“A Sign of The Times ”
Week 1
2 Peter 1:1-11
Verse of the Week
His divine Power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
2 Peter 1:3
Main Idea:
We should grow in our faith so that we can be useful for the Kingdom of God.
VS 1-4
Peter’s letter was written to believers to warn them against false teachers. Before Peter talks about false teachers, he talks about what a true Christian is. The best way to detect what is false is to know what it is true. Peter starts off addressing himself as a servant and then an apostle of Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus means to not only follow Jesus but to do what He did. Jesus came to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). One characteristic of a true believer is someone who serves.
Peter continues on talking about faith, grace and peace. These are also characteristics of a true believer. How do we get a servant’s heart, faith, grace and peace? Peter says this all comes from the knowledge of God and of Jesus. Peter isn’t talking about just simply knowing that God exists. The word “know” means to correctly and precisely know who He is. For example, we can know everything about Micheal Jordan. We can know his stats, his career highlights, where he lives and thanks to the internet we even know that he has a phobia of large bodies of water. This doesn’t mean that we actually know Micheal Jordan. We just know about Micheal Jordan. We don’t know him because we don’t have a true relationship with him.
When we truly “know” God, we get the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does many things but one major thing He does is that He equips us to grow spiritually. Our goal isn’t just to get to heaven one day, it’s to be useful for God’s glory. However, this isn’t something that we do on our own. God not only tells us what to do but He also gives us the power to do it. It all starts with truly knowing Jesus and it continues as we walk with Him and obey what He says. Knowing, walking and obeying Jesus comes from reading the Bible. Like the Holy Spirit, the Bible is a gift from God to us. This gift is so that we can grow as believers.
Discussion Questions:
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Why is it so important to understand that you have received everything you need for “life and godliness”?
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What practical steps do you take to increase your knowledge of Jesus Christ?
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What are some of God’s promises that guide your daily life and keep you from sinful desires?
VS 5-9
Peter listed seven more characteristics of a true Christian: Goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, mutual affection and love. These characteristics do not come overnight nor do they come automatically. It takes some effort and time on our part. Peter tells us to “make every effort to add these to our faith”. This is action on our part. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to add these to our faith, but we have to take action. As we take action, we start to grow in our faith. As we grow in our faith, we start to become useful for the glory of God.
Discussion Questions:
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Which qualities on the list do you think will require more effort on your part?
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How does your desire to be useful affect your effort at applying these qualities?
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Being useful for God brings so much joy. How has being useful for God brought you joy?
VS 10-11
Peter tells us again to “make every effort”. This time he says to make every effort to confirm your calling and election. He is saying evaluate yourself.
Discussion Questions:
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Does your life reflect these seven characteristics?
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Do you put your faith in Jesus?
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Have you received His grace?
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Do you have peace that only Jesus can give?
If the answer is yes, then one day you will receive a rich welcome from Him into His eternal kingdom. If the answer is no then there is still good news. You can know Him today. If you will place your faith in Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross then you can come to know Him and the riches of His inheritance. Jesus made every effort so that you can know Him.
Important Announcements:
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The Disciple Making Summit is on January 27th-28th in Sharpsburg GA. This would be a great opportunity to learn more about making disciples. You can sign up and find further information at www.impactdisciples.com. Notify Randy or Stanley if you decide to sign up for the event.
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We will be celebrating Baptism's on 1/22/2023. Baptism is our immediate next step after salvation. If Baptism is your next step you can sign up by notifying your CG Leader or by clicking MORE, on the top right of our website and then selecting NEXT STEPS.