While Leviticus makes for difficult reading for people today, it contains a simple message that everyone needs to learn: God is holy, so we may approach him only in the manner he determines. In the context of Leviticus, God determined that his people approach him through a holy priest offering a perfect sacrifice.  However, the fact that the people had to offer many sacrifices through many priests over many centuries indicated that none of the sacrifices finally took away their sins.  It turns out that the whole system was pointing forward to Jesus, the only truly holy priest who offered himself as the only perfect sacrifice.

We left off the story at the end of Genesis with Joseph’s coffin in Egypt and his words about God visiting his people in the future to bring them up from Egypt.  In Exodus, we pick up the story some generations later when the Hebrews found themselves enslaved and calling out to God for rescue.  He heard them and did indeed rescue them through the agency of a man named Moses.  However, things did not go smoothly in the aftermath, which points to the fact that this visitation was not the ultimate one.  Exodus points us forward to a greater visitation and a greater rescue.

In our new series, “Building Blocks for Life,” we began at the beginning, with Genesis, the book of beginnings.  This first book of the Bible records the beginnings of the universe, humanity, marriage, the family, the 7-day week, work, rest, sin, and redemption.  It also introduces the patriarchs whose lives shaped ancient biblical history.  In its story form, Genesis answers the big questions of life: “Who is God?  Who am I?  What is my purpose?  What’s wrong with the world?  What’s wrong with me?  Why do we all have to die?  Is there any hope for me?

For Easter Sunday, we reviewed Acts 2:22-36, part of the first Christian sermon ever preached, in order to discover what are the essential points of the Christian message.  We found that it is the announcement of events that happened, not instruction about commandments to keep.  In other words, it is good news, not good advice.

In Matthew 21:1-10, we read about what is traditionally called the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, which set the stage for the events that rapidly developed over the final week of Jesus’ life on earth, because this event holds a key to understanding the events that unfolded after it.  In fact, Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem was the event that set the other ones in motion.

From Colossians 1:24-2:7, Dr. Jim Garretson explained the nature of the gospel ministry, applying lessons from Paul’s ministry to our situation at Florida Coast Church, reminding us to give thanks for faithful pastors, and calling us all to remain true to God’s purpose for the church in taking the gospel to others and building each other up in our faith.

We concluded our series with I Peter 5:1-14, in which Peter described the three ways in which God cares for his people: through the elders of the church, through the other members of the church, and directly.  The letter also ends where is began, with concepts that sum up the Christian faith and life: grace, love, peace.

In I Peter 4:1-19, Peter continued the call for us to follow Christ by living exemplary lives according to God’s will.  Above all, we are to love each other earnestly, knowing that love functions in the church to cover a multitude of sins.

Although the original readers of Peter’s letter were experiencing relatively mild opposition from their neighbors, in I Peter 3:8-22, he wanted to prepare them for worse persecution to come and the unfair suffering they would have to endure.  As in all the letter, God calls on us both to preach and to practice what we preach, no matter how others might be treating us.  In fact, when we endure unfair suffering as Christians, we receive special blessings and opportunities to demonstrate our faith.

Continuing the call to live outstanding lives among unbelievers, Peter focused his attention on wives and husbands in I Peter 3:1-7.  Although the specific instructions to wives and husbands sounded at first glance to be similar to traditional cultural norms, they were in fact radically Christian in their placing both wives and husbands under God’s authority and motivating both by the love of Christ.