Restoration: Making All Things New

Restoration: Making All Things New

This series is all about what it means to fulfill Jesus' Promise: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. 1 Peter 3.13-18 tells us to Bear Witness includes 3 things: Deep allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom, clear readiness to suffer for Jesus' sake, and a commitment to live good lives - with personal integrity, in committed community, and in service to the world. As we do that, Peter says, we'll have opportunity to respond to those who ask for a reason for the hope that is in us. In the final part of our series, we're giving reasons for hope by looking at the Storyline of the Bible - Creation, Rebellion, Redemption, and Restoration. Each movement propels hope-filled living and gives us intellectually stimulating, emotionally satisfying, and consistently livable answers to life's biggest questions. This week we explore the doctrine of Restoration: God will return to dwell among us as he did in Eden, remaking the world as it was meant to be, eradicating evil and sin, and making all things new!

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18

1. How would you explain the doctrine of Restoration to someone who asks? What does it mean?

2. How does the end of the Story - all things made new, justice and righteousness restored, and everything sad coming untrue - bring you hope?

3. What shows up in our lives when we don’t believe this personally and deeply? What behaviors or emotions?

July 2, 2023 - Steve Hart

Redemption: Jesus Is The Answer

Redemption: Jesus Is The Answer

This series is all about what it means to fulfill Jesus' Promise: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. 1 Peter  3.13-18 tells us to Bear Witness includes 3 things: Deep allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom, clear readiness to suffer for Jesus' sake, and a commitment to live good lives - with personal integrity, in committed community, and in service to the world. As we do that, Peter says, we'll have opportunity to respond to those who ask for a reason for the hope that is in us. In the final part of our series, we're giving reasons for hope by looking at the Storyline of the Bible - Creation, Rebellion, Redemption, and Restoration. Each movement propels hope-filled living and gives us intellectually stimulating, emotionally satisfying, and consistently livable answers to life's biggest questions. This week we explore the doctrine of Redemption: putting everything right through Jesus,  restoring what has been marred and destroyed in all of creation's rebellion against God.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18

1. How would you explain the doctrine of redemption to someone who asks? What does it mean?

2. How do your neighbors/coworkers/family members answer the question of redemption? What do they think will ultimately heal the world? 

3. How might a profound belief in the completion of Jesus’ Redemption shape our lives today? What shows up in our lives when we don’t believe this personally & deeply? What behaviors or emotions?

4. What difference does it make to you that Jesus’ message is not “DO”, but “DONE”? 

June 25, 2023 - Jon Schuler

Rebellion: The Unraveling of It All

Rebellion: The Unraveling of It All

This series is all about what it means to fulfill Jesus' Promise: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. 1 Peter 3.13-18 tells us to Bear Witness includes 3 things: Deep allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom, clear readiness to suffer for Jesus' sake, and a commitment to live good lives - with personal integrity, in committed community, and in service to the world. As we do that, Peter says, we'll have opportunity to respond to those who ask for a reason for the hope that is in us. In the final part of our series, we're giving reasons for hope by looking at the Storyline of the Bible - Creation, Rebellion, Redemption, and Restoration. Each movement propels hope-filled living and gives us intellectually stimulating, emotionally satisfying, and consistently livable answers to life's biggest questions. This week we explore the doctrine of Rebellion: We are alienated from God and living in a world that is unravelling from God's original intent.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18

1. What are the 3 elements of "bearing witness" according to Peter? How does that relieve, encourage, and/or challenge you?

2. What is the doctrine of Rebellion? What does it mean?

3. Where do you most feel the brokenness of the world?

4. Where do you most feel the longing for wholeness and restoration?

June 18, 2023 - Steve Hart

Creation: All That Is Good and Right

Creation: All That Is Good & Right

This series is all about what it means to fulfill Jesus' Promise: You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses. 1 Peter  3.13-18 tells us to Bear Witness includes 3 things: Deep allegiance to Jesus and his kingdom, clear readiness to suffer for Jesus' sake, and a commitment to live good lives - with personal integrity, in committed community, and in service to the world. As we do that, Peter says, we'll have opportunity to respond to those who ask for a reason for the hope that is in us. In the final part of our series, we're giving reasons for hope by looking at the Storyline of the Bible - Creation, Rebellion, Redemption, and Restoration. Each movement propels hope-filled living and gives us intellectually stimulating, emotionally satisfying, and consistently livable answers to life's biggest questions. This week we explore the doctrine of Creation: We live in a God-breathed and God-sustained world, amongst people made in God's image, built to depend on and center our lives on God.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18

1. What are the 3 elements of "bearing witness" according to Peter? How does that relieve, encourage, and/or challenge you?

2. What is the doctrine of Creation? What does it mean?

3. What difference does it make to deeply believe we live in a God-breathed and God-sustained world?

4. What difference does it make to deeply believe that every human being is made in the image of God?

5. What difference does it make to believe that all people are worshippers created for God?

June 11, 2023 - Steve Hart

Lives That Demand Explanation

Lives That Demand Explanation

Peter’s vision is actually really down to earth: commit yourself to doing good in the world, and be ready to speak of the hope you have when the moment comes. There’s no door-knocking or weird sales pitches. There’s faithfulness to Jesus that shows itself in the kind of life that demands an explanation. And when that moment comes, we answer with gentleness and respect, even when people revile us. Practically, this means being “zealous for good deeds” — to live as citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom for the sake of the world — with an eager readiness to give a reason for your hope. What kind of lives might lead our neighbors to ask “why?” And what will be our answer when they do?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18

1. Read 1 Peter 3:8-18. Summarize the passage in your own words.

2. v.8 gives specific instructions for the life of the church. What does Peter call us to? What would it look like to be a part of that kind of community? Where can your community grow in that?

3. v.9-12 gives specific instructions for how the church is to engage in the world. What does Peter call us to? What might that look like? How might you as a community continue to grow into Peter's vision?

4. What sort of priorities & practices - personally, in community, and in the world - should set Christians apart? How should we be different from both the religious & secular cultures in which we swim?

5. If someone asked you why you are a Jesus follower, what would you say? To what degree do you feel you are ready to "give a reason for the hope that is in you?"

June 4, 2023 - Steve Hart

The Cost of Faithfulness

The Cost of Faithfulness

The expectation of the early church was that allegiance to Jesus would mean suffering. It wasn’t a matter of “if” but of “when” and “how”. For many, it was the rejection or ridicule of family, friends, and neighbors. For others, it was official persecution, suffering, and death. Peter says, don’t see it as “something strange” (4.13) but to “rejoice” because you suffer with Christ! We’re to suffer as we commit ourselves to living good lives, suffering not because we’re meddlers but because we’re disciples of Jesus. God is at work in our suffering, as he conforms us to the image of Christ and prepares us to share in the glory of Christ.

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18, 4:12-19

1. Peter seems to genuinely hope that his readers don't suffer for Jesus -- but he also seems realistic enough to know they likely will and to not be surprised by it. To what degree have you understood that suffering is part of the Christian life?

2. As we consider what it means to bear witness, what difference does it make to know ahead of time that it will likely involve ridicule, rejection, loss or harm? How do we prepare ahead of time for it?

3. As you look at your life, what are the (potential and actual) costs involved in bearing witness to Jesus? Where have you already suffered? What has been the impact?

4. Peter says if we suffer we are blessed. What does he mean? How have you experienced that? Where have you experienced the faithfulness of God in that?

May 28, 2023 - Steve Hart

Undivided Allegiance

Undivided Allegiance

We’re launching a new series this Sunday entitled “Bearing Witness,” and we’ll be spending 7 weeks in 1 Peter 3.13-18. Peter gives us a “mission for normal folks” in these verses. This isn’t Paul in Acts traveling city to city and causing riots; this is everyday folks, living in neighborhoods, raising their families, working their jobs, and being faithful witnesses for Jesus. They aren’t knocking on doors, trying awkwardly to drop “Jesus” into every conversation, or donning some witness-wear. They’re people energized by the Spirit and the Good News, zealously committed to doing what is good, right, and true, even when it is costly. They’ve given their whole-hearted allegiance to Jesus and his Kingdom, and have abandoned hopes in the Empire. They are living the kind of lives that make their neighbors ask questions, into which they are eager and ready to speak of their Hope in Jesus. They hold their deep convictions and speak of them with gentleness and respect. In all things, Jesus is not only their message but also their means — he suffered for sin and for sinners, especially us. It is going to be a great series!

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

Read 1 Peter 3:13-18

1. Verse 15 says “[…] but in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy […]”. In order to do this, Peter says that Christ demands our undivided allegiance. In your daily contexts (school, work, family, friendships, neighborhoods, etc.), what are the things that compete for your allegiance? What do they promise in return for allegiance?

2. In your contexts, what ways are you tempted to isolate, disengage, or remove yourself from the culture? In what ways are you tempted to completely assimilate and lose your Christian distinctiveness?

3. In your contexts, which of Peter’s descriptions in this passage would be the most countercultural witness to Jesus and His Kingdom? Why?

4. Where is the Holy Spirit convicting you that Jesus does not have the allegiance of your heart? What do you need to repent of? What steps do you need to take in order to live in light of the Gospel and functionally start to depend on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit to “honor Christ as holy” in your life?
   

May 21, 2023 - Steve Hart