1 Peter 5:1-14 | Leading & Following Humbly

May the hope of Christ overshadow all that you do.

May knowing your future hope in Christ
motivate you today to live out your hope daily
as you walk through this short time we have.

May you be humbled at the task before you of
following Christ and leading others to know Him better.

May you who are called to be leaders, elders and the like
carry the weight of your calling with humility
and love those that God has put under your care,
giving yourself away for their good.

May the Holy Spirit enable you to have such strength.

Finally, when the trials and storms of this life come to you,
may you cast each anxiety and care
upon Him who is strong enough to bare them.

May He who loved you enough to give up His life for you
strengthen you and help you to stand in the day of trouble,
if not by delivering you, by placing brothers and sisters
on either side of you to lift you up.

You will never suffer alone.

May our loving God help you to live
each day of this fleeting life in ways
that allow you to participate today
in the eternal and glorious story that God is writing.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 4:1-19 | Imitating Christ

May our faithful Creator enable you this week to imitate Christ.

May your time be spent
in seeking out His will for your life
so that in all that you do,
He would be glorified.

May we be people who communicate
our God’s character through love,
hospitality, service, and prayer.

May the Lord allow our actions to lead others
to know Him more greatly.

When trials and storms come our way,
may they never hinder our ability to remember
the imperishable and unfading hope we have
because of Christ’s resurrection.

May we have a Christ-shaped view of our reality,
and in all things may we continue to do good
and entrust our souls to our all-loving and great Father
as He makes His Spirit to rest upon us.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 3:13-22 | Christ in All You Do

May Christ our Lord be at the heart of all that you do.

May He be your first thought as you wake each morning,
and the One on whom you lay your cares to rest each night.

When trials come your way, may God bless you
with a knowledge of how He is working;
but when you do not see clearly,
may the Holy Spirit guide you back
to the living hope we hold in Christ.

May any suffering that comes your way
never be a result of your misdeeds,
for it is better to suffer for doing good
than for doing evil.

In all of this, may you submit to the will of God,
knowing that He works all things together
for the ultimate good of those who love Him.

May your words and deeds serve to tell the story
of all that Christ has done in your life.

May your life direct others to hope in Him.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 3:1-12 | The Freedom of Self-Giving Love

May our Almighty God enable you to know the freedom you have in Him.

In knowing this freedom, may you find who you truly are
because of who He has called you to be.

May the Holy Spirit guide your actions as a result
to communicate kindness in the face of hatred
and Christ’s light in the presence of darkness.

May your actions be those that draw others to see God more clearly.

May you who are married treat your spouse in such a way
that Christians and unbelievers alike would learn more
about the beautiful mystery that marriage points to:
the eternal and self-giving love that binds
Christ and His bride—the church—together.

May each of you embody unity,
sympathy, brotherly love,
a tender heart, and a humble mind.

May the Holy Spirit enable you to fight for those who typically get left out,
embodying the heart of our Father who leaves the ninety-nine
in pursuit of the one wandering sheep.

May we be a people who overcome evil with good.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 2:13-25 | The Freedom of Submission

May you know your identity this week as a member of God’s family
and one who has been saved by His grace.

May this allow you to live out your life in such a way
that it leads others to know God better and to glorify Him.

In living for Him, may you know the freedom you possess
that allows you to submit to the lesser authorities
in order that the truest Authority—the King of kings—
might be seen through your actions.

May the Holy Spirit lead you this week
to partake in the submission that Christ exemplified.

May He lead you to partake in both submission and action
and guide you to know when each is appropriate
so that you might be a part of His subversive otherworldly kingdom-building
that those who are living in darkness cannot make sense of.

May this be the way in which you reflect Christ’s light.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.

1 Peter 1:13-25 | Living Out our Identity

May our holy and gracious God be the One upon whom our hope rests.

As we go about our regular daily lives,
may our hope in the grace we’ve been offered
propel us to take action on behalf
of the family of God that we’ve been invited into.

May that hope be displayed through holiness in our actions
as we seek daily to become more like our perfect role model,
Jesus Christ.

As we look to the Savior who put on flesh,
who died on our behalf and rose again,
who also promises to raise us as well,
may we never settle for the ways of life
that are perishable and lesser.

May we walk in His eternal ways.
May this church be a house of overcoming.
May we be people who show what it means to be Christians.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 1:6-12 | Solace for Seasons of Trials

May the God of all glory and the deepest joy
lead you to rejoice because of who you are in Him.

May the suffering undergone by your sympathetic Savior
be a solace to you as you undergo trials of many kinds.

May the refining fire of these sufferings serve to purify your faith—
leading you in your hardest moments back into the arms of your Savior.

Above all, when times are tough
and you fear that you might get crushed by the weight of such trials,
may the living hope we hold in Jesus Christ,
who at the last day will make all things new,
allow you to rejoice in anticipation of our God
who will eternally dwell among His people
and wipe away every tear from their eyes.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.

1 Peter 1:3-5 | Hope for Every Day

May our great and merciful God,
the Lord of the Kingdom that is both now and not yet,
help you to know your identity as one
whose hope is attached to a beautiful and blessed future,
but also as one who has already been born again
into the resurrection hope of the risen Jesus.

May the Holy Spirit guide you this week
to see the glimpses of this hope
that are present in your everyday life.

While your inheritance is being kept safe by your Father in heaven,
may you know God’s power that is guarding you through faith
for your deliverance at the last day.

May the changing of the seasons and the coming colors of fall
be reminders to you of your eternal hope---
that unlike the leaves that will soon fall and wither,
we will have imperishable, undefiled, and unfading resurrection bodies because of Christ.

May you face each day with confidence,
knowing that God is for you, has chosen you,
and is guarding you by His power.

May the Lord bless you and keep you.
May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace.