2026.11.14 Hopewell @Home ▫ Jeremiah 43

Read Jeremiah 43

Questions from the Scripture text: What has just concluded (Jeremiah 43:1)? Who say, what, about Jeremiah’s preaching (Jeremiah 43:2)? What did they especially not like that he said? What do they suggest is behind his preaching (Jeremiah 43:3)? Thus, what do the people refuse to do (Jeremiah 43:4)? And what do the people do (Jeremiah 43:5-7)? Who is with them, and what comes to him (Jeremiah 43:8)? What does He tell Jeremiah to do (Jeremiah 43:9)? Before whose eyes? What is Jeremiah to say will be set upon those stones (Jeremiah 43:10)? What does YHWH call Nebuchadnezzar? How will the casualties, captives, and executions be determined (Jeremiah 43:11)? In whom did the Egyptians trust, and what would YHWH have Nebuchadnezzar do to them (Jeremiah 43:12-13)? How does Jeremiah 43:12 describe the ease with which this shall be done? 

What is the Lord doing when His wrath judges nations? Jeremiah 43 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these thirteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God judges nations as a referendum on their idols. 

We must beware, when our heart comes up with theories about preachers’ motivations (Jeremiah 43:3). We might be joining Azariah and Johanan (Jeremiah 43:2) in a response that is more a reflection of our desire to reject the very voice of YHWH (Jeremiah 43:4) in order to keep doing what we want to do (Jeremiah 43:5-7).

And, when we do what we want, it is always a case of idolatry—of having another god, rather than obeying the true God. This is especially true when we trust in unbelievers, instead of trusting in God. Contemporary American Christians are not the first to be tempted to trust in the government. Judah were trusting in the government of Egypt, so the Lord declared that He would take down the government of Egypt (Jeremiah 43:8-10). More than that, trusting in unbelievers is a double idolatry, because those unbelievers themselves trust in idols! So, the Lord will especially use Nebuchadnezzar to judge not just the government of Egypt but the gods of Egypt (Jeremiah 43:12-13).

This all happens by God’s decree, as the working out of His sovereign providence. Nebuchadnezzar seems like a great potentate and emperor, but with respect to providence he is merely God’s servant (Jeremiah 43:10). Those who are going to be casualties, taken captive, or executed, have been determined already by God’s appointment (Jeremiah 43:11). Dear reader, why would we put our hope in anything, or anyone, else, when God’s decree determines what will happen, and His sovereign providence carries it out?!

What are some uncomfortable, but biblical, things that you have had to submit to, rather than rejecting a faithful preacher? In what ways are you tempted to put your hope in the government? What are some of the idols of unbelievers in your own context, and what might it look like for them to be humiliated and devastated?

Sample prayer:  Lord, give us grace, by Your Spirit, to be tender-hearted toward Your Word, so that we will change the course of our life, as needed. Keep us from trusting in anyone or anything apart from You. Make us to hope in You, of which hope we will never be ashamed, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

 Suggested songs: ARP146 “Praise the LORD” or TPH233 “O Father, You Are Sovereign”

2026.11.13 Hopewell @Home ▫ Romans 8:28–30

Read Romans 8:28–30

Questions from the Scripture text: Which things do we know work together for good (Romans 8:28)? To whom do they work together for good? What did God also do to those whom He foreknew (Romans 8:29a)? To what did He predestine them (verse 29b)? For what reason (verse 29c)? What did He do for those whom He predestined (Romans 8:30a)? What did He do for those whom He called (verse 30b)? What did He do for those whom He justified (verse 30c)?

What does God know about the mind with which the Spirit intercedes for the saints? Romans 8:28-30 looks forward to the evening exhortation on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God’s plan to glorify them in and with His Son. 

We know, Romans 8:28. All things working together for good isn’t even the main idea of verse 28. The main idea is that we know. How do we know? We know that the Spirit helps us to pray for it (Romans 8:26a), because He Himself prays for it (verse 26b), because He Himself has purposed it (Romans 8:27). What evidence is there that He purposed it? Because He called us according to that purpose (Romans 8:28c). 

That’s the only way that sinners such as we are could ever come to love Him (Romans 8:28b). Here the love of God summarizes the keeping of the whole law (cf. Matthew 22:37–40). The one who was a slave under sin is now a lover of God? How did THAT happen?! God purposed it. God called him. God turned him into a lover of God.

God foreknew, Romans 8:29a. Why would God do this for someone who was going to be such a sinner? God did foreknow that we would be sinners. But that’s not the foreknowing that this verse is talking about. Some have thought that it’s talking about God foreknowing that we would choose Him, but that’s a rubbish idea. Apart from converting grace there would only be sin. But this is not foreknowing about a person; this is foreknowing the person himself. Predestination unto glory is the consequence of God determining to have an eternal relationship with a person. 

God knows, Romans 8:29-30. What is the mind of the Spirit as He prays for us in Romans 8:27? It is the mind that belongs to God from all eternity. The mind that treasures the glory of the Son. The mind that predestined those whom God foreknow to be conformed to that glory (Romans 8:29b). The mind that has shaped the history of every foreknown saint from predestination, through calling, to justification (Romans 8:30). And this glorification, that was determined from all eternity, is so sure to come (and to last into all eternity) that the apostle puts it in the past tense. For, it was determined in the knowledge of God—determined in that knowledge which is not a reactive knowledge, but the knowledge that has decreed whatsoever comes to pass (cf. Ephesians 1:11). 

The saint can know that all things are working together for his good, because the way that he came to be a lover of God is because God has determined to work all things together for that saint’s glory with Jesus Christ.

What’s the only way a sinner like you can become a lover of God? When would that have been determined? What had God unstoppably planned to do to such as love God? Why did He predestine them to that?

Sample prayer:  Lord, thank You for loving us and planning a relationship with us from all eternity. Grant unto us to know the fellowship of Your Spirit, Who works in us and prays for us, that we may be sure that all things are working together for our good—working together to conform us to Christ, which we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP98 “O Sing a New Song to the LORD” or TPH469 “Who Are These Like Stars Appearing”

2026.11.12 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 1:11–12

Read Ephesians 1:11–12

Questions from the Scripture text: What have believers obtain in Christ (Ephesians 1:11)? When was this determined to happen? Whose purpose decided this? How many things does He work according to this purpose? What is this purpose called at the end of verse 11? What, then, was the purpose of bringing the first (and the rest!) of the predestined ones to believe in Jesus (Ephesians 1:12)?

What is our great purpose, confidence, hope, and end? Ephesians 1:11–12 prepares us for the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Christ is our great purpose, confidence, hope, and end. 

Our inheritance is guaranteed. We don’t need to struggle to get good things from God. He has been planning to give us literally everything for literally forever.

This frees us to live for our purpose, which is clear: the praise of God’s glory. Our God “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11), aiming at this praise of His glory. So, we too pursue our inheritance by aiming at that same praise of His glory.

This praise is the reason for which God brought that first generation to trust in Christ (Ephesians 1:12). And everyone whom He has brought to faith since then, He has also brought to faith in Christ for the praise of His glory.

Christ is at the heart of all of this. Our purpose is in Christ, that inheritance is in Christ, our trusting is in Christ, and that glory is in Christ. God grant us to live with a single eye to Him!

What more might you feel that you need from God than He has given you? What are some things that you really desire in life—how do they relate to or compare to bringing Him glory?

Sample prayer:  Lord, grant that we would know it our great possession, purpose, and pleasure to bring glory to Christ and enjoy Him forever, we ask in His Name, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP73C “Yet Constantly, I Am with Thee” or TPH448 “Union with Thee”

How God Loves Our Loving Him [Children's Catechism 78—Theology Simply Explained]

The lesson addresses the question of how God is pleased with those who love and obey Him. It explains that this divine pleasure is rooted in the fact that human love and obedience originate from God's prior grace and are performed in and through Jesus Christ. Salvation involves not only forgiveness but also the ongoing transformation of believers into the image of Christ, eliminating sin to achieve perfect blessedness. By emphasizing that our good works are genuine because they flow from union with Christ, the message encourages believers to offer their love and obedience with confidence, knowing that God views them with the same delight He has in His Son. (click here to DOWNLOAD mp3/pdf files of this lesson)

2026.11.11 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 1:9–10

Read Ephesians 1:9–10

Questions from the Scripture text: What has God made known to us (Ephesians 1:9a)? According to what had He decided this? What had He done “in Himself”? When would He carry out His plan (Ephesians 1:10a)? What would He gather into one? In Whom would He gather all things? What things would be included in these “all things” (verse 10b)?

What drives predestination? Ephesians 1:9–10 prepares us for the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that God’s own, internal pleasure drives predestination. 

We tend to focus upon ourselves when we think about God’s eternal purposes. And that is understandable, not because it is right, but because we are fleshly, and it is understandable that we would so sinfully think about things. The Lord, however, thinks upon us with amazing love and goodness and generosity, precisely by putting us in our proper place: under Christ and in Christ. 

In the previous verses, we read that He bent “all wisdom and prudence” (Ephesians 1:8) upon redeeming us by Christ’s blood (Ephesians 1:7). Now in this passage, we read the heart and goal of that wisdom and prudence: to gather all of creation (signified by the “bookends” of “heaven and earth,” Ephesians 1:10) together, in one—in Christ.

This was that “mystery of His will” to which Ephesians 1:9 refers. In the New Testament, the word “mystery” generally means something that God has revealed in Christ and the gospel, that we would not have known in any other way. And what has God now revealed: that Christ redeeming us (and all creation with us) has always been at the center of God purposes.

These, of course, are eternal purposes. It is in Himself that He purposed them. And, this plan was “according to His good pleasure.” That is to say that in these purposes, God was not responding to hypothetical futures at all. His own, internal pleasure is what drives this. Pleasure to glorify Himself. Pleasure for that glory to be in His Son. Pleasure for His Son’s great display of glory to be as Redeemer. And now, God has sent as a Redeemer that Son unto His glory! These riches that He has poured out in love to purchase us are all, entirely, only because it pleased Him!

This is the true and biblical way to think about election and predestination. And it is a source of great wonder and worship, and love back to God, and peace and security in His redemption. What a doctrine! What a Redeemer! What a God! Hallelujah!

In what manner have you talked and thought about election and predestination? In what manner should we all?

Sample prayer:  Lord, how marvelous You are, in the glory of Your grace! How marvelous the display of that glory in Your Son! We rejoice to hear and think about Your pleasure. Please make it our pleasure to delight in what pleases You, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP32AB “What Blessedness” or TPH51C “God, Be Merciful to Me” 

2026.11.10 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 1:7–8

Read Ephesians 1:7–8

Questions from the Scripture text: What do we have in Jesus (Ephesians 1:7a)? Through what? What does this redemption entail? According to what was this redemption purchased? What does Christ make this redemption do unto us (Ephesians 1:8a)? In what two things does this redemption abound? 

How great is redemption? Ephesians 1:7–8 prepares us for the hearing of God’s Word, publicly read, in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these two verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that its greatness corresponds to God’s grace and God’s wisdom. 

Through hundreds of pages of Scripture, the Holy Spirit prepares us to understand the RICHES of Ephesians 1:7–8. Redemption was something that the life of the firstborn was given to purchase for Israel. And redemption was something in which money could be offered to purchase the life of that firstborn, in memory of when the blood of the Passover lamb protected that life. Redemption was something that could be purchased for anyone who ended up in slavery through debt.

But never was there a redemption like this. Redemption through His blood! All the wealth in the world—indeed, every created thing—together cannot begin to indicate the value of Him from Whom, and through Whom, and for Whom all things exist. And yet, He took to Himself flesh and blood that He might spill that blood in order to purchase us!

What bank is so flush with wealth that it can afford such a payment as the blood of Christ? The bank of the riches of God’s grace. We often talk about depending upon grace, but I think we could do with more meditating upon the greatness of that grace upon which we depend, praise God! It is a grace so rich that it was according to these riches that the blood of Jesus purchased us for adoption as sons of God.

Indeed, of all of the things that God’s wisdom and understanding has devised, here is one thing that Scripture describes all of His wisdom and understanding bending itself upon: purchasing us through the blood of Christ according to the riches of His grace.

Truly, our redemption is a marvel at which we will wonder in praise for unending ages. And it makes one’s heart ache with a desire that the flesh would be mortified more even now, in order that we might wonder and praise more even now. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Ephesians 1:3)!

From what are you redeemed? At what cost? How are you responding to the riches of His grace? The abundance of His wisdom?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we bless Your Name, Whose redemption is not just from the riches of Your grace, but with a lavishness that is according to those riches. We thank You for the precious blood of Christ, and praise You for the divine wisdom that devised such a glorious salvation. Make Your grace to keep abounding to us, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP65A “Praise Awaits You, God” or TPH425 “How Sweet and Awesome Is the Place” 

2026.11.09 Hopewell @Home ▫ Psalm 149

Read Psalm 149

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom shall we praise (Psalm 149:1)? What shall we sing? Where? In whom is Israel to rejoice (Psalm 149:2)? In whom must the children of Zion be joyful? What aspects of the worship led by Levitical priests are named in Psalm 149:3? In whom does the Lord take pleasure (Psalm 149:4)? With what does He beautify the humble (verse 4)? In what should saints be joyful (Psalm 149:5)? What should they do on their beds? What should be in their mouths (Psalm 149:6)? And what should be in their hands? For what purpose (Psalm 149:7-9a)? Which of the Lord’s saints have this honor?

What does the assembly of praising saints enjoy? Psalm 149 looks forward to opening portion of the public worship of God on the coming Lord’s Day. In these six verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the assembly of praising saints enjoys the pleasure of the Lord and the power of the Lord.

This is a Psalm about corporate worship—the praise of the Lord in the assembly of the saints.  Yes, it’s a praise that continues to resound in their hearts and mouths even when they are at home on their beds (Psalm 149:5). But it is something that distinctly belongs to the assembly (Psalm 149:1), as evidenced by the reference to the specifically Levite-led activities of Psalm 149:3.

We, of course, are no longer led by Levites in a temple on earth, but we ourselves are the temple, and we are led by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Great High Priest over the congregation in glory! Therefore, the joy of the song is not diminished, but rather increased—as the saints are joyful in glory. 

In particular, we now know how it can even be possible that YHWH Himself takes pleasure in us in Psalm 149:4 (!!). It is because we come to Him through His beloved Son, with Whom He is well pleased. He delights in His Son, and He delights in us who are in His Son!

But not only do we have the privilege of a great reception on High, week by week in this life. We also have the privilege of a great power on earth. Which of the Lord’s saints wield this great sword to which Psalm 149:6-9 refer? All His saints. Psalm 149:9 says, “This honor have ALL His saints.” 

Now, we know that not all His saints carry physical swords by which they subjugate rulers. But, just as our worship must come from God and not be merely the worship of men, so also our weapons are the weapons of God.

As we believe the Scripture together, and confess it in worship, and admonish one another with it, and teach it to our children, we are indeed participating in the subjugation of all the nations—which subjugation shall surely be accomplished by God’s mighty Word. 

And, we have the privilege, as we depart worship each week, of carrying His high praise in our mouths, and His sword in our hands. Hallelujah!

How do you know that God takes pleasure in You in the public worship? What power do you have?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we praise You, Who have made us. We rejoice in You, our King. We marvel that You take pleasure in us, as in Your beloved Son, with Whom You are well pleased. Grant that we would take Your praise into the rest of our lives, especially as You give us to conquer the world through ordinary, faithful Christianity. Thank You for giving this honor to all of Your saints. Grant it to us, we ask, through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP149B “O Praise the Lord, O Sing Aloud” or TPH149B “O Praise Ye the Lord”

2026.11.08 Lord's Day Livestreams (live at 10:10a, 11:10a, and 3p)

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2026.11.07 Hopewell @Home ▫ Mark 10:1–16

Read Mark 10:1–16

Questions from the Scripture text: Where does Jesus go (Mark 10:1)? Who gathered to Him? What was He accustomed to do with them? What question do the Pharisees ask in Mark 10:2? With what question does Jesus answer in Mark 10:3? What is their answer (Mark 10:4)? What does Jesus say was the reason that Moses permitted this (Mark 10:5)? What does Jesus remind them that God did at the beginning of creation (Mark 10:6)? How had God created man? Of what else does Jesus remind them in Mark 10:7? How many does Jesus say become one flesh in Mark 10:8? Whom does Jesus say is the One who joins a man and his wife together (Mark 10:9)? Who ask Jesus about the same thing in Mark 10:10? What does Jesus say a man does, if he divorces his wife and then remarries (Mark 10:11, cf. Matthew 5:32)? What does Jesus say a woman does, if she does the same (Mark 10:12)? To whom do they then bring little children (Mark 10:13)? What do they want Jesus to do with the children? What do the disciples do to those who brought the children? When Jesus sees it, what does He think (Mark 10:14)? To whom does Jesus say that the kingdom belongs? And to whom are the children an example (Mark 10:15)? What does Jesus then do with the children (Mark 10:16)?

What does Jesus think of marriage and children? Mark 10:1–16 prepares us for the morning sermon in public worship on the coming Lord’s Day. In these sixteen verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus views marriage as a covenant of God, and covenant children as subjects of the kingdom of God. 

In this passage, we read about two incidents in which the Lord Jesus affirms God’s valuing of marriage and children.

First, on the question of divorce, there are a couple interesting things about Christ’s answer.

There is a truth about the Mosaic civil code here (Mark 10:3-4)  that we could easily miss. God gave unto Israel laws that took into account the hardness of their hearts (Mark 10:5). If you look at the parallel in Matthew 5:32, you can see part of the “hardness of heart” Jesus is talking about. Divorce wouldn’t be necessary, but there are husbands and wives who commit adultery. 

Even more interesting is the theological foundation of Jesus’s teaching on divorce. He doesn’t take us to Genesis 2 first. Jesus takes us to the creation in Genesis 1. He takes us to God creating male and female in His own image (Mark 10:6). The implication is that marriage is about man being in the image of God, man being a covenanting creature of a covenanting Creator.

Only after establishing this first does Jesus take us to Genesis 2, where He twice repeats the math: 2 become 1 (Mark 10:8). This math wasn’t explicit in the text of Genesis 2, but it was obviously implied. Now, Jesus gives His authoritative explanation and application of the passage. Marriage is one man, and one woman, covenanted for life.

But there’s more! Who forms this covenant? Not just the man and the woman. The Lord is the One who joins them together (Mark 10:9). Marriage is the “covenant of our God” (cf. Proverbs 2:17). No wonder God hates divorce! The Scripture that tells us that also tells us one of God’s great purposes for marriage: to produce a godly seed, covenant children (cf. Malachi 2:14-16). 

Now, the Holy Spirit ties the two subjects together again in Mark 10. Look at how serious our Redeemer is about covenant children! He is greatly displeased (Mark 10:14) with the disciples for hindering the little children of these believing parents from coming to Him.

Our Lord doesn’t just love our children because they are ours. He loves our children because they are His. Jesus points out, in Mark 10:15, that children are often better examples of believers than adults. But this isn’t even His strongest statement about them.

In Mark 10:14, Jesus says “of such” is the kingdom. These little children are kingdom citizens in their own right. They have a right of access to the King! In the end, Jesus doesn’t just touch the children as was requested. He takes them up into His arms, and lays His hands upon them, and blesses them (Mark 10:16). How much our Lord loves marriage and children!

How does your daily and weekly habits reflect Jesus’s priority upon marriage and children?

Sample prayer:  Lord, forgive us, for when we have had hard hearts, compounding one sin with another. It is dreadful that You would make peace for Israel by permitting a legal method of divorce. Forgive us, and cleanse us. Make us to treasure our own marriages and our own spouse. And strengthen us against the perversions of our generation against Your design of marriage as one man, and one woman, covenanted for life. Give us to love to give You Your own offspring, bringing to You, for Your own care, those of Your children whom You have entrusted to us. Forgive us for when we have hindered them, for this is greatly displeasing to You. Give us to treat them according to their rights as subjects to have access to their King. And make us to enter the kingdom like children as well. Thus, do with us not according to our sin, but according to Your grace, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

 Suggested songs: ARP128 “How Blessed Are All Who Fear the Lord” or TPH548 “O Blest the House”

2026.11.06 Hopewell @Home ▫ Ephesians 6:1–3

Read Ephesians 6:1–3

Questions from the Scripture text: Whom does Ephesians 6:1 address? What does the apostle say for them to do? In Whom? Why? What commandment does Ephesians 6:2 repeat? What does it point out about this commandment? What promise does Ephesians 6:3 paraphrase, and how does it expand upon it (cf. Exodus 20:12; Deuteronomy 5:16).

What does Scripture say about covenant children? Ephesians 6:1–3 prepares us for the evening sermon on the coming Lord’s Day. In these three verses of Holy Scripture, the Holy Spirit teaches us that the Lord expects covenant children to be Christian children.  

Children are counted among the saints. The apostle addressed this letter to “the saints” in Ephesus (Ephesians 1:4). Now in between the wives and husbands on the one side; and the fathers, slaves, and masters on the other; he addresses the children.

Children are expected to be in worship; the worship is for them just as for others. The apostle is assuming that when this letter is read in the church, children will be there; so, he addresses them directly. When the church has a lower expectation of children than it does of others, for their attention and response in the public worship, it communicates that worship is not important, not beneficial, and not for everyone. What a dreadful thing! No wonder that so many children from such churches cannot be found in biblical worship services when they are older.

Children must obey their parents. This is an apostolic command. The verb means something like to hear as someone who is under them. “I didn’t hear you” is not a good excuse but a self-accusation. This is a command to pay good attention when spoken to, so that you can do what you are being told.

Children are expected to care about the Lord. Obey your parents (both of them!) “in the Lord.” The children are children who belong to the Lord. The parents are parents who have been placed by the Lord and belong to the Lord. The parents’ commands are presumed to be (and ought to be!) consistent with the Word of the Lord. And, as we have been learning about Christian living throughout the book, this obedience is something that can only be done by the grace of the Lord in the child’s heart. And all of this is to be done unto the glory of the Lord.

Children are expected to care about what is right. “For this is right” should be an argument that carries sway with children in a Christian home.

Children are expected to obey from the heart. It is not merely a manner of complying but of honoring. Later, when they are out of the home, and especially when marriage has become their primary relationship in life (cf. Ephesians 5:31), honoring will take another form. But as long as you’re a child in the home, honoring means obeying.

Children are expected to prioritize obedience to parents. This is the only commandment of the ten with a promise. The apostle’s calling it “the first” is probably a reference to the fact that the children’s obedience to all the other commandments begins with obeying their Christian parents. Obedience to parents is the nursery in which keeping the other commandments grows.

Children are expected to keep the commandments. It is worth pointing out that Ephesians 6:2 reinforces the Scriptural teaching that the commandments are still obligatory in the Christian life. Christ’s keeping them in our behalf is reckoned to our legal record with God, but this does not take away the requirement to keep them.

Children should expect God to bless them. Notice that the promise is broadened from the promised land to the earth. The old promise has not been taken away; it just has been swallowed up in the promise of a much greater blessing.

What commands of your parents are you having the most difficulty obeying? What are some things, from these verses, of which you could remind yourself in order better to keep these commands?

Sample prayer:  Lord, we pray that our children might be true saints, who participate in Your worship, obey their parents, and care about the Lord from the heart. Work graciously in them, and bless them in accord with that work that You do in them, we ask through Christ, AMEN!

Suggested songs: ARP119B “How Can the Young Man Cleanse His Way?” or TPH119B “How Shall the Young Direct Their Way?”