The first letter of Peter teaches what it means to be God's people in times of persecution, trials, and suffering. That said, Peter became a prime authority on these matters after he encountered the risen Christ and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit. In this message, Pastor Troy Billow begins a new series on the first letter of Peter with a little review on the nature of the "old Peter", which was weighed down by his lack of faith, failures, shame, and inadequacy. Yet despite these flaws, Jesus had tremendous potential for Peter, and saw past them as He did a good work in him that was carried on to completion, transforming Peter into the exact opposite of the man he once was. In other words, there was a lot of "growing up" that Peter had to experience before he became a bold Apostle for Jesus Christ.