This is the Truth Network. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Welcome to the Wednesday in the Word podcast, equipping our leaders of this great weekly Bible study held at Dario, our wonderful, gracious host. all across North Carolina. This is to equip, encourage, and guide you as you prepare to teach the word and guide the discussion at each location each week.
And we continue our journey now through the book of Daniel. Here we are with today's special guest, Dr. Sam Horn. To the consumer, Christmas Day is the end. to the believer.
It's just Beginning. Thank God for Christ's birth in history and for his new birth. in me. I'm Stu Aberson. Welcome to this special New Year's celebration.
Coming out at Christmas. Looking ahead to 2026. With Dr. Sam Horn. It's an exciting time of year, Dr.
Horn. Pastors aren't very busy this time of year, are you guys? Y'all don't have anything going on. My goodness. My goodness.
You know, it's an interesting time, Stu, as a pastor, because, you know, we're celebrating the most significant moment. In all of human history, is the moment when God. Burst into a world that was under the curse and broken by sin and ravaged by death. And God broke into that. World by sending grace in a manger.
I mean, he sent grace in the form. of a baby born to Mary. To bring peace on earth. And certainly, you know, as we look around, we don't see peace. in the world around us but as believers we have god's peace in us And certainly, we are at peace with God because of what he did 2,000 years ago through the baby born in that manger, laying in that manger.
But actually, as you think about this period of time, it's also a very difficult time for a lot of people. You know, we you and I, and many, many of our listeners go home and we have family and friends and children and grandchildren that are coming over. And our life is full of reminders, even if we don't know the Lord, it's full of reminders of the goodness of the common grace of God. But for a lot of people, Christmas is the opposite. It's a dark time.
It's lonely. It's it's broken. They go home to an empty house, a marriage that broke apart, kids that literally walked away, lost through death, and all of a sudden Christmas becomes a very, very bleak time. And so, for pastors, we see both sides of that. and we're called the shepherd people.
in in both places you know in the place of joy and in the place of sorrow And the beauty is that the gospel Ministers the kindness of God. to each of us in fact the text that we're looking at today in our podcast in our broadcast is about the kindness of god that we've tasted first peter uh chapter two verse four And so what a beautiful reminder that. In the midst of all of our brokenness and in the midst of all of our joy, we know we've tasted the kindness of God. that came to us through the gospel of his son. One of those most gracious moves of God in in Gestures from him.
through a cool restaurant chain in North Carolina called Dario. Which isn't amazing. They have 12 locations. They got a 13th coming on tap in Harrisburg, North Carolina, just around the Charlotte area. The Dr.
Horn. There's going to be some eavesdropping. On this program. Maybe you could call it some Christmas Eves or New Year's Eves dropping because we're going to broadcast this. podcast.
Around New Year's on my national show, Truth Talk Live, and my national broadcast, Truth Talk. In addition to the Wednesday and the Word podcast, so I guess there'll be eavesdropping. people that download this podcast will be hearing It on the radio. People that listen on the radio will be hearing, hopefully, about the podcast. Please subscribe to this, but.
Dr. Horn, the one common thread runs through all of it, and that is. Growing in Christ. Where there is new birth in Christ, There is always growth in Christ. Christ talked about the tree, you'll know the tree by its fruits.
And we're going to get into that today. We're not going to be as long. We could be as long because we're going to cover a lot, but the goal of this podcast, and we're going to challenge everyone listening on the radio. is to ask yourself How am I growing in grace? How am I adding to my faith?
And God has given us. These amazing superfoods, superpowers. In 2 Peter chapter 2.
So that's really the three, before jumping into the scripture, Dr. Horne, just to set it up, the three passages that we're focused on this week. and we will touch a lot of them. First is 1 Peter chapter 2. Where Peter says, Look, lay aside all these things: guile and envy, jealousy, all these things.
As newborn babes desire The pure milk of the word that you may grow by it. And then he quotes that beautiful. Psalm 34, verse, I think 34, 7, where he says, If so, you have tasted. that the Lord is good. And so that sets us up for This idea of There are a lot of New Year's resolutions set around diet.
And there's a great statement you've heard out there. Many nutritional experts, nutritional scientists will tell you, you are what you eat, right?
So effectively, you can track and trace. Your health. Even without a colonoscopy, you can trace your health to what you have consumed. And what you've eaten, and garbage in, garbage out, all that.
So, we're going to talk about that today, connecting it with. 2 Peter Chapter 1 Those key verses where Peter says, Now I'm now giving all diligence.
Now that you know who you are, the indicatives you're in Christ. You're born again. You are, you've given his divine power, is giving you all this stuff.
Now, here are some key superfoods, superpowers for you to add to your faith.
Now, it doesn't mean that you're. Adding to your salvation, but you're to grow in the faith. And then we're going to connect this with growing the grace of the end of 2 Peter, the very last verse of 2 Peter 3, verse 18, and then all these lists in the Bible. That list that indicate you should put this off. And you should put this on.
So, kind of with that backdrop, Dr. Horne, take it away on Peter's. Audience. These are people that are under fire for their faith. But they're on fire for Christ, and he is challenging them.
Don't stay. Sedentary. Don't just, you know, you don't want attrition. to you know take over atrophy to take over your muscles It's time to grow. It's time to glow.
It's time to go.
So, Dr. Horn, take us into this a little bit. We won't spend a lot of time on it, but. Your insights on these scriptures you've taught through this. Help folks listening, give them some encouragement, some hope.
in this time uh that we have a Grace that grows, a faith that is growing, that is blossoming and blooming in the new year as we look forward. Yeah, so it's interesting, and I'm so so grateful that you know. for kind of bringing this front and center to us. because it's so critical. Peter's going to use an image.
the image of a newborn infant, a baby. And so let me start there. If you go back to the book of Romans. We are told that when God took us out of the kingdom of darkness, And put us in the kingdom of his dear son. That's Colossians 1, 13.
When that happened. We were given permanent standing in a new kingdom, a new realm called grace. Romans chapter 5, verse 2. Talks about the fact that we have access to the grace wherein we stand.
So we've been given a permanent place, a permanent standing in a kingdom. That is marked by grace. In fact, at the end of chapter five in the book of Romans. Paul talks about the fact that grace reigns. Grace rules.
It's the operative. Uh, the operative power in the kingdom where we've been given.
So, whatever else is going on in Peter, when Peter says, grow in grace. He's talking about the fact that we are to grow in our understanding and in our are embracing of of this kingdom that we're a part of the kingdom of grace So, you know, think about. You know, being born in a kingdom like the United States, a realm, a political realm, a country, you don't have a clue. What it means to be an American when you are young, right? You just know that you live in this great country.
Your mom and dad have a good job. You have this house that you live in. You go to school and you take a lot of things for granted. But as you grow over the years and you begin to understand what the rest of the world looks like, you begin to have a deep appreciation for what it means to be. Born.
And to have citizenship. in a country like the United States. And I'm not trying to be political here. I'm just making an illustration. As you get older and you start to understand that the rest of the world doesn't have the rights and the privileges and the opportunities that you have, you grow in your understanding of what God's providence meant for you to be born in a country like this and to have a birth certificate and a passport issued to you from a country like the United States.
Well, that's what happens when a person becomes a Christian. They really don't know yet what it means to be a citizen of a kingdom like the kingdom of God. They don't know what it means to live fully under the operative power of God's grace. But as they grow, as they look to what it means to be a believer, their understanding of the immense privilege. The immense opportunity, the immense.
Delight the immense responsibilities that come before them as citizens of the kingdom of grace. They begin to understand this is not just. A word, right? Growing in grace doesn't just mean, hey, I love Jesus more. It means I become more and more aware of the immense joy, the immense privilege, the immense honor, the immense benefit of being in the kingdom of light, the kingdom of grace, and not the kingdom of darkness.
So that's the first thing. I'm a newborn, Paul said, or Peter says, we're newborns. How are we going to ever grow in our understanding of the incredible thing God did for us when he put us in the kingdom of his son? And we're going to have to grow in grace. And Peter says, the only way for you to do that is to be like a newborn and to desire something.
And the desire is the sincere, the unmixed, unwatered down word of God. And that's why what you're doing on Wednesday in the Word is so critical is taking everyday people. Who've been taken out of the kingdom of darkness and put into the kingdom of God's Son, this kingdom of grace. And as they learn the word of God, as they feast on the word of God, it's interesting that these Bible studies are happening in a restaurant that couldn't be more fitting. Because here is the food that you need every day that's going to help you grow in grace.
And it's the milk. of the word of god well dr horn to your point I heard another pastor say, and I included this in the leader notes: we send out notes every week, and we send this podcast out, and hopefully, people will hear this on the radio and be blessed too. Stu Epperson with Dr. Sam Horn talking about how are you growing in grace in the new year? How are you?
Look back, am I closer to God today than I was at the beginning of 2025? or whatever year it is you're listening to this, and then ask yourself, how am I growing? In Christ, in grace, in the new year, not just necessarily a bunch of steps, a bunch of three or four or five 10-step plans, but. How am I growing closer to him, in a relationship with him, spending more time with him? And Dr.
Horn, this one pastor pointed out, he said, you know, Peter doesn't command. His His audience in 1 Peter chapter 2. Chapter 2 to He doesn't just drive them to read the Bible, study the Bible, meditate the Bible, memorize the Bible. He doesn't drive them on any of those, what you would think he would tell them. He says, hunger for it.
He says desire The pure milk of the word. Like a baby is hungry for those key antibodies, those key. nutritional Components of the mother's milk, which by the way, all the science plays out that there's nothing healthier, there's nothing that inoculates that child against disease like mama's milk. There's nothing more pure. And so he used that example, but Dr.
Horn, it really starts at the heart. It starts, I think Dr. Adrian Rogers said it. He said, ask God. not to change your behavior, ask them to change your want her.
You know, I asked him to change. The heart, you know, back to that wonderful verse in Psalm 37, verse 4: delight yourself in the Lord. And he'll give you the desire of your hearts. And Dr. Horn, is that really baseline?
of hungering and thirsting for righteousness. And asking God, God, give me a deeper hunger, a greater hunger, and then feeding on that. The more we feed the Spirit. And we starve that flesh. the more that hunger grows and then it leads right into Adding all these wonderful, what we called superfoods earlier on in our study of.
of uh 2 Peter chapter 1 5 through 7. These things Then we're just adding to our faith. Go to 1 Corinthians 13, which I'm not going to steal your thunder, but you know, the patience of love, the kindness of love, it's adding, it's growing. It's blossoming. Isn't that kind of the, it starts in the heart and then it grows, but it's not.
me doing this. It's me. Surrendering.
So many folks are hung up on: okay, who lives the Christian life? You know, I remember, I think Dr. Stanley said one time for the pulpit: you can't live the Christian life. And everyone was like, What did you just say? How dare you?
But There's a power. That's God's given us. There's the power of the Holy Spirit of God indwelling us. that brings this about. Will you expand on that briefly, Dr.
Horne, and kind of take us home on all this?
So I think there are four passages that we're looking at. You know, if you're going to have a great 2026, you know, if you want to really be someone who grows in grace in 2026, you need four passages that you sort of go back to over and over and over throughout the year. And the first of those passages is the one we were just looking at: First Peter chapter 2, verses 1 through 4, which gives you the nourishment that you need. You're never going to go anywhere if you are undernourished. And to your point, you talked about superfoods, you talked about hunger of the heart.
And so, really, at the end of the day, before anything else happens in 2026, you got to ask God, Give my heart a hunger for your word. I want to desire it, I want to long for it like a newborn babe longs for the milk of its mother. His or her mother. And so, Lord, here's what I'm asking that you would do for me in 2026. I want to hunger after you through your word.
And so, that's where it starts. It starts with this hungry heart that is longing, desperate. Eager for God's word. I mean, think about a little baby. You know, if you're a grandparent or a parent with a brand new infant, that little infant craves its mother's milk and it cries for it, it longs for it.
And as soon as it gets it, it's satisfied. And so, Lord, satisfy me with your word.
So that's passage number one. Passage number two is the In our journey through Second Peter, in Second Peter chapter one. Where we are told what we are to add to our faith. There is an intentional adding of things to our faith. And this speaks to the development of our character.
If we're going to put off malice, if we're going to put off envying, if we're going to cultivate The life that God calls us to live. In the kingdom of his son, then we're going to have to add to our faith things like virtue and knowledge. and self-control and brotherly kindness. Et cetera. And so we spent a lot of time looking at that.
So that's the second thing. Lord, as I want to grow in grace. I'm going to have to hunger after your word, but secondly, I'm going to need your spirit to help me develop my inner man, my character. And so, Lord, help me to add to my faith. And then the third passage is 1 Corinthians 13.
This is how I'm going to express my faith.
So I need to hunger after what's going to grow my faith. I need to strengthen the character of my faith. And then, number three, I need to commit to the expression of that faith, that grace. in this incredible chapter where Paul says You know, love, it's a great love chapter. Love thinks no evil, love hopes all things, love endures all things.
Love believes all things. It expresses itself. in the selfless agape love. that God displayed toward us when He sent His Son. not to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
And so we are called to display that kind of love, God's love, the love that He gave to us. And that we've experienced, we need to now be the channels of that love. And so, maybe the third thing I want to do in 2026 as I grow in grace, I want to hunger after the milk of God's word. I want to cultivate that grace in my character, and then I want to express that grace. in my relationship.
to others through loving them biblically. In the ways that we read about in 1 Corinthians 13. And then the final passage is Paul speaking to the Galatians in chapter 5. Annie chapter 6 about the fruit of the spirit. The putting on and the putting off are certainly a part of it, but there is a fruit that the spirit grows.
in the heart of someone who is regularly intaking the word of God. The word of God doesn't just change my outward action and frame up my outward direction. It actually produces fruit. Internally in me. And so, what is the fruit of the Spirit?
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering. And those are not behaviors that I can tape onto my life. Those are behaviors that spring out of a heart. And a character That is being shaped by the Holy Spirit through the word that we long after. That's why this all starts with a hungering after the word of God.
I'm never going to display the fruit of the Spirit. I'm never going to express the love of the Spirit. I'm never going to shape up the character of the Spirit in me if I don't long for the Word that the Spirit gave me, the sincere milk of God's Word. And so that's how all of this hangs together.
So if you want to grow in grace in 2026, if I want to grow in grace in 2026, we got to anchor ourselves to these four passages. Wow. That's All four of those are rich and there are so many passages. That you look at in scripture, where God has given us, really, that summary verse in. 2 Peter chapter 1, where it says, He's given us all things.
Pertaining to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him, Dr. Sam Horn, that verse. effectively A commentary on everything you just said. He is just, he's overwhelmed. You know, he's just poured it out.
He's blessed us. And so now we're living out what he has worked in. And it really fascinates me.
So often we make the gospel about what we do for God and what we've done for God. But really, the gospel is what He's done for us. And the gospel is not. living uh the Christian life Is not trying to earn God's favor. You know, we're not saved by grace and then we're sanctified by works.
Dr. Horne. Explain to everyone how it's grace all the way through. From beginning to end.
So, grace is certainly divine favor that we don't merit. And that's where it starts, right? That's why it's described as the kindness. Of God. But grace is more.
Grace isn't just God's kind mercy extended to us. Even though we don't merit it, it's actually an enablement. Grace is a power, grace is an enabling strength. That grows Our ability to be like Christ.
So we don't Produce our own sanctification any more than we produced our own justification. But we participate in it. We don't produce it, but we participate in it. And so we participate in our sanctification. By mortifying the flesh, we participate in our sanctification by putting on and putting off.
And what makes all of that possible is the enablement of grace that comes through God's word. That's why what you started with, Stu, when you talked about superfoods, is so critical. I will never grow in grace. I will never grow in my enablement to put off the flesh. I will never grow in my understanding of how to live the Christian life without the word of God.
And it is how we grow.
So how do I get saved? The living word justifies me by his obedience and his sacrifice. The living word justifies me. How do I grow in grace? The written word sanctifies me.
That's why Paul said to the Ephesians, by the washing of the water of the word. And so we are washed. And we are cleansed and we grow. As we engage with the word of God, it's the water that cleanses us, it's the milk that grows us. And so we have this amazing relationship with the Word of God that goes way beyond just reading it because it's what Christians do.
If all I do in 2026 is make a resolution to read my Bible every day, that's awesome. That's wonderful. But that's not what's going on here. There has to be in 2026 a work of God where he creates a hunger. for this.
And only God could do that. Right. Amen. And the hunger, God's given us these. I remember as a senior in high school, a mentor told me: Stu, there's so many, but the four, four are the key.
Thanks for the Christian life. The word Prayer Fellowship? Are you in a good church? Are you being discipled? Who are you discipling in the new year?
Who's been discipling you? And then Evangelism. How are you sharing this with other people? How are you going into all the world? Because if you're not going with the gospel, you're not growing in your faith.
And all these are flow out of a Relationship with Jesus as He who began a good work in you is faithfully completing that work in you. Dr. Horn, I'm just so grateful for you. I'm grateful for all of our pastors, man. You guys are awesome.
Bringing the word faithfully. I'm going to encourage. Everyone, to be in a balanced, Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church that's gospel-centered, where Jesus Christ is the star. Dr. Warren, will you take us out of here with a New Year's prayer for everyone, sir?
I would absolutely. But before I do that, let me ask you: if I'm listening to this. Broadcast that, and I'm eavesdropping in, and I'm like wanting to go to one of these Bible studies. How do I get there? How do I find it?
Well, it's question. Wednesday in the Word is a website, wedintheword.com. And we've got a little Facebook page too. And just find a Dario. We got several men's groups.
All the Darios have a men's group. that that meet every Wednesday morning. At Eight o'clock. all across North Carolina and then We've got five or six women's groups that are meeting too, but that information is at the website. And we're just grateful for all the leaders, all those that are pouring into this.
We're grateful for Dario, great restaurant if you're in North Carolina. It's the best hot dog you'll ever put in your mouth, and they got a whole lot more than hot dogs.
So, Dr. Horne, thank you for that, and for everyone that's a part of this wonderful outreach. Yes, so even if you don't live in North Carolina, go to Wednesday in the Word, go to the website. And see what God is doing. See what God is doing through His Word in the life of many, many, many believers, just like you.
And there's the podcast that Stu and I do together every week. And find, as Stu said, find a way to access what God is doing through Wednesday and the Word. It'll change your life and it's a good help going into 2026. You know, we make all kinds of wonderful resolutions. This would be a great way for you to change your life and to change your relationships through the ministry of the Word of God on Wednesday and the Word.
Let me pray and we'll ask God to bless all of this. Lord, we are so grateful for what you're doing through your word around the world. Every week in local churches, this faithful man open it up and preach. And then thank you for raising up men like Stu who are burdened to give their life for the propagation of your word around the world through radio. I pray that you would bless him.
and his dear family. And then thank you for Wednesday and the Word and what you're doing through Lord, these restaurants and these hundreds of believers who are benefiting because of the generosity of Dari. And we pray that you would bless him and his team. Thank you for them. And then Lord, there might be people who are going to hear this broadcast for the first time.
And Lord, would you just stir their heart so they would go to the website and find a way to connect, even if they don't live in North Carolina. to what you're doing through your word. Help us to be a blessing to them. And so, Lord, we love you. Thank you for all the things you've done in 2025.
And we ask that you would do even more in 2026. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you, Dr. Horne, and thank you for joining us for this Wednesday in the Word podcast. Learn more at wedintheword.com.
Follow us on YouTube. Facebook and all social media, including in Stu Graham, and be encouraged, stay in the word, read it. Share it, study it, memorize it, and meditate on God's Word. Every word of God is pure. He is a shield to those who put their trust in him.
Proverbs 30 verse 5.
