You Are a Chosen People

In one paragraph

Brad Yates, one of our elders, preached from 1 Peter 2:9-10 on the identity that belongs to everyone who is in Christ. His central point was that when God saved us, He made us part of something genuinely new, and that the church, understood rightly, is called to be visibly, observably different from the culture around it. Brad opened by noting that human beings have a deep need to belong, and that...

Read together

1. 1 Peter 2:9-10 the central text of the sermon, read aloud and expounded throughout
2. Romans 5 cited to show that we were enemies of God but now have peace with God through Jesus
3. John 17 Jesus praying that his followers are not of the world just as he is not of the world
4. James 4 warning that friendship with the world is hostility toward God
5. Genesis 12 referenced as the source of God's promises to Abraham
6. 1 John 2 quoted to show that no one who denies the Son has the Father
7. Proverbs 14:4 used to illustrate that community and church life, though messy, produces profit
8. Revelation 1 referenced to describe believers as a kingdom of priests
9. Galatians 5 the fruits of the Spirit listed and applied personally by name as a self-examination exercise

Talk about it

1. Brad said that if you cannot simply and succinctly answer the question 'who are you?', Satan will do it for you. How would you answer that question right now, and where does your sense of identity actually come from day to day?
2. Brad described what he called the bad news of the gospel, that there is nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God, and said we cannot accept the good news until we have accepted the bad news first. Do you agree with that, and what does it look like in practice to hold both at the same time?
3. Brad pointed out that throughout First Peter, the word 'you' is plural, written to the whole church collectively, and that we cannot live out what Christ calls us to alone. Where in your own life do you sense you are trying to carry that calling by yourself, and what is it costing you?
4. Brad said that the most terrifying and the most freeing conversation you will ever have is the day you bring what you thought was a disqualifying sin to a brother or sister in Christ. What makes that kind of honesty so hard, and what would need to be true of this community for it to feel possible?
5. Brad closed by saying we were called out of the world while being physically left in it so that we can tell people about Jesus, and he quoted his friend's line that it is better to be awkward than silent when it comes to sharing our faith. Where is there a person or a situation in your life right now where you have been silent, and what would a first step look like?