Renewed to Honor

 …  according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:  May grace and peace be multiplied to you Last week we saw that God has elected us and this calling has been purposeful from God's part. He calls his beloved to himself. Amen! We also saw that being Elect meant that we are given a new land, a new nationality, a new identity. This means that there is enmity between us and the world. The world does not want Jesus, we want Him. The world replaces Jesus for their desires, our desires for Jesus only increases further. This is the calling my dear brothers and sisters. We are continuing our reading through the 1st chapter of the first letter of Peter. Today we are going to look at the reason and the promise in the calling. Let's turn to Deuteronomy 7:7, what do we see there? God loves Israel because He loves them. What is the answer why God loves you? Is it because ...

Last week we saw who wrote the letter that we are going to look at. The story of Peter, the sinner, turned disciple, turned denier turned apostle is indeed a great role model for us. We also so how the letter of Peter bears Biblical value and is to be treated as scripture .  This week we will be looking at the next few words in the scripture.  Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. What an amazing title to the recipient. Peter says like we discussed in the last one, that he is an emissary, an ambassador, a heralder for the new King and his Kingdom. This is Peter describing the kingdom to the people. Peter is the representative of the King and the Kingdom. For those who do not know, the embassy, say the Indian embassy in Berlin, is not in Germany. The land it is in and the building and the people in it are under the rule of India. Brothers this is what Peter is saying here. He is...

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: Preface: Why are we looking through this book? Unlike the letter of James, this book is written to a Jewish / Gentile Christians who are scattered across various provinces that are outside their ideal world. In the last two weeks we have been looking at what it means to live as people who love God. Today and the weeks to follow, we will look at how this is meant to be worked out as people living among other nations. Written by Silvanus (he is the typist) - probably Silas along with Mark From "babylon" .. well babylon did not exist in that time as an important place. It was a code, a code for what Babylon stood for. Enmity to God - Where was the enemy? in Rome - Who was the enemy -  Introduc...

It is all just Paul or Peter's opinion? Should we jut take Jesus or all of the Bible? In the early second century , Polycarp of Smyrna, one of Christianity’s most famous martyrs, lists three sources of authority for early Christians. He writes, “So, then, let us serve him with fear and all reverence, just as he himself [Jesus] has commanded, as did the apostles, who preached the gospel to us, and the prophets, who announced in advance the coming of our Lord” (Pol. Phil. 6.3). The three sources of authority for the earliest Christians were: (1) the teachings of Jesus passed on orally by the apostles; (2) the instructions of the apostles (cf. Acts 2:42); and (3) the words of the prophets, that is, the Old Testament Scriptures. These three streams of authority were different from each other stream, but each of the three was binding on early Christians. The Scissor Here is a crude example. Robert Funk along with 50ish scholars and over 100 laymen started a group in the USA. They would ...

What Martin Luther and the Reformation have to do with Halloween.  It's so cool that October 31 is a holiday for us (in Germany) - right? The calendar says it's Reformation Day, but why do those two days always come together? Coincidence, I don't think. Let's put on our detective hats and take our magnifying glasses to sift through the evidence. Evidence #1: Luther walked up and down the cobbled streets of Wittenberg. He had spent countless hours writing 95 smart, easy-to-understand, maybe a little too harsh, but much needed theses. He spent hours checking spelling and grammar to make sure those who would read them could understand. His motivation was reason. He wanted people to be reasonable. Only the wise would be reasonable and he wanted everyone to be wise. He found the perfect place for his publication - on the door of the castle church. Notices were often posted there with the church program and at that time a lot of people went there. This would be perfect. The n...

 Cool, wir bekommen einen Feiertag für Halloween! Was Martin Luther und die Reformation mit Halloween zu tun haben   Es ist so cool, dass der 31. Oktober ein Feiertag für uns ist – nicht wahr?! Das ist doch Halloween, oder? Aber im Kalender steht, dass es der Reformationstag ist. Seltsam. Warum kommen diese beiden Tage immer zusammen? Zufall? Glaube ich nicht. „Setzen wir unsere Detektive Hüte auf und ergreifen wir unsere Vergrößerungsgläser, um die Beweise zu sichten!“ Beweismittel Nummer 1: Luther ging auf den gepflasterten Straßen von Wittenberg auf und ab. Er hatte unzählige Stunden damit verbracht, 95 kluge, leicht verständliche, vielleicht etwas zu harte, aber dringend notwendige Thesen zu schreiben. Er verbrachte Stunden damit, die Rechtschreibung und Grammatik zu überprüfen, um sicherzustellen, dass diejenigen, die sie lesen werden, auch verstehen können. Seine Motivation war die Vernunft. Er wollte, dass die Menschen vernünftig werden. Nur die Weisen würden vernünft...

  Last Sunday we looked at the mercies of God. Here is the message I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. I hope that I will be able to take us on this journey across the Romans one day. We have often done parts and we will when God leads us go verse by verse through Romans.  Today we will skim a very pressing matter. The mercies of God. In order to get the point across we will divide it into two sections. In the original notes I have four, today we look at two, maybe enjoy one. Therefore: The word therefore is very common to us. In maths we have used it. When have we used it? In the place where we say LHS = RHS, hence proved. This statement is important for us to notice....