1 Peter 1

 Key verse: 1 Peter 1:1

Big idea: We live as exiles in the world. 

Home is a small word for a big idea. You may go on a trip and sleep in nicer beds than the one that is in your bedroom, but there is still something better about coming home and being in your bed. Home is where we are at peace and can rest in belonging. It is the place where we are safe from the conflicts and pains of life. Home is where we want to get back to when we are away. We have expressions like, "Don't get too at home," that warns us about getting attached somewhere we will not be able to stay. I think that is something of what Peter means when he addresses his readers as "strangers," as the King James puts it. The word means "foreigner," or "exile." It refers to someone living in a country that is not his or her own. 

Peter's audience live in various places: Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. But they are not at home there. The problem is worse than that! They are not Jewish exiles in Pontus or some lost Frenchman who wandered into Asia minor. They are citizens of a new world, born into the Kingdom of God, living in this old world only for a season. We who are God's children are exiles, living in a place where we do not belong for a little while, until our King mounts His great rescue mission. So don't get too at home.

Discussion idea: What are some concrete signs that a Christian is becoming "at home" in the world? What are some things that an exile mentality does?

Prayer focus: Ask God to remind you who you are and not to lost sight of that ultimate significance.