Thursday Thoughts for Parents | "What Hath God Wrought"
February 23, 2017 by SGCL Staff
Category: Thursday Thoughts for Parents | Jeff Purswell, Sunday Sermon, Parents, 1 Peter, Thursday Thoughts
This post is based on Jeff Purswell's sermon, What Hath God Wrought, given on February 19, 2017.
The recipients of Peter’s letter were suffering. Many had lost their homes and friends and were forced to live in poverty in a foreign land. What a difficult time for these Christians! Peter begins his book by calling these suffering saints to remember what God has wrought, that is, to remember the amazing blessings that have been brought about in their lives.
Read 1 Peter 1:3-5
In these verses, Peter lifts his readers’ thoughts above their difficult circumstances to some truths that have the power to make believers happy—as Mr. Purswell said, to stir “intentional praise”.
- What difficult circumstances are weighing on you in this season?
- When you are experiencing difficulties, where do you tend to put your hope? Why do you think that is?
God calls us to lift our eyes above our circumstances and remember the more ultimate things that are true of us. First, He reminds us that He has “caused us to be born again into a living hope.”
- What does it mean to be born again? (Consider telling the story of Nicodemus in John 3).
- How does this phrase help us to answer the question, “Why am I a Christian?”
- When Mr. Purswell described what God has done, he urged us not to think of God’s sovereign choice as cold and mechanical, but as merciful and compassionate: “a tender heart that stays the hand of judgment.” Do you think of God’s love for sinners like us in this way?
- Read Ephesians 1:3-14. Make a list of all the blessings that you received when God caused you to be born again.
- Why are these truths so easy to forget?
Peter reminds us that we can have hope, not simply because of our current blessings, but for the amazing future that awaits us. In verses 4 & 5 he reminds us that we have an inheritance that is guarded for us by the very power of God. How should this reality strengthen us as exiles?
[post written by Rich Humphrey]
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