This week, Brad Sarian (Lead Pastor of Restored LA) teaches an incredible message on community.

This week, Steve Larson taught a second message on living a gospel centered life. He encouraged us to build our lives on the person of Jesus, the work of Jesus, and the word of Jesus.

On Sunday we started a new series called “This Is Anthem,” where each week we will teach through one of our core values. Matt preached on our value of being “gospel centered” as a church and that the gospel is the good news of Jesus. He became flesh, died for our sins, was resurrected thereby defeating death. Our goal is to be people who have our whole lives centered on the gospel. If we are going to be people of the gospel, then we will have a deep joy in Jesus, love people, be gospel fluent, and repent regularly.

This week, Matt Larson finishes up our teaching series through 1 Peter.

So how do we experience the peace that passes all understanding? We stand firm in the true grace of God, that is Jesus Christ. When the “who we are”, the “What we do,” and the “Why we’re here” are all answered in Jesus, it gives us a sense of purpose that produces peace in our souls.

Life’s big questions are answered and there is an intentionality to our lives. The invitations of 1 Peter to live a life of suffering, submission and testimony are done with a heart full of peace because of the security that comes from the finished work of Jesus.

This week, Bert Alcorn teaches through the entire book of 1 Peter, refocusing us on the big idea of the book as making "resilient disciples, who are faithful in the face of cultural coercion, and live a vibrant life in the Spirit.”

This week, Matt Larson continued to teach through chapter 5 of 1 Peter. As Peter is preparing the church to go through suffering, he encourages the elders to care for the church. To the rest of the church, he says to submit not only to the elders but to one another. We are in a spiritual battle with the devil, so we must be alert and resist him. We can take comfort that we are not alone in this and our eternity is with God, who is able to strengthen and settle us.

This week, Matt Larson teaches through 1 Peter 4:7-19, where we see Peter saying that you have an opportunity to demonstrate through your life that you are a follower of Jesus. You do that by living faithfully regardless of the circumstances and when the fiery trials arise, you continue to live faithfully, even to the point of death.

This week, Matt Larson continues our series through the book of 1 Peter.

This week, Matt Larson teaches through 1 Peter 3:8-17. Jesus promised that He would be with us to the very end of the age. We have been set free to do the good and merciful will of God in the midst of a contentious world, and Jesus is with us in the fire. Even if doing good in a contentious world leads to suffering, Jesus is with us. He has not left us and he will not leave us. He is with us and in us.

With that reality, we can have hope no matter how dark the world gets.

One of the great realities of the Gospel is that it impacts every area of our lives. As Paul has said in the previous two weeks’ passages, being a follower of Jesus affects our lives in politics, work and now marriage. Peter dives directly into the home life of believers and challenges them to a life of submission, honor, and inner beauty as the defining characteristic of their marriage life.