Sermon Summary

Throughout his letter, Peter has been discussing how to live a holy lifestyle, and in a sense, has assumed that many of his readers are already Christians. But here, he pauses, as if to address those who may not have yet put their faith in Christ, or those who have but don't understand it very well. He stops to take a moment and talk about of the price God paid for our redemption: the blood of Jesus.

What God did in order to achieve our salvation cost him dearly. But it doesn't just stop at the sacrifice. Jesus also walked out of that grave alive! Our only appropriate response to this is to submit our lives to him and make him Lord. That happens at baptism, and Peter makes a very clear case that the power of the resurrection is displayed in our lives through this act. The blood of Jesus is what saves us, and the waters of baptism make this a reality in our lives, washing away our sin, and raising us to new life in him!

Series Summary

In the first century, the church was brand new, and it was being persecuted intensely. Many Christians were unsure how to respond to that, and uncertain how to live out their faith in the midst of such circumstances. So Peter wrote this short letter to encourage them.

In this brief communication, Peter gives his readers – which includes us – some encouragement as they sought out how to live holy lives within their cultures. He called them strangers... aliens... different...

As we seek to live differently, we can take some encouragement from this letter even now, 2000 years later. We can see how we are called to live differently from the world around us, and see how we can allow the light of Jesus to shine through our lives into the culture in which we live. Through these five short chapters, we will see how we can live differently in our culture, in our families and marriages, in the workplace, and in the church. We will see how we are called to live as a "set apart" people, and we will see why this is critical enough for God to send his own Son on our behalf to make it possible. Live different!

(CCLI Copyright License Number: 761678. CCLI Streaming License Number: 20517574)