Sermon Prep | 1 Peter 3:15–17

ME

Rayne Man

Show Big Stuf YG Pic

When I was a Senior in high school, my youth group (The FLOCK) went on a trip to PCB Florida to be a part of Big Stuf, which is a Christian camp right on the beach.

I wasn’t even a Christian at the time, but I was always down for a beach trip!

I remember getting my first piercing on that trip.  My parents were thrilled about that!

The first one, a pro pierced.  The second piercing (Later that week in our hotel room) was done by one of my buddies.

That’s why one is a little lower than the other!

We had some nice pranks on that trip, like throwing all the patio furniture in the pool, I used some stuff called “Sun-in” to highlight my hair, I lost in a 3v3 basketball tourney because one of the teams had two players who were over 6’8… (one of them, Boomer, played in the pros), and I made a girl named Crystal furious because I threw her into the ocean.

Anyway, we had like 40 students and 10 adult leaders on this trip.  

And I’ll never forget one of those leaders: Rayne.

Rayne was so in love with Jesus, everywhere he went you just heard him shouting out “GLORY!”

Riding in the van with sweaty, stinky teens? “GLORY!”

In the worship service “GLORY!”

And I even remember some girls at the water park thinking he was good looking (he was FR), he totally ignored them and just kept shouting (YOU SAY IT— “GLORY!”)

Rayne would tell anyone willing to listen to him about Jesus- the Jesus who saved him from a life of deep, dark sinful lifestyle and took Him from death to life.

He even went up to a drunk guy on the beach and led him to Christ.

Bottom line is this: For Rayne, it was Jesus over EVERYTHING.

WE

A lot of times as Christians, we struggle putting Jesus over everything.

Maybe we put on the appearance through social media that He’s our everything, but most people only put the best versions of themselves on socials.

Kinda like this couple:

John Crist video

On social media, there is an underlying desire to gain approval—posting the perfect picture, the perfect caption, or responding with the perfect answer or rebuttal. You can become so used to sharing the great airbrushed moments of your life that it seeps into your approach of spreading the gospel online. Online, you can post the perfect statement, deleting and rephrasing exactly what you want to say, but when evangelizing out in the real world, you have to rely on the Lord to help you through your conversation without a script. Part of the effort in evangelism is the faith required when spreading His truth to those who don’t know Him. You can have the tendency to remove that faith aspect when coming up with the perfect post. As good as it is to be careful about what you post, you should be mindful about the reason behind why you’re careful.

We must make sure that the good “Christian life,” that we post on socials is backed up by a REAL LIFE that honors Jesus Christ everyday.

GOD

Let’s see what that’s all about by taking a look at a letter written by one of Jesus’ best friends:

1 Peter 3:15–17 ESV

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

v15: Set apart Jesus as #1 in your hearts, and be ready to share His good news to anyone who asks why you are different- remembering to be kind and loving others when you do this.

Throughout every situation in life, we must consistently keep our hearts and minds fixed on Jesus.

The Bible says that Christians live in this world, but we ain’t like it!

Jesus is to be set apart, on the throne of our hearts, and THEN we will be ready to share His good news with others. And we will do it with kindness and love because His Holy Spirit is flowing through us to others.

This is so important because when Jesus is first, people know that it’s REAL.

William Barclay says: “Our faith must be a first-hand discovery and not a second-hand story.

It’s not about how your grandma followed Jesus back in the day, it’s about what Jesus is doing in you TODAY that matters and makes a difference when you tell others about Him.

When Jesus is first in my heart, I'm ready to share Him with others.

v.16: Live just like Jesus, without sin, so that when people talk crazy about you, everyone else knows they're lying.

Raise your hand if anyone has ever talked crazy about you.

Sometimes they’re just lying about you and trying to hurt you.... BUT others times you did something messed up and they feel like they have a reason to talk crazy ‘bout ya...

What Peter says here is to live in a way that when others throw mud at you with their words, none of it will stick.

Back in the day it was called “living above reproach.”

I’ll give you an example:

Several years ago our friend Chase Cimala was playing in a football game when someone from the other team accused Chase of cussing on the field.

Chase’s coach knew immediately that was a lie bc he knew Chase never cussed over his years of playing football.

His good CHARACTER had shown through over the years, and so when someone said something crazy about him, it didn’t stick.

When others take up for your character and you don’t even know about it, it’s amazing what happens:

1 Peter 2:15 NCV

It is God’s desire that by doing good you should stop foolish people from saying stupid things about you.

When you consistently do the right thing and others attack your character, they get stopped in their tracks because everyone knows you ain’t about that life.

The other cool thing about when others falsely accuse you is that they end up realizing they’re the ones who need to get their lives cleaned up.

When Jesus is first in my heart, I'm ready to share Him with others.

v.17: It's better better to suffer for doing the right thing than for doing wrong.

Jesus Himself suffered more than anyone for doing the right thing.

He suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones.

He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.

And His followers must understand that there will be times they will suffer for doing the right thing.

The crazy thing is that when Christians suffer for doing the right thing, it’s like a MEGAPHONE for the Good News of Jesus.

It’s spreads His message quicker than anything else… because others know without a shadow of a doubt that those suffering Christians are FOR REAL about their faith.

Talk is cheap. But a consistent life will cost you something.

Like friends, or popularity, or being like by everyone.

But it’s always worth it end the end:

Bold words will not honour the Lord if they are not supported by a consistent life.

-E.P. Clowney

YOU

Jimini Cricket pic

Pinocchio has given us the cartoon image of conscience as a friendly cricket, this makes us view conscience as a nice little thing to be followed when we feel like it.

Christians are called to do much better: to listen consistently to conscience rather than just listen to it sometimes. People are quick to detect hypocrisy in a Christian’s life, and if we are to avoid self-deception we need a conscience that is both informed and clear.

Is Jesus first in your heart?

Or just a cute idea in your head that you follow when you feel like it?

The answer to that question can determine whether others follow Jesus or not.

Because if you’re not for real about this Jesus thing, people know. If you’re faking it, they will find out.

But if you’re for real, they get curious and want to know about this Jesus you talk about and live for.

When Jesus is first in my heart, I'm ready to share Him with others.

WE

What would happen if Jesus was first in all our hearts?

Drugs, abuse, gossip, and any other nasty thing in our community would begin to fade away because people lost in sin would see the real Jesus lived out in our lives and want that same Jesus in their hearts.

Prayer

If you’re ready for your community to experience the real Jesus through your life, I want you to stand.