Watermark Bible Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

Living life alone on a desert island may sound romantic at times, but if you’ve ever seen the movie Castaway you get an idea as to just how lonely you’d be. The reason is we were created to live alone. Just as God exists in community (He’s triune) so He designed His people to exist in community as well. As we continue our key questions series, we’ll be asking the question: where are you experiencing life-giving community? We see that type of community modeled for us in the early church.

Have you ever met someone who has it all together? The truth is we are all in process, growing to become more and more like Jesus. That’s what our series the key questions is all about. Asking key questions that help reveal where we are and spur us toward spiritual growth. This week we’ll be asking the question "Who am I discipling?". 

Throughout our lives we ask and are asked countless questions. Sometimes those questions can be silly other times serious. Some questions are trivial others are critical. There are several questions for the life of any Christian that are critically important because they are so clarifying. During our next series, our aim is to equip you with 5 questions that will help propel your disciple-making mission. These questions work best not merely for self-reflection but in the context of missional groups.

Most of us have had dreams about what life would be like without the limitations of time, space, or gravity. The thrill of fling around the universe is captivating. That dream of life without limits has made it’s way to many parts of our culture. We are living in a time when many of the limits that were in place for marriage have been abolished. Perhaps, that’s why the need for godly marriages are more important now than ever. We’ll look at what Peter says about marriage this week.

This last week we’ve seen the atrocities that took place in Israel. I have been diligent in praying for the people there, and I hope you have as well. The hostility of the world has been on full display. There are certain wars that are just. Jesus will execute a just war to rid the world of sin and evil. He is our ultimate authority. Unfortunately, in this life sometimes we are under the authority of those who are unjust. So, while we won’t be talking about just wars this Sunday, we will talk about authority and the effects of being under the authority of King Jesus.

Know Your Identity

A Healthy Appetite

The idea of judgment usually doesn’t get people excited, usually judgment produces at least some fear. Peter connects fear and judgment for the believer as he writes. So, what does the coming judgment for the believer entail? Why is fear connected to it? We’ll talk about those topics and more as we continue our study through 1st Peter.

The world teaches us that what we do defines who we are. The Bible flips that around and says who we are ought to define what we do. As we continue our study in 1st Peter we’ll see that a firm understanding of our identity gives us the confidence to live right side up in an upside down world.

How do you react to thought of more pain or suffering? Many of us try to avoid that as much as possible. We place a high value on safety and comfort. While we know we are empowered to make disciples sometimes that calling seems too messy and makes us uncomfortable. Peter wrote two letters to encourage the church that there is strength in the face of trouble, that those troubles are temporary, and that we can have confidence while living on mission. This next year we are going to do a deep dive into 1st and 2nd Peter. Our theme will be Confidence. Through it, my prayer is you will press on, living the life God made you to live. It is in the darkest times that the collective light of the Jesus’ church shines brightest.