Mon Dec 15

Listen up, little ones

Especially for the littles in your household.

Listen for the word hope.

Reading

1 Peter 1:3-5—An Unfailing Hope

Keys for kids

Also for the littles. Young households might choose, after Keys for Kids, to go directly to praise and prayer.

God has given new life to all who believe in Jesus.
God preserves those he saves.
We can have a sure hope in God.

Questions

(Some read the ?s before the notes/ ask them after.)

Why is Peter’s heart overflowing with praise?
What power accomplishes our great redemption?
How can we be sure God’s power preserves us?

Notes

(See Saturday for authors. Today’s notes are from a commentary on 1 Peter by William VanDoodewaard)

Filled with the Word and the Spirit, Peter bursts into worship and praise of God the Father in verse 3… Why is Peter’s heart overflowing with praise? Because the Father, through Jesus Christ, has given new life and new status to Peter and all the believers whom he addresses. … Here, Peter brings us to see that God’s mercy-filled power causes us to be born again, preserving us in new life as living, growing children of the Father. The same power by which Jesus rose from the dead accomplishes our great redemption. Our spiritual resurrection from death to new life takes place as we are united to him by the work of the Spirit. So Jesus’ resurrection is not only proof of the completion and acceptance of his sacrifice for our sin, but it also shows his sovereign power to save and preserve.

Peter’s first readers may well have thought at this point, “This is all good and well, the inheritance is secured by God, it is secure, permanent and eternal, but what if I fail in the end to persevere? What if I am disqualified in the end? What if persecution should become so severe that I crack, I fail, I am unfaithful to Christ?” … God the Father is the one who has caused us to be born again by the Spirit, and Peter now reminds us that our spiritual protection and preservation as children is also the Father’s work. … God’s power preserves us.

Swedish Method questions

See the Sunday notes for meaning of the symbols.

Praise

Psalm 62a, 57b

Prayer

Rejoice in the Father’s work in saving and securing you.
Pray for a specific application from yesterday's sermons.
Pray for a member of our church, for your family, and for a non-Christian friend/family member.