Sermon: Living Hope: Rejoicing (1 Peter 1:8-9)

Sermon: Living Hope: Rejoice 

Living Hope

-Set apart

We are chosen, set apart according to the foreknowledge of God the father.  Set apart for obedience in Christ.  Praise God, according to His great mercy, who has given us a “Living Hope” in Christ!  Through his death and resurrection for which we now have an inheritance!

-Secure Future

This inheritance is imperishable, incorruptible and unfading!  Our future is kept and secured by God Himself!  

-Pure Joy

Knowing this swells ‘pure joy’ in our hearts, this joy carries us through the struggles and various trails we face day to day.  Each event builds our faith as we trust in God’s faithfulness.  He loves us and takes the time to refines us; the result is praise, glory and honor to Jesus Christ!  

Which brings us to our verses today and it continues this thought of growing joy. 

“You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:8–9, HCSB) 

Rejoicing  v.8

-Loved

When I first read this I can’t help but to think about Jesus at the end of the gospel of John when he said, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed.  Those who believe without seeing are blessed.” (John 20:29) “You love Him”, the word love here means continual--regular activity--on going—it doesn’t stop!

The reader of this letter lived in a continual relationship with Christ—experiencing His love in a close daily relationship.

Through prayer and worship—through growing and reflecting on the written word of God, they had no doubt of Christ, the Living Hope.

“This hope does not disappoint, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. ” (Romans 5:5, HCSB) 

-Believed in

They believed in Christ, they trusted Christ.  They rested their confidence in Him, they depended on Christ.  This was a special relationship.  The word used with believe is “in” or the Greek word “eis”.  This verb was never used before the New Testament, and it implies going “into” something.  

In this case it is their personal faith was going ‘into” Christ and remaining there, resting there and remaining there. Taking refuge and seeking safety in Christ, experiencing Christ…

-Now

The believers where experiencing Christ Now--not in the future age—but now in the present.  Peter at the beginning of this letter shares the hope of a future glory, but now he is talking and reflecting on Christ now.

We see the believers loving Christ though they could not see Him—living in a continuing relationship with Him through prayer—worship—and scripture. 

*Side note* All of this was being done in community with others believers.  There were not ‘printed bibles’—you had to come to the place where they were.  Prayer and worship as always connected with the body of believers.  Strengthening and building each other up!  

You cannot replace this with email, social networking, skype, instant messaging, text messaging or telephone conversations, it has to be done face to face, living in Christ together!  That is why Sunday school is so important, studying the Bible in community.  Sunday night prayer is so important, I hope more of you will come out and make it priority.  

There is only one person who doesn’t want you to attend.  He comes to divide us and he doesn’t want you praying and studying with other believers,   because there is power in the community of believers worshiping and praying together.  These believers in this letter where living with the future in their hearts and believing in and trusting in Christ ‘now’, they were experiencing Christ in their lives daily!

They were trusting Christ—dependent on Christ—‘in’ Christ—resting and dwelling there and this greatly impacted their lives—it proclaimed the glory of Christ to them and everyone around them.

-Inexpressible 

The result of this relationship was rejoicing—continual rejoicing—rejoicing now—rejoicing with “inexpressible and glorious joy”! 

The word glorious is the same word that carries the idea of shining with the glory of the Lord.  Moses went up on the mountain and asked to see the Lord.  The Lord told him he would place His hand over his face and he would pass by and allow Moses to see His back.  The result of that was Moses was left ‘shining’ with the ‘glory’ of the Lord.  He shone so brightly the people where afraid and asked Moses to veil his face.

This is the idea Peter is sharing here, the people where so filled with rejoicing, they could not express it with words and were ‘shining’ with the Lords glorious joy! 

Peter in earlier verses talked about rejoicing in future hope, here he is saying that our personal, daily fellowship with Jesus himself is cause for greater rejoicing.

Stop and think about this for just a moment.  We all walk around defeated—where is our joy?  I have said this before and I’ll say it again—we should be the happiest people on earth!  (Turn to your neighbor and tell them to rejoice!)

Knowing that Christ is with us no matter what!

“Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: Because of You we are being put to death all day long; we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:35–39, HCSB) 

We have the access to the King—The King—He looks after us—because we are His children!

He is a place of rest for the wary--he is safety from the enemy—He lives in us and through us—there is nothing impossible for Him!

 O’ Christian REJOICE!  Rejoice so profoundly that is beyond your words—rejoice with fullness of your heart—Rejoice!

Rejoice in the glory of Christ—exalt his glory in everything—rejoice in the presence of God Himself—with the joy from heaven—embrace and experience now in the fellowship with the unseen Christ! Why do we rejoice?

Because v.9

“Because” you are rejoicing in your salvation.

-Salvation

Through this unique, glorious relationship with Christ—you are being blessed daily, as He moves you to the full blessing of knowing Him.

Christ as he leads you to the goal—the outcome of this life.  As He builds your faith—builds your life more and more around the blessing of your salvation.  Christ moves you to experience Him in all of what life has to offer---the good and bad, through terrible tragedy—to the birth of a new born child

All that life is, Christ grows in us—shaping us into His likeness—We learn to live in His grace and not in our works.  As we surrender to Him—giving more and more of ourselves to Him the more we are blessed and the more we rejoice.

All of this in verse nine shows us the “how” and the “why” for the reason to rejoice—with inexpressible and glorious joy.

-The Gospel-The Living Hope

The gospel, the good news—the Living Hope—is more than just a religion.  It is so much more than just living a certain way to please someone or something. I hope you can see from these verses what is being said here.  The Christian faith is about a deep relationship with Christ.

That as in all relationships it takes time to grow and mature.  That this relationship is worth pursuing, trusting Christ—though you cannot see Him—you can know Him—That He is alive and He wants a relationship with you!

A deep satisfying to the soul relationship that is beyond anything in your life. 

A relationship with Jesus Christ—The Living Hope! 

Understanding

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths."  ~Proverbs 3:5-6 HCSB

How many times do we struggle through life and wonder what went wrong. We make plans and decisions and ask God to bless them and when they fail we blame God for the failure. Proverbs reminds us to put God first and to trust Him. Trusting God with all of our hearts doesn't happen overnight it takes time. So how do we learn to trust God?

Firstly we need to invite God into all of our ways. Inviting Him into our daily activities and decisions and allowing Him to guide us. By doing so we will start to rely on God for all of our daily needs and we start to trust Him with our lives. "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act" (Psalm 37:5). The hard part in all of this is not relying on our own understanding, putting our trust in anything other than God, will lead to disappointment. We may succeed according to the world's standards, but fail in following the plan God has for you. Our true satisfaction in this life can only be found in the will of God and following His plan for us.

Lord help us to trust you. Help us not to rely on our own understand. Lord come into our lives and guide us. Guide us onto the paths and plans you have for our lives and help us to trust you with all of our hearts. Amen.

Daily Reading: Exodus 25-27; Proverbs 4

Be Strong

You, therefore, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ~2 Timothy 2:1 HCSB

The gospel isn't just for those who don't know Christ. The gospel is for us all, believers and non believers. Paul talking to Timothy from a prison cell, he reminds him of just that. Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. Living with the knowledge that Christ died for us. While we were still sinner, when we didn't deserve it, Christ died for us. It is so easy for us to lose sight of this grace extended to us. When we do lose sight we start to try and regulate our salvation or we just go to the other extreme and do whatever we want. Soon we start to project those beliefs on others and instead of uniting Christians we divide them.

Paul had seen this played out everywhere he went and wanted Timothy to learn to live in grace, in fact be strong in grace. Keeping the gospel in front of us, humbling us and strengthening us. The gospel is a constant reminder of who we were and who we are. It lifts us to rejoicing when we suffer and face trials. It allows us to love those who cannot even love themselves. It allows for forgiveness to those who wrong us. It gives us patients for those who are still learning. Grace is amazing and it can only be found in Jesus Christ, living in the knowledge of Him and what He has done for us on the cross and through the resurrection.

Lord help us to be strong in grace. To keep before us the death and resurrection of your Son, who defeated sin and death through His sacrifice. Lord let your grace shine though us in everything we do. Amen

Daily Reading: Exodus 21-24; Proverbs 3

Able to Endure

If you do this, and God so directs you, you will be able to endure, and also all these people will be able to go home satisfied." ~Exodus 18:23 HCSB

Have you ever tried to do too much? Moses was leading the people of Israel and hearing all the cases needing direction. He was overwhelmed and the people's needs were not being met. Jethro, Moses father-in-law was visiting and was watching Moses struggle and made a suggestion. Jethro suggested appointing judges over ten, hundreds and thousands. Divide up the work and let the judges under him handle the minor cases and Moses would only handle the important cases.

Moses listened to Jethro and in the process learned an important lesson. Moses learned to delegate. He realized he could not do it all and he needed help. Does this sound familiar? We need to understand what is important in our lives and to allow others to help us. By letting others to carry some of the burden we lighten our own load and get more accomplished. Plus it builds relationships and gives you the opportunity to give your best. We are in this life together, it was never meant to be lived alone. Most of all by doing this we are able to endure, to bring glory to God in all we do.

Lord help us understand the importance of sharing life together. Help us to understand that it is alright to delegate in life, to allow others to help. Put people in our lives who want to help and who are willing carry the burden together. Lord most of all help us understand what is important in our lives and to put you first. Thank you Lord, Amen.

Daily Reading: Exodus 18-20; Proverbs 2

Be Quiet

The LORD will fight for you; you must be quiet." ~Exodus 14:14 HCSB

I remember growing up getting scrapes and in the middle of all the crying mom says, "Be quiet, be still", as she patches you up. The people of Israel had just left Egypt and were camped along the Red Sea. The Egyptian army appeared on the horizon and the people became afraid. Moses stood among the people and told them, "Don't be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord's salvation" and then he closed with, "The Lord will fight for you; you must be quiet."

Moses didn't tell the people to stand up and fight, but to be quiet and trust the Lord. There are times in life when we will face these moments. When we are facing a superior foe and all we can do is be quiet and trust the Lord to fight for us. What are you facing? What is barreling down on you and you are afraid. Today I want to encourage you to stand still and be quiet. Be still and know the Lord will fight for you. There is nothing impossible with God and He will see you through those times, we just need to trust Him.

Lord help us to be quiet, to trust you in those impossible moments.  When life is overwhelming, help us to be still and trust you to fight for us.  Lord I thank you for all you do, especially in these times.  Lord thank you, Amen.

Daily Reading: Exodus 15-17; Proverbs 1

Thoughts of Late

Lately my thoughts have centered on cancer. Cancer is a heavy word. It sinks into the pit of your stomach. From there it seems to draw the life out of your for a moment. It takes time to wrestle with and you never seem to get your hands on it. Cancer has been a part of our family now for the last three years. First my mother got colon cancer. Six months later I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Both of us came through with the grace of God. Then last month my mother was diagnosed breast cancer. Last week she had surgery and they found more cancer. So now she is looking at more surgery and chemo in the next few months. All of this has hit her very hard and it is tough to think about.

Today I wrote about Psalm 23, especially the words "I lack nothing". After I talked to my mom, these words again are lingering in my mind. I am struggling to put it all together and I can feel the tension. I am asking in my heart why God would allow her to continue with this. I know what the Bible says and I believe it to be true, but I lack the faith in this moment in time. In this space and context, I am looking for footing on a slippery rock. I know in time I will find my balance, but for right now I am uneasy.

The Lord is my shepherd and I look to Him to comfort us as a family. I know these are the times when our faith is tested and we grow the most. We don't understand everything that happens to us. So now I leave this in the tension of the now and pray for the peace of the Lord. Please pray for my mother.

Nothing I Lack

"The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack." ~Psalms 23:1 HCSB

We all have heard this translated "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. But when I read this in the HCSB, it sounded so different. "There is nothing I lack", really got me thinking about this verse. In Christ, there is nothing I lack. Jesus tells us he is the good shepherd (John 10:11). He tells the disciples "the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep". Jesus came for that very reason, to lay down His life for the world.

He died on the cross for our sins and in Him we have life. Through His sacrifice we lack nothing. Peter tells us "His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3) The good shepherd laid down His life; he calls each sheep by name and cares for them. The sheep know his voice and they follow him. He provided everything they need; He protects them from the wolf. No one can take His sheep from Him, they lack nothing. He does this not as a hired hand, but because the Father has given the sheep to Him. He loves the sheep as the Father loves the sheep. Reading this verse again in this light makes it mean so much more. "The LORD is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack". Jesus provides it all.

Lord you are the Good Shepherd, there is absolutely no one like you. You know my needs and where I need to go. You provide for me and guide me and I lack nothing. Lord thank you, help me live with this in my heart and let me grateful. Amen

Daily Reading is a catch up day, tomorrow we are at Exodus 15-17 and Proverbs 1. So catch up to Psalm 23 and Exodus 14, God bless!

Remember

"Then Moses said to the people, "Remember this day when you came out of Egypt, out of the place of slavery, for the LORD brought you out of here by the strength of His hand." ~Exodus 13:3 HCSB

On leaving Egypt Moses tells the people to remember this day! Remember that you were in slavery and the Lord has freed you. Nothing you did, but that the Lord freed you by His strength. All through the Old Testament you see this echoed, remember that the Lord lead you out of Egypt, the Lord freed you. Christ came also came to free all people from the slavery of sin. He died on the cross for that very purpose. By putting our faith in what Christ did we are saved, and we are freed. Paul reminds us to remember what Christ did for us. "Walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God." (Eph 5:2)

By remembering the Israelites drew confidence from the fact that God delivered them. Their faith in God was strengthened and they trusted God would never leave them. The same goes for us. As we remember what God has done for us through Christ and our faith is strengthened. When we look back and see where we struggled with sin and how Christ freed us. When we faced adversity and we remember how God delivered us, our faith grows. Remembering there is nothing we did on our own, but through the strength of the Lords hand.

Praise God who loves us and delivers us from sin through His Son Jesus. Thank you Lord for your love for us. Thank you for guiding us and directing our lives. Lord help me to remember where I once was and where I am in you now. Thank you, Amen.

Daily Reading: Exodus 12-14; Psalm 23

This Purpose

"However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you My power and to make My name known in all the earth." ~Exodus 9:16 HCSB

Moses talking to Pharaoh gives him this message from the Lord. He tells him He could have "obliterated" him and his people, "However, I have let you live for this purpose". I have often thought why God allows pestilence, disease, injustice and disasters. He could stop them, but many times it seems He doesn't. I spent time with my mother in the hospital. She was having the cancer in her body removed. Sitting there I can't help to think and ask the question, why Lord. I don't doubt in my heart that God is over all things and the fact I will never fully understand a fraction of what are His ways. But this verse helps me understand.

I have often heard that God is in the aftermath when disaster strikes. In reality he is there in the beginning all the way through to the end. He uses these events to show the world His power, to make His name known to everyone. Watching my mother in the midst of her pain, to see the smile on her face, to hear her laugh at a silly joke when it hurts, declares Christ in her life. She has a peace when facing adversity, that no matters what happens it is in God's hands. That death has no hold those who believe, in the end God's name will be glorified and everything will be made right. I thank God for this, it allows me to move through this life with a renewed confidence. To see God's glory in all things, not just when things are going good. I realize this life would not be worth living without Christ and what He brings to my life…He makes it all possible.

Lord I thank you for all things. That in life we will face hardships and how you use them to build our faith in you. Lord thank you for my mother and her love of you. Heal her and be with us when we face our own hardships. Lord use us to proclaim your power and to make your name know in all the earth! Amen.

Daily Reading: Exodus 9-11; Psalm 22:12-31

Forsaken?

"My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?" ~Psalm 22:1

These words we recognize. These are the words Jesus quoted from the cross just before He died. Thinking about this verse, I am reminded there are times in life when we feel these words ourselves. When a doctor tells you, you have cancer or when we lose someone very close to us. Reading through Exodus, the people of Israel was brutally oppressed by Pharaoh. When Moses confronted Pharaoh to free his people, Pharaoh responded by making life even harder. The people felt as if God had forsaken them.  

In reality God was working in their behalf and in the end they world know He was God and they where His people. In life we don't always know what is happening and we feel abandoned. But God reminds us to be "strong and courageous" and "He will never leave us or forsake us". (Deu. 3:16) No matter where you find yourself we know God will never 'forsake' us. In those moments He is building our faith and we have to trust the outcome to God. 

Dear Father thank you for never leaving or forsaken us. Thank you for always being there even when we feel overwhelmed by life. Lord help us in those moments to look to you and to trust you. Build our faith today Lord. Amen

Daily Reading: Exodus 5-8; Psalm 22:1-11