All posts by David Ude
Isaiah 46 – Don’t Waste Your Time
Isaiah 46 – Don't Waste Your Time
Posted by David Ude on Monday, March 6, 2017
Lent 1 Sermon – Matthew 4:1-11
1 Peter 1:8-9 – Believe it and You Will See It
1 Peter 1:8-9 – Believe it and You Will See It.
Posted by David Ude on Friday, March 3, 2017
Burned Off
1 Peter 1:6-7 – Burned Off
Posted by David Ude on Tuesday, February 28, 2017
The Best Retirement Plan Ever
The Best Retirement Plan Ever!
1 Peter 1:4-5, "to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
Posted by Living Hope Lutheran Church on Monday, February 27, 2017
Ash Wednesday Service – “Who Gains From the Cross?” 1. The Thief.
Live steam of Living Hope Lutheran Church Ash Wednesday Service
Posted by David Ude on Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Burned Off
1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith– more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire– may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
No pain, no gain! That’s what they tell me. And, when I was a coach, that’s what I told them, my runners I mean. It’s trite, but very true. If you want to succeed in the heat of the race, you need to have trained, put in the time, pushed through the pain, burned off the excess.
The same principle applies to boiling water. If you found yourself in the wilderness without any safe water to drink, you would boil the water to burn off and kill the impurities. The same is true of gold.
That’s the image that Peter uses in talking about the Christian’s trials in this life. You can’t purify gold without melting it down and burning away the impurities. So the Christian’s faith, to be perfected, must be tested by fire. God does this for the goal of bringing us to that last day safe and sound so that our faith might result in praise and honor and glory (that would be his praise and honor and glory since He is the one who did all the work) on the last day.
Peter encourages us that in the midst of trials we need not despair, we should not give up, we should not complain as if God were being unkind to us. Rather, with our eyes fixed on Jesus our Living Hope and the resurrection on the last day, we can rejoice for by sending us trials, by turning up the heat God is refining your faith, he is burning away the impurities, burning away the self reliance, burning away the love of the world, burning away everything except pure, simple, faith in Him in His cross, in His suffering, in His forgiveness. So rejoice! It won’t be long! And after all, no pain, no gain!
In Christ
Pastor Ude
Transfiguration Sunday – 2 Peter 1:16-21
The Best Retirement Plan Ever
1 Peter 1:4-5 “1 Peter 1:4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
“Now is the time!” “Don’t put it off!” “Invest in your future.” So go the calls to start saving, to start planning for the future, for retirement, for those “golden years.” I’d say it’s pretty good advice. And yet even the best retirement plan, even the most careful, the wisest investments are no sure thing. The stock market can crash. The home you invested in could burn to the ground. Some say you should invest in Gold, that it’s the surest thing. I’m reminded of Ron Swanson who invested heavily in gold and buried it. But even gold can fail you. For one thing it can be stolen!
We long to have certainty, to have something we can rely on and yet everything about this life is perishable, defiled and fading. And those “golden years”? Even if you have all the money you could want to enjoy them, it won’t be too long before your body fades and perishes.
The only true Gold standard for your future is what Peter refers to here. The inheritance which is yours through Christ. It is guaranteed to you through His Death and Resurrection. No stock market crash can change that. It is given to you through faith which is God’s work in you. A faith which is guarded for you by Christ himself so that none can come and steal it away. This inheritance is the resurrection to eternal glory. Those truly will be the golden years. An unending retirement. Unfading glory in the presence of Christ Himself. He is your living hope. He is the gold standard.
In Christ
Pastor Ude