HOW TO USE THIS DISCUSSION GUIDEAs you lead the discussion, we follow a discipleship framework that helps move us from learning to transformation: Head → Heart → Hands → Share → Check-In
Leader Reminder: There are multiple questions in each section. Leaders should prepare ahead of time and use discernment to choose the questions that best serve their group. The goal of this discussion is not just conversation but transformation. Encourage participation, honesty, and practical obedience.
ICE BREAKER
- Growing up, what was something you were “known for” among your family or friends?
- What is one accomplishment, role, or skill you are proud of?
- If someone who knows you well had to describe you in three words, what do you think they would say?
SERMON RECAP
Our culture tells us to discover who we are by looking inside ourselves and to prove our worth through what we accomplish. In 1 Peter 2:4–10, Peter points us to a different foundation: if we want to know who we are, we must first know whose we are. We come to Jesus, the living Stone, and discover that in Him, we are loved, accepted, forgiven, and His. This identity is not earned or achieved; it is bestowed and received by grace.
The gospel gives us an unshakable identity—and brings us into a people who belong to God. Together, we are living stones being built into His spiritual house, called to reflect His glory and impact the world because of whose we are. As that truth takes root, God continues forming us—taken, blessed, broken, and given—so that our lives become a blessing to others. The invitation is to lift up our eyes, come again to Jesus, and root our identity in His story rather than the world’s. When we know whose we are, we can live securely in who we are and freely give ourselves away for His purposes.
SCRIPTURE
READ: 1 Peter 2:4–10
HEAD
What does the scripture show?
- What words, images, or repeated ideas stand out to you in 1 Peter 2:4–10? What surprises you or raises questions for you?
- What does Peter say is true of those who come to Jesus? What do these descriptions reveal about our relationship with Him and with one another?
- What do the names and descriptions Peter gives Jesus reveal about who He is?
- In verses 9–10, what does God declare about His people? What does this reveal about where our identity, belonging, and purpose come from?
HEART
What do we believe?
- Where do people commonly turn when trying to define their identity? In which of these do you see yourself tempted to build your identity?
- Read verse 9 again. Which of these truths is easiest for you to receive? Which is hardest to really believe about yourself?
- “If you want to know who you are, you must learn whose you are.” How has belonging to Jesus changed the way you understand your worth, purpose, or place in the world?
HANDS
Practice Together in Community
- What is one thing God is inviting you to believe, do, or change because of this passage?
- The sermon described God's work in us as being “taken, blessed, broken, and given.” Where do you see God at work in that process in your life right now? How can this group support you as you trust Him in it?
- Knowing whose we are frees us to give ourselves away. How might God be inviting you to bless someone around you this week?
Complete this sentence: "This week, I will live out this sermon by ____________________."
SHARE: MISSION
Living Out the Message This Week
- Who will you share this takeaway with this week?
- Who will you intentionally pray for this week?
NEXT WEEK CHECK-IN
- Encourage the group to return next week ready to share how they practiced the HANDS step and how they lived out the SHARE: MISSION step.
PRAYER
- Thank God that our identity is received by grace rather than earned through our performance.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal places where insecurity, comparison, achievement, or the approval of others has become a source of identity.
- Pray that the truths God speaks over us in Christ—chosen, loved, forgiven, holy, and His—would become increasingly real in our hearts.
- Ask God to continue taking, blessing, breaking, and giving us so that our lives reflect Jesus and bring His life to others.
OTHER SCRIPTURE
Ephesians 1:11, Exodus 19:5–6, Hosea 1–3, Matthew 4:1–4, Matthew 16:25