{"id":3391,"date":"2020-11-07T10:31:08","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T10:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/?p=3391"},"modified":"2020-11-07T10:31:11","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T10:31:11","slug":"confident-in-relationships-1-peter-31-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/2020\/11\/07\/confident-in-relationships-1-peter-31-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Confident in Relationships &#8211; 1 Peter 3:1-12"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_43140\"  width=\"640\" height=\"360\"  data-origwidth=\"640\" data-origheight=\"360\"  data-relstop=\"1\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/S6v8Zoa5T_Y?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&modestbranding=0&rel=0&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>1 Peter 3: 1-12 \u2013 Confident in Relationship<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Apostle Peter \u2013 one of Jesus\u2019 closest followers \u2013 widely accepted as author. The Greek is sophisticated for a fisherman (and in contrast to 2 Peter) but the letter was written \u2018with the help of Silas\u2019 (5:12)<\/li><li>Written in the early 60s AD &#8211; before he was martyred in 64AD, during persecution by Nero, but after some of Paul\u2019s letters (because he refers to them)<\/li><li>Writing from \u2018Babylon\u2019 \u2013 possibly a symbolic term for Rome<\/li><li>Addressed to believers throughout Asia Minor (Turkey) including many places where Paul had preached (Acts)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Chapters 2 and 3 &#8211; How to live as followers of Jesus in four key spheres (social interaction)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1 Rulers, government and the authorities <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2Employers &#8211; your workplace<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3 Marriage &#8211; your home<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4 The Church \u2013 the family of believers<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peter had experience in all four spheres \u2013 wasn\u2019t talking theory but he walked the walk as he talked the talk. He was a man of action<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Central theme<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022\u00a0Submission\u00a0<br>\u2022\u00a0Considerate<br>\u2022\u00a0Respect<br>\u2022\u00a0Harmony<br>\u2022\u00a0Sympathetic\u00a0<br>\u2022\u00a0Love<br>\u2022\u00a0Compassion\u00a0<br>\u2022\u00a0Humility<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not the teaching you would expect from Peter<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Matt 16 &#8211;&nbsp;Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. \u2018Never, Lord!\u2019 he said. \u2018This shall never happen to you!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus turned and said to Peter, \u2018Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John 18&nbsp;&#8211; Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest\u2019s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant\u2019s name was Malchus.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus commanded Peter, \u2018Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But it is how he lived his life 30 years on<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Crucified upside down<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It isn\u2019t a justification for being imprisoned in an abusive relationship<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Men had the power and status in Roman times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Peter (like Paul) is evening that up by teaching that men and women have distinct roles but are equal and should submit to each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ephesians 5:22-28 &#8211;&nbsp;Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. &#8230;.. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This way of living is attractive and attractional<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It may attract opposition and persecution:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Verse 3:13 &#8211; \u2018Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good. But even if you suffer for what is right, you are blessed\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Verse 2:20 \u2013 \u2018If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God\u2019 because you are called to follow the example of Jesus who suffer unjustly for doing good<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But more likely, it is going to attract people<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus washed the disciples\u2019 feet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then &#8211; \u2018A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.&nbsp;<strong>35&nbsp;<\/strong>By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Simon Peter asked him, \u2018Lord, where are you going?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018wives submit to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tertullian &#8211; Government sent spies into churches in the second century<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2018These Christians are very strange people. They meet in an empty room to worship. They have no image. They speak of one by the name of Jesus who is absent but whom they seem to be expecting at any moment.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Concluded by saying &#8230;..<br>\u2018And my, how they love him and how they love one another\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So Peter is making the case for harmony through submission to each other<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>In marriages \u2013 which are to be a reflection of the relationship between Jesus and the church<\/li><li>In the church \u2013 which is Jesus\u2019s way of reaching the world<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Because Peter understands that God attaches great importance to relationships<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And especially to the.\u00a0relationship between wife and husband\u00a0Genesis 1 \u2013 \u2018\u2018And God saw that it was good\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Light and darkness, sky and sea, dry ground, stars, sun and moon, plants, sea creatures and birds, wild animals, humans<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Genesis 1:31 \u2018God saw all that he had made, and it was very good\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Genesis 2:18 \u2013 \u2018It is not good for the man to be alone\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God attaches great importance to relationships<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The other bookend to the Bible<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Revelation 22:1-3 \u2018Then I saw \u201ca new heaven and a new earth,\u201d for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.&nbsp;<strong>2&nbsp;<\/strong>I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.&nbsp;<strong>3&nbsp;<\/strong>And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, \u201cLook! God\u2019s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus came to replace the rules with a relationship:- the God of their fathers had become their Father God<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Which is why marriages and church unity are key \u2018battlegrounds\u2019 for us<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>John 10:10 &#8211; The\u00a0thief<strong> <\/strong>comes<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>only\u00a0<strong>to<\/strong> steal<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it\u00a0to<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>the full.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is a strong plea to invest in our personal relationships<br>and in church unity<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022&nbsp;Within churches<br>\u2022&nbsp;And among churches<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Romans 12: 10 &#8211;&nbsp;Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honouring one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Phil 2:3-4 &#8211;&nbsp;Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Psalm 133: 1 \u2013 Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Applications<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Protect&nbsp;our relationships \u2013 in our homes and in the church<\/li><li>Prioritise&nbsp;our relationships \u2013 above all else<\/li><li>Personalise&nbsp;our relationships (with each other and with God):Abraham was the \u2018friend of God\u2019. Moses met with God as a man speaks with a friend.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Group Notes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First Thoughts<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You may be familiar with the TV series, Dragons\u2019 Den, in which budding entrepreneurs get three minutes to pitch their business idea to five multi-millionaires potentially willing to invest their own cash. Tone and posture matter. Demanding investment is a sure way to the exit. What\u2019s needed is confident, yet humble persuasion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yee Kwan had developed a range of quality ice creams, including flavours such as black sesame seed, and lychee. Not only were the customary power dynamics in play, but she was selling products quite different from the norm. Early on in her presentation, Yee gave each Dragon three flavours to sample. Apart from one Dragon, they all loved them. However, the ice cream market is difficult to conquer, and three Dragons declined to invest. But Yee\u2019s glorious flavours and winsome approach persuaded two to make an offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Being a Christian in the Roman Empire during the first century required humility and a willingness to embrace weakness. Like selling weird ice cream flavours, it was a major break from the norm. Peter was by no means expecting every person these Christians had contact with to choose to invest their lives in Jesus, but he knew if they could taste and see, some would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Read \u2013 1&nbsp;Peter 3:1\u201312<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Focus on the Theme<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1. Can you think of a time when somebody influenced you for the better? Perhaps they encouraged you in a good habit or a positive action. What was it about that person that made you listen to them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What Does the Bible Say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>2. Given the place of wives in the household in New Testament times, how might those wives who decided to follow Jesus have felt if they had a husband who still worshipped pagan gods? What might they have been tempted to do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>3. Peter starts with the words, \u2018Wives, in the same way\u2019, referring to the example of Christ in 2:21\u201325. (You can read commentary on 2:21\u201325 on page 44, and the feature about Christian wives on page 50.) What attitudes and actions did Peter encourage these women to embrace?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>4. He repeats the phrase, \u2018in the same way\u2019, in 3:7 when he gives advice to Christian husbands. What attitudes and actions did Peter encourage these men to embrace?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>5. How do the virtues that Peter encourages in 3:8\u201312 foster good relationships?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Going Deeper<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>6. Drawing on this passage and others that might come to mind, why do you think God chooses to work through people in situations where they lack social power?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What does this say about God?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>7. How does having confidence in the gospel (session 1) and in Christian identity (session 2) build confidence when a person is in a position of relational weakness?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Christian wives and household gods<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First-century Greek and Roman culture was largely dominated by men. Women tended to be viewed as cognitively inferior and less trustworthy than men. Therefore, they had less access to education, social and political power, and justice. Families, which were seen as integral to a healthy society, generally had clear divisions of power, with the father figure (known as the paterfamilias) being ultimately responsible for, and in charge of, everyone within the household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The following quote from the Greek thinker and writer, Plutarch (ad 46\u2013120), provides an interesting backdrop to Peter\u2019s instructions: \u2018A woman ought not to make friends of her own, but to enjoy her husband\u2019s friends in common with him. The gods are the first and foremost important friends. Hence, it is becoming for a wife to worship and to know only the gods that her husband believes in, and to shut the door tight upon all strange rituals and outlandish superstitions.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The situation on the ground likely varied from place to place and family to family, as it does in our own time. While Christian wives of non-Christian husbands may have been limited in their options,&nbsp; Peter\u2019s advice is practical, encouraging them to live in a way which is shaped by the pattern of Christ and motivated by missional concerns. Reflecting his instructions to all Christians to \u2018live such good lives among the pagans\u2019 (2:12), wives are an integral part of the witness of the church as a whole. Now as then, those in marriages where the other partner is not a believer need the love and support of the church community and wisdom about how best to live as a Christian in their home context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Living it Out<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>8. Why do you think some people who aren\u2019t Christians struggle when those close to them become Christians?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Have you experienced this in your family, friendships, or at work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>9. Is there a particular relationship on your frontline that is difficult?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How does this passage help you think or pray about it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>10. In what ways does Peter\u2019s invitation to live like Christ in your relationships challenge or encourage you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prayer Time<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thank God that he is able to work through you to point others to himself, whatever your relationship with those people might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Share one \u2018virtue\u2019 that you\u2019d like to grow in that will strengthen your relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pray for someone close to you who doesn\u2019t know Christ. Ask God to give you wisdom and courage to live like him. Pray that they will be \u2018won over\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Theme and Questions from LICC booklet\u00a0<\/em><br><em>\u2013 1 Peter \u2018Confidence in a Complex World\u2019 by Joe Warto<\/em>n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1 Peter 3: 1-12 \u2013 Confident in Relationship Apostle Peter \u2013 one of Jesus\u2019 closest followers \u2013 widely accepted as author. The Greek is sophisticated for a fisherman (and in contrast to 2 Peter) but the letter was written \u2018with &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/2020\/11\/07\/confident-in-relationships-1-peter-31-12\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-video-message"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3391"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3392,"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3391\/revisions\/3392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/stanwellroadbaptist.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}