Reminders from Ephesians

The last known words of certain dying individuals had been memorialized for their wit, their thoughtfulness, even tragically their tragedy. Before his death, French Grammarion, the Dominique Boulart, said, "I am about to, or I am going to, die. Either expression is correct." Ever the Grammarion, former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, a man renowned for his wartime leadership and inspirational rhetoric, punctuated his passing by saying, "I'm bored with it all." The death of Leonardo da Vinci, painter of the Mona Lisa, and the last supper was recorded by the biographer George Yolvesari. And while his exact wording is not known, Vessari did not have a smartphone to be able to record it, Da Vinci is said to have died shortly after professing, "I have offended God and mankind because my work did not reach the quality it should have." High standards. Thomas J. Grasso, a murderer on death row, concluded his life with a public complaint stating, "I did not get my Spaghettios. I got Spaghetti. I want the press to know this." Of the many famous last words recorded or fabricated, one story in particular stands out of a man famous for his alleged last words. Nathan Hale. He was a Yale alumnus, a schoolmaster living in Connecticut during the American Revolution. In 1775, Hale joined the militia and soon after he was moved to Manhattan to defend New York City from the British Loyalists. In August of 1776, the American Patriots were rapidly losing control of New York City. And while Hale waited in Manhattan, willing to be of use to his new nation, Patriot forces finally lost the Battle of Long Island. Just over one week later, Hale volunteered to go behind enemy lines as a spy to collect information for strategic attacks. He disguised himself as a teacher and investigated enemy movements on Long Island where Patriot forces had recently been defeated and expelled. As an eager 21-year-old without any training in undercover surveillance, he drew attention. He was captured by the British after only nine days. Nathan Hale was condemned as a spy and then executed without a trial and buried in an unmarked grave. According to tradition, Nathan Hale's last words were a final statement of patriotism. He said, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." His last words were a paraphrase from the 1713 play Cato, which praised the death of the virtuous youth and inspired many Patriots from that era. Nathan Hale's mission was cut short, but he succeeded at inspiring future generations of soldiers and leaders to greet challenges with the same sacrificial spirit. Whenever Paul, in the New Testament called for the Ephesian elders, on the way to Jerusalem, he knew he had to make his final face-to-face statements count. These would be some of Paul's famous last words, at least to these precious Ephesian elders. And Paul reflected on his history with them and he provided instruction and inspiration for the future for them. And from these famous last words, from the famous Apostle Paul, we gain insight into our own process of spiritual formation of being formed day by day to be more like Jesus. And we're going to hear all about that right after this. Welcome to God's Word for Life, Lesson Companion Podcast, brought to you by Word of Flame Curriculum and the Pentecostal Publishing House. This podcast encourages adult disciples to think deeply about God's Word, further develop their personal relationship with Jesus Christ and make a greater commitment to the purpose and plan of God for their lives. Let's dive into today's lesson and explore what it means to live out God's Word in our lives. Welcome back to the God's Word for Life Podcast. Listeners, L.J. Harry here, happy to be your host today's episode is entitled "Reminders from Ephesians." And of course this is from Paul's words to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20. We're going to read it verse 28, "Go through 31." Paul said this to them, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers, to feed the Church of God which He has purchased with His own blood." For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them, therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone, night and day, with tears. Paul's last words before he left his beloved elders from Ephesus and headed toward Jerusalem. Let's do some history. The Christian community in Ephesus was established when Paul came and found some disciples of John the Baptist in Acts 19. Paul shared the gospel, and those disciples were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. You may remember they had been baptized unto John's baptism and Paul said, "That was great, but God has something more for you. You need to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and he did. He baptized them, and then the Lord baptized them with His Spirit." Paul preached while he was there. He taught while he was there in Ephesus for three years, and the Lord converted both Jews and Gentiles. While he was in Ephesus, Paul felt God leading him to continue traveling first through Macedonia and Greece, onward to Jerusalem. Eventually, he could not wait to get to Rome. And on the way back from Macedonia, Paul was in a hurry to make it to Jerusalem for the Feast of Pentecost. It was one of the three feasts that every Jewish man was required to attend the Feast of Pentecost, the Feast of Passover, and the Feast of Booth, there's a Feast of Shelters. Paul called for these Ephesian elders to meet him. He wanted to bid them farewell. He wanted to offer some reminders and face-to-face instructions. He wanted to see them. He wanted them to see him. Paul reminded the Ephesian elders that from the first day he came, and in all seasons he had said an example for them of humble service. We read that in Acts 20, verses 18-19. Even though the Jews rejected Paul, Paul still labored long every day teaching the Word of God. Sometimes, fostering success, sometimes fomenting a riot. But through all of it, Paul's character or Paul's message were consistent. And he did not ask for payment. He did preach the gospel. He was eligible to live of the gospel, but he asked the Ephesian elders, "I don't want you to pay me. I'll work with my hands. I'll work as a tent maker. I'll provide for myself or provide for the men and the people who are with me." As a leader, Paul could confidently state that his sacrificial lifestyle reinforced the sacrificial message he proclaimed. I wish, "Oh, I wish Paul had planning center or onsong or faith teams," or any other, just a typewriter where he could have typed up a service schedule. And we could read what did a service in Paul's day look like. Did they open up with two songs, and then an offering, and then an announcement, and some meat and greed, and then a couple more songs, and then a message with an altar call? What did a church service look like in Paul's day? We don't have one of those, but we do see a pattern for our preaching and our teaching today. One of the book of Acts was the church preaching to sinners to teach them how to live right with God, and that's wonderful. But here in Acts 20, we see Paul preaching to the church, teaching them not how to be right with God, but how to live after they had been made right with God. Let's use some fun theological terms. He wasn't teaching the church how to be justified. They had been justified. They had been born again. He was declared righteous in the sight of God. He was teaching them how to live sanctified, wholly set apart, dedicated unto God. How do we fully mature disciples of Jesus? And to be fully mature, we have to have both. We must have preaching to saints, and to sinners. It cannot be one or the other. We must have both. After we are born again, God's preached word and taught word will continue calling us to live in covenant. In covenant faithfulness. Now Paul warned the Ephesian leaders that false teachers would come from within and without making false disciples. They probably expected false teachers to come from without, from others around them, but they did not expect, I would not expect, they would expect false teachers to come from within. That would be like your pastor standing up on Sunday and saying, in this church, in our future, people from these pews, I'm looking at you right now, people in these pews will start to preach and teach people away from Jesus Christ. We would all just false silent. Are you serious? People among us right now, brothers and sisters, we shake hands with they will lead people astray. And Paul said, yes, from within and from without. So for about three months, Paul preached to the Jews, Paul debated in this synagogue until many rejected his message and began publicly ridiculing the gospel. So Paul moved on to the school of Tyranus where he taught daily for two years. He taught in like a lecture hall. He also taught from house to house. house. And because of Paul's consistent teaching and public halls and private homes, we might even say it like this from like a sanctuary or a public classroom, and then in homes, all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus. Acts 19 verse 10. "That's remarkable to think about. We have not just public, but we have private, not just corporate, but individual. We have not just to a crowd, but to a family, in a public house, in a private house. And by doing that, by bringing both of those together, all they that dwelt in Asia." Now when the scripture speaks of Asia, it often refers to Asia Minor, which is our contemporary, very turkey or turkey ye, depending on how it's pronounced. Everyone heard the word of the Lord Jesus because they were not willing to just, we're not just going to meet on Sundays, but we're also throughout the week. We're going to go house to house, and we're going to share the gospel not just corporately, but privately, not just publicly, but privately. Paul example the need for corporate and private worship. Discipleship combines both. Do not let anybody tell you that you don't have to quote, "go to church," to go to heaven. They don't understand the value of corporate worship. First off, everyone needs a pastor, even pastors need a pastor. And every disciple is called to make disciples. So when people say, "I don't have to go to church to go to heaven," what they're saying is, "I can go to heaven all by myself," but they don't understand that as a disciple, they are called, they are on mission to make disciples. And as soon as they make a disciple of another person, and they're meeting in their living room, and they're watching it preacher on TV, they have become a church in and of themselves. We are not called to just try to get to heaven on our own. We need the body of Christ, and we need a pastor. A fully formed disciple cannot have one without the other. Now Paul tackled some tough topics as he declared to Ephesians, "All the counsel of God." He preached and taught all he believed God wanted his church to know, and we should do the same. Part of his teaching called the leaders to watch out, not only for themselves, but also for the church. Preserving the doctrinal integrity of the church involved, keeping an eye out for wolves, who taught lies as the Ephesian leaders fed God's flock, the true word of God. Though their missionary was leaving, their church planter was leaving the founder of the Ephesian church was leaving. The discipleship of the church would continue as the Ephesians' leadership committed to protecting the church and preserving the truth. Bringing us to our first question, what role does teaching play in the discipleship of believers? As Apostolus Pentecostals, we love preaching, but we must love teaching. Because while preaching many times is to sinners and we see people born again, and certainly it's also to encourage the saints, but teaching is to grow and ground the saints and what they believe in whom they believe in so they can share with others what they believe in whom they believe. And teaching helps us not to be tossed with every wind of doctrine, everything that comes along on social media or on TV or on radio. We're not turned by all those doctrines because we have been taught the precious word of God, and we know what it says and we know who God is and what He is calling us to be and do. As the story continued, a prophet named Agabus warned Paul that he would be imprisoned if he traveled to Jerusalem, and Paul realized he would never see the Ephesians again after this journey. This was it. An estimate grieved the leaders they wept. They hugged their beloved pastor one last time before seeing him off to his ship. Christian disciples have teachers and leaders who've made a profound impact on their lives. And these exemplary individuals may not all be present with us for the rest of our lives, but their influences felt in the beliefs we cherish, our approach to ministry, and the confidence they give us to live our lives for God. Since this episode helps to extol the influence of pastors in our lives, I just want to take a moment and thank God for the pastors I have had in my life all the way back to when I was a little kid. I had a pastor named Pastor Don Trailer, then Pastor Harry Miller, then Pastor Duane Kramer, and Pastor Steve Willeford in St. Louis when I was in college, then Pastor Hobson, then back to Pastor Kramer, and now Pastor Trimble. And I cannot thank God enough for the many women of God in my life who have shaped me, helped me, trained me, led me, discipled me, challenged me, convicted me, urged me, nudged me to live my life for God and to help make disciples for him. Thank you for pouring into me and investing in me. Paul finished his farewell by reminding the leaders of Jesus' words when he said it is more blessed to give than to receive. Godly leaders connect others back to the gospel message and in their absence, those believers can be anchored to the words and actions of Jesus who gave ultimately. Let's follow Jesus' and Paul's instructions to give of our finance, of our time, of our talents, to help disciple other new believers. We are investing in the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom that reaps eternal rewards. Next question. How are you continuing the spiritual legacy of those who came before you? After Paul left, he wrote his letter to the Ephesian church referring to himself as a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and that letter is known as the Book of Ephesians. One more time, let me just remind you, when we read these names like Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, those are not theological names. Those are people groups, the people in Ephesus, the people in Philippi, the people in Galatia, the people in Colasse. Those were names of people based on where they lived, who, like us, sang the St. Louisins, or the Floridians, or the New Yorkers, it was all based on people groups and where they lived. And he wrote the letter to the Ephesians, these same people he was meeting, greeting, and bidding farewell to. In that inspired letter, Paul addressed the saint, said Ephesus, and the faithful in Christ Jesus. He reminded them of their new birth experience. The Ephesians had heard the gospel. They had responded through repentance and water baptism in the name of Jesus. Jesus sealed them with his Holy Spirit, which was the earnest, the down payment of their heavenly inheritance, like a wax seal that marked official ownership. They're receiving the Spirit signaled, they belong to Jesus. The initial salvation had radically changed their lives and given them brand new status as children of God, but Paul knew there was room for growth. He commended their faith. He commended their love. He prayed also for wisdom, for revelation, for understanding, for knowledge for them. The Ephesians had heard they had experienced it, obeyed the gospel, and now it was time to grow. It was not just enough to be born again. They needed to know how to live once they had been born again. Another question. Once you have been saved in what ways are you established and strengthened in your faith? Paul reminded the Ephesians before you knew the Lord, you were without Him, without hope far away, but now you have been brought near through the blood of Jesus. There used to be a wall of division, but God has brought now Jews and Gentiles from both sides of the wall together into one church. Before Jesus, the lines were clearly drawn around us, versus them, but not anymore. The cross eliminated those divisions. Whenever the first Gentiles were converted, Peter, his companions, then the church council at Jerusalem, you may remember that from a couple episodes ago. They were convinced that Gentiles could be saved simply because the Gentiles had been born again like the disciples had at the beginning. They did not have to be Jewish, to be Christian. The Holy Spirit was more than just a get into heaven free pass, defying social norms. The gospel made a unified community of Jewish and Gentile believers possible. Paul gladly affirmed the Gentile believers and celebrated their invitation into God's family. When this epistle was read in the hearing of the whole church, Paul's message would have surely been overheard loud and clear by any skeptical Jewish believers. Everyone belongs here. Everyone belongs in the church. The Jewish believers needed to accept their Gentile brothers and sisters, and Gentile believers needed to recognize they belonged. We may not deal with the same Jewish Gentile and Samaritan divisions like they did in the Scripture, but we deal with our own divisions. Some of it may be based on race. Some of it may be based on income or education. Some of it may be based on upbringing or even mistakes people have made in their past. I remember when we were in Mount Vernon, Ohio, we had some amazing services with some wonderful people who were coming through our celebrate recovery. In one November night, one of our precious pillars of the church for the Don Ryan, he stood up and he was giving thanks. It was a Thanksgiving service. And he pointed to a whole section of, I don't know, that was three or four rows or so of guys and gals who had come from celebrate recovery and who had been dealing with felonies and court hearings and possible prison time and he pointed to them. And he said, "We built this church for you. We had just built a new building back in 2005. It was only 13 years old. It was still pretty new. It was a teenager. Just the building had turned into its teenage years. And yet he turned to a group of people who some people would say did not belong in church. And he said, "You are the reason we built this building. So you could hear the gospel. We have been so blessed to hear." In that moment, it was a miracle. I felt it in the Holy Ghost. We did not go from this is our church and this is your church or this is us versus them. In that moment, it was all us. We were living for God together. Everyone belonged in God's church. In Ephesians Paul called the church to oneness. He reminded them there is only one body. There is only one spirit. There is one hope of your calling. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One God and Father of all. The oneness of God is a theological reality we celebrate and we should. But the oneness of the church is something we must live. Personal and cultural boundary markers can fracture our oneness and it could be race or social status, gender or age or differing personalities. But God has allowed us to be part of His people and we must cheerfully receive others in the name of Jesus. Here is another question. How do you communicate to others that they belong? Here is a simple way to do it. Invite them to sit with you. Unless you are on the platform, they probably don't want to sit there. But if you are in the pew, if you are in the seats, invite them to sit with you. Invite them to lunch. Invite them to spend time with you. Invite them to your home. Go into their home. Invite it of course. But that is a way we tell them they belong. More than just we are glad you came to church. But we want to live our lives right alongside you. Paul prayed that the church would be strengthened by the spirit in their inner being. Worldly examples of strength and ancient Rome were found in politicians who commanded God-like obedience, the exercise domination and sometimes just brutal cruelty over the people they ruled. Similarly, athletes committed themselves to regimented exercise, sacrificing basic pleasures like Krispy Kreme for a show of strength and a moment of honor. But Christian strength is more than a show because it is working within us, enabling us to endure in the faith and faithfully witness despite our difficulties and differences. When Paul left and he did leave, he committed the Ephesian leaders to the Word of God's grace, which could and would build them up. People envisioned a growing strengthening church in Ephesus. Spiritual strength only produced when we abide in the spirit, we obey God's Word, we live in harmony with God's church. Paul recommended the gifts of spiritual leaders that prepare the church for ministry and build up the body of Christ, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Present-day believers are strengthened through spiritual disciplines. Pals of leaders who live and teach the gospel and examples of leaders scribed in Scripture. Paul prayed for the church's strength while celebrating God's strength. Listen to Paul's fascination with God's excelling ability. Listen to the superlatives Paul uses in Ephesians 3,20. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh within us. Exceeding abundantly above all we ask or even think God is greater than we can imagine and he chooses to work through us. The greatest privilege in the world is being in covenant relationship with this exceeding abundant God. God continues to sanctify us, make us holy through His Holy Spirit, cleansing us from sin, helping us, accurately mirror His nature. God also empowers us to serve others. It's not about us. It is about others, strengthening us from ministry, confirming His Word with signs and wonders. We'll envision the way the church would function like one mature body, not containing for our own views that divide the body. Yes, thankfully, by the grace of God, He works in me, but the work of God is exponentially marvelous in us. When we strengthen and cooperate with one another, we're not easily swayed by deception. Instead of children who are easily tricked by false messages, we grow up with the right family resemblance. We act like, look like, live like, love like, forgive like, our Father, Jesus Christ. Bringing us to our last question, how does God work through the church community to strengthen our faith? Sometimes we all need to be reminded who we really are. When a child misbehaves, a parent might remind the child, "Hey, that's not how we act in our family. We don't say those words in this house." Likewise, when giving a generous gift, parents might explain by stating, "I'm giving this to you because you're my daughter, you're my son." Well, the same is true in the family of God. Sometimes we need to remember the relationship. Living and restored relationship with God means we're called to live holy and above the dregs of sin. Paul said, "Hey, Ephesians, don't walk as other Gentiles walk. They pursue vanity and uncleanness. We are to put off the old man and put on the new man. Put off the old human nature, put on the new spiritual nature, which is through the Holy Ghost. Take off the old identity as children of darkens, put on the new identity as children of God, which we have through the power of the Holy Ghost. Family privileges include direct access to God and strength through His Spirit, a growing knowledge of His love, a new purpose for living, in communion, in connection within the body of Christ." So pop quiz. Did Paul's words take? He preached. He taught. Did the Ephesian church obey? I'll answer that question right after this story. One of the most famous iconic moments started off actually as a miscommunication. On November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall still stood to divide the free prosperous West Germany from the oppressed communist East Germany that Wall had stood for nearly 30 years. But on that November night, freedom was in the air. You could feel it. You could smell it. Freedom. One of the East German officials held a press conference after the pressure and protests mounted for East Germans to travel to the West. He wasn't really ready for this press conference, but he needed to do something. So Guntus Shabowski read an announcement he had just received that promised East Germany would loosen travel restrictions. Without giving much detail into how much or when. One of the journalists asks the German official, "When will those be loosened?" Shabowski replied, "As far as I know, or effective immediately without delay?" That was a miscommunication. The officials were working on processes and delays to keep from releasing too much power at one time, but his announcement was broadcast live as far as I know, effective immediately without delay. And when the East Germans heard his promise, they believed the border was open and they were free to cross over into West Germany. That was all they needed to hear. In hours, after being divided for nearly three decades from their neighbors to the West, thousands of East Berliners overwhelmed the wall security checkpoints. The border guards were unprepared for a flood of freedom, hungry humanity. The guards radioed for instructions, but when they heard little, it became obvious they could not hold back the growing crowd. In fact, at one particular border crossing, the senior officer in charge, Harold Jager, kept calling his superiors, but they were no help. For just one half hour before midnight that night, Jager changed history. He just opened the gates. Hundreds and thousands of East Berliners streamed through the open gates into the bright lights in celebrations of West Berliners. They hugged each other. They held each other. They celebrated freedoms when that Thursday night in '89. Families and friends who had been separated by a 12-foot high 87-mile long concrete barbed-wire wall held each other again. It was very grateful that the wall was finally coming down. That was part of Paul's message and Ephesians, and still God's message today, the wall has come down. The wall that separated the Jews from Gentiles and the temple in Jerusalem has come down. The four-inch thick, 60-foot tall veil that separated all humanity from our holy God has come down. The wall between Jew and Gentile rich and poor, bond and free, male and female has come down because of the gospel, and everyone is invited into covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. As God's church, let us live faithful to our covenant relationship with God. Let us be faithful to our spiritual disciplines, to worship with our brothers and our sisters, to look for people like us and not like us because we must remember that everyone is welcome in the kingdom of God. Thank God the wall has come down. As promised, I will tell you if the Ephesian message Paul shared took. Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesian sometime around 62 AD give or take. He wrote that to a group of people who knew what God had done in their lives and who knew what they needed to do as a result. But fast forward just 30 years. 30 years, same amount of time it took for the Berlin Wall to come down. Some time, somewhere, the Ephesian church built another wall. And this one we read about in Revelation. When John wrote Revelation, the Lord had a complaint against the church at Ephesus. And it was this. You work a lot. But you love little. Over those 30 years, somehow for some reason, the Ephesian church left their first love and Jesus had to call them back to repentance and remind them of who he is and what he had done in their lives. Don't let that be our testimony. Don't let that be our story. We must have a story where we lived our lives by the grace of God on a strong foundation of truth. So let's pray for God to establish our lives on that strong foundation and never to move off of it. And let's pray for God to build us as He would have to build us on that foundation and to lead others by a godly example. God is using us to share. Lord Jesus, we love you today. Thank you for your word, your word is truth. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth. Help us to live our lives on this strong firm foundation, never to move off of it, but only to build on it. I ask you, Lord, to lead others through a godly example you are calling us to live. Help us to love you, love our neighbors, love our brothers and sisters, love those like us, love those not like us. Welcome everyone into the body of Christ so they can hear the gospel and you can change their lives like you changed ours. Use us for your glory today, I pray. Help us, Lord, to have a testimony greater than that of the Ephesian church that we never left our first love. We loved you with all and we loved our neighbors as you have loved us. We pray for this today in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you so much, God's Word for Life listeners. Hey, I've got really exciting news this past week. We went live maybe this past week or two weeks ago. We went live with a brand new two year scope and sequence called rhythms. It's a God's Word for Life resource, but it's called rhythms and it is all about aligning our heart with God in every season. One of the beauties of rhythms is that it really ties into the rhythms of a church calendar. For example, when your pastor is preaching and teaching on spiritual disciplines in formation in January, when we're teaching the same thing in the classroom and when your pastor is preaching about love and what is love truly according to the Word of God in February, teaching the same thing in the classroom, getting ready for Easter in the sanctuary, we're getting ready for Easter in the classroom in March. Really tying into and leaning into those rhythms of a church calendar. When you go home in the car or at home, you can have a pretty consistent devotion with your family about what you learned, whether in class or the sanctuary, because at least many of those times it will be the same type of theme or at least the same tenor of the message and lesson. So, super excited about that. All that's online and for the adult lesson guide, it's even streamlined a little bit more. It's simpler and it's so powerful. Every lesson will help to draw you closer to God. They're also based on series. They're based on holidays as the holidays come along and what those holidays mean and how we live them out in our lives. So I'm really excited about rhythms. It's a two-year journey. So get ready for this 24-month-long journey through rhythms and let's make disciples for the Lord Jesus. You can get all of it. Pentecostalpublishing.com. Just go to Curriculum and you'll find rhythms. If you're looking for more information, there's a great video on there about 14 minutes long where each of our resource developers shares what rhythms looks like on their age-level children, youth and adult. Also, if you're looking for teacher training, formed is going to go live on August 8. It's an online half-day teacher training with 17 sessions. It's going to be remarkable. We have sessions for teachers who teach children, who teach youth, who teach adults. All of that, the very most expensive ticket is only $15. Literally, the cost of one meal you could get at a fast food restaurant in some places. So join us for formed, watch as a team, watch individually, watch from your home, watch from your home church. Join us for formed.upci.org and you can help grow in your strength and skills and tips and techniques as a teacher. Also, if you're looking for Bible studies, books, music, curriculum, whatever it is, you can find all of it at pentaculturepotishing.com and if it's in Spanish, it'll be at pphspanio.com. And if you're looking for an apostolic church, if you're brand new in your faith or somebody told you about God's word for life and you want to be part of a church family and community, go to upci.org, type in your zip or postal code. If you're from around the world, go to globalmissions.com and you'll find a missionary in an area near you, a country, a territory near you. If you have trouble with either one of those, reach out to me and I'll help you. Reach out to me. You can email me at GWFL, that's God's word for life, at upci.org and I will help you find a church family where you can grow in your relationship with the Lord Jesus. We're almost to the end of covenant as we get ready for rhythms which will launch on September 6th, but we're not done with covenant yet. We're still on our way toward revelation. Join me next week and I'm going to share with you an episode entitled Paul's Testimony from Max. 26. I'm looking forward to sharing how our testimony is one of our greatest witnesses to the world. Paul's Testimony. Looking forward to sharing that with you next week and always look forward to learning and living out God's word for life. Thank you for listening to God's word for life, lesson companion podcast. Together we explore what it means to live out God's word in our lives. If you haven't yet, make sure to subscribe to this podcast and if you are looking for other Bible study tools and resources to encourage you and your walk with God, visit us today at pentacostlepublishing.com.