1 Peter 1:17-21

Pastor Dave began by asking us to find two words in this week’s passage that seem at odds with the discussion of God’s grace and mercy in verses 3-12 of Chapter 1. Those words are judges and fear.

Dave taught that a person with a balanced knowledge of God views Him as gracious and merciful but also accepts that He judges. God the Father is not an indulgent parent who gives his child a pass for wrongdoing time after time. No, His judgment of our deeds leads to discipline intended for our good, for training in holiness. Not every painful experience in life is the Father’s chastisement of sin; sometimes it is simply the result of living in a fallen world. But it’s always good to ask: Father, this hurts. Are you using this circumstance to correct me? I don’t want to miss Your purpose for me in it. Parents need to have this perspective when they see their children – whether minors or adults – in painful circumstances. Instead of rescuing, ask: Lord, what are you trying to teach my child through this? In what direction are you trying to move him? Don’t let me get in Your way.

The apostle Peter commands us to conduct ourselves with fear. We sometimes soft-pedal the word fear by describing it as reverent and awestruck. Dave agreed that God inspires reverent fear but argued, with evidence from Scripture, that He also elicits knee-knocking, heart-racing fear. We Christians too easily slip into viewing God as the dispenser of get-out-of-jail-free cards – no fear there! – instead of viewing Him as Isaiah did. Isaiah’s response to seeing the God who was calling him to be His spokesman was, “Woe is me!” Take time this week to sit in His presence, remembering that you are a puny creature and He is a holy and fearsome God.

Dave took the idea of fear one step further and talked about the fear of failing to give proper honor and attention to Jesus, who set aside the glory that was his before the foundation of the world to come to us and sacrifice his own life, his blood, to ransom us. As an analogy, Dave imagined an inner-city, fatherless boy who had been blessed with a mentor who cared about him, guided him, and provided for him at key points in his young life. How disrespectful it would be for that mentor to be left off the guest list for the grown-up boy’s wedding! Dave asked, do we leave Jesus off our guest list and feel no fear about it? Ask the Holy Spirit to examine your daily life and shine a light on anything you engage in that you don’t invite Jesus to join. Ask Him to let you taste the dishonor, the disrespect, Jesus must feel as a result. Ask Him to change you.

Calvary Family

Pastor Dave announced that a baptism service is scheduled for November 14 and that he is leading a baptism class on October 31. Lift up believers among us who have not been baptized, especially any who have been unbaptized believers for a long time. Ask the Holy Spirit to cut through whatever excuses they’ve been making in their own minds. As I listened to Dave preach about fear, I wondered if someone’s excuse for putting off baptism is fear – fear of giving their testimony on video or fear of being dunked in front of everyone. Pray that the fear of disrespecting Jesus would far outweigh the fear of embarrassment. Pray that trepidation before baptism would be replaced by great joy afterwards.

Little Chloe Zeleke’s heart block continued last week; the upper and lower chambers of her heart were not communicating as they should, and an external pacemaker was necessary to keep her heart beating. Open-heart surgery to implant a permanent pacemaker was scheduled for last Friday at 11 a.m. When Chloe’s parents, Nate and Hannah, arrived at the hospital that morning, Nate noticed that the stats on her heart monitor were different than they’d been. A nurse dismissed it as a “glitch.” But when the heart surgeon came in to check her heart one last time before surgery, he clicked her pacemaker down a notch, and then another and another. Finally, he unplugged the pacemaker entirely and said, “She’s not having surgery today!” Hannah reports, “The doctors are shocked because they never see patients go from a complete heart block to heart beating!” Chloe is now in the step-down unit as doctors continue to closely monitor her heart rate. She is off supplemental oxygen and beginning to eat more. Join the Zelekes in praising God for this miracle, and continue to pray for 19-day-old Chloe.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert