Life is hard. Most people know this. It is not always hard. But hard times eventually come to almost everybody. And when we do find ourselves in the midst of suffering, we need to have a good strong understanding from God about our suffering.

Yesterday I preached on Christians and suffering. You can listen to that sermon here.  The sermon is from 1 Peter 3:8-17

Here were my 7 points: 7 Characteristics of Christians and Suffering

1. Christians have an identity that is stronger than their suffering circumstances (v.8)
   -Unity
   -Sympathy
   -Brotherly Love
   -Tender Heart
   -Humble Mind
2. Christians do not react defensively toward suffering/afflictions/wrong doing (v.9)
   -Instead, Christians bless people.
3. Christians live life to the fullest (enjoying life) because they know God (vv.10-12)
   -These verses are a quote from Psalm 34.
4. Christians do not always face suffering for doing good (v.13)
   -Some people are recognized and honored for the good they do.
5. Christians are ready to explain why they have such hope (v.15)
   -People will recognize our hope in our suffering, and they will ask us where that hope comes from. Christians are ready to tell them!
6. Christians have a good/clear conscience (v.16)
   -Many people live with a guilty conscience. They have fear, guilt, shame, anxiety, etc. God removes that and gives a good conscience to those who trust Him.
7. Christians think it is better to suffer for doing good rather than to do evil. (v.17)
   -Because of the hope that Christians have in their Great God and Savior, they are willing to suffer to the glory of God.

When our first son, Joshua Jr., was born on January 2, 2008, I wrote him a lullaby. I was overcome with God’s goodness to me. I couldn’t then and I cannot now believe that I am a father and daddy. I most certainly do not deserve all the blessing in my life. God is good to me. I don’t deserve it. I have memorized that lullaby, and I sing it now to all of our children. I had thought that I would be able to write each of them a lullaby, but I have just adapted this one to fit each of them. It is pretty much the same lullaby, but I did have to change more this time since she is a girl. Either way, it expresses my heart in life and fatherhood.

**LILIANA’S LULLABY**

Hush little Liliana don’t you cry
Daddy’s gonna sing you a lullaby
I hate to see you crying red-faced with tears
Let me tell you ‘bout us in the coming years
The joy of rearing you can make this grown man weap
Right here in my arms you can fall asleep
I’ll stare at your face & kiss your chubby cheeks
Watch you start to grow in the coming weeks
God gave you a great mother who takes care of you
In love together we will teach you what’s true
four bigger older siblings you can look up to
You become like them, yes I hope you do
It’s a simple lullaby about what matters in life
Like trusting in God & being a faithful wife
Like serving other people in devotion to the sword
The Word of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord

Baby girl, I wanna teach you to throw and catch a ball
& I can hardly wait until you learn to crawl
We can walk to the park & I can push you on the swings
Raise you up right so you’ll appreciate things
I wanna teach you about pets like cats and dogs
And how to catch lizards, turtles, & frogs
I’ll show ya how to catch fish & how to bait a hook
how a boy should treat a girl and how to read a book
And how to play with kids and not be weak
Playing outdoor games like hide and seek
I wanna teach you about bruises, scabs and scars
take you on a walk at night to look at stars
I’ll teach you how to ride a bike & how to climb trees
I‘ll teach you about caterpillars, birds, & bees
I wanna pick you up when you fall & scrape your knees
Teach you how to pray, and say “yes sir” & “Please”
we can walk to the creek, I’ll show you how to skip a rock
I’ll show you how to play sports & how to speed walk
I wanna teach you how to not get upset by jokes
& how to be grateful & respect your folks
Liliana, I wanna teach you how to love your mom
& how to read the Bible, a daily Proverb & Psalm
It’s a simple lullaby about what matters in life
Like trusting in God & being a faithful wife
Like serving other people & devotion to the sword
The Word of Jesus Christ our Savior & Lord

Little girl, I wanna teach you how to be a lady
How to look ‘em in the eye & not be shady
How to keep your word & always work real hard
How to pay your bills on time & how to mow the yard
I’ll teach you how to keep a job & not be lazy
How to speak the truth in love and not be hazy
I wanna show you how to love & how to be a friend
And when to compromise and when to take a stand
And how to apologize and also how to forgive
Liliana, these are simple lessons on how to live
And life is not easy, it can be quite hard
Keep your eyes on Christ & don’t be caught off guard
It’s a simple lullaby about what matters in life
Like trusting in God & being a faithful wife
Like serving other people & devotion to the sword
The Word of Jesus Christ our Savior & Lord

My kids love Legos. They enjoy trying to re-make life experiences through Legos.

The other day while watching March Madness basketball, my 5 year old son, Eli, called me to the boys’ room to show me something.  I had never seen him do this before. And I did not help him with it. I thought it was cool. I love the sound effects!

Having kids has a way of teaching you a lot about life.

Before I knew any better, I would ask our kids what would they like for dinner. One would want nuggets and fries. One wanted pizza. One would want chips and queso. And one would want nothing but a slushie. At that point, I would realize how unwise it is to ask 4 little kids what they want to eat. There is little chance of them all agreeing.  And there is no chance of me pleasing each of them. I quickly learned you can’t please everybody. (Now I just decide, and we go there. Or I just let one of them choose. Much better!)

Anyone who has lived long enough has learned that you can’t please everybody. And if you cannot please everyone, then we ought to try to figure out who do we want to please. And that can be difficult. Many people try so hard to please others or themselves or their families and so forth, yet it is not working. We can’t please everyone. We don’t know who to please. And this confusion is quite displeasing.

Let me suggest 3 ideas (all found in Romans 15:1-3):

1. Not to Please Ourselves. Knowing God through Jesus so alters our life-focus that we are more concerned with helping others than we are with pleasing ourselves. Romans 15:1 says to not live to please ourselves. Once we realize the freedom in serving others, we can stop trying to please ourselves. Once we stop trying to please ourselves, we are closer to knowing who we should live to please!
2. Please His Neighbor. Christians are interested in making a difference in people’s lives. Romans 15:2 says to live for the good of our neighbor. It says to live to build him up. We should live to please those around us. Making them better, stronger built-up people!
3. Christ did not Please himself. Our great God and Savior Jesus shows us who we should please – not ourselves (Romans 15:3). Jesus is the happiest man who ever lived. And that joy came from pleasing God and not self. Jesus lived to please God, and God was certainly pleased with his son. He says exactly that at Jesus’s baptism in Matthew 3:17.

So if we can’t please everybody, who then should we please? We should not try to please ourselves.  And we should try to please our neighbors. And when you put both of those together along with the example of Jesus, you have the desire to please God.  For we cannot please our neighbors without pleasing God. And we cannot NOT please ourselves without pleasing God.

And Paul says this very clearly in 2 Corinthians 5:9 “We make it our aim to please Him (God).”

You cannot please everybody. Trust in Christ and be committed to living a life that is pleasing to God.

One of the most serious yet ignored and/or misunderstood passages in all the Bible is when God says to us “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” God first said it in Leviticus 11, and Peter quotes it and elaborates on it in 1 Peter 1.

At our church, we are preaching through 1 Peter right now, and our Associate Pastor Troy Harrison preached on this passage (1 Peter 1:13-16) two weeks ago. You can listen to that sermon here.

Then this past Sunday I got to preach on the very next passage in 1 Peter (1 Peter 1:17-21). You can listen to that sermon here.

Here are the three main thoughts from my sermon.

Three thoughts on being holy (all of these thoughts taken from 1 Peter 1):

1. You have to know who you are NOT!
   -We are not perfect. We are often wrong, bad and sinful.
   -We are not God’s standard. Jesus is.
   -God will judge everyone. And He will judge impartially.
   -Therefore we should not be judgmental.
   -We should be mindful of our sins and need of God.
   -We should worry more about ourselves then we do others.
   -You have to know who you are NOT in order to really know who you are.
   -Our ability to be holy comes from knowing that we first & foremost are not holy.
   -As elect ransomed exiles, we become holy!
2. You have to know who you are!
   -You have been ransomed.
   -You are living in exile. Earth is not our home.
   -Since we are in exile, we factor every experience through this truth.
   -Heaven is our home. God is our focus. Everything else is in light of those facts.
   -In knowing who you are, you are always reminded who you are not. And who you used to be.
   -We are God’s ransomed children. We belong to God. We long for heaven.
   -Being loved and ransomed by God, we are now new and free and made and empowered to be holy!
3. You have to know whose you are!
   -We are God’s children because of Jesus.
   -The blood of Christ has ransomed us.
   -The pure and spotless Lamb of God has taken away the sins of the world!
   -It was God’s plan to kill Jesus for our saving.
   -Through Him we are believers in God.
   -God raised Jesus and gave Him glory so that our faith & hope are in God.
   -Since we know God and we know we are God’s, we desire to be holy like Him.

I encourage you to take time to read 1 Peter chapter 1. And see what I am trying to say. May God give us clarity and understanding on what He means when says “Be holy, for I am holy.”

In John 18:37, Jesus claims “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world — to bear witness to the truth.”
—Jesus’s purpose in coming to earth is to bear witness to the truth.

In reply to that, Pilate asks Jesus in John 18:38 “What is truth?”
—Pilate, like many people, question ‘what is truth?’

Just one chapter earlier in John 17:17, Jesus prayed to the Father “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
—The Word of God is the truth.

Earlier in John 8:31-32 to the Jews who were considering believing, Jesus said “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
—True followers of Jesus know the truth and are set free from sin by it.

In John 14:6, Jesus boldly stated “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
—Jesus is the truth. (In John’s Gospel, Jesus is also the Word.)

And in John’s prologue (at the very beginning of John), he wrote, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
–Jesus is God in the flesh, and He is full of truth.

By now you have probably heard that Fairdale’s IGA Pic-Pac grocery store is closing for good.

This will be a sad day for Fairdale. Pic-Pac, owned and operated by the original owner Mr. Bill Nichols, opened its doors in 1979. For the last 36 years, everyone in Fairdale has been served by Mr. Nichols and his store.

I recently wrote an article for our January Church Newsletter about the impact of Mr. Nichols and his staying, serving and working in the same place. Click that link to read it.

My 2 points in that newsletter were 1) We should learn how to appreciate people and 2) We should learn Faithfulness and Dependability. Mr. Nichols’ life in Fairdale has taught us both.

Just last week, I was honored to represent our church in joining with our Councilwoman Vicki Welch and several other community leaders in surprising Mr. Nichols at Pic-Pac with a plaque of recognition for his service to the Fairdale community.

All I have ever known is Pic-Pac being a huge community supporter!

Change is inevitable. Time goes on. But on behalf of everyone in Fairdale, we say Thank You Mr. Nichols!