Jay Antelo- Spirit Empowered Evangelism

Spirit-Empowered Evangelism and the Holy Spirit’s Work in Gospel Proclamation

Well, I'm short, so it's got to go down. I have the opportunity to introduce you guys this evening to Brother Jay Antello. Some of you may know him from the Providence Perspective channel on YouTube, or as it was previously branded, the Reformed Recon.

Jay is characterized, I would say, by a balance of both boldliness and gentleness. He has a deep heart at the end of the day for reform in the church, and that requires both. And so as Jay comes forward, he will share with us some of what God has taught him about the role of the Holy Spirit in sounding forth the gospel of Christ.

I'm not short, so.

Well, good afternoon. So it's a pleasure to be here with all of you today. It's been wonderful to meet a lot of you guys.

And enjoy a fellowship together.

I just want to say thank you to Reformed Baptist Church for everything that you guys have been doing. Some of you guys may know that yesterday I wasn't feeling so well, and you guys were praying for me and encouraging me, so thank you for that.

Thank you to Claude for hosting this conference. And I want to thank all the men who have preached so far. It's been a blessing to hear you guys preach and bring the word of God. I don't know if all of you guys have done conferences before.

I've done a few, and my first experience doing a conference, I said, wow, this is really long. But one thing that I have found is that it is a tremendous blessing to spend a weekend together with other believers, hearing the word of God, fellowshiping with one another.

So I hope that if you've never done a conference before, that I hope that this has been a blessing to you and that it continues to bless you. Full disclosure, I have taught at churches as a teacher. I have taught men's Bible studies, teen groups, all kinds of things.

What I've never done is preach a sermon. And so you all will have the pleasure of hearing my first sermon for the very first time. I'm not nervous at all, by the way. But I'm glad that you are here because I need somebody to pray for me.

Okay, so please be out there praying for me. Let's pray, brother. Heavenly Father, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here and share your word with my brothers and sisters. Lord, you know what kind of man I am, and I would be nothing, Lord, if it weren't for you.

And so, Lord, what I want to pray is that you put me aside, Lord, because this is not about me. This is not about my opinions. This is not about what I think. This is about what your word says, Lord. And I pray that you simply use me, Lord, as your humble servant, to bring your word to your people this evening.

Lord God, open hearts, open minds to receive your word with joy. Let this build up your church, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Please turn to your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 1. We're going to be looking at verses 4 through 7.

If you are newer to the faith, you can find that towards the end of the Bible. It's going to be between Colossians and 2 Thessalonians. And I'm reading from the ESV translation. If anybody's using a different translation, feel free to follow along.

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit. And with full conviction, you know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake.

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for which you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Ikea.

The Problem of Rejection and the Promise of the Holy Spirit

Have you ever had a close friend or maybe a family member who, when it comes to Christianity, they just, they don't get it, right? They don't get why you go to church. They don't understand why you're such a Jesus freak.

Maybe they seem like someone who is struggling with those really big questions, you know? If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world? Why would a loving God send people to hell forever? How can God be three people, but one being?

Maybe they're not asking any profound questions at all. Maybe they just don't really care about whether God is real or not. All they care about is being more preoccupied with enjoying as much of this life as possible.

And they see you, the Christian, as the joy killer, the one that always ruins all the fun, the one that doesn't like to have fun for themselves, or doesn't want anybody else to have any fun. I used to be that person, so I can relate.

Perhaps they're so adamantly anti-Christian that they're not even interested in honest discussion about what Christians actually believe. And they have these gotcha questions ready to go for you, like, can God make a rock so big that not even he can lift it?

You know, those really, really profound questions. Like a college professor did to me one time when I was 18 years old, and I had no idea what to say. And I said, maybe they once claimed to believe in God, but something has happened in their life that has made them question who God is, or even if he's real.

Perhaps they've suffered the loss of a child, and they're asking, why would God let my little girl die? Maybe they lost their job and are wondering how they're going to feed their family now, or maybe it could be that they were recently married and found out that their new spouse is having an affair.

People find many reasons to doubt, ignore, or even outright reject God. Ultimately, we know that those who do not believe are suppressing the truth of God in their unrighteousness, as Romans 1 .18 says.

But whatever the case may be in any of these situations, as Christians, when it comes to our close friends and family, we can feel a variety of emotions when we see people we care about ultimately rejecting Christ.

And let's be honest, it can feel extremely discouraging. We want to share the good news of Jesus Christ, not just with our closest loved ones, but with as many people as possible. But how do we do that when we look around and see so many people in this world not caring for Christ, not believing in Christ, and even hating the idea of Christ?

Where do we look to for hope? Where do we find our hope when so many are rejecting our faith? The answer is, well, what Jonathan Foster said this morning, the promise of the helper, the promise of the Holy Spirit.

So with that said, I want us to look at five points from our text on what the Holy Spirit does in the proclamation of the gospel, and why we can engage in completing the Great Commission with boldness into a world that loves the darkness rather than the light.

The Holy Spirit Convicts Through the Word, Not Human Persuasion Alone

The first thing that we should look to, my brethren, is that we are called to use our words, but it's only the Holy Spirit that convicts a person. Before we look at verse four, what I want to do is actually start with the first part of verse five.

It says, because our gospel came to you, not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit with full conviction. I want you to notice that there's a distinction between word and power, Holy Spirit, and full conviction.

Paul says, it's not just with word that our gospel came to you. Yes, there was a word that was preached to you, but there was something else going on at that time. When we preach the gospel, it comes with power from the Holy Spirit, and it convicts.

Now, it doesn't convict everybody. Don't get me wrong. This is why we see so many reject the gospel today. But when the gospel is effectual, it is because the Holy Spirit is working in the heart of a person.

We use human language to reach our neighbor, to reach our friends, to reach our family. We reason with them, but that's really all we do. The gospel is not something natural. It is something supernatural.

If a man doesn't have his heart changed, he will not believe. But when a man has his heart changed, he experiences full conviction. If any of you are familiar with the story of Lydia, in Acts 16, 14, it says that the Holy Spirit was the one that opened her heart to hear what Paul had to say.

And so we have to wonder, is that what I'm depending on? Or am I just trying to be smarter than the other person when I'm preaching the gospel? Now, don't get me wrong. We should reason with people, absolutely.

But it's the Holy Spirit that convicts. My brethren, we are instruments of the Holy Spirit by which he opens the hearts of people through the words we use. But don't miss it. We are the instrument. The Holy Spirit is the one in control.

I don't know about you. I don't like Disney movies very much.

I don't really support Disney too much recently.

But back in the day, I watched a movie called Bolt that came out, I think it was like 15 or 20 years ago. Anybody remember that movie? Like three people, great. All right, four people. And it was a movie about this dog who played a superhero called Bolt on a TV show.

And this dog, even though he was playing a superhero on TV, he actually believed that he had all kinds of superpowers.

Why?

Because during the production of the TV show, the people working on the show made it look like Bolt was the one doing all kinds of spectacular things. For example, Bolt had this superpower where if he barked, he could literally blow bad guys away.

And so Bolt would bark at some of these bad guys. And it looked like he was the one doing all these great things, but it really wasn't him at all. This is a really, really small, admittedly imperfect illustration on how it is that the Holy Spirit uses us to reach the lost.

Make no mistake. Yes, the Holy Spirit is using us, but we have to use our words. You ever heard the saying, preach the gospel if necessary use words? That's baloney. You cannot preach the gospel without using words.

We need to prepare by knowing what the word of God says. But at the end of the day, you can't be afraid of how well you can use words or not. Share the gospel, leave the results to the Holy Spirit, be faithful and love your neighbor.

I have to admit that I have been cowardly many times. I've been afraid of what people are going to think of me. I've been afraid of what I'm going to say or not know how to say. I've been afraid of what questions they might ask me if I share the gospel with them.

And you know what I've done? Nothing. How many of us have done the same, right? But that's not what we're called to do. It is important to know the word of God, not only for your own benefit, but for the benefit of others.

You're going to get questions when you evangelize. Knowing the word will help you answer those questions, but you're not going to know everything and that's okay. You don't have to pretend like you know everything you're asked about.

And maybe it's more than the word of God. Maybe I'm speaking from experience,.

Though I don't think so.

I think the word of God supports what I'm about to say. But the Holy Spirit is going to help you. You cannot be afraid of not knowing what to say. You cannot be afraid of not knowing what to do.

Because if you truly love God.

And you truly love your neighbor, you're going to stand up for what's right. One of the most hateful things that you can do is not share your faith because you're scared of what people think. Anybody know Penn Jillette?

Magician?

Not really, but. Illusionist, I guess you could say. Penn Jillette, many years ago, I think it was like 20 years ago, was approached by a Christian man who gave him a gift. He gave him a Bible. And in the Bible was the message of the gospel.

Now, I don't know why Penn Jillette decided to do this, but he decided to get on camera, on social media, I'm not sure exactly what the platform was. And he started sharing how, about the story, this Christian man that came to him to give him a Bible with the gospel inside of it.

And what he said was this, now keep in mind, he's an atheist.

He says this,.

How hateful do you have to be not to share this with someone if this is what you truly believe? Now, this is an atheist recognizing that if a Christian does not share the gospel, what he or she is doing is being hateful to his fellow man.

If he can see that, why can't we? Do we not have the Holy Spirit?

Of course we do.

There's no excuse to not share the gospel. Not evangelizing because of what people think about you may actually mean that you are more concerned with what people think of you than what God thinks of you.

Turn real quick to Galatians 1 .10.

It says this,.

For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. My brethren, you don't have a choice. This is not optional for the Christian.

If you are a slave to Christ, you must share the gospel. Paul, in this text, it says servant, but in the original Greek, you'll find the word doulos. Do you know what that means?

It means slave.

We are free in Christ, but we are slaves of Christ. It's a lot of tension in the Bible, as my brother Jonathan and I were talking about before we came in after lunch. We have freedom in Christ, but you're not free to do whatever you want.

Brothers and sisters, not evangelizing because you think, what's the point? They're not even gonna care anyway, is actually doubting the power of the Holy Spirit. Because you might say, well, I'm not scared.

It's not that I'm scared, it's that I don't think it's going to work.

Well, guess what?

That's not up to you. Those whom receive the gospel are loved and chosen by God. Look at verse four. For we know, brothers, loved by God, that he has chosen you. What does it mean to be loved by God? Well, the text actually answers that question.

It says that he has chosen you.

For what?

To receive the full conviction of the gospel. And we see that in verse five. And therefore, you can be saved. What would happen to us if God hadn't chosen us? Where would we be?

Amen.

I don't want to use this pulpit to share my testimony and that's not what I'm going to do. But I can tell you this much. I was destined for hell before God took hold of me. And sadly, I have many family members who are still destined for hell and I'm praying for them.

But the reality is that if you do not have Christ, that's where you're going to go. Now, I'm here to talk about the Holy Spirit, but this is a reality, brothers and sisters. People don't like to think about it, but it's the truth.

We deserve hell. We deserve punishment. You might say to yourself, well, no, I don't. You're lying to yourself. Maybe you're comparing yourself to someone else. Maybe you are thinking everybody sins. Whatever the case may be, you're making excuses.

Because if you stand before a holy God who knows no sin, you're not going to have a good enough excuse. And so those of us who have been saved, who have been chosen, we have no right to boast because it was completely a work of the Holy Spirit.

And that is the same Holy Spirit that is in you that is now convicting you to go and evangelize. Now, it's in God's hands to save, not ours, because he is the one that chooses. And I think that's really, really important because a lot of times we can get so frustrated with our loved ones, not understanding, not being interested, not looking to Christ.

And we say, I just have to try something else. I'm going to share a personal story, which I said I wouldn't do, but I'm going to do it anyway. Somebody in my wife's family recently started going to our church and they thought it was boring.

And so what somebody else in the family said is, let's get them to a more entertaining church.

Brothers and sisters,.

That's just putting the last flower on the casket. You're saying they might as well die. Because if you take somebody to a church that has plenty of entertainment, but no gospel, no biblical truth, no word of God being preached, they might as well be dead because they are.

It is up to God to save, but God uses us and commands us to go share the gospel. He is the one that chooses and we are his instruments. So when you preach the gospel, brethren, do everything in your power to reason with people.

The Holy Spirit uses that. But at the same time, one has to have a supernatural understanding given by God himself to accept the gospel. We're going to look at two texts. So I do apologize. I know I have you guys jumping around a lot, but I want you to look at it.

We're going to look at Acts 17, one through three, and 1 Corinthians 2, 14. So first, please go with me to Acts 17, one through three. And once we're done there, just be prepared to go to over to 1 Corinthians 2, 14.

The word says this.

Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis, excuse me, Amplonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in as was his custom. And on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead and saying, this Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.

Did you notice who Paul was addressing in this passage? The Thessalonians, the same Thessalonians that are being addressed in the passage we are reading now.

And what does it say Paul did with them?

He reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving to them that Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. And that's exactly what we're called to do. We have to reason with people. We have to guide them through what the Bible teaches to explain the gospel to them.

In other words, we have to engage with their mind. But at the same time, there's something more profound that needs to happen. So let's look at 1 Corinthians 2, 14.

It says this,.

The natural person does not accept the things of the spirit of God, for they are folly to him. And he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Brethren, the gospel is supernaturally discerned only with the help of the Holy Spirit.

When we are in our natural sinful state, we don't want the gospel and we can't really even understand it. Man loves the darkness rather than the light as John 3, 19 tells us. And until the Holy Spirit opens up our heart to hear the gospel as he did with Lydia in Acts 16, 14, we will not accept the wonderful news that God gave his only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

This is why sometimes people scoff. What's the most popular verse in the Bible? John 3, 16, the one I just quoted. Now, maybe you could say, okay, well, people are just desensitized to it. I don't think that's the case.

I think people just think it's ridiculous. Don't let that fact discourage you, brethren. Love your neighbor. Don't worry about he or she is going to react. You are a slave of Christ. Serve him faithfully and trust that the Holy Spirit will use you to reach the lost.

And as Jesus did with the apostles in Luke 24, 45,.

At the right time,.

The Holy Spirit will go to God's elect and open up their minds to understand the scriptures. You just worry about planting that seed. Point three, the one who shares the gospel is motivated by love above all things.

Gospel Motive: Love for God, Neighbor, and the Lost

Look at the second part of verse five. You know what kind of men we prove to be among you for your sake. This is back in 1 Thessalonians. Paul here points to the fact that he didn't just walk over to the Thessalonians and demand that they believe what he had to tell them.

No, he proved to them that at heart, his concern was for them. How did he do that? He says that he, Silas, and Timothy were among them. They were friends to them. They loved them. Paul showed them that he wasn't just like other men who didn't really care about other people.

He was a light in the darkness to them. While other people act like the priest and Levite who passed by the man who was robbed, Paul, Silas, and Timothy were the good Samaritans to the Thessalonians.

But I have a question.

Do you do that at work? Do you do that with your neighbors? It's gonna get awkward, right? If they reject the gospel. Now that you know you're one of those Christians, brethren, I'm exhorting you to stop being cowardly.

I'm exhorting myself to stop being cowardly because we have the Holy Spirit. Why do we forget that so much? I don't know. Maybe it's a little thing called the flesh, but we're failing often to look to Christ.

And I'm telling you today, look to Christ. Remember his promises. Remember that you have the Holy Spirit within you. Do not walk according to the flesh.

Walk according to the Spirit.

Someone who shares the gospel has been transformed by the gospel themselves. Consider who is writing the letter to the Thessalonians. It's the Apostle Paul. If you're new to the Christian faith, you may not be familiar with who Paul is.

So just in case, let's take a quick look at Galatians 1, 11 to 14. This is what Paul writes. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

For you have heard of my former life in Judaism. And look at this, pay attention to this. How I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people.

So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Paul was trying to destroy the church. That's who God saved. Paul was once a persecutor of the church of Jesus Christ.

So what changed?

How did a man who hates Christian, who hated Christian so much, become a Christian himself? A miracle. God himself changed his heart such that a man who once persecuted Christians now was proving himself to be a man who loved God and loved others.

That many might be saved through his proclaiming of the gospel. In other words, Paul proved what kind of man he was. He was a man concerned more with the glory of God and the wellbeing of his neighbor than himself.

He was a selfless man. So we must preach the gospel always with love in mind. Brethren, we must have a love for God. We must have a desire for him to be glorified in everything and have a love for everyone around you, praying for other salvation and proclaiming the gospel as often as the opportunity arises.

That many might be saved. I think sometimes we get scared, right? Even if we are bold enough to proclaim the gospel, we think, I don't know if this is going to work. But that's not what the Bible says.

And we need to stop thinking so pragmatically about things. And we need to trust in the power of the Holy Spirit. Walk in accordance with the spirit that lives in you. That same Holy Spirit who is love himself, as John tells us in 1 John 4.

I know, I know, look at me, I know that this is not always easy to do. I'm speaking from experience here. It goes against our very flesh to love those who aren't very lovable. Maybe for you, it's that really annoying coworker who is lazy and you have to do that extra work to make up for their lack of work.

Maybe it's the neighbor that has been playing loud music.

Till two in the morning.

When you have to wake up early the next day. Maybe I'm just using our personal experience. Maybe it's your own family members who you no longer talk to. But brothers and sisters, whoever it might be, it is not a choice to whether you're going to love them or not.

It is a command. You might say, well, I'm sorry, I just can't do that. Well, to that, I say, number one, stop disobeying God. I know this is well-known, but it's amazing how often this needs to be repeated.

Jesus told us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us. Listen, there's such a thing as righteous anger. And I think imprecatory prayers are in the Psalms for a good reason. We ought to be so zealous for God that we often pray for the enemies of God to end.

But you know what? The enemies of God can end the moment they become no longer enemies of God, when they become children of God. And so that leads me to my second point within a point. And I will remind you, brethren, that you were once enemies of God yourself.

Listen to what it says in Romans 5, 8. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Think about what that means. While we were still sinners, while we were out there doing all kinds of things that some of us can't even mention, doing all kinds of things that broke the hearts of our parents, that broke the hearts of others, that hurt deeply, not just ourselves, but other people.

When we were most unlovable, God loved us. Did Christ die for you? Then act like it. Do not be like the man who was forgiven a great debt, but then hypocritically expects a small debt owed to him to be paid right away.

That's not what we're called to do, brethren. And so point four, the Holy Spirit drives a truly changed heart to imitate Christ and others in Christ with joy,.

Joyful Imitation of Christ in the Midst of Affliction

Even in the midst of difficulty.

Let's look at verse six. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. Notice how the Thessalonians became imitators of both Christian men, in this case, Paul, Silas, and Timothy, and of Christ.

A lot of times today, I think we have this idea of imitating other men as bad, right? Even if they're Christian, we look at it as wrong because we say, well, that's a sinner. I'm not gonna imitate that person.

But Paul didn't seem to think that this was a bad thing. In fact, Paul, in 1 Corinthians 11, one says, be imitators of me as I am of Christ. We can learn from one another. We ought to learn from one another.

We ought to imitate each other, but only insofar as those people who we are imitating are imitating Christ. And we need to recognize that by the word and by the Holy Spirit. You would think that those who receive the gospel in the middle of difficulty would be likely to abandon it.

And in fact, many people do. Jesus makes that clear in the parable of the sower when he says that some receive the gospel like a seed,.

But the problems of this world,.

Like thorns around a growing plant, choke the word out of them. The Thessalonians did not receive the word merely from a human context, though, but from a supernatural context with the joy of the Holy Spirit, almost as if the Holy Spirit made them like good soil, ready to produce an abundance from the planted seed of the word.

So the evidence of the Holy Spirit's work is found in how man is changed. A man in Christ is a changed man, a man who no longer walks in accordance with his old ways, but seeks to be an imitator of other Christians and seeks to be an imitator of Christ himself.

Now, does that mean that he's perfect? No, no. I don't know what it was like for you, but I would imagine that when you first became a Christian, you struggled with some things. And maybe some people were looking at you and wondering, is that person really even converted?

Is she converted? Did he trust in Christ? It takes time sometimes. Not everybody can be my grandfather. My grandfather became a Christian, I think I was 25 years old, after being a raging alcoholic, and he went home that same day and dumped out all his alcohol and never drank a sip again.

And praise God for that. The Holy Spirit can and does convict people to do amazing things like that, but that's not always how it goes. Many of us have had to go through much trial and much sanctification to shed our old life slowly from us, yet not us, but the Holy Spirit who is working in us.

Our aim ultimately is to be more like Christ and those who follow Christ. A man in Christ has the joy of the Holy Spirit. He knows he is no longer condemned for his former sins, but that he has the promise of eternal life.

How does he know this? Well, he believes what the scriptures tell him about Jesus Christ. Why does he believe? Because of the work of the Holy Spirit in him. And that is his greatest source of joy.

Brothers and sisters,.

If you find joy in something more than you do in the word of God and the promises of the Holy Spirit in God himself, you need the gospel. And if you're a believer and you're struggling with that, you need to stop looking at whatever it is that you're looking at, stop looking for whatever it is that you're looking for and start looking to Christ.

Your evangelism must be rooted in the joy of the Holy Spirit. Part of the reason why we can't evangelize is because we don't find joy in God. Who does this verse in verse six say that the Thessalonians were imitating?

Paul and company, right?

And how did they imitate them?

It says that they received the gospel with much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit. In other words, one of the things that Thessalonians imitated was Paul and company's joy. My brethren, when you share the gospel, you must share it with joy.

It's something joyful and people need to see that in you. Imagine if I started preaching the gospel, I'm like, repent and trust in Jesus Christ. We don't do that, right? That's not authentic. That's you're walking in the flesh.

Even though it might seem like you're walking in the spirit because you're checking off a list.

Of things that you need to do.

You must share the gospel joyfully. The Holy Spirit uses your joy to give others joy. Listen to that. The Holy Spirit uses your joy to give others joy. Now we don't think about that much, but it's something that we have to reflect on.

It's something that we have to think about. Am I imitating Christ? Am I being joyful in all circumstances? Am I imitating Paul? Am I imitating my pastor?

Yes, even him.

I know some dirty secrets about my pastor, but I'm still gonna imitate him because while he's not a perfect picture of Christ, he is a picture of Christ because he has the Holy Spirit in him. My brethren, if you don't find joy in preaching the gospel, people are not going to understand why it's joyful.

Someone who has truly believed the gospel does so with joy, as I said. If you simply scare someone into believing, but they find no joy in receiving the gospel, then perhaps you haven't shared the gospel with them at all.

The gospel isn't merely an escape from hell. It is the privilege of becoming a child of God, knowing that your sins are forgiven and that you have found freedom in Christ. Look at John 1 .12, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

Brethren, do you believe that? I doubt it sometimes, but it's not because I'm walking like a Christian.

In those moments.

It's because I'm walking according to my flesh and I need to stop doing that and look to Christ and his promises. That's how you walk according to the spirit. So finally, let's look at point five. Even those who are recently born again can be an example to believers.

Recent Believers as an Example to the Church

Look at verse seven. So that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and Ikea. Notice how quickly the Thessalonians became an encouragement to other people. They believe the gospel, they receive it with much affliction, the text says,.

And it is so amazing.

That they immediately have an impact on other believers. Macedonia is an entire province, part of where Thessalonica was located. It's a province in Greece. And so when Paul tells them that they became an example to all the believers in Macedonia, what he's saying is that they had an impact throughout the whole region, meaning not just in their own town or even in their own church, in the entire region.