Sermon Tone Analysis

Main Idea:

God has given us everything we need to live a godly life, through knowledge of Him, granting us his great and precious promises and is calling us to increasing faith and love demonstrated by Christlikeness in our lives.

Lets resolve to respond to this call this year letting God do a new thing in us.

Reading of Scripture

Where are you headed in 2019?

VIDEO - Groundhog Day trailer

Have you ever stopped during a normal weekly routine and thought I am just reliving this week over and over, this day over and over, this month over and over this year over and over?

What if you were given the chance to relive 2018 over again?

How can we make 2019 into 2019 rather than 2018.

Would it be more money?

What about Power?

What about more vacation time?

What if you had less of any of those things?

It seems to me to be an indicator of problems in our soul that we can only think more stuff better, less stuff bad.

I believe there is a way, a truth and a life that can lead us toward true departure from the rat race.

I believe the the measure of stuff is not the measure of life.

I believe the way out is not to pursue more of the same, but to turn and pursue something other.

I propose that true change for 2019, beneficial life giving change, is attainable to any who would pursue it.

I believe God has promised us the opportunity and power to change.

You can change.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.”

Peter

Foundation for growth?

vs. 3-4

Time and again the scripture gives us this analogy of Growth of a seed.

VIDEO - time laps of seed.

This analogy is so important here because I want to encourage you today to embrace and pursue growth.

God chose you to bear fruit.

However this cannot happen apart from God’s work it is a matter of faith on our part.

Peter is writing to those who share the same faith he has so he knows what he is talking about.

One can look at the story of Peter and see the growth and development.

In one instance from a man who one minute is claiming he will fight and die with Jesus to the next, being scared of a little girl pointing out he was Jesus disciple, and cussing her out.

Running from the scene weeping bitterly and then standing on the day of pentecost in front of 3000 people to proclaim that he does still follow Jesus who has risen from the dead.

Peter knows the power of the faith he is talking about.

Peter assumes growth.

He says as you grow.

Peter has grown and knows that people who know Jesus will grow.

They will have more grace, and peace as they grow in knowledge of Him.

Here Peter uses the word knowledge not just as head knowledge but as a bigger idea.

It is the whole knowledge of God, Jesus, the Spirit and the plan of salvation.

It is an understanding of our place in the kingdom and how one gets into the kingdom.

It is also hope, a confident understanding and trust in God’s ability to fulfill his promises.

This knowledge Peter is referring to is not just knowing in the head, but a thorough going head, heart, and hands understanding which is evidenced by a different life, hope and love.

Think of having a car problem, and asking a friend do you know about cars?

They would say yes I “know” about cars.

Or asking a mechanic who works for the dealer who manufactured the car itself do you know about cars.

His knowing is an order of magnitude different from your friend who understands that cars go when you push on the right pedal and have cup holders.

Peter is talking about coming to know someone, this takes time.

Getting to know someone so well you can discern how they will respond to situation or if you hear a report about them you would be able to say That doesn’t sound like them.

Or if hey promised you something you would either expect it to happen or know they only mean well.

God has made a way for you to know him and it starts in his story culminating in the life of Jesus.

Jesus couldn’t be any clearer in answer to the question what is God like?

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

Back to the seed and soil.

It is God who has prepared, the place, the power, and the purpose for us to grow.

This happens by faith in Jesus work on the cross where we lay down our self righteousness and self reliance, our guilt our shame our condemnation and receive forgiveness of sins, and new life infused with the empowering presence of God.

This is Peter’s starting point.

Attempting to know Jesus on our own terms is as futile as trying to lift ourselves from the ground.

God has come down to give you a divine nature and lift you out of the corruption caused by human desires.

God has prepared the foundation for growth.

What next?

GROW!

Here is the secret to growth… What God has done, knowledge of Him, and His promises.

God is the first mover our response cannot be a means to being made right.

God is saying I have made you mine, I declare you right and you will be with me.

This is the first step toward growth being transformed by God.

Respond to God today because what we do has to be based on who we are, not the other way around.

Think of this.

you have been driving a car for your whole life and now God gives you an airplane as well as the ability to fly and is sitting in the pilots seat.

(you are to co pilot) He say take it for a spin, and many of us start taxiing down the runway as if we are still driving a car which is a slave to gravity when we have been freed from the bondage of gravity and given a new identity, we have been transformed but continue to put along thinking this sure drives weird.

How do we get this new life off the ground so to speak?

How to get growing?

Process of growth, pursuing growth.

So this process of growth has a crucial first step - Faith in Christ and the knowledge of God and his promises Peter talks about which transform us.

Next we can begin to walk.

Life in Christ is a process which actually takes time.

Like being a baby for a while we need to be fed milk but eventually we can begin to feed and clothe ourselves.

Babies naturally begin Making every effort to walk once they get it in their heads.

God is like a great parent encouraging us forward.

And because of the cross he does not give up on us when we fall rather like a perfect father he heals and helps us get back up.

But also like a great parent he will encourage us to walk on our own.

Zoe wanted to walk everywhere while holding onto our hands and would pout when we took our support away, but we wanted her to learn to walk on her own.

In view of all this, or for this very reason, make every effort or apply all diligence to growing.

I want you to put these ideas into your resolve this year.

Understand who you are and what God has done.

Expect great things from God; Attempt great things for God! William Carey.

It is all by faith what will growth look like? it will look like growing trust in God which enables more and more Christ likeness or godliness in our lives.

Faith - active trust in God, what does that look like?

What comes next is like a staircase of spiritual growth, This is not a legalistic todo list for self righteousness.

It is a chain of ideas building on one one another each supplying the next .

I want to recall the picture of a plant growing The picture taken above ground might lead us to believe all the growth is happening there.

However the seed falls in the ground and “dies” (God’s design.)

We experience new life but it doesn’t immediately happen it is a pushing out of roots which continue to grow which supply the foundation for fruit.

This chain of growth indicators is predicated on the subterrainian work in our hearts.

That our roots are growing down into Christ’s love and we are strengthened by the spirit then these leaves or flowers so to speak begin to appear.

First lets understand the idea here.

It is not that faith needs something added to it.

It is not that faith will not show up without something else.

No we know that faith without works is dead and so we expect faith to supply growth and change.

Faith Brings Virtue