Stand Firm in Grace

“Stand Firm in Grace”

1 Peter 5:1-11

Preacher: Rev. Mark Bartsch

Kobe Union Church

July 6, 2025

Well, we’re finishing up 1 Peter! The story of this letter—and really, the story of Peter’s life—is undergirded by hope. Not just any hope, but a living hope. A hope so deep and solid that the world can’t drag it out of us—and believe me, the world tries. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about. I know my own story, and I’ve heard many of yours—stories of hope in the middle of hopelessness. Stories about dark days, when life hits you hard, when the questions don’t have easy answers, and when getting back to “okay” feels like a miracle. When all you’re trying to do is stay afloat. And still, time and again, I’ve seen people turn to Jesus. Not because it was easy—but because there was nowhere else to go.

It reminds me of that moment in John 6. Jesus gives a hard teaching—that He is the bread of life, and unless you eat His flesh and drink His blood, you have no life in Him. That was hard to hear then, and it’s still hard now. And what happened? People left. Thousands. He didn’t just lose a Bible study group—He lost a crowd big enough to fill a couple of megachurches. And Jesus? He didn’t chase them down. He didn’t soften the message. He spoke the truth—truth in love, but the truth. And to borrow a line from a movie, “Can you handle the truth?”

Peter could. And to his credit, he doesn’t pretend it’s easy. He doesn’t say, “No, Lord, this is great—we totally get it.” What he says is, “Lord, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Peter implies that part of him probably wanted to go too—but the knowledge that Jesus has life kept drawing him back. And that right there—that’s the foundation of everything Peter writes in this letter. That’s the kind of hope he’s holding onto. And let’s be clear: it’s not easy. I’ve never met a person I respect who would say that hope is easy.

And now, at the end of this letter, Peter’s trying to hand that same hope to us. To people who are tired. To people who are under pressure. To people—like us.

Because the people Peter was writing to weren’t living in easy times. They were scattered. Pushed to the edges of society. Outsiders. Exiles. They were dealing with opposition, suffering, loss, and uncertainty.

And here’s what’s stuck with me through this whole letter: even though trials don’t come from God, God can—and will—use them if we let Him. He doesn’t waste our suffering. If we invite Him into the middle of it, He can shape us into something stronger, something better. But that only happens when we surrender—not to the trial (that’s hopelessness)—but to God. And that is not Christianity 101. That’s a master’s-level faith. And I’m still working on it. That moment when you finally get honest with yourself and say, “God, I’m a capable person—but I can’t do this without You.”

That’s the posture Peter wants from us: surrender to the Lord, not to the pressure. Stand on the Cornerstone. Remember earlier in this series—we talked about Jesus as the Cornerstone. I actually prefer the phrase load-bearing stone. Because as we walk with the Lord, we do bear some weight—but the Lord bears most of it.

That’s why Jesus can say something so counterintuitive. (Counterintuitive is a big word that means something that doesn’t make sense at first but eventually does.) He says:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

It’s counterintuitive because if you’re tired and burdened, the last thing you want is another yoke. It doesn’t make sense—until you realize that when you yoke yourself with Jesus, He takes on the heavy part. And He leads you—sometimes even through the valley of the shadow of death. But as you trust the Lord, He leads. The problem is, a lot of us have trust issues. We know that people and the world have let us down—and we take that mistrust and project it onto God. I know I have.

I remember in junior high school, I faced a lot of bullying. I fought a lot. It was such a blessing to go to a different school in high school where no one knew me, and I could start over. But even in that new place, I brought my mistrust with me. It took time to believe these new people weren’t going to treat me like the kids in junior high did. I had to learn to trust again.

Just this week, a teacher told me they adopted a dog from a shelter—a dog that had been abused and neglected by its first owner. And now, that teacher is working every day to show the dog that it’s safe, that it’s loved, and that things have changed. That’s what Jesus is doing for us. He’s gently, patiently reminding us: You’re safe now. You’re Mine. You can trust Me.

In the same way, when we try to live without Jesus holding everything up—when we try to build our lives without the Cornerstone—we collapse. But when we trust Him, even when life gets hard (and it will), He holds us up. That’s the promise behind Romans 8:28:

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.”

And what is that purpose? It’s not complicated: trust in Jesus. Build your life on Him.

Peter’s been urging us throughout this whole letter to live holy lives. Holiness gets thrown around a lot, but remember—we said holiness means to be set apart. It’s like your favorite picture frame or your best china. You don’t pull it out for just any occasion. It’s special. It’s meaningful. That’s what Peter is calling us to: not just surviving the world, but living in a way that reflects Jesus. Set apart your relationship with God as special because that is how God views you. 

And here at the end of his letter, Peter sums it up with one strong word: stand.Stand firm.

Stand firm in the Lord.Stand firm in His promises.Stand firm in His love and grace.Stand firm in the commitment you made in baptism.

Stand firm— we know that willpower will only get us so far. What we need to be renewed every morning. Because without this renewal we become stale. Lamentations 3 tells us to be "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

And let’s not forget who Peter wrote this to: exiles. People who didn’t fit in. People whose faith made them stick out. People who, to the world, probably looked a little... weird/weirdos And honestly? Sometimes I think we try too hard as the Church not to look weird. I look at all these hip pastors on YouTube and they are so culturally aware so cool. Almost like they are saying be like me. That is not the message of the Gospel it is not be like me (pastor) it be drawn to Jesus and he might just make you a weirdo too. But Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:10 that he’s willing to be a fool for Christ. He didn’t care what people thought—he cared what God thought.

So maybe we are weird. But we’re weird in the best kind of way. Because in a world that says “look out for number one,” we’re called to look out for each other. To care. To love. To reflect Jesus. And if a church is not following that try another church.

Peter’s letter isn’t a downer—it’s real. It doesn’t give us a formula to avoid suffering, but it gives us something far better: a way through it. A path to grow. To endure. To stay faithful. To finish the race. Like Paul said in Philippians 3: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize…” How do we do that? We stand firm. In faith. In grace. In Jesus.

A Word to Shepherds—and Then to All of Us

Peter opens chapter 5 with a word to church leaders—to pastors and shepherds. 

Peter, as a fellow shepherd, tells leaders to care. And I mean really care. If a pastor doesn’t give a crap about you—they shouldn’t be a pastor. Jesus calls those kinds of leader’s hirelings (John 10:12). In the movie Gone with the Wind, there’s that famous line — “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” If that’s a pastor’s attitude? They’ve disqualified themselves from being a pastor. They might be a good speaker but not a pastor.

Second, Peter says leaders are to serve, not be served. That hits hard in a time when pastors can become celebrities, when ministry becomes about platforms and perks. But Peter says: it’s not about brand. It’s about sacrifice.

And third, leaders need confident humility. Confidence in God’s calling, and humility to know they don’t have all the answers. I sure don’t. And pride? It sneaks in. Scripture is clear: pride comes before the fall.

Just ask Peter. Remember the story of him walking on water? He started strong. One step two steps and then he thought he could do this on his own. The second he took his eyes off Jesus—he sank. That’s what pride does. It tricks us into thinking we can do this on our own. But the moment we focus on ourselves, we start going under. The good thing was that Jesus was there to pull him back up again. That is grace that Peter experienced many times and so have I. Allow yourself to receive the grace of God. 

So, here’s my prayer: “Lord, help me keep my eyes on You.”

And here’s the promise: when the Chief Shepherd appears, He will reward faithful shepherds with an unfading crown of glory. That’s not about jewelry—it’s about hearing the words we all long to hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Humility for All

Then in verse 5, Peter widens the lens beyond pastors:

“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

Humility isn’t natural. I will say that again. And I am not talking about low self-esteem when I talk about humility.  Biblical humility is knowing who you are in the light of your relationship with God. You know your strengths and weakness but more so you know you are not perfect but you are loved. It has its root in having a teachable spirit where pride tells us we have it all together and we have nothing left to learn humility is always allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us. Low Self-esteem on the other hand is rooted in trauma and it believes the lie of the world that says that we are not lovable not good enough to receive others love or even God’s love. People with low self-esteem are great because they are always trying to win your love by works that is until they snap and then there is all this baggage that comes with that work. 

Humility is not natural. That’s why we have to put it on. That’s why Peter uses clothing language—because it’s a choice. Daily. Sometimes hourly. And I’ll say it again: humility isn’t natural. We have to choose it.

I remember one time after a sermon, a man said to me, “Mark, I didn’t like that sermon—but I needed to hear it. Thank you.” That’s humility. That’s how the Holy Spirit works.

Then Peter gives a warning: “Be alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion.” Not a kitten. A lion. Loud. Intimidating. His goal? To devour your peace, your hope, your faith. But Peter doesn’t leave us defenseless. He says: “Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” (v.9)

This isn’t passive. This is Red Sea stuff. Moses: “Stand firm and see the deliverance of the Lord.”David: “The Lord who rescued me from the lion and the bear will rescue me now.”

That’s what it means to stand firm in faith.

So, what does that look like today?

• When anxiety rises—take it to the Lord.

• When doubts creep in—cling to His promises.

• When temptation knocks—don’t flirt. Slam the door.

• When you feel alone—remember, believers all over the world are in this with you.

God’s Promise of Restoration

And now comes the promise. My favorite part:

“And the God of all grace… after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm, and steadfast.” (vv.10–11) All grace. Every bit you need.

He will:

• Restore what’s broken.

• Strengthen what’s weak.

• Establish your footing.

• And make you steadfast.

You don’t have to force it. You don’t have to fake it. He will do it. Peter ends by saying: “To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.” Because at the end of the day—that’s where the glory goes.

Your Next Step

So where does that leave us? What did we learn from 1 Peter?

• Be clothed in humility—toward God and each other.

• Stand firm in faith—the enemy is loud, but God is stronger.

• Rest in His promise—He will restore and strengthen you.

You’ve come this far by faith. Don’t give up now. God is with you. He is for you. And He will finish what He started.

So, here’s my closing question for you to take into prayer:What’s one area in your life where you need to humble yourself under God’s mighty hand and cast your anxiety on Him?

Let’s pray.

Discussion Questions

1. Considering Peter's statement, "Lord, where else would we go? You have the words of eternal life," share a time in your life when you felt like you had nowhere else to turn. How did you find hope and return to Jesus in that situation?

2. The sermon described humility as "not natural." What are some situations in your life where you've found it challenging to practice humility? How did you, or how can you, choose to "put on" humility in those moments?

3. What does the phrase "the God of all grace" mean to you personally? Specifically, how do the promises of God restoring what's broken, strengthening what's weak, establishing your footing, and making you steadfast resonate with a specific situation in your life?

4. Reflecting on the pastor's description of Jesus as a "load-bearing stone," what's a concrete instance in your daily life where you've been able to let Jesus bear the "heavy part"? What challenges did you face in trusting Him, and how did you overcome them?

5. Peter urges us to "stand firm in faith." In our modern lives, what does it practically look like to "stand firm" when facing anxiety, doubt, or temptation? How important is it to "stand firm" with other believers around the world, and what does that mean for you?