Manuscript Template
Title (written around problem being solved): Can I follow Jesus without going to Church?
Problem I’m Trying to Solve / Answer: Living a Christian life in isolation.
Focus Statement: The community of faith becomes “the temple of the living God, embodying God’s presence in the world.
Function Statement: Believers do not grow up to salvation independently, but as “a community where members are fastened to Christ as the stones of a temple to the cornerstone.”
Tweetable Phrase:
Main Text: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Supporting Text:
Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus): John 15:1-17
Benediction: Romans 8:5-14 / Galatians 5:16-25 / Romans 6:11-14
WELCOME
Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.
Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.
And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.
ME/INTRO - Tension
I want to start with a question...
When you are under pressure, when life feels like it’s squeezing you from all sides, what comes out of you?
Said another way.
How do you respond when things don’t go your way?
They say the pulpit is not a place for therapy, but today I guess today it will be a place of confession.
Last weekend after church, Ellie and I went for a run. We ran the same route we have run many / many times before. We run on the Indian Creek Trail because we like the fact that there are tunnels under the roads so we don’t have to worry about traffic. Last Sunday, we were running along and we came to one of those tunnels. It’s roughly 50’ long, all concrete. I was in the middle of the path a I always am so Ellie can be on the outside, just in case there is a crazy bicyclist that races up on us without warning. When we were 1/2 way through the tunnel, it wasn’t a bicycle that raced up on us, it was a mini-motor cycle. And he was flying. He has plenty of room to get around me, and honestly I didn’t have time to give him any more because he was going so fast. What he did do, was blow an air horn he had right in my ear as he passed me. Remember, we were inside of a concrete tunnel.
I had AI try to recreate the scene. Here is what it came up with. Not perfect, but pretty close.
[image: running air horn]
I am not proud of it, but at that moment a little French came out of me.
Without thinking I yelled, “What the @#*% are you doing”.
This was a roughly 35 year old man on mini-motor cycle air horning runners for fun on a public running trail in concrete tunnels.
Needless to say, he didn’t care about my response, just just flicked us off and kept riding his bike.
Since last week, Ellie found out this happened to her friend’s mom as well.
I have thought about that moment a lot this week.
I was embarrassed for swearing in front of Ellie.
I was a bit shocked that that it even came out of me, as I feel like I am pretty calm in most situations.
Yet, on Sunday, when put under pressure, that is what came out of me.
WE - Tension
And if I were to ask, probably many of us have had similar experiences.
Maybe you...
The reality is that this none of this is unique. Strongly reacting to stress is common to us all.
Wayne W. Dyer, an author of 40 books on self-development and spiritual growth writes:
When you squeeze an orange, you’ll always get orange juice to come out. What comes out is what’s inside. The same logic applies to you: when someone squeezes you, puts pressure on you, or says something unflattering or critical, and out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, tension, depression, or anxiety, that is what’s inside. If love and joy are what you want to give and receive, change your life by changing what’s inside.
– Wayne W. Dyer
Even Peter,
Peter
When Peter was under pressure, ...
Yet, even with all these negative actions LEAKING out of Peter,
Peter was chosen to be the rock that Jesus would build His church upon
Peter wrote the book of 1st Peter to help Christians suffering from pressure, trials, and persecution to
So as we continue our study of 1st Peter entitled “Strangers” with the goal of learning to “Follow Jesus in a world that doesn’t understand us”, we are going to continue to build on the foundation of what Peter has already taught.
Peter started by laying the foundation of who we are - affirming our IDENTITY in Christ
Peter built upon that foundation by explained what God has already done for us as a result of the NEW BIRTH we have recieved upon putting our faith in Jesus Christ - giving us a LIVING HOPE, a HEAVENLY INHERITANCE, and SALVATION
Peter then described what the BEST LIFE looks like for a Christian - a life of OBEDIENCE, SELF-CONTROL, DETERMINATION, NON-CONFORMITY, and a life of HOLINESS.
After Peter provides all the building materials for constructing THE BEST LIFE last week,
Peter is going to show us HOW to put it all together and BECOME a Christian living that BEST LIFE.
If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.
As we begin, please turn with me to [1 Peter 2:1-10: Sanctuary Bible Page # 981]
We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.
AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.
Let's dive in.
GOD - Text - HEAD
Rid Yourselves
Let’s start in 1 Peter 2:1 which reads
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”
To BECOME a Christian living that BEST LIFE that Peter describes, we need to to RID OURSELVES of everything that doesn’t honor God.
The word Rid in Greek is apotithēmi which literally mean to stop/remove/take off, it was regularly used when describing the removal of a piece of clothing
Not requiring a lot of work, thought, or effort - simply removing what is no longer serving us - just like we remove dirty clothes at the end of the day.
As Christians, this means that we are called to REMOVE all attitudes that are inconsistent with the character of God and commands from God.
The bible has quite a few lists of traits that we must remove from our lives, but here Peter decides to list these traits for a specific reason.
The traits that Peter says we are to get rid of are
So, to have a healthy community, Peter says that we need to rid ourselves of
1 Peter 2:1 “1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”
And Peter ends this verse with the phrase “of every kind”.
Peter doesn’t list each way that these attitudes can be expressed through our behavior,
Instead Peter, lists the attitudes we need to remove, and leaves it up to us to think through how these attitudes have taken shape in our lives.
But, let’s be honest with ourselves...riding ourselves of these attitudes is extremely hard.
Because, we can sit here and honestly say that these are terrible things that we don’t want in our lives,
But when the pressure is on, when we are squeezed, when our stress levels rise, these stop looking like terrible things to avoid and start looking like a tempting strategy to cope with life’s challenges.
That is why we are all guilty of acting these out.
In the short term, they make us feel better,
but the long term cost is not worth it.
And that is why Peter calls us, as Christians to rise above the temptation to react to the pain we feel when hurt by others.
Peter wants us to remove these attitudes and sinful responses from our lives completely.
Peter calls us to abandon a life of sins that aims to harm other people,
and instead pursue a life of love seeking only what is good for others.
So, how do you respond when the pressure is on and your stress is high?
What attitudes and habits do you have in your life that do not honor God?
How do these attitude and habits express themselves through your behavior?
Crave Spiritual Milk
The reality is, there can be no spiritual growth as long as we tolerate sin in our life
Removing these undesired behaviors seems like it should be easy, because most of us probably genuinely don’t want to have those attitudes and habits in our lives.
But if you’ve ever tried to break a habit, you know that breaking an engrained habit is really hard
Peter knows this.
Because in the next few verses, Peter gives us two things we can do to successfully RID OURSELVES of the sin in our lives.
The first thing Peter tells us that we need to do o RID OURSELVES of everything that doesn’t honor God is to CRAVE SPIRITUAL MILK.
1 Peter 2:2–3 reads
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Peter is saying that we can’t just stop our bad habits, we need to replace them with a new habit - the desire for Jesus
This strategy of replacing bad habits with good habits is confirmed with modern science.
Habits are comprised of three stages
[Image: Habit loop]
The process of breaking habits is what Psychologists call the habit loop replacement strategy
[Image: habit loop replacement strategy]
So to RID ourselves of everything that doesn’t honor God, we need to REPLACE the relationship destroying attitudes and habits in our lives with a new desire.
A desire for SPIRITUAL MILK.
Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 5:6
“6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
The Psalms put it this way in Psalm 119:103
“103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Growth in faith requires intentional consumption of God’s truth.
We get RID of the bad attitudes and habits in our lives, by REPLACING them with the SPIRITUAL DISIPLINES
And Peter intentionally uses the word CRAVE, which is the Greek word epipotheō, which is translated as to long for or have a deep desire for
We are to CRAVE time with God though the Spiritual Disciplines - because only that is strong enough to break the bad attitudes and habits in our lives.
I personally think about this like water.
Normally, I don’t much like water.
When I want to drink, I am always tempted to drink the unhealthier options - typically pop or lemonade.
But when it is hot, and I just finished a run, and I am severely dehydrated, there is nothing that I want more than water.
In the same way Peter knows that what we need is SPIRITUAL MILK - time with God - practiced through the Spiritual Disciplines
And look how Peter finishes the verse.
1 Peter 2:2–3
“2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
The craving that we are called to have for God’s truth is based on the experiences we already have.
God commands us to REMEMBER what He’s done 250 times throughout the bible.
One such place is 1 Chronicles 16:12 which reads
“12 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,”
When life gets overwhelming, you feel the pressure of life pushing on you, and your stress level is higher than you can bear,
Don’t react with the relationship destroying vices that make you feel good in the short run, but cause long term pain
Instead, before you get stressed, build the new habit of filling yourself with SPIRITUAL MILK - CRAVE regular time with God by...
So that, when you find yourself in high pressure / stressful situations, you can replace those relationship destroying vices with God honoring choices.
So, when life is going well, what are you CRAVING?
What are you filling yourself with?
If you are not filling yourself with God’s truths, do you honestly expect any real change to occur?
Living Stones
The second thing Peter tells us that we need to do to RID OURSELVES of everything that doesn’t honor God is to TAKE OUR PLACE WITHIN HIS CHURCH.
1 Peter 2:4–5
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
If we want to RID ourselves of the ATTITUDES and HABITS that dishonor God, we need to make Jesus, the resurrected LIVING STONE, the foundation of our entire lives.
Matthew 21:42 describes it this way
“42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone
Cornerstones are hugely important in building.
They are the first stone placed in the building and control the design and placement of every other stone.
Here is an image of one.
[image: cornerstone]
When we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our LORD and SAVIOR, as Peter writes, we become LIVING STONES as well, joining Jesus in His community of believers.
As a Christian, Our fate is determined by our relation to Christ.
We either see Christ as a precious cornerstone and let Him determine how we live our lives,
or we stumble over him, rejects him, and choose to be eternally separated from God and His people.
As Believers we do not grow in our faith independently, but as a community where every Christian is connected to Christ as the stones of a temple are connected to the cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:19–22 reads
“19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
We cannot live the BEST LIFE God created us to live alone.
So who do you give control of your life to?
Are you connected to Christ and to other believers?
Do you allow Christ to guide and direct your every step?
Do you look to the apostles and prophets as examples of what a Godly life looks like?
Do you allow other Christians to speak into your life; encouraging you, supporting you, and calling you out when you stray?
YOU - Takeaway - HEART
WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action - HANDS
To BE the person you were created to be
To LIVE the BEST LIFE you were created to live
To DO everything God created you to do
You need to be connected to Christ and build the habit of filling yourself with SPIRITUAL MILK.
In John 15:1–4 Jesus teaches that
“1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
If we try to live life isolated from Christ, we cannot be the people we were created to be.
CLOSING
Because living a God honoring life by our own strength it is impossible.
We cannot RID OURSELVES of every attitude and habit in our lives that dishonor God, by ourselves.
We need God’s help. We need to be connected to Christ - our living Cornerstone
We need the HOLY SPIRIT living inside of us, teaching us, guiding us, reminding us, correcting us, and rebuking us.
One thing about the gospels that has always stood out to me, is that until the last week of Jesus’ life, Judas would probably not the disciple that I would have imagined was most likely to betray Jesus.
Remember...Peter was the disciple that rebuked Jesus, thought he knew better than Jesus, and denied Jesus.
Judas was the responsible disciple that watched over the money.
Peter made a lot of mistakes, but no matter how far he drifted, he CRAVED Jesus.
When Jesus’ teaching got tough and many disciples left, Jesus asked the 12 disciples if they wanted to leave too.
Peter responded in John 6:67–69, it reads
“67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.””
Peter struggled at times, but he CRAVED the life that Jesus offered
And we can see the change in Peter.
After Pentecost, when Peter received the Holy Spirit, Peter changed.
Peter shows us in this passage that to live the BEST LIFE that we were created to live:
So, I ask you, what do you CRAVE?
And I invite you, this week, to start the process of living the BEST LIFE we described last week.
But to do that, just like Peter we all need to change, and we can only change by letting the HOLY SPIRIT into our lives and replacing our ATTITUDES and HABITS that hurt ourselves and others, with the TRUTHS of God.
So, as a church, let’s all commit to humbling ourselves, admitting that there is stuff within us that we need to get RID of, and submitting to the Holy Spirit’s work
PRAYER
Will you join me in prayer...
SONG
As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who feels God calling them to respond to today’s message.
If today is the day that you put your faith in Jesus, please come see me afterword. I’d love to walk with you as you start your new life in Christ.
You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.
BENEDICTION
Romans 6:11–14
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
This week...
Quick reminder...
I hope you have a great week.
Go in peace.
You are dismissed.
DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)
How can we work together as a community to rid ourselves of negative attitudes that harm our relationships?
What specific spiritual disciplines can you commit to this week to cultivate a deeper craving for God's presence?
In moments of pressure, how can we remind ourselves to respond with love rather than anger?
What does being a 'living stone' in the church look like in your daily life?
How can you intentionally engage with others in the church to foster accountability and support?
What are some common pressures you face, and how do you usually respond?
Can you identify a time when you acted in a way that didn’t reflect your values? What would you do differently now?
How can you prioritize your relationship with God in a busy or stressful week?
In what ways can you connect more with friends in your church community?
What does it mean to you to crave 'spiritual milk'? How can that look in your life?
Title (written around problem being solved): Can I follow Jesus without going to Church?
Problem I’m Trying to Solve / Answer: Living a Christian life in isolation.
Focus Statement: The community of faith becomes “the temple of the living God, embodying God’s presence in the world.
Function Statement: Believers do not grow up to salvation independently, but as “a community where members are fastened to Christ as the stones of a temple to the cornerstone.”
Tweetable Phrase:
Main Text: 1 Peter 2:1-10
Supporting Text:
Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus): John 15:1-17
Benediction: Romans 8:5-14 / Galatians 5:16-25 / Romans 6:11-14
WELCOME
Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.
Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.
And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.
ME/INTRO - Tension
I want to start with a question...
When you are under pressure, when life feels like it’s squeezing you from all sides, what comes out of you?
Said another way.
How do you respond when things don’t go your way?
They say the pulpit is not a place for therapy, but today I guess today it will be a place of confession.
Last weekend after church, Ellie and I went for a run. We ran the same route we have run many / many times before. We run on the Indian Creek Trail because we like the fact that there are tunnels under the roads so we don’t have to worry about traffic. Last Sunday, we were running along and we came to one of those tunnels. It’s roughly 50’ long, all concrete. I was in the middle of the path a I always am so Ellie can be on the outside, just in case there is a crazy bicyclist that races up on us without warning. When we were 1/2 way through the tunnel, it wasn’t a bicycle that raced up on us, it was a mini-motor cycle. And he was flying. He has plenty of room to get around me, and honestly I didn’t have time to give him any more because he was going so fast. What he did do, was blow an air horn he had right in my ear as he passed me. Remember, we were inside of a concrete tunnel.
I had AI try to recreate the scene. Here is what it came up with. Not perfect, but pretty close.
[image: running air horn]
I am not proud of it, but at that moment a little French came out of me.
Without thinking I yelled, “What the @#*% are you doing”.
This was a roughly 35 year old man on mini-motor cycle air horning runners for fun on a public running trail in concrete tunnels.
Needless to say, he didn’t care about my response, just just flicked us off and kept riding his bike.
Since last week, Ellie found out this happened to her friend’s mom as well.
I have thought about that moment a lot this week.
I was embarrassed for swearing in front of Ellie.
I was a bit shocked that that it even came out of me, as I feel like I am pretty calm in most situations.
Yet, on Sunday, when put under pressure, that is what came out of me.
WE - Tension
And if I were to ask, probably many of us have had similar experiences.
Maybe you...
- have given into road rage when another driver cut you off
- can only stand so much disobedience from your kids and have been known to erupt, yelling at them, responding in anger rather than love
- are more passive aggressive and slam doors or punch the walls when things don’t go as you hope
- get defensive really quick, struggling to take criticism, and turning the blame back on others
- just can’t deal with the stress and pressure, go silent, and walk away from problems, leaving them unresolved
- push everyone away when things don’t go right and just deal with whatever is happening yourself, refusing to let others help
- To be honest, this is my default.
The reality is that this none of this is unique. Strongly reacting to stress is common to us all.
Wayne W. Dyer, an author of 40 books on self-development and spiritual growth writes:
When you squeeze an orange, you’ll always get orange juice to come out. What comes out is what’s inside. The same logic applies to you: when someone squeezes you, puts pressure on you, or says something unflattering or critical, and out of you comes anger, hatred, bitterness, tension, depression, or anxiety, that is what’s inside. If love and joy are what you want to give and receive, change your life by changing what’s inside.
– Wayne W. Dyer
Even Peter,
- Disciple of Jesus
- One of Jesus’ inner 3
- Rock and Leader of the early church
- And the author of the book we’re currently studying
Peter
- In Mark 9:5-6, thought it was a good idea to interrupt Jesus, Moses and Elijah’s conversation at the Transfiguration, asking if he should build them a shelter
- In Matthew 16:22-23, when Jesus is predicting his suffering and crucifixion, Peter rebukes Jesus, telling him that it “shall never happen”, which prompts Jesus to call him Satan
- In Matthew 26:33, at the Last Supper, Peter confidently declares that he would never deny Jesus, even if that meant his death
- In John 18:10, when Jesus is being arrested, Peter takes out a sword and cuts off the ear of the high priests servant
- In Matthew 26:69-75, when asked if he knew Jesus, Peter denies Jesus 3x, just after saying he would never deny Jesus even if it cost him his life
When Peter was under pressure, ...
- he CLUELESSLY couldn’t stop talking
- he NAIVELY thought short term, losing sight of the big picture
- he ARROGANTLY made grand statements about himself
- he ANGRILY suffered from a homicidal rage
- he FEAREFULLY failed to live up to being the person he claims he is
Yet, even with all these negative actions LEAKING out of Peter,
Peter was chosen to be the rock that Jesus would build His church upon
Peter wrote the book of 1st Peter to help Christians suffering from pressure, trials, and persecution to
- BECOME who they were created to be
- REACT in ways that honor God
- SERVE those who need the love of God in their lives
So as we continue our study of 1st Peter entitled “Strangers” with the goal of learning to “Follow Jesus in a world that doesn’t understand us”, we are going to continue to build on the foundation of what Peter has already taught.
Peter started by laying the foundation of who we are - affirming our IDENTITY in Christ
Peter built upon that foundation by explained what God has already done for us as a result of the NEW BIRTH we have recieved upon putting our faith in Jesus Christ - giving us a LIVING HOPE, a HEAVENLY INHERITANCE, and SALVATION
Peter then described what the BEST LIFE looks like for a Christian - a life of OBEDIENCE, SELF-CONTROL, DETERMINATION, NON-CONFORMITY, and a life of HOLINESS.
After Peter provides all the building materials for constructing THE BEST LIFE last week,
Peter is going to show us HOW to put it all together and BECOME a Christian living that BEST LIFE.
If you missed the previous messages, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.
As we begin, please turn with me to [1 Peter 2:1-10: Sanctuary Bible Page # 981]
We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.
AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.
Let's dive in.
GOD - Text - HEAD
Rid Yourselves
Let’s start in 1 Peter 2:1 which reads
“Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”
To BECOME a Christian living that BEST LIFE that Peter describes, we need to to RID OURSELVES of everything that doesn’t honor God.
The word Rid in Greek is apotithēmi which literally mean to stop/remove/take off, it was regularly used when describing the removal of a piece of clothing
Not requiring a lot of work, thought, or effort - simply removing what is no longer serving us - just like we remove dirty clothes at the end of the day.
As Christians, this means that we are called to REMOVE all attitudes that are inconsistent with the character of God and commands from God.
The bible has quite a few lists of traits that we must remove from our lives, but here Peter decides to list these traits for a specific reason.
The traits that Peter says we are to get rid of are
- Community destroying vices
- They are the attitudes that tear people apart, that drive wedges between people
- And sadly, the attitudes that are most tolerated by the modern church
So, to have a healthy community, Peter says that we need to rid ourselves of
1 Peter 2:1 “1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”
- Malice - the intention or desire to cause harm, injury, or pain to another person
- Deceit - the act of hiding the truth or causing someone to believe something that is false
- Hypocrisy - the practice of claiming moral standards, religious beliefs, or virtues that one does not genuinely possess, or acting in direct contradiction to one's own stated beliefs
- Envy - a painful or resentful emotion that happens when you lack another person's quality, success, or possession and want it for yourself
- Slander - Slander is a form of defamation that occurs when someone makes a false spoken statement to a third party that damages another person's reputation or character
And Peter ends this verse with the phrase “of every kind”.
Peter doesn’t list each way that these attitudes can be expressed through our behavior,
Instead Peter, lists the attitudes we need to remove, and leaves it up to us to think through how these attitudes have taken shape in our lives.
But, let’s be honest with ourselves...riding ourselves of these attitudes is extremely hard.
Because, we can sit here and honestly say that these are terrible things that we don’t want in our lives,
But when the pressure is on, when we are squeezed, when our stress levels rise, these stop looking like terrible things to avoid and start looking like a tempting strategy to cope with life’s challenges.
That is why we are all guilty of acting these out.
In the short term, they make us feel better,
but the long term cost is not worth it.
And that is why Peter calls us, as Christians to rise above the temptation to react to the pain we feel when hurt by others.
Peter wants us to remove these attitudes and sinful responses from our lives completely.
Peter calls us to abandon a life of sins that aims to harm other people,
and instead pursue a life of love seeking only what is good for others.
So, how do you respond when the pressure is on and your stress is high?
What attitudes and habits do you have in your life that do not honor God?
How do these attitude and habits express themselves through your behavior?
Crave Spiritual Milk
The reality is, there can be no spiritual growth as long as we tolerate sin in our life
Removing these undesired behaviors seems like it should be easy, because most of us probably genuinely don’t want to have those attitudes and habits in our lives.
But if you’ve ever tried to break a habit, you know that breaking an engrained habit is really hard
Peter knows this.
Because in the next few verses, Peter gives us two things we can do to successfully RID OURSELVES of the sin in our lives.
The first thing Peter tells us that we need to do o RID OURSELVES of everything that doesn’t honor God is to CRAVE SPIRITUAL MILK.
1 Peter 2:2–3 reads
“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
Peter is saying that we can’t just stop our bad habits, we need to replace them with a new habit - the desire for Jesus
This strategy of replacing bad habits with good habits is confirmed with modern science.
Habits are comprised of three stages
[Image: Habit loop]
- Cue or trigger
- Routine or action
- Reward
The process of breaking habits is what Psychologists call the habit loop replacement strategy
[Image: habit loop replacement strategy]
- When we try to break a habit by simply trying to "stop" it creates a vacuum. The brain still craves the underlying reward (such as stress relief, a dopamine boost, or a break), and willpower is not enough to fight off the craving - so we eventually give in.
- Research from the National Institutes of Health shows that bad habits are never truly erased from the brain - no matter how long it has been since you last gave into them
- The only way to break the habit is to build a competing new neural pathway (a new habit) that suppresses the old one.
- We do this by isolating the reward our brain is seeking and finding a healthier way to get that reward
- Substituting a positive behavior when triggered "interferes" with the brain's autopilot system and stops it giving into the original craving or temptation, breaking the bad habit.
So to RID ourselves of everything that doesn’t honor God, we need to REPLACE the relationship destroying attitudes and habits in our lives with a new desire.
A desire for SPIRITUAL MILK.
Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 5:6
“6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
The Psalms put it this way in Psalm 119:103
“103 How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
Growth in faith requires intentional consumption of God’s truth.
We get RID of the bad attitudes and habits in our lives, by REPLACING them with the SPIRITUAL DISIPLINES
- Reading God’s word
- Praying
- Journaling
- etc.
And Peter intentionally uses the word CRAVE, which is the Greek word epipotheō, which is translated as to long for or have a deep desire for
We are to CRAVE time with God though the Spiritual Disciplines - because only that is strong enough to break the bad attitudes and habits in our lives.
I personally think about this like water.
Normally, I don’t much like water.
When I want to drink, I am always tempted to drink the unhealthier options - typically pop or lemonade.
But when it is hot, and I just finished a run, and I am severely dehydrated, there is nothing that I want more than water.
- Pop doesn’t satisfy
- Lemonade doesn’t satisfy
- I have a longing for and a deep desire for water, because that is what my body needs
In the same way Peter knows that what we need is SPIRITUAL MILK - time with God - practiced through the Spiritual Disciplines
And look how Peter finishes the verse.
1 Peter 2:2–3
“2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
The craving that we are called to have for God’s truth is based on the experiences we already have.
God commands us to REMEMBER what He’s done 250 times throughout the bible.
One such place is 1 Chronicles 16:12 which reads
“12 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,”
When life gets overwhelming, you feel the pressure of life pushing on you, and your stress level is higher than you can bear,
Don’t react with the relationship destroying vices that make you feel good in the short run, but cause long term pain
Instead, before you get stressed, build the new habit of filling yourself with SPIRITUAL MILK - CRAVE regular time with God by...
- Reading your bible daily
- Meditate on God’s word throughout the day
- Pray continually
- Sit in silence - Listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit
So that, when you find yourself in high pressure / stressful situations, you can replace those relationship destroying vices with God honoring choices.
- You can be calm in the storm
- You can respond in love, not anger
- You can enjoy long term joy, instead of short term justification
So, when life is going well, what are you CRAVING?
What are you filling yourself with?
If you are not filling yourself with God’s truths, do you honestly expect any real change to occur?
Living Stones
The second thing Peter tells us that we need to do to RID OURSELVES of everything that doesn’t honor God is to TAKE OUR PLACE WITHIN HIS CHURCH.
1 Peter 2:4–5
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
If we want to RID ourselves of the ATTITUDES and HABITS that dishonor God, we need to make Jesus, the resurrected LIVING STONE, the foundation of our entire lives.
Matthew 21:42 describes it this way
“42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “ ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone
Cornerstones are hugely important in building.
They are the first stone placed in the building and control the design and placement of every other stone.
Here is an image of one.
[image: cornerstone]
When we put our faith in Jesus Christ as our LORD and SAVIOR, as Peter writes, we become LIVING STONES as well, joining Jesus in His community of believers.
As a Christian, Our fate is determined by our relation to Christ.
We either see Christ as a precious cornerstone and let Him determine how we live our lives,
or we stumble over him, rejects him, and choose to be eternally separated from God and His people.
As Believers we do not grow in our faith independently, but as a community where every Christian is connected to Christ as the stones of a temple are connected to the cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:19–22 reads
“19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.”
We cannot live the BEST LIFE God created us to live alone.
- We need Christ to guide and direct our every move.
- We need the apostles and prophets to serve as an example of how to live and confirm that living a Godly life is possible
- We need each other to encourage, support, call out our blind spots, and hold us accountable.
So who do you give control of your life to?
Are you connected to Christ and to other believers?
Do you allow Christ to guide and direct your every step?
Do you look to the apostles and prophets as examples of what a Godly life looks like?
Do you allow other Christians to speak into your life; encouraging you, supporting you, and calling you out when you stray?
YOU - Takeaway - HEART
WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action - HANDS
To BE the person you were created to be
To LIVE the BEST LIFE you were created to live
To DO everything God created you to do
You need to be connected to Christ and build the habit of filling yourself with SPIRITUAL MILK.
In John 15:1–4 Jesus teaches that
“1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”
If we try to live life isolated from Christ, we cannot be the people we were created to be.
CLOSING
Because living a God honoring life by our own strength it is impossible.
We cannot RID OURSELVES of every attitude and habit in our lives that dishonor God, by ourselves.
We need God’s help. We need to be connected to Christ - our living Cornerstone
We need the HOLY SPIRIT living inside of us, teaching us, guiding us, reminding us, correcting us, and rebuking us.
One thing about the gospels that has always stood out to me, is that until the last week of Jesus’ life, Judas would probably not the disciple that I would have imagined was most likely to betray Jesus.
Remember...Peter was the disciple that rebuked Jesus, thought he knew better than Jesus, and denied Jesus.
Judas was the responsible disciple that watched over the money.
Peter made a lot of mistakes, but no matter how far he drifted, he CRAVED Jesus.
When Jesus’ teaching got tough and many disciples left, Jesus asked the 12 disciples if they wanted to leave too.
Peter responded in John 6:67–69, it reads
“67 “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.””
Peter struggled at times, but he CRAVED the life that Jesus offered
And we can see the change in Peter.
After Pentecost, when Peter received the Holy Spirit, Peter changed.
- Acts 5:29 - we see Peter going from fearful denial of Jesus -> fearlessly refusing to disobey God even when facing persecution
- Acts 3:6 - we see Peter going from acting with physical violence in the garden -> walking with spiritual authority and being used by God to heal a man, helping him walk again
- Acts 2:14-41 (Pentecost) / Acts 15:7-11 (Council at Jerusalem - salvation by grace through faith) - we see Peter going from speaking out of turn at the transfiguration -> Speaking Holy Spirit Inspired Theological Wisdom - confirming salvation comes by grace, through faith - not actions
- Acts 5:41 - we see Peter going from overconfident boasting at Passover meal -> enduring real suffering - even rejoicing after being arrested, imprisoned, and flogged
Peter shows us in this passage that to live the BEST LIFE that we were created to live:
- We need to get rid of everything that does not come from or honor God
- We need to fill ourselves with only what is God honoring
- We need to be part of a community, led by Christ, to help us
So, I ask you, what do you CRAVE?
And I invite you, this week, to start the process of living the BEST LIFE we described last week.
But to do that, just like Peter we all need to change, and we can only change by letting the HOLY SPIRIT into our lives and replacing our ATTITUDES and HABITS that hurt ourselves and others, with the TRUTHS of God.
So, as a church, let’s all commit to humbling ourselves, admitting that there is stuff within us that we need to get RID of, and submitting to the Holy Spirit’s work
- Filling ourselves with the truths of God
- BECOMING the people God created us to be
- Living the BEST life God created us to live.
PRAYER
Will you join me in prayer...
SONG
As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who feels God calling them to respond to today’s message.
- Maybe as you think about ...how you react when under pressure and stress - you need to come up and repent to God for all the ways that you have acted upon the temptation to behavior in ways that destroy your relationships
- Maybe as you think about ...what you crave - you need to come up and pray to God to grow in you a true desire for His word and help you build the habit of engaging in the Spiritual Disciplines
- Maybe as you think about ...the church - you need to commit to engaging at a deeper level here at the church - joining a group - allowing others to get to know the real you - and asking them to hold you accountable to living the life that God is calling you to live.
- Or maybe, you heard this message and you haven’t yet put your faith in Jesus as your LORD and SAVIOR. Maybe you need to pray to God
- Admitting that you are a sinner and need forgiveness
- Verbalizing your Belief in Jesus as the Son of God, who died on the cross paying the penalty for your sins, and rose from the dead on the third day giving your hope of an eternal life with God in Heaven.
- Confessing that Jesus is your LORD and SAVIOR
If today is the day that you put your faith in Jesus, please come see me afterword. I’d love to walk with you as you start your new life in Christ.
You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.
BENEDICTION
Romans 6:11–14
“In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”
This week...
- Let’s stop reacting to the pressures and stresses of life with relationship destroying behaviors.
- Let’s commit to journeying down the path toward living the BEST LIFE that God created us to live
- Let’s RID OURSELVES of all MALICE, DECEIT, HYPOCRISY, ENVY, and SLANDER
- Let’s commit to filling ourselves with the TRUTHS of GOD through intentional practice of the SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES
- Reading your bible daily
- Meditate on God’s word throughout the day
- Pray continually
- Sit in silence - Listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit
- Let’s look to Christ as our LIVING CORNERSTONE - guiding and directing every action of our lives
- Let’s take our place within Christ’s church - engaging with the community to encourage, help, and hold each other accountable to living the BEST LIFE that we were created to live.
Quick reminder...
- Thank you to everyone to helped during our fall cleanup - the south lot looks so much better and some much needed projects were completed within the building
- Next week you are all welcome to come to our house for the Chief’s game vs the Bronco’s - we’d love to have you over if you don’t already have plans
- If you’re new, please fill out the card in the seat back and stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.
- If you’d like to get more information about taking your next step of faith, fill out the card in the seat back and give it to me or turn it in to the info desk.
I hope you have a great week.
Go in peace.
You are dismissed.
DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)
How can we work together as a community to rid ourselves of negative attitudes that harm our relationships?
What specific spiritual disciplines can you commit to this week to cultivate a deeper craving for God's presence?
In moments of pressure, how can we remind ourselves to respond with love rather than anger?
What does being a 'living stone' in the church look like in your daily life?
How can you intentionally engage with others in the church to foster accountability and support?
What are some common pressures you face, and how do you usually respond?
Can you identify a time when you acted in a way that didn’t reflect your values? What would you do differently now?
How can you prioritize your relationship with God in a busy or stressful week?
In what ways can you connect more with friends in your church community?
What does it mean to you to crave 'spiritual milk'? How can that look in your life?