Hayden Bible Church

Healthy foods scarcely benefit a person who's already ingested poison. So the Christian who attends a weekly Bible study, hears a sermon every week, and enjoys biblically-sound podcasts hinders spiritual growth if the heart is already poisoned. Poisoned? With what? "Therefore, laying aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander..." 1 Peter 2:1 (LSB). All these toxins can show up in relationships with other believers and—if left unchecked—stunt our spiritual growth. Yes, the word of God is powerful to change us, yet our nourishment is impeded by savored sins. That's why Peter links putting away sinful attitudes with an eager appetite for Scripture. A growing hunger for God's Word belongs alongside a growing love for His people. "... like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation...," 1 Peter 2:2. This Lord's Day, we'll turn to 1 Peter 2 and its commands—as well as God's provision—for growing toward spiritual maturity. Join us as we consider, "Homeward Bound: What Do You Crave?" Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on 1 Peter 1:22-2:3. How do attitudes such as ill-will, envy, and insincerity affect your appetite for truth? In what ways do Christians settle for impure spiritual nourishment—teaching or counsel that sounds biblical but distorts God's Word? How, specifically, can you become better prepared to take in, and benefit from, the Word of God?

When babies are born, so too are appetite and voice. Such things are natural to life. When Christians are born again through the truth of the gospel, that new life produces love—a Spirit-enabled desire for the good of others expressed at the expense of self. Such love flows from a Christian's inner being and, like a child learns to speak or walk, must be spurred on to greater expression and growth. "... Fervently love one another from the heart," 1 Peter 1:22 (LSB). God's enduring truth produces sincere love, not merely its outward appearance. Our expression of that love can be hindered by hardship, outside temptations, or our ongoing battle with self-protection. We know we're growing in truth not merely by how much spiritual knowledge we have in our heads, but how much we love sacrificially from the heart. "... for you have been born again not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, that is, through the living and enduring word of God," verse 23. Genuine knowledge of God's truth bears its fruit in love. Join us this Lord's Day as we turn to the closing verses of 1 Peter 1 and consider "Homeward Bound: Love From a Pure Heart." We'll also enjoy the visible reminder of Christ's love for us, and our union with one another in Christ, as we come to the Lord's Table. Prepare for Sunday: Read 1 Peter 1:13-25, meditating on verses 22-25. Also read John 13:34-35. What words or phrases does Peter use to describe love? Why do you think Peter links the command to love with being born again? What is distinctive about Jesus' command to love one another? How does this love identify His disciples? What circumstances, temptations, or self-protective habits

What are Christians like? How are Christians different from our unsaved neighbors, coworkers, and friends as we journey through life in a world that is not our home? Christians are hopeful, says 1 Peter 1:13. Christians are holy, says verse 15. And Christians are reverent; we live in the fear of the Lord. "If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourn," 1 Peter 1:17 (LSB). God's children live with reverent awe before their Father and Judge, knowing that He evaluates everything in our lives impartially. Ours is not the fear of condemnation awaiting those who have no refuge from God's wrath; it is the reverence of those who belong to a holy God and take seriously how they live before Him. Why do we live this way? Because we've been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. Christians are the reverent redeemed. This Lord's Day, we'll continue our look at 1 Peter 1 and its call to godly living in a God-denying world. Join us as we consider, "Homeward Bound: The Reverent Redeemed." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on 1 Peter 1:13-21, focusing on verses 17-21. Also read 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 and 1 John 3:1-3. What reasons does Peter give for Christians to live in reverent fear? How should we understand the call to fear God in light of the Bible's teaching that believers are forgiven and accepted by God? How should knowing that God judges impartially—and that Christ has redeemed us at such a cost—change the way we live?

Is the Old Testament primarily about God's law, while the New Testament is primarily about God's grace? Were Old Testament saints saved by obeying God's law, while New Testament saints are saved by faith in Christ? Is the Old Testament only about Israel, while the New Testament is to do with Christ and His church? No to all. Those conclusions, however common, are far too simplistic. "Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, (Jesus) interpreted to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures," Luke 24:27 (LSB). The Bible in its entirety is God's revelation of His grace toward sinners in Christ. So we do well to read every book in light of God's saving purpose fulfilled in Christ. The story of His grace in salvation unfolds progressively and comes into full view in the life of Jesus. In his field guide for suffering saints, Peter reminds his readers that the prophets of old saw the promise of Christ and searched diligently to know more of God's grace in salvation. The apostles, too, proclaimed the Christ whom God's people had long been expecting, and who had at last come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. Even holy angels marvel at God's grace in the gospel, peering into the wonder of God restoring fallen image-bearers like you and me. So great is our salvation, Peter exclaims, it encompasses privileges "into which angels long to look," 1 Peter 1:12 (LSB). And the gospel is the good medicine we badly need when life in this fallen world darkens our horizon. This Lord's Day, we'll return to our study of 1 Peter and its doxology in chapter 1, verse 3-12. Join us as we consider, "Homeward Bound: A Wonder of Grace." Prep

"I Can't Believe It's Not Butter." Ever heard of that stuff? It's a brand of margarine, with an unusually long name... a name that really does not hold up to scrutiny. Try to cook with it and you'll have no trouble believing it's not butter­—heat has a way of revealing what things really are. Peter says something similar about the Christian's faith: the genuineness of saving faith becomes evident when the heat gets turned up. "In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials...," 1 Peter 1:6 (LSB). Don't miss that: suffering is an expected part of the Christian life. The Christian's faith, anchored to an eternal inheritance, is shown to be genuine when exposed to the heat of life's varied trials. By God's preserving grace, saving faith holds up because it is real—and through those trials, God purifies and strengthens that faith for His glory. "...so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ," verse 7. This Lord's Day, we'll consider what God is doing through the trials we face, including those that come because we follow Jesus in a world that rejects Him. A faith fixed on Christ can rejoice even though we cannot yet see Him; we know He is refining our faith for the glad day of His return. Join us as we return to 1 Peter with, "Homeward Bound: Faith's Crucible." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on 1 Peter 1:1-12, focusing on verses 6-9. Consider the following: What two things occur simultaneously when believers face

All of us, at one time or another, have experienced a devastating event. It might be the death of a loved one, the loss of a relationship, or a physical or emotional condition that seems so overwhelming that we do not know where to turn for comfort. This week, as we prepare to worship together as the body of Christ, the Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 that in our suffering we are comforted by God Himself. In turn, God uses His people to be His hands and feet, ministering to those who are suffering. God does not waste our suffering. When He comforts us in our affliction, He is simultaneously preparing us to be His hands of comfort to someone else. The comfort we receive is not a private possession but a sacred trust, received in order to be shared. Two people who have walked through similar pain can often speak words of hope to one another that no one else can. God's comfort flows through the very wounds He has healed, turning our places of greatest need into channels of His grace for others. We will discover that 2 Corinthians 1:1-7 shows us that we both receive and give comfort. God meets us in our affliction and then turns us toward others who are suffering, carrying the comfort that we ourselves have received. In God's design, the comforted become comforters, and our suffering becomes the very pathway through which His comfort reaches a hurting world. Please make time to read the following passages in preparation for this coming Sunday: "The God of All Comfort." 2 Timothy 1:6-12, Psalm 40:1-5, and our preaching text, 2 Corinthians 1:1-7, with special attention to verses 3 and 4. Be His Hands and Feet! Pastor Darryl Heisey

We live in a world of maybes. Maybe we'll get the job. Maybe our loved one will be healed. Maybe next year will be better than this one. But God's saving promises to His people are never maybes; they're certain. Such is the blessing of having been chosen by God, set apart by the Spirit, purchased with the blood of Christ. We've been given a hope that is guaranteed and guarded, "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and unfading, having been kept in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God...," 1 Peter 1:4-5 (LSB). This astounding and certain future anchors our hope in an often-stormy sea of maybes. Stability, joy and purpose flow from this hope—not because the circumstances around us are certain, but because God's promises are certain. God's mercy alone gives us new birth. God has reserved an eternal inheritance for us that cannot be lost and will never lose its luster. And God guards this inheritance—and us—by His power as we journey toward our eternal home. Join us this Sunday as we turn to 1 Peter 1 and consider, "Homeward Bound: A Hope That Cannot Fail." Prepare for Sunday: Read and meditate on 1 Peter 1:3-12, focusing on verses 3 through 5. According to Peter's doxology, what has the believer been given? What is being guaranteed? What is being guarded by God's power? How do these certainties influence your outlook and priorities now?

Yet Peter's first epistle begins this way: He tells his readers, scattered throughout the Roman world, all about themselves. Why? Clearly the apostle is burdened that his readers never forget who they are, whose they are, and where they're headed. If you forget who you are and whose you are and where you're headed... well, you're not going to think rightly, nor live rightly, in a world that seems increasingly strange to you. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope...," 1 Peter 1:3 (LSB). Peter writes to remind homeward-bound Christians of the living hope that is theirs—and ours—as those who are chosen, scattered and tested. This Lord's Day we'll begin our look at 1 Peter and its rich instruction for us as Christian pilgrims on our way home. Join us as we consider, "Homeward Bound: Chosen, Scattered, Tested." Prepare for Sunday: Read 1 Peter in its entirety. What major themes dominate this letter? In the opening verses, what descriptions of Peter's readers apply to believers today? How do these descriptions impart hope to you? Where do you most need this hope in your daily life? Be specific. Note: This Sunday is also a Communion Sunday. Let's prepare our hearts now for this important time of remembrance and consecration

Elijah saw a great victory of God over the prophets of Baal at Mt. Carmel (1 Kings 18:38-39), yet when his life was threatened by wicked Jezebel, he fled a day's journey away and prayed for God to take his life, seeing himself and his ministry as a great failure- saying "It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers" (1 Kings 19:4). Job was a man described in the Bible as "blameless and upright, fearing God and turning away from evil." Yet, after losing his possessions, his adult children and his health, this righteous man became miserable. And although Scripture says Job did not blame God but said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord," Job had become so weary with life, he wished he had never been born. Jonah was a prophet called by God to go to Nineveh and proclaim to the people there to repent. But Jonah tried to flee from the Lord and God sent a large fish to swallow him. Jonah finally obeyed after the fish took him there, but was deeply discouraged God had showed mercy on the Ninevites and had not destroyed them. God caused a plant to grow and shelter Jonah from the sun. And Jonah was happy… until God caused the plant to die, then Jonah felt the hot sun and the wind and was so depressed over this he wanted to die (Jonah 4:9). These men each had witnessed the power of God, and each had become discouraged and weary when events did not turn out like they had wanted. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." When believers hear this verse, we think of Jesus calling to the lost to come to Him in faith for salvation. But there are many reasons to feel w