¤
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>> Greetings, church family.
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Happy Sabbath.
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You know what I love?
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Seasons. I love every season.
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I love the spring season,
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when there's new growth.
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I love the long,
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hot, growing season of summer.
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I love the harvest of fall.
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And I love
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when the earth rests
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in frozen tundra in the winter.
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I love every season.
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Do you know grace
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comes in seasons?
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There's a season of grace,
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just like winter.
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Winter, of all seasons, teaches
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us that we have needs.
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We have the needs of
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warmth and shelter.
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We need supplies of food.
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Grace teaches us
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that we have needs, too.
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We need the fellowship
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of Christian love.
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We need the supplies
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of the heavenly manna,
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the word of life.
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We need the shelter
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of Jesus Christ as our Savior.
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And so we at PMC love winter.
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I know some of you
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from the South are resonating
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with what I'm saying.
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Thank you for being here
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this season of grace.
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We need Jesus.
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It's time to lift our hearts
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to God and worship.
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Can you stand with me
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as we pray?
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Dear father, we realize,
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in this season, we have needs.
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We know we have physical needs
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when we go outside
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and it's cold.
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This world,
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the love of this world,
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is growing cold, Lord,
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and we have needs, spiritually.
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That's why You have drawn
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us to this place.
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You have drawn us to the throne
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of grace, where we do have
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needs.
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So, Lord, usher in Your spirit
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into our lives
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so that we can sense
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that you are the answer
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to all of our hearts' needs.
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We pray
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that You would put Your hands
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upon this building,
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upon our lives,
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and bless us with Your presence
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as we celebrate Your cause
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and Your desires and Your son
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and the plan of salvation.
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And we celebrate You today.
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May You fill us in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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¤
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>> Happy Sabbath.
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Our scripture
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today is taken from
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Proverbs 3:5-6.
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"Trust in the Lord
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with all your heart,
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and lean not on
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your own understanding.
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In all your ways,
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submit to Him,
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and He will make
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your path straight."
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¤
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>> We are blessed
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this holiday season, are we not?
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Beautiful music.
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Well done, orchestra.
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Thank you for leading us
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in worship this morning.
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Boy, Care for Cuba,
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all this outreach is taking
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place.
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This is a very,
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very good place to be.
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The holiday season, of course,
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is one that
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is often associated with gifts.
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And let's do an imaginary
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exercise here this morning.
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Imagine if, this Christmas,
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you could choose two things.
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Number one, who would give you a
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gift, and, two,
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what they would give you.
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Who would give you a gift,
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and what they would give you.
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Now, some of you are thinking,
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"Ah, I see."
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Your gift list is expanding even
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as I speak right now, right?
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Yeah, I remember as a kid,
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we grew up fairly poor,
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and the scope of gifts
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that I was eligible to receive,
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at least from my family,
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was fairly small.
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But if you had asked me,
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"Well, Shane,
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you could pick anybody
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and you get to choose the gift,"
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wow, what would I choose?
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What would you choose?
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You know, maybe Bill Gates
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will put you on his, "Yes,
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they have been nice
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all year list," right?
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Get you something
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nice for Christmas.
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Maybe Warren Buffett, you know,
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one of the wealthiest men
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in the world --
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maybe he would get you
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a new watch, like, say,
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Big Ben from London, right?
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Maybe you could get all
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of the Fortune 500 CEOs
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to band together
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and get you a little trinket,
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like, say,
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Ireland or the Florida Keys.
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Someplace warm, perhaps,
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at this time of year, right?
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I mean, oh,
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the gifts that we would
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receive if we could choose
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the givers, right?
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But what if some
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of the greatest gifts were gifts
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that you can give to yourself?
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Now, I need to caution you.
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Whenever I hear people
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talk about
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being good to themselves
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or giving a gift to themself,
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I'm always a little skeptical,
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because, often, what I hear
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that comes next is fairly
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self-centered and all of that.
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But as it turns out,
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there is at least one gift
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that not only can we give
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to ourselves
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but, in the mind of God,
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we should give to ourselves.
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And that gift is the gift
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of a strong, passionate faith.
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A strong, passionate faith.
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Now, notice I didn't say
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just faith in general.
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You know, as it turns out,
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this start of faith
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is not something
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that we can give.
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God has to give us this seed.
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You know, Jesus talks about
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this mustard seed of faith.
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Everybody gets that.
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Everybody on the planet
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has the opportunity,
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as they begin life,
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to exercise that seed.
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But what that seed of faith
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ultimately becomes is up to us.
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Will we be content with
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a stocking-stuffer-sized faith
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or will we work with God
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to grow that small gift
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into a formidable
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and strong one,
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one that will be more
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than a match for the tasks
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that Jesus wishes
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and knows, by His grace
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and our faith,
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that we can tackle?
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And, of course,
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the question naturally comes,
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how do we get that gift?
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How can we come to possess
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a strong, passionate faith
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that fully trusts God to do,
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in and through us,
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what He says He will do?
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Well, blessedly,
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there are numerous stories
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in the Bible
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that give us answers
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to those questions,
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and I want us
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to look at one of them now.
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Take your Bible, please,
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and look at Deuteronomy 7.
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Deuteronomy 7.
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It's page 128
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in the red pew Bible,
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which is somewhere around
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where you're sitting.
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Page 128,
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Deuteronomy Chapter 7,
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beginning with Verse 17.
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In the story we're going to find
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here in Deuteronomy 7:17,
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we're going to find four keys
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to developing a strong,
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passionate faith in God.
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Let me give you some context
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here.
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In the book of Deuteronomy,
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at this point,
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the children of Israel
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have been wandering in
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the desert for decades.
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They have come now
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to the borders
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of the Promised Land.
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And this is -- I mean,
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this is an amazing thing.
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You look back at their history,
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and God has done great miracles
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and led them to this point,
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but now they're
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a little bit uneasy, because all
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that has been promised
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for all these decades
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is now coming to pass.
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They are now faced
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with the conquest of Canaan.
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And they're a little nervous.
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Deuteronomy 7:17.
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Moses is the one
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who is speaking here.
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He says, "'You may say to
00:21:32.15\00:21:34.39
yourselves, "These nations are
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stronger than we are.
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How can we drive them out?"'"
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Pause there, please.
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This is
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not a rhetorical question.
00:21:46.03\00:21:47.77
Undoubtedly, this was a living,
00:21:47.87\00:21:49.90
breathing, terrifying reality
00:21:50.01\00:21:51.61
for many of the Israelites.
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They had had some military
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success up to this point.
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Make no mistake.
00:21:55.98\00:21:56.81
God had performed a number
00:21:56.91\00:21:58.11
of miraculous things
00:21:58.21\00:21:59.18
on their behalf when it came
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to dealing with pagan nations.
00:22:00.58\00:22:02.38
But now they have come here
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specifically to
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the Promised Land,
00:22:05.05\00:22:05.92
and it is inhabited,
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as we would have read earlier
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in Chapter 7, by seven nations
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that God Himself
00:22:11.93\00:22:13.53
says are stronger than you are.
00:22:13.63\00:22:16.67
Some of those nations
00:22:16.77\00:22:17.70
had fortified cities.
00:22:17.80\00:22:18.90
All of those nations
00:22:19.00\00:22:20.04
were well-established.
00:22:20.14\00:22:21.00
All of those nations
00:22:21.10\00:22:22.80
knew the lay of the land,
00:22:22.90\00:22:23.91
the territory,
00:22:24.01\00:22:24.84
the defensible positions.
00:22:24.94\00:22:26.61
The tactical advantage
00:22:26.71\00:22:28.04
was clearly belonging to them.
00:22:28.14\00:22:29.61
You know, it's one thing
00:22:29.71\00:22:30.88
to be wandering in the desert
00:22:30.98\00:22:32.11
and be thinking about
00:22:32.21\00:22:33.01
what might come someday,
00:22:33.11\00:22:34.45
and then that day comes
00:22:34.55\00:22:36.45
and your sword is by your side.
00:22:36.55\00:22:38.35
And these nations here,
00:22:38.45\00:22:39.35
these nations
00:22:39.45\00:22:39.99
that, for centuries,
00:22:40.09\00:22:40.86
God has been working with,
00:22:40.96\00:22:41.79
but the time
00:22:41.89\00:22:42.62
of mercy has passed.
00:22:42.72\00:22:43.89
They have rejected His mercy,
00:22:43.99\00:22:45.39
and now the time
00:22:45.49\00:22:46.53
of conquest has come.
00:22:46.63\00:22:47.60
And, frankly,
00:22:47.66\00:22:48.63
from a human perspective,
00:22:48.73\00:22:50.20
this is a dead end.
00:22:50.30\00:22:55.14
Only a path of darkness
00:22:55.24\00:22:56.34
lies ahead -- from
00:22:56.44\00:22:57.17
a human perspective.
00:22:57.27\00:22:59.01
Time-out for just a moment.
00:23:02.28\00:23:03.51
Is that you this holiday season?
00:23:03.61\00:23:06.25
Now, I know that most of you
00:23:09.45\00:23:11.35
are probably doing pretty well.
00:23:11.45\00:23:12.89
I mean, this is a time
00:23:12.99\00:23:13.79
of celebration and festivity
00:23:13.89\00:23:14.89
and family and friends
00:23:14.99\00:23:15.76
and good food and gifts
00:23:15.86\00:23:16.59
and all of those things.
00:23:16.69\00:23:17.13
Praise the Lord.
00:23:17.23\00:23:17.99
Keep on keeping on.
00:23:18.09\00:23:19.76
But I also know
00:23:19.86\00:23:21.36
that for some of you,
00:23:21.46\00:23:22.50
this season is not that way.
00:23:22.60\00:23:23.93
This season to you
00:23:24.03\00:23:25.23
seems dark, for whatever reason.
00:23:25.33\00:23:26.43
Maybe things have happened
00:23:26.53\00:23:27.47
recently or over this last year.
00:23:27.57\00:23:29.74
Maybe the Christmas table
00:23:29.84\00:23:30.77
is going to look different
00:23:30.87\00:23:31.44
than it did last year
00:23:31.54\00:23:32.17
because of losses
00:23:32.27\00:23:33.04
that have taken place.
00:23:33.14\00:23:34.01
And it looks to you like
00:23:34.11\00:23:35.61
this is a no-win proposition.
00:23:35.71\00:23:37.01
You see darkness ahead
00:23:37.11\00:23:39.91
and you're scared.
00:23:40.02\00:23:43.02
If that's
00:23:43.12\00:23:43.89
where you find yourself
00:23:43.99\00:23:45.82
this holiday season,
00:23:45.92\00:23:48.32
please listen carefully to
00:23:48.42\00:23:50.26
what comes next.
00:23:50.36\00:23:53.09
In your Bibles,
00:23:53.19\00:23:53.90
take a look at Verse 18.
00:23:54.00\00:23:55.86
And let me read 17 again just
00:23:55.96\00:23:57.53
to set the stage here.
00:23:57.63\00:23:59.13
"'You may say to yourselves,
00:23:59.23\00:24:00.57
"These nations are
00:24:00.67\00:24:01.57
stronger than we are.
00:24:01.67\00:24:02.77
How can we drive them out?"
00:24:02.87\00:24:05.21
But do not be afraid of them.
00:24:05.31\00:24:08.88
Remember --'" What does he say?
00:24:08.98\00:24:10.25
What's that word?
00:24:10.35\00:24:11.68
"'Remember well what the Lord
00:24:11.78\00:24:14.65
your God did to Pharaoh
00:24:14.75\00:24:15.85
and to all of Egypt.
00:24:15.95\00:24:17.09
You saw with your own eyes
00:24:17.19\00:24:19.12
the great trials,
00:24:19.22\00:24:20.06
the miraculous signs and
00:24:20.16\00:24:21.49
wonders, the mighty hand
00:24:21.59\00:24:22.52
and outstretched arm
00:24:22.62\00:24:23.46
with which the Lord
00:24:23.56\00:24:24.56
your God brought you out.
00:24:24.66\00:24:25.86
The Lord your God
00:24:25.96\00:24:26.96
will do the same to all the
00:24:27.03\00:24:29.10
peoples you now fear."
00:24:29.20\00:24:32.17
Key number 1...
00:24:34.54\00:24:36.14
Remember.
00:24:42.01\00:24:45.05
Now, I'm not going to spend
00:24:45.15\00:24:46.11
a huge amount of time
00:24:46.21\00:24:47.15
on this particular point here.
00:24:47.25\00:24:48.42
We've talked about this
00:24:48.52\00:24:49.32
recently, but I will say this.
00:24:49.42\00:24:51.45
One of the greatest killers
00:24:51.55\00:24:52.99
of faith is amnesia.
00:24:53.09\00:24:55.06
We just don't remember.
00:24:57.49\00:25:00.10
God has done all kinds of
00:25:00.20\00:25:01.66
things, "A" to "Z" and plus,
00:25:01.76\00:25:03.03
more, abundant in the
00:25:03.13\00:25:04.70
overflowing, but we forget.
00:25:04.80\00:25:07.04
We get caught up
00:25:07.14\00:25:08.10
in what we're doing -- tests,
00:25:08.20\00:25:09.27
finals, projects, work, family,
00:25:09.37\00:25:10.97
whatever it might be --
00:25:11.07\00:25:11.81
and we get absorbed
00:25:11.91\00:25:13.14
in the moment and we forget
00:25:13.24\00:25:15.08
the great things God has done.
00:25:15.18\00:25:16.48
So this holiday season,
00:25:16.58\00:25:18.11
my guess is, you're
00:25:18.21\00:25:18.98
going to get at least
00:25:19.08\00:25:19.68
a little bit of time off.
00:25:19.78\00:25:21.42
Now, it might be only
00:25:21.52\00:25:22.38
a few seconds for some of you.
00:25:22.48\00:25:24.09
For most of you,
00:25:24.19\00:25:24.89
it's going to be longer.
00:25:24.99\00:25:25.55
You'll have a few days.
00:25:25.65\00:25:26.22
And if you're an Andrews
00:25:26.32\00:25:27.06
student, my goodness, I think
00:25:27.16\00:25:27.82
they give you, what, a month?
00:25:27.92\00:25:29.16
Something like that?
00:25:29.26\00:25:29.56
I mean,
00:25:29.66\00:25:30.33
it's an extraordinary amount.
00:25:30.43\00:25:31.83
May the Lord bless and keep you.
00:25:31.93\00:25:32.93
Use the time wisely.
00:25:33.03\00:25:36.23
And at some point
00:25:36.33\00:25:37.43
during that time off,
00:25:37.53\00:25:38.47
I want you to make a list.
00:25:38.57\00:25:39.90
You get out your phone
00:25:40.00\00:25:40.97
and write down a list there.
00:25:41.07\00:25:42.57
If you remember what a pen
00:25:42.67\00:25:44.14
and paper is, write this down,
00:25:44.24\00:25:46.07
because we need to recall
00:25:46.17\00:25:47.71
what God has done.
00:25:47.81\00:25:49.31
Put it on that piece of paper
00:25:49.41\00:25:50.51
how God has blessed
00:25:50.61\00:25:51.48
you in your life.
00:25:51.58\00:25:52.38
Put down food and clothing
00:25:52.48\00:25:54.62
and a place to live.
00:25:54.72\00:25:56.15
And if you're a student here at
00:25:56.25\00:25:56.95
Andrews, praise the Lord
00:25:57.05\00:25:57.95
that somebody's got the money
00:25:58.05\00:25:59.02
to put you through school there.
00:25:59.12\00:26:00.69
Praise the Lord for the gift
00:26:00.79\00:26:01.72
of salvation,
00:26:01.82\00:26:03.16
for His gift of sustenance
00:26:03.26\00:26:04.63
and power in your life.
00:26:04.73\00:26:06.26
And when you run out of things
00:26:06.36\00:26:07.83
on yourself to be grateful for,
00:26:07.93\00:26:09.70
look back through history
00:26:09.80\00:26:11.23
at other people's lives
00:26:11.33\00:26:12.50
and see how God has worked.
00:26:12.60\00:26:13.80
God has never
00:26:13.90\00:26:14.80
let His people down.
00:26:14.90\00:26:16.24
Look back and see and remember,
00:26:16.34\00:26:21.04
because when we remember,
00:26:21.14\00:26:23.24
even in times of darkness,
00:26:23.35\00:26:24.91
we can then be assured
00:26:25.01\00:26:26.72
that God's light will come.
00:26:26.82\00:26:30.29
And it's in this remembering
00:26:30.39\00:26:31.85
that the fires of faith
00:26:31.95\00:26:33.05
can be lit afresh
00:26:33.15\00:26:34.36
and they can help
00:26:34.46\00:26:35.19
our faith to grow deep
00:26:35.29\00:26:36.49
and strong and passionate.
00:26:36.59\00:26:38.96
If you want to have a strong,
00:26:39.06\00:26:40.50
passionate faith, remember.
00:26:40.60\00:26:42.80
A second key to developing
00:26:46.50\00:26:48.67
a strong, passionate faith
00:26:48.77\00:26:50.24
in God is found in Verse 20.
00:26:50.34\00:26:56.21
It says, "Moreover, the Lord
00:26:56.31\00:26:58.75
your God will send thee --"
00:26:58.85\00:27:01.02
What's that next word?
00:27:01.12\00:27:02.98
"Hornet."
00:27:03.08\00:27:05.55
"The Lord your God
00:27:05.65\00:27:06.79
will send the hornet among them,
00:27:06.89\00:27:09.22
until even the survivors
00:27:09.32\00:27:10.76
who hide from you have
00:27:10.86\00:27:11.86
perished."
00:27:11.96\00:27:14.66
Key number two...
00:27:14.76\00:27:15.46
Be prepared for the bizarre.
00:27:22.47\00:27:25.84
Now, most of the time,
00:27:25.94\00:27:27.31
I think, when we step out
00:27:27.41\00:27:28.54
in faith,
00:27:28.64\00:27:29.31
when we trust in the God
00:27:29.41\00:27:31.21
of the universe,
00:27:31.31\00:27:32.28
we have this expectation that
00:27:32.38\00:27:34.45
things are going to make sense.
00:27:34.55\00:27:37.35
And oftentimes, it does.
00:27:37.45\00:27:39.82
I mean, God is a God of order.
00:27:39.92\00:27:40.69
Scripture is
00:27:40.79\00:27:41.32
very clear about that.
00:27:41.42\00:27:42.22
We can see the signs of design
00:27:42.32\00:27:43.59
all throughout the world, in
00:27:43.69\00:27:44.59
the universe, the stars,
00:27:44.69\00:27:45.23
et cetera.
00:27:45.33\00:27:46.16
God is, indeed, a God of order.
00:27:46.26\00:27:48.23
Most of the time, He makes
00:27:48.33\00:27:49.23
sense.
00:27:49.33\00:27:50.53
But if the only thing
00:27:50.63\00:27:54.47
we have room for
00:27:54.57\00:27:55.80
in our understanding of
00:27:55.90\00:27:57.17
how God works is what we think
00:27:57.27\00:27:58.71
makes "good sense,"
00:27:58.81\00:28:01.68
then my guess is, we are
00:28:01.78\00:28:03.51
limiting God, sometimes severely
00:28:03.61\00:28:05.91
so, for the facts are
00:28:06.01\00:28:08.58
that God has always made ways
00:28:08.68\00:28:10.82
and means to accomplish
00:28:10.92\00:28:12.22
His purposes in our lives
00:28:12.32\00:28:13.79
that we haven't even thought of.
00:28:13.89\00:28:16.02
I mean, case in point, today,
00:28:16.12\00:28:18.43
in the 21st century,
00:28:18.53\00:28:19.96
if, God forbid,
00:28:20.06\00:28:21.50
a country decides
00:28:21.60\00:28:23.00
to overrun another country,
00:28:23.10\00:28:24.57
the country that's going to do
00:28:24.67\00:28:26.27
the overrunning makes plans.
00:28:26.37\00:28:28.17
I mean, it's all kinds
00:28:28.27\00:28:29.20
of measures that are taken,
00:28:29.30\00:28:30.67
you know, tanks are rolled out
00:28:30.77\00:28:31.31
and artillery
00:28:31.41\00:28:32.07
and soldiers are trained
00:28:32.17\00:28:34.01
and there's all this tactical
00:28:34.11\00:28:35.38
planning that takes place
00:28:35.48\00:28:36.04
sometimes months
00:28:36.14\00:28:36.78
or even years ahead of time.
00:28:36.88\00:28:37.91
The Air Force,
00:28:38.01\00:28:38.65
all of this technology
00:28:38.75\00:28:39.95
is brought to bear.
00:28:40.05\00:28:40.78
It's a huge undertaking
00:28:40.88\00:28:42.75
to overrun another country.
00:28:42.85\00:28:46.12
But when God wants to overrun
00:28:46.22\00:28:47.96
a country,
00:28:48.06\00:28:49.56
his plan is Herbie the Hornet.
00:28:49.66\00:28:52.79
A bee.
00:28:54.73\00:28:56.43
Now, there are times
00:28:58.37\00:28:59.40
when I wish we had
00:28:59.50\00:29:00.24
pictures in the Bible.
00:29:00.34\00:29:01.50
There's lots of times
00:29:01.60\00:29:02.40
when I'm glad we don't, right?
00:29:02.50\00:29:03.61
But this would have been
00:29:03.71\00:29:05.07
one time I would have loved
00:29:05.17\00:29:05.74
to have a camera pan
00:29:05.84\00:29:07.01
the Israelites as they're
00:29:07.11\00:29:07.98
listening to Moses talk.
00:29:08.08\00:29:09.28
You know, "God is going
00:29:09.38\00:29:09.94
to provide for you.
00:29:10.05\00:29:10.75
Remember what happened in Egypt.
00:29:10.85\00:29:11.81
I was very powerful on your
00:29:11.91\00:29:12.28
behalf.
00:29:12.38\00:29:12.81
And by the way,
00:29:12.91\00:29:13.58
I'm going to send
00:29:13.68\00:29:14.55
bees in ahead of you."
00:29:14.65\00:29:16.95
I mean, what did
00:29:17.05\00:29:18.39
the Jews do at that time?
00:29:18.49\00:29:19.29
Did they like,
00:29:19.39\00:29:19.89
Oh, yeah, the bees!
00:29:19.99\00:29:20.92
Wait, no, this is not normal.
00:29:21.02\00:29:23.09
This is not normal combat,"
00:29:23.19\00:29:24.26
right?
00:29:24.36\00:29:25.13
This is not
00:29:25.23\00:29:26.16
how we normally think about
00:29:26.26\00:29:27.30
taking a territory from
00:29:27.40\00:29:29.00
hostile armies.
00:29:29.10\00:29:30.47
And, yet, this is
00:29:30.57\00:29:31.40
precisely what God does.
00:29:31.50\00:29:33.57
Now, this is so bizarre
00:29:33.67\00:29:36.87
that many commentators
00:29:36.97\00:29:38.37
have said,
00:29:38.47\00:29:39.17
"Well, clearly, this is
00:29:39.27\00:29:40.48
symbolic language.
00:29:40.58\00:29:43.18
The hornets must be a reference,
00:29:43.28\00:29:44.65
for instance, to the Egyptians,
00:29:44.75\00:29:45.71
which weakened
00:29:45.81\00:29:47.42
many of the tribes
00:29:47.52\00:29:48.48
that were there in Canaan
00:29:48.58\00:29:49.58
prior to the Israelites
00:29:49.68\00:29:51.25
taking full control.
00:29:51.35\00:29:52.59
I mean, after all, God
00:29:52.69\00:29:53.99
can't use bees, can He?
00:29:54.09\00:29:55.42
I mean,
00:29:55.52\00:29:57.03
God doesn't have control
00:29:57.13\00:29:57.86
over nature or anything
00:29:57.96\00:30:00.00
like that, right?"
00:30:00.10\00:30:01.13
You know.
00:30:01.23\00:30:03.93
I find the "Andrews
00:30:04.03\00:30:05.50
Bible Commentary" to be
00:30:05.60\00:30:07.00
refreshing in its honesty,
00:30:07.10\00:30:08.60
when it says the following.
00:30:08.70\00:30:09.94
Without further clarification
00:30:17.28\00:30:18.45
about hornets,
00:30:18.55\00:30:19.35
because that's what God did.
00:30:19.45\00:30:21.28
God sent bees in to drive
00:30:21.38\00:30:24.15
out Israel's enemies.
00:30:24.25\00:30:25.85
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:30:28.96\00:30:29.59
that's astonishing.
00:30:29.69\00:30:31.69
That's an astonishing thing.
00:30:31.79\00:30:33.03
And it is bizarre.
00:30:33.13\00:30:34.93
And it worked.
00:30:35.03\00:30:36.16
It worked very, very well.
00:30:36.26\00:30:37.50
You can read in, Joshua,
00:30:37.60\00:30:38.33
looking backwards,
00:30:38.43\00:30:38.97
then at that point.
00:30:39.07\00:30:39.63
Said, "Yep, that's what
00:30:39.73\00:30:40.10
happened.
00:30:40.20\00:30:40.74
The hornets came, and
00:30:40.84\00:30:41.64
enemies were gone after that."
00:30:41.74\00:30:43.71
And, interestingly enough,
00:30:43.81\00:30:45.44
as usually happens,
00:30:45.54\00:30:46.64
good ideas get adopted
00:30:46.74\00:30:47.88
by other entities.
00:30:47.98\00:30:49.61
You know, as far as we know,
00:30:49.71\00:30:50.35
God is the first one
00:30:50.45\00:30:51.35
to use hornets in this way,
00:30:51.45\00:30:52.38
but as it turns out,
00:30:52.48\00:30:53.58
there are actually scores
00:30:53.68\00:30:54.55
of occurrences throughout
00:30:54.65\00:30:55.42
history since Canaan
00:30:55.52\00:30:56.55
that are reasonably
00:30:56.65\00:30:57.89
well-documented, some of them
00:30:57.99\00:30:58.72
very well-documented,
00:30:58.82\00:30:59.79
of armies using bugs
00:30:59.89\00:31:01.76
to fight their enemies.
00:31:01.86\00:31:03.63
You ever looked into this
00:31:03.73\00:31:04.16
before?
00:31:04.26\00:31:05.29
From the Roman Empire
00:31:05.39\00:31:06.59
to the Vietnam War,
00:31:06.70\00:31:08.00
scorpions, spiders, and, yes,
00:31:08.10\00:31:09.60
hornets and bees
00:31:09.70\00:31:10.67
have been used to overpower
00:31:10.77\00:31:12.00
and actually rout entire armies.
00:31:12.10\00:31:14.87
Probably the pinnacle, as far
00:31:14.97\00:31:15.87
as the hornet-and-bee
00:31:15.97\00:31:16.67
thing was concerned,
00:31:16.77\00:31:17.44
was in the 13th century.
00:31:17.54\00:31:19.14
We have it recorded of --
00:31:19.24\00:31:20.34
Basically, it was kind of
00:31:20.44\00:31:21.38
a hornet Gatling gun.
00:31:21.48\00:31:24.15
You put the hornets nest,
00:31:24.25\00:31:25.35
the bees nest there
00:31:25.45\00:31:26.28
in this little basket,
00:31:26.38\00:31:27.32
and just one by one,
00:31:27.42\00:31:30.35
lobbing these nests into boats
00:31:30.45\00:31:32.15
or wherever it was that
00:31:32.25\00:31:32.75
the enemy was.
00:31:32.85\00:31:33.59
It was extremely effective.
00:31:33.69\00:31:35.19
And it all
00:31:35.29\00:31:36.29
started with God being bizarre.
00:31:36.39\00:31:40.26
Now, again, some of you
00:31:42.63\00:31:43.60
listening right now may be
00:31:43.70\00:31:44.93
at a lower point in your faith.
00:31:45.03\00:31:48.57
You have asked God for answers
00:31:48.67\00:31:50.01
and for help,
00:31:50.11\00:31:50.84
but neither answers nor help
00:31:50.94\00:31:52.14
seem to be coming to you.
00:31:52.24\00:31:53.94
I would gently offer this.
00:31:54.04\00:31:56.71
First, it may be that God has
00:31:56.81\00:31:59.31
said no to your requests
00:31:59.41\00:32:01.08
because He has something better,
00:32:01.18\00:32:02.58
not necessarily something
00:32:02.68\00:32:04.05
easier, but something better
00:32:04.15\00:32:05.35
in store for you.
00:32:05.45\00:32:06.32
So wait for it.
00:32:06.42\00:32:07.46
It will come
00:32:07.56\00:32:08.46
at exactly the right time.
00:32:08.56\00:32:10.19
God is never late.
00:32:10.29\00:32:12.69
Secondly, it may be
00:32:12.79\00:32:14.96
that God is working behind
00:32:15.06\00:32:16.43
the scenes in ways
00:32:16.53\00:32:17.50
that you cannot yet see.
00:32:17.60\00:32:19.07
You know, one of the reasons
00:32:19.17\00:32:19.80
that we are going to be
00:32:19.90\00:32:20.50
in heaven 1,000 years
00:32:20.60\00:32:21.47
before we come back
00:32:21.57\00:32:22.40
to the earth made new is because
00:32:22.50\00:32:23.94
we have to watch the tape.
00:32:24.04\00:32:26.41
We have to watch the video
00:32:26.51\00:32:28.44
of what was actually happening
00:32:28.54\00:32:29.91
during those times of darkness.
00:32:30.01\00:32:31.28
And my guess is, you will see
00:32:31.38\00:32:32.61
behind the scenes,
00:32:32.71\00:32:33.72
spiritually speaking.
00:32:33.82\00:32:34.85
There was all kinds of warfare
00:32:34.95\00:32:36.28
on your behalf taking place.
00:32:36.38\00:32:37.95
You are fought for.
00:32:38.05\00:32:38.82
You are cared for.
00:32:38.92\00:32:41.49
And, lastly, it may be
00:32:41.59\00:32:44.03
that God has already answered
00:32:44.13\00:32:46.16
your prayer,
00:32:46.26\00:32:48.43
but you do not recognize it.
00:32:48.53\00:32:51.60
It's sitting right there,
00:32:53.47\00:32:54.64
right in front of you,
00:32:54.74\00:32:55.74
but you have discounted it
00:32:55.84\00:32:57.31
because you can't imagine
00:32:57.41\00:32:58.84
God answering in that way.
00:32:58.94\00:33:01.28
It's too bizarre.
00:33:01.38\00:33:02.64
It's too strange. Can't be that.
00:33:02.74\00:33:05.08
Now, I'm not suggesting
00:33:07.45\00:33:08.25
that God uses immoral things
00:33:08.35\00:33:10.25
to answer prayer
00:33:10.35\00:33:11.25
or unbiblical things.
00:33:11.35\00:33:12.19
I'm not saying that.
00:33:12.29\00:33:13.36
But I am saying
00:33:13.46\00:33:14.56
that God is immensely creative,
00:33:14.66\00:33:16.32
and His ability to answer
00:33:16.42\00:33:17.86
our prayers far exceeds what
00:33:17.96\00:33:19.33
we can think or imagine.
00:33:19.43\00:33:20.93
So if you're feeling dark,
00:33:21.00\00:33:22.73
like God has not been answering
00:33:22.83\00:33:24.37
your prayer, I would challenge
00:33:24.47\00:33:25.50
you to see with new eyes.
00:33:25.60\00:33:27.40
See with the eyes of faith.
00:33:27.50\00:33:29.27
God, much of the time, makes
00:33:29.37\00:33:30.71
sense, but sometimes,
00:33:30.81\00:33:31.87
only the bizarre will do.
00:33:31.97\00:33:34.68
If you want a strong,
00:33:34.78\00:33:35.58
passionate faith,
00:33:35.68\00:33:36.71
remember first what God has done
00:33:36.81\00:33:38.78
in the past and then be prepared
00:33:38.88\00:33:40.68
in the present
00:33:40.78\00:33:41.98
for the occasionally bizarre.
00:33:42.08\00:33:44.25
A third key to developing
00:33:49.49\00:33:51.99
a strong, passionate faith.
00:33:52.09\00:33:53.63
Take a look at Verse 22.
00:33:53.73\00:33:56.83
And I'm going to warn you,
00:33:56.93\00:33:57.80
this is where we
00:33:57.90\00:33:58.87
get the big leagues.
00:33:58.97\00:34:00.20
This is the big-time, right?
00:34:00.30\00:34:03.17
Verse 22.
00:34:03.27\00:34:06.88
"The Lord your God
00:34:06.98\00:34:08.98
will drive out those nations
00:34:09.08\00:34:11.21
before you."
00:34:11.31\00:34:12.18
Stop right there.
00:34:12.28\00:34:14.18
If the sentence ended there,
00:34:14.28\00:34:17.52
everybody would cheers,
00:34:17.62\00:34:18.65
"Oh, yeah, amen, exactly!
00:34:18.75\00:34:20.46
Yeah, that's what we want God to
00:34:20.56\00:34:20.82
do."
00:34:20.92\00:34:22.22
But it doesn't.
00:34:22.32\00:34:24.16
Instead, the text says this.
00:34:24.26\00:34:25.69
"The Lord your God will drive
00:34:25.79\00:34:27.30
out those nations before you
00:34:27.40\00:34:28.63
little by little."
00:34:28.73\00:34:32.50
Oh, you've got to be kidding me.
00:34:32.60\00:34:36.57
"Little by little.
00:34:36.67\00:34:37.74
You will not be allowed
00:34:37.84\00:34:39.54
to eliminate them all at once
00:34:39.64\00:34:41.44
or the wild animals
00:34:41.54\00:34:42.84
will multiply around you."
00:34:42.94\00:34:44.75
Wow. That'll preach.
00:34:48.15\00:34:50.19
The third key sounds like this.
00:34:52.89\00:34:55.62
In essence, what God is saying
00:35:11.67\00:35:13.14
to the Israelites here
00:35:13.24\00:35:13.88
is, "This is
00:35:13.98\00:35:14.98
not going to be over in a day.
00:35:15.08\00:35:16.88
It's not going to take
00:35:16.98\00:35:17.55
a few weeks even,
00:35:17.65\00:35:18.78
maybe not even a few months.
00:35:18.88\00:35:19.75
Maybe someplace, it's gonna take
00:35:19.85\00:35:20.62
a couple of years here.
00:35:20.72\00:35:22.42
And you're going to be tempted
00:35:22.52\00:35:23.52
to say, 'Oh, it's got to happen
00:35:23.62\00:35:24.15
now.'"
00:35:24.25\00:35:24.99
But, no, God says, "It's
00:35:25.09\00:35:26.99
not going to happen right away.
00:35:27.09\00:35:27.96
Little by little,
00:35:28.06\00:35:28.92
this is going to happen.
00:35:29.02\00:35:30.16
Stay in the fight. Don't leave."
00:35:30.26\00:35:32.13
Personal opinion -- I think one
00:35:35.56\00:35:36.87
of the hardest lessons
00:35:36.97\00:35:37.93
we have to learn when it comes
00:35:38.03\00:35:39.10
to faith is that victory
00:35:39.20\00:35:40.40
over whatever the foe is in
00:35:40.50\00:35:41.67
our lives must come in God's
00:35:41.77\00:35:43.27
time and not ours...
00:35:43.37\00:35:47.18
and that until that time comes,
00:35:47.28\00:35:48.88
one of the worst things
00:35:48.98\00:35:49.84
that can happen to us is
00:35:49.94\00:35:50.91
for us to bail out because
00:35:51.01\00:35:52.28
we think God just isn't fixing
00:35:52.38\00:35:53.92
things fast enough.
00:35:54.02\00:35:56.62
Now, I know from experience,
00:35:56.72\00:35:58.09
and many of you do, too.
00:35:58.19\00:35:59.49
this is tough as nails.
00:35:59.59\00:36:01.62
I mean, this is reality,
00:36:01.72\00:36:02.52
is it not?
00:36:02.62\00:36:03.16
If you walk with Jesus
00:36:03.26\00:36:05.19
long enough, you will encounter
00:36:05.29\00:36:06.93
this at some point,
00:36:07.03\00:36:08.00
this frustration.
00:36:08.10\00:36:09.46
Don't you care, God?
00:36:09.56\00:36:10.67
Don't you know
00:36:10.77\00:36:11.40
that I'm suffering?"
00:36:11.50\00:36:11.97
We cry.
00:36:12.07\00:36:12.57
And again and again,
00:36:12.67\00:36:13.84
the temptation to get out of
00:36:13.94\00:36:15.97
the fight and give into the
00:36:16.07\00:36:17.14
world can be sky-high
00:36:17.24\00:36:18.51
during those times.
00:36:18.61\00:36:20.08
Now, when we are feeling
00:36:22.28\00:36:23.55
like that, there are
00:36:23.65\00:36:26.25
at least two
00:36:26.35\00:36:28.08
appropriate responses,
00:36:28.18\00:36:30.62
depending on our situation.
00:36:30.72\00:36:32.72
First of all,
00:36:32.82\00:36:34.16
if you're feeling discouraged,
00:36:34.26\00:36:35.62
you know, like God's not
00:36:35.72\00:36:36.32
answering, et cetera,
00:36:36.42\00:36:37.03
sometimes, what we need is
00:36:37.13\00:36:39.36
a shoulder to cry on.
00:36:39.46\00:36:41.33
Sometimes, we need somebody
00:36:41.43\00:36:42.83
that will come and put their arm
00:36:42.93\00:36:44.00
around us and listen to us and
00:36:44.10\00:36:46.27
pray for and with us
00:36:46.37\00:36:48.57
and offer help in that way.
00:36:48.67\00:36:50.07
Praise the Lord,
00:36:50.17\00:36:51.11
there are people that excel
00:36:51.21\00:36:52.64
in that type of ministry.
00:36:52.74\00:36:53.51
We need it.
00:36:53.61\00:36:55.01
And, secondly,
00:36:57.38\00:36:59.85
there is another response
00:36:59.95\00:37:02.82
to someone who's going through
00:37:02.92\00:37:04.25
that impatience with God, okay?
00:37:04.35\00:37:07.16
And I'm going to tell you
00:37:07.26\00:37:07.82
right now,
00:37:07.92\00:37:08.59
it is rather different
00:37:08.69\00:37:09.66
than the first response.
00:37:09.76\00:37:10.99
So if you are a candidate
00:37:11.09\00:37:13.06
for the first response,
00:37:13.16\00:37:14.20
where you simply need someone
00:37:14.30\00:37:15.13
to put their arm around you
00:37:15.23\00:37:15.76
and care for you,
00:37:15.86\00:37:16.77
be comforted in that way,
00:37:16.87\00:37:17.70
you can tune out
00:37:17.80\00:37:19.10
for the next five minutes
00:37:19.20\00:37:20.00
of my sermon,
00:37:20.10\00:37:20.84
because it's not for you.
00:37:20.94\00:37:25.04
I'm not going to say that
00:37:25.14\00:37:25.87
very often, so if that's you,
00:37:25.97\00:37:26.81
you probably should take
00:37:26.91\00:37:27.48
advantage of it, right?
00:37:27.58\00:37:28.28
Giving you permission.
00:37:28.38\00:37:29.54
No preacher gives
00:37:29.64\00:37:30.45
permission to tune out.
00:37:30.55\00:37:31.11
But I'm giving a special
00:37:31.21\00:37:32.01
dispensation here, alright?
00:37:32.11\00:37:33.35
For those of you
00:37:33.45\00:37:34.45
that are still listening
00:37:34.55\00:37:35.45
right now, this second
00:37:35.55\00:37:37.69
response is equally good,
00:37:37.79\00:37:41.89
and it is for those of us
00:37:41.99\00:37:43.29
who have fallen into...
00:37:43.39\00:37:46.86
self-pity.
00:37:46.96\00:37:48.60
It is for those of us
00:37:51.10\00:37:52.23
who have lost perspective,
00:37:52.33\00:37:53.60
and we need a loving-but-solid
00:37:53.70\00:37:55.44
dose of reality as God sees it.
00:37:55.54\00:37:58.54
For instance,
00:37:58.64\00:38:01.04
one of my more favorite passages
00:38:01.14\00:38:02.91
in the spirit of prophecy
00:38:03.01\00:38:03.95
is found
00:38:04.05\00:38:04.78
in the book "Gospel Workers."
00:38:04.88\00:38:06.58
Page 290.
00:38:06.68\00:38:08.05
I'm going to give you a section
00:38:08.15\00:38:08.88
from 290 and then
00:38:08.98\00:38:09.82
a little bit from page 292.
00:38:09.92\00:38:11.99
And I'll tell you in advance
00:38:12.09\00:38:12.95
that there is some
00:38:13.05\00:38:13.89
of the verbiage in here
00:38:13.99\00:38:15.09
that I have updated,
00:38:15.19\00:38:15.96
that it is
00:38:16.06\00:38:16.96
applicable to all of us.
00:38:17.06\00:38:18.03
The context clearly
00:38:18.13\00:38:19.19
supports that here.
00:38:19.29\00:38:20.73
Here's what she says.
00:38:20.83\00:38:22.93
"Christian life is more
00:38:23.03\00:38:25.57
than many take it to be."
00:38:25.67\00:38:27.27
Hmm. Well, what's that about?
00:38:27.37\00:38:29.07
"It does not consist wholly
00:38:29.17\00:38:31.81
in gentleness, patience,
00:38:31.91\00:38:33.88
meekness, and kindliness."
00:38:33.98\00:38:35.64
Stop right there, please.
00:38:35.74\00:38:37.41
I think there are millions
00:38:37.51\00:38:38.75
of Christians
00:38:38.85\00:38:39.55
who think she's wrong.
00:38:39.65\00:38:42.32
They think that when it comes
00:38:42.42\00:38:43.39
to being a Christian,
00:38:43.49\00:38:44.22
that's all there is -- you know,
00:38:44.32\00:38:45.95
gentleness, patience, meekness.
00:38:46.05\00:38:47.09
That's it.
00:38:47.19\00:38:47.99
That's all we're supposed to be.
00:38:48.09\00:38:49.16
Just ignore everything else.
00:38:49.26\00:38:50.43
And this season in particular,
00:38:50.53\00:38:51.76
you know, Jesus, meek and mild.
00:38:51.86\00:38:53.40
¤ The little Lord Jesus,
00:38:53.50\00:38:55.06
no crying He makes ¤
00:38:55.16\00:38:57.13
Kind of calls
00:38:57.23\00:38:58.17
Jesus' humanity into question,
00:38:58.27\00:38:59.37
doesn't that song?
00:38:59.47\00:39:00.10
You know, right there,
00:39:00.20\00:39:00.57
no crying.
00:39:00.67\00:39:01.44
Anyway, that's another sermon.
00:39:01.54\00:39:02.77
Many people think
00:39:02.87\00:39:04.14
this is, indeed, what all --
00:39:04.24\00:39:05.81
what Christianity is all about.
00:39:05.91\00:39:06.84
But she says,
00:39:06.94\00:39:07.48
"No, that's not true."
00:39:07.58\00:39:08.38
She says, "These graces are
00:39:08.48\00:39:09.91
essential,
00:39:10.01\00:39:11.31
but there is need also
00:39:11.41\00:39:12.95
of courage, force,
00:39:13.05\00:39:15.78
energy, and perseverance.
00:39:15.88\00:39:18.75
The path that Christ marks out
00:39:18.85\00:39:21.36
is a narrow, self-denying path.
00:39:21.46\00:39:22.82
To enter that path
00:39:22.92\00:39:23.76
and press on
00:39:23.86\00:39:24.66
through difficulties and
00:39:24.76\00:39:25.69
discouragements requires
00:39:25.79\00:39:27.36
Christians who are more than --"
00:39:27.46\00:39:28.66
What's that next word?
00:39:28.76\00:39:30.07
Ooh, ouch! My toes! Aah!
00:39:30.17\00:39:32.40
Pick that out of the aisle.
00:39:32.50\00:39:33.34
Yeah. More than weaklings.
00:39:33.44\00:39:34.97
Christians of stamina
00:39:35.07\00:39:36.40
are wanted, Christians
00:39:36.50\00:39:37.57
who will not wait to have
00:39:37.67\00:39:38.61
their way smoothed
00:39:38.71\00:39:39.71
and every obstacle removed,
00:39:39.81\00:39:41.11
Christians who will inspire
00:39:41.21\00:39:42.41
with fresh zeal
00:39:42.51\00:39:43.28
the flagging efforts
00:39:43.38\00:39:44.21
of dispirited workers,
00:39:44.31\00:39:45.75
Christians whose hearts are warm
00:39:45.85\00:39:47.45
with Christian love, yes, and
00:39:47.55\00:39:49.28
whose hands are strong
00:39:49.38\00:39:50.69
to do their Master's work.
00:39:50.79\00:39:52.95
Some who engage in missionary
00:39:53.05\00:39:55.32
service are weak, nerveless,
00:39:55.42\00:39:57.06
spiritless, easily discouraged.
00:39:57.16\00:39:59.19
They lack push.
00:39:59.29\00:40:01.10
They have not
00:40:01.20\00:40:02.26
the positive traits of character
00:40:02.36\00:40:03.60
that give power to do something,
00:40:03.70\00:40:05.20
the spirit and energy
00:40:05.30\00:40:06.40
that kindle enthusiasm.
00:40:06.50\00:40:07.90
Those who would win success
00:40:08.00\00:40:09.90
must be courageous and hopeful.
00:40:10.01\00:40:12.11
They should cultivate not only
00:40:12.21\00:40:13.21
the passive,
00:40:13.31\00:40:13.94
but the active virtues.
00:40:14.04\00:40:15.48
While they are to give
00:40:15.58\00:40:16.34
the soft answer
00:40:16.44\00:40:17.25
that turns away wrath,
00:40:17.35\00:40:18.38
they must possess the courage
00:40:18.48\00:40:20.05
of a hero to resist evil.
00:40:20.15\00:40:22.22
With the charity
00:40:22.32\00:40:23.28
that endures all things,
00:40:23.39\00:40:24.65
they need the force of character
00:40:24.75\00:40:26.12
that will make their influence
00:40:26.22\00:40:27.39
a positive power."
00:40:27.49\00:40:29.72
And then, Page 292,
00:40:29.82\00:40:31.29
"Christians can shape
00:40:31.39\00:40:33.06
circumstances,
00:40:33.16\00:40:34.36
but circumstances should
00:40:34.46\00:40:36.03
not be allowed to shape them.
00:40:36.13\00:40:38.63
We should seize upon
00:40:38.73\00:40:39.93
circumstances as instruments
00:40:40.04\00:40:41.24
with which to work.
00:40:41.34\00:40:42.14
We are to master them,
00:40:42.24\00:40:44.04
but they should not --
00:40:44.14\00:40:45.07
we should not permit
00:40:45.17\00:40:45.97
them to master us.
00:40:46.07\00:40:49.11
Christians of power
00:40:49.21\00:40:50.01
are often those
00:40:50.11\00:40:51.08
who have been opposed, baffled,
00:40:51.18\00:40:52.55
and thwarted.
00:40:52.65\00:40:53.11
By calling
00:40:53.21\00:40:54.42
their energies into action,
00:40:54.52\00:40:55.82
the obstacles they meet
00:40:55.92\00:40:56.85
prove to them
00:40:56.95\00:40:57.65
positive blessings."
00:40:57.75\00:40:58.79
Did you hear that?
00:40:58.89\00:40:59.55
Did you see that there?
00:40:59.65\00:41:00.96
Turning darkness into light.
00:41:01.06\00:41:02.09
These obstacles
00:41:02.19\00:41:03.53
into positive blessings.
00:41:03.63\00:41:04.73
"They gain self-reliance.
00:41:04.83\00:41:06.09
Conflict and perplexity
00:41:06.19\00:41:07.66
call for the exercise
00:41:07.76\00:41:09.33
of --" What's that word?
00:41:09.43\00:41:10.90
That's what we're talking
00:41:11.00\00:41:12.03
about this morning.
00:41:12.13\00:41:13.27
"The exercise of trust in God
00:41:13.37\00:41:15.67
and for that firmness
00:41:15.77\00:41:17.34
which develops power."
00:41:17.44\00:41:19.74
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:41:23.31\00:41:25.15
a seed of faith
00:41:25.25\00:41:27.28
is God's gift to everyone.
00:41:27.38\00:41:30.79
But a strong,
00:41:30.89\00:41:32.49
passionate faith requires
00:41:32.59\00:41:34.72
exercise, the development
00:41:34.82\00:41:36.79
of stamina,
00:41:36.89\00:41:37.73
the facing of obstacles,
00:41:37.83\00:41:39.56
the growth of an attitude
00:41:39.66\00:41:41.16
that says, "Because God is still
00:41:41.26\00:41:43.16
on His throne, I will not quit.
00:41:43.26\00:41:44.77
I will not stop.
00:41:44.87\00:41:46.00
I will not give up."
00:41:46.10\00:41:49.70
And consistently done,
00:41:49.80\00:41:51.87
this leads to a trust in God
00:41:51.97\00:41:53.88
that towers
00:41:53.98\00:41:55.18
over Satan's threats.
00:41:55.28\00:41:57.78
Because faith grows best
00:41:57.88\00:42:01.28
when we are still in the fight.
00:42:01.38\00:42:04.25
>> Amen!
00:42:04.35\00:42:05.92
>> The final key to a strong
00:42:10.13\00:42:12.93
and passionate faith in God
00:42:13.03\00:42:15.26
is found in Verse 24,
00:42:15.36\00:42:17.80
and we're going to read through
00:42:17.90\00:42:18.70
Verse 26.
00:42:18.80\00:42:20.50
Closing arguments here
00:42:20.60\00:42:22.90
with this particular
00:42:23.00\00:42:23.84
section and this chapter.
00:42:23.94\00:42:25.54
Moses speaking.
00:42:25.64\00:42:26.91
"'He --'" God -- "'will give
00:42:27.01\00:42:28.71
their kings into your hands,
00:42:28.81\00:42:30.41
and you will wipe out
00:42:30.51\00:42:31.55
their names from under heaven.
00:42:31.65\00:42:32.35
No one will be
00:42:32.45\00:42:33.28
able to stand up against you.
00:42:33.38\00:42:34.32
You will destroy them.
00:42:34.42\00:42:35.55
The images of their gods
00:42:35.65\00:42:37.39
you are to burn in the fire.'"
00:42:37.49\00:42:39.02
Hmm.
00:42:39.12\00:42:40.46
"'Do not covet the silver and
00:42:40.56\00:42:42.66
gold in them and do not take it
00:42:42.76\00:42:44.56
for yourselves,
00:42:44.66\00:42:45.53
or you will be ensnared by it,
00:42:45.63\00:42:47.13
for it is detestable
00:42:47.23\00:42:48.10
to the Lord your God.
00:42:48.20\00:42:49.36
Do not bring a detestable thing
00:42:49.46\00:42:51.37
into your house, or you,
00:42:51.47\00:42:52.63
like it, will be set
00:42:52.73\00:42:53.77
apart for destruction.
00:42:53.87\00:42:55.14
Utterly abhor and detest it,
00:42:55.24\00:42:57.41
for it is set
00:42:57.51\00:42:58.64
apart for destruction.'"
00:42:58.74\00:43:02.21
Hmm.
00:43:02.31\00:43:03.61
You see, this is exactly
00:43:24.97\00:43:26.03
what God is asking Israel
00:43:26.13\00:43:27.34
to do at this moment.
00:43:27.44\00:43:29.14
He knows the temptations
00:43:29.24\00:43:30.47
that come with success.
00:43:30.57\00:43:33.38
He's already promised them
00:43:33.48\00:43:34.51
that if they will trust in Him,
00:43:34.61\00:43:35.44
He's going
00:43:35.54\00:43:36.11
to rout their enemies.
00:43:36.21\00:43:36.61
The enemies
00:43:36.71\00:43:37.35
are going to be driven out.
00:43:37.45\00:43:38.25
No one will be able to stand
00:43:38.35\00:43:39.25
against them, He said.
00:43:39.35\00:43:40.65
Talk about an opportunity
00:43:40.75\00:43:41.42
for pride.
00:43:41.52\00:43:43.99
And in order for their faith to
00:43:44.09\00:43:45.65
be fully mature and honored,
00:43:45.75\00:43:47.66
God says,
00:43:47.76\00:43:48.56
"I need you to obey what
00:43:48.66\00:43:49.66
I've already asked you to do."
00:43:49.76\00:43:52.03
You know, in Deuteronomy 5,
00:43:52.13\00:43:53.46
the Ten Commandments are listed
00:43:53.56\00:43:54.76
in that manner
00:43:54.86\00:43:55.93
for the second time,
00:43:56.03\00:43:57.13
because that was at the core
00:43:57.23\00:43:57.97
of the covenant
00:43:58.07\00:43:58.83
that God had made with Israel.
00:43:58.93\00:44:00.74
And he's reminding them,
00:44:00.84\00:44:02.04
"As you go in here and
00:44:02.14\00:44:02.80
as success comes, obey
00:44:02.90\00:44:04.84
what I've asked you to do.
00:44:04.94\00:44:05.74
Do these things
00:44:05.84\00:44:06.81
that I have called you to do.
00:44:06.91\00:44:07.94
This is part of our agreement.
00:44:08.04\00:44:09.28
Obey my commands, and faith
00:44:09.38\00:44:13.62
will come."
00:44:13.72\00:44:16.28
Now let that sink in
00:44:16.38\00:44:17.22
for a moment,
00:44:17.32\00:44:18.22
because that is almost
00:44:18.32\00:44:20.12
precisely backwards from how
00:44:20.22\00:44:22.92
most people think about faith.
00:44:23.02\00:44:26.16
Most people conceive of faith
00:44:26.26\00:44:27.60
as something that comes
00:44:27.66\00:44:28.50
before obedience.
00:44:28.60\00:44:30.37
In other words,
00:44:30.47\00:44:31.43
the attitude of faith precedes
00:44:31.53\00:44:32.87
taking the actions of faith.
00:44:32.97\00:44:35.24
But the Bible actually
00:44:35.34\00:44:36.67
gives more support
00:44:36.77\00:44:38.24
to the reverse of that.
00:44:38.34\00:44:40.54
It doesn't discount
00:44:40.64\00:44:41.68
the other direction,
00:44:41.78\00:44:42.18
but it gives
00:44:42.28\00:44:42.98
more support for the reverse.
00:44:43.08\00:44:44.05
It gives more support
00:44:44.15\00:44:45.35
to the idea of acting faithful
00:44:45.45\00:44:47.75
first and the attitude of faith
00:44:47.85\00:44:50.42
growing stronger and deeper
00:44:50.52\00:44:51.85
because of that action.
00:44:51.95\00:44:56.93
Now, I'm not suggesting
00:44:57.03\00:44:57.96
that we have blind faith.
00:44:58.06\00:45:00.50
God provides evidence.
00:45:00.60\00:45:03.23
But notice this.
00:45:03.33\00:45:04.43
And let me put this
00:45:04.53\00:45:05.37
on the screen here for you.
00:45:05.47\00:45:06.13
This is the secret
00:45:20.68\00:45:21.68
to spiritual growth
00:45:21.78\00:45:22.72
that many people never come to.
00:45:22.82\00:45:24.55
And, yet, we see analogies of
00:45:24.65\00:45:25.89
this all around us,
00:45:25.99\00:45:26.79
because this is the way that
00:45:26.89\00:45:27.79
God has put the world together.
00:45:27.89\00:45:29.82
Football.
00:45:29.92\00:45:31.03
You can study about football all
00:45:31.13\00:45:33.36
you want, but at some point,
00:45:33.46\00:45:34.60
you've got to get out
00:45:34.73\00:45:35.50
on the field and play.
00:45:35.60\00:45:38.23
Those of you
00:45:38.33\00:45:39.33
that are students -- nursing,
00:45:39.43\00:45:40.64
for instance --
00:45:40.74\00:45:41.47
you can study to be a nurse till
00:45:41.57\00:45:43.54
the last textbook has been read,
00:45:43.64\00:45:45.07
but until you hit
00:45:45.17\00:45:46.01
those clinicals,
00:45:46.11\00:45:47.44
until you actually get into
00:45:47.54\00:45:49.08
some sort of a medical facility
00:45:49.18\00:45:50.31
or environment,
00:45:50.41\00:45:51.18
it's all just so much theory.
00:45:51.28\00:45:53.58
You have to get out there
00:45:53.68\00:45:54.88
and do it.
00:45:54.98\00:45:55.88
In the Christian life,
00:45:55.98\00:45:57.92
as with so many things,
00:45:58.02\00:45:59.59
the gold is in the doing.
00:45:59.69\00:46:03.83
And this is not just
00:46:03.93\00:46:04.89
a Deuteronomy 7,
00:46:04.99\00:46:06.09
Old Testament thing.
00:46:06.19\00:46:07.30
Jesus himself reiterates this.
00:46:07.40\00:46:09.16
I invite you to keep your Bibles
00:46:09.26\00:46:10.07
closed and listen
00:46:10.17\00:46:12.20
as I read from John 7:17.
00:46:12.30\00:46:13.94
This is Jesus talking.
00:46:14.04\00:46:14.77
He says this.
00:46:14.87\00:46:16.71
"'If anyone chooses to do God's
00:46:16.81\00:46:20.74
will -- To what with God's will?
00:46:20.84\00:46:22.94
To do, okay? To do God's will.
00:46:23.04\00:46:25.91
Notice the next part here.
00:46:26.01\00:46:27.12
"'He will find out whether my
00:46:27.22\00:46:29.52
teaching comes from God
00:46:29.62\00:46:30.82
or whether I speak on my own.'"
00:46:30.92\00:46:32.89
"Do the things
00:46:32.99\00:46:34.02
that I've asked you to do,"
00:46:34.12\00:46:34.82
Jesus says,
00:46:34.92\00:46:35.59
"and then you will know
00:46:35.69\00:46:36.86
if I really do come from God.
00:46:36.96\00:46:38.19
Then you will know
00:46:38.29\00:46:39.09
if I am really who I say I am.
00:46:39.19\00:46:41.03
You will know I am God
00:46:41.13\00:46:43.10
by doing the things
00:46:43.20\00:46:44.57
I've asked you to do.
00:46:44.67\00:46:46.33
That's what Jesus says."
00:46:46.43\00:46:48.20
A simple story.
00:46:51.11\00:46:54.04
Years ago, when I was in
00:46:54.14\00:46:55.14
college, I went to my
00:46:55.24\00:46:56.95
grandparents' house on a
00:46:57.05\00:46:58.85
vacation.
00:46:58.95\00:47:00.42
I don't remember which break
00:47:00.52\00:47:01.08
it was,
00:47:01.18\00:47:02.48
but I did, as I often did
00:47:02.58\00:47:04.35
in those days and still do
00:47:04.45\00:47:05.35
to this day, if I can,
00:47:05.45\00:47:06.89
I had taken my
00:47:06.99\00:47:07.82
mountain bike with me.
00:47:07.92\00:47:09.52
I love to take my mountain bike
00:47:09.62\00:47:10.49
on vacation, and, sure,
00:47:10.59\00:47:11.96
if you can find trails, great,
00:47:12.06\00:47:13.53
but I also like to go exploring.
00:47:13.63\00:47:15.00
And the bigger the city,
00:47:15.10\00:47:15.96
the better.
00:47:16.06\00:47:17.07
I remember vividly once
00:47:17.17\00:47:18.17
riding my bike
00:47:18.27\00:47:19.70
at about 35 miles an hour
00:47:19.80\00:47:20.97
in Baltimore
00:47:21.07\00:47:22.00
traffic, downhill, in the rain.
00:47:22.10\00:47:23.67
That was exciting.
00:47:23.77\00:47:26.44
And, so, one of these places
00:47:26.54\00:47:28.08
where my grandparents lived
00:47:28.18\00:47:29.88
in their city -- It's
00:47:29.98\00:47:30.51
a fairly sizable city.
00:47:30.61\00:47:31.75
I had not been, and so,
00:47:31.85\00:47:33.05
you know, I looked on the map.
00:47:33.15\00:47:33.55
I said, "Okay,
00:47:33.65\00:47:34.22
I'm going to go there."
00:47:34.32\00:47:34.95
And I went riding my bike.
00:47:35.05\00:47:36.42
One of the great things
00:47:36.52\00:47:37.35
about mountain biking
00:47:37.45\00:47:37.99
is that you don't
00:47:38.09\00:47:38.69
have to stick to pavement,
00:47:38.79\00:47:39.72
and so sometimes, you can go
00:47:39.82\00:47:41.16
places that other people can't.
00:47:41.26\00:47:42.49
And I was going through
00:47:42.59\00:47:43.43
a piece of property.
00:47:43.53\00:47:44.66
I'm sure they would
00:47:44.76\00:47:45.26
have been blessed
00:47:45.36\00:47:46.03
had they known I was there.
00:47:46.13\00:47:46.96
And I came up to
00:47:47.03\00:47:48.66
this giant parking lot.
00:47:48.76\00:47:49.90
You know, trees finished,
00:47:50.00\00:47:50.93
came into this big clearing,
00:47:51.03\00:47:52.10
and it was what we would call
00:47:52.20\00:47:54.70
now an assisted-living facility.
00:47:54.80\00:47:58.64
It was kind of an upscale thing.
00:47:58.74\00:48:00.18
There were these condos,
00:48:00.28\00:48:01.04
kind of these rows of condos
00:48:01.14\00:48:02.34
there, and I was apparently
00:48:02.44\00:48:03.75
coming into their back parking
00:48:03.85\00:48:05.05
lot, and mostly empty,
00:48:05.15\00:48:07.62
very few cars there.
00:48:07.72\00:48:08.98
And I didn't see any other
00:48:09.08\00:48:10.05
human being except
00:48:10.15\00:48:12.25
for an elderly gentleman
00:48:12.35\00:48:13.82
in a rocking chair, sitting
00:48:13.92\00:48:15.56
on his patio,
00:48:15.66\00:48:16.52
the backside of his condo there,
00:48:16.62\00:48:18.23
rocking back and forth.
00:48:18.33\00:48:20.96
And as I came over the curb
00:48:21.03\00:48:23.03
into the parking lot,
00:48:23.13\00:48:25.10
I very clearly felt
00:48:25.20\00:48:29.60
the instruction of the spirit
00:48:29.70\00:48:31.91
of God say,
00:48:32.01\00:48:34.44
"Go and talk to that man."
00:48:34.54\00:48:37.71
Oh, no. Oh, man.
00:48:41.18\00:48:45.62
You know, cold-turkey work is
00:48:45.72\00:48:47.92
dynamite for those
00:48:48.02\00:48:49.02
that thrive on it.
00:48:49.12\00:48:50.36
I've done door-to-door
00:48:50.46\00:48:51.13
work before.
00:48:51.23\00:48:52.13
You know, you knock on --
00:48:52.23\00:48:53.13
cold-turkey stuff, cold calls,
00:48:53.23\00:48:54.46
you know, this type of thing.
00:48:54.56\00:48:55.13
I've done it many times,
00:48:55.23\00:48:56.20
and it absolutely drains
00:48:56.30\00:48:57.73
the life out of me, alright?
00:48:57.83\00:48:58.97
I've been told
00:48:59.07\00:49:00.10
that I'm even good at it,
00:49:00.20\00:49:01.14
which is all the worse,
00:49:01.24\00:49:02.20
because then they ask me to do
00:49:02.30\00:49:03.30
it again the next week, right?
00:49:03.41\00:49:04.97
Okay? But my personality -- I'm
00:49:05.07\00:49:06.54
just not made for that, right?
00:49:06.64\00:49:08.18
I have to go into a dark room
00:49:08.28\00:49:09.34
and, you know, put a hat on
00:49:09.44\00:49:10.18
and sip lemonade slowly.
00:49:10.28\00:49:11.41
I mean, just try to recover
00:49:11.51\00:49:12.45
from the time.
00:49:12.55\00:49:13.28
And now God has saved --
00:49:13.38\00:49:14.55
Very clever.
00:49:14.65\00:49:15.32
And it was just crystal-clear
00:49:15.42\00:49:16.42
like, "You need to go and talk
00:49:16.52\00:49:17.25
to this man who's
00:49:17.35\00:49:18.65
in this rocking chair here."
00:49:18.75\00:49:19.85
Like, "Oh, man, it's vacation.
00:49:19.95\00:49:22.62
I'm a theology major.
00:49:22.72\00:49:23.86
I need a break.
00:49:23.96\00:49:24.66
You know,
00:49:24.76\00:49:25.46
Ellen White says there are times
00:49:25.56\00:49:26.49
when ministers should not do
00:49:26.59\00:49:27.56
anything related to ministry."
00:49:27.66\00:49:28.53
You know,
00:49:28.63\00:49:29.76
I'm going through all this stuff
00:49:29.86\00:49:30.50
in my brain, right?
00:49:30.60\00:49:31.57
And probably 3 or 4 minutes
00:49:31.67\00:49:33.50
of just,
00:49:33.60\00:49:34.20
you know, trying to figure
00:49:34.30\00:49:35.24
out a way not to do this.
00:49:35.34\00:49:36.44
But the message was clear.
00:49:36.54\00:49:38.07
[ Sighs ]
00:49:38.17\00:49:40.18
So I get on my bike
00:49:40.28\00:49:41.68
and I pedal over
00:49:41.78\00:49:42.74
to this elderly gentleman.
00:49:42.84\00:49:45.85
Now, I'm not huge,
00:49:45.95\00:49:48.25
but if you're an elderly person
00:49:48.35\00:49:49.98
sitting in a rocking chair
00:49:50.09\00:49:51.05
and I'm 6'4" and I get on,
00:49:51.15\00:49:52.92
you know, my mountain bike
00:49:53.02\00:49:53.59
and pull up there in
00:49:53.69\00:49:54.42
front of you, and he's like...
00:49:54.52\00:49:57.29
I say, "Hello, sir.
00:49:57.39\00:49:58.06
How are you?"
00:49:58.16\00:49:59.23
"Huh?"
00:49:59.33\00:50:02.40
"How are you today?"
00:50:02.50\00:50:03.43
"Huh?!"
00:50:03.53\00:50:04.80
I'm going to cut to the chase.
00:50:09.17\00:50:10.87
As far as I know,
00:50:10.97\00:50:12.61
there was no spiritual benefit
00:50:12.71\00:50:14.28
to that man
00:50:14.38\00:50:15.34
for my visit with him.
00:50:15.44\00:50:18.15
I know how it's supposed to end,
00:50:18.25\00:50:19.58
right?
00:50:19.68\00:50:20.02
I mean,
00:50:20.12\00:50:20.75
"At the end of five minutes,
00:50:20.85\00:50:21.62
we had a brief Bible study,
00:50:21.72\00:50:22.55
and I baptized him there
00:50:22.65\00:50:23.39
in the sprinkler system
00:50:23.49\00:50:24.32
right on the front lawn," okay?
00:50:24.42\00:50:25.95
That didn't happen.
00:50:26.05\00:50:27.29
In fact, he seemed kind of glad
00:50:27.39\00:50:28.79
when I decided,
00:50:28.89\00:50:29.69
about five minutes later,
00:50:29.79\00:50:30.63
the conversation was done.
00:50:30.73\00:50:31.99
I said, "Nice to talk with you."
00:50:32.09\00:50:33.29
"Ah!" You know...
00:50:33.40\00:50:36.67
I got on my bike
00:50:36.77\00:50:37.73
and I rode away, right?
00:50:37.83\00:50:39.73
Did you know that that short
00:50:43.64\00:50:49.48
interaction still ranks for me
00:50:49.58\00:50:52.51
as one of the most important
00:50:52.61\00:50:54.15
spiritual times in my life?
00:50:54.25\00:50:58.49
You say, "Well, how come?
00:50:58.59\00:50:59.15
Why? Why?" You know.
00:50:59.25\00:51:01.52
You know, I pray that there was
00:51:01.62\00:51:02.86
some spiritual ben--
00:51:02.96\00:51:03.73
I pray that there was something
00:51:03.83\00:51:04.36
for that gentleman.
00:51:04.46\00:51:05.53
I mean, who knows?
00:51:05.63\00:51:06.33
You know, again, when we get to
00:51:06.43\00:51:06.96
heaven, 1,000 years,
00:51:07.03\00:51:07.66
we can watch the tape and
00:51:07.76\00:51:08.50
see what was actually going on.
00:51:08.60\00:51:09.50
Okay? I pray that that's true.
00:51:09.60\00:51:11.27
But one thing I do know
00:51:11.37\00:51:12.57
is true is that I learned
00:51:12.67\00:51:14.50
something important that day.
00:51:14.60\00:51:17.41
You see, there's something
00:51:17.51\00:51:18.27
about the Spirit's voice.
00:51:18.37\00:51:20.61
It does take some acclimating
00:51:20.71\00:51:21.81
to.
00:51:21.91\00:51:24.08
So often, you know,
00:51:24.18\00:51:25.58
over the years,
00:51:25.68\00:51:26.28
I've had people say, "Oh,
00:51:26.38\00:51:27.12
the Lord told me thus and such."
00:51:27.22\00:51:28.28
"I'm pretty sure
00:51:28.38\00:51:29.15
that was indigestion," right?
00:51:29.25\00:51:30.32
Okay. Because it's not
00:51:30.42\00:51:32.15
in keeping with Scripture,
00:51:32.25\00:51:33.12
this kind of thing.
00:51:33.22\00:51:33.86
But when you do, when you
00:51:33.96\00:51:36.16
have a studied sense
00:51:36.26\00:51:37.86
of the Spirit, things change.
00:51:37.96\00:51:40.96
And the way you get that is
00:51:41.06\00:51:42.36
by obeying the first time.
00:51:42.46\00:51:45.20
When the Spirit calls,
00:51:45.30\00:51:47.10
you listen, you obey it,
00:51:47.20\00:51:48.80
and as you obey it,
00:51:48.90\00:51:50.14
you learn more about it.
00:51:50.24\00:51:51.34
And the same thing happens,
00:51:51.44\00:51:52.31
but at a deeper level
00:51:52.41\00:51:53.14
the next time.
00:51:53.24\00:51:54.14
And as you obey it,
00:51:54.24\00:51:55.51
it becomes more familiar to you.
00:51:55.61\00:51:57.45
When you obey it,
00:51:57.55\00:51:58.55
your faith becomes
00:51:58.65\00:52:00.05
deeper and stronger.
00:52:00.15\00:52:01.75
And notice this.
00:52:01.85\00:52:02.82
Your ministry for God
00:52:02.92\00:52:04.35
becomes deeper and stronger,
00:52:04.45\00:52:05.89
because what Jesus said
00:52:05.99\00:52:07.32
regarding physical healing can
00:52:07.42\00:52:08.99
equally apply well to ministry.
00:52:09.09\00:52:10.76
According to your faith
00:52:10.86\00:52:12.03
shall it be done to you.
00:52:12.13\00:52:15.00
This is why, by the way,
00:52:15.10\00:52:16.16
generally speaking,
00:52:16.26\00:52:17.77
disobedient people are
00:52:17.87\00:52:19.47
discouraged people.
00:52:19.57\00:52:22.97
You see, known disobedience --
00:52:23.07\00:52:24.57
I'm not talking about the stuff
00:52:24.67\00:52:25.37
that you're not aware,
00:52:25.47\00:52:25.97
but if there's sin
00:52:26.07\00:52:27.04
in your life and you know it
00:52:27.14\00:52:28.04
and that's okay with you,
00:52:28.14\00:52:29.14
you're just kind of letting
00:52:29.24\00:52:30.05
it percolate there, right?
00:52:30.15\00:52:31.78
Known disobedience can slow down
00:52:31.88\00:52:34.08
or even stop God's work through
00:52:34.18\00:52:35.58
us.
00:52:35.68\00:52:37.19
Not seeing God work in your
00:52:37.29\00:52:38.95
life, when you have some
00:52:39.05\00:52:40.12
expectation that He ought to be
00:52:40.22\00:52:41.29
working in your life, can be
00:52:41.39\00:52:42.56
extraordinarily discouraging.
00:52:42.66\00:52:44.96
That kind of life
00:52:45.06\00:52:46.56
does not lead to a deeper faith.
00:52:46.66\00:52:50.40
But obedience,
00:52:50.50\00:52:53.13
taking God at His word,
00:52:53.23\00:52:55.07
doing what we know
00:52:55.17\00:52:56.34
that He has asked
00:52:56.44\00:52:57.31
us to do -- that enables us
00:52:57.41\00:52:58.97
to see God in action.
00:52:59.07\00:53:01.08
You know,
00:53:01.18\00:53:01.81
we're encouraged to do this,
00:53:01.91\00:53:02.91
to repeat back to God,
00:53:03.01\00:53:04.88
for instance, the promises
00:53:04.98\00:53:05.98
that He's made to us, right?
00:53:06.08\00:53:07.28
Almost like we're daring Him
00:53:07.38\00:53:08.85
to do it.
00:53:08.95\00:53:09.75
You know, "God, You've promised
00:53:09.85\00:53:10.52
to always be with me.
00:53:10.62\00:53:11.45
If I trust in You,
00:53:11.55\00:53:12.42
if I acknowledge You,
00:53:12.52\00:53:13.25
then You will guide
00:53:13.36\00:53:14.09
and direct my paths.
00:53:14.19\00:53:15.36
Here's what You have promised."
00:53:15.46\00:53:16.49
It's like God smiles
00:53:16.59\00:53:17.83
and says, "You're right.
00:53:17.93\00:53:18.69
Let me show you how."
00:53:18.79\00:53:20.60
It gives God the green light.
00:53:20.70\00:53:22.16
We step out in faith,
00:53:22.26\00:53:23.47
trusting Him
00:53:23.57\00:53:24.23
to fill in our lack,
00:53:24.33\00:53:25.70
and God honors that faith.
00:53:25.80\00:53:27.10
We see Him move and work.
00:53:27.20\00:53:29.30
You can't walk on water
00:53:29.40\00:53:30.91
until you get out of the boat.
00:53:31.01\00:53:33.11
And when you walk on water, oh,
00:53:33.21\00:53:34.81
does it strengthen your faith.
00:53:34.91\00:53:36.34
Seeing God in action confirms
00:53:36.44\00:53:38.61
that our trust in Him
00:53:38.71\00:53:39.48
is rightly praised.
00:53:39.58\00:53:40.45
This makes
00:53:40.55\00:53:41.72
us trust Him even more.
00:53:41.82\00:53:43.62
Faith lived out in obedience
00:53:43.72\00:53:45.52
thus inevitably leads
00:53:45.62\00:53:46.96
to hope for now and the future.
00:53:47.06\00:53:49.19
And thus, we see the truth.
00:53:52.29\00:53:54.83
A strong, passionate faith
00:53:54.93\00:53:56.36
in God -- that is a strong,
00:53:56.46\00:53:57.93
passionate relationship
00:53:58.03\00:53:59.67
with Him, because
00:53:59.77\00:54:00.77
that's what faith is,
00:54:00.87\00:54:03.34
does not come primarily
00:54:03.44\00:54:04.94
from reading books
00:54:05.04\00:54:05.94
or listening to sermons,
00:54:06.04\00:54:06.81
as important
00:54:06.91\00:54:07.54
as those things are.
00:54:07.64\00:54:09.04
Such faith, instead, comes from
00:54:09.14\00:54:11.11
obeying God, from doing what
00:54:11.21\00:54:12.81
He's asked us to do,
00:54:12.91\00:54:14.28
for only then are we able to see
00:54:14.38\00:54:16.25
God in action for ourselves,
00:54:16.35\00:54:18.35
to experience for ourselves
00:54:18.45\00:54:19.92
that God really is
00:54:20.02\00:54:21.16
who He says he is.
00:54:21.26\00:54:23.86
Pioneer family and all
00:54:26.76\00:54:29.93
who are listening...
00:54:30.03\00:54:32.30
we do not have to wait for
00:54:32.40\00:54:34.00
Bill Gates or Big Ben
00:54:34.10\00:54:36.91
or the gift of the Florida Keys
00:54:37.01\00:54:39.04
to satisfy the longing
00:54:39.14\00:54:40.51
of our hearts
00:54:40.61\00:54:41.48
this Christmas season,
00:54:41.58\00:54:43.41
for none of those gifts
00:54:43.51\00:54:44.81
are factors
00:54:44.91\00:54:45.95
in our personal fulfillment
00:54:46.05\00:54:47.62
or, most importantly,
00:54:47.72\00:54:48.95
in our effectiveness for God.
00:54:49.05\00:54:51.52
Instead, let us give ourselves
00:54:51.62\00:54:53.56
the gift of a strong,
00:54:53.66\00:54:55.09
passionate faith in God.
00:54:55.19\00:54:57.36
Remember what
00:54:57.46\00:54:58.76
God has done for you.
00:54:58.86\00:55:00.96
God, most of the time, makes
00:55:01.03\00:55:01.90
sense, but be prepared
00:55:02.00\00:55:03.16
occasionally for the bizarre.
00:55:03.26\00:55:04.37
Stay in the fight.
00:55:04.47\00:55:05.77
Don't give up, don't give in.
00:55:05.87\00:55:07.54
Keep on fighting.
00:55:07.64\00:55:09.67
And obey what He's asked you
00:55:09.77\00:55:11.07
to do, and you will see
00:55:11.17\00:55:12.61
your faith multiply
00:55:12.71\00:55:14.38
to unseen levels.
00:55:14.48\00:55:16.21
May that strong
00:55:16.31\00:55:17.71
and passionate kind of faith
00:55:17.81\00:55:19.48
be ours in abundance
00:55:19.58\00:55:21.35
this Christmas and beyond.
00:55:21.45\00:55:23.49
>> Amen!
00:55:23.59\00:55:25.45
>> I don't know what the weather
00:55:30.36\00:55:30.96
is like where you're
00:55:31.06\00:55:31.83
at this holiday season,
00:55:31.93\00:55:33.16
but here in Michigan,
00:55:33.26\00:55:34.20
as I speak right now,
00:55:34.30\00:55:35.53
there's a delightful layer
00:55:35.63\00:55:36.60
of snow on the ground,
00:55:36.70\00:55:38.03
and the forecast
00:55:38.13\00:55:39.20
is calling for more snow soon.
00:55:39.30\00:55:41.07
Our winters here
00:55:41.17\00:55:42.17
can be hearty ones,
00:55:42.27\00:55:43.51
and there are few things
00:55:43.61\00:55:44.87
more beautiful
00:55:44.97\00:55:46.01
than the sparkling winter
00:55:46.11\00:55:47.14
landscapes that surround
00:55:47.24\00:55:48.41
our corner of the world
00:55:48.51\00:55:49.78
this time of year.
00:55:49.88\00:55:52.15
Of course, all that snow is
00:55:52.25\00:55:54.02
a biblical reminder, isn't it?
00:55:54.12\00:55:55.72
A reminder
00:55:55.82\00:55:56.92
that because Jesus was born
00:55:57.02\00:55:58.75
as a babe in that manger,
00:55:58.85\00:56:00.29
because He lived among us
00:56:00.39\00:56:01.69
and ultimately gave His life
00:56:01.79\00:56:02.96
for us, our sins can be
00:56:03.06\00:56:04.59
forgiven.
00:56:04.69\00:56:06.29
Our sins, though they be red
00:56:06.39\00:56:07.86
as scarlet,
00:56:07.96\00:56:08.80
can be made white as snow,
00:56:08.90\00:56:11.07
all because of the gift of
00:56:11.17\00:56:12.47
Jesus.
00:56:12.57\00:56:14.50
As we celebrate this gift
00:56:14.60\00:56:15.84
this holiday season,
00:56:15.94\00:56:17.01
some additional causes
00:56:17.11\00:56:18.24
for celebration
00:56:18.34\00:56:19.17
come from your e-mails,
00:56:19.27\00:56:20.44
your letters,
00:56:20.54\00:56:21.34
and your faithful giving
00:56:21.44\00:56:22.71
of support for this ministry,
00:56:22.81\00:56:24.68
a ministry which literally
00:56:24.78\00:56:25.98
reaches around the world.
00:56:26.08\00:56:27.92
If you've been blessed
00:56:28.02\00:56:28.75
this year,
00:56:28.85\00:56:29.75
I'd like to ask you to join
00:56:29.85\00:56:30.92
the many people
00:56:31.02\00:56:31.69
who financially support
00:56:31.79\00:56:32.99
Pioneer's media ministry,
00:56:33.09\00:56:34.56
which brings you this program.
00:56:34.66\00:56:36.09
It's simple to do.
00:56:36.19\00:56:37.46
Just call our toll-free
00:56:37.56\00:56:38.89
number -- 877-HIS-WILL.
00:56:38.99\00:56:41.33
That's 877-HIS-WILL.
00:56:41.43\00:56:45.27
One of our friendly operators
00:56:45.37\00:56:46.67
will be happy to help you.
00:56:46.77\00:56:48.30
You can also go to the top
00:56:48.40\00:56:49.87
of our website, pmchurch.org,
00:56:49.97\00:56:52.21
click the "Donate" link,
00:56:52.31\00:56:53.94
and look for
00:56:54.04\00:56:54.88
the "Media Ministry" option.
00:56:54.98\00:56:57.58
Truly, no gift is too small
00:56:57.68\00:56:59.25
or too large
00:56:59.35\00:57:00.25
for God to use to spread
00:57:00.35\00:57:02.05
the good news of His love
00:57:02.15\00:57:03.15
and His soon return.
00:57:03.25\00:57:04.52
Every gift is entirely invested
00:57:04.62\00:57:07.02
in our mission
00:57:07.12\00:57:08.12
to communicate God's call
00:57:08.22\00:57:09.92
to salvation to a generation
00:57:10.03\00:57:11.39
who desperately needs
00:57:11.49\00:57:12.49
the hope found in Jesus.
00:57:12.59\00:57:14.46
Once again,
00:57:14.56\00:57:15.53
our website is pmchurch.org.
00:57:15.63\00:57:18.73
This season, know
00:57:18.83\00:57:20.50
that our Pioneer family
00:57:20.60\00:57:21.60
is praying for you
00:57:21.70\00:57:23.20
and that our greatest wish is
00:57:23.30\00:57:24.74
that Immanuel,
00:57:24.84\00:57:25.97
Jesus Christ in the flesh
00:57:26.07\00:57:27.94
and in your heart, will be
00:57:28.04\00:57:29.81
at the center of your life.
00:57:29.91\00:57:31.28
Thank you
00:57:31.38\00:57:32.45
for your prayers and support.
00:57:32.55\00:57:34.48
¤
00:57:34.58\00:57:36.32
¤
00:57:59.87\00:58:01.68