Leader preparation · 2–3 minutes
Your aim for this conversation
Read 1 Peter 2:13–17. Notice the three movements Conrad drew from it: live well (verses 13–15), live free (verse 16) and live respectfully (verse 17).
The conversation is about each person's own conduct as a citizen, not about how the government is doing. Q2 touches abortion, and the November 3 election is three weeks away; keep the group on the passage and their own conduct, not on parties or candidates.
Essential questions: Q1, Q2, Q4. Use Q3 when time permits.
Timing plan
45 minutes
- Opening
- 4
- Passage
- 5
- Questions
- 24
- Application
- 7
- Prayer
- 5
Total · 45 minutes
The Big Idea
The gospel is exemplified not in governmental leaders, but in the conduct of the Christian citizen.
Remember Sunday’s message
Sermon reminders
Live Well
Peter tells believers to be subject to every human institution "for the Lord's sake." Doing good, even with rules we would not have chosen, puts the gospel on display.
Live Free
Biblical freedom is the freedom to choose God's will and God's way, which includes the freedom to submit. Conrad applied it to the coming election: vote your values as a servant of God, then trust God with the results.
Live Respectfully
Honor everyone, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. Honor is not agreement; it gives every person the dignity of an image bearer.
Wednesday’s conversation
Reflect & discuss
Read 1 Peter 2:13–17 together in the ESV.
1 Peter 2:13–15 · Essential · 5 minutes
Rules kept for the Lord
Conrad quoted John Piper, "Keeping the speed limit is Christian worship." Which everyday rule do you find easiest to shrug off, and what would keeping it "for the Lord's sake" look like for you this week?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad said we should live well under rules "whether or not we agree with them," and "probably more so when we disagree with them." When has keeping a rule you disagreed with given you a chance to show what you believe?
- Jesus said to "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's." What do you tend to give grudgingly, and what would giving it gladly look like?
Background you may need
- Conrad was clear that this does not mean going along with a law that requires what is morally wrong. Keep the conversation on ordinary rules.
If it stalls
Read verse 13 aloud and stop at "for the Lord's sake." Ask what changes about a stop sign when you keep it for him.
1 Peter 2:13–15 · Essential · 7 minutes
Two kinds of wrong
Conrad named two kinds of wrong: malum in se, wrong in itself, like murder, and malum prohibitum, wrong only because a law forbids it, like speeding; and he said that if abortion is legislated, that does not mean we go along with it. How do you tell the difference between a rule you keep for the Lord's sake even when you disagree with it and a wrong you will not support whatever the law says, and where has that line been hard for you to see?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad thought this passage has the second kind, wrong only because a law forbids it, more in view. Why might Peter's readers under Rome have needed that reminder, and why might we?
- Conrad said the rules we disagree with are, "more often than not," a matter of "our perspective and our preference." Where might you be treating a preference as a matter of conscience?
Background you may need
- Keep the conversation on how each person tells the two kinds apart and lives by it, not on parties or candidates.
- Someone in the room may carry a personal history with abortion. Speak about the law and our conduct, not about people.
If it stalls
Name a few laws, such as a speed limit, a tax, a fishing license and a law against theft, and ask the group to sort them into the two kinds.
1 Peter 2:16 · Optional · 6 minutes
Free to come under
Peter told believers living under Nero to "live as people who are free," and Conrad said that means we are "free to come under something else." Where in your life right now does submitting feel least like freedom, and what would it look like to do it as a servant of God?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Conrad called Jesus "the most free person who ever lived," and yet Jesus submitted to his Father's will. When has putting yourself under God first made it easier to submit to someone else?
- Optional, more personal: Peter warns against "using your freedom as a cover-up for evil." Where are you tempted to call doing what you want "freedom"?
If it stalls
Offer general examples: a decision by a boss, a rule at work or school, a limit set by health or age. Ask which one people actually live with.
1 Peter 2:17 · Essential · 6 minutes
Honor everyone
Peter wrote "Honor everyone" and "Honor the emperor" while Nero was on the throne, and Conrad said honor is not agreement but seeing people "with respect, dignity, and worth." Where do you find it hardest to give honor right now, with a public leader or with someone closer to home, and what would one act of honor look like there before next Wednesday?
Leader notes
Follow-ups to have ready
- Peter puts "Fear God" right before "Honor the emperor," and Conrad said God is the only one on the list we are to fear. How does fearing God change the way you see a person in power you dislike or fear?
- "Love the brotherhood": Conrad described his sons putting their hands in together. Where in this church could you give that kind of support this week?
Background you may need
- Keep the focus on how we treat people, not on whether a particular leader deserves honor.
If it stalls
Allow a 10-second pause, as Conrad did, before anyone answers.
Carry it into the week
Next Steps
From the sermon
- Think of someone you will see this week who needs a little more honor from you, and give them respect, dignity and worth, whether or not you agree with them.
- Keep ordinary rules, like the speed limit, as an act of worship.
- Before you vote in the November 3 election, pray, discern and vote your biblical values as a servant of God. Then trust God with the results.
- Ask yourself: What can I control? What can't I control? What is my responsibility right here, right now?
Application
Each day this week, pray for the people in authority over you, at work, in our city and in the nation, and ask God to help you live well under them.
My notes
Close in prayer
Thank God that our citizenship is in heaven, and ask him for grace to live well, live free and live respectfully under the authorities he has placed over us.
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 October 11, 2026 sermon; questions and applications are editorial study material.