1 Peter 3:15-16

What is it about a person that impacts others enough that they actually ask questions and want to know more?

In this episode I tell a story from 20 years ago, what happened, and what I would say now if I could go back. There's also an invitation for you to journey deeply with Jesus and reflect on how you would answer.

Credits & Sources:

Brian Ross, Eldon Fry, Rebekah Townsend, Erland Waltner, Joel Green, Tish Harrison Warren, Dennis Edwards, John Elliott, Moises Silva, Casey Gwinn, Chan Hellman.

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(10/04/26)

1 Peter 3.9-14

Life is full of situations that are threatening. The alarm bells go off in our mind. Harm is about to happen to someone. Evil is looming. Things have become untenable.

We can't just sit on our hands. We have to do something!!!

The challenge is that so often we respond to danger, threats, and mistreatment in ways that cause further problems, cause more harm, or make things worse.

How do we find a way to do something, without regretting it?

Credits & Sources:

John Roth, Joseph Thayer, Josephus, Donald Kraybill, Steven Simon Kimondo, Frederick Dale Bruner, W.E. Vine, Merill Unger, William White Jr., Timothy R. Jennings MD, Marsha Linehan, Douglas Harink, Moises Silva, Joel Green, W.J. Heard, K. Yamazaki-Ransom.

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(09/27/26)

1 Peter 3:8

This episode is about sharing life with people who have different personalities, perspectives, communication styles, sensitivities, hot buttons, or approaches than you. What are the prayerful qualities that the Spirit wants to cultivate within you to help you share life together?

Credits & Sources:

Daniel Taylor, Joel Green, Erland Waltner, Jacob Collier, Scot McKnight, John Elliott, Dennis Edwards, Moises Silva, Brian Zahnd, James Gall.

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(09/20/26)

1 Peter 3:1-7

The apostle Peter calls women the "weaker vessel". Other translations say, "the weaker sex, “the weaker sex, the more fragile vessel, the weaker partner", or “She isn’t as strong as you are, or she has a weaker nature.”

Please don't give up on listening! Some of the strongest people I have ever known have been women. This one looks at what Peter says to wives and husbands that is both challenging and liberating. I believe you'll end up seeing Peter as quite subversive and radical in his day.

Credits & Sources:

Rodney Stark, Erland Waltner, Adam L. Bean, Greg Boyd, Pam Hogeweide, Cornelius Plantinga Jr., John Elliott, Karen Jobes, Douglas Harkink, Dennis Edwards, Craig Keener, Pheme Perkins, Nijay Gupta, Joel Green, Warren Carter, Magda Misset-Van De Weg, Betsy Bauman-Martin, Catherine Clark Kroeger, Scot McKnight, Sharyn Dowd, David Barlett, Moises Silva, Dan White Jr., Rachel held Evans, David DeSilva, Christian Miller, Marvin Wilson, Seth Rodriquez.

For further reading: The Trouble with “Submit” - Joel B. Green

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(09/13/26)

1 Peter 2:18-25

When the apostle Peter said, "Slaves, be subject to your masters...." was he telling millions of African slaves that when their white masters (many who called themselves "Christians") punished them in whatever cruel way they deemed fit, that the only option those slaves had was to give in, accept it, shut up and take it, suffer and not lift a hand in resistance? Was he telling people like Martin Luther King Jr. that injustice is just the way things are? Is this what the apostle Peter was saying?

And if not, then what was Peter saying?

This episode looks not only at the specific evils of slavery, but also at the ways that we go about working with the Spirit of God against the evils that embed themselves in social fabric, systems, cultures, social structures, power structures and economies.

Credits & Sources:

Joel B. Green, Moses Finley, Gregory of Nyssa, Esau McCaulley, John H. Yoder, Jemar Tisby, Michael Emerson, Christian Smith, James Cone, Miguel De La Torre, Rodney Stark, Karen Jobes, Miroslav Volf, John F. Defelice Jr., Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, Isabel Wilkerson, Dennis Edwards, Erland Waltner, Scot McKnight, John J. Elliott, David Bartlett, Pheme Perkins, Sharyn Dowd, Moises Silva, John Woolman, Brad Jersak, Justo Gonzalez, Douglas Harink, S.S. Bartchy, Warren Carter, James Aageson, Craig Keener.

For further reading: The Trouble with “Submit” - Joel B. Green

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(09/06/26)

1 Peter 2:11-17

Peter says to "honor the emperor". He says to "submit for the Lord's sake to every human authority"....and we all pause and wonder, "What about when that authority is harming humanity?"

In the background of this Scripture is a real Roman Emperor. We explore the story of the Roman Emperor, Nero. We also look at what exactly Peter did and didn't say and how Peter was saying something very radical in his day.

Credits & Sources:

Joel Green, Tacitus, Suetonius, Tertullian, Paul Achtemeir, Karen Jobes, John Howard Yoder, Erland Waltner, Lee Camp, John H. Elliott, Craig Keener, David Bartlett, Greg Boyd, Sharyn Dowd, Warren Carter, James Aageson, Scot McKnight, Justo Gonzalez, Bruce Winters, Douglas Harink, Stanley Hauerwas, William H. Willimon, Pheme Perkins, Dennis Edwards.

For further reading: The Trouble with “Submit” - Joel B. Green

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(08/23/26)

1 Peter 2:9-10

We are inundated every day be voices trying to tell us to choose our tribe. Our sense of "WE", that identity is socially formed by class, ethnicity, race, political party, religious tradition, nation, tribe, family, and education. This one looks at how our idea of our "WE" determines what possibilities we are willing to consider and pursue.

Who is your "we"? This question is crucial.

Credits & Sources:

Emmanuel Katongole, Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove, Miguel De La Torre, Dennis Edwards, Erland Waltner, Douglas Harink, Sharyn Dowd, Pheme Perkins, John H. Elliott, Craig Keener, Lee Camp, Andrew Whitehead, Roland Bainton, Karen Jobes, Greg Boyd, Tony Campolo, Shaine Claiborne, Francis Collins, Scot McKnight, Moises Silva, Juana Bordas, Allan R. Bevere.

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(08/16/26)

1 Peter 2:4-10

Rejection is a common human experience. Ignored. Fired. Deported. Sent away. Ghosted. Divorced. Nobody wants you around. Not invited.

This episode uses a metaphor from the world of construction waste and old scraps of material that get thrown in the dumpster to paint a picture of how God operates differently, and to describe the kind of home God is building through humanity.

Credits & Sources:

John H. Elliott, Erland Waltner, Lee Camp, Malcom Guite, Andrew Root, Kara Root, Douglass Harink, Moises Silva, Pheme Perkins, Scot McKnight, Karen Jobes, Dennis Edwards, David Bartlett.

Sermon by Aaron Carlson

For more information or to support this podcast visit www.netartsfriends.org

(08/09/26)