Introduction Today, we begin a new series called, “Election 2020”. We’re about to enter into a polarizing Presidential election, but this series has nothing to do with the election in November. For the next five weeks, we’re going to walk through the book of 2 Peter and discuss the implications of our election in Christ. The Doctrine of Election is the biblical promise that if you’re a Christian, God chose you to be saved...and this changes everything. Elections are important, but your election in Christ tops them all and it’s the implications of your election in Christ that takes center stage in this series. Today, the title of our study is, “Grow Like It Matters.” Because our election in Christ radically reorients our lives, we should fully lean into growing in our faith. BIG Idea You have everything you need to live the life God wants you to live. Discussion Questions

1. What insight from Sunday’s sermon did you find to be the most encouraging or challenging?

Read 2 Peter 1:1-4

2. What does it mean when Peter says to his audience that their faith is, “of equal standing” with his? How does James make a similar point in James 5:17-18? What does this mean for our faith today?

3. What does it mean that Christians are “partakers of the divine nature”? How are we “granted” this nature? According to these verses, what resources are we given to live the life God wants us to live?

4. As a Christian, we all have days when it seems as though we have gone out of our way to “suppress” our transformed nature. How can Peter’s life story encourage us to keep moving forward when it seems like we’ve taken a step backward in our own faith?

Read 2 Peter 1:5-15

5. Author D.A. Carson writes, “Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness.” With that being said, what does it mean when Peter calls us to “supplement” our faith with each of the qualities he mentions in these verses? What does it mean that these “progressing” qualities give “evidence” of someone’s salvation? How do these qualities keep us from being unfruitful Christians?

6. What do verses 12-15 reveal about Peter’s relationship with His brothers and sisters in Christ? How are

these verses similar to Hebrews 10:24-25? Why do we need other believers to help us grow spiritually?

7. How would you summarize today’s study? What next steps could you take as a result?