when-times-get-tough-study-guide-week-1

Reference: 1 Peter 1: 1-2

Read through 1 Peter 1:1–12. Does this section seem depressive or upbeat? Why do you say this?

*Read 1 Peter 1:6 and 1 Peter 4:12. Does the tone of 1 Peter’s opening 12 verses surprise you in the light of the fact that the recipients of the letter are going through trials? Why?

Notice that the recipients are called “God’s elect” in verse 1 and “chosen by God” in verse 2. How might these titles encourage people who are described as “scattered strangers” in 1 Peter 1:2 and “aliens and strangers in the world” in 1 Peter 2:11?
Notice how God-centered the opening verses are. The times were tough, but Peter says that God knows you and is at work in your life. Put into your own words what Peter is saying about each person of the Godhead in 1 Peter 1:2:

*What does God the Father do?

*What does the Holy Spirit do?

*What does (or did) Jesus do?
When you are going through tough times, does it make a different that “all that God is” (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is at work in your life? Why?
What do you learn about “tough times” from these opening verses that tell us that God personally chose to call us and bring us into his family?