Our Calling in Community

Intro

The Bible, We must understand that it is at the center of what we do as Christians, If we don’t follow God’s word, then we follow our own “common sense,” and believe me that can get us into trouble.

This message today about community and what we are called to as individuals to do in that community comes from the Word of God, but if God’s Word is not where it needs to be in your heart, if it is not your source of truth, if you are unwilling to live and apply it, then I would ask you to just please listen carefully today and allow God’s Holy Spirit to reveal these truths to you.

A wise and godly person turns away from the counsel of the wicked with all their promises of pleasure and finds that “his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” ().

 “The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” ().

 “I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil” ().

 “I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold” ().

 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth” ().

 “The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; . . . More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” (, ).

 “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” ().

Or the very words of the Lord Jesus: “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (). These are breathtaking words. He has spoken so that his joy may be in us. His joy. The joy of Jesus is the joy of the Son of God. And the supreme joy of the Son of God is joy in his Father. And when an infinite being rejoices in an infinite being, the joy is infinite. And this book was written that this joy might be in us.

Therefore I say, the word of God that we hold in our hand has infinite worth. Not only is it infinitely worthy, but also infinitely able to bring change and apply to our lives today.

So let’s take a moment and pray for God to reveal to us in His truth the areas in which we can grow.

PRAY

1 Peter 3:8–12 ESV

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

1 Peter

God’s Call on Us as Individuals

I talked about last week that this calling to build unity is not just on the elders, the pastor, the teachers or ministry leaders, but this is a calling upon all of us, I want to show you today what that looks like.

God has placed a calling upon all of us, God has a design for how His church should be, how His people should act this text is not so much on how we should act, but that it is about the change that needs to happen on the inside, and the action will come afterwards. As I said last week, as we grow as a community, these things will be better, as we grow as individuals, these things will be better.

The heart of God’s people (vs. 8-9)

Let's walk through the five traits of this new kind of personhood that Peter calls us to have. Look at verse 8.

1. He says first, all of you be "harmonious," that is, having a common mindset, not necessarily all the same tastes or gifts or habits, but the same thoughts and assessments of the essentials of life—God, salvation, virtue.

2. Next, all of you be "sympathetic," that is, feeling what others feel so that you can respond with sensitivity to the need. People who have true "sympathy" generally do not say, "I know how you feel." Because since they know how you feel, they also know how unhelpful it is to hear someone say, "I know how you feel." True sympathy is typically quiet, appropriately timely, and focused.

3. Next, all of you be "brotherly," that is, don't view each other as strangers, or as mere acquaintances, or as distant relatives. View each other as close family. Family can have some pretty serious squabbles and exchange some very harsh words, but only in the rarest cases does the family break up over it. If i preach this till the day I die, I will not regret it, epiphany, we are a faith family, and some have asked me why i use that term, because we haven’t arrived there yet.

4. Next, all of you be "kindhearted." This not a word about conduct but about your insides—literally, your innards, your belly. It's exactly the opposite of hypocrisy that acts tender and feels malice. Give any ill feelings, or harsh feelings to the Lord. We cannot grow as a community if we hold on to hard feelings, or grudges.

5. Next, all of you be "humble in spirit." Again, it's not just that we are to act the role of a servant, but that inside, with all authenticity, we are to have a lowly spirit. We feel that we are utterly dependent on God for life and breath and intelligence and emotional stability and faith and safety and the use of our senses; and we feel utterly fragile and vulnerable in ourselves. On top of that, we feel sinful and unworthy as we look at ourselves apart from the free grace of God. And this grace makes us wonderstruck that we are loved, not pushy and self-assertive.

1 Peter 2:21–25 ESV

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

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Jesus is our example for this type of heart! And Jesus will strengthen you to do these things, you have to trust in Him, Jesus is not asking you to do something that He could not, He did, and in far more intense situations than what we face here today.

All five of those words are descriptions of what we are on the inside, not primarily how we act. A common mindset, sympathetic in feeling, a family love, kindly disposed in the depths of our innards, humble in spirit. That's an unusual human being. This is why I said Peter's call to us is not possible without the miraculous new birth by the mercy of God described in 1:3.

All five of those words are descriptions of what we are on the inside, not primarily how we act. A common mindset, sympathetic in feeling, a family love, kindly disposed in the depths of our innards, humble in spirit. That's an unusual human being. This is why I said Peter's call to us is not possible without the miraculous new birth by the mercy of God described in 1:3.

When it seems impossible

Glass of water, have someone come up and walk up the steps across the stage and back down the steps again. Why was it easy for that to happen? It was easier to not spill the water because they were focused on what they needed to be. It is easier to grow in these traits when we focus on Christ, the one whom we need to focus instead of all the shortcomings of those around us.

Some of you may be thinking about how it would be hard for you to accomplish these things. And I would have to agree, we are human, we mess up, and some of these things may not just come to us. Some of us may struggle with being unified with people that may make us mad or we don’t like, we may struggle with having a humble mind, or tender heart, or any of these things listed…but listen to this analogy.

Imagine God as a gardener, and you are the soil. The gardener is the one that plants the seeds, if you completely submit yourself to God (the gardener), if you have confessed Christ as Lord, and given your life completely to Him, If your hope is solely based upon Christ, then the seeds of humility, kind heartedness, of humility, a unity, these seeds are in your heart right now, and you must allow God to grow these seeds in your life. This means submitting yourself to Him in Prayer and spending time with God in His Word. God will grow you in these areas, and this is when you see community start happening with others in the church.

According to the mark of the person who is born again by the mercy of God is a "living hope" in God—an ongoing, vital trust in the future grace of God, the one who is going to strengthen you to do these things.

Place your hope for eternity in Christ, be a blessing to your brothers and sisters in the church, do not wait for them to make the first move, if we do that no one will move, seek God for strength, forgive, and seek Him to grow you in these areas in your life.