Usefulness in God’s Kingdom Depends on a Transformed Character

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.”
(Philemon 1:11)
   Passage: 1 Peter 2:9-17

         Whenever we have a parent/baby dedication time in our church, we put a picture of the baby on the screen along with the child’s name and the meaning of the name. In our culture, most names are given without a lot of thought about the meaning, but in historical Jewish and non-Jewish culture, names were given to signify a hope for a child or perhaps the circumstances of birth. Philemon meant friendly. It comes from the Greek word, phileo, which indicated deep friendship or brotherly love. The name of his slave, Onesimus, meant useful or profitable.
         When Onesimus ran away from Philemon, he was anything but useful. However, when he experienced conversion through placing his faith in Jesus, his life and character were changed. Paul used his name to reflect this, but telling Philemon that before he was useless, but now, he had become useful. When you became a believer, you became part of God’s family. You can say that your name was changed to Christian. Christian means follower of Christ. To be useful in God’s Kingdom your character needs to reflect your new name. Whether you realize it or not, people are watching you to see if your conduct is consistent with your confession. Spending time in God’s Word and fellowshipping with God’s people will help transform your character to reflect Christ and enable you to be useful for Him.

Apply - (2 1/2 minutes)
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)