# SPB Sermons || Contending for Hope (Part 1) | Strangers sent into a Stranger World || 1 Peter 1:1–2

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/st-pauls-and-st-barnabas-belfast-6574291/spb-sermons-contending-for-hope-part-1-strangers-sent-into-a-stranger-world-1-peter-1-1-2
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/st-pauls-and-st-barnabas-belfast-6574291/spb-sermons-contending-for-hope-part-1-strangers-sent-into-a-stranger-world-1-peter-1-1-2.md
Podcast: [St Pauls and St Barnabas Belfast](https://stenobird.com/podcast/st-pauls-and-st-barnabas-belfast-6574291)
Published: 2026-01-06T13:19:28+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/spbbelfast/episodes/SPB-Sermons--Contending-for-Hope-Part-1--Strangers-sent-into-a-Stranger-World--1-Peter-112-e3d8mnu
Audio file: https://anchor.fm/s/e6cbd234/podcast/play/113580222/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2026-0-6%2F7045af16-90d7-449a-7336-a5dd27d3f574.mp3
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Duration seconds: 1716

## Resource

As we begin a new year and mark 175 years of worship and witness at St Paul’s & St Barnabas, we open a new teaching series: Contending for Hope . In this first message, we turn to the opening words of Peter’s first letter. Written to a weary, scattered church under pressure, these verses speak with striking clarity to our own moment. Peter reminds God’s people who they are before he tells them what to do: strangers in the world, yet chosen by God; set apart by the Spirit; sprinkled by the blood of Jesus; sent to live faithfully where God has placed them. This is not a call to retreat from the world, nor to manage decline quietly. It is a call to live with confidence, clarity, and hope in a place that does not yet feel like home. As we stand at the threshold of a new year and a significant anniversary in the life of this parish, this sermon sets the foundation for what it means to contend for hope in our city today: grounded in salvation, rooted in grace, and sent with peace. Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

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