Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 28 November 2014 “Grace lived out: the unarguable response"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study. for Friday, 28 November 2014 “Grace lived out: the unarguable response"
Today's Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-18 If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath. It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: 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.
Reflection Questions:
Some scholars believe 1 Peter reflects the early Christian church’s baptismal teaching.
Those newly-baptized early Christians faced mockery and threats in the Roman Empire.
Peter urged them to live lives of true compassion, humility and love. When others ask you to speak about your hope, he said, be ready to give them an answer, not argumentatively, but with respectful humility.
• How many of the “Christian” comments you see (or post) on Facebook, under YouTube videos or in other places on the Internet live up to Peter’s command to speak of our hope “with respectful humility”? Does a lack of gentleness and respect for those you disagree with run counter to the message of God’s love and mercy? In what ways?
• Before he launched The Church of the Resurrection, Pastor Hamilton prayerfully answered three questions: 1) Why do people need Jesus Christ? 2) Why do people need the church? and 3) Why do people need this church? How would you answer those questions in ways that could respectfully communicate your hope and faith to a non-religious or nominally religious friend?
Prayer: O God, I love being with people a lot like me, and you made me that way. Yet you also reach across the things that divide people, and ask me to reach across those divides with you. Help me always be prepared to graciously share the hope you give me. Amen.
Insight from Phil Antilla
philgpsPhil Antilla serves as the program director for Young Adult and College Ministry. Before coming to Church of the Resurrection, Phil served as an associate pastor at a local church in Shawnee. www.cor.org/youngadults
I grew up in a tradition where you were encouraged to always be ready to “share” your faith. As a child, I remember a Sunday school lesson where we shared our “testimonies.” I was told that these stories about how we came to know Jesus would be an important tool for the purpose of evangelism. Maybe a grocery store cashier would ask about your weekend plans and you could tell them about church. Or perhaps someone in a coffee shop might see you reading your Bible and ask about your faith. It all seemed so wonderful. How great it is to be a witness of Jesus Christ!
But as I grew older, I began to realize that the moments in life where we are most called to be a witness of Jesus are not in the picture perfect “evangelism scenarios,” but rather in our every day actions. Of course your personal testimony gives witness to the good news of Jesus; but does your bank account? Does the way you spend money reflect what we believe to be true about the mission of God? What about the way we interact with others on social media? Facebook is often a breeding ground for arguments about faith, politics, and all kinds of social issues. When people see how we interact with others online, are they reminded of the hope and love found in Jesus?
I am deeply convicted by the words of 1 Peter 3:15. You may proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord with your lips, but what about in your heart? 1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts, sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you.”
Take note of the last few words in that verse – “The hope that is in you.”
Does your life give witness to the hope of Christ? Or does your life express hope in something other than Christ? Maybe money, or politics, or even ourselves.
Peter tells us to “sanctify,” which means to “set apart,” Christ as Lord in our hearts. This means that if Christ is Lord, nothing else is. It might seem like a cheesy question to ask “Who is the lord of your heart?” But I dare you to seriously consider that question.
Have I really placed my trust in Jesus Christ? Or is my hope found in other powers that I have allowed to be lord of my heart?
We may need to be reminded that if Christ is Lord, we are not.
If Christ is Lord, then our work is not.
And if Christ is Lord, then money is not.
Our hope is not found in wealth, or any political power, or ruler, or government, but in the resurrected Christ Jesus, who suffered for sins once for all, in order to bring us into the fullness of life with God. Therefore, may your life, and the words of your mouth, and the actions of your heart, give witness to the hope of Christ that is within you.

____________________________