Dealing with Injustice
Read: 1 Peter 2:18-25 Because Christ also suffered for you . . . (v. 21) Most of us can, if we are treated unjustly at work, look for another job, or, in the case of grave injustice, seek recourse from the courts. This is a luxury many people in our world do not experience. And […]
Goodness Matters
Read: 1 Peter 2:11-17 Fear God. Honor the emperor. (v. 17) People in the United States have just come through a bitter and divisive presidential election. Pastors lead in prayer for whoever is now president, keeping in mind these words in 1 Peter 2, along with Paul’s instruction to pray “for kings and all who […]
Unfrozen
Read: 1 Peter 2:4-10 That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you. (v. 9) When I was growing up, we sometimes, with tongue in cheek, called Dutch people the “Frozen Chosen.” This expression is rooted in both an overemphasis of verse 9, which describes believers as being chosen, and a view that […]
Loved People Love
Read: 1 Peter 1:22–2:3 This word is the good news. (v. 26) Last year brought out some of the worst in our human relationships. People pointed fingers of blame over a pandemic. Racial tensions reached a tipping point. There were even fights over face masks. In such turbulent times, “Love one another earnestly from a […]
Ready for Action
Read: 1 Peter 1:13-21 Your faith and hope are in God. (v. 21) I was never much for fishing but did enjoy going out on Lake Michigan with my friend Todd after a day of school. My presence allowed him two extra lines in the water. When a line near me twitched with a bite […]
Inexpressible
Read: 1 Peter 1:3-12 Born again to a living hope . . . (v. 3) Last February, I had the privilege of meeting with a group of believers from Iran. Seven received baptism. For all of them, our worship times provided the one time in the year when they could sing aloud their praises to […]
March Prayer Guide 2021
IRAN — Pray for Christian converts in Iran who continue to experience persecution because of their faith. At least 15 Christians are currently being held in prison for charges related to their faith, and over 100 were arrested at some point during 2020. There are reports of Christians being flogged for taking communion, being denied education […]
Who We Are
Read: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Elect exiles of the Dispersion . . . (v. 1) Writing from Rome three decades after Jesus rose, Peter told us who we are, how we got here, and where we are going. The first recipients of his letter were spread throughout modern-day Turkey. The times pulsated with anxious uncertainty as […]
No Guilt in Life, No Fear in Death
Read: Jeremiah 50:17-20 In those days and in that time . . . iniquity shall be sought in Israel, and there shall be none. (v. 20) At the conclusion of Jeremiah, God declared that once the exile was completed, God’s condemnation would be spent. Once God’s judgment was complete, his instrument, Babylon, would be undone. […]