Effective Evangel

We’ve been talking this weekend about what a committed follower of Jesus looks like:

And we’ve seen that first and foremost you have to rest in the understanding that you are a follower of Jesus because of what He did

You aren’t saved by keeping a checklist of things. You are saved because Christ called you. You are saved because of what Christ did on the cross.

But, at the same time, we need to understand that there are ways that we are to live, ways that we are to conduct ourselves in a world that’s full of sin. And we are empowered to live for Him by the Holy Spirit.

We saw Peter, who, yes made mistakes, but his assurance was not in himself, it was in Christ.

We saw Noah walking with God, an ongoing act that spilled out into his entire life

Last night we looked at some qualities or virtues that should be in a believers life as well

You could almost view them as heart checks for yourself, how are you doing with these things?

Well, this morning, in closing, we are going to look at 2 more qualities that have to be evident in our lives if we are really going to be committed to him

Turn to with me, and let’s read these verses again

Two of the biggest

Brotherly Affection

Peter, a man we looked at who was fully committed to Christ even in the midst of some failures, is writing this letter, and he ends this list of 8 virtues with two of the biggest indicators we can have if we are committed followers of Jesus

Brotherly affection -

This phrase carries the idea of people having deep bonds, or family bonds if you will. Willing to lay down your differences because at the end of the day, you care deeply for your family

In fact, there is a city that is known as the city of brotherly love, and that city is known as

And right now, I’m sure, much to Ryan’s shagrin, Philadelphia is actually a very happy place because their team is headed to the super bowl

But William Penn, when he founded the city, he founded it with hopes that it would be a place where persecution wouldn’t happen at the hands of men. He wanted it to be a city of brotherly love, which he no doubt took from this passage

But as believers, thanks to the work of Christ on the cross, we have become adopted sons and daughters into the family of God.

And as a family, one of the greatest ways we display this change that Christ has made in us is how we care for each other

Let’s come back to the sports illustration…I love football. And I don’t mean the NFL, I mean the sport where you actually use your feet:

But I noticed something the other day and I can’t remember who I was talking to about this, but Liverpool Football Club is my favorite team, and I was watching their game the other day and they scored a goal and as they were celebrated I noticed this:

They’re all from different countries. In this shot of them celebrating, you had a player from Brazil, Holland, England, Germany, Egypt, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Senegal and Spain

And you know what, most of those players don’t agree on everything, in fact I’m sure they disagree quite strongly on religion/politics/, I’m sure they’re not best friends with everybody on the team, but as they celebrated together, they were celebrating as a family. They were all pulling in the same direction.

And you can watch when a player get tackled unfairly or what not, they all come rushing in to defend.

And this is all happening in a silly game

Many of us here are quite literally willing to do this in so many areas of our lives, except with other believers.

As believers, we are called to brotherly affection,

We are called to deep rooted oneness

that comes through Christ

Will we have differences, absolutely…in fact, after spending almost 36 hours together, I’m sure some of you have realized these differences in a greater way than you ever wanted to!

Love

Peter continues and goes on to talk about love. We, as believers, are especially called to love one another, as well those that aren’t part of the family of Christ.

But when I say love, what do I mean, and what does Peter mean?

Because we use love for so many different things don’t we?

I just told you I love liverpool football club.

Ryan doesn’t love the philadelphia eagles

I love pizza, evidenced by me eating it way too many times each week

I’m striving for that typical youth pastor look. Skinny fat

You may love your dog or cat at home, whereas you will never ever hear me say those words.

The word Peter is using here is, and I’m sure many of you have heard this before, agape.

Now, in the Greek language there are various words for love, philos - where brother love comes from, eros - a romantic love, storge - that’s the type we have for pizza.

Christian love is a selfless love.

It’s a love where we sacrifice in the pursuit of another person’s good.

It’s sacrificial love, and as a committed follower of Jesus, it’s how we are to be with other people.

- 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

If you asked me to show you someone who is a committed follower of Jesus, this is what I would look for:

Someone who goes out of their way to help others

Someone who lays down their desires in order for someone else’s needs to be filled

Someone who will go to the hospital in the middle of the night because the person that is in there is in need

Someone who will change their plans completely in order to be able to take somebody a meal

Sacrificial love, it’s what we are called to

Verse 8

This is what Peter is getting at and tells us in verse 8:

If these 8 qualities are evident in your life, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful.

They make you an effective Christian. They prove you are a committed Christian

And you might be thinking to yourself, well, what’s the big deal if I am in ineffective or unfruitful Christian? Didn’t you say in the first session, it’s dependent on Christ?

Because, if I’m honest, that was my thought during my teenage years especially.

I didn’t want to show brotherly affection, I didn’t want to love sacrificially, because those things took hard work.

It’s so much easier to claim Christ, to claim I’m committed, to go to church, to be part of a youth group, and then continue acting the same way I did before Christ, selfishly.

That passage we read in earlier, John goes on to say, “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in Him?”

A committed follower of Jesus will demonstrate the very same love that Jesus displayed on the cross

If you want to see someone who showed brotherly affection and love, then you look no further Jesus Christ.

Who loved sacrificially to the point of death on a cross.

Who’s affection for us was so strong that nothing could stand in His way.

And as verse 8 says in our passage this morning, when we live in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we rest in His salvation, when we remember who He is and what He did for us, then these qualities overflow out of us

- “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

A selfish Christian is an ineffective one

Closing

Well, our weekend is coming to a close, and you can leave here this morning, and do nothing with anything that you have heard. That’s your choice

You can keep on living your life how you want to:

Maybe thinking you can earn salvation

Or being content with having salvation, but not changing anything in your life, not conforming your life at all to be like Jesus

Which is a dangerous spot to be in

We’ve looked at 2 men, who both had failures, but both rested in the grace of God, and both stepped out in faith and commitment to God.

We’ve looked at a passage of Scripture that showed us some qualities that we should be striving to have in our lives, qualities that show we are believers, that show we are committed to Christ

And as I said, what you do with these truths is entirely up to you.

But, Adam and I, all these leaders, didn’t just come up here this weekend to give you a good time (although we enjoy that).

Seth and Katie to come up

We exist as two separate, yet joined in Christ, youth groups for one reason, and that is to see you guys become active, committed, followers of Christ.

Peter goes on in saying, “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have.”

This is why we exist as youth groups, to grow you in your faith, to remind you of these qualities and to ensure each of you are established in the truth.

Are each of you established in the truth?

Do each of you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Have you come before God and cried out to Him from the despair that your sin has placed you in, and have you confessed that and called on Him for salvation?

If you haven’t done that, maybe today would be the day to do that. In fact, I beg of you that today would be the day

Because you can leave her as an unbeliever, and try to keep these qualities we’ve discussed, and even if you succeed in some of them, you’re still destined for eternity apart from God

If you know Christ as your Savior, well, you’ve been reminded of the qualities that a believer should have

As you go down through them, how are you doing with them? How has Christ transformed your life due to that salvation?

Are you self-controlled

Do you have love?

Are you striving for the knowledge of God?

Do you sacrificially care for others?

If you are guilty of living for yourself, it’s not too late to turn it around. You are saved by the grace of God, and His grace sustains you. Run to Him, repent of it, and choose today to live each day as a child of God who is fully committed.

Time for Response

Close your eyes, bow your heads:

If you’re here today, and you realize you’ve never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, why don’t you get right with God today? He’s standing at the door and knocking, let Him in.

If that’s you, will you come on up? You’ve got leaders here who love you and would want nothing more than to help lead you to Him.

And how about those of you who haven’t been living for Him as believers. You’re guilty of pride and selfishness, guilty of loving yourself and no one else.

Again, why don’t you come on up and a leader will take you and talk with you and you can confess those sins together and leave here completely committed to the following Him and living for Him each day.