Facing Fiery Trials [1 Peter 4:12-19]

Facing Fiery Trials [1 Peter 4:12-19]

By Pastor Jason Lim We must be prepared for suffering. Peter tells us how: 1. BE READY Do not be surprised. Christians are strangers to the world, suffering witnesses to others, and suffering leads to glory. Trials reveal the genuineness of our faith. 2. BE REJOICING Suffering for Christ shows that His Spirit rests upon us. Believers may look forward to joy when Jesus returns. 3. BE RESOLUTE Do not quit or be ashamed. Glorify God in Jesus’ name. Remain steadfast, persevere, endure, and do good. 4. BE RELYING As Jesus entrusted Himself to the Father, so must we. Faith enables us to endure suffering. Instead of resenting, rejecting, resigning, or retreating, be ready, rejoicing, resolute, and relying. This is holy living amid hostility.

The Father’s Role in the 21st Century [Ephesians 5 & 6]

By Pastor Paul Choo God established the family and appoints fathers to play a vital role in its spiritual direction and well-being. A father’s leadership, however, is not about control or status, but loving sacrifice, faithful example and service modelled after Christ. Drawing from Ephesians 5–6, the presents the memorable formula “GO SLOW” for building a healthy, God-honouring family. Give thanks, practise the biblical “one-anothers,” submit to one another out of reverence for Christ, exercise loving leadership, and obey parents in the Lord. Gratitude can reshape the atmosphere of a home, while mutual submission transforms relationships. Husbands are called to love their wives sacrificially, parents must nurture rather than provoke their children, and children are called to honour and obey their parents. Ultimately, fathers influence their families most powerfully not merely through what they teach, but through what they consistently model.

Exilic Life in the Light of Eternity [1 Peter 4:7-11]

By Pastor Jason Lim Christians live in a hostile world. Our savior was hated. We will be persecuted too. But we respond by focusing on our: 1. VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD We are to be clear-minded about the return of Jesus, who will judge all things. We are to be prayerful for the sake of our purity and perseverance. 2. HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHURCH Jesus' return should lead us to love one another earnestly. We show hospitality and serve one another with our gifts. We are so prone to believe that what God is after in us is only huge acts of service. But God really intends for the Christian life to be a long journey of small, humble, and joyful obedience. May God be glorified in His church!

Armed to Suffer Well [1 Peter 4:1-6]

By Pastor Jason Lim There is only 1 command in this passage- to arm ourselves with the Jesus way of thinking to suffer well. Why? 1. EXAMPLE OF CHRIST Whilst it is never easy to suffer, it's easier knowing we are not pioneers, but followers of suffering. 2. EXPECTATION OF CONFLICT The world around us hates Christ and His church. Persecution is not strange, because we have become strange to the world. 3. EXONERATION OF THE CHRISTIAN Whilst the world may judge us, God will vindicate us, and raise us to new life, like how He raised Jesus in the Spirit. As Christ suffered before us, let us suffer well: do good, bless others, trust God, and glorify Him through the way of the cross.

The Way of Jesus: Victory Through Suffering [1 Peter 3:18-22]

By Pastor Jason Lim Suffering is not a curse. It is the path of Jesus. Peter thus exhorts his readers to endure, to do good: 1. PROCLAMATION. Jesus, after His death & resurrection, proclaimed His victory, by the Spirit, to fallen angels in Tartarus. 2. PROTECTION. Peter uses the same Noahic story to show just as God saved the 8 in the ark from the waters, He will save His people in Christ from His judgment, through Christ’s death & resurrection. 3. PRE-EMINENCE. Jesus shows that suffering injustice is the path to glory. God wants us to be priests who glorify him. And it is via surprising ways of submission and suffering.