 The message was God leads, God saves from Acts 221 or D4. Our message was God provides from Philippians 419. In yesterday, day 5, our message was God keeps His promises as we read in 2 Peter 3, but indeed, He does keep His promises because today we have an amazing program lined up. Please join us on this Sabbath day. I ask the Lord to guide us and spring. Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you for making our Sabbath well and bringing us here. Oh, God, even during the program, you know, whatever we're doing today, please guide us and take us through it. We're just in a break, amen. Good morning and happy Sabbath. We thank God that He has led us during the entire week of the Bible studies that we have been having. God has been very faithful to us, you know, the children and everyone else who's watching. God calls and God leads and God provides and God keeps His promises. Now, today we want to focus on the experience of Noah because that has been the theme of our Bible, Treasures of the Bible series. You have seen how Noah delivered his family using an ark and the animals. Imagine, people did not listen to the word of God. They didn't trust God, but Noah and his family trusted in God and animals also went into the ark. Now, the Bible tells us our key focus for today is found in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, verse number seven. But before we read, as usual, I'd like us all to bow our heads for a word of prayer. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you so much for the wonderful Sabbath morning that you have granted us here in Nairobi, Kenya. We thank you also for the gift of life that you have granted your people in all parts of the world who are following this series of Bible treasures. Father, I pray that even as we study the life of Noah, we may be able to understand and improve our lives and prepare ourselves for your coming again because you keep your promises in the name of Jesus we pray, amen. Now, in the book of Hebrews chapter 11, verse number seven, the Bible says, by faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, the things that Noah was told by God were things which had never been seen. That is what the Bible says. Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear. Noah's fear of the things which God had said were going to happen. And you remember that what God had told Noah was that it was going to rain so heavily that he should prepare a big boat and save the people who would go into the boat because the earth was going to be destroyed, people had become very sinful. So the Bible says, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear and prepared a boat for the saving of his family by the which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Now, Noah became faithful to God because when God told him of even things which Noah had never seen, Noah believed and trusted in God and he prepared an ark. His family only entered the ark and they were saved. Now, remember what I told you that in order to understand very well any passage of the Bible that we are studying, we must look at a few passages before the text which you are reading so that we find the context or the setting. Now, let's go back to the book of Hebrews chapter 11. Today, let's start from verse number one. Now, the Bible says, now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not yet seen. That is what faith is. Faith is the substance of the things that we are hoping for. Maybe the things we have not seen yet but the Bible has said them. Though we have not seen but we trust God, that is faith and the Bible says in verse number two that by it, the elders of old received a good report. They impressed God, the elders of old times, the patriarchs of old times, Moses, Noah and Daniel all received a good report because they had faith in God because of the things he said even though they had not seen them as yet. Now, in verse number three, the Bible says, by faith we understand that the art was made by the word of God so that the things we see were not made by things which appeared. That means that by faith we believe that the art did not evolve, that we did not come from monkeys, that we did not just come from molecules but the art was created by the word of God because God just spoke his word when you read the book of Genesis and things started appearing. That takes faith because you know what? Other people believe that we came from monkeys, other people believe that we came from chimpanzees, other people believe that the world is millions and millions of years old but dear children, it takes faith to believe that in six days the Lord God made the heavens and the art and God rested on the Sabbath day and God blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. So it takes faith, the Bible says that, it takes faith. Now, the Bible also tells us about how to worship. By faith, Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice than his brother came by which he received witness that he was righteous, God testifying about his gift. So the Bible says that even it took faith for Abel to worship and he offered a more acceptable sacrifice than came. Now, that was because of the faith that he had and the Bible says that even though Abel died but he still speaks to us because he had faith in God. The Bible continues to say, verse number five that by faith, Inok was translated that he should not see death and before his translation, he received this report that he was righteous. Now, the Bible tells us that it took faith for Inok to go to heaven without dying because before his translation, the Bible says he had pleased God. Inok pleased God because of his faith and then the Bible says in verse number six, without faith, it is impossible to please God because everyone who trusts in God must believe that there is a God in heaven and that he rewards the people who seek in him. Now, verse number seven, by faith, Noah being warned of God, of things which had not been seen, he was moved with fear and prepared an act for the saving of his family by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Now, we understand, we must believe and trust the things that the Bible tells us are going to happen to the world. Now, just before we finish, I want to tell you something that the Bible has said is going to happen. In the book of Revelation, which book? The book of Revelation. In chapter 16, the Bible tells us about seven angels having seven vials and those vials were full of the wrath of God and the Bible says that John in verse number two, he had a voice from heaven saying to the seven angels, go and pour out your vials upon the earth. Then verse number three says the first angel went and poured out his vial upon the earth and men were affected by sores and blisters which could not be treated. The men who worshiped the beast and who had the mark of the beast. Now, the people who were not affected had faith in Jesus Christ and they believed in Jesus Christ. The second angel, the Bible says, the second angel went and poured his vial upon the sea and the waters turned into blood and every living creature in the sea died. Now, the Bible is warning us of things we have never seen and we must have faith like Noah so that we are not affected. Then the Bible tells us the third angel went and poured his vial upon the rivers and the fountains of water and they became as blood. Now, dear children and everyone else who's watching, we have never seen that yet. We have never seen the seas becoming like blood. We have never seen the rivers becoming like blood but God is warning us. We must remember by faith Noah being warned of God of things which had not yet been seen. He moved with fear and prepared an ark and saved his family and condemned the world and he became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Now, dear children, God is warning us that before he comes again, the earth is going to be plagued by great disasters and if we want to be safe and rescued in Jesus, we must have faith in God. By faith, Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear and prepared an ark for the saving of his family by which he became an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. Dear children and everyone else who's watching, let us believe in God for the things he is warning us are true and are going to happen and if we want to be rescued and safe in Jesus, we must believe what God is telling us and we will be saved. Let us pray. Father in heaven, thank you so much for reminding us that it only takes faith to be safe and rescued in Jesus. Lord, we pray, knowing that we don't have faith, please help us that we may have faith that when troubles come upon the world, we will be rescued and safe in Jesus Christ. As we continue worshiping you on this Sabbath day, according to the Bible, as you had told us, Lord, I pray that your Holy Spirit will help us to understand everything that we are going to learn today and that our worship will be acceptable to you because we pray, believing and trusting in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Thank you and have a blessed Sabbath. Happy Sabbath viewers and thank you for joining us again today where we are rescued and safe in Jesus. Today we are going to be looking at the lesson and we are going to be looking at the Christian and work relevantly most of the time when we look at education. We look at education as one thing but work as the other. How can we gel the two? And today, before we start, I'd like us to bow our heads in a word of prayer. Let us pray. Almighty Father, we thank you for this blessed week. We thank you for the lessons our children have learnt and we thank you for the time that you've given us to study your word. Lord, as we get into your word in this lesson discussion, we pray that you'll lead us, we pray that you'll guide us. If it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, amen. So the Christian and work, perhaps Brother Ted, you can first of all introduce yourself and then tell us your understanding of the Christian and work vis-à-vis education. Amen, amen. Happy Sabbath and good morning everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in, for joining and joining us actually in this week as we go through the Christian and work. And what a wonderful presentation that was done today by the young people telling us about treasures of the Bible and how we are rescued and safe in Jesus. So we really thank God for that. Truly, we are rescued and we are safe only in Christ Jesus. Now as we go into the lesson for today, yes, we're doing about education and specifically about Christian and work. I wanted to, as has been my custom at least the few times I've done this particular study, I always seek to define the word before seeking to understand what the lesson is about. So I googled to try and see what does the word work mean. And I found a very interesting definition where it meant work is an activity involving mental and or physical effort done in order to achieve a specific purpose or objective. That was what work was to me. So then again I asked myself, what is being a Christian? A Christian is somebody who defines themselves as a follower of Christ. So as you do your work, as your purpose is in whatever aspect of field you are in, how is your work related with your Christian experience? And the key text for this particular week came from 1 Corinthians 15, verse 58. And it says, therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Your labor, they are meaning work. Your labor, meaning the thing that you do with your hands, whatever your life calling may be, know that your labor is not in vain. But it will be in vain if it is not done according to God's will and according to God's purpose, or if it is done in a form that is different from glorifying God. So today we'll try and see how work intertwines with our Christian experience. Amen. Thank you for that, but you still haven't introduced yourself to them. Yes, I have not and I apologize. You said my name, but let me say my name. My name is Tedo Chola and again, happy Sabbath and welcome to this week's lesson discussion. Amen, thank you. I'm Elijah Kwasa and we are here with Suleyman. Suleyman, I'll allow you to introduce yourself and also tell us about these many facets of work. Tedo started off self with a definition. Give us some scope, some perspective on what work is to us. All right, thank you, thank you so much, Elijah. The definition is quite broad and that actually brings us back to the fact that when you think about work, it depends with the purpose that you have and correctly put from the key text. It will be in vain if it's not done according to the law. Now, if we go back to the origin of work, the origin of work is God himself. From his creation, that was actually work when he was doing it and at the end of it all he rested and then what happened is after he created Adam and he placed them in the garden and he gave them instructions, what he told them. Tenged to the garden, so Adam was actually the first gardener. He had work that had been prescribed to him but there was a difference to the kind of work that we know it today and where is that difference? We read in Genesis chapter three, verse 19 and this is actually where things started to turn. Because when Adam sinned, a new element was added to the work that he was given and if we read in Genesis, just go there quickly. Genesis chapter three, verse 19, the Bible says. I can read it for you? Yeah, yeah, sure. As per King James version, it says, In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground, for out of it was thou taken, for dust thou art and unto dust shall thou return. Now that is where we see this new element called sweat and going back to the dust. Initially that was not the plan of God. We don't see anywhere in his creation plan, in the original plan where Adam was to toil and sweat and work until the day of his death because death first of all did not exist. And there was that, the garden was so blissful, you would just go about peek like a flower and it wouldn't die. You just enjoy the essence of the environment. So first of all, you see the environment was conducive for work. It was optimum, if I may use a word and optimum in the human understanding. Of course, we don't know the optimum of God because our minds are not to that capacity but it's just something we can always look up to to seeing that the glorious perfection of him. So when sin entered, that element of now sweat and death came in. And that's why we see another form of work. And if you just read Ecclesiastes chapter three, verse 12 and 13, the Bible says, I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live, that each of them may eat and drink and find satisfaction in all their toils. This is the gift of God. So amidst all the dynamics that have come into play and work having changed in the way God intended it to be, there is still some hope in it. And no, God puts it in terms of how do you make sure that as much as we are going to sweat, as much as there's going to be, there's going to be physical weariness. We are going to wear down. That's why we grow old. And at the end it says you'll return to dust. That means you work until that time when you go to rest as we wait for our maker. If we do not live to see him, come. So how do you derive purpose out of all that? It looks all bleak and hopeless. You just wonder, okay, why then should we work in the first place? But now you see there's that satisfaction that now God brings it in and says, if whatever we are doing is actually in line with God's purpose, God's will, what we are doing, are we doing it for our own benefit or for the sake of others? The way God designed it, it means that whatever we do, as much as we are meant to have fulfillment, our fulfillment will come when we actually serve others. That's the element of Christianity now that comes to work. When you look at Christ's work on earth, it was more of service to people than to himself. And you know, at the end of that, he was actually pleased with his, with his toils. He bore the burden because he knew it was not out of his own volition. It was not out of self gain, but it was for the sake of others. So that's the same principle now that we apply in all this, in this dynamic that now work has become not as joyful as it used to be, but the moment we turn and now make the focus others and not ourselves, then we tend to work more with the aim that, you know, whatever I'm getting out of this job, I'm going to bless others with it. I'm going to make sure the work that I do with my hands uplifts someone's soul, brings hope into their life that way you get to derive the satisfaction. So that's just one of the many facets of work. And when you actually look at it from the Christian perspective, that is what it's supposed to do. We are supposed to derive fulfillment from the service we render to others and not inward looking. Amen, amen. So that's a very interesting perspective. And one of the things that I noticed as I was studying this lesson as well is that the Bible in Genesis, as you've rightly said, shows us the source of work. In the beginning God created, that was an act. And then the work was punctuated by rest. So the way you knew you had worked was that there was time to rest. And when the curse came, it was the ground that was cursed. And it's very interesting, the curse says, Cursed is the ground for your sake. If you look at someone who is slothful in his ways, you will find that there are psychological problems and physical problems because work, our bodies were actually built for work. In the absence of work, our bodies are suboptimal. With a suboptimal body, you have a suboptimal mind and you then cannot understand the truths of God. So when we are told that cursed is a ground for our sake in a fallen state, God did not then say, we need to get rid of work. No. In fact, that work became, I would say, more difficult because the ground was cursed, but for our sake. For our sake. And like you've rightly said, when you look at work, of course Genesis shows us where it comes from. The book of Proverbs shows us how a diligent man will rise and we'll see that in the lesson. And then Ecclesiastes, which was also written by the writer of Proverbs, has a lot to say about work. So the sides of work are many. And as we continue with this, there's an issue of nature. When we look at Christ, we see that he became a carpenter, not because he decided to go to a different school, but because there was carpentry right there. When we see the fishermen of the Bible, they were in the fishing industry. We are not told of a fisherman who became a carpenter or carpenter who became a metalwork. I'm sure they are there, but there's an element of nature. Ted, perhaps you can give us this concept of work and nature. As I go there, just something I want to add on, you said about work, where it was instituted from Eden. Work was always there from the beginning. So the concept that perhaps some of our viewers or some Christians may have that as a Christian, just meant to sit and pray and everything will be good. That is not a biblical principle. When before sin, Genesis 2, as you've had fully said, Suleiman, you read it, Adam and Eve were placed in the garden to dress it and to keep it. Meaning they were meant to cultivate. There was work they were supposed to do. So that was before sin. Meaning work was always there. Had Adam and Eve not sinned, they would have continued working. And then after sin, work did not stop, as you've said by Elijah, that it became harder now because we were introduced to a new one, sweat. Which means before that there was no sweating. Which also tells us that the conditions of the weather changed. Because before sin, it means there was no hotness that was have for them to really toil and work so hard. But after sin, then there was now going to be sweat. And we see that today, all of you who are watching, you all sweat for the work that you do. You have to deal with difficult bosses. For those who have enterprises, you have to deal with government regulations, taxes, people coming to you asking you for so many things that you need to do. You have to pay your bills. There is toil involved. Which means we have to work really hard. And also on what you said around the many facets of work. As Christians, we should not constrict our work to only an economic outcome. As Christians, we should not just say we are working for an economic outcome. And we shall see this later on, especially on the Thursday part, when we compartmentalize work and Christianity, we tend to separate them. So let's make sure that we're not just working for that paycheck. We're not just working because you want to get money or because you want to travel the world or because you want to buy a new car, you want to buy a house. That is not the objective of working. It's a consequence of working, of course, because you get rewarded, but that should not be your primary goal. Now, you asked a very important question around work and nature. Again, I think, as has been, at least specifically for me, my customers, I seek to define the word. Some of these things, you think you know them, but when you study God's word, we are told to read intelligently. So therefore, I sought to understand what does the word nature mean. And I found the interesting definition again, where it says, nature, it means to care and protect something or someone who is growing up. As parents, we nurture our children. As farmers, you nurture your plants. As doctors, you nurture your patients. For me, in the field I am in, where I deal with clients and I do in sales, I nurture my clients. Why? Because you want them to grow, to mature and to continue buying more products from you. So when you look at work and nature and work, we said it's an activity done with the objective of achieving a specific result. It means the work that you do, you should nurture it in a certain way to enable you to grow spiritually. Because the whole aspect we are studying now is education. Now, work is last time. If you read Luke, if you read the Times of Noah, they were working, they were building, planting, so in doing all these things, marrying, being given in marriage, they were working. But some of them got destroyed because they did not associate their work with God. Therefore, we have to ensure that we nurture our work as we are growing in our spiritual journey, make sure that our work is intertwined and we nurture it so it can go to the glory of God. There's some interesting texts that the writer of the lesson brings about in Deuteronomy, in Ecclesiastes, in Proverbs and in Jeremiah, and I'll just summarize them. Like, for example, in Deuteronomy, the work that you do with your hands shall be blessed, but this work is not all forms of work, but work that brings glory to God. We should not work for bonuses. We should not work to build houses. We should not work to buy material stuff. That should not be our objective of working. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 10 says, whatever you work, do it with your might and to the glory of God. Whatsoever your hand findeth to do, the Bible says, do it with all your might. Now, sometimes we don't do that as Christians, and I think, Brother Elijah, you talked about this last week when some of us steal our employer's time. You're totally supposed to work from eight to five, but you end up arriving at work at nine o'clock. Especially now with work from home. Work from home. It's very difficult for people to actually execute. You tend to wake up. You're still doing your work in bed. That you're stealing your employer's time. Imagine if Christ would have been in this time with the time of corona, and he had to work as a computer from home. Do we honestly think he would be waking up late, staying, not showering, not becoming ready for work? That is not a principle of God. Proverbs 21 verse 25 gives us a warning to lazy people that if you're lazy, it actually says you shall die or you shall be killed. It is important for us not to be indolent. Lazyness is not a biblical principle. We have to work and we have to work effectively. And Jeremiah closes by saying that a warning that judgment shall come to those that worship the work of your hands. Now some of us worship our work, where everything that we do is our work. If I am not recognized that work, then I am a nobody. In that case, we've placed work above God, and that in itself is sinful. Amen. Amen. Amen. So there's very many concepts that are coming out here. One of them is that our culture, we nurture the culture that bears forth the work that we do. And you've brought out something very interesting in Proverbs. The desire of the slothful killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor. It is telling us that if we are slothful in our ways, we are the ones who kill ourselves. Yes. It's not someone else. It is us ourselves. Because I have a medical mindset, I bring it to that that if we are not physically active, our heart begins to suffer, our lungs begin to suffer. In fact, there are very many cancers that are born of obesity, just obesity. Being large, it will lead to stomach, colon, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, you name it. And it is a direct consequence. Of course, cancer is one of these things that came with the fall of the world. Because we are told if you eat of the fruit, you shall die. Now, it did not say you shall be short or you shall be involved in a road traffic accident. It said you shall die. And when someone gets a diagnosis of cancer, too many people it is unto a diagnosis of death. Not all of them are that way, but we can see that if we are not diligent, not just in our economic pursuit, as you said, but in our physical pursuits, then it is our hands, or lack of use of our hands, that can lead to our death. Brother Ted, we're going to come to what the online viewers are saying, but just before we get there, I would like us, Sullivan, to look at the idea of excellence. We are told to aspire to it. Many times we cannot achieve it. But work and excellence. Can we be excellent in our work? It's good that you mentioned it. I'll just pick up from what Ted also said. About being diligent and being very... The example he gave about stealing employer's time and all that, just to build on that point again. And when you say excellence, sometimes we may achieve it, we may strive to get to it. What is it? Excellence is, in essence, just the state of being outstanding. The state of being extremely good. And as Christians, that is the standard. If we say we are followers of Christ, look at Christ, look at His work. In John chapter one, verse one, we are introduced to the Creator. And we are told that was Jesus Christ. He was actually the one who laid down the foundations of the earth. And together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, they came up with the grand plan of how we ought to live in this world. And looking at the example and how they did their things. I tend to use this example most of the time whenever I'm speaking to people and I tell them, imagine if God had created the world and got to day five when He's creating the animals. Then He remembers, I forgot to create vegetation. Then He goes back again to create vegetation. That is some sense of lack of order. And if I may put it in Kiswahili, and the fact that He was able to do things from day one to day seven without going back to do something just shows us the kind of standard that we are. We have been set for excellence. Doing something to the point where by you say it is good. And that is why you see He didn't have to go back. He did everything in order. And we say, I think it's in Corinthians, second Corinthians where it says, do everything diligently and in order. That is just an example we've been told because the God we serve is a God of diligence and order. Look at Christ's work on this earth. It was orderly. From the moment He woke up to the end of the day, He had a plan. By the end of the day, He could rest and say, I have fulfilled my day's job and I can rest. That's the same thing to God. When He finished creation every single day, He said it was good. Now, coming to us, how often do we find ourselves in a situation whereby we have to procrastinate? We have to push tasks to the next day, probably because we did not utilize the time that we had been given adequately or in a proper manner, whereby now we are forced to keep pushing work. And then at the end of it all, we end up being frustrated. We say, oh, work is hard. And in essence, we are now shifting the blame, which is something that actually came with sin. That is the first thing that happened. The moment God came to the garden and He was like, Adam, what have you done? He's like, eh? It's the lady, is this woman that you gave me? The woman was like, no, it's the suffering. So it's the thing that is in us. When we are not surrendered to Christ, that is what will happen. We will shift the blame. We say, oh, work is too much. We have been given this a lot. I'm being overworked. Okay, I'm not saying it's not there. There are those people who take advantage of others and exploit them because they see this person is actually a hard working person. See, I give them a lot of work. They will break their backs to make sure it's not. But at the end of it all, you also have to make sure that whatever is given to you, you have a voice you can always speak out and say, given the time that I have, given the abilities that I have, I may not be able to accomplish all this at this, at a certain time. That is whereby you reason with whoever is giving whatever work you are doing so that you become objective. At the end of the day, it is about accomplishing what you have been done in a manner that will glorify God. And you know, the same way, render to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Your employer or whoever it is has given you a contract. They'll be giving you a paycheck at the end of the month. In return, you're supposed to give them your time and work for specific periods. But again, just to cycle back to why we do all this. If it's not again in line with the principles of God, it will still be frustrating at the end of the day because the principle of excellence is God comes from God himself and not man. So if we set our benchmark, we always have mentors, people we look up to and they say, I want to work to be like this person. That is actually aiming so low. The aim should be God. Look at how, from the writer, they use the example of the sanctuary here, the temple, the sanctuary. Moses, the times they were living in, these guys who are, they don't have permanent structures, they were living in tents. So it's something that would actually, they could do out of, you know, that thing that you do out of reflex. He said, Moses just pitch a tent. He could be pitching a tent here and he could be talking to you. But when it came to the sanctuary of God, I'm sure he was amazed at how detailed Christ God was. Make these use shitty mood of a late with gold. You know, use badger skin, make it like this. Use this kind of linen. How many two cubits? I think it was very particular and that is actually the standard that God requires of us when it comes to excellence. We have to be particular to the point. No room for, we don't need to leave room for speculations. We just have to be exact. Amen, amen. There's something interesting you brought up there about excellence and God's creative excellence where one of the things he did was he created and then he looked and said it was good. So there is a self-ordered process that is part of this excellence. And how many times when we have a task to do, do we look at the goals, execute, and then review? Because that's part of, I mean, this is God telling us how to live. And this is his example. And indeed, we are looking at the world that is falling and we can see the beauty. When you see, I mean, I've seen these videos where you find there's a dog and it was raining and it goes and pulls out the puppy from where, you know, the rain was overwhelming it. And you ask yourself, who instilled in this animal that love, that diligence, that pursuit, that it puts its own life at risk for the benefit of another? And truly that can only be God given. Because otherwise we are inherently selfish. We are inherently selfish. But God puts this even in the lowest of animals to look upon others above self. And it is in that audit process where he looks and says it is good. And then goes to the next day that we can see that we should also ask ourselves, like you're saying, if we are running out of time, are we doing things as we should? Are we being excellent in our planning, in our pursuits, and in our execution? Yes. We have some online comments. Yes, and there are quite a number of comments that are coming in that I throw these questions to you and Brother Sullivan just to address on them. But before I get there, something about excellence. I think that that particular study for that particular day really touched my heart. Because we need to be excellent in everything that we do. God is a God of excellence. And if you look at the Exodus, how the detail of building of the sanctuary was done. And we are told to follow Christ. Because Christ was talking to Moses at that particular time. And we are called to follow Christ. And we are called to be Christ-like. And that's the level of excellence, diligence, and attention to detail we should have. And if you don't have that as a viewer, don't worry. Ask God and He'll enable you to have it. Now remember, do not focus on being excellent for your own glory. Amen. And you cannot be excellent in and out of yourself. There is nothing you can do that can make you perfect. It is seeking God that will enable you to be perfect. And Christ will enable you to be excellent in the work that you do. Now there's a very interesting question here from the online visitor has brought in a lot of debate. At least from what I'm seeing and it's asked by a brother, he's called Brother Ken. He asks, was work a punishment as it is seen to have come after sin? That's his question. Was work a punishment as it is seen, at least from his view, to have come after sin? How do we answer that question, Brother Elijah? I think we need to then go to the point that sin was identified on earth. Yes. Because the Bible is self-explanatory. It speaks for itself and it is its own. It is its own interpreter. So we are told that in the beginning God created. So we've already established that that was a form of work. But then we can say that the seven day creation was part of God's work. But how does it affect man? We are told in Genesis chapter two verse seven that God formed man and then verse eight and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden and there he put man who he had formed. And he formed everything out of that place. And we are also told that God took the man and put him, this is verse 15, Genesis chapter two verse 15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. So you know, dressing it in my understanding and my fallen nature is pruning, yeah? Yes. You dress it by pruning. This tree shouldn't become too bushy. This one shouldn't go and grow into the other. So let us keep them well. And then also keeping it to those of us who have children. If you want to keep your child clean, you can't do it by thought. You have to be active. You have to be involved. So there is an element of work there. And this is in Genesis chapter two after the man was created and the garden of Eden was, the garden was put east of Eden, man was put into it to dress it and to keep it. That is work. So then the question becomes, because the question being asked is, was work a consequence of sin? Genesis chapter three accounts was. Was work a punishment? Yes. Was work a punishment? Genesis chapter three accounts for us, the process of sin entering. And we know that the serpent came and beguiled the woman and the woman saw the tree that it was good for food and then gave them, gave it to the man. And then from verse nine, God comes and he asked where they are and they were hiding themselves and on and on and on. So the serpent is cursed. There are certain things that were cursed and I think we should be very clear. The serpent is cursed, that it shall eat soil and it shall move on its belly. And then to the woman, the woman is not cursed, but she is told that there will be great sorrow in childbearing and her desire shall be to the husband. We do not have time to go into all of that, but we want to answer the question that's been put forward. Verse 17, this is Genesis chapter three verse 17 says, and unto Adam God said, because you have harkened unto the voice of thy wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake. In sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thones and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the hub of the field. In the sweat of thy face, this is verse 19, shall thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground. For out of it was thou taken, for thus thou art and unto thus shall thou return. Cursed is the ground. God did not cast man. God did not cast woman. God cast the ground. The only created being, according to the account of Genesis that was cast, was the serpent. Number one. Number two, labor was there as we've seen in Genesis chapter two. Work was there, but work became harder. We are told that the ground was cast, which then made us, as you had rightly put, sweat. And this sweat was necessary for us to achieve that which we needed to. And then we also told about thones and thistles. So there were consequences of sin. Thones and thistles came up, which going by this, we can deduce that were not there before. They were not there, yes. If there was a rose, you would not be afraid of pricking yourself before the fall of man. But here we are being told that work existed, but it became harder because of sin. And yet, even in that curse, there is a compassionate God, because God says, cast is the ground for thy sake. Is work hard? Yes. Work is hard, but if we consider that hard work is for our sakes, then we can look at it and say that the question was, is work a punishment? A punishment. Then we can look that the work that became hard is actually for our salvation. Because if it was not cast for our sake, if we could just reach and eat and do this and do that, and we were not pursuing God's will, then perhaps we would be even more slothful. Perhaps we would even have more challenge in this life. And it would not prepare us for the life to come, because looking at Eden, we know there is work. And if we are going to be self-effacing and looking towards God, then the work that we do in this world prepares us for the work to come. I don't know if you have any addition to this question. I think it's well-covered. My thoughts actually just took me back to Genesis, the origin of work, and the point whereby now it says, out of the sweat of thy brow shall thou eat. So in essence, it's just that hard, the work becoming more difficult and not really becoming a punishment. Yes, it existed. God did it, was an institute. So he is our standard, we just have to follow. Because the question then is, did God punish himself when he was created? Because that was work. Yes, yes. You were also bringing in a concept about work and spirituality just before we went to the online views. Yes, and first to go into that, let's go to Galatians chapter 5 or 25. Paul's letter to the people of Galatia. And this is what Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 or 25. Paul says, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. So the question here is work and spirituality. Are those two separate or should those two be the same? And back to what he said about, did God then punish himself by working? Then the answer of course is no, he did not punish himself by working. And if we go to work and spirituality, work is actually a form of worship. If you always remember that work is a form of worship. And if we are not working to worship God, then we're working to worship ourselves. Then therein is a problem. Now the two cannot be separate. So when Paul says, if we live in the Spirit, meaning if we are living in the knowledge of God and the God whom we serve, let us therefore do what he says, work. Working is an action. It is a specific way in which you're supposed to conduct our lifestyle. So therefore as you work, sorry, if you worship God in a specific way, then you should also work in a specific way. The two should not be different. Now some of us we know, for those who work, at least I have witnessed of this in my previous employment and also friends that I have, is some people behave a certain way in church on a specific day, and then during the week there's somebody else. Now that is not being a Christian. That means you have separated work and spirituality. Which then means you will be a Saturday keeper and not a Sabbath keeper. Because Sabbath should permeate your entire lifestyle. We should not be Saturday keepers and forget to be Sabbath. Because a Sabbath keeper will behave a certain way on Monday and on Tuesday, all the way until the Sabbath. The way he conducts him or herself on Sabbath will be the exact same way he'll conduct himself throughout the entire week. Now we should be very careful we don't separate those two. Because certain times we tend to see I'm working, I need to be hard, I need to make sure people deliver results, I need to be as aggressive as possible, I need to step over everybody else to make sure I succeed. Then on Sabbath you come here at church, you fellowship, perhaps you're trying to teach the lesson and you say, you know, God loves those who work hard. You know, let's be kind to one another. Let's give and ensure we are supporting our friends and our brothers. But then on Monday, you come in, you walk into the office, people walk away. How you conduct yourself, your work, your work, as we've told in Galatians, should reflect Christ. If you walk into an office and people are like, hey, I don't want to be near Ted today, it's just difficult, then there's a problem. When Christ was a carpenter, just to dwell a little bit on this particular point, when Christ was a carpenter, if you read in the book, Desire of Ages, when he worked, sometimes it was difficult and his brothers would look at him and wonder, what's wrong with this guy? And they would toil, the sun was hot, it would get hard. And in those instances, what Jesus would do is that he would start singing, but he would start with a hum. Sister White explains it so well about how Christ worked. He'd start with a hum. And as he hummed, people around him, his brothers, his coworkers would start getting encouraged. And through that encouragement, they would end up doing what? Working effectively and finishing their work. When you walk in the spirit and you're working in your office, you need to make sure that that is the spirit that you have, that people can see the glory of God and not you as an individual. If you still focus on Galatians chapter five, from 22 to verse 20, at least to verse 23, there are certain adjectives that Paul as crimes are as a result of the fruit of the spirit. He lists them as love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, which also means self-control. Paul lists these things as a result of those who walk in the spirit or those who live according to the spirit. You will have love. You will have joy. You will have peace in your heart. Even though you're not being paid the right salary, you will have peace. Even though your boss does not recognize you for the work that you have put. You will have peace because the God of heaven has recognized you. We always remember that the work that we do, and Paul concludes in verse 26 by saying, should not be for vain glory glory. We should not work for ourselves. I should not work as Ted to get a bonus for my own benefit, to buy another car, to buy another house, to buy another phone. That should not be the objective for work, for vain glory. So Paul really cancels us there in verse 25 and says, verse 26, let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another and envying one another. Some of us, when we're in, of course, because of the kind of life we have, the capitalistic sort of mindset, we are working for self. I'm working to be better than you Elijah. I'm working to be better than you Sullivan, so that if I'm better than you, I get the glory. So that when the awards come at the end of the year, it is Ted who's been awarded. Then you stand up, you say, yes, it is me. I did it. I did it. You don't even remember your team. Of course, at that time, when you're winning, you're saying, thank you for the team. Thank you for this company. But deep down, you're like, yes, that money is coming to be. You're not going to share that money with anybody. You might even forget to give tight on that bonus that you got. So we should not work for vain glory. And Sister White comments in the book last day events. She says, you see, if you work for your own particular benefit, and for vain glory, you will be glorified in this earth, but you will not be glorified in heaven. And through the process of us stepping on everybody around us to achieve that objective, we may lose the aspect of ministering to others. She comments in the book last day events and says, there will be no starless crown in heaven. If you get to heaven, I paraphrase, there will be some soul there that has entered heaven through your instrumentality. You cannot walk through the polygates if you have not directly or indirectly brought someone to Jesus Christ. Now, what does that mean? If I would do my work diligently, that means when I get to heaven, I should have brought people around me as well to get there, meaning I will get the crown of life. But if I work for my own vain glory, then that means I will lose people and there's no way I will be in heaven. We should always seek to get the crown of life and not the bonus or accolades of this world. Amen. Amen. So there's something that actually came up when you were talking about that. And I remembered from 2 Kings chapter 20, and there's the story of Hezekiah. The prophet Isaiah. And Hezekiah had a plea to God that, Lord, am I going to die after all this that you've done? And God extends Hezekiah more years. And after that, we are told that visitors were sent to Hezekiah. And Hezekiah showed them, and this is in 2 Kings chapter 20 verse 13 onwards, he showed them all the things that he had. And verse 14 says, Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and he asked them, what have they seen in thy house? The question that Isaiah asked Hezekiah is, of there are people who came to you after God has extended you life. And when they came to you, we are not shown in the Bible that Hezekiah acknowledged God. He didn't. He showed them the gold. He showed them silver. He showed them the wealth. He showed them all these things that we amassed as humans. And then Isaiah asks him, what have they seen? Have they seen God? What have they seen? And because of Hezekiah's hubris, because of his vain glory, there was a judgment that came down that was woeful. And it was woeful to all of Israel. So we need to remember that our work is intertwined with our spirituality. If someone comes to your house, and the question is, what have they seen in your house? And Christ is not part of it. Then go and read 2 Kings chapter 20. Because the consequence of us imagining we are the ones who have done all these things is catastrophic. Paul spoke with the Greeks and said, it is through God that we live and breathe and have our being. If our brothers and sisters at work do not recognize that we acknowledge God, then we are putting ourselves in the position of Hezekiah. And maybe that which was given to us as a blessing can actually become a curse. So just before you go on. Just to emphasize, for me, that aspect of work and spirituality, I think spoke very profoundly to me. Because there are certain aspects in my own life I have separated the two. How I work and how I fellowship are two very different things. I should fellowship God this way, and I should work this way. And that working has always been, in those instances, different from how I fellowship. Because I want to work for my glory. I need to be the best. I need to win. It's always about Ted winning. And I quickly realized that when this lesson spoke to me, I looked back at my life and asked myself, have I, in certain instances, done things for my own vain glory? And the answer was yes. And I quickly repented and asked, God, please forgive me. And from here on, as we go on, let me start. Let my work and my spirituality be to your glory. Amen. So we want to look at the idea of stewardship. Because truly, if you look at the question Hezekiah was asked, there is an element of stewardship. Did he represent the giver of the gifts as he should have? But how do we put this in work and stewardship? Marry the two. Now, thank you, Elijah, for that. And actually, Ted touched a bit of it when he was giving his elaboration on work and spirituality. And I remember when I was reading this lesson again, it was quite profound, as in every single topic that we touched on, be it work on spirituality, excellence, all that actually was, I could feel like it was being, I was the one who was put on the spot and they're like, yes, what is your life's work? And this particular one, it comes to stewardship. And it takes me back to our camp meetings and whenever there is that session of stewardship growing up, I always knew, now they want to talk about money. Then, of course, now being a child, you say, this doesn't really, I don't really need to do anything here, so I'd leave. But then with time, you come to understand really what stewardship means. If you even just Google the word stewardship, it's about being entrusted with something. You are being given responsibility over someone else's property or position or anything like that. And if you think about it, we are all stewards. We are all stewards because the only thing we actually own probably in this world is sin, if I may say. But in terms of life, anything around us, none of it is ours. It all belongs to God. And that's, we have been given stewardship over all these things. Our work is, we are supposed to take care of them. So that's where work comes in now because the action of caring for something is working itself. As you correctly put it, for example, when you're taking care of children, you have actually to put yourself to be there for them. You have to take care of them. You have to dress them. You have to clean them. It's work. So whatever things God has given unto us, we are supposed to ensure that we use it for His glory. It's not just about money. It's about time. It's about talents. It's about the gifts that we have. Every single thing is about being a steward. And when Ted was saying, when he was speaking about separating his Christianity and spirituality, it comes not only about spirituality and Christianity. It also touches on things like your work life, your leisure time, all these things. If we come, the word used here is, I will not mention it because I feel like my tongue is heavy at the moment. I might just bite myself. I remember we were having this discussion. I was telling my friends, hey, that word, we just referred it to that one, to put it in compartments. Yes. Yes, let me say that. Compartmentalize. Exactly. Thank you, Ted. So when you do that, you find that we tend to live differently. As in, when you are standing in front of people outside there, people do not know the kind of person, when you come to church, the kind of person you are. Until the day they realize, this is the same person. And it has been made worse with this online viewing. You are here leading the lesson. Someone somewhere just sees and says, isn't that Salivan? That is Ted. That is Elijah. But this guy, the way I know him, he's not speaking. He's not leaving what he's speaking. So you know, you're already blocking someone from getting the word of God because they will create a barrier in their minds. They'll be like, whatever he's saying, I cannot listen to. Because they cannot marry the two. You and the person they are seeing, speaking to them about Christ, and the person they know, they are totally different people. So Christ, when it comes to stewardship, all these facets in our lives, we are supposed to live as one. They are all supposed to be taken care of as one. We cannot separate them. We have to bring them together. Use it. Use our energies. The resources God has given us. Because we are channeling it to him. The moment it becomes self-centered, that is where now we start putting those compartments and those divisions in our lives. But the moment we understand who we are working for, then those barriers start coming down. And we realize we have to be the same everywhere we go. Our story has to be one. When someone speaks about you, be it in church, at work, or in school, wherever it is, the story has to be consistent. And actually, Sister White puts it very well, when she says, consistency is a jewel. When you're consistent in everything, it is something that will actually stand out. And that it will bring out the element of excellence. And it will draw people. It will attract people to you. Who then, it will be an opportunity to you to channel them to the one who is actually making you who you are. There's a question here, Elijah. I know you want to summarize because of time. There's a question here that was asked. What is the difference between being the best and Vain Glory? And I think I'll just allow you to comment as you close. I'll just comment on it from what we did last week. But we should always be guided by, I love the principle and it's said in the Book Christ of the Classics where Sister White says, every act is judged on the motives that prompt it. So if your motive is Vain Glory, then that is self. If you're doing your best and your motive is to further the kingdom of God, to hasten his second return, then therefore the glory and motivation is for God's glory. So every act is judged on the motives that prompt it. Look at the example he gave of Hezekiah. He prayed for added life. Life was added. He thanked God. He built everything. God blessed him. But when these Babylonians came, what did he do? He sought and forgot God and his motivation became what? These guys need to see how wealthy and rich I am. And look what happened after that. So every act should be judged. Every single thing we do should be judged on the motives that prompt it. And if your motive is self, then that is a sinful motive. Amen. I think you've actually answered the question quite conclusively. The intent is what determines. God does not look at the outward. Man will look and say, ah, that guy, he bought this because of himself. But God is the one who knows and God is our ultimate judge. There's something I wanted to bring up which I remembered as you were speaking. I was listening to a radio station, international station this week, and the concept of work and spirituality. They were contrasting what France is doing versus what America is doing. And the Constitution of America protects the work place and the individual from their spiritual beliefs vis a vis the government interfering with it. But the French system protects the person from spirituality interfering with them. It's a subtle but very profound difference. What the French system is doing is saying, a human being should not be interfered with spiritually. Versus what the American Constitution system is saying is a human being's spirituality should not be interfered with by the government. And so even in the world, a person's existence and their spirituality is something that is being contested. And if people can go to that length, how much more should we go to secure our salvation by grace through faith? We need to wrap up, but it's not because of lack of content. It's simply because of lack of time. And there are so many things that came to my mind as we were discussing, but I want to thank you viewers for joining us. I want us to look at the question that Isaiah asked Hezekiah. What have they seen in your house? When we look at education, when we look at work, whether it is excellence, will someone come to your house and say, that guy is excellent? How do you know he told me he's excellent? Therefore, he must be excellent. Or do they look and say that man is a Christian? When Paul was making tents, Paul is a tent maker by trade. But he is an author of the Bible by our collective understanding of him. Christ was a carpenter by trade, but he is our salvation by our understanding of what he actually did. So work should be a means to an end and not an end in itself. I'm going to ask you, brother Ted, close for us with the word. Thank you so much. And thank you so much, everyone who has contributed. I did not capture everything, but I hope and pray that something we said has inspired you to ensure that your work and your spirituality are one and the same. Let us pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you so much for this wonderful sub of mourning, for the discussion we have had, Lord, about work and about our spirituality. That all of these things, Lord, should be one and the same. That how we walk and how we live, Lord, should be to your glory, to your honor, and to your praise. And I pray, dear Lord, that all the ones who have watched and those who shall watch after this presentation or father may seek to ensure that their work is done to glorify only and only your name. Lead us, Lord, during the remaining part of this service and lead us, Lord, as we fellowship and glorify your name in church of the Bible, that in all that we do, we may lift up the name of Jesus. Be with us now and forevermore, Lord, for this we ask in Jesus' name, we do pray. Amen. Rescued, saved, and opportunity to learn about the interviewer. We are test of what the children have been doing during the week, and we will be able to interview Noah's family today. Before we start, let's bow down for a word of prayer. How kind in having the Father. We thank you, Lord, for today. We thank you, Lord, for church of the Bible. We thank you, Lord, for day six. We ask you, Lord, to guide us through today that we may be able to learn from you, O Lord. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Okay. Our verse for today is from the book of Matthew, chapter 24, verse 37 to 39. Matthew, 24, verse 37 to 39. Now, that is a bit long. So I hope you've opened it, and you'll be able to read it. And our title for today will be, Open, but for not too long. Open, but for not too long. Okay. We will meet this Noah's sons. Hi, Shem. Hi, Shem. Hi. Sorry. You look alike. Your brothers. Hi, Ham. Hi. Hi, Japheth. Hi, Bailey. Nice to meet all of you. Now, we won't waste time saying hi. Let's get right into it. I will ask Japheth the first question. How was it like growing in our family? We're building the ark, and preaching God's word was an everyday thing. Oh, thank you, Bailey. When I was born in Noah's family, growing as a young kid, I didn't understand what daddy was doing because at my birth, he was already there with my brother, building it. I didn't understand what it was, but then I blended so well when I became of age, I mean, understood the purpose of the ark, and I became a helping hand to daddy and my brothers, and we built the ark together to completion. Are you saying it became your way of life? Definitely, yes. It became a way of life so we could build together with brothers and daddy till we completed the ark. Listen and listen carefully. Now, Japheth, when he was born, from the time he was born, he found people building the ark and preaching God's word. Now this is an everyday thing, right? And he has mentioned it became a way of life. Parents, it is important to build your house in a Christian way because the children will learn from it and it will become unknown. Are we getting, are we together? Parents, build your Christian home because finally it will become the way of life. Lesson number one. Now, to the next question. Ham, the baby, did you enjoy being the last one? You know, being the last one is the best gift every child will ever dream of. But in this family, things were very different because I thought like me being the last one, it's always eating chapatis with mom. You know, last ones like chapatis, you know? But in this case, I was told like young man, you have to work. And I was like, hey, I see my brothers, they're working like every day. What are they doing? At first I thought like they are going crazy. But now I was wrong. Until that time that mom told me like my son, this thing your brothers are doing, this is a call from God and you have to join hands with them and do God's work. And it was amazing for me when I joined them. Interesting. I'm the only child. So I can imagine how being the last one is because now you see, you're getting the attention, you know? It's amazing, I will, I'm sorry, it's amazing. Sherm. Yes. I hear you in the arc for 40 days and 49 days. How was that for you? Well, being in the arc for all that time, it was really tough on us, considering, you know, being the whole family in just one place with all those crazy animals and the wind outside and the rain, it was really tough. And we also didn't just stay in the arc for 40 days, you also waited for another 100 days for the water to go down. And I am glad we got out of there with two lessons. One is the value of patience and two is trusting in God completely to keep us safe. Jaffer, back to you. It was mentioned that people laughed and jeered, you know, when Noah was building the arc, what are you guys doing? Did that affect you? So, so much. You know, life at home was welcoming, but now there was the other side beyond the fence, the community there, you know, peers, they kept mocking us when we went to play, they tell us, you know, your dad just built the arc too far from the sea. At one time they asked us, now where are the animals? They mocked us for several days. Now, when I came home, dad told us, ignore what the outside world is saying. How can, what I'm telling you here at home, let's build it one day. God was promised, you will keep his promise and God did keep his promise. I really like that. Now, whoever, in the sanctuary and whoever is watching, let me bust your Bible. Sorry, let me bust your Bible. Being a Christian is not easy. I'm sorry, it is not easy. You will be laughed at, people will call you names, the things you will do for Christ, people will think it's insane. Now it is up to you to stand firm in his commands. You know, there's a song we are singing and I really like what it says, it says, I am rooted in his commands. Okay, being a Christian will not be easy. It is up to you to stand firm in what you believe in. Ham. Yes. I have seen and heard that your mommy's baby. The one and only one. So, did you get into the ark because mommy's getting into the ark or you got into the ark because you actually believed in the one true God? You know, it was varied for me to be convinced like I have to be part of this journey of building the ark. At first it was like my mom was making me to do something that I never understood in the first place what I was doing. But spending most of my time with her, she convinced me and told me like, whatever your brothers are doing, it's not for me, it's about them. So she told me like my son, you have to be part of that journey. I used to go there and then of course run away to come and be with her but she told me my son, you have to go. By the time I entered the ark I knew like this is what I want as a person, as harm. Because she told me all the consequences of not being part of that. And she convinced me, she told me all the sweet things that I needed to hear until I made a decision of my own like, this is what I want. So when I entered the ark I knew like, I give thanks to God like wow, I'm part of this family. And I give thanks to God because she played a very very big role for me to be there. Children, have you heard that? Have you heard that carefully? Now your work with Christ and mommy's work with Christ or daddy's or your garden are two different things. Okay, all your mommy and daddy and guardian can do is help you grow in Christ. But by the time you're entering the ark that is your decision. You're never too young to make that decision to enter the ark children. Okay, those are two different things. Now don't think because mommy is a Christian, mommy goes to church that I will also go to heaven. No, those are two different things. You need to make your own decision. All they can do is guide you. Okay, back to you Shem. Yes. You earlier told us of us to hear about your friend who was just at the door of the ark and wanted to come in, but finally said no, how is that for you? It is still a sad thought for me and it did not only happen to me but also to my other family members. Remember when we entered the ark, we cried for a bit because we remembered our friends outside who even most of them helped us build the ark. And despite us telling them of all the promises that God had made to us, they still chose to be left out of the ark and it is a very sad thing. Considering that God has a place for each and even of us in his promises, it's just up to us to choose if you're going to accept the promises or not. Thank you. Now, before I wrap this up, I will ask each one of you which lessons have you learned during this week? In a few words, what have you learned this week? Well, from my part, considering my background with my friend, I can say that God does really save. Aha. Yeah. Chafeth. God leads. He led us into it and out of it. How? God keeps his promises that he has promised us. Amen. Amen. Now, back to what he said about Jarell. It reminds me of many of us. We wouldn't laugh, you know. Jarell didn't laugh at you guys, I believe. No, no. He just stood there and he was silent. He didn't jeer. But at the back of his mind, he knows, ah, it's not real, yeah? Most of us who come to church, we will say Christ is coming again. But in your heart, in your mind, God is not coming. Let me tell you. Jesus is coming again. He is coming and he is coming soon. Okay. Scrap the idea of he is not coming. He is coming. Scrap it off. He is coming. Now, this one I will have to stand. Listen and listen carefully. Church, door of the ark closed. And so will the door of the mercy. In the ark, there are just eight people. Now God loves all of us. But when he comes, he will close the door. And even if it's two people, he will go with you. Okay. Again, I will say the door of the ark closed. And so will the door of mercy close. I will leave you with one question. Are you in or are you out? Thank you so much. Before we leave, can we bow down forward of prayer? Our kind and heavenly Father, we thank you Lord for this wonderful opportunity to serve you. We ask you Lord to guide our hearts. Lord, that we may know you are coming again and that we may make a decision to enter the ark before it is too late. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Happy Sabbath. Happy Sabbath once again. Welcome very much to this session. We thank God for this week and for the children's program. I'll greet you again. Rescued. Rescued. Safe in Jesus. Safe in Jesus. Rescued. Thank you very much. We want to go into the announcements for God's work that he has given us. Before we go into the announcements, I'll ask that we humble ourselves for order of prayer. Let's pray. Our Father who art in heaven, we want to thank you for this day that you've brought us to your feet to worship you. As we are going to hear of the work that you've planned and are doing for your church. Father, you pray that you give us your Holy Spirit that he may lead us into all truth and keep us in that truth and that your glory might be manifest in all things. For this I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We thank God he has blessed us with eight wedding bands and the first one is they'll be a wedding ceremony between brother John Clement McCurry of Nairobi Central SDA Church and sister Cynthia Acoth of Satellite New Life SDA Church on 15th December here at Nairobi South SDA Church as from 10 a.m. This is the final reading. May God bless their marriage. This, they'll be a wedding ceremony between brother Jason Wakesa Wafula and sister Lillian Brenda Naliaka both of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 16th December 2020 at Nairobi Central SDA Church as from 10 a.m. And this is the final reading. May God also bless their wedding. They'll be a wedding ceremony between brother Abela Tutibosiri of Nairobi South SDA Church and sister Abigail Yanduko Mosomi of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 20th December at Nairobi Central SDA Church as from 10 a.m. And this is also the third reading. May God also bless this wedding. The fourth one is they'll be a wedding ceremony between brother Collins O'Mondi of Karyobangi SDA Church and sister Beryl Atyeno Ajuang of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 20th December at Karura SDA Church as from 9.30 a.m. This is the third reading. They'll be a wedding ceremony between brother Linus Mele and sister Brigid Cerono both of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 28th December 2020 at Capcoros SDA Church in Eldoret as from 10 a.m. This is the second reading. The sixth announcement of the wedding month is a wedding ceremony between brother Eleod Keoro Nyandikisi of Lavington SDA Church and sister Demakrin Mora Masira of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 30th December 2020 at Lavington SDA Church as from 10 a.m. And this is the second reading. There will be a marriage solemnization ceremony between our elder Joffrey Margato O'Mambia and sister Jacqueline Nyaboke Ongusso both of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 19th December, that is next suburb here at Nairobi Central SDA Church and this is the second reading. The last announcement of the wedding bands is a marriage solemnization ceremony between brother Jared Odiambo and sister Esther Akech Odongo both of Nairobi Central SDA Church on 19th December next suburb at Nairobi Central SDA Church and this is the second reading. May God bless all these plans of the marriages that are going to happen. Under the church programs, we have a baptismal class that normally runs virtually every Sabbath morning from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. to instruct the scriptures to those candidates who acknowledge their lost state as sinners who sincerely repent of their sins and have experienced conversion to examine and prepare them for baptism. We invite all who wish to be accepted into the worldwide seventh day Adventist faith to get in touch with the elders, to get so prepared. There's also a post baptismal class that the church runs virtually every Sunday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. The post baptismal class prepares newly baptized candidates to join the adult Bible study lesson and these newly baptized members are encouraged to join this class through brother Brian Ajwang on telephone number 0728-912-852. I'll repeat for the newly baptized members. Brother Brian Ajwang's telephone number is 0728-912-852. So please get in touch with him so that you can get prepared and encouraged in the Christian journey. The next announcement is about the family life and get together week, that is to start tomorrow on the 12th. So the church will hold family togetherness revival week of prayer from 12th to 19th December, 2020 and this will culminate into a mass marriage solemnization ceremony next Sabbath on 19th December and all members are encouraged to plan and join virtually these programs that will run from 5 45 p.m. every day that is from tomorrow to 7 p.m. in the course of the week until next Sabbath. The program for this program will be shared later and we are happy that our guest speaker has already arrived. So may all of us be ready to be blessed with this program. The next announcement is about our church services which we are told that they are supposed to remain virtual. It should be noted that we have noted open the church and that for in-person attendance. Our services will remain virtual through our social media links that is through YouTube and Facebook and also through KBC Channel One. Only those who are rostered to serve are allowed to attend physically. So all our membership were asked to be considerate of this so that only those who are rostered to be able to come here. This is because of the ongoing pandemic that we have. The last announcement that we have today is about the book donation, The Mountain Within. The church received a donation of books titled The Mountain Within, Leadership Lessons and Inspiration for Your Climb to the Top from Dr. Hatter and Elder Stiegel for our use in our evangelism efforts. The church is giving out these copies to our members subject to a donation of a minimum of 3,000 Kenya shillings or more for every copy. Proceeds of which will be used in evangelism. So any member wishing to obtain these copies of these books, of this leadership book should send their funds to the pay bill number 320-100-32100 indicating the account as book, The Mountain Within. So may God bless you all with these announcements and may this Sabbath be a blessing to us all. Thank you. The Bible has of the Bible. Rescue, save in Jesus. Happy Sabbath children, happy Sabbath mommies and daddies. It's time for us to sing all the songs that we've been learning this whole week. We want you to be upstanding, warm up your voices and join us as we discover all the plans that God has for us. Let's be upstanding. Today, we speak for all the children when we stand in front of you and say, treasures of the Bible. Treasures of the Bible is voices. Our voices are an army of young people who have spent their entire week in the house of their father. From station to station. Among them, the stations of Ask Noa, music station, Create With Shem, Professor Fasil Raks, Move Like Shem. Just to mention a few. Learning marvelous lessons about the marvelous ways of our Lord Jesus Christ. The way to our final rescue. Treasures of the Bible are often hidden and must be mined with effort and sacrifice. Qualities that have been portrayed by our children and by in abundance and by a group of people whom you'll allow me to mention and to welcome. The children. The excitement we have seen during this week is proof that this pandemic has taken away a key part of our fellowship. The inability to engage in a closeness that is especially great for our children. Teachers, as they stand behind me and beside me, I wish that you could say a prayer for them. For this group, for through this group, God has wrote wonderful works in our children. Parents, for your commitment to have your children grow up in ways of holiness, respect, and love. God bless you in a special way. Our visitors, you would not imagine this, but we had visitor children running into hundreds during this period, including children from outside this country in South Africa. We might be hungry for the word of God, but we're not taking it lightly either. If you have been a visitor throughout the week on behalf of children ministry and on behalf of all the elders of Nairobi Central Church, I say, welcome, welcome, welcome, and stay with us. I started by saying, dear viewer, I want to acknowledge you wherever you are and wherever you're watching us from. Some of you are on Facebook, others on YouTube. Some of you are all the way in Turkana, all the way from Nandi, Kajiado, all the way from Diwa, Nakuru, Mombasa, all the way from Zambia, South Africa, Botswana, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan, Uganda, Addis Ababa, Qatar, the United States of America, Trinidad, and Tobago. It is my pleasure to tell you that you are warmly welcomed. Feel part of us, even though we are apart. For the program that is just beginning, stay tuned in, and God bless you. Pre-accession, children, what we want to pray, we put our hands together, we bow our heads, we close our eyes, and now we are ready to talk to Jesus. Our Heavenly Father, we come before you this morning, we thank you for the gift of life. Dear Lord, we're grateful because you've enabled us to see this blessed Sabbath morning. We're grateful for the protection that you continue to bestow upon us and all the children across the world. Father, we're grateful that even in difficult moments, you're still there. Dear Lord, in a special way, we want to commit the ones who are unwell all across the world, of all kinds of diseases, dear Lord. We pray that may you touch your children, dear Lord. Dear Lord, we want in a special way to remember Mrs. Odote, who's in an Nairobi hospital, dear Lord. Dear Lord, may you touch her, as well as you're touching the rest of your children, not pass them by. In a special way, we want to bring our parents before you, dear Lord. Continue making provision, continue sustaining them. Dear Lord, we want to pray for the little ones across the world. Dear Lord, they are in a difficult situation, that some of them are not able to deal with. Father, we pray that may you remember them as well, encourage them and remind them that you're there with them. In a special way, we want to bring the leadership of our country, dear Lord, and the leadership of the church, as well, dear Lord, before you. That may you give them wisdom to be able to push on and encourage and show light unto your children as they lead, dear Lord. Dear Lord, in a special way, we want to ask for your Sabbath blessings today. As we go to the church of the Bible ends today, we pray that may you be with the speaker who will be coming to speak with us past our Obed, that, dear Lord, may you touch his memory and may the Holy Spirit speak through him as well. Dear Lord, as we now want to continue to join the Sabbath blessings, may the Holy Spirit come to us and meet us at our various points of need. For it is in Jesus' name we pray, just in believing, amen. Treasure of the Bible. Praise to you, say. I want to say how happy I am to see that everyone has tuned in and joined us this morning. Though I can't see you, I believe you're there. I'm glad to know that this Sabbath morning, we are about to join the session of tithes and offering, or we are about to start the session of tithes and offering. And I just want to say that it is my utmost pleasure to be the one to welcome you this morning. And the verse or the scripture today comes from Proverbs 3 verse 9 to 10. And it says, honor the Lord with your possessions and with the fast fruits of all your increase. Vastan, so your buns will be filled with plenty and your vats will overflow with new wine. Tithes is how we show we are obedient to God and offerings is a sacrifice you show to God. And I just want to tell you that the words or the, sorry, the number or the pay bill number will be shown on the screen. And please specify whether it's for tithe, offering, camp meeting expenses and so on. With that I would like to pray as we give. Let's pray. I didn't have any father, thank you for this morning. I want to pray for everyone Lord who has joined us live and also those who are here. Lord, I want to pray that you may bless us as we give in our tithes and offerings. For it is just name I do pray and believe, amen. Sanctuary, last week we learned about the most holy place. Today's topic is. Our key text is from the book of John chapter one verse 29. And it says, behold the lamp of God who takes away the sins of the world. This week boys and girls, we sat down and thought about some of the wrong things we children sometimes do. Maxwell, would you like to read to us? Yes, I have it in my pocket. My name is Peter Nyaga. I am seven years old. Today I was mean to my brother for no reason. Mommy gave us a food to share and I refused because I was too hungry. I realized there's a mistake and doesn't make God happy. So I was sad too. So I went to my bed, knelt down and asked Jesus to forgive me and help me not to be mean again. Oh, God bless you dear Peter. How about you, Michelle? Would you like to read the one you have? But of course, here. My name is Tabitha Jalalee. I am 11 years old. This week I told a lie. My teacher asked me why I had not done my assignment. I told him we had gone to the countryside away from the town and I did not have internet. I also felt guilty. My parents taught me not to tell lies. Even Jesus is sad when we tell lies. I cried to Jesus and asked him to help me be a better person. Now, I have a question for you guys. When Peter and Tabitha knelt down to pray, Jesus forgave them. But where did the sins go? I know God says it takes a year to say, but that's actually a good question. Is it the ocean? I think they disappeared to thin air. I don't know, the Amazon? Well, not really, but today we are going to find out. Tell me guys, do you know who's the father of all evil? That old servant called Satan. He is also the father of all lies. That's correct. Today we are going to learn and see that all sins must go back to him. Children, we have been learning about the sanctuary. Now you're experts on the subject. Yes, we are. We learned that the sanctuary has an outer court, holy place, and a most holy place. Now boys and girls, remember a long, long time ago, the children of Israel made a sanctuary according to the instructions God gave them. God told them that if anyone like Peter and Tabitha did something wrong, they had to take the sin offering to the sanctuary. Remember children, for you, me, Peter, and Tabitha to be forgiven, someone has to die. This innocent lamp represents Jesus Christ. Today it's going to die on behalf of Tabitha. How about Peter? Well, Peter will have to give his own sin offering. But first boys and girls, Tabitha have to put her hand on the head of the lamb and confess all her sins. That way the Tabitha sins come from her to the lamb. Then she'll take her knife, cut the lamp on the neck until the lamb dies. Then as a priest, I'll remind you that the life is in the blood. If you take away the blood, then the animal or the person dies. Therefore, Tabitha sins are now in the blood of the lamb. Eh, is that why we say we are saved by the blood of the lamb? That's correct. The priest will then take the lamb and burn it on the altar of burnt offerings. Then the priest will take the blood and sprinkle it on the altar of burnt offerings. Then he will go into the holy place and sprinkle the blood on the veil in the holy place. Wow, the priest had such an amazing and a lot of work to do, didn't they? This used to happen every day of the year, except from one day. By the way, do you guys remember which tribe were the priests? That I remember must have been the Levites. Correct. Now I have a better question. Where are the sins of Tabi now? In the air, ocean, Amazon? No, now I see them there in the sanctuary. The Bible says your way of God is in the sanctuary. Who is such a God like you? Wow, God's way is amazing. His way is the way of mercy and grace. That is how our sins are forgiven. Now boys and girls, do you know where the goat was taken? A strong man will then come, take the goat and take it far away from the camp of the Israelites. Now, but before we go there, let us look at what happened in the sanctuary. As we said, Tabi had killed the lamb and the blood was taken and sprinkled on the altar of burnt offerings. Then the priest would go into the holy place and sprinkle the blood on the veil in the holy place, as we said. Now children, can you imagine this happening for a whole year? Many people doing many sins and taking many lamps to the sanctuary. I can imagine it must have been dirty and full of sins. Aha, so much love happened. Every once in a year, God instructed the Levites to clean or cleanse the sanctuary. That day was called the day of Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur, what? Kippur, another name for it is the day of atonement. Or the day of judgment. On that day, two goats will be chosen. One goat represented Jesus Christ and the other goat represented Satan. The priest would take the goat representing Jesus, kill it, take its blood and go into the most holy place. Here, he would sprinkle the blood on the massy seat, which was on the top of the Ark of the Covenant. Do you guys remember what's inside the Ark of the Covenant? The commandments of God, Port of Manor and Orange Road. Awesome, by doing this, the sins of the children of Israel, which they had repented during the year, would now be on the high priest. Then the high priest would then walk outside, carrying the sins of the Israelites, put his hands on the head of the goat and confess all the sins of the children of Israel. Aha, so now, where are the sins of the children of Israel? On Satan, or on Satan, the real owner of all sins. You see children, sins don't just go anywhere, they go back to their real owner, Satan. But now guys, how do the sins get to Satan who he said is the father of all evil? We had already talked about that. So now, what happened to the goat representing Satan? Finally, a strong man would come and take the goat representing Satan far away in the desert. In the desert, it would be left to die there with all the sins of the children of Israel. Children, the Bible says, children, that's what the Bible means when it says, Israel has taken away our sins far away from us. Do you see why the sanctuary is important? Yes, I do, and it is amazing. But what happens when we don't confess our sins? Then if we don't, the sins will remain with us. It's sad, and eventually it will kill us. But today, there is no sanctuary, and at home we don't have animals. How will we confess our sins? Well, guess what children, there's a sanctuary in heaven. You remember we learned Jesus Christ went to heaven. Yes, children, Jesus is in the heavenly sanctuary, and he's ready to forgive us when we confess our sins. We'll learn more about that in the future. Boys and girls, today we have learned, one, we need to say sorry when we are wrong and make mistakes. Two, we need to confess our sins to Jesus so that we can be forgiven. Three, we don't have to sacrifice an animal for our sins to be forgiven. And four, Jesus is our high priest in heaven. As we leave your holy sanctuary, may we guide us with us. Thank you. Help us to be attentive in church, because I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Children, join us next time as we learn about the abolition of the earthly sanctuary. For now, bye. In Jesus, happy Sabbath, everyone. Our scripture reading for today will be coming from the book of 1 John, chapter four verse seven to 11. And it says, beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propreciation of our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. I'll repeat. First, John chapter four verse seven to 11. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us that God has sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propreciation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Make the Lord bless the reading. We thank the Lord for this Sabbath morning. We want to appreciate the children program, the children department, that was awesome. We thank you for blessing our souls this Sabbath morning. You are so wonderful. We want to thank you for this wonderful program, the old week talking about being rescued and being very safe in Jesus Christ. Now is the time when we listen to the message of the day and we are going to listen from our senior pastor. But before then, there's something very interesting I want to bring to you, that as we usher out the week of emphasis on our children going to the scriptures, we are also ushering in a new powerful program for the families that we are calling the family togetherness. And on this program, we have a powerful couple, our guest couple all the way from Zambia. And it's my pleasure this morning to introduce them to you, Mr. and Mrs. Habitana Hachamba, this great man of God and his wife, they have made their way to the city, to this country and to this church just because of you, my dear viewer. Now to let you know what they have lined up for us so that you know whether you need to attend or not. On the first day tomorrow and every day, the programs are starting from 5.45 through to 7 p.m. Tomorrow, we will be talking about holy matrimony, holy matrimony. This couple understands that there are, I can't miss to listen to them. On Monday, they want to talk to us on foundations matters, foundations matters. If it doesn't matter, they are here to tell us it matters. On Tuesday, living single in a marriage culture, what is that? I don't understand, but I have to attend to understand. And on Wednesday, they are here to speak to us on a very interesting topic, past woods, past woods. Could you be struggling? Could you have been disappointed and going through frustrations in your marriage? Aha, they are here to let us appreciate this even. On Thursday, your son, my son, our son. And on Friday, your money, my money, I mean, this is a packed week and you can't afford to miss. No, I want just to invite them. Pastor, you can say a word. Happy Sabbath to you all. God bless you. Ma'am, please, ladies want to hear you. You are here because of them. Happy Sabbath. And we pray for the presence of the Lord throughout this week. Amen. Amen. And all men of us are aware and they know Pastor Abtana because he was with us last year. And he is a powerful speaker. You can't afford to miss. Now, before they come in, before they come in, I want to give us a privilege of listening to the message of the day from our senior pastor, Pastor Orbet Nyomache, right here with me. Man of God, this is the time we are praying for you. God bless you. Dear viewers and church members, good morning. I want to take this opportunity to say a few words before I give the message of the day. One, I want to thank our God who has been with us throughout the week. And he has given us a chance to sit wherever we are and listen to the activities that pertain to worship that have been presented to us by the participants. I also want to thank God for the opportunity has given me so that we can share the word from the scriptures. I also want to thank our pastor who has just introduced the guests who have come for us. And I am sure they have a special message that has been prepared for us. When we sat at the beginning of the year as the pastor, we simply said that what we want to see in this church, Nairobi Central, is spirituality, nothing else. That's why you have been seeing us having weeks of prayers. The other time we had still watch week of prayer. We had Amu week of prayer. We are concluding the VBS that has been conducted by our children. And we are beginning the family togetherness week of prayer. And for sure we want to thank God that we have seen that He has answered our prayers. We said we will not like to sing another song other than teaching our people the way of the Lord. And I want to thank Him abundantly for what He has done for us. Finally, I want to say, on behalf of the parents of this church, on behalf of the leadership of this church together with the pastor, I humbly want to thank the leaders of children's department. I want to thank our brother, Pastor Laijena, who accepted to come and make a presentation or presentations throughout the week. The teachers of this department, we want to assure you we are very proud of you. And we want to thank God for you. And we want to pray that you continue the same, serving God's children as long as you will live. We want to thank you abundantly. And we also want to thank God for what He has done for us. Finally, I want to thank the guests of Chastikam. And we want to pray that they feel they are at home. And they will be serving God's children from the Department of Family Life. The pulpit is yours. The stage is yours. And we hope God will use you mightily. And at the end of the week, as we are going to have mass weddings, we will be blessed. We want to welcome each and every one of you to note Miss N lesson that will be presented from this pulpit. Every day in the evening, please make sure that you attend. I will attend with my wife and our grandchildren in our small church. We will remain tuned, listening to the messages that will be presented by the servants of God. They have come for you. They have come for me. Let's pray for each other so that we may not have anything that will stop us from listening to the messages that have been prepared for us. God is love in marriage and the family. That is our topic this morning. And I want to pray that the good Lord helps us so that we may understand what the scriptures is going to tell us about God's love in marriage and the family. Let's pray. Father, on your behalf, I'm going to stand before your children. I want to pray that you bless me. You bless them as we go through the scriptures, which speaks about your love in the marriage and the family. May your Holy Spirit prevail in our hearts. In Jesus' name we pray. From the scriptures just read to us, brothers and sisters, I want to repeat this scripture and say a few words about it. Then I enter into the sermon. The servant of the Lord says and bleeds with us by saying, beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God. For God is love. In this, the love of God was manifested toward us. That God has sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. In this is love. Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation or sacrifice for our sins. Beloved of God. If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. I want to say a few things there. And very strong statements have been given in that text. That if we love one another, then two things are in our lives. One, if we love one another, we are a pawn of God. And if we love one another, then we know our God. That's very important. That once we show love toward one another, we clearly show the world that one, we are a pawn of God. Two, we know Him. If we do not love one another, the scripture is very clear, then we are not born of God, and we do not know Him. And John is telling us exactly what the love of God has done us. He sent His only begotten Son so that we could live. He sent His Son to be a sacrifice for us. So once, once we show this kind of love, we clearly tell the world that we know Him and we are born of Him. I am not going to talk about this love in general. Specifically, I'm going to relate this love with marriage and the family. But before that, I want to say privately like this. When John and his brother were called into discipleship, they came to Jesus with a different feeling. Yes, they had read the scripture which said, a Savior is coming to deliver His people. And in John's mind, he thought that Jesus was going to deliver the children of Israel from the Roman bondage so that they could have their own kingdom. And Jesus was going to be the king of the children of Israel. And maybe they thought because a king has several ministers, assistants around him, we also need to be so close to him and request him to look at us and at least give us something that will make us to be next to him. That's why they used their mother to go to Jesus and bleed with Jesus so that they could sit next to Jesus, meaning they could receive the position once Jesus Christ could become their king. But we want to thank God. There was something unique that happened in the life of John. He was so much close to Jesus. He always sat at the feet of Jesus and carefully watched the life of Jesus Christ and listened to the messages that were delivered by Jesus Christ about the kingdom of heaven. As the days went by, and as Jesus continued teaching and practicing what he was teaching, John's life changed. He was made to understand what the love of God is all about. That's why he is among those people who have spoken about love in the scriptures more than another person. John speaks about the love of God. Now, I want to stop there and continue. What I want to show our people now is that God's love is the foundation of marriage and the family. I am not going to explain what marriage is, what the family is. That one will be said throughout the week. If you will happen to be present listening to the messages of the Lord and servant, I simply want to talk about love as the foundation of marriage and the family. And one thing I want us to know is that marriage and the family will not last long in the absence of God's love. The only way the marriage and the family will last long is by having the love of God present within the marriage circle and the family. Love is the essence of what God is all about. Because marriage was instituted by God and because he is love, then the marriage institution was founded on his love. The love of God is the only pillar that will enable our marriages and families to stand, especially in these last days. Jesus said, a new commandment I give you, love one another. If you love one another, then the world will know that you are my disciples. When he's talking about the new commandment, this is what he means. This love commandment of the new of many, the love commandment is new in that it draws its power and its clarity from the cross. If you want to understand what the love of God is all about, go back to the cross and see what took place. In the simple terms I want to say, what took place on the cross is Jesus took our sins upon himself and our death and he died on the cross as a result of the penalty of sin. In exchange, he gave us his righteousness and life that didn't belong to us. So the love which is being talked here is the love that a person will express to a fellow brother or a sister, even if things are not right. The self-sacrificing love is the strongest argument that God is present in a Christian family, community, society, and the nation. It is by the love of God that he created both male and female in his own image and likeness. It is by his love that he created them in his own image and likeness. It is by his love that he gave them authority to rule over his creation. It is because of God's love that he gave them power to multiply and subdue the earth. It is the love of God, it is because of the love of God that he saw that it was not good for man to be alone. And it is because of his love that he made him a woman, a helpmate for him, a suitable companion, a helper comparable to him, a person who should stand by his side. All these things were done because of God's love. It is because of love that he made a woman from a part of Adam's body. It is because of love that he gave if as a present to Adam. And it is because of love that Adam received if with a great joy because he saw before him a precious gift that the Lord has given to him. It is because of God's love that the plan of redemption was revealed to them after having fallen, after having listened to the voice of the devil, our first parents fell into sin. And because of the love of God, he visited them and is close to them what he has planned to do for Adam and Eve and the rest of the human race. And it is because of God's love that when Jesus Christ was tempted by the Pharisees, asking him whether it was lawful for a man to put away his wife, Jesus affirmed that he who made male and female, he said they should stay together and live and they should be one and not be two and longer. And they said divorce was not their right from the beginning. And they said very strong words that could show the listeners that marriage is a permanent union between two individuals. There should be no another thought that will bring about separation or divorce. Jesus affirmed that it was God's intention that the two should live together as long as life should last. It was because of love that when there was a marriage in Ghana, Jesus wholeheartedly attended this marriage ceremony and became a blessing to that marriage ceremony. It is because of love that God gave the family members, each family member a role to play within the family circle. Husbands have been given love for their wives. Wives have been given respect for their husbands. Fathers have been given a responsibility to train their children in the way of the Lord. Fathers have been instructed not to provoke their children, teach them the way of obedience, teach them to know how to obey God, teach them to learn on how to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ. So each member in the family has been given a responsibility to carry and this one is based on love. Father I want to say that it is because of God's love that he keeps, protects and gives hope to the singles widows, widows and orphans. That's why he says in the scriptures, in the book of Isaiah chapter 1, 16 through 17, he is instructing the leaders in the world, the priests that they should defend the fatherless and plead for the widow. So meaning these people are in the heart of God. God is defending them and God is instructing every person to take care of this kind of a group that is living among us. In Psalms, the Psalmist says, in Psalm 146 verse 9, the Lord relives the fatherless and the widow. And in the same book, chapter 68 and verse 5, he says, God is the father of the fatherless and the defender of the widows. It is because of his love that he has taken the initiatives to remember this kind of a group because they are also needed in the kingdom of heaven. That's why he's giving us the instructions from the book of James, is telling us that the only true religion, pure one the true religion before God is that region that vests the ovens and the widows in their needy. So whether married or not married, whether you are a father, whether you are a husband to somebody, whether you are a mother to some children, whether you are a wife to a husband, whether you are a child to a parent, God wants us to practice what we call is love among us ourselves. And the Bible is very clear. The family that loves each other, the family members, the love of God dominates clearly indicates that this family, one is born of God. Two, this family knows God. The family members where love is not a dominating factor in their lives clearly indicate that they are not born of God and they do not know this God. So it is God's desire that we have marriages, we have families that portray the love of God among us ourselves, that the world may know truly these homes, these families, this marriage knows God and it is born of God. Marital love is unconditional, affectionate, and intimate devotion to each other that encourages mutual growth in the image of God in all aspects of a person, physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. The agape love in the New Testament is selfless, which means as family members, we need to have this love which is selfless, which is all for love that comprises the foundation of true, lasting love. Jesus manifested the highest form of this kind of love when accepting both the guilt and the consequences for our sins, he went into the cross. So men are instructed to have the kind of love to their wives, even children to the extent that even if things are not right, you will still go ahead and express this kind of love to the people that the Lord has given you. Wives should practice this kind of love that comes from Jesus Christ. When things are not right, this love must be expressed to the individuals who seem not to be favorable to you. Having loved his own, the Bible tells us, having loved his own, who are in the world, he loved them to the end. That is John 13, verse one. He loved us in spite of the end to which our sins brought him. Even if our sins led him to die on the cross of Caravan, he still loved us. This was and is the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. Paul describes this kind of love in the scripture. The scripture is very clear, brothers and sisters. And this is the kind of love we need to have. Very clear. Paul expresses that one very clearly. He tells us the kind of, I mean the characteristics of the true love that we need to express to each other as a family. He says, love serve us long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not buried itself. It's not bathtub. Does not behave rudely. Does not seek its own. Is not provoked. Thinks no evil. Does not rejoice in inequity. But rejoices in the truth. Bears all things. Believes all things. Hopes all things. Endures all things. Love never fails. When the Bible talks about loving each other, this is the kind of love that it is talking about. And this love is only found in Jesus Christ. As a husband, if you want to have the true love for your wife and your children, you need the love of God. As a wife, if you need to respect and love your husband, this is the love you need, you long to have. As children, if you want to obey the Lord, I mean your parents in the Lord, and if you want to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, by loving your parents, this is the kind of love that you need. There's no other love other than this one that has been shown to us by Jesus Christ. Everything is based on God's love. I want to read this strong statement from one of the writers, known as Ed White. He comments like this, Agabe love is blacked into an eternal power, source, and it can go on operating when every other kind of love fails. It loves no matter what, no matter how unlovable the other person is. Agabe can keep on flowing. Agabe is an unconditional, as God is love for us. It is a mental attitude based on a deliberate choice of the will. I want to repeat this to husbands who have made a decision to leave their bedrooms and sleep in the living rooms. They leave their bedrooms and their wives and they choose a room that is meant for guests and it goes there to sleep there. I want to speak to wives who have run away from their husbands. I want to speak to children who have run from their homes simply because things are not right. God says the love of God must be there. It will never, never fail. My dear husbands, never should you get tired with your wife. No matter who she is, my dear father to children, don't get tired to your children. Express the love of Jesus Christ in your life. No matter who they are, no matter the kind of life they have decided to lead out, pray for them, fight for them, long to have them back. Never should you get tired. Husbands, never should you run from your bedrooms. Wives, never should you run from your bedrooms, from your husbands, because your husband is not doing things that are not going well with you. The servant of the Lord says, no matter how unlovable other person is, no matter how unlovable your wife is, no matter how unlovable your husband is, no matter how unlovable your children are, love them to the end. That's when the world will say, truly this is a husband, father to the wife and to the children. Truly this is a mother and the wife to the husband and the children. Truly these are children to these true parents. If the love of God is welcomed into our hearts as a family, the world will declare that that family is born of God. The world will declare that that family knows God. Marriage was divinely established in Adam and are found by Jesus Christ to be a life long union, a life long union between a man and a woman in loving companionship. For a Christian, a marriage commitment is to God as well as to the spouse. No husband, let me tell you my brothers, sometimes there are stories when you are told you cannot imagine. We have men, we have husbands who are very good leaders in the church. They speak like angels, their voices indicate that they are really loving leaders to the children of God. When they are given an opportunity to lead the world outside there, they speak so well to the rest of the world. But when it comes to the house, these are terrible men. There are wives who sing nice songs, nice prana, nice alto. They sing so nicely, they dress so nicely. They do very good things in the church so nicely. But when it comes to the house, they are in the house and they have made their houses in such a way that a person would not like to live in it. My brothers and sisters, you need the love of God. You need to understand that the Lord who has brought you together, has brought you together so that you can live together as long as life will last, no matter what happens in the house. No matter things are not right. No matter somebody has become still necked. It doesn't understand what you are saying. Still, God says, love him, love her, love them the way I loved you. I never dispaired. I just went up to the cross and I paid the price on the cross because of you, not because that you are right, not because that you had disclosed righteousness. There was nothing good in you. As seen as you are, I made a decision to down the cross. Your sin took me, led me unto death, but it's there, I loved you and I love you. This is the kind of love that should be disclosed, that should be shown among the family members. Mutual love, honor, respect, and responsibility are the fabric of this relationship which is to reflect the love, sanctity, closeness, and the permanency of the relationship between church and his, between Christ and his church. The true motivating factor of this relationship is God's love. You cannot make it if there is no love, the love of God. If we welcome God in our lives, if we listen to the voice of God and welcome him into our hearts, this love will be seen in us. This love will be practiced among us ourselves. Although some family relationships may fall short of the ideal, marriage partners who fully commit themselves to each other in Christ may achieve loving unity through the guidance of the spirit and the nature of the church. God blesses the family and intends that its members shall assist each other toward complete maturity. This can be achieved only through God's love. Parents are to bring up their children to love and obey the Lord. By the example and their words, they are to teach them that Christ is a loving disciplinarian even ever tender and caring who wants them to become members of his body, the family of God. Increasing family closeness is one of the earmarks of the final gospel message. And this one can only be achieved by God's love in our hearts. Brethren, love is the essence of God is all about. Because marriage was instituted by God and because he is love, then the marriage institution was founded on his love. The love of God is the only pillar that will enable our marriages. That will only enable our marriages and the families to stand, especially in these last days. If we desire to have marriage and the family that will last far, I will stand firm here and will be in God's kingdom. Let us welcome God's love in our hearts. It is the love of God that will make us to stand firm. Jesus' love in our hearts will make us not to live our wives, will make us not be tired with our wives. Jesus' love in our hearts will make us not run away from our husbands. We will love them even when they are unlovable. When the love of God is in our lives, we will learn to love our children. Even if things are not right with them, we will pray for them. We will be longing them to come back. We will be calling upon God to take care of their lives. Love should be the center of everything. Once you have love as a husband and a father in your heart, that is a clear indication that you know God and you are born of God and it is God who's in dwelling in your heart. As a mother and a wife, if you have Jesus Christ in your heart, the love of Jesus Christ will be shown to your children, to your husband. Children, if you love your master, if you want to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ, have the love that was in Jesus Christ. If we continue thus, then, as a family, a family, the world will come to know that truly we are a pawn of God and we belong to God and we know our God. We need to have a family that is prepared for the kingdom of heaven. We need to have a family that is happy both here and hereafter. We need to have a family that will show the world that really Jesus loved us. He died for us and is coming for us. How can that one pastor happen? Let us welcome Jesus Christ in our hearts. He will put that love that he has in our lives and we will exercise this love by the presence of the power of the Holy Spirit. Everything will go on well. My brother, my sister, the wife God has given you is yours. The husband God has given you is yours. The children that the Lord has given you is yours. How, what can we do so that we can remain united as the will of the Lord is? It is only by going back to the foundation of this marriage and the family, which is love. Once we have this love, there will be no separation. There will be no hatred. There will be no anyone having a desire to run away from the other. The love of God will help our marriages, will help our homes to stand firm. I want to say this. I have said it from the scriptures. Love your husband, love your wife, love your children, love your parents. If you really love God, in simple terms, my brothers and sisters, I want to say like this, never, never shall you miss the presentations of this week. If you have a problem with your family, don't run away. Listen, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. If your husband is not doing well with you, don't run away from these lessons. The Holy Spirit is going to speak to you, is going to let you know on how to be patient with your life partner. If you feel that the home where you were born is not a kind of home that you would like to live, don't run away. Sit every day from five, 45 to seven, listening to the messages of this. Do you know why I'm saying so? Because the devil knows that if our families will stand firm, we will have a firm community. We will have a firm society. We will have a firm church and we will have a firm nation. So he's less concerned with the nation, with the community, with the society. He's targeting the family members and once he has gotten them, then there will be no more strong church in the world. Husbands, are you aware that the devil is targeting you? Wives, are you aware that the devil is targeting you? Children, are you aware that the devil is targeting you? And once he will have you in his hands, then there will be no church. You sang here, beautiful songs. You participated and you disclosed the treasures that are found in the scriptures. The devil is not happy with you, so you need to take caution. Ask Jesus to be in your heart. Ask Jesus, even if you've been having VBS throughout the week, spare that one hour to listen to the servants of God. The message to the family is the right message at this hour. It's the right message at this time. Once the families will be prepared for the kingdom of heaven, the community, the society, the church, even the nation will be prepared for the kingdom of heaven. Welcome and make sure that by the grace of God and by the presence of the Holy Spirit, learn something from the servants of the Lord, I am sure they have spent sleepless nights preparing for the people of Nairobi Central Church and beyond. I am sure they spent the whole night in the air and God has been so gracious to them and they have arrived here safely with a message that the Lord wants them to deliver to us. How can I close my channel for other business? How can I be in other business leaving out the messages that will make my home to stand firm? This is your time. This is your time, my brother and sister. Even if that husband of yours is not that good to you, this is the week that you need to sit together with him and listen and take in seriously what God will be speaking to you through his servants. And I am sure by the end of the week, I and your match and my family, we will be blessed. What about you and may God bless us. Father, we want to thank you because you loved us to the extent that you created us to be in the image, to be in your own image and likeness. You loved us to the extent that you created us as man and woman, husband and wife. We want to thank you because you blessed us. You gave us power to multiply. So as marriage and the families, we want to commit our lives unto you. So that you may help us. What you want to dominate in our marriages and the families is your love. And it's very clear from the scriptures that you are love. So on the other hand, you are trying to tell us that receive me in your hearts and this love will be an automatic thing in your lives. Many homes are broken. Many homes are separated. Divorce has taken place. Simply because of lack of this main factor that controls the lives of your children. The devil knows if our families will be successive, if our families will stand firm with you, the community will be firm, the society will be firm, the nation will be firm, your church will be firm. So he wants to make sure that he has taken away your love from our hearts and he takes charge of our hearts and we will have chaotic homes with many problems. And he will reach at a position of revising us to leave each other. And once he will reach there, he will rejoice and say I am now successive and I have got the harvest that I've been looking for. Help us God as we begin this family life week of prayer. As your servants are prepared to break the bread of life related to our families. Bless them abundantly, bless us also abundantly. Give us a desire of attending. Give us a desire of changing our lives so that we may be in harmony with the principles of heaven and prepare ourselves for the kingdom that is soon to come. In Jesus' name we pray. I'm turning proof of the fruit of the spirit from seeds planted by his hands. I'm turning over a new leaf. I'm rooted in. I'm living proof of the fruit of the spirit from seeds planted by his hands. With a chance to take with his spirit from seeds planted by his. I'm turning over a new leaf from the fruit of the spirit from seeds planted by his. I have such lovely singing from the children ministry and thank you so much pastor Obed for a lovely, lovely someone. Children I hope you are able to join us today and we are very, very happy that you joined us throughout the week for a virtual treasures of the Bible, parents, guardians, aunties, uncles, mummies and daddies. We want to say thank you so much for enabling the children to be able to join us. We thank you so, so much. We also want to thank the communications team. We appreciate your sacrifice for being with us here daily and children don't go just yet. We have camping videos and we'd like you to watch and also for the guardians, the parents, everybody else watching. We'd like you to subscribe to our channel so that you get notifications so that you're able to see whatever we'll be doing. Thank you so much for everyone who is here and yeah. Of a sunshine, expiry and discovery month. Mountain fall camp. Will the campers be rescued and be safe in Jesus? Let's take a discovery mountain vacation Bible school adventure. Discovery mountain camp. You can stop. Oh, welcome to discovery mountain fall camp. What's your name? I'm Ryan. Glad to meet you, Ryan. I'm camp director reader. And I'm Ryan's mom. Well, welcome mom. Glad you're here. Let's take a look here, Ryan. Oh, man, you're in for a great weekend here at camp. I can't wait. Great. Well, let's step over to the registration table and they'll get you checked in. Camp director reader. I just have a few safety concerns I'd like to talk about. Oh, I'd be glad to talk to you. Hey there, camper. I'm Jacob P. Donovan. Or counselor Jake works. Hi, counselor Jake. Hey, this is Wyatt. He's your junior counselor. Hey. Hi. Now you are in Pawnee heaven. Here's your welcome packet. Head on over to the. Jake, aren't we forgetting something? All right. Thanks, Wyatt. Do not be late because cook is making the best. Ryan, step over here for a minute. Do you have any allergies? Um, no allergies. Any contraband items and luggage? Contraband? Here, take a look at this list here. Just put your initial at the bottom. That's trail mix from that list. No, trail mix stays. OK, all done. Now what? Oh, well, Miss Tamara and Miss Wendy over there are doing sign ups for the drama class. It's tons of fun. Each year we act out a Bible story. Oh, what's the story this year? Oh, it's Noah in the flood. See the water's rose. Hey, counselor Nina, he's talking about Noah in the flood. Oh, yeah. That's our drama production this year. The rain poured down and the lightning flashed. Madison, you have to be in drama. You're a natural. Thanks, Jamie. Junior counselors Jamie and Wyatt, please take our campers over to the drama table. Hey, wait a minute, Jake. Jamie is my junior counselor. You're right, you're right. Jamie, do as Nina says. Oh, you're going to go? You're wearing rain boots? Yeah, he is. He's ready for the drama production already. Yes, ma'am. I can assure you we're taking every precaution necessary. It's just that I was reading online. She's trying to rob thing, but may have a word with your reader. I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Simon. He's the founder of Discovery Mountain Camp. Could you excuse us for just a moment? Of course. Mr. Simon, the word is getting out. She heard a little radio. No, no, no. Don't get ahead of yourself, reader. I'm tracking the storm. And if there's a warning issued, I'll know about it. The sky's clear, at least. Yes, but we still need to remind everyone about what to do in an emergency. That's right. This would be a great time to make that announcement. May I have everyone's attention, please? Welcome to Discovery Mountain Fall Weekend Camp. I'm George Simon. And I want you to have fun and be safe. Now, cap director reader, what do we do in an emergency? Oh, that's a great question. So if you hear the sirens, meet at the flagpole and listen for instructions. All right, everyone. If we hear the siren, then we meet at the flagpole. And we listen for instructions. Terrific. Brian, did you hear that? That's where you're going to have to go if there's a flash flood warning. Oh, no. This is going to be a terrible week. Captain Campers, line up right over here. Hey, Ryan, did you sign up for the drama production? No, I was too busy hiding. Oh, don't worry about it. I don't think anybody noticed your mom called out to you, but you. Hey, those boots are sweet. Really? Yeah, you a fisherman? No, I'm Seth. I'm Ryan. All right, Potty Campers, Seth, Chet, Connor, Chet, and Ryan, check. Attention, Paiute Cabin Campers, line up right here behind the one and only, Jamie Simon. That's me. Madison. Oh, here comes the Nina. All right, check. Amanda, check. Hailey, check. Hey, Madison, that's my sister's name. Really? Hailey is my cousin's name. Really? Friends already? I love camp. All right, guys, listen up. I have a few important announcements. Hey, he's going to tell us what to do if there's a flash flood, like, that will never happen. Hey, hey, guys, guys, listen up. Come on. 504 is dinner. You don't want to be late. Trust me, all the garlic bread will be gone. Townsend Jake is the best counselor. Yeah, Connor, right? Yeah. Hey, Connor, this is Ryan. Hey, guys, what even is a flash flood? It's where, like, there's a really big storm, and it rains, and the rivers get full of water, and then, boom, water everywhere. That can happen at Discovery Mountain Camp? Nah, there's not even a cloud in the sky. But if it did rain, yeah, Ryan here is ready. Cool boots, dude. Thanks, but like you said, there isn't even a cloud in the sky. Is there a storm brewing at Discovery Mountain Camp? Join us again tomorrow to find out in part two of this Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. Welcome to Discovery Mountain Fall Camp. Will the campers be rescued and be safe in Jesus? Let's take a Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. Well, the rain finally stopped. Jake, how many canoers do we have signed up today? I think we have five, but Jamie, I don't know. Don't start talking about the flash flood. We don't want to scare the campers. Yeah, but Jamie, I think. Jake, you are a counselor. Yes, but. So be brave. OK, fine. All right. Hey, campers, Pawnee Cabin rules, right? Captain Cabin is the one for me and me. All right, campers, welcome to canoeing class. I'm Captain Jake Donovan at your service. And I'm first mate Jamie. First, we have some water safety rules to go over. When I say rule, Jake, you say book. No, when I say rule, you all say safety. Oh, safety, right. Rule number one, never go near the water alone. Rule? Safety. And second, always wear a life jacket in the canoe. Rule? Safety. Jamie, what is Mr. Simon doing? Oh, campers, don't worry about him. Oh, he's just measuring the water levels. You see, with all the rain and all that, you know, there's a panchance of, uh, oh, safety. Third, never go on the water when there's lightning in the sky. Rule? Safety. Warning. It was kind of scary. It was fun. It was beautiful. Jake, are we going to have a flash flood? Well, Ryan, you know what? Let's ask Mr. Simon. Having fun campers? Yeah. Great. Mr. Simon, why were you measuring the water? Well, standard operating procedures, Ryan. Is there going to be another thunderstorm? What if it floods? Well, uh, you know, Ryan, this is a good chance to review emergency procedures, right, Mr. Simon? Yes. There are rules. Safety. Hey, I like that. We hear this every year, and there's never been an emergency ever. OK, well, Connor, what are the emergency procedures? If we hear the sirens, we meet at the fire point and listen for instructions. You've got it, Connor. Is it going to storm again? No, Hailey, everything's going to be all right. Happy paddling, canoeers. Jamie, what do we do if a canoe floats away all by itself? Yes. No, you should put on a life jacket first. Rule? Safety. And then you could paddle out in another canoe to go get it. Never just jump in the lake. There's a canoe right there. Oh, well, Hailey, there are lots of canoes over there. No, no, look! Captain Jake, do you remember the rule? I am sorry. I was only trying to help. I don't know what to say, Jake. I should get a reader. Maybe he can help. Yeah, that's a good idea. Hey, Seth, your life jacket's on upside down, bud. Oh, that explains a lot. All right, Captain Jake's going to go get reader for help. But I can take two canoers out. Who wants to go first? Me! OK, come on, let's go. I have a silker in my shoe. Jake, you're soaked. Are you OK? Yeah, I'm fine. But I was actually just coming to talk to you. Well, I need to talk to you, too. Oh, man, you have that serious look on your face. It's the weather forecast. It doesn't look good. Oh, what are we going to do? Well, we are prepared with all the safety precautions, and they haven't issued a flash flood warning yet. Oh, that's a relief. Reader here. Oh, what happened? It's just static. Let's try again. Mr. Simon, reader here. I read you loud and clear. I understand. Oh, reader, is this really happening? Yes, Jake, it is. Let's go turn on the siren. A flash flood warning has been issued. Will our campers be all right? Join us again tomorrow to find out in part three of this Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School adventure. Welcome to Discovery Mountain Fall Camp. Will the campers be rescued and be safe in Jesus? Let's take a Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School adventure. Is everybody present? Yes, sir. All present. All right, turn off the sirens. Everyone, I want you to give your full attention to Mr. Simon and listen to his instructions. Campers and staff, the National Weather Service just issued a flash flood warning for Discovery Mountain. OK, listen up. Listen up. We have two cabins on higher ground. They'll be safe, but we need each of you to grab a change of clothes, medications, and head on up to the safety cabins. Counselors, do you understand? Got it, Mr. Simon. Yes, sir. Yes, Haley. Mr. Simon, hold on. No, Haley, this won't be like the flood in Noah's time. But little lake is rising, and water can move quickly. Get to the safety cabins. I don't know. Mr. Simon? Yes, Conner? It isn't even raining. How can there be a flood if there is no rain? That's what the people thought in Noah's time, didn't they? OK, listen, everybody, the National Weather Service can see a storm coming in our direction. We have to be ready. Yeah, reader's right. So I need you to get to your cabins and then get on up to the safety cabins and keep an eye on each other. Let's go. Guys, let's hurry up, move it. All right, remember, one change of clothes and medication, that's all you need. Why, is my retainer medication? I don't know, bring it just in case. Conner, move it, let's go, buddy. Counselor Jake, this is ridiculous. Conner, the National Weather Service can see more than we can see here at camp. I'm sure they make mistakes sometimes. Conner, we've been warned, and it's my job to keep you safe. Now get ready. Thanks. My trail next, what do you mean? Promise. OK, well, fine, hurry. It's in the top drawer. All right, if everyone's ready, come stand by the door. Come on, is everybody ready? Let's go. Conner, Mr. Simon said I'd bring a change of clothes and medication. All right, remember, Mr. Simon said for us to keep an eye out for each other. OK, onward and out to safety, everybody. Let's go, come on. A whole lot of fuss about a whole lot of nonsense. Get to the safety cabins. Jamie, I can't leave this behind. Oh, no problem, I'm just glad you found it. Jamie, do you remember the way to the safety cabins? Yeah, they're this way. Or are they this way? No, no, no, they're definitely this way. Jamie, you don't remember? There's nothing to worry about. The safety cabins are up high and the water can't get to them. I don't know exactly where they are, but. The drawing production, the people who weren't in the arc were flooded. Yeah, but in Noah's time, people had a choice. They could have gotten on the arc and they didn't. I've preached for 120 years. Yeah, and only Noah's family decided to get on the arc. We're choosing to get to safety, too. I don't know exactly where the safety cabins are, but God will take care of us. I thought I heard voices. Connor, why aren't you with your counselor, Jake, and the others? Long story. Hey, do you know the way to the safety cabins? I might. Oh, no, we're too late. In a tree, because there's lightning, that's bad. Did everyone make it to safety on time? Join us again tomorrow to find out in part four of this Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. Welcome to Discovery Mountain Fall Camp. Will the campers be rescued and be safe in Jesus? Let's take a Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. Shut the door. I'll turn on the fire. We made it. Jake, radio reader and let him know you're safe. Oh, good idea. Oh, where's my radio? I think I left it at the lake. Jake, here, you can use my radio. The battery's almost dead. Do it quick. Reader, this is Jake. Over. We're at the safety cabin. Me, Ryan, Seth, Wyatt, and Nina and Madison are here, too. But with you? Jake, how could you lose a camper? You're a counselor. I don't like to. Nina, aren't they with you? Aren't any other safety cabin? I'm sure they're all right. The radio died is all. Jake, you've got to find out. I'm coming with you. Eli and Jamie trapped in the storm? All we can do right now is just wait out the storm and pray that everyone makes to safety. Jamie's pretty smart. I'm sure she thought of something. Right? Right. Hey, I know. Let's play a game. Why? No one wants to play a game right now. Oh, come on. I know. Let's play I Take a Trip. I took a trip on the Ark, and I saw giraffe. I took a trip on the Ark, and I saw an elephant. I took a trip on the Ark, and I saw a jaguar. I took a trip on the Ark, and I saw a pooper scooper. What? Yeah, a huge pooper scooper right next to the elephant. Well, they would have needed one on the Ark with all those animals. I guess quite, guys. I think the rain stopped. Never mind. Hey, do you think there's any food in this cabin? There should be some emergency supplies. What kind of fishing net? It's raining like buckets out there. Hey, Ryan, can we have some of that trail mix? Trail mix? Hey, what? What? You're Ryan. You didn't notice us looking for food? Hey, don't worry about the storm, buddy. It'll be over soon. No, I'm worried about Connor, Kaylee, and Jamie. Me too, Ryan. Me too. Hey, I think the rain's slowing down. Let's peek outside. OK, be careful, Nina. I'll be careful, Jake. What's happening? Nice nap, Seth. Is the storm over? Obviously not. But it does sound a little quieter. Nina, try your radio again. See if there's any news about Jamie and Hayley. No, Madison. It's dead. Really, Ryan? Reader, come inside. Hey, why? Is everybody all right? I didn't hear a response on the walkie-talkie. Oh, sorry. Mine died, and Jake's down by the lake somewhere. Reader, did you find Connor? And Jamie and Hayley? No. But the good news is, the storm wasn't as bad as predicted. Well, do you think they made it to safety? Well, that's what I hope to find out. What's with the bucket in your hand? Well, it was propped up by the door. I'm sure glad it was empty. Otherwise, it would have drenched me. Oh, that explained all the water earlier. Let's see. Reports are that the camp is OK. We had a little flooding in the longhouse and in the Navajo cabin. Wait, wait. There was flooding? No flash flooding. Just a few puddles, really. Oh, no. Where could Connor and Jamie and Hayley be? Well, that's what I hope to find out. Jake, when was the last time you saw Connor? Well, I mean, I thought he was behind us when we left our cabin. Oh, he must have snuck back in. OK. Nina, when was the last time you saw Jamie and Hayley? Well, Hayley forgot her allergy medication. So Jamie took her back to the cabin to get it. I guess they didn't know the way up here. All three of the missing individuals were last seen in the vicinity of the cabins. Yes, that's right. If no one knew the way up here, they may have helped each other. I suppose. Now, the question we must ask ourselves is if I were stranded near the cabins and had to get to higher ground, where would I go? Climb a tree? Not on a thunderstorm. Right, lightning. Precisely, not safe. Where would I go? Madison, that's it. Oh, it is? I know exactly where they are. Well, what are you waiting for? Right. Just where did Jamie, Connor, and Hayley wait out the storm? Join us again tomorrow to find out in the final chapter of this Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. Welcome to Discovery Mountain Fall Camp. Will the campers be rescued and be safe in Jesus? Let's take a Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. God answered our prayers. The storm wasn't nearly as bad as expected. And no flash flooding. Now, we have two campers and a junior counselor that are missing. No need for alarm. Reader's out looking for him right now. Jake, I pre-empt Madison was right. Me too, me too. I'm going to read a name. And you yell if you're present. Seth Atkinson. Jamie, I just knew they'd be here. Madison's logic made so much sense. Reader, is that you? Jamie, you're here. You're all right. Yeah, we couldn't remember the way to the safety cabin. We are Connor and Hayley with you, too. We're here. Camp Director Reader, I forgot my allergy medication. I'm sorry. Well, I'm so glad you're OK. Me too. We couldn't remember the way to the safety cabin, but then I remembered the cave. This is a perfect spot. Quick thank you, Jamie. Thank you. Now, Connor, why didn't you make it to the safety cabin? I just didn't take the warning seriously. Well, young man, you know. I'm not in your trouble. I'm sorry. Well, I'll let your counselor and you work out the consequences. I'm just so glad you guys are all OK. Is the camp OK, Reader? Yeah, it is. There's just a few puddles. That's early. Well, there's a lot of people who are worried about you guys. Shall we go back down and let them know you're OK? Yeah, sure. Let's go. All right, Connor? Yes, sir. Lead the way, Camper. Yes, sir. And Zachresson. Oh, hold on a minute. It's Camp Director Reader. Reader, have you found the missing campers and Junior Counselor? A pair of him. That's true. Connor's got to pay the consequences. This could have been a disaster. Connor, I need to talk to you. Counselor Jake, I need to apologize. Connor, you shouldn't have stayed behind in the cabin. You know, you disobeyed me, Reader, and Mr. Simon. I know. You're right. Well, good. I was expecting an argument. Counselor Jake, I didn't take the warning seriously. I wanted to find you guys. I was scared. Oh, I'm glad you found Jamie. Me too. Connor, I'm still going to have to tell your parents what happened. I know, I know. But Jay got taught me an important lesson. Oh, he taught you that your counselor is always right? No. He taught me that his warnings are there to help me and keep me safe. Connor, you are always safe in Jesus. He'll rescue you. I know. Campers and camp staff, may I have your attention, please? God answered our prayers. Jamie, Connor, and Haley, God kept you safe through this whole thing. And now I have two announcements. Number one, listen up. First thing tomorrow, there will be signs posted all over the camp leading the way to the safety cabins. And second, I know you're all hungry, so everyone to the cafeteria for hot cocoa and cookies. Everyone's still watching? You know, everyone else is going into the cafeteria, but I want to talk to anyone who's still watching at VBS. In Discovery Mountain, my name is Jamie Simon, but in real life, I'm Naomi, and this is Glacier View Ranch. A few years ago, I actually came here as a camper. My cabin was right over there, and my week at camp changed my life. I learned how to trust in God fully, and I gave my heart to him. Have you ever talked to God about giving your heart to him? If not, there's no better time than right now. Take him with you all year, okay? I hope you had fun at Rescue Safe in Jesus. Hey, I just had a thought. There might be real hot chocolate and cookies in the cafeteria. I'm gonna go find out. Bye. This has been a Discovery Mountain Vacation Bible School Adventure. Remember, you're always safe in Jesus. Good morning. When God speaks, there is lightning in the sky. When God cries, rain pours down from on high. When God laughs, thunder rolls across the plains. I will listen again and again. The waves crash upon the shore. When God gives. I want to talk to you guys. If it is all. This is our ring. When it teaches us that God keeps his word, because he said he will never send a flood again. Children, wherever you are, just get that deep exercise. And remember, our theme is always when God says something, we... I will fall down on my knees. I will listen again and again. I will listen again and again. I will listen...