Hello friends, welcome to
our Sabbath School Panel here
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at the 3ABN Worship Center.
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My name is John
Lomacang and thank you so much
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for taking the time to
join us in this excursion
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through the word of God
which promises to be a blessing
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and also to be very exciting.
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So don't turn away, get
your Bibles and we're going to
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pray in just a moment
to invite the Holy Spirit
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to be our guide,
but before we do that,
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let me introduce to
you our panelists today...
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To my immediate left is
Greg Morikone, good to have
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you here Greg - Good to be here!
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Shelley Quinn, good to
see you Shelley - A blessing.
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Pastor Kenny
Shelton, always good to have
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you onboard - Yes, good.
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And Greg, your better half
Jill. Alright now, that's right.
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Which makes you
the blessed half! Yes!
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I'm the blessed one!
You both are blessed.
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And our topic for this
Quarter is "Oneness in Christ"
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A dynamic study, it's
been a blessing to study
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from week-to-week and
we are just floating along
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as we enter into
"When Conflicts Arise."
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Lesson #7- if you don't
have a copy of that lesson,
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go to the following website
to download a version of it.
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ABSG.Adventist.org
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Once again: ABSG.Adventist.org
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or go to your local
Seventh-day Adventist Church,
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join them for a
wonderful Bible Study;
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ask for a copy of the Lesson.
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If they don't have one,
I know they'll do whatever
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they can to include you
in their study and possibly
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get you your own copy.
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It's a beautiful study isn't it?
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Dealing with issues that
are very pertinent today,
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the world is so divided,
the Lord's word has much
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to say about
"oneness" and the need for that.
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Greg, I'm going to
invite you to have our prayer
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for us today before we
go into our study together.
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Alright, let's
pray. Father in Heaven...
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What a privilege it is
to open Your Holy Word.
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You have said that
it will not return void.
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Lord, I just pray that
today, that we would allow Your
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Word, Your Holy
Spirit to change our hearts,
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and Lord, that we be open to
Your wooing and Your speaking
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to us each and every day.
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Lord, as we open Your
Word, we're just thankful
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for what's in it and as we
study this Sabbath School Lesson
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this week, Lord we thank
You that You have things for us
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to learn. In Jesus
name we pray... Amen
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Amen, Amen! Now I'm going to be
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summarizing Sabbath afternoon
and then also go on to Sunday
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which is quite a lesson.
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I don't know how you
chose me for this one, Shelley,
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but I'm glad you did because
I'm kind of a hodgepodge,
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ethnically, and our
discussion on Sunday is:
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"Ethnic Prejudices"
and the Sabbath Lesson
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leads into it in a summary way.
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The Memory Text on Sabbath
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afternoon is from
Galatians 3:27-28 which goes
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as follows: "For as many of
you as were baptized into Christ
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have put on Christ. There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is
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neither slave nor free, there
is neither male nor female;
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for you are all
one in Christ Jesus."
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Can I get an
Amen? Amen! Amen! Amen!
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We are all one when
it comes to Christ Jesus.
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Now when I look at the
topic of ethnic prejudices...
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as a young man with an
ethnically-diverse background,
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let me just kinda
start out with that...
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Sometimes I meet people
and depending on where I am
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in the nation or in the
world, I get questions like
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"What are you?" and
I know what they mean,
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but sometimes I
tiptoe through the tulips
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depending on where I am...
because in reality, ethnically,
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my mother is Filipino and
white, my dad is native American
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and African-American.
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So I'm literally - red
and yellow, black and white!
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And in America, that's a
big issue, but when I travel
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the world - if I'm in Indonesia,
they think I'm Indonesian,
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if I'm in the
Polynesian Islands,
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they think I'm part of
the Polynesian culture.
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And I did the DNA -
what's that? Ancestry.com. Yes
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I submitted that a number
of years ago and found out that
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my ethnicity is
quite more diverse
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than I actually thought.
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From the Polynesian Islands,
to the Philippines, Africa,
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a little speck of Europe
and it's amazing to see that
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I could look the way I
do and still have so much
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red and yellow, black
and white inside of me.
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Now depending on
where we are in the world,
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I did a little research to
lead into this topic and I put
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in the phrase,
"ethnic conflict."
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And do you know that there
is ethnic conflict in every
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nation on the planet.
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And, it's not necessarily
against the fair skin
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and the dark skin - there
are ethnic conflicts in Africa,
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Rwandan, Bosnia,
Nigeria, Sudan, Sri Lanka.
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India, Indonesia, Iraq, Iran,
Ireland, Israel, Ivory Coast,
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Western Asia, Western
Europe, West Africa, Sweden,
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Russia, Chechnya, Australia,
China... there is ethnic
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conflict in all
of these countries.
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And these ethnic
conflicts are not always
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based on the color
of skin, but sometimes
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preferential issues in society.
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For example, we are all
familiar with the Rwandan
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genocide, and we know,
historically, there were
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Adventists Hutu and Tutsi
that were killing each other
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because of the ethnic
diversities or differences
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or conflicts because
you don't kill each other
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over a difference but
over these tribal conflicts.
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You also have the Serbs
and the Croats, remember that?
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Years ago, we would
hear about the Catholics
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fighting against the
(this was in Europe),
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there were fights
between different religions,
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and then you also had,
years ago, there was controversy
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between Pakistan and India;
one kept pushing the border
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further back - taking
it from the other country,
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and then also the
centuries long conflict between
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the Muslim and the Jew.
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And my wife and I, last
year, we were in Jordan and
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I was amazed to find
out that there are no
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Jewish settlements in
the entire country of Jordan.
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But then we went to
Israel and there is in Jerusalem
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a Muslim Quarter, a Jewish
Quarter, a Christian Quarter.
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And so depending on
where you are in Jerusalem,
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you could get involved,
as our tour guide said,
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you could make the
wrong turn in Jerusalem and
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disappear as a tourist.
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Or you can make the right
turn and have a lot of fun.
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So ethnic issues have
been so talked about throughout
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history, but as the
lesson makes it clear,
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when we are in
Christ, ethnic diversity
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should not be an issue.
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Unfortunately, however, because
each of us is in the journey,
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some of us have to
come from our background,
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from our upbringing, from the
neighborhoods we were raised.
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I'll give you a little story...
I was raised in Brooklyn,
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I was born in
Manhattan, New York
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in the Polyclinic Hospital
that is still there to this day,
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my wife found it, but
I was raised in Brooklyn,
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and growing up, I had
to do things as a young boy
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in a black community to survive
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the differences
that they saw in me.
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They called my
sister, "Chink," because
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she looked more
Filipino when she was younger,
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and you're looking at me
right now, but they used to
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call me "White
boy" in my community.
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So I actually got an
Afro to survive my community
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by washing my hair
with Tide and not drying it.
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But that was in MY neighborhood,
in a Black community.
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So prejudice is, in
Black communities and white
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communities, and in
every shade in-between.
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And then you have
those Scripture references...
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let's go to the Book of
Numbers - this is one of the
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early references to
this creeping in among the
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people of God.
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In Numbers 12- I'm not
going to read the whole thing,
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but many of you are
familiar with the story.
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Numbers 12:1... This is
when Miriam and Aaron had a
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problem with Moses' wife.
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And here it says in
Numbers 12:1... Do you have
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that Shelley?
Yes. Read that for us.
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"Then Miriam and Aaron
spoke against Moses because
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of the Ethiopian
woman whom he had married;
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for he had married
an Ethiopian woman."
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Right, and so that was an issue
there... if you look at the
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Ethiopian people,
they're not dark, dark,
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dark, dark, skin -
they are like a, you know,
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if you would use a word...
sugar with milk in it and cream,
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they're not dark, dark,
dark skin like different
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parts of Africa, but
there was a prejudice attitude
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towards Moses' wife
because he had married
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an Ethiopian.
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And this story was one of
the first examples in Scripture
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that shows us how God
looks at it and what God
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wanted to root out
immediately from their mindset
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about any kind
of ethnic prejudice.
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Jill, read verse
9 and 10 for us...
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"So the anger of the
Lord was aroused against them,
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and He departed.
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And when the cloud departed
from above the tabernacle,
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suddenly Miriam became
leprous, as white as snow.
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Then Aaron turned toward
Miriam, and there she was
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a leper."
Because she started the
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attitude towards
Moses' wife and Aaron jumped
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on board and the Lord said...
Hey, if the color of the skin
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is an issue, look at
the color of your skin now.
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If the issue of the
color of the skin is a problem
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you have, look at the
color of your skin now...
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And that was the
first and last time
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the Lord had to
deal with that issue.
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And then also you see
Jesus had to deal with
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the issues of the Samaritans.
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In John 4:9, the Samaritans
were SO prejudiced against
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Jesus, that
whenever He spoke against
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what they didn't
like - look at one of the
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ways that they attacked Him...
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John 4:9, and as you look
that up, the Samaritans were
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the Northern Israelite
Tribe from Ephraim and Manasseh
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that survived the destruction
of the kingdom in 722 B.C.
00:10:36.30\00:10:39.27
But do you have
that Greg? John 4:9...
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It says... "Then saith
the woman of Samaria unto Him,
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"How is it that thou,
being a Jew, askest drink of me,
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which am a woman of
Samaria? for the Jews have no
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dealings with the Samaritans."
00:10:54.98\00:10:56.69
Exactly, they had difficulties
that were just totally
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divisive and the very same
thing I'll read very quickly
00:11:00.76\00:11:03.43
in John 8:48- speaking
to Jesus, the Jews answered
00:11:03.46\00:11:07.83
and said to Him... "Do we
rightly say that You are a
00:11:07.86\00:11:11.30
Samaritan and have a demon?"
00:11:11.33\00:11:13.17
They so hated the Samaritans.
00:11:13.20\00:11:15.64
They categorized Jesus
as a Samaritan and a demon,
00:11:15.67\00:11:18.37
the lowest form that you could
even associate with a person.
00:11:18.41\00:11:21.81
They categorized him that way.
00:11:21.84\00:11:23.35
So, what I'm going to do
is show you just eight quick
00:11:23.38\00:11:26.38
points in the Bible
that shows you how the Bible
00:11:26.41\00:11:29.65
deals with these
issues of ethnic prejudices...
00:11:29.68\00:11:32.62
#1... 1 Corinthians
12:13. First it denounces racial
00:11:32.65\00:11:37.03
prejudice. 1 Corinthians 12:13,
"For by one Spirit, we are all
00:11:37.06\00:11:43.43
baptized into one
body; whether Jews or Greeks,
00:11:43.47\00:11:46.84
whether slaves or
free, and have all been made
00:11:46.87\00:11:50.81
to drink into one Spirit."
00:11:50.84\00:11:53.38
The Lord is saying -
There is no difference,
00:11:53.41\00:11:54.74
salvation is open
to every one of us.
00:11:56.54\00:11:58.81
Going quickly...
it denounces hate.
00:11:58.85\00:12:00.42
1 John 2:11... "But he
who hates his brother is in
00:12:00.75\00:12:04.95
darkness and walks in
darkness and does not know
00:12:04.99\00:12:07.66
where he is going
because the darkness has
00:12:07.69\00:12:09.86
blinded his eyes."
00:12:09.89\00:12:11.23
It denounces
profiling based on appearance.
00:12:11.26\00:12:14.76
1 Samuel 16:7... "But the Lord
said to Samuel, "Do not look
00:12:14.80\00:12:19.50
at his appearance or
at his physical stature,
00:12:19.53\00:12:22.00
because I have refused
him. For the Lord does not see
00:12:22.04\00:12:24.84
as man sees, for man
looks at the... what?
00:12:24.87\00:12:27.61
outward appearance, but the
Lord looks at the heart. Amen!
00:12:27.64\00:12:31.85
Prejudice based on appearance.
00:12:31.88\00:12:33.52
The Bible also highlights
our uniform beginning.
00:12:33.55\00:12:36.12
Acts 17:26... "And He has
made from one blood every nation
00:12:36.15\00:12:42.32
of men to dwell on
all the face of the earth,
00:12:42.36\00:12:44.83
and has determined their
preappointed times and the
00:12:44.86\00:12:47.80
boundaries of
their dwellings..."
00:12:47.83\00:12:49.30
You know, I used to give
blood, so many times when the
00:12:49.33\00:12:51.73
blood drives came around
in New York and I discovered
00:12:51.77\00:12:54.84
something very
carefully... that if a person
00:12:54.87\00:12:57.17
needs blood - they don't
say, "Did that blood come from a
00:12:57.21\00:12:59.27
white person or a black
person or a Jewish person?
00:12:59.31\00:13:01.44
They say, "What
TYPE of blood is it?
00:13:01.48\00:13:03.61
There's A, B and the positives
and negatives and the O.
00:13:03.65\00:13:06.95
Blood has no
prejudice in it. That's true.
00:13:06.98\00:13:09.18
Going on further, the
Bible denounces mistreatment
00:13:09.22\00:13:12.95
of foreigners.
00:13:12.99\00:13:14.32
Exodus 22:21... "You
shall neither mistreat a
00:13:14.36\00:13:17.96
stranger, nor
oppose him or oppress him,
00:13:17.99\00:13:21.16
for you were
strangers in the land of Egypt."
00:13:21.20\00:13:24.07
And the word there
in some translations...
00:13:24.10\00:13:25.90
"You should not
mistreat a foreigner."
00:13:25.93\00:13:29.07
Leviticus also verse
19:33-34... "When an alien lives
00:13:29.10\00:13:33.48
with you in your
land, do not mistreat him.
00:13:33.51\00:13:36.38
(That's what we should
do here in America. Amen!)
00:13:36.41\00:13:39.35
The alien living with
you must be treated as one
00:13:39.38\00:13:43.02
of your native-born.
00:13:43.05\00:13:44.55
Love him as yourself for
you were aliens in Egypt,
00:13:44.59\00:13:49.02
and I am the Lord your God."
00:13:49.06\00:13:50.39
In other words, I
expect more from you than that.
00:13:50.43\00:13:52.83
Another one... The Bible
advocates equal treatment.
00:13:52.86\00:13:56.00
Mark 12:31... "Love
your neighbor as yourself.
00:13:56.03\00:14:00.37
There is no
commandment greater than these."
00:14:00.40\00:14:03.41
In James 2:8-9... "If
you really keep the royal law
00:14:03.44\00:14:07.78
found in Scripture, "love
your neighbor as yourself,
00:14:07.81\00:14:10.71
you are doing right;
but if you show partiality
00:14:10.75\00:14:14.22
or favoritism, you sin
and are convicted by the law
00:14:14.25\00:14:18.62
as lawbreakers."
00:14:18.65\00:14:20.79
So the Bible denounces
prejudice, bias based on
00:14:20.82\00:14:23.56
appearance, mistreatment
of foreigners, favoritism
00:14:23.59\00:14:27.26
or partiality and it
advocates equal treatment...
00:14:27.30\00:14:30.67
But here's the
biggest foundation...
00:14:30.70\00:14:33.57
The reason why all
nationalities, regardless of
00:14:33.60\00:14:36.17
skin color, deserve
respect is Genesis 1:26...
00:14:36.20\00:14:41.24
"And God said, "Let
us make man in our image,
00:14:41.28\00:14:45.01
in our likeness."
00:14:45.05\00:14:46.38
We are all made in the
image of God, Amen? Amen!
00:14:46.41\00:14:49.28
My dad's name is Adam,
what's your dad's name?"
00:14:49.32\00:14:51.02
Adam. Okay!
00:14:51.05\00:14:52.52
And lastly, Acts
10:28... "Then He said to them,
00:14:52.55\00:14:57.79
(this is an amazing
example, when Peter was sent
00:14:57.83\00:15:01.40
to Cornelius,
and he had the vision
00:15:01.43\00:15:07.30
of the unclean food,
it was NOT about FOOD!
00:15:07.34\00:15:10.51
I'll say - it
was not about food!
00:15:10.54\00:15:13.04
It was about racial
injustice and racial prejudice.
00:15:13.07\00:15:16.44
The Bible says in Acts
10:28... "Then he said to them,
00:15:16.48\00:15:19.71
"You know how unlawful it
is for a Jewish man to keep
00:15:19.75\00:15:22.68
company with or to go
to one of another nation,
00:15:22.72\00:15:26.55
but God has shown me
that I should not call any man
00:15:26.59\00:15:30.99
common or unclean." Amen Pastor!
00:15:31.03\00:15:33.19
It's yours Greg. Oh,
thank you very much, Pastor.
00:15:33.23\00:15:35.63
Fantastic! It's great
to study the word of God!
00:15:35.66\00:15:38.10
I tell you, it's a blessing!
00:15:38.13\00:15:39.73
You know, Pastor,
you were mentioning too,
00:15:39.77\00:15:41.27
for years people have
asked you when you were young...
00:15:41.30\00:15:43.30
"What are you?"
or maybe even now."
00:15:43.34\00:15:45.04
I get the same thing too,
and I'm like... "I'm a man."
00:15:45.07\00:15:49.14
Yeah - of the human race!
00:15:49.18\00:15:50.95
Of the human race - there
you go that's better, Pastor.
00:15:50.98\00:15:52.51
Yes, so yeah, I would
get that because of my age
00:15:52.55\00:15:54.68
and background and stuff
like that, and so even my
00:15:54.72\00:15:57.49
family - back in World
War II, some of them because
00:15:57.52\00:16:01.86
they looked Asian, they were
actually sent - they were going
00:16:01.89\00:16:04.26
to go into concentration
camps, actually here in the
00:16:04.29\00:16:06.36
United States of
America which is amazing.
00:16:06.39\00:16:08.80
Yeah, anyway that's some
of the family background.
00:16:09.83\00:16:11.80
But it's sad, and to be
honest with you, as we look at
00:16:11.83\00:16:15.50
Monday - which is "The
Conversion of Gentiles,"
00:16:15.54\00:16:17.74
you may say, "Okay, so
what's the big deal with that?"
00:16:17.77\00:16:20.41
I mean, that's great that
they're getting converted.
00:16:20.44\00:16:22.74
But the thing is,
Pastor, that you were mentioning
00:16:22.78\00:16:24.41
in Acts 10- which is
the chapter we're going to
00:16:24.45\00:16:26.68
be looking at today -
it's talking about this dream
00:16:26.72\00:16:29.85
and about Peter and Cornelius
and about the prejudices
00:16:29.88\00:16:33.02
or the prejudice that
was going on, and this was
00:16:33.05\00:16:35.69
huge because you didn't
have the Jews interacting
00:16:35.72\00:16:38.86
really much at all with
the Gentiles - why was that?
00:16:38.89\00:16:43.33
That had to do with prejudice
against the Gentiles, one of the
00:16:43.37\00:16:45.83
big things being
they were not circumcised.
00:16:45.87\00:16:48.04
That was one of the
things... they weren't chosen
00:16:48.07\00:16:49.40
of God - the Jews
thought it was them,
00:16:49.44\00:16:51.47
and so that was the big deal.
00:16:51.51\00:16:53.34
So we're looking at Acts
10:1-48 and we only have a few
00:16:53.38\00:16:58.28
minutes, so we're going to kind
of brush over some of these.
00:16:58.31\00:17:00.32
But it's a great study!
00:17:00.35\00:17:01.68
I want to read this from
the lesson, so if you have your
00:17:01.72\00:17:03.82
Quarterly, take
a look at this...
00:17:03.85\00:17:05.42
"The conversion of the Gentiles
to the gospel of Jesus Christ
00:17:05.45\00:17:09.42
is an event in the Book of
Acts that sets the stage for the
00:17:09.46\00:17:14.00
greatest conflict in the
life of the early church;
00:17:14.03\00:17:17.07
one that would threaten
its existence and mission,"
00:17:17.10\00:17:20.64
which is
absolutely hard to believe.
00:17:20.67\00:17:23.00
You think, why would
that be such a big issue?
00:17:23.04\00:17:24.84
It says the early
Christian Church was closed
00:17:24.87\00:17:26.68
to the Gentile community,
like we were talking about,
00:17:26.71\00:17:28.48
because one of the big
things was that they were not
00:17:28.51\00:17:31.15
circumcised - that
was one of the big things.
00:17:31.18\00:17:33.92
Now this just maybe
shows my ignorance on this...
00:17:33.95\00:17:36.48
I was doing a little bit of
research on what prejudice is,
00:17:36.52\00:17:38.59
and this is interesting
to me; the definition of
00:17:38.62\00:17:41.12
prejudice is... "Preconceived
opinion that is not based
00:17:41.16\00:17:45.29
on reason or actual experience."
00:17:45.33\00:17:48.76
I thought it was, but
it says prejudice is not.
00:17:48.80\00:17:51.77
It is preconceived
opinion that is NOT based on
00:17:54.87\00:17:57.34
reason or actual experience.
00:17:57.37\00:17:59.51
Now you can
actually be prejudiced,
00:17:59.54\00:18:01.48
but when you don't act on it,
no one really knows about it.
00:18:01.51\00:18:04.81
No one really
knows, but if you do,
00:18:04.85\00:18:06.75
then it becomes discriminations.
00:18:06.82\00:18:08.28
So that was just
interesting to me.
00:18:08.32\00:18:09.72
Pastor, you mentioned
this in your eight points,
00:18:09.75\00:18:11.39
I like this...but today, I
hate to say this, but even in
00:18:11.42\00:18:14.52
individual lives - in
let's say a church, a family.
00:18:14.56\00:18:18.49
You can have prejudice about
religion, about race, culture,
00:18:18.53\00:18:23.67
class, education and
the list can go on and on.
00:18:23.70\00:18:28.77
Oh yeah, so many areas.
00:18:28.80\00:18:30.44
But anyway, let's
take a look at Acts 10;
00:18:30.47\00:18:33.54
there are some great
lessons to be learned and I just
00:18:33.58\00:18:35.51
pray from this study
that, in my own heart,
00:18:35.54\00:18:38.31
God help me not to be prejudice
to hinder Your work. Amen!
00:18:38.35\00:18:41.48
So, again, we have 1-48,
and so you basically have
00:18:41.52\00:18:45.15
Cornelius who is from Caesarea.
00:18:45.19\00:18:47.72
He is a centurion,
so he is over 100 men.
00:18:47.76\00:18:49.96
He is a devout
Christian and he feared God.
00:18:49.99\00:18:52.63
You may say, "Well how in the
world did he learn about God?
00:18:52.66\00:18:54.66
And I was reading Ellen
White, and she says that,
00:18:54.70\00:18:57.00
He had interaction with
some Jewish people that actually
00:18:57.03\00:18:59.93
influenced him to honor
God which is pretty amazing.
00:18:59.97\00:19:03.30
He just didn't know
much about Jesus Christ.
00:19:03.34\00:19:05.04
So he was faithful to
God, all of his household.
00:19:05.07\00:19:08.88
He gave money to the
poor, and he prayed daily.
00:19:08.91\00:19:12.95
So during one of these
prayers as he was having
00:19:12.98\00:19:14.98
on a certain day - I don't
know, let's just pick Monday
00:19:15.02\00:19:16.95
let's say... he was
praying at the ninth hour which
00:19:16.99\00:19:19.65
is about 3 p.m. and
an angel says to him...
00:19:19.69\00:19:22.59
"Your prayers have been
heard." Can you imagine, wow!
00:19:22.62\00:19:26.63
And then he says, "Send
some of your men to Joppa
00:19:26.66\00:19:29.70
and look for Simon Peter."
00:19:29.73\00:19:32.63
So then you have
Peter who is in Joppa.
00:19:32.67\00:19:35.87
Now this is kind of
interesting on Peter...
00:19:35.90\00:19:37.81
He is in Joppa and he's
staying with who? A tanner.
00:19:37.84\00:19:41.41
And a tanner is
someone that does what Shelley?
00:19:41.44\00:19:43.21
Deals with dead
animals, right? The hide.
00:19:43.24\00:19:46.72
Now for the Jewish people,
Pastor, that's considered
00:19:46.75\00:19:49.48
an unclean
thing, isn't it? Right.
00:19:49.52\00:19:50.85
So here Peter is
staying at the tanner's house.
00:19:50.89\00:19:52.95
That's kind of interesting.
00:19:52.99\00:19:54.32
And so then you've
got... going down to verse 9-12,
00:19:54.36\00:19:58.99
you have Peter
which is the next day;
00:19:59.03\00:20:01.66
Cornelius has had his
vision from the angel;
00:20:01.70\00:20:04.13
the next day Peter is at
the sixth hour which is about
00:20:04.17\00:20:06.94
noon - he is on the
rooftop which is not unusual
00:20:06.97\00:20:09.50
for the people there at
that time and he was hungry.
00:20:09.54\00:20:12.07
So he was waiting for the
food to be prepared and he was
00:20:12.11\00:20:15.04
praying and now he had
his vision which, Pastor,
00:20:15.08\00:20:17.91
you referred to in your portion
of this study and this is with
00:20:17.95\00:20:21.58
Acts 10, I'm going to
read actually from the Bible
00:20:21.62\00:20:26.79
verses 11-15, and it says...
"And Peter saw heaven open,
00:20:26.82\00:20:31.23
and a certain vessel descending
unto him as it had been a
00:20:31.26\00:20:35.30
great sheet, knit at
the four corners and let
00:20:35.33\00:20:37.90
down to the earth; Wherein
were all manner of four-footed
00:20:37.93\00:20:41.50
beasts of the earth; and
wild beasts and creeping things,
00:20:41.54\00:20:44.34
and fowls of the air.
00:20:44.37\00:20:45.71
And there came a
voice to him saying,
00:20:45.74\00:20:48.28
"Rise, Peter; kill and eat."
00:20:48.31\00:20:51.41
But Peter said, "Not so,
Lord; for I have never eaten
00:20:51.45\00:20:55.22
anything that is
common or unclean."
00:20:55.25\00:20:57.35
And the voice spake unto
him again the second time,
00:20:57.39\00:21:01.16
(and this is really powerful)
"What God hath cleansed,
00:21:01.19\00:21:05.96
that call thou not common."
00:21:06.83\00:21:10.03
So here you have Peter
that is having this dream.
00:21:10.07\00:21:13.23
He thinks it has to do
with food; like you mentioned,
00:21:13.27\00:21:15.30
Pastor, it has
nothing to do with food.
00:21:15.34\00:21:17.01
It has to do, really,
with prejudice against
00:21:17.04\00:21:21.54
a certain group of people.
00:21:21.58\00:21:23.65
Oh wow, time is
going by quickly...
00:21:23.68\00:21:25.71
So let's jump down
here a little bit further in
00:21:25.75\00:21:29.25
Acts 10... "And the three
men from that Cornelius sent
00:21:29.28\00:21:34.12
(they are actually
banging at the front gate saying
00:21:34.16\00:21:35.89
"Hey, we've come to
look for Simon Peter,"
00:21:35.92\00:21:38.06
and I like here what Mrs. White
says in "Acts of the Apostles,"
00:21:38.09\00:21:41.23
another great read,
"Acts of the Apostles,"
00:21:41.26\00:21:44.53
Chapter "Seeker for Truth,"
p.135, and Mrs. White says,
00:21:44.57\00:21:49.84
"This vision gave Peter
reproof and instruction.
00:21:49.87\00:21:53.78
It revealed to him that
God, by the death of Jesus,
00:21:53.81\00:21:57.38
that the Gentiles should be
made fellow heirs with Jesus
00:21:57.41\00:22:01.22
to the blessings of salvation.
00:22:01.25\00:22:04.42
As of yet, none of the disciples
had preached the gospel
00:22:04.45\00:22:07.66
to the Gentiles."
Isn't that amazing?
00:22:07.69\00:22:09.59
None of the
disciples had at that point.
00:22:09.62\00:22:11.99
Let's go down to
verse 19 in chapter 10.
00:22:12.03\00:22:16.67
And while Peter was thinking
on the vision, because he's a
00:22:16.70\00:22:19.93
little confused, "...
was thinking on the vision,
00:22:19.97\00:22:22.20
the Spirit said unto
him, (or God told him)
00:22:22.24\00:22:24.41
"Behold, there are
three men that seek you.
00:22:24.44\00:22:27.91
Arise therefore,
and get you down, and go
00:22:27.94\00:22:30.65
with them, doubting nothing;
00:22:30.68\00:22:32.68
for I have sent them unto you."
00:22:32.71\00:22:35.62
Now I think, isn't
that precious of Jesus?
00:22:35.65\00:22:37.22
He said, "I've sent
these men to look for you,
00:22:37.25\00:22:39.52
but what they ask of
you, don't doubt at all."
00:22:39.55\00:22:41.72
I've got this all taken
care of because these men
00:22:41.76\00:22:43.99
are Gentiles and I think
this is really beautiful because
00:22:44.03\00:22:47.23
this is all happening and
I'm thinking in just minutes...
00:22:47.26\00:22:50.00
They're banging on the
gate; they invite them in,
00:22:50.03\00:22:51.83
and what does Peter
do to Cornelius' men?
00:22:51.87\00:22:54.30
He says, "Come
on and eat with me."
00:22:54.34\00:22:56.04
Woe... you
shouldn't do that, right?
00:22:56.07\00:22:58.01
A Jew invite a
Gentile to eat with him.
00:22:58.04\00:22:59.71
Then what did he do next?
00:22:59.74\00:23:01.08
He says, "Stay
the night with me...
00:23:01.11\00:23:02.94
all you men, stay
the night with me."
00:23:02.98\00:23:04.95
That's huge too -
so you can already see
00:23:04.98\00:23:06.92
Peter's heart changing
which is just precious. Amen!
00:23:06.95\00:23:08.92
It's just happening that
quick and I believe he is taking
00:23:08.95\00:23:11.42
the promise of what God told
him here in verse 20 it says,
00:23:11.45\00:23:15.56
"Arise therefore, get
thee down, go with them,
00:23:15.59\00:23:17.86
doubt nothing;
for I have sent them."
00:23:17.89\00:23:22.00
So then you have... I'll
just go on quickly here...
00:23:22.03\00:23:24.73
Peter meets with Cornelius;
Cornelius bows down to Peter;
00:23:24.77\00:23:28.77
actually worships
him; Peter says, "Stand up,
00:23:28.80\00:23:30.74
Cornelius, don't worship me."
00:23:30.77\00:23:32.24
And I think Peter, at
that moment, could have said,
00:23:32.27\00:23:34.38
"Oh, here he is bowing to
me, that's good because I have a
00:23:34.41\00:23:37.78
very high spiritual status,
but he didn't... he said,
00:23:37.81\00:23:40.02
"Stand up, we're equal."
00:23:40.05\00:23:41.38
And I think that's one
of the key things too...
00:23:41.42\00:23:43.65
As we deal with whatever
prejudices - because I think
00:23:43.69\00:23:45.75
we all have a prejudice - it
could be against someone that
00:23:45.79\00:23:47.62
maybe is a little less than
us, what it is - that we need to
00:23:47.66\00:23:50.63
realize that God
looks at us all the same.
00:23:50.66\00:23:54.43
Verse 28 says... "You
know how that it is an unlawful
00:23:54.46\00:24:00.24
thing for a man that is a
Jew to keep company or to come
00:24:00.27\00:24:03.64
unto one of another nation;
but God has showed me that I
00:24:03.67\00:24:07.48
should not call any
man common or unclean.
00:24:07.51\00:24:10.58
And then Cornelius tells Peter
00:24:10.61\00:24:12.75
his story which
is just precious.
00:24:12.78\00:24:14.88
Then Peter actually has
the opportunity to share with
00:24:14.92\00:24:18.42
Cornelius about Jesus
Christ and then the Holy Spirit
00:24:18.45\00:24:23.12
comes upon Cornelius and
his entire family; they start
00:24:23.16\00:24:26.90
prophesying, speaking in
tongues is what the Bible says.
00:24:26.93\00:24:30.07
And Peter says, "What
hinders you from being baptized?
00:24:30.10\00:24:32.80
Let's baptize them!
00:24:32.83\00:24:34.17
And so you can see the
conversion of Cornelius
00:24:34.20\00:24:36.64
which is just powerful
from Peter obeying God,
00:24:36.67\00:24:40.08
breaking down the
prejudices and saying,
00:24:40.11\00:24:42.64
"God, this is what You have
asked me to do, I will do it."
00:24:42.68\00:24:46.68
The take aways from
this... God handpicked Peter
00:24:46.72\00:24:49.15
to help break down
the barriers of prejudice
00:24:49.18\00:24:51.19
between the Jews
and the Gentiles.
00:24:51.22\00:24:53.76
#2... God calls us to break down
00:24:53.79\00:24:55.59
barriers or prejudice around us.
00:24:55.62\00:24:57.33
It's always easy to
point to others instead.
00:24:57.36\00:25:00.60
You know, we need to
be a part of the solution.
00:25:00.63\00:25:03.37
We also recognize that we
are all equal in God's sight.
00:25:03.40\00:25:06.33
There can be prejudice on both
sides, but we have to remember
00:25:06.37\00:25:09.00
that we're all equal and I
also think we should look at
00:25:09.04\00:25:12.31
John 3:16 which basically
all of us know and it says...
00:25:12.34\00:25:16.48
"For God so loved the world
(it doesn't say that He loved
00:25:16.51\00:25:19.11
only the Jews, only the
Greeks, only the blacks,
00:25:19.15\00:25:21.48
only the whites) it says
- "God so loved the world,"
00:25:21.52\00:25:24.22
and we're to follow that.
00:25:24.25\00:25:25.72
And in closing, I just pray...
00:25:25.75\00:25:27.39
Oh God, remove from my
heart any prejudice or judgment
00:25:27.42\00:25:31.03
that I will not
hinder Your work. Amen!
00:25:31.06\00:25:34.36
Wow! Sorry I got a little bit
00:25:34.40\00:25:36.20
rushed on the 48 verses!
00:25:36.23\00:25:37.63
Well that's okay, I
don't know how you even
00:25:37.67\00:25:39.83
tackled 48 verses, but
there's so much there that
00:25:39.87\00:25:42.40
goes with studying and
participating. A great story!
00:25:42.44\00:25:44.94
And we're going to
take a short break...
00:25:44.97\00:25:46.78
a one minute break
and right after that
00:25:46.81\00:25:48.54
we'll be back to continue
our studies... stay with us.
00:25:48.58\00:25:51.28
Ever wish you could watch
the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel
00:25:55.98\00:25:59.32
again or share it on
Facebook, Instagram or Twitter?
00:25:59.35\00:26:03.16
Well, you can - by visiting:
00:26:03.19\00:26:05.16
3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com
00:26:05.19\00:26:08.06
A clean design makes it easy
00:26:08.10\00:26:10.53
to find the
program you're looking for.
00:26:10.57\00:26:12.53
There are also links to
the Adult Bible Study Guide
00:26:12.57\00:26:16.10
so you can following
along, sharing is easy.
00:26:16.14\00:26:19.04
Just click "share" and choose
your favorite social media.
00:26:19.07\00:26:22.44
Share a link - save
a life for eternity!
00:26:22.48\00:26:26.72