LESSONS FROM THE ROCK: Part 5

DILIGENCE

April 22, 2007

“Diligent faith is demonstrated by faithful behavior.”

2 Peter 1:5-11 “In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins. So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things and you will never fall away. Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

Faithful behavior includes growing in…
Ø Goodness
Ø Knowledge
Ø Self-Control
Ø Perseverance
Ø Godliness
Ø Brotherly Affection
Ø Love

Diligence finds its motivation in Jesus.
2 Peter 3:17-18 ~I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

LESSONS FROM THE ROCK: Part 4

"PERSECUTION"
April 15, 2007


 Persecution is Part of the Refining of our Faith: 1Peter 1:6-7
So be truly glad! There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

 Persecution is Part of Our Calling: 1Peter 2:19-21
For God is pleased with you when, for the sake of your conscience, you patiently endure unfair treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing right and are patient beneath the blows, God is pleased with you. This suffering is all part of what God has called you to. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in his steps.

 Persecution is Part of Our Worship: 1Peter 3:14-17
But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t be afraid and don’t worry. Instead, you must worship Christian as Lord of your life. And if you are asked about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But you must do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!.

 Persecution is Part of Our Joy in Jesus: 1Peter 4:12-16
Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—because these trials will make you partners with Christ in his suffering, and afterward you will have the wonderful joy of sharing his glory when it is displayed for all the world. Be happy if you are insulted for being a Christian, for when the glorious Spirit of God will come upon you. If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people’s affairs. But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian,. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his wonderful name.

 Persecution is Part of Our Journey: 1Peter 5:10
In his kindness God called you to his eternal glory by means of Jesus Christ. After you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

PETER PREACHED ABOUT PERSECUTION because Jesus did first.
**Matthew 5:11-12 "God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way."

LESSONS FROM THE ROCK: Part 3

"The RETURN"

EASTER SUNDAY
April 8, 2007

“FOUR REACTIONS TO JESUS’ RETURN” ~ 2 Peter 3
1 This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory.2 I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. 3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.4 They will say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created." 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.6 Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.7 And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. 8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.9 The Lord isn't really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.* 11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live,12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God's righteousness. 14 And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. 15 And remember, the Lord's patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—16 speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction.Peter's Final Words17 I am warning you ahead of time, dear friends. Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing.18 Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.

REACTION #1 ~ The Mockers
Ø Laugh at the Truth
Ø The World Will Never Change

REACTION #2 ~ The Forgetful
Ø They Forget God’s Power
Ø They Forget God’s Plan

REACTION #3 ~ The Prepared
Ø Could Seem Good on the Surface
Ø Can Breed Complacency

REACTION #4 ~ The Expectant
Ø They look forward.
Ø They live blamelessly.
Ø They rescue others.

The Lord’s patience is our salvation! 3:15

LESSONS FROM THE ROCK: Part 2

"Judgment"

GOOD FRIDAY: April 6, 2007

“Unparalleled Courtroom Drama of the Highest Magnitude”
Ø We have an impartial heavenly Father who plays NO favorites: 1Peter 1:17
Ø KRIMA (judgment) is coming whether we want it to or not, so be prepared: 1Peter 4:7-9
Ø KRIMA (judgment) begins in the church: 1Peter 4:17-18
Ø Jesus obtains victory for us through His substitute death: 1Peter 3:18
Ø We receive victory only because Jesus gives it to us: 1Peter 5:4

Christ’s Victory
Ο CHRIST’S VICTORY on the cross does not mean that judgment will not come for you and for me.
Ο CHRIST’S VICTORY on the cross does not mean that we do not deserve death.
Ο CHRIST’S VICTORY on the cross means that we will not receive the final KRIMA-tion.
Ο CHRIST’S VICTORY on the cross means that we will escape (1Corinthians 3:12-15 & June 23)

LESSONS FROM THE ROCK: Part I

"SALVATION"

April 1, 2007

UNDERSTANDING THE GIFT OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD: Salvation

Ø The Shepherd’s Mercy: 1Peter 1:1-5
“This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to God's chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace. All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

Ø The Shepherd’s Blood: 1:18-20
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

Ø The Shepherd’s Sacrifice: 2:21-25
For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered* for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the crossso that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

Ø The Shepherd’s Sermon: 3:18-22
Christ suffered for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit. So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from* a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

Ø The Shepherd’s Reward: 5:4
And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.