Some things is the Bible are mysterious, and others are not as mysterious as they seem. And occasionally the hard sayings keep us from noticing what's right out in the open. Who are the prisoners Jesus preached to? What does Peter mean when he says that baptism saves us? Where is Jesus now when we need him most? “Where Is Jesus?” is the seventeenth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

There is no Gospel without the Resurrection. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead changes everything, including the way Christians regard their own suffering and death. "No More to Die" is the sixteenth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

On Good Friday, we reflect on the significance of Christ's death, a significance that even those who witnessed it did not fully appreciate. From the beginning of Scripture, God had foreshadowed this moment in signs: the need for sacrifice, the need for a lamb provided by God himself, and the need for blood to cover sin and shield us from death. Those who knew the promises of the Old Testament understood: Jesus was the Lamb of God. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

If you know something's going to hurt, it changes the way you do it. Sharing grace is like that. Maybe you don't do it all. Maybe you make excuses. Maybe you grit your teeth and try to get it over with. But what if the thing that's going to hurt is what you've been called to do? What if it matters to God not just that you do it, but how you do it? "The Hope That Is In You" is the fifteenth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

Loving the people who love you is hard enough. Loving your enemies is next to impossible, especially when they have caused you real harm. We feed on righteous indignation, anger, and retribution. Anyone who expects us to do otherwise must be living in a dream. Yet Peter, Paul, and above all Jesus not only expect this, they do it. How can we find the grace to bless the ones who curse us? "Bless The Ones Who Curse You" is the fourteenth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

Civil society is hard. Work is hard. Marriage could be a retreat from it all -- but even marriage is hard. How are God's chosen exiles meant to live with the constant tension of being one ... yet not being one? Where we tend to approach such questions from the standpoint of our individual identities and rights, the Bible sees us as people in communities, with mutual bonds and responsibilities. If we are to be heirs together with Christ, we should also be heirs together with one another. "Heirs Together" is the thirteenth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

We struggle to endure suffering, even when we deserve it. If we do the wrong thing, get caught, and are actually punished, it just doesn't seem fair we were not let off the hook. Yet Peter calls Christians to bear suffering when they are innocent. Not only to bear it, but to see that is a gracious thing. Now wonder Karl Marx dismissed religion as "the opium of the people." Can the apostle really think it is beautiful to endure injustice? How can he find anything gracious in having to suffer punishment that is undeserved? "A Gracious Thing: Enduring for the Lord's Sake" is the twelfth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

Exiles stand out in the world, and not always in a good way. They're the people who don't fit in. The ones you're suspicious of, because they don't fit in. When there's trouble, exiles don't get the benefit of the doubt. As a Christian, you may be chosen, but you are also an exile. Everything true of the sojourning outcast applies to you, too. Because you are now a stranger to the surrounding world -- and to your natural instincts -- you must look somewhere other than the world (or your nature) to find out how to live. "Sojourners and Exiles" is the tenth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

During the season of Lent, we are reminded of the depth of our sin. And the answer to sin, so often, seems to be discipline. Give up your bad habits. Be more strict with yourself. But that isn't the lesson of the wilderness. It isn't the promise of Pentecost, either. As we look forward to the Resurrection, Christ calls us not to strength, but to worship. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.

At the beginning of his letter, Peter declares that we are chosen exiles, elect according to the foreknowledge of the Father. But now, alluding to the prophet Hosea's words, he says we have now received mercy and become God's people, though formerly we were strangers to both. Well, which is it? Does our redemption trace its history back to eternity, or does it only start at a certain point in our own lives? "Now You Are God's People" is the ninth sermon in God's Chosen Exiles, a study of the apostle Peter's letters to the church. Visit us online at www.graceforsiouxfalls.org.