Leader preparation · 2–3 minutes
Your aim for this conversation
The destination is hopeful, concrete faithfulness. Austin’s three movements are God’s calling, grace that both cleanses and changes, and glory promised in Christ. Keep returning to the passage and to this sequence.
Begin with the participant reading, then use the four questions in order. The first two explore God’s calling and our present circumstances; the third holds forgiveness and obedience together; the fourth connects future hope with real difficulty. Reserve the last six minutes for application and prayer.
All four primary questions are essential. Their follow-ups are optional. Let people pass on personal disclosure. Do not turn someone’s difficult circumstances into a claim that you know God’s specific reason for them. If election becomes a lengthy debate, acknowledge the question and return to the comfort and response emphasized in this sermon.
Timing plan
45 minutes
- Opening
- 5
- Passage
- 0
- Questions
- 34
- Application
- 6
- Prayer
- 0
Total · 45 minutes
The Big Idea
A bigger view of God’s calling, Christ’s cleansing grace, and our promised glory gives us hope and shapes how we live today.
Remember Sunday’s message
Sermon reminders
Peter’s View of God
Austin emphasized that Peter’s identity and his readers’ identity begin with God’s calling. God’s foreknowledge was presented as personal and relational, not merely knowledge of facts.
Peter’s View of Grace
Grace sets believers apart for obedience through the Spirit and cleanses them through Jesus’ blood. Forgiveness and growth belong together.
Peter’s View of Glory
The salvation the prophets anticipated is now announced to believers. Austin connected that gift with Christ in us and the future glory promised to his people.
Wednesday’s conversation
Reflect & discuss
Read the main passage together and pray. Briefly name a moment this week when you needed to step back and see a bigger picture.
1 Peter 1:1–2 · Essential · 8 minutes
An identity you receive
Peter calls himself an apostle and his readers elect exiles. How does beginning with God’s calling change the way you evaluate your worth or your progress as a Christian?
Participant follow-up: Where are you most tempted to let success, failure, or someone else’s opinion define you?
Leader notes
Where it is headed
Connect identity to God’s calling before discussing performance.
Follow-ups to have ready
- Which description in these verses changes the story you tell yourself?
- What did Austin emphasize about knowing a person rather than merely knowing facts?
Background you may need
- Relief from measuring worth by achievement; gratitude for belonging to God.
- Difficulty believing that failure does not cancel God’s care; questions about election or foreknowledge.
- Keep the group in 1 Peter 1:1–2.
If it stalls
Election is the sermon’s language of belonging and calling. Do not silently replace Austin’s explanation with a denominational system or claim that this discussion settles every question about it.
8 minutes. If a theological debate expands, note it for another conversation and return to identity and trust.
1 Peter 1:1–2; Acts 17:26 · Essential · 8 minutes
Purpose in this season
Austin connected God’s care with the time and place in which we live. Where do you need that larger perspective right now, and what would faithful participation in this season look like?
Participant follow-up: What is one thing you can do faithfully even when you cannot explain why this season is happening?
For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come.
Hebrews 13:14 (ESV)
Leader notes
Where it is headed
Move from a larger view of God to one faithful response in the present.
Follow-ups to have ready
- What is within your responsibility today?
- How does belonging to a lasting home change your expectations of this temporary one?
Background you may need
- Work or family transitions, uncertainty, feeling out of place, or difficulty seeing purpose.
- A practical next step such as showing up, serving, praying, or having a needed conversation.
- Acts 17:26 is Austin’s supporting reference. Hebrews 13:14 is printed in full beside the participant question.
If it stalls
Do not suggest that trust requires passivity, denial of pain, or certainty about why an event happened.
8 minutes. Invite examples rather than advice-giving. Protect people’s choice not to share.
1 Peter 1:2 · Essential · 10 minutes
Grace that cleanses and changes
The sermon held together being set apart for obedience and being cleansed by Jesus’ blood. Which is harder for you to live out right now: receiving forgiveness or taking the next step of obedience? Why?
Participant follow-up: What would progress look like this week without either excusing sin or demanding perfection?
Leader notes
Where it is headed
Keep Christ’s forgiveness and Spirit-enabled obedience together.
Follow-ups to have ready
- What would it look like to receive forgiveness rather than earn it?
- What small, specific act of obedience follows from that assurance?
Background you may need
- Trouble receiving forgiveness because of shame or repeated failure.
- Knowing what obedience requires but resisting it; confusing progress with perfection.
- Notice the Spirit, obedience to Jesus, and sprinkling with his blood in 1 Peter 1:2.
If it stalls
Austin explicitly rejected using forgiveness as a license to sin. Equally, avoid making obedience a way of purchasing God’s love. Possible responses are facilitation suggestions, not claims about what group members will say.
10 minutes. Do not require public confession of sensitive details. Keep the focus on the next faithful step.
1 Peter 1:10–12; 5:10 · Essential · 8 minutes
Hope with your eyes open
How does the promised glory Austin described give you hope in a real difficulty today? What changes when you remember the end of the story without minimizing the pain of the present?
Participant follow-up: Which part of 1 Peter 5:10 would you want to carry into that difficulty?
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)
Leader notes
Where it is headed
Ground hope in Christ and his promised future without minimizing present suffering.
Follow-ups to have ready
- Which word in the promise of 1 Peter 5:10 speaks to you today?
- How would you express this hope to a hurting friend without using it as a slogan?
Background you may need
- A larger horizon makes a present difficulty less final.
- Hope gives endurance, while suffering still needs compassion and practical support.
- Use 1 Peter 1:10–12 and the printed 1 Peter 5:10. Colossians 1:27 was also used by Austin.
If it stalls
Austin’s closing phrase points to Jesus’ return and promised glory. It is not a promise that every earthly circumstance improves next week.
8 minutes. Keep six minutes for application and prayer.
Carry it into the week
Next Steps
From the sermon
- Read 1 Peter 1:3–9 before next Sunday’s sermon.
- Lift your eyes to Jesus and remember this week that the best is yet to come.
Application
Choose one situation to view through God’s calling, grace, or promised glory. Name one faithful next step and, if you wish, share it with someone in the group.
My notes
Close in prayer
Thank God for calling us, cleansing us, and promising us glory. Pray for the situations and next steps people have chosen to share.
Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the ESV Bible, © 2001 by Crossway. Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. Permissions. Prepared for this small group from the September 6, 2026 sermon; questions and applications are editorial study material.