Tag: Christian Living

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Seek to Do Good to One Another

Summary of my sermon, based on 1 Thessalonians 5:12-19. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on Sunday, 5 July 2026.

The Call to Excel Still More (1 Thessalonians 4:1-2)

To understand the full context of Paul’s instructions, we have to look back at 1 Thessalonians 4:1-2:

“Finally then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus that as you receive from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The version of this verse that I memorized says that you excel still more. This is an excellent reminder for us. There are congregations that genuinely strive to honor God—and I believe GCF is one of them—but the very nature of excellence is that there is always more excellence to be had. Even when you are already doing the good things God expects, the exhortation is to keep doing it more and more. Paul’s primary goal here is teaching us what it means to walk in a way that is pleasing to God.

Dynamic of Leadership and Peace (1 Thessalonians 5:12-13)

Looking at the opening of our primary section, 1 Thessalonians 5:12-15 outlines our conduct toward one another in community, while the subsequent verses cover our conduct toward God. If we accomplish what we ought to among each other, we will effectively accomplish our conduct towards God as well. Let’s look at verses 12-13:

“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

It is interesting how this verse closes by telling the Thessalonians to be at peace among themselves. At first glance, it doesn’t seem directly related to the first part of the verse, which focuses on respecting leadership. However, they work together tightly. When leadership is not respected, chaos is exactly what happens—in the church and everywhere else in this world.

There are times when leadership must be opposed and rebellion against oppressive leadership is necessary. A great example of this is what our neighbors to the south just celebrated yesterday: the 4th of July, or Independence Day. This is the day Americans celebrate their independence from the British.

On July 4, 1776—250 years ago—they weren’t celebrating with fireworks the way people do today. The first Independence Day happened right in the middle of the American War of Revolution. That war started a bit earlier, in April 1775, and lasted until September 3, 1783. For eight years, the Americans were at war with the British. When they rebelled against the oppressive leadership of King George III, chaos immediately ensued. This isn’t a value judgment on who was right or wrong; as Canadians, our founders chose a different path of not seceding from Britain. The point is simply that when rebellion against leadership occurs, chaos almost always erupts immediately after.

Peaceful rebellions are rare outliers in history. As Filipinos, we are familiar with a famous example: the People Power Revolution, where Filipinos broke free from the oppressive dictatorship of Marcos through largely peaceful protests. But even in a situation without wide-scale violence, you couldn’t exactly call the situation in the Philippines during the late ’80s and early ’90s completely peaceful. I was just a small child, but I distinctly remember being home from school and seeing military jets flying directly above our house during one of the coup attempts against President Cory Aquino. Even in an outlier situation, peace is easily shattered when leadership order breaks down.

Our Shared Duty of Care (1 Thessalonians 5:14)

In the church context, leadership is specifically associated with elders and pastoral offices. However, Paul writes: “who labor among you and are over you,” without specifying exact titles. This suggests that each of us has a role to play in looking out for one another.

Paul turns his attention to the weakest within the congregation who need direction, instructing the whole group to participate:

  • Admonish the idle: Call out those who are not contributing or doing what they are supposed to do.
  • Encourage the faint-hearted: Lift up those who are overwhelmed and need encouragement.
  • Help the weak: Physically and spiritually support those who are struggling.
  • Be patient with them all: Exercise widespread patience across the entire community.

We all share a collective duty of care to step up and lead one another in the Lord when these needs arise.

The Active Command vs. Cheap Knockoffs (1 Thessalonians 5:15)

This brings us directly to verse 15:

“See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone.”

This command has two sides: the negative restriction (repay no one evil for evil) and the positive mandate (always seek to do good). Seeing both sides is critical because our sinful flesh can easily become lazy. Avoiding retaliation is a basic level of morality. Jesus commanded this in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:38-39) when he challenged the old standard of “an eye for an eye” and said, “Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”

To understand the active depth of “doing good,” we can compare it to a much more famous text—the Golden Rule found in Matthew 7:12:

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

This concept of reciprocity is present in almost every world religion and philosophy, but there is a fundamental difference when you read their versions:

  • Judaism: “That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow. This is the whole Torah.”
  • Hinduism: “One should not behave towards others in a way which is disagreeable to oneself.”
  • Buddhism: “Hurt not others with that which pains yourself.”
  • Islam: “None of you truly believes until he loves for his brother that which he loves for himself.”

While these look similar on the surface, the crucial difference is that the other versions are stated passively. They tell you to sit back and prevent yourself from doing bad things to others.

The Christian Golden Rule stands apart because it is an aggressively active command: Do unto others. You are commanded to actively go out and work for the concrete betterment of others. The passive frameworks are just cheap knockoffs—like buying fake designer bags from Divisoria. True Christian community requires active sacrifice.

Fully Relying on Christ’s Work

Scripture expands on this active standard in other places. Philippians 2:3-4 tells us to do nothing from selfish ambition, but in humility count others as more significant than ourselves, looking directly out for their interests. Romans 15:2-3 instructs us to please our neighbors for their good and build them up, drawing a direct parallel to Jesus: “For Christ did not please himself.” Christ didn’t please himself; he went to a brutal cross to absorb our reproaches.

When you pair this with Jesus’ statement in Matthew 5:48—”You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect”—the real point of the command is to show you that you are completely incapable of accomplishing it on your own.

Left to our own sinful natures, we are simply too selfish. I’m too selfish to even avoid repaying evil for evil sometimes; it’s why I have a couple of points on my driver’s license from how I handle traffic. Avoiding retaliation is just the baseline. Actively seeking the absolute best for others and sacrificing ourselves the way Christ did is impossible in our own strength.

We can only accomplish this through the reality of Philippians 2:13:

“For it is God who works in you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”

This is exactly what we celebrate at the communion table. Jesus Christ died to save us from the historical penalty of sin, and at the end of time, he will remove the presence of sin completely. But right now, while the presence of sin is still around us, his sacrifice provides the power for our ongoing sanctification. Every time we take communion, we remember his death not only out of deep gratitude for our salvation, but to allow him to break through our selfishness so he can work in and through us for his good pleasure.

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Submit to One Another

Summary of my sermon, based on Ephesians 5:15-21. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on Sunday, 3 May 2026.

The concept of submitting is viewed a lot as a negative in our day. In modern society, it is associated with negative obligations, such as submitting assignments to a professor or clicking to submit a payment for bills. The most controversial association involves being forced to submit by someone who has greater power, much like a physical submission in martial arts or Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Because of this cultural lens, subsequent verses like Ephesians 5:22 (“Wives, submit to your own husbands”) are frequently dismissed as an archaic and misogynistic concept. However, this ignores the preceding foundational command in verse 21: “submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” To understand this directive, we must redeem the modern idea of submission by examining its surrounding biblical context.

Walking in Love and Wisdom
The primary exhortation of this passage is found in verse 15: “Look carefully then how you walk, not as the unwise but as wise.” This directive is a direct echo of Ephesians 5:2, which commands believers to “walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.”

The ultimate reason we are able to submit to one another is what Jesus did on the cross. Submission in view of the cross is not a manipulation tactic; it is voluntarily done in love.

Biblical wisdom is distinct from human wisdom. Worldly wisdom relies strictly on human reason and the capacity for information. Biblical wisdom has its source directly in God (Proverbs 1:7; James 1:5) and involves the capacity to act on that information appropriately.

Time Management and Quiet Competence
Ephesians 5:16 commands “making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” In a world where people constantly attempt to dominate each other and force their will onto others, submitting to one another is a highly efficient use of time. It frees us from the time wasted on trying to one-up one another.

Rather than expending time and energy to make yourself look better than someone else, believers can demonstrate quiet competence. Obeying God against the grain of our evil world allows believers to stand out as light in the surrounding darkness. Understanding and obeying the will of God is true wisdom, even if the world dismisses it as foolishness.

The Antithesis of Spirit-Filling
Verse 18 provides a critical contrast: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit.”

To understand what it means to be filled with the Spirit, it is instructive to look at its exact opposite: being drunk. Intoxication involves losing physical control, emotional outbursts, disorientation, and confusion. Historically, some movements, such as the 1990s Toronto Blessing, falsely equated inebriation with spiritual filling. Practices such as “falling in the spirit,” hysterical “holy laughter,” “holy animal sounds” (barking like dogs), and staggering as if “drunk in the spirit” are the antithesis of the Apostle Paul’s instruction. God is a God of peace, not confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33).

The Marks of a Spirit-Filled Community
Rather than disorientation, being filled with the Spirit is marked by specific, orderly practices within the community:

Addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs: Singing is explicitly commanded in the New Testament. Music elevates our communication and stirs up our affection for God, acting as a genuine way to show care and concern for each other.

Grounded Communication: Parallel texts like Colossians 3:16 mandate that the “word of Christ richly dwell in you.” The content of our communication must be steeped in the Word of God.

Giving thanks always for everything: Expressing constant gratitude to God serves as the baseline for all actions. Recognizing that everything comes from God makes it easier to look at the needs of one another and respond with generosity—with our time, words, and effort.

Conclusion
The passage culminates with the command to voluntarily submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. If believers successfully value others above themselves, they will fundamentally contrast with a world obsessed with selfish gain. This requires modeling the mindset found in Philippians 2:5-8: humbling ourselves like Christ, who became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

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The Journey of Walking by God’s Grace

Summary of my sermon, based on Luke 14:25-35. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on February 22, 2026.

Praise the Lord, and welcome. I was completely surprised by all the snow we had this morning! My office is in the basement, so I didn’t see what it looked like outside until I was walking out the door. But praise the Lord for His mercies and grace that we all arrived safely.

I have mentioned my taste in entertainment enough that you probably know I enjoy Japanese manga and anime. One of the first series I really got into was called “Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple.” It is a classic underdog story about a bullied high school student who decides to learn martial arts to get stronger. He ends up becoming the disciple of five different martial arts masters. It is a comedy, but a running gag is how brutally these masters train him, pushing him until he is physically broken down. While exaggerated, it highlights a true principle: becoming a true disciple of anything, whether it is mixed martial arts or the disciplines of the Shaolin warrior monks, requires an extreme, life-altering level of dedication.

For us as Christians, the word “disciple” is so familiar that we sometimes lose its weight. But in Luke 14, Jesus does not pull any punches about the extreme dedication required to follow Him. He was on His way to Jerusalem—and ultimately to the cross—and He began preparing His followers for the reality of what discipleship truly costs.

Jesus turned to the crowds accompanying Him and said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26-27, ESV).

That is a shockingly strong statement. Of course, Jesus is using comparative language here. He is not commanding literal hatred of your family. Instead, He is saying that your love for Him must be so supreme that, in comparison, your love for everything else looks like hate. Jesus must be the absolute, unrivaled priority in your life. The Apostle Paul understood this completely when he wrote, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8, ESV).

In the West today, we generally do not face the threat of physical death for our faith. No one is forcing us to renounce Christ at the edge of a sword. However, we face something that can be just as dangerous to our devotion: a consumeristic culture constantly vying for our time and attention. Are we willing to sacrifice our leisure, our social media, and our entertainment for the sake of Christ? Even our legitimate priorities—our jobs, our health, putting a roof over our families—must not take precedence over Him.

Following Jesus is not something to casually stumble into. To emphasize this, Jesus gave two short illustrations: a man building a tower who must first sit down and count the cost to see if he can finish it, and a king going to war who must deliberate if he has the troops to win (Luke 14:28-32). If you do not count the cost of discipleship up front, you will fall away when the reality of following Jesus becomes difficult. This is exactly why the prosperity gospel fails; it invites people to a shallow, comfortable Christianity without ever mentioning the cross we are called to bear.

A true disciple’s journey involves constant self-reflection. Are you truly prioritizing Jesus in your life? Jesus warned that salt that loses its taste is useless and thrown away (Luke 14:34-35). Merely attending church, going to a growth group, or knowing the right vocabulary does not make you a Christian. As Ephesians 2:8 (ESV) reminds us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” Salvation is a free gift, but true faith radically transforms our priorities. Let us continually lay our burdens and distractions down, fully surrendering to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Bear with One Another

Summary of my sermon, based on Colossians 3:12-15. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on December 7, 2025.

Resilience is an interesting attribute in dire situations. It’s something celebrated across cultures, and it’s the kind of thing people make movies about. Take the story of Louis Zamperini. His life was told in the book—and later the film—Unbroken. Zamperini was a bit of a delinquent as a youth, but he got into long-distance running and competed in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Then World War II began. In 1941 he joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and became a bombardier in the Pacific, flying missions against Japanese-held islands. During a search-and-rescue mission his plane had mechanical failure and crashed. He and two others survived on a small life raft, fighting off sharks and nearly capsizing in a typhoon. On the 47th day they reached land—the Marshall Islands—only to be captured by the Japanese. They were tortured, malnourished, and beaten as prisoners of war for years until the war ended. Even after release, Zamperini struggled with what we now call PTSD, but eventually he attended a Billy Graham crusade and gave his life to Christ. That began a different kind of journey—a different kind of resilience.

His story is awe-inspiring, but it turns out most people actually have a high “baseline resilience.” Studies show that the majority who suffer trauma don’t end up with severe, chronic psychiatric issues; many do bounce back with family, community, and professional support, and some even find growth and meaning through what they endured. I’m not minimizing trauma—those who carry lingering effects like PTSD need care, not stigma—but for the vast majority, our God-given capacity to recover is real.

Interestingly, the opposite often shows up with things that aren’t catastrophic. For example, 80–95% of people who lose weight regain it within two years. When it comes to endurance in everyday disciplines—dieting, sustained lifestyle change—we’re not so resilient. Another area is relationships. “Cutting out toxicity” is the buzzword now—cutting off toxic bosses, coworkers, friends, even family. I read pieces after the 2024 U.S. election asking whether to invite relatives who voted for the other party to Thanksgiving. Now, there’s a difference between toxicity and abuse; abuse should never be tolerated. But on a lot of plain differences and offenses, our age seems increasingly unwilling to endure.

That is the opposite of what our passage teaches. We’re in our series on the “one another” commands; this is our eighth, since we’ve been doing one on the first Sunday each month. Today’s command is “bear with one another” (Colossians 3:12–15). Paul tells us, as God’s chosen, holy, and beloved, to put on compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another; and if anyone has a complaint against another, forgiving each other as the Lord has forgiven us (Colossians 3:12–15). We tend to hear “bear with one another” and think, “Just put up with little annoyances for the sake of peace.” But Paul ties it to real forgiveness when real hurt has happened. This is more than personality quirks. It’s learning to endure and forgive when we’ve actually been wronged.

In Romans, Paul frames it this way: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves,” seeking our neighbor’s good to build them up (Romans 15:1–2). That implies closeness. If we truly function as a family, conflict will happen. You actually have to care to get hurt. I’d be more concerned if a church never had conflict—it might mean we’ve stopped engaging from the heart. So we must bear with the failings of others.

There are limits, though, because the aim is to build up (Romans 15:2). Some things shouldn’t be “endured.” Abuse must never be endured. And habitual, unrepentant sin must not be ignored; it destroys witness and may reveal salvation issues. Hebrews warns that if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, we face judgment (Hebrews 10:26–27). That’s why Jesus and the apostles give the church a process for discipline: not to shame, but to rescue. If we “bear with” ongoing, unrepentant sin, we may miss the chance to call someone to the gospel.

A recent example of courage here is what happened in the Southern Baptist Convention removing Saddleback Church from fellowship over theology—specifically complementarian convictions about the pastoral office. Saddleback started with solid theology, but over time some positions were revised using a hermeneutic that treats certain biblical commands as merely first-century cultural. Where does that end? If Scripture is culture-bound wherever we feel tension, what guards us from drifting on issues like the sanctity of life? The SBC chose to uphold what they are convinced Scripture teaches, even though Saddleback is a very large church. The point isn’t to relitigate that vote here, but to say: bearing with one another doesn’t mean papering over serious doctrinal or moral departures. Love sometimes looks like hard, humble clarity.

So how do we rightly bear with one another when real hurt (but not abuse or entrenched sin) is involved? Paul already gave us the clothing to put on: compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience (Colossians 3:12). Compassion and kindness mean more than gritting our teeth; they move toward the other’s good. Humility and meekness remember that today I’m bearing with your failings; tomorrow you may be bearing with mine. Patience is the bedrock of Christlike endurance.

“Above all,” Paul says, “put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony,” and “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,” since we were called to peace in one body—and be thankful (Colossians 3:14–15). That throws us back to the first sermon in this series: “love one another.” Love is the only way the one-another commands actually happen. The problem is that love is hard, especially if we’ve absorbed a transactional view: I love you because you benefit me. When the benefit dries up, so does the love. But Jesus says the greatest love lays down its life for friends (John 15:13). Biblical love is sacrificial and others-focused. Paul’s famous description of love—patient, kind, not envious or boastful, not rude or self-seeking, not irritable or resentful; rejoicing with the truth; bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring all things—confronted a divided church (1 Corinthians 13:4–7). That’s the kind of love that makes real bearing possible.

We can’t manufacture that love. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19–21). So we have to keep cultivating our hearts in the love of God—stirring our affections for Christ in the ways that most help us: worship, prayer, meditation, study of the Word. As we come to Advent, pick up the devotional if you haven’t. Let it help you set your heart on Christ’s first coming and long for his second. And let the peace of Christ rule in your heart (Colossians 3:15). He is the Prince of Peace, and by his death, burial, and resurrection he has made peace for us with God. Without Christ’s peace within, this kind of love will feel impossible. If you don’t know him, I invite you to come to him—let his peace rule in your heart today. And if you do know him, be thankful. This is what we remember at the Lord’s Supper: Advent’s hope, the cross’s grace, and the promise of his return. Only through the gospel can we truly love God and one another, and only with that love can we bear with one another in a way that honors Christ.