Today we have English Worship at a park in Chaiyi. I really enjoyed it. Many kids slowed down as they were riding their bikes to listen to the music. It was a great worshipping and witnessing opportunity. I gave the message today and I want to share it with you. While I am not known for my verboseness, I like to be succinct and get to the point of the matter. I think I did that today.
"The Bible passage for today comes from 1 Peter 1:13-25. This passage is a first of a long series of lists that peter wrote saying what we must do. The main verse I want to focus on today is from verse 22; "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply from the heart." Early in the passage Peter writes that we are obedient children. God has show us a love of a father by adopting us as his children and out of this love we obey what the Father says.
During our day to day activities we may forget to sincerely love our brother. It is hard to have a deep love for one another as we are commanded in verse 22 to love one another. This command is take from John 13:34-35, which says, "A new command I give you, love one another, As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know you are my disciples, if you love one another." Our standard, what we strive for is to be like Christ; to be perfect. Spreading the word of God is the most important work we do on Earth, but just telling others without actions to follow up does little. Faith without works is dead. The action of love shows that we are truly set apart from the world. That there is something different about us, about Christianity.
Yet when we try to love one another we continually fail. we try to show love but we mess up by: fighting, bickering, putting others down. We forget the love of God, how he brought us into his family. We only think about ourselves.
As we begin the new year, the usual tradition is to make a new year's resolution. While many of these resolutions are broken in the first week, first month. Rarely do they last the while year, but let us make this solution: to love one another as Christ has loved us. Knowing that we will break this resolution, but also knowing that heaven is not gained by anything we do, but because of God's love for us. For he loved the world so much that he gave his only son Jesus to die for us. So that we may become sons of God. I cannot imagine how much love it would take to have to give up, to sacrifice your only son to save someone who continually disobeys you. We do not obey the truth as it says in verse 22, but still God loves us. As I end today I want to listen to this verse from verse 24.
All men are like grass and all their glory is like the flowers of the field, the grass withers and flowers fall, but the word of God is forever. So even if we try to be perfect if we try to show the love of God we will still leave this world quickly. Our glory, our love is useless in the long run, but standing on the word of God, this last forever. Put your faith in Christ, realize the love of the father and be saved. In his name. Amen.
