When Superstorm Sandy hit, some people stayed close to the beach. Warnings were given. Not everyone paid attention. When we know something major is about to happen, we understand our obligation to be prepared. Peter has given us a letter full of warnings about the future.
History has seen its share of predictions regarding the end of the world. Just in recent memory we’ve had a failed prediction of the Rapture (or two) and a cancelled Mayan Apocalypse. Can we really blame people for becoming skeptical? Still, the Bible does actually – and repeatedly – predict the return of Jesus Christ.
Our human tendency is to forget how good we have it. We fail to hold onto the actual value of things, of people – and even of our salvation and relationship with God. Today Peter is going to remind us of the treasure that we have before us in the pages of Scripture.
When I got to Horizon in San Diego in 1983 it seems to me like the perfect church. It’s still unclear, but it may have gone downhill from the moment I started attending. Honestly, we’re probably all aware by now that the perfect church doesn’t exist. Still the Bible does give us an idea of what we should shoot for – things we can do to make our own church better. As churches go, the one in Thessalonica was pretty good, so this chapter gives us a number of characteristics (I counted 14) that a model church ought to have.
Central Reflections 