Elder Timothy Guess is currently bringing messages from the book of I Peter.
Peter was a pastor. He was commissioned to such by Jesus Himself in person! Peter pastorally writes to help a suffering people. He points them to the great salvation they had been given. His writing is rich with the eternal perspective of the Christian faith, which must be a support under times of great suffering. He urges them to live obediently as Christians, to live a changed life, as pilgrims who don’t find their greatest joys in this temporary life, but in their eternal inheritance. He shows them how to suffer wrong from others, to do it like Christ, without vengance. He calls them to a life where self is not number one, but a Christ-like life of submission: towards government, social/employment situation, in the home, and in the Christian community. He insists on believers genuinely loving and serving each other, and points to some specifics in church life, particularly to the elders. He exhorts them, “Tend these sheep! Help them thru this suffering life.” Quite striking, is that Peter points the readers to Jesus Christ over and over again. It is evident that he assumes these individuals personally love Jesus Christ. He points to Christ’s person and work time after time as motivation and example.