Latest / North Bible Recap / Episode 54: Acts and Jeremiah

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Episode 54: Acts and Jeremiah · North Bible Recap

0:09
SPEAKER_02: Well, good day, everybody.
0:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm so glad that you are joining us for another episode, actually, number three episode of North Bible Recap.
0:21
SPEAKER_02: And I am thrilled to have my friend with me, and that is Christian Valez.
0:26
SPEAKER_00: Super excited to continue this journey that we started three weeks ago.
0:30
SPEAKER_00: If you this is your first time watching, we encourage you to go back and relisten uh to the previous episodes so you can have a great idea of what we study.
0:38
SPEAKER_00: Book of Acts and finish in Jeremiah today.
0:40
SPEAKER_02: So every week we're going to be diving into scripture.
0:43
SPEAKER_02: We're going to be looking at some, you know, those little things that we can pull out of there and also some general ideas of what's going on in the reading that we're reading.
0:52
SPEAKER_02: We're looking at our reading plan, which is reading one and reading two.
0:56
SPEAKER_02: Reading one takes us through the book of the New Testament and also the Psalms and Proverbs in a year.
1:02
SPEAKER_02: And then also the reading two covers the rest of the Old Testament.
1:07
SPEAKER_02: And we're going to kind of get a little bit of each today.
1:10
SPEAKER_02: We're going to be looking at the book of Acts as we have the last two weeks.
1:15
SPEAKER_02: We're going to look at chapters 17 through 23.
1:19
SPEAKER_02: And then also we will dive into at the end the book of Jeremiah, chapter 41 and 42.
1:26
SPEAKER_02: Now, some of you may be looking and saying, Oh, what about Ezra?
1:28
SPEAKER_02: We'll we'll get into that next week.
1:30
SPEAKER_02: We're going to save it for next week.
1:32
SPEAKER_02: Um, I'm thrilled about it, and I want to just kind of give the audience a little bit what I do whenever I am doing my personal devos every day.
1:43
SPEAKER_02: And so I will read through the chapter.
1:45
SPEAKER_02: So, like, example, uh, our chapter, Acts chapter 17.
1:51
SPEAKER_02: Um, as I would read through that, I just make little notes.
1:55
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, what God just the Holy Spirit speaking to me.
1:57
SPEAKER_02: I try to read it slow too, versus just reading it fast.
2:01
SPEAKER_02: And number verse number one really jumped out at me recently as I was uh writing this.
2:08
SPEAKER_02: And I wrote this down.
2:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh it's verse number one says Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of uh Amophilius and also Apollini and came to Thessalonica and where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2:23
SPEAKER_02: And what jumped out to me is just a synagogue.
2:25
SPEAKER_02: What's a synagogue?
2:26
SPEAKER_02: It's a place of worship.
2:27
SPEAKER_02: It's it's a place where God's people gather.
2:29
SPEAKER_02: And so I wrote this down.
2:31
SPEAKER_02: This is the way I kind of do things.
2:33
SPEAKER_02: I wrote down just a synagogue.
2:35
SPEAKER_02: And then I put these words the practice of regularly gathering with those who fear the Lord are devoted to the study of scriptures and want the manifest presence of the Messiah, is what the people of God do.
2:51
SPEAKER_02: It is their passion, their purpose, and pursuit in life.
2:56
SPEAKER_02: They want a greater depth of understanding and revelation of Christ day to day.
3:01
SPEAKER_02: They are not satisfied with yesterday's experience.
3:04
SPEAKER_02: They desire more of the Spirit of Jesus filling their lives today and tomorrow.
3:12
SPEAKER_00: How long does that normally take you when you're doing your scripture and your journaling?
3:16
SPEAKER_02: Well, I I do reading one and reading two.
3:19
SPEAKER_02: Just the reading part, I mean, literally reading one is usually about five minutes.
3:24
SPEAKER_02: Uh, reading two, sometimes it's going to be a little bit longer, but it's still seven to ten minutes max.
3:30
SPEAKER_02: So the reading side of things for both of those, and that's to go through the whole Bible in a year, is going to be about 15 minutes.
3:37
SPEAKER_02: Um, but when I begin to write down things, that doesn't take long, but then I kind of craft this statement.
3:45
SPEAKER_02: I spend more time just meditating on that, thinking on that verse, uh dialing in, and that's going to take about another 30 minutes.
3:53
SPEAKER_02: So, really, it's about me reading the text and then me focusing on key scriptures is really about my meditation.
3:59
SPEAKER_02: It's about my really my worship unto God.
4:01
SPEAKER_02: Okay, and reading the text is also worship unto God, but I just go deeper in that.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: I know that you have the the practice of journaling in both because you send it to our staff every day.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: I know you send it to your family.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: You also put this on social media.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't follow Pastor Rodney, follow him on Facebook and Instagram because he posts these things every day, what what he gets from the Word of God.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: I do both reading, but I normally journal on one.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: So I'm journaling just in the New Testament.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: So that's kind of what I do.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't really take me that long.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: And what I try to do when I'm reading is I just try to grab that one verse that spoke to me and why did it speak to me, and what am I going to do with that?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: So uh I just want to and I wanted people to hear kind of how you prepare that and how I do it.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: Just because this is one of the things people ask me often, it's like, how do you how do you spend your time in the Word of God?
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
4:49
SPEAKER_00: Well, the main thing you have to do is read it.
4:51
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
4:52
SPEAKER_02: And I would encourage people to one thing, I've mentioned this before in this uh podcast is that I also share what I am learning with somebody else.
5:02
SPEAKER_02: Now it's not a lot, I don't put everything, just but just what I read there.
5:05
SPEAKER_02: I will send to a group of guys.
5:07
SPEAKER_02: There is four men.
5:08
SPEAKER_02: I also send it to my my family, my children, yeah, and then their spouses, uh, and then also to the staff.
5:16
SPEAKER_02: And then I post it on Facebook.
5:19
SPEAKER_02: But hopefully somebody uh is encouraged.
5:23
SPEAKER_02: And actually, the men that I send it to, they all send back to me what they got from the reading.
5:28
SPEAKER_02: And it is encouraging to read.
5:30
SPEAKER_02: And of course, I tell people I said, I don't want you know, a three-page report.
5:34
SPEAKER_02: Just give me some basic highlights of what you um took away, what God was speaking to you, and it just does me good.
5:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: I I encourage everyone that is listening, if you're in a north group, uh, which I hope you are, to practice this with the people in your north group.
5:49
SPEAKER_00: This is one of the things that we do in our north group.
5:51
SPEAKER_00: Um, Gavin, your son, is it's part of my the North group that I attend, and he sent it sometimes super early in the morning, sometimes late at night, uh, but every day I can count that he's gonna send his.
6:01
SPEAKER_00: I send mine to my accountability partner, I send one to our pastor in someone's church every day as well.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: So this is just something to help you stay consistent and share what God is doing with you.
6:12
SPEAKER_00: But we're talking about Acts chapter 17 through 23.
6:16
SPEAKER_00: We're talking about Paul's missionary journeys and also the trials, because we're gonna get into now he's getting into some trials.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there is a Paul went into three missionary trips, some people believe even four, because they count their when he's in prison as one of the missionary journeys, because he continued to preach the gospel even when he was in change.
6:34
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
6:35
SPEAKER_00: So it is a beautiful thing that he did there.
6:37
SPEAKER_00: So um, Acts chapter 17, Paul goes to Thessalonica and Berea.
6:43
SPEAKER_00: This is 17 verses uh one through 15.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: I want to read a verse that I was gonna read later, but it goes with what you were talking about because this is chapter 17, verse 2.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: It says, as was Paul's custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row, so three weeks in a row, he used the scriptures to reason with people.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the death.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: He said, This Jesus I'm telling you about is the Messiah.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent uh women.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: The reason why I say that is we go back into this theme that Paul goes first, he goes to the synagogue, he preaches.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: Some of them accept, most of them don't, and then he goes into the Gentiles because now he's in Thessalonica, he's in Berea, in Berea.
7:41
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that I see here is that the Bereans, when you read this, are known for examining the scriptures daily.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Many Jews and Greeks believe because of this.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: Um, and one of the things that I say, what how how should I apply this into my life?
7:58
SPEAKER_00: By like, be I read this, be like the Bere Bere Bereans.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Test everything through God's word.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: Everything that you hear in culture, everything that you think that should be, what does the word of God say?
8:12
SPEAKER_00: One of our standards here, we believe in the word of God.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: We want people to be in the word of God.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: Everything that you're learning in the world, what does the word of God say?
8:21
SPEAKER_00: Because culture, I heard this said many years ago.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Culture is like a moving target.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: Today could be here, today could be somewhere else.
8:28
SPEAKER_00: And the word of God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: And this is why when I when I read that in chapter 17, it's like the Bereans, they examine everything through scripture.
8:39
SPEAKER_00: That's how we should do it too.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Any thoughts on that?
8:41
SPEAKER_00: On why we need the word of God?
8:43
SPEAKER_02: Oh, so good.
8:44
SPEAKER_02: So good.
8:45
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the Bible says is that Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
8:52
SPEAKER_02: And it it is amazing to me how I have watched over the years uh things in our culture change and stuff that people, you know, believe, and but God's word remains the same.
9:05
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
9:05
SPEAKER_02: Heaven and earth pass away, but God's word remains.
9:09
SPEAKER_02: The flower fadeth, but God's word remains.
9:11
SPEAKER_02: God's word, and you hear me say this often is that there's two things that will remain the test of time, and that is the souls of people and the word of God.
9:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
9:20
SPEAKER_02: And we've got to lean into God's word and that it be foundational for everything that we begin to get our viewpoint, our worldview, yeah, not through culture, not through uh any other thing other than God's word, his eternal word.
9:35
SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna see now Paul going to Athens, and this is why I think it's so important that we know the word of God, and then we are in the word of God.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: This is why we have a scripture reading plan that we want you to be in it daily, because Paul is about to go to Athens, and the culture is so strong in Athens, but Paul knows the word of God, knows what he believes, and he his when he's in Athens, and this is uh the following verses, 16 to 34 in chapter 17, it says that Paul's heart breaks over the city because they are full of idols.
10:10
SPEAKER_00: And he sees all of this, right?
10:13
SPEAKER_00: But he one of the beautiful things that I see about Paul is that when he is at the Arepagus, he contextualized the gospel to their culture.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: So this is important.
10:25
SPEAKER_00: Like we we we need to be people of the word of God, know the word of God, but we also need to know what's happening in culture, not be influenced by culture.
10:35
SPEAKER_00: But what we see, Paul, that he that he says this, he says, I see you are religious, and he points at the unknown God.
10:42
SPEAKER_00: It says this in chapter uh 17, verse 22.
10:45
SPEAKER_00: So Paul standing before the council addressed them as follows men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way.
10:52
SPEAKER_00: For as I was walking along, I saw your your many shrines.
10:58
SPEAKER_00: Shrines, thank you, and one of your altars had the inscription on it says, To and to an unknown God, this God whom you worship without knowing is the one I'm telling you about.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: Paul knows their culture so well that he knew how to contextualize the gospel to that culture and let them know this one God that you keep offering uh offerings, this idol, it is actually the one true God.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: And it just tells me the importance of like you need to know what's happening in culture, but not to be influenced by the culture, but so you can bring Jesus into the culture.
11:36
SPEAKER_02: Absolutely.
11:37
SPEAKER_02: Paul had a pulse on what was happening around him, uh, but yet he was not influenced by the things around him.
11:43
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
11:44
SPEAKER_02: He was staying focused on the message.
11:46
SPEAKER_02: I've I've heard this said years ago in in ministry.
11:50
SPEAKER_02: We've had to, you know, we've had to adjust ministry to reach a new generation of people.
11:55
SPEAKER_02: And it's gonna always be that way.
11:57
SPEAKER_02: So, but we we must remember while the methods may change, the the message remains the same.
12:04
SPEAKER_02: The methodology of how we reach people, yeah, and that's that's styles and different things and stuff.
12:10
SPEAKER_02: There's nothing wrong with that.
12:11
SPEAKER_02: And people that get upset about you know how church is done, like oh come on, you've got to be kidding me.
12:16
SPEAKER_02: It's the message of the Christ that doesn't change.
12:19
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, a lot of other things need to change to reach another generation.
12:22
SPEAKER_02: He does go ahead.
12:23
SPEAKER_02: You you also mentioned there that his heart broke for the city, which is really so important to understand.
12:30
SPEAKER_02: Our heart must break over the sin and the idolatry and uh the issues in our culture, but it also just so aligns to what Christ did.
12:40
SPEAKER_02: You know, the Bible says in Luke chapter number 19 that when Jesus was coming in Jerusalem, that he wept over the city because they had missed their moment.
12:49
SPEAKER_02: May we weep over our cities, may we weep over our families that are missing Jesus.
12:56
SPEAKER_02: And that's what Paul is seeing.
12:57
SPEAKER_02: He said, Man, you do you don't see what I've experienced.
13:00
SPEAKER_02: And he's wanting them to have a Damascus Road experience like he had, yeah, so that they will know the God who created everything.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna say that he knew this culture so well that he in this same chapter, he is quoting one of their poems.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: So he's using what they know to show, like even in what you this poem says, this is pointing to the Lord of what you're seeking.
13:25
SPEAKER_00: So I just love that we need to be people who are in the word of God, we understand the word of God, but we look for every opportunity to bring the word of God to our workplaces, to wherever we are.
13:37
SPEAKER_02: That's so good.
13:38
SPEAKER_02: So let's let's kind of just move on into Paul is now um headed to Corinth.
13:42
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
13:43
SPEAKER_02: And let's look at chapters 18.
13:44
SPEAKER_02: Uh, matter of fact, most of that chapter, and let's dial into what Paul is experiencing.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: So Paul goes into Corinth, and this is one of the places where Paul spent a lot of time, 18 months, around 18 months now.
13:58
SPEAKER_00: I think what what happens in Corinth, he meets two individuals that are key for the kingdom of God.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: And we read about them in Romans, we read about them in other places.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: It's that he meets Aquila and Priscilla, and they became key ministry partners for the kingdom of God.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: Now, they were already Christian.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: It's not that they heard Paul and they became Christians.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: No, they were part, they were they used to live in Rome, but um, I think it was around 45 A.D.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: Emperor Claudius um exiled all of the Jews in the in the Roman Empire.
14:34
SPEAKER_00: He did not want any of the Jews, so there's no Jews in in Rome, so this is why they have to move to Corinth, Aquila and Priscilla, which sometimes we think that that was a terrible thing, and it was a terrible thing, but we see here how God uses everything for the good because they are expelled from Rome, they have to go to Corinth and they meet Paul, they become ministry partners, they're tent makers.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: Paul is a tent maker, so they now it they they're being discipled by Paul, and Paul takes them alongside.
15:05
SPEAKER_00: I mean, they go and end up in Ephesus.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Uh, we know about Apollos in the book of Acts, they are the ones who are pretty much discipling him on the Holy Spirit that they learn from Paul.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: So a lot of a lot a lot of things um happen in this in in Corinth.
15:24
SPEAKER_00: Paul is there with them, but that moment, sometimes we can see, oh man, in in 49 AD, all the Jews are expelled, they cannot be in Rome, but God used that to connect.
15:36
SPEAKER_02: Okay, just just that is so important.
15:38
SPEAKER_02: What you mentioned is that um God turned what was meant for evil into something good and positive.
15:45
SPEAKER_02: Uh, one of my mentors used to spiritual mentors who also taught me how to play golf, play it rightly, let me say.
15:53
SPEAKER_02: Um, which I haven't played golf in now for almost 15 years, but uh, but back then I I would play quite a bit.
15:58
SPEAKER_02: He would say, Never curse a rolling ball.
16:02
SPEAKER_02: In other words, you may hit a bad shot, and I've seen it happen before.
16:04
SPEAKER_02: You hit a bad shot, and it just like you begin to immediately uh be upset with what you hit.
16:09
SPEAKER_02: And lo and behold, it hits something, it moves, and you just never know.
16:13
SPEAKER_02: And so when God is at work, what looks like a tragedy, what looks like a difficulty, what looks like you know, a bad deal, hey, the grace of God, yeah, the goodness of God can turn things around.
16:27
SPEAKER_02: And actually, I think he does.
16:28
SPEAKER_02: He takes almost everything and works it for our good and for his glory if we allow him.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: Uh Aquila and Priscilla also we read we see this in Romans chapter 16.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Their home becomes a home church in Rome.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so this ministry partner went along.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: Now, there were probably wealthy people too that actually helped finance uh the missionary journeys and the church and the kingdom of God.
16:50
SPEAKER_00: And one thing that I always hear you saying this often, it's that the kingdom of God is building relationships.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: And this is why it's so important that we are always uh we we just remember the people that we're coming across, we don't know where we're gonna see them later on.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: But can you expand on that?
17:06
SPEAKER_00: The kingdom of God is building relationships.
17:09
SPEAKER_02: For sure, for sure.
17:10
SPEAKER_02: I took this from somebody probably 35 years ago, and it just it just stuck with me.
17:16
SPEAKER_02: And everything about ministry has always been centered around this idea is that the kingdom of God is built on relationships.
17:23
SPEAKER_02: First off, it's a vertical relationship upward uh to heaven, uh, to God.
17:29
SPEAKER_02: And then secondly, is a horizontal relationship, which actually makes a cross.
17:34
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
17:34
SPEAKER_02: And so you have this horizontal relationship with people and that we need each other.
17:38
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're not meant to do life in uh isolation, that only breeds reception, deception.
17:43
SPEAKER_02: We're meant to share in community together, and and it it's it's beautiful.
17:49
SPEAKER_02: Brick by brick, a house is built.
17:52
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, relationship by relationship, the kingdom of God moves forward and is built.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: I think that's also why we need to make sure that when we come in across people that we treat them well, uh, because you never know that two, three years down the line you you might be doing ministry alongside them.
18:07
SPEAKER_02: Oh for sure.
18:09
SPEAKER_02: I had one of those things I learned early on is that you better treat people well on your way up the ladder.
18:14
SPEAKER_00: I was trying to remember you're saying I was like, I can't I can't remember.
18:17
SPEAKER_02: How is it?
18:18
SPEAKER_02: Go ahead, say it.
18:19
SPEAKER_02: Be careful how you treat people on the way up the ladder because you're gonna meet them again on the way down the ladder.
18:24
SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
18:25
SPEAKER_00: I see this with the a relationship with Pastor Misael in in in Somo's church in Bolivia, and now we're expanding in Latin America.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: Um, he is a man who builds relationships, and we see it how everywhere I go, he knows somebody.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: So it I just think that there's a lot of people.
18:43
SPEAKER_02: But I think I think we have 13 different nations, countries that are a part of our North School of Ministry every Tuesday night live that are because of his relationships.
18:55
SPEAKER_02: They're all over South America, Central America, uh Latin America.
18:59
SPEAKER_02: It's just quite even all the way to Spain.
19:02
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
19:02
SPEAKER_02: Um, somebody in the Spanish-speaking world, I said, you can have the Spanish-speaking world.
19:06
SPEAKER_02: And he took the Spanish-speaking world, and uh, he has relationships there, and we're growing the kingdom of God because of it.
19:12
SPEAKER_00: Kingdom of God is building relationships.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: So Paul goes into uh Ephesus.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: This is Acts chapter 19, verse 1 through 44.
19:19
SPEAKER_00: Um, and this is just to give you can maybe like some uh dates, it's around um AD 52 to 55.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: This is Paul's longest stay at a place.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: He was in Ephesus for about three years.
19:32
SPEAKER_00: This is where he's with Timothy, he's training Timothy, and he lives Timothy as pretty much the pastor of those house churches.
19:39
SPEAKER_00: Uh, but what we see in Ephesus, and I had the opportunity to go to Ephesus a couple of years ago, and when we were doing our tour, our tour guy was later telling us like, hey, this is probably the main road of old ancient Ephesus.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: He says, like, probably the apostle Paul stood here and he preached the gospel.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: And he says he also was beat in the streets because you read how people literally follow him just to beat him and mistreat him to try to stop the kingdom of God.
20:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I'm reminded, hey, it's not so bad.
20:10
SPEAKER_02: I don't have it so bad.
20:11
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
20:12
SPEAKER_02: When people complain about something and they they feel like I should be talking about this or doing this or saying this, I'm like, hey, you know what?
20:19
SPEAKER_02: That's not too bad.
20:20
SPEAKER_02: I'm not having stones thrown at me.
20:22
SPEAKER_02: I'm not being beat, I'm not being thrown into prison.
20:25
SPEAKER_02: So, which who knows, that may come.
20:27
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
20:27
SPEAKER_02: Uh, but as of right now, that's not the case.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: When and when we were there, he made us stand on a like it was kind of like a rock area.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: And he says, You see that side, and he mentioned like an area, and he says, That's where probably Paul was when he wrote the letter to the to the church in Ephesus.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: So it was very beautiful to see it when I was there.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: But what's happened in Ephesus is that revival is spreading, miracles are happening.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Uh, there is there is a movement in there of um sorcery, and they burn the all those books.
21:00
SPEAKER_00: So God is moving in a mighty way, and there is revival.
21:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, I have a question for you.
21:05
SPEAKER_00: Um, people, I read a lot about revivals when I was in Bible school, some of grade revivals around the world, around the nation, even in throughout history.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: How can we, how can we know if we're living within revival?
21:21
SPEAKER_00: Because when I read something, it's like, well, if the dead is not being resurrected, there's not really revival, but that's not true.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: How can we, how can we, how can we sense when that we're in the midst of a revival?
21:32
SPEAKER_02: When it comes to church history, I love church history also.
21:35
SPEAKER_02: And I've read all of the revivals of the Great Awakenings back in the day.
21:40
SPEAKER_02: I love uh I'm a student of history when it comes to the church specifically.
21:45
SPEAKER_02: And I really love that.
21:46
SPEAKER_02: And one thing I noticed about each one of the revivals that I read about is that they weren't all the same.
21:52
SPEAKER_02: They looked differently.
21:53
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
21:54
SPEAKER_02: And it it we've got to be very careful first not to put um some type of idea.
22:00
SPEAKER_02: On revival and say this is what it's going to look like.
22:03
SPEAKER_02: Because if you preset it in your mind, you may miss it when it comes.
22:06
SPEAKER_02: Oh, that hurts.
22:08
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
22:09
SPEAKER_02: And so I think that we just got to be openly preaching the good news of Christ, inviting God's presence and spirit into our life, working in community.
22:19
SPEAKER_02: And I'm telling you, I really feel like revival is among us now.
22:24
SPEAKER_02: And we've got to seize this opportunity that's ahead of us.
22:27
SPEAKER_02: So what does that look like?
22:29
SPEAKER_02: It means that people are being transformed from death unto life.
22:35
SPEAKER_02: And you talk about bodies being read.
22:37
SPEAKER_02: That's literally what's happening is dead people are coming alive in Christ Jesus.
22:41
SPEAKER_02: The old man is being transformed into a new way.
22:45
SPEAKER_02: And really, to me, the measure is when the church is growing.
22:49
SPEAKER_02: You look in the book of Acts, it would say that was added to their number daily, that the church was growing.
22:55
SPEAKER_02: And that's literally what revival is about.
22:58
SPEAKER_02: Now I may have a personal revival where I grow spiritually.
23:02
SPEAKER_02: And I think that that's something that we all should be inviting and asking God's presence.
23:06
SPEAKER_02: But then there's the corporate, there's the church as a whole.
23:10
SPEAKER_02: And if the church is not stagnant on decline and dying, that's not revival.
23:15
SPEAKER_02: But when the church is moving forward, when there's people being added, people are being baptized, lives are being transformed, that is revival.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: I heard uh uh recently I was listening to a podcast about uh uh the revivals that are happening around the world.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: And the guy that was being interviewed, he said something really, really interesting that when I looked at what's happening at North Church and what God is doing in our church, I can say, like, we are amongst revival.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: He said that you can tell when there is revival when a church is reaching the next generation.
23:48
SPEAKER_00: Yes, he says when a church stops reaching the next generation, revival is not happening.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: When you when everyone looks the same and it's around the same age group, it says revival is not happening.
23:59
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, he was a little harsh, like, I will question even this if the spirit of God is in that place.
24:04
SPEAKER_00: And uh, I just think that what we're experiencing in in our nation, but specifically in our church, we have not only diversity of age, but diversity of race, of color, um uh of of all types of of diversity.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: I think like we are we I don't want to miss what's happening.
24:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
24:22
SPEAKER_02: No, that's exactly right.
24:24
SPEAKER_02: And because when you begin to it's easy to have a utopia where you just get a group of people that all look alike, sound like college-age students are like, oh, we're gonna worship Jesus or a kid.
24:34
SPEAKER_02: And they they enjoy they're enjoying just being together because they have these shared um interests alike.
24:41
SPEAKER_02: But revival goes beyond the thought it it it says that I am embracing all people.
24:48
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, uh that the uh old people can stand right next to a a young person and lifted hands, tears rolling down your face, crying out to Jesus, that you can have somebody who is uh Hispanic, black, white, somebody from another country that's gathered, and we're all gathered.
25:08
SPEAKER_02: That's the beauty of the church.
25:10
SPEAKER_02: And when God's spirit is moving, uh, you begin to see uh the attraction of people from all different backgrounds and that we're all united in one thing, and that one thing is to lift up Jesus Christ and uh to see more people saved.
25:25
SPEAKER_00: So we see here in Ephesus that the the big theme is that the gospel transform both you personally, but also how how you live personally, but an entire culture.
25:36
SPEAKER_02: Oh, and you know what I want to see is that I've read some of these stories in the Bible, and this is where I think there comes a tipping point.
25:42
SPEAKER_02: Um, Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book years ago, and it was talking about the tipping point that and he used the like a 10% of when you get a culture, 10%.
25:51
SPEAKER_02: I and I really believe that we are on the edge of seeing a cultural transformation in cities where it is going to be a huge impact in Oklahoma City or in the cities of you know, our our churches where they're because of the revival that's happening.
26:08
SPEAKER_02: Revival's happening, and it's going to be where maybe bars are shutting down because people are not showing up.
26:14
SPEAKER_02: Uh, it could be that bars are shutting down because the owner gets saved.
26:18
SPEAKER_02: It could be that places where you know sin is being you know done, that it just dries up and drugs are, you know, and people who are trying to sell the drugs are like they can't make any money in the city uh because of the revival that's happened.
26:34
SPEAKER_02: I believe that that can happen.
26:36
SPEAKER_02: And I'm believing that God is going to use our church and other churches in the Metro to see a revival happen like that.
26:41
SPEAKER_00: Which is what literally what happened in the church in Ephesus is because of the revival that is happening, and now there's no sorcery, now there's no idol worshiping, all these businesses that they make idols, now they don't have uh they don't have an income.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: And that's why there's big persecution in Ephesus as well.
27:00
SPEAKER_02: Um they're even burning, they're having big Munfrides just like, and not not somebody forcing it up on people.
27:07
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm not talking about that.
27:08
SPEAKER_02: I'm not talking about uh taking away somebody's right stuff.
27:11
SPEAKER_02: I'm talking about people who are willingly saying, these things I don't want anymore.
27:16
SPEAKER_02: I'm getting rid of them because I want to honor and follow Jesus Christ.
27:20
SPEAKER_02: Let's let's dive in to continue kind of his journey and chapter number 20.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: Chapter number 20, uh Paul's is in Ephesus, and he tells the elders uh pretty much, I have considered my my life worth nothing but preaching the gospel.
27:33
SPEAKER_00: He's very clear about this.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: But what's important and what's it's about to do, because Paul has been collecting an offering to take back to Jerusalem.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: Now he's experiencing persecution and wherever he goes, pretty much, especially here in Ephesus.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: But in Jerusalem, the persecution is extreme by their own people, by their own Jews.
27:53
SPEAKER_00: And Paul has been collecting this offering to take to the Jews to support them, and he's pretty much telling the Greek world, you have benefit from their faith, from their savior, in the sense of like Jesus, Jesus was a Jew, you benefit from this.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: Now they need to benefit from your wealth because there is no wealth.
28:11
SPEAKER_00: So Paul's been collecting this offering, and he says this Acts chapter 20, verse 22 says, and now I am bound by the spirit.
28:18
SPEAKER_00: So this is not like an idea that he has.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: He's saying, I am bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem.
28:24
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what awaits me.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Except that the Holy Spirit tells me, uh, in city after city, that jail and suffering lies ahead.
28:33
SPEAKER_00: I mean, he the Holy Spirit said, like, he's saying, I don't know what awaits me, except that I know that I will be persecuted and I'll be imprisoned.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: He says, But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the word assigned me by the Lord Jesus, the work of telling others the good news about the wonderful grace of God.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: And here we see Paul, I gotta go back to Jerusalem.
28:57
SPEAKER_00: And he knows, and he's this is this is known as a farewell because he knows he's he says, I'm I don't think I will ever see you again.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: Because I think what awaits me is I will be in prison and I'll probably be killed.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Um, so we see here that he is now giving, telling his advice, he's put uh placing the elders in that place in that community.
29:18
SPEAKER_00: Timothy is there, and he's about to go into Jerusalem to take this offering and he's gonna be arrested.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: And we know that because we know that what the rest of the story.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: So, and then uh chapter 21 to 23 is uh his arrest in Jerusalem.
29:34
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
29:37
SPEAKER_02: He had so many people trying to keep him from going there.
29:40
SPEAKER_02: But Paul They beg him.
29:42
SPEAKER_02: Yes, Paul was resolute in his determination to go, and really it was it he knew that uh he was gonna be arrested.
29:50
SPEAKER_02: I think what Paul really ultimately did is that he knew that, okay, my time may be short, whatever it is, I want to get to Rome and I want to be before Caesar.
30:02
SPEAKER_02: And ultimately that's what happened that's what ended up happening.
30:05
SPEAKER_02: And um, and he would end up, you know, costing him his life.
30:10
SPEAKER_02: Uh but he uh was focused with such a courage, with such a I read the apostle Paul and I'm like thinking, man, help me, Lord, help me to have such such a a a desire to see your gospel move forward and to push forward despite the odds, despite uh the persecution, despite the threats of death, that I will obey you more than men.
30:35
SPEAKER_02: And he I think that really some people believe that his decision here and even getting to Caesar uh was probably one of the key components that would lay a foundation, a seat of the martyr that would lay the foundation for the coming generations and eventually um uh to see Rome begin to embrace the truth of Jesus Christ.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: He wanted to make it to Rome and he got there, not in the circumstances that he wanted to, but I think something that we sometimes can miss is that for two years he's under house arrest.
31:06
SPEAKER_00: But he used that arrest to expand the kingdom of God because he is at a home where high profile people are coming.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and he is preaching the gospel where he's there, and many people are he never allowed the persecution to stop him.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: Whether he was in a public square in in Athens preaching the gospel or he was under house arrest, he used that opportunity to expand the kingdom of God, is what we need to do.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes my mistake that I could make is that I can I might compare myself, well, I don't have the opportunities the pastor around me have to preach the gospel, so I might as well not do it.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Or it I don't have those opportunities.
31:44
SPEAKER_00: No, no, I have to be faithful with the opportunities that I have and in the relationships that I'm in.
31:50
SPEAKER_00: That's what God wants me to do.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: I think the enemy tried that comparison game because he wants you to stop and not share the gospel.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Wow.
31:59
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
32:00
SPEAKER_02: So let's let's go ahead and um bring kind of right now the part on Acts to a close and let's kind of dive into the book of Jeremiah.
32:08
SPEAKER_02: Okay, we've been looking at Jeremiah.
32:10
SPEAKER_02: Matter of fact, just a few weeks ago, you preached a great message from chapter one dealing with Jeremiah, and you called him the what?
32:16
SPEAKER_00: The the the cray baby of the prophet, something like that.
32:23
SPEAKER_02: Hey, the only thing I'm concerned about is when you get to heaven someday and Jeremiah's like, you called me what'd you say?
32:28
SPEAKER_00: You called me a what?
32:29
SPEAKER_00: I'm just glad I didn't have his calling because that was hard.
32:33
SPEAKER_02: And so he he wept a lot.
32:35
SPEAKER_02: That's what he was known as the weeping prophet.
32:37
SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, we're gonna move on today.
32:41
SPEAKER_02: Look at chapter 41 through 52.
32:44
SPEAKER_02: And basically what's going on here is that there's the tragic aftermath of the fall of Jerusalem.
32:50
SPEAKER_02: Jerusalem is now crumbled.
32:52
SPEAKER_02: Um, and that's fine in chapter 41 through 45.
32:56
SPEAKER_02: And then uh God's judgment on the nations.
33:00
SPEAKER_02: You find that in 46 through 51.
33:03
SPEAKER_02: And then finally, historically, is the um fall of Babylon itself.
33:07
SPEAKER_02: God used Babylon uh immensely uh to bring judgment on Israel and the surrounding uh countries, but eventually Babylon also, who was not a God-fearing people, would experience their own judgment.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
33:23
SPEAKER_02: I I want to kind of again, like I did with um Acts chapter 17 and verse 1, give you Jeremiah chapter 41.
33:30
SPEAKER_02: Start with verse number one.
33:31
SPEAKER_02: And this is I have now tons of material that I've written over the years, but this is verse number one says of Jeremiah 41.
33:38
SPEAKER_02: But in the mid-autumnum of that year, Ishmael, son of Nathanael, the grandson of Ishema, who was the member of the royal family, and had been one of the king's high officials, went to Mizpah's with ten men to meet Gibbalah while they were eating together.
34:00
SPEAKER_02: And then it goes on and talks about how that they killed him.
34:03
SPEAKER_02: Okay, so this man was placed in position uh by the by the Babylonians to help provide some stability in Jerusalem, and these individuals come in and do a coup.
34:15
SPEAKER_02: But all it does, it wasn't it was outside God's plan, outside of his will, and all it does is create more confusion, more problems, more issues.
34:24
SPEAKER_02: And then I wrote this down um in my notes, eating together.
34:28
SPEAKER_02: Don't just break bed with anyone.
34:31
SPEAKER_02: Uh some people don't have your best interests in mind.
34:34
SPEAKER_02: And so what happened is this leader sat down with some men who did not have their best interest in mind.
34:39
SPEAKER_02: They are scoundrels trying to sink your life.
34:43
SPEAKER_02: They are not seeking God's kingdom and his will to be done.
34:47
SPEAKER_02: No, it is their way, and no one and no other way was no other way will stand in the way.
34:54
SPEAKER_02: Uh, such people will do their worst to get what they want from you.
34:58
SPEAKER_02: And so we got to guard our relationships.
35:01
SPEAKER_02: We got to guard the people we hang out with.
35:03
SPEAKER_02: And I think it's very important, you know, you actually provide um leadership in our church and re for groups.
35:10
SPEAKER_02: Why is it important to be around the right people?
35:13
SPEAKER_00: I I always go back to the scripture that says the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
35:17
SPEAKER_00: And what he wants to do is destroy your purpose, the purpose of God, your God-given purpose.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: The people of God are there to protect you.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: If, you know, I don't know if you have ever seen Discovery Channel.
35:27
SPEAKER_00: When predators are going to attack, uh, they always look for the weakest uh link and they are patient.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: It's the thing about the enemy, he's patient and patient.
35:38
SPEAKER_00: And when you don't know, he's going to attack.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: Well, happens when you're alone, you'll be an easy prey.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: But when you have the people of God around you, you have the right people around you, those are the people that when you are going through something or struggling, they can pray with you, they can believe with you, they can stand there for you and be there for you when you when you need a friend.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: So the kingdom of God, in the kingdom of God, you need the people of God.
36:00
SPEAKER_00: This is a part of our faith framework.
36:02
SPEAKER_00: You need the word of God, the spirit of God, people of God.
36:06
SPEAKER_00: Um, it's very important.
36:08
SPEAKER_02: So we're gonna look at uh some of the key points.
36:10
SPEAKER_02: And let's look at Jeremiah chapter number 41 through 45.
36:14
SPEAKER_02: Uh, the governor I just mentioned, uh, who's set up by Babylon is murdered, uh, causing fear and chaos among the people, because that's what the devil does.
36:21
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's always uh creating fear and chaos, and he will use anybody like these 10 men he used to kill this uh one guy who was set by the uh Babylonians to provide you know some stability.
36:33
SPEAKER_02: Uh also many people begin to flee in these chapters, chapters again, 41 through 45.
36:38
SPEAKER_02: They begin to flee Egypt against God's command.
36:41
SPEAKER_00: Because he said, Do not go there.
36:42
SPEAKER_02: And literally, Jeremiah said, No, no, no.
36:44
SPEAKER_02: And what they do, they actually tied him up and hauled him off with them.
36:48
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
36:49
SPEAKER_02: And then Jeremiah warns them that Egypt uh will not be a place of safety, which he was right.
36:54
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
36:55
SPEAKER_02: And Barak, uh, the uh Jeremiah's scribe uh is promised uh God's protection despite the destruction.
37:04
SPEAKER_02: And then in chapters 46 through 51, you find God's judgment on the nations.
37:09
SPEAKER_02: God begins to turn on others around uh Israel, and God shows his sovereignty over the peoples, not just Israel.
37:16
SPEAKER_02: Matter of fact, he's saying, Come on, he God is a loving God.
37:20
SPEAKER_02: God is slow to anger, but eventually God's justice and his judgment will come.
37:26
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
37:26
SPEAKER_02: He is trying our best, he tries his best to kind of warn us, and he's just like he did through Jeremiah for a long time, but they kept refusing, kept refusing, then he sends his judgment.
37:35
SPEAKER_02: Babylon, though, uh is God's tool for judgment, but itself will be judged and will be destroyed.
37:42
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: And that's where we when we get to chapter uh 52, the summary that we get in.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: Well, one thing I would I would suggest you when you're reading the word of God, um, read it slowly.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: I think that sometimes we could treat the reading the word of God as uh as a checklist, as a to-do list, and we just do it quickly so to so we can sometimes feel better about ourselves.
38:05
SPEAKER_00: But the word of God, the Bible describes it, it's alive and active, it's working in our lives.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Well, I don't really need the old testament.
38:12
SPEAKER_00: You can learn so much from the old testament.
38:14
SPEAKER_00: Without the old testament, it's impossible to understand the words of Jesus.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: And here we have Jeremiah, he's giving a historical summary.
38:23
SPEAKER_00: The sage, did I say it right?
38:25
SPEAKER_00: Siege, the siege.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: That's done.
38:26
SPEAKER_00: Okay, uh, the destruction of the temple, uh, of and then the exile of Judah, and then it ends with uh Babylon's uh eventful downfall.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: God used them to pretty much destroy Judah, but they will be judged because they didn't turn to God.
38:45
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that the thing that uh there is they also fall.
38:49
SPEAKER_00: I think what I learned from this is if I'm not careful, I can grow pride and think that nothing is gonna happen to me.
38:57
SPEAKER_00: And uh without knowing what I'm doing is just walking away from the Lord.
39:01
SPEAKER_00: I don't think that Judah, I don't think Israel got to this place overnight.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: This was centuries and centuries and centuries and centuries, and you don't get to a place where you go like, What I don't know how I got here.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: Because it's again the enemy, he just lets you, he uh he just looking for that perfect time to destroy you.
39:23
SPEAKER_00: So um, one thing that we can learn from the people of Judah is we let's do what they didn't do, they didn't turn to God.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so today is a great time for you to turn to God.
39:35
SPEAKER_02: You you mentioned that they didn't get there overnight.
39:37
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes when I sit down with somebody who's going through marital and they're just their marriage is falling apart, and they'll say something, Pastor, I don't know how we got here.
39:46
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, my statement is you didn't get here overnight.
39:50
SPEAKER_02: Uh it wasn't like you woke up this morning, like, oh, let's go to the pastor's, meet with him and talk about we want to get a divorce.
39:56
SPEAKER_02: No, no, no.
39:57
SPEAKER_02: It happened gradually, slowly.
40:00
SPEAKER_02: That's the way the devil works.
40:01
SPEAKER_02: He divides.
40:02
SPEAKER_02: Now, I want to look at those chapters 41 uh through 52.
40:06
SPEAKER_02: And I I want to just kind of um some key points.
40:10
SPEAKER_02: And I want to get five of them.
40:12
SPEAKER_02: And uh, you and I both have worked together on these, and I feel like you know what you have and what I this is really good.
40:18
SPEAKER_02: So I think number one, in this we learn that uh disobedience brings destruction in our lives.
40:25
SPEAKER_02: Disobedience to God is the open door way to death.
40:30
SPEAKER_02: It is to sorrow, to pain.
40:33
SPEAKER_02: And you you find that the children of Israel are trying to escape to Egypt, they're trying to figure this thing on their way, versus just trusting God and obeying Him and realizing that He can provide life and that you cannot find safety outside of God's will.
40:48
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
40:49
SPEAKER_02: It only leads to run.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: Number two is that God is sovereign over all nations.
40:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, Jesus said this, you know, rain falls in the just and the unjust.
40:58
SPEAKER_00: But here is like no empire, not even mighty Babylon, escape his judgment.
41:04
SPEAKER_00: He races and brings down rulers according to his purpose.
41:08
SPEAKER_00: This is why it's important that we repent and that we get close to him.
41:12
SPEAKER_02: That's so good.
41:12
SPEAKER_02: Number three is God's word always comes true.
41:17
SPEAKER_02: His promises are gonna you may think that he is slow, uh, but eventually he's gonna show up.
41:24
SPEAKER_02: Yep.
41:25
SPEAKER_02: And suddenly he will.
41:26
SPEAKER_02: And Jeremiah's prophecies are fulfilled exactly.
41:29
SPEAKER_02: His warnings and promises can be trusted.
41:31
SPEAKER_02: And I think that's why it's so important.
41:32
SPEAKER_02: We've got to dive into God's word every day and realize that God's word's true, his promises are gonna come to pass.
41:39
SPEAKER_02: And I can lay hold of those promises and believe God's word when everything else falls away.
41:44
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: Number four is that hope remains even in judgment.
41:47
SPEAKER_00: We see this in the in the in the book of of Jeremiah, and we see this all throughout the narrative of scripture.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: There's even though God sends a judgment, there's always hope.
41:56
SPEAKER_00: He and and we have the hope now in Jesus Christ.
41:59
SPEAKER_00: But uh, this is the re the release of Jehoichin foreshadows restoration.
42:04
SPEAKER_00: It reminds us that God's discipline is never the end of his story for his people.
42:11
SPEAKER_02: And what that's about, he is the king of um uh Judah who's been taken off and he was held captive.
42:17
SPEAKER_02: But at the very end, when Babylon fell, he was released, he was still alive, he was restored to his position, which is a beautiful thing.
42:24
SPEAKER_02: And I just said, people that are out there right now, if you if you've you you feel the judgment of God, the discipline of God on your life, God's judgment and his discipline is because he loves you.
42:32
SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's calling you back and he will restore you.
42:35
SPEAKER_02: Just fall in line, obey him, and he will restore you.
42:38
SPEAKER_02: And finally, faithfulness uh may be costly, but God sustains.
42:43
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
42:44
SPEAKER_02: And he proved that to Jeremiah as a model and barric as a model of God his perseveration, even in the mid even in times of chaos, uh, that God is faithful.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: Yep, yep, yep.
42:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is a summary of all the things that had happened, and we have been covering.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: Want to encourage you guys, if you're not doing a Bible reading plan, this conversation will come to life when you are in the Word of God, especially when you're following along our North app.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: You can find it, the daily uh scripture in there.
43:16
SPEAKER_00: One of the things that you will see, you know, in the next couple of days where you're or we're gonna be reading the book of Ezra.
43:22
SPEAKER_00: There, you're gonna see a uh Ezra, uh a Bible project video that we have in our app that it will give you a kind of like a summary of what's happening in the book.
43:32
SPEAKER_00: So these resources and tools are gonna help you uh alongside the word of God.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: If you listen to this, yes, you will learn, but when you're reading the word of God and you're listening to a conversation like this, it will bring the word of God to life.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: Next week, I'm excited.
43:46
SPEAKER_00: Pastor Samson is gonna be on this seat and he's gonna be touching uh and um finishing the book of Acts in Ezra.
43:54
SPEAKER_02: I'm looking forward to it.
43:55
SPEAKER_02: Hey, Christian, thank you for the last three weeks, and we're looking forward to the coming weeks, you being back on uh talking about God's word.
44:02
SPEAKER_02: Again, he mentioned Pastor Samson next week.
44:05
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna have a great time.
44:06
SPEAKER_02: I look forward to seeing you next time on North Bible Recap.