1 Peter – Mt Freedom Baptist Church

n his first letter to the churches, Peter encourages believers to live lives of honor among ourselves and among the non-believers of the world. We are to honor not only our brothers and sisters in Christ, but also those in the world around us including the authorities of worldly governments. In so doing, everyone will take note and glorify God. It is important for us to remember that honoring others doesn’t always mean that we approve of their own behavior. We offer them our honor in obedience to God’s command regardless of whether we approve of their words and deeds.

As we start a new year, thinking back on the Christmas gifts we have received over the years, we find that the greatest gift of all is Christ Himself who gave Himself for us. Paul lists for us some important aspects of Christ’s gift in his letter to the Ephesians – wisdom and knowledge of Him, hope of eternal life in Him, and the power of His Spirit dwelling within our hearts.

Simon – whom Jesus named Peter (or Cephas) – is found listed first in all the Biblical listings of Jesus’ chosen apostles. So it is appropriate for us to begin our study of “The Twelve” with Simon Peter. For many of us, Simon Peter is the apostle with whom we identify most closely. In this study, we look at Simon’s progress from sinful and worldly fisherman through his time with Jesus as one of His closest followers to his denial of Jesus on the night He was betrayed and his subsequent restoration by the resurrected Jesus until finally Peter became a mature and bold fisher of men that Jesus promised to make him in the years after Jesus ascended back to His Father.

In the first message of this series, we looked at the universal desire among Christ followers for “revival.” We explored the meaning of revival, and were encouraged as we seek revival within ourselves to pray the words of King David from Psalm 51 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” We must seek to be holy before God when we pray for revival because God also tells us in Leviticus – “I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.” As we seek revival, we must also seek to live in holiness empowered by God’s Spirit within us.

The full armor of God! Paul, in Ephesians 6 informs us about the armor we GET to put on each day.

Every day that we are on this side of heaven, we are at war. Every day could mean that we will face a new attack from Satan or from one of the other evils in this world. We cannot escape it. What then must we do in response?

There are two areas of a believer’s life which show the world around them how serious they are about their relationship with Jesus. The first is the pursuit of personal holiness, followed by active participation in an authentic Jesus loving, Bible believing, Bible teaching, Bible practicing local church.

Jesus taught two more parables concerning stewardship – one about a landowner who left his land in care of others until the time of harvest and anther about a man who had two sons, one of whom said he would obey his father but did not while the other said he would not obey, but in the end actually did his father’s will. Clearly the men in these parables symbolize God while the other characters in the stories represent the priests and scribes to whom God had entrusted the care of His people Israel.

Living the Christian life often requires us to obey the calling of the LORD, even under difficult circumstances. Although we might believe we are not qualified or able to serve God’s Kingdom in the ways He has led us, we rest assured that God knows what He is doing, and it is He who empowers us by His Spirit to accomplish the works He has ordained for us since before the beginning of creation. Often when we obey God in faith, He will bless us. Sometimes though He does not. But His leading for us is always for our own eternal wellbeing and the benefit of those whom God has called us to serve.

Mt. Freedom celebrated its 25th anniversary homecoming with musical guests Tugalo Holler and guest preacher James Pettit who gave a message entitled Never Give Up.

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