1 Peter 1:3-12...After the thesis statement comes the body of the term paper...

 



This Sunday I started off my sermon talking about term papers.  Not my favorite thing to do but knowing the parts of a term paper make it more manageable to accomplish.  You have a thesis statement at the start and then the body of the paper and then a concluding statement at the end.  I feel we have seen Peter's thesis' statement in 1 Peter 1:1,2 and he is emphasizing 3 main points to be fleshed out in the body of his letter.  

1.  He wants his readers to know about the Trinity (The Father and The Son and The Holy Spirit).

2.  He wants his readers to know more about their salvation (born again) in connection to the Trinity.  (God planned, Jesus purchased, Spirit polishes)

3.  He wants his readers to know how to live (reside) as "born againers" in a hostile world.

Peter dives into the body of his letter by focusing deeper on point 2.

  • We have a "living hope" because Jesus rose from the dead.
  • We have an inheritance that is like no other (imperishable, undefiled, unfading and kept/guarded in heaven).
  • Our faith is protected by God's power while we are here.
  • Our salvation is ready now to be revealed in its fullest sense in the last day.
  • We have a faith more precious than gold and it doesn't perish.
  • We can experience now a love of and a belief in and a rejoicing to God.
  • Our salvation was proclaimed by the prophets of old and from the eye witness apostles being led by the same Holy Spirit.
  • Our salvation gets the attention of the angels in heaven (they turn to and stoop down).
One question I ended with was this, "What on your plate needs the knowledge of your salvation added to it so you respond differently, a way that results in the praise, glory, and honor of Jesus Christ?"

All these "whereas" bullets will lead into the "therefore" of verse 13 and following next week.  

But, I would like to share one last verse with you that come up in my study last week.  I use the 3 circles diagram to explain what the Bible says about God's salvation.  

God created a perfect world but we live in a broken world because of sin and our rebellion against and running from God.  

God so loved this broken world that He gave His Son, Jesus Christ to come, to die, and to rise again as the way of escape and we respond with submission to Jesus as Lord and Christ and now we run to God with repentance.  

We are then restored to His perfect kingdom and now share in the gift of eternal life.  The Holy Spirit is at work in us so we grow in Christlikeness and we go, retooled, back into the broken world to tell others of the way of escape.

Romans 6:22 (LSB) says,

"But now having been freed from sin (rebellion against, running from) and enslaved to God (submission to, running to with repentance), you have your benefit (share, restored to), leading to sanctification (grow and go), and the end, eternal life." (parenthesis mine)

I pray you have a great week with God and His Word.

Adam



A simple man serving a great God and the local pastor of Stillwater Community Chapel (stillwater-chapel.org). We are in our 39th year of full time ministry. God directed us to this local body of believers on the Western Range of the Rockies to grow with them in mission and mindedness of Christ.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Last Tag In...Matthew 22:34-46...Testing Done!

Image
Probably the last snowshoe hike for the season.  I will have to deal with mud, ice and snow here and there if I venture up the trails.  I think I have snowshoed more this season than last even though we didn't have the snow depth of last year.  As I put away the snowshoes I will start dreaming of next year! We finished up chapter 22 this Sunday.  The testing is done!  4 different groups get into the ring with Jesus.  They are testing Him but soon they realize that He is testing them.  Jesus never really goes into the defensive mode that is normal if you are being questioned or tested but stays in the offensive mode to bring about a bigger issue than the one raised. Group #1:  Chief priests and elders They questioned Jesus' authority.  Jesus turns it back upon them to question their discerning authority regarding the baptism of John the Baptist.  They gave a non-answer. Group #2:  Pharisees and Herodians They questioned Jesus' loyalt...
Read more

Sermon prep and maybe a video...

     James 4 has brought up some interesting study.  First, "the quarrels and fights among you."  Those are usually worse than you think even though we try to minimize them.  The source is simpler than you think because it is coming from within you.  The solution is easier than you think because the solution that James gives is that we need to humble ourselves before the Lord.  Any sincere resolution is specific and brief.  Beware of lengthy resolutions that usually include explaining it away or excusing some of the behavior.      As I have seen before, the words are a sign of the heart.  I read this week that if we have a critical heart we usually start by speaking evil of another to ourselves.  Then we progress to speaking evil of another to that person with a running tally in our heads of all their wrongs.  Finally, we speak evil of another to others and broadcast in a way that we are thinking that we are h...
Read more

Am I asleep to Jesus' presence?...Matthew 17:1-13...Falling in love again with His words.

Image
  The Never Summer Mountain Range is behind me.  It is always amazing to me how people will respond more quickly to a picture than to the text.  I updated our Facebook cover photo and profile picture and people are responded left and right to it.  I do not get as much response when I print text to the same group of people.  I think this bears true with the response to video presentations of the Bible over just the written text of the Bible.  But since we don't have actual video footage of Jesus (sorry Chosen) I feel it is important to not just rely on someone's artistic presentation of the text but to read it for ourselves.  The question would be, "Am I reading more than I am watching when it comes to God's words?" I have purposely not used much video in my preaching opportunities because video will steal the show, no pun intended, to the actual passage we are looking at.  I think we need to train ourselves again to rely on what we are reading rat...
Read more