Keep Adding, Keep Growing: Building Blocks of Faith

Peter’s life puts “keep adding, keep growing” on the table as more than a nice saying. Peter starts as a strong fisherman, a curious follower, and the top disciple in Jesus’ inner circle. Peter sees hungry people fed, sick people healed, and a fisherman called to walk on water. Yet Peter also carries a heart that still needs converting, because disciples remain in training while God renews the mind.

Jesus knows Peter’s bold words will meet a hard test. Jesus tells Peter that Satan desires to sift him, but Jesus also says, “I’m praying for you that your faith don’t fail.” Peter denies even knowing Jesus in order to save himself, and the rooster’s crow breaks him on the inside. Peter’s failure produces confession, repentance, and a return to the Lord rather than a final collapse.

Peter later names himself an apostle and a servant of Jesus Christ. Peter no longer wants to be identified only as the fisherman or the denier. Peter speaks near the end of his life as somebody who has walked with Jesus, fallen hard, been restored, and learned what it takes to become fruitful.

Faith begins the building process, but faith cannot sit there by itself. Diligence brings commitment, the kind that stays on the calendar and does not quit when feelings change. Virtue calls for righteousness and the right spirit. Knowledge brings more than zeal, because godly knowledge teaches God’s people how to do what God has called them to do.

Temperance requires self-control, not control over everybody else. Self-control governs emotions, feelings, and responses, and it shows God that a person is growing mature enough to be trusted with ministry. Patience teaches the soul to wait on God, even while age, weakness, and delay make waiting hard. Godliness forms the characteristics of Jesus Christ in a mortal human body, making Christlike walk and Christlike talk the evidence of real growth.

Brotherly kindness turns attention away from self and toward people who need help. Love completes every other building block, because gifts, knowledge, and even mountain-moving faith become empty noise without love. Peter’s call reaches its end in fruitfulness and productivity, not in church size, noise, or appearance. Jesus Himself grows in wisdom, stature, and favor, and the risen Christ restores Peter with one searching question: “Do you love me?” Peter’s answer becomes a calling to feed others, help others grow, and keep pointing people to Jesus.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith must keep adding and growing [01:28:34] Faith is the beginning, not the finished product. Diligence, virtue, and godly knowledge give faith strength and direction. A faith that refuses to grow can become comfortable with spiritual immaturity. Peter’s own life shows that God can build a faithful servant out of a failing disciple. [88:34]
• 2. Self-control prepares believers for ministry [01:32:44] Temperance is not the power to manage everybody else’s life. Self-control brings emotions, appetites, words, and reactions under the lordship of Christ. Godly maturity becomes visible when a person can say no to the devil and yes to God. Ministry requires more than ability because it also requires a life God can trust. [92:44]
• 3. Patience learns to wait on God [01:34:57] Patience does not mean pretending delay is easy. Patience grows through experience, Scripture, hardship, and a deeper knowledge of God’s timing. God’s people often need patience with themselves as well as with others. Waiting becomes bearable when the heart knows God is still coming down the street. [94:57]
• 4. Love makes every spiritual gift fruitful [01:39:32] Love keeps faith from becoming self-centered and ministry from becoming performance. Brotherly kindness sees the person without help and refuses to look away. Knowledge without love can become noise, and gifts without love bring no lasting profit. Christlike love makes room for compassion, empathy, and service.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [69:01] - Keep Adding, Keep Growing
• [71:52] - Peter the Strong Disciple
• [77:45] - Jesus Prays for Peter’s Faith
• [82:13] - Peter Denies Jesus
• [87:26] - Peter the Apostle and Servant
• [88:34] - Adding Diligence, Virtue, and Knowledge
• [92:24] - Temperance and Self-Control
• [93:50] - Patience While Waiting on God
• [95:19] - Growing Into Godliness
• [96:59] - Brotherly Kindness and Love
• [101:25] - Fruitfulness Is the Goal
• [104:41] - Jesus Grew in Wisdom and Favor
• [109:22] - Jesus Restores Peter
• [114:05] - Invitation to Grow in Christ

Bible Reading

2 Peter 1:5-8
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
[01:28:34]

Luke 22:31-32
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”
[01:18:45] [01:20:49]

John 21:15-17
“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”
[01:50:54] [01:51:08] [01:51:49]

1 Corinthians 13:1-3
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.”
[01:39:32]

Observation questions

1. In 2 Peter 1:5-8, what qualities are believers told to add to faith, and what does Peter say happens when those qualities are increasing? [01:28:34]
2. What did Jesus say Satan wanted to do to Peter, and what specifically did Jesus say He was praying for? [01:20:49]
3. Peter had seen Jesus work miracles, had walked closely with Him, and yet still denied knowing Him. What details show that Peter was still a disciple in training? [01:14:00]
4. In John 21:15-17, what instruction did Jesus give Peter each time Peter said that he loved Him? [01:51:49]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus did not tell Peter that he would never face the sifting; He prayed that Peter’s faith would not fail and called him to strengthen others after he returned. What does this show about how Christ can use a believer’s failure after repentance? [01:23:51]
2. Peter connects spiritual growth with being effective and fruitful. What might an ineffective or unfruitful Christian life look like, even when a person has been around church for many years? [01:41:25]
3. Temperance is self-control, not control over other people. Why is the ability to govern one’s emotions, words, and responses important for someone who wants to serve in ministry? [01:33:16]
4. Jesus answered Peter’s declaration of love with a command to feed and tend His sheep. Why does genuine love for Jesus move believers beyond private feelings and toward caring for people? [01:51:49]

Application questions

1. Faith is the beginning, not the finished product. Which part of Peter’s growth list—diligence, virtue, knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly affection, or love—needs the most attention in your life right now? What is one small, real step you could take this week? [01:28:34]
2. Diligence means staying committed instead of only moving when feelings are strong. Where have you allowed your walk with God to become irregular or “off the calendar”? What would faithful consistency look like for you? [01:28:50]
3. Self-control shows up in reactions as well as in obvious temptations. Think about a recent moment when your emotions, words, spending, appetite, or attitude got ahead of you. What could it look like to say no to the devil and yes to God in that same kind of moment next time? [01:33:09]
4. Peter’s denial broke him and led him toward confession, repentance, and forgiveness. Is there an area where shame has made you want to stay distant from Jesus rather than return to Him? What would coming back to Him honestly look like? [01:23:40]
5. Patience includes waiting on God and having patience with oneself and others. Where are you finding it difficult to wait right now—health, family, work, finances, healing, or another delay? How can the group stand with you while you wait? [01:34:57]
6. Brotherly kindness means noticing people who need help instead of living only for oneself. Who is one person in your family, church, neighborhood, or workplace who may need compassion or practical help from you this week? [01:38:05]
7. Gifts, knowledge, sacrifice, and faith are empty without love. In what relationship is God calling you to show love more clearly—not only through words, but through patience, listening, forgiveness, or service? [01:39:39]