Dorothy Sayers once wrote about envy saying, " It begins by asking, plausibly, ‘Why should I not enjoy what others enjoy?’ and it ends by demanding, ‘Why should others enjoy what I may not?’” That's the discontented progression of this "respectable sin." Where do you look at others' rejoicing not to share in their rejoicing but with sinful longing? Listen to Pastor Brett's exhortation for more.

Peter tells us at the end of his first epistle that he wrote the letter to declare and exhort his readers concerning the true grace of God. This is evident earlier in the letter as declares the truth of the gospel written of by the prophets and exhorts us to have thoughtful hope and consistent holiness. Listen to Pastor Haakon's sermon on 1 Peter 1:10-16 for more.

When sinful anxiety takes hold of your thoughts and emotions, how do you respond? Continuing to mull over what it is that you are anxious about fails to take into account your inability to resolve the issue. Rather, we can pray and entrust those burdens to our Father in Heaven who has broad shoulders to bear them. Listen to Brian Wiseman's exhortation for more.

John Lennon's song "Imagine" begins "Imagine there's no heaven / It's easy if you try / No hell below us / Above us, only sky / Imagine all the people / Livin' for today." That worldview works ... until it doesn't. When suffering and hardship comes, how well will "livin' for today" work? We're pointed to something far better in 1 Peter 1:6-9 when we are grieved by various trials. Listen to Pastor Zach's sermon for more.

"Doctrine" can sound academic, stuffy, unrelatable. But "doctrine" is just what the Bible teaches, and we should never settle for a shallow understanding of what God has revealed in the Bible. The Bible is academic and devotional, challenging and rewarding, transcendent and imminent. We should dig in to doctrine. Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.

Pickles are preserved through canning as the flame heats the water to boiling and the jars are sealed in the water. We ought to take hope in the midst of exile knowing that just as we have been caused to be born again by God's great mercy, so he will keep us by that same mercy. He preserves us by guarding us with the flame of his power through the boiling water of our faith. You have faith in Christ? Blessed be God! Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.

The “honeymoon phase” of a new purchase, relationship, or experience can be an enjoyable time period, but it can also mask underlying issues. As a church, we’ve enjoyed wonderful unity in the midst of a very unified year in the world. But may such unity not merely be a phase but the Spirit’s work among as we press on toward the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Listen to Pastor Brett’s exhortation for more.

When you’re paddling in the front of the canoe and not responsible for navigation, you can feel like you’re expending a lot of energy to go somewhere but aimless in where you’re going. At the beginning of this new series in 1 Peter, we’re given orientation to where we’re going in the midst of our exile as Peter points to our hope in the Triune God. Listen to Pastor Brett’s sermon on 1 Peter 1:1-2 for more.

Do you use your Christian freedom more like a pass or a shovel? Do you view your freedom as the ticket that gives you the license to do something? Or do you view your freedom to do this or that as a Christian as a tool that will be constructive and build up? Listen to Pastor Haakon's exhortation for more.

A common theme in novels and movies is for the conflict to look the bleakest just before the final victory arrives. Those stories are written that way because that's how God writes the greatest story: the Son of God dies in apparent defeat just before being risen to ultimate victory. It is the same pattern as the final vision of Daniel is communicated. God's people have reason to hope in the face of suffering because the victory is sure. Listen to Pastor Brett's sermon for more.