Sermon Tone Analysis

GROW IN GRACE

& 3:18

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To him be glory both now and forever!

Amen

The mission statement at the Seed is pretty simple.

It is a strong Trinitarian statement including God, our Father, Jesus, our Savior and the Holy Spirit, our comforter, guide and counsoler.

Our Mission Statement is filled with action verbs: KNOW! GROW! GO! SOW! KNOW GOD’S LOVE! GROW IN CHRIST’S GRACE!

GO IN THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT!

SOW SEEDS OF FAITH!

Father!

Son! Holy Spirit!

Know! Grow! Go! Sow! Love! Grace!

Power!

Faith!

These are wonderful and life-transforming words!

The Lord has put it upon my heart to do a fall sermon series called “Growing in Christ”.

In our Wednesday night “Get A Life Group,” we have been studying Romans.

In one of our studies, I printed out several of the “In Christ” statements that the Apostle Paul uses: We are found In Christ, we have faith in Christ, we are Forgiven to be forgiving in Christ.

We also have peace in Christ, find our riches in Christ, and we are to finish in Christ.

Not only do we finish in Christ, we are God’s workmanship in Christ.

Do you know who you are “In Christ?”

It is my hope and prayer that as we are work our way through these wonderful verses, we will all come to know who we are “In Christ” and what we have “In Christ.”

Before we come to our Scripture reading for today, let us come to the throne of grace in prayer.

“God of all grace and truth, help us to come to a deep knowledge of Your great love for us.

Help us come to a knowledge of Your great grace and peace.

Amen

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.

For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.[i]

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To him be glory both now and forever!

Amen.[ii]

Grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Peter writes this letter around 67 A.D. to warn the early Christians about false teachers and to encourage them to grow in their faith and knowledge of Jesus.

Do you want to grow in your faith and knowledge of Jesus?

It is interesting that Simon Peter uses both of his names when he opens this letter.

He uses the name his father gave him and he uses the name that Jesus gave him.

Peter was known as “Simon son of John” when Jesus found him casting nets on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

After Peter confesses Christ as the Messiah, Jesus gives Simon, son of John, a new name.

Jesus calls him Peter, Cephas, the rock.

Jesus states that He will build His church through Peter.

We know the story, how Peter denies knowing Jesus--not once but three times--during the time of Jesus’ trail before Pilate.

After His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus found Peter on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Three times Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”

Each time Peter says, “Jesus, you know I love you.”

Jesus then restored Peter, the rock, and used Peter to build His church.

Peter now calls himself a slave (doulos) of Jesus Christ.

To be a slave in those days meant that the slave was the property of the master and was at the disposal and service of the master.

So What?

An early “so what” that we can take home from these first few verses is that no matter how far we have gone, despite what you have done, God’s grace goes farther than our sin and redeems us from our past.

A second “so what” is that grace and peace can, and will, abound to us if we come to know Jesus our Lord.

Peter is a great example of a person who denied Christ three times and, yet, Jesus knew that despite his words—Peter loved Him.

We are living in dangerous and confusing times.

The world has gone haywire.

Are you looking for grace and peace in your life?

Then this series is for you!

Divine Power Through Knowledge of Jesus!

I read an interesting article the other day about divine power and knowledge.

“The millenium is at hand.

Man has invented everything that can be invented.

He has done all he can do.”

These words were spoken by a bishop at a church gathering in 1870.

They were challenged by the presiding officer, who suggested that a great invention would be made within the next fifty years.

The bishop asked him to name such an invention.

The reply: “I think man will learn to fly.”

The bishop replied that this was blasphemy.

“Don’t you know that flight is reserved for angels?”

The bishop’s name was Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur.[iii]

How often have we had doubts and fears?

How often have we felt like we could not possibly accomplish anything?

Our good friend Peter tells us --- His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Do you notice what Peter is trying to teach the early church?

We have been given divine power!

We have been given everything we need to live our life with godliness.

How do we get this life and godliness?

We get it through knowledge of Christ.

The word that Paul uses for knowledge is (epignōsis).

This word can be translated “to increase in knowledge or have the full knowledge”.

In the New Testament, knowledge is characteristically considered personal knowledge.

In Paul does not say, “I know what I have believed,” he says, “I know whom I have believed.”

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Do you know whom you have believed?

Peter teaches us that if we know Jesus, we will have grace and peace.

If we know Jesus, we will have everything we need for life and godliness.

Bible scholar and pastor N.T. Wright retells the following story about an archbishop who was hearing a confession of sin from three hardened teenagers in the church.

All three boys were trying to make a joke out of it so they met with the archbishop and confessed to a long list of ridiculous and grievous sins that they had not committed.

It was all a joke.

The archbishop, seeing through their bad practical joke, played along with the first two who ran out of the church laughing.

But then he listened carefully to the third prankster, and before he got away told the young man, "Okay, you have confessed these sins.

Now I want you to do something to show your repentance.

I want you to walk up to the far end of the church and I want you to look at the picture of Jesus hanging on the cross, and I want you to look at his face and say, 'You did all that for me and I don't care that much.'

And I want you to do that three times."

The boy went up to the front, looked at the picture of Jesus and said, "You did all that for me and I don't care that much."

And then he said it again, but then he couldn't say it the third time because he broke down in tears.