Peter talks about Submission. Is that ok to talk about today? What would it look like? for all of us, for husbands and for wives?

Where do you get your identity from? What's your purpose? See what Peter tells us in our next instalment.

Questions

• What areas of your life do you need to build on Jesus? Why not commit these to God in prayer
• How can you praise God during this coming week outside of Church?
• How can you encourage non-believers you know, so they don’t stumble over the Word?

Who we are affects what we do. Whose we are affects how we live. Peter shows us how to live as God's people.

Discussion Questions:

Which of the following would you like to implement in your life?

•      Fix your hope, not on the things of this world, but on heaven

•      Pursue holiness, asking others and praying for help

•      Seek to get to know others at church in order to deeply love them

•      Begin regularly reading God’s Word.

How will you make that happen this week?

How can we sing when life hurts?

Peter tells us to embrace our new identity, set out hope on our inheritance and rest in our privileged position.

Sermon Questions:

-      Thoughts to put off: Where are you tempted to

o  think things have gone wrong? 

o  put your hope in something from this world? 

o  compare yourself with others? 

-      Thoughts to put on: Which one would help you to meditate on? 

o  your new identity,

o  your inheritance 

o  your privileged position 

-      Where could you pin a bible verse to remind you of the above?

-      When you notice a put off thought, how can you consciously call to mind a countering put on thought/ bible verse?

What is going on as Jesus goes to the cross?

• Jesus trial - Unfair lawsuit or glorious substitute?
• Jesus' execution, who is Jesus? - Weak failure or promised Saviour?

Sermon Reflection Qs?

·Who do you most associate with Jesus or Barabbas?

·How would Barabbas feel that day? How would he treat others? How should that shape us?

·Jesus stayed on the cross to save you? What would you like to say to him in response?

·How might you take up your cross and follow Jesus this week at work, at home…?

What good is faith when life sucks? Daniel 10-12 is a gift to God's people to help them persevere when life is hard.

Response Questions:

• When life’s hard how does Dan 10-12 encourage you to keep going? 
  • How could you encourage others?
• How does looking at your life through heavens eyes change your ambitions for yourself and for others? 
  • What do you need to change in your life to reflect this?

Daniel reads Jeremiah and knows the exile should end after 70 years - so he prays it would but God tells him getting home to Israel is easy, it's much harder to get God's people home to him.

Questions:

·      Why not read through Daniel’s prayer and make it your own?

·      What specifics would you like to confess, times when you’ve: (ignored/forgotten God; Sought your ways instead of his ways; Not listened to him)

·      How does it make you feel that Jesus has done v24 for you? (Forgiven, restored and remade you.)

What expectations should we have for living with Jesus? Should we be optimists, pessimists or something else.

Daniel 8 helps us find balance and strength to endure when life is hard 

Reflection Questions:

- How does it make you feel that God is in charge of history including your suffering?

- Does following Jesus lead to a better earthly life? Why, why not?

When the world is going crazy, when life is painful knowing how our story ends can help us keep going. Daniel 7 does this for us.

Response Questions 

·     How do you feel when you look out at the world?

·     What kingdom from Dan 7 do you want to live in?

·     The end is not yet, the end will come – how does that make you feel?

The writing's on the wall for Belshazzar today, what about us?