A Living Hope Week Three
1 Peter 1:1-2
Greet everyone and check in on how everyone’s week has been.
Take a moment to read Psalm 118 verse 5 as a group.
Take some time to ask God to quiet your hearts and make you aware of his presence in your life and in the group tonight. Remember, we are not just gathering as a small group, but we are gathering and the Lord is in the meeting with us.
Pray that everyone would feel welcomed and willing to join in the discussion.
1 Peter 1:13-2:12
A Call to Holy Living
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.
23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,
“People are like grass;
their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25 But the word of the Lord remains forever.”And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.
Chapter 2
1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.
Living Stones for God’s House
4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.
5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. 6 As the Scriptures say,
“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him,
“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”8 And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.
Why is holiness a difficult subject to discuss? What has been your perception of holiness?
When you read the words of this Scripture that indicate that we are to be holy because God is holy, how does that make you feel? Do you feel comforted, challenged, or convicted?
Consider the statement: Holy living is not about keeping a list of dos and don’ts, but it is about living differently. How are the two parts of the sentence different. How does this apply to living the Christian life? How can this give you hope?
How should the focus of our life be different from those who do not follow Christ? How does this change how we life?
How is the formation of our life different? How does this change how we live?
How is our future different? How does this change how we live?
Pray for someone by name that needs to receive Christ as Lord and Savior.
Pray aloud or silently about an area of your life where you would like to stand out for the Lord and not blend into this world.
