Sermon Outline:

Honorable exiles (1 Peter 2:11-12).Honorable exiles and government (1 Peter 2:13-17).

Discussion Questions:

What is your flesh passionate about? What does the war feel like? How does God enable you to abstain? When people think of you, what comes to mind? When people think of the American church, what comes to mind? How is Jesus different and better? How can we help people think of Jesus instead of us? What good deeds (Verse 12) would you like our church to be known for as a way of bringing glory to God? What beautiful behavior would direct attention to our beautiful Savior?

This is the 6th sermon of the series 1 Peter: Thriving In Exile.

Discussion Questions

*This sermon was preached by Mark Oshman.

Sermon Outline:

Our individual responsibility (1 Peter 2:1-3).Our corporate identity (1 Peter 2:4-6).A universal reality (1 Peter 2:7-8).An overwhelming beauty (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Discussion Questions:

What are the things that narrow your gaze or focus? What desires/hopes cloud your mind from seeing Jesus? How does hope in the Gospel broaden your gaze? Or, how is Jesus better? God’s kindness leads to repentance (not the reverse) and our salvation fuels our obedience (not the reverse). Why are we so tempted to switch the order of those statements? Finish the sentence: In my life, greater holiness looks like… (Hint: It looks more like Jesus!)

This is the 5th sermon of the series 1 Peter: Thriving In Exile.

Sermon Outline:

*This sermon was preached by Andy Beams.

Sermon Outline:

Command #1— Set your hope (1 Peter 1:13).Command #2— Be holy (1 Peter 1:14-21).Command #3—Love earnestly (1 Peter 1:22-25).

Discussion Questions:

What are the things that narrow your gaze or focus? What desires/hopes cloud your mind from seeing Jesus? How does hope in the Gospel broaden your gaze? Or, how is Jesus better?God’s kindness leads to repentance (not the reverse) and our salvation fuels our obedience (not the reverse). Why are we so tempted to switch the order of those statements?Finish the sentence: In my life, greater holiness looks like… (Hint: It looks more like Jesus!)

This is the 4th sermon of the series 1 Peter: Thriving In Exile.

Sermon Outline:

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ… (1 Peter 1:1a)To those who are elect exiles… (1 Peter 1:1b)Know that… (1 Peter 1:2)

Discussion Questions:

What are some examples of how the American church has struggled to remember we are exiles? How does living as if this is our home negatively impact our ability to live for Jesus?What does it feel like to not belong in a culture you are immersed in? How does knowing God chose you change those feelings?Are there any areas of your life that you might be living as if you belong in this world, rather than you are an exile?

This is the 2nd sermon of the series 1 Peter: Thriving In Exile.

Sermon Outline:

A confusing theme in 1 Peter…Evil is real, God is good, and that’s not a contradiction.It turns out, we aren’t the first ones to suffer…Could something bigger be going on behind our suffering?

Discussion Questions:

When in your life did you grow the most as a follower of Christ? How did God grow you?Have you ever felt that the existence of evil is a barrier to trusting Jesus? How do the verses we read today about Jesus suffering help deal with that barrier?What is hard in your life right now? What would it look/feel like to experience Jesus’ presence in that?

This is the 1st sermon of the series 1 Peter: Thriving In Exile.

Sermon Outline:

Longing for home (Psalm 90:1-2).Remembering we are dust (Psalm 90:3-6).The origin of our problem (Psalm 90:7-11).Finding our way home (Psalm 90:12-17).

Notable Quote:

“Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter. Wordsworth’s expedient was to identify it with certain moments in his own past. But all this is a cheat. If Wordsworth had gone back to those moments in the past, he would not have found the thing itself, but only the reminder of it; what he remembered would turn out to be itself a remembering. The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshipers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”      —C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

Discussion Questions:

In what ways do you feel “homeless?” What longings do you have? How is God your dwelling place?How does your heart respond to the Psalm’s reminder that we are temporary, that death is inevitable? How does Jesus tasting death for us change your heart’s response?Which of the 6 prayers in Vv. 12-17 stand out to you the most? Why? How will you pray each of those this coming week?

Discussion Questions