Well, we’ve come to the first message in our new series on 1st & 2nd Peter which I’ve entitled “Embracing Exile.”  The Apostle Peter is writing to a church which is fragmented, isolated, persecuted, stressed, overwhelmed, far from home, and wondering what in the world God is doing! 

They are trying to figure out how to do life when there is so much suffering among them.  And so he is letting them know that they are exiles and that where they are right now is not their home … and what they’re going through right now is not forever.  He wants them to have hope, and so that’s where we start this week.  We’ll be looking at “Embracing Hope” from 1 Peter 1:1-12.

The reason the term hope comes up is because there is no way to get through life unless you know how to get through suffering, and there’s no way to get through suffering unless you have hope.  So, what is this hope?  Where does it come from?  How do we get it?  And what difference does it make to us today?  That’s what we’ll be looking at this Sunday.  I look forward to seeing you there!  Dr. Dave

P.S. – Don’t forget about our church picnic Sunday afternoon.  We’re at a new location and it should be a lot of fun!