Tag: Val Watkins

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:55 — )

Sermon: When Every Curse Is A Sneeze
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 30:55
Size: 14.1 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“When Every Curse Is A Sneeze”
1 Peter 3:8-12

I. The Most Common Blessing

For most people, the only time they bless someone or ask God to bless someone is after a sneeze.

A. Called to a Life of Blessing (3:9)

If you were to bless someone, how would you do it (assuming they didn’t sneeze)?

To bless is to do “good” in some way, not “evil”. It is to verbally help, not verbally abuse.

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

It is a heart that wants God’s goodness to pour down on our opponent in such a way that our blessing is used to make them into a blesser.

B. Called to a Community of Blessing (3:8)

After specifically addressing different groups in these churches (i.e. servants, wives, husbands), here in 3:8 he brings it back to everyone in the church.

It is our strength as a local church family that God wants to use in our lives individually in the face of difficult times.

God’s design for us as a church is that we would love one another as brothers and sisters, siblings who look out for each other.

We are called to a life of blessing, even with those who hurt us. And we are called to that life together.

C. Called to Inherit a Blessing (3:10-12)

We have been called to bless, and that calling results in our being blessed; “to obtain a blessing”.

We give blessings in light of the fact that we will receive the greatest blessing.

For a people tempted to fear in the face of opposition, Peter reminds them that God is in control, and that as they bless those who curse them, God has blessed, is blessing, and will bless them.

II. Blessing Because of His Blessing

Are we as a church encouraging one another, are we standing with one another or are we responding with anger and bitterness when a brother or sister hurts us?

When we treat every curse as if it were a sneeze, that is, when we treat every curse as an opportunity to respond with a blessing.

Next Week
“Christ-Centered Suffering”
1 Peter 3:13-22

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:03 — 13.8MB)

Sermon: Being Jesus’ Wife
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 30:03
Size: 13.7 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Being Jesus’ Wife”
1 Peter 3:1-7

I. The Passage: “Won Without a Word” (3:1-7)

First Peter is writing to his audience to remind them of their identity as spiritual aliens, redeemed and born again by faith in Jesus Christ. (1:1-3, 14-16, 18-21)

Second in light of this new identity live lives that are separate from the world, and yet, shining the hope of Christ to the world. (2:9, 11-12)

Third, one way they can live this separate but shining kind of life, is to be submissive to the authority structures that God has placed in this world, as a way to demonstrate they are submissive to God. (2:13a; 2:16)

Peter is writing here for none other than Jesus’ wife…all of them.

A. Jesus’ Wife is Submissive and Shining (3:1-2)

But remember, Peter’s entire discussion about submission is not about equality.

Peter is extremely concerned with the message these Christians were sending to non-Christians about the faith.

Ladies, whether you are the wife of a godly man, or the wife of a worldly man, remember that your actions in most cases speak louder than words.

B. Jesus’ Wife Knows True Beauty is about Her Spirit (3:3-4)

Peter’s argument is not against braided hair or gold or clothing, per se.

This kind of imperishable beauty comes from knowing that, because of what Jesus has done, you are beautiful in the sight of the only one whose opinion really matters.

C. Jesus’ Wife is in The Company of Great Women (3:5-6)

The greatest women in history were those with the greatest faith in the greatness of God; women like Abraham’s wife, Sarah.

The submission that Sarah modeled is not one based on fear of what a husband might do our say. It is based on faith.

D. Jesus’ Wife Needs a Husband who is Jesus’ Man (3:7)

A husband who is Jesus’ man will have the heart of Christ for this woman who is striving to be Jesus’ wife; to be God’s woman.

When you are not understanding; when you do not show her honor, God is not interested in your supposedly pious prayers.

Gentlemen, please hear me, for believing couples, the point is still the same: Jesus’ wife needs a husband who is Jesus’ man.

II. A Desperate Housewife or a Desperate Faith

God is not looking for desperate housewives. He is looking for wives who have a desperate faith, a faith that holds on to Christ as its only hope.

True submission is only possible through the power of the gospel.

Next Week
“When Every Curse Is A Sneeze”
1 Peter 3:8-12

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:03 — )

Sermon: Enduring By Entrusting
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 29:03
Size: 13.2 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Enduring By Entrusting”
1 Peter 2:18-25

I. Power and Persecution

How do you respond in a situation like this? What do you say? What do you do? What would most people do? How would most people react?

II. The Passage: “When…One Endures Sorrows” (2:18-25)

As strangers in a strange world because of their faith in Jesus, Peter is encouraging these Christians to consider how their daily lives can hinder or help them as they attempt to represent Jesus.

In our passage this morning, Peter is continuing that discussion about subjection or submission. But this time, he has a new context he wants to address:

A. God’s Call for Endurance (2:18-20)

This word specifically refers to slaves or servants who are working, not in a field or a shop, but in a household.

Now, since slavery is no longer an institution in our culture, passages like this are typically connected, and rightfully so, to the modern context of the employer/employee relationship.

Endurance is literally, “bearing up under”; it is persevering in the right attitude and actions because your heart and mind are set on God.

But what does it look like to endure? And why should we endure?

B. God’s Example for Endurance (2:21-23)

God has given us a perfect example of this kind of endurance in suffering: Jesus.

To be mindful of God goes hand in hand with entrusting ourselves to God.

How in the world is a normal person supposed to bear up under this kind of unfair treatment and continue being submissive to a person like this?

C. God’s Provision for Endurance (2:24-25)

Why did Christ endure in the face of unjust suffering, because he was bearing our sins in his body on the cross.

We can because through faith in Jesus, we can “die to sin and live to righteousness“.

We can entrust ourselves and our circumstances to God believing that God will make right what is wrong.

III. The Purpose of Our Endurance

Jesus endured for the good of others; for our good. And so we endure for the same purpose.

Our endurance is focused on the good of others and the glory of God.

Next Week
“Being Jesus”
1 Peter 3:1-7

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:46 — )

Sermon: Life Underneath
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 31:46
Size: 14.5 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Life Underneath”
1 Peter 2:13-17

I. Underneath the Neon

“Down here we do what we want, when we want, anytime we want. It’s hard to give that up.”

II. The Passage: “Living as Servants of God” (2:13-17)

I’d like break this passage up into four ideas all related to the main idea of submission or subjection, the term Peter uses here in verse 13.

A. Submission to Human Structures (2:13a)

Peter wants them to understand here that honorable conduct means subjection or submission “to every human institution“.

As we see here, he begins by talking about those who govern.

B. Submission to Earthly Rulers (2:13b-14)

The word translated “emperor” here is literally the word “king”.

The issue here is not how well they carry out that purpose, or the form of this governance.

They are zealous for driving the speed they want to drive.

C. Submission to God’s Will (2:15-16)

Peter gives us some clues here into what was going on with these churches.

What Peter wants to confront here is the way in which these Christians were responding to the slander, to charges of subversion and wrongdoing.

It appears that part of the issue was a misunderstanding of Christian freedom.

“By doing good”; this, should be your response to those who would accuse you and slander you. This is how we live as people who are truly free.

D. Submission to Our Duty (2:17)

Peter spells out the obligations for a follower of Jesus Christ in regard to their different relationships.

Do we pick and choose who we will honor and love and fear?

III. The Only Reason to Be Underneath

But let’s face it, the idea of submission is not one that we generally find appealing.

Knowing what we know about the human heart, how could we ever choose life underneath?

God has freed you from sin and death in order that you might serve Him.

Only as we trust in, and look to, and depend on Jesus Christ, will we be able to live as servants of God in the freedom of submission.

Next In Series
Two Weeks
“Enduring By Entrusting”
1 Peter 2:18-25

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:42 — 14.5MB)

Sermon: Separate…But Shining
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 31:42
Size: 14.5 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Separate…But Shining”
1 Peter 2:11-12

I. Separation & Indulgence

Though it is viewed differently in different Amish communities, there is in many places a period of time, called Rumspringa.

I mention it to you this morning because I found it an interesting lens through which to view the ideas of separation and indulgence.

II. Keep Your Conduct…Honorable (2:11-12)

We might think about that first section in terms of its focus on our identity in Christ, in light of our salvation in Christ.

But we need to dig deeper into these two verses so that we can strengthen our foundation for understanding what is coming up.

A. Sojourners & Exiles (2:11a)

And everything from this point on will be an explanation of how to live as exiles.

Notice that he is urging them to “abstain from the passions of the flesh” because they are “sojourners and aliens”.

You’ve become an exile without even leaving your house.

B. Passions Of The Flesh (2:11b)

Peter is saying, “If you really belong to God’s kingdom, then stay true to the values of your King.”

When we want what God wants, that is the will of God.

To indulge in such passions, to give in to our desires and not God’s, is not something we should ever minimize.

C. Among The Gentiles (2:12a)

But as we saw last week, Peter has identified his predominantly Gentile readers with the true Israel of God, the true people of God.

III. Radically Changed By An ‘Alien’ Power (2:12b)

Your abstinence in regard to world-satisfied desires, your “good deeds“, as Peter puts it here, will be used by God to change them.

But when Peter thinks about an ‘alien‘ power, he is thinking about the power of Jesus Christ, a power that is completely alien, completely foreign to this world system.

Do you believe that people around you can be radically changed when you are living a life of abstinence and honor because of Jesus?

Through Peter, God is calling us to be separate but shining; to be alien but appealing because of Jesus Christ.

But when the most recognizable marks of our separation are defined by things like clothing and electricity, we are missing what Peter is saying.

Only when we walk by faith with Jesus, because of His cross, can we die daily to what we want, and become people who live by that ‘alien‘ power that can change hearts.

Next Week
“Life Underneath”
1 Peter 2:13-17

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:50 — 14.6MB)

Sermon: A Case of Corporate Honor
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 31:50
Size: 14.5 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“A Case of Corporate Honor”
1 Peter 2:4-10

I. Surrounded by Corporate Dishonor

The fact is we are becoming less and sell surprised by instances of corporate dishonor.

It is a case of corporate honor that is unparalleled, not only in American history, but in the entire history of the universe..

II. A People of Spiritual Worship (2:4-5)

This coming of Christ is not a one time event. It is a habit. It is a continual practice.

But the word corporate, at its root, is related to the Latin word for “body“.

All of these images paint for us a picture of spiritual worship, don’t they?

III. A People of Foretold Honor (2:6-8)

What Peter has given us here is three Old Testament quotations all connected by the term “stone“.

If we believe that Jesus is the “cornerstone“, foretold by the Hebrews prophets, that His is the only foundation that really matters in this life, we read here that we “will not be put to shame”.

What’s clear is that Peter wants to encourage his readers by reminding them that God is in control, even in the midst of persecution.

IV. A People of Grateful Proclamation (2:9-10)

If their enemies wanted to make them people of shame, Peter wants to remind them that they are, in fact, a people of honor.

We live for His honor and the glory of God.

Because God is so merciful, because of the mercy we now know in Jesus Christ, we have become a people of God.

V. The People of God’s Eternal Purposes

There is something about this passage that takes all of these descriptions of our corporate identity and reveals how big and deep each description really is.

The majority of them are not Jewish, and yet Peter, who is Jewish, is speaking to them as if the were Israel.

So what Peter knows is that through Jesus Christ, through His death on the cross, the title “God’s people” has been broadened to include all those who came in faith, Jew and Gentile.

He wants their identity, he wants our identity, our corporate identity, to be grounded in the reality that we are THE people of God’s eternal purposes.

We worship God in spirit and truth, and then tell the world why they should worship him as well;

And is that identity shaped first and foremost by the reality that we are THE people of God’s eternal purposes.

Next Week
“Separate But Shining”
1 Peter 2:11-12

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:33 — 13.5MB)

Sermon: Milk It Does A Spirit Good
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 29:33
Size: 13.5 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Milk It Does A Spirit Good”
1 Peter 2:1-3

They were coming to grips with the challenge of living new lives in the same old place they had always lived.

I. The Passage: “Like Newborn Infants” (2:1-3)

“Salvation” is a good Christian-ese word, but what does Peter mean when he uses the term?

Let’s take some time to look at each verse and see what God has for us this morning in regard to “grow[ing] up into salvation”.

II. Changing Our Diet (2:1)

The kinds of sins that Peter mentions in verse 1 are enemies of the love he is calling them to live by:

malice
deceit
hypocrisy
envy
slander

If we think of this in terms of growth, these sins, when allowed to get a foothold in our life, these sins hinder growth.

To “put away” these things is not about never experiencing similar feelings again.

III. What Kind of Milk? (2:2)

Peter uses an appropriate analogy here, that of a baby longing for its mother’s milk.

But again, what is this “pure milk” that we should long for if we desire to “grow up into salvation”?

IV. The Ultimate Taste Test (2:3)

He wants them to long for this milk because they have already tasted who God is.

Peter’s audience has absolutely tasted that Jesus is good. And because they have tasted, they should now long for what only Jesus can give.

Psalm 34:8

V. What Are You Longing For?

I hope it’s clear to you that the main instruction in these verses is expressed in that one verb: long…desire…crave.

What are you longing for this morning in this way? Peter knows that the only “pure milk” is that which nourishes us with Jesus.

Cookies might make me long for the kind of milk you put in a glass, but only the goodness of God in Jesus Christ can make us long for more of the same.

Let us put away the rotten milk of sin and self, and let us long for the pure milk of Christ…frequently, intensely, and singularly.

Isaiah 55:1-3

Next Week
“A Case of Corporate Honor”
1 Peter 2:4-10

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:33 — 11.7MB)

Sermon: New Love In The Same Old Place
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 25:33
Size: 11.6 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“New Love In The Same Old Place”
1 Peter 1:22-25

Rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory…I hope that describes your heart this morning.

I. Review: Obedience to the Truth (1:22a)

Because they have obeyed the truth and because they have purified their souls.

So the reality that this predominantly Gentile church is now living in, they have been born again, they have been bought out of slavery.

What he is about to tell them is based on the assumption that they are now “new” because they have believed the “news” about Jesus.

II. Sincerely, Earnestly, Purely (1:22b)

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love…

Love for one another as God’s people is such a fundamental part of what it means to be a Christian.

As a church family, we need to stop, and consider how responsive we’ve been to Jesus’ new commandment to us.

Let your love be set apart, distinct because of the divine work that’s been done in you.

Richmond Community Church, is God honored by the love we have for one another?

III. The Fruit of the Gospel (1:23-25)

Peter can call his readers to a sincere, earnest, and pure love, because he knows that God himself has done a work in them to accomplish this very thing.

You see, the fruit of the gospel is always a changed life. But the cross of Jesus offers us forgiveness for all of our failures.

We have in the gospel, the perfect picture of God’s Son putting the interests of other before His own.

Conclusion

But I also know that God is calling us to go further up and farther in.

He’s also given us a new love in this same old place, a new love for one another, in obedience to a new commandment.

Next Week
“Pure Spiritual Milk”
1 Peter 2:1-3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 28:58 — 13.3MB)

Sermon: Hope Fully Set
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 28:58
Size: 13.2 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Hope Fully Set”
1 Peter 1:13-21

The first word here, therefore, is a word that points us back.

God has caused them to be born again, through Christ. He had prepared a future inheritance for them in Christ.

I. A Cleared-Away and Clear Mind (1:13a)

You and I, are called to clear away whatever might mentally entangle us and to stay clear in regard to our focus on Christ.

II. In the Cross-hairs of Our Hope (1:13)

The preparing of our minds in light of God’s incomparable salvation should lead us first to hope.

The grace that God has already shown you is only an appetizer before the banquet.

Peter wants them to set their hope fully on the grace to be brought to us?

Peter is calling his readers and us to look forward to the certainty of God’s purposes and promises.

III. Hope and Holiness Go Together (1:14-16)

I think what we see here is that there is a connection between hope and holiness.

Holiness is not about being conformed to the world or lending in; it’s about being set apart, distinct from this broken and corrupt world.

When your hope is set fully on the grace that will be brought to us when Jesus is revealed, then your heart will be fully given to walking in His grace right now.

IV. Hope Through His Blood (1:17-21)

But even though holiness involves choices, hope and holiness are not simply the result of Christian willpower.

They were bought back, bought  out of slavery. Specifically, they were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from their forefathers.

Hope and holiness are not ultimately the result of our effort, because it is through him, through Christ, that we are believers in God.

Conclusion

As one who had suffered and would suffer for Jesus Christ, Peter knew the struggles his readers were experiencing.

Biblical hope begins with the ransom of Christ and finds its fullness in the revelation, the return of Christ.

Next Week
“New Love in the Same Old Place”
I Peter 1:22-25

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:36 — 14.9MB)

Sermon: Your Take On Time
Speaker: Pastor Val Watkins
Duration: 32:36
Size: 14.9 MB

New Life In The Same Old Place
“Your Take On Time”
1 Peter 1:3-12

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.”
Albert Einstein

We are “elect exiles”, we have been chosen by God so that we might belong to Him through Jesus, we no longer belong to the world; because of that we are spiritual strangers, appointed aliens, hand-picked pilgrims, refugees, exiles.

1. Hope in Light of the Future (1:3-5)
   God’s choice of them was made real when they experienced a new birth.

   Jesus beat death. He didn’t cheat death; He beat it. He did die, but death could not hold Him. Jesus is alive.

   I think we worry about the future so often because we live in such an uncertain world that is changing all the time.

2. Joy in Light of the Present (1:6-9)
   He first acknowledges and encourages them in the fact that their future reward is in fact bringing them joy in the present.

   Their future might be all about their identity as a chosen child of the King, but their present is consumed by the difficulty of being a foreigner in a hostile land.

   When we struggle, we must always encourage one another to see our present circumstances as more than just painful; we need to see them as purposeful.

   When our perspective on our present is shaped by genuine faith, it is marked by an unquenchable, unabashed love for Jesus.

   Right now is your perspective shaped by the love and joy that can only come from new life?

3. Humility in Light of the Past (1:10-12)
   While all of us are shaped by what we’ve done and where we’ve been and what we’ve seen, for some of us, there are things in our past that cast a long shadow over our present.

   If you are truly a Christian is the moment you heard and believed the gospel, the most defining moment of your life.

   The past should fill us with a sense of humility in light of the privilege we have as heirs of such a salvation.

   Don’t let your family, or your circumstances, or your station in life, define you. Rather, let that new birth into God’s family shape your perspective on the past.

Time and Trust
If you’re trying to live out new life in this same old place, what’s your take on time?

If you were to tell someone else the story of your life, would it be absolutely clear that the hero of the story was Jesus Christ?

Faith allows you to see that your life is not merely a collection of decisions ultimately made pointless by chance and death.

You are saved from the penalty of sin, being saved from the power of sin, and one day, saved from the very presence of sin.

Next Week
“Hope Fully Set”
I Peter 1:13-21