MY NEXT STEP TODAY IS:

I need to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior for the first time

I need to be baptized
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/baptism

I need to attend Starting Point
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/starting-point

I need to join a small group
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/small-groups

I need to join a serve team
https://www.thebridgevenice.com/serve

Dig Deeper:
1. What kind of hardships and challenges might an exile face?
2. What does it mean to be to persecuted for faith? Do you know anyone who has been persecuted for his/her faith?
3. What is an inheritance? What kinds of things, from personality and physical traits to tangible goods, have you inherited from someone else?
4. Read 1 Peter 1-4. What does it mean that our salvation is given by God’s mercy? (see 1 Peter 1:3)
5. Define what hope is. When the Bible speaks of hope, it is defined at confident expectation or to anticipate with pleasure. Describe a time when you had confident expectation or anticipated with pleasure.
6. Look up the words describing our inheritance (imperishable, undefiled, unfading). Read Mark 13:31 and Isaiah 40:6-8. What kinds of things pass away, and what things do not?
7. How can you live differently in light of the inheritance that is yours in Christ? How does this truth change the way you view difficult circumstances? What evidence is there in your life that you understand God’s eternal plan?
8. Read 1 Peter 6-9. Why do you think our faith is tested through trials instead of through something easier?
9. Share a time when you have experienced God’s presence in trouble or a way that suffering increased your confidence in Christ.
10. How is gold refined? Why does Peter use the metaphor of gold being refined to help understand our faith?
11. Have you ever experienced joy in the midst of pain? How is joy different than happiness? Where does joy come from?
12. Does this passage change your perspective concerning trials? If so, how?
13. How can the joy of your eternal hope sustain us during trials you face?
14. How can we turn to God when we are in a season of suffering? Practically, what does it look like to turn to Him and not away from him?
15. Read 1 Peter 10-12. How can reading the prophecies written before Christ can enrich your understanding of salvation and the longing the people felt for their Messiah? Why is this knowledge still important to use who live after Jesus’ resurrection?
16. What is the relationship between understanding our great salvation and enduring trials with joy?
17. How has God used trials in your life to open doors of gospel sharing?

Live It Out:
1. What do you look to for hope? How does your living hope apply to your circumstances?
2. When trials come up in life, where do you go for comfort? Are you running to God during your trial?
3. How can you become a carrier of hope to others through God’s grace?
4. In what are of your life do you need to experience the resurrection hope of Jesus?
5. Who in your life needs to hear about this hope? How would you articulate it to that person?
6. Are you willing to step into community with others for help and to be a help?
7. In light of the future salvation Jesus has for us, how are you preparing your mind for action this week? What are your plans to repent, walk with Jesus, and serve in love the people He puts around you?

Reading Plan:
Monday: 1 Peter 1-12
Tuesday: Romans 8:31-39; Ephesians 1:3-14
Wednesday: 2 Corinthians 4
Thursday: Hebrews 11
Friday:Psalm 23
Saturday: Jeremiah 29:1-14; Philippians 3:12-21

Recommended Resources:
“1-2 Peter: An Expositional Commentary” by R.C. Sproul

“1 Peter: A Living Hope in Christ” by Jen Wilkin