 that in the month of September are one of our locations. The central location is starting the in-person services and then in October the other locations will be starting off. So after having been at home and worshipping online, rarely looking forward to that. So it's good, all good. Yes, yes Aran. Yes, good morning, good morning Kiran. So we will pray and get started. And if you have a group for your class, it will be nice if you can just put a reminder message. I think some of our friends are not yet here. So hopefully they too will join quickly. So let's pray and we will begin. Aran, can you lead us in prayer today? Are you comfortable to pray Aran? Okay. Oh her mic is not working. Okay, sorry about that. Okay. How about Kiran? Kiran, can you please lead us in prayer? Yes, ma'am sir. Thank you. Father God, we just come to you for once again your throne. Father God, thank you for everything. Father God, thank you. One new day, Father God, thank you. Thank you, Father God. In upcoming time I am just submitting to your hand, Father God. It is blessed to Nancy, Mary, blessed to each and every student, Father God, and those who are student willing to join, Father God, help them to join our classes, Father God. And more revelation, Father God, and give your wisdom, knowledge, and understanding that we can understand our subject, Father God. And use your kingdom, Father God. Thank you for everything. Thank you, Father God. Almighty, precious Jesus, name be praised. Amen. Amen, amen. Thank you. Thank you, Kiran, for leading in prayer. So we are studying from the book of Acts. And in the last class we saw how Stephen stands before the council and he defends himself. And despite such a good defense, the very accusation against him that he was not honoring the holy place or the temple, that he was not honoring Moses. You know, all those claims that people had against him, that he was going to demolish with his explanation, but still the people were so enraged and angry with him. Excuse me. That, you know, they went ahead and they killed him. So it was really heartbreaking to see how the, you know, how he became a martyr and the pain that Stephen endured. We saw that, you know, at the time when Stephen was about to give up his life, he saw Jesus standing in appreciation of his dedication and devotion to Christ. And, you know, Jesus was really welcoming him with honor into heaven. And, you know, what a beautiful, beautiful way, right? For a martyr to be accepted in heaven. So that was comforting. You know, even though we saw that he was stoned and so brutally murdered and for being an innocent person. Okay. That really breaks our heart. But the Lord Jesus showed his compassion from heaven and appreciated Stephen. We saw that and we also saw, you know, how the fruit of the spirit, after all this was, you could say he was not really one of the apostles or one of the great leaders in the early church. But though he was by now only like a volunteer, you see him only as a volunteer who was selected to serve food by the early church, but even a volunteer, right? The kind of maturity that he had developed in God, the way he was moving, we read that he was moving in powerful signs and wonders. Okay. So a man of good report, a man who was moving in the power of God and also a man with the fruit of the spirit. Come with me. You know, how many of us as believers will have the heart to say, you know, God, please don't hold whatever they are doing to me. Don't hold it against them. So unless you have the fruit of the spirit, right? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, love, self-control. The fruit of the spirit in the life of a believer, not necessarily a leader. In the early church, it really shows us how people were maturing in the Lord and how they loved the Lord even unto death. And Stephen is a martyr. Stephen is a martyr who gave up his life with such a kind heart. He trusted God even towards the end and he was willing to forgive the people who murdered him. So when we look at all these things, it really moves us and it really helps us to see how the Holy Spirit was working in the lives of people, you know, in the early church. Now we will continue from there. So we've completed, we've looked at the life of Stephen and, you know, something like this can shake the church up. Okay. To have somebody who is such a good and a wonderful part of our church. Now that person was killed through mobs. And, you know, that can bring a lot of fear. What will happen to the church? Will they continue to hold on to God's word? Will they continue to preach the gospel? What will happen to that acts one night that Jesus said, now you go into all the world and preach the gospel? Will they stop because of something so, you know, something so terrible that has happened to the body? But if we notice that the believers don't stop, they continue to take the gospel out. You know, different ones of them in their own capacities, they serve the Lord. And that's the beauty of the work of the spirit in the life of the believer. Okay. And, you know, we see throughout now, even now after Stephen died, that didn't stop the believers and, you know, they were passionate about the kingdom of God. So, Acts chapter 8, we will move on to the next chapter here. It's hard to move on because we've just had, you know, such a wonderful man of God being killed, you know, in this kind of, like a painful, heartless way. And it's really hard to move on and talk about other things. But we see that God's work did not stop, right? Even after martyrdom of his beloved children. Now, from verse 1 of Acts chapter 8, we see that Saul, okay? Saul of Tharsis, remember? Stephen was presenting the word of God to different people from different synagogues. Okay, why is men educated men from different synagogues? And he would try to convince them and have disputes with them. And Sicilia, we saw the term Sicilia there. So, obviously, you know, that's a notable place because Saul of Tharsis comes from that region. And rightly so, Acts chapter 8, you know, you have Saul. His name also is mentioned. And you see that he was consenting to his death. Now, when you look at that word consenting, if you look it up in the Greek word, we are told that the actual Greek word, that is not just to say yes, but with approval, you know, very happily and in a way that it pleases you. You know, you're saying yes, go for it, do it, okay? So, he was passionately saying yes to the death of Stephen. So, you can imagine the condition of Saul's heart at this point. He was passionately against the Church of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And what kind of works was Saul of Tharsis involved in? We are told that there was a great persecution that happened and it affected people in the Church of Jerusalem and these people were scattered. They were scattered throughout the region of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles. So, the believers got scattered. The believers got scattered, but the apostles remained. Now, some of the other passages about Paul that you read in the book of Philippians, chapter 3 and verse 6, you know, Paul writes about his way of persecuting those who believed in Jesus and he says that with zeal, with zeal he persecuted, okay? And he was very, very proud of his association, you know, with the Pharisees and you know, you read, he describes himself in many places as, you know, he was a Pharisee of Pharisees and he was living for the right thing. So, he was taught, he was just being true to that teaching and he thought that this new teaching about Jesus is going to corrupt the law and that is why as an act of righteousness, you know, he was passionately against the Church and at that time a great persecution arose, okay? Now, what will happen if there is persecution and believers can no longer gather in that same place? Here, we are told that they got scattered. So, what do we expect? You know, we might expect that believers are very scared now, they may want to forget about church and not continue in the faith, but that's not what happens in the book of Acts. In fact, you find that the believers take that passionate devotion for Christ wherever they go, okay? So, believers got scattered and they took the gospel with them and we will see, we will see how this affects other regions, okay? As we go along. Now, continuing in chapter 8, verse 2 also says, and devout men carried Stephen to his burial and made great lamentation over him. So, in among the Jews, you had, excuse me, people like Saul who were passionately against Stephen, but you also had people who were devoted to God, okay? And who could see right from wrong. So, there were some Jews who understood that what was going on was not correct. Now, these were the people who helped with the burial of Stephen. Remember, he was just thrown, he was dragged outside the city and he was stoned. So, his body would have been lying there without anyone to claim it, but there were some good people who actually helped with the burial and it says they made great lamentation. Now, in those times, there was also that culture of crying and grieving over somebody who died. These good people knew that they must give Stephen that honour and they did it. Now, we continue to see the manner in which Saul is persecuting the church. So, in verse 3, Saul says, we see that Saul made havoc of the church. When you say that made havoc, it's like creating fear, creating chaos, creating a lot of confusion. So, very proactively, Saul of Tarsus was trying to damage the church in every way possible. So, read about him. He was entering every house. That is to show that he didn't want to spare anybody. So, he was entering every house bragging of men and women, it says. So, in the times of the early church, if men were the ones who were persecuted, that is understandable. But, if a persecutor was happy to persecute women also, it really shows his extent of passion and zeal for his own law and against the teachings of Jesus. So, Saul of Tarsus, it's painting a picture for us. This is the man that we are going to see, give his life to Christ a little later on. In fact, in the very next chapter, but this is how he is right now. He is angry. He is creating havoc. He is consenting with approval with great happiness to the persecution of the believers. And he drags people out and we are told that he was committing them to the prison. So, he really wanted to trouble those who were believers. And it says, therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. So, when these kind of things are happening for their own safety, the believers must have left Jerusalem. The apostles stayed on and that we see, but believers went off to a safer place. But you notice, they went off and they didn't keep quiet. We are told that they were preaching the word everywhere they went. So, in one sense, we can see that the people had a genuine conversion. They were genuinely filled with the Holy Spirit and they were genuinely passionate about the gospel. Now, the apostles didn't have to tell them five steps for evangelism. You talk about Jesus, you pray, you bring them to church, nothing. They got scattered. It's a very fearful time. They've run away, but even though they have run away, it says wherever they went, they knew about Christ. They knew Christ so well that they could not stop but share this truth with others. So, it is said sometimes that these, if you want to call them missionaries or you want to call the believers as preachers, they were not in the ministry because they intended to be in the ministry, so to speak. But some people have said that they became accidental preachers. So, they went off to a new place and now you don't have your pastor with you, you don't have your apostle Peter and apostle John with you. But people need to know about Jesus. So, what did these believers do? They said, okay, fine, let us only share about Jesus and they would have gone ahead and preached and people heard the gospel. So, this is the way the gospel spread outside of Jerusalem. So, Acts 1-8 is happening even though there is persecution. Remember, Gamaliel, what he said when he was talking to the council, he said, look, if this is a work of God, we cannot stop it. And in the introduction of the book of Acts, I told you, imagine something like a forest fire and that is what is happening even when the people try to put a lid on it. And how hard did the authorities try to stop the spread of the gospel? You saw Saul of Tarsus. It's quite bad because he's dragging people, putting them in the prison, every house it says, even the women. So, in a very, very serious way, brutal way, they were being harmed and yet the gospel did not stop. So, is it a work of God or is it not a work of God? Again, it's very obvious that this is the work of God and the gospel is being taken to other regions. So, the way Jesus said, Jerusalem, Judea Samaria, now Judea Samaria is happening. And then the ends of the earth, but the movement to the ends of the earth has started. Okay, now we will read about one more volunteer whom we met in the chapter 6 when they needed seven men. So, Philip is another volunteer in the church and we'll see how he is ministering after this persecution and fleeing away from the church. So, we are told here that Philip, he went down to the city of Samaria. Now, what was special about Samaria? You know, the Samaritans, they were not, they were sort of a mix, some mix of the Jewish culture and some other culture. So, they were not, if you want to term it as the pure breed they say of Jews, Hebrews, they were not like that. So, they had a little bit of a mixture happening in their blood. So, they were Jews also, but they had some other culture mixed up. So, the actual Jews did not like the Samaritans and they in fact looked down on the Samaritans. And yet, you know Philip, as a believer, he doesn't stop himself from ministering the word to a different culture. And in this case, a culture of people who were considered lower than the culture from which Philip came. So, he went to Samaria and it says beautifully, he preached Christ to them. And what was the result of the preaching of Philip? Multitudes with one accord, he did the things spoken by Philip. So, the way Peter stood up and preached, people responded. Now, a volunteer, church, he's just a church volunteer. Okay, but these are all spiritual men. It's not about their position in the church, but you see how strong their relationship with God is. Okay, so that is what is important. And we can see that Philip had a strong relationship with God and how he went ahead and preached and people actually responded to the gospel. And you see that there were miracles that Philip also did. So, they were in no way, God was not limiting himself to be seen only through the ministry of the apostles. God was seen very much in the ministry of the believers and the volunteers of the church also. So, today that's a big lesson for us, isn't it? That we too can, all believers in our church can be like a Stephen. They can be like a Philip. Okay, and God can work through everybody. Now, while Philip was ministering, you also noticed that unclean spirits crying with a loud voice, came out of many who were possessed and many who were paralyzed and lame were healed. And there was great joy in that city. So, what kind of ministry is Philip engaging in? You know, it is the way Jesus ministered preaching, teaching, healing. So, speaking the gospel and demonstrating the power of the kingdom of God. So, he engaged in both ways and whenever the gospel is brought to a place, what happens? You see that at the bottom of verse 8, it says, and there was great joy in that city. So, when God, his love, the news that salvation has been already bought for us on the cross and you know, his power is released in the lives of the people. We receive joy. Okay, so the people receive joy. That land receives joy and that is what ministry should do. So, notice here, the gospel is traveling. It already happened in Jerusalem. People responded. It has gone to Samaria now and it is blessing the land of Samaria. So, when we talk about, you know, missions and taking the gospel here, taking the gospel there, planting a church in a new city. So, out of that ministry, what should happen? So beautiful. Philip went and preached. Philip went and demonstrated the power of the kingdom. There was great joy in the city. So, the gospel, it brings great joy to the people and that is the beauty of the gospel. And over here, I told you that the Samaritans were not considered, you know, highly by the Jews at all. So, even through a so-called, you know, lower section of the people, the gospel went through, the gospel touched their lives and God was not discriminating. And here, even a believer like Philip, who is a Jew himself, he was not discriminating. Okay, and the gospel gave him an open mind because we know the Bible says that, you know, God so loved the world. So, there is no sections and, you know, one is better than the other. All kinds of biases in our society, in our community, we see that. But as far as the gospel is concerned, you know, God does not discriminate. As believers, we should not discriminate, you know, when it comes to the different strata of society. So, beautifully, Philip ministers and there is great joy in the city. Now, moving on, now there are all kinds of people, right, in a given place. And the gospel has touched many lives. We will read about a prominent person in Samaria who was affected by the gospel. And this man's name is Simon. Okay, this man's name is Simon. Simon was actually a sorcerer. Okay, so he was indulging in black magic, witchcraft, you know, things of the, he was engaging in the dark spiritual realm. Okay, but we read about him that he was so effective and so powerful in the city that they used to call him the great power of God. Okay, and when Simon saw what Philip was doing, he was astonished. Oh, sorry, just a moment. No, the people were astonished at the sorcery of Philip. But also we see that Simon was again astonished or amazed by the supernatural works that Philip did. Okay, so now you can imagine, now there's already a man who was moving in the wrong kind of spiritual activities. Okay, and obviously there was some power which he was seeing through his work. But when Philip comes and he ministers through the power of God, a sorcerer is amazed. So the power of God was greater, much greater than whatever he had experienced in the practice of his witchcraft. You got it? And he's not like some ordinary sorcerer because people used to call him the power of God, somebody of his caliber, somebody who had the city looking up to him, that kind of a person is amazed by the ministry of Philip. Okay, so this just shows us that a believer, and in this case Philip is, he's not even an apostle, but God's power can flow mightily through the life of anyone who believes. Okay, that even a sorcerer was amazed. Those kind of miracles, we saw that miracles, people were set free, those who were paralyzed were healed. Wow, supernatural demonstration of the power of God happening through the life of an ordinary believer. That even a sorcerer is amazed and that is happening in the city of Samaria. So Philip is continuing his ministry. So all the things that he did, he preached there, we are told that he preached about the kingdom of God, he preached about the name of Jesus and both men and women, they were baptized. Then this man Simon, seeing all this, hearing everything, he also responded. Okay, how beautiful. And he continued with Philip, it says that means obviously there must have been more meetings like this, prayer meetings, gatherings where people used to worship together. So Simon decided, okay, let me also go, let me also learn more things, let me also worship this God. So he became a believer. Okay, then when all this amazing work is going on in the city of Samaria, the apostles were in Jerusalem. They heard that people had responded to the word of God in Samaria. So what did they do? They sent Peter and John to them. So the Apostle Peter, the Apostle John from Jerusalem, they come to Samaria and they minister to the people of Samaria, the Holy Spirit baptism. Okay, so now you might ask the question, is it a different incident to be baptized in the Holy Spirit compared to being born again? Because being born again is also a work of the Holy Spirit. Okay, we do receive the Spirit in a, you know, there is a work of the Spirit when we are born again. But the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate incident. We already said that when Philip preached the gospel, many people responded. And even the apostles heard that the word of God was received. That means people have already become believers. Now, when they have already become believers, they are once again ministered to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. So in the early church, it's becoming quite clear that the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate experience from being born again. And Peter and John, they go to Samaria and they help. So you can see here a teamwork. Okay, today also when we go and minister in one place and people respond to the gospel, we don't just leave them there and say, oh wow, you know, so many people have accepted Christ, they are saved. Okay, now forget about it. No, but what do you see the early church do? They sent the apostles. Why? Because now that there are a set of people who are believers, they need to be nurtured. They need to grow in God. So what are all the things that the leaders must do to equip the believers? That is important. So the early church did not abandon them, could have said, wow, great, Samaria has received the word finished. But they knew that the believers have to be discipled. That's what Jesus said in the Great Commission, right? And also baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching them all things that I have taught you. So these people need to be discipled in Samaria. So it's like the birth, we saw the birth of a church in Jerusalem. Now the birth of the church in Samaria. It is born and it is being nurtured. Peter and John come and they minister to them the baptism in the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit had not fallen on any of them. They had only been baptized in the name of Jesus. Again, it gives you clarity here, water baptism and Holy Spirit baptism. These are all separate things. And the church seems to have practiced preaching. Then once people get born again, water baptism and then at least here it's like water baptism and then Holy Spirit baptism in that order it is taking place. And how did they minister the baptism in the Holy Spirit by laying hands on them and the people receive the Holy Spirit? So based on this, even today, when we pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit, what do we do? We go and we lay hands. So the spirit of God, which is within a believer, which is within us who are already baptized in the Holy Spirit. We lay our hands, the one who wants to receive the Holy Spirit is poured out on that person. So from where did we learn this laying hands to pray for baptism in the Holy Spirit? From the Book of Acts. We see that as a common practice. So they laid hands and when they prayed for the new believers, they received the Holy Spirit. So now all this is going on in Samaria. It's like, you know, sometimes there's a beautiful season. Like in my life, it has happened like in my school days, college days and all. Those days, they used to have a lot of meetings where I lived. So every other day there will be a poster. There is a gospel meeting. There is this, that. So we would go for all of those meetings and it was exciting. It was really exciting. So I'm imagining it would have been like that. So many people are hearing the gospel. Many people are giving their life to God. Every evening there is a meeting. There is worship. There is preaching. There is baptism in the Holy Spirit. Exciting times. And new ministers have come from the church of Philip. You know, Pastor Peter, Pastor John, they've all come and they are also sharing. So it's like a thrilling time in Samaria and the whole city is in joy. And there are miracles taking place in people's lives. Now, when all this is going on and also influential people like Simon. Simon is also Simon the sorcerer. He has also given his life to Christ. Now, you let us see how Simon observes and reacts to what is going on. In verse 18, we read that Simon saw that through the laying on of the Apostles hands, the Holy Spirit was given. So he's observing what these men are laying their hands and then people are speaking in tongues. All this is going on. So remember, he also is a sorcerer. So he knew the spiritual realm a little bit, but the dark side of it. And based on his previous experience, he's saying, okay, I will give you money. He tells this to, you know, the Apostles, give me this power also that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit. So he's calculating the way he used to do as a sorcerer and thinks that for some money, let me also buy this power and see how Peter responds. You know, Peter buy the Holy Spirit, obviously. He is responding each time. Earlier we saw through the word of knowledge, you remember, Ananias and Sapphira, they also did not do the right thing. So Peter rebuked them. Now, Simon seems to come to that same place of receiving a rebuked from Peter. So when Simon says, I want to buy the Holy Spirit, I want to buy this power. When I lay hands, people should also receive the Holy Spirit. Peter gives him one nice rebuked and says, your money perish with you because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money. You have neither part nor portion in this matter for your heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this, your wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. So what is happening here? The motive of Simon's heart is not correct. He is not honoring the Holy Spirit as God. He is not honoring the work of the Spirit as the work of God. He thinks it's just some power that is being released and it can be purchased with money. So there is a dishonor. That Peter is noticing and that is why he scolds him. And what kind of scolding he says? Like, you know, let your money perish with you. So it's like saying that Simon himself will face the consequences for what he is trying to do. And Peter points out, the Holy Spirit, he is a gift from God. Money cannot buy the Holy Spirit. Today for us in the church, we must remember this. Money cannot buy Holy Spirit. Money cannot buy the work of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes what believers think, I will give more offering then somebody will minister to me with prophecy. Somebody will minister to me with this and that. We think, yeah, through money, we can get it. But see what Peter is saying. Holy Spirit is a gift of God. How can you think you can purchase with money? So he says, you perish with your money. And then he gets, you know, strongly he tells him, you neither have part nor portion in this matter because Peter recognizes, just like Ananias and Sapphira, how could you lie to the Holy Spirit? He asks them, right? Because, you know, God gives the discernment. Now, looking at Simon from outside, I don't think Peter would have known. But by the Holy Spirit, discerning of spirits, Peter realized this man's heart is not correct. Something is wrong. Something is wrong with this individual. So he says, your heart is not right in the sight of God. So when somebody's heart is not right, what should they do? They must repent, they must have a change of heart because it's only when we are willing to change our attitude that God can, you know, come back and minister into our lives. But otherwise, you know, if we continue in this case, it seems more like, you know, pride. It seems like arrogance. When we are in that place, even if God wants to minister, it will not reach the heart of the person. And that's the reason. Peter recognizes, oh, heart is in a bad condition. So he calls Simon to repentance and says, you repent, repent therefore of this wickedness and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. So it's a wicked thought to dishonor the Holy Spirit and to think that money can buy the Holy Spirit or the works of the Holy Spirit. And so he says, come on, this is serious. You need to say sorry to God and change your heart attitude. And then, you know, Peter also tells him, for I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity. So the heart condition of Simon was not good. Bitterness, bound by iniquity, all this shows pride, it shows the wrong attitude that Simon was carrying. So a believer with the wrong attitude in the church, you see, that might cause us to do the wrong things. And so how is Peter dealing with a believer with the wrong attitude? He's saying repent. There needs to be a change of motives, change of heart, change of intentions because without that you cannot fully experience the kingdom of God. And is it possible for a believer to become like this? We have talked about this when we studied one John. Yes, it is very much possible. Believers are born again, believers are new creation in Christ, everything has become new, all that is true. But if we are not careful, even believers can carry wickedness in our hearts. You know, you have Ananias, Sapphira, now you have Simon. These are all people example. So I don't know, I don't know how they started out. Maybe they started out very pure hearted and what made them to come to this place of greed, of pride, of bitterness. He says poisoned by bitterness, bound by iniquity, meaning there is evil in your heart. How did that happen to them? We don't know. But when God convicts us and says, your heart is not right, what should we do? We must repent. So that is the best way to respond and Peter knew that. So in fact, thank God, you know, Simon didn't die. He didn't fall and die like Ananias and Sapphira. He had an opportunity to change himself so that he can continue and he can experience God the way the apostles were experiencing the way Philip was experiencing. So a good heart, see a believer, that spiritual life of the believer, right? In Christ Jesus experiencing everything, all that is wonderful. But along with that, maintaining a good heart, all through your journey is very precious. If at all we notice, oh, I am carrying some pride, I am carrying some anger, I am carrying things of the flesh. The moment we recognize it, the way Peter told Simon, repent therefore. And here the kind of wickedness that Simon displayed is dangerous, very, very serious because he is trying to buy the Holy Spirit. So that's why Peter gets very angry. He says, you know, you repent before God. It's so bad, your thought itself is so bad. I hope that when you pray and you ask forgiveness, I hope God forgives you. He puts it like that. You are poisoned, poisoned and bound by iniquity. So believers have to be careful. And let's see how Simon responds. So Simon answers him back and says, pray to the Lord for me that none of the things which you have spoken may come upon me. So when they had testified and preached the word of the Lord, they returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. So Simon, instead of he personally repenting, he's asking for the preacher to pray for him. Now, is this okay or not okay? Maybe it's okay because it shows that he is starting to humble his heart before the Lord. So it begins there. And we don't read about Simon later in this passage. So did Simon repent fully or did he not repent? We don't know exactly what happened to Simon the sorcerer. But at least his response shows that what Peter said was working in his heart. Okay, hopefully he came around and he said sorry to God and he changed his heart attitude. Okay, so that is what happened to Simon the sorcerer. And we notice here that the word continued to be preached, ministered to. And once this was done, it says they returned to Jerusalem. So people who were ministering like Peter, John and I think, okay. Yeah, Peter and John returned back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans. All right, so there must have been, when you say Samaria, there must have been lots of communities. So they ministered everywhere and then they kind of went back to Jerusalem. So let me just stop here. We have a few minutes. So if you want to share your thoughts or you have any comments, I think you could talk about that and then we will come back and continue with the rest of the chapter. So what did you see? What did you learn from, you know, Philip going and ministering in Samaria and also the life of Simon the sorcerer, the way he responds. Okay, great, great, great, great. You're understanding. That's good. That's good. So yeah, I think you're noticing the gospel is going out. All kinds of people are responding. And how does the church take up new communities that are responding? Church is scaring. Church wants the apostles are wanting to build up these new communities. So they travel all the way from Jerusalem and they minister there. So you see all these, you know, ways of extending God's kingdom that is happening in the early church. All right. So any thoughts about Simon, Simon the sorcerer, Simon, you want to call him the magician? Okay. So what we'll do is let's just go ahead for a break. I know it's 948 now. We will come back at 958. All right. So let's take a 10 minute break. We'll come back and we can continue from where we have stopped. Okay. Thank you.