Lessons for Living (Audio)

Throughout the Bible, God makes it clear how much He despises pride. It began when Lucifer rebelled against Him, and continued when Adam and Eve joined Satan’s team by disobeying God’s command. Throughout the New Testament, the writers quote the Old Testament’s injunctions against being prideful. Pastor Mark is teaching against the sin of pride by mentioning examples from the Apostle Peter’s life as well as from others. It’s important that we take these lessons to heart and examine our own lives to discover where pride has taken root in us, and ask God to remove it.

Throughout the Bible, God makes it clear how much He despises pride. It began when Lucifer rebelled against Him, and continued when Adam and Eve joined Satan’s team by disobeying God’s command. Throughout the New Testament, the writers quote the Old Testament’s injunctions against being prideful. Pastor Mark is teaching against the sin of pride by mentioning examples from the Apostle Peter’s life as well as from others. It’s important that we take these lessons to heart and examine our own lives to discover where pride has taken root in us, and ask God to remove it.

For those who desire to serve Jesus, the thing they should want most is to be pleasing to their ultimate Master. This should be the driving force behind our service – to please God. Sometimes that will be misunderstood by those around us, and maybe we’ll not get it quite right. Pastor Mark, teaching from 1 Peter, reminds us of the proper attitude we’re to have. This was a lesson that Peter had to learn over many years, and he’s sharing it with his readers as well as with us. We should look for these qualities in our church leadership but they should also be in us as well.

For those who desire to serve Jesus, the thing they should want most is to be pleasing to their ultimate Master. This should be the driving force behind our service – to please God. Sometimes that will be misunderstood by those around us, and maybe we’ll not get it quite right. Pastor Mark, teaching from 1 Peter, reminds us of the proper attitude we’re to have. This was a lesson that Peter had to learn over many years, and he’s sharing it with his readers as well as with us. We should look for these qualities in our church leadership but they should also be in us as well.

We’ve all heard of examples of bad leaders – bullies, manipulators, and the like. Some of us probably have had those type of men as pastors. Some have even left Christianity due to having been abused by these wolves. Certainly the world uses men like this to keep the church at arm’s length and to rationalize their lack of need for Jesus. Pastor Mark, in teaching from 1 Peter, reminds us that the model for leadership is Jesus Himself. This also should spur us to pray for our pastors and elders that they would maintain Christlikeness in their leading of God’s people.

We’ve all heard of examples of bad leaders – bullies, manipulators, and the like. Some of us probably have had those type of men as pastors. Some have even left Christianity due to having been abused by these wolves. Certainly the world uses men like this to keep the church at arm’s length and to rationalize their lack of need for Jesus. Pastor Mark, in teaching from 1 Peter, reminds us that the model for leadership is Jesus Himself. This also should spur us to pray for our pastors and elders that they would maintain Christlikeness in their leading of God’s people.

How often have we told ourselves that we’re useless to the Kingdom of God because of falling into sin (again!)? It can be really hard to get back up after failing to maintain the standards we know are expected of us. Certainly, none of us have done what Peter did – denied knowing Jesus, almost to His face. Pastor Mark, teaching from 1 Peter, reminds us of God’s grace and forgiveness, using Peter’s experience as an example. We need to learn to ignore our accusing inner voice as well as the false accusations of our adversary, the devil, and walk in God’s grace and mercy.

How often have we told ourselves that we’re useless to the Kingdom of God because of falling into sin (again!)? It can be really hard to get back up after failing to maintain the standards we know are expected of us. Certainly, none of us have done what Peter did – denied knowing Jesus, almost to His face. Pastor Mark, teaching from 1 Peter, reminds us of God’s grace and forgiveness, using Peter’s experience as an example. We need to learn to ignore our accusing inner voice as well as the false accusations of our adversary, the devil, and walk in God’s grace and mercy.

One of the reasons the Church is so ineffective these days is because its parts either aren’t all working or the parts aren’t working correctly. Many people wrongly think that, beyond warming a seat every week and giving to the church, they don’t have a role in the healthy functioning of the local assembly of believers. Pastor Mark will be illustrating through the teaching of scripture that these attitudes are not only wrong, they’re unbiblical. We need to acknowledge that God has made every one of us for a specific purpose and that our church won’t be what it can be until we become obedient to Him.

One of the reasons the Church is so ineffective these days is because its parts either aren’t all working or the parts aren’t working correctly. Many people wrongly think that, beyond warming a seat every week and giving to the church, they don’t have a role in the healthy functioning of the local assembly of believers. Pastor Mark will be illustrating through the teaching of scripture that these attitudes are not only wrong, they’re unbiblical. We need to acknowledge that God has made every one of us for a specific purpose and that our church won’t be what it can be until we become obedient to Him.