About the Series

Peter addresses his letter to “elect exiles.” That includes us today. Everything he has to say to us flows from this basic two-part descriptor. We are exiles here, reviled, spoken evil of, and persecuted, just as Christ was. Yet we are not mere exiles, but elect exiles. We are rejected here but specially chosen by God, just as Christ is God’s chosen. We have a living hope because we have a living Lord. More than this, we are born of a living Word for a new and beautiful way of life—a way of life that declares his praise so that people see and believe. We may be tempted to live a double life in order to avoid suffering, but Jesus calls us to a different kind of double life, to stand firm in grace and truth in an unfriendly time and place, and to do so for his praise and the advance of his name.

About the Series

When the Lord saved his people from Egyptian slavery, they sang on the beach. When David’s life came to a close, he sang of God’s mighty works. When Mary received news of God’s purpose for her to bear a child, she magnified the Lord with a song. In this series we intend to grow in our love for our Redeemer by meditating on the Bible’s songs of redemption.

About the Series

Colossians is a letter which Paul wrote to a little church 2,000 years ago—a little church which was being told that they needed to experience something in addition to Jesus. That kind of message continues to crop up today: “You need something else. You’re deficient unless you’ve done [fill in the blank].” As the Colossians needed to hear Paul’s answer, we need to hear it as well.

At the beginning of his sermon, Pastor Abe Stratton will recite the book of Colossians by memory, something he does for us from time to time.

About the Series

What does Good Friday do? What does Resurrection Sunday do? Christians down the ages have confessed faith in the crucified and risen Christ. We believe that the death and resurrection happened and that this truth is precious. But when the Apostle Peter speaks of these events, he speaks to those who already believe them. Why then does he write? He writes to show how the death and resurrection of Christ change all of life and our life together as a church. In this short series we consider two passages from 1 Peter 1 in order to live in light of the death and resurrection of Christ.

About the Series

This is a two-part series in which we focus our attention on God’s global purposes for the nations. Paul writes to the Romans because he wants them to share in his passion for reaching the unreached with the gospel. He wants to be sure that, in preparation for his coming to them and partnering with them, they are a gospel driven congregation. What does that look like? This is true when the spread of the gospel among the nations is our primary ambition as a church. We want to see churches established among those who have limited or no access to the gospel. We want to see those churches led by their own people and replicating without outside help. We will then, like Paul, mangify the mercy of God. 

About the Series

In Mark 8, the Apostle Peter correctly identifies Jesus with the famous words, “You are the Christ” (8:29). Peter believed Jesus was the Christ promised in the Old Testament Scriptures. But Peter did not fully understand the mission of the Messiah, who would come to suffer for his people. In this short series, we draw from Old Testament Scriptures to explore the fullness of that confession, a confession on which the church of the Lord Jesus is built.