Why when David calls people names and asks God to destroy them does it wind up in the Bible and when you do it, you just lose friends on Facebook? What if in the sometimes harsh, condemning words of the Psalms we can find an invitation to be fully ourselves – even when we’re lost, afraid, angry, and lonely – before God, knowing that he not only can handle us just as we are, but that he has given us a book of hymns that put words to our most difficult human experiences?

1 Peter 1:6-12 Engaging Culture With The Gospel: Suffering and Salvation.

We seek to understand the place and possibility of suffering for our faith in Jesus and it’s role the proclamation of the Gospel.

If our version of Christianity is a belief system that skips past the pain and struggle of real life and offers doctrine and platitudes that minimize reality, then reality will always make it impossible for most to believe. The Gospel is good news, of course, but it is good news in the midst of a world still marked by heartache, disappointment, and brokenness. Psalm 3 – the first of the lament Psalms – calls us into the long legacy of God’s people and the scriptures in order to truly take hold of who God is and how he works in the real world. The lament Psalms are an uncommon gift – the poetry that enables us to maintain the connection between the difficult realities of life and the presence and participation of a loving God who sees us, hears us, and responds to our trouble.

1 Peter 1:3-5 Engaging Culture With The Gospel: Born Again, Filthy Rich, and Fully Insured.

Peter establishes core truths for his readers regarding their present reality and future blessings.

Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 are paired together as an introduction to the rest of the Psalms – poetic reminders that God cares deeply about us both personally and politically. The word “politics” carries all sorts of baggage for us, but the essence of God’s political concern is that he is deeply invested in the “good of the city;” he has made a way for the people he created to live well together in the world he created. These Psalms also point to an ancient politic – a true school in prayer as the ultimate source of political power. We are invited to speak the language of God’s Kingdom, confident that these prayers make us participants in God’s unstoppable work to bring change, rescue, and salvation to all of his creation.

The Psalms offer us not only a look into the worship and prayers of God’s people centuries ago, but they capture the human story with God in beautiful, poetic language. They offer us an opportunity not only to begin to make sense of all parts of our lives — pain, anger, abandonment, and confusion alongside our moments of joy and faith — but also eternal language and imagery in which we can discover and experience life more deeply.

1 Peter 1:1-2 Engaging Culture With The Gospel: An Introduction to Peter’s letter.

We begin our study of Peter’s general letter to Christians scattered across Asia Minor.