Have firm of foundation, ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

Have you ever visited a church that was completely different from what you're used to?

Maybe the formality of how everyone dressed was unfamiliar.

Or the order of service caught you off guard.

Maybe the music.

The way scripture was read or the style of communication felt, no, a little foreign.

It raises a good question.

Do these differences in ceremony and ritual really matter? Well,

that's what we're going to explore on through the Bible. As we continue in Zachariah Chapter 6,

our teacher Dr. J. Vernon McGee offers a thoughtful three-part answer. I'll give you a teaser.

It's not about the rituals. It's about the heart. Has your life been changed by the Holy Spirit? Are you a new creation in Christ? Well, before we dive into our study, we want to share some stories of transformed lives. Real people changed by the power of God's word. First, we got a letter from Angola. A listener to our Ubundu language program writes this. It's been eight years since I started listening to this program.

Before that, I lived as an evil man without Jesus.

My marriage was destroyed because of alcohol and drugs.

My wife went back to her parents and everything was hard for me.

Thirty years went by, and I began listening to God's word with you.

After months of receiving the

teaching, I accepted Jesus as my Savior, my wife joined me again. My family is reunited, and I am

going to be baptized in a few months. I thank God. 30 years. What an incredible story of redemption.

And then here's another one from a listener in Andhra Pradesh, who wrote this.

I am 50 years old and live alone. My husband and children have passed away. Among my family,

I am the only one who believes in Jesus. Almost every day, I face criticism and rejection from my

relatives. As a widow, my brother has said he wants to send me to an ashram, but I don't want to go.

...