Guarded: Growing in Your Faith

Pastoral Reflections and Announcements

This Saturday, May 24 at 9:00 am we will have our 1st Annual Walk for Christ

Giving away a $200 gift card for groceries

May 31-June 1 is dedication weekend in Sumter.

Saturday service begins at 12:00 and Sunday service begins at 11:30 am.

Due to these services, service in Columbia is cancelled.

June 8 is our Move Up Sunday to honor our graduates

Kayla Hagler and Breah Cleckley

June 16th we will have a guest speaker for our Father’s Day service-Rev.

Yearly Bible Reading Plan (YBR 2025) Check in

Introduction: The Imbalance of the Modern Church and the Overcorrection of the Seeker-Friendly Church  

Introduce the study and why it is important.

Explain that this study is not intended to be intimidating or as an end-time preacher’s message.

Premise: The source of knowledge and the truth you embrace directly impacts your spiritual formation.

What you know is who you become.

Explain the church’s overcorrection of the secular society in the 1970s

Explain how American went from being a “traditional” Christian nation to becoming a secular society.

Bill Hybels and Willow Creek Community Church

Rick Warren

Robert Schuller

Argument: We have won many people to Christ, but we have not discipled them—making false prophets far more acceptable than the ordinary.

Statistics on Americans view of God and religion:

1. Beliefs About Jesus Christ

Divinity and Nature: 53% of Americans believe Jesus was a great teacher but not God, and 55% think He is the first and greatest being created by God. 

Sinlessness: 44% agree that Jesus committed sins like other people during His earthly life. 

2. Perceptions of God

Perfection: While 66% affirm that God is perfect and cannot make mistakes, 51% believe God learns and adapts to different circumstances. 

Inclusivity: 67% say God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. 

3. Views on Human Nature and Sin

Innocence at Birth: 71% of Americans, including 65% of evangelicals, believe everyone is born innocent in the eyes of God, contrasting with the doctrine of original sin. 

4. Understanding of the Holy Spirit

59% perceive the Holy Spirit as a force rather than a personal being. 

5. Biblical Authority and Interpretation

Scripture Accuracy: 51% believe the Bible is 100% accurate in all it teaches, while 53% think it contains helpful accounts of ancient myths but is not literally true. 

Personal Interpretation: 51% say the Bible was written for each person to interpret as he or she chooses.

6. Church Attendance and Worship Practices

66% believe worshiping alone or with one's family is a valid replacement for regularly attending church services.

56% don't believe every Christian has an obligation to join a local church.

Reading and Major Points from 2 Peter 1:3-11

**Read and explain 2 Peter 1:3-11**

God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.

Conclusion 1: This means we have no excuse for not living the way God prescribed.

Conclusion 2: God never tells us to do something we are incapable of doing.

Conclusion 3: God loves us despite our blatant rebellion and still calls us to be a part of his family.

Overview of 1st & 2nd Peter

Peter is writing instructions to new Christians in the Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1). (Summarize the way the hope one receives in their relationship with Christ changes each aspect of family, life, and authority).

Explain how important it is to be a discipled: Learning how to follow Christ and not just joining a Christ

Apostles took the time to disciple their churches with rich theology and practical principles for every days life.

1 Peter is about telling them what is true.

2 Peter is about telling them what to look out for.

Movements in 2 Peter 1-2

The importance of truth and knowledge of Jesus Christ as the means to transform the believer into the image of Christ.

Two sources of knowledge (2 Peter 1:12-21):

The reliability of truth from first hand witnesses—Peter

The reliability of Scripture.

Their experience aligned with Scripture. There was no contradiction.

There was unity between their experience and Scripture.

Three important words:

Theology: The study of God

Exegesis: The study of a passage by considering its cultural, theological, and historical context.

Accepting the reality that what we are reading is something that was written to someone else.

Eisegesis: Studying a passage by imposing one’s own presumptions and ideas into the passage.

Example: Matthew 24:7 “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world.”

Exegesis leads to truth and eisegesis leads to an opinion.

False prophets are masters at eisegesis.

Peter is saying we have studied Scripture and seen Jesus and we testify He is the Messiah,.

This truth shapes our identity and our perspective.

Principle: What you know is what you become.

You need a source of knowledge that feeds you what you intend to become.

Conclusion: If you want to be more about Jesus, you need a source of knowledge that is dependable and reliable enough to feed you what you need to know to become like Him.

The reality is not enough people want to be like Jesus.

While we think the problem is false prophets, the real problem is false saints.

When your source of knowledge doesn’t lead you to Jesus, it is proof that you don’t want to be like Jesus.

True prophets are only concerned with helping you become like Jesus.

Not how to get a miracle, get a blessing, or have an experience.

False prophets are only concerned with you becoming more like him or simply wants to deceive.

False prophets come from the teachings of Jesus and means a lying prophet.

A false prophets aims to deceive you not just to help themselves, but harm you.

Peter’s Big Idea in 2 Peter 1:3-4: The Divine Nature

Men have human desires that crave the world’s corruption (vs. 4)

God has created for us the opportunity to partake in the divine nature by knowing more about Jesus.

This helps us escape the world’s corruption which are caused by human desires.

This all leads to Christian virtues and characteristics (2 Peter 1:5-11)

There are two responsibilities—one of the preacher and the other of the hearer:

Remind the people- 2 Peter 1:12 “Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.”

Stand firm- 2 Peter 1:12 “Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught.”

Bonus: Supplement your faith- 2 Peter 1:5-11

2 Peter 1:5–11 NLT

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.