What is preaching?

[0:00] O Lord, help us to understand something of the way it's pleased you to spread the kingdom of Jesus Christ and to bring people for the new heaven and the new earth.

[0:15] And we ask that it might please you to give us a measure of encouragement and enlightenment and even excitement and prayerfulness as we think about these things.

[0:29] Do help us, we pray, for we ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. Even what I've written on the screen is a lot and I don't think we'll be able to cover all of that but we will do what we can this evening.

[0:51] What is preaching? I looked it up on the internet so this must be true. In the free dictionary the second meaning is to give religious or moral instruction especially in a tedious manner.

[1:07] Which is quite encouraging isn't it? Yeah. Yeah that's what it says. To give moral righteous, religious or moral instruction especially in a tedious manner.

[1:18] That's what they think. I'm not sure whether that's what comes to people's mind when you say preach or preachy. I think it's more, so I've made this one up, to rant, shout or urge in a fanatical or unreasonable manner.

[1:36] I think if you say preach that's what people, that's their sort of worst nightmare of preaching that somebody is going to be standing up in front of them.

[1:46] A little bit of what you thought of American evangelism and somebody's going, You know that sort of thing. Probably won't come out very well on the tape will it?

[2:00] But people are thinking, yeah I don't really like that idea. I don't really like preaching. There's all sorts of... Something, okay, right.

[2:17] There's all sorts of cultural issues about preaching. So the Welsh tradition of preaching would be very much affected by Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, who was a Welsh preacher from the 30s through into the 70s.

[2:35] And he had a particular take on preaching and a particular style of preaching, which many people would still think of now as being essential. He wrote a book, Preaching and Preaches.

[2:48] The interesting thing about Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones is that the bits that people often take from him are the bits that you can't actually find in the Bible.

[2:59] That's a very dangerous thing for me to say, isn't it? I remember in the first volume of his biography, he says, I would sooner trust a man who takes a bath once a week than a man who takes a bath once a day.

[3:16] And you just wonder whether... No, I won't even go down that road. So what we want to know is what it says in the Bible about preaching.

[3:29] And the nearest I'm going to get to it this evening is to look at some of the vocabulary and give some examples of how it's used. In the New Testament, there are a number of words and ideas that actually link up on this subject of preaching.

[3:51] So let's just do them. Now, you're brave people. You're not going to be put off if I put up foreign words on the screen. I'll explain them, so don't get panicked.

[4:03] So the first word that I'm going to say is evangelizo, which means to bring good news.

[4:14] It's a Greek word, evangelizo, to bring good news. It's made up of the two bits. The ev bit at the beginning usually means good. So if you have an evlogia or a eulogy, so the e-u bit is a good word.

[4:36] So at a funeral you have a eulogy, which is the eulogy is good and the l-o-g bit is word, a good word about the deceased. And this is an ev angelizo.

[4:48] So the angelizo bit is like angel. And an angel is a messenger. So this is to bring a good message, to bring good news. And there's a word that goes with it, evangelion, which is the news that you bring.

[5:07] So let's look at some examples of bringing good news. And that's what we'll do. Matthew chapter 11. These are almost at random.

[5:19] There's 53 times this word is used. So rather than look at all of them, I've just selected a few of them. So Matthew 11 verse 5.

[5:31] This is Jesus reporting on what is happening in and around him. So Matthew chapter 11 verses 4 and 5.

[5:45] Could Mark please read that out to us? Lovely. Thank you very much.

[6:06] So he says there, and I wish I'd brought my Greek so I could tell you exactly what it says, but I haven't. The poor are evangelized. The poor are evangelizo.

[6:19] So good news is brought to the poor. And interestingly, he's quoting from the Old Testament. And we'll go back into the Old Testament a little bit.

[6:30] But that's an example of, okay, in English, it's made into four or five words, isn't it? Good news is preached.

[6:42] In the original, it would just say, they are good newsed. Good news is brought. I suppose in English you have to use a few extra words for it.

[6:54] Let's look at Luke chapter 2 verse 10 for another example of good news being brought. Luke chapter 2 verse 10. One word in Greek, several words in English to bring good news.

[7:09] Luke chapter 2 verse 10. Is Catherine up to speed enough to read this to us?

[7:22] Let's ask Lindsay while you're doing it. Lindsay, Luke chapter 2 verse 10. And the angel said to death, I'll be praying for the great Lord.

[7:33] Thank you. So he evangelizo. I bring good news. And Luke 4 verse 18.

[7:47] Luke 4 verse 18. This is Jesus giving his own understanding of what is going on again in and around his ministry as he does what he does, what's happening.

[8:05] And he quotes from the Old Testament. We're in Luke 4, 17 to 19. Luke 4, 17 to 19.

[8:15] If you would, Catherine, could you? Thank you very much indeed.

[8:40] So again, what I'm proposing is, well, I'm saying that Jesus is saying this is what he's about. And we notice that the idea of preaching is in there.

[8:56] And I'm also saying that let's not include any ideas of being Welsh or any other culture in the preach bit because it's several words for one thing, to bring good news.

[9:11] He has anointed me to bring good news, one word in Greek, to the poor. And I want you to notice that there's some other similar words there, which we'll look at in a moment.

[9:24] But you notice, do you notice another word like preach? Proclaim. Thank you. And it's there twice actually, isn't it? To proclaim freedom and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.

[9:38] We're going to hold on to that word proclaim. We'll come back to it in due course. Let's include some references to when it's not the verb to bring good news, but the noun this is the good news.

[9:55] It's usually good news of something. So Mark chapter 1, verse 1 is the Evangelion, the good news of something.

[10:10] Let's see what it is. Mark 1, verse 1. Maria, could you read that please? Yes. Yes, that will do.

[10:32] That's fine. No, that's interesting. So you've got which version? Yes. The something else.

[10:46] Yeah. The ESV. The ESV, yes. Okay. It's something on Maria's Kindle. So interestingly, what it says is, so she said the beginning of the good news.

[11:03] NIV, we have gospel. So I can clarify that this word gospel is simply a way of translating good news.

[11:19] Gospel sounds a bit technically Christian, but it isn't really. It just means good news. So if you'd won the pools, not that any of you are likely to have done so for a number of reasons, but you get the letter which says you've just won a million pounds.

[11:39] It's good news. It would be that you could translate that as gospel. So I opened the letter and I had this good news of whatever it was. So the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

[11:53] So it's good news of something. And Mark 1, verse 14. Mark 1, verse 14. Let's take Mark 1, 14 and 15.

[12:11] Adam, could you read that for us? Mark 1, 14 and 15. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee for proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, I'm fulfilled.

[12:23] The kingdom of God has to repent and believe in the gospel. Thank you. Okay, well that time we've got gospel. NIV has good news. Interesting. I don't know why that should be the case.

[12:34] So the, what is proclaimed? Notice the word proclaim, which we'll come to in a moment. It is the good news of God. So it's the good news of something.

[12:47] Good news of God. And then it is, oh, it just says, the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news. So that second time, it isn't the good news of anything particular, but it is the good news, which has just been described.

[13:04] So we had there Mark 1, 14 and 15. And there is 77 uses of good news in the New Testament and whatever I wrote, 53 of the verb to bring good news.

[13:21] Let's look at another word, which is the word that we've seen as proclaim, keriso. So the person who does the keriso-ing is the kerix.

[13:37] And the thing that he announces is the kerigma. So what do these mean? Well, they mean this, to act as a herald. And the person who does it is a herald.

[13:50] And the thing that he says is the heralding or the message which is proclaimed. So here's another example.

[14:02] Let's suppose that you are an anxious father-to-be and your wife has been in labor. And it's a few years ago when husbands weren't compelled to be with their wives when they were giving birth.

[14:17] So the husband is anxiously waiting around the corner. And the nurse, the wife has given birth, wonderful baby is born. The nurse comes around the corner and she brings good news to the father.

[14:34] It's a baby. Got to be sexist now, haven't I? It's a baby boy. So here's the good news. So this nurse is acting as a herald.

[14:45] She is heralding. She is proclaiming this. She might not do it in a loud voice, but that's what she's doing. She's traversing a distance and bringing good news. She is kerizo-ing.

[14:59] She is, in effect, a kerix. And the kerygma, the message that she brings, you are the father of a lovely baby boy. Okay, so there's a heralding of something that has taken place.

[15:13] So let's have a look at the references to this. Mark 4, 23. Mark 4. That can't be right. I wonder if...

[15:25] No, it's Matthew 4, 23. Now, again, I wish I'd brought my Greek because it would help, wouldn't it?

[15:39] But I haven't. So Matthew 4, 23. And I'll tell you what I think it's saying. So, Rachel, please could you read us Matthew 4, 23.

[15:50] Thank you.

[16:02] So notice there's another word being brought in here, teaching, which we'll come to in a moment. But I think what's being said is here he's preaching.

[16:14] He's kerizo-ing. And what he's kerizo-ing is the Evangelion, the good news he's proclaiming, the good news.

[16:25] And what is the good news of? It's the good news of the kingdom. So there's an example of that. And Matthew 24, 14.

[16:43] Matthew 24, 14. Matthew 24, 14. Brenda, please could you read that for us?

[17:06] Thank you very much. This is Jesus giving a view of what will happen between the time of his death and resurrection, really to the end of the world.

[17:20] And he says this is what's going to happen. The gospel, the good news of the kingdom, will be preached, will be heralded in the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come.

[17:40] It's interesting what he says, isn't it? This good news will be heralded, transmitted, proclaimed in the whole world. That was 24, 14.

[17:54] Let's look at Mark 16. Mark 16, verse 15.

[18:11] Mark 16, verse 15. And could we have verse 20 as well? So this is Steve. Please could we have Mark 16, 15 and 20.

[18:27] He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Between his disciples went out and preached everywhere and the Lord worked with them and affirmed his word by the sight of the kingdom.

[18:43] Thank you very much. So that's the word preach twice there. Go into all the world and preach. Herald the good news to all creation.

[18:55] And that's what the disciples did. They went out and heralded everywhere. Thank you. Let's look at Romans 2, verse 21.

[19:19] So this is the same word herald and I'm interested to see that the meaning does not seem to fit exactly with the idea of the news of an event conveyed to somebody who doesn't know it.

[19:34] Because this is the word kereso. So I think this is probably stretching the meaning right to the far end of what it's capable of. But Romans 2, verse...

[19:47] Let's just have verse 21. Roger, could you read that? Yeah. Okay, that's it.

[20:07] Interesting. He's using this word kereso to act as a herald. But in this case, he's using it in a sense of an ethical instruction.

[20:23] So presumably heralding can be stretched far enough to include that idea. And he links it with teaching, doesn't he? You teach others, do you not teach yourself?

[20:34] You preach against stealing. You steal. And then it uses the word to say. You say people should not commit adultery. So I think what's in my mind is that words have a meaning that you can stretch.

[20:52] And I think this is the far end of stretching the word preach because it seems to mean just assert something. And you notice that along with it is teach.

[21:05] And I think the teaching that he's referring to, which again we'll come to in a moment, is not simply imparting information. It's like the urging of what you do when you talk about stealing.

[21:25] You teach people certain things. You preach against stealing. You say people should not commit adultery. So I think he's talking about a form of communication with some force to it.

[21:40] Something that's commanding and urging and looking for a response. Where was I? That was Romans 2.21.

[21:51] So let's go back to a more mainstream use of the word in Romans 10, 14 and 15. Romans 10, 14 and 15, which is what we read earlier.

[22:13] Aaron, could you do that one for us? Romans 10, 14 and 15. Thank you very much.

[22:38] So you've got a little bit more in your translation than we had. But we've got the same sort of cluster of words here. So he's saying, how can people be converted to Jesus Christ?

[22:52] How can they call on the Lord? How can they have faith? Well, they can't unless somebody goes and speaks to them.

[23:03] How can they hear without a preacher? So I'm wondering whether that's a kerix. And how can they preach? How can they keriso unless they're sent?

[23:17] As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news. You see all those words linking up together there. The idea of somebody being sent to tell them the good news and thus they can believe.

[23:34] And let's look at 1 Corinthians 15, 11. I think we're still on the proclaiming, heralding word.

[23:52] 1 Corinthians 15, 11. Yes, we are. 1 Corinthians 15, 11.

[24:02] Angela, are you up for this one? Thank you very much.

[24:21] That's to do with the 1 Corinthians 15 bit, which I think we'll come back to in a moment. But it's saying this is the content of the Christian message. And what do we do with it?

[24:32] We herald it. We preach it. So let's look now at the same set of words now in connection with the kerygma, the thing that is preached.

[24:46] There are only eight uses of this. Let's have a look at some of them. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. I've got six of them there. Luke 11, verse 32.

[25:06] Is that right? Yeah. Okay, this is the kerygma. This is the message. Interesting here. So Luke 11, 32. Mark, can we come back to you please?

[25:18] Yes. Thank you very much.

[25:34] So apparently Jonah proclaimed stuff and whatever it was he proclaimed is his preaching, his kerygma, his preached message.

[25:46] And when they heard it, they repented. Thank you. Romans 16, 25. Romans 16, 25.

[25:59] Yes, this is again the kerygma. I think we need 25 to 27.

[26:11] So Catherine, could you do Romans 16, 25 to 27? Amen. Amen.

[26:40] Amen. Yeah, fascinating statement, isn't it? He links the proclamation, the kerygma, the preached message of Jesus Christ, with a revelation of a mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe.

[27:09] And I think in his use of the preaching idea, it's quite far from saying how somebody stands up and waves their arms about in a pulpit. He's much more talking about the way the gospel spreads, which I think is quite a wide idea.

[27:27] So we noticed, did we not, that, yeah, gospel is in there and the heralded message as God commands. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18.

[27:40] This is the kerygma. Let's just see. 1.18. And I'm struggling to see how that fits with what I looked up when I looked this up.

[27:54] Those two versions are definitely kerygma, because it's caused a lot of confusion in the past, but the old translations, translations, and the previous ones are preaching. Yes. It's actually the kerygma.

[28:05] Yeah, so let's assume, and I'm not quite sure about this, whether it's the message that is the bit that is the kerygma, because it's not the same as when I looked it up, I have to say.

[28:17] But let's read it then. 1 Corinthians 1, 18 to 21. Where have we got to? Lindsay, could you do that for us?

[28:28] 1 Corinthians 1, 18 to 21. Thank you.

[29:05] The foolishness of the message preached. So let's assume it's the kerygma of the cross and the foolishness of the kerygma. It's not saying that God insists that people stand in a pulpit and wave their arms in a certain way.

[29:21] He's saying it is a certain message that God uses to save people. It's the message which is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

[29:36] It pleased God through the foolishness of what was preached. It's the foolishness of this message of a dead Jew on a cross.

[29:48] He said that's the message that seems so pointless and impotent and disgraceful and disgusting.

[29:59] It's that message that God uses to bring salvation into the world. And the Corinthians were sort of looking down their noses at it and looking for something a bit more sophisticated, you know, a little bit more BBC2 sort of type of message.

[30:18] And he said, no, this is what we've got. This is what God sent. And this is actually the wisest, most sophisticated, most wonderful message that you'll ever find, the message of Christ crucified.

[30:30] So let's do 1 Corinthians 2 verse 4, which again is the kerygma, the message.

[30:41] 1 Corinthians 2 verse 4 and 5. Perhaps Maria, thank you. Okay, so I'm going to assume that what this is is my word and my kerygma, my message and my preaching.

[31:10] We're not quite subtle what he's saying. I didn't camouflage it or wrap it up in any way that took away the main point that this message is about Jesus Christ and him crucified.

[31:29] I made that the plain and simple bit that everybody's attention was focused on. So I didn't come to you and wrap it up with lots of wise and persuasive words and made you focus on the way I did it, but rather on what I was talking about.

[31:49] My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power. And it's when Christ is most clearly portrayed, that's what he says in verse 2, I result to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

[32:05] When Christ is portrayed and him on his cross, that is when the Spirit's power is most at work.

[32:16] That's a powerful point, isn't it? The Spirit's work is most evident when Christ is portrayed as he is crucified on the cross.

[32:29] And it's that message which is the powerful one. And when that is heard and when that is proclaimed, your faith is resting not on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

[32:42] I think that's what he's saying. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 14. I got a bit carried away then. So 1 Corinthians 15 verse 14 is the same thing about Kerygma.

[33:03] And it simply says, if Christ has not been raised, our Kerygma, our message is useless and so is your faith.

[33:15] So it's a message about Jesus Christ and him crucified. But the crucified Savior is the resurrected Savior. So that was the second of those words, to bring good news, to herald.

[33:31] And as you see, they're not awfully different. They're linked up together. Another word that's used is to teach, didasco, which is used 97 times.

[33:43] And that's to teach. The teaching is the didascalia, the thing that is taught. From which we get the English word didactic, I would imagine.

[34:01] Didactic is something of a teaching nature. So I think that the teaching that he has in mind usually has the connotation that it is authoritative.

[34:13] So it isn't merely conveying statistics or conveying information. That's a very valuable thing to do. But when this word is used, and you can see whether this makes sense or not, it usually has the implication of a bit of punch to it.

[34:33] And this may or may not be true, whether he has in mind something that's done in a public way. But we'll see. See what you think about these references. So here we go.

[34:44] Matthew 4.23. This is now looking at the use of the word teaching. Matthew 4.23. Is it awfully different from preaching?

[34:58] Matthew 4.23. I've completely forgot where we've got to. Is it Adam? Please. Matthew 4.23. And he went to Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and feeding every disease and every reflection of the kingdom.

[35:15] Thank you. So you notice that the teaching and the preaching are linked. What did Jesus do? Well, he taught in the synagogue and he... I suppose it's almost saying, what did he teach?

[35:26] Well, he teach the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. so both of them are linked there Matthew 15 verse 9 Matthew 15 verse 9 this is I think this is the didascalia the taught stuff Matthew 15 let's take 8 and 9 Rachel ah teaching as doctrine the commandments of men the bit that's translated doctrine would be the teaching material in English doctrine particularly in Christian talk brings to mind what has historically been developed over the last 2000 years in terms of you might say

[36:41] Protestant doctrine or the doctrine of the Holy Spirit or something like that it doesn't that's not how what we should understand every time that word crops up in the New Testament it simply means taught material so teaching or their taught material are but rules taught by men where did we get to that was Matthew 15 verse 9 1 Timothy 2.12 so this is didasco 1 Timothy 2.12 1 Timothy 2.12 Brenda could you read that for us please thank you very much that's probably a controversial one isn't it but it is

[37:48] I think this is didasco the verb I do not this is Paul talking about the way things operate in the assembly and he's saying I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man she must be quiet the opposite of of this teaching and that's why I say that I think the teaching that he's referring to is not merely giving information but it's the the sort of teaching that you could link with preaching as having some sort of punch to it and perhaps being something in public where everybody is sitting quietly listening to one person anyway I included that because it's only fair to do so even though it's a a controversial point now then I've got 28.20 which I think is Matthew 28.20 so I think we need a Matthew 28.18 to 20 and bearing in mind that we've already looked at a reference like this which I think was the proclaiming word but here is the teaching word so

[39:19] I think it's Steve isn't it Matthew 28 what do we say 18 to 20 Jesus came to them and said all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you surely I am with you always at the very end of the age thank you very much where previously it's in the other version it said go and preach and it preached the gospel to every creature that was the end of Mark here it says go and make disciples baptizing them and teaching them so in this case the teaching is linked with the disciple making activity and let's look at Acts 5.42 yeah I'll read that day after day in the temple courts and from house to house they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ so again I'm linking together there that teaching and proclaiming the good news aren't two vastly different activities they are certainly linked now we come to the didascalia the taught material which there's a lot about that in 1 Timothy if you'd like to turn to 1 Timothy of the 21 references to didascalia 8 of them are in 1 Timothy so we'll just touch upon those and then I think we'll move on so in 1 Timothy he it says didascalia the taught material so in 1

[41:25] Timothy 1 verse 10 he talks about behavior which is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which he encrusted to me sound meaning healthy and the word doctrine if that's what you've got in your translation is the didascalia their healthy teaching that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God and he uses that idea of taught material in chapter 4 verse 1 the spirit clearly says that in latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and the didascalia of demons the teaching material or the doctrine of demons and in verse 6 he says if you point these things out to the brothers you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus brought up in the truths of the faith and the good teaching the didascalia the taught material that you have followed and various other references to that which I will just leave because I don't think they add anything very much to it one word that we haven't looked at is ambassador but I think we've given a sort of overview of the idea of preaching as it is in the New

[42:53] Testament to bring good news to act as a herald to do so in an informative and urging sort of way to teach and I leave you with a little picture so our summer was saying this morning you haven't done any stick men for a little while which I thought probably that's true so we've got some stick men not necessarily because our summer said there weren't any but because it fits this this is Isaiah 52 verse 7 Isaiah 52 verse 7 which has been as it were lurking at the background of quite a number of these texts Isaiah 52 verse 7 about the beautiful feet how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news who proclaim peace who bring good news who proclaim salvation who say to

[43:58] Zion your God reigns listen your watchmen lift up their voices together they shout for joy when the Lord returns to Zion they will see it with their own eyes burst into songs of joy together you ruins of Jerusalem for the Lord has comforted his people he has redeemed Jerusalem and so on let's try and put that into a little picture Isaiah Isaiah 52 7 a great victory has been won and the distant battlefield the Lord's cause has been upheld and God has won the Lord reigns the battle has been won and what remains is to send a herald so off the herald goes running over hill and dale across the desert and across the mountain notice the important part of this herald apart from his mouth which doesn't yet come into operation is his feet and he has beautiful feet because he traverses this distance with this news a little bit like the nurse bringing the message through to the waiting father he even gets to the mountain overlooking

[45:10] Jerusalem and he's able to shout out to the people waiting on the city walls victory your God reigns and there in the city of Jerusalem there's great joy how beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news who proclaim peace who bring good news and proclaim salvation who say to Zion your God reigns the watchmen lift up their voices together they shout for joy and I'd like us to have that picture and then translate it into the New Testament the victory has been won on the cross that's where the reign of God was established if you like where his enemies were defeated and he wins the victory there and the heralds have been going out for 2000 miles sorry 2000 years and thousands of miles to this place here anybody like to suggest which place

[46:13] I've drawn there Rome Colosseum could be any other suggestions Jerusalem could be I feel a little disappointed that my artwork hasn't quite it could be it could be I was actually trying to draw the co-op you can see from the trees the trees are definitely the ones by the co-op and the herald who's standing in in front of the co-op in London Road that's a picture of Ben I told him I would do a picture of him I don't know whether he's still listening but that's Ben and he's saying to somebody the news Jesus Christ has won the victory Jesus Christ has triumphed over sin and death and Satan and he's won that victory and I've come all this way to meet you and to tell you this good news and how beautiful on the mountains or how beautiful on London

[47:20] Road or how beautiful on University of Brighton campus or how beautiful on the University of Sussex campus or how beautiful in your workplace are the feet of anybody who goes that distance and tells people that good news because that's the great thing and this is the good news that was brought to you says Peter good news that Isaiah referred to this is the word which says all flesh is as grass but God wins his victory and this is the word that was preached to you and that's the picture I'd like to leave with us okay does that make sense yeah let's pray Lord we pray that in our day that just as Paul and his companions were so they made it their consuming work and their heart's desire and their labour of love and their prayer that men and women and boys and girls should hear the good news about

[48:40] Jesus Christ that this should be heralded to them and how could they be saved unless they hear this and how can they hear unless somebody goes and tells them and we pray Lord that in this day and generation that good news might be taught and preached and passed on and people informed so that they might believe and we thank you that we have been able to look at this even in a relatively sketchy way but it's a great subject and it is our prayer that people would believe this good news and the good news would go out in the power of the spirit in Jesus name we pray Amen Amen Amen Thank you.