Being Holy Sermon 1: Be Grounded: A Recipe for Holiness. 1 Peter 1:13-16 Page 1887

Questions: How can you tell what a person believes? What is your life style? How do your beliefs make it into action? The Christian's life style is different. Is there a basis for the Christian's life style ? Is there a recipe for success?

About 1 st Peter: God speaks His word through Peter with Silas being the one who does the writing (1 Peter 5:12). In 1:1-2 he calls them “God’s elect”, “strangers in the world”, and “chosen.” It has much to say about Christian life and duties.

1 Peter 1:13-16 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

Therefore: It is there because the main topic of the previous section is the amazement and mystery that God would save us through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Because of why and how God has saved us we are called to “prepare our minds for action.”

Quotes about the Mind. The average man has sixty-six pounds of muscle, forty pounds of bone, and three and a half pounds of brain--which seems to explain a lot of things. It's the quick thinkers who become leaders--he who hesitates is bossed.

Quotes : He who will not command his thoughts will soon lose command of his actions. An idea that rules people inwardly will ultimately run them outwardly.

Thinking it Through: Romans 12 reminds us that we are “transformed by the renewing of our minds” and here we are called to prepare our minds for action. This is a call to think before you act. When we think of Jesus and what he has done to save us. And we think of why he would go through all of the difficulty for us. When those thoughts marinate in our mind and heart we are moved to action.

Ingredients of a Changed Life: 1. We need to have our minds prepared, 2. Be self-controlled, 3. Have our hope set on the grace that Jesus offers, 4. Be obedient children, 5. Not shaped by the world, 6. and Live differently from those around us because God has set us apart for His work.

1 Peter 1:13-16 Page 1887 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

#1 Prepare Your Mind: Verse 13 - Prepare your minds for action – the idea comes from a person who would gather up their long robe before running. How do you prepare your mind each day?

#2 Be Self Controlled Be self controlled –God wants us to be controlled from the inside out. The word has the idea of "having power over oneself" and thus to be able to hold oneself in. Is it important to have self control?

#3 Set Your Hope… Verse 13 – Set your hope fully on the grace of Jesus. We will come back to this one at the end!!

#4 Obedience: Verse 14 – Be obedient children. Is this one just for kids? Who do your parents and other adults need to obey?

#5 Your Shape: Verse 14 - do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. This passage warns us to be careful who and what is shaping us. Do you want God to shape you or the devil to shape you?

#6 Holiness: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.” It has two parts – be different and be set apart. Because of being different and set apart we have a smell that people like and so they want to be with us and with God.

#3 Grace!!! “Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” Grace is when you do wrong and someone loves you anyway. Do you like grace? We are grounded in God’s grace because we know that without grace we would not be able to be with God.

A Life Pleasing to God: We need to have our minds prepared, We need to be self-controlled, We must have our hope set on the grace that Jesus offers, We have to be obedient children, Not shaped by the world but shaped by God, And live differently from those who do not know God because God has set us apart for His work.

This Week: Take a look at your recipe and see what may need adjusting so you have great results.

Next Week: Next week: 1 Peter 1:17-25 and the need to Be Connected to Christ and His word.