This Sunday, we’re continuing in our series on 1st & 2nd Peter which I’ve entitled “Embracing Exile.”  So far, Peter has told them that they need to live differently than those around them, that they are to be “in the world, but not of the world.”

And now in chapter 2, he fleshes that out a little bit.  Remember, The Apostle Peter is writing to a church that is undergoing intense suffering.  They’ve been persecuted, they’ve been scattered, they feel abandoned.  So now he tells them what their sacrifice is for, what their suffering should look like, and why should they endure this suffering at all.  It’s a lot to take in … and it can be hard to understand. 

But fortunately for us, you’re all smart people and have no problems understanding the Scriptures, so this should be easy for you.  You’ll quickly take to the life lessons found in “Embracing Servanthood” from 1 Peter 2:1-25.

Up until about 100 years ago, this passage contained one of the most famous Bible verses in America, but in the carnage and suffering of two World Wars, it was soon forgotten (though it had a brief resurgence in the 1990's).  And yet, it was written for precisely our hardest and most difficult times.  And that means it’s quite applicable to our times today.  I’ll let you read the passage and find that verse.  And then we’ll talk about all of this on Sunday.  See you then, Dr. Dave