The Summit Church Little Rock

Jesus called us into a community of followers. We are not alone. Jesus modeled this by living in relationships represented in concentric circles (the inner 3, the 12, the 72, and the crowd).  

Jesus spent time alone with the Father and “only did what the Father did.” So how do we follow? In this message we look at the rhythms of Jesus' life and how we can structure our lives in a way to do what He did.

The call to be a disciple is the call to be with Jesus. He called us to follow Him. This has much deeper meaning than we typically realize. The term “disciple” is probably more akin to “apprentice” than we realize. The call to follow is not just a call to agree that Jesus is Lord, but to surrender our way to His way. Being a Christian is following the Jesus Way.

Following Jesus will result in hostility from outsiders. Peter starts this section with “Who would want to harm you for doing good?” The answer is, more and more people as the world grows darker. So he encourages us, when we suffer, we can remember that Christ also suffered. We must also remember that Christ is King and He has not lost control. 

Following Christ impacts our relationships with others. Our marriages, our friendships, our parenting, should all look different from the world. If you are temporarily visiting a place, how you interact with others is obvious. Peter is telling us people should know we are temporary residents by how we treat others. Love is the central characteristic of all godly relationships. Kingdom relationships are identified by love, worldly relationships are identified by power. 

We are to submit to authority, and live humble lives, “for the Lord's sake.” This affects what we say about those in authority over us. It affects how we treat those in authority over us. In a politicized world, the only way we can do this is by looking to Christ, who humbled himself, and showed us what a life of submission looks like. What do we do when authority is bad? Jesus put his trust in the Father to judge justly.