May 6, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Being Stirred or Sound

-            The

Being Stirred or Sound

Joshua 9:7-16 - New International Version (NIV)                

⁷ The Israelites said to the Hivites, “But perhaps you live near us, so how can we make a treaty with you?”

⁸ “We are your servants,” they said to Joshua.

But Joshua asked, “Who are you and where do you come from?”

⁹ They answered: “Your servants have come from a very distant country because of the fame of the Lord your God. For we have heard reports of him: all that he did in Egypt, ¹⁰ and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan—Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth. ¹¹ And our elders and all those living in our country said to us, ‘Take provisions for your journey; go and meet them and say to them, “We are your servants; make a treaty with us.”’ ¹² This bread of ours was warm when we packed it at home on the day we left to come to you. But now see how dry and moldy it is. ¹³ And these wineskins that we filled were new, but see how cracked they are. And our clothes and sandals are worn out by the very long journey.”

¹⁴ The Israelites sampled their provisions but did not inquire of the Lord. ¹⁵ Then Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the assembly ratified it by oath.

¹⁶ Three days after they made the treaty with the Gibeonites, the Israelites heard that they were neighbors, living near them.

Why did the Israelites think they could not make a treaty with the Hivites (verse 7)?

Who ask the Hivites “who are you and where do you come from” (verse 8)?

Whose fame had the Hivites heard of (verse 9)?

In your opinion, why is what the Lord had done to the “two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan” important to the Hivites (verse 10)?

Who sent the Hivites (verse 11)?

In your opinion, why did the Hivites show the Israelites the moldy bread, old wineskins and worn out clothes and sandals (verses 12 and 13)?

What did the Israelites not do (verse 14)?

Who ratified the peace treaty that Joshua made (verse 15)?

What did the Israelites hear three days after the treaty was made (verse 16)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 3:20-30 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. ²¹ When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

³⁰ He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

What did the crowd keep Jesus and His disciples from doing (verse 20)?

Why did Jesus family go “to take charge of him” (verse 21)?

Who said that Jesus was “possessed by Beelzebul” (verse 22)?

How did Jesus speak to them (verse 23)?

In your opinion, what did Jesus mean by the statement that “if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand” and “if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (verses 24 and 25)?

What will happen if Satan opposes himself and is divided (verse 26)?

When can a strong man’s house be plundered (verse 27)?

What can be forgiven (verse 28)?

What “will never be forgiven” (verse 29)?

Why did Jesus say this (verse 30)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how were the statements of the Gibeonites to Joshua and the Israelites in Joshua 9:7-16 similar to the statements of the teachers of the law about Jesus in Mark 3:20-30?

Acts 6:8-15 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. ⁹ Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. ¹⁰ But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

¹¹ Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

¹² So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. ¹³ They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. ¹⁴ For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

¹⁵ All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

How did Stephen perform “great wonders and signs among the people” (verse 8)?

How did the “members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen . . . Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia” oppose Stephen (verse 9)?

Why could the opposition not stand up to Stephen (verse 10)?

In your opinion, why did they secretly persuade some men to say “we have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God” (verse 11)?

What did they do to Stephen (verse 12)?

What kind of witnesses did they produce (verse 13)?

In your opinion, why did they say “we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place” (verse 14)?

Who saw that the face of Stephen was like the “face of an angel” (verse 15)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what are the differences between the Israelites as they accepted the lies of the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:7-16 and Stephen as he “performed great wonders and signs among the people” in Acts 6:8-15?

In your opinion, how are the teachers of the law in Mark 3:20-30 and the “members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen . . . Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia” in Acts 6:8-15 similar?

2 Timothy 4:1-8 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ² Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴ They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. ⁵ But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

In whose presence does Paul give Timothy “this charge” (verse 1)?

How is Timothy to “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage” (verse 2)?

What will people not put up with in the time that will come (verse 3)?

What will the “great number of teachers” say to the people (verse 3)?

Where will the people turn to (verse 4)?

What four things are Timothy to do (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what does Paul mean when he says he is “already being poured out like a drink offering” (verse 6)?

What three things has Paul done (verse 7)?

Who will award Paul the “crown of righteousness” (verse 8)?

Who else will be awarded the “crown of righteousness” (verse 8)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does Joshua and the Israelites being deceived by the lies of the Gibeonites in Joshua 9:7-16 demonstrate how it is possible for us to turn our “ears from the truth and turn aside to myths” as Paul warns Timothy that people will do in 2 Timothy 4:1-8?

In your opinion, how does Jesus’s response to those who said He was driving out demons because He was in cahoots with the prince of demons in Mark 3:20-30 help us understand what Paul means when he tells Timothy to “preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” in 2 Timothy 4:1-8?

In your opinion, what can we learn from the discussion of Stephen and those who opposed him in Acts 6:8-15 that will help us to understand the difference between those who “will not put up with sound doctrine” and those who fight the good fight and keep the faith like Paul in 2 Timothy 4:1-8?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 2 Timothy teach us about the difference between being stirred up and being corrected, rebuked and encouraged?

In your opinion, what is “sound doctrine”?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 22, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Listening and Doing

Listening and Doing

Joshua 8:30-35 - New International Version (NIV)              

³⁰ Then Joshua built on Mount Ebal an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, ³¹ as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses—an altar of uncut stones, on which no iron tool had been used. On it they offered to the Lord burnt offerings and sacrificed fellowship offerings. ³² There, in the presence of the Israelites, Joshua wrote on stones a copy of the law of Moses. ³³ All the Israelites, with their elders, officials and judges, were standing on both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Both the foreigners living among them and the native-born were there. Half of the people stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord had formerly commanded when he gave instructions to bless the people of Israel.

³⁴ Afterward, Joshua read all the words of the law—the blessings and the curses—just as it is written in the Book of the Law. ³⁵ There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read to the whole assembly of Israel, including the women and children, and the foreigners who lived among them.

Where did Joshua build an alter to the Lord, the God of Israel (verse 30)?

What was special about the stones that he used to build the alter (verse 31)?

In your opinion, what were the purposes of the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings (verse 31)?

What did Joshua do “in the presence of the Israelites” (verse 32)?

Who was standing on “both sides of the ark of the covenant of the Lord” (verse 33)?

What did Joshua read (verse 34)?

Who did Joshua read to (verse 35)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 3:13-19 - New International Version (NIV)

¹³ Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. ¹⁴ He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach ¹⁵ and to have authority to drive out demons. ¹⁶ These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), ¹⁷ James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), ¹⁸ Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot ¹⁹ and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Where did Jesus go (verse 13)?

Who did He call (verse 13)?

What did those He called do (verse 13)?

Why did He appoint twelve (verse 14)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus give them authority to drive out demons (verse 15)?

What name did Jesus give to Peter (verse 16)?

Who did Jesus call the “sons of thunder” (verse 17)?

What did Judas Iscariot do (verse 19)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is Joshua building the alter, writing the law of Moses on the stones, and reading all the words that are written in the Book of the Law to all the Israelites and all who are with them in Joshua 8:30-35 similar to Jesus appointing the twelve and giving them authority in Mark 3:13-19?

Acts 6:1-7 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. ² So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³ Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them ⁴ and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

⁵ This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. ⁶ They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

⁷ So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

What was happening to the number of disciples (verse 1)?

Why were the Hellenistic Jews complaining (verse 1)?

In your opinion, why did the Twelve think “it would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables” (verse 2)?

Who was to choose the seven men (verse 3)?

What will the Twelve turn over after the seven men are chosen (verse 3)?

What will the Twelve give their attention to (verse 4)?

How did the group view the proposal (verse 5)?

Who was described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (verse 5)?

What did the apostles do when the men were presented to them (verse 6)?

What happened to the word of God (verse 7)?

What happened to the number of disciples in Jerusalem (verse 7)?

What happened to “a large number of priests” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is what Joshua did in building the alter and then reading the entire Book of the Law to the Israelites in Joshua 8:30-35 similar to what the Twelve apostles did when they prayed and laid hands on the seven in Acts 6:1-7?

In your opinion, what is different between Jesus appointing the twelve and then giving them authority to drive out demons in Mark 3:13-19 and the Twelve having men selected and then turning responsibility over to them in Acts 6:1-7?

James 1:19-27 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

What should everyone be quick to do (verse 19)?

In your opinion, why should everyone be “slow to speak and slow to become angry” (verse 19)?

What is not produced by human anger (verse 20)?

What are we to get rid of (verse 21)?

How should we accept “the word planted in you, which can save you” (verse 21)?

How can we deceive ourselves (verse 22)?

Who is like “someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like” (verses 23 and 24)?

Who will be “blessed in what they do” (verse 25)?

In your opinion, why is the religion of someone who considers themselves religious and does not “keep a tight rein on their tongues” worthless (verse 26)?

What is “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless” (verse 27)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does James who said in James 1:19-27 “whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do” illustrate his agreement with Joshua who over a thousand years earlier in Joshua 8:30-35 wrote on stones a copy of the of the law of Moses?

In your opinion, what should we who are called to be brothers and sisters learn from Jesus’s calling and instructing the twelve in Mark 3:13-19 and from the instructions in James 1:19-27?

In your opinion, what should we learn from the care for the widows that the Twelve apostles made sure was correctly administered in Acts 6:1-7 and the James’s instruction in James 1:19-27 that “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world”?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and James teach us about our calling today?

What does listening to the words of this lesson show you about yourself?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)

April 15, 2018 – Kingdom Planting – Responding in Hope

-            The

Responding in Hope

 Joshua 8:18-29 - New International Version (NIV)              

¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Hold out toward Ai the javelin that is in your hand, for into your hand I will deliver the city.” So Joshua held out toward the city the javelin that was in his hand. ¹⁹ As soon as he did this, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position and rushed forward. They entered the city and captured it and quickly set it on fire.

²⁰ The men of Ai looked back and saw the smoke of the city rising up into the sky, but they had no chance to escape in any direction; the Israelites who had been fleeing toward the wilderness had turned back against their pursuers. ²¹ For when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had taken the city and that smoke was going up from it, they turned around and attacked the men of Ai. ²² Those in the ambush also came out of the city against them, so that they were caught in the middle, with Israelites on both sides. Israel cut them down, leaving them neither survivors nor fugitives. ²³ But they took the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.

²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the men of Ai in the fields and in the wilderness where they had chased them, and when every one of them had been put to the sword, all the Israelites returned to Ai and killed those who were in it. ²⁵ Twelve thousand men and women fell that day—all the people of Ai. ²⁶ For Joshua did not draw back the hand that held out his javelin until he had destroyed all who lived in Ai. ²⁷ But Israel did carry off for themselves the livestock and plunder of this city, as the Lord had instructed Joshua.

²⁸ So Joshua burned Ai and made it a permanent heap of ruins, a desolate place to this day. ²⁹ He impaled the body of the king of Ai on a pole and left it there until evening. At sunset, Joshua ordered them to take the body from the pole and throw it down at the entrance of the city gate. And they raised a large pile of rocks over it, which remains to this day.

Where will the Lord deliver Ai when Joshua holds out the javelin in his hand (verse 18)?

What happened when Joshua held out the javelin in his hand (verse 19)?

Who had “no chance to escape in any direction” (verse 20)?

When did “Joshua and all Israel” turn and attack (verse 21)?

In your opinion, why was the Israelite attack so successful that it left no “survivors nor fugitives” (verse 22)?

Where did they take the king of Ai (verse 23)?

How many people were killed (verses 24 and 25)?

When did Joshua draw “back the hand that held out his javelin” (verse 26)?

Why did Israel carry off the “livestock and plunder” (verse 27)?

What did Joshua make Ai (verse 28)?

What did they do with the body of the king (verse 29)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 3:1-6 - New International Version (NIV)

¹ Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. ² Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. ³ Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”

⁴ Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

⁵ He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. ⁶ Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.

Who was in the synagogue when Jesus went in (verse 1)?

Why were “some” watching Jesus closely (verse 2)?

Where did Jesus tell the man to stand (verse 3)?

In your opinion, why did Jesus ask them “which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill” (verse 4)?

In your opinion, why did the people who were watching Jesus remain silent (verse 4)?

What deeply distressed Jesus (verse 5)?

What happened when the man stretched out his hand (verse 5)?

Who began to plot to kill Jesus (verse 6)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the outcome of the confrontation of Joshua and the Israelites against Ai in Joshua 8:18-29 similar to the outcome of Jesus and those who watched in Mark 3:1-6?

Acts 5:17-32 – New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. ¹⁸ They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. ¹⁹ But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. ²⁰ “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”

²¹ At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.

When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. ²² But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, ²³ “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” ²⁴ On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.

²⁵ Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” ²⁶ At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them.

²⁷ The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. ²⁸ “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

What filled the high priest and all his associates (verse 17)?

Where did they put the apostles (verse 18)?

Who “opened the doors of the jail and brought them out” (verse 19)?

What were the disciples to do (verse 20)?

Who “sent to the jail for the apostles” (verse 21)?

What did they find at the jail (verse 22)?

In your opinion, why did they say “we found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors” (verse 23)?

How did the captain of the guard and chief priests react to this (verse 24)?

Where were the men they had put in jail (verse 25)?

Why did the captain and his officials not use force (verse 26)?

Where were the apostles taken (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why did the high priest say the apostles were “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” (verse 28)?

How did Peter and the other apostles reply to the high priests statement that “we gave you strict orders not to teach in his name” (verses 28 and 29)?

Who “raised Jesus from the dead” (verse 30)?

Why did God exalt Jesus “to his own right hand as Prince and Savior” (verse 31)?

Who are the witnesses (verse 32)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the outcome of the confrontation of Joshua and the Israelites against Ai in Joshua 8:18-29 similar to the outcome of the arrest of the apostles in Acts 5:17-32?

In your opinion, why w ere the Pharisees and Herodians of Mark 3:1-6 and the Sadducees and high priest of Acts 5:17-32 so intent on stopping Jesus and Peter and the apostles who were healing people?

1 Peter 3:8-18 – New International Version (NIV)

⁸ Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
¹¹ They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
¹² For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.” ¹⁵ But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

What does Peter instruct God’s elect to be (verse 8)?

How are God’s elect to respond to evil (verse 9)?

What are those who “would love life and see good days” to keep their tongue from (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “turn from evil and do good” (verse 11)?

Who is the “face of the Lord” against (verse 12)?

In your opinion, “who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good” (verse 13)?

When are we blessed (verse 14)?

How should we view Christ in our hearts (verse 15)?

How should we answer those who ask us for the reason for the hope that we have (verse 15)?

What does keeping a clear conscience do to those who “speak maliciously against” good behavior in Christ (verse 16)?

What is better to suffer for (verse 17)?

Why did Christ suffer “once for sins” (verse 18)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, what changed for Peter, who was the apostle with the sword in the garden when Jesus was captured and who would have been taught from Joshua 8:18-29 how to proceed, to make him the person who in 1 Peter 3:8-18 instructs us to “repay evil with blessing” and to respond “with gentleness and respect”?

In your opinion, what does Jesus, who was angry at the Pharisees in Mark 3:1-6 but reacted by healing the man with the withered hand, teach us today about how to respond to Peter’s instruction that, if it is God’s will it is better to “suffer for doing good than for doing evil”?

In your opinion, how did the words of the angel who told Peter and the other apostles in Acts 5:17-32 to “tell the people all about this new life” prepare him to instruct us to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” in 1 Peter 3:8-18?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Joshua, Mark, Acts, and 1 Peter teach us about how to respond to adversity?

What is the reason for the hope that you have?

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)