SERMON | 1 Peter 3:13-22 | A LIVING HOPE - 5. "Always Be Ready" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

SERMON | 1 Peter 3:13-22 | A LIVING HOPE - 5. "Always Be Ready" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Sellersburg United Methodist Church in Sellersburg, Indiana

Daily we should be remembering that Christ IS Risen

That the world is in conflict while evil is uprooted and removed

That we are a part of this process in our daily living 

Maybe we aren’t facing authorities who are punishing us for our faith, but that 

day could come:

• It is a reality for many around the world.
• It was a reality for the early church.

Don’t think that conflict CANNOT come in that form.

Even if authorities aren’t the source of conflict, our peers are.

Dare I say, even our fellow Christian peers.

It’s extremely rare that I encounter a non-Christian who is slanderous, rude, or causing conflict in some way toward me or the church for our faith.

Most often it’s a sibling of Christ who is pointing fingers, slandering, and trying to cause turmoil and conflict.

Most often these actions are caused by pain they are carrying.

• Pain due to a lack of hope.

We’ve all been there, haven’t we?

We’ve lost hope and placed the burden of conflict upon our own shoulders, right?

We’ve experienced disappointment and responded with judgment and self-righteousness, yes?

We ALL have.

So…we should all understand when we see it in our Christian sibling.

and we should all be readying ourselves NOT to respond in kind.

• Not even in our minds, friends!
• Not in gossip or discussion with others
• We must MAINTAIN our hope.

Rather, we should respond in our hope with grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness.

We should not hold things against our sibling in faith due to their reactions. 

We all make mistakes and we all are impulsive…because we all have moments 

when we have not been prepared to maintain our hope amid pain.

• I thank God for grace!
• It is crucial that I remember what God’s grace has done for me!
• It is vital that I remember what other people’s grace and hope have done for me, too!

If we cannot regard our sibling in Christ with an unconquerable hope, how can we ever be prepared for the world around us when it brings the conflict?

We need to pray, friends, for hope.

We need to start with our own hope so that we are ready to live it out…especially in moments of conflict.

Once we get a good handle on maintaining our own hope, THEN we can work on building up the hope in each other.

THEN we can know we are ready for the world around us.

The day of the Lord has begun…and it will be completed, Amen?

Christ IS Risen! 

Then let us live into the Easter reality

Let our lives reflect A LIVING HOPE

Let us prepare for whatever comes our way.

ALWAYS BE READY to serve a Risen Christ IN WHOM WE FIND OUR HOPE in any given moment so that:

• the world may come to know the hope that is within us…
• so that our hope can disarm a hurting world…
• so that people around us can know they can lay their weapons down and put their trust in the grace of God revealed in our Risen Christ and find their hope in the same spirit of God they encounter in us.