Good Shepherd Community Church

Where should we turn when times of loss, of sorrow and grief or times of doubt and confusion and fear confront us-- My good friend once share with me how the words of the preacher at his grandmother's funeral impacted him. These are the words that were spoken, -In times like these we need to turn to the Bible.- They have also impacted me. In times like these I invite you to turn to the Bible with me.

This sermon's goal is to firm up believers' understanding of the submissive role Christian wives should have to their husbands and, likewise, the honor that should be given them by their husbands. All believers, in fact, should be marked by similar virtues.

Who hasn't seen a rainbow and marveled at its beauty-- God put the rainbow in the clouds after the worldwide flood that destroyed all the earth except for Noah and his family and the animals that he took on board at God's direction. The story of the bow in the clouds as God's covenant sign is found in Genesis 9. The rainbow reminds us that God always keeps his promises because he is the God who remembers-

Sermon Outline--I. The Christian calling to bear unjust suffering-II. Christ, our Example of the Gracious Sufferer-III. Christ Suffered as the Bearer of Our Sins- His Suffering brought us healing- He paid sin's penalty- He broke sin's power over our lives and set us in motion for - righteous living.

Numbers 21 records a tragic event in the camp of the Hebrews on their way out of Egypt and bondage to Canaan. When the food and water were scarce they spoke sinfully against God and Moses and despised the provide manna food. As a result of their rebellion God send poisonous vipers into the camp and hundreds began to die. Then the hurried to Moses asking God to have mercy. Moses prayed and God an unusual instruction. Make a bronze sake and put it on a pole. -What is the meaning of this and how does it relate to Jesus--

As servants of God doing his will, Christians are commanded to submit to human institutions which are ordained by the Lord for maintaining order in society. We are not to be law-breakers or trouble makers but good citizens. Thus we will be vindicated in the eyes of the world who would seek to slander us.

I want to tell you this story about the first humans in a perfect Garden who met up with a talking snake. The events in the Garden of Eden in Genesis Chapter 3 had profound effects upon the human race. Satan, the great Deceiver, managed to convince Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree from which God had forbidden them to eat. Adam followed her lead instead of God's command, and also ate the forbidden fruit. . -God's responded by turning Satan into a creature condemned to crawling on his belly. Yahweh God also declared that the descendent of the woman would bruise his head, while Satan's descendent would bruise the heel of the woman's descendent. -Satan's fate was sealed in the coming of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, whose death and resurrection brought the fatal curse on Satan's head.

Peter, as an authoritative apostle of Jesus Christ, gives two basic commands here- one negative and one positive. For each command he gives a reason.

I was happy when they said to me, Let's go to house of the Lord--Why-- Because I am meeting the living God in an assembly of his people. Such a weekly meeting is to identify myself as a believer in the true God and to fellowship with other believers through the offerings of joint hearing of God's word, singing and prayers. Cooperate worship of God through and in Jesus Christ is a command and is necessary for my soul's health, encouragement of fellow believers and the honoring of God. It is a chief expression of love to Jesus the Christ who made to way into the holy place through his sacrifice of his body on the cross. I never have to decide if I am going to the holy assembly. Unless I am unavoidably stopped I will be there. It is my joy- It is a holy habit, a spiritual discipline that expresses love to my Lord and to his body the church, the holy assembly-

Christ is the living Stone, the cornerstone, of the kingdom of God and of the church. Each local church is comprised of -living stones.- that is, of the people of God who belong through faith to Jesus Christ. Christian believers are called to be a holy priesthood, to offer up continually spiritual sacrifices of praise, thanksgiving, and good works. The -one another- texts in the NT demonstrate specific ways the members of the church are to be priests to one another. But the church is also to be outward- looking - proclaiming the excellencies of Christ to a lost world.

Peter's first letter is addressed to a group of several local churches in part of the area we now know as Turkey. He wants each church to understand that they are a special group of people loved and chosen by God to belong to Jesus Christ. Although each person comes to God by personal faith, they do not come isolated from other believers. 1 Peter 2-9 describes each community of faith as together a priesthood, that is, a group of priests who minister to one another. Each church is holy, set apart for God's possession. And each group of believers is called to proclaim to the world the excellencies of Christ. Peter wants us to live out our Christian lives in active, loving fellowship with other believers. This is the spiritual house that we belong to and that he is building.

The Word of God by the operation of the Spirit is the regenerating power of the new birth in the Christian. This new birth instills an innate love for fellow believers. Yet in relationship with others there is also the troublesome presence of common interpersonal sins - five of them listed in 1 Pet. 2-1. Martin Luther described Christians in this strange situation as -justified yet at the same time sinners.- It is the pure spiritual milk of the Word that enables us put away these sins and grow in Christian maturity.

The Apostle Peter in his first letter writes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow. 1 Peter 2-2 Beginning with the writings of Moses given in the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures that we commonly call the Old Testament, Joshua, Moses successor, was told, -This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.- Joshua 1-8-Paul writes in Romans 15-4 , -For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.- So reading the Bible, God's written revelation, is essential for spiritual life and spiritual growth. What are some important things to know as we approach the reading of the Bible--

After King Uzziah of Judah died Isaiah records his encounter with God in his glory. Perhaps he had gone to the temple with David's Psalm 27 on his mind and even on his lips. Psalm 27-1-2,4--Yahweh is my light and my salvation.- Whom shall I fear--- Yahweh is the strength of my life.- Of whom shall I be afraid----One thing I have asked of Yahweh, that I will seek after-- that I may dwell in Yahweh's house all the days of my life,- to see Yahweh's beauty,- and to inquire in his temple.- -What ever the circumstance Isaiah encounters God's glory- Consider his experience and what it teaches us about the glory of God and how a person properly responds. It may not be as you expect---Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad

Peter's exhortation to his readers -and us- can be explained like this--I. Conduct your lives in the fear of God. -II. Know that you were ransomed with Christ's precious blood. -III. Through Christ your faith and hope is in God. -The ransom price of Christ's shed blood for his people calls forth the response of worship, service, and joy. -Hallelujah-

The Bible has much to say about the glory of God. The psalmist prayed and longed for the glory of God. In fact we pray for it in the Lord's Model prayer for his disciples. Psalm 104-31-34 NIV-May the glory of the LORD endure forever- may the LORD rejoice in his works- he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke. I will sing to the LORD all my life- I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.-'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6-9-10-Moses gives us an example of a person who seeks the glory of God. Exodus 33-12-34-9-Why does he seek to see God's glory-- How does God manifest himself-- What is its purpose and what is Moses reaction--- God's glory is the outshining of God's nature and attributes manifested in his exalted presence and his declared Word concerning himself. It is preeminently seen in Jesus Christ. John wri

Here is the high calling and sacred commands required of all God's people- as found in this text----I. Live your life in view of the fact that Christ is returning.-II. Let not the evil passions of your pre-conversion life control you. -III. Like your God is holy, be like him in all your conduct.

The Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary to becoming a Christian, a believer in the Lord Jesus the Christ, and He is indispensable to the Christian life. Jesus, early in ministry told a respected teacher and leader in Judea-Israel, -You must be born again,- born from above by the sovereign Spirit -John 3-. The Holy Spirit is the Life-giver. He brings spiritually dead people -Ephesians 2-1-7- to spiritual life through the Word of the gospel so they hear God's call to repent and believe. The Spirit's work of regeneration is manifested in being awakened to their spiritual condition of being dead, deaf, and under God's wrath. Awakened by his sovereign grace, they hear Christ's call and come gladly and freely to the Savior. He caused us to be born again. -In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.- -Ephesians 1-13-

Peter's understanding of the work of the Triune God in the salvation of believers is profoundly displayed in these two verses. God the Father's foreknowledge is his distinguishing love he savingly placed on all his people from before the world's creation. God the Spirit calls and regenerates sinners in order to bring them into Christ's kingdom. It is Jesus' shed blood that cleanses and qualifies sinners to enter into saving fellowship with God. Those so sanctified and cleansed will become obedient subjects of Jesus the King.

The Christian confession of God is totally unique. It is the result of historical revelation of God's actions in the life of the Hebrew people and the life, death, burial and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ, plus the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the believers on the Feast of Pentecost in the year of Jesus' ascension. The uniqueness and glory of the Christian Faith is that there is only one God -Yahweh- who eternally exists in thee persons. This reality of God's nature, being, and activity lies at the heart of true Christian worship. Two verses in the New Testament bring this truth of God forward. The Apostolic Benediction of 2 Corinthians 13-14 and the Great Commission of Jesus given to the church in Matthew 28-16-20.--God is one. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.