Living For God – Lesson Plan
Key Thought: Peter appeals for us to live lives that exemplify love, sympathy, humility, harmony, and compassion. He sees this standard as God’s calling for us.
1. Have a volunteer read I Peter 3:8-12.
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a. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
b. How do we know God listens to our prayers? What can hinder those prayers being answered?
c. Personal Application : How often do we not return evil for evil? What kind of death to self must we experience to follow these words in our lives? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your relatives states: “I don’t know anyone who controls their tongue and watches carefully what they say. They argue, gossip, and give negative feedback when verbally assailed.” How true is what your relative says?
2. Have a volunteer read I Peter 3:21, 4:1,2.
a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
b. How do we have the same mind of Christ?
c. Personal Application : When was the last time you found yourself “suffering in the flesh” in order to fight against sin? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : One of your friends states, “Is this passage saying that a person needs to be baptized in order to be saved, just like getting in the ark was necessary to be saved? If so, why is it necessary? If not, why not?” How would you respond to your friend?
3. Have a volunteer read I Peter 4:3-6.
a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. What does it mean to be judged by men in the flesh and live in the spirit according to God?
c. Personal Application: Do you have friends or former friends that think you are strange for not partying with them and not doing things you used to? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study: One of your neighbors states, “What dead people is Peter talking about here? Did Jesus go and preach to dead people in purgatory so they might be redeemed?” How would you respond to your neighbor?
4. Have a volunteer read I Peter 4:7-11.
a. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the main idea of this text is.
b. What role does prayer play in the appeal for believers to live with the awareness of the closeness of the end and judgment?
c. Personal Application : “What evidence do we have in our lives that we are living in the judgment? Would you do anything different if you thought it was your last day? Share your thoughts.
d. Case Study : Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them.
Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).
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