God’s flock: a community in tension

Bible passage: Read 1 Peter 5:1-11

(1) Peter’s 1st letter is written to a Christian community that appears to be under pressure. Is this a fair description of the Christian community today in Scotland?

(2) What causes the Church to feel pressurised today?

(3) There appears to have been tension within the churches to which 1 Peter was written. What do you think these might have been?

(4) What issues cause tension within the Church nowadays and how are they handled?

(5) 1 Peter 5:6&7 appeals to Christians to humble themselves. How might this help? And what is the relationship between being humble and casting our anxiety upon God?

Extra

(6) 1 Peter 2:11-12, in this passage Christians are called ‘strangers in the world’. This may account for some of the tension the Church was under. How does this compare with your experience? What advice would you give fellow Christians to help them manage the call to live ‘good lives’ in the world and at the same time to recognise that they are strangers here?