Watermark Bible Church, Portsmouth, Virginia

Sometimes, you will run into someone you haven’t seen in a long time and they will say, “you haven’t changed a bit.” As we age, that’s always a nice thing to hear. No one wants to be greeted with someone saying, “wow, I can’t believe how you’ve changed.” However, what may be true physically is not true spiritually. We should all be changing.

We’re familiar with the expression – “things have gone from bad to worse.” We’ve all seen examples of that. In some ways that was the context of 2nd Peter. Not only was the church dealing with the persecution and sufferings that Peter addressed in his 1st letter. Now, there was a growing tide of heresy and false teaching that threatened the church. There are many parallels to the church today and I hope you’ll join us as we begin a study of 2nd Peter.

Through the centuries the church has gathered in homes and buildings, in temples and tabernacles, or just outside to celebrate the reality of the resurrection of Jesus and the implications of it. This week we gather again, both on Friday and on Sunday, to join in the long line of saints declaring that Jesus is risen.

Have you ever set out to accomplish something but weren’t sure when or if you’d ever finish? Maybe it was when you started college or took that first position in hopes of launching your career. Maybe it was holding your child knowing you had the responsibility of preparing them to be an adult. Jesus was on a long journey. We’ll see just how long it was as we follow him to Golgotha this week to be reminded once again of the most significant moment in human history.

Which do you prefer the original or the sequel? Most of us would probably say the original. However, last week we saw, in some respects, the original wilderness experience. The Israelites failed that test miserably. But many years later there was a sequel to the story. Although instead of all the Israelites there was just one. His time in the wilderness proved much different.

Who likes a lot of rules and regulations? Probably not a lot of us, but if we think more about it, we may come to the realization that rules are designed to give us direction or provide us guidelines to keep us safe. If that is true, then standards may not be bad. All throughout Scripture, we can read God’s standards. We not only get to read the rules, but also read about the benefits of following those rules as well as the consequences of not following them. During this Easter season we are continuing the series titled: From the Garden to Golgotha. This week we will take a stop along our journey towards Golgotha in the Wilderness at Mount Sinai.

The passion of Jesus and the story of Easter began in a garden. Its name wasn’t Gethsemane but Eden. Eden was paradise until the first two people sinned. Their sin unleashed consequences upon all of creation. The most painful consequence was that humanity was separated from God. However, God launched a plan right then to rescue humanity. The climax of that rescue was seen at Golgotha. During this Easter season we are launching into a new series titled: From the Gardn to Golgotha. During this series we’ll be reminded about the seriousness of our sin, and magnificent love of Jesus. Prepare to fall in love with the Savior again.

This week we’ll be wrapping up Peter’s first letter. His conclusion includes the previous themes of pain, suffering and triumph. And in so doing, he draws the attention of his audience to God in such a winsome way.

We’ve all experienced the effects of good leadership and poor leadership. Sometimes, we’ll settle for a poor leader because we think a good leader will call us to do the right thing which is a hard thing and we’re comfortable just where we are. The task of the church is to make disciples of all nations. That’s a hard task and we need godly leaders who will equip us for that intimidating work.

One of the questions that has bothered a lot of people is, “Why does God allow bad this to happen to good people?” In Peter’s 1st letter he spends a lot of time talking about the sufferings of the church. This next section is no different.