Hope and Suffering (1 Peter 3:13-22) - a podcast by Don Shoemaker, Steve Williams, and Bob Wriedt
from 2021-02-07T16:00
1 Peter 3:13-22
What is it like when you talk about your faith in Jesus?
For many of us, we're not terribly proud of our answer to this. We might say it feels forced or awkward, like we're trying to wedge something in the conversation that ultimately makes the room go silent. Others might say that announcing their faith makes them feel powerful, a way to correct those who are in the wrong. Or for others, we might say we don't know what it feels like since we never talk about it.
This week at Grace, we're looking at 1 Peter 3:13-17. In it, Peter exhorts his readers to align their hearts and lives in such a way that the hope they have in Christ transforms how they see the world. And in the process, their hope can invite conversations about Christ that are marked with gentleness and respect.
This passage (especially v. 15) has been one of the most important passages of Scripture in my life. It's been a north star for me in how to think about evangelism and mission, as well as how to see my opportunity to share my faith in the lives of those around me. I'm excited to unpack with you on Sunday what it shows us about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can give us hope, rest, and purpose in life.
In Christ,
Pastor Bob
Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
-1 Peter 3:13-22
Further episodes of Grace Community Church of Seal Beach
Further podcasts by Don Shoemaker, Steve Williams, and Bob Wriedt