I. Introduction
A. Stumped
1. Have you ever had a moment when someone stumped you?
2. Through the years, people have given some pretty crazy answers in moments of stress, such as this woman on Family Feud many years ago.
3. Perhaps you’ve had a moment when someone asked you a religious question and you gave them a blank stare because you didn’t expect it or didn’t know the answer.
4. In our passage today, Peter challenges us to be ready to give an answer when people ask about our hope.
B. Background on Passage
1. Peter has offered instructions on how to act as a Christian in various circumstances and relationships.
2. Now he turns to a discussion about how to handle suffering that arises when we seek to live as we should.
3. Among the things our actions should initiate are questions about why we live as we should.
4. What can we learn from our passage today about what it means to be ready to give an answer?
II. Ready to Answer
A. …in your hearts…
1. Before we can anyone, we have to be convinced of what we believe. To be fully convinced ultimately manifests itself in how we act. Do my actions demonstrate what I say I believe?
2. Illustration: We sometimes sing a song, “I Know My Redeemer Lives.” Each verse begins with a bold statement, “I know…”
3. Paul makes a bold statement in 2 Timothy 1:12 when he writes, “…I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.”
4. If we are truly in love with God, we’ll know Him, not just about Him.
5. To “honor Christ the Lord as holy” is to make Him in your life. If people don’t see it, they won’t believe it.
B. …always being prepared to make a defense…
1. The Greek word for defense is apologia, from which we derive the English word apologetics.
2. Apologetics isn’t just about knowing scientific facts or philosophy that proves God’s existence.
a. While God needs no , it is important that we can answer questions that arise when people want to know why we believe what we believe.
b. Josh McDowell has said, “Belief is knowing what you believe. Conviction is knowing why you believe it.”
3. How many of us can truly answer why we believe what we believe?
a. Is it because of tradition, instruction, experience, etc.?
b. of these can be good places to start, but eventually we must make our faith our own.
c. Philippians 2:12-13
4. This doesn’t mean that you have to become an expert in apologetics, but it does mean you need to have a good answer if someone asks you why you believe what you believe.
5. What we are convicted by we will to.
C. …yet do it with gentleness and respect…
1. It’s not enough to know what is right; we must also know the right to share it.
a. This is why I am not a big fan of getting into arguments with people; arguments rarely change anyone’s mind.
b. 1 Peter 2:21-23; 3:9
2. The goal of the Christian is not to win arguments, but to save souls.
III. Conclusion
A. Giving an Answer
1. First, we must be convinced about what we believe. This will show in our actions.
2. Being convicted means we have connected to God in a way that others notice.
3. We must always be concerned about how we share the truth with those who are searching.
B. Invitation