{"id":26195,"date":"2020-11-06T13:06:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T13:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/2020\/12\/01\/preaching-on-1-peter\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T17:26:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T17:26:58","slug":"preaching-on-1-peter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/preaching-on-1-peter\/","title":{"rendered":"Preaching on 1 Peter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Historical Background to the Book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Peter was one of 12 apostles chosen by Jesus. Along with Paul, Peter came to be one of the primary leaders of the early church. Paul was mainly assigned to reach Gentiles, while Peter ministered mainly to Jews. Peter wrote this letter from Rome towards the end of his life to a diverse group of both Jews and Gentiles living in an area called Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey. The Emperor at the time was a man named Nero, and Nero was becoming increasingly suspicious of Christians. This would soon turn into outright hostility and persecution. Peter himself would be martyred in Rome around 64 AD. But the people he was writing to were feeling the heat starting to turn up. Repeatedly he talks about how to endure suffering because a \u201cfiery ordeal\u201d was about to begin (4:13). So the purpose of this letter was to prepare these people to live in a culture at odds with their faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chart: Preaching Through 1 Peter<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We know the weekly grind of sermon prep is hard, whether you are in the midst of series or planning a new series. Trying to find key verses you need to highlight in your sermon, finding the historical background to the book, discovering the flow\/structure of book, and even figuring out what is the theme of each section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is why we created this chart! This chart is designed to\u00a0save you time<\/strong>\u00a0as you prepare to preach a new sermon series from the Book of 1 Peter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You will find a quick visual overview of the movement of the Book of 1 Peter. It will help orient you and your hearers as you preach through the entire book or sections of the book. It provides, at a glance, one way to divide the book into pericopes. The chart includes key verses in the book, an overarching title for the book, the overall message of the book, and some historical background. It is color-coded to highlight certain defining aspects of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This chart could be used as a slide in your church service. It could serve as an introduction to a new series or a weekly check-in before you begin preaching. It could even be printed out and given to the members of your church, as a resource to help them grasp the message of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Sermon Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

You can read five different commentaries on 1 Peter and find that each outlines this letter differently. Our series on 1 Peter was thirteen weeks long and we divided the preaching passage up in the following way:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Series Title: Exiles: Hope Between Two Worlds<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Text: 1 Peter 1:1-2<\/h2>\n\n\n\n