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May 6, 2023

Focusing on Christ

Tanya Marlow   |   Read 1 Peter 2:2-5, 9-10

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Lectionary Week
May 1–7, 2023
Scripture Overview

All of the readings this week include people facing hostility or suffering. In Acts, Stephen is stoned to death for his belief in Christ. In John’s Gospel, the disciples in the upper room are anticipating Jesus’ death. Peter tells the scattered believers not to fear despite the hatred in society, and the psalmist cries to the Lord for rescue from his persecutors. Another aspect the readings have in common is the solution to their suffering. For the psalmist, this means recalling God’s character. In the New Testament passages, it’s remembering Christ. God is a rock and fortress in Psalm 31, and Christ is the cornerstone, our firm foundation, in 1 Peter. Focusing on Christ shapes our response to suffering.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Acts 7:55-60. Recall a time when you have seen God’s power in action. How was God’s power different than you might have expected?Read Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16. Contemplate your answers to the author’s questions. How do the psalmist’s hope and experiences reflect your own?Read 1 Peter 2:2-10. When have you experienced God as a loving Mother? When has Christ been your cornerstone?Read John 14:1-14. How do you experience God’s presence through the life or actions of others?

Respond by posting a prayer .

1 Peter 2:2-5, 9-10

2 Instead, like a newborn baby, desire the pure milk of the word. Nourished by it, you will grow into salvation, 3 since you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Now you are coming to him as to a living stone. Even though this stone was rejected by humans, from God’s perspective it is chosen, valuable. 5 You yourselves are being built like living stones into a spiritual temple. You are being made into a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people who are God’s own possession. You have become this people so that you may speak of the wonderful acts of the one who called you out of darkness into his amazing light. 10 Once you weren’t a people, but now you are God’s people. Once you hadn’t received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

As Peter’s letter reveals, the early church was small and characterized by deep, communal, organic spiritual growth. The first metaphor he uses is shows the members as infants craving spiritual milk. We all need spiritual food—scripture, prayer, and communion—to grow. Yet the second metaphor shows that those same infants form...

Lord, we have tasted that you are good. Keep us looking to you, knowing our true identity, longing for deep spiritual growth. Build us together as a church. Amen.


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The Upper Room Devotional Celebrates 90th Anniversary

The Upper Room Devotional Celebrates 90th Anniversary

More Than 1.5 Billion Copies Printed Worldwide Since 1935 NASHVILLE, Tenn. May 1, 2025 — The Read More

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