Getting married – easy. Staying married? Not so much. Studies show that couples who are deeply involved with their church overwhelmingly survive the storms, bumps and blow-ups every marriage faces over the years. Biblical Community marriages have allies and partners who are invested in each other. And they have Kingdom purpose which the world can’t steal.

Certainly the most challenging relationship most of us will ever enter into is marriage. Everyone hopes to be married once and forever, and certainly that seems to be God’s desire for those who marry. Throughout Scripture, marriages are not only a cause for community celebration, they are also a cause for community obligation. When marriages start in Biblical Community, they tend to last in Biblical Community.

We tend to look at “family” as being a dad, mom and two kids. But single people are full-fledged members of the Biblical family, too. They have a place, a role, a calling and value. They’re not “waiting” to marry into a family – as Christians, they are family. This week we’ll see just what that means – for all of us.

Baptism, whether Profession of Faith or Covenant, is about putting oneself under the mark of God’s covenant. From the earliest of times, God has called for a people to be His own, a people who do life together, and do it for His glory. With the act of Covenant Baptism, believing parents, along with their Biblical Community, commit to raise their children according to God’s decrees.

Arrest, crucifixion, resurrection and yet still John’s story is not over. In a stunning closing scene, Jesus confronts Peter. While many see this moment as Peter’s “redemption,” it is better seen as Peter’s final commission. Jesus makes one thing crystal clear: the purest expression of our love for Him is found in how we love and care for others.