Do we need God to have hope?

Before starting study and discussion:
Spend some time praying for those who have visited over the last series, and also those who may come to our final week and Alpha. Share any opportunities to invite that your group might have over the next week.

Opening Question

  • We are looking today at the topic of ‘Hope’. Where do people in our world today tend to look for hope?

Read 1 Peter 1:3-9

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.

  1. What Stands out to you from the passage?

  2. How is the ‘hope’ that Peter speaks about tied to the resurrection of Jesus?

  3. How does Peter describe our inheritance? What makes it different from worldly hopes?

  4. How does having hope in Christ change the way we experience suffering?

  5. When Peter considered the salvation of God, his immediate response was to simply rejoice in Him. Would you describe yourself as someone who greatly rejoices? Why/Why not?

  6. How has the Gospel given you hope in times of trial/ difficulty?


    Application:

  7. How does this passage challenge where you place your hope?

    Prayer

  8. How can we pray for one another to hold onto a “living hope” in difficult times?