1 Peter, Pt. 3: The Letter to Suffering Christians
About the Series
1 Peter is a letter written to 1st-century Christians living on the edge of the Roman Empire, whom Peter calls “exiles” or “strangers.” These disciples are outsiders in society, but insiders in God’s Kingdom, born into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus. Peter encourages them to rejoice, even in suffering, to love one another deeply, and live holy, disciplined lives. He challenges them as spiritually free people to choose to honor everyone, even those who treat them harshly. Underneath his encouragement and instruction is the underlying assumption that disciples of Jesus are learning to become like him—living their lives as He would. They may share in his suffering, but they will also share in his resurrection! Through this series, we are invited to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, becoming like Jesus in our families, workplaces, and communities.
Read this Sermon Recap
1 Peter pt. 3, The Letter to Suffering Christians
The library of Scripture is ancient, which means we have to work at understanding the original context in order to understand the text. All of the original languages of the Scriptures are foreign, primarily Hebrew and Greek, which means we have to work at translating foreign words/terms into our own language in order to grasp the meaning. And the Scriptural library is also diverse in style, which means we have to learn to understand each writing according to its unique genre – history or wisdom literature or gospel, etc.
As we come to 1 Peter, we want to honor the uniqueness of this book. It’s an ancient letter, written to scattered Christian exiles at the far edges of the Roman empire. On Sunday, we imaginatively entered into the experience of hearing the letter as it would have been originally received – as a letter, in its entirety. This is exactly like reading someone else’s mail, in which we observe both the author and the audience.
Even so, because this letter is given to the church as Scripture, it is also to us and for us. So we listen carefully, keeping ourselves open to whatever the Spirit may want to say to us through this ancient letter.
Discuss these Questions
(Leaders: Before going into the questions, you may want to give your group a minute or so of silence, reflecting on and listening to the Spirit around the question, “What is Jesus inviting you to notice tonight?”)
Tonight, we are going to use this set of questions to guide our discussion. You may want to pull up the guide on your phone to help you process and reflect.
1. Even before we engage the content of the letter, the experience of hearing it read in one sitting was a unique experience. What was it like for you? How did you respond when you heard what the plan was? Were you able to stay attentive?
2. As the letter was read, what words or phrases stood out to you? Did you find the letter connecting to your life or to Refuge in some particular way?
3. If you identified some way the text spoke to you, how might the Spirit be asking you to respond?
Practice for the Week
Although it is a relatively short letter, it can be difficult to hear it well in just one reading. This week, at least once or maybe twice if you’re able, set aside 20-30 minutes to read this letter in one sitting again.
If it’s easier, you can use a free Bible app like Bible.is to listen to it instead.