This new unit of lessons places our focus on being an authentic church.  We are to be built on Christ.  We are to be sharing Christ with others as we continue to concentrate daily on growing personally in Christ.  We are to offer to God our most sincere worship.  We are to move out daily in service to Christ with the Holy Spirit as our helper and guide.  As a body of believers, we are to practice “doing” life together as we minister and serve in our Jerusalem, our Judea, our Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the world.  In our case, we are in the fourth year of our partnership with the Spencers in Cambodia. 

An authentic church must be built on the only true foundation.  The foundation is CHRIST Himself.  He is the cornerstone.  We are the living stones.  Michael Card—my favorite songwriter, poet, author and amazing theologian—wrote a book about the life of Simon Peter.  He entitled his book “The Fragile Stone.”  What a word picture he captured with that name.  We all pray to be firm faith-ers and faithful follow-ers of Jesus.  We all have our fragilities!!! 

We can’t fix that…but we surely know the One Who Can.

Peter was the disciple who managed to mess up in word and in deed during the ministry of Christ on earth.  We find much comfort in the fact that at least Peter SHOWED up even if he FLUBBED up!  As we study this passage of scripture of Peter’s letter to the scattered believers in Asia Minor, we are reminded that Peter’s growth as a disciple manifested in his life after the ascension and was proven as he became the bold gospel declarer soon after the arrival of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  The rugged old fisherman was hooked on what happened on the old rugged cross.  He truly became a major fisher of PEOPLE just as Jesus had said he would.

In our scripture passage for this week, Peter (probably writing from prison in Rome shortly before his execution in the 60’s) has spent chapter one reminding the persecuted believers to concentrate on being strong in Christ, to daily walk toward personal spiritual maturity and to live life mission focused.  These people are being reminded that they are Christ loved and blood bought. 

My outline for this lesson is:
What to PUNT
What to PRIZE
What to PURSUE

Even as scattered as they were because of persecution in the first century, they were to be living “set apart” lives of spiritual distinction.  In these 12 verses of 1 Peter 2, they were to PUNT malice (wickedness), guile (deceit), hypocrisy (play acting), envy (jealousy), evil speaking (so do you really need a definition for that?), disobedience (knowing truth and putting it aside) and fleshly lusts (follow your own desires to please yourselves). 

They were to PRIZE their blood-bought salvation.  The precious blood of Jesus purchased them out of the slave market of personal sin and redeemed them.  The Old Testament prophets had forth told that Jesus would come and make a way for believers to be in relationship to God through the cross.  They were to long for the pure milk of the WORD of God.  They were too steep themselves in it like a delicious cup of tea. They were to prize their status as “chips” off the Cornerstone. Authentic believers are part of the spiritual house of God.  Stone by stone, Jesus was building His church to stand firm through the ages.  They were to prize the glorious mercy that they had received as the people of God.  They were to prize their calling from God to move from darkness to light. 

They were to PURSUE a daily, vital, intimate relationship with Christ through his Word and through the Holy Spirit living in them.  They were to be built up as a spiritual house. They were to recognize their calling as priests of this gospel of Jesus Christ.  Just like the priests in the Old Testament, their job was to be the one to stand in the gap between lost people and the Lord and do everything possible to connect people to the Creator.  By living the life and by sharing the truth, they were to show people The Father.  They were to help them find the way to the same Jesus they had come to know, love and serve.  Verse nine says we are to “proclaim the excellencies of Him Who has called us!” 

This passage closes with a final exhortation: “keep your behavior excellent” among the Gentiles.  This word “gentile” means anyone who is not a JEW or a believer in Jesus.  Our behavior can do more harm than good.  We MUST live what we preach, or our preaching AND our living is in vain.  An authentic church will PUNT, PRIZE and PURSUE.  I desperately want to be a part of an authentic church.  How about you?