First Baptist Church Litchfield
February 1, 2026

      • Psalm 19:1–2ESV

  • O Worship The King
  • Goodness Of God

      • Psalm 19:7–14ESV

  • Is He Worthy
  • Above All

  • Unconditional Sharing of Your Life

    Ronald J. Sider was a Canadian born American theologian and social activist. He was left leaning in his theology and politics, so we would not have much in common. But I do agree with his assessment of the early Christian church, especially in light of living in fellowship. Rider says,
    For the early Christians koinonia was not the frilly ‘fellowship’ of church-sponsored bi-weekly outings. It was not tea, biscuits and sophisticated small talk in the Fellowship Hall after the sermon. It was an unconditional sharing of their lives with the other members of Christ’s body.
    Ronald J. Sider
    I think that is spot on, and I think it is a worthy goal for our church in 2026. As we pray and abide in God’s word, we also must intentionally seek to unconditionally share our lives together. But how do we do that well? What characteristics of a healthy Spirit-empowered Christ honoring church community help us overcome personality, culture, and relational dynamics that hinder us from the community Jesus longs for us to share? The Bible offers us six edifications that will help us live together in God-honoring fellowship. Let us begin with Peter’s edification to love one another.

    1. Love one another earnestly from the heart (1 Peter 1:22)

    Peter writes, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart” (1 Peter 1:22). Peter is pastoring a suffering church. These believers were scattered across Asia Minor, displaced and pressured because of their allegiance to Christ. The world around them increasingly viewed their faith as dangerous and disruptive; which sounds eerily familiar to us. Into that setting, Peter says,“Love one another earnestly.”
    Peter begins with purification. He says, “Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth…” How is a sinners soul purified? Your soul is purified by the blood of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:18–19; Heb. 9:14). Purification is received through repentance and faith—confessing your sin, turning from it, and trusting wholly in Christ’s finished work (Acts 20:21; Rom. 3:24–26). God does the cleansing; we respond in obedient faith. Salvation always has these two sides: divine grace that acts decisively, and human obedience that responds humbly (Eph. 2:8–10). And once the Lord purifies the soul, He does not leave your heart unchanged. New affections are born. We love Christ because He first loved us (1 John 4:19), and that love inevitably reshapes how we love His people.
    Having been cleansed, Peter says, we are brought into a new family of brothers and sisters redeemed by the same blood. He uses the word philadelphia, sincere brotherly love. What Christian brotherly love is not is polite church niceness or surface-level friendliness. It is not causal talk at the potluck or a few minutes in the foyer after church. It is family love—genuine, deep, and real. God has sovereignly placed you into His spiritual family (Eph. 2:19). And Christ has freed you to love them, all of them, even the ones you find it hard to love, “from a pure heart.”
    Peter presses the burden of love further when he says “Love one another earnestly.” Here he moves from philadelphia to agapē—a love that is intentional, sacrificial, and steadfast. This love is by covenant commitment. It is patient and longsuffering (1 Cor. 13:4–7). It chooses to stay engaged, even when it would be easier to withdraw. It sounds remarkably like marriage vows: for better or worse, sickness and health, through joy and sorrow, we will love one another because Christ has loved us.

    Why does Peter emphasize honoring one another so strongly?

    Because earnest love within the church becomes a visible testimony to the world. The rest of this letter calls believers to live honorably among the Gentiles so that, even when slandered, their good deeds may lead others to glorify God (1 Pet. 2:12). Jesus Himself said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). Our steadfast love adorns the gospel. Bitterness, grudges, and unresolved animosity are foreign to the kingdom of God and destructive to the mission of Christ (Matt. 5:23–24; Eph. 4:31–32). When the church loves earnestly, the watching world sees evidence that Jesus truly reigns among His people. Furthermore, our love for Jesus and each other especially shines when we suffer for the faith, as Peter’s readers were suffering.
    We have people in our church who work in the hospital. If you sit down with them and ask what kind of relationship they have with their coworkers, I think they would say something like: we have all kinds of people with different personalities that have to work toward one goal. When everything is calm, it is hard to tell which staff members truly trust one another. But when the emergency room fills, alarms sound, and pressure mounts, something remarkable happens.
    Doctors, nurses, and staff move together with urgency and care. They cover for one another. They speak clearly. They sacrifice personal comfort for the good of the patient. The crisis reveals their unity is genuine and their commitment to each other. In the same way, suffering reveals the church’s love. When pressure comes and the world watches, earnest love shows that Christ is truly our life and hope.
    In 2026, if we are going to love one another earnestly, we will need to, first, rest in the cleansing work of Christ. Do not try to manufacture love without first trusting the gospel that purifies the heart. If you do not love Jesus, you will find it hard to love his people. I would encourage you to live daily a life of repentance, confession, and faith toward Christ and his church (1 John 1:7–9).
    Second, pursue sincere relationships within the church. Resist isolation and superficial fellowship. Lean into life together, even when it is inconvenient or costly (Heb. 10:24–25).
    Third, love intentionally and sacrificially. Choose patience over irritation, forgiveness over resentment, and unity over self-protection (Col. 3:12–14).
    Finally, remember your witness. The way you love fellow believers may be first sermon unbelievers in your life ever hear. Love one another earnestly, from a pure heart, for the glory of Christ and the advance of His gospel.

    2. Honor One Another (Romans 12:10)

    When Paul exhorts the Roman church, “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10), he is echoing the same gospel-shaped call we hear from Peter. Like Peter’s audience, Rome was no safe haven for Christians. To confess Jesus as Lord in a culture that worshiped Caesar carried a cost with it. And yet Paul, having spent eleven chapters unfolding the glory of justification by faith alone in Christ alone, now turns and says, “This is what justified sinners look like when the gospel takes hold.”
    Paul makes the turn in Romans 12:1. Because of the mercies of God—mercies carefully explained from Romans 1-11—believers are now called to present their whole selves to God as living sacrifices. Hands, feet, minds, and mouths are no longer instruments for self-preservation or self-promotion, but for worship. In verses 2-9, Paul shows that gospel renewal reshapes how the church thinks, serves, and loves. God gives diverse gifts to build one another up so the church becomes a living display of Christ in a crooked and corrupt generation.
    That brings us to verse 10. Paul says, “Love one another with brotherly affection.” Like Peter, he joins philadelphia and agapē—family affection and self-giving love. The church is a collection of redeemed family bound together by the blood of Christ. Because of our blood wrought Spirit unifying family bonds, Paul says, “Outdo one another in showing honor.”
    I love that Paul encourages competition in the church; outdo one another. But he turns it upside down. We naturally compete for recognition, influence, or control. Paul says, compete for humility. Your goal is not to be noticed, but to notice others. This mirrors what Paul later told the Philippians: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Phil. 2:3). Gospel humility works hard to move the spotlight off self and onto others.
    What makes Paul’s command so compelling is the reason behind it. We honor one another because Christ dwells in one another. To show honor to a brother or sister in Christ is, in a very real sense, to honor Christ Himself (Matt. 25:40; Col. 1:27). Honor, then, is not based on personality, gifting, cultural influence, or social standing. It is rooted in union with Christ. This levels the ground entirely. In the church, the wealthy and the poor, the strong and the weak, the seen and the unseen stand shoulder to shoulder as equal recipients of grace. Every believer is worthy of honor because Christ is worthy of honor.
    In an orchestra no single musician carries the whole piece. The violinist depends on the cellist. The brass relies on the woodwinds. The percussionist waits patiently for the right moment to enter. If each player tried to outshine the others, the result would be noise. But when each musician listens, adjusts, and honors the role of the others, the music becomes beautiful. The church works the same way. When believers strive to honor one another, Christ’s word is heard and His beauty enjoyed by our neighbors, friends, and family.
    If we are going to honor one another well as we live in fellowship together in 2026, we must first, remember the mercies of God. Let your love for others flow from the grace you have received (Rom. 12:1). Let the love of God spill over to your brothers and sisters. Furthermore, actively seek to honor others. Ask simple but powerful questions: How can I encourage them? How can I make their service in the church, community, and home easier? How can I affirm Christ’s work in their life? Resist self-centered instincts. Kill the subtle desire to be noticed, praised, or preferred (Gal. 2:20). Finally, view every believer through a Christ-centered lens. When you honor God’s people, you are honoring Christ Himself—and the watching world sees the gospel is alive and is drawn to Christ and his church.

    3. Live at Peace with One Another (1 Thessalonians 5:13)

    In his first letter to the Thessalonian church, Paul addresses peace on two inseparable fronts: peace within the household of God and peace toward those outside the faith, even toward those who oppose and persecute them. Thessalonica was a volatile city, and these believers were young in the faith, facing pressure, hostility, and confusion. Paul pastors them by showing that,
    Peace is not the absence of conflict, but a gospel-shaped way of life that flows from the character of God Himself.
    Paul conveys this in
    “23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Thessalonians 5:23
    God is the one who perfectly knows peace, and is the only one to bring peace to others. Peace is part of God’s righteous character, and he sanctifies us so we can be at peace with one another. Paul emphasizes there must be peace between God’s people and the leadership, the world, and themselves.

    Live at Peace with Your Pastors

    Within the church, Paul is deeply concerned that the gospel produce harmony among believers, particularly the leadership. He urges the congregation to acknowledge and highly regard those who labor among them in pastoral leadership, recognizing that contempt, suspicion, or disregard for God-given authority inevitably fractures the peace of the body (1 Thess. 5:12–13; Heb. 13:17).

    Live at Peace with Each Other

    Paul gives the straightforward command: “Be at peace among yourselves” (1 Thess. 5:13). Why? Because peace is rooted in who God is. The God who called them is a God of peace (1 Thess. 5:23; Rom. 15:33). As the church is being sanctified, their growing holiness must express itself in right, reconciled relationships with one another. A divided church contradicts the very nature of the God they proclaim.

    Live at Peace with Your Neighbors

    But Paul does not stop at the church doors. His vision of peace stretches outward into the public square. In one of his earliest letters, Paul calls these believers to a radical posture: refusing retaliation, rejecting vengeance, and actively doing good to both believers and unbelievers, even to those who harm them (1 Thess. 5:15; Rom. 12:17–21). Peace, for Paul, is active peacemaking. It is the pursuit of shalom—wholeness, order, and goodness—in a broken world. The Thessalonians are to live quietly, work faithfully, and conduct themselves honorably before outsiders (1 Thess. 4:11–12). Their peaceful, self-controlled lives are meant to please God and, by God’s grace, become a compelling witness that draws others toward the hope of the gospel.

    Live at Peace with Yourself

    Paul also presses peace down into the inner life of the believer. Peace is deeply personal. Paul repeatedly links peace with joy, prayer, and confidence in God’s sovereign purposes (1 Thess. 5:16–18). A heart anchored in God’s promises can remain joyful even in hardship, and that joy guards the soul from reactions that destroy peace—anger, bitterness, fear, and despair. When believers respond wrongly to trials, peace quickly erodes. But when hardship is met with trust in God’s wise and loving design, peace takes root and bears fruit (Phil. 4:6–7). It is no accident that Paul repeats this command—“be at peace”—in multiple letters when addressing unity in the church (1 Thess. 5:13; 2 Cor. 13:11). For Paul, peace is central to faithful Christian living.
    I’ve always enjoyed lighthouses for their symbolism of hope and tranquility in the midst of a raging ocean. For centuries, lighthouses have stood on rocky shorelines. Seas become turbulent and violent during storms. The waves crash relentlessly, the wind howls, and the sea is anything but calm. Yet the lighthouse remains steady, casting light across the darkness. It doesn’t still the storm, but it offers guidance and safety to sailors navigating treacherous waters trying to find their way home. The church is called to be like that lighthouse. When the world is loud, hostile, and chaotic, a peaceful, unified, joy-filled church shines Christ’ steady light, showing weary sinners where His refuge can be found.
    In 2026, we must pursue peace intentionally within the church. Refuse gossip, bitterness, and unresolved conflict. Seek reconciliation quickly and humbly (Matt. 5:23–24; Eph. 4:3). Honor those God has placed in leadership. Pray for them, respect them, and support their work for your spiritual good (1 Thess. 5:12–13).
    Practice peace toward outsiders. Reject retaliation and commit yourself to doing good, trusting God with justice and outcomes (1 Pet. 2:12; Rom. 12:19). Guard your soul. Cultivate joy, prayer, and trust in God’s purposes so that peace rules your heart even when it is threatened (Col. 3:15).
    Beloved, peace within the church is a great strength to our community and homes because it is rooted in the gospel. When the church lives at peace with God, with one another, and with the world, it bears unmistakable witness that Jesus Christ truly reigns as the Prince of Peace.

    4. Submit to One Another (Ephesians 5:21)

    In chapter 5, Paul presses a calling for believers to commit to a shared life of the church. He urges believers to walk in love (Eph. 5:2). Walking, for Paul, is a pattern of life, how redeemed people live together day after day. And at the heart of that loving walk is verse 21: “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Love is always practiced. It is displayed through a posture of willing, humble submission to one another for mutual good. Church loving submission is not coerced or imposed. The verb Paul uses speaks of voluntary yielding—choosing to place oneself under another in love.
    Paul grounds our submission in the very life of Jesus. Our Lord perfectly embodied this kind of yielding. Jesus came not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him (John 6:38). He humbled Himself, taking the form of a servant, and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross (Phil. 2:5–8). And now we who are united to Him are called to reflect that same Christlike posture toward one another.
    Crucially, Paul anchors this submission “out of reverence for Christ.” The word reverence here carries the sense of awe-filled respect, a childlike fear rooted in love, honor, and deep regard for Christ’s authority (Prov. 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:10). Its the kind of respect that hates the idea of displeasing the One who loved us and gave Himself for us (Gal. 2:20). Because Christ is our Lord and Head (Eph. 1:22), every act of submission becomes an act of worship. We do not submit because others are always right, deserving, or easy to love. We submit because Christ is worthy. Our submission is grounded in Him, not in the character, competence, or consistency of the person we are yielding to. Out of love and reverence for Jesus, we gladly place ourselves under our brothers and sisters for their spiritual good.
    If you think about the the orchestra I mentioned previously, each musician is skilled, but no one plays their own tune. They listen carefully, adjust their volume, follow the conductor, and at times yield prominence so the piece can be played beautifully. If one musician insists on dominating, the music suffers. But when each submits to the direction of the conductor and the good of the group, harmony emerges. In the same way, Christ is the Head of the church, and when believers willingly submit to one another out of reverence for Him, the beauty of the gospel is enjoyed, like a an extravagant piece of music.
    In 2026, I want FBCL to learn to submit well to one another. To do this, remember who you belong to. Submission flows from your union with Christ, not from your personality or preferences (Eph. 4:15–16). Choose humility intentionally. Look for tangible ways to serve, defer, and lift up others rather than insisting on your own way (Rom. 12:10; Phil. 2:3–4). Examine your motivation. Don’t ask, “Do they deserve this?” but, “How can I honor Christ through this?” (Col. 3:17). Finally, trust the fruit of obedience. When a church lives in Christ-centered submission, love deepens, unity strengthens, and God’s wisdom is displayed to a watching world (Eph. 3:10).
    In our society, submission sounds weak. It is weak if its only regard is for the person you submit too. But if the church in 2026, will learn to submit to one another in Christ-honoring Spirit-empowered submission, the world will marvel at our resiliency and love for each other, and be compelled to look upon the Christ we so dearly love to submit.

    5. Being patient and bearing with one another in love (Ephesians 4:2)

    Paul urges the Ephesian church to walk “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). To bear with one another is to willingly put up with one another’s failings as God patiently puts up with ours. Paul does not leave that command undefined. He tells us how to do it—with humility, gentleness, and patience. we do not do this naturally. They are the fruit of the Spirit at work in people who understand the grace they have received (Gal. 5:22–23).
    Paul grounds this exhortation in the reality of sanctification. Every believer lives in the tension of the already and the not yet. God has declared us holy in Christ (1 Cor. 1:2), and at the same time He is steadily making us holy (Phil. 1:6). We are being conformed into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29), and that process necessarily exposes sin. When sinners live closely together, friction is inevitable. Scripture itself acknowledges this: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Prov. 27:17). And when iron strikes iron, sparks fly. Words are misspoken. Motives are misunderstood. Sin is revealed, and sometimes others are hurt by it. Yet Paul reminds us that God is using the very people around us, flawed as they are, to shape us into Christlikeness.
    This does not mean sin is excused or truth is compromised. There are times when error must be corrected and sin must be addressed. Jesus Himself gave the church the gift of discipline to protect the purity of the church and to restore the wandering brother or sister (Matt. 18:15–17; Gal. 6:1). But even correction is to be clothed in love. The default posture of the Christian life is long-suffering patience; a refusal to give up on one another. Paul says elsewhere, “Love is patient and kind” (1 Cor. 13:4), and “as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive” (Col. 3:13). Bearing with one another is how gospel grace becomes visible in everyday relationships.
    In Bristol Texas, I knew a man named Lloyd Penoir. He was a gentle brother who was a master craftsman in woodworking. I would watch him work a piece of wood with his hands and tools into the most stunning pieces of furniture and cabinets. Have you ever watched a craftsman shape a piece of rough wood? Each pass of the plane removes splinters and rough edges. The process is loud, uncomfortable, and sometimes messy, but it is purposeful. If the wood could speak, it might complain about the pressure and friction. Yet without it, the wood would never become something beautiful or useful. In the same way, God uses the close proximity of life together in the church to smooth our rough edges. The process can be painful, but the end is Christlike beauty. You are part of that process. So remember to put up with your brothers and sisters in their sanctification with humility, gentleness, and patience.

    6. Be kind and compassionate to one another (Ephesians 4:32)

    Paul concludes this section with the words, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). In this text, Paul gathers the fruit of the gospel into a single, Spirit-filled sentence. Paul has been calling the church to put off the old self and put on the new (Eph. 4:22–24). Now he shows us what the new life in Christ actually looks like when it walks through the doors of the church and into real relationships.
    To be kind is to have a sweet, generous disposition toward others. Biblical kindness is not midwestern politeness or southern hospitality; it is goodness that moves toward people for their benefit (Rom. 2:4; Gal. 5:22). It reflects the kindness God has shown to us in Christ, a kindness that met us when we were dead in sin (Eph. 2:4–7).
    To be tenderhearted is to possess a heart that feels deeply for others, a heart that sympathizes rather than hardens. It is the opposite of being calloused. Paul is describing a Christlike compassion that enters into the burdens, sorrows, and struggles of the family of God (Rom. 12:15; Col. 3:12). This kind of heart does not stand at a distance and analyze pain; it draws near, even bearing it.
    And then Paul reaches the center of the command: forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Forgiveness is the crown jewel of Christian kindness. It is the deliberate choice to release a debt—to let go of the right to retaliate, rehearse, or hold wrongdoing over another (Matt. 18:21–35). And Paul grounds this forgiveness in Christ’s finished work. God did not forgive us reluctantly or partially. In Christ, He forgave us fully, freely, and decisively; sins past, present, and future (Ps. 103:12; Col. 2:13–14). These were not small offenses; they were hell-deserving sins against a holy God. And yet, Jesus eagerly bore them in His body on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24). That gospel reality now becomes the pattern for how we forgive one another.
    Forgiveness is not easy or cheap. It often costs deeply. But it is never optional for the Christian. A church that withholds forgiveness contradicts the very gospel it proclaims. Jesus Himself warns us that unforgiving hearts reveal a failure to grasp the magnitude of God’s mercy toward us (Matt. 6:14–15).

    “When we forgive, we are not minimizing sin; we are magnifying grace. We are saying that Christ’s mercy is greater than the offense committed against us.”

    In 2026, we need to cultivate kindness by looking for practical ways to reflect God’s goodness through our words, tone, and actions (Prov. 19:22). We must guard a tender heart. Resist bitterness and emotional callousness by regularly remembering how patiently God has dealt with you (Lam. 3:31–33). Forgive quickly and fully. Do not keep score. Release offenses to the Lord, trusting Him with justice and healing (Rom. 12:19). Return often to the cross. The more clearly you see what Christ has forgiven in you, the more freely you will forgive others (Luke 7:47). If we embrace these six Spirit empowered Christ honoring edifications toward each other: love, honor, peace, submission, patience, and kindness, we will show the world how Christ successfully unifies us, his people, to unconditionally share our life together in 2026, which is a foretaste of the eternal life we will share in glory.

      • 1 Peter 1:22ESV

      • Romans 12:10ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:13ESV

      • Ephesians 5:21ESV

      • Ephesians 4:2ESV

      • Ephesians 4:32ESV

      • 1 Peter 1:22ESV

      • Romans 12:10ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:13ESV

      • Ephesians 5:21ESV

      • Ephesians 4:2ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:13ESV

      • 1 Thessalonians 5:23ESV

      • Revelation 4:11ESV

  • Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
First Baptist Church Litchfield
pastorjason.fbcl@gmail.com
217-324-4232
http://www.firstbaptistlitchfield.org/
38 members • 6 followers