Intro: What do you know of Peter? Just throw some thoughts out there. (It’s okay, by the way, if you know little or nothing of him).
Read: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Q1: Why didn’t Peter tell more personal stories in his letters? (It is likely that Mark relied heavily on Peter’s personal experiences in his gospel)
Q2: How have personal stories of faith helped you? What evidence do you see in Scripture of some personal stories?
Q3: What might it look like to start with experience to make sense of the Bible, versus starting with the Bible to make sense of personal experience?
Q4: What is inaugurated eschatology? (Already/Not Yet)
Q5: What a is realized eschatology and how might it impact your perspective on your life experiences?
Q6: Name some “utopian” views of how life should be now. (No sin, no disease, no interpersonal troubles)
Q7: What are some potential negative consequences of a realized eschatology/utopian view of how the world should be?
Q8: Compare and contrast: Addiction, Detachment, and Sojourner.
Q9: How would it comfort Peter’s readers to hear that they were the chosen people of God and why would that kind of comfort be necessary in their current and imminent struggles?
Q10: God has chosen us to become like Christ(sanctification) and to obey Christ. How do these two things go hand in hand?
Conclusion: Give thanks for God’s peace and grace in your life. Give thanks that the blood of Christ continues to cover your sins.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 1:7