Cheer UP! Podcast
Cheer UP! Podcast
Journeying With Philemon and Onesimus
From a thief to a brother— Onesimus' journey is proof that change is possible. Join us as we explore the power of forgiveness in our recent episode! What's your story of redemption? 🎧
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Hi and welcome to the Cheer Up Podcast. I am your host, Kara R Hunt, and with me is the sweet and savvy Sherri Swalwell. How are you doing today, Sherri? I?
Speaker 2:am doing really, really good and I'm trying to think I haven't read any. Well, right now I'm reading Amish fiction, which is amazing. I absolutely love Shelley Shepard Gray. Well, I love a lot of Amish fiction, which is amazing. I absolutely love Shelley Shepard Gray. Well, I love a lot of Amish writers, to be honest. But it's just like what you were talking about last week, tara. I love reading Christian fiction, regardless of the genre. There's a couple of genres I just am not super interested in, just simply because of my personality, but I love when God is involved and when it's a biblical like, when it brings me back to just a relationship with God. Honestly, every area of my life if it points back to him, I'm happy. So, yes, I am fantastic today. How about you?
Speaker 1:For those of you who don't know, last week we kind of just had a brief discussion, before we got into the topic of the disciples, about novels that really kind of pique our attention, and especially Christian novels that really really emphasize faith within the characters and or in the storyline, and so, and that's what we were and that's exactly what we were talking about. And there's different types of novels out there and, like she was saying, there's even Amish novel writers and things like that. It kind of just depends on what you like to read. I'm more of a political and legal thriller kind of gal, a little mystery and suspense thrown in. But I know others aren't. They like romance or clean romance. I should say sweet, clean romances and things like that. But yeah, and for those of you who don't know, sherry and I are both authors and she would tell you more about that at the end of the podcast.
Speaker 1:But right now I just want to say thank you to all of our new listeners on the Chirp podcast. Thank you so much. We see you guys, we see the different countries being added excuse me, the different nations that are being added, and the different cities and the different states, and it just continues to grow and recently Chirp Nation. You just blew us away. You just blew us away with the amount of downloads and everything else that we've been having recently. So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1:I don't want any of our listeners to ever think we take you for granted. We don't. We appreciate each and every last one of you and if you've been blessed by the Chair Podcast, we just ask that you continue to share it, each and every last one of you. And if you've been blessed by the Churro podcast, we just ask that you continue to share it, download like it, share it Again. That helps in the algorithm, especially for those who are just looking for inspirational, christian-filled, topic-type podcasts.
Speaker 1:So that really helps it. If you download it, like it and or share it, especially share it with your friends who are looking for a podcast like this. If you've it, like it and or share it, especially share with your friends who are looking for a podcast like this. If you've been blessed by it, and for those of you who are new, welcome. We are so excited to be able to have you join True Nation and we again, we appreciate you more than we could ever express with words and right now we're getting ready to go into. So last week and for the past couple of months, as you guys know, we have been doing biblical figures of the Old Testament, and right now, excuse me, let me take that back.
Speaker 2:New.
Speaker 1:Testament, new Testament I am so sorry, we did the Old Testament too, but that was earlier in the year. But no, we're doing the New Testament, the Old Testament too, but that was earlier in the year. So, but no, we're doing the New Testament and we're just talking about some of the biblical figures there that just were really prominent not so prominent, but made a huge impact on the early Christian church and how they are still and what they've been through and what they've done, how they can still make an impact in our lives today. And today we're going to talk about and again, I was talking to Sherry about this beforehand, because I don't know, my pronunciation of some of these words, of some of these names, is a little bit different but so today we're going to talk about Philemon, am I right, sherry?
Speaker 2:That's how I say him.
Speaker 1:Okay, Philemon.
Speaker 2:If we're wrong, Philemon, we apologize.
Speaker 1:Oh, yes, you know, because I think I wanted to say Philemon or something like that. So Philemon, Philemon, and we're going to talk about Onesimus, and I'm saying that. Right, sherry, right, I think, onesimus, that's how I say it, okay.
Speaker 2:Onesimus, and I'm saying that right, sherry, right, I think.
Speaker 1:Onesimus, Okay, onesimus.
Speaker 2:When we go up to heaven, one of the or well, when we go up to heaven, Kara, we're just going to have to go up and just with an apology on our mouths, we are so sorry. We are so sorry.
Speaker 1:We're so sorry. We butchered your names. We tried, we really did Jesus sees our heart.
Speaker 2:Do you see our heart?
Speaker 1:Yes, we were trying and we're hoping we're not offending anyone by getting these wrong. No, honestly, we are really, really trying, and I just ask for your mercy and grace if I happen to slip up and say them incorrectly, but right now we're talking about this particular episode. We're talking about Philemon P-H-I-L-E-M-O-N and we're talking about Onesimus O-N-E-S-I-M-U-S. We are talking about these two together and, honestly, we really can't talk about these two together without mentioning Paul. However, we already discussed him in a previous episode.
Speaker 2:So we're not going to go. I'm interrupting for one second only because and I'm so sorry about the interrupting part but that just goes to show you how God took somebody who was an amazing sinner and flooded him throughout the entire Bible. You can't talk about most of the New Testament without Paul being a part of it. Like that speaks volumes in and of itself.
Speaker 1:So okay, now I'll shut up, Right, Well you got a point because he was also when we talked about Priscilla and Aquila. Remember Yep and Silas yes, and Silas yeah and Timothy yeah.
Speaker 2:So you're right, and Barnabas and Barnabas, don't forget him, right.
Speaker 1:So it's like whenever we, these characters, these biblical figures, come up in the New Testament, sherry's right, it's like you just can't. They were so Paul was just everywhere, okay, and he was doing his job and he was such a sinner.
Speaker 2:He was such a sinner, but yet, god, when God gets a hold of our lives, watch out, watch him Exactly. Yes, and we even talked, but yet, god, when God gets a hold of our lives, watch out, watch and see what happens.
Speaker 1:Exactly yes, and we even talked about that a little bit in last week's episode when we talked about the disciples. Right, and it is just amazing. You can't go wrong you just absolutely can't go wrong with having a relationship with Jesus, and Paul is one of the perfect New Testament examples of that. But I'm going to break them down because they're actually two very different people, philemon and Onesimus. They're actually obviously they're two different people, but one is they're just completely different. So I'm going to start with Philemon and just kind of give you a little. First of all, philemon is in the New Testament. A lot of people may not realize that because it is the shortest book of the Bible. I believe it is. I am almost positive. It is only one chapter. It's maybe a couple of verses, but I believe it's only one chapter, but it is absolutely the shortest book in the entire Bible, but definitely the New Testament. So he is in there, philemon. Yeah, philemon, sorry. So among all the converts of Paul, perhaps while at Ephesus, was one whom he called a fellow worker and that was Philemon. Philemon, I am so sorry. That was Philemon and that is talked about in one of the first verses of Philemon and he was probably. Philemon was probably a man of some means and he was celebrated for his hospitality Again, you can read all of this in the first chapter of Philemon. And it was also at his house. It was at Philemon's house that the Colossian Christians met as a center, so all of the Christians and Colossians kind of gathered at Philemon's house and it is more probable, it is probably more than probable that this was a group of the Colossian church rather than the entire ecclesia. I should say he was married. Philemon was married, his wife was named Aphia and he had a son who was named Archippus, a-r-c-h-i-p-p-u-s, p-u-s. And from Colossians 4, 17,. From Colossians the book of Colossians, chapter 4, 17, we learn that Archippus, philemon's son, also held an office of some importance in the city of Colossus. So his son was also a very important man. Some think he may. It's not clear whether he was just a presbyter or an evangelist, but in Philemon he is also called Paul's fellow soldier. The relationship between the apostle and Philemon was so close and intimate that Paul does not hesitate okay, he does not hesitate to press him to forgive his slave, his slave Onesimus, for stealing from him and for running away. And that shows you how close their relationship was right, and we will talk about this a little bit more. But I mean, you have to have a good friend that comes to you and be like hey, I know this person did wrong or whatever, but here I am, I'm kind of like standing in. I know this person did wrong or whatever, but here I am, I'm kind of like standing in the gap for this person right here.
Speaker 1:So now tradition says Philemon, who they say you know was a bishop of Colossus, and in the Greek martyrology M-A-R-T-Y-R-O-L-O-G-Y it's like a book of martyrs tells us that he, that Philemon, and his wife and his son and his slave Onesimus, were martyred by stoning before Androcles the governor in the days of Nero, hercules, the governor in the days of Nero. Now, that's just what the Greek martyrology says, but I just kind of want to throw that in there. So it looks like all of them were martyred together. They were stoned together, him, his wife, his son and his slave, onesimus. Okay, so now Philemon, like I said, he was a person in good standing, he was in high standing, probably high ranking. It sounds like here he may have been a bishop and he had a slave, and that was Onesimus, and Onesimus was a slave. Again, that's talked about in Philemon 1, chapter 1, verse 16. And he belonged to Philemon, who was a wealthy citizen of Colossus and a prominent member of the church there.
Speaker 1:Onosimus was still a heathen when he defrauded his master and ran off from Colossus. He found his way to Rome, where evil men tended to flock back then as a common place to go, as a lot of the historical journals kind of tells us that they did around that period. But in Rome, while he was in Rome, he came in contact with Paul, who was then in military custody. That is just amazing, right, because even while Paul is in well, let me just let me finish. So, anyway, what brought him into contact with Paul? No one really knows, because, again, paul was in military custody. But if God has plans and designs on your life, he will play chess and make moves that will put you together with that person.
Speaker 1:So it may have been pangs of hunger, it may have been the pangs of conscience, but you know, for some reason Onesimus could not forget, right, that in his master's house, in Philemon's house in Colossus, was where all the Christians met in their weekly assemblies for the worship of Christ. So obviously he couldn't forget how Philemon had many times spoken of Paul to whom he owed his conversion. Philemon did. And so now we have Onesimus in Rome which I don't believe in coincidences and Paul is also in Rome, and as a result of that, onesimus becomes a Christian. He is converted from his heathenistic lifestyle and he becomes, you know, a Christian. He becomes, you know, a Christian and he, which is like a big deal, is a big deal. And at the time, because Onesimus not only became converted with Paul to Christianity, but he also worked with Paul quite a lot, and Paul ends up writing this letter to he always was writing letters, but he ended up writing this letter anyway to Philemon, saying, hey, I'm sending Onesimus back to you and this is why, and, by the way, don't kill him. Okay so, but he furnishes Onesimus with a letter before he sends him back to his master, philemon. And I just want to say this thing Slavery in biblical days was different than like, especially if you're thinking American slavery and a history of that.
Speaker 1:It wasn't back then due to like the color of your skin. There were so many ways you could have become a slave of someone If your family owed them a debt of someone, if your family owed them a debt, if you were a foreigner, for example, and your nation was conquered by another nation and they took prisoners, they often became slaves. So there were so many different ways that a person could become a slave back then and most of the times, biblically, it had nothing to do with the color of your skin. It probably had to do more of if you were captured or if you were in debt and other things like that. So but he furnishes Onesimus a letter written by Titholaman and he says you know, I need you to return.
Speaker 1:But Onesimus was scared, right, because, returning to a city where it was well known that Onesimus was not a Christian or even an honest man, he needed someone to vouch for the reality of the change which had taken place in his life, because otherwise they would have said you're just a liar, you're a defrauder and a liar and you're a runaway and you know. So no one can trust you. But Paul had given him this letter to give to Philemon and when you read in Philemon, the book in the Bible, he talks about how he says Receive him, says the apostle, for he is my own very heart. So this shows you the significant change in Onesimus after his contact with Paul and after his conversion to Christianity. It goes on to say the man whom the Colossians had only known if they knew him at all as a worthless, runaway slave, is now commended to them as he was no longer a slave but a brother in Christ, because before they knew him as this hedonistic person, he was a thief. He had done all these bad things, which is probably one of the reasons he may have ended up a slave, and so they knew him as this way. But now he's returning different, and he has this letter from the Apostle Paul that's saying hey, I can vouch for this man. And having a letter from the Apostle Paul saying that was huge, was huge, just to put it in today's terms. It's almost as if you were going for a government job and the President of the United States himself highly recommended you, for example. Or if you're in England, like the Queen sent a letter with you, because in a Christian early church there was, like, no one else who could seriously vouch for you any better than Paul, and so and he says that to them. So now they're like wait, he's not dishonest and faithless, but now you're telling us that he's trustworthy and not worthy of contempt but of love. So, and this is quickly how things change. And then the apostle begs Philemon, paul begs Philemon, to give Onesimus the same reception as he would give to himself, that he would give to Paul. And he said whatever he has done, pay that to mine account, or some other phrases that he added in a letter. He's saying I will repay it. So, but all of that has changed.
Speaker 1:So Onesimus goes back and we have to remember that if Onesimus had just went back on his own, if he just had like a sway of conscience and be like you know what, I'm just going to go back and just face the consequences, the consequences would have been dire, would have been dire. It was allowable back then to stone a runaway slave, to kill them, a runaway slave to harm them in other types of ways. So if Philemon, even though he was a Christian and he was like the Bishop of Colossus or whatever, he was still within his rights to be able to, when Onesimus returned, to be able to do all these sorts of things to him, he could have had him killed and no one, probably even the Christians in the church, would have blinked an eye because that is the way that they dealt with them back then. So he couldn't if he had went back without that. He faced that possibility. So he couldn't if he had went back without that. He faced that possibility. Actually, he still faced that possibility.
Speaker 1:But he had this letter from Paul saying hey, I vouched for him. You know, pay this to my account, whatever he's done, you know, and everything else. And this is a changed man. So the layman knew that, wow, if Paul is vouching for him, then this must indeed be a changed man. So what am I going to do now? Like he stole from me, like he embarrassed me, Like he ran away from me, as a Christian, do I sit here and do I do what is my right and just have him killed? Because what about my other slaves? They're going to be like oh, he accepted Onesimus back, so if I run away and then I decide life is too hard and I come back, then you know, maybe he'll do the same to me. His reputation is at stake and a lot of other things. So it's one of those things to where God has orchestrated all of this.
Speaker 1:Because Philemon, he has to make that choice, and so does Onesimus. He has to make that choice, he has to trust in God that Philemon will accept Paul's word and that he will accept him back and he will be a part of the family again. And according to the Greek book of Martyrology, that he was massacred with them, stoned to death with them, it seems as though he actually accepted him back as a slave. Now I don't know how long after that happened that they were martyred. I'm going to guess a couple of years, if not decades. So if he was martyred along with the son and the wife and Philemon, that means that he accepted him back. And so it just once again goes to show you that when God enters a person's life, you could be a heathen, as the scripture, I believe, had described Onesimus.
Speaker 1:He was a thief. He had stole from. It wasn't just bad enough that he ran away, but he stole from Philemon and everything else, and so they both had decisions to make. As a Christian, philemon was like do I show him mercy, do I show him grace? Do I accept him back? At a sacrifice to me of me being looked down and mocked up on by, you know, my people in society, because they're going to say, oh my gosh, you're acting so weak. And at a sacrifice to me that some of the other slaves may actually think that it's okay for them to run so a great personal sacrifice.
Speaker 1:It seems like he accepted Onesimus back, accepted him as a brother in Christ and accepted him in love. And Onesimus had to do that same thing. He had to put his faith in God. That Paul actually vouching for him and standing up for him would be enough for Philemon to accept him back. Because again, onesimus could have said no and he could have said I'm not going back. He could still kill me, but he had to put his faith in God. He had Paul's letter, but that was not a guarantee. Philemon could have still killed him, you know, and so a lot of times. But look, if he was martyred with them, if you, you know, according to the Greek book of martyrology, then that means that they were together and so I. That just goes to show you on both sides.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we have to, not all the time, when we people have hurt us in our past and they've done some damage to our family and our lives and to our careers. Not often do they come with a letter from someone we highly esteem and say, hey, I can vouch for this person. I know they did you wrong. I know they stole from you. I know they ruined your career. I know that they broke up your church and everything else, but this is a changed man. I know that they broke up your church and everything else, but this is a changed man. So not a lot of times do we have that, but we do have the Holy Spirit that can help us when they do come back to us and they say I am sincerely sorry, please forgive me, I was wrong. I have you know, I have now seen the light. Just, please forgive me. I would never, ever do that again and everything else.
Speaker 1:And it's up to us, you know, as Christians, to be able to accept that Of course you know, if they don't have someone like that who could say that we really have to trust the Holy Spirit and say, lord, are they for real? Are they for real? Because I'm more than willing to forgive, but I can't invite them back into my life. I can't invite them back into my kids' life or back into the job, the business I run, knowing that they have done this in the past. But if they have truly accepted you as their Savior, then let me know. So back then they didn't have the Holy Spirit at that time, but we have it now.
Speaker 1:So if you've done something wrong and you're like, my family will never forgive me. My employer will never forgive me. I can never go back. I can never ask my job back. I can never go back to my spouse after what I've done. My kids will never forgive me. I'll probably never see them again. So if you think that that's the case and if you have truly given your life to Christ, he will make a way for it to happen, if you truly honestly desire this. So don't ever feel like you're too far gone that God can help you. And that's what I kind of wanted to say about Onesimus and Philemon. What did you want to ask, sherry?
Speaker 2:I think you did an amazing job. The only thing that my pastor did a sermon on this series, or did a sermon series on this story, this physical event, and he talked about the choice that Paul had. Paul really wanted Onesimus to stay with him, because Paul oh, that's right.
Speaker 2:Yes, he took him on as a mentor, as a brother, as a son. Not as a brother, but as a son. He really wanted Onesimus to stay with him and Paul, like you were talking talking about, had so much influence in the early church he could have said well, you know, those rules don't apply in this situation he could have.
Speaker 2:He could have swung it so that he could have um, kept an estimate with him and put some kind of rule or exception or something behind it and hope that it stuck. But he didn't. He was a man of integrity and he knew that he was, that there was a chance that philemon would not accept him, that philemon could kill him. He, I'm sure, said to anathemas you know what dude I'm? I'm recommending this because this is what the bible says.
Speaker 1:But it might not end well.
Speaker 2:I, like I'm going to do my part and do as much as I can to help it end well, but I'm not in charge here. Ultimately, it's the layman's choice. So everyone in this situation had a choice, and I really. We pray the sinner's prayer a lot of times on this podcast, and there's a part of the sinner's prayer that we pray that talks about forgive me for all that I have done wrong, and I choose to forgive all others.
Speaker 2:And every time I pray that prayer, I always think oh, I want to talk about that part. When we choose to surrender our lives to God, we are choosing to forgive all others. Like you said, that doesn't mean inviting them back into our lives and sitting them at our table and giving them our best meal. It doesn't mean not doing that, but it means God wants us to have healthy boundaries, and so it doesn't mean that we're opening ourselves up to continual hurt. But God, there is no choice. God tells us, god commands us to forgive, and this is one of the great examples of that forgiveness. We need to forgive, regardless of how it makes us look. We need to forgive, and actually, to be honest with you, there's more respect when you forgive, when you do the right thing, whether people are not, and who really cares what people think.
Speaker 2:Ultimately, you might lose followers. You might lose whatever. I don't even know what all the words are, but that, ultimately, isn't what matters. What matters is whether or not we're pleasing God, and in this situation, all three of these men had a choice to make, and all three of these men nailed it. They made the choice that pleased God. They ultimately didn't care what other people thought about them and instead they did what they knew God wanted them to do, and it turned out well for them in this situation. It doesn't mean it will always, but it did in this situation. But even when it doesn't turn out well, we can lay our heads down at the end of the day and close our eyes and say God, I did what you wanted me to do. My life looks like it's imploding right now, but I did what you wanted me to do. Life looks like it's imploding right now, but I did what you wanted me to do, and for that I can.
Speaker 1:I can close my eyes and I can.
Speaker 2:I can sleep peacefully, knowing that I made the right choice, and so I think that's the only part that I wanted to add, because you did such a great job. It was amazing and, on that note, next week, when we come back back, we're going to be talking about the sermon of the mount, so this is what jesus like this is an event, not a person.
Speaker 2:I mean, jesus is the person, but the sermon on the mount is what we're going to be talking about, and jesus is the one that gave the sermon on the mount. And, um, I'm like really excited because the Sermon on the Mount is something that is one of those parts of the Bible that has so much meat to it that you can read it every single day for a month and you still will pick it up on day 31 or day 32, and you'll find something new. Like that's how I feel about the Sermon on the Mount Like it's so much meat that God givesermon on the Mount, like it's just so much that God gives us in that. But thank you, tara, like thank you for breaking down Paul and Philemon and Anathemus, and like what a brotherhood. Like what started out as a boss and a slave and an apostle and they all became family. Isn't that like the epitome of the church? Isn't that the epitome of what God wants us to experience, the community that God wants us to experience?
Speaker 1:But get this too, though, onesimus if Philemon hadn't been having all those church services in his house, his slave wouldn't have heard about him or Paul. I mean, heard about God or Paul? Right, that's right, you know, and it's just so. If you're one of those people, one of our listeners, that hosts Bible studies and everything, you're like oh, yai, yai, nothing's changing. These people will never change, you know, or People will never change, you know, or nothing's happening, or anything. The seeds are being planted and you have no idea how God's going to use that.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm done. Well, you know, and you can say that even about your children Like if you're hosting a Bible study and say you have young kids running all around, you could be like, yeah, I'm not getting through to anybody, your kids are listening. You are making a difference and even if your kids are understanding a word of what you're saying, you are setting the example of we put God first in our lives and it makes a difference and it will come back and bloom and blossom and be fertilized, just like that seed that we talked about last week. The seeds need a chance to germinate before they can grow the fruit and before they can produce the harvest.
Speaker 2:But, on that note. John 16, 33 is our verse, and Jesus says these things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace In the world. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. You will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. There are no sweeter words than that and no more apt words with the historical event that we talked about today. They had no idea they were all in tribulation. Paul was in prison, clement had lost his slave and anathemas was like oh great, I gotta go back and pay my dues. There was tribulation and god said even in this tribulation, have peace, be of good cheer because I have overcome, and he does time and time and time again. Jesus overcomes. I love Exodus 14, 14. Be still, I will fight for you, says Jesus. All you have to do is be still, and I love that. Sometimes we have to put our foot in the river, sometimes we have to do the fighting, but more often than not, god just wants us to give up control, to surrender to him, and he will fight for us. We just need to sit back and listen and let the Holy Spirit speak to us.
Speaker 2:As Tara said at the beginning of the podcast today, she and I are both writers, so I am encouraging you and inviting you to go check out her website, tararhuntcom. You can see the series that she's working on the Habakkuk series. Go check out her books. They are amazing. You can also come over and check out my books. I have fiction and nonfiction. But I also want to encourage you to check out the membership on my website, sherryswellwellcom. If you want to grow your relationship with God as well as build a community with fellow believers who are growing their relationship with God, then I am encouraging you to check out the Bees in the Everyday membership, the monthly membership.
Speaker 2:If you need prayer or you need encouragement, drop us a line and email over at cheeruppodcasts at gmailcom, and we talk a lot about the Holy Spirit on the podcast and the way to get the Holy Spirit and the power of the Holy Spirit into our lives is first we have to surrender our lives to God. First we have to become a believer. We have to pray the prayer, as it says in Romans 10, 9, if we believe in, if we confess with our mouth and believe in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, jesus says you will be saved. We have that assurance. So first it takes a prayer of surrender and then after that it takes a prayer of receiving the Holy Spirit himself. So if you are at that place in your life where you want to become a believer, then I just want to encourage you to pray this prayer from the heart with me right now. And if you once you have done that, or if you have already done that and you're like, well, I don't understand this whole Holy Spirit thing, drop us a line, an email at cheeruppodcastgmailcom and we will be more than happy to have a conversation with you.
Speaker 2:It's just as easy as surrendering your life to God as it is to ignite the power of the Holy Spirit, that the Holy Spirit who comes into our lives when we surrender our lives to God. So he is already there. But there is a way to ignite that power, and I'll tell you I have lived before igniting the power of the Holy Spirit and I have lived after igniting the power of the Holy Spirit. Do trials and tribulations still happen? Yep, sometimes more so because I've made the enemy even more mad, but that's a story for another day. But there's nothing like having the power of the Holy Spirit. It made it so that when they were being faced, when they were facing persecution, they were able to um, to withstand it, and not just withstand it but praise God through it. Like. The power of the Holy Spirit is like nothing else, um. But before you can have that and experience that, you need to surrender your life to God.
Speaker 2:So if that is something that is on your heart and that you want to do, I want to end our podcast today with the prayer of salvation. So repeat this prayer with me if that is where you're at in your life right now. Oh heavenly father, I come to you in Jesus' name. I believe you died on the cross and that you rose again and you're seated on the throne. Jesus, forgive me for all that I have done wrong, and I choose to forgive all others. Come into my life today and forever. I am yours In Jesus' name, amen. I want to say welcome to the family.
Speaker 2:If you just prayed that prayer, let us know over on the in our email, cheeruppodcasts at gmailcom, or head over to the Facebook group Cheer Up Podcast and let us all know and become a part of that community and that family there as well. Also, we encourage you to join our Bible Believer Church and if you have questions about how to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit, email us, put it into the Facebook group, but don't let those questions stay unanswered. Have a wonderful rest of your day. I hope you enjoyed our discussion about Paul, philemon and Onesimus. Carol, I thought, did an amazing job telling us all about them. I feel like they're my friends now. Can't wait to meet them up in heaven and join us again for another exciting episode next week when we start to talk about the sermon on the mountain.
