¤
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>> Good morning to each
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and every one of you.
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It is great
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to see you here today.
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Thank you for being here
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at Pioneer Memorial Church.
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Whether you're joining us here
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in person or via live stream
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or some other way, thank you
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for worshiping with us.
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And if this is your first,
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very first time here
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at the church, here on campus,
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thank you, welcome.
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If it is your 101st time
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here at the church
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and here on campus,
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welcome, as well.
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It's great to worship today.
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Today we are praising God
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as a community together,
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worshiping him, telling
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his stories and being here
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to see what he has to say to us.
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Let's turn our attention
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to the call to worship.
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And if you would stand with me
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as we read this one,
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please read when prompted
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by the words on the screen.
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¤
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>> Let's join together
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as we sing "Leaning on
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the Everlasting Arms."
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¤
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¤
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¤
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One, one...
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>> Amen.
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Glory to God. Glory to God.
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>> Amen.
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>> As we...
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just try to make a special
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connection, try to
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get into a prayer spirit,
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with this next song,
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we'll be singing
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"Holy Spirit Rain Down."
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"Holy Spirit Rain Down."
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And as we sing this song,
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sing along and just think
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about the goodness of God
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towards you this week.
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¤
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¤
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¤
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¤
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Sing along with us.
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>> Sing it one more time.
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>> Sing "Holy."
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>> Holy, holy!
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>> God in three persons.
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>> Amen. Amen.
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>> Amen.
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>> I invite you all to stand
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as we join in worship
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one more time.
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This song is going to be fun.
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All right?
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We are going to have some fun
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with this song.
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And we're going to start by
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first figuring out
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who's going to sing what part.
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All right?
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We're going to have sopranos,
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altos, and tenors and bass
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will sing together.
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I need all my altos.
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I need all my altos
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to say, "Hallelujah."
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>> Hallelujah.
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>> All right. I need all my
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altos to say, "Hallelujah."
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>> Hallelujah!
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>> All right, all right.
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In our Praise Team,
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singing alto, we have.
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Alyson and Ashley.
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All right?
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I need all my tenors
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to say, "Praise Him."
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>> Praise Him.
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All my tenors say, "Praise Him!"
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>> Praise Him!
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>> All right. Singing tenor,
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you have me and Caleb.
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All right.
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When we sing, follow us.
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And all my sopranos, say,
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"Amen!"
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>> Amen!
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>> Right. Amen!
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>> Amen!
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>> All right. Singing soprano,
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we have Elsie and Brianna.
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All right, when they sing,
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you're going to follow them.
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All right?
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The song starts very easy.
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¤
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¤ Mm
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¤ One more time, singing
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>> Altos.
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>> One more time.
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>> Okay, original.
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>> That's it, one more time.
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>> Sopranos.
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>> One more time.
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>> All right, back to altos now.
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>> Tenors showing.
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>> Okay, combined together.
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>> One more time, sing.
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[ Applause ]
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>> Things of earth.
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>> At the trumpet.
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>> Oh, lift your.
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>> Amen.
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You guys sound beautiful.
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I'm sure that God accepted
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this praise
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and He's joyful and angels
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are singing along with us.
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>> Yes, yes.
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>> Our scripture reading is
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found in Philippians 4:10-13.
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"I rejoice greatly in the Lord
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that at last you renewed
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your concern for me.
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Indeed, you were concerned,
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but you had no opportunity
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to show it.
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I'm not saying this because
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I am in need,
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for I have learned to be content
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whatever the circumstances.
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I know what it is to be in need,
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and I know what it is
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to have plenty.
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I have learned the secret
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of being content in any
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and every situation,
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whether well-fed or hungry,
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whether living in plenty
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or in want.
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I can do all this through Him
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who gives me strength."
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>> Amen. Amen.
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And our last song is
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"He Hideth My Soul."
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"He Hideth My Soul."
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¤
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>> His perfect salvation.
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>> He hideth.
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>> Hallelujah.
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Praise Jesus, praise him.
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He's worthy.
00:20:53.42\00:20:54.32
>> Amen. Amen.
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>> And all God's people said...
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>> Amen.
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>> Amen and Amen.
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Thank you, Praise Team,
00:21:06.63\00:21:07.50
for leading us in worship.
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We appreciate that very much.
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I need your help this morning.
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When you think of the word
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"home"...
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what other words
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come to your mind?
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Family. Okay, that's a good one.
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What was that?
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Comfort. Yes. Amen.
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What else?
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Food. Yes.
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There we go. Yes.
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What else? Love.
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Okay. That's good.
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>> Bed.
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>> Bed. Ah, interesting.
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We'll come back to that. Yes.
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You know, when I think of
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home --
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High-five?
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>> Wi-Fi.
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>> Wi-Fi?
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[ Laughter ]
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We have Wi-Fi in Michigan.
00:21:54.51\00:21:56.24
What is -- Yes.
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See me afterwards.
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We'll work this out.
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Yes. That's right.
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When I think of the word "home,"
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particularly when I think about
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the times
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when I was living at home,
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many of the same words
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come to my mind.
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I think of food.
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My mother, if she were sitting
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here right now,
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she would readily confess
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that she's not a great cook,
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but she can make granola
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like nobody's business.
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And it smelled great if you
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woke up smelling the granola.
00:22:20.77\00:22:22.24
Or French toast -- I knew
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it was going to be a good Sunday
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if there was French toast
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in the air.
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Friends. You know,
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if you have a home somewhere,
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usually it indicates
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you've had some time there.
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And, so, outside of your
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immediate family, you can
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probably meet with friends
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fairly easily if you are at
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home.
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For me, my dog was there.
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Home was where the dog was.
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Sometimes we would have,
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you know,
00:22:46.19\00:22:46.93
various dogs over the years,
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but it was always good to come
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home and see whatever dog
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we had coming to meet me, lick
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my hand and pet them, et cetera.
00:22:52.40\00:22:53.80
If I was with my dad
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and my stepmom, my stepmom
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can feed an army at any meal.
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I never feared about bringing
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friends home because it always
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was going to be enough food.
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And, yes, my bed.
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You know, for those of you
00:23:06.82\00:23:07.92
that travel, you know exactly
00:23:08.02\00:23:09.18
what I'm talking about.
00:23:09.28\00:23:10.62
When I go to a hotel,
00:23:10.72\00:23:12.12
it doesn't matter if someone
00:23:12.22\00:23:13.36
paid $500 for the hotel
00:23:13.46\00:23:15.46
or $42.73 at Motel 4 1/2,
00:23:15.56\00:23:18.13
it doesn't matter.
00:23:18.23\00:23:20.56
They see me coming and they say,
00:23:20.66\00:23:21.73
"Okay, put the tall guy
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in the room with the hole
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in the middle of the bed
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and that his feet will hang off
00:23:25.83\00:23:26.53
the end," right?
00:23:26.63\00:23:27.54
That's my story.
00:23:27.64\00:23:28.84
But when I go home, ah,
00:23:28.94\00:23:31.77
the bed is made for me.
00:23:31.87\00:23:33.84
I sleep better at home
00:23:33.94\00:23:34.88
than any other place.
00:23:34.98\00:23:36.81
When you put all of these things
00:23:36.91\00:23:38.51
together --
00:23:38.61\00:23:40.15
family, friends, good food,
00:23:40.25\00:23:42.75
pets that are --
00:23:42.85\00:23:44.12
and a good place to sleep --
00:23:44.22\00:23:47.19
that place is no longer
00:23:47.29\00:23:48.39
just a house, is it?
00:23:48.49\00:23:50.53
It is home, sweet home.
00:23:50.63\00:23:57.00
Now, take that and contrast it
00:23:57.10\00:24:03.24
with this.
00:24:03.34\00:24:06.94
In the middle of my junior year
00:24:07.04\00:24:08.14
of high school,
00:24:08.24\00:24:09.31
I was informed by my mother and
00:24:09.41\00:24:11.15
stepfather that we were moving.
00:24:11.25\00:24:13.82
I had only been a semester
00:24:13.92\00:24:15.45
at Monterey Bay Academy
00:24:15.55\00:24:17.02
in Central California.
00:24:17.12\00:24:18.45
Monterey Bay was the place
00:24:18.55\00:24:19.59
to go.
00:24:19.69\00:24:20.56
If you were a kid at that time,
00:24:20.66\00:24:21.82
and maybe still today, if you
00:24:21.92\00:24:23.43
were in Central California
00:24:23.53\00:24:24.86
and you were going to high
00:24:24.96\00:24:25.83
school, Monterey Bay was
00:24:25.93\00:24:27.30
the place to be,
00:24:27.40\00:24:29.13
and I was thrilled to be there.
00:24:29.23\00:24:30.30
And then, I got this word,
00:24:30.40\00:24:31.87
actually, after Christmas
00:24:31.97\00:24:33.30
break, "We're moving."
00:24:33.40\00:24:34.80
I'm like, "Oh, no."
00:24:34.90\00:24:36.91
You see, my stepdad at the time,
00:24:37.01\00:24:38.44
he worked
00:24:38.54\00:24:39.21
on the Shuttle program,
00:24:39.31\00:24:40.61
worked for Lockheed
00:24:40.71\00:24:41.74
on the Space Shuttle,
00:24:41.84\00:24:43.01
and when Challenger exploded,
00:24:43.11\00:24:45.28
there was no longer a space
00:24:45.38\00:24:46.72
shuttle for the West Coast.
00:24:46.82\00:24:48.52
And, so, quite literally,
00:24:48.62\00:24:49.58
there was an office filled
00:24:49.68\00:24:50.65
with engineers and programmers,
00:24:50.75\00:24:51.95
and they fired every one of them
00:24:52.05\00:24:53.19
except for my stepdad.
00:24:53.29\00:24:54.86
And they said, "We'll fire you,
00:24:54.96\00:24:55.76
too, unless you move to
00:24:55.86\00:24:56.76
Florida."
00:24:56.86\00:24:58.19
Like, oh, man.
00:24:58.29\00:25:00.43
So we loaded up,
00:25:00.53\00:25:02.16
we went to Florida, and I went
00:25:02.26\00:25:05.03
to Forest Lake Academy there in
00:25:05.13\00:25:06.47
Apopka.
00:25:06.57\00:25:08.17
And I kid you not, we drove up.
00:25:08.27\00:25:10.01
All my stuff was there
00:25:10.11\00:25:10.94
in the back of the car,
00:25:11.04\00:25:11.57
in this rental car.
00:25:11.67\00:25:13.07
We pulled into the parking lot.
00:25:13.17\00:25:13.88
My mom went to
00:25:13.98\00:25:15.51
the business office,
00:25:15.61\00:25:16.95
unloaded whatever amounts
00:25:17.05\00:25:18.25
of cash were needed there,
00:25:18.35\00:25:19.71
and came back out.
00:25:19.81\00:25:20.98
We unloaded my stuff,
00:25:21.08\00:25:23.05
and they said, "I'm sorry,
00:25:23.15\00:25:24.25
but we've got to go to sign
00:25:24.35\00:25:26.35
on a condo. Love you."
00:25:26.45\00:25:28.09
You got to picture me there.
00:25:31.93\00:25:32.79
I'm in the parking lot.
00:25:32.89\00:25:34.00
I've got bags in either hand
00:25:34.10\00:25:35.40
surrounded by these boxes.
00:25:35.50\00:25:37.27
My family is driving away
00:25:37.37\00:25:40.50
and I'm staring up
00:25:40.60\00:25:42.64
at the guys' dormitory.
00:25:42.74\00:25:45.41
I don't know a soul
00:25:45.51\00:25:46.51
on this campus.
00:25:46.61\00:25:48.21
I've never even been to my room.
00:25:48.31\00:25:50.41
It's kind of
00:25:50.51\00:25:51.21
like this depressing
00:25:51.31\00:25:52.65
Norman Rockwell picture here,
00:25:52.75\00:25:54.42
you know, staring up like that.
00:25:54.52\00:25:56.72
I got to tell you, at that
00:25:56.82\00:25:57.62
moment, I was not
00:25:57.72\00:26:00.12
feeling home, sweet home.
00:26:00.22\00:26:01.59
And some of you know
00:26:05.49\00:26:08.16
exactly how that feels.
00:26:08.26\00:26:12.43
And you're feeling it right now.
00:26:12.53\00:26:16.57
Some of you are freshmen
00:26:16.67\00:26:18.67
at Andrews University.
00:26:18.77\00:26:20.38
Welcome. We're glad you're here.
00:26:20.48\00:26:22.48
Some of you
00:26:22.58\00:26:23.38
are transfer students.
00:26:23.48\00:26:24.71
You're brand new here.
00:26:24.81\00:26:26.01
Or maybe you're new for some
00:26:26.11\00:26:27.52
other reason, but I'm thinking
00:26:27.62\00:26:29.02
particularly of the student
00:26:29.12\00:26:30.42
mind-set here because I know
00:26:30.52\00:26:31.79
what that feels like.
00:26:31.89\00:26:33.09
And if you are new
00:26:33.19\00:26:34.16
on our campus here,
00:26:34.26\00:26:35.69
it may be that you are feeling
00:26:35.79\00:26:37.53
a little nervous.
00:26:37.63\00:26:39.26
Maybe you're feeling
00:26:39.36\00:26:39.96
a little lost.
00:26:40.06\00:26:40.93
You don't know where things are
00:26:41.00\00:26:41.96
on campus, you don't know
00:26:42.06\00:26:43.67
where many things are.
00:26:43.77\00:26:44.93
You don't know the people
00:26:45.03\00:26:47.04
that you're sitting next to,
00:26:47.14\00:26:47.94
perhaps, right now.
00:26:48.04\00:26:50.04
And maybe it's the first time
00:26:50.14\00:26:51.14
that you've been away from home
00:26:51.24\00:26:52.27
for any given length of time.
00:26:52.37\00:26:54.68
And maybe, just maybe,
00:26:54.78\00:26:56.08
you might even be feeling
00:26:56.18\00:26:57.41
a little bit scared.
00:26:57.51\00:27:00.45
And this definitely
00:27:00.55\00:27:01.28
does not feel right now
00:27:01.38\00:27:03.72
like home, sweet home.
00:27:03.82\00:27:07.49
Well, if you're feeling that way
00:27:07.59\00:27:08.42
this morning,
00:27:08.52\00:27:10.13
I know how you feel.
00:27:10.23\00:27:12.26
Because I'm a freshman, too.
00:27:12.36\00:27:14.00
[ Laughter ]
00:27:14.10\00:27:16.03
I just got here.
00:27:16.13\00:27:18.67
I'm a freshman
00:27:18.77\00:27:19.47
at Andrews University,
00:27:19.57\00:27:21.14
and there have been times
00:27:21.24\00:27:22.47
in the last six weeks
00:27:22.57\00:27:23.71
when I have felt nervous.
00:27:23.81\00:27:25.64
There have been times
00:27:25.74\00:27:26.54
when I have gotten lost.
00:27:26.64\00:27:27.58
I have gotten lost in this
00:27:27.68\00:27:28.94
building before. Okay?
00:27:29.04\00:27:30.95
And I'm the pastor here.
00:27:31.05\00:27:32.55
I should know how to find --
00:27:32.65\00:27:33.98
I've taken staircases
00:27:34.08\00:27:35.02
and I end up somewhere.
00:27:35.12\00:27:35.52
I thought,
00:27:35.62\00:27:36.22
"Oh, this is embarrassing.
00:27:36.32\00:27:36.85
I have no idea
00:27:36.95\00:27:37.62
where I'm at right now."
00:27:37.72\00:27:40.19
I'm surrounded by people.
00:27:40.29\00:27:41.49
There's a few old friends
00:27:41.59\00:27:42.49
that I've seen.
00:27:42.59\00:27:43.83
There's lots of other people
00:27:43.93\00:27:44.83
that I'm just getting to know.
00:27:44.93\00:27:46.29
And maybe there's even been
00:27:46.39\00:27:47.73
some times when I have been
00:27:47.83\00:27:48.93
tempted to feel
00:27:49.03\00:27:50.27
a little bit scared.
00:27:50.37\00:27:52.07
But...
00:27:57.11\00:27:59.91
But...
00:28:00.08\00:28:02.54
I know that I am going to be
00:28:02.64\00:28:06.05
okay.
00:28:06.15\00:28:07.02
>> Amen.
00:28:07.12\00:28:10.55
>> And if you're new here,
00:28:10.65\00:28:13.19
or if you're just feeling "far
00:28:13.29\00:28:15.39
from home" for whatever reason,
00:28:15.49\00:28:18.03
maybe even a little scared this
00:28:18.13\00:28:19.39
morning, for whatever reason,
00:28:19.49\00:28:21.40
I want you to know
00:28:21.50\00:28:23.50
that I know that you can know
00:28:23.60\00:28:27.17
that you will be okay, too.
00:28:27.27\00:28:30.61
Let me show you how.
00:28:30.71\00:28:32.24
If you have a Bible,
00:28:32.34\00:28:32.91
take a look, please,
00:28:33.01\00:28:33.48
at Daniel 3:1.
00:28:33.58\00:28:37.11
Daniel chapter 3,
00:28:37.21\00:28:39.31
beginning with verse 1.
00:28:39.41\00:28:40.95
We're going to read a very
00:28:41.05\00:28:42.15
famous story here this morning.
00:28:42.25\00:28:44.19
In fact, even if you're not
00:28:44.29\00:28:45.19
a Christian, if you've never
00:28:45.29\00:28:46.02
read the Bible before,
00:28:46.12\00:28:47.06
I can guarantee you that there
00:28:47.16\00:28:48.22
are phrases, English idioms,
00:28:48.32\00:28:50.79
that have come from this story.
00:28:50.89\00:28:51.53
The Bible
00:28:51.63\00:28:52.36
is a very influential book,
00:28:52.46\00:28:53.86
and right here we're going
00:28:53.96\00:28:54.83
to read
00:28:54.93\00:28:55.60
one of the most famous of all.
00:28:55.70\00:28:57.33
It has to do with a guy
00:28:57.43\00:28:59.17
by the name of Nebuchadnezzar.
00:28:59.27\00:29:01.94
Let's take a peek here.
00:29:02.04\00:29:03.00
Daniel chapter 3,
00:29:03.10\00:29:04.01
beginning with verse 1.
00:29:04.11\00:29:04.77
It says,
00:29:04.87\00:29:05.44
"King Nebuchadnezzar
00:29:05.54\00:29:07.08
made an image of gold 90 feet
00:29:07.18\00:29:09.68
high and 9 feet wide
00:29:09.78\00:29:11.61
and set it up on the plain of
00:29:11.71\00:29:13.48
Dura in the province of Babylon.
00:29:13.58\00:29:16.18
He then summoned" -- here comes
00:29:16.28\00:29:17.42
the list -- "the satraps,
00:29:17.52\00:29:18.59
prefects, governors, advisers,
00:29:18.69\00:29:19.92
treasurers, judges, magistrates,
00:29:20.02\00:29:21.22
and all the other provincial
00:29:21.32\00:29:22.32
officials to come to the
00:29:22.42\00:29:24.49
dedication of the image he had
00:29:24.59\00:29:25.83
set up.
00:29:25.93\00:29:26.63
So, the satraps, prefects,
00:29:26.73\00:29:28.86
governors, advisers, treasurers,
00:29:28.96\00:29:30.07
judges, magistrates, and all
00:29:30.17\00:29:31.27
the other provincial officials
00:29:31.37\00:29:32.67
assembled for the dedication
00:29:32.77\00:29:34.10
of the image that
00:29:34.20\00:29:35.34
King Nebuchadnezzar had set up,
00:29:35.44\00:29:36.91
and they stood before it."
00:29:37.01\00:29:41.14
Pause there, please.
00:29:41.24\00:29:43.91
A little background will
00:29:44.01\00:29:44.78
be helpful here if you're not
00:29:44.88\00:29:45.61
familiar with this story.
00:29:45.71\00:29:47.15
King Nebuchadnezzar lived
00:29:47.25\00:29:48.15
a long time ago,
00:29:48.25\00:29:49.48
about 2,700 years ago,
00:29:49.58\00:29:51.59
and he was the king
00:29:51.69\00:29:52.79
of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
00:29:52.89\00:29:54.89
That was
00:29:54.99\00:29:55.69
the new Babylonian Empire,
00:29:55.79\00:29:56.93
which of course infers there was
00:29:57.03\00:29:57.99
a Babylonian Empire before.
00:29:58.09\00:29:59.29
And indeed there was.
00:29:59.39\00:30:00.56
Hundreds of years earlier, there
00:30:00.66\00:30:02.03
had been a Babylonian Empire,
00:30:02.13\00:30:03.73
but it had fallen from out
00:30:03.83\00:30:04.77
of power.
00:30:04.87\00:30:06.03
Nebuchadnezzar's grandfather,
00:30:06.13\00:30:08.30
Nabopolassar, about --
00:30:08.40\00:30:09.60
oh, let's see, what was it? --
00:30:09.70\00:30:10.34
626 or so
00:30:10.44\00:30:12.14
is when he came to power,
00:30:12.24\00:30:13.24
he began this reinvigoration
00:30:13.34\00:30:14.94
of the Babylonian Empire.
00:30:15.04\00:30:16.54
Nebuchadnezzar put it
00:30:16.64\00:30:17.98
on steroids.
00:30:18.08\00:30:19.91
Babylon became the biggest power
00:30:20.02\00:30:23.82
in that part of the world.
00:30:23.92\00:30:25.85
It's a huge amount of territory
00:30:25.95\00:30:26.92
that they covered.
00:30:27.02\00:30:28.09
And Nebuchadnezzar, in chapter
00:30:28.19\00:30:29.42
2 of Daniel, has a dream.
00:30:29.52\00:30:31.49
Now, if you've read
00:30:31.59\00:30:32.83
through this, you know, this is
00:30:32.93\00:30:33.90
a fairly significant dream.
00:30:34.00\00:30:35.20
And Nebuchadnezzar knew it,
00:30:35.30\00:30:36.40
but he couldn't understand it.
00:30:36.50\00:30:38.20
In the dream, he saw a statue,
00:30:38.30\00:30:41.44
and the statue had this head
00:30:41.54\00:30:42.54
of gold, chest and arms
00:30:42.64\00:30:43.67
of silver, belly and thighs
00:30:43.77\00:30:44.91
of brass, legs of iron,
00:30:45.01\00:30:46.68
and then feet that were made
00:30:46.78\00:30:47.71
of iron mixed with clay.
00:30:47.81\00:30:48.94
A very bizarre thing
00:30:49.04\00:30:50.01
to put a heavy statue on.
00:30:50.11\00:30:51.71
And in the dream, this rock
00:30:51.81\00:30:52.91
comes out of the heavens
00:30:53.01\00:30:53.82
and it strikes
00:30:53.92\00:30:54.78
the feet of the statue.
00:30:54.88\00:30:56.28
The statue crumbles and the rock
00:30:56.38\00:30:57.79
becomes this kingdom
00:30:57.89\00:30:58.95
that would never come to an end.
00:30:59.05\00:31:00.69
Nebuchadnezzar wakes up
00:31:00.79\00:31:01.59
in a cold sweat.
00:31:01.69\00:31:03.19
He believes he has received
00:31:03.29\00:31:04.66
a message from the gods,
00:31:04.76\00:31:06.49
but he doesn't
00:31:06.59\00:31:07.46
know what it means.
00:31:07.56\00:31:08.66
Long story short, he calls
00:31:08.76\00:31:09.86
in all of his advisers,
00:31:09.96\00:31:11.13
they can't help him.
00:31:11.23\00:31:12.13
He threatens to kill them all,
00:31:12.23\00:31:13.00
as was vogue
00:31:13.10\00:31:13.87
in those days for Kings.
00:31:13.97\00:31:15.14
And Daniel and his
00:31:15.24\00:31:16.84
three friends, Shadrach,
00:31:16.94\00:31:18.17
Meshach, and Abednego, show up
00:31:18.27\00:31:20.01
and say, "Hold on a second.
00:31:20.11\00:31:21.18
Before you take the heads
00:31:21.28\00:31:22.28
off of all these guys,
00:31:22.38\00:31:23.11
let us pray about it.
00:31:23.21\00:31:23.95
We'll get back to you."
00:31:24.05\00:31:25.15
They pray, God reveals it,
00:31:25.25\00:31:26.82
and then they share
00:31:26.92\00:31:27.72
the interpretation
00:31:27.82\00:31:28.72
with King Nebuchadnezzar.
00:31:28.82\00:31:30.52
Now, if you study this,
00:31:30.62\00:31:31.52
you're familiar
00:31:31.62\00:31:32.19
with the interpretation.
00:31:32.29\00:31:33.12
The head of gold, that
00:31:33.22\00:31:34.29
represented King Nebuchadnezzar.
00:31:34.39\00:31:35.59
You know, begins his kingdom
00:31:35.69\00:31:36.36
essentially 605 BC.
00:31:36.46\00:31:38.29
Powerful, powerful,
00:31:38.39\00:31:39.19
but not powerful
00:31:39.29\00:31:40.30
enough to stay forever.
00:31:40.40\00:31:41.20
Following him would come
00:31:41.30\00:31:42.20
another nation, the Medes
00:31:42.30\00:31:43.30
and the Persians, representing
00:31:43.40\00:31:44.33
this chest and arms of silver.
00:31:44.43\00:31:45.87
This belly -- The thighs here of
00:31:45.97\00:31:48.67
of brass, this represented
00:31:48.77\00:31:50.14
the Grecian Empire that would
00:31:50.24\00:31:51.87
come, 330 BC,
00:31:51.97\00:31:53.17
Alexander the Great,
00:31:53.27\00:31:54.11
with his great army,
00:31:54.21\00:31:54.88
sweeps over the earth,
00:31:54.98\00:31:56.14
takes over until about 168.
00:31:56.24\00:31:58.68
The legs of iron
00:31:58.78\00:32:00.48
represent iron Rome.
00:32:00.58\00:32:03.02
Rome's power was so great
00:32:03.12\00:32:04.19
that it lasted for about
00:32:04.29\00:32:05.79
four centuries.
00:32:05.89\00:32:07.49
In the fifth century AD,
00:32:07.59\00:32:09.12
it deteriorated into the toes,
00:32:09.22\00:32:11.23
the toes, the feet here
00:32:11.33\00:32:12.83
mixed with clay, iron together.
00:32:12.93\00:32:15.10
They did not cleave together,
00:32:15.20\00:32:17.00
to use the King James verbiage
00:32:17.10\00:32:18.33
there.
00:32:18.43\00:32:19.30
They became what we know
00:32:19.40\00:32:20.14
today as the nations
00:32:20.24\00:32:21.30
of Western Europe.
00:32:21.40\00:32:22.67
And it is in the times of this
00:32:22.77\00:32:24.71
divided authority in Europe
00:32:24.81\00:32:27.31
that Jesus is to come back.
00:32:27.41\00:32:29.18
We do indeed live
00:32:29.28\00:32:30.11
in the last days.
00:32:30.21\00:32:31.55
Jesus is going to come.
00:32:31.65\00:32:32.65
That rock that crushes
00:32:32.75\00:32:34.12
all other kingdoms,
00:32:34.22\00:32:35.22
but itself becomes a kingdom
00:32:35.32\00:32:36.72
that fills the whole world
00:32:36.82\00:32:38.19
and will never pass away.
00:32:38.29\00:32:41.89
May that day be soon.
00:32:41.99\00:32:45.33
Nebuchadnezzar is given this
00:32:45.43\00:32:47.40
incredible dream.
00:32:47.50\00:32:50.63
And with this incredible dream,
00:32:50.73\00:32:51.63
you would think that
00:32:51.73\00:32:52.97
Nebuchadnezzar would be
00:32:53.07\00:32:54.30
thrilled, he'd be honored,
00:32:54.40\00:32:55.27
he would be humbled that
00:32:55.37\00:32:56.37
the great God of Heaven
00:32:56.47\00:32:57.74
has given him this dream.
00:32:57.84\00:32:59.87
Unfortunately, the only thing
00:33:00.04\00:33:02.04
bigger than the dream
00:33:02.14\00:33:02.94
was Nebuchadnezzar's ego.
00:33:03.04\00:33:04.68
And he says to himself,
00:33:04.78\00:33:05.41
"You know what?
00:33:05.51\00:33:06.11
I can improve upon this.
00:33:06.21\00:33:07.08
I can have prophecy my way."
00:33:07.18\00:33:09.52
And he decides he's going
00:33:09.62\00:33:10.62
to make an image not of gold,
00:33:10.72\00:33:12.45
silver, brass, et cetera,
00:33:12.55\00:33:13.96
but of just gold.
00:33:14.06\00:33:17.09
The message is quite clear.
00:33:17.19\00:33:19.43
Nebuchadnezzar has no intention
00:33:19.53\00:33:21.90
of ever seeing Babylon fall,
00:33:22.00\00:33:25.13
and in order to help the world
00:33:25.23\00:33:26.40
understand how serious he is,
00:33:26.50\00:33:28.80
he makes this 100% gold-covered
00:33:28.90\00:33:30.41
statue, and he invites all of
00:33:30.51\00:33:32.54
his rulers.
00:33:32.64\00:33:33.94
Anyone who is anyone.
00:33:34.04\00:33:36.54
If you've got any authority,
00:33:36.64\00:33:37.68
you are commanded to be here
00:33:37.78\00:33:39.31
on the plain of Dura.
00:33:39.41\00:33:40.35
Now this would be in modern day
00:33:40.45\00:33:41.25
Iraq, fairly arid place,
00:33:41.35\00:33:42.85
lots of space out there
00:33:42.95\00:33:44.05
in the desert.
00:33:44.15\00:33:44.72
Not a lot of competition
00:33:44.82\00:33:45.82
for real estate in some places.
00:33:45.92\00:33:47.26
And so the plain of Dura
00:33:47.36\00:33:48.69
is there, the statue is set up.
00:33:48.79\00:33:50.06
Nebuchadnezzar calls
00:33:50.16\00:33:50.99
all of these people.
00:33:51.09\00:33:52.09
There are thousands
00:33:52.19\00:33:53.40
of people there.
00:33:53.50\00:33:56.87
And suddenly a hush falls
00:33:56.97\00:33:57.80
over the crowd.
00:33:57.90\00:33:59.47
The trumpets sound a fanfare,
00:33:59.57\00:34:01.54
and the king's
00:34:01.64\00:34:02.47
spokesman proclaims
00:34:02.57\00:34:04.47
loudly for all to hear.
00:34:04.57\00:34:06.81
Verse 4 of Daniel chapter 3.
00:34:06.91\00:34:10.41
"Then the Herald loudly
00:34:10.51\00:34:11.28
proclaimed,
00:34:11.38\00:34:12.98
'This is what you are commanded
00:34:13.08\00:34:14.72
to do, O peoples, nations,
00:34:14.82\00:34:16.05
and men of every language.
00:34:16.15\00:34:17.19
As soon as you hear
00:34:17.29\00:34:18.55
the sound of the horn, flute,
00:34:18.65\00:34:19.92
zither, lyre, harp, pipes,
00:34:20.02\00:34:21.19
and all kinds of music,
00:34:21.29\00:34:22.66
you must fall down and worship
00:34:22.76\00:34:25.29
the image of gold that
00:34:25.39\00:34:26.83
King Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
00:34:26.93\00:34:28.70
Whoever does not fall down
00:34:28.80\00:34:30.87
and worship
00:34:30.97\00:34:32.50
will immediately be thrown
00:34:32.60\00:34:34.44
into a blazing furnace.'"
00:34:34.54\00:34:36.30
This is the first recorded
00:34:40.38\00:34:42.01
instance in history
00:34:42.11\00:34:43.35
of motivational speaking.
00:34:43.45\00:34:45.48
[ Laughter ]
00:34:45.58\00:34:47.15
And, undoubtedly, these furnaces
00:34:47.25\00:34:49.38
were there for people to see.
00:34:49.48\00:34:50.72
Now, we don't know this for
00:34:50.82\00:34:51.92
certain, but probably they were
00:34:52.02\00:34:52.79
kilns.
00:34:52.89\00:34:54.32
You see, this statue,
00:34:54.42\00:34:55.69
it was not made of solid gold,
00:34:55.79\00:34:56.96
almost certainly, because,
00:34:57.06\00:34:57.76
metallurgically speaking,
00:34:57.86\00:34:58.83
you can't get 90 feet worth
00:34:58.93\00:35:00.60
of gold and 9 feet wide to stand
00:35:00.70\00:35:02.16
on its own accord.
00:35:02.26\00:35:03.33
It will fall, it will mush.
00:35:03.43\00:35:04.23
Gold is too soft.
00:35:04.33\00:35:05.83
And, so, probably what happened
00:35:05.93\00:35:07.24
is that they instead made a
00:35:07.34\00:35:08.50
framework, an outline here, in a
00:35:08.60\00:35:10.27
statue using baked bricks.
00:35:10.37\00:35:13.31
And then, with that shape,
00:35:13.41\00:35:14.28
they overlaid it with gold,
00:35:14.38\00:35:15.28
et cetera, and that's why it was
00:35:15.38\00:35:16.28
referred to as a golden altar
00:35:16.38\00:35:17.15
here.
00:35:17.25\00:35:17.75
These kilns
00:35:17.85\00:35:18.75
were very clearly seen.
00:35:18.85\00:35:23.42
Have you ever put your hand
00:35:23.52\00:35:24.29
in a kiln?
00:35:24.39\00:35:25.85
Okay, you better make sure it's
00:35:25.95\00:35:27.66
off and well cooled before you
00:35:27.76\00:35:28.99
do.
00:35:29.09\00:35:29.72
It gets mighty hot in there.
00:35:29.82\00:35:31.09
Some kilns can get over
00:35:31.19\00:35:31.93
a thousand degrees.
00:35:32.03\00:35:34.96
Well, this is motivating.
00:35:35.06\00:35:36.67
And as promised,
00:35:36.77\00:35:37.77
the music sounds.
00:35:37.87\00:35:39.43
And as Nebuchadnezzar
00:35:39.53\00:35:40.27
looks on with delight,
00:35:40.37\00:35:42.00
a wave of humanity takes action.
00:35:42.10\00:35:44.64
Like lightning, every person on
00:35:44.74\00:35:45.97
the plain of Dura hits the
00:35:46.07\00:35:47.08
desert sand,
00:35:47.18\00:35:48.71
face down, feet back,
00:35:48.81\00:35:50.28
seemingly the whole world bowing
00:35:50.38\00:35:52.25
down by the thousands to worship
00:35:52.35\00:35:53.78
the glorious golden image,
00:35:53.88\00:35:55.35
just as they had been commanded
00:35:55.45\00:35:56.38
to do
00:35:56.48\00:35:57.39
by the most powerful government
00:35:57.49\00:35:58.72
in that part of the world.
00:35:58.82\00:36:00.29
Hmm.
00:36:04.63\00:36:08.40
Does that sound familiar
00:36:08.50\00:36:09.43
to anyone?
00:36:09.53\00:36:12.90
You know, if you're a student
00:36:13.00\00:36:13.90
of Bible prophecy --
00:36:14.00\00:36:15.50
We're not going to do it today,
00:36:15.60\00:36:16.47
but if we were to read
00:36:16.57\00:36:17.54
in Revelation chapter 13,
00:36:17.64\00:36:20.61
we would find that, at the end
00:36:20.71\00:36:21.21
of time,
00:36:21.31\00:36:22.08
all who dwell on the Earth --
00:36:22.18\00:36:23.31
that's the phrase
00:36:23.41\00:36:23.98
that the Bible uses --
00:36:24.08\00:36:25.01
all who dwell on the Earth will
00:36:25.11\00:36:26.45
worship the Antichrist power,
00:36:26.55\00:36:29.92
and by extension, through that,
00:36:30.02\00:36:31.32
they will be worshiping Satan.
00:36:31.42\00:36:32.95
And it's almost as though,
00:36:33.05\00:36:34.36
in Daniel chapter 3,
00:36:34.46\00:36:35.79
the devil is getting a practice
00:36:35.89\00:36:37.33
run for the very end of time.
00:36:37.43\00:36:41.30
Universal worship done his way
00:36:41.40\00:36:43.23
has long been a dream of Satan,
00:36:43.33\00:36:45.20
since the first time
00:36:45.30\00:36:46.33
that sin enters its heart.
00:36:46.43\00:36:47.70
And we can be sure
00:36:47.80\00:36:50.17
that the devil took good notes
00:36:50.27\00:36:51.54
that day on the plain of Dura,
00:36:51.64\00:36:53.17
knowing that someday the lessons
00:36:53.27\00:36:54.48
learned there just might
00:36:54.58\00:36:55.58
come in handy.
00:36:55.68\00:36:58.75
How pleased Satan must have been
00:36:58.85\00:37:01.25
with his triumph that day,
00:37:01.35\00:37:04.39
and how pleased Nebuchadnezzar
00:37:04.49\00:37:06.42
must have been
00:37:06.52\00:37:07.96
with his triumph, as well.
00:37:08.06\00:37:12.73
Until, of course,
00:37:12.83\00:37:14.10
he wasn't pleased anymore.
00:37:14.20\00:37:16.00
You see,
00:37:16.10\00:37:17.97
in that sea of humanity bowing,
00:37:18.07\00:37:20.04
there were three points
00:37:20.14\00:37:22.20
of humanity standing.
00:37:22.30\00:37:25.57
Now, this is a serious problem.
00:37:25.67\00:37:27.21
It's funny, you know,
00:37:27.31\00:37:28.24
even on occasions
00:37:28.34\00:37:29.68
when death is on the line,
00:37:29.78\00:37:31.01
people peek, don't they?
00:37:31.11\00:37:32.05
You know,
00:37:32.15\00:37:33.25
some of you during prayer.
00:37:33.35\00:37:34.48
Well, you don't have to raise
00:37:34.58\00:37:35.25
your hand, but you know
00:37:35.35\00:37:35.98
this happens, right, okay?
00:37:36.08\00:37:37.02
And, so, when they're all bowing
00:37:37.12\00:37:38.59
down there on the plain of Dura,
00:37:38.69\00:37:40.42
undoubtedly somebody is like,
00:37:40.52\00:37:41.42
"Wow, I've never been
00:37:41.52\00:37:42.89
to one of these parties before.
00:37:42.99\00:37:43.69
This is amazing.
00:37:43.79\00:37:44.69
Wait.
00:37:44.79\00:37:46.16
Psst. Do you see that?
00:37:46.26\00:37:48.16
I can't believe" --
00:37:48.26\00:37:48.90
"Keep your head down."
00:37:49.00\00:37:49.86
"I know, but right over there."
00:37:49.96\00:37:51.20
Three guys standing up.
00:37:51.30\00:37:53.00
Just three.
00:37:53.10\00:37:54.20
Thousands of people,
00:37:54.30\00:37:57.27
and three people standing.
00:37:57.37\00:38:02.51
You know, that's not the kind
00:38:02.61\00:38:03.98
of thing you can hide.
00:38:04.08\00:38:06.75
When you are swimming upstream
00:38:06.85\00:38:08.02
and you're the only one swimming
00:38:08.12\00:38:08.98
upstream, people will notice.
00:38:09.08\00:38:11.29
And here on the plain of Dura,
00:38:11.39\00:38:12.75
just three, three only, are
00:38:12.85\00:38:14.42
standing there,
00:38:14.52\00:38:15.79
and the word races back
00:38:15.89\00:38:17.73
to King Nebuchadnezzar.
00:38:17.83\00:38:20.16
Well, the king cannot stand
00:38:20.26\00:38:20.90
for this.
00:38:20.96\00:38:21.63
I mean, this is blatant.
00:38:21.73\00:38:23.03
This is not just in his face.
00:38:23.13\00:38:24.10
It's in everyone's faces.
00:38:24.20\00:38:25.23
Something must be done.
00:38:25.33\00:38:28.27
And, so,
00:38:28.37\00:38:30.27
the king springs into action.
00:38:30.37\00:38:31.37
Take a look. Verse 13.
00:38:31.47\00:38:35.14
It says, "Furious with rage" --
00:38:35.24\00:38:39.15
I guess, as opposed to being
00:38:39.25\00:38:40.42
happy with rage, I'm not sure.
00:38:40.52\00:38:41.55
"Furious with rage,
00:38:41.65\00:38:43.65
Nebuchadnezzar summoned
00:38:43.75\00:38:44.99
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:38:45.09\00:38:46.76
So these men
00:38:46.86\00:38:47.79
were brought before the king.
00:38:47.89\00:38:49.06
And Nebuchadnezzar said to them,
00:38:49.16\00:38:50.03
'Is it true,
00:38:50.13\00:38:51.63
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
00:38:51.73\00:38:53.66
that you do not serve my gods
00:38:53.76\00:38:55.00
or worship the image of gold
00:38:55.10\00:38:56.03
I have set up?
00:38:56.13\00:38:57.73
Now, when you hear
00:38:57.83\00:39:00.50
the sound of the horn, flute,
00:39:00.60\00:39:01.77
zither, lyre, harp, pipes,
00:39:01.87\00:39:03.14
and all kinds of music,
00:39:03.24\00:39:04.54
if you are ready to fall down
00:39:04.64\00:39:06.01
and worship the image I made,
00:39:06.11\00:39:07.64
very good.
00:39:07.74\00:39:10.28
But if you do not worship it,
00:39:10.38\00:39:14.92
you will be thrown immediately
00:39:15.02\00:39:17.42
into a blazing furnace.
00:39:17.52\00:39:20.12
Then what god will be able
00:39:20.22\00:39:21.96
to rescue you from my hand?'"
00:39:22.06\00:39:24.56
It's pretty serious, isn't it?
00:39:31.10\00:39:34.04
And again, the kilns
00:39:34.14\00:39:35.34
were probably right there.
00:39:35.44\00:39:36.47
You know, Nebuchadnezzar was
00:39:36.57\00:39:37.44
a pretty savvy politician.
00:39:37.54\00:39:38.77
If you read the rest of
00:39:38.87\00:39:39.61
the history of Nebuchadnezzar,
00:39:39.71\00:39:40.88
he was no slouch.
00:39:40.98\00:39:42.38
It is entirely possible
00:39:42.48\00:39:43.71
that he anticipated there
00:39:43.81\00:39:44.88
just might be somebody
00:39:44.98\00:39:46.01
who would keep standing.
00:39:46.11\00:39:47.82
Maybe there was a particularly
00:39:47.92\00:39:48.95
large kiln furnace
00:39:49.05\00:39:50.82
right off of the dais
00:39:50.92\00:39:52.12
where the king was sitting.
00:39:52.22\00:39:55.29
And maybe those three friends,
00:39:55.39\00:39:56.86
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
00:39:56.96\00:39:58.43
cast their glance over there.
00:39:58.53\00:40:01.23
And they saw the furnace,
00:40:01.33\00:40:03.03
and they saw the flames,
00:40:03.13\00:40:04.93
and they see the heat rising,
00:40:05.03\00:40:06.10
even in that desert sun,
00:40:06.20\00:40:07.50
the heat rising out of the top
00:40:07.60\00:40:09.00
of that.
00:40:09.10\00:40:10.07
There was no doubt
00:40:10.17\00:40:11.84
as to the King's intentions
00:40:11.94\00:40:13.81
should they deny his request
00:40:13.91\00:40:15.78
a second time.
00:40:15.88\00:40:17.48
Clearly, their lives
00:40:17.58\00:40:18.11
were at stake.
00:40:18.21\00:40:19.28
What should they do?
00:40:19.38\00:40:22.38
Time-out for just a moment.
00:40:28.49\00:40:29.99
What would you have done?
00:40:34.36\00:40:35.70
Now, be careful.
00:40:39.33\00:40:41.50
This is such a popular story
00:40:41.60\00:40:42.64
that, you know, sometimes
00:40:42.74\00:40:43.47
we skip right to the end.
00:40:43.57\00:40:44.71
We put ourselves right in their
00:40:44.81\00:40:45.97
sandals and say, "Well, I know
00:40:46.07\00:40:46.71
what I would have done."
00:40:46.81\00:40:47.98
You know.
00:40:48.08\00:40:49.24
We need to be careful,
00:40:49.34\00:40:51.35
because before we get
00:40:51.45\00:40:52.95
to this part of the story,
00:40:53.05\00:40:54.05
how they answered the king,
00:40:54.15\00:40:55.92
the fact of the matter remains
00:40:56.02\00:40:57.09
is that they had options,
00:40:57.19\00:40:58.45
and if we are honest,
00:40:58.55\00:40:59.52
we will see that, indeed,
00:40:59.62\00:41:00.99
to the carnal mind, they are
00:41:01.09\00:41:02.52
very attractive options.
00:41:02.62\00:41:04.09
For instance, they could have
00:41:04.19\00:41:05.16
easily thought to themselves
00:41:05.26\00:41:06.86
any of a number of excuses.
00:41:06.96\00:41:08.63
It's just this one time,
00:41:08.73\00:41:10.43
surely God will understand.
00:41:10.53\00:41:14.44
Or how about this?
00:41:14.54\00:41:15.67
"The king has been good to us."
00:41:15.77\00:41:18.67
And of course, that's true.
00:41:18.77\00:41:19.97
They got to be rulers in Babylon
00:41:20.08\00:41:21.94
specifically because of what
00:41:22.04\00:41:23.04
happened in Daniel chapter 2.
00:41:23.14\00:41:24.95
These guys were elevated.
00:41:25.05\00:41:26.21
They were powerful men
00:41:26.31\00:41:27.78
themselves because of the king.
00:41:27.88\00:41:29.35
"The king has been good to us.
00:41:29.45\00:41:30.72
We ought to respect him.
00:41:30.82\00:41:32.09
And we certainly don't want
00:41:32.19\00:41:33.42
to embarrass him, especially
00:41:33.52\00:41:35.09
in front of all these people."
00:41:35.19\00:41:38.83
Or how about this?
00:41:38.93\00:41:40.60
"We have loved ones to take
00:41:40.70\00:41:41.36
care of.
00:41:41.46\00:41:43.47
We don't want to abandon them
00:41:43.57\00:41:44.20
for the sake
00:41:44.30\00:41:44.93
of a little thing like this,
00:41:45.03\00:41:46.57
just a few seconds on the plain
00:41:46.67\00:41:47.47
of Dura."
00:41:47.57\00:41:50.34
Or how about this one?
00:41:50.44\00:41:51.67
"I know that God doesn't like us
00:41:51.77\00:41:54.91
worshiping idols.
00:41:55.01\00:41:58.61
But maybe that's just
00:41:58.71\00:41:59.68
a preference He has.
00:41:59.78\00:42:02.48
And besides, while I'm
00:42:02.58\00:42:03.95
bowing down to the idol,
00:42:04.05\00:42:05.22
I'll just worship God
00:42:05.32\00:42:06.22
in my mind.
00:42:06.32\00:42:07.26
After all, the Bible says man
00:42:07.36\00:42:09.09
looketh on the outside,
00:42:09.19\00:42:10.69
but God looketh at the heart."
00:42:10.79\00:42:12.33
Oh, how the mind
00:42:15.70\00:42:16.53
can bob and weave
00:42:16.63\00:42:17.93
when good and evil clash
00:42:18.03\00:42:19.83
and the price for us is high.
00:42:19.93\00:42:24.21
What would you have done
00:42:24.31\00:42:27.01
if you were standing before
00:42:27.11\00:42:27.78
the nation
00:42:27.88\00:42:28.54
and the King at that time?
00:42:28.64\00:42:29.88
Well, what did these three
00:42:34.42\00:42:35.08
guys do?
00:42:35.18\00:42:38.72
Apparently, none of these
00:42:38.82\00:42:39.82
rationalizations
00:42:39.92\00:42:41.22
came into their heads.
00:42:41.32\00:42:42.62
If they did, it's not recorded.
00:42:42.72\00:42:44.76
Instead, these three friends
00:42:44.86\00:42:46.06
knew their Bibles,
00:42:46.16\00:42:47.23
the Bible of their day.
00:42:47.36\00:42:48.60
There was no question what
00:42:48.70\00:42:49.80
God had commanded them to do,
00:42:49.90\00:42:51.27
and therefore, God's will
00:42:51.37\00:42:52.47
was crystal clear.
00:42:52.57\00:42:53.20
Exodus 20:4.
00:42:53.30\00:42:54.90
It says, "You shall not make
00:42:55.00\00:42:56.44
for yourself a carved image
00:42:56.54\00:42:57.57
or any likeness of anything.
00:42:57.67\00:42:59.04
You shall not bow down to them,
00:42:59.14\00:43:00.58
nor serve them."
00:43:00.68\00:43:03.21
So this was not rocket science.
00:43:03.31\00:43:05.05
These men knew exactly
00:43:05.15\00:43:06.05
what answer
00:43:06.15\00:43:06.85
they were to give to the king,
00:43:06.95\00:43:07.85
and without hesitation
00:43:07.95\00:43:08.88
or rationalization,
00:43:08.98\00:43:10.09
apparently, of any kind,
00:43:10.19\00:43:11.62
here is what they said.
00:43:11.72\00:43:14.96
Verse 16.
00:43:15.06\00:43:17.23
"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
00:43:17.33\00:43:18.33
replied to the king,
00:43:18.43\00:43:20.10
'O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not
00:43:20.20\00:43:22.60
need to defend ourselves
00:43:22.70\00:43:23.97
before you in this matter.
00:43:24.07\00:43:26.90
If we are thrown into
00:43:27.00\00:43:27.87
the blazing furnace,
00:43:27.97\00:43:28.87
the God we serve
00:43:28.97\00:43:30.07
is able to save us from it,
00:43:30.17\00:43:31.77
and He will rescue us
00:43:31.87\00:43:32.97
from your hand, O King.'"
00:43:33.07\00:43:35.61
And then comes what I think is
00:43:35.71\00:43:36.81
one of the more powerful verses
00:43:36.91\00:43:38.11
in all of the Old Testament,
00:43:38.21\00:43:39.05
verse 18.
00:43:39.15\00:43:41.68
"'But even if he does not,
00:43:41.78\00:43:45.22
we want you to know, O King,
00:43:45.32\00:43:47.46
that we will not serve your gods
00:43:47.56\00:43:49.16
or worship the image of gold
00:43:49.26\00:43:50.69
you have set up.'"
00:43:50.79\00:43:51.83
>> Amen.
00:43:51.93\00:43:52.66
>> Amen.
00:43:52.76\00:43:53.53
>> Amen.
00:43:53.63\00:43:54.46
>> Hallelujah.
00:43:54.56\00:43:55.26
>> Amen.
00:43:55.36\00:43:57.23
>> What an amazing answer.
00:43:57.33\00:43:59.33
Of all the things they could
00:43:59.43\00:44:00.37
have said, of all
00:44:00.47\00:44:01.17
the politically correct phrases,
00:44:01.27\00:44:02.07
the maneuvering.
00:44:02.17\00:44:03.04
"King, can we talk about this
00:44:03.14\00:44:03.81
later?
00:44:03.91\00:44:04.51
Now is not a good time.
00:44:04.61\00:44:05.44
We'll get back to you.
00:44:05.54\00:44:06.24
My lawyers will call you."
00:44:06.34\00:44:07.48
All the things they could have
00:44:07.58\00:44:08.81
said, and instead they just come
00:44:08.91\00:44:09.94
flat out and said,
00:44:10.05\00:44:10.95
"King, we're not doing it.
00:44:11.05\00:44:12.88
We don't even need to defend
00:44:12.98\00:44:14.18
ourselves in this manner."
00:44:14.28\00:44:14.98
Now, by the way,
00:44:15.08\00:44:15.85
that's a public rebuke because
00:44:15.95\00:44:17.72
they knew what had happened.
00:44:17.82\00:44:18.95
Nebuchadnezzar recognized
00:44:19.05\00:44:19.95
those guys
00:44:20.06\00:44:20.79
when they walk up on the stage.
00:44:20.89\00:44:21.86
These are the same guys
00:44:21.96\00:44:23.32
that said that this gold statue
00:44:23.43\00:44:25.03
isn't going to be gold,
00:44:25.13\00:44:25.76
just the head.
00:44:25.86\00:44:27.86
They said, "King, we don't need
00:44:27.96\00:44:28.63
to defend you about this.
00:44:28.73\00:44:29.40
You already know.
00:44:29.50\00:44:32.53
And you can threaten us.
00:44:32.63\00:44:34.54
You can take our families,
00:44:34.64\00:44:36.24
you can take our office,
00:44:36.34\00:44:38.01
you can take our lives,
00:44:38.11\00:44:39.94
but we will not bow down
00:44:40.04\00:44:41.94
to your gods."
00:44:42.04\00:44:44.98
What courage,
00:44:45.08\00:44:46.88
what faith, what power.
00:44:46.98\00:44:52.05
And in the eyes of
00:44:52.15\00:44:53.25
King Nebuchadnezzar,
00:44:53.36\00:44:54.49
what foolishness.
00:44:54.59\00:44:55.66
He says, "I'm not going to
00:44:55.76\00:44:56.69
stand for this."
00:44:56.79\00:44:57.66
And he immediately begins
00:44:57.76\00:44:59.39
to take action.
00:44:59.49\00:45:01.13
Take a look at verse 19.
00:45:01.23\00:45:03.63
"Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious
00:45:03.73\00:45:05.47
with Shadrach, Meshach,
00:45:05.57\00:45:06.63
and Abednego, and his attitude
00:45:06.74\00:45:08.00
toward them changed."
00:45:08.10\00:45:08.87
In the Hebrew there, the
00:45:08.97\00:45:09.84
attitude it means his face.
00:45:09.94\00:45:10.77
I mean, he was reaching
00:45:10.87\00:45:12.44
absolute boiling point here.
00:45:12.54\00:45:14.41
"He ordered the furnace heated
00:45:14.51\00:45:15.78
seven times hotter than usual
00:45:15.88\00:45:17.51
and commanded some of the
00:45:17.61\00:45:18.41
strongest soldiers in his army
00:45:18.51\00:45:20.12
to tie up Shadrach, Meshach,
00:45:20.22\00:45:21.68
and Abednego and throw them
00:45:21.78\00:45:23.12
into the blazing furnace.
00:45:23.22\00:45:24.69
So these men,
00:45:24.79\00:45:25.69
wearing their robes, trousers,
00:45:25.79\00:45:27.16
turbans, and other clothes" --
00:45:27.26\00:45:28.59
in other words, kindling --
00:45:28.69\00:45:30.23
"were bound and thrown
00:45:30.33\00:45:31.23
into the blazing furnace.
00:45:31.33\00:45:32.76
The king's command was so
00:45:32.86\00:45:34.00
urgent and the furnace so hot
00:45:34.10\00:45:35.90
that the flames of the fire
00:45:36.00\00:45:36.97
killed the soldiers who took up
00:45:37.07\00:45:38.33
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
00:45:38.43\00:45:39.90
And these three men,
00:45:40.00\00:45:40.94
firmly tied,
00:45:41.04\00:45:42.27
fell into the blazing furnace."
00:45:42.37\00:45:45.37
And that's the end of the story.
00:45:51.05\00:45:52.25
Credits roll. We're done.
00:45:52.35\00:45:54.18
That is how most of the people
00:45:58.89\00:46:00.62
on the plain of Dura that day
00:46:00.72\00:46:01.76
undoubtedly thought.
00:46:01.86\00:46:03.96
I mean, this is the end
00:46:04.06\00:46:05.03
of the story, right?
00:46:05.13\00:46:07.50
If even the soldiers
00:46:07.60\00:46:09.43
who are supposed to be
00:46:09.53\00:46:10.53
throwing these guys in --
00:46:10.63\00:46:11.60
By the way, this is why the
00:46:11.70\00:46:12.80
strongest soldiers had to be
00:46:12.90\00:46:13.87
called, because Nebuchadnezzar
00:46:13.97\00:46:15.40
knew they were going to have to
00:46:15.50\00:46:16.14
chuck these guys from a
00:46:16.24\00:46:17.31
distance, okay?
00:46:17.41\00:46:18.94
And, so, even the strongest
00:46:19.04\00:46:20.44
soldiers in the army
00:46:20.54\00:46:21.38
are now dead
00:46:21.48\00:46:23.04
on the plain of Dura.
00:46:23.14\00:46:24.68
Surely the message was clear.
00:46:24.78\00:46:26.58
Thousands of onlookers
00:46:26.68\00:46:27.95
there immediately concluded,
00:46:28.05\00:46:29.28
if the flames kill
00:46:29.38\00:46:30.62
even those who are nearby,
00:46:30.72\00:46:31.99
they must utterly
00:46:32.09\00:46:33.09
and completely destroy
00:46:33.19\00:46:34.99
those who are thrown within.
00:46:35.09\00:46:38.76
Surely no one
00:46:38.86\00:46:40.66
will disobey King Nebuchadnezzar
00:46:40.76\00:46:42.96
ever again.
00:46:43.06\00:46:44.77
Or will they?
00:46:49.94\00:46:52.44
Verse 24.
00:46:52.54\00:46:55.38
"Then King Nebuchadnezzar
00:46:55.48\00:46:57.81
leaped to his feet in amazement
00:46:57.91\00:47:00.58
and asked his advisers,
00:47:00.68\00:47:02.75
'Weren't there three men that we
00:47:02.85\00:47:03.82
tied up and threw into the
00:47:03.92\00:47:04.62
fire?'
00:47:04.72\00:47:06.35
They replied, 'Certainly,
00:47:06.45\00:47:07.56
O king.'
00:47:07.66\00:47:08.59
He said, 'Look, I see four men
00:47:08.69\00:47:11.46
walking around in the fire,
00:47:11.56\00:47:13.03
unbound and unharmed,
00:47:13.13\00:47:14.66
and the fourth looks like a son
00:47:14.76\00:47:15.73
of the gods.'
00:47:15.83\00:47:18.17
Nebuchadnezzar then approached
00:47:18.27\00:47:19.17
the opening of the blazing
00:47:19.27\00:47:20.00
furnace and shouted,
00:47:20.10\00:47:21.24
'Shadrach, Meshach, and
00:47:21.34\00:47:22.67
Abednego, servants of
00:47:22.77\00:47:24.07
the Most High God, come out!
00:47:24.17\00:47:25.47
Come here!'"
00:47:25.57\00:47:27.11
"So Shadrach, Meshach,
00:47:31.71\00:47:34.35
and Abednego
00:47:34.45\00:47:35.82
came out of the fire,
00:47:35.92\00:47:39.05
and the satraps, prefects,
00:47:39.15\00:47:40.22
governors, and royal advisers
00:47:40.32\00:47:41.22
crowded around them.
00:47:41.32\00:47:42.26
They saw that the fire
00:47:42.36\00:47:43.39
had not harmed their bodies,
00:47:43.49\00:47:44.73
nor was the hair of their head
00:47:44.83\00:47:45.46
singed.
00:47:45.56\00:47:46.59
Their robes were not scorched,
00:47:46.70\00:47:48.13
and there was no smell of fire
00:47:48.23\00:47:50.63
on them."
00:47:50.73\00:47:51.90
>> Amen.
00:47:52.00\00:47:53.17
>> Amen.
00:47:53.27\00:47:54.80
>> Not even the smell of fire.
00:47:54.90\00:47:56.84
This is absolutely astonishing.
00:47:56.94\00:47:58.94
For those of you
00:47:59.04\00:48:00.81
who are new here,
00:48:00.91\00:48:02.58
for those of you who are nervous
00:48:02.68\00:48:03.85
or fearful, for those of you
00:48:03.95\00:48:05.41
that are feeling far from home,
00:48:05.51\00:48:07.95
three lessons from this story.
00:48:08.05\00:48:10.22
Lesson number one.
00:48:10.32\00:48:11.52
>> Amen.
00:48:14.56\00:48:15.22
>> Does not exist.
00:48:15.32\00:48:16.29
There is no fire
00:48:16.39\00:48:17.33
that is too hot for Jesus.
00:48:17.43\00:48:18.79
Whether you are feeling
00:48:18.89\00:48:19.63
just a little homesick
00:48:19.73\00:48:20.80
or full-scale oppressed,
00:48:20.90\00:48:22.86
whatever fire
00:48:22.96\00:48:24.00
you are going through right now,
00:48:24.10\00:48:25.13
Jesus is not scared of it.
00:48:25.23\00:48:27.17
Jesus is flameproof.
00:48:27.27\00:48:28.57
He's the original holy fire
00:48:28.67\00:48:29.74
retardant.
00:48:29.84\00:48:30.57
You cannot scorch this man.
00:48:30.67\00:48:32.34
For Him, the fires that would
00:48:32.44\00:48:33.38
otherwise torch us
00:48:33.48\00:48:34.64
are like a gentle breeze.
00:48:34.74\00:48:36.21
A walk in the park, a stroll
00:48:36.31\00:48:37.65
on a cool summer's evening.
00:48:37.75\00:48:39.31
He is not fazed by our fires.
00:48:39.41\00:48:41.08
He is not harmed by them.
00:48:41.18\00:48:42.78
And if he finds you in the fire,
00:48:42.88\00:48:44.65
he will definitely not run away.
00:48:44.75\00:48:47.02
Instead, if you invite him in,
00:48:47.12\00:48:49.19
He will come right into
00:48:49.29\00:48:50.53
that fire with you.
00:48:50.63\00:48:53.09
And even though you walk
00:48:53.19\00:48:54.20
through the valley of the shadow
00:48:54.30\00:48:55.40
of death, if God is with you,
00:48:55.50\00:48:56.90
you need fear no evil.
00:48:57.00\00:48:59.07
>> Amen.
00:48:59.17\00:49:00.24
>> If you're new here,
00:49:00.34\00:49:01.40
if you're far from home,
00:49:01.50\00:49:03.20
you need to know that Jesus
00:49:03.30\00:49:04.11
feels your pain.
00:49:04.21\00:49:05.34
He knows your heart,
00:49:05.44\00:49:06.74
and when asked, He will come in
00:49:06.84\00:49:08.21
and give you the healing and
00:49:08.31\00:49:09.48
strength that he alone can give.
00:49:09.58\00:49:11.35
For no fire is too hot
00:49:11.45\00:49:13.11
for Jesus.
00:49:13.21\00:49:14.02
>> Amen.
00:49:14.12\00:49:15.08
>> Lesson number two.
00:49:15.18\00:49:16.38
>> Amen.
00:49:22.26\00:49:23.76
>> When you're away from home,
00:49:23.86\00:49:24.89
obey God and leave the
00:49:24.99\00:49:26.43
rationalizations to the devil.
00:49:26.53\00:49:27.76
Now listen carefully here.
00:49:27.86\00:49:28.56
These three men,
00:49:28.66\00:49:30.60
all of whom were young adults,
00:49:30.70\00:49:32.50
quite likely what we would
00:49:32.60\00:49:33.47
consider to be college
00:49:33.57\00:49:34.30
age today,
00:49:34.40\00:49:35.84
they all were far from home.
00:49:35.94\00:49:39.34
They were not at home, sweet
00:49:39.44\00:49:40.64
home, Babylon was not their
00:49:40.74\00:49:41.71
home, sweet home.
00:49:41.81\00:49:42.64
Their home, sweet home
00:49:42.74\00:49:43.51
lay in ruins,
00:49:43.61\00:49:44.65
most likely, back in Palestine.
00:49:44.75\00:49:46.68
When Nebuchadnezzar came
00:49:46.78\00:49:47.45
to power in 605 BC,
00:49:47.55\00:49:48.95
there was a series of raids.
00:49:49.05\00:49:50.32
It took several years before all
00:49:50.42\00:49:51.82
of Palestine was decimated.
00:49:51.92\00:49:53.72
At one of those points,
00:49:53.82\00:49:55.29
Shadrach, Meshach, and
00:49:55.39\00:49:56.76
Abednego's homes were attacked.
00:49:56.86\00:49:58.36
We don't know exactly
00:49:58.46\00:49:58.93
what happened.
00:49:59.03\00:49:59.76
It's possible that their parents
00:49:59.86\00:50:00.43
were killed.
00:50:00.53\00:50:01.10
Undoubtedly, they had at least
00:50:01.20\00:50:02.13
friends that were killed,
00:50:02.23\00:50:02.83
possibly relatives,
00:50:02.93\00:50:04.00
and their houses
00:50:04.10\00:50:04.90
were probably piles of rubble.
00:50:05.00\00:50:06.60
They were indeed far from home.
00:50:06.70\00:50:11.61
And what is true for anyone
00:50:11.71\00:50:12.74
who goes far from home
00:50:12.84\00:50:13.84
was undoubtedly true for them,
00:50:13.94\00:50:15.11
as well, and perhaps for you.
00:50:15.21\00:50:16.71
When you're far from home,
00:50:16.81\00:50:18.08
there are new temptations.
00:50:18.18\00:50:20.98
You're tempted to feel lonely,
00:50:21.08\00:50:22.92
and you want to find a way to
00:50:23.02\00:50:24.59
get rid of that lonely feeling.
00:50:24.69\00:50:26.15
And too often, too often,
00:50:26.25\00:50:28.82
temptations can come to us
00:50:28.92\00:50:30.56
that, if we were back home,
00:50:30.66\00:50:31.56
they may not come our way.
00:50:31.66\00:50:34.73
And we can begin to rationalize,
00:50:34.83\00:50:37.20
rationalize doing the wrong
00:50:37.30\00:50:38.53
thing as though somehow
00:50:38.63\00:50:40.00
standing for Jesus and His truth
00:50:40.10\00:50:41.54
will harm us rather than help.
00:50:41.64\00:50:42.97
"I don't want to offend anybody.
00:50:43.07\00:50:44.17
These new friends that
00:50:44.27\00:50:45.14
I'm making, they're asking me
00:50:45.24\00:50:45.84
to do thus and such.
00:50:45.94\00:50:46.78
I don't want to offend them.
00:50:46.88\00:50:48.21
Jesus said we should love
00:50:48.31\00:50:49.08
people, et cetera.
00:50:49.18\00:50:50.31
It's just this once.
00:50:50.41\00:50:51.71
Surely God will understand."
00:50:51.81\00:50:56.18
But the truth is that the path
00:50:56.28\00:50:57.29
of obedience
00:50:57.39\00:50:58.82
is the path of assurance.
00:50:58.92\00:51:01.46
The path of following God
00:51:01.56\00:51:03.59
is the path to freedom,
00:51:03.69\00:51:04.89
including freedom from fear.
00:51:04.99\00:51:06.66
You know, in the world today,
00:51:06.76\00:51:08.13
there are sometimes rules that
00:51:08.23\00:51:09.43
governments or organizations
00:51:09.53\00:51:10.50
make that actually
00:51:10.60\00:51:11.40
bring harm to your soul
00:51:11.50\00:51:12.57
if you follow them.
00:51:12.67\00:51:13.64
That can happen.
00:51:13.74\00:51:14.60
Families can make poor rules,
00:51:14.70\00:51:15.97
they have rules that are
00:51:16.07\00:51:16.91
unhealthy, et cetera.
00:51:17.01\00:51:18.41
But you don't have to worry
00:51:18.51\00:51:19.44
about that with God.
00:51:19.54\00:51:20.98
If God makes a rule,
00:51:21.08\00:51:22.28
you can be guaranteed it is
00:51:22.38\00:51:23.75
for your good and your freedom.
00:51:23.85\00:51:25.81
He never makes a mistake
00:51:25.91\00:51:26.75
in this regard.
00:51:26.85\00:51:27.82
Follow Him when you're far
00:51:27.92\00:51:29.42
from home,
00:51:29.52\00:51:30.75
and the fears will drop away.
00:51:30.85\00:51:33.76
True freedom is not the ability
00:51:33.86\00:51:35.56
to do whatever you want.
00:51:35.66\00:51:36.89
True freedom is the ability to
00:51:36.99\00:51:38.29
choose and to do what is right.
00:51:38.39\00:51:41.40
So if you are feeling uneasy
00:51:41.50\00:51:42.66
being far from home,
00:51:42.76\00:51:44.30
my challenge to you,
00:51:44.40\00:51:45.27
my encouragement to you,
00:51:45.37\00:51:46.50
keep following Jesus.
00:51:46.60\00:51:48.64
Stay true to Him.
00:51:48.74\00:51:49.54
By His grace,
00:51:49.64\00:51:50.54
move past the temptations
00:51:50.64\00:51:51.81
to do that which, in the end,
00:51:51.91\00:51:52.87
will only make you feel worse.
00:51:52.97\00:51:54.28
And instead follow Jesus.
00:51:54.38\00:51:55.64
No compromise,
00:51:55.74\00:51:56.85
no rationalizations,
00:51:56.95\00:51:58.28
and find the comfort and freedom
00:51:58.38\00:51:59.58
that only He can bring.
00:51:59.68\00:52:00.82
>> Amen.
00:52:00.92\00:52:02.68
>> And lesson number three.
00:52:02.78\00:52:04.62
>> Amen.
00:52:08.99\00:52:10.73
>> Anywhere.
00:52:10.83\00:52:12.53
It doesn't matter, ultimately,
00:52:12.63\00:52:13.90
what the surroundings
00:52:14.00\00:52:14.96
physically are around you.
00:52:15.06\00:52:16.20
If Jesus is there,
00:52:16.30\00:52:17.50
you can be at home.
00:52:17.60\00:52:19.77
You know, one of the things
00:52:19.87\00:52:20.87
about this story that I love
00:52:20.97\00:52:22.34
that rarely gets talked about
00:52:22.44\00:52:23.77
is the part where Nebuchadnezzar
00:52:23.87\00:52:25.07
is freaking out, okay,
00:52:25.17\00:52:26.31
he's gone from being a bass
00:52:26.41\00:52:27.31
to a soprano, okay?
00:52:27.41\00:52:28.38
He says, "Oh, when I looked in,
00:52:28.48\00:52:30.11
there's four walking around!"
00:52:30.21\00:52:32.01
Walking around.
00:52:32.11\00:52:34.25
Isn't that interesting?
00:52:34.35\00:52:35.98
It's like they're just lounging.
00:52:36.08\00:52:39.12
It's like Jesus is in His
00:52:39.22\00:52:40.42
living room with Shadrach,
00:52:40.52\00:52:41.62
Meshach, and Abednego.
00:52:41.72\00:52:42.99
"Over here, this is a picture
00:52:43.09\00:52:44.23
I took with Abraham and Sarah
00:52:44.33\00:52:45.16
when I was there
00:52:45.26\00:52:46.09
visiting them earlier."
00:52:46.19\00:52:47.03
It was a place of comfort.
00:52:47.13\00:52:49.43
These three friends appear to
00:52:49.53\00:52:51.33
have all the comforts of home.
00:52:51.43\00:52:52.67
Just strolling around
00:52:52.77\00:52:54.10
inside of this furnace.
00:52:54.20\00:52:55.80
They are basking, not baking.
00:52:55.90\00:52:58.31
They are lounging, not lacking.
00:52:58.41\00:53:00.54
They have French toast,
00:53:00.64\00:53:01.41
not burnt toast.
00:53:01.51\00:53:02.84
There are friends nearby.
00:53:02.94\00:53:04.38
And because Jesus is there,
00:53:04.48\00:53:06.18
they are home.
00:53:06.28\00:53:09.08
Now, the 1970s were a dark era.
00:53:12.72\00:53:19.86
We suffered through fashions
00:53:19.96\00:53:21.86
and colors and hairstyles
00:53:21.96\00:53:23.37
that never should see the light
00:53:23.47\00:53:24.33
of day ever again.
00:53:24.43\00:53:26.47
And generally speaking,
00:53:26.57\00:53:27.74
the music from the '70s was
00:53:27.84\00:53:29.04
terrible, with a few exceptions.
00:53:29.14\00:53:33.07
When I was a child,
00:53:33.17\00:53:34.24
my parents gave me a record.
00:53:34.34\00:53:37.91
I guess I probably should
00:53:38.01\00:53:39.11
explain what that is
00:53:39.21\00:53:40.35
for those incoming students.
00:53:40.45\00:53:41.85
A record is a piece of plastic
00:53:41.95\00:53:44.69
that you could put grooves on,
00:53:44.79\00:53:45.79
and if you had just
00:53:45.89\00:53:46.62
the right instrument on it,
00:53:46.72\00:53:47.46
it would go over it
00:53:47.56\00:53:48.16
and it would make noise.
00:53:48.26\00:53:48.99
And I think if you go to
00:53:49.09\00:53:51.23
the Horn Archeological Museum,
00:53:51.33\00:53:52.66
I think there is a record
00:53:52.76\00:53:53.56
that's there on the wall.
00:53:53.66\00:53:55.03
Anyway, I had a record,
00:53:55.13\00:53:56.70
and it called "It Isn't Hot."
00:53:56.80\00:54:00.67
And it was a story,
00:54:00.77\00:54:02.07
a dramatized story of the
00:54:02.17\00:54:04.61
Three Worthies in the furnace.
00:54:04.71\00:54:07.48
And I'd like to share a little
00:54:07.58\00:54:08.51
bit of that song with you, but I
00:54:08.61\00:54:09.64
am going to need your help.
00:54:09.74\00:54:11.38
Okay? Do you know how to snap
00:54:11.48\00:54:12.65
your fingers?
00:54:12.75\00:54:15.25
Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
00:54:15.35\00:54:16.85
We have we have to do this
00:54:16.95\00:54:18.42
together, so follow me, okay?
00:54:18.52\00:54:20.29
[ Congregation snapping ]
00:54:20.39\00:54:23.76
Keep going.
00:54:23.86\00:54:27.13
¤ It isn't hot, mm mm mm
00:54:27.23\00:54:30.47
¤ In the furnace, man
00:54:30.57\00:54:33.23
¤ It isn't hot
00:54:33.34\00:54:34.97
No, no.
00:54:35.07\00:54:36.74
¤ In the furnace, man
00:54:36.84\00:54:40.08
¤ It isn't hot in the furnace
00:54:40.18\00:54:41.74
¤ Man, this furnace is cool,
00:54:41.84\00:54:44.05
cool, cool, cool ¤
00:54:44.15\00:54:45.91
¤ It isn't hot
00:54:46.01\00:54:47.05
Keep going.
00:54:47.15\00:54:49.28
¤ That furnace was hot
00:54:49.38\00:54:50.72
and glowing red ¤
00:54:50.82\00:54:52.65
¤ They thought we'd burn like
00:54:52.75\00:54:53.99
homemade bread ¤
00:54:54.09\00:54:55.56
¤ But we didn't burn
00:54:55.66\00:54:56.79
and we didn't run ¤
00:54:56.89\00:54:58.46
¤ And God just looked
00:54:58.56\00:54:59.83
and said, "Well done" ¤
00:54:59.93\00:55:01.43
¤ It's cool, it's cool,
00:55:01.53\00:55:02.90
it's cool, it's cool ¤
00:55:03.00\00:55:04.53
¤ It's cool, cool, cool, cool
00:55:04.63\00:55:07.47
¤ Cool
00:55:07.57\00:55:09.70
Yeah.
00:55:09.80\00:55:11.84
[ Laughter and applause ]
00:55:11.94\00:55:13.71
"We didn't burn," the song said.
00:55:22.05\00:55:23.92
"And we didn't run."
00:55:24.02\00:55:25.29
And how come?
00:55:25.39\00:55:26.86
Because Jesus was with them.
00:55:26.96\00:55:30.33
And what started out as a trial
00:55:30.43\00:55:31.83
by fire ended up with
00:55:31.93\00:55:33.56
Jesus there being a spiritual
00:55:33.66\00:55:35.56
home like no other.
00:55:35.66\00:55:39.03
Students and anyone listening
00:55:39.13\00:55:41.54
who is feeling far from home,
00:55:41.64\00:55:44.47
maybe in your heart
00:55:44.57\00:55:45.44
you're feeling like you've been
00:55:45.54\00:55:46.74
dropped off on the curb of a new
00:55:46.84\00:55:48.88
place with all that is familiar
00:55:48.98\00:55:50.51
and comforting driving off into
00:55:50.61\00:55:52.61
the sunset.
00:55:52.71\00:55:55.02
But the story of these three
00:55:55.12\00:55:56.25
friends reminds us
00:55:56.35\00:55:58.59
that, even if you are walking
00:55:58.69\00:55:59.72
through what seems like
00:55:59.82\00:56:00.69
the fires of hell itself,
00:56:00.79\00:56:01.96
if Jesus is there
00:56:02.06\00:56:03.19
with you, inwardly,
00:56:03.29\00:56:04.93
it can be as cool
00:56:05.03\00:56:06.33
as an air conditioned
00:56:06.43\00:56:07.50
living room, your living room,
00:56:07.60\00:56:09.33
as though you were surrounded
00:56:09.43\00:56:10.27
by family and friends
00:56:10.37\00:56:11.47
with all of the right sights
00:56:11.57\00:56:12.60
and sounds and smells.
00:56:12.70\00:56:14.67
So, please, students, ask
00:56:14.77\00:56:17.41
Jesus to live in your heart.
00:56:17.51\00:56:19.24
Start your day with Him.
00:56:19.34\00:56:20.34
Welcome Him into your heart
00:56:20.44\00:56:21.28
at the beginning.
00:56:21.38\00:56:21.81
Walk with Him
00:56:21.91\00:56:22.68
throughout the day.
00:56:22.78\00:56:23.81
End your day with Him.
00:56:23.91\00:56:25.21
Go to church each Sabbath.
00:56:25.31\00:56:26.48
We'll save you a seat.
00:56:26.58\00:56:28.05
Study your Bible regularly.
00:56:28.15\00:56:29.18
Be with Jesus
00:56:29.28\00:56:32.19
and you will indeed find that
00:56:32.29\00:56:33.99
anywhere with Jesus really is
00:56:34.09\00:56:36.42
home, sweet home.
00:56:36.52\00:56:39.13
Welcome to Pioneer.
00:56:39.23\00:56:40.70
Welcome to Andrews.
00:56:40.80\00:56:41.90
Welcome home.
00:56:42.00\00:56:44.37
[ Applause ]
00:56:44.47\00:56:46.77
>> I'm Shane Anderson,
00:56:52.51\00:56:53.48
the lead pastor here
00:56:53.58\00:56:54.74
at Pioneer Memorial Church.
00:56:54.84\00:56:57.11
At Pioneer Media, we have been
00:56:57.21\00:56:58.75
blessed by the financial support
00:56:58.85\00:57:00.65
that comes from our viewers
00:57:00.75\00:57:01.85
like you that enable us
00:57:01.95\00:57:03.65
to continue this ministry.
00:57:03.75\00:57:06.05
We've made a conscious decision
00:57:06.15\00:57:07.49
not to continually appeal to you
00:57:07.59\00:57:08.92
for that support.
00:57:09.02\00:57:10.66
However, keeping this ministry
00:57:10.76\00:57:11.86
going takes money to support
00:57:11.96\00:57:13.66
our staff and technology needs.
00:57:13.76\00:57:16.30
If God has blessed you
00:57:16.40\00:57:17.93
and you would like to further
00:57:18.03\00:57:18.80
the work of this ministry,
00:57:18.90\00:57:20.44
we invite you to partner
00:57:20.54\00:57:21.44
with us.
00:57:21.54\00:57:23.14
You can donate on our website --
00:57:23.24\00:57:24.51
pmchurch.org.
00:57:24.61\00:57:26.91
Then click "giving" at the top,
00:57:27.01\00:57:29.21
then select "media ministry."
00:57:29.31\00:57:32.18
Or call the number 877-HIS-WILL.
00:57:32.28\00:57:36.02
Again, that number is 877 --
00:57:36.12\00:57:38.25
the two words, "HIS WILL."
00:57:38.35\00:57:41.02
My prayer is that the God
00:57:41.12\00:57:42.76
who has blessed you will
00:57:42.86\00:57:44.43
continue to pour into your life
00:57:44.53\00:57:45.76
the gifts of his joy
00:57:45.86\00:57:47.13
and his hope.
00:57:47.23\00:57:48.36
Thank you.
00:57:48.46\00:57:49.96
And I'm looking forward
00:57:50.07\00:57:50.63
to seeing you right here
00:57:50.73\00:57:51.73
again next time.
00:57:51.83\00:57:53.00
¤
00:57:59.87\00:58:08.62
¤
00:58:08.72\00:58:17.39
¤
00:58:17.49\00:58:27.04