Soo sorry it’s soo late
1 & 2 Peter
Lesson 3
LESSON OBJECTIVES
Goals
1. To help students understand their place within their family and God’s family
2. To excite students about being positive members of those families
3. To assist students in recognizing how they can contribute in helpful ways
Topics
Acceptance, Body of Christ, Community, Family
Scripture Memorization
1 Peter 2:9
OPENING PRAYER (5 to 10 minutes)
GROUP BUILDING (5 minutes)
Have students make a list. The list should comprise of adjectives that describe heir families. Tell them to particularly record things they don’t like, trying hard to use just one word. Give them 5 minutes or so to make their list.
GETTING STARTED (10 minutes)
Discussion Questions:
• What is your family like?
• What are some things about family that you love?
• What are some things about being part of a family that are hard?
Today, we’re going to talk about family. Peter mentions it a lot, especially in 1 Peter. So let’s explore the two families to which every Christian should be a part—God’s family and their immediate family. God has stuff to teach us about both.
DIGGING IN (30 minutes)
Let’s start by talking about what it means to participate in God’s family, as that will directly inform how we participate in our earthly family.
GOD’S FAMILY
Read 1 Peter 2:4-12
Discussion Questions:
1. Who is the “living Stone” in 1 Peter 2:4? (Jesus)
2. This passage discusses a spiritual house. To what does this refer? (The body of Christ, the Church.)
3. Verse 9 says that we are a “chosen people, royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God.” What does that say about our place in God’s family? (Allow for discussion.)
4. God put us in His family for a reason. According to verse 9, what is the reason? (To declare His praises as we remember our salvation.)
5. Verse 11 gives more insight as to how we should relate to the world. What is that relationship? (We are aliens and strangers here; we should abstain from sinful desires.)
6. As members of God’s family and not participants in the worldly way of doing things, what is the goal? (That others see God’s family behaving as they should and glorify God as a result.)
Being a part of God’s family is good for everyone—for us, those who have been saved; for others, those who have not yet been saved; and for God, whose family just keeps growing larger.
Read 1 Peter 5:1-11
God’s family, like all families, has structure and leadership. The way people within God’s family interact with each other is really important, as the above passage demonstrates.
Discussion Questions:
1. What are elders to do (see verses 1-3)? (Shepherd the flock, serve as overseers, be good examples.)
2. What are elders not to do (see verses 1-3)? (Be greedy, power-hungry, serve out of obligation.)
3. If elders were in an earthly family, which member of the family would you compare them to? Why?
4. How are young men supposed to act toward those older than them according to verse 5? (In submission.)
5. What advice does verse 5 give to every person in God’s family? (To clothe ourselves with humility toward one another.) Why? (Because God opposes those who are proud.)
6. Other advice is given during the rest of the passage explaining how those in God’s family should act. What are some of those behaviors we should model? (Be humble, self-controlled, resist the devil, don’t worry, etc.)
So, as a part of God’s family, we should not only act as strangers to the world, but also we should treat each other with love, respect, and a mutual desire for good.
YOUR FAMILY
Now let’s transition and see what advice Peter offers in how an earthly family should function. What we’ll discover is that the same attitudes we’re asked to have to participate in God’s family translate into our day-to-day attitudes and actions in our earthly families, too.
Read 1 Peter 3:1-7
Discussion Questions:
1. In verse 1 we learn that women are to be submissive to their husbands. What is the given reason for this? (So that if they don’t believe in God, they would be won over by their believing wife’s behavior.)
2. From where should a woman’s beauty come? (From the inside, from their character.)
3. How are husbands supposed to act, according to verse 7? (Be considerate, treated with respect.)
4. How are the attitudes and actions between husband and wife similar to the ones encouraged for every Christian? (All believers should have a submissive spirit towards God and one another.)
MAKING IT REAL (10 minutes)
A family unit is an important thing in God’s eyes. He instituted the family in the Garden of Eden when He created a husband and wife. He instructed them to have kids and gave them responsibility over that group of people.
And when God called people out of darkness and into light, He placed them into groups of people that could call themselves family—the nation of Israel, who were literally related; and the body of Christ, who celebrate Jesus as their common heritage.
So being a part of God’s family and being a part of your family are both important parts of your life.
Discussion Questions:
• We’ve talked a lot about humility. How do you see humility at work in God’s family?
• How can you express humility in your own family—toward your parents and siblings?
• How would your family be different if every person in it acted with kindness, humility, and submission toward one another?
• How would the body of Christ be different if people considered their part in the family of God so important that they took Peter’s advice seriously?
• How would non-Christians be transformed if they observed people living lives as Peter describes?
(Have students make a second list, just to the right of the one we did during group building. If they put “loud” in their first column, have them put “peaceful” in the next column. After completing the exercise, have them talk through it and determine in what ways they can contribute to their family acting more Godly—like the second column—instead of staying like it is. Then have them repeat this exercise using God’s family, the Church, instead.)
CLOSING PRAYER (2 minutes)
Pray that our families and God’s family will re-energize because of our positive influence. Pray for the specific qualities we named to shine through.