Called to blessed

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." Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 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. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.- 1 Peter 3:8‭-‬22 ESV

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Having a self effacing attitude

For the good of others, leaving behind comfort whether physical, emotional, or spirit. To love people whether they agree with us or not. But to start with loving our fellow brothers and sisters.

The church is meant to be a refuge for believers. It is supposed to equip and refresh us.

The church is where we grow and mature our spiritual gifts. We cannot love by ourselves; this can only come out in community. We can only see how hard it is to love when we go to community group and try to love those different personalities.

Unity, sympathy, and love towards one another that acts as a witness to the world of God. It is a testimony to those around us of what the gospel really is. It is a peacemaker between even cultural enemies. It breaks down walls and barriers between every race, nation, personality, life stage, socioeconomic class, etc.

Even if you set about doing good to everyone, sometimes people will do you wrong. But keep doing good, but keeping Jesus separate. What does this mean? It is to know that God is in control and Jesus has risen.

To truly do good, we must share the gospel. We cannot serve without sharing the hope in which we believe. We cannot share only when people are friendly. We must be prepared to share and defend the faith. We must have answers to the current day objections to believing in Jesus. Accusations of bigotry, intolerance, and disbelief. We need to be prepared. This is why there is apologetics. Tim Keller's book, The Reason for Good, is a good staying point. But even better is to just talk to non-Christians and these barriers to belief will come up over and over again.

Hypocrisy is speaking of the love and grace of Christ and going nothing for the poor and the downtrodden. It is not just action, but inaction. Sin is not just what we do, but also what we fail to do. If the doors of our church were to close, would the community notice? Would they weep for the loss of a light and a help here in this place? Or would they just shrug? May this be true not only for our church, but also for us individually. May they see our good works and wonder about Christ. Not for our glory, but His alone.