Pastor's Note from Feb 2, 2014

In our Bible reading plan this week coming up, we will begin Leviticus and Hebrews.  Leviticus is one of those OT Books that many people today just don’t like to read, but as we move through it at the same time as Hebrews, I hope you’ll see why it is still so important.  It is about Holiness, and even though we are no longer under the OT Law, we are still called to be Holy as we just saw in 1 Peter this past week.

Sandwiched in between 1 Peter and Hebrews in our NT study schedule is 2 Peter.  It is not the most popular NT book either for some reason, but like every other Book of the Bible it is God’s Word and thus of immense importance and relevance.  Our memory verses for this week come from 2 Peter 1, and though longer than our usual memory verse, it is one we’ve done before and should be more of a review, right?  The first chapter starts with a reminder that “God’s divine power has given to us all things pertaining to life and godliness,” and that we’ve received “great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption this is in the world,” which then leads to the resulting commands in our memory verses.

The rest of 2 Peter is mostly a warning about false doctrine, false teachers, and false prophets, and that we must therefore strive to understand and follow the Truth found in God’s Word and given by the Holy Spirit, and reject what is false.  This short letter ends with this, “you therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.  To Him be all the glory both now and forever, so let it be.”

This week's Bible reading:

2/3	Monday	Exodus 35-36	2 Peter 1
2/4	Tuesday	Exodus 37-38	2 Peter 2
2/5	Wednesday	Exodus 39-40	2 Peter 3
2/6	Thursday	Leviticus 1-3	Hebrews 1
2/7	Friday	Leviticus 4-5	Hebrews 2
2/8	Saturday	Leviticus 6-8	None
2/9	Sunday	Leviticus 9-12	None

This week's Scripture memory: 2 Peter 1:5-7)
“But also for this very reason (our eternal inheritance), giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.”