Holy Hill Church

05/31/2026

05/31/2026

1 Peter 2:18-21 NLT
You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you-not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. [19] For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. [20] Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. [21] For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

Peter by no means condoned slavery, but it was accepted as normal practice by many in the society that he lived in. So, Peter taught the Christian household servants (slaves) how to live in a manner that pleased Christ while living under masters who treated them unjustly and harshly.
The same godly advice that Peter gave these servants 2,000 years ago can be applied to our lives today, because some of us have been treated unfairly by our employers or our clients. So, look again at what Peter instructs us to do in verse 19.
“For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.”
It’s easy to do good and be respectful to someone when they treat you good and respectfully, but the greater testimony for the grace and mercy that God has shown you, is to show love and respect to someone who has mistreated you or unjustly persecuted you.

1 Peter 2:21 NLT
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

05/30/2026

1 Peter 2:13-17 NLT
For the Lord's sake, submit to all human authority-whether the king as head of state, [14] or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. [15] It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. [16] For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. [17] Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

Many who call themselves Christians do not want to submit to people who God placed in authority over them. But know this, when you rebel against people who are placed in authority over you, you rebel against God! Why? Because of what God said in His Word above and what He says in His Word below.
Daniel 2:20-21 NLT
He said, "Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. [21] He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the scholars.”
Evil people who win elections think that they have gained power and control over all people, but what they don’t understand is that they are just a pawn in an eternal chest match that they and their master satan has already lost.
So, we (children of God) should submit to the authorities God has placed over us, unless they try to force us to do something that opposes God and His Word. We should abide by the laws of the land, pay taxes, and be pillars in our community doing good to both the saved and the lost.
Friends, we may not like some of the people that are placed in authority over us because of the evil agenda that they push, but we have no right to disrespect them or hate them, to the contrary God said we are supposed to pray for them and love them, because He has allowed them to hold their position of authority for a purpose that we may not understand until we meet Jesus face to face in heaven. But for now we must trust God and press on and persevere in doing good even if we have to do it under oppressive government control.

Romans 13:1-2 NLT
Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. [2] So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished.

05/29/2026

1 Peter 2:12 NLT
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

Have you ever heard someone say, “Your life is your best witness to the world”. There is some truth to that statement, but I believe words of Truth should accompany and complement our good works. But nevertheless, Peter tells us to live holy and righteous lives before unbelievers so that we don’t taint the transforming power of the Blood Christ shed to save us, and to keep unbelievers from having a legitimate claim of hypocrisy against us.
If we continue over time to be faithful servants to our Master, Jesus Christ, even those who falsely accuse us or persecute us will eventually have to acknowledge that we are good people in Christ Jesus.

1 John 3:1-3 NLT
See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know him. [2] Dear friends, we are already God's children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. [3] And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.

05/28/2026

1 Peter 2:11 NLT
Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

When I travel to foreign countries, especially third world countries, I am warned not to drink their tap water because it could make me sick.
Peter tells us (children of God) as temporary residents (foreigners) here on earth, we should not drink from the same wells of sin that the citizens of this world (lost people) drink from, if we do, we could become sin sick!
Some of you reading this have been drinking sin into your life, by listening to things you shouldn’t be listening to, by watching things you shouldn’t be watching, by ingesting things into your body that you shouldn’t be ingesting, by physically connecting yourself with people you shouldn’t be spending time with, and by buying things that you know you cannot afford.
I’ve always told people that self inflicted pain is always the worse pain, and typically leads to depression and anxiety. So, when are you going to stop drinking sin into your life? When are you going to repent and allow God to heal the pain of sin that you have infected yourself with? I’ll tell you when you will do it, you will do it when you are ready to heed Peter’s warning below and live a life that pleases your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

1 Peter 2:11 NLT
Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

05/27/2026

1 Peter 2:9-10 NLT
But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. [10] "Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God's people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God's mercy."

What Peter explained above are the effects of rebirth in the Holy Spirit. When God chooses to save someone from the penalty of their sins, He will wash them clean from the inside out and gives them a new name (Revelation 2:17), and a new identity, and a new home address (Philippians 3:20-21), He removes them from the dominion of darkness and places them in the Kingdom of His dear Son (Colossians 1:13). When we are born again, we are adopted into God’s family, we are no longer enemies of God, we instantly become children of God (Ephesians 1:5). This is a supernatural rebirth that can only be performed by God, and when it happens you will be so grateful for what God has done, that it will cause you to do what Peter said Christians will do in verse 9, “As a result you can show others the goodness of God”.
Are you telling others about the goodness of God and His ability to take the most wretched sinner and transform them into a beacon of light and love? If not, could it be that you yourself have not experienced rebirth in the Holy Spirit.
If you are silent about the good and righteous things of God, you most likely don’t have the Spirit living in you, and you will not spend eternity with God in His heaven!

John 3:5-7 NLT
Jesus replied, "I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. [6] Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. [7] So don't be surprised when I say, 'You must be born again.'

05/26/2026

1 Peter 2:7-8 NLT
Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, "The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone." [8] And, "He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they do not obey God's word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

In the last few days we have discussed Jesus being the living stone and the cornerstone, but today Peter tells that Jesus is also the rejected stone. So, what does that mean?
To get the answer to this question, I want to go back and read some additional verses that go along with the verse that Peter quoted above.
Isaiah 8:13-15 NLT
Make the LORD of Heaven's Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. [14] He will keep you safe. But to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. [15] Many will stumble and fall, never to rise again. They will be snared and captured."
So, here’s the meaning behind Jesus being called the rejected stone, the stumbling stone, or a trap and a snare.
Isaiah said in verse 13 above that God should be regarded as Holy and we should fear Him and stand in awe of who He is. Those who do this, they will be kept safe, they will be saved from the effects of their sins against God. But just as divine as God’s grace is, so shall be His Judgment upon all who don’t fear Him and don’t bow a knee to Jesus as Lord. They will stumble over the Rock and fall to their death in hell. The Rock that was placed in their path to save them, became the Rock that will judge them and sentence them to spend eternity in hell!
What about you, do you truly fear God, and is Jesus truly Lord (King) over your life? If not, you need to repent today and put all your faith in Jesus before it is eternally too late for you to do so!

Philippians 2:12 NASB95
So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;