November 18, 2010
2 Peter 3
Pastor Michelle Hoverson
In 2 Peter 2, Peter warned that a time is coming when the church will be invaded by false teachers. How will the church survive this attack? How will Christians be able to tell right from wrong in an age of theological confusion? How will believers refute the intellectual arguments and philosophies hurled at them?
In 2 Peter 3:17-18, Peter provides the key to future faithfulness: “…be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Some time ago, my husband and I put together an emergency bag. You know…it’s the bag we are advised to assemble BEFORE a disaster hits. It was a bit cumbersome to find some good checklists, make copies of important papers, and buy the few supplies that we needed. Yet the bag is now prepared, and we are ready for any unexpected difficulty.
It’s the same with growing spiritually. We must prepare ourselves in advance of a difficult conversation. We must sow the Word of God into our hearts, long before we face a confusing conversation. Before someone challenges the nature and character of Christ, we have to know what we believe. Before we find ourselves in a dark discussion, we should place the Word of God into our hearts.
All of us will find ourselves facing a false teacher at some time. As a result, regardless of whether we have been following Christ for ten days or ten years, we will never outgrow our need to grow.
When asked about a historical figure (not from the Bible) that she would most like to meet, Grace Covenant’s Pastor overseeing outreach, wholeness and care ministries identified Mother Teresa, “to hear about her calling from God to leave everything she knew to pursue God…to glean from her what it was like to pursue her dream to care for the poor in India during the many years she was stopped by her leadership…and catch some of her holy reverence and love for her Master.”
