Scripture Matters Podcast - Episode 1 (Introduction)

Ever sat in a room full of believers, nodding along, yet quietly wondering if you really belong? We open our new series by facing that fear head-on: what it means to live with assurance in Christ without slipping into arrogance or performance. Through a vivid story of a child at a perfect Thanksgiving table who still feels out of place, we draw a straight line to the quiet doubts that haunt church pews every week—and why so many of us keep them bottled up.

We dig into why polished “Sunday best” personas breed insecurity, and how a checklist approach to faith turns joy into anxiety. Then we turn to the promises themselves. John 8:36 says free indeed. Romans 8:1 declares no condemnation. Ephesians 2:8 anchors us in grace. Colossians 2:13 announces full forgiveness. First Peter names us chosen. If we affirm these verses for others but hesitate to apply them to ourselves, what needs to change? We explore the path from head knowledge to heart trust, showing how assurance grows when we stop tallying our worth and start leaning on Jesus’ finished work.

You’ll hear why questions are not unbelief, how humility can say “I am saved” without swagger, and why 1 John 1:7 offers a daily, durable foundation for imperfect people walking in the light. We also outline three groups who will benefit from this journey: the doubter who fears being the exception, the checklist Christian who confuses activity with assurance, and the secure believer who can guide others with patience and clarity. Along the way, we get practical about building a church culture that welcomes honesty, normalizes struggle, and helps everyone rest in the promises they already profess.

Subscribe, share with a friend who needs calm in their spiritual life, and leave a review with the verse you lean on when assurance feels thin. Your story might anchor someone else this week.

Transcript

Do I Really Belong?

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Have you ever sat in a room full of Christians and quietly wondered, do I really belong? You believe the Bible, you worship, you pray, but deep down inside there's still that looming question, Am I truly saved?

SPEAKER_02 0:20

There's a lot of Christians that live their entire lives believing that God might love them, but really never knowing it.

Welcome To Scripture Matters

SPEAKER_00 0:32

God never intended for his children to live in fear, uncertainty, and spiritual anxiety. This is Scripture Matters, and today we're talking about what it means to truly know that you are saved. You've tuned in to Scripture Matters, a podcast of the Waters Road Church of Christ. The Waters Road Church of Christ is located at 3616 Waters Road in Pasadena, Texas, 77504. Check out our website at www.wrc.org. Again, this is Scripture Matters, the podcast of the Waters Road Church of Christ. Once again, we welcome you here to Scripture Matters. I am Jonathan Stafford, the pulpit minister for the Water Road Church of Christ, and delighted to be joined here today by my co-host, Cliff Thompson, who is one of the shepherds as well for the Waters Road Church of Christ. Also a Bible class teacher, a Jack of all trades. I don't know if he's a master at really anything, but he does a lot of things really good. But Clip, it's so good to have you here and to begin this brand new journey of a podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

You know, Jonathan, you and I have discussed this. We've talked about it, we've dreamed about it for a long time. And now it's coming to fruition. And I thank God that it is. I'm looking forward to this venture with you.

Why Assurance Matters

SPEAKER_00 2:13

Oh, most definitely. Um, you know, when we talked about putting together a podcast, one of the first questions we had is, well, what are we going to call this? That's right. And there were two words that we landed on, and that is scripture matters. And so as we begin this podcast uh together, we have a mission statement that I want to share with everybody out there who is listening this first episode, and that is scripture matters because what we believe about God shapes how we live, how we worship, and how we understand our relationship with Him. So in today's uh premier episode of Scripture Matters, um, today we're going to introduce a brand new book that some of you already know about, written by author Jack Wilkie called You Are Saved, The Christian's Assurance. So if you've not purchased this book, You Are Saved, The Christian's Assurance by Jack Wilkie, I would definitely encourage you to purchase this book and give it a read. It is a fantastic book. And what we're going to do this morning, we're going to take this opening chapter, this introduction that you find in the book. Before even chapter one, Cliff, we're going to look at this introduction and you might tell them why, because you know, normally a lot of people skip an introduction, but boy, when we looked at this, it jumped out at us.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

This introduction is so powerful and it sets up the book so well. Jonathan, if you get this book, you need to spend time reading this introduction because it is so important.

The Thanksgiving Story Of Doubt

SPEAKER_00 3:56

And it answers a very prevalent question among many Christians. Am I really saved? And like I said, you know, anytime I sit down to read a book, um, the introduction, I gotta be honest with you, sometimes I skip it, sometimes I don't. But again, in this case, don't skip the introduction. It's so powerful. And it begins with a Thanksgiving story. Um and rather than just read it verbatim to you, because I don't want to spoil it if you haven't read the full thing, you've got a 10-year-old, and he's gathered with his family, and it's Thanksgiving, and everything looks perfect on the outside. The food, the smells, I mean, you couldn't ask for a better table spread. But this young 10-year-old boy internally is filled with so much uncertainty. And the key line that really stood out is the only problem is you aren't sure you belong. Now imagine that, Cliff. You're you're setting at Thanksgiving with your family, you've got your siblings, maybe your aunts and uncles, mom and dad. And this should be one of the greatest memories of your life. And yet internally, you're sitting in that chair thinking, I'm I'm not sure I belong here. Cliff, when you when you first read that, I mean, I gotta know uh emotions that you may have felt, um, not just doctrinally, but humanly. How did it make you feel?

Belonging And Church Facades

SPEAKER_02 5:43

Jonathan, that introduction hit me square in the face. You know, the introductory is about a 10-year-old, and he was used in the example of this introduction. I was not 10 years old, Jonathan. I was 21 years old at the time, and I experienced the same thing. We had just gotten married, and was uh I was about to learn that I had no doubt I was not welcome into the family by my mother-in-law. We'd gone over to my wife's parents one time for supper. The main course of the meal was barbecue chicken, and as many southern supper tables, several dish towels laid around the table to be used to wipe off what couldn't be licked off, to be true. The meal was fantastic. I mean, my wife's mother was a great cook, and this meal was absolutely no uh exception. Now, being the newbie in the family, uh, I let the patriarch, which was my father-in-law, go first, their mother then helped her plate, and my wife always let my wife go ahead of me. Then it was her turn, and at last it was my turn. There was no conversation directed my way during the first part of the meal, which was pretty fine by me. It gave me more of a chance to eat rather than talk. And it wasn't long till I saw my father-in-law take a dish towel, wipe his hands, and lay it down. And soon thereafter, my wife picked it up. She wiped her hands and she laid it down between her and I. Well, I said, Well, this is my opportunity to wipe my hands. So I took that and picked up the dish towel. But as quickly as I picked up the dish towel, my mother-in-law, who was sitting right across the table from me, abruptly reached all the way across the table and snatched the dish towel out of my hands. To which she looked straight into my eyes and said very aggressively, If you want to wipe your filthy, nasty hands, you go get a paper towel. You don't ever touch one of my dish towels ever again. Then she sat back down, put the dish towel next to her, and continued with her meal like nothing ever happened. It was plain to see that I did not belong. I did not fit, nor was I welcomed by my mother-in-law and my wife's family. Now, the rest of the family opened uh accepted me with open arms, but never her. And I can tell you, Jonathan, sitting at that table that night, I felt the loneliest person in the world. But it's interesting for for most people, anxiety about belonging really has no foundation. I mean, in so many cases, Jonathan, if you really got to the to know them and their situation, you're most likely to see that there really is not clear cause for them to feel that way. But unfortunately, that feeling of not fitting in covers them like the darkness of night. And Jonathan, I think you'll agree with me that many people, like this child in our introduction, internalize that uncertainty and silent suppression and they bottle it up inside of themselves.

Authenticity Versus Performance

SPEAKER_00 8:57

Oh, no doubt about it. I mean, when you you look at the illustration that the author talks about here at the very beginning, I mean, he's feeling stress, right? He's feeling stress. He he's sitting there quietly at the table, um, eating, wondering if he really belongs there. And and and yet he's also thinking about the fact that in just a few short weeks, not only is it Thanksgiving, but then, you know, Christmas, and it's a big deal in this family, but only if you're in this family, and and this young man's just not really sure if mom or dad really cares about him or loves him, if he's gonna get anything for Christmas, you know. It it just, you know, no kid should ever feel that uncertainty about belonging in their own family. Um, and yet the fact is, many Christians feel the exact same way that that 10-year-old uh feels when it comes to being a part of God's family. And I think that's what makes that illustration to me uh pretty unsettling is how quickly it goes from being about Thanksgiving and starts being about our churches, uh, the reality, because the fact is whether it is uh and let's say not every case of uncertainty is actualized, but uh many times they are. There are many Christians that sit in church pews or church chairs nowadays and and who believe in God, they believe in Jesus Christ, but still wonder if they really belong. And you know, if you go back to the first century, uh mealtime and worship was a very interconnected part of first century worship. Now, we don't really have that same connection, maybe at the same level that the first century church did. Um, from time to time, we'll have a fellowship meal, and it got me to thinking about maybe somebody sitting in our NXA, eating in our fellowship meal, and maybe sitting at a table, but not feeling like they belong uh in part of that family. So um quiet doubt, um sitting there while they look around at everybody else who seems confident. They're discussing their day and their week and their life with the other people at the table, and maybe they're just sitting there with their head down, uh internalizing this moment and feeling unsure.

Assurance Is Not Arrogance

SPEAKER_02 11:37

I hate to say this, but it's true. The church can intentionally enhance that doubt by masking their imperfections and their struggles. Yeah, let's talk about that.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Let's talk about that for just a moment, Cliff, because uh uh you and I have both raised families. And I was thinking about this aspect of our lives. Um, have five children. You get up in the morning, you're getting ready for church. There are those normal things that every family, I think, deals with in getting up and getting kids ready for church.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Right, right.

Scripture Tensions And Promises

SPEAKER_00 12:16

You you get in the car, you get uh your children in the backseat. Uh, I don't think Trey was arguing with himself. Uh if he was, there was probably a bigger issue. Um with mama, but not in the but a lot of times you have siblings in the backseat arguing with each other, pinching each other, giving each other a hard time. And so you have that going on the backseat while mom and dad are driving, and dad turns around saying, if you don't stop it, I'm gonna pull the car over. And we're, you know, it's only a 15-minute ride. And then you pull the car into the church parking lot, you turn the engine off, and everybody gets out of the car and acts like none of that ever happened, and everybody's hair is perfect, everybody's you know, got their best behavior on. You go in and you sit down and you act like, man, all last week our lives were just so great. And and we breathe that. Like we don't like for people to see that we've had all these issues in our lives. So when we come in our church buildings, we put on this best front. Meanwhile, there's somebody over there who is not very adept at doing that, and they're seeing you and they're judging themselves based off of the imagery that you're putting on, whether purposely or subconsciously, even. Yeah, yeah. Um, and that becomes uh something that can amplify insecurity in our churches, the fact that we're not always real.

SPEAKER_02 13:44

Yeah, and Jonathan, when you do this, it presents a false sense of those who, and I'm gonna use air quotes here, have it all together versus what the truth is, none of us, Jonathan, have it all together. And you know, Jonathan, you've been in ministry for a number of years, and I've got to ask you back the question: have you ever experienced people who put on this type of facade and come into church service on like a Sunday morning, and as quick as they walk outside, you know, Jonathan, that person there has a problem.

SPEAKER_00 14:21

Oh, yeah. I mean, and you know, my heart hurts for those people because it it is one of the worst feelings in the world to walk into a church building and pretend that you're something that you're not. I I I've told my family, uh I I even told my wife this when we were first married. I don't like pretending. I don't like going in the church building and acting like we've got it all together. Now, if people see us and think, well, they don't have it all together, I'd rather them say that than them believe a lie.

SPEAKER_02 14:58

Yeah, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 14:59

Um, because how can I stand up there and preach um and put off this air of perfection if it's really not true? Because eventually somebody's gonna see you outside of the church building and recognize that, hey, they're not as they don't have it all together as much as maybe they uh proclaim themselves to be.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

Y'all know what you're doing, y'all have y'all are up on the pinnacle, and Jonathan, that is so not the truth.

Head Knowledge And Heart Trust

SPEAKER_00 15:34

No, I think from the top to the bottom of the congregation, um, people struggle with this on being authentic. I don't know what it is about, you know, if if if you have people in your house and you're sitting around your house, a military realness comes out and you get to know people. I don't know what it is about church buildings, but for some reason, and maybe it's a uh part of our society, that when people go in church buildings, they put on their Sunday best. You've heard that that statement, right? But I'm not just talking about clothing, I'm talking about who they are. And then it's it's it's very straining, it's very tiring. And then they walk outside, it's like a sigh of okay, I can finally be me. But that's not, that is not, uh I'll be honest with you, I don't believe that's uh what should be happening, but it happens. Yes, sir. Um, the fact is, God doesn't want his children to be constantly second-guessing their relationship with him. And let me make a statement that everybody out there needs to understand. Assurance is not arrogance. Okay, if you feel assured in your salvation, that does not uh equate to arrogance. Confidence in Christ uh does not equal confidence in self. And many times the less self-confident you are, the more Christ confident you become. Um, and I think this is what makes some people nervous is people sometimes misappropriate assurance for pride.

Doubt, Questions, And Growth

SPEAKER_02 17:26

You know, Jonathan, when you think of assurance, you think of a faith that's rooted in God's promise. For example, I believe we need to take 1 John 1 7 at face value. You know, it says, But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin. So as the old song states, if I am standing on the promises of Christ my Lord, then I'm going to see that if I am striving to walk in the light, which is where Jesus is, then I have the promise that the blood of Jesus purifies me from all sin. Therefore, if I stand in Christ and not trying to rely on myself, I'm purified from all sins. Then I can say with confidence that I am saved. I'm standing on that promise. And as such, I do not have any reason to have any fear or any false assurance. But I know that you've seen this, Jonathan, because I've seen it. If you ask someone if they're going to heaven, you might see them hesitate. You know, they might even give that little grin and say something like, Well, I sure hope to, then it really does seem like that they may be uncertain about their assurance. But if you follow that question up with something like, you know, I know that you're not perfect because none of us are perfect. But are you striving to walk in the light of Jesus? Are you are you are you striving to obey his teachings? Are you are you striving to be obedient to his will and to his commandments? And if you get a yes to those questions, then from that response, I do not see someone that is uncertain about their assurance. I'm just witnessing someone who is showing some humility in the response, not the same.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah, and I think I think they're uh I think you have to to find out where they're coming from with that.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

I do too, yeah. I think completely. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_00 19:29

But I've had people say, I hope I've done enough. And that that's really something we're gonna deal with in this book uh and in this podcast, is is that because that statement, I hope I have done enough, is a point of false assurance that uh that I think we have to be very careful about.

SPEAKER_02 19:52

You know, and that kind of looks at the consideration of what the culture is about checking yourself. You know, I'm afraid that for too many people they might fall into that light of that Pharisee that Jesus talked about in Luke 18, 9 through 14. You know, the Pharisee that stood on the corner and recited to God all the good qualities. That's right. And then thank God for not making him like one of the tax collectors that stood away away in the distance. You know, there's a way of checking yourself that can be rooted in pride. Now, I'm not saying, Jonathan, that we should not check ourselves in the light of the word of God. I'm not saying that. I think each of us should, because I think when we really do, then Jonathan, I feel like you'll be like that tax collector who said, Lord, forgive me for I'm a sinner.

Who This Book Is For

SPEAKER_00 20:41

Yeah. So again, what it for folks out there that may be wondering what we mean by that is it it's almost become like a checklist mentality. Like I've done this, I've done this, I've done this. Uh, and if I've done this, this, and this, then it equates to this. And that, I mean, unfortunately, fills people with a sense of false bravado, yes, uh, a false assurance. And that's not the assurance that we're talking about. Um I I think that's more along the line, the the check yourself. And it it's a it's a big thing in our culture today, uh in the American culture. Check yourself. In other words, take an evaluation of what you're doing with your life, and if you're living up to a certain um standard that society says is the acceptable norm of actions. Um, but that again, I don't believe that's what Christ intended for us to put our confidence in.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

I don't need a job. I don't think he teaches that.

SPEAKER_00 21:48

Now, what we're gonna talk about next is this tension with scripture, this scriptural tension. Uh, and we're gonna see some verses here. Uh that are talked about throughout this book that really become uh a point of tension or um some things that confuse Christians often believe, okay? For instance, uh John 8 36, it says that you are free indeed. Yeah, but a lot of people aren't sure they're free, right? How or how free am I, right? If Christ has made you free, you are free indeed. But the scripture tension, the confused Christian goes, Well, how free am I?

SPEAKER_02 22:40

That's right.

What’s Next And How To Engage

SPEAKER_00 22:41

And then, for instance, Romans 8:1. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. And yet the tension here is a lot of people aren't sure whether they are truly in Christ. Am I really in Christ? Well, throughout this series, we're going to show you whether or not you are truly in Christ from God's word, so that you can believe it, but not just believe it, be assured by it. Okay. Even the demons believe, right, but they're not assured, right?

SPEAKER_02 23:19

No, they're not.

SPEAKER_00 23:20

Um, because they haven't placed their confidence in Jesus Christ. So um uh let's keep going. Ephesians 2.8. That is such a powerful verse. A lot of Christians believe Ephesians 2.8, save by grace, and yet uh they worry about the limits of grace. How much grace is enough to cover me, the flawed individual who makes mistakes every day? Uh, when does God's grace give up on me? And that's attention that's happening. And I think a lot of our listeners that may come across this podcast. Um, Colossians 2.13. Um, yes, we're forgiven, but a lot of people struggle to know how far does that forgiveness extend?

SPEAKER_02 24:14

That's true.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Um, I think about 1 Peter 2.9 that tells us we are God's chosen people. And yet there's a lot of people out there that wonder, Am I truly chosen? Well, again, this podcast is going to help answer that question for you on a personal level. If you'll listen, if you'll read this book uh and apply it with God's word, uh, you're gonna know by the end of this podcast series if you're truly chosen. And then I think about 1 Peter 3, 21, uh, a light figure, uh, baptism, um cleansed, a cleansed conscience, right? But a lot of people struggle to know how long does that cleansing last? And so you have all these verses that people hear and they believe the word, but they're not assured by it.

SPEAKER_02 25:12

Correct.

SPEAKER_00 25:13

So, Cliff, what does it say about us when we affirm scripture? We say, Yeah, that's the truth. I believe that to be the truth, but still doubt that it really applies to our lives personally. What does that say about us, Jonathan?

SPEAKER_02 25:30

You uh to me, I see that as someone who has let me call it head knowledge. These are verses that those who have head knowledge, but also these are verses who have heart trust. Now, what I mean by head knowledge is they have intellectually understand the scripture. They they read it, they understand what it says. Where their heart trust is a deep personal faith and reliance on God that maybe they don't have yet, like what says in Romans chapter 10, 9 through uh 9 through 10. Now, where head knowledge is the foundation, you have to know the scriptures because you have to have the foundation to build off of. Heart trust is a transformation. That's a transformation element that leads to salvation and a changed life. It is a moving from simply knowing the facts about Jesus to personally knowing and trusting in Him. But we have to be careful because head knowledge can lead to, as you stated earlier, you know, this performance-based faith. By that I mean we read, we understand the scriptures, but again, we use a checklist for our lives. We see this in those who believe their acceptance is earned through how many good deeds they have done, or by showing outward obedience or religious action rather than through God's grace, which comes through obedience to the gospel. And Jonathan, this leads to anxiety, it leads to self-righteousness and focuses on the doing rather than on the being in Christ Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

And you know the thing about it that uh that I want to make before we move on is uh again, all these scriptures uh people believe that they're true. But I think the problem, Cliff, and I've dealt with this as a minister, there are many people that think they're gonna be the exception.

SPEAKER_02 27:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Uh they hear the scripture, they believe it, they may even understand what it says, but they feel that somehow they are going to be the exception. You have to believe that it applies to you just as much as it applies to the person across the congregation from you. You have to trust that it's just as applicable and that promise that is given uh prevails in your life just as much as anybody else's. Otherwise, you're you're gonna have that fear in the back of your mind that I'm gonna do all these things, and one day I'm gonna stand before God and I'm gonna be the lone exception. So I think that's important to uh statement to make. Um let me make one more clarification here. Um, this book and this podcast is not, let me make this clear, is not intended to scold anybody who deals with doubts. Let me say it again. This book, You Are Saved by Jack Wilkie, uh, this podcast, Scripture Matters, in this first uh set of episodes, is not intended to scold anybody that deals with doubts. You know why? Because I've dealt with doubts. I'm sure my partner here, Cliff, has dealt with doubt. Um, here's the problem. Doubt often comes from misunderstanding. It is not necessarily rebellion. Can doubt eventually lead to rebellion if you allow doubts to permeate and take root in your heart? Yes, it can eventually lead to rebellion, but again, uh it's not inherently, doubt is not inherently uh a rebellious um character, okay? Questions do not equal unbelief. Okay, let me say it again. Questions do not necessarily equal unbelief. There are a lot of good Christians, a lot of faith-filled Christians that still have questions, okay. It's not a matter of believing so much as it is a matter of understanding fully the promise that's in the word for you in your life. So um I I guess, Cliff, I I hope I've said that well enough, but how important is it for our listeners to know that it is it it's not a disqualification if you have doubts or questions.

SPEAKER_02 30:26

Jonathan, you and I were talking about when we first talked Romans all the way back during the COVID years. And one thing that we stressed over and over and over again, please, if there's anybody who has any questions, please bring them forward. Our environment in the Church of Christ, especially at the Waters Road Church of Christ, should be one where people feel safe to ask any question that they need answered to help them to understand what God has said for them. And I'll go one better than that, Jonathan. I believe asking a question is crucial in fostering genuine faith as honest inquiry deepens understanding and encourages spiritual growth rather than rather than hindering it. Now, this is done through balancing questioning with trust. This is really the key. One you might ask is well, it validates the struggles that we all are having and it encourages deeper study, and in the end, it builds up more resilient faith, and it prevents shame and fostering it that element where doubt can lead to greater assurance, not abandonment.

SPEAKER_00 31:53

Well, um, the last full segment here that I want to spend some time on is really a plug for the book and the sense of who um this book is for. If you read the introduction, you will see a little bit of this. Um, and there's three groups that really stand out. And that is the first, the the doubter that we've been talking about here over the last few moments. The doubter who feels like the 10-year-old. They've got questions, they've got concerns, they're sitting at the table and feeling unworthy. They're not sure if God loves them because they have questions and doubts. Uh, they believe his word, uh, they believe his promises, but they think somehow they're going to be the lone uh exception. Um this is the first group. And I hope that there are some that fit in that group that will take the time to listen to this podcast each time that we're on the air and read this book. The second group is the checklist Christian. There are people in our churches that feel such great self-pride and assurance because, hey, I've been to the church this many years. I've never missed a church service, I've always done this and that. And uh, this is for those Christians as well. And the third group is the secure believer, the one who has the right assurance from God's word and rest in that assurance, very calm assurance who can help others.

SPEAKER_02 33:25

You know, as you grow in your faith, I bet every Christian, if they are very truthful with themselves, can say that they have found themselves in each one of these groups. They start out as doubters, maybe, and then they come to know the truth and they obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. That begins their growth as Christians. They read and they study, and as they grow, they're again Christianity to them is that that checklist that that you're talking about. Have I prayed today? Uh, have I studied today? Have I done any good deeds today? Have I said a bad word in Houston traffic today? You know, but as they mature in their Christian faith, I feel that this slowly changes from being a daily checklist to being a daily walk in the light of Jesus Christ. As you are walking in the light, it is not going to be a mountaintop experience every single day. There'll be times in your life where, even for a mature Christian, situations will arise where it will cause you to have questions and it will cause you to have doubts. And they most certainly can and will creep up in your life. You'll have seasons of faith where you will notice that at times your faith is as solid as a rock. And at other times it feels like you are standing on a thin sheet of ice and it's cracking. And I believe it's interesting, Jonathan. I feel that God allows us to experience these different seasons of faith in order to allow us to grow in knowledge and in understanding so that we can support those who are finding themselves in one of these seasons of faith. I believe it shows transparency so that the mature believer can reassure the one that might not be as mature in their faith and say to them, it's okay to have questions, it's okay to have struggles. And I think it gives reassurance to others that they're not by themselves. They are in good company with other Christians who are going through some of the same things that they're going through. And Jonathan, we go through this, it's it's like a vicious cycle all the time.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Yeah. Well, folks, if you've ever, like the author said, if you've ever sat uh at a table wondering if you belong, then this book is for you, and this podcast is for you. And in our next episode, we're going to be looking at chapter one of Jack Wilkie's book, You Are Saved, The Christian Assurance. And the first chapter is entitled The Problem of Doubt. And so next time that we get together, we're going to be talking about the problem of doubt and how the Christians can overcome uh some of those vicious cycles of doubt uh that they may deal with from time to time. And really answering the question, what does it actually mean to be saved? Okay. Uh so let us remind you folks, please do us a big favor. Uh, if you are not yet a subscriber to the Waters Road Church Christ YouTube page, uh hit that subscribe button so that you will get notifications the next time that our next episode drops here of Scripture Matters. Otherwise, you also get uh the notifications we go live for our worship each Lord's Day, our Wednesday night Bible class. We've got two live streams on Wednesday nights. One is studying the book of Acts, I believe, uh, and the other is studying the book of Revelation. Yeah, with our brother Cliff here on Wednesday nights. Um, I'm teaching Genesis on Sunday morning. We're in Genesis chapter 43 on Sunday morning, so you can join us for that. Any of our worship streams are live both on Sunday morning and Sunday night. So make sure you subscribe to that. If you've not purchased the book, you still have an opportunity to do that. Uh the link to this book on the Amazon uh website is in uh just below us here on this YouTube page. Uh so make sure that you purchase Jack Wilkie's book, You Are Saved, The Christian Assurance, now so you can get ahead on reading the future chapters. And listen, if you've already read chapter one, go back and read it again slowly, uh that's what we're going to be focusing on in our first full episode uh in two weeks. So again, this is Jonathan Sanford. Uh, you're watching uh Scripture Matters along with Cliff Thompson. Cliff, any final words for anybody out there before we go?

SPEAKER_02 38:01

No, Jonathan, thank you so much. I hope that we were able to explain this. Please, if you get the book, spend some time in that introductory. Again, that's very powerful and it sets the stage, in my opinion, for the whole book. And thank you so much for watching this.

SPEAKER_00 38:18

Yeah, this is brand new for us. We're we're uh uh we've got teeth coming in. We're we're we're we're babies, and we're we're gonna grow this together and get good at it uh just like we did with the Romans class. So bear with us, but thank you for spending your time with us here today, and uh have a blessed rest of your day.