“First Peter tells us in chapter 1: 'as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lust... as he who has called you is holy... so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.'”
A Sunday worship service combining extended praise, intercessory prayer, pastoral announcements and a Bible message focused on Psalm 23 (and related Psalms). The preacher uses the metaphor of sheep and shepherd to call believers to know God personally, trust his provision, embrace holiness, receive more of Christ’s gifts (forgiveness, love, power) and then give those gifts away. Service elements include offerings, baby dedications, ministry updates and a charge to be doers of the Word.
“As obedient children, not being conformed... But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct; since it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'”
Dr. Matthew McKellar preaches from 1 Peter on living as exiles—temporary residents shaped by a heavenly hope—using five cues (hope, holy, fear, love, long) and urging holiness, reverent fear, obedient love, and an appetite for God's Word; the service also included baptisms, camp reports, ministry announcements, and an invitation to trust Christ.
“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance...you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, 'You shall be holy, for I am holy.'”
Dr. Matthew McKellar (preaching at First Baptist Dallas) unfolds 1 Peter's call to live as exiles: because Christians have an imperishable heavenly inheritance, we should live counterculturally now by setting our hope fully on Christ's future grace, pursuing holiness, conducting ourselves with reverent fear, loving one another earnestly, and craving the Word of God. The sermon includes pastoral application, testimonies from children's and student camps, and an invitation to trust Christ.
“As God's obedient children, never again shape your lives by the desires that you followed when you did not know better. Instead, shape your lives to become holy, to become like the holy one you call, who called you.”
Pastors James and Tiffaney Edwards preach on learning God's ways, calling believers to holiness, surrender, and spiritual maturity. They contrast mere salvation with conversion, transformation and reformation, warn against tolerating 'sloppy living,' and call the congregation to practical obedience — surrender, renounce old patterns, give sacrificially, and return to corporate worship (in-person service resumed August 20).
