Chosen . . . With Enthusiasm

And Peter informs them here that they were chosen by God to be the people of God as if to remind them that if before the creation of the world, God had chosen them, he was not going to lose sight of them now. It is from eternity past to eternity future. He hasn't lost sight of them, and he hasn't lost sight of you either. If he opened your blinded eyes to believe the truth of the gospel, he isn't going to stop loving you until eternity future comes to an end, and it never will. You are not an accident. You are a divine choice. [00:39:39] (53 seconds)  #ChosenByGod

to your birth, to your new birth, to every ability you have as you were formed and made, to every disability God invested in your body, to everything about your past and your present and your future. It's all according to God's sovereign plan. Nothing is missed. And lavish grace and incredible, divinely initiating love opens your eyes to see it as truth, and you believe. And you choose him because he chose you. And you know he chose you because that's the only way you would ever choose him. [00:40:50] (42 seconds)  #GodsSovereignPlan

This isn't a little postcard, you know, for a few churches. This was extensive, desperately needed revelation for thousands upon thousands of Christians who were feeling like they didn't belong anywhere, and what are they supposed to do about it? What would you say to them? How would you encourage them? Peter is saying, you might be an outsider as it relates to the kingdoms of this world, but you are an insider as it relates to the kingdom of God. [00:00:34] (33 seconds)  #KingdomInsider

But Peter here drops the definite article and uses it as as a metaphor not to refer to the scattered Jews. In his mind, he's referring to Gentiles and Jews who now form this scattered community called the church, and you will always be in the minority. Scattered like seed. Wherever the wind seems to take them, wherever they can find a place to settle down and survive, it's gonna get tougher. They'll always be in the minority. They'll never feel like they belong, and that's because they don't. [00:19:46] (38 seconds)  #ScatteredLikeSeed

keep in mind that Peter is bringing up the issue of election as an encouragement. You're thinking, really? Yes. Not for them to start heated debates or create doubt, but to cause them to thank God for this amazing miracle of his grace that is only being revealed to us in his word. And here's the practical application of the doctrine. These scattered Christians had every reason to believe that perhaps God wasn't in control, or that somehow they had kinda slipped off the divine radar system of heaven, or or that God lost track of them, or worse yet that he no longer loved them. That this was a short term affection, that he no longer cared for them. [00:38:24] (51 seconds)  #ChosenForHope

Just a few weeks ago, an anti terrorism bill passed both houses of the Russian parliament signed into law. It's labeled anti terrorism, but, believers on the inside are referring to it as an anti missionary law. The bill severely restricts any unsanctioned religious activity by any religious organization with one exception, no surprise, the Russian Orthodox Church, which is closely aligned with the government and for many decades, really the enemy of the gospel. [00:01:21] (34 seconds)  #ReligiousFreedomCrisis

But we believe the Godward side of it because the bible simply reveals it and clearly teaches us that we were chosen by God before we were even born, and we can't understand that. God chose us in eternity past. That's divine election. We chose God in a moment of time. That's human will acting on God's gift of faith and his initiating work toward us. And by the way, the Bible makes it clear that both of those perspectives are absolutely necessary for salvation. [00:32:00] (43 seconds)  #ElectionAndFaith

If you wanna know where we are at this juncture in American church history and by the way, I am filled with a sense of anticipation for the opportunity, before us. Be because the church can now realize in a fresh new way, the opportunity to bear witness in a culture that no longer pretends to believe what we believe. [00:06:50] (27 seconds)  #WitnessInCulture

You know, welcome to the first century. Say hello to the twenty first century. Say hello, church, to the growing tension of living so obviously between two worlds. The world we live in, where we work and bless and warn and testify and pray for between this world and the world to come. I can't think of a better time to hear from a letter that addresses this kind of culture. [00:09:48] (33 seconds)  #LivingBetweenWorlds

Death threats would be common. Some have already died martyrs' deaths. Many of them have lost everything they've owned. Sort of like the Jews in Germany during the years leading up to the Holocaust when their shops were boycotted and vandalized, where their personal rights were being erased, where they were identified by the star to prove that you you're really not of us, that you don't belong here. Targeted for mockery and violence, it would be only really just a a matter of time. [00:11:03] (37 seconds)  #TargetedForFaith

You've lost your job because of your faith. I mean, you've worked for everything, and now it's up for grabs, and it's not right, and it's not fair. And maybe you wanna say, hey. Wait. Wait a second. This is this is my country, and I'm older than you, which means I was here before you were. To defend yourself, to lash back, to get even is our natural reaction. And it was theirs in this chapter, and Peter writes to them to cause them to gain composure and find hope and joy in the truth that he is going to reveal to them and to us. [00:13:59] (40 seconds)  #GraceUnderPressure

Whereas one teacher told me in one school district, you are now being told or she is to no longer refer to your children as boys and girls because that will pressure them while they're in the midst of determining whether that they're gonna be a boy or a girl. It kinda sounds like you've been sleeping, and and and surely you're gonna wake up and it's just a bad dream. Think again. We've awakened to a new normal for us. [00:05:58] (29 seconds)  #NewCulturalNormal

for them, he writes, to those who reside as aliens, scattered, this is a compound noun, has the nuance of scattering seed in the wind. It was also, by the way, a technical term, the diaspora, the dispersed ones. It was referring, technically to the Jewish exiles who were dispersed, scattered among the Gentile nations where they were always in the minority. [00:19:11] (34 seconds)  #DiasporaChurch

What do you tell somebody who feels like they don't belong to this world? Tell them that they have actually been chosen for another one. Peter is saying, you might be an outsider as it relates to the kingdoms of this world, but you are an insider as it relates to the kingdom of God. [00:24:55] (24 seconds)  #ChosenForAnotherWorld

Beloved, let me tell you, as hard as it is to imagine, God just didn't choose you. He chose you with enthusiasm. I want you. I want you. Can you imagine how much this truth would be an encouragement to these marginalized, unappreciated, misunderstood, fearful, displaced, mistreated Christians, rejected by the world, chosen by God forever. [00:42:47] (40 seconds)  #ChosenWithJoy

let me ask you. When you face ridicule, when, you're mocked, when you perhaps experience a taste of persecution in some form or another for your faith. I mean, your instincts tell you either to flee or to fight back. It's one of those. Right? Flee or fight. [00:13:32] (26 seconds)  #FleeOrFight

And, you know, the mask is just gonna come down. It's no longer gonna be comfortable or advantageous to be among us. I think it's a wonderful opportunity for us because we will be seen as clearly distinctive in our culture. But just ask your coworkers about some definitions. Just, you know, for fun, say, hey. Define for me God. Define sin. Define sacred scriptures. Define the family. Define marriage. Define gender. Define judgment. Define eternity. And then hold on to your hat because not many are gonna agree with your definitions derived from scripture. And I've said it before, I'm gonna say it again. We are not living in a post Christian world anymore. We are living in a pre Christian world [00:07:17] (59 seconds)  #PreChristianMoment

It wasn't sanctioned yet by the senate of Rome. The lions haven't been brought in their cages yet, but it's growing. It's rumbling. It's random. It's it's brutal at times. The Christians are losing any kind of legal recourse. They're losing privileges and rights. Even as this letter opens, the signs are all there. The marginalization has begun. [00:10:34] (29 seconds)  #MarginalizedChurch

And it requires the citizens of Russia to report any violation. The door that has been opened in that former Soviet Union is beginning to creak and groan as it swings shut, and the church in that part of our world will once again adapt to secret meetings and underground churches. [00:03:18] (25 seconds)  #UndergroundChurch

But if it sounds like some of it's moving a little closer to home, where it's becoming increasingly difficult to verbalize your Christian conviction without being sent to sensitivity class at your company or your school, Where to disagree with the moral depravity of your coworkers invites open rebuke, in fact, potentially the loss of your job. [00:05:34] (24 seconds)  #RiskToSpeak