Grace Baptist Santa Clarita: Service Podcast

Today we stand with Christ-followers all over the world and recognize the monumental significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Paul would write in 1 Corinthians 15, “If Christ has not been raised then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” The resurrection has been central to our worldview since the day the grave was found empty. But what did the first Christians understand about the resurrection of Jesus? Today we will listen as Peter preaches the first recorded sermon that made use of this miraculous event. We’ll sit in his audience, hear his explanations, and then ask the question his original listeners asked. And we’ll find that the way we answer will make all the difference, both in this life and the next.

Peter continues his discussion of just how we are to be subject to those in authority over us, while at the same time living as servants of God. Peter has already spoken to the area of high governmental authority. Now he turns to more practical matters and addresses the plight of those slaves in the Roman world who had come to follow Christ. And while there are many differences between the slaves of that day and our experiences in the workplace and the day-to-day world, the principle is the same: We are to be submissive to those in authority over us, mindful that we are servants of God and recognizing that Jesus is our example.

As “elect exiles” Peter’s readers lived in two worlds. First, as Christ-followers, they were citizens of the Kingdom of God engaged in the mission of Christ through the church. But they were also part of their neighborhood, called to be citizens in their own society. Like them, we are called to be good subjects of our governing officials and good servants of God. But just how are we to manage these relationships? Where must our primary allegiance lie? And more to the point, where must our energy and confidence lie? Peter is clear. While this world’s officials deserve our honor, God calls us to be holy. And this holiness means a radical commitment first, and always, to fear God and love the brethren.

It is quite sobering to recognize that many look at Jesus and find Him to be a rock of offense. But for those who find Him to be their rock of refuge, the privilege of belonging to Him brings with it the only hope for those still offended by Him. Peter gives us the central truth in this epistle when he calls us, in vs. 9, to recognize that the privilege we have of being in God’s family is for the purpose of showing our world just how magnificent God really is! One of the most dramatic ways we can testify to the greatness of God in our day is to live out God’s standard for purity. When others see that we are finding great satisfaction in following God’s commands rather than falling for the temptations and counterfeits this world offers, God can use it to open their eyes to their sin and His free salvation.

What in the world is the church supposed to do and be? How should we think of ourselves? Peter has been encouraging his readers with a reminder that they have been “born again” into the family of God. This has happened by means of the “seed,” which is the Word of God. And the good news is that this “seed” hasn’t died but continues to be alive in them, bringing added growth and maturity. But what is the goal? Why has God brought us into His family? The answer is that we are to be the means whereby His grace and glory are broadcast before a watching world. We can rightly say that God rescues us from His wrath, by His grace, but for His glory. We are to be His temple, His priesthood, and those who offer worthy worship to Him while displaying His grace and glory to the world.

In chapter one, Peter encourages us to remain holy in the midst of trials. He reminds us to live in the light of our future hope in Christ. Being mindful of such things, God’s children find their present joy in brotherly love and faithful obedience to God. As we approach chapter two, Peter directs our attention to that which empowers brotherly love and faithful obedience –the word of God. As God’s children we have an uncommon diet –we don’t live by bread alone. We require spiritual sustenance. This spiritual food, which is graciously given by God in the form of His word, is craved for by His children who have tasted His goodness and therefore have the strength and fortitude to put away those things which destroy brotherly love and faithful obedience –malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander.

Peter has carefully demonstrated Christ-followers are really those whom God has caused to be born into His family. This standing as children of God has brought amazing privileges including an eternal inheritance that can’t be taken away. In response, Peter reminds us that we are to exhibit the family trait of holiness. That is, we are to be primarily God-directed in our lives with the secondary consequence that we become more and more averse to sin. But just how will a God-directed life be recognized? Before getting into more specifics, Peter gives two primary ways. First, God-driven people are to live out their fear of God (17-21). Secondly, God-driven people are to live out their love for the church (22-25). This weekend we look at just what it means to “love one another earnestly from a pure heart.”

Peter has taken time to remind his readers just how blessed they are to be “born again” into the family of God. They now have a living hope and an eternal inheritance that will fulfill their longing to be freed from sin and eternally at home with their God in a new heavens and new earth where righteousness alone will dwell! Given their new status as children of God, they are called to live holy lives, dedicated to the Father who has loved them so much. But how is this “holiness” exhibited? In vss. 17-25, Peter describes two essential behaviors. The first is vertical, the second is horizontal. This weekend we look at the vertical essential: fear of God. Next weekend we will look at the horizontal: love for the family.

Peter’s audience was made up of those who, for various reasons, including their allegiance to Christ, were living lives as exiles. Their standing in society was at the bottom of the ladder. Yet Peter’s clear exhortation to them is that they are actually people of great privilege. They have been foreloved by God, caused to be born again into His family, and endowed with all of the rights and privileges that come with it. Their inheritance is everlasting, and even the adversity they face comes with the opportunity to recognize the genuineness of their faith. Given all of this, what is to be their response? The question is the same for us today. Given all we are and have in Christ, how then should we live? Peter begins a lengthy answer that takes up the rest of the letter, but first he gives a powerful summary. We are to be holy. But just what is meant by holiness? And what makes it possible? To these important questions Peter gives some simple yet profound answers.

Peter’s readers were living as exiles in foreign lands, far from their homes and people. They were refugees, looked down on, and persecuted for being different in their beliefs and culture. But Peter thinks much better of them, as does God. To Him they are chosen, valuable, beloved. Out of His love God has “caused them to be born again” into His family, bringing them a “living hope” and an eternal inheritance, reserved in heaven for them. But against this glorious backdrop there is also the presence of adversity in this broken world. Again, in vs. 6-9, Peter encourages them that adversity is actually an opportunity to see the genuineness of their faith. And this is important since salvation is the reward of genuine faith. But is this salvation worth it? Peter now shows that his readers – and we! – live in a privileged position. We now know what the Old Testament prophets longed to know and have experienced what the angels long to experience. We know the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and we expe

Peter has written to encourage his readers who were living as aliens in foreign lands where their faith in Christ put them at odds with the sinful culture. He has reminded them of the privilege of being born into the family of God with its eternal inheritance that is now their guaranteed possession. Yet, the questions persist: What good is a future inheritance when the present trials of this world are so daunting? If God loves us, why doesn’t He make our lives pain free? How are we supposed to deal with the pain and tragedy of this world? Peter’s readers needed both insight and encouragement. So do we. Too often the Gospel has been advertised as the cure for all of life’s ills. But such was never God’s intention. There is no question that pain and sorrow and disappointment and frustration will surround us in this life. But what is up for consideration is just how we will respond to it. Knowing that we are being “guarded by God’s power” (vs. 5) will help us to see God’s face in the midst of trial, and recog

Last week we learned that to be “foreknown” was to be “fore-loved.” This term was used to distinguish those upon whom God the Father has set His love, bringing them into a covenant relationship that makes them “family.” This weekend we see how Peter describes this “blessing” in much more detail. Those whom God fore-loved He has also caused to be born again into a new family granting us at least three magnificent blessings. As Christ-followers, we now have a living hope, an eternal inheritance, and a salvation that one day will be completed. Peter’s readers were facing many trials as they lived for Christ in a broken world. Peter’s works were meant to rejuvenate their joy in knowing that their God was not only guarding their eternal inheritance for them, but was also guarding them for their inheritance. And this power of God would be recognized and experienced only as they labored to grow and persevere in their faith. The same is true today!

Today we begin our study of 1 Peter. While only 105 verses, this letter from the pen of the Apostle covers a lot of ground. The recipients were Christ-followers whose lives had become difficult because they were forced to live out their love for Jesus in societies that were unfriendly to their faith. Yet Peter calls them to a joy-filled obedience based on the fact that, in Christ Jesus, they were a special people with an amazing privilege. Their identity was found, not in what the world threw at them, but in what Christ had made of them. Their greatest satisfaction would come in accomplishing the task Christ had fitted them for: proclaiming the excellencies of Him who called (them) out of darkness into His marvelous light” (2:9). As we study this Spirit-inspired letter, we will find it easy to identify with the original readers. Today we can quickly forget that, in Christ, we are a special and valuable people. We have been drawn to God and endowed with a sacred privilege. Though there will always be challe

The Lord has blessed Grace in grand measure over the course of the past years. Yet we must always desire that our best days for Christ are yet to come. But how will we be effective? The answer is: Our corporate effectiveness for Christ will depend on our individual commitment to Christ. In the last 2 chapters of Philippians, Paul gives a number of areas for Christ-followers to consider as they think through becoming more and more intentional in walking “in a manner that is worthy of Christ.”

In this final section of his magnificent prologue, John reaches the goal of his Gospel. Having already declared that The Word – eternal, distinct, divine, creator and light of life – entered into human existence as the full expression of the glory of God, he now reaches the fullest consequence of the Incarnation: The fullest revelation of God that can be known this side of heaven can now be experienced through Jesus Christ. “For from His fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, He has made Him known.”

At the center of the Christmas event is the monumental mystery of God becoming man. The mere statement of this must send our minds into great wonder. How could an uncontainable, spiritual being ever become contained in flesh and time? How could the Maker of all take on the image of one made? And to what purpose? John wrestled with all of these questions and came out a solid proclaimer and defender of the simple truth that Jesus Christ was, indeed, fully divine and fully human. He was the God-Man, and His incarnational mission could only be accomplished by One who was uniquely God and man. John reaches back to the Old Testament book of Exodus to discuss the fact that the Word became flesh and dwelt among men. In so doing, he both proves his point and grounds the coming of God in the flesh in the great history of God’s redemptive plan. The incarnation wasn’t an accident. Before time began it was determined that the sin of mankind could only be remedied through the humiliation of the incarnation. And yet, in t

Among the best things about the Christmas season are the beautiful lights that are used to decorate the homes and trees of our city. But the Light that lies at the heart of the season is the light of life brought into the darkness of this sin-intoxicated world by Jesus Christ. In John 1:6-13 John carries on the theme of “light and life” introduced in vs. 5. And while the “light” entered the world in dramatic fashion through the life and work of Jesus, astoundingly most couldn’t see it! This is at the core of John’s message. The light shines brightly, inundating everyone with its light, and yet most are unable to see it. Today the situation is no different. The message of Jesus Christ - God the Son! – shines brightly in the pages of Scripture and in the voice of the Church. Yet only as the Spirit brings about a spiritual birth are we enabled to cast off our blindness, understand God’s truth, and entrust our very lives into His loving arms

The Christmas season is here, with all of its joys. But amidst the lights and songs and cheer, we are privileged to once again rest in the core of the season: God has kept His promise to reveal Himself in a redemptive way. Into the darkness of this broken world light has come with the power to heal and transform our lives. John, the last of the Apostles, reflects back on the coming of the light and reminds us powerfully that, as God began all creation by His Word, so also that Word – God Himself – brings light and life to all who believe. It is our privilege during this Advent season to learn from John, to reflect deeply on our Savior, and to rest in the joy and peace that is found in Him alone.

As we come to the final part of this wonderful story, we find ourselves transported out of the lives of Naomi, Ruth, and Boaz and pushed forward to see the magnificence of God’s redemptive plan. Now we see that all the elements of this very human story are actually previews of the supernatural work of God through the incarnate Christ. As Boaz “redeems” Ruth, so Christ redeems all who run to Him. And as Naomi’s life became “full” once more through the birth of a son, so also our lives find their truest satisfaction and purpose in the Son whose birth we will shortly be celebrating during Advent. All along the way, the story of Ruth has pulled at us, reminding us that we all were without merit, entitled to nothing. But God has sent us a Boaz in the person of our Savior Jesus Christ, who – out of great love and at great expense – has rescued, redeemed, and reformed us in order that He might be an eternal refuge for us. To God be the glory!