The Bible tells us, "In
the beginning was the Word,
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and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God."
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It says to,
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"Receive with
meekness the implanted Word
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which is able
to save your souls.
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And to be diligent
to present yourself
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approved to God,
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rightly dividing
the Word of truth."
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Join us now
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for the 3ABN
Sabbath School Panel.
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Our study today
is Family Seasons.
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Hello, everyone,
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and welcome to the
3ABN Sabbath School Panel.
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We are so excited
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that you are
able to join us again
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for another exciting
quarter, a wonderful study.
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Wasn't the
previous study on Revelation
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such a good study?
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Amen. I was so
excited about that.
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And then we have
another amazing study
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this quarter
entitled Family Seasons.
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And I must say,
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just to the panel
and everyone at home,
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this is a much-needed study,
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especially in the
times that we're living in.
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We certainly need some insight
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on godly biblical
approach to family, right?
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Amen.
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And so I'm very,
very excited about that.
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This also gives me an
opportunity to tell you
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how you can get a
hold of this lesson.
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Obviously, you can go
to ABSG.Adventist.org.
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That stands for
Adult Bible Study Guide.
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And, of course, you can
access the study there for free,
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or you can simply go
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to your local
Seventh-day Adventist Church
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and, of course, I'm
sure they would love
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for you to join
them in study there
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and provide a copy
of this study for you.
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And so I want to
introduce this incredible panel
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at this moment.
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I want to start to my left here,
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Pastor John Lomacang.
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Good to be here.
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It's a blessing
to have you, brother.
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Always a joy. Amen.
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And, of course,
Brother Kenny Shelton.
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Good to be here. Thank you.
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Amen. Praise the Lord.
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And, of course,
Miss Shelley Quinn.
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Always excited to join
you all for Bible Study.
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Amen. And Miss Jill Morikone.
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Privilege to open
up the Word of God
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in this study together.
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Praise the Lord.
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It's such a blessing to
have all of you on the panel.
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I learned much from these guys,
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and it's a privilege to
work with them to be here
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and to present this
powerful, powerful study.
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Before we go any further,
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I would like to go ahead
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and dive right in
with the word of prayer.
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In fact, Shelley,
I would like for you,
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if you could just
pray for us right now.
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Absolutely.
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Heavenly Father, we
come in the name of Jesus
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and we come, Father,
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to ask that You
would give us ears to hear
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what the Holy Spirit
says through Your Word.
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Father, we thank
that You created us
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to be relational beings,
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to give us free will
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and give us the
choice of loving You
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and loving others.
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And we thank You
that You guide us
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in all choices that we make.
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So, Father, please bless
this study for this quarter,
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and whether people
are married or single,
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everyone is part of a family.
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Please, Lord, have them tune in
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and teach us
from Your Holy Word.
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We thank You for
Your plan of salvation,
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the gift of salvation,
for Jesus, Your Spirit,
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and for giving us Your Word.
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In Jesus' name, amen.
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Amen. Amen. Praise the Lord.
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I mentioned earlier,
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probably and no
other time in history
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was this particular lesson
better for specially this time
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because it seems like
at every single point,
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the devil is
attacking families today.
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Yes. That's right.
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And you know, if the
devil can attack the family
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that God instituted,
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then he's taken
away the core values
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and the core principles,
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the biblical
values and principles
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that of course He established
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in order to show us
His character, His love,
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and the
understanding of His Word.
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And so I'm very, very excited
to begin this particular study
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because there was a lot
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that I myself
could learn from it.
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I want to go
ahead and get us right
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into the very first lesson.
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Actually, Sabbath afternoon,
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I believe that's
gonna be March 30,
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you're going to see here,
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it sets a very clear foundation
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for what it is that
we're gonna be studying over
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all throughout
this entire quarter.
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And I want to start
with our memory text,
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it's found in Ecclesiastes 3:1.
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Very simple but very profound,
it says, "To everything,
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there is a season,
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a time for every
purpose under heaven."
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Amen.
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And that is the truth
that I never heard it.
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But I would also
like to continue reading,
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because the opening
passage to this particular study
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continues on through
Ecclesiastes Chapter 8,
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as we just read...
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Starting with now verse 2,
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notice it
continue on that point.
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It's Chapter 3?
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Excuse me,
Chapter 3, absolutely.
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Ecclesiastes Chapter
3, we just read verse 1.
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I'm gonna start with verse
2 and just read on to verse 8.
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There's a lot of
wonderful information here,
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a powerful yet profound text.
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Notice what it says,
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"A time to be born
and a time to die."
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That's the truth.
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"A time to plant
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and a time to
pluck what is planted,
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a time to kill
and a time to heal,
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a time to break down
and a time to build up,
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a time to weep
and a time to laugh,
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a time to mourn
and a time to dance,
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a time to cast away stones
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and a time to gather stones,
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a time to embrace
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and a time to
refrain from embracing,
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a time to gain
and a time to lose,
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a time to keep and
a time to throw away,
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a time to tear
and a time to sew,
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a time to keep
silence and a time to speak."
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And then verse 8,
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"A time to love
and a time to hate,
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a time to war
and a time of peace."
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When I read
that particular text,
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it kind of just encapsulates
the entire human experience
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over span of a lifetime.
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Our lives go through
many different stages,
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changes, and experiences.
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I don't know if
there's any truth to this,
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someone had told me.
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It kind of seems like,
in my personal experience,
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but somebody told
me a few years ago,
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that a person's
life, their perspective,
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their experience,
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it changes about
every five years.
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Now I don't know if
that's the truth or not,
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probably more
for some than others
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but it seems like
at least for my life,
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it seems like I'm
a different person
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than what I was five years ago.
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I know I'm a different person
than what I was a year ago,
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but it seems like
there's this on-going phase
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that a person goes
through that their experiences
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and their life changes
so much from year to year.
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And as you read
that particular passage
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in Ecclesiastes,
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of course, coming
from the wisest man
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to ever live,
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Solomon while
he was not perfect.
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We know that
the Lord blessed him
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with much wisdom,
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and of course,
he's communicating here
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all of the
multifaceted experiences
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and changes that happens
in a person's life overtime.
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I think that's
a great foundation
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for where we are going
with this particular study.
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In Sunday's lesson,
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it's entitled
"In the beginning."
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And, of course, we
get this from Genesis 1:1
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which is probably
other than John 3:16
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probably one of
the most memorized text
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that people can actually quote
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because it's the very first text
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in the Bible.
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"In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth."
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So what is this kind of...
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Within this topic
of family seasons,
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family values?
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Why would we go here
to "in the beginning"?
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I think it would
be a disservice for us
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to not start "in the beginning"
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because obviously,
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God set forth
family in the beginning.
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He set forth the order
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and the process of
how He wanted things
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to be originally right
there in the Garden of Eden,
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right there in the first
couple of chapters of Genesis.
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In fact, we know
Genesis means origins.
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And we know that one day,
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God is going to recreate
the heavens and the earth,
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and He's gonna bring
and reestablish it back
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to what it once was,
what He intended it to be.
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But, of course, we know,
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sin of course has
contaminated much of that.
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But did order,
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did God's order stop once
sin came into the picture?
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No. Absolutely not.
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And I think that's what
this is pointing towards
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is the fact that still,
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much of God's plan,
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much of what
God has set in place
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continued even after sin,
even after the fall of men.
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Just a real quick recap.
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I know we already know this
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but we see an example of this
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just in the first
few chapters of Genesis
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when we're contemplating
the creation week, okay.
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And I don't know about you guys,
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I believe it with all my heart
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that when it says
God created the world
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in 6 literal 24-hour days,
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I believe that
that's very literal.
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Even though it seems
like we live in a day and age
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where people are floating away,
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are getting away from
the literal understanding
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of creation,
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I believe that
with all my heart.
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So in 6 literal 24-hour days,
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we know that God created
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the heavens and the
earth and everything in it.
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Now I'm gonna do something
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a little
different really quickly.
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I want to take
this in consideration
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in the opposite direction.
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In other words, I want
to start with day seven
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and work my way back
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because I want to
show you something.
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Well, I'll show
you the order here,
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something you
probably already know,
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but someone out there may not.
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Let's see.
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If God had
established rest first,
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a time of rest, would
that have made much sense
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in regards to the
process of creation
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that He had in mind.
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Absolutely not.
Let's go back to day six.
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He creates the land mammals
and, of course, He creates man.
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So you have
rest, now you have...
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It's almost like a
very inorderly process
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if you take this in reverse.
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Day five, the birds,
the fishes, the seas,
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the creatures,
where would He put them,
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where
everything would have been?
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You can see a sense of order,
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a sense of progression
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as you go through
these particular days.
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Starting with day one,
obviously God created the world
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and gave it its form.
00:09:54.19\00:09:55.52
And there's a
reason why He done that
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because, of course,
next He would encapsulate
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that within atmosphere
00:09:58.96\00:10:00.30
on day two, He create the sky
00:10:00.33\00:10:01.96
and separate, of course,
the waters from the deep.
00:10:02.00\00:10:04.30
And then, of course, you
have on day three the land,
00:10:04.33\00:10:07.20
the oceans, and the plants.
00:10:07.24\00:10:08.57
There is a particular order,
00:10:08.60\00:10:10.11
there is a pattern
of intelligent order
00:10:10.17\00:10:13.11
in the work of creation.
00:10:13.14\00:10:14.71
And I just want
to emphasize that,
00:10:14.74\00:10:16.18
we serve an intelligent God.
00:10:16.21\00:10:17.95
He holds the water in His hands,
00:10:17.98\00:10:19.41
He knows exactly
what He is doing.
00:10:19.45\00:10:23.02
But someone might
say, why six days.
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Now I'm asking this question
because this is usually...
00:10:25.39\00:10:29.12
Many people say, "Well,
if God is so omnipotent,
00:10:29.16\00:10:31.19
He's so
powerful, He's all knowing,
00:10:31.23\00:10:33.70
then why didn't
He just, you know,
00:10:33.76\00:10:35.06
could He have
created all in one day?"
00:10:35.10\00:10:36.43
Absolutely.
00:10:36.46\00:10:37.80
But I believe there's
a couple of reasons here.
00:10:37.83\00:10:39.17
And in fact, I want to
encourage our audience.
00:10:39.20\00:10:41.14
If you think of something else,
00:10:41.17\00:10:42.64
you know, write
us in and tell us.
00:10:42.67\00:10:44.04
But I want you to tell...
I want you to consider this.
00:10:44.07\00:10:45.54
I think of three reasons
00:10:45.57\00:10:46.91
why God created
the world in six days
00:10:46.94\00:10:48.78
rather than just all in one day.
00:10:48.81\00:10:50.48
Number one,
obviously, to demonstrate order.
00:10:50.51\00:10:52.91
Our God is an orderly
God, to demonstrate order.
00:10:52.95\00:10:55.75
There was a process,
there was intelligence
00:10:55.78\00:10:58.09
as we have mentioned in
the process of creation,
00:10:58.12\00:11:01.12
as we see
everything unpacking there
00:11:01.16\00:11:02.99
in the beginning.
00:11:03.02\00:11:04.36
Number two, this is beautiful.
00:11:04.39\00:11:05.73
I believe God is
demonstrating patience
00:11:05.76\00:11:09.10
through this orderly creation.
00:11:09.13\00:11:11.43
For instance, when you
consider day one to day seven,
00:11:11.47\00:11:14.24
the complexity of creation,
00:11:14.27\00:11:16.14
obviously
everything becomes more complex
00:11:16.17\00:11:17.94
from day one to day seven.
00:11:17.97\00:11:19.67
So there's a reason why
God created in six days,
00:11:19.71\00:11:22.78
not that He couldn't
but He did for a purpose.
00:11:22.81\00:11:25.35
For instance,
over a period of time,
00:11:25.38\00:11:27.48
God is
communicating to us His patience
00:11:27.52\00:11:30.25
through His creation,
00:11:30.29\00:11:31.62
through this
intelligent orderly design
00:11:31.65\00:11:33.42
that He put in place.
00:11:33.46\00:11:34.79
Almost I get kind of a
wonderful analogy here,
00:11:34.82\00:11:37.19
a wonderful illustration
that through creation,
00:11:37.23\00:11:40.30
we can see the
patience of the Lord
00:11:40.36\00:11:41.80
as He deals with us.
00:11:41.83\00:11:43.60
He's patient with us overtime.
00:11:43.63\00:11:45.67
He gives us time
as He took His time
00:11:45.70\00:11:48.07
and He had a
very specific purpose
00:11:48.10\00:11:50.14
for why He created the
things on the specific days
00:11:50.17\00:11:52.51
that He did.
00:11:52.54\00:11:53.91
It shows the
wonderful character,
00:11:53.94\00:11:55.28
the wonderful patience of God.
00:11:55.31\00:11:56.64
And then number three,
00:11:56.68\00:11:58.01
I believe obviously the 6
day, 24-hour day creation week
00:11:58.05\00:12:03.79
that we have
there in the beginning
00:12:03.82\00:12:05.45
demonstrates the need
of communion and rest.
00:12:05.49\00:12:08.89
There's a reason why God kind of
00:12:08.92\00:12:10.33
puts the cherry on
top of the cupcake,
00:12:10.36\00:12:12.33
I guess you could say,
00:12:12.36\00:12:13.70
right there at the
end as He's establishing
00:12:13.73\00:12:15.10
this beautiful communion
and rest with His people.
00:12:15.13\00:12:19.10
Ellen G. White writes
in Signs of the Times,
00:12:19.13\00:12:21.14
June 8, 1908,
00:12:21.17\00:12:22.60
she says, "Order is
heaven's first law."
00:12:22.64\00:12:26.51
Amen. Now just
go with me on this.
00:12:26.54\00:12:28.44
Now if we know that this order,
00:12:28.48\00:12:30.81
the order of
earth was put into place
00:12:30.85\00:12:33.58
almost like a direct replica
00:12:33.62\00:12:34.98
of what He wanted
it to be from heaven,
00:12:35.02\00:12:36.85
so if order is
heaven's first law,
00:12:36.89\00:12:38.85
how about on earth?
00:12:38.89\00:12:40.22
You better believe that
00:12:40.26\00:12:41.59
that's exactly what
God intended as well.
00:12:41.62\00:12:43.89
After sin, there's obviously
still a sense of order,
00:12:43.93\00:12:47.23
rhythm, and regularity.
00:12:47.30\00:12:49.26
Notice Genesis
8:22, the Bible says this,
00:12:49.30\00:12:53.40
"While the earth remain..."
00:12:53.47\00:12:54.80
So obviously this is, I believe,
00:12:54.84\00:12:56.74
this is right after the flood.
00:12:56.77\00:12:58.34
Notice what it
says, "While the earth
00:12:58.37\00:12:59.71
remains seedtime and
harvest, cold and heat,
00:12:59.74\00:13:03.95
winter and summer, and day
and night shall not cease."
00:13:03.98\00:13:08.28
And there's good news.
00:13:08.32\00:13:10.39
I don't think
it's such a bad thing,
00:13:10.42\00:13:11.75
I still think it's a good thing.
00:13:11.79\00:13:13.19
When God
recreates the new heaven
00:13:13.22\00:13:14.72
and the new earth, guess what?
00:13:14.76\00:13:16.09
That same order,
00:13:16.12\00:13:17.46
that same continual
progressive creativity
00:13:17.53\00:13:20.20
that God set in
place right here,
00:13:20.23\00:13:21.93
Isaiah 66:23,
00:13:21.96\00:13:24.63
"For as the new
heavens and the new earth
00:13:24.67\00:13:26.30
which I will make shall
remain before Me" says the Lord,
00:13:26.33\00:13:29.77
"so shall your descendants
and your name remain.
00:13:29.80\00:13:32.91
It shall come to pass
00:13:32.94\00:13:34.88
that from one
new moon to another
00:13:34.91\00:13:37.65
and from one Sabbath to another,
00:13:37.68\00:13:39.91
all flesh shall come
and worship before Me,
00:13:39.98\00:13:42.55
"says the Lord."
00:13:42.58\00:13:43.95
You know, I saw,
00:13:43.99\00:13:45.32
and this is
enclosing here in my part.
00:13:45.35\00:13:47.42
I found a recent survey,
and this is startling that...
00:13:47.46\00:13:51.56
There was a survey,
they surveyed 602 pastors,
00:13:51.59\00:13:55.56
and only 19% of these
pastors were absolutely certain
00:13:55.60\00:14:00.17
of the recorded Genesis
account and creationism.
00:14:00.24\00:14:03.81
So more than
ever, I say praise God,
00:14:03.84\00:14:06.34
we need to study about family,
00:14:06.37\00:14:08.01
we need to study
the family seasons,
00:14:08.04\00:14:09.54
and we need to get
back to the Word of God.
00:14:09.58\00:14:10.95
What better place
to go, Pastor John,
00:14:10.98\00:14:12.31
than to the Word of God?
00:14:12.35\00:14:13.68
Amen. Amen.
00:14:13.72\00:14:15.05
Thank you for setting that...
00:14:15.08\00:14:16.42
Amen. Thank you for
setting that cadence.
00:14:16.45\00:14:17.79
Now we follow the
cadence into something
00:14:17.82\00:14:19.15
called the rhythms of life.
00:14:19.19\00:14:21.82
Now this one is
kind of unique to me,
00:14:21.86\00:14:23.53
because I came out of,
00:14:23.56\00:14:25.16
you did too,
00:14:25.19\00:14:26.53
the disc jockey world
00:14:26.56\00:14:27.86
where rhythm was so much
a part of everything we did,
00:14:27.93\00:14:30.63
you know, catching the rhythm
00:14:30.67\00:14:32.00
of the former record or tune,
00:14:32.03\00:14:33.64
mixing it to the
rhythm of the one coming up.
00:14:33.70\00:14:35.57
Well, there's a rhythm
that the Bible talks about.
00:14:35.60\00:14:38.84
It's the cicada rhythm,
00:14:38.87\00:14:40.84
and the Bible
doesn't use the word cicada
00:14:40.88\00:14:43.14
but you laid the
foundation beautifully
00:14:43.18\00:14:44.91
that God's
creation has complete order
00:14:44.95\00:14:47.38
connected to it.
00:14:47.42\00:14:48.75
Everything happens
according to God's time clock.
00:14:48.78\00:14:51.15
And the cicada rhythm
00:14:51.19\00:14:52.72
are the physical
rhythms of the body
00:14:52.75\00:14:54.36
that are not
altered by time, by seasons,
00:14:54.39\00:14:59.06
by weather patterns, by age.
00:14:59.09\00:15:01.43
They happen 24 hours a day,
00:15:01.46\00:15:03.50
they are unbroken rhythms
that the body goes through.
00:15:03.57\00:15:06.74
There are also
rhythms that are established
00:15:06.77\00:15:08.47
in the cycle of human life.
00:15:08.50\00:15:10.11
For example, life
begins at pregnancy,
00:15:10.14\00:15:13.01
that's the first
rhythm, then infancy,
00:15:13.04\00:15:16.61
and then the toddler
years, then childhood, rhythm,
00:15:16.64\00:15:21.45
unbroken, it
happens for everyone.
00:15:21.48\00:15:23.59
Then puberty,
remember the puberty years,
00:15:23.62\00:15:26.09
you know, we go from
puberty to older adolescence.
00:15:26.12\00:15:29.79
And many of us,
particularly guys,
00:15:29.82\00:15:32.13
we go from voices
that are high than
00:15:32.16\00:15:33.80
a girl soprano to one morning,
wake up, "Good morning, mom."
00:15:33.83\00:15:37.53
And she doesn't know who we are.
00:15:37.57\00:15:39.10
That's that puberty
to older adolescence.
00:15:39.13\00:15:41.54
And then adulthood,
00:15:41.57\00:15:43.41
where...
00:15:43.47\00:15:44.81
Many years ago,
there's a program on television
00:15:44.84\00:15:46.17
called Wonder Years
00:15:46.21\00:15:47.94
where parents
wondered what was gonna happen
00:15:47.98\00:15:50.81
to their child as
the acne was coming out,
00:15:50.85\00:15:53.88
the body was going through
so many chemical changes,
00:15:53.92\00:15:56.55
they were angry and happy
all in the same split second.
00:15:56.58\00:15:59.92
And young ladies goes through
so many chemical changes.
00:15:59.95\00:16:03.19
One day, they wanna die,
next day they wanna live,
00:16:03.22\00:16:06.16
next day they're depressed,
next day they're happy,
00:16:06.19\00:16:08.06
next day they're bored.
00:16:08.10\00:16:09.43
It's a cycle of adolescence.
00:16:09.46\00:16:11.67
And so if you're
growing, hold on, hold on,
00:16:11.70\00:16:15.00
let the rhythm carry you the way
00:16:15.04\00:16:16.74
that God intended to do that.
00:16:16.81\00:16:18.74
Then we go from
adolescence to adulthood.
00:16:18.77\00:16:21.81
And Paul says, and I
love this, he says...
00:16:21.84\00:16:24.15
Not the Apostle Paul,
00:16:24.18\00:16:25.51
but matter of
fact, yeah, he does say.
00:16:25.55\00:16:27.05
He says, "When I was a
child, I thought as a child."
00:16:27.12\00:16:29.65
Now there should be some changes
00:16:29.68\00:16:31.45
as we go from one
cycle to the other.
00:16:31.49\00:16:33.79
There should be some changes.
00:16:33.86\00:16:35.19
Can you imagine a
person of the 12th grade
00:16:35.22\00:16:37.36
acting like
they're in the 3rd grade?
00:16:37.43\00:16:39.36
There should be some changes.
00:16:39.39\00:16:40.73
Can we get an
amen? Amen. That's true.
00:16:40.80\00:16:42.10
So these rhythms are intended
not only to change our bodies
00:16:42.13\00:16:44.33
but to change us psychologically
00:16:44.37\00:16:46.17
and physiologically.
00:16:46.20\00:16:48.37
Then we go to middle age.
00:16:48.40\00:16:50.37
For those... Some
people get to that middle age,
00:16:50.41\00:16:52.84
and we've had
this phrase called,
00:16:52.87\00:16:54.24
"They're in a
middle age life crisis."
00:16:54.28\00:16:57.11
Oh, boy!
00:16:57.15\00:16:58.48
Because some guys
get to middle age,
00:16:58.51\00:16:59.85
their hair is falling out,
00:16:59.88\00:17:01.28
so they decide,
"I'm not gonna cut it,
00:17:01.32\00:17:02.85
I'm gonna make it
longer than it's ever grown."
00:17:02.88\00:17:05.05
And at the very
top, there's this bald.
00:17:05.09\00:17:08.69
They get a leather
jacket, they buy a motor cycle,
00:17:08.72\00:17:12.19
they start to get
the cool sunglasses,
00:17:12.23\00:17:14.63
they can't handle the
middle age life cycle.
00:17:14.66\00:17:17.63
But the Lord
intends at some point,
00:17:17.67\00:17:19.77
we got to embrace it,
00:17:19.80\00:17:21.14
you know. That's right.
00:17:21.17\00:17:22.50
So that's one of the reasons...
00:17:22.54\00:17:23.91
It fits right here. All right.
00:17:23.94\00:17:25.27
That's one of the reasons
00:17:25.31\00:17:26.64
why I decided to
stop coloring my hair
00:17:26.68\00:17:28.01
with Just for Men,
00:17:28.04\00:17:29.38
I wanna embrace
this rhythm of life
00:17:29.41\00:17:31.08
called adulthood to middle age.
00:17:31.11\00:17:34.58
And then there
are the senior years.
00:17:34.62\00:17:37.89
And the Bible talks
about the importance of that.
00:17:37.92\00:17:39.79
You know, the Bible
says, "First of all,
00:17:39.82\00:17:41.46
let no one despise your
youth, but as you get older,
00:17:41.49\00:17:43.73
the older people should be
00:17:43.76\00:17:45.16
an example to
the younger people."
00:17:45.19\00:17:47.00
One of the worst
things in the cycles of life
00:17:47.03\00:17:48.63
is for a older
person to behave worst
00:17:48.66\00:17:50.43
than a young person.
00:17:50.47\00:17:51.80
Yes, amen. Oh, my.
00:17:51.83\00:17:53.17
You say, "Man,
they refuse to grow up."
00:17:53.20\00:17:54.94
Somebody once says,
"Getting older is mandatory,
00:17:54.97\00:17:57.27
growing up is optional."
00:17:57.31\00:17:59.11
And that's true for many people.
00:17:59.14\00:18:00.64
So let's look at some of
the life cycles in the Bible
00:18:00.71\00:18:02.68
because these life cycles
00:18:02.71\00:18:04.08
are intended to
teach us something.
00:18:04.11\00:18:06.61
Every one of them
00:18:06.65\00:18:07.98
has a certain
degree of regularity
00:18:08.02\00:18:10.12
that exists in our bodies.
00:18:10.15\00:18:11.92
But the body, as
the body is maturing,
00:18:11.95\00:18:14.19
the mind should mature also.
00:18:14.22\00:18:16.36
And no mind can mature
00:18:16.39\00:18:17.86
better than when it's
guided by the Word of God.
00:18:17.89\00:18:19.76
Amen.
00:18:19.79\00:18:21.10
Let's look at
some of these things.
00:18:21.13\00:18:22.46
And one of the questions are,
00:18:22.50\00:18:23.87
what are the
predictable seasons of life
00:18:23.90\00:18:25.23
mentioned in the
following passages of scripture?
00:18:25.27\00:18:27.44
And how do they
directly tie into family life?
00:18:27.47\00:18:31.11
One of the first ones,
00:18:31.14\00:18:32.47
point one, everything
has a season and time.
00:18:32.51\00:18:35.41
You made that
point but I reiterate,
00:18:35.44\00:18:37.35
a time to be
born, a time to die,
00:18:37.38\00:18:39.15
a time to plant,
a time to pluck up
00:18:39.18\00:18:40.92
what is planted,
everything has a season.
00:18:40.95\00:18:44.52
And I look back,
I have clothing...
00:18:44.55\00:18:46.86
My wife and I are
going through a purge now.
00:18:46.89\00:18:49.39
We are getting rid of stuff.
00:18:49.42\00:18:51.13
If you want stuff, write us.
00:18:51.16\00:18:52.66
We got stuff.
00:18:52.69\00:18:54.00
My junk may
become your treasure.
00:18:54.10\00:18:55.93
We have stuff that we
have had, we remember when.
00:18:55.96\00:18:59.63
And you know,
00:18:59.67\00:19:01.07
that piece of
wood that you picked up
00:19:01.10\00:19:02.44
when you were
graduating out of high school
00:19:02.47\00:19:04.07
that you knew
you're going to use one day
00:19:04.14\00:19:05.47
but now it's mildewed
'cause it has no life left.
00:19:05.51\00:19:08.34
We have stuff.
00:19:08.38\00:19:09.81
And we have focused on
00:19:09.84\00:19:11.51
getting rid of
at least 75% of it.
00:19:11.55\00:19:14.35
Because you get to a
certain point in life,
00:19:14.38\00:19:16.12
when you realize, you
can't take it with you.
00:19:16.15\00:19:18.85
Right. That's right.
00:19:18.89\00:19:20.22
You can't take it with you.
00:19:20.29\00:19:21.62
So don't get too
connected to the stuff.
00:19:21.66\00:19:23.36
Everything has a season,
00:19:23.39\00:19:24.73
a season to gather
00:19:24.76\00:19:26.49
and a season to
chuck, throw away.
00:19:26.53\00:19:29.83
The other thing
is each one of us
00:19:29.86\00:19:31.37
goes through a process
of growth in our lives.
00:19:31.40\00:19:34.24
Genesis 21:8 says,
00:19:34.27\00:19:36.34
"So the child
grew and was weaned."
00:19:36.37\00:19:39.44
Somewhere along the way,
00:19:39.47\00:19:40.81
you have to get to
the weaning stages.
00:19:40.88\00:19:42.21
You cannot keep
living the way you used to.
00:19:42.24\00:19:44.61
You got to wean
00:19:44.65\00:19:45.98
certain things out of your life.
00:19:46.01\00:19:47.35
This is not just
a physical weaning,
00:19:47.42\00:19:49.02
but it's also
emphasizing a spiritual weaning.
00:19:49.05\00:19:51.82
And there are those people...
00:19:51.85\00:19:53.56
You know, my sister,
00:19:53.59\00:19:54.92
we have such a
great love relationship.
00:19:54.96\00:19:56.83
My sister and I, we talk,
we just frank with each other,
00:19:56.86\00:19:59.66
because we're New
Yorkers, I mean, that helps.
00:19:59.69\00:20:02.06
And she tells
me what she thinks,
00:20:02.10\00:20:03.83
and I tell her what I think.
00:20:03.87\00:20:05.57
But we go through those stages
00:20:05.60\00:20:06.94
where we are weaned from
the practices of the past.
00:20:07.00\00:20:10.31
Praise God, He's
delivered all of us
00:20:10.37\00:20:12.21
from practices of our past.
00:20:12.24\00:20:13.84
He's weaned us.
00:20:13.88\00:20:15.28
Not only that,
Judges 13:24, it says,
00:20:15.31\00:20:18.45
"So the women bore a son
and called his name Samson,
00:20:18.48\00:20:23.18
and the child grew."
00:20:23.22\00:20:25.15
Now you could
look at Samson's life
00:20:25.19\00:20:26.52
and you might say,
00:20:26.55\00:20:27.89
"In some stages, he
grew in the wrong direction."
00:20:27.92\00:20:30.09
So we have to make sure
00:20:30.13\00:20:31.46
we're growing in
the right direction,
00:20:31.49\00:20:32.83
because growth is...
00:20:32.86\00:20:36.46
It's circumstantial,
which way you're growing.
00:20:36.50\00:20:39.77
One thing I've
learned about nature
00:20:39.80\00:20:41.14
and this is something amazing.
00:20:41.17\00:20:42.94
When I lived in California,
we drive by highway 680,
00:20:42.97\00:20:46.01
and the mountain or
the hills were slanted.
00:20:46.04\00:20:48.71
And I noticed, no matter
how slanted the hills were,
00:20:48.74\00:20:50.91
the trees were straight up.
00:20:50.95\00:20:52.28
Come on.
00:20:52.31\00:20:53.65
And I wondered why?
00:20:53.68\00:20:55.02
Because the trees
are always growing,
00:20:55.05\00:20:56.38
leaning toward the sun.
00:20:56.42\00:20:57.75
And I believe, if
we lean toward Jesus,
00:20:57.79\00:20:59.65
we'll always be straight up.
00:20:59.69\00:21:01.09
That's good.
00:21:01.12\00:21:02.46
No matter how the
circumstances of life lean
00:21:02.49\00:21:04.66
and how they angle,
00:21:04.69\00:21:06.03
if we grow towards God,
we'll always be straight up.
00:21:06.06\00:21:08.70
Another point is, at one
point, each of us was a youth.
00:21:08.73\00:21:12.37
I think this is a good
point for older people,
00:21:12.40\00:21:14.00
and I'm going to say
this with great respect.
00:21:14.04\00:21:15.84
Some of the older
people in our church
00:21:15.87\00:21:17.27
forget that they
used to be young.
00:21:17.31\00:21:18.64
Oh, boy. Isn't that true?
00:21:18.67\00:21:20.38
And they are so
hard on the young people
00:21:20.44\00:21:22.18
that the young people
don't wanna ever get old.
00:21:22.21\00:21:24.95
Because they said,
00:21:24.98\00:21:26.31
"If this is what
getting old is all about,
00:21:26.35\00:21:27.68
man, this is horrible."
00:21:27.72\00:21:29.35
We must, even as
older people, be cheerful.
00:21:29.38\00:21:31.99
Let the fruit of the Spirit
00:21:32.02\00:21:33.52
still reflect through our lives.
00:21:33.56\00:21:35.26
Don't let young people, at
the sight of an old person,
00:21:35.29\00:21:37.29
think, "Run for your life."
00:21:37.33\00:21:39.66
We should also be kind
because some people grow older
00:21:39.69\00:21:42.50
and they grow meaner.
00:21:42.53\00:21:44.57
I'm being honest with you.
00:21:44.60\00:21:46.13
Some people
don't get away from...
00:21:46.17\00:21:48.30
They don't let the
fruit of the Spirit...
00:21:48.34\00:21:49.67
And then at the funeral, we say,
00:21:49.70\00:21:51.04
"Well, that's
just how they were."
00:21:51.07\00:21:52.41
The Lord intends for us to
grow away from who we were,
00:21:52.44\00:21:56.24
and to who He wants us to be.
00:21:56.28\00:21:58.31
Let the fruit of the
Spirit reflect through your life
00:21:58.35\00:22:01.38
at any age, and
it should be there
00:22:01.42\00:22:03.72
as you get older.
00:22:03.79\00:22:05.15
Another point,
00:22:05.19\00:22:06.52
ultimately every one of us
will face old age and death.
00:22:06.55\00:22:10.03
Genesis 15:15,
00:22:10.06\00:22:12.16
"Now as for you, you shall
go to your fathers in peace,
00:22:12.19\00:22:15.56
you shall be
buried at a good old age."
00:22:15.60\00:22:18.53
You know, somebody once
said, I remember the story.
00:22:18.57\00:22:20.60
There was a king
that was getting older,
00:22:20.64\00:22:21.97
and he called his court jester
into the court and he said,
00:22:22.00\00:22:25.81
"I'm getting to that point
where my departure is at hand."
00:22:25.84\00:22:28.24
And the court jester said,
00:22:28.28\00:22:29.61
"Do you know
where you're going?"
00:22:29.64\00:22:30.98
He said, "I don't know."
00:22:31.01\00:22:32.35
He said, "Do you understand
what preparation is necessary?"
00:22:32.38\00:22:34.72
He said, "I don't."
00:22:34.75\00:22:36.18
Prior to that, the
king told the court jester,
00:22:36.22\00:22:38.99
he says, "You are the
biggest fool in our court."
00:22:39.02\00:22:41.96
The court jester's purpose
was to make the king laugh.
00:22:41.99\00:22:44.33
But on this day,
00:22:44.36\00:22:45.69
the court jester
said to the king,
00:22:45.73\00:22:47.40
"You told me years ago,
00:22:47.46\00:22:48.76
if I find a
greater fool than myself,
00:22:48.80\00:22:50.50
to give him my hat,
00:22:50.53\00:22:52.30
because you have not prepared
00:22:52.33\00:22:53.67
for the closing moments of life,
00:22:53.70\00:22:55.04
I finally found a
greater fool than myself."
00:22:55.07\00:22:56.94
Wow.
00:22:56.97\00:22:58.31
So we must
understand that death is coming.
00:22:58.34\00:23:00.18
We must live
with the inevitability
00:23:00.21\00:23:02.24
of what is the
next step after death.
00:23:02.28\00:23:04.68
Now we don't believe
that you go to heaven after...
00:23:04.71\00:23:06.41
We believe you rest.
00:23:06.45\00:23:07.78
But in the resurrection,
00:23:07.82\00:23:09.15
which one are
you going to be in?
00:23:09.18\00:23:10.52
Live your life so
that you can be guaranteed
00:23:10.59\00:23:12.59
a place in the
first resurrection.
00:23:12.62\00:23:14.86
The other one is every one of us
00:23:14.89\00:23:16.22
has a limited time to live.
00:23:16.26\00:23:17.96
The days of our
lives are 70 years
00:23:17.99\00:23:20.60
and if by reason of
strength, they are 80.
00:23:20.63\00:23:23.20
I always admire older people.
00:23:23.23\00:23:25.77
We have a man in our church
just turned 99, Claude Turner.
00:23:25.80\00:23:29.84
We are praising God from...
00:23:29.87\00:23:31.21
He stands up straight.
00:23:31.24\00:23:32.57
He's still witnessing,
he's on fire for the Lord.
00:23:32.61\00:23:34.71
But I love what he said.
00:23:34.74\00:23:36.08
He said, "I went
to a nursing home
00:23:36.11\00:23:37.45
and I saw what was before me."
00:23:37.51\00:23:38.85
And he said, "I'm
not ready for that yet."
00:23:38.88\00:23:41.18
And he's working in
our pastoral department
00:23:41.22\00:23:42.75
and what a job he's
doing, praise God for that.
00:23:42.78\00:23:45.22
Point number six,
00:23:45.25\00:23:46.59
each one of us came
from the same Creator.
00:23:46.62\00:23:50.63
Acts 17:26,
00:23:50.69\00:23:52.23
"He has made from one
blood every nation of men, "
00:23:52.26\00:23:55.10
another rhythm of life,
00:23:55.13\00:23:56.50
but to appreciate
where we are headed,
00:23:56.53\00:23:59.70
we have to
appreciate where we've come from
00:23:59.73\00:24:01.37
and from whom we have come.
00:24:01.40\00:24:03.20
And finally,
00:24:03.24\00:24:04.97
the glory of the
young man is his strength
00:24:05.01\00:24:07.41
and the splendor of the
old man is his grey hair.
00:24:07.48\00:24:12.08
Praise God.
00:24:12.11\00:24:13.45
On that note, I am in
my splendor moment of life
00:24:13.52\00:24:15.42
and I have
learned to embrace it.
00:24:15.45\00:24:16.99
Pastor Kenny,
embrace it with me.
00:24:17.02\00:24:19.72
I think we're
going to pause right now,
00:24:19.75\00:24:21.59
and we'll be
back in just a moment.
00:24:21.62\00:24:23.43
Ever wish you could watch
00:24:28.70\00:24:30.03
a 3ABN Sabbath
School Panel again
00:24:30.07\00:24:32.17
or share it on
Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter?
00:24:32.20\00:24:35.40
Well, you can by visiting
3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com.
00:24:35.44\00:24:40.44
A clean design makes it
00:24:40.48\00:24:42.14
easy to find the
program you're looking for.
00:24:42.18\00:24:44.95
There are also links to
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00:24:44.98\00:24:48.45
so you can follow along.
00:24:48.48\00:24:50.25
Sharing is easy.
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00:24:54.89\00:24:57.93
It's good to
have you back with us.
00:25:01.73\00:25:03.06
We're gonna pass
it on to Pastor Kenny
00:25:03.10\00:25:04.87
for Tuesday's lesson.
00:25:04.90\00:25:06.23
Thank you. Thank you.
00:25:06.27\00:25:07.64
I'll tell you,
it's exciting so far
00:25:07.67\00:25:09.00
because we
talked about creation,
00:25:09.04\00:25:10.37
and we talked about changes
that take place in our life,
00:25:10.41\00:25:13.01
they're normal,
00:25:13.04\00:25:14.38
but my lesson there on
Tuesday is the unexpected.
00:25:14.41\00:25:18.51
Sometime people say,
00:25:18.55\00:25:19.91
"Well, I didn't
think this would happen."
00:25:19.95\00:25:21.72
Or they say, "Well,
this has happened to me.
00:25:21.75\00:25:23.99
It came on suddenly. I
really wasn't expecting it."
00:25:24.02\00:25:26.76
And not all changes is negative.
00:25:26.79\00:25:29.26
Some changes can be good.
00:25:29.29\00:25:30.63
And I think our
lesson brings that out.
00:25:30.66\00:25:32.06
We can make
something good out of something
00:25:32.09\00:25:34.73
maybe that appears to be bad
00:25:34.73\00:25:36.53
by the blessings
and grace of God.
00:25:36.56\00:25:38.43
And sometimes it
seems to be going good.
00:25:38.47\00:25:40.24
You probably had this,
00:25:40.30\00:25:41.64
I've had it lot
of times in my life,
00:25:41.67\00:25:43.00
things going along real well.
00:25:43.04\00:25:44.37
You think you've
got it all together,
00:25:44.41\00:25:45.74
everything's
working out real well.
00:25:45.77\00:25:47.14
And then all of a
sudden, suddenly, unexpectedly,
00:25:47.18\00:25:49.11
something happens.
00:25:49.14\00:25:51.68
And then how do we
deal with the issue?
00:25:51.71\00:25:53.62
When something like that
takes place in our hearts
00:25:53.68\00:25:55.55
and in our life, then what?
00:25:55.58\00:25:56.99
So, you know, usually
something good happens,
00:25:57.05\00:25:58.75
I'm gonna jump and shout,
and maybe dance a little bit.
00:25:58.79\00:26:01.79
You know, you
kind of get excited,
00:26:01.82\00:26:03.16
"Whoo, something
good is happening,"
00:26:03.19\00:26:04.53
you know,
00:26:04.56\00:26:05.89
but what if it's
something that's bad?
00:26:05.93\00:26:07.23
How do you
react? How do I react?
00:26:07.30\00:26:08.63
You know, how should we react?
00:26:08.66\00:26:10.27
And the changes
are going to come,
00:26:10.30\00:26:12.00
there's no doubt about it.
00:26:12.03\00:26:13.37
And when they come,
00:26:13.44\00:26:14.77
it's going to
disrupt our family.
00:26:14.80\00:26:16.91
It may disrupt our church,
00:26:16.94\00:26:18.27
it may disrupt our
relationship with our,
00:26:18.31\00:26:21.78
you know, friends and
family. So things change.
00:26:21.81\00:26:25.28
It's where it comes about.
One thing stands good for sure.
00:26:25.31\00:26:27.82
I jotted down Psalms
52:1, just a couple of words.
00:26:27.85\00:26:30.82
Psalms 52:1 says, "The goodness
of God endureth continually."
00:26:30.89\00:26:36.22
Oh, and the Bible
gives a lot of good examples,
00:26:36.26\00:26:38.99
by the way, of how, you know,
00:26:39.03\00:26:40.73
of our lives and our families
00:26:40.80\00:26:42.40
that were
transformed by the unexpected.
00:26:42.43\00:26:45.43
So sometimes things,
good can happen in our life,
00:26:45.47\00:26:47.87
we can be
transformed, we can be changed.
00:26:47.90\00:26:49.84
And we think of Job,
we can think of Abel,
00:26:49.87\00:26:52.84
we can think of Joseph, Paul.
00:26:52.87\00:26:56.24
And so we like to live...
00:26:56.28\00:26:57.61
I think it's been
mentioned here in a rhythm,
00:26:57.65\00:26:59.41
you know, like a rhythm.
00:26:59.45\00:27:00.85
If you're playing sports,
00:27:00.88\00:27:02.22
I know you're not
going to do that, I know.
00:27:02.25\00:27:03.92
Rhythm, you get in a rhythm.
00:27:03.95\00:27:05.92
You've got it, and
you just can't miss.
00:27:05.95\00:27:09.79
That's never been me,
but just you get a rhythm.
00:27:09.82\00:27:12.59
That's if you're studying,
it seem like it's a rhythm.
00:27:12.63\00:27:15.03
If you're doing
something else, it's a rhythm.
00:27:15.06\00:27:16.70
And we all like that,
00:27:16.77\00:27:18.10
that security to be
kind of in a rhythm.
00:27:18.13\00:27:20.74
And you don't want
anybody to break up that rhythm.
00:27:20.77\00:27:23.41
The dictionary talks about...
00:27:23.44\00:27:25.11
You're just talking
about music a little while ago,
00:27:25.14\00:27:26.54
whatever rhythm,
00:27:26.57\00:27:27.91
and it talks
about... It defines rhythm.
00:27:27.94\00:27:29.28
It said, "It's a
flow, it's a movement.
00:27:29.31\00:27:32.71
It's a beat, there's a
rise, and then there's the fall,
00:27:32.75\00:27:36.32
and then it's heavy some time,
and then it's light sometime,
00:27:36.35\00:27:40.19
it's weak sometime,
and it's strong sometime."
00:27:40.26\00:27:42.59
And then even
Webster's gives it,
00:27:42.62\00:27:44.06
I thought it very interesting,
an illustration of rhythm.
00:27:44.13\00:27:47.66
And it just
simply says, the heart.
00:27:47.66\00:27:50.73
A heart, we want to
have good rhythm physically
00:27:50.77\00:27:55.17
in our heart.
00:27:55.20\00:27:56.54
We want our heart right
with God, but physically.
00:27:56.57\00:27:58.14
So I kind of pose the question,
what if we're 30 or 40 years
00:27:58.17\00:28:01.84
that you live life
00:28:01.88\00:28:03.21
and your heart
was in perfect rhythm?
00:28:03.24\00:28:05.51
Everything going just
fine, nothing unexpected happen,
00:28:05.55\00:28:08.35
you're just beating good.
00:28:08.38\00:28:09.72
And you say,
"Man, this is all good."
00:28:09.75\00:28:11.22
And then all of a
sudden, suddenly, unexpectedly,
00:28:11.25\00:28:14.82
your heart begins to
miss beats, it adds beats,
00:28:14.86\00:28:17.46
it seems to stop at times,
and then it goes sometimes,
00:28:17.49\00:28:20.03
it goes a lot
faster than you want it to.
00:28:20.06\00:28:21.76
I just wonder
unexpectedly, how would we...
00:28:21.80\00:28:25.43
How do we deal with that,
because it's an interruption.
00:28:25.47\00:28:28.60
And in this life, we're
gonna have interruptions.
00:28:28.64\00:28:30.51
That's right.
Things are going to happen.
00:28:30.54\00:28:32.11
Sometimes we say we
have to deal with it.
00:28:32.14\00:28:34.38
How will it affect your life?
00:28:34.41\00:28:36.75
How will it affect my life
00:28:36.78\00:28:38.31
if something like
that happens to me?
00:28:38.35\00:28:40.42
It could be for
good, it could be for bad.
00:28:40.45\00:28:43.89
And again, unexpected.
00:28:43.92\00:28:45.25
But would it affect...
00:28:45.29\00:28:46.62
And I found this out,
00:28:46.65\00:28:47.99
when things like
this happen to me.
00:28:48.02\00:28:49.36
It affects my decisions,
it affects my decisions.
00:28:49.39\00:28:52.96
If something happens to you
that might threaten your life
00:28:52.99\00:28:55.03
or something, a loss
of a loved one, death,
00:28:55.06\00:28:57.13
whatever, it
affects or it should,
00:28:57.17\00:28:59.53
you know, the decisions
that you make in the future.
00:28:59.57\00:29:01.50
Priorities. Yeah, absolutely.
00:29:01.54\00:29:02.87
Yeah, priorities, if
we're going to put them
00:29:02.90\00:29:04.51
in the line
that they ought to be
00:29:04.54\00:29:05.87
rather than maybe
things of the world.
00:29:05.91\00:29:07.81
You know, after all,
we might be like Job,
00:29:07.84\00:29:10.11
you remember.
00:29:10.18\00:29:11.51
Bless his heart. Oh,
Job said there in Job 1:1.
00:29:11.55\00:29:13.75
It said Job, and it just
talked about his character.
00:29:13.78\00:29:16.15
It said, Job was what?
00:29:16.18\00:29:17.52
He was blameless, upright,
00:29:17.55\00:29:19.72
one that feared
God and shunned evil."
00:29:19.75\00:29:22.56
So sometimes we might think,
"Well, we know we serve in God,
00:29:22.59\00:29:24.83
everything is going
to go real well for us.
00:29:24.86\00:29:26.83
Well, we don't have
to worry." We move on.
00:29:26.86\00:29:28.90
God blessed and
there's no doubt about it.
00:29:28.93\00:29:30.57
He had a good
wife, he had, what,
00:29:30.60\00:29:31.93
seven sons, three daughters,
00:29:31.97\00:29:33.64
and he was wealthy.
00:29:33.67\00:29:35.90
He had a lot of
things in his life.
00:29:35.94\00:29:38.84
I thought it was very
interesting, but he suffered,
00:29:38.87\00:29:40.98
and our lesson
brings out six major things,
00:29:41.01\00:29:43.55
most of us probably
couldn't get through one.
00:29:43.58\00:29:45.75
We might fall apart. Yes.
00:29:45.78\00:29:47.12
We don't have our
hand in the hand of God.
00:29:47.15\00:29:48.85
I'm telling you, when these
things come unexpected to us,
00:29:48.88\00:29:51.55
'cause we want
order, we want organization,
00:29:51.59\00:29:53.46
we want things to be in rhythm.
00:29:53.49\00:29:55.42
It doesn't
always happen that way
00:29:55.46\00:29:57.13
and the enemy likes
to kicks out of rhythm.
00:29:57.16\00:29:59.13
It's better serving
God, during our Bible Study,
00:29:59.16\00:30:00.96
and so on so forth.
00:30:00.96\00:30:02.30
But he lost all his property.
00:30:02.33\00:30:04.77
Some people lose property,
that's all that they give up,
00:30:04.80\00:30:06.47
they throw their hands up.
00:30:06.50\00:30:07.84
He lost his
employees, he lost his children,
00:30:07.87\00:30:11.07
he lost his health,
00:30:11.11\00:30:13.01
he lost the support of his wife,
00:30:13.04\00:30:15.38
he lost the support
00:30:15.41\00:30:16.75
and the
encouragement of his friends.
00:30:16.81\00:30:18.78
Any of those are
enough to just probably,
00:30:18.81\00:30:20.92
you know, put people right
down in their bed for a while
00:30:20.95\00:30:24.05
and then want to
just simply give up.
00:30:24.09\00:30:26.92
It seems that everything
went wrong that could go wrong.
00:30:26.96\00:30:30.69
I don't know if
you've ever said that or not.
00:30:30.73\00:30:32.06
Yes.
00:30:32.09\00:30:33.43
I got an illustration
on that this morning.
00:30:33.46\00:30:36.26
I had a good
illustration, I won't use it
00:30:36.30\00:30:37.90
because I'll just
move on with that.
00:30:37.93\00:30:40.27
There's one day I come and
say, "What else could go wrong?"
00:30:40.30\00:30:42.67
Well, I guarantee
you, something else can.
00:30:42.70\00:30:44.44
Don't ever say that.
00:30:44.47\00:30:45.81
Yeah, just say thank
you, Lord, and move on.
00:30:45.84\00:30:48.54
Because we can come
to a point in our life
00:30:48.58\00:30:50.31
when things happen unexpectedly,
00:30:50.38\00:30:52.11
and we get out of rhythm
or out of source a little bit,
00:30:52.15\00:30:54.82
just like this man, a German man
00:30:54.85\00:30:58.25
at the end of World War II
00:30:58.29\00:31:00.59
when Hitler was, you know,
00:31:00.66\00:31:02.39
no longer in
rule and in control,
00:31:02.42\00:31:04.79
and so many things had happened.
00:31:04.83\00:31:07.50
He gave the story
and this reminds me
00:31:07.60\00:31:08.90
so much about Job.
00:31:08.93\00:31:10.27
He simply is... He's
giving his testimony.
00:31:10.30\00:31:12.13
I'm talking, we
can come to wits' end.
00:31:12.17\00:31:13.80
Either these
things that happened
00:31:13.84\00:31:15.17
can draw us closer to Christ
00:31:15.20\00:31:16.91
or we will pull
away from Christ,
00:31:16.97\00:31:19.01
decision that we must
make by the grace of God.
00:31:19.04\00:31:21.64
The man simply said,
when I interviewed him,
00:31:21.68\00:31:23.21
he said, "My son
was killed in action."
00:31:23.24\00:31:25.95
He said, and notice,
"My daughter is missing.
00:31:25.98\00:31:28.32
I don't know where she's at.
00:31:28.35\00:31:30.05
I lost my wife, I lost
my home, I lost my property.
00:31:30.09\00:31:34.26
Everything is gone.
00:31:34.29\00:31:35.62
Oh yeah, I've got
clothes on my back,
00:31:35.66\00:31:37.33
but they were given to me.
00:31:37.39\00:31:38.93
"I have nothing."
00:31:38.96\00:31:41.90
He said, "The point
has come in my life,
00:31:41.93\00:31:44.13
I can't even pray anymore."
00:31:44.20\00:31:46.87
And he said, you know,
00:31:46.90\00:31:48.24
"And I really
can't even think anymore
00:31:48.27\00:31:50.54
because of all these
things that have happened.
00:31:50.57\00:31:52.91
I just want to give up."
00:31:52.94\00:31:55.78
And he said, you
know, "I think I just will,
00:31:55.81\00:31:58.28
because I can't go forward
and I can't go backwards."
00:31:58.31\00:32:02.78
Sometimes we get stuck in a rut.
00:32:02.82\00:32:05.35
As Christians, be careful
00:32:05.39\00:32:06.76
you don't get
in that little rut,
00:32:06.79\00:32:08.12
and you can't find your way out.
00:32:08.16\00:32:09.49
God could help
you get out of rut,
00:32:09.52\00:32:10.86
He didn't want us
to be in the ruts.
00:32:10.89\00:32:12.23
He wants us to be
up on solid ground,
00:32:12.26\00:32:13.60
you know, solid
rock and move forward
00:32:13.63\00:32:14.93
and do what we should be doing.
00:32:14.96\00:32:16.30
So, you know, I
look at this and so,
00:32:16.33\00:32:17.67
how do we react
when we get out of rhythm
00:32:17.70\00:32:19.90
or something happens
unexpectedly our timing?
00:32:19.93\00:32:22.57
You know, remember
that in Job Chapter 1,
00:32:22.60\00:32:25.67
I'm not going to
read all that right now
00:32:25.71\00:32:27.04
because of our time in Job 2.
00:32:27.08\00:32:28.68
Job Chapter 1 and Job Chapter 2
00:32:28.71\00:32:30.91
is simply said, and this is...
00:32:30.95\00:32:32.88
Every time I read, I
said, it said, "There was a day.
00:32:32.91\00:32:37.49
There was a day, and
then everything erupted."
00:32:37.55\00:32:41.89
And in your life and in my life,
00:32:41.92\00:32:43.39
I can guarantee
you, there will be a day.
00:32:43.43\00:32:46.80
God, help us.
00:32:46.86\00:32:48.16
There will be a
day, and it could be
00:32:48.20\00:32:49.73
pretty devastating.
00:32:49.76\00:32:51.10
But we still have
the Lord to hang on to
00:32:51.13\00:32:53.13
and we need to be
hanging on to Him.
00:32:53.17\00:32:54.64
Purpose of Job's life,
00:32:54.67\00:32:56.74
Desire of Ages,
471 simply says...
00:32:56.77\00:32:59.27
Desire of Ages, 471,
"The history of Job has shown
00:32:59.31\00:33:03.01
that suffering is," notice this,
00:33:03.04\00:33:05.68
"is inflicted by Satan."
00:33:05.71\00:33:07.52
Praise God, it's
brought out clear.
00:33:07.55\00:33:09.22
"And is overruled by God
for the purposes of mercy."
00:33:09.25\00:33:13.36
Thank God that He overrules.
00:33:13.39\00:33:15.12
Things are going to happen,
00:33:15.16\00:33:16.49
God's still in control,
He's still on the throne,
00:33:16.52\00:33:18.26
He still wants to
help you out of it.
00:33:18.29\00:33:20.10
You know, the Jews believed
that a person suffered, why?
00:33:20.13\00:33:22.43
You know, because
they were so sinful,
00:33:22.46\00:33:23.83
they suffered a lot.
00:33:23.87\00:33:25.23
And that teaching allowed,
00:33:25.27\00:33:27.10
it prepared the Jews
to reject Jesus Christ
00:33:27.14\00:33:29.84
when He came to this earth.
00:33:29.87\00:33:31.57
You know, days
of trouble abound,
00:33:31.61\00:33:33.07
we're thinking
about death it seems.
00:33:33.11\00:33:35.38
There's days that
death to some people,
00:33:35.41\00:33:37.21
seems better than life.
00:33:37.25\00:33:39.25
Many lose their hold on God.
They lose, you know, like Job.
00:33:39.28\00:33:43.65
But praise God, what did Job do?
00:33:43.69\00:33:45.22
Through all of these things,
he rose out of the heaviness
00:33:45.25\00:33:47.46
and the darkness of the things
that maybe easily beset him,
00:33:47.52\00:33:50.83
but this doesn't
seem too easy to me.
00:33:50.89\00:33:52.63
Discouraged, he
wanted to just give up,
00:33:52.66\00:33:55.46
but he reached a higher plain.
00:33:55.50\00:33:56.83
Praise God for that.
00:33:56.90\00:33:58.23
We need to reach
out for a higher plain
00:33:58.27\00:33:59.60
when something
unexpected happens to us.
00:33:59.63\00:34:01.44
Job said, Job 13:15...
00:34:01.47\00:34:04.44
Remember, he came to this point,
00:34:04.47\00:34:05.81
"Though he slay me," what?
00:34:05.84\00:34:07.38
"Yet will I trust him."
00:34:07.41\00:34:10.35
Here's what happened,
here's the key to it quickly.
00:34:10.38\00:34:12.45
When Job began to look to
God rather than to himself,
00:34:12.48\00:34:17.62
he repented in dust and ashes.
00:34:17.65\00:34:19.85
Sometime we look
to ourselves too much,
00:34:19.89\00:34:21.26
too many things going wrong,
and they're going haywire,
00:34:21.29\00:34:23.32
we dwell on those
things and we shouldn't.
00:34:23.36\00:34:25.36
I love this.
00:34:25.39\00:34:26.73
Man, I want to end up
with this, this is so exciting.
00:34:26.80\00:34:28.76
In Prophets and
Kings 164 tells us this.
00:34:28.80\00:34:31.87
You kind of brought it on a
while ago little bit, Pastor.
00:34:31.90\00:34:33.90
Okay. I think you said here.
00:34:33.94\00:34:35.27
But notice what it
says about Job, it says,
00:34:35.30\00:34:37.07
"Then after all
these things happen,
00:34:37.11\00:34:40.34
after they happen."
00:34:40.38\00:34:42.01
It simply said
God revealed to him,
00:34:42.04\00:34:43.61
it says, "The Lord
was able to bless him
00:34:43.65\00:34:46.21
when he took his eyes," what?
00:34:46.25\00:34:47.62
"Off of himself,
00:34:47.65\00:34:48.98
begin to view God
and all of His glory
00:34:49.02\00:34:51.12
and all of His power.
00:34:51.15\00:34:52.49
Bless him abundantly
and to make," notice,
00:34:52.52\00:34:55.49
"his last years
the best of his life."
00:34:55.52\00:34:58.89
Amen. Amen.
00:34:58.93\00:35:00.33
That's kind of
encouraging for some of us
00:35:00.36\00:35:02.50
who are getting older, right?
00:35:02.53\00:35:04.27
Trust in God.
And, you know what?
00:35:04.30\00:35:05.97
The last years we have
are going to be the best.
00:35:06.00\00:35:08.27
Amen and amen. Thank you.
00:35:08.30\00:35:10.41
You know, as you were
talking, I was thinking,
00:35:10.44\00:35:12.74
every change that
comes into our life
00:35:12.77\00:35:15.64
can change the rhythm of life.
00:35:15.68\00:35:17.68
You see, you lose a spouse.
00:35:17.71\00:35:20.62
Boy, the rhythm of your
life changes completely.
00:35:20.65\00:35:23.49
You lose a
child, you lose a job,
00:35:23.52\00:35:26.52
and it can change completely.
00:35:26.55\00:35:28.69
I have Wednesday's lesson,
00:35:28.72\00:35:30.63
and that lesson
is on transitions.
00:35:30.66\00:35:35.40
We do agree, we're
all creatures of habit.
00:35:35.43\00:35:38.43
And the longer we
practice the habit,
00:35:38.47\00:35:40.24
what happens?
00:35:40.30\00:35:41.64
We can get set in
our ways, can we not?
00:35:41.67\00:35:46.07
Let me repeat something that
you've probably heard often.
00:35:46.11\00:35:50.21
Watch your thoughts,
your thoughts become words,
00:35:50.25\00:35:55.15
your words can become actions.
00:35:55.18\00:35:58.82
Watch your actions because
your actions become habit,
00:35:58.85\00:36:03.96
and your habits
become your character.
00:36:03.99\00:36:08.00
I'm so glad that
God is in the business
00:36:08.03\00:36:11.90
of giving us new character,
changing our character.
00:36:11.93\00:36:18.17
And we want to look
at an example of that.
00:36:18.21\00:36:20.78
Let's turn to Acts Chapter 8,
00:36:20.81\00:36:23.98
Acts Chapter 8, and we
will begin with verse 1.
00:36:24.05\00:36:30.09
This is at the
stoning of Stephen.
00:36:30.12\00:36:32.12
Stephen is one of the
deacons of the early church.
00:36:32.15\00:36:36.29
He is filled
with the Holy Spirit.
00:36:36.32\00:36:38.36
He's talking with the Jews.
00:36:38.39\00:36:40.30
He's going through the
whole history of the Jews,
00:36:40.33\00:36:42.96
and they just are
gnashing their teeth
00:36:43.00\00:36:45.50
against him in anger.
00:36:45.53\00:36:47.67
And listen what
Acts Chapter 1 says,
00:36:47.70\00:36:51.61
"Now Saul," who
becomes the Apostle Paul
00:36:51.64\00:36:54.84
once God gets a hold of him,
00:36:54.88\00:36:56.58
"Saul was
consenting to Stephen's death."
00:36:56.61\00:36:59.31
In Acts 8:1 Acts 8:1, I'm sorry.
00:36:59.35\00:37:03.15
Thank you.
00:37:03.18\00:37:04.52
"At that time, a
great persecution arose
00:37:04.55\00:37:06.29
against the church
which was at Jerusalem.
00:37:06.32\00:37:08.62
They were all
scattered throughout the regions
00:37:08.66\00:37:11.13
of Judea and
Samaria except the apostles.
00:37:11.16\00:37:14.56
And devout men carried
Stephen to his burial."
00:37:14.56\00:37:18.57
So here's Saul, this
great Pharisee of Pharisees
00:37:18.60\00:37:22.94
who's approving of
the death of Stephen,
00:37:22.97\00:37:26.71
it says, "As devout men
carried Stephen to his burial,
00:37:26.78\00:37:31.31
made great lamentations
over him as for Saul,"
00:37:31.35\00:37:35.15
what's he doing?
00:37:35.18\00:37:36.52
"He made havoc of the
church, entering every house,
00:37:36.55\00:37:40.86
dragging off men and women,
committing them to prison."
00:37:40.89\00:37:45.19
Now, look at Acts 9, Chapter 1,
00:37:45.23\00:37:50.13
Acts 9, Chapter 1.
00:37:50.17\00:37:52.17
Oh, Acts 9:1, I'll wake up.
00:37:52.20\00:37:56.34
Here we see the continuing
saga of the Pharisee Saul.
00:37:56.37\00:38:01.71
It says, "Saul still breathing
00:38:01.74\00:38:04.08
threats and murder against
the disciples of the Lord,
00:38:04.11\00:38:07.92
went to the high priest,"
and what did he ask him for?
00:38:07.95\00:38:11.62
He asked for letters
that would give him passage
00:38:11.65\00:38:15.06
to the synagogues of Damascus
so that if he found anyone
00:38:15.09\00:38:19.76
that was walking in the way,
00:38:19.79\00:38:21.53
that's what they call
the Disciples of Christ,
00:38:21.56\00:38:24.53
whether men or
women, he might bring them
00:38:24.57\00:38:26.77
bound to Jerusalem.
00:38:26.84\00:38:30.01
So here is this
zealous Pharisee Saul,
00:38:30.04\00:38:33.98
and he becomes
the primary persecutor
00:38:34.01\00:38:38.98
in the campaign
against the Christian church.
00:38:39.01\00:38:43.25
He's
commissioned by the Sanhedrin.
00:38:43.28\00:38:46.29
He's ravaging the
church, smashing down doors,
00:38:46.32\00:38:50.43
scaring people off in
the middle of the night.
00:38:50.46\00:38:53.26
He didn't seem like a very
nice character to me, does he?
00:38:53.29\00:38:55.80
In all the while, guess what?
00:38:55.83\00:38:57.47
He believes he is
sincerely doing his job
00:38:57.53\00:39:03.34
to keep the law.
00:39:03.37\00:39:04.84
He thinks that he is getting
rid of this destructive force,
00:39:04.87\00:39:08.51
those who walk in the way.
00:39:08.54\00:39:10.48
So now let's
look at what happens.
00:39:10.51\00:39:14.25
Acts 9:3,
00:39:14.28\00:39:16.45
"So he's got his
letter from the high priest,
00:39:16.48\00:39:20.59
he's on his way to
Damascus, and as he journeyed,
00:39:20.62\00:39:23.32
he came near
Damascus and suddenly...
00:39:23.36\00:39:27.50
Suddenly. Whoo-hoo!
00:39:27.56\00:39:29.46
"Suddenly, a light
shone around him from heaven,
00:39:29.50\00:39:33.94
and he fell to the ground.
00:39:33.97\00:39:35.37
He heard a voice saying to him,
00:39:35.40\00:39:38.01
'Saul, Saul, why
are you persecuting me?'
00:39:38.04\00:39:41.61
" Wow.
00:39:41.64\00:39:42.98
You see, all sin, no
matter who is sin against,
00:39:43.01\00:39:45.95
but all sin is
ultimately against God.
00:39:45.98\00:39:49.58
And when you think of
Joseph and Potiphar's wife,
00:39:49.62\00:39:52.82
when Potiphar's wife
is trying to get Joseph
00:39:52.85\00:39:55.79
to commit adultery,
00:39:55.82\00:39:57.16
he says, "How can
I do this awful thing
00:39:57.23\00:39:59.23
and sin against God?"
00:39:59.26\00:40:00.96
Yeah.
00:40:01.00\00:40:02.33
And the prodigal son,
00:40:02.36\00:40:03.73
what did he say
when he came back?
00:40:03.77\00:40:05.10
"Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you."
00:40:05.13\00:40:07.90
So all sin is against God.
So in Acts 9:5, it goes on.
00:40:07.94\00:40:14.24
Saul who's seen
this great light says,
00:40:14.28\00:40:18.58
"Who are you, Lord?"
00:40:18.61\00:40:19.98
Then the Lord said,
00:40:20.02\00:40:21.35
"I am Jesus whom
you are persecuting."
00:40:21.38\00:40:24.79
Jesus Himself
shows up to see Saul.
00:40:24.82\00:40:27.62
"It is hard for you to
kick against the goads."
00:40:27.66\00:40:29.89
So Saul trembling
and astonished says,
00:40:29.92\00:40:33.40
"Lord, what do
you want me to do?"
00:40:33.46\00:40:35.63
And the Lord said to
him, "Arise, go into the city,
00:40:35.66\00:40:38.00
and you'll be
told what you must do."
00:40:38.03\00:40:40.60
So he is blinded by the light.
00:40:40.67\00:40:43.24
He has had this encounter,
00:40:43.27\00:40:45.04
he goes into the city,
three days he is praying.
00:40:45.07\00:40:48.14
He is not eating,
he is not drinking.
00:40:48.18\00:40:50.88
I mean, he has
encountered the risen savior.
00:40:50.91\00:40:53.75
Yes.
00:40:53.78\00:40:55.12
So he yields to the convicting
power of the Holy Spirit.
00:40:55.15\00:41:01.52
He is confessing his own
unworthiness, he wants...
00:41:01.56\00:41:04.79
The focus of Saul
00:41:04.83\00:41:06.59
becomes the
righteousness of Jesus Christ.
00:41:06.63\00:41:09.63
So God is
bringing Saul into harmony
00:41:09.66\00:41:14.30
with God's eternal
purposes for his life.
00:41:14.34\00:41:17.47
So God speaks to Ananias,
He says, "Hey, go see Saul."
00:41:17.51\00:41:21.98
Listen to what Ananias says.
00:41:22.01\00:41:23.65
I think this is cute, Acts 9:13.
00:41:23.71\00:41:25.88
I like this. He gets to this...
00:41:25.91\00:41:27.42
Ananias has a vision
and God is speaking to him
00:41:27.48\00:41:30.15
through this vision.
00:41:30.19\00:41:32.32
He is saying, "Hey,
go restore Saul's sight."
00:41:32.35\00:41:35.12
And Ananias says,
00:41:35.16\00:41:36.79
"Lord, I have heard
from many about this man,
00:41:36.83\00:41:39.43
how much harm he has done
to your saints in Jerusalem.
00:41:39.46\00:41:43.23
And here he has authority from
the chief priest to bind all
00:41:43.30\00:41:47.37
who call upon your name."
00:41:47.40\00:41:49.30
But the Lord said to him, "Go."
00:41:49.34\00:41:54.28
The blessings on the go, right?
00:41:54.31\00:41:56.18
"For he is a chosen
vessel of Mine to bear My name
00:41:56.21\00:41:59.35
before the gentiles, the kings,
and the children of Israel.
00:41:59.38\00:42:02.85
And I will show
him how many things
00:42:02.88\00:42:05.29
he must suffer
for My name's sake."
00:42:05.32\00:42:07.66
So Ananias goes and he
says to him, "Brother Saul,
00:42:07.69\00:42:10.43
Lord Jesus who
appeared to you on the road
00:42:10.46\00:42:13.33
as you came has sent me
that you may receive your sight
00:42:13.40\00:42:18.63
and be filled
with the Holy Spirit."
00:42:18.67\00:42:20.80
What did Saul do?
00:42:20.84\00:42:22.17
I mean, Ananias
touches his eyes,
00:42:22.20\00:42:24.27
the scales fall from his eyes,
Saul arises and he is baptized.
00:42:24.31\00:42:28.71
That's right.
00:42:28.74\00:42:30.11
And then it says, "Immediately."
00:42:30.15\00:42:33.38
I mean, he is baptized,
00:42:33.42\00:42:34.75
he starts preaching
Christ in the synagogue,
00:42:34.78\00:42:36.85
he has got a personal testimony,
00:42:36.89\00:42:38.49
he is gonna share it.
00:42:38.52\00:42:40.42
And everybody who hears
him is amazed and they say,
00:42:40.46\00:42:43.99
"Hey, isn't he the one
that the chief priest sent here
00:42:44.03\00:42:46.66
to destroy the way, and
now he is preaching this?"
00:42:46.70\00:42:51.83
So what happened?
00:42:51.87\00:42:53.40
God reached into
the darkness. Yeah.
00:42:53.47\00:42:56.64
He brings Saul
out of the darkness
00:42:56.67\00:43:00.28
into His marvelous light.
00:43:00.31\00:43:02.91
And once Saul had an
encounter with Jesus Christ,
00:43:02.94\00:43:07.35
what do we see?
00:43:07.42\00:43:08.75
A total change in his character.
00:43:08.78\00:43:10.89
Amen. That's right.
00:43:10.92\00:43:12.25
He's filled with humility,
00:43:12.29\00:43:13.66
and God changes
his way of thinking.
00:43:13.69\00:43:17.26
And because his
thinking is changed,
00:43:17.33\00:43:18.89
his actions have changed.
00:43:18.93\00:43:20.30
Because his
actions have changed,
00:43:20.33\00:43:21.96
now he gets into
a habit, doesn't he?
00:43:22.00\00:43:24.77
Yeah.
00:43:24.80\00:43:26.13
No wonder when
you think about it,
00:43:26.17\00:43:27.67
how astonished the Jews
must have been to see him.
00:43:27.70\00:43:32.81
But what Paul's
action did become a habit?
00:43:32.84\00:43:36.54
And he proved that
his conversion was real.
00:43:36.58\00:43:39.75
You know, sometimes people
go through and they'll say,
00:43:39.78\00:43:42.05
"Oh, praise the Lord,
I've met Jesus, I'm saved."
00:43:42.08\00:43:46.02
And nothing changes.
00:43:46.05\00:43:49.36
In Galatians
1:15, Paul says this.
00:43:49.39\00:43:54.83
He says, "When it pleased God
00:43:54.83\00:43:57.63
who separated me
from my mother's womb
00:43:57.67\00:43:59.40
and called me through His
grace to reveal His Son in me
00:43:59.43\00:44:04.31
that I might preach
Him among the gentiles.
00:44:04.34\00:44:06.54
I did not immediately
confer with flesh and blood,
00:44:06.57\00:44:10.05
nor did I go up
to Jerusalem to those
00:44:10.08\00:44:12.58
who are apostles before me,
00:44:12.61\00:44:13.95
I went to Arabia, I
returned again to Damascus.
00:44:14.02\00:44:17.82
And after three
years, I went up to Jerusalem
00:44:17.85\00:44:21.12
to see Peter and
remained with him 15 days."
00:44:21.16\00:44:24.03
Wow.
00:44:24.06\00:44:25.39
"But I saw none of
the other apostles,
00:44:25.43\00:44:27.50
except James
the Lord's brother."
00:44:27.50\00:44:29.66
You know, I find it interesting.
00:44:29.70\00:44:32.43
First of all, the
disciples were taught by Jesus,
00:44:32.47\00:44:35.64
how many years?
00:44:35.67\00:44:37.01
Three and half years.
00:44:37.07\00:44:38.41
Three and half
years, but he goes up
00:44:38.44\00:44:39.77
for three years to be taught.
00:44:39.81\00:44:41.51
And his message came
by direct revelation.
00:44:41.54\00:44:47.02
It was Jesus.
00:44:47.08\00:44:48.95
So most conversion stories
are not as dramatic as Saul's.
00:44:48.98\00:44:53.22
You know, we wish they would be.
00:44:53.25\00:44:55.36
But the truth is,
the process can be long,
00:44:55.39\00:44:58.23
and we've got to hold
on to two Bible promises.
00:44:58.26\00:45:01.26
Philippians 1:6 says
that, "God is faithful
00:45:01.30\00:45:04.47
to complete the good
work He has begun in you."
00:45:04.50\00:45:07.24
And Romans 8:1 says,
00:45:07.27\00:45:08.77
"There's therefore
now no condemnation
00:45:08.80\00:45:11.51
for those who
are in Christ Jesus,
00:45:11.54\00:45:13.58
who do not walk
according to the flesh,
00:45:13.61\00:45:15.91
but according to the Spirit."
00:45:15.94\00:45:17.45
Amen. Thank you
so much, Shelley.
00:45:17.48\00:45:19.71
As we think of
the rhythms of life
00:45:19.75\00:45:21.98
and the seasons of life,
00:45:22.02\00:45:23.39
the decision for Jesus is
the most impactful decision
00:45:23.42\00:45:26.32
we could ever make.
00:45:26.35\00:45:27.69
And what a difference that makes
00:45:27.72\00:45:29.49
and the trajectory of
the rest of your life.
00:45:29.52\00:45:31.59
Amen.
00:45:31.63\00:45:32.96
On Thursday, I have the
lesson titled as Interactions,
00:45:32.99\00:45:35.63
but I've retitled it.
00:45:35.66\00:45:37.23
How to live in
relationship with other people?
00:45:37.27\00:45:40.80
Okay.
00:45:40.84\00:45:42.17
How to live in
relationship with others?
00:45:42.20\00:45:44.87
You might have heard
the song by Paul Simon.
00:45:44.91\00:45:47.71
I am an island I've built walls
00:45:47.74\00:45:49.78
A fortress deep and
mighty That none may penetrate
00:45:49.81\00:45:52.95
I have no need of friendship
Friendship causes pain
00:45:52.98\00:45:56.58
It's laughter and it's loving
I disdain Don't talk of love
00:45:56.65\00:46:00.99
But I've heard the words
00:46:01.02\00:46:02.36
before It's
sleeping in my memory
00:46:02.39\00:46:04.53
I won't disturb
the slumber of feelings
00:46:04.56\00:46:06.49
that have died
00:46:06.53\00:46:07.86
If I never loved, I
never would have cried
00:46:07.86\00:46:11.30
I have my books And
my poetry to protect me
00:46:11.33\00:46:14.07
I am shielded in my
armor Hiding in my room,
00:46:14.14\00:46:17.64
safe within my
womb I touch no one
00:46:17.67\00:46:22.01
and no one touches me
00:46:22.04\00:46:24.28
I am a rock I am an
island A rock feels no pain
00:46:24.31\00:46:28.95
And an island never
cries I'm here to tell you,
00:46:28.98\00:46:32.29
that is not true.
00:46:32.32\00:46:35.12
We were created to
live in relationship...
00:46:35.16\00:46:40.00
That's right. Amen.
00:46:40.03\00:46:41.33
That's right. With other people.
00:46:41.36\00:46:43.10
Now we might push people
away because we feel hurt.
00:46:43.13\00:46:46.47
We might try to become
an island and push them.
00:46:46.50\00:46:49.30
But the truth is,
no one's an island.
00:46:49.34\00:46:51.54
We all touch and impact
someone else for eternity.
00:46:51.57\00:46:57.21
Think about Adam and
Eve in the beginning,
00:46:57.25\00:46:59.25
God said, "It is not
good for man to be alone."
00:46:59.28\00:47:01.68
And that's not only
for husband and wife,
00:47:01.72\00:47:03.52
but that's in
community as believers.
00:47:03.55\00:47:06.82
We are called to
live in community
00:47:06.89\00:47:08.79
and each one of us has an impact
00:47:08.82\00:47:11.09
whether it's positive or
negative on other people.
00:47:11.13\00:47:15.20
That's right.
00:47:15.23\00:47:16.56
Every person in
my life influences me
00:47:16.60\00:47:18.20
and I influence other people,
whether for good or for evil.
00:47:18.23\00:47:22.30
So today on this lesson,
00:47:22.34\00:47:24.01
I want to talk about
principles of relationships.
00:47:24.04\00:47:26.98
How we interact with others?
00:47:27.01\00:47:29.38
We're gonna look at three
areas that we need to watch.
00:47:29.41\00:47:32.75
Pastor John, you
know, I was like malice.
00:47:32.78\00:47:34.82
So three areas
that we need to watch,
00:47:34.85\00:47:37.92
and then three
lessons that we need to learn.
00:47:37.95\00:47:41.52
So the three
areas we need to watch,
00:47:41.56\00:47:43.32
watch how you speak,
00:47:43.36\00:47:45.56
watch what grows in your
heart, and watch your thoughts.
00:47:45.59\00:47:51.80
So let's look at
watch how you speak.
00:47:51.83\00:47:53.40
We're gonna spend
the balance of our time
00:47:53.44\00:47:54.77
actually in the Book of
Ephesians, Ephesians 4:29.
00:47:54.80\00:47:59.51
Ephesians 4:29,
watch how you speak.
00:47:59.54\00:48:02.54
And there are
some dos and don'ts
00:48:02.58\00:48:04.08
in how we are to speak
00:48:04.11\00:48:05.45
and interact with
brothers and sisters.
00:48:05.48\00:48:07.78
We're gonna
start with the don'ts.
00:48:07.82\00:48:09.42
Ephesians 4:29,
"Let no corrupt word,"
00:48:09.45\00:48:14.89
that word for
corrupt in Greek is rotten,
00:48:14.92\00:48:18.49
worthless,
useless, corrupt or putrid.
00:48:18.53\00:48:24.30
Have you ever
spoken a worthless word?
00:48:24.33\00:48:26.10
Yes. I have.
00:48:26.13\00:48:28.07
Have you ever spoken a
useless word or a rotten word?
00:48:28.10\00:48:32.07
It says, "Let no
corrupt word, no worthless word,
00:48:32.11\00:48:36.78
no useless word
proceed out of your mouth,
00:48:36.85\00:48:41.12
but what is good for
necessary edification
00:48:41.15\00:48:43.99
that it may impart
grace to the hearers."
00:48:44.02\00:48:47.56
So don't use
rotten or useless words.
00:48:47.59\00:48:50.33
Yes. Don't lie.
00:48:50.36\00:48:53.09
Ephesians 4:25,
00:48:53.13\00:48:55.50
"Therefore, put
away lying," don't lie.
00:48:55.53\00:49:00.67
"Don't speak in anger or
carry or hang onto your anger."
00:49:00.70\00:49:06.61
Ephesians 4:26,
00:49:06.64\00:49:07.98
"Do not let the sun
go down on your wrath."
00:49:08.01\00:49:12.01
But what are we to
do? What are we to speak?
00:49:12.05\00:49:14.35
We're to speak the truth.
00:49:14.38\00:49:16.18
Ephesians 4:25,
the rest of that verse.
00:49:16.22\00:49:19.99
It says, "Put away lying."
00:49:20.02\00:49:21.52
And what does it
say, "Let everyone of you
00:49:21.56\00:49:23.36
speak truth with his neighbor."
00:49:23.39\00:49:26.73
Yes.
00:49:26.76\00:49:28.06
Now in the Greek, truth
literally means true to fact.
00:49:28.10\00:49:30.80
There was a woman
I heard speak once.
00:49:30.87\00:49:33.20
She does women's retreats,
00:49:33.23\00:49:34.57
and she was
telling a story about
00:49:34.60\00:49:36.07
how she had been with
a whole group of friends,
00:49:36.10\00:49:38.41
and she explained
the whole circumstances
00:49:38.44\00:49:40.51
of how they had gotten
from point A to point B.
00:49:40.58\00:49:43.65
So they took a cruise
ship as she described it,
00:49:43.68\00:49:46.31
and she describes
sitting on the deck
00:49:46.35\00:49:49.48
and watching the
sunset, and the food they ate,
00:49:49.52\00:49:52.69
and the friends
they mingled with,
00:49:52.72\00:49:54.69
and she got to the end
of this incredible recital.
00:49:54.72\00:49:57.03
And her husband said
two words, "We flew."
00:49:57.06\00:50:00.93
They got from point A
to point B by an airplane.
00:50:00.96\00:50:04.90
So we are called
to speak the truth.
00:50:04.93\00:50:09.90
Speak the truth when it hurts,
00:50:09.97\00:50:11.64
speak the truth
when it is uncomfortable,
00:50:11.67\00:50:14.88
when it is hard,
when it is unpopular.
00:50:14.91\00:50:20.18
But we always speak the
truth in kindness and in love.
00:50:20.22\00:50:23.89
Amen. That's right.
00:50:23.95\00:50:25.29
Ephesians 4:32, "Be
kind one to another."
00:50:25.32\00:50:29.69
That word for kind,
00:50:29.72\00:50:31.59
we don't have any
word really in English
00:50:31.63\00:50:34.36
that would be the same
as the meaning in Greek
00:50:34.36\00:50:36.93
because that means
both good and kind.
00:50:37.00\00:50:39.43
So not just kind,
but it also means good.
00:50:39.47\00:50:42.67
"Be kind and
good to one another,
00:50:42.70\00:50:45.01
tenderhearted,
00:50:45.04\00:50:46.61
forgiving one another
00:50:46.64\00:50:48.41
even as God and Christ
Jesus has forgiven you."
00:50:48.44\00:50:51.05
Amen.
00:50:51.08\00:50:52.41
So we're to watch how we speak,
00:50:52.45\00:50:53.78
we're to watch
what grows in our heart.
00:50:53.85\00:50:57.62
Ephesians 4:31,
"Let all bitterness..."
00:50:57.65\00:51:01.76
Let's stop right there.
00:51:01.79\00:51:03.12
Do you have bitterness
growing in your heart today?
00:51:03.16\00:51:06.36
Do you have
resentment in your heart
00:51:06.39\00:51:09.43
growing against a
brother or a sister?
00:51:09.46\00:51:12.47
That impacts your relationships
00:51:12.50\00:51:15.60
and how you
relate to other people.
00:51:15.64\00:51:17.41
Yeah.
00:51:17.47\00:51:18.81
"Let all
bitterness, let all wrath,"
00:51:18.84\00:51:21.88
that word in Greek is a
passion-driven behavior,
00:51:21.91\00:51:24.75
like a sudden outburst of anger.
00:51:24.78\00:51:27.28
But the next word is anger,
00:51:27.32\00:51:29.08
and that word in
Greek is a fixed,
00:51:29.12\00:51:31.39
settled, anger, opposition.
00:51:31.42\00:51:34.39
So not only are we
to put away bitterness,
00:51:34.42\00:51:37.79
we put away those
sudden outbursts of anger
00:51:37.83\00:51:40.30
which can really
hinder relationships.
00:51:40.36\00:51:42.56
We put away that
fixed or settled anger
00:51:42.60\00:51:45.40
that just lingers
and simmers there.
00:51:45.43\00:51:47.80
"Let all bitterness,
wrath, anger, clamor,
00:51:47.84\00:51:50.34
evil speaking be put away
from you with all malice."
00:51:50.37\00:51:54.51
Yes.
00:51:54.54\00:51:55.88
We watch how we speak.
00:51:55.91\00:51:57.28
We watch what
grows in our heart.
00:51:57.31\00:51:59.55
We watch our thoughts.
00:51:59.58\00:52:02.02
Proverbs 23:7,
00:52:02.05\00:52:03.39
"For as a man thinks
in his heart, so is he."
00:52:03.42\00:52:07.76
Yeah. Yeah.
00:52:07.79\00:52:09.12
What you think
about other people
00:52:09.16\00:52:10.93
affects how you treat them.
00:52:10.96\00:52:12.69
Oh, boy, yeah.
00:52:12.73\00:52:14.10
What you think about yourself
00:52:14.10\00:52:16.63
also affects how
you treat other people.
00:52:16.67\00:52:18.83
That's true. That's right.
00:52:18.87\00:52:20.20
What you think about God
00:52:20.24\00:52:21.57
affects how you
think about yourself,
00:52:21.60\00:52:23.77
and in context, how
you treat other people.
00:52:23.81\00:52:27.48
Amen.
00:52:27.54\00:52:28.88
All of that comes
back to our thoughts,
00:52:28.91\00:52:30.65
comes back to how we
relate to other people.
00:52:30.71\00:52:33.78
Those are the three watches.
00:52:33.82\00:52:35.25
Now let's do
quickly the three learns.
00:52:35.28\00:52:38.69
Learn to forgive, learn to
walk in humility and unity,
00:52:38.72\00:52:44.19
and learn to love one another
Number one, learn to forgive.
00:52:44.23\00:52:49.03
We're back to Ephesians
4:31, "Be kind to one another,
00:52:49.06\00:52:53.37
tenderhearted,
forgiving one another."
00:52:53.40\00:52:56.94
Yes.
00:52:56.97\00:52:58.31
Forgiveness is freely done,
00:52:58.34\00:53:00.18
not based on any
merit of the person
00:53:00.21\00:53:01.91
receiving the forgiveness.
00:53:01.94\00:53:03.68
We forgive because
Christ forgives us.
00:53:03.75\00:53:06.18
We forgive because...
00:53:06.21\00:53:07.92
I don't know about
you, but I am in need
00:53:07.95\00:53:10.49
of forgiveness and mercy.
00:53:10.52\00:53:11.92
Amen.
00:53:11.95\00:53:13.29
We forgive
because God commands us
00:53:13.36\00:53:15.66
to forgive our
brothers and sisters.
00:53:15.69\00:53:18.73
Number two, learn to
walk in humility and unity.
00:53:18.76\00:53:24.47
Ephesians 4:1-3,
00:53:24.50\00:53:27.00
"I, therefore, the
prisoner of the Lord,
00:53:27.04\00:53:28.54
beseech you to walk
worthy of the calling
00:53:28.57\00:53:31.57
with which you were called,
00:53:31.61\00:53:32.94
with all
lowliness and gentleness,
00:53:32.97\00:53:36.24
with longsuffering,
00:53:36.28\00:53:38.25
bearing with one another,
00:53:38.28\00:53:39.65
endeavoring to keep
the unity of the Spirit
00:53:39.68\00:53:41.58
in the bond of peace."
00:53:41.62\00:53:43.28
I remember, several years ago,
00:53:43.35\00:53:44.89
I got an
eight-page handwritten letter
00:53:44.92\00:53:47.72
from a precious woman
00:53:47.76\00:53:49.22
who decided to address
some issues she saw in my life.
00:53:49.26\00:53:52.13
Well.
00:53:52.16\00:53:53.76
There was an
issue on every page.
00:53:53.80\00:53:55.16
So I had over eight
issues, Pastor Kenny.
00:53:55.20\00:53:57.67
And I remember reading
it, and then taking it to God,
00:53:57.70\00:54:00.34
and just trying to
get over it, you know.
00:54:00.37\00:54:01.90
All right.
00:54:01.94\00:54:03.27
And then one day,
I read Romans 15:5-7,
00:54:03.30\00:54:06.21
"May the God of
patience and comfort
00:54:06.24\00:54:08.74
grant you to be
like-minded toward one another,
00:54:08.78\00:54:12.11
according to Christ
Jesus, that you may,
00:54:12.15\00:54:14.02
with one mind and one mouth,
00:54:14.05\00:54:16.72
glorify the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
00:54:16.79\00:54:19.92
Therefore, receive one another
just as I have received you."
00:54:19.95\00:54:23.66
That's right.
00:54:23.73\00:54:25.06
And as soon as I read that,
it was like the Holy Spirit
00:54:25.09\00:54:26.43
pricked my conscience, and said,
00:54:26.46\00:54:28.60
"I have received this
woman who sent you the letter.
00:54:28.63\00:54:31.87
Do you not think
you could receive her
00:54:31.90\00:54:34.10
as your sister in me?"
00:54:34.14\00:54:37.17
And so the Lord
rebuked my heart,
00:54:37.21\00:54:38.74
and I asked for forgiveness,
00:54:38.77\00:54:40.28
and I reached out,
and we became friends.
00:54:40.34\00:54:42.98
What a beautiful picture.
00:54:43.01\00:54:44.85
God wants us to walk
in humility and unity
00:54:44.88\00:54:48.32
toward one another.
00:54:48.35\00:54:49.68
Amen.
00:54:49.72\00:54:51.05
And number three, we are called
to learn to love one another.
00:54:51.09\00:54:54.69
1 Thessalonians 3:12 and 13,
00:54:54.72\00:54:58.09
"May the Lord
make you increase,"
00:54:58.13\00:55:00.26
Shelley loves this scripture.
00:55:00.33\00:55:01.63
I love this scripture.
00:55:01.66\00:55:03.00
"And abound in love to
one another and to all,
00:55:03.03\00:55:05.10
just as we do to you
00:55:05.13\00:55:06.94
so that He may
establish your hearts
00:55:06.97\00:55:08.80
in blameless and holiness
00:55:08.84\00:55:10.91
before our God and the
Father at the coming of our Lord
00:55:10.94\00:55:13.68
Jesus Christ
with all His saints."
00:55:13.71\00:55:16.01
Christ is the one who
enables us to forgive,
00:55:16.04\00:55:18.75
to walk in humility and
unity, and to love one another.
00:55:18.78\00:55:22.45
Amen. Amen.
00:55:22.48\00:55:24.09
Good job. Absolutely.
00:55:24.12\00:55:25.92
Wow. Praise the Lord.
00:55:25.95\00:55:27.69
This is gonna be
an exciting study.
00:55:27.72\00:55:29.46
That's right.
00:55:29.49\00:55:30.83
It's gonna be an exciting study.
00:55:30.86\00:55:32.19
And so I guess we have
just a couple of minutes left,
00:55:32.23\00:55:34.60
wanna go back
through the panel here.
00:55:34.63\00:55:35.96
Start with you, Pastor
John, just give us some insight.
00:55:36.00\00:55:38.57
Sure, well, I see
00:55:38.60\00:55:39.93
because of the
timing and of the rhythm,
00:55:40.00\00:55:41.37
"We lived in deeds not years,
00:55:41.40\00:55:43.41
in thoughts not
figures on the dial.
00:55:43.47\00:55:45.81
We should count
time by heart-throbs.
00:55:45.84\00:55:48.51
He who lives who thinks
most, feels the noblest,
00:55:48.54\00:55:52.25
and acts the best."
00:55:52.28\00:55:54.58
That's good. Amen.
00:55:54.62\00:55:55.95
Wow.
00:55:55.98\00:55:57.35
Well, I think from this
lesson, I've drawn out some
00:55:57.39\00:55:59.22
quite a few different
things, but one of that,
00:55:59.25\00:56:00.92
I know, by God's grace,
00:56:00.99\00:56:02.59
I need to learn
to live, and to act,
00:56:02.62\00:56:05.29
and to work, you know,
00:56:05.33\00:56:07.30
in such a way that
when we think about,
00:56:07.36\00:56:09.80
we're around our family,
00:56:09.83\00:56:11.23
around our friends,
people that we work with,
00:56:11.27\00:56:14.07
there's no longer they see us,
00:56:14.14\00:56:16.47
but they see the one
who lives inside of us.
00:56:16.50\00:56:18.34
They need to know that
we have been with Jesus.
00:56:18.37\00:56:21.18
Amen. Amen.
00:56:21.21\00:56:22.98
My thought right now is
that change can be challenging.
00:56:23.01\00:56:27.22
Yes.
00:56:27.25\00:56:28.58
But what we have to do during
times changes, go to the Lord,
00:56:28.62\00:56:32.19
and let Him help us
through the transition
00:56:32.22\00:56:34.36
because 2 Corinthians 5:17 says,
00:56:34.39\00:56:37.43
"He's made us
into a new creation,
00:56:37.46\00:56:39.56
and He'll work it out for us."
00:56:39.59\00:56:40.93
Amen. Amen.
00:56:40.96\00:56:42.26
No man or woman is an island,
00:56:42.30\00:56:43.73
we all live in community
as brothers and sisters,
00:56:43.77\00:56:47.00
so God calls us to guard
00:56:47.04\00:56:48.54
our influence over other people.
00:56:48.57\00:56:52.17
Praise the Lord.
00:56:52.21\00:56:53.94
Just a few
seconds, but you know,
00:56:53.98\00:56:55.94
Jill, to kind of playing off
00:56:55.98\00:56:57.31
what you said in your
lesson and also mine as well,
00:56:57.35\00:56:59.85
you know, in the Garden of Eden,
00:56:59.88\00:57:01.42
God established a family.
00:57:01.45\00:57:03.62
That's right. He created family.
00:57:03.65\00:57:06.29
And, you know what,
family goes beyond blood.
00:57:06.32\00:57:08.62
Each and every one of us
are of the family of God.
00:57:08.66\00:57:11.49
That's right.
00:57:11.53\00:57:12.86
Inside the church,
outside of the church,
00:57:12.89\00:57:14.66
in relationship with God,
00:57:14.73\00:57:16.23
or not really in a
relationship with God,
00:57:16.26\00:57:18.30
we serve a mighty
God and we are family.
00:57:18.33\00:57:20.74
But that being said,
00:57:20.77\00:57:22.10
we're so excited that you were
to be able to join us this week
00:57:22.14\00:57:25.27
and we hope that
you join us next week
00:57:25.31\00:57:27.78
for our second lesson,
which I believe is entitled
00:57:27.81\00:57:30.68
"Making the Right Choices."
00:57:30.75\00:57:32.18
So you have a wonderful day.
00:57:32.21\00:57:34.55
We hope to see you
next week. God bless.
00:57:34.58\00:57:36.69