Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro

Review - We’ve been in 1 Peter learning what it looks like to own our faith.

The last few chapters have been talking about the hope we have and that we should be living for the glory of God in any situation.

Hook - How do you know who you are?

Living in a time right now and in your stage of life we are all trying to figure out who we are and what does it mean to be us?

Makes us wonder what it is that makes us who we are?

Some might say who you are is based on what you want to be

Maybe, I really want to be a great athlete one day and i like sports and I want to be a great athlete and so I identify myself as an athlete and tell people I want to be a great athlete one day.

I could even buy the nicest cleats and the name brand baseball bat and I can even hang out with all the great baseball players - does that make me who I am?

Or maybe it’s not only the future - Maybe I want to be known as a nice guy so I need to make sure people know me as a nice guy so I spend my time thinking about how people think of me and then I argue with others trying to convince them that I am a nice guy

Some might say its how you feel

That your feelings start to shape your reality and that I feel a certain way and that makes me who I am

This question of identity reminds me of one of my favorite movies - Batman Begins

There’s a scene in that movie where Bruce Wayne (Batman) makes some foolish decisions and makes a scene to show off his wealth and parties

His love interest sees and he gets embarrassed.

He tries to convince her that deep down he’s really a good guy

She makes the claim “It’s not who you are underneath, but what you do that defines you.”

Think about your habits and your actions.

Think about the kind of behaviors your known for

You may want to be a good person, you may say your a Christian, you may even real feel a desire to be one, but what do you do?

What kind of things can we do to show we are a Christian?

Preview - Today we’ll look at 1 Peter Chapters 3 and 4 and take a close look about what it means to own our faith and how we can clearly demonstrate we our followers of Jesus

1. Choose Good always

8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

9 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.

10 For

“Whoever desires to love life

and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit;

11  let him turn away from evil and do good;

let him seek peace and pursue it.

12  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.”

Includes a call to love and support each other

Peter has been writing to Christians about how to live in a way that shows you love Jesus in the midst of a world that doesn’t

Stresses the importance of unity and love within the Church

Our habits are essential to our message

We teach that God loves the world and wants to restore us to perfect relationship with himself and each other

Why would anyone want that if we don’t demonstrate loving relationship now?

It reminds me of the Oscars a few years ago

Celebrities gave speeches on caring for the environment and helping the poor.

(Good Message)

Lifestyle was lavish and they used private jets and limos to go to LA for the show.

(Bad Behavior) - Lost credibility

Followers of Jesus have an important message, we need to be sure to live in a way that supports it

We choose to look to be on the same page, we choose to care about each other and be aware of what others need, and we realize maybe we aren’t the most important person in every room

We choose to deescalate conflict rather than fighting for what we think we deserve.

We choose good.

What do you think others would say about the Church if we lived like that?

How do you think people will respond?

Peter breaks down 2 possible outcomes

13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.

Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 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, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.

Peter says when we choose good, what could go wrong?

Even if something does go wrong, that’s okay.

God will reward you.

Many of this struggle with this idea

It’s natural to want to do the easy thing

it’s natural to avoid what might be painful

It’s natural to want to fit in

But natural doesn’t always mean better

Enduring what’s hard now will lead to a greater reward.

More on that later

It’s also possible that choosing to do good will catch the attention of those around us

This is why a habit of doing good and a habit of following Jesus is necessary

He says in v. 15/16

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, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

Peter says to always know your why and always be prepared

Let give you a picture of that in then tell you what it means for us

Who watched the big basketball game this weekend were you happy about the outcome?

How about Caleb Love’s 3-Point shot (explain)

Do you think he only shoots 3’s with 20 seconds left?

How do you think he was able to do that?

Did he just sit next to his friends in basketball class?

Did he just think about shooting 3s?

Or does he practice even when it doesn’t feel like it matters?

How many long shots do you think he takes every single day?

So many of us want to do something incredible.

So many of us want to be remembered.

Let’s look at people who changed the world

William Wilberforce ended slavery in the West.

Before he ever did that there are legends pf him doing little things like protecting abused animals on the side of the road.

He didn’t wake up one day and decide to do one great thing, he had a lifestyle of choosing good

Martin Luter Changed the world as we know it by sticking to what he believed, but the 95 theses were not the first time he stood for what was right.

He had a lifestyle and reputation of sticking to his convictions

When we look at people who changed the world we don’t see popular people doing what they want to do.

We don’t see people who were just good at getting people’s attention; we see a lifestyle and a practice of doing good, so when it really came down to it they did great.

What are your habits?

What do you do regularly?

Who are you when it doesn’t feel like it matters, because that’s who you will be when it does matter.

Choose to do good.

Even when it’s hard.

As v. 17 points out, life is hard.

no matter what.

But make it hard for what matters, don’t make it harder than it has to be.

This verse also makes an odd claim - that suffering could be God’s will