A Living Hope for Pilgrims | 1 Peter 1 | Pastor Jeff Guesno | 10.16.2022

In this message from 1 Peter 1, Pastor Jeff uses the life of Peter to show how the faithfulness of God triumphs over the failures of men. Peter was impulsive, self-confident, and often spoke or acted before thinking—denying Jesus, sinking on the water, cutting off Malchus’ ear—yet Jesus still chose him, called him, restored him, filled him with the Holy Spirit, and powerfully used him. That arc—from failure to bold, Spirit-empowered witness—becomes a picture of what God does in every believer’s life. We weren’t called to mere “self-improvement”; we were called to follow Jesus, surrender the driver’s seat, and let the Spirit transform us from the inside out. Being “born again” isn’t churchy language—it’s Jesus’ own demand in John 3: unless we are born of the Spirit, we may be religious and busy, but we are not saved.

From there, Pastor Jeff turns to Peter’s audience: scattered, suffering believers described as “strangers” and “pilgrims.” They don’t quite fit in where they live—and that’s exactly right. Christians are people who’ve been chosen by God, set apart by the Spirit, and sprinkled by the blood of Jesus, living as foreigners in a world that is not their true home. Persecution and pressure have pushed them out like seed, but God is using that scattering to spread the gospel. So Peter blesses God for new birth into a “living hope” through the resurrection of Jesus and an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, unfading, and reserved in heaven. In light of that, we’re challenged to ask: Which kingdom are we really living for—the temporary one that is passing away, or the eternal one that will never fade?

The message closes as both encouragement and invitation. For believers, Pastor Jeff urges us to “hang in there”—to remember we are pilgrims, to expect trials, and to measure our lives on eternal scales, not just temporal comfort. Our hope, anchored in an empty tomb and a coming King, gives us something the world cannot manufacture and desperately needs to see when life falls apart. For those who are just “around church” but not yet born again, he presses John 3 to the heart: church attendance, baptism, or giving cannot save—only a new birth by the Spirit through repentance and faith in Christ. Jesus initiated; He pursued; He shed His blood. Now is the time to respond, to move from mere existence to true life in Him, and to start walking the same road as the One who is Lord of lords and King of kings.

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Audio edited & mastered by:

Michael Gross