Hope-Filled Living in a World Still Waiting — Group Study

Opening: This week we begin a new message in our Church in Exile series: Hope-Filled Living in a World Still Waiting.

1. When we think about the word “hope,” how would we normally define it? What is the similarity or difference between “hope” and “optimism”?

2. Read 1 Peter 1:1–9.

1. Peter writes to people he calls exiles, scattered and displaced. How does knowing who he’s writing to shape how we hear what follows?
2. What are the main points of these verses?
3. According to verses 3–5, what has God done for us?
4. Why is this hope and inheritance so secure?
5. Why is it important to emphasize that all of this is rooted in a work God has done and will do, rather than in any kind of improvement we bring?

3. If this is what Christian hope looks like, how is it different from optimism? How does this show us that Christian hope cannot ultimately be secured by anything our world can give?

4. Christian hope looks back to what God has done and forward to what he will do.

• How does that relate to the idea of waiting?
• How does it invite us to patiently endure and embrace the difficulties that come with living in a world still waiting?
• What would it look like for us as a church to do this faithfully?

5. Even as we embrace waiting, how does this text show us that we can still be joyful in the midst of it? How does this show us that Christian hope should not move us toward pessimism either?



6. Read 2 Corinthians 4:6–18.

• What would it look like for us to be hope-filled while still waiting?
• Paul says we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. How can we fix our eyes and our hope on Jesus more fully?
• How does this passage illustrate what we’ve been discussing?