Woe Is Me: Encountering the Holiness of God

In one paragraph

Pastor Carl opened in 1 Peter 1:10-22, but before getting there he stepped back to show what holiness actually looks like when a person runs into it, and then traced that same moment of recognition through the life of Peter himself. The driving concern of the whole message was salvation: what the prophets were straining to see, what believers already have, and what is still on offer for anyone who...

Read together

1. Isaiah 6:1-7 Read in full to illustrate the holiness of God and Isaiah's conviction of sin before the Lord
2. Luke 5:1-11 Read in full to show Peter's encounter with Jesus and his conviction of sin at the miraculous catch of fish
3. 1 Peter 1:1-2 Read as the introduction and address of the letter, establishing Peter's audience as scattered aliens
4. 1 Peter 1:3-5 Read to establish the main theme of praise to God for salvation, living hope, and an imperishable inheritance
5. 1 Peter 1:6-7 Read as the first digression on suffering and trials refining faith
6. 1 Peter 1:8-9 Read as the second digression on love and inexpressible joy in believing without having seen Jesus
7. 1 Peter 1:10-12 Read as the third digression showing the prophets searched carefully to understand the salvation they foretold
8. 1 Peter 1:13 Read to call believers to gird up their minds, keep sober, and fix hope on coming grace
9. 1 Peter 1:14-16 Read as the call to holiness, not conforming to former lusts, because God is holy
10. 1 Peter 1:17-19 Read on conducting oneself in reverence, redeemed not by silver or gold but by the precious blood of Christ
11. 1 Peter 1:20-21 Read on Christ being foreknown before the foundation of the world, appearing in these last times so faith and hope are in God
12. 1 Peter 1:22 Read as the charge to believers to love one another fervently from a pure heart, and used as the benediction

Talk about it

1. Pastor Carl opened with Isaiah's vision of God and Peter's encounter with Jesus on the lake, and both men responded to God's holiness by confessing their sin immediately. When have you been struck by a sense of God's holiness, and what did it reveal to you about yourself?
2. The sermon described salvation as the great dividing line of all personal history, and said there is no neutral ground: a person either accepts or rejects the gospel. How do you think about that claim, and how does it shape the way you talk about faith with people who are on the fence?
3. Peter tells his readers that the prophets searched carefully to understand the salvation they were prophesying about but did not fully experience it themselves. What does it mean to you personally that you live on this side of the promise, able to see what they could only look forward to?
4. The sermon drew out two phrases from the passage: 'in your ignorance' and 'inherited from your forefathers,' pointing to the futile ways of life people are born into before the gospel reaches them. In what ways do you still feel the pull of patterns you inherited, and how does the call to holiness in verse 15 speak to that?
5. The closing verse charges believers to love one another from a pure heart, unselfishly seeking the best for one another, and the sermon said the world will want what it sees when the church loves that way. Where do you think this congregation is living that out well, and where is there room to grow?