22/10/17 CORNERSTONE VISION SERIES WEEK 2 – GOSPEL-CENTRED PART 2

COMMUNITY GROUP/FAMILY AND DAILY STUDIES BASED UPON OUR VISION SERIES AT COMMUNITY CHURCH PUTNEY

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GROUP STUDY 2 – GOSPEL CENTRED (PART 2)

THOSE BUILT ON THE ‘CORNERSTONE’ ARE GOSPEL–CENTRED

A person or church that seeks to build on Jesus will be gospel–centred. Last week we looked at one facet of the gospel, how the death of Jesus reconciles us to God and that such a community could be said to ‘have tasted that the Lord is good’. This week we will see that the gospel is more than something that God does for us in forgiveness; it is also something that God does in us in regeneration.  

THOSE BUILT ON CHRIST ARE LIVING STONES

Peter likens us to ‘living stone’ and ‘a spiritual house’ (2:5) or ‘new-born babies’ (2:2); Christians are not churchgoers or those trying to live a certain lifestyle… Christians, fundamentally, are made alive (regenerated) as the Spirit resides in them, with all the things that flow from God’s life within us. (Galatians 2:20)

Regeneration is to be made alive by the Spirit

Let’s see what Peter teaches us about the new life we have:

• What has Jesus’ death and resurrection given us (1:3)
• To what does Peter liken a Christian and why is this so apt? (2:2)
• We receive this new life by ‘coming to Him’ (2:4). What does it mean to come to Jesus? And why and how can we do this every day?
• What kind of ‘stones’ are we and how might this transform our lives? (2:5)
• What kind of ‘house’ are we now we are Christians? (2:5)
• Being ‘born again’ by the Spirit will affect how we live in every aspect. A Christian cannot go on sinning. What ‘war’ is now going on within us? (2:11). How has your lifestyle been affected since becoming a Christian?
• What does Peter assume of our lives now we are born again?  (2:12)
• What have we died to, and what do we live to? (2:24) (Healing in this context is about the supernatural healing of our hearts toward God)

APPLICATION – LET’S LIVE LIKE WE’RE ALIVE

• Have GC days – This week, start each day remembering God’s grace for you and in you. That you are justified and a new creation.
• Have GC obedience – Apply this identity as a ‘living stone’ when tempted to sin or when considering how you treat the church.

DAILY BIBLE DEVOTIONAL IN 1 PETER

MONDAY: GOD SERVES SO LET’S HAVE A HEART TO SERVE

1 Peter 1:12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

1.  GC – God has ‘served’ you through the Old Testament prophets who point to Jesus and through those who spoke the gospel to you. He has served you by revealing the truth of Christ to you, by grace, by ‘the Holy Spirit sent from heaven’.

2.    UP – Thank God for His service to you. Ask for the Holy Spirit to keep inspiring a heart of service in you.  

3.    IN – Pray that like the prophets and like the Spirit, you would be willing to be sent to serve His people in words, or in whatever way, to bring encouragement.

4.    OUT – The Spirit was prepared to be ‘sent’. The Spirit will do whatever is needed for God’s glory. He speaks through anyone that desires to ‘serve’ others.

TUESDAY: LET GOD BE LORD OF YOUR MIND

1 Peter 1:13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 

1.  GC – let’s hear this call to be ‘alert and fully sober’ so as to fill our minds with God’s grace for now and Jesus’ glorious coming. Let’s not be like those who are asleep and taken up distracted with irrelevancies so as to lose focus on the gospel.

2.    UP – Take a few moments to focus our minds Jesus’ Second Coming. Why is thinking so vital to your spiritual health?

3.    IN – Pray for the church to think properly, to think like ‘exiles’ (1:1) – like those in a foreign nation. We are waiting for the kingdom to come.

4.    OUT – Let’s have ‘minds that are alert and fully sober’. If we don’t think straight we will think crooked and forget that this world desperately needs Jesus.

WEDNESDAY: CHRISTIANS ARE OBEDIENT CHILDREN

1 Peter 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

1.  GC – By God’s grace we are made ‘obedient children’. Our faith in Christ has led to the transformation of our ‘desires’. The gospel changes our lives! (1 Thess. 1:4-6)

2.    UP – God desires our holiness. We are told ‘do not conform’ to our old lives. Rather we are to live a life of worship that conforms to God’s holiness. (Romans 12:1-2)

3.    IN – Pray for the church to grasp their call to be ‘obedient children’. Ask for God’s grace in the church more widely as she is under pressure to conform to the ‘pattern of this world’. (2 Peter 1:5-9)

4.  OUT – Holiness shows what God is like to others. This will be offensive to some and attractive to others. (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

THURSDAY: GOD IS FATHER AND JUDGE

1 Peter 1:17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 

1.  GC – We ‘call on a Father’, but He remains a judge. We must never fear condemnation. Christ has taken that for us. (Romans 8:1)

2.  UP – We will face judgement. Christians will be rewarded according to how they have used the ‘talents’ He has given them. Let’s use our resources worshipfully. This world is not our home; our King has put us here to serve Him for His glory and our reward.

3.  IN – Too often the church is treated like a club for our convenience. We can miss both the joy of God as Father, and the responsibility that comes from Him as our judge.  Pray for the church to have a healthy view of God.

4.  OUT – Sometimes the church is indistinguishable from unbelievers. If God is our Father, we will be ‘in the world but not of it’. Our lives will be light in a darkness.

FRIDAY: REDEEMED BY GOD AND FOR GOD

1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

1.  GC – We have been ‘redeemed’ which means to ‘purchase someone’s freedom by paying a ransom’. We are no longer a slave of sin or face damnation; we no longer live as we use to because we have been ‘redeemed’. God is our new master, ‘the old has gone the new has come’, all purchased by the death of Jesus our substitute.

2.  UP – Use this text to inspire worship: God gave what is most precious in order to own you. (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

3.  IN – Pray for the church to grasp their ‘redemption’ and turn from the ‘empty way of life handed down’ to them.

4.  OUT – Are you deeply convinced that your friends and family need redemption? Let God give you both urgency and confidence that God can and desires to save. 

SATURDAY: THE RESURRECTION

1 Peter 1:21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

1.  GC – Jesus has been ‘raised from the dead’. He is ‘glorified’. Let’s rest in the salvation that He has purchased for us. Let our ‘faith and hope’ rest fully in God for our salvation and for anything we desire to achieve for Him – The God of resurrection is with us!

2.  UP – Jesus has all authority. He is on the throne. Your redeemer lives. Let nothing dethrone God in your heart. (Job 19:20, Psalm 2:6)

3.  IN – The resurrection is the historical event that speaks of the truthfulness of Jesus’ words and work. Be ready to encourage your brothers and sisters with this.

3. OUT – Be ready to speak of the resurrection in witnessing for Christ. (Acts 2:32)