LIVING HOPE

“How To Be Holy Without Being Perfect?”

Pastor Duane Cross | 10.14.2012

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy in all you do; for it is written. “Be holy, because I am holy.” (I Peter 1:13-16)

“Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you...” (I Peter 1:10)

“You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.” I Peter 1:22-23(NLT)

“It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. Lighthouses do not ring bells and fire cannons to call attention to their shining-they just shine.” D. L. Moody

1) We need a new mindset.

“Therefore, prepare your minds for action.” (I Peter 1:13)

2) We need a new goal.

“Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (I Peter 1:13)

3) We need a new identity.

“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do.” (I Peter 1:15)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! “ (2 Cor. 5:17)

GOING DEEPER QUESTIONS
For the Week of October 14
1 Peter 1:13-2:3 | Pastor Duane Cross

These questions are designed to help you go deeper with the sermon during your week-to take a closer look at the Scripture and find fresh ways to live out the main points of the sermon. Going Deeper questions also are used for discussion in all of our Grow Groups at Hope.

Getting Started
What insight or principle from this weekend’s message did you find helpful, interesting or challenging? Explain.

What concerns do you have about the times we live in?

What message does our sign out front (“No Perfect People Allowed”) give to those who pass by?

What does the quote, “we’ve conquered outer space but not inner space”, mean to you?

What do you think it means to be holy? What does a holy life look like in our world?

A Closer Look
According to Peter we have been “redeemed” (v.18) from our old ways of living. God has “brought us back” to live for him. What would this truth have meant for the ex-pagans living in modern-day Turkey?

What are the two motivations for holiness that Peter gives us in 1:16-17? How can these motivate us?

What are some of the results of being holy found in 1:22-23; 2:1-2; 3:8-13; 4:1-5? Where have you seen this kind of life in the Christians around you?

Read Psalm 34:8-10 and 1 Peter 2:1-3. What does it mean to “taste that the Lord is good”?

Digging Deeper
Why can it be difficult to break from “the evil desires you [once] lived in?

Read 1:24-25. Where do we encounter the living and enduring “word of the Lord”? What are two specific things you can do this week to expose yourself to this word?

Peter tells us to “crave spiritual milk” and “grow up in our salvation”. The Christian life is a process of moving closer and closer to Jesus. Have you experienced this in your spiritual journey over the past several years? Why or why not?