... you see it - do you see it - people need you - we need each other - and we never know the life and death difference what we do and the love we show might make in the life of another person. “Bear ye one another’s burdens.” That’s what the priesthood of believers is all about and you are a priest. Let us pray: Lord, we thank you that you call us to be your instruments, to be your agents of love, and change, and witness, and service. Don’t let us lose ourselves in the feelings of inadequacy. Cause ...
... see my place in the big scheme of things. When I depend on the bottle for comfort and courage, I am self-centered and immature, sucking the bottle in baby fashion. I have to grow up and see life in a broad objective way. So it is with our Christian priesthood. It is not a bootstrap philosophy. We do not spin it out of our imagination, nor does it cater to our whims. It results from standing honestly before God and saying, "Lord, what do you want me to do?" And he does have something for each of us to do ...
... Sunday morning for an hour or so and then go home as if all obligations to the faith and to God have been met in full. When, in fact, we have succeeded in deceiving ourselves, prostituting the church and disappointing God. We are called to be the priesthood of all believers who are witnessing for Jesus Christ in the world. Others will have the function of teaching. A priest is a teacher. The city of Chicago is a place where the Roman Catholic Church is very strong. There was a time when the Catholic schools ...
... become the head of the corner and a stone that will make men stumble, a rock that will make them fall. For they stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. But you, listen to this, but you, you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a Holy nation. God’s own people that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were no people, but now you’re God’s people. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received ...
... to have. It may be that we have not understood who or what Christ has called us to be. Listen to these words from today’s lesson from I Peter and ask yourself what it is you believe Christ asks of us: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have ...
... of ordained clergy, since none existed in the church at the time of his writing. I happen to believe in the role of the ordained—I've spent 35 years of my life doing this—but Peter's letter is addressed to all the church. You are all "a royal priesthood." All are called to go between God and the world. All are called to carry the love of Christ to others. All are called to be the servant people of God. All are called to be priests to one another. In contrast to the priests of the pagan temples around ...
... let the oppressed go free" (Luke 4:18). The priest always begins his time of prayer with a personal confession of his own sins. He knows that the psalmist says: "If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened" (Psalm 66:18). Priesthood secondly demands upward communication. The office of priest is God's gracious provision for a people who need someone who can advocate for the people when he comes into God's presence and then take God's word to the people. The role of the priest is ...
... of us together. In his First Epistle, Peter borrows language applied by the Old Testament to ancient Israel, and he uses it to describe the ministry which we share. He says to the Church of his own day and to ours: You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, that you may declare the wonderful deeds of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Peter makes no distinction between clergy and laity. He does not say that some of us are priests, but he says that ...
... mercy, but now you have received mercy.” And, since Peter is rooted in the Old Testament, he begins to apply title upon title on this “no people” who had become loved into redemptive being by the grace of God. He calls them “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” I believe this passage answers three penultimate questions that we need to consider as we think about being a man of God. These questions are: 1) Who are we? 2) What is our function? and 3) Where is our power? I First of all ...
... what is our function? Peter is so excited about what he has to say that he almost stumbles over himself as he puts the words on paper. And he answers the question, What is our function? Listen to him. “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people – that you may declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Our identity and function all in one sentence. Our identity? God’s own people. Our function? To declare the wonderful ...
... ’s the power. Do you believe it? “Greater is He that is within you than he that is within the world.” Do you believe it? Then come to Him – come to Him, the Living Stone, and be yourselves “built into a spiritual house, to be a royal priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices.” Well, there you have it. Who are we? God’s own people. What is our function? To be witnesses. To declare the wonderful deeds of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And where is our power? In Jesus ...
... of our own faults and failures, God is not out to get us! (or anybody else for that matter). This Jesus, "who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, made us to be a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father." A new priesthood has been established by God, initiated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our great high priest. No longer does our sinfulness stand between us and our holy God. Through Jesus we now have direct access to enter God's presence with no fear of punishment and no words ...
... daily basis to expiate his own sins or shortcomings. Why? Because he is, by definition, “holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.” No Levitical priest could ever make such claims. Only Jesus, who was “sworn in” to the priesthood by a promise from God — “the Lord has sworn . . . you are a priest forever,” (v.21) can stand before the Lord in such an exalted state. The division between what has been and the new reality available to disciples is a division ...
... of God.” The exhortation in The Book of Common Prayer makes the “work” of the baptized most specific, a clear command: “We receive you into the household of God. Confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his resurrection, and share with us in his eternal priesthood.” Jesus Christ calls us to follow him, to work in his kingdom, that is, to live out the Christian faith in the world, and he ordains us for that work in holy baptism. From one perspective, this means that we will engage in the ...
... and Zechariah and Elizabeth, sons born are born to barren women. By God’s grace and providence, the sons born to these barren mothers are ordained to be special servants of God and unique individuals. Though he was not born to the priesthood, Samuel was dedicated to the priesthood in a special way and, in addition, distinguished himself to become a judge and a prophet in Israel. Samuel was to be a shining reflection of the faith and godliness of his mother. From his youth on he was distinguished as being ...
... I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious corner stone, And he who believes in Him shall not be disappointed.'" NOTICE HOW THE WRITER OF THIS EPISTLE EXALTS THE LIVES OF HIS READERS. He calls them "living stones" in God's spiritual house and "a holy priesthood." They are being persecuted, but he is exhorting them that their lives are important. He is a cheerleader, a coach and a motivational speaker wrapped all into one. Don't give up! He is saying. You are making a difference! You came to this hour for the ...
... leader . . ." (LB) Paul is saying that Jesus has the power to promise us all things. You never have to doubt that Christ can deliver that which he has promised. And the three promises he made to us may be summed up in three words: presence, power and priesthood. CHRIST'S FIRST PROMISE WAS THAT HE WOULD ALWAYS BE WITH US. Life gets tough sometimes. Even worse, we get the feeling that no one cares. I read an amusing story about a twelve-year-old boy who stood patiently beside the clock counter while the store ...
... God to adam….and then tracing Adam’s lineage in some very interesting ways. Lineage in Jesus’ day and before was very important. Your lineage was your insurance to the right of your position in Jewish society. In fact, in order to retain your priesthood, you needed to have the proper lineage, needed to stem from the proper family. In Luke’s genealogy of Jesus, which is radically different from Matthew’s, it’s clear that this is not just a biological genealogy, but a spiritual genealogy –which ...
... comes to upset, to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, and Amos was willing to do this for the restoration of the souls of God's people. Nothing is more vexing in our modern society than a corrupt and moribund priesthood, who administrate and caretake a church which is generally disinterested in saving souls, feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, and clothing the naked. They specialize in maintaining things as they are. They never raise a voice of protest, never challenge the existing ...
... correctives for these illusions are: that the ministry is for all the people of God; that the power and gifts of God turn inferior-feeling people into effective leaders; and that the affirmation "I will be with you" makes all the difference in the world. The Priesthood Of The People Jeremiah was the son of a priest. He was born in the town of Anathoth, a village three miles northeast of Jerusalem which was set aside for the priestly tribe of the Levites in the time of Joshua. In Jeremiah's time there ...
... ? Is there anyone of us who has not made a promise to God in a time of great distress? Luther was a young man of character, though. He kept his promise. To the anguish of his family who wanted him to be a wealthy lawyer, he entered the priesthood. With sadness and apprehension he left his home and made his way to a monastery named "The Black Cloister." It was a troubling time for Luther. He had said goodbye to family and friends, he had thrown off all his worldly possessions and pretensions, he had entered ...
... required a huge amount of work and responsibility, the position had its perks too. Priests were highly respected. They had an honorable and secure place in society. The people usually took good care of their priests. But Jeremiah never got to experience the joys of the priesthood. God had other plans for his life. When he was just a young man, about twenty years old, Jeremiah was called to be a prophet--a much less cushy job by every measure. Nobody likes prophets. They tell us the stuff we don't want to ...
... people of God to have an identity that is certain and distinct. Scripture makes that clear. Peter puts our personal and corporate identity together in his first letter. In chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 of that letter he says, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” Now listen to this. “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you ...
... Chief Cornerstone, by which you can build a life. II. WE BELONG TO ONE ANOTHER IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF WEAKNESS We need to belong, we need to belong to God, and then we need to belong to each other. Verses 9 and 10 You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wondrous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have ...
... . The Bible doesn't tell us that there's a better group of Christians called "pastors." First Peter declares all Christians as priests. Peter points to us through the Bible's page, "You," he says. "I'm talking to you. ‘You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.' " Everyone of us. The New Testament doesn't talk about a special kind of Christian but about the laity ...