Text: 1 Peter 4:12-19

Preacher: Rev. Andrew Moore

Peter seems to suggest that suffering is good. What?! Well, he at least says that there’s a certain kind of suffering that all believers will share: the type of suffering Christ endured. Jesus lived his life bringing the vulnerable, the rejects, and society’s least loved members to the center and lifted them up. He loved so scandalously that when He was put on trial, there was nothing to charge Him with.

Peter says that if we walk with Christ’s name, loving the vulnerable, rejected, loveless among us, we’ll experience suffering simply for bearing his name, and THAT suffering shows us and others that the Spirit of God dwells within us.

Text: 1 Peter 3:8-22

Preacher: Rev. Greg Brower

The Christians to whom Peter wrote in 1 Peter feel alone, scared, and as if they no longer belong in their own country. Maybe you have felt similarly at times. Peter reminds them and us that our hope is not found in fitting into the culture around us, but in Jesus who is creating us to be a new kind of chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. This week, as Peter urges us to love those in the church and to face the challenges of a pagan culture with the confidence that Christ is indeed Lord over everyone and everything.

Text: 1 Peter 2:4-10

Preacher: Rev. Greg Brower

The Christians to whom Peter wrote in 1 Peter feel alone, scared, and as if they no longer belong in their own country. Maybe you have felt similarly at times. Peter reminds them and us that our hope is not found in fitting into the culture around us, but in Jesus who is creating us to be a new kind of chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. In the beginning of chapter 2, writing to people living in a pagan culture where people looked to other gods for their provision, Peter urges the church to live as a temple of God with their lives as the stones of the temple. This week we consider how we can live as this temple of God in our community today.