1 Peter 5
Peter addresses the elders and sends final greetings
Discussion Questions
- Verse 7 may be harder to implement than it sounds. Do you believe it?
- Do you think Peter believes in a literal devil (v 8)?
Share your thoughts below, or tweet about it with the #boundlessbible hashtag. Don't forget this week's Children's Challenge!
Going Deeper From 'Words of Life'
Do you ever get anxious about things? I do. Yet it does me no good to worry and fret. Whether it is sorrow or sickness, this song tells us to bring it all to Jesus – laying everything at the Cross:
Is there a heart o’erbound by sorrow?
Is there a life weighed down by care?
Come to the cross, each burden bearing,
All your anxiety, leave it there.
(SASB 246 v 1)
Edward Joy, a Salvation Army officer, wrote several songs for the Army. No doubt he came across people with many anxieties. Things are no different today. The answer to all our problems? It’s in the second verse:
No other friend so keen to help you;
No other friend so quick to hear;
No other place to leave your burden;
No other one to hear your prayer.
Yes, anxiety is an issue with people of all ages. Fears; increasing pressures; stress. The song simply tells us to bring everything to Jesus in prayer. If we are willing to do this, then – perhaps at our own makeshift mercy seat – let’s sing this final verse and refrain:
Come, then, at once; delay no longer;
Heed his entreaty, kind and sweet;
You need not fear a disappointment;
You shall find peace at the mercy seat.
All your anxiety, all your care,
Bring to the mercy seat, leave it there,
Never a burden he cannot bear,
Never a friend like Jesus.
Beverly Ivany
Photo: Les Hull (used under Creative Commons licence)