1 Peter 1

Alpha Reminder

Remind your groups that Alpha kicks off THIS SUNDAY after church at the hall! We've already had a handful of people sign up, which is really encouraging. Encourage everyone to keep thinking about who they could invite. It's not too late!

Have someone pray now for those who have signed up, that God would be at work in their lives, and for opportunities to invite others along.


Opening question

  1. When life becomes difficult or uncertain, what do people tend to turn to?

Read 1 Peter 1:1–9
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Discuss

  1. What stood out to you from the passage? What questions did it raise?

  2. Peter describes his readers as both “exiles” and people chosen by God (elect). How would those descriptions shape their understanding of themselves and their circumstances? Where might we experience that tension today?

  3. Look through verses 1–9 and find every reference to what God has done, is doing or promises to do for his people. What does this show us about how God is at work even while they face trials?

  4. How does Jesus’ resurrection make Christian hope different from blind optimism?

  5. What do verses 4–5 say about the security of our inheritance and of those who will receive it? How does this challenge where we usually look for security?

  6. Peter speaks of genuine joy alongside genuine grief (verse 6).  Why are these things able to co-exist along side each other?

  7. How have you seen hardship expose or deepen what someone trusts in?

Apply

  1. What difficulty or uncertainty are you facing where you need to remember this hope? Which truth in the passage could shape how you respond?

  2. What is one way that you would like to grow over this term in terms of how you deal with the hard things that you face?

Pray