Group Guide
This Week's City 7:
3. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Since “all have sinned” and the “wages of sin is death,” Jesus had to die on the cross to pay the fine for my sin so I could be right with God.
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
(Romans 3:23, 5:8, 6:21-23, 2 Corinthians 5:21; Ephesians 2:1-6; Colossians 1:13-14, 21-22)
Ice-Breaker:
- What are your plans for summer? Anything fun?
Scripture
1 Peter 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.
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.
Discussion Questions:
- In 1 Peter 2, Peter is continuing on telling us how we should be living as Christians. He says that we should be done with evil behavior and "crave spiritual milk" so that we grow spiritually. In other words, starve the FLESH and feed the SPIRIT. It can be so easy for us to treat our own sin casually. And what happens when we do? Well, we certainly won't be stopping said sin anytime soon. Peter says that we should, instead, HATE our sin and starve our sinful, fleshly desires. Like go to war against them. In order for you to grow spiritually, what are some things that need starving in your life? What sins do you tend to treat casually? And how can you begin to feed yourself more spiritually?
- In verse 4, Peter says that Jesus is the cornerstone, and we as His body are living stones that God is building into a spiritual temple. WE ALL, together, are God's BUILDING. When we are adopted by God, we become part of the family of God. As we've said, there are no lone rangers in the body of Christ. So then, we should stave ISOLATION and feed INTEGRATION into the body. The church is made up of people that have an invisible spiritual life, but unity that is visibly expressed in our gathering together. We need community. Are you leaning into the community of believers around you? Are you fully rooted in your family of faith? How can we fight isolation?
- Peter says we are "holy priests," and that through the mediation of Jesus we are to offer God spiritual sacrifices that please Him. This means we're to starve SELF-INDULGING and feed SELF-SACRIFICING. Just like Paul says in Romans 12, we are to offer OURSELVES as living sacrifices. And in Philippians he says that fullness of life and joy are found in pouring yourself out for God and His people. Does this come close to describing your life? What are some ways you are self-sacrificing in order to serve God and people?
- Culture tells us that we are brilliant and strong and perfect just the way you are. The problem is, Peter says in verse 8 that those who reject Jesus and refuse to obey him will "meet the fate that was planned for them." Youch! Those who reject our Savior and King will experience the fine for their rebellion. Everything we have in Jesus we can't claim any credit for! It was His free gift of grace. And what effect should this have on us? We must starve PRIDE and feed HUMILITY. We are to remember that God rescued us out of darkness and that we needed His mercy because we were once sick sinners in need of a Savior. We know we don't deserve or earn God's love, mercy and grace. How might our moods, attitudes, words and behaviors change in or day to day lives if we lived with all this at the forefront of our minds?
- Once again, in verse 11, Peter refers to us as "temporary residents and foreigners," and he commands us to stay away from worldly desires that wage war against our souls. We are to live for eternity, not for the things of the world. Starve the TEMPORAL and feed the ETERNAL. We must remember who we are (temporal residents) and where we are headed (the day of judgement when Jesus returns). We have to wage war for the eternal destination of our souls! What does the way you spend your time, energy and money say about who or what you are living for? Are you living a life that makes sense in light of eternity?
Prayer Topics:
- That we would strive to live for eternity.
- That we would resist the world.
- That we would faithfully feed our spirits.
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