with me. We'll see if this works. I wanna go through Proverbs 14, so you need that open. We probably put the verses back up if you possibly can find it.

And I just wanna use Proverbs 14 for looking at some of the building material for building a house. Because we're in Proverbs 14. And I wanna look at the sort of workplace ethos of the workplace ethic that you see in building. And I'm asking the question and I'll keep asking it. How do you build your house?

How do you build your house? So I'm gonna look at various verses. We can't go through them all. I I was going to but we just can't do. So I'm gonna pick out some and even the ones I got here, I might have to edit.

But I wanna do quite a few because I wanna have a look at what building material you're gonna do. So bear with me. Verse 2, how do you build your house? Whoever fears the lord walks uprightly, But those who despise him are devious in their ways. How do you build your house?

In the fear of the lord with integrity walking rightly. In other words, when no 1 else is looking, you know the Lord is. Or do you use any kind of devious way to build your house? To build your life, to build your family. You know, you might not pay the taxes so much.

You might be able to get away with a few sort of shortcuts. You make up things about other people so that they can get blamed and it takes the focus off you. How are you building? Is is there deviousness in the way you act? You know, you you you slightly manipulate things so that you look good, but actually it's devious.

Look at verse 4, how do you build your house? Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty. But from the strength of an ox comes abundant harvest. Or look at verse 23 because it's almost the same thing. All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk only to poverty.

How do you build your house? Well, by hard work, he's saying. If there's no oxen, if you haven't got an oxen, your manger will be empty. But those who have an oxen put it to work and oxes are hard workers. So all hard work you'll bring some profit.

Are you It's hard work to build a house. It's hard work to build a church. It's just solid hard work. It's hard work, isn't it? As you deal with kids and problems and, you know, snotty noses and COVID warnings and sticking things up kids noses.

It's hard work to say, no, we don't lie. It's hard work to say, no, you can't walk. That. It's hard work to say, I don't care whether every other child in the school is watching it. You're not.

It's just solid hard work. And and just notice this because Christians can say, okay, I don't do the hard work. I just pray to God for a miracle. This isn't a miracle here. This is hard work.

God works by means an ox. Not just letting you off so you ask for a miracle in your life. You know, just shit, but it's like students, isn't it? When exams come, they suddenly start coming to the prayer meeting and say, pray for me. No.

No. I'm gonna pray that you get what you deserve. Yeah. You know? But it's amazing, isn't it?

How how how we twist things around? Lord, help me. Well, you haven't helped yourself. I gave you the means. Where's the ox?

Well, I sold that off. Verse 7. How do you build your house? Stay away from a fool for you will not find knowledge in their lips. In other words, be very careful where you're getting knowledge from.

Who are you listening to? What's the major thing that's going into your ears and the major world view that is actually manipulating you in this building project. Versus 8 and 9. How do you build your house? The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but The fool the folly of fools is deception verse 9.

Fools mock at making amends for sin. But goodwill is found among the right. The wise thing carefully about their life And the wise will admit that they've done wrong. They'll admit they failed and sinned. The fool though, see fools mock making amends for sin.

The fool will cover up. It's all cover up is always a disaster, isn't it? The fools cover up. The wise person comes out and says, I look. I mean, you don't want a builder, do you?

Do you want a builder Who makes a mistake and then covers up the mistake? You'd rather have a builder says, do you know what? I put a wall in where I should have put a wall in mate? I thought I'd knock it down. But he doesn't start saying no, there's no wall there.

Well, there is. There isn't. You know, someone would or do you know what? I I should have dug a bit of a dig a a bigger foundation. We'd dig it up and you want a builder that owns up and says, I'm really sorry.

I got the wrong mortar. I bought the wrong bricks. Don't you? How do you build your life? See, the great thing is about family life.

It's great when parents turn around to their children and say, I'm really sorry I was wrong. Why is people do that? Fools cover up. Verse 11, Trying to go fast. How do you build your house?

First 11. The house of the wicked will be destroyed, but the tent of the upright will far flourish. Do you see that? So we may have a tent so don't start comparing your tent to the great house on the sandy ground over there. You may only have a tent in this world and that's what the new testament says, but in the end you will have a better place.

You'll flourish. It's better to be in a little tiny small flat flourishing than just sell your soul over to a big house that you can't afford and the whole thing falls back as you're selling off your bricks and mortars. Look at verse 14 and 18 and 19 and 22. Let's see how he does that. But don't worry too much.

So how do you build your house? All of them have got to do with the future. How do you build your house? What's gonna happen in the future? Look at verse 14.

The faithfulness will be fully repaid for their ways and the good rewarded for theirs. There's a future coming when you'll know what foundation you're built on built on, sand, when the storms of judgment come, or rock. Look at verse 18. The simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. Their inheritance in the end is always foolish.

It will come to destruction. Look at verse 19. Evil doers will bow down in the presence of the good and the wicked at the gates of the righteous. There'll be a time when it will be sorted and you'll be seen to be righteous and the wicked will seem to be wicked. Don't worry.

The comparison isn't now, it's then. Look at verse 22. Do not those who plot evil go astray, But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness wicked in the wickedness in the end, will destroy you, but you'll find love and faithfulness for the good Sorry. I got a few more, but I really wanna do this. Verse 12, how do you build your house?

There is a way that appears to be right But in the end, it leads to death. There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end, leads to death. That's why you need wisdom and discernment and the word of the lord. See the common slogan today is believe in yourself, live for yourself, trust in yourself, follow your heart, and it's utter stupidity. It is foolishness It will break your heart.

It will break you. You'll end up tearing your own building down. But that is the wisdom of the day. Believe in yourself, follow your dreams, follow your heart. That's what you get from Hollywood, that's what you get just pounded at you all the time.

And it seems right, doesn't it? Come on, Pete. Give us a bit, you know, trusting yourself. Come on. You know?

Quite is so negative. I'm not negative at all. You're just building on sandy ground. I've seen it happen with so many people in my life. Will you listen?

Verse 12 bluntly says it seems right but it leads to death. Look at verse 15. How do you build your house? The simple, believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their ways. Just believe whatever you're told.

It was g k GK Chesterton that said when men stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing. They become capable of believing in anything. And it's extraordinary. Get rid of God and people just believe almost anything. Look at first 26.

We're getting there. We're getting near the end. How do you build your house? Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress and for their children, it will be a refuge. Their security on the rocky ground, the word of Jesus.

Verse 27, how do you build your house? The fear of the Lord is the fountain of life Turning a person from the snares of death. The fear of the lord is the fountain of life. And it will turn you from the snares of death. You see, we're in a time again of self improvement, self help.

That's the natural religion of many people. And unfortunately, people will use these proverbs as a self improvement program. And that's why you need verse 27. It all starts with the fear of the Lord. Unless the lord builds a house.

Unless you're building on the word of Christ On the Rocky Foundation, you need Christ. And then just the last 1, How do you build your house? First 30. Just look at it. A heart a heart at peace gives life to the body but envy rots the bones.

Gosh, we must preach that 1. When you know peace with God, There's life when you're an envious old cow. You're bitter. You It rots. It rots you.

Now let me illustrate this. Because there was a lot of stuff there. I get it. So if you've dozed off, I wanna illustrate this. Yeah?

You're listening now? I'm gonna illustrate this with 2 people that I've been reading about this week. 1 is a builder of a house. And 1 is a demolisher, I think. 1 is very famous and 1 isn't.

1 is very famous. So famous, she's on the vogue magazine, both American issue, and the English issue now, this month. She's on the cover of it. She's so famous that her album has just, you know, exploded. She's so famous that when she does a concert called an audience with her, all the famous people come out and listen to her.

She's so famous that in the audience people say things like Why are you the greatest singer in the world? That's the sort of question they ask. How did you become the greatest singer in the world? Her name is Adele. And I want to say that she is a disaster.

And I don't enjoy this. We should pray for the woman. She's a wrecker. She's a wrecking ball. Adelle has just got divorced, well, in in 2019, from a 7 year marriage.

She has a now, a 9 year old son. But he was 6 and a half when they divorced. Adele explains that she left her marriage in, and I'm quoting the pursuit of our own happiness. This is what she says. I was just going through the motions and I wasn't happy.

Neither of us did anything wrong. Neither of us hurt each other. Or anything like that. It was just that. Now, listen to her reasoning because this is modern reasoning.

She lives in LA, anyone that goes to move to LA and then goes for an interview on Oprah win you know they're probably gone mental, and they've got the wrong wrong world view. So listen, just no, seriously, listen to her world view. Right? Because it doesn't make sense, but listen. I want my son to see me really love.

And be loved. It's really important to me, so she divorces her husband. Not because anything's gone wrong. It's just a bit flat the marriage. I've been on my journey to find true happiness ever since, so she still hasn't found it.

While the divorce proceedings went as smoothly as possible, the events leading up to them were difficult for her son, Angelo. Adell is still haunted by an emotional exchange she and her son had when he was 6 and a half years old. Listen to this. He said to my face, can you see me? And I was like, yeah.

Yeah. And he was like because I can't see you anymore. Well, my whole life fell apart at that moment. He knew I wasn't there. Still, Angela's questions don't have easy answers, and that's frustrating and heartbreaking.

But listen. Listen. He has so many simple questions for me, that I can never answer because I I don't know the answer. Like, why can't we still live together? That's just not what people do, she said, when they get divorced, but why not?

I'm like, I don't effing know. That's that's not what society does. And why don't you love daddy anymore? And I'd be like, I do love your dad. I'm just not in love with him.

Hollywood nonsense. Listen. I can't make. I can't make that make sense. To my son because it doesn't make sense, Adele.

It's very interesting because I'm not just having a go at her. At the beginning of her song, where she's trying to explain to her son, that it was a hard time. And she's saying to her 9 year old son, take it easy on me about this divorce. Take it easy on me. That's her new single.

At the beginning of her song, see how She recognizes she's wrecked the home. This is the beginning of the video. We won't go to the song, but this is the beginning. Just just watch it. She leaves her home.

It's very powerful. A wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears it down. And then she puts it on her son to go easy on her. I don't want to have a go at Adell, I really don't, but I wanna show you that's the philosophy she's following that is so prevalent. Let me give you the other illustration.

I want to compare Adell to an unknown person to you, but I've known this bloke for many years. His name is Melvin Tinker. His sons wrote something very different than Odell's son. He died last week. They put up on social media this post.

19 55 dash to eternity. During the night, Dad went to be with his Lord. He was comfortable, listening to David Souschet reading the book of Revelation. Mom, fell asleep by his side, and when she woke, awoke, the book had been finished and dad was with the 1 whom we see so glorious in those pages of revelation and whom dad now sees face to face. There's much that can be said about my dad, and I'm sure many stories will be shared over the coming days and weeks.

But I know that this is how dad would want to be remembered. As a sinner saved by so glorious and merciful a king, Dad wanted a celebration service after his funeral, but not a celebration of him. He wanted the celebration to be of God and all that he's done. He insisted on it. That's my dad.

Andrew Peterson penned these beautiful words and how true they are at this moment of my dad. You can lay me You can lay me anywhere, but just remember this. When you lay me down to die, I'll open my eyes on the skies I've never known in the place where I belong and I'll realize his love is just another word for home. The foolish breaks up a home and leaves away for some LA dream that's unreal. The wise stays faithful to his sons and his wife, and she lies next to him as he goes to home.

He's made a home. See the difference? So what about you? The wise woman built her house, but with her own hands, the foolish 1 tears her down. Are there areas in your life that you need to work through and repent of of their wrecking balls coming in your life.

You actually need to repent of. Stop making excuses for and repent of. Ask the Lord, ask the builder to help in construction. Think of your family. Think of your personal life.

Think of your church. Are you a builder or a demolisher? Do you leave devastation around you? Or new growth. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 14, everything must be done so that the church may be built up.

Lord, Jesus helped me build the church. The mark of a wise builder is knowledge, forethought, hard work, fear of the Lord. The mark of a foolish destroyer is idleness, waste, love of pleasure, obsessed with self, lack of thought, forethought, and no fear of the Lord. Let's bow our heads and pray. I'll hand over to Tom Let's just have have a moment to think about those different areas, family, home, life, church, areas where we might be demolishing and tearing down.

Things we wanna say sorry for, things we wanna pray that God would help us to be builders. Father we thank you for reminding us of how devastating sin really is this morning. And for the ways in which sin, ruins everything and poisons everything that it brings our own lives down and it brings other people down. And in the end to walk away from you is only to do harm and to be a destroyer. And father we Just want to say sorry to you for the different ways in which we can do that.

For for the ways we can be those who tear things down rather than build up for your for your glory. And we prayed that you would forgive us all over again this morning. Father we thank you for for your son, the Lord Jesus, that he is the perfect builder that he came to this world to die for our foolishness and our sin. And that he is risen and that he is building his church and that all over the world, he is building this perfect temple, these living stones, he's creating a new people in himself. And we pray that you would help us to to follow after him, to be those who seek to build up your kingdom, those who want to build up each other.

And and not tear down. So help us with this Lord. We we ask you in Jesus' name, amen.