November 20, 2016 | 1 Peter 1:13-2:3 |
In Peter’s first letter to believers in Asia Minor, he tells them that they can live in holiness as exiles in their world as God’s chosen people. In this message, we learn some practical advice Peter gives us to live as a people set apart, or holy.
November 13, 2016 | 1 Peter 1:1-12 |
Full Transcript Available
How should we live as Christians when the dominant cultural and political forces are at odds with our faith? The apostle Peter’s first letter says that we should live as exiles. In fact, he refers to the first century Christians as exiles three times in his letter. So, over the next three weeks we’re going to look at those three instances. In Peter’s first letter, he told believers who were living as exiles in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) that they could live with great hope in Jesus Christ. We too are living as exiles in a hopeless world and can experience a life of hope through Jesus Christ.
November 6, 2016 | 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18 |
Work. Many of us consider work something we have to do in order to pay for the things we really want to have and to buy the time to do the things we really want to do. Americans have made play a higher goal than work. But that’s a low view of work. It diminishes it to an activity that we have to put up with, rather than a fulfilling and meaningful purpose for living. We place such a high value on entertainment and recreation that it has become a kind of idolatry. We celebrate idleness over work. We have made an idol of idleness!
God has a much higher view of work. As Jesus said, “My Father is always working, and so am I” (John 5:17). As soon as God made man, He gave him a job to do. And He has a job, a purpose for your life too! In the apostle Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, he told them to stand firm in doing the work to which God had called them. We can stand firm in the work that God has given us to do.
October 30, 2016 | 2 Thessalonians 2:13 - 3:5 |
We can be confident and not easily deceived or shaken if we are rooted in the Word of God. We can be confident in our salvation, and then get a firm grip on sound biblical teaching in order to pass the baton of the Gospel on.
October 23, 2016 | 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 |
Perhaps you’ve been alarmed and shaken by today’s headlines. Terrorist attacks, non stop news about the upcoming election, hurricanes and flooding. And that’s just last week! How are we supposed to face these things? And what do we do about all the fear-mongering that we hear people offering? The apostle Paul told the believers in Thessalonica not to be shaken by the false teaching that they were hearing concerning Christ’s return, but instead to continue to stand firm.
October 16, 2016 | 2 Thessalonians 1:1-12 |
Suffering often causes a theological problem for us. We put our trust in God, yet bad stuff still happens. We pray for healing, yet a loved one dies. We pray for reconciliation in marriage, but it ends in divorce. We share our faith with a neighbor, and they reject both our message and our friendship. Suffering tests our faith! Are you going through a time of suffering today? The apostle Paul told the believers in Thessalonica that they could stand firm in their faith in Christ Jesus during times of suffering.
October 2, 2016 | 2 Timothy 2:1-7 |
Do you ever wonder what sort of legacy you are leaving? Do you wonder if people will remember you the way you want to be remembered or some other way? Do you think about what it is that you are really passing on to your kids or your friends or coworkers? In the book of 2 Timothy, Paul tells his disciple Timothy that the grace of Christ can be shared to future generations. Paul teaches that the worship and witness of Jesus Christ is reproducible.
September 25, 2016 | Psalm 96:1-10 |
In the 96th Psalm, the Psalmist wrote that the nation of Israel should worship and bear witness to the glory of God so that all the earth would join in. The mission of that nation was to let their worship of God be a witness among the nations. We too can be missional through our worship and witness.
September 18, 2016 | 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 |
Why is there divorce, murder, and war? Why are we relationally broken? Our sin has separated us from God. We need to be relationally restored. We need to be reconciled to God and with others. In Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth, he told them that God’s reconciling love should move them to be in right relationship with Him in our worship and in right relationship towards others in our witness. We too can let the reconciling love of God as expressed in Christ lead us to a right relationship with Him through worship and a right relationship to others in our witness.
September 11, 2016 | Romans 12:1-2 |
Do you feel like your are running in place sometimes or just not moving at all? Sometimes we can feel that our lives have no meaning or that we are going nowhere. We often put our focus or our worship on things that don’t move us or give us meaning. Newton’s first law of motion says that, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” You may feel this way now, like a stagnant person or a person in motion towards the wrong things. God has designed us for more. He is the unbalanced force that can get us not only moving but moving in the right direction.
In the book of Romans, Paul appeals to his fellow believers that they would become living sacrifices as worship before God. He tells the believers in Rome that their worship of Jesus will transform their life. We too can be transformed by our worship and witness of Jesus.