After calling his readers to make every effort to confirm their calling and election, the Apostle Peter encourages them with the truth that his legacy of gospel teaching and fruitful ministry will outlive his mortal body. By always making it a point to remind them of the truths of God's word and the importance of the supplemental virtues of the previous passage, he knows that they will be equipped to live in Christian faithfulness as the Lord continues to bring to their memories these truths.

Matthew 19:30 (ESV): ”But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

During his years of ministry on this earth, our Lord Jesus was a story teller. In today’s message we are taking a break from our series on 2 Peter to look at Jesus’ story in Matthew 20:1-16 that explores the differences in our expectations and God’s own priorities and value system. Join guest preacher Paul Stockton as we consider together Jesus’ message for those who regard the grace of God as a payment for their good service, rather than an outpouring of the grace of our loving God.

Last week, we considered how believers in Jesus Christ can be assured of their calling and election, and their future hope in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior. For this Celebration Sunday we want to consider more deeply what the kingdom of Christ is. Is this simply a future place that has no connection to the world we live in today? Or has the kingdom actually broken through, as our Lord said, having real implications in our very lives today? Let us rejoice today that Jesus is King Eternal even today.

During the time of the writing of Peter’s second letter, as it is today, there was a false teaching being proliferated in the church that said that you could enjoy salvation from your sins, with no change of behavior; continuing to live in sin, and never growing in holiness.

While it is true that we are not in any way saved by works (Eph. 2:8, 9), Pastor Joshua Shirey shares that Peter’s purpose in writing this letter is to prove that real salvation must lead to obedience and good works, and is confirmed by them. God will not save us without transforming us.

Returning to this short, 3-part series from our study of 2 Peter, we continue to consider how our spiritual growth in moral excellence should give us hope for our eternal future. But what if we are lacking in these areas of growth outlined by the apostle? What can we do if we feel like our faith is ineffective or unfruitful in the words of Peter, or dead in the words of James? Pastor Joshua Shirey explores these and other questions in an encouraging message for all.

In the feast of the Christian life, we know that our faith is the main course. But what are the side dishes that the Lord has blessed us with to enjoy the fullness of his blessing on this side of eternity? In this week's sermon, Pastor Joshua Shirey begins a small mini-series from 2 Peter where we consider the disciplines and practices that God calls us to pile high on our plates as we learn to feast faithfully before the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.

What is the gospel, and how does it transform us in our daily lives? So often, we say that the gospel of Jesus is what starts us on our own faith journeys, but the truth is that the story of Jesus' victory over sin and death is so much more than that. In today's sermon, Pastor Joshua Shirey explores how it is through the knowledge of our savior that our lives are transformed together - making us fellow partakers together with God from today all the way to eternity where we will see him face to face.

As we continue to study the Apostle Peter’s second letter, we look this week to verse two, which many have described as a “wishful prayer” or an opening benediction. We consider what Peter is saying in this theologically rich verse, and how it gives us so much more hope than the poetic fluff that often see these kinds of introductory verses as. How can grace and peace be multiplied to us now in this life, and what does this mean for us in the life to come?

Today, as we return to Peter’s second epistle, we consider that those of us who have obtained faith from the Lord have equal standing, value and preciousness to those who were faithful eyewitnesses of all that Jesus Christ has done in his life, death and resurrection that makes our faith possible. Given that the Lord says that we are blessed who believe and yet haven’t seen, how should this truth affect how we relate with one other, especially those who are different than us in some way?

Several weeks ago we took some time to consider Psalm 74, a Psalm of Asaph, which asked the Lord how long he would stand idly by while his people continued to suffer. This week, we turn to the following Psalm, also written by Asaph, which points to the surety of God’s coming judgment against his enemies. How can we rest in the knowledge that God will judge sin, and yet remain humble, knowing that it is only by God’s grace that we will not share in the fate of those who set themselves up against him? It is only through the good news of the gospel of Christ that we can join with Asaph, and say, “Rejoice! God is judge.”

Guest Speaker: Brad Kehr