WEBVTT 00:01:41.099 --> 00:02:26.889 I know. I say that when the storm seems gone, 00:02:27.030 --> 00:02:42.860 you never leave me alone. I say that when the 00:02:42.860 --> 00:03:51.159 storm seems gone, you never leave me alone. Amen. 00:03:51.539 --> 00:04:42.399 Just need a little bit of space. Okay. Did we 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:46.279 have enough? It's always the question, isn't 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:48.720 it? I don't know. Did everybody get a paper? 00:04:48.980 --> 00:04:54.329 Does everyone have one? Okay. Do we have exactly 00:04:54.329 --> 00:04:56.589 enough? God does that sometimes. All right. If 00:04:56.589 --> 00:04:57.930 you see anybody come in late, we'll need to make 00:04:57.930 --> 00:05:03.949 some copies. Oh, we've got one left. We can have 00:05:03.949 --> 00:05:05.790 one more person come in. Get on the phone right 00:05:05.790 --> 00:05:07.730 now and invite them. I'm just kidding. You can 00:05:07.730 --> 00:05:16.459 if you want. After that, we'll need copies. Okay. 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:18.930 So as you can see by looking at the screen, we're 00:05:18.930 --> 00:05:20.790 going to talk about meditation. Now we spent 00:05:20.790 --> 00:05:24.089 a six months emphasis on meditation just ended 00:05:24.089 --> 00:05:26.310 three months ago. So we've talked a lot about 00:05:26.310 --> 00:05:28.930 meditation. So this is not going to go over the 00:05:28.930 --> 00:05:31.009 full topic of meditation. If you hang around 00:05:31.009 --> 00:05:32.829 at New Heights long enough, we will have another 00:05:32.829 --> 00:05:36.490 six months emphasis on meditation and we'll really 00:05:36.490 --> 00:05:38.610 delve into it a lot more. And I would encourage 00:05:38.610 --> 00:05:41.449 you to study, to work through it, learn as much 00:05:41.449 --> 00:05:44.310 as you can about it. There really is no end to 00:05:44.310 --> 00:05:47.930 how beneficial it can be. Before we fill in any 00:05:47.930 --> 00:05:50.329 blanks, we're going to look at the scripture, 00:05:50.509 --> 00:05:53.170 and I'm going to read some texts, and they're 00:05:53.170 --> 00:05:56.389 up there in a row right under the title. So if 00:05:56.389 --> 00:05:58.790 you have your Bible, you get a little head start 00:05:58.790 --> 00:06:00.850 to potentially flip along through those texts 00:06:00.850 --> 00:06:03.810 with me. I did not pre -mark them or anything, 00:06:04.069 --> 00:06:07.149 and so it'll take me whatever time it gets me 00:06:07.149 --> 00:06:10.569 to get through. Although I might know one or 00:06:10.569 --> 00:06:12.329 two of them from memory, but I'll try to take 00:06:12.329 --> 00:06:14.389 that into account so I don't take off on you. 00:06:17.490 --> 00:06:19.389 So, you know, the book of Psalms, the book of 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:23.829 Psalms is prayers and readings and writings from 00:06:23.829 --> 00:06:26.629 the temple and the tabernacle before that. And 00:06:26.629 --> 00:06:29.490 so everything we got here is really old, comes 00:06:29.490 --> 00:06:32.189 from a long time ago, really God focused type 00:06:32.189 --> 00:06:34.850 stuff before Jesus, but still feeling the Holy 00:06:34.850 --> 00:06:37.550 Spirit and trying to figure out everything about 00:06:37.550 --> 00:06:40.490 God that they possibly could. OK, so Psalm one, 00:06:40.490 --> 00:06:42.370 you can take a handful of them if you need to. 00:06:42.569 --> 00:06:47.100 Psalm one says as follows. How blessed is the 00:06:47.100 --> 00:06:49.759 man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, 00:06:49.819 --> 00:06:52.740 nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:55.579 the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the 00:06:55.579 --> 00:06:58.800 law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:01.660 day and night. So really all we would need would 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:04.639 be that last part where it says, in his law he 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:06.439 meditates day and night. Now, we're not going 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:08.199 to do this, but if I went around the room and 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:10.259 I said, which one of you thinks about the Bible 00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:12.879 every day and every night? So you got some Bible 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:14.600 verses memorized, you get your Bible out, you 00:07:14.600 --> 00:07:16.379 read some things, whatever, and you spend every 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:18.439 day and every night you make a point of thinking 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:20.620 about the Bible. I'm guessing our numbers would 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:25.139 not be super high, okay? But the idea of thinking, 00:07:25.339 --> 00:07:28.199 so the word there where it says meditates, right, 00:07:28.300 --> 00:07:30.560 is to think deeply, and we'll break that down 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:32.279 a little bit more in a minute, but it's to think 00:07:32.279 --> 00:07:34.689 deeply about the word. It goes back a long time 00:07:34.689 --> 00:07:36.810 before Jesus came, a long time before people 00:07:36.810 --> 00:07:38.470 were indwelt by the Holy Spirit, a long time 00:07:38.470 --> 00:07:40.389 before Jesus and the New Testament gave us the 00:07:40.389 --> 00:07:42.110 commands to do exactly what we're talking about 00:07:42.110 --> 00:07:45.490 today. So it's kind of almost always been like 00:07:45.490 --> 00:07:47.350 that. I want you to think about all the way back 00:07:47.350 --> 00:07:50.370 before, let's go back as far as like Abraham's 00:07:50.370 --> 00:07:53.290 day. And we have every reason to believe that 00:07:53.290 --> 00:07:56.350 Moses essentially wrote down pretty much most 00:07:56.350 --> 00:08:00.370 of what we have prior to that, the Septuagint. 00:08:01.310 --> 00:08:02.829 The Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible, 00:08:02.889 --> 00:08:04.750 Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Nebuchadnezzar, he 00:08:04.750 --> 00:08:07.490 pretty much wrote that down, okay? How is it 00:08:07.490 --> 00:08:10.589 that people remembered it so clearly if that 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:12.370 was the first time that the whole thing was written 00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:14.689 down? It was because families told each other 00:08:14.689 --> 00:08:17.069 the stories. They didn't have books. Some of 00:08:17.069 --> 00:08:19.149 them couldn't read. The printing press certainly 00:08:19.149 --> 00:08:21.209 did not exist. That didn't come about for thousands 00:08:21.209 --> 00:08:23.949 of years, right? And so there weren't copies. 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:25.529 And if you talk about a book, you're talking 00:08:25.529 --> 00:08:28.339 about a big scroll, right? There was a certain 00:08:28.339 --> 00:08:30.279 amount length of how much could be written on 00:08:30.279 --> 00:08:32.740 a scroll. And it would be like the maximum scroll 00:08:32.740 --> 00:08:34.340 that you could roll up then and carry around 00:08:34.340 --> 00:08:35.960 like on your shoulder kind of thing or tucked 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:38.200 under your arm like a big log like this. And 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:39.899 there's a certain length that it could be. And 00:08:39.899 --> 00:08:41.639 we noticed that a number of the biblical books 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:43.879 are like that. They're about that general length. 00:08:43.980 --> 00:08:46.620 Right. And and shorter. None of them are longer 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:49.879 than that. And so the point is, they would pass 00:08:49.879 --> 00:08:52.440 the stories to each other. And then as they pass 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:54.120 the stories to each other, they would talk about 00:08:54.120 --> 00:08:56.879 it like. we'd talk about the story of Noah. So 00:08:56.879 --> 00:08:58.580 there was a guy named Noah. He was pretty much 00:08:58.580 --> 00:09:00.860 the last righteous guy on the earth. And God 00:09:00.860 --> 00:09:02.200 was ready to wipe out the earth. The guy was 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:04.580 sick of mankind. He was grieved at what he had 00:09:04.580 --> 00:09:06.320 done in making mankind because there's so much 00:09:06.320 --> 00:09:08.519 evil. Man, it was wicked all the time everywhere. 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:11.340 But Noah wasn't like that. So God said to Noah, 00:09:11.440 --> 00:09:14.279 build an ark, right? And then he memorized the 00:09:14.279 --> 00:09:16.539 dimensions of the ark. And then they talk about 00:09:16.539 --> 00:09:18.519 what the ark would look like. Not like a big 00:09:18.519 --> 00:09:21.059 boat, but more like a big box, right? And then 00:09:21.059 --> 00:09:23.960 after they told the story of Noah, Then the kids 00:09:23.960 --> 00:09:25.799 and the teenagers and the family, they would 00:09:25.799 --> 00:09:28.559 all talk about it. And that talking about it, 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:30.860 just having conversation without writing anything 00:09:30.860 --> 00:09:33.600 down, was the process of meditation. Then the 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:35.139 next day while they're working in the field, 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:36.879 what are they thinking about? They didn't watch 00:09:36.879 --> 00:09:39.320 TV. They didn't have a cell phone. They didn't 00:09:39.320 --> 00:09:41.620 do anything electronic, play video games, any 00:09:41.620 --> 00:09:43.159 of that, right? So the next day when they're 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:44.919 working in the field, they're thinking about 00:09:44.919 --> 00:09:47.580 the stories from the night before, right? And 00:09:47.580 --> 00:09:50.659 that was meditating day and night, all day, thinking 00:09:50.659 --> 00:09:53.470 about what God... had given them to remember 00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:56.889 notice though it says our delight is in the law 00:09:56.889 --> 00:09:59.490 of the lord that's where we find joy so if you're 00:09:59.490 --> 00:10:01.110 finding a lot of joy and a lot of other things 00:10:01.110 --> 00:10:03.309 things on your phone things on your tv relationships 00:10:03.309 --> 00:10:05.389 other people things like that realize that there 00:10:05.389 --> 00:10:08.309 is a higher joy in knowing the things that god 00:10:08.309 --> 00:10:11.230 has for you that's huge okay all right the next 00:10:11.230 --> 00:10:14.129 text to look at then is joshua 1 8 i have them 00:10:14.129 --> 00:10:15.490 written down i don't know why i looked up there 00:10:15.490 --> 00:10:17.570 all right but you can follow along so joshua 00:10:17.970 --> 00:10:20.730 So Joshua was the guy who basically replaces 00:10:20.730 --> 00:10:24.129 Moses. So the story of Moses goes kind of like 00:10:24.129 --> 00:10:25.809 this. Moses is the leader, brings them out of 00:10:25.809 --> 00:10:27.730 Egypt, leads them. They don't go into the promised 00:10:27.730 --> 00:10:29.529 land like they're supposed to, 40 years wandering 00:10:29.529 --> 00:10:32.389 in the desert. They're told that no one except 00:10:32.389 --> 00:10:34.990 Joshua and Caleb would be allowed to go into 00:10:34.990 --> 00:10:36.929 the promised land, because they were the only 00:10:36.929 --> 00:10:40.730 two that brought back a godly report. They also 00:10:40.730 --> 00:10:42.970 said that the land was full of big people, but 00:10:42.970 --> 00:10:44.970 they said, it's okay, we need to go anyway, God's 00:10:44.970 --> 00:10:46.690 going to take care of it. And the other 10 people 00:10:46.690 --> 00:10:48.960 were chickening out. So then they wound up trying 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:51.019 to fight without God on their side. Then they 00:10:51.019 --> 00:10:52.480 wind up in the wilderness for four years. Moses 00:10:52.480 --> 00:10:54.779 leads them that entire time. Now they're after 00:10:54.779 --> 00:10:56.299 all that, and they're finally going to go into 00:10:56.299 --> 00:10:58.200 the promised land. But while they were in the 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.740 wilderness, Moses sinned. Moses was their leader. 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:02.139 He had done everything that he was supposed to 00:11:02.139 --> 00:11:04.000 do. But at a certain moment in time, he sinned 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:06.299 against God. God told him to go and speak to 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:08.240 a rock. The Israelites were complaining for lack 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:10.580 of water. He said, go speak to the rock. And 00:11:10.580 --> 00:11:13.389 instead... Moses struck the rock with his staff 00:11:13.389 --> 00:11:15.950 and yelled at the Israelites and said, must I 00:11:15.950 --> 00:11:18.750 give you water out of this rock to get you to 00:11:18.750 --> 00:11:20.649 stop complaining, basically? And he was angry 00:11:20.649 --> 00:11:22.750 at them. And so his anger at them and his yelling 00:11:22.750 --> 00:11:25.269 at them and striking the rock, right, when all 00:11:25.269 --> 00:11:27.210 God did was tell him to command the rock to yield 00:11:27.210 --> 00:11:29.830 water and it would, God said, now you will not 00:11:29.830 --> 00:11:32.210 go into the promised land. So right before they're 00:11:32.210 --> 00:11:33.970 supposed to go in the promised land, Moses gives 00:11:33.970 --> 00:11:36.070 a huge speech. Two of them, actually, that's 00:11:36.070 --> 00:11:37.570 the book of Deuteronomy. That's why it's called 00:11:37.570 --> 00:11:39.769 that, because it's two huge speeches. And then 00:11:39.769 --> 00:11:42.570 he hands the mantle over to Joshua. Joshua will 00:11:42.570 --> 00:11:44.830 now lead them into the promised land. Moses goes 00:11:44.830 --> 00:11:47.330 up on the mountain with God. And there's a very 00:11:47.330 --> 00:11:50.470 interesting verse there. In the Hebrew, it says 00:11:50.470 --> 00:11:54.129 this. It says that God spoke him dead. So he 00:11:54.129 --> 00:11:56.090 lived to be 120 years old. His body was still 00:11:56.090 --> 00:11:57.970 strong. It says that his eyes were still good. 00:11:58.210 --> 00:12:00.850 And then God spoke him dead. So God took Moses' 00:12:01.049 --> 00:12:03.370 life. And then it says that God hid Moses' body 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:05.850 so they wouldn't know where they put it. He buried 00:12:05.850 --> 00:12:07.970 it somewhere in a big valley, but he didn't tell 00:12:07.970 --> 00:12:10.039 anybody where. Right. And why didn't he do that? 00:12:10.080 --> 00:12:11.720 Because he didn't want the people to worry about 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:14.840 Moses or worship Moses or venerate his tomb, 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:16.500 make a worship place out of it, anything like 00:12:16.500 --> 00:12:19.259 that. So so then Joshua takes over and he's going 00:12:19.259 --> 00:12:21.039 to take him into the promised land. That starts 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.919 Joshua, the first chapter of the book of Joshua. 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:27.019 And we're listening to Joshua as he's getting 00:12:27.019 --> 00:12:29.840 his commission. Verse seven says, only be strong 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:32.460 and very courageous. Be careful to do according 00:12:32.460 --> 00:12:35.340 to all the law which Moses, my servant, commanded 00:12:35.340 --> 00:12:37.889 you. Do not turn from it to the right or to the 00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:40.009 left so that you may have success wherever you 00:12:40.009 --> 00:12:42.610 go. And then in verse eight, it says, this book 00:12:42.610 --> 00:12:45.250 of the law shall not depart from your mouth, 00:12:45.350 --> 00:12:49.350 but you shall meditate on it day and night so 00:12:49.350 --> 00:12:51.509 that you may be careful to do according to all 00:12:51.509 --> 00:12:53.289 that is written, for then you will make your 00:12:53.289 --> 00:12:55.429 way prosperous and then you will have success. 00:12:55.870 --> 00:12:58.929 And so even before Christianity, before the coming 00:12:58.929 --> 00:13:00.830 of the Holy Spirit, before Jesus promises blessings, 00:13:00.970 --> 00:13:03.049 even before people could be invited into the 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:05.190 family of God, pass their sins and whatever, 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:07.980 God was saying, you do what I tell you, I'll 00:13:07.980 --> 00:13:09.360 take care of you. How are you going to do what 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:11.559 God tells you unless you, according to what it 00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:14.080 says, meditate on the word of God? You have to 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.700 focus on what God is telling you to do. And people 00:13:16.700 --> 00:13:19.559 say, well, I can't, I can't do it. I can't beat 00:13:19.559 --> 00:13:22.360 my, I can't overcome my, I can't deal with my 00:13:22.360 --> 00:13:25.679 whatever. And then here it is, you know, focus 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:28.279 on the word of God, meditate on it day and night. 00:13:28.299 --> 00:13:31.000 And God provides. All right. Now, if you, if 00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:33.169 you think it's sorcery. If I just focus on the 00:13:33.169 --> 00:13:35.389 word of God, God is required to provide something 00:13:35.389 --> 00:13:37.730 for me. That's not really true. It's not a spell 00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:40.289 that you cast. But if you truly delight in the 00:13:40.289 --> 00:13:43.269 law of the Lord, delight in what God has given 00:13:43.269 --> 00:13:46.429 you to know, then God will show up and do things. 00:13:46.789 --> 00:13:48.669 That's what it says. I'll read it again. This 00:13:48.669 --> 00:13:50.409 book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, 00:13:50.549 --> 00:13:53.190 but you shall meditate on it day and night so 00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:55.370 that you may be careful to do according to all 00:13:55.370 --> 00:13:58.549 that is written in it. For then you will make 00:13:58.549 --> 00:14:01.230 your way prosperous and then you will have success. 00:14:01.870 --> 00:14:04.350 Good promises. Three left. Next is Philippians 00:14:04.350 --> 00:14:08.580 4 .8. Moving right along. Philippians 4 .8. So 00:14:08.580 --> 00:14:12.600 now Paul is writing to the church in Philippi. 00:14:12.600 --> 00:14:14.779 Philippi was a city, kind of a city -state, but 00:14:14.779 --> 00:14:16.840 it had been kind of consumed by the Roman Empire. 00:14:17.559 --> 00:14:19.759 And so he's writing to the church that has been 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:21.799 established in Philippi, and he's kind of telling 00:14:21.799 --> 00:14:25.080 them how to live as a church and as God's people. 00:14:25.340 --> 00:14:28.059 Talking about rejoicing, don't worry, don't be 00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:31.240 anxious, lift everything up to God in prayer. 00:14:31.820 --> 00:14:34.679 It says the peace of God will surpass all comprehension, 00:14:35.059 --> 00:14:37.659 right? And then in verse eight, he says, finally, 00:14:37.700 --> 00:14:41.039 brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, 00:14:41.340 --> 00:14:44.340 whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever 00:14:44.340 --> 00:14:47.299 is lovely, whatever is of good repute, that means 00:14:47.299 --> 00:14:50.399 that has a good reputation. If there is any excellence 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:53.679 and if anything worthy of praise, and here it 00:14:53.679 --> 00:14:57.200 is, here's the phrase, dwell on these things. 00:14:57.899 --> 00:15:00.620 To dwell on a thing is to meditate on it, is 00:15:00.620 --> 00:15:02.740 to focus on it, to let that be the only thing 00:15:02.740 --> 00:15:06.259 you see, hear, and take in, right? Dwell on it. 00:15:06.279 --> 00:15:08.480 If you're focused on one thing, then everything 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:10.820 else sort of falls away. Everything else becomes 00:15:10.820 --> 00:15:13.580 not as important. And that's what we were called 00:15:13.580 --> 00:15:15.620 to do. And that's Paul writing to the church 00:15:15.620 --> 00:15:19.179 of Philippi, okay? Then we go Colossians 3 .16. 00:15:19.259 --> 00:15:20.840 I know these are going kind of fast, but it's 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:23.120 okay because the... The points, as we fill in 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.159 the points, are going to, on the worksheet, are 00:15:25.159 --> 00:15:26.740 going to help us get it. Some people are doing 00:15:26.740 --> 00:15:28.120 the worksheet right now. There's some really 00:15:28.120 --> 00:15:30.879 cool coloring things. Maybe not cool, but fun. 00:15:31.360 --> 00:15:33.940 Okay. All right. Now he's writing. So again, 00:15:33.980 --> 00:15:36.259 Paul, he's writing to the church at Colossae. 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:39.580 Okay. And in chapter three of the book that he 00:15:39.580 --> 00:15:41.720 wrote, it's really a long letter to the church 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:45.279 at Colossae. We'll go back as far as verse 12, 00:15:45.340 --> 00:15:47.179 and I'm just going to kind of skip some through. 00:15:47.259 --> 00:15:48.340 I'm not going to read the whole thing. So as 00:15:48.340 --> 00:15:51.340 those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved. 00:15:51.750 --> 00:15:53.610 Put on a heart of compassion. And he goes on 00:15:53.610 --> 00:15:56.049 to say, give a list of how they should live. 00:15:56.149 --> 00:15:59.230 Bear with one another. 14. Beyond all these things, 00:15:59.289 --> 00:16:02.629 put on love. 15. Let the peace of Christ rule 00:16:02.629 --> 00:16:05.269 in your hearts. The peace of Christ rule in your 00:16:05.269 --> 00:16:08.809 hearts. Okay. And then 16. Let the word of God, 00:16:09.009 --> 00:16:12.610 the word of Christ, richly dwell within you. 00:16:12.690 --> 00:16:15.669 With all wisdom, teaching, and admonishing one 00:16:15.669 --> 00:16:18.100 another. with psalms and hymns and spiritual 00:16:18.100 --> 00:16:20.899 songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts 00:16:20.899 --> 00:16:23.679 to God. Get that first part. Let the word of 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:27.299 Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom, 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:30.980 teaching, admonishing, singing, hymns, etc. Okay? 00:16:31.139 --> 00:16:36.750 Last one. 1 Timothy 4 .15. Okay. 1 Timothy. So 00:16:36.750 --> 00:16:39.789 now, this is Paul's letter to Timothy. So Timothy 00:16:39.789 --> 00:16:43.169 is a young church leader. He's been raised in 00:16:43.169 --> 00:16:46.009 a godly home, right? So he was raised by... godly 00:16:46.009 --> 00:16:49.809 women but not necessarily christians right meditate 00:16:49.809 --> 00:16:51.649 on the word focus on the word that kind of thing 00:16:51.649 --> 00:16:53.730 but not necessarily knowing for sure who jesus 00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:56.250 was because jesus hadn't come yet then his public 00:16:56.250 --> 00:16:59.549 ministry hadn't happened yet then he commissions 00:16:59.549 --> 00:17:02.110 timothy to be a leader in the church and everything 00:17:02.110 --> 00:17:04.589 in the book in first timothy is about how to 00:17:04.589 --> 00:17:06.369 be a leader in the church all right how to be 00:17:06.369 --> 00:17:09.009 a servant like what god has called us to so 11 00:17:09.009 --> 00:17:11.829 he says prescribe and teach these things Let 00:17:11.829 --> 00:17:14.109 no one look down on you for being a young person 00:17:14.109 --> 00:17:17.210 or for your youthfulness, but rather in speech, 00:17:17.369 --> 00:17:19.829 conduct, love, faith, purity, all that. Show 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:23.970 yourself an example. Then 13 says, until I come, 00:17:24.089 --> 00:17:25.769 give attention to the public reading of scripture. 00:17:26.049 --> 00:17:28.549 14, do not neglect the spiritual gift within 00:17:28.549 --> 00:17:32.009 you. 15, take pains with these things, be absorbed 00:17:32.009 --> 00:17:33.890 in them. That means they should be your main 00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:36.009 focus. What the church does, what God's people 00:17:36.009 --> 00:17:37.809 does, that's the most important thing. The rest 00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:40.829 of it is all distraction, every bit of it. Not 00:17:40.829 --> 00:17:43.089 that you can't take the word to school with you, 00:17:43.109 --> 00:17:45.349 but school is largely a distraction from the 00:17:45.349 --> 00:17:47.529 kingdom of God. Unless you're there for God, 00:17:47.690 --> 00:17:49.710 you can't take it to work. That's a problem. 00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:52.450 And that kind of thing. Then we're in 1 Timothy 00:17:52.450 --> 00:17:55.990 4 .15. It says, Take pains with these things. 00:17:56.210 --> 00:17:59.509 Be absorbed in them so that your progress will 00:17:59.509 --> 00:18:03.130 be evident to all. Pay close attention to your 00:18:03.130 --> 00:18:05.569 teaching. I'm sorry, to yourself. and to your 00:18:05.569 --> 00:18:07.950 teaching and persevere in these things. For as 00:18:07.950 --> 00:18:10.650 you do this, you will ensure salvation both for 00:18:10.650 --> 00:18:13.190 your house and for those who hear you. I'm sorry, 00:18:13.230 --> 00:18:14.890 for yourself and for those who hear you. There 00:18:14.890 --> 00:18:17.009 we go. Got it. Okay. So now we've read the verses. 00:18:17.190 --> 00:18:19.930 Now we have the worksheet. It was my extra person. 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:25.099 All right. Move right along. Now, if you've got 00:18:25.099 --> 00:18:27.440 a chance to peruse the worksheet, you see that 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:30.720 I also gave you the answers. Okay. But here's 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:32.599 what we're going to do. We're going to read the 00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.670 sentence. We're going to fill in the word when 00:18:35.670 --> 00:18:38.049 we fill in the sentence. And then someone, preferably 00:18:38.049 --> 00:18:40.630 not me all the time. OK, someone is going to 00:18:40.630 --> 00:18:43.250 tell us what it means. So just restate it in 00:18:43.250 --> 00:18:45.910 your own words. OK. All right. So now we're talking 00:18:45.910 --> 00:18:48.109 about meditation. Bearing in mind the things 00:18:48.109 --> 00:18:50.089 that we just read. It says biblical meditation 00:18:50.089 --> 00:18:54.750 is the active, prayerful blank of God's word. 00:18:54.930 --> 00:18:58.049 What goes into blank? Pondering. OK, so now tell 00:18:58.049 --> 00:19:00.569 me. Somebody tell me what that means. Biblical 00:19:00.569 --> 00:19:03.529 meditation. Is the active, prayerful pondering 00:19:03.529 --> 00:19:05.910 of God's Word, what does that mean? Or just restate 00:19:05.910 --> 00:19:10.730 it in your own words. Say again? Okay, yeah, 00:19:10.809 --> 00:19:14.490 for example. Yeah, so you're saying it is wondering 00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:16.990 about God's Word, wondering of God's Word, how 00:19:16.990 --> 00:19:19.990 awesome it is, that kind of thing? Yeah, okay. 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:22.500 Can somebody add anything? Biblical meditation 00:19:22.500 --> 00:19:25.640 is the act of prayerful pondering of God's word. 00:19:25.859 --> 00:19:29.180 How does this make it different from, say, Eastern 00:19:29.180 --> 00:19:32.960 meditation, like Asian, African? When they talk 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:34.700 about meditation outside the church, what is 00:19:34.700 --> 00:19:40.250 meditation? Say it again. Okay, yeah, so he's 00:19:40.250 --> 00:19:42.430 making the face and he's got the hands out and 00:19:42.430 --> 00:19:48.680 it's om, right? Exactly. So when the world talks 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:50.359 about meditation, most of the time they're talking 00:19:50.359 --> 00:19:52.619 about not thinking about anything. Emptying your 00:19:52.619 --> 00:19:55.299 head. And that's what this is. That sound is 00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:58.099 supposedly able to get you to only focus on the 00:19:58.099 --> 00:20:02.000 sound and nothing else. Om. Om is a mystical 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:03.700 sound that makes you not think about anything 00:20:03.700 --> 00:20:06.319 else. Just making the sound over and over again. 00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:08.740 It's a droning. And so biblical meditation is 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:11.529 not that. If you say, I'm doing meditation the 00:20:11.529 --> 00:20:13.269 way God told me to do meditation, you're thinking 00:20:13.269 --> 00:20:14.990 about nothing. You are not doing meditation. 00:20:15.250 --> 00:20:17.490 That's wrong. That's a lie. Meditation is not. 00:20:17.589 --> 00:20:19.950 So when you sit in front of your TV and zone 00:20:19.950 --> 00:20:22.990 out, that cannot be meditation. In fact, if you're 00:20:22.990 --> 00:20:26.250 watching a Christian show and it's teaching you 00:20:26.250 --> 00:20:28.089 something, that's not necessarily meditation. 00:20:28.329 --> 00:20:31.279 It's when you step away from the show. and meditate 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:33.319 on the teaching. Biblical meditation is that 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:35.720 wonder. It's that pondering, thinking about, 00:20:35.799 --> 00:20:37.940 ask the questions. What does this mean to me? 00:20:37.980 --> 00:20:41.119 What am I going to do about this? Okay. All right. 00:20:41.140 --> 00:20:44.180 Next one. We believe the Bible is the inspired, 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:49.539 inerrant, and that is a typo. Okay. Authority 00:20:49.539 --> 00:20:53.059 of our faith. Authoritative is the word. I'm 00:20:53.059 --> 00:20:54.960 not even sure what I was putting in there. So, 00:20:54.980 --> 00:20:57.619 okay. Anyway, it's authoritative for our faith. 00:20:57.779 --> 00:21:00.119 All right. So if the Bible is inspired, inerrant, 00:21:00.140 --> 00:21:02.180 and authoritative, what does that mean? What 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:03.539 does inspired mean? Give them to me one at a 00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:05.480 time. Somebody tell me what inspired means. It's 00:21:05.480 --> 00:21:07.279 a key phrase that we always use when we talk 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:11.069 about inspired. It means God breathed. That's 00:21:11.069 --> 00:21:13.410 what the literal definition of the word inspired 00:21:13.410 --> 00:21:16.730 in the Bible means. God breathed. Okay? So inspired 00:21:16.730 --> 00:21:19.109 is God breathed. Inerrant. What does that mean? 00:21:19.410 --> 00:21:21.549 Always correct. Always correct. No mistakes. 00:21:21.990 --> 00:21:25.410 No errors. Simple. Okay? And then authoritative. 00:21:25.450 --> 00:21:29.690 What does that mean? It has authority. So what 00:21:29.690 --> 00:21:32.609 does it mean to have authority? Say it again. 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:38.150 Have control. So it deserves to have control. 00:21:38.529 --> 00:21:40.829 It's authoritative. It can tell us what to do. 00:21:41.589 --> 00:21:44.630 According to Joshua 1 .8, the book of the law 00:21:44.630 --> 00:21:48.269 should not depart from your mouth. So what does 00:21:48.269 --> 00:21:49.930 that mean? That was a pretty easy one. Somebody 00:21:49.930 --> 00:21:51.730 can answer what it means. Reagan, what does that 00:21:51.730 --> 00:21:53.569 mean? The book of the law should not depart from 00:21:53.569 --> 00:22:00.339 your mouth. What does it mean? You got it. So 00:22:00.339 --> 00:22:02.420 if we say the book of the law is the Bible, if 00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:04.480 we say the Bible should not depart from your 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:05.700 mouth, what does that mean? It means you should 00:22:05.700 --> 00:22:09.099 always eat it. Exactly. You should always talk 00:22:09.099 --> 00:22:12.019 about it. So those conversations that you have 00:22:12.019 --> 00:22:13.799 about everything else and the Bible never enters 00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:16.859 in, that's when you know you're doing it wrong. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.240 Any other time you might be saying nothing or 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:20.700 you might be talking about the Bible. You might 00:22:20.700 --> 00:22:22.359 or might not be talking about the right part 00:22:22.359 --> 00:22:24.380 of the Bible. But when you have whole conversations 00:22:24.380 --> 00:22:26.519 and the Bible doesn't enter in at all, that's 00:22:26.519 --> 00:22:28.750 when you know you're doing it wrong. You should 00:22:28.750 --> 00:22:30.509 at least be talking with your mouth full. The 00:22:30.509 --> 00:22:32.890 Bible's in there too, right? So the Bible's here, 00:22:33.009 --> 00:22:35.029 and I'm talking around the Bible. So I'm thinking 00:22:35.029 --> 00:22:36.609 about the Bible, and I should be talking about 00:22:36.609 --> 00:22:38.349 the Bible, but I'm talking around it so we can 00:22:38.349 --> 00:22:39.829 have the conversation that we have, and we'll 00:22:39.829 --> 00:22:41.829 get to it in a minute or whatever. Talk with 00:22:41.829 --> 00:22:43.369 your mouth full, because the Bible should never 00:22:43.369 --> 00:22:44.869 depart from your mouth, according to Scripture, 00:22:45.069 --> 00:22:49.029 okay? The blessed man in Psalm 1 -2 finds his 00:22:49.029 --> 00:22:52.630 blank in the law of the Lord. Delight, okay? 00:22:52.769 --> 00:22:56.130 What does that mean? Yes, he's good. It makes 00:22:56.130 --> 00:22:58.589 you happy, right? There is something great about 00:22:58.589 --> 00:23:00.289 this. If you're like, oh, man, I got to read 00:23:00.289 --> 00:23:02.809 my Bible again today. Oh, Pastor Dan's preaching 00:23:02.809 --> 00:23:04.230 on the Bible again today. We're going to talk 00:23:04.230 --> 00:23:06.250 about more. We got to go to Bible study. If that's 00:23:06.250 --> 00:23:08.529 the case, you got a problem. I would assume if 00:23:08.529 --> 00:23:10.710 you have that problem, it's because something 00:23:10.710 --> 00:23:13.029 else is your delight, right? So ask yourself, 00:23:13.150 --> 00:23:15.150 what else is your delight? And then get your 00:23:15.150 --> 00:23:17.250 priorities in order because it should be the 00:23:17.250 --> 00:23:19.730 delight. Now, not that you can't delight in anything 00:23:19.730 --> 00:23:22.869 else, but your chief delight is in the word of 00:23:22.869 --> 00:23:25.609 the Lord, okay? Jesus Christ, who is fully God 00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:28.970 and fully man, is our perfect blank for meditation. 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:32.329 Example. All right. So what does that mean? Follow 00:23:32.329 --> 00:23:36.569 Jesus's lead. So tell me, how did Jesus meditate? 00:23:37.210 --> 00:23:39.410 Think about the stories you've heard. What are 00:23:39.410 --> 00:23:42.099 some things he did? Generally isolate himself 00:23:42.099 --> 00:23:44.740 and pray for him. Yep. So he isolated himself. 00:23:44.980 --> 00:23:47.539 He prayed fervently. And while he did that, the 00:23:47.539 --> 00:23:49.799 word came out, right? So that's what he was thinking 00:23:49.799 --> 00:23:50.900 about. That's what he was talking about. But 00:23:50.900 --> 00:23:53.240 he got away from everybody. So think of it like 00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:55.500 this. Back it up for one second. A spiritual 00:23:55.500 --> 00:23:58.380 discipline. He chose to do it. He planned to 00:23:58.380 --> 00:24:01.500 do it. He committed to do it. He set out to do 00:24:01.500 --> 00:24:03.559 it. And he finished the job. He carried it out, 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:07.019 right? So Jesus practiced it as a spiritual discipline. 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:09.119 So when we talk about it, that's why. Because 00:24:09.119 --> 00:24:11.180 he set the example for us. We do it the way he 00:24:11.180 --> 00:24:14.349 did it. Take some time. Now. Can you meditate 00:24:14.349 --> 00:24:16.990 with another person like back and forth? Sure, 00:24:17.069 --> 00:24:19.349 you can. Right. But there needs to be some kind 00:24:19.349 --> 00:24:21.849 of time where you yourself are blocking out of 00:24:21.849 --> 00:24:24.269 time with just you and God and God's word. OK, 00:24:24.329 --> 00:24:26.750 because that's what Jesus did. Jesus had people 00:24:26.750 --> 00:24:28.490 around him that he was going back and forth with 00:24:28.490 --> 00:24:30.049 about the word. And you could say some of the 00:24:30.049 --> 00:24:31.789 things they talk about were meditations. But 00:24:31.789 --> 00:24:34.490 he took time to get away, not just to pray, but 00:24:34.490 --> 00:24:38.329 also to meditate. OK, we are transformed by the 00:24:38.329 --> 00:24:41.410 blank of our minds, as written in Romans 12 to 00:24:41.410 --> 00:24:44.670 can't give me the word. The renewing, okay? So 00:24:44.670 --> 00:24:47.390 what does it mean to renew something? Don't give 00:24:47.390 --> 00:24:49.029 me the whole thing yet. What does it mean to 00:24:49.029 --> 00:24:53.769 renew something? Say, let's say, right, make 00:24:53.769 --> 00:24:56.430 it as good as it once was, right? So now if we 00:24:56.430 --> 00:24:58.410 put it as a renew your mind, what would that 00:24:58.410 --> 00:25:03.220 be like? Good. changing your thinking and the 00:25:03.220 --> 00:25:05.599 ways, especially the ways that arise out of the 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:07.819 thinking, right? So you know that most of your 00:25:07.819 --> 00:25:10.339 decisions are made in one of two places. They're 00:25:10.339 --> 00:25:12.359 in your conscious or your subconscious. Psychologists 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:13.859 will tell you that's the only two places, really, 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:16.680 right? But a Christian psychologist would say, 00:25:16.700 --> 00:25:18.700 well, there's a spirit involved in there, right? 00:25:18.920 --> 00:25:21.980 But the point is, your mind makes the decision 00:25:21.980 --> 00:25:24.299 oftentimes before you even realize it. Like, 00:25:24.299 --> 00:25:26.180 you've already made the decision. So the only 00:25:26.180 --> 00:25:27.880 way you're going to make a decision that you 00:25:27.880 --> 00:25:30.319 make before you even realize it correctly... 00:25:30.650 --> 00:25:33.369 is to get your mind working on the right track, 00:25:33.589 --> 00:25:35.990 right? So one of the ways we do that, not to 00:25:35.990 --> 00:25:38.849 get ahead of ourselves, is to focus on the pure, 00:25:38.990 --> 00:25:40.950 right? So your mind's not going to go to doing 00:25:40.950 --> 00:25:43.769 bad things if you're focused always on good things. 00:25:43.869 --> 00:25:48.589 That make sense? Okay. Paul encourages us to 00:25:48.589 --> 00:25:51.869 think on things that are true, honorable, and 00:25:51.869 --> 00:25:57.589 pure. True, honorable, and pure, right? So what 00:25:57.589 --> 00:26:01.009 is true, simply? What is true? It's a fact. It 00:26:01.009 --> 00:26:03.670 is what it is, right? And by the way, true is 00:26:03.670 --> 00:26:06.130 only true if it's 100 % true. What is something 00:26:06.130 --> 00:26:11.319 if it's mostly true? Okay, so if something is 00:26:11.319 --> 00:26:14.480 mostly true, what would you call that? It's false, 00:26:14.740 --> 00:26:17.480 right? If it's mostly true, it's actually false. 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.299 A thing is only true if it's 100 % true. Now, 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:22.460 you could take out the true part. Say it's 61 00:26:22.460 --> 00:26:25.339 % true. Then you could say that part, that 61 00:26:25.339 --> 00:26:28.220 % is 100 % true. That's true. But if you look 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:31.210 at a thing and it's 61 % true and... 39 % false, 00:26:31.329 --> 00:26:33.150 it's actually false, right? Try to start your 00:26:33.150 --> 00:26:36.109 car. If it mostly starts, did it start? It did 00:26:36.109 --> 00:26:38.250 not start. Turn the lights on. If they come off 00:26:38.250 --> 00:26:40.390 or a split second go off or they brown out, are 00:26:40.390 --> 00:26:43.269 they on? No, they're off. If something is mostly 00:26:43.269 --> 00:26:46.190 something, then it's actually not that something. 00:26:46.289 --> 00:26:47.950 That's what we mean. We're not there yet. We 00:26:47.950 --> 00:26:49.970 didn't get it. So true is only true if it's 100 00:26:49.970 --> 00:26:52.950 % true. And when Jesus says, I am the way and 00:26:52.950 --> 00:26:55.069 the truth and the life, Jesus is pretty much 00:26:55.069 --> 00:26:57.170 the only person who ever lived that was 100 % 00:26:57.170 --> 00:27:01.269 true, right? Okay, so true we get. Then it's, 00:27:01.269 --> 00:27:04.230 what was the next thing? Honorable. A little 00:27:04.230 --> 00:27:06.309 tougher. What's something that's honorable? What 00:27:06.309 --> 00:27:09.660 does that mean? So it means people can accept 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:11.779 it and think good things about it. It's not going 00:27:11.779 --> 00:27:14.539 to start people thinking like, oh, that's not 00:27:14.539 --> 00:27:16.099 bad. That's bad. People are not going to judge 00:27:16.099 --> 00:27:18.220 it. People are not going to question you because 00:27:18.220 --> 00:27:20.599 of it. It's honorable. It has honor. It gives 00:27:20.599 --> 00:27:23.539 you honor. Okay. And then the last one is pure. 00:27:23.900 --> 00:27:27.339 And pure is without impurities, without stuff 00:27:27.339 --> 00:27:29.960 mixed into it. Say it again. Yeah, without blemish 00:27:29.960 --> 00:27:32.460 also, right? And so a pure lamb would be a lamb 00:27:32.460 --> 00:27:34.980 with no blemish. Okay, we got to go faster. We're 00:27:34.980 --> 00:27:36.940 not going to get to our stop. We are to be blank 00:27:36.940 --> 00:27:39.539 of the word, not just hearers. This is easy. 00:27:39.660 --> 00:27:41.339 Yeah, and we already kind of covered this when 00:27:41.339 --> 00:27:42.799 we talked about renewing our minds. You have 00:27:42.799 --> 00:27:45.200 to do what you know to do. You can't just say 00:27:45.200 --> 00:27:46.460 you know what to do. You actually have to do 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:48.460 it, right? And that's what the Bible calls us 00:27:48.460 --> 00:27:50.819 to. In fact, James goes not there, but elsewhere. 00:27:50.920 --> 00:27:52.940 James goes as far as to say faith without works 00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:54.980 is dead. If you say you believe, but you don't 00:27:54.980 --> 00:27:58.119 do what you say you believe. you probably don't 00:27:58.119 --> 00:28:01.740 actually believe. Meditation empowers us to pursue 00:28:01.740 --> 00:28:03.960 evangelism. And there's two blanks there, but 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:07.119 there's not supposed to be. So it's missions. 00:28:07.559 --> 00:28:10.720 The word is missions in obedience to the Great 00:28:10.720 --> 00:28:12.980 Commission. So the last thing that Jesus said 00:28:12.980 --> 00:28:16.140 on the earth was go ye therefore. And so if you 00:28:16.140 --> 00:28:19.019 know that, meditate on that. And now you're going 00:28:19.019 --> 00:28:21.279 to act on that. What are you going to do? You're 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:24.240 going to go. Go do what? Make disciples. That's 00:28:24.240 --> 00:28:27.269 what he said. Right? All right. We possess direct 00:28:27.269 --> 00:28:31.210 access to God because every believer is a priest. 00:28:31.549 --> 00:28:33.990 Jesus is the high priest and every believer is 00:28:33.990 --> 00:28:36.109 a priest. And that's the Bible. You can read 00:28:36.109 --> 00:28:38.990 about it in Peter, a little more in detail, and 00:28:38.990 --> 00:28:42.170 also in Hebrews. I encourage you to do that at 00:28:42.170 --> 00:28:45.390 another time. Unlike popular culture, which offers 00:28:45.390 --> 00:28:49.769 fleeting opinions, God's word is unchanging. 00:28:50.210 --> 00:28:54.109 Now notice that that is a capital W there. So 00:28:54.109 --> 00:28:57.089 we understand that the Bible is not written in 00:28:57.089 --> 00:29:00.430 English. So translators do the best they can 00:29:00.430 --> 00:29:03.470 to move the language from Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, 00:29:03.529 --> 00:29:06.309 etc. into English. Even if you could go back 00:29:06.309 --> 00:29:10.390 and learn Greek or Hebrew with 100 % proficiency, 00:29:10.529 --> 00:29:13.329 you'd still be in trouble to be able to read 00:29:13.329 --> 00:29:15.730 those texts and understand what they mean. Because 00:29:15.730 --> 00:29:18.009 our minds don't work the same way they did 3 00:29:18.009 --> 00:29:21.089 ,000 years ago. The context is different. So 00:29:21.089 --> 00:29:23.369 the best you've got going for you is a two -part 00:29:23.369 --> 00:29:27.230 work. It is a translation, meaning an authoritative 00:29:27.230 --> 00:29:29.910 person has worked hard to move it from one language 00:29:29.910 --> 00:29:32.829 to another. So get a good translation, and then 00:29:32.829 --> 00:29:36.049 the Holy Spirit. And if you read it in the original 00:29:36.049 --> 00:29:37.650 language, you would need the Holy Spirit to understand 00:29:37.650 --> 00:29:39.670 it. So if you're like, well, I'm not saved, but 00:29:39.670 --> 00:29:41.569 I understand the Bible, you are wrong. That's 00:29:41.569 --> 00:29:43.329 not actually true. People understand the Bible 00:29:43.329 --> 00:29:45.130 when they're saved, when the Holy Spirit makes 00:29:45.130 --> 00:29:49.470 it possible. That's what the Word says. History 00:29:49.470 --> 00:29:52.630 shows us that blank, like Daniel, remained faithful 00:29:52.630 --> 00:29:56.269 because they anchored their minds in God. Prophets, 00:29:56.329 --> 00:29:59.730 servants, right? It isn't easy. The reality is 00:29:59.730 --> 00:30:01.730 to be a servant of God and do what God wants 00:30:01.730 --> 00:30:03.890 you to do isn't easy sometimes. Sometimes it's 00:30:03.890 --> 00:30:05.750 really hard. You have to divorce yourself of 00:30:05.750 --> 00:30:08.210 certain desires. You have to walk away from people 00:30:08.210 --> 00:30:09.890 who want you to do certain things. You have to 00:30:09.890 --> 00:30:11.690 not conform to the world. Don't do things the 00:30:11.690 --> 00:30:13.970 way the world does things. So you can tell one 00:30:13.970 --> 00:30:15.549 little white lie and get ahead at work, but now 00:30:15.549 --> 00:30:17.009 you can't do that because you're a Christian, 00:30:17.109 --> 00:30:18.930 right? You can sneak around the corner, make 00:30:18.930 --> 00:30:21.009 a phone call, and your wife, your brother, your 00:30:21.009 --> 00:30:22.430 sister, your mother's really waiting for that 00:30:22.430 --> 00:30:25.009 call, your other boss, whatever. But you'd be 00:30:25.009 --> 00:30:26.690 on the clock. That would be stealing, so now 00:30:26.690 --> 00:30:29.369 you can't do that. There are things that sometimes 00:30:29.369 --> 00:30:31.990 it's hard to be a servant or a prophet, but you 00:30:31.990 --> 00:30:34.109 can remain faithful and do what God has called 00:30:34.109 --> 00:30:37.609 you to if you anchor your mind in God. Through 00:30:37.609 --> 00:30:40.869 blank, we align our desires with the will. I'm 00:30:40.869 --> 00:30:42.470 missing a couple letters there. You can tell 00:30:42.470 --> 00:30:45.190 I made this kind of quickly. Of the Father. Okay? 00:30:45.609 --> 00:30:47.390 And it is meditation. That's what we're talking 00:30:47.390 --> 00:30:52.029 about. Focusing on the word indwelt. Thinking 00:30:52.029 --> 00:30:56.609 about it. Processing it mentally. Wondering at 00:30:56.609 --> 00:30:59.609 it. Thinking how awesome it is. Delighting in 00:30:59.609 --> 00:31:01.190 it. That's the meditation we're talking about. 00:31:01.829 --> 00:31:04.990 The blank indwells the believer to help us understand 00:31:04.990 --> 00:31:07.250 and apply. I helped out with that one. It's the 00:31:07.250 --> 00:31:09.970 Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit. It's the 00:31:09.970 --> 00:31:12.329 third person of the Trinity. And the last one, 00:31:12.490 --> 00:31:15.049 our ultimate goal in meditation is to bring blank 00:31:15.049 --> 00:31:18.579 to Christ in all we do. Glory. And what does 00:31:18.579 --> 00:31:20.420 the word glory mean? I guarantee you there's 00:31:20.420 --> 00:31:22.559 not one person in the room probably that remembers 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:25.740 what the biblical word glory actually tells us. 00:31:25.859 --> 00:31:29.180 What does it mean? Anybody? That's hard. It's 00:31:29.180 --> 00:31:33.279 toughy. Say it again. It's like glorify. Glorify, 00:31:33.579 --> 00:31:37.440 yep. So to bring glory to a thing is to shine 00:31:37.440 --> 00:31:39.980 a light on it, to bring it into the light. That's 00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:42.690 what the word means. To glorify a thing is to 00:31:42.690 --> 00:31:45.490 lift it up so it can be seen or to bring it into 00:31:45.490 --> 00:31:48.569 the light, to lift it into the light. All right. 00:31:49.369 --> 00:31:52.930 So we do not have time probably to do our tickets, 00:31:53.109 --> 00:31:55.289 but here's what we'll do. We'll do the start 00:31:55.289 --> 00:31:58.250 real quick. Then we'll let the kids, after we 00:31:58.250 --> 00:31:59.529 do the Lord's Supper, we'll let the kids go to 00:31:59.529 --> 00:32:00.910 the snack and y 'all can stay in here briefly 00:32:00.910 --> 00:32:02.829 and we'll do the drawings. Okay, does that sound 00:32:02.829 --> 00:32:05.089 like a plan? So we can do that. Alright, because 00:32:05.089 --> 00:32:06.470 we're going to need to do the stuff real quick. 00:32:06.549 --> 00:32:07.829 Alright, if you want to try the snack, you can. 00:32:08.049 --> 00:32:10.750 It involves just cups. And I have a gazillion 00:32:10.750 --> 00:32:13.390 cups, so probably any number of people can. One, 00:32:15.299 --> 00:32:18.920 two, three, four, five. One, two, three, four, 00:32:19.039 --> 00:32:25.589 five. One, two, three, four, five. One, two, 00:32:30.039 --> 00:32:45.190 three, four, five. Five cups. Four. Five. Four. 00:32:48.529 --> 00:33:09.339 Five. Five. You need one more. You need one more. 00:33:09.980 --> 00:33:14.940 Alright, is that everybody? Okay. When I start 00:33:14.940 --> 00:33:18.480 the timer, you have 60 seconds to stack the cups. 00:33:18.680 --> 00:33:21.859 The bottom cup must be bottom down. And then 00:33:21.859 --> 00:33:23.440 you're going to stack the cups one on top of 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:26.660 the other straight up. So it's down, then up 00:33:26.660 --> 00:33:30.519 like that. And then keep going. Don't start yet. 00:33:30.579 --> 00:33:35.700 Can't practice. Okay. It may not be as hard. 00:33:35.740 --> 00:33:37.619 If you succeed, you will get two tickets. If 00:33:37.619 --> 00:33:40.180 you try, you will get one. You will have 60 seconds 00:33:40.180 --> 00:33:54.299 only. Go. Bottom one down. Yep. Two. If you drop 00:33:54.299 --> 00:34:00.859 any cup, you must start from the beginning. And 00:34:00.859 --> 00:34:05.250 close. Last one. I got one. I see one. Here we 00:34:05.250 --> 00:34:09.769 go. Ace has got it. Mike is close. That counts. 00:34:10.969 --> 00:34:13.900 Look at that. You're coming up all over the place. 00:34:16.500 --> 00:34:22.250 Everybody's watching you now, man. It still counts. 00:34:22.530 --> 00:34:29.000 It was there. You got 13 seconds. No pressure. 00:34:29.360 --> 00:34:35.099 You got this. Yeah. We're rooting for you. We're 00:34:35.099 --> 00:34:42.360 rooting for you. 10 seconds. No. Go. Oh, okay. 00:34:42.579 --> 00:34:49.289 Time's up. Hey. Hey. All right. Back the cups 00:34:49.289 --> 00:34:51.829 up, please. I know you can. Back them up. You 00:34:51.829 --> 00:34:52.989 can put them in the box because they'll be the 00:34:52.989 --> 00:35:12.210 only ones out of the sleeve. Okay, so they are 00:35:12.210 --> 00:35:23.579 actually supposed to be here now. Let's see how 00:35:23.579 --> 00:36:45.079 close they are. Oh, you're watching her? You 00:36:45.079 --> 00:36:46.940 get two tickets if you completed your worksheet. 00:36:47.139 --> 00:36:49.219 You get two tickets if you completed the challenge. 00:36:49.420 --> 00:36:51.219 You get one ticket if you failed to complete 00:36:51.219 --> 00:37:00.880 the challenge. They'll tell you how many they 00:37:00.880 --> 00:38:51.219 get. Don't cheat. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, 00:38:51.219 --> 00:38:54.099 are you with me? Alright, thank you very much. 00:38:54.340 --> 00:38:57.480 Welcome to this very short, but very, very important 00:38:57.480 --> 00:38:58.780 Lord's Supper show. So I'm going to tell you 00:38:58.780 --> 00:39:00.619 a brief story. Kids, listen to a brief story, 00:39:00.739 --> 00:39:16.250 okay? There was a huge storm. A blizzard. Feet 00:39:16.250 --> 00:39:20.849 of snow fell in about 12 hours. City services 00:39:20.849 --> 00:39:23.809 failed to keep up. And pretty soon, cars were 00:39:23.809 --> 00:39:26.469 getting stuck all over the place. A mom was traveling 00:39:26.469 --> 00:39:30.750 with her kids. She had two kids under seven. 00:39:30.829 --> 00:39:32.429 It was a five -year -old and a three -year -old. 00:39:34.289 --> 00:39:36.349 their car got stuck in a snowdrift. They were 00:39:36.349 --> 00:39:39.230 kind of away from city streetlights. They were 00:39:39.230 --> 00:39:42.590 kind of away from the plowing. And so she started 00:39:42.590 --> 00:39:45.630 to worry that they wouldn't be found in time. 00:39:45.909 --> 00:39:48.130 The car stalled when they went into the snowdrift, 00:39:48.170 --> 00:39:50.090 so now there's no heat. It was warm to start 00:39:50.090 --> 00:39:51.750 with, so at first it really wasn't a problem. 00:39:51.929 --> 00:39:54.010 And then it started getting colder and colder. 00:39:54.309 --> 00:39:56.650 Now, they all had coats. It was winter. They 00:39:56.650 --> 00:39:58.170 had been outside in coats. They put off with 00:39:58.170 --> 00:39:59.610 their winter coats on. They put their mittens 00:39:59.610 --> 00:40:02.070 on. They put their hats on, put their mittens 00:40:02.070 --> 00:40:04.719 on, whatever. Maybe there was a blanket, I don't 00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:07.880 know. But the car kept getting colder and colder. 00:40:08.099 --> 00:40:10.699 Now, leaving the kids in the car and going to 00:40:10.699 --> 00:40:13.719 try to find help when they're pretty far away 00:40:13.719 --> 00:40:18.420 from lights and in a blinding snow didn't seem 00:40:18.420 --> 00:40:21.260 like a viable option to her. It was hard for 00:40:21.260 --> 00:40:22.880 her to think, I can go wandering around in the 00:40:22.880 --> 00:40:24.159 snow and try to find help and leave my little 00:40:24.159 --> 00:40:26.579 kids in the car, right? And at the same time... 00:40:26.690 --> 00:40:29.190 taking the little kids with her and going wandering 00:40:29.190 --> 00:40:30.789 around in the snow when it was only going to 00:40:30.789 --> 00:40:32.489 be a few minutes and they would surely be sick 00:40:32.489 --> 00:40:34.469 or hurt. But it didn't seem like a good option 00:40:34.469 --> 00:40:37.730 either. So she took her coat off, took her hat, 00:40:37.889 --> 00:40:39.889 her gloves, whatever, everything that she had. 00:40:40.010 --> 00:40:41.849 She bundled and wrapped the kids up the best 00:40:41.849 --> 00:40:44.329 that she could. And then she crawled in the backseat 00:40:44.329 --> 00:40:46.690 with them and kind of lay on top of them and 00:40:46.690 --> 00:40:49.530 tried to keep them warm. The story has a sad 00:40:49.530 --> 00:40:52.250 ending. And that is that the emergency services 00:40:52.250 --> 00:40:54.630 did eventually find the car and the kids were 00:40:54.630 --> 00:40:57.500 alive and safe. But the mom died. Now that's 00:40:57.500 --> 00:40:59.579 a sad story. And I'm sorry to tell you a sad 00:40:59.579 --> 00:41:02.119 story. But I want to tell you that when Jesus 00:41:02.119 --> 00:41:04.739 was walking on the earth, it seemed like a sad 00:41:04.739 --> 00:41:08.659 story. Jesus had shared with tons of people his 00:41:08.659 --> 00:41:11.179 ability to heal. He healed the blind. He brought 00:41:11.179 --> 00:41:13.300 people back to life. He made people who could 00:41:13.300 --> 00:41:16.539 not walk, walk. He healed lepers. He had preached 00:41:16.539 --> 00:41:19.219 all about God and told everybody to come to God 00:41:19.219 --> 00:41:21.920 for salvation. He walked on water, calmed the 00:41:21.920 --> 00:41:23.619 storm. There were people that thought he would 00:41:23.619 --> 00:41:25.960 rise up and be the new king. and that he would 00:41:25.960 --> 00:41:28.199 call up generals and soldiers, and that they 00:41:28.199 --> 00:41:30.820 would cast off the Roman yoke and be a free nation 00:41:30.820 --> 00:41:33.610 once again. And then on the day in question, 00:41:33.849 --> 00:41:36.269 they hung him on a cross. And a lot of people 00:41:36.269 --> 00:41:38.530 came out to see, and a lot of people's motives 00:41:38.530 --> 00:41:41.010 for coming out to see wasn't very good. They 00:41:41.010 --> 00:41:42.829 came because when people were hung on a cross, 00:41:43.090 --> 00:41:48.360 they would say crazy things, nasty things, or 00:41:48.360 --> 00:41:51.260 exposing people's secrets. They would talk about 00:41:51.260 --> 00:41:54.329 how so -and -so sold money or so -and -so lied 00:41:54.329 --> 00:41:57.630 or so -and -so gypsied the government or whatever. 00:41:57.789 --> 00:41:59.829 He would expose everybody's secrets while they 00:41:59.829 --> 00:42:00.869 were hanging on the cross because they were going 00:42:00.869 --> 00:42:03.329 to die anyway and they were trying to hurt anybody 00:42:03.329 --> 00:42:04.949 that they could because they were going to die. 00:42:05.070 --> 00:42:06.949 And so people would come out like a big crowd 00:42:06.949 --> 00:42:09.150 gathered to see what Jesus would do. But Jesus 00:42:09.150 --> 00:42:11.469 didn't do any of that. He hung there kind of 00:42:11.469 --> 00:42:14.210 in peace. He even granted forgiveness to one 00:42:14.210 --> 00:42:15.750 of the thieves who was hung on the cross next 00:42:15.750 --> 00:42:19.210 to him. The other thief was mocking him and he 00:42:19.210 --> 00:42:21.230 said, you really shouldn't do that. We're being 00:42:21.230 --> 00:42:23.070 killed. Because of crimes that we committed. 00:42:23.269 --> 00:42:25.389 But Jesus is not, he didn't do anything wrong. 00:42:26.130 --> 00:42:28.389 And then he looked at that thief and he said, 00:42:28.510 --> 00:42:32.090 you will be with me today in paradise. And he 00:42:32.090 --> 00:42:34.250 prayed. He said, forgive them for they know not 00:42:34.250 --> 00:42:36.289 what they do. That's not what they usually do 00:42:36.289 --> 00:42:38.429 when they're being crucified. And so the story 00:42:38.429 --> 00:42:41.150 looked like a very sad story. But you and I both 00:42:41.150 --> 00:42:43.469 know it doesn't end there. It really wasn't a 00:42:43.469 --> 00:42:46.110 sad story. Because three days later, when they 00:42:46.110 --> 00:42:48.090 went to the tomb to try to finish taking care 00:42:48.090 --> 00:42:51.050 of Jesus' body, lo and behold, he wasn't there. 00:42:51.380 --> 00:42:53.420 because while they were busy doing what they 00:42:53.420 --> 00:42:56.260 were doing, he had gotten up. He was dead and 00:42:56.260 --> 00:42:59.659 now he's alive. And when Jesus was that night 00:42:59.659 --> 00:43:02.019 about to be arrested, he told them when all this 00:43:02.019 --> 00:43:05.980 happens, I die, come back again. And then later 00:43:05.980 --> 00:43:08.400 I go and I'm going to be with my father. You're 00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:09.679 going to stay here and you're going to spread 00:43:09.679 --> 00:43:11.199 all the truth. You're going to tell everybody 00:43:11.199 --> 00:43:12.980 about me. You're going to start the church and 00:43:12.980 --> 00:43:14.539 all that's going to happen. While all that's 00:43:14.539 --> 00:43:16.639 happening, here's something I want you to never 00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:20.480 do. I want you to never forget that sad day. 00:43:20.989 --> 00:43:23.869 That day when everyone thought that that was 00:43:23.869 --> 00:43:27.150 the sad ending of my life. But it wasn't. It 00:43:27.150 --> 00:43:30.590 was my great victory. I won back people for God. 00:43:30.789 --> 00:43:33.489 And now, from now on, those who believe in Jesus 00:43:33.489 --> 00:43:35.909 Christ as Lord and Savior will go to heaven. 00:43:36.030 --> 00:43:38.030 And they will live with me from the moment that 00:43:38.030 --> 00:43:39.769 they believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior until 00:43:39.769 --> 00:43:42.389 they go to heaven. It's life and life abundantly 00:43:42.389 --> 00:43:45.030 on this earth and for all the way through. That's 00:43:45.030 --> 00:43:47.829 not sad. That's joyous. And I don't want you 00:43:47.829 --> 00:43:50.869 to forget. But for a moment, everybody thought 00:43:50.869 --> 00:43:53.590 that was a sad ending of my life. And that's 00:43:53.590 --> 00:43:55.530 why we do the Lord's Supper. Because he said, 00:43:55.590 --> 00:43:57.670 take this bread, which represents my body, and 00:43:57.670 --> 00:43:59.949 never forget what I did. Take this blood, which 00:43:59.949 --> 00:44:02.610 represents my blood, and never forget. And so 00:44:02.610 --> 00:44:04.170 we do the Lord's Supper. And we're going to do 00:44:04.170 --> 00:44:06.650 it now. Sherry and Caitlin, would you come up 00:44:06.650 --> 00:44:20.590 to the table? And I'll ask the deacons to come 00:44:20.590 --> 00:44:31.559 forward, please. These men stand before you and 00:44:31.559 --> 00:44:33.800 serve the Lord's Supper because we have chosen, 00:44:33.880 --> 00:44:36.099 God has chosen, and we have chosen them to serve 00:44:36.099 --> 00:44:39.280 in our body as servants. A deacon means servant. 00:44:41.719 --> 00:45:04.360 And Mike, all of it together. So these men have 00:45:04.360 --> 00:45:06.730 been called as servants and they will now serve 00:45:06.730 --> 00:45:09.389 the Lord's table for us so that we can work together 00:45:09.389 --> 00:45:12.030 and seek the Lord's Supper. So I'm going to ask 00:45:12.030 --> 00:45:14.869 Deacon Conley, would you please ask a blessing 00:45:14.869 --> 00:45:17.769 upon the brethren. Father God, we thank you for 00:45:17.769 --> 00:45:19.429 everyone that we have here. And more importantly, 00:45:19.550 --> 00:45:21.489 thank you for the sacrifice that you did for 00:45:21.489 --> 00:45:26.610 us. As we take this, let us remember the body 00:45:26.610 --> 00:45:29.489 that was broken and the sacrifice and the pain 00:45:29.489 --> 00:45:32.030 that you went through for us. Something that 00:45:32.030 --> 00:45:33.869 you didn't have to do, something you didn't have 00:45:33.869 --> 00:45:36.650 to go for. And instead, because you love us so 00:45:36.650 --> 00:45:39.150 much, you died for us. In your name I pray. Amen. 00:45:40.079 --> 00:45:41.800 And at this time, we'll distribute the bread. 00:45:43.099 --> 00:45:45.829 As the bread comes around. Jesus said that night, 00:45:45.889 --> 00:45:48.489 this is my body which is broken for you. It's 00:45:48.489 --> 00:45:51.309 unleavened bread because they were celebrating 00:45:51.309 --> 00:46:20.670 Passover. As much as you might be really desiring 00:46:20.670 --> 00:46:22.570 to eat that piece of bread, that unleavened piece 00:46:22.570 --> 00:46:25.409 of bread, you have to wait. It's like a cookie 00:46:25.409 --> 00:46:44.510 with no flavor. Very old. Tim, would you serve 00:46:44.510 --> 00:46:59.309 them? On that night, he took the bread. He said, 00:46:59.389 --> 00:47:02.389 this is my body which is broken for you. Never 00:47:02.389 --> 00:47:04.750 forget, and as much as you do this, do it in 00:47:04.750 --> 00:47:10.489 remembrance of me. Okay, Deacon Aaron, would 00:47:10.489 --> 00:47:12.670 you ask the blessing of God with us? Of course. 00:47:14.349 --> 00:47:16.869 How are we doing to this day? Thank you for the 00:47:16.869 --> 00:47:19.210 opportunity to be here to worship, to study. 00:47:19.650 --> 00:47:24.889 Even at times when it may feel difficult to focus 00:47:24.889 --> 00:47:28.429 or difficult to stay interested, we know that 00:47:28.429 --> 00:47:31.150 there's something to learn, something to gain 00:47:31.150 --> 00:47:34.090 from spending our time with you, pursuing you. 00:47:34.889 --> 00:47:38.320 Thank you for it. The story that at first seems 00:47:38.320 --> 00:47:41.760 sad, but you turn for your glory. The story of 00:47:41.760 --> 00:47:44.579 your son, his sacrifice for us. You help us to 00:47:44.579 --> 00:47:46.780 take this juice in remembrance of that sacrifice 00:47:46.780 --> 00:47:51.940 and how great that sacrifice truly is. Distribute 00:47:51.940 --> 00:48:04.269 the juice. You take one and just hold on to it. 00:48:05.719 --> 00:48:24.280 Very careful not to spill it. Very carefully. 00:48:25.179 --> 00:49:21.619 Well done. How did you get one? And the same 00:49:21.619 --> 00:49:23.940 with the juice, which represents his blood. And 00:49:23.940 --> 00:49:26.079 as often as we do this, we will never forget 00:49:26.079 --> 00:49:29.789 that story that was sad. have turned glorious. 00:49:34.460 --> 00:49:37.559 Let's pray together. Father in heaven, we partake 00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:40.619 of this symbol, this worship, this recognition, 00:49:40.840 --> 00:49:43.880 this meditation, because you are glorious, and 00:49:43.880 --> 00:49:45.639 you did what we could not do. When there was 00:49:45.639 --> 00:49:48.320 no mediator for mankind, you sent your own Son. 00:49:48.420 --> 00:49:51.260 You came in the flesh, God the Son, to be the 00:49:51.260 --> 00:49:54.230 mediator for us. You made it possible. Because 00:49:54.230 --> 00:49:56.570 of that, we can understand these things. Because 00:49:56.570 --> 00:49:58.289 of that, we can receive your Holy Spirit. And 00:49:58.289 --> 00:49:59.809 if there's someone in this room who has not, 00:50:00.119 --> 00:50:01.880 If it's not accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and 00:50:01.880 --> 00:50:03.360 Savior, I pray that right now in this moment 00:50:03.360 --> 00:50:05.599 they will say, come and get to me. I need you. 00:50:05.679 --> 00:50:08.059 I'm done playing games. I want to submit all 00:50:08.059 --> 00:50:10.500 that I am to you. To do what they should please. 00:50:11.010 --> 00:50:13.190 Take over my life and bring me in the rule that 00:50:13.860 --> 00:50:16.500 you have me to be. You be in charge. You be boss. 00:50:16.780 --> 00:50:20.090 Thank you for saving me. And let them know, Lord, 00:50:20.110 --> 00:50:21.909 that they prayed that prayer, they thought this 00:50:21.909 --> 00:50:24.309 thought, that right now they're turning to you 00:50:24.309 --> 00:50:26.150 that they're being saved perhaps for the first 00:50:26.150 --> 00:50:28.789 time ever. And I'm not going to displace with 00:50:28.789 --> 00:50:31.550 any doubts in their minds. Let us be true. We 00:50:31.550 --> 00:50:34.670 pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Okay, now at 00:50:34.670 --> 00:50:37.449 this time, the children and the children's workers 00:50:37.449 --> 00:51:01.880 may go to their camp. Okay. Hopefully by now 00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:09.480 you've had the opportunity. Hopefully by now 00:51:09.480 --> 00:51:11.079 you've had the opportunity to put your initials 00:51:11.079 --> 00:51:14.800 on your tickets, and all of the prizes are on 00:51:14.800 --> 00:51:16.739 this side of the room, so you don't have to go 00:51:16.739 --> 00:51:18.900 near the Lord's Supper stuff. You may come put 00:51:18.900 --> 00:51:27.469 your tickets on the prizes. That is a giant pickle. 00:51:27.969 --> 00:51:29.949 Can't read? It says giant pickle right on the 00:51:29.949 --> 00:52:02.889 package. Just put it down. Choose quickly. Why 00:52:02.889 --> 00:52:15.900 are you looking tired? It's your problem. You 00:52:15.900 --> 00:52:33.570 do but don't. How did that work? Yeah, choose 00:52:33.570 --> 00:52:33.929 quickly.