Let's not sell prescription verses!

At church on Sunday my pastor gave a very interesting sermon and I thought I'd share a summary of it with you and challenge you. 

He walked us through the end of 1 Peter 3 and the beginning of 1 Peter 4.  He suggested that the Modern day Church is similar to a Pharmacy saying that the motto of the Modern day Church could be "We sell Prescription Verses".

Here is a description of the views that the First Pharmacy Church (Modern day) and the Church of 1 Peter.

First Pharmacy Church
God is the Chief Pharmacist – prescribes medicine
Worship serves the purpose of my happiness
God only dispenses Grace to all
Scripture = counsel
Others are resources
Sins are simply misdeameanors
In politics God is offensive and problematic
The Mission is the quality of life
Suffering us unfair

First Peter Church
God is the Creator and Holy One
Worship is for Jesus, not us
God is both the Savior of all and the Judge of all
Scripture = confrontation
Others need our love
Sin = death
In politics God is hope, truth, and blessing
The Mission is His Glory
Suffering = Honor

I want to encourage you to join me in modeling our lives after the church of 1 Peter.  Let’s live our daily life showing that God is the Creator and the Holy One.  When we worship, let’s worship Jesus instead of making ourselves “feel” good.  Let’s hold on to God’s grace and embrace His judgment.  Let’s read scripture looking for how it confronts our actions and makes us uncomfortable. Let’s give others all the love we have.  Let’s cling to Jesus who saved us from death and tell others about being saved from death.  Let’s keep God close in our politics to provide us with hope, truth, and blessing.  Let’s bring about His Glory! And if we are called, let us suffer for Him with honor.