Introduction to the Church (with Jeff Cavins) (2024)
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I and him, his father, Michael, and you're listening to the bible in a year podcast where we encountered god's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The bible in a year podcast is right to by essential using the great adventure bible title, and we will read all the way from genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation and falls in a week IT into that story. Today we just concluded the gospel of look.

And now today we are heading into the last, the last age, last stage, last time period, known as the church. But before we get to that, I want to let you know that there is a gifting campaign happening when IT comes to the bibles in the year. The bible in ear has brought the word of god to so many people.

As you know, you're part of this community changing lives and in so many incredible ways. We're humbled to play this role in god's plan and considered IT our ongoing mission to keep bringing the word of god as many people as possible. But that one of saying is the end of this year is not going to be at the end of bible in a year so far.

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that's right for either. We have been working all this time on developing A A book that we call the bible in a year. Companion know so many people throughout the year have been so blest.

And one of the comments is I wish, I wish I had all of that one place I could go back, you know, and and I could just look at IT like kind of a devotion and, you know, go deeper. So that's what this is. The violent year companion is a book.

And IT IT has a wonderful descriptions of every day, you know kind of the essence of that day from you're teaching. And IT has frequently asked questions and uh we as you know, we have been on thursdays at two o'clock ky astern on facebook sentience bible study facebook page answering a lot of these questions that people are coming up with. And so we thought, well, we just put those in this companion so that they can not only find the answers to these difficult questions, but they can pass IT on to other people.

So it's going to be in three volumes and the first volume is available and we encourage people to get that. And it's going to be a wonderful gift, I think, to people some people would like that, you know, when they go through the bible in a year to actually have IT and follow along. So I think it's going to be a great idea and people can get that at essential press.

yes. So you can get that um at essential press that comes slash companion as well as if you want to be part of the gifting campaign support the ministry. Essential presto comes flash support so those the two words are, remember to remember flash support and slash companion.

And yeah that's I think, jeff, that's our our advertisement for today, right? IT, is that right? Well, thanks for joining us today, everybody.

We have the final time period the church launching off. And so jeff, my gosh, this is has been incredible. Yesterday, most likely people finished the gospel of look, which is that the on a cap stone. But in some ways, the cap stone of everything we've been leading to, and now we're heading into the age we're living in, essentially we're gonna are reading about the early churches, but but we're in the age of the church. And so what can people expect as they launched into these last number of days?

sure. Well, is like you said, it's a new it's a new time period and IT is a the combination has come. Jesus has has come.

He has fulfilled everything from january to november. He is fulfilled. He is fulfilled everything. And in the last thing he said was, now you go into all the world and make disciples.

And so what we have in the book of acts is literally, and this is such a gift, we have the history from that very beginning when he sent out, uh, the poles, that that very beginning we see how the church is developing and how his message is going forth. And I think a lot of people misunderstand the book of ax. They think that, well, the book of ax is just the history of the early church.

It's kind of entertaining. Look what they did here and there. No, IT is the era, like you said, that we're living in right now.

And the church is not a body that just sits and studies jesus. The church is the body of Christ. In other words, the church is going to go forth and continue.

What he started, I mean, he was, he had a three year public ministry. And that three year public ministry is not A A slice of time that just stays there. Uh, and we go back and study IT, but that three year time period was his public ministry and then the launching of his kingdom throughout the world.

And we're the ones that do that. And so when we look at the early church, we see that there's two super apostles, les, we have paul and we have Peter. And one goes to the gentiles, one goes to the jews. And IT is amazing.

And so the early church, you know, in the book of ax, is really the the study of the explosion of the church and some of the problems that they have because it's in the context of acts, the book of acts that we see the epistles. So everything has a place, but the book of acts is the structure for the beginning of this church in the movement. And uh, it'll get to IT a little bit, but the ending is kind of abroad t right and dislike is that IT we done? No, we're not done. When there's more will you .

imation to this is by the the launching, you know that that sense of you mentioned the two words I just kept in on one was explosion, which is, yeah, I mean, as jees even says in x, after one says you'll receive the power or the dynamic of the holy spirit and that explosion, that's what happens.

But then that launching of the first Christians, launching of that the church into the world to make, to change the world, essentially to redeem the world cash IT. Just, yeah, he said, the story of the apostles is what we get introduced to some of these people who the posses, obviously, from that jesus recruit. But also, you have poll and you have born of the some of those characters that were part of that mission early on that were launched from this act of the a possible time period and did exactly what you're saying.

They went out and brought the gospel of mercy and hope in good news to the world. And we seemed unstable in so many ways, even though they definitely encountered opposition. Well.

they give you a kind of an idea of the the atmosphere that the early apostles went out into. IT was, IT was brave. IT was courageous.

This is, this is a marter a matter business here. Even they went out because rome was the world power. And people need to remember that right before jesus, we are Julia scissor, who proclaimed himself to be god. And the season was worships as god.

He had an adopted sun by the name of Octavian Octavian defeated mark Anthony at the battle of actium, came into rome with the horary name of scissor Augustus and IT was set of scissor gustus that nobody before, during or after we'll ever clip the glory of scissor justice who is the son of god the one who ushered in the box romana, the the peace and the one who is given the U. N. gelle.

And the good news to the world so that's the atmosphere that Peter and polar are going out into the same um guys I know what you read and in the newspaper, and I know what you saw on cable cable new shows, but I gotto tell you is not god, the sound of god. He's not the one who acted in the good news. He's not the prince of peace that there is one and we're going to tell you about him yeah and that's the atmosphere that the book of max takes place in.

You know it's so interesting too because as as you're pointing that out here is rome, which is the you know the world superpower at this time and Peter and paul, they don't stay away from room. They don't stay away from the place where a everything's going down. I mean, you imagine that in so many ways, up until up until this moment, the story centre is centered on the holy land.

You know, at, yes, the people of his world had been exiled, whether they're be egypt or babble on. But the idea was, will stay here. And now there they're launching. I once again launched bad.

They're launching from that, that place where Christ walked in, that that place that was the land of the promise into new lands to bring the evAngelical on that the real good news to the world. I just think it's a shift. I mean, it's a fulfillment. Obviously, jesus is the fulfillment. But put this shift in in how is the promise going to be fulfilled? And not simply by retaining the land is staying here, but it's we're going to the heart of the somewhat is the heart of the beast you know by going to rome and going all over the place and and bringing that good news, whether they went right.

And um the early church saw this in. The early church was aware that rome was started by remus and romans and and there there's actually artwork from very early on showing Peter and paul. Who are in a sense, the new reach. I didn't romulo .

who I did. That's awesome. Yeah.

there is a new room. Yeah now, you know and this is now the shift will move from the holy land to rome is the seat of Peter. And it's like A A rebuilding of rome, which is a sign of a rebuilding of the world and and that's why rome is very special to us as catholic is not just oh, they got good wine over there but it's but IT is he really is the the beginning of the new uh remains anomalous. The phone that is so I was .

kind of labour as is like what I never even I knew the remnant alist part by never put that me that connection with same Peter and same point. Especially when IT comes to a redeem tion, IT comes to renewal, when IT comes to restoration. This is the mission.

And he hears, you know, rome that had done so much damage is being in some ways redeemed by the that game stored by the two twins will say, twin a puzzle s of Peter and paul um how how much you know one of the things that's going to happen as you mention active is the context but we're also reading the letters of paul, reading the letters of Peter and john, although you know new tesman letters as well. Is there anything that you would say um unless you want to stay on xy puzzle s for a second more, but there's anything you would say that okay. Here's some things to pay attention to when when reading some of these episodes.

right? Well, I would say, you know just going back for a moment to the book of bags, that we have a structure that is very important, and that is that IT is the story of the two super apostles. And so chapters one through twelve really focuses on Peter, and then thirteen, three, twenty eight focuses on paul.

But here's what's interesting. If you read, and as people listen to you very carefully, they will notice that Peter is imitating jesus. And the works of jesus did. There is a direct correlation between Peter, his works and the works of Chris. And the same thing is true of paul.

In chapter thirteen three twenty eight he is mirror Peter and so ah both of them are miring Christ and that tells us something and that is that we as the members of the people of the book of acts, we're doing the work of Chris like Peter Peter and paul did so that's a little structural thing that I think is is really important to uh to get but the basic structure of the book of acts uh, is that we have first of all in jerusalem. It's a witness in jerusalem and then after that we have juda in somalia. Now jerusalem is act one one through eight three, and then eight four through twelve twenty five is Julia in somalia.

So that is on the outskirts of jerusalem. And then in x thirty through twenty eight, you have to the other most parts of the earth. You have the the entire world.

So you mentioned explosion earlier, and that is that IT starts in jerusalem, boom. IT just explodes into judea in soma, places we wouldn't Normally go and people we don't really know. And then to the other most parts of the earth, and the fact that people are listening to you and me right now means IT worked right because .

you .

and I are in the other most .

part you are not a well two nap hours further away from the center then you you know even it's x one right where jesus says, um you'll be my witnesses here in jersey m throughout to the ana to the ends of the earth. And then as as as you're saying that just telescopes for the rest of the book of the acts did that exact same pattern. That's what phenomenon.

And not only that, I I know that are people who are listening journey with us. One of the things that is noted by luke in writing, the actually postles is a lot of times what cause that explosion, what cause that launching, was persecution. IT was as a result of this persecution, the Christians, they went out and they began to proclaim Christ's other places.

And that's just that that can be backwards for us. We think that if it's going to be blessed, it's it's going to be blessed in a way that just like be blessing, a way that just fruits everywhere. But it's often not only a third of Christ in the holy spirit, also the ford of suffering that that's going to be a giving new life to the churches.

And that's something poorly understood. That, too, just exactly what you're saying because I was in the second phase of this explosion chapter's. Eight, four, three, twelve, twenty five, that that is great scholar soul of tarses was brought into the kingdom by the, by the holy spirit, and he became a super apostle.

And then in the third part of the explosion, paul has three missionary journeys, which are covered in the book of acts. And every one of those journeys, he goes out first, and he, what does he do? He establishes churches.

And and then in the second, third, he's establishing, but he's going back and he's nurturing the church, is that he started. And one of the things that people will find when they read the episodes of paul, which paul wrote, more books, look as more territory. You know, what is writing? But when you read those a pizzas father, you're going to, you know, see that that early church did experience the power of the holy spirit and the expansion of the church.

They also had problems. yeah. And the problems typically were departing from the ways of the world and roman customs in their temples and so forth. And so when you read the episodes of paul, he's gone to teach you theology is going to show you how jesus is the fulfillment of the old testament.

But then at times he is going to say, hey guys, we got a problem here and we got to deal with this if we're going to keep, you know, moving forward. And so I think it's key for people to to read that in a two fold way. One is the mission.

The other is, what about us as the church? Are we getting along? Are these stones in the temple causing problems?

Well, that sense of you said, you know that in the letters, apple pieces of ul, all all the, all the letters in the new testers there are going be teaching us theology. So there is that teaching of, here is how jesus is the format, and here is what we believe. But also, there's be a specific context.

Whenever polls is writing his letters sees he's addressing them to a certain group of people typically about A A chAllenge are typically about their experience or some kind of way in which you weather be the currencies. And here's what I heard is going down in your community um here's where we need to start living these new lives or even Timothy encouraging him to be the Christian he's been called to be and living in this world. I think that there is something about that that when we get the context for the letters, sometimes they become much more clear.

It's kind of like the writing of the profits where you can we can read them and say, i'm kind of get in stuff. But if we know the context more here, let's going on at the time, then we recognize, oh, here is how not only this applied then and what we're talking about here, but here's how what applies now. And I think so much more accessible and so much more like, if you say so, this is for me, I not only for a community two thousand years ago, but this is for me, this is for us. This is for now.

right? You mentioned in context and that is very important, particularly with paul's writings, because four of his writings he wrote not from the beach with A A, S. T. He wrote him from prison.

And when you're reading, when you're reading any peaceful from paul, knowing that he's in prison, knowing that his life is on the line, and then you read what he wrote, that's life changing and he know he wrote Philippians he visions and collisions and filing. Those are called the the prison e pizzas. And for anybody who feels like i'm in prison, whether it's in a relationship at work, financially, whatever might be, pay pickles attention to those prison episode.

They're gone to teach you an awful lot. We have a number of writers in the new test at pole. We have Peter.

We have join, we have Timothy. You know there's different authors who are telling you about their experience and teaching people as this gospel explodes. And I often times thinking myself wouldn't have been great to be back then, you know, into experience.

This polls coming to mini apps, the excel energy center, you know, won't have been really, really great. But the truth of the matter is we're in that period right now. You are the one and I say you those of you that are listening to this right now, it's it's years on the stage now, year on the stage. Now it's your turn to take this mission and continue to grow IT learning from Peter and polls, learning from the early church and what jesus taught them. And this is the time of expansion as well.

Yeah, I love that you point out that up because for many reasons. But one of those reasons is I think we can look back and say, well, you know, paul stories over and Peter stories over and barna bus intimidation, all those stories are are written now they're been lived. Those lives have been lived, and now they're enjoying the reward.

But we can realized that when they were writing these words, you know, here's paul writing his prison letters. He was in the midst of uncertainty. He had no idea how I would all hash out.

He had no idea how I would turn out. And so I think a lot of times we could look at that back then and think, oh, that would be so great. And yet to be in that moment would be to be in a situation that was completely filled with uncertainty.

They be completely filled with, I have no idea what going to happen next. I mean, onest ly, when same pole goes to the list of all the ways in which he has, you basically suffered for the sake of the gospel. Any one of those moments would be enough a lot of us to be okay.

I'm going to tap out here like I might not want to go any further because of the fact that I don't know, kay, i'm stranded. You know he wrecked what's going to happen. I mean, he just says that as of our ship act couple times no, as opposed to I would tell the whole story if was me happy I okay, there I was.

And here is that I had no idea was coming next. He mentions IT in passing as if there wasn't any uncertainty. And yet, of course, there was, because I just like us, Peter and paul and all the apostles and other, the early disciples of jesus.

They lived in the same broken world and same fragile world and same dangerous world that we live in. And so it's so good to listen to our older brothers and sisters and see their lives and see other living, because we recognize that, okay, that same danger, that same uncertainty, that that same suffering is is ours as well. exactly.

You know, people will look at Peter and paul, is they listening to you read and they're say, well, yeah, there's super a puzzles and that's paul, that's Peter.

But I am so and so from oma 哈 i'm so and so from pitzer g you know and and you gotten remember paul was not aware that he was paul yeah he wasn't saying in light of the fact that people are going to be building churches in my name， I would say to, you know, what did you do for living? He was a tent maker. He was a tent maker who was on a mission from from jesus.

And he exhibited every characteristic that we would want to exhibit. You know that the tenacity and the courage and boldness and the love, and so we can, as you said, we can learn so much from our older brothers and sisters. But one thing you really pay attention to, as you are going through the book of eggs, is to pay attention to the reading in the context of that church exploding in the early church and and how the church is changing and adapting, uh as the continues to grow and the the common problems that they that they face the leadership, uh, we can learn a lot about the leadership of the early church.

And I would say that really for the first time in our journey together, father, the holy spirit now is really center stage. Not not that he wasn't perform mean na, trinity is the trinity. But now this is the age of the holy spirit.

We were in the age of jesus, the second person of the trinity, uh, our father, you know, in the old testament. And now the holy spirit is going to usher us in. And I love what IT says, paul rights about IT.

And he said he talks about the power, the holy spirit in his life, to transform. And jesus predicted this before. He not predicted he he told us before that he was gone to go to the father, but he was gone to send a helper.

And that helper would guide us into all truth. And, uh, and he did. And he continues to, in that word, helper in greek. Paraclete is the one who comes along side of us and that means that not only is baptism critical for this new church and that is the forgiveness of in the joining with the uh family of god, but confirmation is is equally important in the in the sacraments of initiation because IT is in confirmation that the holy spirit is given to the church to fulfill the bet tim Graces and power and give us the courage to be as the catalyst says, official witnesses of jesus so I would say that anybody who is joining us that has not been confirmed, maybe you've been baptised, but you have ve been confirmed. This is your period.

Now, this is the time where you go to pastor and you say, no, what I need to be confirmed. I have never been confirmed. I talked to one one priest father a while ago, and I said, how many people in church I have not been confirmed this? Because I don't know.

Maybe twenty years? Oh, I don't know. I said, why don't you do some work? Go into the data abase and check.

He called me back a couple weeks later. He said, you're not going to believe this. We have over five hundred people will have been confirmed. And so I said, well, you can imagine what easter visuals going to look like next year then, you know but so I I just say that as as a sort of a word of encouragement that if you are reading this and saying, I want to to live this way, then you've got to be equipped the way the early church equip and is.

Jesus went in Matthew three and four, and you, he went into the water, came out of the water, the holy spirit came down upon him. That's how he began his ministry. And he said, he said, as a father has sent me, so I sent you and and that is very powerful, that the holy spirit in the life of this early church.

well, that makes so much sense, especially even the role, particularly of confirmation, because you have the apostles who had had been baptized, right? The puzzles who had been essentially regained on at the last upper, the puzzles who have been given the gift of forgiven, being able to forgive sins here, the resurrection of jesus in at the end of john's gospel.

And yet still they lacked this, this power of the holy spirit in this unique way, this power of pentax s the power of confirmation. And so, yeah, they had the holy spirit. And yet there was a certain terrorism of the holy spirit, a certain mark, certain power of the holy spirit, that had not yet been given to them.

And so some Better dise that I have, the spirit, you are right, you are correct, you do. And yet there's more. And that's what what A G sus say says that anyone, bad father's, bad parents you might have, who know you won't even give your son a scraping if they ask for an egg, but how much more able the heavily father give the holy sphere to anyone who ask them? And that's an incredible thing.

Not only you ask the holy, the father to give you the holy spirit now where you're listening to this, but also in that segmental, that elemental way, that way of power that comes through the searches of the church that jesus had given to us is just so essential and so powful and god, for the reminder, one of those where I think sometimes I just assume I just assume sometimes that well, everyone has been confirmed or they have said yes to their confirmation that that happens to what we have. People who yeah was confirmed when I was however old, but they have not yet in some ways really CoOperated. Or you can said yes to that and said, okay, lord, you gave me the gift to the holy spirit.

I have allowed that gift to my dorm in me. Alit takes is essentially a good confession and asking the lord, come alive now in my life, in the same way that you came alive in the lives of the apostles, in the lives of those were sent out and had lived radical lives, transformed witnesses to jesus. yeah.

And there's one book that you're gonna covering, which if you are, when I take polls in the past and say, what book would you like me to teach you know, what book would you like to to learn from overwhelmingly the book of revelation?

Of course I was I was going to guess, going to .

guess I was going, yeah, is is such a mystery. And when are good friends will hear you reading the book of revelation? Just to put that into context, the book of revelation was written by john, and john received quite a revelation from god about the end of that era, the end of the old testament era, and the beginning of something new.

And there will be judgement on jerusalem and and rome, and, uh, there will be this new beginning. But the book of revelation is a mystery to so many people, because it's not written the way the episodes written the episode letters. Hey, father john, how are you doing lately? I hope you but but the book of revelation is called um apocalyptic literature and otherwise it's written differently.

IT uses code words and uses structures that are taken from the old testament to to explain something that is about to happen. And that thing that is going to happen is the destruction of jerusalem after jesus. That's what it's going to focus on.

But at the same time, it's going to focus on the end of time. So it's kind of like IT has dual purposes, but I was written to the seven churches evasion minor, which that was its modern day turkey. And uh, there was a formulaic statement that I you're doing good in this area, but I have this against you.

You need to correct this. And then there was the reward for that. That was the beginning. Then we see the judgment on jerusalem. M, the end of jerusalem, in the beginning of this amazing family, the kingdom of god, the church, and is is so interesting because whether paul and Peter and Timothy and their own, they quote from the old testament, hn doesn't, but john does, is he looks to the old testament over five hundred times.

And so as people have gone through the old testers with you, some of this is going to be like a rumble trip as they listen to the book of revelation every minute. I've heard that. I saw i've seen that pattern before.

And you are right, you are right. So IT is a is a great book at that. The highlight of IT is the lab supper. IT is the uk's celebration in heaven, a new heaven. And so that kind of the the wonderful dessert at the end of this whole story.

right? Yeah if there is, maybe I maybe you be more appropriate for me to say the cap stone would be that that sense of and here is not only now, here is into eternity, that vision that only not only glimpse of have the church on earth, but here's the church in heaven. Here's the bride and heaven.

A bride cries, which is so good. Yeah, that's going to be a fun one. I I want of things I noticed that is a bit of a chAllenge is a love at times when we have our our daily mass readings, our reading from the scripture there you know a number of versus long, but not too long because if they get too long, then we can get a little bloss. There's so much content there that it's easily be overwhelmed if there were times in the old testable where people who are joining us were overwhelmed by wow, this whole news story or the whole new kind of thing the epistles of poll are one of those places and the episodes about the others and the book of revelation or one of those uh, those text of scripture where we're going to go through chapters at a time.

And it's one of those where I think if there's every a time that you might want to follow along in your bibles as we're reading as you're listening, this might be one of those those moments where you want to kind of like mark down something or write IT down or you have a journal like, you know, jeff, you have your insight journal, that kind of sense to be able to I wanted I need to capture this right now because there's so much, there's so much that the commentary section of the bibles in year. Part cast would isn't able to cover everything. But I know that what's i'm so convinced just what has happened for the last three hundred plus days is going to happen for the remaining or of this year.

And that is that even when it's a fire hydrant of just information and IT can be overwhelming, the lord is still speaking. And he's speaking not just to all you all. He's speaking to you personally individually, and he is going to help you hear what you need to hear this time.

And jeff, I member, when I went with you the first time, IT was like drinking from a fair rehouse. IT was just a matter so much here. And I kind of got panics.

I had a little bit of anxiety of I need to take everything and as much as I can, until I realized I made the decision. I don't have way through the pilgrims. Maybe i'm coming back.

And when I made that decision, OK, i'm coming back. I was able to calm down because I was okay. I don't need to take IT all in right now, right?

I'll take in whatever is given to me today, whatever is given to me at this moment, i'll be back and so i'll get more next time. And I think maybe for this community, that could be a really good a thing as well. Well, just like i'm getting overwhelmed by this.

But you know what? Okay, i'm coming back. Come coming back to these letters.

He reminds me what I F M said. He talked about the word of god and studying the word of god using the drinking fountain as an example. And you know what it's like to go on a run or bike ride or something, and you're really thirsty and hot and you see a drinking found and you go over and you press the button and, oh my god, is so good that Christ clear, good taste water.

Well, we don't stand back and go. Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. I only drink a little bit. Look at all of that to fell to the ground. We don't you know, saying up from says, don't be discouraged by the water that falls to the ground, but rejoice in the water that you drink and know that the fountain exhaust you. You don't exhaust the fountain.

And so when people are listening and they think this so much, this is so much focus on what you're drinking because you can go back to the fountain and you can do this next year. You can do IT two times in a week, whatever. You know the same lesson, but keep drinking and know that this word of god is going to exhaust you.

You're not gonna haul that nobody can sit. I can say, there you go. I've exhausted the word of god. Yes, not like that at all. So there's a beautiful picture uh, for people to to continue with another picture you know kind of two to close out our thoughts on this period is that if you read the end, we win and we win in the apple has been won by yeah so but the reason I mentioned that is that IT reminds me so much of the time where, uh, I would go to mass and I come home at noon on sunday and I D V R, the viking game and why, I don't know.

But dvr say why penance .

and of only if we could get a superb, but I I D V R, the football game. And one time I did that and I got home, we had dinner, and then we had to leave to do something. And I thought, I watch the game now.

So I started to watch the game against the packers and I was very close. And then the packet ers are pulling ahead in the fourth quarter. And i'm saying, no, this always happens.

I can't believe in what a loser are and I just really brought me down, you know and then there's like fifty there at eight minutes left in the fourth quarter, we're down by ten and Emily walks in, she's been listening and the current says, wasn't that a great ending? And i'm like you just ruined the game. They came back and they won.

And but the point is, is that, you know, we don't need to walk around with our heads down. We are not defeated people. We do not have to be lost.

Jesus said, in john fourteen, i'm not gona leave you as orphans. Okay, only spirits are onna come. But we don't have to live our lives with our head hung law like we're losers.

We won. Act like IT, act like a winner. Act like we have won that. Jesus won that battle. And now we are working with him. And so you go out in the life now knowing, I know, I know at the end of this game looks like, and I know we were so that should put put a smile on your face honestly.

And I am glad to said that because there are been so many people who've been listening with us, and we've said, I feel more confident now then maybe i've ever felt uh in confident in the lord, confident in my faith that I actually know who he is and I said that sense of we might even say, even increased faith where I just I trust him and I find myself in the world of insecurity it's I can rely on him in a very secure way and yeah, when will we get to the end? We we know that he has wanted for us and so we went, i'm so grateful jeff, I don't if you have any last words for for this entry into the time period or that was if that might have been the last work because that's a really good last word. Or if you have anything if you have anything else for us.

just a couple of things. One is that this is just the beginning. Yes, we're coming to the end, but it's really just the beginning.

And we have people there been joining us that are are neil fights brand new. We ve just come into the church. This is amazing.

Uh, to be able to hear the entire bible like this is truly a gift from god. IT is a gift. We have people that are have been walking with the lord for seven, eight years.

We have people that are scholars and they have been teaching in, and they are with us as well. But again, after you hear the word of god, the church says there must be a response. And that response is faith.

Faith for us. And faith is two fold, one mental ascent. Lord, i've heard the whole bible, i'm with you wow, two times up. This has been really, really good.

And um I might even do IT again, you know but the other part of faith is a personal interesting of yourself to him and so the response when the when the divine word of god is revealed and god pulls back the curtain and shows you himself completely, then the proper response is faith. That means that we go from here believing and interesting ourselves to him in the midst of the story. And IT says in the very first paragraph of the capacity, m, that god has a plan of hear goodness.

And what people have heard, or this last year is the plan. And it's a plan of sheer goodness. And he has now reached out.

He's got a hold of you. He has brought you to the level of adopted sons and daughters, and he is going to share his divine life. The life of the trend ity with you is a blessing.

And so that is really important. The last thing I would say is, father, you have done an amazing thing. You have done an amazing work, not just in scope bible in in a year there IT is that's great.

But the amount of time and effort and energy that you have put into this IT has been incredible. And I think there's going to be eternal fruit. Take that back. I know there's going to be eternal fruit as a as a result of IT.

And so you know on behalf of, uh, everybody, thank you for the great work that you have done and thank you for letting me come on this journey with you. We've been friends for a long time. We go on pilgrimages and things like that. But this has a has been the I think the most ruthful thing i've ever been involved in. And I really appreciate you as my brother, as a father and as a um eventually alist in today's world that .

means a logic especially well you just at you probably know you're not only a friend and a brother also in so many ways uh a mentor and I just yes that this means that means that means a whole heck of a lot we'd say I am grateful and also not only am grateful for for you, but also for the entire team of people we have made this word man and so I want and also of this community so you this is our last intro into our our time periods.

And so this is the home stretch, but is not the there are still days and days to come. So I especially when you're battling that faithfulness, you know in the upcoming weeks might be really busy for you know that we're walking with you and we're praying for you. I know that the whole team of people at ascension are are praying for every single person was part of this community because they tell me they let me know.

Like we are regular basis, we get together as a company and we pray for those who are listening the vivo in year. I know that they're prying for you. I know jeff's praying for you.

And I too, I am praying for you. Please pray for me. Please pray for us. My is his father, mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow was.