NHCC Sermons & Teaching New Horizons Christian Church

James 4:14b, What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

At the beginning of 1 Peter, the author, one of Jesus’ disciples, reaches out to a community of believers spread throughout the known world. It’s likely these believers were Gentiles and citizens of the Roman Empire, but Peter calls them “God’s elect exiles.” They are God’s chosen foreigners who have been scattered and dispersed throughout the Empire and, their other shared experience was that they had been enduring all kinds of hardship.

Every believer in Jesus is an exile. No Christian has citizenship in this world because God has chosen to give us a Kingdom in Him. Peter adds we’ve been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for both obedience and sprinkling with blood (1 Peter 1:2). Each of those phrases is another way to tie Gentiles into the story of God’s chosen people.

Because of these things, it is inevitable that we will face different kinds of hardship, but those hardships themselves can serve a purpose in our pursuit of holiness. The sobering truth is that if we never deal with hardship, we may not be pursuing a life of holiness strenuously enough.

Timothy 2:13, …if we are faithless, He remains faithful—
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Join us this Sunday as we kick off a new sermon series over the book of 1 Peter entitled "Holy Living in a Hostile World." In a society that often opposes our beliefs, this series will explore how we can live out our faith boldly and authentically.
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In this first week, Frank presents an introduction to the book, the circumstances surrounding its writing, as well as a look at the author himself, Peter, and how his relationship and calling from the Savior affected him as a follower of Jesus Christ. Circumstances that help to shape his message to Christians then and today.
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Since this week’s message is merely the introductory message, it would be a great chance for you to invite someone not only this week but next week as well as we start digging into the Word in a little deeper.

Acts 4:20, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
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Easter (Resurrection Sunday) has ended. The pictures have been taken to commemorate the day. Perhaps, families have gathered and now gone home. A week is passed and now we head back to church on Sunday.
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Of course, the significance and impact of the Christ’s Resurrection has not diminished. The promise that was fulfilled in the empty tomb has not suddenly become nullified, nor has the miracle somehow lost its amazement.
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But has anything changed for us? Admittedly, we would hope so, but that really truly depends on us. The aforementioned significance and impact on those first century Christians was obvious. They simply could not stop talking about it and telling others about it. Why? Because the power of the Resurrection was and is life-changing. The truth of it begs for testimony from those whose lives have been changes and for those whose eternity has been secured.

Revelation 21:5, And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
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One of the incredible truths about Christ’s resurrection is that it confirms for us that such resurrection is not only possible, but promised through His grace. Of course, until that time comes when we have resurrected bodies, we have the opportunity and directive from the Father to be more like Christ.
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As Frank will illustrate on Sunday through his message, when we accept Christ’s offer of forgiveness, we are not done. We continually work toward becoming more and more a reflection of our risen Savior.

John 3:3, Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
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When we consider Christ’s love for His bride, the church, it can sometimes be easy to forget that He has a great compassion for each of us individually. There are many stories of phenomenal growth in the New Testament church. Yet, within all these stories of the crowds of people coming to accept Christ as Savior, there is one tucked into Acts chapter 8 that reminds us of each person’s importance.
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This Sunday, Frank focuses on this unique conversion story in his message. Its two-fold lesson highlights the importance of of both the one sent with the Gospel and the one who needs to hear that same call to grace and salvation.

Philippians 2:14-15… Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…
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Often, when we face criticism, the knee-jerk reaction is to become defensive and, possibly to begin pointing a finger at the flaws of our critic. Mind you, it is not necessarily a good thing is someone is constantly critical of others, nor is all criticism constructive. In fact, some criticism can be rather destructive.
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So how should we respond to criticism as a believer in Christ. First and foremost, we need to humbly consider if the criticism is in any way, warranted. We cannot presume in our pride, that we are somehow beyond reproach and have nothing in our lives worthy of criticism.
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Also, even in those moments when we deal with people who are being critical of us or or actions without merit, we are still called to be forgiving as our Father is forgiving—remembering that we have also had our moments of weakness when we may have unjustly criticized someone else.