Betty

(5:10-11) Which promises in verses 10 and 11 are most meaningful to you at this point in your life? Why? The promise that God personally knows about my suffering, but, in comparison to eternity, it will only last for a little while; and He will pick me up and make me stronger than ever! This is important to me because after all this suffering is over, I am assured of an eternal life with Christ where there will be no suffering, no heartaches, no death. What a Day that will be!

5:8-9) What instructions does Peter give us to guide us in spiritual warfare? We must ever be watchful and stand firm when he attacks, trusting the Lord to be with us in the midst of whatever Satan tries to do to us. Sometimes we might feel alone and helpless when trials or troubles come our way, but we must stay focused on Jesus. We should remember that other Christians have gone through trials also, and we should pray for each other and encourage one another. Extra credit: How are these instructions similar or different than Paul's instructions in Ephesians 6:10-17? The instructions are somewhat similar, but Paul stresses that our strength to fight Satan comes from the Holy Spirit living in us, and we must use every piece of God's armour in resisting the enemy. When the battle is over, we will be standing; and Satan will be defeated!!

(5:8) Why is it important to be aware of Satan's existence? Because he is our enemy and we must constantly be on guard for his traps. What does this verse teach us about the devil? He wants to tear us away from the Lord, and he wants us to doubt Jesus and our salvation. Why is this teaching important? It should serve to remind us that we do indeed need to put on the whole armour of God in fighting against Satan. We need to stay in the Word of God and trust in His truth. We must stand true to God when we are being attacked by Satan. With the Holy Spirit living in us, we can see beyond our present circumstances and know with assurance that the ultimate victory is ours!

(5:7) According to this verse what should you do with your fears? What reason is given why you should do this? In what manner should you do it. How will you apply this verse's instruction in your own life? Turn them over to the Lord because He can handle them so much better than we can. He loves us so much and is concerned about us. We should do it in such a manner that we leave them completely with Him and not worry about our circumstances. I will apply this verse's instruction in my own life by praying to the Lord about the things that concern me and know that He is capable of dealing with them. I must not continue to worry about things after I have turned them over to Him. "Take your burdens to the Lord, and leave them there."

(5:5-6) What acts of humility are appropriate for church leaders? How can we discern a person's humility before putting him or her in a place of leadership in the church? What happens when we fail to do this? Church leaders should recognize that their power to lead comes from God, and they can do nothing of themselves. They must be willing to serve in any way necessary, no matter how small or how large the task, and give God the glory for being able to do it. Before a person is put in a place of leadership, the leaders and members should take notice of how the person conducts their life, not only in the church, but outside. How do they treat the older members? How do they deal with the young? A truly committed servant of God should have respect and compassion for every age group in the church. Most of all, they must glorify God and honor Him in all areas of their life. When we fail to discern a person's humility and place them in a leadership position, we are doing a dis-service to the church. People will eventually see through their hypocrisy and lose respect for them; therefore, their leadership becomes ineffective.

(5:3) How can we best keep elders and pastors from being power-mongers? By reminding them that everyone in the church is just as important in God's eyes as they are, and they have no authority to set themselves up as being powerful. They should be leaders by example and keep all business before the church, not doing anything under-handed that could cause conflict. In our church, we have a monthly business meeting where the members vote on any major issues involving church affairs; therefore, all the members who attend the meeting are informed of activities by the Pastor and Deacons, and the church has an opportunity to vote on the matter. We should be in constant prayer for our Pastor and Deacons (or Elders) because it's no easy task to be a serving, committed leader. From limiting a pastor's authority? What's the danger here? If a Pastor is fully committed to humbly serve the people in his church, it should not be necessary to limit his authority. However, a Pastor should not count the church as "his" and think that the people are there to serve him. God said, "I will build my church." The danger in limiting a Pastor's authority could lead to discontent and distrust between himself and the members. From testing a person before bestowing authority? How can this be difficult? It would be difficult to test a person in church concerning how they would handle authority; but they need a clear explanation of what is expected of them and how the church will have the right to challenge them if they disagree with something the leader is doing. The most important thing to do is pray for the leader to commit his or her life to serving God and the people in the best way he or she can, with God's help. How can we deal with this serious problem properly? Don't just look the other way or sweep it under the rug; and by all means, don't leave your church. When a problem comes up like this, it must be addressed. Possibly, the other leaders in the church could have a meeting with the person, pray with him or her and let them know that there is indeed a problem with the way they are handling things. They need to be reminded that they are there to serve God and His people and must answer to the people, but ultimately answer to God. Most of all, we must, as so many others have said, "PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!"

5:2) What's wrong with the common practice in churches of "twisting a person's arm" to get him or her to serve as a church leader. I think it's shameful that a so-called born-again Christian would have to have his/her arm twisted to take part in the ministry of the church. Christ loved the church and gave his life for us; why should we do any less for Him? "Christians" who are not willing to take leadership roles need to get their priorities straight and get their focus back on Christ as a willing servant of His. What damage does this do to the church? The church is going to be as strong as its leaders. If we don't have committed leadership, then the members are not going to think it's important to have a role in the ministry of the church. A church that is based on the principles of Jesus Christ will survive because members will strive to be Christ-like in their service; otherwise, the church will fail. What kind of leader does it produce? I think arm-twisting will produce a leader who will not be committed to the position. If he/she does not accept the position (after much prayer) with love and compassion for those in the church, then they should not step forward. The worst thing a person can do is take a leadership role just to get self-glory, when we know that the glory belongs to the Lord for anything He enables us to do.

(5:1-2) What do you learn about the responsibilities of an elder from the definitions of "elder," "pastor," and "overseer"? What stood out to you as you considered these words? I look at the pastor as being the undershepherd of the flock, and the elders and overseers as his assistants to provide instruction, protection, and discipline to the members. All of them, of course, are expected to serve willingly in a compassionate manner and be good examples of Christian behaviour. The leaders (teachers, youth workers, etc.)in the church also should help with any responsibilities and work to maintain the unity of the church. The one thing that stood out to me in this Scripture is the fact that Peter was not writing to them in a superior tone, but he placed himself equally with the elders. He places the emphasis on service, not on power.

Why is a willingness to die, if need be, essential to healthy Christianity during persecution. Because it shows that we are dependent on Christ for our strength, and if He does not deliver us from the persecution, then He will go with us through it. What happens when we aren't willing to die, when we are afraid to "take up our cross daily" (Luke 9:23) and follow Jesus? We are telling the world that we don't have enough faith in Christ to believe that He will take care of us. What does this have to do with "commiting ourselves to a faithful Creator"? If we are committed to God, then we must be committed to Him in all areas of our life; we cannot pick and choose.

(4:14) If we are never persecuted, what does that say about how people view us? In what way should persecution make us happy? It has been quite a while since I have suffered any persecution for the cause of Christ and I consider myself fortunate to be around people who are like-minded Christians. Since I have retired from the workforce, I am not around a very large number of people except at church. However, the people I am around from time to time (outside the church) seem to understand my stand on Christianity and can recognize the love I have for my Lord and Savior. I am in no way ashamed of Christ;and if someone wants to persecute me for loving Him and serving Him, then so be it, because I know in my heart that Christ will be with me all the way. Persecution should make us happy because we can experience just a little of what Christ went through when He was on the earth, and He will be with us through the rough times. We should look at these times of suffering as opportunities to grow closer to the Lord, and "It will be worth it all when we see Christ."

(4:13) When you meditate on the idea of partaking of or being a sharer in Christ's sufferings, what perspective does it give you on whatever persecution you may experience? I think when we suffer for Christ's sake (though by no means the depth of His suffering), it should make us more sensitive and dedicated in our service to God. Nothing we suffer can ever compare to the price Jesus paid to save us! Since Christ suffered so much, He understands and comforts us in our time of suffering and gives us the strength to endure. We only need to turn to Him for this strength and the patience to get through the trials. What a wonderful blessing! Hebrews 13:5 tells us that God will never leave us nor forsake us; and in my weaknesss or suffering, I know that I can fully rely on Him. I don't know what the future holds, but I know Who holds the future! Thank you, Lord!

(4:12) What's the danger of trying to avoid persecution and suffering for Christ? We will get lazy and take the easy way out of things instead of relying on Christ for strength and determination to get through the suffering. We should be so thankful that we have a Savior we can depend on who will never leave us nor forsake us. When suffering or persecution comes our way and we take a bold stand for Christ, then the world can see that whatever happens, we are still in His hands. Have you ever been distracted by persecution from what you should have been doing? Yes, unfortunately. When something happened in our church several years ago, some of the folks tried to make me feel that I was part of the problem, and I left the church for about a year or so. During that time, I visited other churches, but was not actively serving the Lord as I had done in our little church. Finally, the Lord led me back to the church, and I have been faithlully serving Him ever since. Have you ever observed this in other Christians? Yes, and I can relate to some of them, having gone through a bit of persecution from other church members. It's sad to think that more persecution comes from your church family than from outside church. But, I pray for these Christians who have been hurt by people in the church and hope they will keep their focus on the Lord, who will give them the strength and boldness to get through any situation.

(4:10-11) If people are always promoting themselves and pointing to how God is using them, what does that say about them? They have forgotten where their abilities came from. When they feel they have the right to use their abilities as they please rather than use them to bless others and bring glory to God, they are treading on dangerous ground. Just as God gave those abilities to them, He can also take them away. Their sense of self-worth? Their maturity? Their sense of self-worth must be very important to them because they are attempting to show off their talents without having God in the picture at all. I don't think their level of maturity is very high because their pride and ego are standing in the way. Their realism? Their humility? They are not being at all realistic to think that they should receive the glory for their abilities rather than give glory to God, where it belongs. What humility? I think they are so full of pride and self-worth that they don't know the meaning of humility. What spiritual gifts has God given you, and how are you using them to his glory? God has allowed me to do so many things in His name, from being Secretary-Treasurer of our little church, to teaching the Senior Adults, among other things. Also, He has given me so much guidance in planning our Ladies Prayer Retreats over the years, and it is always so exciting to know that God is in it. I just give Him the praise and glory for anything He enables me to do in order to serve Him and those around me, whatever that might be.

(4:5-7) Why don't non-Christians like the idea of giving an account of their actions? Why don't we Christians like it? Because non-Christians think what they do is their business, and they don't have to answer to anyone. They don't pretend to believe in Christ, so their thinking is, "What right does he have to judge me?" Christians don't like the idea of giving an account of their actions because they don't want others to know that they have done things that are not in a Christlike manner. They may think they can do things in secret and not be exposed; but sooner or later, they will have to face the judgment and give an account of everything they did, good or bad. What should the realization that we must give an account of our actions inspire in us? It should inspire us to allow the Holy Spirit to guide us in our daily walk, to strive to live in a way that would be pleasing to God, knowing that we alone are responsible for the choices we make. With what attitude should we live as a result? We should have an attitude of submission and obedience to God's will for our lives, and we should reach out in love and compassion to those around us who are in need, both spiritually and physically.

(4:3-4) Why do non-Christians try to get you to sin with them. Why are we tempted to do so? How can we resist this temptation? Non-Christians just don't look at life the way Christians do. We as Christians know that there is so much more to life than just partying and doing sinful acts. We can have good, clean fun and serve our Lord at the same time. But, when we cross that line and join in with the non-Christians in their style of living, then that really hurts our testimony and the cause of Christianity altogether. I think we are tempted at times to sin because we are not living as closely to Christ as we should. Maybe we feel we are over-burdened with responsibilities in the church, home, community, etc., and no one seems to appreciate all our work. Then, along comes a "friend" who entices us to take part in some things we know are not Christlike, but we are too weak to turn it down. These "friends" make us feel important and temporarily show us a good time. We can resist this temptation by letting these "friends" know our priorities have changed since becoming a Christian and we want to live a life that is faithful to Christ. If we lose their friendship, then so be it. We must not have a "holier than thou" attitude with them, but we should do all that we can to show them how Christ has changed our life and how He can change theirs, too, if they will only accept Him as their Lord and Saviour.