1st Peter Study Guide

WEEK 9 1 Peter 4:1-11 “It’s time to Grow Up ... Duty Calls” 1. Two weeks ago, Pastor Jared fully expressed what it means to desire the “true milk of the word”-- the pure, unadulterated truth (I Peter 2:2). Do you seek the word and long to hear it in the way a newborn babe craves milk? Can a Christian grow without it?

2. This week, Pastor John exhorted us to man up and grow up in our faith. Duty calls! Arm yourself with the mind of Christ because ‘the end of all things is at hand.’ This is a timely challenge as the new year approaches. What steps will you take to grow toward spiritual maturity?

3. 2 Peter 1:3-4 assures us success in this quest because: “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” allowing us to be “partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” So we have all means necessary to live out our faith and grow in it. This being true, what holds you back and keeps you from maturing in your faith?

4. In The Autobiography of George Muller (pgs.138 - 139) he states: “The primary business I must attend to every day is to fellowship with the Lord. The first concern is not how much I might serve the Lord, but how my inner man might be nourished. The most important thing I had to do was to read the Word of God and to meditate on it. Thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, and instructed.”

His first task, as Muller expressed it, was to get happy in the Lord; to delight in Him. Have you set aside a quiet time of reading and meditating on the word in intimate fellowship with God? How will you make this a priority in your busy schedule?

5. In his booklet, God’s Promise of Happiness, (pg. 57) Randy Alcorn states: “Happiness among believers is proportionate to the time invested in the humble study of God’s Word.”

Can you believe that? Really think about it! Explain how happiness can come out of the “pure milk of the word.”

6. Perhaps above all we are to grow in purity, love, and in service to others (see I Peter 4:7-9). Our duty is to edify (build up) our fellow believers using our spiritual gifts to minister to one another. We work out our salvation (bring it to completion by the process of sanctification) “with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12) knowing that God is working in us. So having the mind of Christ, live for the will of God (I Peter 4:1&2). How can you show the world Christ’s love?

7. What resolutions would Peter have for those he ministered to? Each imperative in !st Peter could be considered a resolution for us to grow by. As you read the passage again, is the Holy Spirit showing you ways in which He would like to help you grow?

Sermon Notes

_____________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________