 Welcome to our 12th Kona Stone Connection Lesson. Today on the set we have Chabrijit, Misati, Silas, and Deborah. On the orchestra we have Elsie and Ashleen, and Joyce will be doing sign language for us today. Before we start, let's start with the word of prayer. Father Lord, we thank you for this day. Thank you for making us today. Thank you for life. Thank you for good health. Thank you for strength. As we are about to start, may your spirit be with us. Just name my prayer, baby. So the title of today's mission is Keeping Sabath Hoili. Achia loved mother very much, but mother did something that made Achia feel very sad. Mother worked on Sabath. Mother understore in her house in the African country of Ghana. People came to the store every day to buy milk, bread, eggs, and cookies. But Sabath was the most popular shopping day. More people bought food on Sabath than any other day of the week. Mother made a lot of money on Sabath, even though she didn't work a full day. She only worked until nine o'clock. Then she closed the store and went to church. Mother, Achia said, he told me that it's wrong to sell on Sabath. It was true. Mother had taught Achia and her younger brother, Akwasi, that God forbid people from working on Sabath. In the fourth commandment which is remember the Sabath hoili to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabath of the Lord your God. In eighth you shall do no work. Exodus 28 to 10. But mother kept on working on Sabath. Mother said her brother, mother said her brother, Akwasi, it's wrong to sell on Sabath. But mother kept on working on Sabath. Achia and Akwasi prayed for people to stop coming to the house to chop on Sabath, but people kept coming. Mother got quite annoyed when another Achia asked her to stop selling. Then Achia went away to a special camp meeting for children. For 10 days she woke up at 4.30 am when a bell rang to call all children to pray. With a heavy heart Achia thought about mother back home. God, the first thing that I want to hear when I return home is that mother has stopped working on Sabath, she prayed. She prayed the same prayer every morning. On the last day of camp meeting, Achia prayed, this is our last day. If you have not done anything in answer to my prayers for the past nine days, I'm begging you to do something on this last day. The first thing that I want to hear when I return home is that mother has stopped working on Sabath. Arriving home later that day, Achia was greeted by her brother. He ran out of the house, he didn't even say hello, just blotted out. Mother has stopped selling on Sabath. Achia couldn't believe her ears. She ran into the house to ask mother for herself. Mother, have you stopped selling on Sabath? She said. It was true. Mother explained that she had been working on Sabath to save money for a new house. She had been hiding the money in a secret place. Achia was at camp meeting. She had lost the money. She couldn't remember spending it. She couldn't remember moving into a new hiding place. She was certain that no bagila had sold in it. It was gone. She wondered if God had taken back the money that she had worked to earn on Sabath. So mother told Achia, I have stopped working on Sabath. Achia was so happy. It had taken her a long time, but God had had Achia's prayers. Mother has never worked again on Sabath. Although mother has never found the missing money, she doesn't mind. It told Achia, God gave me the money, so it's fine if you took it back again. Today Achia is starting to become a nurse at a college that will receive part of this quarter's 13th Sabath offering. Thank you for planning a generous offering next Sabath to help most students study at the Seventh Day Adventist, Nursing and Midway Free Training College. Thank you so much our orchestra for such a timely song. So we are studying the topic the fall and rise of David, which is very much in line with a song that has just been played, Jesus I come. Now before we begin, I'd like to introduce my panelists. So as I introduce you, maybe you can just wave. So starting from my far left, I have Misati. Then we have Silas on my immediate left and we have Deborah on my right. So before we begin, let me invite Silas to pray for us. Let's pray. Our father does love in heaven. Thank you for this day. As you read your word, you pray that you may guide us and help us to understand what you are doing when you pray. Amen. My name is Brigit. I'll be your moderator for today. So as I mentioned, we are going through Lesson 12. Kindly go to the Cornerstone Connections and turn to Lesson 12 with us. The title is The Fall and Rise of David. And we know one of the most common stories we know about David is his story with Goliath. So the David and Goliath story. But similarly, there is also a very other interesting story that we know about David of one of the most grave sins that he committed during his rulership. And so today that is what we are going to study and see what are some of the lessons that we can learn from it as teens. Now before we begin, I'd like us to explore our fundamental belief for this lesson which is fundamental belief number 23 that is marriage and the family. Now remember during creation, God instituted two institutions. Let me use that word. So marriage was one of them and the Sabbath was the other. And truly even when you look at this day and age, those are two of the institutions that the devil is seeking to actually destroy before the Lord comes. So in terms of marriage, marriage was divinely established by God in Eden and it was affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship. Please take note of those words between a man and a woman in loving companionship. For the Christian, a marriage commitment is to God as well as to the spouse and it should only be entered into between a man and a woman who share a common faith. So we are going to see how was the marriage institution broken or was there any interference that happened in our story for today. So as we proceed I'm going to invite Deborah to help us see what do we think about this lesson today. So in the what do you think section it's a well known truth that dishonesty has a way of compounding and building itself when one tries to maintain the line more when one tries to maintain the line more and more. So at what point on the continuum do you think it's most difficult for someone to confess and repent of a lie? First when you first realize that lying is an option after you have made the first step into dishonesty after you have had to cover the first lie with another when all the evidence is making it clear that you have been dishonest but it is too big to own. So repenting of a lie becomes increasingly difficult at each step along the continuum. However many find it difficult to difficult especially at the third point after you have had to cover the first lie with another. This is because the web of deception grows making it harder to unravel without facing consequences and the fear of exposure intensifies for the individuals. Just like the relation of the story of David and his story with the wife of Uraya. And thank you for that. I totally agree with you. Usually making the first step is the hardest like making that decision of I actually want to lie that's the hardest but after you've made it then the subsequent steps become easier and easier and as she said it becomes even more difficult to repent the deeper you go in. So I'd like to invite Silas maybe you can read for us the did you know and then take us right into the story. Okay the did you know section is in Samuel second Samuel 12th verse 25 12th verse 5 sorry 12th verse 5 the bible says David band with anger against the man and says to Nathan as surely as the lord leaves the man who do this must die when David had nothing till the story of how the rich man was unwilling to take a ship from the man he had took the one precious lump from a poor man he was incensed as a matter of fact the phrase David band with anger refers to breathing rapidly in posh shown especially through the nose perhaps you have noticed that when some people get really angry their nostrils flare out perhaps David's nostrils are flaring with a demand of justice. You can take us right into the story for today. So the story today is about David being told about his sin by Nathan and Nathan used a parabo to tell him his sin and for some time David didn't really understand the parabo was directly linked to him and he when he was angry and he was demanding for justice he didn't recognize that that was his sin and he he acknowledged that the person had done something wrong not knowing that he was the person being referred to and this story found in 2 Samuel 12 was 1 to 13. Thank you so much for that Silas. So I just want to for us to reflect on this story and let's just go back. So our story actually is from 2 Samuel 11 and 12. So let's just step back and go to chapter 11. Where did this story begin? So if you read chapter 11 verse 1 David had done something remember this was a time when the kings were supposed to have gone for battle but he decided that he's going to do what he's going to tarry a little longer and this reminds me also of the story of Dina you remember the only sister of the 12 brothers so Jacob's daughter remember there was a time when she was free and she just decided that she wanted to go out and see what the world had to offer and you remember what came as a result of that so David here we can see the sin started with him just deciding I'm not going to battle I'm going to tarry in Jerusalem and then now it goes what happened when he tarried in Jerusalem maybe someone can just take us through that story as you go on. Yeah I think you know the thing is one thing I find fascinating with the bible is it tries to condense everything that happened in like phrases because I mean okay I'm reading the story now and I'm like applying like good sense and I'm like something the math isn't madly like a lot has just been compressed but generally this is how I see how the story plays out so the story starts out with David's on his bed so he leaves his bed goes to his rooftop palazo his penthouse somewhere he's chilling up there then where he is I think it's a way that the palace and then Uriah must have been a high ranking official that's right so so this is Uriah's wife but Sheba she's bathing outside because she's like no one's around like of course no one's around they've gone to battle they've all gone so I'm like I'm not guilty yeah so she just bathes because she's like my peace we are women around here it's I'd like others also purifying themselves you know because I think when we mentioned her impurity I think that's like administration cycle that would make sense and how she would actually conceive a child like we're using logic here so the thing is so she had been cleanse of her impurity then David sees her and is like bring her to me but then someone around David says hold up big guy this is the wife of Uriah I mean I think it was like okay bring her I mean then after after that so she's told you David wants you I think maybe she for herself is like uh okay fine like why does he want me when she's like ah let me just go then I think so the bible is interesting just says she was called she came she had sex I'm sure this is like that's this is like vague like vagueness but anyway that's actually what happened then she goes she conceives then she sends a never that must have been quite a good amount of time like it's like give it a month a month or two later she's like oh by the way David you know you remember two months ago I'm now pregnant and then David's like you know it I okay let's see how we can we can baptize my my scene and pray people will not notice that she gave birth in seven months yeah let's not let's just people want to notice okay so he says call Uriah Uriah is called then David says you know my guy you've done so good you're great you everything do this just live here go and wash your feet that is I mean so of course that's it's a euphemistic because it's like yeah go now go and baptize my scene it's like please let's go baptize my scene but Uriah what he does is that he goes to the gate and he sleeps there that night then the following day David's like hold up my guy like why haven't you gone to your house then Uriah is like very firm is like as as long as you live and your soul lives I cannot do this thing while the arc of God people are fighting I can't do this thing man as in there's a time for everything so he's not clear the David's like what this man's planning to foil me so he's like let me get him drunk tonight so he gets him drunk but even when he's drunk and he's like I'm still chillin at the gate man so I'm still there still there at the gate okay and the saddest part of it all is that but Sheva never said like goodbye to her husband because I mean I mean there's no space indicated so David's like what this guy so let's do this he sends Uriah back to battle sends Job tells him that put him at the heat of the battle then when the people come out to him vanish so as in that's exactly what happens and when the message is sent back David's like ah nisawa too see these things happen these things happen why are you fretting people die maybe one can be killed in battle one can be killed and because of that then but Sheva I think she's most sad but I mean at points I just ask myself is it tactfulness or tactlessness because it's like she's crying for husbands like David's like oh by the way mimini option Pia I know like I mean is it I think that looks very tactless it's like by the way you know I'm an option so stop crying I'm here so that's how like he takes her and then she becomes the wife and I think the way it relates with like the story of Alparabool is like you know I think like David had women in his humongous palace then he had to go sit standing on the roof and look is like I mean you'd have been like okay so call someone I mean because of course it's not like the I mean with all that probability it's not like all of them were busy all of them on their periods like let the math math you know so that's exactly the thing so in this case I think then you know where it gets hilarious is like David is breathing fire is like how can this man do this is like oh by the way my guy anyway it's like oh kumbi like by the way it's me I'm sorry yeah thank you so much for that um summary that's a very clear summary and maybe let me ask maybe two questions so my first question is we see that but Sheba was called and she agreed to actually come and she did lay with David don't you think she had the powers to actually reject and say you know no please I cannot do such a sin I love my husband why do you think she just accepted maybe just your thoughts anyone Debbie what do you think I think she was just she just went to the floor I mean it's the king who called her who wouldn't who wouldnt agree to that so she just went to the floor yes I think when we started learning about David remember we were told that one he was a handsome man that's the first thing two here he is he's a king and of course there was some respect that was always due to the king so I think she felt obligated to actually just you know agree to what his demands were those are my thoughts but I think that's food for thought but at the end of the day remember that both of them had sinned because she refused to reject and say I cannot do such a grave sin she also had sinned because if you read Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10 it says that if a man commits adultery with another man's wife with the wife of his neighbor both the adulterer and the adulteress should be put to death so in this case it means that both of them were actually guilty it wasn't only David alone so my question is did Bacheba also repent that's that's food for thought anyway so my second question would be why do you think Prophet Nathan decided to use a parable why do you think he said I just won't go and condemn this sin as it is let me come through using a parable anyone okay I think when someone gives you a sin the way it is for you to accept it and for David as a man with all the power he was he ruled over the whole world so as a man with that kind of power admitting his sin would be very difficult or he would have used in just measures to cover up his sin because he was he had already started covering up so what Nathan did was bring out the sin not necessarily it being his and for him to acknowledge that it's a mistake and once he acknowledges it he sees the fault in him yes okay I think typically as human beings we have a habit of being defensive and gaslighting people I think you know the thing is if Nathan showed up and was like you guy my guy I know what you did you slept with Batsheba you killed Uraya I mean the thing is it's like hey this guy will be like what ah no please please please Uraya died a natural death this guy he just just drove up with a bit foolish and he story with Batsheba you know it's not that serious it's not it's not that serious I'll just marry her and we are done she will share no she won't share he's dead it's okay I can marry her you know yeah it's gaslight it's gaslighting yeah it's true human beings as you've said are very defensive and oftentimes if you are told your sin if it's directed to you as it is you feel like honestly I don't even understand why you would do that please keep it off so truly human beings are now the last question I want us to answer from it's just right there out of the story is how would you describe David's repentance do you think David sincerely repented because he was convicted of his sin or because he was caught and how can you tell the difference so maybe we can just read the part that he actually realized that he had done a sin which is in second Samuel chapter 12 that's in verse 13 actually let me start with verse 11 where he some judgment was proclaimed on him so this is what the Lord said after David had sin he said behold I will raise up evil against the out of thine own house and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thine neighbor and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this son so it's like something that he had done was now being done for him then verse 12 says for thou didst it secretly but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the son in verse 13 where I want us to focus on it says and David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David the Lord also hath put away thy sin thou shalt not die so you can see David is already saying here oh my goodness I have really done such a terrible thing so do you think from this at least from this phrase do you think that his repentance was genuine okay I think David being a man who understood right and wrong so the fault in what he had done and he sincerely wanted to repent not because he was caught on the spot but because he had done wrong and he had seen his mistake Amen I absolutely agree with that and also just to add on to that if you read the father insight it says the prayer of David after his fall illustrates the nature of true sorrow for sin in fact that prayer is the one that is in Psalms 51 creating me a clean heart I think that's the phrase that we all know 51 by 10 creating me a clean heart oh God and renew a righteous spirit within me so that was his prayer so that prayer of David after his fall illustrates the nature of true sorrow for sin his repentance was sincere and deep David saw the enormity of his transgression it was not for pardon only that he prayed but he prayed for a purity of heart and may that be our prayer dear viewers even whenever we have seen or committed sins whether public or private may we come back to God and say that indeed Lord please create within me a clean heart okay so I think we will move on to our key text which is the a part so Debbie you can take us through it the key text which is found in second summer chapter 12 verse 13 then David said to Nathan I have sinned against the Lord Nathan replied the Lord has taken away your sin you are not going to die so this part was basically basically conveys a full and complete repentance of David to God and I think this verse it reminds me of another verse in the Bible that says if you confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us of our unrighteousness so I think this is is a part that hit David when he realized how bad his sin was and I think it was during his time that when such a sin was committed you had to be stoned to death and for him to be pardoned from that it was a relief to him and he had to thank God for that amen thank you so much for that I think it's important for us to realize even from our key text that whenever we commit sin it's not only against the human being you know sometimes there are sins that we commit and then you feel like wow I've really had now in this case it would have been he would have felt guilty and sorry for committing that sin against Uraya now assuming that Uraya didn't die in battle yeah but now it's important for us to remember that God is also very much hurt whenever we sin so never take God out of the picture whenever you've done anything wrong to someone he's the one who is hurt first and then that individual next so how about we go right into our flashlight section so Misati you can take us through that so whoever under the reproof of God will humble their soul with confession and repentance as did David may be sure that there is hope for him whoever will in faith accept God's promises will find pardon the Lord will never cast away one truly repentant soul amen so in line with that the Tuesday part was just encouraging us to write our prayer to God embracing the promise that he has given to us and maybe you can think about someone you know who responds to God's voice promptly when they sense that they have done something wrong these people who often say things like you know I'm sorry I was wrong I was being selfish and you know think about how such people can shape your life so that is just our challenge for the Tuesday part so let's move on to our punchlines for this week so Silas you can guide us through that the punchlines for our lesson today okay so our first punchline comes from the book of Sam's chapter 51 was 10 to 12 it says creating me up your heart O God and in you ask that first spirit within me do not cast me from your presence or take your holy spirit from me restore me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me so in this flashlight we see David thanking God and asking him to renew him and he was thanking God because God has taken away his sin and forgiven him and the consequences who weren't as bad as what he deserved that's true yeah and maybe Misati you can also pick up a punchline so my punchline is Sam 32.5 the message translation specifically then I let it all out I said I'll come clean about my failures to God suddenly the pressure was gone my guilt dissolved my sin appeared and what about you David any punchline that you feel speaks to you Isiah 55.7 let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thought and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abandon you pardon amen we are just seeing the nature of our God he's a massive hulenda loving father and though we deserve death time and time again you know in this day and age it's just that our the result of our sin is not immediate so we cannot be stoned if we do something and often times our sins are private but if God were actually to give us immediate sins immediate consequences I don't know if any of us would still be here so for me Matthew 5 verse 27 and 28 that says you have had that it was said you shall not commit adultery but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lastly has already committed adultery with her in his heart and that is exactly what David did he was just as Misati has very clearly elaborated he was standing there and you know he was just looking out and he saw her and it's important for us to realize that you know how our senses can be used to actually you know facilitate or progress our sin so it's important for us to guard our senses with a lot of strength so I'd like I'd just like to tell the story that is given in our lesson there's a story of a six-year-old boy who was called Desmond so this Desmond he was very fascinated by objects you know how small children can quickly find an interest in things so he was very interested in things like tools hammers such things so one day when his family had gone out he realized that someone had placed a pocket knife on a table where there was nobody around so he decided since there's no one looking the cost is clear I can as well just go and pick it and put it in my pocket and he did just that he didn't know that his grandfather was looking at him from a distance so what happens is when he picked it and he went to a quiet place where no one was he went and picked into his pocket and looked at it and then he had footsteps coming towards him so quickly he identified a vase around him and then tried to now put the pocket knife within that vase now you all know how the shape of a vase is it's as soon as you put something in you cannot you know let go you cannot remove your hand if it's still in a fist do you get it like you have to you have to release whatever is there so when he put his hand in and his grandfather came and found him at that point in time he was like okay fine now do I pretend that my hand is stuck or do I now you know remove it and then there will be a sound from the pen knife going deep into the vase and then I'll be caught so he decided do you know what I'll just stay still and wait for my grandfather to actually just come and ask so his grandfather found him and of course you know how startled you are when someone finds you doing something wrong so his grandfather asks him okay why are you afraid and why are you alone here and he's silent so he decides okay fine he asks him what is in the vase why is your hand there and he says my hand is stuck so his grandfather goes and picks a hammer ready to come and break the vase to let his hand free but he decides oh my goodness I don't want this vase to break it's my mother's vase so he just decides okay fine I'll let it go and remove my hand so the knife goes in and it makes a sound and he looks in into it the grandfather looks and he says okay fine so why are you taking this pen knife anyway the point of this story is sometimes we try to cover up lies just like this little boy Desmond and just like the story of King David that we've seen we try to cover up our lies instead of just facing those lies and you know sometimes even facing those lies we will have less consequences than you would if you continue covering up that lie for a long time so it's important for us even to learn from the story of David today and from this little story of Desmond that whenever you have seen or whenever you realize that you are guilty confess your sins at that point in time before you start covering up and as you say now what do you think section it becomes even more difficult for you to to repent of that sin okay so maybe let's get a few insights from our patriarchs and prophets from today Misati so our insight is the record is the prayer of David after his fall illustrates the nature of true sorrow for sin his repentance on sincy and deep David saw the enormity of his transgression it was not for pardon only that he prayed but for purity of heart and the thing is this clearly illustrates that I mean that there'll be hours of temptation there'll be opportunities that we have to sin that is nonetheless the longer we keep something in the dark the greater power it has over us that is the more we suppress things the worse it becomes because the thing is you can never overcome an emotion if you can't name the emotion you clearly have to be able to for David he had to see the full range of everything like the mess he had created he had to see the way the mother the adultery the child born out of wedlock he had to see all that in a clear picture and then the picture of his life and the picture of the kingdom he had to see all that and only by being able to have it vocalized spoken or painted was able to see the great mess he had done that is because prior he was just gaslighting himself and justifying it and saying like ah something small something just something small but I mean by that but being able to name it and being able that's how you can be able to overcome it amen thank you so much for that insight and even as we come to a close if you read the opening statement of patriarchs and prophets in this chapter 71 that you are to read says that all the good qualities that men possess are the gift of God their good deeds are performed by the grace of God through Christ and so remember how David started off very very well in fact of course we are told that David was a man after God's own heart I mean if we were to erase this scene if at all this scene was not to be written in the bible he would have had an almost like his record card would have been an A straight A or A plus if at all the something like that but now you see because of this scene he ended up having some it was a bit mad so my point is that yes we see him as a man with so many good qualities but the bible really doesn't talk so much about it because it doesn't want to praise him the bible never praises men it praise it gives glory to God so that's what this part of patriarchs and prophets was saying remember David had done so many things he had kongkada lion he had kongkada bear but very little is said about that but all the glory is given remember he had even kongkada lion actually but glory is actually given to God so it's important for us to realize that we are actually at risk when we are successful of feeling like we are so full of ourselves and it is at that time that we forget God so honestly to me this lesson is just a reminder that our God is so merciful and he is very willing and ready to forgive us our sins as Debbie had shared earlier that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so maybe we can have parting shots from each one of you let me start with Debbie so considering the fact that all of us all of us are sinners I don't think there's anyone who's still breathing right now who hasn't committed as him we should make repentance a big part of our lives considering the fact that you've been pardoned for so many things that we probably don't even know about should trust in God and repent making each part of our making each part of our daily lives so we might get a better chance of getting into heaven amen thank you so much yes Thailas for me I think that once you see your mistake forget about the option of lying about it lying shouldn't be one of your options she just accept the truth face it because it's easier at that point thank you so much the thing is I see we ought to submit ourselves to God because I feel it's often a difference that most Christians aren't like yes I want to sin yes but I mean it's more of like just like it is it doesn't even you're like I lack the moral power to do this or to do that you're just like God let you do something because I'm like there's nothing I can do here because I'm just realizing that I make a mistake I repeat the mistake I feel bad over and over and over again but I still do the mistake I think it's like that moral power is something that we need submit to God to be able to gain amen thank you so much we'd like to thank you idea viewers for tuning in and for following through with us we pray that the lesson on the fallen rise of David has been an encouragement to you no matter how you may have fallen remember that you still have an opportunity to rise it's not over yet until God proclaims the statement that he that is unjust let him be unjust still and he that is unrighteous let him be unrighteous still and he that is holy let him be holy still so until then may you still keep seeking God's face and we shall meet in our next lesson but before that I'll invite Debbie to close for us with prayer let's bow our heads forward of prayer Kani and the heavenly father thank you for guiding us throughout the lesson about David I pray that you may help us to repent all of our sins and trust in the Lord help this lesson to be to to be hoped for some people out there who are struggling with repentant I pray all this trusting and believing amen