Sermon for April 19, 2020

Good morning everyone,,, watching by video.

I imagine all of you watching by video that may not be from this community,,, know of the devastating tornadoes that hit our area last Sunday evening. Hopefully all of you that are from this community have been able to rest a little bit from all of the work that you have had to do this week as you clean up the destruction left behind,,, even though I know that there is still a lot of work left to do. I know that it can be hard to stop and rest when there is so much left to do,,, but rest is needed to help you to be able to continue as the days go on.

Before I begin with my sermon,,, I wanted to begin this morning with an opening prayer and lead into the Lord's prayer like we usually begin our worship service. That way if you like,,, you can join me in saying the Lord's prayer.

Invocation and Lord's prayer

Dear Lord, I thank you for your continued presence among us today and every day. I thank you for those that are listening and watching by video. I ask for continued guidance for them and others. So we ask for healing for all of those that are sick this morning,,, we ask for safety and guidance for our healthcare workers and all others that must work during this time. Lord,,, I pray for all of those that are still working on clearing storm damage and helping others. We ask for comfort and rest for each of them.

We ask these things in Jesus's name who taught us to pray, by saying:

Our Father, which art in heaven,

hallowed be thy name;

thy kingdom come;

thy will be done;

on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation;

but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever.

Amen.

This morning I'll be reading 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 3 through 9.

I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

1 Peter 1:3-9

Peter is writing to new Christians that are going to face persecution to encourage them to hold on to their faith. Those who read 1 Peter today,,, are encouraged to lift their eyes from present problems and trials and look to the future. Believers may suffer grief in trials today,,, but through faith in God,,, they are assured of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

1 Peter 1:3-9

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.

Let us pray:

Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen.

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As I always do on Sunday and Monday,,, I spent time in prayer about the scripture for today.

I felt God telling me to tell everyone about hope.

Hope that is here even though we are going through tough times.

Hope for those that are Christians that have damage and destruction in their life along with others that may or may not be Christians.

When I read through the lectionary choices for this week,,, I was led to this scripture.

As I said at the beginning,,, 1 Peter was written to people that were in danger of persecution because of them becoming Christians.

In these verses Peter is telling them to keep their faith in God no matter what they are going through.

Those who read 1 Peter today,,, are encouraged to lift their eyes from present problems and trials and look to the future.

Believers may suffer grief in trials today,,, but through faith in God,,, they are assured of an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.

Hopefully we can use these scriptures to help us today as well.

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Verse 3 says: 3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy, He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

Peter is giving God the praise and glory that He deserves because of His grace given to each of us even though we didn't deserve it.

He is referring to the three days before the resurrection that were worse than death that turned into the celebration of hope when Christ arose that first Easter morning.

If you recall,,, on that Resurrection Day,,, the disciples were hiding,,, scared,,, confused and in great sorrow,,, but because of the resurrection,,, they were filled with joy and hope that could never be stopped by anyone on earth.

And because of God's love for us,,, even while we were still sinners Christ died for all,,, this is not something that we earned by being good enough to accept it,,, but it was given to each of us simply because of His love!

Peter is also making a connection to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus when He told him that he must be born again.

John 3:3–7 (HCSB)

3 Jesus replied, “I assure you: Unless someone is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 “But how can anyone be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked Him. “Can he enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “I assure you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh, and whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I told you that you must be born again.

Nicodemus was missing something in his life and he felt like Jesus could supply that need.

Religiously,,, he had everything that he thought he needed at the time,,, but he was still searching,,, so he went to Jesus.

Jesus was telling him that no matter what he did on the outside,,, he needed changing on the inside.

And that can only happen through the Holy Spirit making us aware of our sinfulness and bringing new life to our souls once we accept Jesus as our Savior.

When you accept Christ as your Savior,,, you have a change in your personal life that can only be explained as being born again.

And because Jesus is alive today,,, sitting at the right hand of God,,, interceding for us,,, we have this living hope!

A hope assured by the resurrection of Jesus that we can claim as ours today!

(8:48)

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Verse 4 says: 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

In this verse Peter is encouraging them with these words.

Even though they might be going through trials today,,, their salvation is assured because it's kept in heaven.

Since their future is guaranteed by the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,,, who lives today in heaven,,, they don't have to worry.

This way there faith is in Christ,,, not in what they try to do to earn it,,, because that's something that they cannot earn!

We have that same guarantee today once we accept Jesus as our Savior.

(9:33)

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Verse 5 says: 5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

Not only is the inheritance guarded, but heirs who have been born into that inheritance are protected by God’s power.

What greater hope could be given to those undergoing persecution than the knowledge that God’s power guards them from within, to preserve them for an inheritance of salvation that will be completely revealed to them in God’s presence.

Believers possess salvation now,,, in other words in the present tense,,, but will sense its full significance at the return of Christ in the last time.

This final step, or ultimate completion of “the salvation of their souls” that it's talking about in 1 Peter 1:9,,, will come “when Jesus Christ is revealed.

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Verse 6 says: 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials

A living hope results in a present joy,,, even while we go through trials today.

This doesn't mean that we are happy about the hard times,,, but it means that we know that this won't last.

Because of our faith in God,,, and the fact that we have probably been in tough times before that God has brought us out of,,, we know that He will bring us through this time too!

(11:16)

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Verse 7 says: 7 so that the genuineness of your faith —more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire —may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

These various trials talked about from verse 6 have two examples described here.

The first example is that your faith is "refined" or purified - like gold by fire,,, which is very valuable.

But it becomes much more valuable than gold because your faith in God means eternal life in heaven,,, and gold is just something that remains here on earth.

It is useless for us in heaven.

The second example is that the trials that you go through will "prove" the reality of your faith.

Stress deepens and strengthens a Christians faith,,, it makes it visible for others to see.

You become a witness to others that are searching for Jesus.

According to my Bible Knowledge Commentary genuine faith is not only of ultimate value to its possessor, but it will also bring praise, glory, and honor to the One whose name Christians bear, when He will return to claim them as His own.

(12:39)

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Verse 8 says: 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy,

We have not seen Jesus but those of us that are Christians are aware of His presence through the Holy Spirit.

And through that experience,,, we believe.

We also believe because of the overwhelming evidence written down by His disciples that did see Him after the resurrection and had the courage to go to any lengths to tell others about Jesus!

It's because of the testimony of those that came before us,,, the testimony of those living today,,, and our own personal relationship,,, that we can rejoice with glorious joy in our love for Jesus!

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Verse 9 says: 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

We can rejoice because we are receiving what was promised,,, which was our salvation,,, the goal or the end result of faith.

For those who love and believe in Jesus Christ, salvation is past - present - and future.

Past is found in verse 3 where it says: He has given us a new birth, present is found in verse 5 You are being protected by God’s power through faith, and future is found in verses 4 - 5 & 9.

Verse 4 says: and into an inheritance,,, verse 5 says: to be revealed in the last time and verse 9 says: the goal of your faith.

Past - present - and future!

Since each day brings believers closer to that final day, we are now “receiving” it.

All of this—in spite of the trials and persecution we go through,,, which only deepens and demonstrates one’s faith,,, and,,, is certainly cause for “inexpressible and glorious joy”!

(14:47)

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This past Easter Sunday is one that I'm sure none of us will forget.

The destruction left from the tornado's was terrible.

My heart goes out to all of those that lost so much!

But,,, the love that poured out after that was incredible.

The sheer number of eager people that came to help was staggering.

But,,, it's also during times like these,,, that you will hear some say,,, that they can't believe that we still love God after this.

And my response is: God created this world differently,,, than the way that it is now!

When sin entered into the picture,,, brought on by man's disobedience,,, it changed everything for us,,, and it changed everything for the world that we live in too!

This world was created perfectly by God,,, but we messed it up!

And we have to pay that price.

But God had a plan in place,,, even before we messed it up.

He tells of that plan in Genesis and it comes to life by Jesus Christ being born in a manger in Bethlehem,,, living out His life in obedience to God,,, and dying on a cross for our sins,,, buried,,, in the grave for three days,,, but rises out of the tomb to live forever as our Savior and Redeemer!

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Christians today are a living testimony of this plan.

We are told over and over that we will face adversity as Christians.

We are never promised that everything will be perfect if we become Christians,,, instead we are warned to expect problems.

But just like Peter is trying to explain to the people in 1 Peter,,, we can rejoice,,, even during our trials and troubles because we have our faith in One who lives forever at the right hand of God.

We know that no matter what we are going through,,, Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit and no matter how bad it is or even if it happens to be something that we messed up ourselves,,, God is already at work bringing something good out of it for those of us that love God!

That's why that I love Romans 8:28 so much!

I've seen it happen over and over again!

God is so good to us even though we mess up so much!

We might not be able to see the good,,, today or tomorrow,,, but it will show up,,, never fear!

That's why we keep our faith in Christ,,, because of His love for us and His commitment to watch over us no matter what we go through.

When we keep our thoughts on the eternal prize and don't spend as much time worrying over material things,,, or earthly things,,, we can rejoice in spite of our trials and tribulations.

Peter is trying to warn them to keep Christ in their life no matter what this world throws at them and it's the same for us as well!

Just like Peter warns them,,, he is telling us too.

Keep our hope in Jesus and He will see us through!

(17:54)

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