A Living Hope
[Please note: audio file is not available for this week’s sermon]
I. The GIFT of the FATHER: Our BIRTH (I Peter 1:3; John 3:3-7)
A. LIVING Hope (1:3)
B. Imperishable INHERITANCE (1:4-5; Matt. 6:19-21)
II. The REVELATION of the SON: Our SALVATION (1:7)
A. The REFINING Work of SUFFERING (1:6-7; Col. 1:24-27)
B. The PARADOXICAL ALREADY not YET-NESS of a Living Hope (1:8-9; Rom. 8)
III. The WORK of the SPIRIT: Our STORY (1:10-11)
A. The PROPHETS Were WRITING for You (1:12; 2 Tim. 3:16-17)
B. The STORY of CHRIST is Our STORY (1:11 (also v. 6-7); Gal. 2:20; Rom. 6:3-8; 2 Cor. 1:5)
IV. The TRANSFORMATIONAL Power of a LIVING HOPE
A. There is more THAN THIS life (1:4; 2 Cor. 5:1; John 14:2-3)
B. There is more TO THIS life (1:9; Matt. 6:33; 2 Cor. 5:17)
C. There is more THAN MY life (1:11, 1:13-2:13)
Questions for Further Reflection:
1. Kid’s Question: What is something that hasn’t happened yet, that you hope will happen one day?
2. Peter makes up a new word to describe what God has done in our lives. Reflect on your experience. What about your relationship with God has felt like new birth?
3. Peter also uses a unique phrase to describe what we’ve been born into. Hope is already a powerful word. What do you think sets “Living Hope” apart?
4. Have you experienced the protective power of faith that Peter talks about in verse 5? In what ways?
5. How does the language about suffering working like a refiner’s fire sit with you? When have you experienced this? Is there senseless suffering?
6. Does your salvation feel more like a thing you are waiting on or are experiencing now?
7. In what ways do you see the story of scripture being your own story?
8. In what ways do you feel your own story has been united with the story of Christ?
9. What is one area of your life that needs to be transformed by a living hope?