Growing in Godliness: Embracing Hope, Obedience, and Holiness

1. "Because hey, at the end of the day, that's what we're focused on. We're focused on growing in our faith. Growing as a church. Growing as followers of Jesus. We want to grow in godliness. We want to be more like Jesus. So growth, change, are inevitabilities in the Christian life. It's what you should expect as a follower of Jesus. This time next year, if we gather again like this, we ought to be able to bear witness together with one another that we're more like Jesus. Then. Then. Then we are today. Because to grow in the godliness that God has for us, to change to be more like Jesus, that's everybody's assignment in Christ." [26:13] (46 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Some of us, growth is just hard. It's just too hard. It's too much work, too much time, too much effort, too much cost, growing and changing. What am I going to have to leave behind to get to that next step in my life? Some of us, growth is just hard because, hey, let's be honest, I'm awesome, all right? I don't need to grow. And men, I would suggest not trying this in your marriage, by the way. But for some of us, just the reality is we think, hey, man, I kind of got it made. I've come in a good place. And I just think, you know, Lord, I'm really, I'm good. I don't need to go further than here. This is about as good as it's going to get. And I don't really need to change." [29:34] (42 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Well, I'm so grateful for God's word this morning. And what we're saying in 1 Peter 1 is it's going to remind us that growth and change is an inevitable blessing for all of us. And it's God's plan that we keep growing in godliness. This is how the faithful Christian ought to look at his or her life. How can I grow more to be like Jesus?" [29:34] (21 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Hope determines my focus. Now, scholars, really smart Bible scholars come to this passage and they generally agree that these four verses are in the imperative voice. So you English majors out there, you know what that means. That means these are directives. They are directions. They are commands. They are prompts. They are not suggestions. We are to do these things regularly, actively, passionately. Nothing about the Christian life is meant to be passive. It is an active kind of living." [32:35] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Be prepared. Be prepared for action. It's an alert button. It's an awareness button. It's a biblical Jesus alarm button for us as believers this morning to wake up and be prepared for action. It's apropos that the Holy Spirit would inspire Peter to write these words since it was Peter and James and John there that night that our Lord would be betrayed in the garden. Jesus had to come back by periodically and wake up his boys to say, hey, fellas, can you not fall asleep long enough? I just need you to walk. Watch and pray. It's the same sentiment. Wake up. Be alert. Be on guard. Be ready to act." [35:11] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "The Christian life is about getting focused on what God's called us to do. We're to be people prepared. Girls. Word it up. Ready to go. To be sober-minded, to be self-controlled. Yeah, that sober-mindedness is the same prohibition against being drunk and in drunkenness and in the same way that I don't want to be drunk and filled with wine and overcome with drunkenness and cloudy and inability to think clearly. I need to be sober in my mind. I need to have a faith sobriety that is under control. My life is established in such a way in Christ where I'm ready to go. I'm ready to move when God says go. Prepared for action." [37:23] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "As believers in the Lord Jesus, we have a responsibility to live and to model to these kids that there is hope in Jesus. That we are not gonna live hopelessly, but we are gonna live hopefully. And perhaps the greatest testimony we can give to our kids and our grandkids is that we are not gonna live hopelessly, is that I am filled with the hope, not the wishful thinking, but the hope that Jesus is coming back for me and for you in Christ. Therefore, man, I'm ready to go. And whatever I need to do today, however I need to think today, wherever I need to go today, I'm gonna do it for the glory of God. I live with and from hope." [41:19] (43 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "Obedience develops my character. Look at verse 14 of 1 Peter 1. The scripture says, as obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. Now we need to understand that conformity is big. It's baked into the human nature. In our sinful nature, we are conformists. Even those of us that put ourselves in the rebellious non-conformity category, I bet 9.9, I hope, 9.9 to 10 out of 10 times, you stop at the red light. That's conformity. Please stop at the red light, by the way. We don't need any more of that in Dallas, please. Conformity is baked in to who we are." [43:37] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "If there's stuff in your life that doesn't please the Lord, get rid of it. Dear church, sometimes the Christian life is just that simple. I talk to a lot of young leaders, do a lot of discipleship of young people. And this perhaps sometimes more than anything else becomes the most difficult thing in their lives. They'll say, man, I want to serve God, but I don't know what to do. I don't know God's will. I don't know how this is going to work out. There's a lot of not sure's and I don't know's. And I get all that. Listen, that might be you this morning. That's okay. God's not upset with your questions. But can I just give you a moment of gospel clarity? Here's what I do know. God's will for everybody in this room today is to stop doing dumb stuff. Sometimes we overcomplicate the Christian life. And sometimes the Christian life is as simple as don't do the things that God said don't do. And over time, your character will deepen." [50:02] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "Holiness defines my testimony. Hope determines my focus. Obedience develops my character. And holiness defines my testimony. Look at verse 15. Who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it's written, be holy, because I am holy. Do we understand this morning, in accordance with Leviticus 20, verse 7, when God is speaking to his covenant people in the Old Testament, he says, set yourselves apart to be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Church, holiness is God's defining characteristic. He is perfect. He is spotless. He is blameless, without error. He is immune to failure. He is not ever going to change. This is our God. And because God has saved me out of my sin and filled me with his spirit, Peter says he's called you to himself. And when that call has gone out, we have responded by faith. And now, because of the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit of God living in me, because of what Jesus did on the cross, now I can say through that power, yes, I, you, we can be holy." [51:47] (83 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)