1 Peter

Redemption: The Price is Paid

Introduction:

1 Peter 1:18-19 - ...knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of ua lamb vwithout blemish or spot.

What is Redemption?

Jesus Christ Paid the Ultimate price to Purchase my freedom and salvation.

What Does Christ Redeem Me From?

An Empty life of bondage to sin that leads to an Excruciating eternity in hell.

What Does Christ Redeem Me With?

His Own life which is worth more than anyone or anything that this world has to offer.

Psalm 49:7-8Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.

What Does Christ’s Redemption Require of Me?

  1. Acknowledging that I Cannot Work Off My Debt to God.

    Isaiah 64:6We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

  2. Trusting that Christ has Paid my Debt In Full .

    Colossians 2:13-14And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

  3. Living for the One who Gave Himself for me.

    1 Corinthians 6:19-20Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

  • 00:00-00:15

    If you have a Bible, please turn to 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 18 through 19 1st Peter chapter 1 verses 18 through 19 You know, we live in a time when everything is expensive. Am I right?

    00:16-00:49

    Every single time you go to the grocery store Every time you go to the gas station, you're in a state of shock over how much money you had to spend We all leave our house expecting to spend this amount of money and we always end up spending even more than we hoped It can be difficult to keep track of ever-changing prices But I want to help you have a heartbeat on how much things truly cost in April 2025 I'm gonna do a quick game with you to make that happen. Who's excited for a game?

    00:50-00:52

    All right, way more excited than I expected.

    00:52-00:58

    This is our first official Harvest game show called Guess That Price.

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    So imagine I'm Bob Barker, and you're the excitable crowd.

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    Everyone say, guess that price.

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    Guess that price.

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    Oh man, this is really exciting.

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    So I'm going to ask four questions, and you will win amazing and imaginary prizes if you guess the answers correctly.

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    And most of the answers were found on Google, which we know is never wrong.

    01:23-01:24

    So first question on the board.

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    Is that a pretty good talk show voice?

    01:27-01:27

    Game show voice?

    01:27-01:28

    Okay, good.

    01:28-01:29

    First question on the board.

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    What is the median listing price for a house in Pittsburgh?

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    What do we think?

    01:39-01:40

    Janelle got it right.

    01:41-01:42

    $250,000.

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    Come see me afterwards for your imaginary prize.

    02:08-02:09

    $42,220.

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    No one wins a prize for that one, I guess.

    02:13-02:17

    Third question-- what is the average price of a baseline base model?

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    $42,220.

    02:17-02:20

    All right, next question-- what is the average price Disney World vacation for a family of four?

    02:22-02:22

    (audience shouting)

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    My mom has an answer.

    02:25-02:26

    10,000?

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    Janelle, once again, is very, very close.

    02:31-02:31

    $7,093.

    02:33-02:36

    I guess Janelle is the winner of this game for the most part.

    02:39-02:44

    Well, it's time for the final and most important question of the game.

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    And for this question, you don't have to shout out your answer.

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    Instead, silently consider it in your heart and mind.

    02:52-03:01

    What price did Jesus Christ have to pay to rescue lost and undeserving sinners like you and me?

    03:02-03:04

    That's very true, Cody, his own life.

    03:04-03:08

    Spoil the sermon, but we're gonna talk the rest of the time about that.

    03:09-03:14

    So this is the third message in our latest series, What is Finished?

    03:15-03:28

    But our goal is to unpack what Jesus truly accomplished on that cross 2,000 years ago and why he victoriously declared it is finished with his dying breath.

    03:30-03:37

    Over the past two weeks, we've studied the doctrine of salvation like a diamond and examined it from different angles and aspects.

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    First, we focused on justification, our guilt before God is gone.

    03:44-03:52

    Last week we talked about the glorious truth of reconciliation, our broken relationship with God has been restored.

    03:53-03:58

    And tonight we will examine another facet of the salvation diamond, redemption.

    03:58-04:01

    The price has been paid.

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    During the Easter season you were bombarded with crosses, on bumper stickers, road signs, even in chocolate form.

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    Without even realizing it, you can become numb to the meaning and magnitude of the cross of Christ.

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    So on this Good Friday, I want each and every one of you in this room and watching online to be overwhelmed with the weight of your sin and the depth of your debt before a holy God.

    04:33-04:41

    Some of you in this room need to come to the realization that you have an outstanding balance on your spiritual account.

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    that will not affect your credit score or your financial portfolio, but it will affect your eternal destiny unless it is dealt with before it is too late.

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    And for the rest of you whose balance has been taken care of and wound down to zero, I want you to truly count the cost of your salvation and calculate the immensity of what was sacrificed for you.

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    Because if you have a cheap view of grace, you will have a weak walk with Christ.

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    But if you have a costly view of grace, you will have a rock-solid relationship with your Lord and Savior.

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    So let's spend a moment in prayer.

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    Please pray for me, that I will faithfully proclaim God's word, and I will pray for you that you faithfully receive it.

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    Father, I am completely I'm completely overwhelmed by my inability to properly communicate the price that has been paid and what your son has sacrificed for me.

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    What he has sacrificed for everyone in this room.

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    Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit would preach a much better message in our hearts than I ever could with my mouth.

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    May you watch over your word to perform it this evening.

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    May you do a great and mighty work.

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    We ask all this in Jesus' mighty name, amen.

    06:18-06:29

    So our text for this evening is 1 Peter 1, verses 18 through 19, but before we dive into these verses, we need to understand the purpose of this letter and who Peter is writing to.

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    Throughout chapter one, Peter makes it crystal clear that he is writing to struggling and suffering Christians do not feel at home in this fallen and ungodly world.

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    He describes these believers as refugees, exiles, aliens, and pilgrims who stick out like sore thumbs in a culture that hates God.

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    And Peter doesn't want his brothers and sisters in Christ to feel discouraged that they're being persecuted and are suffering.

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    Instead, he wants them to be encouraged that they are experiencing the results of standing apart from everyone else and acting different.

    07:12-07:17

    In the verses leading up to our passage, Peter gives a list of important commands.

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    He says, "Prepare your minds for action.

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    "Be sober-minded.

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    "Do not be conformed to the passions "of your former ignorance.

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    "Be holy in all your conduct "and conduct yourself with fear "throughout the time of your exile." Simply put, imitate your perfect and holy God by being who he has called you to be and doing what he has called you to do.

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    Okay, but why?

    07:47-07:53

    Why should these Christians choose to act differently from the world around them?

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    What is the motivation?

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    Well, Peter gives the motivation in verses 18 through 19 of chapter one.

    08:00-08:29

    He says, "Knowing that you were ransomed, "redeemed from the futile ways "inherited from your forefathers, "not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, "but with the precious blood of Christ, "like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." So to fully unpack these verses and what redemption actually is, we need to ask and answer four what questions this evening.

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    And the first what question on your outline is, what is redemption?

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    What is redemption?

    08:37-08:44

    Redemption, Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price to purchase my freedom and salvation.

    08:45-08:50

    Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price to purchase my freedom and salvation.

    08:51-08:57

    You know, redemption was a common concept 2,000 years ago when it came to slavery and captivity.

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    Prisoners of war were not released until their ransom was delivered.

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    Slaves were not set free until their debt was paid in full.

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    And it's essential for you to understand that apart from Christ, you have a sin debt hanging over your head.

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    You are a sinner by nature and by choice.

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    And you have no one to blame for your spiritual bankruptcy besides yourself.

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    and this debt will not magically go away.

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    It must be paid by someone, and there are only two options.

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    Option one is a payment plan.

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    You pay the penalty in hell forever.

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    The second option is much better, and it's the one I hope you will choose.

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    Jesus Christ settles your debt once and for all through his death on the cross that you can be set free.

    09:57-10:01

    You know, as a pastor, I'm asked a lot of theological questions on a weekly basis.

    10:02-10:18

    And one of the questions I receive almost more than any other, almost even more than do my pets go to heaven, which will always be the uncontested champion of theological questions, I've lost count of how many people have asked me, why did Jesus have to die?

    10:19-10:21

    Why did Jesus have to pay a price?

    10:21-10:28

    Why couldn't God just look past our sin, snap his divine fingers and say, "You know what, just forget about it.

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    "Go on, go home, don't worry, you're all forgiven." Have you ever wondered that?

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    Have you ever asked that question?

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    Well, to answer that question, let me walk you through a few scenarios.

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    Imagine with me after service, you punch me in the face.

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    First of all, please don't do that.

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    Please, please.

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    Second of all, would there be consequences for your assault?

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    There's a lot of police officers here, so I guess they could arrest you.

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    I could press charges.

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    What if you punch your boss in the face on Monday?

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    Would there be even worse consequences?

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    Yeah, on top of going to jail, you'd also be fired from your job.

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    Imagine you were pulled over by a cop after service today and you punched that cop in the face.

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    There's serious consequences for that.

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    You would be in prison for a long time for assaulting an officer.

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    What if you punched the President of the United States or another world leader in the face?

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    Would there be even worse consequences for that?

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    You can maybe be charged with an assassination attempt.

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    Last question, what is the penalty for slapping the creator of the universe in the face?

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    Sinning against the eternal God demands eternal punishment.

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    The punishment has to fit the crime.

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    An infinite debt only makes sense for offending an infinite God.

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    Once again, someone has to pay your debt.

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    It cannot just be forgotten without someone covering the bill that you owe to the Lord.

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    So we answer the first what question of what is redemption, which leads into our second question, which we touched on a bit.

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    What does Christ redeem me from?

    12:25-12:28

    What does Christ redeem me from?

    12:30-12:31

    And Peter makes it crystal clear in verse 18.

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    He says, "You were ransomed from the futile ways "inherited from your forefathers." So what does Christ redeem me from?

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    on your outline an empty life of bondage to sin that leads to an excruciating eternity in hell.

    12:49-12:52

    You know, Peter says that we have all inherited futile ways from our forefathers.

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    What does that even mean?

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    Well, it's very simple.

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    We all have been taught worthless ideas that lead to meaningless living.

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    You have been served an endless amount of lies throughout your entire life that are nice and candy coated and look great on the outside, but on the inside are hollow.

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    So many people have no idea who created them, why they exist, and what their purpose even is.

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    Instead of submitting to the perfect revelation of God, they make up their own pointless answers to the question.

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    There is the you do you way of living.

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    You are the bright and shining star of your own universe.

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    Just do whatever you want to do.

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    There's the close your eyes mentality and don't think about God.

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    Don't think about life and its meaning.

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    Don't think about death.

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    Don't think about what happens after death.

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    Just enjoy your life as long as it lasts.

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    There's the American dream.

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    You work really hard to get into a good college so you can get a good job, so you can marry the right person, You have a bunch of kids who then repeat that same cycle.

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    Impressive degrees, a high-paying job, successful children are the measures of success.

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    There's the empty religion school of thought.

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    Just pick whatever religious path seems good to you.

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    They all lead to the same destination.

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    You know, that sentiment is almost true.

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    Every single spiritual path but one leads to the same destination, but that destination is not a place you wanna end up.

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    Every path but one that is laid out in God's word leads to an excruciating eternity away from the loving and caring presence of Almighty God.

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    But whoever turns to Christ and walks by his way of salvation is redeemed and is rescued from a life of dead-end streets that go nowhere, and a destiny of eternal suffering.

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    So we know what redemption is.

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    We also know what Christ redeems us from.

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    Our third what question, what does Christ redeem me with?

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    And Peter gives us the answer in verses 18 through 19.

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    He says, "Not with perishable things such as silver or gold, "but with the precious blood of Christ, "like that of a lamb without blemish or spot." So what does Christ redeem me with?

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    His own life, which is worth more than anyone or anything that this world has to offer.

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    You know, according to the Old Testament law, the Israelites were commanded to only sacrifice animals that were free of deformities, rashes, and other obvious issues.

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    They were to only sacrifice animals that were clear of disease and imperfections.

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    This trend first pops up in Exodus 12 as God tells the Israelites to spread the blood of spotless lambs over their doorposts to be spared from death.

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    And these spotless lambs, in every single Old Testament sacrifice, point forward to the perfect and spotless Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, who came into this world to lay down his own life and pour out his own blood so that anyone who trusts in him will be washed of all their sinful stains.

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    You know, Psalm 49, verses seven through eight talks about the unimaginable cost of a human soul.

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    Truly, no man can ransom another or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice.

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    God cannot be bribed with gold, silver, a briefcase full of cash or Bitcoin, because he already owns it all.

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    No mere human being can take the place of another or pay off the debt of someone else.

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    Only Jesus Christ, who is fully God and fully man, can bridge that gap and pay that price.

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    The blood of Christ is the only currency of redemption.

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    It is the only thing of true value that God the Father can or will accept.

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    Nothing more precious could ever be offered and nothing less will even be considered.

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    So we've answered three what questions.

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    What is redemption?

    17:39-17:41

    What does Christ redeem me from?

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    And what does Christ redeem me with?

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    We've talked about the theology of redemption.

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    Now let's close by talking about the application of redemption with our final question.

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    What does Christ's redemption require of me?

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    What does Christ's redemption require of me?

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    Well, firstly, acknowledging that I cannot work off my debt to God.

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    Acknowledging that I cannot work off my debt to God.

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    You know, my five-year-old son, Sam, loves Legos.

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    Now imagine with me that I take him to the Ross Park Mall to buy a very small and inexpensive Lego set.

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    In the process, he knocks over and destroys five of their most expensive displays.

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    All told, I'm on the hook for $3,000 in damage.

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    And Sam hysterically says to me, "Dad, I promise I'll pay you back.

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    "I don't have any money in my piggy bank right now, "but here's what I'll do.

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    "I'll go around the neighborhood "and pull weeds for a penny a weed.

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    "I promise I'll pay you back soon." I'm not great at math, but $3,000, a penny a weed, how many weeds would he have to pull to cover that debt?

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    How much?

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    300,000 weeds.

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    But come on, let's be realistic.

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    Is that ever gonna happen?

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    No way, that is way too high a sum for a five-year-old to handle on his own.

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    In the same way, your sinful sum is way too high for you to handle on your own.

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    Thinking that you can pay it off and work it back to God is as foolish as Sam thinking that he can pull hundreds of thousands of weeds to pay off his debt to me.

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    You can never be good enough.

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    You can never do enough to earn your way back into God's good graces.

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    Isaiah 64, six gives us an important insight about all the things that we think are righteous deeds.

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    He says, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, "and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

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    "We all shrivel up like a leaf, "and like the wind, our sin sweeps us away." The first step in receiving redemption is acknowledging your need for it, and admitting that you can never earn it or buy it for yourself.

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    So what does Christ's redemption require of me?

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    Secondly, trusting that Christ has paid my debt in full.

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    Trusting that Christ has paid my debt in full.

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    While you are spiritually destitute and delinquent, Christ has an infinite amount of riches that he will give to you if you come to him in humility and faith.

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    Your debt to God will now and forever be wiped away in an instant if you turn from your sin and trust in Christ.

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    You must believe that he is your savior and that the incomparable gift of his blood is more than enough to cover your bill to the Lord.

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    And I know what some of you are thinking, but Taylor, you have no idea how long and detailed my sinful bill really is.

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    It's like a CVS receipt on steroids.

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    There's no way that God could forgive that.

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    You know, I don't know the horrible things you've done.

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    I don't know all the things that are written on your debt to the Lord.

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    But do you know who does?

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    Jesus Christ.

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    He knows how broken you are.

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    He knows not just every single sin that you've committed, but every sin that you have yet to commit.

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    Yet he offers you redemption anyway.

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    If you were to pull me aside for service to share your deepest, darkest secret with me, I would have the same exact response to every single one of you.

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    There is no debt that the blood of Christ cannot pay, even yours.

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    So please, stop making excuses for why Jesus can't forgive you and just ask him to forgive you.

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    And he will, because the Bible says so.

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    It's that simple.

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    Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes those who were saved.

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    And you who were dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Christ, having forgiven us all our trespasses.

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    Not just some, not just most, all.

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    By canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, this he set aside, nailing it to the cross.

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    Those verses can be true of you right now if you simply repent and turn to Christ.

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    I beg you, please don't leave tonight without making the most important transaction of your life.

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    Submit your sinful bill to Christ so that he will pay every last penny and then rip it up, never to be seen again.

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    Finally, what does Christ's redemption require of me?

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    "Living for the one who gave himself for me." "Living for the one who gave himself for me." You will not live for Christ until you are truly thankful for what he has done for you.

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    And your level of thankfulness to Christ will only reach as high as your genuine grasp of what he has sacrificed for you.

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    Let me prove it to you with a few examples.

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    Would you be thankful if I let you borrow my hoodie because you were chilly during service?

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    Pastor Jeff, would you be thankful?

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    But Pastor Jeff wouldn't break his hand patting me on the back for that, right?

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    How thankful would you be if I lent you my car for a whole week while yours was getting worked on?

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    You would repeatedly express your gratitude, maybe even send me a thank you note.

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    What if I found out you were homeless I let you move into my house rent free.

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    How thankful would you be?

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    You would go out of your way to express your gratitude by cleaning up around the house, doing all the chores outside that I don't like to do.

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    How thankful would you be if I pushed you out of the way of a moving car and died in your place?

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    You wouldn't even know where to begin with expressing your gratitude and honoring my memory and helping my family.

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    magnified that made up example times a billion and describing how grateful you should be as a redeemed sinner.

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    The eternal Son of God died in your place so that you could have eternal life.

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    We hear that so much, but do you really think about it?

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    Do you think about how unbelievable that is?

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    Praise him for what he has done because he deserves it.

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    Thank Him for all that He has given to you.

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    Instead of complaining about all the things that you don't have, stop living for yourself and start living for Him.

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    You need to be thankful to Christ, but you also need to recognize that you belong to Christ.

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    Once your debt is scratched out of God's heavenly ledger, you can't just say, "Hey, God, thanks.

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    "I'll see you later when I get to heaven.

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    I'm off to do whatever I want to do now.

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    Now Paul tells us why that doesn't make sense in 1 Corinthians chapter six, verses 19 through 20.

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    He says, "You are not your own, "for you were bought with a what?

    25:41-25:46

    "With a price." Your life is not your life.

    25:47-25:52

    Since Jesus gave you his life, your life is now his life.

    25:54-26:00

    Christ ransomed you from slavery to sin so that he could make you his own personal slave.

    26:02-26:10

    That may sound bad, but it's actually the greatest news imaginable because everyone is enslaved to something and someone.

    26:12-26:19

    Money, stuff, possessions, status, these are all harsh dictators that care nothing for you.

    26:20-26:27

    And Satan has dibs on every single person who rejects Christ and he hates everyone who is enslaved to him.

    26:28-26:41

    But the Christian slave has the freest life of all because you belong to the only master who truly loves you, who calls you his friend and wants what is best for you.

    26:42-26:48

    And what is best for you is giving everything you have for Jesus, his glory, and his kingdom.

    26:50-26:52

    This means that you look and act different.

    26:53-26:56

    How you spend your time should look different than everyone else.

    26:56-27:01

    More than anything, you wanna meet with God and his word and in prayer every single day.

    27:02-27:05

    How you view your relationships should be different.

    27:06-27:11

    You want to be with your brothers and sisters in Christ, worshiping, fellowshipping, and serving together.

    27:11-27:18

    You wanna reach out to unbelievers in your life so that they can experience the redemption that you've experienced.

    27:19-27:20

    You view your resources differently.

    27:21-27:26

    Your gifts, talents, and resources are not to be used to get ahead and advance your own plans.

    27:28-27:31

    And you may be thinking, wow, this sounds really inconvenient.

    27:32-27:33

    You still don't get it.

    27:34-27:43

    True Christians are those who happily rearrange their lives around Christ because they realize they belong to him and not themselves.

    27:44-27:48

    Turning your life upside down is not an annoying inconvenience.

    27:48-27:57

    It is an absolute pleasure because Jesus Christ is more than worthy and his redemptive rewards are more than worthwhile.

    28:00-28:07

    You know at Harvest, some choose to designate their financial giving towards certain ministries and missions.

    28:07-28:16

    And you can designate your giving to the building fund, the general missions fund, or to Thailand to go to Barnabas and his band of missionaries and evangelists.

    28:17-28:22

    And I promise you, if you ever designate your giving, the finance team honors your wishes.

    28:23-28:26

    If you designate your giving to the building fund, it goes to the building fund.

    28:26-28:29

    If you designate your giving to go to Thailand, it goes directly to Thailand.

    28:31-28:34

    Do you know that the Lord Jesus designates his giving?

    28:36-28:46

    He paid an infinite price, but his giving is geared towards one specific purpose, redeeming and recruiting genuine worshipers.

    28:46-28:51

    Jesus only purchases selfless givers, not selfish consumers.

    28:52-28:55

    He only purchases loyal friends, not flaky acquaintances.

    28:56-29:01

    He only purchases faithful servants, not lazy slackers.

    29:02-29:09

    Do not belittle the price Jesus paid by choosing to be the exact opposite of what he paid for.

    29:10-29:14

    Do not undermine his sacrifice by choosing to act like everyone else.

    29:16-29:21

    Do not dishonor the Lord of your life by acting as if you are the Lord of your life.

    29:23-29:25

    Our worship team and communion servers can make their way forward.

    29:27-29:36

    You know, we spent a lot of time tonight talking about redemption, but now we're actually gonna look at a physical picture of it as we turn to the Lord's Supper.

    29:38-29:46

    Communion forces us to count the cost of salvation and focus our attention upon Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

    29:47-30:01

    When we eat the bread and drink of the cup, we are reminded that Jesus gave His own body and shed His own priceless blood to ransom us from captivity to sin and give us His eternal riches.

    30:02-30:10

    And to be clear, you don't have to be a member of harvest to take part in communion, but you do need to be a member of the family of God.

    30:11-30:20

    So if you have not yet turned to Christ, I wanna ask you to stay seated and contemplate the meaning and message of the cross.

    30:22-30:28

    Once again, I wanna call you to not leave this room without making the most important decision of your life.

    30:29-30:32

    Please stop, Pastor Jeff, myself, and one of the other elders.

    30:33-30:36

    We have Justin over here, we have Brian right here, and Pastor Rich in the back.

    30:37-30:42

    We would love nothing more than to talk to you about Jesus and what next steps with him look like.

    30:43-30:48

    And for those who are born again believers in this room, we're gonna do something a bit different tonight for communion.

    30:49-30:54

    In a few moments, you will leave your seats, come down the center aisles to receive the elements.

    30:54-30:59

    You'll go back to your seat using the outer aisles and you'll be taking communion on your own.

    31:00-31:06

    I ask you to eat the bread and drink of the cup, not quickly or flippantly, but prayerfully.

    31:07-31:10

    Take time to confess to the Lord.

    31:11-31:16

    Take time to thank him for all that he has done for you through the life and death of his son.

    31:18-31:21

    And after you're done, we ask that you please leave respectfully and quietly.

    31:22-31:32

    We want you to feel the weight of the cross upon your shoulders so that you can come ready to celebrate the resurrection of the empty tomb on Sunday.

    31:32-31:35

    So you can make your way forward as you are ready.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Peter 1:18-19

  1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?

  2. Do you ever take your redemption for granted? How can you protect yourself from this indifference?

  3. Read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - According to Paul, why can’t you just live however you want to live? How is your Heavenly Master calling you to change and serve Him more faithfully right now?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Jesus In The Clutch

Introduction:

How Do I Know Jesus Will Come Through In The Clutch?

  1. Because He's My authority . (1 Pet 5:6)
  2. Because He Cares . (1 Pet 5:7)
  3. Because He's Stronger than my opponent . (1 Pet 5:8-9)

    Genesis 49:8-10 - "Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples."

2020-JUL-Koll_1400sq_sm.jpg

Revelation 5:5 - And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scrolls and its seven seals."

Revelation 20:10 - "and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

  1. Because He Always sees it through . (1 Pet 5:10-11)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint:
Highlight blanks above for answers!

  • 00:00-00:06

    Well, good morning. I'm very, very thankful to be up here in front of you all and to have this opportunity.

    00:07-00:11

    Before I start, let me just start with a word of prayer, and then we'll get going this morning.

    00:14-00:20

    Heavenly Father, thank you for what you've been doing in my life, God, to lead me up to this moment.

    00:20-00:23

    God, I thank you that you have led me through this message.

    00:23-00:31

    Lord, I thank you for another opportunity to gather together here today as a church and to hear your word, hear your truth.

    00:32-00:34

    God, I pray that we would hear these things from your word.

    00:36-00:43

    We would apply it directly to our lives and that we would grow closer to you and stronger in our walk with you as well.

    00:44-00:47

    I lift all of these things up in Jesus's name, amen.

    00:50-00:52

    So open up your Bibles with me please to 1 Peter.

    00:53-00:54

    Be in chapter five.

    00:55-00:58

    We'll be going through verses six through 11.

    01:01-01:10

    And a few months ago, my wife, Lexi, and I, we went for a walk, or actually a run, before coming here to church on a Sunday morning.

    01:12-01:16

    Already a weird day, unusual day, because I was up any earlier than I had to be on a weekend.

    01:16-01:17

    Never happens.

    01:18-01:24

    So we came back from this run, and we realized that there was a puddle on the kitchen floor.

    01:25-01:26

    Okay, that's weird.

    01:26-01:27

    It was underneath the dishwasher.

    01:28-01:34

    Maybe it wasn't all that weird because we had had a leak underneath our sink for the last couple of days.

    01:36-01:48

    So we let our landlord, who just happens to be my father-in-law, Joe, he's here today, we let him know the issue and he was set to bring a plumber out in the next coming days, maybe even that next day.

    01:49-01:55

    We thought, you know what, why don't we just shut the water off to the dishwasher so we don't have a puddle every day.

    01:55-02:29

    Okay, so here I go underneath our sink having absolutely no idea what I was doing. Here I come, this is my plumber stance by the way, I get underneath here, open up the door, find a little lever, go to pull it, gives a little bit of resistance, but then it turns. Get up, I don't know what I was really expecting in this moment but thought, "You know what? That can't be it. It's too easy. It's the first lever I saw.

    02:29-02:33

    I pulled it and nothing happened." So there must be another one underneath there, right?

    02:34-02:46

    I go again back underneath the sink. There's a second lever. Looks just like the first one, only it's further back this time. I go to pull that one and it gives a lot of resistance.

    02:48-03:13

    But I think to myself, "Well, it's got to be it. I mean, this is the lever." So I pull on it more, pull on it more, and pull on it more, and then all of a sudden, bang. My hands just drop straight to the ground, and there is a gigantic hole behind our sink, and water is rushing out of it like a waterfall. I mean, straight fire hose.

    03:15-03:20

    And the sound of this water coming out of the wall still haunts me to this day.

    03:22-03:26

    So it's a complete disaster and I'm now in scramble mode.

    03:26-03:29

    First thing I do is I call up my father-in-law, "Where are you?

    03:29-03:30

    Help!

    03:31-03:37

    How do I shut the water off?" And my next question was, "Where are you?

    03:37-03:40

    Can you please help me?" He was 25 minutes away.

    03:41-03:46

    It was gonna be a long shot. He's trying to just talk me through how to shut the water off. I'm running downstairs.

    03:47-04:03

    I'm checking in the garage. Meanwhile, Lexi's upstairs and having no clue what else to do is just underneath the sink with a bucket and just pouring it back into the sink because we've got nothing else left to do. We are on the deck of the Titanic.

    04:05-04:21

    And I remember at one point opening up the garage because that was a potential place where I could shut the water off and looking up at the ceiling and just seeing the water through the ceiling, into the garage, onto our car.

    04:22-04:28

    And in that moment, just thinking, "Oh my gosh, I'm flooding our house.

    04:29-04:36

    I am going to flood our house." So this went on for what felt like five hours, but it was really only a couple of minutes.

    04:37-04:49

    And then finally, at the last minute, right before the water that was all over the kitchen went into the living room, to our hardwood floors, possibly ruining them and warping them forever.

    04:50-04:55

    I went back to a knob that I tried to turn before and just turned it harder.

    04:55-04:57

    And eventually that shut the water off.

    04:57-05:00

    But at the very, very last minute.

    05:02-05:06

    So young and naive I was just those long months ago.

    05:09-05:13

    And if you don't know, Andrew did say in the introduction, I work in sports talk radio.

    05:13-05:17

    So in my mind, a lot of things go back to sports analogies.

    05:17-05:19

    That's just how my mind has been wired.

    05:20-05:26

    And in sports, we like to call this moment of triumph, this moment of victory, coming through in the clutch.

    05:27-05:29

    Just sounds cooler, basically.

    05:30-05:37

    And these moments of triumph and victory in the last seconds are easily recognizable, and they separate some athletes.

    05:38-05:43

    It's like when Ben Roethlisberger threw that touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone to San Antonio Homes and the Super Bowl.

    05:45-05:46

    That was coming up in the clutch.

    05:47-05:56

    When Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in the Olympics in overtime to defeat Team USA, that's coming through in the clutch.

    05:57-06:02

    It defines these legends, these sports heroes, if you will, as loosely as you can use that term.

    06:04-06:05

    The moments that people remember.

    06:07-06:16

    And I learned some valuable lessons that day with the water put too much pressure on an older skinny plastic pipe and always know how to shut your water off.

    06:18-06:36

    But my shutting off the water is of course far from that glorious moment and was more God giving me grace in that moment. And in saying that I can't help but to think that Jesus Christ is that legend. He's that figure for all of us brothers and sisters in the faith.

    06:37-07:11

    He's capable of coming through in those moments when you feel lost, feel desperate, feel confused, scared like I was with that water. Or in the moments when you've been fighting through something, a sin in your life that you're trying to overcome, a financial hardship, or just any difficult decision that you've had to make that you've been wrestling with, You just need some clarification. Just need some direction. That extra push to get you through it and on to the other side. To get victory over that thing.

    07:13-08:25

    And that's when you can rely on Jesus Christ. That's when He shows you His power and shows He is worthy of all your trust and can come through in the clutch for you. And you may hear that and you think, "Well, that's, I mean, He made up Jesus in the clutch, really awesome, sports, whatever, but how do I know that this is true? How can I know that when I've exhausted myself and my abilities and things are at their worst that Jesus will lead me through? Let's go to his word, as we should all the time in these scenarios and as we should daily as Christians, and let's see for ourselves why we can have that confidence, why that's not just a cute saying. Turn in your Bibles with me please if you haven't to 1st Peter chapter 5 starting in verse 6. This is Peter writing from what he refers to as Babylon which is most likely Rome and he's addressing this to Christians scattered all over including Asia Minor which is now modern day Turkey and he's writing this to encourage them as they are still under Roman control and they're suffering much persecution. So let's read.

    08:28-08:57

    "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a firm in your faith, knowing the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

    08:58-09:09

    And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

    09:10-09:13

    To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

    09:15-09:21

    So how do I know Jesus will come through in the clutch? Well, number one on your outlines, because he's my authority.

    09:23-10:15

    Let's go back to verse 6 here real quickly. It says, "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that the proper time he may exalt you." I love that this passage starts out this way. Why? Because it establishes right away that if you don't get your own pride out of the way, if you don't humble yourself before your Lord and Savior under his mighty hand. If you think you know better and you can do a better job and you know the right moves to make than the one who created you and created everything around you, who knows all your faults, all your weaknesses, who understands the situation that you're going through and on a deeper level than you could even possibly comprehend, then you'll fail. Every time.

    10:17-10:34

    Holding on to your pride will ruin you. And if you want more assurance on that, you can look no further than the verse before this statement in verse 5 in 1 Peter, where it says, "Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.

    10:34-10:55

    Clove yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." So not only does our pride ruin us, but did you see what else is is added on there, the little cherry on top of your hottie sundae, that God is actually opposed to the proud.

    10:56-11:00

    He's on the other side of you whenever you're too prideful.

    11:01-11:02

    He hates that.

    11:03-11:05

    This brings it to a whole other level.

    11:07-11:14

    This is taking the field, and God Almighty, big, giant God, is on the other side.

    11:15-11:18

    He's looking to go against all your best efforts.

    11:20-11:23

    This is like following a GPS in an area that you've never been before.

    11:25-11:28

    And you're driving along, and all of a sudden, you start to feel pretty confident in yourself.

    11:29-11:30

    Say, hey, that tree looks familiar.

    11:31-11:33

    I think I know where I am right now.

    11:34-11:37

    So all of a sudden, you decide not to follow that GPS anymore.

    11:38-11:42

    And you start to go down roads that maybe the GPS didn't tell you to go down.

    11:44-11:56

    And now somehow every turn that you take, every shortcut that you take, every right turn that you think you're making along the way is somehow leading you farther away from your destination.

    11:57-12:00

    And it just keeps getting worse and worse and worse.

    12:01-12:05

    And you're driving yourself even further away from your goal, from your victory.

    12:06-12:09

    And ultimately in this case, from God.

    12:10-12:11

    It's working against you now.

    12:14-12:19

    So before you can go any further in asking for Jesus to come through for you, it has to start here.

    12:21-12:22

    It has to start with humility.

    12:24-12:27

    With being willing to admit that you don't know the best way out.

    12:28-12:29

    Or the best way forward.

    12:31-12:34

    Be humble so that God can lift you up in due time.

    12:35-12:40

    Be humble so that God can offer you His grace, as it says in verse 6.

    12:40-12:45

    And that word grace being something that is given to us that we don't deserve.

    12:47-12:50

    Stop trying to do it all on your own and in your own strength.

    12:51-12:51

    It's silliness.

    12:54-12:57

    And I've been there before, recently, like this week recently.

    12:58-12:59

    I know what that's like.

    13:01-13:02

    Know that God is your authority.

    13:04-13:08

    We've been called to obey His authority and humbly serve Him with our lives.

    13:09-13:15

    And it's a lot easier to know and accept that God is your authority when number two is also true on your outlines.

    13:16-13:20

    Which is that I know Jesus will come through in the clutch because He cares.

    13:22-13:23

    Let's look at verse 7.

    13:25-13:32

    It says, "Casting all your anxieties on Him because He cares for you." Our God is not socially distant.

    13:34-13:39

    He didn't just create us, maybe with a mask on, and just walk away.

    13:40-13:41

    That's not what our God did.

    13:42-13:58

    He didn't just place us in the world on this broken earth to just kind of fend for ourselves and figure out the many trials and tribulations of this life and say, "Hey, even through your struggles you just got to find a way to come back to me." No, that's not how it works.

    13:59-14:00

    He's in our every day.

    14:01-14:02

    He knows our emotions.

    14:04-14:14

    What makes us happy, what makes us excited, what makes us angry, what frustrates us to no end, and what we really need to satisfy our souls.

    14:15-14:19

    And as mentioned in verse 7 here, what makes us anxious as well.

    14:21-14:25

    Like whenever we've run out of options and we just kind of throw our hands up and we say, "You know what?

    14:26-14:26

    That's it.

    14:26-14:27

    I've got no other answers left.

    14:28-14:33

    All I can do is just look up." Have you ever been there before?

    14:34-14:35

    That feeling?

    14:37-14:38

    Cast your anxieties on him.

    14:40-14:40

    Why?

    14:41-14:42

    Because he cares.

    14:44-14:50

    Every year my wife Lexi and I go on a trip to the Dominican Republic, except for this year of course because it was canceled.

    14:51-14:57

    And every year we get to see a great example of how caring makes a difference.

    14:57-15:04

    The local leaders there are pouring into the kids that we run the basketball and volleyball camp with.

    15:05-15:11

    And they're taking time out of their every day to pour into those kids and to meet their needs, every one of their needs.

    15:12-15:23

    Physical needs by feeding them meals, their emotional needs by just sitting down and having a conversation with them about what's going on in their lives, what's going on at home.

    15:25-15:30

    those coaches can relate to them very well because they've been through some of the same things.

    15:32-15:43

    And also meet their spiritual needs by having Bible studies with them, by going through Scripture before we start every day at camp. And they show to them that they care about them.

    15:44-15:51

    Here I am investing my time and my energy to you in meeting those needs personally for you.

    15:53-16:00

    And it all comes together, it all means that much more to these kids when somebody shows they care.

    16:01-16:06

    That they aren't just a number. And that's what God is telling us here through Peter.

    16:08-16:39

    And what a statement that is, really, if you think about it. I mean, here God says, "I already know what is making you anxious. I know it. And I love you, and I care for you, and I'm big enough to handle it. So bring it on. Cast all your anxieties, cast all your fears, all your sins, all your failures, everything. Lay it on me, and I can handle it.

    16:41-16:47

    I can lead you through it. I'm inviting you to pass over all your baggage onto me.

    16:49-16:53

    Don't leave anything on the table, because I'll know if you do.

    16:54-17:07

    Bring it all to me so that I can lift you up, so I can come through for you in your most desperate moments. So please come to me in humility, because I care for you.

    17:10-17:50

    So now knowing that God is my authority and that he cares for me, here's another truth of why Jesus will come through in the clutch of my life. And it's number three, because he is stronger than my opponent. Let's look at verse eight. It says, "Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Now, this is certainly a bit of a change here with the message. Now, all of a sudden, Peter is warning us to stay focused, To stay alert, to stay aware of the things that we're saying, the people that we are spending time with, how we're acting, who we're surrounding ourselves with.

    17:52-17:52

    Why does he say that?

    17:54-17:56

    Well, it's because we have an enemy.

    17:57-18:03

    And our enemy is described here as prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

    18:04-18:05

    That's the adversary.

    18:07-18:08

    And do you get that image?

    18:09-18:18

    I think of just a lion hunched down, maybe in some tall grass somewhere, straight out of like a National Geographic show.

    18:19-18:20

    It's like licking its lips.

    18:20-18:31

    It's looking toward the horizon at a young or injured wildebeest, ready to just pounce on it the minute that the herd turns its back, the minute that it can get it alone.

    18:34-18:41

    And I think that's the picture that's being painted here, that our enemy, Satan, is always prowling around.

    18:43-18:46

    He's always waiting to just pick us off the minute we turn away from God.

    18:47-18:54

    The minute we isolate ourselves, and the minute we're easy to pick off, turn our back on God.

    18:56-19:00

    So hold that thought and hold that image in your head for just a couple minutes.

    19:01-19:06

    You've probably heard many times that Jesus is characterized as a lion in Scripture.

    19:07-19:11

    He's the lion of what? Judah. The tribe of Judah.

    19:12-19:13

    One of the twelve tribes of Israel.

    19:15-19:24

    And the idea of a lion being attached to this tribe goes back to Genesis 49, when Jacob is delivering parting words to each of his twelve sons.

    19:26-19:37

    And when he got to Judah, his fourth, he said in Genesis 49, starting in verse 8, "Judah is a lion's cub. From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

    19:38-19:43

    He stooped down, he crouched as a lion, and as a lioness, who dares rouse him?

    19:45-19:52

    The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him.

    19:53-20:04

    And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples." So here the lion has the imagery of being majestic, of being kingly in nature.

    20:04-20:07

    Like who dares rouse up this lion?

    20:07-20:09

    Who would dare to do something like that?

    20:10-20:14

    And that's significant because this is the tribe that's full of great kings.

    20:16-20:25

    From King David, King Solomon, And ultimately, of course, the King of Kings, the King of Heaven and Earth, King Jesus, comes through this line.

    20:27-20:31

    And the scepter there in Genesis 49 is the staff that kings often have in pictures that you might see.

    20:32-20:42

    It's that symbol of authority, and it says it shall never depart from Judah, meaning Jesus reigns as King and will forever.

    20:44-20:49

    So based off of that, we know for sure that Jesus is a lion.

    20:51-20:58

    Now let's go back to verse 8 in 1 Peter, and let's read this carefully and look at the distinction.

    21:00-21:12

    It says, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion." It doesn't say your enemy prowls around as a roaring lion, like he already is.

    21:14-21:16

    but just that he wants to act like one.

    21:17-21:18

    He wants to devour you.

    21:19-21:24

    He wants to control you, to try to be your king, and make you think that he is one.

    21:26-21:26

    But he's not.

    21:28-21:30

    He merely tries to act like one.

    21:31-21:33

    There is a huge difference there.

    21:35-21:47

    And I can't talk lions and kings without getting into one of my favorite movies of all time, One that I requested to watch multiple times per day as reports from my parents as a child.

    21:49-21:49

    Aladdin.

    21:49-21:50

    No, The Lion King.

    21:52-21:55

    Here in The Lion King, we have Mufasa and we have Scar, right?

    21:56-21:59

    Where Mufasa is clearly a real king.

    22:00-22:04

    Where under his rule, the pride is going well, everything's relatively peaceful.

    22:04-22:06

    Clearly he's what's best for the kingdom.

    22:08-22:09

    And then there's Scar.

    22:10-22:11

    Satan, if you will.

    22:12-22:17

    just trying to come in there and mess everything up, to ruin things.

    22:18-22:27

    He even kills his own brother Mufasa and then tells Mufasa's son that it was his fault, making him run away forever so that he can have the kingdom.

    22:29-22:36

    And he takes over the land and he drives it right into misery and despair because of all of his evil intentions, because that's what he wanted to do from the very beginning.

    22:38-22:47

    Scar wasn't a real lion. He wasn't a real king. He just prowled around looking to devour as if he was one.

    22:49-22:58

    He was a fake. And spoiler alert, if you haven't seen the movie that came out in 1993, I believe, he was ultimately defeated.

    23:00-24:05

    And guess what? So Satan has also. We know that for a fact. We can find that answer in God's Word as well. We've seen it twice going back to our study in Revelation that Pastor Jeff led us through. First in Revelation 5.5 where coming on to the scene is one that can only read the scrolls and break the seven seals and take his throne. The only one that can do that. 5.5 says, "And one of the elders said to me, 'Weep no more. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered so that he can open the scrolls and its seven seals.'" And then in Revelation chapter 20, when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire to be tormented forever. And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were.

    24:06-24:12

    They will be tormented day and night forever and ever." There's the victory.

    24:14-24:31

    That's the lion. Point being here, God is stronger than my opponent. God's already won. That mountain in front of you that seems impossible to climb, that that stronghold, that enemy you've been dealing with, doesn't stand a chance.

    24:33-24:36

    There's nothing or no one he can't.

    24:38-24:45

    So we're called to resist Satan, the fake, knowing that we have the power and the Holy Spirit to do so.

    24:46-24:50

    And we do so knowing that we're also not alone, as verse 8 tells us.

    24:51-25:18

    That our brothers and sisters sitting here next to us today, and sisters across the street at Northway, our brothers and sisters in the rest of the Pittsburgh area and the United States, and certainly our brothers and sisters across the world who suffer much persecution for their faith know exactly what we're talking about here. They go through the same temptations and the same sufferings that we've gone through ourselves.

    25:20-25:28

    And that leads me to the fourth reason why I know that Jesus can come through in the clutch in my life and in your life.

    25:30-25:33

    And number four is because He always sees it through.

    25:34-25:36

    Let's look at verses 10 and 11.

    25:39-26:17

    "And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. And if I can go back to a sports analogy just for a second, I know. But in 2017, a game that maybe some of us would like to not remember, especially if you're a Steelers fan, maybe a game you would like to remember if you're Taylor Halland, but the New England Patriots played the Atlanta Falcons in the Super Bowl.

    26:19-26:23

    And the first half was just a disaster for New England.

    26:24-26:26

    21-3 they were down at halftime.

    26:26-26:29

    Eventually they got down 28-3 in that game.

    26:29-26:30

    Everything was falling apart.

    26:31-26:34

    New England's defense looked like they were clueless.

    26:35-26:37

    Even the great Tom Brady threw an interception for a touchdown.

    26:39-26:42

    But then if you're a sports fan, you know how the rest of the story goes.

    26:44-27:18

    that New England ended up coming back and they were racing the biggest deficit in Super Bowl history and winning that game in overtime 34 to 28. But I can't help but to think that our suffering can be like that sometimes, right? We go back to that first half, we're the Patriots and our life is just running us over. Just beating us into submission and blowing right past us without us having much to say about it at all. Just being left confused and broken. We feel helpless.

    27:20-27:52

    And whether we're feeling the weight of that directly as a result of our faith, or we're just struggling to keep our faith through this difficult time, it feels like we're fighting insurmountable odds. But in verse 10 it says that after we've suffered a little while, similar to what he was talking about in verse 9 just before this, after you've done so, He will restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast. God isn't just in it for the short term, for the first half.

    27:53-27:57

    As Christians, we know we are to share in the sufferings of Christ. We're promised that.

    27:59-28:08

    We're promised to have hardships if we truly live for Jesus. That people will oppose us, They'll persecute us. They'll attack us sometimes.

    28:09-28:12

    Just as they did to Jesus Himself whenever He was walking the earth.

    28:14-28:22

    And if people can do that to the Son of God, God in human form, then they can certainly do it to you while you're here.

    28:23-28:23

    We should expect that.

    28:26-28:27

    But we can't be discouraged by it.

    28:29-28:48

    1st Hen tells us that after we've suffered for the cause of God and for building up His kingdom while He's here on earth, That's when God will strengthen us and truly restore us and make us strong because we're serving him. And so let's take a step back for a moment and let's think about this.

    28:49-28:55

    Let's think about what person we know that can exemplify this the most.

    28:57-29:03

    Who suffered for a little while, greatly actually, and then rose to victory.

    29:05-29:54

    It's Jesus Christ on the cross. The ultimate example of coming through in the clutch, is it not? Jesus comes to this earth knowing what many men did not know yet, and that their real problem was not with the Roman rule or with humans that were persecuting them, but their real enemy was their sin. That was the real problem at hand, and he came to take it and to conquer it. He preached God's Word to his followers. He showed his people the way. He went against many social norms of the time, only to get captured, tortured, and hung on a cross, humiliated in front of everyone.

    29:58-30:07

    But he was supposed to be the Messiah. He was supposed to be the Savior of all mankind and he gets crucified after he professed himself that he was God.

    30:09-30:09

    That's it?

    30:10-30:11

    Really?

    30:11-30:55

    All hope lost? Of course not. In the greatest and most important comeback story of all time, the greatest example of coming through in the clutch, right when it looks like Jesus has been defeated, he couldn't be contained by the tomb. He took over our sins upon himself because he knew no sin himself, and he buried them forever. The stone rolls away and our Savior and Lord overcomes death and sin to bring us victory over our sin, if we believe in Him, and open the gates of heaven for his people to dwell with him forever.

    30:57-31:16

    That's the Lion of Judah. That's the eternal glory in Christ, and that's why we can say in verse 11, "To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen." That's the truth. So Jesus plays the long game.

    31:17-33:02

    We know that because we're free from the bondage of sin because of his work on that cross. And no matter how bad things get, doesn't matter if you feel unreachable or unworthy, Jesus can come through for you in your darkest moments because he's your authority, because he cares for you, because he's stronger than your opponent and your situation no matter what it is. Nothing is too big for Him. And because He's in it for the long haul, He's not going anywhere. And He deserves honor and glory with how you live your life daily and how we live our lives every single day. And to close, I'd like to read from Psalm 139. And you don't have to turn there. In fact, if you would, I'd like you to just close your eyes. And I want you to put everything else you might be thinking about away, and where your mind may have wandered throughout this message. Maybe it's lunch after this or whatever. And I want you to just take in these words from David in Psalm 139. And I hope this is a great encouragement for you as you go about your battles, go about your week, even go about the rest of your today. No matter what you're facing, and maybe it's just an opportunity to rest in His presence in these really strange times in our country.

    33:04-33:11

    Psalm 139 starting in verse 7 says, "Where shall I go from your spirit?

    33:14-33:20

    Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there.

    33:21-33:24

    If I make my bed and shield, you are there.

    33:26-34:02

    If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you. The night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Do you believe that?

    34:04-34:24

    Do you believe that no matter where you go, no matter what you experience, even if you've never experienced it before, and we know that a lot of us have been in that place over the last few months or so, that there isn't a place or a moment when God isn't with you.

    34:26-34:34

    And through 1 Peter chapter 5, we know His power. We know that we can have confidence in Him.

    34:36-34:46

    I'm gonna pray to close us and then we can all sing a song together that was inspired by Psalm 139 as the worship team makes its way up.

    34:49-34:53

    Father God, I thank you for just the truth in your Word.

    34:55-35:00

    I thank you that we can have confidence in you to come through in the moments where we don't have any answers left.

    35:03-35:08

    And I thank you that you are big enough to handle anything that we're going through, that it's not a secret to you, God.

    35:09-35:11

    That you are our authority.

    35:12-35:13

    We can stand firm in that.

    35:15-35:19

    Help us to humble ourselves so that we can seek the help of You.

    35:21-35:31

    And I thank You, Lord, that You care for us, that You're in our every day, You know our thoughts, our emotions, everything that's going on with us on a deeper level than we can even understand ourselves.

    35:34-35:50

    And I thank You that You are stronger and that You prove that through Your Word, that We can go from the beginning of the book to the end of the book, being Your Word, the Bible, and know that You ultimately win.

    35:52-35:57

    God, I thank You that You don't just play in the first half.

    35:59-36:06

    You aren't going to just sit around and give up, that You always see it through, that You're there until the very end.

    36:08-36:21

    I thank you for these truths and I pray that each one of us can take those and apply it to our lives and have confidence and we wouldn't have fear with anything that we are facing in our lives.

    36:22-36:27

    Thank you Lord for your power, your strength and the truth that you reveal to us in your word.

    36:29-36:31

    In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Peter 5:6-11

  1. Are there anxieties in your life that you keep from God? Is there a reason you do that?

  2. What does your adversary “seeking someone to devour” look like in your life?

  3. How would you describe being “firm in your faith” mentioned in 1 Peter 5:9?

  4. What are some ways that we can humble ourselves daily so that God may exalt us?

  5. Is there a time that God came through in the clutch for you?

Breakout
Pray for each other’s anxieties that may be keeping you from your faith in God.

An Elders' Job Description

1 Peter 5:1-4

  1. An elder Shepherds God's People.
  2. An elder has Godly Motives .
  3. An elder is Gracious .
  4. An elder is a Model .
  5. An elder Works for His Shepherd.

2019 Elder Team
(Left to Right) Rich Sprunk, Jay Knauer, Brian Gagnon, Mike Martin, Darren Keller, Jeff Miller

Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

  • Pastor Jeff:

    01:11-01:13

    Come on up, Mike and Brian.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:13-01:18

    For those of you who maybe are new around here, we are an elder-run congregation.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:19-01:26

    And this is Darren Keller and Rich Sprunk and Jay Knauer, and they've been faithfully serving Harvest Bible Chapel for years.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:26-01:29

    Jay and Darren were among our first class of elders.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:29-01:31

    So they've been - how many years has that been?

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:33-01:33

    You don't count years?

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:35-01:37

    Birthdays must be a real treat at your house.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:40-01:46

    Well, today we are going to be installing and praying over two more men.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:46-01:49

    This is Mike Martin and, oh, Brian, there you are.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:49-01:49

    I am.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:50-01:51

    Sneaking up on me.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:51-01:53

    He was chosen purely for his ninja-like abilities.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:54-01:55

    You're probably wondering where is it.

    Pastor Jeff:

    01:57-02:07

    Mike Martin and Brian Gagnon, and we certainly have appreciated getting to know you and seeing your wisdom and your service in the church.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:09-02:12

    And Mike, I just appreciate you and Judy have such a heart to serve.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:13-02:18

    Judy helps me every week back in guest reception, and Mike has stepped in.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:18-02:28

    It might be quicker for me to list some of the areas of ministry where he hasn't stepped in, but especially in the prayer team ministry and with missions.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:28-02:35

    Mike has been such a great servant of the Lord and a great mentor to a lot of people in this church.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:35-02:46

    and Brian, you know how sometimes, when you meet somebody, you know how sometimes it takes you a while to get to know them before you like them?

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:48-02:49

    (audience laughing)

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:50-02:51

    I liked you right away.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:53-02:54

    That was not the case with you.

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:57-02:59

    I had you sweating there for a minute, didn't I?

    Pastor Jeff:

    02:59-03:01

    I'm thinking, where is he going with this?

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:03-03:05

    People say that every week when I get up to preach.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:08-03:16

    Kidding aside, you and Shirley have demonstrated such a spiritual maturity and wisdom that was obvious from the very beginning.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:16-03:23

    And I know what a huge impact the two of you had on our marriage class that we had this summer.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:23-03:34

    And here at Harvest Bible Chapel, elders are not so much selected are identified.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:35-03:41

    Because Scripture gives the criteria of the type of man that should shepherd the church.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:41-03:48

    And I'm going to ask you men, if you would please, I have a few words for the elders, but I'm going to ask you to sit in the front row for two reasons.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:48-03:50

    One is nobody ever is.

    Pastor Jeff:

    03:52-03:58

    And the other reason is I want to share a few words about what it means to be an elder, and it'd just be a lot easier if I didn't have to do this the whole time.

    Pastor Jeff:

    04:00-04:11

    And then we're going to call you back up But 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 give the qualifications for an elder.

    Pastor Jeff:

    04:12-04:15

    So again, they're more identified than selected.

    Pastor Jeff:

    04:15-05:02

    So, what we had done, especially this past year in our eldership as I sat down with Darren and Jay and Rich, we said, who are the men in our church demonstrate the qualities of an elder. And there were two men that immediately went to the top of that list that we started praying about, and they went through a long process, Brian and Mike did as the others did, but they went through a long process of applications and interviews and training and attending elders meetings to see what goes on. So you have to know that this isn't something that we were just like eeny meeny miny moe, hey I like you, you're good looking, you look good in a suit, you're an elder.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:02-05:10

    This has been a very long process of really seeking the Lord and getting to see the character of these men.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:11-05:16

    And I'm really excited for this church to have this caliber of leadership.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:18-05:22

    But just a word for the elders here before we pray.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:23-05:26

    This comes from 1 Peter 5.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:28-05:30

    I just want to give you the elders' job description.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:30-05:32

    And again, this isn't going to be a surprise to any of these guys.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:33-05:34

    We've been talking about these things.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:35-05:36

    But this is the elders' job description.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:37-05:46

    I want to read these verses and then very quickly just sort of list some of the things that the Bible calls an elder of the church to do.

    Pastor Jeff:

    05:47-06:03

    And Peter writes, "So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory is going to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:04-06:05

    Exercising oversight.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:05-06:07

    Stop right there. That's number one.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:07-06:09

    First part of your job description.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:10-06:11

    Exercise oversight.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:11-06:14

    Or, we would say an elder shepherds God's people.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:15-06:16

    Okay?

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:17-06:30

    You aren't being installed as dictators, as bosses, as some kind of CEO of the church I'm just going to keep people in line." You're a shepherd.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:33-06:36

    That's what it means to exercise oversight.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:38-06:42

    And he gives the attitude as we read on in verse 2.

    Pastor Jeff:

    06:42-06:59

    He says, "Not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly." And that takes us to number two in my description, an elder not only shepherds God's people, but an elder has godly motives.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:00-07:02

    An elder has godly motives.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:02-07:06

    And he gives two positives and two negatives here.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:06-07:07

    Did you see that?

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:07-07:08

    Here's a negative.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:08-07:09

    Not under compulsion.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:10-07:15

    It wasn't like we're twisting these guys' arms like, "Brian, come on, man.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:16-07:16

    I need you to do it.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:17-07:18

    If you don't do it, the church fails.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:18-07:21

    If you don't do it, Jesus is disappointed in you.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:21-07:24

    Okay, I'll do it." it can't be under compulsion.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:25-07:29

    It can't be guilt trip or some obligation.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:29-07:30

    It can't be that way.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:30-07:35

    He says, "Not under compulsion, but willingly." Like, yes, this is something that I want to do.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:38-07:40

    He says, "As God would have you." And here's the second negative.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:40-07:45

    He says, "Not for shameful gain." Yeah, you're not getting paid.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:46-07:47

    So that's not a motive.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:49-07:52

    But there's other gains that can be made through leadership, right?

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:53-07:55

    That's what Peter's talking about here.

    Pastor Jeff:

    07:55-07:59

    He says you're not put in a position of leadership to take advantage of those under your care.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:01-08:02

    He says but eagerly.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:02-08:03

    Eagerly!

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:04-08:05

    Not just willingly, but eagerly!

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:06-08:20

    Not just, "I want to do this, but I really love and want to help lead this people!" The third part of the job description takes us to verse 3.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:20-08:25

    He says, "Not domineering over those in your charge." An elder is gracious.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:27-08:28

    Not domineering.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:30-08:34

    Not that Gentile style that Jesus was talking about, right?

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:34-08:44

    Jesus said, "The rulers of the Gentiles, they lorded over them, but not so with you." Jesus said, "The greatest among you must be" what?

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:45-08:48

    "A servant." An elder is gracious.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:49-08:54

    Yes, this is the highest level of authority in the church.

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:54-08:56

    So according to Jesus, do you know what that means?

    Pastor Jeff:

    08:56-09:00

    The highest level of authority is also the highest level of servanthood, right?

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:02-09:06

    Yes, you are men of authority because you're men under authority.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:07-09:11

    And authority doesn't mean I'm the boss, you do what I say.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:12-09:17

    Authority means God has called me to make decisions.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:18-09:25

    to bless and protect those that He has entrusted to me." That's authority.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:26-09:28

    That's authority in the home - men.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:28-09:31

    That's the authority in the church - elders.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:33-09:40

    Verse 3, he goes on, he says, "But being examples to the flock." That's the fourth part of your job description.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:41-09:41

    An elder is a model.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:42-09:44

    An elder is a model.

    Pastor Jeff:

    09:46-09:59

    Mike, when I told Mike that, he goes, "Yeah, I know that that's why you picked me, because of my good looks. I'm a model, right? I do my little turn on the catwalk." And no, that's not what we mean by model. It means you're an example.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:01-10:17

    He says, "Be an example to the flock." Meaning, people should be looking to you as an elder to say, "This is what it looks like to follow Christ." Remember the Apostle Paul said, "Be imitators of me as I imitate Christ." That's your job. People should be looking to you.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:17-10:19

    You know, what does it look like to follow Jesus?

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:19-10:25

    These people who have recently come to Christ in our church, they're like, "Hey, I'm a baby Christian.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:25-10:28

    What does it look like as a husband, as a father?

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:28-10:31

    What does it look like as a new believer?" They should be looking to you guys.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:32-10:37

    Saying, "Okay, that's a model of what it means." Not perfect. None of us are perfect.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:38-10:50

    But striving and pursuing and seeking Christ and worshiping Christ, walking with Christ, working for Christ, making worship a priority, making small group involvement a priority, making home a priority.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:52-10:53

    An elder is a model.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:54-10:58

    And then finally, an elder works for his shepherd.

    Pastor Jeff:

    10:59-11:15

    That's where Peter says, "And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory." You are working for Jesus with an eye on eternity.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:17-11:18

    That yes, you are shepherds.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:18-11:19

    We are shepherds.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:20-11:22

    But we are shepherds under the Good Shepherd, right?

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:23-11:28

    So, it is Him whom we seek to please with the way that we shepherd this flock.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:29-11:32

    So I'm going to ask if you would come back up here.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:33-11:35

    And let's put Brian and Mike in the front.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:38-11:40

    and the rest of us behind, and we're going to lay hands.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:41-11:43

    And church, we want you to pray along with us.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:43-11:47

    And we want you to do something that we actually did in Thailand.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:48-11:54

    In Thailand, when Barnabas, our missionary, would say, "Let's pray," everybody prayed.

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:55-11:57

    And you know that's not a problem for God, right?

    Pastor Jeff:

    11:57-12:05

    You realize at any time, at any moment, in the world, there are how many millions of people lifting up their voices to the Lord at the same time?

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:05-12:07

    He has no problem sorting that out.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:07-12:09

    And what a sign of unity.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:09-12:13

    What a sign of seeking the Lord together that we would pray.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:14-12:25

    So I'm going to ask if we would pray and just lift these men up before the Lord and really all of our eldership and ask the Lord that we would honor Him with the way that we shepherd this church.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:26-12:35

    And then after a few moments of us all praying at the same time, I asked Rich if he would close us for the congregational prayer over the elders.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:36-12:36

    Alright?

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:37-12:39

    So will you pray with me, church?

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:40-12:42

    Father in Heaven, we just lift these men up to You.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:43-12:48

    And we thank You so much for the leadership that You have provided this church.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:48-12:53

    Father, we need Your wisdom and guidance.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:54-12:58

    And I thank You for the way that You have raised and prepared these men.

    Pastor Jeff:

    12:59-13:01

    I thank You, Father, for their wives.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:02-13:04

    We thank You, Father, for their families.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:04-13:07

    We thank You, Father, for them coming into this knowing the commitment.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:09-13:13

    Father, we ask that they would shepherd with a pure motive.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:14-13:17

    We ask, Father, that they would shepherd with a servant's heart.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:18-13:22

    That they would shepherd this church in the way that Christ has called.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:24-13:25

    Father, give us wisdom.

    Pastor Jeff:

    13:26-13:27

    Guide us.

    Rich Sprunk:

    13:28-13:34

    Our most gracious and loving Father, We thank you so very much for Mike and Brian.

    Rich Sprunk:

    13:35-13:42

    Thank you for sending them our way to be ministers, to be stewards, and to be elders.

    Rich Sprunk:

    13:43-13:46

    I pray, Father, You would continue to give them wisdom and discernment.

    Rich Sprunk:

    13:48-13:54

    Give them compassionate and loving hearts that these qualities would abound in them more and more.

    Rich Sprunk:

    13:56-14:08

    And that You would continue to make them Your faithful servants as they serve and steward the good deposit that You have given them.

    Rich Sprunk:

    14:10-14:12

    We pray that You would continue to bless our congregation.

    Rich Sprunk:

    14:14-14:21

    Father, You would unite our hearts and make us one mind, one spirit, one faith in our one Lord Jesus Christ.

    Rich Sprunk:

    14:23-14:25

    And we ask these things in His great name.

    Rich Sprunk:

    14:26-14:26

    Amen.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:26-14:27

    Amen.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:28-14:28

    Amen.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:30-14:31

    (applause)

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:38-14:39

    Leadership is servanthood.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:40-14:45

    And our new elders' first act of being an elder is to serve you, the congregation.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:46-14:47

    They're going to serve the Lord's Supper.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:47-14:51

    I'm going to ask Brian and Mike if you would take communion trays.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:51-14:56

    And they are going to stand on either side of the middle aisles as the worship team leads the song.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:56-14:57

    And here's what you're going to do.

    Pastor Jeff:

    14:57-14:59

    You're going to stand and worship.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:00-15:03

    And you're going to come up and receive the Lord's Supper when you're ready.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:03-15:11

    If you need to take some time to meditate, to pray, to reflect, maybe you just need a minute to worship before you come up.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:12-15:16

    When you're ready, you're going to come up the middle aisles and you're going to receive the Lord's Supper here.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:17-15:17

    Don't take it back to your seat.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:18-15:19

    We're not all taking it together.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:19-15:21

    You're going to receive the Lord's Supper here.

    Pastor Jeff:

    15:21-15:27

    And then we ask you to return to your seat from the outside and we're going to continue to worship while we receive the Lord's Supper together.

Harvest DNA – Part 4: Unafraid Witness.

Review / Introduction:


Your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ!

Matthew 5:16 - In the same way, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

1 Peter 3:15 - but in your hearts, regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Proverbs 28:1 - ...the righteous are bold as a lion.

Three Things You Need to Know to Be a Bold Witness (1 Peter 2:11-12):

  1. Know what you are: Alien. (1 Peter 2:11a)
  2. Philippians 3:20 - But our citizenship is in heaven...

  3. Know what to fight: Your Sin. (1 Peter 2:11b)
  4. Know how to act: Honorable. (1 Peter 2:12)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint:
Highlight blanks above for answers!

  • 00:35-00:39

    Open up your Bibles with me, please, to the book of 1 Peter.

    00:40-00:41

    We're going to be in chapter 2.

    00:43-00:48

    We are on the tail end of a four-week series called Harvest DNA.

    00:50-00:59

    And we're basically just answering one question, and the question is, "What kind of church is this?" Well, we are a church that sits on four pillars.

    00:59-01:03

    And the first pillar is proclaiming the authority of God's Word without apology.

    01:04-01:06

    We believe that God wrote this book.

    01:06-01:15

    So when I, or next week Dan Thompson is going to be bringing the message, when we stand up, we are proclaiming the Word of God.

    01:16-01:19

    So much as we communicate what God said in His Word.

    01:20-01:21

    We do that without apology.

    01:22-01:25

    The second pillar is lifting high the name of Jesus in worship.

    01:28-01:31

    There's something special to our Lord about worship.

    01:31-01:33

    The biggest book in your Bible is Psalms.

    01:34-01:35

    And that's corporate worship, right?

    01:36-01:41

    And Jesus told the woman at the well that the Father is seeking people to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

    01:43-01:44

    That's our second pillar.

    01:44-01:51

    "Lifting high the name of Jesus through worship." Our third pillar we talked about last week is "believing firmly in the power of prayer." We saw that last week, didn't we?

    01:51-01:53

    Jesus said, "Ask and you will receive.

    01:53-01:54

    Seek and you will find.

    01:54-01:59

    Knock and it will be opened to you." Our fourth pillar.

    02:01-02:08

    of a church is this, our fourth pillar is sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness.

    02:11-02:26

    Many many years ago when Aaron and I were first married, she was actually getting ready to go to work and she was just about to go out the door and somebody showed up at our door and it was this guy selling meat out of the back of a truck.

    02:28-02:40

    So Erin's on her way to work and this guy's like, "Hey, you know, he probably had a better sales pitch than I'm selling meat off the back of a truck." But anyways, Erin's like, "Hey, Jeff, just, she goes, could you talk to this guy?

    02:40-02:47

    I gotta go." So Erin jumps in and she's like, "Just, I'm like, what do you want me to do?" She is, Erin goes, "Just do whatever you think.

    02:47-02:54

    I gotta go." You can tell this was, Matt and Lexi, this was early on in our marriage because she trusted me to just do what I think.

    02:56-02:56

    She's learned.

    02:58-02:59

    But anyways, you can just do what you think.

    02:59-03:09

    So this guy, he pulls out this chest, this giant white chest, and he starts showing me all this meat that he had.

    03:09-03:13

    He goes, "Hey, I got some T-bones here." He had something called a rump roast.

    03:13-03:18

    And he's like, "I got soup bones here." And then he pulls out this pack.

    03:18-03:20

    He goes, "This is Delmonica right here.

    03:21-03:41

    "It's a Cadillac of the cow." And I'm just standing there like, "Whoa." And, well, long story short, I ended up, I'm ashamed I have to confess this, but I ended up buying about $500 worth of meat off this guy out of the back of his truck.

    03:43-03:44

    And she stayed with me.

    03:45-03:51

    But anyways, later on that day, she, okay, and you guys that are married, you know, the husbands, you know what's coming next, right?

    03:52-03:55

    Because now I, it seemed like such a good idea at the time.

    03:56-03:59

    But then when Aaron called all of a sudden, I'm like, maybe that wasn't such a good idea.

    04:00-04:23

    But Aaron's like, "Hey, what happened with that meat guy?" And I'm like, "I bought some." She's like, "How much did you buy?" And I'm like, "About $500 worth." She goes, "What?" And I'm like, "But it was the Cadillac of the cow." But I was just persuaded by that guy because he was compelling.

    04:25-04:27

    And he was talking about a frozen dead cow.

    04:29-04:36

    But you know, I think about that guy because we too, true or false, we too have a job of persuading people, don't we?

    04:37-04:46

    We have a job of compelling people, of boldly sharing with people the difference that Jesus Christ makes in your life.

    04:48-04:59

    I'll be honest with you, when the elders had asked me to preach through the four pillars of the church, Thinking about this one, I was like, well, how many sermons have we had about witnessing in the past three years?

    05:00-05:03

    We've been going through the book of Acts for three years, right?

    05:03-05:04

    And we're almost done.

    05:04-05:06

    But how many sermons about witnessing?

    05:07-05:14

    And we spend so much time talking about things like having the right message.

    05:15-05:17

    You know, having the right message, that's important.

    05:19-05:21

    But there's something else that comes first.

    05:22-05:24

    We've talked about having the right attitude.

    05:25-05:26

    And that's important.

    05:27-05:30

    But there's something else that has to come first.

    05:30-05:32

    We've talked about dealing with haters.

    05:34-05:35

    And that's important.

    05:36-05:37

    But there's something else that has to come first.

    05:38-05:39

    We've talked about prayer.

    05:39-05:46

    Hey, prayer is important, but there's something else that has to come first.

    05:47-05:52

    There's something so foundational to your witness for Christ that none of us have the right attitude to do.

    05:52-05:54

    None of these things are going to happen.

    05:54-06:01

    Or, on the off chance that they do, they will not be affected.

    06:03-06:06

    So one main point today, and the point is this.

    06:07-06:13

    Your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ.

    06:15-06:17

    That would be a great sentence to write down.

    06:18-06:21

    Your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ.

    06:22-06:25

    Every true believer wants to be a better witness, right?

    06:26-06:27

    Here's where it has to start.

    06:27-06:31

    It has to start with your walk with Christ.

    06:32-06:42

    Your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ, and I know we've got some skeptics right here that are going to say, "You're going to have to prove that to me, and I'll be glad to." Here's a few verses I want you to consider.

    06:43-06:45

    Think of Jesus in Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount.

    06:46-06:58

    Jesus said, "In the same way, let your light shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." So you see, Jesus said in order for your light to shine, what has to happen first?

    06:58-07:00

    God has to be shining His light in you, right?

    07:01-07:02

    You don't have any light of your own.

    07:02-07:03

    You're like the moon.

    07:03-07:05

    All you can do is reflect light.

    07:06-07:12

    And Jesus said the way people are going to glorify God is when they see the light of the Lord shining through you.

    07:13-07:16

    Actually, 1 Peter 3.15, a lot of people probably have this verse memorized.

    07:17-07:27

    The second part of the verse that we're familiar with says, "Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you." Can't have a sermon about witnessing without that verse, right?

    07:28-07:29

    We all know that verse.

    07:31-07:32

    But do you know what the first part of that verse says?

    07:33-07:34

    Put that up.

    07:34-07:41

    "But in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy." Do you see? It has to start in here.

    07:42-07:45

    It has to start in here before it goes out here.

    07:47-07:50

    Proverbs 28 verse 1, this is our theme verse of the year.

    07:52-08:08

    The second half says, "The righteous are bold as a lion." As we're talking about sharing the good news of Jesus with boldness, who's bold according to Proverbs 28.1?

    08:08-08:09

    Who's bold?

    08:09-08:12

    The well-informed are bold as a lion?

    08:13-08:13

    No, it doesn't say that.

    08:14-08:16

    Does it say the Bible student is bold as a lion?

    08:16-08:17

    No, it doesn't say that either.

    08:18-08:21

    How about the longest tenured Christian is bold as a lion?

    08:21-08:22

    It doesn't say that either.

    08:23-08:25

    It says the righteous are bold as a lion.

    08:25-08:26

    Who's a bold witness?

    08:26-08:33

    The person that has the righteousness of Christ that God gives to those who receive Him.

    08:35-08:37

    So if you wanna be a bold witness, here's three things you need to know.

    08:39-08:42

    And we're gonna take these from 1 Peter 2.

    08:42-08:43

    We're gonna look just at two verses today.

    08:45-08:46

    Verses 11 and 12.

    08:46-08:48

    Three things you need to know to be a bold witness.

    08:49-08:51

    We're gonna kind of work through these verses together.

    08:54-08:56

    Number one, jot this down.

    08:56-08:58

    Know what you are.

    08:58-08:59

    You wanna be a bold witness?

    09:00-09:01

    First of all, you need to know what you are.

    09:04-09:05

    You are an alien.

    09:08-09:10

    Now when I say the word alien, what do you think of?

    09:11-09:14

    Well, it depends on how old you are, right?

    09:16-09:19

    For some people, you might have thought of Mork from "Ork".

    09:21-09:23

    How many people know Mork from "Ork"?

    09:23-09:25

    Okay, more than I figured.

    09:26-09:27

    For some of you, you might have thought of Alf.

    09:29-09:29

    Remember Alf?

    09:31-09:33

    Some of you might have thought of E.T.

    09:33-09:34

    Who thought of E.T. as soon as I said alien?

    09:35-09:36

    Okay, I thought I heard some people say that.

    09:38-09:39

    Some of you may have thought of the predator.

    09:41-09:42

    Would you like to hear my imitation of the predator?

    09:44-09:44

    All right, you ready?

    09:48-09:48

    (imitating predator)

    09:49-09:51

    Like, what do you do all week, Pastor Jeff?

    09:52-09:52

    (congregation laughing)

    09:55-09:56

    Working on my predator imitation.

    09:57-09:58

    Some of you might've thought of Superman.

    10:00-10:12

    Or some of you might've thought of that, remember that movie "Alien" and then there were aliens and more aliens and a big scorpion looking thing with the head and the thing that comes out of its mouth, you know what I'm talking about?

    10:12-10:14

    Some of you may have thought about that.

    10:16-10:30

    Actually, look at 1 Peter 2.11, it says, "Beloved, I urge you as sojourners in exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh." Let's stop there.

    10:30-10:33

    He says, first of all, here's your identity, church.

    10:35-10:38

    You're a sojourner and an exile.

    10:38-10:40

    Now these words in the Greek, they're interesting words.

    10:41-10:46

    Sojourner in the Greek literally means, I dwell near people not of my kind.

    10:46-10:48

    That's what a sojourner is in the Greek.

    10:48-10:50

    I dwell near people not of my kind.

    10:51-10:59

    And an exile, that's a compound word in the Greek that literally translates to nearby stranger.

    11:02-11:08

    So biblically, when we talk about aliens, biblically, we are the aliens.

    11:09-11:15

    Despite all the stuff you hear in the news about whatever, building walls or whatever to keep aliens out, here's the reality.

    11:15-11:19

    If you're a born again believer in Jesus Christ, you are the alien.

    11:21-11:31

    Meaning you're not of this place, you are living here temporarily beside people who aren't of your kind, worldly people.

    11:31-11:40

    That's why Philippians 3.20, Paul says, "But our citizenship is in heaven." That's why you are an alien if you're a follower of Christ.

    11:40-11:42

    You're a citizen of heaven.

    11:44-11:51

    In March, Russ House from our church is going to India and you're going to be helping to build a training center for pastors, correct?

    11:52-11:56

    Now I'm gonna go way out on a limb, I'm gonna assume there's some things you're not going to do while you're in India.

    11:57-11:58

    And correct me if I'm wrong.

    11:58-12:00

    I'm going to assume that you're not gonna buy a house.

    12:01-12:05

    I'm going to assume that you're not going to buy furniture for this house you're not going to buy.

    12:05-12:12

    You're not going to decorate around the furniture that you're not buying for the house you're not going to buy and I'm going to assume that you're not going to landscape.

    12:15-12:16

    Those are all correct.

    12:16-12:17

    Do you know how I knew that?

    12:18-12:20

    And we didn't talk about this beforehand.

    12:20-12:24

    The reason, Russ wouldn't go over there and buy a house and furniture and all this stuff, why?

    12:25-12:27

    Because he's not staying there, right?

    12:29-12:30

    It would be really dumb.

    12:31-12:37

    Could you imagine Missy, like Russ was like, "Hey, I bought a house in India." Her reaction would be like Aaron when I bought the 500 pounds of truck meat.

    12:40-12:42

    But you see, he's not staying there.

    12:44-12:48

    He's only going to be there for a short amount of time.

    12:49-12:52

    So because of that mindset, you're gonna be packing as light as possible, correct?

    12:53-12:54

    Because you know, I'm just a passing through.

    12:55-12:59

    And do you realize that same principle applies to us for our lives on this earth.

    13:00-13:05

    And sometimes, Gildi, we act like we're going to be here forever.

    13:07-13:09

    And we're just a passing through.

    13:10-13:12

    So let me ask you this morning, are you a sojourner?

    13:14-13:15

    Are you an earth dweller?

    13:18-13:20

    Are you living for here and now?

    13:21-13:22

    Are you living for then and there?

    13:23-13:27

    Because if you're living for here and now, that's a bad idea because no one has ever stayed here permanently.

    13:30-13:37

    The reality is we're to hold lightly to the earth and we're to hold tightly to our faith and somehow we get that backwards.

    13:37-13:47

    And then when it comes to witnessing, church, church, when it comes to witnessing, we have a tendency to compromise and go with the world.

    13:49-13:51

    We embrace the world's values.

    13:51-13:54

    We want to imitate the world even in the church.

    13:55-14:00

    And we think, we think in the church, if we imitate the world, we're going to draw the world.

    14:03-14:04

    Here's what ends up happening.

    14:04-14:19

    We tell the world, "Hey, I'm just like you." And their response is, "Well, then what do you have to offer me?" Because the appeal of the gospel is that Jesus followers are not the same as everyone else.

    14:21-14:26

    We are citizens of heaven passing through, holding different values and purposes.

    14:27-14:29

    So first of all, you're gonna start here, know what you are, you're an alien.

    14:31-14:35

    Number two, know what to fight, your sin.

    14:37-14:38

    You gotta fight your sin.

    14:41-14:42

    Look at the second part of verse 11.

    14:43-14:55

    He says, "As sojourners and exiles, "abstain from the passions of the flesh," look at this, "which wage war against your soul." Our war isn't with the world.

    14:57-15:02

    And in our hotly contested political climate, sometimes we act that way, right?

    15:03-15:04

    Our war is with the world.

    15:04-15:06

    Our war is not with the world.

    15:06-15:08

    Our war is with our sin.

    15:09-15:11

    That's why Peter calls it the passions.

    15:12-15:13

    The passions.

    15:13-15:17

    We have this - if you're a born again believer in Christ, do you realize what you are?

    15:19-15:21

    You have this new nature.

    15:21-15:22

    You are born again.

    15:23-15:31

    You have the Holy Spirit living inside you, but what the Holy Spirit is living inside is this old, decaying, corrupted body.

    15:31-15:33

    It's what the Bible calls the flesh.

    15:34-15:38

    And this flesh is corrupt and still wants to sin.

    15:39-15:41

    My body still wants to sin.

    15:41-15:51

    My body still has these fallen, corrupt passions in them that this new nature that I have in Christ Fighting!

    15:53-15:59

    That's why Paul says in Galatians 5, he says these two things are at war so you don't do the things that you want to do, right?

    16:00-16:01

    Romans 7, same thing.

    16:02-16:03

    That's why there's a war going on.

    16:05-16:12

    You need to wage war against the passions of the flesh because they're waging war against you.

    16:14-16:16

    What is it in your life that you want to keep from God?

    16:18-16:20

    What is it in your life that you've got to have now?

    16:20-16:23

    What is your favorite sin?

    16:25-16:26

    What if we just passed the microphone around?

    16:27-16:28

    What's your favorite sin?

    16:30-16:31

    You know what it is.

    16:33-16:35

    Is it sexual in nature?

    16:35-16:37

    That's for a lot of people.

    16:39-16:39

    Is it hatred?

    16:41-16:44

    Is it addiction of some kind to some substance?

    16:45-16:46

    Is it complaining?

    16:48-16:50

    I understand that sin is the real enemy here.

    16:50-16:57

    Specifically, my sin is my real enemy.

    16:57-16:59

    My sin seeks to distract me.

    17:00-17:02

    My sin seeks to discourage me.

    17:03-17:06

    My sin seeks to enslave me.

    17:06-17:08

    In Christ it can't condemn me.

    17:09-17:25

    But if I ignore the war that it is trying to wage against my soul, if I make excuses for my sin, tolerate my sin instead of turning from my sin, it's going to render me spiritually weak and ineffective.

    17:27-17:31

    It's going to leave me wondering where the abundant life is that Christ promised.

    17:32-17:33

    Oh, it's there.

    17:33-17:44

    I'm just unwilling to deal with my sinful passions that are waging war on my soul, and embrace what Christ freely offers instead.

    17:46-18:02

    To paraphrase D.L. Moody, "The person that I have the most problems with in this world is Jeff Miller." Now, D.L. Moody didn't say that he had the most problems with me.

    18:03-18:06

    His quote was, he was his biggest problem.

    18:06-18:09

    And I read that this week and I thought I can identify with that.

    18:09-18:22

    I think of the past 20, however many years of ministry I've been involved in, by far my biggest adversary, my biggest problem person in any church I've ever been to, is this guy right here.

    18:23-18:25

    There's a war being waged.

    18:27-18:31

    I kind of like to hear that because he doesn't say battle.

    18:31-18:37

    He doesn't say battle, and that's encouraging for me because you may lose some battles along the way, right?

    18:38-18:40

    But victory's already been won.

    18:41-18:42

    That's the good news of Jesus Christ.

    18:43-19:02

    want. So I want to encourage you today, maybe somebody sitting here today is fresh off of a loss. I want to encourage you to get back at it. You know what a boxer loses a round? Okay, well you just come out swinging harder the next round.

    19:03-19:12

    Or maybe a mom with all these kids has a really rough day. Okay, we're gonna put a We're gonna plan together and we're gonna come out tomorrow and do better.

    19:14-19:15

    Did you lose your round with your sin?

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    Well let's change the strategy.

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    Come out more determined to win.

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    I want you to see here, please don't miss this.

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    If you miss everything else I say today except one thing, please catch this.

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    This is the strategy that you must employ in your war on sin.

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    Please hear me.

    19:37-19:38

    It's right here in the text.

    19:38-19:39

    I'm not making this up.

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    He says, "To abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul." Here's your strategy for battle.

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    Are you ready?

    19:49-19:51

    It's abstaining.

    19:52-19:54

    You know what that word literally means?

    19:55-19:58

    It means put distance between.

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    That is how you battle your sin.

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    You put distance between it.

    20:05-20:07

    between you and your sin.

    20:09-20:23

    Okay, so if we have a guy here today saying, "You know, Pastor Jeff, you're right, I need to battle this drinking problem that I have, so I'm going to be taking my Bible to the bar from now on." Bad idea.

    20:25-20:37

    Or the person that says, "You know, I've really been struggling with lust in my life, so I'm going to be asking my small group to meet with me at the Gentleman's Club." It sounds foolish. It is.

    20:39-20:44

    Maybe somebody here is thinking, "You know what? You're right about this battling the sin thing.

    20:45-21:03

    I'm going to be going on a retreat to Rivers Casino to seek the Lord about my gambling problem." Don't try to fight your sin head on because listen, you will lose every single time you try to fight your sin head on.

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    Not me, yes you.

    21:05-21:12

    You mean to tell me Adam and Eve, who didn't even have a sin nature when they were tempted, they fell into sin.

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    They couldn't stand up to the temptation.

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    And you think you, living in a fallen, corrupt, sinful body, you think you're gonna face temptation head on and you're gonna come out stellar?

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    You think you're just gonna walk right into temptation?

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    And it's not gonna affect me.

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    You are foolish if you think that.

    21:32-21:43

    That's why Peter says, here's the strategy, abstain, get away from it, put some distance between you and your sin so you're not even in the same zip code.

    21:46-21:48

    What did Jesus teach us to pray about this?

    21:49-21:50

    Remember the Lord's prayer?

    21:50-21:52

    Father, art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

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    Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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    Give us this day our daily bread.

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    Give us this day our daily bread.

    21:58-21:59

    What's the part about lead us?

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    How's that go?

    22:02-22:02

    Lead us not, what?

    22:04-22:06

    Oh, do you think this is what Jesus was talking about?

    22:07-22:09

    Notice Jesus didn't say lead us not into sin.

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    It's like taking an even wider path.

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    I don't even wanna be in the place where I might be tempted with sin.

    22:21-22:24

    So here's a surefire way to not lose your fight against sin.

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    You ready for this?

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    Here's a surefire way to not lose the fight.

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    Determine the place where sin could tempt you.

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    Determine the circumstance where sin wants to fight you and don't show up.

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    You will never lose every fight you refuse to show up to.

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    That's why Peter says to abstain.

    22:53-22:54

    What do you need to do today?

    22:55-22:58

    What do you need to do today to put some distance between you and your sin?

    22:59-23:01

    Put filters on your computer?

    23:03-23:04

    Put your computer in the garbage?

    23:06-23:07

    Is there a place that you need to stop going?

    23:09-23:13

    Do you need to track down Ryan and Sarah so you have some small group accountability?

    23:13-23:15

    Some people who love you?

    23:17-23:21

    Who are going to help you make sure that you're keeping your distance?

    23:22-23:28

    Like, "Wait a minute, I thought we were talking about, I thought we were talking about witnessing today." Well, this is the point.

    23:28-23:31

    Your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ.

    23:31-23:34

    Because look at verse 12, as we wind down here.

    23:36-23:47

    Verse 12, "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable." So you see, all this inward stuff is going to be flowing out, right?

    23:47-23:53

    "Keep your conduct among the Gentiles." When he says Gentiles, that's just a euphemism for unbelievers, right?

    23:53-23:54

    I think we all get that.

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    "Your conduct among the Gentiles is honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds, and glorify God on the day of visitation." Speak against you.

    24:10-24:24

    The world, the Gentiles, they love to misrepresent followers of Christ, to the point of calling us "evildoers." More and more and more and more.

    24:26-24:35

    Christian, you are going to be branded as an evildoer just because you say, "I believe the Bible is the Word of God." That is happening more and more.

    24:35-24:38

    So I'm just - spoiler alert - it's going to happen.

    24:40-24:44

    If you say, "Well, I believe the Bible says that life begins in conception.

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    That's why I am pro-life.

    24:47-24:52

    That's why the Bible would lead me to believe pro-life.

    24:53-24:58

    People are gonna say, "You're a rotten person for saying a woman shouldn't have a choice in what she does with her own body.

    24:58-25:04

    What a evil, wicked person you are that would take that right away from the woman.

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    What about the right of the baby?" You can say, "Well, I believe what the Bible says about marriage.

    25:15-25:16

    One man, one woman, one lifetime.

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    and that's what I believe, you're gonna be branded as an evildoer for just saying, I just, I believe.

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    Notice there was no, I'm condemning anybody else in that statement.

    25:26-25:28

    Remember that happened with Chick-fil-A a few years ago, right?

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    Like the head guy was like, I believe in biblical traditional marriage or whatever.

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    And everybody was like, boo, your sandwiches taste like hate and racism.

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    And like, what?

    25:39-25:44

    He didn't say anything about, all he said was, I believe this.

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    That's exactly what Peter's talking about here.

    25:50-25:58

    The world is looking for reasons to reject the gospel, and they want to use you as the focal point of their rejection.

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    But when you are sincerely walking with the Lord, and He is doing stuff in you, and He is doing stuff through you, and you are blessing the people who are cursing you, when you are encouraging the people who are insulting you, when you are doing good to those who would do you harm, when they see that you're always looking to do, as Peter says, the honorable thing, the day is going to come when God shows up in their lives. And that day, according to Peter, is called the day of visitation.

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    The day of visitation.

    26:42-26:44

    I dropped this cross reference down, Luke 19.44.

    26:45-26:46

    What is the day of visitation?

    26:46-26:48

    That's kind of a weird term. What does that mean?

    26:48-26:52

    That just means the day God shows up to save them.

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    That's the day the lights come on in their lives.

    26:58-27:02

    That's the day that they realize their sin has brought them nothing but misery.

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    The day that God's Holy Spirit is speaking to them, calling them to receive Christ.

    27:09-27:11

    Peter says they're going to remember your good deeds.

    27:11-27:13

    They're going to remember your conduct.

    27:14-27:16

    And that is going to lead them to glorify God.

    27:16-27:19

    In other words, that's going to lead them to receive Jesus Christ.

    27:21-27:28

    So now do you see why your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ.

    27:29-27:31

    So know how to act honorable.

    27:32-27:33

    Honorable.

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    Let Christ change you.

    27:37-27:41

    Let the world see the changes that Christ made in you, and you will be a bold witness.

    27:43-27:56

    Every Christ follower wants to lead others to follow Christ, but you can't lead anyone to a place that you're not in.

    27:58-27:59

    So do you want to be a bold witness?

    28:00-28:01

    Know what you are. You are an alien.

    28:03-28:04

    Secondly, know what to fight.

    28:06-28:12

    Your sin, it's waging war against you, and you're going to fight by not showing up, right?

    28:13-28:15

    Thirdly, know how to act honorable.

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    Honorable, so that when the Lord shows up, they're going to remember, "Ah, I see how Christ was at work in those people's lives." Your walk with Christ determines your witness for Christ.

    28:34-28:34

    Let's pray.

    28:35-28:42

    Father in heaven, You have called us to be witnesses, but before even that, You have called us to be holy.

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    Father, there's not a single one of us in this room, there's not a single one of us on this planet that have the capability of being holy ourselves.

    28:54-28:59

    Your Word tells us that You have given us Your holiness, You have given us Your righteousness through Jesus Christ.

    28:59-29:10

    And You have empowered us by Your Spirit to continue to grow and mature and develop to be more and more practically holy.

    29:12-29:17

    Father, today I pray that we would be people who are determined that we're going to cooperate with You.

    29:17-29:20

    We'd stop clinging so tightly to the things of the earth.

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    Father, today I pray that You would be very specific with us Father, show us our point of temptation and show us how we can not show up to even fight it.

    29:36-29:37

    Show us how to abstain.

    29:38-29:46

    Father, show us how we can love the lost people around us in such a way that the day's going to come, the lights are going to come on, God.

    29:47-29:49

    You're on a seeking mission.

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    And they're going to remember the witness of Christians put in their lives, Father.

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    This is all to Your glory and honor.

    30:00-30:02

    Make us bold witnesses, Father.

    30:03-30:09

    Let us start with a sincere, authentic, growing, personal walk with Christ.

    30:11-30:13

    In whose name we pray, Amen.

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read 1 Peter 2:11-12

  1. What is the connection between your walk with Christ and your witness for Christ? Why?

  2. How do passions wage war on your soul? Even though a believer cannot lose their salvation, how is sin still harmful to the soul?

  3. How would you instruct someone wanting to fight their "besetting" sin? 
     

Breakout Questions:

How, specifically / personally, do you need to "put distance" between you and your sin? Pray for each other to apply wisdom in this war on sin. 

Living in a One-Sided Marriage (Men's Edition)

Honoring God in Your Marriage (When Your Wife is Not):

  1. Get to KNOW her. (1 Peter 3:7a)


  2. TREASURE her. (1 Peter 3:7b)


  3. ENJOY life with her. (1 Peter 3:7c)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read 1 Peter 3:7 (Men: Multiple times!!!)

  1. Name some practical ways men can learn more about their wives and how to meet their needs. Ladies, please chime in. We need the help.
     
  2. What does Peter mean to to honor your wife as the “weaker vessel”? How should that affect the way you think about your wife?
     
  3. How can our conduct towards our wives hinder our prayers for our wives?

Breakout Questions:
Pray for the marriages (and the singles in the group) to:

  • grow in oneness
  • understand our God-given roles
  • show grace