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It’s easy to talk about loving people until someone gives us a reason not to. In “Called to Bless,” Pastor Nate explores 1 Peter 3:8–12 and our calling to love one another and bless those who hurt us. Through compassion, humility, and words that build others up, we can reflect Jesus even in difficult relationships. Because He has shown us grace, we can extend that grace to others, pursue peace, and trust God with the outcome.

In 1 Peter 3:1–7, Peter shows us what faithfulness to Jesus looks like in the closest relationships of our lives. Rather than grasping for control, followers of Jesus are called to live with honor, surrender, courage, and Christlike love. In marriage, and in every close relationship, our lives should put Jesus on display.

In this teaching in our series Living Between Two Worlds, Peter calls believers to follow in the suffering footsteps of Jesus. As a royal priesthood, we put God on display by how we respond to hardship. Instead of retaliation, we entrust ourselves to God, knowing our Shepherd can redeem our wounds and restore us when we wander.

How do we follow Jesus when people treat us unfairly? In 1 Peter 2:13–21, Peter calls us to honor others and keep doing good, even when they don’t deserve it. As we continue Living Between Two Worlds, we explore how belonging to Jesus shapes our response to unjust authority and mistreatment. Following His example, we can refuse revenge, trust God with the outcome, and point others to Jesus, even when doing the right thing comes at a cost.

Who am I? Where do I belong? What am I here for? In 1 Peter 2:4–10, Peter answers these enormous questions by pointing us to Jesus, the living Stone. In Him, God gives us a new identity, builds us together as His people, and gives us a new purpose. We are living stones in His spiritual house, a royal priesthood called out of darkness and sent to proclaim His goodness. Our identity, belonging, and purpose are not achievements; they are gifts of God’s mercy.

We are constantly craving something: relief, approval, success, better circumstances, or simply the hope that something will finally make us feel okay. In 1 Peter 2:1–3, Peter shows us that some cravings leave us empty and even make us spiritually sick, while God offers us something that truly nourishes and grows us. This message is about learning to crave the Lord above everything else and discovering that real satisfaction is not found in getting more things from God, but in getting more of God.

Everything around us changes. People break promises, circumstances shift, and even our feelings rise and fall. In 1 Peter 1:23–25, Peter reminds believers living as exiles that our new life does not rest on our performance or emotions, but on God’s enduring declaration: the good news of Jesus. This message explores why God can be trusted when life feels uncertain and how His faithfulness gives us confidence in our forgiveness, salvation, and eternal future. What God has declared lasts forever, so your hope in Jesus is secure.

We all want to experience genuine love, but too often our love becomes conditional, transactional, or focused on what we can receive. In 1 Peter 1:22, Peter calls followers of Jesus to love one another sincerely and fervently, with a love that stretches beyond feelings, convenience, and self-interest. Because Jesus has loved us extravagantly, we can receive His love and allow it to overflow through us into the lives of others.

In 1 Peter 1:13–21, Peter calls followers of Jesus to live like their hope is real. Because this world is not our permanent home, we must resist being shaped by its desires, priorities, and definitions of success. Instead, we are called to live as holy nonconformists, trusting our Heavenly Father, remembering that our lives matter eternally, and recognizing the immeasurable price Jesus paid to redeem us. We do not live holy lives to earn God’s love; we can live holy lives because we have already been loved and redeemed.

In 1 Peter 1:10–12, Peter reminds us that our living hope in Jesus is not wishful thinking. For generations, prophets searched the promises God had given about the coming Messiah, longing to understand the salvation we now see fulfilled in Jesus. What prophets anticipated and angels marvel at, we have received. Because Jesus fulfilled what God promised, we can trust God’s faithfulness even when life feels uncertain, anchor our hope in what He has already done, and confidently follow Him with our future.

Thank you for the quick response. It looked like my text hadn’t gone through, so I followed up by email as well. Please keep us posted as you hear more. Hope you have a great 4th!

In a world where so many of our hopes eventually disappoint, God offers something radically different—a living hope. In this message from 1 Peter 1:3-5, we'll discover that because Jesus rose from the dead, our hope is alive, our inheritance is secure, and God Himself is faithfully keeping us until the day we see Him face to face. As we continue our series, Living Between Two Worlds, we'll be reminded that even while living as exiles in this world, we can face an uncertain future with confidence because our ultimate hope is found in the resurrected Christ.