NHCC Sermons & Teaching PodPoint

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” —Joshua 24:14-15 (NLT)

This Sunday, we take a break from our series on 1 Peter to share in a “stand alone” sermon for Father’s Day. While we are discussing fathers, we want to wish all of our dads a very Happy Father’s Day this Sunday. On behalf of your kids… thanks for all you do for us and thanks for being the best dad ever.

We look together at a familiar story from 1 Kings 18 as Elijah goes toe-to-toe with 450 prophets of Baal in what seems to be, on the surface, a question of whose God is the best. But in reality, it is God using His prophet to try to wake up His people from their spiritual slumber as their apathy and indifference had marginalized their commitment to the one true God.

Luke 9:23, And He said to all, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

No pain, no gain. We’ve all heard the mantra. It is an understanding that if you want to pursue something worthwhile, difficulty and suffering are an inevitability. It is no different than pursing a relationship with Christ. James, in fact, wrote that we should consider pure joy when we face trials and temptations. If problems and pain are inevitable, perhaps we should learn to deal with them through the strength we receive from following Christ.

Acts 5 tells a story of the apostles rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace because of the Name of Jesus. How do we get to that level of faith and contentment? Sunday morning, Frank will talk about these things in his message from 1 Peter 4:1-11.

Ephesians 6:10-11, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

How do we define victory? On a very basic level, it is explained as the one who scores the most points in the game, wins the battle, lasts the longest, goes the farthest, goes the fastest, etc. And these descriptions definitely fit the narrative of human activity. But what about in the spiritual realm? After all, what the world would have defined as a decisive defeat—Jesus’ death on the cross—was, on a spiritual level, a victory over the curse of sin for all of mankind.

As Frank opens up the back half of 1 Peter 3 this Sunday, he will guide us through an understanding of what God’s Word teaches us about securing lasting, eternal victory even in this broken, hostile world.

Galatians 3:27-28, …for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Peter was very much in touch with reality. He knew that marriages couldn’t be realized as a “heaven-on-earth” manifestation. Marriages, similar to other institutions, suffer from the adverse result of mankind’s fall. Because every marriage will experience suffering and groaning, Peter assumes that even the marriages of Christians who live godly lives will endure suffering. As a result of this fallen world, and our sinful nature, Christian marriages are susceptible to the same ailments found in non-Christian marriages.

1 Peter 2:13-17, Be subject (submit) for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

Back when many of us were kids, a fun time or playful wrestling would often end up with someone in a “submission hold” with no way to escape than to cry, “Uncle,” to signify that the one being held was giving up or surrendering. But where did this practice begin?

A plausible explanation dates back to the days of the Roman Empire. When young children of that era were attacked by bullies, they wouldn’t be set free until they uttered "Patrue, mi Patruissimo," or "Uncle, my best Uncle." At that time, the brother of one’s father was accorded almost the same level of status and power as one’s dad, so declaring the bully to be your “Best Uncle” was tantamount to granting him a title of respect and submitting to him.

On this Mother’s Day, we are blessed to honor our mothers who will be there in attendance. We also get excited about calling our moms who aren’t nearby. The extra blessing some of us enjoyed was an example of faith first seen in our mothers. Of course, we know that isn’t everyone’s story. That is why it is so important for the moms of NHCC to recognize that they have an extra responsibility to be an example of faith to the younger Christians in our church.
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Obviously, faith is not simply limited to the moms of the church, but on this Sunday, please remember as we honor our moms, we collectively worship the Father for He is certainly worthy of our praise.
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Join us this Sunday as Frank shares a message that honors the faith of our mothers, but more importantly, worships that one in whom they have their faith.