A great sermon on the last chapter of 1 Peter

Pain is real. Suffering is real. But the cross is also real. We don't have to pretend we are tough when the going gets tough. We don't have to get going. We can lay there before the cross. We can cast ourselves completely there, broken and helpless and embrace those wooden timbers again. It is there He cuts open our heart, empties it of and fills it with joy and trust. Here is love, vast as the ocean, loving-kindness as the flood, where the prince of life our ransom, shed for us His precious blood.

Peter's theme continues in verses 10-11. You might easily sum up the entire application with this moving one word: serve. These words are an appeal to serve.

Once a person understands what the Bible has to say about the subject of death and the afterlife, they must go about living in light of these truths. The Bible makes certain facts clear with respect to our life. Life Is Short. Life here upon earth is only for a relatively short time.