Search Results

Marriages That Can Stand A Video of That's a Good Question Video Blog Kevin Harney Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Church Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 2 Creating Meaningful Traditions Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Q+A Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Bible Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 1 Jon Delger Withstand: How The Culture War Is A Spiritual Battle Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Where Do We Go From Here? Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Q & A Kelly Needham | Women's Christmas Party People Pleasing Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Are We a Christian Nation?

PODCAST That's a Good Question Unveiling the Unseen: Exploring Spiritual Warfare March 18, 2024 Jon Delger & Nate Harney Listen to this Episode Jon Oh hey, everyone, welcome to That's a Good Question, a podcast of Peace Church and a part of Resound Media. You can find more great content for the Christian life and church leaders at resoundmedia.cc . That's a Good Question is a place where we answer questions about the Christian faith in plain language. I'm Jon. I serve as a pastor at Peace Church, and I am here with Pastor Nate. Nate Hey, happy to be here. Jon And I'm also here with, as always, Mitchell, producer. Mitchell Hey. Jon And today we get to answer some exciting questions about spiritual warfare. So at Peace Church, we've been doing a series over the last several weeks, I think it was five weeks, called "Withstand," talking about spiritual warfare, talking about the armor of God. And so we've had a stream of questions come in about spiritual warfare, and so we've saved them up, and now we get to talk about it. Mitchell Yeah, here we go. Here's our first question. I've been in dark places sometimes helping my adult children. On occasion, I see the enemy in another human mocking me. What is the best response to this, and am I not alone in this type of experience? Jon It's a scary situation to be in. So let's break it down a little bit. What do you guys think about what they're describing? Have you ever had that experience or talked with somebody who's had that experience where you feel like you see an evil spiritual force in another person? That's what I hear them saying in the question, right? Nate Yeah, I can't say I've had that exact experience. But I've been in places and environments where I felt not even, you know, it's kind of a unique mix of something that feels mildly physical but mostly just like a darkness. I'll be honest, I've been in some cities, even in some areas of cities, where you just go, "Oh," and then you find out later, "Oh yeah, that area is heavily involved in the occult." Even I think of a time, certain areas I've been around New Orleans, there's a city, Santa Cruz in California, where I spent a lot of time, where I found out later, it's considered a capital for Satanism in America. So like I've definitely, I think you can have those feelings, and I don't know exactly about them seeing it in another person, you know, a demon possession. I haven't had tons of experience with that. But I will say, you know, one of the things we've been talking about as a church is that the spiritual realm is real. This stuff is not to be kind of fluffed off as something that isn't real or isn't something that we deal with in Western society. But right away, the first thing, I always think of two things. The power of the word, that's Jesus' main weapon against the enemy when he's face-to-face with Satan himself. I always go back to the temptation in the desert and Jesus going back over and over again to his word, so relying on his word. I've had people who, when you have those times, it's so scary and you feel so paralyzed, you don't even know. I'm trying to remember Bible verses. I can't even – nothing's coming. I always encourage people, just the name of Jesus. There is power in the name of Jesus, so if you can't say anything else, just cry out to Jesus. And I've had the one or two times where I felt really scared because there's just darkness, and in a unique environment where I just found myself going, "Jesus, Jesus," like just relying on not as some magic charm or spell, but that's the name of our Lord and Savior, and I think there's power there even when you can't think of anything else. Jon Yeah, and in the gospel accounts, we see the demons run from Jesus. I mean, Jesus's name and presence have special power, obviously against them. It's the enemy. So like you, I haven't directly experienced something like what the person is describing. I don't feel like I've seen physically a demon, especially like in another person, like it be manifested, but I've had some interesting experiences. I've had times, for a long period of time, when I was preaching, I would have a really strong sense of just like a demonic presence. I used to have, at the church where I was at the time, a very high ceiling, and I used to sort of have this sense of like I'm preaching, and there's almost like this big, dark, black cloud out in front of me, kind of in the back of the room, in the ceiling, kind of manifested there. I always had this sense of like I'm preaching, and this dark cloud is just swallowing up what I'm saying, and nobody can actually hear it, which I feel like was just kind of a visualization of what the enemy does, right? He tries to snatch up the word so it can't go deep and bear fruit in people's hearts. So that's kind of one experience. I've had experiences where I've woken up in the middle of the night, and I can think of one specific where I woke up in the middle of the night and just went bolt upright and just started shouting because I was convinced that there was a man at the end of the bed. I think it was just kind of a dark, shadowy figure of some kind, and it woke up my wife and everything; it was just kind of a crazy ordeal. So that's the closest I've come. I do have a relative who has experienced something kind of similar to what's being described here and has talked to me about interacting with another person who they felt like was either possessed or under serious attack by demonic forces at the time, and just their eyes and the words that they were saying did not seem like that person, and it was just evil, bad, unhealthy stuff coming out of them. Nate Yeah, if that's you asking, or if you've had similar experiences, I know one practical thing: seeking out a pastor or a small group leader or an elder in your church. I've had so many times where I've had different people come up to me and share an experience. And just sharing with somebody you trust and who knows God's Word well and who cares about you, having them pray with you, pray over you, I don't think you can go wrong with prayer in that circumstance either. And then if it continues and it's really intense, that will – you'll have already had the conversation open to saying, like, what are some next steps here if you feel like it's becoming repetitive and a pattern, I'd say. Jon Yeah, one of the things we've emphasized in the sermon series is what the text says in Ephesians 6, that our war is not with flesh and blood, but with spiritual forces. So even if you feel like the enemy is manifesting himself through another person, you have to remember that person is not the enemy. The enemy might be working through that person in some way or might be attacking or oppressing them in some way, and they're actually a victim, and you've been given a glimpse into that and are seeing that happen in some kind of way, which I can only imagine would be terrifying. But yeah, like you said, Pastor Nate, praying, calling out in the name of Jesus, "in the name of Jesus, be gone," those are the things in those moments. Mitchell I think also making sure that you are truly following Christ. There's a story in Acts where there are people trying to cast out an evil spirit, and the evil spirit says, "I know of Jesus, but I've never heard of you." Jon I've heard of Jesus, I've heard of Paul, but I have not heard of you. And they get their butts kicked. So, making sure that we're people that would be a threat to the dark forces of the spiritual world. Jon That's actually really, I wasn't even thinking in that direction, but you make a really good point. That if you're asking these questions, hopefully, you're a Christian. If you're not, we'd love to talk to you about the gospel. But yeah, if you're not a Christian and you're engaging with demonic forces, that's a whole different category of things, and you're in trouble, and you need Jesus. Mitchell Yeah. Well, let's jump into this next question. I've heard from a pastor, not from Peace, so you guys are off the hook, say before, "If Satan is on your back, that means that he's not on mine, because he's not everywhere like God is." Are we still vulnerable at all times to Satan's schemes, regardless if someone else is feeling the heat, so to speak? Nate That's getting into an interesting thing. I mean, we do believe based on God's word that Satan – some people think of, I think in popular culture, God and Satan as equals, that one's good, one's bad, and that's not the case at all. We see, as it's clearly laid out in the Bible, God is all-powerful, Satan is not. You see time and time again – think of the story of Job, where Satan has to come to God and ask for permission for something, and that opens up a whole other discussion we're not getting into today. And you even see times where Satan, the enemy, the evil one, is isolated in time and space. So, I think what that pastor is maybe trying to teach is a theological point about how Satan's not as powerful as we sometimes give him credit for. But I would say we believe in not just Satan, but in his demonic powers. Like you referenced in Ephesians 6, it talks about all the powers and authorities. So I would say the real question isn't "can Satan be around," But like his plans and his workers are doing their work all over all the time. I think the bigger question is, like, kind of the last one we asked, what do I do to combat that? I don't think you need to worry too much about is this Satan, is this a sub-demon. It could also just be your own flesh, your own sin, and so your own desire to do something that's ungodly. So I think it's an interesting thing to think and talk about, but I don't know if it's the most profitable thing to try to figure out. Jon: Well, I laughed a little bit as you read the question, because I assumed it was a joke that, ha ha, you know, if Satan's against you, if Satan's getting you, at least he can't get me. I hope that was a joke. Yeah, like you said, Pastor Nate. So yeah, we do believe Satan is restricted to one place at one time. He's not God, he's not omnipresent, but he has a large army. Mitchell: Yeah, and I think we have to also acknowledge the reality of the forces that are demonic that are associated with him. Not everything is Satan. So if we're feeling spiritual warfare, an attack, that doesn't mean it's Satan. So if, you know, they say if someone else is feeling the heat, you might still be feeling some sort of spiritual attack. And it might not. It's probably not Satan. It could be. Jon: But it could be his army. Yeah. Yeah. His forces are many. Nate: Yeah. And I think it does. I mean, this isn't what the person's asking necessarily, but I think we, John, I'm sure you have too, we've encountered times where somebody's doing something that's clearly not Satan or demonic forces, but just either their own decisions or some brokenness in the world where they're saying, you know, you know what, I was doing this sinful thing, and let's say I was drinking and driving and I crashed my car. Man, Satan's really working overtime against me right now. Nate: You go, you know, I don't think you need to attribute that to spiritual warfare. I think we know pretty clearly what's going on. You did something sinful, broke laws, made unwise decisions, and now there are consequences. So yeah, I think it's important. Yeah, there's Satan, there's all of his demonic forces, but there's also other things in the equation when you're talking about hard stuff happening in your life. Jon: Yeah, if you find yourself saying, "The devil made me do it," you may be on the wrong track. Mitchell: Yeah. I've always said a glass cannot spill what it doesn't contain. It has to. No one can make you do something that wasn't already inside you. So the devil can't make you do something you didn't want to do anyways. I don't know if I used the devil negatively. Jon: Now you're making me think of many other questions. I just like that. Nate: Isn't that a "Me Without You" lyric? Mitchell: It is a "Me Without You" lyric. Nate: Okay, so why do you say "I've always said give credit," Mitch? Mitchell: Well, I've also – sorry, I was just going through my lyrical encyclopedia. Nate: I didn't have that in my head. Jon: Yeah, the glass can only spill what it contains. Nate: Yeah, that's a good one. Jon: I said it with a double negative. All right. Mitchell: Our last question. Do you think Satan has the ability to cause sickness to prevent someone from going to church? Example: only on weekends. Wait, are you asking me if he can only cause sickness on the weekends? No, I think the example is that they would get sick only on the weekends. So they can't go to church, right? Jon: Well, I think we've got evidence in Scripture that he can cause sickness under God's supervision. In the book of Job, Satan comes and asks God permission to attack Job's body, and he does, and that happens. So, yeah, I would say that's totally possible. I've thought of that myself sometimes. I feel like in my own life, when it just seems too clear that my sickness schedule seems to line up with the schedule of other important things that are happening in the church. We'll be right back after this break. Elizabeth: Hi, I'm Elizabeth, one of the co-hosts of MomGuilt, a podcast with new episodes every Monday. MomGuilt is a podcast about the daily struggles of motherhood. Stephanie and I share real experiences of MomGuilt and how we have found freedom from that guilt through the gospel. Listen to us on resoundmedia.cc or wherever you find podcasts. Nate: Yeah, it makes me think of a bigger question that I always have when it comes to this topic. I think you generally fall into one of two camps when it comes to spiritual warfare. You either have a tendency to err on the side of underestimating what Satan and all of his forces can do, or maybe you err on the side of over-dramatizing, maybe, and always seeing everything as spiritual warfare and everything. So I would say, you know, let's say you see a pattern of, "I feel like I get sick every Sunday morning." Don't fall prey to just going, "Hey, I'm sure that's just a coincidence, that's just my biological clock." There might be something spiritual there, and I'd say, pray against that. Say, "God, I ask you to help me deliver me from this weekend sickness I'm getting. Lord, if there's any sort of demonic involvement, I pray that you would free me and that you would heal me," and make that prayer. But then also, don't get so in your own head that, let's say, the next weekend comes and you feel a little bug and you go, "Oh, we're at it again," and you get so involved in that that you don't just get your clothes on and go to church. You know, I think there's a fine line between that, and it's tough because, I mean, I think what's also helpful is to know kind of your own tendency. I have the tendency to underestimate the spiritual forces of the world. When I get sick, my first thought isn't, "Oh, is this spiritual warfare?" My first thought is, "Oh, was I too close to that sick kid at church?" That's probably me. Was I recently with John Belger? No, but I actually think it's a good challenge for me to think more through that lens of spiritual warfare. I think for some people, if that's the first thing you think of every time something hard happens, it might be more something to go, "Hey, you might be giving too much credence to this," and maybe there's a little something to just resting in the peace of Christ to know that Jesus wins in the end. He has ultimate power and authority and nothing's happening outside of his watch and even outside of his rule and his sovereignty. But, I don't know, Jon, you've dealt more with, I think, some of the sickness stuff. I mean, has that been – with your health stuff, has that been something that you've thought about and you've kind of wrestled through? Jon: Yeah, I feel like I've just kind of always viewed it as it's probably some combination of all of the above. I've always just kind of thought, "All right, I've got some just physical health issues that I have," and so there's physical factors at work. I've got – you know, there's stress factors that come into play, and then there are spiritual forces at work. I guess I just always kind of imagine, yeah, it's probably roll the dice, it's likely there's a combination of one or two or three of those factors all at play at the same time. And I just pray accordingly that the Lord would heal me from physical sickness, that he'd not let stress impact my ability to function, that he'd cast away any spiritual attack. So I think that's kind of how I approach it, just sharing a vision. Nate: Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Just listening to you talk about that, it reminded me of the time where this has come up a couple times with me directly. I haven't had as much physical health issues, but this is an especially prevalent topic when it comes to mental health challenges, because you can read the New Testament and see that a lot of those things that look to manifest as mental health issues definitely have spiritual roots. And I've had people ask me, "Do you think this is more of a spiritual thing, more than a mental or psychological thing?" And I'm a little bit more in the not A, B, but probably C, all of the above camp, is that those things can't be fully separated from each other anyway. And so my practice, along with some very tangible things I do to try to get out myself, prayer and asking God to deliver me and asking God to help me, is always a part of that equation no matter what. Jon: Yeah, I think that's exactly it. That's exactly, I think, the Christian worldview. We know all these things are at play. We don't know how much of which one at any given time, but we know they all are at play, and we know that the real answer is always God's help. And so that's what we cry out for. Mitchell: Yeah. If you're getting sick every week, it might be good to get a new toothbrush. Nate: That's very practical. I mean, the bright bright of oral health is important. Well, it's like you're sick and you use the same toothbrush. Mitchell: You can get sick over and over. Jon: It's good. Nate: That's true. Mitchell: Yeah. Get a new toothbrush. Jon: You know, I don't know. I've heard that's helpful. Yeah. Well, along those lines, I've heard guys say they've had young people around them coming to them and being like, "Oh man, I'm dealing with this and it's spiritual warfare." And then they just sort of ask, "How much sleep have you gotten this week? How many meals did you eat in the last couple of days? When was the last time you exercised?" So we're physical, mental, and spiritual beings all at the same time, all the time. So all those things can come into play. I have a curious question for you all that I think is related. Do you think a Christian can be possessed by a demon? Mitchell: No. No, I don't think so. Jon: Why not? Mitchell: Because I think in order for Satan to do anything he has to ask for God's permission. I think God sealing his elect with the Holy Spirit forbids that. Nate: Yeah, there's only room for one spirit to live in you, and if the Holy Spirit's in there, no vacancy for demons. Jon: Nice, I like that. The Westminster says he's infinite, eternal. That's pretty big. He takes up all the space. Nate: What do you think? Jon: Yeah, that's what I think too. Mitchell: I think Christians can come under demonic oppression, where they're being oppressed by demons but not possessed. Jon: Right. If the Holy Spirit's in you, he's in you. No vacancy – I like that. That's a good way to say it. Alright, I've got a couple more that either I've thought of or just from talking to a few people, other questions that came in on this topic. We can go for days, but we'll just take a couple of these. Here's one: If Satan knows God is going to win in the end, why does he even bother to fight? Nate: I've thought about that question a lot, and I think in one sense it seems like if you know you're going to lose, why would you even do anything towards it? And whoever asked that question, which it sounds like it was maybe you, John. But when I asked that question of myself, I asked, "Hey, if sin leads to bad consequences, why do I ever sin?" You know, if I know talking to my wife this way will lead to a fight, why do I even do it in the first place? I think that's giving a lot of credit to the logic of our minds when evil doesn't often operate in logical ways. Jon: That's a very good point. I also think Satan is just fundamentally opposed to God. It's like having a big brother who you know you're going to get walloped if you fight him, but sometimes you're so angry you don't care. I think maybe that's the mindset of Satan: he just hates what God is doing and has to fight against him. Nate: And he's evil and perverse enough that even if he knows how it will end, there's a part of him that will enjoy the process even if he knows how it ends. I think I go back to Taco Bell sometimes even though I know this isn't gonna be great for me later in life, but the experience is great for the moment. For a little while it seems worth it, and it never is. Jon: I'm told often by my wife that this is pretty much how I play board games, the way she imagines Satan plays the game of life. Nate: Your wife says, "You know you're going to lose? Why do you even play?" Jon: Stephanie with some top-tier trash talk. No, it's just that I have a kind of reputation: if I start to lose, I just want to cause as much damage to everybody else as I possibly can. Scorched earth. You're going down with me. We like to play Settlers of Catan. It's kind of a long game. And so if I, in the early stage of the game, start realizing there's like no way I can win, then I'm just out to hurt everybody. Mitchell: And sometimes it's not just everybody, but one specific person. Jon: If we've got time for one more, how should Christians, or should Christians, try to interact with angels? I think "should" is such a hard word right there at the beginning of that question. But I personally think my – what I see in the biblical examples – if angels want to talk to you, they'll start things off. Nate: They'll start off with a little "do not fear" and then they'll give you a message. But it seems like those unique situations in church history and biblical history are not the norm, but are exceptions to the norm. And yeah, every time I see the angel initiating, unless I'm not thinking of something. Can you think of a time where? Jon: No, you're right. Someone else initiated the scenario. I was thinking about a lot. Daniel 10, right? Is it Daniel 10 when Daniel's praying? So he's – he doesn't really – he's not praying to an angel or anything, but he's praying to God. And then the Lord sends him an answer through an angel. And we've got that crazy scene where the angel is trying to get to Daniel, but he gets stopped by a demon and another angel has to come and help him in the fight, and then he can go to Daniel and sort of give that quick story before he gives Daniel the answer. It's a wild thing to realize all that's going on in another realm that we can't see. So that was the only other example that I was thinking about, but Daniel isn't asking an angel to come to him. He's praying to God, and God decides to use an angel to bring the answer to him. Mitchell: I think that's exactly it. We shouldn't try to seek out angels. They'll find us. Jon: Right. It's a realm in which we know is there, and stuff is happening, and God is at work, and yet we don't have an instruction about that we're supposed to engage with it in any specific sort of way. Mitchell: Yeah. Jon: I think there's a lot that happens behind the scenes. I think one day we'll be able to look back and see God sending messengers or God sending his angels to bless or be over something that we will never have seen. And there's been some books. I don't know if you guys have read – I'm trying to think of some of the names of these books – but I've read a couple of older books of guys trying to fictionally... Or "This Present Darkness" by Frank. That's what I was thinking of, yeah. Nate: Thank you. I read that when I was young, and this question made me think of that too, because again, this is a little bit about over-dramatizing. It's a work of fiction, but I remember thinking, "Oh, I wonder if there are angels right now fighting around." Yeah, and who knows? It's a spiritual realm, so we're not gonna see it right now with our eyes and experience it with our senses. But I do think that – I know for a lot of people, there's comfort in knowing if Satan has his demons, God has his armies too, and they outnumber and outpower anything – all the armies of evil – so we can rest assured to know that our God wins. Jon: Yeah, I think the comfort is God's given us what we need to know in his word, and everything else that he doesn't reveal to us, we're not supposed to know. Mitchell: That's okay. Jon: Jesus is on the throne. Well, thanks for the conversation, guys. Great stuff. Thanks, everybody, for the questions. Great questions. You can always submit more questions to peacechurch.cc/questions . Jon: Have an awesome week! You can find That's a Good Question at resoundmedia.cc or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Ryan & Selena Fredrick Most Recent Content from Ryan & Selena Fredrick

PODCAST That's a Good Question Stone to Spirit: The Law Fulfilled in Christ January 28, 2025 Jon Delger & Stephanie Delger Listen to this Episode Hey, welcome to That's a Good Question, the podcast where we answer questions about the Christian faith in plain language. We are a podcast of Resound Media, a place you can trust to find great resources for the Christian life and church leadership. You can always submit questions that we answer on this show to resoundmedia.cc . If you find this resource helpful, please rate and review the podcast so more people can encounter the life-changing truth of God's Word. Also, if you know somebody who can benefit from today's topic or has questions like the ones that we're answering, please share this episode with them. My name is Jon, I'm here with Stephanie. Hey everyone. And we're gonna have a great conversation about a topic that comes up time and again and is very important for Christians to think through. And that topic is Christians and the law. So we're gonna talk about questions like, should Christians follow Old Testament law? Should Christians wear clothes made of two different kinds of cloth? Are Christians allowed to eat pork? What does it mean when we say Jesus fulfilled the law? Were the Israelites saved by keeping the law? And lots more. All good questions. Yeah. Yeah. So I think to start us off, would you be able to tell us what do you mean when you're using the phrase the law? Yeah, great question. So it can mean a variety of different things. Actually, I think the Bible itself means a few different things when it says the word law. So in the Old Testament, we can break the Old Testament into three categories, just like the Israelites did, the Jews do, the law, the writings, and the prophets. So when we say law, sometimes we mean that part of the Old Testament, the first five books, Genesis through Deuteronomy, those five books. Sometimes we mean like all the commandments in the Bible. There's over 600 commandments in the Old Testament. So sometimes we mean that. Sometimes we just simply mean the law of Israel, the Jewish law, laws that they followed, like the 10 commandments, all those kinds of things I think we could mean when we talk about the law. Yeah, that makes sense. So then moving forward, because we want to talk about how do we relate to the law, but I think sometimes it's really helpful before we say how do we relate to this, how did the original audience relate to the law? Because you were saying it's Old Testament. So how did the Israelites relate to the books of the Bible or the different aspects of the law that you just talked about? Yeah, yeah, great question. So one of the most common misconceptions that I hear is that people think that the Old Testament people of God got saved by keeping the law, like doing the Ten Commandments, doing all the 600 plus laws in the Old Testament, that's how they got saved. Now we know that's not the case for a few different reasons. One, if you've been listening to the show for a while, if you've been studying the Bible, you know that there's only one man who kept the law perfectly, his name is Jesus. We also know that from a few specific verses. Think of Romans chapter three. Also, I'll read just a little bit of it. This is starting in verse nine, but actually, I'll tell you what, let me give you, I'll give you some passages that you can look at later and I'll just read a few short selections. Here's some passages you can look at later about this. Romans 3, verse 9 through 20. Galatians 3, verses 10 to 14. Hebrews 10, specifically verse 4. And then I'm probably also going to reference here, Romans chapter 5, verse 12. All right, so in Romans chapter 3, it says, what then, are we Jews any better off, as he passes Paul talking, who is himself a Jew? No, not at all, for we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin. As it is written, so now he's going to quote the Old Testament about how we relate to the law, he says, no one is righteous, no not one. No one understands, no one seeks for God, all have turned aside, no one does good, not even one. So he's quoting the Old Testament there, so that idea is not new because you're saying he's quoting the old so it was never meant to be that way and even the Old Testament itself says that yeah, okay. Yeah Yeah, it should have been clear even for ancient Israel that the law was not something they could keep perfectly So here's a little bit from Galatians chapter 3 says all who rely on works of the law are under a curse For it is written curse would be everyone who does not abide by all things Written in the book of the law and do them. Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law for the righteous shall live by faith." Also an Old Testament quote. Galatians 3 is the Apostle Paul expounding on some Old Testament passages so several of these things that I'm saying here are actually him quoting the Old Testament. He goes on and he says, the law is not a faith rather the one who does them shall live by them. That's Leviticus 18 he's quoting. So the basic point he's making there is that if you wanted to be saved by the law, you can't just do some of it. Like God doesn't grade on a curve. You got to do all of it, all the things in the law. If you do all of them, you could live by them, but of course we know that none of us actually do that. Here's Hebrews 10, verse 4, it says, it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Okay, so let me just real quick break down. Here's four points that I think we see from some of the passages I just referenced. Here we go. Number one, in order to have life by the law, we would have to keep all of it perfectly. God doesn't grade on a curve. Okay, so we'd have to do it perfectly. Which we can't. Right, right. So I think that's the point that Galatians 3 makes. Point number two, we don't do that. I think that's the point that Romans 3 makes, that we don't actually do those things. Point number three, the blood of animals doesn't actually take away sins. I think that's the point that the book of Hebrews makes, especially chapter 10 verse 4 says it very explicitly. We're going to get more to what the point of animal sacrifice was later, but we know that ultimately the blood of bulls and goats doesn't actually take away sins. And then point number four, I think this is where Romans 5.12 comes in and it's important for us to remember. So even if you could live perfectly, still, what Romans 5 tells us is that we are born as sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. They sinned and so we actually inherit theirs. We're born into sin is the way that we often say it. So we're actually born guilty of our first father's sin. So even if you lived perfectly in this life, which again we've already said is impossible, let's just say that you hypothetically could, you've still got Adam's sin on you that you have to get rid of. Okay, so for all those reasons, nobody can get saved by the law in the Old Testament or the New Testament. So then the question is, well, what was the point of the Old Testament law for the ancient Israelites, right? Yeah. Yeah, so if they couldn't get saved by it, then what was it for? We could say at least three things. Number one, it shows us who God is. Okay, when we read the laws, what we're seeing is God's heart, God's design, right? This is God's, this is us seeing God's character in the form of commands. You know, God tells us to be like him, and that's what we see in the law. These are things that represent holiness and righteousness and everything that's good in God and that he wants us then to live by. So it shows us who God is. So would it be fair, like with the 10 commandments, those would be things that we could see, these are things that shows us what God is, who he is, and how he wants us to act? Yeah, yeah, totally. So, it shows us who he is, and then, like you started to say, it shows us his design for us. He wants us to be like him. You know, we're supposed to be like our Father, our Heavenly Father. So, it shows us who he is, shows us how we're supposed to live, and it's not arbitrary, right? It's not just God's prescriptions for you should do these things simply because I say so, even though that would be enough, of course. It's God saying this is the best way for human life to work. This is, you know, the Creator saying this is the design. This is how it should work out. And then finally, the third thing I would say about how the law should function, it functioned in ancient Israel and it functions now, is that it shows us our sin and therefore points us to our need for a Savior. So that's not just true for, you know, that's something you've probably heard New Testament Christians talk about, but also in the Old Testament, that was true, that they should have been able to see through the law, see how they fall short, that I can't live up to this perfectly and I need somebody to save me. And that's actually, you know, all of the Old Testament is longing for, waiting for that coming Savior, which of course we now know is Jesus. That makes a lot of sense. So thinking a little bit more about the law, I think some of them can seem kind of out there or odd to our ears. So what do you think, what was the purpose of maybe some of the more ritualistic laws, like feasts and sacrifice and things like of that nature? Yeah, right. So yeah, there's some interesting ones in there, right? Like even at the beginning, I mentioned, you know, the law about not wearing clothes woven of multiple kinds of fabric, or, you know, don't cook a goat in its mother's milk, or some of these things that seem kind of strange and arbitrary to us. I think some of those ones that appear to us to be kind of weird are a little bit more symbolic. They kind of show us something, a reality, a spiritual reality. They point us to something. So it makes me think of going through the Bible, there was a law that I've really struggled with lately, and it was talking about how a woman on her menstrual cycle is considered unclean. And I think that's what you were just saying. It's almost like a parable because the New Testament talks about how it's not anything that we put in our body that makes us unclean. It's what comes out of our body. And trying to figure out what did that law mean, because to me, it automatically made me feel like, well, that's not fair to women. Like, that's just something that happens in our body. We can't control that. But I think through different research of trying to figure out what was the heart behind this law, I think it instilled almost in a parable in our minds of, it's, we are in a constant state of uncleanliness and we need somebody to save us. Right. Right. Yeah. The, the cleanliness ritual, cleanliness laws were, yeah, a really important symbol that people saw day in and day out about the fact of sin. Yeah, totally. So to think about even the storyline of how all this comes together, and I'm just thinking more about how we can get really mixed up on thinking about the Old Testament law as a method of salvation. Just to show even more so that's not the case, I think when you bring in the storyline of Scripture—so I quoted some very specific passages that make that point. But just to think about the overall storyline of the Bible, right? It's one story from Genesis, Revelation, not two different stories, Old Testament, New Testament, one story. Just think about that whole story and how the law falls into it. A simple way I think about it is this, that Abraham came before Moses. Okay, so Abraham, when God and Abraham start their relationship, it's not that Abraham was a perfect law keeper, and therefore he started this relationship with God, and God decided to love him because of the things he had done. The Bible tells us that's not at all how it worked. So I think of like Genesis 15, six, talking about Abraham, it says, and he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness. So God actually chooses, we find out in the book of Joshua that Abraham actually before God called him out was an idolater. He worshipped other gods that were not the God of the Bible. And so God chooses Abraham out of all the peoples in the world. And then he counts Abraham's trust in him, his faith, as righteousness. So Abraham is not saved by works. He's saved by grace through faith. And then the people of Israel are Abraham's children. It's the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham that the people of Israel comes about. So they're living in the covenant relationship under Abraham. And then God adds to that covenant relationship the law of Moses. So they're already walking like husband and wife. That's the imagery we get with a covenant. So God and his people are already walking like husband and wife. And then added to that relationship of love and grace through faith is these specific stipulations in the law through Moses that says, this is God's design for you, this is God's will for you, not in order to be saved, but to show you this is what God wants you to do, this is what he tells you to do, calls you to do, and it's what's good for you. So those things get like brought in and added to the covenant. It's not a separate covenant. It's not separate terms. You know, it's something that's added to help and make sense. Yeah. So it's a step further in clarity of pointing towards Jesus. Yeah, totally. Yeah. It's a step along the way that ultimately is going to bring us to Jesus and be fulfilled in him. So when we talk about the law, I think you before, as you and I have been talking about it, you can break the law into different distinctions, whether it's a ceremonial or moral. Would you mind sharing some of that? Because I felt like that was really helpful for me to understand how I relate to the law. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's something Christians have been saying for a long time. It's even in the Westminster Catechism, just an old reformed document that helps us teach, you know, what the Bible says. So the breakdown that people have been given is moral, civil, and ceremonial laws that we see in the Old Testament. And of course, they're not labeled that, you know, they're not different colors in the text or anything like that, but we can kind of look at them and kind of understand, all right, these are laws that had civil laws are things that had to do with Israel as a nation, you know, civil nation. So that's kind of how they functioned as a nation. Ceremonial laws, things that had to do with their ritual life, things like animal sacrifices, things like feasts and festivals, some of those more symbolic kind of things. And then there's what we call the moral laws, which are things that carry through beyond the nation of Israel, beyond how they did worship before Jesus, kind of beyond those things carry into New Testament life, into today are the things that we call the moral law. To give a very obvious example, do not murder. That's a law that transcends Old and New Testament. These are things that are true all the way across, and there's many more than that. So what do you think, because I think those distinctions are really helpful, what do you think, what was the purpose behind God giving each of those three sections of the law, of the moral, the ceremonial, and the civil law? Yeah, so the civil and the ceremonial serve a distinct function for that period of time in the history of the world and in the history of God's interactions with human beings, right? Israel as a nation is a unique thing. It's part of God's developing story. You know, today we would say that God's people are no longer a unique nation. They are people of all nations, not one unique nation. So, you know, the civil served a specific purpose for how God's people worked at that time in history. That is no longer the case today. I think some of the laws in reading them, I know there are some laws about like mildew and different things that you can find on tents. Would those fall in that category because it was a good thing for those people just for their safety practices, right? If there's a really, really bad type of mildew or mold that's growing on their tents, God's going to try to protect his people so it doesn't spread from tent to tent to tent and now everybody is homeless without tents. Yeah, that would be either civil or ceremonial. Yeah, totally. And the ceremonial ones, to talk about that one. So, you know, like the sacrificial system is a prime example. You know, those things existed. We'll talk in a minute about, you know, how Jesus comes into play. But, you know, those things existed up until Jesus, who is, of course, the final and ultimate sacrifice. But they reminded the people of Israel day in and day out, right? Unlike you and I, where it's, unfortunately, I think it's easier for us to not feel the gravity of sin. For them, morning and night, they could hear the noise of the animals, they could smell burning flesh and hair, they might smell or see blood, right? In ancient Israel, it was very clear and obvious, day in and day out, morning and night, that sin has consequences. That sin leads to death, that sin leads to blood, that sin must be paid for. And so the ceremonial law served a huge purpose in just showing people the consequences of sin, showing them their need for forgiveness, for salvation, which ultimately will point them to the Savior Jesus. So I think you've said before that the point of the law is really it points towards Jesus. And I know in some of the verses that you read earlier, it talks about Jesus fulfilling the law. Would you be able to expound a little bit on what that means or just maybe even in different words how you would explain that? Well, let's go to the key passage that says this. So this is in Matthew chapter five, verses 17 and 18. Jesus himself, he says, do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished." Okay, so in that really important passage, Jesus says there's something that he did come to do, and there's something he did not come to do. So he did come, he says, to fulfill the law. He did not come to abolish the law. So we got to try to understand exactly what Jesus is talking about when he says that. And I think that's where the categories become really helpful of moral, civil, ceremonial. So Jesus does fulfill the law in several senses. One, he's the only man to ever actually obey it. He does it perfectly. He's the only perfect human to have walked the earth. He is God and man, 100 percent God, 100% man, but he is thus the only man to ever walk the earth and fulfill God's law perfectly. It also, he fulfills it in the sense that it always was pointing to him, you know, showing his character, he is God, it was showing his character, his obedience, of course, fulfills it. But then some of it even pointed specifically to his death and then resurrection. So you know, that's where the ceremonial law comes in specifically. He's fulfillment of all of those those rituals, those symbols, all those those things that God was using to show people their sin, their need for a Savior, then He is that Savior. He's the fulfillment of that. So I think I've heard some people say, yes, that is so true. Jesus has fulfilled the law. That means that we don't have to deal with it anymore. Why are we reading it? It's in the Old Testament. It doesn't matter. I know you and I disagree with that, but what would you say to that argument? Yeah, yeah, I mean that's so important to understand. Yeah, we as Christians, we don't throw the law out the window. You know, one of the things that I've heard Christians say is like, well, we just are supposed to love God and love neighbor. Well, if you read your Bible, you realize where that actually comes from. That's a summary of the law. That's in Jesus' conversation in the New Testament where he's asking for a summary of the law and the summary of the law, not a replacement of the law, but the summary is to love God and love neighbor. So if you were to say, okay, great, we're supposed to love God and love neighbor. How do we do that? Well, open up your Old Testament, read the law. That's going to explain this is how I love God, this is how I love neighbor, right? So yeah, we can't get rid of it. Jesus didn't come to abolish it. He came to fulfill it. So we're still called to do it. So here's a couple more passages that say that same thing. So here's Matthew 5, 19, going right after a couple of verses that I just read. Jesus continues and he says, Therefore, anybody who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Okay, so Jesus talking pretty highly about the law and how it continues and its continued importance. Romans 7 verse 7, "'What then shall we say, that the law is sin? "'By no means. "'Yet if it had not been for the law, "'I would not have known sin, "'for I would not have known what it is to covet "'if the law had not said, you shall not covet.'" Okay, so Paul's saying law is still important, goes a step further and even explains one of its important uses, which is to show us this is sin. So in short, I would say the law still applies, but there are some ways in which it applies a little bit differently because of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. That's like the center point of all history, right? So things change on the other side of that. So I think, so we're recording this at the end of January. For people that are going through the read a Bible in a year, we're not hitting like the law books of the Old Testament yet, right? But when we get into reading Deuteronomy and Leviticus and a lot of these books where these laws are going to be recorded for us, is there a way that we would be able to know as we're reading through the Bible what laws fit in what categories or what ones are we supposed to continue to keep because they are the moral laws and what ones are we able to praise Jesus for, for fulfilling and how do we navigate when we're reading those books, what we should still be doing or how it relates to us? Yeah, great question. Well, like I said, they're not, you know, they're not labeled, they're not in different colors. Be nice if it was, maybe we could come up with one. That would be nice, that would be nice. But I think you just got to kind of ask yourself the question of, you know, was this unique for the nation of Israel, or was this unique in that it was a ritual, a ceremony that was intended to ultimately point to Jesus versus a law that says something about God and human beings and human conduct for all of time. I think that's kind of the question you're asking yourself. And I would also add this. The civil and the ceremonial law, here's what I would say. Somebody would say, well, what you're saying is that some of the law matters and some of it doesn't. No, again, all of it applies. Some of it just applies differently after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. So we can still learn a lot of things from the civil and ceremonial law. They still teach us important principles. They just don't apply in the same way because we're not the nation of Israel living in the land in the Old Testament. We're not pre-Jesus. You know, we're post-Jesus. Jesus has come and things have changed as a result. So for the laws in the Old Testament that give consequences, like if somebody does this, you cut off their hand. If somebody does this, you stone them. Those are things that we would say was for the country or the nation of Israel and it's not up to us as Christians to be going and cutting off hands and stoning people in the streets. Because I think I've heard that before, where people are arguing saying, well, you Christians, you pick and choose what you follow. This isn't a religion of love. Look at all of this evil in the Old Testament. And I think I've heard a lot of criticism that people will use the law to say that we're not doing what God tells us to. Sure. Well, yeah, I think that's an important example, actually, where some of the laws I'm thinking off the top of my head, the law is still in place, it still makes sense. It's still, you know, this is still a law we should follow. But the consequence we should issue is probably not to cut off somebody's hand or to execute that. Yeah, yeah. More than probably. You know, yeah, we don't we don't stone people for certain offenses. Actually, we put that that power, that that level of judgment in the hands of government, of the state instead of in, for example, the church's hands. And like I said, I think that's, you know, the time has changed. You know, today as the church, where I heard another pastor say this very wisely, you know, whereas in the Old Testament, they might execute you for something, in the New Testament, we might excommunicate you. And I think that's just representative of the different time period that we are in. In the Old Testament, you know, the church and the state, if you will, were one, the nation of Israel. Today, the church and the state are separate. They're not one, right? The church is of all nations. And so it just works a little bit differently. I think as we were talking too, it's so life-giving to actually view the law of this is going to lead to life change. And it's also going to lead to worship because you're either going to look at the law and you're going to look at the moral law and you're going to say, I can't measure up to this. But praise Jesus that he took my place on the cross so that I can still be with him, even though I can't keep this law perfectly. Or if you're reading through the laws that are ceremonial and things like that, you can say, praise the Lord that this was just pointing towards him that way back thousands and thousands of years before Jesus was born as a baby, God knew what he was going to do. And he put all of this in place so that you and I, like as we're sitting here in 2025, we can look at this and be like, that is so incredible that God knew way back from the beginning and did that to show us really his love, which I think so often I can view the law as rules and regulations, but really I think it was all done in love. Absolutely. Yeah, the law could show us the beauty of man, Jesus, Jesus did this. So now I think to turn pace a little bit, we just talked about what to say to people that thinks we shouldn't follow the law. What about people who look at it and say, as Christians, it's still so important that we do follow all of the Old Testament laws? Right, right. Because they're both sides, I think I've heard them. I've heard of both sides of that, yeah, for sure. For sure. So again, obviously, we want to start by saying there are, you know, the Old Testament still matters. It still applies. Some of it just applies differently. So if they're talking specifically about, you know, the feasts or about certain rituals, you know, I mean, one of the things I would say is, you know, where are you even, you know, if you're still saying, for example, that we should still follow the feasts, you know, how do you draw the line between the feasts and the animal sacrifices? You know, because I think most Christians would say, obviously, we're not still supposed to sacrifice animals because Jesus has come. If you're wrestling with that, read the book of Hebrews, especially chapters like 9 and 10. Think about what Jesus does on the cross. It is finished. He is the final and ultimate sacrifice. To have continued sacrifices would be to say that Jesus' death was not enough to cover our sin. But I would say, how do you separate even the feasts from the sacrifices and stuff? So you might start there. I think some of them just in our perspective, because some of them included both, like the Passover included sacrificing an animal lamb. So if they're advocating for we still need to do this, then really, if you're doing all of that, it will include both. Right. So I would say, if Christians wanted to celebrate the Old Testament feasts sort of in memorial, sort of to say, hey, we just want, we want to remember our Old Testament history. And these are still great moments we can praise God for. I think there's something great about that, you know, to remember, you know, we do this on Good Friday, on Easter, you know, we remember the Passover and we think about the significance of what happened in the Exodus and God rescued his people out of slavery. And ultimately, you know, that's a picture now for us today that God rescued us out of slavery to sin through Jesus. You know, so, you know, we can still celebrate in the sense of remembering why they're important. You know, we can even, you know, do some practices. I've been a part of services before we brought in somebody who is, you know, maybe formerly a Jewish rabbi who's now, you know, following Jesus, what we'd call a Messianic Jew. We had a great interview several episodes ago with the CEO and leader of Juice for Jesus, a great guy that got to talk about that a little bit. And we walked through what a Passover meal would have looked like. Yeah, you and I did that together. Yeah. That was really impactful for me. Yeah, and we got to see how that points to Jesus. So I think you can use those as great things, but to say, this is God's command, we must do this, we're disobedient if we don't do this, I think you're missing how Jesus has fulfilled that part of the law. Another one is maybe somebody might be thinking about the foods we eat. There are actually some specific verses that talk about that. We could go into that. Mark chapter 7, Jesus is making the case about how, like you mentioned earlier, that what makes us unclean is not what comes into us, but what comes out of us. And so he's teaching on that, he's making that point, and then actually Mark, inspired by the Holy Spirit, adds to the— let me see where it is here. Here we go. This is Mark chapter 7. I'll start reading in verse 18. He says, heart but his stomach and as expelled. Thus he declared all foods clean." Okay, so it's Jesus speaking, then the inspired writer writes, you know, right behind Jesus' words, thus he declared all foods clean, you know, so inspired by the Holy Spirit, he's interpreting Jesus' words for us. You know, not only that, you've got Acts chapter 10, the story with Peter, and God comes to him in a dream. So, about the foods, we've even got some very specific instruction from the Lord about, hey, no, this is, you know, this is not how I'm calling you to live anymore. I think, do they call that the bacon blanket? Is that the Acts 10? A bacon blanket? Have you ever heard of that before? I have not heard of that before. Oh man, you're missing out. That makes sense. Yeah, it's the bacon blanket. Yeah. Yeah. So going back to the beginning, because at the very beginning of the episode, you listed very concrete questions. And just to make sure we answer those really concretely for people, I'm going to go back and rapid fire. Can I throw them at you now? Sure. All right. So, should Christians follow Old Testament laws? Yes. Why? Yes, and you need to understand how some of them work on the other side of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The obedience to them or application of them looks different. So, should Christians wear clothes made of two different kinds of cloth? Yes, I think that's okay. I think that that falls in the ceremonial category of, you know, symbolic and trying to teach us something. And that kind of goes to the next one. Are Christians allowed to eat pork? Yes. Thank you, Jesus. Praise the Lord. To get that bacon for breakfast. That's right. So then what does it mean when we say that Jesus fulfilled the law? I know you've addressed this, but kind of as coming through, just to summarize. Sure. It means that he fulfilled it by obeying it perfectly. He fulfilled it by, in the civil and ceremonial case, he was the ultimate. He ultimately fulfilled actually Israel's calling as God's Old Testament people, and he became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. I think that last one you asked too was, were the Israelites saved by keeping the law? No, they were not saved by keeping the law. They were saved by faith actually the same way that we are and like us as people following him by faith. God still gave them instructions about how to live just like he does for us today. Awesome. Well, thanks Stephanie for the great conversation. Thanks everybody for listening. It's been an awesome chance to talk about Christians and the law such an important topic can be a little bit complicated encourage you to go back through some of the passages that we referenced. So much more we could talk about, especially passages like Galatians 3, the book of Hebrews, Romans chapter 3, you know, not even just the verses I mentioned, but you know, those whole chapters and sections and books, you know, pour over those, see what God, you know, is sharing and helping to understand about our relationship with the law. But hey, have a great week, everybody. Do us a favor, like, follow, subscribe, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, resoundmedia.cc. Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, ReSoundMedia.cc. Have an awesome week. you

Think Tattoo Not Nail-Polish Ministry Cheyenne Werner Women's Ministry Director Peace Church Published On: November 1, 2023 Women’s Bible Study books are as numerous as nail polish color options. But unlike lacquer that can be removed with a swipe of acetone, Women’s Bible studies have a tattoo-like imprint on ladies’ lives. With that kind of enduring influence, curating curricula is worthy of careful consideration. So what factors should Women’s Ministry leaders consider when choosing a curriculum? Two categories come to mind: Structure and Substance. Details like time, duration, and “homework load” often make a difference in how invested women can be. And yet if the content is confusing, overwhelming, unsound, or distracting from the Gospel – then women will leave with a counterfeit understanding of God’s Word, of who He is, and of what He is like. Let’s walk through three factors from each of these two categories, starting with Structure. Time . There’s a reason why kids’ sports seasons are typically limited to 6-8 week sessions. As a busy mom, 1.5-2 months feels like a feasible commitment, and allows for a couple weeks’ break before the next busy season. In Michigan, where the school year starts at the end of August, 8 weeks is the sweet spot to give ladies a few weeks to get their families into the school-groove before adding on Bible Study and still ending before Thanksgiving. Most Bible study books fall in the 6-10 week range. Consider your context. Do seasons, school years, or holidays impact the availability of your women? While it may seem “unspiritual” to make such a big deal of this factor, you may be limiting the population of women able to attend if duration isn’t taken into account. Type . Some Bible studies use Christian non-fiction books that have discussion questions at the end of each chapter. Other Bible Studies use workbooks that have daily passages to read, along with commentary and/or questions to guide women to an understanding of the passage. Both are instrumental in discipleship. Generally, however, they are the difference between “giving a [woman] a fish” (i.e. using non-fiction chapter books) and “teaching a [woman] to fish” (i.e. using Bible study workbooks). A beginner fisherwoman is going to get pretty hungry and despairing if she’s expected to only eat the fish she catches herself. But if she never learns to “fish” by studying the Bible on her own, she’s always going to be dependent on others to tell her what to get from God’s Word. A thoughtful strategy to what types of studies you use at your church matters! Teaching-format. Video-teaching has become pretty standard for women’s Bible study curricula. One of the greatest benefits to using video-teaching is access to insight from the author themselves! This can help create aha-moments for women who were stuck on a particular question or passage during the week, and it also helps women feel more connected with the person behind the written word. At the same time, don’t write off digital-free Bible studies! One of the most compelling and well-received “teaching” formats we have used at Peace Church is having two women on stage share about the “highlights and hard-things” they encountered while reading through that week’s passage. Considering these structural factors will help narrow down your selection base. Now let’s filter these options through the lens of Substance: Scripture . A “Bible study” should (drum roll please…) study the Bible (and not just an inspiring topic with scattered, isolated verses)! While there are topical Bible studies that are well anchored to scripture, women are more likely to do those studies on their own or with a friend. Structured, scheduled Bible Study is a chance to train believers to build Bible-literacy by digging into whole chapters and books of the Bible at a time and grappling with tricky passages together that they might otherwise skip over. In fact, there is a massive misunderstanding that the Old Testament is disposable. As you’re considering what part of scripture to study, remember to teach and model that “ all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man [and woman] of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ever do topical studies. But be strategic about what topics and books of the Bible you choose! Source . The only cover-feature more alluring than an illustrated sprig of eucalyptus is the name of everyone’s favorite Christian female author. But before you appease the mob of women requesting a certain book by a certain source, do your research! Make sure that any source you are using is trustworthy and written with sound theology. Invite your pastors to make author suggestions or evaluate books you’re considering. Find articles, podcasts, or interviews of both male and female authors who have written studies on the book of the Bible or topic that you want to dig into with your ladies. Scope. If you’ve narrowed down every one of these earlier categories, then the next thing to consider is whether the scope of the study is a good match for the span of your women. A curriculum should always include an explanation of the Gospel; a demonstration of the cohesion of Scripture through faithful cross-referencing; contextual information to help guard ladies from misinterpretation; questions that reach both the heart and mind; teaching that addresses both sin and grace; and content that magnifies God over and above all else. While these are essentials for your scope, other aspects should be determined by the makeup of your participants. If your women’s ministry is comprised of a lot of newer believers, be cautious about choosing a study with an intense amount of “homework” or that uses a lot of theological vocabulary without explanation. If your population is older, be sure that the application questions aren’t primarily geared towards young moms. But don’t think a diverse population poses a problem for picking a curriculum! If you have a mixture of ages and stages of spiritual maturity, err on the side of a simpler (but engaging!) curriculum that still encompasses all the essentials. The women in your group who have more Bible knowledge will most likely dig deeper into the passage on their own and then share what they learned with their discussion groups. In this way, you are creating a Titus 2:3-4 environment with “older women teaching the younger women.” While these 6 factors will help you narrow down your top picks for Bible study curricula, don’t be paralyzed by fear. Unlike tattoos, there is one last factor that can redeem even a poor curriculum choice: Prayer. As women’s ministry leaders, even our most faithful attempts at picking the perfect book are limited because we are not omniscient or omnipotent. So while it’s important that we use discernment, ultimately it’s God who knows exactly what they need and who inscribes His Spirit on their hearts (1 Cor 3:6-9, Is. 55:11, 2 Cor. 3:3). Commit to pray for clarity and entrust the women in your ministry to your faithful God. More Blogs You'll Like What Is a Deacon? Exploring the Role, Qualifications, and Purpose of Deacons in the Church Read More What Is An Elder? A biblical definition of those who are called to lead Read More Why Church Membership Understanding the Biblical Foundations of Church Membership Read More

Creating Meaningful Traditions Taste & See Women's Conference | Breakout Session Video Teaching Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Church Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 2 Creating Meaningful Traditions Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Q+A Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Bible Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 1 Jon Delger Withstand: How The Culture War Is A Spiritual Battle Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Where Do We Go From Here? Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Q & A Kelly Needham | Women's Christmas Party People Pleasing Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Are We a Christian Nation?

The Bad News Foundations | Episode 1 Video Teaching Jon Delger Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Church Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 2 Creating Meaningful Traditions Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Q+A Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Bible Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 1 Jon Delger Withstand: How The Culture War Is A Spiritual Battle Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Where Do We Go From Here? Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Q & A Kelly Needham | Women's Christmas Party People Pleasing Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Are We a Christian Nation?

Selfless Wives Sermon Series: No Longer Two Ryan DB Kimmel Lead Pastor Peace Church Main Passage: Ephesians 5:22-24 Transcript Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, amen. So if you've been to peace church long enough, you've probably heard me say this a few times because I believe it. I believe that a primary attack of the devil upon the people of peace church is upon their marriages. Now, this in one sense should be no surprise because Peace Church, we've said, we're gonna be a champion for family ministry and with marriage being a core component of family, of course the devil is gonna attack us. If this is what we wanna be a champion for, the devil's gonna come against it. And that's why today as we start the new year, we're starting off looking at marriage and family with a series called No Longer Two. As we look at and we be honest with the struggles that come with marriage But also the beautiful unity that comes with it when we follow God's design Church, I want Christians to have better happier and more godly marriages who's with me Absolutely, I do and so believing that the devil is attacking marriages particularly marriages of Peace Church. Today is our first stance, continued stance really, but first stance of the new year to push back against the devil. And how we're gonna do that is the same way that Jesus did. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, what did he use to take a stand against the devil with? He used the word of God. And so that's what we're gonna do. We're gonna take a stand with the word of God and push back against the enemy as we see God build and strengthen marriages for His namesake. And so, this is a small little three-part series to start the new year. Here's what we're gonna be looking at this Sunday. Today, we're gonna be looking at selfless wives. Next week, we're gonna be looking at sacrificial husbands. And then we have a bonus message on the third Sunday, which is Sanctity of Life Sunday, as we look at the biblical call for wives to submit to their husbands. So would you please in your Bibles turn to Ephesians chapter 5 as we look at selfless wives today. Ephesians chapter 5 verses 22 to 24. Now as you turn in there, just to clarify real quick, we say this is a book of the Bible, but Ephesians is actually a letter. It's a letter that the Apostle Paul wrote to a church in a town called Ephesus. And the people who live there were called Ephesians. So Paul wrote this letter to the church in Ephesus, to the Ephesian Christians, to this church that was meeting there. And what he was doing in this letter is he was describing certain tenets of the Christian faith, but he was He's also teaching that church how to live out the gospel message in their day-to-day lives. And when it comes to chapter 5, Paul begins to talk about family and how to have a Christian household. This section has some counterparts in the Bible, such as 1 Corinthians or Colossians or 1 Peter. But this reminds us, as we look at this passage, this teaching is not some disputed and isolated verse of the Bible This is a core teaching from scripture on how God has designed marriage But many women but many women and people Fear this notion of submission And I think if I could just be real honest with you for two primary reasons One just the reality that some women deal with a lot of pride. And in their heart, they're saying, I'm not going to submit to nobody, nothing. But also, and maybe even more prevalently, is because ungodly people have used passages like this and twisted them in order to abuse women. So hear me on this. God's word is true and his teaching is better. And so that's what we want to look at today. God's true call for us in marriage. And as we look at his call for wives to submit to their husbands and what that actually means. And so with that, would you hear God's word? Ephesians chapter five, we'll look at verses 22 to 24. Would you hear God's word? Ephesians 5:22-24 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. Amen. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord remains forever. Let's pray and we'll continue. Let's pray. Father in heaven above, your design for our lives is beautiful and it's perfect. So please, by the truth of your word and by the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, would you help us to see this picture that you've painted for us? A picture of life and marriage. And not only that, Lord, but would you help us to see the beauty of it. And Father, would you help me today to be able to describe it rightly from your word. And we pray these things through the power of the spirit and in the precious name of Jesus. And everyone said, amen. So if I can give you one main point here today, this is the main point for today's message, but it's kind of an overarching thrust of the entire series. But here's the main point for today. And it's simply this, God's design is better. God's design is better. And so, church, I'll be honest with you, I'm coming off two weeks vacation. I'm rested and I'm ready to go. So I'm gonna come in a little hot here in 2024. So let me just say this, when it comes to passages like this, I am sick of Christians and pastors coming to Bible verses like this, passages that really confront the brokenness of our culture, and pastors come across as either apologetic or ashamed. I know that it's fun to talk about marriage as the old ball and chain, and it's fun to poke about how hard marriage can be. But the reality is that too many Christian teachers, pastors, and influencers come to the topic of wives submitting to their husbands and they are embarrassed by it. Or they try to make excuses. Or they come across like it's unfortunate for ladies. Sorry ladies, it's just what the Bible says. I'm sick of all that. Do you know that God's word is beautiful? And God's plan for you is good? And what he calls you to is wonderful? And his design for marriage is better? Let's talk about what this actually means. See what happens that people come to this passage and passages like it with pride in their hearts or and and or with loads of twisted teachings and false assumptions about what the Bible is saying here. So I'm just asking you if you are vehemently opposed to the Bible passage we just read, I'm just going to ask you human to human, would you just listen to what the Bible says today? See what happens is that because of poor Christian teaching throughout the ages, people have come to disregard passages like this. We don't follow God's design for marriages. And you know what ends up happening? Christian marriages end up looking just like the worldly marriages that are broken and dying and harmful and hurtful, when God's design is better for us. See, church, the devil doesn't need to attack you if you're not following God's design because the devil's plan is to get you to stop following God's design. Stop making the devil's job easier. Follow God's design and you'll see how beautiful it is. Here's what I'm trying to say, that many of us are experiencing marital troubles not because the devil is attacking, but simply because you're not following God's design. And I'm here to tell you, God's design is better. Somebody say amen. So, to help with this, we do need to unload some false assumptions. We do need to bring some clarification here. And so, three verses, three points for today. We'll take it verse by verse. We're gonna look at each one of these points one at a time. The first thing we'll look at is how selfless submission needs clarification and it's Jesus. It's found in Jesus. Second thing we'll look at is how selfless submission brings clarification and it's to who you are to marry. And thirdly, we'll close up by looking at how selfless submission does have clarification, and it's the gospel. Selfless submission needs clarification, and it’s Jesus Selfless submission brings clarification, and it’s who you marry Selfless submission has clarification, and it’s the gospel But as we get going, I do want to speak to the women for a moment. Please hear me on this. I say this as a man married to a godly wife, and together we are raising four children, two boys and two girls. I want to raise my boys to be Christ-like men who are worthy of godly women who will submit to them. But I'm also raising two daughters, two daughters whose hands one day I will hand over to men, men who will love Jesus and submit to God, otherwise they will not get my blessing. I am not calling this church to anything that I'm not also calling my own two daughters to too. I say this as a father of four kids, two boys, two girls. So please know that this is a deeply personal topic for me today. And as we talk about submission, let's remove ourselves some cultural misunderstandings and get some clarification. And it's the first one is this, is that selfless submission needs clarification and it's found in Jesus. 1. Selfless submission needs clarification and it's found in Jesus. Our off like this. Ephesians 5.22 says, wives submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. So immediately let's underscore something here. The call here is for wives to submit to their own husbands. This is not a demand for every woman to submit to every man, but only to the husband that she chose to marry. So let's pop the hood and look at this engine. What is submission? Now the original word here was written in ancient, in Koine Greek, and the word here is hupotasso. Now hupotasso is used almost 40 times in the New Testament, in a wide range of contexts, but here's what it means. Hupotasso is actually the combination of two words, hupo and tasso. Hupo is the word that means under, and tasso means arrangement. So it means to come under an arrangement. And so when it comes to this, biblically speaking, it means to come under God's arrangement. So we could kind of say it like this. Wives, when it comes to your marriage, follow God's arrangement, or the language we would use, follow God's design. And the Bible, in this one verse, adds this beautiful phrase. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. Now, to really understand what that actually means, we need to read the next verse, but let's let the cat out of the bag right now. The Lord is Jesus, so Jesus Christ is our focus. Meaning, meaning women need to submit to men who will be like Jesus. Submit to their husbands who will be like Jesus, so that when they submit to them as they are called, in a sense, it feels like their submission to Jesus. And so submitting to Jesus, if you believe this, I need you to say amen, that submitting to Jesus Christ is actually life giving. When we submit to Jesus, it's not a burden, it's a joy. When we submit to Jesus and follow his teachings, it's how we are meant and designed to live. Submitting to Jesus is not a burden, it's a joy. Now, if you've listened to me preach before, you've probably heard me say this, and I don't want to be this pastor that constantly tells you the same stories over and over. If you do that, throw a tomato. If I do that, throw a tomato at me. But there's this one thing that was said to me this one time That to date is the most challenging thing anyone has ever said to me More challenging than anything My dad has ever said more challenging than anything my mentors have ever said more challenging than anything The elders have ever said more challenging than anything. I heard in seminary, and it came from my wife When she said this She said if you love me like Jesus loved the church, it would be a joy to submit to you. Now listen, my wife Tiffany is biblically called to submit to me either way. But what she was telling me in that moment is that if I am being godly, then submitting to me would be a joy for her. And there, ladies and gentlemen, that's the key to unlocking the joy of submission. It's the love of Jesus Christ. The love of Jesus Christ is what needs to permeate the Christian home so that submission is not a burden, but a joy. 2. Selfless submission brings clarification, and it’s who you marry And so Jesus is the clarification that we need, which brings us to the second clarification, and that's who you marry. Now we're going to walk on some delicate ground here, so let's do so confidently, but together and carefully. Our passage continues in verse 23. It says, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body is himself its Savior. This verse is why Christian women should only marry Christian men. Because my sisters in Christ, you should desire a man who submits to Jesus as his Savior, as his God, and as a church, we won't marry a Christian to a non-Christian. Because that husband is biblically called to be the head of the household, the head of the wife. He's the head of the home. And I will not take part in a sister in Christ marrying a man who will not lead her and love her like Jesus does. I'm sorry, ladies. I just think you deserve better. So here's the burning question you probably all have. What does submission practically look like in marriage? Well, to understand that, let's go back a moment. Let's go back to the very beginning. Genesis chapter two, verse 24, gives us the first visionary statement for what marriage is when it says this in the Bible. It says, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife and they shall become one flesh they are no longer two but they are one and did you know that this verse on marriage is so profound that Jesus Christ himself as well as the Apostle Paul both quote this verse in the New Testament this is the biblical standard for marriage that to become one that a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife before God and in the sight of God they are now one so how can submission be scary when a man and a woman are to be one before God I'll tell you why it's scary because too many women and young ladies are more concerned with men who are hot rather than men who are humble. They're looking for men who are handsome rather than holy. So what does submission look like? How does it work out practically? It goes like this. The husband and the wife are one. And so they work together because they're no longer two, they're one, they work together. And so women, submission does not mean you check your thoughts and your feelings at the door. A husband and wife are to passionately love each other as they patiently listen to each other. But what submission means is that the ultimate and final leadership of the home rests with the husband, because the Bible says he is the head of the household. He's the head of the marriage. And you know what that means, gentlemen? You are the one who will be judged for your marriage. So understand, this comes with great cost and great responsibility. So here's how I explain this when I do premarital counseling. When I work with couples who want to get married, oftentimes younger couples, here's how I try to explain it. I'll say to the young gal, or I'll say to the woman, I'll say this question. I'll ask her, is the man you are marrying a man who you know will actually listen to you? And is the man who you want to marry a man who you know will truly listen to the Lord? And if you disagree with it. Because that's the type of man you should marry. And you shouldn't marry him until you have that level of trust. This is what submission looks like. It's trusting. It's releasing leadership to the man because God has called him to that, knowing that he will be ultimately be the one judged for it. Submission brings clarification, ladies, and it's clarification to who you marry, that is to who you are to marry. Women, only marry men where it brings you joy to submit to them. Joy because these men are strong and kind and wise, that he is a man who cares and is loving, a man who will provide as best as he is able, a man who loves and submits to Jesus. And from that, from that submission to God's Word and from that indwelling of the Holy Spirit, he is able to preside over his house like Jesus does for the church, which comes with both grace and strength. That's the type of men we need more of in this world. Not these jerks online parading around calling themselves alpha males. I got a word from them and it starts with A, but it's not alpha male. Am I allowed to say that? Church, let me share something with you. I want to be very vulnerable with you today. I know, I know in my heart that God will provide. I know He will. But I am deeply concerned for my two daughters. I'm deeply concerned because of the generation of boys that's being raised right now. So I want to take a moment in this message on selfless wives, I want to speak to the teenage guys and the single men out there. Don't you think you get to marry a godly woman if you're not first going to be a godly man. And yes, I fully believe that 17 and 18 year olds can be godly men, even if they can't grow a righteously red beard. Listen, I love this country. I love this country. I do. And if our country thinks that you can voluntarily sign up, fight for, and die for this country, then you better believe that God can call you as an 18-year-old to stand as a full-grown man before him. This prolonged adolescence has got to stop. We need families, we need men and women raising boys to be men. And so, I want to speak to those of you who are single. And God's called you to a life of singleness, just like Jesus, by the way. If God has called you to a life of singleness, then what's your call in the midst of this? It's to still be Christ-like. It's to still serve the Lord as a single person, just like John the Baptist, just like the Apostle Paul. Men and women, if God has called you to a life of singleness, then you are in good biblical company. And I'm here to tell you that we will support you as a church family.Amen? And for those of you who are single, but you want to get married, here's what you do. Pray. Pray for your future spouse as you passionately pursue the path of the Lord and do not stray from it. Follow the path of the Lord and you might be surprised who you meet along the way. But what about this?What about this? What if you find yourself in a marriage and you're like, too late, pastor. I married a man who doesn't follow God. What am I to do? Well, sister, the Bible speaks to this. Twice, actually. First time is in 1st Corinthians chapter 7 verse 13. You can look that up later. 1st Corinthians 7 verse 13. But the Bible also speaks to this in 1st Peter chapter 3. And I want to look at that real quick. 1st Peter chapter 3 says this. It says, likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word, meaning God's word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Church, listen. Divorce is to be avoided as much as possible. The Bible says God hates divorce. And so, ladies, if you are married to a man who does not follow God, then the Bible calls you to show him, by your incredible godliness and your selfless actions, what it means to be a Christian, that you are to love him, love God, go to church, serve the Lord, and do this with joy so that he may see the changes that the gospel brings in a person that it might win him over. But let's be clear here, church, this is not a license to marry a non-Christian. The biblical call is for women to marry men who will they themselves submit to Christ firstly. We need to take a time out. We need to take a time out right now. If you are a woman who is being abused or you are unsafe in the home, then you need to get out and get help. Bible's not calling you to stay in an abusive environment. This is not what this is about. So do not hear me saying that. If you are unsafe, then get out and get help, get to a safe place. Or, if your husband has abandoned you, or he has demonstrated that he has no commitment to remain faithful to you, then please contact your church elder and we can pray and discuss what the biblical next steps are because the Bible does allow for divorce when the marriage covenant has been grievously broken, not simply because you two have grown apart. Marriages are to be fought for. Submission brings clarity, women, to who you should marry and you need to choose wisely, patiently, a man who will love Christ and love you. Submission brings clarity to who women should marry. 3. Selfless submission has clarification, and it’s the gospel And thirdly, selfless submission has clarification and it's the gospel. Verse 24, verse 24 says, now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. So church, this is one of the most important things I want to communicate to you about marriage. And so I know you slept in this morning because you're at third service. So here's what I want you to do. Elbow the person next to you, make sure they're awake. Go ahead and just elbow them, make sure they're awake real quick. I think some of you were waiting for an excuse to do that. You really took that to the next level. Make sure they're awake, because I want you to hear me on this. Seriously, if there's anything you take away from today, let it be this. For Christians, marriage is a picture of the gospel. I want you to say that with me. Marriage is a picture of the gospel. For Christians, when we live out our marriage, we are in a sense showing the world the gospel, and this is the gospel. that Jesus Christ gave up his life for the sacrifice as the sacrifice for sinners. That we may be renewed and made right with God, receiving eternal life in Jesus' name because Jesus has been raised from the dead. And when we give our lives to him, we joyfully submit to our Savior, knowing that he will give us not just life, not just eternal life, but abundant and full life in his name. That's the gospel. Somebody say amen. And so women, when you think of submission, do not think oppression. I want you on the flip actually to think victory and fulfillment. Why? Because the gospel is victory over our sin and fulfillment in our lives because of Jesus Christ. Now, I'm going to totally date stamp this sermon for those who listen to this later, but the Detroit Lions are doing really good right now. They're going to win against the Vikings today, name it and claim it. They're going all the way. That was a hope, not a prophecy, by the way. If you watch the game today, tag me online and we can chat about it. Now, okay, as we get into this, let me just say, I really hate sports analogies. Like when pastors give sports analogies, I just roll my eyes. But it kind of works here, so I'm going to go with it. The Lions are many players, but one team. Not every player on the team gets to kick a field goal. Not every player scores a touchdown. But when the Lions win, all the players share in the win. When every player plays their part, then every player gets the victory and the fulfillment of the win. In a marriage, God has designed a husband and wife to operate together as a team, each with different roles according to how God has designed them. And when two people in the marriage do what God has called them to do, then their marriage wins, and they get to both celebrate the win because they are one in Jesus. So live according to God's design, and you will get to experience the victory and fulfillment of marriage. Men, love your wives as Jesus loves the church. And wives, submit to your husbands as the church is meant to submit to Jesus. Church, this should not be controversial. This should be celebrated. Listen, I come from the Gen X generation and I was also indoctrinated by MTV in the 90s to rock the vote, which we know basically just meant make sure you vote Democrat. I grew up in the 90s. I went to middle school and high school all through the 90s. I was indoctrinated to think that liberalism was cool and conservatism was icky. I have progressive in me. I'm being open and transparent with you. And I come to passages like this, and because I'm culturally conditioned like all of us are, my progressive side wants to say, no, ladies, don't you listen to this submissive junk. You marry a man who's going to throw down his goals so that you can have yours. Listen, if you're feeling that tension, then I want to see if you agree with me on what I'm about to say. I've seen how marriages look out there in our so-called progressive society. 50% divorce rate, low levels of satisfaction in marriage. I don't think that's very cool, and I don't think that's a mark of progress. I've seen how marriages look out there in our culture and I want nothing to do with it. And you know what? Apparently the next generation doesn't either. In the last 20 years, we've seen a 10% drop in the number of adults who are married and a 5 point increase in cohabitation. Right now, 46% of Americans now say that people are just as well off if couples who want to stay together long term decide not to marry. Living together has become normal, yet studies continue to show that married adults, those who are married, have higher levels of relational satisfaction and trust than those who are living with an unmarried partner. Studies, secular studies, continue to show that people who do not live together before marriage go on to have happier and longer lasting marriages. This is known in our culture, but the people of our culture are not learning the lesson. People are still living together. Why? Because our culture is losing the value of saving sex for marriage, and we're simply losing the value of marriage itself. And guess what? People are not happier in the long run. And all of the church said, no, duh. When you don't follow God's design for humanity, he's created us, he's designed us. When we don't follow the way he's designed us, of course, it's not going to turn out well. Of course, the trajectory is not going to be better for us. I'm not saying that un-Christians can't have a good marriage. I'm saying that God's design is better. Marriage is no longer a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman through the ups and the downs. It's now simply a way to express your love for another person while also getting some legal benefits as long as you two keep up the arrangement. Yes, yes, actually divorce rates are going down, but so are the number of people getting married. This isn't a solution. This isn't the trajectory that we want to go. The next generation, the current generation, saw what marriage was becoming, and collectively, together, they are choosing not to get married. They are basically saying, forget it. They saw the problems of our world. They saw the problems of marriage. They saw it being made fun of. They saw it being belittled. They saw Christians not valuing it. And they said, forget it, what's the point? And you know what? Part of me understands. I also see how marriages look out there in our culture, and I also want nothing to do with it, but the difference is, I don't want to abandon the institute of marriage. I wanna help save it. I wanna help point people to something better because God's design is better. This is what my wife and I have found out, and we invite you to find out as well. And women, if you think submission is a tall order, make sure you come back next week when we talk to the husbands. Guys, I happen to know hunting's over, and there ain't We'll see you here next week, boys. It's your turn. Actually, I don't want to poke fun at that. Guys, what you're going to hear next week is one big sermon with me preaching to myself. And I hope that you find something of value from it. Remember, selfless submission has clarification, and it's the gospel. gospel, church, men and women, young and old, ladies and gentlemen, husbands and wives. If the gospel can save souls, can it save marriages? Can it? Absolutely, it can. But here, like the gospel, we have to give ourselves to it. We have to accept it and be willing to follow God's design. I believe the gospel can save your marriage. I believe the gospel can strengthen your marriage. I think the gospel can take good marriages and make them into great ones. If God loves us and gave marriage for us, then you best believe it's for our good. So follow God's design because it's better. And let the gospel give you a picture for how marriage could be and should be. Let it form your marriage. Church, what we're going to do right now is we're going to celebrate the gospel together. So would you please stand? What we're going to do is we're going to do what we said in the beginning we're going to do. Right now, here's what we're going to do. We're going to push back on the force of evil. We're going to push back on the face of the devil, and we're going to do that through our worship. As a church, we're going to stand as one, lifting up the name of Jesus as we worship Him. So here's what I want you to do. And listen. I know my church. I know the faces out here. I know that there are different levels of marital satisfaction before me, but I'm going to invite you, wherever you are at in your journey with your spouse, would you grab their hands and maybe not for their sake, but for the sake of Jesus, would you worship Him together? Father, we come before you. In Jesus name, Father, I pray for the marriages that are lasting and strong right now, that they would lead the way, Father, that they would lead the way in worship, as we lift up and sing of the evidence that is before us of God, your goodness. I pray for the marriages that are good, but are getting better, and I pray for the marriages that have failed, that maybe one day, Lord, that you are the God of resurrection, that you can do that work. I pray for the marriages that are failing, that the power of the gospel would intervene right now as a husband and wife would give themselves to your saving grace. Father, I pray right now that your church would sing, sing out loud as we push back against the enemy and we lift up the name of Jesus. and we lift up the name of Jesus. It's in his name we pray, and everyone said, amen.

Yes and Amen to the Promise of Grace Sermon Series: Always Yes Ryan DB Kimmel Lead Pastor Peace Church Main Passage: Romans 6:5-14 Transcript Today, today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And everyone said, amen. So I think if you asked the kid, would you love it if your parents always said yes to everything you asked? I don't know a kid on the planet who wouldn't love that setup. So as parents, I'm a parent, we have to ask ourselves, why don't we just give kids everything they ask for? Now we have a term for kids who get that, spoiled. Somebody in the first service actually said brat. They can play. They must have been a visitor. But. Now , there are many answers to why parents or grandparents don't give their kids or grandkids everything they asked for. Now, there could be things like, uh, it's not the right time. Maybe we can't afford it. Maybe they don't actually need it. But I think the most important answer to why parents don't give kids everything they asked for is simply because we know that not everything they asked for is good for them. It was November 21st, 1991. I was 12 years old and the Legend of Zelda A Link to the Past was released for the Super Nintendo. I tell you now, as a 12 year old, there was nothing more I wanted on this planet than that video game. It was November 21st, and I remember begging my parents for this video game. And you know what my parents told me? I haven't told you yet, so no, yeah. My parents told me, well, why don't you just wait a month until Christmas? I tell you, for a 12 year old, a month is an eternity. I remember this conversation in our kitchen in our old house. I remember begging my parents for this. They said, why don't you just wait a month until Christmas? And I said, I want it now. And I'll tell you this, I tried to bargain with them. I said, if you give me this video game right now, I don't want anything else for Christmas and I don't want anything for my birthday. And then I even like tripled down. I said this, if you get me this video game, I will never ever ask for another video game for the rest of my life. Here's the question. Did I really know what I really wanted? Did I know what was best for me? Here's your question. Listen to the, listen to this. Did I know what would actually make me happier in the long run? No, I didn't. But my parents did. Because that's what parents offer. Parents may say no to us in the moments, but it's because they have a grander, bigger perspective. Now, maybe for you it wasn't a video game. I don't know what it was, but I'm willing to bet at some point in your life you desperately wanted something from your parents and they said no, or your grandparents. I bet you wanted something so bad that your parents said no to it. Now listen, kids may not understand or agree in the moment, but it takes a parent to know what's best. Hear me, it takes a loving father. And if we know this, if we know this from like a human, earthly standpoint, then that in some way helps us to understand why sometimes our most sincere and desperate prayers are answered by God with no. Because we are His children. And He is not just our Father, He's our loving Father. For a 12-year-old, a month feels like an eternity. And us grown-ups, we just kind of chuckle at that, don't we? But hear me, for an adult, a lifetime can feel like an eternity. And God just kind of laughs at that. Because God's timeline is much grander and better than ours. If a good parent knows that we shouldn't always say yes to our kids, that helps us to know why God doesn't always say yes to everything we pray for or everything we request. But, but what if there is something that God always says yes to? Because there is something God always says yes to. And it's the promises he's made. The promises of God are things he will always say yes to. It's the better parent who keeps their promises rather than give their kids everything they're asked for. And God is a better father because he says yes to his promises, not yes to what we always ask for. Because his promises are better than our wants. Amen. And we're reminded about this in such a powerful passage that we've been kind of using as the anchor for this entire sermon series. It comes from 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Says this, for this, as surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been yes and no. Verse 19, for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaim among you, was not yes and no, but in him, it is always yes. For all the promises of God find their yes in Him. 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. All of God's promises find their yes, find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ whom we are here to celebrate today. Now listen, there are many reasons why God is great, but not least of all is because God keeps His promises. And today on this Easter Sunday we are celebrating that Jesus is alive. And because of that, we have God's yes and amen to the promise of grace. We're gonna talk about that here this morning. The promise of grace is most clearly shown in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And to see that, we're gonna see that fulfillment as it's described in the book of Romans chapter six. So if you have your Bibles, would you please go ahead and turn there now. If you are using the Bibles we provided that's on page 1199 but we'll be in Romans chapter 6 here this morning and on this Easter on this Resurrection Sunday. I want you to know that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a theological tenant of the Christian faith it's not even a deeply held belief for Christians the resurrection of Jesus Christ is first and foremost a historical event it's something that actually happened and the Bible says that this historical event makes or breaks the Christian faith. Now with as much certainty as we can have about any historical date, because the ancients kept different records and kept track of time differently, as best as we can say about any historical date, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, this historical event, in all likelihood, April 5 in the year 33 AD. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the pinnacle event of all four Gospels. It's the focus woven throughout the New Testament. Everything hinges on whether or not Jesus Christ literally, physically rose from the dead. First Corinthians chapter 15 says this, it says, if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins, meaning if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, then we have no faith and we have no hope. But if he did, then that changes everything. Every single thing. Our faith hinges upon whether or not Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And we are here to tell this most certainly happens. Because He is risen. My friends, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a guarantee that the promises of God are true and the promises of God find their fulfillment in Christ. And the resurrection is what gives our passage such hope here today. So we're going to read God's Word, Romans chapter 6. And here on this Resurrection Sunday, I would ask that you would please stand for the reading of God's Word. Would you hear God's Word, the letter to the Romans, chapter 6, verses 5 to 14. Romans 6:5-14 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self[ a ] was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free[ b ] from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. Amen, this is God's holy word. Let's pray and we'll continue. Father, we come before you, we're thankful for the opportunity to gather here in the company of saints and friends to celebrate the most important event in all of history, when your son rose from the dead, triumphing over Satan, sin, and death. We thank you for the promises that you've made in Christ, and how in Him your promises are always yes. We thank you for the promise of the Holy Spirit, and we ask, oh Holy Spirit, that you be with us here and now to receive your truth that is both timely and timeless. And we pray these things in the name of the resurrected Savior. It's in Jesus' name we pray, and everyone said amen and amen. You may have a seat. So church and friends who are gathered here, if I could give you just one idea to take home today, it would be this. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's yes and amen to the promise of grace. Yes is a statement of affirmation. Amen is a word that basically means truly. So when we say yes and amen, what we are saying is that this is both beautiful and this is true. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is God's yes and amen to the promise of grace. And so with that, let me give you an idea how the rest of the morning is going to be structured. We're gonna look at three things here this morning.We're gonna look at how the promise of grace is revealed in our resurrected life, our eternal life, and then we'll look at how it's revealed in our new life. The Promise of Grace is revealed in... Our Resurrected Life Our Eternal Life Our New Life So as we talk about grace, though, let's just take a step back and make sure that we know what we're actually talking about. And what's helpful is not just to have a definition, but maybe to hold it in contrast with some of its counterparts to find out exactly what grace is. Now, if you were here with us on Palm Sunday or Good Friday, you would have heard us begin to talk about that. But let me just quickly recap here as we look at what mercy, justice, and grace is. Now, mercy, mercy is not getting what we do deserve. "Mercy is not getting what we do deserve." Like when you are speeding and a cop pulls you over and lets you off with a warning instead of a ticket, he or she is being merciful, not giving you what you do deserve. Now this is in contrast to justice. Now let's talk about justice. Let's give it an important definition. Justice is getting what you do deserve. "Justice is getting what you do deserve." Let's put it like this. Like when you're speeding and you get pulled over and the officer actually gives you a ticket. That's justice. Justice was happening. Justice is getting what you do deserve. But grace, but grace, oh, grace. There's a reason we call it amazing grace because grace is getting what you do not deserve. "Grace is getting what you do not deserve." For instance, like. Like when you're speeding and you get pulled over and you get a ticket, rather than your insurance cost going up, they go down. That's a very crass way to understand grace, that you are getting something that you do not deserve. And when it comes to the Christian faith, what's beautiful about the Christian faith is that we see all three, mercy, justice, and grace. All of those promises find their fulfillment in Jesus. So let's look at grace as revealed in point number one. 1. The Promise of Grace is revealed in our Resurrected Life. Now there's a church in our area with a similar name to that, Resurrection Life Church. They've got a great name for a church because that is the Christian life. As Christians, we live a resurrection life. We are resurrected. When we become Christians, when we place our faith in Jesus, that means we embrace what he's done for us. This means that we go from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive in him. Go back to your passage. Keep your Bibles open here today. Romans chapter six, look at verses five, six and seven. Paul writes to the Romans and he says this, he says, for if we have been united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with Jesus in order that our body of sin, the life we live now, might be brought to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Now let me unpack this. I know that's a thick statement there. Now we often, I think when we talk in church world, we often talk about how modern day religious people can feel like the Pharisees of the Bible. Remember those Pharisees in the Bible, those religious teachers who were hypocrites, who thought they knew better than everyone else, condescending, always looked down on other people. A lot of times we say, that's how modern day religious people are. Modern day religious people are like the Pharisees. They thought they knew better than everyone else. Now, I'm gonna flip that today. I'm going to say, actually, I think the world and the culture at large, in many ways, are like the Pharisees. Hypocrites and think they know better than everyone else. Here's not for you think I'm being judgmental. Here, follow me on this. You see, what happened was Jesus told some amazing teachings. Jesus told some amazing parables that made you think so much deeper. He calls you to think deeper about these things. And when he would share these things, the Pharisees, they just couldn't get it. It just never clicked for them. They couldn't think like Jesus was teaching. Now, when you read the Bible, Jesus was always throwing people off their guard. He was always saying something and then making them think deeper about it. This is why Jesus' teaching was amazing. This is why he's the greatest teacher there ever was. He would say things like this to the Pharisees. He would say this. He would say, You are slaves to sin. And the Pharisees would be like, We're not slaves. Nobody owns us. Nobody tells us what to do. We're not slaves to anybody. And Jesus would be like, You're missing something here, guys. What I mean is that you're enslaved to sin, not because someone else tells you what to do, but because your sin tells you what to do and you obey it because it's your master. You're enslaved to sin. It's like that with this teaching here in Romans. When Paul writes to the Romans and he says that you are dead in your sin and you need to have a pulse. I enjoy my life. And like Jesus, what we have to do is we have to help them to understand what is deeper, what actually is going on here. Like, you think you're alive because you have a body and you have a pulse? Scripture tells us that your spirit is dead because you've given it to sin. And sin is like a grave. Sin is a tomb that entraps us even if we are still breathing and have a pulse. This is a hard one for people. I'm telling you now, this is a hard one for our culture because people, people love their sin. Very few people will actually put it like that. Not many people will say, yes, I love my sin. Because they don't see it. Most people won't say that though, because they don't see it like that. Rather, it's like this. What happens is, is people love their life apart from God. And they love their life where God doesn't play a role. And what this means is, to love your life apart from God more than you love your life with God. That's what we're talking about. Or to put it another way, it's like this. When we say people love their sin, here's Here's why this is so sad. Because they see God as that thing that stands in the way between where they are and the life that they love and the life that they want to enjoy. They see God as an obstacle. And in here we expose something about human nature, I'd say especially in our American culture, is that we have so confused the difference between enjoyment and fulfillment. I will tell you right now, I can personally attest to you, sin can be enjoying for a while. Sin can bring enjoyment for a while, but what you don't understand about sin is that it always takes more than it gives. And it's a poison that slowly rots us from the inside. Oh sure, it tastes sweet for a moment, but over a life it hollows us out until there's nothing left for us and we have no fulfillment. We have no fulfillments versus life in God where we have not just happiness, we get that, but we get joy. And through that we have true fulfillments because faith will always bring us more than what we give to it. That's the difference between faith and sin, but our world loves their sin. They love their life apart from God because it tastes sweet for the moment, but they don't have the eternal perspective like God does. And like God gives to his followers to see this won't last. It's only going to lead somewhere dark and I think there's something about the human nature that in our heart of hearts we actually know this. We just never will realize it because we love our sin. Sin brings enjoyment for a time but can never bring fulfillment. That's what faith in Jesus brings. That's what Christ brings us. I love what scripture says here in verse 5. It says, if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We were dead, but now we are resurrected. But listen here, we didn't just return to life. That's called resuscitation. We've been resurrected. And with that, the resurrection life that we have, the Bible says that in this resurrection life, we will no longer be enslaved to sin because the death of Jesus has freed us from that. So here's how it works. Resurrection life is not a return to a life where we just continue to sin. Resurrection life is the start of a life free from sin. That's the difference between resuscitation and resurrection. Is that people who are resuscitated, they are brought back from death, their heart may start again, but they will return to their life of sin and they will still die. But for those who have been resurrected spiritually, though we die, yet shall we live. We live forever, which leads to our second point. Our eternal life. 2. The Promise of Grace is revealed in our Eternal Life. Go to verses 8, 9, and 10 and 11. Here we go. Verse 8, Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again. Death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life he lives, he lives to God in Jesus Christ. I'm fully aware that for many people, probably many people who can hear my voice right now, this is the only Sunday you'll find yourself in church all year long. So I want you to hear something from me. Your life actually does mean something. You are not a cosmic accident. Your life has purpose, has value, it has meaning. You are created in the image of God. All of this actually means something. This is all actually going somewhere. I know the world and the world out there wants to tell us that we're just around until the eventual extinction of the human race or the eventual exhaustion of all the heat in the universe, but I'm here to tell you, history has a bookend. This is all leading somewhere, this is all leading to a grand culmination, and your life means something, and it really means something in the long run, but you need to know, you need to realize that now, that your life starts now, hear me. We have not been resuscitated to a life that will just end again. For those who believe in Jesus, we've been resurrected spiritually to a life that will never end. As we get to be with Christ and get to be with God again, to be a Christian means to have eternal life here and now. As our verse says in verse eight, as our passage says in verse eight, if we have died with Christ, we believe that we'll also live with him. We place our faith in Jesus, it's like we're crucifying our old self just as Christ was actually crucified. But as he was resurrected, our crucified self gives way to a new spiritual resurrected life that will never end. But hear me, that doesn't start when you die. It starts the moment you believe. So let me just jump to the end right now and say to you, call on the name of Jesus Christ. Find the love of God. Find salvation in Jesus' name. Be brought back into a relationship with God that brings you fulfillment that only He can bring. To be a Christian means to have eternal life here and now. Christians, in Christ we will never die. We get to be brought back to God forever. This is called grace. We don't have to face an eternal death in hell, separated from God, which our sins most certainly deserve. If you're here Good Friday, we talked about that. It's a simple equation, my friends. When we sin against an eternally holy God, the way we pay for those sins is through an eternal punishment. It's a simple equation. To sin against an eternally holy God means we pay for those sins eternally. But we don't have to because of what Christ has done. He has stood in the gap, paid the penalty for our sin, and we place our faith with Him and not only do we get eternal life, we get brought back to God. This is resurrection life. This is eternal life, which can be summed up in number three, our new life. 3. The Promise of Grace is revealed in our New Life. Since we have this resurrected and eternal life, we need to ask ourselves, how then shall we live? What's our response? What is to be a Christian life from here on out? Where our passage tells us, here's what it says, verse 12, it says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions and our past is continues. But here's what we do now. We present ourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. We live before God as people who have been saved as people who have been brought from death to life. That's how we live. Now the letter to Romans here is a saying you've been made new, so don't live like the old. You've been made new, so don't live like the world. That's the old way. We have a new way in Jesus. We need to live like people made new. Who here has ever drawn on a whiteboard, on a dry, erased whiteboard? Let me see, let me see. I don't care how old you are, it's always fun. If you ever stop into my office at some point during the week, you're gonna see, most times you're gonna see my whiteboard is covered in jots and notes, because that's how I think about sermons and writing and stuff. Every now and again my kids will come and erase something and write me a note, and I can't get mad at them for that. But here's the thing. I think when we think about salvation, I think some people conceptually think about it in terms of a whiteboard. Here 's what I mean. I think here's what many people think salvation is. That when we are born, we're born with a clean whiteboard. A clean slate. And so what happens is that we've got this red marker. And throughout our life, what happens is that every time we sin, that gets written on our whiteboard. And throughout our lives, this whiteboard becomes covered in all these red sins. And I think what people often think is that, well, salvation is like Jesus walking into the room and taking the eraser and he wipes the board clean and there it is clean and that's salvation. We get a clean slate. Let me tell you that is a very, very shallow way to understand salvation. Let me explain how, using this analogy, let me explain how this really goes. Number one, you're not born with a clean slate. All of us are born into sin. All of us are born with that red pen in our hand, ready to sin. I mean, this is why most babies' first word is no to their parents instead of yes. But let's just play it out. You got this whiteboard, and throughout your life, you're writing, you go through your life, and every time you sin, it gets written on that whiteboard. And for those who place their faith in Jesus, it's not as though Jesus walks into the room and wipes the whiteboard clean. No, no, no, no. It's like Jesus walks into that room, he takes that whiteboard off the wall, he breaks it over his knee, he chucks it out the window, he grabs your hand and he walks you outside and into the sun and he welcomes you not just as a sinless person, but as a son or daughter in the kingdom of God. Yeah, amen. Salvation is more than a clean slate. It's a new identity. Meaning the gospel doesn't through the gospel. God doesn't just see us as sinless, though he does. God doesn't just see us as righteous, though he does. God sees us as a son or daughter in his kingdom. And this is why we obey our father. Verse 14 says, sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law, but under grace. Here's what we mean. We're not under the law. We don't live trying to obey God's law to earn God's love or earn salvation. We're not under that. There are many a man with calloused hands because of a life of hard work, them trying to earn their way to heaven who are in hell right now. You are not saved by your good works. You are not saved by obeying the law. You could never obey the law perfectly enough to earn your way into heaven. We are not under the law, we are under grace. We are under the fact that God saves us though he does not have to. We are saved by grace, we are given salvation though we have not earned it. It is something we receive by placing our faith, by placing our lives in the loving trust of our faithful Savior. Knowing what He's done for us is better than what we could ever do for ourselves. Our loving Father has said yes and amen to the promise of grace, giving us what we do not deserve, and this is seen most powerfully in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The question I want to ask a couple groups of people in here, for you Christians, have you gotten off course? Have you forgotten the truths revealed to you? Have you forgotten the grace that God's extended to you? Have you gotten off course? Brother or sister, come home. Return, return to your Father. Return to your Father through faith in Jesus empowered by the Spirit. Do not delay. Do it now. But for those of you who do not have faith in Jesus, maybe you've heard this your entire life, maybe you've heard this for the very first time, my prayer for you right now is that you are open to the Spirit moving in your hearts, calling you to repent, to reject your sin and place your faith in the one who loves you infinitely more than anyone else possibly ever could. Place your faith in the one who can save you from the pit of hell. Place your faith in the one who can save you from yourself. Place your faith in Jesus. Jesus Christ gave up his life for us, taking our punishment on the cross so that we could be made new. This happened. This was fulfilled on the resurrection that happened on Sunday, April 5th, in the year 33 AD, the day that changed everything, the promise of God was made sure for all who would place their faith in God. We started the sermon by talking about how God sometimes makes us wait. God sometimes says no. But I'm telling you now, there's one thing that God is not making you wait for. There is something that God is calling you to right now, and that's salvation. He does not make you wait for that. He calls you now as your loving Father, calling you back home. So reject, repent of your sin that Christ has already paid the penalty for, and embrace the love of God that's only found in Jesus Christ. If it's time for you, Christian, to return home, if it's time for you, lost sinner, to place your faith in Jesus and be found as a son or daughter in the Kingdom of God, I'm going to tell you right now, after the service, join us in the prayer room. But even before we do that, we're going to respond through worship. And here's what I'm going to say to you. Salvation. If God's our Father and He looks upon us as children, He's going to make it as simple, as simple as for a child to understand. We simply place our faith, we place our trust, we place our life in God's hand, handing it over to Him, placing our faith in Him, in Christ, by the power of the Spirit, makes us new. And it's that simple. And that starts an eternal life, not when you die, it starts now, that we no longer live under the law, but we live under grace. And this is good news. And so, if you are a Christian who has held this belief for one day or for 80 years, as we close up today, we're going to sing an old hymn in an old way. My prayer for you, brother or sister, is that you would sing of your faith in ways that shows the rest of the world that you believe that Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. We are going to respond in prayer. If it's time for you to come home and place your faith in Jesus, we'll gather here after the service, but I think the proper, the most immediate response is to worship. Amen? Amen. So let's stand and do that now. Would you please bow your head and let's pray. Father, we come before you here and now in the presence of our church family or new friends, asking God that you, by the power and presence of your spirit, you'd speak to our hearts, calling us, reminding us of what Christ has done for us, that he has triumphed over Satan, our sin, and death itself, and extends to us new life. It's an offer of grace, giving us what we don't deserve. And so, Father, I pray, as we sing these words of this old hymn, I pray, Father, we'd sing them because they're true, because we love these words, because they mean something. And so, Father, we pray that by the power and presence of the Spirit, you'd be with us now as we sing how amazing grace is. It's in Jesus' name we pray. And everyone said, amen.

Sermon Discussion Questions 1 Title Sunday, April 14, 2024 The Church Never Preaches On... Matthew 7:1-5 Christians Judging Others 2 Overview Main Idea: Sermon Outline: 1. More than a command against passing judgment, this is a caution against self-condemnation. 2. More than a forgoing moral standard, this is a caution against self-assurance. 3. More than a protection from rebuke, this is a call for self-reflection. 3 Pre-Questions 1. How would you define "judgment?" 2. What would it look like if you were judged based on every time you've said "you should..." Would you be able to uphold your own standard? 4 Questions 1. What would you say to someone who says "You should be able to do whatever you want, as long as it doesn't hurt someone else." 2. How does Revelation 20:11–15 help us understand (eternal) judgment? Is judgment wrong? Who is the ultimate judge? 3. There are two (unhealthy) heart postures. One that is judgmental, and one that never judges. How does Matthew 7 correct both of these heart postures? 4. Read Galatians 6:1-2 & James 5:19-20. How should we judge others? PDF Download

Sermon Discussion Questions 1 Title Sunday, May 5, 2024 The Church Never Preaches On... Romans 9:1-8 Is Israel Still God's Chosen People? 2 Overview Main Idea: Sermon Outline: 1. We should have a heart for the lost (1-3) 2. We should value God's history (4-5) 3. God never fails (6-8) 3 Pre-Questions 1. When you hear the word covenant, what comes to mind? 4 Questions 1. What is the only way for the lost to be saved? 2. Why should we have people in our lives who aren’t saved? 3. How should we think about the nation of Israel? 4. Read Romans 9:11–13. How does this passage help us understand this idea better? PDF Download

Why Does Peace Church Use The ESV Translation? A Video of That's a Good Question Video Blog Jon Delger Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Church Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 2 Creating Meaningful Traditions Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Q+A Jon Delger I Didn't Know I Needed the Bible Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Session 1 Jon Delger Withstand: How The Culture War Is A Spiritual Battle Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Where Do We Go From Here? Jon Delger Coming Out of Catholicism | Q & A Kelly Needham | Women's Christmas Party People Pleasing Jon Delger Christianity and Politics: Are We a Christian Nation?