"Holy in a Polluted World"

In this sermon from 1 Peter 1:13-21, Pastor Zach Kordic confronts one of the most countercultural claims of the Christian faith: that God is far more interested in making us holy than in making us happy. Drawing on the call to holiness first issued in Leviticus 11:44 and reaffirmed by Peter for a church under pressure to conform to a pagan world, Kordic argues that genuine holiness requires setting our hope fully on Christ, living as willing exiles in a culture that celebrates sin, and remembering the profound price paid for our freedom. Using the judgment seat of Christ from Romans 14 as a motivating — rather than condemning — reality, he challenges believers to ask not just "why" in their suffering, but "what is God teaching me?" The sermon closes with a specific, direct call to action: kill the habit, give God your firstfruits, reconcile the broken relationship, and fix your eyes on Jesus — because true happiness is only ever found within God's holiness.