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So we're glad everybody is here today.

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Have you ever been told by someone that you favor somebody else?

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Maybe you look like a parent or the way that you walk or even the way that you talk.

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Maybe even the jokes that you tell.

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You find yourself telling the same jokes that your parents told at some point in your life.

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I know at different times in my life, either people will look at pictures or I'll be together,

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my brother and I, and people will say, wow, you guys really look alike.

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And most of the time I'll just say thank you, you know, after we banter about who's better

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looking or whatever that might be.

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But sometimes I'll say thank you, but we're both adopted, so we're not really blood related

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at all.

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Sometimes I'll get into that.

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Other times I'll just say thank you.

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But sometimes you meet a couple that has been married a long time and people say that over

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the years they begin to favor each other.

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They begin to look alike.

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And then maybe even sometimes you'll see a picture with a pet and a pet owner and sometimes

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we'll say that they will begin to favor each other, whether it's the hair color or the

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expressions or whatever it might be.

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But sometimes we can recognize that people begin to look alike and something is passed

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on from one person to another, that something is passed on from one generation to another.

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And sometimes when we're talking about a family situation, we've got to be clear about some

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things because we recognize that families come in many, many different varieties in

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our day and age today.

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We recognize that there's single families, single parent families.

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We recognize that there's families where people have passed away.

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We recognize that there's blended families, that there's multiple generations living in

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the same household.

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And we acknowledge that all of those are families.

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And in fact, as it says in Psalm 68 verse 6, turn there for a second if you would because

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I want to look at the context around that.

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Whenever we're talking about a sermon or a message that has to do with relationships

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or families, it's sometimes easy for some people to tune that out and say, well, that

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doesn't apply to me.

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That doesn't apply to me anymore.

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But in Psalm 68, it's talking about God and it says in verse 4, sing to God, sing praises

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to His name.

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And then in verse 5, it describes God a little bit.

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And it says God will be a father of the fatherless.

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Sometimes we in this world, we recognize that people have lost a parent or have never really

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had a good parent.

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And so they can't really acknowledge or express and understand talking about God as a father.

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But God's going to be the father to those, the fatherless.

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And it says He's going to be a defender of the widows.

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So even those who their spouse, their loved one has passed away, God is the defender of

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that.

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And then in verse 6, it goes so far and it says that God sets the solitary, the single

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into families.

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He brings out those who are bound into prosperity.

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So even if someone thinks, if you think that you are all alone, you are not.

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God sets the single into families.

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And so even as we gather in a place like this, in a church, this is a family right here.

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And so you can look around and you can acknowledge your brothers and sisters in Christ that are

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here and we can look out for each other and recognize that we are a family.

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And in fact, on our vision statement on the back of our bulletin, it says there's a mission

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statement and a vision statement and the vision statement says the Ringgold Seventh-day Adventist

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Church will be a biblical, spirit-led, faith-filled, family-focused and growing fellowship.

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And so we acknowledge and recognize that families come in many different shapes and sizes and

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we are glad that you are here today to worship with us, to be part of our church family.

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So with that in mind, we do recognize that we have people who have taught us different

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things in life.

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Maybe a father or a father figure or a mother or a mother figure.

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Sometimes we're taught how to play a game, how to catch a ball, or perhaps we're taught

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how to ride a bike or maybe how to cook a particular item, cook some food.

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And there's many things that those father figures, those mother figures, those parents,

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those siblings pass on and teach somebody else, whether it's how to cook, how to fix

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a car, how to fish, how to tie a tie, how to do algebra, whatever it is, there's something

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that people are passing along to somebody else.

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And then there's a verse that's in Proverbs 22, 6 and it says, train up a child in the

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way they should go and when he or she, when they are old, they will not depart from it.

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And I know that in this room and many people that I know, you're claiming this promise,

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you're praying this prayer because you acknowledge and in your mind you have trained up the young

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in the way they should go and you're still claiming that promise of the second part,

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that when they are old they will not depart from it or they will return perhaps as the

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prayer that you are praying and I would encourage you to keep praying for that.

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And then we also acknowledge that not every family has a child involved but the fact is

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that each one of us are teaching something.

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Every moment of our day, every experience that we have, every interaction that we are

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engaged in, we are teaching someone something else.

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And families are a place where that teaching can go on and a church as we said is a place

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where families can teach and where people can learn in every interaction that we have.

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And so the question is what are you teaching in your life?

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What have people looked at you over this past week and what have they learned from what

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you have taught them?

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Turn over to Exodus chapter 20.

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We're going to finally settle down in Deuteronomy chapter 6 but Exodus 20 is perhaps best well

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known because that's where we find the 10 commandments and probably some of you have

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memorized those and could recite those but we're going to look at just the second commandment

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for just a moment.

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And in fact we're not even going to totally look at the commandment itself.

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Exodus 20 verse 4 begins the second commandment, you shall not make for yourself a carved image

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any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that

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is in the water under the earth.

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So don't make an idol is basically what that's saying.

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But then it says in verse 5, you shall not bow down to them nor serve them for I the

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Lord your God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children

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to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me.

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Did you catch what that said?

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God says I'm going to visit the iniquity of the fathers upon the children.

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Now we recognize that the Bible does not say that if I have sinned that my children will

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be punished for that.

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We read that the soul who sins, the person who sins, they are the one that are guilty

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of that sin.

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So what does this mean?

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What is this talking about?

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I believe this is talking about something maybe we would use a phrase like generational

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sin or generational curse.

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Sometimes people would say and you've probably seen this that someone will just use a extreme

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example a parent that is an alcoholic.

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It is much more likely that their children will grow up to be alcoholics as well.

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A parent that is abusive in some way, physically abusive, verbally abusive, it is much more

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likely that their children will grow up and exhibit abusive characteristics in their family

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as well.

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So it's not that one is guilty because of something but just the way that we are, our

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human nature, that abusive behavior, that alcoholic behavior is transferred through

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the natural learning process.

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That's what they are observing, that's what they are believing that a family is supposed

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to be like, that that is passed down from one generation to the next generation.

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And it's easy for people to say well that's just the way I am, that's how my daddy was

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and so that's how I am.

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But we believe in the power of God.

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We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit that God can break into a situation and he

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can break that generational sin, he can break that generational curse.

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We think of the children of Israel in Egypt in bondage of slavery and yet the right arm

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of God was able to break into that situation and deliver them from that bondage, deliver

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them from that slavery.

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And perhaps you or someone in your family may be caught up in some sort of thing that

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you don't think you have a power over, well know that God is more powerful than whatever

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addictive behavior you may have in your family or in your life and God can break in and break

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that curse, break that sin from one generation to the next.

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In fact let's look at one more passage.

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Excuse me, Psalm, Psalm 78, the 78th Psalm.

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We're going to go to the 78th Psalm here.

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We're going to see this talked about again in Psalm 78.

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It says in Psalm 78, 1, it's not on the screen but it says, give ear, oh my people, to my

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law, incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

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And then we're going to skip down to verse 4 and it says, we will not hide them from

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our children telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength

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and his wonderful works that he has done.

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I want you to pay attention to how many levels it's talking about here.

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Verse 5, for he established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel which

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he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children.

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And then it goes on in verse 6 and says that the generation to come might know them, the

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children who would be born, that they may arise and declare them to their children,

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that they may set their hope in God and not forget the works of God but keep his commandments.

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How many?

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There's at least four generations that's talked about that the fathers are going to teach

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it to their children so that they can teach it to their children and they can teach it

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to the children who aren't even born yet.

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It's passing along just like we sung that song, it only takes a spark to get a fire

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going and soon all those around can warm up and it's glowing.

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How many sung that at some point in your life at youth group or summer camp or something

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like that?

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And then it says that's how it is with God's love.

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Once you've experienced it, you spread his love to everyone, you want to pass it on.

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When we have experienced and acknowledged and seen God at work in our life, we want

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to pass it on.

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You want to experience it and you want to share it.

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You want to pass it to the next group.

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So with that in mind, let's turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 6.

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So this is the fifth book of the Bible.

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Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

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Now Deuteronomy, that word, it means second law.

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Second law.

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The no most part of that word, that has to do with law and then the Deutero, you know

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you think of a duet, that's two people sing, so it's the second law.

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So what's that all about?

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Well way back in Exodus where we had just read, that was when the children of Israel

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had been brought out of Egypt.

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God met them on Mount Sinai and he gave them the Ten Commandments.

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And then as we remember the story, the children of Israel disobeyed and became unfaithful.

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And so they were in the wilderness for how long was it?

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It was about 40 years.

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They wandered in the wilderness.

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And in fact all of the people of a certain age, they passed away in the wilderness.

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And those who were younger grew up during that time.

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And now in Deuteronomy they come to the borders of the promised land, the place that they

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had been going.

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And in Deuteronomy chapter 5, if you look back just one page, there's another recitation

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of the Ten Commandments.

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God gives the Ten Commandments again to remind them, hey, this is what I told them 40 years

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before, they're still there.

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Deuteronomy chapter 5 has those Ten Commandments.

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But now they are on the border of the promised land.

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And in Deuteronomy chapter 6 we see some instruction.

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And perhaps it can still be some instruction for us as we look at our world and look at

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our life and we can acknowledge perhaps that we are on the border of the eternal promised

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land.

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We're waiting for that next step.

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We're waiting to go in.

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So, Deuteronomy 6 and verse 1, let's look there.

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It says, now this is the commandment.

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These are the statutes and judgment which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you

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that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess.

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You're about to cross the Jordan River.

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You're about to go to the promised land.

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So I'm telling you these things again.

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And then in verse 2 it says that you may fear the Lord your God and keep all his statutes

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and his commandments which I command you.

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And notice again some generations, you and your son and your grandson, all the days of

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your life that your days may be prolonged.

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So as they are about to go into the promised land they are given this instruction not just

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for themselves but to pass on, to share with somebody else.

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And so we can look at verse 4.

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This is one of the most famous verses in the Old Testament.

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Those of the Jewish faith, this is a prayer that they acknowledge that they pray a couple

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times a day.

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It's part of their services.

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And so it's called, this prayer is called the Shema or the Shema depending on how you

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pronounce that.

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And that word Shema means hear or listen.

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And it's a phrase that that word Shema is repeated throughout the Old Testament.

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And so it goes on and here's what is to be listened to at this point.

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Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

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And we would acknowledge from some other portions of scripture that it's one in three but that's

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a sermon for another day.

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And it goes on in verse 5 and says you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,

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with all your soul, and with all your strength.

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I think this is a prayer that is worth hearing.

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Just like it says listen, it's worth being repeated.

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It's worth acknowledging.

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And so it says love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength.

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This is basically saying totally, completely, all that you are you can acknowledge God.

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In fact maybe you've heard this verse before because it's repeated in the New Testament.

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When they come to Jesus and they ask him what's the greatest commandment?

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Jesus said the greatest commandment is this, you shall love the Lord your God with all

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your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.

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And then he goes on and the second is like it.

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You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

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And so this is a personal command here that as individuals we can love God with all that

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we are, with all of our essence, with all of our thoughts, with all of our actions.

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And as a parent or as an individual we can pass that along to somebody else.

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And I think we need to acknowledge here that this is not, because when Jesus says love

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the Lord your God with all your heart, love your neighbor as yourself, he says on these

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two hang all the law and the prophets.

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So all the law is based on this concept of love and the way that we act, the way that

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we show our love to God, the way that we show our love to others.

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And so I believe that the law is not just a checklist.

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Okay here's ten things, check, check, check.

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Okay good I'm done.

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But as we see this, the law is about internalizing, placing within us so that we can love God

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with all that we are, we can lift him up.

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Because the fact is we can know right and wrong and we can still choose the wrong.

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Even if we know the list, we can still make a choice that is inappropriate.

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There was a couple years ago, my wife and I went on a trip, we ended up in Niagara Falls

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is where we ended up on this road trip.

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And on the way there we passed by somewhere so we stopped at a place in Kentucky that

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I know some of you have been, and it's bigger than this building but it's the Ark.

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Anybody been to the Ark encounter up in Kentucky?

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Well we went to the Ark, it's a massive huge structure to go to to see the size of Noah's

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Ark and so it was very neat in different ways.

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But my wife's favorite part of this Ark encounter was the buffet.

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They have a cafeteria there and her favorite part was the buffet.

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And I have to be quick here to say it's not just because she likes to eat, I eat much

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more than she does, but it was because of one particular item that was in this buffet.

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And so we went through line, we came back and we sat down and she ate this item and

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she said these are the best Brussels sprouts that I have ever ever had.

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These are the best Brussels sprouts.

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She's like you have got to try these Brussels sprouts.

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Now I did not get the Brussels sprouts going through line the first time because I'm not

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a fan of Brussels sprouts.

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So even hearing the idea that these were the best Brussels sprouts, now I did go back in

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line again because it's a buffet and you've got to get your money's worth.

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And so when I went back through the buffet I did not get the Brussels sprouts but I did

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get the soft serve ice cream because I greatly enjoy ice cream and soft serve ice cream.

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So even though those were the best Brussels sprouts I knew that they were the more healthy

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for me but I still chose to get the ice cream because I knew even though less healthy in

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that moment it was going to taste a bit better.

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And so sometimes we know what is best and we still choose the least, we still choose

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the wrong thing.

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Now I do have to make a disclaimer because my father-in-law Buzz went to the Ark a couple

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months ago, a month or two ago and he said they still have Brussels sprouts but they're

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different, it's a different recipe.

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So don't go to the Ark just for the Brussels sprouts because I can't guarantee that they

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will be the best ever as my wife claimed there.

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So sometimes we know right from wrong and we still choose wrong.

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So these commandments are not just about a checklist but it's about internalizing something,

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loving God with all of our heart, with all of our soul and with all of our strength.

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We can go on in verse 6 and it says these words which I command you today shall be not

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on a checklist but shall be in your heart.

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And then it goes on in verse 7 and it says you shall teach them.

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They're going to be in your heart but they're not supposed to just remain in your heart

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but you're supposed to pass it along.

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I think in our day and age when it seems as if families are under attack, morals are under

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attack that this is something we need to be doing to pass something on.

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And in fact it says you shall teach them diligently to your children.

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The King James Version says you shall impress them upon your children.

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You know you picture something pressing in and leaving its mark and what that word means

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if you were to translate it means to sharpen something.

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If you've ever sharpened a knife you know that it takes time as you rub that blade across

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stone to get it to a sharper point there and it says you shall teach them diligently to

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your children.

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So I mentioned that the church is part of the family process but let me tell you that

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church is not enough.

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Two hours, two and a half hours if you come to Sabbath school and church that's not enough.

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Please keep doing that but it's got to be more than that because look at what it says.

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It says you shall teach them diligently to your children.

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You shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, when you

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lie down and when you rise up.

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That's more than just two hours at church time.

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That's more than just being here because how many hours are in a week?

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I'm not sure but it's you know seven times 24.

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There's a lot of hours in a week and two is not enough to overcome everything else and

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so it says you can talk about them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way.

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There's a lot of families that you know we don't talk as much as we used to in the house

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because our world is very busy.

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We talked about it in Sabbath school this morning.

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It seems like we're constantly running from place to place and we've got this project

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and we're doing this thing and we're often just passing by and we don't take a lot of

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time to sit and chat about things of God.

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Is your family, don't raise your hand, is your family having family worship?

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Are you spending some time in the morning or in the evening reading a verse or two from

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the Bible, saying a prayer together and talking about the things of God?

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And then it says when you walk by the way, we don't walk places in our day and age but

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how do we get from place to place?

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We usually drive and guess what you're doing when you're driving?

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You're sitting, you're sitting together so could that be a place to have a conversation

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as you're driving the kids to school, as you're driving from place to place as the day goes

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by?

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I know when my kids were small we came across some, one is a CD.

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Kids may not know that's a CD, it's a disc that you would put in something and listen

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to music and it was by Steve Green and it was called Hide Them in Your Heart and it

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was just scripture songs and you listen to these scriptures, these Bible verses set to

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music.

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There was another one called Plant a Seed and it was a series of short little songs

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that went along with the Sabbath school memory verse and it was just a way, simple way that

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people could learn Bible verses.

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If you've ever watched the Hope channel, the Hope Sabbath school, there's a scripture song

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that is sung each week so find a way as you're eating together, as you're driving together,

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as you're sitting together to find a way to uplift Jesus and to put him first.

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And then it says in verse 8, you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall

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be as frontlets between your eyes, you shall write them on the doorposts of your house

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and on your gates.

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What in the world is this talking about?

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Well some in the world have taken this very literally and have created, this was from

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years ago but they're still around, created little boxes that have, they could write some

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Bible verses in with some leather straps and they could tie them around their wrists.

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They're called phylacteries or tie them around their head because they're reading this literally.

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But I think that this is not necessarily talking about a fashion statement but it's talking

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about an attitude that we have towards God and towards God's word.

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It's not about what we wear but it's about the spiritual legacy that we leave.

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You know in Revelation it talks about the mark of the beast, Revelation 13 and it says

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the mark of the beast will be in the forehead and on the hand.

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And we recognize that that's not again not talking about a fashion statement or a tattoo

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or something like that but it's talking about the attitude.

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How are we thinking towards God?

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How are we acting?

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What actions are our hands and our lives pouring forth?

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And so it's more than just what we're wearing on the outside but it's about the interior

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attitudes.

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And in thought and in action your family can reflect Jesus and guess what?

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If that happens people will notice.

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And then it says you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

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And again there are some who on the doorposts have placed a little mini Ten Commandments

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and as they walk out they can rub that to acknowledge it or for good luck or whatever.

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And I don't think it's talking about that.

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I don't think it's talking about a sign in your yard.

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Although I've got to give some props to Peavine Church because as I drive around Ringgold

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and Rossville there's a lot of houses that say you know Peavine Church so they've got

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some good marketing there.

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But again I don't think it's about the sign that you have in your yard but it's about

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the way that you live out your faith.

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And as people see that they can acknowledge that this is a household of faith.

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When I was in seminary it was up in Michigan at Barian Springs and that's a little colder

365
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than here.

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I know some are from up there.

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But the first time that it snowed it seemed like every time it snowed it was always on

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Friday night.

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It snowed on Friday night.

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And so the first time I was up there and it snowed it snowed four inches on Friday night.

371
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So Sabbath morning I was working at a little church called Coloma.

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I was assisting there and I called the pastor and I said pastor are we having church today?

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He was like well it's Sabbath why wouldn't we have church?

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And I'm like there's four inches of snow.

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And he just kind of chuckled and said you have a lot to learn young man.

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And so I got in the car and slipped, slided my way to church.

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And just be aware if we have four inches you know it's 50-50 whether we have, there's

378
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a probably better shot that we're not going to have church.

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And so I had shoveled the driveway off and made my way to church that morning.

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And then a few weeks later another Friday night another snowfall.

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I didn't call this time.

382
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I had learned my lesson.

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So I got up early.

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I was putting my boots on.

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I was getting my snow shovel and suddenly I heard something.

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I looked out and it was my neighbor and he had a riding lawn mower.

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And up there in Michigan many of the riding lawn mowers they have an attachment that turns

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it into a snow blower.

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So he was out blowing the snow clearing a driveway.

390
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Only he wasn't clearing his driveway.

391
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He was clearing my driveway.

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He wasn't going to church that morning but he had seen and recognized that I left early

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00:31:24,380 --> 00:31:27,380
on Saturday morning to go to church.

394
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And so he said you know what I'm going to help out this young guy from Tennessee and

395
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I'm going to clean off his driveway for him.

396
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He saw what I was doing and he acknowledged that.

397
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And to me that really showed Jesus to me as he was acknowledging what I did and serving

398
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me in such a way.

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We have an opportunity to leave a spiritual legacy in the life that we live and in the

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00:31:57,640 --> 00:31:59,600
area that we go.

401
00:31:59,600 --> 00:32:08,500
I saw a while ago I saw something online and usually it's kind of my personal rule not

402
00:32:08,500 --> 00:32:14,640
to read the comments online because it's never good when people are arguing about you never

403
00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:15,640
solve anything.

404
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:18,720
You never, nobody's ever convinced.

405
00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:28,820
But what this was was someone had taken an iron skillet and they had the comment online

406
00:32:28,820 --> 00:32:35,360
was about how the seasoning had been ruined in their iron skillet because somebody either

407
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:40,080
them or somebody else had made like tomato soup or pasta or something and so the acid

408
00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:44,800
from the tomatoes had messed up the seasoning is what they said and they were asking what's

409
00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:48,720
the best way to re-season an iron skillet.

410
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:53,520
And so in the comments people were commenting you know rub it with oil, put it in the oven

411
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:59,040
for you know low temperature for two hours then rub some more oil, more heat, more oil,

412
00:32:59,040 --> 00:33:03,840
what kind of oil, coconut oil, you know all the different solutions, all the different

413
00:33:03,840 --> 00:33:06,800
ways to season your iron skillet.

414
00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:13,400
And then way down in the comments someone said the best way to get your cast iron seasoned

415
00:33:13,400 --> 00:33:18,620
perfectly is to inherit it that way.

416
00:33:18,620 --> 00:33:24,160
And then somebody else made the comment that they said if you are seasoning cast iron you

417
00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:29,880
are really doing it for the next generation because that's when it's going to be perfect.

418
00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:34,760
After it's been seasoned for a long time and it continues to absorb those oils and everything

419
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:42,720
else and so that hit me that something as simple as cast iron is working for someone

420
00:33:42,720 --> 00:33:46,120
else, working for someone to come.

421
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:52,680
In the same way as we acknowledge and recognize what Jesus has done in our life we have the

422
00:33:52,680 --> 00:34:00,560
ability and we have the recognition that we can serve the next generation, serve the people

423
00:34:00,560 --> 00:34:05,760
that we are communicating with, that we are connecting with, that we can make a difference

424
00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:08,920
in somebody else's life.

425
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:14,140
So I want to say maybe how did you find out about Jesus?

426
00:34:14,140 --> 00:34:19,320
Maybe it was you know sitting on your daddy's knee, maybe your mama read you stories before

427
00:34:19,320 --> 00:34:24,280
bed and you learned about Jesus, if that's how you learned about Jesus and if you still

428
00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:30,280
have the opportunity call up whoever that was and tell them thank you.

429
00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:36,920
But then don't just keep it in but pass it along and share it with somebody else.

430
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:42,520
But maybe there's somebody here who's really new to this whole Christian thing and maybe

431
00:34:42,520 --> 00:34:49,920
you've had awful horrible examples of someone trying to tell you about Jesus and it's almost

432
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:52,360
turned you completely off.

433
00:34:52,360 --> 00:35:01,480
I would say don't give up, it's worth it because as it says there in Deuteronomy chapter 6

434
00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:07,960
it says that we can hear oh Israel the Lord is one and then it says you shall love the

435
00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:14,640
Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and

436
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:18,280
that's what we can pass on to somebody else.

437
00:35:18,280 --> 00:35:23,760
Have you acknowledged the love of Jesus in your life?

438
00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:27,760
If you want to do it again I just invite you to raise your hand, say Jesus thank you so

439
00:35:27,760 --> 00:35:30,320
much for loving me.

440
00:35:30,320 --> 00:35:34,160
And then I want to give you another challenge here and I want you to lift up a prayer and

441
00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:38,560
say God who can I pass that on to this week?

442
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:42,400
Is there a family member, a spouse, a child, a parent?

443
00:35:42,400 --> 00:35:43,960
Is there somebody at work?

444
00:35:43,960 --> 00:35:48,520
Is there somebody at Walmart that I might see that I can give just a little glimpse

445
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:55,400
of the love of Jesus that shines into my life and I can pass that to somebody else?

446
00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:57,280
That's my challenge for you this week.

447
00:35:57,280 --> 00:36:00,120
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.

448
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:07,120
Dear God what an incredible gift of grace, an incredible gift of love that you have poured

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out into our heart and into our life.

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Lord I pray for each one of us here that we will just daily accept that grace and if there's

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somebody here who hasn't may they do that right now and just acknowledge you as Lord

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and Savior.

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And then Lord open up our eyes to who we can pass it on to, who we can experience your love

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and then like a fire and a spark we can pass it to somebody else.

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May we see a family member or a friend that we can share your love with this week.

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In your name we pray, Amen.