 All right. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for joining once again. Sid, can I request you to start us off with the word of prayer, please? Thank you, pastor, for the opportunity. Father, we come to the throne of grace, Lord. Thank you for this day as you have given us, Lord. As we are going to start this session, Lord, with the prayer, Lord, all the students who are there, Lord, we bless Pastor Roshan as well, Lord, as he's going to teach us, Lord, about the local church, Lord, whatever the knowledge you will be getting, it should not be wasted, but it should be implemented and used for the kingdom expansion and all glory be given to you, Lord. Lord, as we will be learning, that learning should not be wasted, Lord, not just like things kept in our mind and heart, Lord, but it should be used effectively for your purpose, Lord. All glory be given to you, Lord. And thank you for everyone who has joined in the class. We pray in the name of Jesus and say amen. Amen. Thank you, Sid. All right, let's do a quick recap of our previous class, what we covered, what we discussed, and we'll move on to chapter 3 of section 1, okay? So in the last class, we did chapter 1 and chapter 2, which is the church's spiritual and natural dimensions. We see that the church is God's idea, Jesus' idea, and we are to follow His blueprint. And the Word of God, it's all about that. It constantly guides us on how to build His church. And we started off this whole thing by looking at Matthew, chapter 16, verse 15 and 19. We started off reading from verse 13 just to understand the context, the background setting behind that verse, just so we get a better idea and understanding. And then we see that Jesus very clearly says that I will build my church. So that statement is enough for us to understand that church is God's idea. And then we as a church, we are to advance to the gates of hell because the gates of hell are not prosper. It will not prevail against us, right? Because the gates are stationary, gates don't move. But as a church, we are to advance to the gates to bring down the powers and the strongholds of hell. And we also move an authority knowing that Jesus has given us the key. We have kingdom authority vested in us. So that was another point. We saw the spiritual dimension, that church is Christ's body and He is the head. And if He is the head and we are His body and He is eternal, we as the members of His body are also eternal. So that was another aspect we saw. And the church is Christ's instrument to execute His purpose. So we read about the message as well. What is the message of the church? What are we to carry? And that's very simply is the Great Commission, isn't it? We are to preach Christ crucified. And Paul says that's what we preach. We don't need to add anything or take away anything from it. And if we as a body of Christ simply do that, we will be accomplishing what Jesus wanted us to accomplish. And that was all about chapter 2, the purpose of the local church, its mission, the message and the methods. So the mission was very clear for Matthew chapter 28, verse 18 and 20. We all know it's not a great suggestion. It's a great commission. And the message is simply preach Christ crucified. And the methods vary, but some of the key spiritual methods that we have been commanded to follow for our own good, one is pure. Being pure in everything that we do, holding ourselves highly accountable to God, be a person of integrity and character as you lead your people, as you lead your congregation and whatnot. And everything that we do, we do it in demonstration of the spirit and power. Okay, so that's pretty much what we covered in the last class. And I hope you had a chance to go back home and revise when you can. Okay, so that's chapter 2. Do you guys have any questions or any thoughts that you want to ask or share before we continue? Hi, Zalitholi. Hi, Prazi. Good to see you. Thanks for joining. Okay. Good morning to you too. Right. Let's move on. Okay, chapter 3 in your PDF, we are in page 16. In your hard copy, we have page 23. So follow along as we progress. Okay, so chapter 3, in this chapter, we're going to talk about the government and the structure of the local church, the government and the structure of local church. Are we going to talk about politics and whatnot? As soon as we mentioned the word government, well, not really. And I'm glad we're not talking about politics and whatnot. But it's a dictionary definition of government or governing. It simply is, and if you Google it, you'll find that it says that the act or process of governing, right? The act or process of governing to control and direct and the making and administration of a policy. Right? So there's a method, there's a process. So that's what we're going to talk about. How did the church mature? Or I don't necessarily like to use the word evolve. But then as they grew, what kind of administration plans and strategies did they come up with? How did they begin to govern their people that they are in charge of, that they are overseeing? And that's what this chapter is all about, right? We're going to see how the church grew in maturity and how they handled their growth. Because one of the most hardest thing to steward is growth in a very rapid succession, right? For example, if you become too famous at a very young age and if you don't know how to handle that fame, where you are setting up for failure, right? And so that's pretty similarly to, I mean, if you can handle the growth of your church, if you can handle the growth of your ministry, and if it's growing an exponential rate, I'm just talking about ministry and church, but then you can apply that for any aspect of life. You need to have a plan to how to handle growth, like have a vision and whatnot. So that's what this chapter is all about, and we're going to learn that and I'm excited about it, right? So one of the first things after Jesus is resurrected, we know that he spent solid 40 days with his disciples, right? We see that in Acts chapter 1 and 3 Luke records in his letter to his friend Theophilus. In Acts chapter 1 verse 3, it says, Jesus spoke with his disciples about things pertaining to the kingdom of God. In the Gospels, we see that he constantly spoke about the kingdom of God, and then we see that he very specifically, in Acts chapter 1 verse 3, it says that he spoke to them. Some translation says that he taught them about the kingdom of God. Now, in Matthew chapter 28, we see that he gave the disciples the Great Commission and whatnot, and then here we see that he spoke about the kingdom of God before his ascension and whatnot. The things don't get very specific. Now, in that 40 days time, we don't read about any strategies that he gave his disciples. Okay, so this is the plan A, guys. If plan A doesn't work, this is the plan B. If this method doesn't work, I use this method because I'm a wise person, blah, blah, blah, and whatnot. The insurance company will cover you just in case if this fails. Now, we don't see all that happening. He did not speak to them at that time about strategies or how they were going to carry out the Great Commission. Okay, this is how you're to carry out the Great Commission in Judea, Jerusalem, Samaria, and beyond. Nothing about it. But then the only thing that he did mention is don't go anywhere until you are filled with the Holy Spirit. And so that's what happens on the day of Pentecost. They are filled with the Holy Spirit. And then we know the rest is history. About 120 people gathered together in the upper room. They were waiting on God to show up and God shows up. He came like a rushing wind. I love those choice of words in a certain translation. He came like a rushing wind. When do you see a rush? Black Friday sale or Amazon Prime Day sale or rush hour traffic. When people are in a hurry to get to a place or to get something what they want pretty fast. That's when they are in a hurry or in a rush. And then when I read that word that Holy Spirit came like a rushing wind. Something tells me that he wanted to be there more than they wanted him. Obviously he wanted to be there because Jesus tells that he's going to come. So on a side note, so our approach therefore is to understand what the New Testament presents for the functioning of the local church. And then use God given wisdom to define a government and structure that best implements what a New Testament presents. So that's the idea behind this whole thing. We see how the church once again grew in maturity and how they handle it. So page 16, if you're still there, the first local church, the first century church as we say. We see that 120 people gathered. Pentecost happens around 30 AD. So on the day of Pentecost about 120 people and we see that 12 apostles of Lamb as their leaders. So what is the meaning of apostle? Someone who is sent. Someone who is sent, sent out, sent forth. Thanks, Chibi. I guess it's too early in the morning for questions. So they're set apart and sent out or sent forth on a certain mission like an emissary or an advocate. But we have to remember that 1st century Christians or Jews, Jesus even, they were all living during the time of a Roman Empire. Romans were ruling that region. So apostle is a Roman word. So what used to happen is that after a Roman Empire, militarily has conquered a certain region, a geographical region. After they won militarily, then they would send a fleet of ships to that region that they've conquered. And the lead ship of the fleet of ships, the lead ship was called the apostle. The sole reason, the sole purpose of that people coming in that apostle ship is to make the region. Let's say for example, the Romans capture the captain Jerusalem or whatnot. So now the fleet of ship comes. The whole purpose of the advocate on that ship apostle is to change the environment and the atmosphere of that city into that of a Roman environment or an atmosphere or culture. So they would change the geographical setting completely to that of a Rome, how Rome would look like the culture of Rome. So when Caesar came to a certain city that they have conquered militarily, Caesar would feel at home. Right, you guys with me? So now the 1st century church apostles, as we speak, they thought, okay, the idea behind this was something must have stood out for them. Okay. If this is the purpose of that ship or the people from that ship apostle, what they're thinking, okay, we are to go into all these cities, regions, change the culture to that of heaven. Okay. So that when God moves, okay, so that God would feel at home when he moves. Okay. So he can come and show up. So that's basically the idea behind the apostles, the word apostle. Right. Okay. Now we see that Peter was the first initial leader and then, you know, Peter gives his famous sermon, 3000 people are saved and whatnot. So everybody is looking up to Peter. He's the man, he's the boss, like you the man, you the dude, you the boss, everything. Right. But then he was like, okay, so I can't be here. Now I have to, you know, move on, you know, take care of missions and he starts going to different cities and whatnot. And then now later, we see that James sticks over the leadership of the Jerusalem church because Peter moves on. Right. And we see that in Acts chapter 15 around it's again mentioned in your notes case, Acts chapter 15. At the first council in Jerusalem, we see apostle Paul, apostle James as a primary leader. Okay. And we also see that Paul, apostle Paul refers, referring to James as a primary leader in his epistle to Galatians, Church of Galatia and chapter two verse nine. So, so something is happening now. Right. Something is happening, isn't it? After the after the movement. So there's the birth of the church of people filled with the Holy Spirit. They're looking to a leader and then the leader moves on and then now they, the new leaders appointed James. And then that leads to a different, it gives birth to a different set of leaders which are known who are later known as deacons. Right. Deacons, emergence of deacons. Here's what happens. Okay. So the notes are subsequent to the 12 apostles who were in leadership at the inception of the Jerusalem church. Okay. So there were 12 apostles, the founding fathers, members of the church of Jerusalem. So to say the first role we see emerging is that of deacons. Now we see that deacon is comes from the Greek word diaconos, which simply means helper, servant, attendant. I think somewhere in this day and age, some, the meaning has changed. Deacon means entitled and stuff like that. But the original meaning is helper, servant, attendant. Right. Comes from a Greek word. But let's look at the verse that's mentioned there going back up in Acts chapter six. Verse one to six. Acts chapter six was one to six. It says, now in those days, when the number of disciples was multiplying, that means they were growing. There arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists Gentiles. Right. Because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Now they were distributing food and whatnot. Just you can read the previous chapters as well just to get the context where we are not going to do that now. So what is this pause here? Okay. What was the push for the birth of deacons at which at that time was not yet mentioned was a feedback. We all love a good feedback, isn't it? We do that all the time here at least at ABC after a major event as involved in youth ministry. After every major youth meeting or a youth conference or a youth camp especially, we send out a feedback form and we get a bunch of feedbacks saying there was not enough food for vegetarians. There was no water in this. The rooms were too hot. We needed AC and yada, yada, yada, all the stuff like that. Okay. Yay, feedback. So the disciples received a feedback. No complaint that, hey, I think a certain sector of people are being neglected. That means it's not intentionally but then administratively something was not happening because the focus was somewhere else. So that's what it says was to then the 12 summoned the multitude of the disciples, multitude of disciples. That means they've grown exponentially now and said it is not desirable that we should leave the Word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out among you seven men of good reputation full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom whom we may appoint over this business. Okay. So what is that business? None of your business. No. What is the business? Wait over the tables. Right. Wait over people. Wait on them. You know, just so you serve them food and whatnot. But verse four, but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the Word and the same pleased the whole multitude. And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas, a proselyte from Antioch, whom they said before the Apostles. And when they had prayed, they laid hands on them. Right. I mean, it's amazing. It's wonderful to see how with so much reverence, they approached, which can look like a mundane thing to do, right? Like a regular routine kind of thing. Okay. You have to wait on the tables. You have to just distribute food. That's going to be a role. And they prayed about that. Okay. What, what I would do and what I've done is basically is like, okay, I think so in this, you know, I'm talking about youth camp. And that's how we plan. Hey, can you, can you take care of the food department? That means just make sure the food is on time. You know, all this, all there's enough plates and whatnot. I didn't pray. He said, okay, let me just pray. Okay. John Paul is going to lead the food department and somebody else. I mean, Anita, maybe take care of all the, all the ladies in their rooms and whatnot. But then it's so wonderful to see they approached this thing with so much of reverence and honor, even for such a routine kind of thing that looks like it. And the, and the criteria that they set was they had to be men with good report. Like honest, honest report, like good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit, full of wisdom took responsibility for and who take responsibility to whatever they have been given. Right. It's amazing, isn't it? A good reputation. Yeah, sure. I can find people, but you know, full of the Holy Spirit, the emphasis on that and full of wisdom is something that stood out to me. Right. So, and that's the initial birth of what we now call as what, which later grows into becoming as known as deacons. Right. Simply means once again, a helper, a servant or an attendant. Right. A helper, servant or an attendant. I was just reminded of this verse. It's kind of random in Genesis chapter two, I think was 18 when God says it's not good for man to be alone. Then I will create for him a help meet opposite him. That's what he says. Right. I will create for him and help meet an old translations use that modern translations use different words, but then I was like, wow, you know. So just because they are serving tables or whatever it is, they are, they're not lesser in any way, so to speak. Right. And it's not like, okay, I'm in charge of preaching and teaching and whatnot. And you are down here cleaning the tables, distributing food, etc. And whatnot. But there was so much of respect and honor amongst themselves that they'd treated each other equals. Right. So while we know that these seven men were not called deacons at this point in act six, we recognize that the role they played eventually came to be called deacons. Okay. So we see that in Romans chapter 16 verse one and two Romans chapter 16 verse one and two, this is addressing and saying that it's not just men who are called to serve or to be called to be deacons and whatnot. We see the women are also women are also involved in ministry back in the days of the Bible and they are to as well. Right. It says, I commend to you Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Sancreia that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of saints and assist her in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed she has been a helper of many and of myself also. Okay. More about it. Let's look at the next verse of Philippians chapter one verse one. Paul and Timothy bond servants of Jesus Christ to all the saints of Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with bishops and deacons. Okay. Paul greets the believers in Philippi. So he's addressing the leadership team there as well as bishops and deacons. We learn more about bishops in as we move further up in the chapter. Okay. Good. But are you all with me? You're following? Yes. No. Maybe or am I just ramming my name away? Okay. Okay. Cool. Yeah. Two of them said yes. Two or three are gathered. That works for me. Okay. Thanks. All right. First Timothy chapter three was 18 to 13. It says likewise deacons must be reverent, not double tongued, not given too much wine, not greedy for money. Holding the mystery of the faith with the pure conscience. But let these also first be tested. Then let them serve as deacons. Okay. Let them serve as deacons. Being found blameless. Likewise their wives must be reverent, not slanderous, temperate, faithful in all things. Let deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well. Okay. So going back to the houses, for those who have served well as deacons, obtain for themselves a good standing and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus. Okay. So basically the standards that expected of a deacon of a church was high. The standards are such of purity, holiness, integrity and character. Everything that we speak of now and everything that is expected of any church leader or any Christian now was that, right? The standards were really high. So, but the next section is very simple and interesting. It goes on to say that the deacons were not just involved in administrative functions of a church, right? Just making sure all the numbers are right. All the name list is right. Making sure that you're calling all the first time visitors. You know, they've been called. Making sure that they've been followed up with, et cetera, et cetera. It's not that, but they're also encouraged to be engaged in spiritual ministry. We all know the story of Stephen, you know, how he was involved. He was filled with Holy Spirit and how he went about ministering in different synagogues and also Philip, right? Who was called later to go and minister to the eunuch, right? We see that and he was called to go after the chariot and whatnot. So, the deacons were also encouraged to engage in spiritual ministry as well. So, you see, to slow things down, okay? Jesus gives a great commission. 120 of them meet in the upper room. They wait for the day of Pentecost. Holy Spirit comes, but prior to that Jesus is teaching them about the kingdom. The day of Pentecost, they're filled with the Holy Spirit. The new church is born, 3,000 members are added to it. 3,000 people, guys. I mean, just pastoring 50 people can be quite a task, okay? Can I hear a name? Okay, but 3,000 people, that's quite a number, but all of them had to be equipped. They had to be discipled, right? They had to be empowered. They had to be taught about, more about the word of God and whatnot. So, for all of that, they needed an administrative team. When Peter moves on, James becomes the leader, and then we see deacons being formed. One feedback is the beginning of the birth of deacons working together as a team, right? And then in this section, we see that they're basically called to serve. That's what it is, right? They're called to help administratively, but they don't, doesn't mean that they stop at that. They're encouraged to engage in spiritual ministry. And because of that, new churches are being raised, right? So, as we progress in the book of Acts, we see the increased persecution in Jerusalem, which causes believers to scatter out of the city, right? So, we know what happens, right? The persecution increases. And the one who is in charge of the persecution is Paul, also known as Saul, right? Was in charge of the persecution. And because of the persecution, as a result, people start to scatter. The Jews, the Christians start to scatter. And as a result of that scattering, if I may say, new churches are being formed. In Acts chapter 8, 3280, Philip, a deacon was used by God to preach the gospel with signs and wonders and to plant a local church in Samaria. Philip, from serving the tables, distributing food as a deacon, as a helper, is now planted a local church in Samaria, right? Churches were raised up in other regions, such as Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Lida, or Lida, whatever you want to call it. A local church is raised up in Antioch, in Saida. Antioch is modern-day south-central Turkey, by the way. It's not complicated. You just put Antioch in Google, it'll tell you what is modern-day Antioch. Old-central Turkey. So it's what it is, right? So all these new local churches were planted by ordinary believers. We see just people who were distributing food and just being faithful in the little things that they were called to do. Now we see these people are planting churches across cities that is just mentioned, right? And from deacons, the next emergence of leaders as we see is we see the birth of elders, right? The emergence of elders. So in Acts chapter 11, it's about approximately 46 A.D. 46 years after death, right? We see the leaders at Jerusalem referred to as elders. So in Acts chapter 11 verse 30 to be more specific, it says, this they also did and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. As I always say, guys, I would encourage you to read the whole chapter for you to understand the context, right? So we can read one verse, it's fine, we get the text. But for you to understand the context, you have to read the entire chapter before and after. So it's always good, okay? So they also did verse 30 and sent it out to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. So the elders included not only the apostles, but other spiritual leaders like Barnabas and prophets like Agabus. Acts chapter 70, 11 was 27 and 28. Now, it's suddenly, it's not just one person. Now it's becoming like a council of people, right? Like a group of people who are being known as elders. Okay. In Acts chapter 14 verse 21 to 23. It says, during the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas returned to the communities of new believers in various places where those churches were being formed and appoint elders. Now we see Paul and Barnabas in action. They are teaming up in their missionary journey and they're going to this new communities, new churches that's being planted across cities. They're going there with one purpose is to appoint elders. Okay. Let's read that chapter, Acts 14, 21, 23. It says, and when they had preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned to Listra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith and saying, we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. And so when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Okay. So the progression doesn't change at all, right? Everywhere they went, you see, it starts off with preaching the gospel. When they had preached the gospel, after they had preached the gospel, they go into the more administrative kind of work, right? Okay. They preached the gospel, they made disciples. That's one thing. They were equipping and empowering them in the word of God. They're encouraging them that it's all about the kingdom of God. They taught them about the kingdom of God. Now, we can't be with you forever. We can't be with you in one place for a long time. And so we are going to appoint elders, you know, who will take care of you guys when we are not there, whether we are gone and whatnot. So, and they're going to be there to take care of the local church, right? So appoint elders. Now, yes, it's good. Did I see your hands raised? Do you have a question? Did you just slip over the button and press the raise hand thing accidentally? Sorry, pastor. Okay, no worries. So, where do we stop? Okay, appoint leaders, right? Sorry, appoint elders. So, appointing is just a process of what we say, what we use the word ordained for, right? Now we use the word, okay, you know, he's ordained as a pastor in this church. He was ordained as a pastor in so-and-so church. He was ordained by so-and-so-and-so-and-so-and-so, right? So that's basically the word used there for appointing elders as well. That means elders were ordained, right? It simply again means to elect, to appoint or to designate to an office, right? That they are in charge of. So, once again, you see that the appointing of elders was done with prayer and fasting, right? And the spiritual exercise then just, you know, okay, who wants to be elders now? It's just, you know, you can come and be an elder and whatnot. But another interesting thing is the word elder comes from the Greek word presbyteros. Presbyteros, as you can see it in the notes. It's from that word we get one of the denominations called Presbyterian, right? It simply means a spiritual leader, right? For example, it says here the word elder comes from the Greek word presbyteros, from which we get the word presbyter, which is used in some churches these days, as we know it. In its original sense, the presbyter refers to a spiritual leader and can be used for anyone in spiritual leadership. Okay, so anyone in spiritual leadership can be considered as a presbyter. That's just a Greek word, right? Who's been appointed or ordained as a leader or as an elder, so to speak. Okay, so apostles and elders, the call to be, work together as one leadership team, right? So we see that later in the first council at Jerusalem, we see the apostles along with elders at Jerusalem deliberating over a problem of whether the gentile believer had to be circumcised as per the law of Moses. Now once again, so it is another challenge or another feedback or another misunderstanding or what do I say, not misunderstanding or another, not misunderstanding, discussion or what, I'm not getting the word. That brings these two groups together to function together as one council. And the challenge that they had at that time was the disciples of apostles, the Peter and whatnot, they were preaching that, okay, hey, if you're a gentile and if you're going to believe in Jesus, you need to be circumcised. And then we know the story of Paul is not for it saying, okay, we're not going to go discuss about that guys, right? So misconceptions, no, disagreements, I think. Yeah, okay, let's say disagreements. So they were disagreeing on a certain doctrinal things. And so they thought, okay, the best way to bring this to the score is to let's have a discussion. Let's come together. So the apostles and elders came together to discuss this serious matter, indicating that these new leaders were recognized and respected of their leadership. Okay, so whoever were appointed as elders and leaders, they were brought together in what we can call it as a council of the church leadership, just to discuss about this thing. It's wonderful, isn't it? Because they recognized that, okay, hey, this is an issue, you know, this is a disagreement. And it's not, it does not just come down to one person. Just because Peter was there when the first church was born, just because he preached and 3,000 people were born, born again, doesn't mean that he gets to say whatever he wants to say. Let's have a discussion, let's talk it out, okay? And they're acknowledging each other's leadership authority, which was given to them. And they discussed about it, right? So that's one of the, I think that them functioning as a team is, this is fantastic to see in early churches, right? Elders at Ephesus, more elders, right? Later in Acts chapter 20, the apostle Paul calls for the elders from Ephesus to meet with him at Miletus, where Paul had stopped while on his way to Jerusalem. Paul recounts his two years of ministry at Ephesus and gives his final words to these leaders, right? So in Acts chapter 20 verse 17 and verse 28, it says, From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. Therefore, verse 28 says, Take heed to yourselves and all the flock among with which Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Okay, now we see a very interesting word there, a new word, a new word as in word called overseer. Okay, so apostle, deacons, elders, and now overseer is a Greek word translated as bishop. Okay, Greek translated as bishop. The word bishop, the word elder, presbyter, overseer are used interchangeably now. Okay, an overseer of a congregation. Now it just simply means, a bishop simply means a pastor as well, right? A pastor is an overseer of the church, isn't it? So a pastor is a spiritual leader of a church, right? A pastor is also the elder of a church, et cetera, et cetera. So the terms are used interchangeably here. Okay, so that's what Acts chapter 20 verse 28, it's talking about, you know, that when Paul was telling them, therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, okay, flock, that word, when do you use? That means, in other words, he's saying you are the shepherd. Take care of your flock. A pastor is a shepherd of a church, right? Among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, right? To shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Notice the beautiful words there, the progression of it to shepherd the church. Peter, church of Apostle James. No, it's the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. Okay, it's complementing to the initial passage that we read. The church is God's idea. Jesus says, I will build my church, right? So that's wonderful to see there. But as a conclusion of that section, right? As just a role of, what was the role of this elder or presbyter or bishop or an overseer? It had three things. It had spiritual maturity. They had to show spiritual maturity, set a godly example of the Christian life, display, demonstrate spiritual ministry, labor in word and doctrine, spiritual oversight, God the sheep, okay? Those were the three important things. That was the role of this elder is once again spiritual maturity, spiritual ministry and spiritual oversight. So I'm going to pause there and just reflect on some of the things that we've learned. And I want to remind us that this subject is for everybody. It's not just for those who are called to become pastors or those who are already pastoring. And it's for everybody when I say if you're called for children's ministry, worship ministry, youth ministry, whichever ministry, we are the body of Christ. We are the church of the living God, right? We are to reflect on this and just pause and say, hey, if I'm called to serve the church of God, these are my roles as well. It's not just the role of my senior pastor. It's not just the role of my worship pastor, et cetera. But it is also my duty, my responsibility to set the spiritual maturity standard and spiritual ministry and also to care for my flock, to care for my fellow church members and whatnot. It's not just a responsibility of a team in the church, right? So let's pause there. We'll take a 10 minutes break and I'll see you all after the break. Have a good one.