Keep Moving in Your Faith: Growing in Christ

Peter insists that faith is not parked but moving. An image of a stunt car soars and lands, then disappears from use, and that picture exposes how a life that only looks exciting but never actually moves in obedience ends up wrecked. A rusted vehicle with a tree grown straight through its frame shows what happens when a life sits too long. The call to a “faith walk,” a “faith journey,” presses for action beyond comfort, beyond ruts that form when habits harden into motions without growth. So the morning prayer becomes simple and direct: God, put this life to your service today. Move it out of its comfort zone.

Peter’s ladder of graces sets the pace and direction for that movement. The apostle charges believers to “make every effort” and then stacks the climb: add to faith goodness, to goodness knowledge, to knowledge self control, to self control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness mutual affection, and to mutual affection love. The sequence is not a buffet but a progression that keeps the disciple from becoming “ineffective and unproductive.” Faith that moves adds, and faith that adds grows.

Jesus stands at the center and the finish of that growth. The ark of safety in the flood sketches Christ, the place where the judged can hide and live. The Red Sea’s parting marks Jesus the deliverer who breaks the slavery of sin. Jericho’s conquest prefigures Jesus the greater Joshua, who returns to lead his people home into the promised rest. Scripture tells one story with many scenes. On the road to Emmaus, the risen Lord does not change the plot but reveals it, showing from Moses and the prophets the things concerning himself. The word became flesh and pitched his tent among those who need truth, grace, and rescue.

Truth in the Bible is not a category that can be aced on a quiz. Truth is a Person who speaks, abides, and frees. “If you abide in my word,” Jesus says, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The call, then, is not to chase stunts but to say yes to God, to step out of a rut into an obedient walk, to let the Spirit stack grace upon grace until love crowns the climb. The way is Christ. The truth is Christ. The life is Christ.

Key Takeaways

• 1. Faith moves, it does not park A parked life grows around its fears and comforts like a tree through a forgotten car. Movement begins with simple, humble prayers that ask God to use the day and interrupt the rut. Obedience often starts small but refuses to stay still. The walk, not the stunt, is where faith grows. [18:44]
• 2. Growth stacks virtue upon virtue Peter’s sequence is deliberate, each grace training the next. Knowledge without goodness grows sharp but cold, while self control without perseverance gives up at mile two. The Spirit grows a balanced disciple by adding in order until love crowns the list. The climb keeps a life from becoming “ineffective and unproductive.” [20:54]
• 3. All Scripture converges on Jesus The ark shelters because Christ shelters. The sea opens because the Deliverer has come. Jericho falls because the greater Joshua will lead his people home. From Moses to the prophets to the Psalms, the story runs straight to him. [57:33]
• 4. Truth is a Person who frees Answers can win a game, but only Jesus frees a soul. To abide in his word is to live in the atmosphere of his voice until freedom becomes the air in the lungs. Grace and truth arrive embodied, and that embodiment demands a lived yes, not a memorized line. [59:23]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [15:43] - Children’s time begins
• [16:26] - Unrealistic driving expectations
• [17:08] - Flying cars and real life letdown
• [18:11] - Tree through the car image
• [18:44] - Faith walk cannot sit still
• [19:58] - Out of ruts and comfort zone
• [20:27] - Add to your faith: 2 Peter 1
• [20:54] - Kept from being ineffective
• [23:55] - Jericho refrain
• [53:48] - Every story points to Jesus
• [57:33] - Emmaus and Luke 24:27
• [58:32] - The grand prize and the real answer
• [59:23] - Jesus the way, truth, life
• [65:27] - Blessing and sending

1. What specific qualities does Peter list in 2 Peter 1:5-8, and how are they connected to one another?
2. In the sermon, the story of the tree growing through a car was used to illustrate a stagnant faith. What happens to a life that "sits too long" spiritually? [18:44]
3. How does Jesus’ conversation with the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:27) reveal the purpose of Scripture?

1. Why might Peter’s list of virtues begin with faith and end with love? What does this progression suggest about how spiritual growth happens?
2. The sermon compared the ark, Red Sea, and Jericho to Jesus. How do these Old Testament stories point to Christ’s role as Savior and Deliverer? [57:33]
3. Jesus says, “If you abide in my word, you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). How does “abiding” in His Word differ from merely knowing facts about Him?

1. What “ruts” or comfort zones have you noticed in your faith walk? What small step could you take this week to move out of them? [19:58]
2. Which virtue in Peter’s list (goodness, knowledge, self-control, etc.) feels hardest for you to grow in right now? How could you intentionally “add” to that area with God’s help?
3. The sermon emphasized that all Scripture points to Jesus. How could you practice looking for Christ’s presence in your Bible reading this week, even in familiar stories?
4. What does “abiding in Jesus’ word” look like practically in your daily life? Is there a habit or rhythm you need to start (or stop) to live in His truth more fully?
5. The image of a rusted car with a tree through it warns against spiritual stagnation. What prayer could you start praying daily to ask God to “move” your faith into action? [18:44]