First Peter assumes the church is a powerless minority seeking to survive in the face of a brutal and pagan empire. Peter challenges the early followers of Christ to be ready to give the apologetic, their defense, of the faith. In some ways, we can find increasing resonance with Peter's emphasis on living as a spiritual minority. However, after many centuries of Christian power, Peter's understanding of faith, power and empire likely feels foreign to us and in fact, many of us may feel a need to apologize for the previous mistakes of Christians in power. Questions
1) Do you feel like a minority as a Christian? Do you feel like a minority within a minority as a Christian of your particular type (say Lutheran)?
2) How might it be different for young Christians today verses young Christians three generations ago?
3) Are there times when you've felt called to give a defense of the hope within you?
4) What are the central things of the Christian faith you would want to emphasize or communicate to some who was a non-believer?
5) Have you ever had to apologize for the Christian faith? For what do you have to apologize?
6) What can be lost if we apologize too much for the faith?
7) What might be ways for Christians solidly in a church to interact with non-believers?
25 Sept 2026
Reading the Bible in a Year: James
"But the book of James says that faith without works is dead!" So goes the classic critique of Lutheran theology. Turns out, actually, that Luther acknowledged faith without works is dead! Alas, we will need to muddy the waters before we clean up this mess!
As we continue to work our way through the Bible, one book at a time, some discussion questions
1) What verses challenged you in the book of James?
2) What verses offered you encouragement in the book of James?
3) Did the letter feel like it was written by someone who cares for you or not?
4) What do you make of the fact that both Paul and James have different interpretations of Abraham's faith, works and righteousness?
5) Do think faith without works is dead? Can you measure the works of another person or yourself to determine what kind of faith the person has?
6) What would be the problem if the whole Bible read like James? What would be missing from the Bible if we didn't have James?
7) Can a congregation hold people together who come from different economic backgrounds?
19 Jun 2026
Reading the Bible in a Year: Hebrews
Hebrews can be a tough book to read because it makes a lot of dense arguments that rely on a heavy dose of Old Testament quotes. However, it gets at two basic questions:
How do we deal with people who have lost the passion in their faith?
Will people who leave the faith be saved?
Some questions to ponder
1) Have you ever known someone who was a "backslider" who walked away from the faith? What brought them back?
2) Have you ever been away from the faith for a long time? What brought you back?
3) When it comes to people attending church on Sunday less frequently, what might it look like for the church to a) resist this? b) adapt to this? c) accept this?
4) Did the distinction between the preached and unpreached God make any sense?
5) How can we comfort parents of people whose children left the faith?
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