Let's pray. Father, we come before you. We thank you for this day that you have made. Lord, we

rejoice and we're glad, Lord, in what you've done. And as I read this week, that Southern California is the

wettest place in the nation this week. We thank you for the rain. Lord, it's surely a blessing from you

because it washes our land. it scrubs our land,

it brings new life.

And Lord, the grass that's already beginning to grow on the hills, it'll begin to look

like Frodo's Shire here shortly, which is the beautiful rolling green hills and the clarity

that we finally get to see blue skies here in southern

California and we're thankful for all of that but not as thankful as we are to be here

and in your word this morning and so what you're doing in our state right now in at least

southern California we pray you would do in the sanctuary this morning through the

reading of your word that you would wash us and cleanse us

that lord at the end of this message we will be more like you than when we came in and then may we go

out those doors and do all that we've learned today so we surrender this time to you in jesus

name we pray amen all right open your bibles to second p chapter 1. We're looking at a message entitled

The Diligent Disciple, the Diligent Disciple. And if you would, if you would stand, and I'm going to read,

I tried to read along with First Service. And then I got behind. So all I'm going to ask is, you just stand here and you read along with your eyes while I read aloud this passage.

What a rich portion of Scripture that we're going to be looking at this morning.

Peter says, picking up in verse 2,

grace and peace, be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, and his divine power

has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who

called us by glory and virtue, by which we have been given exceedingly great and precious

...