Sylvania Wesleyan Church 1
Sunday Morning 4/19

      • Psalm 116:1–2NIV2011

  • Good Morning, I am so glad that we can be here together this morning. Now there is no denying it that we all as of late have been feeling the cost of living increases over the last couple of years. Everything feels a little more expensive.
    Now, before anyone takes this the wrong direction we aren’t talking about why this has happened but we are instead just recognizing that it has happened.
    Also, I want to note that I realized something disturbing while writing this sermon. For the longest time if you asked me to think about 50 years ago my mind would immediately go to the 1950s.
    I am sure some of you can already see where I am going with this.
    However, I faced the hard truth that the 50s are 70 years ago and that when I say 50 years ago we are talking about the 1970s and i also realized that the number is getting dangerously close to my birth year. Still got a bit to go but I had a little bit of a shudder moment.
    The year is 1976.

    Apple Inc

    Apple Inc is founded, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne.

    Jimmy Carter

    Gets elected President

    Rocky

    The Underdog movie of Rocky is on the silver screen

    Bicentennial

    Bicentennial celebrations are happening across the country.
    I thought for a way to help show the cost of things and the variation that we see from then to today and I thought of the perfect item and it has a lot to do with this mornings passage.

    Gold and Silver

    Gold and Silver. As precious metals they have both maintained their value through the years and hold a special place for us.
    Many people judge the value of the dollar based on Gold alone even though we haven’t been on the gold standard for over 50 years since it ended in 1971.
    Today we value gold at an all time high of $4564.55 for one troy ounce of gold. To give some perspective. This coin right here is 1/10th of an ounce. It’s worth in just gold weight is $456. 45 It’s coin value is higher but just in raw weight this tiny coin is sold for near $500
    That is gold. Let’s talk about Silver.
    While not as valuable as God it is still a metal that is highly valued.
    1 oz of Silver today sells for $67.29
    compared to 1976 when it sold for $4.41
    That is a significant change in costs.
    What is interesting is the item itself has not changed but its Cost has. This can be caused by a number of things and I am far from an expert on them but it does show that this small amount of metal is precious to many people.
    What though does this have to do with our passage well like last week Peter continues speaking about these precious metals and their value.
    Let us read together 1 Peter 1:17-23
    1 Peter 1:17–23 NIV
    17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God. 22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
    Before we talk about v. 7 lets look at v. 18.
    1 Peter 1:18 NIV
    18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,
    I love the way the Message puts this passage.
    1 Peter 1:18 MSG
    18 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in.

    Inherited Patterns

    Life handed down from you, or the life you grew up in. These are powerful ideas. It helps us realize that we are interconnected and shaped by the way that we are raised. We don’t realize it sometimes but we inherit or are influenced by the generations before us.
    An example of this is that children in divorced homes have a 68% increased chance of getting divorced themselves. This isn’t a guarantee but they are facing challenges that others won’t.
    Want another one.
    If both parents attend church there is a 33% chance that children will continue to go to church when they get older.
    Father’s Let me take a moment with you. You are important. Don’t get me wrong our mothers are important but a mom that brings her kids to church the chances of the kids continuing to come to church when they get older varies but it is consistently reported to be less than 10%.
    Father’s on their own no matter what the mother does church attendance growing up increases to over 40%. Dad’s you make a difference more than you know.
    We aren’t bound by the patterns of our ancestors or our parents or any other factors we face in life but we can choose in our faith to come to know God and to follow after him. It is when we realize that we can start to reject the...

    Empty way of Living

    So many people when they come to Christ realize how much they were missing. In fact there are whole books written around this very premise that we have a hole in side us that until we fill it with Christ we are missing so much.
    Many people can find a life that seems to be fulfilling and satisfying but will come to a moment when they see that there is something missing or there is more to this life.
    It is this moment that we look to who Jesus is and how he fills us and changes us and shapes us into something new.
    It is now that this empty way of living starts to fade away. This is why when we read passages like v. 17 that we need to think about them.
    1 Peter 1:17 NIV
    17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

    Reverent Fear

    For some of us we look at this verse and we understand it and we get it but for many there might be some other responses.
    First, it shifts us from reverent fear to irrational fear. Fear that if we don’t live a life perfectly God is going to throw us into hell and throw away the key. This is not what this passage is saying.
    Second, I have known people who read things like this and they rebel against it. They would say who is God to judge me. Let’s be honest they often just don’t believe in God.
    Third, God’s judgement is real but his grace is so much that we all will get a get out of jail free card.
    Each of these is not what is intended in this passage.
    First, we are to fear God but because we respect, and honor who he is. He is the creator of all things. He is to be recognized that he has authority over us and we are subordinate but his love is such that he was willing to pay the price for us.
    Second, This is difficult because it requires us to get out of our own way and realize that we need him. Being under God’s judgement is not something that any of us can escape.
    Third, this one is the most challenging because we face a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s grace.
    Yes, God forgives us. Yes, God’s grace covers a multitude of things. Yet, we can’t escape things like what Peter said just a verse or two before this.
    1 Peter 1:13–16 NIV
    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. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
    We are called to be Holy Because God sent his son to die on the cross for our sins so that all could be in relationship with Him.
    We were bought with the blood of the lamb.

    The High Cost of the Cross

    The perfect lamb came to die on the cross for us. It really is a truth that hasn’t changed. That the High Cost of the cross spans the generations and calls us to realize that our faith and hope is found in God because of what Jesus did on the cross for us.
    The Message does a good job of putting it into perspective.
    1 Peter 1:18–21 MSG
    18 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. 19 He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. 20 And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. 21 It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
    Jesus paid the high price for us. The least we can do is show him the respoect and love he deserves by living a life that follows his commands and seeks to live in his fullness.
    This isn’t easy but the price has been paid. Are we willing to accept it because it was through his death that we are free.

      • 1 Peter 1:17–23NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 1:18NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 1:18NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 1:17NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 1:13–16NIV2011

      • 1 Peter 1:18–21NIV2011

Sylvania Wesleyan Church 1
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