An Opportunity to Serve Him – 1 Peter 3:8–22

In some corners of the world
to follow You is to risk everything—
a North Korean labour camp,
a Somali beating,
a Yemeni home where owning a Bible
is a dangerous act.
One in seven of Your people
knows this intimately.

Even here,
where streets are safe
and speech is free,
faith can still feel costly—
misunderstood,
dismissed,
pushed to the edges.
And when pressure rises,
many of us bend,
blend in,
or quietly compromise.

But You call us higher.

Bless, don’t curse.
When we’re wounded—
by a boss who harms,
a spouse who leaves,
a friend who forgets—
the heart rehearses revenge.
Yet You remind us
that we once stood as Your enemies,
and still You stretched out Your hands.
Blessing breaks the cycle;
kindness disarms the storm.
Peace grows
where payback dies.

Trust, don’t fear.
Whose voice will we revere—
the world that threatens,
or the God who holds all authority?
Bonhoeffer stood before a tyrant
and said he would rather
have the whole world against him
than lose Your approval.
Pastor Mehdi Dibaj echoed it:
Life is an opportunity to serve Him;
death, a better opportunity to be with Christ.
If God is for us,
who can stand against us?

Be prepared.
For the coworker who asks,
“You still go to church?”
For the relative
armed with half-remembered arguments
from the internet.
For the honest friend who asks
why your joy
runs deeper than circumstance.
Give an answer with gentleness,
respect,
and love—
a hope that can be traced
to its source.

And finally—
take heart.
Christ suffered once
for sins not His;
Christ rose
once for all;
Christ now reigns
over every power
that thought death
was the end of His story.
Baptism marks us
as those who’ve passed
from judgment to life—
washed clean,
lifted up,
held fast.

So, Lord, make us a people who:
bless, not curse;
trust, not fear;
speak, not shrink;
endure, not despair.

For life itself—
every day,
every cost—
is an opportunity
to serve Him.

Amen.

Original message by Andrew West, The Bridge Church Macquarie Park NSW
16 November 2025