In Exile: Prepping for Pedro (Chapter 1)
"I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions."
Elie Wiesel
Over the next few blog posts I'll be giving you a sneak peek into part of my mental process of preparing for sermons. I don't have a set routine but there are some tools I often use to help unlock a passage of scripture. One of the things I often to do is to think through the questions I have about a passage. I don't always find an answer to every question but at times this provokes me to look at things that I wouldn't normally pick up on. It sometimes helps me see things that I completely missed the first time of reading a passage.
The next few blog posts are going to be lists of questions that arise from each chapter of 1 Peter. I'd be really interested if you want to join me and give me any other questions which arise when you read each chapter.
Questions on 1 Peter 1
Why does Peter address the letter to the "exiles"?
Is this a reference to the ancient Hebrew identity of exiles?
Are the cities named important?
What does it mean to be "chosen"?
Is there any significance in the choice of the word "sprinkled"?
How do other translations translate the word "sprinkled"?
if the inheritance is kept in Heaven, when do we receive it?
What does it mean to be shielded by God's power?
Are we currently receiving the end result of our faith?
What exactly is meant by salvation in this context?
What does it mean for God to be holy?
What does it mean for us to be holy?
Why does Peter describe them as foreigners?
Why does Peter use gold and silver as examples of perishable things?
What does it mean to "purify yourself"?
Does having sincere love constitute obeying the truth?
Does obeying the truth constitute having sincere love?
This blog post was brought to you by....Oli Higham
Oli Higham is part of the leadership team at the Rock Community Church. He finds it hard to sum himself up in a few sentences. However he loves Jesus and is also rather fond of his family, films, coffee, rugby, Arsenal FC, poetry, spray paint, beards, cooking and laughing.