Group Guide
This Week's City 7:
2. Are there sources outside the Bible that confirm the Biblical account of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead? Many Roman and Jewish historians have confirmed that the apostles died as martyrs for preaching that they saw Jesus risen from the grave. No one dies for something they know to be a lie.
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
(Luke 1:1-4; Acts 26:26; 1 John 1:1-4, Josephus, Clement, Hegesippus, Tertullian, Origen, Polycarp)
Ice-Breaker:
- What were you like in high school?
Scripture
1 Peter 1
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.
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.
Discussion Questions:
- For the rest of chapter 1, Peter calls us to live a holy life. Many people think of perfection when they think of holiness. But the word HOLY can be defined as; unique, different, set apart, otherness, completeness and fullness. First off, Peter calls us to holy THINKING. He says to prepare our minds and exercise self-control. Everything we DO first goes through our brains. So a change in thinking will lead to changes in action. And this isn't just a spiritual exercise, but the way God designed our brains. Read this quote from a neuroscientist, Dr. Leaf: "As we think, our brains respond; the deeper we think about something (i.e. paying it more attention), the deeper its pathway is built into the brain, creating new neural networks that impact what we think, say and do in the future. Essentially, we can become addicted to anything if we give it enough attention because the more we think about something the more it grows in our brain." Have you found this to be true in your own life? What are you thinking about on a regular basis? Where would you rate your level of self-control?
- Holy thinking leads to holy LIVING. We are to say NO to our past behaviors and be obedient to our Father in heaven. Can you believe he actually tells us to be holy in EVERYTHING WE DO?? But remember, we aren't talking about perfection here. Our lives are to be different, set apart, other. We are to be "other" as He is "other." We are to look more and more like HIM. Do you share a family resemblance to your Heavenly Father? When people look at your life, your words, your attitudes, your actions...is it obvious to them that you belong to Him?
- In verse 17, Peter gives us a little motivation for WHY we are to think and live in a holy way; it's because Jesus is coming back, and we will all be judged according to what we've done. This should give us a little holy FEAR. Did your mom ever say, "Just wait til your father gets home!"? That will strike fear into a rebellious child ! This is what Peter is reminding us of. We are merely temporary residents in this world, and one day all of this will be gone and we will stand, alone, before the throne to be judge for how we lived in this life. Yes God is loving and kind and merciful and good. But he's also infinitely righteous, holy and just. Peter is reminding us we should be living in a way that is motivated by fear of His fatherly discipline. The writer of Hebrews says we should worship God with holy FEAR and AWE, because "our God is a devouring fire." Are you guilty of treating God casually, without the proper fear, awe and respect? How might your life look differently if you lived with a holy fear of God?
- Holy thinking and living, with a healthy fear of the Lord, will ultimately show itself in our holy LOVE for one another. Remember, in the family of God there is no me... only WE. There are no lone rangers in the body of Christ. When culture says ME first, Jesus says OTHERS first. We are to love one another DEEPLY, with all our hearts, and there can be no true love coming from an unclean heart. God transforms us, which enables us to love one another the way we should. Jesus said this would be the sign that we are true believers, that we love each other. In order to love on another in these ways, we must put ourselves in community with other believers. Have you ever had a time that you were isolated as a Christian? What was that like? And can you say that at this point in your walk with Jesus you are loving people around you "deeply, with all your heart?"
- Finally, all of this life change in us begins with His holy WORD. It's eternal and living. It remains forever. Hebrews 4 talks about how the Word of God is sharper than a two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit. 2 Timothy 3 says that it's God-breathed and useful to teach us and equip us. Is your life shining out in the darkness? Is it unique and different? If not, you probably aren't spending a lot of time studying His Word. We can tend to rely solely on motivation for reading the Bible. But motivation is fleeting. If you will be disciplined in our study, you will find that your affections for God's Word will be stirred. The more you study, the more you fall in love. We would all say we wished we were more disciplined in our study, but where we lack the discipline we need structure and accountability. What are some ways we can add structure and accountability into our lives when in comes to the Bible? How can we work as a group to challenge each other in this and hold each other accountable?
Prayer Topics:
- That we would allow God's Word to change the way we think.
- That our holy thoughts would lead to a holy life.
- That we would be disciplined in our study of the Bible.
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