September 4th, 2014
Dear City Calvary,
Thanks for coming out to Richmond Beach this past Sunday. It
was great to see all of you (and there were many) showing up to enjoy
fellowship. We had a good impact as well on the other people visiting the
beach. Many came and joined us for food and volleyball. They
commented to me on how welcomed they felt. Great job you guys! They
experienced the love of God through you. The best part was worshiping
Jesus around the fire. We would have stayed all night had the park not kicked
us out.
In this past Sunday service, I asked two questions pertaining to
your belief in God.
What
do you believe?
Why
do you believe it?
These are important questions that we all should ask and answer
for ourselves. What do I believe and why do I believe it? I would
hope that whatever you believe, you do so because you are convinced it is the
truth. Who wants to believe a lie? As your pastor, it is not my
role to tell you what you should believe and why, but rather to share with you
what the truth is and why we can believe it with absolute certainty. I
can boldly do so because it is not my truth. It is God's. In John
18:38, Pilate asks Jesus "What is truth?" That was
in response to Jesus words to him "You say that I am king, and you are
right. I was born for that purpose. And I came to bring truth to
the world. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is
true." Just hours before that, He said to his disciples Upper
Room (John 14:6), "I am the truth". Jesus is the truth
and every word He said, along with every other word in the Bible is true - It
is God's truth.
In our text (1:12-21) Peter reminded the reader of the truth and
then gave reason why to believe it. He shared his testimony of witnessing
the transfiguration and saw Jesus radiate His true glory. Peter then
explained that what gave him even more confidence was prophecy in the word
(over 300) that specifically pointed to Jesus. Jesus fulfilled them all
and without error. The better you know the truth and why, the less likely
you are to believe the lie.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is truth. Anything contrary or
added to the Gospel is a lie. Peter was writing to believers because
there were false teachers and prophets in the churches who were trying to sway
people from the truth and start believing a lie. So what was the lie and
what were these false teachers doing? How do you spot a lie? Come
on Sunday and we'll see in 2 Peter 2. BRING A FRIEND!!
Remember to love Jesus first, live for Him, learn and obey His word.
The rest of life is just details.
In Jesus love,
Pastor John
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