Chosen!

Flow of 1st Peter:

• Written to 5 Roman Provinces: Pontus, Bithynia, Asia Minor, Galatia, Cappadocia to encourage persecuted Christians
• Peter tells them 3 things: 1. Find security in God; 2.Suffering comes with territory (1 Peter (Acts 5.29); 3. The highest call of God is to use our gifts to serve (1Peter 4 & 1 Peter 5 we’re told to shepherd the flock of God.)

The Truth About the Truth About You! [SLIDE #1]

Sermon Title: Chosen!

Sermon Text: 1 Peter 2.9-10

Theme: God’s covenant is relational. We can’t miss that fact. 

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• Scripture takes so much time telling us about the nature and qualities of God. (Understand qualities...and nature) [SLIDE #2]

nature: The *inherent character or basic constitution of a person or thing : essence (*it Who you can’t help being)

essence: The permanent as contrasted with the accidental element of being.

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• ☛I believe that the Father’s intent in teaching us so much about Himself is that we’d then gain a greater knowledge about ourselves by understanding our True Source [SLIDE #3]

• Because He’s great, only He can define us
• Because He defines us, no one else can limit us
• Because no one else can limit us, we soar and triumph
• Because he finds pleasure in us...our enemies are His enemies.
• Because He is Truth, we never have to doubt anything He promises.

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• Just like my DNA is in my daughter...and I didn’t actually create the process that created her. I merely participated in a process.

• God spends time articulating and then proving His nature so that in knowing Him more fully...we know more about ourselves.

• God, knowing the trickiness of the enemy and the fickleness of our own souls, decided to establish our worth in His value-of-us rather than in our ability to proves ourselves valuable.
• So that when our feelings sway...we’d remember...there’s no changing in God!

➣Today’s lesson gives you a peek into God’s true feelings about the Church and how He sees us: [SLIDE #4]

Definition of CHOSEN

: one who is the object of choice or of divine favor : an elect person

9 But you are a chosen (chosen by who?) people, a royal priesthood (Who choses priests? A priest to Whom? Priests have access to God...as granted by God), a holy nation (Who qualified us as Holy?), God’s special possession (God’s special possession as defined by God),(V) that you (Here is why all of this has been accomplished) may declare the praises (Salvation is a call to service) of him who called you out of darkness (If He calls us out...who can call us back into darkness? We did not bring ourselves out of darkness.) into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (I Pet 2.9-10)

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• God does not affirm human beings so that they can have healthy self-esteem. Nor does God really care that individuals feel good about themselves. God wants humans to know their purpose through Him and importance to Him. God is careful that humans not flaunt their innate goodness since it does not exist. Our esteem should be firmly rooted in the fact that we are loved because God IS love and has chosen to adore us, unconditionally. Our joy in life SHOULD NOT BE that we were good and have won a spot in God’s heart as a result. Our joy should be that when we were most unloveable...God overwhelmed us with His love and amazing acceptance. 
• Our response to this lavish love is a daily “Yes, Lord!” to the Father.
• This in exemplified in the notion that Christ is a living Stone...and we are living stones (due to our connection with Him!)

☛In this metaphorical description of Jesus Christ, he is called a stone:

• Invincible strength and everlasting duration
• He is their protection and security, 
•     The foundation on which they are built
•     And a rock of offense to all their enemies.
•     He is the living stone, having eternal life in himself, and being the           Prince of life to all his people. 
• Rejected by his own countrymen the Jews
• But chosen of God,  

Challenges/Next Steps: [SLIDE #5]

• Ask God to show you what your life would look like if you were to live like a true “lively stone.”
• God’s desire, via scripture, is that you’d learn about YOURSELF as Truth about His love and attributes are revealed. Commit to putting in the effort to study scripture in order to develop a God-centered “esteem” rather than one that is merit-based.
• Make the life-altering decision today that scripture STUDY is going to be a part of your successful living strategy. (Successful as defined by an alignment with God’s BEST plans, motivation and outcomes.)

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Leviticus 26:11-13 (CEV) [SLIDE #6]

¹¹ I will live among you and never again look on you with disgust. ¹² I will walk with you—I will be your God, and you will be my people. ¹³ I am the Lord your God, and I rescued you from Egypt, so that you would never again be slaves. I have set you free; now walk with your heads held high.

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