Today we’ll discover in 1 Peter chapter 3 that while we may suffer indignities in this world because of our faith, the greatest suffering that ever took place was when Christ suffered and died not for His own sins, for He was without sin, but for our sins that even in our unrighteousness we might experience grace because of His endurance through it all.

This week Peter will continue to expound on the Lord’s call to submission by looking at the role of gender, and specifically how husbands and wives can best reflect Christ in the way they relate to one another, and how they can best influence an unbelieving spouse to come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

What would Jesus do? Do you remember those bracelets that became really popular in Christian youth groups in hopes of helping young people live like Christ? Yet, before all of this began, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, was asking the same question to his readers, hoping they would also follow “in His steps” (1 Peter 2:21) by living their lives faithful to Jesus even through the persecution that they were going through.

Sunday we begin our study in 1 Peter chapter 2, we’ll discover how Jesus is using us to build a Spiritual House that is more magnificent than any architectural structure ever conceived.

All too often, many of us try to tone down God's demands and reduce the glare of His holiness so we can live more comfortably. But the truth is, He wants us to shine brightly with the radiance of His holiness in a world covered in darkness. And in doing so, we should be prepared that it will also raise the indignation of those around us who don’t like the Light of Christ shining in the darkness of their sin. Persecution will be inevitable for those who reflect the holiness of God in their lives.

Today we begin a new sermon series that will take us through the summer months. An in-depth look at the two letters written by the apostle Peter to the church encouraging us to see victory as we face the struggles and trials of living the life of faith in Christ.

Would it sustain your joy and preserve your faith to know that after the trials of this life when you see Jesus there will be a surprising resemblance to Him? Does it do something for your attitude and response to life to know that these trials can actually result in your being wiser, more peaceful, more full of joy, and cause those watching you to have an improved opinion of Jesus? It is living hope that produces joy and faith.

Time is extremely important to us. We have clocks and watches everywhere we go. We like being able to understand what time it is down the very millisecond. In our sporting events, time is the holder of world records, in our working environments the time clock represents $$$$, and in our religious life we are looking forward to the end of time in which we can be with Jesus.

In this message, we’re going to examine the apostle Paul’s challenge for Christians in One Thing to Do – Press On to the finish line of your faith. We can’t look back, we must focus on what lies ahead.

addressed in the arts as death. Rather it’s the loss of a faithful companion in Old Yeller, William Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet asking the question, “To be, or not to be”, or Tolstoy’s powerful reminder that we can simply not avoid dealing with the inevitability of death and our own mortality in The Death of Ivan Ilyich, death has and will always play a central theme, as art imitates life, and life in this world is certain to come to an end for each of us.

One more turn around the table, one more draw from the stack of cards, one more opportunity to play my hand and I would have won.