1 Peter - Ger Jones

[Music] okay we're starting a new series I'm going to teach through for the next five six weeks I'm going to teach through the book of First Peter I'm very excited about it um but I'm going to ask actually do something a bit different a bit risky and a bit new which is I'm going to we're going to do this together what I mean by that is I'm going to let you shape the series I was reading first Peter the other day and I was thinking gosh this is an incredible letter Peter wrote but there's also some really tough stuff in here there's also some unusual stuff that we tend to gloss over whenever we read the Bible have you ever read the Bible sometimes like I do and you're looking for something that resonates and that you feel the warm and fuzzies by but you skip stuff that you just o that feels a bit weird and let's skip that and go to the next bit but I think the joy of God's word is not doing that is actually digging into the tough stuff and go ah there's even life in that that's amazing so what I'm going to ask is ask for your help so this week how many of you this week you think you might have 20 minutes spare how many of you think no I just don't have 20 minutes okay great all of you brilliant that means you can all read this week first Peter right only takes 20 minutes I timed it this we 20 minutes and I want you to read it and then in reading it email me with G can you preach on that bit right and the stuff that you go I don't get that or no one's ever preached on that before or that sounds weird frankly or I don't like that bit right I think it'd be great to lean into the tough bits of First Peter and I think you guys would be the best folks together to go preach on that so here's an email um contact at Vintage Church La I'm going to ask you to email me this week to go I'd love you to teach on that now here's the deal though right you can't just Google Tough verses of First Peter right you have to email me and your first line of the email has to be I read the whole first Peter and having read the whole thing I would love you to teach on this right I don't want you just to Google Tough bits I want you to read it and then go actually I do genuinely want want to know what that means or I genuinely want to know what you're going to say about that right because I believe the whole of God's word is amazing and some bits why we have teachers and why we have people like John Mark and others is like to help us understand the tough bits right tough bits don't mean they're bad bits we just need to get to grips with it so anyway who's up for that all right so what I'll do is I'll look at the emails you have to email by Wednesday cuz I need some time to prepare right email me Wednesday and then I'll pull together the majority of we're American majority rules right so we'll look at the majority and we go great I'm going to that's our next five week series and what we're going to find because I'm very confident in this is that the beauty of Jesus Will Shine through the tough bits as well are you up for that how many emails do you think I'm going to get this is like a bit of a spread backck going on right here that's not true um I often do this and people go wow you're going to get like 500 emails normally we get about three that's the level of Engagement people have right so I'm going to ask that you actually do it you all said you could have 20 minutes spare right and you often say to me which is great G when are you going to teach the tough bits so I'm asking you to tell me what to teach on all right you up for that all right saying that we're going to dig into first Peter today so let's stand we're going to read just the first bits as we honor God's word together it's in your Bible we have Bibles under the seats if you want to get one of those if not we're going to read this together First Peter chapter 1 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to God's elect Exile scattered throughout the provinces of pontis galatia capid dohia Asia and bethenia who have been chosen according to the fulln knowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood Grace and peace be yours in abundance praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great Mercy he has given us New Birth into a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade this inheritance is kept in heaven for you who through faith has shielded by God's power until the coming of the Salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time down to verse 13 therefore with Minds that are alert and fully sober set your Hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming as obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but just as he who called you is Holy so be holy in all you do for it is written be holy be because I am Holy but you are chapter two but you are a chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation God's special possession that you may declare the Praises of him who called you out of Darkness into his wonderful light once you were not a people but now you are the people of God once you had not received Mercy but now you have received Mercy dear friends I urge you as foreigners in Exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war war against your soul live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us and then to the end of the letter chapter five as you signs off he says with the help of Silas whom I regard as a faithful brother I have written to you briefly only 20 minutes encouraging you and testifying that this is the true Grace of God Stand Fast in it she who is in Babylon chosen together with you sends you her greetings and so does my son Mark greet one another with a kiss of love peace to all of you who are in Christ so father as we look at your word now let your Holy Spirit Come shape our hearts our minds our obedience our worship of you in Jesus name amen hey St Remis how many of you we're at Focus again just hands in the air great what a wonderful wonderful time and this morning I felt that for those who are at focus and for those who aren't weren't able to come to focus we need to actually let the seed of what God said to us go deep we have a barrage of information information every week about everything and also in our spiritual lives we have a barrage of information sermon to sermon every week Community groups during the week your own reading your own study and yet when God speaks to us we need to actually let that seed go deep into our hearts that it may bear fruit and focus is a time for us to listen to God as a community as a family it's not just a conference it's a place where we pray Lord speak to us and guide us and shape us as your people in Los Angeles and so this morning what I want to do is recap what we feel the word of God was to us last weekend that we it may go deep like a seed and take root and bear much fruit the theme last week was flourishing in Exile flourishing in Exile Peter opens his letter and closes his letter in a unique way it's on the screen here he says to God's elect Exiles scattered and he ends the letter she who is in Babylon sends you her greetings what on Earth does he mean by Exile and Babylon what does that mean to us what does that how is that going to help us well Babylon is a nickname like every city has a nickname if I say to you what is the windy city what what is that stump Town Portland call out the name of the city that any anybody with a name a nickname for their City what's that b toown beant toown what is that Boston Boston what's New York the Big Apple what is Nashville mus City the Music City I thought it was I thought it was tax Haven um every City's got a nickname and guess what Los Angeles has City City of Angels and actually it has Babylon historically as its nickname hence the movie Babylon recently see Babylon recently but also throughout history and also Biblical history was in nickname for cities or communities where the way of the city the culture of the city was opposed to and hostile to the ways of Jesus it's why in the Bible and the New Testament and particularly The Book of Revelation Babylon was um used as a nickname for Rome and the Roman culture it was opposed to the ways of Jesus and we therefore in Los Angeles are living in one sense in another version of Babylon where we're living in a time where the city we live in is no longer favoring the ways of Jesus but often as opposed to the ways of Jesus we are as Paul sorry as Peter says Exiles in Babylon which means an exile is someone who's living in a dominant culture which is different to the way they want to live an exile is I'm in a foreign land Peter's saying look as Christians we can feel like Exiles we can be wanting to follow we want to follow the way of Jesus but I'm living in a culture where to follow the way of Jesus feels like I'm in Exile because it's unpopular it's not the majority and often times there's hostility it feels like wow I'm an exile in Babylon he says to God's elect Exile scattered throughout the region so if Peter was writing a letter to us he'd say to God's Exiles scattered through the province of marvista Venice Santa Monica brenwood pal play Vista Palms c City westw we are living as Christians as a Christian minority in a culture that used to used to favor used to respect but no longer does the ways of Jesus how do we therefore live in this context how do we Thrive as the people of God in this context what does it mean for us many who are disoriented because you came out of the majority of Orange County or the South and now you're going oh my word what does it mean for me to live here and throughout focus last weekend we were looking therefore God what does it mean for us to live as your people the people of God in Babylon one of the images the pictures that actually came up repeatedly throughout our weekend together was this which frames the message I felt from God for us of this is how we live as the people of God in a city that increasingly feels like it's decaying we love our city but at times it feels we're surrounded by Brokenness and Injustice and greed and racism consumism materialism how do we live in this moment and this picture came up time and time again it's a picture of a Tellis from the Saro Opera vedran smilovich I don't think that's how you pronounce it but this was back in the 1990s when Sara was under siege by the Bosnian Army thousands of innocent people were being killed many women and children just lining up to get food and water would be picked off by snipers it was a brutal time and this brutality was was highlighted on in May 1992 when 22 people were killed waiting in line at one of the bakeries for some food vedan the chist from the Saro Opera had enough and felt he had to do something and so he got up put on his suit took his cello and went straight to the location where these 22 people had died and began to play people thought he might be taken out and shot himself but wasn't and for 22 days representing the 22 lives that were lost he went to various places of Destruction around the city and played a different Melody he became an international symbol of Hope and in many ways that image kept coming up last weekend because it resonated with how do we as the people of God in a city where we see the Decay the destruction the rubble the the pain how do we be a people who don't leave but enter into the pain and play a different Melody of Jesus how do we with confidence and particularly we saw last week with peace instead of fear with hope instead of Despair and with Holiness instead of compromise how do we play out the music of God as a minority in in a city that is in many ways seeing more and more like Rubble around us John Mark kicked us off with looking at how do we be a people of Peace instead of fear peace instead of fear the dominant feeling he said he reminded us of Exiles is one of fear as a minority in a culture hostile to our way of life we can live in fear fear fear of what would happen to our relationships and our vocations if it got out that we're followers of Jesus fear to oh my gosh I could be rejected or fired or not get that role in that movie or not get this opportunity if they find out I'm a follower of Jesus fear of what's it going to be like to date in this culture am I going to stay single forever was it like for my marriage if we hit rough times are we going to end in divorce what it going look like for our kids being raised in this dominant ideology that is different to the ways of Jesus we can live in fear it's why Peter opens his letter with these words on the screen here he says for those who've been chosen who've been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus he says Grace and peace be yours in abundance abundance throughout scripture the dominant gift of Jesus to people who are living in Exile is the gift of peace peace to replace our fear do you remember that moment when the disciples were in the upper room petrified because Jesus had just been killed and they knew that if they were open and honest about their own faith in Jesus they too would be killed so it says very clearly they were locked in a room because they were afraid and yet Jesus the resurrected Jesus appears in the room and what's the first words he says to them do not be afraid peace be with you peace this peace is essential for the people of God to live in Exile not to be afraid afid fear will erode our hearts and more likely cause us not to enter into the rubble with the song of heaven but to leave and go somewhere where we feel more safe peace of course in the Bible is not simply the absence of conflict nor is it simply the desire for some peace and quiet it's the Peace of Heaven it's the Peace of Jesus John Mark summarized the Peace of Jesus this way he says the peace Jesus is offering us now is the feeling of the future world right in the middle of the chaos of the present one not just a feeling but an experience of the internal state of wh integration calm Joy Shalom that will one day be the byproduct of our world made new and our body itself made new but he's offering that peace to us now right in the middle of an election year and multiple International Wars and school drop offs and stressful work seasons and medical bills we can't afford and more and more he gives us his peace how do we live with an inner peace he gave an example of a character of like who what does it look like to have this sense of inner peace in the chaos around and he reminded us of this person um on the screen here master uguay from Kungfu Panda just that whatever is going on there's this Wise Old Sage who just doesn't flap around doesn't fear doesn't panic because there's a deeper anchor in God there's a deeper anchor in the presence of God of course the best example of Jesus himself do you remember the disciples were in the boat and the storm came the water was coming over the sides and they were freaking out and amongst the winds in the waves who did they see Jesus walking and what I find fascinating is he didn't calmed the winds and the waves straight away he walked peacefully on them and through them see he could bring peace Into the Storm and he came to them and said peace be with you and once he got in the boat then he's he's calmed the waves as a people we can have access to a peace that is beyond the winds and the waves a peace that keeps us centered in our mission in the city and not flee a peace that gives us courage to press on and follow the way of Jesus when it seems like chaos around how do we develop that peace well you need to go listen to the sermon we'll come on to that in a minute but I find it interesting that to be a people of love means we need to be a people of Peace instead of fear because if we are driven by fear we will become an unloving people Thomas aquinus gives the analogy of someone driven by fear instead of Peace there someone who in the midst of being under siege is like an old medieval city being under siege they Retreat into the city walls they draw up the bridge and hide and all they can do is try and survive this is someone driven by Fear And yet when we're driven by Love Is We're to not lower the bridge but to engage in the darkness engage in the Brokenness and bring love where there is pain to bring light where there is Darkness because we are driven by peace the Peace of Jesus as Exiles in Babylon we are to be a people of Peace not fear then secondly Jason on that Saturday afternoon and focus reminded us that we are to be a community of Hope instead of Despair a community of Hope instead of Despair Peter immediately in his letter to encourage exiles launches into very straight away these words he says praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ in his great Mercy he has given us New Birth into a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish spoil or fade I'll leave it there he straight away he says yes we're living in rubble we're living in Brokenness we're living living in a world where greed and racism and Injustice are Rife and people aren't following the ways of Jesus and but it will not always be this way he lifts up the eyes of the Exiles to a future promise that actually this is not the Final Chapter that there will be a day when Jesus finishes the job he started on the cross when all things will be renewed all things will be healed that we can live in Hope because this is not the end of the story we know the end of the story because John writes it down as he sees it in Revelation chapter 21 he says as he has a vision of the end times he says then I saw a new Heaven and a new Earth for the first Heaven and the first Earth had passed away and there was no longer any sea I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband and I heard a loud voice from the throne saying look God's dwelling place is now among the people and He will dwell with them they will be his people and God himself will be with them and be their God and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes there'll be no more death or Mourning or crying or pain for the old Order of Things has passed away and he who was Seated on the throne said I am making everything new then he said write this down for these words are trustworthy and true when we're living in the Brokenness when we're living in the pain of our culture there's something in our hearts that Echoes this should not be this way and with a hope this will not always be this way that we are planed Ed in the Brokenness to play The Melody of a future hope that as John saw in the midst of being in Exile himself the midst of being under persecution himself he saw a picture of Jesus on the throne in charge the God of all creation has the victory of death and Decay through the cross and resurrection and he's in charge and he shouts I am making all things new I have not seen the suffering of the world and turned away but I've entered in and he has started a plan to renew and to heal and that plan begins with his resurrection it will be complete when he turn when he comes again which we look forward to but even now in the moments of our daily lives he is making all things new and it begins with taking our cello into the midst of the rubble and playing the music of Heaven as a sign kind of hope that better days are ahead in Jesus Christ Jason reminded us of that story of him driving down on like a family road trip and his kids are listening to a story like an on audio book and Jason had heard the story before but his kids hadn't and they got halfway through the story and it was scary and they were wondering what's going to happen and they were pretty upset that this is going bad but Jason knew the end of the story and he could turn around to his kids and say kids don't worry I know the end of the story and it ends better than you can possibly imagine we know the end of the story and we live as people of hope not despair that we can start to Echo to those around us with seeds of examples of this is the Hope to come that wherever we see the pain of Injustice we will play the music of Justice as a prophetic sign that one day just Justice Will Rain whenever we see the the pain of loneliness we play the music of community instead of the darkness we play the music of light because we know of the day to come Nicholas Walter sto who is an amazing Theologian and author and he lost a son early to tragedy and he knows the pain of the rubble of the Brokenness of this world and he wrote this he said blessed are those who mourn but who are the mourners the mourners are those who have caught a glimpse of God's new day who ache with all their being for that new Day's coming and break out into tears when confronted with its absence they are the ones who realize that in God's new realm of Peace there is no one blind but we ache whenever they see someone unseen they are the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one hungry and ache whenever they see someone starving they're the ones who realize that in God's realm there is no one falsely accused and who ache whenever they see someone imprisoned unjustly they're the ones who realize that in God's realm of Peace there is neither death nor tears and who ache whenever they see someone crying tears over death the mourners are aching Visionaries we live in a city where we are to be aching Visionaries aching that this is not the way it should be but we have a vision for one day it will not be for he will return and make all things new and we are to give people a sign of that Future Hope in today's Brokenness then finally we looked at what it means to be a people of Exile in Babylon that not only to be a people of Peace instead of fear to be a people of Hope instead of Despair but also to be a people of Holiness instead of Conformity Holiness instead of Conformity Peter writes to a people in Exile and in verse 14 he says as obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance but just as he who called you as holy so be holy in all you do for it is written be holy because I am holy Peter knew that the Temptation when we're living as Exiles in Babylon is actually to shrink away from the ways of Jesus because we don't want to be different we don't want to be rejected we don't want to be mocked or teased or enter into suffering and instead go the way of the path of Conformity and compromise I mean Peter knew this more than most as he denied Jesus three times the night Jesus went to his death he said do not conform don't shrink back he says the English actually is very misleading the NIV is a great translation but this is misleading he says do not conform to your evil desires that word evil is not in the Greek the the word evil is literally former desires so one translation puts it this way stop constantly being formed to the way you used to live before you met Jesus Jesus in other words we lived for so long not knowing the ways of Jesus not knowing the ways of life not knowing how life was designed to be lived and so we just living the ways of Los Angeles but now we know Jesus and his way is so much better we should live that way why are we going back to the former ways when we have now discovered the ways of Jesus even in minority why on Earth are you going back to the old ways that don't bring life that don't bring goodness that don't bring human flourishing his way is better don't go back so this is what Peter means with the word holy it's simply live the way of Jesus to allow Jesus to permeate all of your life not out of some legalistic restrictive life style but simply because his way is better I remember in Co do you remember Co do you remember like my wife's a hair stylist right and I remember one day I was I hadn't had a haircut in like six months right remember those days we couldn't get haircuts and I remember I was thought you know I was in the shower you thought ah I'm going to give myself a haircut and even though my wife's a hair stylist I thought ah I'll just give give myself a haircut so I got out the scissors and got out the shears and I thought cool this is great I remember looking in the mirror afterwards and God oh my gosh what have I done to my hair I thought you know what Lizzy's way is better Lizzy's way is better right I will never go back to Gary Jones haircuts in the shower Peter's saying why are you going back back to the way of life without Jesus even though it's the majority I get the pressure to conform but what are you doing his way is so much better it's the way of life he says I have come that you may have life and life to the full why on Earth would you go back to the way of Conformity to the way of this world which he says later on in Chapter 2 the ways of this world he says wages war on your soul it's not a fair fight which way to live Gary Jones hairstyle in covid or Lizzy hairstyle there's no comparison he Peter says I know the Temptation is to conform I know the Temptation is to go you know what I don't want to stand out from the crowd I know the Temptation is to do things the way of the masses but you were ruining your life by doing that why on Earth would you do that live the way of Jesus he says actually he raises the bar he says live the way of Jesus in all you do because he knows that the more of your life you put under the ways of Jesus the more life you get nothing is to be held back and yet in a city when you're in Exile the Temptation is to shrink back and only follow the ways of Jesus when other people don't push back he says don't shrink back don't shrink back for the life that God has for you by conforming to the ways of this world they wage war on your soul have you noticed that for all that our city which I love and there's so much good in the city and so many amazing people but the doctrine and culture of our city it isn't producing a lot of human flourishing the number one profession that is taking off like wildfire is therapy because we're all driving around in our cars on the inside with anxiety loneliness depression we're not seeing the human flourishing that were're promised through the ways of Los Angeles don't conform to that conform to Jesus not just for your sake but Peter goes further this is not just for your sake because actually being different is not just for your blessing but being different is your calling and your responsibility being different is not just for your sake but for the sake of others he he says this in Chapter 2 he says I've lost my page he says here he is verse verse 11 dear friends I urge you as foreigners in Exiles to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul live such good lives among the pagans which is a terrible word the Pagan the Greek is just literally non-christians Gentiles live such good lives among non-christians that though they accuse you of doing wrong sometimes the difference is off puding to people but eventually they may see your good deeds and glorify God in the day he visits that even though they actually are put off sometimes they actually go but that's pretty good and maybe they even discover Jesus see what Peter's saying is as Exiles in Babylon we have to resist the temptation of Conformity where we just blend in with the crowd but equally we can't Embrace holiness and withdraw from the crowd we can't just live in a bubble we can't just move to Nashville if you're going there because God send you there awesome but I don't know about you but sometimes I'm tempted oh it be so much easier to be holy when I'm around holy people Peter says be holy in all you do among non-christians ooh oh that's tough oh that that's going to cause some bruises yeah it will it's going of course you'll need wisdom of how to do that how to navigate that but that's the calling of the Christian Community not to conform and not to withdraw but to be holy among our city so that they may see your difference and we pray be compelled to know more I wonder what it was like listening in the in amongst the sirens the sounds of bombs dropping the sounds of tears and pain to hear a chist playing amongst the rubble let our lives play a different piece of music the music of Jesus Carl Bart says the church exists let's just leave that up the whole rest of the sermon the church exists to set up in the world a new sign which is radically dissimilar to the world's own Manner and which contradicts it in a way which is full of promise this is what that calist is doing this is what our lives are to do in the city of La to play a different song this year I felt at Focus God whispered to me that we have to lean in this year to difference to lean in to the beautiful difference of Jesus to bring joy to our lives and difference to our city that they may go oh Jesus is different and we can testify and his difference is better so we're going to look at what it means to be different two of the ways which historically have always been the some of the primary ways that difference is noticed in the world is is how the people of God use their money and how the people of God treat sex it's funny isn't it because those are the two things together with power that our cultures obsessed about and so always this is why Jesus spoke on it so much if you want to really look at the difference that I bring to life then look how I treat money differently sex differently and power differently if you want the difference to be black and white then we need to live into those for our own sake for the joy of following Jesus but also for the joy of celebrating the difference of Jesus Tim Keller writes this about the early church he says the early church was strikingly different from the culture around it in this way the Pagan Society non-christians was stingy with its money and promiscuous with its body a pagan gave nobody their money and practically gave everybody their body and the Christians came along and gave practically nobody their body and they gave practically everybody their money we live in a culture that has a very defined wisdom around money sex and power I don't think anybody says it works it's a a lie and what an opportunity we have to go have you heard the teachings of Jesus in these areas that bring life now I know everyone's going really I have never had anybody ask me to preach sermons on money sex and power because we've all got a long way to go in these things and actually we've all believe the lie that the way of La is better than the way of Jesus in these areas but what do it be beautiful for our own sake and for the sake of the city to be the people of God playing The Melody of Heaven when it comes to these major categories of life I've been uh I'm going to end with this story I said it at Focus but it always showed me the power of following the ethic of Jesus with money my first boss in Ministry was a guy called Michael green and Michael was this amazing evangelist he he helped many people to discover Jesus and one day he came into the office and said oh a friend of mine just become a Christian which is awesome and we celebrated that and I said how did it happen he said well I bought a house from him I thought how on Earth did buying a house from someone mean they became a Christian he said well all started because in negotiating the contract to buy the house um you do the inspection of the house and we found a big project that needed to be fixed and that estimated it at about 20,000 so the seller reduced the purchase price by 20,000 standard right that's what happens so then he said about six months later we did the work and we got the bill and the bill actually only came to $77,000 not 20 so I found the address of the seller and I went around knocked on the door I went hi M's Michael you remember me we bought the house from me about six months ago um good news here's a check for $13,000 it only cost seven and the guy looked at Michael and went who are you what on Earth are you doing that's not how this works most 99% of people including G Jones would have just pocketed the 13,000 hey kids vacation time right but the guy said to Michael why are you doing this he said I'm a follower of Jesus this isn't my money we negotiated In fairness and I want to give you back what is yours and this is how this is how Jesus rolls he said and that started a conversation where someone was intrigued this is different and he started to come to church and met Jesus so your difference is what our city is longing for not your conformity difference is what you're longing for because the ways of this world do not bring joy and this year as a church we are delighted to go let's press it into being the beautiful worshiping melodic difference of Jesus Christ in a city of pain let's Stand Together

Channel: Vintage Church LA

Views: 1,190

Keywords: church, sunday service, live church, los angeles, santa monica, church service, prayer, kids ministry, ger jones, love your neighbor, discipleship, prayer chapel, Vintage Church LA, Vintage Church, Vintage, christian church, htb church, htb church network, vintage church network, sunday sermon, church in los angeles, livestream church service, church live now, church service live, church in la, santa monica church, church on the westside, la church, church in santa monica

Id: i_zDwEDb0aY

Length: 43min 54sec (2634 seconds)

Published: Wed May 29 2024