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E-pistle

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Dr. Curt Scarborough, President FreeWay Foundation January 17, 2003

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In This Issue:
Sermon: I Peter 3
Bible Study: "The Person of the Holy Spirit"
PIAC Spiritual Mentoring Degrees

Called to Bless Others
(I Peter 3:1-22)

I. Concentration: on the contents of this chapter
1. Peter instructed wives to be submissive to their husbands, vv. 1-6.
2. Peter instructed husbands to give their wives honor; such mutual respect will keep
a couple's prayers from being hindered, v. 7.
3. Peter taught that believers are called to bless others, vv. 8-17.
4. Peter explained some details about Christ's suffering, vv. 18-22.
II. Meditation on the traits of persons who are "called to bless others"
1. Thoughts - be of one mind, in spiritual accord, in harmony, in agreement, in unity, v. 8.
2. Emotions - hearts full of compassion, love, tenderness, and courtesy, v. 8.
3. Actions - always courteous, exhibiting polite treatment of others, with dignity and respect, v. 8.
4. Words - not returning evil for evil nor reviling for reviling, v. 9.
(Revile = to abuse with reproachful and contemptuous language.)
III. Observations: on being a blessing to others, vv. 9-14
1. Christians are called to do this, v. 9.
2. Blessing others allows you to inherit your own spiritual blessing, vv. 10-12.
3. Blessing others opens the Lord's ears to your prayers, vv. 13-14.
4. Even suffering for righteousness' sake is a blessing, vv. 13-14.
IV. Revelation: on the implications of blessing and being blessed
1. To bless others, I need to share a degree of spiritual harmony with them.
2. To bless others, I need to be motivated by a heart of sincere love.
3. To bless others, I need to guard my words . . . speaking only those things which edify others.
4. The cycle of blessing:
(1) I am blessed of God;
(2) I begin blessing others;
(3) More blessings are poured out upon me, as God answers my prayers for blessings upon others;
(4) Persecution will arise, which leads to #1 . . . I am blessed by God!
IV. Applications: as a Christian I need to . . . (vv. 15-16)
1. "Sanctify" the Lord God in my heart . . . set Him apart from all other conern, make my number
one priority: "Jesus is Lord!"
2. Always be ready to bless someone by giving a testimony of the hope God has given me.
3. Witness of God's blessings on me with "meekness" . . . I do not deserve His blessings, and with
"fear" . . . reverent worship in awe of His love, mercy, and grace.
4. Live and speak righteously so I will have a good conscience and so that Christ's enemies may
be ashamed.

The Person of the Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit operates within the church as a definite personality . . . a Person given as a gift to the church
to assure that the continued ministry of the resurrected Christ is expressed and verified. The Holy Spirit has all
these characteristics of a person:

1. The Holy Spirit possess the attributes of:
(1) Mind, Romans 8:27
(2) Will, I Corinthians 12:11
(3) Emotions (feelings), Ephesians 4:30

2. The Holy Spirit engages in such activities as:
(1) Revealing, II Peter 1:21
(2) Teaching, John 14:26
(3) Witnessing, Hebrews 10:15
(4) Interceding, Romans 8:26
(5) Speaking, Revelation 2:7
(6) Commanding, Acts 16:6-7
(7) Testifying, John 15:26

3. The Holy Spirit has a relationship with human persons:
(1) He can be grieved, Ephesians 4:30
(2) He can be quenched, I Thessalonians 5:19
(3) He can be lied to, Acts 5:3
(4) He can be blasphemed, Matthew 12:31-32
(5) He can be insulted, Hebrews 10:29

4. The Holy Spirit possesses the divine attributes of the Godhead:
(1) He is eternal, Hebrews 9:14
(2) He is omnipresent, Psalm 139:7-10
(3) He is omnipotent, Luke 1:35
(4) He is omniscient, I Corinthians 2:10-11

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Alan Paton said: "God forgives us . . . Who am I not to forgive?"

Christian Mentoring Degrees by Private Tutoring

Dr. Curt Scarborough, president and founder of Pillsbury Institute of Applied Christianity, is available to mentor
a limited humber of mid-career Christian ministers on a one-on-one basis. He will personally tutor mature
graduate-level students one day per month . . . any day of the week except Sunday.

Here's how this Spiritual Mentoring program works:

1. A minister enrolls in the Spiritual Mentoring track, agreeing to spend
a minimum of 10 hours a week in disciplined private devotions under
the guidance of Dr. Curt Scarborough.

2. The goal is to develop personal and practical notes on selected portions
of Scripture within one year (on all 260 chapters in the New Testament,
for example). The mentoring partner will write on at least five chapters each
week, focusing on a few chosen verses in each chapter and using a
suggested simple outline:

(1) Concentration
(2) Meditation
(3) Revelation
(4) Applications

3. Every four to six weeks, the mentoring partner will meet with Dr. Scarborough
personally (or by telephone or computer) to review the work, to compare
spiritual insights, to discuss revealed truths, and to sharpen each other's
ministry skills. (See Romans 1:11-12). At each monthly meeting, the previous
month's work will be reviewed and discussed, new assignments will be made,
and the next appointment will be scheduled.

4. At the end of one year, the mentoring partner in this example would have
produced a 260-page personal and practical devotional commentary on the
entire New Testament . . . to use in his preaching and teaching, to publish
as a book, to preserve and pass along to his family, and to serve as a
resource for mentoring others.