Wrapping Up 1 Peter

Lord willing, in one week (June 8th) we will complete our study of 1 Peter.  I feel the same mixed emotions about closing 1 Peter as I did when we completed Colossians last year.

I’ve personally been studying 1 Peter for about 10 months now.  By next week we will have covered the book over about 35 weeks.  If you came to every class, that would be approximately 2,625 minutes of studying 1 Peter.  All that to say that 1 Peter has been very much a central part of my life in the last year.

On one hand, I feel excited about completing 1 Peter.  It feels good to have taught every verse of a book of the Bible and to know it much better now than I did a year ago. It also feels good to transition to something new. During our 13-week break, I’ll begin studying for SixSixteen’s fall study, the book of Revelation.

On the other hand, when I look back, I know I wasn’t able to give the book its full due.  There is more to say and more that I need to learn from the book. Ending 1 Peter feels a little like saying goodbye to a good friend.

On June 8th (our last class until September 7th), my plan is to do the following:

• Survey the whole book, highlighting key passages.
• Relate those key passages to 5:10-11 and note the context from the rest of the chapter.
• Think on why Peter begins and ends the book with the doctrine of election and how the doctrine of election helps you when you suffer as a Christian.

We hope to see you there.  (And it is still not too late to come if you’ve never come before.)

The Best for Last

We have two more weeks of SixSixteen Sunday Morning until we break for the summer. It is still not too late to come. We’ve been studying 1 Peter and plan to look at 1 Peter 5:6-11 on June 1st and then do a summary of 1 Peter on June 8th.

1 Peter 5:6-11 is an important passage in the book and includes a fitting encouragement in verses 10-11 that summarizes the book nicely. Peter saved the best for last:

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

We hope to see you this Sunday.

Memorial Day

There will be no SixSixteen this Sunday as we break for Memorial Day. Our next Bible study is scheduled for June 1.

Summer Reads

As we discussed at SixSixteen today, here’s a list of some of the books I hope to read or survey this summer:

• Crazy Love by Francis Chan
• Israel and the Church by Diprose
• Future Israel by Horner
• Ministries of Mercy by Timothy Keller
• How Africa Shaped the Christian Mind by Thomas Oden
• Memoris of an Ordinary Pastor by D.A. Carson
• Because the Time is Near by John MacArthur
• The Second Coming by John MacArthur
• Three Views on the Rapture edited by Gundry
• Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond edited by Gundry

Be free to read books and not read every page.  Not all books are worth reading every page.  Be ok with having read a portion of a book that needs to land on you for the moment and then putting it back on your shelf.  It is important to both read deeply (and slowly) and broadly.  Be discerning about which category a book should fall into for you.

Revelation

This year we have been studying 1 Peter at SixSixteen Sunday Morning. Although we only have six weeks left on 1 Peter, the real core of the book is in these final two chapters so it is not too late to come. Each week’s study stands on its own.

We are also announcing that the book we plan to study in the fall is Revelation. The approach to Revelation will be the same as our previous studies: verse-by-verse through all the chapters. Our study will likely take us into surveys of key passages in Daniel and Matthew as well.

Until then, we look forward to seeing you as we finish up 1 Peter. Click here for the teaching schedule.

Christ, Noah, and Baptism

We’ll spend our second week at SixSixteen Sunday Morning looking at 1 Peter 3:18-22. This is undoubtably the most difficult passage in 1 Peter. Last week, we just touched on the issue of what verse 19 means when it says, “[Christ] went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.” We began to answer three questions:

1) Who are the spirits in prison?
2) When did Chirst do this proclamation?
3) What is Christ proclaiming?

We will start there this week.

After that, we’ll hopefully look at what “Baptism. . . now saves you” is meant in verse 21.

Finally, we’ll want to think hard about why Peter would write verses 18-22. I said last week that he writes these verses in order to give suffering believers hope. But how does it give them hope?

The Bible study takes place at the downtown campus in Room 114 (near the bookstore) at 9:00 a.m.

If You Suffer, You’ll be Blessed

After a break for Easter, SixSixteen Sunday Morning is back this week (3/30).  We will be looking at 1 Peter 3:13-17.  We are in Room 114 at the downtown campus and begin at 9 a.m.

Easter Break

No SixSixteen this week (3/23) as we break for Easter.

Bless

Peter told us in chapter 2 of 1 Peter that our vocation is to suffer (i.e. called to suffer).

Now, in 1 Peter 3, Peter says your vocation is to bless. . . this week (3/16) at SixSixteen.

Husbands, Wives, and Singles

This week we’ll be studying 1 Peter 3:1-7, a passage addressing the complex relationship of an unsaved spouse and a believing spouse.  How should singles approach a passage like this one that at first glance doesn’t seem to apply to them?  We’ll address that as we look at the passage this week (3/9).

Remember to reset your clock forward.

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