Text: Luke 15:11-32 | Listen to Message What do you find your identity in? Which component of your identity gives you the biggest dose of self-worth (if you succeed) or self-loathing (if you fail)? What do you need to achieve in order to feel a sense of validation? Traditional Identity In a Traditional Identity culture, the authorities set the rules and it’s your responsibility to live up to them. You’re driven by a sense of duty, and the highest ideal is honor. If you sacrifice, work hard, and play by the rules, you’ll achieve the highest honor possible for you. If...

Text: Mark 8:34-37 | Listen to Message How well do you think you know yourself? Let’s do a little diagnostic test. What are some of the strongest sources of self-worth in your life? What makes you feel like you’re significant, you’re important, you’re doing okay? What gives you a sense of security or validation? What is it that tells you you’re unique, you’re special? To ask it another way, what would anger and frustrate you most if someone were to threaten it or take it away from you? If you’re like most people, you derive your sense of identity from some...

Text: 1 Peter 5:6-14 | Listen to Message Peter concludes his first letter by showing us how to live in light of the grace and peace of Christ that is already ours. He’s saying, “Because you are born again to a living hope through the death and resurrection of Jesus . . . ” “Because you are called, chosen, and cleansed by Christ . . . ” “Because the end of all things is at hand and you are about to share in the glory and reward of Christ forever . . . ” “Because the One who establishes your faith...

Text: 1 Peter 5:1-6 | Listen to Message Most of us don’t spend a whole lot of time around sheep and shepherds these days, so we may not readily grasp what Peter meant when he instructed elders to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2). Shepherding was not a glamorous job. It involved long hours out in the elements defending sheep from predators (and from their own stupidity), leading them to find nourishment, rescuing them when they wandered off, and caring for their wellbeing. Shepherding was hard work with almost no breaks. And shepherds were some...

Text: 1 Peter 4:12-19 | Listen to Message The Apostle Peter’s instructions on how to suffer well sound a little like a checklist: Don’t be surprised by suffering. Check. Rejoice in the opportunity to share in Christ’s sufferings. Check. Make sure you’re not suffering for wrongdoing. Check. Don’t be ashamed when you suffer as a Christian. Check. Glorify God in how you identify with Christ. Check.   So that’s it? Don’t be caught off guard, don’t sin, and don’t be ashamed? Be happy and praise God somehow? And then what? The trial will go away? I’ll feel better? I’ll be better?...

Text: 1 Peter 4:7-11 | Listen to Message If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’re a steward. You have the privilege and responsibility of managing the business and the numerous resources that God has entrusted to you. You don’t have to create your own job description, and you don’t have to come up with your own resources; you simply invest in and with what God has already given you. This is how you love others eagerly and consistently from the heart. This is how you cover a multitude of sins committed against you. This is how you show hospitality without grumbling....

Text: Luke 6:43-45 | Listen to Message Your life is like a fruit-bearing tree – and the fruit that grows announces to the world exactly what kind of tree you are. If the root of your life is healthy, and it’s planted in healthy soil, your fruit will automatically be healthy. But the inverse is also true: if the root of your life is sickly, or it’s planted in poor soil, your fruit will automatically be unhealthy. The implications of what Jesus says here are both profound and immensely practical. If you want to change the observable part of your life,...

Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22 | Listen to Message We all have countless little “h” hopes. Maybe you hope to meet the right person and start a family. Possibly you hope to get a passing grade, a promotion, or a raise. Perhaps you hope to be healed of some physical distress like an injury or extended illness. Whatever your hopes, we need a big “H” Hope that keeps us grounded and joyful even when circumstances aren’t going our way. We need a confident expectation, not just a whole bunch of wishful thinking. The heart of our text explains that we have that...