I have a theory that Peter wrote this letter late at night.  That’s the only explanation I can find for 3:18-22.  Peter dozed off for a minute and Silas took over (4:12).  Now you know why none of Silas’ works were ever published!

But in spite of the cloudiness that surrounds that whole “Jesus preaching to spirits in prison in the days of Noah” thing, I’m really thankful for the connection he made with that and baptism.  I don’t get the connection, but I do like what he wrote about baptism.  It save us through the resurrection of Jesus.  That part I can see with a little more clarity.

The more I think about baptism, the more the creativity of God amazes me.  What an amazing way for our entrance into his kingdom to be marked.  We die to ourselves, just like Jesus.  We are buried, just like Jesus.  We are raised with radical newness, just like Jesus.  (For more on this, read Rom. 6)  Only God could have thought of something like this and infused so much meaning into it.

I also find it interesting...

I just love the way Peter prefaces a section of our text this week with an announcement that “the end of all things is near” (1 Peter 4:7).  Those are not words to be taken lightly.  They have the effect of making us give special attention to what comes next.  So what does Peter say we should do in light of the fact that the end is near?  If I can reduce it down to one exhortation it would be “Have someone over for dinner.”

Relationships are important to Resident Aliens.  We draw strength from them because they keep us connected to the homeland.  So as we anticipate the trip home, whether it’s today or ten thousand years from now (I vote for the former), we spend as much time as we can with those with whom we will share eternity.

We see this principle frequently in life.  The realization of the shortness of time is usually accompanied by a heightened awareness of those people with whom we share special bonds.  I suspect that if most people were told by a doctor, “You have just 24 hours to live,” their...

Remember the song “None of Self and All of Thee”?  Although a bit monotonous, it has a pretty good message.  For those who are unfamiliar with it, the song begins with an “all of self and none of thee” confession, progressing through gradual change—“some of self and some of thee”—until finally we arrive at the desired end of “none of self and all of thee.”

A friend once told me about a church he attended with a typical “let’s wrap this thing up as soon as possible” mentality toward the Sunday night service.  This particular song was led after the sermon, but the song leader led just the first verse, then stopped and announced the closing song!  So the message of the song was only, “all of self and none of thee.”  I thought, “Well, at least they’re honest about it.”

One of the phrases used to describe the Israelites during their lowest times was that they were “stiff-necked.”  What a powerful phrase!  It describes someone who because of their pride will not bow, will not yield to another.  That is especially...

When I think about it, I’m always amazed at how God set things up so that our words and our lives work in tandem in our proclamation about him.  I like how Michael Green expressed it in his book, Evangelism in the Early Church, “Christianity is enshrined in the life; but it is proclaimed by the lips. If there is a failure in either respect the gospel cannot be communicated."

In our text this week (1 Peter 2:9-12), Peter emphasized the “enshrined in the life” part of that equation.  He said that we should abstain from evil desires; that we should live in such a way that others will glorify God when they look at our lives.  Here’s an idea: How about if at some point in heaven, we watch on the giant heavenly JumboTron (surely there will be one there so we can watch college football) all of the moments in human history where what Peter described has actually happened.  I know what one of the segments would be about.

Growing up in small rural churches, it was not uncommon for the youth group to consist...

”As you come to him . . . you also . . . .”  So much of life with God, life as a Resident Alien is summed up in those two phrases from 1 Peter 2:4-5.  We walk up to Jesus looking one way; we walk away from him looking another (perhaps walk along side is more accurate).  We now look like him.  In fact, the similarity between us and Jesus is so striking that Peter used the same words to describe Jesus and us in this text.  He is the Living Stone, we are living stones.  Just like God used Jesus to accomplish something that resulted in his glory, he wants to do the same with us.

This reminds me so much of 2 Cor. 3:18, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”  Last year I preached a series on this verse, and I said then that I think the one word which best describes what God wants to do in us is the word  “transformation.”  God wants to transform us so that we mirror Jesus. ...

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply from the heart.”  -1 Peter 1:22(TNIV)

One of the qualities that the imperishable word of God is intended to produce is love.  We saw that in our text this week (1 Peter 1:22-2:3).  But Peter wasn’t content to say that we should love each other.  If the word is the seed and love is the fruit, Peter poured Miracle Grow on it.  He said not only should we love each other sincerely as a result of the actions of the word of God on our lives, but we need to seek to move that love to even deeper levels.

That is probably easier and more desirable for some of us than others.  What about those of us who are just not naturally relational?  Some of us are wired in such a way that we are are oriented relationally; we are naturally drawn to other people.  Others of us are more inwardly wired, not in the sense of being selfish, but of being rejuvenated by time alone.  We just don’t feel...

Several years ago some friends of ours bought a nice house in a high-end neighborhood of the city in which we lived.  They were quick to say that they wanted to use their house to serve Jesus.  A few months later we attended a small group in that same house.  The owners were so concerned that nothing be dirtied or broken or left out of place that we felt very uncomfortable; like we weren't really welcome in this home that had been dedicated to Jesus.

Jesus once said, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Mt. 6:19-21).

One of the people who likely would have been there and heard Jesus say this is the same person who wrote the letter we are listening to in this series.  It wasn't all that long before he heard Jesus say these words that...

As one who “grew up in the Church of Christ,” I’m thankful for many of the contributions of my spiritual heritage.  I came to faith through the influences not only of the congregations of whom we were a part, but also through the contributions of many other preachers, teachers and writers from other Churches of Christ.  Again, I’m thankful for those contributions.

As with anything of which we human beings are a part, there are flaws in my spiritual heritage as well.  I don’t intend this to be a “church bashing” exercise, but I think it important to point out one of those flaws that relates to our topic this week.

In our text, Peter said to be holy (1 Peter 1:15).  I don’t think anyone would have consciously said this, but the impression many in my heritage (and other heritages as well) had at some point in our lives was that the key to being holy was to live holy.  If we would live the way we were supposed to live, God would consider us to be holy.  In other words, we were to earn holiness.

Scripture...

I think it is one of the most amazing attributes of God; his ability to make good come from bad.  In fact, attribute isn’t strong enough; I think it is God’s specialty.  When you read the Bible, don’t you get the impression that there are times when God actually could have just done something good without an apparent need or reason, but he waited for the bad to happen first?

I can just imagine this heavenly scene:  Affairs are such that some kind of direct intervention is required.  The Egyptians are closing in or the drought is getting severe or the church is scattering because of persecution.  Angels are at the ready, swords drawn, eagerly asking, “Now?  Do you want us to go now?”  God, with a slight smile of confidence on his face, says slowly, “Wait, wait, hold on…”  Then, just when it looks like things are completely hopeless, God says, “Now!”  And heaven comes through in such a way that everyone involved knows it’s the hand of God.

In Rom. 8:28, Paul wrote, “And we know that in all things God...

”To God’s elect, strangers in the world, . . . chosen according to the foreknowledge of God, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.” 

No one likes to be a stranger.  That’s why we so value hospitality; we want to make people feel at home because that is how we want to be made to feel.  But what if you found yourself standing in a prison, cancer ward, or war zone?  Not exactly places where we want to feel like we belong.

I am amazed at Satan’s power to lure us into thinking that being a resident of this world is better than being a resident alien.  Sometimes I hear that when we say things like, “I want to go to heaven, just not right now.”  I understand where we’re coming from when we say that. Usually we have in mind the people from whom we don’t want to be separated.  But I wonder if, at times, the attraction to this world runs deeper than that.

When Peter began his letter to those five Roman provinces in Asia Minor, he was given...