Tested by Fire, 1 Peter 1:3-9 | Rev. Dr. Robert Knowles

Well, great to be here. And what he

didn't mention, which is my really my

biggest claim to fame with this church,

is my dad was your pastor before most of

you didn't even come here were alive.

So, back in the 70s, my dad pastored

this church for seven years. So, uh it's

where I became a Christian. Uh not in

this building, but the previous building

and was baptized and my sister as well.

And uh so I have a always have a really

uh special place in my heart for this

church. Um I want to tell you a little

bit about uh Crannle uh which is part of

the reason I'm here and then also to

speak. How many know nothing about

Crannle? You've never been there. You

don't know really much about that's

okay. Raise your hand. Okay. So if you

don't I want to talk to you a little bit

and those who do know a lot about us uh

you can maybe pick up a few items that

you weren't up to date on. So Thomas,

let's go to the next one there. So

Crannle's your university. uh you own a

our our sponsor a university Crannle um

which was founded in 1949 as a high

school and then ADA Divinity College of

course uh the seminary we don't do the

same thing we're not competitors we have

different uh missions and and to

students and we offer different

curriculum so we're not competitors we

do different things and so with a

Christian university located in Monton

exit 452 off if you're going by you want

to come in if you haven't been there

just to get a little tour and uh maybe

after this you'll think I know somebody

that might like to go to Crannle. Maybe

they're a little younger making their

way through school or maybe they're

thinking about going back to university

after a time out. So, uh we're just like

every other university, but I would say

our mission's a little bit different as

a Christian university. Of course, we

receive no public funding, no money from

the government. We're private. Uh we're

open as far as our uh enrollment goes.

It's not just for Christians. It's not a

Bible college for those who are

preparing for ministry. We're open to

anybody who wants to come, whether they

believe in God or not, uh whether they

have any faith journey so far, whether

it's an introduction to the Christian

faith or whether uh they've been a a

Christian for some time. So, but we're

really about transformation. We know

what we're about. We want to see their

lives changed. We want to introduce them

to faith uh if we can through the

various classes, our Christian

professors and various ways. So, uh we

want to see lives changed. So a person

crosses the stage after 2 years or four

years and gets a degree and that's all

they got out of the experience then we

failed. Uh we really want to see them uh

introduced to the faith or growing in

their faith, discipled in their faith.

So transformation is really uh a big

part of our mission. Let's go to the

next one Thomas.

So we started out as a Christian high

school with nine students in 1949. My

grandfather was the first president of

the school and he came when there was no

students, no buildings, no money, no

nothing. and uh he came with vision and

faith to believe that something could

grow. Then over these 77 years uh we are

not the same school as we used to be.

We're not the same when I went in the

80s at Atlantic Baptist College. And so

we've seen a record enrollment. Uh we've

uh had students come from 76 different

countries of the world and this past

year we hit 2,000 students as a

headcount and we're celebrating uh

what's been going on. Okay, let's do a

little switch around. Okay,

no more shots fired. Okay, we're all

set. Everybody's going to live through

this. All right, so uh record

enrollment, global reach. We have more

faculty and staff than we've ever had.

We're continuing uh to add quality

professors and staff who believe in the

mission and ministry that we do. And

we've done some facility upgrades. Our

last one for now that we're doing this

summer is the science labs. Totally

rebuilding them. We've done a lot of

different renovations, the auditorium,

the chapel, the library, etc. We've done

millions of dollars of renovations, not

borrowed 1 cent. In fact, we paid off

all of our debt. And so, we're debtree.

We don't owe anything operationally or

in capital debt. So, for the first time

ever in our history, we're celebrating

that. Let's go to the next one. Yeah,

it's worth that's worth celebrating.

Trust me. Let's go to the next one,

Thomas. So, some of you, if you know us,

you know us as an arts, business,

science education university. These are

undergrad programs. We've had these for

a while. So students coming out of high

school or maybe they've got their first

degree and they want to go back for the

education degree. And so we've been

doing that for quite some time and there

is literature at the table. If that's

someone you know, a child, grandchild or

youth here today, uh come and get that

information. Let's go to the next one.

Go to the next one. Okay. Thanks. So

we're not a seminary as I mentioned. We

are equipping lay leaders. So we just

want people to stand on stages like this

one and lead worship or work in youth

ministry or children's ministries in the

churches. We want to have better

equipped lay people for the churches. Uh

my own children, our own children, our

son graduated with a business degree.

He's an accountant. He's not in pastoral

ministry, but he leads a small group. He

and his wife lead a small group in the

church. So that's what we want. We just

want people that are working everyday

jobs, not standing up here every Sunday

to be able to be better equipped lay

leaders in their church. So these are a

few of the ways that we do it. Let's go

to the next one.

So this is where things really took off

for us a few years ago with graduate

programs. And so there were no graduate

programs when Dr. Faucet and I went to

the university. We started with an MEED,

a master of education. And now these

other ones, the Morgam, the master of

management, and now we have the one

online that we've just started. So if

you think I don't want to move away from

Truro, I want to do a masters, but I

didn't know there was an opportunity at

Crannle. Well, there is now. So you can

do that online. Let's go to the next

one.

So, it costs a lot of money to go to

university. Um, I know that, you know,

and uh maybe some of you haven't been

around university for a while don't

realize how expensive it is, but trust

me, it is. And we're no different. We

have to put ourselves in the uh

ballpark, let's say, of other

universities around Atlantic Canada. And

the fact that we're private makes it

even more challenging uh to do that. So,

we are trying to provide more burseries

and scholarships for our students than

we ever have before. And thank goodness

that people have stepped up to do that.

Uh people have said that I want to

provide a scholarship for a student and

so they invest in their lives. Let's go

to the next.

Let's go to the next slide there Thomas.

Okay, great. So what can you do with a

Crannle degree? Uh well you can go a lot

of places and we can't put all the

schools on the slide. So there are

schools that our kids have gone to after

Crannle that aren't on this slide. This

is just a few of them where our grads

who have done well with us uh do well in

other places. So sometimes people I've

never heard of Crannle. Is it really a

legitimate university? Can you get you

know can you get noticed by other

people? Can you actually go on to do

something significant study in some of

the prestigious schools? The answer is

yes. If you do well with us, you can do

well in other places. Let's go to the

next one.

So our faculty uh are well trained in

their disciplines and uh all of us as

employees sign off on a statement of

faith. Every year we commit ourselves to

the central tenants of Christianity uh

to be able to unite us together in what

we're doing. And so these are a few of

the schools that they've studied at.

Again, not all of them, but a few of the

ones. So they're they're really great

people who who love God and who uh want

to share what they've studied and their

long careers to be able to share with

their students. Let's go to the next

one.

So, we have a chapel uh that we meet on

our campus. We have a couple of large

group chapels and then some smaller

group chapels. And uh I I'm an old guy

in the chapel. Like I sit over kind of

in the senior section with people in

their 50s or whatever. And uh but our

our worship is led by students. And so

what you experience today, now they're a

few years older. They're in university,

but that that's the worship team at

atrandle. So when I think about the

church and the future of the church, I

think the church is in good hands. When

I see these leaders coming using their

gifts, honing their gifts, developing

their gifts and leading people like me,

staff, faculty in worship, it's a really

nice kind of oasis in your day when you

can step away from the office, phone

calls and meetings and things like that,

classes, and we all come together as one

worshiping community. It's really kind

of a beautiful thing. Let's go to the

next one. Uh that's for the sermon.

We're going to get that, but uh we will

be saved, but not during the Crannle

presentation. So, um, yeah, I think

there's another one on athletics there.

Um, so we do have that athletics teams

atrandle and, uh, if you play a sport,

you're interested in that, that's for

the sermon, too. And, uh, we do have

sports, volleyball, basketball, cross

country, and we have a the only boxing

program in Canada. So, if you have know

somebody that's a boxer, the only

university that boxes in Canada is us.

And uh I don't know how you feel about

that, but uh we're hoping we're going to

send some to the Olympics is what we

hope. Um and you'll see some Crannle

students at the Olympics in the years to

come. So that's what's happening. And uh

uh we're really excited about what God's

doing. We're going through some times of

change. Dr. Fost is stepping down after

14 years and uh not retiring

necessarily, he says, but moving on to

some different things. So pray for us.

Uh we believe that we're up to some good

things at Crannle, but whenever you're

in kingdom work in this church and other

church anywhere, the ne the devil never

likes it. And so we believe that uh we

need to stand firm. We need God's

people. So I want to thank you as a

church for standing with us over many

years. Uh you give torandle as a mission

and the reason you do that is to keep

the tuition affordable for the students.

Again, since we don't receive government

funding, uh we have to make our budget

balance in creative ways, and that's

through the donations of God's people,

through churches and individuals. And

so, it really helps when your church

gives. I want to I want to thank you

personally for that. And so, thanks

again for standing with us. I want to

move to the message. And uh though I

preached in about 170 of our Baptist

churches over these last few years, I

did a count actually. And um

I had my most unique uh preaching

experience with this church. It's during

CO and uh I was supposed to come down

and they locked down our zone and I

couldn't leave and it was days before I

was to come. So I emailed Michael and I

said, "I can't come." He said, "What do

you mean you can't come?" You know,

typed it back and I said, "I'm not

allowed out of my area." He said, "We'll

figure something out." And we did. And

so I went to my office and preached on

Zoom to my screen. We didn't even have

two or three gathered. It was just me in

my office and we I preached to the

screen and it came out in your sound

booth and I went on the screen from

Monton. I've never preached from a

distance before like that. And uh I hope

I don't have to again. I'm glad I'm in

person today to actually see you because

it was really weird trying to get eye

contact when you're looking into your

own screen and you can't see people. So,

uh, I'm really happy to to be invited

back to be here with you today. So, if

you have a Bible with you, if you would

turn, please uh to the book of First

Peter.

1 Peter chapter 1

1 Peter 1 · chapter mention

and verses 3 to 9. 1 Peter 1 3-9. If you

have a Bible and you'd like to follow

along,

it's going to sound something like this.

Praise be to the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy,

he has given us new birth into a living

hope through the resurrection of Jesus

Christ from the dead and into an

inheritance that can never perish,

spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept

in heaven for you who through faith are

shielded by God's power until the coming

of the salvation that is ready to be

revealed in the last time. In all this

you greatly rejoice, though now for a

little while you may have had to suffer

grief and all kinds of trials. These

have come so that the proven genuiness

of your faith of greater worth than gold

which perishes even though refined by

fire may result in praise, glory, and

honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Though you have not seen him, you love

him. And even though you do not see him

now, you believe in him and are filled

with an inexpressable and glorious joy.

For you are receiving the end result of

your faith, the salvation of your souls.

If you've ever been to the campus of

Aadia University, uh you'll see the

biggest building on campus, University

Hall. Well, before there was a

university hall, there was a college

hall that burned in 1920.

In 1920, my grandfather was a junior at

Acadia. He was in his third year. And

back then, they had to wear gowns to

class. Aren't you glad that you don't

have to wear a gown to class? I mean,

can you imagine? And for a country boy

from the Annapolis Valley of Nova

Scotia, a dollar meant a dollar to him a

hundred years ago.

And so that gown that he rented was very

important to him. And so what do you do

when your gowns in college hall and the

building's burning down? You go into a

burning building and you try to get your

gown. That's exactly what he did. He ran

into a burning building to get his gown

and almost didn't make it out. Now,

thank goodness he did. I probably

wouldn't be here today if he didn't make

it out. But fact is is that he ran into

this college hall on fire. Well, when I

lived in Truro in the 1970s, we lived

downtown and I was at the Truro Stadium

watching a hockey game. Probably the

Bearcats, right? So, I was down there

watching a hockey game and somebody

said, "The Catholic Church is on fire."

Immaculate Conception Church, 1977. I

looked out the door and there was the

blaze.

It was right next door, of course, to

the Emanuel Church of the 1970s. Anybody

remember that fire? Oh, yeah. Look at

the hands. This is a revival. The hands

are going up. Okay. There was a big fire

there in the 70s. I thought to myself,

how many churches have burned down over

the years? How many have experienced

fires in their history that destroyed

the buildings but didn't destroy the

church? Do you know the word fire

appears 474 times in the books of the

Bible? I actually didn't count it, I

must admit. I true confession. I

actually just Googled it. But the better

known examples are, of course, in Exodus

3 where God appears to Moses in a

burning bush. Or in Exodus 13 21, where

the Lord went before the Israelites as

they journeyed by day in a pillar of

cloud to lead them along the way and by

night in a pillar of fire to give them

light. Or in first Kings 18 where Elijah

called down fire from heaven in Isaiah

43 that great promise when you pass

through the waters I will be with you

through the rivers they shall not

overwhelm you. When you walk through

fire you shall not be burned. And then

in Hebrews chapter 12 that our God is a

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

consuming fire.

Various songs have captured this over

the years. What if the church was

actually strengthened by fire through

fiery trials, by fires of purification,

refining us, renewing us? Could a fire

actually help in our lives and not

destroy us? So those songs that we've

come to know over the years, and for

some of you, maybe you've never heard of

these songs. Some of them maybe an old

hymn that says, "Breathe on me, breath

of God, till I am holy thine, until this

earthly part of me glows with thy fire

divine." Or another one, "My faith looks

up to thee. May thy rich grace impart

strength to my fainting heart, my zeal

inspired as thou has died for me. Oh,

may my love to thee, pure, warm,

changeless, be a living fire." Or that

great 1969 favorite, It only takes a

spark to get a fire going. Or a few

years later, Shine Jesus shine. It blaze

spirit blaze set our hearts on fire. Or

fast forward a few more years to Brian

Dirkson's song refiner's fire my heart's

one desires to be holy or third day who

wrote I'm running for your heart till

I'm a soul on fire or Tim Hughes

consuming fire fan into flame a passion

for your name and many other songs let's

take a look at this scripture passage

from first Peter if I could just pick a

key verse out of it be verse seven the

genuiness of your faith will be tested

by ire a faith more precious than gold.

You know, Christians face tests whether

stress, outright suffering because we

follow Jesus. And to this original

audience that Peter's writing to, it's

reper it's referring to persecution.

Let's focus on this question.

What do we need to remember as we go

through the fire? Well, the first thing

is I'll mention kind of in short order

six things. First of all, verse number

three, we have hope. We have hope. You

know, in this Christian experience,

we're not just kind of tossing a coin

into the into the pond, you know, kind

of this making a wish.

We have what's termed here in this

passage a living hope. What's it based

on? Well, it's based on a living

relationship with a living God. Coming

out of the ashes of a fiery trial,

you're still alive and you still have

hope. Number two, we have an

inheritance. Verse number four, you

know, God gave a land to his people.

That was a promise to them. It took them

a while to get there, though. They

didn't just kind of cross over in a day

and wow, we're here in the new land.

It took them a while to get there.

And we're on a journey to a home that's

promised to us. We're not there yet.

And so what we accumulate here,

be it a little or a lot, you're not

taking it with you. We leave everything

behind as far as things go.

But what we inherit one day will be far

greater. It won't get stolen. It's not

going to rust. It's not going to fade.

Number three, we're protected. You know,

God protects us by his power. Going

through a fiery experience could bring

about uncertainty in your life. It could

bring about fear in your life or

anxiety. But as believers,

our assurance is in a God who's got it

all under control. The fourth thing we

can take out of this passage in verses

six and seven is that we can pass the

test.

The fires of life do test us. You know,

the fact is is that you're either going

into one, you're in one now, or you're

just coming out of one. And that's kind

of how life goes. Sorry to disappoint

those of you who are young, but that's

kind of how life kind of works out. But

imagine if you would

not just a little teasing for your faith

or a little ridicule for your faith, but

actually your life being on the line for

your faith.

The faith that makes it through to the

other side through the fire is a genuine

faith.

based on God's protection, the promises

of a brighter future, the hope that that

brings, the first audience to this

letter, and we 2,000 years later can

make it through the fire. Now, I want to

just stop there for a minute. It's not

like we just use these words and say,

"Oh, yeah, the fire, the fire, the

fire." But

we don't enjoy it.

We don't enjoy those difficult times. We

don't desire the fire, so to speak. But

there's something that happens in us

when you realize

that when Jesus is all you have in the

fire, then you realize he's really all

you need. Number five, we must trust

him. Verse eight,

while looking back at the fourth gospel

in chapter 20, L John's gospel chapter

20, there was a man by the name of

Thomas. We know him as doubting Thomas.

Wow. And uh he said, "Unless I see for

myself, I won't believe." Well, he did

see the risen Jesus a week later and he

fell at his feet in worship. Verse 29 of

that John 20 passage says, "Blessed are

they who did not see and yet believed."

Sound familiar?

Sound familiar? We weren't around the

first century. We didn't see Jesus with

our own eyes. We haven't seen him.

Neither did this audience. many of them,

I'm sure, but they trusted and we trust

him even though there were challenges.

Then number six, we'll be saved. Verse

9,

for those of you who may be struggling

with some kinds of doubts in your

Christian experience, you're just not

sure you need that assurance in your

life. And let's face it, crowd this

size, I'm sure there would be many who

could admit that it's not all up and to

the right all the time. It's like there

are struggles that we face, doubts

We do go through that where we stand

with God. But if you look at salvation

in three phases, you can know that God

has saved you from your past. He's

forgiven you. You're being saved right

now from the power of sin as he set you

apart to live for him. And we will be

saved from this sorry old world one day

when we stand at Jesus presence crossing

the finish line saved from the presence

of sin and all this brokenness that we

experience forever. And I'm sure that

there are many in this room that have

asked that age-old question of why? Why

now? Why me? Why him? Why her? Maybe the

things we go through or somebody else

goes through.

I don't have that one-sizefits-all

answer.

Sometimes things happen as a result of

circumstances we can control. And

sometimes things happen for reasons that

we have no control over.

Part of the result of falling out of

close relationship with God that's

described back in Genesis chapter 3 has

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

been a whole lot of hurt since.

Sometimes it's a hard question that

we're left with without an answer. But I

want to remind you, particularly if you

are in a fire right now,

that the fire doesn't need to destroy

you. It can actually prove that your

faith is genuine.

You know, we can say in our lives on

good days that, hey, I'm a pretty strong

Christian.

And by all accounts, that might be true.

But based on this passage, let's let a

little testing do the talking.

That genuine faith can lead to another

kind of faith or another kind of fire,

the fire of passion.

Some people might be considered to be on

fire.

It's not just a fanaticism or

emotionalism. I'm talking about a person

who's excited, ready to serve, who has a

Christlike attitude, ready to share

their faith. When I was a student at

what's nowRandle Atlantic Baptist

College, then Dr. Ralph Richardson, who

was the president and one of my

professors, had us read a book that's

challenged me. I still have it on my

shelf. The author said that sometimes we

say, "How can I have more of the Holy

Spirit?"

Said, "That's a wrong question."

The right question is, "How can the Holy

Spirit have more of me?"

I want to ask you today, have fiery

trials developed a genuine faith in you?

sincerity,

authenticity,

a passion for God, a passion for his

church. I mean, how real is your passion

for God today to worship him, to witness

for him? John Wesley, a great preacher

from a couple of centuries ago in

describing an experience with God said

his heart was strangely warmed.

One of my favorite post-resurrection

appearances is when Jesus walks with the

two on the road to Emmas. I really like

that story and it's because of these

words. After they recognized him and as

they reflected on the experience of

meeting the risen Jesus, they said, "Did

not our hearts burn within us?" I love

those words. Some of my favorite in the

whole Bible. When's the last time your

heart burned in you?

Has

it ever burned in you? Have you ever

experienced met Jesus in such a way that

you were never the same again? Or would

you say, "Hey, I'm on low flame. I'm

just simmering. Don't don't ask me to be

on fire. That's a little too dramatic

for me." Well, if that's how the church

works around here, is this church going

to grow on simmer on low flame? Is that

how God works? or does he look for

people who are really sold out to him?

February the 12th 12th, 2023, a chapel

at Asbury University, a Christian

university in Kentucky, never seemed to

end.

For hours, days, weeks, students, and

others kept on worshiping God. It was

the chapel that never stopped.

People came from all over the country to

see what God was up to at Asbury

University.

I watched a live feed few times. They

still praying, they still worshiping day

after day after day.

I'm not, you know, as I process that as

a university administrator, I think,

wow, like what would we do if that

happened? I mean, I pray that it would

happen, but what about classes? Like,

what about uh what about the other

stuff? Like, but God was up to

something. So, was it a revival? Was it

some kind of renewal?

You know, I don't know the motive of

every heart,

but I can observe this as I tuned into

that on YouTube that there was a fire,

the passion of God that was present

there among those students. I think

there were hearts burning

as they experienced the presence of the

risen Christ. So whether I want to sit

back and analyze it and think that I

know best, I just pray that in the

aftermath of that

and that in our lives we would prove

genuine in our walk with Jesus

because we come out the other side of

fiery trials with a faith that's renewed

and passionate about serving God.

Well, let me round and head for home

with this one. And uh I'll just say to

the grads, whatever stage you're at,

whether it's grade five grad or high

school grad or wherever you're

graduating from, whatever the turning

point is in your life, really what it

comes down to in our lives, whoever we

are and wherever we are, is the

genuiness of our faith. It's who we are,

what we state, what we claim, but then

how we prove that in our witness and how

we live. And that applies to everybody

in this room, not just for the grads, is

that the genuiness of our faith that

we're the real deal. We're authentic.

People look at us and say, "If that's a

Christian, I want to be one." You know,

that kind of witness that we show Jesus

how we live, how we talk, our attitude,

all kinds of ways. The genuiness of our

faith. Maybe some of you have gone

through through some tests. Maybe you're

there right now and you need a word of

encouragement. Maybe just kind of one

more step forward. One more step

forward. Putting one more foot in front

of the other. Getting out of bed in the

morning. Concerned for somebody else

who's in a fire right now. Whatever it

is, my prayer is that the seeds of this

message will find good soil and that God

would produce fruit that's going to

last. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this

church. Thank you for the witness of it

and people who have loved you over the

years, the great legacy of faith and

faithfulness.

And thank you for this present day. I

thank you for what's going on right now

and what will happen in the future with

Eyes of Faith for the leaders of this

church and all who participate in it.

And I pray for the pastoral team,

support staff, and all who are leaders

here that you would give them fresh

vision, great concern and care to build

a community that makes a difference.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for your

assurance that you are with us even to

the end of the age. You never leave us.

You never forsake us. You are always

there even when we don't feel you or

even understand the circumstances that

we're going through. Your promise to us

is that you will never desert us. I pray

for people in this room right now, those

watching online, those who join for the

second service,

that they would be encouraged, that they

would know that you're walking with them

through various circumstances. You would

encourage them today, I pray, and help

them to know that out out of the other

side, uh, they can be a witness and a

testimony for what you really mean to

them. Thank you for what you're doing.

We bless your name. In Jesus name we

pray. Amen.