EXILES
LIVING AS OUTSIDERS FOR GOD’S KINGDOM
Exiles is a 12-week journey through 1 Peter looking at what it means to follow Jesus in a world where we increasingly feel like outsiders. Rather than seeing this tension as a problem, Scripture shows it is the normal shape of life for those who belong to God’s kingdom.
As citizens of the kingdom of God, we are called to witness to His reign in the world through faithful presence, courageous love, and enduring hope. This series invites us to live as a distinct people whose lives point others to Jesus in a world that is not yet restored and made new.
SCHEDULE
May 10 // Scattered Exiles
May 17 // Hope Breaks Into History
May 24 // The Long Story Finds Its Center
May 31 // A New Kind Of Community
June 7 // A People for God’s Mission
June 14 // Witness in Ordinary Life
June 21 // A Love That Makes People Curious
June 28 // The Victory of The Crucified King
July 5 // Living the Future in the Present
July 12 // Suffering as Participation
July 19 // Shepherds and Sheep
July 26 // Standing Firm
AUDIO PODCASTS
EXILES // Scattered Exiles
1 Peter Intro
This week Cory kicked off Exiles, a new series through 1 Peter exploring what it means to follow Jesus in a world where we increasingly feel like outsiders. Written by the Apostle Peter to scattered, suffering Christians navigating the overwhelming cultural pressure of Rome, the letter speaks directly into our lives today. Cory unpacked two powerful identity markers Peter gives us: we are elect, chosen by God and set apart for His mission in the world, and we are exiles, strangers in a Babylonian world that is not yet our true home. The tension we feel isn't a problem. It's our calling.
May 10 // Cory Kasperson
EXILES // Hope Breaks Into History
1 Peter 1: 3-9
This week Brian opens 1 Peter's roadmap for living as exiles in a resistant world. Following Jesus creates real friction, new convictions, and relational pressure, and that tension is not a sign something is wrong. Using Peter's own story of cowardice turned courage through the resurrection, Brian challenges the church not to shrink back into a quiet, privatized faith. Instead, Peter's first instruction is to praise God. In the middle of suffering and loss, the Christian response is Hallelujah, anchored in God's mercy, the new birth we've been given, and the inheritance kept secure in heaven that no one can take away.
May 17 // Brian Berger
EXILES // The Long Story Finds Its Center
1 Peter 1: 10-21
This week Cory opens 1 Peter 1 with a call for exiles to live differently because of what Christ has done for them. He frames the message around a culture obsessed with happiness, describing how many people treat life like a giant Easter egg hunt, chasing career, pleasure, and approval, only to find it empty. But Peter points to a fuller life found in Jesus alone. Cory unpacks three realities shaping the exile's life: recognizing the privilege of our salvation, embracing the expectation of holiness motivated by both hope and reverent fear of God, and understanding the cost of our redemption in Christ.
May 24 // Cory Kasperson
EXILES // A New Kind of Community
1 Peter 1:22 - 2:3
This week Brian opens by challenging the idea that the only difference between a believer and an unbeliever is forgiveness. While forgiveness is real and glorious, Peter wants the church to understand something bigger: through the resurrection and the Spirit, followers of Jesus are a new humanity entirely. Born again through the living and enduring Word of God, they are not just pardoned sinners but a new kind of human being altogether. Brian calls the church to grow into that identity by craving Scripture, cutting sin out of the diet, and most importantly, loving one another deeply as the most powerful witness to a watching world.
May 31 // Brian Berger
EXILES // A People For God’s Mission
1 Peter 2:4-10
This week Brett opens with the disorientation that comes at every stage of life, from adolescence to midlife to old age, and names the deeper question underneath all of it: who am I, and where do I belong? He traces the grand biblical story from creation through Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, showing that Israel was always called to be a kingdom of priests reflecting God to the nations. In 1 Peter 2, Peter takes that same language and applies it directly to the church today. Our identity is not something we create for ourselves, but something declared over us by God, and it comes with a mission.
June 7 // Brett Berger
EXILES // Witness in Ordinary Life
1 Peter 2:11-3:7
This week Jon opens with a simple but convicting reality: most people who don't know Jesus will never walk into a church, but they will watch how Christians respond under pressure. Working through 1 Peter 2 and into chapter 3, he covers three categories of everyday witness: public life, work life, and home life. In each one, Peter calls believers to absorb injustice and do good rather than retaliate, because the witness of the church shines brightest not through outrage or control but through humility, integrity, and love. The foundation for all of it is Jesus, the ultimate exile, who entrusted himself to the Father rather than defending himself.
June 14 // John Demeter
EXILES // A Love That Makes People Curious
1 Peter 3:8-16
This week Cory opens with a simple but convicting observation: our lives are either creating curiosity about Jesus or cynicism toward him in the people watching. Working through 1 Peter 3:8-16, he walks through three things the world should encounter when it comes in contact with followers of Jesus: the character of Christ, visible in how the church treats one another especially when it is hard; the peace of Christ, active in pursuing reconciliation; and the hope of Christ, so tangible and visible that it draws questions from the people around you.
June 21 // Cory Kasperson
EXILES // The Victory of the Crucified King
1 Peter 3:17-22
This week Seth works through 1 Peter 3:18-22 and keeps the focus on Peter's overarching argument. Christ's suffering was not a tragedy but the total defeat of sin, death, and every power of evil, a victory cosmic in scope that reclaims not just individuals but all of creation. Through baptism, believers publicly declare their allegiance to the risen King, and that allegiance shows up in daily life as a willingness to step into the brokenness of the world and bear its burdens rather than avoid them. The church follows a scapegoat savior, and that means imaging him to a watching world.
June 28 // Seth Templeton
EXILES // Living the Future in the Present
1 Peter 4:1-11
This week Brian reads through a sweeping portion of 1 Peter, from the opening blessing all the way into chapter 4, letting the full arc of Peter's argument land together. The throughline is clear: because Christ suffered and conquered darkness through the cross and resurrection, his people are now called to arm themselves with that same attitude. Living in the light means pursuing holiness, loving community deeply, controlling sinful desires, and being ready to give a reason for the hope that doesn't waver even under pressure.
July 5 // Brian Berger
EXILES // Suffering as Participation
1 Peter 4:12-19
This week Cory opens with a confession: this passage made him more anxious to preach than almost any other, because he simply doesn't want to suffer. Working through 1 Peter 4:12-19, he walks through Peter's call to not be surprised when faithfulness costs something. Suffering, Peter says, is a test that exposes what the heart is actually trusting. Cory covers three reasons to rejoice in it: it deepens intimacy with Christ, it will give way to overflowing joy, and it means the favor of God is resting on you.
July 12 // Cory Kasperson
EXILES // Shepherds and Sheep
1 Peter 5:1-7
This week Josué works through 1 Peter 5 and frames the whole message around a countercultural reminder: this is not our final home. From that foundation he walks through three calls. First, a call for pastors and elders to care for the flock as servants, not owners, with joy and without seeking power or recognition. Second, a call for the entire community to clothe themselves in humility toward one another, intentionally and daily. Third, a call to trust God completely by releasing every burden, from the smallest to the largest, into the hands of a faithful creator who cares.
July 19 // Josué Lopez
EXILES // Standing Firm
1 Peter 5:8-14
This week Cory closes out the Exiles series with 1 Peter 5:8-11, naming one of the enemy's most effective tactics: staying unseen. He covers three strategies the enemy uses against the church: lies that quietly lead people away from God, isolation that makes those lies harder to resist, and suffering that erodes trust in God's character. The antidote to each one is the same: stay in Scripture, stay rooted in community, and take shelter in the God of all grace who promises to restore and strengthen his people to the end.
July 26 // Cory Kasperson
