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Post by Admin on Mar 28, 2017 15:01:47 GMT
1 Peter 2:4-10 (NIV):
1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
8 and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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Post by Admin on Mar 28, 2017 15:12:41 GMT
A few questions we will use for discussion:
1. How fully and accurately does this passage reflect your own experience in Christ? 2. The uniqueness of Christ's sacrifice on the cross does not mean that we have no sacrifices to offer, but that the nature and purpose are different. They are not "propitiatory" (turning away God's wrath) but "eucharistic' (giving thanks). What would be some examples of spiritual sacrifices we make (verse 5)? 3. Verses 6-8 include three Old Testament quotes that are applied to Christ. How and why does the "stone" affect different people in different ways? 4. Peter specifically identifies Christians as the people of God in verse 10. What ungodly influences on the church threaten to dilute our identity as the people of God?
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