The End is Near
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1 Peter 4:7-11
The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
SPIRITUAL PRACTICES
Read 1 Peter 4:12-19, four times this next week.
Use the ‘O.I.A.’ Study method to look at 1 Peter 4:12-19
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DISCUSSION GUIDE
Personal Reflection Questions:
How does Peter's challenge to live "self-controlled and sober-minded" (v. 7) apply to your life today?
How can you practically demonstrate ‘earnest love’ to those around you? Commit to one act of love for another and take it this week.
We are called to serve one another. What are some of the spiritual gifts that God has given you? In what ways can you use these gifts to serve the body of Christ?
Small Group Discussion Questions:
Discuss how suffering in Peter’s day is different than for us today. How are our experiences similar?
In verse 11, Peter reminds his readers that all of their service should be done so that "God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." How does this change the way we serve one another in today’s church? Give a few examples of when you’ve seen this done well.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word to us, thank you for revealing yourself to us. Empower us to be self-controlled and sober minded as we live counter-culturally in this world. Help is us to love one another earnestly and to serve one another self-sacrificially. Give us boldness as we life of an exile.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
Take some time to sit silently before God. What action will you take this week because of what you heard from the Lord during the teaching of His Word?
