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—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
(NIV – 1 Peter 1:3-51 Peter 1:3-5
English: World English Bible - WEB
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

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A grumpy believer? It's a contradiction in terms

Sophocles, a Greek philosopher and playwright in 496 to 406BC wrote, “Not to be born at all – that is by far the best fortune; the second best is as soon as one is born with all speed to return thither whence one has come”.

To the gentiles, the world was a place where everything decayed and faded away. There could be moments of pleasure but in the end there was nothing.

Peter describes the lives of those who have received a new birth from God as a living hope. That was a unique and distinguishing characteristic of the believer from those without hope. Even though our world was shrouded in difficulties, we have every reason to be optimistic. To be a negative believer is a contradiction in terms.

How’s your living hope going? Has the negative view of the world around you taken hold of you and swallowed your hope alive? Christians, let’s be optimistic because of the hope that is in you, the salvation of your souls and the inheritance that is being guarded by the power of God.

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1 Peter 1:1; 11 Peter 1:1; 1
English: World English Bible - WEB
Peter’s First Letter ^{1 1} Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, Peter’s First Letter ^{1 1} Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as strangers in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled in his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied. ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy became our father again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in heaven for you, ⁵ who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been put to grief in various trials, ⁷ that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— ⁸ whom not having known you love; in whom, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory— ⁹ receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹ searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. ¹² To them it was revealed, that not to themselves, but to you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into. ¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, Literally, “gird up the waist of your mind” be sober and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— ¹⁴ as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.” ¹⁷ If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as strangers here in reverent fear: ¹⁸ knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a faultless and pure lamb, the blood of Christ; ²⁰ who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of times for your sake, ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God. ²² Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently: ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. ²⁴ For, “All flesh is like grass, And all of man’s glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls; ²⁵ But the Lord’s word endures forever.” This is the word of good news which was preached to you.

WP-Bible plugin Peter 5:12-14r 5:12-14
English: World English Bible - WEB
12 Therefore, as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned. ¹³ For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.

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This is the introduction of a series from the book of 1 Peter.

A. The Writer
Peter.  Originally his name was Simon, but Jesus changed it to Peter (Rock).  
In Acts 4:13Acts 4:13
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13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus.

WP-Bible plugin, had a reputation of “unlearned and ignorant men”.
Peter was a fisherman.  (smelled of fish)
Walked on Water
Had problems with his mouth and emotions. In a time of greatest crisis in the Lord’s life, he let him down, big time.
Teachable.  (student applying for a job. “I’m not a leader, but I think I’m a good follower.”  Reply, “We have 59 leaders applying for 60 jobs. I’m sure we have room for 1 follower.”)
He’s an apostle of Jesus Christ.  One with a message.  It’s a message from Jesus Christ.
It’s a message he has personally lived. Peter had walked through the school of hard-knocks.  There was authority in what he said because his life showed it.

Written in 63-64AD. Probably a brief time before his execution in Rome. Upside down on a cross.

B. The Recipients
God’s elect.  Christians
Scattered strangers. All through Turkey

All had one thing in common: Trouble
(15x and used 8 different words to describe it.)
1. Suffering because of living godly lives.
(2:19-23; 3:14-18; 4:1-4; 15-19)
2. Suffering for  the name of Christ. (4:14)
3. Suffering under unsaved people. (3:9-10)

C. Message
It’s a message of hope to those in trouble.  It’s a message about grace.  The message of hope is that God’s desire is to turn our trouble into glory.  But crises do not automatically bring glory to God or blessings to others.   Sometimes we faint and fall in times of trial and have brought shame to the name of Christ.

Joni Earekson / Tim Hansel

Trouble is inevitable but misery is a choice. We cannot avoid pain, but we can avoid joy. God has given us such immense freedom that he will allow us to be a miserable as we want to be.

We all know some people who spend their entire lives practising being unhappy, diligently pursuing joylessness. 

The grace of God  Perhaps no one ever completely understands it.  Why?  I think it’s for a number of reasons. 

1. We get stuck in the surface of life.  We get caught doing & stop the being element of our faith.
2. Our insistence on self-sufficiency.  A  tendency that detours us from a greater sense of completeness than we would ever imagine.
2 Corinthians 12:92 Corinthians 12:9
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9 He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me.

WP-Bible plugin “”My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
3. Our avoidance of pain. We equate pain with failure and defeat.

If you’re living a crisis, 1 Peter is a book to study. God’s grace gives hope to every aspect of life. Salvation, living the Christian life, hope for the family, work, & Church. 
1 Peter 1:71 Peter 1:7
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7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—

WP-Bible plugin “These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold..(your trial impacted faith)
1 Peter 5:12-141 Peter 5:12-14
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12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. ¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son. ¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

WP-Bible plugin…”I have written
1. Encouraging you
2. Testifying that this is the true grace.
3. Stand in it.

Men seek an explanation of suffering in cause and effect.  They look backward for a connection between prior sin and present suffering.  God’s grace looks forward in hope and seeks explanations, not so much in origins as in goals.  The purpose of suffering is seen, not in its cause, but in its results.  The man in John 9:3John 9:3
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3 Jesus answered, “Neither did this man sin, nor his parents; but, that the works of God might be revealed in him.

WP-Bible plugin was born blind so that the works of God could be displayed in him.

How does God want to display himself in you and me?

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