1 Peter

It is always bittersweet to end a book of the Bible, and we are approaching our final sermon in our series on 1 Peter. You may understand what I mean by "bittersweet" – reflecting on these words that God inspired to be written, delivered to us through a faithful brother named Peter so many years ago, words that Christians have reflected on for centuries upon centuries… it is a special thing to dwell in God's Word, and I pray this letter has been as much of a blessing to you all as it has been to me. You may have seen the joke about Paul's letters, that they all follow a similar format: —Greetings, it's Paul; —look to Christ, treasure the gospel; —Immediately stop doing those bad things and love each other, or I will come there myself; —also, some friends say hello. As far as a brief summary of an epistle goes, it's actually not bad! Peter will be ending his letter in a similar fashion – with a conclusion, some greetings from friends and a sort of benediction – but this conclusion isn't simply "filler." These conclusions are very important, so we'll take some time to reflect on this one as we close our series.

We conclude our section in 1 Peter 5:5-11, and we're specifically looking at verses 8-11. This is one of those passages that I love because it reminds us that there is far more to this world than we see. There are spiritual forces at work that we're not always aware of, and we are called to be on guard against and even resist those forces of evil. It is a potent reminder that behind the songs we sing and the Scripture we read and the prayers we pray, there is a spiritual battle raging. And we will win, because Christ is victorious.

This Sunday we're in 1 Peter 5:5-7, as I had to slow down a bit on our normal sermon schedule and take two weeks on a passage I planned to do in one Sunday (5:5-11). There are two themes that fit quite well for our church in this passage: clothing ourselves with humility, and finding comfort in the mighty hand of God.

This Sunday's passage is a bit of encouragement to elders, but I hope no one thinks that means this passage "doesn't apply" to them if they are not an elder! Elder leadership is an important biblical principle for Christians to understand. Our church is an elder-led church, which means we are led by elders who exercise spiritual oversight, and also led by deacons who serve the body. Our elders shepherd souls, and our deacons steward needs. In particular, Peter speaks about the elders who are "among you." You should know your elders, and elders should know their people! Elder leadership is a very personal business, and it's important for us to encourage a biblical view of eldership. Our culture has unfortunately become fascinated by "celebrity pastors" who preach at a distance, whereas Scripture leads us to see elders as shepherds who work among their own people. Also, many things in Peter's message remind me that our church should primarily be thinking "locally." Elders have a responsibility outside the local church, but their primary focus and attention is within that local body. In the same way, our church should have its primary attention locally—shepherding our own people well here at home, partnering with local ministries and churches, and evangelizing the local community (communities) in which we reside. Ministering locally is an important focus.

This week we turn back to 1 Peter 4, where the focus is once again on suffering. If that sounds familiar, you're not mistaken—Peter returns to this theme quite repeatedly. But he does so deliberately, because the threads that are woven throughout this letter are meant to bring us to a place where we can find joy even in the midst of suffering. This will be an encouraging passage.

This Sunday we're picking back up in our study of 1 Peter—which is a fitting moment to jump into a Bible reading plan for 2026 and begin the year grounded in God's Word!

Joshua P. Howard - 1 Peter

It has been a tremendous joy to have several baptisms this month, and we are looking forward to more next month as well! I love seeing baptisms in our church, and it is the sort of thing we should look forward to and pray expectantly for (including for adult converts, which should be our constant prayer!). But it is also a great time for us to be reminded of who we are as baptized Christians. I will likely never forget this phrase in our Standards, because it was an unfamiliar phrase to me at the time that tripped me up during my theological examinations (upon my entrance into the PCA)… yet one that I have grown to love: How is baptism to be improved by us? To me, this sounded strange, since we cannot "add value" to our baptism—but that's not the meaning of the question. This is the older sense of the word "improved," and it is asking how we can "profit from" our baptism, or "make use of" the weight of our baptism. It asks what the continuing effects are from our baptism. If you have never read Larger Catechism #167, I encourage you to do so! It will undoubtedly encourage you as much as it has for me. Since this Sunday's message will be focusing on the theme of baptism, we will be considering what baptism is, and reminding ourselves along with Shorter Catechism #94: Q: What is Baptism? A: Baptism is a sacrament, wherein the washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, doth signify and seal our ingrafting into Christ, and partaking of the benefits of the covenant of grace, and our engagement to be the Lord's.

One of Peter's admonitions to us in this passage is to always be prepared to "make a defense" to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that is in us. This word for "defense" (apologia) is where we get the word for "apologetics," which is the study of how to defend the Christian faith. I find it fascinating that Peter – a man who knew all too well the feeling of being unprepared to defend the faith – writes to believers with the encouragement to learn from his example. To be faithful, and even in times of suffering!

In the aftermath of the Protestant Reformation, the city of Geneva (where John Calvin ministered) adopted the city motto post tenebras lux, meaning "out of darkness, light." There are good biblical roots for this phrase (Isa 9:2; John 1:5), but this was how those Christians viewed what God had done during the Reformation—it was a time of great darkness, yet God used faithful Christians to shine a great light into that darkness. That's what we celebrate every October: it's not a veneration of men, but it is a celebration of the work God accomplished by using faithful Christians to bring gospel light into great darkness. This is an ongoing task of the church. In our passage this week, we will hear Peter speak of honoring Christ in your heart as holy, and being always prepared to make a defense for the hope that is within you (1 Pet 3:15). This is an ongoing part of the task of the Christian Church until Christ returns: holding fast to our historic and ancient faith, guarding against error that frequently rises, and doing so with joy and faithfulness.

We are in a section of 1 Peter that discusses unity, which should make a lot of sense if you consider where we have been thus far in our text. Peter has gone through several categories of submission, and he now leads into a passage about unity. When we do not submit to the authorities that God has placed over us, we will not find unity. Unity is something that is so precious to the Church, and it is something that is so fragile when we allow our sin to fester and threaten it. It's important to note that unity is built on truth, which is why Peter mentions turning away from evil. Unity is not the "end goal," in other words, nor is unity achieved for its own sake—unity is supposed to be the fruit of us following Christ while anchored in truth! That is one of the reasons we cannot only exegete passages, but we actually have to apply those passages. As a spirited Puritan named Matthew Henry observed about this passage: "The business of a faithful minister is to apply general truths to the particular condition and state of his hearers." Application is always where the offense can come in, but it is always worth it. We want to pursue unity, which means we want to pursue truth, and we want to faithfully apply that truth in our lives.

We are tackling one of the more controversial passages in Scripture: 1 Peter 3:1-7. But notice that it's not a controversial passage because of the history of interpretation or the nuances of the original languages… in fact, this passage is actually pretty straightforward. Rather, this passage is controversial for the same reason passages like Romans 9 or John 6 are controversial at times—we simply struggle with what it says. That makes my task straightforward, which is simply to faithfully exposit and apply Scripture to the best of my abilities. But I think it also makes our task straightforward, which is to let God's Word abide deeply in us, and not to chafe against God's good and kind instruction. There are a great many other passages that speak about husbands and wives. We could look to Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, 1 Corinthians 7, Hebrews 13… and there is a very good reason that Scripture speaks of husband and wife so often! The family is the building block of culture—think of the household as that most basic building block of human society, and the dynamic of husbands and wives is at the core of it. So much so that Christ describes Himself as a bridegroom to His bride the Church—Christ is reconciling all of creation to Himself, and He is doing so in union with His bride (2 Cor 5:17-19). So, let's make our application of this passage start with the household of God—one of the best ways you can encourage the Bride of Christ is to be hospitable to others, starting with those in fellowship here at New Covenant.

This Sunday we have something truly unique on the calendar—an event that none of us will want to miss or take for granted. It's the sort of significant moment that we should be preparing ourselves (even now) to celebrate together. This Sunday, the Pittsburgh Steelers will be playing against the Minnesota Vikings in Dublin, Ireland. I'm also told that this is the first NFL game to be played in Ireland, which is quite historic as well! Dublin is certainly a beautiful place—I have never seen the stadium, but Marci and I were able to visit Dublin early in our marriage while visiting family in Germany. Now, just to be clear—the football game isn't the event I had in mind. In fact, it doesn't even come close. What I was pointing to is this: on Sunday, we get to gather as the people of the almighty God, hear His Word, sing His praises, and celebrate the infinite love that He has promised to shower upon us for all of eternity. The setup here was a bit playful (corny even?), but I am so very serious about the point—this Sunday, we get to fellowship with God. That is what makes every Sunday so incredibly special.

This Sunday, our series in Peter begins hitting some of the application that flows from what has come before. Specifically, we will be told to "submit" in the coming passages, which is a word many of us probably don't like very much. Peter calls us to submit to authorities who rule and govern over us (which we will cover on Sunday), we will discuss servants submitting to their masters, wives submitting to their husbands, etc.  Peter points out the reason we submit as well—it is because we belong to Christ, and Christ has shown us what submission looks like. This is why the first two chapters spoke so much about Christ: so we would look to Christ when we consider our submission to the authorities God has placed over us.  None of these things make sense if God is not sovereign. If rulers and authorities were simply random occurrences and God was not sovereignly orchestrating such things, we would have very little reason to want to submit to them. But because God is sovereign, we know that we can trust that God is in control of all things, and we can find what biblical submission looks like.  I pray that these sections of 1 Peter would be an tremendous encouragement to us. We are living through tumultuous times, but we serve a God who is a firm and steady anchor for our souls, and a Rock upon which we find sure footing. I pray that we would look to Christ and anchor our hope in Him.

Joshua P. Howard - 1 Peter

Joshua P. Howard - 1 Peter

As we are settling into the Fall, and you're breaking out your plaid shirts and crock pots, I want to encourage you all to make fellowship a priority in your home this year. I don't say this because I think we're deficient in that area; I say this because I am constantly reminded of how vital it is that churches encourage fellowship with one another. For one thing, it's important to obey the biblical commands of being hospitable to one another. But further, it is vital for a church body to be in regular fellowship for the health of its unity! We often do fellowship things "as a church," and those are wonderful times (the upcoming pig roast, for example, is going to be great). But fellowship is the sort of thing that happens best when it also happens outside "official" church times, when fellowshipping together is simply part of our lives as believers. Disconnectedness is bad, and it produces bad things—a healthy church is one whose people regularly eat, laugh, and spend time together. So, despite the business of our schedules, consider how you might be able to encourage fellowship here at New Covenant this year!

Joshua P. Howard - 1 Peter

We are beginning our time in 1 Peter this Sunday, and I am greatly excited to begin this series with you all. Each series through a book of the Bible is a journey we get to share together, and let me plead with you to read along with us as we take that journey! As with everything in worship, preaching is not a "passive" activity; the sermon is a time where we are called to "prepare" ourselves for the sermon text beforehand, and them take care to apply biblical lessons afterward. Peter will begin by addressing exiles, and we spent some time looking at that theme previously from Exod 19. However, there is something bigger at work in Peter's letter that I hope you do not miss: we are not exiles because we are separated from God, nor are we exiles because this world is of no consequence. Rather, we are exiles because we are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. That identity will be a major key for us as we move forward.

Church life is about more than what we do on Sundays at 10:15am, and that's a good thing. Much of what knits us together as a church happens in those other times of the week—inviting other families over for a meal, gathering for activities that we can enjoy together, praying with our children and in our homes, and those quick calls or texts of encouragement from others... those "little" things are so vitally important for the church community. But also, what we do on Sunday mornings is absolutely, vitally important. In fact, we should take special care of what we do during our gathered times of worship, which is why we will take one final look at that topic before beginning 1 Peter, as this Sunday we consider "The Shape of our Worship." Over the past few months, we've made small adjustments to the flow of worship here at New Covenant. These changes have come after months of prayer, discussion, and careful planning by the Session, and our intent has always been to first address these matters from the pulpit and then continue to explain and reflect on them as we move forward together. This Sunday is an effort toward that end, and we certainly hope to continue having these conversations whenever helpful! We all hold strong convictions about worship, and those convictions don't always align perfectly with others—but those convictions still matter. What we do in worship (and why we do it) is significant, because our shared desire is to worship God faithfully, in the way that He calls us. We can be mindful to distinguish between preferences and convictions with these things, which is a huge help in being gentle with our brothers and sisters who strive to do likewise.