Gracelife Sarasota

What if, I told you God says its ok to indulge the flesh with anything we want for the next 30 days? Eat or drink whatever, whenever, don’t worry about health repercussions, they aren’t important for this month. Don’t worry about sexual purity, integrity, or any biblical righteousness… for 30 days, none of that matters. Likely, if you are a follower of Jesus,, you know this is a bad idea. Even with a promise of no spiritual or earthly consequences, a follower or Jesus is repulsed by this idea, or should be. What would be the impact if we did the opposite? Intentionally pursued a list of things to make our faith stronger?

When your faith is challenged, by friends, family, or the world, how competently, confidently can you recall those things? Are you able to give a reasonable summary & defense of teachings of Jesus, & why they are reliable, trustworthy? Can you remember important things to enlighten those who don’t know truth, and encourage those who do? Of course, one person alone can’t know it all, but here are some things every follower of Jesus should remember. Things critical to our confidence, our ability to be Royal priests in a hostile world. That’s what 2 Peter is about.

Have you ever had the privilege of spending significant time with Christians in other parts of the world? Several years ago, I went on a missions trip to a mountain village in Peru, mostly native south American Indians. I spent 10 days with precious believers who loved the same Jesus I did, read the same scriptures, embraced the cross. My experience with this little mountain village church started a transformation of my understanding of the church. Those memories have helped me as we have worked through 1 Peter, I think you’ll understand why today.

A Christmas Eve message: - Did you ever receive the perfect gift? Can you remember your favorite Christmas gifts ever? For each person, the gift of faith from Heavenly Dad is unique, with exceptional circumstances, meaning, special revelation. -Sadly, over time we can forget how precious that perfect gift is, we begin to forget that very 1st day we opened it.

Imagine you’re in a burning building, & firefighters show up to rescue you, would you question their orders or direction as they tried to get you away from danger? Would you say, I don’t need trained firefighters to get out of this. All I need is God! He and I can handle anything! NO of course not, because as the heat and flames intensify, you’d be fully aware of the danger & do what they say. What about a different type of danger, what about evil? Most Christians seem oblivious to evil, ignoring or neglecting those responsible to shepherd their souls. How acute is your awareness of the forces of darkness? How can you determine if you’re living dangerously?

Have you ever heard the term “Sheeple”? What does that mean? Is it a compliment or an insult? Ever hear phrases like “dumb sheep”, or “led like sheep”? Nobody likes to be called a sheep. Sheep are very useful livestock, providing wool, protein (delish), keeping fields from being overgrown. But sheep are high maintenance, the get lost easily, and they can’t find their own way back home.- Why does Jesus call us sheep? Spiritually we’re just like sheep, easily distracted, lost, vulnerable, we need shepherds

How many sermons have you listened to in your life? Is there a way to measure how you are applying the things we learn from God’s Word into our lives? The only way to know how strong our faith is, is to play a game. We need to be tested. The problem is, too many of us are content with just practicing, rarely getting on the field to play.

Do you ever struggle with doubt about your faith in Jesus. Is heaven real? Is all this Jesus stuff legit? Is the promise of eternity w/God worthy of the sacrifices necessary for us to be a true disciple of Jesus? What if there was a way we could be reassured, even in moments of doubt, that our Jesus is reliable? What if that assurance is tied to real suffering, not suffering because of our sin, but suffering tied to Jesus? What if struggling with doubt is directly tied to how we handle suffering?

#16 in our series on 1 Peter: Preparing for future trouble is particularly important for many people. What about apocalyptic predictions or theories? Are you the person who takes them seriously? -What about biblical warnings like the “end of all things”? Should we take them seriously, or leave them for tomorrow? When it comes to preparation it’s important to know what the priorities are and make those your first focus. Related Sermons: https://tinyurl.com/MarkNo61-HopeOnAHillside https://tinyurl.com/MarkNo62-HopeInTribulation https://tinyurl.com/MarkNo63-HopeNow

Do you ever get discouraged about how often earthly passions get in the way of you Kingdom passions? How can we make sure our first priority is the Kingdom of God? Thats the question we seek to answer in week 15 of our series on 1 Peter

In this weeks sermon from 1 Peter 3:18-22, we learn about demons, the cross, Noah & the Ark, and how all of that together provides a beautiful picture of being immersed in the transformational promise God has made to redeem us. There's alot here this week, so grab a snack and settle in!

Have you ever been so passionate about something it drives you to fight for what you believe is right? Is that always the right thing to do? Are there times we should chose peace over conflict, even if we are 100% on the "right" side? We study that concept in this week's sermon from 1 Peter

Have you ever heard someone say, “I am blessed”? or “Life is good” What do they mean when they say that? Maybe it’s a job you love, financial security, a material goal like your dream car, dream house… That’s good stuff, right? In this week's sermon from 1 Peter we learn how Peter defined blessed, how to live a life "full of good days"

In this sermon from 1 Peter 3, we take a deep dive into what Peter meant when he told 1st century wives to submit to & honor their husbands and 1st century husbands to honor & cherish their wives. It's probably not what you think!

In this week's sermon from 1 Peter, we are commanded to be willing to put aside even our passion for earthly justice, for the sake of the Kingdom of God and the priesthood we have been called to.

This weeks sermon from 1 Peter focuses on Peter's command for followers of Jesus to be obedient to government, even governments we disagree with. The reason? So we can make serving the Kingdom of God our priority before anything else.

Pedro is president & founder of Urban Youth Justice, a dynamic outreach to teens across the southeast in the juvenile justice system. A member of GraceLife Sarasota, Pedro has a compelling redemption story and a powerful message about the importance of discipleship, especially among society's most neglected.

In week 8 of our series on 1 Peter we learn about the new "priesthood", how all followers of Jesus are called to relentless service, and to be a conduit of God's mercy and grace to those around us

In an emotional week for GraceLife, we start ch 2 of 1 Peter, where Peter describes God's people as "living stones" used to build a "spiritual" house of God. Its a powerful truth about loving God's people more than buildings.

The concluding verses of ch 1 of 1 Peter are some of the most beautiful, complex verses in all the New Testament. In them Peter teaches the miracle of how the Gospel has the power to purify our souls, and how the evidence of that purification is the relentless love of His church.