 All right, everyone. Welcome once again. Good morning to you all. I trust everybody's doing awesome, had a lovely, lovely break. So welcome to the course, PC203, the local church. Before we get started, why don't we just start off with a word of prayer, shall we? Yeah, let's pray. Father, we look to you. We come to you. We bow down before you. We honor you. We thank you for this privilege, this opportunity that we gather together in your name to learn about you, Father, even as we learn about the local church. Father, I pray that you will continue to pour out your wisdom, your knowledge, your understanding, your revelation, so that we would understand this subject better. After all, the church is your idea. So Holy Spirit, you lead us, you guide us, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, guys, you guys are ready. I hope you were able to download the PDF, the course notes. For this course, we will be referring to one of the APC publications, The House of God. Excuse me. The House of God. So just very quickly, we'll go through the contents of what we will be doing. In section one, we'll go through origins and purpose. In this section, we look all about the origins of the church, the idea behind the church, the importance of the church and the role of the church. And then we move on to the second section, section two, God's blueprint. What is his idea? What does he think about the church and how it should be? And the third section is about divine order, the church discipline. This is where we get a little bit more practical as well. And then in section four and section five, we will not be doing all the chapters in section four and section five, because some of the chapters in section four and section five will be covered in your third year class, BC 310, that is church and ministry administration and urban church planting. So some of those chapters will be covered in your final semester. So let's begin. So what is your idea or your understanding of the church? Give me all the right answers. The church is the House of God. Okay, end of course. You all have passed the course successfully. Good one, Isaac. Thank you. The church is the body of Christ. Okay, okay. The church is me and you. All right. Nice. Go ahead. Church is where we gather to worship God, hear the word. All right. That's awesome. Thank you. Keep it going, guys. The church is people of God. Guide me to worship God. Okay, yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? Muzalatoli, good to see you, Leah. Yes, I can say again the church is where the body of believers congregate to hear the word of God and them to hear the word of God and them to relate with God. Right. Awesome, guys. Well, thank you, everyone, for sharing. Like I said, all of you shared all the right answers. Which makes the subject pretty easy, I guess, and also hopefully interesting. Yeah, it's everything that what you guys have shared. But then we also see that this course is all about understanding God's idea of the church, right? And so we'll try and follow what is his blueprint. Again, we all know what a blueprint is, isn't it? The architects will have a better understanding of it when they are trying to build a project or whatnot. They will first plan it, sketch it, design it, and they will have a blueprint to how this building should look like, etc. Everything will be planned out. The entrance, the exit, the rooms, the hallways, the dining area, and whatnot. So you get the blueprint and then you actually get into the work based on the blueprint. You keep looking at the blueprint if the measurements are right, if everything is accurate in everything that you are doing or building. So the builders, the construction workers, the engineers, civil engineers, they keep referring to what we know as the blueprint. It's a manual. Pretty much like what God gave Moses, isn't it? When Moses was, we'd go for 40 days and 40 nights in Mount Sinai. It is there where he gets the instruction to how to build the tabernacle. So God gives Moses the blueprint. So he brings that blueprint and then he gives it to the people. He says, okay, we are to build a tabernacle. It's supposed to be this, you know, the centimeter long at this height, everything, including the details of the color. Okay, we need to have these colors. These doors has to be made in this. These altars has to be covered in gold. The nail should go this deep. Everything, isn't it guys? So and then they get into the work. Right? So without the blueprint, what are you going to build? You know, another example, classic example, again, we all know of all this is Noah's Ark, right? God telling Noah, okay, this Ark's got to be this long, this height. It's supposed to have these many stages or whatnot, right? If we've got head, okay, Noah, go build an Ark. Right? I need more than that, Lord. Everything, when you read that story with this details, it's so beautiful, isn't it? About the tabernacle of Moses, be it about the Ark, you know, it has to be covered with pitch inside and out. The details are amazing. And so then we pause. And then we've come so far in our day and age, where we can have our own ideas of the church. Oh, this is how a church should look like. This is what it's supposed to do. And then we ignore the blueprint that was given to us by God. And then we have the tendency or the audacity to go ahead and just do what we want to do, isn't it? If every church on earth followed God's blueprint, I'm sure the earth would have been evangelized by now, right? Everyone on the planet earth, all the 7 billion people will be Christians. Yes, okay, we'll get to that later. But that's what it is, I think. And this is my humble opinion, I think somewhere along the way, it is possible that we've lost sight of God's heart, his blueprint, his desire, his vision for his church. And that's what this course is all about. It's not, we're not going to talk about a bunch of methods or techniques. We'll talk about a certain methods, but it's everything based on the word of God, okay? But a little later on in the chapter, I will make this point, but I'll say it now anyways, that over the centuries that has passed by, that has gone by, we've seen the methods have changed or evolved, right? Anything that's related with us as Christians, right? But the principle remains the same, okay? So we'll talk about all of that as we progress. So this is the heart behind the subject, is that we would understand and capture the heart of God for his church, because it's his desire, it's his idea. Are you guys with me so far? Yep, yes, no, maybe. Hope everybody had your morning coffee or tea, green tea, whatever. Okay, fantastic. Okay, so we'll go in your notes, we'll go to page three, the first chapter titled The Church. It's spiritual and natural dimensions, okay? Remember, this is section one, and it's partly labeled the origins and purpose, okay? So that's what this chapters are going to focus on, okay? The origins and its purpose, that's section one. And so it starts off by saying, I will build my church, right? I will build my church. Let's go to Matthew chapter 16, although I know the notes, it gives us a scripture. Let's do a little bit of hard work, open our Bibles. Okay, go to Matthew chapter 16. Hey, Sid, good to see you. Hello, Pastor. Okay, so assuming that we've all come to Matthew chapter 16, let's read from verse 13, although the notes says from 16, sorry, 15, we'll read from verse 13, okay? Can someone read for us, please? Matthew chapter 16, verse 13 to 19. Matthew chapter 13. Yeah, go ahead, Rosamund. Matthew chapter 16, verse 13 onwards. Therefore, I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand, and in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive for the hearts of the people. Rosamund, sorry to interrupt. We are in Matthew chapter 16, not 13, sorry. It's Matthew chapter 16, verse 13 onwards, 13 to 19. Sorry, Pastor. No problem. When Jesus came into the region of this area of Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, who do men say that I, the son of man, am? So they said, some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. It's just 16, Pastor. Yeah. Go on till 19, Rosamund. Jesus answered and said to them, blessed are you, Simon Barjana, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock, I will build my church and the gates of haze shall not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven. Amen. Thank you, Rosalind. Okay. So I love this particular passage. It's beyond crucial, beyond important. We should highlight it with multiple colors and keep it in your Bible, because it's very important, right? One of the reasons why I asked for us to read from verse 13 is because it says that when Jesus came into the region of Caesarea, Philippi, every time or anytime in the Bible, a geographical location is mentioned. It's very important for us to understand its context of the passage that we are reading. We need to ask, why is that place mentioned? Because the Bible is filled with stories, it is not everywhere that not all the geographical locations are mentioned, right? You guys just hold on a second. Are you able to hear me? Well, okay. Yes. Okay. Just give me one moment. I saw things. It doesn't seem right. Okay, just hold on this. All the G's. Right. Am I still on? Okay. All right. Okay. Sorry. So yeah, it starts off by saying they were in the region of Caesarea, Philippi. Okay. So let me just quickly share a tab of the map of this place. Where are you? Tab. All right. Here we are. Great. Is this visible? Can everybody see? Yes. Cool. Okay. So this is the map of Israel, the ancient Israel, as you can see. Okay. You see where the Sea of Galilee is. You see where Nazareth is. Okay. And then you see all the way up here in the north is Caesarea, Philippi. Okay. Caesarea, Philippi. Now, this region was a big no-no for the Jews. It was a strictly prohibited area for the Jews to go that side. Now, it was one of the areas even before the time of Jesus. It was a very popular route for international trade between Mesopotamia and Egypt and whatnot. Okay. And also, why was it a big no-no for the Jews? And why is Jesus there? What makes this whole passage amazing? All right. So they are in Caesarea, Philippi. Now, it was ruled during the time of Herod. Herod built our three temples in honor of Caesar. That's Caesarea is Caesar, okay, for Caesar Augustus of that period. And then Philip was one of his sons. So he had multiple sons. So there was another temple in Samaria. So Caesarea is another temple. It was given to another as one of his sons. But Caesarea, Philippi, that's where it is way up in the north. It was a big no-no because you see there's another name called Banias there. Banias right above Caesarea, Philippi. Okay. It's in that very region. Everything ungodly, everything unrighteous, right, you know, and everything evil, everything demonic would take place, would practice. Now, so there was a temple built for the Roman and a Greek god called Pan, P-A-N. Okay. And the ancient name was Panias, P-A-N-I-A-S. And then later the word evolved and it became Banias. Okay. Now there it was in that region. And this, by the way, is just below Mount Hermon, right? You can see, right, in the map. Yes, guys. Right. So Mount Hermon is one of the tallest and the highest peak. Not one of it. It is the highest peak in Israel, right. And it's snow capped through the year. Okay. Not just during the winter. It's snow capped through the year. So it was pretty high. And you know what happens when a mountain is full with snow during the summer. I mean, there's always spring waters that come down. So that region was very famous for fertility and whatnot. So people there would worship this god and everything evil would happen there. Like animal sacrifice, bestiality, children's sacrifice, idolatry, etc., etc. Okay. And then there was this, there is this huge cave kind of a looking thing. Okay. A deep cave that is again filled with water. What they would, what people they would do is they would sacrifice animals, goats, even children. You know, what they would do is kill the animal and they will throw it into the cave that is filled with water. And their idea was if the body just goes down animal or whatever it goes down. That means their sacrifice accepted. If the body comes up in the water, that means God and is not happy with the sacrifice all that, all these beliefs, right? And people there in that region believe that cave was the gate to the underworld, which means that was known as the gate of Hades, gates to, you know, the underworld, hell or whatever. You get the idea now. So people, Jesus have taken his disciples and disciples must be wondering is like, why is he taking, doesn't he know that we are not supposed to come here as Jews? Because it was prohibited, right? And the things that used to happen there will make Sodom and Gomorrah look like it's little brother. Okay. So that's how bad the situation was. It is in that point where the caves and the rocks are filled with idols and all these evil practices. And there Jesus asks, okay, who do you say I am? And then we see from verse 15 in your notes, right? He said to them, but who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered and said, you are the Christ, comma, the son of the living God, full stop. Jesus answered and said to him, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. Okay. Flesh and blood has not revealed, okay, underline that reveal, revelation, unveiling. Okay. And I also say to you that you are Peter, comma, and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades. You see that shall not prevail against this. And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind or not could be bound in heaven, whatever you lose on earth could be loosed in heaven. So, and here one of the interesting things is saying, you see all of this behind you guys, you see these idols, you see these false gods, you see all this evil thing that is happening, but very soon you're going to see that I am going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail. He's setting a proper context there for the text. So Jesus said, I will build my church. I will build my church. So that means the church is his. The denominations are man-made, okay, but the church is God's idea. It is his, it belongs to him. And then he says, the gates of hell shall not prevail, right? So in the olden days, no, okay, in the olden days and now gates, it's, it's like what used to happen, we have like the panchayat system, right in India, panchayats. So where all these leaders of the village gather together and make decisions and whatnot. So it's very similar to the ancient times at the gates, there would be, you know, the leaders of the city who would gather together and make decisions, give justice or whatever. So the gates were strong points of a city, very important, very, very important, right? It was, it gives access to the entire city. But nevertheless, gates are stationary, right? It doesn't move. When Jesus says, the gates of hell shall not prevail. Jesus is also suggesting that the church that he is going to build is going to be built on the revelation of that he is the Son of God and that the church is going to advance to the gates. We as a church are to advance. What happened here in this setting? Jesus went to this gate, isn't it? The gates didn't come here. The gates of Hades as what they call it in the people in Caesarea Philippi. It didn't come to Jesus. Jesus took his disciples and he went to that region, isn't it? And so what Jesus is saying is that the church that he is building will destroy the powers of darkness. Now the gates of hell, right? The gates of Hades will not prevail. That means when you destroy the gates of hell, everything that the hell is known for, the demonic kingdom is known for, will not prosper. And then he says in verse 19, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and in Revelation 118 we see that Jesus telling that the keys of the kingdom of heaven has been given to him, all authority. And then he goes on to say that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you lose on earth will be lost in heaven. And we as the church of God, we've been given this power and authority. One of my favorite scriptures in the recent past is in the book of Acts chapter 9, I guess, 9 I think, when Jesus tells Ananias to go and meet Paul. And Ananias is very scared. He's like, why should I go and meet Paul? He's killed your people. He's like, no, he is a chosen vessel. I have chosen him to carry my name. I have chosen him to carry my name, right? When you think about all the brands of this world, Isara or whatever, Reebok, Nike, Adidas, Ferrari, Lamborghini, think of, what is this? Milton, Flask, whatever, right? Every product, every brand of this on this planet wants you to carry their name, right? That's why the sportsmen, all these athletes have these deal with these sports brands like Nike and Reebok. Okay, I want to buy Nike t-shirt. Why? Because Roger Federer also wears an Nike t-shirt, et cetera, et cetera, right? But when we realize that we've been given, you know, we've been asked and he's given us his name and then we carry his name and we begin to function very differently as his church, right? So far, so the church is his idea. It's his desire. It's his plan and church was built by Jesus himself, right? And we are asked, we are commanded to advance and destroy the works of hell because the gates of hell shall not prevail. And we've also been given the keys of authority, the keys of the kingdom, right? So let's slow things down a little bit. And are you guys with me so far? Yes, I guess it feels like I'm just going on and on. Are you with me? Hey, very quickly, what is the, what do you say for church in Hindi? Kalishya. Okay, well then my Hindi is not bad. But okay, so again, I think in a way we can say that, hey, we get this word, this Hindi word Kalishya from the Greek word ecclesia. You can see it in the notes, page four, that simply means ecclesia, right? That's the Greek name for church. It simply means called out, okay, called out or calling. We are called out. We, in other words, we are set apart, right? Just like how the people of Israel were called out of Egypt, right? They were not set free from their slavery, just for the sake of being free. They were made free from slavery unto God, right? In Exodus chapter 19, we read that the, you know, God is saying, out of all the nations of the earth, although the whole earth is mine, I have chosen you to be my treasured possession, a holy nation. You see what I'm saying? Okay, the church, we as a church, we were dead in sin, efficiency chapter two, right? We were in darkness. Now he's brought us to eat his eternal light, right? So we were slaves to sin and death, but he's redeemed us. He's purchased us. He's ransomed us, and now we are in his life. We are called out. We as a church, we are called out to be set apart, right? So there are a few definitions there in your notes, the textbook page four, it says, we called a people who respond to a heavenly call, called out a people who have come out of the world, people who go together, not as individuals, called out to gather for a definite purpose, a people with heavenly purpose. Okay, so we are not called out for the sake of being called out. We are called out unto him for his purpose, for his very divine call. We are set apart, right? Though we are in this world, we are not off this world. Okay, so now that a little bit of a foundation is set, now that we understand that the church is his idea, and we are to follow the blueprint that God has given to us, and the significance of Jesus saying, I will build my church in the region where he says that is super significant. And having understood all of that, we'll just go a little deeper and into the dimensions of the church. Okay, there are two key dimensions. One is the spiritual dimension, and the other is the natural dimension. Okay, so we look at the spiritual dimension of the church. Like most of you all said, the church is the body of Christ, right? It's the house of God, everything. So the note says, there are several things that the scriptures reveal about the church. We consider a few aspects, and one of them is the church is Christ's body. Colossians chapter 1 verse 18 and 24 says the same very quickly. Let me read it for you guys. Colossians 1 verse 18 and 24, I'm just reading it from your notes. It says, And he is the head of the body, the church who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence. Verse 24, I now rejoice in my sufferings for you and fill up in my flesh what is lacking the affliction of Christ for the sake of his body, which is the church. It's powerful, isn't it? So the spiritual dimension of it is that the church is his body. That means when we say yes to God, when we say yes to Jesus, when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior, what happens? Salvation there. And that means we are being part of his body, right? Every member, every individual, right? There's so many things we get baptized into his church through by the Holy Spirit. When someone receives us, they receive Jesus. When someone hears us, they hear him. If they reject us, they reject him. All the scripture references are given in the notes, right? And again, one of my favorite things is from chapter 9. When someone does us harm, they are harming Christ. Acts chapter 9 verse 5, a famous incident when Jesus shows up and counters Paul. What is the first thing that he asks? He is persecuting the church. Jesus shows up and says, why are you persecuting me, isn't it? So we as a church are his body, right? We've been baptized. Baptized is immersion. That means and also means that we've been brought in to his family, right? We look a little bit in the Great Commission as we progress as well. Okay. So the church is the body of Christ and because Christ is the head and he is eternal, the church is also eternal, right? The church is not a temporary arrangement, but an eternal, handy work of God, right? John chapter 3 verse 16, whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life or everlasting life. When we say yes to Jesus, one, we become part of his body as a church and because he is eternal, the church, we, the church are also eternal, right? And we've already gone through the section in the previous section that church is Christ's instrument to execute his purpose. We are to advance against the gates of hell because we've been at the kingdom authority and power has been vested on us. The keys has been given to us, right? Then let's move on. Every believer is a member of Christ's body individually as well. 1 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 27. Now you are the body of Christ and members individually. Okay. So every member is part of the body of Christ. And so that's the spiritual dimension of to the church. And the next section is the natural dimensions of the church. Okay. So here, just before we continue, just to draw a distinction between the spiritual dimension and the natural dimension. The spirituals are the intangibles, the things that we cannot see. When we say we are part of his church, we are part of his body, the other intangibles, right? The things that we cannot see, but we believe by faith. And then the natural dimensions are the things that we see, the tangibles. Okay. The things that we can explain or quantify. And yeah. Okay. So let's read 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 14 and 15. 1 Timothy chapter 3 verse 14 and 15. It says, these things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, but if I'm delayed, I write so that you may know that you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of truth. Okay. So the context again, very briefly is that his mentee, Timothy, Paul is writing to his mentee, Timothy, who is heading the church in Ephesus. That's where he is. And so Paul is writing to him and saying, okay, hey, you better watch yourself, you know, how you behave, how you carry yourself around, you conduct yourself well in the house of God. Look at the words that he's using, which is the church of the living God, right? So the local church is the natural expression of the spiritual church. It's a natural, it's a physical expression of the spiritual church. The local church is called the house of God, the household of faith, right? We become like a family. That's what you call the household, isn't it? In Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19, it says, now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. It's a very important chapter, Ephesians chapter 2, isn't it? It talks about our redemption through Jesus Christ, how he is our righteousness, how he has saved us and ransomed and redeemed us from darkness into light. And because Jesus has done that, Ephesians 2 19 says, therefore, right? And I say this all the time, right? Anytime there's therefore, you need to ask, why is it therefore? And so the previous verses will give us the context. And then it says, you are no longer strangers because of what Jesus has done on the cross, because he died and rose again, because he shed his blood for us, because we are redeemed and purchased and brought by his blood. We are no longer strangers or foreigners. We are the citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. So we are the physical and the natural expression of the spiritual church. I hope you guys are with me. We are in page 7. We've already expressed that the local church is a physical expression of the spiritual body of Christ in a certain geographical area. Okay, so when he sees that there's there's a church in in Bangalore, in Kothanur area, or in Africa, Nigeria. What he sees, he does not see the denomination. He doesn't see that it's a Methodist or Lutheran or an AG or Pentecostal or CPM, APC. He sees it as the physical expression of his church for that area. And then he expects that his church of that area to advance and to advance against the kingdom of darkness and win that city, win that area for him. Okay, and then finally, I want to just close with this very, I think, important question. Why should you be part of a local church? Should you be part of a local church? I'm talking about the natural dimension, the physical expression of the spiritual church. It's not a big question. Can I say something? Yeah, sure. Yes, I think we should be part of the local church because that's already established is the expression and the purpose and the intent of God through Christ. So we should be part of the local church so that we can carry on the purpose of God in establishing the church. Thank you. Thanks Isaac. Very interesting that you mentioned that so we can carry on the purpose of God. I think we'll touch on that in just the next section. But yeah, go ahead. Somebody else was saying something. It is also a command that we get from God that we should never stop gathering. Yeah, so we should be part of the church in order to fulfill a command that was given to us. Thank you pastor. So but here's another question to all of us and it's a kind of rather genuine question. Why wouldn't people want to be part of a local church? Why wouldn't people want to be part of a physical expression which is the local church? Have you come across people who don't want to be part of the church? Yes, pastor. I can say something about that. Yes. Go ahead. Yeah. Basically, people don't want to be, most times, people don't want to be part of the local church because of the personal character of the pastor. The way pastor conducts himself or how he conducts himself in the area. So people will always choose that, no, I cannot be part of that church. So the best way since we are attending a Bible college, we should also mind that church is church but we should also mind about our personal character, our personal conduct in the community so that we don't hurt people away from church. Thank you pastor. Thanks, Levega. Yeah, when a leader is not a leader of character, that's one of the reasons. Yeah, thank you. And what else, guys? Come on, just talk to me, put it in the chat section. Why wouldn't people want to be part of the local church? Yeah, go ahead. So pastor, according to my opinion, why people wouldn't be liking to be a part of the church? The thing is that whenever a new believer, suppose we come from a different background, when a new believer is going to the church simultaneously, what will happen? He's coming from a new belief. We like for Christianity for him or her Christianity is new. Similarly, at that time, there will be a lot of restriction posted to that guy or girl. This thing is not to be done. These things are not to be done. You should not sit with that. These are the things we don't know in Christianity. So sometimes there are some restrictions, which are like the thing is that they feel, they might feel like we were there in that religion, that was more good than this. And sometimes what happened, the thing is that people are coming in Christianity, thinking that their griefs should be taken away. But sometimes when the pastor is preaching in the church, the things come in the mind. You have to take your own cross. You have to take your burden. You have, and sometimes the verses are being preached in the church, like the father, father against son, mother against daughter. So sometimes this kind of a teaching when it is posted in the church, like it's been taught, people will think we were happy there. So these are some of the points according to me, which like, if a person is listening, he would say like, I was happy not coming to the church. Thanks, Sid, for that very honest opinion, it was wonderful. What is it? Are there more reasons according to you? I think one of the things is there's a lot of divisions within the church. So people don't want to be there. Like they get different looks, beard looks sometimes. So they just don't want to be there. I have one of my relatives and they have some other silly reason. We are the church. Why should we need a church? So they have a small gathering within themselves and they say, I'm not a part of any church. I don't go to church. Even the nightclothes theology, they were like, are you going to build a church? Don't do that. That's not right. Like we are the church. Why we need a church? Why we need a physical building? I think we're having a little bit of an interesting, I think, just extend the break time just a little bit. Is that okay? So we'll just continue. Rosalind, sorry, you were saying something. Yes. I feel that maybe people don't want to be under subjection of the pastor under the leadership or someone like, to wherein they have to report to somebody. And I have not come across such people, but then just a thought, maybe for this reason. Sometimes they feel that this pastor is asking, right, he's interested in our money. Yeah, thanks Rosalind. Yeah, again, very valid. Thank you. Maybe Zillotoli says, maybe they may be hurt by their leadership. Yeah, past experience, abuse. Yeah, bad experience from church. Yeah, some people say God is omnipresent. He's everywhere, so you don't need to go to church. Even in your house, God is there, so they prefer to pray from their houses. Thank you. Yeah, thanks Paul. Thank you. Yeah, well, I think when we ask this question, why should you be part of a local church? It's also very valid to ask why someone wouldn't want to be part of the local church. It's very important, I guess. Because like I said, if the church, the physical expression of the church on earth was according to God's blueprint, like I said, all the seven billion old people would be Christians. The Great Commission would be done in dusted types, isn't it? But yeah, I mean, we understand the importance of it. But there are some scriptures that I absolutely love, and one of the scriptures is at the very end. Psalm 92 was 13. Psalm 92 was 13. It says, those who are planted in the house of God shall flourish in the courts of our God. Those who are planted in the house of God shall flourish in the courts of our God. And I just want to close with this example. I normally don't like to give examples or saying that, okay, the church is like this and the church is like that, especially it's not online. But then this I thought, okay, it made a little bit of sense. So I'm just sharing it as a thought. I heard someone say that the church is like Noah's Ark. Noah's Ark was filled with all kinds of animals, right? Noah's Ark was not a seven-star cruise liner from England to New York. Absolute five-star hotel, fancy clean bedsheets and courts, fresh mineral water to drink, right? Noah's Ark was not like that. It was filled with animals, all kinds of animals. And with all kinds of animal comes with all kinds of smells and their dunks and whatnot. But it was still the safest place on earth, isn't it? But so when you walk into a church, physical expression of a church, you're not going to find perfect people. But then churches, we come to that point to say, if a church is God's idea, then we keep that as our core and we see how we can go about living life, right? So I'll stop the recording here for this session.