WEBVTT 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:08.919 Believe it or not, trees tell stories. Have you 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:12.460 experienced that before? It's not there anymore, 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:16.859 but when I was at Southern back in the 1900s, 00:00:16.859 --> 00:00:19.839 the old days, if you walk down the promenade 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:22.399 of Southern, there's a little detour down on 00:00:22.399 --> 00:00:24.059 the one end and it's called the Prayer Garden. 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:26.280 That's still there. There's some little seating 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:30.440 places, some places to pray or contemplate. But 00:00:30.440 --> 00:00:35.439 there used to be there a big giant slice of a 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:39.960 tree that was there. A big tree. And there was 00:00:39.960 --> 00:00:42.039 a bench in front of that tree. And I see a few 00:00:42.039 --> 00:00:44.840 people nodding like they saw that tree as well. 00:00:45.020 --> 00:00:48.479 And if you look at a cross -section of a tree, 00:00:48.640 --> 00:00:52.719 there's a bunch of rings, right? And what do 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:57.600 those rings represent? Each ring is approximately 00:00:57.600 --> 00:01:02.009 a year. how much the tree has grown during the 00:01:02.009 --> 00:01:05.790 past year. And someone had taken the time to 00:01:05.790 --> 00:01:09.390 count the rings on this tree. And I forget what 00:01:09.390 --> 00:01:12.329 year it started, but the year it had fallen down 00:01:12.329 --> 00:01:15.049 or the year it was chopped down, and they began 00:01:15.049 --> 00:01:17.510 to count back. And they could say, well, this 00:01:17.510 --> 00:01:21.189 was the year that Southern was founded. And this 00:01:21.189 --> 00:01:23.469 was the year that the school first started in 00:01:23.469 --> 00:01:27.170 Graysville. And this was when the Civil War was. 00:01:27.849 --> 00:01:30.730 And this was when George Washington was president. 00:01:30.870 --> 00:01:33.930 This was when the pilgrims came on the Mayflower. 00:01:34.129 --> 00:01:38.310 And it counted back about 400 years of history 00:01:38.310 --> 00:01:42.430 from that one tree. And we can recognize that 00:01:42.430 --> 00:01:46.969 trees tell stories. If you were to go down to 00:01:46.969 --> 00:01:51.390 Camp Kalaqua in Florida, High Springs, that's 00:01:51.390 --> 00:01:53.469 where the one gentleman was transferring to. 00:01:53.769 --> 00:01:57.549 At Camp Kalaqua, there's a... spring that bubbles 00:01:57.549 --> 00:02:00.769 up out of the ground and it's cold if you go 00:02:00.769 --> 00:02:03.769 swimming in there and around that spring and 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:07.310 down the river there's a boardwalk and you can 00:02:07.310 --> 00:02:10.009 begin to walk down that boardwalk and it's not 00:02:10.009 --> 00:02:12.389 too far that you get and there's a little overlook 00:02:12.389 --> 00:02:15.310 and there's a sign and there's a particular tree 00:02:15.310 --> 00:02:18.849 that has a name this particular tree anybody 00:02:18.849 --> 00:02:23.930 know what it's named not no it's called big dan 00:02:24.620 --> 00:02:28.219 Big Dan is the name of this tree. And they haven't 00:02:28.219 --> 00:02:30.800 counted the rings because the tree is still alive. 00:02:31.099 --> 00:02:35.919 But just from its size, they estimate that this 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:40.599 tree of Big Dan is about 2 ,000 years old. 2 00:02:40.599 --> 00:02:44.120 ,000 years old. Perhaps starting to grow around 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:52.439 684 B .C., before Christ. So 2 ,000 years old. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.789 So you can imagine. how much history that big 00:02:56.789 --> 00:03:00.229 tree has observed, how much history that tree 00:03:00.229 --> 00:03:03.389 has witnessed. Many of you know that I used to 00:03:03.389 --> 00:03:05.849 teach just down the road at Georgia Cumberland 00:03:05.849 --> 00:03:11.030 Academy. The very first pastor of the church 00:03:11.030 --> 00:03:14.669 that first formed on that campus before it was 00:03:14.669 --> 00:03:18.490 a school was a gentleman by the name of Arthur 00:03:18.490 --> 00:03:22.469 W. Spalding. He later became kind of famous for 00:03:22.469 --> 00:03:25.210 writing children's books. There's a school that 00:03:25.210 --> 00:03:27.849 used to be named for him right up the road. And 00:03:27.849 --> 00:03:30.650 if you were to read his biography, I don't know 00:03:30.650 --> 00:03:34.030 if it's an autobiography, but it tells the story 00:03:34.030 --> 00:03:36.509 of when he was a young preacher, he would go 00:03:36.509 --> 00:03:40.289 into the woods on that property and he would 00:03:40.289 --> 00:03:44.490 practice his sermons preaching to the trees so 00:03:44.490 --> 00:03:47.750 they could hear that message of God, so he could 00:03:47.750 --> 00:03:51.770 work on it, so he could... practice. Years later, 00:03:51.830 --> 00:03:54.849 when that campus was purchased by the conference 00:03:54.849 --> 00:03:58.550 to become Georgia Cumberland Academy in the 60s, 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:03.169 they actually planted some trees there for beautification 00:04:03.169 --> 00:04:06.710 so it would look nice. And they planted several 00:04:06.710 --> 00:04:11.689 rows along the entry road of dogwoods. And by 00:04:11.689 --> 00:04:15.409 the time I was there in the 2000s, some of those 00:04:15.409 --> 00:04:19.160 trees, you know, 40 years old now, had become 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:23.259 diseased, had died. And so they had to cut some 00:04:23.259 --> 00:04:26.459 of them down and they planted new ones. But as 00:04:26.459 --> 00:04:29.420 they cut some down, they cut some of them up 00:04:29.420 --> 00:04:32.360 into little wood slivers and they passed them 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:35.680 out with a little stamp of the school seal there. 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:38.939 And on the back it says, this slice of dogwood 00:04:38.939 --> 00:04:43.259 is a little piece of GCA history taken from a 00:04:43.259 --> 00:04:48.720 tree planted here in 1962. So over... 40 years? 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:54.139 50 years? How many families did these trees have 00:04:54.139 --> 00:04:57.259 drive by as they're dropping their kids off on 00:04:57.259 --> 00:04:59.639 the first day of school with probably tears in 00:04:59.639 --> 00:05:02.540 mama's eyes and excitement in the kids' eyes? 00:05:02.899 --> 00:05:07.160 So those trees can certainly tell stories. And 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:09.899 today we're going to look at some stories in 00:05:09.899 --> 00:05:14.240 the Bible of trees, that trees share with us. 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:15.839 We're going to go back to the very beginning. 00:05:16.430 --> 00:05:19.110 To Genesis is where we're going to start. But 00:05:19.110 --> 00:05:21.310 before we're through, we're going to see about 00:05:21.310 --> 00:05:25.329 three different scenes that involve trees. And 00:05:25.329 --> 00:05:29.170 these scenes actually sum up the entire story 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:33.509 of salvation. You know, in just less than two 00:05:33.509 --> 00:05:37.269 weeks, right in this room, we're going to start 00:05:37.269 --> 00:05:43.069 a series called The Future Unfolding. Looks kind 00:05:43.069 --> 00:05:47.279 of like this. The Future Unfolding. That starts 00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:51.819 two weeks from yesterday, from last night. And 00:05:51.819 --> 00:05:55.360 then for about two weeks, every night but Wednesday, 00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:58.300 we're going to invite people to come and to learn 00:05:58.300 --> 00:06:02.220 that story of salvation through the lens of Bible 00:06:02.220 --> 00:06:04.740 prophecy. We hope that you will plan, you'll 00:06:04.740 --> 00:06:06.740 put that on your calendar, but more than that, 00:06:06.779 --> 00:06:09.819 that you will invite someone to come with you. 00:06:09.879 --> 00:06:12.740 Your friend, your neighbor, the person you work 00:06:12.740 --> 00:06:16.230 with. Right outside this door by the exit way, 00:06:16.290 --> 00:06:19.389 there's a box of these signs. There's about 20 00:06:19.389 --> 00:06:21.689 of them, I think. I hope that you'll take one 00:06:21.689 --> 00:06:24.170 and make sure you get the little metal stand 00:06:24.170 --> 00:06:26.970 in the other box and that maybe you could put 00:06:26.970 --> 00:06:30.209 it in your yard. And so the people that drive 00:06:30.209 --> 00:06:34.430 by your house could maybe be interested and follow 00:06:34.430 --> 00:06:37.029 the website. Or maybe you live down a country 00:06:37.029 --> 00:06:39.589 road and there's no place that would be good. 00:06:39.709 --> 00:06:42.839 I bet you drive past some intersections. where 00:06:42.839 --> 00:06:46.060 there's signs for realtors or signs for elections, 00:06:46.259 --> 00:06:50.199 get one carefully, look out for traffic, but 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:55.399 stick that sign into that place so that in the 00:06:55.399 --> 00:06:58.199 next two weeks, people will have the opportunity 00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:01.660 to know that something is coming so that they 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:04.439 can come and hear the story of salvation. If 00:07:04.439 --> 00:07:06.579 you're on social media, if you're on Facebook, 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:09.660 you may have already seen some ads that have 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:12.569 popped up. that have started to be displayed. 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:15.930 And there's at least two people or four people 00:07:15.930 --> 00:07:19.550 already this far out who have clicked and said, 00:07:19.610 --> 00:07:21.670 hey, we want to register for this. We want to 00:07:21.670 --> 00:07:25.230 be a part of this event. Whether or not they 00:07:25.230 --> 00:07:28.029 come, we don't know for sure. We can only pray 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:30.490 about it. But we can recognize that they have 00:07:30.490 --> 00:07:33.250 seen it and that they have been invited to hear 00:07:33.250 --> 00:07:36.449 this story of salvation. Today we're going to 00:07:36.449 --> 00:07:38.990 look at the story from the perspective of trees. 00:07:39.110 --> 00:07:41.699 So turn in your Bibles. all the way back to the 00:07:41.699 --> 00:07:44.800 beginning, to Genesis. Of course, the very first 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.319 verse, you probably don't even need to look it 00:07:47.319 --> 00:07:50.839 up, but Genesis 1 .1 says, in the beginning, 00:07:51.019 --> 00:07:56.660 God created the heavens and the earth. And if 00:07:56.660 --> 00:07:59.079 you read down through the rest of Genesis 1, 00:07:59.420 --> 00:08:03.259 over and over it says things like, and God said, 00:08:03.600 --> 00:08:08.000 let there be light. And it was so. And the light 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:11.660 came into existence. And each day, God spoke 00:08:11.660 --> 00:08:14.899 and something else was created. Something else 00:08:14.899 --> 00:08:18.079 came into existence. And when God looked at it, 00:08:18.100 --> 00:08:22.319 each day He said, this is good. Until finally 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:25.199 He gets to the end of creation and He says, this 00:08:25.199 --> 00:08:28.399 is very good. And then if we turn to Genesis 00:08:28.399 --> 00:08:32.440 2, we begin to see another portion of the story 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:36.870 take place. Genesis 2, we'll read verse 8. It 00:08:36.870 --> 00:09:01.350 says, So right there in the heart of the garden, 00:09:01.470 --> 00:09:05.190 there were... Lots and lots of trees, but there 00:09:05.190 --> 00:09:08.710 were two trees that were named in particular. 00:09:08.769 --> 00:09:12.590 The tree of life, and then the tree of the knowledge 00:09:12.590 --> 00:09:17.269 of good and evil. And particular directions were 00:09:17.269 --> 00:09:20.389 given for these trees. Skip down to verse 16. 00:09:20.450 --> 00:09:35.419 It says, Not eat. The tree of the knowledge of 00:09:35.419 --> 00:09:38.159 good and evil. You shall not eat. And the day 00:09:38.159 --> 00:09:42.360 that you eat of it, you shall surely die. So 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:45.460 there in the midst of the garden were trees. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:49.360 Trees that could tell stories. Trees that in 00:09:49.360 --> 00:09:52.039 essence were just like any of the other trees. 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:56.360 It doesn't say that these trees were toxic. It 00:09:56.360 --> 00:10:00.139 doesn't say these trees were on fire, were poison, 00:10:00.259 --> 00:10:03.240 anything like that. The only thing that set this 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:09.200 tree apart is that God said, no. God said, don't 00:10:09.200 --> 00:10:12.580 eat from this particular tree, and so that set 00:10:12.580 --> 00:10:19.039 it apart. But, we know the story, and we know 00:10:19.039 --> 00:10:22.899 what happened. That even though these trees were 00:10:22.899 --> 00:10:25.860 set apart, by the time you flip one more chapter 00:10:25.860 --> 00:10:31.299 to chapter 3, you see Eve. there with a beast, 00:10:31.500 --> 00:10:34.539 with a serpent and a tree. And this serpent, 00:10:34.620 --> 00:10:37.600 it says, is more cunning. And it begins to talk 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.960 to her. And it begins to question her. Did God 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:44.980 really say you can't eat of every tree of the 00:10:44.980 --> 00:10:48.860 garden? And she said, well, God said we can eat 00:10:48.860 --> 00:10:52.919 of the trees, but the fruit in the midst of the 00:10:52.919 --> 00:10:55.519 garden, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch 00:10:55.519 --> 00:10:58.279 it, lest you die. God never said don't touch 00:10:58.279 --> 00:11:01.519 it. She added that part. And then the serpent 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:05.500 said to the woman, the very first lie, you shall 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:10.360 not surely die. The very, very first lie. For 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:12.940 God knows that in the day you eat of it, your 00:11:12.940 --> 00:11:16.120 eyes will be opened and you will be like God. 00:11:17.019 --> 00:11:20.059 Now they weren't going to be like God and have 00:11:20.059 --> 00:11:24.179 the power to speak things into creation. They 00:11:24.179 --> 00:11:26.700 weren't going to be like God and be all -knowing. 00:11:27.259 --> 00:11:32.799 And be omnipresent and omnipowerful. But it said 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:37.559 that they would be like God, knowing good and 00:11:37.559 --> 00:11:41.460 evil. Now they already knew God. They had a growing 00:11:41.460 --> 00:11:46.000 relationship with the loving God. God is love. 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:49.940 They knew that aspect. But if they were to take 00:11:49.940 --> 00:11:53.700 that fruit and disobey, then they would begin 00:11:53.700 --> 00:11:57.570 to know and realize. The evil part. And that's 00:11:57.570 --> 00:12:02.070 what God wanted them to avoid. But unfortunately, 00:12:02.250 --> 00:12:06.210 Eve listened to that serpent and tried to argue 00:12:06.210 --> 00:12:10.490 with that serpent and tried to have a conversation 00:12:10.490 --> 00:12:15.370 and was tricked and deceived. And in verse 6 00:12:15.370 --> 00:12:20.409 it says, So the woman saw that the tree, it was 00:12:20.409 --> 00:12:26.000 good for food, it was pleasant to the eyes, and 00:12:26.000 --> 00:12:29.940 a tree desirable to make one wise, because she 00:12:29.940 --> 00:12:33.200 would know disobedience. She would know evil. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:38.320 And she took of its fruit and ate. And she also 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:42.539 gave to her husband with her, and he ate. And 00:12:42.539 --> 00:12:44.639 suddenly, as you read on down through the story, 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.519 they took and they ate from that tree and they 00:12:47.519 --> 00:12:50.279 recognized that something had changed. Because 00:12:50.279 --> 00:12:54.299 now they suddenly... What happened? We're seeing 00:12:54.299 --> 00:12:57.360 each other differently. We're naked here. We're 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:00.139 not clothed with this robe of the glory of God 00:13:00.139 --> 00:13:03.960 anymore. And then, oh no, here comes God coming 00:13:03.960 --> 00:13:07.100 in the cool of the garden. And they hid themselves 00:13:07.100 --> 00:13:11.919 away from their Creator. Have mercy. They hid 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:16.779 themselves away from God. And just as Satan had 00:13:16.779 --> 00:13:19.899 told the first lie, God comes and asks the first 00:13:19.899 --> 00:13:25.700 question. And He says, where are you? Why are 00:13:25.700 --> 00:13:30.240 you hiding from Me, your Creator? But as we skip 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:33.259 down to the end of that chapter, verse 22, it 00:13:33.259 --> 00:13:37.080 says, Then the Lord God said, Behold, the man 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:40.139 has become like one of us, one of the Godhead, 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:44.980 to know good. They knew good. They were supposed 00:13:44.980 --> 00:13:50.669 to know good. To know good and evil. And now, 00:13:50.769 --> 00:13:54.370 lest he put out his hand and take also of the 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:59.370 tree of life and eat and live forever, because 00:13:59.370 --> 00:14:03.309 they had disobeyed and ate from the tree of the 00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:05.590 knowledge of good and evil, they were now forbidden 00:14:05.590 --> 00:14:08.409 to eat from the tree of life. Notice the next 00:14:08.409 --> 00:14:11.330 verse. It says, Therefore, the Lord God sent 00:14:11.330 --> 00:14:14.830 him, Adam, out of the garden of Eden to till 00:14:14.830 --> 00:14:17.850 the ground from which he is taken. So he drove 00:14:17.850 --> 00:14:20.779 out the man. And He placed cherubim, angels, 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:23.759 at the east of the Garden of Eden, and a flaming 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:26.799 sword which turned every way to guard the way 00:14:26.799 --> 00:14:31.399 to the tree of life. And so there they were in 00:14:31.399 --> 00:14:34.840 that perfect place. They knew the goodness of 00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:38.580 God, but because they disobeyed, now they were 00:14:38.580 --> 00:14:42.659 experiencing the evil of sin and its consequences. 00:14:43.159 --> 00:14:47.799 And because of that, that is why we have wars. 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:53.259 That is why we have crime. That is why we have 00:14:53.259 --> 00:14:57.340 death and heartbreak and all those different 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:01.399 things which keep our attention off of God. It's 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:05.919 because a choice was made and they were cast 00:15:05.919 --> 00:15:09.500 out away from that tree of life. But even in 00:15:09.500 --> 00:15:13.200 the midst of that, there's this very first gospel 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:17.529 promise. If we go back to Genesis 3 .15. God 00:15:17.529 --> 00:15:21.809 is speaking to the serpent and He curses him 00:15:21.809 --> 00:15:25.710 because you have done this. And then God in speaking 00:15:25.710 --> 00:15:30.389 to the serpent said, I will pit enmity or I will 00:15:30.389 --> 00:15:35.090 pit conflict. I will pit strife between you serpent 00:15:35.090 --> 00:15:40.710 and the woman and between your seed and her seed. 00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:43.570 Between those who are following in the ways of 00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:46.179 Satan. And those who are choosing to follow in 00:15:46.179 --> 00:15:48.440 the ways of God. There's going to be conflict. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:51.720 There's going to be strife. And then the verse 00:15:51.720 --> 00:15:55.379 shifts just a little bit. It goes from plural 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:58.759 to singular. Because it says there's going to 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:01.899 be conflict between descendants. That's a group 00:16:01.899 --> 00:16:04.779 of people. That's plural. But then it turns to 00:16:04.779 --> 00:16:09.779 singular. And it says he. One particular descendant. 00:16:09.779 --> 00:16:13.639 One particular individual. who would arise from 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:16.960 the line of those following God. It says, He 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:21.100 shall bruise your head, snake. And snake, you're 00:16:21.100 --> 00:16:24.879 going to bruise His heel. Who is that talking 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.480 about? Who is that individual? It's Jesus. The 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:32.139 Savior who is going to arise from that line of 00:16:32.139 --> 00:16:35.179 godly people. The Creator who is going to step 00:16:35.179 --> 00:16:39.179 into the midst of the creation. And the picture 00:16:39.179 --> 00:16:43.539 there is someone voluntarily reaching out and 00:16:43.539 --> 00:16:47.600 stepping on the head of a venomous snake. I know 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:50.480 some people like snakes. Maybe some people here. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:53.519 I am not one of those people. I'm not going to 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.419 step on a snake. I may shoo it away. I'm probably 00:16:56.419 --> 00:16:59.139 not going to kill it unless it's after me. But 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:03.080 I'm not going to voluntarily step on the snake. 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:07.279 Which is worse, a wound to the foot or a wound 00:17:07.279 --> 00:17:12.839 to the head? You can survive a foot. You can 00:17:12.839 --> 00:17:16.039 survive a broken leg. You can survive with no 00:17:16.039 --> 00:17:20.400 legs. But a head wound is harmful. A head wound 00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:23.779 is deadly. And this is the picture of Jesus, 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:28.000 the Creator, coming into the midst of the creation. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:33.299 And in verse 21, it says, For Adam and his wife, 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:37.900 the Lord God made tunics of skin and clothed 00:17:37.900 --> 00:17:40.890 them. They had seen themselves as naked because 00:17:40.890 --> 00:17:45.109 of their disobedience. But this symbol pointing 00:17:45.109 --> 00:17:47.890 forward to the death of Jesus Christ allowed 00:17:47.890 --> 00:17:51.769 them to be clothed with something else, clothed 00:17:51.769 --> 00:17:55.529 with an animal, just as Jesus would be the Lamb 00:17:55.529 --> 00:17:59.009 of God to take away the sins of the world. But 00:17:59.009 --> 00:18:01.910 that first sin, we can point to Adam and Eve, 00:18:02.130 --> 00:18:05.289 but we can remember that it's not just Adam and 00:18:05.289 --> 00:18:09.089 Eve. Because in the New Testament, In Romans 00:18:09.089 --> 00:18:14.269 3, it says, for all have sinned. And in the way 00:18:14.269 --> 00:18:16.269 that's written, it says all have sinned and are 00:18:16.269 --> 00:18:20.910 falling short of the glory of God. And just a 00:18:20.910 --> 00:18:24.509 page over from that in Romans 6, it says, and 00:18:24.509 --> 00:18:29.450 the wages of sin is death. We have all sinned. 00:18:29.710 --> 00:18:33.750 We have all earned that wage. We have all earned 00:18:33.750 --> 00:18:37.940 that paycheck, that paycheck of death. And because 00:18:37.940 --> 00:18:41.759 of that, that is why the world is the way it 00:18:41.759 --> 00:18:44.819 is. That's the story of some trees there in Genesis. 00:18:45.680 --> 00:18:48.960 Well, let's go to the bookend of the Bible. That 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:50.740 was the beginning. Let's go all the way to the 00:18:50.740 --> 00:18:53.640 end. Let's go to Revelation. Before we get to 00:18:53.640 --> 00:18:55.720 the very end, we're going to pause in Revelation 00:18:55.720 --> 00:19:02.740 2. Revelation 2 and 3 share some messages to 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:05.859 some different churches that are in modern -day 00:19:05.859 --> 00:19:09.829 Turkey. churches which were actual churches, 00:19:09.970 --> 00:19:13.049 but also which correlate with different eras 00:19:13.049 --> 00:19:19.250 of church history. In Revelation 2 and verse 00:19:19.250 --> 00:19:26.089 7, it says, He who has an ear, let him hear what 00:19:26.089 --> 00:19:29.890 the Spirit says to the churches. To him, to them, 00:19:30.009 --> 00:19:35.150 who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree. 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:39.180 of life which is in the midst of the paradise 00:19:39.180 --> 00:19:42.880 of god so there's a promise there for those that 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:46.059 overcome the devil for those who stand on christ's 00:19:46.059 --> 00:19:49.680 side there's a promise to eat again from the 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.799 tree of life which they were forbidden to after 00:19:52.799 --> 00:19:56.059 the garden of eden and if we turn on over to 00:19:56.059 --> 00:19:59.980 the end to revelation chapter 21 revelation chapter 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:05.920 21 we begin to see how the fall destroyed the 00:20:05.920 --> 00:20:10.500 earth, and yet how through the grace of God, 00:20:10.700 --> 00:20:14.079 things begin to turn. Revelation 21 and verse 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:20.039 1, it says, Now I saw a new heaven and a new 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:24.019 earth. For the first heaven and the first earth 00:20:24.019 --> 00:20:28.059 had passed away, and there was no more sea. I 00:20:28.059 --> 00:20:29.880 didn't put it on there, but I love the next verse 00:20:29.880 --> 00:20:33.700 as well. I, John, saw the holy city. The new 00:20:33.700 --> 00:20:36.240 Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 00:20:36.359 --> 00:20:40.640 prepared as a bride, adorned for her husband. 00:20:41.019 --> 00:20:43.119 Even if you don't have the picture with you now, 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:45.519 I know that many of you can remember that sight. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:52.400 In verse 4, it says, God will wipe away every 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:57.640 tear from their eyes. There shall be no more 00:20:57.640 --> 00:21:02.579 death. What was the... The result of them eating 00:21:02.579 --> 00:21:05.519 from that tree, from disobeying, from having 00:21:05.519 --> 00:21:08.220 that knowledge of not just good but also evil, 00:21:08.319 --> 00:21:11.640 it said you will surely die. But it says that 00:21:11.640 --> 00:21:14.500 there's going to be a time in heaven when there's 00:21:14.500 --> 00:21:18.140 no more death. Usually when we think about heaven, 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:21.380 we think about what is going to be there. Streets 00:21:21.380 --> 00:21:25.440 of gold, you get to sleep next to a lion, or 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.859 ride on a giraffe, or whatever it might be. But 00:21:28.859 --> 00:21:32.640 this verse... talks about what is not in heaven. 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:37.339 There's no more death. There's no more sorrow. 00:21:38.940 --> 00:21:43.119 There's no more crying. There shall be no more 00:21:43.119 --> 00:21:47.779 pain for the former things have passed away. 00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:51.759 That's what happens when that curse is wiped 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:54.960 away and we get to experience the wonders and 00:21:54.960 --> 00:21:57.940 the glories of heaven for a thousand years and 00:21:57.940 --> 00:22:01.000 then a new earth. for all eternity. There's no 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:05.420 more pain or death. No more tears. No more heartbreak. 00:22:06.059 --> 00:22:09.539 Look over one more chapter to the very last chapter. 00:22:09.779 --> 00:22:15.200 Verse 22. It says, He showed me a pure river 00:22:15.200 --> 00:22:20.099 of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding 00:22:20.099 --> 00:22:23.700 from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Crystal 00:22:23.700 --> 00:22:25.640 clear water. Maybe you've been somewhere and 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.269 seen a spring or... An ocean water that is just 00:22:29.269 --> 00:22:31.890 so clear you can see through it and see the fish 00:22:31.890 --> 00:22:35.450 swimming. And then in the next verse, verse 2, 00:22:35.490 --> 00:22:38.710 it says, In the middle of its street and on either 00:22:38.710 --> 00:22:45.190 side of the river was the tree of life, which 00:22:45.190 --> 00:22:48.710 bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit 00:22:48.710 --> 00:22:51.829 every month. And the leaves of the tree were 00:22:51.829 --> 00:22:55.069 for the healing of nations. Adam and Eve were 00:22:55.069 --> 00:22:57.789 pushed out of the Garden of Eden. And an angel 00:22:57.789 --> 00:23:00.390 with a flaming sword was placed in front of the 00:23:00.390 --> 00:23:02.910 gate so that they could no longer have access 00:23:02.910 --> 00:23:06.470 to the tree of life. But a day is coming when 00:23:06.470 --> 00:23:09.369 we will have access again to that tree of life. 00:23:09.470 --> 00:23:12.470 And it says its leaves are for the healing of 00:23:12.470 --> 00:23:17.250 the nation. And it says there's 12 fruits, each 00:23:17.250 --> 00:23:21.670 tree yielding its fruit every month. What's your 00:23:21.670 --> 00:23:25.609 favorite kind of fruit? Maybe it changes depending 00:23:25.609 --> 00:23:28.680 on the season. Maybe you like peaches during 00:23:28.680 --> 00:23:31.859 the summer or watermelons that you can cut open 00:23:31.859 --> 00:23:34.759 and they're juicy and the juice drips down your 00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:37.680 chin or the blueberries that you pick off the 00:23:37.680 --> 00:23:42.859 bush. Maybe this time of year you want to take 00:23:42.859 --> 00:23:45.339 a trip to L .A .J. or somewhere else and pick 00:23:45.339 --> 00:23:48.319 some apples and make some applesauce and enjoy. 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:53.680 So many kinds of fruit are delicious. But this 00:23:53.680 --> 00:23:58.799 is not just fruit. This is the tree. It's the 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:02.200 healing of the nations. What an incredible promise 00:24:02.200 --> 00:24:06.240 that is. But what happened from the beginning 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:09.000 when there's the tree of knowledge of good and 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:12.900 evil which they ate and it caused a curse to 00:24:12.900 --> 00:24:15.779 this ending time with this tree of life renewed 00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:18.700 where there's hope and there's assurance and 00:24:18.700 --> 00:24:22.680 there's something beautiful. What happened in 00:24:22.680 --> 00:24:25.799 between there? The Bible begins with the fall 00:24:25.799 --> 00:24:27.619 where they're forbidden to eat from the tree 00:24:27.619 --> 00:24:30.619 of life. And it ends with glory where there's 00:24:30.619 --> 00:24:33.940 an invitation to eat from that tree once again. 00:24:34.059 --> 00:24:38.779 What happened in that meantime of 6 ,000 plus 00:24:38.779 --> 00:24:42.400 years to whenever that ending is in the future? 00:24:43.220 --> 00:24:48.380 Well, there's another tree. And trees tell stories. 00:24:48.940 --> 00:24:52.980 Because trees tell stories of a fall, trees still... 00:24:53.230 --> 00:24:57.049 Stories of hope in the future. And trees tell 00:24:57.049 --> 00:25:01.210 stories of grace. Because right in the heart 00:25:01.210 --> 00:25:05.849 of Scripture, there's a story of a Creator. The 00:25:05.849 --> 00:25:09.430 One who had spoken and vegetation had sprung 00:25:09.430 --> 00:25:12.450 into existence. The One who had said, let there 00:25:12.450 --> 00:25:16.130 be trees, and suddenly the trees grew up. And 00:25:16.130 --> 00:25:18.910 then in the heart of that story, the Creator 00:25:18.910 --> 00:25:24.970 decides to come. into creation. And as that Creator, 00:25:25.190 --> 00:25:29.109 as that Word became flesh, as He grew, He followed 00:25:29.109 --> 00:25:32.690 in the footsteps of His earthly Father, and Jesus 00:25:32.690 --> 00:25:38.670 became a carpenter. He spent His early days smoothing 00:25:38.670 --> 00:25:41.690 the wood with sandpaper, rubbing His hands over 00:25:41.690 --> 00:25:44.930 those rough boards to get them to the proper 00:25:44.930 --> 00:25:48.450 place, cutting down trees, sanding. probably 00:25:48.450 --> 00:25:51.170 with splinters in His hands, building that chair 00:25:51.170 --> 00:25:54.750 or that table or whatever it was that was needed. 00:25:55.630 --> 00:26:00.309 The Creator joins the creation. We're going to 00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:02.710 look at scene 3. We're going to go to John 19. 00:26:03.250 --> 00:26:06.630 We could go to several different Gospels. We're 00:26:06.630 --> 00:26:12.769 going to go to John 19. And if you were to read 00:26:12.769 --> 00:26:17.980 through 10 and 19, we know that Jesus is... spent 00:26:17.980 --> 00:26:21.819 a week talking to His disciples. Jesus spent 00:26:21.819 --> 00:26:25.140 an evening with His disciples in an upper room 00:26:25.140 --> 00:26:28.319 and they broke bread and they drunk the juice 00:26:28.319 --> 00:26:30.339 and He said, this is My body that is broken. 00:26:30.420 --> 00:26:33.799 This is My blood that is poured out. And then 00:26:33.799 --> 00:26:36.599 He went to pray in a garden. And as He was praying, 00:26:36.819 --> 00:26:39.539 here comes the torches, here comes the mob, and 00:26:39.539 --> 00:26:42.940 Jesus is arrested and taken away and those disciples 00:26:42.940 --> 00:26:46.480 run a different direction. And there's a courtroom 00:26:46.480 --> 00:26:50.539 scene. Kangaroo court, we'll call it, as they 00:26:50.539 --> 00:26:55.259 were manipulating and taking Jesus and doing 00:26:55.259 --> 00:27:00.619 what they wanted to do to Him. And then as Pilate 00:27:00.619 --> 00:27:02.500 stands Him up and says, Who do you want me to 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:04.599 release? Do you want me to release Barabbas or 00:27:04.599 --> 00:27:08.839 Jesus? And the crowd said, Release Barabbas. 00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:13.220 Set the rebel, set the criminal free. What should 00:27:13.220 --> 00:27:16.359 I do with Jesus? And the crowd said, Crucify 00:27:16.359 --> 00:27:20.220 Him. crucify Him. And they put the cross upon 00:27:20.220 --> 00:27:23.579 His shoulder and He walked down the Via Dolorosa, 00:27:23.619 --> 00:27:27.680 the way of suffering. His back bloodied and beaten. 00:27:27.819 --> 00:27:31.180 A crown of thorns upon His head. Weakened from 00:27:31.180 --> 00:27:34.819 a day of being tortured from all this happening 00:27:34.819 --> 00:27:38.579 to Him. He couldn't walk anymore and He stumbled. 00:27:38.799 --> 00:27:41.839 They took that cross and placed it on someone 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:44.480 else's shoulders and He stumbled along behind. 00:27:45.099 --> 00:27:49.160 And in John 19, verse 17, it says, and He, bearing 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:53.279 the cross, went out to a place called the place 00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:57.920 of the skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. 00:27:58.980 --> 00:28:02.960 They led Him out. They had beaten Him. They'd 00:28:02.960 --> 00:28:06.460 done all these things to Him. They took Him to 00:28:06.460 --> 00:28:09.700 this place. And the next verse, you read it so 00:28:09.700 --> 00:28:13.990 simply. It says, there they... They crucified 00:28:13.990 --> 00:28:16.509 him. You could read that in a second. They crucified 00:28:16.509 --> 00:28:21.769 him. But that word is a verb. It's an act. It's 00:28:21.769 --> 00:28:25.109 an act of torture that's taking place as they 00:28:25.109 --> 00:28:28.329 took this innocent man, this perfect man, this 00:28:28.329 --> 00:28:31.230 creator, they took this carpenter and they spread 00:28:31.230 --> 00:28:34.230 out his hands and they took a hammer and a nail 00:28:34.230 --> 00:28:37.750 and they attached him to that wood, to that tree. 00:28:38.369 --> 00:28:42.109 The one who had formed trees into furniture or 00:28:42.109 --> 00:28:45.319 whatnot. Now, They are crucifying Him. And you 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.480 can read it so easy. But it's so much more than 00:28:48.480 --> 00:28:50.819 that. And two others were with Him. One on either 00:28:50.819 --> 00:28:56.039 side. And Jesus in the center. Nailed to the 00:28:56.039 --> 00:28:59.119 cross. And we remember the story that on that 00:28:59.119 --> 00:29:04.319 day, the thunder boomed. The sun became dark. 00:29:04.559 --> 00:29:07.259 As it seemed as if God the Father was hiding 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:10.920 His Son from these mocking eyes and all that 00:29:10.920 --> 00:29:14.220 was taking place. And as Jesus hung on that cross 00:29:14.220 --> 00:29:18.000 for several hours, at the start He said, Father, 00:29:18.000 --> 00:29:20.500 forgive them for they don't know what they're 00:29:20.500 --> 00:29:25.000 doing. Until the time came where He said, into 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:28.460 My hands I commit Your Spirit. It's finished. 00:29:29.240 --> 00:29:34.339 It's finished and His life ended. But because 00:29:34.339 --> 00:29:40.500 of that, because of that tree of death, that's 00:29:40.500 --> 00:29:44.019 what that cross was all about. A picture of ultimate 00:29:44.019 --> 00:29:49.240 evil taking place. It's also a picture of ultimate 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:53.700 good taking place. And that cross, that tree 00:29:53.700 --> 00:29:58.779 of death, in reality became a tree of life. Because 00:29:58.779 --> 00:30:03.059 we read earlier, the wages of sin is death. But 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:05.759 that verse doesn't stop right there. It goes 00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:10.660 on and says, but the gift of God is what? Is 00:30:10.660 --> 00:30:14.869 eternal life. A free gift of eternal life. I 00:30:14.869 --> 00:30:16.589 just want to read through several verses here 00:30:16.589 --> 00:30:21.490 as we go. 1 Peter 2 .24 It says, Jesus Himself 00:30:21.490 --> 00:30:27.769 bore our sins in His own body on the tree that 00:30:27.769 --> 00:30:32.150 we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness 00:30:32.150 --> 00:30:37.390 by whose stripes, by whose wounds we are healed. 00:30:37.690 --> 00:30:40.390 You can go to Galatians 3 and it says, Christ 00:30:40.390 --> 00:30:43.910 has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having 00:30:43.910 --> 00:30:47.829 become a curse for us. As it is written, cursed 00:30:47.829 --> 00:30:51.829 is everyone who hangs on a tree. Jesus hung upon 00:30:51.829 --> 00:30:57.089 that cross taking my sins and your sins so that 00:30:57.089 --> 00:30:59.089 we could have the blessing that only He deserves. 00:30:59.710 --> 00:31:03.710 1 Corinthians 2 .22 For I determined not to know 00:31:03.710 --> 00:31:07.950 anything among you except for Jesus Christ and 00:31:07.950 --> 00:31:13.000 Him crucified. And one more, Galatians 6. But 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:15.980 God forbid that I should boast. Don't we like 00:31:15.980 --> 00:31:19.539 to boast? Don't we like people to know what we 00:31:19.539 --> 00:31:21.579 have done this week, what we have accomplished, 00:31:21.740 --> 00:31:25.039 the good things we have done? But Paul writes, 00:31:25.160 --> 00:31:28.440 God forbid that I should boast except in the 00:31:28.440 --> 00:31:32.220 cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world 00:31:32.220 --> 00:31:36.339 has been crucified to me and I to the world. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:40.339 In the garden. There was a fall because they 00:31:40.339 --> 00:31:44.319 ate from the wrong tree. They disobeyed. But 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:47.319 in Revelation, there's an invitation to eat again 00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:50.640 from the tree of life, and that is possible only 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:55.099 because of the cross. That tree of death that 00:31:55.099 --> 00:31:59.019 gives a promise of eternal life because of what 00:31:59.019 --> 00:32:02.559 Jesus did on that cross oh so many years ago. 00:32:03.299 --> 00:32:06.640 I want to close with a story. This took place... 00:32:08.250 --> 00:32:12.710 In 2018, June of 2018, I recently read a book 00:32:12.710 --> 00:32:15.730 about it to remind myself called Aquanaut. Aquanaut 00:32:15.730 --> 00:32:18.309 is the name of the book. And it's a story of 00:32:18.309 --> 00:32:22.309 a group of young soccer players in Thailand and 00:32:22.309 --> 00:32:25.509 their coach. And after practice one day, they 00:32:25.509 --> 00:32:27.470 decided they wanted to take a field trip and 00:32:27.470 --> 00:32:30.109 they wanted to go explore a cave. And they went 00:32:30.109 --> 00:32:32.730 about two or three miles into this cave. And 00:32:32.730 --> 00:32:34.369 what they didn't know is that while they were 00:32:34.369 --> 00:32:37.440 in there, something was happening outside. It 00:32:37.440 --> 00:32:39.819 was beginning to rain. It was beginning to rain 00:32:39.819 --> 00:32:43.099 very hard and that water was rushing into the 00:32:43.099 --> 00:32:47.359 cave and when it came time to leave, they couldn't 00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:50.900 because their access point was now underwater. 00:32:51.279 --> 00:32:54.579 And it was several days before anybody realized 00:32:54.579 --> 00:32:58.579 where they were and where they had gone missing. 00:32:59.299 --> 00:33:03.640 It was almost two weeks before a rescue was attempted, 00:33:03.799 --> 00:33:08.740 but eventually divers, diving in a cave, which 00:33:08.740 --> 00:33:11.319 is one of the most dangerous things you can possibly 00:33:11.319 --> 00:33:16.680 do. They swam these miles into the cave where 00:33:16.680 --> 00:33:19.180 a few places it would rise up and they'd be in 00:33:19.180 --> 00:33:22.000 the air, but it would dip back down again. And 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:25.519 they were able to eventually track down and find 00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:28.579 that all of these young people were still alive 00:33:28.579 --> 00:33:32.019 miraculously. And they were able to ferry them 00:33:32.019 --> 00:33:35.329 in their food. and water and different things 00:33:35.329 --> 00:33:38.470 like that, and medical supplies. But the question 00:33:38.470 --> 00:33:42.829 was, how are we going to get them out? Because 00:33:42.829 --> 00:33:45.490 it's rainy season. Well, we could wait. It's 00:33:45.490 --> 00:33:47.630 going to be several months until that water goes 00:33:47.630 --> 00:33:51.009 down. So they begin to pump out as much water 00:33:51.009 --> 00:33:53.950 as they can. They're ferrying in supplies, but 00:33:53.950 --> 00:33:56.329 they realize they have to do something. In the 00:33:56.329 --> 00:34:00.230 midst of bringing these supplies in, one of the 00:34:00.230 --> 00:34:03.970 divers from Thailand a Navy SEAL named Saman 00:34:03.970 --> 00:34:09.730 Kunan passed out under this water. And the diver 00:34:09.730 --> 00:34:13.070 that was with him tried to revive him and pulled 00:34:13.070 --> 00:34:15.969 him along to the next place where the air came 00:34:15.969 --> 00:34:20.989 up and tried to do CPR, but it was no use. He 00:34:20.989 --> 00:34:25.110 gave his life attempting to rescue this group 00:34:25.110 --> 00:34:28.090 of people. And finally, these divers, they came 00:34:28.090 --> 00:34:32.679 up with a plan. get a special little mask to 00:34:32.679 --> 00:34:35.900 put on these young people, like ages 6 to 12 00:34:35.900 --> 00:34:39.320 or so. And they were going to take them through 00:34:39.320 --> 00:34:42.519 these tiny, narrow passages. And in order to 00:34:42.519 --> 00:34:46.260 do that, they were going to have to inject them 00:34:46.260 --> 00:34:50.800 and cause those young people to go to sleep. 00:34:52.099 --> 00:34:54.199 Because they knew if they were awake that they 00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:55.800 would fight and they would struggle, they would 00:34:55.800 --> 00:34:58.179 pull their air off, and then all would be lost. 00:34:58.909 --> 00:35:02.849 the train navy seal and so they they caused one 00:35:02.849 --> 00:35:04.869 or two at a time caused these young people to 00:35:04.869 --> 00:35:07.710 go to sleep and strap them to a little stretcher 00:35:07.710 --> 00:35:10.750 with a mask on their face and two divers one 00:35:10.750 --> 00:35:13.090 in the front and one in the back would would 00:35:13.090 --> 00:35:15.769 bring them out these two and a half miles through 00:35:15.769 --> 00:35:19.650 the passages and after two weeks of being in 00:35:19.650 --> 00:35:23.610 the cave believe it or not they all made it all 00:35:23.610 --> 00:35:27.050 12 of them made it out but they they made it 00:35:27.050 --> 00:35:31.619 out that rescue finally came, but one had given 00:35:31.619 --> 00:35:35.019 their life. That Navy SEAL had died so that these 00:35:35.019 --> 00:35:38.920 12 others might live. And as we remember the 00:35:38.920 --> 00:35:41.480 story of salvation, we remember that perfect 00:35:41.480 --> 00:35:45.679 Garden of Eden where sin came into the world. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:49.460 We remember the promise of the future of eternal 00:35:49.460 --> 00:35:52.119 life where there's that invitation to eat once 00:35:52.119 --> 00:35:55.300 again from that tree of life and live forever 00:35:55.300 --> 00:36:01.179 with Jesus. But it's all because one gave His 00:36:01.179 --> 00:36:04.280 life. Because Jesus was willing to come to this 00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:08.059 darkest earth, come into this place of darkness 00:36:08.059 --> 00:36:12.039 and pain and despair, and was willing to give 00:36:12.039 --> 00:36:15.639 His life for each one of us. And that's what 00:36:15.639 --> 00:36:17.699 we're here to talk about. Believe it or not, 00:36:17.800 --> 00:36:20.500 next week I'm at the other church, so this is 00:36:20.500 --> 00:36:25.639 my last Sabbath here before our series begins. 00:36:26.269 --> 00:36:29.090 This series, which is going to tell the story 00:36:29.090 --> 00:36:32.690 that we're talking about. The story of salvation. 00:36:32.710 --> 00:36:37.090 The story of a future hope. So my questions as 00:36:37.090 --> 00:36:39.929 we end today is, have you heard that story for 00:36:39.929 --> 00:36:44.010 yourself? Have you not just listened to it? Oh 00:36:44.010 --> 00:36:47.389 yeah, I know about that whole cross thing. Have 00:36:47.389 --> 00:36:51.110 you listened to it? Have you let it impact who 00:36:51.110 --> 00:36:54.690 you are and how you live? Have you accepted that? 00:36:55.070 --> 00:36:58.010 Because that's something that we have to do every 00:36:58.010 --> 00:37:02.130 single day. Then a final question, have you shared 00:37:02.130 --> 00:37:06.769 it? Have you invited someone else to know a little 00:37:06.769 --> 00:37:09.730 bit more about Jesus, to know a little bit more 00:37:09.730 --> 00:37:13.550 about the one who left heaven to come and die 00:37:13.550 --> 00:37:17.909 for your salvation? Let's pray this week that 00:37:17.909 --> 00:37:21.329 we can find someone to tell about the incredible, 00:37:21.570 --> 00:37:25.610 eternal love of Jesus. Let's bow our heads. Dear 00:37:25.610 --> 00:37:27.510 God, we thank You so much for all that You have 00:37:27.510 --> 00:37:30.909 done for us. We thank You and recognize that 00:37:30.909 --> 00:37:34.409 it's only because of You that we have a hope 00:37:34.409 --> 00:37:39.210 for the future. But Lord, let us hope in You 00:37:39.210 --> 00:37:43.650 and let us share with someone else. Be with each 00:37:43.650 --> 00:37:46.869 one of us here. May we live our life for You. 00:37:47.150 --> 00:37:48.309 In Your name we pray.