JOIN US FOR EASTER SUNDAY THIS SUNDAY AT 7:45AM, 9AM, OR 10:45AM OR WATCH LIVE AT 10:45AM. DOWNLOAD WORSHIP RESOURCES HERE.

X Close Menu

Sermons

History, Hope, Holiness and Heaven

April 23, 2023 Speaker: The Rev. B.E. Palmer Series: I Peter - Living as Sojourners in a Strange Land

Topic: I Peter - Living as Sojourners in a Strange Land Passage: 1 Peter 1:13–25

Peter’s letter is to warn Christians in Asia Minor of increasing hostility in the Roman Empire, to encourage them to remember their Jewish and Christian past, to stand firm in their faith in the present, and to put their hope in God for the future.

History: The essential Christian proclamation we profess in our Nicene Creed today is the same understanding these embattled Christians held to 20 centuries ago. It is a history of God’s promises fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah, who died, and is Risen, and will come again. 

Hope: Peter speaks of “being born anew to a living hope.” We can trust that this future hope of heaven is credible as our present experience of transformation in the Holy Spirit convinces us of God’s reality, his goodness, and his love for humanity.

Heaven: It is so hard to visualize heaven…words fail us. It is beyond us…for now. But, what we do clearly understand is that however heaven may turn out to be, we will be with God, which as Christians is our heart’s desire.

Holiness: Peter reminds us that holiness is the manner of life we are called to, but this does not mean super-piety or moral perfection. Holiness in Scripture, means being specially set apart by God and for God to be with God’s people. Christians are to live differently from the rest of the world. We are not to live for wealth, or prestige, or power, or security. We are to live for love because it is God who first loved us. If we would love God, then we must come to love people, for God loves people.