In Romans 15:14-26, Paul explained his ministry as a presentation of the nations to God though presenting the Gospel of God to the nations. He also expressed his pioneering desire always to push out into new territory. Although our church is not in completely new territory, we share something of the pioneering spirit of Paul as we go out to take the gospel to those who have not heard. Today we celebrated God’s work among us during our first year and reminded ourselves of the great mission he has for us.

Human beings love using metaphors, comparisons between two things that are unlike to bring out some special way in which they are alike.  In I Peter 2:4-12, the author piled on a series of metaphors and quotations from the Old Testament to explain, first, who Christ is and, second, who Christians are.  The first metaphor he used was that Christ is a living stone, the cornerstone in fact.  Christians in turn are built upon him as living stones and are also a chosen race, a holy and royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, and God’s people.  All of these privileges are the result of God’s mercy not of Christian’s merit.

Although we may not long to be holy as much as we long to be hopeful (see last week’s sermon), the way Peter describes holiness in I Peter 1:13-2:3 shows how very beautiful and attractive it is, not only for us but also for everyone around us.

Recognizing the key role that hope plays in our lives, we encourage each other by saying, “Keep your hopes up!”  We also realize that a situation is lost if someone gives up hope.  With so many difficulties in our lives, we need hope to keep going.  In I Peter 1:3-12, God calls his people to be a hopeful people, but not based on wishful thinking but on his own work for us.

To start the year, we are studying Peter’s first letter by beginning with I Peter 1:1-2.  In each section, we will see how he describes the people of God.  In his greeting, Peter calls Christians “elect exiles,” which is a curious expression that mixes something positive (elect, chosen, selected) with something negative (exiles, driven out, rejected).  As it turns out, God’s election makes his people exiles in this world, and Peter reminds us that it is our call to live our lives as those who are in the world but not of the world.

In order to prepare for the happiest 2018 possible, we ended 2017 focusing on God’s word and how we hear it, looking at Jesus’ Parable of the Sower in Mark 4:1-20.  Nothing will be more beneficial to our lives, our family, and our happiness than careful attention to God’s word.  As a church, we are joining together to read the New Testament during 2018 following this plan.

At first glance, it looked like Matthew made a big mistake in his genealogy of Jesus by placing him in the line of David, since he admitted that Jesus was born of Mary, not of Joseph.  In Matthew 1:18-25, he went on to explain how Jesus was conceived and what role Joseph played in his life, which in turn explains how Jesus entered the line of David.  He also revealed the meanings of the two names of Jesus, which tell us who he is and why he came.

If genealogies are not the most engaging reading, why would Matthew begin his history of Jesus with one in Matthew 1:1-17?  Actually, genealogies can be very engaging if we find in them connections with our story.  Because Matthew wanted to connect Jesus with Jewish people, he emphasized Jesus’ descent from the patriarch Abraham and from King David.  At the same time, he included some fascinating details that connect Jesus not only with Jewish people but with all of us.

In Jonah 4, we find the most successful preacher of his day angry enough to die after his greatest triumph, because God had done in Nineveh exactly what Jonah had suspected he would do.  In this final chapter, God presented two arguments to teach Jonah about compassion, the same two arguments that still hold for us who have received God’s compassion in Christ.

In Jonah 3, we find that God did not give up on Jonah or on the people of Nineveh, which encourages us to believe that he has not given up on us either.  Upon hearing Jonah’s preaching of impending destruction, the Ninevites surprised everyone by believing God and turning from their sins to him.  According to Jesus, they became an example for later generations of what it means to repent.  God’s response to them is also an example of how he treats all who turn from sin to him with faith.