Have you ever had an experience that really shook you up and resulted in a change in your priorities? Maybe an illness or a car accident that you feared you may not survive? There’s something about facing our own mortality that causes us to re-evaluate our lives – “what have I been doing? Have I been wasting my time?”

When we come into contact with our Creator God through the gospel, we have a similar experience. We brush against something so much bigger than ourselves and begin to examine ourselves.

We’re continuing our study in 1 Peter this Sunday, reading 1 Peter 4:1-6.

In order to face suffering and difficulties in life, Peter says to ARM ourselves with thinking that is like Christ’s. What sort of thinking did Jesus have that enabled him to face suffering in his life? What would that look like in your experience?

In V3, Peter describes a lifestyle that those outside of relationship with Christ embrace. The description sounds a lot like Bacchanalia … or this. Peter’s point seems to be that a lifestyle that lacks self-control is less than what God has in mind for us and a waste of our time. We want to travel against the flow of what many consider normal life. Why is a lifestyle of self-gratification at odds with God’s plan? What if you never did the stuff he describes in this passage, even in your pre-Christ life – what are other ways a self-gratifying lifestyle manifests?

V6 is another puzzling text, but the most reasonable take on this is that Peter is talking about people who heard the gospel preached while they were alive and embraced it, but subsequently died (they were expecting Jesus to return before they would ever die). “Judged in the flesh the way people are” may mean that they were tried for their faith and executed…or it may mean that they died the way people do because of this fallen world. Either way…what is Peter’s point about those who give up the selfish pursuits of this broken world system and follow Christ? Was their choice worth it, and why?

See you all on Sunday!

Ok…so it’s going to be one of those weeks again. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 3:18-22. It goes something like this:

Let me hear all the theories you’ve heard or you have concerning what this text is supposed to be saying. You’ll hear my take (or lack of one) on Sunday!

Have a good weekend…try to stay dry.

Have you ever been misunderstood? Like, where you intended one thing but it was misinterpreted and represented as something else. How did you feel in that experience? Frustrated, angry? What did you want to do? Get even, fight for your reputation, argue to set the record straight?

All of those would be natural responses – but if you’re in a situation where the mechanisms of power are geared against you and your arguments are disregarded – then what?

That was the plight of the early church in Asia Minor to whom Peter was writing. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 3:13-17 and Peter will be calling his fellow believers to action in the face of unfair treatment and misrepresentation. The call to action is very distinct, yet it carries a host of implications for us to this very day.

As you read the passage, v13 provides the 1st call to action. How would you define “being zealous for what is good“? How would that have any bearing on people misrepresenting you?

The second call to action is found in v15. What preparation do you think is necessary for making a defense for the hope we have? How does Peter say we should present that  defense?

The third call to action in v16 is more internalized. Do you think this is calling for sinless perfection? If not, how can we have a good conscience – what is the most obvious way to prevent the label of hypocrite from sticking?

This should be an interesting study this Sunday! See you there!

Phew…made it through last week with nary a death threat.

This Sunday will provide a change in subject matter in examining 1 Peter 3:8-12.

If we were to call this The Apostle Peter’s Guide to Living a Happy and Fulfilled Life…what would be the main thrust of his guide?

When we consider how he encourages us to live, we may feel hard pressed to see how being so others-centered could result in blessing. How do you think we are blessed by blessing others? Have you ever intentionally treated someone nicely who was treating you badly? What did you feel at the time…and what did you feel later on, and was there a difference?

It should prove to be an enlightening, albeit challenging study!

This Sunday we’ll be finishing up chapter 2 of 1 Peter – reading 1Peter 2:24-25.  To go along with this study, it would be a good idea to become familiar with Isaiah 53. We actually taught on that chapter on Wednesday night a few weeks ago – if you’re interested, you can listen to it here: Isa 53

Peter wants to be sure that we don’t see Christ’s death on the cross just as a good example for us…it’s far more than that. When he says that “He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins” … I’m one who believes that this is talking about the substitutionary atonement provided by Christ’s sacrificial death – though I’m not hard and fast on calling it a Penal Substitution – I do see the early church representing substitution even in the Christus Victor model of atonement. If you don’t agree with this position…well…ok. If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about…well…ok, too.  It’s probably not that important. Sometimes we get pretty caught up in the mechanics of atonement when we should be focused on the implications of atonement. Right?

That’s what we’ll be looking at this Sunday. Jesus bore our sins…think of what that implies. Yes…it means he paid for them and we won’t face the consequences in eternity. But what else does it mean, in the here and now? If Jesus bore them, should we be trying to make up for them? Should be be living in regret over them? What do you think?

By his wounds we are healed. I know that some people think this means that physical healing is guaranteed in the atonement – but I see this as a poetic contrast about life in general. He got hurt, I got healed. I can make a clean break from a sin-centered life and begin brand new. What does this imply about the life we live right now?

Because of the cross, we are returned to the Shepherd, the Guardian of our souls (the life that is unique to each of us). What does the cross tell us about God’s attitude toward us? Is there anything you find encouraging about that – and if so, what?

Hope to see you this Sunday!

This Sunday we’ll be digging into 1 Peter 2:18-23.

Have you ever been treated unfairly – treated badly for no good reason? At work, school or even at home? How did you feel about that? What was your first reaction, and how does it sync with Peter’s description of suffering unfairly? What correlation can we find between unjust suffering and God, or specifically, Jesus?

What Peter describes here is bitter medicine that can produce good results. What can result in your life from applying Peter’s instructions to your life? How would you sum up the message behind these verses?

Should prove to be a challenging but hope-filled passage.  See you Sunday!

This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 2:13-17.

Your thoughts?

Hope everyone had an awesome Christmas — I know I did.

This Sunday we’ll be returning to our study in 1 Peter, reading ch 2:11-12.

Peter is now going to be moving from a largely theological perspective to the practical ramifications of what he’s been saying up to now. This is very much like Paul’s approach. In v 11-12 Peter sets up the theme of what this pilgrim journey will look like when it’s lived out in real life.

In v 11, Peter encourages us to redirect our human appetites for two different reasons. What is the first reason, and how do you think that mindset would help you redirect your passions? What is the second reason? Do you think this is Peter telling us to deny that we have appetites and desires that seem unruly at times?  Does this sound like Peter condemning us because we experience these passions of the flesh?  How does the war imagery help us to find a stable motivation for change in our lives?

In v12 Peter tells us what our loudest testimony is – what is it? How has someone’s behavior effected your view of them, positively or negatively? When we think about our calling to take the GOOD NEWS to the world around us – when the world looks at the behavior of the (21st century American) church (or at least, those who seem to represent it most in the media), do you think our behavior translates as good news? What steps can we take to rightly represent the GOOD NEWS in our lifestyle?

Should prove to be interesting fodder for thought. Hope to see you then!

What a difficult day – how broken this world is. It’s not easy to concentrate and do our necessary tasks in light of the great tragedy this day brought to an unsuspecting town in Connecticut.

Dear God,

we sing songs about a savior coming,

about peace on earth and goodwill toward men,

while in the background we hear the rattle of gunfire

and the sounds of children screaming.

Oh, we slump down to moan.

May your kingdom come,

your will be done on earth,

like it’s done in heaven.

God of all comfort, be with us yet.

This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 2:4-10.

I’ve talked a lot about how the church is not a building – and yet, the church IS something God is building, as Peter so aptly describes it in this passage. All of the things that Peter uses to describe us are taken from the Old Testament descriptions of temple worship under the Mosaic law. What do you think he’s telling us about the nature of the church in the gospel age?

A cornerstone was used in ancient times as the spot the rest of a building would be sited and measured from. If Jesus is that to the church, what does that mean concerning our mission, practice and values?

Note that Peter says that we are a PEOPLE who once were not a people. He doesn’t say person, singular. Does that stir any thoughts about the church – it’s nature and it’s importance? What thoughts have been stirred?

We’ll see you Sunday. Hug your children if you have them. Pray for this broken world — overcome evil with good—-love with all your might.