NHCC Sermons & Teaching PodPoint

1 Peter 4:12, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
—————
Life would just be so much easier if we didn’t have to deal with problems; if we could avoid suffering at all costs. In fact, most of us, given the option would pray for such things to be removed from our lives rather than having to deal with them.
—————
While that all sounds good, it is unrealistic. In his book, Eating Problems for Breakfast, author Tim Hansel wrote about dealing with problems in life, “Pain is inevitable, but misery is optional. We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy.” In short, pain, difficulty, and suffering are going to happen, what if we prayed instead for the strength to endure such things and for joy in spite of them. It might radically change the way we face each day. We wouldn’t have to go out of our way to seek out suffering, but we could be better prepared for dealing with it.
—————
Hansel went on to say, “One of the ways that our faith expresses itself is by our ability to be still, to be present, and not to panic or lose perspective. God still does his best work in the most difficult of circumstances.” Join us Sunday as Frank shares from 1 Peter 4 about this very concept of expecting suffering and being prepared to respond to it, so Christ might be glorified through our circumstances.

Clay follows up our lesson from the previous evening on the flaws in the life of Noah from Genesis 8-9

“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.