1 Peter Bible Study – Week 1

I am participating in a Blog Tour through Kregel Publications for the Bible Study – 1 Peter: Finding Encouragement in Troubling Times by Sue Edwards.  Each week for the next nine weeks, I will be blogging through my experiences with this study, posting my opinions and insights as I learn more about the book of 1 Peter.  I’m really excited to be participating in this study and am looking forward to what I learn over the next nine weeks!

About the Study:

1 Peter: Finding Encouragement in Troubling Times offers study questions with three different levels to fit our lifestyle. We can pick and choose from which levels we would like to answer questions each week, depending on our schedules. I love the flexibility of this study. I know that, for me, some weeks are definitely going to be busier than others, so I will need to focus on the basic “core” questions in those weeks. But for weeks when I am not as busy, I can tackle the “digging deeper” or possibly the “summit” questions.

• “Core” questions provide a basic understanding of the text, but offer an in-depth Bible study with a minimum time commitment.
• “Digging Deeper” questions will challenge you to learn more about “the history, culture, and geography related to the Bible.” (p. 9)  In this level, you will also look up additional passages/verses for added insight.
• “Summit” questions “grapple with complex theological issues and differing views” (p. 9). You may be prompted to create essays or charts, or use a Greek-English text.

During the course of this study, I plan to focus on the “core” and “digging deeper” questions, as time allows. I hope that these levels will allow me to really dig into the book of 1 Peter and mine every detail about Peter’s life that I can. Being a fairly new Christian, I have not yet read 1 Peter nor do I know too much about Peter’s life. I know that he was a disciple of Jesus. But not much more than that.

Week 1:

Once I started reading through 1 Peter and answering the “core” questions, I began learning a great deal about who Peter was. The “core” questions are in-depth and provide a way for me to think about the verses in a new way. They offer a way to apply my present day life to the way things were back in the days Peter lived, adding meaning and relevance to the study. Here are some things I learned about Peter:

• Jesus predicted that Peter would deny knowing Him three times (Luke 22:31-34)
• Peter denied knowing Jesus three times (Luke 22:54-62)
• Peter was later forgiven by Jesus (John 21:15-23)
• He was commissioned to lead Jesus’ followers (John 21:15-23)
• Peter was imprisoned and released (Acts 4:1-21)
• Peter was imprisoned again (Acts 12:1-5) and miraculously escaped (Acts 12:6-19)

Peter faced many hardships. but through it all, he maintained faith in Jesus. I mean he actually KNEW Jesus! He tells us in verses 4-5 that we have a “priceless inheritance – and inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.” (1 Peter 1:4-5, NLT)  How awesome is that? God has reserved an inheritance just for me – and you – just by trusting Christ! Peter’s words offer much encouragement that even though this life may be difficult at times, I can rest in the assurance that my priceless inheritance is waiting for me someday. Thank you, Jesus.

I’m really excited to keep going with this study, so I hope you will join me in this journey. See you next Sunday for next week’s 1 Peter post!

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