July
2, 2017
“Hold firm to the faith in Jesus Who cares for us! (1 Peter 5:6)”
“Hold firm to the faith in Jesus Who cares for us! (1 Peter 5:6)”
Audio (Will be posted soon!)
Recently,
I was playing Trivial Pursuit with Sarah and we came upon a question that for
me jumped back to my childhood days in Virginia. The question was about ‘stalagmites’ and
‘stalactites’ and their differentiation.
When growing up in Virginia there were a lot of caverns in the mountains
that we toured. And one of the memories
was hearing the saying, “Stalagmites might touch the ceiling and stalactites
hold tight to the ceiling” enabling one to correctly call it by its proper name
in the cave. This morning, Peter like
the stalactites wants us to firmly ‘hold onto something’.
In
his letter we heard in the epistle, Simon Peter is attempting to instruct the
church, which is illegal at this time to remain true to what Jesus Christ had
called them to become. Hence why Peter,
the Rock upon whose confession the church would be built wrote, “Hold
firm to the faith in Jesus Who cares for us!”.
Peter
is pointing to what Jesus Christ clearly and emphatically lived while here on
earth and which Jesus Christ gave unto the people of God including His
disciples like Peter. It is a faith,
humility and trust in Jesus Christ, because not only did Jesus Christ descend
from heaven and be born of a virgin in Bethlehem, Jesus Christ died on the
Cross of Calvary to offer all of mankind eternal life.
So
powerful was the faith of Jesus Christ that He not only calls us to believe in
Him, but trust in Him for all things.
For as Peter says, we are to “Hold firm to the faith in Jesus Who cares
for us!” Jesus Christ cares so
much for us that we should not doubt, but hold firm in our faith, for Jesus Christ
is not only the author of our faith, but Jesus Christ perfected it by His trust
in His Father in Heaven. And we who gather
here can lay claim to Jesus Christ faith, through our baptism into Jesus Christ
life, death and resurrection.
There
are some who are wary of trusting in man and even God that much, because of
their own personal experiences. Yet,
Peter wants us to believe and desires for us to “Hold firm to the faith in Jesus
Who cares for us!” For Jesus
Christ cares for us so much it cannot be measured. If we truly look to the Cross of Calvary,
Jesus Christ willingness to go and die in order that we might live, should
clearly not only show us but inspire us to believe that Jesus Christ cares for
us that much.
In
today’s world, with the rise of ISIS, the clear sense of doubt in our fellow
man, whether justified or unjustified, we have only to step out in ‘faith’ and
trust in spite of what our world may be telling us. And this last week having Sky Ranch here to
minister to our community and church is a prime example and opportunity that we
have followed and ‘stepped out in faith’ in Jesus Christ and His offer of grace
and mercy, for all of mankind.
The
theme for this last week is based upon the celebration this year of the 500th
Anniversary of Martin Luther’s pounding the 95 Theses on the door at
Wittenberg. The counselors had had lots
of energy as they helped us “Rejoice”, understand how God’s Word is “Revealed”,
how we are “Reclaimed” through our baptism, how Christ “Restored” us on the
Cross, how through communion we are “Renewed” and how we are “Reformed” in
Christ’s image.
So
impactful and powerful has this week been that Emmanuel has again, been
inspired to remember, connect with the theme from this week and we can hold
onto not only Peter’s confession, but his inspiration for us to be embraced by
God’s love and look to eternal life as the gift that will never end. For truer words could not be said then what
Peter was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write.
We as the saints of Emmanuel should “Hold firm to the faith in Jesus
Who cares for us”! AMEN!
Check out Pastor on the Prairie (ProtP)
Subscribe to ProtP
No comments:
Post a Comment