Freshbrook Church Podcast | 05Jul26 | Living Hope | Hassan John

Today's reading is from 1 Peter chapter 5 verses 1 to 14.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

And it can be found on page 1220 of the Church Bibles.

Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, keep watching over them, not because you must, but because you are willing.

As God wants you to do, not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve.

Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders.

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another.

Because God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares you.

Be alert and of sober mind.

Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering.

And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.

To him be the power forever and ever.

Amen.

With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.

Stand fast in it.

She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark.

Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Good morning.

I bring you greetings, and it's I think I've been away from church for so so long.

Feels like I've been away for almost a year.

Well, this because um being in Nigeria has just been moving from one place to the other.

But let me say they bring, I mean, I bring greetings from Christians in Nigeria that I've met.

Uh hopefully this evening I'll be I'll be giving just one video, particularly of one of the prominent pastors sending their special greetings to Fresh Brook Church here.

So it's it's been a great journey, and we thank God for safety and for protection in all that um through all this time.

Now, let me start this timer, otherwise, we'll all be in trouble.

The name is Hassan John, and usually by introduction, I'll just simply say I'm just one of those wretched sinners saved by grace to the glory of God.

And all the time is that exciting thing to be a Christian.

And indeed, that is principally, thank you.

That is principally really um who we are as a church.

Because by default, sometimes we forget that we are Christians in this sense that whether or not you you grew up in a Christian family, and most of the time if you do, then you are not necessarily aware of the unique position we have as Christians.

But especially for those that are converted or they've left other religions to be Christians, it becomes even more prominent that they are stepping into a special category of the redeemed people of God.

Now, I'm saying this because the context in which we are looking at Peter or First Peter today, chapter five, is understanding that Peter is speaking specifically and specially to the church.

And because of this, the message is that which comes within the context of speaking into this, this uh, I would say, into this community of people who have acknowledged and have given their lives to Jesus Christ, knowing clearly what that entails.

So, as Christians, it's good sometimes to remind ourselves that because we are Christians, then we are set by default against the world, against every other thing that stands against God, his purpose for humanity and for creation.

And for that, again brings us into the context of what we see today as.

Oops, running too fast.

So it brings us into the context of who we are as Christians, but much more.

The first slide.

Thank you.

No, I don't even know what that is now.

Yes.

Thank you.

Awesome.

So we are called and set apart, and that is where really I'm going.

And the fact is simply that because we are called and set apart, as Christians, the the perspective or the perception of the world is we stand against every other thing that the world does not want to associate or be affiliated with or to work on those moral standards that have been set by the scriptures.

Now, like I was saying, Peter has introduced this because Peter himself, if we go to the next slide, Peter himself is no stranger at all to Christian persecution.

And this is simply because when you look at where Peter is coming from in writing this, he is a person who, right from the beginning, going or working in association with Jesus Christ, when Jesus tried to explain what following him was all about, what being a Christian was going to be about, Peter was one of those that said, uh-uh.

No, I mean, look, we understand what you're saying, but he rebuked Jesus Christ when he even spoke about his death on the cross.

He didn't, he didn't think that that was possible in the context of what Jesus was offering because Jesus offered this glorious image of being the one that was called.

At that time, whether they knew he was the Messiah or not, was a different thing.

But the idea was that with the miracles Jesus performed, raising Lazarus from the dead, seeding the, you know, healing the sick, doing every other thing, it looked like a glorious, amazing uh way of life that was going to bring this beauty and something, a completely different regime to what they were used to.

But then Jesus now introduced the fact that that may be true, but there is a long way to go.

Then it was Peter again at the crucifixion that denied Jesus Christ.

And then again there was Peter who started, or rather, who was the leader of the first church, as we will as we've seen in the series of First Peter, uh from chapters 1 to chapter 5 now, where Peter now became the head of the church, then the reality dawned.

And the reality simply was it was during that time that Nero the Emperor in about AD, I think in the AD 66 or thereabout, that now they now realize what it meant to be set aside and be Christians.

And so Peter decided, therefore, that to set the foundation to what will be the church as we have today, there were certain instructions that we needed to understand.

Because it was to set the foundations, if you like, the rudiments of what we have today as the church.

And going forward and looking at essentially what Peter decided to bring to our attention was these instructions.

First and foremost, was the instruction to the elders of the church, like we read from verse 1.

And the instruction to the elders was simply first and foremost to say the elders must be watch keepers.

In other words, they must keep watch over the flock.

Because Peter realized and he knew clearly that there were so many challenges that were now beginning to arise, especially in the context of the situation where false narratives, false teachings were beginning to overrun those of them that knew who Jesus Christ was with them, they knew what the teachings were and all the other things that were happening.

Because those false teachings started spreading.

And people who claimed to be disciples, even if all they did at that time was to live in Jerusalem or live in Galilee and wanted to be associated with Christianity, started spreading false teachings.

And so the instruction was to the elders, first and foremost, to please keep watch and go teach clearly what was scriptural.

But these elders also needed to understand that this had to be done in terms of leadership.

There must be a willing commitment.

It is a self-voluntary work that was going to, that was going to be it was it was coming with a price, as we've seen with all the disciples going forward.

But of course, there was this need for eagerness to serve, to want to step out every moment in time when the call was required.

And in everything, they must be those who reflected Jesus Christ.

They must be those who set the examples for Jesus Christ.

So the call for elders in the church was massive.

And history tells us that for all the disciples, they stepped up to this responsibility and they were reflective of what Peter taught.

And today we have the church as it is today.

I mean, in the growth of it is.

But then the next instruction was also to the sheep.

Because on the one part we have the instruction that went, did I jump again?

We had the instruction that.

He says, resist him, standing firm in faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of suffering.

It is also because whatever happens to us also happens to every other person.

There is, I'm not sure in the history of the church, I'm not a student of history, but I'm not sure there is any time in the history of the development of the church or communities where Christianity didn't go under severe persecution or suffering.

Even if it started and was accepted over time and over the years, the opposition against Christianity begins to grow and then persecution sets in.

And where Christianity becomes the key element of building a society, the opposition is very fierce.

And we only need to look at our history to see what is happening.

I mean in England here, if you go to Oxford, I think the monument on the Latimer, uh on the ground somewhere there, whether you talk about Tyndale or you talk about Latima or whatever it is, England has its own history.

Of course, you do not also want to go to Rome, where we know through history of the church, the persecution we just mentioned, Nero, and many other governments that have arisen against the church in terms of severe persecution.

Africa is the same thing.

We forget sometimes that the whole of North Africa, Algeria, uh we say Egypt, Libya, we are all where we the formation of the church doctrines, or rather the formation of church as it was, emanated with all the creeds that came out of the uh came out of that region.

But today, Christianity is just the inconsequential minority in that place because of persecution and attacks consistently that has happened and wiped out literally Christianity from those areas.

So the church has been right from its foundation, has gone through this level of challenges.

Today, even in England, we cannot necessarily say, because there are, I think there are two different narratives you hear all the time.

Either we hear Kirstama saying, Oh, this is a Christian country, and then we now have our king saying, Oh, well, we are defender of every faith.

Then you start wondering what essentially are we talking about?

Are we losing or are missing something?

And then you hear, of course, the United States screaming, yes, we are founded in our foundational structures, yes, it's a we are we are in our in our articles, uh it says in God we trust because we are founded as a Christian country, and yet you see the massive struggles and rivalries, and the church is good, undergoing so much pressure.

It has always been.

And history tells us that this will continue.

As a matter of fact, Jesus says this will persist into the future.

Now, what Peter is saying this morning in our scripture is simply this: that because we are set apart, we will face these challenges.

But the issue is how do we respond to them?

How do we respond to them?

Anxiously, fear, are we intimidated?

Do we compromise our faith?

Where do we stand?

And so the our text in uh Matthew chapter chapter six, when Jesus says, So you do not worry, do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?

And then he now goes in to talk about the the birds of the of the air and the lilies of the, you know, they are even more glorious in terms of what the Lord provides.

But he said, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and every other thing will be added unto you.

But of course, it's also a reflection of what Psalm 55 says that says, Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you.

He will never let the righteous fall.

Now, this is the embodiment, I would say, of who we are as a church.

And this is what sets us apart as, if you like, as a religion against any other in the world today, but much more as people that are called from the creation of the earth and the let me say in in God's plans and purposes that transcends through eternity.

I do not know of any religion at all on earth today where it is in a gathering like this that you experience the power of the Holy Spirit.

I do not know.

Because of the uniqueness of who we are as Christians, working alongside our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the ultimate, ultimate uh purpose of what the Lord has said for his creation.

Now, Peter turns again points us to the cross.

Because, like I said, he was there with Jesus Christ right from the beginning of the ministry, and then today he consistently in um in in 1 Peter chapter 5, he points us to the cross.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Because here in the cross, we see first and foremost that yes, part of the coin in terms of the blessings of the Lord also comes with the resistance from the world, and therefore, with that friction, there will be suffering, especially when you have the church as the sheep.

Especially when you have the church that working in the context of what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has taught us, we cannot respond like the world responds.

The Bible tells us all the time to turn the other cheek.

We cannot be violent.

We respond with prayers and with love in every circumstance and every situation.

And that makes us vulnerable as Christians because we could choose to respond any other way.

As a matter of fact, if there is anything that uh Christians are accused of today, especially here in the West, is they they flount this card of the crusades.

They say, Oh yeah, but you are the crusaders, oh, you did this at the crusade, oh this.

So the crusaders seems to be a response that was carried by the church in a way they felt they needed to liberate Jerusalem, but in their own way.

And so that has become this albatross over us consistently.

But again, we are all we also see that throughout these things, of course, there's the martyrdom.

And like I mentioned earlier on, with our disciples, every one of them, sorry, with the apostles, every one of them, they went through this martyrdom.

But it is in this martyrdom that indeed the church grew and it blossomed.

And then, of course, we know that there's the victory of the church that has been uh set up, and it is the victory of the cross as well.

Now, the irony about Christianity is it is in the midst of this intense persecution that the church grows.

It's incredible, and this is where we call the glory of the church.

It's amazing today in Africa, despite every persecution that is going on.

I will argue that in Nigeria, every month, at least 50 to 100 churches or prayer groups or communities of worshippers emerge.

At least, if I'm being very, very conservative here.

I could share pictures of my friends that were in Niger.

Now, if you have an idea of Niger, it is a place that would they call them the JNIM, is an affiliate of ISIL and Al-Qaeda.

They've been devastating.

Actually, in the news, I think two days ago, there were five massive attacks of the Islamists in different communities.

They are almost threatening to sack the government.

Now, just three days ago, my friends who are in the mission field there just sent me pictures of this Islamist in those communities and villages.

At least he sent me a message to say, hallelujah, we have 50 converts to be and we are starting three prayer cells.

It's amazing.

But it is the it is this picture of God in control of his church and taking this love, this this it is it is just this glorious thing.

It's difficult to explain how you could have these two all hand in hand go together.

That one you see the persecution, but secondly, you also see God in his throne establishing, engaging, and expanding these areas of people who always are on their knees, raising their hands in worship and thanking God for the salvation of their souls.

Because the I would say the picture is this that while the devil threatens the physical body, our existence and everything, and the threat is, oh, you are going to get killed, or you're going to miss this, or you will not get food, or you will not get this if you don't compromise or if you don't abandon Christianity.

But the Christians that understand and they see through the glory of Christ choose to take that glory even at the expense of whatever they they they may never get in terms of their physical comfort.

And that's that's the thing that keeps coming through again and again.

Like I said, I will share some video later in the evening of a church that we just got into that church and it's just all singing and dancing.

And you will hardly ever know that in that moment, about 50 of those families on those households were just the mass graves of where their relatives were buried is just about 200 meters from where the church was and where they were singing.

It's just incredible.

But it is the glory that we see consistently in who we are as Christians and how God has established us to be a priest or a priesthood nation to the world.

It is therefore this scene that brings on one the victory of the cross, but I think much more uh is the symbol of what the cross stands for.

And that symbol of what the cross stands for is that one, there is victory, but more importantly, there is this transformation.

Because again, I'm not an expert in terms of other religions, but I know that it is only in Christianity that you see a wretched.

Let me even use I think my friend, my friend uh uh Reverend Ezekiel Datomo wouldn't mind me giving him as an example because he's now really the the the blessed spokesperson of the Christian persecution in Nigeria, but he was a member of an armed bandit, an armed robbery that took place in Joss many years ago.

And you fast forward, and today you have Ezekiel Datomo as the as the voice of the persecuted Christians in Joss.

As a matter of fact, his video was shared by Donald Trump when he was talking about Christian persecution.

And you find you and you just look at this thing and you say what happened in between.

I do not know any religion that brings a person from one who carries a gun to rob and kill to a person who stands to testify to the glory of Christ Jesus.

This is the glory of the church, and this is who we are.

As a matter of fact, the gratitude that we're bringing is just simply saying thank you, because Freshbrook continues to pray for Christians that are facing persecution all over the world.

And because of this prayers, there's this connection with who we are going through this period, but much more also people who, by this link, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the Lord continues to glorify himself in the body of the church, both church universal, but also in individual congregations, even much more in families and individuals.

And that is how it goes.

That's how powerful the what we do or what we share and where we go as a church, you know, continues to stand.

So we're saying, we're saying on the one part, yes, we understand the context in which Jesus came as a Messiah for salvation of mankind to transform us that once we were sinners, but today we are now called heirs and sons of the living God.

But much more also is that we are awaiting the salvation and the glorious uh appearance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in culmination of what the grand plan is by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

So it brings us, therefore, that everything that Peter is saying in Peter chapter 5 comes out to just again reminding the church, reminding us that we are coming on a long journey, but is to remain faithful, to stand firm.

Yes, the devil is there, prowling like a lion, seeking who to devour, anything to separate us from the love of Christ, anything to want us to compromise or to look the other way, because that is the ultimate goal and what the devil tries to do.

But then we know that it just takes, it just takes us understanding God's plan and purpose that may or may not align with what we are saying or what we are thinking as to what that plan ought to be.

Because on this side of eternity, as mortals, we seem to see things on how it ought to be and how it should be.

And that's where a lot of the debates come in.

You just go online and you see a lot of the debates, either by 80s, by other persons, and they say, oh well, if that is a God, then where's their suffering?

Or if that is God, then where's this?

Why does he allow this?

Why does he do that?

It's as if they have a plan for God on how he should or shouldn't do certain things.

But it's the other way around.

It is God's plan ultimately.

And uh, I was just having a little fellowship with a group of people this morning, and we raised the issue of Jesus and his cousin John the Baptist.

John the Baptist was there.

So, how come when John was arrested and eventually was killed, Jesus was there and didn't intervene?

Anyway, it's a debate for another day.

But it's an issue to say that there is a purpose that that supersedes every other thing that we have in our minds, thinking of the earth now as paradise.

And I'm sure there'll be so many people that will want to make earth the paradise.

As a matter of fact, that's what the world offers us.

The world wants to offer us a paradise that God didn't create because his paradise is coming uh by and by.

Now, just to awesome.

Now, as I conclude, I just want to zero in on the fact that Christ is glorified by the church, but Christ also glorifies his church because he is the head of the church, he is it is his church, he is the chief shepherd, he is the Lord of Lord and the King of Kings.

And he the Bible tells us so many times in so many ways that Jesus will not forsake his bride, he will not abandon the church.

And every moment in time, despite all the suffering and the challenges, God is glorified in every situation.

There is hardly anything that we can put forward, any argument we can put on the table, or any perspective or perception we can put that doesn't bring to the glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

And that is where it is.

This is where ultimately we continue to see that as Christians, what we do all the time is to preach Christ and to preach Him crucified.

Because the symbol of the cross, ultimately, I don't know, each time I wear the cross, I know we I know we use them as jewelry, as ornaments and everything.

But the symbol of the cross is as much as it is beautified in in our gold jewelries and things that we hang and the things that we carry, is good.

But it is the symbol of the fact that we have this intertwined suffering and victory, glory as much as everything that is put that is that is encapsulated in what Christianity stands for.

So therefore, as we carry on our journey consistently, the challenge to us, like Peter said at the tail end of chapter five, is where do we stand in this?

How do we respond to this anxiously, fearfully?

What do we do?

Or how do we go in the context of who we are as Christians, considering our day-to-day challenges?

But it takes us ultimately, I would say, to this poster here.

Because here, right from January, this tears us in the face.

Come to me.

That's the call.

All who are heavy laden.

And indeed, if there's anyone that is heavy laden, I raise my hand up every day.

I am.

Because I'm just full of anxieties, worried about a lot of things, I'm worried about the bills, I'm worried about health, I'm worried about family, I'm worried about, I'm just worried every day about everything.

Honestly, I don't know about you.

Yeah, early morning, I wake up in the morning, and there are these little demons in our hands called phones that remind us of certain things that ought to have been done that we've forgotten, that I've forgotten, and things like that.

Or somebody just sends in a text and it just spoils your day.

You know, but but this this this things come again and again and again.

Things you see online, a lot of things that are happening around, but they unless there is this focus, and then there is this surrender, because he says, take my yoke.

And a yoke indeed means there is a burden to be taken, and the burden is light because it is handled by Christ Himself when it comes to the issue of the cross.

So let me end by just simply again, you know, throwing this out to all of us because, like I said, Peter is writing in the challenge in the context of who we are as a family and as a church.

Because it's first of all a reminder, but also an encouragement.

An encouragement to say that Christ is the head of his church, he is glorified in everything that we do.

We come every morning to worship.

As a matter of fact, a lot of people are not in church today doing every other thing, apart from those perhaps that are in essential duties and they needed to be, but there are those that are just sitting down and from now waiting to watch the football at 1 a.m.

You know, people are doing many other things, but that you've taken that time to come before the Lord in the context of worship and glorifying his name.

You know, the Bible says, Blessed are you.

That is right from the Beatitudes.

So blessed are you who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for yours is the kingdom of God.

Automatically, there's the blessings already established.

That you came into church today, you're already working in the context of that glory of the blessing that the Lord has set for those who worship and those who follow and those who trust in him.

So ideally, the the thought is would you come?

Would you just completely surrender and say, Lord, just have your way?

Because indeed, I have my plans every morning.

There are things that I think are good for me.

Actually, there are many things that I've done that I thought were good for me, but now in hindsight, if I take that part, it would have ended up a massive disaster.

Because I cannot predict the next minute.

Only God can.

Things, especially in the world today, that things change every time, every moment, every minute, it becomes a big challenge.

So it's ultimately to just simply, you know, answer this trust to say, when Jesus says, Come to me, it's it's not, it's it's it's an offer of a glorious relationship with God.

It's an offer of of you know taking that burden, that worry, everything about life that you say, Lord, I trust you with this.

Whichever way you do it, it's fine.

It's not it's not just to say for those who are just Christians or they've just given their lives to Christ.

It's a daily walk with God for every one of us.

It's a daily walk that every day we walk with the Lord.

We know that we need every moment.

It is part of our transformational journey in Christ.

It does not matter whether you are Christian for a week or you've been a Christian for 50 years, it is the same uh call that every morning uh our song says um his call, or rather, his grace is uh I'm trying to remember the song.

Um sorry, somebody help me.

It's sufficient, yes, for us.

Every morning.

It's it's awesome.

But may the Lord may the Lord continue to encourage us even in this.

Because at the end of the day, we know that Christ is on the throne, he is our King of Kings, and we rejoice that despite all the challenges, we have that smile on our faces that says, indeed, Jesus is Lord.

May the Lord guide us in all that we do, and as we go through the day, may his grace and mercy be upon us.

Let us pray.

Our Father, we thank you.

We thank you because we are just happy that you are our God.

We know, Lord God, we have no other substitute but you and our dependencies on you every day.

Teach us, Lord, every morning when we wake up to look up to you and say thank you.

Teach us, Lord, every morning to know that whichever way we go, whichever challenges we face, that you, Lord, you are in charge and you are in control.

Help us, Lord God, all the time to carry your radiance in all that we do to the glory and honor of your name.

Amen.