 This is going to be a great sister-to-sister show. Here's a question we have. Does it matter what kind of friends you have? What about this friend? How do we listen to God? Oh, he's my friend. You're my friend. Oh, you're my friend. And you too, stay tuned. Hello and welcome to Sister to Sister. I am so glad you're with us today. We are five opinionated women of God and we bring it. You're gonna hear it in one second. But first, I want to welcome Angela Madden today. Angela is a host on CTV's Hope Today and you're in Flo's seat. It's a hot seat, just so you know. Well, I'm gonna start right out with these questions that you send us. And we try with everything we have to answer you. You wrote, why does it matter if Christians go to church? Can't you just watch at home? Be at home, Corey. Well, first of all, you can be a Christian anywhere, okay? Yes, yes. I can be a Christian in a box. I can be a Christian with a fox. I can be a Christian here or there. I can be a Christian anywhere. That's true, that's true. Okay, so let's get to the meat of the question which is really, do I need to go to church? Why does it matter? And it does matter. It matters to the heart of God. I mean, God really commands us to go to church to be part of a local body, to be part of that fellowship. And really, what it comes down to is you're missing out. When you're not part of a local church, you're missing out on the blessing of the fellowship with other people of the ministry of serving. There's a blessing in that and you miss out on that. And I think a lot of people, they put too much on themselves. They put this list of demands on themselves. And I get it, Sunday mornings are hard, especially when you have little ones and you put this list on yourselves. There's a lot of fighting and arguing that happens on Sundays. But you feel like, oh, I have to dress up. I have to get my life together. I have to do this, that, and the other thing. It's like, just get rid of that list. Just come to church. Hospitals are for the sick. You don't have to clean up your mess. You don't have to clean up your life. Just come. Come as you are. Well now, both of you are pastors. So what do you say to the people? Yeah, I mean, I think that, like scripture says, it's for the edifying, the building up of the bride, of the body, you know? So when you come, you bring your gift and it builds me up. I come and I bring my gift and it builds you up. I think we've gotten into this mindset here, especially within the American culture, that I go and I hear from a pastor and that's all I'm going to church for. But that's not it. That's part of it, that I may grow and be challenged in my faith. But the larger piece of it is that I'm going and Holy Spirit in you is conveying truth that you've walked in and that he's revealed to you that are now coming into me and building me up. And vice versa. Edifying each other, Amy. Well, I think this is a really important question, especially after COVID, after shutdowns, after stay at home, all of a sudden it's super comfortable. And statistics show that online school does not work, that kids are failing. And so why do we think being just an online Christian is going to win? And I'm not talking about unusual circumstances and nursing homes and physical issues, but I'm talking just a casual attitude to showing up, to be a part of the body. A body is, I mean, we're a body. Things are functioning. I can't have a disconnected arm that's in another room and show up here. You're part of a body, there's a connection there. So we were just in Israel and we were in the city of Capernaum, which would have been Jesus's home base for his ministry. Can you imagine? We're looking at the Sea of Galilee and we're in Peter's house and it's so cool where Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law, which isn't that a miracle? Like, their mother-in-law. The only recorded time Jesus heals a mother-in-law. But you just walk right around the corner to the synagogue. So like, if we don't need to be at a church, if we don't need to be in an extra building, if we don't need to be in a synagogue, why did Jesus go? Why did Jesus do it? Why did our apostles and the founders of the Acts Church, why did they have to leave home and go to that location where they could be the Ecclesia, the called out governing body of Christ? That's good. So I think about Acts, you know, accountability, care, teaching, and service. You don't get that on your own by yourself. You've got to be a part of a body. Come on, let's come on. Do you have a scripture for me? Wow, they are good. I was looking for the chapter and verse because you might ask me, you know, David was all screwed up about something or whoever wrote this saw him and go look it up. Why are the heathen being blessed? Why are evil men prospering? And then the scripture says, but then I entered your sanctuary. God transforms your mind when he is present. And what does it say? He inhabits the praises of his people. Now God is omnipresent. He is everywhere. He is when you're in your prayer closet. He is when you're fasting. He is when you're doing something individual. But when the corporate group gets together and worships him, he inhabits, he dwells there. He performs miracles. He does things that are fantastic and he can renew your mind. You got to look up that scripture because it says, but when I entered your sanctuary, I was transformed. I know your steadfast love will endure forever. I won't be screwed up about how I think about the world or myself. I think we answered that question. I hope you got our message loud and clear. We don't want to make anyone feel guilty or put any condemnation on any of you that like to watch church online. We're grateful that you do that, but we hope that you understood the passion that we brought to that question just for you. And here's another question just for you. Similar, what does it mean to serve others? Similar, Amy. So I just watched the Jesus Revolution movie, which everybody has to see if you haven't. Second time to see it. And I love the picture that they gave of the church, right? The people were like, eh, we don't like the hippies and we're too good for them and they're messing up the carpet. Their dirty feet come in the church and mess up the carpet. I mean, if you can imagine, right? And the pastor said, you know what? How about I just serve them and washes their feet before they walk in the door of the church? I'm thinking that's exactly what we should be doing as a people. You come as you are, like you just said. And you basically, we're gonna love you right where you're at. And if you're in need, we're gonna help you. We're here to serve you. How can I serve? You're gonna have to give. You're gonna have to be generous. You're gonna have to be selfless. You're gonna have to not think about others other than just yourself. So there's some things you're gonna have to do but if we're not serving, I don't know how we're really showing the gospel. It's so good. It has to cost something. Like I think sometimes we're like, oh yeah, I can do that. But it has to cost something, you know? There has to be a cost to it. That's true ministry and service. And you know what? The irony of it is that you receive more than you give. The blessing is so much greater and that's not why we do it. But it's just like, oh, here's the bonus, you know? I mean, I was so blessed to have parents that were such a great example. They served and they still do in their retirement. They're still serving, but they served my whole life from his early memory that I have. My parents were servants. They just gave and gave. And it just, there was never a question. It was, there was never a question. That's just part of your life as a Christian of growing in fellowship with others and with the Lord you serve. Yeah, yeah, that's good. What do you have? Well, scripture does say if you want to be great in God's kingdom, you have to be a servant of all. And you know, it doesn't just mean, well, Amy brought up a good point, meet them at their need. Not what you like to do. Sometimes we like to do certain things. Who would like to wash somebody else's feet? This pastor that she's talking about met them at their need. And I grew up during the Jesus revolution. I was saved in 72. It was awesome. And you know, revival is returning. And the thing was though, that they were servants. They were serving God. And you know, I just love when Jesus was on the cross and he said, John, behold your mother. He took care of his mother when he was dying and suffering on the cross, beaten, you know, blood dripping and everything that was going on in his life. He said, behold your mother. He even took care of people dying on the cross as he was taking care of our sin. Wow. Well, I'm gonna go to this next question because I'm coming to you on this. It's a good one too. It's similar to the serving and everything we're talking about. Does your choice of friends, Angela, matter to your faith? Absolutely. One, two, three, four, five. That's exactly right. I am glad I am in some good company here today. But it matters because it's gonna focus your perspective and how you see things like King Solomon says as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So if I'm engaging with you and you're constantly reminding me of the goodness of God and keeping my gaze on eternal things, then my mind and my heart is gonna be set as such and just like even Amy's story about the pastor and the hippies coming in and if we're not with the right people, we can look like the Pharisees or those church folks who are saying, what about you? You don't belong here. And that can be how we show up, which is completely contrary to Christ. Or we can be friends with that pastor, how he shows up in the world and says, let's serve, let's wash those feet. And as he does, I see it and it causes me to say, I need to be more like that. That's where I see Jesus. Let me engage that space better. But I do think it's important to be outside your box of the church, outside your Bible study, outside your life group, outside your groups and be with people who don't know him. I think that's really important too. But the negativity that can come from that has to be tempered by the word of God. You have to be steady and strong. I think, for sure. Anybody friends, when you've got. Well, Jesus had friends that were sinners. Yes, right. But what did he do? He followed Psalm one. Psalm one says, you don't sit in the seat of the scornful. You don't walk with a sinner. He didn't do the things they did, but he could still sit with him and proclaim his light. So I think we can, we are in the world to be a light. And as Amy said before, about salt and being flavorful. You know, the scripture is such a balance. It says bad company, Paul says bad company corrupts good morals. But then he says, I am all things to all men that I might win some. To the weak I have become weak to the poor. I have become poor. He had suffered those things. He understood what they were going through. So the scripture says, you were once one of them. Understand where you used to be so that you can reach those that need to come where I am. But I like, Angela's, I like that. I would rather be with my Jesus people. I would rather be lifted up and edified. But sometimes I'm not. And sometimes I'm with people. It could be work situations and they're not like me. Well, I think about Daniel and Babylon. Like Daniel was surrounded by all these young men. But his closest friends, those that he was advised by and it was Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And when it came down to it, when they were given these decrees that they were supposed to eat this meat and they were supposed to do these things that according to the Lord's, they weren't gonna do. They stood firm because he had these close friendships. Daniel didn't say, I'm not gonna spend time with any of these other young men. He was still surrounded by all of them. He was still kind to them. He was still, he still had relationships with all of those people. But his closest friends that he got his advice and his wisdom from, they were the godly men and they helped each other. They stood firm, arm in arm together. And then when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were in the fiery furnace, they stood together and they with the Lord's power, they stood together. I'm thinking of the people listening to us. Amy, what can you say to them? Well, we're to go into all the world and depreciate. I mean, to go into all the world and to have a relationship with somebody to win them to cry. So there's a friendship there, some camaraderie. But Jesus also modeled the one, the three, the 12, the 120 and the multitude. So, and you're talking about those inner circles that have full access to your life where their values are your values. Their thoughts are your thoughts. Like we're in the same lane because their viewpoint and their worldview affects your worldview. So our scripture as iron sharpens iron, right? So one friend or sister sharpens another. So I looked that up in different translations. So the second part of the verse says, friends keep each other sharp. They influence one another through discussion. We learn from each other. We sharpen the mind of each other. We sharpen the face, the wits, the countenance. We improve each other. We sharpen the character. Steel, sharpen steel. We bring out worthy purpose. Isn't that good? And we have discussions that are stimulating. Yes! Does everybody always agree with you? Yes! Now listen, if you've watched sister to sister, you know. We don't all agree. And it's intense. And sometimes I need an Advil afterward. And that's OK. It makes each other better. It sharpens our wits. Do you have friends that aren't in the Christian world? I do. I love them. I have some Jewish friends. And I just, I love them. Absolutely. Well, we hope that these answered your questions from our hearts. Stay right there. We'll be right back. MUSIC Welcome back to the table. We're still talking away as you went to get your coffee. That's all right. This question is so good that I'm going to get right to Roxy and my scripture girl. Roxy, you sent it. How do you listen to God in prayer? OK, I think this is a very individual thing. OK. And I'm going to say what happens with me. There is no question in my life that God speaks to me through His word, the Bible. There have been so many times, even when I just open it up or somebody says a word and I go look it up, oh, that's me. Last week, I forgot to, I didn't order my schedule properly and I missed a big event. And I'm like, and God says, number our days that we may present a heart of wisdom. We still make mistakes. He exalts His word above His name, Psalm 138. Heaven and earth will pass away, but His word will last forever. And the other thing I have to say about hearing God in prayer is worship. That's right. There are times when you can't read. You can't talk. There was one time when I couldn't even sing. And then Don Moe and Song came on. You, God, will be my song. And that's from the Psalms. So the Lord's word is transformative. It's powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword. The Bible says dividing between the bone and the marrow, getting to the root of the problem. That's right. How do you hear from God in prayer, Angela? I go to the Bible because His word, He'll never contradict. And I start there and invite Him in to that space. Psalms 4610 says, be still and know. So quiet. Yes, that I am God. And so, and it's not like a lazy or a sleeping stillness. It's an active stillness, but it is sitting in His presence with His word, Him who is the word, and allowing Him to speak truth to my heart that it sets me free and transforms my life. I like it. Pastor Amy, you can't listen to God in prayer if you're doing all the talking. First of all, I mean, there is a stillness and a quietness that you need to shut it up and listen to Him. He knows more than you need. He's trying to show you, but you won't quit talking. But there's a scripture that I learned in Bible school that has helped me so much. I thought maybe it would help with this. And Proverbs 20, 27, the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord searching all of the inward parts of the belly. So you might hear like, I had this gut feeling. I had this, and that is the Holy spirit enlightening something, shedding light on, because His spirit, right, lives in us, Christ in us, the hope of glory. And He wants to show us all things. So you've got to listen, be led by peace. You'll know if it's God, there's a peace behind it. I find one thing that's really interesting. I want to seek His face more than seek what He can do for me. And that's a big one for me. And I'm going to change to joy. Cory, you're just my joy girl. What brings you joy, Ms. Cory? I'm going to answer that question, but I just want to say one more thing about the prayer. I do think the healthier your prayer life, the more clearly you hear the Lord. I think sometimes we're like, we haven't had any prayer life at all. And then we're like, okay, God, I'm ready to hear you. And it's like, you haven't even been communicating at all. So I just wanted to say that. Well, no, that's really good because we didn't touch on that. Yeah, so I just wanted to say that real quick. Thank you. What brings me joy is immediately the thing I heard, the verse I thought of immediately, and my mother-in-law had painted this on my kids' toy box, is third John 1.4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. That's great. So you're children being with God. Yeah, absolutely. That's no greater joy. It's in the word and it is true. Well, you have a lot of children. Do you feel that way? Yes, I do. Five children. And they walk in with the Lord in various ways and so on. And they do bring me such utter joy. I can't even explain it. But I want to say this about something because I went back until we're talking about the Jesus revolution and all that. And during that time, you know, the scripture says, I think it's in Luke that the angels rejoice when one sinner repents. Well, I was kind of a new Christian and I was an intern at a particular place. I don't want to say it was a hospital administration. And a person came to me and said, you know, what's going on with you? I want to know. And slowly and gradually, God threw the Holy Spirit and threw my life letter to the Lord. Wow. Distraught, verge of divorce. So many things confused about who she was and who God was. I had such utter joy, not that I was the conduit. Because you could see the Holy, when we witness to somebody, and I challenge people out there, if you just speak the word to somebody that they need to hear, it's going to bring you so much joy. If you are in sadness, if you are in turmoil, if you are in trouble, go speak to somebody else and bring them life. And it took me back to that time where I had so much joy that her life, now she didn't transform everything in a day, but gradually God worked in her life to set her free. Oh my gosh, that's good. Girls, brings you joy. Spending time with the Lord, my family, my church, the goodness of God, long walks, iced tea, rich friendships, and my sisters. Aww. I like that little list. Angela, what do you have? What brings you joy? Spending time with my family, really. Like that is my happy place. Seeing my girls alive in Christ and just being with them and watching them to develop into who they are. How old are your girls? So 10 and seven. 10 and seven, that's good. That's good, so all of us have our family at the top of our list. Joy, joy, joy. I love it. You know what brings me joy? Well, don't laugh. Well, watching the chosen and how Jesus shows up. Like everything's going bad and the apostles are all freaking out. You have to watch it. The chosen, it's an app. But then Jesus shows up and I see his face and it brings me such joy. It brings peace and peace for me is joy. We'll be right back. We're gonna wrap this thing up. Today's closing scripture is founded Galatians chapter five verses 22 through 25. And it is this, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the spirit, let's follow the spirit as well. You know, Christians face a critical challenge. Not only must we profess our faith, we must possess its virtues. Natural fruit, resisting infestation, grows with sunlight, water, cultivation and care. Spiritual fruit, resisting sin, grows with the light of God's Son and the water of His Word in our lives. And as we talked about the fellowship with one another, being in prayer, being in relationship with Him and with His Son. So by God's mercy, let's resist sin, resist the temptation, resist those things that take you away from God's love and God's family and allow the Holy Spirit and the love of Jesus to cultivate the virtues in your life, those virtues, those fruits of the spirit so that you may become the person God has purposed in your life. Wow, I would say preach it sister. That was really good. See, this is why I love being on this show, Sister to Sister, because I learn from the Word of God, but I learn from these girls. If you need help, there is a number at the bottom of the screen, 24-7. And we end with this scripture, as iron sharpens iron, so does the countenance of a man or a woman sharpen each other. We'll see you next time.