October 15, 2026
FORT WORTH, Texas — Understanding the role of suffering in the Christian life, as taught in the book of 1 Peter, was the focus of the annual Effective Preaching Workshop at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, held Oct. 5.
“What a joy it is to see all of you here today. We hope it will be helpful for you,” President David S. Dockery said, giving a brief overview of how God has provided for the seminary this past year and thanking them for partnering with and praying for the school. “Please hear from the bottom of my heart: thank you.”
The full-day workshop presented by Southwestern faculty and experienced pastors was led by Matthew McKellar, professor of preaching, who expressed how grateful he is to be a part of the workshop and said he hoped pastors and students who participated would gain more expertise in preaching 1 Peter.
“I’ve often said, back when I was pastoring, if these workshops had been available, I would have jumped at it because I think even if you’re just halfway checked in today, you can leave here way, way, way ahead on your preparation to preach or teach through 1 Peter,” McKellar said.
McKellar and Michael Cooper, adjunct professor, alumnus, and lead pastor of Grace Community Church in Mabank, Texas, worked together to conduct a semantic and discourse analysis of the entire book. They divided it into five key areas of emphasis in the Greek text, allowing each speaker to cover one of the five sections.
The first session, taught by McKellar, focused on the first 12 verses of chapter one. He reminded attendees the importance of “basic theology,” which is understanding Scripture’s authority.
“One thing I would say is we need to be rock solid in our conviction that this is our Book,” McKellar said. “This is the inerrant, infallible Word of God that we’re going to preach. Without the authority of this Book, we have no message, and we have no authority.”
McKellar opened his session with a reference to the 1982 movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, explaining how the sojourners addressed in 1 Peter can relate to E.T., an alien for whom earth was not his home. Similarly, Christians are in a foreign land and long to be home with their Father.
“He was never comfortable where he was on Earth,” he said of the fictional movie character. “… He always wanted to do what? He always wanted to phone home because he knew that this world was not his home.”
He explained that this concept is a major theme of 1 Peter.
“Peter will use exile, alien, stranger,” he said. “You go back to the Old Testament, and you have this concept of sojourner. All of those words have in common this: they are describing people who are temporary residents living in a place that is not their final destination.”
According to McKellar, 1 Peter also pushes back against the worldly concept of fitting in at all costs and looking like everyone else.
“First Peter completely lobbies against that,” McKellar said. “You are not home, and I think one of the most important things for us as preachers and teachers is to take a biblical text and say specifically, ‘Here’s how the book of 1 Peter pushes back against our modern mindset.’”
He also highlighted the fact that some Christians believe if someone gives their life to Jesus, all their problems go away. McKellar said some may call this the “health, wealth, and prosperity Gospel.” However, 1 Peter contradicts this by saying, “all the godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer” (1 Peter 3:12).
“Suffering is pretty painful when you’ve done the wrong thing, and you get what you deserve, right?” McKellar said. “But how about when you suffer precisely because you’re trying to love Jesus and honor Him?”
Cooper taught on 1 Peter 1:13–2:10, explaining how Southwestern students are taught the “3 S’s” of “text-driven” preaching: structure, substance, and spirit. He said he tells students they should think about what John Broadus, co-founder and second president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said in A Treatise on the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, a homiletics textbook written in 1870 on the structure of sermons.
“You are representing what is already there: the substance, structure, and spirit,” Cooper said.
He reminded attendees that the main goal pastors should have is preaching the biblical text, and not their notes.
“You can gather commentaries, you can gather all your material, you can start working through it and then have your exegetical chart and all these different things, but how do you take that and then replicate that into exposition?” he asked. “That can be the most difficult task of sermon preparation. So, I’m going to try to close that gap with this in mind: your sermonic outline is a roadmap for your exposition. It is not the end of your exposition.”
Cooper said that Peter is trying to reveal not only that the exiles have their identity in Christ, but that this identity prepares them to be able to glorify God even in the midst of their trials. He pointed out the promise in 1 Peter 1:5 that God guards believers for a future salvation, which can bring hope and rejoicing even during times of trials.
“And in these multifaceted trials, your faith is being refined, more precious than gold or silver that will perish,” Cooper said. “And you can love the Lord Jesus even though you’ve never seen him, and the result of that is that we are waiting for salvation to come. So you have this tension between the already and the not yet. ”
In the next session, Michael Criner, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Rockwall and two-time alumnus of Southwestern, summarized the themes of 1 Peter 2:11–3:12 as being what the life of a faithful Christian looks like, how they should live differently, and how they should live their lives honorably even if that includes suffering or persecution. He also talked about the importance of the text-driven sermon, and explained that since there are a lot of themes in the book, he would recommend breaking it up into six individual sermons.
“Peter is explaining what faithful, Christian conduct looks like when God’s people live as exiles in a world that does not share allegiance to Christ,” he said
He urged pastors to portray the same urgency with their congregations that Peter delivers to the believers he addressed.
“He’s urgently calling people to live like Christians. Christians acting out of who they are in Christ.”
Matt Kendrick, pastor of Redemption City Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and two-time alumnus, taught on 1 Peter 3:13–4:11, illustrating how Christians might succumb to a myth the world is promising on the ability to avoid suffering. He said he often uses celebrity quotes or clips showing how even though people assume celebrities “have it all,” they deal with problems like everyone.
“Instagram will teach you that there’s a way to live where you have no regret or anxiety. But that’s not true. Billionaires aren’t protected from pain and trials,” Kendrick said, adding he wants his listeners to understand that, “‘If I suffer for doing the right thing, God’s got me.’”
People might mistake that to mean God will bless them in this life; however, he pointed them to what the verses say about Jesus.
“You’re not your living hope. Your performance is not your living hope. Jesus is your living hope,” he said. “And some of your suffering might actually come from following Jesus as a result of swimming upstream of culture and doing the right thing. But Jesus has already brought us to safety.”
Chris Osborne, professor of preaching and pastoral ministry, concluded the workshop with the last session on 1 Peter 4:12-5:14, highlighting 10 things Peter teaches about what Christians should do when they face trials. In addition to expecting trials, focusing on God, and rejoicing in suffering, he reminded them that suffering can reveal the reality of their faith.
He noted the example of Abraham being tested when he learned that Sarah would have a son despite her age. He failed the test by having his son Ishmael with Sarah’s servant instead of waiting on God’s promise. God gave a second test in the sacrifice of Isaac so Abraham’s faith could grow from knowing he was willing to follow God’s commands, he explained.
“God already knows what you’re going to do. He doesn’t need a test to show you that, but He does give you the test for you to understand,” he said. “… But testing is always to see where your faith really is.”
Osborne showed how these verses explain that Christians should not be surprised by trials, reading from 1 Peter 4:12: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon for your testing, as though some strange thing is happening to you.”
“Literally, the Greek is ‘at this fire of testing,’” he said.
Osborne wrapped up by explaining that in 1 Peter 5, Peter shares how those who shepherd people should live out their responsibility, even as he identifies himself as a shepherd. In that chapter, Peter also gives advice to the people to be humble, watchful of the devil, and to remember that God is always present.
Summing it up, he encouraged fellow pastors to follow these principles and to never stop studying the Bible.
“I can legitimately say, even when I come to a text for a second time, I never fail to discover something I didn’t know before,” Osborne said. “And that discovery, along with my walk with Jesus, kept me passionate about who I was in Christ and Himself.”
Notes from the workshop sessions can be found on the Equip The Called website.
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