Taste and See Intro

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

if you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Have you ever tried something, loved it so much, now everything else is help to that standard? “It’s good, but it’s not _____”?

For me I have a few of those: Chipotle and Albanese Gummy Bears.

Nothing Compares to Albanese Gummy Bears: not Haribo and not Black Forest or anything inbetween

Nothing compares to Chipotle: not Taco Bell, not Moe’s, not Qudoba.

I experienced both of these things at around the same age. And I never want to go back to when they weren’t in my life.

When we experience something that is good we don’t want to let go of it.

The world we live in has a lot to offer us. A lot of things to give us the quick shot of dopamine to keep us going.

We have access to instant anything. Amazon offers 1-2 Day delivery, Doordash and Uber eats offers food delivered to our doorstep in minutes meaning we don’t even have to get out of bed. TikTok offers entertainment curated for us. If we don’t like it we quickly swipe away and the algorithm understands to stop giving us that content. But if we watch it fully, interact with it, or watch it even twice, the algorithm gives us more of that content.

Believe it or not guys, we are of the same Generation: Generation Z. Currently all of those involved in our student ministry (student or leaders) are Gen Z. That gives us an advantage to hep navigate the dilema we are in: How do we connect with God in a world of options?

We have so many option sto choose from to fix our problems. With the highest levels of depression and anxiety, one of these options has to be it right?

Turn to 1 Peter 2

Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word,, so that by it you may grow up into your salvation, 3 if you have tasted that the Lord is good.,

What Peter is saying to these believers is “If you have tasted that the Lord is good” then all those other things are worthless.

The standard has been set. With the Lord, we have had the chicken burrito, with brown rice, black beans, hot salsa, sour cream and cheese. Our lives will never be the same.

So what does this new life look llike. What are the things that make it taste so good.

Go to 1 Peter 1:13-2:15

v. 13 “set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Peter is writing to a group of persecuted believers. A group that is day in and day out being persecuted for what they. He is attempting to encourage them in their daily walk. He holds that Jesus Christ is the only thing that brings hope in the midst of this persecution. That is the same hope we have. We hope for the day where we are reunited with Christ. Where all things return to their former self. Return to a place of perfection. A place where it is not ruined by our own selfishness, but abundant because of our selflessness.

v.14 “As obedient Children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.”

We all have this tendency, a tendency to return to a former way of life. To us, it seems easier. After doing the same thing the same way we come into a rhtythm of how we live life. But when we go back to old ways, we often forget why we left in the first place.

v.15-16 Christ has called us to a better life, a life where the work we put in puts out the results we are looking.

17-21 Here Peter is presenting the Gospel to the church. We have been bought out of our former way of life.

22-24 The results of a new life in Christ is love. Love is the result of a growing relationship with God.

This weekend we will be going over 3 ways that we can be in relationship with God.

1. Scripture

Scripture: God speaks to us through his word, it is in here that we learn what he has done for us and how we live in response to it. If we want to become closer to God, we need to read this book with intentionality. In the same way relationships dont work if I sit there and say “uhuh, yeah, okay, mhmm”. I am not listening with intent. Good scripture reading takes time and effort.

2. Prayer

Prayer: Prayer is how we talk to God. Guys we serve a humongous God who hears everything we say. He desires for you to be in constant conversation with him. We all have friends we text. I text allison a lot each day. But my favorite days are when I can get home and see we havent texted at all.... because we’ve been around each other all day. We have had in person conversations all day. We will be talking about how to pray, giving a formula to better udnerstnad what prayer is meant for and how to practice daily.

3. Worship

Worship is what we do in response to our relationship to God. When we understand who we are, and who God is, it becomes our natural response to give God all the glory he deserves. What we learn is that worship is not just singing on a Sunday morning, but a state that we are constantly in.