My favorite way to preach and teach is by taking a book of the Bible and walking through it with people. That’s why I’m excited that we will preach/teach through the book of 1 Peter in our Sunday services between now and Memorial Day. I pray that you will invite a friend to join us, and we will discover A Life Worth Living that is all about Jesus, our living hope. Here are a few thoughts I’m having as we launch into this series of messages. We have a God of unlimited second chances. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Because Jesus is merciful, we don’t receive the penalty for our sins that we deserve. Instead, we are regenerated over and over again to a better tomorrow. That’s our living hope. Not just a better tomorrow, but a better forever because Jesus is resurrected from the dead. “Born again” or regeneration is an exciting reality. If you’re playing a video game, it’s like repeatedly respawning with unlimited lives. It’s the dream of immortality come true… and ours only through faith in Jesus. Our living hope may not be what we first think. From an individual-centric worldview perspective, we may think it is our resurrection or immortality. And in a sense, we are not wrong. However, 1 Peter never mentions the resurrection of people. It does mention ten times the resurrection of Jesus (the revealing of Jesus in glory). In other words, Peter is emphasizing that human hope is not found in our personal resurrections. Rather, living and enduring hope is only found in Jesus’ resurrection. I wonder how many of us wake up every day looking, waiting, and hoping to see the resurrected Jesus and not just a better day for ourselves. Comments are closed.
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Pastor Tim Meet Pastor TimTim Bayer has served as Our Savior's Lead Pastor since September 2019. He also serves as an Adjunct Instructor at Concordia University - Irvine, a National Leadership Facilitator and Resource, and with the Northwest District of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod. Archives
December 2024
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