Sunday 23 April 2023 is the Third Sunday of Easter.

The main Scripture in today’s sermon is 1 Peter 1:17-23.

Peter did not use the word ‘refugee’ for the Christians he was addressing in this – his first epistle – but he used a very similar word. He used the term ‘exiles’ in the opening sentence of his letter and in verse 17 here in our passage today he referred to ‘the time of your exile’.

Rev. Geoff McKee discusses what this means for the way Christians should relate to God, to one another, and to the world in general.

Today’s main scriptural reading

1 Peter 1:17-25 (from The Message Bible translation)
17 You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.

18-21 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.

22-25 Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,

The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers wilt,
God’s Word goes on and on forever.

This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.

Video recording of today’s service