Be All That You Can Be

August 5, 2012
Morning Worship

Text: 2 Peter 1:3-11

Subject: A Christian Responsibility
Title: Be All You Can Be

Do you remember the old TV Ad for the US Army that said, “Be all that you can be in the army?” It was an invitation to young men and women to find an avenue by which they could meet all the expectations that they might have for a fruitful and exciting life.

Now, let’s compare life in the army with a life lived for Christ. First of all, contrary to what people who don’t know Christ would say, the Christian life is the most exciting life one could ever live. The Christian life does not limit what you can or cannot do. It does open the doors to possibilities that you may have never imagined… The Army offers the opportunity for you to serve and protect your nation. Christianity offers you the opportunity to serve the Living God and find yourself under His protection. The Army provides a venue for you to see the world… Christianity provides you an opportunity to change the world.

Here is the only limitation with Christianity… are you ready for this? The only limitation is YOU! Paul told the church in Ephesus, that God… is able to do immeasurably more (NKJV exceedingly, abundantly) than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…

It all comes down to what our mindset is concerning God’s power at work in us. Some will say that His power is limitless, so that gives me limitless possibilities. Other say that His power is limited because it is at work within me… a flawed being.
"Nothing is done," Lincoln Steffens once wrote. "Everything in the world remains to be done--or done over. The greatest picture is not yet painted. The greatest play isn’t written. The greatest poem is unsung." Nothing is perfect, we can add. There’s no perfect airline. There’s no perfect government. there’s no perfect law.
Faucets still drip, as one did years ago in the Steffens household. As he and his seven-year-old son tried to fix it, Steffens had to admit that his generation could not make a fit faucet. "But," said Steffens, referring to his son, "he may. There’s a job for him and his generation in the plumbing business, and in every other business. Teach your children that nothing is done, finally and right; that nothing is known, positively and completely; that the world is theirs--all of it.
Bits and Pieces, April 1990, p. 7.
That is a message for all Christians.
Be all that you can be…
Read 2 Peter 1:3-11…

I believe this is God’s Word…
I believe it is for me…
I accept it as mine…
And I appropriate it to my life today…

I. IF YOU ARE GOING TO BE ALL YOU CAN BE YOU MUST HAVE POWER … Before I start in verse 3 let’s look at the introduction to the letter… 1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. Grace and peace comes through your knowledge of God through your relationship with Jesus. It is important that you have knowledge of everything that God has done for you. That is what Peter tells us in verse 3, His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Now if we break this down a