The Life We Take On Together

Lesson 13 • The Life We Take On Together — The Covenant You Are Going to Sign — New Members (discipleship class).

The Body · The Home · The Congregation · The Mind

Marcas do Evangelho (church in Cariacica, Brazil) — Assemblies of God · Cariacica/ES • New Members Class • 3rd Quarter of 2026.

✶ Golden Text — Titus 2:11-12

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age," (Titus 2:11-12)

• Study Texts — Titus 2:11-12 · Romans 12:1-2 · 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 · 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 · 1 Timothy 2:9-10 · Ephesians 5:22-33
• Bible version — Scripture quotations follow the Berean Standard Bible (BSB). Greek transliterations follow the usual academic standard.

The Final Class

Beloved new member, this is the thirteenth and final class of our course. Throughout this quarter we have walked through much of our Church Covenant — the Word, the Gospel, conversion, membership, discipline, holiness, prayer and fasting, the ordinances, and stewardship.

Yet the Covenant has sections we have not opened together yet. And no one here is going to let you sign a document without understanding what is written in it — before or after the signature, the obligation of this house is the same: to explain. To do otherwise would be pastoral dishonesty.

So today's class is a walk through what remains, across four territories: your body, your home, your congregation, and your mind. And it ends with what comes after the signature.

First of All, a Necessary Warning

Today you are going to hear many concrete things: clothing, alcohol, dating, cell phones in the worship service, social media, marriage. And there is a real danger of leaving here with the wrong impression — that being a member of this church means keeping a checklist.

It does not. And the text that opens the modesty section in the Covenant is precisely what prevents that mistake:

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age," (Titus 2:11-12)

⚓ In the original — who teaches us to renounce

ἀρνησάμενοι (arnēsámenoi) — "renouncing, denying, refusing". It is the same verb Peter used when he denied the Lord, and the same one that appears when Jesus calls His disciples to deny themselves. Renouncing is not clenching your teeth and enduring: it is saying no from the inside out, because something greater has already won over the heart.

σωφρόνως (sōphrónōs) — "soberly, with self-control, with a sound mind". It comes from sṓzō (to save, to preserve) and phrḗn (mind). It is the preserved mind, not swept away by impulse. The same root returns in 1 Timothy 2:9, when Paul speaks of dress.

Notice who the teacher is in that verse. The one who teaches us to renounce is not the pastor, not the Covenant, not the tradition of the house. It is grace. The same grace that saves is the grace that educates: it arrives forgiving and remains teaching.

Therefore nothing you are going to hear today is the price of salvation. What you are going to hear is the way of life of someone who has already been saved and is now being educated by grace, within a house that has decided to walk together.

Grace does not save you to leave you as you were. It saves you and then teaches you.

And there is a second text that must lie beneath this entire class:

"Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)

⚓ In the original — the outward form and the inward form

συσχηματίζεσθε (syschēmatízesthe) — "do not be molded, do not take on the outward form". The root is schēma: the outward shape, the costume, the mold. It is the word for what is put on over the top and changed tomorrow.

μεταμορφοῦσθε (metamorphoûsthe) — "be transformed". The root is morphḗ: the essential form, what a thing is on the inside. From it comes our word metamorphosis. It is not changing clothes; it is the caterpillar becoming a butterfly.

It is all right there. The world works on the schēma — the appearance, the mold. God works on the morphḗ — the essence. And when the inside changes, the outside follows as a consequence, not by imposition.

Part 1 — The Body

We begin with the section of the Covenant that deals with modesty. It is the largest section of the entire document, and the most concrete.

1. The Body That Is Not Yours

All teaching on purity, alcohol, clothing, and dating rests upon a single truth. If that truth is not firm, the rest turns into mere regulation.

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)

In the last class we learned that you are a steward of what God has entrusted to you. Today the same logic steps down one rung and reaches your very skin: the body you walk around in is not your own property. It was bought, and the price was the blood of the Son of God.

That changes the question. The world's question is, "What do I want to do with my body?" The Christian's question is, "What pleases the One to Whom this body belongs?" And the second is not narrower than the first — it is freer, because it lifts off your shoulders the unbearable weight of being your own owner.

Our Covenant begins the section on modesty in exactly that tone:

"We will seek, with divine help, to live a life in holiness, renouncing all ungodliness and worldly passions. We will cultivate a passion for purity in all our attitudes, behaviors, and intentions."

— Church Covenant of ADME

Notice the final three words: attitudes, behaviors, and intentions. The first two are visible. The third is not. And it is the third that decides the other two. God is not fooled by correct behavior with a filthy intention — He reads the heart before He reads the schedule.

2. Addictions and Alcohol: Who Is in Charge?

"We will avoid and condemn all addictions, the use of alcoholic beverages, and every kind of sexual impurity and other sins expressed in the Word of God."

— Church Covenant of ADME

This is a clear commitment of our house, and it has solid biblical roots.

"“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything." (1 Corinthians 6:12)

⚓ In the original — who rules afterward

ἐξουσιασθήσομαι (exousiasthḗsomai) — "I will not let myself be mastered, I will not place myself under the authority of". It comes from exousía, authority. Notice Paul's argument: the question is not merely whether something is permitted — it is who rules over you afterward.

Here is the heart of the matter. Addiction is a change of master: a person starts out using and ends up being used, starts out thinking he is in control and one day discovers he is controlled. And one who was bought at a high price to serve one Lord does not hand his body over to the dominion of a substance, a habit, or a screen.

Addiction is not merely weakness of character. It is idolatry with a physical symptom — another lord sitting on the throne.

Concerning alcohol, Scripture is abundant. "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by them is not wise." (Proverbs 20:1) And Proverbs 23 describes the man who lingers long over wine — who is struck and does not feel it, and upon waking asks when he can drink again. It is a portrait of dependency written three thousand years ago.

And Paul draws a contrast that settles the matter for us:

"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to reckless indiscretion. Instead, be filled with the Spirit." (Ephesians 5:18)

Pay attention to the structure of the sentence. Paul does not contrast wine with water — he contrasts wine with the Holy Spirit. They are two competingnesses of fullness, two things that fill and alter the behavior of the one who receives them. And we, as a Pentecostal church, are a people who seek to be filled with the Spirit: it makes no sense to seek His fullness at the Tuesday prayer service and another fullness on Saturday night.

There is also the weaker brother:

"It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything to cause your brother to stumble." (Romans 14:21)

In a country where millions of families have been destroyed by alcoholism, the one who abstains is not merely guarding himself — he is removing a stumbling block from the path of someone who might not be able to stop at the first glass.

And the same test applies to everything that enslaves: cigarettes, drugs, gambling, pornography — as well as the addictions no one calls an addiction, the cell phone that never turns off, the series that steals the late hours of the night, the impulse buying that sinks the home into debt. The question is always the same: who is in charge?

A necessary word: if you read the paragraph above and recognized your own struggle, do not carry it alone and do not pull away from the church in shame. Speak with the leadership. No one here is going to expose you.

3. Purity Protected by Fleeing

This is the field in which our generation suffers the most and hears the truth the least. So let us go straight to the most explicit text in the New Testament on the subject.

"For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;" (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5)

⚓ In the original — the umbrella word and the vessel

πορνεία (porneía) — "sexual immorality". It is an umbrella word, and that is deliberate. It does not refer only to adultery: it covers every sexual relationship outside marriage between a man and a woman. From it comes our word pornography.

σκεῦος (skeuos) — "vessel, utensil, instrument". A vessel is an object set apart for a specific purpose — and using a sacred vessel for a common purpose is profanation.

Look at what Paul calls the will of God. Many people spend their lives searching for the will of God regarding their career, their city, their marriage — and here it is, spelled out in plain letters. If you want to know the will of God for your life, start with this one, which has already been revealed.

And the apostle adds two motivations. The first is the victim: that no one should wrong or defraud his brother in any matter (v. 6) — sexual sin always hurts someone. The second settles the question:

"Anyone, then, who rejects this command does not reject man but God, the very One who gives you His Holy Spirit." (1 Thessalonians 4:8)

Sexual sin is not a matter between you and your body. It is a matter between you and the Holy Spirit, Who dwells in it.

And what is the biblical strategy? It is not to resist — it is to flee. Scripture commands us to flee from sexual immorality (1 Corinthians 6:18) and to flee from youthful passions (2 Timothy 2:22). Joseph did not stand around arguing with Potiphar's wife: he left his cloak and ran. In almost every other battle the Christian stands firm and resists; in this one, he runs.

In practice: do not feed through a screen what you cannot live out in the flesh. Pornography is not a safety valve — it is training for adultery and the destruction of the capacity to love a real person. And if you are trapped in this, seek out the leadership in private. There is no shame in asking for help; there is tragedy in dying alone in the dark.

4. Dating and Courtship

"We, the young men and young women of ADME, will commit ourselves to purity and seriousness during dating, preferring 'courtship,' and being accompanied by prayer, by our parents, and by a mature counselor. We will avoid dating in adolescence, as it is a time that should be dedicated to other, more important matters of life."

— Church Covenant of ADME

There are three commitments here, and each one deserves explanation.

First: the preference for courtship. What is the difference? Dating, as our culture practices it, is a relationship of experimentation, without a defined commitment, which can drag on for years with no destination, with growing physical intimacy and no accountability to anyone. Courtship is a relationship entered into with the declared purpose of marriage, a reasonable timeframe, the involvement of both families, and purity preserved until the altar.

The Bible does not contain a dating manual, but it does give patterns. In Genesis 24, when a wife was sought for Isaac, the family was involved, prayer was involved, the purpose was declared from the very first day — and the final decision belonged to Rebekah, who was asked directly. It was not a fling that gradually turned into dating: it was a search conducted before God.

Second: accountability and guidance. The Covenant asks for three coverings: prayer, parents, and a mature counselor. This is not distrust of youth — it is wisdom, because someone who is in love does not see clearly, and that is the very nature of the thing (Proverbs 11:14). Introduce the person to your parents early on, talk with a leader, let someone know how things are going. A healthy relationship is not afraid of the light.

Third: avoiding dating in adolescence. This is the clause that raises the most questions. It is not that a teenager is incapable of loving — it is that he or she is not yet in a position to marry. And a relationship that cannot end in marriage within a reasonable timeframe usually produces one of two things: unbearable physical pressure or a string of breakups that trains the heart to attach and detach with ease. Neither prepares a person for a lifelong covenant. Adolescence is a time to form character, study, discover gifts, serve, and learn to walk with God alone before walking with someone else.

Dating is not a rehearsal. It is the hallway that leads to the altar — and anyone who enters it without wanting to get there is in the wrong hallway.

5. Dress: The Principle Before the Measure

We now come to the point of the Covenant that sparks the most conversation. And we are going to address it in the right order: first the biblical principle, then the concrete commitments of our house. Whoever inverts that order produces Pharisaism.

"Likewise, I want the women to adorn themselves with respectable apparel, with modesty, and with self-control, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, as is proper for women who profess to worship God." (1 Timothy 2:9-10)

⚓ In the original — order, modesty, and a sound mind

καταστολὴ κοσμία (katastolḗ kosmía) — "orderly attire, clothing in good order". Kósmios comes from kósmos: order, arrangement, an organized universe. From it also comes the word cosmetic. The central idea is neither ugliness nor carelessness — it is order, harmony, what is in its proper place.

αἰδώς (aidṓs) — "modesty, decency, reverent respect". It is the healthy sensibility that makes someone draw back from what would be shameful. It is neither fear nor repression: it is an inward sense of dignity.

σωφροσύνη (sōphrosýnē) — "self-control, sobriety of judgment". The same root as in our Golden Text. It is the sound mind governing impulse — including the impulse to draw attention to oneself.

Notice what Paul condemns: elaborate braids, gold, pearls, and expensive garments. The problem in Ephesus was ostentation — wealthy women using clothing to display status inside the church. And the apostle says that the adornment of a Christian woman is good works, not the price tag on her clothes.

In other words, immodesty has two faces, and we usually see only one. There is clothing that exposes the body, and there is clothing that displays the bank account. Both do the exact same thing: they pull toward themselves a gaze that ought to be elsewhere.

And Peter adds:

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair or gold jewelry or fine clothes, but from the inner disposition of your heart, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in God’s sight." (1 Peter 3:3-4)

Peter calls this imperishable attire: clothing that does not fade, does not go out of style, and never needs to be replaced.

Every piece of clothing you own will grow old. A gentle and quiet spirit is the only garment that never wears out.

The practical principle flows from this: clothing always communicates; no one dresses in silence. And the question in front of the mirror is not, "Do I look good?" — you may look good, and that is not a sin. It is: "What is this outfit saying, and where does it draw the eyes of those who see me?"

6. The Commitments of Our House

Upon this biblical principle, our church has taken on concrete commitments. They are written down, and that is what you sign.

For men, the Covenant commits to holiness in dress, avoiding clothes that are tight, short, low-cut, or attention-seeking; avoiding extravagant jewelry; and refraining from earrings, piercings, or tattoos.

Two observations. First: modesty is not just a women's issue — the Covenant starts with the men, and rightly so. Second, a pastoral word: if you already have tattoos from before your conversion, no one here is going to look askance at you. What is past is past, and the blood of Christ has already covered it. The commitment is from here forward.

For women, the Covenant commits to seemly, modest, and sober attire, avoiding clothes that are short, see-through, or low-cut; it sets the knee as the measure for dresses and skirts; it asks that long pants not be tight or low-waisted and that they be worn with a blouse reaching below the hips; it asks for light, discreet makeup; and it avoids large, extravagant jewelry.

Pay close attention: the Covenant does not forbid women from wearing long pants, it guides how to wear them; and it does not forbid makeup, it guides that it be light. Our house does not confuse modesty with sloppiness — a sister at Marcas do Evangelho can and should present herself well-groomed and attractive. Modesty is not ugliness; it is order, sobriety, and refusing to use the body as bait.

And the children. The Covenant commits parents to instructing their children from an early age to dress modestly. A child who grows up seeing this as natural will not experience adolescence as a battlefield. What is taught at six years old does not need to be imposed at sixteen.

7. What Is Commandment and What Is the Agreement of This House

Now we must be rigorously honest with you, because this protects your conscience and protects our church.

Not everything you have just heard carries the same weight. There are two levels, and confusing them produces Pharisaism on one side or rebellion on the other.

❖ Commandment of Scripture. Sexual purity, fleeing immorality, sobriety, not letting oneself be mastered by anything, decency in dress. That is not the opinion of ADME — it is the Word of God, and it holds true in every church, in every country, in every century.

❖ Application agreed upon by this house. The knee-length measure, the blouse covering the hips, the tone of makeup, total abstinence from alcohol. These are concrete applications of the biblical principle, agreed upon among us so that we may walk together without a weekly argument over every piece of clothing.

The first level binds every Christian. The second binds whoever signs this Covenant — and it truly binds, because a word given is a word given, as we saw in the class on vows. Yet it binds as a freely assumed covenant, not as divine law. And that is why no one here looks down with superiority on a believer from another church that applies these things differently: we are no more saved than anyone else because of a hemline.

And now Paul's warning, which must stand tall at the close of this section:

"If you have died with Christ to the spiritual forces of the world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its regulations: “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!”? These will all perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. Such restrictions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-prescribed worship, their false humility, and their harsh treatment of the body; but they are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh." (Colossians 2:20-23)

Read that carefully. An external rule has an appearance of wisdom, yet no power at all to restrain the flesh. You can dress someone in the most modest clothing in the world while the heart remains filthy inside.

A rule that does not reach the heart sanctifies no one. It only produces people who are tidy on the outside and exhausted on the inside.

So the test of this part of the class is not your wardrobe. It is this: do you renounce out of fear of the brothers' judgment, or because the grace of God has taught you to renounce? In the first case you will last a short time and suffer a great deal. In the second, clothing is merely the most visible consequence of something that happened much deeper down.

Part 2 — The Home

We now move to the section of the Covenant that deals with the family. It is short in text and enormous in weight, because it closes with a sentence that defines our priority: the family is our greatest treasure.

8. Husband and Wife

"We will strive to care for our family within divine standards; husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the church, and wives must be submissive to their husbands as the church is to Christ."

— Church Covenant of ADME

This clause is an almost word-for-word quotation of Ephesians 5, and we must read the whole passage so as not to distort it.

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25)

⚓ In the original — taking one's post, of one's own accord

ὑποτάσσω (hypotássō) — "to submit oneself, to place oneself in order under". It was a military term: the soldier taking his post in the formation. In Ephesians 5:22 the verb is in the middle voice — indicating voluntary action, something a person does of her own accord. No one submits another by force; imposed submission is not submission, it is domination.

And notice the proportion of the text: Paul devotes three verses to wives and nine to husbands. By far the heavier command falls on the man — to love as Christ loved the church, and Christ loved all the way to the cross.

Husband of this house: if you demand submission and do not lay down your life, you are demanding the half that is not yours to collect. The leadership Scripture entrusts to you is that of a servant: he provides, protects, sacrifices himself, and listens. The same chapter goes on to say that husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies (Ephesians 5:28), and Paul adds elsewhere that they must not be harsh with them (Colossians 3:19).

Wife of this house: the submission Paul asks for is not erasure, silence, or infantilization. It is the voluntary recognition of an order God established in the home, lived out toward a man who is obligated to love you to the death. And Peter calls the couple joint heirs of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7) — heirs together, on equal footing before God.

Christian marriage is not a hierarchy of worth. It is an order of function between two equals before God.

9. Divorce That Is Not Considered — and the Necessary Pastoral Word

"Spouses must care for one another's affection and never consider divorce as a way out."

— Church Covenant of ADME

There are two things in this sentence, and both are equally important.

The first is caring for affection. The Covenant does not merely say, "Do not get divorced" — it says, "Care for one another." A marriage does not die overnight; it dies from accumulated neglect, from years without conversation, without time, without tenderness, without praying together. Those who tend to affection do not reach the point of having to decide about divorce.

The second is our posture toward the word divorce, and here Scripture is dead serious:

"So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:6)

Malachi records that the LORD was witness between a man and the wife of his youth, and calls the wife his companion and the wife of his covenant (Malachi 2:14). God does not merely bless marriage: He is a witness to the covenant.

What the Covenant asks for is a posture — that divorce not be left sitting on the table as an available option for when marriage gets hard. Because marriage does get hard; every marriage does, in some season. And when the exit door is always in plain sight, the human tendency is to use it instead of fighting for the marriage.

Now the pastoral word, and it is mandatory. There is a difference between a difficult marriage and a home in danger. If there is violence, physical assault, threats, or abuse inside a home in this church, that is not a marriage going through a rough patch — that is someone in danger, and the answer is not to suffer in silence.

If this is your situation, or that of someone you know, seek out the leadership immediately. No one will be judged, exposed, or sent back into danger: safety is cared for first, and pastoral counseling follows after. Not a single clause of this Covenant was written to trap anyone inside violence, and no biblical text obligates anyone to remain at risk.

And for couples who are not in danger, but are weary: reach out as well. Most marriages that fall apart could have been saved if someone had been called in six months earlier. Do not wait for the fire to cry out for help.

10. Children

"We will biblically raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."

— Church Covenant of ADME

⚓ In the original — forming and explaining

παιδεία (paideía) — "discipline, formative instruction, upbringing". It is the whole education of a child — not merely correction, but the entire process of forming a human being.

νουθεσία (nouthesía) — "admonition, warning, instruction". It comes from noûs (mind) and títhēmi (to place). Literally: placing into the mind. It is correcting by speaking, explaining, and reaching the understanding — not merely imposing.

The two words appear together in Ephesians 6:4, and together they sketch out biblical parenting: forming and explaining. And the very same verse opens by warning parents:

"Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." (Ephesians 6:4)

God, Who commands parents to discipline, in the very same breath forbids discipline that humiliates. Correction that shames a child is not fulfilling that verse; it is disobeying the first half of it.

And there is the text our house takes as its program:

"These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts. And you shall teach them diligently to your children and speak of them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

It is not a weekly class. It is a conversation that runs through the entire day.

Your children's faith will not be formed in Sunday School (EBD) on Sunday. It will be formed at your dining table at home.

11. Couples' Gatherings

The Covenant commits the couples of this house to taking part in the gatherings organized by the church, to explaining any unavoidable absence, and to registering as soon as the dates are announced — treating the gathering as a priority above other activities, "for the family is our greatest treasure."

Why such rigor? Because a church is no stronger than the homes that make it up. A couple that takes care of itself sustains a ministry; a couple that falls apart brings one down. When this house invests in a couples' gathering, it is performing preventive maintenance on its greatest treasure.

Part 3 — The Congregation

We now turn to what the Covenant says about our life together: membership, worship services, Sunday School (EBD), and fellowship.

12. Reverence in the House of the Lord

The first section of our Covenant has fourteen clauses on how we conduct ourselves when we are gathered. Many people think that is a small thing. It is not.

"Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us be filled with gratitude, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. “For our God is a consuming fire.”" (Hebrews 12:28-29)

⚓ In the original — the posture of one who knows before Whom he stands

εὐλάβεια (eulábeia) — "reverence, godly caution, devout awe". It is not slavish fear: it is the natural care of someone who understands the difference between the common and the sacred.

Attendance, punctuality, and preparation. The Covenant commits every member not to forsake the gatherings of the congregation, to let the church know when unable to attend, and to arrive fifteen minutes early, prepared for the worship service. There are three things in a single sentence: the exhortation of Hebrews 10:25 not to neglect meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing; giving notice when absent, because in a family someone is missed and no one disappears without a word; and arriving early.

Think with me about this: someone who rushes in breathless in the middle of the first song needs twenty minutes just for his heart rate to slow down — and loses a third of the worship service getting settled. Fifteen minutes early is not a disciplinary rule; it is the time your soul needs to shift gears.

Order in the worship service. The Covenant asks that we watch over good order, that we not walk around during the preaching of the Word, and that we not hold conversations during the service. And it adds a precious sentence that often goes unnoticed: the worship service takes place across all the church premises. The hallway is not neutral ground. The chat at the back, the circle in the courtyard, the quick coffee during the sermon — all of that happens inside the worship service, not outside it. And whoever walks across the sanctuary while the Word is being preached pulls away the attention of dozens of people.

The cell phone. The Covenant asks that it not be used during the worship service: left at home, left in the car, turned off, or placed on silent — and it holds parents responsible for their children's devices. Notice the suggested order: the first option is the most radical, and intentionally so. We live in the first generation in church history in which every person carries in his pocket a device engineered to steal his attention. It vibrates, lights up, sends notifications. And the worship service is the only space in your week where God has your undivided attention — if you let Him.

You can be present in body and absent in attention. And God is not satisfied with just your body.

Children in the worship service. The Covenant asks that children and teenagers stay close to their parents, without walking around during the service, without toys and without treats, and that they be taught to obey the authorities of the church.

This is not harshness toward children; it is formation. A child who spends ten years playing at the back of the sanctuary learns that the worship service is the time when adults do boring things while he amuses himself. The child who sits beside his parents, watching his father close his eyes and his mother lift her hands, learns to worship by imitation — which is how children learn everything.

13. The Members' Meeting, Sunday School, and the Condition for Serving

There are two items on the calendar of this house that you have not heard about yet, and both matter.

The Biblical Exposition Service. Every Wednesday the church gathers for the exposition of the Word. It is the service where there is no emotional appeal, no special program, nothing other than the Bible being opened and explained. It is the service that forms the congregation over the medium term.

The Members' Meeting, on the first Sunday of every month. This is the gathering where the membership meets to deal with the life of the church: leadership gives an account, plans are presented, decisions are communicated and discussed, and the auditing committee presents its work. A member who never shows up there has given up the voice the Covenant gave him.

And the Covenant adds that repeated, unexcused absences are followed up on by the council. Understand the spirit of this before taking offense: it is not surveillance, it is care. No one is tallying absences in order to punish. Rather, systematic drifting is usually the first symptom of someone who is losing his way — and a family that notices early can go after him, ask what happened, and help. The alternative would be a church where you could vanish for six months and no one would notice. That is not freedom; that is abandonment by another name.

Notice also that the Members' Meeting takes place on the same Sunday as the Lord's Supper. The morning is for governance; the evening is for the table. The church settles its business before sitting down together to eat.

Sunday School and the condition for serving. The section of the Covenant on Sunday School brings a clause that surprises many people: no member may hold a role in any ministry unless he is a faithful, regular student in Sunday School, and anyone who is not regular is stepped down from his duties.

Read that again. It is not a recommendation — it is a condition. In this house, whoever does not study does not serve.

Why? Because everyone who serves teaches, even without speaking. The deacon teaches by the way he welcomes people, the children's teacher by what she knows, the musician by what he chooses to sing. And no one can give what he does not have: ministry without formation turns into mere activity, and religious activity without doctrine is what produces a shallow church.

In this house, the pulpit and the Sunday School desk walk together.

14. The Tongue: What We Renounce in Fellowship

We now come to the clause that, in pastoral experience, is the most violated in every church in Brazil — and the least preached about.

"We will renounce all slander, anger, bitterness, vengeance, defamation, lying, and corrupt talk from our midst. We will cultivate forgiveness, love, gentleness, humility, and kindness."

— Church Covenant of ADME

Seven renunciations and five virtues to cultivate. Let us look at three words in the original Greek, because they are razor-sharp.

⚓ In the original — speaking down, the root, and rotten food

καταλαλιά (katalaliá) — "slander, backbiting, murmuring against someone". Literally: speaking down about a person. Paul lists it in 2 Corinthians 12:20 among the sins he feared finding in Corinth, alongside quarreling and factions. It is the sin that kills churches from the inside without ever showing up in the bulletin.

πικρία (pikría) — "bitterness". In Ephesians 4:31 Paul commands that it be put away from among us, along with wrath and clamor. Hebrews 12:15 speaks of a root of bitterness that springs up, causes trouble, and defiles many — notice: many. Bitterness never stays alone; it spreads.

σαπρὸς λόγος (saprós lógos) — "corrupt, rotten talk". Saprós was the word for spoiled fish, for rotting fruit. God classifies certain conversations as rotten food: what comes out of someone's mouth and sickens whoever takes it in.

And the verse does not stop at the prohibition — it gives the replacement:

"Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29)

The standard for Christian speech is not merely doing no harm; it is doing good. Every conversation of yours ought to leave the other person a little better than you found him.

Most churches do not die of heresy. They die of hallway conversation.

In practice, here are four rules that fit in your pocket. If you have a problem with a brother, speak with him, not about him. If someone comes to tell you something about a third party, ask whether he has already spoken with that person. If a matter reaches your ears and you are neither part of the problem nor part of the solution, it stops with you. And the group chat is no exception — Scripture leaves no loophole for what is typed.

The section also adds accepting the admonition of the brothers with humility whenever we are at fault, and closes with a beautiful commitment: when we move away from this place, we will unite with another church where we can fulfill the spirit of this Covenant and the principles of the Word of God.

In other words: if one day life takes you to another city, the commitment does not end — it transfers. You do not leave this house to become a churchless believer. You leave this house to plant yourself in another.

Part 4 — The Mind

We have already covered much of the Covenant section that deals with doctrine. Yet there is one clause we have not opened yet, and it is of the utmost urgency for our generation.

15. What You Consume

The Covenant commits every member to being careful with sources that teach a doctrinal line different from the one believed by this house — authors, blogs, websites, and books — and notes that the leadership recommends readings for spiritual growth.

Think about what has changed. Fifty years ago a believer heard his pastor on Sunday and perhaps a radio broadcast. Today he is reached every single day by dozens of voices he never chose to hear: preachers in short videos, accounts posting verses, algorithms pushing whatever triggers a reaction.

And here is the problem: the algorithm does not select for truth; it selects for engagement. Whatever grabs attention rises to the top; whatever is faithful and sober disappears. As a result, someone can spend years in a healthy church and have his theology shaped by voices he would never invite to preach from his own pulpit.

You have chosen your pastor. Yet someone else is choosing what you listen to the rest of the week.

That is why this commitment is neither censorship nor a fear of thinking. It is the very same prudence of the Bereans:

"Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true." (Acts 17:11)

They did not swallow even Paul himself without checking first. And John commands the same thing:

"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1)

Three practical counsels. Know whom you are listening to — if you do not know what church a person belongs to and what he believes, you do not know what you are taking in. Distrust whatever is always brand-new — an unheard-of revelation, a key nobody else has seen, a secret hidden for centuries is not depth; it is a warning sign. And ask: if something does not line up with what you have learned here, bring it to the leadership instead of sorting it out alone.

Our confession follows the doctrinal tenets of our denomination, and that statement serves as a protective shield against drift. It is not a straitjacket — it is a fence around a field where we can walk in freedom.

16. The Harpa Cristã and the Heritage of the Pentecostal Fathers

The Covenant commits this house to beginning worship services by praying and singing the hymns of the Harpa Cristã (the Brazilian Assemblies of God hymnal), preserving the heritage of the Pentecostal Fathers, and establishes that all our praise will be biblical and Christ-centered.

Have you noticed that our worship services begin with a hymn from the Harpa Cristã? That is not nostalgia. It is theology.

The hymns of the Harpa Cristã were written by people who suffered — persecution, poverty, sickness without a doctor, the loss of children. They were not composed in a studio to play well on the radio, and for that very reason they say things that many light songs of today cannot say. When the church sings the Harpa Cristã, it borrows the voice of a generation that has already walked through the valley and come out on the other side.

And there is the heritage. In 1911, two poor Swedes arrived in Belém do Pará carrying what they had received from a revival that came out of the United States. They brought neither structure, nor money, nor prestige: they brought an open Bible, fervent prayer, and brotherly fellowship. That is the root we came from, and that is what the hymns preserve.

Our house sings new songs as well, and sings them with joy. Yet all praise passes through two filters established by the Covenant: it must be biblical and it must be Christ-centered. If the lyrics are not faithful to Scripture, it does not come in. If the lyrics speak more about me than about Christ, it does not come in.

Part 5 — Now it is your turn

We have reached the end of the Covenant and the end of the quarter. And it is time to turn the tables.

For thirteen classes you have been the object of this house's care: you were interviewed, welcomed, contacted by the leaders, enrolled, accompanied. Someone prayed for you by name even before you were welcomed. Starting today, that is reversed.

17. The whole church integrates

There is a comfortable lie spread across Brazilian churches: that welcoming people is the job of the greeting team. It is not. It is the job of every member.

⚓ In the original — love for the stranger

φιλοξενία (philoxenía) — "hospitality". Literally: love for the stranger — from philos (love) and xénos (stranger, foreigner). Notice that the exact opposite of this word, in English, is xenophobia. The New Testament commands the church to be the place where the stranger is loved, and not feared.

Paul commands: "Share with the saints who are in need. Practice hospitality." (Romans 12:13). Peter adds: "Show hospitality to one another without complaining." (1 Peter 4:9). And Hebrews gives the most surprising reason of all:

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2)

Remember your first Sunday here? That mix of curiosity and discomfort, not knowing where to sit or when to stand up? Someone came up to you. And that is why you are here today.

Someone crossed the room for you. Now there is someone on the other side waiting for you to cross.

18. The four disciplines of a welcoming member

Our house has four concrete disciplines of welcoming. They are simple, they are practical, and any member can practice them starting next Sunday.

❖ The two-minute rule. In the first two minutes after the final amen, you do not look for your friends. You look for those who came from outside. You talk with the members later. This reversal of priority is the gesture that most distinguishes a family-church from a club-church.

❖ Eye-to-eye contact. No visitor should leave here without being looked in the eye by at least three members. Looking someone in the eye communicates before a word is spoken: that the person has been seen, that they exist, that they matter. That is how it was with Zacchaeus — Jesus looked up and saw him (Luke 19:5). In a city where no one looks at anyone, this is the Gospel without words.

❖ Their own name. Ask it, repeat it, memorize it. Proverbs 22:1 says that a good name is worth more than great riches, and the Good Shepherd calls His own sheep by name (John 10:3). Addressing someone by name is the opposite of treating them like a number. And if you forget, ask again, without embarrassment.

❖ The seat beside them. A visitor who is alone does not remain alone. If you see someone isolated, sit beside them; do not nod from afar, come close and introduce yourself. In almost every case the person feels relieved — and in the rare cases where they prefer to be alone, you have welcomed them too, by respecting their boundary.

Notice that none of the four requires a special gift, office, or training. It only requires that you decide the discomfort of starting a conversation with a stranger is smaller than that of someone leaving here without having been seen.

19. The Care Partner

When you were welcomed, someone was assigned to walk with you during the first months: the Care Partner. This is a longer-standing member, responsible for not letting you get lost along the way — someone who sends a message, sits beside you, notices when you have missed two Sundays in a row.

This is not an organizational chart. It is the practical application of Hebrews 3:13:

"But exhort one another daily, as long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness." (Hebrews 3:13)

Every day, the text says — because the heart hardens slowly, and almost always without its owner noticing.

And now comes the point: it will not be long before the leadership asks you to be someone's Care Partner. You will receive a name, a newly arrived family, someone who is in the exact place where you were thirteen weeks ago. That is how this house works: whoever was cared for, cares; whoever was welcomed, welcomes. No one stays forever in the position of only receiving.

20. What happens from now on

Clearly, the next steps of your path here:

• You sign the Church Covenant in a Lord's Supper service, before the assembled congregation. The document is read publicly, and the whole church renews with you the commitments it has already taken on.
• You are welcomed to the Lord's Table as a member. And now you understand why the reception happens there: you enter the family at the exact moment when the family is at the table.
• Your 180-day journey continues until the Declaration of Consolidation, with accompaniment along the way.
• You continue in Sunday School (EBD), now in the regular classes by age group, and you will be called to serve in some ministry of the house.
• And you will receive, sooner or later, someone to care for.

Because our church understands that the calling of every member has three movements, and none of them is optional: to win a soul, to disciple them, and to integrate them fully into the body. That is what was done with you. That is what is expected of you.

Three questions for you to take from this class

1. After everything I heard today, can I sign this Covenant with a clear conscience — or is there some clause I disagree with and need to talk over with the leadership first?
2. What am I going to change starting this week: in what I wear, in what I drink, in what I watch, in what I say about others, or in the way I arrive at the worship service?
3. Next Sunday, who will be the person I look for in the first two minutes after the final amen?

Verse to memorize

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone. It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age," (Titus 2:11-12)

Final word

Beloved new member, this Class has come to an end. Thirteen weeks, thirteen lessons — and now you know this house from the inside: what it believes, how it lives, what it requires, and what it offers.

We have hidden nothing from you. We did not open only the beautiful parts of the Covenant: we also opened the hard clauses, the ones that cost something, the ones our culture considers exaggerated. That was on purpose, because no one wants you here by mistake — a signature made in the dark sustains no one on the hard day. And if something has been left sitting wrong in your heart, go to the leadership and talk. Asking beforehand is honesty; living for appearances is the beginning of an unhappy Christian life.

But understand what is at stake. You do not merely sign a document: you enter into a covenant with a people. You come to have brothers and sisters who pray for you by name without your asking, who notice your absence, who correct you when you err, who uphold you when you fall short, and who will stand by your side when the time comes. And you take on, at that very same instant, the obligation to do all of this for them.

And, at the center of it all, is not the Covenant. It is Christ. It was He who paid the price for the body you now guard, it was He who loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, and it is He who crossed the greatest distance ever crossed to come to where you were. All twenty clauses of this lesson are merely the outline, in ordinary life, of one single thing: the grace that saved you is now teaching you to live.

There is no spectator Christianity in this house. There is a family that has decided to walk together, under the Word and on its knees, until the day the Lord returns.

Welcome. You are home.

Closing prayer

Let us pray together, and I ask that you pray with me, wherever you are.

Lord our God, thank You for the grace that has appeared and brought salvation. Thank You because it did not leave us as we were: it forgave and then began to teach.

Father, keep this class from the two mistakes. Keep us from legalism, which tidies up the outside and leaves the heart dirty; and keep us from carelessness, which calls freedom what is only neglect. May whatever we do with our body, with our home, with the congregation, and with our mind be born of love, and not of fear of the judgment of our brothers and sisters.

Lord Jesus, the body we guard was bought by You. Our marriages were designed to tell Your story. Our tongue was made to build up. And our mind was created to be renewed, and not conformed. Have mercy on us where we have failed in each of these four places.

Holy Spirit, look after anyone in this class who has some clause sitting wrong in their heart and lacks the courage to speak up. Give them the courage to reach out and talk before signing. Look after anyone who arrived here carrying a hidden addiction, and give them the courage to ask for help. Look after anyone who is living today in a home in danger, and lead that person to someone who can help them.

And teach us to cross the room. May no one leave Your house without having been seen, called by name, and welcomed. May those who were cared for begin to care for others, and may this family walk together until the day of Your coming.

In Christ. Amen.

The 12 Marks of the Church · Igreja Marcas do Evangelho · Assemblies of God · Cariacica/ES · Pastor Jairo

"Scripture governs; everything else, on its knees."

Teacher's Guide

Essence of the lesson

The grace that saves is the same grace that teaches: what this house has agreed upon regarding the body, the home, the congregation, and the mind is neither the price of salvation nor a list of rules — it is the way of life of those who have already been reached and now walk together with a people.

Lesson map

Time	Stage
0–4 min	Opening (the hook: the document no one signs in the dark)
4–13 min	Point 1 — The body: who is in charge of you?
13–18 min	Class activity (the two columns)
18–25 min	Point 2 — The home: the heaviest command is the man's
25–32 min	Point 3 — The congregation: reverence, presence, and tongue
32–37 min	Point 4 — The mind: who chose what you listen to?
37–41 min	"If they ask you this"
41–45 min	Wrap-up + challenge of the week + prayer

Watch the clock: this is the broadest class of the quarter — four territories in 45 minutes. The temptation is to spend 25 minutes talking about clothing and arrive breathless at the rest. Do not do that. If time gets tight, cut details about dress; never cut the opening on grace (the entire class collapses without it), the pastoral word about a home in danger, and the two-column block. A class that turns into nothing but wardrobe has betrayed the lesson.

Start like this

Arrive with a sheet of paper in your hand — it can even be a blank sheet — and hold it in full view of the class as you speak. Say:

"Imagine I hand you this paper right now and say: sign here. Do you sign it? Without reading it?"

Let the class answer. You will hear "of course not", "only after reading it", "no way". Wait for them to finish and then say:

"Exactly. And that is precisely why this class exists. Our Church Covenant has sections we have not opened here yet: what the house has agreed upon regarding the body, the family, how we conduct ourselves in the worship service, and what teaching we consume. None of them is a secret, and none of them is going to be signed in the dark. Today we read what is left — including the hard parts."

Then, before anything else, read Titus 2:11-12 aloud and ask the question that disarms the entire class: "Notice: who is teaching us to renounce in this verse? It is not the pastor. It is not the document. Who is it?" Let someone arrive at "grace". If no one gets there, point to it in the text with your finger.

Note for the teacher: a good part of the class walks into this lesson with their guard up, expecting demands. The hook disarms them because it begins with the right to read before signing — and because it places grace as the teacher before any rule appears. Do not mention clothing, alcohol, or dating in the first eight minutes.

Point 1 — The body: who is in charge of you?

• In the class material: the section of the Covenant on modesty — "We will cultivate a passion for purity in all our attitudes, behaviors, and intentions" and the commitment against addictions and alcoholic beverages. Read both clauses aloud, in full, without softening them. The class needs to hear the actual text.
• What to teach: everything rests on one single truth — the body is not yours, it was bought at a price (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). From there the question changes: it is not "what do I want to do with my body", it is "what pleases the One to whom this body belongs". On addiction, follow Paul's argument: the issue is not just whether something is permitted, it is who is in charge of you afterward (1 Corinthians 6:12). Show the contrast in Ephesians 5:18 — wine is not set in opposition to water, it is set in opposition to the Spirit, two competing fullnesses. And extend the test to what no one calls an addiction: the screen that never turns off, impulse buying. On purity, teach the biblical strategy: here you do not resist, you flee (1 Corinthians 6:18; 2 Timothy 2:22).
• Anchor verse: "“Everything is permissible for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything." (1 Corinthians 6:12).
• Key question: "What is the thing you started out controlling, and today you are no longer so sure who controls whom?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): the cell phone almost always comes up first, because it is the safe answer. Then cigarettes, gambling, shopping, or series may come up. Go deeper: "And how do we realize we have crossed the line? When was the last time you tried to stop and could not?" Pastoral care: no one needs to confess sin out loud in this class. Say this clearly before asking: "no one here needs to share anything they do not want to — if you prefer, just answer in your head." If someone starts exposing heavy details of their own life, welcome them and redirect: "thank you for trusting us, let's talk after class" — and do talk to them, that very day, bringing it to the leadership if needed.
• If no one speaks: start yourself, with a small, true thing from your own life ("mine is my cell phone at lunchtime"), and turn the question back to them. An adult class opens up when the teacher goes first.

Point 2 — The home: the heaviest command is the man's

• In the class material: the section of the Covenant on the family — "husbands must love their wives as Christ loved the church, and wives must be submissive to their husbands as the church is to Christ", "spouses must care for each other's affection and never consider divorce as a way out", and "we will biblically raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord".
• What to teach: read Ephesians 5 in full before commenting, because the clause is a quotation from it. Show the proportion: three verses for wives, nine for husbands. The standard for the husband is not the boss who gives orders, it is the Savior who dies (Ephesians 5:25). Teach that the verb for submission is in the middle voice — it is a voluntary act, and imposed submission is not submission, it is domination. Close with 1 Peter 3:7: co-heirs, equals before God. Regarding children, show that the very verse that commands raising them in instruction forbids provoking them to anger (Ephesians 6:4), and take their formation to the dinner table (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
• Anchor verse: "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her" (Ephesians 5:25).
• Key question: "If the standard for the husband is Christ loving the church all the way to the cross, what changes on an ordinary Tuesday at home?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): "helping more", "being patient", "listening". Go deeper by pulling toward the concrete: "listening for how long? at what time of day? with the cell phone where?" That is where the conversation moves out of the generic.
• If no one speaks: read verses 25 and 28 slowly, pause at the phrase about loving them as their own bodies, and ask just this: "do you find this command easier or harder than the one given to wives?"
• Do not skip this part: the pastoral word about a home in danger is mandatory and must be spoken aloud, just as it is in the Study — a difficult marriage is one thing, a home in danger is another; where there is violence, threat, or abuse, the answer is not to endure it in silence, but to go to the leadership, which takes care of safety first. Say this looking at the whole class, without looking at anyone in particular, and without asking anyone to speak up.

Point 3 — The congregation: reverence, presence, and tongue

• In the class material: the clauses on behavior in the worship service (not forsaking the gatherings, letting someone know when absent, arriving fifteen minutes early, not using the cell phone, the worship service takes place in all areas of the building), the Sunday School condition for serving, and the fellowship clause: "We will renounce all slander, anger, bitterness, revenge, defamation, lying, and corrupt talk from our midst."
• What to teach: anchor reverence in Hebrews 12:28-29 and show that all the following clauses flow from it — they are not etiquette, they are consequence. Highlight the sentence that goes unnoticed: the worship service takes place in all areas of the building. Regarding Sunday School, read the clause on the condition for serving and explain why: whoever serves teaches even without speaking, and no one gives what they do not have. And save the greatest weight for the tongue, which is the most violated and least preached clause: Ephesians 4:29 not only forbids, it replaces — Christian speech must leave the person better than it found them.
• Anchor verse: "Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building up the one in need and bringing grace to those who listen." (Ephesians 4:29).
• Key question: "What is easier: speaking well of a brother in front of him, or talking about him when he is not there?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): the class laughs and admits it. Go deeper with the four pocket rules from the Study (speak with him and not about him; ask whether they have already talked to the person; the matter stops with you; the messaging group is no exception) and ask which of the four is the hardest.
• If no one speaks: read the seven renunciations of the clause, one by one, with a pause, and ask each person to mentally mark which of them was the most recent in their own week. No one answers out loud.
• On following up on absences: if someone finds the clause strange, present it as it is in the Study — it is care, not surveillance. No one counts absences to punish; drifting away is a symptom, and a family that notices early can reach out. Never present this as control or as policing among members.

Point 4 — The mind: who chose what you listen to?

• In the class material: the clause of the Covenant on doctrinal sources — being careful with authors, blogs, websites, and books that do not share the doctrinal vision of the house — and the commitment to the Harpa Cristã (the Brazilian Assemblies of God hymnal) and the heritage of the Pentecostal Fathers.
• What to teach: start with the change of scenery (the pastor on Sunday and a radio vs. dozens of daily voices) and speak the sentence that settles the point: the algorithm does not select for truth, it selects for engagement. Then disarm the accusation of censorship with the Bereans, who checked even Paul himself (Acts 17:11), and with the command to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). Give the three practical pieces of advice: know whom you are listening to, distrust what is always brand-new, and bring to the leadership whatever does not match. Close with the Harpa Cristã: it is not nostalgia, it is theology — and the Covenant's two filters for any worship song, biblical and Christ-centered.
• Anchor verse: "Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world." (1 John 4:1).
• Key question: "How many Christian voices reached you this week without your having chosen any of them?"
• Likely answers (+ going deeper): "many", "too many to count", "you just open the app and they show up". Go deeper: "And for how many of them can you say what church they belong to and what they believe?" The silence that follows is the point of the lesson.
• If no one speaks: share something you heard out there and went to check — and what you found when you checked it. Then ask if anyone has ever experienced that.

Class activity

• Objective: to prevent Phariseeism before it is born, letting the class see with their own eyes the difference between what Scripture commands every Christian and what this house has agreed upon among itself.
• Materials: board or poster board and marker. Nothing else.
• Step by step: divide the board into two columns and write at the top of each one: COMMANDMENT OF SCRIPTURE and AGREEMENT OF THIS HOUSE. Then read aloud, one at a time, items that have already come up in class — sexual purity; the knee-length measure; not being mastered by anything; the blouse covering the hips; modesty in dress; total abstinence from alcohol; sobriety; the shade of makeup; arriving fifteen minutes early. For each item, the class says which column it goes into, and you write it down. Let them get it wrong and discuss it; that is when it clicks. Rule spoken aloud before starting: here we do not discuss the clothing of anyone in the room, nor of anyone in the church — only the principle.
• Wrap-up (back to the text): "Look at the two columns. The one on the left binds every Christian, in any church, in any century. The one on the right binds whoever signs this Covenant — and it truly binds, because a pledged word is a pledged word — but it binds as a covenant we chose, not as a law of God. That is why no one here looks down on a believer from another church who applies it differently. And now Paul's warning about the column on the right: rules have an appearance of wisdom, but they have no power at all to restrain the flesh (Colossians 2:23). If the column on the right is not born from a heart reached by the column of grace, it will only produce people who are tidy on the outside and exhausted on the inside."

If they ask you this

• Question: "Is all of this a rule for me to be saved?" Short answer: No, and that answer needs to come quickly and firmly. Salvation is by grace, through faith in Christ — no clause of the Covenant adds anything to that. Go back to the Golden Text and show who teaches us to renounce: it is grace, not the pastor and not the document (Titus 2:11-12). The order is never reversed: first saved, then taught. Whoever reverses it produces exactly what Paul condemned in Colossians 2 — an appearance of wisdom and no power over the flesh.

• Question: "Where is it written in the Bible that a skirt has to cover the knee?" Short answer: It is not — and say so without beating around the bush, because honesty here is what protects the student's conscience. Use the two columns from the class activity: modesty, sobriety, and purity are commandments of Scripture; the knee-length measure is an application agreed upon by this house. The second binds whoever signs, but as a freely assumed covenant, not as divine law. And conclude with the sentence that disarms pride: no one is more saved than anyone else because of a hemline.

• Question: "I have a tattoo and I used to drink. Will the church look at me differently?" Short answer: No. The commitment of the Covenant is from here on out, it is not retroactive, and the blood of Christ has already covered what is past. Say this out loud in class, because there is almost always someone sitting in silence waiting for that exact sentence. And add the pastoral part: if what the person carries is not just an old habit, but an addiction that still pulls at them, they should go to the leadership in private — without shame and without exposure in class.

• Question: "Isn't submission chauvinism? And what if the marriage is violent?" Short answer: Two answers. The first: read the whole text, because the heaviest command is the husband's — to love as Christ loved the church, all the way to the cross (Ephesians 5:25) — and biblical submission is voluntary, between co-heirs of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7). Imposed submission is not submission, it is domination. The second, and say it in plain words: a difficult marriage is one thing, a home in danger is another. Where there is violence, threat, or abuse, no one should endure it in silence, no clause of this Covenant traps anyone inside violence, and the path is to go to the leadership immediately — safety comes first.

• Question: "So I can't listen to any preacher on the internet anymore? Isn't that censorship?" Short answer: It is not censorship, it is Berean prudence — they checked in the Scriptures even what Paul preached (Acts 17:11), and John commands us to test the spirits (1 John 4:1). The point is not to forbid; it is to know whom you are listening to, to distrust what is always brand-new, and to bring to the leadership whatever does not match what you have learned here. Remind the class that the algorithm does not choose for truth, it chooses for engagement — in other words, someone is already making the selection for you.

Wrap-up + challenge of the week

• Wrap-up: "Go back to the blank sheet of paper from the beginning of class. Today we read what was left — including the hard parts. And notice what is at the center of all this: it is not the document, it is Christ. It was He who paid the price for the body you guard, it was He who loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, and it was He who crossed the greatest distance ever crossed to reach where you were. Everything we saw today — the body, the home, the congregation, the mind — is just the outline, in ordinary life, of one single thing: the grace that saved you is now teaching you to live. And, on Sunday, it is going to ask you to cross the room for the person who has not yet been seen."
• Challenge: next Sunday, in the first two minutes after the final amen, do not look for your friends: look for a person you do not know — a visitor, someone sitting alone, someone you have never greeted. Come close, introduce yourself, ask their name, and keep their name in mind. One name, one person. On Sunday, come back with the story.

Note to the teacher on the challenge: when following up the next Sunday, ask for the name the person kept, never for the number of people and never for performance. If someone could not do it because there was no visitor, the task counts just the same with a member they had never greeted. Make it clear when assigning the task that it costs nothing, does not require a car, does not require arriving earlier, and does not require speaking in front of anyone — and that someone who is shy can do the exact same thing in a quiet voice, with just one person.

Teacher's kit

• Beforehand: read Ephesians 5 in full at one sitting, and then Colossians 2:16-23 — it is this second text that keeps the class from turning into a list of demands. Read also Titus 2:11-14, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, and 1 Timothy 2:9-10. Then open the Church Covenant to the sections on modesty, family, worship services and membership, Sunday School, fellowship, and doctrine — these are the sections the class walks through, and the teacher needs to have read the actual text before commenting on it. Mark in your Bible: Titus 2:11-12 · Romans 12:2 · 1 Corinthians 6:12, 18, 19-20 · Ephesians 5:18, 25, 28 · Proverbs 20:1 · Romans 14:21 · 1 Thessalonians 4:3-8 · 1 Timothy 2:9-10 · 1 Peter 3:3-4, 7 · Colossians 2:20-23 · Matthew 19:6 · Ephesians 6:4 · Deuteronomy 6:6-7 · Hebrews 12:28-29 · Hebrews 10:25 · Ephesians 4:29 · Acts 17:11 · 1 John 4:1 · Hebrews 13:2 · Hebrews 3:13.
• Bring: your Bible, a blank sheet of paper for the hook, a board or poster board and a marker for the two columns. Also bring written down the practical pathway in this house for anyone who wants to talk in private — whom to go to in case of addiction and whom to go to in case of a home in danger. It is very likely that someone will come to you at the end of this class, and it is a serious matter not to know what to answer.
• Pray beforehand: pray for those who will listen to this class with their guard up, having already been crushed by rules in some church — that they may leave free and not bound. Pray for those who carry a hidden addiction and have never had the courage to speak up. Pray for those who live today in a home in danger and will hear the word about marriage. Pray for those who have a clause sitting wrong in their heart and will need courage to talk before signing. And pray for yourself: that the class may not end in demands, but in Christ — that the grace that saved may be seen, from beginning to end, as the same grace that teaches.

Homework

Your mission for the week

Next Sunday, in the first two minutes after the final amen, do not look for your friends. Look for one person you do not know — a visitor, someone sitting alone, someone you have never greeted in this house. Come close, introduce yourself, ask their name, and keep their name in mind. If you forget in the middle of the conversation, ask again: no one is offended by that.

One person. One name. Two minutes.

This task costs no money, does not require a car, does not require arriving earlier, and does not require speaking in front of anyone. If you are shy, it is still possible: it is a thirty-second conversation, in a quiet voice, with just one person. And if the person prefers to be alone, that is fine — respecting their boundary is also welcoming, and the task is fulfilled just the same.

Why

Because for thirteen weeks you have been the object of this house's care, and from now on that is reversed: whoever was welcomed, welcomes. The word the New Testament uses for hospitality is philoxenía — literally, love for the stranger. And the command comes with the most surprising reason in Scripture: "Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it." (Hebrews 13:2). Peter adds: "Show hospitality to one another without complaining." (1 Peter 4:9). Remember your first Sunday here, that mix of curiosity and discomfort. Someone crossed the room for you — and that is why you are here today.

How to know you did it

You know the person's name. If you can say "on Sunday I talked with Rosana, who came for the first time", you did it. If the answer is "I smiled at a few people" or "I meant to talk to someone", the part that was yours is still missing.

On Sunday, come back with the story

The next class begins with those who crossed the room. Bring the name you kept and what the person told you. Do not stay out.