WEEK 5 : Winsome Witness
Icebreaker: Take just a couple minutes to play a round or two of Chameleon. You can do it for free below.
Pray: Holy Spirit, would you speak to us and teach us today, helping us to surrender our will and forming us to be like Jesus.
In this game, one person doesn’t know the real word and is trying to blend in. As Christians, our job is not to blend into the world by changing color like chameleons. We are actually called to stand out in such a way that we bring hope and life to those around us.
Read 1 Peter 2:11-12.
1. Tell about a time you compromised to blend in OR were bold to do what is right. How did others respond?
If our lives look just like the world around us, there is nothing to attract them to us or to Jesus. We must live lives that stand out so others crave what we have. To truly LIVE like Jesus will look differently than living like the world.
2. Think back to the things we read about last week in Acts 2 and 4 that the early church experienced. What could our church or family be devoted to that would draw others to faith in Jesus?
Read 1 Peter 2:13-25.
3. What is it about submission that makes you cringe?
4. What would a healthy submission to God and earthly authority look like?
This passage is not condoning slavery or telling people to stay in abusive situations! However, it offers great encouragement for times when it seems life is against you or you are being treated unfairly.
5. What is a situation that makes you angry and how can you release that anger, trusting the situation to God “who judges justly”?
Peter and the early Christians were treated unfairly and suffered for their faith.
Read Acts 5:12-42.
6. What amazes you about Peter and the apostles?
7. How is the Holy Spirit convicting or nudging you?
Returning to 1 Peter, at first glance, v. 25 doesn’t seem to fit in. However, just as Jesus had taught Peter about the rock on which he would build His church, Jesus previously used shepherding imagery with Peter when he had gone astray. At Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. After Jesus rose again, he made sure to show Peter he was forgiven.
Read John 21:15-17.
Jesus is not only forgiving Peter, but also reinstating him as the rock on which he would build his church. He was empowering Peter as a shepherd of God’s flock, telling him to pursue and care for other followers of Jesus. This interaction, coupled with the filling of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2, gave Peter the confidence, courage, and mission to care for the church.
Peter was an undershepherd to God’s church and sacrificed a great deal to help people follow Jesus. Take a moment to pray for our pastors, elders, and deacons at MCC.
Thinking back to 1 Peter 2:25, Peter understands what it’s like to be a sheep who’s gone astray. But he also knows God as our great Shepherd. Let’s take a moment and make Psalm 23 our prayer:
Lord, you are our Shepherd - we lack nothing. You lead us to safety, nourishment, and refreshment. You return us to you. You guide us along the right paths for your name’s sake. Even when we walk through dark valleys we will fear no evil, for you are with us. Your discipline and correction comforts us. You prepare a table of abundance in the middle of the battlefield. You honor and refresh us, our cups overflow. Surely your goodness and love will follow us all the days of our lives, and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever!
8. If we pursue KNOWing Jesus, living in intimate connection with our Shepherd, aware of his presence, and trusting in his provision, what would the world notice? What kind of witness would we have?
CHALLENGE: Read a Psalm each day this week slowly and make it your prayer to God, helping you to KNOW your Shepherd more intimately. Become more aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence inside you giving you courage and empowering you to speak boldly about Jesus.