One Hope Church

One Hope Church An Upward, Inward, Outward church. Christ is our love. The Word is our authority. The lost are our aim.

06/03/2026

2 Peter 1:19-21. A Dark Place...

In Wednesday’s reading (2 John 1:12 Part 2) we return to John bringing this epistle to a close. And when he does, he tel...
06/03/2026

In Wednesday’s reading (2 John 1:12 Part 2) we return to John bringing this epistle to a close. And when he does, he tells them that he has a lot more to write them, but he won’t. Why? He prefers to speak to them face to face (literally mouth to mouth). He wants to be in their presence when he tells them other things. Maybe he wants to see their reaction & to perceive their heart, or maybe he wants to have more of a dialogue about certain topics. Whatever the specific reason, John wants to say other things directly to them. And it is his hope to be there soon enough to do so. And as he closes out this verse & basically the letter, he provides the greatest interest he has in visiting them…

Unlike the deceivers, who want to come in & take – take away what has been accomplished; take away the full reward – John wants to see them face to face in order to have their joy made full or made complete (or as other translations state – our joy). Either translation is possible & either way, we see the confidence & care that John has for them. This is also not the 1st time that this goal – joy made complete (ours, yours or both) – has been spoken. In the previous time, John was on the receiving end. John heard Jesus say such words, & then he wrote them in his Gospel account. In John 15:10-11, he recalled Jesus saying this: “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” So, Jesus is in the business of giving joy – His joy. And His joy makes us full of joy. Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Do you have such joy?

If not, then consider the rest of what Jesus said there – notice how such joy is connected with obedience to the Father & the Son. The obedience of the Son (Jesus) to the Father is the ground of the Son’s joy (where obedience is connected to abiding in the Father’s love) & we are called to keep His commandments (& thus abide in His love). And Jesus spoke all of this so that His disciples obey Him & share in His joy. Pretty amazing, isn’t it? Recall too what John wrote in 1 John 1:3-4 – “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.” Now, there are some manuscripts that say “your joy” but it’s not that much different in many ways. With a pastor’s heart, John writes so that his readers would be in fellowship with John & the other Apostles. But that fellowship actually extends to the Father & Son since that is the fellowship that they have. So, John is all about this abiding, growing relationship with the Father & Son and the resultant joy that it brings. Do you lack joy? How is your relationship with the Father & Son?

06/02/2026

2 Peter 1:19-21. Pay Attention!

06/02/2026

2 Peter 1:19-21. Two Indisputable Sources.

In Tuesday’s reading (2 John 1:12 Part 1) we already come to the closing verses of this brief but powerful letter. John’...
06/02/2026

In Tuesday’s reading (2 John 1:12 Part 1) we already come to the closing verses of this brief but powerful letter. John’s highlighted the importance of truth & how Christianity is grounded in truth. We’ve also heard the crucial importance of love. They must be balanced. Without truth, falsehood & heretical teachings will find their way into our fellowship. But we must also be a loving community – living out the grace, mercy, & love that we have received from God. We are to be people who have been captured by truth & love. As such, we must walk in truth and walk in love. John also highlighted the importance that we obey God. And most recently, John reminded us that there are deceivers / antichrists, who will try to come in & ruin our fellowship. They can be recognized by their actions & their teachings.

So, we cannot get complacent; we must be on guard. The risk is great – losing what we’ve worked so hard to get. In the end, abide in truth, stay true to the right teaching. Do not encourage heretical teachings; do not give any appearance of endorsing such teaching. Now, this is some pretty heavy teaching in such a few verses – John’s not messing around. So, what does he say next? Interestingly, he says that he actually has a whole lot more to say to them, but he prefers to speak with them face to face…rather than writing with pen on paper. Now, it wasn’t really “paper”. To get their version, you would flatten & smash stalks of a papyrus plant. You would then place the stalks running up and down in one layer and side to side in the other. The two layers were united by being moistened & placed under pressure; frequently some glue was added. After the dried sheet was rubbed smooth, it was ready for use. It appears that they would only write on the side where the strips ran horizontally. The “ink” was made of vegetable soot mixed with gum & moistened as needed. So, that’s the paper & ink part.

With all of that, you can probably surmise why some books aren’t very long, & why some are very brief – like this one. This may be one reason that 2 John is not very long. It’s not for lack of topics – he makes that clear. He could write many things to them. So, he has more to say but he would prefer to say it to them in person. Have you ever had something that you knew was better said in person than in a text or email? Or have you ever had something to say that you wanted to be able to look the person in the eye & to gauge their heart & see their reaction? Well, that’s where John is – he wants to personally be there; he wants them to know his heart & his concern for them but also his hope & his encouragement for them coupled with warnings for them. “Face to face” is literally “mouth to mouth” – indicating his desire for such intimate contact. This truth though points out the very real danger these deceivers posed & the urgency that John felt, which compelled him to write this brief letter. Do we take such warnings as seriously as we should? How well do we follow just the last 8 verses?

06/02/2026

2 Peter 1:19-21. Read & Ask. Learn & Grow.

06/02/2026

2 Peter 1:19-21. Peter's 2 Defenses Summarized.

In Monday’s reading (2 John 1:10-11 Part 4) we return to John’s 6th point in the body section of this brief epistle: Be ...
06/01/2026

In Monday’s reading (2 John 1:10-11 Part 4) we return to John’s 6th point in the body section of this brief epistle: Be careful in your dealings with false teachers (deceivers / antichrists); do not allow them an audience… Now John may mean either opening one’s home to allow an itinerant teacher to stay there while he is teaching in your town or it may be allowing this teacher to teach in the church that meets in your home. Either situation is possible, So, John’s concern is that we may pave the way for someone to propagate their false teachings to a host of people because of such allowances. Was this already happening? Possibly. Does this happen today? Most definitely. It may be in different ways, but when we allow a false teacher to fill the pulpit (for example) without doing our due diligence, then we are (unintentionally) promoting what he teaches. and they both lead to what John is trying to avoid…

And John says that the one who does this – allowing a false teacher such access & opportunity – then you participate in their evil deeds! Now, this should be truly frightening to hear. Showing such hospitality as we just discussed would be to participate in the evil they do. So, we are not to encourage such heretical teachings in any such manner. We are not to give the appearance of condoning or endorsing such teaching. If we do, then in this way (at least), we do not receive the full reward. This, at a minimum, challenges us to consider whether we should join together in ministry with some other churches (if their teaching is questionable on major doctrinal issues) as well as endeavor in some of the “interfaith” enterprises that we see taking place in our communities more & more frequently.

This is not a mild warning that John gives. We are called to practice Christian love as well as biblical discernment. They must be together. We must know the key truths of our faith. We are called to protect the purity of our assemblies & our homes. We must beware of such false teachers and not allow them to negatively influence our fellowship or to lead people astray. The warnings regarding false teachers are made throughout the New Testament. If we are not careful, we risk participating in the evil deeds of these false teachers. And let us realize this – they don’t declare themselves as such. Recall these words in 2 Cor. 11:13-15 – “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.” Peter warns in 2 Peter 2:1 that false teachers secretly introduce destructive heresies. So, the threat is very real. We do not want to unknowingly become partners with such as they disseminate their heresy.

05/31/2026

"The Word of God..."
2 Peter 1:19-21
Pastor Gino Cosentino Preaching

05/31/2026

Be Ready for 11AM

In last week’s message from 2 Peter 1:16-18, we saw the Apostle Peter confront those false teachers head-on. They claimed the message of Christ's return was just a "cleverly devised tale”. And they used the delay in the 2nd coming to justify loose living & denial of future judgment. But Peter wasn't having it.

In his 1st defense, he turned to an event that he witnessed firsthand – the Transfiguration. It began simply enough – Jesus asked Peter, John, & James to go with Him on a mountain to pray. Once there, they saw Jesus in His glory, heard God the Father declare, "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased." Peter, John, and James caught a glimpse of the coming King and His kingdom power & glory on that holy mountain.

Thirty years later, Peter still defends the truth with boldness. And so, he writes in 2 Peter of his eyewitness & earwitness testimony from that day on the mountain. And he does not back down. He knows that the stakes are too high—salvation, rewards, and our witness are on the line.

False teachers peddle partial truths and personal experiences that contradict Scripture. But we have something better: the inspired, inerrant Word of God. How we live matters because we represent Christ to a watching world. The same Spirit that transformed Peter from denier to defender lives in us today.

The hope of Christ's return should motivate us toward godliness and spiritual maturity, rejecting the anything-goes mentality that pervades our culture. And Peter is not done as we find out in today’s message. Come join us – in person or streaming…

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